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Grateful for courage, hope, determination and creativity.
One new group, or really a new campaign.....
By mickielynn on 2015-11-30 08:13:43
[caption id="attachment_7793" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
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bs
es = a Warrior II, posture, Yoga
service Council, 9/28/13[/caption] Writing this on the last night of the Thanksgiving weekend. Wanting to express my
gratitude for all of those who struggle for peace with justice in a balanced, non-violent, community based way. Since it
would take many articles (some already written) to appreciate all such groups I thought that I'd highlight a few that are
particularly relevant at the moment. And I'd also express the hope that comes from seeing Millennials involved because they
have so much time and energy ahead to carry on their work. [caption id="attachment_7797" align="alignleft" width="414"]
Unity,victory and helping hand make tree, From an article
"Yoga, Mindfulness, & Social Justice: The Time is Now ~ by Carol Horton, Ph.D., on the yoga service council blog.
[/caption] First, a shout out to the young people who are actively working to combat racism on college campuses and on the
streets of our cities where it continues to take the form of police violence We've written a great deal about the law
enforcement killings of unarmed people of color and the Black Lives Matter organization that has brought this problem
front and center That work is far from over but now those officers are starting to be tried for murder and other crimes.
Some of the most recent victims within the past year and a half have been Freddy Gray of Baltimore, Laquan McDonald, of
Chicago and Jamar Clark in Minneapolis. [caption id="attachment_7826" align="alignright" width="600"]
’ #RiseUpOctobe
ph — Which Side Are
ue ‘ Chicago Protest Laquan Stop
Police Terror, : at Miracle Mile November 2 27, 2015[/caption] Every student of color i is aware of institutional racism on
college and University campuses across the nation but it took the events at the University of Missouri (Mizzou) and the
forced resignation of the President to begin a wave of creative and determined protests against the continuation of verbal
violence, disrespect, vandalism and physical abuse. During the weeks of November 9th and November 16th there were
nationwide actions at more than 100 campuses and many agreements to make changes. This is very exciting because it takes
the civil rights movement a step further than it's gone for quite some time. Here's a statement from one of the students at
Ithaca College, Brittany Gardner:
All over the nation, both on and off college campuses, we have seen those young and old fighting against
injustice. We stand here in solidarity. Our hearts are heavy with the pain of Mizzou and Yale and Smith and
every person of color on a college campus simply because of the color of their skin and the texture of their hair
or their ancestry. This is a problem of the nation. However, how can a campus dedicated to preparing us for the
real world not actively foster growth to our consciousness of oppression and privilege?
center" width="600"]
[caption id= "attachment 7796" align align
‘ Missouri timeline, tackling
racism on campus, New York Times video[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7799" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
A : = = ES —e an ee L B Yale anti-racism noticeboard,
November 18, 2015, photo Shannon Stapleton, Reuters[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7800" align="aligncenter"
¥ oad ri
width="600"] Oklahoma
University SAE fraternity protest, March 2015[/caption] If you want to read more about their ongoing nationwide actions
here's a good article from The Guardian newspaper Next I'd like to share the inspiring work of Jewish Voice for Peace, a
Not in my Name
nwa NX?
is an organization that combines a passion for justice with the faith and traditions of the Jewish religion. It speaks my mind
and inspires me greatly in my own work to bring justice and an end to the occupation so that the Palestinians can live full
lives with all the human rights and basic human needs that every human being deserves. Here's one of their more recent
graphics that makes an important point that's too often ignored in our mainstream media and in the self justifying rhetoric of
resource (along with the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation ) This
“Israelis are fighting for
the status quo,
Palestinians are fighting
for their freedom”
> Amira Hass
Journalist, Haaretz
_ Jewish Voice
’ \ for Peace
Israel's right wing government. Js hustce« Equetty «Dignity And another thing that I really love about the
work of JVP is the way that they analyze and express the complexity and interconnectivity of the racism and Islamophobia
that allows such violence in the Middle East. Here's the link to a wonderful poem by JVP Artist's Council member Aurora
Levins Morales. And here's a link to their statement in solidarity with US Muslim communities facing discrimination and
Oppression. - 3 u There are so many
more people and peace and justice groups that come to mind, including many that I work with here in our own Capital
District Community but I'll close with heartfelt appreciation to the whistleblowers that our government seems determined to
exile, imprison and punish in response to the great public service that they do for all of us in revealing the truth of what our
government is up to.
One example is Chelsea Manning who continues to speak truth to power and call for changes in US policies from her jail
cell. She just recently published this commentary in the Guardian, which is well worth reading.We must not let Isis's crimes
dictate how we address the refugee crisis — or privacy
But I wanted to highlight the heroism of the three drone sensor operators and drone engineer who recently spoke out about
the effects of killing people from a distance on the people who do those jobs as a part of the United States kill chain. They
appeared for an exclusive interview last week and also wrote an open letter to President Obama urging him to stop the drone
assassination program since it has become a recruiting tool for ISIS and they also described the devastating effect that
killing people from afar has on the people assigned to do it. And during their interview on Democracy Now! some excerpts
of the new documentary Drone were shown.
...Now these four courageous men spoke out publicly, revealed no classified information, and have not been charged with
any crime. Nevertheless our government has retaliated against them by freezing all of their bank accounts and access to
credit. The author, Craig Murray, says the following:
No criminal charges have been brought against any of the men, despite numerous written threats of prosecution.
Their finances appear to have been frozen by executive action under anti-terrorist legislation. This is yet a
further glaring example of the use of “anti-terror” powers against people who are not remotely terrorist. More
whistleblowers have been jailed under Obama than under all previous US Presidents combined. Even so, the US
authorities seem wary of the publicity that might surround prosecution of these servicemen, who only spoke of
the effect upon their own health of having repeatedly to carry out heartless and often untargeted killings. So
their lives are being destroyed in other ways.[...]
Roam
N ? =— J é
[caption id="attachment_7816" align="alignright" width="300"] . 44 Edward
Snowden, Julian Assange and Daniel Ellsberg, previous whistleblowers, exiled and threatened.[/caption] [caption
id="attachment_7818" align="alignnone" width="300"] Jeffrey Sterling, CIA
Whistleblower[/caption] Gratitude for Capital District wide support of our Muslim neighbors and friends and for a
community that values all of our members! After the attacks in Paris and the backlash and_brutal and draconian raids that
are taking place (as I write) against mosques and homes and meeting places of Muslim citizens of what was once a free city,
under the so called "emergency policies" it seems important to send appreciation to the activist and interfaith communities of
the Capital District. On Sunday, November 22nd , the Muslim Solidarity Committee, Project Salam, and the Albany
mosque, Masjid as Salam called a meeting to plan for a response to any possible anti-Muslim actions in our area. It was a
wonderful meeting, with almost 100 community members. We agreed to meet again to lay the groundwork for a ready
response team and educational and legislative work to prevent or counter any Islamophobic responses within our
community like those that have manifested in some other parts of the United States and among some of the Republican
Presidential candidates. We wanted to oppose fear mongering about Muslim refugees from Syria and Iraq and other
immigrants, and let our legislators know that our Muslim neighbors are a valued part of our community.
: Revere
Masjid As-Salam Mosque .
i} Hest of Pract )
Here's just one photo of Elizabeth, one member of a Saratoga
church community, taken with Faisal Ahmad, assistant Imam of the Masjid, his young daughter, and his father, Shamshad
Ahmad, who is President of the mosque. There is another meeting planned for this weekend to continue this work to
counter irrational fears.
[caption id="attachment_7842" align="aligncenter" width="399"]
COMBAT
ANTI-MUSLIM BIGOTRY
What you can do to help local Muslims.
© Reach out to local Connect with the Muslim
mosques, and visit community in your
if you can. neighborhood.
Someone being Cy Speak out when you
harassed? read or hear anti-Muslim
Document, report, hate speech
and support victims.
It's our duty to confront bigotry,
in all of its forms.
created by @roqchams with help from @imraansiddigi
27,2015 article[/caption]
Poster about countering anti Muslim bigotry from_November
