In my last post, on the third anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, I suggested that Occupy may soon be waking from its slumber. I even invited y'all to a couple events that I hoped would signal the return of OWS -- the People's Climate March on Sunday and the #FloodWallStreet demonstration on Monday, both timed to precede the UN Climate meetings in NYC this week.

Sure enough, the largest climate march in history went off in NYC on Sunday, with over 300,000 activists taking to Manhattan's Upper West Side and Midtown streets (even the busy 6th avenue and 42nd street). And the Flood Wall Street sit-in action, organized by Occupy activists, plugged the streets of the financial district with over a thousand blue-clad protesters, NYPD vehicles and barricades, and all-around-feel-good direct action. Over one hundred activists, including one dressed as a polar bear and four others in wheel chairs, were proudly arrested for their civil disobedience Monday night. 

Of course, not everyone is as pleased with this "disruptive" activity as I am, and the trolls have surely been out in full force. While it's certainly not that trolls are worthy of my time and energy, much less a thoughtfully measured response, I do feel that it's worth explaining to my own readers what my goals and motives were in participating in these two actions. I also feel that it's worth responding to critics (and comrades, to be sure) from the so-called progressive left, who have argued (with much merit, I think) that the actions were not radical enough. Some even criticized me personally for not going all the way, for not subjecting myself to arrest during the Flood Wall Street action (for example).

So let's start with some backstory. 

Earlier in the month, I started to see posters and fliers about the People's Climate March all around the city -- on light poles, in store fronts, even at my new job (I work at an outdoor sporting goods store, so besides any individual ethics we associates may have for environmental stewardship and care, the company itself has a vested interest in a healthy planet; it's those of us with individual-ethics-for-environmental-stewardship-and-care that make up their entire customer base! One customer came in to support our store just because she saw the poster hanging on the front door). At my neighborhood community bookshop, Word Up, we carried fliers and posters for the march as well. But it wasn't until I helped host an info session about the People's Climate March at the bookshop that I saw how significant this march might ultimately be.

I signed up for the newsletter and became more and more hyped about participating in this event, even though it was scheduled for my birthday, September 21 (a date also appropriately recognized as the International Day of Peace). Then, just a week or two before the Climate March, I also received word from my various Occupy-related newsletters that the Flood Wall Street demonstration would be scheduled for the very next day and involve civil disobedience.

Why was I so excited about these demonstrations, even to the point that I would march on my own birthday?

I joined these two actions for the same reasons that I've joined so many other protests and demonstrations over the years -- primarily, to bear witness to them and to contribute my own voice and music to the din of the protests. 

There are so many myths and rumors about what happened at Occupy Wall Street in the fall of 2011. I still hear and read about them all the time. But no one can argue with my first-hand memory of what happened at Zuccotti Park during those months, or on the Brooklyn Bridge when 700 protesters were arrested, or now what happened when we flooded Wall Street on Monday. Reading newspapers or history books will never replace the experience of actually having been there and seen it with my own eyes (at this point, I expect that if newspapers or history books bother covering these events at all, they will not likely tell the stories very accurately). 

Secondly, I'm a musician. Singer, songwriter, performance artist. At my core. So I am not fully present or really making a worthwhile contribution to anything if I'm not also using these gifts and passions. And I joined these demonstrations because I wanted to be sure that the folks in places of power -- be it the United Nations or the financiers on Wall Street -- could hear our cry for climate justice; so on Sunday I brought my mandolin, on Monday my guitar, and on both days, my voice to sing and shout on behalf of the planet.

Now, one of the critiques that has been leveled against the efficacy of these marches is that they don't care. The UN heads of state and Wall Street bankers don't care about how many hundreds of thousands of people march through midtown Manhattan, or about how many get themselves arrested. And they sure as hell don't care about the climate, which is why these demonstrations were organized in the first place! So what's the point? All that time and energy, all those resources spent. For what?

I'll be the first to admit that people in power are not likely to heed our call, to hear our protest. I'm not so deluded as to think that they give a rip about how many people showed up or what we had to say. Insofar as that may have been a goal for many demonstrators, I'll join the trolls in saying that we wasted our time. Nevertheless, I'm certain that these demonstrations will prove to have served much the same purpose that the Occupy Movement always has: to galvanize and mobilize communities across the country and the world to take matters -- in this case, climate justice -- into their own hands. Also, I've written before about the importance of direct action and I'll say it again: throwing a monkey wrench into the cogs of an unjust system will always be a welcome gesture, in my book. Perhaps the folks in power don't care about what we have to say, but when our (direct) actions begin to affect them, I get the feeling they'll start to listen!

That being said, it's true that I was not willing to go all the way on Monday, to be arrested along with so many of my comrades. It just wasn't in the cards for me, not this time. I have many other commitments to my family and community right now that preclude me from volunteering myself for civil disobedience and arrest. Besides, to be perfectly honest, there are many other issues more important to me than climate justice -- such as justice for the poor, for immigrants, for veterans, for sweatshop workers, and for victims of US war and violence all over the world. How can we expect to treat the planet with dignity and respect when we still don't know how to treat other human beings in that way? These will continue to be my priority and certainly causes worthy of my voluntary arrest, should such opportunities ever present themselves.

Finally, to my lefty friends and colleagues who argue that either of these actions were not radical enough, I invite you to please tell me, tell us -- what are you doing that we can also take part in, to dismantle exploitative capitalist and corporatist systems, to bring climate justice to our planet? The People's Climate March and the Flood Wall Street demonstrations were not meant to take us all the way, they were not ends in themselves (thank you for reminding us of that), but rather steps in the right direction -- among them raising awareness, energizing a political base, and challenging the status quo. Perhaps with your help we can continue marching that way, keeping the end in full view.

P.S. for the trolls...

• Yes, I own and use an iPhone
  
• Yes, I eat food and wear clothes produced by the capitalist system; and yes, I do have a day job (believe it or not)
• No, these facts do not delegitimize any critiques that I or other protesters (who also succumb to modern-day needs of communicating with peers/comrades, eating food and wearing clothes) may have about capitalism and its impact on the environment
• Yes, climate change and capitalism (as we know it) are real problems that ought to be addressed
  
• No, we actually don't have anything better to do because addressing climate change is that important
• And no, I don't need a shower (it's not that day of the week). I appreciate your concern, but perhaps you should focus on the climate situation, which stinks at lot worse than any of us protesters do

I could easily spend several days watching the footage that's come out of the political unrest in Ukraine the past two months: the peaceful protesters being brutalized by the storm-trooper police, and then violent police forces recoiling in fear as the protesters have become - well, to put it lightly - not so peaceful.

Like other protests and uprisings around the world (Turkey, Brazil, Egypt), I've been following the current events in Ukraine with great interest. As a protester and witness at the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in downtown Manhattan, fall 2011, I'm ever inspired by the courage and tenacity of people who stand up against an oppressive and violent police state (even though I don't condone violent resistance). This is one major way in which the people of New York City, and really of the whole country, failed the demonstrators at Zuccotti Park and similar so-called occupations across the US. Countless instances of police brutality against truly peaceful demonstrators were recorded and widely disseminated both online and in (a few... very few) channels of the mainstream media, but still people in the US did not respond. 

I won't speculate as to why folks didn't respond (at least not here, now); but the fact remains. So watching such revolutionary events unfold in other places - it's just energizing. 

Now, I won't trivialize the issues in Ukraine with any commentary on the motivations of the protesters, government, or police. While I've maintained a cursory understanding of what everyone is after, I really can't speak to the legitimacy of the protesters' initial outcry or to the alleged (and seemingly very real) police misconduct. It's a complicated situation, there are two sides to every story, "the police are just doing their job," and all that malarky (having been at OWS myself and heard similar comments - dismissals - about it, I use "malarky" with much calculation).

Rather, what I wish to highlight here is one particular tactic that emerged from Kiev a couple weeks ago and that strikes me as effective, peaceful, and - best of all - beautiful.

Protesters literally held up mirrors to the faces of the police.

For one thing, it should terrify the officer to see him or herself approaching in the mirror - the same terror that the protesters feel whenever the police come at them. Secondly, the police must - they must - come to terms with who they are and what they've become.

I tried a similar tactic at OWS. When the police would follow us on a march, I would pick one or two of them, to speak as their conscience. It went something along these lines:

And so on.

I'm not sure how effective this tactic was, as it seemed at the time that those police officers still refused to obey their conscience. But who knows what impact it may have had? It certainly looks like the officer in the photo above is having a moment of deep introspection. 

Then again, maybe he's thinking about how he's going to snatch the mirror from the woman's hand and bash her on the head with it. Whatever it takes to quash a peaceful redress of grievances, I guess (it's all in a day's work!).

Perhaps the prospect of peaceful revolution in Ukraine is bygone, but I still anticipate such a movement in the US. Here's hoping that if - when - the police come at us again, the rest of y'all won't just stand idly by.

And - if you do decide to join us - be sure to bring your mirrors.

Today is Memorial Day, on which we commemorate the soldiers who have died in service to the US. It probably goes without saying that I observe this day in a slightly different manner than most. For several years now I have posted the following list of people that I've remembered in addition to our fallen. I remember them again today with a somber and solemn spirit. 

Please note that this post is not anti-US or anti-servicepeople. Rather it is pro-life and pro-peace. I don't mean to minimize the sacrifice of US soldiers, nor to defame them for the work they have done as servicepeople; but I do take serious issue with this "holiday" (holy day?) for two primary reasons:

1) "History exalts only the pornography of force, that of murderers and psychopaths (the rest of us, of course, stricken from the narrative wholesale, a backdrop to the tale)." -Propagandhi

This is a great quote but let me be clear: I'm not saying that US soldiers are murderers and psychopaths, necessarily; I'm referring to callous institutions that employ soldiers and police to exact great injustice and violence around the world and even here in the US.

2) There are millions upon millions of "others" who have also suffered due to US military aggression and all other kinds of glorified institutional violence. Here is an abbreviated list that grows larger each year, more and more people whose lives and deaths I count and regard this Memorial Day:

• More than 1,700 indigenous Ixil Mayans targeted for genocidal extermination under SOA-trained Guatemalan ex-president Efraín Ríos Montt.
  
• Targets of US drones missiles in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen and the countless innocent casualties that are too often hit instead.
  
• Kimani Gray.
• Marine Kenneth Chamberlain, murdered in his own home by police in White Plains, NY.
  
• Trayvon Martin, Ramarley Graham, and Alan Bluford.
  
• All other victims of police brutality, aggression, and racism.
  
• Troy Davis.
  
• And other victims of our twisted and unjust penal system.
  
• Citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the US military is *still* actively engaged.
  
• The people of Libya and Syria.
  
• Freedom-seeking people in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain (etc) with whose dictatorial governments we've had happy alliance for decades. 
  
• Those who've been killed and tortured by graduates of the School of the Americas.
  
• Others around the world who have been denied democracy by US military intervention.
  
• The Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisoners who were tortured by US servicepeople.
  
• The citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasake who were incinerated by nuclear radiation.
  
• The US soldiers who continue to fight in unpopular and unconstitutional wars.
  
• The people who died on 9/11 as a result of US military blowback.
  
• All other victims of US-CIA-trained Osama Bin Laden.
  
• Osama Bin Laden.
  
• The Native Americans from whom colonial Europeans first stole this land.
  
• The Africans who were brought in shackles to work the land and who were kept in shackles (of some form or another) for 400 years.
  
• The Mexicans from whom we annexed Texas and much of southwest US.
  
• The black folks and college students that were hosed down during 60's protests.
  
• The many men and women who were black-listed and imprisoned during WW1 and Vietnam, simply for their peaceful and principled opposition to US involvement in the war.
  
• People who have objected to military service and have been imprisoned for doing so.
  
• People accused of sedition for following their conscience.
  
• Children ripped to shreds by US landmines in foreign countries.
  
• People affected by US racism, sexism, hetero-sexism, and general xenophobia.
  
• Any US-ian drafted against his or her will to fight a war they did not agree with.
  
• The thousands of US servicepeople who can't get decent medical or psychiatric treatment.
  
• Victims of the Oklahoma City bombings, killed by military-trained Timothy Mcveigh.
• Timothy Mcveigh.
• The thousands of the same who live on the streets and can't get a job due to their social, mental, and physical handicaps.
  
• The indigenous people of Central and South America, who continue to suffer for the interests of US corporations and consumers.
  
• Others in developing countries who slave to provide us food and clothes though they can hardly afford to feed or clothe themselves or their families.
  
• The immigrants who desperately leave their home countries seeking refuge in the US only to have their families ripped apart, their mothers and fathers, husbands and wives deported.
  
• And all others who have suffered for our Pax Americana, built on violent and xenophobic US policies, both domestic and foreign. 
  

As you can see, I remember a lot of people. 
I pray that you would too.

..shalom..

This year's post is dedicated to the life and work of Malala Yousufzai, a young Pakistani education activist who was targeted by the Pakistani Taliban last October for fighting for young women's right to education. 

I was never a supporter or proponent of Chavez or his policies. Truth be told, I wasn't super familiar with them. All I've known is that (far-) lefties loved him and most everyone else hated him. I frequently heard both perspectives on the populist leader but never felt that I was getting a reasonably unbiased take. So I never did form my own opinion. Same with Castro and the Cuban Revolution. 

But I can at least say that I never agreed with (or understood) Chavez's constant and often disingenuous demonization and/or scapegoating of the US. I do understand that the US has (directly or indirectly) done a lot of evil in South and Central America (see School of the Americas, for one). I understand that this intervention continues today, at the behest of multi-national corporations based in the US, under the guise of so-called free trade agreements, by the exploitation of the poor and indigenous people in those countries. Thus I totally agree that Latino people have plenty of legitimate grievances against the US government, corporations, and a largely complacent populace; but conscientious Latinos can just be angry about the reality (it's bad enough, I think) without fabricating one (as Chavez often did).

I'm sure that in the wake of Chavez's death, folks will have much to say about him and his policies. Some will say that his revolution helped no one and ultimately failed everyone. This is no more evident, they will say, than in his proudly touted health care systems which couldn't save even him. Meanwhile, a few others in the US will continue to celebrate what they regarded as great achievements in social justice and human rights. 

For my own part, as we push our civil discourse forward, I simply wish to challenge us. We ought to consider: 

Even if Chavez's policies failed, are ours faring much better? Is Capitalism doing more good for more people in the US than Chavez's attempts at socialism did for the people of Venezuela? If we understand the reality of wealth inequality in America today, then to both questions we must answer a resounding no.

As the video above aptly demonstrates, we have plenty of our own issues to deal with here in the US. And I'm not saying that socialism is the answer for us; but I strongly suggest that before we defame Chavez and his revolution, we remember that our shit is stinking pretty bad too... perhaps a smell too akin to sulfer?

RIP Hugo Chavez (1954-1913)

Human Rights Advocates Given Maximum Federal Prison Sentences of Six Months for Direct Action Opposing the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC)

Read more...

This just in!
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS STRUCK THE ISLE HISPANIOLA!
The news spreads like fire carried on a breeze
as altruists don their almighty checkbooks
and all of the faithful drop to their knees.

But philanthropic aid come from abroad
can only accomplish so much good
and our fervent prayers to a merciful God
could hardly ever be understood
by a Being who sees all things from above,
each of his supplicants' words and deeds,
who sees how we all take advantage of
cheap labor for our abundance and greed.

Perhaps instead
We should start by asking tough questions,
like "why was this country poor to begin with?"
and "might disparity of wealth among nations
disprove the global economic progress myth?"

After all,
What does catastrophe look like to the poor
when they've suffered each day for hundreds of years
through imperially imposed slavery and war?
Do earthquakes change the taste of their tears?
And how does calamity feel to the poor?
What kind of difference does it really make?
Death and destruction was there long before,
their misery did not begin with the quake.

Thus I submit
Money and prayers are only a start
if we want to see this country turn 'round.
These efforts could never get to the heart
of that which holds the Haitian people down.

What good can our charity do in the end
if oppressive regimes take over again,
if puppet dictators, American "friends",
continue to wield their power with violence?
And
What good are our prayers for justice and peace
if we can't commit to live by them,
if we keep ourselves distant from all "the least of these"
only til tragedy arouses our conscience?

Therefore,
Let us begin by casting our lots
with our poor, desperate neighbors in Haiti
who have toiled, labored, struggled, and fought
for their independence and prosperity.
Then
May we be a people whose kindness and mercy
come from a place of shalom;
who hear and respond to the cries of the poor -
no matter what country they may call home -

Inviting God's Kingdom come.

------------------
Please check out this website, which explains how the US has intervened in the political affairs of Haiti, undermining their sovereignty and attempts at democracy.
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1475
Also, please consider how our consumptive lifestyles contribute to the poverty and destitution of poor people all around the world. They harvest our food, tobacco, and coffee beans; they make our t-shirts; they manufacture our gadgets and machinery.
Somehow I can't imagine that mere disaster relief will undo all the damage that our government's intervention and our excessively consumptive lifestyles have done. How can we bring the shalom of the Kingdom to Haiti and to the rest of the impoverished world that makes our lives of affluence possible? That is the challenge we face.