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Posts Tagged ‘Activism’

Miercoles Musica : Ana Tijoux Shock (on Reclamation)

7:20 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism|Chile|Justice|Music · Comments Off

21 Mar 2012

I haven’t posted anything since last week, since before Romney won the Puerto Rican primary, as if that means anything. I’m planning my next big show happening next week so y head is in that and not in political analysis. But I did want to share this video by French Chilena Ana Tijoux which seems especially fitting given the recent reboot Occupy Wall Street has gotten (with the same problems that originally kept me away), the push for the NY State DREAM Act, Undocumented Coming Out actions across the country, the killing of
Trayvon Martin and this statement from Decolonize Oakland.

As I prepare for my participation on the next stop of the make/shift recLAmation tour, I am reflecting on reclaiming, the words of the Communiqué from Decolonize Oakland are resonating with me. The “occupations” we are seeing are not like the tomas that have been happening in Chilean schools for decades. I think the part about people of color autonomy and self-determination is critical and we can’t have that in spaces where it’s ok for white mean to don Native headdress as ironic statements (as I saw recently at OWS).

The shock is not at the fact that people are stepping up and speaking out, the shock is that people are only now starting to notice the resistance that has been happening for over 500 years.

Special Thanks to Nacional Records

Inspirations : Whose Afraid of Anti-Immigrant Hate? Not these Children.

11:35 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · children|Immigration|Justice|mexico · 5 Comments

18 Apr 2010

With the horrible things happening in Arizona, activists/writers/advocates/culture workers, and all of us really need doses of strong inspiration. We need hope, love and beauty.

This video, which apparently is kinda old, reminds me of all those things and of the lessons we teach our children by example.

Feliz Domingo

How Can Mami Movements Move Forward and be Resourced

27 Jul 2009

Crossposted from la Mamita Mala

100_0133

This is a continuation of this post, based on conversations had at the Women’s Equity Media Summit with Noemi and BFP.

In all honesty, I don’t even quite remember the questions we were answering pero I know that BFP primarily came up with this:

Multiple Media tools politicized for transformative justice

Are those our resources? Our goals? Part of our vision? Sounds like a plan of attack to me, a way to use our weapons of media, media as defined as how we communicate ourselves to others.

And how are mamis of color movements resourced?

501c3′s are not the only way we seek/need resources or want to be resourced as. We are more than charity cases, communities to be served.

BFP gave an excellent example about how in her hood the only way families, especially Latino families could get services like coats for the winter, was if they fit a certain mold, that is cleaned up and made themselves more presentable, looked deserving of services.

We should not be resourced based on our education but rather on our history of work

Education is a privilege. I personally have two years of college under my belt pero most people won’t even consider me for jobs or my opinion because I had to drop out to take care of my child. Forget the years of experience or how I have personally have helped others get their degrees. Without letters after my name on a piece of paper, I don’t fit in.

We should be resourced in terms of the role we play as part of larger struggles, as part of a continuation of historical lines of struggle.

We should not be tokenized

We should not be expected to compromise our values

We should not feel the need to compartmentalize ourselves

Resourced doesn’t just mean money, it means, especially within the context of online work, linking, citing

we should be resourced by the community, as we are part of the community

How are you resourced vs how you would like to be resourced?

What Do Mami Movements Need?

25 Jul 2009

Cross Posted from la Mamita Mala

100_0149 One of the first spaces I wa in in Detroit was at the Women’s Equity Media Summit. To say that it was an uncomfortable space would be too simple. There was a sense among many of the women of color I was with that we HAD to be there, since many of has had been given some money to help defray our travel costs. We would have been in Detroit anyway for the Allied Media Conference and truth be told we weren’t sure why we had been invited into the WEMS space? What was the mission and what was expected of us radical women of color media makers.

We all conglomerated in one corner of the room, close to the door, forming a protective circle of love and support around each other as other women spilled their female creds on the table, leaving many of us feeling marginalized. What of us who didn’t claim the word woman or the word feminist? What made one a “woman” in that space? Was it being born with a white vagina? Did bringing up these issues make us automatic enemies of the space of chairs and tables that wound around the conference room? What of us who had no interest or desire to be part of a non-profit structure? What of us who didn’t want their money?

What did come out of that space however and many other spaces in the days that followed at the AMC and after, were the gathering of mamis. That’s right, mamis not mommies. I even had to correct the spelling as it was written on butcher paper at the front of the room because for the last almost 12 years (carajo I feel vieja) it has been made clear to me that my experiences are not the ones being blogged about or written about in books. After all it was my mami’hood, with all the sex/gender/race/class/language issues you can pull from that word, that started me seeking others like me through blogging and organizing on the ground.

One of the first exercises I did in my small caucus of three, that included bfp and Noemi, was what do we need in order to do our work, which we translated as what do mami movement’s need. Here is a list of what I came up with:

mami’hood
justicia
not speaking for people
comunidad
multi-lengua’ed
access
accountibility
amor
apoyo
collective
seguridad
multiple points/ways of entry
poesia
arte
sexo
child-inclusive
childcare
sustainability
flexibility

What does your list look like?

Prop 8 Vigils Across California

5 Mar 2009

ba-samesex05_0499868478 “When all else fails, pray!” is what comes to mind upon reading about the multiple candlelight vigils that were held throughout my state on the eve of the hearing that will make or break California’s most discriminatory law against LGBT citizens. Last night San Franciscans, like Californians in other cities big and small, held vigils and marched. What else can you do at this point? The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The crowd, bundled against the chill, carried signs reading, “We All Deserve the Freedom To Marry,” and “Down with Prop. 8!” as they marched along Market Street. The peaceful protest stretched for two city blocks past stopped Muni street cars while police held back traffic at the intersections.

The group made their way to City Hall, where a pianist and singer entertained the crowd with love songs. Some of the participants planned to camp out in the Civic Center Plaza to be there for the hearing.

It will be shown on a JumboTron for those who don’t have access to viewing rooms set up in the San Francisco Public Library.

Will the great State of California overturn what has been called “the will of the people”? Or will it let thousands of gay families remain together? I am pessimistic, but we’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is reportedly all booked up…the media is just clamoring to get his take. Check out an interview with Mayor Newsom and hear his thoughts after the jump.
Read more…

Forclosures=Tent Cities

5:47 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · housing|Labor|US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off

18 Sep 2008

MSNBC is reporting that with the increase in foreclosures countrywide, there has been an alarming increase in a phenomenon known as tent cities. Tent cities are reminiscent of Hoovervilles of the Great Depression, basically areas where homeless people congregate and live. What makes these areas different than “normal” homelessness is that generally it’s agreed that most of the people are living in these areas for reasons directly related to events connected to the government/free market, such as the Great Depression or the home foreclosure crisis.

The absolutely only good thing about this horrible mess?

Homeless people and their advocates have organized three tent cities at City Hall in recent months to call attention to the homeless and protest the sweeps — acts of militancy, said Harris, “that we really haven’t seen around homeless activism since the early ’90s.“

I just wish that homeless activism wasn’t dependent on people reacting to what is probably the worst times of their lives.

Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance Calls for Support

7:30 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Immigration|Mississippi · Comments Off

26 Aug 2008

In light of lack of critical connection to immigrant communities displayed by our ‘leaders,’ it’s important that we do what we can to help out. The following was put out by MIRA! in Mississippi–and organization that was working well before the recent raids to minimize the reach of the raid in Mississippi. See after the cut for ways you can help out.

Monday, August 25, 2008

After answering the phone, Bill Chandler, director of MIRA! (the
Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, based in Jackson), blurted out,
“The ICE raid is in progress right now at Howard Industries, in
Laurel, Mississippi.” Laurel is a small town of about 18,000 people;
Howard Industries employs about 800 workers.

Shakira meets Bachelet to discuss child labor

1:27 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Celebrities|children|Chile|Latin America · Comments Off

1 Dec 2006

Shakira was in Santiago de Chile last week to meet with President Michelle Bachelet to discuss child labor in her country as well as in the rest of Latin America. Shakira has made this issue her own in her role as ambassador for UNICEF, as well as being a UN children’s ambassador and the head of Pies Descalzos, her own non-profit organization:

Shakira, who was in Chile to do two concerts, was received by Bachelet in the governmental palace, La Moneda, where the two talked about the protection that all children need.

Long before the singer arrived at the palace, outside 300 people congregated and didn’t seem to mind the harsh sun or the temperature which was way above 30 degrees Celcius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).

After meeting with President Bachelet for about half an hour, Shakira made a plea to Chilean parents:

I ask that all Chilean parents send their children to school, that they protect them from vulnerable situations, from child labor and that we all start thinking more about children.”

Via / TheDay.com

Image via Santiago Times

Oaxaca Situation Continues to Worsen

1:22 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|mexico · Comments Off

29 Oct 2006

We’ve been covering the situation in Oaxaca, Mexico since the summer, specifically the role of the Indigenous teacher’s movement and the violence. While the teachers on strike have agreed to return to work tommorow, police have begun to surround the city in a show of State sponsored force. According to Yahoo! News:

Officials said police had begun to enter the city and remove some barricades, and reporters saw about a half-dozen federal police trucks equipped with water cannon and bulldozer blades moving onto a highway about 100 yards from signs that said “Welcome to Oaxaca.”

Joan Baez up in a tree over L.A. real estate

12:48 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Celebrities|Los Angeles · Comments Off

25 May 2006

Folk singer and long-time activist Joan Baez has climbed into a tree in L.A. to protest the commercialization of a piece of farm land there, according to Spain’s 20 Minutos:

The object is to raise public sympathy to impede the eviction of 350 families that live off the land of this modest farm and who have been served an eviction notice.

The owner of the property at first accepted the 6 million dollars offered by the farmers, but later upped his demand to 16 million.

According to Los Ángeles newspaper La Opinion, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated that he cannot do anything else for them: “I am the only elected official who has supported them — the only one. I’ve raised 6 million dollars, but I could not raise the 16 million tat Mr. Horowitz is asking for. What can I say? We tried, we raised a lot of money to buy the land, and there are many officials that have worked against the interests of farmers. I’m not one of them.”

According to 20 Minutos, actress Daryll Hannah has also jumped on the bandwagon in support of the campesinos:

Actress Daryl Hannah asked that the owner of the property “swallow his greed” and accept the 6 million dollars being offered by the farmers. “He would not only get back the 5.1 million he paid for the land, but also the interest.”

See all related stories on Google News.

Via / 20 Minutos

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