Fast Food Workers in New York Stage Surprise Strike
On Thursday April 4th, for the second time in less than a year, workers at fast food restaurants in New York City staged a surprise strike. Over 400 workers at restaurants like McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and Burger King walked off the job. The workers, who mostly earn the federally mandated minimum wage of $7.25, demanded a living wage of $15 an hour, as well as the right to union representation. The strike was timed to coincide with the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, who was killed while in Memphis, Tenn. to support striking sanitation…
Occupy Convergence: The New Face of Activism?
“Occupy has had to do a lot of soul searching…” That was the response by Occupy New Hampshire organizer Ryan Glen Hirsch, when asked about where the Occupy Wall Street movement is and how it has evolved since its hay-day in 2011. I met with Ryan in Manchester on Tuesday, to discuss the upcoming “Occupy New England (ONE) Regional Convergence (no acronym necessary)” event, scheduled to take place at the end of the month. As I readied my materials to take notes on the conversation, a packet of small black and white leaflets is slid across the table towards me….
Eyewitness Accounts from Meiktila Massacre
(From Assed Baig, Independent U.K. Reporter, on the ground in Burma.) Reports of what actually took place in the Central Myanmar town of Meiktila are still emerging. IDPs are beginning to speak out and tell the world of what they witnessed with their own eyes. “They beat them in front of me. I was watching. I can still see it.” Noor Bi, is crying as she describes the moment when she saw her husband and brother murdered in front of her eyes as she fled Meiktila. The mob out numbered the police and they were unable to protect the Muslim…
ACTION ALERT: Moms Demand Action Twitter Bomb Today
Today, April 2, between the hours of 1PM and 3PM EST, the group Moms Demand Action (MDA) is calling on anyone with access to a computer, smartphone or tablet during those hours – be they Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, Cousin, Grandma or anyone covered by the “rational human being” label – to participate in their organized “Twitter Bomb” on the Senate. If you’ve never participated in one of these, they are extremely effective and worthwhile. From the MDA website: “Please Tweet your Senators as frequently as possible between the hours of 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2,…
Dirty Oil Meets its Nemesis: American People (Video)
Today, over 30,000 people (video) rallied in Washington DC, calling on President Obama to take action on climate change and reject Keystone XL pipeline. Named ‘Forward on Climate‘, the rally was planned and sponsored by Sierra Club, one of the largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organizations in the United States. Many other grassroots organizations such as Hip-Hop Caucus, 350.org, Occupy Movement and Us Uncut supported the initiative through social media and their own networks. So, what the heck is this pipeline and why are all environmental organizations and many people are up in arms about it? Keystone XL pipeline…
Rise Up To Stop Violence Against Women: Join V-Day’s One Billion Rising Events
I thought long and hard before writing this article. I am not a person who easily shares personal stories or struggles. Not that I think my fellow human beings would not care, but sharing my story is like ripping the scab off a wound I would rather ignore than recall. When I first saw this video, tears poured down my cheeks. It is so sad that probably many women would have the same experience watching it, since one out of three (one billion) women on this earth experiences abuse, in some form or another, during her lifetime. It took me…
Massive Rally in Bangladesh Demanding Death Penalty for the Islamist Party Leaders
Protests against the life-in-prison sentencing of a senior leader of Bangladesh’s biggest Islamist party -Jamaat-e-Islami, for crimes against humanity in the Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence, are continuing into their fourth day. Many people are outraged that he was not given the death penalty. Abdul Quader Mollah, 64, was found guilty by the International Tribunal-2. He was charged with murder, rape, torture, and arson, including some large-scale massacres in the Mirpur area of Dhaka, during Bangladesh’s war to break away from Pakistan. Thousands of people are attending the protests that were initiated by the Blogger and Activists Network last Tuesday afternoon,…
Moving the Land under Our Feet: Belo Monte Dam vs. Amazonians
Indigenous people of Xingu River are fighting a losing battle against a monster called Belo Monte. Construction of the world’s third largest dam is moving ahead despite the rejection and outcry of the people who have been living by the Xingu River for thousands of years. And despite the legal challenges the Brazilian Federal Public Prosecutors Office, human rights and environmentalist NGOs presented to the Brazilian Government. The project, originally dates back to Brazil’s military dictatorship, is being promoted as a solution to Brazil’s electricity shortages and as a ‘clean’ alternative to global change. However, the National Amazon Research Institute’s…
Occupy Movement: What? Who? Why?
The first Occupy Wall Street protest was initiated by the Adbusters, the Canadian anarchist group, on September 17,2011 in Zuccotti Park located in the Wall Street financial district of New York City. Adbusters is known by launching numerous international campaigns, including Buy Nothing Day, TV Turnoff Week and Occupy Wall Street. Adbusters is a reader supported, ad-free activist magazine considered to be anti-capitalist or opposed to capitalism. It has an international circulation of 120,000. The mission statement on its Facebook page states “Our aim is to catalyze a sudden, unexpected moment of truth — a mass reversal of perspective; a…
Idle No More – Don’t Count Them Out
Idle No More is an international , grass roots organization, formed by 4 Canadian women on November 10, 2012, in Saskatoon, for the purpose of speaking out on behalf of Indigenous Sovereignty. The group calls for peaceful acts of resurgence and reclamation of sacred sites. It has attracted supporters from the UK, US, and all across Canada. Indigenous Sovereignty, in this context, refers to the treaty rights of Indigenous people to land and water rights in their home country. These rights may include hunting, fishing, construction of housing and businesses, and other rights to use the waterways and land. The…
Demand A Plan to End Gun Violence
This is the direct statement from the Demand A Plan website: A group of artists joined our effort to Demand A Plan and recorded a powerful, personal message. Please take a minute to watch the video and share it with your friends and family. It’s time. Join more than 750 mayors and 750,000 grassroots supporters to demand that President Obama and Congress step forward with a plan to end gun violence. Our efforts cannot bring back the 20 innocent children murdered in Newtown, CT — or the 34 people murdered with guns every day in America. But we can prevent…
The United Nations To Investigate The US Government’s Treatment Of Native Americans (Interview)
-This interview was conducted on May 20th, 2012- This year, for the first time in the history of the United Nations, the UN has decided to open an investigation on the US Government’s former and current treatment of Native Americans. The country’s estimated 2.7 million Native Americans live in federally established tribal areas called Reservations which are plagued with unemployment, alcoholism, high suicide rates and other social problems. Aside from social issues, US Native Americans are involved in continuous disputes over sovereignty and land rights with the US and State governments due to enduring violations to their territories and rights….
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