Fair Share Reform Rally Draws Huge Crowd
A huge crowd came out to rally for the Fair Share Tax Reform plan at 5pm today at the Liberty Pole. The plan calls for raising taxes on New Yorkers who make over $250,000 to offset the projected state budget deficit of $15 billion dollars. The plan is an alternative to Governor Patterson's current proposal which includes a gigantic $9 billion of cuts to social services, education and health care. The rally was part of a series of rallies happening today in New York State.
Rosemary Rivera, an organizer for the event, said, "We wanted to send a coordinated message across the state that we have to find a different way [to address the budget crisis] than hack away at social services. And there is a way. That way is fair share tax reform."
The rally itself was creative and diverse. It included drumming and singing by the Rochester Freedom School, the Raging Grannies and many chants. Mike Connely, a local Peace Activist, spoke to the crowd using the persona of billionaire Simpsons character, Montgomery Burns, "Rich people have it great here. We have, in effect, a flat tax in New York State. $25,000 is the highest tax bracket which is basically poverty level." After the rally he said, "It was a great crowd. All kinds of people came together today. Labor groups, peace groups, working people, poor people. A lot of great organization work went in to today."
The rally was the one step in a series of actions planned in the Rochester area. To see more upcoming events check out can be found on the Rochester Section of the Fair Share Webpage
Click the "More" link below to see pictures of the rally
Racism and the Media Community Discussion a Success
On Wednesday, Feb. 25th, Activists Against Racism (AARM) held a community discussion on racism and the media (announcement). 150 people came out to Monroe High School to analyze and critique current state of mass media, as well as look for ways to improve it.
The event included representatives from eleven media outlets including TV Channels 8/31, 9, 10 and 13, WXXI, About Time, The Challenger, Rochester Association of Black Journalists, The Minority Reporter and Rochester Indymedia. A meeting of all of these organizations in one room for any reason is rare, but when the topic is something shied away from as much as racism, it's historic.
An AARM member said this about the event:
Thank you to all the people who shared their frustration with the current state of mass media —- the woman who told the panelists how she called their organizations over and over to cover the news she was seeing in her neighborhood and got no response; the man who talked about how it feels to be criminalized and how deeply media images of black men being dangerous have penetrated into society; the woman who shared her outrage at seeing the Rochester mother who sent her kids to a Greece school be demonized and sensationalized in the press.
[…]
This meeting was successful, but it's just the first step. To all the people who came out: AARM looks forward to continuing to struggle with you to fight for a justice within mass-media, as well as other institutions.
Video of the entire event can be found on YouTube.com/user/RochesterIndymedia
Event video part 1
Event video part 2
Event video part 3
Also, check out R-IMC's opening statement
Students and Community Members Halt Anti-Choice March
On Saturday, February 28, Students for a Democratic Society - Rochester organized a demonstration to counter an anti-choice march organized by Silent No More. Bearing the bitter cold and making a lot noise were approximately 35-40 pro-choicers standing across from 60-70 praying anti-choicers. A police car was between them. After approximately an hour and a half, the anti-choicers went home, unable to get to Planned Parenthood.
video: Interviews and Observation
photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16
Goldcorp in Guatemala: Devastating Communities
On Monday evening, February 23, the Rochester Committee on Latin America invited notable human rights advocate Grahame Russell to speak about open-pit mining in Guatemala. The Canadian lawyer, journalist, and director of Rights Action described Central America's history of widespread massacres and genocide, but emphasized our responsibility, as residents of the US and Canada, to affect change in the places where the most atrocious and exploitative policies are rooted.
Video: Eight Mayan Women
Related: Rights Action | Goldcorp Inc. & The Danger of Democracy | MiningWatching Canada
Report Back: Rochester City School Board Meeting on Student Privacy and Military Recruiters
- Amid charges of insubordination, Rochester City School Superintendant Brizard backtracks from district plans to release student information to military recruiters without parental consent.
- Continued threat from military and administration to pressure school board policy change to accommodate military recruiters despite clearly articulated opposition from students, parents, veterans, legal experts and community members at large.
- Expect contentious process as administration and military officials appear to launch pressure campaign on school board for policy change in upcoming weeks.
The Rochester school board meeting last evening was very, very long. The threatened change to board policy regarding release of student information to military recruiters was on the “new business†agenda. The board’s existing policy requires that parent’s written permission is required for release of information to the military. Superintendant Brizard violated board policy this year with a parent letter stating that if parents did not return the release form by February 6, their child’s information would be given to military recruiters. This new “default†mode, handing over student information to the military without parental consent, violated existing board policy.
During the public comment time more than a dozen people spoke in favor of maintaining the current policy which protects privacy – students from Students for a Democratic Society, parents, several veterans including three Iraq Veterans Against the War members, parents of soldiers, the director of the local NYCLU and members of antiwar groups presented diverse perspectives on why changing the existing policy would be harmful for students. There were only two speakers who spoke about how joining the military was good for their now-adult-children and appeared to support giving recruiters open access to student data without parental consent. There were approximately eight uniformed military recruiters present, but none of them spoke publicly. The recruiters were, however, making themselves available for media interviews outside the meeting room.
Indy TV #24: Re-entry from Prison with Ann Graham and Johnny Merrill
This week on Indy TV, we're going to be talking about re-entry, coming out of the prison world and into society and what that experience is like. To help us understand this reality and what's happening to people right now in Monroe County and throughout New York State is Ann Graham from Monroe County Re-entry Task Force at Catholic Family Center and Johnny Merrill, who is a volunteer in the program and who has, as a youthful offender, spent more than twenty five years incarcerated, behind bars. He has been out six months as a free citizen.
Rochester City School District: Answer to Parents, Not Marines
According to the Democrat and Chronicle, the Rochester City School District is reversing a three year old policy regarding disclosure of student information to military recruiters. Charles Johnson, an attorney for RCSD, stated that a Marine Corps official called the district last week threatening federal funding consequences if student data is not turned over to the military, even for students whose parents have not authorized disclosure of their children's personal information. He plans to comply with the Marine request, regardless of what the School Board says.
In 2005 the School Board made a thoughtful decision that runs counter to the federal No Child Left Behind requirement that schools give the military extensive data on all students, including contact information and details about academics and extracurricular participation. RCSD decided that this information should only be given with parental permission, ie if parents "opt in" to the data sharing program.
This very appropriate "opt in" policy is now being replaced by an "opt out" policy in which parents must proactively notify the school district in writing in order to prevent their child's information from being shared with military recruiters.
Related Information: Army Recruiters at SOTA | An interview with Howard Eagle - activist and candidate for school board | Challenging JROTC in the Public Schools | Antiwar Activist Harassed by Police and Security at East High School
Peter DeMott Remembered
Peter DeMott was a long time peace activist from Ithaca, NY. He was a member of the St. Patrick's Day Four, who in opposition to the Iraq war spilled their own blood on recruitment literature. He also participated in the NYS March for Peace to For Drum in May 2008.
Peter died on February 20th. This is a short video from an interview that he gave at the NYS March for Peace.
Resistance and Recovery Speaking Tour in Buffalo
In the most stirring recent victory of the US labor movement, workers at the Chicago Republic Windows and Doors militantly fought the company as it closed. On the last day of scheduled work, these members of UE Local 1110 chose a tactic from a different era of labor and occupied the factory. In six days they won an agreement with the company and its financier, Bank of America (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5), which gave the workers $1.75 million in severance and vacation pay. In these six days the Republic workers provided an inspiring example of how organized workers can respond to the layoffs and cutbacks forced upon them in a recession. Since this victory, they’ve organized a speaking tour to share their story with activists and workers throughout the country.
On February 12th this tour made a stop in Buffalo. Organized by the Coalition for Economic Justice, the event had around 100 people in attendance with people from People United for Sustainable Housing, United Auto Workers, the Teamsters, Buffalo Class Action, and University at Buffalo Students Against Sweatshops.
Throughout the evening it was repeatedly stressed that the importance of the Republic workers victory is not simply to a single factory, but an example to an entire movement. We are in a critical moment for working people throughout the world and we need to act with the serious urgency that these moments deserve. Spreading their story now becomes an essential task. For the full report back, click this link.
Related Information: TakePossession.blogspot.com | UE WINS | UE Update 2: Vote is 'Yes' at Republic; Plant Occupation Ends | Victory at Republic
Hate in the Tunnel at the University of Rochester
On the University of Rochester campus it is a custom for student groups to paint the tunnel of the academic quad to advertise for upcoming events or make various political statements. In preparation for the peaceful sit-in and occupation of Goergen Hall in solidarity with the people of Gaza, students had used black paint and stencils to write “NO WAR IN GAZA†and peace symbols, as well as details about the place and time of the event.
I was shocked, however, to notice that someone else had defaced these statements with white paint, covering the words “WAR IN†so that the statement would read “NO GAZA.†There were also white Stars of David painted in various positions and even a giant “X†through one of the peace symbols. I took some pictures and walked away shaking my head.
For the whole story check out: RiseUpRochester.org
Related Information: Gaza display on Cornell’s Arts Quad: Sabotaged | UR Occupation Ends: Students Negotiate with Administration and Declare Victory | UR-SDS Occupies University of Rochester in Solidarity with People of Gaza | Occupation at New York University