Submitted by Katherine Denison, photos by author (written on 1 December 2016) on Thu, 2016-12-01 00:00
Driving from that dusty rhinestone, Las Vegas, across northern Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, and into South Dakota on I-15N requires patience and serenity rare for me and completely alien to my companion. Our trip to Standing Rock on that dull highway took us through the most featureless, colorless lands in this country. Flat as old Coke. In our boredom, we even found ourselves intrigued by the odd snow fences in Wyoming and thrilled to see a hillock or a tiny gorge. Now and again there’d be an outcropping, towering over the bland landscape like a medieval castle, but for miles we had only sagebrush and an occasional steer as companions. In 1300 miles we’d seen no wildlife, few birds, not even road kill. The dead land had been stripped by cattlemen to smooth sterility. Houses were miles from one another. Gas stations so far apart the car was often running on our nervous breaths as we finally found a small pump in a cowboy town. No motels: we slept in the car at a truck pullout. We were excited to finally make the turn onto Route 83, a back road leading us to the smallest Standing Rock encampment where our arrival was awaited. We’d heard earlier that evening that road was a safe approach among increasingly patrolled entrances, and was about a hundred miles from our goal. We were buoyant. Even my friend’s elderly service dog woke, sniffing and nudging, sensing our excitement.
It was dark as dirt as we moved along Route 83, cautious as we’d been the entire trip to observe the speed limit. Suddenly, red and blue lights slashed through our cheer and an unctuous, tubby sheriff tapped on the passenger-side window claiming we’d been speeding and demanding ID from us both. The weeks-long nightmare began.
The morning after the election, I woke up to a text from a friend who said, “Hi! We’d like to get a rainbow flag to hang at the house in solidarity after what happened yesterday. Do you know where we could purchase one?” When he had said, “what happened yesterday,” I figured he meant Trump, but once I got on facebook, I saw that two pride flags had been burned in my neighborhood the evening before. Talk about getting hit close to home! It is being investigated as both arson and a hate crime, but so far there are no suspects.
So I looked up information for the gay pride store that had been a mainstay in our city, first opening in 1989 as a leather and fetish supplier, and later changing ownership a couple of times and morphing into a place that had something for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. I was shocked and saddened to learn that it had closed in August with the death of the current owner. So instead I recommended a couple of novelty stores to my friend, hoping he’d be able to track one down.
Submitted by T. Forsyth (photo: Mara Ahmed) on Fri, 2016-11-04 22:07
Hana Chamoun, a talented Lebanese-Palestinian actress, was in Rochester on September 18, 2016 to talk about 3000 Nights after it screened. Moderating the discussion was Linc Spaulding from Witness Palestine Rochester. This heart-rending and amazing feature film opened the Witness Palestine Film Series at The Little Theatre.
Layal, a young newlywed Palestinian schoolteacher is arrested after being falsely accused and sentenced to 8 years of prison. She is transferred to a high security Israeli women’s prison where she encounters a terrifying world in which Palestinian political prisoners are incarcerated with Israeli criminal inmates. When she discovers she is pregnant, the prison director pressures her to abort the baby and spy on the Palestinian inmates. However, resilient and still in chains, she gives birth to a baby boy. Through her struggle to raise her son behind bars, and her relationship with the other prisoners, she manages to find a sense of hope and a meaning to her life. Prison conditions deteriorate and the Palestinian prisoners decide to strike. The prison director warns her against joining the rebellion and threatens to take her son away. In a moment of truth, Layal is forced to make a choice that will forever change her life.
Watch the trailer below:
Rochester Indymedia journalist T. Forsyth had the chance to meet Hana and was able to send her some questions via email that she happily agreed to answer.
Submitted by rbarnabas2016 on Mon, 2016-10-17 20:43
Acclaimed Israeli writer and activist Miko Peled kicked off the fifth Witness Palestine Film Festival on Sept 15, 2016. He spoke about "Justice and Freedom: the Keys to Peace in Palestine" at the Historic German House, in Rochester, NY. The event was co-sponsored by the Rochester Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace.
Miko Peled has written "The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine" and he has traveled extensively, giving talks across the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany and Switzerland. More information at www.WitnessPalestineRochester.org
October 4, 2016, activist Judy Bello gave a presentation at Rochester's Downtown Presbyterian Church. About 50 people were in attendance. Bello has traveled extensively in the Middle East to observe the effects of US military and economic policy on the civilian population. Her latest journey was as part of a US Peace Council fact finding mission last July. This was her second time in Syria since 2014. She has paid similar visits to Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. The 60 minute presentation was followed by an additional hour of questions and answers. The event left an entirely different perspective on the crisis than that presented by mainstream corporate media.
In a statement that probably ruffled the feathers of police union president Michael Mazzeo, Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli invited the public to offer contract modification proposals to the department that they can use in their ongoing labor negotiations with the Rochester Police Locust Club, the sole bargaining agent for Rochester Police Department (RPD) officers.
“The period to present proposals is not closed,” said Chief Ciminelli. “And again, because we're in contract negotiations we would have to discuss this in executive session but if you would like to sit down with us and discuss specific ideas we're still in a position to take proposals.”
Chief Ciminelli invited the public's ideas on how to change the contract between the City and the Club at a Public Safety Committee Meeting held on September 21, 2016.
The committee meeting, usually held in executive session, was opened to the public after a video showing RPD officers brutalizing multiple people went viral. One individual, Lentorya Parker, was tackled from behind by an RPD officer as she was complying with police orders. The incident happened near Avenue A and Hollenbeck Street on September 15. A sole civilian video of the incident was posted online. The videographer, Clarence Thompson, was arrested for Obstruction of Governmental Administration and Disorderly Conduct even though he was more than 10 yards away from the police and not interfering with their activities.
Video courtesy of Clarence Thompson
The meeting was shut down by the public after City Councilmembers had questioned police for more than an hour, while no public input was allowed.
Watch the Democrat & Chronicle Facebook Live video of the Public Safety Committee Meeting (Rochester Indymedia has it's own footage with better audio–will update soon)
The most recent contract between the City of Rochester and the Rochester Police Locust Club expired on June 30, 2016. According to the contract, the agreement is automatically renewed “from year to year” unless either party notified the other of any “intention to change, alter, amend or terminate this contract.”
If the meeting that took place on September 21 is any indication, then one of the two signing parties is interested in changing the contract. One possible reason for the need to re-negotiate the contract is for the need to incorporate an article pertaining to the use of police BWCs and their associated procedures and protocols for the officers represented by the Club. There are several reserved sections in the BWC policy that have been explained by city officials as pertaining to ongoing negotiations between the department and the Club. Of course, one question to ask is, who is representing the public interest in these negotiations?
Breaking down the current contract
The expired 2016 contract contains 34 articles and two appendices, one on discipline guidelines and the other on hospital and surgical health benefits.
Submitted by Rajesh Barnabas on Wed, 2016-09-28 21:43
This is the first known occurrence of an entire sports team protesting the national anthem in Rochester, NY. The World of Inquiry, School #58 High School soccer team all took a knee during the opening ceremonies of the game against Aquinas. The protests are spreading around the country, first initiated by pro NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Clarence Thompson videotaped a disturbing scene of police brutalizing and arresting multiple people of color on the north side of the city on September 15, 2016. For bearing witness, he was also arrested. Below is a story from the Democrat & Chronicle outlining what happened. The accusatory documents against Thompson, above the D&C story, show what he is charged with and the arresting officer's name and badge number along with other relevant facts from the incident.
I recently connected with Nic and Cat, a duo based in Philadelphia, who have been working super hard for about a year, creating an app for anyone who is LGBTQ+ and is looking for a health care provider. It will be simple, straightforward, user-based, and reliable. A beta version will be available soon, and Nic says, “the more the merrier, because once we’re beta testing we want to have as many reviews on there as possible–that’s what’s gonna make the app useful.”
Submitted by Michael Israel on Wed, 2016-08-10 20:28
Imagine a magic bullet that only needs to be used a few times to treat otherwise treatment-resistant conditions. A bullet that could erase the need for medication. It might sound like science fiction, but such a miracle drug might have been accidentally discovered more than 30 years ago and brushed under the rug by our government.
Alicia Danforth, a psychologist and researcher at LA BioMed, is testing the safety of using 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in conjunction with dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) to help people with treatment-resistant social anxiety learn how to overcome their social anxiety. The Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelics Studies better known as MAPS (www.maps.org) is providing the funding needed to conduct this study.
Dr. Danforth made it clear that she was “not attempting to treat autism or Asperger’s Syndrome, but was rather looking at the benefits of using MDMA to treat social anxiety which is only one symptom that affects some people on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) spectrum.”
She chose to study people who fell on the ASD spectrum because they were less likely than people in the general population to be helped by more traditional therapies. According to a report on the MAPS website, treatments that work very well for neurotypical people often fail to provide benefits for people on the ASD spectrum because they have a much harder time than their neurotypical peers in forming a rapport with therapists.
The study, which currently features ten patients, is observing how safe it is to use MDMA, and not the long-term benefits of MDMA. To my knowledge, this is the only study being conducted to test the use of MDMA in helping autistic people overcome social anxiety. Two more subjects are currently being evaluated to see if they can participate in the study. The long-term effects of MDMA are speculative and unsubstantiated at this time. Hopefully, this study will help determine if MDMA will provide long-term benefits to autistic people suffering from social anxiety.
Above in a video interview with Kerry Coleman talking about the police brutality he and his wife experienced at the hands of RPD officer Brian Cala.
On the afternoon of January 19, 2009, Kerry Coleman had called for the Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) for his wife. Instead of the MCT showing up, 10 Rochester Police Department (RPD) cruisers came to his home. Upon opening the door, RPD officer Brian Cala barged past Mr. Coleman into the house.
According to his complaint to Professional Standards Section (PSS), Mr. Coleman informed the officer that he had called for the MCT and not patrol officers. Officer Cala responded, "What the fuck do you want me to do? Take her to the hospital or take your fucking ass to jail?" Mrs. Coleman told the officer Cala to leave her home to which he replied "Shut the fuck up!"
Rochester Indymedia made a post on social media about looking at the last contract between the city and the police union and finding the most egregious sections. We were asked if we had the most up to date version. Rochester Indymedia has FOILed twice since 2015 for the most current contract between Rochester's police union, the Locust Club, and the city, but got no response. Our presumption was that they were in negotiations and were using the old 2013 contract.
In 2015, Rochester Indymedia used the Freedom of Information Law on the city to obtain the base pay for the entire uniformed Rochester Police Department.
We were going to combine this information with the police demographics for 2015 (see the demographic information for 2015), but we didn't have enough variables to make a 1 to 1 comparison.
Some highlights from the November 2015 data regarding the base pay of Rochester police officers are:
Rochester's Pride parade kicked off on July 16 with a theme of "Let's Make Magic." This year it followed a different route starting downtown heading up Park Ave to a festival at Cobbs Hill park.
A group representing veterans was able to march, thanks in part to the elimination of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" in the US military.
Professor and activist Wendy Lynne Lee spoke at the Flying Squirrel Community Space on July 21 2016. Lee is a professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg. The event was sponsored by the Green Party of Monroe County. The talk was about sustainability and how current social and philosophical attitudes make achieving it more difficult. The accompanying photo show showed the effects of fracking in Pennsylvania and world wide climate change. The video includes the full lecture, photos and follow up questions.
Rochester Indymedia is now requiring editor approval for account creation.
We came to this decision after we had repeated spam posted to our website that caused difficulty with the website's functioning. We will still have open publishing and keep our site as nonrestrictive and accessible as possible.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. As before, we will continue to be Rochester's grassroots news and education site. Thank you for your continued support and remember, "Don't hate the media, be the media!"
Editorial Meeting Times / Locations
The Rochester Independent Media Center (R-IMC) is no longer meeting regularly. We will set up meetings by necessity and appointment. Please contact us at rochesterindymedia@rocus.org. Our home is still the Flying Squirrel Community Space at 285 Clarissa St. Occasionally, we hold meetings at RCTV located at 21 Gorham Street.
