Last weekend I visited the Attica Correctional Facility for a special summer picnic, a rare opportunity to visit with incarcerated friends and family in a somewhat relaxed outdoor atmosphere. I arrived at the prison at 8:30 in the morning and waited with other visitors for more than three hours in a small room-- with no books, music, or phone allowed to pass the time--until my number was called, then climbed into a van and passed through the enormous walls of the prison. A few minutes before noon my friend emerged; we enjoyed the sunshine and the food (for which each prisoner had pre-paid), and a scant two and a half hours later we were called back to be processed out. Luckily, I enjoyed some conversation while standing in line with another visitor, however the long wait time compared with the short visit time was still frustrating. Add the two hour drive time and you're looking at a pretty discouraging ratio of effort to reward.
On Wednesday, June 12, 2013, sometime around 5:30pm, the Martin family and their lawyers held a press conference in the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center in Sanford, FL. Benjamin Crump and Tracy Martin spoke about their faith in the jury selection process and the fact that Trayvon was not on trial, but George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed the 17-year-old in February of 2012.
On June 11, 2013, R-IMC interviewed Julia McKnight-Cius and Joseph Cius about the George Zimmerman trial happening currently in Sanford, FL. at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center. George Zimmerman is on trial for second degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Cephus "Uncle Bobby" Johnson, the uncle of murdered Oscar Grant was in Sanford, FL. for the first day of the George Zimmerman trial. He compared his nephew's case with Trayvon Martin's.
On the first day of the George Zimmerman trial (June 10, 2013) in Sanford, FL., George's brother Robert gave a press conference in the afternoon in the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center.
Gregory Lipper, attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church and State speaks in Rochester, NY, on 6/5/13. Mr. Lipper spoke on the case Town of Greece vs Galloway and Stephens, which will be argued in the U.S. Supreme Court later in 2013.
Sanford, FL—It's almost 10:00am and court is in recess with no word from Judge Debra S. Nelson regarding when the trial against George Zimmerman will start. Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old who was walking back to the home of his father's fiancee from a local convenience store on February 26, 2012.
Submitted by Take Back the Land Rochester on Wed, 2013-06-12 08:33
On the evening of June 11, 2013 a Representative from Fannie Mae called Renee Madison to notify her that the imminent eviction of her family has been called off as they re-review her case. This is after Renee Brooks defied her 72 hour eviction notice (which expired June 6, 2013) and Take Back the Land Rochester, community supporters, and her neighbors rallied to stop the eviction and demand Fannie Mae negotiate a settlement so the family can stay in their home of 17 years. For more background see Renee's public letter to Fannie Mae.
Submitted by Rochester Indymedia on Tue, 2013-06-11 07:30
5/20/13--WDKX water cooler with Chief James Sheppard of the RPD: "We're gonna be very proactive (about the violence in the city). What we're gonna get is a lot of complaints--we're stoppin' people and we shouldn't be doin' this and we're harassing people in the 'hood. Folks, that's where the violence is happening and that's where we're gonna be and that's where we're gonna be doing our business.
So it's 12:30am, Monday, June 10, 2013 and I'm sitting at a desk in a motel just outside the historic district of Sanford, Florida. Between reading Facebook links leading to stories about Bradley Manning, Trayvon Martin (one, two, three), Benny Warr, Edward Snowden, Fatima Woods, and eviction defenses/housing as a human right (one, two), and a report issued by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement in April 2013 titled “Operation Ghetto Storm” that highlights the “extrajudicial killings of 313 black people by police, security guards, and vigilantes,... Every 28 Hours” in 2012, I'm reminded of the fact that the world is one of interconnection. So as I watch the trial of George Zimmerman, my heart is in Rochester where I'm missing an organizing meeting focused on Benny Warr and Enough is Enough and a community march lead by youth from Teen Empowerment in the southwest of the city. Of course, these things relate back to Trayvon Martin, gun control, latent and overt forms of individual and institutional racism, and the general move toward more and more authoritarianism and fascism on Turtle Island (as if we aren't there yet...).
Ream Kidane of the International Socialist Organization gave a presentation on how the so-called "War on Drugs" has sparked a new legal system much like the old "Jim Crow" laws that followed the Civil War. Under Jim Crow, black and white people were separated by law. The laws were repealed in 1965.
The presentation was followed by a discussion. Present at the meeting was Benny Warr, a local disabled man who was caught up in a recent violent police action while waiting for a bus.
Open Letter to Fannie Mae from Renee Madison in Rochester, NY
Federal National Mortgage Association
Attorneys: Rosicki and Rosicki, P.C.
Attn: Gillian Brown and Ralph Bernard
51 East Bethpage Road
Plainview, NY 11803
June 6, 2013
Dear Federal National Mortgage Association, a/k/a Fannie Mae,
My name is Renee Madison and I live at 612 Brooks Ave., Rochester, NY 14619 where I’ve lived for 17 years with my family. I live here with my two daughters and my partner. After I was unjustly foreclosed on, Fannie Mae bought my house at auction and is now trying to evict my family. Fannie Mae sent the Rochester City Marshal to my door to deliver a 72 hour eviction notice on Monday, June 3, 2013. I am requesting that you immediately stay the eviction and so my family has time to buy the house back.
THE DISPOSSESSED: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula LeGuin is a thought experiment on how an anarchist society would work. I read this science fiction novel when it first came out in 1974 and I re-read it a few weeks ago because of a new-found interest in anarchism.
The novel begins with the journey of the physicist Shevek from the hardscrabble planet Anarres, which was settled by anarchists a century and a half previously, to the lush planet Urras, a caricature of our own world in the 1970s.
In alternating chapters, it tells the story of Shevek’s life on Annares and its discontents, leading up to his decision to leave, and his adventures on Urras and how grotesque a society based on power and profit seems in his eyes.
The Dispossessed is worth reading as a novel, but in addition it gives an idea of how a possible anarchist society could function and, more importantly, the moral foundations of such a society. Anarres is flawed and falls short of its ideals of individual freedom, mutual aid and voluntary cooperation, but is still infinitely preferable to the money-hungry, power-hungry nations of Urras.
A few short weeks ago I told you about ROC Transit Day 2013. The idea is simple… pedestrians make for a vibrant city. The more people Rochester has walking the streets instead of driving, the stronger our community will be; and the stronger our local economy will be. ROC Transit Day is a holiday from our cars. It’s a day to celebrate local businesses. And it’s a day to cast a symbolic vote for a stronger transit system…
The United States and British governments treat Julian Assange like the ultimate terrorist threat.
Members of the London Metropolitan Police, wearing Kevlar vests, surround the Ecuadorian embassy, where Assange has taken refuge, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They occupy the front steps and entrances, they occupy street corners nearby, one police officer occupies a room in a building adjoining Assange’s room. Chris Hedges, a journalist and former war correspondent, said the Metropolitan Police spent the equivalent of $4.5 million in surveillance of Julian Assange just through January 31.
On May 1st, 2013, Benny Warr was waiting for the bus on Jefferson Ave. when police arrived to clear the block. Doing nothing wrong, he repeated he was waiting for the bus. He was then violently thrown from his wheelchair and brutalized by officers Joseph M. Ferrigno II, Anthony R. Liberatore, and Sgt.Mitchell R. Stewart II. Mr. Warr's experience is not singular. Police brutality occurs all over the city. In response, the community screams "Enough Is Enough!" Click here for more information!
