Submitted by Jalil Muntaqim from his blog Behind the Walls on Sat, 2013-10-12 09:25
[Rochester Indymedia would normally put the link to the original article here. However, it appears that Jalil Muntaqim's blog site has been removed. We are unsure why.]
Blog #21
Ballot or Bullet
I remember when El Hajj Malik Shabazz (MalcolmX) gave a speech in which he projected our struggle moving forward would be defined by either the ballot or the bullet. He explained that if it was not possible to change America for the good,subject to the enactment of the Voting Rights Act, and Black people not being hindered in casting their vote, it would be necessary to engage in revolutionary armed struggle.
Following her extended stay in Afghanistan, peace activist Kathy Kelly returned to Rochester on Oct. 4 to relay the lessons from her time in the Middle East.
She was joined by fellow activists Buddy Bell and Cathy Breen. Bell recently returned from Afghanistan. Breen spent last winter in Iraq and Syria, where she spoke with refugees who fled to Syria from the war in Iraq, only to return to Iraq to escape civil war in Syria.
On September 20, 2013, the United Christian Leadership Ministry held a press conference denouncing the astonishing bail increase for Brenda Hardaway as well as announcing their demands.
The press conference was held at Peace Baptist Church at 6 Oregon Street.
I oppose Resolution 32 because the funneling of a combination of Gates Foundation money and tax payer dollars into a large for-profit business advising firm located outside of our community epitomizes the surrender of local school districts to privatization. I believe that the two recently added high level management efficiency positions in the district are occupied by competent and well paid individuals who can succeed in finding relevant efficiencies and savings. In terms of long term budgeting, I have confidence that our CFO and budget professionals can do this work.
Submitted by Jessica Freedman on Wed, 2013-09-18 17:58
Local residents challenging the practice of the Greece Town Board just filed their brief with the United States Supreme Court. As the brief points out, most of the people who attend Board meetings have little choice but to be there, and they face substantial pressure to participate in the prayers once they are there. The prayers, meanwhile, have almost always been explicitly Christian. The p
Brenda Hardaway sat next to her mother on Sept. 17 in the State Supreme Court waiting for her name to be called by Justice Francis A. Affronti.
When it was called shortly after 10 a.m., Hardaway didn't expect her bail to be raised to $25,000, or that she would be taken into custody at the end of the hearing with her hands pulled behind her back. She didn't expect she would be standing before the judge as the awful sinching of metal on metal resonated throughout the courtroom.
She certainly didn't expect her face to be streaming with tears as she looked to her mother. Nor did she she expect her mother, Claire Taylor, would be crying too, as she watched her daughter being taken away in handcuffs.
Green Party candidate Alex White announced a "New Deal" for Rochester NY if voters elect him mayor in November. It includes proposals to create jobs by putting local people to work, not by building buildings. White has also called for changes in law enforcement including a new Chief of Police.
Anti-semitic hate mail was sent to a woman after she spoke out about the Town of Greece opening its town board meetings with Christian prayer.
"What the Fuck is the matter with you Bitch. Stay the Hell out of your town , you Jew Bitch. Hitler should have exterminated all of you damn Jew problems, he must have missed your Jew Fucker parents," stated the letter. "Get a LIfe you divorced old whore! God, you are ugly bitch." It was signed "The Man."
