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Submitted by Rochester Indymedia (Special thanks to Ursula Rozum from the Syracuse Peace Council) on Thu, 2016-04-28 11:55
Rochester Indymedia's Ted Forsyth spoke with Ursula Rozum of the Syracuse Peace Council about the New York Tactical Officers Association's "SWAT Conference" happening in Syracuse, NY, April 26 - 28 and what is being done to stop it.
True subversions require a model that is nourished not by capitalist reward but by an effective shock sounded out from the artist, through an observing (group of) human, and back into artist. A moment thus created is pure moment of potential change.
Subversive efforts necessarily require that familiar or educational slogans are abandoned. Familiar elements are crucial for an initial level of acceptance or recognition by viewer/absorber/audience, but must undergo a serious level of deconstruction and/or uncomfortable recombination with potentially dissonant elements. Messages must be condensed into a form streamlined into essential nugget[s], delivered perhaps with an additional (non)emotional (ritual) twist, a new and further dissonance.
What a bunch of malarkey. Having read the actual "report", I can say, without a doubt, that its conclusion was determined before the committee was even formed and comes directly from the desires of Van White, Todd Baxter, and other interested parties.
Nearly half of the committee was comprised of those with military, police, fire department background. Of the ten "key community leaders" who were interviewed, one was Klein Steel (educating children is a lot like selling steel after all), another was the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, then there was the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Instructors, as well as the Leadership Academy for Young Men, which just happens to have a JROTC component.
Got all the military and sympathetic business leaders in, but "Time and scheduling constraints prevented the Committee Co-Chairs from interviewing the RCSD Interim Superintendent, members of the Rochester City School Board, and the surrounding town supervisors." Don't remember seeing any parent groups listed either... And "When asked about other types of school options that should be considered, key leaders [read military and business] suggested boarding school and charter school models." No surprises there.
Support for this (non)-idea comes overwhelmingly from the suburbs (83%) according to surveys. Survey participation was also 19% Black, 14% Hispanic, 41% White. RCSD breakdown is 60% Black, 26% Hispanic, 10% White. Not exactly what I'd call representative. Thankfully, the committee took the time to get input from a completely unbiased group of RCSD students. "The student group was made up mainly of JROTC cadets.." Oops...
The report also claims to have the support of RTA President Adam Urbanski. Except, according to Adam Urbanski, RTA only supported the participation of RCSD on the committee. Semantics, semantics...
I could go on and on, but here's the kicker: "What did the Advisory Committee determine to be the best configuration for the military component of the school? Answer and Results Summary: Submit an application for a National Defense Cadet Corps (NDCC), which results in a full RCSD cost-incurred plan..." That's right, according to this report, we need this military academy so badly that we ought to assume the full cost ($25million+ over first 4 years) rather than apply for funding and suffer any delay! Of all the programs we could be putting our money into this is the big idea proposed by our school board's president? I'm disappointed to say the least.
About 80 people gathered in Washington Square park on April 21, the day before Earth Day, to raise awareness of Climate Change. The event was organized by Mothers Out Front. Some were wearing hats topped with windmills. Non-polluting wind energy is one of the "renewable" options to replace fossil fuels which add carbon to the atmosphere. A proposal to build an off shore wind farm on lake Ontario is facing political opposition. The problem, as many stated, is a system which puts profit for a few over people. The march continued around the block with a stop and some songs in front of the Rundell library, and ended back at the park a half hour later.
Submitted by Rochester Indymedia on Thu, 2016-04-21 11:19
Below is the labor contract between the City of Rochester and the Rochester Police Locust Club (the recognized bargaining unit of Rochester Police Department officers) from July 2008 to June 2013. The document has been added to the FOIL tab above on the website.
In a post on his blog, Kristian Williams, author of Our Enemies In Blue, writes about police unions, "Police are part of the management apparatus of capitalism. Therefore, they are not workers like other workers, and their 'unions' serve interests that are diametrically opposed to those of the working class."
Truthout also reported on a letter delivered to the "joint council of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2865 [in August 2015] calling on the AFL-CIO to end its affiliation with the International Union of Police Associations," according to the article, Black Labor Organizers Urge AFL-CIO to Reexamine Its Ties to the Police.
Submitted by The Chronic Homeless Workgroup on Mon, 2016-04-18 13:13
Volunteers from the Rochester/Monroe County Homeless Continuum of Care’s CHRONIC HOMELESS WORKGROUP gathered at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 16, 2016, to do a spring cleaning and trash removal for area homeless. It was a collaborative idea that sprung naturally from advocates’ keen understanding of what homeless people work hard to maintain on a day-to-day basis.
Imagine living outdoors with your wits and scarce supplies to sustain you, and nowhere close to throw garbage away. Imagine your things getting ruined all the time, that then must be replaced, because it rained or snowed again last night. In the spring, with the snow gone, the trash is insurmountable and finally visible. The Chronic Homeless Workgroup is a practical and caring group of folks, and decided to pitch in to help.
"Racism Lives Here" is an incredible response / resource for those on and off the University of Rochester campus looking to understand structural racism and why the university's "We're Better Than That" campaign fails miserably.
It can happen, and the most effective way it can happen is through personal anecdotes and connecting emotionally with someone (one reason I write this blog!). It’s going to happen through one-on-one conversations, as opposed to on a mass scale (although you never know… things do tend to snowball after a certain point!), and (unfortunately) it’s most likely not going to happen by pointing out facts and statistics to someone.
A study was just published in last week’s issue of Science Magazine. I heard about it through This American Life‘s most recent episode called For Your Reconsideration. If you want to hear the pertinent content, click on the link – there’s a player right on that page, and just skip ahead to the times between 22:20 and 29:00.
It’s about canvassers going door to door to talk to people about transgender issues, and the data was recorded and processed. The canvassers (who were both transgender themselves, and allies – and both were equally effective!) utilized a persuasion technique that’s been developed for close to 50 years by the LGBT Center in California. It’s called analogic perspective taking: “By inviting someone to discuss an experience in which that person was perceived as different and treated unfairly, a canvasser tries to generate sympathy for the suffering of another group—such as gay or transgender people.”
Submitted by Enough Is Enough on Wed, 2016-04-13 21:54
Enough Is Enough is reading and discussing the essay "Ella Baker and Models of Social Change" by Charles Payne for the month of April. Feel free to check out the reading below and offer your constructive criticisms and affirmations on their reading group Facebook page or come to a meeting on Tuesdays, 7-9pm, at the Flying Squirrel Communtiy Space (285 Clarissa St.)!
Submitted by Take Back The Land Rochester (Video/Photos: Julie Gelfand Photos: Pat Mannix) on Mon, 2016-04-11 14:26
This morning (April 5, 2016) over 20 officers from both the Rochester Police Department and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office arrived at Liz McGriff's house, along with a Uhaul truck, a crew with lots of plywood, and lots and lots of crime tape. The street was blocked off to traffic while they seized the home, removed whatever belongings were in the house, and boarded up the windows and doors. A crowd of over 20 supporters gathered to voice their disapproval, and two protesters were arrested.
On April 4, 2016, a protest was held against the Erie County Holding Center and Sheriff Timothy Howard demanding answers and accountability for the murder of Rochester native and Buffalo resident India Cummings.
Rochester Police Department officers Christopher Kosch and Nicholas Thomas--the two officers that racially profiled Daryl Appleberry and brutalized Scean Gordon--were involved in another excessive use of force case that was settled before trial. The case involved these two officers and others who brutalized a man named Cardell Libbett. Kosch and Thomas are no strangers to exercising violence under the color of law.
Submitted by Rochester Indymedia / Take Back The Land Rochester on Sat, 2016-03-26 12:54
Below is a partial breakdown of the ongoing struggle Elizabeth McGriff has been going through with MidFirst Bank and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. The videos are first with descriptions after. The breakdown starts with Liz and Take Back The Land protesting in front of and inside the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and ends with a video of Liz explaining her situation from July of 2015. Housing is a human right! Fight! Fight! Fight!
What makes the Syracuse model interesting, is that a) it's close to Rochester and within New York State, b) it has administrative subpoena power, which it can use without going through hoops, and c) it conducts a parallel and independent investigation, next to the police investigation, of all complaints.
Rochester's current Civilian Review Board, or CRB, lacks subpoena power, independent investigations (the police conduct the only investigation), and the final determinations of complaints and disciplining of officers is vested in the hands of the chief of police--regardless of findings from the Civilian Review Board. In short, our Civilian Review Board was built to fail to the people of Rochester.
In this edition of "From the vault," we've got six new videos for your pleasure!
#1: Advocates for Universal Health Care Rally at MVP Insurance
Advocates for Universal Health Care from the Rochester region joined with communities all over the country on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, in day of Action demanding health care for all. The protest targeted MVP insurance.
Feb. 3, 2016 - At the Monroe County Board of Elections, local supporters and delegates of the Bernie Sanders campaign filed petitions to get their candidate on the Democrat Party ballot. Only WXXI was there to cover the event. Local supporters collected 3 times the amount required to help get Sanders on the ballot.
Submitted by rbarnabas2016 on Sat, 2016-03-05 02:05
I worked with former channel 8 reporter Natasha Alford on this piece this past summer and she is now doing great work with The Grio now in NY city. This piece explores the over-policing invasion of schools. To counter the school-to-prison pipeline, alternative disciplinary practices such as restorative justice, have been introduced to the Rochester City School District by Metro Justice, the M.K. Gandhi Institute of Non-violence, and Teen Empowerment.
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.
