Archive for March, 2010

Viva Chavez and Community Organizing

Thoughts on organizer Cesar Chavez on a day he is remembered as his 83rd birthday. From Mando: Si Se Puede is reaching out to people and getting connected, it’s helping people that need help & being helped when we need it, it’s undoing the wrong and making it right, and it’s standing up for what [...]

Working Assumptions and Guidelines for Alliance-Building

By Ricky Sherover-Marcuse Since, under present world conditions, everyone either is now, or has been, or will be at some time a target of social oppression, and since everyone is now, or has been, or will be in a non-target group in relation to some other group’s oppression, alliance-building is for everyone. Everyone of us [...]

Shots Across the Cultural & Political Bow

off cover of new rhymefest mixtape

What Tami Said has written about Jill Scott’s recent Essence magazine article on interracial relationships and the maginalization of Black women’s voices and beauty. The Scott piece “has everything to do with the story of African-descended peoples in America. More specifically, it has to do with the history and present of black women in America. [...]

Autonomy and Participatory Democracy: An Ongoing Discussion on the Application of Zapatista Autonomy in the United States

ezln zapatista

Interview of Roberto Flores and Greg Tanaka, by Peter McLaren Over the last six years, the Zapatista struggle in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, has attracted the attention of those actively seeking social justice throughout the world. The Labor Party of Brazil in Porto Alegre, the mayor of Venice in Italy, and hundreds of thousands [...]

Indonesia’s Poor People’s Union Resists

Shanty residents face eviction as developers and government officials conspire to get the courts to do their bidding through fraudulent claims and documents. “The developers want to build multi-story luxury apartments and more shopping malls for the rich. The residents and the Poor People’s Union (Serikat Rakyat Miskin Indonesia, SRMI) are resisting.” [youtube 4VD5YHJdU10]

Orlando Tamayo, Ideological Battering Rams & Defending Revolution

The case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, many contend, is being manipulated by the global corporate media to mobilize anti-Cuban sentiments and reshape the debate around human rights. There have been many responses to the continuing destabilization campaign against Cuba. A good question for organizers: how should activists respond to counter campaigns that may address an [...]

New Women’s Organizing Project Kicks Off

The New Mythos Project is building a network of women engaged in social justice work through spiritual and creative ways, in their everyday lives. Organizers write, “We are invested in building a network to share with other radical m/others, mamis & community caregivers to fortify our collective lives and work.” The project kicks off with [...]

New Study Guides: Anti-Colonial Classics, Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin

New study guides, bringing together several notable writings by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin as well as classics in the anti-colonial/national liberation current of struggle, are available now under the Study Guides tab. Kom’boa is an enduring figure in radical community organizing. The former Black Panther Party activist and author of Anarchism and the Black Revolution gained [...]

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-28

National Rally Today for Immigrant Rights: As immigrant-rights activists rally today in Washington, D.C., the Nati… http://bit.ly/91RrmM # Sharpeville Anniversary a Reminder of Black Inequality http://bit.ly/cwJRLh # Movement Against Black Murders By Aussie Cops http://bit.ly/bVOA4a # Dear Funk the War: A Word on Organizing http://bit.ly/d7uNgR # Fight Evictions Against Mexico’s Poor http://bit.ly/9IN2jX # Black is Back Represents Anti-imperialism in the Bay [...]

Economic Disparities Impact Black Women Most

black woman

Women of all races bring home less income and own fewer assets, on average, than men of the same race, but for single black women the disparities are so overwhelmingly great that even in their prime working years their median wealth amounts to only $5. In a groundbreaking report released Monday by a leading economic [...]

Saturday Radical Culture: Asian Dub Foundation

United Kingdom-based band Asian Dub Foundation has been making political music for many years. “Naxalite” is their tribute to the South Asian rebellions happening today. [youtube YZUaNZz1OYA]

Welcome Infoshop Visitors

People Of Color Organize! was recognized by infoshop.org as its site of the day. We’re thus getting lots of new visitors to this website. Welcome! People Of Color Organize! is a new website launched only a few weeks ago. Pardon the newness, and tweaks that may be happening in real time. New contributors, suggestions for [...]

Dalit Women Organize Against Caste, Gender Discrimination

dalit women

By Meera Velayudhan Since the mid-1990s, Dalit women’s groups and platforms have expressed three concerns: impact of state policies, patriarchal bias of Dalit movements, and upper-caste/middle-class leadership of the women’s movement. Since then concerted efforts have been made to highlight these through common actions and other forms of engagement. These have led to wider alliances [...]

Dhoruba Bin Wahad on Revolutionary vs. Reform Organizing

Former Black Panther Party leader, Panther 21 defendant and political prisoner Dhoruba Bin Wahad recently debated U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison on Black politicians and differences between electoral/reform organizing versus grassroots work. The bulk of the debate is in part three. Part One: [bliptv AYHNohgC] Part Two: [bliptv AYHNpBkC] Part Three: [bliptv AYHNpiEC]

Black is Back Represents Anti-imperialism in the Bay

omali yeshitela

On Saturday, March 20, the Uhuru Solidarity Movement led a contingent at the San Francisco anti-war mobilization with chants putting forward victory to Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and to African people and expressing solidarity with reparations to African people. At the rally in the Civic Center before the march, Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African Socialist [...]

Fight Evictions Against Mexico’s Poor

protest mexico

On February 17, 100 families were evicted from the Nuevo Sol housing estate, leaving its inhabitants without a roof over their heads. That morning, an individual appeared without legal written orders accompanied by 200 police, trained dogs and bulldozers to carry out the eviction. The housing is located in Santiago de la Pena, in the [...]

Mexico’s Indigenous Fight for Stolen Land

Mexico’s economically disadvantaged struggle for ancestral land taken away from them by the wealthy. [youtube bJ9cfpw5lnY]

Dear Funk the War: A Word on Organizing

Upset the Setup critiques Funk the War following that group’s recent paint-throwing protest at a military recruiting center. In that critique are some important reminders of what grassroots organizing is all about: Change requires that you talk to people, build relationships, and speak truth to power. Please explain to me how throwing paint on a [...]

Movement Against Black Murders By Aussie Cops

“The Aboriginal community is moving to call for a national day of action against Black deaths in custody on Saturday April 10,” Queensland Aboriginal leader and Socialist Alliance member Sam Watson told Green Left Weekly on March 19. “We are calling on all state and federal governments across Australia to conduct a national audit of [...]

Sharpeville Anniversary a Reminder of Black Inequality

sharpeville massacre

South Africa marks the 50th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre that drew global outrage. Family members of the victims reportedly raised flowers to the sky and place them on gravestones, as mourners sang songs from the anti-apartheid struggle. Still, others used the anniversary to highlight the inequalities that are still evident in South Africa, specifically [...]