James O’Keefe tried to steal my vote

nbclatino:

BY ALICIA MENENDEZ

On Tuesday, April 3rd, a guy named James O’Keefe tried to steal my vote. His organization, Project Veritas, sent a woman into my Washington, DC polling place, seemingly claiming to be Alicia Menendez. Then, he taped it so that I could watch.

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1 month ago  /  4 notes  /  Source: nbclatino

Thoughts on #Occupy activists who support #JusticeForTrayvon

I’m confused by people accusing the #Occupy movement of co-opting the #JusticeforTrayvon movement when they saw them join in the #MillionHoodies march, why they do or do not participate or whether they should.

This was a topic in a news show I saw yesterday. They referenced a blog that mentioned it. Two of the reasons expressed were in relation to the race of the majority of Occupy activists and the assumption that the Occupy movement does not believe in participation in this country’s judicial system. The Trayvon Martin case relates to relying on the judicial system and it relates to race so it was assumed that Occupy participation was for reasons other than true interest in justice for Trayvon but more related to wanting media exposure for the Occupy movement.

When I watched this discussion on the show, I immediately remembered a young black man who was an #Occupy activist. He was interviewed during an Occupy event by an Occupy live streamer and began to describe his experience of police racial profiling during an Occupy event. He was describing how the officer had assumed that he was a liar and said so when they had asked him whether or not he had a clean record, getting his reply that he had a clean record.

He explained that he told the officer that he had checked before he went out earlier that week and was certain of his clean record. The officer did not believe him and he was arrested, only to be released later when the cop checked and realized that the young man had indeed told the truth. When the cop tried to release him without a way to get back to the site where he had been wrongfully arrested, he insisted that the cop return him to the site.

My point is that the Occupy activist was trying to define how his skin color had gotten him profiled and subsequently arrested. My point is that the activist was a black male and like many other black males, might have cause to support the #JusticeForTrayvon movement because they could see themselves in his experience and identify with the reality of it.

During the discussion on the show I mentioned above, one of the reasons why it was said that Occupy activists would not support this movement was that a majority of Occupy activists are white and it was also said that they express a lack of faith or belief in this country’s judicial system. I found the latter to be ironic and ludicrous because one of the repeated things I observe among Occupy activists is a strong understanding of their rights and the laws by which they must abide within the cities that they demonstrate in. I have seen them active in the judicial process and willing to meet with city officials to represent themselves in forums and hearings where their rights are being discussed and decided upon. To me this shows participation in the judicial process. Whether or not they wish to change it or dislike it, many certainly have participated in it and are knowledgeable in it.

Since when has it been required for activists to be confined to a specific cause? Since when does fighting for one injustice exclude you from caring for another, enough to support it? Social injustice, racial discrimination and our civil rights history in relation to authority, have been major subjects of focus among Occupy activists.

From my observations, no one single cause can define the goals of the Occupy movement. I honestly find it difficult to imagine how one who supports Occupy could at the same time, not find some common ground among those wearing hoodies and marching for Trayvon. I can’t imagine a deficit in Occupy activists who find cause to also join that march.

I do not consider myself an Occupy activist because I feel I have not earned that title but I wholeheartedly support the Occupy movement, find a deep sense of belonging with the cause and also with the movement demanding justice for the Trayvon Martin family.

The very details of this case force many people from various demographics and yes Occupy activists, to feel a strong, visceral sense of anger, grief, a feeling that an injustice has been committed and finally a strong desire to see justice delivered.

I cannot speak for the Martin family but I would imagine that they are grateful for people who are genuinely on their side and want justice for Trayvon, regardless of the other different banners under which they might also fight for change.

2 months ago  /  0 notes

Songs of war - A Documentary

Music elates, touches the soul and bypasses reason. Music is magic. But it is precisely this magic that can turn it into an insidious weapon – for music and violence have a longstanding partnership. The brutal power of African war dances, the ferocity of Maori Hakas, the earth-shattering roar of US sound guns blasting Metallica at Taliban hideouts – the principle is always the same: Aggressive sounds demoralize the enemy and whip the allies into a frenzy.

In ’Songs of War’, we explore the extraordinary harmony between music and violence. The film’s main protagonist is Sesame Street composer, Christopher Cerf. He always wanted his music to be fun and entertaining. But then he learned that his songs had been used to torture prisoners in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Stunned by this abuse of his work, he wanted to find out how this could happen.

Cerf embarks on a journey to learn what makes music such a powerful stimulant. In the process, he speaks to soldiers, psychologists and prisoners tortured by his music at Guantanamo and finds out how the military has been employing music as a powerful weapon for hundreds of years.

Directed by Tristan Chytroschek

Produced by A & O Buero

Due to copyright restrictions, this video can only be viewed on RT’s live feed.

Broadcast Schedule :
Repeated broadcast:

December, 2011

Dec 9 -  9:30, 13:30, 17:30, 19:22, 21:30

Dec 10 - 0:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 10:30, 14:30, 18:30, 19:23, 22:30

Dec 11 - 2:30, 5:30, 6:30, 7:30

This documentary blew my mind, I am still in the process of seeing all of the episodes but just seeing the Sesame Street Composer describe what it was like to realize that his music was used to torture prisoners of Guantanamo, then to hear similar versions of what it might sound like as they played it in the background of the documentary, it was eerie!

5 months ago  /  0 notes  /  Source: rt.com