… who looks after things.
I managed to catch a portion of the rally held by SLAM in conjunction with SEIU local 615. I have a bunch of pictures, but there were lots of other folks taking pictures too. And there is some very good reportage from Andrew at Cambridge Common. In fact, it’s better than mine. Sadly, I missed Vice Mayor Marj Decker and Councillor Brian Murphy and I couldn’t stay for the greeting of Pr.Larry. But I had time to take one parting shot.
This post came to me through a fellow Harvard staffer - David Dance. He works at
Phillips Brooks House
which has a lot of fond memories for me. It is Harvard’s institutional
outreach to the rest of the world. It even has its own entrance to the
Yard which is now chained shut for security reasons most of the time.
David picketed outside during the Mass Hall sit-in in ‘72. He was a community activist in Dorchester. Harvard needs him.
—–
March with Congressman John Lewis
Place: First Chursh in Roxbury, 10 Putnam St., Boston
Time: Sunday, October 30, 2005 Rain or shine. Program: 1:00
p.m. March: 2:00 p.m.
Forty years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led marchers on an
historic march from Selma to Montgomery, show your commitment to the
fight for civil rights and the importance of political engagement by
walking with us from Roxbury to the Boston Common.
Congressman John Lewis of Georgia will lead a commemorative march along
a route similar to that of a march led by Dr. King in 1965 to protest
the segregation of Boston’s public schools. Read about Congressman
Lewis and his role as one of the “Big Six” leaders of the Civil Rights
Movement at www.house.gov/johnlewis/bio.html
More information at: www.mfh.org/retracingthestruggle
[I was too fast and loose with these links. :( Fixed now.]
 |
A message to y’all from Hugo Chavez. Perhaps I exagerate. The message comes from Jorge Marin who works at the embassy here and showed me The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. The message [not the movie] is about un hombre de paz, Felix Arroyo. I live in Dorchester. Felix is a Boston City Councilor at Large. Dorchester People for Peace endorsed him. I voted for him. He’s running again. DPP endorsed again.I’ll vote for him again. Fenstermacher is not quite Latino, but I know some [like Jarrett Barrios]. Latinos for Felix Arroyo invite you to the 3rd annual “Felix Fiesta” in support of Boston City Councilor Felix D. Arroyo. |
The only face I recognized in the crowd at the Revolution was a young woman organizer from SEIU, none of her friends who call me[everything up to] counter-revolutionary were there [and yet they use him as an example when it is convenient.] She told me her union had told her not to get involved with other unions. I was not fooled. I knew she had.
I later learned that a Latino from the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice was there. We met at another Bolivarian meeting. We went to Au Bon Pain and talked things over. We agreed on a lot. “Idealogical groups,” he said, “often don’t really put priority on ideology. It’s really about ‘the group’.”Among the 2/3 of HUCTW members that do not vote, there are quite a few who agree with us two. I know them. I know one that belongs to a collective that puts out a left economics magazine. Their stuff is much more useful than the tabloids. The Solidarity Game is nasty, nasty, nasty. You think the Powers That Be don’t know? They know they are a small minority.That’s their goal! [Sadly, it seems to be the goal of some reform groups too. I polled better than most of them 
] They know they are still in power. I mean this on all levels, not just HUCTW. They ARE afraid, but seeing you play the game by the same rulesputs them at ease. Shame on you.
Prof Jayati Ghosh [I must use full honorifics because she is a visitor]
gave the first of three Massey Lectures on 2005: American Empire. A
year or so from now, Harvard University Press will publish the full
text of the lecture. It cannot possibly be as good as hearing her in
person. Working in the Littauer Building [North Yard] one gets the
impression that some folks think the American Empire is doing just
fine. Prof. Jayati did not describe a unique end state, but she did
point that the Empire is in a whole bunch of trouble.
I especially
appreciated [in a gawking at an auto wreck sort of way] her description
of how the Military Industrial Complex has been used to stabilize an
economy which has otherwise questionable fundamentals. [Professor N.
Gregory refuses to think about such things.] In response to her remarks
about the relative benefits of being an Empire vs. developing country,
an audiant asked if in fact India had not benefitted handsomely from
the outsourcing of American jobs. She replied that some people had
benefitted handsomely, but that they are quite few in number. It might
be good for us to pursue her views on outsourcing and more generally
unionization.
She made these remarks
in the Barker Center just outside the south east corner of the Yard.
Maybe that explains how she could get away with it. Anyway, y’all will
have another chance to hear her today at 4:00 PM in the
northeast corner of the Yard - Robinson Hall, Lower Library.
You simply must go by Ghosh!
Professor, I know this little play on your name is not new to you,
but
it’s new to me and I thought probably some others. I hope it doesn’t
offend. I sort of lied to you. I will not, in fact, have to infiltrate
Harvard University Press. My MP3 recorder worked reasonably well. But I
cannot come today, so it will be a new challenge. I will see if I can
come to the reception. I wish I could bring an iris, but that is
another challenge.
“>Guest Post By SLAM [Really! -r]
Sever Hall 113 -The Teach-in of the year [so far :)] was last night. We heard:
*Harvard janitors demanding better wages and benefits
*Harvard security officers fighting for respect on the job
*Workers standing up for their rights in Cambridge & Boston
AND hear from an International Human Rights Delegation including…
*Hon. David Bonior: Former Michigan Representative and House Whip
*Rev. Calvin Morris: Director, Community Renewal Society, Chicago
*Marieclaire Acosta: Human rights activist and former Deputy
Secretary for Human Rights and Democracy, Mexico
*Veronique Marleau: Human rights activist and consultant to the
United Nations International Labor Organization, Quebec
*Maria Adela Mejia Perez: Activist and union organizer, Guatemala
Moderated By Cambridge Vice Mayor Marjorie Decker
With an introduction By Professor John Womack, History Department
Students were reminded that they have the power to support
workers at Harvard and workers all over the Boston area.
Brought to you by: Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM), American
Rights at Work, Boston Student Labor Action Project, SEIU Local 615
————————————-
student * labor * action * movement
————————————-
This is how you can make an impact RIGHT NOW.
1. SIGN THE PETITION. http://hcs.harvard.edu/~slam/petition.htm
2. ASK YOUR STUDENT GROUP To sign on to the campaign for justice.
3. PUT UP A WINDOW SIGN. Come and get one at Phillips Brooks House.
4. SAVE THE DATE. March on Harvard. Friday. October 28. 4:15.
5. TALK TO WORKERS. And get to know what we’re fighting for.
Please see our official website at:
——————————————————————-
www.harvardslam.com // harvardslam@yahoo.com
——————————————————————-
“>
Vice Mayor Marj Decker[speaking] ;Lance Corporal Alex Arredondo USMC[standing guard]
I committed the ultimage sin of the blogoshere! I was as inert to a big, big story as the mainstream media. I was at Cambridge City Council when Vice Mayor Marj Decker called for the impeachment of President Geroge W. Bush. Of course, it was by no means the first time I had heard the idea. The blogosphere is alive with it. So, I said to myself, “Sure!”. But, it wasn’t until Saturday September 17, 2005 when Cindy Sheehan came to the Cambridge Common that it hit me [with a little reminding from Marj]. Here an elected official, a mainstream politician is calling for the impeachment of POTUS! I am sorry Madam Vice Mayor.
Next week, the Harvard’s History of American Civilization program will sponsor a
series of three guest lectures. I’m guessing this will offer a
different perspective than oh … say … Thomas Friedman’s flat earth
theory* or Larry Summer’s contribution
to Social Analysis 78.
[Can’t find the link? Mouse the title.]
*which amongst other misdeeds, offers a totally revisionist
history of Micro$oft DOS and later Windows [which Steve Jobs basically stole from Xerox PARC] - the greatest trail of asymmetric
information in the history of markets.
The
Institute for Defense & Disarmament Studies is celebrating the 25th
Aniversary of the Nuclear Freeze with a 2.5 day conference. IDDS is [in
their own words]
an independent, non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
center dedicated to research, alternative policy studies,
and public education on ways to reduce the risk of war, minimize
military spending, and foster democratic institutions.
The
founding director, Dr. Randall Forsberg, came out early against John
Kerry’s position on the Iraq War. When he refused to change his vote,
she challenged him [unsuccessfully] for his Senate seat. You might ask,
“Is nonproliferation by pre-emptive war a good policy” and get some
answers that might not turn your stomach. I would think that if you
want to argue [as a woman from the ILGWU did at another conference]
that North Korea is entitled to nuclear weapons, you will find it a
tough sell.
You can register online. The food events cost money, but you can register [as I did] for $ 0.00.
The continuing genocide in Iraq. I’ve lost track of Darfur. Jillian
asked us how we could not know about the devastion in New Orleans
before Katrina. I did know. Long ago. The news did nothing to remind
me. It worked hard to keep me from remembering. And then one night a
voice. Oddly, a woman’s voice - Laura Flanders . Some people condemn me
as reactionary for listening to her, but they were not the ones to tell
me what was to come. Nor were they the ones to tell me that the Gretna police had turned back a hundred people trying to escape NOLA on foot.
This administration has boldly said, “We’re an empire now.” That is, I
believe, a first. [Not being an empire, saying it out loud. We’re
supposed to be a democracy or at least a republic remember? Curiously,
even George F. Kennan, author of the famous ‘containment’ policy
argued that there are intrinsic limits to what it is appropriate for our form of government to do in foreign affairs.]
But it’s not enough that You know how bad things are. It matters who else knows. It matters how you tell them.
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