SciSoc

[sharminultra]

ACTIVISTS DROP BANNER AT METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: DEMAND GUANTANAMO BE SHUT DOWN.

  Demonstration video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKuP1bgTerU&feature=youtube_gdata

On the evening of Friday, November 1st, human rights activists entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, New York to call attention to the issue of the solitary confinement and the illegal imprisonment and torture of prisoners at Guantanamo bay. Activists peacefully entered the MET grand balcony, dropping a banner that read “End Torture, Close Guantanamo Now!” in the midst of a crowd of a few hundred visitors and singing activists. Organizers immediately started a mic check, which dispersed throughout the crowd of 20 or more strong voices who were repeating the words of the organizers.  “Good evening ladies and gentlemen! We hope you’re enjoying this beautiful art and culture! Tragically, America also has a culture of torture at Guantanamo Bay. 164 men are detained without end, and most have never been charged with a crime! The torture continues here, in US prisons, where 80,000 people waste away in solitary confinement. Brothers and sisters are tortured in our name, let’s unite to demand justice now! Thank you for your time, and please join us in the struggle for human rights.”

In efforts to bring back attention to the illegal prison in Guantanamo, activists felt the urgent need to discuss President Barack Obama’s broken campaign promises and the recent rise of entrapments, illegal detainment and torture of Muslims all over the world during this current war on terror. Over $2 trillion have been spent on our illegal occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and American prisoner practices have exceedingly disobeyed international humanitarian laws. Prisoners like Djamel Ameziane, who was a painter and chef from Algeria and has been detained without charge at the US Military Prison at Guantanamo Bay since 2002. He has been cleared for release in 2008 and now in the 9th month of a hunger strike. Over 30,000 prisoners at Pelican Bay and various other criminalization institutions in America are on hunger strike, and continue to demand better conditions of their imprisonment. Many of these prisoners are victims of solitary confinement, a practice deemed as equivalentto psychological terrorism by international human rights activists. There are millions of prisoners, including the 160 Muslim brothers who are victims of the American illegal war(s) on terror, being tortured, whether it be by force feeding or indefinite detention!  

 The Center for Constitutional Rights, human rights lawyers and activists allied with Witness Against Torture, anti-incarceration organizations like the Campaign to End the New Jim Crow, Campaign for Alternatives to Solitary Confinement, and The American Friends and Service Committee have all united in efforts to address the torture system of American imprisonment, and it is time for us to join the fight. Over fifteen prisoners remain on hunger strike in Guantanamo bay, where they are organizing against their illegal detainment after many of them have received approval for dismissal. Many of the 160 prisoners have yet to see a judge for their case, and continue to show resistance through private meetings with their lawyers who have been fighting over fifteen years for their release.  They have asked for the public to join in their struggle by contacting local congresspersons, or write the New York State governor Andrew Cuomo. 

After dropping the banner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, crowds of people exited asthey sang “We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes. We gotta close Guantanamo today, stop torture now!” A woman came up to the demonstrators in tears and appreciation for the action, saying it made her emotional because of her knowledge of prison culture and the overwhelming amounts of illegal practices the American government participates in.

Demonstrators at the Blue Lantern Project are demanding public attention to the issue and practice of solitary confinement, as well as the abuse of government power to create a mass prison industrial complex that continues to marginalize and criminalize Black and brown men. The struggle for human rights is connected to the resistance against criminalization and the continuous violence against innocent humans. 

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[redplebeian-deactivated20150604]

I find it remarkable how little of the public debate has focused on whether attacking Syria will lead to more or less suffering and death in that war torn country. For those who support the strikes, the zeal to punish is overwhelming and so it isn’t necessary to consider how many Syrian people will die from our strikes and whether our attack will facilitate or impede efforts to make peace there. The “line in the sand” has been crossed and so there must be punishment - no matter what. The parallels to our criminal punishment system couldn’t be more clear. For decades, our nation has been obsessed with meting out ever harsher punishment for crimes large and small - regardless of whether locking up millions and relegating them to a permanent, second-class status actually hurts or helps the very communities we claim that we are trying to protect. Perhaps the trillion dollars spent waging the drug war might have been better spent investing in education, job creation, and drug treatment in ghettoized, crime ridden neighborhoods. But no matter. Our government has been so determined to express it’s authority and control over poor communities of color that punishment has been the only option. Now we see a similar dynamic playing out as our government aims to show who’s boss in the Middle East. We could be debating how best to provide humanitarian relief to the staggering number of Syrian refugees fleeing the war. But a “line” has been crossed. Instead of considering how we might alleviate suffering, our President wants to attack - missile strikes and bombs are deemed the answer. Interesting how we always seem to have money for war, even during sequestration and massive budget cuts. Interesting how, for decades, we’ve had endless money to build prisons even as we close schools. There’s a saying: When all you’ve got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Desperate people here in the United States and around the world have come to learn that if you cry for help, don’t expect Uncle Sam to come running with anything but a giant hammer swinging your way

Michelle Alexander (via redplebeian)

[scisoc-blog]

Watch now: American Masters | James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket | PBS Video

Explores the life, works and beliefs of the late writer and civil rights activist.

[awkwardsituationist]

august 28, 1963 - their signs read: “we march for higher minimum wages, coverage for all workers”; "civil rights plus full employment equals freedom"; "we march for jobs for all, decent pay now"; "we demand decent housing now." so they were marching for more than civil rights and political equality; they were marching for labour rights and economic equality, as well.

this was “the march on washington for jobs and justice*.” it was an event largely organzied by bayard rustin - who was not only an openly gay man and gay rights leader but a socialist - with the help of the labour movement (hence the united auto workers hat in the bottom of the eighth photo) and religious leaders professing the social gospel (hence the frock in the sixth photo). 

so consider that in the year of the march, the unemployment level for african americans was 10.8%, while for whites it was 5%, but in 2012 it was 6.6% for whites and 12.6% for african americans - still about twice as high. and in 1960, home ownership for african americans was 26.2%, while in 2012 it was only 29.7%.

photos from the library of congress’ collection of more than 200: (1,5,7) rowland scherman (first photo of twelve year old edith lee payne); leonard freed (2,3); marion s. trikosko (6); and warren k. leffler (4,8,9,10). (*changed to “peace” in light of the assassination of medgar evers 10 weeks before the march.)

[fuckyeahdinoart]

[scisoc-blog]

Having gone to a Texas public high school for four years and having had a history teacher tell me cavemen rode dinosaurs around back in the day, there is no way I couldn't repost this.

[socialistworker]

Gender is an ideological weapon in the class war.

Tithi Bhattacharya http://wearemany.org/a/2013/06/political-economy-of-violence-against-women (via mansplainedmarxist)

[mansplainedmarxist-blog]

Karl Marx did not invent or found socialism…he just discovered it…We call in America the laws of gravity, Newton’s Laws but Newton cannot invent that a body falls at 32 feet per second squared. Marx cannot invent where capital oppresses labor that labor will rise up and overthrow capital.

Kwame Ture, responding to the oft-cited claim that socialism is a product of Europe and Eurocentric thought (via mansplainedmarxist)

[catgraph]

[socialismartnature]

March on Washington 50th Anniversary

Saturday, August 24, 2013 8:00am

This year we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. And yet despite the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, the vision of a racially just society put forward at that March remains a dream. Amidst the murder of Trayvon Martin and the shameful acquittal of Zimmerman, the rollback of the Voting Rights Act, the increasing militarization of police, the rise of mass incarceration, school closings, and disastrously high unemployment rates that disproportionately affect Blacks and Latinos, the struggle for justice continues. Join the International Socialist Organization’s contingent at the March on Washington as we demand an end to racism and injustice and as we celebrate the great legacy of the 1960s struggles, which provide an inspiring glimpse of what we can achieve when masses of people organize to fight for a better world.

[collective-truth]

Reprint Poster of the 1930 Russian FilmBerlina Kiss by csfotobiz Russian, Film, Poster, Entertainment, Reprint, Vintage, Soviet, USSR, Cinema, Movie

[socialismartnature]

This is my friend!

It’s officially out on the airwaves now. The reason I’ll be on WGN tomorrow is: Chicago is going to be on strike for NOT JUST ONE, BUT TWO WHOLE DAYS. We’re striking for dignity at work, paid sick days, $15/hour, and the right to form a union without retaliation. We’re striking for our lives. We’re striking for all workers. You know how we roll here in Chicago. Don’t cross any picket lines Wednesday or Thursday. Join them and help us fight for 15! http://fightfor15.org/en/ #fightfor15 #strikefor15

[collective-truth]

Soviet Russia Vintage “October Revolution Anniversary" Postcard - 1984 by RussianSoulVintage russian, vintage soviet, soviet russia, post cards, unused postcards, old postcards, postcards art, vestiesteam, communism, flag, red, socialism, stars

[scisoc-blog]

Milton Friedman & Augusto Pinochet in Chile concocting sinister plots.

[omicatboy-blog]

[redplebeian-deactivated20150604]

JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON: WE WILL NOT FORGET

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31

LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER

208 West 13th Street

6:30 PM

Join family members of victims of police violence and anti-racist activists for an urgent strategizing forum on next steps for the movement.

SPEAKERS:

CONSTANCE MALCOLM: Mother of Ramarley Graham, killed by Bronx police February, 2012

MICHELLE CRENTSIL: Racial Justice Activist

  THENJIWE McHARRIS: Million Hoodies

AKUA OFORI: International Socialist Organization

AIDGE PATTERSON: Peoples’ Justice

From Dream Defenders occupying Florida’s Capitol building, to the tens of thousands protesting across the country against the Zimmerman verdict, to the 1.5 million who have signed the NAACP’s petition calling for a civil rights investigation, countless people feel the urgent need for justice. How do we put an end to this racist injustice system, which lets vigilantes and police kill without consequences and devalues the lives of people of color?

Join us on July 31 to plan next steps for the fight in New York, to mobilize for the march on Washington, DC, and more.

Justice for Trayvon Martin! Justice for Ramarley Graham! Justice for Marissa Alexander! Justice for them all!

ENDORSED BY: Campaign to End the New Jim Crow, International Socialist Organization, Justice Committee, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Stop Stop & Frisk, VOCAL-NYC [list in formation]

  Free on-site childcare will be available

For more info or to endorse the panel, please go to NYCSocialist.org, phone [phone], or follow us on Twitter at @nyciso

  Help spread the Facebook invitation for this event, here

[scisoc-blog]

Vivek Chibber - Capitalism and the State

Vivek Chibber, Professor of Sociology at New York University, presented this lecture, "Capitalism and the State", as part of a Brecht Forum program at the New York Marxist School.

[socialismartnature]

omg, i love this. both the NYTimes’ bombastic reporting, and lucy parsons’ equally bombastic (but in a good way) revolutionary flare.