March 4th event on New Orleans
We had been hearing reports that the organizers at NCOR were expecting
record numbers and it seems like they were not dissapointed. One organizer
told me a few days agothat they estimated the number between 1800-2000,
which would easily make it the largest NCOR to date, now in its 9th year. One
of the things you notice right away (really every time you come) is how
young and white the crowd is. It is safe to say that the attendees are at
least 80-90% white if not even more. It is something that NCOR has
struggled with over the years and that they have made significant progress
on in recent conferences but this time with an all new organizing crew (of
really young students) the contrast was pretty stark. Still with such huge
numbers in attendence there were easily a few hundred young radicals of
color there, more then almost any other annual conference in the US.
There are some larger discussions going on within the collective of how to
make NCOR more inclusive in the future, including moving it off of campus
and a few other strategies but i think the main thing is just to build on the
positive steps it has made over the years including:
- inviting better and more diverse speakers, especially from groups of people
who are not usually invited to present their ideas at 'activist conferences.'
- tailoring more panels and workshops towards things that connect with peoples
everyday lives, especially within the inner-cities (gentrification, public schools,
hip-hop activism, other forms of cultural resistance etc.)
- getting together a crew of multi-racial organizers who reflect a broader and more
diverse life experience and put more focus on local outreach in the DC area,
a city with fairly progressive politics and a majority Black and brown population.
Its not about getting down on the organizers, some of whom i met and was very
impressed with. But it is about getting serious about some of these things and
really taking steps to make sure they are implemented over the next few years beyond
the lip service. I dont think its going to be possible to move NCOR off of American
Universities campus for a while just because that is where the financial base comes
from at the moment. It would however be a huge achievement if in 2-4 years
future NCOR collectives could make that happen, because in the end these things
do need to move outside of the University setting.
On Saturday we were a part of three panels, one on 'The Economics of
Independent Media' which drew about 60-70 people, one on 'pre-figurative
and strategic politics' (which drew standing room only 60-70 people, and
the final one on 'The Revolution Will Not Be Funded' (one of the most
popular sessions of the conference) which drew around 200 people. Although
one of our speakers for the later session couldnt make it at the last
minute, Ije Ude from Sista ii Sista who came up from New Tork with us did
an amazing presentation. From what we heard afterwards people were really
into the discussion and were looking forward to continuing to develop the analysis
locally. As the 'Non-Profit Capital of the World' the issue of the
relationships between non-profits, NGOs and social movements really
resonated with DC activists.
Sunday morning was our big New Orleans panel which included great
presentations by Tameka of CR New Orleans, Mayaba also with CR NO and
Peoples Hurricane Project, and Jordan. The session was facilitated by Zein
and included a local housing activist from DC named Linda Leaks. The
session was fairly well attending with about 100 people in the audience
but i think i was personally expecting more people to come out for such an
important topic. Francesca presented the following session on 'Preaching
to the converted, the role of progressive media and social movements'
which from what i heard went really well. Late afternoon there was the
'all-star' Palestine panel that Rami put together and facilitated which included
our friends Uda, Rafeef, Adam, Mohammed and Ora (among others). The
room (which was small) was completely packed with about 60 people in attendence.
I could only stay for the first half which was excellent but im hoping to get some
audio of this workshop (as well as others) up on the blog or Left Turn website as
soon as possible.
(I have also copied point # 5 for at top of the list for emphasis.)
Rayan
____________________________________________________________
"The biggest obstacle preventing a progressive, secular, democratic movement from
blossoming in Palestine is not Hamas but the continued colonization of Palestinian
land and repression of Palestinian civil society by Israel"
1) Hamas’s victory is a protest vote by Palestinians against the horrendous
conditions they live under and a statement to those who make their daily lives
miserable - primarily the US/Israeli governments and the corrupt Fatah leadership.
Palestinian society and politics had been historically one the most secular and
progressive in the Arab world and even in this election many secular Palestinians
voted for change not for an Islamic state.
2) The Palestinian elections are a microcosm of what US foreign policy has done in
the ME in the past year. US policies have helped usher Islamists in Egypt,
Lebanon (increased Hezbollah in parliament), religious Shiites in Iraq (not
secular) and in Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a religious conservative was voted
President.
3) US and Israeli policies have historically worked against secular and
progressive movements in the region and have directly helped Islamist movements
(Israel at one point directly aided Islamists in Palestine to counter the secular
PLO in 70's and 80's). The US helped a variety of dictators in the region crush
Arab Nationalists and left secular movements and directly funded Islamist
organizations when it seemed to serve its interests.
4) Hamas won with a slogan of "reform and change" not “Islamic theocracy and
jihad”. Furthermore the vote by 77% and overwhelming majority now represents one
of the most legitimate democratic representative governments in the ME.
5) The biggest obstacle preventing a progressive, secular, democratic movement
from blossoming in Palestine is not Hamas but the continued colonization of
Palestinian land and repression of Palestinian civil society by Israel
6) The mainstream US coverage of the Palestinian elections gives no context to the
rise of Hamas. Hamas is presented as have grown out of some sort “genetic” or
"cultural" anger and irrationality of Palestinians, when in reality it is as a
result years of violence and oppression perpetuated by Israel on Palestinian
society. ( NY Times had 4 articles on the issue this weekend in one day, none
mentioned Israeli killing of Palestinians and only one mentioned that Palestinians
where occupied).
7) Groups like Hamas are much more complex and dynamic then some people in the
West think on all sorts of issues from democracy to women’s rights (that was seen
in the development of Hezbollah in Lebanon). Their Islamic rhetoric tells more
about their desperation than their aspirations. Furthermore, Hamas has for years
has successfully filled a vacuum of social services, schools and hospitals to
serve the most marginalized in Palestinian society which seems to be a the center
of their work.
8) Anti-Jewish sentiment exists in the Arab world and should be confronted by
progressive forces. But it should be understood that anti-Jewish sentiments in
the Arab world is different than historically European anti-Semitism. The
apartheid nature of the state of Israel, the racist foundations of Zionism and its
countless abuses against Palestinians and Arabs are the most significant factors
of anti-Jewish sentiments in the Middle East. Jewish minorities under Islamic
rule and in Islamic empires before Zionism faced far less institutional racism
than in Europe.
9) The argument that a Hamas victory will make Israel more right wing seems
irrelevant considering the recent history of Israeli policies. Israel did nothing
to help improve the lives of Palestinians in the past few years even when the most
malleable president, Mahmoud Abbas was in office. Palestinian negotiation with
Israel and the so called “peace process” has led to nothing but continued ethnic
cleansing, land confiscations, targeted killing and unilaterist policies.
10) As progressives and leftist in the US we should be emphasize that the growth
of Islamists and the retreat of progressive politics in the Middle East is a
direct of US imperialism. If you want progressive movements to grow in the Middle
East, fight Isreali occupation and US imperialism and support Palestinian SELF
DETERMINATION.
Daniel McGowan released on bail
ALL-CITY Represent!!!The original mission of CUNY (City College of New York) was to educate “the whole people” of New York City. ALL CITY was formed by students who realized that this mission was not being pursued. Even those with access to formal higher are not exposed to education that promotes critical thinking about the psychological, historical, social, political and economic forces that control our reality or receive the resources needed to develop ourselves and communities. Most schools are designed as factories, turning out obedient cogs in the existing economic grind and power structures.
As students and organizers, we began to realize that if we wanted the whole people educated than the people must build their own educational institution. We come from various colleges, high schools and communities to make up ALL CITY. We began a program of popular education classes to teach ourselves and to cultivate our ability to learn and act collectively. In honor of the original name of CUNY, when there was no tuition, we called this program the Free Akademy.
To live up to our name of “All City” and our dream of educating the whole people, we are creating spaces in the NYC area for folks to freely express themselves and work together to change the unjust society we live in. In response to the government’s elitist and enslaving education system we have seen how community organizations have developed spaces for educating themselves. Our desire is to grow autonomous spaces like these across the city and to form them into an institution of liberated learning and coordinated action for social change. We recognize that we cannot accomplish this alone. We want to work with students and youth to form a network across the city where people, recognizing themselves as change-agents, will share and build relevant experiences, skills and knowledge and work together to transform our world. We dedicate ourselves to the building of an educational network that educates the whole people.
The inaugural forum of the “Education as Liberation” will be the jump-off session for an ongoing action between students, youth and community organizers in building an alternative educational program. Involving people in a discussion about their experiences with the education system will open the door to forming relationships and strengthening bonds that would generate solutions for and alternatives to the inadequacies of the current situation. Sharing models that we and others have developed in response to our conditions will lead to the active creation of a growing network and to the building of further skills to fill the void for a participatory education. This forum is one of many, not a one-time event that comes and goes. It is our hope to build a continuous dialogue between NYC youth and students to help us connect our work and create the vision for the world we want to see. We are not organizing a space for people to be talked at, but a one to talk to each other. We see this as part of a much larger process of creating the relationships that are necessary for a “All City” youth and student movement.
The Meaning of Revolution Today? (part I)
"Free The P" Mixtape !
