This “In the Spotlight” post features writer, singer and guitarist Terry Sherven. The song, “Can You Hear,” was written with the Arab Spring, Wisconsin protests and Occupy movement in mind. Terry has toured all of the major Occupy sites in the Northwest — singing this song in the streets, protestors singing along with him.… [Read more]
Mommies, March, and May Day Madness
During my daily hour-long commute to work on Tuesday, I had the chance to get stuck in traffic on a city bus while the May Day march was passing through Union Square. I, along with a pair of mommies and their toddlers, marveled at the movement. I was happy to see democracy hard at work, but wondered where all those people had been since I hadn’t seen them hanging out in the square for the past few weeks.… [Read more]
May Day: Remembering the Working Class
It’s May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day. In some cultures it is a spring celebration day, and in others it is a public holiday meant to reflect upon the plight of the working class. Here in the U.S., May Day 2012 is simultaneously a remembrance of the workers’ movement and a day of organised demonstrations to protest government and corporate policies that infringe upon workers’ rights.… [Read more]
Producing the City, Producing Dissent
Radicals, said David Graeber, while holding a plastic Roman legion helmet (he just returned from an action protesting student debt), radicals have had a long unspoken pact with liberals: we incite, provoke, ask controversial questions, and liberals, now regarded as holding a more reasonable alternative to us, gain political power and enforce change. This, he went on to explain, is how political progress occurs: the Haymarket Affair was what pushed legislators to enact 8-hour workdays, it was factory occupations in the early 20th century which led to the rise of unions, and it is radical direct action which will turn the wheel of change now, in 2012.… [Read more]
Student Loan Forgiveness Act Introduced in Congress
US House Representative Hansen Clarke from Michigan introduced HR 4170, or the Student Loan Forgiveness Act, on March 8th, a bill that is extremely important in this economy, especially to the Millennium Generation. If passed, the bill would forgive outstanding student loan debt to any person who makes consecutive payments of at least 10 percent of discretionary income for ten years. … [Read more]
Holdin’ It Down With Occupy
The papers were saying that the Park Police, after crying wolf for months, were finally going to evict Occupy DC. Then I saw the headline that 11 people were arrested while resisting. I’d been meaning to pay McPherson Square another visit, but suddenly I felt a new sense of urgency. I didn’t want to wait until it was too late.… [Read more]
5 Annoying Things That Liberals Do
Everyone has a list about something or other. I’m joining the list of people who make lists; my list contains the top 5 annoying things that liberals do.
Bitch andComplain about President Obama even more than those on the right do. Hold your horses — am I saying he’s perfect? No. Not at all. He is, after all, a man.