Is 2020 a Rerun of 1939 or Something Much Darker?

 

Is 2020 a Rerun of 1939 or Something Much Darker?

By Vegematic Deluxe

 Sitting here in the relative peace and safety of my Canadian home, I feel a profound sense of unease and dread. It's not just the pandemic or the increasing environmental catastrophes. It's not only the corporate takeover of all public institutions or the obscene inequality of wealth. It's not just the fact that a fascist government controls the most powerful weapons of war ever devised.

Each of these would be more than enough individually to contribute to many sleepless nights, but it's the convergence that makes all of these crises feel unbearable. As we tenuously cling to some sort of normalcy, I believe that if we are to be honest with ourselves, we must admit that normalcy as we have known it will probably never return.

 In 1939, my 15 year old father was living the normal life of a farm boy in Poland. He was a good student and had dreams of becoming a veterinarian. The harvest that summer had been bountiful and the family was assured of enough to get them through the coming winter. The school year was about to begin and my father was eager to return to his studies.

 Working to bring in the harvest in the warm September sun along with his father, they heard a horrendous cacophony as the skies above their little farm darkened with Nazi Stukas. In that one moment, my father's life was forever changed. In an instant, he became a homeless refugee on the run from Nazi storm troopers. Captured and placed in a concentration camp, that 15 year old boy witnessed atrocities that no human should ever be exposed to. Due to his bravery and ingenuity, he managed to escape the camp and eventually joined the British forces. His regiment was comprised of Polish refugees who were the first Allied forces to take the Nazi stronghold of Monte Cassino in Italy.

By McConville (Sgt), No 2 Army Film; Photographic Unit

My father never discussed his wartime experiences with me until shortly before his death. It was just too painful for him. However, his life serves as a constant reminder to me of just how quickly everything you hold dear can be snatched away.

 The despair that I'm feeling watching the rise of fascism around the world is deeply personal to me. To witness America falling into a fascist dictatorship is the stuff of nightmares. Yet here we are, watching history repeat itself complete with the accompanying denial by the average citizen. Seeing the impotence of the octogenarian opposition while government institutions have been methodically dismantled and replaced by Trump sycophants is more than a little disheartening. Insane conspiracy theories like Q proliferate across the internet while actual crimes against democracy are not only tolerated, but encouraged.

The chaos is deliberate. There is credible evidence that much of the arson and looting at BLM protests was instigated by right wing agitators. This plays right into the hands of a fascist dictator posing as a "law and order" savior. Are we as a planet about to descend into a dark age that dwarfs the horrors of the Second World War? All of the indicators point to yes.

 I have been labeled an alarmist since I first saw a Trump rally in 2015. What has occurred in the ensuing years has done nothing to dispel my fear. It has only served to confirm them. I desperately want to be proven wrong. Without massive societal changes, we will never return to "normal" again. The best way that I can honor my father's memory is to fight fascism with every fiber of my being and to encourage others to take up the struggle. The future of humanity may well depend on it.

BIO: Vegematic is a YouTuber with an eclectic following of  broad-minded people who enjoy hearing  commentary on life in this century from a Canadian perspective. He's also an excellent artist. Check out his videos on his channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2vzbyWki1kWC6SAzeqw_Iw.

 

 Related Article:

Why are the Democrats praying for the speedy recovery of a fascist dictator? https://theintercept.com/2020/10/04/why-are-democrats-praying-for-the-speedy-recover-of-a-fascist-dictator/

***

 

Moral Monday Car Caravan Protest 

with the Poor People's Campaign

The Poor People's Campaign took it to the streets this week to protest Sen. Mitch McConnell's "Misery, Meaness and Mayhem" in Washington with his dismal performance as leader of the Senate. Protesters in Toledo, Ohio, targeted the offices of Sen. Rob Portman (R) by circling the block repeatedly with signs on their vehicles and shouting through a portable P.A. horn chants such as "Health care not wealth care (warfare)!"  Will Senator Portman listen to the people? Let's watch and see. More Moral Monday protests are planned.

 

***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Tish O’Dell

Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund

Ohio Community Organizer

CELDF.org

tish@celdf.org

BREAKING: Court Breathes New Life into Lake Erie Bill of Rights Legal Fight

Imperiled Lake Erie must be protected. Lake Erie Bill of Rights lives to fight another day, but still faces obstacles.

TOLEDO, OH: Yesterday, an Ohio court of appeals reversed a previous trial court order, ruling residents suing to enforce the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) and hold the State of Ohio accountable for its failure to protect Lake Erie have stated a legitimate claim. The court also suggested the State of Ohio has been hypocritical and may not be fulfilling its obligations toward Lake Erie and her people. The state argues it is protecting Lake Erie—which is the people of Toledo’s drinking water supply—but instead is busy trying to slow down the people of Toledo from advancing historic Rights of Nature protections for the imperiled lake.

“The state keeps claiming it has the sole power to protect Lake Erie, then why don’t they protect it already? The people have no illusions that the courts or this ruling will save them or the lake. Lake Erie turns green and poisonous with toxic algae year after year and the state not only does nothing, it protects the polluters and fights the people who are attempting to protect the lake,” says CELDF Ohio Organizer Tish O’Dell. “This ruling at least validates the people’s instinct to keep fighting for the lake and their community any way they can. We will fight however we can, wherever we can.”

Yesterday’s ruling is “vindication of what we have been saying, and what has been obvious to anyone who lives near the lake: The state has abandoned its duty to defend the public good in favor of selling out to agricultural lobbyists and factory farms, with predictably disastrous results,” says Bryan Twitchell, one of the lawsuit’s plaintiffs.

LEBOR joins other local Rights of Nature laws in the United States, including in Grant Township, Pennsylvania and Lincoln County, Oregon that have made inroads into the legal system. The court said yesterday that the state’s argument “appears opposite” to one it argued in a federal case against LEBOR.

"While it helps to claim a victory in court, that is not the only way we build a movement,” says Markie Miller, a petitioner for LEBOR and organizer with Toledoans for Safe Water. “Laws should reflect our ethics, not guide them. We can't throw these debates to the courts.”

The ruling follows August oral arguments about the Rights of Nature lawsuit. “A century from now, if our species survives, people will undoubtedly wonder how we could possibly have defined Lake Erie, a necessity for survival, as mere property to be exploited instead of a living and life-giving body with an inherent right to be healthy,” said plaintiff Mike Ferner at that hearing.

CELDF celebrates the people of Toledo. Their fight to protect Lake Erie, their lifeblood, has been an uphill battle from the start. They were the underdogs to get on the ballot, during the campaign to pass the law, and now in the courts. They keep showing others what it takes to protect what you love.

About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is building a movement for Community Rights and the Rights of Nature to advance democratic, economic, social, and environmental rights – building upward from the grassroots to the state, federal, and international level.

 

###

From Green Peace:

The Wet’suwet’en First Nation hereditary chiefs are urgently calling for support to stop the Coastal GasLink pipeline!

Tell KKR & Co: Divest from the Coastal GasLink pipeline!

MESSAGE KKR & CO.

Earlier in the month, I woke up to my Facebook account blocked. I couldn’t access anything and, as a result, I couldn’t do my job to amplify your important calls for a more just and green world! In fact, all of Greenpeace USA’s online staff couldn’t access their Facebook accounts, along with frontline Wet’suwet’en Indigenous leaders, grassroots land defenders, and hundreds more climate activists organizing against the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Facebook claimed that a #ShutDownKKR online day of action we co-hosted back in May — targeting KKR & Co., a major funder of the Coastal GasLink pipeline — violated their terms of service. The accounts have been unblocked and the social media giant apologized, but they still haven’t sent the specific details about what happened.

Wet’suwet’en leaders who oppose the pipeline continually face repressive tactics from multi-national bullies like Facebook. With construction looming, we need to be as loud as ever to make sure the Coastal GasLink pipeline never gets built by pushing its biggest investor — KKR & Co. — to pull out of their agreement.

Tell KKR & Co. to divest from the Coastal GasLink pipeline slated to cut through Wet’suwet’en land without consent from Indigenous leaders.

The Coastal GasLink pipeline is TC Energy's latest pipeline project. It would pump fracked gas over 420 miles from northern Canada to the west coast of Canada where it would cross Wet’suwet’en territory without consent from the hereditary chiefs, before being exported to Asia.

Now is not the time to slow down — we need to ramp up.

Pipeline workers and militarized police officers are flooding into Wet’suwet’en territories, putting communities at even more risk for COVID-19. These “man camps” house hundreds of workers in tight quarters, and many members of the community are terrified that they will become breeding grounds for violence against Indigenous women and two-spirit people.

The Coastal GasLink pipeline is putting Indigenous communities at severe risk, and KKR & Co. is set to make a lot of money.

KKR & Co. must be held accountable for ignoring the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs demands to stop construction, putting the Wet’suwet’en land and water at risk, endangering Indigenous women and two spirit people by building man camps along the route, and fueling the climate crisis.

Not only are we taking our action online all week, grassroots activists from the Wet’suwet’en Solidarity Team, Seeding Sovereignty, and Rising Tide North America projected images onto the KKR building in NYC and sent a plane over the whole city with this message — Defund Coastal GasLink #ShutDownKKR!

Will you join the #ShutDownKKR online week of action right now?

Tell KKR & Co. to respect the rights of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and stop funding the risky Coastal GasLink pipeline immediately.

Facebook’s banning of the Wet’suwet’en solidarity movement was absurd, and they’ve been largely unaccountable when it comes to telling us why it happened. The tech giant already has a massive disinformation crisis where climate deniers run rampant. It really begs the question of what’s next.

We need to flex our power and stop billionaire oil CEOs, industry lobbyists, tech giants, and private equity firms who want to push through projects and platforms that deeply affect real people no matter the cost.

There is no climate justice without Indigenous sovereignty,

Vanessa Butterworth, Greenpeace USA
A settler originally from Mississauga of the New Credit First Nation territory in Canada¹

PS: Want to directly support the Wet’suwet’en? Here’s the #WetsuwetenStrong 2020 supporter toolkit straight from the hereditary chiefs.

[1] Read about the importance of using land acknowledgements here: https://native-land.ca

Custer's Last Stand?

Custer's Last Stand?

words and photos by C.A. Matthews

The hometown of General George Armstrong Custer is located nearby to where I currently live. Monroe, Michigan, is a small city in Southeastern Michigan just across the Ohio/Michigan line. Custer wasn't born in Michigan, but he grew up in Monroe and met and married his wife, Elizabeth Bacon, there. "Libbie" and her father, a judge, were bigwigs in the community, so Monroe is where she wanted her late husband's statue erected in 1910. That's 34 years after Custer met his fate at the Battle of the Greasy Grass, also known as the Battle of the Little Big Horn. 

The delay from the date of Custer's death to the time of the statue's construction is telling in itself. The fact that the statue was moved not once, but twice within the city says something, too. It was moved in 1923 because of growing auto traffic near the courthouse. The second time the statue was moved was in 1955, during the Civil Rights era. The statue was moved this time because it had almost disappeared behind a wall of unkempt vegetation growing in the Soldiers and Sailors Park, and some townsfolk argued that the statue needed to be seen.  Today it stands at a very busy intersection next to the River Raisin.

The historical plaque beside the sculpture reflects upon Custer's Civil War experience and not his "Indian War" days in the US Calvary. He's wearing his Civil War era uniform, and the horse has all four feet on the ground, as Custer did not die in battle during that war. The fact that the historical plaque doesn't mention his death at the hands of Native Americans hints that perhaps not everyone approved of his later military service in the West or wanted to advertise it. 

Still, it hasn't stopped the controversy and repeated requests to retire the statue, according to locals I spoke with at a recent "Evict Custer" protest organized by Black Lives Matter activists and others.  A Native-led drum and dance group came to share their art. Signs and banners received honks of approval from passers-by. In spite of men like Custer, Native American culture still exists and flourishes on this continent and is appreciated by many.

Monroe residents shared with me how they were indoctrinated from grade school through high school about how great a man General Custer was. There was no way to refute this propaganda, either, according to a Native American woman who told me how she ended up more than a few times in the principal's office for speaking out about Custer's whole history. The public school system of Monroe seems intent on keeping the truth from their pupils and punishing those who know it.

So, why does Custer still stand at the corner of a very busy intersection in the city of Monroe? Is it any coincidence that many area white supremacists seem to be concentrated in this rural part of Southeastern Michigan? Is it any consequence that there's a statue of a soldier who was proud of his record of killing Native Americans located within the borders of Michigan, historic home of the Miami, the Ojibwe, the Potawatomi, and the Kickapoo? A state that currently has eleven (yes, eleven) federally recognized tribal groups/reservations. (http://www.native-languages.org/michigan.htm) 

I say there's no such thing as coincidence. Every decision (or non-decision) is a deliberate one. Face it--white supremacy exists in small town America. Racists tend to act like a bunch of children sticking out their tongues at Native Americans in general by preserving a statue of a known Indian killer. But there is nothing to be gained except contempt from people of color (and their allies) by keeping Custer's statue standing in Monroe, Michigan, in the year 2020.

Americans on the whole have moved on. Most feel only shame and regret at the horrible treatment our indigenous brothers and sisters have suffered--and still suffer--because of white supremacy. George Armstrong Custer, the poster child of an era full of genocidal actions taken against Native Americans, is no longer thought of as a hero or even a person of interest.

A statue of Christopher Columbus was recently removed from downtown Columbus, Ohio. There have been serious discussions about renaming the city to honor a Native American. Several other cities worldwide have also removed their Columbus statues. Confederate statues of generals and others are coming down faster than rain in some places in the South. Removing Custer from his ten foot tall stone plinth wouldn't stand out particularly in this current atmosphere of ridding our land of unwanted conquerors and unmerciful enslavers. The time to do it is now.

Let this be Custer's last stand. Retire his statue to a museum or assign it to the scrap heap. History should never be bowdlerized or forgotten, but there's no need to glorify genocide or a man who carried it out against a people simply because they spoke a different language and had darker skin than those in power.

Related articles:

What if All US Treaties Were Upheld? 
https://theintercept.com/2020/07/17/mcgirt-v-oklahoma-indian-native-treaties/ 

Christopher Columbus Statue Removed Outside Columbus City Hall
https://nypost.com/2020/07/01/christopher-columbus-statue-removed-outside-columbus-city-hall/ 

Did You Protest Recently? Your Face Might Be in a Database
https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/64067-did-you-protest-recently-your-face-might-be-in-a-database

List of monuments and memorials removed during George Floyd protests
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monuments_and_memorials_removed_during_the_George_Floyd_protests

Strike For Black Lives! 

Solidarity--that's the best way to describe the coming together of many groups and individuals to make a difference, to keep the conversation going on a difficult topic. July 20 was a national day of strikes and protests emphasizing the rights of workers to a living wage, decent protection against the coronavirus, and the right to be treated equally. Toledo area health care workers took it to the street and made their voices heard, shouting: "Black Lives they matter here! What do want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!" And the fight will continue.

***

Remove the Robert E. Lee monument in Roanoke City and replace it with a lynching memorial

Sign now with a click

It is past time for us to remove a monument that memorializes the Confederate general, Robert E. Lee. Roanoke City should show its citizens of color that this is not a history that we want to commemorate. As collective awareness grows that these sort of monuments were constructed to send an anti-civil rights message to the community, it has become clear that we need to send a new message today. We propose that this monument be replaced with a memorial to the Black victims of lynching in Roanoke in the late 1800s. "William Lavender and Thomas Smith were two black men who were lynched on separate occasions by white mobs in Roanoke. Both men were accused of assaults on white women that were never proved. Neither man stood trial. They were simply captured, beaten, hanged and murdered." - The Roanoke Times. This piece of our history has been unrecognized and we must reckon with it. This is one simple step we can all take towards building a community in which every citizen can begin to feel equally valued, regardless of their skin color.

***

The pandemic is making it clear that water access is critical for public health. But utilities continue to shut off water service for many, despite the threat to public health. We all deserve access to water to keep ourselves and our communities safe.

That’s why in May the House — as part of their next stimulus bill called the HEROES Act — passed a national moratorium on water shutoffs and $1.5 billion for low-income water aid. While the bill is imperfect, the water service elements are important and necessary.

We know that Mitch McConnell is drafting his own stimulus bill, and we need to make sure it includes the utility shutoff moratorium and aid from the HEROES Act.

Join us now in urging your senators to support a nationwide moratorium on water shutoffs.

With your help, Food & Water Action worked to stop water service shutoffs in about 700 communities, protecting approximately 240 million people. Unfortunately, at least three statewide and 41 local water moratoriums have already expired. This means that more than 12 million people have lost the protections we helped win. We need to fight for them again.

According to new research from The Guardian, two in five households struggle to pay for water. Black communities face some of the most unaffordable water bills in the country, and shutoff rates are higher in communities of color, as well as rural and low-income areas.

Households facing a water shutoff will struggle to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. They may be unable to protect their families because they will lack one key resource the CDC recommends to prevent or manage the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19): the water needed to to wash their hands frequently.
You’ve joined us in fighting water shutoffs since the beginning of this pandemic. You've probably already contacted your members of Congress on this issue, but we know the more we continue to pressure them, the more they will listen. So let’s keep the pressure up.

We need our federal government to step up and ensure that everyone's access to water is protected. Access to clean water is a human right. Period. We must guarantee access to clean and affordable water for all.

Send your message calling for the federal government to enact a national moratorium on water shutoffs.

Onward together,

Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Action and Food & Water Watch