What Is Activism?

by C. A. Matthews

This week I planned on introducing a documentary film, To Kill A War Machine, to the general public at our main library branch downtown. After doing some research on the group the film is about, Palestine Action, it got me to thinking: What is activism? Is what most of us engage in activism or is it just so much showing off? Can we become real activists? What’s holding us back?

I’m not going to dissect the “No Kings” event that happened recently since so many others have already done so. Caitlin Johnstone and Lee Camp both wrote excellent pieces about it. What I am going to say here for the record is that I agree with their takes on it.

No Kings wasn’t a “protest” as much as it was a “rally” or a “parade” (if people marched along a parade route). There’s nothing wrong with rallies or parades, but when circumstances are as dire as many of us think they are, then we simply don’t have time to waste on fun things like rallies or parades. We need to get down to business. Things are happening in our world that are deadly serious and need addressing. Now.

This is the way I saw the No Kings event I attended: It was like an adult spying a house on fire and then deciding to dress up in an inflatable dinosaur costume and prance about in front of the burning house holding a Trump is a DICKtator sign instead of organizing a water bucket brigade to put the fire out. Cute costume and clever sign but a juvenile reaction. It’s neither helpful nor appropriate to the occasion...

 

To read more about what is activism (and what we should be doing), please copy or click on the following link: 

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This article is the 543rd blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten years. 

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Watch the film here: https://youtu.be/_hdHCS0X610
 

Mr. T Comes To Town

Photo by Hexen Photography

This is the smile you'd expect when someone important comes to town, isn't it? But behind this innocent's bright countenance lies a darker reason why she and her family were out protesting on the streets that day. Our guest blogger shares his impressions of the event.

Mr. T Comes To Town

words and photos by Coast Watcher 

President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence visited the Huntington Center in the heart of downtown Toledo on January 9, the venue for their first rally of the 2020 campaign season. They got a warm reception in more ways than one, getting heartily booed as the motorcades passed by demonstrators en route to the hockey arena and cheered by their followers once they took the stage. Mainstream media reported a gathering of “hundreds” of protesters and “fifteen thousand” Trump supporters present. Surprise, surprise—the rally attendees waiting on line appeared to be all white and mostly male.

From my estimate taken on the ground, the Trumplings were at most half that number. (Others also estimated the protester count to be higher and the rally attendance lower, as the Huntington Center only sits 8,000 maximum according to their website.)  Television footage taken within the Huntington Center showed a half-empty arena in one shot with most people pushed toward the stage to make it look as if more were present. The number of
protesters fluctuated throughout the day, as groups of people arrived and departed. Unlike the Trumplings, who appeared to be financially able to take time off to travel a distance to worship their admired leader, the protesters were mostly local and had jobs and family demands to attend to—which makes it difficult to spare much time to protest. Yet protest they did, on a not-so-warm day in early January.

The demonstrators represented a variety of causes, from factory-standard Democrats through (Bernie) Sandernistas, the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Lucas County Greens, union workers, Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio—and even a few outright Communists. A single-issue group identifying itself as  “No Vape, No Vote” contained especially noisy members. One anti-fascist group down from Detroit,#OutNow, wore orange and used megaphones to outshout the other demonstrating parties. An anti-Trumper was spotted carrying a gallon of milk, presumably to wash away tear gas from people’s eyes should the need arise. (It did not.) 

A retired hook-and-ladder firetruck drove repeatedly around the block, its Trumpling crew sounding the siren as they jeered, waved Trump flags, and flipped off  demonstrators. Questions were asked whether such a vehicle was legal, since it still had its red paintwork and horn, but none of the law officers present seemed to know or cared to stop and ticket the driver.
 

Overall the event was peaceful.

The police were out in force. When asked, some officers were well aware of the Trump campaign’s propensity for not paying police security bills at numerous cities across America. Jaded by the knowledge, probably many were not expecting Toledo PD to receive any better treatment. 

The police were universally tolerant of both sides, keeping the parties apart via barriers to prevent trouble, so I find it a shame to report that one officer stationed by the main library branch rallying point abused his position. He snatched a PA speaker unit from the hands of a man I know to be a Vietnam veteran, threw it to the ground, and shoved him violently. The veteran, a leader of Veterans for Peace, didn’t respond to this flagrant bullying. Instead he moved onto the sidewalk and led protesters away.
 
Trumplings made a point of flipping off the demonstrators while waiting to enter the venue. One fan of the

president spotted a protester’s sign reading “Love thy neighbor” and shouted out how, while he didn’t love his neighbor, he really did love his 401K. Wonder if this guy knows that his orange-faced idol recently said that dismantling Social Security would make for “a fun second term project.” Wonder if he couldn't care less, just as long as he can hoard his wealth.

Another Trumpling shouted, “America comes first!” She was quickly shut down by a tart response from a savvy protestor with a British accent: “The world must come first. America’s not the only nation on this planet, madam.” It seems to be something that many Trumplings forget.

A Trumpling vendor selling camouflage MAGA hats and shirts demanded to know what we demonstrators would do if America was attacked. Hmm, let’s see... 9/11 was the last time America was “attacked” (and we all know that debate still rages over who the true instigators of that heinous crime were). Since then the US has attacked several countries, both militarily and through sanctions, usually to gain control of their oil and mineral deposits—and occasionally to destroy a socialist government. And although the hijackers who flew those airplanes back in 2001 were Saudi Arabian in origin, America did not see fit to launch a counter attack against their mega-wealthy oil-rich country, possibly because they happen to be a good customer for the American military-industrial complex.

Post-rally, the area where the Trumplings had queued to enter the arena was a

After the Trump rally photos courtesy Natalie Renee

total mess. Mounds of litter strewn along the fenced-off line necessitated hours of Toledo taxpayer-funded hours to clean up. Much like the cost of policing a Trump event, the taxpayer will more than likely not be reimbursed for the costs. This gives evidence to support many people’s opinion that the vast majority of Trump’s supporters came from out of town. Although given Trumplings' general contempt for the environment, it’s entirely possible the litterers were locals with lower than average civic pride.

Toledo has a lot of unemployment and a lot of empty houses courtesy of the first NAFTA that wrecked the Rust Belt. Trump recently signed up the US to NAFTA  2. With income taxes lowered for the one-percent, ordinary citizens are forced to pick up the slack for social programs (that haven't been cut already). Lake Erie, Toledo's water supply, has serious problems with the annual toxic algae bloom, and Trump has gutted the EPA and killed the Clean Water Act. Toledo is home to a large Muslim community and a large mosque. Trump seems bent on starting yet another war for oil in Iran and encouraging religious bigotry among his followers. Large immigration raids by Trump's ICE have happened in the NW Ohio area, leaving children without parents and local churches and agencies desperately trying to reunite families, yet the GOP declares itself the party of “family values.”  Yeah, sure they are.

Given all the damage Trump and his government have inflicted and still inflicts on cities like Toledo and Americans in general, it’s a wonder he dares shows his five-dollar, fake-tanned visage anywhere.

BIO: Coast Watcher finds his first experience of standing across the street from the "leader of the free world" to be both humbling and completely humbug. The following short video is how he sees the president's supporters:

https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2020/01/trump-supporter-flummoxed-question

David Doel from The Rational National podcast gives a brief analysis of this video clip and what it really says about Trump supporters:  https://youtu.be/RH8YISd6w-o 

Question: Can you spot one Trump voter who isn't white and of Anglo-Saxon heritage in this photo?  Answer: You can't because there weren't any.

***

Today we joined faith leaders, including denominational and national leadership, with moral advocates across the country in requesting that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights hold our government accountable for violating the UN Charter and escalating us toward war with Iran. This afternoon we formally requested a meeting with High Commissioner Bachelet. As the request began:

"We write gravely disturbed, indeed outraged, by the death that is occurring because of our President's rogue actions in the Middle East. His willingness to bypass congressional approval, violate international law, pardon convicted war criminals, implement harsher sanctions and abandon existing peace deals, sets a dangerous precedent that can have continued lethal and destabilizing results.

The US President's order to carry out a lethal drone strike violated the UN Charter's prohibition on the use of force. The assassination of General Qassim Suleimani represented an act of war against a country with whom the United States was not at war. Trump’s claim of imminent danger from Suleimani is unfounded and must be investigated.

The threat to add new sanctions to Iran, and to involve the NATO military alliance, all indicate that the threat of war remains very real. Furthermore, we know that the majority of impact from these sanctions will be on the poor."

We know that in the words of Rev. Dr. King "war is the enemy of the poor."  We must say no to war and militarism.

Join us in our request. Sign here. Share it widely as we humbly and whole-heartedly work to keep our country from war and our world from the dangerous precedence of immoral and unaccountable leadership. Our people across the world are hurting, and it's gone on far too long.

We know that together we can and must revive the heart and soul of this nation.

Join our signatures here.

Forward together,
Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II, President of Repairers of the Breach
Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis, Director of the Kairos Center
Co-Chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

***

Jeff Bezos Will Ring in the New Year by Leaving These Employees Out in the Cold

Nearly 2,000 part-time Whole Foods employees may not be celebrating at all. On January 1st, these workers were stripped of their healthcare benefits and left to fend for themselves.Tell Jeff Bezos to do the right thing — use his billions to help his employees, not his bottom line. Any employee who works less than full-time but at least 20 hours per week will now have to find their own healthcare. The extra cost is substantial: healthcare across the nation is staggeringly expensive, even for full-time workers with a middle-class salary. For a part-time employee making anything less, the cost could be crippling. The company now says they will help some of these employees transition into full-time jobs so they can qualify for continued benefits or help them find care in the private market, but this won't help everyone. One employee who had been with Whole Foods for 15 years explained that in order to work full-time hours, she would need to pay for daycare, which is sometimes even more expensive than healthcare. The high-end supermarket is owned by Amazon, which is, in turn, owned by Jeff Bezos, who is the second-wealthiest person on Earth. If he wanted to, he could easily afford to provide healthcare — after all, he is personally worth $112 billion dollars. His company earns billions of dollars a year, but when it comes to his employees, this billionaire is a penny-pincher. Tell Jeff Bezos this is unacceptable. His part-time employees depended on their company-provided healthcare. Snatching it away right after Christmas is something only a Grinch would do. Sign the petition and demand that Whole Foods continue to provide healthcare for their part-time employees.  Thank you, Lauren W. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Whole Foods must not treat its employees so cruelly. Healthcare is a human right. Please sign the petition. *** Tell Congress: "Demand our lawmakers put human rights above corporate profits by guaranteeing housing for all." ADD YOUR NAME Americans spent more on Christmas decorations in 2012 than researchers say it would cost to completely end homelessness in America.1 Is that the country we want to live in? Where big banks and corporate developers push over 3 million families into homelessness and others into poverty? ADD YOUR NAME: We need a homes guarantee! Everyone living in the United States should have safe, accessible, sustainable, and permanently affordable housing. Period. Thanks, Mike Phelan Progress America 1 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/homelessness-christmas-decorations_n_2276536

What's Up, Marcy?

What's up, Marcy?
rally photos by C.A. & A.J. Matthews

What's up, Representative Marcy Kaptur? She has refused  to co-sponsor the Medicare For All (HR 1384) Bill in the House, and now she refuses to sign the "No War with Iran Resolution" (HR 2354). It's very confusing since Kaptur (D), our longest serving Congresswoman representing Ohio's 9th district,  previously supported the Sanders-Conyers Medicare For All Bill. 

What's up, Marcy? We know you can do better than this. Much better!

On the picket line, the nurses of St. Vincent Mercy Health picketed alone that day, their fellow medical tech workers having signed a separate contract to return to work earlier in he week. Our Revolution (National), traveling across the country in their Medicare For All van, stopped by Toledo to rally with the striking nurses and local activists.  A national Medicare For All program would help the nurses deal with their current mediocre health insurance coverage. It could possibly help with the extra long hours they've been forced to work due to staffing shortages (because the Bon Secours Corporation that runs their "charity" Catholic hospital chain expects higher profits). If the corporation didn't have to pay health care benefits to its workers because they had Medicare For All, then they could afford to hire more nurses and med techs, right?

Speakers at the Medicare For All protest in front of St. V's included the national director of Our Revolution and local OR leader Dennis Slotnick who also represents the Ohio Single Payer Action Network. Nancy Larson, a candidate for state office in 2020, spoke out as well as Stefania Czech, candidate for Toledo City Council District 2, Quinn Albright, a young activist representing the newly formed Northwest Ohio Democratic Socialists of America, physician-activist Dr. Jon Ross, and Adrian Matthews, a British national and proponent of socialized health care. 

After the rally, the crowd headed to Rep. Kaptur's local office downtown to present her staff a petition stating the voters' desire for Marcy to become a co-sponsor of HB 1384.

Unfortunately within a few days of the rally the St. Vincent nurses left the picket line when their union (UAW) folded and told them the strike was over. None of their demands for increased staffing and less mandatory overtime were addressed.

 

Two days later, another protest formed in front of Rep. Marcy Kaptur's office building located downtown at Maritime Plaza. The Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition had been planning the peace protest rally to inspire Rep. Kaptur to sign HR 2354 for some time when the story of two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, supposedly hit by Iranian missiles, monopolized the mainstream news feeds.

Many of the activists at the No War on Iran rally expressed surprise and disappointment in the Democratic  Congresswoman. Why hadn't she signed onto the resolution? What could be holding her back? 

It's difficult to know for sure, but Ohio has always been a favorite of Big Oil lobbying interests. Big Oil could realize some massively big profits in taking over Middle Eastern oil fields and shipping lanes. War is a profitable business after all. Is the answer to why Marcy Kaptur hasn't been more vocal on this issue simply "the money is too good to ignore"?

We're very disappointed if it is simply the lobbyists' cash motivating the congresswoman's non-action. You can do better than this, Marcy. Much better!

Our children's futures are at stake here. Without decent, universal health care, many of their futures will be shortened. With more wars for oil, their world becomes an even unsafer place to live in than it already is. 

Marcy--what's up? We can't afford to wait for leadership on these issues. All our  lives are hanging in the balance. Listen to these activists. Step up! 

Call your Congressmember today at https://www.callmycongress.com/ 

 ***

From Food & Water Watch

There’s a fast-moving amendment in the House of Representatives that would stop Trump's Department of Energy from financially backing dirty energy projects masquerading as clean energy projects.

A full House vote could happen any time this week, and you can help keep the pressure on by taking action TODAY — tell your representative we need more renewable energy, not dirty fossil fuel projects.

Congresswomen Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced an amendment that would require the Department of Energy to only back energy projects that address and mitigate climate change.

The amendment passed out of a House Committee last week, and it’s headed to the Floor. Make sure your representative is on board!

What would this amendment do? Energy companies would have to demonstrate how proposed projects would meet heightened standards. One affected project is the proposed massive petrochemical build-out in Appalachia. This enormous network of infrastructure is intended to store and process dirty fossil fuels in order to churn out more plastic. This amendment would effectively hold back the Department of Energy from quickly deciding to financially back the project.

Ultimately, we need comprehensive legislation that would move us to 100% clean, renewable energy on a swift timeline, but this amendment is a great step in the right direction.

Officially, it’s called Amendment 105 to Rule 2 on HR 2740, the Omar-Jayapal Amendment. Here at Food & Water Watch, we're calling it what it is — a really big deal and the result of hard work by activists around the country.

We got this far, but now we have a small window of time to urge the rest of the House to stand in support.

Our allies and activists fighting back against projects like the Appalachia petrochemical hub need your support at this critical moment. Tell your representative to support the amendment and stand against a fossil fuel future.

Thanks for taking action,

Amanda Byrnes
Online Organizing Manager
Food & Water Watch
 

***

From the United Church of Christ:

Stop the Detention of Children

Mark 9:37 tells us that “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” As people of faith we are called to care for, welcome and cherish all humanity. The children who come to our border are often fleeing violence and poverty and have endured a long and dangerous journey. They should be met with care and kindness. Once here, every measure should be made that they be placed with family and community sponsors. Instead, as of now, more than 2,500 children are being held in a “child detention facility” in Homestead, Florida.

Contact your members of Congress to let them know this is no way to treat anyone, especially the most vulnerable among us, children. We need to invest in ways to unite families and ensure the best continuum of care for children. Please urge your member of Congress to support the “Shut Down Prison Camps Act” and the “Families Not Facilities Act.” These legislative measures make sure that the government can’t house children in substandard “emergency influx shelters” like Homestead. They also make sure that it’s easier to place children with sponsors by prohibiting the sharing of information with the Department of Homeland Security that could be used to detain and deport family members who come forward to sponsor children.





Wednesday, June 17, 2015, is the day that my life changed.

As a hospital trauma chaplain I have experienced grief, tragedy, pain, and loss as I worked to comfort patients and families in their time of need. But that night four years ago, I was the person in need of comforting when I received a telephone call that no American should get: My mother and two of my cousins had been shot and killed in church along with 6 other parishioners at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. A white supremacist shot and killed 9 churchgoers as they prayed.

I lost so much in that senseless attack. And since then, hate crimes have been on the rise, resulting in more people being targeted simply because of their identity. 

When hate-filled individuals are armed with a gun, their actions often become deadly.

The shooter targeted parishioners at Emanuel AME simply because of the color of their skin. Along with so many Americans, I was baffled at how such a hate-filled man was able to get his hands on a gun. That's why today I ask you to join me and support federal legislation to keep guns away from people convicted of a hate crime. It's one important step we can take to end hate-fueled gun violence. Add your name to ask the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Disarm Hate Act of 2019.

  Thank you for being with me in the movement against hate and gun violence,
Reverend Sharon Risher
Everytown Survivor Network

P.S. If you are a survivor of gun violence or have a loved one who has been wounded or killed by gun violence, you can share your story on our Moments That Survive Memory Wall with the stories of other survivors of gun violence.