ཟླཝརྒྱ་མཚ

Telegram from Malcolm X to Martin Luther King promising to give the Ku Klux Klan a taste of its own medicine.

Dom Helder Camara (via slateproject)

Harriet Tubman’s personal pistol

First Intifada. Jenin, Palestine. 1988.

Slavery by another name.

Two inmates at the Attica State Prison visit with another inmate inside a makeshift hospital set up by the inmates inside cellblock D, Sept. 11, 1971.

SELF DETERMINATION

Sankara and Castro.

“We do not talk of women’s emancipation as an act of charity or out of a surge of human compassion. It is a basic necessity for the triumph of the revolution. Women hold up the other half of the sky”

— 

Thomas Sankara (Marxist revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist and President of Burkina Faso from 1983-87) 

Young Lords Organization (YLO) Bronx Branch 

"Having finally established our base in El Barrio, we opened a new branch in the Bronx. The new office, situated at 949 Longwood Avenue (corner of Kelly St.) was opened early this April and will continue the programs started in El Barrio. More than this, it will begin programs relevant to the people in the Bronx area, it will also serve as a Latin Community News Service called “Palante" in which international revolutionary news will be included, and distributed to the people of the community. This last function of the YLO came about after we found that many of the liberation struggles undertaken by peoples in other countries are not known to people in this country due to press “censorship" of revolutionary news." —Lulu Carreras, Lieutenant of Finance. Palante (1970)

On this date, July 20, in 1967, the first national Black Power conference opened in Newark, New Jersey.

13 Point Program & Platform of the Young Lords Organization

larger, in spanish, and the rules of discipline

30,000 CALLS FOR 30,000 HUNGER STRIKERS!

On July 8, 2013 Prisoners at Pelican Bay and other prisons resumed their hunger strike and began work stoppages until the California Governor Jerry Brown and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation take decisive action to meet their demands. 30,000 CALLS FOR 30,000 HUNGER STRIKERS! JOIN US and USE YOUR POLITICAL POWER!  DAY 8: CALL GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN MONDAY JULY 15, 2013; 9am-5pm PST  Phone: (916) 445-2841 (510) 289-0336 (510) 628-0202 Fax: (916) 558-3160 Suggested script: I’m calling in support of the prisoners on hunger strike. The governor has the power to stop the torture of solitary confinement. I urge the governor to compel the CDCR to enter into negotiations to end the strike. RIGHT NOW is their chance to enter into clear, honest negotiations with the strikers to end the torture. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO PLAN A GATHERING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD TO MAKE CALLS AND ORGANIZE OTHER SOLIDARITY ACTIONS!  ¡Apoyen la huelga! Hagamos 30,000 llamadas para lxs 30,000 huelguistas! ¡únase con nosotrxs y usen su poder político! día 9: llamen al gobernador jerry brown LUNES, 15 de julio, 2013, 9am-5pm PST teléfono: (916) 445-2841 (510) 289-0336 (510) 628-0202 FAX: (916) 558-3160 guión sugerido: Estoy llamando porque apoyo a los presos que participan en la huelga de hambre. El gobernador tiene todo el poder para eliminar la tortura de aislamiento en solitario. Yo insto al gobernador a que exija al CDCR entrar en negociaciones claras y honestas con los huelguistas para poner así fin a la huelga. AHORITA MISMO es su oportunidad de negociar y terminar con la tortura injustificada. ¡Recomendamos que hagan llamadas y organizen eventos de concientización sobre condiciones inhumanas en las prisiones para despertar y unir la comunidad!

SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/events/390875787681257

President Hugo Chavez, who died on March 5, 2013 of cancer at age 58, marked forever the history of Venezuela and Latin America.

1. Never in the history of Latin America, has a political leader had such incontestable democratic legitimacy. Since coming to power in 1999, there were 16 elections in Venezuela. Hugo Chavez won 15, the last on October 7, 2012. He defeated his rivals with a margin of 10-20 percentage points. 

2. All international bodies, from the European Union to the Organization of American States, to the Union of South American Nations and the Carter Center, were unanimous in recognizing the transparency of the vote counts. 

3. James Carter, former U.S. President, declared that Venezuela’s electoral system was “the best in the world.”

4. Universal access to education introduced in 1998 had exceptional results. About 1.5 million Venezuelans learned to read and write thanks to the literacy campaign called Mission Robinson I. 

5. In December 2005, UNESCO said that Venezuela had eradicated illiteracy.

6. The number of children attending school increased from 6 million in 1998 to 13 million in 2011 and the enrollment rate is now 93.2%.

7. Mission Robinson II was launched to bring the entire population up to secondary level. Thus, the rate of secondary school enrollment rose from 53.6% in 2000 to 73.3% in 2011.

8. Missions Ribas and Sucre allowed tens of thousands of young adults to undertake university studies. Thus, the number of tertiary students increased from 895,000 in 2000 to 2.3 million in 2011, assisted by the creation of new universities. 

9. With regard to health, they created the National Public System to ensure free access to health care for all Venezuelans. Between 2005 and 2012, 7873 new medical centers were created in Venezuela. 

10. The number of doctors increased from 20 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 80 per 100,000 in 2010, or an increase of 400%.

11. Mission Barrio Adentro I provided 534 million medical consultations. About 17 million people were attended, while in 1998 less than 3 million people had regular access to health. 1.7 million lives were saved, between 2003 and 2011.

12. The infant mortality rate fell from 19.1 per thousand in 1999 to 10 per thousand in 2012, a reduction of 49%.

13. Average life expectancy increased from 72.2 years in 1999 to 74.3 years in 2011.

14. Thanks to Operation Miracle, launched in 2004, 1.5 million Venezuelans who were victims of cataracts or other eye diseases, regained their sight.

15. From 1999 to 2011, the poverty rate decreased from 42.8% to 26.5% and the rate of extreme poverty fell from 16.6% in 1999 to 7% in 2011. 

16. In the rankings of the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP), Venezuela jumped from 83 in 2000 (0.656) at position 73 in 2011 (0.735), and entered into the category Nations with ‘High HDI’.

17. The GINI coefficient, which allows calculation of inequality in a country, fell from 0.46 in 1999 to 0.39 in 2011. 

18. According to the UNDP, Venezuela holds the lowest recorded Gini coefficient in Latin America, that is, Venezuela is the country in the region with the least inequality.

19. Child malnutrition was reduced by 40% since 1999.

20. In 1999, 82% of the population had access to safe drinking water. Now it is 95%.

21. Under President Chavez social expenditures increased by 60.6%.

22. Before 1999, only 387,000 elderly people received a pension. Now the figure is 2.1 million.

23. Since 1999, 700,000 homes have been built in Venezuela. 

24. Since 1999, the government provided / returned more than one million hectares of land to Aboriginal people. 

25. Land reform enabled tens of thousands of farmers to own their land. In total, Venezuela distributed more than 3 million hectares.

26. In 1999, Venezuela was producing 51% of food consumed. In 2012, production was 71%, while food consumption increased by 81% since 1999. If consumption of 2012 was similar to that of 1999, Venezuela produced 140% of the food it consumed.

27. Since 1999, the average calories consumed by Venezuelans increased by 50% thanks to the Food Mission that created a chain of 22,000 food stores (MERCAL, Houses Food, Red PDVAL), where products are subsidized up to 30%. Meat consumption increased by 75% since 1999. 

28. Five million children now receive free meals through the School Feeding Programme. The figure was 250,000 in 1999. 

29. The malnutrition rate fell from 21% in 1998 to less than 3% in 2012.

30. According to the FAO, Venezuela is the most advanced country in Latin America and the Caribbean in the erradication of hunger. 

31. The nationalization of the oil company PDVSA in 2003 allowed Venezuela to regain its energy sovereignty. 

32. The nationalization of the electrical and telecommunications sectors (CANTV and Electricidad de Caracas) allowed the end of private monopolies and guaranteed universal access to these services.

33. Since 1999, more than 50,000 cooperatives have been created in all sectors of the economy.

34. The unemployment rate fell from 15.2% in 1998 to 6.4% in 2012, with the creation of more than 4 million jobs. 

35. The minimum wage increased from 100 bolivars/month ($ 16) in 1998 to 2047.52 bolivars ($ 330) in 2012, ie an increase of over 2,000%. This is the highest minimum wage in Latin America.

36. In 1999, 65% of the workforce earned the minimum wage. In 2012 only 21.1% of workers have only this level of pay.

37. Adults at a certain age who have never worked still get an income equivalent to 60% of the minimum wage.

38. Women without income and disabled people receive a pension equivalent to 80% of the minimum wage.

39. Working hours were reduced to 6 hours a day and 36 hours per week, without loss of pay.

40. Public debt fell from 45% of GDP in 1998 to 20% in 2011. Venezuela withdrew from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, after early repayment of all its debts.

41. In 2012, the growth rate was 5.5% in Venezuela, one of the highest in the world.

42. GDP per capita rose from $ 4,100 in 1999 to $ 10,810 in 2011.

43. According to the annual World Happiness 2012, Venezuela is the second happiest country in Latin America, behind Costa Rica, and the nineteenth worldwide, ahead of Germany and Spain. 

44. Venezuela offers more direct support to the American continent than the United States. In 2007, Chávez spent more than 8,800 million dollars in grants, loans and energy aid as against 3,000 million from the Bush administration.

45. For the first time in its history, Venezuela has its own satellites (Bolivar and Miranda) and is now sovereign in the field of space technology. The entire country has internet and telecommunications coverage. 

46. The creation of Petrocaribe in 2005 allows 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, or 90 million people, secure energy supply, by oil subsidies of between 40% to 60%.

47. Venezuela also provides assistance to disadvantaged communities in the United States by providing fuel at subsidized rates.

48. The creation of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) in 2004 between Cuba and Venezuela laid the foundations of an inclusive alliance based on cooperation and reciprocity. It now comprises eight member countries which places the human being in the center of the social project, with the aim of combating poverty and social exclusion.

49. Hugo Chavez was at the heart of the creation in 2011 of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) which brings together for the first time the 33 nations of the region, emancipated from the tutelage of the United States and Canada.

50. Hugo Chavez played a key role in the peace process in Colombia. According to President Juan Manuel Santos, “if we go into a solid peace project, with clear and concrete progress, progress achieved ever before with the FARC, is also due to the dedication and commitment of Chavez and the government of Venezuela.”

AN EXAMPLE OF AFRICAN MEDICAL SCIENCE. ILLUSTRATION OF AFRICAN DOCTORS IN 19TH CENTURY (1879) KAHARA,UGANDA PERFORMING A CAESARIAN SECTION. SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES OF THIS OPERATION WERE VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN IN EUROPE AT THE TIME.

Africans were performing many advanced medical procedures long before they had been conceived in Europe this is just one of many examples.

The British traveler R.W. Felkin who reported this noted that the healer used banana wine to semi-intoxicate the woman and to cleanse his hands and her abdomen prior to surgery. He used a midline incision and applied cautery to minimize hemorrhaging. He massaged the uterus to make it contract but did not suture it; the abdominal wound was pinned with iron needles and dressed with a paste prepared from roots. The patient recovered well, and Felkin concluded that this technique was well-developed and had clearly been employed for a long time. Similar reports come from Rwanda, where botanical preparations were also used to anesthetize the patient and promote wound healing.

Reference: “Notes on Labour in Central Africa" published in the Edinburgh Medical Journal, volume 20, April 1884, pages 922-930.

Click here for more.

Infographic Maps 25 Mining Conflicts in Mexico

There are at least 25 active social and labor conflicts with mining companies, both foreign and domestic, in Mexico since 2007, according to a registry maintained by the Observatory of Mining Conflicts in Latin America (OCMAL).

The infographic above maps 25 conflicts, state by state. Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí and Sonora are the Mexican states with the highest number of registered conflicts.

List of social and labor conflicts with mining companies in Mexico compiled by OCMAL:

Oaxaca (4) Sonora (3) San Luis Potosi (3) Baja California (2) Chiapas (2)

Guerrero, Veracruz, Morelos, State of Mexico, Michoacán, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Baja California Sur, Coahuila and Chihuahua all have 1 conflict.

Infographic: Gustavo Soledad via Aristegui Noticias

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http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/

http://prisonstrike.wordpress.com/

Submitted by: afieryflyingroule

Anybody in the HUMBOLDT/DEL NORTE AREA who is willing to join the local mobilization to Pelican Bay State Prison on July 8th for a nonviolent demonstration in support of the 5 DEMANDS of the Prisoner Hunger & Work Strike, please contact People's Action for Rights & Community at (707)442-7465 or parc.office@gmail.com

Please join us on July 8th @ Pelican Bay State Prison for  the demonstration, we will be rallying in the Safeway parking lot in Crescent City at 12:30pm

Also stay in touch with us if you wanna come join the Humboldt caravan to the statewide mobilization to Corcoran State Prison on July 13th

END LONG TERM SOLITARY CONFINEMENT!

Brazilian movement takes inspiration from Zapatistas June 24, 2013

“Abajo y a la izquierda está el corazón” — “the heart lies below and to the left”. This sentence by Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Mexico was used in an opening speech by the Free Fare Movement (MPL), which initiated protests across Brazil by forcing a drop in public transport fares. “Below” refers to the marginalized groups and minorities, which MPL calls “the bottom”, and “the left” refers to the anti-capitalist discourse. Formed by students of the University of São Paulo (USP) and by workers from the periphery, the movement defines itself as anti-capitalist, non-partisan, peaceful, autonomous and horizontal.

Some MPL activists, including 19-year-old Luiza Calagian from São Paulo, have crossed the continent to meet with Zapatista communities in Chiapas, who gained worldwide attention in 1994 when the Zapatistas lowered their weapons to negotiate their indigenous rights with the Mexican government. They soon became an example for the new social movements organized against the effects of globalization. Like the Zapatistas, the MPL differs from traditional political parties in its horizontal form of organization, where all decisions are made collectively. There are no positions or leaders. All speak on behalf of the movement. On the streets, one cannot hear the sound of car radios promoting election rallies, as they want to avoid dictating the discourse to “the bottom”.

“Marcos is gay in San Francisco, a black in South Africa, an Asian in Europe, a Chicano in San Isidro, an anarchist in Spain…”. In the ’90s, Subcomandante Marcos, the intellectual from the Autonomous University of Mexico who plunged into the jungle of Chiapas to fight alongside the indigenous community, basically became a legend. When asked who the Subcomandante was — the “sub” refers to the fact that the true leaders are the indigenous people, the Zapatistas, who cover their faces with masks — they respond: “We are all Marcos”.

In Brazil, the MPL tries to follow a similar line: “We could be anyone of you,” says 23-year-old Mayara Vivian, a member of the movement. Activists avoid talking about their personal lives, such as where they work and study. During the past two weeks of protests, a great deal were students of Humanities at USP, aged between 19 and 23-years-old. 19-year-old Philosophy student Marcelo Hotimsky explains: “The Zapatistas have greatly influenced the alter-globalization movement. They are part of a historical process of which we are the fruit.”

At Avenida Paulista on Thursday, despite being virtually expelled from the very demonstration they called after they expressed support for the presence of left-wing parties and social movements’ flags, the activists at MPL still claim to be non-partisan. Traditional parties and social movements work together with the MPL on specific causes, but the activists do not make concessions when they run into conflicts. The Mayor Fernando Haddad from the Workers’ Party (PT) was harshly criticized by the youth even after lowering the fare price. Moreover, they claim not to be the ones responsible for the mobilizations on the streets: “The population is able to organize itself,” Mayara advocates.

The EZLN was born in 1983 and until 1994 operated clandestinely in the Lacandon Jungle in South-East Mexico. After a bloody war against the state military, which lasted 12 days, the Zapatistas kept their weapons. Marcos’ speeches have been resonating across cyberspace ever since and aroused worldwide attention by stirring a wave of anti-globalization movements. Meanwhile, the struggle of the Zapatistas in Chiapas continues.

Source Photo 1, 2