Posts tagged ‘social movements’

Spain’s Robin Hood Mayor and Landless Peasants Battle Bankers

by , posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2012 at 8:35 am

from The Real News Network

In Southern Spain, Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, mayor of the small town of Marinaleda, is helping organize a growing protest movement against the austerity measures imposed by the Spanish government. Sánchez Gordillo and the landless peasants that follow him are at the forefront of demonstrations seeking a radical change in the country’s economic policies in response to the country’s worsening crisis.

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“Be Honest About the History of Our Country”: Remembering the Historian Howard Zinn at 90

by , posted on Friday, August 24th, 2012 at 1:40 pm

from Democracy Now!

“People have the power. If they begin to organize, if they protest, if they create a strong enough movement, they can change things.” — Howard Zinn

The late historian, writer and activist Howard Zinn would have turned 90 years old today. Zinn died of a heart attack at the age of 87 on January 27, 2010. After serving as a bombardier in World War II, Zinn went on to become a lifelong dissident and peace activist. He was active in the civil rights movement and many of the struggles for social justice over the past 50 years. In 1980, Howard Zinn published his classic book, “A People’s History of the United States,” which would go on to sell more than a million copies and change the way we look at history in America. We air an excerpt of a Zinn interview on Democracy Now! from May 2009, and another from one of his last speeches later that year, just two months before his death.

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Bill McKibben’s Thought Bubble

by , posted on Tuesday, August 21st, 2012 at 5:08 pm

from 350.org

Bill McKibben shares this call to action for what could not only be the biggest fight of our time, but of all time.

The fossil fuel industry is quickly destroying the planet, and making the fight to protect our future increasingly challenging as industry lobbying, and unabated growth continues. We all need to come together and rally behind leaders like Bill McKibben, 350.org, and countless others, to save this planet. How? With passion, spirit, and creativity, and as Bill says, sometimes putting our bodies on the line. Will you join the fight?

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Robert Pollin: Full Employment Is Possible

by , posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2012 at 1:31 pm

from GRITtv with Laura Flanders

The latest book from Robert Pollin, economics professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst and director of the Political Economy Research Institute, is “Back to Full Employment.” If the title seems bold, the road map Pollin lays out behind it is hardly outlandish. In this conversation with Laura Flanders, Pollin explains how the Federal Reserve can grow employment tremendously, without the need for any legislation.

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Van Jones: “Re-electing Obama won’t solve all of our problems”

by , posted on Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 at 9:12 am

from Current TV’s The War Room

Van talks about the importance of having two forms of power: a President willing to be moved, and a movement in the streets willing to do the moving.

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Noam Chomsky on Obama Administration, Occupy movement

by , posted on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 10:57 am

from Democracy Now!

Noam Chomsky says the Occupy movement has helped rebuild class solidarity and communities of mutual support on a level unseen since the time of the Great Depression. “The Occupy movement spontaneously created something that doesn’t really exist in the country: Communities of mutual support, cooperation, open spaces for discussion … people doing things and helping each other,” Chomsky says. “That’s very much missing. There [has been] massive propaganda going on for a century, that you really shouldn’t care about anyone else, just yourself … To rebuild [class solidarity] — even in small pieces of society — can become very important, can change the conception of how society ought to function.” Chomsky also gives his assessment of President Obama, whom he says has attacked civil liberties in a way that “goes beyond George W. Bush.”

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People Everywhere Connect the Dots on Climate Change

by , posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2012 at 3:04 pm

from 350.org

On 5/5/12, people around the world volunteered, documented, educated, and protested to connect the dots on climate change. We’re just getting started — join us at http://www.350.org

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Bending the Arc

by , posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 6:54 pm

from the New Organizing Institute

There’s only one way change happens: when people stand up and make change. There’s a long road ahead of us, but together we’ll continue to bend the arc.

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John Nichols: How to Build a Movement

by , posted on Friday, May 4th, 2012 at 7:46 pm

from The Nation

A real movement is not limited to a small party. A real movement touches everyone. In Wisconsin, a real movement did just that. In this video, John Nichols explains how the state came together—from the young to the old, from the private sector to the public—in a show of diversity that formed the basis for a broader struggle.

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OSI: Pat Langley, “Occupy’s Queer Ancestor”

by , posted on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 at 3:44 pm

from Occupy Springfield IL

Pat Langley speaks to Occupy Springfield, IL about the similarities between the Occupy movement and the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP)

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