Volume 21, Number 4
War on Housing
Andrew Mindszenthy
80s Movements
Zoltan Grossman
Commentary
Cartoonerama
Jen Sorensen
Outside the (Ballot) Box
Aurora Levins morales
Serving Elites
Lydia Sargent
A Woman President
Lydia Sargent
Signing Statements
Anthony Dimaggio
Immigration Reform Now
César cuauhtémoc garcía Hernández
Culture
Review: Challenging Authority
Edgey Wildchild
Review: Subcommander Marcos
Robert Ovetz
Features
Iraq's "Good News"
Noam Chomsky
Safari Journalism
Edward Herman
After Suharto
Andre Vltchek
Recession Pt. 2
Jack Rasmus
NYT & Trade
Roger Bybee
U.S. & Kenya
Anne Holmes
Iran Deals
Tom Odonnell
Zaps
Zaps
Various submissions
NOTE: Z Magazine subscribers and sustainers have access to all Z Magazine articles here and in the archive. The latest Z Magazine articles available to everyone are listed in the Free Articles box at the top of the table of contents, and are starred in the list below. Questions? e-mail Z Magazine Online.
Zaps - April 2008
Events
ABORTION RIGHTS - The 22nd Annual "From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom" conference takes place April 4-6, 2008 at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. The conference, a project of the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program and the Population and Development Program, is free and open to the public.
Contact: Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program, Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002; 413-559- 5416; clpp@hampshire.edu; clpp.hampshire.edu.
ORGANIZING - On April 11, from 10 AM to 4 PM, the Adler Institute on Social Exclusion and the Jane Addams Hull House Association presents "Disrupting the Status Quo: Exposing Bias Building Community," a conference in Chicago for individuals interested in advancing social change.
Contact: Adler School of Professional Psychology, 65 East Wacker Place, Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601; 312-201-5900; www.adler.edu.
LABOR CONFERENCE - The annual Labor Notes conference is scheduled for April 11-13 in Dearborn, Michigan. Young and old will come together for workshops and strategy in fighting back and taking what's ours from the corporate oligarchy. This year's theme: "Rebuilding Labor's Power."
Contact: Labor Notes, 7435 Michigan Ave., Detroit, MI 48210; 313-842-6262; conference@labornotes.org; www. labornotes.org.
HISTORY CONFERENCE - "War and Its Discontents: Understanding Iraq and the U.S. Empire" is a conference for historians and activists, co-sponsored by the Peace History Society. The conference will take place April 11-13, 2008, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Contact: www.historiansagainst war.org.
EDUCATION CONFERENCE - "Social Justice in Education" is the theme of a conference at Lincoln High School in San Diego on April 12. Organized by the Association of Raza Educators (ARE), the conference will explore the role of teachers and students in struggling, inside and outside the classroom, against oppression and marginalization within the educational system.
Contact: Association of Raza Educators, PO Box 740337, San Diego, CA 92114; info@associationofrazaeducators.org; www.associationofrazaeducators.org.
LA FORUM - Planning is still underway for the Los Angeles Social Forum in late April; check the website or call for more details.
Contact: LA Social Forum, PO Box 50359, Los Angeles, CA 90050; 213-596-8226; info@lasocialforum.org; www.lasocialforum.org.
CLASS STUDY - The Center for Study of Working Class Life will have its annual conference, "How Class Works" at the State University of New York at Stony Brook June 5-7.
Contact: Michael Zweig, Director, Center for Study of Working Class Life, Department of Economics, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794; 631-632-7536; michael.zweig@stonybrook.edu; www.workingclass.sunysb.edu.
MEDIA - The 2008 National Conference for Media Reform is scheduled for June 6-8 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Thousands of activists, journalists, and policymakers will hold discussions, workshops, and skillshares. Scholarships and work exchanges available.
WORKPLACE DEMOCRACY - The 2008 National Conference of Democratic Workplaces will be held this June 19-22 in New Orleans. Proposals for conference workshops, speakers, and events are now being accepted.
Contact: US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, PO Box 170701, San Francisco, CA 94117; 415-379-9201; info@usworker.coop; www.usworker.coop/conference2008.
HONDURAS - An educational and activist delegation to Honduras with Rights Action is planned for July 7-12. Participants will learn about community and Indigenous Garifuna resistance to large scale "development" projects (including Goldcorp Inc.'s open pit, cyanide leeching gold mine and large scale tourist plans on Honduras's north Caribbean shore) and about community development alternatives.
Contact: Rights Action, PO Box 50887, Washington DC 20091; 860-352- 2448; info@rightsaction.org; www.rightsaction.org.
Campaigns & Organizations
ISRAEL - United for Peace and Justice, the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Jewish Voice for Peace, Peace Action, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the Council for the National Interest are calling on the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees to end military aid to Israel as the first step towards Middle East peace. Sign-on letters for congress are available from the campaign organizers.
Contact: US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, PO Box 21539, Washington, DC 20009; 202-332-0994; office@endtheoccupation.org; www.endtheoccupation.org.
MEDIA - The Center for Media Justice's upgraded website is now live. Be assured, CMJ is the same bold, brown and visionary organization previously known as the Youth Media Council, though now with national outreach, while keeping our focus on community organizing and youth rights in the Bay Area.
Contact: Center for Media Justice (CMJ), 1611 Telegraph Ave. suite 510, Oakland, CA, 94612; 510-444-0640; info@centerformediajustice.org; www.centerformediajustice.org.
POLITICAL MONEY - The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-partisan organization tracking money in U.S. politics, its effect on elections and public policy. The CRP website, OpenSecrets.org, offers a resource for campaign contributions, lobbying data, and analysis.
Contact: The Center for Responsive Politics, 1101 14th St., NW, Suite 1030, Washington, DC 20005; 202-857-0044; info@crp.org; www.opensecrets.org.
Publications
TRADE - Bilaterals.org, GRAIN, and BIOTHAI have launched a collaborative publication, Fighting FTAs: The growing resistance to bilateral free trade and investment agreements. It is available online in multiple formats and languages, including multimedia and printable PDF files, open to all as copyleft media. Fighting FTAs looks in-depth at so called Free Trade Agreements and how social movements are fighting back.
Contact: www.fightingftas.org.
HUMAN RIGHTS - The annual report of Human Rights Watch, World Report 2008, is now available.
Books
LABOR - The University Against Itself provides a brief history of labor organizing on American campuses, analyzes the state of academic labor today, and speculates about how the university workplace may evolve for employees.
Contact: Temple University Press, 306 University Services Building (083-41), Philadelphia, PA 19122; 800-621-2736; www.temple.edu/tempress.
MOON - New research into the bizarre world of Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church and ultra-conservative owner of the Washington Times and United Press International, is revealed in John Gorenfeld's Bad Moon Rising.
Contact: PoliPointPress LLC, 80 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 22, Sausalito, CA 94965; 415-339- 4100; info@p3books.com; www.p3books.com.
ARAB-AMERICANS - Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11 edited by Amaney Jamal and Nadine Naber brings the varied terrain of Arab American histories to bear on conceptualizations of race in United States.
Contact: Syracuse University Press, 621 Skytop Road, Suite 110, Syracuse, NY 13244; 315-443-5534; supress@syr.edu; syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu.
TRAVEL - Progressive Nation: A Travel Guide with 400+ Left Turns and Inspiring Landmarks by travel writer and political activist Jerome Pohlen puts progressive milestones on the map, celebrating men and women who made revolutionary changes in America.
Contact: Independent Publishers Group, 814 North Franklin St., Chicago, IL 60610; 800-888- 4741; www.ipgbook.com.
WAR CRIMES - World Tribunal on Iraq: Making the Case Against War is a damning indictment that examines every aspect of the Iraq war and occupation—including its legality, its environmental impact, the use of torture, and the role of the media.
Contact: Interlink Publishing Group, Inc., 46 Crosby Street, Northampton, MA 01060; 1-800-238-LINK; info@interlinkbooks.com; www.interlinkbooks.com.
PROFITEERING - War on Terror, Inc.: Corporate Profiteering from the Politics of Fear by Solomon Hughes examines the crucial debate on the role of corporations in warfare and national security.
Contact: Verso, 180 Varick St, New York, NY 10014; 212- 807-9680; versony@versobooks.com; www.versobooks.com.
MISOGYNY - At a time when the outcry is minimal and the voices are tragically few, Ewuare Osayande's Misogyny & the Emcee challenges all forms of inter and intra-racial violence perpetuated against Black women and girls.
Contact: Talking Drum Communications, PO Box 42634, Philadelphia, PA 19101; www.osayande.org.
CASTRO - Fidel Castro Reader edited by David Deutschmann and Deborah Shnooka is the first selection of Fidel Castro's speeches to be published since the 1960s.
Contact: Ocean Press, 511 Avenue of the Americas, #96, New York, NY 10011; info@oceanbooks.com.au; www.oceanbooks.com.au.
GUN CULTURE - Guys and Guns Amok: Domestic Terrorism and School Shootings from the Oklahoma City Bombing to the Virginia Tech Massacre by Douglas Kellner connects each case with male socialization and a search for identity in a culture obsessed with guns and militarism.
Contact: Paradigm Publishers, 3360 Mitchell Lane, Boulder, CO 80301; 303-245- 9054; www.paradigmpublishers.com.
SUBMITTING ZAPS: Send information on your activist activities, books, resources, and other items to aluker@riseup.net or zmag@zmag.org. We welcome your ads, as well. All ads and listings in Z are free, at our discretion. We feature worthy projects, especially those that can't afford advertising rates in other media.
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Announcements
LABOR - May 1 is May Day. Workers of the world will celebrate the 124th anniversary of International Worker’s Day. Born out of a call for an 8-hour workday in the United States, this day is an opportunity for all workers to show their solidarity with one another, as well as to renew the call for labor rights.FARM CONFERENCE - The Farm Conference on Community and Sustainability will be held May 24-26 in Summertown, TN, in partnership with the Fellowship of Intentional Communities. Tour green homes, see sustainable food production, learn about solar installations, alternative education, midwifery, and more.
Contact: Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com; http://www.thefarmcommunity.com/.
PALESTINE - The Conference of the Palestinian Shatat in North American will be held June 3-5 in Vancouver. The conference will examine the future of the Palestinian liberation movement.
Contact: palestinianconference@gmail.com; http://www.palestinianconference.org/.
LABOR - The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association’s 45th annual conference will be held May 3-5, in Portland, OR. This year’s theme is Labor Under Attack: Learning from the Past and Preparing for the Future. A call for presentations, workshops and papers is currently underway.
Contact: PNLHA, 27920 68th Ave. East, Graham, WA 98338; 206-406-2604; PNLHA1@aol.com; http://www3.telus.net.
MARIJUANA - On the first Saturday of May marijuana legalization activists will hold informational and educational events, rallies and marches in over 300 cities around the world.
Contact:http://globalcannabismarch.com/.
ECONOMICS - The Union For Radical Political Economics will hold its 39th annual conference May 9-11 in New York City.
Contact: http://www.ramapo.edu/eea/2013/.
RECLAIM THE DREAM - The 2013 Poor People’s Campaign & March from Baltimore to Washington D.C. will be May 11. Communities, schools and unions interested in participating are encouraged to contact the Baltimore People’s Assembly.
Contact: 410-500-2168; 410-218-4835; BaltimorePeoplesAssembly@gmail.com; Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Baltimore and the Baltimore Peoples Power Assembly, 2011 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218.
MOTHER’S DAY - The 17th Annual Mother’s Day Walk For Peace will be May 12th, in Dorchester, MA. The walk began in 1996 for families who had lost children to violence. The day has become a way for thousands of people to financially support the work of the Louis Brown Peace Institute.
Contact: http://www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org/; http://mothersdaywalk4peace.org/.
NATO 5 - An International Week of Solidarity with the NATO 5 has been called for May 16-21. Supports call on supporters to raise awareness of the NATO 5 and support funds for the defendants on the one-year anniversary of their preemptive arrests.
Contact: nato5solidarity@gmail.com; https://nato5support.wordpress.com.
MOUNTAINTOP - The 2013 Mountain Justice Summer Activist Training Camp will be held May 19-27 in Damascus, VA. It will be a week of workshops, field trips to view Mountain Top Removal coal mines, direct actions, and service project.
Contact: http://rampscampaign.org/.
FEMINIST SCI-FI - The feminist science fiction convention WisCon 37 is scheduled for May 24-27 in Madison, WI.
Contact: WisCon, ? SF3, PO Box 1624, Madison, WI 53701; concom37@wiscon.info; http://www.wiscon.info/.
ANARCHY FEST - A month-long Festival of Anarchy is scheduled for May in Montreal. The festival includes The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (May 19-20).
Contact: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/; http://www.radicalmontreal.com/.
LABOR - The International Labor Rights Forum will present: Down the Supply Chain, Driving Corporate Accountability, on May 22 in Washington, DC. The Labor Rights Awards Ceremony and Reception will honor pioneers in supply chain worker organizing, working solidarity and international labor rights policy.
Contact: http://laborrights.org/.
MULTICULTURE - The 26th annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) will take place May 28-June 1, in New Orleans.
Contact: SWCHRS, 3200 Marshall Avenue, Suite 290, Norman, OK 73072; 405-325-3694; ncore@ou.edu; www.ncore.ou.edu.
MEDIA - The 2013 Alliance for Community Media Annual Conference will be held May 29-31, in San Francisco, CA. Participants will include educators, community leaders, media professionals, journalists, nonprofit leaders, policymakers and students.
Contact: http://www.allcommunitymedia.org/.
RADIO - The 38th Annual Community Radio Conference is schedule for May 29-June 1, in San Francisco, CA, with discussions and workshops.
Contact: 1101 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004; 202-756-2268; comments@nfcb.org; http://www.nfcb.org/.
BRADLEY MANNING - On June 1, a rally will be held at Fort Meade in support of Bradley Manning.
Contact: http://www.bradleymanning.org.
BIKES - Bikes Not Bombs is holding its 24th annual Bike-A-Thon and Green Roots Festival in Boston, MA on June 3, with several bike rides scheduled, music, exhibitors and more.
Contact: Bikes Not Bombs, 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130; 617-522-0222; mail@bikesnotbombs.org; www.bikesnotbombs.org.
LEFT FORUM - The 2013 Left Forum will be held June 7-9, at Pace University in New York City.
Contact: 365 Fifth Avenue, CUNY Graduated Center, ? Sociology Dept., New York, NY 10016; http://www.leftforum.org/.
VEGAN FEST - Mad City Vegan Fest will be held in Madison, WI, June 8. The annual event features food, speakers, and exhibitors.
Contact: 122 State Street, Suite 405 B, Madison, WI 53701; madcityveganfest@gmail.com; http://veganfest.org/.
ADC CONFERENCE - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) holds its annual conference June 13-16, in Washington, DC, with panel discussions and workshops on civil rights, media and other topics.
Contact: 1990 M Street, Suite 610, Washington, DC, 20036; 202-244-2990; convention@adc.org http://convention.adc.org/.
CUBA/SOCIALISM - A Cuban-North American Dialog on Socialist Renewal and Global Capitalist Crisis will be held in Havana, Cuba, June 16-30. There will be a 5 day Seminar at University of Havana, plus visits to a cooperative, urban garden, community development project, social research centers, and educational & medical institutions.
Contact: cuba@globaljusticecenter.org; http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/.
NETROOTS - The 8th Annual Netroots Nation conference will take place June 20-23 in San Jose, CA. The event features panels, trainings, networking, screenings, and keynotes.
Contact: 164 Robles Way, #276, Vallejo, CA 94591; registration@netrootsnation.org; http://www.netrootsnation.org/.
MEDIA - The 15th annual Allied Media Conference will be held June 20-23, in Detroit.
Contact: 4126 Third Street, Detroit, MI 48201; http://alliedmedia.org/.
GRASSROOTS - The United We Stand Festival will be hosted by Free & Equal, June 22 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The festival aims to reform the electoral process throughout the U.S.
Contact: http://freeandequal.org/.
SOCIALISM - The Socialism 2013 Conference is scheduled for June 27-30 in Chicago, featuring talks and panel discussions.
Contact: info@socialismconference.org; http://www.socialismconference.org.
LITERACY - The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) will hold its conference July 12-13 in Los Angeles under the heading, Intersections: Teaching and Learning Across Media.
Contact: 10 Laurel Hill Drive, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003; http://namle.net/conference/.
IWW - The North American Work People’s College will take place July 12-16 at Mesaba Co-op Park in northern Minnesota. The event will bring together Wobblies from branches across the continent to learn new skills and build One Big Union.
Contact: http://workpeoplescollege.org/.
PEACESTOCK - On July 13th, the 11th Annual Peacestock: A Gathering for Peace, will take place at Windbeam Farm in Hager City, WI. The event is a mixture of music, speakers and community for peace. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace.
Contact: Bill Habedank, 1913 Grandview Ave., Red Wing, MN 55066; 651-388-7733; billhabedank@yahoo.com; http://www.peacestockvfp.org.
CHILDREN’S DEFENSE - July 15-19, join clergy, seminarians, Christian educators, young adult leaders and other faith-based advocates for children at CDF Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee, for five days of spiritual renewal, networking, movement building workshops, and continuing education about the urgent needs of children at the 19th annual Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry.
Contact: cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org; http://www.childrensdefense.org.
ACTIVIST CAMP - Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp will have sessions in July and August in Ben Lomond, CA; Portland, OR; Charlton, MA. YEA Camp is designed for activists 12-17 years old who want to make a difference in the world.
Contact: info@yeacamp.org; http://yeacamp.org/.
LA RAZA - The annual National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Conference is scheduled for July 18-19 in New Orleans, with workshops, presentations and panel discussions.
Contact: NCLR Headquarters Office, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202-785-1670; www.nclr.org.
LABOR - The Eastern Conference For Workplace Democracy: Growing Our Cooperatives, Growing Our Communities, will be held at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, July 26-28.
Contact: info@east.usworker.coop; http://east.usworker.coop/.
WOMEN/LYNNE STEWART- Radical Women is asking for support letters and cards to be sent to Lynne Stewart. Stewart is a civil rights attorney and political prisoner who is currently in jail. She has breast cancer and authorities have denied her request for transfer from her Texas prison to the New York City hospital where she received medical attention during a prior bout of breast cancer. Send messages and cards to: Lynne Stewart 53504-054, Federal Medical Center Carswell, P.O. Box 27137, Fort Worth, TX 76127.
Contact: 747 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109; 415-864-1278; RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com; http://lynnestewart.org/; http://www.radicalwomen.org/.
HAITI/WOMEN - Haiti’s government is considering a legal reform measure that would prohibit and punish all sexual assault, including marital rape. MADRE and the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict are launching a petition to raise international support for this push to address violence against women in Haiti.
Contact: 121 West 27th Street, #301, New York, NY 10001; 212-627-0444; madre@madre.org; http://www.madre.org.
SYRIA/MIDDLE EAST - The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) is currently seeking funds to assist more than 200,000 refugees fleeing violence in Syria.
Contact: https://www.mecaforpeace.org.
FOLK FESTIVAL - The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival will be held August 2-4, in the Berkshires, NY.
Contact: http://www.falconridgefolk.com/; falcridge@aol.com.
WAR RESISTERS - The War Resisters League will hold its 90th anniversary conference, Revolutionary Nonviolence: Building Bridges Across Generations and Communities, August 1-4, at Georgetown University. The event will focus on the U.S.’ long history of antimilitarism.
Contact: 339 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012; 212-228-0450; wrl@warresisters.org; http://www.warresisters.org.
POPULAR ECONOMICS - The Center for Popular Economics is holding its 2013 Summer Institute August 4-9 at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. No background in economics is needed for this intensive training. This year’s theme is, The Care Economy: Building a Just Economy with a Heart.
Contact: Center for Popular Economics, PO Box 785 Amherst, MA 01004; 413-545-0743; programs@populareconomics.org; www.populareconomics.org.
VETERANS - Veterans for Peace is holding the 28th annual convention August 6-11 in Madison, WI. This year’s theme is, Power To The Peaceful.
Contact: http://www.vfpnationalconvention.org/.
DEMOCRACY - The Democracy Convention will take place August 7-11 in Madison, WI. The convention brings together nine conferences including topics such as media, education, defense, race, environment and others.
Contact: https://democracyconvention.org/.
MEN - The 38th National Conference on Men & Masculinity: Forging Justice: Creating Safe, Equal and Accountable Communities, presented in partnership with HAVEN, will be held in Detroit, MI, August 8-10.
Contact: ccardinal@haven-oakland.org; http://www.nomas.org/.
OCCUPY - An Occupy National Gathering will be held in Kalamazoo, MI, August 21-25.
Contact: natgat2013@gmail.com; http://occupynationalgathering.net/.
COMMUNITIES - The Communities Conference is a networking and learning opportunity for co-operative or communal lifestyles, with workshops, events and entertainment; scheduled for August 30-September 2 at the Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, Virginia.
Contact: http://www.communitiesconference.org/.
LABOR DAY - The 29th annual Bread and Roses Festival, a celebration of the ethnic diversity and labor history of Lawrence, MA, will be held September 2, in honor of the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike. There will be music, dance, poetry, drama, ethnic food, historical demonstrations, walking & trolley tours.
Contact: PO Box 1137, Lawrence, MA 01842; 978-794-1655; http://www.breadandrosesheritage.org/.
OCCUPY WALL STREET - September 17 is the two-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Events are planned in New York City and worldwide.
Contact: http://occupywallst.org/.
TEACHERS - The 13th Annual Conference, “Teaching for Social Justice: The Politics of Pedagogy,” will be held October 12 in San Francisco, CA. The free event features workshops, resources, and free childcare.
Contact: 415-676-7844; teachers4socialjustice@yahoo.com; http://www.t4sj.org/.
HAITI - International Action, which brings clean water and chlorinators to Haiti, seeks office space capable of housing up to six people and their office equipment.
Contact: Zach Bremer, Zbrehmer@haitiwater.org; 202-488-0735; http://www.haitiwater.org/.
MEDIA - The Union for Democratic Communications and Project Censored are sponsoring a joint conference on media democracy, media activism and social justice to be held November 1-3 at the University of San Francisco. Proposals for presentations, workshops and panels from activists and critical scholars are invited.
