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From Miami Autonomy and Solidarity

A natural disaster has descended upon Haiti whose scope we only are seeing the surface of at this time. The Haitian people will be struggling to rebuild their lives and their home possibly for decades in light of unprecedented collapse, both physical and social. Yet despite the unpredictability of earthquakes, this disaster is unnatural, a monstrosity of our time. The extent of the damage of the earthquake is part of the cost of unrestrained exploitation which at every step put profit above the health, safety, and well being of the Haitian people. While the world watches on ready to help, power is being dealt an opportunity. The Haitian workers and peasants have been fighting for their rights to even the most basic level of existence for decades, while the UN-occupying force, the state, and the ruling elites maintain the social misery without relenting. Now as Port-Au-Prince is in rubble, new opportunities arise for rulers to rebuild Haiti in their own interests, and likewise for the Haitian workers and peasants to assert their right to their own Haiti, one where they will be not be forced to live in dangerous buildings, and work merely to fill the pockets of elites, foreign or domestic.

As we move from watching in horror to taking decisive action, progressives can offer an alternative. There is a strong and beautiful desire to do something, to help others in this time of need. Our actions are strongest when we organize ourselves, and make a concerted effort in unity. Right now we can have the deepest impact by committing ourselves to act in solidarity with the autonomous social movements of Haiti directly. They present the best possible option for the Haitian people, and are in the greatest need. At the same time, we are in the best position to help them out our common interest as people engaged in struggling against a system that works to exploit us all. We are calling for solidarity people-to-people engaged in common struggle. It is not only a question of money for AID but also an autonomous and independent act of international solidarity that illuminates the bankruptcy of the occupying forces, multinational corporations, and Haitian elites that are primarily responsible for the decayed state of Haiti. There will be aid flowing and money given as a form of charity until the next disaster. Our act of solidarity should, in no shape or form, be solely an act of humanitarian aid. It should not be an apolitical act, and we shouldn’t give the green light to those that wish to capitalize on the suffering of others. It should be an act of solidarity to the struggling people of Haiti and their organizations while at the same time rejecting the totally inept Haitian elites and their state apparatus for bankrupting Haiti. The earthquake is a natural disaster, but the state of Haiti, the abject poverty of the masses and the vile injustice of the social order, are unnatural.

We have a relationship with one organization, Batay Ouvriye, and are putting our resources and time into helping Batay Ouvriye to help rebuild from the catastrophe and maintain the struggle for a better Haiti and a better world. Batay Ouvriye is a combative grassroots worker and peasant?s organization in Haiti with workers organized all over Haiti, especially in the Industrial sweatshops and Free Trade Zones. We have set up a means to send money to Batay Ourviye. If others wish to send money to Batay Ouvriye, please use paypal here DONATE NOW.

Buffalo has been experiencing an outbreak of hate crimes over the last several weeks and United We Stand-Buffalo is offering an event as a response. The Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus will perform and a petition will be available for anyone interested to sign, requesting a more open relationship between the BPD and the GLBTQ community of Buffalo.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 from 7 - 9PM at Asbury Hall @ Babeville, 341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202.

(much of the information has been passed on through the "please help support lindsay harmon and stop hate crime" facebook group)

On December 31st, 2009 Lindsay Harmon was stabbed by a white female that was walking with a group of 4 black males, and 1 other white female. They were walking down main street in front of Roxys complex towards Virgina when they decided to harass and assault Lindsay and the women who were accompanying her, using hateful words towards gays, and lesbians, while then the situation turning into a physical confrontation. Lindsay was stabbed in the right eye, right cheek, and left arm causing very serious injuries. The girl that did this got away by running with her group of friends down main toward Virgina street. If anyone has any information or saw even a little bit of what happen that night, feel free to contact Detective Tim Rooney @ 716-851-4403.
Lindsay was rushed to the hospital at 3am that night, to be followed by surgery later on the next afternoon to her right eye. She had a 9mm slash coming from the top of her eye lid, going into her eye ball. She has stitches in her arm, cheek, top of eye lid, and they repaired the damage to her right eye.

By Irene Morrison
Source: The Buffalo Activist

About 30 people gathered in Buffalo on December 27th, a wet and snowy Sunday, to remember Israel's assault on Gaza, which began one year ago, a boiling point in a conflict that has been ongoing since 1948.

Internationally, the Gaza Freedom March is attempting to break the blockade on Gaza's border with Egypt, and to send in some badly needed humanitarian aid. Though they have not yet been successful and have now called for a hunger strike, should they be allowed into Gaza, the aid they bring is only a drop in the bucket compaired to the aid Gazans really need. The March is intended to call attention to this, as well as to pressure Egypt to fully open its border and lift the siege on Gaza.

How you can help the Gaza Freedom March:

Contact your local consulate here.

Contact the Palestine Division in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cairo:

Ahmed Azzam, tel +202-25749682

Email: ahmed.azzam@mfa.gov.eg
In the U.S., contact the Egyptian Embassy, 202-895-5400 and ask for Omar Youssef or email omaryoussef@hotmail.com

By Irene Morrison
Source: The Buffalo Activist Online

Last week, Wade Rathke, the founder of ACORN, came to Buffalo to promote his new book, Citizen Wealth: Winning the Campaign to Save Working Families. The book makes the case that organizing around homeownership is one of the most effective ways for low- and moderate-income (LMI) families to gain economic stability, what he terms citizen wealth, and discusses the successes and challenges which organizers around these issues experience. Rathke also discusses the need for unions at a time in which they are increasingly under attack, as well as the need to continue to pressure corporations to end predatory lending and tax preparation practices.

At a time when much of the left-leaning and progressive media seems to be too negative (though I don’t disagree that there is plenty to be negative about), Citizen Wealth provides an optimistic but not overly-rosy look at the future of the working class. He maintains that we must reframe an argument that has been driven by ideology on the right rather than facts. A key term in this argument is the concept of wealth, which includes income but also includes home ownership, savings, health insurance, and any other asset that has the potential to create opportunities for family members.

Rathke believes that corporations can be pressed to change business practices not only at through legislation but through negotiations with grassroots organizations as well. Citing several examples with smaller community banks as well as corporations like H & R Block, Rathke highlights successes, primarily at the community level, which organizations like ACORN have won.

Wade Rathke is the co-founder of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 100. He was ACORN's chief organizer from its founding in 1970 until he stepped down 2008. He is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Social Policy, a quarterly magazine for scholars and activists, and he is the author of two books published in 2009. Rathke and his wife, Beth Butler, live in New Orleans, Louisiana. (wikipedia)

Link to mp3

For the whole of 2009, there’s been one constant in People United For Sustainable Housing’s interactions with people in the West Side. When told that the organization is combating the problem of high heating bills (the 3rd highest in the nation, in a city rated the 3rd poorest in the U.S.) many residents first thought was that there was an upcoming action against National Fuel.

It wasn’t that simple. From the start of the Green Jobs, Green Housing Campaign in March, to the passage of the New York State Green Jobs, Green Homes Act in October, PUSH and its allies had to target the state government in order to ensure that Federal stimulus funds actually made it past the backpockets of politicians and state bureaucrats and towards their intended purpose: sustainable job creation in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

For impoverished inner-city neighborhoods, the solution to the energy crisis is simple-local job creation through the renovation of every house, so that precious heat doesn’t simply escape through ancient (or cheaply constructed) walls and windows. Whereas for many the notion of “going green” is seen as an upper class lifestyle involving expensive solar panels and strange foods, for Rust Belt neighborhoods going green is literally a matter of survival. For every elderly person that is found frozen to death in their apartment every year, there are thousands who have to decide whether to pay their heat or their rent. This is the real face of the climate crisis and the economic recession.

There have been some changes to the IMC buffalo website.

• I added the great new logo by Pia.
• We have a Calendar now. At present only editors can create events, but this should propagate out to all users by next week.
• The file upload dropdown has been moved closer to the top of the story creation form.
• Some other housekeeping and rearranging the front page.

The imperial aspirations of Governor Patterson will not solve the budget crisis. Recently, he has proposed emergency measures that would give him unilateral power to create the next state budget; which was “was rejected practically instantly” (11/25/09, Buffalo News). Public services do not have to suffer, yet the solution requires restructuring and redistribution of funds from the top to the bottom; something that the powers that be have never done without political demands being made by grassroots motion and calling on whatever political insurgency (i.e. progressive legislators) can be mustered.

According to the Buffalo News, on Dec. 3rd, “New York's Senate has joined the Assembly in approving a measure to reduce the state's budget deficit by about $2.8 billion” (“NY Lawmakers Approve Deficit Cutting Plan”) and thereafter, the article cited the Governor’s specific desire to cut education and hospital funding. These two sectors are extremely vital to the lives of everyday people, and it is extremely dire when the health and the intellectual growth of a population are sacrificed when according to word of mouth, in the wake of 2008 SUNY tuition increase, the governor ordered thousand dollar wine glasses.

What’s to be done? In Berkeley, CA at UC Berkeley on November19th, the Regents board announced a tuition hike by 32% and the cutting of 38 custodial jobs, and in response according to the San Francisco Indymedia the students occupied the University. The occupation ended on the 21st amongst three days (18th-21st) of planned demonstrations with a tuition freeze and 38 custodial jobs (11/21/09, San Francisco Chronicle). Their occupation was complemented by a 250 strong mass lobby here, in Manchester, England. Under the banners of Unions and the newly formed Manchester for Jobs and Education, we stood against 127 job cuts and the £180 million in education de-funding ($296 million). Across the board, acts of student militancy and organization of both workers and students have begun. To defend our interests, especially in a city with three big universities (UB, BSC, and Canisus College) and a sizeable Community college (ECC) we have to invest our energy towards movement at the bottom.