Tidbits, October 20, 2011

1.Re: Occupy Wall Street Welcomes Indigenous People, 
	from William Loren Katz
2.Re: The Black Power Mixtape, from David Ecklein
3.Re: Tidbits and Reader Response, from Zwarich
4.Forum on Job Creation, Nov 6, Princeton, NJ
5.California Town hall Meetings re: Campaign For A Healthy 
	California 

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1.Re: Occupy Wall Street Welcomes Indigenous People

This article by the Tiano News service and its photographs
 show the unity forged this Columbus Day at Liberty Square by
 young people who began the "Occupy Wall Street" and Tiano
 Indigenous people. It also gives us another reason to take
 heart in this movement that is now sweeping the globe. It
 further indicates that Tiano Indigenous people have
 something important to teach  Americans as the first victims
 of "occupation." In the center of some of photographs of
 Tiano is Roberto Borrero, a friend who several times asked
 me to speak at the American Museum of Natural History.
 
 William Loren Katz

-----Original Message----- 

From: tainonews 
Sent: Mon, Oct 17, 2011 6:50 pm 
Subject: Taino News Occupy Wall Street Welcomes Indigenous 
Peoples

New York, NY (UCTP Taino News) As the United States
 officially celebrated Columbus Day [last] Monday, indigenous
 peoples joined thousands of activists to commemorate
 "Indigenous Peoples Day" at Occupy Wall Street in Lower
 Manhattan. Representatives of several local, national, and
 international indigenous organizations and community groups
 led a "teach-in and then an historic march down to the
 National Museum of the American Indian. The indigenous
 representatives also presented an `indigenous platform',
 which noted that "without addressing justice for indigenous
 peoples, there can never be a genuine movement for justice
 and equality in the United States."

Read the full article at:
 http://www.uctp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=666&Itemid=2

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2.Re: The Black Power Mixtape

Let's hope this "Black Power Mixtape" makes it to DVD soon.
 Please post details if and when!

Dave Ecklein
 
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3.Re: Tidbits & Reader Response

In her comments concerning OWS, Laura MacDowell writes that:
"One of the most telling points made thus far is that many
elected politicians basically work for and adhere to the
ideas of the major corporations and financial interests. They
do not represent the public and their interests."

We have surely all heard the common criticism of OWS that it
lacks focus. Ms. MacDowell's remarks may serve to point us
in the right general direction, but they also prove this
often heard criticism. They reveal this nascent movement's
unfortunate failure (thus far) to provide focus by ordering
the many relevant issues it confronts into a properly
prioritized Basic Message.

It should be self-apparent, (but for some reason is not yet),
that the lack of representation in government for the
people's interests is much more than "one of the most
telling points made thus far". This is rather THE most
"telling point", and should be the focal point of our Basic
Message in our efforts to oppose the powerful forces arrayed
against us. All the other issues being raised, from growing
economic inequality, to the proliferation of unjust wars, to
deadly environmental destruction that threatens all of
humanity, derive from the central focal point that our
government is very obviously (to virtually everyone) no
longer "of the people, by the people, and for the people".
Our system of government can no longer credibly claim to
"derive its just powers from the consent of the governed".

It remains true that "you can fool some of the people all of
the time, and all of the people some of the time", but
virtually all the people in this nation know that the United
States is no longer a Democracy, except in name and
pretense. We all know that our government has been taken
over by The Rich, to serve their naked greed, in order to
make them richer.

"No taxation without representation" was a central 'demand'
presented to the king during the period leading up to the
first American Revolution. This nation was founded upon our
desire for Democracy. If we have any realistic hopes of
growing the nascent OWS movement into a revolutionary force
that can defeat the immense power of corporate capital, we
must do a much better job of crafting a Basic Message that
will resonate with the masses of the citizenry.

Our desire for Democracy, our need for a government that will
"provide for the general welfare" of the citizenry, (as is
stated in the Preamble to the Constitution), is that Basic
Message. All the rest flows from that.

The sooner we can achieve this focus, the sooner we begin
promulgating a clear and powerful Basic Message that will
ring true in the proverbial hearts and minds of the
citizenry, the sooner we will see what is still a marginal
movement, (with winter coming on), start to have the
powerful effects it can (and will) in the mainstream
currents of the nation.

Zwarich

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4.Forum on Job Creation

Coalition for Peace Action

CFPA is co-sponorsing the Mid-Jersey MoveOn Council's
forum on job creation 

Forum on Job Creation 
Sunday, November 6 
2:00 - 4:00 PM

 Trinity Church 33 Mercer Street 
Princeton, NJ

Come hear Nobel Prize Winner Paul Krugman and other speakers
discuss how to create good jobs in the U.S.!

This event is organized by the Mid-Jersey MoveOn Council,
 which is part of the American Dream Movement, and is co-
 sponsored by the Coalition for Peace Action

http://www.peacecoalition.org/component/content/article/39-cfpa/285-jobforum.html

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5.Campaign For A Healthy California

TOWN HALL MEETINGS

The Vermont legislature has pioneered a bill creating a path
for a universal, publicly funded healthcare system. James
Haslam from the Vermont Workers' Center is coming to
California to share their story and inspire Californians to
do the same.

Donna Smith, featured in the movie "Sicko", is a community
organizer and health care activist with the California Nurses
Association, and will join James on a California Health Care
Justice Tour.

Please join other concerned community members who are
committed to making healthcare available to all
Californians: California Nurses Association *
California School Employees Association * California
 Physicians for a National Health Program * California
Health Professional Student Alliance * Health Care for
All * OneCare * Single Payer Now * Progressive
Democrats of America * Progressive Caucus of the
California Democratic Party * California Alliance for
 Retired Americans * Democracy For America

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 7:00 p.m. - Los Angeles ILWU Local
26 Union Hall 5625 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles
Contact: Lisa Patrick-Mudd - (323) 316-8933

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19 7:00 p.m. - Irvine United
 Congregational Church 4915 Alton Parkway, Irvine
Contact: Bill Honigman - (949) 246-6283

THURSDAY, OCT 20 6:30 p.m. - San Diego Machinist Local
725 Union Hall 5150 Kearny Mesa Road, San Diego
Contact: Kathy Rallings - (760) 927-0049
 
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 7:00 p.m. - South Bay CLC, Hall A
2102 Almaden Rd, San Jose Contact: Greg Miller - (408)
254-3311 or  Katherine - (408) 977-1275, (408) 834-9165

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 10:00 a.m. - San Francisco St.
 Mary's Cathedral 1111 Gough Street, San Francisco
Contact: Jodi Reid - (415) 515-2156 3:00 p.m. -
Watsonville Civic Plaza 275 Main Street, Watsonville
Contact: Carol Roberson/Gail Olson - (831) 359-5494

 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 1:00 p.m. - Sacramento CWA Local
9421 Union Hall 2725 El Camino Avenue, Sacramento
Contact: Carolyn Negrete [log in to unmask] (916)
424-5316 7:00 p.m. - Fresno CWA Local 9408 Union Hall
 4422 E. Ashlan Ave, Fresno Contact: Judy Hess - (559)
907-0279

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24 6:30 p.m. - Chico Trinity United
Methodist Church 285 E. 5th Street, Chico Contact:
Forrest Harlan (530) 513-3594 or Tom Reed (530)
 966-3414

Together We Can Make This Happen - The California
Health Justice Tour is in support of the Campaign For A
Healthy California, and is raising funds for it, as
well as for the Vermont Workers Center.

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