December 31, 2007

Social Upheaval in 2008

A lot has happened in the world in 2007. I didn't keep up with the news in the past year the way I did in previous years - you can read about some of what I was up to on angelheaded hipster, my other blog. I even forgot that Time named "You" person of the year.

The mainstream media has been focused on the 08 presidential race horse race since at least January 07. More air time was spent on Sunday morning talk shows discussing candidates' relative viability in Iowa and New Hampshire than was spent discussing the substantial policy positions that differentiate them. Scariest statistic learned from this over-flow of information: only 5.7% of eligible voters participate in the 2004 Iowa caucuses. Tell me again why Angelenos live in too big of a city to have our votes count equally with those in rural states.

Elections haven't been going well around the world - among corruption charges, Kenya's elections are bloodier than normal (yes, sadly, violence is a regular aspect of national elections there). They aren't going well in Pakistan either, where Benazir Bhutto lost her life attempting to bring democracy back to a country plagued by military dictatorship buttressed by US foreign aid. Many in the US think democracy is duking it out with socialism in Venezuela, but personally I think the story is more complicated than that.

I'm looking forward to a New Year when people's movements for change encourage more people to get involved in social change. I look forward to more people believing they can make a difference - when more people delve deeply into the issues that intertwine us all, make their voices heard, and start building the nonviolent movements for change that will create the social upheaval needed to build a more just, peaceful world.

I believe we will be the change we wish to see in 2008. I believe together we will change the world. I believe 2008 will be more peaceful and just. I look forward to the New Year.

Want to support women's advocacy for peace & justice both in the US and throughout the world? Then give a tax deductible contribution to the Jane Addams Peace Association.

To join the world's oldest women's peace organization, click here.

Posted by cj at 8:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 16, 2007

Activism in Perspective

In the last month, two extremely important women in my life died. One had lived a full life, the other was taken well before her time.

I don't pretend to have all the answers. My belief in the Women's International League and its members is based on my observations of the peace, justice, and women's movements in historical perspective. It is difficult for me to hold firmly to that long-term view while dealing with the immediate realities of grief and mourning.

I hope as we move forward in our struggles for peace & justice we remember our individual and institutional fallibility. Though we are not perfect, we are all striving towards the same basic goal: a world at peace where all human needs are met equitably. I hope we will continue to work together to achieve those goals, by constructively supporting each other's work. I fear that our institutional progress may be undermined by our current financial crisis and eagerness to lay blame on particular individuals.

I look forward to helping the WILPF increase its presence within the movements for peace & justice and expanding its membership. I apologize if my last post seemed unnecessarily negative - sometimes, I deal with my frustrations publicly. Usually, I try to maintain a veil between my personal angst and public persona. I hope my sister WILPFers can forgive my transgression and we can work together to create the WILPF needed to create peace & justice in the world.

Posted by cj at 1:56 PM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2007

Feminist Leadership Conferences across the Country

The Feminist Majority Foundation is sponsoring leadership conferences across the country.

"Feminists of all ages are welcome to attend these events." I'm not sure what you're supposed to do if you're a womanist, but in any event, it's worth checking out.

Posted by cj at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)

September 9, 2007

The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself

If you listen to Republican presidential candidates and Sunday morning pundits, you'd assume that the only way to project power and create security is to be the biggest bully in the world, with the most active military. Political discussion in the US media allows the following fascinating range of discussion on security: those who only understand US culture and think everyone hates our freedom and we therefore have to teach them democracy through the barrel of a gun and those who only understand US culture and think we can teach the world freedom through a combination of military force and free-market capitalism.

Do you ever hear a peace expert asked for their opinion? I'm not talking about those folks who organize marches on the mall, I mean people who study the root causes of war and can explain what happens in the world based on a nuanced understanding of history. Not only do US legislators, military, and pundits not understand Iraq, they don't understand the basic reasons that ethnic conflict becomes ethnic violence.

The answer to the chaos in Iraq is not splitting the country up by "ethnic regions." First, people don't live in schtetls. It's not like the entire populace hates each other b/c of ethnic differences. Differences are being exploited by strong men seeking power; the Other is a powerful tool in rallying support for a leader. Forcing the populace to follow these bullies into separate states is a white man's way of dealing with racial violence. The US has never understood the basics of racial justice, so how can we possibly lead another country into an ethnically diverse, working democracy?

Second, why does no one say "hey idiots - perhaps we should turn this operation over to the UN Peacekeeping?" Take a look at the official site of the DPKO. I fundamentally believe that the only way to move forward in creating peace is to work through the UN. Many things have gone wrong in past and current missions, but if we honestly supported the UN, and implemented Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, I believe we would be closer to achieving real security for Iraq and the world.

Security means more than having the biggest gun. Human security is dependent on a continuous food supply, access to healthcare, a place to sleep, and peace with neighbors.

I'm constantly fascinated by the lack of real discussion on the Sunday gab fests. I'm watching last week's Real Time with Bill Maher show and Barbara Bodine is offering more insight on Iraq "reconstruction" than 2 hrs of male talking heads on ABC and NBC. Slate tells me I must read the NYT and WaPo stories on Iraq as background to the coming week's announcements. Quite honestly, I'm done wasting my time on such articles. Until SCR 1325 and human security become part of the dialog, what's the point of me reading mainstream news accounts of the US imperialistic occupation of the 2nd largest oil reserve in the world?

Posted by cj at 3:53 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2007

The world is waiting...

Most of my time these days is taken up by work and WILPF. We're going through some major transitions at both places, so the growing pains can be difficult. Hence not having much time to reflect on the state of the world.

But it's all rather exciting. I truly believe the world is poised for new answers. A Democratic president wouldn't be the savior of the world, but s/he'd be a million times better than the current administration. Plus, more and more individuals are getting involved in the political process, which could lead us closer to radical democracy....

If only wages would rise, we could get some socialized healthcare and join the civilized world, and the housing market would stop collapsing.

and you know, if that doesn't happen in the next 24 hours, at least the Sunday papers will be here to keep me company.

Posted by cj at 8:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2007

Live from Santa Cruz, Bolivia

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom's 29th Triennial Congress just began. First, there were introductions. Keynote Speaker, Paola Pena just began speaking. She is a historian and a defender of women's rights.

Women have to give the light...and we have to commit ourselves to this fight...We have a big movement...It's not casual to have this movement. This movement has realized how international cooperation, activist women and men, the world is starting to have challenges...just because of the economic policies that are trying to divide us. ..The World Women's March.. women have said that it is time to ask those who are placing economic restrictions..the challenges for women are poverty and violence...That's why the different movements are questioning. Another movement at the international level are the cry of those who are being excluded. Why are the budgets more geared to military, to arms? Why spend more on that when have millions and millions who are suffering?

We have the example of the Social Forum held recently in Sao Paolo, Brazil to show us the way forward...to take on the capitalists who take and take without giving anything in return. ...We believe that Latin America has emerged with many answers, with many challenges, but it's not easy. We have to see that the fights that we have experienced that it is time for women, basically i say this because of experience, that women have to be more open to the world. Many of our problems are between ourselves. And that's when people take over our economic resources, who give orders, who we have to fight with. If we see the context at the international level and at the Latin American level, we have advances that are important to pick up.


At this time, Latin America has presidents with other points of view. We have Nicaragua, Venezula, Bolivia.. to a certain extent the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador are also picking up the feeling of Latin American change. But we cannot stop mentioning the historical fight of the people of Cuba...

I believe that experiences have to be picked up...We have to come together based on the national symbols, like the cantuta?...and that's where we go to see the context of what our representative said. We're going through a very exciting moment but also a moment of contrasts. Bolivia, to understand what it is happening - the Bolivian crisis that we're going through will be a historical moment in the future. The crisis that we're going through has to do with economic, social, political interests. Because Bolivia is a very rich country. Many of you who have come here have to ask why is there such poverty in Bolivia? Because it is such a rich country - full of gas, water, ....However, the errors are built by men and women and those who have the economic power. The world already knows who decides upon our life and continue to do so are those who have the money, the economic power. The result is misery, that is mistakenly called the "feminization of poverty." Do you think women are so stupid that they cannot have the answers?

...Women, sisters, and brothers, throughout the world I believe we show the path. In Bolivia, women have played a very important role. That's where we can see that in Bolivia and throughout the world, the relationship between men and women is much better. And who shows the face is the women.

Ask yourself, is Bolivia having a challenge - between departments, between individuals, between classes....We are not building islands. Bolivia has a context. We have rich departments with natural resources such as gas, oil. Evidently this will define the obtaining of more funds. On the other hand, the vision of the country is to give everyone the chance.

When we talk about peace and freedom - we want a better world, a just world. Bolivia wants more equality, we want to share with those who have more and who have less.

..We wanted to have a country where geography was the same, where resources was the same. But we have diversity. We have more resources in some departments, but that doesn't mean we'll be divided.

..Today it seems that we have a challenge. Bolivian men and women voted for a change - we did not vote for the person himself, we voted for a change. ...Not long ago, Bolivians did not know how to work with budgets, we have knowledge that we have to pick up.

I do not support any political party.

...Bolivia is working towards a new constitution....we believe it is time to make some changes. On the other hand, we can see that as never before the policies with the current government show us that there are resources coming in. Something that we did not know about before. That type of resources that come because of gas and oil sales....We are now getting that money - Bolivia had never seen a 5 year old child receiving support for the educational process. We believe this is very directly related to the Millenium Goals that tell us by 2015 we will eradicate poverty...It is nice to pick up these recommendations given by the United Naitons...Here in Boliva, we believe that we have found some surprises. That the country was receiving some income and that income was taken by a few individuals. We working to redistribute that money....

Women have more representation and more participation..

Bolivia is a country of many different cultures. That's why we say it is a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic countries. We not only speak Quecha and Mayari (?) How can we reach all these people who speak different languages? In recent years, social movements have increased. And we believe that indigenous people's lives have improved....We have to learn from them. ...We have to learn from their innate connection to indigenous people around the world. ..

...This is the struggle between the guidelines of the economy of this country. And finally, it's the fight of different fronts to take advantages of the resouces because of the availability and that's why we want to recognize that yes, it is possible to suffer, to wait. But it is also possible for peace and freedom. We are able to make our limitations our potentialities. It is very easy to mention - it is easy to say "Bolivia will have a confrontation." We think that Bolivia has not been divided. Bolivia is struggling, but that's very good because the struggling will reaffirm. We'll see where we're making mistakes. The error is to rebuild. It is easy to criticize. It is easy to destroy....Bolivia is a unitied country. However, when the economic interests are divided, that is where there will be struggle. We are fighting the free trade treaty.

I know my time is almost over. But I'd like to thank the people who came to have a dialogue, to have a discussion. We as Bolivians do not want to receive gifts; we want to build solidarity; we want to have peace and freedom.....Thank you friends.

Posted by cj at 6:33 AM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2007

The Blogosphere: Already a Hotbed of Activism

I'm the national Program Chair of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF US). I'm also on the international Communications Committee and on my local branch board. In short, I've spent 95% of my activist time since 1999 in WILPF. I can wax poetic about all of the inspirational women I've met through the organization. I could tell you about all of the organizational development skills I've learned by being on the national board. That's not where my head is at. Right now I'm banging my head against this basic cold hard fact: a 92 year old organization has an extremely difficult time moving into online activism. Like many organizations, we continue to try to control the Official Statements from headquarters. Then again, the other problem we face is that the vast majority of our members are older and do not use the blogosphere nor do they have an understanding of how online activism is already connecting activists from around the world and having a significant impact on global politics and culture.

I feel like I'm standing at a crossroad: my time is severely limited. Whereas in Chicago, I had plenty of time during the workday to delve into the online world, I am now limited to time before 8:30 a.m. and after 5:30 p.m for activism (along with occasional reading during my lunch hour). Further, there is so much work to be done to strengthen WILPF and expand its influence that I often forget to keep up with the blogosphere or any other part of the online world. (I'm too busy keeping up with WILPF emails and the listserv for thyroid cancer survivors).

I guess I'm stuck with obligations to Web 1.0, and don't have a full grasp of Web 2.0. Many people expect me to translate the world of online activism for my organization, but I'm afraid that my knowledge is a tad out-dated at this point. When shall I find the time to get up to speed? Where can I look for portals into this world?

Recently, I found a fascinating portal: Global Voices. My friend, Chris Salzberg, is one of their East Asia editors. He pointed me to a great video of GV founder Ethan Zuckerman talking about the blogosphere and how it's reshaping activism.

I'm grateful to see that through online communication more people are learning the lesson I took away from my Peace & Justice Studies education at Wellesley: its not about people of the North determining the right direction for people of the South; it's about the entire human community listening to one another and working together to create change. That on the microlevel, we should allow individuals and communities to speak for themselves and that on the macro level, we must all have a voice in the decision making process. I look forward to continuing to expand my knowledge of these worlds and to garner inspiration from people across the globe.

Posted by cj at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)

June 3, 2007

Seeking Inspiration

I'm going through a period of great personal upheaval (see angelheaded hipster for details). Anyway, one of the things I'm desperate for is some inspiration.

Are you following your passion while making a living? How so?

Are you part of an organization that is making a positive difference in the world?

Have you heard about some positive change that is continuing to have a positive effect on the world?

Seeking inspiration...

Posted by cj at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2007

Short Shrift for Protestors

At least 100,000 people took to the streets of DC yesterday to protest the US occupation of Iraq. And yet, it was relegated to inside page coverage in both the NY Times and the LA Times. At least the LAT put a picture on the front page - but both were more interested in fronting articles on Obama and Hillary than they were in the political activism of thousands of citizens.

I think this speaks to the limitations of mainstream media. The masses are not authoritative. That's why the nightly news highlighted Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon & Jesse Jackson - they are recognizable and eloquent in a way that can't be found consistently in the masses. The other limitation is that protestors must always be followed immediately by some self-righteous war-mongerer who believes peace activists are diminishing the morale of the troops and that the only way to support the US military is to keep them as an occupying force in a country where the occupation caused civil war and where US'ians have zero understanding of the language, culture, or ethnic differences in the country.

I do not know how to change the media reality of this country. I do not yet have a plan for the nonviolent paradigm shift necessary to overturn the belligerent, corporate-capitalism forced on the world by the US ruling class. But I do know that it more important than ever to figure out how to do this. Our progeny and the future of the world depends on it.

"Protest Focuses on Iraq Troop Increase," by Ian Urbina with contributions by Sarah Abruzzese and Suevon Lee in the NY Times

"Thousands join bicoastal war protest: The Washington rally draws about 100,000 people. Marchers also take to the streets in L.A. and San Francisco." by Adam Schreck, Ashraf Khalil and David Streitfeld in the LA Times

Posted by cj at 7:34 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2007

It's Official: I'm a Self-Hating Jew

I sorta obsessively watch who is reading my blogs. Last night, I found that my cultural blog got a hit from masada2000.org. In case you haven't heard of this horrific website, it keep a list of "7000+ Self-Hating Israel Threatening Jews." Some entries include pictures. For the longest time, despite being the Program Chair of a peace group, I wasn't listed. Apparently now I am. And they think I'm 5 years older than I really am. I don't really want you to go to the horrific site. Well, you can if you want. Here's their entry for me:

Minster, C. J. [DOB approx. 1973] This Sunday morning talk show junkie and national board member of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), which calls for an "ending US Military aid to Israel and a US Middle East policy with emphasis on long denied Justice for the Palestinian people" signed a one-sided petition for "U.S. Jewish Solidarity with Muslim and Arab Peoples of the Middle East"... which was nothing less than a full-fledged "mugging" of Israel!

"How can we expect the Palestinians to give up their right to self defense when the Israeli government continues to meet with them at the point of a gun or a lethal Caterpillar bulldozer? As a Jewish American, I am appalled at all that is done in my name. I don't need Palestinians to starve to death to make myself safe as a Jew."

Her "Angel Headed Hipster" blog site is at http://www.angelheadedhipster.com

The other thing they got wrong in their entry is that the blog they cited has a two word title - angelheaded is one word. But I guess they never read that other Jew who popularized the term - Allen Ginsberg. (Besides, it doesn't have any political commentary. I write about politics on this blog. I write about Cali politics on couragecampaign.org. And sometimes, I write about WILPF stuff on the WILPF blog, wilpf.blogspot.com)

Oh, and I don't know how they came up with the quote they created about WILPF, but WILPF actually calls for an end to all US military aid. We're also seeking a change to US Middle East policy - our campaign is currently working to create an alternative, feminist US policy on Israel / Palestine. Our goal is peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. I do stand by the quote I wrote on that online petition. But I've written a lot more than that about the issue.

I wonder what the person thought when they clicked through to my site and saw that I'm dealing with cancer...

Seems fitting that I found out about this yesterday. I spent the afternoon listening to a Holocaust survivor speak about her experience visiting Palestine and being strip searched (and body-cavity searched) at the Tel Aviv airport while attempting to return to the United States.

And today's NY Times Magazine has a feature on Abe Foxman, the meshugenah head of the ADL who sees anti-Semites behind every corner. It's not a particularly good article - the only alternative voices it cites are Mearsheimer and Walt. It would've been better if it really tried to explore the pain and division Foxman and his nut-wing partners have caused the Jewish American community.

Posted by cj at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2006

Jeannette Rankin on Film

Do you know who Jeannette Rankin was? She was the first woman elected to Congress, a life-long pacifist, and a person who voted against both world wars. Her life was magical, her story is empowering. WILPF US Board Member Jeanmarie Simpson wrote and starred in the play "A Single Woman" about Rankin's life. Simpson and WILPF Life Member Cameron Crain have brought the story to the big screen - a film based on the play is now in post-production.

Unlike "Blood Diamonds," Simpson did not have to alter the facts to create a moving drama. The story is compelling because at every turn, Rankin held her ground and lived by her pacifist beliefs. We must listen to her story, even if we disagree. There is nothing weak-willed about a principled pacifist. And the path Rankin promoted is filled with strong actions. The path of diplomacy and political dialogue is a path we Americans have strayed far from. By embracing Rankin & the film, we are embracing the hope for a better future.

Posted by cj at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2006

To Canvass or to Create a Community?

Ezra Klein blogged about the Democrats' ineffective GOTV strategy. Basically, he quoted an American Prospect article by Dana Fisher, The Activism Industry.

According to Fisher and Klein, it is unacceptable to rely on paid activists to create your grassroots base. Canvassing can yield an uptick in membership, money, or voters at the polls; but since it is a one-off event, it does not build depth to your base. Apparently, the solution is to rely on the left-wing equivalent of Christian fundamentalists: volunteers who create communities of faith.

As a former union organizer and a former paid canvasser, I think this is all hogwash. Activism should involve a combination of paid staffers and volunteers. Instead of only teaching staffers the art of door to door selling, paid activists should be developed into truly grassroots community organizers. This does not mean they should follow union-style organizing techniques. Instead, they should learn from Saul Alinsky, Ernesto Cortes and the Industrial Areas Foundation.

Then again, the IAF doesn't get everything right. Their reliance on the grasstops to create a unified citizens' voice leaves out a lot of people. But I still think it's a helluva lot better model than using people solely for financial or political gain.

The thing is that the Democratic party and the progressive movement will never get ahead by relying solely on winning campaigns. We've got to develop relationships with each other - starting with our neighbors - if we're going to change the corporatocracy that rules this country. I've been inspired by independent political activists in Chicago - where 100 years of synergy between business and politicians has upheld the most robust political machine in the country. Though Daley is still in office, and the machine won the primary election for City Council president, there are cracks in the system. And if people can crack through Chicago's system, then it is possible anywhere in the country.

Posted by cj at 6:15 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2006

Liberal Bloggers: More Mainstream Than You Think

This week's Now program focused on liberal bloggers. The newest information for me in the piece was that I pronounce Daily Kos wrong. It's not "cos" as in "cost," it's "coas" as in "coast." Huh. I knew it came from the guy's name (Markos) but I never put two and two together. I also didn't know he was a refugee from the civil war in El Salvador (a war courtesy of US military and corporate intervention).

The meat of the piece was thing you'd know if you read the blogosphere: most bloggers are middle-aged, married, with kids. They're not radical, they're just political junkies. And Daily Kos is 100% focused on domestic politics.

Here's what's wrong with this picture: the mainstream media aint tellin you about world affairs and neither are the most widely read blogs. They might talk about the political infighting around so-called homeland security, but they wont tell you that there is no war on terror, there's just fearmongering. No one, generally, is communicating with activists around the world in either the mainstream media or the mainstream blogosphere.

Watching the segment got me riled up. Made me realize that it's acceptable that I spend a lot of time doing my work as the Program Chair of WILPF US, but that it's vital for me to take time out of that work to blog so that people outside the 20 or so who know about the oldest women's peace organization in the world can hear about our work and the reality of the world.

The other segment of Now was on the corruption in the Interior Department. Interior's Inspector General brought up the same point Molly Ivins did in her book, Bushwacked (which I'm currently reading, several years late). That is that when you put the chief lobbyist for the coal industry in the 2nd most powerful position for protecting our public lands, the results wont be so great. We're so lucky that he resigned. Of course, you don't need a coal lobbyist in place to make bad decisions - incompetency will do the trick just as well; like the 1000 or so contracts written during Clinton's administration that doesn't make energy producers pay royalties when pumping gas and oil out of public lands. Thank you, public servants, for defrauding the American people out of $10 billion!

"Blog The Vote" - this week's Now on the net

Posted by cj at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2006

Building the Progressive Majority

Last Thursday, I attended a Symposium on Building the Progressive Majority in 06 and 08, sponsored by the Committees of Correspondence on Democracy and Socialism. Reverend Morris, the ED of Community Renewal Society - a progressive faith-based organization - spoke at the Symposium. The following entry is taken from my notes from his speech.

He said we are attempting to defeat a radically reactionary political mafia. So what are the common elements to bring together disparate groups?

Winning requires voter registration, identification, and mobilization.

What are the values that we share?

We need to appeal to a broader electorate with the message that this is an unjust war and an unjustified war.

Don't Vote Your Fears, Vote Your Faith: the US has lost its way.

We need to articulate and define "the American dream." If we allow fear to reign it leads to an acceptance of the "war" on terrorism.

Posted by cj at 6:46 PM | Comments (0)

June 5, 2006

WILPF's Other Press...

I was looking for information on the WILPF* West Gathering this summer, a triennial event held for our West Coast members. (It's every three years because during the other years, we have an International Congress and a National Congress). Googling "WILPF West gathering" led me to this intriguing history of WILPF on "Discover the Networks.org: a Guide to the Political Left."

At first I thought, wow cool! Someone is trying to do movement building via a website. Ha! It's a right-wing observation of left wing movements. While it offered some fascinating WILPF history, it also conflates WILPF US with WILPF International. It refers to WILPF as One Entity, whereas anyone who has been involved in WILPF for a fraction of a second can tell you that we're anything but cohesive. I'm also offended that they haven't updated our listing recently. And I wonder why some members' activism in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal is listed so prominently (which as far as I know was never made a WILPF US campaign, or even an official WILPF US stand, other than the fact that WILPF US is firmly against the death penalty).

In any event, it would be interesting to see if the historical information in the listing is at all an accurate description of the outcomes of our International Congresses.

And just as a point of information: I do not believe WILPF ever shied away from discussing the USSR. Indeed, there was a women-to-women dialogue created by US members with USSR women. But honestly, we aren't a front for the Communist party. And we claim more of Jane Addams' activist time than any of the other organizations she co-founded.

Emily Greene Balch was an economics professor fired by the trustees of my alma mater for her "radical peace activities," but during my time at Wellesley College, the college officially apologized and created an internship in her honor.

The basically offensive listing for WILPF is here.

The WILPF US homepage is here.

The WILPF US blog is here.

The International WILPF webpage is here.

PeaceWomen, working towards full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security; a project of WILPF.

Reaching Critical Will: reaching for a critical mass of political will for nuclear disarmament, a project of WILPF.

Despite what the wingnuts say about us, WILPF is not entirely focused on the UN. WILPF US has a Save the Water campaign and a Women Challenge US Policy: Building Peace on Justice in the Middle East campaign. We do agree with our international sisters that Israel is building an apartheid wall, but our challenge is to the US government to stop its financial, military, and diplomatic support of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. We have 36 active sections around the world, including sections in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon.

I am the Program Chair of WILPF US, and spend almost all of my activist time working on WILPF, hence the lack of postings to this blog.

*WILPF = Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the oldest women's peace organization in the world. I am a life member! (I recently completed the $500 necessary for life membership on an installment plan and I'm very proud of this accomplishment.)

Posted by cj at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2006

poking a hole in my bubble

I currently live in a bubble of blogging, working, and working on WILPF. I'm trying to change that. So after my last post / rant, I went to said disparaged sites and found Drinking Liberally. So if I have energy after the Lost finale (or maybe during the Lost finale, cause let's face it I haven't exactly been watching it this year), I'll head on over to Red Lion for the Northside drink up.

Other (mostly white) progressives are doing a Principles Project, to declare a cohesive platform for liberals. Haven't read the actual platform yet, but noted that all the usual suspects for young, white liberals are on board.

In related news, the Chicago Liberal Drinkers linked to this blog post full o Edmund Burke quotes.

And here's the League of Young Voters, formerly called the League of Independent Voters, "coloquially" known as the League of Pissed Off Voters.

Off to iron my shirt...gonna meet Madam Secretary Albright tomorrow. Or at least take a picture with her. Gotta love alumnae clubs.

Posted by cj at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)

Beyond Chatter

There are plenty of important news stories out there. The government is spying on us, each and every one of us, and the scariest part is how many citizens are perfectly okay with it.

More people die everyday in Iraq, and no one can remember that Mother's Day is an Anti-War Holiday.

Gas prices aren't going down, oil companies keep getting richer, and the masses continue to struggle to make ends meet.

Republicans and other blowhards fail to connect the dots on immigration - progressives don't bother to point out that the entire reason we have limits on legal immigration is to keep the number of non-whites admitted to the country lower than the white population. It started with quotas for Chinese immigrants, expanded to limit Eastern Euros and Slavs (all considered non-white at the time), and on down the line.

The government and the capitalists crow for days on end about the glories of free trade. That goods and services must flow freely across national boundaries in this age of globalization. I'm extremely unclear why pieces of paper and other constructs of the human mind have more transnational rights than living, breathing human beings.

Rebel fractions from Darfur continue to insist that the peace agreement was not a truly negotiated deal and therefore they should not be expected to stop their uprising against the Sudanese government.

New Israeli Prime Minister Olmert lays out a "convergence" plan for appropriating even more of the arable Palestinian territory, and completing the apartheid wall, and the reaction from the world is muted, and there is no unified rage within the US that he is coming to DC and meeting with every single impt head there is (POTUS, VPOTUS, joint session of Congress, SecDef, and SecState).

What we need is coordinated movement building. The NYT says the CIA is no longer able to do strategic intelligence gathering. Similarly, the left has lost its strategy. We're a thousand voices, unable to frame our issues in a way that easily connects them for outsiders. We spend more time yapping at each other's heels than we doing Building he Movement, Speaking Truth to Power, or Creating Viable Change.

We need to stop simply reacting to the actions of the corporate-political syndicate. We need to create our own actions that do not rely on daily news briefs to move forward. We should be moving forward without the latest bit of bad news. And not just online in domestically-myopic forums like Atrios and Daily Kos. We need to create Social Upheaval.

Posted by cj at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)