Women in Black Standing for Peace in Austin

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Women in Black was inspired by earlier movements of women who demonstrated on the streets, making a public space for women to be heard - particularly Black Sash, in South Africa, and the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, seeking the "disappeared" in the political repression in Argentina. But WIB also shares a genealogy with groups of women explicitly refusing violence, militarism and war, such as the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom formed in 1918, and the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in the UK and related groups around the world opposing the deployment of US missiles in the eighties.

Beginnings in IsraelWomen in Black as we know it today began in 1988 in Israel. In 1987, 20 years after Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinian intifada began. In response Israeli Jewish women began to stand in weekly vigils in public places, usually at busy road junctions. Starting in Jerusalem, the number of vigils in Israel eventually grew to almost forty. In the north of Israel, where the concentration of Arab communities is greatest, Palestinian women who are Israeli citizens were also active in Women in Black groups. Many local WIB groups made contact with women across the Green Line engaged in support work, e.g. visiting Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

Establishing a formula for actionAt WIB vigils, women carried placards saying "End the Occupation" and closely related messages. The focus was quite precise, in order to be able to draw in a wide group of women. The vigils were predictable: same site, regular intervals. The women wore black. Although they were not particularly silent in most Israeli locations, as they have become in some countries since, there was no chanting. They were seen by, and provoked reactions from, many passers-by on foot and in vehicles, some of whom heckled and abused them, both in sexualized terms ("whores") and for their politics ("traitors"). Their policy was not to shout back but to maintain silence and dignity.

In other countries, including Canada, the USA, Australia, and many European countries, Women in Black vigils soon began to be organized in support of those in Israel. In Berkeley, California, for example, Women in Black has been standing weekly since 1988. In the UK at this time, women (mainly Jewish, with Palestinians and others) picketed the offices of the Israeli state airline, El Al.

To read more about the history of Women in Black please visit: http://www.womeninblack.org/en/history

This is a zgraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org

Protest for a Death Penalty Free Austin

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 A group of protesters including ProfessorD.us from The Dope Poet Society gathered at the steps of the Travis County Courtroom to speak out against the death penalty.  
 
An inquiry into whether Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongly executed was postponed today after state District Judge Charlie Baird announced that he needed some time to review a motion for his recusal from the case and to allow lawyers for Willinghams family to respond.  
 
Baird reset the case for a week from Thursday in his Travis County courtroom.  
 
The recusal motion was made by Navarro County District Attorney Lowell Thompson, whose office successfully prosecuted Willingham in 1992. Thompson was in court and said he would return next week.  
 
Baird said that prior to the hearing he was delivered a letter form Caren Burbach, general counsel for Gov. Rick Perry, declining Bairds invitation for the governor or someone from his office to participate in the Willingham hearing.  
 
In the letter, Burbach questioned whether Baird had the jurisdiction to hear Willinghams case and noted that multiple levels of state and federal court upheld Willinghams conviction.  
 
The petition and hearing appear to be improper collateral attacks upon a final judgment against a man found guilty of murdering his three children, Burbach wrote.  
 
Baird said from the bench that these were pretty much exactly the same proceedings that we engaged in on behalf of Mr. Timothy Cole, who the governor later recognized and who was posthumously pardoned by the governor.  
 
After a hearing last year, Baird issued the first posthumous DNA exoneration to Cole, who died while serving a prison term for a rape he did not commit. The Dope Poet Society is a politically charged hip hop group from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Their music is characterized by clever and sometimes controversial lyrics. ProfessorD.us (formerly Professor D) is the lead vocalist of the group, known for his tongue twisting, rapid fire rap style. The group has been active since 1995 and has toured around the world. They have also performed and collaborated with some of the most influential artists in Hip Hop including Public Enemy, Dead Prez, Jeru the Damaja, and Boot Camp Click.  
 
Professor D changed his name to ProfessorD.us with the release of his 2008 album, Third World Warriors Vol.1, which lists the artist as "ProfessorD.us - The Dope Poet Society".  
 
To hear more music by The Dope Poet Society please visit: http://www.ProfessorD.us  
 
This is a zgraphix production. Produced by Jeff Zavala. http://zgraphix.org

Dignity Not Detention National Day of Action in Austin 1 of 2

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Human rights groups around the country participated in a National Day of Action yesterday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration Customs and Enforcement's (ICE) 2009 detention reform announcement. Activists called for an end to the human rights abuses in detention centers, the restoration of due process in the enforcement of immigration laws, and the implementation of cost saving alternatives.

Marking the first anniversary of the Obama Administration's announced intent to reform the immigration detention system, today's actions are part of the "Dignity, Not Detention: Preserving Human Rights and Restoring Justice" campaign led by the Detention Watch Network.

Year One Report Card, a joint report released today by human rights groups, reveals that many who are detained still suffer egregious human rights violations while in custody. Immigrants continue to be jailed for months or even years under substandard conditions. Mistreatment by guards, grossly deficient medical care, use of solitary confinement, and limited access to family and counsel remain persistent problems.

Last year, ICE promised to move away from the sprawling network of jails and prisons it uses to detain immigrants toward a less punitive model and take concrete steps to improve conditions of confinement for the nearly 400,000 people detained each year. But according to the report, the agency's reform agenda has been compromised by a growing detention population, internal opposition to reform by local ICE officials, and the expansion of ICE enforcement programs like 287(g), Secure Communities, and the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) that rely on local law enforcement agencies to channel more and more immigrants into the detention system.

"What the Year One Report Card shows is that the steps the Obama Administration has taken this year are not enough to bring about meaningful changes in the lives of immigrants," said Emily Tucker, Policy and Advocacy Director at Detention Watch Network. "Until ICE limits detention to only those rare cases where it has been shown necessary to ensure public safety, the human rights crisis in the U.S. immigration detention and deportation system will persist."

Participants in the National Day of Action called for the restoration of human rights within the detention system, and an end to programs that indiscriminately channel immigrants into the detention and deportation system. Coordinated educational actions occurred across the country in cities including Austin, TX, Freehold, NJ, Minneapolis, MN, Seattle, WA and Trenton, NJ.

To view the Year One Report Card please visit: http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-6953888/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kZXRlbnRpb253YXRjaG5ldHdvcmsub3JnLw==

To learn more about the Dignity Not Detention Campaign please visit: http://detentionwatchnetwork.org
and http://www.grassrootsleadership.org

This is a zgraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org

Dignity Not Detention National Day of Action in Austin 2 of 2

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Human rights groups around the country participated in a National Day of Action yesterday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration Customs and Enforcement's (ICE) 2009 detention reform announcement. Activists called for an end to the human rights abuses in detention centers, the restoration of due process in the enforcement of immigration laws, and the implementation of cost saving alternatives.

Marking the first anniversary of the Obama Administration's announced intent to reform the immigration detention system, today's actions are part of the "Dignity, Not Detention: Preserving Human Rights and Restoring Justice" campaign led by the Detention Watch Network.

Year One Report Card, a joint report released today by human rights groups, reveals that many who are detained still suffer egregious human rights violations while in custody. Immigrants continue to be jailed for months or even years under substandard conditions. Mistreatment by guards, grossly deficient medical care, use of solitary confinement, and limited access to family and counsel remain persistent problems.

Last year, ICE promised to move away from the sprawling network of jails and prisons it uses to detain immigrants toward a less punitive model and take concrete steps to improve conditions of confinement for the nearly 400,000 people detained each year. But according to the report, the agency's reform agenda has been compromised by a growing detention population, internal opposition to reform by local ICE officials, and the expansion of ICE enforcement programs like 287(g), Secure Communities, and the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) that rely on local law enforcement agencies to channel more and more immigrants into the detention system.

"What the Year One Report Card shows is that the steps the Obama Administration has taken this year are not enough to bring about meaningful changes in the lives of immigrants," said Emily Tucker, Policy and Advocacy Director at Detention Watch Network. "Until ICE limits detention to only those rare cases where it has been shown necessary to ensure public safety, the human rights crisis in the U.S. immigration detention and deportation system will persist."

Participants in the National Day of Action called for the restoration of human rights within the detention system, and an end to programs that indiscriminately channel immigrants into the detention and deportation system. Coordinated educational actions occurred across the country in cities including Austin, TX, Freehold, NJ, Minneapolis, MN, Seattle, WA and Trenton, NJ.

To view the Year One Report Card please visit: http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-6953888/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kZXRlbnRpb253YXRjaG5ldHdvcmsub3JnLw==

To learn more about the Dignity Not Detention Campaign please visit: http://detentionwatchnetwork.org
and http://www.grassrootsleadership.org

This is a zgraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org

Moonflower Baraka

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Moviemiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan or the Chicana/o Student Movement of Aztlan (MEChA) invites you to the celebration and reclamation of the so called "Columbus Day." We believe that the celebration of this "holiday" oppresses and reinforces historical racism, sexism, homophobia and genocide toward indigenous peoples and other people of color. For these reasons, in this day we reclaim our roots, our ancient ceremonies and our red blood. This day Native American, Indigenous and mestizo sisters and brothers unite to celebrate our connection to the mother earth and the four directors of ab-yala. Join us! Oct. 11, 2010
We will have:
Mexica/Chichimeca Danzantes
Spoken Word
Drum Circle
Open MicThis event will be on the UT ;Campus in the West Mall, near 23rd and Guadalupe.

Moonflowers must be among the most beautiful of flowers as well as one with a very romantic name.

Imagine sitting in your garden on a warm summer evening, a full moon overhead and beautiful moonflowers blooming nearby with their fragrance wafting on a light breeze.

The moonflower opens in mid to late afternoon and blooms right through the night. Its lovely fragrance and large flowers attract night flying insects, like moths, to pollinate it.

When the sun rises in the morning, the moonflower dies. It is replaced by another one the same afternoon until all the buds have flowered and then died as the sun's rays strike them.

This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org

Winter Soldier in Austin March to City Hall

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Veterans from all service branches who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan who are from Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma publicly share their experiences of War . The Winter Soldier hearings first took place, in 1968 in Washington, DC. during the Vietnam conflict. In 2008, a coalition of activists reformed to hold the Bush administration accountable by presenting a second Winter Soldier hearing in Baltimore, Maryland. Now, in 2009, Winter Soldier comes to Austin, Texas! Many peoples hopes have been ignited by the election of the first black president, who was seen as an anti-war candidate. Since election day, it has become apparent that there is no sweeping change in foreign policy on the way. Similarly, at home there is the urgent need to address issues of injustice facing people of all colors, creeds, nationalities, genders, sexualities and social status. This action aims to bring activists from all backgrounds together to resurrect an anti-war movement for real change. For that reason we want to build a city wide coalition that unites around local demands. We are relying on ourselves, not politicians or their advisers, to determine the direction of our nation.http://ivaw.org/austin

Black Power & Chicanismo - Lessons from Yesterday for the Struggles of Today

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A presentation/film by Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan and ¡ella pelea! on the historical traditions of Black and Brown liberation movements and their relevance for our contemporary struggles against budget cuts and for immigrant rights.

This is a zgraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org