Berkeley, Mexico, Ferguson, SEX Work (audio)

Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Crystal Quintero, Seth Auberon, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Margaret Prescod (SoTrueRadio.org); Sarah Lazare (commondreams.org); Sam Levin

"You raise fees, we raise hell"! UC Berkeley students in front of Sproul Hall protest unprecedented tuition hikes by former Obama Cabinet Sec'y of Homeland Security now President of UC System, lesbian bully Janet Napolitano.

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Margaret Prescod, Sojourner Truth Tuesday, 11-25-14

Study: severe racial disparities in U.S.

On Nov. 24, 2014 a Missouri grand jury declined to indict white policeman Darren Wilson, who [apparently murdered an unarmed teenager when he] shot and killed Michael Brown.

Protests broke out in Ferguson, Missouri, where Brown was killed as well as cities across the U.S. including Los Angeles, New York, the capital Washington DC, Chicago, Oakland, and others.  

Hunger strike at Sci Camp Hill

The Sojourner Truth radio show spends the hour getting reaction to the verdict, discussing whether justice is possible, and what the next steps could be. Guests: Regional Organizer for Project South Ash-Lee Henderson, Executive Director Rashad Robinson (ColorOfChange.org), Executive Director Center for Constitutional Rights Vince Warren, Civil rights icon Dave Dennis, and Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law Barbara Arnwine. AUDIO 

"We Want Them Back Alive": Tens of Thousands March Through Mexico City Demanding Justice

Sarah Lazare, "We Want Them Back Alive": Tens of Thousands March Through Mexico City Demanding Justice  (commondreams.org via sotrueradio.org)

Peaceful demonstrators march in Mexico, demand justice for the 43 missing.

 

Seven weeks after the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students, the largest demonstration yet to take place was brought about by students, teachers, poor farmers, and workers. And it reveals growing national outrage.

Tens of thousands poured into the streets of Mexico City Thursday in the largest expression of public outrage since 43 students from the town of Ayotzinapa in Guerrero state were disappeared, and likely massacred, seven weeks ago. 

Part of a national day of action to protest the state's response to -- and the Iguala mayor's alleged role in -- the killings, the protest escalates the already acute political crisis seizing the Mexican government, which was heightened by recent revelations that the first lady, in the midst of the turmoil, is building a lavish mansion.

The protesters spanned generations and included teachers, students, workers, poor farmers, and the unemployed. Many held candles and pictures of the disappeared as cries of, "It was the state!" and "Get out Peña!" swept through the demonstration. At numerous points, marchers counted to 43 in unison, followed by a shout of "Justicia!"

Demonstrators demanded, “They took them alive, we want them back alive!” -- a reference to the country's Dirty Wars of the 1960s and 70s in which leftists were hunted down and disappeared by the government.

The protest marked the 104 year anniversary of the launch of the Mexican revolution and was timed to coincide with a nationwide strike.

"Mexicans are ready to explode," said Homero Aridjis, an activist, poet, and participant in the march. "Corruption has touched bottom, people are poor, suffering violence. They are fed up and desperate."

• Study: Severe racial disparities in arrests the norm in US
• Tired and angry, Mexico’s protests not abating
• Preparing for Injustice vs. Justice in Ferguson

SEX Workers

When California BLAMES VICTIMS 

Sam Levin (eastbayexpress.com)

Victims of police violence, sex workers

For nearly 50 years, the California Victim Compensation Program has provided financial aid to victims of violent crime in order to help them pay their medical bills, and to pay for mental health services, crime-scene cleanup, and other costs, including the loss of income. Although the state has doled out more than $2.3 billion to victims through this program, until recently sex workers were not among the recipients. That changed last December after intense protests -- including testimony from sex workers who spoke of facing horrific violence on the job -- prompted the board that oversees the program to repeal the regulation that banned prostitutes from receiving aid. Yet, while sex worker activists and civil rights groups across the country celebrated that decision, the state has taken steps in recent months that would effectively reverse last December's ruling...

 

Black life matters. Black life matters. Black life matters.