This speaks for me also...

I recently posted here about the racist Carl Pladino and complained about the reactionary views expressed in The Italian Tribune newspaper. I made some predictions in that post, some of which have come to pass and some of which have not. And I did not predict that the editor of The Italian Tribune would run a self-congratulating column in the paper lauding his racist and right-wing views. The editor did criticize Paladino, but the criticism was made in passing in the January 19 issue and were worded in away to support Trump. Paladino is a Trump supporter, an active and leading one at that, so criticizing one and not the other hardly makes sense. El diaol en dove no'l pol meter la testa el mete la coa. Where the devil cannot poke its head it pokes its tail.  

"The decision of a handful of labor leaders to meet with Trump is an example, to put the best spin on it, of sectional, not class thinking. Class thinking begins with the needs and desires of a working class as a whole. It is attuned to the unequal and uneven ways in which Trump's policies in particular and exploitation and oppression in general scar the lives of working people. It considers the struggle for equality to be at once organic to and independent of working class formation, consciousness, and unity. It is also mindful that the fortunes of the labor movement, especially now, depend on deep and durable alliances with its key allies - people of color, women, young people, immigrants, seniors, LGBT people, and many others. Finally, class thinking is repelled by anything that normalizes Trump and his policies at this moment. If labor leaders are anxious to meet, meet with the Chuck Shumer, Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Keith Ellison, and the leaders of various congressional caucuses, meet with the organizers of the Women's march, meet with the new social movements, meet with Muslims and other communities of faith, meet with those who will immediately feel the pain of Trump's executive orders and policies, meet with young people in the community and on campuses, meet with the editors of major news sites, and meet with the whole array of leaders of the broad democratic movement. It is only in such conversations and the actions that come out of them that the worst of Trump's policies will be blocked and conditions will be created for a new burst of freedom that insures economic well being for all, expands and deepens democracy and equality, respects difference and the preciousness of life, and safeguards peace and our planet in its beauty and diversity."---Sam Webb

Mark Ruffalo Reads Eugene Debs

"Should the marches have been more multiracial and working class? Yes! But you are not a serious organizer if that’s where your answer to the question ends. The issue for the left is how we get from where we are today to where we want to be in terms of making our marches blacker, browner and more working class. Simply complaining about it changes nothing....The women’s marches were the beginning, not the end. What happens next will be decided by what we do. Movements do not come to us from heaven, fully formed and organized. They are built by actual people, with all their political questions, weaknesses and strengths. If the left doesn’t engage with the aim of contending for leadership and influence, we just concede these forces to the Democrats and liberals, who will certainly try to confine the new upsurge of opposition to the political limits they want to define. The point isn’t to bury our arguments. If we want to win people to more radical politics, we must learn how to make our arguments while operating in political arenas that aren’t just our own. Revolutionary socialists have a long and rich tradition of building united fronts, which seems more real now that 3 million people were in the streets. We must do a better job at facilitating debate, discussion and argument so that we talk about how to build the kind of movement we want. But endless social media critiques with no commitment to diving into that struggle for the kind of movement we want is not a serious approach."---Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

A First-Woman View Of The March in D.C.

Many of us are still riding a euphoric wave after the demonstrations held last Saturday. We're still excited about the numbers of people who came out, the multigenerational crowds, the large numbers of people who turned out for their first demonstrations, the evolving calendar of events for the next six weeks which will tell us if we have a movement or not and what kind of movement that will be, the ability of people to show up prepared with their own signs and demands and take to the streets for them. There were some great national speeches, which we have noted elsewhere on this blog, and the Republicans have been forced to react and go on the defense. A line can be drawn from Occupy to the Sanders campaign and from there to the efforts to win a progressive Democratic platform to solidarity with Standing Rock to today. A line can also be drawn from Black Lives Matter to the Movement For Black Lives Platform to the heightened efforts to defend immigrants, people of color and Muslims to today, a harder line to follow but perhaps, in the long run, the more important line. The Platform, after all, should be our model, and organizing workers and protecting them and people-of-color communities from a context of intersectionality are our on-going tasks.

Not everyone shares our joy, of course. We are hearing from trans and gender-variant people that they were excluded, or felt excluded, from the rallies and that using the uterus and the vagina to represent women is a false, oppressive and binary way of seeing gender, gender oppression and the world. We are hearing from "ultraleftists" who criticize the most prominent speakers and who suspect that this has all been engineered by the Democrats. We get a great deal of mansplaining. We hear from Sanders supporters who insist that a Sanders win would have practically eliminated the need to struggle and from Clinton supporters who hold that Sanders and his supporters cost their candidate the election. We hear from many people---and particularly people of color----who say that it was necessary and difficult to push back against rally organizers who wanted a non-political, all-inclusive, love-one-another themed movement. We hear the painful truth that masses of white people have not yet turned out to defend people of color. We hear from union members who ask where their unions were while they were protesting.

Some of these criticisms have substance, some don't. It sometimes feels like 1963 and the beginning of the antiwar movement, at other times like the worst of the1970s and the destructive factionalism of those years. Our group can't resolve these contradictions, and we will be posting more about these contradictions and how they affect us locally later this week. I'm most interested in staying positive and focused on movement-building right now and at looking at how we can build a radical and socialist movement with and within the larger movement and do so using united-front tactics. I'm most interested in what the people who live at the intersections of race, class, gender non-conformity and developing political consciousness have to say.

A dear friend----an especially talented organizer, a lesbian, a working-class woman full of heart and soul from Oregon---attended the rally in D.C. and wrote up her observations. Here is some of what she wrote:

It was truly exciting to see so many Millennials and other youths - as well as some dinosaurs like myself -almost all on the same page, with the rage and outrageousness only to be admired.

I never actually saw the stage area because I could not get close enough due to the incredible density of participants. My favorite speakers or performers that I saw and heard at this event were on a big screen at Independence and 12th. I never saw such sustained density ever before.

I really enjoyed Michael Moore but as usual he was too windy but he did have a plan this time... Ashley Judd kind of bumped him out and was very funny while being dead serious and did that with great energy and enthusiasm.

Another favorite for me was Sophie Cruz a sub pre-teen who presented her just the right length speech in English then in Spanish. Her parents stood behind her and I have no idea if they were bi-lingual or not, but seeing their eyes well-up with what I assume was pride brought welling-up from many participants and chants of Sophie..Sophie..SOPHIE!.

And it was about time I saw Gloria Steinem almost in person. “This is the upside to the downside.”

It was good to see The Indigo Girls since I hadn’t seen them since the No on Nine Campaign, which I think, was in 91 or 92.

I was never a big fan of Madonna and her performance didn’t change my mind except to the extent that she offered herself up at this important event. Many other people seemed to really enjoy her.

But to me, 5 hours of speakers and performers while standing in place on hard surfaces before the March actually started (without permission of the plan) did me in. And I was not alone in this opinion. By 1:30 many in the crowd were chanting MARCH, MARCH, MARCH!

I can’t remember being in that much physical pain in public before. I grossly over estimated my physical or planning ability to participate in this event. The physical stuff I already mentioned, but silly me did not carry any cash. All the food vendors I saw were cash only, and I could find no restaurants. So there I was, a type 2 diabetic who went the entire day without liquid (after my early morning coffee) or food. Sometimes I’m an absolute fool. I got lost trying to find my bus among the 1800 or so in the RFK stadium parking lot. So between low blood sugar and my usual anxiety I lost it and burst into tears. The bus captains found me pretty darn close the right bus row, were nice enough and got me some food and water they had stashed. At the very same time they were kind of dismissive and did not consider they might be dealing with a handicapped participant.

To be fair though I believe the turnout way exceeded the expectations of its organizers and accounts for most of the snafus.

I can’t remember the name of the Islamic women but I remember she is an attorney and said among other things “If he starts forcing Muslims to register all of us will register as Muslims. That drew a roar of approval, I remember thinking I will want to do that I wonder how to do it. I love this kind of thinking and creative straight -forward fucking with Trump ideas. Although there allegedly was violence and arrests in the demos on inauguration day, not one incidence of violence was witnessed by me or reported in the news. I haven’t heard of anything anywhere about violence in any of the US Woman’s ‘Marches. I tried to investigate that especially in Portland and Seattle. You folks know of any? Did the anarchists leave the NW Women’s Marches actually butt out or behave in the NW for a change? I’ve never been a fan of the anarchists, who in my opinion bring public shame to our efforts. I know who a couple of the PDX one are and it was shocking to me.

I also really love the fact that there were “Sister” Marches all over the world, even the Arctic. Lets see Mexico, London, Cape Town, Sydney Australia, Berlin, Frankfort, Munich, Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nairobi, New Zealand, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Rome, London, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Kosovo, the Czech Republic, and Georgia. I love this not just because of the sense of support, but because I’m less embarrassed by Trump. Lots of people, all over the world, understand the majority of us do not support this lunatic. Makes him a little less of embarrassment anyway.

I don’t use the word lunatic lightly because as many of you already know I have mental illness- severe reoccurring depression...and anxiety/panic disorder. I know and have experienced discrimination based on mental illness. And of course I’m opposed to that and am sensitive about calling people crazy. However I believe this man suffers from some kind of personality disorder with grandiosity, pathological lying, and distorted thinking. impulsivity, and on and on. Narcissistic Personality Disorder?, Antisocial/Psychopathic Personality Disorder? Schizoaffective Disorder? Who knows? It’s clear he should not be in his current job. And that he is potentially very very dangerous. I think this orange man is going to go down in history as the worst and most dangerous President. I never thought I’d have this thought- He’s worse than George W Bush.

SHORT LIST OF FREQUENTLY SEEN SIGNS
Girl Power vs Trump Tower
Dump Trump
The future is female
My Pussy has TEETH
Rise Love Resist
Keep Your filthy Laws Off my Silky Drawers
Fight Like a Girl
Woman’s Rights are Civil Right (sound familiar?)
FUCK MISOGYNY
We the People Protect Each Other

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN-DAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS    

Kurdish Women Have Much To Teach Women In The U.S.---Let's Build A Struggle Together!

YPJ (Women's Defense Units) Spokeswoman Nesrin Abdullah described Raqqa operation that was launched at the end of 2016 and led by the YPJ as the operation to avenge all women, and said, “Raqqa’s liberation is also the liberation of mentalities. Because as the women of the YPJ, we aim not only liberation from ISIS but also a liberation of mentality and thoughts. Democratic culture and fraternal life must be deepened because war is not only the liberation of land. We are also fighting for the liberation of women and men. If not, the patriarchal system will prevail once again. In this sense, Operation Wrath of Euphrates to liberate Raqqa is also the liberation of the society. This is how we view it as the YPJ. We will continue to participate in the operation with the same enthusiasm in 2017 and avenge all women with the liberation of Raqqa.”

From the interview:

How are YPJ fighters, who impress the world and inspire women, being trained? How was its training system in 2016?

2016 was a different year both in terms of opportunities and recruitment. YPJ experienced professionalization in training this year. We opened tens of military, scholar and field academies and YPJ mobilized women in these places.

With field academies, we promoted professionalization in war tactics and techniques. In recent years, the YPJ gained a lot of experience in the battlefield. We are transforming this experience into an academic consciousness. Hundreds of YPJ fighters receive academic training for this purpose. This is perhaps why women play a leading role. Our training courses are bilingual; in Kurdish and Arabic.

Our training covers many fields ranging from history to philosophy, life, personality, and women’s history. This is because the YPJ is not a brute fighting force but a force of social, cultural and moral consciousness. Women who realize themselves wage this struggle. Another important consequence of the YPJ’s struggle is that women have developed self-confidence. Women would trust men more than other women for too long in our geography. They overestimated men, but now they see the power in other women and do not view men as superior.

Women trust themselves more with the help of our training, and take a more active role in developing war tactics and techniques. They mobilize their intelligence more effectively and achieve better results.

Read the entire interview here.

Studying The Movement For Black Lives Platform In Salem---A Message From An Activist & Meetings In Salem On Jan. 31 And Feb. 8

Hello everyone:

We have a time (6 pm) and location (3850 Portland Rd NE #100) set for January 31. The Salem-Keizer Coalition for Equality (SKCE) has generously offered their space. This will be a chance to get to know one another a bit better and chat about why we're each interested in The Platform and racial justice. The meeting might last an hour and won't last more than 2 hours.

The Movement for Black Lives is producing a webinar series with the first installment taking place on February 8 at 4 pm. This is a recent development (there will be one installment per month for 6 months) and seems like the perfect opportunity for our newly formed group. I know 4 pm is  early for those of us who work your standard 9-5, but hopefully quite a few of us can make that work. The plan is to meet at the same location (3850 Portland Rd NE #100) at 3:45 pm on February 8 (15 minutes early to get settled for the start of the webinar). SKCE is offering us space and a projector. A laptop will be provided, and we'll all be able to view the webinar as a group. The more the merrier.

Nobody should feel like missing one meeting rules you out of attending other meetings. I encourage people to attend what they can and not feel bad about missing a meeting here or there. As of now, I think the expectation is that we'll meet once a month, though we may opt to meet twice a month for the next 6 months (once for the webinar and once to chat about what we're learning). That is to be determined.

Pro-Choice Coalition of Oregon Lobby Day Rally---Tuesday, February 28 at 9 AM - 5 PM---Oregon State Capitol

Join the Reproductive Health Equity Now campaign to help Oregon pass landmark legislation. The Pro-Choice Coalition of Oregon’s Lobby Day is February 28th in Salem! Sign up here for information and plan to rally on the 28th in Salem: https://reprohealthequity.org/home/capitol-day-of-action/

Some Important Salem Community Events On Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017---Opportunities To Get Active!

Many important community events will be held this Thursday, Jan. 26. Here are 3 which we think are important:

6:00 PM: Salem Solidarity Network January Meeting---1730 Commercial St SE, Salem, OR

6:30 PM: Townhall Conversation organized by the Salem-Keizer NAACP and the Salem Coalition of Churches at Pauline Memorial AME Zion Church (3593 Sunnyview Rd. Salem)---A community Conversation with City of Salem public officials and law enforcement officers. Topics include Policy, City mananagement, policing and people of color, the economic outlook in NE Salem, mass transit, the Salem/Keizer School District and dialog on issues that are dividing our community.

7:00 PM: POWER, PRIVILEGE & RACIAL DIVERSITY IN OREGON, an Oregon Humanities conversation led by Emily Drew, at Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty St., SE. More info from Valorie Freeman at vafreeo9@gmail.com, 503.561.5279

This isn't a complete list. There is something positive for everyone to do on Thursday!

The Hypocrisy We Live With

Thursday, January 26, 7:00 p.m., Salem: POWER, PRIVILEGE & RACIAL DIVERSITY IN OREGON, an Oregon Humanities conversation led by Emily Drew, at Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty St., SE. More info from Valorie Freeman at vafreeo9@gmail.com, 503.561.5279

Important Upcoming Events In Corvallis And Salem

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 9:00am - 10:30:  Palestine: Public Health Under Occupation

Women's Building, room 210, OSU campus, 160 SW 26th Street

"Toward Human Dignity Worldwide:  Health and Displacement"

OSU's Center for Global Health presents the first seminar of a three-part series, exploring the challenges of promoting health and human dignity for those facing displacement and oppression.

Session I: PUBLIC HEALTH UNDER OCCUPATION

A videoconference direct from the Gaza Strip with Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei, Director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, and Dr. Yousef Al Jeesh, Dean of Nursing Faculty at Islamic University, discussing issues around promoting public health under siege.

Co-sponsored with Corvallis Palestine Solidarity and the Oregon chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Physicians for Social Responsibility.

FB event:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1732642310387168/

Tuesday, Feb. 7, 9am - 4pm:  2017 Interfaith Advocacy Day (Salem)

St. Mark Lutheran Church in Salem

"Raising Diverse Voices of Faith to Strengthen Oregon Communities"

The 2017 Interfaith Advocacy Day will bring together hundreds of people from many religious traditions from throughout Oregon for a day of worship, dialogue and advocacy. Activities will include an interfaith panel, training in advocacy skills, issue briefings, meetings with our legislators, and a keynote address by Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum.

Register here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/interfaith-advocacy-day-2017-tickets-29263710546

Meet on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 11:00 AM at 580 State St.,Salem---Watch the 350.org Salem Facebook page for details.

Stay Tuned: A group is forming in Salem to examine and work with The Movement For Black Lives Platform! We will post details as they become available. 

The Struggle To Save The Elliott State Forest Continues---An Important Alert From Portland Audubon

Portland Audubon, Cascadia Wildlands, Sierra Club, Oregon Wild, and the Center for Biological Diversity are teaming up to organize an Elliott State Forest Lobby Day on February 23, 2017 in Salem! You'll have the chance to meet with your elected officials and talk to them face-to-face about why you love the Elliott State Forest and why it deserves our protection.

Proponents of public lands and intact forests and habitat in Oregon continue to work overtime in a diverse coalition to forge a lasting solution for the Elliott Forest that keeps it in public ownership for generations to come. Thank you for helping us get this far by showing up to rallies, offering public testimony, making donations, and taking action when prompted. We need you to keep the pressure on!

We will provide transportation, food, and Elliott themed t-shirts for you to keep, and we'll start the day with lobbying training so you feel comfortable and confident when you go to talk with your elected officials. Make sure you RSVP here as soon as you can commit to joining us for the day (9 a.m. - 4 p.m.)

You can write, tweet, or call your lawmakers, but the most effective way to communicate how much you care is by showing up in person. You can speak up for the Elliott State Forest and save this public forest by meeting with your legislators on February 23, 2017. We hope to see you there!

Get registered by RSVP’ing here. For more information, please emailstaylor@audubonportland.org.

Please Support Striking Momentive Workers

Monday, Jan. 23, 7pm: Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory (Book) Independence Civic Center, 555 S Main Street, Independence, Oregon. In Breaking Chains, R. Gregory Nokes tells the story of the only slavery case adjudicated in Oregon’s pre-Civil War courts—Holmes v. Ford. Through the lens of this landmark case, Nokes explores the historical context of racism in Oregon and the West, reminding readers that there actually were slaves in Oregon, though relatively few in number.

Salem Solidarity Network---Meets Thursday, Jan. 26 at 6:00 PM at 1730 Commercial St. SE in Salem

Salem's NEXT Demonstration

We Stand With Standing Rock

DeFund DAPL March February 4Start at Wells Fargo State & Church Sts. 11 am
Walk to US Bank, Chase & Bank of America

The Water Protectors are standing strong through the brutal North Dakota winter and what they are telling us is it’s time to #DeFund DAPL – time to tell banks and investors to stop financing the Dakota Access Pipeline.  On Saturday February 4  we’re going to take a walk around downtown to deliver the Defund DAPL message to the four banks in Salem that are involved with financing the pipeline: Wells Fargo, US Bank, Chase and Bank of America.

Following the march, please join us for a no host lunch at La Margarita Express 515 Chemeketa St NE to debrief and talk about next steps. Let us know if you plan to participate at salem.climate.activists@gmail.com 

To find out if your bank is helping to finance DAPL go to www.defunddapl.org

Are you closing your account at one of these banks?  Let us know at salem.climate.activists@gmail.com  We’d like to tell your story.

Photos From Today's Womens' March in Salem---United Front Tactics Work!

All photos above taken from the March's Facebook page. The following came from our comrade and shows a few of us and a view of the demo as we were taking off.

And from one of our comrades visiting D.C....



And---postscript---does anyone say it better than Angela Davis and Linda Sarsour?