Facts and Myths

March 22, 2018

http://neatoday.org/2018/03/16/myths-about-teachers-ayers/?utm_source=nea_today_express&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=180321neatodayexpress&utm_c


FREE HERMAN BELL

March 21, 2018
Stand by the Parole Board’s lawful & just decision to release Herman Bell.  At 70 years old and after 45 years inside, it is time for Herman Bell to come home.
Supporters of Herman Bell and Parole Justice New York

Parole Justice New York
Stand by the Parole Board’s lawful & just decision to release Herman Bell. At 70 years old and after 45 years inside, it is time for Herman Bell to come home.

,

 

Last week the New York State Board of Parole granted Herman Bell release. Since the Board’s decision, there has been significant backlash from the Police Benevolent Association, other unions, Mayor De Blasio and Governor Cuomo. They are demanding that Herman be held indefinitely, the Parole Commissioners who voted for his release be fired, and that people convicted of killing police be left to die in prison.

We want the Governor, policymakers, and public to know that we strongly support the Parole Board’s lawful, just and merciful decision. We also want to show support for the recent changes to the Board, including the appointment of new Commissioners and the direction of the new parole regulations, which base release decisions more on who a person is today and their accomplishments while in prison than on the nature of their crime.

Herman has a community of friends, family and loved ones eagerly awaiting his return. At 70 years old and after 45 years inside, it is time for Herman to come home.

Here are four things you can do RIGHT NOW to support Herman Bell:

1- CALL New York State Governor Cuomo’s Office NOW
518-474-8390

2-EMAIL New York State Governor Cuomo’s Office
https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form

3- TWEET at Governor Cuomo: use the following sample tweet:

“@NYGovCuomo: stand by the Parole Board’s lawful & just decision to release Herman Bell. At 70 years old and after more than 40 years of incarceration, his release is overdue. #BringHermanHome.”

4- Participate in a CBS poll and vote YES on the Parole Board’s decision
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/…/herman-bell-parole-police-ou…/
The poll ends on March 21st. Please do this ASAP!

Script for phone calls and emails:
“Governor Cuomo, my name is __________and I am a resident of [New York State/other state/other country]. I support the Parole Board’s decision to release Herman Bell and urge you and the Board to stand by the decision. I also support the recent appointment of new Parole Board Commissioners, and the direction of the new parole regulations, which base release decisions more on who a person is today than on the nature of their crime committed years ago. Returning Herman to his friends and family will help the heal the many harms caused by crime and decades of incarceration. The Board’s decision was just, merciful and lawful, and it will benefit our communities and New York State as a whole.”

Thank you for your support and contributions.

With gratitude,
Supporters of Herman Bell and Parole Justice New York

 


Read TRUTHOUT!

March 21, 2018

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/43906-a-call-to-the-media-let-s-go-beyond-preserving-democracy


Podcast w Crystal

March 20, 2018

I spoke with Crystal Laura at Seminary Co-op Bookstores about our book, “You Can’t Fire the Bad Ones!”, and it’s featured on their podcast: https://goo.gl/BecD3M You can also find the episode by searching “Open Stacks” anywhere you listen to podcasts.

 


Loud and Clear

March 20, 2018

https://www.spreaker.com/user/radiosputnik/education-for-liberation


My Lai, Viet Nam—50 years ago today

March 16, 2018

Remember My Lai—50 years ago today.
And remember, too, that it was not accidental or unusual: war crimes were committed every day by US military as a matter of policy (free fire zones; pacification, body counts, tiger cages) not choice. Invasion and occupation are always murderous. Resist! Build a powerful antiwar movement NOW!


Speaking of Betsy DeVos

March 15, 2018

https://www.spreaker.com/user/radiosputnik/betsy-devos-interviews-expose-incompeten


Singing in Dark Times…March 13

March 10, 2018

SINGING in DARK TIMES

March 13, 2018/ 6PM/ 57th Street Bookstore

Motto

In the dark times, will there also be singing?

Yes, there will be singing.

About the dark times.

~~Bertolt Brecht

In December, 2017 we  held the inaugural gathering of a discussion group designed to open a public space for serious and challenging conversation in these troubling days: Singing in Dark Times.

Eve Ewing, Rachel DeWoskin, Kevin Coval, and Bill Ayers started us off, and over 40 people joined in to try to make sense and make meaning of our lives and our work—to shine a bright beacon of hope and possibility into the gloom.

It was an electrifying evening for those of us in attendance, but it was only a start.

On January 13, 2018 Singing in Dark Times convened again—this time Bill Ayers welcomed Lisa Lee and David Stovall in an opening dialogue, quickly broadening into a conversation embracing everyone who chose to join in.

It too proved to be a provocative and powerful evening pushing toward a question that drives so many of us: What is to be done?

The next Singing in Dark Times forum will gather on March 13, 2018, and will include Bill Ayers in conversation with the brilliant artist/activist/movement-makers Monica Trinidad and Ethan Viets-VanLear.

Please join this emerging public space, this intentional community-in-the-making.

As the public is being steadily eroded and eclipsed, and as neoliberalism persists and fascism lurks close by, the goal of those of us who believe in freedom is to take full responsibility to reimagine, revitalize, and create anew a public square, a public presence, and a wide range of participatory public spaces.

An impressive array of wildly diverse artists and grass-roots activists are  on the move and on the rise—resistance is breaking out all over, and a revitalized public square is in-the-making. In Chicago, a cinema guild is running a series of films on authoritarianism followed by wide ranging teach-ins on the political environment we find ourselves in; the Co-op hosted a series of conversation led by U Chicago professors investigating contemporary issues under the banner “Free University of Chicago;” and Women and Children First’s “The Conversation” brings writers, artists, and politicians together to talk about an issue of political, social, or cultural importance. Elsewhere, a chain of restaurants in Detroit calling themselves “Sanctuary Cafes” is offering weekly facilitated  conversations (as well as bail to neighbors caught up in the system); a collection of renowned playwrights has joined forces to dramatize the Bill of Rights; block clubs around the country are hosting monthly pot-luck dinners to allow folks to face one another authentically and figure out what is to be done. 

The legendary Seminary Co-op/57th St. Bookstores in Hyde Park, Chicago, has always been a destination bookstore and a vital public space. Please join us as we reimagine the public square—the essential conversation continues.


Hollywood Will Not Save Us

March 9, 2018

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/43770-hollywood-won-t-save-us-instead-let-s-build-a-revitalized-radical-feminism


My Lai: Never Again!

March 9, 2018

http://www.vietnampeace.org/my-lai-public-appeal