People Before Profit blog

Corbin Harney, Western Shoshone leader, 87

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:59:00 +0000

Corbin Harney, a spiritual leader of the Western Shoshone nation and internationally-renowned anti-nuclear activist, died near Santa Rosa, Calif., on July 10, of complications from cancer.

Harney was born March 24, 1920, in Little Valley, Idaho, and lived much of his life in Nevada. He was a leader of the anti-nuclear movement which year after year has drawn thousands of protesters to Peace Camp, outside the Department of Energy’s Nevada Test Site. In 1994 he founded the Shundahai Network to respond to spiritual and environmental concerns over nuclear issues by building alliances with indigenous, environmental, peace and human rights communities.

“Corbin was a World War II veteran and was known around the world for his activism against radioactivity and nuclear weapons,” said Robert Hager, Reno-based attorney for the Western Shoshone nation.

Harney “was always steadfast in trying to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and guard the people against the threats and hazards that nuclear technology poses,” said Ian Zabarte, a leader of the Western Shoshone National Council.

He was also a leader in the broad movement to defeat government plans to create a repository for highly radioactive waste near the test site, at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Though Congress approved the project in 2002 over the veto of then-Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn, the Department of Energy has not yet submitted a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the dump.

The Shoshone people “were put here by the creator as a native people to take care of this land and all the life on it,” Harney said in a statement during a 1998 protest at the test site. “The government has stolen this land from us, and now it is very contaminated. For 50 years they have kept us out with fences and guards.”

Harney received many national and international awards, including the international Nuclear-Free Future Award, and spoke before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. He was the author of two books: “The Way It Is: One Water, One Air, One Earth,” and “The Nature Way,” which will be released soon.

Corbin Harney is survived by his daughter, Reynaulda Taylor, two granddaughters, four grandsons, seven great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Fridamania

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:56:00 +0000

Across the globe, celebrations and exhibitions are marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954). In recent years, her popularity has soared to that of cult-like status, in part due to the 2002 Hollywood movie about her life, starring Salma Hayek. In contrast with the modesty of her art, the celebrity-style hype about her life has elevated the artist to iconic status — reminiscent of the Mexican religions icons and retablos (altarpieces) that she collected.

Kahlo is best known for her strikingly distinct image — her face framed by her faint mustache and trademark unibrow, her unconventional marriage to legendary Mexican artist Diego Rivera and her embrace of Communism. Critics claim that her art has largely been overshadowed by the work of her husband and her own mythical status. But as times and artistic sensibilities change, her work is being re-evaluated.

In the largest retrospective of Kahlo’s work to date, Mexico marked the centenary of her birth in grand fashion.

At the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, over 354 pieces went on display July 5, featuring many of her most famous self-portraits, but also lesser-known works, including still lifes, sketches, watercolors and sculpture.

At the Casa Azul (Blue House), Kahlo’s family-home-turned-museum, thousands of artifacts that had been locked away are now on display, providing a broad and intimate glimpse into Kahlo’s life, in an exhibit entitled “Treasures of the Blue House, Frida and Diego.”

The hallmark of both Kahlo’s life and her art was great physical and emotional pain. She suffered from polio as a child and later was injured in a streetcar accident that shattered her pelvis and spine, requiring a three-year convalescence and operations throughout her life. Her physical pain was only eclipsed by the torment of her husband’s many infidelities, including with her sister. Kahlo described her life in terms of two great accidents — the streetcar and Rivera, Rivera being the worse of the two. While his murals depicting the people’s struggle gained huge fame in his lifetime, Kahlo’s deeply personal work was largely overlooked — her first solo showing of her work occurred only a year before her death.

As fans take a closer look at Kahlo’s dreamlike images, unexpected details are revealed, as well as lessons about struggle that are very personal, yet highly relatable. While some critics say that Kahlo outmastered even celebrity-obsessed Pablo Picasso at cultivating her own image, one need not dig too deeply into her work to unearth the great conflicts that marked her life and work.

The duality often seen in her paintings mirrored that of her personal life. She often dressed in men’s clothes and embroidered Tehuana Indian dresses, and responded to her husband’s infidelities with many dalliances of her own — with both men and women. And while her image sometimes was glamorous, she led a fairly domestic life, surrounded by a house full of plants, pets and simple pleasures. Perhaps the genesis of her embrace of her inner paradoxes was the duality of her heritage — born to a Hungarian Jewish father of German descent and a Mexican mother.

Her work screams out the pain of abandonment and loss in an age where little is intimate anymore. Her style is instinctual, at times confrontational, yet surprisingly delicate and accessible. New tenderness is revealed in her portraits of children, particularly in the detailed use of color in a portrait of her baby niece, appearing as a servant girl. Frank sexuality and humor is evident in the still life “The Bride Who Is Frightened to See Life Open,” for which Kahlo posed a bride doll with sliced papayas and watermelons upon a table top.

As new fans have been drawn to Kahlo’s work, the celebrations have spanned the globe.

In Havana, Cuba, Frida is being honored with an exhibit titled “Desde la piel de Eva y con los ojos de Adan” (From Eve’s skin, with Adam’s eyes). In November, her centenary and the 50th anniversary of Rivera’s death will be marked with the program, “Frida y Diego, Voces de la tierra” (Frida and Diego, Voices of the earth).

In Chile, Kahlo’s centenary is being marked with a program entitled “Un abrazo para Frida y Diego” (A hug for Frida and Diego).

In the U.S., the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis has announced a show that will open in October and travel to Philadelphia and San Francisco, featuring 50 Kahlo paintings. The National Museum of Women in Arts in Washington, D.C., is memorializing her with the display of her painting, “Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky,” painted in 1937 for the Russian revolutionary and as a remembrance of their brief affair, along with a small collection of letters and photographs.

Europe and Asia have also joined in tributes to the artist. In Berlin, the anniversary was marked with “The 100 Years,” a photographic exhibit from the 1950s by artist Gisele Freund, and a series of lectures.

In the Philippines, film screenings, book launchings, dance shows and exhibitions celebrated the artist in a program entitled “We love Frida so much.”

In this age of reality shows and staged intimacy, the personal art of Frida Kahlo has arguably eclipsed that of her famous husband, although his heroic stature still resonates today throughout Mexico and the art world. The key to appreciating her art is the understanding that struggle and great progressive change begin first in our own minds and experiences, creating a ripple effect throughout our lives and the lives of others. In that way, we recognize that we all strive for change and engage in the fight — both within ourselves and in our world.

Valency Hastings (vhastings @pww.org) is a graphic designer at the People’s Weekly World.

Anti-immigrant politician provokes crisis

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:35:00 +0000

SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. — This populous suburban/rural county on eastern Long Island, on the outskirts of the New York City metropolitan area, has a large and increasingly politicized immigrant population. Lately, they have often found themselves at odds with the strident anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions of Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. The most recent clash has come with his attempt to block a state-funded hiring center for day laborers in the community of Farmingville.

Responding to this controversy, members of the State Assembly’s 45-member Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, at the initiative of Manhattan Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, blocked a normally routine measure to renew a 1 percent county sales tax, set to expire Nov. 30. Espaillat has asked that the county implement a clear policy regarding the hiring center.

The tabling of the bill by his fellow Democrats is widely recognized as a sharp political rebuke of Levy’s anti-immigrant stance, the latest in a series of setbacks he has suffered on this front. Caucus Chairman Darryl Towns of Brooklyn expressed his concern over some of Levy’s positions, saying that the caucus wanted to take an opportunity to get him to take a more global outlook toward his community.

Although the Assembly adjourned June 20, there is still a chance to pass the tax authorization before the deadline. However, despite attempts by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and leading members of the caucus to work for a compromise, there has been little progress so far. If the tax renewal does not go through, county property taxes might have to be increased to cover an estimated $300 million in lost revenue.

For his part, Levy blamed Assembly member Philip Ramos, a Suffolk County member of the caucus, for the bill’s failure. Although Ramos is not in the leadership of the caucus and did not take a leading role in blocking the tax measure, Levy has nevertheless declared that the resulting revenue loss would “be on Ramos’ head.”

Ramos, in turn, has called for an end to “rhetoric and race-baiting, language that divides the community.” Ramos called for the initiation of an honest dialogue on immigration issues.

A spokesperson said Ramos was committed to finding a resolution to a difficult issue through civil discourse, and was working to get all the parties to sit down, iron out their strong differences and come to a mutually acceptable compromise. At press time, County Executive Levy continued to reject any compromise. Levy supporter Joseph Caracappa, a Republican county legislator, said, “There is no room for compromise.”

Caracappa has called Assembly caucus leader Espaillat a terrorist. Espaillat told Newsday that he was “very discouraged that that kind of rhetoric is happening in Suffolk. It doesn’t lead to healing, and it doesn’t lead to the solution of any problems.”

gbono @cpusa.org

Women unite vs. domestic violence

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 03:42:00 +0000

PITTSBURGH — Domestic violence takes place behind drawn shades and frequently in front of children, who are often victims, and falls into the “dirty little secret” category of the law, where women’s voices and pleas fall on deaf ears. That’s about to change here.

A coalition of women’s groups, led by local chapters of the National Organization for Women (NOW), stepped up to the mike before the City Council last month, demanding that the promotions of three police officers to command positions be rescinded because the three have been charged with domestic abuse. More than 150 women and men jammed council chambers in the middle of a weekday, bringing the “dirty little secret” out of the closet.

All nine City Council members and the Police Department brass, including Chief Nate Harper, heard testimony from nearly two dozen NOW members, victims of domestic abuse, and shelter providers. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who approved the promotions, was playing golf.

Phyllis Wetherby, a 30-year activist with NOW, reminded the council that Pittsburgh’s police department was once a model of diversity as a result of action by women’s and civil rights activists Alma Speed Fox and Jo Ann Evansgardner.

Wetherby said she was “appalled that the Pittsburgh mayor and Public Safety Department saw fit to promote a detective to commander over 107 qualified candidates on the Civil Service list. First on the list is a woman, Linda Dixon.”

She noted that, “because a conviction for domestic violence would jeopardize their right to carry a gun, and thus, their employment, police officers are more likely to be given a pass by investigating offices and by women victims who refuse to press charges.”

In fact, in the weeks following the June council hearing, charges were dropped against one officer and another was sent to anger management classes. The third’s record of a 1997 arrest for breaking his wife’s nose still stands.

Mayor Ravenstahl refused to reconsider the promotions and women’s groups continued to meet in growing numbers to discuss their next steps. “This is an opportunity for Pittsburgh to make national headlines,” Heather Arnet, executive director of the Women and Girls Foundation, told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. “It’s up to us to determine what those headlines might be.”

Laura Randolph, executive director of Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, added: “A lot of damage has been done. This issue cannot be dismissed as being a women’s issue or unimportant. It requires [the mayor’s] consistent attention.”

Veteran NOW activist Jeanne Clark called the unity in the women’s rights community “extraordinary.” The coalition is contemplating a lawsuit. It is providing opportunities to police families to report domestic abuse and is supporting active police officers and department employees to address hostile workplace incidents. Shelter providers are proposing that every police station have a sensitivity trainer on duty.

The coalition is also pressing the City Council to hold a special meeting on promotions and family violence.

Local shelter providers reported that they served 28,000 domestic violence victims throughout Allegheny County, including Pittsburgh, last year.

According to the Center for Women and Policing, domestic violence occurs two to four times more in police families than the population as a whole. In two separate studies, 40 percent of responding police officers admitted to committing acts of domestic violence against their families. For non-law-enforcement families, domestic violence crimes occur in 10 percent of families.

The crisis in police families prompted the International Association of Police Chiefs to write a model policy regarding charges and acts of domestic violence by police officers. In a recent survey by the Center for Women and Policing, only 68 of 123 participating police departments said they had implemented the policy.

dwinebr696 @aol.com

Salsa anyone?

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 07:27:00 +0000

Ricardo Lemvo performed Congolese soukous, rumba, Cuban son and salsa at the 11th annual Chicago SummerDance in the city’s downtown, June 28. Lemvo, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, moved to Los Angeles at age 15 to live with his father and pursue his studies. When he was growing up in Kinshasa, the country’s capital, Cuban music was very popular there. Lemvo was inspired by the salsa classics of Beny Moré, Abelardo Barroso, Ignacio Piñeiro and Arsenio Rodriguez. At first he became an active singer of Mexican rancheras. Then his music evolved, combining Latin and African elements from salsa to soukous with an occasional merengue of Afro-Portuguese roots.

Lemvo’s music includes Spanish, Lingala, Kikongo, French, Portuguese and English lyrics. They celebrate life, and most importantly, move his audiences to let loose and dance. For more information go to www.makinaloca.com.

Chicago Summer Dance (www.ChicagoSummerDance.org) offers free dancing lessons and live music downtown and in several neighborhood parks. It continues through Aug. 26.

Puerto Rico remains a colony, panel says

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 06:29:00 +0000

The colonial status of Puerto Rico is once again coming up for review by the United Nations General Assembly. The UN’s Special Decolonization Committee placed the issue on the larger body’s agenda by unanimously adopting a resolution June 14. The resolution was sponsored by Cuba and Venezuela.

The Special Committee, as it has done for decades, reaffirmed the right of Puerto Rico to independence and self-determination. The committee acted after hearing many representatives of Puerto Rican and U.S. organizations, most of who oppose the island’s colonial dependency on the United States and who instead favor sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress is considering proposals that would alter Puerto Rico’s status, including by making the island a U.S. state or recognizing it as an independent republic.

Becoming a state would require approval by a majority of U.S. voters, something regarded as highly unlikely. An Opinion Dynamics/Fox News poll taken in early June shows that 57 percent of the U.S. population opposes making Puerto Rico a state.

In other news, last month the U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico absolved the FBI from the charge of using excessive force when its agents physically attacked news reporters who were covering the arrest of a pro-independence activist last year. The FBI claimed the reporters crossed a security perimeter, but no evidence was presented that such a cordon existed. Neither were FBI agents heard ordering reporters to leave the scene. Yet the court decided in favor of the FBI.

In another case, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals of Boston’s First Circuit ruled that the FBI does not have to furnish information to the Puerto Rican Department of Justice that the FBI considers “confidential.” Puerto Rican authorities are seeking such information in connection with the case of independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios, who was killed by the FBI in 2005.

jacruz @pww.org