People Before Profit blog

Texas unionists ringing doorbells to oust Republican right

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 15:41:00 +0000

The Texas labor movement hit the streets across the "Lone Star State" this weekend campaigning for votes to elect Democrat, Wendy Davis, as governor, Leticia Van de Putte at lieutenant governor, and Sam Houston as attorney general.

Texas AFL-CIO President, Becky Moeller, praised Davis, a member of the Texas Senate, for her staunch defense of workers' rights including her call for an increase to $10.00 a hour in the state's poverty-level $7.25 an hour minimum wage. Moeller scoffed at "pollsters and prognosticators" who predict an easy win for Davis's Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott. "In our block-walks, we are finding union families are plugged in and understand the stakes in the election," Moeller continued. These union workers are determined to prevent a takeover of Texas by "the most radical, right wing Republican ticket ever."

Abbott opposes the minimum wage altogether reflecting the Texas GOP's call for abolishing the law aimed at easing the plight of workers who toil at near-starvation wages even as the wealth of Texas millionaires and billionaires skyrockets. "Texas has the highest percentage of minimum wage earners of any state---around 450,000 as of 2012---and many more Texans fall into the category of the 'working poor' because their wages barely exceed the minimum."

Davis became a popular hero in Texas and across the nation when she staged a filibuster in the State Senate in 2013 to block a vicious bill sponsored by Gov. Rick Perry that would have stripped Texas women of their right to choose an abortion. Her running mate, fellow Senator, Leticia Van de Putte, represents San Antonio in the State Senate. A pharmacist, she is the highest-ranking Mexican-American woman ever to run for statewide office in Texas.

During Davis's abortion-rights filibuster, male senators attempted to hog the limelight, talking loudly in an attempt to silence the women Senators. Finally, Sen. Van de Putte stood and in a loud voice demanded, "At what point must a female Senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over male colleagues?" The male Senators fell silent. But the crowd in the visitor galleries erupted in stormy applause.

Van de Putte is ending the campaign with a grueling statewide bus tour that took her to East Texas, the Rio Grande Valley and south Texas where many of Texas's Mexican-American voters reside. The population of Texas is now 40 percent Mexican-American and by 2030 is projected to be a majority Latino.

An official audit released in September, threatened to blow Abbott's campaign out of the water. Abbott, the audit disclosed, has been complicit in the secret disbursement to wealthy corporations of $172 million in taxpayer funds from the Texas Enterprise Fund overseen by Gov. Rick Perry. The money was being doled out to these corporations at the very time Gov. Perry and the Texas Republicans were ranting about "budget deficits" and demanding huge cuts in funding for education, health care, food stamps, and other lifeline programs that benefit the poor.

At a news conference, Sen. Wendy Davis said, "Greg Abbott used the power of his office to orchestrate a cover-up of the transfer of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds to companies who never even completed an application for the funds---blocking release of applications he knew didn't exist."

She added, "Mr. Abbott did not recover one dime of taxpayer dollars for the Enterprise Fund. Instead, he accepted more than $1.4 million in campaign contributions from the very taxpayer funded grant recipients he was supposed to be watching----and helped hide the fact that hundreds of millions of our tax dollars were handed out without any oversight or accountability." She demanded that Abbott return these corrupt contributions to his campaign.

Abbott's spokesman dismissed Sen. Davis's charges as "grandstanding." But Abbott's connivance in this corrupt endeavor brings back memories of his fellow Republican, former House Speaker, Tom DeLay. DeLay was convicted and spent time in jail for handing out taxpayer-funded favors to oil companies, railroads, and other wealthy clients. Abbott may well follow in DeLay's footsteps.

Photo: Wendy Davis website.

Northwest Indiana: Fighting the right with people power!

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 12:52:00 +0000

Republicans are expecting a typical midterm election year where the disenfranchised and oppressed (youth, women, organized labor, Latinos and African Americans) stay home. In the 2010 midterms, approximately 40 percent of registered voters cast ballots. As a result of such a low turnout, right-wing extremists and corporate puppets swept national and state elections. Little time was wasted in passing legislation that gerrymandered districts, weakened collective bargaining, and restricted voting access to millions of workers, students, elderly and the poor.

USW (United Steelworkers) International Vice President Fred Redmond, in an interview with progressive talk show host Leslie Marshall, discussed the catastrophic effects of Republican control in the House and in state legislatures and governorships. Redmond stated that 22 states enacted regressive measures making it harder to vote, and dozens have slashed their states' social safety nets, launched attacks on organized labor, cut money from public education, and advanced corporate interests at the expense of the working class.

How do we turn this around? We need to knock on doors, make phone calls, and explain what is at stake. We have to educate and organize our families, friends, and neighbors so they understand the danger of the Right.

Voter apathy is the greatest hindrance to People Power. Part of voter apathy is the disgust with the Democratic Party's shift towards the right, "Republican Lite." However, there is an intriguing struggle emerging over the past several years between party leadership and progressives. There is a strong movement opposed to the DP selling its soul to "corporate America" and legislating Wall Street-friendly financial reforms. People are angry when some in the party mainstream abandon organized labor. They are livid with the privatization of public education through charters and vouchers and aghast when some Dems show even a willingness to compromise Democratic flagship programs, such as Social Security and Medicare.

These anti-democratic actions negatively affect the lives of the working class directly, particularly in the industrial heart of the United States, Northwest Indiana. The "Region," as it is known to residents, continues to be devastated by corporate greed and its Republican allies in state government. Indiana continues to be a flashpoint of Republican attacks against the working class, women, civil rights, and children. Why? They value profits over people.

The critical issue facing the working class is to fight the danger of the right. Coalitions are built and alliances made with organizations and public servants who champion people and nature over profits, such as progressive Democrats Shelli VanDenburgh, Ind. House District 19; Roxana Hanford, Ind. Senate District 6; and Pete Visclosky, U.S. House District 1.

One progressive candidate drawing particular attention is State Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh. She is a lifelong resident of Ind. House District 19, which includes Crown Point, Hobart, Winfield, and Lakes of the Four Seasons. Her career is centered in public service. In 2007 she was appointed to fill a vacancy for District 19 as State Representative, and has since been re-elected with overwhelming voter approval three times.

VanDenburgh is rooted in local, state, and national causes that advocate for children, public education, and unions. She has vigorously promoted marriage equality, pay equity for women, a woman's right to choose, progressive financial aid reforms for college students, and fought Right to Work legislation that defunds and strips unions of collective bargaining power. In short, she is a frontline fighter of the Right and a rising progressive leader in Indiana government, representing working class families.

Photo: Shelli VanDenburgh talks with construction workers. Shelli VanDenburgh official Facebook page

NNU leader: U.S. hospitals won’t protect workers vs. Ebola unless feds order it

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 11:21:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (PAI) - Registered nurses from California to Maine will hold strikes, picketing, and other actions November 12 in 12 U.S. states and the District of Columbia - with possible support actions globally - as the largest U.S. organization of nurses steps up the demand for tougher Ebola safety precautions in the nation's hospitals.

U.S. hospitals will not adequately protect their workers - nurses and doctors -- against exposure to the dangerous Ebola virus unless the federal government, through a presidential order or an act of Congress, orders them to do so, a leader of a top registered nurses union says.

And that lack of protection not only endangers medical professionals, but other people who could later come in contact with an infected person, warns Deborah Burger, co-president of National Nurses United.

"The only effective way to stop the spread of fear" of Ebola, as well as its danger, "is to ensure full preparedness in every U.S. hospital. And our long experience with U.S. hospitals is they will not act on their own to secure the highest standards of protection without a specific directive from our federal authorities," she told lawmakers.

Burger told an October 24 hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that 3,000 nurses nationwide reported to NNU their hospitals are under-prepared to confront Ebola, the often-fatal virus now epidemic in several western African nations.

Citing data from that survey, Burger revealed 68 percent of hospitals have no policy for dealing with Ebola patients, and 84 percent provided no education to their nurses. Almost half lack various protective equipment. She said the feds should set standards in all those areas.

"We know that unless uniform optimal standards are universally required for all health care facilities, we are putting registered nurses, physicians and other healthcare workers at extreme and unnecessary risk," Burger warned.

"And lest we forget, the risk of exposure to the population at large merely starts with front-line caregivers like registered nurses, physicians and other healthcare workers. It does not end there. As we've seen with school closures in Ohio, and quarantining of airline passengers, improper protection and inadequate protocols in hospitals can lead to public exposure outside of health care facilities."

Since Ebola broke out in the African nations-where it has hit so many health care workers that it's now named "nurse killer" - it has spread to isolated individuals in the U.S. They include patient Thomas Duncan, who died, in a Dallas hospital, RNs Amber Vinson and Nina Pham, who treated Duncan, a nurse in Maine and a doctor in New York.

In response, the federal Centers for Disease Control is sending information and directives to hospitals about Ebola treatment, to prevent further outbreaks here, Burger said. She praised CDC for acting, but called its orders "inconsistent and inadequate."

In particular, Burger said CDC gave hospitals the option of equipping nurses with fluid-resistant gowns rather than head-to-toe HazMat suits. CDC also told hospitals to provide protective equipment and suits to doctors and nurses "based on availability," Burger said.

NNU recommended the government order hospitals to furnish hazmat suits and other top-line personal protective equipment, set up procedures and wards to isolate Ebola patients, and mandate frequent disposal of linens and pillows from those wards, as Ebola's effects include vomiting, uncontrolled diarrhea and emissions of body fluids that carry the virus.

But the hospitals won't carry out those moves, and others, unless Congress or the Obama administration order them to act, Burger declared. Indeed, one Florida hospital not only refused to undertake such measures, but also disciplined a nurse who complained about the lack of information and protective equipment, she testified.

"A hospital in the Bay Area provided nurses with a so‐called 'Ebola tool kit' that contained a gown similar to what was used at Texas Health Presbyterian," the Dallas hospital, she said. That gown had "no neck or full head covering."

"In southern California, a patient claiming Ebola infection presented at an ER where there had been no prior Ebola training and no appropriate personal protective equipment," such as hazmat suits.

"At a Florida hospital where RNs had not been provided with any Ebola information or preparedness training, an understandably concerned nurse called the CDC. And how was her initiative and concern for her patients met by the hospital at which she worked? Her hospital management suspended her without pay."

Congress or the administration must also act to prevent "fear and panic" about Ebola from spreading throughout the U.S., Burger said.

"Simply put - not one more nurse, not one more hospital worker, not one more patient should become infected with Ebola. Not one more community should have fear of Ebola being spread in their neighborhoods.

Photo: NNU

Still time to influence outcome of 2014 election

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 10:29:00 +0000

Okay, so you've researched the candidates and figured out which ones are the best for working families. And you've either voted early or made a plan to vote. But you just don't feel like you've done enough to make sure that Tuesday's election doesn't turn into a nightmare scenario where Republicans shut down the government or take away workers' rights. What can you do?

Luckily, you still can make a big difference this election. It's as easy as picking up the phone and making sure as many of your friends and neighbors show up to vote as possible. Nothing gets people to the polls like a reminder from someone they know that the election is important, and making calls is easy with our Friends and Neighbors tool.

Start making calls now and help make sure that election night is a good night for working families!

Photo: AFL-CIO Now! Blog

Obama barnstorms in Wisconsin against the GOP

Thu, 30 Oct 2014 14:25:00 +0000

Without mentioning Wisconsin's GOP Gov. Scott Walker by name, President Obama blasted Walker for opposing an increase in Wisconsin's $7.25 minimum wage.

"Mary Burke doesn't believe that the minimum wage 'serves no purpose,'" Obama said, referring to a comment by Walker dismissing proposed increases in the minimum wage. The crowd of 3,500 people who packed North Division High School in Milwaukee's African American community, Oct. 28 greeted Obama's speech with cheers and applause.

He urged the crowd to work to turn out the vote in the Nov. 4 midterm election and to cast their ballots to replace Walker with Democrat Mary Burke. Polls show Burke and Walker in a dead heat, the outcome dependent on how many voters turn out in Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison and other workingclass strongholds.

"Wisconsin lags the rest of the country when it comes to job growth," the President continued. "Over the next week you have the chance to change that. You have a chance to choose a governor who doesn't put political ideology first, who is not thinking partisan first."

The next day, the Wisconsin AFL-CIO staged a "get-out-the-vote" rally in Green Bay. Steelworker President, Leo Gerard, told the crowd, "This election is about whether we have a governor who cares about the things working people care about or whether we get a governor who doesn't care about people at all."

Gerard slammed Scott Walker for turning his back on workers. "He couldn't even say he supports a minimum wage," Gerard said adding that Walker "wants to dictate and take rights away. He wants to take away collective bargaining, the right to health care, the right to vote, the right to a decent wage, to a decent job."

The crowd then fanned out in Green Bay's workingclass neighborhoods with placards reading, "Steelworkers for Burke."

Obama was barnstorming across the country to turn out the vote in this "too-close-to-call" election. He was scheduled to appear in Portland, Maine, at an Oct. 30 rally for Rep. Michael H. Michaud who is in a tight three-way race for governor with incumbent Republican Governor Paul LePage and Independent, Eliot Cutler. Election activists in Maine charge that Cutler is a "spoiler" and should drop out of the race. Maine's popular Independent U.S. Senator, Angus King, has endorsed Democrat Michaud who worked for 30 years in a Maine paper mill.

Obama will then travel back to Detroit to campaign for Mark Schauer for governor of Michigan and for Gary Peters, a U.S. Senate candidate with a double-digit lead over his Republican opponent.

Sunday, Nov. 2, Obama will speak at a Philadelphia rally in support of Tom Wolf who is leading Republican incumbent, Tom Corbett, in the race for governor of Pennsylvania. Obama will also travel to Bridgeport, Connecticut for a rally in support of Connecticut Governor, Daniel P. Malloy.

Everywhere the President travels, the labor movement and other progressive organizations are phonebanking, doorbelling, organizing "get-out-the-vote" rallies to defeat the drive by the Republican extremists to take majority control of the U.S. Senate and expand their grip on state legislatures and governorships across the country.

Photo: President Obama speaks at an event with health care workers fighting Ebola Wed., Oct. 29 in East Room of the White House. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Election Protection Coalition running radio campaign in Texas

Thu, 30 Oct 2014 13:58:00 +0000

Today, as Texas voters head to the polls in the last days of early voting, Election Protection announced an important radio advertisement campaign focused on informing Texas voters about their rights. Voters who are confused about the state's new photo ID requirements and how to get an ID to vote have called the 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline to get help from volunteers. The radio ads, which will air in English and Spanish, target voters in historically disenfranchised communities across Texas.

"Recent changes by state courts and the Supreme Court have left voters in Texas confused and without key protections once afforded by the Voting Rights Act," said Barbara Arnwine, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and one of the Coalition members. "The new Voter ID requirement will potentially disenfranchise more than 600,000 registered Texas voters who do not have the required photo ID, and most of the affected voters are African American, Latino and low-income."

The ads will begin airing on radio stations in the following key markets: McAllen-Brownsville-Harlingen, Laredo, El Paso, Dallas and Houston. They can be heard here on the Election Protection website:

English: 60 seconds and 30 seconds
Spanish: 60 seconds and 30 seconds

This is the first major statewide election since the state's voter ID law went into effect and many problems are expected with the new ID requirement. Voting rights advocates are especially concerned about voters who are not aware of the new law's requirements, as well as those who have traditionally faced the greatest barriers to voting.

Acceptable types of ID to vote (all unexpired or expired within 60 days of the election) includeb a Texas driver's license, aTexas state personal ID card, a U.S. Military ID card with a photo, a U.S. Passport or U.S. Citizenship Certificate with a photo, a license to carry a concealed handgun or an Election Identification Certificate.

Voter Registration Certificates/Voter Registration Cards are NOT acceptable. Forms of ID to vote in person, unless you receive a disability exemption. Tribal and student IDs are NOT acceptable forms of ID to voter in person.

Call 1-866-OUR-Vote if you have questions about the voter ID requirements or have problems casting a ballot in Texas.

An election official in Austin, Tex., inspecting identification at a polling site in February. A state law requires ID like a driver's license or a passport. Eric Gay/AP

The roots of economic justice

Thu, 30 Oct 2014 12:57:00 +0000

With Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and six City Council members proposing an increase in the minimum wage, the issue sits firmly on the front burner of L.A. government. Of course the Chamber of Commerce and its allies wring their hands and predict disaster, and some economists are throwing scary statistics back and forth.

Will raising the minimum wage to a livable income raise prices? Probably a bit in some parts of the economy. Will people lose their jobs? Probably a few in some sectors, for a short time. Will the economy grow as a result of poor people having more income to spend? Again, probably. Will life be better for low-wage working families? Undoubtedly.

Minimum wages should provide enough income for working families to put shelter over their heads, food on their tables and clothes on their backs. Employers should pay working people enough to not require government and taxpayers to supply the basic needs of a family. As I understand the minimum wage, that was its purpose when first conceived, and that should be its goal today. But the minimum wage now does not provide that level of sustainability. It should; and my belief comes from a deep place in Western society, one rooted in our traditions.

The Jewish Torah puts it quite explicitly: "You will not keep back the laborer's wage until the next morning." The text perceives the day's wages as necessary for a worker and family to survive another day. By withholding enough to live on that day, the employer jeopardizes the survival of the worker as well as the worker's family. This should not happen, says the narrative, it is unjust and hurts the whole community.

I connect this in my mind with another Torah story, this one from Exodus. As the Jews moved out of slavery in Egypt, they came to a time and place where they had no food. When the people complained to Moses, he took their complaint to a "Higher Power," and the next morning a spongy substance like frost covered the ground. Turns out the stuff was highly nutritious. But there was a caveat: The people could only gather enough to eat that day. If they gathered more, the extra would rot before they could consume it, so no hoarding. Just enough to survive on for another day on the journey to freedom.

Jesus of Nazareth told a parallel story. A landowner went to the day labor center of his time and hired workers to harvest his crops. He offered each one the amount that would feed and shelter both the workers and their families for another day. Later he went back to the center and found more workers milling about awaiting a job, so he hired a bunch more, offering them the same pay that would allow them to survive for another day. A few hours later he returned, found more workers needing a job, and he hired them on the same terms. When the day was over, he proceeded to pay everyone the same wage - what it takes to live on and provide for a family for another day. The Teacher said that was what justice looks like.

Unfortunately, most people, even people of faith, do not understand this message. My neighbor, who attends a mainline denominational church on the Westside, told me one day while we were discussing a livable wage: "Some people just aren't worth $9 an hour." So I suggested that perhaps the minimum wage was not a good measure of people's value. Perhaps we ought to see what it takes to survive minimally in Los Angeles. What would people need to receive for a day's work that would create healthy families and communities? What income would make it possible for the children of these workers to have the platform from which to reach for their life's hopes?

These are the questions that the tradition pushes us to consider. These values go much deeper than the "facts" and probabilities that the Chamber and the economists throw at us in public meetings. These stories go to the very core of what we think the human community should be about and how that understanding can sustain such a place. For everyone.

Reprinted by kind permission of the author and Capital & Main.

Photo: Charles Sprague Pearce mural. Carol Highsmith

GOP strategy for victory on Nov. 4: racism and voter suppression

Thu, 30 Oct 2014 11:21:00 +0000

With only days until Election Day a handful of key U.S. Senate races are still too close to call. Many of these races have Democratic incumbents running on unfavorable turf, "red" states won in the Obama wave of 2008. That they remain so close is incredibly significant.

Voter turnout is decisive to the outcome. Labor and its allies are going all out to reach every potential supporter, including discouraged voters. They're more likely to go to the polls if they understand what's at stake and believe their vote can make a difference.

But one thing is certain - the Republican right wing expects to win by pouring massive amounts of money into battleground races and employing two related scorched earth tactics: racism and voter suppression.

The Republican right is brazenly suppressing the votes of African Americans, Latinos, and students, through laws upheld by the right wing-dominated Supreme Court. These laws could disenfranchise millions of Democratic base voters, including 600,000 in Texas and 200,000 in Virginia, not to mention the "lost" cards of 40,000 newly-registered voters in Georgia.

Under the new stricter voter ID laws, voter turnout dropped by 100,000 in Tennessee and Kansas in 2012 or 2 percent. And that's all it takes to win close elections.

On top of that, almost six million Americans will be denied the right to vote because of felony convictions, including one in 13 African-Americans.

At the same time it's increasingly difficult for Republicans to win on the basis of the issues. Majorities now support a higher minimum wage, taxing the rich, marriage equality, immigration reform, reproductive rights and equal pay for women, action on climate change and student loan debt relief.

Over the past few months, important national conversations have taken place including around institutionalized racism and police brutality stemming from the events in Ferguson, domestic violence and climate change. These have influenced how people are thinking.

To divert attention from their obstructionist role in Congress and their stand on the issues, the Republican ultra right is desperately employing the only thing left - continuation of its 45-year "Southern Strategy," i.e. using racist appeals to exploit the economic fears and insecurities of white workingclass voters, especially men. In so doing, they seek to fool white workers into voting against their class and self interests and for what is morally reprehensible.

The GOP desperately tried to make this election about President Obama by repeatedly pledging to repeal Obamacare. But this largely failed because the benefits of the new health care law are increasingly apparent. So they devised a hysterical message combining the threat of the deadly Ebola outbreak with assertions ISIS is crossing the border (presumably with undocumented workers). They accused the Obama administration of incompetence in dealing with these issues.

The election results will reveal how effective this strategy is. But a new Pew poll shows that while 30 percent of voters intend to cast their vote for congressional candidates as a vote against President Obama, 20 percent will vote to support Obama and 45 percent say Obama will not be a factor at all.

Some Democratic candidates think they can win by distancing themselves from the President when what's needed is a spirited fight against the racist appeals. A good example is former President Bill Clinton who declared, "(Republicans) want you to cast resentment votes, resentment against the president, resentment against the Affordable Care Act, resentment against the last bad thing that happened."

Or AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka who, in a speech to the Missouri AFL-CIO convention said, "That conversation needs to be about racism and some other things as well. Call it classism, call it the blindness of our nation to the poor of all races and nationalities. Call it contempt for the people who do the work in our country. It needs to be addressed."

This serves to remind us racist appeals to white voters must be taken on including in "red states," "red districts," suburbs, exurbs, rural areas and the Deep South. The broad multi-racial movement led by labor must be built in these areas if equality and democratic advances are to be won. There is no way around it.

A recent poll by Democracy Corps in Louisiana showed that support among many white working class voters for Republican US Senate candidate Bill Cassidy is "soft" and they are open to appeals based on issues of class, income inequality and reproductive rights.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu cannot win reelection without building a multi-racial coalition of voters. Arguments can be made that common interests - black, brown and white - are at stake against big corporate and wealthy interests and those who oppose raising the minimum wage and expanding Medicaid.

Rev. William Barber II, leader of the Forward Together Moral Movement pointed out the same extremists who passed voter suppression laws also "denied 500,000 North Carolinians access to Medicaid, cut unemployment and denied the earned-income tax credit."

And that's also why the emergence of a new movement in the Deep South based on multi-racial unity of labor, the Forward Together Moral Movement, and immigrant rights and women's rights movements offers so much potential to reconfigure the politics of the South and the nation.

Self-interest, class interest and what is morally right are interconnected. Challenging racist appeals is essential to building unity of the very broad coalition of forces needed for victory.

Photo: The Moral Monday movement in North Carolina is seen as the typr of movement that can turn around the GOP's grip on the South. Chris Seward/AP/The News & Observer

Ferguson causes a nation to re-examine police violence and brutality

Wed, 29 Oct 2014 11:31:00 +0000

ST. LOUIS - It has been roughly 80 days since the tragic and criminal killing of Mike Brown, an African American teenager who had recently graduated from high school and was about to start college.

Brown was shot to death by Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson, Missouri police officer, while - as eye witnesses claim - attempting to surrender with his hands up.

Since Mike Brown's killing on Aug. 9, thousands of protesters - local, regional, and national - have shined a much-needed spotlight on the life and death consequences of police brutality and violence directed largely at men of color.

Protesters have also brought to the foreground the militarization of our neighborhoods and the unwarranted, unjustified misuse of police force that has literally taken aim at our constitutional right to peacefully assemble. Furthermore, the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades, pepper-spray and police batons specifically and overwhelmingly in communities of color has only served to dramatically demonstrate the racist nature of police repression.

Undoubtedly, the multi-racial solidarity exemplified during the numerous peaceful protests when compared to the Ferguson police force visually serve as a stark reminder of the very real racial disparities in a city that is nearly 70 percent African American. The Ferguson police consist of 50 white and three Black officers.

Obviously, we should not assume - and I am not arguing - that every white police officer in Ferguson is racist. I don't think it is helpful to speculate on the motivations of rank-and-file officers regarding race and racism.

Nor do I think we should ignore the working-class character of a very difficult and dangerous profession, or the stresses and frustrations inherent in it.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka remarked to the Missouri AFL-CIO, "We should not deny officer Darren Wilson or any other police officer his or her rights on the job or in the courts." However, he added, "Racism, unfortunately, is part of our inheritance as Americans..." and played a role in Brown's killing.

I do not envy the work of police officers - like other public servants, they are underpaid, over-worked and as union members they struggle collectively to win decent benefits, health care and pensions.

Additionally, they face the daily possibility of violent confrontation and potential death.

For this reason, police officers are usually given considerable leniency when it comes to the use of force, which makes the circumstances surrounding Mike Brown's death and the possible prosecution of Darren Wilson much more than a local police concern. It is a national, public concern.

In fact, understanding the complex circumstances that lead to Brown's death should help us better understand the use of deadly force - in general - as a pernicious and vile form of institutional racism that transcends individual motivation or intent.

For regardless of Darren Wilson's personal motivations and fears, the institutional racism that effectively barred African Americans from the police force in Ferguson, as well as the fact that police officers are statistically more likely to use deadly force against African Americans than against white suspects inevitably led to the racist, inappropriate use of deadly force and the murder of Mike Brown.

This tragic scenario is unfortunately repeated in countless communities across our country, often with the same tragic and criminal results.

Police training is another issue of concern, as officers should be taught to employ any and all means - short of endangering themselves or others - to deescalate potentially violent situations.

Mike Brown's killing isn't just a local tragedy. It is symptomatic of a larger, on-going disease that infects our society at large, and is therefore a national tragedy.

Furthermore, the taking of Mike Brown's life shouldn't be seen as just a local crime. It has national implications, as this specific, unjustified use of deadly force wounds and criminalizes people of color generally. Therefore, it is a national crime.

We should purposefully and intentionally highlight institutional racism at work - racism that has in its local incarnation created a deep chasm between a majority African American community and a majority white police force - and organize to create institutional mechanisms by-which this racist disparity can be rectified immediately and democratically.

Institutional mechanisms, like a civilian review board with power, could have a huge impact on the inappropriate use of force, as it will bring public pressure to bear in an institutional capacity and hold police publically accountable. Additionally, the mandatory use of police cameras will serve to protect both civilians and officers.

Undoubtedly, the solutions to the crime of institutional racism within the police are multifaceted and complex. Officers' rights to union and/or legal counsel, as well as grievance procedures designed to protect them as workers are contractually binding and must be taken into account, protected and extended. To be clear, solutions that weaken police officers' capacity to collectively bargain not only endangers officers' lives, but also endangers the people they are supposed to serve and protect.

No-matter what the forensic evidence from Wilson's car tells us, no-matter what the grand jury may eventually decide, no-matter how long the protests continue - in Ferguson and elsewhere - one basic, fundamental question regarding the killing of Mike Brown has to be addressed: Was the use of deadly force by officer Darren Wilson justified?

Collective faith in our most sacred civil liberties and civil rights hinges on the answer to this question.

As far as I am concerned, according to the available facts and eye witness accounts, deadly force was not justified.

Mike Brown was unarmed and in-retreat with his hands-up. Officer Wilson's life was not in imminent danger, nor were the lives of by-standers. Regardless of any other facts that may serve to muddy this discussion, these facts are clear.

Should one police officer have the right to act as judge, jury and executioner?

Darren Wilson should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

We should frame Mike Brown's murder as both tragic and criminal.

In short, all of these issues - and others - have coalesced to turn Ferguson into the epicenter of a people's earthquake with the potential to shake our national understanding of race, racism and racist repression to its core.

If the recent protests in Ferguson and St. Louis are any indication, a new civil rights movement is emerging. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Mike Brown.

Photo: Earchiel Johnson/PW

Early voting runs strong against GOP in North Carolina

Tue, 28 Oct 2014 14:53:00 +0000

Many thousands of North Carolina voters are joining in the Moral Monday "March to the Polls," taking advantage of the state's early voting that began October 23. It is a movement that bodes well for the state's incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Kay Hagan who is locked in a fierce battle against tea party Republican challenger, Thom Tillis.

Moral Monday's founder, the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, initiated a "Denial of Medicaid Funeral Procession" through the state capital, Raleigh, on October 20. The purpose, Barber wrote, is "to dramatize the loss of life, health care, jobs, and hospitals" inflicted on the state by North Carolina's Republican politicians who rejected expanded federal funding for Medicaid to cover low-income people eligible for President Obama's Affordable Health Care Act.

Tillis, currently the House Speaker of North Carolina's state legislature, played a central role in turning down those federal dollars, thus denying health care to an estimated 500,000 low-income people in the Tarheel State, a majority children. Sen. Hagan has hammered Tillis also for rejecting Federal funds to extend unemployment compensation for thousands of jobless workers in North Carolina.

A report on early voting, nationwide, by AP reporter, Michael P. McDonald, declares, "North Carolina's in-person early vote got off to a strong start on Thursday (Oct. 23). As of Saturday, 313,729 had voted.... Democrats now hold a commanding 48 percent to 32 percent lead in all early votes, a lead that is unlikely to fade between now and Election Day." McDonald's report offers similar encouraging news of impressive gains against the Republican right in early voting across the nation.

Moral Monday has drawn together a strong multiracial movement to fight the Republican power grab in North Carolina. It includes tens of thousands of African Americans, Latinos, and other people of color, the North Carolina AFL-CIO, local unions, the environmental movement, and the movement for women's equality and gay and lesbian marriage equality. Last July 22, hundreds of Moral Monday protesters were arrested on "trespassing" charges during a sit-in in the Capitol rotunda. The courts upheld the rights of the protesters. The prosecutor dropped the charges Sept. 19 against 941 protesters but left standing the charges against 51 protesters who had been arrested earlier.

Rev. Barber told reporters the protesters had entered the Capitol to meet with Gov. Pat McCrory, Speaker Tillis, and other officials "to challenge ...morally indefensible, economically insane extremist policies. The repressive agenda of Speaker Thom Tillis, Senator Phil Berger and Governor Pat McCrory is hurting the poor, the sick, working people...Rather than meet with us for a fair debate on the issues, they arrested us."

Since then, Moral Monday has staged "March to the Polls" and "Souls to the Polls" to early voting polling places across the state.

Sen. Hagan, herself, inspired early voting at one rally. She was speaking to hundreds of students at the University of North Carolina, vowing to lead the fight in the U.S. Senate for higher funding of Pell Grants and other measures that provide financial assistance to hard-pressed college students---all blocked by the Republicans in the U.S. Senate and House. When she ended the speech, the students stood and marched en masse to the voting place in Chapel Hill to cast their ballots. Hagan is credited by observers with running a "near flawless" reelection campaign in a campaign unusual for its intensity in an off-year elections when voter turnout is typically low. Her campaign has enlisted an estimated 10,000 volunteers to doorbell and phonebank to get out the vote.

Photo: Moore County NAACP, ‎Moore Moral March to the Polls, Facebook

Voter protection volunteers to monitor polls in voting rights battlegrounds

Tue, 28 Oct 2014 13:27:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - The national civil rights organization Advancement Project will dispatch a team of voter protection monitors to join partners in Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin on November 4 to help clear any voting barriers. This year marks the first federal general election since the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in their 2013 Shelby County v. Holder ruling - and this Election Day will serve as a precursor for the effects of regressive voting rules and regulations that have since been enacted.

"Alongside our community partners, Advancement Project will be on the ground this Election Day to make sure all eligible citizens have un-obscured access to voting," said Advancement Project Co-Director Judith Browne Dianis. "From monitoring how a new restrictive voter ID law is being implemented in Virginia, to making sure voters are not asked to show ID in Wisconsin, to helping a newly invigorated electorate in St. Louis, Missouri, cast their ballots, we are ready to ensure that all voters have their say."

Grassroots organizations that will also be observing the election process include Florida New Majority, the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Boat People SOS-Delaware Valley, Virginia New Majority, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the League of United Latin American Citizens-Wisconsin, and National Bar Association affiliate groups in each state. In addition to helping voters address any last-minute challenges, Advancement Project and partners will identify any patterns and large-scale trends. With new policies restricting voting in North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, and anticipated confusion about the process in other states, a broad range of activities will be tracked throughout the day.

"While we have been fighting in the courts to stop new voting restrictions, litigation is just one piece of our efforts," said Advancement Project Co-Director Penda D. Hair, referring to the organization's North Carolina and Wisconsin voting rights cases addressed by the Supreme Court earlier this month. "Across multiple states, we have partnered with community-based organizations year-round to make sure voters have the information they need to participate in this democracy. On Election Day, we are prepared to respond in real time to make sure nothing gets in their way."

Photo: North Carolina NAACP.

Fed’s Yellen hits income inequality

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:36:00 +0000

BOSTON - Even the head of the Fed now worries about the chasm of income inequality. But Janet Yellen, in a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, took it one step beyond money. She criticized the concentration of riches at the top, too.

Her blunt words on Oct. 20 should make the rest of the country - even the financiers who created and perpetuated the gap between the rich and the rest of us - take notice.

Yellen's speech is important because the Fed's monetary policy regulates credit firms need to expand and, if they choose to do so, hire more workers. With the gridlocked Congress refusing to help workers, the Fed has had to be a primary engine of restoring the economy ever since the Great Recession, also known as the Bush Crash, hit.

The Fed eased credit, but wealth and income stayed at the top, charts Yellen presented show. "The past several decades have seen the most sustained rise in inequality since the 19th century after more than 40 years of narrowing inequality following the Great Depression," she said. The Fed also has a second, often-forgotten, goal, of increasing employment.

"By some estimates, income and wealth inequality are near their highest levels in the past 100 years, much higher than the average during that time and probably higher than for much of American history before then," Yellen said.

"It is no secret the past few decades of widening inequality can be summed up as signi-ficant income and wealth gains for those at the very top and stagnant living standards for the majority. I think it is appropriate to ask whether this is compatible with values rooted in our history, among them the high value Americans traditionally placed on equality of opportunity."

Yellen did not answer that values question. But Yellen - who has spoken out against the gap between the rich and the rest of us since at least 2006 - offered several reasons for the growing chasm. They include a crash in housing wealth, concentrated inheritances and unequal educational opportunities due to lower revenue available to schools in lower-income areas that need the most help. She did not mention private-sector deunionization.

The wealth gap is even worse, she said. "Wealth inequality has increased more than income inequality since 1989...The wealthiest 5 percent of households held 54 percent of all wealth reported in the 1989 survey. Their share rose to 61 percent in 2010 and reached 63 percent in 2013.

"The lower half of households by wealth held just 3 percent of wealth in 1989 and only 1 percent in 2013. To put that in perspective...the average net worth of the lower half of the distribution, representing 62 million households, was $11,000 in 2013. About one-fourth of these families reported zero wealth or negative net worth, and a significant fraction said they were 'underwater' on their home mortgages, owing more than the value of the home.

"This $11,000 average is 50 percent lower than the average wealth of the lower half of families in 1989, adjusted for inflation," she said. Due to housing, it has yet to recover.

Photo: Janet Yellen. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

AFL-CIO's Gebre pulls for immigrant voters in Denver

Fri, 24 Oct 2014 15:55:00 +0000

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre joined community leaders and immigrant voters in Denver on Wednesday to remind workers of the importance of voting in this year's elections. Gebre, the labor federation's first immigrant executive officer, visited Colorado as part of an action to encourage immigrant voters and workers to support working family candidates.

Gebre went with immigrant voters to drop off their mail ballots at the Elections Division before leafleting workers at the Denver International Airport and a Veterans Affairs construction site in Aurora. He stressed that Latinos, who make up 14 percent of the eligible voters in the state, were very powerful in determining the outcome of the election. As an immigrant voter himself, Gebre said he knows it is important immigrant communities show up to vote because when he votes, he gives voice to 10 of his neighbors who aren't citizens or are undocumented.

The above article and the photo appeared on the AFL-CIO Now Blog.

NLRB protects Facebook time for workers

Fri, 24 Oct 2014 12:21:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - In a ruling involving a Watertown, Conn., sports bar whose owners shorted their workers on state withholding taxes - leaving them cursing and stuck with unanticipated bills - the National Labor Relations Board moved to protect workers' Facebook discussions and posts. It also ordered the bar to restore the two workers it fired to their jobs.

And it told employers they could not promulgate and enforce overly broad policies regulating what their workers say on the workers' own Facebook accounts.

At issue in the case, involving the Triple Play Sports Bar and workers Jillian Sanzone and Vincent Spinella, is whether workers' comments on Facebook are "protected concerted activity" under labor law. The 3-member NLRB panel ruled they are and made that general.

The case is important because workers increasingly use Facebook and other social media to communicate about working conditions, as well as to organize. If employers can censor Facebook, blogs and the like, and retaliate against workers for their comments - the bar fired Sanzone and Spinella - then workers' rights are chilled, the NLRB panel decided.

In this case, Sanzone, Spinella and other workers found out almost four years ago the bar shorted the withholding, when they wound up with big state tax liabilities. They raised the issue with management, but also on the social medium. They were, understandably, upset.

Former worker Jamie LaFrance started the dialogue on his Facebook page in January 2011, saying that as a result of Triple Play's withholding errors, he owed hundreds of dollars in state taxes. "I owe too. Such an asshole," Sanzone replied.

Spinella "liked" LaFrance's update. "Maybe someone should do the owners of Triple Play a favor and buy it from them. They can't even do the tax paperwork correctly!!! Now I OWE money...Wtf!!!!" he said. Later posts were similar. All the workers are non-union.

The postings leaked to management. Owner Ralph DelBuono called Sanzone and Spinella in, gave them "a complete and unwelcome surprise" by revealing knowledge of the postings, and fired them. He also told Spinella the bar might pursue him legally.

The agency's administrative law judge found the workers engaged in "protected concerted activity" by discussing worksite problems on Facebook, that threatening legal action breaks labor law, too, and that the employee handbook's ban on comments about the bar on social media was too broad.

The bar said that "when Internet blogging, chat room discussions, e-mail, text messages, or other forms of communication extend to...inappropriate discussions about the company, management, and/or co-workers, the employee may be violating the law and is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

The NLRB ordered the bar to rehire the two with back pay - including taxes - to withdraw the legal threat and other discipline and to toss the handbook's offending sections.

Photo: Anger is the most influential emotion on social media. (AP)

House race in Virginia shows what’s at stake in election

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 16:05:00 +0000

Of Virginia's 11 seats in the House of Representatives, one is shown to be in play by the estimates of the authoritative Cook Political Report. This is the 10th Congressional District seat in the far north of the state, which includes Washington D.C. suburbs and exurbs as well as rural and small town communities.

For many years, the 10th CD seat was held by Republican Congressman Frank Wolf, who easily beat off all challenges from Democrats. But Wolf is now retiring, leaving this as an open seat.

The Republican candidate is Barbara Comstock, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates (the lower House of the General Assembly, or state legislature), who was chosen as the "moderate" alternative to even more right-wing Republican challengers. These ultra-ultras accused her of voting for Obama in 2008, but evidently this was done because she thought that Obama would be an easier to defeat candidate than Hillary Clinton.

But Comstock is no moderate; rather she is aligned with the Tea Party extremists on every major issue from abortion to unions to immigration. Comstock got her political start in the investigations carried out during the Clinton administration against alleged malfeasance in the White House Travel Office. Since then, she has done work for Koch Industries, for Chiquita Banana, for republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential elections, and for the virulently anti-labor Workplace Fairness Institute.

The Workplace Fairness Institute, which is funded by the Golub Foundation, the owners of a chain of grocery stores, and other corporate interests, is opposed to raising the minimum wage, to card check unionization, and to unions in general. Comstock worked for this organization for pay, a fact which she neglected to mention on her campaign disclosure documents, and has now been seized on by her Democratic opponent, John Foust, as an indication of a lack of integrity.

In the Virginia legislature, Comstock pushed for several anti-labor bills, including one that would have removed the requirement to use union labor to build the extension of the DC Metro rail line to Dulles Airport.

Comstock has also done consulting work for Paul Singer, the notorious hedge fund CEO who is locked in a battle with the government of Argentina over payment for some discounted bonds his company bought after the 2002 Argentine sovereign debt default. To nobody's surprise, the past association with Singer and his ilk is paying off in campaign contributions.

The Democratic candidate, John Foust, an attorney who is a member of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors, has outlined a generally progressive program including support for immigration reform with a path to citizenship for the undocumented, and a full defense of women's right to choose. He defends the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) and calls for infrastructural modernization as one way to create jobs.

Comstock's campaign is claiming that Foust is anti-women, because of their deliberate misinterpretation of a comment Foust made asking if Comstock "ever had a real job." When seen in context, it is clear that Foust was calling Comstock a political hack and lobbyist for corporate interests, but the Comstock campaign is trying to fool voters into thinking that Foust's comment meant that he thought Comstock has been "only a housewife." This special gall coming from Comstock, who has supported a requirement that women in Virginia who seek abortions must undergo an intrusive vaginal probe first.

Although the 10th Congressional District seat is still in play, the Democratic Campaign Committee decided to withdraw most promised funding from the Foust campaign, as part of a general retrenchment. Foust supporters are still hoping that with a large effort to turn out the vote, this can be overcome. Organized labor is strongly behind Foust because of his pro-worker stand.

The district is relatively high income, but includes lots of new citizens and also government workers who are unlikely to be attracted by extremist Republican stances against immigrants and "big government." The minority population (African American, Latino, and Asian) in this rapidly growing district is also increasing faster than the white population, giving the Democrats a greater chance of taking it. But as elsewhere in the country, all depends on turnout of the Democratic Party's working class and minority base.

Photo: John Foust, Democratic candidate for Congress in Virgini'as 10th District. (AP Photo/John Foust for Congress, Will Schermerhorn)

Brown autopsy results leaked, spun to favor police

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 14:45:00 +0000

A leaked autopsy report on Michael Brown's death points to gunshot wounds on the victim's hands and marijuana in his system.

Brown was killed at point blank range by a Ferguson police officer after being stopped for walking in the street.

The official report obtained by the St. Louis Post Dispatch suggests a struggle inside the police car prior to Brown's being gunned down by multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. It is being spun as corroborating officer Darren Wilson's story.

Protesters have been demanding in over 70-days of continuous demonstrations that a grand jury return an indictment against the officer.

The timing of the report along with the emphasis on powder burns on Brown's hands and marijuana use may suggest local official's tactics designed to undermine the grand jury's work prior to its completion.

The Washington Post reported that its sources said the levels [of marijuana] "in Brown's body may have been high enough to trigger hallucinations."

Marijuana however would have to be ingested in large amounts for hallucinations to occur. A study of medical marijuana by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) found that hallucinations are rare: "The risk of serious psychopathologic effects (hallucinations, etc.) was cited to be about one percent."

A study by Colombia University found hallucinations might occur in one in seven people who smoked daily.

The Justice Department took strong issue with the release of coroner's report.: ""The department considers the selective release of information in this investigation to be irresponsible and highly troubling. Since the release of the convenience store footage there seems to be an inappropriate effort to influence public opinion about this case."

A former FBI said as much to CNN: "It could be really for, in part, a beneficial purpose, to start leading those community leaders and those leading the protests to believe that there won't be an indictment," said Ron Hosko, former assistant director of the FBI Criminal Division

That a struggle occurred in the patrol car however was not in much dispute. The shots fired after Brown began running away in addition must be accounted for. A federal autopsy is also underway.

The case is under investigation by both the local grand jury and by the Justice Department. The grand jury's report is due in November.

Photo: Ferguson August 19, 2014. Earchiel Johnson/PW

Today in Native history: Harrison extinguishes Ponca land rights

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 14:22:00 +0000

On this day in 1890, the "tragedy of the Ponca Indians led to Nebraska's last significant land acquisition," when President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation that extended the northern boundary of Nebraska into the Dakota territory. The decree also declared that all Indian claims to Nebraska territory have been officially "extinguished." The order required the Ponca to take allotments even though most tribal members were opposed to it. "Ponca traditionalists formed a strong anti-allotment faction. In 1887, Congress passed the General Allotment Act (Dawes Act), which had the intent of assimilating Indians by making them land-owning farmers. The idea of the Dawes Act was to break up the reservations by giving each Indian family an allotment of land, similar to the homesteads given to non-Indian settlers. This act guided much of the Indian policy during the Harrison administration (1889-1892)," says Native American Roots website.

Harrison was the grandson of famed "Indian fighter" and treaty negotiator William Henry Harrison, who served one month as president in 1841 before succumbing to illness.

The story of how the northern boundary of Nebraska was negotiated includes government ineptitude and bad faith, political manipulation, and the total disruption of the Poncas' lives.

Nebraska Studies writes:

The Ponca Tribe signed several treaties with the federal government from 1817 to 1865. Like numerous other tribes in Nebraska, they were forced to witness the shrinking of their homelands until most were moved to the Indian Territory in the present day state of Oklahoma.

The United States government signed four treaties with the Poncas before ending the treaty-making procedure to formalize relations between them and the Indians. Treaties were signed with the Ponca in 1817, 1825, 1858, and 1865. The third and fourth treaties are the most significant with reference to the 1879 Standing Bear v. Crook court case.

In 1858, the Ponca ceded a large section of land to the U.S. Government, but they did reserve a much smaller area for the tribe to occupy. They agreed to move to the reserved area within one year after ratification of the treaty. The new area would become their permanent home. In return for making the land cession, they were to receive the following from the U.S. Government:

Annuities - that is, cash payments - for 30 years
Educational institutions for ten years
A mill to grind grain and one to saw timber
An interpreter, a miller, a mill engineer, and a farmer

As the Commissioner for Indian Affairs explained in his 1858 Report, the objective was to "colonize and domesticate" the Poncas.

The Ponca planned to give up hunting for an agricultural economy. However, they faced a variety of problems that included: failure of the government to live up to its promises, drought, locust, and conflicts with the Sioux. Yet, the Ponca kept their promises and never stole from nor attacked the white man.

The case of Standing Bear v. Crook refers to the famous Ponca chief, Standing Bear and U.S. General Crook. In 1879, after losing one-third of his tribe to malaria and deplorable reservation conditions, Standing Bear returned to the tribe's land in Nebraska to bury his son, a casualty of the U.S. government's policy. The federal government ordered Standing Bear's arrest for leaving Indian Territory without permission. The arrest order trickled down the line of communications from General Sherman in Washington, to General Sheridan in Chicago, to General Crook in Omaha.

Standing Bear filed a suit of habeas corpus against the U.S. government, challenging the grounds for his arrest.

In a trial widely publicized in the Omaha Herald by journalist Susette La Flesche Tibbles, whose grandmother was Ponca, and her husband Thomas H. Tibbles, the judge ordered Standing Bear to be released as he was arrested and held illegally. In his ruling, Judge Elmer Dandy wrote, "an Indian is a person within the meaning of the law," establishing that Standing Bear had rights under U.S. law. The decision served as a catalyst for the Native people's rights movement in general and for the Ponca people in particular. Standing Bear along with La Flesche campaigned and traveled to promote the cause. Standing Bear buried his son, Bear Shield, in the "soil of his ancestors."

Federal recognition of the Ponca tribe was officially terminated in 1966. But after years of pressure, on October 31, 1990, 100 years after Harrison's proclamation, President George H.W. Bush reinstated the tribe, establishing their right to their homeland in the state of Nebraska.

Sources:

History Channel: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-benjamin-harrison-extends-borders-of-nebraska

National Parks Service: http://www.nps.gov/mnrr/historyculture/upload/Standing%20Bear.pdf

Native American Roots: http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1697

Nebraska State Historical Society: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH2006BoydCounty.pdf

Nebraska Studies: http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0600/frameset_reset.html?http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0600/stories/0601_0107.html

Compiled by Teresa Albano

Photo: The Ponca Nation stands with the Indigenous Environmental Network protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline at a 2013 climate action protest in Washington, D.C. (Stephen Melkisethian/CC)

St. Louis adds its voice to national protest against police brutality

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 11:55:00 +0000

St. LOUIS - "Seventy-five days! Indict now! Seventy-five days..." I arrived on scene as a group of about 50-75 protestors took over St. Louis County police department's main entrance around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 22. Almost everyone I saw was holding flowers, teddy bears, AA battery candles, and, to top it off, a glass mirrored coffin for police to see their stark reflections as they were confronted; a clear reminder that many people here are still waiting for justice to be served in the killing of Michael Brown.

With their chants bellowing across the streets, passersby on their lunch hours were reminded that in 75 days the family of Michael Brown has not received any answers from law enforcement officials and that during this time hundreds of peaceful demonstrators have been arrested and another young black teenager was killed during an incident involving an off-duty officer serving as private security.

"You can't kill people without any consequences!" shouted Montague Simmons, of the Organization for Black Struggle, as he and other peaceful demonstrators were confronted by 15 officers blocking the public entrance. As they inched further up the staircase, Simmons calmly explained to police that all they wanted was to be let into the public area of the building and present a case at the meeting of police commissioners. "We are tax-paying citizens, this building belongs to us, the people," explained a young woman from the stair's landing.

It was apparent that no one was going to be let into the building from the main entrance-the unwelcoming custom glass doors were locked to the public. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a handful of protestors' break away from the main group and make their way around the side of the building. Shortly, the call went out for everyone to make their way to the side door which was still open for public use.

The glass coffin went in first and within five minutes demonstrators had occupied the building's hallway and held their line against police and their video cameras. "Indict now. Indict now!" The hallway was bursting with energy as police presence continued to grow and sheer defiance was the demonstrator's only counter-measure. As the request to be let in continued to be denied a lone police lieutenant announced the police commissioners meeting had ended-then that it had been cancelled.

With no honest answers in sight demonstrators demanded to speak to the chief of police, who surprisingly was not in at the time, and instead were informed that the Lieutenant-Colonel would only speak to one person, away from the group. "How do we know we would come back alive?," asked a 40-year-old in the group.

"Let's remember why we are here today," said Simmons as he slowly turned to address the crowd. "We are here to honor those who cannot be here. They are not forgotten."

Demonstrators left the building as peacefullyjas they had entered and as they congregated outside they picked up yellow funeral slips to place on car windshields. Demonstrators intended to create a funeral procession and visit every location where black lives were stolen at the hands of police.

"Can't stop, won't stop," was the chant I heard as I left with other demonstrators.

Photo: Alex Brandon/AP

Mother arrested while standing and waiting for family

Wed, 22 Oct 2014 10:19:00 +0000

It's a familiar scene.

One parent takes his or her children into a restaurant to use the restroom while the other parent waits outside. It's been done by many of us - as parents, aunties, uncles, siblings. When kids have to go, they have to go.

But on July 19 this year, this simple and innocent scenario ended with the arrest and brutalization of one of the parents.

Absurd and humiliating acts of police overreach have also become familiar in this country. There are countless incidents of false arrests, harassment and use of force against innocent victims by the police every day in the U.S. The cases that end in loss of life garner headlines (sometimes), but mostly we don't hear of the seemingly minor and mundane cases, unless they happen to us or to our family and friends.

But this time, the police picked on the wrong person.

Chaumtoli Huq, a well-respected human rights lawyer who is on a leave of absence as general counsel for New York City's office of Public Advocate, was arrested in the middle of Times Square (a place often filled with tens of thousands of people standing in public) for, it seems, simply standing in public.

Standing in public and being South Asian and Muslim that is.

Huq - who was born in Bangladesh - and her family, had attended a rally in support of Palestinian rights that day. Then they took the young kids to the restroom at Ruby Tuesday nearby. Even though she was standing "inches" from the restaurant windows, police told Huq to clear the sidewalk. Huq said, "I'm not in anybody's way. Why do I have to move? What's the problem?"

That's when police grabbed Huq and slammed her against the wall. She called for help and stated out loud, "I am not resisting arrest." Police twisted her arm behind her back and handcuffed her. The officers rifled through her purse without probable cause. The police arrested her and took her away before her family even returned from the restroom.

To make matters worse, when Huq's husband went to the jail, he aroused suspicion from police because he had a different last name than his wife. "In America wives take the names of their husbands," the officer said.

Well then. What year is this again?

According to DNAInfo, Huq "was held for more than nine hours in lockup before being arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, court records show."

Huq and her family have subsequently filed a complaint with the New York Police Department's Civilian Complaint Review Board. They are also suing the NYPD and the City of New York in Federal Court for violating her civil rights, charging the police used "unreasonable and wholly unprovoked force" and claiming the arrest was part of a pattern of harassment of people of color in the city.

Huq told New York Daily News "I was hesitant to bring a case. My job is to be behind the scenes, and help all New Yorkers," she said. But she realized "that I can use what happened to me to raise awareness about over-policing in communities of color. I want there to be a dialogue on policing and community relations," she said.

Let's hope that conversation is one good outcome of this terrible and avoidable incident.

At the Alliance for a Just Society we speak of the criminalization of everyday life. Perhaps nothing demonstrates that reality more than an innocent mom being arrested for standing still on the sidewalk.

Reposted from Alliance For A Just Society.

PW editor's note: You can take action on Chaumtoli Huq's case and send a message to the New York City Police Department and Mayor Bill de Blasio that police harassment and abuse is not OK by signing a MoveOn petition here.

Photo: Chaumtoli Huq listens to garment workers share about life and workplace conditions. (via FB)

Turnout is the wildcard in Texas election

Tue, 21 Oct 2014 16:18:00 +0000

DALLAS-Texans are early voting in person October 20 through November 1. Many seniors and disabled Texans voted by mail as much as a month earlier. Every election, a larger percentage votes before Election Day.

In Dallas, two rallies helped publicize the first day. A coalition consisting of the Dallas AFL-CIO, Communications Workers Local 6215, Jobs with Justice and the Texas Alliance for Retired Workers set up just outside the Records Building downtown. The Records Building is the most central of all the government offices being used for early voting, and it draws a steady stream of voters on the first day.

As the television cameras began to arrive, a great shiny blue bus pulled up by the curb. It was the Dallas stop of the 15,000-mile tour by Americans United for Change.

Slogans on the bus were "Raise the minimum wage!" "Equal pay for equal work!," "Make college affordable!," "Invest in our infrastructure!," and "Protect Social Security and Medicare!" Their overall slogan is "Put the middle class first!"

Between the bus and the television cameras, spokespersons brought out some of the most vital issues in Texas. Women's rights, secure pensions, and stopping voter suppression topped the list. In the past two weeks, a lower court ruled that Texas voter suppression was illegal and could not be used in the current election period. Then the 5^th Circuit, without ruling on the constitutionality of the law, said that Texas must go ahead and apply it in the current election. The Supreme Court upheld that view, again without ruling on constitutionality. Texas has one of the most severe photo-ID requirements in the nation.

The second rally took place in a basement room at the Bank of America near downtown. About 75 people packed into a room set up for 40 because the main speaker was Farm Worker founder and legendary American union activist Dolores Huerta. Huerta was joined on the podium by State Rep. Rafael Anchia, Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia, and several community activists from the Texas Organizing Project. TOP organized the rally and led everybody across the street to the Oak Cliff sub-courthouse to vote.

Texas has been under right-wing Republican rule since 1996. Most of the pundits and pollsters believe that big money, redistricting and voter suppression will keep Republicans in power this year. The wild card in the game, which nobody can predict and which could make all polls obsolete, is voter turnout. Labor and the progressive forces are knocking themselves out to increase it!

Photo: Farmworker legend Dolores Huerta helped kick off early voting at a rally in Dallas. Jim Lane/PW