This blog is in English so that non-Danish speaking people can read it, and it is easier for me. My radical activism began where I was born, in the United States of America (USamerica) with the invasion of Cuba, April 1961, and continued until 1980 when I left the US. I have lived for many years as an activist and writer in Cuba and Nicaragua, with months in Venezuela and Bolivia, and a quarter century in Europe, mainly Denmark. I will be concentrating on the rebirth of a radical movement in Usamerica. There will also be commentary on Danish politics, especially as it relates to global imperialism.
Chocking on tears, the owner of Campsite Deulo haltingly greeted 300 activists standing by the camp’s lake, which the “leftist” regional Brandenburg government of Social Democrats (SPD) and socialist The Left (Die Linke) (1) seek to destroy, along with 3000 people’s homes, businesses, farms, forests, water, even churches and graveyards in the Lausitz area. Læs videre Human Chain across German-Polish border: Stop brown coal mining→
People before Profit—the slogan for production cooperatives—is an option even in the United States. Within the past decade, three forms of worker-owned and/or managed types of organizing work places are now functioning. The most democratic structure, one that could potentially transform the economy from profiteering greed to meeting everyone’s needs, is the worker-ownership cooperative.
Out of 5.7 million firms in the United States, the Census Bureau considers that fewer than 300 are worker-owned cooperatives, but they are growing.The major coalition of worker-owner cooperatives is the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives, which just celebrated its first 10-years. The USFWC has 100 member firms with 1600 individual worker-owners.
The national grassroots membership organization’s mission is, “to create a thriving cooperative movement through the development of stable and empowering jobs and worker-ownership. We advance worker-owned, -managed, and -governed workplaces through cooperative education, advocacy and development.” http://www.usworker.coop/
For the first time since World War II, a Nazi organization (Denmark’s National Front/DNF) received official permission to hold a demonstration in the center of Copenhagen, on May 10. In fact, they were to demonstrate right in front of the state government and parliament building, Christiansborg Slot, thanks to the so-called “red” government and the police. But 10 minutes after the scheduled time of commencement, the police escorted them away from the government castle under assault by 300 to 400 Anti-fascist Action activists (AFA). Læs videre Mass Media & Establishment Assist Fascism→
Diego Lopez, Guatemala. Presente!
Francisca Chavez, El Salvador. Presente!
We tearfully placed the man and the baby’s little wooden crosses into the cyclone fence, one of three barbed-wired steal barriers separating thousands of peace-makers from the war-makers at Fort Benning, Georgia.
School of the Americas (SOA) Watch Vigil, the 24th since 1990, drew me from Denmark, my friend James from Ensenada, Mexico, and upwards to 3000 others from across the United States, Canada, and Latin American countries to protest in front of this key US Army combat-counter-insurgency training base.
SOA is also known as the School of the Assassins by families and supporters of the hundreds of thousands who have been murdered—many tortured and raped beforehand—by Latin American soldier and officer graduates.
Founded in 1946, the killer school has trained 65,000 soldiers from 18 Latin American countries. Many commanders of civilian massacres have been trained here, even top generals and some who have become national leaders, according to the United Nations Truth Commission report on El Salvador (1992-3). Those murdered include Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero (and several of his family), four US churchwomen, scores of priests and nuns, peasants, unionists, educators, journalists, social-political-religious activists. The Washington Post reported, in 1996, that techniques in torture had been part of SOA training; a training manual also revealed such.
Other SOA victims include: 200,000 Guatemalans, mostly Mayans, murdered during three US-backed dictator regimes (15of 27 military cabinet members were trained at SOA); nearly 100,000 Colombians killed and six million displaced by 10,000 troops (and others) trained in Georgia; 18 high-ranking Mexican army graduates have played key roles in civilian-targeted warfare against indigenous communities, and drug gangs have obtained training and military weaponry from SOA because many deserted from Mexico’s military; 400 resistance movement Hondurans have been murdered by troops under the leadership of SOA graduates also responsible for the coup against President Manuel Zelaya, in 2009; and hundreds of thousands other Latin Americans have been murdered by graduates of SOA. Læs videre School of the Americas 24TH Vigil→
My generation of radical activists was inspired by Bob Dylan’s 1962 song, “Blowing in the Wind”.
How many times must the cannon balls [and drones] fly Before they’re forever banned The answer my friend is blowin´in in the wind.
With Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia’s victory against Western imperialism’s war, and the scandal of Watergate ending in the demise of Nixon’s presidency, the radical movement that swept through USamerica, and much of Europe died out. There have been social and economic protests from time to time since but a real radical movement with stamina has not reoccurred in the West. There were exceptions for some years with the war against Iraq particularly and somewhat that of Afghanistan, but the anti-war movement petered out especially when a black-faced man won the presidency in one of the world’s most racist and violent countries.
Then came the Arab Spring (2011) in Tunisia and Egypt! After hundreds of thousands of brave and determined people took over the streets, with several hundreds killed, the Western-backed national dictators were overthrown, only to be replaced by more momentarily palatable capitalist- authoritarian leaderships. Protests spread but when they hit other solid friends of the West, activists were brutally killed and beaten down. Then Libya was invaded, and now it is Syria’s turn.
Inspired by the Arab Spring, and tired of the eloquent emptiness of “I-have-a-drone” Obama, a new radical movement is taking root in USamerica. Occupy Wall Street (OWS) started on August 1, 2011 with nude artist protests on Wall Street and consolidated onward from September 17 by occupying Zuccotti Park in New York’s financial center. Its goal was/is anti-capitalist and for social and economic equality. After several months of occupying different symbols and centers of financial and political power, OWS lost its footing due to a combination of concentrated police violence and federal government spying, and its own lack of political direction—a political space to garner its tremendous energy and passion, and draw to it many millions of the 99%.
Occupy Wall Street’s dynamic grass roots movement has changed tactics but is not gone. In fact, it is reoccupying its original site of protest at Zuccotti Park. Since June 1, thousands gather in the park from 09:00 to 21:00 under the banner: “Occupy Homecoming”. Activists are creating a “movement center” by carrying signs of protest, holding talks and conducting relevant study courses.
Many activists are of Turkish background, and a key issue for all participants is the current Arab Spring movement for greater freedom and democracy in Turkey. One OWS slogan is “From Zuccotti to Gezi” (a park in Istanbul where activists gather). So far (June 10), the Zuccotti protesters have not been attacked by police, and many sleep in the nearby Trinity Church.
Foto: AFP Photo / DPA / Patrick Pleul Germany out
