This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager
Saturday, May 18 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ~ Park Street, Boston
There will be a rally on Saturday, May 18, at 1pm at Park Street Station protesting US interference in Venezuela and the treatment of the peace activists who were occupying the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, at the invitation of the Venezuelan government, until they were evicted by the Police on Thursday, May 16.
This is a local rally in support of the larger protest that will happen in DC on Saturday.
The United States has been trying to engineer a coup against the duly-elected government of President Nicholas Maduro and has imposed crippling sanctions on that country, on the basis that they pose an “extraordinary threat” to the US. According to a report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the sanctions have killed over 40,000 Venezuelans. (http://cepr.net/publications/reports/economic-sanctions-as-collective-punishment-the-case-of-venezuela)
The US has put representatives of their preferred, non-elected “government” in a diplomatic office in DC and the New York City consulate, and they would like to do the same in the embassy, but peace activists took it over on April 10 and refused to leave until an agreement was reached respecting the sovereignty of Venezuela in its embassy. Instead, the US government chose to ignore international law and arrested them.
During much of the over-a-month-long occupation, a rowdy crowd of coup supporters gathered around the embassy and the Secret Service and DC Police refused to arrest them when they assaulted and otherwise interfered with the peace protesters. Secret Service agents beat up at least one of the peace activists, the president of Veterans for Peace, Gerry Condon.
The electricity was shut off to the embassy, on the orders of Juan Guaido’s newly appointed “ambassador,” and a coup supporter broke in and disabled the water, without facing any legal consequences. The coup supporters surrounding the embassy refused to let food or medicine in, even going as far as to physically attack activists trying to deliver supplies. But Jesse Jackson managed to get food and water in to the protesters on Wednesday, May 15, using a pulley system to a second story window.
The protesters believe that the US should not be in the business of choosing the government of other countries, even if they do have a lot of oil.
Come hear from Bostonians who support the Venezuelan government and their Bolivarian revolution, which has built 2.5 million houses for poor people, provided food for millions, even with the sanctions in place, eradicated illiteracy and created a good system of free health care for Venezuelans.
*Support the Venezuelan Embassy protectors! US Hands off Venezuela!*
*Rally at Park Street red line stop*
*1:00 pm, Saturday May 18*
Venezuelan Embassy defenders led by Code Pink occupied the embassy building in Washington DC for several weeks at the invitation of the Venezuelan government. The US wants to hand over the building to supporters of the self-proclaimed "president" Juan Guaido, the US puppet who openly calls for US intervention. Despite the US government action being clearly illegal, the protectors were arrested and now face charges. There will be a national rally to support those arrested, demand the embassy be returned to its rightful owners and oppose US aggression against Venezuela. A local solidarity rally will support the actions in Washington.
Sponsored by the Committee on Peace and Human Rights and the International Action Center.
Alfred — Sandra Bland died in jail custody after being arrested for a minor traffic violation. The officer who assaulted, then arrested her was never held accountable – despite video evidence from his own car dashboard camera. Now, new video evidence from Sandra's phone has surfaced – further casting doubt on the arresting officer's story. Petition starter Angela and thousands more are calling for Sandra Bland's case to be reopened.
Sandra Bland was arrested for a traffic stop on July 10, 2015 by Brian Encinia. She was found dead in her cell three days later. Encinia was never indicted, in spite of the fact, that he physically assaulted her her on camera. It was found that the jail did not follow proper protocols in this case. There is a new video that has come to light. It is quite possible that this video was hidden from the grand jury. I would like the case reopened. Please join me.
Change.org is proudly funded by people like you, Alfred. As a public benefit company, we rely on the contributions of ordinary people. Each contribution we receive means our small team right here in the U.S. can help people who start petitions win their campaigns. We believe in the voice of the people – that’s why we built a platform that is 100% independent and available for everyone to create the change they want to see. Learn how you can support critical petitions by becoming a Change.org Member.
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Well that was something! At a press conference the other day, I received ten million signatures—the largest petition delivery in U.S. history—calling for the impeachment of Donald Trump.
This is Representative Rashida Tlaib from Michigan. And I was excited to be on the right side of history, along with Representative Al Green, when we had the honor of receiving this massive petition as we fight the outrageous abuses of power and rampant criminal corruption of the Trump administration.
As I stood with concerned Americans, received the 10 million signatures, and read some of the comments left by constituents in my home district, it was a reminder of how far we are coming together in the public case for holding the president accountable.
Back in January, I was one of the first members of this Congress to call for the impeachment of Donald Trump. Well before the Mueller report’s release, we already had all the information we needed to begin impeachment hearings, just based on what Trump had done in plain sight during two years in office.
It can be easy to be desensitized to big numbers here in D.C., so I want to just take a moment to appreciate how historic this petition delivery is. Ten million signers is more than the entire population of the cities of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston ... combined! Whenever anyone tells you that impeachment is not politically possible, you can tell them that the largest petition in U.S. history, as far as we know, says otherwise!
Every day brings new obstruction and abuse from the Trump administration—as they defy subpoenas, stonewall Congress, and continue to trample on our rights and liberties. The fact that last week was the anniversary of Trump's family separation policy—for which nobody has yet been held accountable—is proof of the high stakes of our fight to confront and stop this administration’s hateful and illegal agenda.
This show of popular sentiment can put wind in the sails of my impeachment investigation resolution, will help more members of Congress of both parties to see that impeachment is critical, and can ensure that nobody—not Trump, not his cronies—is above the law. And just like impeachment, today was a team effort; many allies, including Free Speech for People, Democracy for America, CREDO, By the People, Need to Impeach, and more joined MoveOn members’ voices to reach 10 million, because we’re louder together!
Together, we must make our voices heard. Because doing nothing is dangerous. Trump is blatantly disregarding our Constitution and our ethical norms. By delaying impeachment investigations and falsely claiming that we need more evidence, my colleagues are bolstering Trump’s lies that we have nothing on him. We must hold him accountable, using the only tool that makes sense: impeachment investigations.
Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. This email was sent to Alfred Johnson on May 19, 2019. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
When History
Collides With Cinematic License-The Strange Saga Of “Green Book” (2018)-A Film
Review
DVD Review
By Frank Jackman,
The genesis of this film
review of the Oscar-winning Best Picture Green
Room at this publication is indeed a strange saga. The review was
originally assigned to younger writer Sarah Lemoyne who after viewing it told the
assignment editor that she did not feel that she could do an adequate review
because she was totally clueless about the social and racial reality, North and
South in 1962 the period which anchors the film. She did not know, could not
believe that in those days black people, then called Negroes mostly (or worse “n”
worse in redneck society and not just there) could not find public
accommodation in the South (housing, dining, going to the restroom for
Chrissake). Had to depend on the prior experience Green Book to navigate the Jim Crow South, and not just there when
travelling below the Mason-Dixon line. Sarah although she was aware of the
historic black civil rights movement had no idea that it was a fight for the
ability not only to vote, but to eat (many Woolworth 5&10 sit-ins for
example), sleep (separate but not equal hotels) or piss (very visible signs at
toilets saying where “colored” could do so) wherever you landed in this great
country. Having told her story to the assignment editor he decided that one of
the older writers, me, should do the review to have someone do the piece who at
least have some connection with those uproarious times.
(In Sarah’s defense she
did a recent article on the Frida Kahlo-Toulouse-Lautrec using her art classes background to pick up some
very interesting information about this pair and their troubled relationship
something I don’t know anything about so things have worked out okay in that
regard although I will admit I still wonder how a true Latina beauty life Frida
ever got her claws into the ugly debauched Toulouse, and why.)
Frankly, and this only
adds to the strangeness of the saga around putting this review out, I had my
own personal hard time trying to figure out a “hook” to latch onto here. This
centrally is a story in post-Black Lives Matter terms about “travelling while
black” down in the South in the days when that was at best an iffy proposition
and one had better have an updated copy of the Green Book at the ready. Obviously, any cinematic story, fiction or
as here based on a true story, can be worked any way the director and producers
want to with the story.1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965 were the heart of the black
civil rights movement, the time especially in the North when people started to
hear about alarming stuff going on against black people in the South in their
movement to vote and get rid of Jim Crow which had started to build up steam in
the mid-1950s.
Probably the most
dramatic event that appeared on the black and white television most of us
looked those days was when the cops down in Birmingham, Alabama (a city where
the main characters here finished their trip at before heading North)
fire-hosing and putting the rabid dogs on young black children protesting the
Jim Crow conditions. The film while dealing with some individual manifestations
of what was faced by the lead character Don Shirley as he tried to navigate the
rigid routine racism rules of the South pretty much ignored the social
turbulence that drove him to make his own racial statements. I will give
examples below as I dissect the story line.
Adding to this conundrum
is what had been called elsewhere by other commentators the “white savior” or
buddy aspects of the film. The lowly driver saving the boss’ ass in reverse. Those
points probably would make more sense if I gave a run at the storyline which in
the end as far as worthwhile entertainment went was well worth the couple of
hours of viewing. Tony Lip, not Tony the Lip by the way, is an Italian, well
let’s call him a handyman, in the old days and enforcer, who keeps order when
the crazies get their liquor highs and weed-infested higher up at the Copa,
Copacabana the now long- gone bright light night club in New York City run by
very “connected” guys. Apparently there was no union to force concessions or
concern for employees’ fortunes by management when the joint was closed for
repairs for a couple of months (and it really was a joint with over-the-top
prices for cheapjack liquor, some say watered down to just above apple juice
level and so-so surf and turf entrees featuring music by otherwise unemployable
singers like Bobby Rydell (nee Rizzo, maybe Ratso’s spawn) after he had his moment
of fame on the rock charts when rock and roll was in one of its periods of
decline). See though Tony Lip was from hunger, had a wife a couple of kids to
support and therefore needed some kind of work. A guy in Lip’s line of work
though is pretty limited into what he can take on although the guys in the
neighborhood, the capos as it turned out would have provided him with plenty of
work helping guys sleep with the fishes. (courtesy of some beautiful
Godfather’s okay).
Word gets around though
when you have a guy like Lip who can handle himself and keep standing and so he
gets a referral for a driver’s job, you know, a chauffeur. That may seem
beneath a guy like Lip’s abilities but there was a hitch. Two really, no three.
First the guy he was supposed to drive for, the famous pianist Don Shirley, was
in a memorable term for black people among Italians then although I had heard
the “n” word used more among the Italian guys I knew who hung around Tonio’s
Pizza Parlor in North Adamsville when I was in high school which I will use, an
eggplant. Secondly Lip made it very obvious that he did not like eggplants (a
dramatic scene when a couple of black guys were working in his house and given
water in glasses by his wife caused Lip to seize up and throw the damn things
in the trash barrel). Thirdly, this so-called high-toned piano player planned a
concert tour of the South in 1962 when all hell was breaking out down there
with the explosion of the black civil rights movement to prove, well, to prove
that with a certain personal dignity that he was ready in his private way to
break Jim Crow. (By the way down in deep Jim Crow territory they had only
slightly less love for Italians, Roman Catholic Italians, than eggplants,
blacks so Lip will have to be ready not only to enforce for Din but keep his
own ass dry).
This Don Shirley,
trained in Leningrad by the best they had (now Saint Petersburg so remember we
are also talking about deep in the Cold War) who learned some manners and some,
well, airs too. Don would be what Harold Cruse called using the respectful term
of the time, the “new Negro” or W.E.B. Dubois “the talented tenth” who would
lead the struggle to break Jim Crow and attain some level of racial equality.
The problem, the 1962 problem for Don is that his aloofness from his people
left him with some serious identity problems “solved” by many bottles of Cutty
Sawk. He stated his case pretty well one Lip confrontational night when he in
anguish said he was not black enough, white enough, or man enough (finding out
he was gay via police lock-up gay interlude) for anybody. His alienation hit
home (and also made me mad) when Lip had stopped the car for some reason when
they were in the Deep South and some woe begotten share- croppers were tending
the fields across the way. They and Don might have been on two different planets.
The mad on my part was at the film’s director/producers for it was exactly
people like those sharecroppers, working people in those Birmingham steel mills
and along the waterfronts who were the backbone, the infrastructure of the
movement. Some short-change there.
I mentioned earlier that
there is continuing controversy around the themes of this film, the Lip “white
savior” aspect. No question that the unworldly Don Shirley would have never
gotten out of the South then, Green Book guidance or not, without an enforcer
like Lip. For example, one night Don decided to go for a drink in some redneck
bar in Kentucky and would have been beaten to death without the timely
intervention of Lip. There were many other situations like that as well
especially when Don decided to go cruising for some gay love (and wound up in
the jailhouse). This saving his ass by Lip time after time is the genesis of
the “white savior” criticism.
As is well know there
have been a million versions of the budding buddy story (and in post-Thelma and Louise times on the distaff side
as well.) This pairing is as improbable as it gets as the upscale (hell he has
an apartment over Carnegie Hall) black man meets street smart and street
surviving (as important) Lip. They also may have been on different planets
starting out but through the two months they are together they become, I guess,
friends, although on the historical record and despite captions at the end
stating they were friends until they died there is some question about that.
Sometimes though you can like a film despite sensing something is out of kilter.
That is the case here and although other films were Oscar-worthy this one
doesn’t have anything to apologize for in that regard.
