Democracy Now Summary

Evelyn Espinoza

January 31, 2014

Soc 122

Week 1 Discussion:

The video “We will not break the Law to Enforce the Law” dealt with the issue on racial profiling in New York. New York City’s Mayor addressed the new direction New York will take and how he plans to reform the stop and frisk law. He acknowledges that the use of stop and frisk has unfairly targeted African American and Hispanic males. The stop and frisk program was found unconstitutional. New York police officers would routinely stop individuals by racial profiling which lead to a lawsuit against the city of New York. Clearly the rights of the New Yorker’s were clearly being dismissed because of the neighborhoods they lived in and the color of their skin. I was disturbed when he attempted to justify the program that was strategized to keep the streets safe and gave statistics on how crime has gone down. It is sad that the program was placed into effect in the first place and had to reach this extent to actually be removed because people should not be in fear of intrusion because of their race. The other video I viewed was about Egypt and recent killings that have occurred in the aftermath of revolution. Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and state forces along with military government were involved in the fight that resulted in deaths. There is uproar over whether Mohamed Morsi will run in the presidential campaign. If he does run there is no doubt he will win because there is no other candidate that stands a chance against him. Egypt faces social and economic problems for the last three years since the revolution began in which they ousted Hosni Mubarak. “Tahrir became the epicenter of dissent in Egypt. Three years later, it had been turned into a festival of chauvinistic nationalism and military worship.” This is a dark time for the revolutionist and activists because of the struggle that they have endured for three years and they have yet to see any positive gain.

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/31/we_will_not_break_the_law?autostart=true

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/30/sharif_abdel_kouddous_3_years_after

 

Meeting "rules"

The following is from the Highlander Folk School, where generations of activists have gone to improve their organizing skills. There  MLK learned the song "we shall overcome" and he and Rosa Parks learned organizing techniques.  We will follow these same rules during our class discussions:

· share stories of oppression and struggle from their communities, identifying common concerns across boundaries of race, class, language, gender, sexual orientation, and geography;

·  explore and validate their experiences by sharing them with others, building the trust and self-confidence needed to challenge injustice;

·  reconnect with the history of people’s struggles against oppression, finding inspiration in the example of these struggles and learning from them how to fight injustice and win;

·  share ideas and strategies for change, learning from each other to strengthen and enhance their own efforts;
discover new allies and new ways to join forces to achieve their common goals;

·  create a culture of justice that can inspire their ongoing work in their own organizations and communities; and

·  construct a common vision of a world marked by justice and fairness for all that can provide the inspiration for a broad movement for social and economic change. - See more at: http://highlandercenter.org/resources/facilities/workshop-center/#sthash.F5MMonoh.dpuf

Links: protest songs

Civil Rights/Labor/Environment
Excellent Pete Seeger documentary --

NPR
PBS
NPR
About

Freedom Summer

Joseph Abdul

1/30/2014

Democracy Now: Freedom Summer

            The director of Freedom Summer, Stanley Nelson emphasized the role FS workers played in the 1964 elections in Mississippi. Bob Moses was the main activist of the event. He started looking into the issue of African American voting in 1961. Soon enough, he gathered about 1000 white supporters and went to the major towns of Mississippi to protest peacefully. Violence and chaos had erupted. Three of the activists, one of whom was white, were killed after a bombing. In one of the funerals, an activist named Dave Dennis gave an impressive speech that touched peoples’ emotions significantly. This applies to the material we are learning in the classroom. The tactic of powerful speeches is very effective when it comes to drawing the public’s attention to a particular issue. Fannie Lou Hamer, another activist, spoke in Atlantic City at the democratic delegation criticizing the fact that there were no Black representatives on the delegation because Whites did not allow it.

Contributing to 50% of the state’s population, African American votes would make a significant impact on the election. Freedom Summer workers formed safe booths for African Americans to vote safely. The movement would prove to the white population that the black community is interested in voting. It was usually said that Black people did not want to vote.

Less than 50 years ago, certain people were facing tremendous amounts of hardships to be able to vote. Today, everybody can vote safely, yet many don’t take advantage of their right to vote. The Director of the movie hopes that his production would inspire the younger generation to take their role in voting.

Link to video:

http://www.youtube.com/watc    

Democracy Now Summaries

   The first video I watched covered the issue of voting rights, lawmaking and how racism along with wealthy right wing donors are controlling and changing the system to favor their party. Moyer did a study of N. Carolina, having history there but because the state was in an interesting state of being neither really blue or red but "purple". But this issue spread beyond N. Carolina to many state around the country. The video even had a GOP during an interview, come straight out and claim that they were targeting the Democratic voting citizens, and consequently those of color. Though once in a great while you will get someone to open their mouths, but as Moyer stated, many of these schemes go unvoiced and over looked. It is politics like this that is just really tearing this country apart. The second video I watched was related to the first video, in that Republicans are using "Dog Whistle" politics to draw white voters over to their side. Ultimately it is coded with racism and fear, used in order to get bills they want passed that help corporations in the end and the wealthy. Lopez claims this is wrecking the middle class and voter view points. In the end these type of tactics and politics are crushing the people that really need the help, especially during economic down turns. This in turn allows the rich to get richer, while the poor get poorer and leaving the middle class the struggle barely treading above the water. Now Republicans are pushing for states to control "poverty help" programs, which they want theoretically so they can try alter even more who and who does not get more help. This type of control and racism from both these videos are not new to politics, but they have and are changing forms less recognizable and secretive to the general public knowledge.