By Mark | November 28, 2012 Last night, I had the occasion to speak with world-renowned hip-hop provocateur Boots Riley on a wide range of subjects spanning from his childhood in Detroit, spent in a household of Communist organizers, to his current work, organizing people in his neighborhood as a member Occupy Oakland. And, of course, we touched on his equally [...]
Posted in Art and Culture, Civil Liberties, Corporate Crime, Detroit, Economics, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged 21 Grams, 9/11, advertising, Alex Rivera, American Splendor, anti-capitalist, at-risk youth, Barbara Ransby, Bill Maher, Boots Riley, California, Capitalism, civil rights, class, College of Ethnic Studies, Communism, Congress of Racial Equality, CORE, Danny Goldberg, dark comedy, fast food workers union, Five Million Ways to Kill a CEO, foreclosure defense, fundraisers, Greensboro, guillotine building workshop, Happiness, hip hop, ILWU, independent film, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, interviews, Japanther, Jeff Clark, K-Mart, Kev Choice, KKK, Ku Klux Klan, La Peña Cultural Center, labor history, labor movement, Led Zeppelin, Levi's, longshoremen, lunch counter sit-ins, Magic Clap, Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night, militancy, NAACP, Nirvana, North Carolina, Oakland, Occupy Oakland, Occupy Sandy, Ohio Players, Oscar Grant, Ozone House, picket lines, police brutality, political hip hop, political organizing, Politically Incorrect, Port of Oakland, Progressive Labor Party, Prop 21, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, rap, revolution, rhetoric of violent revolution, San Francisco, San Francisco State, San Francisco State strike, scabs, SDS, sit-down strikes, Sleep Dealer, social justice, Sorry to Bother You, Street Sweeper Social Club, Students for a Democratic Society, sympathy strikes, Taft–Hartley Act, Ted Hope, The Coup, The Guillotine, The Ice Storm, threat of violence, unions, United Steelworkers, USW, Walmart, Walter Riley, Washtenaw Eviction and Foreclosure Defense, we need a revolution, WEFD, Woodruff's, work stoppage, World Trade Center | Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan made headlines a week or so ago with his budget proposal. People in the press, as I recall, seemed impressed. They used words like, “bold” and “serious,” and praised him for making difficult decisions in order to address the nation’s spiraling budget deficit. Once people really started digging into it, though, [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 2012 federal budget, budget, budget deficit, marginal tax rate, Medicare, Path to Prosperity, Paul Ryan, the growing gap between rich and poor, town hall, wealth inequality, Wisconsin | As I mentioned yesterday, several hundred people are planning to gather on the Diag tomorrow at 1:00 to voice their disapproval over Governor Rick Snyder being named U-M’s Spring commencement speaker. While it promises to be an exciting event, it now looks as though the real action tomorrow is going to be in Lansing, where [...]
Posted in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Politics | Also tagged call to action, collective bargaining, commencement, Emergency Financial Manager’s Act, Lansing, Michael Moore, protests, Rick Snyder, shared sacrifice, tax breaks, tax the rich, union busting, University of Michigan | Say what you will about Michael Moore, he made a hell of a lot of sense in Madison yesterday. Here’s a quote: “America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It’s just that it’s not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist [...]
Posted in Corporate Crime, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged America is not broke, class warfare, Madison, Michael Moore, palm trees, Scott Walker, the growing gap between rich and poor, union busting, Wall Street bailouts, Wisconsin, workers rights | By Mark | January 17, 2011 It’s not very often that I wish I had a television, but, judging from this opening monologue, I really wish I’d been able to see the whole show. He just eviscerated people… As I don’t suspect he’ll ever be asked to host another award show, this might be your last chance to see him in [...]
