Another Gem by Our Freind Mr. Billet....

Music They Can't Drive Out
By Alexander Billet


Heading into Humboldt Park last night, it was hard not to notice the specter of gentrification looming over the neighborhood like a bad vibe. Real estate signs can clearly be seen seeping into the edges of this working class, heavily Black and Puerto Rican neighborhood. The only signs more prevalent than these are the ones that proudly protest "Humboldt Park: Not for Sale!"

There is a lot for Humboldt to be proud of. While the diversity of so many neighborhoods has been wiped out by developers and replaced with Starbucks and lily-white, Humboldt has managed to stick by its roots. A massive Puerto Rican flag over Division Street greets you as you pass the park itself. Right down the street is Adalberto Methodist Church, where Elvira Arellano sought refuge from immigration officials as she fought her deportation. Working class artists and musicians, bohemians and activists have all found a niche in this area of town.

The reason I came into Humboldt was to attend a fundraiser at a local community center, El Batey Urbano. My friend Son of Nun was in town, and was guesting at this fundraiser with two groups from the east coast that I had never encountered. I say now that I am very glad I went.

The two groups SON was performing with were Broadcast Live, and Taina Asili y la Banda Rebelde. Both are radical, musically eclectic, and brought an energy to that small community space that lit up the place! Those who doubt the power of music to inspire and organize would do well to hear the work of these two groups.

Broadcast Live's sound is rather hard to pin down, but that's only because it takes the best of so many different styles and make them all their own. Lyricist Victorio spits with confidence and utter devotion as the rest of the group delivers a hard-edged blend of hip-hop driven indie rock. Much more than sheer power, though, the group often takes a step back to settle into a slow, simple-yet-intricate soundscape and contemplate on the inner struggle of living in a world that clearly doesn't want you to exist. In Humboldt, this resonates. By the time they launch into "Boomerang Metropolis," the audience is on their feet, and there isn't a soul in the place who doesn't identify with the refrain of "motherfucker, get off my block!"

If Broadcast Live were a tidal wave of resistance, then Taina Asili y la Banda Rebelde were a hurricane, swirling and weaving rather than blasting open, while not losing one bit of resolve or strength. Like Broadcast Live, their sound is hard to pin, drawing on jazz, reggae, hip-hop, and the incendiary energy of Nuevo Cancion and throwing them into a solid folk-rock. Though the group as a unit wouldn't work if any one member were missing, front-woman Asili is undoubtedly the focus, bringing a proud defiance to her work. Equal parts Lauryn Hill, Ani DiFranco and Lila Downs, the group's songs embodied the kind of power that only ordinary people have when they are able to raise their voices.

If Mayor Daley walked into El Batey last night, he would have had no clue what was going on.

Though the crowd was small last night, it was still undeniable that we were watching artistic power from the bottom up. This is the kind of vibrance and solidarity that all-too-many city councils have forgotten about (if they ever recognized it in the first place). More people need to hear these kinds of groups, if only so they can remind us what we're fighting for.

Alexander Biller is a music journalist, writer and activist living in Chicago. Regular contributor to Znet, Dissident Voice and SleptOn.com. Appears in the recently published "At Issue: Should Music Lyrics Be Censored For Violence and Exploitation," from Greenhaven Press. Check out his blog Rebel Frequencies

Dave Zirin on MSNBC's Morning Joe!!

Pardon the nepotism...My friend and fellow activist from my Washington DC days appeared on MSNBC. Dave Z is the author of the books A People's History of Sports, Welcome to the Terrordome, and What's My Name Fool. He also writes for The Nation and The Edge of Sports. In this interview, he is talking about the recession's effects on the sports industry. For you sports fans, this is a must watch.....

Jessica Valenti to Interview Marilyn French

From Feministing.com.........

Hey NYC folks! I'm going to be interviewing Marilyn French tomorrow at the Tenement Museum about her new book. Info is below; hope to see you there!

Tenement Talks presents...
Wednesday, November 19 at 6:30 PMFrom Eve to Dawn: A History of Women in the WorldA Conversation with Marilyn French and Jessica Valenti

Tenement Museum
Shop108 Orchard Street (Delancey)
221-982-8420;
events@tenement.org
Free - seating is first come, first serve

Fabulously Feminist News

The Dangerous Masquerade of “Crisis Pregnancy Centers”

These fake medical centers try to fool college students in order to spread an anti-abortion message.

A new study just released by the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) reveals nearly half of college health centers refer students seeking reproductive health care to so-called "crisis pregnancy" or "pregnancy resource" centers. These centers pose as comprehensive health clinics, luring women in with promises of "free" pregnancy tests and "options" counseling for unintended pregnancies.

In reality, many of these centers attempt to coerce and intimidate women out of considering abortion as an option, and prevent women from receiving neutral and comprehensive medical advice. They are typically run by anti-abortion volunteers who are not licensed medical professionals. Crisis pregnancy centers also often spread false information, such as the disproved and discredited claims that abortions increase the risk of breast cancer and frequently cause mental trauma.

Of the 398 campus health centers at four-year colleges that responded to FMF's national survey – accounting for 34 percent of the total student population in the country attending four-year schools – 48 percent routinely refer women who might be pregnant to crisis pregnancy centers. "So-called crisis pregnancy centers are targeting young women by advertising in student newspapers and on billboards located on and near campuses. And most recently, these centers have started advertising on social networking sites popular with college students," says FMF's Nikki Border. "They urge campus health centers to include crisis pregnancy centers in student referral lists.""

Any attempt to delay care and try and scare a woman into keeping an unwanted pregnancy only serves to put her at higher risk—especially if she has an ectopic pregnancy," says Beth Jordan, M.D., a women's health specialist and medical director of the FMF.

The Feminist Majority Foundation's CHOICES Program helps student reproductive health activists launch campaigns on their campuses to warn students about these fake clinics.


kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk


ACLU Questions Segregation in Mobile, Alabama School

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Alabama sent a letter last week to the Mobile County School System, the largest school system in Alabama, warning that mandatory sex segregation policies are illegal. Hankins Middle School, one of the system's schools, was segregated by sex for the 2008-2009 school year and currently has no co-educational options. This move was allegedly made without notifying students’ parents and goes so far as to prohibit students from interacting socially with those of another sex, according to the ACLU.

The letter (see PDF) states that the segregation reported to the ACLU by parents of students at Hankins Middle School "appears to violate Title IX and its implementing regulations, the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA), and the Constitution."

According to Allison Neal, ACLU Alabama staff attorney, "mandatory sex segregation in public schools is not only clearly against the law, it's also an empty promise for failing schools…Inevitably these experimental programs deny equal opportunity to girls and boys and distract much needed time and money from efforts that we know work like smaller classes, highly trained teachers, sufficient funding and involved parents."


kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk


Professional Japanese Baseball League Drafts First Woman Player

Sixteen-year-old pitcher Eri Yoshida became the first woman to be drafted by a professional Japanese baseball league this week. Negotiations are still being made, but Yoshida could become the first woman to share the field with professional male players, breaking a huge barrier for female athletes.

According to Fox News, Yoshida, who began playing baseball in second grade, said in a news conference, "I want to pitch against men." Known for her knuckleball, Yoshida pitched to eight batters in her November tryouts without giving up one hit.

It was only about 10 years ago that Japanese women were allowed to join little league teams other than softball. Yoshida's recruitment has been met with skepticism, but opens a new door for aspiring women professional athletes.




Brought to you by:

The Art of Struggle Tour Coming to Chicago!!

Free. Will. Power.

On November 13, NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation announced that it is launching free.will.power, an innovative video-based online initiative designed to reach younger activists and recruit a new generation of young women and men into the pro-choice movement.

The web site, http://www.myfreewillpower.com/, will feature videos as well as other technology-based interactive ways for new activists to get involved with NARAL Pro-Choice America's work, whether it's taking action on a choice-related issue, forwarding videos to friends, joining our social-networking groups, or participating in contests to promote the pro-choice message.

"In the 2008 presidential election, we witnessed how the power of technology and the enthusiasm of young voters revolutionized the political process," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation. "This generation of youth is the most diverse and engaged generation in our country's history. free.will.power represents one way to engage this new generation of activists and connect them with the pro-choice cause."

NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation enlisted the creative minds of three young spoken-word artists – Shira Erlichman, Alvin Lau, and Deja Taylor – as well as renowned musician, DJ Spooky, to produce three online viral videos that feature compelling words, visuals, and sound.

The free.will.power initiative represents NARAL Pro-Choice America's ongoing efforts to incorporate technology into its work. Other programs include BlogforChoice, Twitter, MySpace, Txt4Choice, and Facebook – all online tools and communities activated to engage and support pro-choice activists and causes.

Getting the Digs in While I Still Can......

White Privilege

By Fabulously Feminist


While reading bell hooks’ “Black and Female: Reflections on Graduate School”, I discovered that I needed to add another bullet point to my list of what white privilege has afforded me. More specifically, reading hooks’ narrative made me aware that I am a benefactor of institutional bias found in academia. Upon reflecting on my undergraduate experience and contrasting it with the experiences bell hooks laid out in her narrative, I was made conscious of hardships that I did not have to endure because I was white. The following response paper provides a brief account of the painful self-discoveries I made.

To begin, many colleges and universities boast about the racial diversity of their student body and my alma mater Marquette University was no exception. However, in reality, there was little racial diversity. Walking to and from classes the quad was a sea of white and it didn’t get any more diverse in my Writing Intensive English and Women’s Studies programs. At the time I did take notice of this but, looking back on it, I was viewing it through a white lens and didn’t really conceptualize that the experiences of minorities at Marquette might be profoundly different from mine. It wasn’t until I read and reflected on “Black and Female: Reflections on Graduate School”, that I fully began to grasp this. For example, on campus and within my majors I could easily find a peer or peer group similar to my background—white, female, working class. In addition to this, hooks points out that African American students have the added anxiety that their “performance will have future implications for all black students”. My performance did not have future implications for all white students. This is what my white privilege has afforded me.



Another revelation of the reflection on my undergraduate experiences revolves around faculty. In her narrative hooks recalls “that in all my years of studying in English departments, I had never been taught by a black woman”. Unfortunately, this is my experience as well. I am sad to say that I never truly recognized that I never had any African American women professors until reading hooks’ piece. In fact, throughout my undergraduate career I only had one African American professor. This professor was a man and the only course he taught at Marquette was African American Philosophy. Again in this case, my perspective was seen through the white lens. I was excited that I had access to women professors to whom I identified with and that said professors became mentors to me. I didn’t even think that some of my fellow students would not have access to professors that they identified with or that they might have missed out on a supportive mentor experience due to lack of diversity among the faculty. This is what my white privilege has afforded me.



Lastly, and perhaps most difficult to write about, I have never had to deal with racism explicitly or implicitly from a professor. I was appalled when I read bell hooks’ account of her professors’ indirect racism. In my undergraduate years no professor ever “forgot” to call my name when taking roll, never avoided looking at me, never pretended to not hear me speak, and never demoralized me so badly that I had to take a break from school. These are the things I took for granted. This is what my white privilege has afforded me.

To close, before I began this reflection of the white privilege I experienced during my undergraduate years, I was fully aware of the fact that Marquette University, similar to other universities, had an institutional bias towards women. However, in wasn’t until delving into my current graduate coursework at Roosevelt University that I began to broaden my perspective and subsequently became fully conscious of the institutional bias in academia towards minorities. I now know that I was seeing gender and race through the normative white lens and this response paper, though it has been painful and made me feel ignorant, has been an essential in raising my awareness of the fact. Exercises like this and the discoveries and awareness’s that arise as a result, are exactly the reason in why I am pursuing a MA in Women’s and Gender Studies.