Undercurrents

Brother, Why Can’t You Spare Me These Raids?

jerimarie liesegang — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:51:46 +0000

The following is a take off on Yip Harburg’s Brother, Can You Spare A Dime. However, it is been adapted to reflect today’s current situation of those who helped “build a nation” and now being pushed cast aside as criminals.

They used to tell me they were traveling to the land of freedom, and so I migrated with the others.
When there were vegetables to be picked, Or when there were loved ones to be cared for,
When there were homes and offices to be tended, Or when there was construction to be done,
I was always there, day and night, sad or happy, right there on the job.

They used to tell me I was traveling to the land of freedom, with happiness and security ahead.
So why should I be standing in shackles, denied basic human rights, waiting for injustice?

They used to tell me I was traveling to the land of freedom, with happiness and security ahead.
So please tell me what I did wrong, why I am being called a criminal,
So please tell me what I did wrong, for simply working for a better life for my loved ones and myself?

Once I helped feed a nation, I toiled long backbreaking hours with little to show,
Once I helped build a nation, I cleaned your offices and I tended your lawns with little to show,
Once I helped build a nation, and now I am in jail, told I was a criminal when just hours before I helped build a nation,
Brother, Why Can’t You Spare Me These Raids?

Once I built a road, so that many loved ones could shop, could visit and could earn a living,
Once I built a road, and now that is done, and now I am in shackles in ICE detention,
While my loved ones ask of where I went, and what did I do wrong in help building a road?
Once I helped build a nation’s infrastructure, and now I am in ICE detention, told I was a criminal when just hours before I helped build a nation,
Brother, Why Can’t You Spare Me These Raids?

Once in our festive best, gee we looked swell, full of that Melting Pot Dream,
We are laborers, we are custodians, we are farmers, we are caregivers, and we are many,
Half a million migrants who went toiling in factories, in farms, in offices, in sweatshops, and through Hell,
And yet we made time to celebrate life, celebrate family, celebrate freedom, and I was the kid with the smile!

Say, why don’t you remember me; I have taken care of your families, I have fed your loved ones,
Say, why don’t you remember me, for you knew I had toiled to be free like your ancestors,
Say, Why don’t you remember, why do you arrest me, I’m no different than your ancestors,
They were called by many different names, in many different languages,
They were allowed the American Dream, yet you say there is no room for me now that my work is done,
Brother, Why Can’t You Spare Me These Raids?

Say, why don’t you remember me; is it because my skin is not white like your ancestors?
Say, why don’t you remember me; is it because I crossed land and not an ocean like your ancestors?
Say, why don’t you remember me; is it because I am poor and speak a different language?
Say, why don’t you remember me; is it because you have achieved the dream and now no one else can?
Say, why don’t you remember me; is it because you have so quickly forgot the struggles your ancestors shared like me?
Say, why don’t you remember me; is it because you have so quickly forgot the true meaning of humanity?
Brother, Please Why Can’t You Spare Me These Raids?

Say, haven’t you read what your famed Statue of Liberty proclaims:

cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Say, are these famous words only for you and your ancestors and not for me?
Brother, Please Why Can’t You Spare Me These Raids?
Brother, Please Why Can’t You Spare Me These Raids?

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In CT Why Waste Your Vote on Obama

kevin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:01:49 +0000

Voting is on the mind of the general public these days, obviously. Some people are wrestling with who to vote for, while others wonder if voting really matters at all. Both are legitimate perspectives. It’s your democratic right to vote or not vote, despite what frightened liberals have been saying. Voting is not the entirety of democracy. It does, however, dominate our perception of democracy every election cycle. In Connecticut, voters are privileged by our “blue state” status. Therefore, progressive and independent voters should make the most of it.

Click here for the whole commentary on the NEW and improved HIMC website!

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Victory

Dave — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:03:41 +0000

What does victory feel like? What does it look like? How is it measured? Can you taste and smell victory? Americans talk constantly about winning and the words we use contain phrases and words that reference sports and competitive activities. Our words betray us as a flat two dimensional culture that regards winning as the highest aspiration we desire. We show the world a fist pumping thumbs up gesture as the epitome of American worth. This more than any other attribute is what the world see us as. We need to be number one or we feel worthless and defeated. George Bush and his paper cut out minions started two wars based on lies because they envisioned an easy victory. Shielded by the bravery of being out of range they devastated a people and ancient civilized culture all for the glory of victory.
John McCain is blinded by the same juvenile fantasies that he was raised with. He wants to win so badly that he deceives his own spirit. The Surge in Iraq has nothing to do with the drop in violence. What has occurred is the same result from a strategy we employed in Viet Nam. The war in Viet Nam by 1969 was a morass of combat, murder, drug addiction and corruption. We were not winning, we were staying alive for each other. We employed a program called the Cheui Hoi. It was simply a pay off to any enemy combatant who switched sides. We established Kit Carson scouts who worked out with American units. They were paid salaries to lead us to the enemy caches and avoid ambushes. We did not know if we could truly trust someone who had been killing us. Some were double agents.
The Sunni Awakening in Iraq is the same strategy. We are now paying the men who killed us a monthly salary to not kill us. We are paying Moqtada’s Shiite army to lay low. The American tax payer is funding not only it’s own military, but also the mercenary contractors like Blackwater and the Iraqui insurgents. Can we buy victory? Gen. Petraeus and the glory hounds are blinded by the arrogance of American technical superiority. They kill from afar and dismiss the deaths of women and children as “collateral damage”. There is no honor in this and no courage is displayed by men who shy away from the battlefield. John McCain is safe in the rear with the gear now and finds it easy to send mine and his own children into the fire for some false sense of victory. I guess it is harder to stay home and raise your children, fund your schools and libraries properly and teach your children how to be responsible adults. It is easier to pull the trigger than it is to play the guitar or read to your kids.
Dave Ionno
Veteran for peace

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The Clown Cabaret Teaser

kevin — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:22:24 +0000

Check out this montage of Hartbeat Ensemble’s scathing new satire about the so-called war on poverty, “Rich Clown, Poor Clown, Beggar Clown, Thief.” Plays this weekend and next at 233 Pearl St. in Hartford.

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Most offensive headline of 2008

Peter G — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:04:49 +0000

Over the years I have heard my share of complaints about the rhetoric that leftists use in newspapers and flyers. When Workers World produced podcasts from its recent public forum titled “Karl Marx was right: capitalism is rotten and doomed” it did occur to me that some people would think it sounded over the top. Not that I think it’s an untrue statement, but I know that some people bristle when leftists actually use words like “capitalism” or refer to Karl Marx being right about just about anything.

But I feel much better today because I saw some headlines in the mainstream media that were far more jarring than anything I’ve seen in the socialist press.

I count this as the most offensive headline of 2008:

“Nation’s Rich Fielding Brunt of Crisis”

[Continued at Two Good Hands]

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Spotlight On Anarchism

dave r — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:07:32 +0000

Free all-day gathering for activists and the curious!

Saturday, November 8^th 12pm-11pm
Co-Sponsored by the Area Radical Reading Group of Hartford, Hartford Food Not Bombs, and the Hog River @ Collective, this all day event features panels on diverse topics such as feminism, anti-racism, anti-capitalism, radical queer politics, and domination of all kinds and their relationship with contemporary anarchist practice. We still see mostly misinformation and distortion as norms when people talk about anarchism or anarchist-inspired projects. This event seeks to dispel some of these myths, as well as build bridges between activists throughout the region by engaging in dialogue about this diverse movement—and, perhaps more importantly, what anarchism can offer other activist perspectives towards the creation of a free and egalitarian world. Thus, this event is not just about anarchism, but centered on strategies to create justice and resist structured inequality.

Activist groups throughout New England will be tabling and holding panel discussions throughout the day. This will be followed by a free community dinner provided by Food Not Bombs (from 7-8). Finally, we will finish the event off with music by local groups dedicated to social justice.

For more information please see www.myspace.com/spotlightonanarchism, call 860.978.3562 or email hartfordfnb@gmail.com.

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Visit the Poverty Cabaret

Undercurrents — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:16:55 +0000

Check out Hartbeat Ensemble’s new play, “Rich Clown, Poor Clown, Beggar Clown, Thief” Thursdays through Saturdays until Nov. 1 at their new performance space in the Pearl Street Arts Center, 233 Pearl St., Hartford. Enjoy slapstick song and dance while swiggin’ on a little somethin’ somethin’ from the cash bar. And don’t miss cameo appearances by the last eight U.S. Presidents.

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Capitalism and Stock Market Socialism

Peter G — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:29:15 +0000

One interesting feature of the public discussion of the economic crisis: before October 2008 when was the last time that you heard the corporate news media, or for that matter any mainstream U.S. politician, use the word “capitalism” much less attempt to explain what it means. Like a fraternity of magicians, those whose livelihoods depend on its secrets seemed always to want to keep the public in the dark. And perhaps never naming the thing also contributed to the sense of its universality. [Continued at Two Good Hands] »

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CT Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Same Sex Marriage

Meghan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:46:31 +0000

Today at 11:30 the CT Supreme Court ruled IN FAVOR of same sex marriage - 4 in favor, 3 against. Read the official ruling here. (Under Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health)

There will be a RALLY celebrating this victory at 5:30 PM on the north steps of the Capitol (facing Bushnell Park). Click here for info on the rally, from Love Makes a Family.

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McCain Criticizes Fellow Vietnam War Bomber

Jim — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:47:59 +0000

Check out the second letter and see if it doesn’t ring true.

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Strategy and the immigrant rights movement in Connecticut

Peter G — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:30:00 +0000

At least from where I sit, it appears that much of the work being done in the immigrant rights movement — and certainly the work we are doing here in Connecticut — is reactive. Whether it’s a one-shot deal like a demonstration responding to an ICE raid or a longer campaign such as the fight for a pro-immigrant ordinance in Hartford, there has been precious little discussion in movement circles about strategy.

That’s why the recent release of a large number of documents by DHS/ICE in response to a FOIA request by community groups in New Haven deserves much attention. Thanks to the efforts of Junta and Unidad Latinas en Accion and their attorneys from Yale, documents have been obtained showing the discussions in the Department of Homeland Security and with the federal prosecutors office regarding New Haven’s passage of the Elm City ID ordinance and the ICE raid that followed almost immediately after.

[more at Two Good Hands]

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Auto industry also gets bailout . . . but working people wait

Peter G — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:27:21 +0000

If you haven’t said it yourself, chances are a family member or friend has: “When are they going to come and bail me out?” Mostly we’ve been thinking about the proposed $700 billion buyout for the financial industry (yes, when it started out it was a buyout for the American mortgage industry but now apparently it includes just about any big corporation, anywhere in the world, whose CEO ever had lunch on Wall Street). But when the capitalist politicians explain to you in their oh-so-patient way that the bailout is really a unique event to deal with a specific problem and that therefore you don’t get any of it, remind them about the $25 billion U.S. automaker bailout that the congress just voted on and that Bush signed into law. [continued at Two Good Hands]

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Hands Off Our Constitution Rally, Sunday Sept 28

jerimarie liesegang — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:28:05 +0000

**HANDS OFF OUR CONSTITUTION**

Rally Sept 28th at State Capitol
Vote NO! to Constitutional Convention on Nov 4th

Special Interest Groups are rallying for a Vote YES to Constitutional Convention in order to bring Ballot Initiatives to Connecticut. They tell us Ballot Initiatives will promote direct democracy and “neutralize the power of special interests.” In fact the opposite will happen. Ballot Initiatives will create Open Season on the Rights of Women, African-Americans, Latinos, Immigrants, Transgender, Gender Non-conforming, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual people. Slick media campaigns with Hidden Agendas will attempt to Manipulate Public Opinion and dictate what Civil Rights you will keep and LOSE. Don’t be Conned by the Con Con!

Join the many grass roots organizations that are raising their voices to these Special Interest Groups and SAY:

Hands Off Our Constitution!

Vote NO on the Constitutional Convention

Rally at the State Capitol

South Side Overlooking Capitol Avenue

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Gather: 1:30 PM

Kicks off: 2:00 PM

(allow 30 minutes to park and walk to the Capitol as there are 2 other events in the area.)

Connecticut Civil Rights Defense Coalition currently comprises the following organizations:
A Better Way Foundation, American Friends Service Committee CT, A.N.S.W.E.R CT, Bright Star Vision, Clean Slate Committee, Connecticut Coalition for Peace & Justice, Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition, International Socialist Organization New Haven, Metropolitan Community Church Hartford, NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut , National Lawyers Guild - CT Chapter, Network of Spiritual Progressives (CT), People of Faith CT, Queers Without Borders, The Socialist Party Central/Eastern CT Local, West Hartford Citizens for Peace & Justice

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