Category Archives: Social Justice

Sweet Honey in the Rock in NYC on March 5th!

March 3, 2013 susanna Leave a comment

***You can find tour dates and the link to purchase Sweet Honey in the Rock tickets: here.***

We have featured Sweet Honey in the Rock previously for our “Peace Song of the Day” project. Sweet Honey in the Rock is a strong voice for justice, freedom, and peace.

The Grammy award winning female a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock is touring to promote their latest album release Sweet Honey in the Rock: A Tribute-Live! Jazz at Lincoln Center. There are only 5 days that the women of Sweet Honey will be performing these special tribute shows that honor the songs from influential female vocalist such as Odetta, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Bessie Smith, and more! Continue reading Sweet Honey in the Rock in NYC on March 5th! →

antiwar, Holiday, Music, Nonviolence, Occupy Wall Street, Peace, Royal Song of The Day, Social Justice, Video

Imagine an Occupy New Years Eve 2012

December 30, 2012 Augustus Leave a comment

On New Years Eve in Times Square they will probably play John Lennon’s Imagine. It has also resonated with folks from the Occupy Wall Street movement. “Imagine” was one of the tunes sung by the small group of stalwarts who gathered at Liberty Square/Zuccotti Park for Christmas. [See story at DNA Info: here ]

Below the first video are links to lots and lot of videos of Occupiers singing Imagine.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5F5SK63voxE]

If you want to spend New Years Eve with Occupy:

http://www.nycga.net/events/occupy-new-years-eve-smash-the-baricades/

Date/Time: Mon. Dec 31, 2012 until Jan 1 2013, 9:00 PM – 6:00 AM

Location: Liberty Plaza (aka Zuccotti Park), New York, NY

A time to ring in the New Years with family and friends, this event is dedicated to the brave souls who last year took done the barricades in the park and danced in the New Years, come one and all and ring in 2013 in style and meet new friends old friends and map out the coming year. Starts at 9:00pm to 12midnite and beyond. As always no drama, we are one! We will try to have small toy barricades for everyone to have at midnite and smash as a symbol of our right to protest any public space.

Contact: Apollo OWS Special Projects Affinity Group and OWS Outreach Working Group.

Email: owsspawg@Gmail.com or Phone: 917-225-3704 or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/146642922152523/

Continue reading Imagine an Occupy New Years Eve 2012 →

antiwar, Holiday, Music, Occupy Wall Street, Peace, Royal Song of The Day, Shopping, Social Justice, Video

Occupy Holiday Gifts

December 11, 2012 Augustus Leave a comment

It’s the eternal question for a gift-giving activist:

How do I give a good present and at the same time do good?

There is always fair trade, organic, vegan chocolates or non-toxic toys.

This year we added a musical choice. Occupy This Album: a compilation of music by, for and inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99%. Lots of good stuff here. The album artists include: Ani DiFranco, Aeroplane Pageant, Crosby and Nash, Devo, Immortal Technique, Jackson Browne, Joseph Arthur, Lloyd Cole, Loudon Wainwright III, Lucinda Williams, Patti Smith, Stephan Said, Tao Rodriguez Seeger, The Guthrie Family, Third Eye Blind, Thievery Corporation, Tom Morello, Toots And The Maytals, Warren Haynes, Willie Nelson, Yoko Ono, Yo La Tengo & more.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws7zy5y1vN0] Continue reading Occupy Holiday Gifts →

Fashion, Shopping, Social Justice

On Tuesday 11/27/12, Americans should have a day of reflection, in sympathy with clothing factory workers in Bangladesh

November 26, 2012 susanna Leave a comment

Shopping makes us part of a circle with the people who make our goods, and with the system that profits from our money.

In Bangladesh, over 100 factory workers died in an unsafe clothing factory over the weekend. On Monday, there was another apparel factory fire, thankfully, with no deaths.

These factories exist to make the clothes that we purchase here in America. One of the factories made clothes which were ultimately sold to Walmart (through a complicated supply chain)[ADN]. Other factories in Bangladesh make clothing for brands such as Tesco, JC Penney, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Kohl’s and Carrefour [CNN]. Many of these factories have unsafe conditions. We should support reforms for the workers in Bangladesh, and try to purchase clothing that is Fair Trade or union made.

We can also add our concern, thoughts, and prayers to the people of Bangladesh tomorrow, Tuesday, 27th, when there will be a national day of mourning. CNN notes: Continue reading On Tuesday 11/27/12, Americans should have a day of reflection, in sympathy with clothing factory workers in Bangladesh →

Fashion, Holiday, Nonviolence, Occupy Wall Street, Peace, Shopping, Social Justice, Video

Black Friday: Buy Nothing! Demand Peace! Support striking Wal-Mart workers!

November 22, 2012 Augustus Leave a comment

Occupy Long Island: Buy Nothing Day sign — Occupy Black Friday

Black Friday for some people means lining up for bargains at the doors of big corporations. Though, people who want our country to be more sustainable, and less dependent on war money, have often asked people to “Buy Nothing” on the day after Thanksgiving.

This year, there are several ways to celebrate the empowerment that is Buy-Nothing-Day:

-Make sure you do not buy anything on Friday, November 23, 2012

-On all the other shopping days leading to Christmas and Chanukah…shop local, union, Fair Trade, organic, natural, and/or sustainably when possible. [See our Peace Couple website for Kind Shopping ideas.]

-Join Occupy Wall Street in your area, as they protest at Walmart, in support of striking Walmart workers.

An anti-Black Friday shopping video at Youtube: here and below.

An excellent (archival) speech by Reverend Billy about Black Friday, Consumerism, and Buy Nothing Day: here.

An example of a local Occupy Black Friday Demo at Walmart: Continue reading Black Friday: Buy Nothing! Demand Peace! Support striking Wal-Mart workers! →

antiwar, Nonviolence, Peace, Royal Book of the Week, Social Justice

Oliver Stone discusses Pacifist Presidential Candidate Henry Wallace on DN!

November 17, 2012 Augustus Leave a comment

Democracy Now! aired a report on how “Academy Award-winning Oliver Stone has teamed up with historian Peter Kuznick to produce a 10-part Showtime series called “Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States.'” They have also produced a book of the same name.

The series centers on the effect that the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan had on the history of the US. In questioning whether it was necessary to drop the A-bomb, Stone and Kuznick explore the different path the United States almost took if the pacifist Henry Wallace had remained as Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s Vice President and had won 1944 Presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. In the interview, Stone discusses the success of the progressive policies of Wallace as FDR’s Secretary of Agriculture prior to becoming his second Vice President:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO-Y8wNwbuA&t=8m13s] Continue reading Oliver Stone discusses Pacifist Presidential Candidate Henry Wallace on DN! →

antiwar, environment, Nonviolence, Occupy Wall Street, Peace, Social Justice, Uncategorized, Video

Remembering Ward Morehouse 1929-2012

August 8, 2012 Augustus Leave a comment

I have written on this site a great deal about pacifist heroes of the past. Ward Morehouse is a pacifist her owhom I was lucky enough to have worked with.

Even in our corporatized culture, there are still many people to act as guideposts for how to live a life, they are just not publicized. Ward Morehouse is definitely one of those Great people. And I just found out recently that we lost him.

I met Ward in the late 1990’s through The Other Economic Summit North America (TOES). He was the Chair of TOES NA. Before there was Occupy, or even the Battle of Seattle, there was TOES. They would shadow the G8 summit, and put on a conference highlighting a humane vision of the planet’s economy. Ward was so much more than an academic, he was a visionary, leader, teacher, publisher, and activist. The obituary below describes him better than I could.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWdyH4vWVM] Continue reading Remembering Ward Morehouse 1929-2012 →