September 2015 – Page 2

September 25, 2015

38 Studios documents release: Murphy’s deposition

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The release of the 38 Studios documents by Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein have turned out to be a cache of revelations, flipping upside down the timeline of events and showing a level of involvement by various parties not previously considered. From the mundane (Lincoln Chafee, at the time of his deposition still Governor, refers to then-Treasurer Raimondo as ‘Ms. Wall Street’) to the massive (Michael Corso, William Murphy, and Gordon Fox were all invited to the famous fundraiser where then-Governor Donald Carcieri and Curt Schilling began discussions about moving the video game firm), this is going to be a story that rocks Rhode Island politics for a long time. As we sort through the material, RIFuture will continue to update you with our findings.

Q. And would you consider it to have been, and if you can’t answer this question, it’s not the greatest question, but would you consider it to have been, the crisis, to be on the same level as the DEPCO crisis?
A. Well, I don’t know if you can make the comparison because DEPCO had to do with the Rhode Island banks, where the closing of the institutions by Governor Sundlun affected many people individually. This crisis was people were out of work, which would impact a family directly. So I mean, you know, at different periods of time, it seems like every 10 years, you know, there’s a problem.
Q. Sure. If you were to compare the problem, let’s call it, of 38 Studios, with the, what we know now is a bad $75 million loan, if you were to compare that to in terms of negative effect to the State of Rhode Island as compared to the DEPCO crisis, are they in any way comparable? –Deposition of former Speaker William Murphy

Former Speaker Murphy’s deposition is a case study of a witness hedging his bets. Almost every single answer is couched in a variation of the qualifier ‘to the best of my knowledge’. It is clear in reading his testimony that he is playing a careful game and wants to be certain that he does not create an opening for any future litigation. To illustrate this point, one must only look to page 7, when asked about the date of his last day as Speaker, he replies “To the best of my knowledge, February 11, 2010”!

He also is careful in how he is answering questions about Gordon Fox, who was his client on August 24, 2014, the date of his deposition. A great deal of information about Fox is claimed privileged under the attorney-client relationship and a good deal more by his qualifying statements. His testimony about the infamous March 6, 2010 fundraiser is revealing in its lack of disclosure, never mentioning Fox or Corso.

-Were you present at that party?
-At the World War II fundraiser for the Band of Brothers, yes, I did go to Mr. Schilling’s house with my wife.
-And did you see Mr. Schilling that day?
-I did.
-And did you speak with Mr. Schilling that day?
-Hi, how are you, thanks for inviting us.
-Did you have any conversation with him about 38 Studios that day?
-No.
-Did you see the Governor at that gathering?
-Yes, I did.
-Did you speak with the Governor at that gathering?
-Yes.
-Did your conversation include any discussions about 38 Studios?
-No.
-Were you present when the Governor had any conversations with Mr. Schilling at that gathering?
-To the best of my knowledge, no, other than seeing the Governor there.
-Do you have any knowledge of whether Mr. Schilling and Governor Carcieri spoke about 38 Studios at that gathering?
-I do not.

Murphy also does not mention Nicholas Mattiello, his protege and friend, who is now Speaker of the House.

The deposition includes two points that are worth noting. First, Murphy was asked by Schilling to introduce him to the Massachusetts Speaker:

-I did arrange a, if you want to call it a meet and greet or an introduction with Curt Shilling with the Massachusetts Speaker at the time.
-And who approached you to arrange that?
-To the best of my recollection that would have been Thomas Zaccagnino and maybe Mr. Schilling.
-And why couldn’t Curt Shilling in that he has a very strong reputation in Boston as a pitcher involved in the first World Series with the bloody sock, et cetera, why couldn’t he make his own introduction? Why did he need to come to you?
-That’s a better question for Mr. Schilling.

Then comes talk of Murphy’s tour of the Massachusetts 38 Studios offices. This moment is key. For years, it was thought that the first time someone who worked with 38 Studios met with a Rhode Island official was the March fundraiser, but this summer it was a big news disclosure to learn Murphy had been to the offices prior to that date.

I was asked at some point if I wanted to, you know, come and tour the facility. And I have to say back in the fall of 2009, I’ve been a Red Sox fan all my life. Mr. Schilling was a Red Sox nation hero. And the opportunity to see a mill development that was, you know, put back on the tax rolls, like we had historic credits here in Rhode Island where mills were put back on, created apartments, businesses, et cetera, I thought it would be a good thing to see, and at one point in the fall of 2009 I took a tour of 38 Studios.

September 25, 2015September 26, 2015

Why David Carlin denies existence of white privilege

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“…Our white countrymen do not know us. They are strangers to our character, ignorant of our capacity, oblivious to our history and progress, and are misinformed as to the principles and ideas that control and guide us, as a people. The great mass of American citizens estimates us as being a characterless and purposeless people; and hence we hold up our heads, if at all, against the withering influence of a nation’s scorn and contempt.”
— Frederick Douglass

David R. Carlin recently shared his life experience through his September 20th commentary in the Providence Journal, as a youth growing up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in the 1950s and recounted what it was like to live in a tenement on Beverage Hill Avenue, with no hot water, and having to sacrifice having a car in order to pay for a sick sibling’s medical bills. Unfortunately too many Americans of all backgrounds have similar stories of struggle, and today the widening of gaps between the classes is a pervasive societal issue. I have to admit I had nowhere near as arduous a life growing up in Rhode Island. My siblings and I were born and raised in a family of color in Newport with two educated, hardworking and loving parents.

Mr. Carlin recounted his experience as a youth without privilege to explain his belief that there is no “white privilege” in the greater American society. He contends that the conception he and other white Americans have been afforded certain opportunities solely based on their race, and that black Americans have been denied such opportunities, is mistaken. The whole of his essay can be summed up as this: white privilege is an excuse and black American’s are solely responsible for their current destructive experience and station in society.

As Mr. Carlin explains “if the average black is worse off than the average white in almost every category of well-being — health, wealth, income, education, high culture, gainful employment, etc. — this is chiefly because of an appallingly dysfunctional subculture that is pervasive among the black lower classes.”

What Mr. Carlin fails to understand is that white privilege is not explicit, and when you are the beneficiary, it is even harder to recognize its existence. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that drug use rates between white and black users are incredibly comparable. Yet while black people make up only 14 percent of regular drug users, they account for 37 percent of those arrested (via Human Rights Watch). Jeffrey Fagan, a Columbia University Law professor found that under New York’s controversial Stop & Frisk policy between 2004 and 2009 less than 1 perncet of stops recovered weapons, and of those found they were more frequently recovered from white people. But still, black people were disproportionately stopped as compared to whites and were 14 percent more likely to be subjected to force. It should not be lost on anyone as to why Stop & Frisk was recently ruled unconstitutional.

These are just some of the many data points which corroborate the fact that the United States has always had and continues to perpetuate a very real and dangerous problem when it comes to the lack of equality between the races. A fantastic source is Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, which details the history of our current criminal justice and prison systems and how they function to continually oppress Black and Brown citizens of this country.

I think the unfortunate reality is that people like Mr. Carlin too often are misinformed on what white privilege actually is, and also severely lack day to day contact with people of color.

Someone who denies white privilege is not necessarily racist, they are just ignorant to the reality we live in due to the privilege bubble in which they conveniently exist. So in the spirit of educating over arguing, I have made a quick reference list for Mr. Carlin and the others in denial so they too can be better informed and therefore, better equipped to discuss race in America.

White privilege is being sentenced to rehab for drug use because you’re “sick” and need to be treated, not incarcerated because you are deemed inherently dangerous.
White privilege is reminding people to always remember Pearl Harbor, The Alamo, The Boston Tea Party and both World Wars, but then asking why Black people can’t seem to put slavery behind them.
White privilege is not having people ask you why you “speak so well”.
White privilege is no one assumes your success in education or your career is due to athletic scholarships or affirmative action.
White privilege is sharing an opinion and not having it used as representative of all the other members of your race
White privilege is not having the justice system routinely incarcerate the men of your race at astronomically disproportionate rates for decades and therefore crippling your family structure for generations.
White privilege is having an interaction with law enforcement and being able to walk away with your life.
White privilege is David Carlin getting to tell an entire group of people that their centuries long struggle due to systematic social and political disenfranchisement is essentially their fault and their problem alone, and certainly not a problem that the greater society should tackle together.

Unfortunately it is the Carlins, Carsons and Trumps of the world that perpetuate the ongoing racial bias that divides our nation. If more time and effort was spent actually engaging people from the disenfranchised communities and trying to find a common goal of equality among races and classes, rather than finger pointing and victim blaming, we might actually have a chance at progressing as a society and as a human race. In 2015 it is terrifying to see how little has actually changed for black and brown people in America. What has changed is how the injustices are perpetuated and the true intentions camouflaged behind voting rights restrictions, public policy and policing.

What we cannot allow to go unnoticed is when a person abandons scholarship for rhetoric and then tries to pass the latter off as the former. The real issue here is that black and brown people in America are largely invisible to most whites. Like Mr. Carlin’s opinion piece, they talk about our lives, history and culture in a second person narrative, with little or no personal interactions or observations to validate their viewpoints. Today more than ever, there needs to be more sound discussions on how to move forward together; black, brown and white, and less of the guilt ridden, victim blaming that only serves to further divide us.

September 24, 2015September 25, 2015

Spiritual battle in the streets of DC during the Pope’s visit

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2015-09-23 Pope DC 001 — Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Pope Francis was performing the canonization mass at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC Wednesday evening, and many faithful crowded around the fenced off areas hoping for a glimpse of their spiritual leader. In a cul de sac formed by cut off streets and security patrolled fences I watched as a man approached the crowd carrying a large bullhorn. The man began to tell the crowd that their pope was an Anti-Christ, a false prophet, and they were all going to Hell.

People got angry. The situation became tense. And though I don’t want to sound like I’m writing clickbait, what happened next amazed me.

September 24, 2015September 24, 2015

Common Core, PARCC are destroying public education

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The Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education had a meeting on September 21 and other than the council members and RI Department of Education staffers, it was not well attended. These meetings are open to the public, and there is an open forum section on the agenda in which anyone from the public can speak on a topic related to the agenda. (It is suggested that people call ahead and request to be put on the list of speakers.) At this meeting meeting I was the only person from the public who spoke. Remarks are limited to two minutes. What follows is the unedited version of my public comments from that meeting.

What is the basic unit of our society? the family—parents and children.
What is the basic public institution that serves the family? the public school system.

There is a misguided agenda that has been sweeping across our country and our state. In the name of the civil rights issue of our time, in the name of equity, in the name of 21st century competitiveness, and in the name of inclusiveness, we now witness officials obsessed with compliance to misguided policies who are intimidating parents to act against their conscience and against what they perceive and know to be in the best interests of their children. Of course I’m speaking of the Common Core curriculum, the PARCC aligned testing, and the massive data collection that goes along with them. Can you name one independent testing authority who has determined that these PARCC tests are reliable (i.e. would result in the same score if taken at another time), and valid (i.e. measure what they purport to measure)? Such an expert would be impossible to find, in my opinion.

These tests are fatally flawed, as are the standards to which they are aligned. The standards were developed by a cabal of well-connected people, primarily from the college testing industry. (If you need a refresher on the word “cabal,” here is Wikipedia’s definition: “A cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue, usually unbeknownst to persons outside their group.”) This cabal had little to no knowledge or understanding of child development, nor did they care about it.

They cared nothing for the vast variation in backgrounds, interests, aptitudes, and struggles of our diverse students. All have to be held to the same standards at the same pace. This is not equity—it is delusion.

What happens to the many children who for a variety of reasons, and from a very young age, get the message that they don’t have what it takes to be successful? What happens to the few who are told they do have what it takes, based on a measure that idolizes a limited type of cognitive proficiency? Will the privileged few assume as the elite graduates of colleges like Harvard and Yale have been doing, that they are entitled to prescribe the fate of the “lesser” people? This is not democracy. This is oligarchy. This educational regime is feeding the inhumane process of sorting and ranking our children. People need to become aware and say NO. Children need life-affirming education, not standardized education producing compliant workers for the corporate machine.

For elaboration on the points made here, see: A Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who in the Implosion of American Public Education by Mercedes K. Schneider

“‘Corporate reform’” is not reform at all. Instead, it is the systematic destruction of the foundational American institution of public education. The primary motivation behind this destruction is greed. Public education in America is worth almost a trillion dollars a year.

“Whereas American public education is a democratic institution, its destruction is being choreographed by a few wealthy, well-positioned individuals and organizations. This book investigates and exposes the handful of people and institutions that are often working together to become the driving force behind destroying the community public school.” (from the Amazon.com synopsis)

For further elaboration, see Diane Ravitch: The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education

Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools

Sheila Resseger, M.A.
Retired teacher, RI School for the Deaf

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015

Female Roman Catholic priests ignored by Pope Francis, arrested

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Seven people, including four women who identify as Roman Catholic priests, were arrested Wednesday afternoon as Pope Francis performed mass inside St. Matthew’s Cathedral on Rhode Island avenue in Washington DC. The protesters, representing The Women’s Ordination Conference and Roman Catholic Women Priests, had arrived before sunrise to stake out a location outside St. Matthew’s, only to be moved by police to the end of the street before the pope arrived. As a result, it is doubtful that the pope saw the protesters.

When the police ordered the protesters to clear the street ahead of the pope’s arrival, the protesters laid down in the crosswalk.

“Oh c’mon, really?” said one frustrated officer.

It took time for the police to arrest the protesters, but when they did they seemed to do so with the utmost concern for the safety of those involved. Those arrested include Janice Sevre-Duszynska, 65, from Lexington, KY Roy Bourgeois, 76, of Columbus, Georgia, Jane Via, 67, of San Diego, Maria Eitz, 75, of San Francisco, Donna Rougeux, 55, of Lexington, KY, Felix Cepeda of New York and Franciscan Jerry Zawada, 77, of Wisconsin.

2015-09-23 Women Priests 017 — Maria Eitz

Before their arrest I spoke with Jane Via and Maria Eitz as they marched in a circle between crowded sidewalks.

“Women are second class,” in the Roman Catholic Church, said Via, “A man is born able to receive seven sacraments during his life. A woman can only receive six sacraments, because the priesthood is denied her.”

Via believes that this second class status hurts all women, especially in developing countries. That only men can be priests gives an appearance of social superiority that is used to relegate women to second class status in all parts of life. Via considers herself a Roman Catholic priest. Technically, she’s been excommunicated from the church.

In addition to women’s ordination, Via believes that priests should be able to be married. Her husband was marching ahead of her. She also believes in full LGBTQ equality and birth control. These are, to be sure, major departures from official Catholic teachings, but this might be because, “Women have no say in what happens in their church,” according to Via.

One wonders what a Catholic Church that welcomed women priests, bishops and popes would look like.

Becoming a priest in the Roman Catholic church is a response to a strong spiritual calling, according to believers. In denying women the priesthood, Pope Francis is denying the reality of the spiritual lives of women. Denying the authenticity of a person’s conscience cuts both ways, putting the Catholic Church on shaky ground morally.

Though many want to cast Francis as a liberal pontiff championing nontraditional causes, the direct action of these brave protesters belies that characterization. Even as the police watched the protesters drop to the pavement, a cheer went through the crowd as they watched Pope Francis enter St Matthew’s Cathedral, followed by a steady stream of bishops and cardinals, all men.

September 23, 2015September 24, 2015

When the pope drives by

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Maria works at the Mexican Embassy in Washington DC, and she’s waiting at the 18th Street entrance to the White House grounds, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pope, who is due to meet with president Obama in about an hour. She’s optimistic because she recognizes a big time reporter from a Mexican television station interviewing people in the crowd. “He must know something,” she says.

I nod. Maybe he does. I’ve followed the crowds of people who are being funneled by security forces and large metal gates towards a series of metal detectors near the Washington Monument. These people are all hoping to catch a glimpse of Francis, an immensely popular pope visiting the United States for the first time.

The people I talk to seem to love everything about this pope. They love the fact that his pope-mobile is a modest looking Fiat. They love his call for climate change. They love his stance on economic justice. They love his stance on undocumented workers and immigration. No one I talk to quite loves his stance on birth control and LGBTQ issues, but they love this pope.

“I think he wants to do more, but he can’t,” says one woman to me about his stance on birth control.

Not everyone loves this pope. A group of people with signs are blaring nonsense about the pope being an Anti-Christ. This annoys Maria, who frowns at the negativity. A mom and dad hustle their daughters past these street preachers. The girls are confused by the men with the signs. These men have made an impact on these girls, though I suspect it’s not the one they wanted to make.

Another man runs up to the street preachers holding a book about the Freemasons. He says that the pope isn’t the problem, it’s Obama and the Freemasons. That’s the anti-Christ! The street preacher with the bullhorn is really annoyed. Another street preacher engages the man and they part amicably. They both agree that despite their differences, they both have freedom of speech.

The pope has been justifiably accused of critiquing capitalism, but that hasn’t stopped what might be hundreds of entrepreneurs from crowding the streets hawking pope tee shirts, buttons, flags, rosary beads and other bric-a-brac.

I see a man talking to the Mexican television crew and holding a sign that pretty much says it all: “Dear Pope Francis: Most Republican legislators and their voters see Latino people as less than human in the United States.” I try to imagine Pope Francis’ reaction to that sign, if he ever sees it.

I see a man in a polar bear costume praising the pope for taking a stand on climate change. “The pope gives me climate hope.”

The entire area has taken on a carnival-like atmosphere. But the true believers, the people most into seeing the pope, are behind the gates now. Only stragglers remain. I lose track of Maria. She probably had to go to work. But I hope she’s still in the crowd somewhere, because suddenly everyone is cheering, and the Pope’s motorcade is rumbling by. The entire staff of a Starbucks pours out into the street, taking a short break while there are no customers in the store. They cheer and snap pictures with their phones, taking a fun break.

The people cheering aren’t necessarily those who traveled hundreds of miles to get here. They aren’t the pope’s hard core followers. They are the workers and citizens of Washington DC, prevented from crossing the street until the motorcade passes, people used to this kind of interruption in their lives. But they are cheering and waving.

And Pope Francis has the window to his Fiat rolled down and he’s waving to the crowd.

“I like the Pope because he goes after everybody,” says a man to me. “He goes after the liberals on abortion and he goes after the conservatives on the economy. He’s telling people that nobody’s perfect.”

Then the man asks me to buy a tee shirt.

I politely decline.

2015-09-23 Pope Motorcade 003 — My first glimpse of the Pope was a trick!

2015-09-23 Pope Motorcade 017 — Vatican flags flying in DC

2015-09-23 Pope Motorcade 018 — Obama is the anti-Christ!

2015-09-23 Pope Motorcade 029 — Jehovah’s Witnesses were also out

September 23, 2015

Protesters stage hunger strike outside FERC for Pope’s visit to DC

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The climate rally that took place outside the State House on Tuesday was just one of many protests taking place across the country in solidarity with a committed group of protesters who have occupied the side walk outside FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) since September 8. Members of Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE) have been targeting FERC for protest for a while, says Ted Glick, who has been fasting for two weeks and has lost over 20 pounds.

In July, BXE conducted an action that resulted in 25 arrests, Glick said. In November the group arranged to have people arrested for five straight days, culminating in an action that prevented FERC from opening for business for two and a half hours. The group’s latest tactic is fasting outside the FERC offices, hoping that FERC employees have a conscience and that they’re willing to act on it.

“In concert with the Pope coming to the US we decided to do a fast,” said Glick, “to both support the Pope on environmental issues and to draw attention to FERCs failure to do its job as a regulatory agency.”

2015-09-22 DC FERC 009 — Pramilla Malick

Glick says that the “gas energy companies always wins when it comes to interstate gas infrastructure.” FERC approves “virtually everything.” One group went back through FERC’s records and found that “there were 160 consecutive approvals of pipelines, with no dis-approvals.”

Over the course of the fast, BXE members have had a number of interactions with FERC employees, from conversations to glances. “We know we’ve had some impact,” says Glick hopefully, even as he maintains that FERC is corrupt.

“There is a revolving door in terms of people working at FERC and people going to work for the gas industry… It’s a classic case of what Robert Kennedy called a ‘captured agency.'”

Protesting BXE members came and went as I interviewed Glick, maybe 25 in total. Glick described the group as a “spiritual community.” When I asked him about that, he explained that, “I describe it as a spiritual community. We meet twice a day at nine. We check in on everybody physically, we try to help them… at the end of the meeting we join hands and have a minute of silence together. Its very powerful. It’s like a family atmosphere.”

Can activists turn our government, captured as it is by those who profit off of fracked methane, towards a truly renewable energy future in time to prevent the worst effects of climate catastrophe? That’s an open question.

With FERC closing up shop for two days because of the traffic congestion expected to accompany the Pope’s visit, the BXE fasters are taking their protest into the city, marching tomorrow to meet up with activists from the Franciscan Action Network. Twenty-five college students from North Carolina are arriving to help the weakened fasters make the trek.

On Friday, after the Pope leaves for New York and the fast is officially broken, BXE will attempt to distribute copies of the papal encyclical on climate to the FERC’s five commissioners.

“The Pope’s opposed to fracking,” says protester Jimmy Betts in a statement, “FERC is responsible for rubberstamping pretty much every application for fracked-gas infrastructure.” When the fasters brought pointed this out to FERC Chairman Norman Bay as he was leaving the building a few days ago, he said, “These are just pipelines. Blaming us is like blaming the steel companies that make pipes.”

You can watch my full interview with Ted Glick below:

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015

Activists oppose methane gas, fracking at RI State House

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A small group of protestors from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds repeated their opposition to the proposed methane gas power plant in Burrillville. Simultaneous with this event, Governor Raimondo welcomed the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, José Maria Pereira Neves.

Among the protesters was Randall Rose of Occupy Providence, Dr. Peter Nightingale of the University of Rhode Island, independent film maker Robert Malin, and Green Party activist Greg Geritt. They were offering their protest in solidarity with fasting environmental activists in Washington DC who are staging their action simultaneous with the arrival of Pope Francis. The Catholic leader has made climate change a major focus is his recent encyclical, LAUDATO SI, and is expected to raise the issue during his visit to America and the United Nations this week. The Pope just recently visited Cuba, a country that converted to a sustainable energy power grid and green infrastructure after the fall of the Soviet Union collapsed their petroleum import markets in the early 1990’s.

During her opening remarks, Governor Raimondo emphasized the cultural and economic ties between Rhode Island and Cape Verde. Cape Verde has begun rolling out a sustainable energy program in the past several years, such as opening a solar panel energy park last month that Prime Minister Neves attended. The nation, made up of a chain of islands, stands to sustain extreme damage should the oceans rise significantly due to climate change’s melting of the polar ice caps. A significant portion of the population lives beside the ocean in housing whose foundations would be threatened by erosion. Some of the islands would be completely submerged. Beginning in 2011, the island began an expected nine year program to convert the power grid to renewable resources.

Protestors outside the room hosting the Prime Minister of Cape Verde.

September 22, 2015September 23, 2015

Change of leadership at Economic Progress Institute

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The Economic Progress Institute (EPI) announced that Kate Brewster is stepping down as executive director. Rachel Flum, the Institute’s long-time senior policy analyst, has been promoted as the new executive director.

The Economic Progress Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to improve economic security and opportunity for all Rhode Islanders, through research, advocacy and community partnerships. Brewster has been the executive director for 11 years, taking over from her mentor, Nancy Gewirtz, a co-founder of the Institute.

Brewster’s new job will be executive director of the Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale, a community-based organization that provides such basic needs as food and clothing for local residents while also engaging in individual and policy advocacy.

“It is with tremendous mixed emotions that I leave the Institute, an organization that has had a lasting and profound impact on the ability of Rhode Islanders to make ends meet,” Brewster said in a statement. “I am excited to start a new chapter of helping to make sure that people in my local community don’t go to school or to bed hungry.”

Flum, recently chosen as one of “40 under Forty” by Providence Business News, has been a senior policy analyst with the Institute for ten years and has also served as the project manager for the RI Health Coverage Project, a joint initiative of the Institute and RI Kids Count.

“We’re pleased that such a strong leader, with a wealth of knowledge about the issues facing Rhode Islanders, was available on the EPI staff,” said Alan Flam, secretary of the Institute’s board and head of the search committee. “Over the past ten years, Rachel has shown the commitment, talent and vision to lead this organization into the future.”

“We are so grateful for the leadership that Kate has provided for this organization and the people whose lives we work to make better,” said Flam. “The residents of South County are fortunate she will now be working directly on their behalf.”

[From a press release]

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015

Black Lives Matter, even in East Greenwich

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First came the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, ensuing protests and videos of other unarmed black people around the country dying at the hands of police.

Then came white supremacist flyers delivered to some driveways in East Greenwich in June (“Earth’s most endangered species: the white race”).

Then came Sunday’s March for Racial Justice, which literally made a loop around my East Greenwich neighborhood.

This stuff is getting close to home!

East Greenwich is 92 percent white. That’s pretty pale. It’s easy to feel like we are not racist – maybe because we don’t have any race to bump up against. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned in the past 14 months, racism isn’t just white supremacist flyers. In fact, the most dangerous racism is living in a bubble where you don’t see there’s a problem.

Most of us moved to East Greenwich to live in that bubble, whether we did it overtly or not. We moved for the schools, we moved for the nice neighborhoods … we moved to be removed from the other. That’s the American way, the human way even. But it’s not the best way to live as one nation, united.

So it was good when, on Sunday in East Greenwich, about 200 people – mainly white – gathered at the Westminster Unitarian Church and marched down to Main Street and back (about 2 miles) chanting things like “What will we do for racial justice? Today we speak for racial justice.”

On Main Street. In my town.

Most of the marchers came from other places, but it was great to see many East Greenwich residents. Maybe a quarter of the marchers were from EG. That’s not a triumph. But it is a start.

September 21, 2015May 3, 2016

Burrillville fracked gas opponents crash Raimondo’s linear park opening

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As Governor Gina Raimondo and the entire Rhode Island congressional delegation celebrated the opening of the new Linear Park on Washington Bridge, residents from Burrillville quietly held signs challenging her administration’s support for a new fracked gas energy plant and pipeline expansion in their city. The protesters are all members of BASE (Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion), and they represent a community on the frontlines in the battle against corporate sponsored climate catastrophe.

Kathy Martley, a spokesperson for BASE, told me that the protesters decided to hold signs quietly and not be disruptive during the event out of respect for the family of George Redman, a tireless activist for bike path development in Rhode Island and a World War II veteran. The park was being dedicated in his honor.

Bikes paths are smart investments towards building a more environmentally friendly future, and politicians eagerly turned out to capture some of the credit for the Linear Park dedication, an important milestone in bike friendly infrastructure. But for Governor Gina Raimondo it is becoming difficult to claim the mantle of environmental champion while backing the expansion of methane gas in the state.

Gina Raimondo said that Linear Park is an important part of preserving the quality of life in Rhode Island. But the Burrillville activists also live in our state, and the proposed Spectra pipeline expansion, and the addition of a new fracked gas energy plant, threatens to roll back the quality of their lives.

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015

PVD City Council may still get vote on PawSox stadium proposal

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While it’s been widely reported that PawSox ownership’s dream of playing in a riverfront stadium on I-195 redevelopment lands in downtown Providence is dead, the Providence City Council may still get to drive the final – and conclusive – stake through its heart. The Stop the Stadium Deal group announced today in a press release that it will file with the city the necessary paperwork to compel the City Council to consider an anti-stadium ordinance.

“The intent of the filing is to compel the City Council to bring the stadium issue to a public referendum,” said the press release, “and allow the voters of Providence to determine its outcome.”

Sam Bell, president of the Stop the Stadium Deal group, said more than 1,500 signatures were collected. He said 1,000 are needed to compel the City Council to consider a specific ordinance.

“If the Council doesn’t pass the ordinance unamended by that point, we will be able to force it onto the ballot by gathering signatures from five percent of Providence voters,” Bell said. “However, given the strong public pressure, we are confident this won’t be necessary.”

The ordinance would forbid a “stadium” or “athletic facility” on the PawSox preferred parcel, and would mandate to all new stadiums to “pay property tax at the full commercial rate” and that “No public money from the City of Providence shall be used directly or indirectly to subsidize or otherwise provide any financial benefit to any new stadium.”

Said Bell, “For years, wealthy owners of professional sports teams throughout the country have been using public monies to increase the value of their private investments. The voters in Providence want the opportunity to express a resounding ‘NO’ to such an irresponsible use of public monies.”

September 21, 2015September 22, 2015

No-new-permits faster in DC tells his story

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Steve Norris, a 72-year-old retired professor from North Carolina, told me on Saturday about his fast at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in Washington, DC. He was doing surprisingly well, he said, 12 days into his fast and having lost over 10 pounds. One of the first things Steve asked me was if I had read Lee Steward’s testimony:

To fast is absurd. This is true especially for someone like me who doesn’t believe anything absent systemic, revolutionary change will do much good.

Yes, I had read Lee’s testimony; it sums up my feelings.

Steve Norris reminding NPR of the source of its funding

This is what Steve wrote about his experience occupying the Sidewalk at the FERC Gates of Hell:

Being here, eating no food for 18 days, has taken me down a fascinating and disorienting rabbit hole, where “normal” appears absurd and even suicidal, and where unrealistic may be our only way out. I recall hearing Starhawk saying something like this many years ago. “The time for reasonable is past,” she said. But I have struggled to make sense of this. The fast is a journey into unreasonable.

The other day was hot on the sidewalk in front of FERC, I was talking with a guy I dislike – he dominates conversation and is loud and bombastic. He mentioned something about money in the middle of our conversation, but I got so tired of him after 15 minutes I got up and, so as not to appear impolite, distributed fliers to passersby on the sidewalk. He continued talking to another faster, but when he decided to leave, I asked if he was serious about donating money. He hemmed and hawed, but we talked for a minute about the $1000 BXE wanted to give to Lincoln Temple, the very poor African American Church which generously has been providing us space for sleeping. He left, and I forgot about him. But half an hour later he returned and gave me an envelope with $1000 in cash. “Use this for whatever BXE needs.” We’ve given it to the minister of Lincoln Temple.

Jan and Ron Creamer at the RI Peace Fest in the People’s Park in Providence

On Thursday twenty year old Berenice Tomkins, a college student, went into the “open” FERC commissioners meeting, which does not allow public comment. The five polished FERC Commissioners are the corrupt decision makers in this powerful regulatory agency which makes life and death decisions for communities and people all over the country. Most of us are not allowed entry because we have disrupted meetings in the past, but this was Berenice’s first time, so she got in. She wasn’t sure what to do and waited through the incomprehensible conversations of the Commissioners, which in a coded language talk about decisions already made behind closed doors. When they started talking about forest fire mitigation she could no longer hold her tongue. She stood up and with a twenty year old’s strong voice took over the meeting: ” What are you talking about? It’s your policies which are creating the climate crisis, and you can’t mitigate the fires without talking about the climate crisis!” She talked for a minute or so until until FERC Security grabbed her arm and dragged her out. She was crying and proud as she came out.

The brave people of BXE need our love and support, they and all others who put their lives on the line to expose the ecocidal and communicidal crimes of our federal and state governments in support of their sponsors on Wall Street: No New Fracked-Gas Power Plant in Burrillville, RI!

Please join us at the People’s House in Providence tomorrow—come and hear the what motivates some of our local fasters in Rhode Island.

Help us avoid this:

The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks and everything sown by the brooks shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

Maybe it’s not too late yet.

September 21, 2015

East Greenwich joins White Noise Collective in march for racial justice

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Nearly 200 people turned out at the Westminster Unitarian Church for a Black Lives Matter march in response to white supremacists fliers that were distributed in East Greenwich and to ongoing racial injustice in our state and across the country. Police officers cleared a path for the two mile march that went through downtown East Greenwich, slowing, rerouting and delaying traffic. The march was organized by the White Noise Collective and Westminster Unitarian Church’s Social Responsibility Committee. Protesters called on white people in particular to stand up and support the growing Black Lives Matter movement.

“We have a responsibility as white people to acknowledge the racism people of color face every day in this state, and to support their struggles for justice,” said Ash Trull, a member of the White Noise Collective in a statement, “As long as we close our eyes when we see police profiling or plug our ears when we hear about employment and housing discrimination, then we’re part of the problem.”

Reverend Ellen Quaadgras of Westminster Unitarian and organizer Rachel Bishop spoke briefly before the march on the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and why signs declaring “All Lives Matter” were specifically discouraged. After the march Ellen Tuzzolo of the White Noise Collective and Reverend Tim Rich of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church spoke briefly.

We are not going to change our white supremacist culture if white people are unwilling to confront systemic racism. Racism is not a black problem.

The White Noise Collective RI is a group of people working at the intersection of whiteness and gender oppression to disrupt racism and white supremacy, and to challenge white silence around these issues. It is a branch of the White Noise Collective in Oakland and an affiliate of the national network SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice).

September 20, 2015

Inaugural Ocean State Oyster Festival a success

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Saturday marked the first ever Ocean State Oyster Festival, celebrating the resurgent and exploding oyster industry in Rhode Island, held at the Riverwalk in Providence.

Attendees were both curious and hungry. Smiles and a light-hearted attitude infected all those wandering around the festival looking for the next shellfish to slurp.

“For me it’s the history, the direct heritage of it all,” said Steven Thompson, a Warren Town Council member who spoke at length the “rebuilding” of the oyster industry in his town, which he said was “decimated”and is now growing again.

Farms from across the Ocean State came to display and provide the all-important oysters while music played and smiles were brought to nearly every face.

Oysters on ice from Salt Pond Oysters, shucked and ready for slurping.

Oysters are a cornerstone of Rhode Island heritage. According to the Ocean State Oyster Festival oyster farming as far back as 1900 was a thriving industry in RI, Point Judith Pond provided an unmatched bounty of oysters. The industry grew fast with the exponential boom putting immense pressure on local oyster populations. Over fishing decimated the shellfish nearly driving them into extinction. The growth of industry drove itself into near collapse.

About 20 years ago Rhode Island sustainable aquaculture movement began and sparked the current oyster farming climate.

“It’s blowin’ up. From a few farms 15 years ago to now almost 50,” said Travis Lundgre, an employee of Salt Pond Oysters.

When asked why he loves it Lundgre said, “The calm of it all. Oyster farming is just different, different from every other kind of farming.”

Jesse Kwan, of the Oyster Country Club, called them “the foundation of the oceans.”

In Rhode Island, oysters are the quintessential local food, with nearly every farm supplying restaurants around the state almost exclusively. Some of the larger farms, including Salt Pond Oysters, Walrus & Carpenter Oysters, and Salt Water Farms, do export their stock to other states and around the country as well.

“You could eat one and I could eat one and we’d taste two different things,” said Lauren Nutini of Salt Water Farms, the largest oyster farm in Rhode Island.

With programs like the Blount Shellfish Hatchery at Roger Williams University, Blount Fine Foods, based in Warren, provided the endowment to create the only shellfish hatchery in Rhode Island. Warren was historically an oyster farming community and now that same community is pulling together in efforts to restore the oyster farms.

The farms themselves use sustainable farming techniques to ensure the oysters not only thrive but provide a healthy ecosystem around them. One such practice is “reseeding” or pouring the old shells back into the farms allowing the baby shellfish something to latch onto and grow before popping off and being harvested.

Oysters filter nearly 50 gallons of water a day, with some farms having 6 million animals, that’s over 300 million gallons of water being cleaned cumulatively a day for years as they mature and grow.

“There’s nothing better after a day at the beach,” said attendee Fred Jodry, “It’s a mouthful of the ocean.” Jodry explained his intrigue with the resurgence of oyster farming in Rhode Island. “Industry took it out, and it’s nice to see this coming back.”

September 19, 2015September 20, 2015

Local white supremacists part of a broader, national movement

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It is sad how some people cannot seem to let go of their irrational hatred of other people. In recent months we have seen a faceless outfit called Voice of the Renaissance litter East Greenwich with their flyers calling to preserve the White race, as if people of color who are building themselves up are a threat to White people everywhere (it’s not). Last February the Islamic School of Rhode Island was vandalized by someone who spray-painted Islamophobic messages on their building, one making his intentions very clear: “Now this is a hate crime!” And we all know by now how Donald Trump refused to rebuke a supporter who went on an anti-Muslim rant at his town hall event in Rochester, New Hampshire. Thing is, these things left unchecked may lead to even more extreme actions towards a community in the future, be it acts of violence or legislation that stifles rights. That is why when it happens those communities come out to build a resistance against it.

[Editor’s note: There will be a march against the racist flyers on Sunday, September 20 leaving from the Westminster Unitarian Church (119 Kenyon Ave, East Greenwich) at 12:30 pm. “In response to white supremacists fliers recently distributed in East Greenwich and to ongoing racial injustice in our state and across the county, Westminster Unitarian Church’s Social Responsibility Committee, the White Noise Collective, and concerned East Greenwich residents are organizing a march to mobilize people across RI for racial justice. We are calling on white people in particular to stand up and support the growing Black Lives Matter movement.“]

Those that engage in such behavior however are not going to be content with just tagging a school, throwing around flyers or ranting at a presidential candidate. That doesn’t get results. They still have to organize and network with people who can advance their hatred to the point that they see things happen for them, and they are able to reclaim a position they once had over the people they hate just a few short years ago. When they do that, it takes even more vigilance to fight back because this is when they are at their most dangerous.

islamic-school7 — West Warwick Islamic School Vandalism

On Saturday, Oct. 31 (Halloween) a group with a rather benign name called the National Policy Institute (NPI) will hold a conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. While not directly connected to the Voice of the Renaissance, they share the same ideals. NPI is a promoter of eugenics, believing that blacks are genetically inferior to whites, has waged campaigns to make the Republican Party exclusively white, and is trying to build alliances with white supremacists and fascists in Europe. In fact, their leader, Richard Spencer, who has called for a white ethno-state, is not allowed to enter much of Europe for the next two years after he attempted to hold a similar conference in Budapest, Hungary. Undaunted, he continues to hold conferences in the DC area, often during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) where he tries to build outreach to attendees, many of them young people, with some success. That means he is attempting to create a new generation of racist legislators who will keep his brand of hatred alive.

The speakers at the NPI conference include anti-Semites, Islamophobes and Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs) that will speak to political operatives, academics and others in a setting that unlike the average neo-Nazi rally, will give them the opportunity to network and organize behind closed doors. One of the speakers is part of a group that has the slogan “Ni keffieh, ni kippa”.(“Neither [Palestinian] keffieh, nor yarmulke”). They are only one of several similar conferences happening all around the country. Another one happening just one week later in Baltimore is sponsored by the H.L. Mencken Club, which is, curiously enough, one of the groups co-founded by NPI’s Richard Spencer.

They very seldom get opposition, mostly because they make themselves look like nothing more than your average conservative organization that doesn’t set off any alarms unless someone delves into what they are about, but unfortunately for them, that is what is beginning to happen. There are people mobilizing to oppose the NPI conference by calling the National Press Club – where NPI has held two other events – and sending them letters calling for them to shut this hate conference down. Failing that, they plan to be out there on Halloween, letting the hatemongers know that they are not welcome.

Regardless of what face hate puts on, we need to recognize it for what it is, and once we do keep it from hurting the greater society. We have seen what it has done to generations in this country and abroad, and although it is cliché, there is something to be said for how in this day and age this approach to life is still something palatable to some circles.

Let’s break those circles.

[Check out the One People’s Project here.]

September 19, 2015

DARE challenges PVD Public Housing Authority on inmates’ right to fair housing

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On Friday evening the Behind the Walls committee at Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) hosted the launch party for their Fair Housing campaign, which will challenge Providence Public Housing Authority (PHA) policies that uniformly exclude applicants based on past arrests and convictions.

The proposed policy would prohibit denial based on misdemeanors and arrests, protect applicants from long “look back” periods into their records, and would create a panel to review the qualifications of applicants with records. The Behind the Walls committee plans to present their proposed policy to the Housing Authority in the coming weeks. PHA Board member and city councilwoman Mary Kay Harris has written an official letter of endorsement for the campaign.

“Too many people have been denied a safe and stable home with their family because of something they did 10 or more years ago,” said John Prince, campaign organizer with Behind the Walls, in a statement. “Sometimes parents can’t go back and live with their kids because of an arrest, when they were never even convicted of the crime. That’s just wrong.”

According to Behind the Walls, “In 2014, 61 percent of all PHA denials were due to criminal record, and fewer than 1 percent of appeals were successful. Each year 1400 people are released from the ACI to Providence, 48 percent of which will return in their first 3 years home.”

“The idea that rehabilitation can work without a path to reintegration back into the community is a cruel and fraudulent hoax. One crucial way to help an individual return successfully to the community is to provide access to public housing,” said Judge Fortunato in a statement.

The launch event included soul food, spoken word performances by local poets including Franny Choi, Vatic Kuumbal and others. State Representatives Aaron Regunberg and Edith Ajello were in attendance as were Providence City Council Members Kevin Jackson and Mary Kay Harris.

Community members also celebrated the launch of the national community-driven report “Who Pays: The True Cost of Incarceration on Families” by the Ella Baker Center. John Prince, along with Sheila Wilhelm, were two members of DARE who traveled to Center in Oakland California to help develop the report. The report found that:

People with convictions are saddled with copious fees, fines, and debt at the same time that their economic opportunities are diminished, resulting in a lack of economic stability and mobility. 48 percent of families in our survey overall were unable to afford the costs associated with a conviction, while among poor families (making less than $15,000 per year), 58 percent were unable to afford these costs. Sixty-seven percent of formerly incarcerated individuals associated with our survey were still unemployed or underemployed five years after their release.

Many families lose income when a family member is removed from household wage earning and struggle to meet basic needs while paying fees, supporting their loved one financially, and bearing the costs of keeping in touch. Nearly 2 in 3 families (65 percent) with an incarcerated member were unable to meet their family’s basic needs. 49 percent struggled with meeting basic food needs and 48 percent had trouble meeting basic housing needs because of the financial costs of having an incarcerated loved one.

Women bear the brunt of the costs—both financial and emotional—of their loved one’s incarceration. In 63 percent of cases, family members on the outside were primarily responsible for court-related costs associated with conviction. Of the family members primarily responsible for these costs, 83 percent were women. In addition, families incur large sums of debt due to their experience with incarceration. Across respondents of all income brackets, the average debt incurred for court-related fines and fees alone was $13,607, almost one year’s entire annual income for respondents who earn less than $15,000 per year.

Despite their often-limited resources, families are the primary resource for housing, employment, and health needs of their formerly incarcerated loved ones, filling the gaps left by diminishing budgets for reentry services. Two-thirds (67 percent) of respondents’ families helped them find housing. Nearly one in five families (18 percent) involved in our survey faced eviction, were denied housing, or did not qualify for public housing once their formerly incarcerated family member returned. Reentry programs, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations combined did not provide housing and other support at the levels that families did.

Incarceration damages familial relationships and stability by separating people from their support systems, disrupting continuity of families, and causing lifelong health impacts that impede families from thriving. The high cost of maintaining contact with incarcerated family members led more than one in three families (34 percent) into debt to pay for phone calls and visits alone. Family members who were not able to talk or visit with their loved ones regularly were much more likely to report experiencing negative health impacts related to a family member’s incarceration.

The stigma, isolation, and trauma associated with incarceration have direct impacts across families and communities. Of the people surveyed, about one in every two formerly incarcerated persons and one in every two family members experienced negative health impacts related to their own or a loved one’s incarceration. Families, including their incarcerated loved ones, frequently reported Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, nightmares, hopelessness, depression, and anxiety. Yet families have little institutional support for healing this trauma and becoming emotionally and financially stable during and post incarceration.

The report suggested three critical reforms:

Restructuring and Reinvesting: Following the lead of states like California, all states need to restructure their policies to reduce the number of people in jails and prisons and the sentences they serve. The money saved from reducing incarceration rates should be used instead to reinvest in services that work, such as substance abuse programs and stable housing, which have proven to reduce recidivism rates. Additionally, sentencing needs to shift focus to accountability, safety, and healing the people involved rather than punishing those convicted of crimes.

Removing Barriers: Upon release, formerly incarcerated individuals face significant barriers accessing critical resources like housing and employment that they need to survive and move forward. Many are denied public benefits like food stamps and most are unable to pursue training or education that would provide improved opportunities for the future. Families also suffer under these restrictions and risk losing support as a result of their loved one’s conviction. These barriers must be removed in order to help individuals have a chance at success, particularly the many substantial financial obligations that devastate individuals and their families. On the flip side, when incarcerated people maintain contact with their family members on the outside, their likelihood of successful reunification and reentry increases, and their chances of recidivating are reduced. For most families the cost of maintaining contact is too great to bear and must be lowered if families are to stay intact. Removing cost and other barriers to contact is essential.

Restoring Opportunities: Focusing energy on investing and supporting formerly incarcerated individuals, their families, and the communities from which they come can restore their opportunities for a brighter future and the ability to participate in society at large. Savings from criminal justice reforms should be combined with general budget allocations and invested in job training and subsidized employment services, for example, to provide the foundation necessary to help individuals and their families succeed prior to system involvement and upon reentry.

September 18, 2015September 20, 2015

Wingmen: What’s the American angst all about?

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We set out to talk about the GOP debate. But Jon Brien, Bill Rappleye and I ended up discussing the angst that American’s are feeling about our political system on this week’s NBC10 Wingmen episode.

I contend that at least some of that angst is the result of talking heads, operatives, politicians and – yes, Donald Trump – misleading the American people about the issues.

News, Weather and Classifieds for Southern New England

September 18, 2015

RI still has highest poverty rate in New England

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The Economic Progress Institute (EPI), based on data released by the US Census Bureau, found that Rhode Island’s poverty rate remained unchanged in 2014, the highest rate in New England.

Among EPI’s key findings, according to Juan Espinoza, Communications and Outreach Associate, are:

One in seven Rhode Islanders live in poverty.

Rhode Island has the highest poverty rate of all the New England states, and ranks 24th in the country.

One in ten white Rhode Islanders live in poverty.

More than one in five African Americans in Rhode Island are poor—twice the rate of white Rhode Islanders

Nearly one in three Latinos in Rhode Island are poor—three times the rate of white Rhode Islanders.

“It is disturbing that so many Rhode Islanders continue to live in poverty.” said Kate Brewster, executive director of the Economic Progress Institute, in a statement. “While there is certainly no silver bullet to address this crisis, one action lawmakers should take to help struggling working families is to continue to increase the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit. This would put more money in the hands of people working at low-wage jobs by letting them keep more of what they earn and would help lift their families above the poverty line.”

According to EPI, “Rhode Island lawmakers increased the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit last year to 12.5 percent of the federal credit from 10 percent. This is expected to put an additional $6 million back in the pockets of over 80,000 working families who live in every city and town in the state. Neighboring states already do more to help low-wage workers through the EITC. Connecticut offers a 27.5 percent state credit and Massachusetts recently increased its state credit to 23 percent. A recent study, documented in the book It’s Not Like I’m Poor, demonstrates that families receiving the tax credit spend it wisely: they pay current bills, including rent, utilities and groceries; they pay off debt; and they invest in their future, for example, by moving to a better neighborhood. Along with helping families get ahead, these purchases and payments boost the local economy.”

The one bright spot is that “the share of Rhode Islanders without health insurance coverage fell sharply from 11.6 percent in 2013 to 7.4 percent in 2014, ranking RI 9th best in the country for having insured residents.” EPI reports that, “recent data released by Healthsource RI shows that the uninsured rate in Rhode Island is even lower in 2015.”

September 18, 2015

RIPDA gives Mike Araujo the Progressive Hero award

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Mike Araujo of Restaurant Opportunities Center RI and the One Fair Wage Coalition was given the Progressive Hero award by the RI Progressive Democrats of America (RIPDA) last night at a fundraising event held at Ogie’s Trailer Park in the West End of Providence. RIPDA Coordinator Sam Bell presented the award, noting that the award is usually given to a politician.

Araujo, in his acceptance speech, radicalized the event by calling attention to the ongoing labor struggles of hotel workers downtown, saying, “I can’t help but think that, right now, downtown, there’s a picket line going on because there are hotel workers being treated unfairly by The Procaccianti Group… We all profit from [the abuse of low wage workers]when we don’t think about it…

“As a movement we’ve never been courageous enough to say that we’re going to bend back the teeth of capitalism by organizing, we’re going to break off the fangs of militarism by teaching, and we’re going to share the wealth that we all build together by organizing every worker into a union that can defend them through their own means.”

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