2014 People’s Honor Roll

Last year, I proposed the idea of a People’s Honor Roll in order to counter the progressive honor roll of The Nation which I thought was lacking. I still feel the same way, meaning that its only right to have a honor roll for 2014, one of the most exciting years in terms of radical and revolutionary action for social justice. With that, here’s this 2014's People’s Honor Roll with just about the same categories as before. [1]

Most invaluable social movement: Black Lives Matter

In light of the demise of the Occupy movement which I fully realize now without delusions, a new powerful movement has sprung up declaring that “black lives matter.” While there were protests around the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2011, this movement has staying power. As Alexis de Tocqueville aptly observed in Democracy for America, the next great revolution will come from the black people of the United States:

“If ever America undergoes great revolutions, they will be brought about by the presence of the black race on the soil of the United States; that is to say, they will owe their origin, not to the equality, but to the inequality of condition.” [2]

Whether Black Lives Matter is the second American revolution, or a “great revolution,” as some called Occupy, I don’t know. However, with the continued killings of unarmed blacks such as Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner, there is no doubt that anger will rightly grow into creative social action, building on actions such as Black Brunch, “a type of protest where mostly African American youth walk into breakfast establishments serving mostly white patrons and begin reading the names of Black people killed by the police” as noted on the Marc Steiner show.

It is my hope that this movement rejects advice from establishment blacks like Melissa Harris-Perry and Al Sharpton of MSNBC, and President Obama, instead thinking of themselves. A movement that started from the protests in Ferguson, Missouri has blossomed. As long as state violence against blacks, as Noam Chomsky rightly calls it, continues, it will be necessary to declare: “Black Lives Matter!”

Most invaluable grassroots victory: Sodastream out of occupied Palestine

This is a hard one, but I’d say that getting Sodastream out of occupied Palestine is a great victory. The BDS movement which includes actions by organizations such as End the Occupation and CodePink, along with those actions by indigenous Palestinians, made this a victory. While one could point to divestment from investments in Israel and occupied Palestine as a victory, it is clear that this is a great victory. But, like any corporation, activists should not trust it at its word, continuing to push it to fulfill their pledge through all the forms of nonviolent resistance possible.

Most invaluable worker action(s): ‘Fight for 15,’ & actions by struggling fast food workers

For me, there is one group of workers that has really stuck out in the past year. That group is fast food workers. Beyond the demand by the Democratic Party to weaken the fast food workers movement, for $10.10 an hour, there has been a ‘fight for 15' dollars an hour in cities such as Baltimore. Additionally, these workers, some of whom have put their jobs on the line, in actions such as walkouts/strikes, have highlighted bad work conditions, wage theft, and much more.

Most invaluable disruption: attempted citizens arrest of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

In the last People’s Honor Roll, I wrote that the mic-check at PowerShift fell into this category. This year, I’d say that the attempted citizens arrest by CodePink interns of Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense, for his war crimes, was 2011's most invaluable disruption. I say this in part because I was participating in it by filming someone else reading the charges for the citizens arrest. There were jeers in the crowd at the small meeting of an all-white book reception (for Rumsfeld’s new book) held by the Federalist Society. Someday, I’ll post the video of it so everyone can see the reading of the citizen’s arrest, but for now, I can remember it like it was yesterday, vividly in my memory.

For a fuller account of what happened, I turn to a post by one of those who participated in the citizens arrest and fellow CodePink intern, Ashley Lopez, writing on CodePink’s blog, PINKTANK:

“On the morning of June 12th, a muggy, sweltering morning in D.C., Dooler Campbell, Burkely Hermann and I showed up to a breakfast and book signing with the infamous war criminal Donald Rumsfeld…The event was hosted by the Federalist Society and intended for young aspiring lawyers, eager to hear musings from the villainous old man himself. Why they paid the $25 admittance fee to not interrupt him and instead listen to his “sage” advice, I can never understand…our generation has never experienced a period of peace where the U.S. wasn’t engaged in this war of aggression. In our hearts we all knew that only through making our voices heard…Reminding Donald Rumsfeld that he has committed atrocious acts of violence in the name of our country…is only the tip of the iceberg of actions we need to participate in in order to stop this war from continuing any further…One of the things he said as we started reading our indictment was that he was no longer surprised when people acted as we did in his presence…If we aren’t all shouting at the hegemonic power “No, I will not stand by complicitly in your wrongful doings,” then how will things change?”

Most invaluable case of political persecution: persecution of James Risen by the US government

In my last honor roll, I said that the case of Chelsea Manning, still in prison even though she engaged in a heroic act of truth-telling, was the most invaluable case of political persecution. This time, I’d say that the persecution of James Risen, a journalist with the New York Times, is 2014's most invaluable case of political persecution. While a trial hasn’t occurred yet, the effort by the US government to go after James Risen for using classified information in his stories and book, State of War, has woken up at least some of the corporate mainstream media to the Obama’s war on whistleblowers. This war, with the Risen case, spying on AP reporters, and possibly the hacking of investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson’s computer, has spread to journalists as well. The case of James Risen reminds all of us of the importance of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Most invaluable journalistic organization: The Real News

Like last time, I think that The Real News wins this accolade again. In my view, The Real News, with their new studio in Baltimore, is even better than Democracy Now! (DN!) which has shows which are about one hour long every day Monday-Friday. I say this because The Real News, unlike DN! which is more intellectual, situates itself more as a movement resource. While both outlets are arguably part of the alternative media, The Real News, tries to get on the ground and work to produce their own stories in order to be fully on the side of commoner, while DN! does that, but in a long drawn out format with guests that rarely question American liberalism/progressivism. Back to The Real News, its news stories are especially helpful to those who want to make a change in the world as it exposes people to different perspectives, especially more radical ones.

Most invaluable act of indigenous resistance: resisting a South Korean naval base on Jeju island

Beyond the protests of indigenous people against energy extraction, be it the Keystone XL pipeline or surface mining, there is something even more powerful: a resistance movement against a military base. For over ten years, the Gangjeong people have resisted the construction of a South Korean naval base which will become a key “component of the missile defense system that the United States is building up in the Asia-Pacific region” as Elizabeth Murray noted in a recent article in Consortium News. The resistance on the island, which has intensified in recent years, includes the strong role of the Catholic Church, nonviolent resisters, and the persistence of local activists on the island of Jeju. Interestingly enough, even the Berkeley City Council supports this effort, declaring in a resolution that:

“residents on Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island, South Korea, have been organizing nonviolent protest…to stop the construction of a massive naval base which will destroy their community, way of life, and rich marine ecosystem…as recently as 1994, the U.S. military operationally controlled the South Korean military in peace as well as wartime, and still maintains wartime control…evidence has mounted that the Jeju base will be the site of U.S. warships…therefore it be resolved that, the Council…calls on Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Senators Feinstein and Boxer to urge the US military to cease supporting the military base now being built on Jeju Island, a base which will gravely harm the fragile ecology, damage the livelihood of the people of Jeju, and make this Island of Peace a pawn of the great powers and a magnet for military conflict”

Most invaluable journalist: Abby Martin, who hosts ‘Breaking the Set’

In the last people’s honor roll, this category was for the ‘most invaluable investigative journalist,’ but I expanded that to include any journalist, except those serving as ‘government stenographers’, not just investigative ones. While I have my criticism of Russia Today (RT), since it is funded by the Kremlin, and has a mainly pro-Russia agenda, Breaking the Set, Abby Martin’s RT show, is one of my favorites. This is because Abby Martin is fierce and committed to the truth, as she is not afraid to criticize the Russian government at times while also offering stinging criticism of the policies of the US government. While I don’t always agree with her views, I think her show is a great one as it serves almost as an attitude to the corporate mainstream media of the US.

Most invaluable whistleblower: unknown truth-teller

An article published in August of 2014 by The Intercept talked about a huge U.S. government database, the Terrorist Screening Database, with nearly half not connected to “any terrorist group.” The source of this article was a person in the intelligence community, not Snowden. While this person has not outed themselves like Snowden, preferring to stay anonymous, the revealing of information to The Intercept was a great public service.

Most invaluable writer: Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges

There are few writers out there who speak the truth, but Chris Hedges is one of them. There is no doubt that his columns on Truthdig are hard-hitting, as is his interviews on The Real News Network. While I feel that his analysis of Black Bloc and prison labor as a new form of slavery is wrong, his analysis of capitalism is spot on. Unlike Noam Chomsky who dismisses veganism and vegetarianism, comparing it to turning off lights, Hedges has fully embraced veganism, making an important point in one of most recent columns, writing that:

“…Once we desanctify animals we desanctify all life. And once life is desanctified the industrial machines of death, and the drone-like bureaucrats, sadists and profiteers who operate them, carry out human carnage as easily as animal carnage. There is a direct link between our industrial slaughterhouses for animals and our industrial weapons used on the battlefields in the Middle East…Industrial farms are factories. Machines kill the animals. And in modern warfare machines kill our enemies.”

Most invaluable musician(s): The Last Internationale

While I think Public Enemy and The Coup have great music that is socially relevant, there are a group of musicians that stands out. Its a band called The Last Internationale which I found out about thanks to Abby Martin’s Breaking the Set (see the entry on the most invaluable journalist). They’ve only released one album but their music is pretty good. They sing about topics such as genocide of the indigenous people of the United States in their song ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Indian Blood.’ One of my favorite songs is ‘1968' in which they sing that

“you’re not revolutionary/sit around talkin’ theories/we speak in a different fashion/our language is direct action!…no one or army can stop us!”

This song, like their other rocking songs, which remind me of Anti-Flag and Rage Against the Machine, really spoke to me because I’ve been in the position where I’ve sat around and discussed theories. This is why The Last Internationale are 2014's most invaluable musicians.

Most invaluable gender non-conformer: Leelah Alcorn (beyond the first sentence this section refers to her as Leelah)

Everyday transgender people kill themselves. On December 28th, 17 year old transgender teen Leelah Alcorn walked in front of a moving truck, killing herself. People such as Dan Savage have called for her parents to be prosecuted for their supposed abuse. These are the same parents who have misgendered Leelah since her death, using the masculine pronoun ‘he’ and calling her by her dead name, Josh. This means that Leelah’s mother and father have refused to accept her transgender identity, continuing the transphobic behavior that led her to commit suicide.

In her suicide note, Leelah talked about: how she felt like a “girl trapped in a boy’s body” since she was four years old; how her mother negatively reacted to her transgender identity, a reaction which made her hate herself; and that her parents didn’t give her consent to start transitioning to be transgender by having hormone replacement therapy. Additionally, she wrote about how when she came out as gay her parents were pissed, so they took away her laptop and phone for five months and took her out of public school (she took online courses instead), which threw her into deep depression. While she got her phone and laptop back, she still believed, according to the suicide note, that it was getting worse for her everyday. The last sentences of the note are the most powerful, as she wrote that she’d rest in peace when transgender people are “treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights,” that gender needs to be taught in schools, and finally that:

“My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year [2014]. I want someone to look at that number and say “that’s fucked up” and fix it: fix society. Please”

This suicide is horrifying and yes, to use Leelah’s words, its “fucked up” as it is just part of a larger trend. [3] Still, her suicide note is a powerful statement which makes one question religion. This in and of itself is not surprising, as she posted over 2 months ago under the username nostalgiaprincess on Reddit that she “hated religion” and that she was the “only atheist and openly queer member of my [her] family” (see here) despite the fact she was glad that some religious people could accept atheists. Earlier, on a subreddit, r/suicidewatch, she had posted that her life is “only going to get harder” and she quibbed that she had “never been lonelier in my entire life.” To close out here are Leelah’s words about gender, which will always be true [4]:

“Gender identity isn’t a “trend” like the iPhone is. Nobody just one day decides they want to be the opposite gender. It’s a part of your personality that you’ve had your whole life and you want to express it.”

Most invaluable outspoken radical: Ben Norton

I know no one better to pick for this. Ben is a consistent outspoken radical, calling out privatized healthcare, Abbas’s complicity with Israeli war crimes, the absurdity of the Paris march against the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Islamophobia, hate speech, crimes of the ‘West,’ imperialism, and “Islamic” terrorism just in the past 24 hours! He has written for outlets such as Socialist Worker, CounterPunch, ZNet, and Truthout, among many others. Additionally, he interned at CodePink last summer just like me, and I barely missed him. Anyway, he’s also a musician, a person who helps with films, does creative writings and artwork, and much more. All in all, he is the most deserving of this award out of anyone I know.

Most invaluable thinker: feminist philosophy professor Karen Warren

Last semester I read a book which really made me think and was exciting just from the cover. It was Karen Warren’s Ecofeminist Philosophy: A Western Perspective on What It Is and Why It Matters. While some of the philosophical concepts are complex and I’m still working them out, Warren’s idea of a logic of domination and different forms of an up-down hierarchy which interested me since they are definitely adaptable to many fields and topics. Already I cited Warren in an article about gay marriage, and will likely continue to cite her book in the year to come. Warren’s ecofeminist insights are not only interesting, but they make you think about ethics and the environment in a unique way. More of that is what is needed today and that’s why Karen Warren is 2014's most invaluable writer at least in my view.

Most invaluable protest group/social justice organization: Tallahassee Dream Defenders

While I think that the organization, If Americans Knew, is a good one, there is one organization which has taken a bold stand. In a recent resolution they declared that they “stand against capitalism,” advocated for nation-building and “the liberation of oppressed nations,” in part by pushing for “an independent African-American nation with the right of self-determination.” The stand by this Dream Defenders chapter is a bold one, one which I fully support and hope other chapters will follow their lead.

Most invaluable artist: Tom Tomorrow (Dan Perkins)

While Tom Tomorrow (Perkins’s pen name) isn’t an artist in the sense of painting something, he is a cartoonist, and for the sake of argument, that’s an art form. I always like his comics and I laugh at how true they are everytime I read them whether in The Nation or in the Baltimore City Paper. Tom Tomorrow’s comics are always topical and spot on. Bravo!

Most invaluable movie: tie between Robocop & Snowpiercer

While I don’t watch many Hollywood movies since I think most of them are pretty bad, there was one movie that was great in the past year: the Robocop remake. The themes in it are very topical as the film depicts a jingoistic TV host played by Samuel L. Jackson who is mad that a law exists banning drones from being used in the US, but can be used abroad. The premise of the movie is that one corporation, Omnicorp, is trying to sell their products to the United States market, products which have been tested abroad. Joel Kinnaman, who played Holder in the now-ended TV series, The Killing, is picked to be the prototype for a part-robot-part-human cop after his car explodes, severely injuring him. Kinnaman as a robocop, still property of Ominicorp, has surveillance footage from the city’s cameras put into his brain so he can catch criminals in Chicago. Beyond the overall story, there are pertinent themes such as: a concern about privacy, parallels to the present debate over drone warfare, connections between police and military abroad, corporate greed, and much more. All in all, despite its violent nature, it is an interesting movie that is worth watching.

While Robocop is a great movie, Snowpiercer was even better, and is likely even more violent. Not only did the creators of the comic the movie is based on thank people for pirating the comic, but the movie is about class struggle and revolution. The story in short is that a train is going around the world with the last remnants of humanity inside its walls, a perfect microcosm of class society. While the bloody revolution ends up being a form of population control (*spoiler alert!*) by the ruthless capitalist, Wilford, who runs the train, to defend his interests and maintain “balance” on the train, it is refreshing to see a movie with broadly leftist themes, like Elysium, despite its flawed nature. While the revolution is led by a white actor, like Elysium, two characters, both Korean computer technicians, who know how to open doors by playing with wires, become heroes in a sense. By the end of the movie, and I won’t say how, only two humans are left, consisting of a young female Korean technician and a black kid named Timmy, who are the supposedly last remnants of humanity. Unlike other movies, this means that the part of humanity that is left are people of color, not white Anglo-Europeans, an interesting twist.

Most invaluable book: Lawrence Wittner’s Rebels Against War (1969)

I read books all the time, but this book in particular is a good one. Its a bit old, but its pretty interesting as it is the history of the peace movement, before, after and during World War II, including the period from 1941–1960. The book fascinating because it chronicles the history of the peace movement through the eyes of those who participating in it. In this way, Wittner’s book provides a unique outlook on events like the Kennedy Presidency, the beginning of the Cold War, and the creation of the UN, which other books don’t provide.