Angry White Kid

Remembering John Ross - a true rebel journalist

As many of you may know, John Ross passed away on Monday, January 17 at the age of 73, from liver cancer. I won’t try to replicate the many kind obituaries which have appeared in the U.S. and Mexican media in recent days.  In fact, I didn’t know John well, but our encounters over the years, by chance or intentional, as well as his constant production of books, poetry and articles, leave me wanting to say something.

I first met John about eleven years ago, when he was doing a national tour and I organized his visit to Vassar College.  He hopped in my car at the train station in Poughkeepsie and some of his first words were, “Mind if I smoke?”  Assuming he meant a cigarette I said sure, and he promptly sparked a tiny joint.  After settling in at my place, he gave a talk to a packed audience, interspersing political discussion about the Zapatistas and neoliberalism with beat poetry read with the aid of his much-commented-upon monocle.  Later, he stayed up late with us 18 and 19-year-old kids, regaling us with stories of how Jack Kerouac chased him around a bar in Greenwich Village with a broken bottle (he had hooked up with Kerouac’s girlfriend) or his thoughts on the Saint Patrick’s Battalion (they weren’t political, it was all about Catholicism).

That encounter, along with running into him at various events over the years, such as a memorial for Rachel Corrie or a protest against the war on Iraq, as well as his books and columns from Mexico Bárbaro to Blindman’s Buff, made a lasting impression on me and nourished a deep respect for this singular individual.  John was a person who knew his values, knew what mattered and was willing to face the consequences of what may come in his fight to uphold them - be they spending time in jail as the first conscientious objector to the Vietnam War; being deported by Saddam Hussein while trying to serve as a human shield against the second U.S. invasion; losing a eye to a San Francisco police beating; or a permanently injured back as a result of a beating from Israeli settlers.  Lest we leave Mexico out, he was also beaten by the federal police after berating Octavio Paz in the Mexico City airport.

But it was not only physical coercion at the hands of state oppressors that John was willing to face.  While he was quick with a smile, a great conversationalist, and truly generous and genuine with his time and attention, he called things as he saw them and if that resulted in a shot across your bow, so be it.  Perhaps the most notable manifestation of this in recent years was his criticism of the Zapatistas, the Other Campaign, and Subcomandante Marcos.  John was one of the first, if not the first, journalists to bring the Zapatista struggle to the attention of English-speakers in the U.S. and elsewhere.  Solidarity was John’s mantra, and he saw it as his task to help bring the U.S. left’s attention to social movements south of the border.  He traversed thousands of miles and spilled hundreds of pages of ink doing just that with the Zapatistas.  But when he saw the Other Campaign go astray, in his eyes, of its intent and the values of the Zapatistas, he did not hesitate to voice his concerns.  He did what is still considered heretical on the left: criticize the EZLN.  This certainly cost him in terms of friendships, distribution and readership, but John had always struck out on his own course, why would he stop in 2006 at the age of 69?

The last time I saw John was in April of last year, where I put together another event in the Lower East Side, to discuss the situation in Oaxaca, the case of assassinated journalist Brad Will, and the Mérida Initiative.  John was technically on a U.S. tour to promote his latest, and ultimately last, book, El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City, but that evening he didn’t even discuss it, in fact only bringing two copies to sell.  At that point his liver cancer was in remission and he seemed as feisty and energetic as he was when I first met him, maybe even more so, as he noted he was pleasantly surprised to still be alive. 

As we all know, his cancer returned and ultimately took his life.  In one of his last emails to me, he apologized for not writing his annual article about the murder of Brad Will, stating, “i’m gravely ill with liver cancer and just putting together a coherent article is not such an easy job these days - but i'll work on one for publication next week perhaps on the day of the dead (if i’m still among the living).”  In fact, he did write that article and lived to fight a couple of months more, his dedication and fire never failing.

Though he would likely scoff at the tributes, the truth is there are few people like John, and those people should be celebrated and remembered.  Thank you for all that you have given us, shown us and inspired in us, John.  We will pick up the torch that you have passed to us.

One Year of Unjust Detention: Free the Hikers NOW!

July 30 will mark one year since my friends Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal were detained by Iran.  One year of being held virtually incommunicado.  One year without access to a lawyer and without being charged.  For Sarah, one year of solitary confinement. 

The Nation magazine recently reported that the three were kidnapped in Iraqi territory by Iranian police, making this whole affair even more outrageous and unjust.  Shane, Sarah and Josh must be freed immediately and returned to their families, friends and comrades.

Events around the world will be held on and around July 30 to mark this miserable anniversary and to demand Iran release the hikers immediately.  Please see www.freethehikers.org to learn about the several ways to get involved and help out.

NYU refuses to negotiate

And they're also not letting security eat.

The only offer NYU has come up with in the face of the Kimmel Center occupation was that they'd agree to negotiations at 5PM today, but only if students left Kimmel by 4PM. Since it's after 4PM and the occupation is still going, you can guess what the students' response was.

At 5PM there will be a press conference in front of Kimmel Center. Come out and/or spread the word.

There's also now a sample letter and adminstration email addresses for people to use to express their support for the occupation and its demands.

NYU Occupied!

Demonstration in support of the NYU occupation:

Thursday, 12:15 PM
In front of Kimmel Student Center
60 Washington Square South, Manhattan, NYC

Since 10pm Wednesday night the third floor of the Kimmel Student Center at New York University has been occupied by more than 70 NYU and non-NYU students. Originally present for the first few hours of the occupation I had to leave for personal reasons, but it is still going strong and spirits are very high.  It was recently announced the head of NYU university relations has cut his vacation short and is flying back home.  They're clearly worried.

This is in direct solidarity with the many occupations occurring recently across the globe, from Greece to Britain to the New School and the University of Rochester.

There are 13 demands relating to NYU investments in war profiteers and occupation, the cost of tuition, the lack of transparency and the lack of respect for NYU workers.

See the full list of demands here. See live streaming video from the occupation here.

Help out and spread the word by:

• Come support the occupation!
• Send a letter to the administration in solidarity
• Send an e-mail to your professors, peers, listservs, facebook groups you name it! Tell the world.
• Have your parent write a letter or e-mail to the university
• Print the following demands and distribute them far and wide!

Uncritical Exuberance? Judith Butler's take on Obama

I really appreciate this essay by Judith Butler on the election of Obama and the salient points she makes. Since I couldn't find it online, I've decided to post it in full.

Uncritical Exuberance?
Judith Butler

Very few of us are immune to the exhilaration of this time.  My friends on the left write to me that they feel something akin to "redemption" or that "the country has been returned to us" or that "we finally have one of us in the White House."  Of course, like them, I discover myself feeling overwhelmed with disbelief and excitement throughout the day, since the thought of having the regime of George W. Bush over and gone is an enormous relief. And the thought of Obama, a thoughtful and progressive black candidate, shifts the historical ground, and we feel that cataclysm as it produces a new terrain.  But let us try to think carefully about the shifted terrain, although we cannot fully know its contours at this time.  The election of Barack Obama is historically significant in ways that are yet to be gauged, but it is not, and cannot be, a redemption, and if we subscribe to the heightened modes of identification that he proposes ("we are all united") or that we propose ("he is one of us"), we risk believing that this political moment can overcome the antagonisms that are constitutive of political life, especially political life in these times.  There have always been good reasons not to embrace "national unity" as an ideal, and to nurse suspicions toward absolute and seamless identification with any political leader.  After all, fascism relied in part on that seamless identification with the leader, and Republicans engage this same effort to organize political affect when, for instance, Elizabeth Dole looks out on her audience and says, "I love each and every one of you." 

It becomes all the more important to think about the politics of exuberant identification with the election of Obama when we consider that support for Obama has coincided with support for conservative causes.  In a way, this accounts for his "cross-over" success.  In California, he won by 60% of the vote, and yet some significant portion of those who voted for him also voted against the legalization of gay marriage (52%). How do we understand this apparent disjunction?  First, let us remember that Obama has not explicitly supported gay marriage rights. Further, as Wendy Brown has argued, the Republicans have found that the electorate is not as galvanized by "moral" issues as they were in recent elections; the reasons given for why people voted for Obama seem to be predominantly economic, and their reasoning seems more fully structured by neo-liberal rationality than by religious concerns.  This is clearly one reason why Palin's assigned public function to galvanize the majority of the electorate on moral issues finally failed.   But if "moral" issues such as gun control, abortion rights and gay rights were not as determinative as they once were, perhaps that is because they are thriving in a separate compartment of the political mind.  In other words, we are faced with new configurations of political belief that make it possible to hold apparently discrepant views at the same time: someone can, for instance, disagree with Obama on certain issues, but still have voted for him.  This became most salient in the emergence of the counter Bradley-effect, when voters could and did explicitly own up to their own racism, but said they would vote for Obama anyway. Anecdotes from the field include claims like the following: "I know that Obama is a Muslim and a Terrorist, but I will vote for him anyway; he is probably better for the economy."  Such voters got to keep their racism and vote for Obama, sheltering their split beliefs without having to resolve them.

ANSWER's big plan revealed

Confounded as to why anti-war sentiment in the US has been steadily increasing while attendance at their demonstrations (in monotony) has been decreasing, the ANSWER Coalition (who I've made clear I'm no fan of) released a proposal yesterday, asking What Should the Anti-War Movement Do Now?:

It is clear that the anti-war movement is not sufficiently strong at the moment to bring this criminal and despised war to an end. Every organization must ask why is this so and most importantly what can be done to change the situation immediately.

The first question to ask and answer is: Can a people's movement in the United States overcome the commitment of the White House, Congress and the Pentagon to authorize, extend and finance the war and occupation in Iraq?

If the answer to the question is yes...we must assess various factors and craft a strategy that will be fundamentally different from the current path of the anti-war movement. [Emphasis added]

So what's this great "new" strategy?  Unfortunately, it doesn't involve ANSWER dissolving and us rejoicing.  It involves...hold your breath...one big protest!  Taadaa!  Because that new/old strategy of organizing big protests has been working so well, ANSWER wants to get one million people to march on DC.  In six months to a year's time.  In the meantime, you can all take a nap.

Brilliant!  Why didn't anyone think of having a big protest in Washington, DC before? 

Oh wait, they have? 

Oh wait, and the war is still going on? 

Oh wait, no one pays attention to a "movement" that only involves showing your face once or twice a year at a boring, cop-coordinated rally?

Is this really the best that the "leaders of the vanguard" at ANSWER could come up with?  I guess adherence to Stalinism really does stifle creativity.

No wonder the US left is a worldwide laughingstock.  It's been co-opted (willingly) by the likes of ANSWER and their cult of banality and faux-dissent.

At this point, I think Bill Hicks and I are going to go watch American Gladiators.

SSA shut down at Port of Oakland

My crappy cell phone photo of the picket.

This (early) morning a community picket successfully shut down the war profiteer SSA (Stevedoring Services of America) at the Port of Oakland.  The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) locals decided to honor and not cross the 100+ strong community picket. 

Therefore SSA, which was at full capacity with three ships waiting to be loaded and unloaded, wasn't able to do any business this morning.  The picket is continuing as the second shift of longshore workers arrives at 4:30PM, hopefully to meet with the same results.  I'm sure more photos and reports will go up at Indybay. May this only be the beginning.

UPDATE: SSA was indeed shut down all day by the picket. From a obnoxiously sectarian reportback:

When scores of picketers blocked the gates at the SSA terminal beginning at 7 a.m., the company eventually gave up and called off the shift. In the evening, an arbitrator ruled that this was not a bona fide “health and safety issue” and ordered the workers to go to work. However, the dock workers collectively refused.

Saturday: Picket to shut down the war profiteers

March 19: Die-in

For assembly points, to get involved or more information, visit dieinmarch19.org.

Support political prisoners, old and new

Check out this new short video on two longtime Puerto Rican political prisoners - Oscar Lopez Rivera and Carlos Alberto Torres. Visit the ProLibertad Freedom Campaign and National Boricua Human Rights Network for more info.

And check out these excerpts (in two parts) of a talk by Harold Taylor, one of the former Black Panthers arrested last week, given four days before he was arrested.  The video screening on Sunday in San Francisco went very well - so many people showed they had to screen the film twice.  Help support these political prisoners. Check out the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and the Freedom Archives for more.

Part one:

Part two:

In other government repression news: Help defend journalist Sarah Olson (UPDATE 1: The army dropped the two charges against Lt. Watada that involved Sarah Olson, and therefore dropped the subpoena!). Activist Nadia Winstead beats a Grand Jury contempt rap.  And former professor Sami Al-Arian continues to be subject to abuse and harassment from this vindictive government and its Grand Juries.

Finally, this Friday, Feb. 2nd, at 6pm, there will be an event in solidarity with the political prisoners in Atenco and Oaxaca at Station 40.  Music, food, and talks on Atenco, Oaxaca, and the encuentro in Chiapas.  $5 - no one turned away - 3030B 16th St., near 16th/Mission BART in San Francisco.

UPDATE 2: In other great news, an immigration court ended the case of the LA 8 - two (not 8 anymore) Palestinians the government has been trying to deport for the past 20 years for distributing literature.

UPDATE 3: Three detainees being held indefinitely at "Guantanamo North" in Canada are facing serious health crises after being on hunger strike for two months due to a lack of medical supervision and the government's refusal to consider their just and reasonable demands. They are calling for support.