Never Loose Hope

So many folks are scared. And for good reason. But there are mass mobilizations going on around the world in spite of the current president elect of the US. While reformist, this site is doing their part to organize, mobilize, and foster action. Perhaps the revolutionaries must join with the reformists, somehow, someway on this one...

Do not be afraid.  You are re not alone. Stay safe, self care, community love. RISE UP!

Words of Inspiration by Dr. Cornel West

Now more than ever, read, reflect, give thanks, share, and activate. All words by Dr. West. In Solidarity!

"The country is in deep trouble. We've forgotten that a rich life consists fundamentally of serving others, trying to leave the world a little better than you found it. We need the courage to question the powers that be, the courage to be impatient with evil and patient with people, the courage to fight for social justice. In many instances we will be stepping out on nothing, and just hoping to land on something. But that's the struggle. To live is to wrestle with despair, yet never allow despair to have the last word."

"Hope and optimism are different. Optimism tends to be based on the notion that there's enough evidence out there to believe things are gonna be better, much more rational, deeply secular, whereas hope looks at the evidence and says, "It doesn't look good at all. Doesn't look good at all. Gonna go beyond the evidence to create new possibilities based on visions that become contagious to allow people to engage in heroic actions always against the odds, no guarantee whatsoever." That's hope. I'm a prisoner of hope, though. Gonna die a prisoner of hope."

"It's clear that he was incredibly courageous in his critique of white supremacy, wealth inequality, and imperial power as it relates to war in particular. But it's easy to deodorize Martin King, to sanitize or sterilize him. And I simply want to reveal his radical love and his radical analysis as what they really were."

"There is a price to pay for speaking the truth. There is a bigger price for living a lie."

"Certainly Martin Luther King, in the mainstream perception of him, had a dream. Yes, he did. But the question becomes, what was that dream? It wasn't the American Dream. It was a dream that all human beings, especially poor and working people, be treated with dignity."

"Every president needs to deal with the permanent government of the country, and the permanent government of the country is Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats and the questions becomes what is the relationship between that president and Wall Street."

For more go to here. 

Do You Vote?

It's a perplexing thing to the radical. To the ones that see beyond the box. When you know the current system will never foster peace, justice, and sustainability to all life in the world with equity, why believe in the system? Why take the bait and be forced to choose between two parties that are both as evil as evil can be? Just because "you have to"?

This election is different. But it's really not. Will fascism win, or will the US crown their first woman? Will patriarchy be smashed if Clinton wins, or will imperialism by way of economy and militaristic pursuits continue unabated? Could Trump, with all his hate for ANYONE who is not rich, white, and identifies as male really be the next leader of the executive branch of the US government?  What will you do?

The Reality of Islamaphobia and white Terrorism in the US

In a piece written last spring, author Tom Cahill makes it absolutely clear that, "white terrorists have killed more Americans on U.S. soil than Muslim terrorists since the 9/11 attacks."

Not only that, but "attacks by white terrorists are also twice as frequent, with 18 homegrown terror attacks between 2004 and 2015, and just 9 terror attacks rooted in Islamic extremist ideology."

Yes Donald Trump is normalizing hate as he continues to gain support in the US, but for those who are interested in peace and justice, the truth is what goes down in Chicago everyday is not reported in the mainstream media. I wonder how many innocent people in Yemen, Afghanistan, and Iraq (and elsewhere) have REALLY been killed under orders from the current president?

Take a read below, check out the comments, and think about it. White privilege is real, and continues to wield power in the US. Just look at white nationalist David Duke running for the senate in Louisiana and his support for the GOP and Trump. 

"We" must understand that power has rippled across the social fabric of the US in such a way that race, culture, ethnicity, religion, spirituality, gender identity, sexual identity, class, physical ability, and age have all been used as tools to dominate. Don't buy into the rhetoric, educate yourself from every angle and the truth will be there; in solidarity!

More recent resources from Democracy Now!: 

Professor Calls for Fighting Systemic Ignorance That Leads to Islamophobia in the Classroom

U.S. Muslims Fear Hate Crimes & Overreaction by Law Enforcement in Wake of Chelsea Bombing

Could Cellphone Alerts Used to Search for New York Bombing Suspect Open Door for Attacks on Muslims?

From: US UNCUT 

While Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are using the Brussels attack to foment Islamophobia amongst their respective bases, it’s important to note that white terrorists have killed more Americans on U.S. soil than Muslim terrorists since the 9/11 attacks.

The New America Foundation (NAF), a think tank funded by prominent universities and foundations, has been keeping track of all terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11, and found that not only have white terrorists killed more Americans than jihadists, but attacks by white terrorists are also twice as frequent, with 18 homegrown terror attacks between 2004 and 2015, and just 9 terror attacks rooted in Islamic extremist ideology.

To define what constitutes a terrorist, NAF has very specific criteria:

The purpose of this database is to provide as much information as possible about American citizens and permanent residents engaged in violent extremist activity as well as individuals, regardless of their citizenship status, living within the United States who have engaged in violent extremist activity. We examine both those individuals motivated by Jihadist ideology, understood as those who worked with or were inspired by al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups, as well as those motivated by other ideologies that are non-Jihadist in character, for example right wing, left wing, or idiosyncratic beliefs.

NAF’s list of terrorist attacks since September 11, 2001 includes 9 attacks led by jihadists, which have killed 45 people — the most recent attack being the San Bernardino shooting in December that killed 14 and wounded 21 — and 18 attacks by American right-wing extremists that killed 48 people.

Most notably, while there were zero terror attacks on U.S. soil by Islamic extremists between June 2, 2009 and April 14, 2013, there were eight attacks by right-wing extremists in that time frame. The most deadly of those attacks was the Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin in 2012, which left six dead and four wounded.

But despite the frequency and brutality of white terror attacks, there are far more Muslim terrorists prosecuted and/or killed for their crimes in 11 of the 15 years studied. As the chart below shows, the only years between 2001 and 2015 where non-jihadist terrorists were indicted or killed for their crimes more than their jihadist counterparts were 2001, 2004, 2008, and 2012:

Additional data shows that while jihadists were diverse in ethnicity, an overwhelming majority of American terrorists were white. Out of 182 total non-jihadist perpetrators of terror attacks in the US between 2001 and 2015, 165 were white. And while Trump is proposing an outright ban on Muslims entering the US as a way to combat terrorism, he ignores the fact that a vast majority of terrorists, both right-wing and Islamic, are American-born citizens:

What these numbers show is that there is no catch-all solution to stop extremist terrorism. But it’s evident that simply profiling Muslims and treating all new immigrants as potential jihadists is both discriminatory and counterproductive.

Tom Cahill is a writer for US Uncut based in the Pacific Northwest. He specializes in coverage of political, economic, and environmental news. You can contact Tom via email at tom.v.cahill@gmail.com.

Today is #NoDAPL Day of Action!

In the largest gathering of diverse Native Tribes, across Canada and the US in decades, today is a day of action to say no to the Dakota Access Pipeline. I hope you have already heard about those protecting this land in North Dakota. If not, here is a reason to act in solidarity today, and to better understand how important this struggle is right now.

From: actionnetwork.org

Be part of a national day of action against the Dakota Access Pipeline on Tuesday, September 13! Find an event near you, or sign up to host an action in solidarity with the indigenous communities and local farmers and landowners fighting on the front lines.

Right now, we’re witnessing one of the most courageous stands against a fossil fuel project this country has ever seen. The movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline is growing stronger by the day, and it’s time for all of us to rise up and play a role in this fight – no matter where we live.

For tips and tools on hosting an event -- click here.

If built, Dakota Access would carry toxic fracked oil from North Dakota across four states and under the Missouri River, immediately upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Nation. That makes it a threat to the sacred land and water of Native communities and a disaster for the climate. 

Thousands of Indigenous activists have set up prayer camps along the pipeline route in a historic moment of nonviolent resistance. They're fighting with everything they have to protect their water, the land, their history, and the climate -- and we need to fight with them.

To defeat a pipeline, it takes a movement of people from all corners of the nation. That’s why on Tuesday, September 13, people around the country are taking part in a day of action in solidarity with Standing Rock calling on President Obama to instruct the Army Corps of Engineers to revoke the permits for this dirty oil pipeline.

Here are more ways to support activists on the front lines:

• Actions targeting financial institutions funding the pipeline are happening around the country between now and September 17. Learn more here and find an event near you here.
• Contribute to the Sacred Stone Camp legal defense fund
• Contribute to the Sacred Stone Camp supply fund
• Contribute to the Red Warrior Camp legal defense fund
• Purchase supplies for the Red Warrior Camp through this wishlist registry
• Donate to support pipeline fighters in North Dakota and Iowa through Bold Nebraska
• Call the White House at (202) 456-1111 telling President Obama to rescind the Army Corps of Engineers' Permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline
• Spread the word on social media using #NoDAPL

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Supporting Organizations:
Honor the Earth
Indigenous Environmental Network

350.org
CREDO Action
Sierra Club
Bold Alliance
Greenpeace
U.S. Climate Plan 
Environmental Action
Just Foreign Policy
Climate Hawks Vote
Stand.Earth
MoveOn
Food and Water Watch
Environment America
WildEarth Guardians 
350 Louisiana 
Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) 
Earth Action, Inc. 
RuralOrganizing.org
Overpass Light Brigade
350PDX
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
350 Santa cruz
Oil Change International

Many argue that in order to truly foster justice, for all humans and the earth, more than a socio-environmental lens is needed. Critical examination of the world economic systems is what helps bring that perspective. This exchange from Mr. Hedges and Mr. Reich is fascinating. Here you have a "well intentioned", "progressive" democrat who believes capitalism can be "saved" and reform politically is possible. The other side does not agree, while providing several important thoughts that are useful in the fight for true peace, justice, and sustainability (if you can hang with listening to two white males for a bit:).

Part 1: 

Part II

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? by Frederick Douglass

Those of us at the PJS Blog feel fortunate to have the U.S. be our home country, but blind patriotism is at the core of the many modern day issues strewn across America. In this eloquent speech, Fredrick Douglass attacks, "the land of the free, and home of the brave" as it should. Imagine, if you or your ancestors were legally the property of another human being as a tool to increase wealth? And then in 2016, people told you to 'get over it'-there's no connection to the disproportionate amount of Black folks currently incarcerated, ongoing police brutality, and the BLM movement.

Never forget that these lands where english is forced as the only language, where white men are still given disproportionate benefits for simply their race and gender, where slavery built the economy, and the founding of the country is grounded in the genocide of Indigenous peoples, that there is always hope so long as you are willing to fight.

In Solidarity.