The 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s March on Washington is just days away

A message from the NAACP. Let them, and everyone else know how the Dr.'s words have inspired you:

Thanks to stories from men and women all across the country, the NAACP social media history campaign to remember that historic day has been an incredible success.

Each story we receive stands as a reminder of the challenges we have overcome and our perseverance to carry on. And although each story was unique, they were all powered by the same four words: I have a dream.

Do not miss out on this opportunity to be a part of history. Tell the NAACP how Dr. King's epic speech inspired you:

http://action.naacp.org/yourstory

Last week, to commemorate Dr. King, a woman named Gloria wrote in to tell us her story. Her words really inspired me:


"On August 28, 1963, I was sitting in my all black class room with my fellow students glued to the TV. I was feeling very important that day not just because of my turning twelve years old, which was a big thing for me, but also because I was experiencing something that I was to carry with me for the rest of my life.

"When Dr. King's time to speak finally came I was hooked, I knew that my place and my purpose was to hear and to experience the soul of a Dream. That fateful day would not only define the struggle of a people, my people, it would forever create in me the proud Black person, woman, wife, mother, and grandmother that I am today. I will always remember the day August 28,1963 as the day I vowed to always make my people's struggle mine. Thank You Dr. King for helping us strive for the Reality."

When you shared your thoughts you proved something that I have always felt: that the dream is still alive and we are all a part of it.

This movement is so much bigger than one person or one speech. It is the culmination of centuries of struggle triumphing over oppression, forging the path toward equality. And every story brings us one step closer to achieving that dream.

Share your story with the NAACP today:

http://action.naacp.org/yourstory

My deepest thanks,

Ben Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP


P.S. -- This Saturday I will be walking the streets of DC with the National Action Network for "Reclaiming the Dream." The event will commemorate the anniversary of the March on Washington with proper respect. If you're in the DC area, please join us:

http://action.naacp.org/reclaimevent

10/10/10 will be a day of work parties for our climate all over the world

Think about organizing an event, or getting involved if you can:

Friends of the Earth is partnering with 350.org and other allied groups to organize a global work party on October 10, 2010 (10/10/10).

Congress has failed to act aggressively to solve to the climate crisis, and we've decided that we're not waiting for them any longer. On Oct. 10, on every corner of the globe, we will implement climate solutions: from solar panels to community gardens, wind turbines to bike workshops. We'll tell leaders: “We're getting to work--what about you?”

These actions will demonstrate to Washington the broad public support that exists for climate solutions, and can help shame politicians into siding with people and the planet instead of corporate polluters.

Please use the form below to sign up to host an Oct. 10 action.

It's still early, so it's okay if you don't yet know all the details of your local work party. There's a list of work-party ideas at www.350.org/workparty-ideas to get things moving, but don't worry if you don't have a game plan just yet.

If you register now, we'll follow up and provide you with resources and support that can help you out along the way. We'll also try to connect you with supporters in your area who might be able to lend a hand.

http://www.foe.org/organize101010

Prop 8 Repealed!

On this Sunday, take a moment to contemplate the present victory for justice, peace and equality in California. In a historic ruling, one that will for surely see greater dialogue in the coming months, marriage was ruled a basic civil right no matter if it's between a woman and man, a man and man, or a woman and woman. Clearly the message that if two people love each other their gender should not marginalize their commitment was honored, and we should hope this ruling stands as an example for righting wrongs of the past that are rooted in unsustainable hate.

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/one_issue_three_rallies_marriage_equality_2008-2010

http://www.mercurynews.com/columns/ci_15696960?nclick_check=1

http://www.examiner.com/x-61222-Oklahoma-City-Democrat-Examiner~y2010m8d5-Prop-8-Blocked-in-California

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/04/MNBA1EP23K.DTL

July 24, 2010 is Animal Freedom Day

Celebrate Animal freedom Day with educating yourself and others regarding the many overlaps in lessons on peace, justice and sustainability the comes from recognizing the right for all walks of life to be be treated with respect. The issues of environmental health, human health, and conscious living are intricately intertwined with the efforts of this celebration.

Here's some words from organizer and activist Nadia Masoudi:


Dear Friends:

Animal Freedom Day is fast approaching and will be taking place this Saturday July 24th!

We hope that you are looking forward to this day as much as we are.

We want to thank everyone for all of your support with Animal Freedom Day. Not only have you helped to make this event worth while but we have also been receiving amazing responses from many. A special thanks goes to those who have organized their own events around the world for Animal Freedom Day.

I would like to remind you and invite everyone you know (including your family, friends, co-workers, network, etc.) to watch us online on July 24th.
In addition, I also encourage you to sign up and take the "Veg Pledge" - "Be a veggie for one day."

Find out how you can help the environment, your health, the animals and world hunger by being a vegan for one day.

Be a part of Animal Freedom Day and speak to us live via Skype. Share your thoughts, feelings and your efforts. Our Skype account name is animalfreedomday.

Make sure to watch us live online at www.animalfreedomday.com

Animal Freedom Day has been making a lot of buzz these days. Please visit AFD's Media Page and have a look.

With your participation in Animal Freedom Day you will be included as part of the climactic moment of the film Don't Eat Me. You will be able to view never before seen footage from Don't Eat Me on Animal Freedom Day during our program. Don't Eat Me is planned to be released in summer 2011.<>

With your contribution Animal Freedom Day has become an international celebration.

Once again thank you for your support and love of animals.

Let's make every day an Animal Freedom Day.

Happy Animal Freedom Day!
Best,
Nadia Masoudi

Filmmaker/Activist
(905) 540-3804 ext: 470
Direct E-mail: nadia@animalfreedomday.com
www.donteatme.ca
www.animalfreedomday.com

A Poem

The following written prose is a gift from activist Joemae Santos,

The pride of the nation

The time you had privileges and had food was when others were suffering
The pain of the hot sun attacks our skin
as our flesh burns
along as gasoline burns
and the black smoke lands on her face and
it’s the word itim that enters others mouths
cause it’s best to be white
be embarrassed of
your skin
her skin
his skin
our skin
because it’s ugly
not nice to look at so
go back to working in the streets with a mile to walk
for decent cup of water
that’ll be empty before you get where your going
because it’s the heat like a net caressing our population
increasing the sweat that nurtures our land
ang lupa hiniram, NO “this land is your land” stuff cause
ever since Rizal’s time we’ve been tough
with nothing but the clothes on our backs
we worked till the rich were happy and satisfied with our pain
we are strong we fight for survival and die for necessities this is the
Filipino the ones who fought with pride
against others cause a fight was what they provoked
the joking matter of death spoke spoke
spoke like a speech that will never be forgotten
don’t ever forget the blood that drizzled
as the cold hearted hearts of our enemies beated
alongside the cries for help that pinoys and pinays
asked for back then
back then in history we were discovered
but lapu lapu sparked our defensive attitude
towards the many islands that can say
Salamat Ninoy at Cory for you made change that was greatly needed
we need to be given our needs
our lives at stakes with rain water at our knees
the houses that tremble and stand on nothing but a stick
with the protection from our trope from the scary scary man
that looks at me up and down and the
gossip that’s always being murmured from ear to ear and
the disgusted look people give you if you are poor rich
as to who
who huh will be accepted
but it’s the bone breaking
pride
thinkin’
sweatin’
tearin’
up person that walks through this land
like life is as easy as the gravel is like fire
while their feet sizzle like coal underneath Jollibee’s grill
but the child waits outside for maybe
just maybe someone will throw their half eaten burger
it’s starvation the lack of money is to much to
bear cause the cardboard bed beside the mango tree is painful
insects are easily feeding on me but I won’t
repeat that WON’T die off these islands without
a meaning cause it’s the meaning of pride
we have learned to carry and pass on to others because as a
Pinay my history will live
thru the children who beg
thru the jeepney that runs
thru the teen that works graveyard
thru the palenke that smells
thru the elders that protest
thru the land we have lived on and
No we will never give up on ourselves because
they are
we are
I are

Filipinos are worth dying for

Isreal Assault Leaves Several Dead, Continues Injustice in Gaza

After Israel assaulted a humanitarian aid ship bound for the Gaza strip, many have stood up to speak about this completely unnecessary act of brutality.

The question is, how does this influence the Middle East peace process, and where does this act lie in the continued struggle for justice in the Gaza strip?

Coverage of headlines from Democracy Now!

Flotilla Survivors Deported from Israel
Survivors aboard the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip have begun to provide their accounts of the Israeli assault that left at least nine people dead and sparked an international uproar. Israel has begun deporting the 682 people seized from the ships during the assault. Many have challenged Israeli military claims that soldiers acted in self-defense after repelling onto the Mavi Marmara. Some say Israeli troops opened fire before boarding the vessel. Passengers on other ships in the flotilla say they were threatened at gunpoint.

Aid Ship Continues Gaza Trek as New Flotilla Planned
Despite the assault, another aid ship has set sail for Gaza intending to challenge the Israeli blockade. The ship is named after Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in March 2003. The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza, meanwhile, has announced it’s planning a flotilla of even more ships than the first to set sail for Gaza in the coming weeks.

US Maintains Refusal to Condemn Flotilla Assault
The Obama administration has refused to condemn the Israeli assault. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlined the US stance in Washington.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "The United States supports the Security Council’s condemnation of the acts leading to this tragedy, and we urge Israel to permit full consular access to the individuals involved and to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded immediately. We urge all concerned countries to work together to resolve the status of those who were part of this incident as soon as possible. We support, in the strongest terms, the Security Council’s call for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation. We support an Israeli investigation that meets those criteria."

Ban: Lifting Gaza Blockade Would Have Prevented Flotilla Deaths
All the permanent members of the Security Council except for the United States have called for Israel’s three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip to be lifted. On a visit to Uganda, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon renewed his demand for an end to the blockade.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "Had the Israeli government heeded to international calls and my own strong and urgent and persistent call to lift the blockade of Gaza, this would not have happened. Therefore, it is again very important and urgently required that Israelis would immediately lift this blockade of Gaza."

Thousands Worldwide Protest Flotilla Assault
Global protest, meanwhile, continues to grow in the aftermath of the assault. Tens of thousands of people turned out in rallies across the world Tuesday, from South Africa to Greece to Lebanon to England to cities across the United States. Here in New York, a large crowd marched on the Israeli consulate.

Remi Kanazi: "I think anybody, a person of conscience, should be here today to stand in solidarity with the Gaza boats, with the aid boats, with the people of Gaza. I mean, as an American citizen, my tax dollars are going to fund every single Israeli bullet, every Apache helicopter, Hellfire missile, cluster bomb, white phosphorus, and I think we need to stand up. It’s important to educate, but it’s also important to take action. And being in the streets or engaging in boycott, divestment and sanctions, we need to be engaged in the community, we need to be part of the grassroots, and we need to be moving things forward and standing in solidarity with Palestinian society."

US Student Loses Eye After Israel Fires on West Bank Protest
Meanwhile, an American college student has lost her left eye after being shot in the face by an Israeli tear-gas canister during a protest against the flotilla assault in the occupied West Bank. The student, twenty-one-year-old Emily Henochowicz, underwent surgery in a Jerusalem hospital on Tuesday. The Israeli peace activist Jonathan Pollack witnessed the attack.

Jonathan Pollack: "It was a spontaneous and quite small demonstration against the atrocious violence on that ship coming to Gaza, a hundred people at its largest at the beginning. And at the time Emily was shot, there were about, I don’t know, twenty people at most there. Emily was standing aside from where things were happening, and at some point the border police officers just started shooting indiscriminately, shooting directly at us tear-gas projectiles, one from a very small distance of about twenty, ten to twenty meters. Emily was hit in the face by one of those, and it was intentionally aimed towards us. There could have been no mistake, the small distance and the place where she was standing at."

Major Oil Spill Continues to Damage the Gulf Coast

It's been over a month since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig began shedding its pollutants throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and the onslaught to residents both human and non-human species alike continues unabated. Even the most cynical of activists didn't think this disaster would explode with the magnitude of impact it has brought to the Gulf Coast. Worst case scenarios painted by BP executives state up to 85.3 million gallons of oil may have already been spilled. Compare that to 10.8 that was Valdez!


It's funny to listen to President Obama call into question the leases for off-shore oil drilling expansion he recently allowed before this disaster first struck. Really, why now? Because national and world-wide media are covering what's quickly becoming one of the deadliest ecological disasters in history? Have "we" not learned that it's better to promote long-term, sustainable planning in the beginning rather than be forced to react with conscious thought after disaster strikes? Apparently the forward progression of renewable energy generation and "clean power" policy have not been felt at home enough for Obama to understand the travesty of nuclear power, "clean" coal, or continued exploitation of a finite and non-renewable, dirty source or energy like petroleum.


It's alarms me to find hope in this continued disaster, to an area of the US still economically, socially, and environmentally distraught from Hurricane Katrina. Couple this catastrophe with the failure of the US Government to rightfully aid and assist the ecosystems and community members devastated by that Hurricane, and you have to wonder how Louisiana will bounce back, again. Yet I can only hope that somehow, the continuous volume of pollutants that reach the US shoreline (never mind the greater oceanic health concerns) send a lasting message that, that's right, WE NEED CHANGE. And change does not equal business as usual, but rather the forward, progressive thinking many hoped Obama would (and perhaps still can?) bring to US politics, aka, the definition of business as usual.


I'll throw a "Yes We Can" to that, and offer a few current resources to read about what's happening in the Gulf.





From Democracy Now!

BP Rejects EPA Demand to Use Less-Toxic Dispersants
The British oil company BP has rejected demands from the Obama administration to use less-toxic chemical dispersants to break up the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the past month, BP has used about 715,000 gallons of the chemical Corexit, made by the Illinois-based company Nalco. The chemical is banned in Britain, and scientists have questioned its safety as well as effectiveness compared to other dispersants. Last week the Environmental Protection Agency ordered BP to switch chemical, but BP is now fighting that order. The dispute between the EPA and BP highlights the power the oil company has been granted in controlling the cleanup of the spill. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen was questioned on CNN about BP.

Candy Crowley: "And they say, why is BP in control now? They don’t trust BP, so why is BP in control of this?"

Thad Allen: "I don’t think it’s an issue of control. What makes this an unprecedented, anomalous event is access to the discharge site is controlled by the technology that was used for the drilling, which is owned by the private sector. They have the eyes and ears that are down there. They are necessarily the modality by which this is going to get solved. Our responsibility is to conduct proper oversight to make sure they do that."

On Sunday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visited the Houston command center where scientists for BP and the government have been working to plug the blown-out well.

Ken Salazar: "I am angry and I am frustrated that BP has been unable to stop this well from leaking and to stop this pollution from spreading. We are thirty-three days into this effort, and deadline after deadline has been missed."

Bipartisan Commission to Probe BP Oil Spill
President Obama has created a bipartisan commission to investigate the oil spill disaster. Heading the probe will be Democrat Bob Graham, a former US senator, and Florida governor and Republican William Reilly, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

President Obama: “If the laws on our books are inadequate to prevent such an oil spill, or if we didn’t enforce those laws, I want to know it. I want to know what worked and what didn’t work in our response to the disaster and where oversight of the oil and gas industry broke down. We know, for example, that a cozy relationship between oil and gas companies and the agencies that regulate them has long been a source of concern.”

Despite Moratorium, New Offshore Drilling Permits OKed
The New York Times reports that in the days since President Obama announced a moratorium on permits for drilling new offshore oil wells, at least seven new permits for various types of drilling and five environmental waivers have been granted.

Other sources of information:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/05/oil-spill-threatens-wetlands/1

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/science/earth/25spill.html?hpw

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/01/us/20100501-oil-spill-tracker.html?ref=earth

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/05/7-secrets-bp-doesnt-want_n_563102.html

http://unearthed.earthjustice.org/category/tags/oil?gclid=CIrh3dfg7KECFQykiQodClyCOw

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0524/BP-oil-spill-pushes-Louisiana-to-desperate-massive-berm-plan

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/49/024/Gulf_Oil_Spill:_EPA_and_U.S._Coast_Guard_Consider_BP_s_Scientific_Analysis_Of_Alternative_Dispersants_Insufficient.html