Happy November 30!

Seattle WTO Shutdown 9 Year Anniversary: 5 Lessons for Today
by David Solnit

"What lessons can we learn from the shutdown of the 1999 WTO Ministerial in Seattle 9 years ago today and from the last decade and a half of global justice organizing as we face today's major crises under an Obama Administration? This was the question a group of organizers from different parts of the last decades of global justice organizing responded to last week at a forum in New York City put together by Deep Dish TV, an independent video/media pioneer. Here are my thoughts..."

Click the link above to read David's comments on social movements, the WTO, the Obama Administration, and five organizing lessons:

1) UPROOT THE SYSTEM

2) ORGANIZE STRATEGICALLY

3) PEOPLE POWER

4) EXPERIMENT IN THE LABORATORY OF RESISTANCE

5) TELL STORIES



Photo by Al Crespo, from wtohistory.org; article from CommonDreams.org.

Beyond Cages and Walls

"I Hope," by Eduardo Galeano

"Will Obama prove, at the helm of government, that his threats of war against Iran and Pakistan were only words, broadcast to seduce difficult ears during the election campaign?

"I hope. And I hope he will not fall, even for a moment, for the temptation to repeat the exploits of George W. Bush..."

Click here for the full commentary.

whose heroes?

My friend Gus, a great lover of history and a retired Lt. Colonel of the U.S. Marines, wrote the following on a recent trip to Mexico City. Every time he travels, which is often, he writes travelogues full of history and wonder.

Chapultepec Castle, site of the battle during the Mexican-American War in 1847. I am a little uncomfortable here. This is a sensitive site for Mexicans. On Sept 12-13, General Winfield Scott took the castle from General Santa Anna in a bloody battle that has been central to Mexican-American relations ever since.

Many non-combatant Mexicans were killed in the battle, as were six young teenage cadets from the military academy in the castle. Five of those cadets died in the battle, and the sixth wrapped himself in a Mexican flag and jumped to his death from the castle ramparts to avoid capture. The six are immortalized as the "Ninos (Children) Heroes" in a colossal memorial at the foot of the castle hill.

The battle played a significant role in US history also. "From the Halls of Montezuma", the opening lines of the Marine Corps Hymn, originate from this battle. The red stripe on Marine Corps dress blue uniform trousers commemorates this victory. [I don´t know if this is true, but I have heard that the US Marines at the embassy in Mexico City are not to wear their dress blue trousers for that reason.] Robert E. Lee, George Pickett and Ulysses S. Grant were all participants in the battle.

Seattle folks, don't miss this

Correo Aéreo, Gabriel Teodros, Cristina Orbé, three of my favorite groups and musicians, and it is a fundraiser for KBCS, the best (and only) community radio station in town! (I hear Laura Love is good, too.)

No We Can't, White Folks

Now that Obama has won, here are five things white people shouldn't do ...

Click to read this from Christopher Beam & Chris Wilson on TheRoot.com.