The Mesoamerican Migrant Movement: An Interview with Ruben Figueroa
In the face of thousands of kidnappings and an inept government, Ruben Figueroa dedicates himself to finding disappeared Central American migrants in Mexico.
Month: March 2013
Apocalypse, Not? The Politics of Collapse and Rebirth – A Book Review
The year 2012 didn’t bring us the end of the world, nor the end of capitalism and Coca-Cola that Evo Morales promised last summer. But whatever new political developments the coming years may or may not bring upon us, it’s clear that we haven’t seen the end of the apocalyptic outlook that 2012 came to represent.
Saddam’s statue: the bitter regrets of Iraq’s sledgehammer man
Source: The Guardian Unlimited
Kadom al-Jabouri became famous when he took his hammer to the dictator’s statue. Now he wishes he had never done it
Ten years ago, Kadom al-Jabouri became the face of the fall of Baghdad. Pictured with a sledgehammer while attempting to demolish the huge statue of Saddam Hussein in the city’s Firdos Square, Jabouri’s jubilant act of destruction made front pages around the world.
For Tony Blair and President George W Bush, the image was a godsend, encapsulating the delight of a grateful nation that their hated dictator had been ousted. The US networks showed the statue’s fall for hours on end.
Brooklyn: On Kimani Gray, and on not walking away
Source: Waging Nonviolence
On Saturday, March 9, New York City police officers shot and killed 16-year-old Kimani Gray in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. After those seven bullets hit him, he lay on the ground and cried out, “Please don’t let me die.”
Please don’t let me die.
It may be one of the most human things I’ve ever heard, and it makes me want to cry. When I read it I felt like I had said it myself a thousand times before, and had heard the same vulnerability in the words and actions of other people in my life time and time again. It was also the most obvious thing for him to say. The officers shot him seven times — three times in the back. And then, yes, they let him die.
Caught in the Crossfire: Mali’s Nomadic Elephants at Risk
In Mali, the recent occupation of the north by Islamic fighters followed by the intensive military operation to oust them, has led to increasing concerns for the Gourma elephant herds whose number is estimated at just 550.
Noam Chomsky: Can Civilization Survive Capitalism?
The countries with large and influential indigenous populations are well in the lead in seeking to preserve the planet. The countries that have driven indigenous populations to extinction or extreme marginalization are racing toward destruction.