Story Archives - Page 566 of 662

Interview with Letters From Young Activists Co-Editor Dan Berger

Bob Feldman January 25, 2006 Bob Feldman

Avalon Publishing Group/Nation Books firm published in November 2005 a book of letters from various younger Movement activists, titled Letters From Young Activists: Today’s Rebels Speak Out. The book was co-edited by Dan Berger, Chesa Boudin and Kenyon Farrow. It also contains a preface by former Weather Underground fugitive Bernardine Dohrn, who was one of the 1960s anti-war activists interviewed in the Oscar-nominated documentary film of a few years ago, The Weather Underground. (Co-editor Boudin’s still-imprisoned father, David Gilbert, was another of the 1960s anti-war activists interviewed in The Weather Underground movie). Toward Freedom recently interviewed Dan Berger about the Letters From Young Activists book project. read more

Why We Fight

Rob Williams January 24, 2006 Rob Williams

Documentary director Eugene Jarecki, director of the "The Trials of Henry Kissinger," has hit a triple with his new film "Why We Fight." There are many compelling reasons why the Sundance Film Festival may have decided to bestow the Jury Prize on "Why We Fight" last year. Jarecki is a talented filmmaker, with a keen aesthetic sense (his celluloid mojo - lighting, camera work, sound, artistic delivery - makes a film like Robert Greenwalt's recent "Wal-Mart" adventure look downright sloppy by comparison). He also is not afraid to serve up controversy.

Remembering the Day They Kicked Khrushchev Out of the Kremlin

Jack Goldfarb January 23, 2006 Jack Goldfarb

Castro & Khruschchev

October has ever been a fateful month in Russian history: the October Revolution (1917), launching of Sputnik I, world's first space satellite (1957), Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), and that startling day, 61 years ago, on October 16, 1964, when the Soviets announced the astonishing ouster of their top leader, Nikita Khruschchev. Khruschchev thus became the first Soviet boss removed from power in a bloodless coup.

Toward Freedom Goes to the World Social Forum and More!

Ben Dangl January 18, 2006 Ben Dangl

The World Social Forum is taking place this year in Caracas, Venezuela from January 24-29. The forum is an annual meeting held by activists, NGOs and social movements to coordinate world campaigns, share and refine organizing strategies, and inform each other about movements from around the world and their issues.

Toward Freedom has organized a workshop at the forum on the hopes and challenges of independent media. Participants in the panel will be Eva Golinger (Venezuelan journalist, author of "The Chavez Code"), Ben Dupuy (Co-Director, Haiti Progres newspaper), Teresa Valdez, (Cuban journalist), Scott Harris (radio producer, Between the Lines, Toward Freedom Board Member) Ben Dangl (journalist, editor, TowardFreedom.com, UpsideDownWorld.org). April Howard, a Spanish teacher and writer, will work as the translator for the panel. Other people have been invited to the panel as well, we’ll let you know who they when they confirm their participation. Stay tuned for more details about when and where this panel will take places. We hope to see you there. (Email Ben(at)towardfreedom.com for more details). Here’s a description of the event: read more

Why the World Social Forum Needs to Be Less Like Neoliberalism

Josh Lerner January 18, 2006 Josh Lerner

January is a special month for the global left. Every year at this time, progressives and activists convene at the World Social Forum, usually in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In January 2005, I too was eagerly awaiting my first trip to the Forum, imagining a week of cross-cultural communication, strategic organizing, and inspiring celebrations. Although I didn't know exactly what to expect, I did know one thing - the Forum would be an alternative to neoliberalism. So why did I walk away from Porto Alegre worried mostly about the similarities between the Forum and neoliberalism? And is there still reason to be worried, as the 2006 Forum approaches?

A Meeting of Minds

Michele Gibbs January 17, 2006 Michele Gibbs

Feeling depressed? Downhearted? Demoralized? Terrorized? Isolated? Take one copy of "The Quotable Rebel" and call me in the morning. This new anthology of "political quotations for dangerous times" contains wisdom as old as the hills and as current as a sign declaring "Arms Are for Hugging". Its editor, Teishan Latner, a 28-year-old Philadelphia-based activist, takes his responsibility seriously. He infuses his choices with all the global awareness and urgent energy of his generation located in the 'belly of the beast' in a time of war. A radical egalitarian, he mines this tradition, emphasizing the voices of first world peoples and the living. In this process, on subjects ranging from technology to food, animal rights to empire, work, life, death, law, and revolution, spirited exchanges arise.