I can’t get the lack of shoes out of my mind. Ethiopian workers say that they are mistreated routinely in Saudi Arabia – sexual violence against domestic workers, beatings of all workers, harassment by the police. This has become normal. It is the way we live now.
Hondurans are demanding justice for the protesters and bystanders killed in the ongoing crackdown on opposition protests by the US-backed government of Honduras. Two months after general elections were marred by widespread reports of fraud, and one month after the US government stood by the contested results, repression and militarization continue unabated. Protests are ongoing against a government many Hondurans see as illegitimate and authoritarian.
We’ve had our first year of tweets and leaks from the White House, complete with reactions and outrage in the United States and abroad. The tsunami of words and feelings about Trump has dominated the media and is likely to continue. The question is: Will reactivity to Trump continue among activists, or are we ready to channel our passion into more focused movement-building for change?
Source: In These Times
After year one of the Trump presidency, women are furious. Now, many are asking where we go from here.
At the 2018 Chicago Women’s March, Mujeres Latinas en Accion community leader Frances Velez marched with members of the longstanding Latina empowerment organization, sporting glittery eyeliner and holding a sign that read, “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds!”
Velez’s path to empowerment wasn’t easy. Ten years ago, she turned to Mujeres as a survivor of domestic abuse. Now, she’s an activist. As she says, “If I can do it, anybody else can do it.”
For the well-being of most everyone—including the rich—equality is more important than growth.
A new report from Oxfam reveals how the global economy empowers the richest 1% while hundreds of millions of people struggle to survive. “The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system,” said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam. “The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors.”
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019