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Portland, Oregon, received national attention last December when its police bureau refused a request by Attorney General John Ashcroft to question 200 locals of Arab descent. Justifying the refusal, Portland officials cited a state law that prohibits police from collecting information on any group or individual without a “reasonable suspicion of criminal behavior.”

Despite the feeding frenzy, mainstream media omitted some relevant background on the city’s decision: During City Council hearings two months earlier, a coalition of organizations had pointed out potential violations of that law by members of the Portland Joint Terrorism Task Force (PJTTF). Citizens were demanding that either the city implement independent oversight or reject PJTTF’s annual reinstatement. read more

Twenty-five years ago, less than half a million people were behind bars in the US. Today, even though crime rates are still roughly the same, more than two million prisoners are doing hard time. Nevertheless, the conventional wisdom won’t die. You know, more severe punishment and longer sentences will reduce crime — or at least incapacitate some bad guys. Oh yes, some are truly dangerous. However, the sad truth is that most people in US jails are nonviolent offenders and casualties of the war on drugs, many incarcerated for possession, not the sale, of narcotics. read more

No rocks were thrown, no tear gas canisters exploded. Compared to recent conferences in Seattle, Quebec, and Genoa, the World Conference against Racism, held from Aug. 31 to Sept. 7 in Durban, South Africa, was a sedate affair. The reason is obvious. It was sponsored by the UN, which doesn’t yet have the same image of supporting unrestrained corporate globalization as the World Bank, WTO and, FTAA. Thus, activist groups felt they had a toehold inside the conference.

Nevertheless, verbal outbursts and devious efforts to manipulate the wording of the final Declaration and Platform for Action sometimes made this third global conference on race feel as rancorous as recent corporate gatherings. In addition, South African grassroots organizations, given a megaphone to the world with the help of a newly formed South African Independent Media Center, surrounded the conference site with marches and demonstrations. Starry eyed divestment activists quickly learned that the nine-year-old ANC government has a long way to go in fulfilling the utopian goals of its Freedom Charter. read more

Who are you here to see?” asked the guard at the desk. “Dale Byam,” we answered. He went through a card file and drew one out.

“Sign your names on this card and also on the Visitor’s Sheet,” he instructed. “Leave your car keys and ID here on my desk. And be sure your pockets are empty.”

After providing the required signatures, my husband David and I lined up with the other visitors for an electronic search. If the bell rang, we had to remove anything that was metal. Since my steel knee always rings, the guard took a hand device to go over my entire body until satisfied it was indeed my knee that set off the detector. read more

Shortly after entering Columbia University in 1965, David Gilbert became the founding chair of the school’s Vietnam Committee. He also joined Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which began five years earlier. By the fall of 1966, he was inspired by the impact of the Black Panther Party on the national scene, and had witnessed the upsurge of militance among Native Americans, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and Asians. These movements have exerted a major influence on his actions ever since. read more

Many years ago, I was tempted once to pick up a gun and fight for what I believed in. It was 1936, and I was on my way to Oxford University on a fellowship to get my doctorate. During the sea voyage – there were no trans-Atlantic fights then – the ship’s radio announced that Francisco Franco had launched a military attack on the Popular Front, which had come to power the previous February.

Before enrolling in Oxford, I went to Spain, and discovered that the Front had established, here and there, non-hierarchical communal settlements. In Madrid, I stayed at the People’s University and was much impressed by the people I met. But soon, Franco’s soldiers advanced toward the city. I considered joining the resistance. If my friends were going to die, I was ready, too. Who knew what the outcome would be. Maybe, with the help of the Communists, who had mostly come from other countries to support this people’s republic, we would win! read more