I May Have Walked Into The Light

Regrettably, I couldn't make it down to Dewey Square in Boston Thursday night to experience Mayor Tom Menino's midnight deadline in person.

But while working overnight on deadline for an unrelated project, something happened.

I drank the social networking Kool-Aid.

The Occupy Boston's Media Team and their live web-streaming of first the suspenseful General Assembly and then the tension leading up to the deadline followed by the palpable relief (and skepticism of some) felt by the throng when Police Superintendent William Evans announced there would be no raid held me transfixed for more than six hours.

That's more time than I've spent on Myspace and Facebook, in total, since 2004.

Kudos especially to Occupy Boston's Phil Anderson who demonstrated the technique and professionalism and personality of a seasoned journalistic observer.

As my friends and colleagues will inform you, I've never bought the idea that technological innovation trumps good writing and effective storytelling. But the coupling of Thursday night's emotional anticipation and digital capability made me re-evaluate my skeptical attitude towards social media tools.

To convey meaning and pull off anything approaching profundity you still need a compelling storyline - a thousand people standing up to prove that "freedom of assembly" is more than just three words on a dusty old scroll, for example - and a knack for being in the right location at the right time.

But the immediacy and impact of digitally delivered and archived multimedia and the ability for many to connect with many, second by second, is one genie that isn't going back into the bottle.

For those of you who have heard me rail against the notion of technology as savior however, don't get your hopes up too high. Once this caffeine induced intoxication wears off I may revert to my curmudgeonly and analog ways.

And I'm still not signing up for Twitter.

OMB Added to CJR's News Frontier Database - and Alltop.com

I know we haven't used this blog overmuch. Busy, busy, busy as ever with producing Open Media Boston - and working on related projects like our upcoming Social Movements/Digital Revolutions Conference. But we like to share cool news; so here's a couple of neat updates.

First, we've just been added to the Columbia Journalism Review's News Frontier Database - which is kind of a big deal. Check out the nice entry they wrote on OMB.

Second, we also just go added to the Boston page of noted news aggregator Alltop.com. They're an aboveboard outfit - founded by former Apple "Chief Evangelist" Guy Kawasaki and friends -  and they do a nice job of creating curated subject pages with info from trusted sources without ripping off source sites like ours (that last somewhat of a rarity these days). So we're now listed with all the mainstream Boston news media and a number of Boston area online community news outlets and blogs. Which is also a good thing and should bring OMB some always welcome extra traffic.

So as we work our way up the media totem pole this seems a fine time to remind our viewers that we're always looking for more talented journalists, editors and business side folks to join our "merry band of media pirates" as I sometimes put it. If you like what we do and you'd like to work with us, drop us a line at info [at] openmediaboston [dot] org and we'll talk.

We want Justice! We want Peace! Spain, Africa, the Middle East!

On Saturday, May 21^st, protesters converged in Boston to support popular uprisings across the globe that are rejecting dictatorships, phony democracies, and the austerity measures they impose. Demonstrations began simultaneously at noon in Harvard Square, Cambridge, and Copley Square, Boston. The Harvard Square rally represented Iranian, Amazigh, Egyptian, Libyan, Moroccan, Syrian, Arab and Muslim community groups in the Boston area. The youthful crowd of about fifty protesters carried flags and banners representing their respective countries and movements. With the aid of bull horns and boisterous voices from the ISO, protesters chanted for people to join in solidarity with the ousting of dictatorial regimes throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

A flyer being passed out read:

What started out as peaceful demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, has turned ugly and dangerous in Yemen, Syria and Libya. These are just three countries within the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region fighting for their rights, hoping for a free, secure future. Iranians who have been protesting the fraudulent election of June 2009 which forced Ahmadinejad on them, have been severely suffering from the dictatorship of [the] Kahamenei regime since then.

We are protesting today in solidarity and support with the people of the MENA region; we protest here today to raise awareness, and help the voices of the oppressed to be heard. We are uniting to echo the voices of those who are living through terrible conditions but strive to have Democracy, Freedom, [and] Human Rights.

A similarly sized protest of Spaniards and their supporters in Copley Square called for solidarity with the May 15^th movement, which like many of the new uprisings around the globe, is named after the date protests began there. In Spain, daily protests are rejecting the two party system and their attacks on public services. They are also raising deep questions about the structure, values, and priorities of consumer culture. Protests have reached such a level that they are stealing headlines from the May 22^nd municipal elections.

Popular signs included “#spanishrevolution”, which is a also a key to following relevant discussions on twitter. Another sign read “toma la plaza” (take the plaza) which is also a Spanish language website, tomalaplaza.com, where protesters in Spain are coordinating and sharing information. Side by side in English and Spanish, the manifesto of a new broad unity formation, Democracia Real Ya (Real Democracy Now), was read to an attentive crowd on the steps of the Boston Public Library. Included among the points made by the manifesto was:

• The priorities of any advanced society must be equality, progress, solidarity, freedom of culture, sustainability and development, welfare and people’s happiness.

• Democracy belongs to the people (demos = people, krátos = government) which means that government is made of every one of us. However, in Spain most of the political class does not even listen to us. Politicians should be bringing our voice to the institutions, facilitating the political participation of citizens through direct channels that provide the greatest benefit to the wider society, not to get rich and prosper at our expense, attending only to the dictatorship of major economic powers and holding them in power through a bipartisanism headed by the immovable acronym PP & PSOE.

• The will and purpose of the current system is the accumulation of money, not regarding efficiency and the welfare of society. Wasting resources, destroying the planet, creating unemployment and unhappy consumers.

• We need an ethical revolution. Instead of placing money above human beings, we shall put it back to our service. We are people, not products. I am not a product of what I buy, why I buy and who I buy from.

On Dartmouth Street, a police truck with flashing blue lights kept an unsubtle eye on us.

The Spanish protesters then voted to wait for the MENA protesters who were en route to Copley Square in order to join forces. While many stayed and engaged in conversation, others lost patience and left. When the MENA protesters finally arrived, the combined numbers were not more than 70. But the unity chant, “We want justice, we want peace: Spain, Africa, the Middle East” re-energized everyone.

We were also briefly joined by a feminist march calling for abortion rights and the rejection of misogynistic culture. Chants of “One struggle, One fight!” briefly brought everyone together, but there was a lack of clarity about what to do next. After a few minutes the feminist group left while organizers of the merged MENA/Spain group attempted to mobilize a temporarily disengaged crowd to begin marching again. Eventually the joint MENA/Spain group crossed Dartmouth Street, marched down Boylston Street, around the Boston Common, past Government Center, ending at Fanueil Hall under the bewildered gaze of mostly tourists. With a final speak-out the rally concluded under the watchful eye of Faneuil Hall security forces.

The May 21^st action was relatively small in comparison to the earlier rallies in solidarity with Egypt before Mubarak conceded power. But politically it was a breakthrough for unity to have common demands being made by a consciously international movement against multiple regimes, and an international economic and political system.

While we met many positive responses from people in the street, and very few negative ones, most onlookers seemed confused or indifferent. Many protesters bemoaned the media blackout which has kept people unaware of international events – especially in Spain, which is a society with many similarities to the US. During the show down in Madison between massive demonstrations and Governor Walker, solidarity demonstrations in Boston and across the country numbers in the thousands, joining Wisconsin's rejection of budget cuts and in defense of union rights. At these actions a rhetorical connection was made with the struggles in Egypt and Tunisia, but a real international perspective has yet to sink into popular consciousness.

International solidarity activists have shown that they can unite and create energetic protests with a politically sophisticated agenda. If these activists can create an organizational structure to sustain their unity, there is potential for joining forces with the mass struggles of native working class people. Such unity could inspire a more global and radical analysis of the economic crisis and the failures of US democracy, strengthening our domestic movement and ultimately providing more substantive solidarity to our brothers and sisters abroad.

Video clips of the march:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn5KcvnB2jA&feature=player_embedded

Ground Rules for the Discussion Period After Public Talks

We all been there. You know ... some public talk where there are great speakers and everyone is pumped for a lively discussion. And then it's wrecked by people that don't have much of a clue how to interact in that kind of situation.

So after long experience running public events, I thought I should draw up a few ground rules to read to the audience at a panel I organized yesterday evening. And even though I didn't read more then first phrase of most of the points, my message did seem to register with folks.

One of the attendees asked me to forward her the rules; so I thought I'd just post them here for public use. Add and subtract stuff to fit your own needs. Hope they come in useful.

Ground Rules for the Discussion Period After Public Talks

1) Be respectful of other people - while debate is encouraged, ad hominem attacks are not.

2) Avoid making stump speeches rather than asking questions of the panel. If you have some especially brilliant ideas, let's talk afterwards and maybe we'll do a panel featuring you in the near future.

3) Listen to what other people are saying - if someone asks the question you were going to ask, be aware of that and let someone else take your turn.

4) Do not ask two or three (or 12) part questions. And if one of our speakers asks you to respond to their answer, keep it to one response and don't start a lengthy back-and-forth.

5) And finally, let's try to keep some gender balance. I don't want to see a bunch of guys rush to speak first and suck up all the air in the room.

Think Twice

What else is there to say except "think twice" before you criticize "the media." Whether so-called mainstream or alternative, we all face economic, governmental, and sometimes brutal threats to life and limb.

Radio and TV Digital News Association post on Lara Logan

best wishes for Lara's recovery.
-dave goodman-

Glory to the Egyptian People!

After eighteen days of protest that must have felt like much more, the Egyptian people have succeeded in exerting final authority over their government by forcing the thirty year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak out of power.

By taking their destiny into their own hands, the Egyptian people have proven that they understand democracy better than so many of us in the west with our ceremonious elections that change nothing. By voting with their shoes, the Egyptian people have smashed the subtly racist notion that popular culture in the Muslim world prefers religious fundamentalism and dictatorship.

Renowned cultural theorist Slavoj Zizek explains, “when we are fighting a tyrant we are all universalists ...What happened in Tunesia, what happens now in Egypt, it's precisely this universal revolution for dignity, human rights, [and] economic justice. This is universalism at work.”

Another important lesson to draw from Egypt's revolution is that protest works! Every aristocracy, every dictatorial regime, depends on the hard work and silent consent of the working class. Their station in society depends on our service. Egyptians spoke with a unitary and unwaivering voice that Mubarak must go. Once they seized the streets and Tahrir Square, it was just a waiting game to see how long it would take for reality to penetrate Mubarak's mind.

Had Mubarak been replaced earlier on by a new face, the ruling class might have been able to rebrand itself and stymie the revolt. But after thirty years of dictatorship, the regime was unable to separate itself from Mubarak. What seemed stable just one month ago, proved to be brittle under pressure. There will undoubtedly still be attempts by former establishment figures to re-assert themselves under a new guise. But the difficult struggle to dislodge Mubarak has put much better possibilities on the table.

The Egyptian protests were qualitatively different from what we have in the US, where we march through cattle chutes erected by the police, and respectfully ask those in power to listen. Let us learn from the Egyptians' militancy. It is not numbers alone that make mass action so powerful. A willingness to defy authority until basic demands are met is also essential.

Accusations of foreign interference by Mubarak's government were especially ironic given that they were taking $1.3 billion each year in military aid from the United States, including the tear gas police fired against protesters. It was Mubarak's corrupt government that represented capitulation to foreign interests, not the protesters.

Obama was almost as slow as Mubarak to understand the message coming from Egypt's streets. Multiple statements from the White House essentially mirrored Mubarak's own stance of offering concessions short of regime change. Even as the corporate media voiced support for the people of Egypt, criticism of Obama and the long history of US government support for dictators in the middle east was conspicuously absent. In the US we have an essential role to play, to challenge US government policy that undermine the political independence of people in the middle east and around the world.

The brief final message from former vice-president Suleiman indicates that the supreme council of the Egyptian military will take over the country's affairs until a new civilian government can be elected. The experiences of the struggle to oust Mubarak have given the Egyptian people a taste of grassroots democracy. In the days ahead we must watch to see if the military continues to play a passive role. Now is the opportunity for Egyptians to turn regime change into a social and economic revolution, and also repudiate US-Israeli domination in the region.

Egypt has already joined Tunisia in the minds of millions of people around the world as a victory against corruption, dictatorship, and imperialism. The uplifting psychological effects of these events cannot be underestimated. Similar protests have been inspired all over the world, especially in Yemen and Jordan. Tyrants beware! We are all Egyptian now!

From Cambridge to Cairo

There was a massive, energetic, and largely spontaneous march from Cambridge to Boston today calling for the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, and the cutting of US support for his authoritarian regime. People began to gather at The Pit in Harvard Square, Cambridge, a space that could only hold about fifty people, given the high foot traffic and giant mounds of snow. Most people held home-made signs. A few came with Egyptian flags. There were dozens of homemade placards passed out with the Egyptian flag's colors (Red, White, Black) and the printed words "Yes We Can". Hand written with what looked like white-out was also "support democracy" and "end corruption." The rally moved to Mt Auburn Street about a block away. We remained there for about thirty minutes chanting, before we were allowed to march. We marched down Massachusetts Avenue, through Central Square, past MIT, over the bridge into Boston, took a left onto Boylston St, marched all the way down to the Boston Common, marched around the Common, up to the State House, then continued to City Hall Plaza, then finally (mercifully) finished at Faneuil Hall around 4pm. Some people thought we would be in Harvard Square until 4pm and caught up with us later. Some people spontaneously joined us from the busy streets. At our peak I think we were about 600 people. The police had a disciplined presence and redirected traffic efficiently for us. The only time they interfered what when they made us march through the Boston Common rather than the streets along the perimeter.

I just heard reports on NPR which mentioned solidarity demonstrations in Washington DC and Boston. Why is the movement in Boston able to respond so effectively? The most important reason is because of the history of organizing that we have done here. Boston organizers led powerful protests when Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006, and again against Israel's invasion of Gaza in 2007/2008. Boston has also held some of the largest regional antiwar demonstrations for a city of its size. Furthermore, every New Year's Eve we host a "First Night Against the Wars" which includes a muslim led vigil for Palestine. Civil rights activists have done good work with the muslim community and built campaigns around local political prisoners. Despite not having a strong coalition, all of this activity has built the personal experiences and social connections necessary for a rapid mobilization around solidarity with people in the Middle East. The crowd today was young and diverse. Some chants were in Arabic. I helped carry a large hand made banner that said "Down with Mubarak." Popular chants were:

Freedom!
Down, down Hosni Mubarak, Down down with the old regime!
Hey Mubarak you will see, join your friend Ben Ali
Not another Penny, Not another Dime, no more money for Mubarak's crimes
Free free Egypt, free free Egypt, people, power, people, power
Hey Obama don't you know, Hosni Mubarak has got to go!
Hey Clinton don't you know, Hosni Mubarak has got to go!

Folks who have been to antiwar and Palestine solidarity demonstrations will recognize many of these chants, just with new names plugged in. I don't think there were more than two bull horns on the entire march. Many voices were giving out. I nearly completely lost my voice about half way through and only recovered it toward the end.

Today's demonstration greatly surpassed my expectations. I hope news of our relatively modest action will reach the Egyptian people and inspire their strength.

We need to keep hammering at the demand of cutting US military aid for propping up dictatorships like Tunisia and Egypt as well as Isreal. NPR described our march as calling for "massive reform of US policy", which I can only describe as a deliberate muddling of our demands on their behalf. Obama and Clinton sound ridiculous calling for stability. They cannot be allowed to pose as supporting the protests while at the same time advocating against their main demand: the resignation of Mubarak. To be clear, the US needs a dictatorship in Egypt that it can bribe with military aid in order to insulate Israel from international pressure and maintain the blockade against Gaza.

A democratic Egypt would upend US policy in the middle east. For this reason in particular, I think we need to keep building the solidarity movement here in the US. The people of Egypt and Tunisia are leading the way, not just protesting against Israeli aggression or US hegemony, but putting real positive demands forward. This is an opportunity that we haven't seen in a very long time.

See photos from today's action on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179718358733818#!/photo.php?fbid=1590198040496&set=o.179718358733818

And flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scotteisenphotography/5399491950/in/set-72157625933821502/