A Place Called Chiapas: Zapatista Army of National Liberation

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Zapatista Army of National Liberation

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) is an armed revolutionary group based in Chiapas, one of the poorest states of Mexico. Their social base is mostly indigenous but they have supporters in urban areas as well as an international web of support. Their spokesperson and military commander, although not their leader, is Subcomandante Marcos (currently a.k.a. Delegate Zero in relation to the “Other Campaign”). Unlike other Zapatista comandantes, Subcomandante Marcos is not an indigenous Mayan. The group takes its name from Emiliano Zapata, the most progressive proponent of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920); The Zapatistas see themselves as his ideological heirs, and heirs to five hundred years of indigenous resistance against imperialism. Some consider the Zapatista movement the first “post-modern” revolution: an armed revolutionary group that has abstained from using their weapons since their 1994 uprising was countered by the overpowering military might of the Mexican Army. The Zapatistas have survived because they were quick to adopt a new strategy and garner the support of Mexican and international civil society. They managed to achieve this by making use of the internet to disseminate their communiqués and to enlist the support of NGOs and solidarity groups. Outwardly, they portray themselves as part of the wider anti-globalization, anti-neoliberalism social movement while for their indigenous base the Zapatista struggle is all about control over their own resources, particularly the land they live on, the right to govern themselves according to their own customs and a dignified peace without government interference…Read More

 A Place Called Chiapas

Documentary about the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico.

Links:
EZLN official site of the EZLN
Chiapas Indymedia
ZNet Chiapas Watch/Zapatista Crisis page with English translations of EZLN documents

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"Everything Gonna Be Alright"

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Memories of my lil homies:
Everything Gonna Be Alright-Naughty By Nature



[Intro]
Smooth it out
This is a story about the drifter
Who waited through the worst for the best in crosstown
Who never planned on havin’ so dick
Why me, huh?

[Verse 1]
Some get a little and some get none
Some catch a bad one and some leave the job half done
I was one who never had and always mad
Never knew my dad, mother fuck the fag
Where anywhere I did pick up, flipped the clip up
Too many stick-ups, cause niggas had the trigger hic-ups
I couldn’t get a job, nappy hair was not allowed
My mother couldn’t afford us all, she had to throw me out
I walked the strip, which is a clip, who wanna hit?
They got em quick, I had to eat, this money’s good as spent
I threw in graves, I wasn’t paid enough
I kept em long cause I couldn’t afford a haircut
I got laughed at, I got chumped, I got dissed
I got upset, I got a Tec and a banana clip
Was down to throw the led to any tellin’ crackhead
I’m still livin broke, so a lot of good it would’ve did
Or done, if not for bad luck, I would have none
Why did I have to live a life of such a bad one
Why when I was a kid and played out was a sad one
And always wanted to live like just a fat one

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
A ghetto bastard, born next to the projects
Livin in the slums with bums, I sit and watch them
Why do I have to be like this? momma said I’m priceless
So I am all worthless, starved, and it’s just for being a nice kid
Sometimes I wish I could afford a pistol then, though
Last stop to hell, I would’ve ended things a while ago
I ain’t have jack but a black hat and napsack
Four squad stolen in cars in a blackjack
Drop that, and now u want me to rap and give?
Say somethin positive? Well positive ain’t where I lived
I lived right around a corner from west hell
Two blocks from south shit, it was in a jail cell
…

[Outro]
If u ain’t ever been to the ghetto
Don’t ever come to the ghetto
‘Cause u ain’t understand the ghetto
And stay the fuck out of the ghetto
Why me?
(alright)

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Capitalist Conspiracy: An Inside View of International Banking

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“I SUSPECT WE COULD CHARACTERIZE THIS FILM AS THE ENEMY BREAKING DOWN THE ENEMY, BUT I OFFER IT TO FURTHER FACILITATE THE “FUTURE OF MANKIND” PRESENTATION. PLEASE BE CAUTIONED REGARDING OUR PRESENTATION OF IDEOLOGICAL/POSITION PIECES VS THINK PIECES.” SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO GO INTO THE ENEMY CAMP TO DRAW LESSONS, NOT SWALLOWING EVERYTHING–HOOK, LINE AND SINKER.


This is an old, but nonetheless interesting video adaptation of a documentary filmstrip written and narrated by G. Edward Griffin tracing the history of a small group of white elites who control the money systems of the world. It shows how this monopoly is protected by governments and how the group’s vast wealth is derived from creating money out of nothing. We see how this group wields power through government, foundations, education, and the mass media.



For Further Reading:
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and The New World Order

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From Slave Roots to Rhoads Scholar: Remembering Paul Robeson

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Paul Robeson: Lawyer, Scholar, Athlete, Performer and Activist



“Click menu for relate videos”
In the words of Paul Robeson:

“To be free -to walk the good American earth as equal citizens, to live without fear, to enjoy the fruits of our toil to give our children every opportunity in life – that dream which we have held so long in our hearts is today the destiny that we hold in our hands.”

In Princeton, New Jersey on April 9, 1898, Paul Robeson was born to a former slave, the Rev. William Robeson. His mother, a teacher, died shortly thereafter when he was only five years old. Three years later, the Robeson family moved to Westfield, New Jersey. In 1910, Robeson’s father became pastor of St.Thomas A.M.E. Zion Church and the Robeson family moved to Somerville, New Jersey. Paul Robeson attended Somerville High School. There, Robeson excelled in sports, drama, singing, academics, and debating. He graduated from Somerville High School in 1915.

Robeson was awarded a four year academic scholarship to Rutgers University in 1915, the third black student in the history of the institution. Despite the openly racist and violent opposition he faced, Robeson became a twelve letter athlete excelling in baseball, basketball, football, and track. He was named to the All American Football team on two occasions. In addition to his athletic talents, Robeson was named a Phi Beta Kappa scholar, belonged to the Cap & Skull Honor Society, and graduated valedictorian of his class in 1919.

He went on to study law at Columbia in New York and received his degree in 1923. There he met and married Eslanda Cardozo Goode, who was the first black woman to head a pathology laboratory. Robeson worked as a law clerk in New York, but once again faced discrimination and soon left the practice because a white secretary refused to take dictation from him…Read More

Related: A Smart Afrikan History Timeline In Evolution: A RBG Community Project

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A Message from Leonard Peltier

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WOUNDED KNEE 1890 & 1970s Leonard Peltier, Aquash, FBI

Thursday, August 23, 2007
A Message from Leonard Peltier

Greetings Brothers and Sisters, I hope my message finds you in the best of health and spirits and that each one of you is enjoying your summer and looking forward for the Fall Season. I have always enjoyed the Fall Season. I still remember the vivid colors of the leaves changing and falling in preparation for our Winter. This Sept 12, 2007 I will be 63 years old, and I can no longer say I am a young man eh? Behind bars I have aged from a youth into an Elder. As the seasons have passed I have become an elder, my children have grown, and my grandchildren are now young men and women, and lately I became a Great – Grandfather. This year will mark more than 31 years of my unjust imprisonment. Your thoughts, supports, letters, cards, prayers, and energy have kept me strong. I thank you for the lovely cards, and letters that I have been receiving, for I enjoy hearing from you! Some of you have been writing me for the past 32 years and through your letters have included me in your family gatherings, festivities and in your life as the years have passed. I thank you! Many of you are writing me to tell me about the activities and events that are being held in my honor, and your efforts of joining me and the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee in our ongoing campaign towards my freedom. On a sad note I also receive letters from supporters who identify themselves as loyal Peltier supporters and yet in their letters their advice is for the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee to be closed and how inappropriate it is for me or the LPDC to be asking for support and help so that we can continue our ongoing work towards my freedom. I once wrote in a message a few months ago that we are all climbing the same mountain, just on different sides at times. As I read my letters from supporters that write to tell me of their ongoing work towards my freedom and state that we are all working together, I feel inspired and know that each one of us is working in unity and solidarity from all sides of the mountain until we win this ongoing struggle for my freedom. As for the “supporters” who write me and offer their advice on closing the LPDC office, and for the committee to stop raising funds for our legal campaign, I wonder which mountain they are climbing? Are they maybe working with an organization that for the past 32+ years has falsified affidavits, withheld evidence, and has withheld documents in their efforts to keep me wrongfully incarcerated? One would start to wonder… My case has been fraught with government misconduct since the beginning. The Government among other wrongful acts manufactured false evidence, withheld evidence and coerced witness. We now know that the FBI used confidential informant sources to compromise attorney/client communications they illegally used to develop strategies for conviction. The FBI permitted informants to attend both my trial and that of my co-defendants. The FBI however refuses to produce the name(s) of their informants and has been given unfettered discretion by the courts to keep this information from my legal team. On June 8, 2007 my legal team, attorneys, Ron Kuby and David Pressman filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit an appellate brief asking the Court to review and release some 11,000 pages of documents that have been withheld for over 30 years. Indeed, a document recently produced by the FBI and recently introduced to a Magistrate Judge established that the FBI intentionally took actions to try to avoid producing documents in discovery in my case. But again, this seems to have had no impact on the Court. The United States Federal Courts have recognized overwhelming evidence of FBI misconduct in my case which has already been revealed, yet it has continued to allow the FBI to use exemptions under FOIA to shield its illegal tactics in this case, depriving me of my rights to a fair trail. I urge all of you who believe in justice to join my fight and cry out for the production of all documents related to my case. Why is the FBI still withholding documents? Why won’t they produce all documents to me? To me the answer is obvious. I believe the answer is obvious to you also. The new legal team, attorneys Ron Kuby, and David Pressman, the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee and I thank you for your support and help.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier

Toni Zeidan-Co-director, Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
email: info@leonardpeltier.net
website: http://www.leonardpeltier.net/
Address: 3800 N. Mesa
A2
El Paso, Texas 79902
Online donation site:
http://www.freedomwalk.com/

posted by Leonard @ 7:49 AM

Website: http://www.leonardpeltier.net

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