Filipino Activist Walden Bello: Global Vaccine Disparity Shows "Irrationality of Global Capitalism"
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Filipino Activist Walden Bello: Global Vaccine Disparity Shows "Irrationality of Global Capitalism"

The international disparity in vaccine access between rich and low-income countries highlights “the irrationality of global capitalism,” says acclaimed Filipino scholar and activist Walden Bello, who urges the Biden administration to sign on to an effort at the World Trade Organization to temporarily waive intellectual property rules on vaccine technology. He also discusses the COVID crisis in the Philippines. Source link

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5 May 2021
Activist insider compares spycops to ‘headless chickens’ as inquiry continues
The Canary UK

Activist insider compares spycops to ‘headless chickens’ as inquiry continues

An activist insider has told The Canary that Britain’s political police, from the late 60s onwards, were out of control. For the last three decades, officers known as ‘spycops’ were “running around like headless chickens”. This follows recently released police files and testimonies to the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI). Anti-apartheid protesters targeted In a 2003 report, undercover officer (UCO) Mark Kennedy described peer and former Labour government minister  Peter Hain as a “South African Terrorist”. It was pure fabrication. Hain moved to the UK from South Africa. For three decades, he was a leading figure in the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM). And he was also a founder member of…

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2 May 2021
Meet Wawa Gatheru, the climate activist creating spaces for Black women
The Canary UK

Meet Wawa Gatheru, the climate activist creating spaces for Black women

“Wanjiku Gatheru, who goes by the name ‘Wawa’, is an environmental justice trailblazer. After founding the grassroots platform Black Girl Environmentalist, an intergenerational community of Black girls, women and non-binary environmentalists, she aims to use climate activism to help pave the way for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities in the environmental movement. Gatheru is making space for underrepresented voices in climate conversations but also campaigns for BIPOC to be included in the environmental decision-making process. Growing up in the US, she took environmental studies at the University of Connecticut before becoming a prestigious Rhodes Scholar, and student at Oxford University, UK. Now Gatheru’s started a…

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18 March 2021
After one month underground anti-HS2 activist decides ‘I’m coming out’
The Canary UK

After one month underground anti-HS2 activist decides ‘I’m coming out’

An environmental activist who spent almost a month underground in protest at the HS2 railway line has come out from a tunnel near London’s Euston Station. Geography lecturer Larch Maxey, 48, had his belongings confiscated by bailiffs on Monday and said in a video he “feels fine”, but that medics have persuaded him to go to hospital to “be on the safe side”. “I’m coming out” The subterranean system was created in secret by protesters who object to the redevelopment of Euston Square Gardens as part of the high-speed railway line. In a video posted on Monday, Dr Maxey said: I’ve basically met my match, they’ve come for…

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22 February 2021
Protests in India over arrest of climate activist
The Canary UK

Protests in India over arrest of climate activist

Scores of people have demonstrated in the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Mumbai after a climate activist was arrested for circulating a document on social media supporting months of massive protests by farmers. Disha Ravi was arrested in Bengaluru on Saturday. Police said at a news conference on Monday that the document spread misinformation about the farmer protests on the outskirts of New Delhi and “tarnished the image of India”. They say Ravi shared the document with Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, who tweeted it earlier this month. Activists hold placards demanding the release of Indian climate activist Disha Ravi during a protest in Mumbai (Rafiq Maqbool/AP)…

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15 February 2021
Activist accuses Avon and Somerset police of unlawful arrest, detention and discrimination
The Canary UK

Activist accuses Avon and Somerset police of unlawful arrest, detention and discrimination

On 25 January, Avon and Somerset police arrested literary activist Ros Martin outside Bristol magistrates court for damage to the pavement by chalking and a breach of coronavirus (Covid-19) regulations. Martin has made a number of complaints to the police force for what she believes is “unlawful arrest, detention & discriminatory treatment”. Her case reflects widespread issues of police disregarding people’s health, using coronavirus regulations to clamp down on protest, and institutionalised racism in the Avon and Somerset police force.  Blatant disregard for safety during a pandemic While taking her daily cycling exercise alone, Martin stopped outside Bristol magistrates court to chalk “let justice prevail” on the pavement…

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9 February 2021
Veteran anti-war activist warns that ‘spycops’ inquiry is unlikely to change anything
The Canary UK

Veteran anti-war activist warns that ‘spycops’ inquiry is unlikely to change anything

The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) Bill seeks to legalise the criminal activities of police, the security services and their sources. It is currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords. Ironically, its passage also coincides with the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) which, after five years, has just heard opening statements from victims of undercover policing. While the CHIS bill is likely to be enacted within a matter of weeks, the UCPI is expected to continue for several more years, with no end date confirmed. Ali warns of dangers One of the many powerful statements presented to the UCPI was by veteran anti-war activist Tariq Ali.…

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26 November 2020
Juan González Remembers NYC’s Only Black Mayor David Dinkins & Vieques Activist Carlos “Taso” Zenón
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Juan González Remembers NYC’s Only Black Mayor David Dinkins & Vieques Activist Carlos “Taso” Zenón

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.AMY GOODMAN: And former New York City Mayor David Dinkins has died at the age of 93. Dinkins was elected New York’s 106th mayor in 1989, defeating Republican challenger Rudy Giuliani to become the only African American ever to hold the position. During his four years in office, Dinkins expanded the size of New York’s police force to record levels. He also backed the movement against apartheid in South Africa, ordering the city to divest its pension fund from companies doing business there. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The…

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24 November 2020
Juan González Remembers NYC's Only Black Mayor David Dinkins & Vieques Activist Carlos "Taso" Zenón
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Juan González Remembers NYC's Only Black Mayor David Dinkins & Vieques Activist Carlos "Taso" Zenón

We speak with Democracy Now! co-host Juan González about the deaths of two leading figures he reported on: New York City Mayor David Dinkins and beloved Puerto Rican social leader Carlos “Taso” Zenón. “Most people forget [Dinkins] was a Democratic Socialist before democratic socialism was in vogue,” notes González. He also recalls how Dinkins backed the movement against apartheid in South Africa, ordering the city to divest its pension fund from companies doing business there, and brought Nelson Mandela to the city right after he was freed. González also recalls how Zenón was a longtime activist who for decades led the fight against the U.S. Navy’s occupation of…

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24 November 2020
Voting Activist Desmond Meade on Re-enfranchising People & Why “Ex-Felon” Is a Dehumanizing Label
Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Voting Activist Desmond Meade on Re-enfranchising People & Why “Ex-Felon” Is a Dehumanizing Label

In Florida, tens of thousands of newly eligible voters who were previously disenfranchised due to their criminal records turned out to the polls for the 2020 election. Amendment 4, a measure that in 2018 overturned a Jim Crow-era law aimed at keeping African Americans from voting, restored voting rights to people with nonviolent felonies who have completed their sentences and was hailed as the biggest win for voting rights in decades. However, hundreds of thousands of people in Florida remain disenfranchised due to a modern-day poll tax that requires formerly incarcerated voters to pay all fees and fines to courts before they can cast a ballot. We speak…

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13 November 2020