WIN Summer 2012

Saying ‘No” to Tear Gas My eyes began to water, and shut, and I felt as if I were being choked. I was nearly totally incapacitated,” says Brad, of Chicago. Samah was gassed in Tahrir Square. “Blindness, skin on fire, utter panic,” were her words. These are just two of more than a dozen stories…

NATO-Free Future  Veterans of Iraq and Afghan war return their medals by throwing them at Chicago convention center as NATO meets. Photos by Ellen Davidson   Anti-NATO protesters have their say. Photos by Ellen Davidson On May 20th, as the NATO Summit began at the McCormick Place Convention Center in downtown Chicago, we marched with…

Death Technology 101 Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control By Medea Benjamin Foreword by Barbara ehrenreich OR Books, 2012; 241 pages, paperback, $16 Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control is an easy-to-read introduction to the issue of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA, a.k.a. unmanned aerial vehicles/systems—UAV/UAS, or, more popularly, drones), focusing on their use for warfare,…

WIN REVIEW Don’t Cry for Joe — Organize! The Man Who Never Died: The Life, Times, and Legacy of Joe Hill, American Labor Icon By William m. Adler New York: Bloomsbury, USA; 2011; $30, hardcover I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night Alive as you and me, Says I, “But Joe, you’re ten years…

A Speech by Bayard Rustin Speakers at a historic 1965 Madison Square Garden rally against the war in Vietnam included U.S. Sen. Wayne Morse (D-OR), Coretta Scott King, Dr. Benjamin Spock, and the great Bayard Rustin, then on the WRL staff. Held on June 8, 1965, and sponsored by the Committee for a Sane Nuclear…

An Interview with Hashmeya Muhsin al-Saadawi Electrical Utility Workers Union in Iraq Banners at 2012 May Day march in Basra, Iraq. Iraqi unions demonstrated on May Day 2012 at a difficult historical moment. Still operating without a labor law that sanctions their organizing, and under the consolidation of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s growing police/military powers,…

Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Woodie Guthrie … Megadeth? When we talk about the music of resistance, many of us picture bell-bottoms, tambourines, and daisy chains — not leather pants, flying Vs, and pentagrams. But for all its machismo, pale skin, and goat-skull imagery, heavy metal—like all musical genres—has been a medium for social justice messaging….

There has always been an important relationship between social movements and the arts. Artists frame political ideas in concrete and engaging ways. They use their networks to publicize and strengthen campaigns. When artists and activists work together in an organic, intentional, mutually beneficial way, they have the power to turn social movements into social/cultural movements—to…

“The revolution’s here, the revolution is personal.” —Talib Kweli, “Beautiful Struggle” I have a wonderful, multidimensional trade. As a Vermont English teacher, I am accountable to the State of Vermont for designing curriculum and assessing students using state standards. For example, a lesson plan might be guided by an objective like “5.11 Literary Elements and…

Two of tens of thousands of New Yorkers who marched silently down Fifth Avenue June 17 to protest the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices. Photos by Ellen Davidson According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, in the first three months of 2012, New Yorkers were stopped by the police 203,500 times: 181,457 were…

It was a kick to read a recent issue of WIN. I remember reading it back in the heyday of Vietnam protests. Now the Occupy movement has reenergized many people. For me, the peace movement was and is the best thing about America. After Vietam, I wrote letters to editors and went to demos protesting…