No Imperialism, No Racism

Racial and economic justice, and the cessation of violent conflict! Abolition of an offensive economic, military-industrial establishment...

The enemy is not personnel. It is not personal. The enemy is ignorance. The enemy is fear, xenophobia, racism and other prejudice. The enemy is aggression and violence and hate.

Here are three copies of a video I recently made, my intent was to deal with the problem of an 'us v. them' mentality, privilege and oppression, wealth disparity, socio-economic harmfulness, and I suppose, violence in general.

Videos are below the fold.

video from Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and Anti-Arab racism panel discussion in Olympia

Peace Vigil Report (re-posted from OlyBlog)

Peace Vigil Report

Sat, 07/17/2010 - 11:42am — Berd

Richard and Me at the Peace Vigil
July 16, 2010
Percival Landing Olympia Peace Vigil—For some reason, although there were mostly acknowledgments of approval, there were more than the usual number of passerby who registered disapproval. One individual, who "did two tours in iraq," (and I believe them) verbally accosted me from an open car window with three or four young children in the vehicle. Another asked, "where is your green card."
There is more info about the vigil available here: olyblog.net/thought-bandit
I was asked to show my green card—and I am white! I can't believe it. I can only imagine what black, brown, and other people of color are experiencing these days. Racism is hate speech, and there are laws against hate speech. Hate speech does not belong in public, nor in society in general.
Please ask the Obama Administration to enforce laws against racist hate speech. If you're on facebook, you can find more info here:
White House Enforce Laws Against Hate Speech. If you're not on facebook, then please consider contacting the White House, information at whitehouse.gov.
—Berd
p.s. here is another photo from the vigil that shows the recent hazy polluted air quality:

Angela Davis

Angela Davis was in town over the weekend, and I have been learning more about her and her work. I didn't know much about Angela Davis before her visit. I enjoyed her speech very much, and I am impressed by her life and work. The following is an excerpt from an interview she did with frontline. I'll include a link to the original. There is also a biography available on the Speak Out website, here.

Angela Davis 1997 Interview with Frontline:

INTERVIEWER: Well, it's not just misogyny. Now it's kind of moved just a straight crass materialism. The latest ones are just -- they just name off name brands. That's the progression of it. How have we reached a point where in 1997 that the ethic of being black means that you don't go to school to learn. That learning is equated with whiteness and that somehow that is bad?

DAVIS: Well, whether it's the approach that all young black kids are encouraged to take or decide to take. Because you do have this rising middle class and you do have the young brothers and sisters who are moving toward the corporate arena and who are encouraged to do this arena from the time that they are very young. I think this is one of those moments where we also have to talk about the deterioration of the institutions.

I can't really blame a lot of young sisters and brothers who believe that education has anything to offer them. Because as a matter of fact, it has nothing to offer them. Suppose they do get a high school diploma that is meaningful. What kind of job is awaiting them. The jobs that used to be available to working class people are not there as a result of the de-industrialization of this economy.

Therefore, often young black people are looking towards the alternative economies. They are looking towards the drug economy.... the economies that are going to -- that apparently will produce some kind of material gain for them. You can't criticize people for wanting to have a decent life or wanting to live decently. While I think that it is true that there is a great deal to be done with respect to the ideas that circulate among young people within arenas such as hip hop. At the same time, we can't forget about the deterioration of the institutions and the structural influence on young people.

Below is the full text of the interview:

Angela Davis and Antwi Akom at Evergreen

On Saturday, May 22, 2010 Antwi Akoma and Angela Davis appeared at the Evergreen State College near Olympia, Washington. The two were invited to speak by the Student of Color Union and Synergy (which is a week-long conference about eco-sustainability.)

There were close to two thousand people in attendance. Here's Angela Davis on stage in the CRC gymnasium:



Angela Davis's speech focused on problems relating to the punitive justice system, and ranged broadly on specific topics relating to the injustices of structural socio-economic racism and inequity, privatization of the prison industry (and higher education,) as well as the problems of ecological unsustainability as they relate to capitalism and a corporate culture that favors profits over human rights, economic justice, ecological sustainability, healthy individuals and a healthy environment.


Antwi Akom's speech focused on addressing the problem of "eco-apartheid" —a term Akom used to elucidate upon the problem of environmental racism. Akom's speech was titled "Race, Power, and the Environment: Creating a New Global Vision of Equity and Sustainability for All".

Detention Center

The following is a comment (edited for clarity) that I left on an article about a protest against the Northwest ICE Immigration Detention Center. The facility is located in Tacoma Washington, and I cross-posted the same article here on Peace is Possible. And also here again is a slideshow of the day's events.


by berdww
on 2/15/2010 @ 9:26am

I think that the ICE Detention Center is a symptom of the deeply diseased nature of our society.

When some people are willing to put others down for the purpose of economic self-interest then there is a problem. People are willing to exploit each other - and there is a fundamental violence that exists at the roots, and in the heart, of our socio-economic political system.

The Detention Center is an outward manifestation of what is a culture of cruelness, meanness, hurtfulness, exclusion, fear, and exploitation (etc.). It's a culture that permeates to the roots and heart of this society.

Rally Against the NW Immigration Detention Center

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Tacoma, WA - People came from near and far (Tacoma, Seattle, Olympia, and Portland) for a protest rally against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington. The detention center is run for-profit, by The GEO Group Inc. According to the description on company's website:

Cultural Transformation

I have posted this before here, but I am posting it again, because I have been thinking about this quote recently.

Here's another MLK quote that I like:

We must accept finite disappointment,
but we must never lose infinite hope.

– Martin Luther King Jr.

see photo larger: Cultural Transformation Shift

We Shall Overcome, MLK Jr.

Martin Luther King "I have a dream"

On the Right Side

"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Against Hate: Against Violence

It astounds me how someone who is (or claims to be) against racism can be hateful.

I am against hate. I believe that hate and fear underlie many social ills, including racism, prejudice, intolerance of personal differences like age, gender, sexual preference, religion, ethnicity, and race.

So hate in and of itself is the problem. There is no good hate.

It's very frustrating to see supposed progressives, or radicals, engaging in hateful behavior. Very sad.

Healing is in order.

Definitions of Hate:

The most simple definition is "intense feelings of dislike."

From Wikipedia: "Aristotle viewed hate as a desire for the annihilation of an object that is incurable by time."

Also from Wikipedia: "In psychology, Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness."

Wikipedia again: "In a more contemporary definition, the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology defines hate as a "deep, enduring, intense emotion expressing animosity, anger, and hostility towards a person, group, or object.""

On Hate Speech, from Wikipedia:

Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action[citation needed] against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance (height, weight, hair color, etc.), mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability. The term covers written as well as oral communication and some forms of behaviors in a public setting[citation needed]. It is also sometimes called antilocution[citation needed] and is the first point on Allport's scale which measures prejudice in a society. Critics have claimed that the term "Hate Speech" is a modern example of Newspeak, used to silence critics of social policies that have been poorly implemented in a rush to appear politically correct.

I am against hate, and against violence. Until we can learn to sit down and resolve our differences in a constructive manner, there will always be people, even those supposedly working for justice, who will oppress and beat down on those with whom they have differences.

Thomas Merton: "I am against war, against violence, against violent revolution, for peaceful settlement of differences, for nonviolent but nevertheless radical changes. Change is needed, and violence will not really change anything: at most it will only transfer power from one set of bull-headed authorities to another."

Hate and violence are unacceptable and intolerable. In Peace, Berd

Charges of Anti-Semitism

When discussing potentials to boycott Israel regarding its oppression, its dehumanizing activities, its subjugation of Palestinians, and its Apartheid, some have raised concerns of being attacked for anti-Semitism. There has been discussion of this issue recently on the "Jewish Peace News" bulletin.

Here's a link to and an excerpt from a comment I recently posted there:
To boycott or not, and if not, then what?
"In fact, I think a winning argument can be made that the real anti-Semitism is on the part of those who support Israel's racist, cruel and degrading policies of occupation and apartheid."