FREEDOM TO OAXACAN POLITICAL PRISONER

[different article, and words from a letter from David, in english below]

THOUGH DAVID VENEGAS REYES HAS BEEN LEGALLY ABSOLVED OF HIS 'CRIMES' AGAINST THE MEXICAN STATE, [FABRICATED EVIDENCE] THE GROUP VOCAL (OAXACAN VOICES CONSTRUCTING AUTONOMY AND FREEDOM) SAYS (below in green): Likewise we will continue fighting for the freedom of political prisoners of Oaxaca and being in solidarity with the pain of the political prisoners of Mexico and of the world. We invite you to continue to walk with us united not only for the freedom of our political prisoners if not for the fundamental struggle for JUSTICE, FREEDOM, DIGNITY, AND PEACE for our pueblos.

publicado por Contraimpunidad, martes 21 de abril de 2009

Libertad absoluta a alebrije

OBTENEMOS LIBERTAD ABSOLUTA PARA DAVID VENEGAS REYES “ALEBRIJE”

El día lunes 20 de Abril de este 2009, a las dos horas con treinta y cinco minutos de la tarde al fin fue dictada sentencia final a nuestro compañero David Venegas Reyes “alebrije” en el proceso penal relativo al delito fabricado de POSESION CON HIPOTESIS DE VENTA DE COCAINA Y HEROÍNA, ultimo proceso penal de los dos procesos penales con que lo mantuvo preso el mal gobierno del asesino Ulises Ruiz en el año 2007 y parte de 2008.

Después de once meses de estar en prisión y más de un año de libertad condicionada a firmar cada quince días ante el juzgado tercero de distrito, al fin el compañero ha recibido su sentencia final. A pesar de los retrasos en la sentencia y de las dilaciones a propósito que privaron en este proceso, de las presiones del mal gobierno del asesino Ulises Ruiz hacia el sistema judicial, al fin la contundencia de las pruebas mostradas por la defensa jurídica y sobre todo la presión popular que hizo el movimiento social en Oaxaca sobre el sistema judicial y de la presión que compañeros y compañeras de otros pueblos de México y del mundo han hecho también al sistema judicial, el juez Amado Chiñas Fuentes, juez tercero de distrito ha dictaminado

SENTENCIA ABSOLUTORIA TOTAL

De esta manera la inocencia de nuestro compañero en los delitos por los que fue preso once meses en el año 2007 Y 2008 queda totalmente demostrada, con lo que también queda demostrada la utilización del sistema de justicia del estado de Oaxaca y de México como instrumento de venganza política usada por los malos gobiernos estatal y federal para someter al movimiento social, pues esta SENTENCIA ABSOLUTORIA lejos de ser producto de la salud o rectitud del sistema judicial mexicano, fue arrancada por la fuerza del movimiento popular y con la solidaridad de compañeros y compañeras de todo México y varios pueblos del Mundo. El sistema judicial en México esta corrompido hasta sus entrañas y es un vil instrumento de los gobernantes en turno para someter y reprimir a quienes luchan por justicia y libertad.

Agradecemos fraternalmente la solidaridad incondicional que han tenido con nuestro compañero nuestros hermanos y hermanas del movimiento social Oaxaqueño de la Asamblea Popular de los pueblos de Oaxaca, y de los movimientos sociales de México y el mundo que se han solidarizado con nosotros.

Ratificamos antes ustedes compañeros y compañeras que no nos conformaremos con haber logrado la libertad incondicional de nuestro compañero y que al quedar demostrada la mentira del mal gobierno, iremos ahora por el encarcelamiento de los represores de nuestros pueblos de Oaxaca que tienen responsabilidad en esta detención arbitraria e ilegal, desde el policía que practico la detención y la represión directa hasta los jefes mas altos de estos esbirros. No nos mueve el odio ni el afán de revancha sino la búsqueda legitima de justicia para nuestros pueblos.

Asimismo seguiremos luchando por la libertad de los presos políticos de Oaxaca y solidarizándonos con el dolor de los presos políticos de México y el mundo.

Los invitamos a seguir caminando unidos y unidas como hasta ahora no solo en la lucha por la libertad de nuestros presos políticos sino en la lucha fundamental por JUSTICIA, LIBERTAD, PAZ, DIGNIDAD para nuestros pueblos.

¡LIBERTAD Y JUSTICIA PARA OAXACA!

¡LIBERTAD Y JUSTICIA PARA PALESTINA!

¡LIBERTAD Y JUSTICIA PARA ATENCO!

¡ALTO AL HOSTIGAMIENTO MILITAR A LOS ZAPATISTAS!

¡PRESOS POLITICOS LIBERTAD!

¡FUERA ULISES RUIZ ASESINO!

¡LA APPO VIVE LA LUCHA SIGUE!

FRATERNALMENTE

VOCES OAXAQUEÑAS CONSTRUYENDO AUTONOMIA Y LIBERTAD

Oaxaca de Magon, ciudad de la resistencia a 21 de abril de 2009

(mexico.indymedia.org)

some background, in english:
Sentencing Scheduled For David Venegas Reyes, anarkismo.net:

Sentencing scheduled for DAVID VENEGAS REYES “ALEBRIJE”, ex political prisoner and prisoner of conscience of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) and of Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy And Freedom (VOCAL).

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY URGENTLY REQUESTED IN DEMANDING JUSTICE FROM OAXACA AUTHORITIES.

This coming April 6, 2009, after spending eleven months in prison and more than a year on parole with the obligation to report every two weeks, our comrade David Venegas Reyes will finally be sentenced in the last of two cases brought against him by the malevolent government of the killer Ulises Ruiz Ortiz in order to jail him and thereby keep him away from the APPO. On this date, he will be sentenced on the obviously trumped-up charge of possession with intent to sell cocaine and heroin, for which he was jailed on April 13, 2007.

Review of the facts:

On April 13, 2007, at approximately 12:30 in the afternoon, David was walking through El Llano Park in the city of Oaxaca with two other people when he was violently apprehended with no arrest warrant by a commando of hooded armed men riding in a red pickup without plates or any kind of police department logo. He was thrown into the pickup at gunpoint by agents brandishing long arms. David was then ridden around the city with his own bag placed over his head to cover his face, beaten, and threatened with forced disappeared if he didn’t talk. This went on for several hours before he was taken to the Preventive Police Headquarters, known as “los Pinos” (The Pines), in Santa María Coyotepec, Oaxaca, a place where serious human rights violations, murders and disappearances of social activists have been committed by the Army as well as federal and state police forces. At “los Pinos”, the beatings and threats continued, and he was forcibly photographed and videoed with the drugs planted on him by the police. All of this was ordered by the ex Director of the Auxiliary, Banking, Industrial and Commercial Police (PABIC), Alejandro Barrita Ortiz, well-known for his repression of the social movement. David was finally taken to the Street Sales Drug Unit (UMAN) of the Federal Attorney General’s Office, along with the drugs planted on him at “los Pinos!”.

After holding him there for two days, he was taken to the Santa María Ixcotel Prison in the City of Oaxaca, and as soon as he got there, was charged with sedition, conspiracy, and arson for allegedly burning eight buildings in downtown Oaxaca on November 25, 2006. These included the State Supreme Court Building, which, as everyone knows, was burned by the killer Ulises Ruiz Ortiz’s own government to do away with evidence of the injustices committed by the judicial system and to incriminate a number of different APPO comrades. These acts of brutal repression against members of the popular movement committed by the federal police force under orders of Vicente Fox and the state police forces under orders of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, on November 25, 2006, amounted to the worst case of mass human rights violations ever seen in Oaxaca, with almost 200 prisoners being transferred to a prison in the state of Nayarit, more than a thousand kilometers away from the land of Oaxaca.

After winning two protective orders and two appeals, and having his charges “reclassified”, David was finally released on March 5, 2008, in absence of any proof whatsoever of his guilt, and totally exonerated of the offenses of arson for the buildings burned on November 25. Nevertheless, his case for possession with intent to sell cocaine and heroin has dragged on despite government misconduct including intentional delays, serious omissions, lies, and a series of contradictions in the testimony of the arresting officers, all of which should be sufficient for winning his absolute freedom.

And so, today, we are mobilizing on his behalf and sending out this CALL for the solidarity of all the men and women, organizations, collectives, peoples, and labor unions of Oaxaca, Mexico, and the world to show your support for the absolute exoneration and freedom of David through protest actions and letters, phone calls, and faxes before the sentence is pronounced on April 6, 2009, at 10:45 a.m. in the Third Federal District Court in the city of Oaxaca:

We further call on you to sign the following statement as backing for the petition for justice in this case.

We continue to demand the exit of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz from the Oaxaca state government and will do so until the last day of his deadly regime. We will not rest in the struggle to achieve a deep, radical change in our society. At the same time, we extend our solidarity to the peoples throughout the world who are also struggling for a better world.

ULISES RUIZ, MURDERER, OUT NOW!
FREEDOM FOR ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN OAXACA, MEXICO, AND THE WORLD!
PUNISHMENT FOR ALL THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPRESSION AGAINST THE PEOPLES OF OAXACA!
THE APPO LIVES, THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!

Fraternally yours, OAXACAN VOICES CONSTRUCTING AUTONOMY AND FREEDOM (VOCES OAXAQUEÑAS CONSTRUYENDO AUTONOMIA Y LIBERTAD)

Send your endorsement to: vocal@riseup.net

Send letters to:

Juez Amado Chiñas Fuentes
Juez Tercero de Distrito del Décimo Tercer Circuito
Avenida Juárez 709
Colonia Centro
Ciudad de Oaxaca de Juárez
Oaxaca, México C.p. 68000

--AND FINALLY, FROM A LETTER DAVID WROTE WHILE IMPRISONED IN APRIL 2007:

I feel great happiness knowing that the mobilizations continue and will continue. We have to keep up the fight, without hatred towards those who want to keep us subdued- those of us who know we're in the right don't need to look into the ruins of hatred in our hearts to find the motivation to keep struggling. In each ancient face, in each of the movement's chants, in each graffiti image that appears in clandestine by the night, in each child, in each banner, and in each of us in prison- there are the noble reasons to continue fighting. I urge you never to abandon this struggle.

Just like no one knows what's best for a child like his mother, each individual, each collective, pueblo, city, and neighborhood knows what it needs to achieve a better life. Our destiny is in our hands. My imprisonment shows, in all its harshness, what the government is capable of doing to continue systematically repressing the movement of Oaxaca.

But even in the face of the repression, I hope that the exhaustion of our legs and throats never exceeds the intensity of our demand for justice and freedom for everyone- both those inside and outside of jail. I am deeply touched by the opportunity to communicate with all of the Oaxacan people- dignified by your rebellion. I want you to know that the walls of this prison are only enclosing my body, but that my spirit is with you, strengthening the morale of the rebellion, of freedom, of autonomy. The music of our chants that I heard you calling from outside the prison reached the inside of my cell. They remain deeply engraved in my heart.

I hope that this message reaches you, not like a cat that furtively climbs over the walls, but rather, as a giant that demolishes those walls, spreading the depth of my conviction- that this struggle is a just one, and that we will triumph in the end.

"prisoners could safely determine their own reality"

one of the most eye-opening and faith-in-a-world-without-prisons-increasing books i have read recently is the newly published, When the Prisoners Ran Walpole, by Jamie Bissonette, with Ralph Hamm, Robert Dellelo, and Edward Rodman.

below are just a few excerpts, which by no means do the text justice. read for yourself, and please share your thoughts.

-----
For many of the volunteers, the experiences from March to May of 1973 revealed two surprising things: prisoners could safely determine their own reality, and a prison with no guards that was run democratically by prisoners functioned smoothly and was profoundly productive. (212)

The NPRA (National Prisoners Reform Association) was first and foremost a prison-based project. Even though the prisoners recognized that prisons themselves were a primary cause of crime, and the NPRA was an abolitionist organization, the leadership knew from experience that prisons were maintained by complex interests. The path away from punishment and toward problem solving could not be left to prison administrators or advocates or community support groups--no matter how dedicated. (213)

The NPRA was a full employment project. One of the most crucial tasks a prisoner undertakes upon release from prison is that of finding employment. The NPRA recommended that prisoners work with federal and state governments, along with private industry, to develop job-training programs within prisons. A job-placement network would complement the job-training programs. The NPRA was clear: the jobs needed to be decent and pay fair wages, or prisoners would return to crime. This brief recommendation for decent, well-paying jobs for prisoners was written when the whole country was experiencing the high unemployment and skyrocketing prices that became known as "stagflation." Yet, the NPRA was not about to buy into the idea that there were "not enough" jobs for everyone. The fact that society was willing to waste substantial amounts of money keeping them in prison led them to draw their own conclusions. They knew there were enough resources; they simply needed to be apportioned more pragmatically, and for the good of all people. (214)

this is the moment to wonder out of what materials can a human world be built

richard wright, blueprint for negro writing, 1937 (how little has changed!)

we live in a time when the majority of the most basic assumptions of life can no longer be taken for granted. Tradition is no longer a guide. The world has grown huge and cold. Surely this is the moment to ask questions, to theorize, to speculate, to wonder out of what materials can a human world be built.

whether or not you believe in online petitions...

Subject: please spread the word about the online petition for mumia abu-jamal!!!!!!!!

Dear co-strugglers for Mumia,

this is our call for action - sign the online-petition to the Justices of the US Supreme Court.

We launched it at the beginning of March in Germany and Austria - and it is growing fast now.

It was already signed by Noam Chomsky, Frances Goldin, Robert Meeropol, Harold Wilson, Colin Firth, Anthony Arnove,

Marc Taylor, Julia Wright, Pam Africa, Veronica Jones, Lynne Stewart and so many others.

The updated letter with the 3500th signature was sent to the Justices this Easter monday, April 13.

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/supreme/petition.html

Support Mumia in this most dangerous state of his life.

Please spread it as far as you can! Post it, send it around, use all your powerful means of creating news and attention.

Annette in Heidelberg, Germany
///
the text of the petition:
To: United States Supreme Court

To the Honorable Justices of the United States Supreme Court,
Chief Justice John Roberts,
Samuel Alito,
Stephen Breyer,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
Anthony Kennedy,
Antonin Scalia,
David Hackett Souter,
John Paul Stevens,
Clarence Thomas,


Before you is the notorious case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, which is a difficult matter to deal with, a matter concerning fundamental fairness, as we are well aware.

But then - it offers the possibility to show some light at the end of the dark tunnel of racism that has been tainting America’s reputation in the world for a long time now.

We won’t go into all the contentious details of the case here.
To us, one thing is obvious: racism is the thread that runs through this case like a mismatching color in a fabric.
The blatant racism affronting America’s oft-stated core values of fairness and justice in this case has attracted widespread attention, including that of Amnesty International, which in 2000 dedicated a long report to this case, calling for a new trial, which it continues to do to this day.

The constitutionally guaranteed bedrock of a fair trial is a jury selected without bias, including racial bias. Undisputedly, the original trial started with only 3 and ended with 2 out of 12 jurors being African-Americans - in a city with then close to 40 percent Blacks. Prosecutor Joseph McGill used 10 of 15 peremptory strikes against blacks. This particular prosecutor’s strike pattern reflects impermissible race-based exclusions practiced by Philadelphia prosecutors during that era.

The racially loaded atmosphere at the time of Mr. Abu-Jamal’s trial in 1982 is sadly illustrated by the fact that later, an Assistant District Attorney for Philadelphia produced a training video for the city’s prosecutors about how to evade orders of this Court prohibiting prejudicial jury selection. Explicitly referring to the practices he recommends as ”the wisdom of the ages” and the long-standing custom of the city’s prosecutors, you can watch him say:

"Let's face it, the blacks from the low-income areas are less likely to convict. There's a resentment to law enforcement... You don't want those guys on your jury...
If you get a white teacher in a black school who's sick of these guys, that may be the one to accept."

The courts of a country that is rightly proud of its unique Constitution granting equal rights for all should be able do a lot better.

Whether or not Mr. Abu-Jamal is guilty or innocent is not the issue here.
The issue is a fair trial - a constitutional right denied this defendant during the last 27 years.

Right now and before your Court, Mr. Abu-Jamal isn’t even asking for a new trial. He is only asking that his well documented claim of racial bias during the original trial be fully and fairly heard and that your Court order appropriate consequences.

With all due respect and urgency we ask you to use your power as the Supreme Court of the United States to grant him all the legal procedures necessary to finally provide him justice.


****************

One core factual source among many for the above is:
www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/001/2000 (A Life in the Balance - the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, report by Amnesty International)

****************

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

i received this via an email listserve of activists in phila. i can't make it, and i'm not sure how i feel about the parties sponsoring it, but i definitely like the way that capitalism is at the CENTER as an issue...and i'm sure i'd agree with a lot of what different people will be saying/thinking, since the description of their conference includes "The conference will link the struggles against war and militarism with the fight for economic justice." into that.
----
You are invited to attend ...

"Capitalism is Organized Crime" a conference taking place on Sunday, April 19 in Washington, D.C.

The ANSWER Coalition encourages its members and supporters to attend an exciting educational event taking place in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, April 19.

Please see below for the list of featured speakers.

The "Capitalism is Organized Crime" conference will take place from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm at the Festival Center, located at 1640 Columbia Rd. NW, between 16th and 17th Sts. (green line metro to Columbia Heights).

Guest Speakers, Panels & Discussion

Capitalism is a form of organized crime. The U.S. government is greasing the system's wheels to ensure that banks and big corporations get trillions in bailout funds. Meanwhile, millions of workers are losing their jobs and homes. Deep cuts are gutting public education, making health care even less accessible and decimating much-needed social programs. Police brutality and racial profiling are rampant. Working-class people are being hit from all sides.

The conference will link the struggles against war and militarism with the fight for economic justice. This conference will be an important opportunity for political activists to meet, analyze, discuss and propose solutions. The conference organizers believe that a radical reorganization of society is necessary to meet the needs of the people rather than to maximize the profits of bankers and corporate executives who have driven society onto the path of endless war and economic suffering.

Featured speakers at the April 19th Conference will include:

Marcos García, labor attache at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney and co-founder, Partnership for Civil Justice Brian Becker, National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition Hodari Abdul-Ali, Chair of the Social Justice Task Force for MANA, the Muslim Alliance in North America Eugene Puryear, Howard University student, PSL 2008 Vice-Presidential Candidate Prof. Zachary Wolfe, George Washington University, chair of the Amicus Curiae Committee of the National Lawyers Guild Maurice Carney, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo Muna Coobtee, ANSWER Coalition and Free Palestine Alliance Frances Villar, Senator and Senate Parliamentarian of Bronx Community College Student Government, Vice Chair for Legislative Affairs for University Student Senate of City University of New York (CUNY) James Circello, Iraq war veteran and co-coordinator of the Veterans and Service Members Task Force of the ANSWER Coalition Crystal Kim, PSL 2008 Candidate for D.C. Council At-Large

Schedule for the day

11:00 am: Doors open for registration 12:00 noon - 2:00 pm: Panel I Capitalism is Organized Crime 2:30 - 4:00 pm: Panel II The Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism and for National Liberation 4:30 - 5:15 pm: Panel III Is Socialism Possible in the United States?

Click here to Pre-Register for the April 19th Conference.

$20 donation requested. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Childcare available. Please call to reserve.

The April 19 "Capitalism is Organized Crime" Conference is hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). The PSL is a member group of the ANSWER Coalition. Click here for more information, email dc@socialismandliberation.org, or call 202-543-4900.

If you can't make it to D.C., check out the exciting conferences being held in Chicago and Los Angeles on April 25.

---

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311

Click here to unsubscribe from the ANSWER e-mail list.
If this message was forwared to you and you'd like to receive future ANSWER updates,
Click here to subscribe.

organizing temporary housing in foreclosed homes

With Advocates’ Help, Squatters Call Foreclosures Home

from NYT:
April 10, 2009 By JOHN LELAND

MIAMI — When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection.

What she did not tell anyone was that she had no legal right to be in the home.

Ms. Omega, 48, is one of the beneficiaries of the foreclosure crisis. Through a small advocacy group of local volunteers called Take Back the Land, she moved from a friend’s couch into a newly empty house that sold just a few years ago for more than $400,000.

Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said about a dozen advocacy groups around the country were actively moving homeless people into vacant homes — some working in secret, others, like Take Back the Land, operating openly.

In addition to squatting, some advocacy groups have organized civil disobedience actions in which borrowers or renters refuse to leave homes after foreclosure.

The groups say that they have sometimes received support from neighbors and that beleaguered police departments have not aggressively gone after squatters.

“We’re seeing sheriffs’ departments who are reluctant to move fast on foreclosures or evictions,” said Bill Faith, director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, which is not engaged in squatting. “They’re up to their eyeballs in this stuff. Everyone’s overwhelmed.”

On a recent afternoon, Ms. Omega sat on the tiled floor of her unfurnished living room and described plans to use the space to tie-dye clothing and sell it on the Internet, hoping to save some money before she is inevitably forced to leave.

“It’s a beautiful castle, and it’s temporary for me,” she said, “and if I can be here 24 hours, I’m thankful.” In the meantime, she said, she has instructed her adult son not to make noise, to be a good neighbor.

In Minnesota, a group called the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign recently moved families into 13 empty homes; in Philadelphia, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union maintains seven “human rights houses” shared by 13 families. Cheri Honkala, who is the national organizer for the Minnesota group and was homeless herself once, likened the group’s work to “a modern-day underground railroad,” and said squatters could last up to a year in a house before eviction.

Other groups, including Women in Transition in Louisville, Ky., are looking for properties to occupy, especially as they become frustrated with the lack of affordable housing and the oversupply of empty homes.

Anita Beaty, executive director of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, said her group had been looking into asking banks to give it abandoned buildings to renovate and occupy legally. Ms. Honkala, who was a squatter in the 1980s, said the biggest difference now was that the neighbors were often more supportive. “People who used to say, ‘That’s breaking the law,’ now that they’re living on a block with three or four empty houses, they’re very interested in helping out, bringing over mattresses or food for the families,” she said.

Ben Burton, executive director of the Miami Coalition for the Homeless, said squatting was still relatively rare in the city.

But Take Back the Land has had to compete with less organized squatters, said Max Rameau, the group’s director.

“We had a move-in that we were going to do one day at noon,” he said. “At 10 o’clock in the morning, I went over to the house just to make sure everything was O.K., and squatters took over our squat. Then we went to another place nearby, and squatters were in that place also.”

Mr. Rameau said his group differed from ad hoc squatters by operating openly, screening potential residents for mental illness and drug addiction, and requiring that they earn “sweat equity” by cleaning or doing repairs around the house and that they keep up with the utility bills.

“We change the locks,” he said. “We pull up with a truck and move in through the front door. The families get a key to the front door.” Most of the houses are in poor neighborhoods, where the neighbors are less likely to object.

Kelly Penton, director of communications for the City of Miami, said police officers needed a signed affidavit from a property’s owner — usually a bank — to evict squatters. Representatives from the city’s homeless assistance program then help the squatters find shelter.

To find properties, Mr. Rameau and his colleagues check foreclosure listings, then scout out the houses for damage. On a recent afternoon, Mr. Rameau walked around to the unlocked metal gate of an abandoned bungalow in the Liberty City neighborhood.

“Let the record reflect that there was no lock on the door,” Mr. Rameau said. “I’m not breaking in.”

Inside, the wiring and sinks had been stripped out, and there was a pile of ashes on the linoleum floor where someone had burned a telephone book — probably during a cold spell the previous week, Mr. Rameau said.

“Two or three weeks ago, this house was in good condition,” Mr. Rameau said. “Now we wouldn’t move a family in here.”

So far the group has moved 10 families into empty houses, and Mr. Rameau said the group could not afford to help any more people. “It costs us $200 per move-in,” he said.

Mary Trody hopes not to leave again. On Feb. 20, Ms. Trody and her family of 12 — including her mother, siblings and children — were evicted from their modest blue house northwest of the city, which the family had lived in for 22 years, because her mother had not paid the mortgage.

After a weekend of sleeping in a paneled truck, however, the family, with the help of Take Back the Land, moved back in.

“This home is what you call a real home,” Ms. Trody said. “We had all family events — Christmas parties, deaths, funerals, weddings — all in this house.”

On a splendid Florida afternoon, Ms. Trody’s dog played in the water from a hose on the front lawn. The house had mattresses on the floors, but most belongings were in storage, in case they had to leave again.

“I don’t think it’s fair living in a house and not paying,” Ms. Trody said.

She said the mortgage lender had offered the family $1,500 to leave but was unwilling to negotiate minimal payments that would allow them to stay. She said she and her husband had been looking for work since he lost his delivery job with The Miami Herald.

In the meantime, she said, “I still got knots in my stomach, because I don’t know when they’re going to come yank it back from me, when they’re going to put me back on the streets.”

The block was dotted with foreclosed homes.

Three of her neighbors said they knew she was squatting and supported her. One is Joanna Jean Pierre, 32, who affectionately refers to Ms. Trody as Momma.

Ms. Pierre said Ms. Trody was a good neighbor and should be let alone. “That’s her house,” Ms. Pierre said. “She should be here.”

Ms. Trody said that living here before, “I felt secure; I felt this is my home.”

“This is where I know I’m safe,” she added. “Now it’s like, this is a stranger. What’s going to happen?”

Even without furniture or homey touches, she talked about the house as if it were a member of her family.

“I know it’s not permanently, but we still have these couple days left,” she said. “It’s like a person that you’re losing, and you know you still have a few more days with them.”

U.S. Supreme Court Sucks

Indian Country Today reports that "The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Congress’ apology for overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 bears no moral, political or legal weight in stopping the State of Hawaii from selling 1.2 million acres of land seized during the illegal regime change before resolving land claims by Native Hawaiians."

[INSERT: lsakjdfa;lskdjfa;lsdkfjas;ldkfjas;ldfkj! i am unable to articulate currently kist how much this upsets me (though doesnt necessarily surprise)]

(image: http://api.ning.com/files/SgL3apfElCVXx*WUrGybR31M57fRymHVj0fxIsfYmu1p6f-eb9RxZact8yPayVb8X1feyX8CcjJOHLpxvHGH-Amv6DvIQTQd/HIA5.jpg)

article, "U.S. Supremes Rule Against native Hawaiians' Land Claims" by Gale Courey Toensing continues:
(AND NOTE OUR VERY OWN KAUANUI SAYING BRILLIANT THINGS AT THE END)

"The ruling was issued March 31, six weeks after the high court heard arguments in State of Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The state petitioned the case in the U.S. Supreme Court last year after the Hawaii Supreme Court issued an injunction prohibiting the state from selling or transferring “ceded lands” held in trust until Native Hawaiians’ claims to the land have been resolved.

The Hawaiian court based its decision on the Apology Resolution, passed by Congress in 1993 on the 100th anniversary of the destruction of the Hawaiian Nation. The apology acknowledged the illegality of the U.S. government’s actions in overthrowing Hawaii’s sovereign government, creating a “provisional government” and five years later passing the Newlands Resolution, which annexed Hawaii as a U.S. territory.

Although the high court’s ruling accepts the Newlands Resolution narrative that Hawaii ceded all public, government and crown lands to the U.S. in “absolute fee,” the congressional apology recognized that “the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States, either through their monarchy or through a plebiscite or referendum.”

The high court reversed the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision and remanded it back “for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.”

“The State Supreme Court incorrectly held that Congress, by adopting the Apology Resolution, took away from the citizens of Hawaii the authority to resolve an issue that is of great importance to the people of the state. Respondents (the Office of Hawaiian Affairs) defend that decision by
arguing that they have both state-law property rights in the land in question and ‘broader moral and political claims for compensation for the wrongs of the past.’ But we have no authority to decide questions of Hawaiian law or to provide redress for past wrongs except as provided for by federal law,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court.

Both the state of Hawaii and the OHA claimed the high court’s ruling as a victory.

“We consider the court’s decision to be a favorable one. While we would have preferred an outright dismissal of the petition, the result in this case is workable,” said Haunani Apoliona, OHA Board of Trustees chairperson.

The OHA is a state agency created in 1978 “with a mandate to better the conditions of both Native Hawaiians and the Hawaiian community in general,” according to its Web site.

The agency launched the case in 1994 – a year after the Apology Resolution – in an effort to stop the state from selling public lands to a developer. In 2002, a Hawaii state court ruled that Hawaii could sell the lands, but in January 2008, the Hawaii Supreme Court reversed that ruling, contending that the Apology Resolution prohibited the state from selling or transferring any land unless and until a political settlement was reached with Native Hawaiians.

“From the day the Hawai’i Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision prohibiting the sale and the transfer of ceded lands to third parties until the claims to those lands by the Native Hawaiian people were resolved, the Board of Trustees believed that the state Supreme Court ruled correctly,” Apoliona said. “Now the case is headed back to the Hawai’i Supreme Court where it belongs. This case should never have been taken outside of the state of Hawai’i.”

Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett, who argued the state’s case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, said he was “very pleased with the nine to nothing ruling by the Supreme Court in our favor. The ruling addressed our two points on appeal. The first, that the apology resolution does not in any way affect the state’s legal rights, and, second, that the state has the same absolute deed title to the public lands that the United States had, and the Supreme court confirmed that very clearly in its opinion. The state owns these lands in fee for the benefit of all of the people of Hawaii.”

Native Hawaiians, who seek the restoration of Hawaii’s sovereignty and self determination as a nation state, refute that claim.

“If the Apology Resolution has no teeth in the court of the conqueror, then how is it that the Newlands Resolution that unilaterally annexed Hawaii does?” said J. Kehaulani Kauanui, associate professor of American Studies and Anthropology at Wesleyan University.

“This (ruling) is a legal fiction to cover up the fact that the U.S. government accepted the stolen lands from the Republic of Hawaii government that confiscated these lands after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The Republic of Hawaii could not have ceded these lands in “absolute fee” to the United States because they were stolen. The U.S. government accepted the stolen goods and cannot prove title because they were stolen without Hawaiian people’s consent and without compensation.”

The state of Hawaii and the OHA support the passage of the Akaka Bill, named after U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, which would grant federal recognition to Native Hawaiians and place the public lands in trust under the federal government.

The senator issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

“I will continue to monitor the case as it is taken back up by the state courts. I still believe the best way forward is through direct negotiations between the state and federal governments and a federally recognized Native Hawaiian government. For these issues to be resolved, Native Hawaiians need a seat at the table. Mainland indigenous people have this opportunity and Native Hawaiians deserve the same chance.”

But Hawaiian nationalists reject federal recognition as a resolution to their quest for sovereignty.

“The Akaka Bill is the final nail in the coffin; the U.S. government knows it does not have any legitimate title to these stolen lands. Hence, the only way the U.S. will ever be able to secure its claim is by constituting a Hawaiian governing entity to give up the claim to them,” Kauanui said.

Those affiliated with the Hawaiian nationalist movement must “continue to draw attention to the pathological hypocrisy of U.S. Empire and insist on the legal validity of the Hawaiian claim to independent nationhood.”

vermont!

bbc reports that the Vermont legislature just legalized gay marriage.


There is so much more to do to allow people equal access to resources and perhaps the institution of marriage is not the way to do so. But for now, today, I am seeing this as a much needed pick-me-up for acknowledging the ridiculousness of this not already being legal. (there's a sentence for you)

MY VERY OWN STATE OF VERMONT FIRST STATE IN COUNTRY TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE THROUGH LEGISLATIVE ACTION (not court ruling). !!!!!!!!!!!

nyt: MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont Legislature on Tuesday overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry, mustering exactly enough votes to preserve the measure.

The step makes Vermont the first state to allow same-sex marriage through legislative action instead of a court ruling.