Earlier this month I attended the Community Strategic Training Initiative (CSTI) hosted by the Western States Center in Portland, OR. This three-day seminar featured day-long workshops on everything from dismantling racism to introductions to community organizing. During my time there I met lots of great folks doing amazing work, one of which was Lauren Raheja who works with the Center for Intercultural Organizing in Portland. Lauren clued me in to a documentary that it seems like I should have already known about but had somehow missed: Divided We Fall.The film…
The Banished post-broadcast outreach campaign is in full swing! DVDs and event resources are available for community groups, civil rights institutions, and activists. Since its broadcast in February 2008, there has been overwhelming interest in intersecting Banished with on-going activism around reparations, displacement and gentrification. In June a New York-based youth program, Cultural Connections used Banished as part of its leadership development series for high school students from all over the City. On Sunday June 29, 2008 the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement hosted a screening of Banished at the Center…
North Carolina made headlines this week in the national immigration debate. The state’s community colleges will no longer admit undocumented immigrants. At least until federal officials determine whether or not it is legal to do so. This reverses a decision made by the college system last year that permitted the 58 individual campuses across the state to make their own individual enrollment decisions. For those who do not know, Working Films is based on the coast of North Carolina. I remember being inspired and moved by the stand our local…
In 2007 the issue of torture made its way to the forefront of political current events. Leaked memos condoning harsh interrogation tactics in October were followed later that month by evasive testimony from Attorney General Michael Mukasey on the legality of waterboarding during his confirmation hearings. Then in December it was revealed that the CIA destroyed at least two video tapes depicting the brutal interrogations of two al-Qaida suspects. As the reality of the Bush administration’s torture policy is unraveling on the world stage, what has clearly changed since the…
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