The May 1st Coalition is circulating the following petition in the wake of the murder of Latino worker, Marcello Lucero. Please sign on, circulate and send back to email address: may1@leftshift.org
STEVE LEVY: RESIGN!
Long Island November 14, 2008
WE THE PEOPLE OF LONG ISLAND AND NEW YORK CITY CALL FOR THE RESIGNATION OF SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE STEVE LEVY
This publicly elected official has created an atmosphere of separation and hate in the county over which he presides, giving refuge and a type of legitimacy to racists. Steve Levy allied himself with the Minutemen who hounded the Latino day laborers in Farmingville. Under his "watch," racist white youths invaded the home of John White, which led to the death of one of these youths. Steve Levy's human indifference to the conditions of Latinos in his county fed the cowardly reactions of alienated high school youths who were emboldened on November 8, to commit the unspeakably brutal attack and murder of Ecuadoran immigrant Marcello Lucero, a hard working, decent human being who lived and worked in Patchogue. Under Steve Levy's watch, KKK members have recently dropped racist leaflets in different communities in Suffolk.
Other racists in Suffolk County, under Levy's blind eye, feel free to smear anti-Black, anti-Obama and sexist graffiti on Suffolk streets. We demand the resignation of this man who has done such harm to our communities. Steve Levy's regime has contributed nothing to the development of unity and human decency in Suffolk County.
WITH STEVE LEVY, THERE WILL BE NO PEACE!!!
Name __________________________________________________
Address ________________________________________________
E-mail__________________________________________________
Phone__________________________________________________
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum on Willets Point
Willets Point Vote
Yesterday, the City Council voted on the development plan for Willets Point. It's no secret that I've had some serious reservations about this plan since it was introduced.
I have voiced my concerns that the needs of local business owners in the Willets Point must be addressed. For months, I’ve been advocating that the city sit down with local business owners and workout a situation that meets everyone’s needs. And it appears – for the majority of businesses – that this may have happened. This is welcome news.
Yesterday, the City Council voted on the development plan for Willets Point. It's no secret that I've had some serious reservations about this plan since it was introduced.
I have voiced my concerns that the needs of local business owners in the Willets Point must be addressed. For months, I’ve been advocating that the city sit down with local business owners and workout a situation that meets everyone’s needs. And it appears – for the majority of businesses – that this may have happened. This is welcome news.
Many of these business owners have invested considerable amounts time and money improve their community, and many have supplied needed services to New Yorkers for generations. I hope this current plan takes that into account, for we all want an ideal future for Willets Point. I think we can all agree that the best way to move forward is to make sure that all parties - the city, the community, and local business owners - have an equal say in the development plan.
Betsy Gotbaum
VOTE NO ON PROP 8
Civil Rights Groups Petition California Supreme Court to Stop Enactment of Proposition 8
In the petition, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, EJS, California NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. argue that in order to protect the fundamental rights of all Californians, a higher standard is required to overturn the right to marry. Minority communities cannot be stripped of their fundamental rights by a simple majority vote.
"We would be making a grave mistake to view Proposition 8 as just affecting the LGBT community," said Eva Paterson, president of the Equal Justice Society. "If the Supreme Court allows Proposition 8 to take effect, it would represent a threat to the rights of people of color and all minorities."
The petition filed by Raymond C. Marshall of Bingham McCutchen and Prof. Tobias Barrington Wolff of University of Pennsylvania Law School on behalf of leading African American, Latino, and Asian American groups echo the arguments made in the November 5 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights: Proposition 8 prevents the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of enforcing the equal protection rights of minorities.
The California Constitution requires that any measure attempting to revise the underlying principles of the constitution must first be approved by a two-thirds vote of the legislature before being submitted to the voters. Proposition 8 was not approved through that constitutionally required process.
"Proposition 8 contradicts the most basic protection guaranteed by the California Constitution, which is the right to equal protection of the laws," said John Trasviña, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "We can not allow the Constitution to sanction discrimination against one group of people."
"Direct democracy cannot override the California Constitution, which requires more than a majority vote to deprive a minority group of their fundamental rights," said John A. Payton, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
"We cannot become a society that picks and chooses who is entitled to equal rights," said Alice A. Huffman, president of the California State NAACP. "We should include all people from all walks of life in the entitlement to all freedoms now enjoyed by the majority of our population As a civil rights advocate, we will continue the fight of eliminating roadblocks to freedom."
"Consistent with core equal protection principles, minority communities must not be stripped of their fundamental rights by bare majority rule," said Karin Wang, Vice-President of Programs for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. "California went down this path before when the majority population chose to bar interracial marriages involving an unpopular minority: Asian immigrants. The state Constitution exists exactly for this reason - to protect the fundamental rights of minority communities."
"Let's not forget the landmark 1967 case of Loving v. Virginia, which allowed two people of different races to marry," said Paterson of the Equal Justice Society. "People then believed it was acceptable to keep Mildred Loving from marrying a white man because of their ideas of who should marry whom. We must not return to those times."
The court has precedent for invalidating an improper voter initiative. In 1990, the court overruled an initiative that would have added a provision to the California Constitution stating that the "Constitution shall not be construed by the courts to afford greater rights to criminal defendants than those afforded by the Constitution of the United States." That measure was invalid because it improperly attempted to strip California's courts of their role as independent interpreters of the state's constitution.
Founded in 1968, MALDEF (maldef.org), the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization, promotes and protects the rights of Latinos through litigation, advocacy, community education and outreach, leadership development, and higher education scholarships.
The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (apalc.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for civil rights, providing legal services and education, and building coalitions to positively influence and impact Asian Pacific Americans and to create a more equitable and harmonious society. APALC is affiliated with the Asian American Justice Center, the Asian American Institute in Chicago, and the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco.
The Equal Justice Society (equaljusticesociety.org) is a national strategy group heightening conscious on race in the law and popular discourse. Using a three-pronged strategy of law and public policy advocacy, cross-disciplinary convenings and strategic public communications, EJS seeks to restore race equity issues to the national consciousness, build effective progressive alliances, and advance the discourse on the positive role of government.
The Equal Justice Society is a national strategy group heightening conscious on race in the law and popular discourse. Using strategies including law, public policy, communications, convenings and the arts, EJS seeks to restore race equity issues to the national consciousness, build effective progressive alliances and create a discourse on the positive role of government. Our more than 4,000 supporters throughout the country include advocates, attorneys, jurists, scholars, social scientists and communicators.
Equal Justice Society, 220 Sansome St, 14th Flr, San Francisco, CA 94104, Ph (415) 288-8700
Sunday, November 16, 2008
OFW remittances only for OFWs--advocate
Gov’t hit for ‘wrong’ view
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 12:45:00 10/28/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Only the migrant workers, not the government or any institution, are the rightful owners of the billions of dollars in remittances that they have earned in foreign lands, a US-based sociology professor and an advocate of migrants' rights said.
Jorge A. Bustamante, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and Nobel Peace Prize nominee in 2006, said that it was a "wrong perspective" for governments to put the "responsibility of development on the shoulders of migrants" whose remittances, in the case of the Philippines, have kept the economy afloat amid the financial crunch worldwide.
"I think this is something important to clarify because this lack of appreciation is making the wrong perspective about the nature of remittances because sometimes when migration is associated with dependency some people believe that economic development has to be related with remittances, and that would be a wrong perspective, that would be unfair to the migrants," Bustamante said in his remark at the solidarity dinner of parliamentarians hosted by Senate President Manuel Villar and Representative Cynthia Villar late Monday at the Villa Pacencia Laurel in Mandaluyong City.
However, Bustamante stressed that he delivered his statements as an academician, not as UN rapporteur.
He is a professor of sociology, teaching international migration and human rights at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
The event was organized simultaneous with the opening of the Global Forum on Migration and Development at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
Bustamante is scheduled to attend the counterpart forum organized by progressive migrant workers group, the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees.
"Remittances are the result of the work of migrants and they represent their savings that have the basic objective to support their families at home. Therefore remittances are the property of migrants and nobody else, therefore, this money that belongs to the migrants should not be associated with any claim by any institution, government or private, which might think that remittances should be used for the purposes of economic development," he said.
He said such claims “would be unfair and incongruent with the nature of remittances, and this is something that has to do with the need to clarify some of the problems that we associate with the phenomenon of international migration all over the world."
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo repeatedly boasted that the remittances of the country's eight million overseas Filipino workers (OFW) have kept the economy afloat amid the international financial turmoil.
In 2007, OFW remittances totaled $14.4 billion.
Asked in an interview about the dangers of government treating remittances as its property, Bustamante said, "The danger is that remittances that are the property of migrants are stolen because only the migrants can decide what should be the destination of their own property."
Bustamante said governments should keep in mind that remittances were not touched for other purposes "than those that have been decided by the migrants themselves."
"Migrants are the only persons that could decide on what is the destination of their own money," he added.
John Monterona, coordinator of the group Migrante for Middle East, lamented that government fees and taxes imposed on OFWs were not being used for the benefit of the migrant workers.
The Overseas Welfare Workers Administration (OWWA) charges $25 each as membership fee for departing OFWs and $.015 for documentary stamp, he said.
With about 3,000 Filpinos leaving every day to work abroad, Monterona said the government through the OWWA earned billions in pesos from the OFWs.
"The question is where does OWWA spend its more than P10-billion fund," he said in an interview.
Gary Martinez, Migrante International spokesman, said that despite the contributions of the OFWs, the government has been remiss in its duty to protect the welfare of the workers.
He lamented that thousands of distressed OFWs remained in shelters without assistance from the Philippine embassy or consular offices.
Some of the workers on the death row are also deprived of legal assistance.
Martinez said that 29 Filipinos were facing death sentences in various countries.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Obama Spells New Hope for Human Rights
Monday 10 November 2008
by: Marjorie Cohn, t r u t h o u t Perspective
Celebrations of Barack Obama's election as president of the United States erupted in countries around the world. From Europe to Africa to the Middle East, people were jubilant. After suffering though eight years of an administration that violated more human rights than any other in US history, Obama spells hope for a new day.
While George W. Bush was president, I wrote "Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law," which chronicled his war of aggression, policy of torture, illegal killings, unlawful Guantanamo detentions and secret spying on Americans. When the book was published, it seemed unimaginable that we could elect a president who would turn those policies around. But the election of Obama holds that potential.
This is the first in a series of articles in which I will suggest how the Obama administration can start undoing some of the damage Bush wrought, by ratifying three of the major human rights treaties and the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court.
Although the US government frequently criticizes other countries for their human rights transgressions, the United States has been one of the most flagrant violators. We have refused to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). And while the United States worked with other countries for 50 years to create the International Criminal Court, it has failed to ratify that treaty as well. When we ratify a treaty, it becomes part of US law under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
In this article, I will explain why the United States should ratify the ICESCR, which is particularly relevant now that we are in the midst of the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression.
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal helped lift us out of the Depression, gave his famous Four Freedoms speech, focused on freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. Roosevelt fleshed out the freedom from want and fear principles in his Economic Bill of Rights. It contained equality of opportunity, the right to a job and a decent wage, the end of special privileges for the few, universal civil liberties, guaranteed old-age pensions, unemployment insurance and medical care.
FDR's Bill of Rights formed the basis for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Eleanor Roosevelt helped draft, and which the UN General Assembly adopted in 1949. The Declaration embraced two types of human rights: civil and political rights on the one hand; and economic, social and cultural rights on the other.
These rights were codified in two binding treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
The United States ratified the ICCPR in 1992. But it has refused to commit itself to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. Since the Reagan administration, there has been a policy to define human rights in terms of civil and political rights, but to dismiss economic, social and cultural rights as akin to social welfare or socialism.
Indeed, the United States's inhumane policy toward Cuba exemplifies this dichotomy. The US government has criticized civil and political rights in Cuba while disregarding Cubans' superior access to universal housing, health care, education and public accommodations and its guarantee of paid maternity leave and equal pay rates.
The refusal to enshrine rights such as employment, education, food, housing and health care in US law is the reason the United States has not ratified the ICESCR. This treaty contains the right to work in just and favorable conditions, to an adequate standard of living, to the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health, to education, to housing, and to enjoyment of the benefits of cultural freedom and scientific progress. It also guarantees equal rights for men and women, the right to work, the right to form and join trade unions, the right to social security and social insurance and protection and assistance to the family.
In the United States, more than ten million people are unemployed, two to three million families are homeless each year, and 46 million have no health care benefits. Untold numbers lost their retirement savings when the stock market crashed. Obama has pledged to give the rebuilding of our economy top priority after he is sworn in as president. He promised to create jobs and to ensure that all Americans are covered by health insurance. When Obama said he would cut taxes for 95 percent of the people, but end the tax cuts for the rich, he was criticized for wanting to "spread the wealth." But Obama's plan is fully consistent with our progressive income tax system. After the election, 15,000 physicians called for a single-payer health care plan, which Obama and Congress should seriously consider.
The United States's flouting of the United Nations in its unilateral war on Iraq, and torture of prisoners in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Iraq has engendered widespread condemnation in the international community. Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh, citing Professor Louis Henkin, summarized the hypocrisy of the United States in the area of human rights as follows: "In the cathedral of human rights, the US is more like a flying buttress than a pillar - choosing to stand outside the international structure supporting the international human rights system, but without being willing to subject its own conduct to the scrutiny of the system."
We should encourage President-elect Obama to send the ICESCR to the Senate for advice and consent to ratification. Becoming a party to that treaty will help not only the people in this country; it will also engender respect for the United States around the world.
--------
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and the president of the National Lawyers Guild. Her new book, "Rules of Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of Military Dissent" (with Kathleen Gilberd), will be published this winter by PoliPointPress. Her articles are archived at www.marjoriecohn.com. The next article in this series will explain why the United States should ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
by: Marjorie Cohn, t r u t h o u t Perspective
Celebrations of Barack Obama's election as president of the United States erupted in countries around the world. From Europe to Africa to the Middle East, people were jubilant. After suffering though eight years of an administration that violated more human rights than any other in US history, Obama spells hope for a new day.
While George W. Bush was president, I wrote "Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law," which chronicled his war of aggression, policy of torture, illegal killings, unlawful Guantanamo detentions and secret spying on Americans. When the book was published, it seemed unimaginable that we could elect a president who would turn those policies around. But the election of Obama holds that potential.
This is the first in a series of articles in which I will suggest how the Obama administration can start undoing some of the damage Bush wrought, by ratifying three of the major human rights treaties and the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court.
Although the US government frequently criticizes other countries for their human rights transgressions, the United States has been one of the most flagrant violators. We have refused to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). And while the United States worked with other countries for 50 years to create the International Criminal Court, it has failed to ratify that treaty as well. When we ratify a treaty, it becomes part of US law under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
In this article, I will explain why the United States should ratify the ICESCR, which is particularly relevant now that we are in the midst of the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression.
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal helped lift us out of the Depression, gave his famous Four Freedoms speech, focused on freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. Roosevelt fleshed out the freedom from want and fear principles in his Economic Bill of Rights. It contained equality of opportunity, the right to a job and a decent wage, the end of special privileges for the few, universal civil liberties, guaranteed old-age pensions, unemployment insurance and medical care.
FDR's Bill of Rights formed the basis for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Eleanor Roosevelt helped draft, and which the UN General Assembly adopted in 1949. The Declaration embraced two types of human rights: civil and political rights on the one hand; and economic, social and cultural rights on the other.
These rights were codified in two binding treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
The United States ratified the ICCPR in 1992. But it has refused to commit itself to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. Since the Reagan administration, there has been a policy to define human rights in terms of civil and political rights, but to dismiss economic, social and cultural rights as akin to social welfare or socialism.
Indeed, the United States's inhumane policy toward Cuba exemplifies this dichotomy. The US government has criticized civil and political rights in Cuba while disregarding Cubans' superior access to universal housing, health care, education and public accommodations and its guarantee of paid maternity leave and equal pay rates.
The refusal to enshrine rights such as employment, education, food, housing and health care in US law is the reason the United States has not ratified the ICESCR. This treaty contains the right to work in just and favorable conditions, to an adequate standard of living, to the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health, to education, to housing, and to enjoyment of the benefits of cultural freedom and scientific progress. It also guarantees equal rights for men and women, the right to work, the right to form and join trade unions, the right to social security and social insurance and protection and assistance to the family.
In the United States, more than ten million people are unemployed, two to three million families are homeless each year, and 46 million have no health care benefits. Untold numbers lost their retirement savings when the stock market crashed. Obama has pledged to give the rebuilding of our economy top priority after he is sworn in as president. He promised to create jobs and to ensure that all Americans are covered by health insurance. When Obama said he would cut taxes for 95 percent of the people, but end the tax cuts for the rich, he was criticized for wanting to "spread the wealth." But Obama's plan is fully consistent with our progressive income tax system. After the election, 15,000 physicians called for a single-payer health care plan, which Obama and Congress should seriously consider.
The United States's flouting of the United Nations in its unilateral war on Iraq, and torture of prisoners in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Iraq has engendered widespread condemnation in the international community. Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh, citing Professor Louis Henkin, summarized the hypocrisy of the United States in the area of human rights as follows: "In the cathedral of human rights, the US is more like a flying buttress than a pillar - choosing to stand outside the international structure supporting the international human rights system, but without being willing to subject its own conduct to the scrutiny of the system."
We should encourage President-elect Obama to send the ICESCR to the Senate for advice and consent to ratification. Becoming a party to that treaty will help not only the people in this country; it will also engender respect for the United States around the world.
--------
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and the president of the National Lawyers Guild. Her new book, "Rules of Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of Military Dissent" (with Kathleen Gilberd), will be published this winter by PoliPointPress. Her articles are archived at www.marjoriecohn.com. The next article in this series will explain why the United States should ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Monday, November 10, 2008
CISPES event
UNIDOS PARA 2009:
DEMOCRACY
IN EL SALVADOR
Join CISPES in kicking off the campaign to Defend the Right to Free and Fair Elections in El Salvador!
Come to a discussion of the democratic forces at work in the transformation of Latin America.
Tuesday Nov. 11th, 7pm @ the North
American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) 38 Greene St (corner of Grand), 4th floor: 1, A/C/E, N/R/Q/W, J, 6 to Canal St.
Panel Discussion with:
Claudia de Cuellar, former City Councilwoman, Ayutuxtepeque, El Salvador
Jaime Herrida, Vice-Consul, Consulate of Nicaragua, New York (invited)
Greg Wilpert, Journalist and Author, VenezuelaAnalysis.com
Just how hard the US government is working to prevent El Salvador from going “left” Impact of elections across Latin America
The next big elections in Latin America— El Salvador 2009!
Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
newyorkcispes@mindspring.com
NY CISPES • P.O. Box 250762 NY, NY 10025 • (917) 214 – 3479 • http://www.cispes.org/
Thursday, November 6, 2008
NYC PEOPLES CONVENTION 2009
NYC Peoples Convention2009
Post Election Forum
A New Era of Struggle
Saturday 8 November, 2008
9am to 5pm
--FREE to All--
At CUNY Murphy Labor Institute
25 W. 43rd Street --18th Floor
Manhattan (D, F, B Trains to 42nd St)
Barack Obama is the winner! And yet there is still a lot of work to do for our communities. We have entered a New Era of Struggle!After an historical presidential election; The global Capitalist financial crisis, riddled with ripoffs and Governmental Bailout; State & municipal governmental budget cuts, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of job layoffs; Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Gustave and other signs of racist incompetency and Global Warming; The Jena 6 racist attacks; hundreds of thousands of housing foreclosures; rising Police terror within Black & Latino communities; Our persistent Youth violence; a toxic profit-driven Health Care system; and a public mis-educational system steering our children into prisons or low end jobs...What must we do with a new president in the White House?How can we bring change that will benefit our communities?
3:30-5PM NYC Peoples Convention2009 Planning Meeting -------------------------------------------
9am to 10am- Registration
10am to 3:30pm -- Introductory Remarks & Panels
Sista Suheir Hammad- Poetic Tribute to Our Continued struggle
9am to 10am- Registration
10am to 3:30pm -- Introductory Remarks & Panels
Sista Suheir Hammad- Poetic Tribute to Our Continued struggle
10am -11:30am-- Local/Regional: Councilmember Charles Barron; Assemblymember-elect Inez Barron; Nellie Bailey-Harlem Tenants Council; Larry Hamm-Peoples Organization for Progress (NJ) Moderator: David Greaves- Publisher, Our Times Press
11:30am -1pm-- National: Herb Boyd-Journalist, The Black World Today & Amsterdam News; Brenda Stokely-Union activist and Katrina activist; Gary Younge-Journalist, The Guardian (London) and the NationModerator: Nayaba- Senior Editor, Amsterdam News
LUNCH- NETWORKING 1pm-2pm
2pm- 3:30pm-- International: Horace Campbell-Professor Africana Studies, Syracuse University; BJ Matthews-Taxi Workers Alliance, economist.
3:30-5PM NYC Peoples Convention2009 Planning Meeting
------------------------------ ----------------
Coordinators of Forum: Sam Anderson-author, professor/activist & Jessica Watson-Crosby, co-chair Black Radical Congress-NY & National Chair, Black Radical Congress.
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Coordinators of Forum: Sam Anderson-author, professor/activist & Jessica Watson-Crosby, co-chair Black Radical Congress-NY & National Chair, Black Radical Congress.
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