WikiLeaks, founded by Julian Assange, is an international non-profit organization that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources and news leaks. As a direct result of the effectiveness of WikiLeaks, the organization is receiving significant persecution from the U.S. government and numerous transnational corporations.

For example, the U.S. State Department asserts that WikiLeaks is not a media organization, and Julian Assange is not a journalist. On December 2nd, 2010, Philip J. Crowley, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, stated, “WikiLeaks is not a media organization. That is our view.” In regard to Assange, Crowley said, “Well, his – I mean he could be considered a political actor. I think he’s an anarchist, but he’s not a journalist.” Read More and View Photos

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Bradley Manning is a United States Army soldier who was charged in July 2010 with the unauthorized disclosure of U.S. classified information. He is being tortured in solitary confinement at the Marine Corps Brig, Quantico, Virginia, and is expected to face a court-martial in the spring of 2011. The material allegedly provided by Manning to WikiLeaks includes a large number of diplomatic cables, as well as video of a July 2007 helicopter airstrike in Baghdad, published by WikiLeaks in April 2010 as the Collateral Murder video.

As he did on December 18th at the first rally in Santa Cruz to support WikiLeaks, Takashi Yogi peddled People Power’s bicycle-powered sound system to amplify the people speaking. The speakers on January 8th included Dave “Santa Cruz Woody” Wood, Frank Runninghorse, James Cosner, Steve Pleich, Bob Meola, Robert Norse, Ed Frey and Steven Argue.

Frank Runninghorse, an activist living in Concord, said the demonstration was part of a single struggle with many fronts. “We have to stand in solidarity. We have to show there are links to these struggles.” Runninghorse cited the Oscar Grant movement as an important part of the struggle for justice.

James Cosner, a former Santa Cruz resident and well-known activist from back in the day, spoke about important resistance movements that have taken place in this town. Those movements have included the Santa Cruz Coalition to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, as well as direct action to prevent the U.S. government from displacing indigenous Dine’ peoples at Big Mountain. Cosner said Julian Assange is a hero for exposing the truth to the people of the world.

Steven Argue, an organizer of the protest, read a statement of solidarity from Larry Pinkney, a veteran of the Black Panther Party and current editor for the Black Commentator. According to Argue, the analysis by the antiwar movement of U.S. occupations has been confirmed through official U.S. documents published by WikiLeaks.

Meanwhile, the persecution dragnet by the U.S. government has widened, as reported in a tweet sent on January 8th from the official WikiLeaks Twitter account: “WARNING all 637,000 @wikileaks followers are a target of US gov subpoena against Twitter, under section 2. B http://is.gd/koZIA”

Bob Meola of Berkeley, a member of Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network, said, “If Bradley Manning did what he is accused of, then he is a war hero.” Meola also referenced a mantra of past resistance movements and its appropriateness for the struggle today, “If the government won’t stop the war, we’ll stop the government.”

Ed Frey, a Santa Cruz civil rights attorney, spoke about PC 647e, California’s state-wide anti-”lodging” (anti-sleeping) law and how it is unconstitutional under the 9th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. As part of the Bill of Rights, it addresses rights of the people that are not specifically stated in the Constitution. The 9th Amendment, which Frey said was not widely known, reads, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” On January 21st in Superior Court in Santa Cruz, Frey will challenge the constitutionality of California’s PC 647e.

Another demonstration in support of Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks, with speakers and a march, is in the works for Saturday, January 8th at 1pm at the Town Clock. Read More and View Photos

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For more information, visit:

Rap News 6 – Wikileaks’ Cablegate: the truth is out there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl4NlA97GeQ

WikiRebels – The Documentary
http://svtplay.se/v/2264028/wikirebels_the_documentary

WikiLeaks
http://wikileaks.ch/

WL Central, an unofficial WikiLeaks information resource
http://wlcentral.org/

Democracy Now! WikiLeaks Coverage
http://www.democracynow.org/tags/wikileaks_collateral_murder_video

Free Radio Santa Cruz can be picked up at 101.1 FM in most of Santa Cruz, and online at www.freakradio.org Read More and View Photos

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This is the second in a series of profiles of activist and alternative media workers in the Bay Area by Indybay contributor Peter M. Featured in this profile is Bradley, who works with Santa Cruz Indymedia. Bradley spoke about his life as a student, his work, and his connection to Mexico.

I met with Bradley in his modest Santa Cruz apartment, where he sat for an interview under a poster of Ricardo Flores Magón, an anarchist figure from the Mexican Revolution. Bradley has worked with the Santa Cruz Indymedia website since 2001, and has been one of the key people in its development. Santa Cruz Indymedia is a semi-autonomous element of Indybay, which is itself part of the worldwide network of collective-run Indymedia sites. The sites are evolving as focal points for movements against environmental degradation, capitalism, racism and patriarchy, and for non-hierarchical co-operation and social justice.

Bradley grew up in Oak Park, California, an outer suburb of Los Angeles. He attended community college at Moorpark and Santa Barbara, finally entering the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2000. Along the way, living with people who were studying photography at Brooks Institute, he picked up a digital camera, found it was fun to use, and got into photography. At UCSC, majoring in environmental studies, he studied how U.S. corn was flooding into the Mexican market. He was admitted into the Master’s program at UCSC in Social Documentation in 2006, and he received the degree in 2008.

In July of 2001, Bradley was visiting in Portland when he heard about the death of a protester against the G8 in Italy, Carlo Giulani, who had been killed by police during a demonstration. He went online, finding Indymedia for the first time. “I remember sitting down that night and just being blown away, looking at Indymedia and the coverage around the world,” he said. The next day he stopped into a local infoshop— an anarchist community center—and got hooked up with a march through Portland protesting Giulani’s murder.

When he returned to Santa Cruz, he found that a few people had put together a Santa Cruz Indymedia, and he started contributing and going to meetings, along the way learning about the technology. “I remember asking another Indymedia volunteer, ‘what is a jpeg?’ I really learned a lot through getting involved, about photography and html and websites.”

Software, Bradley said, is ideological. He explained that in open publishing, an innovation that Indymedia helped to popularize, people can contribute content using any style they want, rather than trying to penetrate the filters of traditional media. Decisions in Indymedia are made through a collective process, with the needs of the community in mind. Indymedia software is there for the community, and you can post your photos, audio and video without having to register or leave an IP address, making it safer for people to publish news and opinions without fear of repercussions. Facebook, he pointed out, has useful aspects, but the users don’t control the software. For example, he said, Facebook is a capitalist tool for advertising and mining personal data for marketing.

While Indybay is an all-volunteer organization, some Indymedia work involves professional-level skills. In Bradley’s case, while he is still a passionate protester, working for Indymedia has become a primary focus while he is at a demonstration. “I’m usually there taking photos and observing and thinking about Indymedia coverage, while telling other photographers to publish to Indybay. My role there is seen as ‘Indymedia guy,’ whereas someone else is carrying the banner; someone else is on the bullhorn; someone else is passing out flyers.”

On occasion, the UCSC police are heavy-handed with protesters. In November of 2007, Bradley published a story about a student tree-sit at UCSC to prevent development in forested areas of campus. It led off with a picture of himself, his face soaked in water and his eyes red from a police pepper spray attack. “I was taking photos,” he said, “some might say a little too close to the action, but that’s how you get them.” His Indybay story became an extensive series of close-ups of faces reddened by pepper spray.

“I only have reason to be angry is how I feel sometimes,” Bradley said. “I was born in 1979, Reagan became President in 1980, and I think a lot changed. There was a whole neoliberal shift. My parents see so much of the good of the United States, and the good of California—I just see so much of the bad. In the thirty years since I was born there have probably been around 30 prisons that opened in California, and one university. Numbers like that … I have so much anger. I just want to keep fighting for what’s right.”

Bradley was introduced to the story of the rebellion in Oaxaca, Mexico when he visited Austin, Texas for an Indymedia conference and met Simon Sedillo. Sedillo, as part of Austin Indymedia, was the lead filmmaker on a film called “El Enemigo Común,” which linked the Oaxacan struggle for self-defense with the anti-globalization movement. Sedillo encouraged Bradley to travel to Oaxaca and see what was going on for himself.

Bradley went to Oaxaca in 2005, and soon after he got there he witnessed high school students occupying a university building to protest their systematic exclusion from the public school. He then returned during August and September of 2006, when the town was in an insurrection, an experience that left him emboldened. “My whole experience in Oaxaca,” he said, “was inspirational. Not just inspirational, it is the knowledge and fuel that keeps me going. I think about what is happening in Oaxaca—the levels people go to to fight and resist the system. And they were so willing to talk, so surprised to see somebody like me there, a Gringo who was interested in what was going on and cared about it.”

In February of 2006, Bradley, along with Sedillo and others began a Oaxaca solidarity website along the lines of Indymedia called, like the film, “El Enemigo Común.” Said Bradley, “Simon has been a major influence on my philosophy, the way I go about Indymedia, and my approach to working with groups.”

For his Masters’ project, Bradley created a website for the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations, a group that involves Native peoples on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. “For my project it was important for me to do something that was more necessary for the organization than another photo documentary series,” he said. The artists and activists working with the Front now use the site to put across their own work. “I see it as something similar to the Mesoamerican principles of ‘teaching by learning’ and ‘walking by asking,’” he said.

As we talked, Indymedia was coming up on its tenth anniversary. There have been some successes and some failures (many sites have ceased operating). Bradley sounded pessimistic about the future of Indybay, because it is difficult to attract new volunteers. “One thing that makes it even harder,” he said, “is the fact that there’s so many social networks and blogs—people have the ability to make their own website, and to make it exactly how they want it; they can make something that’s sort of like Indymedia for themselves. I prefer Indymedia. What keeps Indymedia special is that it’s a movement, a movement of people with shared principals of unity, and it would be really hard to recreate. It’s got a place because it’s a network that has a reputation of ten years of working for social justice.”

Bradley stands with Redwood trees on the University of California Santa Cruz campus. October 11, 2009

http://www.bradleystuart.net
http://www.elenemigocomun.net

http://www.streetdemos.net

This article was first published to Indybay.org

On December 27, M.I.L.C. demonstrated in front of Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, CA in response to Facebook designating breastfeeding photos as obscene, removing them from member albums and profiles, banning and restoring user accounts without explanation, and not answering emails from users. Mothers breastfed their babies and displayed photos removed by Facebook as part of a coordinated and widespread campaign in support of the rights of breastfeeding mothers and their children everywhere. Read More and View Photos

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Police from Plymouth, a town outside of Bloomington, prevented Erik’s supporters from getting off the light-rail and entering the mall. Erik was eventually allowed into the mall so he could get to work, although he was late as a result of all the police harassment and misinformation.

My friend David and I caught up with the group of people that were turned away from the mall. David recorded a video interview with Jake Bell about the day’s events and the future plans of the Twin Cities branch of the IWW. A Metro Transit Police officer drove past us in an SUV. The interview was finished and as we were walking away, the police officer turned around and drove to the spot where the interview was conducted. At that point the officer appeared to be looking for an unattended item that may have been left behind. No such items were found, but the police officer decided to follow us for about two miles.

Neither labor organizing nor independent media are against the law, but both activities are being repressed in the Twin Cities, and elsewhere. Read More and View Photos

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WordPress.org describes WordPress as, “a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.” Read more and view photos

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Directed by Simon Sedillo, El Enemigo Común scratches beneath the surface of neoliberalism, and looks at some of the most hidden atrocities in recent North American history. The film documents instances of paramilitary activity against indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico from 2002 through 2005, and includes footage of protests in Cancun against the World Trade Organization, and in Miami against the Free Trade Area of the America’s. The three locations in isolation expose the disparities in North American resistance movements, but also bring us closer to understanding the nature of an emerging common struggle. Read more, view photos and listen to audio

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Cesar E. Chavez School for Social Change

When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of people we are. It is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life. I am convinced that the truest act of courage…is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally non-violent struggle for justice.
- Cesar Chavez

The Cesar E. Chavez School for Social Change is an alternative high school made possible by the collaboration between the Santa Cruz chapter of Barrios Unidos and the County Office of Education. Its purpose is to educate, train and develop youth leaders. The school targets youth that can take advantage of a broad-based educational approach that combines a core academic curriculum and a leadership development program. The Cesar E. Chavez School for Social Change is committed to the principle of empowering youth to become positive, successful young adults.

The Goals for the Cesar E. Chavez School for Social Change include:

• Preparing youth with skills that can put them on a personal path of leadership development.
• Providing instruction using standard core and enriched curriculum based on high academic expectations.
• California High School Exit Exam Preparation.
• Fostering the development of positive self-awareness and self-esteem among students through culturally relevant enriching activities.
• Providing vocational counseling.
• Involving students in counseling and self-improvement programs to raise protective factors and reduce “at-risk” factors.
• Developing youth leaders among participating students.
• Helping transition students back into comprehensive schools and experience higher education opportunities in local colleges and universities.
• Developing parent participation and leadership.

Community Involvement:

Partnerships with local agencies, Cabrillo College and UCSC allow students to become familiar with local services. This experience helps students gain the social skills, knowledge and awareness of local issues needed to provide community service.

Session 1

• Alma slideshow (2.3 MB)
• Jorge G slideshow (1.2 MB)
• Julio slideshow (11.7 MB)
• Luis slideshow (10.4 MB)
• Yadira slideshow (11.4 MB)

Session 2

• Juan and Cristobal video (13.7 MB)
• Daniel A. video (11.7 MB)

Cesar E. Chavez School for Social Change

photo by bradley

Vista Community School

Vista Transition Program is a partnership between the Alternative Education Department, Students in Transition (SIT) and Youth Services to provide an afternoon alternative to students that have not been successful in more traditional environments. The goal is to reconnect out-of-school youth and youth transitioning to adulthood to an educational program with an emphasis on career choices, character education, art and literacy.

Session 1

• Cari slideshow (4.1 MB) || video (5.7 MB)
• David slideshow (2.2 MB) || video (8.1 MB)
• Jimmy slideshow (4.4 MB) || video (10.3 MB)
• Jose slideshow (4.4 MB) || video (6.7 MB)

Session 2

• Jacklyn slideshow (7.2 MB) || video (19.4 MB)

Most of my time was spent conversing with people and distributing flyers about Santa Cruz Indymedia. Most people I spoke with were very excited to learn about Santa Cruz Indymedia. I specifically made a point to try and explain Indymedia to the hundreds of photographers and videographers that participated in the march and rally.

Eventually I found the Santa Cruz Indymedia table where Lisa and Ariel were distributing literature, mainly about Indynewsreal (Wednesday 7:00pm on Channel 27).

At some point I ended up near the stage and heard a lady giving an energetic speech and explaining that the media does a poor job of covering the peace movement. This comment was the main reason I spoke on the microphone without prior consent.

Deep in my heart, I felt that the people at today’s rally needed to know, “Santa Cruz Indymedia is a non-corporate, non-commercial source of local news and information. Santa Cruz Indymedia belongs to a network of over 100 Independent Media Centers spanning the globe. The Independent Media Center (IMC) is a grassroots organization committed to using media production and distribution as a tool for promoting social and economic justice. The IMC is a truly cooperative effort of hundreds of independent media organizations.

On Santa Cruz Indymedia you can easily publish news in text, and include photographs, audio, and video. Your stories and analysis go right up on our newswire. You can even add comments and additions to other stories posted on the site. Santa Cruz Indymedia has dedicated itself to improving coverage of local issues and events.”

Unfortunately, I only got to mention that the Independent Media Center was not controlled by any corporation or individual before having my head restrained (by a staff member from the Resource Center for Nonviolence and former personal photographer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) and the microphone turned off. I apologize to him for speaking without consent and I meant no disrespect to him or the other fine organizers of today’s excellent peace rally.

He was then even kind enough to mention Independent Media several times after I left the stage. I am sure many people thought many different things about my action, and that is fine with me. Looking back on it, I realized that my action, though lacking some tact, was what I consider to be in the spirit of Indymedia.

When we have something to report, we report it. We do not seek approval to post our text, photos, audio, and video. We do not wait in a line to have our voices heard.

We know that the mainstream media will not do a quality job of covering the peace movement or any other movement involving social and economic justice.

Santa Cruz Indymedia is dedicated to providing a space for publishing under-reported, misreported, and otherwise non-reported news and events.