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Reclaiming Sacred Dakota Land at Camp Coldwater

bradley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:00:58 +0000

On September 2nd, members of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) of the Dakota Oyate reoccupied Coldwater Spring and the surrounding land in Minnesota. The Coldwater Spring site is an abandoned property of the United States Department of the Interior’s defunct Bureau of Mines. Dakota people consider the spring as essential to their spiritual lifeway and the surrounding land as a part of their homeland of B’Dote. Dakota people believe that they will be better stewards of the land than either the United States or the State of Minnesota has been. This is evidenced in the fact that the site is littered with dilapidated structures and the soil is polluted from the former Bureau of Mines.

The reclamation of this sacred site was launched with four days of ceremonies to celebrate the seasonal transition from summer to fall. While the Dakota did not ask for a permit for the four days, the property manager has provided one. Despite the permit and the ceremonies that are happening on site, there continues to be heavy surveillance by Homeland Security, Hennepin County Sheriffs, and riot-police from various police agencies. Read More and View Photos

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Plainclothes Police at the March for Our Lives in St. Paul

bradley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:31:25 +0000

On September 2nd in St. Paul, the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) brought together poor and homeless people of every race, background and age, students, social workers, union members, lawyers, religious leaders, artists and others who stand for social and economic justice. The PPEHRC raised their voices in the “March for Our Lives” to demand “Money for Health Care and Housing, Not for War!”

The rally held at Mears Park and the march that followed were heavily infiltrated by plainclothes law enforcement officers. Read More and View Photos

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March for Our Lives at the RNC in St. Paul

bradley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:56:20 +0000

Health care and housing should never be luxuries – not in the United States, not anywhere. Toward this end, the PPEHRC called for protestors to fill the streets of St. Paul, Minnesota in a powerful, peaceful demonstration for the right to healthcare, housing and all economic human rights. As poverty, hunger, unemployment and homelessness grow throughout the United States, political leaders from both major parties have abandoned the common people.

The PPEHRC states, “We cannot afford to be silent. We cannot afford to be disappeared from the public eye and the political debates as our families suffer.” Read More and View Photos | More Photos

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Ripple Effect at RNC in Minnesota: War Isn’t Nice

bradley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:49:55 +0000

On September 2nd, thousands of people gathered at the state capitol lawn in St. Paul, Minnesota to engage in trainings, educational workshops, community building activities, music, and art in the name of positive social and environmental change. Featured artists and speakers included Michael Franti, Anti-Flag, Dead Prez, Winona LaDuke, and Medea Benjamin.

Organized by a local nonprofit led by three motivated young progressives, Ripple Effect was Substance’s (the organization behind the event) first step in a series of efforts to manifest a united intergenerational front. These events are aimed at embracing the core values of the environmental and social justice movements, with a collective understanding that the solutions to these problems will require us to break down issue and generational barriers.

Ripple Effect – a daylong festival propelling a new wave of progressive action outside the RNC – went beyond the convention and beyond partisanship to empower and unite a diverse range of people with varying backgrounds and interests. Read More and View Photos

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Unpermitted Dissent in the Streets of St. Paul

bradley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:00:49 +0000

Decentralized, unpermitted protests took place throughout the streets of downtown St. Paul, Minnesota on September 1st to mark the start of the Republican National Convention (RNC). Following the permitted demonstration organized by The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, various items were pulled into the streets, some corporations had their windows broken, and people danced without permission. There were mass arrests by the police who deployed a wide range of weaponry, including concussion grenades, tear gas, pepper spray, batons, charging horses and hard rubber bullets. Read More and View Photos | More Photos

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Permitted Dissent in the Streets of St. Paul

bradley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 03:37:15 +0000

On September 1st, over ten thousand people marched in the streets of St. Paul, Minnesota to protest the Republican National Convention while demanding peace, justice and equality. The permitted demonstration, with over two years of planning, was organized by The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. The Coalition is made up of more than 130 organizations, including anti-war coalitions in the U.S, immigrant rights organizations, trade unions, low income and community groups. Read More and View Photos | More Photos

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Three People Quickly Arrested in the Fourth Sector of St. Paul

bradley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:57:00 +0000

Shortly after 11:00am on September 1st, three people were arrested in the streets of St. Paul near Seventh and Goodrich. This portion of town has been dubbed “Sector 4″ by groups protesting in the streets on this first day of the Republican National Convention.

A group of people were followed by St. Paul police in their car. Some people in the group began to push garbage cans down a residential street. More police quickly arrived on the scene, jumped out of a black tactical van, pepper sprayed the group and then tackled three people. Three people in the group were handcuffed, searched and taken away in the back of police cars. Read More and View Photos

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Labor Organizing and Independent Media are Not Crimes

bradley — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:45:30 +0000

On August 31st, members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) were accompanying their fellow worker, Erik Forman, to his first day back on the job at Starbucks in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Erik was recently fired for labor organizing, although that was not the official explanation given by Starbucks.

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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Veterans for Peace Lead Funeral March in St. Paul

bradley — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:17:11 +0000

On August 31st, the day before the Republican National Convention (RNC), Veterans for Peace held a rally in front of the state capitol building in St. Paul, Minnesota followed by a solemn march. Families of US soldiers and other marchers carried tombstones with the names of dead US soldiers. Meanwhile, the names of murdered Iraqis were read out loud and people responded, “We Remember.”

Towards the end of the march, organizers gave people the option of continuing along the police approved route or to engage in civil disobedience by towards a caged off area. A handful of people, including two women in their 70s, either rolled under or walked around the police fence and were eventually arrested. Read More and View Photos

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