International Women’s Day 2013 – Feminist Activist Vandana Shiva on Democracy Now!

Vandana Shiva on International Women’s Day: “Capitalist Patriarchy Has Aggravated Violence Against Women” [Democracy Now!]

“The liberation of the earth, the liberation of women, the liberation of all humanity is the next step of freedom we need to work for, and it’s the next step of peace that we need to create.” – Vandana Shiva

GZA Convinces Wu-Tang Clan to Cut Out Meat

Wu-Tang Clan Says: Meat Ain't Nothin ta F*ck Wit .

Add another one to the list…we’ve just caught word that GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan is a vegetarian and advocate of a raw food diet. Not only that, but he’s convinced members of his crew (specifically, DJ Mathematics, RZA, MastaKilla and SoR’s personal favorite, Method Man) to join him in the meat-free lifestyle.

GZA, Vegetarian Ambassador of Hip-Hop.

Check out this interview with him on Eater.com where the double-platinum artist discusses raw food and other edibles, being veggie on the road, and recommends his favorite vegetarian spots throughout the US.

Thanks to Kevin Tillman of Upsetting the Setup for posting.

The End of Poverty? (2008 film)

For our final post of 2011, we would like to thank all of the readers who have made Sisters of Resistance a success in our first year by sharing with you this important film that we believe captures or touches upon many of the issues of injustice currently facing the world at large.

#OccupyWallSt #OccupyTogether #Oct15 #globalchange #globaldemocracy

The recent #Occupy protests are now happening in over 1500 cities worldwide. It is encouraging to see a revolutionary movement on this global scale, and we are pleased to see the following coverage and critiques. We have collected and posted these excerpts; click on each title to see the full original article.

‘Occupy’ anti-capitalism protests spread around the world (Guardian): Thousands march in Rome, Sydney and Madrid as Occupy Wall Street protests go global

‘Occupy’ protests held around the world (Al-Jazeera). Al-Jazeera Live Blog Coverage

1500+ Occupy Protests Worldwide

Aerial view of Occupy Wall Street march on Times Square, 15 October 2011

Occupy Wall St Protesters, Washington Square Park - NYC

Inside the Kettle at the London Stock Exchange

Occupy Tokyo

A History of Georgia’s 1%: Why You Must Face Race to Occupy Atlanta (Colorlines)

Getting it right about race is important for the Occupy movement everywhere, but especially here in Georgia, where there is nothing subtle about the relationship between race, corporations and the government. Georgia’s government was created by and for plantation farmers, the original 1 percent, running antebellum corporations. And that 1 percent has been using everything in its power, most notably the criminal justice system, to hold on to its centuries-old gains.

#OccupySeattle, You’ve Got A LOT of Work to Do (Sable Verity)

The Occupy effort claims to represent the 99% of the population who are not the richest people in the country (and apparently the root of all evil). But ask yourself this: what percentage of the 99% is deciding the trajectory of a movement that claims to represent nearly every human being in the entire country? Just because I’m not in the top 1%, and you’re not in the top 1%, does that automatically mean you and I are in the same boat? It mostdef does not.

“We are not “protesters,” we are revolutionaries!” Why We Occupy: A Global System of Bullshit

When reporters ask us what we are “protesting,” it’s difficult to dignify the question with a response. We protest, we resist, but what we resist is not a single policy or institution…We at Liberty Plaza seek to dismantle this global system while building democratic institutions and structures of our own, not to make superficial demands for reform. For those of us who are here, we understand ourselves in terms completely different from what is conveyed by the term ‘protesters.’ Rather, words like ‘revolution,’ ‘movement,’ and ‘community’ are on our tongues.

If one spends any good amount of time at the occupation, it feels less like a protest and more like a rapidly emerging community, with its own internal geography, institutions, and cultures. An anthropologist would have so much to sink their teeth into by simply walking around, visiting the Comfort Station where occupiers distribute blankets, sleeping bags, sweatshirts, and socks to occupiers, or by going to the meetings of working groups that handle everything from sanitation to food, media production to direct action. This is not a mere protest. This is a community.

A manifesto for regime change on behalf of all humanity

The following manifesto was produced over four months through consultation among groups, activists and people’s assemblies in countries such as Britain, Egypt, Tunisia, Germany, Spain, the US, Palestine, Israel, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, India and Australia. We got comments, suggestions, support, and wrote and rewrote it again and again. The text has been supported by Canadian-based Naomi Klein, Indian-based Vandana Shiva, the US-based Michael Hardt and Noam Chomsky, as well as Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano.

“We are united for global change and united for global democracy: global governance of the people, by the people.”

"We are the 99%" has become the movement's slogan

The Library at Occupy Wall St in Liberty Park, NYC

In front of St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP

Occupy Stockholm

Occupy Wall St. Sisterly solidarity to the women who made these men feminists.

 More inspiring pics here.

Women We Admire: Wangari Maathai (1940-2011)

Africa's Green Queen

WHO SHE IS: Wangari Maathai (1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011), Kenyan feminist, environmental and political activist.

WHAT SHE HAS ACCOMPLISHED: In the 1970s, she founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental organization that empowers women by planting trees to restore their environments. She was one of the first to pioneer this practice among  grassroots campaigns for environmental conservation.  According to The Guardian, “Her disdain for the economics promoted by Britain, the World Bank, and the west was huge: ‘The people at the top of the pyramid do not understand the limits to growth and they do not appreciate that they jeopardize the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs,’ she said.

Her solution, to work with the poorest and most vulnerable women to repair their own degraded environments and empower themselves, proved inspirational. Planting trees became a worldwide symbol of hope and community regeneration. The Green Belt Movement she started evolved into one of the first truly worldwide, grassroots, self-help organisations.” (John Vidal, Guardian, 27 Sept. 2011)

Women of the Green Belt Movement planting trees

Over the next 20 years, tens of billions of trees were planted by women as a direct result of her work. For this, she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize (2004) for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”  She is known as one of Kenya’s greatest heroes of the last 50 years.

WHY WE LOVE HER: Mathaai’s politics was on point and her principles were put into practice. She combined environmentalism and feminism; she built an ecofeminist movement that went worldwide, united female poverty and environmental concerns to fight against patriarchy and for climate justice.  She was fearless, responding to extreme political repression with public acts of resistance, such as home barricades, hunger strikes and clashes with the police. Through it all, she wore traditional dress, repping for her culture. She remained defiant in her personal life as well, refusing to allow her husband to control her. Her passion, her example,  and the grassroots model she used will continue to inspire women as we fight for revolutionary change.

.