Am I Not Human: It Bears Repeating

The critical nature of this case has prompted a second call to action for this month's Am I Not Human Campaign.

If you haven't already signed, please support actual justice: http://colorofchange.org/campaign/save-troy-davis-life/


On behalf of Troy Davis, I ask:

Am I Not Human: Free Troy Davis

It is likely you are already familiar with this case. And this means you may have already signed the petition more than once. You're being asked to signed it again now, alongside the many of us who believe this man is innocent and are standing to disallow him to be sacrificed and put to death without evidence or justifiable cause. There is no evidence linking this man to murder. Police have coerced witnesses in this case. These same witnesses have advised they were forced to give false testimony. Has internal affairs even bothered to investigate the officers who are dishonoring their badges this way?
Where is the justice there? How can so much energy be placed on trying to put an innocent man to death, when it is obvious there is cleanup that needs to take place in a department, where there are officers who dishonor the law they claim to serve, by coercing testimonies in their 'favor'? What are we missing here? What happened behind the scenes we're not being told about that would motivate officers to force untruths out of people and claim they are witnesses? If we don't stand against corruption in the 'justice' system, who will?


Color of Change recently advised:

"The state of Georgia is moving to put Troy Davis to death despite major doubts about his guilt. All but two of the state’s non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted their testimony — and many have sworn in affidavits that police pressured or coerced them into testifying or signing statements.

There is still serious doubt as to Troy Davis’ guilt, and by putting him to death Georgia runs the risk of killing an innocent man. Please call on the board to save Troy Davis’ life. And tell others about this -- Troy Davis needs as many of us as possible to speak up. "




The below video was filmed several years ago, and is unfortunately the same message we find we have to deliver today (he should have been freed long ago). Troy Davis is an innocent man. That matters. Free him.

Please take a moment to add your signature in a stand for justice here. A flood of voices communicates our non-compliance with corruption in our civil system. Thankyou.

On behalf of Troy Davis and the others the system has attempted to sacrifice despite their innocence, I ask:





note: Participants of Sunday Mass Meditation, there's now a link to an accompanying .mp3 you can use if you find it easier to work with guided meditation. Thankyou for all of the positive energy you're raising. It makes a difference. Shine bright.

Am I Not Human: Going Within

There are a number of theories why we're in the state of catastrophe we're in today, but rehashing them again, when you've all been over-exposed to images and thoughts of despair, bloodshed and deprivation, is not the most useful application of time or energy for any of us. We've learned that the enormous amount of money donated to relief efforts for Katrina victims, Survivors of the Haitian earthquake, and countless others I'm sure, have been largely pocketed by the more-prominent organizations that pledge to donate them on our behalf. It doesn't do much for our clarity as we seek direction towards the correct way to do something positive that will impact the catastrophes that have come of greedmonger-rooted abuses of peoples and resources. We have to find a new direction. My increasing belief is that the simplest way is likely the most effective way.
While I remain a staunch advocate that we raise our voices against tyranny, I also know the value of silence, and going within to balance our own and communal energy after we have said our peace.
With the reasons gov pulls out of its hind to go to war, the senseless catastrophe in Japan which added a man-made nuclear nightmare to an already impossible effort to grapple with an earthquake of mammoth proportions, we need to take control of our minds back. We need to meditate, and become acquainted with the very real, scientifically measured ability that masses of people have to reduce war and crime, when focus is projected to distressed areas. We need to begin visualizing justice, and balance. The images of horror that flood our media create a view of the world that claims many villians, when in reality most are media-created, or focused on to the disclusion of outnumbering positive forces. Our minds are used against us, and filled to brim with thoughts of despair, powerlessness and crippling fear. We can stop this. We can turn off our televisions. We can stop funding mass media outlets that report biased news they are paid to report to bury the 'full story'.
I do no believe the government wants us to believe peace is even possible, regardless of the doublespeak that is often used to confuse us into believing that they're actually seeking it on our behalf. They cannot give us something we possess within. Peace cannot be sold to us. Peace cannot be murdered out of or into us. Peace is ours, if we seek it.
And this is exactly why we need to breathe life into it with intention.
It was here before on a mass level. It will come back again.
We're taught, influenced and set-up to act inhumane. We are not naturally like this.

I propose a weekly mass meditation on Sundays, that includes either chanting 'We are at peace. Everyone's needs are met' or something related, a visualization of a peaceful, nurturing life experience for all of the world's diverse peoples, focusing on love and bliss and projecting it to war-torn areas and areas in distress.
I'd say we should do this collectively everyday but I'm realistic that day to day work demands, make this difficult. Purple Mag hosted a monthly mass meditation but a month is a long span of time to wait to do another mass meditation, when we are in times that are in as intense need as this.


If you're with it, please leave a comment. Something more official should be available soon in the way of a video, or mp3, etc that can make the process more easeful for folks who are new to meditation.


On behalf of the world populations struggling under the force of an inhumane few, I ask:

Am I Not Human: Grassroots Activism and V. May

The above screenshot comes from and interview done with grassroots activist V. May. It's done in a whimsical format, but touches on the very important work, being done in 'innercities'. It seemed appropriate in the increased confusions the world is beset with to focus upon a freedom fighter who is walking the walk to make an impact plenty just talk about.

The full interview can be read in this month's Purple #10 release, but a few key words have been extended here as food for thought as we watch and learn how to take back our communities:


'I was conceived during the tumult of the 1960’s; during the summer of 1968 to be exact. I’ve always felt that I am here to complete some unfinished business.
For some reason, Robert F. Kennedy’s paraphrase of George Bernard Shaw’s famous quote resonates in my soul and reverberates through every fiber of my being, “There are those who look at things the way they are and ask, “Why?” I dream of things that never were and ask, “Why not?”
I have always been hands-on with my activism. I don’t understand complacency. If things can be made better, I don’t understand inertia. '

'My present involvement in the quest for the balancing/greening of my city came about during a trip to the public library. On my way out, I happened to peruse the free community newspapers, weeklies, and event flyers lying on the public information shelf. One of the community newspapers had a story regarding the city of Los Angeles trying to secure a zone variance that would allow a trucking school to operate at the Lopez Canyon Restoration Project site. The Lopez Canyon Restoration Project site is a former landfill that is now zoned open space and is being transitioned back to a recreation area that is to be replete with hiking and equestrian trails, a park, and scenic vistas. Los Angeles is a concrete jungle. It needs more open and green space.
With a little research, networking, and synchronicity, I was able to hook up with others that held my same concerns. The effort to quickly transition the Lopez Canyon Restoration Project site to an industrial and commercial use free open space has blossomed. By reaching out, the effort has garnered many supporters.'

'As the early feminists of the early 1970’s declared, “The personal is the political.” Whether we like it or not, politics affects our personal lives. We have to be ever vigilant if we want to maintain personal freedom.
The section of the San Fernando Valley where I grew up and now reside is the step child of the Valley. This area is oversaturated with Section 8/low income housing, industrial zoned areas, and facilities that other areas do not want. The former landfill was the anchor for this designation. Once it was established, the area was targeted as the spot to put the “undesirables”.
There are some who want things to stay [as] they are. However, there are more that want to see things change for the better.

Now that the landfill is transitioning, some of us are hoping to bring about sustainable and attractive redevelopment without displacement. By decreasing the number of liquor stores, bringing in needed financial, retail, and commercial ventures, increasing community policing, providing positive alternatives for youth, and improving the overall appearance of the community; we hope to create community that attracts civic minded residents while retaining established ones. This community has been hit by the foreclosure crisis and new homes are being built. Consequently, there are homes available for purchase. We hope to create a community that home purchases will love to live in and contribute to.'


On behalf of our sisters and brothers scapegoated into lives conditioned to be caricature, through environments beset with the installation of liquor stores at every turn, poison peddling of other varieties, GMO-laden 'options' in cornerstores devoid of nutrition, and a dire lack of mind-nourishing outlets for healthy personal development, we ask:

Am I Not Human: Black Mother Jailed For Sending Kids To Wrong School District

So a mother decides she wants her children to have a better education than her district would provide her girls with, and fibs about her residence so they can attend a better school. This school is in a white school district. This mother and her girls are black. Her proposed punishment? A felony conviction.
This mother is also just credits away from her teaching credentials; a job she can't hold with a felony conviction. Guess this Ohio town had to show the Black gal where her 'place' is, in a land stolen primarily for 'white use', and begrudgingly 'shared' with freed-abductee and immigrated people of color.




'Williams-Bolar is black and poor. Plenty of observers in Akron, in Ohio and around the nation have called this further fallout of a history of racism in general and racial apartheid in American schools.
-Madeline Holler

(Click here) Your petition signature says 'you disagree' with Good 'Ol Boy justus.
19, 657 signatures and growing


Read More about this disgusting, a--backwards miscarriage of Justice

On behalf of indigenous peoples everywhere who have had their wealth stolen, only to be treated at nearly every turn as 'the criminal' reflection of real criminals, I ask:

Am I Not Human: Veto HR2751

During what tends to be a holiday season for several cultures, a bill, attempting for the 3rd time, to make it impossible for all but those with corporate-coin level wealth to grow food, was passed on December 21st.


It would further endeavor to target organic food producers, who this bill has aimed to force to treat harvests with trace amounts of poisonous agents, under the guise of 'Food Safety'. Such a thing would render our food, inorganic. There would no longer be such a thing as truly organic food available for purchase in the US.


I wrote a bit about this last week on UU, but a drive for signatures is imperative, and requires all who are standing up to continue spreading the word and urging action. This is not the kind of bill people will want to find they regret signing 'later', when the horror can be avoided by acting now.

It's one of the most serious issues, second only to air that affects our ability to live, and raise families.
We need food to feed our children. Corporations cannot be trusted to control that. Ever. Currently HealthfreedomUSA is contuining to champion this movement, after some success somewhat softening the bill from its previous nightmarish position, but we cannot relax yet. There are hidden clauses in it that make this bill a real danger, which could have us literally starving for nothing more than the reason of corporate greed.
We're writing to Michelle Obama, a staunch advocate of organic gardening, and healthy eating for children, to relay the importance of a veto of this bill.


An elder asked me recently (mildly paraphrased): 'Don't folks think it's strange that laws were put in place to stop US farmers from growing food awhile back, so our food is imported and more expensive? The food is imported from countries the US has no legal power over. They use pesticides not even lawful in the US, now. Does that sound like food safety? And now a bill's trying to make it so everyday people can't plant seeds if they choose to grow their own food? What do folks think of that?'



What do you think of that?
Are we willing to take the chance that one day, with such a bill, the government could weave a tale about trouble with imports, and without rights to grow our own food, force us to slowly starve, and suffer in the inevitable chaos? I'm not. I'm pushing back. Are you?

Please take a minute (literally) to send your version of the digital template letter to Michelle Obama, urging her to give crucial support to a vetoing of this bill, here.

On behalf of everyone threatened or afflicted with the depravity of corporate food control/poisoning I ask:

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Am I Not Human-The freeing of Aung San Suu Kyi

art: Shephard Fairey

Spending 15 years under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel prize winner and political activist--whose goal has long been revolution without violence--was finally released on November 13th 2007, with a fixed eye upon her goal for Burmese democracy. A realist, rather than the optimist some would paint her, Aung is continuing with her goals for the party, with the perseverance necessary to achieve a goal that would change life entirely in Burma, where life under military control has kept the people under an inconceivably oppressive rule.

Impact Mag had this to say of Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle:

"The Amnesty International ‘Burma Campaign’ which had been campaigning for Aung San Suu’s release knows that even now the fight is not over. 2,002 political prisoners still remain in Burma, all under house arrest or detained in prison facilities. Each prisoner is further evidence of repressive rule by the Burmese junta, a regime accused by Harvard Law School of war crimes and crimes against humanity, a regime without freedom of speech and without freedom of political representation. The figurehead of resistance in Burma may be free at last, but many other dissidents will continue to be silenced as long as this regime is in power."

Aung's release is wonderful news, but it is news that should continue to fuel grassroots awareness-raising and action.


On behalf of political prisoners everywhere, I ask:




Related:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9LizSi4zc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR_e9mvaMMY&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4zs0T335NY&feature=related

http://www.impactnottingham.com/2010/11/aung-san-suu-kyi-may-be-free-but-burma-is-not/