Health Care
|
Economy
|
Immigration
|
Green Energy
|
Elections
|
Women's Rights
|
LGBT Rights
|
Music• Youtube's Effect on Music• Futureman and His Syntax Drumitar • Fela Kuti and 'Fela!' on Broadway • Jazz & the Birth of Television • Dub FX • Petworth at the DC9 • Nicky Egan at the World Cafe Live |
Sum Live Change
|
Best When Boring
|
Training• Online Organizing
|
Other Topics
|
ArticlesMembers |
Search Results: rallyTrumka on Enthusiasm Gap: Democrats Are "Absolutely" Overcoming ItPublished: Oct 6, 2010 by Will Urquhart
Filed under:
Economy
Elections
Labor
Rally/Protest/Demonstration
At the One Nation Working Together rally on October 2nd, I got the chance to talk with Richard Trumka, the President of the AFL-CIO, about the upcoming elections and the enthusiasm gap. Mr. Trumka claims that the Democrats are "Absolutely" going to overcome the enthusiasm gap. He goes on to say that union members stood with the Democrats in 2008 and will do so again this year.
When asked what message he has for discouraged voters who feel there has not been enough progress, Trumka blamed the pace of progress on a "determined Republican opposition to stop everything... They told you what they'll do if they get elected. They'll take us back to when the time Wall St and corporate America ruled America and controlled the agenda. They told you that they'll raise the age of retirement and social security. There will be no more jobs legislation. There will be no more unemployment extension. We have to keep the progress going that we started." You can watch my entire interaction with Trumka: They Surround Us - Sum of Change Takes on the Crowd at Glenn Beck's 828 Restoring Honor Rally in Washington DCPublished: Aug 31, 2010 by Mitch Malasky
Filed under:
Economy
Rally/Protest/Demonstration
World
We have already posted several telling interviews from our filming at Glenn Beck's 828 Restoring Honor Rally, but we haven't yet posted our most emotional, interactive, and intense experiences. Towards the end of our day downtown, we stopped to chat with some folks from the crowd- as we did throughout the day. When we began our interview with Madonna from Indiana, we were in the exact center of a circular cement area that is the entrance way to the World War II Memorial. Our conversation started with Madonna, the only person in her group of 5 or so who decided to stop and chat with us. Quickly, however, not only did several of her friends decide to join our discussion, but several onlookers decided that they belonged in our conversation as well. Before we knew it, we were encircled by 30 or so rally goers who decided to engage us (verbally) in an effort to try and convert us to Glen Beck's White Christian Civil Rights Utopia. Below is the majority of the half hour experience in 6 parts and at the very bottom is all 30 minutes of our discussions unedited.
Now I must say, everyone was very respectful and a lot more informed than I had expected. As you will see in the first video, many of them watch the news, but they only watch and trust a single news source. That is always a bad idea, especially when that source is Fox News. Everyone who we spoke to (during this exchange and otherwise) very much wanted to address issues and has the best intentions to make concrete changes to improve America's future. They recognize and are feeling the stresses of the times, but want to revert to our old ways which led to this mess instead of finding new ways to lead us out of it. Many of their thoughts and ideas are skewed to fit within a narrow mindset, imagining we were living in a perfect world. For example, the fellow speaking with us in the second video somehow believes that all you need are clothes and shoes and the government will pay you $900 a week to sweet streets. Theoretically, clothes and the ability to work are the only prerequisites for getting a street sweeping job, but it doesn't mean that you will be able to get that job, especially at $900 a week. The thing that was most distressing was the veiled racist and anti-Muslim beliefs. Again everyone was respectful - with the exception of a few crackpots who were summarily admonished by the crowd for their overt anti-Islamic statements, no one made any explicit or blatantly offensive comments. But almost every person seemed unable to think anything except that, in some way, every Muslim supports Sharia law and terrorism. They consciously say that they do not hold all Muslims responsible for the actions of the 911 terrorists, but they think that even peace-loving Muslims who have openly renounced terrorism and even worked with the US government to combat it actuality must secretly be supporting anti-American Islamic Fundamentalists. The entire session, from the first interview with Madonna to being surrounded by a crowd, was really quite an experience in it's entirety and is well worth watching whole. For that reason and so that you can see that we took nothing out of context (a concern of many interviewees, silly teabaggers, Breitbart only does that to liberals) here is the entire 30 minutes of 'They Surround US - Sum of Change Takes on the Crowd at Glenn Becky's 828 Restoring Honor Rally in Washington DC' For More Videos from Glenn Beck's 828 Restoring Honor Rally, go to www.SumofChange.com Faith=No Muslims. Charity=No Government Spending. Hope=No Obama.Published: Aug 29, 2010 by Will Urquhart
Filed under:
Rally/Protest/Demonstration
Check out Pam Spaulding's post at Pam's House Blend for more thoughts and discussion.
Hey folks! So, it's Sunday and I was up late working, so we are going to keep this brief. Yesterday we sent cameras to Glenn Beck's 828 rally and Al Sharpton's rally and march. We posted a handfull of videos from each. But first, a personal comment, if you don't mind. My parents and grandparents were civil rights activists (not to mention anti-war activists and labor organizers). On the same grass where we stood yesterday, my mother stood 47 years ago to watch Martin Luther King Jr. declare his dream for the world. I highly doubt anyone will remember yesterday the way my mother remembers 47 years ago. We will begin with Beck's event (lots more videos below the fold): Video from K Street ProtestPublished: Jun 21, 2010 by Will Urquhart
Filed under:
Economy
originally posted on 5/18/2010
Yesterday, despite the persistant rain, thousands of people showed up on K Street in Washington, DC to protest the actions and lobbying efforts of big banks and to demand economic justice. The Washington Post is comparing the anger to what we have seen at Teaparty protests. National Nurses United Rally for Nursing-Ratio LimitsPublished: Jun 21, 2010 by Will Urquhart
Filed under:
Health Care
originally posted on 5/12/2010 About 1,000 nurses, with a handful of doctors mixed in, rallied today on Capitol Hill for National Nurses Week to "press the case for moving beyond insurance reform to improving the quality of care in U.S. hospitals and other healthcare settings."
|
