GIFT OF FRANCIS XAVIER LUCA & CLARA HELENA PALACIO-DE LUCA

Many of the rare library books the curators expressed interest in were donated to the institution by Pamela K. Harer in 2007. A selection of her gift was exhibited in Indoctrinating Youth (a modest  display here in our library foyer), and was followed up with a larger show of work, Child’s Play at Florida International University’s Green Library on the Modesto Maidique campus.

The MoMA curators were especially interested in library materials from the First and Second World Wars, as well as items documenting Italy’s interwar children’s colonies and the various youth movements (Balillas, Young Pioneers, Hitler Jugend) organized in Fascist Italy, Soviet Russia, and Nazi Germany.

U.S.S.R. POSTCARDS DONATED BY STEVEN HELLER

Some of the mid-1920s French pochoir plates of designs for modern (Art Deco) children’s rooms which were featured in an earlier Wolfsonian exhibit, Moderne: Fashioning the French Interior, also caught their attention.

PORTFOLIO PLATES LOANED BY MITCHELL WOLFSON, JR.

After pulling dozens of rare library books, postcards, and other materials for their consideration in the course of the afternoon, I realized today that I had neglected to bring a few other items out for them to look over.

And so, as a courtesy to the curators (and as a preview and teaser for my readers), I thought I’d put a few images up of some other library materials that might end up on loan to the MoMA exhibition.

Giovanni Roberto Caez, a student activist at the University of Puerto Rico, on a visit to New York City. (Photo: Von Diaz)

By Von Diaz
Originally published on Feet in Two Worlds on March 15, 2011.

For almost an entire year, student protests have rocked the University of Puerto Rico. The demonstrations that began on April 21, 2010 are in opposition to fee increases and the elimination of certain merit-based fee waivers at the university. The conflict, known as much for mobilizing Puerto Rican citizens as for violence, police brutality and property destruction, has exposed deep tensions on the island as the first Republican governor since 1969 implements austerity measures.

The students involved in the year-long standoff are often represented as vandals and aggressive troublemakers by the Puerto Rican government and media. While a minority of students were violent and destroyed property, many others have used art, multimedia, and nonviolent protest techniques to bring attention to educational concerns as well as broader social and economic issues in Puerto Rico.

But on March 7 a group of students left their largely non-violent stance and attacked the university’s interim Chancellor Dr. Ana Guadalupe, pulling her hair, hitting her with plastic bottles, and spraying her with water and Gatorade, and attacking her car. She was on campus reportedly to discuss the $800 tuition increase that has been at the center of the protests since December. Security Chief Jorge Rodríguez was also attacked.

The events of March 7th shifted the tone of the demonstrations. Video footage of the attack on Chancellor Guadalupe looks like an angry mob of violent youth relentlessly attacking a scared woman as she tried to exit a building. Leaders of the movement are now faced with taking a stand on this action, which could divide the student body. Even before the attack, the New York Times reported that not all UPR students want the strike to continue.

The attack on Guadalupe follows a number of incidents where police and security guards have used violent tactics against University of Puerto Rico (UPR) students. Dozens of photos and videos show students being choked, their faces pressed to the ground, with sometimes 4 or 5 people working on a single student, pulling their ears or pressing down on their neck in order to arrest them. Often times, the students being aggressively handled by security officers were sitting, their arms locked with other protesters. There have also been accusations of sexual violence against female students.

The protests have resonated in the U.S., particularly within the Puerto Rican community. Human and civil rights organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International have publicly denounced the government and police response to the student demonstrations, and Congressman Luis Gutierrez recently made an impassioned plea on the floor of the House to call attention to the attacks on students.  In a move that revealed divisions within the Puerto Rican community, the following day, Puerto Rico’s official representative in Congress, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, angrily lashed out against Guttierez for overstepping his bounds.

UPR student activist Arturo Otlahu Rios speaking to an audience in New York City at the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center. (Photo: Von Diaz)

“The University of Puerto Rico is a microcosm of the island. What’s happening on the island is happening at UPR,” said UPR student Arturo Atlahu.

Puerto Rico has been in an economic recession for the past five years, exacerbated by the U.S. recession. In the summer of 2009, Governor Luis Fortuño initiated austerity measures to help the government stay afloat, which included laying off 30,000 public sector employees. The administration of UPR claims the new $800 fee for students is needed to address a deficit caused by these budget cuts, but many students say they cannot afford the fees.

The students speaking at NYU told how they have been producing visual, musical, installation and performance art. UPR student Pedro Manuel Lugo described a performance involving dozens of students wearing only red, white and blue paint—the colors of the Puerto Rican flag—following a large skull as it moved through city streets. In another performance, students dressed as clowns in police uniforms and stood in front of police barricades. Student Lourdes Santiago Negron talked about Radio Huelga, a radio station started by UPR students during the April 2010 strike to provide news and information about demonstrations and serve as a platform for discussion.

Despite the description of these non-violent approaches, the attack on Chancellor Guadalupe loomed over the event at NYU.  Giovanni Roberto Caez, a 28-year-old UPR student pursuing a degree in education, responded for the group. He described the event sarcastically as an “expression of love,” and said, “She deserved that and more.”

Roberto, one of the leaders of the movement, also said he was happy the incident occurred because it would bring about more debate.

For the most part, the crowd at NYU responded sympathetically to the students. Angelo Falcon, President of the National Institute of Latino Policy, said Puerto Rican New Yorkers are generally supportive of the student movement and have a lot of national pride in the UPR.

“Mostly what I see is that people are concerned about the institution. UPR is a place that is known for demonstrations—there’s a tradition of that. So why is the administration cracking down? People can tell there’s something wrong there,” Falcon surmised.

Falcon, who has written extensively on Puerto Rican politics, has been surprised to see so many in New York’s Puerto Rican community embrace this issue. “Usually, they are only interested in basic issues of survival, housing and poverty. It’s fascinating to see that interesting reaction and mobilization here. I think people think there’s much at stake,” he said.

The following evening people of different ages and backgrounds came together at a solidarity event for the student movement at the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center in New York City’s El Barrio neighborhood.  The group included artists, music performers, poets, activists, teachers, and even a group of nine-year olds.

Ana Lopez, professor of humanities at Hostos Community College in New York and a human rights advocate, came to the event because she said she agrees efforts to ensure access to education for low-income students. She also applauded their social organizing efforts.

“I think that the method of struggle they have shown is a model for all of us to follow,” Lopez said.

UPR alum David Ortiz Albuquerque is supportive of the student protesters. (Photo: Von Diaz)

David Ortiz Albuquerque, a Harlem resident, is a UPR graduate who moved to New York from Puerto Rico 20 years ago, and one who empathized with the students.

“When I went to UPR, I was on a full scholarship. I believe that the plan proposed by the UPR administration and the government is a plan to exclude poor students. I think they are trying to create an elite education system, and this is not just. The children of the working class have the right to go to the best school in Puerto Rico,” Ortiz said.

Olga Sanabria Davila, who works with a committee for Puerto Rico at the United Nations, also attended the event.

“I think it’s extremely important to support the students in PR. They are at the forefront of maintaining public higher education in Puerto Rico, and also access to the students who are lower income. The other reason I’m here is because of the repression they’ve suffered,” Sanabria said.

Supporters at the two events were reluctant to address the incident with Chancellor Guadalupe.   “There’s a multitude of responses from our community,” Bronx resident Benjamin Ramos said, who expressed his own support for the students’ education struggle.

Making their case to the large Puerto Rican immigrant community in New York, the UPR students said success would be tied to broadening their base of support.

“We have bigger fights ahead. We need to organize, discuss how we’re going to do that fight, and make more tactical alliances with sectors of the working class and other social movements in Puerto Rico,” said Caez, the student leader.

And on the radio the Mommas and Papas were singing California Dreamin’ – you’d be safe and warm if you were in LA. And there was a Summer of Love in San Francisco – be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. And the next summer there were revolutions all over the place – in Czechoslovakia the people rose up, and in gracious good humor, suggested to the Soviets that they really should leave. The Soviets were caught flatfooted, they seemed unable to deal with cutting and devastating irony, but their tanks rolled into Prague that August and put an end to that. Russians don’t do irony. But it was kind of amazing, and it all worked out in the end. And in Paris that May the Left Bank exploded in outrage at the old farts, the guys who had run France so badly for so long, and although that was put down, eventually, that changed everything. And that one included all that French philosophizing and surrealism. Cool. And in August the Democrats held their convention in Chicago – and there were the riots in the streets and Abbie Hoffman, and Dan Rather getting roughed up on national television by Mayor Daley’s police thugs. Something was in the air. The following summer was Woodstock. But nothing was happening in Ohio.

So we attended our classes and pretended to be interested in the courses one had to sit through for one’s liberal education – stuff outside your major that you had to take. And it was odd to sit through that history course on the Age of Revolution – 1775 to 1848 – revolutionary movements on both sides of the Atlantic and all over the place – absolutist monarchies teeter and get replaced by constitutionalist states and republics – the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, slaves revolts in Latin America, and independence movements all over Latin America. All the imperialist European states lose major assets across the New World, and of course the British lose the Thirteen Colonies – they’d have to target Asia and the Pacific for outward expansion if they wanted their damned British Empire. So they did. We would have none of them. Everything changed in those years.

Ah, those were the days. And of course someone would invariably raise their hand and ask the young assistant professor if we weren’t ourselves living through such an age right now, given what was happening all over (but not in Ohio). The response was a withering stare, and a snort – that was stupid. This was a class in history, not current events. Take it elsewhere. And the rest of the class yawned and shifted in their seats. We all had to pass this thing. And we were in Ohio anyway. Big things happen elsewhere.

And of course what was happening at the time here – and in Paris and all over – was just kids, or a Youth Movement as they called it. The conventional wisdom was to dismiss it. It was just the usual rebelliousness. The kids were just trying to piss off the old folks, as that’s what kids do. There was no cultural revolution. Everyone still liked Ike, and Lawrence Welk was still on air. This wasn’t the second Age of Revolution. It was just a bunch of spoiled kids whining.

And of course that was wrong. The sixties changed everything – not just popular music and political discourse. And the right is still angry about it. We lost Vietnam because the kids took to the streets and turned public opinion, or Walter Cronkite did, or something. No one any longer knew their place and all that – you know, gays and blacks and those people. The Pentagon Papers and Stonewall and Malcolm X – all of it was a shame. They said, America, love it or leave it – and then the wrong people were saying hey, we love it as much as you do, and we’re staying. Nothing’s been the same since.

So maybe we had a second Age of Revolution. And the kids drove it. And here we go again, as Fareed Zakaria in this item puts the current the Middle Eastern protests in context:

The central, underlying feature of the Middle East’s crisis is a massive youth bulge. About 60% of the region’s population is under 30. These millions of young people have aspirations that need to be fulfilled, and the regimes in place right now show little ability to do so. The protesters’ demands have been dismissed by the regimes as being for Islamic fundamentalism or a product of Western interference. But plainly these are homegrown protests that have often made the West uneasy as they have shaken up old alliances. And what the protesters want in the first place is to be treated as citizens, not subjects. In a recent survey of Middle Eastern youth, the No. 1 wish of the young in nine countries was to live in a free country, although, to be sure, jobs and the desire to live in well-run, modern societies ranked very high as well.

Zakaria argues that there’s no turning back in the Middle East, and what’s happening should sound familiar:

The year of the revolutions began in January, in a small country of little importance. Then the protests spread to the region’s largest and most important state, toppling a regime that had seemed firmly entrenched. The effect was far-reaching. The air was filled with talk of liberty and freedom. Street protests cropped up everywhere, challenging the rule of autocrats and monarchs, who watched from their palaces with fear.

That could be a description of events in Tunisia and Egypt as those countries’ peaceful revolutions have inspired and galvanized people across the Middle East. In fact, it refers to popular uprisings 162 years earlier that began in Sicily and France. The revolutions of 1848, as they were called, were remarkably similar in mood to what is happening right now in the Middle East. (They were dubbed the springtime of peoples by historians at the time.) The backdrop then, as now, was a recession and rising food prices. The monarchies were old and sclerotic. The young were in the forefront. New information technologies – mass newspapers! – connected the crowds.

But Zakaria notes the original story didn’t end so well:

The protesters gained power but then splintered, fought one another and weakened themselves. The military stayed loyal to the old order and cracked down on protests. The monarchs waited things out, and within a few years, the old regimes had reconstituted themselves. “History reached its turning point, and failed to turn,” wrote the British historian A. J. P. Taylor.

And you know the questions that follow:

Will history fail to turn in the Middle East? Will these protests in Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan and beyond peter out, and in a few years, will we look back at 2011 and realize that very little actually changed?

Zakaria admits that is certainly possible, but you cannot dismiss “two of the most powerful forces changing the world today: youth and technology.”

So you have that massive youth bulge. And these kids have even less use for the medieval fundamentalist al-Qaeda old farts than they do for the current king or military dictator as the case may be. Don’t trust anyone over thirty.

And Zakaria does invoke the sixties:

Young people are not always a source of violence. The West experienced a demographic bulge – the famous baby boom in the decades after World War II – that is known mainly for fueling economic growth. China and India, likewise, have a large cohort of young workers, and that adds to those countries’ economic strength. But without economic growth, job opportunities and a sense of dignity, too many young people – especially young men – can make for mass discontent. That is what has happened in the Middle East, where the scale of the youth bulge is extreme – perhaps the largest in the world right now. From 1970 to 2007, 80% of all outbreaks of conflict occurred in countries where 60% or more of the population was younger than 30. And even places where the baby boom produced growth are not without problems. The peak years of the West’s bulge came in the late 1960s, a period associated with youth rebellions and mass protests.

But the region’s governments don’t seem to get it – youth unemployment remains around twenty-five percent, and they’re not happy kids:

The oil boom has certainly helped the Gulf countries pay off their people in various ways, but more than half of those who live in the Middle East are in lands that do not produce oil. Moreover, oil has proved a curse in the rich countries, where the economies have little to offer other than extracting hydrocarbons, where armies of foreigners do all the work and where regimes continue to offer their people a basic bargain: we will subsidize you as long as you accept our rule. Rattled by recent developments, Kuwait and Bahrain both decided to give all of their citizens bonuses this year ($3,000 in Kuwait, $2,700 in Bahrain).

Those payments are a reminder that in the Middle East, there are two modes of control: mass repression and mass bribery.

That’s not what the kids want, and then you mix in technology, assuring a population that is increasingly aware, informed and connected:

It’s too simple to say that what happened in Tunisia and Egypt happened because of Facebook. But technology – satellite television, computers, mobile phones and the Internet – has played a powerful role in informing, educating and connecting people in the region. Such advances empower individuals and disempower the state. In the old days, information technology favored those in power, because it was one-to-many. That’s why revolutionaries tried to take over radio stations in the 1930s – so they could broadcast information to the masses. Today’s technologies are all many to many, networks in which everyone is connected but no one is in control. That’s bad for anyone trying to suppress information.

Of course, the state can fight back. The Egyptian government managed to shut down Egyptians’ access to the Internet for five days. The Iranian regime closed down cell-phone service at the height of the green movement’s protests in 2009. But think of the costs of such moves. Can banks run when the Internet is down? Can commerce expand when cell phones are demobilized?

It’s simple – “For regimes that need or want to respond to the aspirations of their people, openness becomes an economic and political necessity.” And openness could end their regimes. The parallel is 1848, or 1968 – there are turning points.

Zakaria adds this:

It’s easy to be disappointed when looking at the Middle East’s sad recent history. And yet something in the region feels as if it is changing.

He was probably that kid in history class that raised his hand and asked the question. Something is up.

And in Bahrain, there was Obama’s call to King Hamad and the context for Nicholas Kristof:

There’s delirious joy in the center of Bahrain right now. People power has prevailed, at least temporarily, over a regime that repeatedly used deadly force to try to crush a democracy movement. Pro-democracy protesters have retaken the Pearl Roundabout – the local version of Tahrir Square – from the government. On a spot where blood was shed several days ago there are now vast throngs kissing the earth, chanting slogans, cheering, honking and celebrating. People handed me flowers and the most common quotation I heard was: “It’s unbelievable!”

When protesters announced that they were going to try to march on the Pearl Roundabout this afternoon, I had a terrible feeling. King Hamad of Bahrain has repeatedly shown he is willing to use brutal force to crush protesters, including live fire just yesterday on unarmed, peaceful protesters who were given no warning. I worried the same thing would happen today. I felt sick as I saw the first group cross into the circle.

But, perhaps on orders of the crown prince, the army troops had been withdrawn, and the police were more restrained today. Police fired many rounds of tear gas on the south side of the roundabout to keep protesters away, but that didn’t work and the police eventually fled. People began pouring into the roundabout from every direction, some even bringing their children and celebrating with an almost indescribable joy. It’s amazing to see a site of such tragedy a few days ago become a center of jubilation right now. It’s like a huge party. I asked one businessman – Yasser, how he was feeling – and he stretched out his arms and screamed: “GREAT!!!!”

Many here tell me that this is a turning point, and that democracy will now come to Bahrain – in the form of a constitutional monarchy in which the king reigns but does not rule – and eventually to the rest of the Gulf and Arab world as well. But some people are still very, very wary and fear that the government will again send in troops to reclaim the roundabout. I just don’t know what will happen, and it’s certainly not over yet. But it does feel as if this just might be a milestone on the road to Arab democracy.

As for the phone call, there’s this:

We don’t know what exactly President Obama said to the king in his call last night, but we do know that the White House was talking about suspending military licensing to Bahrain. This may have been a case where American pressure helped avert a tragedy and aligned us with people power in a way that in the long run will be good for Bahrain and America alike.

Wait. An American president said listen to the kids, they may have a point? Obama just doesn’t have the president thing down right yet. Or maybe he does:

Americans will worry about what comes next, if people power does prevail, partly because Gulf rulers have been whispering warnings about Iranian-influence and Islamists taking over. Look, democracy is messy. But there’s no hint of anti-Americanism out there, and people treated American journalists as heroes because we reflect values of a free press that they aspire to achieve for their country. And at the end of the day, we need to stand with democracy rather than autocracy if we want to be on the right side of history.

And see Andrew Sullivan:

Was it the turning point? I guess we’ll find out soon enough. If so, Obama’s outreach to Shiite Muslim democrats could be transformative in the Middle East. “There’s no hint of anti-Americanism out there, and people treated American journalists as heroes because we reflect values of a free press that they aspire to achieve for their country.” In fact, when was the last time you saw frenzied crowds in the streets in several Muslim Arab countries where the American flag wasn’t being burned? We finally figured out how to help democracy in the Arab world: get out of the way and nudge quietly from a distance.

Of course Sarah Plain and Glenn Beck will say this is madness, and have, repeatedly. But referencing data from the Public Religion Research Institute, Adam Serwer explained it this way – “The problem isn’t that Fox News viewers hear a lot of negative things about Islam, it’s they hear a lot of false things about Islam.”

And after reviewing that data – his charts are nifty – Sewer says this:

A conservative might argue that this just shows how complacent other networks are in the face of the “Islamofascist” threat. The problem is that much of Fox News’s coverage of Islam over the last year has been focused not on actual facts, but on the sort of fringe ideas about Islam in the United States that are rapidly becoming a permanent feature of the right wing culture war. Fox News spend a significant amount of time in the past year furthering the baseless conspiracy that most American mosques are radicalized, that the Obama administration has been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood, and that Muslims in the U.S. are trying to impose Sharia law.

Last year’s debate over the proposed Islamic community center blocks away from the ruins of the World Trade Center provided another opportunity for Fox News to peddle this stuff ad nauseum, with on-air personalities accusing the Imam of trying to impose Sharia, of having “ties to the Muslim Brotherhood” (at this point, who doesn’t?) and that the project would be funded by terrorists.

The events in Egypt have produced some similar results – but because conservatives have been less unified on the matter, there’s been more balance than usual in their coverage of the protests. Nevertheless, if you want to hear about the coming European caliphate Fox News is still the channel to watch.

And you get what we have:

Republican viewers of Fox News come away thinking they’re genuinely informed about Islam, when the opposite is the case. That’s the worst part, because those views, once entrenched, are hard to dislodge. Conservatives frustrated with the right’s support for deposed Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak might want to consider the monster they’ve helped create.

And somehow it feels like 1968 again, even if you’re in Ohio. We seem to be in the middle of a third Age of Revolution. You don’t want to miss this one too.

"Seems like the whole world is a 'twitter...and it's starting to scare me," said Egyptian President Mubarek. Photo by Pete Simon from flickr on creative commons

Just a Tweet Away from Democracy

Twitter, Facebook and You-Tube are powerful democratic social media tools for mobilizing people around various causes. However, not everyone agrees on what really caused the large passionate demonstrations by Egyptians this past week. Even though social media is important, some analysts claim widespread unemployment and years of repression were the primary reasons Egyptian protestors took to the streets. Then, through flyers and word of mouth, from home to home, people urged each other to join the demonstrations.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet…

According to January 2010 statistics of the growth of Twitter, comScore said nearly 75,000,000 people visited Twitter worldwide. Those stats are from 2010. Twitter has continued to grow both in unique visitors and people visiting Twitter worldwide. Twitter makes it easier to connect with people, organizations and movements. The interconnections of people have unlimited possibilities.

In spite of the Egyptian government’s attempt to shut down social media sites and cell phone airwaves, the Egyptian people still found ways to circumvent anyone trampling on their human right to free speech about their dissatisfaction with the status quo in their country.

Movements.org offers suggestions on how people around the world can help Egyptians.

People returning from Egypt give their experiences to ITN News:

Tourists witness Egypt Protests

Egyptian protests enter fifth day

ITN News reports that 74 protestors are reported killed with more than 1500 people injured. The police also suffered casualties with 3 people dead and more than 700 police injured. It’s now reported that some military troops have joined forces with protestors.

President Obama urges Egyptian Leaders to Respect Human Rights:

President Obama urged President Mubarek to respect the human rights of his citizens, particularly the right of assembly and the right of free speech. He called upon the Egyptian government to prevent loss of live and allow its citizens to engage in peaceful protests. President Obama stated:

“The people of Egypt have rights that are universal, that includes the right of peaceful assembly and association. The right of free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights and the United States will stand up for them anywhere.

I also call upon the Egyptian government to reverse the actions they have taken to interfere with access to the internet, to cell phone service and social networks that do so much to connect people in the 21st Century.”

President Obama urged protestors to protest peacefully without violence. He acknowledged the call of the Egyptian protestors for economic and other reforms.

President Obama urged Egyptian President Mubarek to create meaningful dialogue between the government and its citizens in order to creatively solve their problems together. President Obama stated:

“Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.”

“Miasin” (“Together”) youth movement held an action – procession today in the streets of Yerevan, carrying various slogans, like “respect the traffic signs”, “take care of your country”, “don’t be indifferent” and the like.

As I watched about 200-300 young people cross the street under the red lights, carrying the sign “respect the traffic signs”, I couldn’t help thinking how different this youth moment is from the likes of “Henq” and “Sksela“.

“Miasin” first came to my attention when hundreds of young activists started distributed leaflets calling for “tolerance” at a time, when the authorities were accusing the opposition for their  ”intolerant”  stance.

On their website “Miasin” are calling themselves a “patriotic liberal youth movement for reform and modernization of Armenia” which is open to all, who are not indifferent towards the future of their country.

Despite rumors, that they are associated with this or that political party, the movement says they are free of political affiliation. This is somewhat hard to believe, given the fact, that Armenia’s President and Foreign Minister consider them important enough to visit their camp and speak about the country’s future, answer their questions at a time, when journalists are finding it hard to get access to these top officials.

“Miasin” also claims they don’t need much money for their activities and “there are many, who are concerned about carrying out reform in our country and believe in the potential of youth”, so they “express readiness” to support “Miasin.”

I hope I didn’t leave the impression, that I don’t like this movement. I don’t dislike them, nor do I particularly like them. I just recognize, what they are and see some paradoxes in how they cross the streets and in how they claim to be non-political.

Other than that – “Miasin” has certainly attracted a lot of lively and beautiful Armenian youth and I love all of them, and hope, that they’ve joined that youth movement for good reasons and will contribute to Armenia’s reformation and modernization as much as they can.

Wyclef Jean to run for president of Haiti

“Jean has become so involved with not just the culture but also the cause of Haiti that he feels it’s only logical to follow other artist-to-statesman career trajectories. (He mentions Ronald Reagan and former Czech President Vaclav Havel as examples of the type.)”

Wyclef Jean: Haiti needs a ‘global’ leader

“Responding to critics who have questioned his lack of leadership experience and even his commitment to Haiti, Jean told Reuters his international fame and contacts as a music star would be an asset for the Nov. 28 presidential election.”

Rapper against Wyclef Jean’s bid for Haitian president

“Wyclef Jean’s Fugees bandmate Pras Michel has criticised the singer’s bid to become president of Haiti, saying he is not qualified.”

Today, the organization announced the signing of 63-year-old Joe Kernan, an individual who makes Jamie Moyer look like a spring chicken. Kernan, a former South Bend mayor and, later, Indiana governor, currently serves as president of the South Bend Silver Hawks (the Diamondbacks Class A affiliate).

The surprise signing of the slugging sexagenarian was announced during the Silver Hawks’ “Your Town, Your Team” season preview event. As the club was extolling its amped-up community service efforts, a call came in from Diamondbacks director of player development Mike Berger. Coincidentally, the call just happened to occur while Berger was at the podium. I mean, what are the odds?

I’ll let the Silver Hawks’ press release take over from here:

[Berger] offered a one-day contract for Joe Kernan to once again play for
the Silver Hawks in the exhibition game against Notre Dame.

Joe, who played college baseball for Notre Dame, gladly accepted the
offer.

“I would be honored to suit up again,” Joe said into the phone. “I’m
willing to do anything to help the team.”

The “Silver vs. Gold” exhibition game, in which Kernan will attempt to vanquish his alma mater, is scheduled for April 5. The words “once again” in the press release excerpt may have tipped you off to the fact that this is not the first time that the former Governor has suited up against the Fighting Irish. These pictures from the 2008 “Silver vs. Gold” game show Kernan in action, ready to show those college kids that age ain’t nothing but a number: 

Issues

• Figures are thrown around that people younger than 30 represent 60 – 70% of the population of Ghana. How powerful are they really?

Besides, the NDC is positioning itself to build an army of well-educated, adequately informed and well-prepared youth to disseminate the policies and programmes of the Mills administration, as well as research into other issues for the growth of the party.

Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra, the National Youth Organizer of the party, Mr Ludwig Hlodze, said the move was in fulfillment of the party’s new policy of making the youth and the women’s wings autonomous and more effective.

He said as part of the new policy, the youth wing would own its national headquarters with a fully furnished secretariat, research department, among other offices. Mr Hlodze said the wing would also own and operate its separate budget, adding that youth wing offices would be opened in all the 10 regional capitals to help co-ordinate the affairs of the youth.

“We are aiming at building an effective, efficient and well-resourced youth division comparable to the African National Congress (ANC) youth wing,” Mr Hlodze added. He stated that as part of the initial measures for a proper take-off, the youth wing would hold a national summit at the Volta Regional capital, Ho, from March 18 to 21, 2010 to deliberate on how to strategically position the wing in its new position as an autonomous body.

As part of the summit, all youth ministers, former National Youth Organisers and their deputies, some key sector ministers, current and former leaders of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN), as well as all regional youth organizers, would brainstorm on the way forward for the youth of the NDC.

“We will draw up a strategic plan that would guide the youth wing of the party in the coming years. This will position the national, regional, constituency and branch members to better help explain and execute the better Ghana agenda,” he added.

Topics to be discussed include “the NDC Manifesto,” “How young people can make agriculture a focal point for food security” and “How to blend politics with academics.”

Mr Hlodze paid tribute to his predecessor, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, who is also the Minister of Communication, for his sterling leadership qualities that helped in leading the youth in the party to mobilize support, guard the ballots and ensure that the NDC moved from opposition to form government.

“Mr Haruna managed the youth under very difficult situations when we were in opposition, especially during a period that organizing programmes was not easy. He showed the way and his direction to the youth helped the NDC in a great deal to win the 2008 election,” he said.

Mr Hlodze said his aim as the youth organizer was to work assiduously to build on the successes of his predecessor to ensure that the NDC increased its majority in Parliament, as well as the margin for the presidential candidate in 2012.

Mr Hlodze gave the assurance that there would be no room for complacency and that the youth would not wait till the election period before it put its campaign machinery into top gear.
Mr Hlodze also gave the assurance that President J.E.A Mills and his administration were working around the clock to ensure that the bad nature of the economy it inherited from the Kufuor Administration was put in a good shape for a proper take-off.

He reiterated the President’s declaration that this year was a year of action and said more employment opportunities would be created for the youth of the country.

Mr Hlodze reminded the youth of President Mills’ directive in his State of the Nation address to ministries to identify job openings in their sectors. He appealed to the youth to take advantage of the opportunities and support the Mills administration.

Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana

Two years ago at the UN Climate negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, I happened to have the opportunity to attend as a member of the US youth delegation (because I was studying in the US). Upon arriving at the negotiations and after countless hours spent submitting our policy proposals to the UN Convention I realized that there is a growing and vibrant youth movement dedicated to the cause. These youth are actively trying to influence the negotiations. I became conscious of the fact that there were not any Indian youth in this growing international youth caucus present on the sidelines of the conference. I decided to introduce myself to the Indian Government negotiators as a “youth representative.” I was met with a cold and blank stare and then asked, “youth? Shouldn’t they have the same view as their elders?” I knew then that my life would never be the same again.

To be fair, I respect my elders and I know that there are many out there who are on the “far side of fifty” (age 50 that is) who have worked hard to make the world a better place. Generations have come and gone and nearly all of them have had a defining issue to tackle. My generation, labeled the “silent generation” by Thomas Friedman, is caught behind our computers and on facebook, having struggled to come to terms with the seemingly perfect world with an uncertain future of which we are not in control.Many in the climate movement are aware of the political deadlock between developed and developing nations over the issue of climate equity and historical emissions and responsibilities. Though we claim to be talking climate for the sake of future generations, nothing that we are doing is actually putting future generations in a better environment than that enjoyed by generations passed. So let’s get serious about generational equity because those in control sure aren’t.

While the climate crisis looms, we are currently consumed by a financial crisis that has gripped the planet.Just as financial institutions played with the public’s money, we are playing with the global commons that is our climate. We already know the impacts of unabated borrowing of money that does not exist. Can we play the same game with the lives of future generations as we borrow for our unsustainable growth today?

Global leaders are meeting at the summit in Pittsburgh and on the agenda is rebuilding the planet’s economy and hopefully, cooling down the planet. Let us turn this economic crisis into an opportunity of global proportions and usher a new era of genuine, sustainable development. I come from a young country—75% youth–that is facing many challenges. My own ancestral home in the desert sands of western Rajasthan only received electricity a year ago—electricity promised to my grandfather 25 years ago. Yet it is a land bursting with opportunity. Sure enough there is an army of youth in India that are ready to take that stand and that are dreaming of a clean, green country – one which will take this opportunity to build a green economy and support the growth of a green jobs movement. With 500 million people still in the dark, there are millions to be trained in sustainable energy enterprises alone. Let us not forget that this is a country that has half a million engineers graduating annually—a potentially potent force to engineer the country into the paragon of sustainable development.

While youth are 48% of the global population they are not an official part of the negotiation process at the international level. Though many of us are silent, many more are launching revolutions to transform our local communities. I was transformed by my experience in Bali and knew that in the labyrinth process of the negotiations all sense of urgency—of our future—is lost. This hopelessness was transcended through the creation of the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) which has grown in waves and caught the attention of young people, civil society, companies and the same government that questioned the role of youth on the topic two years ago. Similarly youth movements for the cause are rising across the planet—daring governments to break the deadlock. We envision a future which ensures the survival of all peoples and all nations. The debate is old and it is time for some fresh air. A bail-out for the planet is a bailout we will not regret.

Anyone who doesn’t fit into the `youth’ category must be feeling completely out of place, as if (s)he has committed a sin by not being young!

But why are we celebrating youth? What’s so special about this group…what have they done?? Why do we speak so highly of them??? It’s time we understood this stuff.

`Youth’ in my view, is synonymous with a deep & never ending yearning for positive change, an element of rebellion against what exists,  the way it exists and a fountainhead of fresh ideas & boundless energy to translate them into action…above all, someone who romances idealism. Alas, the Indian youth doesn’t exhibit any of these qualities. Why only India, even globally, the role of young people in shaping public policies, influencing socio-cultural-political landscapes has been found wanting. When was the last time you heard about a youth movement that radically altered the level of public debate about the way the world is…and ways to change it?

Not very long ago, we had several young men & women taking part in India’s freedom struggle. Globally too, we have seen youth fighting against racism, apartheid, social inequalities, wars, gender bias, and numerous forms of discrimination and repression devised by those who rule societies and nations. The world we live in today is largely a product of these movements led by the youth.

So, is the youth of our times taking this glorious legacy forward?

No! Sadly, the youth today is nothing but an old, stagnant & defeated mind caged inside a relatively younger body…a body capable of more frequent copulation (perhaps the only distinguishing feature between the youth and the aged) but with a mind bereft of fresh ideas, new thinking and yes…idealism. He or she does not have a dream of his own…in fact, day after day, they live the dreams of the so called old people by chasing & craving for a house of their own, a healthy bank balance, retaining their jobs, possessing latest household gadgets, changing cars every three years, spouses every two years and cellphones every year. `Change’ for them means a change of job and wealth levels…`Rebellion’ for them means having utmost contempt for their elders at best and jumping traffic signals at worst…an `Upwardly Mobile’ society for them means personal movements up the money & influence charts excluding everyone and `Empowerment’ means nothing else but an enhanced ability to swing deals their way.

Try spending some time with young people at any coffee or fast food joints around college campuses in cities or cigarette shops/chai ka gallas in small towns or villages. Simply overhear their talks and all your ideas about `youth’ leading this country and making it the next superpower would get sorted out  for good.

Because the youth today thinks and acts exactly like their grandfathers would. If that wasn’t the case, things like dowry & wife beating would have vanished long back…with youth rejecting this horrid tradition and those perpetuating it. Casteism would have become a thing of the past as majority of our young population would have freely & fearlessly married people from other castes, religions and regions (just take a look at matrimonial columns). Girls wouldn’t have been killed in wombs as their  young fathers wouldn’t have thought of them as lowly creatures unworthy of their love and affection.  And  corrupt politicians & bureaucrats wouldn’t have enjoyed the powers they do today. They’d be living in mortal fear of being caught, exposed  & questioned by the youth. On the contrary, young men & women of today aspire to be like them and curse themselves & their lineage if they can’t make the grade.

Let us look at our `young’ parliamentarians whom the media is raving about. We are being told that their presence in increased numbers would lead to a paradigm shift in the way things work in this country. Really? Isn’t it akin to saying that having a Rabri Devi as Chief Minister or Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister improves the status of women in the country? Has it??

As reproductive by-products of a political father or mother or both, they are well grounded in the kind of politics their parent(s) indulge in, just the way a shopkeeper’s or farmer’s son picks up threads of knowledge from seeing his father at work. And they’ll do more of the same things. The only difference being that they’ll do all this speaking the language that the `youth’ understands. With youth comprising the largest chunk of our populace, their acceptance is likely to higher than that of their old, doddering, incoherent & out of fashion parents. And that’s the only `change’ we are likely to witness. Period.

Unfortunately, I can’t name any young politician here for the fear of being slapped with libel but just think of any name and audit this guy’s actions in & out of parliament…what did (s)he do as a minister…in whose company did (s)he spend time with, where and doing what. How many times did (s)he questioned the way things were in working in his party or government? I bet your conclusion won’t be very different from what I’ve expressed above.

All this brings us back to the original question- why then are we venerating the youth the way we do?

Well, being the single largest constituent of our society, they happen to be the largest consumer group- consumers who’d lap up the goods and services being produced/imported in the country. The producers of these goods, with the help of the media have managed to create some sort of `uniformity’ among youth as far as desires, aspirations & beliefs are concerned. So from Jaipur to Jajpur, Pondicherry to Paonta Sahib and Dibrugarh to Daman, you’ll comes across young people with similar notions of progress, growth, happiness and matching shades of political vision & understanding. By & large they idolize the same people lionized by the media – cricketers, bollywood guys & gals and industry kaptans. They crave for the same things, be it material possessions or positions of power- be it in the government or the corporate sector. Nuisance value (the ability & power to screw others’ peace & happiness) is worshiped by young people regardless of the place or class they belong to.

And this universalization of thoughts, deeds & dreams is crucial to sell mass manufactured `standardized’ products, thereby helping gigantic businesses make a killing in the markets. And this perhaps is the reason why youth movements elsewhere too have died down. Afterall,  it’s not for nothing that the world is called a globalized village!

And those of you outside the `young’ bracket, please take heart…the youth today doesn’t pose any challenge to you. In fact, it is very much like you, may be worse.

The action, called “Vonts, chuneq?” (“You don’t have it?”), is based on principle of “We are the State”, according to HENQ. The point of the action was – to go around bookshops, newspaper shacks, DVD stores, movie theaters in Yerevan and ask for non-existing books, movies, newspaper titles, plays, e.g.: “We are the state” film by Carla Garapedian, the director of the “Screamers“, “The country is a country” by Paulo Coelho, “A citizen is wanted” by HyeFilm Studio.

HENQ Prepare for action | Originally posted at The Caucasian Knot ©  Photo: Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

The group were supposed to stir interest about the content of the particular play, book, newspaper and engage in a discussion about issues like: ‘the government does not exist in vacuum’, ‘we are responsible for our state’, ‘we have to take responsability ourselves and try to correct the wrong we see’, ‘we should follow the rules, giving a bribe and saying this country is no good won’t solve anything’. The action that started today will go on for a week. Many of the bookstores, movie theaters will be visited repeatedly in the hope, that rumors will circulate about these new ‘hit’ films, etc. – which everybody is talking and interested about.

Joining the HENQ members – divided into groups of two Onnik Krikoryian and myself went around to some of ‘targets’. It was fun, but I’m really not sure if this activity will achieve anything, apart from creating a possibility to spend the energy for a bunch of excellent young people with vague ideas about the need for civil activity, caring for their country while trying to stay out of politics.

As one of the leaders of the group, Stepan Khzrtian told me, the group is open for all regardless their political beliefs, and noted, that there are already people from ARF Dashnaktsutyun, HIMA and Orinats Yerkir taking part in their actions. They now have a Facebook group with over 160 members, which is also open for anybody to join and from what what Onnik Krikoryian told me, Vahagn Vardumyan, a well known civil activist, who has been highly critical of “Sksela” and “Hima” movements in the recent months, is also actively involved with this new group.

It is hard to draw conclusions as to what this group is really up to and what will they achieve with this type of ‘soft’ activities – at least that’s a view shared by Onnik Krikoryian I beleive. However – civil society is not a ‘competitive market’ – where one brand wins, and the rest loose. In fact, the more diversity, the better. From my perspective – what matters, is that people are active and try to do something to change things for the better. Everything is better then standing back and doing nothing. So – why not – I want to welcome this fresh new start!

• The Basics:
  • Pew Center on Climate Change: Basic Science
  • Pew Center on Climate Change: Facts and Figures (great images, graphs)
• University of AZ links
  • UA Tree-Ring Lab Director Testifies on Climate Change, Wildfires
  • UA Podcasts on Global Climate Change
    
  • UA Conference on Climate Change and Federalism (e.g. Law).
• Activism
  • Focus the Nation
  • Youth Climate Movement Blog: It’s Getting Hot in Here
  • Sustainable Tucson

Where is the justice in the world?

To set the record straight, communistdaughter0′s name comes from Neutral Milk Hotel’s album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, which is just about as hipster as he is.  In another vein, edelweisspirate’s name comes from a small and often overlooked anti-Nazi German youth movement, which is appropriate enough, due to the fact that she is a mostly anti-Nazi youth with German roots and vaguely aryan appearances.

Come visit Holland, kids. If you’re already here? Consider getting out.