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Category: Journalism

OccupyICE San Antonio Standing Strong After Patriot Front Nazi’s Temper TantrumA banner at OccupyICE San Antonio reads, "FUCK ICE / ICE is not welcome in San Antonio."
A banner at OccupyICE San Antonio reads, "FUCK ICE / ICE is not welcome in San Antonio." (Courtesy: OccupyICE SATX)
July 29, 2018
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OccupyICE San Antonio Standing Strong After Patriot Front Nazi’s Temper Tantrum

Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism

OccupyICE San Antonio continues despite a failed attempt at intimidation by Patriot Front, a notorious group of Texas nazis.

For almost two weeks, activists have occupied the Immigrations & Customs Enforcement offices at 3523 Crosspoint Drive in San Antonio with tents and shade structures. Using noise demonstrations and  direct actions, they’ve been disrupting business at the facility. Busloads of detained immigrant prisoners are a near daily sight. This ongoing protest is part of the national OccupyICE movement, which seeks to abolish ICE and put an end to the detention of immigrants and their families.

About 20 nazis from the Texas-based Patriot Front targeted OccupyICE San Antonio on the morning on Saturday, July 28. They arrived at about 8 am while most of the campers were asleep. After lighting a road flare, the nazis shouted racist slogans while committing petty attacks on the encampment.

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Livestreaming Ethics With Reb Z: Citizen Journalists Must Take SidesA person in a yellow jacket films an event. Livestreaming ethics means always being aware of what is and isn't in your frame. It means showing what the mainstream media ignores.
A person in a yellow jacket films an event. Livestreaming ethics means always being aware of what is and isn't in your frame. It means showing what the mainstream media ignores. (Morguefile, public domain)
July 27, 2018
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Livestreaming Ethics With Reb Z: Citizen Journalists Must Take Sides

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

“I started as a journalist to show, during the Occupy protests, what wasn’t being shown.”

In the first part of my interview with Jon Ziegler, also known as Rebelutionary Z, we shared some tips for livestreaming. This time, I wanted to go a bit deeper and urge citizen journalists and streamers of all kinds to consider their personal livestreaming ethics.

There’s a misconception that livestreaming is always about simply showing what’s happening in an unedited, raw form. While most streamers aren’t altering their footage as it goes online in any way, they’re still making choices about what to film, who to interview, and how to frame the footage with their commentary.

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Farm Bill Hemp Amendment Blocks People With Felonies From Growing Hemp
A pair of hands in handcuffs reaches upwards. Some advocates say a hemp amendment to the 2018 Farm Bill would legalize hemp at a cost to vulnerable people. (Pixabay / KlausHausmann, public domain)
July 11, 2018
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Farm Bill Hemp Amendment Blocks People With Felonies From Growing Hemp

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

A hemp legalization amendment in the 2018 Farm Bill prevents anyone with a felony drug conviction from growing hemp.

Some existing hemp entrepreneurs could even find themselves shut out.

“I have a very successful business, I’ve been in this from the get go,” said Veronica Carpio, an experienced hemp producer and president of Grow Hemp Colorado, at a hemp conference in New York last month.

Despite her undeniable contributions to the industry, a past felony cannabis conviction endangers her continued involvement. “If this bill passes, I’m out.”

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2018 Farm Bill Could Fully Legalize Industrial Hemp In USA
The US Capitol building under a cloudy blue sky. An amendment to the Senate version of the 2018 Farm Bill could help legalize hemp in the USA. (Pixabay / inverewe, public domain)
July 3, 2018
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2018 Farm Bill Could Fully Legalize Industrial Hemp In USA

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

An amendment to the Senate version of the 2018 Farm Bill would fully legalize industrial hemp in the United States.

“This is a big day for hemp,” said Brian Furnish, a hemp grower from Kentucky and president of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable.

The amendment legalizing hemp began as a bill proposed by Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader in the Senate. The “Hemp Farming Act of 2018” fully legalizes industrial hemp and all products made from it including CBD oil. Under the new law, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other government agencies would no longer be able to interfere with hemp.

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Juneteenth Prison Protest Targets Prison Slave Labor In Austin, TexasAnarchists gathered for the Juneteenth prison protest on June 18, targeting the Texas Correctional Industries showroom and another prison office.
A pair of masked anarchists at the Texas Correctional Industries Showroom, wearing black clothes, hold a banner reading "Stand with Striking Prisoners!" The banner depicts the state of Texas with bars across it, and a fist breaking through the bars. June 18, 2018. (Kit O'Connell)
June 25, 2018
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Juneteenth Prison Protest Targets Prison Slave Labor In Austin, Texas

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, and Journalism

Last week, Austin anarchists marked Juneteenth a day early with a protest against modern-day slavery.

Juneteenth, honored on June 19 each year, marks the day that news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached slaves in Texas. However, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution legalizes unpaid or shockingly underpaid slave labor by those behind bars. The Juneteenth prison protest in Austin targeted two offices operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Around dawn, activists scaled flag poles at the Austin offices of the TDCJ parole board to replace the U.S. and Texas flags with an anti-prison slavery banner. Later, more anarchists (and this reporter) gathered to protest at a showroom where corporations come to hire prison labor.

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Texas is one of the few states where prisoners receive no paid compensation for their labor, yet are expected to afford commissary items, $100 medical copays, and post-release expenses,” a representative of the group told me.

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Livestreaming Tips With Reb Z: Be A Better Journalist On Facebook Live & BeyondJon Ziegler's top livestreaming tips include holding your phone in landscape mode and holding your hand steady when moving or turning.
"Kettled" activists film and livestream on their smartphones as they await arrest. St. Louis, October 3, 2017. Jon Ziegler's top livestreaming tips include holding your phone in landscape mode and holding your hand steady when moving or turning. (RebZ.tv, used with permission)
June 14, 2018
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Livestreaming Tips With Reb Z: Be A Better Journalist On Facebook Live & Beyond

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

Want to be a better livestreamer? I asked indie journalist Jon Ziegler, for his top livestreaming tips when we recently spoke.

Jon, better known to his fans as Rebelutionary Z is one of the most experienced streamers today. He began covering footage of protests and activist events during Occupy Wall Street. Unlike most of the people who started then, he’s continued to report from liberal and radical left events. He credits the Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson and St. Louis for bringing him back to the field after Occupy ended. Since then he’s traveled around the continent, including reporting on the Standing Rock protests where he sustained a serious injury from a rubber bullet. He also streamed the nazi attack in Charlottesville that killed Heather Heyer.

I asked Jon for his top livestreaming tips. I’ve divided them into two sections, one for newcomers and people who only stream occasionally. He calls these “Johnny On The Spot reporters,” people who were in the right place at the right time to catch a breaking event. In the second section, I’ve included some further tips for more experienced citizen journalists.

Read moreLivestreaming Tips With Reb Z: Be A Better Journalist On Facebook Live & Beyond