Activism Archives - Page 23 of 27 - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

Hundreds Gather To ‘Wall Off Trump’ & Police Arrest 18 In Flag-Burning Demonstration At RNC 2016

July 19, 2016. An activist holds up a fist behind a "Wall Off Trump" banner, painted with a brick wall pattern and inscried "No human being is illegal." RNC 2016. (MintPress News / Desiree Kane)

July 22, 2016

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Hundreds Gather To ‘Wall Off Trump’ & Police Arrest 18 In Flag-Burning Demonstration At RNC 2016

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

In response to a proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall that Donald Trump’s turned into a hallmark of his presidential campaign, activists at the Republican National Convention built a wall of their own on Wednesday.

Using a combination of banners and brick wall-patterned costumes, activists surrounded the Quicken Loans Arena for about two-and-a-half hours to highlight the harm caused by the GOP nominee’s immigration policies.

Hundreds of people took part in the Wall Off Trump action, including many undocumented immigrants as well as a group of veterans who protected the demonstrators from interference. About 150 people came together to create the wall, which stretched for about 2,000 feet around the arena.

From Anti-Trump Activists To Open Carry Advocates: RNC 2016 Opens With A Day Of Peaceful Protest

In this July 18, 2016 photograph, Cleveland police and a protester embrace outside the Quicken Loans Arena, site of the 2016 Republican National Convention. (MintPress News / Desiree Kane)

July 19, 2016

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From Anti-Trump Activists To Open Carry Advocates: RNC 2016 Opens With A Day Of Peaceful Protest

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The tense political landscape and presence of open carry activists didn’t dampen a day of peaceful protest for demonstrators gathered outside the Quicken Loans Arena for the opening day of the 2016 Republican National Convention.

MintPress News was present outside the arena on Monday, where attendance by protesters seemed somewhat lower than anticipated. Even during an unpermitted march led by a musical “supergroup” featuring members of Public Enemy, Cypress Hill and Rage Against the Machine, no arrests were reported.

On Saturday, Cleveland police swore in hundreds of temporary officers recruited from forces around the country in anticipation of intense protest and potential unrest. Police and FBI agents were also reported to be visiting Cleveland activists at their homes in advance of the convention, apparently in an attempt to intimidate or discourage protests.

Oaxaca Protests Swell Over Police Killings And Neoliberal Education Reforms

In this June 23, 2016 photograph, dancers and drummers at the Texas Capitol honor activists killed by police in Oaxaca, Mexico while protesting neoliberal education reforms. (Kit O'Connell)

June 27, 2016

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Oaxaca Protests Swell Over Police Killings And Neoliberal Education Reforms

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and MintPress News

A brutal attack on protesters in Mexico has drawn expressions of solidarity from around the world, including a vigil held on Thursday at the Texas State Capitol.

At least eight civilians were killed and dozens injured on June 20, when police opened fire on a group of teachers, students and their allies blocking a section of highway connecting the state of Oaxaca to Mexico City. A journalist was also killed during the protests.

“They’re killing our people,” Magdalena Maria Gutierrez, a resident of Austin, Texas, who was born in Oaxaca, said in an interview with MintPress News before she spoke to the crowd gathered at the Texas State Capitol on Thursday for a vigil organized by the Committee in Solidarity with Teachers in Mexico.

ACLU & Anti-Poverty Campaign Sue Philadelphia Over The Right To Protest At DNC

Protest signs hang on a fence blocking access to the site of the Democratic National Convention in Boston. July 28, 2004. (Flickr / Tom Marshall)

June 24, 2016

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ACLU & Anti-Poverty Campaign Sue Philadelphia Over The Right To Protest At DNC

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

The ACLU of Pennsylvania is suing the City of Philadelphia after anti-poverty activists were denied the right to protest during next month’s Democratic National Convention.

The NGO is suing on behalf of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. The interracial, intergenerational movement to end poverty is led by activist Cheri Honkala, who served as Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s running mate in the 2012 presidential election.

“We are filing the lawsuit today because the last thing that poor people have is their voice, and we can’t allow our voice to be taken away,” Honkala said in a press release issued on Thursday.

Islamophobia Industry Spent $206M Building Hatred In US, But Here’s How To Create Love Instead

September 11, 2010: A protest against a proposed Muslim cultural center in downtown New York City. A banner reads "Stop Islamization of America! Wake Up!" (Flickr / Chris Rojas)

June 23, 2016

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Islamophobia Industry Spent $206M Building Hatred In US, But Here’s How To Create Love Instead

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Islamophobia is more profitable than ever in America, but a new report from a leading Muslim civil rights organization offers a new strategy to take the national conversation back from the proprietors of hate.

Thirty-three key organizations promoting anti-Muslim sentiment had access to a combined budget of $205,838,077 between 2008 and 2013, according to “Confronting Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the U.S. 2013-2015,” a report published on Monday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations in collaboration with the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California, Berkeley.

In addition to these core organizations promoting hatred, the report identified 74 groups involved in the larger “U.S. Islamophobia network.” That’s an increase from the 69 groups identified in the previous report, “Legislating Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the United States,” published in 2013.

Aquatic ‘First Responders’ Form Mosquito Fleet To Halt Climate Change & Shell Oil

The Mosquito Fleet takes the shore at the March Point refinery on May 15, 2016. (Other98)

May 31, 2016

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Aquatic ‘First Responders’ Form Mosquito Fleet To Halt Climate Change & Shell Oil

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

After years of marches and land-based blockades, environmental activists are now taking to the seas to stop the growth of the fossil fuel industry and protest the environmental threats facing them.

Inspired by actions last year against Shell Oil Co.’s plans to drill in the Arctic Circle, which included a kayak-based blockade, activists in the Pacific Northwest are forming a new “Mosquito Fleet” — a swarm of tiny boats that they hope will have a big impact by acting together.

Lois Canright, a fleet member who recently completed her first action, told MintPress News, “To me, the most important thing that I can do for me and everyone on this planet is to try and lower emissions down and to try to throw some wrenches into the fossil fuel infrastructure, especially because they’re trying to expand it in our region.”

The fleet took to the waters earlier this month, joining an effort by Break Free PNW to halt traffic from major fossil fuel export terminals operated by Shell Oil and Tesoro, another fossil fuel giant, at March Point in Anacortes, Washington, on the Puget Sound in the Salish Sea.