Check out this website of "radical" librarians. Oh yeah those who know how to get and organize the information. Totally hot.
About radical reference
Submitted by radref on Sun, 08/01/2004 - 2:18pm.
“…librarians are more freedom fighters than shushers.�?
--Carla Hayden, Ms. Magazine online
Mission Statement: Radical Reference is a collective of volunteer library workers who believe in social justice and equality. We support activist communities, progressive organizations, and independent journalists by providing professional research support, education and access to information. We work in a collaborative virtual setting and are dedicated to information activism to foster a more egalitarian society.
That's the official line. Here's "the rest of the story." Radical reference originated as a service provided by volunteer library workers from all over the United States to assist demonstrators and activists at the convergence surrounding the Republican National Convention in New York City August 29-September 2, 2004. We are evolving, expanding our services, and continuing to utilize our professional skills and tools to answer information needs from the general public, independent journalists, and activists. Service will be provided via this web site, blog, e-mail, chat, phone, in the street and Ouija board.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Friday, May 05, 2006
Mujeres De Maiz-see me in print!
A poem of mine is in this Zine and is part of the exerpts on the website. How beautiful. Even though I have been performing this poem for a while its been a long time since I've published a poem. I will be working on a publication of my own this summer. Stay tuned.
After 8 years of hibernation...
Mujeres de Maiz Zine 2006
is ready to be printed!
We need your help to get started:
after months of planning and designing...
ZINE 2006
has become a beautiful 60 page booklet!
with over 20 poems,
and 20 full color pages of original works,
showcasing over 30 visual artists & poets,
Representing generations in a growing network of creative women of color,
pre-order to reserve
your copies today!
only $20 each!
A limited number will be printed so pre-order your copy soon!
$20 + postage & handling ($3.00) reserves your copy.
Follow the link below:
http://www.freewebs.com/mujeresdemaiz/zine.htm
If you know any digital printers who are able to donate their services,
please let us know!
This is a VERY grassroots project!!!
With your donation we will be able to publish and continue to build our women's creative network into a
real-time community organization!
Thank you for your support!
Mujeres de Maiz- Los Angeles
Contact: Margaret Alarcon
(323)533-1667
Friday, April 28, 2006
Get your terms correct
NAHJ Urges News Media to Stop Using Dehumanizing Terms When Covering Immigration
Calls for stopping the use of illegals as a noun, curbing the phrase illegal alien
Media Contact:
Joseph Torres (202) 662-7143; Daniela Montalvo (202) 662-7152
Washington, D.C. -- As protesters march in the streets and debate intensifies in Congress over how to fix the nations immigration laws, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists calls on our nations news media to use accurate terminology in its coverage of immigration and to stop dehumanizing undocumented immigrants.
NAHJ is concerned with the increasing use of pejorative terms to describe the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the United States. NAHJ is particularly troubled with the growing trend of the news media to use the word illegals as a noun, shorthand for "illegal aliens". Using the word in this way is grammatically incorrect and crosses the line by criminalizing the person, not the action they are purported to have committed. NAHJ calls on the media to never use illegals in headlines.
Shortening the term in this way also stereotypes undocumented people who are in the United States as having committed a crime. Under current U.S. immigration law, being an undocumented immigrant is not a crime, it is a civil violation. Furthermore, an estimated 40 percent of all undocumented people living in the U.S. are visa overstayers, meaning they did not illegally cross the U.S. border.
In addition, the association has always denounced the use of the degrading terms alien and illegal alien to describe undocumented immigrants because it casts them as adverse, strange beings, inhuman outsiders who come to the U.S. with questionable motivations. Aliens is a bureaucratic term that should be avoided unless used in a quote.
NAHJ, a 2,300-member organization of reporters, editors and other journalists, addresses the use of these words and phrases by the news media in its Resource Guide for Journalists. The following are excerpts for some of the terms prevalent in the current news coverage:
Alien
A word used by the U.S. government to describe a foreign-born person who is not a citizen by naturalization or parentage. People who enter the United States legally are called resident aliens and they carry alien registration cards also known as "green cards," because they used to be green.
While Webster's first definition of the term "alien" is in accordance with the government's interpretation, the dictionary also includes other, darker, meanings for the word, such as a non-terrestrial being," "strange," "not belonging to one," "adverse," "hostile." And the Encyclopedia Britannica points out that "in early times, the tendency was to look upon the alien as an enemy and to treat him as a criminal or an outlaw." It is not surprising then that in 1798, in anticipation of a possible war with France, the U.S. Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which restricted "aliens" and curtailed press freedoms. By 1800 the laws had been repealed or had expired but they still cast a negative shadow over the word.
In modern times, with science-fiction growing in popularity, "alien" has come to mean a creature from outer space, and is considered pejorative by most immigrants.
Illegal alien
Avoid. Alternative terms are "undocumented worker," or "undocumented immigrant." The pertinent federal agencies use this term for individuals who do not have documents to show they can legally visit, work or live here. Many find the term offensive and dehumanizing because it criminalizes the person rather than the actual act of illegally entering or residing in the United States. The term does not give an accurate description of a person's conditional U.S. status, but rather demeans an individual by describing them as an alien. At the 1994 Unity convention, the four minority journalism groups NAHJ, Asian American Journalists Association, Native American Journalists Association and National Association of Black Journalists issued the following statement on this term: "Except in direct quotations, do not use the phrase illegal alien or the word alien, in copy or in headlines, to refer to citizens of a foreign country who have come to the U.S. with no documents to show that they are legally entitled to visit, work or live here. Such terms are considered pejorative not only by those to whom they are applied but by many people of the same ethnic and national backgrounds who are in the U.S. legally."
Illegal immigrant
While many national news outlets use the term "illegal immigrant," this handbook calls for the discussion and re-evaluation of its use. Instead of using illegal immigrant, alternative labels recommended are "undocumented worker" or "undocumented immigrant." Illegal immigrant is a term used to describe the immigration status of people who do not have the federal documentation to show they are legally entitled to work, visit or live here. People who are undocumented according to federal authorities do not have the proper visas to be in the United States legally. Many enter the country illegally, but a large number of this group initially had valid visas, but did not return to their native countries when their visas expired. Some former students fall into the latter category. The term criminalizes the person rather than the actual act of illegally entering or residing in the United States without federal documents. Terms such as illegal alien or illegal immigrant can often be used pejoratively in common parlance and can pack a powerful emotional wallop for those on the receiving end. Instead, use undocumented immigrant or undocumented worker, both of which are terms that convey the same descriptive information without carrying the psychological baggage. Avoid using illegal(s) as a noun.
Illegal
Avoid. Alternative terms are "undocumented immigrant" or "undocumented worker." This term has been used to describe the immigration status of people who do not have the federal documentation to show they are legally entitled to work, visit or live here. The term criminalizes the person rather than the actual act of illegally entering, residing in the U.S. without documents.
Immigrant
Similar to reporting about a person's race, mentioning that a person is a first-generation immigrant could be used to provide readers or viewers with background information, but the relevancy of using the term should be made apparent in the story. Also, the status of undocumented workers should be discussed between source, reporter and editors because of the risk of deportation.
Undocumented immigrant
Preferred term to "illegal immigrant," "illegal(s)" and "illegal alien." This term describes the immigration status of people who do not have the federal documentation to show they are legally entitled to work, visit or live here. Some Latinos say this term more accurately describes people who are in the United States illegally because the word points out that they are undocumented, but does not dehumanize them in the manner that such terms as aliens and illegals do.
Undocumented worker
Preferred term to "illegal alien," "illegal immigrant," or "illegal(s)." This term describes the immigration status of people who do not have the federal documentation to show they are legally entitled to work, visit or live here.
SOURCE: www.nahj.org/nahjnews/articles/2006/March/immigrationcoverage.shtml
Calls for stopping the use of illegals as a noun, curbing the phrase illegal alien
Media Contact:
Joseph Torres (202) 662-7143; Daniela Montalvo (202) 662-7152
Washington, D.C. -- As protesters march in the streets and debate intensifies in Congress over how to fix the nations immigration laws, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists calls on our nations news media to use accurate terminology in its coverage of immigration and to stop dehumanizing undocumented immigrants.
NAHJ is concerned with the increasing use of pejorative terms to describe the estimated 11 million undocumented people living in the United States. NAHJ is particularly troubled with the growing trend of the news media to use the word illegals as a noun, shorthand for "illegal aliens". Using the word in this way is grammatically incorrect and crosses the line by criminalizing the person, not the action they are purported to have committed. NAHJ calls on the media to never use illegals in headlines.
Shortening the term in this way also stereotypes undocumented people who are in the United States as having committed a crime. Under current U.S. immigration law, being an undocumented immigrant is not a crime, it is a civil violation. Furthermore, an estimated 40 percent of all undocumented people living in the U.S. are visa overstayers, meaning they did not illegally cross the U.S. border.
In addition, the association has always denounced the use of the degrading terms alien and illegal alien to describe undocumented immigrants because it casts them as adverse, strange beings, inhuman outsiders who come to the U.S. with questionable motivations. Aliens is a bureaucratic term that should be avoided unless used in a quote.
NAHJ, a 2,300-member organization of reporters, editors and other journalists, addresses the use of these words and phrases by the news media in its Resource Guide for Journalists. The following are excerpts for some of the terms prevalent in the current news coverage:
Alien
A word used by the U.S. government to describe a foreign-born person who is not a citizen by naturalization or parentage. People who enter the United States legally are called resident aliens and they carry alien registration cards also known as "green cards," because they used to be green.
While Webster's first definition of the term "alien" is in accordance with the government's interpretation, the dictionary also includes other, darker, meanings for the word, such as a non-terrestrial being," "strange," "not belonging to one," "adverse," "hostile." And the Encyclopedia Britannica points out that "in early times, the tendency was to look upon the alien as an enemy and to treat him as a criminal or an outlaw." It is not surprising then that in 1798, in anticipation of a possible war with France, the U.S. Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which restricted "aliens" and curtailed press freedoms. By 1800 the laws had been repealed or had expired but they still cast a negative shadow over the word.
In modern times, with science-fiction growing in popularity, "alien" has come to mean a creature from outer space, and is considered pejorative by most immigrants.
Illegal alien
Avoid. Alternative terms are "undocumented worker," or "undocumented immigrant." The pertinent federal agencies use this term for individuals who do not have documents to show they can legally visit, work or live here. Many find the term offensive and dehumanizing because it criminalizes the person rather than the actual act of illegally entering or residing in the United States. The term does not give an accurate description of a person's conditional U.S. status, but rather demeans an individual by describing them as an alien. At the 1994 Unity convention, the four minority journalism groups NAHJ, Asian American Journalists Association, Native American Journalists Association and National Association of Black Journalists issued the following statement on this term: "Except in direct quotations, do not use the phrase illegal alien or the word alien, in copy or in headlines, to refer to citizens of a foreign country who have come to the U.S. with no documents to show that they are legally entitled to visit, work or live here. Such terms are considered pejorative not only by those to whom they are applied but by many people of the same ethnic and national backgrounds who are in the U.S. legally."
Illegal immigrant
While many national news outlets use the term "illegal immigrant," this handbook calls for the discussion and re-evaluation of its use. Instead of using illegal immigrant, alternative labels recommended are "undocumented worker" or "undocumented immigrant." Illegal immigrant is a term used to describe the immigration status of people who do not have the federal documentation to show they are legally entitled to work, visit or live here. People who are undocumented according to federal authorities do not have the proper visas to be in the United States legally. Many enter the country illegally, but a large number of this group initially had valid visas, but did not return to their native countries when their visas expired. Some former students fall into the latter category. The term criminalizes the person rather than the actual act of illegally entering or residing in the United States without federal documents. Terms such as illegal alien or illegal immigrant can often be used pejoratively in common parlance and can pack a powerful emotional wallop for those on the receiving end. Instead, use undocumented immigrant or undocumented worker, both of which are terms that convey the same descriptive information without carrying the psychological baggage. Avoid using illegal(s) as a noun.
Illegal
Avoid. Alternative terms are "undocumented immigrant" or "undocumented worker." This term has been used to describe the immigration status of people who do not have the federal documentation to show they are legally entitled to work, visit or live here. The term criminalizes the person rather than the actual act of illegally entering, residing in the U.S. without documents.
Immigrant
Similar to reporting about a person's race, mentioning that a person is a first-generation immigrant could be used to provide readers or viewers with background information, but the relevancy of using the term should be made apparent in the story. Also, the status of undocumented workers should be discussed between source, reporter and editors because of the risk of deportation.
Undocumented immigrant
Preferred term to "illegal immigrant," "illegal(s)" and "illegal alien." This term describes the immigration status of people who do not have the federal documentation to show they are legally entitled to work, visit or live here. Some Latinos say this term more accurately describes people who are in the United States illegally because the word points out that they are undocumented, but does not dehumanize them in the manner that such terms as aliens and illegals do.
Undocumented worker
Preferred term to "illegal alien," "illegal immigrant," or "illegal(s)." This term describes the immigration status of people who do not have the federal documentation to show they are legally entitled to work, visit or live here.
SOURCE: www.nahj.org/nahjnews/articles/2006/March/immigrationcoverage.shtml
Monday, April 24, 2006
Las Manas in Chambana-ILLI-NoiZE
our stay here in Illi-NOIZE and our performance Friday night was OFF THE HOOK FOR SHEEEEZEEE. We wrote some cute little numbers that especially the oakland peeps would be able to groove on. Cruz and Genevieve did an awesome tribute to Oakland, Anayvette and I did a tribute to lonjas (thats love handles for the spanishly challenged) and Anayvette and Genevieve did a piece about Gentrification . All went off TIGHT-like. The audience was so great and so appreciative! WE LOVE IlliNOIZE!!! We love Champaign-Urbana (also known as Chambana)!!! Pictures soon to come.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Spend the Night with Las Manas-Illinois
Pass the word and let us know of anything interesting to do in Chicago!
A Spoken Word Event Sponsored by CRC:
"Many Truths and Many Voices: Spend the night with Las Manas"
featuring
Cruz, Maya, Anayvette and Genevieve
Friday, April 21, 2006
CAFFE PARADISO
801 S. Lincoln
Champaign, Illinois
7 PM
"Las Manas", short for las hermanas or the sisters, is a diverse all
female spoken word performance collective and sister circle. The
members of Las Manas, which include Rosa Gonzalez, Cruz Grimaldo, Maya
Chinchilla, Gina Amato, Marisa Castuera, Sasha Dobos-Czarnocha,
Genevieve Debose, Susie Lundy and Anayvette Martinez, originally came
together in 2004 to cultivate a fierce feminine voice and sense of
sisterhood within the Bay Area spoken word scene. These Bay Area
funkdafied divas re-construct revolution on the daily through words,
actions,street-corners, classrooms and bedrooms.
The group believes
that there are "many truths and many voices."
Their performance style is characterized by a mixture of theater,
spoken word and dance centered around themes of sexuality, motherhood,
queerness and the relationship between first and third world women. Las
Manas was created out of the need for these women to find a supportive
space to nurture their creative spirits.
Individually these women are accomplished in their own right but as Las Manas they are able to take their creativity to new heights using sisterhood and storytelling to
inspire collaborative pieces that delves in pain, injustice, love,
family, community, and identity to conjure up a potent potion to fend
off the plague of self sabotage. Most recently they have performend at
the San Francisco Hip Hop theatre festival (2005), Hecho en Califas
Tour(2005), Teatro Luna and Galeria de La Raza, as well as cafes, schools,
taquerias and pupuserias all across da' Bay.
The event is paid for, in part, by the Student Cultural Programming Fee
and Student Affairs Program Coordinating Council. Other co-sponsors
include Gamma Phi Omega and Critical Research Collaborative.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
April 23 mass mobilization
SUN, APRIL 23, 2006 | BAY AREA MASS MOBILIZATION
12:00 M - Gather at Dolores Park (18th St. and Dolores St.)
2:00 PM - March to SF Federal Building (Golden Gate Ave.
and Polk St.)
Community organizations, labor, students, and faith-based
groups are
organizing the Bay Area's largest mobilization for
immigrant rights on
Sunday, April 23. Join us and bring your friends and
family!
Contact: Sheila Chung, Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition,
510-839-7598
****************************************************
Compañer@s:
The next event on the fight against fascist anti-immigrant
legislation
will be on Sunday April the 23rd.
This will be the first massive march in Northern California
on a Weekend.
There will be another huge march on May 1st, but many
people won't be
able to attend that one, so this is the chance for
everybody to show
their support for ALL IMMIGRANTS!
We hope to meet you all at the corner of 18th & Dolores St.
at noon.
Please make copies and distribute the included flyers.
TODAY WE MARCH, TOMORROW WE FIGHT!
FMLN-SF
****************************************************
POR FAVOR DISTRIBUIR A TODOS SUS CONTACTOS:
Compañeros:
El proximo evento en la lucha contra la legislacion
anti-inmigrante sera
una masiva marcha en San Francisco, el domingo 23 de abril.
Esta es la primera gran marcha en el Norte de California en
fin de
semana por lo que les pedimos que distribuyan esta
informacion lo mas
ampliamente posible.
Habra otra gran marcha pero sera dia lunes, 1ero de mayo, y
mucha gente
no esta dispuesta a dejar de trabajar ese dia, asi que esta
es la
oportunidad para que todos los que se han perdido las
acciones pasadas
participen en esta historica lucha por nuestros derechos.
Los esperamos a todos en la esquina de la calle 18 y
Dolores a las 12m.
Por favor impriman y distribuyan los volantes incluidos
(posteriormente
se enviaran volantes revisados)
HOY MARCHAMOS, MAÑANA LUCHAMOS!
12:00 M - Gather at Dolores Park (18th St. and Dolores St.)
2:00 PM - March to SF Federal Building (Golden Gate Ave.
and Polk St.)
Community organizations, labor, students, and faith-based
groups are
organizing the Bay Area's largest mobilization for
immigrant rights on
Sunday, April 23. Join us and bring your friends and
family!
Contact: Sheila Chung, Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition,
510-839-7598
****************************************************
Compañer@s:
The next event on the fight against fascist anti-immigrant
legislation
will be on Sunday April the 23rd.
This will be the first massive march in Northern California
on a Weekend.
There will be another huge march on May 1st, but many
people won't be
able to attend that one, so this is the chance for
everybody to show
their support for ALL IMMIGRANTS!
We hope to meet you all at the corner of 18th & Dolores St.
at noon.
Please make copies and distribute the included flyers.
TODAY WE MARCH, TOMORROW WE FIGHT!
FMLN-SF
****************************************************
POR FAVOR DISTRIBUIR A TODOS SUS CONTACTOS:
Compañeros:
El proximo evento en la lucha contra la legislacion
anti-inmigrante sera
una masiva marcha en San Francisco, el domingo 23 de abril.
Esta es la primera gran marcha en el Norte de California en
fin de
semana por lo que les pedimos que distribuyan esta
informacion lo mas
ampliamente posible.
Habra otra gran marcha pero sera dia lunes, 1ero de mayo, y
mucha gente
no esta dispuesta a dejar de trabajar ese dia, asi que esta
es la
oportunidad para que todos los que se han perdido las
acciones pasadas
participen en esta historica lucha por nuestros derechos.
Los esperamos a todos en la esquina de la calle 18 y
Dolores a las 12m.
Por favor impriman y distribuyan los volantes incluidos
(posteriormente
se enviaran volantes revisados)
HOY MARCHAMOS, MAÑANA LUCHAMOS!
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Documentary Storytelling-WORD
So its been a productive week. I finally recovered from my month long battle with pnemonia, taking a side trip in the middle there with the help of dayquil every four hours(probably the generic version...) to Puerto Rico for the LASA conference, which then took me weeks after trying to recover, but still one of the best experiences of my life...
And I finally entered the Brazil documentary into two film festivals (with the help of my filmmaking soul mate, Rinchen's hookups).
Tonight I went to a very inspiring documentary storytelling workshop with Adrian Belic and Aron Ranen
I took a final cut pro workshop with Aron about a year ago which not only gave me a jump start on my impressive (but still sometimes slow mo) editing skills, but also just inspired me to keep at it (you know this whole documentary passion) after a frustrating experience working on someone else's project who never let me touch the computer...booooo.
I wish I could take more classes with him cause he's a really great teacher with the right amount of nutty thrown in, but lately the classes have either been during times I am working or I have to decide between "uh rent, gas or documentary class?...hmmm." And believe me sometimes you just need to take a class that isnt a semester long and gives you some practical real world knowledge to recharge your batteries.
But luckily the stars came together and I made it out to one of lower cost workshops tonight. The combination of Aron's interview questions and steering of the class with his tried and true teaching tactics and Adrian's incredible passion, mind blowing globe trotting experiences combined with a dash of some of his real world success, reinforced some things I've learned on this path, gave me some new ideas to chew on, while giving me just the little push I need right now not to give up.
I'm still working on "The Last Word". It just needs some time and maybe some fresh eyes to get it to the point where I can say "its done". But I've been a little burnt out and am not the fastest editor in the world. I miss my German editor Daniel (he went back to Germany in January) which I was lucky enough to have throughout the beginning of the process and functioned on chocolate and cookies... but I think he went mad by the end in his dungeon cutting out "ums" and "breaths" to keep it under 30 mins... Too bad I didnt think to bring a copy tonight to get some input but I just couldnt pull that together since wednesdays are my most exhausting days...
I also miss the editing experience I had with Rinchen for the Brazil doc, where, you know, she just, completed me (*tear*)
And my co-producer/crime fighter/unit production manager "La La the Lakefish" with organizing skills the stuff dreams are made of, is just trying to graduate and working on some other projects...so maybe she doesnt love me any more...(*tear, tear*)
I also met two women who are doing their own documentary work, check it out:
Laura
Jennifer
It was really nice to meet other folks who are just as passionate about this as I am.
I need to learn how to make some cool websites and figure out the promotion side of this documentary mad scientist journey...oh and I need to rob a bank or at least pay off a credit card so I can max it out again and get a camera...one day.
And also I'm off next week to perform at University of Illinois...worked on the structure of our performance last night with the Las Manas ladies...more on that later...
And I finally entered the Brazil documentary into two film festivals (with the help of my filmmaking soul mate, Rinchen's hookups).
Tonight I went to a very inspiring documentary storytelling workshop with Adrian Belic and Aron Ranen
I took a final cut pro workshop with Aron about a year ago which not only gave me a jump start on my impressive (but still sometimes slow mo) editing skills, but also just inspired me to keep at it (you know this whole documentary passion) after a frustrating experience working on someone else's project who never let me touch the computer...booooo.
I wish I could take more classes with him cause he's a really great teacher with the right amount of nutty thrown in, but lately the classes have either been during times I am working or I have to decide between "uh rent, gas or documentary class?...hmmm." And believe me sometimes you just need to take a class that isnt a semester long and gives you some practical real world knowledge to recharge your batteries.
But luckily the stars came together and I made it out to one of lower cost workshops tonight. The combination of Aron's interview questions and steering of the class with his tried and true teaching tactics and Adrian's incredible passion, mind blowing globe trotting experiences combined with a dash of some of his real world success, reinforced some things I've learned on this path, gave me some new ideas to chew on, while giving me just the little push I need right now not to give up.
I'm still working on "The Last Word". It just needs some time and maybe some fresh eyes to get it to the point where I can say "its done". But I've been a little burnt out and am not the fastest editor in the world. I miss my German editor Daniel (he went back to Germany in January) which I was lucky enough to have throughout the beginning of the process and functioned on chocolate and cookies... but I think he went mad by the end in his dungeon cutting out "ums" and "breaths" to keep it under 30 mins... Too bad I didnt think to bring a copy tonight to get some input but I just couldnt pull that together since wednesdays are my most exhausting days...
I also miss the editing experience I had with Rinchen for the Brazil doc, where, you know, she just, completed me (*tear*)
And my co-producer/crime fighter/unit production manager "La La the Lakefish" with organizing skills the stuff dreams are made of, is just trying to graduate and working on some other projects...so maybe she doesnt love me any more...(*tear, tear*)
I also met two women who are doing their own documentary work, check it out:
Laura
Jennifer
It was really nice to meet other folks who are just as passionate about this as I am.
I need to learn how to make some cool websites and figure out the promotion side of this documentary mad scientist journey...oh and I need to rob a bank or at least pay off a credit card so I can max it out again and get a camera...one day.
And also I'm off next week to perform at University of Illinois...worked on the structure of our performance last night with the Las Manas ladies...more on that later...
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