01 May 2009

Rouge Forum Update--May Day--from Rich

Dear Friends,

It is nearly Mayday, the international workers holiday. Since the massive 2006 immigrant rights marches, what amounted to the biggest general strike in the last seventy years, Mayday is finally restored to the US, where it began. For far too many years, it was replaced by Law Day (imposed in the fifties), a day when people were supposed to celebrate the tyranny of property laws.

Now around the US students, kids, workers, educators, community people, and organizers will hit the streets and rally again. School workers can support the kids who are likely to take the lead in walking out of school, joining the many scheduled marches in the struggle for equality and social justice. And we can join them.

The Rouge Forum has celebrated Mayday for the last eleven years. Here is our traditional flyer http://www.richgibson.com/mayday.htm

And an update for our current context
http://www.richgibson.com/rouge_forum/CutbackFightbackFlyer.pdf

And a link to the music and lyrics of the Internationale http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/int/int.html

Hope to see you at the Rouge Forum Conference in Ypsilanti, May 15 to 17. www.rougeforum.org

best
r
Life travels upward in spirals.
Those who take pains to search the shadows
of the past below us, then, can better judge the
tiny arc up which they climb,
more surely guess the dim
curves of the future above them.

5 comments:

adam said...

Reminded of an essay I wrote for our school newspaper last year:

http://media.www.theconcordonline.com/media/storage/paper1089/news/2008/04/16/Opinion/A.World.Of.Fun.On.May.Day-3341066.shtml

Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com said...

Observe Law Day by enforcing these statutes:

United States Code, Title 18, 2441: War Crimes
United States Code, Title 18, 2340A: Torture

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/may-1-2009-law-day/

bryan reinholdt said...

not may day related but....

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/65899/examination-is-tantamount-to-a-nightmare.html

bryan reinholdt said...

Rich,

thanks once again for your latest update. i await with much anticipation for the gathering may 15-17.

interestingly, i will be a delegate with my local union to the nea convention. with the little time i have to research a critique of the nea, are there bodies of research/criticisms that can guide my travels? reading through the proposed amendments to the nea standing rules and bylaws up for vote during the 2009 RA there are some opportunities for questioning/dissent. specifically, they classify the following:

standing rule amendment #1 and 2 for submission of new "business items."

s.r. amendment #3 requires a majority vote for any new business items to be considered by noon on the second day.

s.r. amendment #4 covers the publishing of the amendments in NEA Today

s.r. amendment #5 restricts NEA officials running for office from using monies collected from dues.

s.r. amendment #6 and 7 more financial information publization within and outside of the RA

s.r. amendment #8 calls for the voting rights of ex-offico delegates to be elminiated.

s.r. amendment #9 reduces election advertisements within the election facility

s.r. amendment #10 defines 'campaign materials'

BYLAWS:

bylaw amendment #1 NEA taking officially taking a position of 'no position' on abortion

bylaw amendment #2 prohibit NEA offical from endorsing a candidate for US President

bylaw amendment #3 changes how the NEA president is elected

bylaw amendment #4 addresses how vancancies are filled within NEA

bylaw amendment #5 challengin the election of a member of the executive committee.

it all sounds uneventful, so i'm looking for ways to make the convention "eventful"

bryan
sreinh01@bellarmine.edu

adam said...

be sure to talk to rich this weekend at the conference, bryan. he'll help. in fact, he may be there.