Mois : novembre 2008

Linked with Rosie’s place, and with Why are people homeless. Added Nov. 16, 2008: and linked with Poor People’s United Fund PPUF. Continuer la lecture de « Kip Tiernan – USA »

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005. Continuer la lecture de « Brigitta Renyaan Sr. – Indonesia »

Linked with Where was the Color in Seattle?

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Elizabeth « Betita » Martínez (born 1925) is a Chicana feminist and a long-time community organizer, activist,  author, and educator. She has written numerous books and articles on different topics relating to social movements in the Americas. Her best-known work is the bilingual 500 years of Chicano History in Pictures, which later formed the basis for the educational video Viva la Causa! 500 Years of Chicano History. Her work has been hailed by Angela Y. Davis as comprising one of the most important living histories of progressive activism in the contemporary era … [Martínez is] inimitable … irrepressible … indefatigable … (full text).

Her Bio also on South End Press.

… In 1997 she co-founded and currently directs the Institute for MultiRacial Justice in San Francisco, a resource center that aims « aims to strengthen the struggle against white supremacy by serving as a resource center to help build alliances among peoples of color and combat divisions”. Most recently, Betita was named as one of the 1000 women from 150 countries (40 from the U.S.) who have been nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. (full text).

She says: « If being a writer implies sensitivity to the complex reality of human existence, then how can one not seek to end the conditions that suffocate all but a tiny number of those who walk this earth? »(1000peacewomen).

Listen the videos: Elizabeth Betita Martinez, 2.59 min, Sept. 24, 2008; and: Elizabeth Betita Martinez’ Message About Efren Paredes, Jr., 1.33 min, April 23, 2008.

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Elizabeth Betita Martinez – USA

She works for War Times-Tiempo de Guerras; for the Institute for Multi-Racial Justice (named on abc otv online); and for the Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement.

Towards Social Justice: Elizabeth ‘Betita’ Martinez and the Institute for MultiRacial Justice, by Chris Crass, December 24, 2004.

Find her and her publications on allBookstore; on amazon; on wikipedia /selected publications; on Google Video-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

Betita Martinez responded to one of my questions at her Detroit book signing by saying, ¡Vive la mujer radical! (Long live the radical women!). I need to summon her unwavering purpose to keep my energy up! (on a book without cover).

Help for Elizabeth (Betita) Martinez, 10th March 2005.

If ever there has been a chapter of the U.S. left with deep cultural roots in every sense, it is the movimiento of New Mexico. The roots include social relations, economic traditions, political forms, artistic expression, and language—everything that defines peoplehood. They are Native American, Spanish, and Mexican mestizo (mixed) and they go back centuries. Migrant workers of the last 150 years have played a crucial part, but “immigrant” does not describe the totality of those roots … (full text A View from New Mexico: Recollections of the Movimiento Left, by Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez).

… Morales got the idea for the film while interviewing Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez. Perhaps best known for her book “500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures,” Martinez already was politically active in the early 1950s when her daughter was born … (full text, 23 Oct 2008).

… Second, the vital critique of white privilege in the Global Justice movement that was initiated by Elizabeth Betita Martinez in her essay « Where Was the Color in Seattle ».  That essay and others that followed it made race and power burning issues throughout the movement … (full text).

… She’s perhaps best known as the author of the classic 500 Years of Chicano History which remains a profusely illustrated testament to our people’s storied resistance throughout centuries of oppression. Betita, as she prefers to be called, was in town last week, however, to speak to students and people in the community about her latest book 500 Years of Chicana Women’s History. (Rutgers Press).

Starting where her classic text left off, Betita’s newest book is a bilingual historical exhumation of the long obscured stories of Chicana women in resistance. All too often faced with a male dominated triumvirate chorizo-fest image of the Chicano Movement, Betita’s book is a breath of fresh air and further more, an absolute necessity! … (full text).

Continuer la lecture de « Elizabeth Betita Martinez – USA »

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Maria Varela has been a community organizer for nearly 40 years, beginning in 1962 when she joined the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee. Assigned to Selma Alabama, Varela’s job was to teach literacy. Instead she found herself a student of the rich African American culture of the black belt south. Dissatisfied with existing literacy materials, Varela began to create filmstrips and photo books that proved useful both in training community leaders and teaching literacy … (full text).

She says: « Breakthroughs are possible only if we can gather the courage to risk stepping outside our colonized worldviews » … and: … She argues: »Collaboration can provide the opportunity for the kind of cross-cultural communication that is necessary to address social, economic, and environmental problems … But unless the issues of race, class, and culture are faced head-on, I question whether collaboration can make a dent in deeply held ethnocentrism, rooted in still deeper historical legacies. Breakthroughs are possible, but only if we can gather the courage to risk stepping outside our colonized worldviews » … (both on 1000peacewomen).

Her profile on LinkedIn.

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Maria Varela – USA

She works for Rural Resources Group.

… TOPPENISH – The Yakima Valley’s economic future does not rest on the shoulders of farmers, ranchers or tourism developers. National rural resources expert Maria Varela says it rests, instead, in each Valley community’s ability to teach a diverse population the ABCs of economic literacy. The lessons are worthy of people of all ages and cultures, and could start being taught as early as middle school or junior high, she adds. Varela’s message was directed to the graduating class of Heritage College last weekend. In an interview, Varela says she gained as much from the graduates as they might have gained from her … (full text).

The book: Rural Environmental Planning for Sustainable Communities, by Frederic Sargent, Paul Lusk, Jose Rivera, Maria Varela.

Find her and her publications on amazon; on Google Book-search; on Google Group-search.

The Google download-books:

Women of Color, By Lillian Comas-Díaz, Beverly Greene, 1994, 518 pages;

Encyclopedia of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, By Matt S. Meier, Margo Gutiérrez, 2000, 293 pages.

… As a community organizer, Maria Varela specializes in small miracles. « What I do is to unlock people’s hopes and abilities, » she says of her part in the work of establishing a series of successful self-help ventures that have improved the lives of the people of her community without compromising their cherished rural traditions. While Varela prefers to go about her business without fanfare, her efforts have not gone unnoticed. Last summer she was honored with a prestigious MacArthur Foundation fellowship, a so-called genius award with a $305,000 no-strings-attached stipend that left her flustered and—no use denying it—thrilled. « I was stunned that they chose a community organizer, because community work is not often recognized » … (full text).

She writes: Definitions by Maria Varela:

• 5. nikojunkie – One smitten with, obsessed by, in love with Nikolai Fraiture, bass player and god-like beauty, of the Strokes. NOT me…  Jun 23, 2006
• 4. Paul Banks – Lead singer of dirge band Interpol. Blonde, blue-eyed and beauty marked this man is a Slavic-looking stunner. His v…  Nov 15, 2003
• 3. Julian Casablancas – Incredibly gifted Puerto-Rican looking singer and songwriter for NY band the Strokes. His dad was a creep; he’s not….  Nov 15, 2003
• 2. the libertines – Ostensibly an English band comprised of four members but only two are ever seen: look up Carlos Barat and Pete Dohert…  Nov 15, 2003
• 1. nikolai fraiture – Franco-Russian soft-haired and soft-spoken bassist for the Strokes. Often found in the background of photos and obsc

… (on Urban Dictionary).

Continuer la lecture de « Maria Varela – USA »

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

Barbara Smith is an author, activist, and independent scholar who has played a groundbreaking role in opening up a national dialogue about the intersections of race, class, sexuality, and gender. She was among the first to define an African American women’s literary tradition and to build black women’s studies and black feminism in the United States. She has been politically active in many movements for social justice since the 1960s. Currently, her focus is on neighborhood and community organizing, especially regarding youth issues, in the poor black community where she resides. She says: « We are not hated and abused because there is something wrong with us, but our treatment is absolutely prescribed by the racist, misogynistic system under which we live ».  (on 1000peacewomen).

Barbara Smith (born December 16, 1946) in Cleveland is an American, lesbian feminist who has played a significant role in building and sustaining Black Feminism in the United States. Since the early 1970s she has been active as an innovative critic, teacher, lecturer, author, independent scholar, and publisher of Black feminist thought. She has also taught at numerous colleges and universities over the last twenty five years. Smith’s essays, reviews, articles, short stories and literary criticism have appeared in a range of publications, including The New York Times Book Review, The Black Scholar, Ms., Gay Community News, The Guardian, The Village Voice, Conditions (magazine) and The Nation. Barbara has a twin sister, Beverly Smith, who is also a lesbian feminist activist and writer … (full text).

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Barbara Smith – USA

She works for:

• Albany’s Stand for Peace Antiracism Committee SPARC,(no own website, but named on RJ911 /racial justice, on Metroland online, on ColorLines, on all4all.org, and on University at Albany /Social Justice Activism);
• for the Coalition for Accountable Police and Government (no own website, but the key words of this titles are somewhat named on: scroll down and see under links /Not a solution … );
• and for Justice for Diallo Committee (no own site, but named on DemocracyNow, on workers.org, on Times Union, on PBS.org, on NY Times, and on CNN.com).

History and activism.

Her Bio on NOW.org.

She is one of the 37 Women Named Bunting Institute Fellows for ’96-97.

She is also a Betterworld Heroe, see Her Bio.

Some of the Google download-books she authored or co-authored:

• Home Girls, By Barbara Smith, 2000, 364 pages;
• All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us are Brave, By Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell-Scott, Barbara Smith, 1982, 401 pages;
• The Truth That Never Hurts, By Barbara Smith, 2000, 240 pages;
• Leadership by Example, By Janet Corrigan, Jill Eden, Barbara M. Smith, 2003, 183 pages;
• The Reader’s Companion to U. S. Women’s History, By Mankiller, Wilma P. Mankiller, edited by … and Barbara Smith, 1999, 720 pages.

She says also: « What I really feel is radical is trying to make coalitions with people who are different from you. I feel it is radical to be dealing with race and sex and class and sexual identity all at one time. I think that is really radical because it has never been done before ». (on Betterworld Heroes).

Find her and her publications on wikipedia /writings; on inauthor Google-search; and on Google Blog-search.

Many persons have the same name, disambiguations are often uncertain.

Continuer la lecture de « Barbara Smith – USA »