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What you'll be finding here is mostly a number of links to sites I came across via searches based on something like "why are there so few people of color..." & variants thereof. Simultaneously, I was seeking to locate links that would confirm (mainly to myself) that there is a multitude of folk out there actively involved, and passionately so, on a variety of issues, and these are people of all flavors & ages. This is put into some kind of perspective when one realizes that the numbers of us that have either already become commited to some course of activism, or find themselves heading in that direction are dwarfed by the numbers of others who, for whatever reason-- if there happens to be reason involved at all--, find themselves comfortably at ease with the pronouncements made by the administration & the intent of their decisions and actions, and yesssss, dwarfed may be an understatement. First up, under the heading of Doing the Right Thing: from The Nation: Barbara Ehrenreich, When Government Gets Mean: Confessions of a Recovering Statist; then Manning Marable, Beyond Color-Blindness and also, by happy accident, this from John Nichols, The Lollapalooza of the Left; (more on the Rolling Thunder Down Home Democracy Tour) from globalroots.net, Race in the Anti-Globalization Movement whew... now, I know that amongst these links, there are some meaty ones, with plenty to digest. My suggestion is print out the longer ones and take 'em with you on your way to work or school, read 'em at lunch, share them with your friends and family, talk about it at the dinner table or maybe e-mail the link to that friend of yours in Numbnuts, North Dakota and spread the word, create a dialog, foment curiosity & willingess to seek out more information. Now as we've begun examining the issue of who's involved and in what numbers, we begin to see that the tendency that infests our culture in so many ways is also present in the sphere of political activism, that tendency being some variation of racist/sexist/homophobic/discriminatory behaviors. More links: The Greensboro Justice Fund, where we discovered these examples of commitment by folks of many flavors; Community Coalition for Environmental Justice: "Let Us Not Be Suckers For Anybody.", essay on racial profiling from the Village Voice; from Seattle's Community Action Network, Confronting Global Capitalism and Shutting Down White Supremacy: Thoughts on Movement Building and Challenging Racism; You'll notice little here from yourstruly in an attempt to steer a course thru these rocky shoals, it's all I can do to keep my own little boat afloat at times; having grown up on the periphery of the majority culture, & being sort of an "in-betweener" myself, things can get even more complicated: On Defining My Own Identity from multiracial.com; Who takes the blame for lack of diversity?; Good ol' Boys & Good ol' Girls; The Great Environmentalists: Cultural Stereotypes and the Environmental Movement Poor Magazine/PNN. Some of us remain concerned for those to come after us, whether we happen to be a parent or not (I am not, but I do have children in my life, nieces & nephews, the children of friends). It is vital that effort be made to increase awareness of the possibilites of activisism, questioning anybody's party line, providing alternatives to the usual outlets for news, dis-information & government speak. Where to start? Well, this is just one place, but I am sure there are/will be more. (that link from Wiretap, youth in pursuit of the dirty truth) okayokayokay, you are all tired of my little civics lesson aren't you? just a couple more things to mention. Remember the Civil Rights protests? Civil Rights, now what exactly are those? Rights that are guaranteed to ALL of us, regardless of race, creed, color, sexual persuasion, etc. so, for you, a link to another resource: civilrights.org y a la ultima cosa aqui, a timeline, simple, nothing fancy: took a long time before 250,000 marched on Washington. that's it, boyz & gurlz, i'm pooped, and still have chores to finish. any complaints, advice, or corrections? Please send 'em my way  please visit our deepblog & l'alliance site as well and another little endeavor we're proud to take part in, American Samizdat |