I had to find out what Adrienne Maree Brown had to say about #occupywallstreet, so I went to her blog. And yep, she wrote something amazing. Adrienne is an awesome writer, and this piece has a powerful rhythm. #ows
http://adriennemareebrown.net/blog/?p=2052
I just got home from the Take Back the American Dream Conference, and I have been pondering the role of meta-brands as vehicles of change for our movement, but specifically for young people and people of color.
I have been thinking about the examples laid out by Van at the conference, assessing our conversation about #occupywallstreet, analyzing our historical struggles in America, and even trying to refresh my memory about international movements for change.
I know that during the most recent progressive meta-movement that Van laid out, the 2008 Obama campaign, young people and people of color were often the ground troops and swing votes that put the campaign over the top, but will likely be the last groups to truly benefit from the fruits of this struggle. In fact, I was recently told by a White House staffer that no one in DC fears youth orgs or the black grassroots, even though the turnout numbers in 2008 indicate that these important constituencies are indomitable forces. Not surprisingly, these groups suffer from breathtaking unemployment and unprecedented debt.
Our democracy is imperfect. No matter how hard the founding fathers fought, scraped and debated to perfect the political process, they still left room for future generations to continue to improve our legislative undertakings. Despite their contradictions and weak points, they understood that American citizens’ unalienable rights needed to be defended by consistently upgrading and improving our democracy. And while the ideological differences ran as deep, if not deeper, than they do today, the framers of the Constitution understood that the right of an individual to participate should be unimpeded and without obstacles.
Today, thanks to this imperfect process, groups of citizens who were once permanently relegated as second class citizens, have a voice in our democracy.
Read more after the jump!
… Continue Reading
Cherub, Seven Roxx and Astro drop their new mixtape on Sept 3rd…you can get it here a couple days early!! I like this one!!
Read the entire story at GlobalGrind:
This past weekend a flash mob made up of dozens of Black youth attacked attendees leaving the Wisconsin State Fair. The violence was random, the punishment was swift and many of the victims were white.
While no one was hurt badly, the incident made national headlines during a busy news weekend that was dominated by the S&P downgrade of the federal government.
Locally, the event incited elected officials and conservative talking heads to rekindle old stereotypes and fan the flames of racial discontent that often permeate segregated communities.
But while the alarming homicide rates in places like Chicago and Philadelphia may shock us and the random acts of mob thuggery like the ones experienced last weekend may scare us, there are also thousands of youth out there trying to change the conversation using creativity, music, art and the Internet.
Read the rest at GlobalGrind.
![[VIDEO] Chicago’s Son: Doc Franchise Speaks](http://99problems.org/wp-content/plugins/simple-post-thumbnails/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/thumbnails/22219.jpeg&w=300&h=100&zc=1&ft=jpg)
