LA Indymedia Hosts 10-Year Anniversary Party for the IMC

Saturday, November 14^th, Noon to 10:30 PM

TOW Art Space, 1450 E. 6^th Street, Los Angeles 90021

On Saturday, November 14^th, 2009, Los Angeles Indymedia will celebrate 10 years since the first Independent Media Center (IMC) opened its doors in Seattle to cover and support the demonstrations against the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO). LA IMC is hosting an all day event; open to the public, encouraging current and former IMCistas to come out. There will be workshops, food, music, and community groups sharing their knowledge.

In November of 1999 there was little awareness in the United States of the social, economic and environmental havoc caused by the WTO’s undemocratic global trade decisions. There was great awareness in other parts of the world, however, where indigenous groups such as the Zapatistas in Southern Mexico were being impacted greatly, and farmers and whole communities around the world were resisting.

These decisions, made by a handful of corporate elites, in step with Neo-Liberal policies, were designed to benefit only the top players, and were often adopted globally as official policy. 

Some of the people here who were starting to feel and understand the pinch were laborers and farmers.  So when the WTO made the announcement that they would hold their 1999 Summit in Seattle , Washington , these groups joined forces with the fledgling anti-corporate-globalization movement in this country to demonstrate and attempt to prevent the meetings.

From the onset, the idea was to begin, in a positive way, to move towards the ideal alternative world; a world in which decisions would be made horizontally by consensus, and in which people would move in small democratic affinity groups. This democratic urban-guerilla demonstration technique, borrowed from the Spanish Anarchists, would later confuse the hell out of the Seattle police who searched in vain for leaders.

A group of self-named “Media-Activists” in Seattle who were there to observe the organizing, feared that the corporate media would ignore or in a worst case scenario, demonize the protests, decided to form a media-collective called the Independent Media Center . This collective would cover the protests, and utilize the Internet in a new way. They would use software developed by Community Activist Technology (CAT) out of Australia that would allow everyone to participate in media creation, post their articles and comments, and publish their video and audio. Media production and consumption was no longer a one way corporate highway. It was the first stake in the heart of the capitalist domination of the media system!

This would be done collectively and in solidarity with the protestors, using the same principles of organizing; a modern fusion of classic Anarchism, mixed with Indigenous Zapatismo and principles of Democratic-Socialism.

Of course all of this took months of training and organizing. A call went out for volunteers, donations were sought, a storefront was rented and filled with computer and video-editing equipment, and when the WTO protests began in November 1999, the Seattle IMC opened its doors to the world. The corporate press had no idea what just hit them!

The 1999 WTO protests, known as the “Battle of Seattle”, marked the beginning of the U.S involvement in the Anti-Globalization movement; and Indymedia is what linked this country with the global movement. This was an exciting moment for people who had been searching for just this kind of tool….and the possibilities were tremendous!

IMC collectives almost immediately began forming all over the world. In Los Angeles, A group of Media-Activists who had already been meeting, some of whom had been in Seattle, started organizing to create an IMC to cover the 2000 DNC which would be held in Los Angeles.

Starting with a small group, ranging from six to ten people, the weekly organizing meetings grew until the event itself, where there were 1800 volunteers in the streets wearing LA IMC badges. The entire 6^th Floor of a building near the Staple Center where the DNC would be meeting in LA was rented. The affinity groups, along with the Web group (later dubbed “Webitorial”), included Video, Audio (pirate radio), and Photography. The “Los Angeles Free Press” provided a daily print newspaper which was distributed on the streets, and “Democracy Now” had a space to broadcast on Pacifica during the week. Since digital photography was not yet in the offing, for security purposes there was a bicycle affinity group designated to take the film outside of the area every night to be processed.  Almost every detail was covered. A water filter company provided good water to the collective and local farmers brought in produce.

The space was a 24 hour hub of activity, and a life changing experience for many of the people involved.

10 years later, Indymedia remains viable and relevant. Hundreds of IMC collectives have begun around the world; some more successful than others, all under the banner of the original Mission to “Use Media Production and Distribution as a Tool for Promoting Social and Economic Justice.”  Some Indymedias have adjusted to the needs of their communities, and some have come under serious scrutiny in places where outright repression of independent media sources is common. We’ve had both deaths in our ranks, and great successes; and in many cases we’ve served as a link between communities to build and to create movement.

The LA Inymedia collective is making a call-out to the community and to all other Indymedia collectives to come together on November 14^th, 2009, at the TOW space near Downtown LA, located at 1450 E. 6^th St., L.A., 90021, to commemorate, to share, and to discuss ways to move forward.

There will be workshops, lectures, film, food and live music, from noon until……

There will also be an Indymedia discussion circle. This space, in which community members are invited to participate, will be a place for members of different Indymedias to share ideas, compare notes about how their various collectives have evolved, ways of reaching out to the community, technologies, etc….

Contact for Tabling is: - imcbdayceleb@gmail.com  

In Solidarity,

Anna Kunkin: anna1baila@yahoo.com

The LA Indymedia Collective

KPFK PEACE AWARDS & 5Oth ANNIVERSARY

A CONCERT CELEBRATION!

A BENEFIT FOR KPFK RADIO 90.7 FM LOS ANGELES

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9th

7:00 PM (Concert & Awards)

John Anson Ford Amphitheatre

2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E., Los Angeles 90068-2752

KPFK is proud to honor community members and activists who are working and achieving for the cause of peace, in the areas of community activism, education, art and culture and justice work. Friday, October 9th is John Lennon’s birthday, and we will imagine together the world that is possible through the peace actions of today. Invited to be honored are UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, vocalist KB Solomon, KPFK’s Blase Bonpane, Hunger Action L.A.’s Frank Tamborello, Jackson Browne presenting to John Trudell, IDEPSCA founder Raul Anorve, and the Arlington West Beach Project Volunteers with members from the Veterans for Peace Los Angeles.

Fundraiser for KFPK Radio 90.7 FM Los Angeles (98.7 FM Santa Barbara)

Pacifica Radio for All of Southern California

Scheduled to perform in concert will be Ziggy Marley, Poncho Sanchez and surprise guests, Brazilian jazz singer Luciana Souza, with Larry Klein and friends, jazz bassist Christian McBride (Acoustic Bassist of the Year) and The Intercultural L.A. Samba Kids. Special video greeting from artist Yoko Ono on the occasion of John Lennon’s birthday, to be presented by KPFK’s Jon Wiener. The evening will be emceed by Richard Montoya of Culture Clash.

ARTISTS AND GUESTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE

5:30 P.M. (V.I.P. Reception)

7:00 P.M. (Concert & Awards)

VENUE:
John Anson Ford Amphitheatre

2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E.

Los Angeles, CA 90068-2752

(323) 461-3673

http://www.fordtheatres.org/en/events/091009_2000.asp

For VIP tickets please call the Ford Box Office at (323) 461-3673

To reserve all other tickets online click [ here ]

KPFK PEACE AWARDS & 5Oth ANNIVERSARY

A CONCERT CELEBRATION!

A BENEFIT FOR KPFK RADIO 90.7 FM LOS ANGELES

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9th

7:00 PM (Concert & Awards)

John Anson Ford Amphitheatre

2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E., Los Angeles 90068-2752

KPFK is proud to honor community members and activists who are working and achieving for the cause of peace, in the areas of community activism, education, art and culture and justice work. Friday, October 9th is John Lennon’s birthday, and we will imagine together the world that is possible through the peace actions of today. Invited to be honored are UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, vocalist KB Solomon, KPFK’s Blase Bonpane, Hunger Action L.A.’s Frank Tamborello, Jackson Browne presenting to John Trudell, IDEPSCA founder Raul Anorve, and the Arlington West Beach Project Volunteers with members from the Veterans for Peace Los Angeles.

Fundraiser for KFPK Radio 90.7 FM Los Angeles (98.7 FM Santa Barbara)

Pacifica Radio for All of Southern California

Scheduled to perform in concert will be Ziggy Marley, Poncho Sanchez and surprise guests, Brazilian jazz singer Luciana Souza, with Larry Klein and friends, jazz bassist Christian McBride (Acoustic Bassist of the Year) and The Intercultural L.A. Samba Kids. Special video greeting from artist Yoko Ono on the occasion of John Lennon’s birthday, to be presented by KPFK’s Jon Wiener. The evening will be emceed by Richard Montoya of Culture Clash.

ARTISTS AND GUESTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE

5:30 P.M. (V.I.P. Reception)

7:00 P.M. (Concert & Awards)

VENUE:
John Anson Ford Amphitheatre

2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E.

Los Angeles, CA 90068-2752

(323) 461-3673

http://www.fordtheatres.org/en/events/091009_2000.asp

For VIP tickets please call the Ford Box Office at (323) 461-3673

To reserve all other tickets online click [ here ]

Anti-War Protest in Los Angeles
U.S./NATO Out of Afghanistan!
Money for Jobs, Health Care, Housing & Education:
Not War & Occupation!

IMAGINACTION

Is Pleased to Present New & Exciting ARABIC Classes with

 Vivien Sansour

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12^TH – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9^TH

JOIN VIVIEN SANSOUR FOR AN INTENSIVE CONVERSATIONAL ARABIC COURSE  

Location:

788 E. Sierra Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre 91024

                                                Mondays: 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Fees: $300

Dear Friends, 

A HELPING HAND: Teenagers Brought Together by Pain of War

http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_13432318

By LAITH AGHA
Herald Staff Writer

Updated: 09/28/2009 11:55:10 AM PDT

Salee Allawi and her father, Hussein Feras, visit the Monterey Bay.

The two girls had never met before last weekend, but they already had a special connection.

One is a 12-year-old Iraqi who lost her legs during an American airstrike. The other is a 15-year-old Carmel High School student.

Three years ago, Salee Allawi was playing outside her home in Fallujah, Iraq, when a missile hit. The explosion killed her brother and injured her legs so seriously that they were amputated below the knees.

On Sept. 19, Salee traveled with her father, Hussein Feras, from Los Angeles — where she is spending the month to break in her new prosthetic legs — to the Peninsula to meet Lexi Mooneyham, a Carmel Valley girl who raised $600 to help pay for Salee’s travels to the United States.

"Meeting her was like a dream come true," Lexi said. "It was reassuring to know that all those efforts I was doing were going to a great cause, that I helped someone and to see the effects of that."

The money Lexi raised was a small portion of the $15,000 to $20,000 it costs to bring an Iraqi child to the United States for medical treatment. But to the directors of No More Victims, the Los Angeles-based organization for which Lexi raises money to help Iraqi children, her contribution extends beyond the amount she raised.

"We’re really grateful to Lexi for helping with Salee’s experience," said Cole Miller, the founder of No More Victims. "She was so proactive. She put these (fundraising) ideas together herself, she implemented them & provided encouragement."

No More Victims, which focuses on helping children injured in war, has brought 10 Iraqi children to the United States to be fitted with prosthetics to replace limbs they lost as a result of American military action.

Miller said that because of Lexi’s efforts, he felt she should meet the Iraqi girl she helped — and that Salee should meet the person who helped her. So he and his wife, Anne Miller, who helps run the organization, drove Salee and her father up the coast.

Salee and Lexi only had about 24 hours with each other, but they seemed to make the most of their time. They bonded despite a language barrier — Salee speaks Arabic, but very little English.

Lexi and her friend, Lindsay, took Salee to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where Salee saw an underwater world very different from the war-torn desert she calls home.

"Life is so beautiful here," Salee said through a translator. "When I heard the sound of the ocean, it reminded me of the sound of my friends laughing when we played."

Salee said she misses her friends in Baghdad, where she grew up before her family fled the violence in Iraq’s capital and moved to the Fallujah region. She joked that she wished to make young friends in California because she has been spending all her time with "old people."

She made a friend last weekend, in a meeting that was six months in the making.

In March, Lexi was perusing the Internet, searching for "an organization to help with something in the big picture," she said.

"After reading some of the kids’ stories, I was totally hooked," she said.

She contacted No More Victims and was told about a girl who needed new prosthetic legs because she had outgrown the ones she received as a 10-year-old. Lexi recruited three of her friends to help sell friendship bracelets for $2 each at school and at Sunshine Sports in Monterey.

Lexi "has been so dedicated to her work," Anne Miller said. "She amazes me with her maturity, her dedication and her sense of responsibility."

Speaking through a translator, Feras told the story of the day Salee lost both legs, his other daughter lost one leg and his 12-year-old son was killed.

Feras said he was drinking tea and talking about the war with friends when they heard explosions from airstrikes in the distance. He called to his children to come in the house because he was worried.

His children ignored their father’s plea, saying to him, "We are used to hearing these explosions."

Moments later, Feras’ family was changed forever.

"Suddenly, there is a big explosion (near) where we are sitting," he said.

Feras stumbled out of the smoke-filled room, covered in blood, to look for his children.

He saw Salee on the ground after she had been thrown about 15 feet by the explosion. Then he spotted his younger daughter, Rusul, who was 4 years old at the time. Her right foot and ankle had been mangled. They were later amputated.

Having spotted his two daughters, Feras turned his attention to finding his son, Akram. All he found was a piece of Akram’s shirt.

With no ambulance service available, Feras and some relatives drove Salee to the hospital. Salee had lost a lot of blood, and the hospital was short of her blood type, AB. Feras rushed out to the street, he said, waving down cars to ask the drivers if they were AB and, if so, if they would donate their blood for his daughter.

A message was sent to a local mosque about Salee’s situation, and from there word spread through the neighborhood. Within a few hours, 23 people had shown up, each ready to donate a pint of AB blood.

"We only needed 12" pints, Feras said.

Feras is grateful for the people who drove to the hospital late at night in a city rocked by violence to give blood to a little girl they did not even know. He expressed a similar feeling of gratitude for the people of No More Victims, an organization Feras found out about through word of mouth.

"I couldn’t believe this organization came to help," Feras said. "I couldn’t believe they came all this way to help my daughter."

It is not lost on Feras that the people helping his daughter come from the same country as the people who hurt her.

"We blame the American government for what they did, but we receive help from the people," Feras said. "Americans are really friendly, they are really helpful … We are the same people. It doesn’t matter if we are Americans or Iraqis."

Lexi recognizes that it does matter, at least in one regard. Living on the Central Coast, she likely will never worry about facing the violence that devastated Salee and her family.

Salee "was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Lexi said. "Living here in America, and especially in Carmel Valley, I will never have to worry about a bomb getting dropped on my house."

Lexi said she will continue to raise money for No More Victims, expanding her efforts to help other Iraqi children who have been injured and to raise awareness of the war’s impacts.

"I feel that as an American, it is the right thing to do," she said.

Laith Agha can be reached at 646-4358 or lagha@montereyherald.com.

www.nomorevictims.org

Dear Friends,

THE REFLECTING POOL Netflix Synopsis
Successful Russian-American journalist Alex Prokop (Jarek Kupsc) and Paul Cooper (Joseph Culp), whose daughter died in the Sept. 11 attacks, team up to investigate the U.S. government’s possible involvement in the destruction of the Twin Towers. As the duo digs deeper, the FBI puts pressure on Alex’s editor (Lisa Black) to reveal sources, while the magazine’s corporate owners threaten to kill the story in this thought-provoking thriller.

Thank you for your support,
THE REFLECTING POOL TEAM

Joseph Culp - jc@josephculp.com

www.reflectingpoolfilm.com

The National Lawyers Guild International Committee Presents

THE RIGHT TO PEACE IN KOREA
    How the State of War in Korea Violates Fundamental Human Rights

With Human Rights Attorney & Korea Peace Activist

Eric Sirotkin

Tuesday, September 29th, 7:00-9:00 PM

KIWA CULTURAL CENTER - 3471 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles

Eric Sirotkin, Chair of the National Lawyers Guild Korean Peace Project, has
spent a lifetime helping to bridge the gap between nations, engaging in
international peacemaking work from South Africa to Korea. He has travelled
throughout both North and South Korea,  is engaged in work with the South
Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and helped co-found the National
Campaign to End the Korean War.  He has just returned from Washington DC
meetings with the State Department and Congress on creating creative
solutions for peace in Korea.
Eric¹s multimedia presentations draw upon his work as a film producer and
photographer and helps inspire people to find a path to peace.

Dear Friends,

Please consider coming to this event at our house this Saturday evening, even if you don’t live in Culver City.

Emily and her friends are going to put on a musical concert that I think you will enjoy very much.

Frank

You Are Invited to a Special Musical Evening

In Support of

Karlo Silbiger

For Culver City School Board

Saturday, September 26^th - 7:00 PM

at

 Frank, Jane & Emily Dorrel’s

3967 Shedd Terrace, Culver City 90232

Featuring

Brandon Blum, Christopher Clark, Emily Dorrel, Lizzy Ferreira, Amy King, Kacey Mayeda,

Kevin Mitchell, Samuel Petersen, Zoe Petersen Elena Silva & Shawne West

  These Kids Are in AVPA

 (Culver City High School’s Academy of Visual & Performing Arts)

or

dee-Lightful Productions

(Kids Musical Theatre in Culver City)

Drinks, Desserts & Appetizers Will Be Served

Suggested Donation ~ $5 to $10 at the Door

RSVP to: 310-838-8131 or: fdorrel@sbcglobal.net or: fdorrel@addictedtowar.com

One of Karlo’s main platforms is to save the AVPA at Culver City High School.  His father, Gary Silbiger, is on the Culver City Council and was the Mayor. His mother, Barbara Honig, spent many years as a member of the Culver City School Board. The Silbiger’s are our good friends.

Jane, Emily and I support Karlo for Culver City School Board - BigTime!

Karlo Silbiger For Culver City School Board

www.karlo4schoolboard.com

 AVPA:  www.avpa.org 

dee-Lightful Productions:  www.dee-lightful.org