The Uhuru 3, Black People’s March on Washington, and St. Pete politics.
New interview with Akile Anai of the African People’s Socialist Party, from Case Study QB. I appreciate Case’s focus on strategy, and his ongoing work to connect community organizing with electoral politics.
Topics covered include the Uhuru 3 case’s First Amendment implications, the November 4th Black People’s March on Washington, and Anai’s run for public office in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The profanity-inducing U.S. healthcare system continues to be a cash cow for corporations and investors at the expense of delivering quality healthcare for everyone. The latest episode of On Strike! looks at an oft-dangled solution that’s always seemingly just out of reach.
“So, what happened to Medicare for All? Three years since Bernie dropped out and six years since AOC was elected, Americans are sicker than ever, yet these self-described progressives have gone silent on Medicare for All. They have not once brought Medicare for All for a vote, called for a single mass rally, or used the balance of power they held in the house for 2 years to fight for it.
“Meanwhile, last year in California, the Medicare for All movement in CA led by National Nurses United was killed by Democrats and business unionist leaders.
“What lessons can we draw from these betrayals? How have working people in other countries won their public healthcare systems? What is the strategy to win Medicare for All in the United States?”
Dilemmas of Humanity is hosting its third international conference this week. It’s livestreaming daily. The group says that it will post detailed accounts with analysis and synthesis later.
Workers Strike Back’s new show is fucking excellent.
From the sharp writing and clear analysis to the of-the-moment onsite interviews with union rank-and-file, Workers Strike Back’s new show On Strike! is off to an amazing start.
“In Nevada’s remote Thacker Pass, a fight for our future is playing out between local Indigenous tribes and powerful state and corporate entities hellbent on mining the lithium beneath their land. Vancouver-based Lithium Americas is developing a massive lithium mine at Thacker Pass, but for more than two years several local tribes and environmental organizations have tried to block or delay the mine in the courts and through direct action. The Thacker Pass Project is backed by the Biden administration, and companies like General Motors have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the project, looking to capitalize on the transition to a “green energy economy,” for which lithium is essential. While it is a vital component in the manufacturing of electric vehicles and batteries, though, there’s nothing “green” about mining lithium. Ending our addiction to fossil fuels is urgently necessary, but the struggle of the local tribes around Thacker Pass reveals the darkside of a “green revolution” that prioritizes profits and consumption over everything (and everyone) else. In this feature documentary, “Thacker Pass – Mining the Sacred,” award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French multimedia journalist Brandi Morin and documentary filmmaker Geordie Day report on the Indigenous resisters putting their bodies and freedom on the line to stop the Thacker Pass Project.”
From a post by former pilot and co-founder of Safe Landing Todd Smith:
”In this podcast George and I have an in-depth discussion of what it was like for us to come to terms (emotionally) with the climate & biodiversity crisis, rooted in privilege and colonialism whilst being an active part of an industry going in the wrong direction.
”The show is hosted by Abigail who asked us some wonderful questions, please do check out some more of her content.”
A new documentary in the tradition of Burden of Dreams, Hearts of Darkness, and Lost in La Mancha
“Cyril Aris and his frustrated protagonists in ‘Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano’ are done mincing words.
“‘I hope this film can be screened the way it is, although it’s not painting the brightest picture of the Lebanese political class. And if they censor it, thank you for the publicity. I will take it,’ he says following its premiere at Karlovy Vary Film Festival.”
Punched After the Fact, showing July 15th at Portland’s Cinema 21, establishes that it will be keeping it slightly weird early on. Davie (Donny Persons) sweeps an empty basement in an institutional orange jumpsuit. He dances as he sweeps, trying Gene Kelly moves and playing broom guitar while duckwalking. He’s in the moment and inventing joy.
At home, Davie’s teenage son (Ahmed Toney) is very online. His ex-partner Annie (Anne Zander) lies in bed, depressed. This is the routine: Work, exchange a few words at home, repeat.
This is when the plot kicks in, with a home invasion in the place of a typical Meet Cute. Haley (“like the comet”, played by Nikki Flynn), accepts some pizza from Davie while they discuss social expectations and etiquette for such an occasion. She’s gone after making a big impression.
The first act also introduces us to Tanner (Eric Martin Reid), a screenwriter who can’t get his material read. When a fresh-faced coworker’s silly script sells for a pile of cash, Tanner can’t muster sincere congratulations, only scorn. He starts looking for an A-list actor to read one of his scenes.
We get another Davie dance in the second act, on an ivy-bordered staircase at the magic hour. It’s a happy inversion of whatever Joaquin Phoenix was doing in The Joker. Davie just amble-zenned his way into a club; a flyer says Haley performs there. He suits up in prep for a second Meet Weird.
Haley not only performs, she’s a performance artist, whose commitment to absurd bits is infectious. In one show, she’s a crow whose CAW-CAW-CAWs get a call-and-response going. It’s a cacophony, but Davie’s in the audience, and Meet Weird 2 is on. Tanner’s in the audience too.
The tone shifts in the final act, as Davie, Tanner, and Haley’s stories intersect. A few minutes of menace let Reid and Flynn chew the scenery, with Davie showing up both at the perfect time and just after the fact.
Punched After the Fact is a love letter to Portland, with scenes filmed in multiple locations in the northwest and close-in eastside. Characters cross paths in local watering holes and take night-time strolls underneath sepia-lit freeways. They’re all connected to L.A. and Hollywood and the open road, but those places don’t exert the same type of draw.
An interview with writer-directors Ian Fowler and Gabriel Lakey:
The equisapien inventor on labor and his new TV series.
“As the Writers Guild of America strike enters its eighth week, David Sirota sits down with writer, director, musician, and activist Boots Riley to discuss the ongoing labor struggle, as well as his radical new TV show.
In all of Boots’ work runs a deep commitment to social justice and organized labor. In 2018, Boots released the celebrated film Sorry to Bother You, an absurdist dark comedy about race and class politics set in the world of telemarketing. Now, Boots speaks with David about his fantastical new TV series I’m A Virgo, which is garnering rave reviews.
Boots also discusses his roots in political activism and the importance of the writers strike and how its visibility is crucial to the resurgent U.S. labor movement.”
