On this week's show...
* immigrant workers on the gulf coast are speaking up about slavery-like working conditions
* a sit-in by residents upset about a coal silo in their town occupied the office of the governor of West Virginia
* and we'll be marking the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq, with reports from protests in Washington DC and from the National Conference on Organized Resistance
Welcome to this week's edition of Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of the news from the grassroots, news overlooked by the corporate media.
On today's show...
immigrant workers on the gulf coast are speaking up about slavery-like working conditions
a sit-in by residents upset about a coal silo in their town occupied the office of the governor of West Virginia
and we'll be marking the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq, with reports from protests in Washington DC and from the National Conference on Organized Resistance
Rustbelt Radio airs live every Monday from 6-7 PM on WRCT 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh, PA, and again on Tuesday mornings 9-10 AM. We're also on Pacifica affiliate WVJW Benwood, 94.1 FM in the Wheeling, West Virginia area, on Thursdays from 6-7 PM. And we're on WPTS - 10-11AM on Wednesday mornings on 92.1 FM from the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
We're also available on the internet, both on WRCT's live webstream at W-R-C-T dot ORG and for download, stream or podcast at radio dot I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot org.
We turn now to local headlines.
Headlines
Local News
[2:45] Hazleton Anti-Immigration Ordinances on Trial
On Monday, March 12, Hazleton, Pennsylvania's ordinances banning undocumented immigrants from the city went to trial. Though passed last year, the laws have yet to be enacted due to opposition from groups including the ACLU and the US Chamber of Commerce.
The ordinances being challenged forbid Hazleton businesses from hiring undocumented immigrants, landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants and require all potential renters to appear at city hall to receive an occupancy permit documenting that they have the city's permission to live there.
The prosecution had a rocky start as an early witness backed off initial claims that the laws destroyed his businesses. Jose Lechuga--a restaurant and grocery store owner--had previously claimed the laws and police cruisers parked outside his businesses had scared Latino customers away. Under cross-examination he said a federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants in 2005 depleted his customer base. Another prosecution witness, Dr. Agapito Lopez, testified that he'd been threatened both at home and at his office for publicly opposing the ordinances. He said, [quote] “These ordinances have provided division between the population of Hazleton that once coexisted peacefully.” [endquote] Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania and a prosecutor in the case said the Hazleton laws [quote] “promote an atmosphere of xenophobia and discrimination against everyone who looks or sounds foreign, including those in this country lawfully.” [endquote]
Hazleton mayor Louis Barletta testified on Wednesday that his priority has been to kick undocumented immigrants out of town. The mayor claimed the city was being ruined by violent crime, crowded schools and a clogged emergency room-problems he attributed to [quote] “illegal aliens.” [endquote] However, during questioning he could offer no estimate of how many undocumented immigrants were living in the city nor could he cite a single instance of undocumented immigrants receiving service from fire or health departments. He couldn't even offer evidence that immigration was the cause of classroom overcrowding. Mayor Barletta claimed he pushed for anti-immigrant legislation after two immigrants from the Dominican Republic were accused of murder last May. The mayor claimed that if these laws are enforced they'll help reduce the amount of violent crime committed by undocumented immigrants. However, Hazleton's own statistics show only about twenty out of eight thousand, five hundred seventy five felonies since 2000 were even connected to undocumented immigrants.
Also on Monday, March 12, a Missouri judge ruled that two anti-immigrant ordinances based on the Hazleton ordinances were against state law and blocked further ordinances dealing with illegal immigration.
[4:00] Sit-in at WV Governor's office to stop Massey's new coal silo
Last week saw new developments in the battle over a coal silo beside Marsh Fork Elementary school in the Coal River Valley of West Virginia. Parents, community leaders and student activists were back in the state capitol to confront their governor about a recent decision to allow a new coal silo in their community, and more than a dozen people were arrested when they refused to leave his office's reception area.
Near the town of Sundial, about 50 miles south of Charleston, Massey Energy operates a coal preparation plant and has constructed a dam holding 2.5 billion gallons of toxic sludge
just a few hundred feet from the school. Community members, including parents and grandparents of the school's students, have been demanding that the coal plant be shut down, and that their school be cleaned up or replaced by a safe, new school in their community. And these residents, with their allies in Mountain Justice Summer, are also fighting Massey's attempt to build a second silo in the area of the school. In 2005, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (or DEP) agreed with them and rejected Massey's permit request for the second silo.
But last week, on Tuesday March 13, the West Virginia Surface Mine Board overturned the DEP ruling and granted Massey Energy's application to build a second coal silo beside Marsh Fork Elementary School. The prospect of even more coal dust in the air, and greater danger to their children, spurred a sit-in on Friday March 16th at the office of Governor Joe Manchin in Charleston.
Outside the Governor's office, residents had this to say:
marshforksitin_part1 (1:45)
14 of the protesters, including grandfather Ed Wiley, were arrested Friday afternoon after refusing orders to leave. Some protestors were dragged away by State Police in handcuffs.
marshforksitin_part2 (0:39)
The alliance of concerned older residents and student activists has vowed to continue their fight against Massey Energy's coal operations in their West Virginia communities. 87-year-old Winnie Fox told the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, (quote) "We've waited so long, and nothing has changed. When you keep doing the same thing and nothing changes, you know what that's called? Insanity. They've ruined streams, lives, and we're not going to take it anymore. It has to stop. We have no intention of taking it anymore, because we're not insane."
Wrapup
For more on local news, you can visit pittsburgh dot I-N-D-Y-M-E-D-I-A dot org.
Global News
Intro
You are listening to Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of news overlooked by the corporate media. We turn now to news from other independent media sources around the world.
[4:45] Immigrant Workers
In Pascagoula, Mississippi, more than 300 welders and pipefitters from India have united to protest slave labor conditions at a marine processing plant operated by the Signal Corporation. On Sunday March 11, company representatives and armed guards raided the worker's living quarters. The guards held several men at gunpoint, took six workers hostage, and told the men they would be sent back to India. One worker attempted suicide by slitting his wrists, and was taken to a hospital.
A month ago, workers had begun meeting at a local church to organize against Signal's violations of their human rights, including physical and verbal abuse, inadequate food, violent threats, and restricted movement outside of labor camps. On the weekend of March 11th, Indian and Mexican guestworkers met in solidarity after the raids, to strategize for better wages and working conditions.
Guestworker Sab Ulal speaks:
Audio for this piece comes from Christian Roselund of the New Orleans Independent Media Center. For updates on immigrant organizing in the Gulf South, visit neworleans.indymedia.org and immigrantsolidarity.org.
[4:30] Rachel Corrie
This June will mark 40 years of Israel's occupation of Palestine. Abuses carried out during this time include home demolitions, harassment, destruction of farmland, collective punishment, and the construction of a separation wall throughout Palestinian territory.
In order to witness and speak out about these abuses, Rachel Corrie, a 23 year old American Peace activist, traveled to the Gaza Strip. Here, she volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led non violent direct action movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.
While defending the home of Palestinian Pharmacist Dr. Samir Nasrallah from destruction, Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by a Caterpillar bulldozer operated by the Israeli military. March 16th marked the 4th anniversary of her death and people worldwide paid tribute to her including those protesting the Apartheid wall in the West Bank Village of Bilin.
We will now hear Rachel Corrie speaking from Gaza in 2003, a Dr. Samir Nasrallah and Colin Reese reading a poem of Rachel's:
The play “My Name is Rachel Corrie” has been produced using Rachel's journals from Gaza. It was scheduled to open March 2006 at the New York Theatre Workshop but six weeks before opening night, the theater announced it was indefinitely postponing production of the play. They cited the current political climate as the reason for the cancelation, pointing to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coma and the election of Hamas. Many decried this cancellation as censorship and eventually the play opened in October 2006 at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York.
The Corrie family has also kept Rachel's story alive by touring the country to both highlight the injustices Palestinians face as well as demand that Rachel Corrie's murderers be brought to trial. The soldier who operated the Caterpillar bulldozer that crushed Corrie's body was not charged for her death. The U.S. government has acknowledged that the Israeli military investigation into Rachel's killing was not "thorough, credible, or transparent," yet have not taken requested any further action be taken. Visit rachelcorrie.org for more information. Thanks to Eric Klein and John Ford of KAOS Olympia for the audio.
[3:30] Sean Bell Rally
From WBAI New York's Riseup Radio, a report on a March 17th community rally against police brutality in New York City. The rally followed the indictment of three police officers in the November 2006 murder of Sean Bell, an unarmed Black man, in Jamaica Queens, New York.
That was Riseup Radio on protests against police indictments in the Sean Bell murder case. For more youth-produced social justice radio, visit www.riseupradio.org.
[2:30] Bush in Brazil
US President George Bush recently returned from his weeklong, five-nation tour of Latin America. According to the White House, Bush's visit to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico was meant to "underscore the commitment of the United States to the Western Hemisphere and highlight [a] common agenda to advance freedom, prosperity, and social justice ...". Specifically, this meant discussing Ethanol and other alternative energy sources with Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
Academics and journalists in Brasil feel there were additional motives for Bush's visit. Brazilian political scientist Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira saw Bush's trip as a reactive response to the apparent loss of US influence on certain countries in the region. In an interview for the news site BrasilDeFato.com.br, Moniz Bandeira stated that "since [Bush] can't visit some of the more radicalized countries, he visit[ed] those with which he can still maintain some kind of dialog". In the same interview Moniz Bandeira talks about the pressure put on moderate countries like Brazil and Colombia by the US State Department to isolate countries like Venezuela and Bolivia both politically and economically.
* Sao_Paulo_demonstration.ogg: Sao Paulo demonstration [0:19]
That was audio from the street demonstrations in Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 8th, where more than ten-thousand people showed up to protest Bush's visit to their country. The police tried to restrain the demonstration and after a few tense moments of verbal exchange with the protestors smoke bombs, rubber bullets and pepper spray were used to try to break up the demonstration. A total of twenty people were wounded, and four were arrested, but released later on the same day. The city of Sao Paulo is currently investigating reports that accused the police of deploying anti-riot troops without their mandatory ID badges.
In addition to the street demonstrations, social groups, unions and sugar cane growers publicly denounced President Bush's plans for Ethanol production and exportation in Brazil. Current trade laws between the two countries impose very high taxes on Ethanol produced and exported by Brazilian companies. Current Ethanol producers fear that in order to meet the quantity and standards required by the US, North American corporations would eventually take over most of the sugar cane production and Ethanol refinement in the country.
For more information about Bush's visit to Brazil and additional audio of the demonstrations visit brasil.indymedia.org.
[2:00] Ecuador turmoil over constituent assembly
Ecuador is in political turmoil over newly elected president Raphael Correa’s plans to hold a referendum vote on whether to convene a constituent assembly to rewrite the county’s constitution. Correa, a U.S.-educated leftist economist, rose from obscurity to win the election on a campaign based on reforming corrupt government, redistributing oil wealth to benefit the people, and opposition to U.S. imperialism and neoliberal economic policies. The constituent assembly was a major campaign promise. The Ecuadorean Congress, which is a 100 member unicameral body, is controlled by rightist parties that oppose Correa. In february, Congress passed a bill allowing the referendum to go forward, but immediately a dispute arose between Correa and the congress over how much power the constituent assembly would have. -
Ecuador’s highest court then affirmed Correa’s statements regarding the power of the assembly. In response, fifty-seven members of congress voted to remove the court’s chief justice, in order to create a rightist majority on the court. The court then dismissed the fifty-seven congressional representatives from office, on the basis that they had violated Ecuador’s constitution by interfering with judicial process.
The court called for a police cordon to prevent the dismissed delegates from entering the congress after their dismissal; when twenty delegates broke through the cordon, they were removed by police using tear gas. Two congressional representatives were injured in fights with the police.
Correa has stated that the court’s action to dismiss the delegates is valid and final, and called for deputies from the same parties to fill the newly empty seats. He has said he will go forward with the plans to hold a referendum on the constituent assembly on April 15th. The Constituent Tribunal court will soon make a ruling on the validity of the plan to hold the referendum, and has warned Correa to abide by their rule. Correa has threatened to call mass protests if the assembly is blocked. A recent poll shows that 75% of the population supports the assembly, while congress is widely regarded as corrupt and is supported by only 16% of the population. The assembly would allow for the election of 130 people who would re-write the constitution in four months’ time.
Features
Intro
You're listening to Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of news from the grassroots.
[6:45] War Anniversary
bush_on_tv_m19.wav: Bush announces Iraq invasion on TV, March 19, 2003 (0:23)
On Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 10:15 PM Eastern Standard Time, President George W. Bush announced that he had ordered his troops to invade Iraq as a part of what he called "Operation Iraqi Freedom". Earlier that day, US troops dropped four 2000-pound bunker buster bombs and fired forty Tomahawk cruise missiles at targets in the al-Dora farming community on the outskirts of Baghdad. This initial attack was aimed at killing Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his two sons. However, neither Hussein nor any of his family members were present, and the weapons also missed their target, instead killing innocent civilians. On that day, fifteen civilians were killed, including one child.
Now, four years into the war over thirty-two hundred (3,200) US troops have been killed and up to six-hundred fifty thousand (650,000) Iraqis have also lost their lives. Thousands more have been injured, wounded, and displaced.
Over the past four years, millions of people around the world have spoken out in opposition to the war. The American anti-war movement also continues to grow in strength and numbers as faith in the occupation of Iraq declines.
This past Saturday, March 17th, tens of thousands of anti-war activists gathered in Washington, DC to demand an immediate end to the war in Iraq and the withdrawal of US troops.
Michael Lettman of New York City Labor Against War linked the US-invasion and occupation of Iraq, to a world-wide campaign of aggression and warfare:
You have been listening to voices from this past Saturday's Anti-War March and Rally in Washington DC.
Riverbend [9:00]
From Pacifica's 2007 International Women's Day Special, the writings of Riverbend.
Riham Barghouti, a Palestinian American activist, read from Riverbend's work on February 20th of this year:
Now we'll hear from an intergenerational panel at the recent National Conference for Organized Resistance in Washington, DC, that addressed strategies for the U.S. antiwar movement. The panel focused on taking lessons from the Vietnam anti-war movement, supporting GI resistance to the war, and how to build a broad movement to tackle social injustices in the process of organizing against the war. Speakers were Max Elbaum, a leader of Students for a Democratic Society during the Vietnam era; Maricela Guzman with Iraq Veterans Against the War; and Clare Bayard with the Catalyst Project.
Max Elbaum on lessons learned from Vietnam:
max.ogg [4:00]
Maricela Guzman describes Iraq Veterans Against the War:
mari1.ogg [:20]
Guzman served in the Navy from 1988 until 2002, when she decided not to re-enlist because she opposed the impending Iraq war. She describes her transition to become an anti-war activist:
mari_story.ogg [1:05]
Guzman offered this message to the antiwar movement:
vets-to-movement.ogg [3:10]
Clare Bayard of the Catalyst Project:
clare1.ogg [3:50]
This has been an excerpt from a panel discussion of the U.S. antiwar movement, at the National Conference on Organized Resistance, held on March 10th.
Ending
Calendar of Events
And now we present the Indymedia Calendar of Events:
This Tuesday March 20th at 6:30pm, the sixth annual Lunafest Film Festival will be making a stop in Pittsburgh. The event will take place at Chatham College and will feature films that celebrate women in our local and global communities. For more information, visit www.lunabar.com/ lunafest
This Tuesday the 20th, and every 3rd Tuesday of the month, Rustbelt Radio offers Audio Production Skills training. We provide a technical skills workshop on digital audio equipment, field recording, and sound editing programs. This workshop will begin at 8pm at the Indymedia office, located on the 3rd floor of the Thomas Merton Center in Garfield. For more information email radio@ indypgh.org or call (412) 923-3000.
Friday March 23rd there will be a benefit party and show for the Pittsburgh Chapter of Food Not Bombs. It will be held at 4438 Milgate Avenue in Bloomfield at 8pm.
On Saturday, March 24, at 12:30pm, Service Employees International Union SEIU 1199P will co-sponser the "Healthcare Not Warfare Feeder Rally and March", at the VA Hospital, on University Drive in Oakland. Later at 1:30pm a permitted demonstration against the war will gather at Schenley High School and march to Pitt for a concluding rally. More information can be found at www.PittsburghEndtheWar. org
Also this weekend, East of Liberty:A Story of Good Intentions will show on Friday and Saturday at 8pm. The screening will take place at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater on Penn Avenue in East Liberty.
[1:00] Outro
Thanks for tuning in to Rustbelt Radio here on WRCT Pittsburgh, WVJW Benwood and WPTS Pittsburgh.
Our hosts and contributors this week are Andalusia Knoll and Tracy Braswell with additional contributions from Thiago Hersen, Vani Natarajan, Carlin Christy, Jessica Mcpherson, Matt Toups and Donald Deeley. This week's show was produced by Donald Deeley and Matt Toups. Special thanks to all of our hosts, producers, and contributors.
You can get involved with Rustbelt Radio! To contact us, or to send us your comments, email RADIO at I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot ORG. All of our shows are available for download or podcast on our website at RADIO dot INDY-P-G-H dot ORG and this show can be heard again Tuesday morning on WRCT at 9 AM after Democracy Now!
Tune in next week at this time for another edition of Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of news from the grassroots.
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