99 Acts of Revolution in 2012: #6 Occupy the Airwaves

Posted on February 9, 2012 by

As part of my New Year’s Resolution to commit myself to committing 99 acts of revolution (big & small) in 2012, I bring you to my latest act of rebellion #6: Occupy the Airwaves

In Grand Rapids, MI we have a local not-for-profit radio station called Public Reality Radio 95.3 FM & 1680 AM. On PRR they have a ton of politics focused talk shows. Local issues, labor rights, social justice and current events are the main focus, though they do have some shows that get into atheism, secular ethics, environment, science and other edgy topics. They’ve really caught fire lately with the birth of the Occupy movement, the battle for labor rights in Wisconsin and Michigan, and events surrounding the Arab Spring of 2011.

As a member of Occupy Grand Rapids & Move To Amend; Grand Rapids I have been actively using the opportunities to get my voice on the air that PRR extends to the community.

On several occasions I’ve called in on shows to discuss what Occupy GR  was doing, providing details about upcoming protests,  promoting events, and making sure that our message reached the people. I have been called on several times to get involved in the discussions on air as well, to let people know what Move To Amend was doing in Grand Rapids.

West Michigan Labor Speaks and PaleoRadio are the two currently running shows that I have participated in the most, but before the recent schedule change (January 2012) I made several calls to other shows to contribute relevant information.

Here is a link to Catalyst Radio’s interview with PaleoRadio‘s Jeremiah Bannister & JD Sullivan

To keep myself from forgetting my main talking points, or from getting sidetracked within the discussions, I always try to take the time to create a brief outline of talking points. This is especially helpful if you are uncomfortable talking on air, or tend to overload your listeners with more than they can process (like me)

  • a short list of main points ( 3 is a good number)
  • a couple factoids about each point
  • a relevant quote
  • event details (time, place, website)
  • contact info for the group I am representing

Less than one page is all you need, you don’t want to bore the audience. Also, try to work the talking points in organically, since the last thing you want to do is sound like a pre-recorded message. Keep it short and simple to prevent yourself from getting into a situation where you run out of steam (always leave them wanting more!) or airtime.  Accept the fact that you won’t get to discuss everything that you want to, after all, its not your show. Finally, make sure to thank your hosts for their time and for giving you the opportunity to share your message. A little gratitude goes a long ways.

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99 Acts of Revolution in 2012: #4 Attend a lecture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Posted on February 5, 2012 by

As part of my New Year’s Resolution for 2012 I have been committed to performing 99 acts of Revolution (big and small) in an effort to make this world a better place to live in.  My latest action was to attend at lecture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflictto educate myself about the current state of affairs.

A peace movement poster: Israeli and Palestini...

Norman Finkelstein, author of “This time we went too far (truth and consequences of the Gaza invasion)”  appeared at Calvin College, a conservative christian college so stuck up that they recently made headlines by booking, and then immediately canceling at the first murmers of complaint,  an appearance by the New Pornographers (an offensively tame and boring “rock” band).

Finkelstein has spent a large portion of his life dedicated to achieving justice and peace between Israel and Palestine. He spoke of the Israeli resistance to international will, and their adherence to violence and oppression to subjugate the Palestinian people. He also spoke about the hypocrisy of the United States government in the ongoing key support of the Israel. Many of his talking points caused the audience to squirm uncomfortably in their seats as they grappled with the ugly truth about our country’s involvement in supporting the endless bloodshed.

According to Finkelstein, peace is attainable,with a few key concessions from Israel.

  • A return to the pre-1967  borders.
  • Ending the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian lands
  • A land swap (2% of Israeli land for 2% of Palestinian land) to preserve continuity of the Palestinian state. 

After the discussion, several audience members lingered to discuss more of Finkelstein’s ideas on Israeli policy. One pompous student actually tried to trip Finkelstein up with some “factoids” he picked up from Fox news or his parents or something. He was quickly schooled by Finkelstein. A few people asked Finkelstein about his previous books, his opinion on this thing or that thing… the typical stuff people ask after these kind of events.

I stuck close by and shot a few pictures, waiting for a moment to get over my sudden case of uncharacteristic shyness. I managed to get video of the conversation just as the topic turned to Gandhi. Finkelstein had some interesting insight into Gandhi’s severe dedication to non-violence. The way he describes it, Gandhi’s philosophy comes across as an active, almost aggressive, pacifist stoicism that is relentlessly self-sacrificing in a way that is beyond the comprehension of most of us. Its an abandonment of useless sentimentality and tenacious adherence to the principles of unflinching courage that Finkelstein told us would absolutely shock atone out of their comfort zones if they really stop and contemplate the Mahatma’s writings seriously.

…I’ve  gotta get my ass to the library…

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99 Acts of Revolution in 2012: #5 Attend a Campaign Event

Posted on February 2, 2012 by

As part of my project to commit 99 Acts of Revolution (big & small) in 2012, I took the opportunity to attend a campaign event when VP Joe Biden visited  American Seating Co in Grand Rapids, MI on February 1st, 2012.

Even though this isn’t “officially” campaign season quite yet, one could easily argue that the campaign started the day after Obama won the 2008 election. And this time around, the stakes are way higher… we are reaching a point of critical mass in the battle to fix/fuck up our country once and for all. Make no mistake about it, this visit to Grand Rapids is 100% actively campaigning for November.

a short video montage of the event…

VP Biden, Mayor Heartwell & John Burns (production manager)

I made it through the Secret Service security check of metal detectors, a bomb sniffing dog, and a White House Press Secretary verifying my press credentials. I pinned my bright orange press pass to my shirt and whipped out the ol’ camera to capture as much of the “magic” as I possibly could.

After a long wait (these things ALWAYS run late!) of listening to crappy Van Halen, Hall & Oates, and Pink Floyd tunes while Mayor Heartwell and other VIP’s hobnobbed with Joe Biden, the event finally kicked off. The owner of American Seating, Mayor Heartwell, and the production floor manager of ASC all said a few words to get the ball rolling.

Biden came out and gave a 40 minute lecture that wasn’t too bad. He touched on the White House initiatives to reward companies that KEEP jobs in America. He told us how insourcing will replace outsourcing. He spoke about how manufacturing built the USA, and will continue to do so into the 21st Century. He touched upon a lot of the topics that are getting people upset in the current train-wreck of economic recession, corporate greed run amok, and congressional monkey business that is tearing this country apart.

Joey B rockin' the teleprompter!

Of course, it took 3 years for Obama/Biden to realize that all of the things wrong in this country need to be addressed. That banks are screwing the people. That industries are polluting the air, the water, the soil, the food chain. That the healthcare industry and pharmaceutical industry are making a killing denying us adequate healthcare and jacking up the prices of drugs. That industrial agriculture is destroying our health and the environment at an insane pace. That nearly every product or service we use is putting money into the pockets of corporations that are destroying the very people who depend upon them in the name of maximizing profits.

That’s 3 long years of American families suffering, struggling, loosing their foothold… watching their investments, their opportunities, their futures, and the security of their families go down the toilet while EVERYBODYon Capitol Hill makes a shit ton of cash on all of it.

Occupy Grand Rapids T-shirt by the Judge

So while I found it to be an interesting experience, and maybe even a little glimmer of legitimate hope was detectable in the air at this campaign event…I am by no means a convert buying into the agenda or credibility of the Democrats…much less the Republicans. Perhaps you’ll forgive me for my cynicism?

The overall positive and productive outcome of attending this event, was that I was able to shoot some video and highlight a rare exception to the rule of corporatism. American Seating refused to send jobs overseas… they put their investment in the people in their community… the lead by example in keeping people productive and employed. I was grateful for the opportunity to show people around me that this is possible, that there are companies out there doing the right thing. Hopefully many more companies will do the same in the near future.

the last 10 minutes of Biden’s speech…

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Calvin College hosts Norman Finkelstein on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

Originally published in the Rapidian

Grand Rapids, MI Feb 1, 2012

Norman Finkelstein, author of “This time we went too far (truth and consequences of the Gaza invasion)”spoke this afternoon at the Covenant Fine Arts Center atCalvin College. Around 75 people came to hear Finkelstein discuss the issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and how the situation has evolved over the last several decades. 

Finkelstein has spent a large portion of his life dedicated to achieving justice and peace between Israel and Palestine; A seemingly endless struggle that has frustrated the international community for decades. By his own admission in the forward of “This time we went too far”,Finkelstein admits “It cannot be said that the Palestinians living under occupation have derived much benefit from these efforts. The Israeli juggernaut proved unstoppable. The changes that have occurred have only been for the worse”

Yet despite all of the Israeli resistance to international will, and their adherence to violence and oppression to subjugate the Palestinian people, peace is attainable. According to Finkelstein,a few key concessions from Israel are essential to obtain a lasting peace; A return to the pre-1967  borders, ending the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian lands, and a land swap (2% of Israeli land for 2% of Palestinian land) to preserve continuity of the Palestinian state.

Wrapping up the discussion, Finkelstein concluded by fielding questions from the audience on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Afterwards, several members lingered to discuss more of Finkelstein’s ideas on Israeli policy, his previous books, and even some of Finkelstein’s insight on the writings of Mahatma Gandhi.

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99 acts of revolution in 2012; #3 Join a movement

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

In keeping with my New Years Eve 2012 Resolution, I have dedicated myself to committing “99 acts of Revolution (big & small)”.  I have been very busy getting involved in all kinds of political oriented activities in just the first few weeks of 2012, so I feel that I am making forward progress towards actually accomplishing my goal Dec 31st 2012.

My #3 act of revolution is to Join A Movement.

I had already done this in 2011 when I got involved in the Occupy Grand Rapids movement on day 1 of the occupation (Oct 8th, 2011). I found myself with the opportunity to get involved in a movement again with circumstances surrounding the Jan 12th, 2012 visit from David Cobb of Move To Amend. David was holding a discussion on ending corporate personhood and the movement to do so through amending the US Constitution. The event was hosted by Occupy Grand Rapids and Fountain St Church. I covered the event for the Rapidian

 That night the first real snowstorm of the winter nailed Michigan pretty hard, which caused the cancellation of David’s next stop in Benton Harbor, MI. Taking advantage of the opportunity, a few local activist threw together an informal dinner part to discuss what was needed to put together a local affiliate of Move To Amend in Grand Rapids. 

"Mic Check" agit-prop art by cott Warren - Analog Mutant

The need for people to step up and institute Move To Amend: Grand Rapids  required that at some point, at least one of us would have to step up and take some leadership in setting a formal initial meeting,  picking a meeting place, making some calls & emails to get people involved and other basic actions and organizing.

When David asked who was going to be the leader, everyone kind of hesitated for half a minute. We were all a little scared to be the first one to take the reins of such a potentially large project. We all kind of looked awkwardly at each other for a few seconds, wondering who was going to be the one to say “I’ll do it”.

I knew that I had recently developed much of the experience in organizing information and resources to do much of the work that would be needed in the next few weeks, so I spoke up. I volunteered to be the “facilitator” in the group, to take a leaderful position, rather than the position of Leader. I didn’t want be “the boss” or work within a group that was rigidly adherent to hierarchical structure, so I proposed that my role would be defined as that of someone who “makes things happen” without being the supreme authority on anything.

Many of the skills that I discussed in  99 acts of revolution in 2012; #2 came in pretty handy. I created several social media sites; a blog, Youtube & Livestream channels, Twitter, an Gmail account. I also acquired a Google Voice phone number. This allows ONE phone number to reach multiple cellphones at once. If someone wants to contact Move To Amend; Grand Rapids, several people are available to handle that call.

Joining the Move To Amend coalition as an affiliate group meant that while there was much support in place, we still have a lot of information to catch up on, and in some cases, material that we have to create ourselves.

a Move To Amend; Grand Rapids flyer

 Some of the resources, such as the overall national agenda of the coalition, the pr materials, online content, national level organization of events are all there for us to take advantage of.

Other resources, such as our official process for decision making as a group is our own responsibility. Actively encouraging the inclusion of people from diverse ethnic, religious, social and political backgrounds in all levels of our organization is also something we have to implement and utilize. Even though we were part of a much larger coalition of groups nationwide, each group has the rights to determine how they will function on a local level, within the constraints of the overall movement.

Working within the framework  of the coalition, we also have the freedom, and the responsibility, to create our own events to draw attention to our cause and spread awareness of the issues.

In short, getting involved in a grassroots movement will definitely be a conduit for achieving much of my goal of committing 99 acts of revolution in 2012. This one act will have a positive impact on my life, and hopefully the live of others around me, and will open up new opportunities for me to fulfill my commitment for making the world a better place to live in 2012.

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99 acts of revolution in 2012; #2 the PR campaign

Posted on January 13, 2012 by

It’s only the 2nd week of 2012 and I have managed to commit several small acts of revolution in my daily life. The fine art of managing a PR campaign being one of the more complex orchestrations that I have pulled off in awhile.

Below is a handful of actions to pull off a succesful PR campaign to build support and spread awareness for your cause. This is by no means a complete list, but is meant to be a source of basic ideas to get you started. If you are somebody that is new to the art and science of politics and activism, like myself, then maybe this will show you a few ways to get started.

First you set up your channels of communication…

This is a bit time consuming, but once you’ve done the work you are all set up for success in any future campaigns that you may launch. Assuming that you have an email account with a suitable name setup already (nobody will take you serious with a stupid email name!), begin by creating an email list to distribute your message. Search the websites of:

  • local tv
  • radio stations
  • newspapers
  • magazines
  • relevant blogs in your community
  • business associations
  • unions
  • political parties
  • activist groups

    Grand Rapids "make room for progress" by Scott Warren

Get on the social media. Utilize it to distribute videos , images and articles you create. I write for the Rapidian (Grand Rapids, MI). but there are a ton of other sites out there will also serve you well. Take the time to set these accounts up, add some intelligent text, photos, and content. Cross-link all of your social media to each other. In short, take the time to make the sites correctly; Nobody will take you seriously with a half-assed profile.

Second, you create some content…

Once you have your email and social media set up, you are ready to shotgun some serious content to the media, fellow activists, or whoever else you need to reach.

Hold an event - Envision and organize a rally, a march, a protest, stage some guerilla theater, lobby your City Council, a prayer vigil, feed the poor, plant a community garden…whatever it is you want to accomplish, symbolically or tangibly, create an action to make something happen.

Make a Flyer – It is preferable to use your own images, or those of friends, or at least stuff licensed under Creative Commons. Add relevant text to the image and distribute online and as printed flyers.

Start a Petition – Get on Change.org or some other site and create a petition. Use your flyer image. Here is one that I created in 2012.

Write an Article - Create an actual article to inform the public of the cause. Include your flyer images, links, petition, or any other original content. Utilize quotes from experts, cite sources. Include the 5W’s of basic journalism, and make sure to spell check/grammar check!

Get interviewed in the newspaper, radio or tv news – Have notes ready! Be ready to talk, and actively steer the conversation to push your agenda. If they aren’t bringing up the questions you want them to, then tell interject your points into the dialogue. Most importantly, don’t kill your message by forgetting key points that you need to make. Here is an example from a recent interview I did on the radio. GRTV hosts this great local IGE Talk Show that several local activist have regularly appeared on. My wife and I have been recognised by complete strangers in public that saw us on the show, so we know that our message is gettting out there.

My recent front page coverage sparked a ton of debate

Make a video – Interviews, coverage of events, a music video, straight up propaganda, whatever you create will be an excellent supplement to the other original content that you create. Videos will be more likely to generate interest in your material, and thus be more likely to get shared with others all over the web.

Write a Press Release email - Include links/attachments/reference to all media and content mentioned above (petitions, flyers, videos, articles). If you have material from other sources that relates to your subject, than include that material as well. Make sure that you give them a few quotes to include in their article.

 Make sure you get the 5W’s of basic journalism in there. Its more than the local media will bother to do, so you have to write the story for them. I am not kidding you here.

In 3 recent events that I was the major organizer of, MLive reprinted my entire PR email in one story, and used most of my material as significant portions of their coverage for the other two events.  This means that in those 3 articles, I wrote 50% or more of the content. Take advantage of media laziness. 

Make sure that you include your contact info in case the media wants to interview you, or if other supporters need to coordinate with you.

Launch the entire package to your media email list. Share it with your activists, supporters, and other organizations as well.

Be Your Own Media -  Make sure to document the event, get lots of photos, conduct interviews, capture compelling video, write an article about the event. Use this material to create original content covering your activities. You can’t count on the media to care about your cause, to cover it at all, or to even get the facts straight if they do bother to cover you. Do yourself a favor and be your own media. This will guarantee a minimum amount of favorable coverage.

Distribute your post-event coverage in the same ways that you distributed the pre-event releases. Distribute any material created by others, especially established media outlets.

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David Cobb of Move to Amend visits Grand Rapids

Posted on January 7, 2012 by

Originally posted in the Rapidian.org

On Thursday January 12th, 2012,  Fountain St Church will host David Cobb of Move to Amend as the next event in the Duncan Littlefair Great Speaker Series. Local representatives of Move to Amend and Occupy Grand Rapids are also co-hosting the event, focused on discussing the reasons for separating corporate money from politics.

 David Cobb will speak on the key issues of the Move to Amend campaign, an organized nationwide effort to create a 28th amendment to the US Constitution that addresses two serious legal issues threatening democracy in America; Corporate personhood and money being considered free speech.

Cobb will discuss how the proposed amendment abolishesthe concept of corporate personhood, or the legal fiction that corporations are people, and therefore have the same rights as people (often at the expense of actual people). The Supreme Court has made a series of controversial decisions over the last 125 years that critics see as cumulatively having an eroding effect on individual freedoms and the collective rights of communities in favor of corporate interests.  Environmental protection, occupational safety and labor rights, food and drug safety, consumer protection, and regulation of finance are just a few examples of the many  ways in which corporate personhood has negatively impacted the lives of millions of people in this country and abroad.

Grand Rapids "make room for progress" by Scott Warren

The concept of money being considered equivalent to free speech has had massive impacts on politics in the U.S., essentially allowing corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money to politicians. The lack of transparency in campaign finance and congressional lobbying obscures the true motivations of politicians who have become financially dependent upon corporate donations in order to remain financially competitive with other candidates for re-election. The current atmosphere in American politics has become that of the perpetual campaign season, where elected officials focus more energy and time on appealing to prospective campaign financiers than conducting the actual work that benefits the citizens of their district.

Occupy Grand Rapids

In addition to the grass-roots efforts to support an amendment to the US Constitution on a national level, citizens across the United States have been taking steps to address these important issues on a local level. City government in both Los Angeles and New York City have adopted resolutions declaring that corporations are not people. The state of Montana has recently reinstated their ban on corporate campaign contributions. This is seen by many as a major step in forcing the Supreme Court to address the issues by accepting the inevitable corporate-initiated legal challenges opposing the ban

for more information:

David Cobb/Move to Amend at Fountain St Church

7pm Thursday January 12th, 2012

24 Fountain St. NE, Grand Rapids, MI

Cost: absolutely FREE!

Hosted by: Fountain St Church, Occupy Grand Rapids, and Move to Amend

Members of Occupy Grand Rapids and Move to Amend are scheduled to discuss this event and the issues surrounding corporate personhood on Paleo Radio a locally produced talk show about politics, religion and culture, hosted by Jeremiah Bannisteron 95.3FM & 1680AM at 3pm-6pm on Wednesday January 11th.

Paleo Radio 95.3FM & 1680AM in Grand Rapids MI

Anybody wishing to participate in the discussion can do so by calling 616-656-1680 or by visiting the livestream channel online.

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