Jeff Zavala's blog

Gar Alperovitz, a leading scholar and activist in the building of a new economy, speaks on “Democratizing the Emerging Economy.” Cooperatives, social enterprises, public banks and other new structures provide a new vision for the next economy. Alperovitz, the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland, will explain how this work, especially the various forms of cooperative ownership, is helping to lay the groundwork for important new directions in the coming era that will see major political and economic changes. Alperovitz’s latest book is America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy, which diagnoses the long-term structural crisis of the US economic and political system and offers detailed, practical answers to the problems. He is also the author of Unjust Deserts: Wealth and Equality in the Knowledge Economy (with Lew Daly), Making a Place For Community (with Thad Williamson and David Imbroscio), Rebuilding America (with Jeff Faux), Atomic Diplomacy and The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb. Alperovitz is a founding principal of the University of Maryland-based Democracy Collaborative, a research institution developing practical, policy-focused, and systematic paths towards ecologically sustainable, community-oriented change and the democratization of wealth. Alperovitz’s talk was sponsored by Cooperation Texas, an Austin-based non-profit committed to the creation of sustainable jobs through the development, support and promotion of worker-owned cooperatives. Video produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala. A ZGraphix/Austin Indymedia production. http://zgraphix.org

Robert King give a message of solidarity and resistance in support of Talha Ahsan. This video was shown at the "Extradite Me, I'm British event. The event is being held at London's "Rich Mix" from 7pm – 11pm, 8th September. Extradite Me, I'm British was an evening of film, prison poetry, talks, drama, comedy, nasheeds around the notorious 2003 US-UK extradition treaty currently affecting British citizens Talha Ahsan, Babar Ahmad, Richard O’Dwyer and Gary Mckinnon. The programme explores quest ions at the at the heart of

Spurred by a growing sense of frustration and disenfranchisement, nearly one hundred women and men gathered Saturday at the south gates of the Texas Capitol to protest what has been described by some activists as a "war on women." The idea for the protest came from Kaci Beeler, a local actor, designer, and artist who told Austinist that the recent appellate court decision allowing Texas to defund Planned Parenthood was the trigger for her. She explained to us that she had "...been following the GOP hailstorm about abortion rights and all of that stuff, and what’s been happening in Arizona. And then Wednesday, when I read about the Court of Appeals overturning funding for Planned Parenthood, that was upsetting. Reading about it and realizing that...it felt extremely unfair." It was a silent protest, the better to express the sense of disenfranchisement many of the participants said they felt. There was no chanting, there were no picket signs. Instead, women wore paper targets on their bodies to symbolize the targeting of their rights by policymakers and legislators. They, their children, and the men - brothers, husbands, boyfriends, and friends - spoke quietly among themselves as traffic rolled by on 11th Street. Video produced by Jeff Zavala. Videography by Grace Alfar A ZGraphix production. http://zgraphix.org

The Rag Blog and Rag Radio presents Tom Hayden, peace and justice activist, SDS pioneer, and primary author of the Port Huron Statement, who speaks on "The Drug War, The Peace Movement, and the Legacy of Port Huron." He was in Austin in conjunction with Mexican poet Javier Sicilia's Caravan for Peace which opposes the U.S.-supported Drug War in Mexico. Video produced by Jeff Zavala. A ZGraphix production. http://zgraphix.org

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Frankel speaks on “Facts on the Ground: A Hard Look at Myths and Realities behind the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” a candid discussion of the forces at work on both sides that sustain the conflict. Frankel, the director of the University of Texas School of Journalism, retired from the Washington Post after a 27-year career as a foreign correspondent and domestic news reporter and editor. He covered some of the most momentous events of the modern era, including the uprising against the apartheid regime in South Africa, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the first and second Gulf Wars, and the political and economic transformation of Europe. Frankel is the author of Beyond the Promised Land: Jews and Arabs on the Hard Road to a New Israel and Rivonia’s Children: Three Families and the Cost of Conscience in White South Africa. He won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1989 for his “sensitive and balanced reporting from Israel and the Middle East.” The event was sponsored by the Austin Chapter of J Street http://jstreet.org/. For more information, contact Charlotte McCann at charmccann@gmail.com. Date: 8/16/2012 Location: 5604 Manor, 5604 Manor Road, Austin, 78723 - http://5604manor.org Video produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala. A ZGraphix/Austin Indymedia production. http://zgraphix.org

On Saturday, July 7 2012 Jensen talked about the books that have most influenced his own politics and discuss the importance of radical thought. Last summer University of Texas professor Robert Jensen confessed his hidden book-buying addiction, and MonkeyWrench Books helped him reduced the size of his library by holding a special one-day tent sale of about half of Jensen’s collection. This summer, Jensen has to move into a new (and much smaller) office at UT, which means that most of the rest of his library has to go. Last summer he parted with the good stuff. This time around he’s letting go of the really good stuff. Jensen’s eclectic collection includes titles in media studies, politics, law, history, philosophy, religion, feminism, and critical race studies. For this year's tent sale some of Jensen’s friends (and fellow MonkeyWrench fans) will also be contributing books, including some great fiction titles. Produced & Edited for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala. Videography by Grace Alfar. A ZGraphix Production. http://zgraphix.org

People across the nation are outraged after finding out that the Anaheim Police Department killed an unarmed man, Manuel Diaz, on Saturday, July 21st, then randomly began shooting into a crowd of women and children with non-lethal rounds, and unleashing a K-9 dog on a woman and a baby, and then killed another man the following day. On Friday, July 27th, Austin joined with cities across the nation to come together in peaceful protest against the violence of the Anaheim Police Department, and against the violence of police departments across the nation. Back Story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpeyv6-FlzU Other cities holding rallies : Dallas Harlem Oakland Portland San Francisco Riverside Filmed at the downtown police station in Austin, Texas. Produced for Austin Indymedia. Video Produced/Edited by Jeff Zavala. Videography by Meg Seidel. A ZGraphix Production. http://zgraphix.org

Robert Jensen gives a teach-in on Talking Radical in a Mainstream World for Occupy Austin's Independence Day gathering. Occupy Austin (7/4/12) describes the goal of the gathering: “We are coming together to write a new declaration. A Declaration that reminds us of the uncertain road that those who founded our country followed. A Declaration that reminds us why we still believe in this great nation. A Declaration that reminds us what we still have left to achieve. A Declaration that reminds us that this country does now, has always and will always be of the people.” There were also teach-ins on topics including trade agreements, the Citizens United ruling, education, and the tar sands. Produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala. A ZGraphix Production. http://zgraphix.org

Cristina Herencia is a Peruvian social psychologist who works in interdisciplinary social sciences with a specialty in the study of indigenous peoples. Cristina, who has been teaching introductory sociology at Austin Community College, has a Masters in Experimental Psychology from the State University of New York (SUNY) and a Ph.D in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Cristina’s primary research deals with social identity in Native Andean peoples and cultures, especially in relation to gender, and the impact of globalization on their lives. She has presented talks and papers in the United States and in Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Peru, and Spain -- and in Havana and Paris. She attended the 1992 Columbus Quincentennial Commemoration and for the last nine years has participated in United Nations forums on indigenous peoples. Host and producer: Thorne Dreyer Co-producer and engineer: Tracey Schulz http://koop.org Video Produced/Edited by Jeff Zavala. A ZGraphix Production. http://zgraphix.org

Austin activists gathered on Saturday to rally against the Austin Police Department's use of force and the racist criminal justice system. 147 years after the first Juneteenth celebration and the plight for Black people has remained the same, and for our sons and brothers, it has gotten worse. Activists from the Austin Center for Peace and Justice, International Socialist Organization (UT student branch), and Royal Civil Rights Society come together to demand justice for Byron Carter Jr. and Travon Martin; victims of the racist police system. The event was sponsored by Austin Center for Peace and Justice, International Socialist Organization (UT student branch), and Royal Civil Rights Society. Produced, filmed and edited by Grace Alfar. Directed by Jeff Zavala. A Zgraphix Production. http://ZGraphix.org Austin Indymedia http://austin.indymedia.org

David Barsamian, the award-winning founder and director of Alternative Radio, http://www.alternativeradio.org/ will be the featured speaker at a benefit for KOOP Radio, 91.7 FM. http://www.koop.org/ Barsamian will be discussing his latest book, Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism, based on interviews with economist Richard Wolff. http://www.alternativeradio.org/products/occupy-the-economy The book probes the root causes of the current economic crisis, its unjust social consequences and what can and should be done to turn things around.

Event was held at 5604 Manor on 6/16/12.

Video Produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala.
Filmed by Jeff Zavala and Grace Alfar.
A ZGraphix Production.
http://zgraphix.org

David Cobb, founder of Move to Amend, (http://movetoamend.org) spoke (6/2/12) about corporate personhood and the threat to democracy. The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate spending on elections and focused more attention on the threat that corporate personhood poses to real democracy. Cobb, an attorney and organizer for the Move to Amend coalition, examines the history behind the recent decision and explains current organizing efforts to change the law. David's main point can be seen at timecode: 1hr. 2min. 53sec. in the talk. Sign the petition to end corporate personhood here: http://movetoamend.org Location of talk: Huston-Tillotson College - Austin, TX To hear MLK Jr.'s Beyond Vietnam speech visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loroGNdNZKI Produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala. Videography by Grace Alfar & Jeff Zavala. Edited by Jeff Zavala. A ZGraphix Production. http://zgraphix.org Don't Hate the Media Be the Media!

David Rovics is an American indie singer/songwriter and activist for peace and social justice. He lives in Portland, Oregon, and tours regularly on four continents, playing for audiences large and small at cafes, pubs, universities, churches, union halls, and protest rallies. He has shared the stage with a veritable who's who of the Left in two dozen countries, and has had his music featured on Democracy Now!, BBC, Al-Jazeera, and other networks. His essays are published regularly on CounterPunch and elsewhere, and the 200+ songs he makes available for free on the web have been downloaded more than a million times.    

In the new book “Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power,” Steve Coll http://newamerica.net/user/3 investigates the notoriously secretive ExxonMobil Corporation. In many of the countries where it conducts business, ExxonMobil’s sway over politics and security is greater than that of the U.S. embassy. In Washington, ExxonMobil spends more money lobbying Congress and the White House than any other corporation. Yet despite its outsized influence, it is a black box.

Coll is the president of the New America Foundation, http://newamerica.net/ a nonpartisan public policy institute headquartered in Washington, and a staff writer for The New Yorker. He worked for 20 years at The Washington Post, where he received a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism in 1990. He is the author of six other books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Ghost Wars.”

Coll discussed the book in two recent interviews on Democracy Now! http://www.democracynow.org/2012/5/4/private_empire_author_steve_coll_on http://www.democracynow.org/2012/5/7/exxonmobils_dirty_secrets_from_indonesia_to

Location: BookPeople,  603 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX Date: 5/29/12

A ZGraphix Production.
Produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org