The Changing Face of America

The Presidential campaign will be covered today like it were a horse race. Today Republicans and Democrats will hold their breath to see who won that race. But anxiety over any one campaign can make it hard to discern larger, slower, movements on which our true hopes may ride.

Paul Taylor at the Pew Research Center has noted of the United States that, “…we are in midpassage of a big, centurylong demographic change,” He notes that in 1950 the nation was 87% white, but by 2050, whites will fall beneath 50% for the first time.

“Every year it ticks a little more. If you think about it in terms of the electorate, you know every year about 3 million new people age into the electorate and age into the workforce, and every year about 3 million people age out — which is a euphemism for they leave this vale of tears,” Taylor says. “The people leaving are predominantly white. The people coming in are heavily nonwhite.”

The Republican strategy to focus on a white males domographic, peppered by token people of color, has always been wrong but it will grow increasingly absurd. Their strategy may or may not cost them this particular race, but the writing is on the wall. Only 10% of the current Republican Party consists of people of color.  The old line some Republicans use about “playing the race card” everytime someone brings up an issue important to Black and Hispanic voters will soon be understood not only as racist, but as an act of denial.

The article linked below says that “by 2050, minorities will be the majority.” But that phrase, too, is an act of denial. When people of color become the majority population, by definition, they won’t be minorities any more. They will no longer be asked to fit in Black History Month, or along the edges of European culture. In other words, the United States will have to change how we think about the world.

Whoever wins today’s election will not effect the demographic sunami headed our way. Every year for the rest of our lives America will look a little a little less like an episode of the Osmonds, and a little more like the rest of the people on planet earth. That re-entry into the human family, and not any one election, is where our ultimate hope lies.

Read more here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/11/05/164197936/americas-changing-face-presents-an-opportunity-for-the-gop?sc=17&f=1001

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November 6, 2012

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Third Coast Activist’s list of upcoming social justice events in Austin

 

Hello all. Our friends at MonkeyWrench Books have some great events coming up. Remember that buying books and magazines there helps support a great community resource. http://www.monkeywrenchbooks.org/.

MonkeyWrench will be at the December 2 Raj Patel event with copies of Raj’s books, Stuffed and Starved and The Value of Nothing. Details below and at http://www.austintheatre.org/site/Calendar?view=Detail&id=30281.

As always, information about upcoming events and more can be found at our website – http://thirdcoastactivist.org

 

 

Monday, November 5, 7 pm

Forum on “Surveillance, Space, and the Public”

Scholars, artists, and activists will discuss stop-and-frisk policies, the right to privacy, and public safety. Panelists include Simone Browne, UT Sociology professor; Micha Cárdenas, Los Angeles-based artist, scholar, and activist; and Ernesto Yerena, artist and activist.

The panel will be followed by small-group discussions.

The program is sponsored by the Humanities Institute of the University of Texas.

Location: Avaya Auditorium, ACE 2.302, SE corner of Speedway and 24th St.

 

Tuesday, November 6, 9 pm

Election Night Anti-Party Party

Feeling dismayed about electoral politics? Still want to understand all the election-inspired internet memes? MonkeyWrench Books is hosting an election-night gathering with live streaming coverage from Democracy Now! http://www.democracynow.org/

Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop, Austin, 78751 http://www.monkeywrenchbooks.org/

 

Thursday, November 8, 7 pm

Mexican Political Asylum: From Victims to Activists

Carlos Spector, a leading immigration attorney specializing in Mexican political asylum cases, will discuss the causes of violence in Mexico as well as the U.S. government’s rationale for denying Mexican asylum claims. Spector will be joined by 32-year old Juan Fraire Escobedo, son of Marisela Escobedo, a human-rights activist who was murdered in Mexico while advocating for judicial reform. Escobedo, who has applied for political asylum in the United States, will discuss his family’s continuing fight for justice and what can be done to end the political repression and violence in his country.

For more information, contact Alejandra Spector, mexenex@gmail.com.

Location: 5604 Manor, 5604 Manor Road, Austin, 78723 – 5604manor.org

 

Thursday, November 8, 7 pm

“After Capitalism: Economic Democracy in Action”

Dada Maheshvarananda will discuss his new book, After Capitalism: Economic Democracy in Action. He explains how social crises are interlinked with personal struggle for peace and justice.  Maheshvarananda is director of the Prout Research Institute in Venezuela.

Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop, Austin, 78751 http://www.monkeywrenchbooks.org/

 

Friday, November 9, 1-3 pm

The Road Ahead: A First Look at the 2012 Election

This post-election briefing with community organizers and political professionals from Texas will assess the 2012 election results, with a focus on participation among traditionally disenfranchised communities, especially, youth, Hispanics and African Americans.

National political professionals and pollsters will be teleconferencing in to provide an overview of how Texas fits into the national landscape.

The event is sponsored by the School of Journalism and the Texas Civic Engagement Table, which was established in 2010 to address the low level of voter engagement.

For more information, contact Lesley Nicole Ramsey, lesley@texastable.org.

Location: Belo Center for New Media, Fifth Floor Presentation Room (BMC 5.102), northeast corner of Dean Keeton and Guadalupe, University of Texas, Austin https://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/bmc.html

 

Sunday, November 11, 3:30-5:30 pm

Communities of Color and Higher Education: Bridging the Divide

While the U.S. Supreme Court is deliberating on the fate of affirmative action in Fisher v. University of Texas, Quilombola (formerly the Austin Black and Brown Alliance) is sponsoring a panel with scholars, teachers, organizers, and students to discuss how access to higher education affects communities of color on a more local level.

The panel includes moderator Josh Tang (University of Texas student), Patricia López (Texas Center for Education Policy), Gerald Torres (UT law professor), Samantha Robles (UT student), and Richard Reddick (UT education professor).

For more information online, http://www.facebook.com/events/436561126402376/.

Location: Orun Center of Cultural Arts, 1720 East 12th St., Austin 78702

 

Sunday, November 18, 7 pm

“Anne Braden: Southern Patriot” Film Screening

Anne Braden was hailed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a white southerner whose rejection of her segregationist upbringing was “eloquent and prophetic.” Ostracized as a “red” in the 1950s, she fought for an inclusive movement community and mentored three generations of social justice advocates. The documentary http://www.annelewis.org/Anne_braden.html explores not only the dangers of racism and political repression but also the power of a woman’s life spent in commitment to social justice.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Anne Lewis http://www.annelewis.org/.

Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop, Austin, 78751 http://www.monkeywrenchbooks.org/

 

Sunday, November 25, 7 pm

“Punishment and Profits: Immigration Detention” Screening and Discussion

Texans United for Families and Grassroots Leadership http://www.grassrootsleadership.org/ will screen the Al Jazeera English Fault Lines documentary film “Punishment and Profits” and discuss how the detention and deportation of immigrants has reached an all-time high during the Obama administration.

Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop, Austin, 78751 http://www.monkeywrenchbooks.org/

 

Monday, November 26, 7 pm

Texas Observer’s Melissa del Bosque and Jen Reel discuss “Kochworld”

Texas Observer reporters Melissa del Bosque and Jen Reel http://www.texasobserver.org/observer-podcast-19-reporting-kochworld/ will discuss their recent cover story on “Kochworld,” http://www.texasobserver.org/kochworld/ which details refinery pollution in Corpus Christi. The story profiles the fenceline communities bordering the Koch and Citgo-owned refineries in Corpus and gives voice to the sick residents living in the shadow of refineries spewing large amounts of known carcinogens.

Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop, Austin, 78751 http://www.monkeywrenchbooks.org/

 

Friday, November 30 – Saturday, December 1

Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas-USA Conference

ASPO-USA http://aspousa.org/ will hold its 2012 Peak Oil Conference in Austin. http://www.cvent.com/events/the-next-oil-crisis-is-the-boom-just-another-bubble-/event-summary-11a8c07f60dd41a2a53842ecdf190d3f.aspx

ASPO-USA’s mission is to help America navigate and adapt to a new energy future in a world of diminishing oil supplies. The group focuses on information and education campaigns to raise public awareness about the urgency and far-reaching consequences of Peak Oil.

The conference’s hosts are the Cockrell School of Engineering, McCombs School of Business, and Energy Institute at UT.

For more information, contact info@aspousa.org.

Location: University of Texas Alumni Center, 2110 San Jacinto, Austin, 78712

 

Sunday, December 2, 8 pm

An Evening with Raj Patel and “Generation Food”

Join us at the Stateside at the Paramount for an inspirational evening featuring writer and activist Raj Patel. http://www.austintheatre.org/site/Calendar?view=Detail&id=30281

The author of bestsellers on food (Stuffed and Starved) and economics (The Value of Nothing), Patel is working on a new multimedia project with award-winning documentary filmmaker Steve James, the director of “Hoop Dreams” and “The Interrupters.” The “Generation Food” project http://generationfoodproject.org/ will show how ordinary people around the world are overcoming obstacles and “setting the table” for themselves, their communities, and generations to come using better, smarter ways of growing food and feeding the world than the industrial agriculture system.

The current issue of Edible Austin includes a story about Patel and the project. http://www.edibleaustin.com/content/editorial/editorial/1111?task=view

Tickets are available at the Paramount Theatre Box Office, online http://tickets.austintheatre.org/public/loader.asp?target=hall.asp?event=699 or (512) 474-1221.

The $103 VIP tickets include preferred seating and a pre-event reception with Raj Patel at 6 pm featuring seasonal tastings from Austin-area chefs and beverage makers. Regular tickets are $28.

The evening is part of a week of great events for Edible Austin’s “Eat/Drink Local Week,” celebrating local, fresh food in Central Texas from December 1-8. http://www.edibleaustin.com/eatdrinklocalweek

The week’s activities raise money for two local nonprofit groups. Urban Roots http://www.urbanrootsatx.org/ uses sustainable agriculture as a means to transform the lives of young people and increase access to healthy food in Austin. The Sustainable Food Center http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/ works to strengthen the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food through managing three of the area’s largest farmers markets and the Grow Local, Farm Direct, Happy Kitchen, and Sprouting Healthy Kids programs.

Location: Stateside at the Paramount, 719 Congress Ave., Austin, 78701 http://www.austintheatre.org/

Unless otherwise noted, events are free and open to the public. Please forward where appropriate.
The Third Coast Activist Resource Center is a founding partner in the progressive community center 5604 Manor – 5604manor.org – which is launching a Capital Campaign to renovate the building and retire the debt. To contribute, please go to https://www.chi-cash-advance.com/sforms/appeal1245/Contribute.aspx and make sure to note that the donation is for the Capital Campaign.
In Solidarity, Third Coast Activist Resource Center
——————————————————————————————— To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an email message to pat@thirdcoastactivist.org

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November 5, 2012

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On Termites and Libertarians

I suspect if Mitt Romney wins this election he will probably swing more toward the middle as did Obama. I don’t have that same comfort with Paul Ryan. If Ryan doesn’t believe in government, what else can he do in office but destroy it? To elect a Libertarian to high office is like taking in a termite as a house pet.

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November 5, 2012

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Paul Ryan and the New Beatitudes

 

Paul Ryan said last week that Obama is a threat to our Judeo-Christian values. The idea that a follower of Ayn Rand, who hated Christianity and Judaism, would say such a thing was so strange that my mind was taken up to heaven. There I saw a new and improved Jesus who gave me a tablet of gold to bring back to all who question Paul Ryan’s right to speak for all Christians and Jews. The New Jesus said that protecting Judeo-Christian values (i.e. Capitalism) is so important that I should take the golden tablet to Paul Ryan. New Jesus said that he has re-written the Beatitudes so Paul Ryan’s position will not seem so hypocritical.

 

The New Beatitudes

Blessed are the rich, for theirs is the earth and all its bling.

Blessed are those free of empathy for those in harm’s way, for apathy is its own comfort.

Blessed are the powerful for they shall inherit the land, but I repeat myself.

Blessed are those who do not seek equality and fairness, but instead trust the invisible hand of the market to counterbalance their own greed.

Blessed are those who show no mercy to criminals and immigrants, for if we do not screweth them, they will screweth us.

Blessed are those who fill their hearts and minds with images of material goods, for they will see a God that looks just like themselves.

Blessed are our troops, but not theirs. ‘Nough said.

Blessed are those who enforce unjust laws, and pay unfair wages, for they have their heaven now.

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November 5, 2012

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fishes and loaves

I’m getting ready to teach a class on the fishes and loaves story from the Gospel of John. Some have said of this story that what is most striking about it is its simplicity. Rachel Mann is an Anglican priest based in South Manchester, UK. She writes, “However we play out this story, we are not the realm of spectacular and the pyrotechnic”

For Mann, the story is not about a magic trick, but about the miracle of sharing. It is impossible to feed the people as long as the question is, “how can we afford to do this?” Jesus takes provisions from a child and dispenses them to the masses. Some commentaries have said that seeing the generosity of a child triggered adults to share their secret stash of food, thus ending up with more than enough for everyone.

Mann says, “(People) quite plausibly, may argue that food – that bread – will always be a limited commodity that leaves some fed and others with nothing. The Christian faith is doomed – from that perspective – to be ridiculous and absurd. That it may appear so is a condemnation of political expediency and an invitation to rediscover the shape of real hope.”

In other words, the “miracle” is that Jesus stepped out of the economic model of the time and simply met human need. The act seems politically and economically niave, but it forces us to answer a question. Can someone really follow this teacher, and call for conservative economic policies?

In the United  States, some Christians are saying that social programs are impoverishing us all. But a closer look will show that even those meager programs are under the cold metalic hand of capital. Mann points out that the US billion-dollar food aid programme is dominated by three US-based multinationals. She quotes Eric Munoz, agriculture specialist for Oxfam America, as saying, “[it is clear]…that it is massive multinational firms – not rural America and not farmers – that are the direct beneficiaries of the rigged rules governing the US food aid programme.” In other words, even our national acts of charity are making the rich richer.

St. John might add, “let those with ears, hear.”

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November 4, 2012

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My Dinner with Chris Hedges.

MY DINNER WITH CHRIS HEDGES

 

Chris Hedges is a former reporter at the NY Times. He was part of a team of reporters that won the Pulitzer Prize. He began as a much heralded war correspondent, but because he developed a radical critique of capitalism and the American empire, Hedges’ star began to fall from that lofty sky. While giving a commencement address, he criticized a US military action and was for all intents and purposes, jeered off the stage. Soon he was gone from the Times.

 

Hedges’ writing is sometimes described as morbid or even crazy. He seems furious with our nation’s foreign policy. He seems furious with the rich. He seems most furious with liberals who co-operate with empire. He tirelessly brings up our nation’s loss of civil liberties.

 

Robert Jensen teaches journalism at the University of Texas and arranged for Hedges to come and speak at the church where I preach. He also arranged a meal afterward. The meal was at a local Thai restaurant with Jensen, Hedges, myself and Paul Woodruff, a friend of Hedges’ who teaches philosophy and classics at the University of Texas.

 

It was his conversation with Woodruff that was most revealing. As they alternated talking politics and Greek tragedy, I realized that Hedges’ primary love was art and literature. But war correspondents may see the open chests of dying soldiers.  They may see limbless children making their way through the rubble of war. I do not know what Chris Hedges saw, but at that dinner he seemed to me like the story of Jacob who had wrestled with God and left that struggle with a permanent wound.

 

Like the song says, “It’s a rich fool’s war, but a poor fool’s fight.” I cannot imagine what it is like to look into the eyes of a dying soldier, and to know they were dying for a lie.  How do you look into that horror, and then return to a nation that does not want to hear about it?

 

So Hedges wanders now like Ezekiel, whose soul has been blistered by looking too long at the truth. He is reduced to shouting truth at a nation with neither eyes to see, nor ears to hear. He is like a wounded figure from a Greek tragedy who alone feels the pain of a nation’s death blow.

 

I do not always enjoy reading Chris Hedges, but I do so religiously because I know he has left the halls of power so that he might speak unpleasant truths on behalf of the wretched of the earth. As the Greeks knew, a prophet often appears mad when calling a nation to sanity by speaking truths  that nation does not want to hear.

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November 3, 2012

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“Vote the Bible?”

A big flap was created a few days ago when a woman showed up for early voting wearing a T-shirt saying “Vote the Bible.” An election worker assumed that the slogan was an endorsement of Romney and asked her to cover the shirt.

The rules for voting in the area prohibit shirts, caps, signs or buttons supporting or opposing any “candidate, proposition or initiative that appears on the ballot.” So, our question today is, “Was this situation an example of simple election protocal, or was it an infringement of the woman’s first amendment rights?”

The Austin American Statesman article (linked below) quoted an official as saying that another potential voter was asked to leave because he or she was wearing shoes that endorsed Obama. The statement was intended to imply that there was no bias in the T-shirt decision, but this woman’s shirt was not endorsing a candidate or a specific issue on the ballot. So who was right?

If I were an election judge, I would have to rule with the woman on this one. It seems to me she would have a right to state that opinion. I also understand that any references to voting might be drawn into question, so it is probably wise not to come to the polls with anything that might be construed as a political message on one’s T-shirt.

What is interesting to me is the unstated assumption by everyone in the story that the Bible belongs to the Republican Party. I don’t question that there are sincere Christians on the far right, but I do question the assumption that there aren’t just as many Christians on the far left. The right has done a terrific job convincing America that heterosexuality, preventing abortion and capitalism were central issues in the teachings of Jesus. Of course, Jesus never mentioned any of those topics. Some religious people have cut and pasted the Bible to fit the world they want to live in. The actual politics of Jesus focused on the poor, the weak and the sick, but you would never know that in many religious settings. They way many political Christians speak, you would think Jesus spoke primarily against immigration and in favor of a flat tax.

What it means to “Vote the Bible” depends on the biases we bring to the text. If someone reads the Bible self-righteously, they will not hear it calling them to repentence, but will hear it calling them to make others repent. They will reshape the message of love into an attack the same way a vicious prisoner turns soap bars into mock guns.

Even though I am a Christian, I don’t want to live in a biblically-based theocracy. I don’t want my group to be in charge of everyone else. If that’s what it means to “Vote the Bible” I want no part of it. And if “Vote the Bible” means bashing gays and taking away women’s reproductive options, count me out. If “Vote the Bible” means voting for policies that benefit the rich and punish the poor, I have no allegiance to that brand of Christianity. If “Vote the Bible” implies that non-Christians are somehow voting improperly, count me among the heretics.

So, I would side with the woman legally, but I might disagree with her in every other way.

 

Thanks to Linda Eldredge for the link and the suggested topic.

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/williamson-county-asked-to-apologize-to-voter-told/nStkS/

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November 3, 2012

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Is this Elephant Speaking Korean?

Researchers are claiming that an elephant has learned to use its trunk to mimic human words. According to those researchers, the elephant can mimic the words “hello,” “no,” “sit down,” “lie down” and “good.” People who had never met the elephant were played recordings of the sounds the elephant made and could pick out those words as meaningful.

The methodology as described doesn’t sound scientific to me. Recording noises made over a larger period of time and cherry picking the ones that sound like words runs the risk of projecting human meaning onto something more ambiguous. That method could quite literally put words in an animal’s mouth.

What is impressive, in my opinion, is that the elephant seems to be trying to copy human speech in the first place.  It is a fundamental mistake to use our own intelligence as the litmus for an animal’s. An elephant’s intelligence would be adapted to its own environment not ours. Putting its trunk in its mouth so as better to copy our sounds is impressive even if the words  weren’t quite right. Watch the video below and see what you think. What seems beyond question is that these great beasts, like the great apes, are worth protecting and preserving not because they are like us, but because they enrich our world by being different.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20142858

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November 2, 2012

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David Brooks: Vote Republican to End their Tantrum

Nixon and Kissenger are said to have considered feigning insanity as a negotiating ploy. They are said to have believed a leader could get more concessions by portraying himself or herself as both powerful and irrational. Historians are now unsure whether the Nixon administration ever actually employed the device, but the ploy clearly would work with NY Times columnist David Brooks, who wrote:

“If Obama wins re-election, the Republican Party will react by moving right, not left. It will become less likely to compromise with Obama … Republicans, especially at the grassroots level, would react to Obama’s re-election by assuming that Romney failed because he was too moderate. … [T]hey will be looking forward to the gains that the party out of the White House typically makes in midterm elections. The Republicans aren’t going to change.”

In other words, Republicans can’t play well with others so vote for them so we can get something done. But what government gets done is kind of important, too. It is one thing to vote for Romney because you believe in his policies, but another thing to vote for him because you believe the Republicans will block any legislation a Democrat proposes. On the contrary, that would be a reason to clean house to get rid of the obstructionists. The minds of most voters are presently stuck in a two party system. Until we introduce some complexity into our thinking process, for either side to sabotage the other means suffering for us all. We have explosive problems with a short fuse. Can we wait four more years to begin to confront issues like global climate change, and a deteriorating infrastructure?
My political beliefs are simple. I believe in human rights for all, I would also like a livable planet for us to stand on. I’m not a political expert (if such an animal exists) but I know this much: If the Republicans keep moving toward a cliff, and the Democrats keep meeting them half way, we’re all sunk.

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November 2, 2012

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The story of MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

Whenever we clergy quote MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” we run the risk of forgetting that the whole point of the letter was to say that the comfortable mainstream churches stood against everything King was doing.
We Presbyterians use the phrase “decently and in order” all the time. In essence, the mainstream clergy of MLK’s time were asking him to do things “decently an in order.” As he sat in a dark cell in solitary confinement, King tried to make out the words of an ad in the Birmingham News where eight white ministers called him a “troublemaker.”
Having no paper, King began to draft a response to the ministers writing around the edges of the newspaper. His lawyers smuggled the prophetic scraps out of the jail and began to piece them together to create what we now refer to as the letter.
The clergy claimed they weren’t opposed to civil rights, but objected to King breaking the law. King famously quoted St. Augustine’s dictum that an unjust law is no law at all. King reminded the clergy of their city’s history of injustice against people of color. He reminded them that the very courts they were asking him to appeal to, were on the side of injustice. He said, “The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.”

I am not suggesting that clergy should not read “the Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” I am just saying we should not project ourselves as sitting beside King in that dark cell. Instead, we should receive the letter as one of the eight smug and comfortable clergy who needs to be reminded that justice delayed is justice denied.

 

 

To read more, click here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/arthur-shores-gentle-giant-of-dynamite-hill-excerpt_n_1837322.html

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November 2, 2012

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