by Paul Walker

When Mayor Nutter organized the Town Hall Meetings in December of last year, the last thing he had on his mind was transparency in government, let alone input into the budgeting process. What he was really doing was laying it out plain to the people of Philadelphia: buck up, you lose. Boy did he get an earful. I’ll never forget the look on his face as hundreds of residents of Southwest Philly lined up to take a turn at the mic, letting him know just how pissed they were, while the crowds in the seats taunted and cajoled the Mayor, Library Director Siobhan Reardon and the panel of cronies they had brought along with them.

By Sean West and Scott Pinkelman

It would be an understatement to call the recent struggle against Mayor Michael Nutter’s proposed service cuts anything but amazing. Under the banner called the Coalition for Essential Services, a movement of neighborhood groups, most of the cities major unions, health care activists, students, clergy, block captains, seniors and many more essentially put such a fire under our Mayor’s rear that he was forced to abandon many of his plans to balance the budget by cutting services to working people and poor neighborhoods. After witnessing many lively protests of The Coalition to Save the Libraries such as the “People’s Indictment of Mayor Nutter” and a “People’s Contempt of Court Citation”, it was surreal to see the movement’s slogans co-opted by Nutter as he announced his FY 2010 budget on March 19th in City Hall chambers as “The People’s Budget.”

In the meantime, while City Council attempted to bore dozens of us into comas as we waited patiently to be bored by Mayor Nutter's own boring lecture on the budget, most of us had wild hopes that something out of the ordinary might happen. Instead, we were reminded once again of some of the indignities that have come to be accepted as normal.

When the Frankford Chargers football team was being honored by City Council National People's Democratic Uhuru Movement activists brought attention to the team member who wasn't there, stating in clear calm words: "We remember Shareef Lee Jones, killed by Philadelphia police."

by Bronwyn Lepore
    
In February (2009) two Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania judges, Mark A. Ciaravella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan, were convicted of receiving kickbacks to the tune of 2.6 million dollars from the privately run juvenile detention centers ironically named PA Child Care LLC and Western PA Child Care LLC, for sentencing over 5, 000 kids (who typically lacked legal representation) to jail since 2003, for infractions as minor as stealing loose change from cars, writing prank notes and possessing drug paraphernalia. Corporate prison officials have yet to be charged. The news was shocking, but to those familiar with the U.S. prison industry, hardly surprising. The tracking of black, Latino1 and poor white kids into the prison system has been gaining momentum in the U.S. for some time.²

By Amy Dalton

On Friday March 6, several dozen mothers, grandmothers, children, and their supporters gathered in front of the Department of Human Services (DHS) office in downtown Philadelphia to challenge the agency's priorities and practices. The women say the DHS has a pattern of mistaking poverty for neglect, and trauma caused by domestic violence as evidence of poor mothering. Several spoke at length about their experience trying to get their children back from the state foster care system, or encountering abuse, neglect and racism within what are supposed to be solutions. The group then marched down the street to the Arch Street United Methodist Church, where a teach-in was held.

On September 17, 2008, as the governments of the world scrambled to prevent the collapse of the global financial system, Enric Duran, a Catalan anticapitalist organizer, announced a daring act of 'financial civil disobedience.' Over the past two years Duran had borrowed 492,000 euros (approx 664000 US) from 40 different banks with no intention of paying the money back. As a protest of the global financial system and the inherently exploitative nature of commercial banks, Duran distributed the money to various anticapitalist social movements in Spain and used it to publish 200,000 copies of a magazine called Crisis that detailed critiques of the commercial banking system. He was dubbed 'Robin Hood of the Banks' by the media.

by Andalusia Knoll

When you tune in the radio dial across this country you will rarely find news that matches the issues and opinions of this here newspaper.  And why is that?  Is it because there aren't enough people reporting on grassroots issues and social justice struggles or is it because the the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and powerful media conglomerates have made it extremely difficult for educational institutions, labor unions, religious groups, and community organizations to have their own radio stations? Restrictive laws that do not allow Low Power FM (LPFM) radio stations to acquire broadcast licenses show that it is the latter.  Our public airwaves have essentially been privatized by large corporations that don't allow diverse programming on the airwaves.  However, there is hope! The Local Community Radio Act (HR 1174), if passed by Congress, should ease these restrictions and allow for hundreds of new non-commercial stations.

From the first line of the first track (a quote from dune) we see the thesis clearly: escape the mental prison! With styles reminiscent of Saul Williams or even Gil Scott Heron, veteran west Philly activist, DJ, and Poet brings his first collection of work "Infinite Tenacity" to us with the help of producer Tremain Fisher. whose eclectic styles help frame the diverse yet vibrant visions of Mshinda.

[col. writ. 3/9/09] (c)  '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal
 
For millions of people, both in America and abroad, the inauguration of a Black person as President of the United States was a moment of transcendent history, one of meaning and significance that suggests real change in a nation that has long labored under its racist history.
 
This was perhaps best evidenced by the vast number of people who swarmed Washington to be part of such a day.
 

by Sehu-Kessa-Saa Tabansi

We the incarcerated citizens of Pennsylvania desire the public's scrutiny and intervention into the degree of collaboration between the state of Pennsylvania and the National conglomerate Keefe group. 

At present, under the subordinate agency Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) there is a hidden contract with Keefe group.  This contract does not benefit Pennsylvania taxpayers or local businesses.