The RVA IMC Collective will be hosting two events this weekend as the culmination of our fall BE THE MEDIA Movie and Workshop Series.

Friday, Dec. 10th, 2004 - Video showing of "Thus Always to Tyrants", RVA IMC's own documentary of the Republican National Conventions protests that took place this past August in New York City. The focus follows the activity of the hundreds of Virginians who participated in the historic protests. Showing at 6 pm at Queer Paradise - 319 N. Adams in Jackson Ward

Saturday, Dec. 11th, 2004 - The RVA IMC Collective will lead a workshop and discussion on Community Reporting. The workshop will cover all of the basics of community reporting, such as how to conduct an interview, how to write a lead and how to publish your stories online. The workshop will begin at 2pm at the Flying Brick Library - 506 S. Pine Street in Oregon Hill. Please arrive on time as there is another scheduled event in town at 4pm.

On Friday, December 3, Virginia Public Service Workers Union (UE Local 160) members and organizers spoke with twelve workers, eight students, and a handful of faculty members of the University of Mary Washington Living Wage Coalition. They met at the university's physical plant in Fredericksburg, VA to explore the question, “Can state workers unionize?�? The answer was a resounding “Yes you can!�?

On Thursday Dec. 2 at 7:30 PM the Flying Brick library will host a viewing of "Showdown in Seattle" and various media associated with the 1999 anti-WTO protests in Seattle, Washington to mark the 5 year anniversary. Snacks provided, discussion encouraged.

Giles County, VA -- One Virginian activist, Niklan Jones-Lezama, is believed dead and another, Sue Daniels, is missing.

On Saturday, Niklan's body was found by a search party of friends within a few hundred yards of Sue's cabin outside of Blacksburg. This past Thursday, Sue's cabin had been burned to the ground in an apparent act of arson. Sue and Niklan's two cars were found parked outside the charred remains of the building. The badly burned remains of what is believed to be a dog were found inside.

Both Nik and Sue were active around varous social justice issues, such as opposing war in the Middle East, oppression in Central America, and violent mountaintop removal in Appalachia. The two were in their forties and spent several months in federal prison last year due to their participation in the annual School of the Americas protests in Georgia. These annual SOA protests coincidentally occurred this past weekend. The last time people report seeing Niklan was when he was due to leave to attend the protests 5 a.m. on Thursday.

This photo features both Sue and Nik leading a procession into their 2002 trial for protesting the SOA in 2001.

As you may know, WRIR is applying for a Special Use Permit to allow them to operate from a studio at 1621 West Broad Street. On Monday, November 15th, WRIR received a unanimous vote of approval from the Planning commission! The Planning Commission was impressed by the great turnout from WRIR supporters. On Monday November 22nd at 6:00pm, Richmond City Council will review and vote on WRIR's Special Use permit. Their consideration is the final step to getting the station on-air. If they approve the permit, then WRIR will be within weeks of on-air operation! Bill Pantele, our council representative would like to see area residents turn out in support. If you have time Monday evening, please come to city hall and show your support for WRIR.

Advocating for workers’ rights is not a new topic—but it would be nice to think that Virginia is moving forwards instead of backwards. The living wage movements at William & Mary and the University of Virginia are great examples of workers and the community fighting together for better pay and benefits. However, there are some rights that seem so basic that most people take for granted as being the law. In actuality, very few rights are protected for workers on the job. For some Virginians, even the basic right to take a paid break is denied to them. If you are a worker in Virginia over the age of 16, no employer has to give you a paid break or an unpaid meal period...

The film fest will be held on November 18th at The Richmond Queer Space Project presents a Queer Film Festival brought to you by Malaqueerche productions.

10:00 pm at Queer Paradise 319 North Adams (between Broad and Marshall). This event is open to the public, all ages, wheelchair accessible.
Check out www.queerspace.org for more info.

People entering the Landmark Theater Saturday night to hear retired Gen. Tommy Franks speak were confronted by a group of angry protesters on the sidewalk in front of the theater.

An excerpt from the article:
"Although aware of her sensitive position, Margaret never hesitated to tell it like it is – which usually implied harsh criticism of US/UK policy in the region. What is horrifically ironic about her current predicament is that it is precisely that policy regime which has led her to this life-threatening situation. Margaret did not participate in Blair’s war to turn a profit, Blair’s war came to her. For this reason, Mr. Blair is ethically obliged to do whatever his power allows to obtain her freedom...."

Editor note: Margaret Hassan was taken captive in Iraq October 19. Nabil Al-Tikriti is an Assistant Professor of History at the Unversity of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg. He can be reached at naltikriti[at]yahoo.com Please also note his blog sites linked at the end of the op-ed. -j

Eighteen activists from North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia gathered in West Virginia on November 7 and 8, for a heartbreaking, yet exciting weekend of witnessing, listening, and strategizing. The trip was organized for activists across the region to witness the devastation euphemistically known as mountaintop removal (hereafter called mountain range removal), to listen to people in the coalfields speak of life on the front lines, to network with local organizers, and to further develop strategy and tactics to stop this insanity.

Protest War Criminal General Tommy Franks
Saturday, Nov. 13 7pm
Landmark Theater @ Monroe Park (Main and Laurel streets)

Post-Protest Discussion @ Pace Center 700 W. Franklin

"Gen. Tommy Franks is seen as an architect of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It should come as no surprise that he is being sued as a war criminal for his role in the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. The complaint holds him and other u.s. military officials responsible for the indiscriminate killing of Iraqi civilians, the bombing of a marketplace in Baghdad, the shooting of an ambulance, and failure to prevent the mass looting of hospitals," said Jan Fermon, a Brussels-based lawyer. It may come as more of a surprise that Franks was also under investigation for ‘abuse of office’ by the Pentagon (CNN 2/5/03). As a retired war criminal Franks through his weight behind the Bush campaign in the recent elections...."

A timely re-post of an article about the southern labor movement and the economic foundations of right-wing power in 'red-state america'.

This week GW Bush, the most hated man in the world, won a slim re-election this week through the savvy use of gay-bashing referendum votes in pivotal swing states. Since then, progressives and radicals have been confronting painful truths about cultural divides in the United States. Crafting a strategy to re-identify 'moral issues' as civil rights and social justice for all people, and then using it to organize mass movements for social change, is now a life-or-death challenge for the left. Either we do this, or we lose everything. The news and debate on websites like the Richmond IMC are particularly important in this context--- the problem of 'organizing the south' is more crucial now than ever before.

As we grapple with these issues, I'm posting an article written for the last issue of Left Turn magazine. It's about the southern labor movement. Hopefully it can shed a little light on the economic foundations that right-wing power in 'red-state america' rest on. It mentions a struggling union of city workers in Richmond which is, unfortunately, no longer active. However, the Richmond Coalition for a Living Wage remains active, and has done amazing work making space for temp workers, day laborers and their allies to organize each other and fight for economic human rights. RCLW deserves more active support from Richmond-area progressives and radicals in thsi endeavor; maybe GW Bush will light a fire under our butts to work more with temp workers in attacking the structures of economic apartheid in Virginia that help thugs like Bush hold power over this empire.