Power to the Peoples!

If your town didn't celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day this week, here are some resources to help you establish it in your area:

https://www.zinnedproject.org/campaigns/abolish-columbus-day

Related Stories:

Free Indigenous Prisoner Leonard Peltier!

https://therealnews.com/free-indigenous-political-prisoner-leonard-peltier 

Indigenous Led Alliance Moves to Stop Bolsonaro's Ecocidal Destruction of the Amazon

https://therealnews.com/indigenous-led-alliance-moves-to-stop-bolsonaros-ecocidal-destruction-of-the-amazon

Indigenous Coalition Tells Biden Communities Need Clean Water and Climate Action

https://truthout.org/articles/indigenous-coalition-tells-biden-communities-need-clean-water-and-climate-action/

The US Has Used Conservatorships to Exploit Indigenous Peoples

https://truthout.org/articles/the-us-has-used-conservatorships-to-exploit-indigenous-peoples/

https://scheerpost.com/2021/10/11/happy-indigenous-peoples-day-from-those-who-made-it-possible/

More information on IPD below this week's article. Power to all Indigenous Peoples!

***

October 15th is the day for a #General Strike

https://octoberstrike.com/

A Week in View

by Coast Watcher

In Alabama over a thousand mine workers have been on strike for over over two hundred days, demanding higher pay and benefits. Nabisco workers recently won their strike after closing all the company’s plants in the US. Kellogg's workers are out on strike over pensions, healthcare and more. Hollywood is grinding to a stop over the IATSE strike. All the above labor disputes were voted for by over 98% of the workers concerned. Next Saturday will see a national general strike.

Things are turning at last. We are seeing a seismic shift in public attitudes toward the corporate world, with its pathetic wage structure, benefit cuts, ever demanding work hours and atrocious working conditions. The public is finally becoming aware that too many people are now finding they have to spend more money to work than they actually make in wages and salary.

The current COVID-19 situation is analogous to that pertaining during and after the Black Death of the fourteenth century. Europe’s population dropped by between 30-40%, leading to a chronic shortage of labor. The feudal system, which depended heavily on forcing workers to live and labor all their lives on land owned by the lord of the manor, suddenly faced a surviving population empowered by this shortage of labor and the lack of any effective means of coercing the people to work. 

That’s not to say things will be easy in our modern world. A steady increase in store prices began not long after COVID shut down the economy for several months. The capitalists saw far enough ahead to realize the threat their cozy system faced, and they’re trying to force people back to work through raising prices across the board. All we have to do is stay the course. Without labor, the rich will not get richer. Now is the time to pile on the pressure and force through real change for the better for the 99%. Strike!

BIO: Coast Watcher says it's time to strike while the iron's hot. The workers have been burnt  and the capitalists and their politician puppets have been throwing our human rights into the fire for far too long. Organize your place of work if you're not represented by a union. Don't cross picket lines. Support those workers who are on the picket lines with food, water, money, and your gratitude for their courage. Power to the people!

 

It’s a great time for the entire working class population to go on strike. #GeneralStrike

— DEMEXIT_HARD (@MonroePuzzle) October 11, 2021

Tired of working for the man? You can find a Workers' Co-operative in your area:

https://www.usworker.coop/directory/

 ***

Important Stories You Might Not Have Heard Anything About In The Mainstream Media This Week:

The Science of Propaganda is Still Being Developed and Advanced https://soundcloud.com/going_rogue/the-science-of-propaganda-is-still-being-developed-and-advanced

Julian Assange: Silence in the Face of CIA Murder Plots https://progressivehub.net/julian-assange-silence-in-the-face-of-cia-murder-plots/

 Assange and Donzinger Attacked (video) https://www.portable.tv/series/redactedtonight?v=86fddabd-b3a0-440c-8970-e9f45f48c2c8 

***

 

Osiyo,

Today — Indigenous Peoples Day (IPD) — marks the highlight of the Indigenous year. I hope you will join us as we gather to celebrate, heal, and re-Indigenize. This long weekend represents a reprieve from trauma, sadness, and grief as we travel with good hearts to see close family and distant relatives, celebrate together, and share our cultures. 

As you likely know, many places do not yet celebrate with us. They’re still celebrating Columbus Day, perpetuating the myth that Christopher Columbus discovered so-called America. Columbus arrived on October 12, 1492 on Taino homelands. This first voyage was a reconnaissance mission wherein he later established La Navidad in present-day Haiti — America’s first colony. The following fall, he returned with an invasion force of 17 ships and 1,500 soldiers. He found La Navidad destroyed by Taino People, who had retaliated against rapes and murders carried out by the Spaniards.

Watch: Giniw Collective’s Tara Houska talks about the journey of Indigenous Peoples of these lands historically until the present day.

European weapons (like cannons and muskets), armour, horses, and dogs soon overwhelmed the Indigenous warriors, who were armed only with clubs and spears. Celebrating Columbus, therefore, condones genocide and colonization. Many think of these issues as only existing in the past. But these systems, set in motion hundreds of years ago by Columbus and other conquistadores, continue. All Taino homelands, from Puerto Rico to the Bahamas, remain colonized today — many by the United States. 

To combat the Columbus-as-hero narrative, we’re working to replace Columbus Day with IPD everywhere. Our hope is that more people like you will come together with us, as Indigenous People focus throughout the long weekend on empowerment through solidarity and sharing pathways to action. 

Watch Tara Houska’s Ted Talk. As our skilled Anishinaabe relative points out, many of these struggles are deeply rooted in trauma. But today is about sharing successes within our sustained resistance to colonization. We see ourselves in the faces of our relatives while they reflect on Indigenous sovereignty, land and water rights, education, economic development, language preservation and promotion, and religious freedom. 

Our celebrations feature Indigenous poets, musicians, artists, singers, leaders, and performers from across Turtle Island, who offer their gifts. Everyone who attends an event can actively participate in round dancing and be uplifted by traditional prayers. The overwhelming feelings of celebration and open-heartedness are palpable. This is the chance for settlers and non-Natives to catch us in our most generous mindset. As we come together across nations to actively decolonize and re-Indigenize our communities and share our gifts, I hope you will join a celebration in your area.

Wado — thank you for your ongoing solidarity with our Indigenous nations.
Sarah Rose Harper
Social Media Coordinator
The Lakota People’s Law Project

***

 From Hip Hop Caucus:

Christopher Columbus didn’t just commit genocide against Indigenous people. He also set the precedent of cruelty and massacre which would haunt the American continents for hundreds of years; a precedent that is still active in the present brutality against Indigenous and Black communities.

Ceasing to honor a genocidal maniac won’t bring back the millions of lives lost to white supremacy and violent imperialism- but it will, at the very least, stop giving that maniac state sanctioned respect.

Write your representatives, and tell them that it is time to stop honoring a murderous criminal, and begin uplifting the beautiful contributions Indigenous communities make every single day.

President Biden, this year, has finally acknowledged the holiday which we should never have had to fight for. It’s time to go a step further, and ensure that this holiday is a permanent federal holiday- and that Columbus day is not one.

Tearing down statues and removing inappropriate holidays may seem small to some.

But we know it’s the difference between a society which gleefully uplifts murder, and one which is actively attempting to heal.

For Future Generations,

Rev Yearwood
President & CEO
Hip Hop Caucus

 ***

Stand Up for BIPOC Facing Climate Change Goal: 50,000 Did you know that approximately 74 million people of color live in counties with at least one failing grade for ozone pollution? While climate change is a global issue, centuries of oppression mean that Black people, Indigenous people and people of color (BIPOC) face the brunt of it.   In local terms, this oppression manifests as redlining, residential restrictions and unfair zoning laws. Globally, it comes through as economic and environmental discrimination. In the U.S., minority populations are more likely to live near toxic facilities and polluted areas than White communities. Despite making up 13% of the population, minorities in the U.S. are 38% more likely to be exposed to nitrogen oxide, a pollutant from cars, construction equipment and industrial operations.   Climate change isn’t going away soon, for any of us. But as fires, floods and pollution continue to get worse, the numbers show that the playing field isn’t level for BIPOC. Sign our petition today and tell the EPA to enact legislation that limits emissions in minority communities. Sign Today

 

Throw in the Towel?

 

Throw in the Towel?
by C.A. Matthews

All things must come to an end. Eventually. That's just how life works in our linear temporal existence here on Earth. But is there ever a point where we should step in and usurp the universe's timing for something to end? Is there ever a point where we should put an endeavor to rest early before its memory becomes so worn and tarnished that we can barely look back at it without tears and regrets?

You're looking at one such endeavor.

The heyday of Bernie Sanders' first "fringe" run for the White House are past. Those of us who jumped on the Bernie bandwagon early on in 2015 have climbed to the mountaintops and then plunged down to the deep dark valleys more times than we care to admit. We all knew that Bernie's ideas were "mainstream" and would capture the public's imagination. 

But little did we know how the "mainstream" media would at first ignore his race, then ridicule him personally, then outright blame his followers for Trump's victory. Our idealism blinded us to the reality of how "money talks" and how much the mess we're in can be placed on the doorstep of the Citizens United ruling.

This blog used to get tens of thousands of hits per week back when. No joke. Somewhere along the line the opposition (in the form of David Brock's "Correct the Record" trolls) started to block and get our promotional posts banned on social media platforms. The site visits dropped, but then they recovered, as progressives huddled together in the cold, cruel world that is Trump's America. We knew we were filling a niche and had readers who depended upon us being there for them in these dark times.

But with the demise of Google+ and the death of Net Neutrality, the last nails have been hammered into the coffin that is The Revolution Continues blog. If the hit counters are to be believed (and that's problematic in and of itself--they could be hacked), then we have gone from a weekly audience of a well-packed basketball arena for a Bernie rally down to a mid-sized auditorium or less. Is the struggle to produce/procure a weekly piece worth it for so few? We think so, but the time, toil and effort are draining. One wonders is it worth all the stress.

There are progressive candidates worth promoting, discussing and disagreeing with. There are a myriad of progressive causes that need our attention and help to get their message out. Are we still able to fulfill our purpose without a large advertising budget so we can buy the advertising we need to spread the word that we used to get free of charge?

All we know for certain at this point is this: the opponents of Net Neutrality and the scourge of corporate-welfare capitalism have a lot to answer for!

Giving a collective sigh, we push on. This week the inspiration wasn't there for any of our diehard core of bloggers and hence this sad and sorry piece. 

There is much to get righteously angry about today in the news: little children dying in #TrumpCamps, more people dying of preventable illnesses because Medicare For All is still a figment of our imaginations, saber-rattling in the Gulf of Oman to start another dirty little war for oil… 

And, of course, Bernie Sanders is back in the running, bigger and better than ever. We hold our collective breaths and wait, cautiously optimistic the corrupt DNC won't thwart his run for the White House again by anointing the corporatist/friend of segregationalists former V.P. Joe Biden instead. It's early days yet, so we won't put the cart before the horse. We're hopeful if Bernie doesn't get the nod at least Tulsi Gabbard might… Nah, they'll just thrust Creepy Uncle Joe down our throats and tell us to vote "blue no matter who."

The Greens have yet to settle on any one candidate, but their national convention is a month off. Without the specter of corporate lobbyist money, the Greens will at least have a fair and democratic process to decide whom they wish to front for president. There could be a pleasant surprise awaiting us in the near future.

We're holding on until then. The towel is in our hands, and we've not thrown it in quite yet. Give us a little love--give us some feedback in the comments section below. We'd love to hear what you want to hear more about.  

The Revolution Continues… until it doesn't.

*** 

 

From the League of Women Voters: Tuesday, June 25, marks six years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision which overturned essential provisions of the VRA which has led to countless attacks on the voting rights of Americans.      Together, during the week of June 24-30, allies around the country will come together to show how this decision unleashed a torrent of voter discrimination and electoral chaos nationwide. We’re planning a massive call in day tomorrow (Tuesday, June 25) to Congress asking them to fully restore the Voting Rights Act. And we encourage calls throughout the week as your schedule allows.     Over the past six years since Shelby County v. Holder, we have seen many states and localities use every tool available to make voting harder. Politicians have worked to roll back hours for early voting, purge voter rolls of qualified voters, and even pass strict voter photo ID bills that make it harder for people to register to vote.      But Congress can act today by moving the Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4 / S. 561)! Will you call your elected officials demand action on this important legislation?    The Voting Rights Advancement Act was introduced to address the voting discrimination unleashed in the wake of the Shelby County v. Holder decision. Now let’s get to it and move forward on consideration of the bill.      Demand action from your members of Congress today! Call your members of Congress (202-224-3121) and tell them that our democracy needs a fully restored Voting Rights Act today.

Tell Congress to Restore the Vote

Yours in the fight, Celina Stewart  Senior Director of Advocacy and Litigation  League of Women Voters  ***  From Food & Water Watch: Since settling with Ray Kemble in July 2012, Cabot has accrued 243 violations for its fracking in Ray's home county — why are they still allowed to frack? Support Ray and help fight Cabot! I wanted to share a quick update on Cabot Oil & Gas’ efforts to silence people fighting fracking. We are continuing to support Ray Kemble as Cabot’s lawsuit against him slogs on. He didn’t do anything wrong by educating people about the dangers of fracking, and Cabot’s lawsuit is unjustified bullying. (You can stand with Ray and support his legal fight, too.) Meanwhile, Cabot is actually breaking rules. Since July 20, 2012 (the day Cabot settled the suit Ray brought against them for poisoning his water), Cabot has accrued 243 violations for its fracking operations in Susquehanna County alone, where Ray lives.1 This is unacceptable. Cabot is accusing Ray of breach of settlement, but Cabot is breaching the regulations they agreed to in order to frack. Despite these violations, Cabot is still allowed to continue fracking throughout the region, putting people's drinking water, homes and health in danger. You can donate to stand up to Cabot and keep supporting Ray’s fight. Frackers Can’t Break the Rules We will continue to fight Cabot, to stop fracking and to support Ray. Fight like you live here — donate today. Onward together, Wenonah Hauter Executive Director Food & Water Watch 1. One Courageous Man Is Standing Against Cabot Oil, But He's Not Alone, Food & Water Watch, June 21, 2019.  *** Can you give a blogger a lift? How about helping them pay for a ride to the upcoming Green Party National Meeting in Salem, Mass. so The Revolution Continues can report on the action? Please donate a buck or two to our travel fund via the Paypal link below. Thanks! http://paypal.me/camatthews

A Sleeping Giant

What will it take until average Americans say, "We've had enough!"? Billionaire Betsy DeVos' recent antics have once again riled up many, but are they enough to wake "the sleeping giant" of the 99%? Coast Watcher provides us with a few insights this week. (Below you'll find a link to where you can sign a petition to have Betsy fired from her job as Secretary of Education. Let them know in D.C. that we've had enough of her!)

A Sleeping Giant

by Coast Watcher 

I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve. ~ Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto regarding the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

That infamous attack on peacetime America woke the country to war with Japan. Senator Bernie Sander’s call to arms during the 2016 presidential election woke the people of the United States to another type of war—the class war waged by the 1% against the rest of us.While it may lack the outright violence of total warfare, the conflict is still real and often deadly. 

Sheer greed is causing death through insurance companies withholding medical treatment from those in need. It’s causing death through the pharmaceutical industry’s indiscriminate promotion of opioids. It’s causing death through the usage of cancer-causing pesticides and herbicides such as Monsanto's Roundup. It’s causing death through dumping of toxic waste and floods of disease-ridden effluent from CAFOs into our water supplies. The 1% even post their mercenary police forces to guard useless and dangerous oil and gas pipelines from protesters, but those same police are nowhere to be seen when the pipelines burst and destroy the countryside.

The 1% have made strenuous efforts to suppress any and all information about their activities from reaching the general public. With 96% of all media in the hands of a few plutocrats it’s not difficult. When you compare independent news shows such as  Redacted Tonight, The Jimmy Dore Show and programs produced by Abby Martin with the output from mainstream media it’s not hard see the pattern emerging. PBS, the supposedly-neutral broadcast network has been so starved of funding by government over the years that it’s had to go cap in hand to oligarchs like the Koch brothers and the Walton family. It shouldn’t be necessary to point out that these people will dictate content, guiding programming away from areas of their corrupt businesses they don’t want the public to know about.

Unfortunately--for the 1%--the suppression of net neutrality isn’t 100% successful. Lee Camp, Jimmy Dore and Abby Martin are still out there, uncovering stories that the oligarchy doesn’t want you to know of. This humble blog is another outlet, correlating stories and information from across the globe in an effort to keep the public informed. The more the public learns about how the 1% is trying to make them go back to sleep so the oligarchs won’t be exposed for the world-wrecking gang they are, the more the public is angered by the duplicity.

A sleeping giant, once woken, has immense strength. In Jonathan Swift's Gulliver’s Travels the Lilliputians attempted to tie down the sleeping "giant" Lemuel Gulliver, but they found all their bonds failed when he sat up. So it must be that the 1%’s attempt to tie down the 99% will fail once we sit up and take notice. The Lilliputians are attempting to tie us down again, to make us go back to sleep. We must not allow that to happen. The Earth--and all that’s on it--is at stake. Stay woke. Stay alert. Fight the 1%.

BIO: Coast Watcher is determined to stay alert and ready by pouring lots of strong coffee to keep the rest of the 99% awake until the political revolution is firmly underway. He asks, "Would you like some cream and sugar with your revolution?" 

***

You're not seeing double. 

The Revolution Continues is attempting a sideways move to another Blogspot site because of the bad code that has made its way onto the original Blogspot page. Never fear--we will continue to update the original page since so many have the URL bookmarked or linked from their web pages. We're hoping this will work to keep this site free of viruses and free of those annoying ads almost every progressive website has nowadays, but who knows? Fingers crossed that it will.

Speaking of avoiding those annoying ads...

You can help us out by donating to keep the blog ad-free and functioning. The editor pays for internet, electricity, etc., out of her own pocket, and she would like to be able to pay her contributors some day soon, so your generous monetary gifts are appreciated. 
 
Please consider donating a buck, $5, $10 or $20--any amount you can give to keep this progressive site going. Help us become a strong alternative voice protesting against the corrupt establishment and its paid-off corporate mouthpieces. Give to TRC today. Thank you.
 
You can donate via Paypal at http://paypal.me/camatthews 

And thanks to a generous reader, we have a  domain name. Please share the link: http://therevolutioncontinues.com  

Power to the people--not the corporations! 

***

From Network For Public Education Action:

For the sake of America's school children, Betsy DeVos must go. It was clear during this week's budget hearing that Ms. DeVos is not a responsible advocate for America’s children and taxpayers, but rather an ideologue who sees no place for public dollars and public institutions in the promotion of the public good. 

Tell Donald Trump it is time for Betsy DeVos to be fired. Sign the petition by clicking below.

FIRE BETSY DEVOS

Ms. DeVos’s request to cut funding for the Special Olympics Program horrified our nation.

At the same hearing, when confronted by Congress with the enormous waste that is generated from the Charter Schools Program, as documented in our NPE report, Ms. DeVos expressed no desire to investigate their concerns. Instead she replied, “We need more charter schools, not fewer.”

Ironically, her proposed $60 million dollar increase to create more charter schools, which would bring the program’s funding to a half billion dollars next year, would pay for Special Olympics funding more than three times over.

It is time to put ideology aside and put American children first. Let's speak with one voice--and demand that she be replaced.

After you sign, please post this link to your social media account.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/fire-betsy-devos/
 
Thanks for all you do.

***

Congress has the opportunity to protect women from gun violence. Sign the petition now >>

Next week, the House of Representatives will be voting to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) — a critical, multi-faceted piece of federal legislation that provides survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking with access to justice and social services. And this year, the VAWA bill includes provisions to reduce gun violence against women by: (1) expanding federal law to keep guns away from abusive dating partners and stalkers and (2) alerting local law enforcement when domestic abusers attempt to buy guns.

The extreme NRA leadership is opposing these common-sense bipartisan policies. But we need our representatives to place a higher value on the lives of women than on an abusive boyfriend's access to guns. And we're letting Congress know just how much support there is for these gun safety provisions. Add your name to our letter urging Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Act.

ADD MY NAME

When a gun is present in a domestic violence situation, it's five times more likely that the woman will be killed by her abusive partner. Now's the time to address the deadly loopholes in federal law that let violent dating partners and stalkers keep their guns. Why would the extreme NRA leadership want guns in the hands of abusive boyfriends when we have the chance to save lives?

While the NRA tries to pressure lawmakers to vote against gun safety, we need you to take action and get this message to Congress: Protect women and save lives. With one click, automatically sign our petition urging Congress to protect women from abusive dating partners and stalkers.

Thank you for adding your name,
Sarah Trumble
Director of Federal Legislative Campaigns
Everytown for Gun Safety

***  

From Progress America:
Seema Verma, Trump’s choice to run Medicare, spent millions in taxpayer money to try to improve her own public image - and wants to massively cut your Medicare benefits because she falsely claims they are unaffordable.

The hypocrisy couldn't be clearer. Verma is another Trump Administration hire who, like former HHS Secretary Tom Price, sees our government as a private piggybank. Like Price, Verma should resign in disgrace immediately.

SIGN NOW: Seema Verma should resign immediately!

Here’s a free tip for Seema Verma: If you want a good public image, don’t try to cut people’s Medicare and Medicaid. Don’t try to throw 20 million people off their health insurance. And don’t be a part of the most corrupt Presidential administration this country has ever seen.

It’s hard to stay shocked in the face of the shameless hypocrisy and public looting that goes on every day in Trump’s government. But it’s important that we not become numb to the corruption.

This isn’t normal. And the only way we can stop it is one piece at a time, until Trump and his Republican enablers are driven out of Washington.

Let’s start with Seema Verma.

ADD YOUR NAME: Medicare Administrator Seema Verma has got to go.

Thanks,

Mike Phelan
Progress America