Showing posts with label issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label issues. Show all posts
Friday, May 2, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
THE FERTILE SOIL
Peter Chua, Mar. 28, 2008
Peasants grow rice,
feeding all.
Food processers,
manual laborers,
and vendors
give it value.
Markets double its price to profit,
starving peasants and workers.
The elite consume,
overpriced,
priceless rice.
And the market's gravediggers
rise
of its shadows.
---
Rice Shortages Creating Fears of Asia Unrest
By KEITH BRADSHER Mar 28 2008
The price of rice, a staple in the diets of nearly half the world’s population, has almost doubled on international markets in the last three months.
Jump in rice price fuels fears of unrest
By Javier Blas in London and Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok
Friday Mar 28 2008 04:15
Rice prices jumped 30 per cent to an all-time high on Thursday, raising fears of fresh outbreaks of social unrest across Asia where the grain is a staple food for more than 2.5bn people.
Peasants grow rice,
feeding all.
Food processers,
manual laborers,
and vendors
give it value.
Markets double its price to profit,
starving peasants and workers.
The elite consume,
overpriced,
priceless rice.
And the market's gravediggers
rise
of its shadows.
---
Rice Shortages Creating Fears of Asia Unrest
By KEITH BRADSHER Mar 28 2008
The price of rice, a staple in the diets of nearly half the world’s population, has almost doubled on international markets in the last three months.
Jump in rice price fuels fears of unrest
By Javier Blas in London and Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok
Friday Mar 28 2008 04:15
Rice prices jumped 30 per cent to an all-time high on Thursday, raising fears of fresh outbreaks of social unrest across Asia where the grain is a staple food for more than 2.5bn people.
Friday, March 7, 2008
U.S. Filipinas Face Economic and Political Challenges, Develop New Organizations for Empowerment
By Rowena Tomaneng
March 8, 2008
Column published in U.S. Filipino news magazine
March 8 is International Women’s Day, which is celebrated worldwide, and serves as an apt annual occasion to reflect on the current conditions of 2.2 million Filipinas living and working in the United States. About two thirds of U.S. Filipinas were born in the Philippines and about a quarter remain undocumented.
This International celebration of solidarity with women’s struggles also presents the opportunity to rally for more potent actions that empower Filipinas worldwide and to acknowledge Filipinas who join the hundreds of organizations that campaign for social justice and economic improvement for their families and communities.
There are many issues confronting U.S. Filipinas presently. One of the issues involves pay and economic stability. U.S. Filipina earnings would give us one indicator of their economic situation. I turned to the researchers of the National Bulosan Center for the most up-to-date information available on U.S. Filipinas. The Center provides analysis and resources to grassroots U.S. Filipino organizations.
Earnings of Filipinas in the U.S. have grown at a slower rate—11 percent— than White women since 1999, according to a study by the Center to be published later this year. The Center compared women’s earnings based on data from the last U.S. Decennial Census and its comparable 2006 American Community Survey. This finding is surprising because we would at least expect U.S. Filipinas to improve economically close at the same rate as White women, during the national economic boom since 2002. Nonetheless, U.S. Filipinas confront growing racial and gender problems in the arena of paid work.
These problems are amplified in particular local labor markets. In Hawaii, the earnings growth rate for Filipinas is 50 percent less than White women. In areas such as Seattle, Washington and San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, California, the earnings growth rates for Filipinas were closer to White women, about five percent. While a five percent in the earning growth rate gap seems like an advance, the actual earnings gap between Filipinas and White women remain 15 percent. In northern California, this earning gap is about $9,700 annually.
In cities such as New York where there are highly skilled nurses and medical professionals working long hours, we would expect Filipinas to be doing well. The study reveals otherwise. In 1999, U.S. Filipinas living in New York City earned, on average, two thousand more than White women. In stark contrast in 2005, U.S. Filipinas in the city earned two thousand less than White women. As a result, the earning growth rate is 50 percent more for U.S. Filipinas in the city relative to White women.
Beyond earning disparities, Filipinas continue to face hardship in other areas of employment and social life in the U.S. Take for example the women healthcare workers—many of them working as nurses—who are currently involved in the legal battle against the Sentosa owners in the New York state court. These contract migrant workers were illegally recruited, are unwittingly trafficked from the Philippines to work in the U.S., and then accused by the New York State that the workers endangered their patients as they attempted to free themselves from forced servitude.
Then there is a single mother and her sons who were unwarrantedly tasered in an excessive manner and physically assaulted at a local park for seemingly no wrongdoing by the San Jose, California police in 2007. More than a year later, the Custodio family members are still in court to defend their innocence while ironically the police officers remain in duty.
And, there are thousands of invisible Filipinas in the U.S. experiencing intimate and interpersonal violence and emotional abuse at home and in their relationships. There are also U.S. Filipina lesbians who face public and familial violence and social and institutional exclusion due to their sexual identity and practices. For these Filipinas, there are relatively few safe spaces to share their experiences.
There are thousands more unique stories of U.S. Filipinas to uncover.
Thankfully, Filipinas U.S. and worldwide have been creating mutual support groups and political organizations to improve their conditions and to struggle for social justice. For instance, Pinay sa Seattle provides education and events on women’s issues and human rights in Seattle with the goal to build a more vibrant nurturing community. In New York City, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FIRE) conducts workshops, organizing, and mobilizations regarding Filipina livelihood issues, for the future of their children and their families, and for their right against violence, especially state violence. There is also babae in San Francisco, California, which addresses the rights and welfare of Filipinas in the Bay Area. babae’s work focuses on a campaign against domestic violence and broader violence against women. In San Jose, the MALAYA Women’s Project of Filipino Community Support, Silicon Valley (FOCUS, SV) has been offering leadership development and grassroots organizing to a multi-generation of Filipinas.
In the Philippines, grassroots women’s organizations have been also working to mobilize against the deteriorating economic and politically corrupt conditions, against political repression and state violence, and for genuine empowerment of every Filipino and the preservation of human rights.
We are at a historic juncture to see how far U.S. Filipinas, particularly those who are immigrants, can advance, as women’s organizations forge an agenda that address their immediate concerns and forge political power into the twenty-first century.
March 8, 2008
Column published in U.S. Filipino news magazine
March 8 is International Women’s Day, which is celebrated worldwide, and serves as an apt annual occasion to reflect on the current conditions of 2.2 million Filipinas living and working in the United States. About two thirds of U.S. Filipinas were born in the Philippines and about a quarter remain undocumented.
This International celebration of solidarity with women’s struggles also presents the opportunity to rally for more potent actions that empower Filipinas worldwide and to acknowledge Filipinas who join the hundreds of organizations that campaign for social justice and economic improvement for their families and communities.
There are many issues confronting U.S. Filipinas presently. One of the issues involves pay and economic stability. U.S. Filipina earnings would give us one indicator of their economic situation. I turned to the researchers of the National Bulosan Center for the most up-to-date information available on U.S. Filipinas. The Center provides analysis and resources to grassroots U.S. Filipino organizations.
Earnings of Filipinas in the U.S. have grown at a slower rate—11 percent— than White women since 1999, according to a study by the Center to be published later this year. The Center compared women’s earnings based on data from the last U.S. Decennial Census and its comparable 2006 American Community Survey. This finding is surprising because we would at least expect U.S. Filipinas to improve economically close at the same rate as White women, during the national economic boom since 2002. Nonetheless, U.S. Filipinas confront growing racial and gender problems in the arena of paid work.
These problems are amplified in particular local labor markets. In Hawaii, the earnings growth rate for Filipinas is 50 percent less than White women. In areas such as Seattle, Washington and San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, California, the earnings growth rates for Filipinas were closer to White women, about five percent. While a five percent in the earning growth rate gap seems like an advance, the actual earnings gap between Filipinas and White women remain 15 percent. In northern California, this earning gap is about $9,700 annually.
In cities such as New York where there are highly skilled nurses and medical professionals working long hours, we would expect Filipinas to be doing well. The study reveals otherwise. In 1999, U.S. Filipinas living in New York City earned, on average, two thousand more than White women. In stark contrast in 2005, U.S. Filipinas in the city earned two thousand less than White women. As a result, the earning growth rate is 50 percent more for U.S. Filipinas in the city relative to White women.
Beyond earning disparities, Filipinas continue to face hardship in other areas of employment and social life in the U.S. Take for example the women healthcare workers—many of them working as nurses—who are currently involved in the legal battle against the Sentosa owners in the New York state court. These contract migrant workers were illegally recruited, are unwittingly trafficked from the Philippines to work in the U.S., and then accused by the New York State that the workers endangered their patients as they attempted to free themselves from forced servitude.
Then there is a single mother and her sons who were unwarrantedly tasered in an excessive manner and physically assaulted at a local park for seemingly no wrongdoing by the San Jose, California police in 2007. More than a year later, the Custodio family members are still in court to defend their innocence while ironically the police officers remain in duty.
And, there are thousands of invisible Filipinas in the U.S. experiencing intimate and interpersonal violence and emotional abuse at home and in their relationships. There are also U.S. Filipina lesbians who face public and familial violence and social and institutional exclusion due to their sexual identity and practices. For these Filipinas, there are relatively few safe spaces to share their experiences.
There are thousands more unique stories of U.S. Filipinas to uncover.
Thankfully, Filipinas U.S. and worldwide have been creating mutual support groups and political organizations to improve their conditions and to struggle for social justice. For instance, Pinay sa Seattle provides education and events on women’s issues and human rights in Seattle with the goal to build a more vibrant nurturing community. In New York City, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FIRE) conducts workshops, organizing, and mobilizations regarding Filipina livelihood issues, for the future of their children and their families, and for their right against violence, especially state violence. There is also babae in San Francisco, California, which addresses the rights and welfare of Filipinas in the Bay Area. babae’s work focuses on a campaign against domestic violence and broader violence against women. In San Jose, the MALAYA Women’s Project of Filipino Community Support, Silicon Valley (FOCUS, SV) has been offering leadership development and grassroots organizing to a multi-generation of Filipinas.
In the Philippines, grassroots women’s organizations have been also working to mobilize against the deteriorating economic and politically corrupt conditions, against political repression and state violence, and for genuine empowerment of every Filipino and the preservation of human rights.
We are at a historic juncture to see how far U.S. Filipinas, particularly those who are immigrants, can advance, as women’s organizations forge an agenda that address their immediate concerns and forge political power into the twenty-first century.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
say NO to SAN JOSE POLICE BRUTALITY, support the Custodio family
I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/jcfc?e
I really think this is an important cause to help the Filipino community and other communities of color locally in Silicon Valley, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a minute of your time.
please support the Custodio family of San Jose, CA ... thank you!
Peter C
------------------------------------------------
Warm greetings!
While some celebrated love this past February, the Custodio family in San Jose, CA will remember the horrible incident of police brutality and misconduct they experienced on February 5th. Since then, the family has courageously stepped out of the silence that blankets so many of our families stories to say NO TO POLICE BRUTALITY! Allies, friends and other victims of police brutality have all joined alongside the Custodio family forming the JUSTICE FOR CUSTODIO FAMILY COMMITTEE which launched its campaign this past May 15th with a press conference in front of the Superior Court in San Jose, CA.
The momentum is building and we're asking for you to help keep it moving! Please take a couple of minutes out of your day to read our statement (here at the bottom of this email) and if you agree with us that our families deserve respect not brutality and you want to make your voice heard, please sign our online petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/jcfc/index.html
If after signing the petition you still want to do more, please email us at Justice4custodios@gmail.com and we'll put you in our database and email you when we have actions, court dates, press conferences, dinners, or committee general meetings.
JUSTICE FOR THE CUSTODIO FAMILY!
DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST THE FAMILY NOW!
PROSECUTE THE OFFENDING OFFICERS!
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS AND FAMILIES AFFECTED BY POLICE BRUTALITY!
SJPD RESPECT OUR FAMILIES!!!!
========================================================================
Drop the Charges Against
the Custodio Family Now!
Charge the Offending Officers!
Unite in Justice for the Victims of
Police Brutality!
Marlo (age 18), Romel (age 25), and Marilou (age 50) Custodio, three unarmed Filipino residents of Evergreen Valley in San Jose, CA were subjected to a series of unprovoked attacks by multiple members of the San Jose Police Department (SJPD)and later arrested to cover up these acts of outrageous police brutality. The beatings occurred in the Evergreen Valley lake area on February 5, 2007 around 7-8 p.m.
Eight police officers participated in the beatings and two officers observed. Examples of use of excessive force include:
One officer slammed Marilou's head against a police car three times. Marilou suffers
post-traumatic anxiety and trauma due to the police beating. She is a single mother.
Five officers swarmed, tackled, and brutalized Romel. Already pacified, Romel was still tasered with three weapons for 40 seconds (over the usual time limit) and had to seek medical treatment for physical injury and taser burns.
One officer choked and tasered Marlo even while he was following police orders;afterwards, another officer kneed Marlo in the face.
In late 2005 prior to Custodio family incident, the County of Santa Clara convened a civil Grant Jury to assess the possible "department-wide problem of racial profiling" in the SJPD. In May 2006, the County of Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury found "legitimate concern" regarding police use of excessive force and that the San Jose Police Department institutionally encourages police officers to disproportionately target, question,
search and arrest African-Americans, Latinos and other people of color.
Local organizations and concerned individuals strongly criticize the police and the city for this incident and many other similar incidents. A heavy burden lies with the District Attorney's Office to drop the charges against the Custodio family, grant them justice, take disciplinary action against the perpetrators and bystanders of the beatings, prosecute them, and to act decisively. We invite our friends and community organizations the support and join the campaign.
------------------------
JUSTICE FOR THE CUSTODIO FAMILY NOW
Oppose racial profiling and the use of excessive force by San Jose police officers & support the Justice for Custodio Campaign
The Justice for Custodio Family Campaign supports the family members who experienced police brutuality and their struggle for genuine justice and provides community education on racial profiling, know your rights, and social justice. At present, participating local organizations in the campaign include Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC), MALAYA, Filipino Community Support (FOCUS), Justice for Palestine, DEBUG, MAIZ, and the Coalition for Justice and Accountability.
For questions or to join the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign please email: Justice4custodios@gmail.com
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/jcfc?e
I really think this is an important cause to help the Filipino community and other communities of color locally in Silicon Valley, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a minute of your time.
please support the Custodio family of San Jose, CA ... thank you!
Peter C
------------------------------------------------
Warm greetings!
While some celebrated love this past February, the Custodio family in San Jose, CA will remember the horrible incident of police brutality and misconduct they experienced on February 5th. Since then, the family has courageously stepped out of the silence that blankets so many of our families stories to say NO TO POLICE BRUTALITY! Allies, friends and other victims of police brutality have all joined alongside the Custodio family forming the JUSTICE FOR CUSTODIO FAMILY COMMITTEE which launched its campaign this past May 15th with a press conference in front of the Superior Court in San Jose, CA.
The momentum is building and we're asking for you to help keep it moving! Please take a couple of minutes out of your day to read our statement (here at the bottom of this email) and if you agree with us that our families deserve respect not brutality and you want to make your voice heard, please sign our online petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/jcfc/index.html
If after signing the petition you still want to do more, please email us at Justice4custodios@gmail.com and we'll put you in our database and email you when we have actions, court dates, press conferences, dinners, or committee general meetings.
JUSTICE FOR THE CUSTODIO FAMILY!
DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST THE FAMILY NOW!
PROSECUTE THE OFFENDING OFFICERS!
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS AND FAMILIES AFFECTED BY POLICE BRUTALITY!
SJPD RESPECT OUR FAMILIES!!!!
========================================================================
Drop the Charges Against
the Custodio Family Now!
Charge the Offending Officers!
Unite in Justice for the Victims of
Police Brutality!
Marlo (age 18), Romel (age 25), and Marilou (age 50) Custodio, three unarmed Filipino residents of Evergreen Valley in San Jose, CA were subjected to a series of unprovoked attacks by multiple members of the San Jose Police Department (SJPD)and later arrested to cover up these acts of outrageous police brutality. The beatings occurred in the Evergreen Valley lake area on February 5, 2007 around 7-8 p.m.
Eight police officers participated in the beatings and two officers observed. Examples of use of excessive force include:
One officer slammed Marilou's head against a police car three times. Marilou suffers
post-traumatic anxiety and trauma due to the police beating. She is a single mother.
Five officers swarmed, tackled, and brutalized Romel. Already pacified, Romel was still tasered with three weapons for 40 seconds (over the usual time limit) and had to seek medical treatment for physical injury and taser burns.
One officer choked and tasered Marlo even while he was following police orders;afterwards, another officer kneed Marlo in the face.
In late 2005 prior to Custodio family incident, the County of Santa Clara convened a civil Grant Jury to assess the possible "department-wide problem of racial profiling" in the SJPD. In May 2006, the County of Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury found "legitimate concern" regarding police use of excessive force and that the San Jose Police Department institutionally encourages police officers to disproportionately target, question,
search and arrest African-Americans, Latinos and other people of color.
Local organizations and concerned individuals strongly criticize the police and the city for this incident and many other similar incidents. A heavy burden lies with the District Attorney's Office to drop the charges against the Custodio family, grant them justice, take disciplinary action against the perpetrators and bystanders of the beatings, prosecute them, and to act decisively. We invite our friends and community organizations the support and join the campaign.
------------------------
JUSTICE FOR THE CUSTODIO FAMILY NOW
Oppose racial profiling and the use of excessive force by San Jose police officers & support the Justice for Custodio Campaign
The Justice for Custodio Family Campaign supports the family members who experienced police brutuality and their struggle for genuine justice and provides community education on racial profiling, know your rights, and social justice. At present, participating local organizations in the campaign include Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC), MALAYA, Filipino Community Support (FOCUS), Justice for Palestine, DEBUG, MAIZ, and the Coalition for Justice and Accountability.
For questions or to join the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign please email: Justice4custodios@gmail.com
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
PH Election Surprises?
I'm not sure why the so-called "trusted source of news and information" from the U.S. claims "unexpected opposition gains." For months, voter surveys (SWS, IBON, Pulse Asia, etc) indicate folks want Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to GO and very strong support for progressive party lists.
US propaganda reports:
US propaganda reports:
Exit polls in the Philippines are suggesting that the opposition did better than expected in Monday's congressional elections. However, President Gloria Arroyo is still expected to keep control of the House of Representatives, where two attempts to impeach her were defeated by her allies. Meanwhile, violence continues to take its toll on the political process.Here's a running account of electoral fraud and violence.
Monday, May 14, 2007
San Jose Police Brutality and Racial Profiling of Filipino Family Condemned
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2007
CONTACT: Raj Jayadev (408) 757-5875
San Jose Police Brutality and Racial Profiling of Filipino Family Condemned
Community Demands the District Attorney's Office to Drop Charges Against Family Members and Prosecute the Offending Officers Immediately
WHAT: Press Conference -- "Campaign Against Police Brutality and Support Filipino Family" with speakers from the Asian Law Alliance, Coalition for Justice and Accountability, and several local community organizations
WHEN: TUESDAY, May 15, 2007, 12 noon
WHERE: Public assembly area outside of the Superior Court, 190 West Hedding St, San Jose, CA, 95110
San Jose, CA-- San Jose police officers used unnecessary excessive force and racially profiled Marlo (18), Romel (25), and Marilou Custodio(50), three unarmed Filipino residents of Evergreen Valley. The beatings occurred in the Evergreen Valley lake area on February 5, 2007 around 7pm.
One officer slammed Marilou's head against a police car three times. Marilou is the single mother of Marlo and Romel and is employed in a professional occupation. After experiencing the police beating, she is suffering from post-traumatic anxiety.
Several officers physically brutalized Romel, age 25. Already pacified, officers still used tasers on him. After the incident, Romel sought medical treatment for the physical injury and excessive taser burns. Also, an officer choked Marlo, age 18 and another kneed him in the face.
"I'm appalled with police conduct against the Custodio family and urge the District Attorney's Office to drop charges against the family members right away," said Dr. Peter Chua, sociology professor at San Jose State University. "This is a clear case of police misconduct and hypocrisy. The police charged them with resisting arrest. The offending officers should be facing criminal charges."
"The San Jose Police Department has been under scrutiny recently for its routine and systematic practice of racial profiling against the Blacks and Latinos in the city and for use of excessive force against poor, racial, and immigrant communities," said Rowena Tomaneng, member of the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign and of MALAYA, a San Jose Filipina women's organization.
The Justice for Custodio Family Campaign supports the family members who experienced police brutality and their struggle for genuine justice and provides community education on racial profiling, know your rights, and social justice. At present, participating local organizations in the campaign include Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC), MALAYA, Filipino Community Support (FOCUS), Silicon Valley De-Bug, and the Coalition for Justice and Accountability as well many concerned individuals.
# # #
Sunday, May 13, 2007
URGENT ACTION--DEMAND JUSTICE FOR CUSTODIO FAMILY & SAN JOSE POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
Dear Friends and Supporters of the Filipino Community:
Please distribute to your contacts!!!
The Justice for Custodio Family Committee (JCFC), San Jose, Ca and Coalition for Justice and Accountability(CJA), San Jose, Ca condemn the San Jose Police Department and the City Government for the brutal use of excessive force against three unarmed Filipino residents of Evergreen Valley.
Marlo Custodio (age 18), Romel Custodio (age 25), and their mother Marilou Custodio (age 50), experienced RACIAL PROFILING AND UNNECESSARY EXCESSIVE FORCEduring unprovoked questioning and arrest without probable cause. The excessive force includes:
-- An officer slamming Marilou's head against a police car three times.
-- 5 officers beating Romel and three of them tasering him for 40 seconds (over the usual time limit).
-- An officer choking, beating, and tasering Marlo even while he was
following orders.
The family is now suffering from post-traumatic anxiety due to the police brutality.
The beatings occured in the Evergreen Valley lake area on February 5, 2007 around 7-8 p.m. Eight police officers participated in the beatings and two officers observed.
We invite friends, community organizations, and supporters of the Filipino community, and victims of Racial Profiling and Police Brutality to join this campaign for Justice and Police Accountability.
JCFC, CJA, and other local organizations and concerned individuals are gathering for a press conference on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 from 11:30a.m.- 12:30 p.m. We are also attending the hearing proceedings with the Custodio family between 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. More Details Below:
Justice for Custodio Family
Press Conference
TUESDAY, MAY 15TH
11:30A.M.-12:30 P.M.
SUPERIOR COURT
190 W. HEDDING
SAN JOSE, CA
Meet in front of the court house at 11:30 a.m.
Wear white shirts to show unity and solidarity with the family.
Bring placards that demand justice and police accountability, an end to
racial profiling and police brutality, prosecution of police who brutalize our
community, etc.
For more info: contact Rowena at (650)743-9349 or filipineza@aol.com
The Justice for Custodio Family Committee (JCFC) is a coalition of Filipino organizations in the South Bay, which includes Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC), MALAYA, Filipino Community Support (FOCUS), and the Filipino National Historical Society (FAHNS). We seek to gain effective and adequate legal representation for the Custodio family members who experienced police brutality, to raise funds to support the Custodio family (a single parent household), and to conduct community education on racial profiling, know-your-rights, and social justice.
Please distribute to your contacts!!!
The Justice for Custodio Family Committee (JCFC), San Jose, Ca and Coalition for Justice and Accountability(CJA), San Jose, Ca condemn the San Jose Police Department and the City Government for the brutal use of excessive force against three unarmed Filipino residents of Evergreen Valley.
Marlo Custodio (age 18), Romel Custodio (age 25), and their mother Marilou Custodio (age 50), experienced RACIAL PROFILING AND UNNECESSARY EXCESSIVE FORCEduring unprovoked questioning and arrest without probable cause. The excessive force includes:
-- An officer slamming Marilou's head against a police car three times.
-- 5 officers beating Romel and three of them tasering him for 40 seconds (over the usual time limit).
-- An officer choking, beating, and tasering Marlo even while he was
following orders.
The family is now suffering from post-traumatic anxiety due to the police brutality.
The beatings occured in the Evergreen Valley lake area on February 5, 2007 around 7-8 p.m. Eight police officers participated in the beatings and two officers observed.
We invite friends, community organizations, and supporters of the Filipino community, and victims of Racial Profiling and Police Brutality to join this campaign for Justice and Police Accountability.
JCFC, CJA, and other local organizations and concerned individuals are gathering for a press conference on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 from 11:30a.m.- 12:30 p.m. We are also attending the hearing proceedings with the Custodio family between 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. More Details Below:
Justice for Custodio Family
Press Conference
TUESDAY, MAY 15TH
11:30A.M.-12:30 P.M.
SUPERIOR COURT
190 W. HEDDING
SAN JOSE, CA
Meet in front of the court house at 11:30 a.m.
Wear white shirts to show unity and solidarity with the family.
Bring placards that demand justice and police accountability, an end to
racial profiling and police brutality, prosecution of police who brutalize our
community, etc.
For more info: contact Rowena at (650)743-9349 or filipineza@aol.com
The Justice for Custodio Family Committee (JCFC) is a coalition of Filipino organizations in the South Bay, which includes Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC), MALAYA, Filipino Community Support (FOCUS), and the Filipino National Historical Society (FAHNS). We seek to gain effective and adequate legal representation for the Custodio family members who experienced police brutality, to raise funds to support the Custodio family (a single parent household), and to conduct community education on racial profiling, know-your-rights, and social justice.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
VOTE KABATAAN PARTY!
KUNG MAHAL MO BAYAN PANDRAYA LABANAN.
POL KILINGS 22LAN!
SA TRAPO WAG PALOKO PROGRSIBO IBOTO.
FWD 2 10 PPL IN U.S & PHILS.
VOTE KABATAAN PARTY!
FROM TEXT BACK (Brgde Against Chtng & Killngs)- USA
____________ _________ _________
(Translation: If you love our motherland, fight against cheating. Oppose political killings! Don't be fooled by traditional politicians, vote for progressives)
Our votes may not count, but our voices will be heard: No to cheating! Stop Political Killings!
Vote for Progressive Party Lists!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Statement on the arrest of two PUP Sociology Students by the Military in Caluag, Quezon
The PUP students who were captured by the troops of the 4th Infantry Battalion on the allegation that they are NPA recruits are legitimately enrolled in our university. They are in fact doing their summer course in community organizing, a course requirement for their curriculum in Bachelor of Science in Sociology, traditionally being done every summer between April and May of each school year. There is no way they could be there in Quezon province to participate in rebellious or subversive activities as alleged by their captors. The undersigned groups in PUP strongly condemn such arbitrary arrests of civilians, most particularly our students. We are also urging the concerned authorities to immediately release Jihan Manampad and Rina Togonon and stop pursuing their eight other classmates who are also doing community organizing work in the same area. Any actions from the military that violate the human rights of such students under their custody will be legally pursued by the academic community and organizations in PUP.
We are also seeking the support of the PUP administration, the faculty, employees and students for the two students now being falsely charged of rebellion by the military. Currently, the teacher of the students, Prof. Justine Nicolas, is negotiating for the release of his students and is himself in the same risk of possible arrest. The PUP administration should act decisively on this matter as it involves not only the basic rights of students and teachers but also and more importantly the core principles of academic freedom, which every university must uphold.
Release our BSS 3-1 students, Jihan Manampad and Rina Togonon! Stop pursuing legitimate students in the course of fieldwork for their academic work!
Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy–PUP (CONTEND-PUP)
Faculty Circle—PUP
Unyon ng mga Kawani—PUP (UNAKA)
Unyon ng mga Guro sa PUP (UGPUP)
University Center for Human Rights Research and Education (UCHURRE)
Monday, May 7, 2007 11:01:57 PM (philippines)
We are also seeking the support of the PUP administration, the faculty, employees and students for the two students now being falsely charged of rebellion by the military. Currently, the teacher of the students, Prof. Justine Nicolas, is negotiating for the release of his students and is himself in the same risk of possible arrest. The PUP administration should act decisively on this matter as it involves not only the basic rights of students and teachers but also and more importantly the core principles of academic freedom, which every university must uphold.
Release our BSS 3-1 students, Jihan Manampad and Rina Togonon! Stop pursuing legitimate students in the course of fieldwork for their academic work!
Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy–PUP (CONTEND-PUP)
Faculty Circle—PUP
Unyon ng mga Kawani—PUP (UNAKA)
Unyon ng mga Guro sa PUP (UGPUP)
University Center for Human Rights Research and Education (UCHURRE)
Monday, May 7, 2007 11:01:57 PM (philippines)
Sunday, May 6, 2007
On undocumented migrants in rural England
P. Hetherington of the Guardian ("Old shame haunts new slave market," 2 May 07) comments on "deceptive, systematic underpayment and appalling living conditions" of undocumented migrants in England:
A Lithuanian journalist who posed as a migrant worker found that many co-workers were subjected to deception, systematic underpayment and appalling living conditions...
When Society Guardian recorded the desperate plight of migrant workers in the east of England three months ago - from poverty pay under the minimum wage to grossly overcrowded housing - the response was probably not what we expected...
J. Butler theorizing migrant politics by linking Arendt and Said
Butler wrote the following for the London Review of Books, "I merely belong to them" (10 May 07):
Arendt could be said to have embraced a diasporic politics, centred not on a Jewish homeland but on the rights of the stateless. To read her now is to be reminded of the passages in Edward Said’s book Freud and the Non-European where he suggests that Jews and Palestinians might find commonality in their shared history of exile and dispossession, and that diaspora could become the basis of a common polity in the Middle East. Said sees the basis of solidarity, in part, as the ‘irremediably diasporic, unhoused character of Jewish life’, which aligns it ‘in our age of vast population transfers’ with ‘refugees, exiles, expatriates and immigrants’. If Arendt sometimes argues for home and for belonging (though she does this less frequently over time), it is not to call for a polity built on those established ties of fealty. A polity requires the capacity to live with others precisely when there is no obvious mode of belonging. This is the vanquishing of self-love – the movement away from narcissism and nationalism – which forms the basis for a just politics that would oppose both nationalism and those forms of state violence that reproduce statelessness and its sufferings.More thoughtful analysis is regarding the "transfers" of refugees, exiles, expatriates, immigrants, and similar groups.
On desire and cultural imperialism
A kiss is but a kiss... from Economist's article on "It started with a kiss: India’s moral police blow their whistles" (2 May 07):
India’s freedom fighters—and subsequent nationalists—revered chastity. For them it was a defining Indian virtue, separating them from the more permissive West. According to Dipankar Gupta, a sociologist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi: “Kissing went off-screen primarily because of our desire to capture the high moral ground against the British.” But thanks to globalisation, young Indians have become more like the louche Westerners the bigots deride. “We’re in a bit of a cleft,” says Mr Gupta.Alway nice to read commentary from Third World sociologists. Still, I don't agree with Gupta's analysis here.
Friday, May 4, 2007
On "fashionable racism"
Against "fashionable racism."
I find this term to be an interesting redefinition linking personal expression and aesthetic racism, yet more institutional analysis is needed.
I find this term to be an interesting redefinition linking personal expression and aesthetic racism, yet more institutional analysis is needed.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Apr27 issue of the Economist: SV deportation; PH dictator; victim blaming; entrepreneurs again; and capitalist restoration
On Silicon Valley: Deportation Order and "Brain Circulation"
Also, the title of this article on "deportation" is misleading and hides from the reader the horrific experiences that many (both authorized and unauthorized) migrants who are not very rich face during detention, deportation, and inadmissibility activities. Further, the title conflates the terms "immigrants" with "contract migrants," ignoring the often miserable working conditions of both low wage and seemingly high paid contract workers in the U.S.
On The Philippines' elections: Celebrity big ballot and "An Elected Dictatorship"
This article makes several interesting observations:
On Another day, another $1.08 and Blaming the Victim Again
On Joseph Schumpeter and Entrepreneurs Again
Modern economic historians remind the business world of J. Schumpeter's teachings: that capitalism is great; that entrepreneurs as risk takers are the main engine of capitalist innovation; and that inequality and social problems are a small price to pay for material progress. I guest Schumpeter likes migrants with lots of money (such as those in Silicon Valley [see the first summary above]). Where did these entrepreneurs get the money in the first place? Was it theft? Someone forgot to read and learn from the "primitive accumulation" chapter written by another more famous economist and political thinker.
On the Death of Boris Yeltsin and Rebirth and Restoration of Russian Capitalism
Here is an interesting commentary on what jump-started capitalist restoration in Russia:
SILICON VALLEY, as the old joke goes, was built on ICs—Indians and Chinese that is, not integrated circuits. As of the last decennial census, in 2000, more than half of all the engineers in the valley were foreign-born, and about half of those were either Indian or Chinese—and since 2000 the ratio of Indians and Chinese is reckoned to have gone up steeply. Understandably, therefore Silicon Valley has strong views on America's visa regime.I'm not sure if "brain circulation" adequately describes highly trained and educated contract workers in the Silicon Valley and other U.S. areas. I suspect that only a very select of these contract workers (with H1-B visas or student visas if they are in graduate school) have sufficient resources to become transnational capitalist entrepreneurs. If they are already from elite and well-off families in India, China/Taiwan/Hong Kong, and other Third World areas, then maybe there educational training and transnational political-economic networks can make it possible for them to shuttle back and forth and circulate their "brain." More likely, U.S. homeland security will ask any H1-B visa workers in the U.S. who are not from elite families to leave once their visa expires, re-negotiate their labor (at a lower cost) back home, and find work again outside of their home country.
The latest reminder of the power of the “quota raj”, as Indians like to call it, came on April 2nd, the day the Citizenship and Immigration Services began receiving applications from employers for this year's batch of H-1B visas, a special class of visa that allows highly qualified foreigners such as software programmers to work in America for up to six years.....
AnnaLee Saxenian, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and author of “The New Argonauts”, a book on the subject, argues that the exact opposite is the case. It might be called brain circulation.
Immigrants, she maintains, tend not to leave a place altogether. They form networks that, in effect, make Silicon Valley the head office and their home countries the branch offices. That's what the Taiwanese and Israelis who came to Silicon Valley in the 1970s and 1980s did, and the Indians and Chinese followed the same pattern.
Also, the title of this article on "deportation" is misleading and hides from the reader the horrific experiences that many (both authorized and unauthorized) migrants who are not very rich face during detention, deportation, and inadmissibility activities. Further, the title conflates the terms "immigrants" with "contract migrants," ignoring the often miserable working conditions of both low wage and seemingly high paid contract workers in the U.S.
On The Philippines' elections: Celebrity big ballot and "An Elected Dictatorship"
This article makes several interesting observations:
VOTERS taking part in the Philippines' mid-term elections on May 14th will be put through an absurd ordeal. They must memorise the names of up to 18 candidates for various positions in national and local government and enter these by hand on a blank ballot-paper. What this means is that those with the best-known names, not necessarily the best policies, tend to win....We have to wait to see that extent to which the current dictator will use election fraud and violence to stay in power and the mass public protests will force the dictator out of office. And what does it really mean to say "elected dictatorship"? Dictators are not elected by the People; they sneak, cheat, and use corruption and violence to run the country.
Mrs Arroyo's coalition, Team Unity, wants a strong mandate to unclog the corridors of power by changing the constitution to replace presidential rule with parliamentary government. But it has kept quiet about this issue, knowing that any talk of changing the constitution inevitably stokes public suspicion that it is some sort of plot to establish an elected dictatorship. Last December the threat of mass public protests forced Mrs Arroyo to drop an attempt to ram the charter-change through Congress.
On Another day, another $1.08 and Blaming the Victim Again
Why, for example, do more Ghanaian farmers not cultivate pineapples, which would fetch returns of 250-300% by some estimates? Why do so few farmers in western Kenya dress their fields with fertiliser, even after the benefits have been demonstrated to them?Again and again, I ask why do academic economists in the Third World blame the Third World poor for creating their own conditions, their lack of psychological "aspiration," and the poor's seeming inability to strive for a better future under capitalism. I wonder why? Duh!
“One senses a reluctance of poor people to commit themselves psychologically to a project of making more money,” the authors write. When you live on a dollar a day it may be painful to confront your circumstances too squarely, or even to aspire to better things. The “great redeeming feature of poverty,” George Orwell wrote after his excursions in the social gutters of Paris and London, is “the fact that it annihilates the future”.
On Joseph Schumpeter and Entrepreneurs Again
Modern economic historians remind the business world of J. Schumpeter's teachings: that capitalism is great; that entrepreneurs as risk takers are the main engine of capitalist innovation; and that inequality and social problems are a small price to pay for material progress. I guest Schumpeter likes migrants with lots of money (such as those in Silicon Valley [see the first summary above]). Where did these entrepreneurs get the money in the first place? Was it theft? Someone forgot to read and learn from the "primitive accumulation" chapter written by another more famous economist and political thinker.
On the Death of Boris Yeltsin and Rebirth and Restoration of Russian Capitalism
Here is an interesting commentary on what jump-started capitalist restoration in Russia:
For millions of Russians, it seemed that Mr Yeltsin's liberalisation of prices in 1992—not the bankruptcy of the Soviet Union—had plunged them into poverty. He refused to back off. Unlike Mr Gorbachev, he did not want to reform the communist system. He wanted to break its neck. His mass privatisation, which destroyed the basis of the regime, created robber barons too, and a communist backlash was never far away. In 1993 armed communists and fascists tried to overthrow Mr Yeltsin's government; he shelled the hostile parliament. In 1996 communists almost won the presidential elections; by twisting the rules, he saved himself and his country.Yeltsin seems to be just continuing the restoration policies and reform programs set into motion by Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and Grobachev.
All Out for May Day Marches; No to the Gutierrez-Flake bill
Pro-migrant groups celebrate May 1st across the U.S. For example, the centrist Mexican American Political Association calls for improved conditions for all workers and stand against:
- No guarantee of permanent legal status, seriously delays by six to more years the temporary status, and thus, legal uncertainty, and charges exorbitant fees
- A process for permanent resident visa application could extend from five to twenty years depending on the country of origin
- Further criminalization against unauthorized migrants
- More onerous interior enforcement measures to criminalize the poor further
- Use local police to arrest and detain migrants
- More expedited removal by DHS without due process
- More onerous employer sanctions hurting workers
- Increase criminal penalties against migrant workers
- Pro-employer guest-worker program
May 1st is International Worker’s Day to celebrate the social and economic achievements of the global labor movement by commemorating the executions after the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago, which started on May 1 and ended on May 4.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Giving us back our local community center in San Jose
In San Jose, anti-corruption groups and individuals continue their campaign to remove vestiges of nepotism, corruption and mismanagement at Northside Community Center. This campaign has been in full swing since about 2002/2003. Anyone remembers the first meeting of the anti-corruption coalition? These groups—several Filipino and other grassroots organizations of color—are seeking to improve ethnically attuned services and programs for city residents and to have a more inclusive public space and forum for dialogue.
Let's hope and make sure the local park and recreation department and the city council take steps to bring in a new management team who will work closely with various Filipino organizations and other community groups of color and will create an inclusive and collaborative environment.
This reminds me of the political corruption problems in the Philippines (with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo exercising fraud and violence in the May 2007 election) and the mismanagement of the World Bank by Paul Wolfowitz.
People are shouting in the streets and are calling for,
"Give Us Back Our Community Center / No More Corrupt Managers!"
"Stand for Credible Elections / Fight against Election Fraud and Violence [in the Philppines]!"
"Oust GMA!"
"Junk Wolfowitz and the World Bank!"
Let's hope and make sure the local park and recreation department and the city council take steps to bring in a new management team who will work closely with various Filipino organizations and other community groups of color and will create an inclusive and collaborative environment.
This reminds me of the political corruption problems in the Philippines (with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo exercising fraud and violence in the May 2007 election) and the mismanagement of the World Bank by Paul Wolfowitz.
People are shouting in the streets and are calling for,
"Give Us Back Our Community Center / No More Corrupt Managers!"
"Stand for Credible Elections / Fight against Election Fraud and Violence [in the Philppines]!"
"Oust GMA!"
"Junk Wolfowitz and the World Bank!"
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Fil-Am lawyer wants individual counsels for NY trial of Pinay nurses
Article posted April 06, 2007 - 11:44 AM
http://www.gmanews.tv/print/37242
The Filipino-American lawyer defending the 10 Filipino nurses on trial in New York for conspiracy and child abandonment wants the Philippine government to provide his clients with individual lawyers.
In a press statement sent to GMANews.TV, Salvador Tuy accused the government of abandoning the plight of the distressed Filipino nurses, including medical doctor Elmer Jacinto who left the Philippines to work as a nurse in New York, who walked out of a home care facility for disabled children in April last year.
They were accused of conspiracy and for endangering the lives of their patients when they walked out allegedly without proper notice. The nurse complained that SentosaCare that recruited them to New York failed to comply with the terms of their contract, a matter they supposedly brought to the attention of the concerned authorities.
Salvador Tuy represented the nurses when they were arraigned last month before Judge Robert Doyle of the Riverhead Country Criminal Court. The nurses and their lawyer Felix Vinluan pleaded 'not guilty' to the charges filed against them.
Tuy said the Philippine Consulate General in New York City only promised to secure funding for the defense of the nurses, but not to provide individual counsels at the government's expense.
Tuy accused the Philippine government of taking the side of the nurses' recruiter purportedly because of its close association with a former official of Malacanang.
Tuy also wanted the government to suspend Sentosa's license to recruit while the country and thousands of Filipina nurses are awaiting the outcome of the case in New York where contract violations were allegedly committed against 55 Filipina nurses who were recruited to work in the USA .
"This is to protect more Filipinas from suffering the same fate as those now in the USA and facing trial just because they had the guts and temerity to file administrative charges against Sentosa," Tuy stated.
On April 6, 2006, lawyer Felix Vinluan filed discrimination charges on behalf of 28 Filipino nurses and physical therapist against several New York-based nursing home facilities affiliated with Sentosa Recruitment Agency.
Sentosa Recruitment Agency supposedly recruited the 28 Filipino healthcare workers and had them sponsored as immigrant workers by its NY-based nursing home affiliated facilities.
The nurses signed individual employment contracts with their respective nursing home-petitioners. Upon their arrival in the United States, most of them were not given immediate employment.
Some were initially made to work as clerks with much lesser salaries. Most of them were assigned at facilities different from the nursing home facilities that sponsored them.
Their working hours were reduced from 37.5 hours a week to 35 hours a week. And all of them, without exception, were not made direct-hire employees of their respective petitioning employers. Instead, they were made agency employees of Sentosa Services/Prompt Nursing Employment Agency, a non-entity to their employment contracts.
The nurses received their salaries and employment benefits from Sentosa Services/Prompt Nursing Employment Agency.
The nurses claimed that had they been directly employed, they would have been directly-hired employees of their respective petitioning employers and would have received the salary rates and benefits being received by regular employees of their petitioning employers.
http://www.gmanews.tv/print/37242
The Filipino-American lawyer defending the 10 Filipino nurses on trial in New York for conspiracy and child abandonment wants the Philippine government to provide his clients with individual lawyers.
In a press statement sent to GMANews.TV, Salvador Tuy accused the government of abandoning the plight of the distressed Filipino nurses, including medical doctor Elmer Jacinto who left the Philippines to work as a nurse in New York, who walked out of a home care facility for disabled children in April last year.
They were accused of conspiracy and for endangering the lives of their patients when they walked out allegedly without proper notice. The nurse complained that SentosaCare that recruited them to New York failed to comply with the terms of their contract, a matter they supposedly brought to the attention of the concerned authorities.
Salvador Tuy represented the nurses when they were arraigned last month before Judge Robert Doyle of the Riverhead Country Criminal Court. The nurses and their lawyer Felix Vinluan pleaded 'not guilty' to the charges filed against them.
Tuy said the Philippine Consulate General in New York City only promised to secure funding for the defense of the nurses, but not to provide individual counsels at the government's expense.
Tuy accused the Philippine government of taking the side of the nurses' recruiter purportedly because of its close association with a former official of Malacanang.
Tuy also wanted the government to suspend Sentosa's license to recruit while the country and thousands of Filipina nurses are awaiting the outcome of the case in New York where contract violations were allegedly committed against 55 Filipina nurses who were recruited to work in the USA .
"This is to protect more Filipinas from suffering the same fate as those now in the USA and facing trial just because they had the guts and temerity to file administrative charges against Sentosa," Tuy stated.
On April 6, 2006, lawyer Felix Vinluan filed discrimination charges on behalf of 28 Filipino nurses and physical therapist against several New York-based nursing home facilities affiliated with Sentosa Recruitment Agency.
Sentosa Recruitment Agency supposedly recruited the 28 Filipino healthcare workers and had them sponsored as immigrant workers by its NY-based nursing home affiliated facilities.
The nurses signed individual employment contracts with their respective nursing home-petitioners. Upon their arrival in the United States, most of them were not given immediate employment.
Some were initially made to work as clerks with much lesser salaries. Most of them were assigned at facilities different from the nursing home facilities that sponsored them.
Their working hours were reduced from 37.5 hours a week to 35 hours a week. And all of them, without exception, were not made direct-hire employees of their respective petitioning employers. Instead, they were made agency employees of Sentosa Services/Prompt Nursing Employment Agency, a non-entity to their employment contracts.
The nurses received their salaries and employment benefits from Sentosa Services/Prompt Nursing Employment Agency.
The nurses claimed that had they been directly employed, they would have been directly-hired employees of their respective petitioning employers and would have received the salary rates and benefits being received by regular employees of their petitioning employers.
poem for fely garcia
MISTERYO NG HAPIS
by Joi Barrios Leblanc
April 2007
(Para kay Fely Garcia, domestic worker sa New York na diumano’y nagpatiwakal)
Nakabitin siyang
natagpuang patay,
Anong misteryo ng hapis.
Ang tanging sinisiwalat
Ng pantali sa kanyang leeg
Ay sanhi ng pagkamatay,
Di nito maibubulalas
Ang hapdi ng kaluluwa,
O ang dalamhating inipon sa dibdib.
Ang ipinagluluksa natin
Ay di ang katawang walang buhay,
Di isang numero sa statistiko
ng mga manggawang nangibang-bayan
Di lamang si Fely, ang mahal nating si Fely,
Kundi si Huli, laging si Huli,
Katulong na bayad utang,
Lahat tayong inaakalang
Aliping bayad utang.
Tanging ang kanyang pagkamatay
Ang misteryo.
Ang kahirapang nagtutulak sa pagluwas
ang trahedya na nakasakmal sa ating mga leeg,
At tayo’y nakikibaka, bawat saglit nakikibaka
Para sa bawat hiningang walang pangamba,
Para sa luwalhati
Ng kaunti man lamang pag-asa.
Joi Barrios Leblanc
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
MYSTERY OF SORROW
(For Fely Garcia, a domestic worker who allegedly committed suicide in her New York apartment)
The woman in the closet
Hangs dead,
A mystery of sorrow.
The sash around her neck
Tells only of the cause of death,
Not the pain of the spirit,
Nor the longing of the heart.
So we mourn,
Not the lifeless body,
Nor the overseas worker statistic,
Not only Fely, dear Fely,
But Huli, ever Huli,
A servant paying for debt with life.
All of us they consider as slaves,
paying for debt with life.
Only her death
Is a mystery.
The poverty that drives us to exile
Is the tragedy
That wrings our necks,
And we fight,
Each moment we fight
For glorious hope,
For every fearless breath.
by Joi Barrios Leblanc
April 2007
(Para kay Fely Garcia, domestic worker sa New York na diumano’y nagpatiwakal)
Nakabitin siyang
natagpuang patay,
Anong misteryo ng hapis.
Ang tanging sinisiwalat
Ng pantali sa kanyang leeg
Ay sanhi ng pagkamatay,
Di nito maibubulalas
Ang hapdi ng kaluluwa,
O ang dalamhating inipon sa dibdib.
Ang ipinagluluksa natin
Ay di ang katawang walang buhay,
Di isang numero sa statistiko
ng mga manggawang nangibang-bayan
Di lamang si Fely, ang mahal nating si Fely,
Kundi si Huli, laging si Huli,
Katulong na bayad utang,
Lahat tayong inaakalang
Aliping bayad utang.
Tanging ang kanyang pagkamatay
Ang misteryo.
Ang kahirapang nagtutulak sa pagluwas
ang trahedya na nakasakmal sa ating mga leeg,
At tayo’y nakikibaka, bawat saglit nakikibaka
Para sa bawat hiningang walang pangamba,
Para sa luwalhati
Ng kaunti man lamang pag-asa.
Joi Barrios Leblanc
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
MYSTERY OF SORROW
(For Fely Garcia, a domestic worker who allegedly committed suicide in her New York apartment)
The woman in the closet
Hangs dead,
A mystery of sorrow.
The sash around her neck
Tells only of the cause of death,
Not the pain of the spirit,
Nor the longing of the heart.
So we mourn,
Not the lifeless body,
Nor the overseas worker statistic,
Not only Fely, dear Fely,
But Huli, ever Huli,
A servant paying for debt with life.
All of us they consider as slaves,
paying for debt with life.
Only her death
Is a mystery.
The poverty that drives us to exile
Is the tragedy
That wrings our necks,
And we fight,
Each moment we fight
For glorious hope,
For every fearless breath.
Islamic street preachers
From Boston to Lahore and beyond, the tentacles of taqwacore - aka Islamic punk rock - are spreading. And it's giving disenfranchised young Muslims a voice, says Riazat Butt
Riazat Butt
Saturday April 28, 2007, Guardian (UK)
http://music.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329793613-122428,00.html
There can't be that many female playwrights who are deaf, punk and Muslim, so Sabina England is something of a find. With a lurid Mohawk and leather jacket slathered with slogans, she looks every inch the rebel and has an attitude to match.
Sabina, who says she lives in the "shitty midwest of the United States" or the "HELL-HOLE OF BOREDOM AND YUPPIES", is part of a subculture that, until a few years ago, existed only on paper.
The Taqwacores - a novel about a fictitious Muslim punk scene in the US - has spawned an actual movement that is being driven forward by young Muslims worldwide. Some bands - such as the Kominas - have a cult following. Others, such as Sabina, are virtually unknown. In a brief email exchange, she lays out some harsh truths.
You're a playwright. What do you write about?
"I write plays about fucked up people in fucked up situations, because we're all fucked up human beings that live in a fucked up society. People need to quit whining and shut up and realise that we're all freaks, whether we admit it or not."
Where are your ideas from?
"Being a deaf woman from an Indian Muslim family growing up in both England and the US, I've never felt I fit in or belonged anywhere. So I was always forced to be an outsider, and because of this, I'd just watch people and observe their actions and words. I guess a lot of my ideas come from my alienation and anger."
How well known is the taqwacore phenomenon where you are?
"Muslims around here would rather act like a model minority and don't really want to rattle anybody's chain. I really want to move to New York City, if I can get my plays produced there. Unfortunately it seems many theatre companies are too scared to do my works, or think I only cater to Indians and Pakistanis and won't attract white people. But they're fucking wrong, and they can't see beyond racial boundaries. Fucking worthless piece of shites."
What does taqwacore mean to you?
"It means being true to myself, having my own faith, and interpreting Islam the way I want to, without feeling guilty or being looked down at by other Muslims."
What is the future for taqwacore?
"It's gonna get bigger. A lot of Muslim kids are tired of being told what to do, how to think, what to believe in, and how to act, by their parents. There are 'the angry muslim kids' who wanna grow beards and pray five times a day, and then there are the OTHER 'angry Muslim kids' who wanna get drunk and say a huge big 'fuck you' to the Muslim population. Or maybe they just don't care and wanna sit at home and not think about Osama's video speeches about how America is the Great Satan."
How her words would fare with Michael Muhammad Knight, author of The Taqwacores and an unwitting idol to the young and restless, is anyone's guess. Knight, who is 29 and lives in New York with his dog Sunny - "not as in Sunni Muslim" - downplays his achievement of single-handedly inspiring this subculture that has produced artists such as the Kominas, Secret Trial Five, Vote Hezbollah, Al-Thawra, 8-Bit and Diacritical.
"There was a scene already," says Knight modestly, whose next novel will be titled Osama Van Halen. "I just gave it a name. There were kids out there, doing their thing. I don't think of it as a movement, though, just a group of friends supporting each other."
Knight wrote the book to deal with his own issues. He converted to Islam as a teenager and admits he "burned out" from being so religious. "I was so intense. I felt Islam was so black and white and there were no grey areas. These Muslim kids, who are punks, they are in these grey areas."
The kids he refers to have all devoured Knight's work, some taking it literally.
"One kid," he says, "thought the book was non-fiction and thought that stuff in the book actually happened. He got in touch. He said if it wasn't real, that he would make it real." He sounds worried by the suggestion that his book will be a manifesto for Muslim punks. "If the scene develops, I don't want it to be based on my book."
The words stable, door, horse and bolt spring to mind. Some Muslims are deeming his book to be nothing short of a revelation. "When I read The Taqwacores," says Basim Usmani, frontman of The Kominas, "all my reservations about Islam melted away."
Usmani was born in New York and moved around the US when he was growing up. "I had this identity that stretched way further back than these disenfranchised white kids I was hanging out with, but they were the ones who showed me the most respect. I entered America where I was weird and, when I went back to Pakistan, I was weird there too. I was too Pakistani to be American and too American to be Pakistani."
His aggression was ongoing, although he freely admits his rage didn't come from social dynamics. "In Boston I was middle class. In Pakistan, where I am now, I am definitely upper class. But the poverty here is intense and that makes me angry."
Basim first played with Boston-based outfit Malice In Leatherland, supporting horror punk band the Misfits. It was during this time that he heard about Knight's book.
"I read the book and I'm amazed. I send him an email and he called. I saw a lot of myself in it. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a story." Neither he nor his taqwacore comrades confess to embracing the more debauched antics of the novel - which has one character urinating over the Qur'an and then reading from it and a female Muslim veil-wearing punk, performing oral sex, onstage, in front of 200 people.
Understandably, Usmani was nervous approaching Shahjehan Khan, also in the Kominas, about the book. "I didn't know how he would react, he's not punk, but he was cool about it. He read it in one day. You could say it was a catalyst for the Kominas." Their songs are irreverent and un-PC. His favourite track, he says with a snigger, is "I Want A Handjob" - a jibe at Pakistani rockers Junoon (who launched a Muslims For Bush campaign for the 2004 elections).
Usmani left the US just as the Kominas were breaking through into mainstream culture. But he has a new band - the Dead Bhuttos, a variation on the Dead Kennedys (who released their first single through the independent record label Alternative Tentacles, the very label that picked up Knight's book for distribution).
A future project, hopes Usmani, will be a Punjabi version of the Billy Bragg song There Is Power In A Union. "I'd like it to be a song for the Pakistani workers 'cos they don't really have one," he muses.
The Kominas, currently on a gigging hiatus, will tour later this year in North America. "It seems weird to leave just when we were on the brink. If I'd stayed then I would have been playing to sympathetic white liberals. I didn't want that. In Pakistan, people want to rebel against the police and religious authority and punk is the perfect way to do that."
He's put a downpayment on a bus and decorated it with the shahadah [the Muslim declaration in the oneness of God]. "I have no idea how we're going to get it through customs."
Meanwhile, Khan is in Boston mixing the Kominas debut album: "We've put some EPs out but this is our first official release. There will be remixes of our old stuff like Suicide Bomb The Gap."
Khan says he looks like a typical engineer - with glasses and a goatee - and comes from a comfortable, middle-class background. But he appreciates what taqwacore has done for him. "I was like, where has this book been all my life? None of us know where taqwacore is going or what's going to happen. It is a subculture that could influence culture in general. It's nice to be part of something at the beginning."
One of the newest recruits to the taqwacore scene is Secret Trial Five, from Vancouver. Lead vocalist Sena Hussain, 25, took her inspiration directly from the Kominas. "We saw them play and we were all into punk music anyway. We haven't had a chance to rattle some cages, we only got together last summer, but I expect we will. That's the point of punk."
Proposed title tracks include Hey, Hey, Guantanamo Bay and Emo-hurram, a pun on the first month of the Islamic calendar. And, in a male-dominated culture, she thinks they will face challenges from all sides. "It's another thing that drives us," she says, "Muslim women are seen as helpless and oppressed. We want to prove that wrong. I used to sport a mohawk, I don't now, but we will totally play up the punk thing.
"There's so much animosity towards Muslims and we need a dissenting voice to say 'fuck you' to people who pigeonhole us." Hussain, who is looking for a new guitarist, adds: "It's only fitting that we identify ourselves as taqwacore, that's where we got our inspiration from, and I think that's the way the genre will grow - and I hope it does."
- Riazat Butt presents Islamophonic, www.guardian.co.uk/islamophonic
Riazat Butt
Saturday April 28, 2007, Guardian (UK)
http://music.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329793613-122428,00.html
There can't be that many female playwrights who are deaf, punk and Muslim, so Sabina England is something of a find. With a lurid Mohawk and leather jacket slathered with slogans, she looks every inch the rebel and has an attitude to match.
Sabina, who says she lives in the "shitty midwest of the United States" or the "HELL-HOLE OF BOREDOM AND YUPPIES", is part of a subculture that, until a few years ago, existed only on paper.
The Taqwacores - a novel about a fictitious Muslim punk scene in the US - has spawned an actual movement that is being driven forward by young Muslims worldwide. Some bands - such as the Kominas - have a cult following. Others, such as Sabina, are virtually unknown. In a brief email exchange, she lays out some harsh truths.
You're a playwright. What do you write about?
"I write plays about fucked up people in fucked up situations, because we're all fucked up human beings that live in a fucked up society. People need to quit whining and shut up and realise that we're all freaks, whether we admit it or not."
Where are your ideas from?
"Being a deaf woman from an Indian Muslim family growing up in both England and the US, I've never felt I fit in or belonged anywhere. So I was always forced to be an outsider, and because of this, I'd just watch people and observe their actions and words. I guess a lot of my ideas come from my alienation and anger."
How well known is the taqwacore phenomenon where you are?
"Muslims around here would rather act like a model minority and don't really want to rattle anybody's chain. I really want to move to New York City, if I can get my plays produced there. Unfortunately it seems many theatre companies are too scared to do my works, or think I only cater to Indians and Pakistanis and won't attract white people. But they're fucking wrong, and they can't see beyond racial boundaries. Fucking worthless piece of shites."
What does taqwacore mean to you?
"It means being true to myself, having my own faith, and interpreting Islam the way I want to, without feeling guilty or being looked down at by other Muslims."
What is the future for taqwacore?
"It's gonna get bigger. A lot of Muslim kids are tired of being told what to do, how to think, what to believe in, and how to act, by their parents. There are 'the angry muslim kids' who wanna grow beards and pray five times a day, and then there are the OTHER 'angry Muslim kids' who wanna get drunk and say a huge big 'fuck you' to the Muslim population. Or maybe they just don't care and wanna sit at home and not think about Osama's video speeches about how America is the Great Satan."
How her words would fare with Michael Muhammad Knight, author of The Taqwacores and an unwitting idol to the young and restless, is anyone's guess. Knight, who is 29 and lives in New York with his dog Sunny - "not as in Sunni Muslim" - downplays his achievement of single-handedly inspiring this subculture that has produced artists such as the Kominas, Secret Trial Five, Vote Hezbollah, Al-Thawra, 8-Bit and Diacritical.
"There was a scene already," says Knight modestly, whose next novel will be titled Osama Van Halen. "I just gave it a name. There were kids out there, doing their thing. I don't think of it as a movement, though, just a group of friends supporting each other."
Knight wrote the book to deal with his own issues. He converted to Islam as a teenager and admits he "burned out" from being so religious. "I was so intense. I felt Islam was so black and white and there were no grey areas. These Muslim kids, who are punks, they are in these grey areas."
The kids he refers to have all devoured Knight's work, some taking it literally.
"One kid," he says, "thought the book was non-fiction and thought that stuff in the book actually happened. He got in touch. He said if it wasn't real, that he would make it real." He sounds worried by the suggestion that his book will be a manifesto for Muslim punks. "If the scene develops, I don't want it to be based on my book."
The words stable, door, horse and bolt spring to mind. Some Muslims are deeming his book to be nothing short of a revelation. "When I read The Taqwacores," says Basim Usmani, frontman of The Kominas, "all my reservations about Islam melted away."
Usmani was born in New York and moved around the US when he was growing up. "I had this identity that stretched way further back than these disenfranchised white kids I was hanging out with, but they were the ones who showed me the most respect. I entered America where I was weird and, when I went back to Pakistan, I was weird there too. I was too Pakistani to be American and too American to be Pakistani."
His aggression was ongoing, although he freely admits his rage didn't come from social dynamics. "In Boston I was middle class. In Pakistan, where I am now, I am definitely upper class. But the poverty here is intense and that makes me angry."
Basim first played with Boston-based outfit Malice In Leatherland, supporting horror punk band the Misfits. It was during this time that he heard about Knight's book.
"I read the book and I'm amazed. I send him an email and he called. I saw a lot of myself in it. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a story." Neither he nor his taqwacore comrades confess to embracing the more debauched antics of the novel - which has one character urinating over the Qur'an and then reading from it and a female Muslim veil-wearing punk, performing oral sex, onstage, in front of 200 people.
Understandably, Usmani was nervous approaching Shahjehan Khan, also in the Kominas, about the book. "I didn't know how he would react, he's not punk, but he was cool about it. He read it in one day. You could say it was a catalyst for the Kominas." Their songs are irreverent and un-PC. His favourite track, he says with a snigger, is "I Want A Handjob" - a jibe at Pakistani rockers Junoon (who launched a Muslims For Bush campaign for the 2004 elections).
Usmani left the US just as the Kominas were breaking through into mainstream culture. But he has a new band - the Dead Bhuttos, a variation on the Dead Kennedys (who released their first single through the independent record label Alternative Tentacles, the very label that picked up Knight's book for distribution).
A future project, hopes Usmani, will be a Punjabi version of the Billy Bragg song There Is Power In A Union. "I'd like it to be a song for the Pakistani workers 'cos they don't really have one," he muses.
The Kominas, currently on a gigging hiatus, will tour later this year in North America. "It seems weird to leave just when we were on the brink. If I'd stayed then I would have been playing to sympathetic white liberals. I didn't want that. In Pakistan, people want to rebel against the police and religious authority and punk is the perfect way to do that."
He's put a downpayment on a bus and decorated it with the shahadah [the Muslim declaration in the oneness of God]. "I have no idea how we're going to get it through customs."
Meanwhile, Khan is in Boston mixing the Kominas debut album: "We've put some EPs out but this is our first official release. There will be remixes of our old stuff like Suicide Bomb The Gap."
Khan says he looks like a typical engineer - with glasses and a goatee - and comes from a comfortable, middle-class background. But he appreciates what taqwacore has done for him. "I was like, where has this book been all my life? None of us know where taqwacore is going or what's going to happen. It is a subculture that could influence culture in general. It's nice to be part of something at the beginning."
One of the newest recruits to the taqwacore scene is Secret Trial Five, from Vancouver. Lead vocalist Sena Hussain, 25, took her inspiration directly from the Kominas. "We saw them play and we were all into punk music anyway. We haven't had a chance to rattle some cages, we only got together last summer, but I expect we will. That's the point of punk."
Proposed title tracks include Hey, Hey, Guantanamo Bay and Emo-hurram, a pun on the first month of the Islamic calendar. And, in a male-dominated culture, she thinks they will face challenges from all sides. "It's another thing that drives us," she says, "Muslim women are seen as helpless and oppressed. We want to prove that wrong. I used to sport a mohawk, I don't now, but we will totally play up the punk thing.
"There's so much animosity towards Muslims and we need a dissenting voice to say 'fuck you' to people who pigeonhole us." Hussain, who is looking for a new guitarist, adds: "It's only fitting that we identify ourselves as taqwacore, that's where we got our inspiration from, and I think that's the way the genre will grow - and I hope it does."
- Riazat Butt presents Islamophonic, www.guardian.co.uk/islamophonic
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