Proving that poverty and racism kills

OK, we all know something isn't real until scientists measure it.  Forget about our personal experiences, our life learning, our sense of our community and our world--  we need that hard, cold data.

Excuse my sarcasm.  Scientific studies are important because, really, you can't make a case to Congress or City Hall solely on anecdotal information.

A study published in the June 16th issue of the American Journal of Public Health has calculated deaths for six social factors and here are the results: "Approximately 245, 000 deaths in the United States in 2000 were attributable to low education, 176,000 to racial segregation, 162,000 to low social support, 133,000 to individual-level poverty, 119,000 to income inequality, and 39,000 to area-level poverty."

Check out the letter at the end of the study summary which calls the figures an underestimation because the study does not calculated for the combined effects of experiencing one or more factors:  low education plus racism, low social support plus poverty,  etc.

Memorize these figures, folks. 

Photo from Joe the Misfit's photostream at Flickr.

Man says blood center rejected him because he appeared gay

A straight man who tried donating blood at a Gary, Indiana blood center was reportedly turned away recently--because employees of the center thought he was gay.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Aaron Pace, 22, is "admittedly and noticeably effeminate," but still a heterosexual man. In any case, when he visited Bio-Blood Components Inc. in Gary, which pays for blood and plasma donations, he was told he could not be a donor because he “appears to be a homosexual.”
Bio-Blood would not respond to the Sun-Times for comment, but allegedly are taking advantage of an outdated federal law that was upheld in 2010.  See more at Huffington Post.

Fighting for Environmental Justice

Holly, Steve and Chrisoula

On Tuesday, July 19,  The Springfield Institute organized community groups, including Arise, to participate in an Environmental Justice Bike Tour of the North End.  It was a wicked hot day (not as hot as the past few, though!) but enthusiasm was high and everyone wants to do it again.  Thanks, Chrisoula, Steve, Ruben and Holly (also riding for Out Now!), for riding, and Lamont for helping to kick it off.  You can get more details at the Springfield Institute website, and if you want to be involved in another EJ Bike Tour, let us know because more are planned..

City Councilors Zaida Luna & Jose Tosado- Tim Allen also present

I am thrilled that our community is finally waking up to the fact that we have a right to live in a decent city and the right to demand the changes we need.

================================
A few weeks ago, I got a call from a woman in Indian Orchard who has been on our mailing list for a number of years.  She said she'd gotten a notice from the City's Planning Board about a proposed zone change from Residence B to Commercial A in her neighborhood.  The notice read as follows: "Notice is hereby given that the Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 6:00 pm. in Room 220 of City Hall for all those interested in a zone change from residence B to Industrial A at the property known as ES Parker St (09510-1894).  Owner and petitioner: City of Springfield.  By order of the City Planning Board, Katie Stebbins, Chairperson.  Information may be viewed at the Planning/Eco Dev Dept., 70 Tapley St. (413) 787-6020."

Not a lot of info, right?  And you'd have to be pretty pro-active to actually go to the Planning Dept. to see what the proposal is.  On top of that, the zoning change notice was only delivered to households with 300 feet of the proposed zone change.

The woman I  heard from, however, knew exactly what property was being discussed: a piece of Hubbard Park, owned by the city,  would be given over to expand the parking lot of Unifirst Uniforms, right next door.

The "Industrial A" designation caught my eye, because I've been told that the City of Springfield has no say over what is done or developed with "Industrial A"-- which is supposed to be why it was easy for Palmer Renewable Energy to move its proposal for the biomass plant we've been fighting at the existing Palmer Paving site.

I went over to Parker St. to take pictures and see what my contact was talking about.  Apparently Unifirst only wants about 10 feet of land and intends to put up a concrete wall between the parking lot and the remainder of the property.

Back entrance to Barrows Park

 I must say that the baby rabbit I saw hopping around did pull at my heartstrings.  Another neighbor told me that a fox also lives in the area, as well as many other animals.  Tugging at the city's pursestrings, however, is an offer from Unifirst to donate $250,000 in park improvements.  However, it turns out that the park improvements will not be for Hubbard Park, but for Plastics Park on Page Blvd.

I made up a flyer and with some other Arise members, passed it out to a somewhat broader area in Indian Orchard.  I could not attend the Planning Board meeting (we had an important Stop Toxic Incineration meeting the same night)  but was told later that about 20 people attended.  Result?  the Planning Board did not (at this time) allow the zone change, and sent the proponents to an upcoming City Council meeting.

I may have more to say about Unifirst in a later post, but I hope one thing is obvious: if the Planning Board wants real citizen participation in in local decisions, it's going to have to do a better job in informing the community-- better notices, better descriptions of what's really going on-- maybe some photos to accompany the notice?

Watch out for apple juice!

Unless you like arsenic with your apple juice, you might want to skip Mott's Apple Juice.  Two consumer groups, Food and Water Watch and the Empire State Consumer Project, found five times the amount arsenic in Mott's juice as is allowed in drinking water.  The reason?  Mott's gets its apples from China, where arsenic is still used as a pesticide.

"Chris Barnes, a spokesman for Mott's parent company, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, said the company took food safety seriously and was in compliance with all FDA guidelines. He also said the company had no access to the testing done by the consumer group and could not vouch for its findings."  Democrat and Chronicle.  Remember those words:  "we're in compliance."

You can read more about the study at Food and Water Watch.


Photo from WindoC's photostream at Flickr.

Stop the Hate

SPRINGFIELD, MA – On Tuesday, July 5, 2011 from 12-1pm, organizers called for all concerned about the recent brutal violence against an openly gay man to meet at Barrows Park in Springfield, to stand in solidarity against violence, and along side of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Two-Spirit, Intersex, Queer, Questioning, Neutral and Allied community.

On the early morning hours of Tuesday, June 28^th, an openly gay man, whose name remains anonymous, was violently attacked by 5 males and 4 females ranging in age from 12-19.   He suffered head trauma as well as other injuries.  The victim reported that slurs were being used during the beating, including one of the alleged perpetrators saying, “That’s what we do to faggots.”

This incident happened at the tail end of Gay Pride Month, and followed a week of Gay Pride events in our city; one which was a Flag Raising event that involved institutional proclamations read aloud by Mayor Sarno and City Council President Tosado calling for “Springfield residents to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless or sexual orientation or gender identity.”

In response to the incident, openly gay City Councilor Amaad Rivera states, “Hate is not a Springfield value. Only together can we create a community that safe for everyone. No one should have to suffer violence for being who they are.”

When Youth Community Organizer, Michael Hall, from Out Now, Springfield’s only Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Youth organization, was asked about the beating he stated, “It just really reminded me of how one incident like this, that is motivated by the hating of gay people, can leave us feeling afraid all over again.”  “I just really believe there needs to be institutional education/curriculum that focuses on LGBTQ people, at every level of the public school system, for starters,” added Hall.

“I find this all so disturbing, yet we must try to use this as an opportunity here,” reports Holly Richardson, Community Organizer, Out Now, and Arise for Social Justice.  “If we are to truly tackle anti-gay violence we must treat this beating not as an isolated incident.  With people living and working in our community like Scott Lively, an internationally recognized anti-gay minister; and this kind of extreme violence occurring a week and a half after Springfield’s Pride/Visibility Week, I believe it’s important to address homophobic violence (and oppression, in general) with a root-cause analysis, starting with asking ourselves what would cause a group of young people to act in such a way toward an openly gay man?”

The Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition was formed in January 2011 upon learning that Scott Lively was living and ministering in Springfield.  Lively is president of the Abiding Truth Ministries, which has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and he has been running the Holy Grounds Coffee House on State Street, right near Commerce High School.  The coalition deplores hateful messages and actions, and calls for community education about the impact of homophobia on our communities, as well as calling for community leaders, neighbors, co-workers, family members, etc. to speak out against homophobia whenever it is perpetrated.  The coalition involves a number of community-based organizations, local college professors and students, members of the faith community and individual community members.

Save the Pell grant program!

Sorry, if keeping people from getting an education isn't part of a plot to keep power in the hands of the few, then I don't know what is....

Trial of men accused of illegal filming inside Franklin County Jail begins in Greenfield

Published: Monday, July 18, 2011, 10:44 AM Updated: Monday, July 18, 2011, 11:14 AM

By Conor Berry, The Republican The Republican

Staff photo by Conor BerryA large group of supporters were on hand Monday at the Franklin County Courthouse, where Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller are on trial in Greenfield District Court for an incident last summer at the Franklin County Jail & House of Correction. Eyre and Mueller, founders of the police watchdog organization Cop Block, are accused of illegally filming their encounter with law enforcement officials inside the county jail on July 1, 2010. The pair were arrested by Greenfield police after they alleged failed to comply with officers' request to stop filming at the jail. On Monday, several dozen supporters flocked to the Greenfield courthouse to offer their support to the duo and to protest what they view as an unnecessary and illegal arrest.

GREENFIELD -- Jury selection got under way Monday morning in the trial of two New Hampshire men accused of illegally filming their encounter with law enforcement officials at the Franklin County Jail & House of Correction last summer.
Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller, founder of the "pro-police accountability" organization Cop Block -- which advocates filming or photographing police and posting those images online -- were arrested July 1, 2010, outside the Greenfield jail when they refused to stop filming on the premises.
The men, who had gone to the facility to bail out two friends being held on drug and weapons charges, claim there were no signs indicating they could not film at the jail. They continued to record the encounter against officers' orders, leading to their arrest by Greenfield police.
On Monday morning, Eyre and Mueller and about 50 supporters gathered outside the Franklin County Courthouse with placards protesting police tactics that they believe tread on their natural freedoms. Eyre and Mueller, both of New Hampshire, are so-called voluntaryists who adhere to the principles of a stateless society based on natural law, not a formal system of rules and regulations with law enforcers such as police and other agents of the state.
As of 10 a.m., the legal proceeding had not resulted in any conflagrations in or outside the courthouse. At a previous court appearance, supporters of Eyre and Mueller caused a minor disturbance at the conclusion of that proceeding, prompting extra securitty at Monday's trial.

Staff photo by Conor BerryPete Eyre and Adam Mueller's Mobile Anti-Resistance Vehicle, or MARV, was parked outside the Franklin County Courthouse on Monday. The men are on trial in Greenfield District Court for an incident stemming from an encounter with law enforcement officials at the Franklin County Jail & House of Correction last July. The pair, founding members of the police watchdog organization Cop Block, were arrested after they allegedly refused to stop filming at the county jail. Despite their legal woes, Eyre and Mueller are conducting a "Liberty on Tour" mission this summer to promote their anti-government, libertarian-leaning views. The men are so-called voluntaryists, who believe that submission to government rules and regulations should be entirely voluntary and that the principles of natural law should prevail.

In an effort to control the crowd and avoid any disruptions, court guards sealed off a wing abutting the Superior Court courtroom, where the trial is taking place even though it is a District Court case.
Picking a jury can take hours or even days, depending on the nature of a case and how much media exposure it has received. In Eyre and Mueller's case, the duo launched a media blitz in advance of Monday's trial, though the effectiveness of that campaign remains unclear. There were no TV stations evident at the courthouse complex, and only a handful of print-media reporters were covering the trial.
Any chance of reaching a last-minute plea deal with the defendants before the trial apparently was off the table; Mueller was wearing a T-shirt inside the courtroom that made it plainly clear that a plea was not an acceptable option.
District Court Judge William F. Mazanec is presiding over the trial, which could last a few days.
The men appear to be representing themselves, though an attorney was present on Monday and several times during pretrial motions stood to whisper in their ears.
Eyre and Mueller's black-and-gold "Liberty on Tour" mobile home was parked outside the courthouse. Despite their current legal woes, the men are touring the nation this summer to espouse their views on a voluntary society and their message of publicly challenging law enforcement officials by filming and photographing them and placing those images online.

5,000 Poor Dallas Residents Stampede Each Other In Race For Scarce Housing Vouchers

amond on Jul 16, 2011 at 10:30 am

Thursday morning, 5,000 Dallas residents in need of housing assistance showed up at the Jesse Owens Memorial complex early in the morning, hoping to be one of the lucky few to get a coveted spot on a waiting list for housing vouchers. Only 100 vouchers were available.

Some people had camped out since Wednesday night, and the line was at least a mile long. When hundreds of people suddenly sprinted for the doors, at least eight people were injured, and some say they feel lucky not to have been trampled to death:

When, at 6 a.m., officials said it was time to form a line, a frantic rush ensued — the latest sign of people’s desperation for help in tough times. There were no serious injuries, but video footage of the chaos received national attention.

“Once they said we could go on the property, it was a stampede, a circus,” said Adelia Frierson, a 24-year-old single mother applying for the federally funded assistance.

Zachary Thompson, the county’s director of health and human services, said the turnout once again demonstrates the need for the Housing Choice Vouchers, also known as Section 8. By the end of the day, about 5,000 households had applied. [...]

The hard-to-get vouchers pay a portion of the rent based on household income. This was the first time Dallas County had opened its waiting list since 2006, and applicants may have to wait at least two years to actually receive vouchers.

The incident is a sad illustration of lengths people will go to for even the chance of government assistance in such hard times. Health director Thompson acknowledged that, “a lot of times people are shocked there are so many people who are low income and need assistance. That’s just the reality of the economy we are living in.”

The crowd ranged from young single mothers with their children to senior citizens with nothing but a small Social Security income. Many applicants had jobs, but barely earn minimum wage.

Authorities have been pointing the finger of blame at one another since facing a mountain of criticism for letting the situation get out of hand and not having a better plan to accommodate the sheer number of voucher applicants.

Watch the news report here!

Justice Embodied Bearing the future to protect the Earth

This article really makes you think.


Justice Embodied
Bearing the future to protect the Earth
by _Sandra Cuffe
The Dominion - http://www.dominion paper.ca

Image from: vibrakeys.com
(http://www.dominion paper.ca/ images/3906)
VANCOUVER—A boy found his younger brother’s body hanging in the basement.
Another mine passed the environmental review process. More women are going
missing and are murdered. The search for a nuclear waste site continues.
Stories told by the media are presented as a series of disconnected
incidents and issues. Most governments, federal or otherwise, work in a similar
framework of disconnection, whether to determine jurisdiction or to deflect
accountability. Public discussion often separates reality into compartments.
The discourse of many groups and campaigns working on environmental and
climate issues explicitly rejects this disconnected perspective. However, that
same discourse has been questioned for its failure to make many other
connections that Indigenous peoples, women and others have been pointing out
for decades.
“Once you go to a birth, you know how connected you are to the earth, and
to all creation around us,” says Neddie Thompson, a traditional midwife from
Akwesasne, in Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) territory. “It’s the women who give
birth to all of our children...to take care of this land.”
“As an Indigenous feminist, one of the links I, as well as many Indigenous
women across the world, see is between reproductive health and
environmental justice. Simultaneously I am angry about the lack of recognition of this
link within most environmental discourse,” wrote Cree/Norwegian Indigenous
feminist Erin Konsmo. Also a student, she added that “[it’s] insulting to
hear in environmental classes that the idea of any form of sustainability
is a new concept.”
The declaration from the International Indigenous Women’s Environmental and
Reproductive Health Symposium held last year in California states that “
[sovereignty] and autonomy in relation to our lands, territories and
resources are intricately connected to sovereignty and autonomy in relation to our
bodies, minds and spirits.”

You can read the rest of the story at: (http://www.dominion paper.ca/ articles/ 3897#)

George Takei vs. Tennessee's "Don't Say Gay" Bill

I have always loved George Takei He is my favorite Star Trek actor.

Racism alive and well

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

Springfield Non-English speakers deserve police protection

Please join the Pioneer Valley Project and other community members at the Springfield City Council meeting  THIS MONDAY, MAY 2 AT 6:30 PM to pass the Language Access Ordinance to ensure that immigrants and non-English speakers have access to police protection and other public safety services. Over 30% of Springfield residents speak a language other than English at home.

 When they call 911 or speak to officers on the street and cannot get help because of language - we are all less safe.  Language access is a civil right which has not been well protected in Springfield in the past.  PVP has worked to pass this language access ordinance over the past 9 months and has negotiated the final language with the city council and the police department.

 The City Council's ordinance committee has voted in support of the ordinance and will bring it to the full City Council for a vote at Monday's meeting.

 WE NEED YOU TO JOIN US AT THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TO SHOW BROAD SUPPORT

FOR THIS ORDINANCE.

Please let us know if you are able to attend or if you need any additional information.  Thank you, Fred Rose, Cell 413-522-2204

Photo from Eyesplash's photostream at Flickr.

Date set for Springfield City Council hearing on biomass incinerator

OK, this is it-- on Tuesday, May 17, 4:30 pm., at the request of Council President Jose Tosado and Councilor Melvin Edwards, Springfield City Council will hold a hearing to consider amending or revoking Palmer Renewable Energy's permit to construct a biomass incinerator in Springfield.

We who have been opposing this plant have been organizing for almost two years, doing everything we can think of to wake up our community to this threat to our already poor air.

I'll have a lot more to say about the City Council hearing in the days ahead, but there are two actions people opposed to biomass incinerators can take right now, whether you live in Springfield or not.

First, you can comment to the Dept. of Environmental Protection about the draft air permit for Palmer Renewable Energy.  From the Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield website:

Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield has recently learned that the developers of the PRE biomass incinerator have paid extra fees to 'fast-track' their state permitting process.  And they only need one more permit before they can put a shovel in the ground. Can you please spare a minute to click here and comment on the State's draft air permit? The deadline for the air permit comment period is Friday, April 29.

Hampden County is already home to the dirtiest, unhealthiest air in the state (please visit http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/massachusetts). Several hazardous air pollutants are already alarmingly above allowable levels.  Springfield children have blood lead levels and respiratory disease rates twice that of the children of the state.

You can make a difference!  We have already stopped these developers from burning construction and demolition debris in their incinerator.  The state and city of Springfield are taking notice of our requests for clean air and its link to our health.  Thank you for continuing to support this citizen activist effort by sending the message that clean energy does not come from a smokestack. 

Second, you can sign a petition to Gov. Deval Patrick, asking for a three year moratorium on all biomass permits in Massachusetts.

More to come.

Photo from Basibanget's photostream at Flickr.

We have to stand up for homeless people whenever we can

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

Homeless people chased from place to place....not a new story.  Please sign this petition and read more about it below.

I must say that ever since Arise has become involved in environmental justice work, the opportunities to take action on environmental issues overwhelm our inboxes!  But electronic opportunities to take an action for poor and homeless people remain rare.  Change.org supports many causes, and has a section for Economic Justice.  Check out Change.org.

Homeless mom prosecuted for sending child to "wrong" school

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

A homeless mother in Connecticut has been charged with theft of "education expenses" totaling nearly $16,000 after it was discovered that she registered her son for school using the babysitter's address.

The Stamford Advocate reports:

A homeless woman from Bridgeport who enrolled her 6-year-old son at a Norwalk elementary school has become the first in the city to be charged with stealing more than $15,000 for the cost of her child's education.
Tonya McDowell, 33, whose last known address was 66 Priscilla St., Bridgeport, was charged Thursday with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny for allegedly stealing $15,686 from Norwalk schools. She was released after posting a $25,000 bond.
McDowell's babysitter, Ana Rebecca Marques, was also evicted from her Roodner Court public housing apartment for providing documents to enroll the child at Brookside Elementary School.
According to the story, McDowell was primarily sleeping at a home in a different city, although she could not be there during the days, and also spent time at a local shelter.  The boy went to the sitter's house daily after school.

An argument could be made that as they had no permanent home, there is no reason why the babysitter's house isn't a place of residence, as it was a place he went to daily and had more permanence than their other living situations appeared to.  However, the school disagreed and decided after an investigation to press charges against the mother, claiming theft.

The Chair of the board of education admits the move is unusual -- normally a child found attending school out of district is just sent away.  Others are speculating why this case became the case that the district appears to be interested in using to "set an example" in order to discourage other parents from attempting to send their children to school with false addresses, especially since the mother obviously has no ability to pay for the "theft."   A lawyer involved in a similar case wonders why they wouldn't choose to go after someone where they may have a chance to get reimbursement back for the educational costs while making their point.

Could it be that the district is less concerned about sending a general example and more concerned about sending one geared to a specific audience?  Like, for example, the low-income and homeless in the area?
(via: www.care2.com)
Mayor Richard Moccia said of the case,
"This now sends a message to other parents that may have been living in other towns and registering their kids with phony addresses."
(via: www.huffingtonpost.com)

Happy Earth Day

Candlelight vigil to support the Dunwell family

Fannie Mae is still pursuing a no-fault eviction of the Dunwell family even though the Dunwell family has stated their willingness and offered to pay rent, or purchase the home back at the current market value with an agreement to share any future equity appreciation. On Saturday, we will join together as a community to hold a candlelight vigil in support of the Dunwell family and make it clear to Fannie Mae that enough is enough! No-fault Evictions after foreclosure destroy our communities, leave families and children without homes and depress the value of homes throughout the neighborhood by creating more vacant and boarded up homes. 

GREED IS NO REASON TO EVICT! Come out and join the fight this Saturday! 

We are determined to stop the eviction of the Dunwell family and no-fault evictions after foreclosure throughout Springfield. 

We will block this eviction if necessary!

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL W/ THE DUNWELL FAMILY -- SATURDAY APRIL 23rd, 7:00 PM

20 Hughes Street, Springfield, MA (in Forest Park off Belmont Ave via Woodlawn St.) 

David, Yanick and their 3 daughters (8, 11 and 13) are at risk of being evicted by Fannie Mae, after their home was foreclosed on by Bank of America.

The Dunwell’s fell behind in their mortgage payments only after David lost his human service job of 17 years due to severe state and federal budget cuts to Bridgewell, the private agency that he worked for.  He had no union and no protection. Bridgewell workers are now organizing with SEIU Local 509 so they’ll have protection from such treatment. Prior to losing his job, the Dunwell's had kept on their mortgage.  

In spite of his setback, David has recently been able to return to full-time work, and his wife Yanick also works full-time as a health care worker.  They have a dual income and a reliable, rent-paying tenant downstairs. 

With their current income, they could afford to purchase their home back from Fannie Mae at real market value, or to pay reasonable rent!

This case is so simple! Don’t evict no-fault! Sell back to the Dunwell family at real market value or accept rent and market occupied. The Dunwell’s are even willing to share any future equity appreciation with the bank. This is a better deal for Fannie Mae! 

For more information see www.springfieldnooneleaves.org 

Photo from KRUMNews photostream at Flickr.

How to support unions after breaking the labor taboo

I know there's been a lot of discussion (most of which I haven't been privy to directly) over the blog post I wrote about building trade union behavior at the Palmer Renewable Energy air permit hearing.  As I suspected might happen, my criticizing unions is of greater importance to at least some union members than the booing and bullying tactics of the building trades.  How quickly someone can move into the enemy camp by breaking a taboo: criticizing unions.

When I sat down to write my blog post, less than 24 hours after the hearing, relationships with unions was not the first thing on my mind.  Poor strategic thinking?  What very much was on my mind was the fear in the eyes of the children sitting in the Duggan Middle School auditorium who had come to talk about their own asthma.  They were bewildered.  They didn't understand what was happening.  I was ashamed that I had asked them to come only to be subjected to booing.  In fact I was furious, and still am.  But everyone who came to oppose the biomass incinerator felt attacked and traumatized-- even we relatively thick-skinned organizers

I admit I don't understand unions very well, beyond an intellectual level.  I've never been in a union, and most of the people in Arise, very low-wage workers, have never been in a union, either.  And yet we have never failed to support the organized labor movement.  Anyone who reads this blog, or my own blog MichaelannLand, knows that.  So a little context to the "Michaelann as enemy to the labor movement" might be warranted. And the rest of the labor movement, beyond the building trades who were present at the hearing, should be asking themselves: who really did harm to the public perception of organized labor on April 5?

At the same time, I could (and should)  have applied that context to my own blog post.  I wrote, " I will tell you that my first reaction was that you couldn't pay me enough for me to ever show up at another pro-union rally."  Well, yup, that was my first reaction.  But intellectually, I have not changed my mind about the absolute necessity of supporting organized labor.  Yesterday at Arise I was trying to explain to Ruben how unions help keep the wages up for everybody, not just union members, by using the fruit-picking story from The Grapes of Wrath.  He understood what I was saying, even though, at the air permit hearing, where he carried around our giant asthma inhaler, he got more than one sneer from members of the building trade unions.

After the air permit hearing, I asked a couple of my contacts in labor to explore three questions: 1. Is there a way that what happened at the air permit hearing could be used to build a bridge between the building trade unions, who often stand aloof from labor's larger struggles, and the rest of the movement?  2. How did the building trades so successfully mobilize at the air permit hearing, who paid for it, and were they likely to do it again at the still-pending city council hearing about PRE's local permit? And 3:  Is there any way that other unions could take stands against biomass? 

If any of these questions get answered in a way that moves us forward, then I'll try to decide if it's worth it to be viewed as the enemy by organized labor (although Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield and Arise shouldn't be tarred with that brush).. I'm not at all convinced that there would be much discussion among local labor going on at all if I hadn't written what I did, even though I wish I had been clearer about not indicting all of labor.  Too many times our movement, such as it is, avoids tough questions,  fails to think seriously about what divides us, and calls out for solidarity when the foundation is shaky and ill-defined. I don't know why I think it should be any different this time around, but I still have hope.

Solidarity mural: Hands in Solidarity, Hands of Freedom mural on the side of the United Electrical Workers trade union building on West Monroe Street at Ashland Avenue in Chicago, Illinois-- photo from Atelier Teee's photostream at Flickr.