WASHINGTON (DHS) — Note the error in paragraph 7: “Anyone exhibiting symptoms is being referred to an isolation room where they can be evaluated by a public health official before proceeding to their destruction.”

Remarks by Secretary Napolitano at Today’s Media Briefing on the H1N1 Flu Outbreak and the U.S. Government’s Response

Release Date: April 29, 2009

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact 202-282-8010
Washington, D.C.

Secretary Napolitano: This is the daily briefing to bring everybody up to speed on where things are with respect to the 2009 H1N1 virus.

The three of us just returned from the Hill. We testified—at least, [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Interim Deputy Director for Science and Health] RADM [Anne] Schuchat and I testified—before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and then the three of us were present for a bipartisan briefing at the United States House of Representatives to make sure that the members of Congress are being kept up to speed. And of course, I am delighted to be joined today by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, because I have a feeling we’re going to be joined at the hip on this for quite a while as we move forward.

As you know, and I’m sad today to report, that today we had our first confirmed death as a result of the H1N1 virus in the United States. It was a 23-month-old child, and our sympathies go out to her family out of this. But as I said and have been saying, this is a flu, and a flu cycle. We think we’re at the beginning of a flu cycle, which typically brings with it some severe illness and death. Indeed, in the normal seasonal flu cycle, we will have about 36,000 deaths in the United States. That’s a fact that surprises many. But it is part and parcel of an influenza cycle. So our thoughts are with those who have contracted the virus now, and of course for the family of the child who died.

We now have 10 states with confirmed incidents of H1N1—Arizona, California, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, and Texas. We are likely to see more states, more cases, and some more hospitalizations over the coming days, and we are prepared for that.

Every American should know that we are aggressively responding to this outbreak. Antiviral medications are en route to states to supplement their own stockpiles. Indiana, New York, New York City, already have their allocations. Several other states will receive their allocations by today. And all states will receive theirs no later than the third of May.

Let me point out an important difference here. There’s been some confusion between antiviral and vaccine. A vaccine is administered to prevent the flu from occurring. An antiviral is occurred after you get sick to mitigate the symptoms so that you feel better. So it is the antiviral stockpile that I’m referring to now.

We’re also actively monitoring travelers at our land, sea, and air ports. We’re watching them for signs of illness, and we have appropriate protocols in place to deal with those who are sick. Precautions are being taken to protect travelers and border personnel. Anyone exhibiting symptoms is being referred to an isolation room where they can be evaluated by a public health official before proceeding to their destruction.

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Laura Whitehorn with NLN intern Nathaniel Good
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

NEW YORK — The 2009 Left Forum (April 17 - 19) was held at Pace University at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, opposite City Hall — despite the change of venue, the Forum had the usual lineup of great speakers and interesting panels.

Let Freedom Ring: Strategies to Free Political Prisoners Today

For NLN reporters covering the event, the 2009 Forum opened with an important panel.

Let Freedom Ring editor Matt Meyer
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Matt Meyer, longtime War Resisters League member and political prisoner advocate, chaired Let Freedom Ring: Strategies to Free Political Prisoners Today. Meyer edited the recently published anthology, “Let Freedom Ring: A Collection of Documents from the Movements to Free U.S. Political Prisoners” — which inspired the panel.

Panel speakers included Laura Whitehorn who was released from prison in 1999 after serving 14 years for allegedly conspiring “to influence, change and protest policies and practices of the United States Government concerning various international and domestic matters through the use of violent and illegal means”.

Laura Whitehorn speaking at the Left Forum
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Whitehorn was very engaging and passionate about working for justice for political prisoners. Although upbeat, she emphasized that: “We have a lot of victories yet to be won.” To illustrate the point, Whitehorn discussed the case of the San Francisco Eight - eight community activists - Black Panthers and others, currently on trial for the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police officer. The SF8 were tortured by federal authorities in 1972 in New Orleans and that “evidence” is being used against them now. The Left has mobilized to ensure justice. Whitehorn was enthusiastic about the mobilization to defend the SF8 but she told the audience that the U.S. Left is unique in that the need to free political prisoners is often overlooked. Whitehorn sees the effort to defend political prisoners as a critical part of the larger struggle for peace and justice.

“We’re asking for a revisioning of justice where there could actually be some equality,” said Whitehorn.

Former political prisoner Adolfo Matos
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Former political prisoners Adolfo Matos, a Puerto Rican independentista, and Robert Hillary King, a Black Panther who spent 29 years in solitary confinement, also spoke.

View Photos/Videos From The Forum…

Understanding the Roots of the “Israel-Palestine conflict”.

Joel Kovel (left) and Alan Goodman
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

This panel was chaired by Alan Goodman of Revolution newspaper and featured respected scholar and author Joel Kovel who is currently fighting to get his job back at Bard College. Kovel was fired shortly after publication of his most recent book “Overcoming Zionism”. As the final speaker in the panel, Kovel spoke at length about the Zionist ideology and it’s current state of disrepair. Kovel noted that Zionism’s decline may indicate a revival of the radical Jewish tradition. Kovel was eloquent, fascinating - and hopeful.

Barbara Nimri Aziz
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Kovel was joined at the podium by Goodman, anthropologist Barbara Nimri Aziz and activist Adam Shapiro.

New Frontiers: Left Psychology Explores US Personal Life

Harriet Fraad and Roger Salerno
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

This was the best panel of the day. It was chaired by Harriet Fraad, a psychotherapist, who discussed the increasing U.S. divorce rate - and profoundly fractured family - which she attributed to the current economic crisis. Fraad argued for a coming together of the radical community to preserve healthy family life and a move beyond the “pontificating Left” which is too often characterized by “macho crap”.

Other speakers included Roger Salerno, from the Sociology department at Pace, Loyola’s Lauren Langman and Richard Lichtman from Sacramento.

Salerno spoke about consumerism and argued that the current crisis is an opportunity for people to reconnect with one another - and to move beyond being hapless consumers in a capitalist society.

Lichtman said that modern psychotherapy correctly places the individual in a family context but stops there - failing to put the family in its societal context. Lichtman noted that the individual “introjects” (internalizes) societal structures / concepts without being aware that the constructs are external and that introjection prevents personal growth, healing and (revolutionary) consciousness.

Lauren Langman channels Wilhelm Reich
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Lauren Langman was the last speaker and the most controversial - using Wilhelm Reich’s classic study “The Mass Psychology Of Fascism” as the starting point for a critique of Israel. Langman angered some members of the audience when he argued that Israeli foreign policy is based on a dysfunctional response to trauma. Langman argued that Israel has replaced the original Zionist ideal of a communal society with a founding myth (of the state of Israel) based on Jews as perpetual victims - using the Shoah (holocaust) as an archetypal image. In Langman’s analysis, the Shoah represents the trauma which has led Israelis to exhibit a dysfunctional but common response: identification with, and emulation of, the oppressor / abuser (Nazis). It is this response, Langman argues, that is responsible for the Israelis’ inhumane treatment of Palestinians and in particular, Gazans. Langman’s presentation is available on YouTube: Part One, Part Two.

Not Our War: Afghanistan and the Challenges for the Global Peace Movement

David McReynolds, War Resister
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

For NLN reporters, the second day of the Forum opened with the “Not Our War” panel and Swedish activist Jonas Sjostedt. Sjostedt, an ex-Member of the European Parliament (Swedish Left Party), discussed how the European Left views the war in Afghanistan — and how the Swedes have been pulled into a combat role by the U.S. Supporting this transition is the Swedish military which wants to test new weapons and tactics and to sit at the table with the militaries of other powerful nations.

The lack of unity in the Left, on the issue of Afghanistan, was touched on by Sjostedt who noted that the Swedish social democrats support their country’s involvement in the war while the socialists oppose it.

Sjostedt was followed by Adele Welty of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Welty described her 2004 visit to Afghanistan and the horrors she witnessed - the mistreatment of women in particular.

Long time War Resisters League activist and Socialist Party member David McReynolds spoke last. McReynolds argued that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict: therefore there must be an unconditional withdrawal of all NATO forces from Afghanistan. He also noted that any serious discussion of Afghanistan must include its relationship to China, India, Russia and Pakistan.

McReynolds went on to list seven points to be considered: (1) the U.S. is “replicating a terribly tragic chapter” in Afghanistan’s history - the Soviet invasion in 1979; (2) a core reason for invading another country is that “we can”: great powers like the U.S. prefer to use military interventions rather than diplomacy; (3) the history of “reckless” U.S. military interventions in foreign nations is long and tragic; (4) the U.S. needs to admit it doesn’t understand the situation in Afghanistan (much as Kennedy and Johnson did not understand Vietnam); (5) the re-emergence of the Taliban posing a threat to U.S. interests is questionable and - in any case - the Taliban must be included in any serious negotiations; (6) the question of who is going to die (in U.S. wars) should be asked - rather than simply holding a “wonderful, abstract discussion” about a war’s inherent goodness, and; (7) the drug war and Afghanistan’s opium crop must be considered in any serious discussion about the war. McReynolds advocated the U.S. buying the entire crop “at market rates” to use for medicinal purposes (pain killers) as a way of stabilizing the Afghan economy and addressing the spread of addiction related to Afghani drug trafficking.

McReynolds pointed out that “war is a deeply personal matter” and that anyone who would advocate for a given war without agreeing to any personal sacrifice should “be cautious” about doing so.

Teaching War And Peace In The Classroom

Satish Kolluri and Aseel Sawalha
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

The last panel we attended as Teaching War and Peace. It was chaired by Satish Kolluri who teaches communications and media studies at Pace. Speakers included Aseel Sawalha, an anthropologist from Pace who conceived the panel, Frances Delahanty, from Pace’s psychology department and sociology professor Roger Salerno, who played a key role in the successful SDS campaign (2006-2007) to sack former Pace president David Caputo.

Kolluri discussed exposing students to alternative viewpoints - as a means of fostering critical thinking.

Sawalha, a Palestinian, discussed the difficulties inherent in teaching about the Israeli war on Palestine.

Delahanty, active in the peace movement, talked about developing a peace studies curriculum that offers students a positive vision - and a way to become engaged in the struggle for peace and democracy.

Roger Salerno, Teacher
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Salerno pointed out that students usually come to college either “desensitized” or seeking change. Mentioning two former students who stood up and shouted “you’re a war criminal” at Bill Clinton when he spoke at Pace (March, 2006), Salerno argued that he is not able to instil this spirit of resistance. However, Salerno acknowledged that he does what he can to nurture it. One of the means of doing so: Salerno offers an A to any student in his social movements class who is arrested for nonviolent protest. The panel was attended by several former students of Salerno - students who are now activists and community organizers.

Conclusion

The 2009 Forum suffered from one notable flaw that afflicted it and all previous forums: a number of interesting presentations ran simultaneously. This is a flaw for which there is no clear workaround and the abundance of interesting speakers and panels is clearly preferable to the alternative.

More information on the 2009 Forum can be found on the Left Forum website - many of the speakers have upcoming speaking engagements elsewhere should a particular topic be of interest.

View Photos/Videos From The Forum…

One of the students arrested in the Good Friday occupation
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

NEW YORK — Did New School University president Bob Kerrey pepper spray his own students?

The student group calling itself the “New School In Exile” says that Bob Kerrey bears the bulk of the responsibility for police using physical force against unarmed students engaged in a peaceful protest — a protest that called for Kerrey to step down from his position as president of the New School.

In statements released on their website, students involved in the April 10th — Good Friday — takeover of the New School facility on 65 Fifth Avenue said that Kerrey called in riot police despite the existence of a “demonstrations policy” at the New School that banned the use of force and mandated other forms of action.

Kerrey’s use of force against his students contradicts the core mission of the New School - to instill students with a passion for social justice activism:

KERREY’S PAST: BACKDROP TO A CONFLICT

Kerrey has been a controversial figure ever since he arrived at the New School in 2001. Frustrated students and their supporters have been quick to point out that during the Vietnam War Kerrey led a Navy SEAL team on a Phoenix Program mission targeting the peasant village of Thanh Phong. The CIA’s Phoenix program orchestrated the assassination of thousands of Vietnamese — some of the targets were National Liberation Front (“Viet Cong”) but many others were innocent women and children.

A sign calling Kerrey a war criminal
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

KERREY’S GOOD FRIDAY GAMBLE

Activists at the New School are locked in a protracted struggle with Kerrey, arguing that he is “corporatizing” the school while ignoring basic needs of the students. The student activists are calling for “socially responsible investing” (SRI) — an end to investing university funds in corporations run by defense contractors who engage in war profiteering. They are also demanding Kerrey’s resignation.

STUDENT DEMANDS

After a 30-hour student occupation of the Graduate Center in December of 2008, Kerrey agreed to form a committee to oversee investing as part of a negotiated settlement.

SMOLDERING ISSUES AND AN APRIL FOOL’S DEADLINE

The settlement resolved very little. Revolutionary Student Union (RSU) organizer Pat Korte told NLN in late December that he and others worried the investment committee might be a “sham”. In addition, Kerrey and Murtha did not resign by April 1, 2009 — a student demand that Kerrey consistently refused to honor. In response, students occupied the largely vacant Graduate Center a second time on April 10, 2009. The second occupation was short lived — almost immediately Kerrey ordered the NYPD to arrest his students.

Controversy surrounding alleged police misconduct resulted in additional protests — including several outside Kerrey’s Greenwich Village home — and additional arrests. Students and supporters have expressed outrage at what they describe as police brutality while the NYPD is insisting a choreographed arrest video, filmed by the Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU) and available on YouTube, proves officers acted appropriately.

THE CONTROVERSY AND CORPORATE MEDIA COVERAGE

The videotaped beating and arrest of David Benzaquen, a student at the New School who was observing the second occupation from outside the facility on April 10, was filmed by an independent journalist named Brandon Jourdan and posted on the New York Times website. This video has been a precipitant for the growing controversy surrounding Kerrey’s handling of the occupation — and the NYPD’s use of physical force against unarmed students. The video, reposted by a number of New York City news agencies, clearly shows police pepper spraying students and an officer striking Benzaquen, knocking him to the ground.

Perhaps because of the video, the corporate media was surprisingly even handed in its coverage of the New School occupation. Coverage of the controversy surrounding police conduct by the Daily News and NY1 tended to support the student charges of brutality. The New York Times was far less critical than its peers in its commentary on the Police Department’s use of physical force to subdue unarmed students — despite the fact the Times city room blog was the first media website to post the Jourdan video.

NY1’s Pat Kiernan reported that “There is some controversy today over the way protests at the New School were handled by police yesterday…Protestors say police were too aggressive in their enforcement, and posted an amateur video of a man being arrested down the block from the school as proof.”

Kiernan went on to report that the NYPD had released its own video as the students continued to call for Bob Kerrey and James Murtha to resign.

The Daily News also provided coverage that tended to support the students: reporting that riot police were “caught” on videotape roughing up supporters and using pepper spray against students — “even though police brass categorically denied” that chemical agents (pepper spray and tear gas) were used. The News also quoted eyewitnesses who were horrified by the behavior of the police. The News piece concluded with Kerrey claiming he had no choice but to authorize the police to use force against his students.

David M. Halbfinger of the New York Times wrote a piece on the controversy surrounding police behavior in the occupation, offering a different perspective.

In his piece, Halbfinger reported that some knowledgeable observers feel that video evidence is not objective. Halbfinger’s piece makes no distinction between the police — credentialed professionals trained in crowd control — and unarmed civilians caught in the fray. The piece suggests that police behavior, as captured on video, cannot be assessed objectively — in part because an off camera provocation may have occurred. Key to this argument is the notion that the videographer could lie by omission, facilitated by editing, or that the framing of the shot can color the material. In effect, police behavior cannot be caught on film without observer bias distorting the image. Halbfinger raises the question: how can one make an assessment of what is and isn’t reasonable conduct on the part of law enforcement based on video evidence? Fortunately for civil rights activists, the public doesn’t seem to buy the inscrutability of reference argument, a kind of extreme relativism - as evidenced by the NYPD firing of Officer Patrick Pogon, the rookie cop who tackled a cyclist in a recent Critical Mass ride. [ The brutal act was videotaped and then posted on YouTube. As a result, Pogon’s case was tried in the court of public opinion and he did not fare well. A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Pogon’s victim. ]

The principal problem with Halbfinger’s argument is that even if footage of a police officer beating an unarmed observer is not placed in a broader context by the videographer - the beating has nonetheless been documented. And should not have occurred as it is unprofessional - and, most likely, unlawful.

COPS ON YOUTUBE

In the NY1 story, New School faculty member and protest eyewitness Jan Clausen told a reporter that, “I know a lot of concerns have to do with militarism in the university, also concerns about students’ conditions of education. And I think that the administration needs to listen to the students and furthermore, I’m really shocked at the police presence.”

Perhaps in anticipation of controversy surrounding their tactics, the police created their own video.

TARU IN A POST-HANDSCHU WORLD

In 1985, the Handschu agreement, the result of a class-action lawsuit filed in 1971, was handed down by the federal court system. The court ruled that the NYPD could not tape peaceful protesters solely for the purpose of gathering intelligence. During the 2004 Republican National Convention the NYPD resumed taping nonviolent protesters and afterwards issued a written policy authorizing this violation of the Handschu agreement - which prompted the NYCLU to challenge the NYPD policy. After a three year court battle, the NYPD quietly rescinded the policy.

The blue jacketed TARU videographers, so ubiquitous during the RNC, have apparently redefined their mission — and have begun contributing to the NYPD presence on YouTube. After the occupation, the NYPD used their YouTube venue to release a TARU produced video of the New School arrests. Manhattan South Task Force commanding officer, Captain Francis Tloczkowski, leads his officers into a room inside the New School: “Task Force, come on!” The TARU videographers follow MSTF into the room and document the cordial arrest process - clearly showing the student occupiers as cooperative and the officers as courteous.

The NYPD has no video of what happened outside the New School and so it is unclear if those police who pepper sprayed students and roughed up supporters were members of MSTF or were attached to other precincts. The NYPD YouTube description of the TARU video is critical of the Jourdan video. It states that “A video on the New York Times website showed portions of these arrests, but did not show those elements captured on video elsewhere, including Youtube, which captured images of individuals from the group throwing the metal barriers. The same video showed an individual, later arrested, as he tried to wrest a prisoner away from an officer who either fell, or was knocked to the ground while attempting to make an arrest.”

Protesters maintain that the NYPD attacked supporters outside the New School without provocation, including Mr. Benzaquen, and the corporate media appears to agree. The Daily News reported that “Riot police were caught on videotape Friday manhandling New School student protesters” and quoted eyewitnesses who were disgusted by the behavior of the police.

The support rally at Union Square
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

RALLIES, MARCHES — AND ADDITIONAL ARRESTS

A rally to support the jailed students was held at Union Square at 10 p.m. on Good Friday. After a press conference supporters marched to Bob Kerrey’s home and shouted demands for him to step down as police looked on. The marchers were headed for 65 Fifth Avenue, the New School building the students had occupied, when a scuffle with police resulted in two arrests. Chris Crews, a journalist and grad student at the New School was filming one of the arrests when a police officer punched his camera, cracking the housing. Crews salvaged the video and posted it on YouTube.

Journalist and graduate student Chris Crews (left)
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Crews told NLN that “I am an independent filmmaker and New School graduate student who was personally assaulted by an unidentified security official on 14th St. at around 11pm Friday night while filming two NYPD officers arresting a demonstrator (4/10/09). The man had just pushed one person next to a metro stop, and after picking up his hat from the street, he walked directly at me and punched my hand and camera, attempting to break it. The force of his blow cracked my camera and may have permanently damaged it. I was in no way obstrucing or interfering with any police officer, nor was I being disruptive or confrontational. What I experienced was a completely unprovoked and violent assault against my person and my video camera simply for documenting these events. This is a clear case of intentional targeting of journalists and videographers at protests, and my experience was only one of several I have heard of. The blatant assault I experienced was unwarranted and inexcusable, and incidents of this sort threaten all potential journalists and reporters in the field.”

By Saturday, April 11, all of the students arrested for occupying the Graduate Center on Good Friday had been arraigned and released without bail. Supporters, including a number of New School students and faculty, began demanding reinstatement for the 14 students expelled by Kerrey for their role in the occupation. The Radical Student Union held a press conference the following Wednesday — April 15, Tax Day — to reiterate their demands for Kerrey and Murtha to step down.

A protester is arrested outside the New School
after a support rally for the first wave of arrestees.

On April 16, students and supporters held a speak-out on the issue of students rights and police brutality outside the New School campus on West 13th Street. Protesters took to the streets after the speak out and occupied the intersection at 13th and Sixth Avenue briefly. The demonstrators then marched south on Sixth and taunted Kerrey from the street as a row of police stood in front the New School president’s besieged home. The marchers moved on to the Grad Center at 65 Fifth Avenue where they occupied the street in front of the building. Community Affairs cops were unable to do much but they were eventually joined by Deputy Chief Chan and police from the 6th Precinct and Manhattan South. Three protesters were arrested and taken to the 6 for processing. The crowd moved back down Sixth Avenue making their way to Washington Square South and NYU’s Kimmel Building where mayoral candidate Reverend Billy Talen was scheduled to speak. Delivering a bullhorn sermon on NYU’s architectural “monstrosity”, the Kimmel building, Talen mentioned Bob Kerrey — calling him “our favorite war criminal.”

Reverend Billy Talen on Bob Kerrey: “our favorite war criminal.”

STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT

Statements of support for the students continue to be posted on the New School In Exile site and now include letters from the Comisión Internacional de la CAE in Barcelona, La Sapienza University in Rome, the Graduate Faculty Student Senate, the Lang Faculty Executive Committee, the Economics Student Union (ESU) at the New School for Social Research and the union of part-time faculty at NYU and the New School, ACT-UAW Local 7902. ACT-UAW has its own issues with Kerrey who dismissed a dozen part-time faculty members in the Fine Art Department at Parsons, the New School for Design. ACT-UAW is holding a demonstration at the New School’s Administration building, 66 West 12th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues) on Thursday, April 23 at noon.

A teacher from CUNY demands justice for the students at New School
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Many of the issues surrounding the behavior of the police department will likely be settled in court but the issue of Bob Kerrey and his embattled presidency remains on the front burner at the New School. The students continue to reiterate their demands at press conference and speak outs — and from the street in front of Kerrey’s Greenwich Village home.

One of the arrestees points to a gash in his forehead, sustained during his arrest
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

View Photos/Videos From The Actions…

PAST REPORTING ON NLN / RELATED ARTICLES:

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three

View Photos/Video From The First Occupation
Watch An NLN Video Clip From The First Occupation

Franklin Rosemont speaking at Loyola University, Chicago, 2007.
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

CHICAGO, Ill. — I ran into old friends Franklin and Penelope Rosemont Saturday at the Heartland Cafe where I was doing the Live From the Heartland Radio Show. The two of them had come to hear a young community activist who followed me on the program, to talk about Franklin’s book, The Rise and Fall of The Dill Pickle, the legendary Chicago jazz club and cultural/political hangout of the Jazz Age. Franklin and Penelope both seemed in great spirits seeing their work being taken up by the current generation.

Yesterday I was stunned to hear the sad news that Franklin had died the next day after a long battle with illness.

Franklin, 65, came from a working class family. He was a surrealist/poet/artist/revolutionary and a big part of the ’60s Chicago cultural and political scene. I first met both of them in Chicago in ’68 where they were SDS activists.

Inspired by Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Franklin had hitchhiked 20,000 miles around the USA and Mexico and wound up in San Francisco in 1960, the heyday of the beat generation poetry renaissance.

Franklin and Penelope went on to create the Chicago Surrealist Group in 1966 after traveling to Paris in 1965 to meet André Breton and attend meetings of the Paris Surrealist Group. The group played a major role in organizing the 1976 World Surrealist Exhibition in Chicago, and has published socially active newspapers and materials through the years. Franklin and Penelope also took over the old Kerr Publishing House and brought it back to life, reviving many classic works of labor history.

Many of their experiences together are documented in Penelope’s wonderful book, Dreams & Everyday Life: Andre Breton, Surrealism, the IWW, Rebel Worker, Students for a Democratic Society and the Seven Cities of Cibola in Chicago, Paris & London.

For more on Franklin Rosemont: Encyclopedia of Road Culture, Bibliography

Penelope and Franklin Rosemont with Paul Buhle.
Heartland Cafe, Chicago, 2006.
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Members of the Movement for a Democratic Society (MDS) contingent
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

NEW YORK — On Saturday, April 4, 2009, thousands of protesters poured into New York’s financial district to shout through their shivering — expressing outrage with government bailouts of corrupt corporations and Obama’s expansion of the war in Afghanistan.

 

Reverend Billy marched with the Green Party contingent
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

Gale force winds and below normal temperatures did not deter New Yorkers from taking to the streets on Saturday — as mayoral candidate Reverend Billy Talen (Green Party) said, “I’m freezing for peace!”

 

Is America in the grip of a Peace Craze? One can only hope…
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

This reporter was “embedded” with the Movement for a Democratic Society contingent, capturing the MDS portion of the march in stills and video clips.

 

A CodePINK activist
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)

View Photos/Videos From The Action…