FAIR FOOD

FUCK THE CAPITALIST NOTION OF BRANDING;

Labels such as 'ORGANIC' or 'GMO-FREE' are important in challenging market-driven food systems on issues of health and food sovereignty, but in essence they are part of the larger historical context of neo-liberalism and class privilege that dominates people of color and women. The truth about many "foodies" and their communities is that there is a lack consciousness about exploited labor, racism, sexism, and xenophobia in food systems- that from the plate to the table people are underpaid, overworked, and discriminated against.

While our campaigns do focus on the "ethics" and the irony of many food companies promoting healthy and animal cruelty-free while thriving off of exploited labor, the reality is that WE ARE POWER AND WE ARE STRONG. You need us, so we're taking what we deserve x

(SOLIDARITY FOREVER)

CITY SWOON

RED HOOK SUMMER
BED STUY SWELTER

GROWING &

QUIET REMINDERS OF YOUR
TRANSIENT / TRAVERSING LIGHT

HOT AS HOT AS HOT AS HELLO

END SECURE COMMUNITIES / END STOP & FRISK

THE STATE EXISTS

SATURDAY IS THE BROOKLYN FOOD CONFERENCE AND ON SUNDAY WE WILL MARCH

There are over 150 panel discussions and cooking workshops at the conference this Saturday and you can only pick about four to attend! Yikes it's going to be difficult to decide! I definitely want to check out Milk Not Jails because they're my neighbors and are also good friends with my friend Andalusia (who works for Families for Freedom, small world). The organization has an amazing analysis of how to divest from prisons and instead invest in local, sustainable agriculture in rural upstate New York. I've been dreaming of gardening, earth-bending of sorts, and it will be good to meet like-minded folks who work with the community that I live in. There are a few community gardens in Bed-Stuy that I've been meaning to explore and the conference will surely be motivation to do so. Lately I've been thinking about how central food justice is to organizing through a racial justice framework, especially when it's mostly low-income, immigrant, and communities of color that are rapidly becoming urban food deserts. This is no accident.

On Sunday Mothers Resisting Racist Policing, a coalition of radical black and brown mothers have organized a Mother's Day march to denounce the prison industrial complex and the militarization of their lives. We will stand in solidarity with these women and their families, and continue to push back on excessive policing and racist profiling. The conference and march are part of Another City is Possible week of actions, so again we will take to the streets!

WHAT IS OURS

PHOTOS: Families For Freedom!

THE IMMIGRANT WORKER JUSTICE TOUR

The Immigrant Worker Justice Working Group threw down on May Day. It was beautiful, and I hope that our standing in solidarity with the Laundry Workers Center, Domestic Workers Alliance, Restaurant Opportunities Center, Coalition of Immokalee Workers (Community Farmworker Alliance in NYC), and the prison divestment campaigns (Families for Freedom) helped shed light on worker and immigrant struggles. If OWS is going to take a real stand against injustice and discrimination, we need to fight where our brothers and sisters are underpaid, overworked, harassed, and treating as being less than human. I can't believe we've been organizing and working towards May Day for the past five months. Between learning and unlearning, we need time to reflect and strategize on how to move forward. I will write more soon when I collect my thoughts and reorganize my energies. Until, I will float on knowing how blessed I am to work with people I truly love to organize and dance with, everyday x

STRANGERS

My New Years resolutions have rarely varied over
the years, and have mostly been as such:

1. READ MORE
2. GET FIT
3. LOVE MORE

But this year, I think I'll add:

4. SAY HELLO
5. WRITE MORE

And with that, I will CREATE/THINK/SAY/BE
as a whole and not so much alone. Together,
we will


HERE IS A POEM THAT DOES IT RIGHT:

WHAT A TREMENDOUS TIME
WE'RE HAVING! by: Nick Sturm

In many ways I am not a rabbit
or a spool of ribbon and that is important
because it is amazing How wrong
it would be to say I am going skiing
or Do you want to share this cantaloupe
when you mean Let’s do something
incredible It is not about being specific
It is about opening up your genius mouth
and decorating what comes out in all
sorts of felt and vapor and astonishment
My friends know this and are always unlocking
the garden where I sit in my naked wreckage
I have hidden an amp in the hawthorn
There is a jackhammer in the begonias
You can use it anytime you like


x x x x x x x

KITCHEN SPINS

(THANK YOU M FOR A MOMENT ENCAPSULATED)

FALLING INTO PLACE
WITH WINTER // A SENSE
OF CERTAINTY


x

O H I O

IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME

x

NO CONTRACT / NO PEACE

My classmate/friend (M) shot this video at the Sotheby's rally last night of Teamsters, students, OWS, and union supporters protesting against the company's last art auction of the year. A piece was sold for 60 millions dollars at the auction, which goes to show that this company can more than afford to provide proper benefits and pension plans for the unionized art handlers.

The night was fueled by this mass of visceral, collective energy. It pounded against the glass walls of Sotheby's and the wealthy folks that tried to sulk on by unnoticed. We yelled shame, made a lot of noise, and chanted in solidarity against corporate greed and economic injustice. The sidewalk and the street were thick with tension and fiery passion.

It was wicked. It started to get a rough when the orchestrated direct action took place and about 10 protesters flung themselves on the walkway, lying limply on the concrete, making it extremely difficult for the cops to haul them away. People started to shake the barricades on both sides, and thrust themselves against the cops as we yelled in unison, "Let them, go! Let them go!" I nearly got pummeled by a cop who was being incredibly aggressive outside of the barricade, and he shoved me when I went to go underneath to get out. I was livid.

That kind of fury I have never experienced before, and screamed What The Fuck! I jumped back into the crowd and pushed the barrier back with all my might. The rest of the time at rally I shot daggers with my eyes at the guards standing nearby. Our glare-offs were interspersed with my banging on a bucket and fits of yelling things at the rich people slinking out of the auction, like, "SHAME ON YOU! YOU WORTHLESS EXCUSE OF A HUMAN BEING! AND YOUR COAT IS STUPID!"




The locked out workers better get a good contract, and a lot of back wages.