View allAll Photos Tagged SocialJustice
Chicago Teachers are on Strike, which is what 94% of the teachers and support staff voted for district wide. I happen to be lucky enough to have worked in this Chicago Public Schools District since 2001 when I became an Occupational Therapist for children with different ability levels. I love my students and I would rather be in school instead of marching outside on the streets. What a lot of people may or may or not know is that according to Illinois State Law, teachers can only strike over pay. So, our new Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot offered a 4% raise per year (16% over 4 years) in hopes that this would be enough.
But, this is not enough. Why? Because us teachers and clinicians are rebels. We don't do this for the money. We do this for the kids. We dare to dream of a world where we don't have to ask for a nurse, a library, and a social worker for all of our schools because in the suburbs, these are all given and more. Why should Chicago students have less? Why should Chicago students suffer with dirty classrooms? Are these good learning conditions? A few years back they tested the water fountains at school for lead and found at least 30% of those tested had lead and so they just stopped testing. And nothing was done about it. Are these good learning conditions? Chicago is plagued by classism and racism that forces many children into unsafe living environments but Lori Lightfoot would rather open up police stations than provide money for schools. Are these good learning conditions when our students come to school with toxic stress syndrome and no social worker is present to help them?
The answer in our hearts is no. And there isn't a law in existence that is going to keep Chicago teachers from fighting. I will fight. I will lose my pay. I will march in the cold. But, I will stand up for these children and it is an honor. They need to see this. They need to see their teachers love them and will fight for them to exist in a better world. To breathe. To be loved. To have a high quality of life. That is what the Chicago Teacher's Union Strike is really all about.
***All photos are copyrighted. But please, if you or a loved one are in this photo, write to me at kirstiecat@gmail.com with a link to the photo in question and I will send you the high res version for free.**
Katherine Hu, sophomore at Cornerstone University, carefully paints her TOMS on April 6. When a pair of TOMS is purchased, the company sends a pair of shoes to those in third world countries who don't have them.
Come join us this coming Monday April 4th at 5:30 on the steps of SF City Hall for a public reading of Dr. Martin Luther King’s last speech “Beyond Vietnam. A time to Break Silence” which denounces the triple evils of racism, materialism, and militarism sponsored by The People’s Campaign and organized by the San Francisco Friends Meeting. Speakers will take turns reading the speech for one hour, then at 6:30 Francisco Herrera will sing and play guitar for about a half hour. There will be an art exhibit inside on the 2nd floor in room #279 from 7:00 -8:30 of district #9 paintings and photos by Art Koch in Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s office.
Willie was born in Union Springs, AL 70 years ago. He was from a large family of 12 or 13; some of his brothers were killed in World War II. He left Alabama at 19 for New Jersey where he laid brick for about 50 years, and only just returned home 7 years ago once he retired. Now he lives on a pension that supports his life and happens to recreationally enjoy moonshine, but for most in Union Springs, times are dire, and for them moonshine is a lifestyle. Photo taken for a VICE story about the ABC Board's crackdown on illegal moonshine operations: www.vice.com/read/alabamas-moonshine-task-force-is-closin...
With the Brass Liberation Orchestra. June 7 Press Conference outside Nancy Pelosi's office calling on her to sign on to the 3rd Reconstruction Resolution to Fully Address Poverty from the Bottom Up! www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/
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Solidarity Action: Sunrise Movement
Mural Action and Protest in front of Sen Diane Feinstein’s office.
Photos, time-lapses, and drone video by Art Koch. Audio by Peter Mechnini and Robb Godshaw
Sunrise Movement is demanding that elected officials step up and vote for a big and bold Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) to meet the urgency of the climate crisis.
Join us to rally in solidarity with them!
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What is the Civilian Climate Corps?
The Civilian Climate Corps is a visionary policy that would create a government jobs program putting a new generation of Americans to work combatting the climate crisis.
More specifically, it’s a program organized through the Department of the Interior and Agriculture and aims to “conserve and restore public lands and waters, bolster community resilience, increase reforestation, increase carbon sequestration in the agricultural sector, protect biodiversity, improve access to recreation, and address the changing climate.”
In January, the Civilian Climate Corps was established as part of President Biden’s executive orders on climate, but had no funding to make it a reality. Then in March, Biden asked Congress to provide $10 billion over 10 years to fund the program as part of his nearly $3 trillion American Jobs Infrastructure bill(AJP). Now the AJP is headed to Congress, where programs like the CCC will be negotiated on and ultimately put into a massive infrastructure package that Congress will vote on and Biden will sign into law, likely by August or September.
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Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is a grassroots network of animal rights activists. Through open rescue, demonstration, and disruption, we are creating a world where every animal is safe, happy and free.
DxE cultivates a welcoming and supportive community. We ask that all those who attend our events (online and offline) respect our Code of Conduct which can be reviewed at dxe.io/conduct.
To learn about our vision, goals, strategy and more check out the San Francisco Bay Area chapter Activist Handbook here: dxe.io/handbook
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LeToya Ruby Frazier (1983- ) is an American artist and professor of photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Inspired by photographer and activist Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks (1912-2006) who promoted the camera as a weapon for social justice, Frazier uses her tight focus to make apparent the impact of systemic problems, from racism to de-industrialization to environmental degradation, on individual bodies, relationships and spaces. Her work includes both images of personal spaces, intensely private moments and the story of racial and economic injustice in America. It includes raw portraits of friends and family members in intimate moments and examples of social injustice.
Frazier's 'The Notion of Family' is a series of unflinching black-and-white photographs, showing her mother, grandmother, and the artist herself in the African-American community of Braddock, Pennsylvania, a once-thriving steel town unmoored by disinvestment and demographic decline. Frazier’s stark portraits underscore the connection between self and physical space and make visible the consequences of neglect and abandonment—unemployment, environmental health crises, and lack of access to services.
Seen and photographed on display at San Francisco's 'Pier 24 Photography' in an exhibit entitled 'The Grain of The Present'.
© Irwin Reynolds, all rights reserved. If you are interested in using one of my images or would like a high quality fine art print, please send me an email (irwinreynolds@me.com)
On Monday April 4th at 5:30 at the steps of SF City Hall the San Francisco friends Meeting organized a public reading of Dr. Martin Luther King’s last speech “Beyond Vietnam. A time to Break Silence” which denounces the triple evils of racism, materialism, and militarism sponsored by The People’s Campaign as a statewide effort in multiple locations. Speakers took turns reading the speech for one hour. It coincided with my an art exhibit inside on the 2nd floor in room #279 of district #9 paintings and photos by Art Koch in Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s office. District #9 consists of the Mission, Bernal heights, and the Portola.
Please Share! Contact us if you would like to share your Social Justice Art with others. We'll include your artist credit and a link to your online artist gallery - socialjusticeartshare.com
Three women march during a Black Lives Matter protest in Boulder, CO while a man observes, with crossed arms and a disgruntled look, from his balcony.
The BLM vigil site in Davis, CA. It is down-sized a bit -- most of the paper and carboard signs were removed, due to the rainy weather, but the site is maintained by a group of volunteers. It is located at Central Park, where the Farmers market and other events are held.
It is unbelievable that, after months of protests, Columbus, OH police murdered Andre Hill in his garage on 22 December, 2020. Mr. Hill was holding a cell phone, and the murderers in blue had they body cams turned off. This comes less than three weeks after the highly suspicious shooting of Casey Goodson on 04 December, by Franklin Co, OH sheriffs.
Victor Jara (1932–1973) was a Chilean singer, theater director, and activist. Born in Lonquén, Chile, he grew up in a poor rural family and experienced the hardships of the Chilean people from a young age. He became a key voice of Chilean folk music and the Nueva Canción Chilena movement, combining popular songs with strong social and political messages. His lyrics denounced social injustice, poverty, and promoted human rights and justice.
Victor Jara had a successful career both in Chile and internationally, performing in theaters, universities, and festivals. He was married to Joan Jara and had children; his family has remained central to keeping his memory and message alive.
During Augusto Pinochet’s coup in 1973, Victor was arrested with other artists and activists. He was taken to Santiago’s National Stadium, converted into a detention center, where he was brutally tortured: his hands were broken, he was repeatedly beaten, and eventually killed by gunfire. His body was found a few days later. His death became a symbol of political repression and violence in Chile, a reminder against oppression and the denial of human rights.
I publish this series of characters to remind viewers that there are people who gave their lives for justice, freedom, and human rights. Their voices and sacrifices remind us that injustice, violence, and oppression still continue in many parts of the world. These figures must be remembered to awaken consciences, to show young people that there are those who stood against evil and tyranny, and to inspire those who fight today for the same causes.
DJ Tyson is one of the finest young men I ever met. I met him and his troupe over 2 years ago while photographing an event. He's as strong of character as he is physically. We hug as a greeting, and hugging Tyson is like hugging a rock with a covering of skin.
He needs both of those strengths. Tyson leads a young person's dance and gymnastic team. He take young people and teaches them jazz dance and gymnastics, building confidence and self-esteem in youngsters from different neighborhoods in Minneapolis. The name of his troupe is Da Celebrities.
Most of the members are girls in a wide age range. But they are all at that age where I called them "squirrels". This photo was taken at a MAD DADS rally for a young man going to the store with his family May of this year. A stray bullet went through his leg and he has been in recovery. Tyson's troupe was performing and he was watching from the sidelines. For Tyson it is all about the kids, although sometimes he'll take part in a routine to show the "old man" still has moxie.
Upon seeing the Da Celebrities perform, the young lady leaning on the side of the truck became an instand recruit. Soon she will be training with the other young people to take her place at the next community building rally or event.
It's self-less leaders like Tyson that polishes up my "Hope" when it gets tarnished from the pollution coming out in thick bilious clouds of hate that are trying to suffocate the democratic and ethical principles of our Founding Fathers upon which so many oppressed people pin their hopes of a better life. .
Also featured: 3-DIMENSIONAL TELEVISION, cameras that RECOGNISE YOUR FACE and frickin' ROBOTS WHICH CLEAN YOUR HOUSE.
And so I am standing in Piccadilly Circus listening to William Gibson talk about how he took a walkman full of music onto the streets in order to define his own reality and saw an Apple II and knew that this tool would allow us all to do the same, forever, like the kids playing Space Invaders living inside the screens, in what he called NOTIONAL SPACE.
And I've just come from the ICA, where I'd been listening to OWEN HATHERLEY and PATRICK KEILLER talk about housing—the same ICA which was founded in 1946 as a playground for artists and scientists, where Pop Art was born, which held the Cybernetic Serendipity exhibition and the world's first cybercafé and which the goddamn HISTORY CHANNEL decides to note as the London debut of Franz Ferdinand—where Hatherley and Keiller laid the failure of housing—in general, not just social housing—squarely at the feet of capitalism, which demands we do more with less, that puts price above all other considerations, and that is why we all still live in Victorian hutches rather than cities in the sky. Because buildings are still one-off products—massively expensive compared to all other goods—local, fixed and immobile. In short, YOU CANNOT DIGITISE A HOUSE.
"We have a right to ask ‘why’ housing should be as cheap as possible and not, for example, rather expensive, ‘why’ instead of making every effort to reduce it to minimum levels of surface, of thickness, of materials, we should not try to make it spacious, protected, isolated, comfortable, well-equipped, rich in opportunities for privacy, communication, exchange of personal creativity."
Giancarlo di Carlo, ‘Legitimizing Architecture’, Forum Vol.23 1972 — THAT.
And down the road, on the Mall itself, the BRITISH COUNCIL have put up an honest-to-god STATUE OF YURI GAGARIN, unveiled in front of 500 Russians in the SAME GODDAMN WEEK that we all but said fuck that to manned spaceflight.
And my friend Dean is telling me that it's obvious that the problem is that we can't see past this profit motive, that we've got our priorities wrong and I'm all like DUH WTF CAPITALIST REALISM but he is not wrong and in the lecture H & K talked about the Nairn-Anderson thesis that Britain is essentially fucked because it never had a proper revolution, which may or may not be the case, but stuck with me because this weekend I remembered that in 1989 my parents had a Thatcherite Bastille Day garden party for the bicentennary with cockade hats and everything and how fucked up is that? Well, about as fucked up as the mental Tory small-p party currently going on at the South Bank with the whole Festival of Britain thing but that is ANOTHER MATTER.
But the thing is we are all fucked up because we have put THE FUTURE into white goods, that are only allowed to be MAGIC as long as they're also SHINY, instead of, you know, into HOUSING and JUSTICE, and do you really expect us to believe that we can't go to the moon when we seem perfectly capable of building autonomous robots that bomb the shit out of poor people?
But I am also hopeful because the only answer to injustice is organisation—ORGANISE, ORGANISE–and if we can stop moaning long enough then maybe the internet will save us because THAT IS WHAT IT IS FOR. Maybe, just maybe, I don't know, NETWORK BEATS HIERARCHY but what I do know is that notional space is real, that WE ARE 6 BILLION PEOPLE WITH NO HEADS and we are only just beginning to figure this shit out.
BENEATH THE PAVING STONES, THE BEACH.
reform Europe. stay. keep democracy. resist nationalism and fascism. rebuild social structures. rebuild social justice. don't follow hazardous and dangerous leaders. remember 1914. remember 1929. remember 1933. remember 1938/49. and remember the terrific result of all: 1945. and remember: Europe was started as a project of peace. and should remain one.
Pulse of Europe is a new movement of european citizens of all backgrounds and origins, it started in Germany some weeks ago. Just join!
In part of my video message to the church this week, I plan to talk about the classic board for the game of Monopoly. So, I prepared this selfie.
In Monopoly, the neighborhoods are divided by affluence. You can build a house in the slums, or on some pretty exclusive property. As you hop around the board, you may have to pay income tax -- only if you're in one of the poorest neighborhoods. Folks in the more privileged section pay no income tax. There is a luxury tax among the wealthy, but it's nominal in comparison.
On one corner is a police officer. If he catches you, you go to jail -- back in a poor neighborhood! The cop is there to protect a wealthy neighborhood against dogs, shoes, cannons, or other pieces moving through.
I used this illustration years ago, and created an image to use in a different way, but I wanted a fresh photo to do it again this week.
Life takes us sometimes far away. It is inevitable for people to leave and to be left behind. But it is not permanent. The open road symbolizes freedom and roads all look the same everywhere in the world. They are simply two lines leading somewhere.
Therefore, the next time you are lonely and happen to be staring listlessly out the passenger window, nostalgic for home, do the following. Roll down the window, embrace the wind with your cheeks, your hair, close your eyes and let the sun bathe you in light. Think of your best memories with the ones who matter most. It is here where they are with you on the road that is the same everywhere and we are all on it at the same time more than you might have previously thought. Freedom. En mi corazon, mon coeur mes amis toujours. Always in my heart friends.
Read all about it here:
www.indybay.org/newsitems/2022/09/21/18852129.php
I covered the “Kayak-tivists” one group of many climate justice activists along the race route of the JP Morgan (Chase) Corporate Challenge, a 3.5 mile footrace along the San Francisco Bay.
"JPMorgan Chase is the world’s largest funder of fossil fuels. Since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, Chase has provided more than $382 billion to the fossil fuel companies that are driving the climate crisis. We’re here to demand that they stop financing the fossil fuel industry and stop undermining the Paris Agreement."
reform Europe. stay. keep democracy. resist nationalism and fascism. rebuild social structures. rebuild social justice. don't follow hazardous and dangerous leaders. remember 1914. remember 1929. remember 1933. remember 1938/49. and remember the terrific result of all: 1945. and remember: Europe was started as a project of peace. and should remain one.
Pulse of Europe is a new movement of european citizens of all backgrounds and origins, it started in Germany some weeks ago. Just join!
Caricature by austrian Gerhard Haderer for Stern Magazine
Make no mistake, we all deserve a pat on the back. The GOP is making a janky attempt at a coup, but it is in vain. Biden won. A stellar outcome.
It was a heroic effort on the part of ordinary American voters and poll watchers and administrators at the local level. Every single county. We pulled off (in the middle of a pandemic) a free and fair and relatively frictionless election. And one, that if you believe in democracy, revealed that Trump has many many voters. To us* who have been reviled by Trump and who were hoping for a landslide, the results of the votes are that Trump has not been repudiated in a landslide---there are lots and lots and lots of Trump voters in this country. If you accept election as reality, you have to accept that reality too.
Which leads me to this question. How did one of the two major parties in a rich, functioning democracy become such an unrepentantly illiberal and extremist party? How did this happen?
And what exactly, is the future, of disinformation?
How did MAGA succeed so wildly? We now have a huge swath of the US population radicalized against any form of ordinary European social welfare of the kind that our peers enjoy.
If McConnell holds on to the senate, because we're not successful in winning both runoff races in Georgia, the number of things that can happen for Biden legislatively is sadly, tragically, infinitesimal.
And McConnell won't care. Unemployment can go up. The pandemic can rage. The deficit can get out of control. Senior administration officials and even cabinet positions not being filled––he doesn't care. He just doesn't care.
So we have to make moves. Please volunteer an hour of your time, if you can. The site below will help you reach out to voters (some of them first time voters) directly via text or call.
The experience of living in America in 2020 is of living in two completely distinct countries with two different sets of facts and realities that are geographically coincident. Not entirely maybe (cities are more blue, rural areas are more red) but, you know, you can live cheek by jowl with people who have just a completely different apprehension of what is going on in the world and what is true.
It is most distressing, but there is only one way to steer the ship in the direction of progress (think human rights, climate policy) and that my friends, is to act.
"Stop The Steal" rally courtesy disinformation campaign, origins Roger Stone:
*Us, as in those of us who condemn Trump's myriad abuses of power but also recognize that a federal prosecution case against him is a bad idea. It will further martyr him amongst his base, and bring yet more media coverage to Trump, a subject none of us wants to endure more of frankly.
And to make things fair, here’s just another take:
www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/opinion/liberal-media-censorin...
Please Share! Contact us if you would like to share your Social Justice Art with others. We'll include your artist credit and a link to your online artist gallery - socialjusticeartshare.com
Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102
What: To protest Biden’s inaction on Line 3 and demand that he and the Army Corp of Engineers revoke the permit now.
Support Indigenous communities in Minnesota who are putting their bodies on the line trying to defend their home from the construction of the Line 3 tar sands pipeline.
Tell President Biden to get off his ass. He pledged to be the climate president, and it’s in his power to put a stop to this pipeline.
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That the Government must tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, it must reverse all policies not in alignment with that position and must work alongside the media to communicate the urgency for change including what individuals, communities and businesses need to do.
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The Government must enact legally binding policies to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and take further action to remove the excess of atmospheric greenhouse gases. It must cooperate internationally so that the global economy runs on no more than half a planet’s worth of resources per year.
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We do not trust our Government to make the bold, swift and long-term changes necessary to achieve these changes and we do not intend to hand further power to our politicians. Instead we demand a Citizens’ Assembly to oversee the changes, as we rise from the wreckage, creating a democracy fit for purpose.
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We demand a just transition that prioritizes the most vulnerable people and indigenous sovereignty; establishes reparations and remediation led by and for Black people, Indigenous people, people of color and poor communities for years of environmental injustice, establishes legal rights for ecosystems to thrive and regenerate in perpetuity, and repairs the effects of ongoing ecocide to prevent extinction of human and all species, in order to maintain a livable, just planet for all.
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On Monday April 4th at 5:30 at the steps of SF City Hall the San Francisco friends Meeting organized a public reading of Dr. Martin Luther King’s last speech “Beyond Vietnam. A time to Break Silence” which denounces the triple evils of racism, materialism, and militarism sponsored by The People’s Campaign as a statewide effort in multiple locations. Speakers took turns reading the speech for one hour. It coincided with my an art exhibit inside on the 2nd floor in room #279 of district #9 paintings and photos by Art Koch in Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s office. District #9 consists of the Mission, Bernal heights, and the Portola.