Seneca Dance, Letchworth State Park, NY

A new National Native American National Heritage day is being celebrated in the United States on November 27, the day after most people there celebrated Thanksgiving. The new national holiday is the culmination of an annual National Native American Heritage Month in November that was passed into law in June.

The US President Obama's statement:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2009 as National Native American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to commemorate this month with appropriate programs and activities, and to celebrate November 27, 2009, as Native American Heritage Day.

Leonard Peltier is an American Indian Movement activist sentenced in 1977 to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder of two FBI agents killed during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, following what is known as the Wounded Knee incident. In 1992 Robert Redford produced and narrated the documentary Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story, and his case has been largely covered on international media - with various government entities around the world calling for Peltier's release and an on-going pouring of online activism.

In a post entitled A Day To Honor Native Americans on the Huffington Post, California Democratic congressman Joe Baca (a primary sponsor of the bill establishing Native American Heritage Month) writes:

American families gather together on the fourth Thursday of every November to celebrate Thanksgiving in remembrance of a feast hosted by the Wampanoag Native Americans for the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621. While we always remember the feast of Thanksgiving, we seldom pay homage to the Wampanoag hosts or recount what happened to them afterward.

By the time the Jamestown colony was founded in Virginia in 1607, the most accurate estimates are there were substantially more than 30 million Native Americans thriving in numerous tribes and cultures from the North American shores of Alaska to the tip of Cape Horn in South America. Unfortunately, the treatment of Native Americans over the next 300 years is one of the darkest chapters in American history.

Several celebrations and Pow-Wow gatherings took place throughout the country, following a variety of educational and artistic activities throughout the month of November. A large collection of photos and slide shows related to Native Americans events is also available on Flickr.

The Friday Native America Calling show addressed the issue: “As First Americans, what is our existing heritage? What are the things we will pass on to the next generations for them to celebrate?” - with several people calling in to share thoughts on the air. The program aires daily on 52 stations (and on the web) in United States and Canada, reaching about 500,000 listeners weekly.

On Friday morning, November 27, a public ceremony – “Healing Turtle Island” (#turtleisland) – took place in front of the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City:

The event site has historical significance, as it is near where the first Collegiate Church was raised in Fort Amsterdam. And, just across State Street The Netherlands Monument stands as a reminder of the greatest misunderstanding by the Dutch of Native Americans: Peter Minuit’s so-called “purchase” of Manhattan in 1626 for 60 guilders’ worth of dry goods. The Lenape, having no concept of private ownership of land, likely believed that Minuit was not purchasing the island but instead thanking them for the aid they had given the Dutch settlers when they first started arriving here.

Under the phrase, “Pride in our heritage, honor our ancestors”, the First Nations Urban Survival blog shares a great collection of YouTube videos by Native American people and artists, including the following “Turtle Song” performed by the Spirit of the Dawn, a Wabanaki singers/drumming group from Maine:

On Native American Netroots, “A Forum for Native American Issues”, StuartH shares one of his youth diary entries about a Navajo Nation meeting “by many medicine men, tribal college leaders, tribal government and legal experts and others concerned about the issue of spreading water from sewage treatment onto the slopes of a sacred mountain”:

…on deep reflection, I believe that if the core of indigenous experience is ever lost, all mankind will suffer from that in ways we may never grasp. I prefer to take what opportunities there might be, to honor what wisdom I might be able to comprehend. That isn't an easy process, and yes, it is full of contradictions.

What I am saying is that the differences between perspectives have in the past led to killing and huge conflict. We should contemplate, instead, the ways that we can learn to open our minds to new dimensions of understanding and gain new ground in the process. That is something to consider and give thanks over - for the future.

Hozho Nahastle (May there be Beauty).

Since the court decision, the prime minister has launched a campaign accusing “leftist” judges, the national and foreign press, and even Italy's president, Giorgio Napolitano of political bias against him. Last week, the government introduced a bill promoted as “one of the most radical reforms of Italy's snail-paced justice system since the end of World War II”, which the opposition, magistrates, and consumer advocacy groups insist is yet another “ad personam law”, tailored to help Berlusconi avoid corruption trials.

On the same day of the verdict, October 9, a group of bloggers, citizens and intellectuals, self-defined as “not politically involved or belonging to any parties”, launched the idea of a national protest against Berlusconi demanding his resignation. They promptly opened a Facebook group under this header:

SALVIAMO L'ITALIA, SALVIAMO LA DEMOCRAZIA. BERLUSCONI DIMETTITI.

Saturday, December 5 was designated “No Berlusconi Day (NBD)”. The campaign spread quickly on the Internet with videos, blogs, and tweets, as well as offline, through word of mouth. In little more than a month over 280,000 people pledged to host a public event on “No Berlusconi Day” via the main Facebook group, with groups formed in many cities in Italy and around the world, including San Francisco and Sacramento (California), Ottawa and Montreal (Canada), Buenos Aires (Argentina), London, Madrid, Vienna, and Istanbul - where local rallies will be held on the same day.

The initiative has been featured on countless websites, as well as on Italy's leading daily newspapers, la Repubblica and Corriere della Sera. Today the leftist daily L'Unità devoted several pages to the event, including a story underlining the crucial role of citizen media in such “bottom-up initiatives”, comparing it to the protest movement in Iran and even to the Obama election in the USA. An open letter appeared in the London Times.

While the protest appeal document has been translated in 11 languages so far, including Arabic, Turk and Serb-Croat, the No Berlusconi Day blog further explains:

The No Berlusconi Day group is a large, informal, global network of ordinary citizens, spanning all political and cultural backgrounds. The coordinators of the group are unpaid and do not collectively hold specific political affiliations… Although the No Berlusconi Day group is non-political, the group and event has received public support and endorsement from a number of high-profile activists, including Salvatore Borsellino brother of the anti-corruption judge Paolo Borsellino who was murdered by a Mafia car-bomb in 1992.

Beppe Grillo, a well-known Italian comedian who launched a very popular (some say ‘populist') campaign against corruption and illegality of past Italian governments last year, has also announced his support of No Berlusconi Day on his website, attracting more than 1,300 comments, the vast majority supporting his statement:

“Mi sono rotto i coglioni di Berlusconi”. Ditelo in pubblico, al bar, al ristorante. Gridatelo in radio, ai semafori, scrivetelo ai giornali, inviate mail ai siti italiani e internazionali, alle caselle di posta dei deputati, dei senatori. “Mi sono rotto i coglioni di Berlusconi”.

[…]

E' mai possibile che gli italiani, anche quelli rincoglioniti dalle televisioni, non abbiano un moto di rigetto, un conato di vomito a vedere la Repubblica Italiana trattata come una zoccola? Il Grande Corruttore ha corrotto forse ogni coscienza? Tutto ciò che ha toccato nella sua vita si è corrotto, decomposto. E' lui l'H1N1 della nostra democrazia.

The main Facebook group features an ongoing flow of new comments:

Giacomo Spataro: GIORNO 5/12.. TUTTI I NEGOZI CHIUSI…bandiere viola fuori…e tutti a roma….

Diritto Di Parola: La manifestazione si potrà definire APARTITICA e nata ed organizzata dal basso solo se i partiti non esibiranno i propri simboli. Non raccontiamoci frottole :) W il 5 dicembre voluto dai cittadini !!!! Scendiamo tutti in piazza a manifestare per le dimissioni di Berlusconi !!!

Daniele Nuzzo: Per fare Carpooling per andare a Roma dividendo le spese.

The NBD organizers chose the color purple to identify the movement, explaining that “purple is not just for mourning, but it is also a symbol of vital energy and self-determination”. Hence some creative ideas on Facebook:

Use this image for your profile or for a t-shirt:

While actual meet-ups are underway throughout the country, the electronic tam-tam is also spreading via Twitter.

On October 31, the first volunteers took to the streets in many cities to start informing people about the upcoming event. Here is a video from downtown Rome, where a journalist from PdCI-TV interviewed the activists on the fly [it]:

No political parties have formally endorsed the protest with the exception of Antonio di Pietro and Paolo Ferrero (leaders of small opposition parties, respectively, Italia dei Valori and Comunisti Italiani), who confirmed their attendance to the Rome rally.

Will people actually take to the streets en masse? For those still in doubt, the following “Joker Silvio” video explains the “top 10 reasons why citizens should participate in the No B-Day, an event born and promoted almost exclusively on the Net” [it]:

UPDATE: A third person died at the Flagstaff Medical Center late on Saturday October 17th.

The tragic event made national headlines in the US, with experts on sweat lodges and Native Americans criticizing the reported construction of the lodge, the number of participants, and the length of the ceremony.

James Ray

James Ray is President and CEO of James Ray International, which holds seminars on “wealth creation” where he charges up to US $ 10,000. He was also interviewed in the New Age 2006 film The Secret, appeared on Oprah Winfrey show and is the author of Harmonic Wealth, a New York Times bestseller.

As another example of the on-going exploitation of Native Americans culture, this tragic episode is being widely discussed within the US blogosphere.

In detailing her 80's sweat lodge experience conducted by a Lakota Sioux woman, Gabrielle Daniels, aka blksista, writes that she “photographed the building of the lodge until I was told not to, because it was not something to be shared with those outside of the group”, streaming her pictures while another lodge building is described in this YouTube video.

blksista further explains:

And when the lodge was completed, covered in hides and blankets and evergreen branches, and when the stones were heated, and we were in various stages of undress, in shorts and in bathing suits, we went in small groups at a time. I’d say that there were about six to eight people at a time in the lodge. And I sat and withstood the steam and heat from the stones until it was time for me to go. Compared to say, a sauna, where pine tar and eucalyptus mixed with water can be thrown on onto the heat, no scents were allowed on the stones. I was there for at least twenty minutes to half an hour. Everyone was like that. No one was forced to stay in longer than it was possible for them. People were quietly asked if they were okay during the sweat; they simply said yes or no, or nodded. I nodded. …

And here's her conclusion:

…people in New Age religions embrace only one part of the totality of a culture or a people–like the buying masks and idols or a religion–without an understanding of what these items or these rituals really mean. Disrespect results, and then eventually, leaders can become authoritarian and cultish, people can get turned off and leave, or people can get hurt or worse, die. That’s the cruel lesson, I feel, that’s being learned regarding this tragedy. I can only hope that this time, that it’s heeded.

In a post on Beyond Growth, a collaborative blog exploring the future of personal development, Duff McDuffee tries to summarize what we can learn from this tragedy:

One thing we might conclude is that all spiritual teachers or personal development gurus are bad, and should be avoided. Or that James Arthur Ray specifically is a greedy, evil person. Or that the Law of Attraction and The Secret are total bullshit. And these would indeed be ways to read the situation that have some merit. …

One could see this disaster as “the dark side of The Secret,” which is not just “negative thinking” but even positive intentions gone horribly wrong. Thus, positive thinking and intent are not enough if they lead to negative consequences. Indeed, Ray himself emphasizes that the results one brings about in life are what are most relevant to one’s spiritual progress. …

Could it be that one spiritual purpose of this “Spiritual Warrior Event” is to give an opportunity to Mr. Ray to act with the honor of a samurai, taking 100% responsibility for not only the design of the workshop, but even for his evoking of the Warrior?

Samthor, one of the dozen people commenting on that post, writes:

the great spiritual lesson here is “no means NO”.
that you can't just take the most sacred ceremonies from another culture that you do not belong and have not paid any dues too, mix it with whatever you feel like and sell it off as a business venture.
for decades actual native americans have tried to warn the white culture about fraud ripping off and bastardizing their culture and ceremonies. no one listened opting instead for the glittery promises of the new age gurus and plastic shamans.
and as a result people are constantly being ripped off and put in danger.

He also points to a list of people (updated only through June 2008, though) that died in recent years in situations similar to the Sedona tragedy.

Please remember these victims in your prayers and don't let these deaths be forgotten. They were all human beings and none of them deserved to die like this.
For thousands and thousands of years, no one died in a sweat lodge. When people decided to sell them, seven people, that we know of, died in 28 years.

The same blog Don't Pay To Pray, “A blog about all the fakes, frauds and flim flam artists that don't pray, but prey on the gullible and the greedy”, provides a very extensive list of links to useful resources managed and/or related to Native Americans.

In an opinion letter published on The Arizona Republic website, titled “Making money off Indian culture”, Karen Ramirez writes:

I am a Dakota who finds it amusing that so many individuals feel it is necessary to make money off the traditions of my culture.
To James Ray, I suggest you discontinue a practice you have no knowledge of, which is evident by the practice of charging your followers, which is not the Native American way.

After the Sedona tragedy, James Ray posted the following tweets:

Previously, during the same Sedona event, he also posted on Twitter these notes (since then deleted but still available through a simple search):

According to the most recent reports, “local authorities have no record of an application or permit for a temporary structure at the Angel Valley Retreat Center”, while it seems that “resort personnel specifically told Ray it was a bad idea to build the lodge, and that cramming that many people into that small a space wasn't safe.” Appearing on Tuesday at a previously scheduled seminar in California, a tearful James Ray said: “I have no idea what happened. We'll figure it out,” adding that he had hired private investigators.

The police investigation is still underway in an attempt to determine if criminal charges should be filed against James Ray and his staff.

On his blog Stuff white people do, macon d publishes excerpts from the 2006 book Revealing Whiteness: The Unconscious Habits of Racial Privilege by philosophy professor Shannon Sullivan, in order to underline the current justifications in the U.S. toward ownership, not only of formerly indigenous lands, but also of indigenous people themselves.

Native American were and generally still are considered as pieces of property owned by white America to do with what they please, only now this “knowledge” of Native Americans by white people is much more unconscious than conscious. White habits of ownership of Native Americans generally have not been eliminated; they have only changed the form of their expression. Rather than something wild to consciously set out to conquer, Native Americans — especially their religious traditions and rituals — tend to be unconsciously appropriated as exotic objects for Euro-American use, pleasure, and consumption.

Dozens of comments follow, ranging from outrage about “genocide” against Native Americans to “silent racism” by people who do not think of themselves as racist, which according to another book, Silent Racism How Well-Meaning White People Perpetuate the Racial Divide by sociology professor Barbara Trepagnier, becomes “instrumental in the production of institutional racism” and part of the social process in today's racial reality in the United States.

A commenter to the above mentioned post, Brother of another color writes:

The Native Americans were definitely taken advantage of. They were killed by disease and bullets and much worse. They greeted the settlers in friendship and were ground under by the tide of Europeans that moved in. But you know what? When a race is less advanced than another, they will be defeated, simple as that. Especially back in the days of exploration. I'm not saying the way it was done was right, but at the time they were inferior, and merely in the way of those who wanted to settle here. …
That the people who took their lands were white, has no bearing on what happened. Had the Chinese or some other larger nation with plans to expand gotten here first, the end result would most likely have been the same. Assimilation.

In another comment, Simon L'nu replies:

BTW, being Native, and with less melanin in his skin than some of my cousins, I can see white privilege, internalized colonialism, and all the other BS racist things in action. I get treated different when people realize/find out I'm Indigenous - it doesn't matter whether or not I get treated better or worse, it's being treated differently that's cr*p; I see my friends get treated like crap because of who they are. This is the wrongness. We are all human beings - you treat me with respect, expect the same from me. You treat me wrong, expect a cold shoulder or worse.

And another commenter, Zelkova, adds:

A lot of the arguments on this board seem to have a warped sense of “social evolution” where “inferior” cultures are taken out by more “advanced” ones. This is Social Darwinism and it is racist (on top of being a discounted social theory not considered by most social scientists as valid).

In a similar vein, Kate from the group blog Irene's Daughters, belonging to three women whose aim is to discuss race relations openly, addresses the common practise of schools and sports teams to misappropriate Native Americans names, cultural images and symbols as their mascots. In her post “Racist Mascots”, she explains:

American culture is brimming with mish-mashed, two-dimensional, demeaning, and offensive portrayals of Native Americans, and sports mascots are among the worst… These schools, sports teams, and their fans (not to mention the media and advertisers) are not respecting Indians as living, self-defining, and self-determining persons. Even when they do not employ repulsive epithets like “redskins” they are objectifying and dehumanizing Indians, appropriating and exploiting cultural and often sacred images for their own entertainment, propagating and perpetuating misinformed and humiliating stereotypes that damage both the way other people view Indians and the way Indians see themselves. (Studies have shown that Indian mascots are especially damaging to the self-esteem of Native American children.)

Kate also includes a link to a video aptly titled “I am not a mascot”, where several Native Americans voice their concerns and opposition to the use of Native American imagery in sporting events.

This 3-minute video, released in different formats, is another evidence of the increasing trend within Native American communities to use online citizen media to fight racism and stereotypes, in much the same way that indigenous communities elsewhere have used ICTs to spread indigenous knowledge and educate the world about their traditions and history.

Self-produced videos on racism in America by Native Americans abound on YouTube. The following video, “Racism against Native Americans” produced by Red Road Awareness, provides a concise overview while highlighting the problem of racism on US radio shows, including some disturbing on-air comments by a DJ in Kentucky.

The most viewed of such videos on YouTube, originally created in 1994, is “Racism the way we see it”. It describes how young Native Americans experience racism within their own communities and in their daily involvements with the outside society.

Rude awakening

The first pictures appeared immediately on Flickr and many more were uploaded during the day.

Photo by healinglight on Flickr

Similarly, the first news was transmitted by local Twitter users (particularly with hashtags #italy and #terremoto) and quickly spread throughout the world, thanks to services such as Breaking Tweets [en] - even before the satellite news channels broadcasts.

[Awaken by the earthquake, look up immediately
info on twitter (and I find them)]

And in the early morning hours more news and comments began to pour in on Facebook. On the group “Terremoto in Abruzzo” [it] (Earthquake in Abruzzo) Chiara urges people “not not leave them alone” and writes:

l'Aquila distrutta… speravo fosse un sogno ed invece è tutta realtà… non ci posso ancora credere… mi si stringe il cuore… ma l'Aquila ritornerà ad essere bella come prima ed a emozionarci ancora.. Sono vicina a tutti…

Many ready to help right away

On the same “Terremoto in Abruzzo” group, someone from Messina, a city in Sicily, says he's ready to hit the road to go there and help, just like many others:

vorrei partire come volontario x dare un aiuto anche io.. qualcuno che è della provincia di messina sa dirmi come fare?? chi contattare? fatemi sapere… grazie

On the first day alone, on Facebook there were about 500 different groups, with appeals for solidarity and action - like this one from Daniela in Reggio Emilia:

in questo drammatico momento di immenso dolore, mi rendo disponibile ad ospitare una famiglia presso la mia casa, offrendo loro un alloggio confortevole, e tutto il mio sostegno morale.

Also Alessandra has in her heart the many homeless people and writes:

Facciamo un gruppo in cui le persone che hanno più di una casa si offrono di mettere a disposizione un'abitazione per gli sfollati del terremoto. Io sono disponibile.
COME CI POSSIAMO MUOVERE?

Citizen media help to cope with tragedy

Daylight brings into sharp focus the magnitude of the tragedy and the web is the preferred place to disseminate information worldwide in a split second. On YouTube, Mastrostyle uploads a slideshow with several moving photos. Also Lukalove creates another poignant slideshow using the online software slide.com. Several people ready with video- or cell-cameras descend into the wreckage to talk with the victims and people involved in the rescue efforts.

Here is a video showing a girl just extracted from the rubble being taken in an ambulance. While the following video includes some interviews [it] with people displaced in a park in L'Aquila:

Criticism of mainstream media coverage

The event seems to make everybody very tense and sensitive. Many cannot even tolerate small mistakes from major news outlets online. The pensierispettinati blog [it] noticed that the photo gallery from L'Aquila published by the daily Corriere della Sera website includes one photo that doesn't belong to this tragedy: it's a picture of the May 2008 earthquake in Sechuan, China. They removed the offending picture, only to inadvertently post, a short time later, another picture related to rescue efforts in an earthquake in Turkey.

Several bloggers criticized [It] another major newspaper website, Repubblica.it for somehow exploiting the tragic event, boosting their advertisements and banners among its reports.

An avoidable tragedy?

Many netizens are also claiming that the earthquake was somehow expected: being an area at risk, the Abruzzo region was monitored closely. In fact, only a week earlier, using his own invention of gas radon measurements, Giampaolo Giuliani, a scientist related to the National Nuclear Physics Institute, had even predicted a very strong earthquake in a nearby city and alerted local officials about his findings. But the Head of the Civil Protection Agency, Bertolaso, immediately accused him of alarmism, threatening to sue him if he kept talking about it - so Giuliani kept his mouth shut.

The story is still very much alive in the blogosphere. Enzo Giarrittiello, on his blog La voce di Kayfa writes [it]:

Ora che purtroppo le sue previsioni si sono avverate, seppure con una settimana di ritardo rispetto a quanto aveva inizialmente ipotizzato, non sarebbe il caso di stanziare fondi per favorire la ricerca di Giuliani anziché mandarlo in prigione? Dando per scontato che le sue teorie sono pure illazioni, senza nemmeno cercare di capire i principi su cui si fondano, non ci si comporta in maniera oscurantista assumendo lo stesso atteggiamento dei censori medievali?

On Facebook, many groups were launched in solidarity with this researcher, while in a few hours more than 100 comments were posted on a related story on Repubblica.it [it], including one comment referring to a 2005 online forum detailing the method utilized by Giuliani [it] to forecast earthquake and his international operative connections.

On the other hand, the official scientific community refuted the validity of his predictions, including an interview with the director of the National Nuclear Physics Institute, where he states: “Giuliani doesn't work for my Institute and on this issue we need to be very careful when we say something publicly.”

What's next?

Unfortunately it seems inevitable to have controversial issues overshadowing the actual tragedy in such circumstances. Several Italian media sources and netizens are already debating the reconstruction plan and funding, with an overall cost estimated at about 1.2 billion euros. However, the situation on the ground is still far from over.

Many fear the death toll will rise even more - the latest figure is at 260. Rescue workers are working non-stop looking for survivors: a 98-year-old grandmother was found alive Tuesday after being buried for 30 hours. On the same night temperatures fell to 39 degrees in L'Aquila, dipping to near freezing at higher altitudes. And the area has been rattled by more than 200 tremors, some of them as higher as 5.3 magnitude.

Here more details [it] about donations and other assistance options.

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This post has been co-authored by Stefano Ignone, with further contributions by Maria Grazia Pozzi and Tamara Nigi.

The case received notoriety thanks to the videos shot by other people on trains from different angles. They were posted online immediately and also aired on television. Here is one of the clips available on YouTube (warning: strong images):

The officer who pulled the trigger, Johannes Mehserle, has since resigned from the police force, and is now awaiting trial for murder. Without making any public statement, initially he fled and was arrested in neighboring state Nevada; later an anonymous donor posted his bail (for US $3 million). Mehserle claims he intended to fire his Taser stun gun, not his pistol. Meanwhile, the family of Oscar Grant is preparing a $25 million wrongful death case.

While some sources found some similarities with the 1991 Rodney King case, this story is still deeply affecting the black community at large, well beyond the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly within citizen media and cyber-activist communities. The resulting movement is providing firsthand information and widespread mobilization aimed at obtaining justice for the family and raising public awareness on racism.

After street protests (with some violent episodes), one local initiative, “Caravan for Justice”, organized dozens of cars and buses to travel to the California State Capitol in Sacramento on February 23 to lobby legislators for justice. A channel solely devoted to this initiative is active on YouTube, including the following video with caravan member Pastor Zachary Carey:

More than 2,000 photos taken at rallies and other events are available on Flickr, along with scores of comments. Under a photo of a young man handcuffed in the back of a police car during an Oakland rally, a commenter noted:

The police in SF and Oakland do nothing to reduce violent crime. Law abiding citizens live in fear because the police are inept and incompetent. The murder of an innocent 22 year old male by the BART police is just another example of how inept the police around here are…

Writing on 4WardEver Newsvine, a group blog supporting multiple campaigns for justice, writer and death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal said:

Oscar Grant is you—and you are him, because you know in the pit of your stomach that it could’ve been you, and the same thing could’ve happened. You know this. And what’s worse is this: you pay for this every time you pay taxes, and you endorse this every time you vote for politicians who sell out in a heartbeat.

You pay for your killers to kill you, in the name of a bogus, twisted law, and then pay for the State that defends him. Something is terribly wrong here—and it’s the system itself. Until that is changed, nothing is changed, for we’ll be out here again (in the streets)—chanting a different name.

The Justice for Oscar Grant Committee website promptly started gathering and distributing video, photo and other updates about this case. Their official statement links the “execution-style” killing to “the system’s brutality and terror against Black people, youth and people of color.” A commentator said:

I’m from England and have just watched the brutal murder of Oscar Grant on youtube. Where is the justice in the world? In this day in age, after all that our people have been through over hundreds of years at the hands of such evil racist people….we still are faced with the prospects of not coming home through to police brutality. What is justice when those responsible for upholding the law are the same ones breaking it by taking away lifes based on colour, perception and ignorance.

My thoughts,prayers and condolences are set over seas in abundance to the friends and family of Oscar Grant.

VisionAries published more photos and slideshows of January protest rallies in Oakland, while the Sustainable Business Alliance blog asked people to sign a letter in support of “Assembly member Tom Ammiano and State Senator Leland Yee's efforts to create a civilian oversight board and help build the progressive movement for justice in California.”

Addressing the larger issue of police brutality and community awareness, blogger Crocus pointed out:

The truth is that people/community’s just don’t trust law enforcement institutions anymore and it spans the breadth of the society. People are so suspicious of officers intent and with good reason. We can no longer tolerate police brutality and injustice but unlawful behavior on the part of the law has become so routine that we tend to blank it out and carry on with the boredom of everyday life under the spectacle but “if not passion and action then my dear you are already dead”. Community autonomy is the only way to raise awareness on these issues, but as the process of participation in matters that affect our community’s are being destroyed every waking hour, it becomes near impossible to act collectively. Individual autonomy is a step in the right direction but collective awareness is collective power!

However it is fair to say that over the last couple of decade’s racial awareness and cohesion has vastly improved and thus transformed the landscape of interaction for the greater good. But the police, council’s and the Government still struggle with racism to some degree! It’s not how people interact these days but how intuitions treat people.

Finally, while announcing the March for Justice, to take place in Hayward, California on February 27 (the date would have been Grant's 23rd birthday), Grant's fiancée Sophina Mesa called for justice without further violence:

My desire is to see true justice served for Oscar and our family. I don't want another person to go through what Oscar, his friends, his family, and many other people are enduring at this time. Please join me, mine and Oscar's daughter Tatiana, and our family at the march on Friday.

A legal battle over a young woman's ‘right to die' after 17 years in a coma has spurred both vast online commentary and activism in Italy. Mostly in defense of “Eluana Englaro's choice”, Italian netizens have signed petitions, organized protests, and made YouTube videos of their own ‘living will' testimonies, in defiance of both prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and the Vatican.

Eluana Englaro is a 38-year-old Italian woman who was left in a vegetative state after a car crash in 1992. Shortly before the accident, Eluana had paid a visit to a friend in a coma, and expressed to her father her firm will never to be kept alive artificially in case something similar should ever happen to her.

While lovingly caring for Eluana all these years, Beppino Englaro, her father, started a decade-long court battle to fulfill her wishes and allow her to die, even though Italian law does not recognize living wills [en]. The legal dispute eventually reached Italy's higher court and the European Union court in Strasbourg, and the final rulings supported Eluana's request to die. On Friday, February 6, her doctors began preparing to remove her feeding tubes.

Embracing Vatican ideas, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi tried to reverse the court ruling [en] by issuing an emergency decree that was quickly approved by the parliament. Italy's president, however, refused to sign it, and was supported by many legal scholars, journalists and ordinary citizens. Then, in a race against time to “save Eluana”, Berlusconi announced the immediate introduction of a “special bill” [it] that could be ratified by the parliament within one week, thus skirting the president's veto and forcing doctors to resume the feeding of Eluana. He also suggested a possible constitutional amendment, if necessary.

Photo by Radicali Milano, released under Creative Commons on Flickr.

While public events, both “pro-life” or “pro-Eluana”, were held during the weekend, a large rally is planned for Valentine's Day (February 14) in downtown Rome [now moved to Saturday February 21] against the “obscurantist dictatorship” [it] of the government initiatives. With Italy on the verge of a constitutional crisis, unprecedented since World War II, the whole country is now engulfed in heated discussions that are overflowing on the Internet.

A subversion of justice

Most bloggers see the Berlusconi move as an attempt to subvert state institutions. Mente critica [it] writes:

Sconfessare per decreto legge una sentenza definitiva di una Corte di cassazione è un colpo di stato verso uno dei legittimi poteri della repubblica. Un atto così incostituzionale che probabilmente nemmeno Franco o i colonnelli della giunta militare greca avrebbero avuto l’ardire di tentare.

Random bits, un blog antropologicamente inferiore [it], after declaring his closeness to the parliament majority party, has this to say about the emergency decree:

Non siamo (ancora) di fronte a comportamenti apertamente golpisti, ma ci stiamo pericolosamente avvicinando al limite (…) ricordando al governo l'importanza della separazione dei poteri e dei meccanismi di checks and balances.

Open World [it], quoting Berlusconi saying that Eluana Englaro in her current condition “is a person who could even have a child”, supports the need of a living will legislation and adds:

Il Governo sta autorizzando una parte molto importante dell’elettorato, quello cattolico, di diventare il padrone di uno Stato Laico come è l’Italia. Come è per Costituzione il nostro Paese è tutto il contrario di quello descritto dal Presidente del Consiglio.

With pressure from the Vatican mounting all around, Catholic priest and blogger Paolo Padrini expresses his views on Passi nel deserto [it]:

In questo momento una sola cosa potrebbe disinnescare la miccia dello scontro sociale, oltre che istituzionale. Al più presto dovrebbero riunirsi i parlamentari cattolici di tutti gli schieramenti, presentare una legge sospensiva di ogni decisione fino ad una completa decisione circa una legge di “fine vita” che regoli anche il cosiddetto “testamento biologico” togliendo da esso ogni possibile fraintendimento pseudoeutanasico.

In Italian newspaper La Repubblica, a renowned constitutional scholar, Stefano Rodotà, has decribed the situation as a “constitutional tsunami” [it] and expressed concern [it] that “the anxiety of so many members of parliament will lead us to a shore where there is very little respect for people's rights and for their own humanity.” A commenter on this last article, 1partigiano wrote:

di nuovo il governo fa leggi ad personam, vedi il caso Eluana. La politica che deve fare leggi utilizzabili per tutti si accanisce su un fatto specifico da farne un decreto,noi cittadini dovremmo prendere coscienza di chi ci governa, della sua arroganza e ignoranza politica.

Online activism for “Eluana's choice”

Flickr has more than 150 pages with photos from rallies, drawings and other kind of pictures related to Eluana's case.

Facebook is a hotbed for activism: these days many people are protesting the Government actions by obscuring their profile picture, while a group supporting the Valentine's Day rally [it] in downtown Rome [now moved to Saturday February 21], quickly gained more than 2,000 members, and a petition supporting [it] “Eluana's choice” has been joined by almost 86,000 people. Several other groups are discussing the issues at stake and organizing local events - again, the vast majority supporting the court decision.

Last but not least, a campaign to email people's living will [it] directly to the labor minister is currently underway: they fill in and sign a form stating that they are against any prolonged artificial life support. Taking this strategy to the next level, dozens of people started short videos posting on YouTube [it] in which they detail their living wills. More than 100 videos are currently available, many of them with hundreds of viewers.

Also on YouTube, is the following video supporting a bill, recently introduced by Senator and surgeon Ignazio Marino, favoring the legal value of such ‘biological testaments' (or living will):

This post was co-authored by Eleonora Pantò.

The decision to grant asylum is currently being considered by Brazil's Supremo Tribunal Federal. In Italy, Battisti was tried and sentenced in absentia to life in prison for a series of crimes, including murder, committed in Italy in the late 1970's as a member of the far-left armed group Armed Proletarians for Communism [it].

Battisti escaped from prison in Italy in 1981. He then fled to France, where he started a family and became a novelist. In 2002, he reached Brazil, allegedly with the help of the French secret service [it]. Five years later, in 2007, he was arrested in Rio de Janeiro for entering the country with a fake passport, and is now imprisoned in Brasilia.

A fugitive of justice?

In Italy, the case has been a top story in most news media the past two weeks, and the local cybersphere is engulfed in heated discussions. Most Italian netizens seem to favor an extradition of Battisti [it] and strongly criticize Brazil's decision.

On a group blog, Atomo del Male, “il gorgonauta” writes [it]:

Un rifugiato politico secondo wikipedia [it] è chi è fuggito o è stato espulso a causa di discriminazioni politiche, religiose o razziali dal proprio Paese e trova ospitalità in un Paese straniero. Peccato che questa definizione non calzi molto alla situazione attuale: uccidere un macellaio o un poliziotto è un delitto politico? Una rapina è politica? Battisti è stato condannato per degli omicidi o delle opinioni? E l’Italia lo vuole per discriminarlo politicamente o per eseguire un condanna? Ma forse in Brasile hanno una giustizia tutta loro e l’imbelle ministro vive in mondo tutto suo.

In his blog, Gery Palazzotto argues [it] that any intellectuals defending Battisti as someone of their own league are misguided:

Il terrorismo ha fatto in Italia [it] quasi 350 morti e circa 750 feriti (cifre dell’Associazione vittime del terrorismo). Le pallottole sono di piombo e, anche se accompagnate da una citazione filosofica, da una frase di Bernard-Henri Lévy o da una semplice preghiera, generalmente uccidono. Gli ideali non sono né giubbotto antiproiettile né lasciapassare.

Kicking blame to France too

Several people also express criticism of France's past behaviour. After learning that Battisti in a recent letter wrote [it], “French intelligence helped me flee to South America,” Il Jester points a finger at both French and Brazilian governments [it], because they both:

…permettono e hanno permesso che un assassino resti libero e si goda la vita come premio per quel che ha fatto e causato: morte e dolore. Vorrei proprio che Mr. Lula e Sarkozy spiegassero (…) a chi ha sofferto la scomparsa insensata dei loro cari: “I vostri compianti sono morti per causa di un ideale politico di un uomo. Lui non ne ha colpa. (…)”
Una vergogna! E l’Italia non solo non dovrebbe giocare la partita con un Brasile che ha davvero poco di amichevole, ma dovrebbe persino protestare sonoramente contro una Francia che si è sempre rivelata poco amica del nostro Paese (…).

The blogger refers here to a friendly soccer match between Italy and Brazil, scheduled for February 10 in London. Some major newspapers have held instant polls on this topic: “Should we play against Brazil?”, with a majority (59-62%) still answering “yes”, while the Italian defense minister Ignazio La Russa [en] proposed a public boycott of the game - thus stirring more harsh debate.

Few defend Battisti online

There are around 40 groups supporting an extradition of Battisti on Facebook and the most popular - “Cesare Battisti must come back to Italy to serve his life sentence” [it] (Cesare Battisti deve tornare in Italia per scontare l’ergastolo) has more than 20,000 members.

Of the only two groups advocating for his freedom, “Freedom for Cesare Battisti” [it] (Libertà per Cesare Battisti) blames the media for exploiting his case:

Crediamo si tratti dell'ennesimo capro espiatorio, del mostro (creato da pennivendoli e strumenti di disinformazione) da dare in pasto per placare la sete di giustizia. A qualcuno ovviamente fa comodo che gli italiani, invece di indignarsi per le ingiustizie sofferte quotidianamente, ingiustizie di natura economica e sociale, si indignino per fatti di 30 anni fa, che non hanno nessun impatto sulla loro esistenza.

Similarly, Titus, from the Selvas blog [it], believes this episode is being used by the (center-right) Italian government as “an amazing mass distraction weapon” from the economic crisis, while another blog devoted to literature and counter-information, Carmilla On Line [it], posted a very detailed FAQ on Battisti's case [it]. One of these answers states reasons that his trial was not fair, including the alleged use of torture tactics to extract confessions.

In his blog Panni di piombo [it], another former member of an armed group, Mario Ferrandi, highlights a similar case but with Italy in the opposite role:

Il “nostro Cesare Battisti” è uruguayano, anche se da qualche anno ha la nazionalità italiana. Si chiama Jorge Troccoli. (…) È stato capitano dei Fucilieri Navali dell’Uruguay, ed è accusato di aver fatto sparire un numero imprecisato di persone nel suo Paese tra il 1975 e il 1983. Tra questi sei cittadini italiani. Il governo Berlusconi, nel settembre scorso, ha respinto la sua richiesta di estradizione.

Global Voices also has Brazilian blogger responses to Italy's extradition request.

UPDATE (02/05): Yesterday Brazil's Supremo Tribunal Federal ruled [it] that Battisti's current status as ‘political refugee' does not stop nor prevent the extradition procedure request. Essentially, nothing has changed: judges and politicians have opposing opinions, but ultimately the decision is in the hands of the Brazilian government.

This post was co-authored by Stefano Ignone.

At least seven lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Anglican (mostly American) organizations attended the meeting in support of “full inclusion of LGBT people in the life and ministry of the churches of the Anglican Communion”. Conservative bishops strongly disapprove of the movement and have even threatened to divide the church. According to the Economist, bishops from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda with more traditionalist parishes refused to attend the meeting in protest.

One of the most controversial liberal figures is Bishop Gene Robinson, an openly gay, non-celibate, 61-year-old Episcopalian bishop of New Hampshire, USA. He was not permitted to enter the meeting, but he opened a video blog devoted to the Lambeth event, called The Gene Pool, where he offered almost daily video commentaries.

In one video, he addresses the LGBT Episcopalian community with words of hope and strength.

The bishop's video-posts are paired with a flow of comments, always engaging even when expressing different views.

One commenter, Una, says:

Thank you Gene. I am a straight believer in God's love for ALL people, irrespective of race, religion, sex, gender. I too pray that those of us who live in countries where hush-hush is the order of the day can stand with you in open honesty about who we are as Christians in our own cultures. Like you, I continue to hope, though I am not an optimist in regard to the Lambeth outcome.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has done his best to keep the church together, and not made outspoken statements in support of LGBT rights, in spite of being known to hold more liberal views. Bishop Gene Robinson takes aim at Rowan Williams' “centrist stance” in a post on his other blog Canterbury Tales from the Fringe:

The morning we left Edinburgh, the headlines in the London Times announced the publication of letters sent by +Rowan Williams several years ago, in response to a conservative evangelical, in which he says that after many years of study and prayer, he has concluded that faithful, life-long-intentioned, monogamous love between two people of the same sex is NOT prohibited by scripture — and that scripture simply does not address this new phenomenon. Precisely what I and others have been saying all along.

(…) he has steadfastly done what he has said he would do: set his own personal understandings aside and take a centrist stance “for the good of the whole Church.” This is not news, folks! But it is indeed sad.

There were many other blogs created by liberal participants at the Lambeth meeting, including the Lambeth Conference LGBT Anglican Portal, Walking with Integrity, and the Lambeth News Blog.

In a final official release about the Conference, Episcopal Life Online quotes the Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity USA, and a parish priest based in Los Angeles:

“…in spite of extraordinary pressure to do otherwise, the Archbishop of Canterbury has managed to achieve his stated goal of a Lambeth Conference of reflection rather than resolutions.

“The long predicted coup d'état that was going to emerge from this Lambeth Conference and vote the Americans and Canadians out of the Anglican Communion failed to materialize. There is much to be grateful for in that.”

Susan Russel also created this interesting photo album showing a great deal of grassroots activism in the Communication Centre, along with other lively behind-the-scene snapshots, during the Conference.

Photo republished from Susan Russell's Lambeth Conference Photo Blog

Acting as “a faithful witness of God's inclusive love to the Episcopal Church and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community”, Integrity USA also made effective use of citizen media in The Lambeth Witness, a daily publication from and about the Canterbury event managed by the coalition Inclusive Church Network.

Photo at top is of Caterbury Cathedral, by Sarah Hecht, republished under Creative Commons license.

A growing perception in the general population that “all Gypsies are thieves”, is being publicly supported by some judges and politicians. According to the Interior minister and a leading figure of the anti-immigration Northern League, Roberto Maroni, the national registration initiative is needed to “prevent begging” and, if necessary, remove the children from their parents.

A few days ago the European Parliament urged the Italian government to stop the fingerprinting of Gypsies, calling it racial discrimination. The assembly agreed on a resolution saying the practice was not supported by European Union human rights treaties and insisting that, “EU citizens of Roma or Gypsy origin must be treated equally to others in Italy”. Maroni replied [it] he was outraged over the accusation of racism, insisting his plan is simply to carry out a “comprehensive national census” of the Roma people with no kind of discrimination whatsoever.

Caricature of Roberto Maroni by Gianfalco.it, republished under Creative Commons license

The ensuing, heated public debate is overflowing in the online space of Italy (and beyond), with many discussions focusing on civil rights protection and ethnic discrimination. On Kebelek [it], a widely-read blog that often links to writing by and about Roma people, Miguel Martinez writes:

Fingere la propria superiorità etica e distribuire colpe morali a grandi gruppi di persone è in qualche modo la matrice del genocidio.
Perché se gli altri hanno scelto di essere malvagi, se ogni singolo membro di quel gruppo ha scelto di essere malvagio, allora tutti i membri del gruppo meritano la punizione.
Condannare interi blocchi della specie umana per motivi morali è una perdita di tempo; e comunque le questioni sociali di grande portata non possono avere soluzioni etiche.

A blog published by the Sinti culture institute [it] provides comprehensive updates and other resources particularly on the fingerprinting issue. They also published an online poll questioning whether Maroni should resign from the Cabinet: so far 77% (262 people) voted yes. Their statement calling for Maroni's ousting [it] received many comments, including some heavy ‘flaming'.

Commenter xpisp [it]:

Personalmente se mi chiedessero di depositare impronte e DNA per creare una banca dati e risolvere + facilmente alcuni delitti, non avendo nulla da nascondere, non avrei proprio nulla in contrario.

Commenter Antonoi:

Per come è stata presa la decisione di schedare i rom sono contrario. è una politica razziale e xenofoba (giungendo da un ministro leghista….) se vi è la logica impellente della sicurezza prendiamo le impronte a tutte le persone presenti in questo momento in italia. scegliere di schedare una sola comunità è xenofobia, serve per dare un contentino al popolo bue che applaude e non capisce cosa realmente si muove in italia e soprattutto si imbocca tutto quello che mamma-tv dice.

Commenter Carlo Berini:

il problema che poni è reale ma non è che negando i diritti civili che risolverai il tuo problema, anzi…

Finally, just one of the many initiatives supporting the Roma people struggle: Immigrazione Oggi, a video website in nine languages for foreigners living in Italy, launched a “Campaign against prejudice towards Roma people” mostly based on a video [it] showing images of ordinary Roma citizens at work.

Screenshot from the video by Immigrazione Oggi

Hundreds of walkers representing more than 100 Native American Nations, plus an active International group, embarked on a journey that lasted 175 days (4,200 hrs.) criss-crossing 26 states along two separate routes - through rain, snow, and even a tornado. They also picked up more than 8,000 bags of trash on the roads they traveled. “As we walked through this land we were horrified to see the extent in which Mother Earth has been raped, ravaged and exploited,” noted the Manifesto for Change.

Photo republished from the Longest Walk DC Photos gallery

The trek also commemorated the 1978 Longest Walk, a similar campaign that led to the defeat of 11 anti-Native American bills pending in Congress and the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.

Despite the lack of coverage in the mainstream media (in the US and elsewhere), the event was a successful community effort and revealed an effective use of citizen media. In fact, its main website provides plenty of information, including hundreds of photos and dozens of videos - such as the following one about a wedding ceremony held at the Carson Indian Colony during the Walk:

Particularly touching the Voices from the Walk section, with so many posts providing a vivid, first-hand description of daily matters, personal struggles and achievements, along with participants' interviews, political statements and much more.

In one of those stories Melinda sheds some light on the everyday-sacred routine:

[South Route: Greensboro, June 22, 2008 10:27am] The routine is wakeup [4am], prayer, pack and load your gear on the trucks; tents and sleeping bags on one truck, luggage on the other. Then everyone comes together in a circle. After a briefing on the day’s schedule, an elder smudges the walkers as they file out. The earth is silent. All is still asleep. The bright moon lights our way as we snake down along our road. The ear can stretch far in the darkness seeking sound. For a good long while, it is just our footsteps. Ahh, the sound of sixty people walking. This is a sound to hear.

Maggie Madden gives us a glimpse of the global interdependency at play:

[South Route: 6/25/08] Breakfast was very yummy. Whenever the Japanese people are on kitchen crew we eat really healthy, tasty food. Kiyoko is a cook in Japan and she has been the most consistent dedicated cook on the walk. The only reason she hasn’t been here the whole time is because she had to return to Japan to renew her visa. She is always hanging out around the kitchen cooking yummy things for us and she walks everyday. She is very dedicated.

On a different note, Dennis Banks, one of the leading figures of the march and co-founder of the American Indian Movement in 1968, sends a public Thank You to GM [General Motors]:

[Thursday, 26 June 2008] Cheri Grohoski, GM's General Manager agreed with the Environmental Concerns of The Longest Walk 2 and “The Clean Up Mother Earth Campaign” of The Longest Walk, began discussions with Ray St. Clair in early February 2008 and presented the 3 vehicles to him on June 24th, 2008 at GM's General Offices at Detroit, Michigan. The vehicles will be used to help pick up trash and transport elders in and around D.C.

Obviously, the Long Walkers couldn't avoid some dramatic moments. Here is how Brenda Norrell describes an unexpected police charge in Columbus, Ohio:

[Wednesday, 04 June 2008] Unprovoked Columbus, Ohio police attacked Long Walkers, by first pointing a taser at the head of Michael Lane and then forcing Luv the Mezenger to the ground and handcuffing him. The Longest Walk Northern Route was walking this prayer through Columbus on Monday, June 2, when police squad cars and arrest wagons arrived. Without discussion of the purpose of the prayer walk, or verifying that the Ohio Department of Transportation had been notified of the prayer walk, police attacked the walkers.

This episode was later discussed on the Longest Walk Talk show on Earthcycles web radio, which also provided live reports from the march itself.

Another walker, Brita Brookes, contributes some insight on the overall goal and scope of such initiatives:

[Tuesday, 27 May 2008] The greatest cause of tension and conflict in this world is sometimes caused by the misunderstanding of two different cultures, or perhaps from the lack of actually getting to know each other, assumptions, rumors or plain misconceptions about a behavior or culture can lead damaging events perhaps worse than tornados and earthquakes.

Finally, the inevitable questions: “What is it that we learned in the last 5 months? And what is next?”

Among others, Morning Star Gali offers words of peace and gratitude as a promising outcome for future trails:

[Thursday, 17 July 2008] The last few days of the walk, I tried as much as I could to talk with walkers, to talk to the youth and hear from them firsthand what their experience was, what challenges they faced, what helped to shape their experience along the way. To everyone I encountered, I shook their hands and thanked them for walking — for making that sacrifice and carrying those prayers for if it wasn't for them, it all would not have been possible.