Al Jazeera: Protests attack France pension plan -- More than 2.5 million demonstrators take to the streets, unions say, as fears of a fuel shortage

"Of all the groups fighting against changes to the retirement age, young people arguably represent the biggest menace to the government. Workers' unions may have considerable political influence, but historically youth protest have contributed significantly toward bringing down government reforms."

Al Jazeera: Protests attack France pension plan -- More than 2.5 million demonstrators take to the streets, unions say, as fears of a fuel shortage loom

Democracy Now: A Tribute to Yip Harburg -- The Man Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz and Songwriter of "Brother Can You Spare a Dime"

A Tribute to Yip Harburg: The Man Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz
Democracy Now



His name might not be familiar to many, but his songs are sung by millions around the world. Today, a journey through the life and work of Yip Harburg, the Broadway lyricist who wrote such hits as “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” and who put the music into The Wizard of Oz. Born into poverty on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Yip always included a strong social and political component to his work, fighting racism and poverty. A lifelong socialist, Yip was blacklisted and hounded throughout much of his life.

Taking us on today’s trip through the music and politics of Yip is his son, Ernie Harburg. First, we’re going to go through Yip’s early life, his collaboration with the Gershwin’s, through “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” Then we’re going to take an in-depth look at The Wizard of Oz. And finally, we’ll hear a medley of Yip Harburg’s Broadway songs and the politics of the times in which they were created.

To Read/Listen/Watch this Tribute

Revolution By the Book: Learning from the Movement for a New Society -- An Interview with George Lakey

Learning from the Movement for a New Society: An Interview with George Lakey
Revolution by the Book

In 1971 a group of Philadelphia-based activists formed the Movement for a New Society, a network of collectives dedicated to radical pacifist, feminist, and libertarian socialist politics. Over the next 18 years the organization grew to a peak of approximately 300 members in more than a dozen U.S. cities and made important contributions to anti-nuclear, radical ecology, and gender and sexual liberation struggles. The Movement for a New Society (MNS) sought to combine organizing campaigns that utilized direct action tactics with a commitment by its members to “live the revolution now” by transforming themselves and their social relationships, as well as by living collectively and establishing alternative institutions such as food co-ops. Many movement norms and forms of activism that contemporary anti-authoritarians often take for granted—the consensus process, the use of spokescouncils, internal anti-oppression work, and a focus on prefiguring in daily life the world one hopes to win—were either pioneered or heavily promoted by MNS. In 1988 the group dissolved due to the inhospitable political climate and to conflicts and challenges that arose out of MNS’ own innovative group process and strategy. (Read an historical account of Movement for a New Society here.)

Though its experiences are directly relevant to challenges facing radical organizers today, MNS remains relatively unknown. In the summer of 2008 Andy Cornell and Andrew Willis-Garcés interviewed founding member George Lakey as part of an effort to begin evaluating the MNS experience and drawing out lessons for contemporary social justice struggles.

To Read the Interview