Re: [Frameworks] I'm a revolutionary

[Lara Hannawi]

It sounds like you all need to..: Register Democrat if u haven't done so, 
update your address if necessary and vote for Bernie in the primaries! Every 
vote weighs extra heavy bc not many pp vote for primaries. Voting info on 
voteforbernie.org

- Reply message -
From: "Francisco Torres" 
To: "Experimental Film Discussion List" 
Subject: [Frameworks] I'm a revolutionary
Date: Wed, Apr 13, 2016 10:03


Warren C -  ''Very little has changed'' Indeed, and the change may have
been for the worse. Because most people believe that all those issues were
settled a long time ago and that there is no need to do anything today.
Even back in the 80's any kind of political engagement was seen as
''uncool'' and unfashionable.

2016-04-13 10:30 GMT-04:00 Warren Cockerham :

> Gene,
>
> I agree with your change. I put those words in quotes - the other
> democratic candidate says that a lot. He doesn't go far enough in
> describing the situation. But, it is refreshing to hear a presidential
> candidate say that real change doesn't happen from the top down; it always
> happens from the bottom up. I also realize electoral presidential politics
> isn't revolutionary.
>
> I used to teach at The Better Boys Foundation (BBF) in North Lawndale on
> the west side of Chicago at 15th and Pulaski. I taught film and video there
> for 5 years (2008-2012). That was the site that Fred started the Breakfast
> for Children Program in Chicago with his Deputy Minister of Education,
> Billy 'Che' Brooks. Billy was my colleague, friend, and supervisor for
> those 5 years at BBF. In 2012, I screened Howard Alk and Mike Gray's *The
> Murder of Fred Hampton*. By all accounts, it was the first time that film
> screened publicly in that community. More than 100 people attended the
> screening and stayed for a panel discussion with Billy, Jeff Haas, Flint
> Taylor, and Bill Hampton. This was shortly after Flint Taylor led the
> People's Law Office to convict that asshole, John Burge. At BBF, I
> administered 7 other art and trade apprenticeships for teenagers in the
> community. In 2011, we were worried that a new mayor would de-fund or pull
> funding from Maggie Daley's After School Matters program which funded more
> than half of our apprenticeships. I saw soon-to-be mayor Rahm Emanuel (Bye
> Anita!) at a pizza place. I invited him to BBF to speak. We knew he was
> going to win the election, so Billy and I wanted to make sure that funding
> for after school programs would continue. He promised that it would and
> that he would address it at the press conference he was holding there that
> afternoon. Before the press conference, he came into my
> office/classroom/studio. The place was decorated with posters that students
> printed out: Fred Hampton, Hoop Dreams, The 400 Blows, Reservoir Dogs, and
> Raging Bull among others. Guess which two posters Rahm praised... yep,
> Reservoir Dogs and Raging Bull happen to he his favorite movies. He asked
> me something like.. "your white, what can I do to fix race relations in
> this city as mayor?" I said, you might start by publicly apologizing for
> the assassination of Fred Hampton and commemorate Monroe St. as "Fred
> Hampton Way." He said he didn't know a lot about it and he would read up on
> it. We were interrupted by Billy and a group of board members.
>
> I had some idea that he was going to be a terrible mayor. Who knew it was
> going to be worse than little Daley and Boss Daley. Unbelievable corruption
> and racism.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 13, 2016 at 9:53 AM, Gene Youngblood 
> wrote:
>
>> Warren,
>> Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I appreciate it. Yesterday
>> I bought the PBS documentary that Bryan Konefsky said the clip was from,
>> but maybe Amy’s context makes it stronger. We’ll see.
>>
>> Naturally, I agree with your assessment of the situation. But since words
>> tell us what we think, I suggest a slight modification of terminology: the
>> system isn’t “broken,” it’s performing exactly as it’s structured to
>> perform (“structural racism”). You fix something that’s broken (that’s
>> called reform); you overthrow something that’s structurally incapable of
>> transformation (that’s called revolution). To say “broken” is collaboration
>> in our oppression.
>>
>> I was co-editor of the underground newspaper, the Los Angeles Free Press,
>> when Hampton was assassinated. We published numerous articles about
>> COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program). Ever since the Snowden
>> revelations and the NSA’s panoptic response, I’ve argued repeatedly that
>> the NSA (aka, the predator state), has no choice: the digital condition
>> means that, in the interest of social control, everyone is legitimately
>> suspect. It’s COINTELPRO forever. That’s why I want the “I am a
>> revolutionary” clip.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Apr 12, 2016, at 11:35 PM, Warren Cockerham 

Re: [Frameworks] I'm a revolutionary

[Warren Cockerham]

Gene,

I agree with your change. I put those words in quotes - the other
democratic candidate says that a lot. He doesn't go far enough in
describing the situation. But, it is refreshing to hear a presidential
candidate say that real change doesn't happen from the top down; it always
happens from the bottom up. I also realize electoral presidential politics
isn't revolutionary.

I used to teach at The Better Boys Foundation (BBF) in North Lawndale on
the west side of Chicago at 15th and Pulaski. I taught film and video there
for 5 years (2008-2012). That was the site that Fred started the Breakfast
for Children Program in Chicago with his Deputy Minister of Education,
Billy 'Che' Brooks. Billy was my colleague, friend, and supervisor for
those 5 years at BBF. In 2012, I screened Howard Alk and Mike Gray's *The
Murder of Fred Hampton*. By all accounts, it was the first time that film
screened publicly in that community. More than 100 people attended the
screening and stayed for a panel discussion with Billy, Jeff Haas, Flint
Taylor, and Bill Hampton. This was shortly after Flint Taylor led the
People's Law Office to convict that asshole, John Burge. At BBF, I
administered 7 other art and trade apprenticeships for teenagers in the
community. In 2011, we were worried that a new mayor would de-fund or pull
funding from Maggie Daley's After School Matters program which funded more
than half of our apprenticeships. I saw soon-to-be mayor Rahm Emanuel (Bye
Anita!) at a pizza place. I invited him to BBF to speak. We knew he was
going to win the election, so Billy and I wanted to make sure that funding
for after school programs would continue. He promised that it would and
that he would address it at the press conference he was holding there that
afternoon. Before the press conference, he came into my
office/classroom/studio. The place was decorated with posters that students
printed out: Fred Hampton, Hoop Dreams, The 400 Blows, Reservoir Dogs, and
Raging Bull among others. Guess which two posters Rahm praised... yep,
Reservoir Dogs and Raging Bull happen to he his favorite movies. He asked
me something like.. "your white, what can I do to fix race relations in
this city as mayor?" I said, you might start by publicly apologizing for
the assassination of Fred Hampton and commemorate Monroe St. as "Fred
Hampton Way." He said he didn't know a lot about it and he would read up on
it. We were interrupted by Billy and a group of board members.

I had some idea that he was going to be a terrible mayor. Who knew it was
going to be worse than little Daley and Boss Daley. Unbelievable corruption
and racism.



On Wed, Apr 13, 2016 at 9:53 AM, Gene Youngblood  wrote:

> Warren,
> Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I appreciate it. Yesterday
> I bought the PBS documentary that Bryan Konefsky said the clip was from,
> but maybe Amy’s context makes it stronger. We’ll see.
>
> Naturally, I agree with your assessment of the situation. But since words
> tell us what we think, I suggest a slight modification of terminology: the
> system isn’t “broken,” it’s performing exactly as it’s structured to
> perform (“structural racism”). You fix something that’s broken (that’s
> called reform); you overthrow something that’s structurally incapable of
> transformation (that’s called revolution). To say “broken” is collaboration
> in our oppression.
>
> I was co-editor of the underground newspaper, the Los Angeles Free Press,
> when Hampton was assassinated. We published numerous articles about
> COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program). Ever since the Snowden
> revelations and the NSA’s panoptic response, I’ve argued repeatedly that
> the NSA (aka, the predator state), has no choice: the digital condition
> means that, in the interest of social control, everyone is legitimately
> suspect. It’s COINTELPRO forever. That’s why I want the “I am a
> revolutionary” clip.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 12, 2016, at 11:35 PM, Warren Cockerham 
> wrote:
>
> Dear Gene,
>
> I remember seeing that like a week or so ago - and like Jeff, I thought of
> Fred Hampton (assassinated by the Chicago Police by order of FBI's
> Cointelpro on 12/4/69). Very little has changed. The clip in question was
> on Democracy Now! on 3/31 during the headlines. A protester in Minneapolis
> was shouting "I am a Revolutionary!" to a crowd of hundreds also protesting
> the idiotic and now endemic decision to not charge the cops that murdered
> Jamar Clark
> . "...
> a broken criminal justice system." Too broken. Broken enough to have
> another BPP for Self Defense. I think that Fred would be proud of Black
> Lives Matter... we need thousands of Fred Hamptons now.
>
> Amy Goodman covers this briefly during the headlines on 3/31 (
> http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2016/3/31). The story begins at 5:12
> and the quote in question begins at 5:49. I remember Amy's