Posts for Tag: activism

Wednesday Panel in NYC: Web 2.0 Activist Model Case Studies

(via Ivan Boothe) I'm posting this because I couldn't find any comprehensive blog posts about it.

Web 2.0 Activist Model Case Studies
Over the past two years, Web 2.0 technologies have matured and so have the methods activists use to employ them. In 2008, activists from around the world used Web 2.0 to take command of the digital airwaves pioneering new forms of political mobilization. From Student's for a Free Tibet's live streamed protests in Beijing, to RNC protesters coordinating actions and monitoring police movements on Twitter to mass digital mobilizations for humanitarian relief and election protection, Web 2.0 is no longer just for social networking and fundraising. 

This Wednesday, practitioners involved in the above campaigns will present case studies and highlight how they leveraged these tools to have broader reach and greater effectiveness. We'll also delve into issues governing internal organization and communication among political actors, including: transparency vs. security; command and control vs. autonomous affinity groups, and the power of organizing without organizations vs. the tyranny of structurelessness.

 This report back and skills share is intended to leave you with concrete ideas for how these models and tools could impact your work.    

Wednesday, December 17, 7:30pm
The Change You Want To See Gallery
http://www.thechangeyouwanttosee.org
84 Havemeyer Street, at Metropolitan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Nathan Freitas is an entrepreneur and activist, with longtime love for all things mobile, miniaturized, virtual and open-source. His experience runs the gamut from founding a successful venture-funded for-profit business and speaking at JavaOne and Amazon developer events, to locking himself down to foreign consulates and managing satellite links for live streaming of protest video from very remote places. If Nathan were a cloud tag, these would be his tags: cloud computing, android, java, videoblogging, mogulus, wordpress as CMS, tibet, china, human rights, free speech, free thought, encryption, privacy, creative commons, ratatat, sufjan stephens.
Deanna Zandt is a media technologist and consultant to key progressive media organizations including AlterNet and the Hightower Lowdown, and hosts TechGrrl Tips on GRITtv with Laura Flanders. She works with groups to create and implement effective web strategies toward organizational goals of civic engagement and empowerment, and uses her background in linguistics, advertising, telecommunications and finance to complement her technical expertise. Deanna also works with New York-based independent artists such as John S. Hall/King Missile, Surf Reality and the Art Stars to promote radical performances in downtown Manhattan, and is a member of the Brooklyn-based Not An Alternative political art collective.
http://www.deannazandt.com

Nancy Scola is a Brooklyn-based writer, blogger, and editor whose work focuses on the intersection of technology and politics, both broadly defined. She serves as the associate editor of techPresident and Personal Democracy Forum, and has worked in the past on Capitol Hill, in presidential politics, and in progressive radio.
http://www.nancyscola.com

What I've Been Reading Post-Prop 8

I just wanted to attempt to track the evolving sources of information and opinion that have been flying across my computer screen this last week. I don't necessarily agree with what's expressed in the articles below, but I think they're worth reading if you haven't seen them already.

There are protests taking place around the country tomorrow (Nov 15, 2008). I'm not sure what the point of them is, but I do think if nothing else it's a good rallying point for lgbt & allied people who are rediscovering their political voices. To find out what's happening near you, check out http://jointheimpact.com

11/5/08 - Dan Savage on "Black Homophobia" (which pissed me off, as Dan Savage does even while he often makes me laugh). Particularly because this blog entry spawned the phenomenon of every anti-Prop 8 blog post leading with a comment about how African-Americans "caused" the passage.

11/7/08 - Facts Belie the Scapegoating of Black People for Proposition 8. Granted, this is a long, detailed, and data-laden piece on the Daily Kos, but it gives concrete reasons why people are fucktards for BLAMING PEOPLE OF COLOR.

11/7/08 - Utah faces boycott after Mormon work for Prop 8 (from Yahoo News) This was the only article I could find just now about the crazy boycotts people are suggesting now of Utah and other things which are not directly related to the elements within the Mormon church who funded the Yes on 8 campaigns. I understand people are looking for a target for their anger, but boycotting a whole state is a little... ridiculous.

11/8/08 - No-on-8's white bias (latimes.com) This piece seems to really annoy white (gay) people, and I'm not sure why, or I don't care why? Something like that. It says a lot about the current fractured (and racist) state of the gay (specifically gay) rights movement.

11/8/08 - Mormon and Catholic churches complain about being the target of Prop 8 protests

11/8/08 - Andrew Sullivan even had some things to point out in a post called Gays, Blacks, Marriage (I'm sure he wrote more, but I'm only linking this one)

11/9/08 - Open Letter to White Activists (which I'm glad someone wrote)

11/10/08 - A rough night for gay Obama supporters on Salon.com

11/11/08 - Anti-Gay, Anti-Family is Dan Savage's Op-Ed in the New York Times, which thankfully avoids railing on people of color and instead points out the law in Arkansas which passed, preventing gay people and single people from adopting in Arkansas. He also mentions despicable role of the Mormon Church (Church of Latter Day Saints in funneling funds & volunteers towards the passage of Proposition 8.

11/11/08 - Prop 8 Myths is Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com weighing in with his amazing grasp of polling data
(I included dates where I could so you can sort of see the evolution of the discussions)