Freedom to oppress: Berkeley’s civil war

[Image: Protesters, led by Sunsara Taylor of Refuse Fascism, kneel with raised signs and fists.]

Today’s post on Medium, “Freedom to oppress: Berkeley’s civil war“, has photos and thoughts on freedom of speech and Berkeley Free Speech Week. My full set of photos from Sunday’s protest in Berkeley is on Flickr; some are also on Wikimedia Commons, alongside photos from other contributors. Please credit me as Pax Ahimsa Gethen if you use any of my photos, thanks.

Reminder to readers: I am considering moving to Medium as my primary publishing platform. Please follow me there if you aren’t doing so already, thanks!

This week in woke Wikipedia

[Image: Dalit activist Thenmozhi Soundararajan and Whose Knowledge co-founder Anasuya Sengupta present on a panel at Wikimania, August 11, 2017.]

Today’s post on Medium, “This week in woke Wikipedia“, is about improving representation of marginalized people on Wikipedia. Highlighted are new biographies of notable women I’ve created for the Women in Red initiative: Raquel Willis, Shay Neary, and Annie Segarra.

Attention readers: I am considering moving to Medium as my primary publishing platform. Please follow me there if you aren’t doing so already, thanks!

No human being is illegal

[Image: Protesters at a DACA rally hold signs and banners in support of the “dreamers”.]

On Tuesday evening my partner Ziggy and I joined hundreds of demonstrators outside the San Francisco Federal Building in protest of the rescission of DACA, President Obama’s executive order that protected hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children. Rescinding this order was one of Donald Trump’s campaign promises, so the development was not exactly a surprise. But it was cowardly of Trump to send Attorney General Jeff Sessions out to make the actual announcement, while Trump professed his “love” for the “dreamers” he seeks to send back to countries that many of them don’t even remember.

DACA rally[Image: A protester holds a sign reading “Ningun Ser Humano Es Ilegal / No Human Being Is Illegal”.]

By the time I read the news on Tuesday, protests were already happening in cities throughout the country, including Washington D.C., Denver, and outside the Trump Tower in New York. Though I’ve grown weary of attending anti-Trump protests, I thought it was important for me to come to this one, to add my body and voice to the huge opposition to this move. It’s politically motivated, cruel, racist (the majority of those affected came from Mexico), and serves no positive purpose, to national security or anything else.

DACA rally[Image: A protester holds signs in English and Spanish.]

The rally began outside the Federal Building, but soon spilled into the street. There was some confusion as organizers were only using a megaphone at first, but eventually we made our way (flocked by many police officers, as well as safety monitors in orange vests) to a makeshift stage with proper speakers (which Ziggy helped adjust briefly). I couldn’t get close enough to get decent photos of those speaking, but powerful words and songs were shared, with at least one speaker breaking down in tears.

DACA rally[Image: Protesters fill the intersection of Seventh and Mission.]

DACA rally[Image: A protester holds a sign reading “Dreams Are Not Illegal”.]

We left while the rally was still ongoing; the protesters later marched to City Hall. A great turnout from a city that thrives thanks to the contribution of immigrants.

DACA rally[Image: A protester holds a sign in several languages reading “‘We the People’ Are All Immigrants”.]

My full set of photos from the rally is available on Flickr. The photos are also on Wikimedia Commons, alongside images from other contributors. Please credit me (as Pax Ahimsa Gethen) if you use any of my photos, thanks.