The March 2017 issue of the Iguana is now available! If you want to get your hands on a hard copy, check out our distro locations here.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
by Lynn Jamieson
After two controversial solar amendments last year, consumers are curious about the rapid speed of solar power growing throughout Florida. Can Alachua County become a sustainable city?
In efforts to address this and other questions, the Interfaith Climate Group is presenting “What’s Next” – a free and open to the public forum examining solar solutions and climate change on Sunday, March 26 at 2 pm. The forum is sponsored by the Earthkeepers of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville, at 4225 NW 34th Street.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
Lawrence Goodwyn [G], eyewitness author of “Anarchy in St. Augustine” in Harper’s Magazine (1965), was interviewed by Dr. Paul Ortiz [O] in 2011.
This is the 38th in a series of transcript excerpts from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program collection at the University of Florida.
Transcript edited by Pierce Butler.
O: I wouldn’t expect you to completely separate your life as a historian from your experiences in St. Augustine. But those experiences are really critical, because in Florida today, what people know about the Civil Rights Movement is almost nothing. And what the city of St. Augustine has done to the history of the Civil Rights Movement is to completely suppress it. You were there in [19]64. Can you talk about that?
G: I made a tour through the South in ’64 and the first stop was Mississippi Delta, which was undergoing Mississippi Freedom Summer.
They’d had what they call the Freedom Vote in ’63, in which they were trying to teach people who had never had the experience of voting how to do that. And in ’64 they were going beyond that. It was an active insurgency on the party of black people in Mississippi Delta even to have classes on how to vote. It drew a lot of attention in the nation. They recruited nine hundred people not from Mississippi, from college campuses, white schools, black schools, all kinds of schools.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
by Jon DeCarmine
Julie and Art moved out of GRACE and into a place of their own last week. Tonight, they can cook a meal together. They’re out of the cold (or the heat). They can plug in their phones without worrying about someone stealing them. And there’s a door they can lock behind them. Tonight, they can celebrate all of the little things we take for granted when we’re used to having a home.
We’re celebrating Julie and Art because they are the 300th and 301st person housed by GRACE since we opened. It took us about a year to house our first 100, and another year to house the next 100. This time it only took us 8 months to house the next 100.
Each of these successes is a story of GRACE, but more than that, it’s a story of personal struggle, setback, and resilience. We provide the place to safely crash land, but each of these stories starts and ends with the challenges people have to overcome, and the creativity and resourcefulness they stitch together to make it work.
Please get in touch with us to volunteer and help us get to #400 even faster: volunteer@gracemarketplace.org or 352-792-0800 x104.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
♦ The First 100 Days Resistance Agenda by Robert Reich, Common Dreams
We’re responding to Trump’s First 100 Day agenda with our own 100 days of resistance. Robert gives us 12 suggestions.
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/06/first-100-days-resistance-agenda
♦ “The Resistance Calendar” launched by Michael Moore
A calendar updated daily where folks can find out what anti-Trump actions are taking place where you live. Just type in your city or state in the search bar, or type in the date and see what actions are planned that day. Or add your own anti-Trump event.
https://www.resistancecalendar.org/
♦ “The Answer to Trump” by Tamim Ansary
A discussion about our need for a unifying vision to deal with our country currently sliding toward fascism. Includes a shoutout to an old “Twilight Zone” episode.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/58a611bbe4b026a89a7a284e
♦ Listening to Trump by Christian Parenti
What did millions of voters see in Trump? His speeches hold the answer.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/11/trump-speeches-populism-war-economics-election/
♦ Tracking Congress in the Age of Trump by Aaron Bycoffe
How much do your senators and representatives vote with Trump? Find out here. This excellent work is useful for all the new, rightfully pissed off citizen activists.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/
♦ No Time to Despair by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
To defeat Trump, we have to build democratic, multiracial, militant organizations with a foundation in solidarity.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/01/trump-black-lives-racism-sexism-anti-inauguration/
♦ Florida Supreme Court blocks abortion-wait law by Gray Rohrer
Politicians have no business interfering with a woman’s private helath care decisions, court rules, but the fight isn’t over.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-supreme-court-abortion-delay-ruling-20170216-story.html
♦ Forget the sick, dying and disabled. Rule No. 1 for medical pot: Nobody has fun by Fred Grimm
Find out why the Office of Compassionate Use is misnamed.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/fred-grimm/article131803364.html#storylink=cpyD
Posted in Articles, March 2017
The Matheson History Museum is excited to welcome Paul Losch, Head Librarian of the George A. Smathers Latin American and Caribbean Collection at UF, to share a gem of fake news from the pages of The Gainesville Sun, tracing Gainesville’s connection to the Cuban War of Independence on Thursday, April 6, at 6 pm.
From April to June 1895, The Gainesville Sun ran a series of reports from a “war correspondent” who was supposed to be in Cuba, but who was actually living in Gainesville and fabricating the news.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
by Panagioti Tsolkas
It’s been a tumultuous time in the lives of pipeline resistors.
In the previous weeks the world watched as the No DAPL camps at Standing Rock came to a close in massive ceremonial fires and attention was re-directed towards a mass mobilization for March 10 in Washington D.C.
Locally we’ve also seen a re-escalation of activity along the Sabal Trail pipeline route. After a successful swell of actions in January, including a demonstration over the MLK weekend with hundreds blocking the entrance to the Suwannee River drill site and a march of over 150 people through the small town of Dunnellon, February felt like a lull to some.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
by Jenn Powell, Candidate for Gainesville City Commission At-Large
I’ve enjoyed raising my family in Gainesville. But let’s face it, Orlando and Jacksonville are starting to creep in.
Things are moving fast, and a handful are getting rich in the process. While on the one hand Gainesville champions diversity, sanctuary, and inclusion, our City Commission is also very busy promoting growth that favors out of town developers and large corporations.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
25th Annual Space Organizing Conference & Protest
April 7-9, Huntsville, Alabama
The Global Network’s 25th anniversary Space Organizing Conference and Protest will take place on April 7-9 at the home of Redstone Arsenal and the Space & Missile Defense Command, also known as the “Pentagon of the South.”
The effort by the Trump administration to develop and deploy the next generation of Star Wars weapons will increase global instability and cost hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars. The US Space Command has long maintained its mission is to create the technologies to ‘control and dominate’ space and the Earth below – ultimately on behalf of corporate interests. At this conference, citizens will learn about these issues and become involved in the international movement to keep space for peace.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
by Fred Sowder
Have you heard? “Democracy Now!” with Amy Goodman can now be heard each weekday LIVE at 8am on 100.1FM. It will also air at its 1pm slot, where it has been for over nine years. With the current climate in our nation, the fearless, unflinching journalism that “Democracy Now!” provides is more vital than ever. This could not have happened without the support of our listeners, business owners, and local musicians.
WGOT’s next stage of development will come throughout this month as we begin putting together a broadcast studio in the Civic Media Center. With this, we’ll be able to produce live, local programs as well as carry CMC speeches and performances live. We also plan on resuming our internet streaming as soon as possible.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
by Joe Courter
When last I wrote one of these, it was two weeks before the inauguration of Donald Trump as Pres #45. Now it is over 40 days later, and we have seen a nightmare Cabinet appointed, an unhinged press conference, rollbacks on Court cases on voter rights and environmental regulations, and the sickening reality that it is going to be a long haul.
However, also there’s an invigorated anticipation at the level of activism and resistance which is manifesting all over the country. This issue of the Iguana provides some viewpoints on coping with and fighting back against the coming reactionary period, a period which will span beyond any impeachment, as Mike Pence would not be much relief from the attacks on our hard fought for rights and liberties.
Posted in Articles, March 2017
by Joe Courter
Election day is March 14, with early voting through Saturday, March 11.
On the back cover of the last Iguana, we covered the upcoming City of Gainesville election. Regarding District 2 (NW GNV), we stand with Harvey Ward over Sheryl Eddie and the oft-arrested Perry Clawson.
Posted in Articles, March 2017