October 2006
NYC Indymedia journalist Brad Will shot dead in Oaxaca, Mexico
Posted October 28, 2006 by in Art & Politics
We received word last night that New York City activist and journalist Brad Will was shot and killed yesterday by paramilitary forces while filming from a barricade during a protest in Oaxaca, Mexico. Brad was a well-known and respected figure in the NYC activist community and the US global justice movement , a friend to many, a brave, funny, and tireless fighter who travelled and reported extensively from struggles throughout the Americas.
At least two other people were also killed on the streets of Oaxaca yesterday. Indymedia reports that Brad was filming from the Santa Lucia Barricade when plainclothes paramilitaries opened fire on protesters from a distance of 30-40 meters. Brad was shot in the chest and died on the way to the hospital.
Indymedia reports:
Brad had been in Oaxaca taking video and reporting on the state wide popular uprising and teacher strike that began in June with the violent attempted removal of the striking teachers from their encampment in the center of Oaxaca City by federal police forces. 3 others were also killed alongside him (making 4 dead in total); 1 member of Radio Universidad was also injured: he was taken to the hospital in a volkswagen van as police would not let any ambulances come.Since the beginning of the strike in June, teachers and other groups have formed the APPO - the Popular Assembly of the Oaxacan People - and have called for the removal of the governor of state Ulises Ruiz of the PRI. There is a long history of Mexico using government sponsored paramilitaries to repress social movements, including a massacre of hundreds of students in Mexico City in 1968. As reports of protesters surrounded by armed government forces and police continue to pour in, activists in cities around the world are planning protests at Mexican embassies in outcry against the violent aggression against the people of Oaxaca.
Zapatista subcomandante Marcos, speaking on behalf of the Other Campaign, released a statement last night calling for justice:
“We know that they killed at least one person. This person that they killed was from the alternative media that are here with us. He didn’t work for the big television news companies and didn’t receive pay. He is like the people who came here with us on the bus, who are carrying the voices of the people from below so that they would be known. Because we already know that the television news companies and newspapers only concern themselves with governmental affairs. And this person was a compañero of the Other Campaign. He also traveled various parts of the country with us, and he was with us when we were in Yucatán, taking photos and video of what was happening there. And they shot him and he died. It appears that there is another person dead. The government doesn’t want to take responsibility for what happened. Now they tell us that all of the people of Oaxaca are mobilizing. They aren’t afraid. They are mobilizing to take to the streets and protest this injustice. We are issuing a call to all of the Other Campaign at the national level and to compañeros and compañeras in other countries to unite and to demand justice for this dead compañero. We are making this call especially to all of the alternative media, and free media here in Mexico and in all the world.”
There is ongoing coverage as more information emerges from NYC Indymedia, global Indymedia. For Independent Media from Oaxaca check out Indymedia, and in Mexico Centro de Medias Libres. For background information in the situation in Oaxaca, see Upside Down World and browse through the archives at NarcoNews.com
Brad's friends in New York are calling for emergency actions this weekend to demand that the US State Department press the Mexican government investigate Brad's murder and expressing solidarity for the social movement that Brad gave his life to document. In New York, a protest has been called for today, Saturday, October 28, at 3 p.m., outside the Mexican consulate general in New York at 27 East 39th Street.
Please come out if you can, and if you're in other cities please check your local Indymedia for information on local actions, or organize your own. The situation in Oaxaca is extremely urgent and while this awful tragedy hits very close to home for us, it is only one part of the ongoing repression against a vibrant and powerful grassroots movement for justice in Mexico.
UPDATE: We're also getting word of more events at the consulate --- here's the full list of events:
Saturday, October 28, 3pm: Demonstration
Saturday, October 28, 7pm: Vigil
Monday, October 30, 9am: Demonstration
All events at the Mexican consulate general in New York at 27 East 39th Street, at Madison Avenue.
Update November 9th 2006
MEMORIAL AND CONVERGENCE IN HONOR OF BRAD WILL
November 11th-12th, 2006
Friends Of Brad Will for more information about the service and Encuentro that are to happen at St. Marks Church
No Need For Sleep
Posted October 20, 2006 by in Art & Politics
No Need For Sleep is an exhibition of original art and zines by artists from around the country. This exhibition celebrates the artists, their independent productions, and the do-it-yourself culture of zine making. The exhibition will be up during the Madison Zine Fest in Madison, Wisconsin before moving on to Milwaukee in November. This exhibition is curated by Colin Matthes, for more information visit Ideas In Pictures.
The Exhibition includes work by:
Icky A.- Nosedive (Portland, OR)
Mike Ball- Clap Yr Hands (Philadelphia, PA)
Peter Burr- Bountiful Little Dudes, Hooliganship, Cartune Exprez (Portland, OR)
Mary Mack- The F-Word, Chick Pea, Not Quite Venice (Pittsburgh, PA)
Josh MacPhee- Stencil Pirates, Cut and Paint, Pound the Pavement (Troy, NY)
Polina Malikin- The Archaeology of the Recent Future Association (Milwaukee, WI)
Cristy C. Road- Indestructible (Brooklyn, NY)
Ally Reeves & Shaun Slifer- Ross Winn-Digging up a Tennessee Anarchist (Pittsburgh,PA)
Meredith Stern- Dragomen, Crude Noise, and Mine zines (Providence, RI)
Tea Krulos- Riverwurst Comics (Milwaukee, WI)
Other work will be included by:
Hot and Cold zine (Oakland, CA) & Street Art Workers.
Madison,WI Exhibit Information:
The 6th Floor Art Space is located at 455 Park St. in the Humanities Building of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The reception will run from 6-9pm the night of the Madison Zine Fest Saturday, October 21, 2006.
Milwauke, WI Exhibit Information:
Exhibition will be held at the Cream City Collectives Gallery located at the corner of Clarke and Fratney Sreet in Milwaukee 's Riverwest neighborhood. 732 E. Clarke St., Milwaukee, WI 53212
Opening reception: 6-11pm, Friday, November 17, 2006.
Gallery Hours are Mon-Sat 1 p.m. - 7 p.m. Sun 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Mom will drive her son to community service?
Posted October 20, 2006 by in In the News
Im currently in Daytona Beach, FL and there isn't a whole lot to do late night, so I was sitting with my computer in front of the TV. Now I don't find much interesting on television, so it didn't matter that I was watching Cardon Daly's late show. What caught my attention was when he made a bad joke about a mom that drove her son and a few friends around to throw up some tags on Sunset Blvd, in LA. I did what most curious people with a laptop in front of them might do, I hit google news and searched! What I found was the latest in graffiti crimes and convictions.
Prosecutors have dismissed vandalism charges against a 42-year-old mother accused of shuttling her two sons and their three friends around in a sport utility vehicle so they could spray graffiti.The charges against Victoria Villicano were dropped "in the interest of justice," but her 20-year-old son was prosecuted for spraying dozens of tags along Sunset Boulevard in late August, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
David Ramirez pleaded guilty to two counts of felony vandalism of more than $400. He was sentenced Thursday to 46 days in county jail and three years probation. Superior Court Judge Norm Shapiro also ordered Ramirez to serve 200 hours of graffiti removal.
The judge ordered Villicano to serve another 90 days in jail for violating her probation stemming from a drug arrest earlier this year.
Villicano was charged in January with one felony count of possession or purchase of a cocaine base for sale. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in jail with credit for nearly three months behind bars and was placed on probation.
The status of any charges against the other four suspects, ranging in age from 14 to16, were not immediately available.
Incarceration for over six weeks and 3 years probation will do a lot to a person. Deter other people from writing their name on walls, I'm not so sure.
You can check out a short clip abou the HIVC-High into Vandalism Crew over at CBS.
Really Free Market 10/14
Posted October 10, 2006 by in Events
This Saturday will mark the third annual Really Free Market, an opn-air, freewheeling day of skillshares, free exchange, and fun. Visual Resistance will be hosting a free workshop on screenprinting --- bring your own screens and extra t-shirts and we'll make help you print!
The full description for this year's event is available on NYC Indymedia. Email inourhearts[at]gmail.com for more infomation. About the Really Free Market:
The Really Free Market is an open-air bazaar and celebration, where we discard capitalist notions of interaction and have fun trying new models of exchange.This will only be as great as you make it. We will provide the framework; you supply the material. Bringing free stuff and planning skill-shares are great ways to get involved.
If you have a skill to share, stuff to give away, a crazy art thing to do, music to play, an idea for entertainment or a topic to discuss; email us soon and let us know what you are planning! Otherwise, plan on bringing your own table or blanket and coming and going as you please, and if you want contact us, just e-mail: inourhearts@gmail.com
Show up to St. Mark's Church with something to share, and let this be another step in our movement towards a really, really free world. Bring friends and gifts, leave your wallet at home.
WHY REALLY REALLY FREE MARKETS?
Because there is enough for everyone.
Because sharing is more fulfilling than owning.
Because corporations would rather the landfills overflow than anyone get anything for free.
Because scarcity is a myth constructed to keep us at the mercy of the economy.
Because a sunny day outside is better than anything money could buy.
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Stuff to consider bringing, services you many consider providing:
music (bands/musicians --acoustic), food (pretty much anything), clothes, books, movies (vhs/dvd), recorded music (tapes, cds), computer software, kitchen supplies, electronics, plants, instruments, picture frames, office supplies, candles, knick knacks, toys, jewelry, skillshares (hands-on stuff like how-to change a bike tire, make sushi, make a stencil, get social services, etc. etc.), and skills (massage, haircuts, reiki, etc. etc.)
Chris Stain, Billy Mode & Josh MacPhee in NYC 10/10
Posted October 9, 2006 by in Events
Art of Resistance
October 10, 2006, 6:30pm-9pm
The Culture Project: 45 Bleecker Street @ Lafayette in NYC
$5 Suggested donation, Free Beer
Info: www.impactfestival.com
On October 10, UnfinishedWorks @ Culture Project will offer a night of music, poetry, and visual art honoring the struggle of working class people. The evening will include Broadcast Live, a musical project born in Albany, NY's activist community.
Broadcast Live promotes social change through music, and speaks truth to power. Taína Asili will also perform weaving resistance, anti-colonialist struggle, love, identity, reclamation of the body, ancestral remembrance, and more into a unique story-telling style of poetry.
Chris Stain, Josh MacPhee, and Billy Mode will share their street art depicting the history of radical movements while directly reflecting the people, neighborhoods, and struggles, that are swept along with the every day lives of the common American.
UnfinishedWorks is the Culture Project's monthly salon series, featuring the work of emerging artists across disciplines. In September and October, in concert with the IMPACT festival, is curated by Zoeann Murphy.
Milwaukee Paper Company Hits The Streets
Posted October 8, 2006 by in Art & Politics
A group calling itself the Milwaukee Paper Company has hit the streets of Milwaukee with their new poster campaign. Here are a few images, to see more photos visit milpaperco's flicker photo page.
Signs of Solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon
Posted October 6, 2006 by in Street Art & Graffiti
Recently in the Lower East Side some signs were affixed to street posts as part of the 10 Days of Solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon. 10 Days of Solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon is a campaign urging Jews of Conscience, and all allies of peace, to speak out and contribute to the rebuilding effort made necessary by an Israeli and American policy of war. 
A mission statement found at Jewish Conscience states:
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?And when I am only for myself, what am I?
And if not now, then when?
— Rabbi Hillel
Campaign Statement
We call on Jews of conscience to honor the High Holidays by taking action in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Lebanon. At this time, our tradition asks us to reflect and atone for the individual and collective injustices we have committed or allowed to happen. We are mobilizing Jews across the U.S. to honor Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur through educational, spiritual and creative actions, that challenge the violence done in our name in Palestine and Lebanon.
We raise our collective voice to condemn the destructive policies and practices of the State of Israel. Specifically, as Jews living in the United States, we call on our communities to question the effect of our government’s unconditional political and financial support of Israeli policy. This uncritical support has enabled the continuing oppression of the Palestinian people and Israel’s historic and current military aggression in the region, including the recent war in Lebanon.
Since June, the actions of the Israeli military have resulted in the deaths of over 1600 people in Lebanon, and over 200 Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. In Gaza, Israel has continued to violate the well-being and self-determination of Palestinians by sealing Gaza’s borders and destroying civilian infrastructure, leaving over 1.4 million people with little access to water, electricity, food and medicine. This crisis in Gaza is only the latest chapter in the consistent displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people from their homeland that has been an inherent part of Israeli state-building. This history is an affront to the historic Jewish commitment to justice and it must be examined and questioned.
Our silence about these injustices is a dishonoring of Yom Kippur – an ancient commitment to reflecting on and taking account of our individual and collective actions. Hope for a new year of reconciliation can only be found by taking responsibility for our actions, and working for justice in Palestine and an end to Israeli aggression Lebanon.
We invite Jews of conscience to join us in honoring our tradition of self-reflection in the New Year by taking creative action in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Lebanon. We celebrate the possibility of transformation made possible through our collective accountability.
The signs are a great example of using recent street art techniques for a particular campaign and theme. We hope to see more like it!
Go to
Constintina, where the above images were borrowed from! and,
check out more photos of creative resistance to the occupation.
