[Frameworks] I'm a revolutionary

Wed Apr 13 17:22:40 UTC 2016

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" <fjtorrespr at gmail.com>
To: "Experimental Film Discussion List" <frameworks at jonasmekasfilms.com>
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 <warrencockerham at gmail.com>:

> 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 <atopia at comcast.net>
> 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 <warrencockerham at gmail.com>
>> 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
>> <http://www.reuters.com/article/us-minnesota-police-idUSKCN0WW1L9>. "...
>> 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 interview
>> with Keith Ellison
>> <http://www.democracynow.org/2015/11/25/us_rep_keith_ellison_demands_transparent>
>> in the fall during the initial protests. Some stupid fucking cop pointed an
>> assault rifle at Ellison's son! And here in New York City this weekend,
>> we have the mayor and a presidential candidate making insensitive racial
>> jokes like it's no big deal... and I'm not talking about Donald Trump. I
>> hope these voters wake up and realize that these pigs are often not just
>> gangs of cops anymore they are often the kinds of cops called 'super
>> predators'... no conscience, no empathy... we can talk about why they ended
>> up that way but first, we have to bring them to heel.
>>
>> - Warren
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 10:32 AM, Gene Youngblood <atopia at comcast.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Frameworkers,
>>> I recently saw on Democracy Now (I think; the source really doesn’t
>>> matter) an interstitial showing a protest demonstration with a
>>> call-and-response where the speaker said “I am a revolutionary” over and
>>> over,  and the crowd repeated it with him over and over. I vaguely recall
>>> it was black and white, but it may not be. And I don’t know if it was a
>>> recent event or not.
>>>
>>> I searched  the phrase on You Tube but only found interviews in which it
>>> was used by individuals. Does anyone know the clip I’m talking about?
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>
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>>
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>
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