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A YEAR OF PROTESTS

YES! Media reports: Today marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death—captured on video that showed Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes—sparked a global uprising in defense of Black lives and against police brutality. But amid the coverage of protests in the wake of Floyd’s death, media attention rarely focused on the ways communities affected by police violence were organizing to keep each other safe, in Minneapolis and beyond.

"WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?"

"Amidst the backdrop of national news coverage of the trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer that killed George Floyd and prompted New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo to prioritize police reform, the City of Ithaca Common Council Wednesday night unanimously passed a resolution adopting a "Reimagining Public Safety" plan and officially authorized Mayor Svante Myrick to submit the proposal as part of New York State Executive Order 203," The Ithaca Voice reported.

On the eve of the Ides of March, Back the Blue protestors clashed with anti-racist activists at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Commons— both were critical of the plan to reimagine public safety for vastly different reasons. What has been called the first step in a long stairwell of change, the plan to reform public safety will be a continuous process involving experimentation and an entirely new department.

The road ahead will not be without a few bumps. But one thing is known — the need to dismantle systemic racism in social services is one that can no longer be denied.

Cannabis Crackdwon

Unlicensed marijuana dispensaries like this one have been popping up across New York. Operators exploit a legal loophole in the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA)—the state’s cannabis legalization law, passed on March 31, 2021—by “gifting” marijuana to customers who purchase stickers or other placeholder products of little-to-no value. New York’s regulator, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), has attempted to crack down on these gray market businesses.

One expert I interviewed for Filter told me that while New York has the nation's most progressive marijuana policy plan, "there's still more work to be done."

Cannabis Crackdwon

One expert I interviewed for Filter told me that while New York has the nation's most progressive marijuana policy plan, "there's still more work to be done."

Contra Los Buitres

Statement from New York Boricua Resistance (NYBR) regarding the protest march on August 28, 2022: "Due to the hedge funds purchasing the debt, it has strangled the economy of the island of Puerto Rico. The United States implemented the Fiscal Control Board, with their main objective being the prioritizing the debt and not the needs of the island. The working class have felt the effect through pensions and raises being slashed. Since then La Junta has pushed for economic laws like Acto 20/22/60, that creates a tax haven for investors abroad, they do not pay income tax and a corporate tax as little as 4%. Now we see foreigners (colonizers) coming to the archipelago buying property and privatizing once public land [and] beaches. Quality of life has always been an issue in Puerto Rico due to the Jones Act which prevents essential goods from directly going to the island and with the austerity it has become unlivable for people as they struggle, the median income being $21,058, [sic] lower than the poorest state in the US Mississippi with $25,261.

Yoseloff like many in his field have their hands filthy with the amount of people who have suffered due to their greedy practices. We all know the amount of people who lost their homes, jobs and savings due to Wall Street. Just by Yoseloff's character he continues to screw the people of Puerto Rico the same way he is doing to the people of Puerto Rico. The worst part is that legally they are allowed to do these practices, with no mass arrests or convictions back in 2008, I sadly see that the US government will not hold him and the firm responsible again.

We hope that we not only educate the people of Anthony Yoseloff or what Davidson Kemnper does, but to demonstrate that we see the situation on the island and we stand in the same fight against these vultures who wish to kill us softly. The island and the diaspora are one, we have been displaced and colonized to think we are different, but that is the imperialist mode of divide and conquer."

March to End Fossil Fuels

On a sunny September Sunday in New York City, an estimated 75,000 demonstrators converged on midtown Manhattan to call on President Biden to declare a climate emergency and draw attention to the urgency of the climate crisis.

A coalition of civil society organizations, entire families and people of all ages stood as one, marching against the fossil fuel industry and its enablers.

For an event that projected several thousand attendees would come out to protest, turnout exceeded everyone’s expectations.

People are fired up about the world being on fire, and they want to make their voices heard.

It was extraordinary bearing witness to this watershed moment in the history of the climate movement.

The climate left may be outspent, but it has been able to garner popular support despite the oil and gas industry’s rampant and concerted greenwashing campaign. Propaganda doesn’t work on mindful rebels, and saving the planet is a collective, class-conscious effort requiring all hands on deck. This is a class struggle, period, and change won’t come easy. Philosophies and politics may differ from activist to activist, but leaning into these differences — acknowledging and appreciating them — is what can strengthen collective power.

MLK Day March for Palestine

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, over a thousand marchers converged on the United Nations in New York City demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Protesters condemned Israel for perpetrating a genocide against Palestinians and decades of apartheid, among other things.

The march was organized to call attention to the state of Gaza’s health system, which, according to doctors inside Gaza, is on the brink of collapse.

Dressed in scrubs, lab coats and similar uniforms, healthcare workers and medical students lined the large crowds who braved the bitter cold. Some wore keffiyahs, also holding signs and waving the Palestinian flag.