Enterprise founder and family give $22 million to children and education efforts
Philanthropic capitalism at its best (tied to private prisons on one side, but buying dependence on the other)
Friday, May 29, 2015
Friday, May 22, 2015
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
On the importance of corporations and institutions as objects of struggle
On the struggle against criminal corporations (Jacobin)
"This emphasis on disruptive protest against key institutions does not mean that electing and targeting politicians is always unproductive. We are not arguing that the party in power makes no difference. But the influence of corporations and other large institutions means that the enactment and implementation of progressive policies may depend on first neutralizing that influence through direct pressure."
"This emphasis on disruptive protest against key institutions does not mean that electing and targeting politicians is always unproductive. We are not arguing that the party in power makes no difference. But the influence of corporations and other large institutions means that the enactment and implementation of progressive policies may depend on first neutralizing that influence through direct pressure."
We saw the midwest miniature version of this here in St Louis not too long ago
How charter school proponents - backed by big monied interests – are corrupting school board races & democratic process across the country: Los Angeles, a case study:
Los Angeles School Board Race: Attack Ads and Lies Aplenty
Los Angeles School Board Race: Attack Ads and Lies Aplenty
Thursday, May 14, 2015
St Louis Board of Education: Passes resolution to encourage Gov Nixon to veto HB 42
Via Susan Turk, St Louis Schools Watch:
The St. Louis Board of Education voted this evening to ask Gov. Nixon to veto HB 42. The resolution also encouraged the legislature to sustain the veto. Since it did not pass with enough votes to override a veto, there is hope that if Nixon vetoes the bill that his veto will be sustained.
The bill does nothing to fix the transfer law and expands the use of charter schools and virtual schools.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Join struggle for democracy, against Peabody Coal and Slay collusion to destroy it: Take Back St Louis, Tuesday May 12, 2015, downtown
Dear friends, Over the past year, the demand for justice in the region has never been stronger. Thousands of St. Louis residents and hundreds of thousands across the world are standing up to police brutality and demanding that Black Lives Matter. As we continue to find the pathways forward for the region like our recent success in reforming the municipal courts, we know that justice will be incomplete without creating a different, sustainable economy that works for everyone. Job training programs are not enough -- we must create a fundamentally different economy that returns economic power to local communities and moves us away from corporate capitalism. Last year, many of you were active in the Take Back St. Louis initiative, a resident-driven initiative that gathered over 36,000 signatures to get on the city ballot. The Take Back St. Louis initiative would change our local economy by encouraging the city to invest in projects like large-scale urban farming, weatherization and retrofitting programs and renewable energy installation on vacant land, particularly on the Northside of the city. We know this initiative challenges the status quo because the ruling class of St. Louis is terrified by it. Instead of letting it go to the voters in April 2014, Mayor Slay worked with Peabody Coal to block it from the ballot. This Tuesday, May 12th, Take Back St. Louis will be in the Court of Appeals to challenge the Mayor and his corporate friends on our vision for the city. Please join us this Tuesday May 12th at 8:45AM at the Old Post Office (815 Olive St., across from Culinaria downtown) for a press conference before we head into the Court of Appeals. Now more than ever, we must contest with the ruling class’ vision for St. Louis. We know that the city has plenty of resources -- the millions of dollars they give every year to developers and corporations, large departments of “development” experts and thousands of vacant lots. We have to force them to use those resources how we want. If we’re successful in the Court of Appeals, we’ll be back on the ballot and have an opportunity to put forth a different vision of how St. Louis should run -- a city where there is investment in Black communities, where there is full employment, where the local economy is based on sustainable development not coal corporations. Join us from the press conference on Tuesday, May 12th at 8:45AM and then the court hearing at the Old Post Office (815 Olive St.). Toward a more just St. Louis, |
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Monday, May 4, 2015
Brutal truth: no such thing as equal opportunity for the poor, in St Louis or anywhere else
Damning graphic on inequality in St Louis, and suggests why the corporate model of philanthropy, charters, volunteerism – amid the dismantling of democratic participation – will do little to help change it:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/03/upshot/the-best-and-worst-places-to-grow-up-how-your-area-compares.html?_r=1&abt=0002&abg=1
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/03/upshot/the-best-and-worst-places-to-grow-up-how-your-area-compares.html?_r=1&abt=0002&abg=1
St. Louis burning: What killed the babies near Weldon Spring? | Al Jazeera America
St. Louis burning: What killed the babies near Weldon Spring? | Al Jazeera America
Environmental injustice in St Louis county, ongoing.
Environmental injustice in St Louis county, ongoing.