IMAGINE 2050 » Katie Bezrouch

Pirate Radio Station in San Francisco

Katie Bezrouch — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:53:42 +0000

I believe in responsible media. I spend a good portion of my week fighting for media accountability. I humbly attempt to create factual, amenable media myself, every week. When newspapers and magazines quote white nationalists, I publicly argue that they should be cited that they are white nationalists. When radio stations and news channels give a microphone to bigots who transmit racist propaganda, (that in turn generates violent hate crime) the public should hold those stations accountable. But responsible media doesn’t have to mean bound, or censored communication with the public. In fact, it can be quite the opposite. The amount of genuine alternatives to pre-produced, syndicated corporate radio and TV stations is multiplying rapidly,… Read more

“Organic Means Respecting Workers’ Rights”

Katie Bezrouch — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:25:36 +0000

On Labor day Ronnie Cummings, the co-founder and director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), wrote an open letter to John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods Market (WFM). The letter is a response to WFM’s threat to sue the OCA for violating their “intellectual property rights.” This unwarranted claim is undoubtedly a knee-jerk reaction to a petition circulated by the OCA titled: “Tell Whole Foods and UNFI: Organic Means Respecting Workers’ Rights.”

Instead of acknowledging the bogus claim, Cummings decided to take the higher ground and give WFM a chance to redeem itself. In the beginning of the letter, Cummings is quick to point out that “A number of our members, as well… Read more

FAIR Concludes Week of Hate

Katie Bezrouch — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:42:23 +0000

On September 15th and 16th the anti-immigrant group, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), hosted its “town hall of the airwaves” in D.C. to blast hate speech across the nation. The well-known hate group rounded up around 45 extremist radio talk show hosts to help spread its paranoid and malevolent messages about immigrants. FAIR also used this opportunity to meet with elected officials and shove their bigoted agenda down their throats.

The anti-immigrant superstar Lou Dobbs was among the radio panelists. His burning hatred for people of color (especially Latinos) was alive and well. He has many ties to the John Tanton Network – an assemblage of highly controversial anti-immigrant organizations orchestrated by John… Read more

Ten Reasons Glenn Beck Should Get Off the Air and Never Come Back

Katie Bezrouch — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:11:02 +0000

1 ) Over thirty companies have stopped running ads on the Glenn Beck show due to his racist statements.

2 ) Beck once aspired to be a top 40 radio DJ (snort).

3 ) He Relayed this message to a 7-year-old girl who wrote a poem about white nationalism: “You want to go to Africa? I will personally purchase your airfare. I’ll do it. It’s one-way. You have to sign a contract that you will never return to the United States.”

4 ) He endangers the eardrums of listeners. Hear for yourself – if you dare. Pay close attention to his astounding vocabulary and turn down the volume to prevent damage.Read more

Racism & Sexual Abuse Allegations in Nebraska County

Katie Bezrouch — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:04:40 +0000

Serious allegations of sexual abuse and racial discrimination are coming out of Northeast Nebraska this week as the second employee of the Dakota County Jail filed a federal harassment lawsuit.

In June, Charvette Williams, who served as a corrections officer for the jail, filed a lawsuit against the county board, the sheriff and supervisors for discrimination in the workplace. Williams alleges that she was “sexually harassed and subjected to gender and racial discrimination by her employers at the Dakota County Jail.” She has also accused the department of unfair hiring practices, claiming that less experienced white men were employed at higher wages.

Last week, in the U.S. District Court in Omaha, another… Read more

Video Contest Extended

Katie Bezrouch — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:33:56 +0000

Imagine 2050 has received so many great submissions we decided to keep the party rolling for a few more days. The editor has decided to extend the deadline for submitting a video to August 25th at midnight CST and the voting period to August 27th at 9:00am CST. Note to submitters the editor will NOT be on the selection committee, but instead will monitor submissions for content and copyright issues.

So now you have a whopping FIVE more days to send us your ideas. Get inspired. Get busy. Get filming.

Oh and don’t forget that the top five videos will be featured at the Imagine 2050 Anniversary show in Chicago on August 27th, and on… Read more

Is Treehugger Embracing Hate?

Katie Bezrouch — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:33:35 +0000

It really bummed me out to read David Friedlander’s article on treehugger.com titled, Yale Essay Says Sustainability and Open Immigration are Often at Odds. The author is not thoroughly informed on immigration, and badly mangles the issue of sustainability and immigration. He should be careful about wandering into this area unless he is fully versed on the environmental agenda of the anti-immigrant movement.

In Friedlander’s piece, he refers to a statement made in an article posted on Yale Global: “Contrary to popular thought, the dominant force fueling America’s demographic growth is not natural increase, but immigration. This is because… Read more

Venezuela’s President Silences TV and Radio

Katie Bezrouch — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:07:48 +0000

Back in 2006 Hugo Chávez began to intimidate the private media industry in Venezuela. Last week, he started to follow through with his threats and implement closure tactics.

In ’06 the Venezuelan president said he would not renew the license for the Radio Caracas Television which he said expired in March 2007. The head of RCT – the county’s second largest media company – insisted it must be an error, as its license was not up for renewal in the near future. Then in 2007, “The same month that RCTV’s license expired, also expired the broadcasting licenses to Venevision, VTVChávez supporter station), among other stations, but the only one not… Read more

Chicago Ready for Action on Green Food

Katie Bezrouch — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:43:25 +0000

Chicago is poised to be the first city in the nation to pass a resolution for a healthier, more sustainable food system. Last week Chicago’s Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities Committee presented a proposal to the city council called the “green food resolution”. It is a nonbinding initiative that encourages the city to help make fresh, locally grown food available to Chicagoans.

“BE lT RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council encourages individuals, civic associations, and community based organizations to grow local, organic gardens, and institutions and businesses to offer more plant based foods; and

BE lT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council promotes the… Read more

Organic Food Cheaper than Conventional

Katie Bezrouch — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:38:55 +0000

Actually, it always has been. Bear with me long enough to glance at the big picture I’m going to paint. First think about the differences between organic and conventional. Take into consideration all of the chemical pesticide related health problems that come with the package of conventionally grown food, for the consumer and the farm worker. Acknowledge the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on medical bills to treat obesity, diabetes, heart-attacks, and countless other food-related illnesses that are consistently encouraged by (dare I say due to) the highly processed crap we’re fed by food giants conglomerates and the fast food industry.

Think about the billions of dollars coming out of taxpayer’s wallets to subsidize… Read more

San Diego Congressional Candidate Intimidated by Sheriff’s Dept.

Katie Bezrouch — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:35:51 +0000

On June 26 a sheriff’s deputy walked into a democratic fundraiser in a private home and pepper sprayed the attendees, most of whom were over 50 years old.

Francine Busby is a Democratic candidate running in 2010 for congress in California’s 50th District (including San Diego). In 2006 she lost the same seat in a controversial race against Republican Brian Bilbray. The Republican National Convention put 5 million dollars behind Bilbray’s campaign because of Busby’s growing popularity. Brian Bilbray is the chairman of the anti-immigrant House Immigration Reform Caucus and a staunch advocate of John Tanton’s anti-immigrant movement. The local minutemen chapter often praises him on their website.

Last Friday,… Read more

“Banks Got Bailed Out, We Got Sold Out”

Katie Bezrouch — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:01:39 +0000

Photos by Brian Heiser

There was a national day of action to oppose Wells Fargo on Tuesday. In 22 cities across the country religious leaders, union workers, and citizens gathered to stand face to face with a huge bank, to let them know that their irresponsible actions will not go by unnoticed.

In Chicago we gathered outside the North Avenue location at noon. It was a wonderful array of people; diverse in age and ethnicity. Most everyone was smiling and exchanging knowledge, a sentiment of brotherly harmony suspended in the air. We marched in a circular pattern in front of the Wells Fargo building, which was generously fitted with picture windows, shouting… Read more

Campaign to Renounce Anti-Immigrant Groups Needed to Stop Violence

Katie Bezrouch — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:23:54 +0000

We have been keeping a close eye on the murder case of Raul Flores and his nine-year-old daughter, Brisenia. Jason Bush, Shawna Forde, and Albert Gaxiola broke into the Flores’ home on May 30th and shot them, point blank, in cold blood.

The three suspects belong to the Minutemen American Defense (MAD), a vigilante anti-immigrant group. Shawna Forde is the leader, and has been tied to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), named a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. FAIR is frantically attempting to distance themselves from this horrible act of violence, which is proving a difficult task considering Shawna Forde was named as a representative of FAIR in 2006.… Read more

“Green” Fuel Has Human Cost

Katie Bezrouch — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:28:41 +0000

Governments and big business displacing landowners around the globe is nothing new. So it comes as no surprise that since 2005 there has been a resurgence of land theft in Colombia to make way for biofuel, and not so coincidentally, a re-mobilization of paramilitary groups.

BBC News covered the conflict in Colombia on June 3, exposing the human rights violations of the Colombian biofuel industry. An excerpt from the report states:

In rural areas, there is evidence that some people have been forcibly displaced to make way for biofuel production. Last year, the United Nations

Mother’s Day in Colombia

Katie Bezrouch — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:03:47 +0000

Did your mom receive a box of chocolates today? Or Maybe a dozen roses?

Both of these products are primarily grown and processed outside of the U.S., and both are available to purchase fair-trade. However, most people still opt for the cheaper option, and to buy gifts (flowers especially) for loved ones that were produced in conditions unbeknown to the consumer. Being part of the low income bracket myself, I understand thoroughly why it can be difficult to choose the higher-priced item no matter what the circumstance. Even if I am rigidly aware of a human rights conflict sleeping in the product, I still feel pulled towards the cheaper counterpart. As do most people.… Read more

CAPS Falsely Blames Immigrants for Environmental Problems

Katie Bezrouch — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:07:34 +0000

Environmentalists everywhere need to stand up against hate groups in America.

Californians For Population Stabilization (CAPS) is an anti-immigrant group that has been pushing its racist agenda on Californians for years now. They insist that immigrants are responsible for the “destruction of forests, national parks, and natural habitats….over-consumption of precious natural resources; deadly sewage on our beaches; continually expanding urban sprawl; and more.” Out of all of the bogus, bigoted ideas put forth by CAPS, this is by far the most ridiculous reason to hate on the immigrant community. Most recently CAPS released their “Nine Things to Talk About on Earth Day”, another attempt to position themselves as an organization that cares about the environment.… Read more

Pizza Hut Discriminates Against Latino Workers

Katie Bezrouch — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:21:47 +0000

Pizza Hut’s recent actions are unjustifiable and unacceptable. Pizza Hut has been rapidly firing Latino workers due to Social Security “No Match” letters sent to Pizza Hut by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Some of these workers have been faithful employees of Pizza Hut for over ten years. According to the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative “The workers who were fired were all ordered to re-verify their eligibility for employment under the threat of termination because of the apparent arrival of Social Security No Match letters when neither Pizza Hut nor the workers were obliged to repeat the hiring process.” This is discrimination, and I’ll explain why.

The purpose of sending a “no-match” letter to employers and… Read more

Food Safety Bill May Criminalize US Farmers

Katie Bezrouch — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:46:54 +0000

A broad food safety bill may have dire consequences for struggling U.S. farmers. The H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act requires closer scrutiny before being passed. In all of its glorious ambiguity, H.R. 875 claims to be setting legislation that will prevent food-borne illness and ensure the safety of food. A primary concern is that while the bill does “focus” on these issues, it leaves most of the real rule-making up to one person, a food safety “Administrator” who will be appointed by the President. It also includes several extremely vague new “regulations” applying to “food production facilities” that are punishable by exorbitant fines and/or jail time.

The… Read more

Tomato Pickers in Florida Battle Slavery

Katie Bezrouch — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:03:25 +0000

Tomato pickers in Florida have come a long way in securing workers rights, but the path ahead of them keeps stretching farther.

Immokalee is an area in Collier county, and is the state’s largest farmworker community. The region is predominately Latino (70%), with a high immigrant population where almost 40 percent of people live below the poverty line.

The majority of workers in Immokalee can’t afford a car, so they live in trailers within walking distance of a central parking lot where they can wait in the morning to find work. When and if they do get picked up, they are piled into a bus and driven anywhere from… Read more

Seeds of Sustainability

Katie Bezrouch — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:57:11 +0000

Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza from Imagine 2050 on Vimeo.

Silvia Barretto and Marcos Croce are the owners of Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza – a progressive, organic farm located in Brazil, 4 hours north of Sao Paulo. The farm has been owned by Silvia’s family since the early 1900′s, and when she inherited it from her father, she decided to do things a little differently. Together with the workers they have converted the farm from a mono-cropped, chemically-fertilized coffee plantation to an environmentally diverse, organic farm. They still grow coffee (award-winning beans), but growing alongside are the native Atlantic rainforest trees, and the banana and mango trees,… Read more