By Liane Scott, on July 26th, 2011 
If the Congress and President Obama cannot agree on a plan to raise the debt limit then the Federal Government will go into default. There have been all kinds of dire predictions about what will happen to the US economy should this happen. The financial industry claims that Congress not only needs to raise the debt ceiling but they also must cut the deficit by something like $4 trillion if the US government’s credit rating is to remain in good order. In response, the Democrats have advocated raising taxes on the wealthy which, naturally, the Republicans refuse to do. So, What does all this mean for those of us whose incomes are low?
However this gets resolved, you can be sure that Congress will do it’s best to close the deficit by cutting programs that help the poor. It won’t work of course as those programs don’t make up enough of the budget to make a substantial difference in the deficit even if they were entirely eliminated. The axe will fall next on entitlements like Medicaid and Social Security which also have a disproportionate impact on low- and moderate-income folks. So, as usual, the wealthy will do fine and the rest of us will continue to struggle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6hD5A4tquk
Jasmine Archer of Different Avenues, a DC Nonprofit working for reproductive justice by and for girls and women of color, examines how the budget cuts will affect youth in the above digital story. Here’s her introduction: I did a digital story on the budget cuts and talked a little about how it’s going to affect us as a people. Image if they cut WIC (Women Infant Children) how many mothers and children will be hungry, or image if they cut health care, how many people wouldn’t be able to afford their medication. I wonder do they imagine how it will affect us as a people mentally, physically, and emotionally, or how the budget cuts can create violence and depression.
By Ben King, on July 13th, 2011 
The Washington Peace Center hosted an Activist Awardees Reunion Party on July 12, 2011. Past Awardees gathered to network, strategize and celebrate successes with the WPC. Here are some highlights from the event. Many thanks to all our supporters who made the evening a special and joyous occasion.
Special thanks to the Empower DC Grassroots Media Project for providing equipment to document the event. Also, a special shout out to performers David Thurston, Lacy MacAuley, Head-Roc and Fire In The River for providing inspirational music and spoken word. As always, many thanks to Busboys and Poets for providing the perfect venue for activists to gather!
Nominations now open for 2011 Activist Awards Gala! Who do you think made a big impact this year? Visit us online and submit your nomination.
http://washingtonpeacecenter.org
By Judith Hawkins, on July 13th, 2011 
The Allied Media Conference (AMC) http://alliedmedia.org/ was held in Detroit Michigan at the McGregor Conference Center at Wayne State University from June 23 – 26, 2011.
Allied Media Conference, June 23-26, 2011
The AMC was founded in 1999 to cultivate strategies for a more just and creative world using both traditional and new forms of media to communicate more effectively. There were representatives of grassroots media organizations from all over the US and Canada, poets, artists, singers, dancers, rappers, actors, burlesque dancers, clowns, farmers, computers techies and Dee Jays. This broad range of people made for a marvelous display of fashion, hairstyles, piercings and tattoos which were as memorable as the sessions themselves.
The AMC had over 120 caucuses and seminars here are a few examples:
Video Blogging to Expand Your Message detailed the steps needed to reach a wider audience through your blog by using comedy, surprise and even shocking pictures to get your point across.
Cooking as a Form of Media was a seminar for using food as a media tool, where the facilitator shared recipes for pickling different things to give participants ideas about media making with food.
There was a seminar called Text Messaging for Activists which detailed how to contact a large number of people and to formulate your message to get the most out of your message with as few words as possible.
Bypassing Internet Censorship was a seminar on by-passing the Internet using a Program called TOR http://www.torproject.org/ which enables a user to hide their Internet footprints.
The Cyberskills for Elders seminar was a basic how-to for people over 40 to learn how to utilize digitized and computerized media to continue to organize and advocate their causes and share their insights in inter-generational communities The classrooms had both MACs and PCs.
The Detroit Youth Media and Social Justice Network Science Fair http://talk.alliedmedia.org/sessions/detroit-youth-media-and-social-justice-network-science-fair had a wealth of ideas from young people about how ecosystems are interconnected with digital media systems.
The Seminar This Ain’t a Peep Show taught participants techniques to involve the audience in their presentations.
There was a discussion on Generations of Black Lesbian Brillance, this discussion specifically highlighted generations of black lesbian media makers in Detroit and their contributions to the furtherance of media in Detroit.
There was a seminar called Narrative Campaigns, Storybanking and the Restoration Campaign that asked the question, what if artists, community activists, former and current prisoners, family members and justice groups worked together using cutting edge web tools and street smart organizing. Click on the link to see – http://www.kitescampaigns.org/campaign/community-restoration-campaign/
The common theme of the Digital Justice coalition http://detroitdjc.org/ is to put people back into the center of any discussion involving digital technology, innovative strategies involving digital literacy people centered policies and community ownership.
This conference was a great place for activists, advocates, artists, farmers, and computer techies to get together and brainstorm ways to use media to make the world a better and more peaceful place. Hope to see you there in 2012!
By Ben King, on July 2nd, 2011 
Two graduates of the Grassroots Media Project Radio Production course have teamed up to create “This Light: Sounds for Social Change,” a radio series highlighting the connections between arts and activism. Each episode will feature an interview with an activist/artist, as well as an audio mix of their work. “This Light’ is based in Washington, DC and currently looking for distribution channels. Contact the producers here.
Episode 2 profiles Climbing Poetree, a New York based spoken-word duo who uses their art as a weapon “to overcome destruction with creativity.” The group is best known for their show, Hurricane Season, connecting the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with broad social justice issues through spoken word and multimedia performance. The poets, Alixa and Naima, are also educators and have developed a curriculum for high school and university students based on their show. They write (and manifest through their work):
“Art is our weapon, our medicine, our voice, our vision. Creativity is the antidote for violence and destruction. Art is our most human expression, our voice to communicate our stories, to challenge injustice and the misrepresentations of mainstream media, to expose harsh realities and engender even more powerful hope, a force to bring diverse peoples together, a tool to rebuild our communities, and a weapon to win the struggle for universal liberation.”
Check out Episode 2a: This Light: Sounds for Social Change – Episode 2a by THIS LIGHT
Check back soon for episode 2b featuring the music and sounds of Climbing Poetree.
For more on Climbing Poetree, check out their website.
For more on “This Light,” visit soundsforsocialchange.com. Episode 1 features Zami DC, a free LGBT poetry and song-writing workshop produced by B. Steadwell and Taylor Johnson.
By Liane Scott, on June 20th, 2011 
On April 15, 2011 the United States House of Representatives approved a Budget Resolution for 2012 proposed by conservative Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan. Ryan’s resolution, if passed, will abolish Medicare and mandate budget cuts totaling $5.5 billion to Housing and Urban Development programs starting in October 2011. All of these cuts target low- and moderate-income people and add up to more than double the amount cut in 2010.
The House budget also calls for work requirements, time limits and rent increases for elderly, disabled and low income tenants receiving HUD assistance. Currently, the House Budget Committee plans to cut 14% of HUD programs across the board, leaving 294,000 Voucher families, 150,000 Public Housing families, and 180,000 Project Based Section 8 families without homes beginning in October. If these cuts are applied proportionately to Washington, D.C., 1520 Voucher families, 1100 Public Housing families, and 1540 Project Based Section 8 families will lose their homes.
Earlier this year, the Save Our Homes Coalition—representing tenants who live in Section 8 public housing programs as well as housing voucher recipients from across the country—coordinated a national day of action to protest the proposed cuts to the HUD budget in Fiscal Year 2011. Nineteen cities participated in a series of actions that took place on Valentine’s Day, including Washington, DC. Grassroots Media Project ally, Judith Hawkins of Valencia’s It Is What It Is Mobile Talk Show, along with Project trainees from Different Avenues, Grace Ebiasah and Jasmine Archer, produced the following video.
As a result of the nation-wide “Have a Heart-Save Our Homes” rallies, like the one shown above, as well as other pressure from the Left, deep cuts to HUD rental housing programs were avoided. However, Republicans have again called for deep spending cuts. This time they are tied to the increase in the US debt ceiling, which must be voted on by August 2 to avoid a US government default. To avoid further cuts, tenants are urging support for alternative revenues by taxing the wealthy and closing loopholes for giant corporations that paid no federal taxes in 2010.
According to US Uncut, a self-described grassroots movement taking direct action against corporate tax cheats and unnecessary and unfair public service cuts across the United States, Bank of America paid no federal income taxes in 2010. In fact, BOA received a tax refund of $666 million—despite record profits and lavish taxpayer bailouts. US Uncut and others estimate that making large corporations pay their fair share would generate as much as $100 billion per year. If BOA paid their fair share at the supposed “corporate income tax rate” of 35%, $4.2 billion in cuts could be avoided—enough to prevent the deep cuts to HUD rental programs proposed by the House Budget Committee for FY 2012.
To that end, low income tenant leaders and organizations from across the nation will come together June 21, to urge the US Treasury to “Tax the Cheats and Save Our Homes.” The National Alliance of HUD Tenants and local organizations Empower DC, ONE DC and the Community for Creative Non-Violence urge everyone suffering under DC’s affordable housing crisis to join them at the following rally at the Bank of America and the US Treasury.
Tax the Cheats, Save Our Homes Rally Tuesday, June 21, 2011 10:30 – 11:30 am 730 15th Street NW (Bank of America) Washington, DC 20005
Tuesday’s demonstration will feature tenant leaders from across the nation gathered in Washington, D.C. for the annual conference of the National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT), the nation’s only national tenants union. They will be joined by tenants and homeless people from DC, including Empower DC, ONE DC, and the Community for Creative Non-Violence. For more information, contact Empower DC, affordable housing organizer Linda Leaks at 202-234-9119.
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