October 29, 2007

Register your protest at morningshow@92kqrs.com

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KQRS remarks upset Indian leaders

Photo by Tom Sweeney, Star Tribune

Tom Barnard, disc jockey and radio show host. Star Tribune staff file photo September 9, 1988, by Tom Sweeney

On-air comments about Sioux tribes made by Tom Barnard and his co-host sparked the uproar.

By Terry Collins, Star Tribune

Last update: October 28, 2007 – 9:53 PM

Furious over recent on-air comments made by KQRS Radio personality Tom Barnard and his show's co-hosts, American Indian leaders plan to protest at KQRS at 10 a.m. today.

Representatives of the American Indian Movement (AIM), the Red Lake Indian Reservation and urban Indian leaders hope to meet with executives from the classic-rock station (92.5 FM) at its southeast Minneapolis headquarters regarding the on-air statements by Barnard and his co-host, Terri Traen, AIM co-founder Clyde Bellecourt said Sunday.

Bellecourt said the remarks about the Red Lake Chippewa and Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux tribes were "ignorant." He compared them to comments made this spring by shock jock Don Imus, who was fired from his syndicated show for calling members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team, "nappy-headed ho's."

The KQ morning show, known for its pull-no-punches style when delivering weird news, ethnic jokes and political diatribes, is among the most popular morning programs in the Twin Cities.

Calls placed to Marc Kalman, president and general manager of KQRS, were not immediately returned Sunday.

The uproar stems from a broadcast last month in which Barnard and Traen talked about the Red Lake and Shakopee tribes while discussing a report by the state Health Department that Beltrami County has the state's highest rate of suicide among young people.

The jocks then mentioned Bemidji and the Red Lake Indian Reservation, which are both located in Beltrami County.

"Maybe it's genetic; isn't there a lot of incest up there?" Traen said about the tribe.

"Not that I know of," Barnard replied.

"I think there is," Traen continued. "Don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure."

"Well, I'm glad you just threw it out there, then," Barnard said to laughter in the background.

Barnard also criticized the Shakopee Sioux, who own the Mystic Lake Casino, for "doing a hell of a job helping them out."

Traen commented, "They don't give them anything?"

"Hell, no!" Barnard replied.

Another member of the morning team refers to the casino as "Mistake Lake," and calls Bellecourt, "Clyde Bellycourt."

Bellecourt said Red Lake has received nearly $4 million in grants from the Shakopee tribe since 2004 toward building a new Boys and Girls Club, assisting with the recent rebirth of the tribe's walleye fishing industry and creating a center in Bemidji to address sexual assault.

He said the Indian leaders will push the station executives to take swift action on Barnard.

"He's been getting away with this crap for years," Bellecourt said, adding that the Morning Show crew should be disciplined and be required to take sensitivity training courses.

Minority groups have long criticized Barnard and his crew for their on-air banter.

In the late 1990s, members of the Somali community picketed over Barnard and Co.'s mocking of Somali dialects after a Somali cabdriver was slain. Before that, the Asian-American community was irate when Barnard and his co-hosts made fun of a teenage Hmong girl who was charged with killing her newborn son.

They said of her potential $10,000 fine: "That's a lot of eggrolls."

Terry Collins • 612-673-1790

Terry Collins • tcollins@startribune.com

Posted at 07:32 AM in Activism / Organizing | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

October 16, 2007

Shannon Gibney at the mic

Resource Committee of Adopted Adults (RCAA) Speech

WHAT: Speech to adopted adults on "Growing Up, Growing Through Adulthood: The Role of Creativity and Community in Adoptee Development." This talk will discuss how self-expression and community-building can be excellent vehicles to explore and reconcile adult adoptee identity.

WHEN: Saturday, November 17, 4:15-5:15 pm

WHERE: Meeting Hall at University of Minnesota and Goldy's

This event is free and open to adult adoptees.

Posted at 08:45 AM in Activism / Organizing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 01, 2007

Burma: more ways to take action now!

Our movement is growing massively, and our petition is making waves around the world. This coming week we will be taking out provocative newspaper Ads in high profile international newspapers to amplify the global voice supporting the Burmese monks. As an illustration of how much people care about this issue we’ve been inundated with requests from people who want to do more! To help you take more action, we’ve created this resource – the Avaaz Activists’ guide!

This information reposted from http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24957770200 and other sources--please post additional information at the bottom of this page.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1 – Tell your friends and family to support the monks by signing the Avaaz petition.
2 - Protest - Look below for details of worldwide protests.
3 - Write to your elected official - they will respond if enough people contact them.
4 - Email the companies that still operate in Burma, their email addresses are listed here: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=24957770200&topic=3071

***EMERGENCY NUMBER ISSUED BY UN IN BURMA*** Please be informed that the UN Designated Official in Rangoon has established a 24 hour hotline in case of emergency, especially during curfew hours. The numbers to call are: 01 554 597 or 01 554 625. Please pass this to all people inside Burma. This is a Rangoon hotline that should be reached immediately.

Events:

Global:

International day of Action
Organiser: Burma Campaign UK
Date: Saturday 6th October
Time: 12 noon
Location: Worldwide
Info: more to follow

AUSTRALIA

Sydney
Organiser: Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma
Date: Thursday Oct 4th
Time: 12.30pm
Location: Martin place
Info: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2441494766

**For enquiries on possible protests in Melbourne contact burmanetwork@gmail.com
**Amnesty Australia are organising protests too: http://www.amnesty.org.au

CANADA

Ottawa
Organiser: N/a
Date: Nightly from 28th September
Time: 7 pm nightly
Location: in front of Parliament.
Info: Nightly vigils

Vancouver:
Organiser: N/a
Date: Friday 9/28 4:30 p.m. Sat 9/29 12:30 p.m Thurs 10/4
Time: 4.30pm on Fri, 12.30pm on Sat, 5pm on Thurs
Location: Vancouver Art Gallery
Info: http://trentu.facebook.com/event.php?eid=7458795762&ref=mf

Organiser: N/a
Date: Starting Friday Sept, 28th
Time: 6pm
Location: 3380 Granville Street Info: Nightly vigil outside of the Chinese Embassy

**Amnesty Canada are organising protests too: http://www.amnesty.ca

HONG KONG

**Email your name to hk.support.burma.democracy@gmail.com to sign the petition urging President Hu Jintao to use China's influence in Burma!

NORWAY

Nationwide - Please light candles in your windows on Friday night to honour the victims of the demonstrations.

UNITED STATES

Rally for Human Rights in Myanmar
Monday, October 1st
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Permanent Mission of the Union of Myanmar
(Burma) to the United Nations
10 East 77th Street, New York, NY (near 5th avenue, east side of central park)
New York, New York
Closest Subway: "6" Train to 77th St., walk west towards central park

Rally at the Myanmar Mission
Amnesty International USA is organizing an urgent rally on October 1 st from Noon to 1PM in front of the Myanmar (Burmese) Mission, located at 10 East 77th Street in New York City.

This rally is in response to the crackdown of peaceful protest by the Myanmar Military Junta.

We are mobilizing to show our solidarity with the protesters in Burma, and call for the release of all Prisoners of Conscience currently detained, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

For questions, contact Matthew Kennis at mkennis@aiusa.org

Possible Sign slogans if you plan to come:
Stop The Killing
Allow Peaceful Rallies
Free Aung San Suu Kyi
Human rights in Myanmar
Free Political Prisoners

San Diego
1:00 - 2:30 PM
Sunday September 30
Alliance for African Asistance
5952 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115

UNITED KINGDOM

London
There is a demonstration outside the Burmese Embassy in London every day from 12-1pm. We had 300 outside the Embassy on 27th , we then marched through central London to the Chinese Embassy.
Embassy of the Union of Myanmar
19 A CHARLES STREET
LONDON W1J 5DX
Nearest tube Green Park
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/events_details.asp?EventsID=538
The Trade Union movement is now helping organise protests, details: http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-13761-f0.cfm
PROTEST MARCH THROUGH LONDON SUNDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER - TRAFALGAR SQUARE TO THE BURMESE EMBASSY - PLEASE ARRIVE AT 11:30 AM, THE MARCH WILL BEGIN AT 12:00 PM
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=18203329336

Cardiff

More Information

Burma Campaign UK :
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/
US Campaign for Burma:
http://www.uscampaignforburma.org
Open Society Institute's Burma Project:
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/bpsai
Human Rights Watch, Burma:
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=burma
Free Burma Rangers:
http://www.freeburmarangers.org/
The Irrawaddy:
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
Canadian Friends of Burma:
http://www.cfob.org/
Voices of Burma
http://trentu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2241026779
Democratic Voice of Burma:
http://www.dvb.no/
Aung San Suu Kyi's Pages:
http://www.dassk.com/
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (government-in-exile) website:
http://www.ncgub.net/
Burmese language news (courtesy of Nay Shun Oo):
http://burmese.dvb.no/

Blogs:
http://myochitmyanmar.blogspot.com/
http://mmedwatch.blogspot.com/
http://www.niknayman.blogspot.com/
http://www.myitzima.co.cc/
http://kadaung.blogspot.com/
http://drlunswe.blogspot.com/
http://hittaing.org/
http://khitpyaing.org/
http://www.ko-htike.blogspot.com/
http://myatlone.blogspot.com/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.reuters.com/
http://www.voanews.com/burmese/
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
http://redo8888.com/
http://tharkinwe.blogspot.com
http://publicenemies.blogspot.com/
http://www.narinjara.com/burmese.ASP
http://www.burmatoday.net/
http://www.yoma3.org/
http://thanshwe-hunter.blogspot.com/
http://yekyawaung.blogspot.com/
http://phyuphyuthin.blogspot.com/
http://maydar-wii.blogspot.com/
http://maynyane.blogspot.com/

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Events:

Global:

International day of Action
Organiser: Burma Campaign UK
Date: Saturday 6th October
Time: 12 noon
Location: Worldwide
Info: more to follow

AUSTRALIA

Sydney
Organiser: Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma
Date: Thursday Oct 4th
Time: 12.30pm
Location: Martin place
Info: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2441494766

**For enquiries on possible protests in Melbourne contact burmanetwork@gmail.com
**Amnesty Australia are organising protests too: http://www.amnesty.org.au

CANADA

Ottawa
Organiser: N/a
Date: Nightly from 28th September
Time: 7 pm nightly
Location: in front of Parliament.
Info: Nightly vigils

Organiser: N/a
Date: Starting Friday Sept, 28th
Time: 6pm
Location: 3380 Granville Street Info: Nightly vigil outside of the Chinese Embassy

**Amnesty Canada are organising protests too: http://www.amnesty.ca

HONG KONG

**Email your name to hk.support.burma.democracy@gmail.com to sign the petition urging President Hu Jintao to use China's influence in Burma!

NORWAY

Nationwide - Please light candles in your windows on Friday night to honour the victims of the demonstrations.

UNITED STATES

This rally is in response to the crackdown of peaceful protest by the Myanmar Military Junta.

We are mobilizing to show our solidarity with the protesters in Burma, and call for the release of all Prisoners of Conscience currently detained, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

For questions, contact Matthew Kennis at mkennis@aiusa.org

Possible Sign slogans if you plan to come:
Stop The Killing
Allow Peaceful Rallies
Free Aung San Suu Kyi
Human rights in Myanmar
Free Political Prisoners

San Diego
1:00 - 2:30 PM
Sunday September 30
Alliance for African Asistance
5952 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115

UNITED KINGDOM

Cardiff

More Information

Posted at 10:07 AM in Activism / Organizing | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

July 13, 2007

US Social Forum Reports to Minneapolis

Below are two upcoming report backs on the 2007 US Social Forum. Please circulate!

Friday, July 13, 6:30 (dinner), 7:30 (program)
host: Militant Labor Forum
address: 1311 1/2 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN
access: bus 21

Saturday, July 28, 10:00-11:30 AM
host: Resource Center of the Americas morning coffee hour
address: 3019 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis, MN. 55406 (in south Minneapolis, half a block from Lake Street (Lake and Minnehaha) )
access: bus number 21 from St Paul or from south Minneapolis, and three or four blocks from the Midtown station of the light rail