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Throughout the world, solutions to some of the greatest challenges of the day are either nascent or fully thriving. Organized people's movements - sometimes with help from supportive government - are changing the structures which cause violence, poverty, inequality, and environmental destruction.

News and Updates

Check out these articles by and about our allies, who are creating vibrant grassroots alternatives everyday.

Haitian Senate Calls for Halt to Mining Activities

Submitted by admin on Fri, 03/01/2013 - 12:42

Cross-posted from Inter Press Service

By Jane Regan

Map showing location of Morne Bossa property (VCS / Société Miniere Delta). Credit: VCS website 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 24 2013 (IPS) - Outraged that they have not been consulted, this week Haitian senators called for a moratorium on all activities connected with recently granted gold and copper mining permits.

In a resolution approved by 15 of 16 senators present, the lawmakers also demanded the establishment of a commission to review all of the current mining contracts and “a national debate on the country’s mineral resources”.

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Press Release by the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti: Jean-Claude Duvalier Appears in Court

Submitted by admin on Fri, 03/01/2013 - 12:14

Jean-Claude Duvalier’s appearance in court was a positive step towards justice

February 28, 2013, Port-au-Prince, Haiti – Ordered by a court summons, former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier testified today before dozens of journalists and victims in a packed court room of Haiti’s Court of Appeals.  Duvalier answered questions from the court, victims’ lawyers and his own lawyers for almost four hours. 

Stand in solidarity and TELL GILDAN to STOP THE BEATING OF WORKERS WHO MAKE YOUR T-SHIRTS!

Submitted by admin on Thu, 02/28/2013 - 00:30

The following call to action is being circulated by Batay Ouvriye (Worker's Stuggle), one of Haiti's most active national workers' movements. Batay Ouvriye says,

"In a Port-au-Prince factory (Clifford APAID’s Premium Apparel) one of our comrades (a coordinating member of the SOTA national worker's union), was badly beaten by a managers who, according to reports, was acting in the name of the factory's management. He had organized a protest confronting the fact that the textile owners continued to refuse to pay the 300 gourdes miminum wage, effective as of October 2012. Later on, our comrade was literally kicked out by the factory security. He was so hurt that he had to be directly accompanied to the nearest hospital....

This note, which serves as a denunciation and an alert to all sympathizers to the workers' cause and the people in general, also aims to serve as a call for a determined collective action...

Our allies in Miami, One Struggle, suggest we address Gildan directly, which is a very good and concrete opportunity to see how those companies really feel about the abuse of workers in Haiti."


Take Action!

HAWG Conference: Haiti, Three Years After the Earthquake: The Time for Accountability (Videos)

Submitted by admin on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 15:10

The Haiti Advocacy Working Group (HAWG) formed shortly after the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake to coordinate advocacy efforts for effective and just disaster relief, reconstruction and long-term U.S. development policy toward Haiti.

To commemorate the third anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, HAWG hosted a conference in Washington DC from Feb­ru­ary 4–6, 2013. Panel topics included aid accountability, gender-based violence, housing and agriculture.

Food and Land at the Service of People: An Interview with Peter Rosset

Submitted by admin on Thu, 02/21/2013 - 08:54

Part 3 of the Harvesting Justice Series
By Tory Field and Beverly Bell

Agricultural economist Peter Rosset is with the Center for the Study of Rural Change in Mexico
and the Land Research Action Network. He is also a member of the technical support team of
Via Campesina. Beverly Bell talked with Peter Rosset in Havana in 2009; they updated the
interview in 2012.

There are several fundamental pillars that are necessary to take control over food and agricultural
systems. One is to force even reluctant or reactionary governments to regain control over their
national borders from the flow of imported food. That means canceling free trade agreements
and not signing WTO agreements. It means stopping the import either of incredibly cheap,
subsidized food from agro-export countries which drives local producers out of business, or of
food made ridiculously expensive by food speculation.

"Because We Are: A Novel of Haiti" - Book Giveaway!

Submitted by admin on Thu, 02/21/2013 - 08:14

Because We Are: A Novel of Haiti from Ted Oswald on Vimeo.

The following is a guest post from Ted Oswald, the author of the recently-published novel Because We Are: A Novel of Haiti. He is giving part of the proceeds from the book to Other Worlds:

In 2010, my wife and I lived in Haiti for several months and interned--she as an international development student, and I as a law student. I spent my days working for a human rights organization in Cité Soleil, the slum where my new novel is set. It was an unforgettable time.

A Better Class of Dictator?

Submitted by admin on Wed, 02/20/2013 - 14:48

"Three years after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, Haiti paused last month to remember and reflect."

Arrest and Judge Duvalier for Theft and Crimes Against Humanity

Submitted by admin on Wed, 02/20/2013 - 12:55

Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen (Heads Together Small Producers of Haiti), Pati KAN Pep la (the People’s Camp Party), MODEP, FRAKKA, SEK GRAMSCI, FDDPA, RPS, FGPB, GREPS *

 

Port-au-Prince, February 18th, 2013

 

This coming Thursday, February 21st, 2013, former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier is expected before the Court of Appeals to answer questions concerning crimes committed during his regime.

Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville (SAL) Aspiring Farmers Course Invitation!

Submitted by admin on Tue, 02/19/2013 - 10:11

Announcement!! (please forward to likely participants!)    February 18, 2013

 

Quinoa: To Buy or Not to Buy... Is This the Right Question?

Submitted by admin on Tue, 02/19/2013 - 09:44

Cross-posted from Food First

By Tanya Kerssen, Food First Research Coordinator and leader of upcoming delegation Bolivia: Llamas, Quinoa, and Andean Food Sovereingty

We’ve been hearing a lot about quinoa lately.[i] While US consumers prize it as a delicious ‘super-food,’ there is growing anxiety about the impact of the quinoa boom in the Andes, and particularly Bolivia, the world’s top producing country. The media has focused primarily on the fact that global demand is driving up the price of quinoa, placing it beyond the reach of poor Bolivians—even of quinoa farmers themselves—leaving them to consume nutritionally vacuous, but cheap, refined wheat products such as bread and pasta. By this logic, some suggest, northern consumers should boycott the ‘golden grain’ to depress its price and make it accessible once again.