Greenwald Stencils My Block!!!

So I was riding my bike today, just by my house, and I came across a stencil that said GOOGLE in big letters. I was hoping for some street art critiquing the largest Internet search engine. Instead, what I found, was a graffitied advertisement for Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices. You can see the stencil to the right. Greenwald's team has become masterly at grassroots promotions. This is a sign of an even higher level of street smART skills!

I'm also quite happy that someone out there put this piece up despite the Denver Police Department's silly, wasteful crackdown on graffiti and the Denver Post's ridiculous reporting trying to connect graffiti to murder! Hell yeah, Greenwald--keep on sprayin'!

Stranger With A Camera and Appalshop

Free Speech TV has been showing some incredible programs from Appalshop, a multimedia arts center serving communities in the Appalachian Mountains. They work with people to create films, videos, theatre, music, radio, and spoken word. We have shown their films Sludge, Buffalo Creek Flood, and Buffalo Creek Revisited dealing with the destructive behavior of coal mining companies and militant community resistance.

I just saw the film Stranger With a Camera that has shown on PBS via ITVS. The film tells the story of a communities response to a local man who shot a Canadian documentary filmmaker who trespassed on his land. It deals with questions of representation: who has the right; what is the right approach; what is fair subject matter? It also deals with questions of self-defense from the external world's profitable objectification and exploitation of poor subjects.

All of these films create a compelling portrait of the people of the Appalachian Mountain's struggle to keep their culture intact and to keep it from being exploited.

Vice and Consent on Free Speech TV

Today on Free Speech TV, we are premiering Howard Scott Warshaw's Vice and Consent, a film about the personal and political struggles of San Francisco's BDSM community (Bondage, Domination, Sadism and Masochism). This incredible film brings together outspoken members of the community who discuss everything from political persecution for individual sexual preferences to their own personal struggles coming into and out as members of the community. I must say, I am excited we are showing this piece and hope that it performs well!!!

Denver Zine Fest

It's been a REALLY long day that got progressively worse! One highlight, that kept it from being totally grim was The Denver Zine Fest put on by asskicking zine fanatics associated with the Denver Zine Library!

Elaine Brown: Presidential Candidate and Former Black Panther

This past week, I had the opportunity to work on a keynote with my friend Kevin of former Black Panther Party member and current Green Party Presidential Candidate Elaine Brown. I was blown away by the clarity and positive vision of politics she articulated. Her platform kicked ass. In our world of pathetic platforms committed to half-hearted solutions that benefit the rich over the poor, I am excited to hear about a candidate willing to fight for real funding for education, health, good food, and safety. I'm excited to hear from a candidate willing to acknowledge the holocausts perpetuated against Native and African people by Euro-Americans. Though I generally find electoral politics to be both a distraction and a waste of time, I am totally behind Elaine Brown's candidacy! Check her out! Oh, the Keynote will be playing on Free Speech TV at some point in the near future!

Animated Soviet Propaganda

I've been watching an incredible DVD compilation called Animated Soviet Propaganda. These are old animations created between The October Revolution and Perestroika. In the first volume about American Imperialism, these animations do a wonderful job poking at the nastier aspects of American Culture--the vicious racism, enforced poverty, and greed endemic in this culture. It's well worth checking out how accurate Soviet "Propaganda" is!

Free Speech TV Moves to Denver

It's been a bit since I've been posting cause my offices at Free Speech TV are moving from the yuppie white hell of Boulder to Denver's Five Points Media Center located in Five Points, Denver's historical, black neighborhood. We are located upstairs from KBDI, Denver's best PBS station and KUVO, a great jazz radio station. The new offices are located at 2900 Welton St. just off the Light Rail. Feel free to stop by. We'll be in full swing April 2nd.

The Patriarchs Progress

Good News! The Patriarchs is back in action with Gabe's soundtrack inspiring me to edit like a fiend. Not sure he can keep up with my frantic editing pace. I swear this movie will get finished one way or the other

Yeah!

The Mire

Perhaps it is too early to let you know about this website but I couldn't resist. My friend Chris has put together The Mire, a collection of radical action oriented videos and interviews. He's doing a bit of a first person compilation of the best of political Youtube postings related to anticapitalism, antiauthoritarianism, etc...He's also starting up a DVD-R Distro, Drones. These sites are in a test phase but are going to be kicking ass in the near future. Enjoy!

Jesus Camp

Jesus Camp did what great documentaries do--it gave you access to a fascinating (and in this case, horrifying) part of the world! I grew up Southern Baptist in Liberty, Missouri, really close to Lee's Summit, the city featured in the film. Having experienced a lot of the evangelical children's boot-camps portrayed in the movie, even I learned something about a culture very similar to my own. What the religious right is doing to our children is horrifying! This movie gives you a microscopic glance into the fanaticism of mainstream American Christian culture.

Colorado Anti-Violence Project

This past weekend I had the chance to go to a training by the Colorado Anti-Violence Program, an organization devoted to ending violence within and against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, and Questioning communities! It was an incredible training emphasizing an analysis of intersection oppressions and how they create violence throughout our society. I'm happy to say, it looks likely that I'll be volunteering for this amazing project!