Month: May 2006

Notes for Indymedia on the Beyond Broadcast conference.
Continue reading “Notes on Beyond Broadcast”

Real Solutions unveiled their new lawn signs today with a kick-off event at Newton Square.

The goal of Real Solutions is to “change the climate” of hostility towards the poor in Worcester. Among the signs they see of this climate are the city’s anti-panhandling campaign, the hatefulness of some views expressed on social program siting, and the city’s empty anti-PIP rhetoric.

The lawn signs say “Target Povery not People” and “We’re all Responsible.” (The capitalization here is a little weird, but at least it’s not as bad as the misspelled KNIT Worcester “Site Responsible” signs.)

Four people spoke at the event: Newton Square residents Barbara Kohin, John Ford, and Adria Bernardi, and Rev. Robert Batchelder of the Worcester Area Missionary Society.

Rev. Batchelder spoke of the French town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, which sheltered Jews during WWII. When the police asked if the town was sheltering Jews, the minister of the town is said to have replied, “We don’t know any Jews. We only know men.” Rev. Batchelder said that Worcester should say we don’t know any deserving poor or undeserving poor, we don’t know any taxpayers or deadbeats, we only know people.

John Ford started by saying, “This issue to me is simple. It’s about social justice and compassion.” He then quoted Pope John Paul as saying that helping the poor is for the Christian not mere charity, but an encounter with Christ in the faces of the poor.

One of the people at the press conference told me that state Rep. Bob Spillane drove by, and when he saw the signs shook his head unhappily.

If you live in Worcester and want a sign for your lawn, e-mail pieandcoffee@gmail.com.

Postscript

Lead of T&G article:

While the majority of city residents are not against social services, the debate in Worcester is dominated by the louder voices of extremists, according to Real Solutions member Michael Benedetti.

Well, I never said the majority of people in the city are not against social services. I think I said something like: the majority of people in the city are not motivated by fear and ignorance, on this issue. But whatever. Perfect example of why, when speaking to the press with the expectation of being quoted briefly, you should repeat one or two sound bites over and over.

Carl Weaver has posted a video.

Co-organizer Kevin Ksen wrote a strong piece at Indymedia:

Sixty-seven local businesses and organizations are known to have closed on May 1st in Worcester; there are probably many more that did not get counted. The Worcester Public Schools estimate that 800-900 students stayed home. That was Worcester’s real vote on immigration reform; mom & pop small businesses in Main South, throughout Pleasant, the Valley and Grafton Hill deciding to close. Worcester’s event planners hesitated in supporting and promoting the boycott because they were worried about what might happen to immigrants that supported it. I remember Atty. Randy Feldman at the first meeting, tense and anxious as he compassionately stated, “We’d be responsible if something happened to someone.”

It was exactly that caregiver, protective, social service world compassion to protect immigrants that carried many of the Coalition’s local planners away from even discussing the goals and strategy of the national boycott. The problem is though, that event planners weren’t the ones who would make Worcester’s decision about how to support the boycott. Immigrants from Westboro to Worcester’s west side who live with the threat of losing their jobs, losing their income, becoming separated from their families every single day were the people that would make that decision. It was they not event planners that knew the full costs of joining the boycott. Dishwashers, janitors and factory workers everywhere knew EXACTLY what they risked if they joined the boycott, and the bodegas, restaurants and other local business owners new EXACTLY how much money they were sacrificing by shuttering their stores. They decided the risk and sacrifice was worth the message that they as immigrants wanted to send.

Photo by Kevin Ksen/Indymedia.