LA demo: Huge protest against Anti-Immigrant Law

This could be the best news I've heard all week. Maybe things can change.
Between .5 - 2 million people protested on March 25th in Los Angeles against Anti-Immigrant Law. Similar protests have been happening throughout the states all week. Plans are in the works for a national work stoppage called "A Day without An Immigrant" in late May.

The millions keep marching! An unreal 3 million people march in France on the March 28th a million workers join walkout in England. Check out this blog about the French demos.

Governments should be afraid of their people.

Women's rights on trail

Friday, March 24th I was on the street with about 70 supporters of women's right to speak out against rape and sexual violence gathered outside the High Court in Durban. It was a surprisingly small number given how much media and political space has been taken up by the issues around sexual violence as of late. The action was meant to support the complainant who filed rape charges against Jacob Zuma and who is suffering very poor treatment of her case in the public and judicial arena. Solidarity actions were held in Jo'burg (where the Zuma trial is happening) and Cape Town.

The Zuma trail has been a sick display of how rape continues to be demonized. Zuma is accused of raping his daughter's friend, which he denies, and the complainant has now had to further undergo the humiliation of having her sexual history aired publicly and in court, Zuma supporters burn images of her, and have her identity revealed through media slippages. There is so much more work that needs to be done.

Dennis Brutus and Chris Abani at Westville prison

On March 23rd I had the great blessing to join Chris Abani and Dennis Brutus on a visit to Westville prison where they were giving a writer’s workshop to young inmates. Dee Dee Halleck and I were hoping to film the workshop, which untill the last minute seemed like it was going to happen. Unfortunately, one of the more senior officials (and others in the prison) seems to want to take down the amazing supervisor of the prison educational program, Dominic Zulu. If he let my camera trickle into the facilities, without proper permission, it could be used against him in the future. Some prison officials have a hard time imagining that prisoners can be whole, beautiful and creative people. The work Zulu is doing is incredible, including turning out some of the top matric test results in the province, and there was no way I was going to jeopardize his position to film. Instead, camera safely in the office of the supervisor, I had the fine pleasure to be a silent participant in the workshop.

Beautifully, one by one young men and women stood up, some heads bowed, some proud, and read their stories; flights of fantasy, tales of truth, pain, dreams, and desire. They had been doing writing workshops as part of a series that happens once a year during the Time of the Writer festival. Some of the youth had been involved over multiple years. One young woman particularly struck me. She was very boyish in her demeanour, tough but warm. Her story was of two sisters, repressed and abused by their guardian, who finally take the power back and escape together into an unspoken utopia.

Society girls

Still time, as usual, for living large.


Above is me with my roommate Futhi, and below, the lovely Amanda Alexander, who works here at CCS.

Strategies for social movement organizing

Last Saturday at Kennedy Road, Raj Patel gave a great workshop on strategies for organizing social movements. He presented a few different organizing styles: Technocratic, union style structures, and alternatives like the Zapatistas and MST. Raj had a wonderful way of outlining how these systems function as well as how money intersects and interacts with all of them.

The room was beautifully stuffed with bodies, and people got down to some pretty interesting conversations around power, money, accountability and involving people as leaders. I'm sure it will be the beginning of a more substantial conversation, but it was a really important start. It made me think a lot about the reflectivness we should, but often don't, approach our movements with. It also drew me back to Harsha Walia's great article on challenging patriarchy in social movements.

Afterwards we had some great eats prepared by women in the Kennedy Rd. community kitchen. I got to pick the brains of Fred, a community organizer from Eastwood. He told me about his community's very militant struggles to get houses, which included squatting on a chosen piece of government land with an engineer in tow who plotted out the land with sound urban design. They won the land, though not without a struggle that included (and still does as this is recent news) some pretty vicious death threats (like a dead, maggot eaten dog in a coffin outside his doorstep, etc.) Fred was great and so full of spirit. He told me as well about the tactics they used to pressure councillors, like cutting the councillor's electricity when power was cut in their settlements, etc.

The Red Shirts Strike Again!

So yesterday a disturbing (almost comic) article came out in the "Rising Sun" newspaper here in Durban making quite a stir about the "Red T-Shirts" (Abahlali BaseMjondolo). In what appears to be the coercion of a novice journalist by people acting to undermine the movement, the journalist (Sphelele Cele), wrote that S'bu Zikonde is an 'evil spirit flying around to terminate good'. His evil-ness was testified to by two people (that no one knows) from Kennedy Road, who claimed they were 'forced' to participate in marches under threat of death! People were also forced to wear the red t-shirts and forced to march on the city in demand of land and housing.

And what were the recommendations of these fearful folks? Bring in the police! In what reads like something written by a public official Cele writes that the community members said, "the proposed way forward was for SAPS to step in and do everything in their power to prohibit illegal marches against councillors and ensure the safety and security of informal settlements. Last but not least, people need to concentrate more on finding ways to help the government to help them, they concluded."

Comic in some ways, yes, but also very disturbing to see the ways in which the movement and S'bu are being attacked. What is heartening though, is that there are enough people to counter these claims, enough people who have participated in meetings, marches, making and giving out t-shirts, that there is no way that these ludicrous claims can be justified.

After a flurry of phone calls from people in the community and elsewhere angry about the article, the Rising Sun has agreed to hear some of the 'other side' of the story and has interviewed a few different people, including me. We will see what happens.

Ultimately for me, the most offensive part of the article is the assumption that people living in the shacks would need to be forced to march or to wear t-shirts asking for their basics needs, and I replied to the paper to that effect:

In a place like Kennedy Road, where 7,000 people live with only 5 stand taps, where children die when shacks go up in flames caused by kerosene lamps, where people are forced to relive themselves in the bushes because there are so few toilets, and where children must play in refuse --- in a place with all these harsh, daunting realities --- it is difficult if not impossible to imagine they would need to be forced by an ‘evil spirit’ to demand a better life. That even under such dire circumstances, the fact that people continue to stand up with dignity and honour and say ‘enough is enough’ and to demand their rights to ask for the basic necessities of life which many of us take for granted, to me is amazing, and reinforces the validity of their claims. To ask for land and housing these people need not be coerced. This is what they need. This is what they want, and if the transformation of this country is really going to take place, this is what they must have.

We have dreams too, or, "Si, se puede"

An amazing 300,000 to 400,000 immigrants and their supporters marched in Chicago yesterday to demand changes to the US immigration system. Apart from marching, students didn't attend school and workers stayed home. At one high school, 2,500 students walked out after attendance was taken in support of their parents and their parents parents, as well as other immigrants. The rally was sparked by a controversial bill to "crack down on those who employ or help illegal immigrants". The march brought into focus how important immigrants and so called 'illegal' people are to the functioning of the city.

"Most people don't realize how much work we do, but it's part of their daily lives," said Alex Garcia. "We are putting up all the buildings and cooking all the food. Today, they'll understand."
Read the story here.

Quietness

Thinking a lot about Iran the last few days, and the sickening way in which Iran is currently being targeted by the US for 'regime change'. Edward Said, I'm sure, is turning in his (still warm) grave. Rumi flutters to mind. This is one of my favorites, with all the struggle and love mixed together...

Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky,
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You're covered with thick cloud.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign
that you've died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.


The speechless full moon
comes out now.

Vulindlela Video Workshops

This past Saturday I organized video workshops with the "Learning Together" team from the Visual Methodologies Centre at UKZN. The workshops were held at Gobindlovu Secondary School in Vulindlela district, a rural area about 1.5 hours from Durban. It was a large group, about 20 learners, 5 teachers, 6 health care workers and 4 parents. We split up in groups, each of which had a facilitator to help provoke discussion and build technical skills.

The idea was to bring teachers, learners, health care workers and parents together to make short videos on the issues that they felt were most significant in their lives. Astoundingly, we somehow pulled it off, and each group screened a 2-3 minute video at the end of the day. It was amazing to see the enthusiasm of the various groups making storyboards and shooting their videos. Through working together and bringing forward some of the challenges and inspirations in their lives, there was a real sense of community solidarity and commitment to tangible solutions.

Through a process of collective brainstorming and voting lead by the participants, topics were chosen for the video. The approach was wide open, with absolutely any topic of relevance to the lives of the participants being a possible subject. Sadly, but unfortunately not surprisingly, two of the three groups of learners made their videos entirely around the subject of rape. A mixed group of boys and girls made “Rape at School: Trust no one” that told the story of a learner being raped by a teacher. Another group of all girls made “Raping gave me HIV/AIDS”. It is always startling to see the statistics manifest themselves in such a direct and disturbing way.

Weeks before, we had been to the school to meet with teachers who told us of how burdened they feel as educators. Many of them told us they were taking anti-depressants to get through the day. The prospects are very bleak for these teachers, who pay 30zar (6$) a day in transport costs to get to work, which amounts to a huge portion of their salaries. Classes in this school often contain 80 pupils. At the same time, many learners are faced with huge difficulties, stemming from extensive poverty in the area, with HIV infection rates sitting close to 40% and many young people coming to school hungry. Many children in the school are orphans, looking after other siblings in the home as well as being primary breadwinners themselves. In a school of nearly 800 pupils there are only 20 textbooks.

Where do teachers find inspiration in this context? How do young people talk about their lives, their dreams and their struggles? Obviously, while the continuing systemic political, economic, and racialised exploitation these communities are facing in a post-apartheid context can not be ignored, finding local, immediate solutions seemed to be heartening. While just a first step in a much longer project with this school, the local health clinic, parents and young people in the community, the video workshop seemed to effectively open discussion around problems and solutions that hopefully can be explored further in the coming months.
[Photos taken by facilitator Jackie Simmons]

Abahlali vs. the State: Taking to the streets

Abahlali BaseMjondolo Movement march
Monday, February 27, 2006
The police and municipal government's crackdown on the Abahlali BaseMjondolo (shack dweller's) Movement march on February 27th was yet again a clear indication of the crisis of democracy in South Africa. The call "No land, No house, No vote" was a stark reminder of how the right to vote must be accompanied by a right to representatives who will support the legitimate demands of poor in the current political arena. This is not the case for Abahlali BaseMjondolo or many of the poor in South Africa.

How can democracy be said to function for those whom the political system has failed so significantly? How can people find faith in a system that continues to exploit them, repressing even their access to forums within which they can express their concerns? Monday's events were an unmistakable reminder of how the city and its' police are suppressing the poorest of the poor through the illegal use of state apparatus.

FOREMAN ROAD
Monday February 27th began early. Raj Patel and I arrived at Foreman Road just after 6 a.m. Raj had received early news that police had already moved into the Foreman and Kennedy Road settlements. At Foreman Road police vehicles and armed officers blocked all exits to the settlement, including a distant footpath. At least 10 police cars and armoured trucks crowded the road. A standoff ensued the residents milling about on short section of the street above the settlement. Some residents sang and toi-toied beside the large and armed police presence. An ETV camera crew was already on the scene. I started filming immediately upon entering the settlement. The story that follows is based on that footage and my hand-written notes.

Immediately, Raj presented Sgt. Glen Nayagar with the "Regulation of Gatherings Act". The Act plainly states that citizens have the right to assemble and march if notice is provided to the authorities. As Raj made clear to Nayagar, since post-apartheid 1994 amendments, marching and public gatherings are legal if the city has been given due time to contest. Abahlali duly gave notification within the appropriate time frame. The police react offensively to this information, and continue to insist the march is illegal. Raj asks to know who requested the police prohibition of the march. Nayagar claims he received orders from his 'superiors'. When Raj inquires further as to who specifically endorsed the police action, Nayagar put him off. "Are you intentionally obstructing this legal march", asks Raj. Nayagar responds that he doesn't want to argue about these things.
[Image: Raj Patel explains the "Regulation of Gatherings Act" to Sgt. Nayagar.]

By this point, it is clear that the police were acting from orders above their heads. When pressed, Nayagar admits they have no documentation with them to justify their claims that the march is illegal. He states that his 'documents are in order' and that Abahlali would have to take him to court for him to present it.

Hoping to avert the complete repression of the march, Mnikelo and Raj attempt to negotiate. Finally, after much discussion between Sgt. Nayagar, Mnikelo and Raj, Nayagar says the police will not prohibit people from leaving the settlement to get on a bus if they go two-by-two or in single file. He insists that if people gather they will be arrested. When Raj protests, "But this is their home", Nayagar replies that they must get off the street and go into their shacks. It is evident that the police are not leaving Foreman Road, nor are they entertaining the idea that the march is legal. While claims to letting the marchers exit the community were made, no sign to that effect was apparent.

At this point, police tell residents they must clear the road, which everyone duly obeys by crowding tightly onto the small sidewalk between the road and shacks. This demand was undoubtedly meant to intimidate residents. The 'clearing' of the road was completely unnecessary since the large convoy of police cars totally blocked the roadway making it impossible for other traffic to get through.

Still, people's spirits remained high. There was singing, dancing, joking and laughter from the crowded sidelines. Philani made a police siren with the bullhorn as he shooed people back from the road, mimicking and poking fun at the police. Children of all ages were part of this mass huddle, dancing and singing happily. Weaving through the police line were children and mothers heading to school and people on their way to work. Any day in Foreman Road you would see a similar mix of people talking and hanging out on the street, since it is the main thoroughfare in the community.

By about 8:00 am, under this subdued context, riot police were called in to disperse remaining residents from this small area they were confined to on the road. It was hard to see whom the police were attempting to push from the street. The riot cops formed a front line followed by reinforcements with batons and guns. After orders from Sgt. Nayagar, police charged the residents, on their own street, in their own community, forcing them down the slippery alleyways of the settlement.

The police charge quickly becomes an exercise in futility, as the street itself was almost empty, residents having been huddled at its edges. Most of the people who were still pushed up against the shacks rushed into the nearby alleyways. Nayagar ordered the police to arrest anyone in sight, even those on the pathways leading down into the settlement, directing police towards women standing on the sidelines near their shacks. People ran in all directions towards their homes. Nayagar insisted the residents be followed into the settlements. He ordered a small group of riot cops to chase people down into the alleyways. Residents were slipping and sliding on the muddy and sewage-laden stairwells and alleyways.

There were, of course, many small children amidst this mayhem, including a baby wailing in the arms of her father less than a meter away from the heavily armed police. One cop emerged from a doorway grasping a resident forcibly by the shirt. The young man pleaded with the cop: "I stay here!" he said, pointing at the shack he was being pulled out of.

After backing a group of men and women into a corner the police demand the residents return to their homes. Frantically the residents point to their homes, above them on the hill, which the police had chased them away from. After some threatening remarks, the police ascend and again storm the streets. This time, under orders by Nayagar, a small group of officers go directly to the home of Philani Ntazi.

Nayagar orders the officers, "In there! The brown door there! Go inside there!" The cops push open the door with their batons and drag Philani from his home into the armoured police truck. Luvuyo Mkhize is also pulled from his home next door. Neither Luvuyo or Philani resist arrest. Ludumo Mgibi is also arrested after being dispersed by police.

Later we discover M'du Hlongwa, 26, from Lacey is arrested as he waits for a taxi to take him to Kennedy Road. The four arrested men are taken to Sydenham community police station.

Shortly afterwards, the superintendent of the police arrives on the scene in a shiny new Mercedes. Again he demands to see the ‘permit, which has not, and does not, exist in South Africa since post-Apartheid amendments made marching and public gathering legal after notification to the city.

Given no other choice, Mnikelo, Raj and S’bu rush to the Durban high court to get an injunction highlighting the legality of the march.

By 8:00 the bus driver meant to take residents to begin the march from Botha park arrives at Foreman Road. The police threaten to arrest him if he attempts to take people to the march. The driver complies, visibly shaken by the large police presence.

The police joke to each other about Foreman Road residents; “These people come and shit in my yard. They have no respect." “They want to leave their mark like dogs.” “They’re waiting for a court order to be able to march, but now they’ll be too late” they snicker.

SYDENHAM POLICE STATION
M’du, who managed to keep his cell phone on him in jail, gives an interview on Lotus Radio reporting from his cell how he and the three others have been beaten by police after having been denied toilet facilities in the cell. M’du reports that they were told to "Piss where you are" in isiZulu and English after numerous requests to go to the toilet. Finally, M’du did just that, and pissed out of the cell into the corridor, after which the police beat them.

At noon Richard Ballard and I bring food to the four detainees. Patrick Bond arrives on the scene with some visiting international scholars. Police Chief Marays and Captain Lazarus meet Bond and lead Richard, Patrick and I into the cells. M'du and Ludumo show marks on their bodies from the beatings. After a quick, cursory inspection, Marays waves them off claiming, “they are making it up”. When asked if there was a doctor on site, Marays says there is not. He asserts that 'hooligans' like these are always making false claims of harassment and abuse by police. Outside the station he screeches at Bond, who reminds Marays of the constitutional right to protest, “The constitution is not meant to protect hooligans! The constitution is meant to protect all of us, and that includes the police!”

JAHDU PLACE
Similar events to those occurring at Foreman Road are also unfolding at Kennedy Road and Jahdu Place. At Jahdu Place, masses of riot police descend into the settlements, blocking all exits and harassing people.

Earlier that morning residents had boarded eight buses, only to be prohibited from stopping at Botha Park by police. The buses, still full, returned to Jahdu Place. While waiting to find out whether the interdict would allow the march to go forward, a standoff between police and about 500 residents ensues after police demand residents return to their homes. Riot police charge residents, threatening to shoot, chasing them up the hills into the settlement.

[Image: Jadhu Place standoff with police, by Steph Lane]
By 1 p.m. the High Court of Durban finds the march legal. The interdict states clearly that, "the march organised by (Abahlali BaseMjondolo Movement) from Botha Park to the City Hall in Durban on 27 February 2006 to highlight issues of landlessness and lack of housing is not prohibited or illegal". It also states that, "the [the city and the police] are interdicted and restrained from preventing or prohibiting the march". Cheers and dancing erupt at Jahdu place as the verdict comes through on Fazel Khan's cell phone. Preparations begin again to get residents to Botha Park. Jubilation is high.

At long last the march is happening. Hundreds of Abahlali activists move down West Street to City Hall, followed by a police escort.

SYDENHAM POLICE STATION
Back at the Sydenham police station, Ashwin Desai negotiates with Lazarus and Mayars to have the four arrested men released to attend the march in light of the High Court's ruling on the legality of the event (thus nulling, it would be assumed, the charge of 'illegal gathering'). After some negotiations, the police agree to let the men out with no bail, and an order to appear in court on the 3rd of March. Shaken but relieved, the four emerge from their cell at Sydenham.

FINALLY AT CITY HALL

M'du, Philani and Ludumo arrive just in time to give speeches in front of the at least 500 people gathered before City Hall.



To cheers and chants S’bu hands over Abahlali's demands to Mike Mabuyakhulu at City Hall. The day has been won, but not without sacrifices, beatings, harassment and intimidation by the city and their officers. The struggle continues!

Displacements and Deportations

Economic displacement, state propagated fear and a precarious existence seems to be the order of the day. While Abahlali Base Mjondolo are fighting for rights to land, electricity and housing here in Durban, on the other side of the ocean in Montreal refugees, (im)migrants and so called 'illegal' people are fighting against deportation and detention. I can't help but see the interlinking aspects of these struggles which revolve around the basic ability to have a home, to feel safe and to be able to create a life for oneself.

[Image credit: Solidarity Across Borders]

I heard today from Amir, who will find out in the next few days about the decision around his Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) application. I feel shaken at being here and being powerless to lend my support, at least in spirit, to his case. These processes are so biased and unfair. Harsha Walia has written a very good article about the racist underpinnings of Canadian Immigration policy with some discussion of the PRRA. I hope Amir knows how many of us he has touched with his fiery poetic spirit and incredible intellect.


Abdelkader Belaouni is also still in sanctuary at St. Gabriel’s Church in Point St. Charles, Montreal. Kader is a blind Algerian refugee who has been living and working in Montreal. A wonderful, warm man active in the community, Kader sought sanctuary on January 1st 2006 at the church before he was to be deported.

Backed with a great deal of public and community support, we hope that the government can be pressured to grant Kader permanent residency in Canada. Read more about Kader's case here and help by signing a petition directed at the new Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Monte Solberg to support Abdelkader Belaouni's case.

Abahlali in court

Yesterday morning we went to the courthouse with M'du, Philani, Luvuyo and Ludumo for their scheduled appearance at 8:30 a.m. on the charge of 'illegal gathering' garnered at Monday's Abahlali pre-march. The guys were in good spirits overall, Ludumo and Philani wearing their red t-shirts.

By noon their names still hadn't been posted on the 'first appearance' list, and after inquiry the secretarial staff told us that their dockets had not been filed by Sydenham police station. A few of us zipped over to the station while M'du and company continued to wait for their names to come up. At the station Cpt. Lazarus informed us that indeed the dockets had been received by the police liaison officer of the court on the 28th of February. Lazarus mentioned again that he thought the case would be dismissed. Lazarus is the same officer that made the original agreement with Ashwin to get the guys released without bail on Monday.

Back at the court, now about two o'clock, the guys' names finally appeared as the last case of the day. M'du, high court judgement in hand, attempted to inform the prosecutor of the recognition of the legality of Monday's march. Prosecutor Mklize refused to speak with him. Their case was finally called at about 2:30 and took about 30 seconds. Mklize asked the court for a postponement for further time in which to investigate the case. The judge set the new court date for April 12th.

After the judgement we explained the interdict to the assigned defence lawyer, who told us to speak with the operating Inspector for the case in the Sydenham police station (Inspector Balkissor), and have him relay that the police expect the case to be dismissed to the prosecutor. I spoke briefly to Mklize to these ends, and he claimed there was no object from his point of view to dismiss the case, and in fact that the prosecution would like to collect "further information". Whatever that may mean, beyond legalese, I'm not sure. Mklize also said it would be of no use to speak to the police Inspector as they were clearly planning to go forward with the case.
(image by Steph Lane)

No-vote campaign comes to fruition

March 2, 2006
By Mercury Correspondents

Threats of a no-land, no-house, no-vote campaign, which had been echoing since early last year, came to fruition yesterday when polling stations in Durban's protest-torn Ward 25 recorded low turnouts.
In Ward 25, which includes Sydenham, Springfield and Asherville, several informal settlement dwellers refused to vote.
Communities that are members of the Abahlali base Mjondolo housing movement stood by their threat that they would not vote if they had not received any solid promises in writing for housing.
When visiting voting stations nearest to these informal settlements, The Mercury found many other stations had recorded low turnouts, too.
At the Jadhu Place informal settlement, community members said the 4 000-strong informal settlement community had not voted.
At the Springfield Hindu School polling station, which was the nearest polling station to the Jadhu Place informal settlement, empty polling halls and an absence of queues bore testimony to the impact the no-vote campaign had had in the area.
The IEC Presiding Officer at the Springfield Hindu School Polling Station, Omar Mohamed, said it seemed that people were staying away. However, there had been a rush at the last minute, he said.
Mohamed said there were 2 380 registered voters at the station, but only 841 people had turned out to cast their ballots.
When The Mercury arrived at the Foreman Road settlement, people were dancing and chanting no-vote slogans.
At the Thekwini College in Springfield, which was the closest voting station to the Kennedy Road informal settlement, IEC Presiding Officer Mohamed Jetham said only 342 of the 1 300 registered voters had voted.
There was a similar situation at Collegevale Primary School in Sydenham, where there were also virtually no queues.
Several problems were experienced in the IFP stronghold of KwaMashu A-Section. Angry voters threatened to turn violent after being pushed from polling station to station because their names had not appeared on the voters roll.
Hundreds of frustrated potential voters toyi-toyied outside a temporary voting station in Musa Road, KwaMashu, after it became apparent that their names had not appeared on any voters rolls. Many supporters walked away from the polls out of frustration.
Local resident Alpheus Mathonzi said people had registered at the voting station, but that their names had not appeared on the voters roll.
At the KwaMashu temporary station, IEC Presiding Officer Nokuthula Mlambo said that some people who had been sent to other voting stations had found their names, but others had not.
She said some people had taken the incident politically and had threatened violence, but police had helped to neutralise the situation.