Keep Chris Dorsey out of your organizing spaces and projects.
This man is Chris Dorsey. For at least several years, he has frequently shown up to progressive organizing efforts in Richmond and disrupted them, usually by demanding a leadership position, attempting to exercise some kind of authority over the proceedings, or demanding that libertarian rhetoric be inserted into the effort.
He has become violent on more than one occasion. He has solicited funds for an organization without permission, then, presumably, kept them. He has lied to out of town groups regarding the safety (arrest wise) of camping in certain public parks, in an effort to have them arrested for his own agenda. He created a duplicate Facebook page in order to pass himself off as an organization which wouldn’t give him a leadership position. Because he believes that he can issue orders to the Richmond Police Department, he frequently calls them, sometimes claiming organization affiliations which he doesn’t really have, generating police scrutiny toward the group.
He is often accompanied by a white terrier with a skin disease, likely mange. He has been claiming for several years to be running for sheriff. He frequently carries a handgun.
3:21 am • 15 May 2013 • 12 notes
Bananas on Grove
fanrva:
… is an installation by Rachel McGovern:
THE BANANA REPUBLIC. INSTALLATION. 2013.
1970: VCU student activist closed the 1100 block of Grove Ave. in Richmond, VA. Proclaiming it, “The Banana Republic” a student run government, in an act again the Vietnam War. The blockade last a whole week until the Richmond Police, armed with police dogs, shut down the blockade with ten students being arrested and incarcerated.
VIA: Fan of the Fan
http://fanofthefan.com/2013/03/bananas-on-grove/
Filing away to do more research later. Never even heard of a week-long 1970 anti-war street occupation here in Richmond.
3:03 pm • 31 March 2013 • 11 notes
VCU Friends of Richmond
Virginia Commonwealth University students looking to be involved in the Richmond community in a positive way- and Richmond residents and social justice organizations who want VCU students to act differently and with consciousness of the city- check out this organization. VCU students, you can join with MyOrgs.
Everyone else, meetings will be posted here with as much lead time as possible.
12:55 pm • 1 March 2013 • 4 notes
The CFC: Feminist POC Wikipedia Takeover! 3/15 11-3 EST
crunkfeministcollective:
Hello Friends!
I am really excited to tell you about a project I am working on called
Feminists Engage Wikipedia, where folks around the country sign into Wikipedia, edit certain entries and add new ones to counteract the very white straight cis able bodied western dude nature of the site. We will be working in person and virtually
Friday, March 15 from 11 am to 3pm EST.
I would love for you to be involved and there are a number of ways you and people you know can participate.
- Give Ideas for Entries-
- Add New People, Events and Things - Perhaps an awesome Black feminist writer who just wrote her first book? Or an important woman of color disability justice activist? Is their an important moment of Trans* activism that’s not on Wikipedia? An important documentary or two that need to be reflected in wikipedia?
- Edit existing Entries - Who needs an important source or event added to their existing entry?
- You can add them to our list of entries to work on here by clicking edit in the brackets to the right.
- If you already have something ready to go, add it your self!
- Participate-
- Sign up for a wikipedia account (don’t use your gov’t name like I did)
- Watch this video to learn just how to edit wikipedia (click “Flash” at the bottom of the playback video if it starts to mess up)
- Join us virtually - follow hashtag #tooFEW and learn what we are up to
- Join us in person
- In the South @ Emory University Library - Jones Room, 3rd Floor Friday March 15 11am -3pm EST (You don’t have to stay the whole time and we will have free delicious food!)
- In the (North) East @ Barnard College 11am -3pm EST
- In the West @ Scripps College 8am-12pm PST
- Tell Somebody-
- Students - Do they need extra credit? Can this be a class project? Are you learning about some really cool people in POC/Trans*/Queer/Disability/Non-US/Women’s History that don’t have wiki pages or have pages with bad information? You can fix it!
- Friends - Do you know other folks who should know about this? Please spread this information to activists you know, faculty, etc. Everyone is welcome!
- Organizations - These edit-a-thons work best with lots of folks working on specific things. Do you know orgs like INCITE or SONG that know specific types of folks who should be added to wikipedia or projects folks should know about?
- Email me your ideas - too busy to edit yourself? Let me know and I’ll add your list of stuff to the one we are generating!
Please spread the word far and wide!
I hope to see you there (and/or virtually)!!!
An important project to expand the largest encyclopedia on Earth and make sure that these important and underrecorded histories are included.
(via thepeoplesrecord)
10:19 pm • 28 February 2013 • 329 notes
thepeoplesrecord:
Join The People’s Record: A Collective Info-Activism Project
This project is aimed at providing information and news pertinent to activism, capitalism (and the philosophies that oppose it), the police-state, imperialism, civil liberties, social justice, colonialism and systemic societal problems. We’re gathering a group of interested parties and are actively working toward growing this project into something much larger than its current incarnation.
In January, we had our one-year project anniversary. By the end of our second year we’d like to have:
- Several topically-focused columns written from a regular columnists who write semi-regularly: anti-austerity, environmental justice, LGBTQ, student movements, indigenous struggles, racial justice & beyond.
- A team of active enthusiastic graphic-image creators and Facebook page managers.
- At least one person on Twitter posting breaking news & blog posts.
- At least one regularly recurring political podcast or vlog.
We believe that large-scale movements that target sources of systemic-oppression (in the vein of Occupy & many other movements) need to be supported, covered, understood, thought about, and discussed. We believe that we have the best chance of breaking into the cultural ethos when we work together – sharing information, promoting events, movements and ideas in a coordinated and strategic way.
We don’t think people digest information in only one way or through only one medium, but rather that people learn from exposure to multiple mediums, in innumerable ways. We know that info-activists sharing their perspective about systemic problems have the capacity to reach a variety of audiences, resonating with different but often-overlapping groups of people and we believe that by growing this project we will be able to qualitatively improve the perspective represented by The People’s Record and also quantitatively increase our audience.
This isn’t intended to be antagonistic or mean-spirited, but our perspective is not in-line with an anarcho-capitalist or libertarian perspective. Although we appreciate the ally in opposing state violence and oppression, disappearing civil liberties, drone strikes, and fighting for freedom of information, etc., we also could not justify leaving space in our project for an ideology that allows for unchecked, rampant oppression and one that celebrates, rather than criticizes the destructive force of capitalism. We know that capitalism is problematic and this is central to the world-view we hope to inject into the cultural ethos with this project.
We aren’t looking for experts (necessarily, although if you are an expert and want to join this project, great), but rather for passionate people who understand the potential of using the tools available to us (because of increased connectivity to information and each other through the internet) to contribute as best we can to the conversations & debates essential to shaping our future global culture.
If that’s you, and you think you could contribute in one of the above mentioned ways (or another way that you’ve thought of not-mentioned) or if you just want to learn more about the project, email us @: thepeoplesrec@gmail.com
If it won’t cramp your blog’s style and you appreciate what we’re trying to do, please reblog to help us reach more people.
- Robert & Graciela
9:50 pm • 11 February 2013 • 146 notes
Mission statement and developments.
Because I am planning some major expansions to Active-RVA, and because there have been a lot of new folks getting on board, I thought it would be salient to provide kind of a mission statement, for those of you just tuning in.
What is Active-RVA? What is it trying to accomplish?
Active-RVA is a means by which to compile activist and leftist events in and around the city of Richmond. It’s intended to make activism and activist spaces more accessible, less insular, and easier to get involved in.
One of the big problems in RVA activism, especially in radical circles, is that organizations often rely on social networks (organic and online) to proliferate news. This only really succeeds in getting the same 60-100 people out, it tends to create spaces that are homogeneous (especially racially), it fails to recruit inexperienced folks or account for their development as political actors, and it’s very alienating to people who don’t or can’t socialize heavily. Active-RVA is designed to give interested people the means to join efforts that they’re interested in, immediately, without the daunting and laborious process of navigating social scenes.
Execution
That’s where the social media comes in- it’s easier to engage with wider groups of people, and easier to share information, from a central online point. The Facebook, e-mail subscription, Google+, and (soon to be) Twitter accounts also serve to keep events circulating, rather than sitting static on the calendar hoping that someone will remember that it exists as a resource.
Planned Expansion
This model isn’t perfect, in that it appeals mostly to people who are Internet-savvy, and hence probably young, and people who have regular Internet access. The elderly and most homeless folks are left out. That’s where Active-RVA’s recent partnership with the Richmond Rag comes in: we’re working on a model to bring news of events to those demographics, also, via hard copy print.
We’ll be launching a second calendar, solely for communal events, very soon. This will be a central point by which to take advantage of collective, DIY, and free spaces around Richmond. Community events will be shared around the same way political events are.
In order to compile more accurate accessibility information for venues around Richmond, we will be organizing a survey soon.
We’ve obtained a new administrator, Will Carino, who’ll be working to update the calendar quickly (currently it’s updated only twice a week), and maintain the Google+ account. We’re looking for an additional manager to handle the Twitter feed. Up until several days ago, when Will got on board, the entire enterprise has been administered solely by Kat (who is speaking to you now, but using the collective we for stylistic purposes).
And finally, we are preparing to begin a serious publicity campaign, to expand use, and hence efficacy, of Active-RVA. The past eleven months have only been a trial run; we hit five hundred subscribers earlier this month, via various mediums, and think it’s time to step it up.
What you can do.
If you’d like to help in any or all of our expanding projects, message this account, or e-mail activerva@gmail.com. We need a number of tasks performed; some of them can be executed remotely on the computer, while some will require some legwork. We specifically need a Twitter manager, and someone to design a logo.
10:31 pm • 9 February 2013 • 3 notes
Mountain Justice Spring Break, Virginia
“We are excited to announce that for the third year in a row the RReNEW Collective and SAMS will be hosting Virginia Mountain Justice Spring Break from March 1-10, 2013 in the town of Appalachia, VA. During this weeklong event we will hear the stories of the Death cycle of coal, we will meet and support the folks working to build a better future for Appalachia, we will build our own skills as organizers and change agents, and along the way we’ll have fun, go hiking and put a little elbow grease into local service projects!”
Lodging and food will be provided, but you must first register here. The cost is on a sliding scale of $50-500 dollars. See the title link for more information.
5:51 pm • 8 February 2013
GSEX: Second Official Meeting
vcuqueeraction:
Greetings!
Don’t forget to come to tomorrow’s (Thursday’s) meeting at 8:00pm in the Commons Forum Room! We will be discussing activism and future QA social events, as well as forming committees that will be active for the rest of the semester.
To all prospective members,…
6:02 pm • 31 January 2013 • 7 notes
