Rigoberta Menchú Rigoberta Menchú Tum (Spanish pronunciation: [riɣoˈβerta menˈtʃu], born 9 January 1959) is an indigenous Guatemalan woman, of the K'iche' ethnic group. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the plight of Guatemala's indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–1996), and to promoting indigenous rights in the country. She received the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize and Prince of Asturias Award in 1998. She is the subject of the testimonial biography I, Rigoberta Menchú (1983) and the author of the autobiographical work, Crossing Borders. Menchú is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Life[edit] Rigoberta Menchú was born to a poor indigenous family of K'iche' descent near Laj Chimel, a small town in the north-central Guatemalan province of El Quiché. Since the Guatemalan Civil War ended, Menchú has campaigned to have members of the Guatemalan political and military establishment tried in Spanish courts. Politics[edit] In 2009 she was involved in the newly founded party Winaq.
Cornel West and the Fight to Save the Black Prophetic Tradition - Chris Hedges Cornel West and the Fight to Save the Black Prophetic Tradition Posted on Sep 9, 2013 By Chris Hedges There is an insidious and largely unseen effort by the White House to silence the handful of voices that remain true to the black prophetic tradition. “Jeremiah Wright was the canary in the mine,” West said when we met a few days ago in Princeton, N.J. “The black prophetic tradition has been the leaven in the American democratic loaf,” West said. The tradition is sustained by a handful of beleaguered writers and intellectuals, including Glen Ford and his Black Agenda Report, James Cone, Carl Dix, Bruce Dixon, Boyce Watkins, Yvette Carnell, Robin Kelley, Margaret Kimberley, Nellie Bailey, the Rev. “Obama is the highest manifestation of the co-optation that took place,” West said. “He is a shell of a man,” West said of Obama. “The most pernicious development is the incorporation of the black prophetic tradition into the Obama imperial project,” West said. New and Improved Comments
Asmaa Mahfouz Asmaa Mahfouz (Arabic: أسماء محفوظ, pronounced [ʔæsˈmæːʔ mɑħˈfuːz, ˈʔæsmæ-], born 1 February 1985) is an Egyptian activist and one of the founders of the April 6 Youth Movement.[1] She has been credited by journalist Mona Eltahawy and others with helping to spark mass uprising through her video blog posted one week before the start of the 2011 Egyptian revolution.[2][3] She is a prominent member of Egypt's Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution and one of the leaders of the Egyptian revolution.[4] In 2011, she was one of five recipients of the "Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought" awarded for contributions to "historic changes in the Arab world." The other joint recipients were Ahmed al-Senussi, Razan Zaitouneh, Ali Farzat and Mohamed Bouazizi of the Arab Spring. Arabian Business placed Mahfouz at #381 on its list of the World's 500 Most Influential Arabs.[5] Overview[edit] January 2011 uprising in Egypt[edit] If you think yourself a man, come with me on 25 January. See also[edit]
Subcomandante Marcos Subcomandante Marcos or Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos is the nom de guerre used by the main ideologist, spokesperson and de facto leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), a Mexican rebel movement fighting for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. On 1 January 1994, when the U.S.–Mexico–Canada free trade agreement became effective, Subcommander Marcos led an army of Mayan farmers into eastern Chiapas state, to protest what he saw as the Mexican federal government's mistreatment of the nation's indigenous peoples.[1] Marcos is also a writer, a political poet, and an anti-capitalist who advocates the amendment of the Political Constitution of Mexico to formally and specifically recognize the political and the human rights of Mexico's indigenous peoples.[2] Background[edit] Identity[edit] Subcomandante Marcos (center, wearing brown cap) in Chiapas In an interview with García Márquez and Roberto Pombo, Marcos spoke of his upbringing: "It was middle class.
Poor People's Campaign Rebecca Adamson Rebecca Adamson (born 1950)[1] is an American Cherokee businessperson and advocate. She is former director, former president, and founder of First Nations Development Institute [2] and the founder of First Peoples Worldwide.[3] Life[edit] Born in Akron, Ohio, to a Swedish American father and a Cherokee mother, Adamson grew up in Akron and spent summers with her Cherokee grandmother in North Carolina, where she learned about the history and culture of her Cherokee people.[4] She holds a master of science in economic development from the Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire, where she teaches a graduate course on indigenous economics.[3] Her work led to the first microloan fund in the United States associated with a reservation, the first tribal investment model. This was a national movement for reservation land reform, and legislation on federal trust responsibility for Native Americans.[3] Ms. magazine named her one of their seven "Women of the Year" in 1997.
Medea Benjamin The Los Angeles Times has described her as "one of the high profile leaders" of the peace movement and in 1999, San Francisco Magazine included her on its "power list" of the "60 Players Who Rule the Bay Area." Early life[edit] Benjamin grew up on Long Island, New York, a self-described "nice Jewish girl. Benjamin worked for 10 years as an economist and nutritionist in Latin America and Africa for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, the Swedish International Development Agency, and the Institute for Food and Development Policy. Organizations[edit] She later went on to create the Occupation Watch Center in Baghdad (IOWC) to monitor the United States military and the war's effect on civilian populations. In 2010 she received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Politics[edit] Protest actions[edit] From 2002 to 2009, Benjamin engaged in numerous protests involving U.S. Organization efforts[edit] Labor rights and corporate responsibility[edit] Iraq[edit]
Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (/ˈnoʊm ˈtʃɒmski/; born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher,[21][22] cognitive scientist, logician,[23][24][25] political commentator and anarcho-syndicalist activist. Sometimes described as the "father of modern linguistics",[26][27] Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy.[21] He has spent most of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is currently Professor Emeritus, and has authored over 100 books. He has been described as a prominent cultural figure, and was voted the "world's top public intellectual" in a 2005 poll.[28] Born to a middle-class Ashkenazi Jewish family in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from relatives in New York City. Chomsky has been a highly influential academic figure throughout his career, and was cited within the field of Arts and Humanities more often than any other living scholar between 1980 and 1992. Early life Childhood: 1928–45