Chicago - A message from the station manager

Buy Back Bob!

By Southside Together Organizing For Power

“On March 29th, 2015, former mayoral challenger Bob Fioretti, after years of sparring with Mayor Rahm Emanuel over closing schools and mental health clinics, did an about-face and decided to back him.
“People who went to the closed city mental health clinics felt betrayed as Alderman Fioretti had been one of the few people who championed their cause.
“But they realized, he may have just needed some of Rahm’s millions due to his campaign debt so they decided to try to raise some ‘Fund’s for Fioretti’s Friendship.’
“This video shows them attempting to deliver those funds to Alderman Fioretti as he sits down to lunch with Mayor Emanuel.
“To spare him the displeasure of dining with his (former?) nemesis, we brought what we could in order to ‘Buy Back Bob.'”

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Posted on March 30, 2015

Mayor 1% – The Song

By Penny and the Jets

Don’t resent Mayor One Percent
He’s the guy lookin’ out for you
From Lincoln Park down to Streeterville
Unless your collar’s blue

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Posted on March 25, 2015

Amnesty International Calls For Federal Investigation Of Homan Square

Amnesty International USA called on the Department of Justice to investigate allegations of beatings and disappearances of detainees at a Chicago Police Department facility in Homan Square and to determine whether these allegations of ill-treatment and other abuses are, in fact, systemic throughout the Chicago Police Department.
“International law . . . obligates governments to investigate allegations of human rights violations; disclose the truth about violations; prosecute those responsible; and ensure remedy for victims, including reparations, truth and justice,” wrote Steven W. Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty International USA.
“In the light of the national conversation around policing, it is clear that the United States government can and must do much more to ensure policing practices both in Chicago and nationwide are brought into line with international human rights standards.”

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Posted on March 19, 2015

Amnesty International USA Joins ACLU, Wikimedia In Lawsuit To Stop Mass Surveillance Program

By Amnesty International USA

Amnesty International USA joined a major new lawsuit today filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a broad group of organizations challenging the National Security Agency’s mass interception and searching of Americans’ Internet communications, including emails, web-browsing content, and search-engine queries.
The plaintiffs in the case, Wikimedia v. NSA, include the Wikimedia Foundation, the Rutherford Institute, The Nation magazine and Human Rights Watch.
Naureen Shah, director of Amnesty International USA’s Security and Human Rights Program, issued the following statement:
“The U.S. government’s surveillance is thwarting Amnesty International’s ability to do our work to document and stop human rights abuses.

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Posted on March 10, 2015

Yes, Black America Fears The Police. Here’s Why.

By Nikole Hannah-Jones/ProPublica

This story was co-published with Politico Magazine.
Last July 4, my family and I went to Long Island to celebrate the holiday with a friend and her family. After eating some barbecue, a group of us decided to take a walk along the ocean. The mood on the beach that day was festive. Music from a nearby party pulsed through the haze of sizzling meat. Lovers strolled hand in hand. Giggling children chased each other along the boardwalk.
Most of the foot traffic was heading in one direction, but then two teenage girls came toward us, moving stiffly against the flow, both of them looking nervously to their right. “He’s got a gun,” one of them said in a low voice.

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Posted on March 6, 2015