‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
Raise Your Voice: Babies of the World Unite!
By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar Smith Foundry,November 10, 2023:Joe Vital of the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute had alerted me to a 5:00 pm rally at the front entrance to my place of longtime employment. Yes, I too was appalled that federal inspectors had seemingly been compelled to intervene after years of disrespect leveled at our community by the state agency (MPCA). I would enter the scene with mixed emotions and some trepidation. Note:The splendid rally was, in no small measure, the handiwork of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. FRSO has been at odds with the CPUSA (Community Party of the USA)for many years. However, they mostly greeted me with warm affection. So, perhaps there is hope.As it happened, I asserted myself and the gatekeeper to the speaker’s list gave me a pass. My co-workers were to be commended for having sacrificed their health and longevity for the sake of their families. On the other hand, nobody has the right to diminish the development [...]
Breaking News: Nokba, 1948
Raise Your Voice: November 2023 By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar Al Nokba (the disaster) was the beginning of the settler invasion which drove Palestinians from the long established gardens which sustained their spirit. Hey, it was not so long ago that I conversed with a young Palestinian at the Cedar Food & Grill (the corner grocery which serves Little Earth). Bulldozers had flattened his family’s lemon groves… all in the name of Hitler’s ghost. Hence, the Gaza Concentration Camp has confined over two million people. Breaking News: October 7, 2023…It was closing time when I descended the stairs to the space called Mayday Books. (Note: this West Bank address has always been within the territory of the alley news.) Craig and Patrick immediately brought me up to speed. What was Hamas thinking? Yet another disaster was sure to unfold.Indeed, the biblical dilemma between “do unto others…” and an “eye for an eye” was manifesting, even as Israeli bombs [...]
Raise Your Voice: Oct ’23
Break on Through By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar After a tearful goodbye in mid-August, my companion and I returned from the snow-capped peaks of central Oregon, a place where a mere 2,700 years ago, molten lava had inundated the valley. Sadly now, my younger sister suffers a terminal cancer, likely the result of prolonged use of chemicals in the cleaning of rustic second homes owned by the rich. Yes, we all struggle to make ends meet.Hey, after 25 years of my having resided in one place, a 3rd landlord within three years demanded that I empty my basement storage locker, after which he would raise my rent by $150. Note: under the previous lease that voluminous space was filled to the brim with books from the long gone Paul Robeson Marxist Bookstore, and no, I did not relish being temporarily enslaved. Moreover, over a projected 20 years, I was to become bankrupt! So, I gave notice.So then, immediately upon my return from Oregon, I was the subject of an interview with the [...]
