‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
Raise Your Voice – Melting pot of time
By PETER MOLENAAR For almost two decades, “Raise Your Voice” has paid tribute to the melting pot of peoples which has formed the Phillips Community. Presently, the members of the Franklin Avenue tent encampment would appreciate your prayers. We are witness to an oppressed population which has bonded together in order to cling to life. A note: In honor of Eugene V. Debs, leader of the original Socialist Party of this land, my grandparents invoked Eugene as my father”'s middle name. Ancestral ties”¦. (more…)
Raise Your Voice – When patriots speak up
BY PETER MOLENAAR September 8, 2018, was a nationwide day of action around the theme: RISE FOR CLIMATE, JOBS, AND JUSTICE. The Minnesota summit was venued at the East Phillips Park Cultural and Community Center. The prevailing millennial voices were heard, still fresh from the financial crisis of 2008, and they were not hesitant to link the climate crisis to capitalism. To which I will add: The drive for infinite growth upon a finite planet suggests that this system is unsustainable and hostile to Earth”'s ecology. Meanwhile”¦ In our country, the top 10% own 80% of the wealth. These are the lazy stockholders who live high on the dividends of our collective labor. Actually, the planet”'s richest eight people own wealth equal to the poorest half of the world”'s population. Capitalism, which exists to maximize profits, is incapable of reversing this accelerating process. (more…)
Raise Your Voice ”“ Mother Earth knows
BY PETER MOLENAAR Editor”'s note: This article was written before the August 14th primary election. Our Franklin Avenue follows an old Dakota path to what were bountiful waters to the near west of us. Today we take this path to 2104 Stevens Avenue to find the headquarters of MN350, an organization which resists the forces of climate change. MN350 has worked to establish relations with the tribal bands further north. Unity with the peoples whose bond with water runs deep, is earnestly sought. Minnesota”'s water is under the threat of Polymet. Are there politicians who would endorse a 500-year threat to our well-being: the threat of arsenic and mercury contamination of the watershed which feeds Lake Superior? Under the banner of “national security” and a handful of “good jobs” lasting a mere 20 years, indeed there are. Editor”'s note: Subsequent to this writing, Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan have won the primary election. Note: I suggest we [...]
