/* fivel rothberg */

New York Times Special Edition, audio vignette

This is a three-minute audio vignette about the New York Times Special Edition. On the morning of the action, I followed a Brooklyn couple, Michelle and Maikel, as they spread the good news of the war’s end to perplexed New Yorkers.

The music clip is from Podington Bear.

Here is a slideshow of photos from the distribution day of the New York Times ‘Special Edition’.  This past Wednesday, new media organizing met old media propaganda, Situationist style.   Email and text messages sent by an ad-hoc crew of Lefties got hundreds or thousands of volunteers to help hand out the faux New York Times.

I began by tagging along with a middle-aged couple, both proud dumpster-diving artists and subversives.  I recorded our brief adventure with my still camera and audio recorder.  Here are the photos:

On the same day as Latina Enough, I shot some close-ups of some lovely decaying material in the Village.

Ariana Martinez and Molly Stinchfield – along with Ana Szyld – put together an exhibit of photos and audio documentaries that examine what it means to be Latina, or of mixed-latina and non-latina heritage.  It was only up for one day, unfortunately.  It took place inside a moving truck, parked on the corner of 12th Street and Hudson in Greenwich Village, NYC.

To the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles,

The very fact that the states in the U.S. continue to execute anyone, even if they are “guilty,” is deplorable. The justice system’s propensity to convict and sentence indigent people, black men in particular, is a practice that must end now. Every citizen deserves a fair trial, no matter what his or her race or economic status.

Yet, this injustice is not new. It has historical ties going back to the institution of slavery, the post-Bellum oppression of black communities and the thousands of lynchings of the early 20th century. This makes the execution of a black man in Georgia even more disparaging.

I beg you, the men and women of the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to take the higher moral ground and reconsider the case of Troy Davis.

Think of the consequences of executing an innocent man. It would be tragic and prove that justice is not blind.

Think of the implications of executing a ‘guilty’ man. Execution is not a proven deterrent of crime. To the contrary, it demonstrates that the so-called correctional system is punitive and does nothing to ‘correct’ or help those who are warehoused in prisons across this nation.

Sincerely,

Fivel Rothberg

Take action at http://www.amnestyusa.org/troydavis

I worked on an animation a few weeks ago about “white spaces.” They are the frequencies between broadcast signals that will open up once broadcast TV goes from analogue to digital. The People’s Production House is advocating for public use of the space. Otherwise it’ll probably be sold of to the same schmucks who control OUR airwaves already. Public services also want a piece of the action.

The animation was made in about two days because it needed to be ready for a NYC City Council hearing about the above issue.