May 2009 – Page 10

En Lucha, In Gerangl: On Edens and Utopias

The Garden by Scott Hamilton Kennedy
(Black Valley Films)

At Home In Utopia by Michal Goldman
(Filmmakers Collaborative)

Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s The Garden opens with aerial shots of South Central Farm, the 14-acre community garden founded by Latin@ immigrants and other citizens of Los Angeles; against the backdrop of gray warehouses and the L.A. skyline, we see a rectangle of green, bursting with nopales, corn, vegetables, herbs, and trees. South Central Farm has been compared to Eden probably a million times – hell, the allusion is right there in the title of the documentary – but it’s with good reason. To see land being used in a healthy, loving way in an urban environment really does feel like a return to Eden.

By now, the story of South Central Farm is (or should be) legendary among American activists. The land was originally supposed to be used for a garbage incinerator – a move that would be rightly horrifying in wealthy parts of town, but seems to be considered only natural in poor and working class neighborhoods – but, after Concerned Citizens of South Central L.A. successfully fought it, and after the 1992 L.A. Riots galvanized the citizens of South Central to revitalize their community space, it was transformed into a cooperative collection of garden plots. It was more than just a place to grow food; SCF grew into a tight-knit community, a haven amidst the blight of L.A. But racism and greed ensure that good things never last, and SCF was destroyed in 2006.

Disability and Class

This is a guest post by BipolarGirl for Blogging Against Disablism Day. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the Blogging Against Disablism Day posts here.

Trigger Warning

I am bipolar. There’s debate as to whether I’m bipolar II or I. There’s debate as to whether I have anxiety attacks or hypomanic episodes. I take two medications every day and will for the rest of my life. One, lithium, balances my moods and keeps me from becoming uncontrollably and terrifyingly manic. The other, effexor, does what it can to keep me from slipping into a dark and enveloping depression. Both have side effects I could really do without – the constant thirst, the layer of fat over my belly, the moments that feel like an electric shock in my brain if I miss even one dose of effexor.

There are a lot of things I could say about being bipolar. How even though I have amazing health insurance, I still can’t get assigned to a therapist for longer than 10 weeks at a time. How I feel about the wide gulf between the reality of mental illness and the public perception of mental illness. How sometimes I still have so much trouble with depression that I want to crawl into bed for the rest of my life. How I used to cut myself and haven’t for over 10 years but still automatically think about it whenever I get emotionally overwhelmed, the way I imagine a drug addict would think of using.

But instead I want to talk about intersectionality. While I feel I would share a lot of experiences with other people with bipolar, I also feel I have a unique experience in the disability community because of my socioeconomic privilege. I want to highlight the impact my class had on my disability experience because I feel it was one of the most important factors in my recovery, and I think the fact that class can be such an important factor is ridiculous and needs to be addressed.

Gendering Ultimate Frisbee

Funny how Ultimate Frisbee is filed under “Fashion & Style: Fitness” when women play it, but under “New Jersey: Sport” when men do. Or just in “Sports.”

Glad the Times is covering women in sports, but really, why put them in the traditional “lady-stuff” section?

Buy Indie Day

via Kate comes the news that today is Buy Indie Day. Head to your local independent book store and pick up something. Kate’s book isn’t out yet, but you can pre-order it. And I’ll second her recommendation of Jessica Valenti’s latest, The Purity Myth, which I will hopefully be writing about in more detail in the coming days. Today, though, I think I’m going to buy Netherland, which I embarassingly have not yet read.

And as long as we’re buying independent, might as well eat independent too — check out the Eat Well Guide, which helps you find local organic and sustainable food, markets and restaurants. It’s exactly what I need after reading this article. (Thanks to Jaclyn for the link).

CA Appeals Court: Life Without Parole for 14-year-old is Unconstitutional

This is great news:

On April 30, 2009, a California appeals court struck down a life imprisonment without parole sentence imposed on Antonio Nunez, a 14-year-old child convicted of aggravated kidnapping. The court declared the sentence to be cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment and the California Constitution.

In 2007, the Equal Justice Initiative challenged the life imprisonment without parole sentence imposed on 14-year-old Antonio Nunez, arguing that condemning young children to die in prison is unconstitutional. The California Supreme Court ordered further review of the case and today the Court of Appeal held that the death-in-prison sentence imposed on Antonio Nunez is “so arbitrary that it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”

EJI attorney Bryan Stevenson represents Antonio Nunez and argued his case at the Court of Appeal last October. “We’re very encouraged by the Court’s thoughtful and careful analysis of the issue presented by this case,” Stevenson said today. “Young children who commit serious crimes may need punishment but those punishments must be reasonable and thoughtful. Hopelessly condemning 14-year-old children to die in prison is at odds with everything our constitutional norms and values are designed to protect.”

Antonio Nunez spent his childhood in a dangerous South Central Los Angeles neighborhood. Shortly after his 13th birthday, Antonio was riding a bicycle near his home when he was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting. His brother, who was 14 years old, ran to help Antonio and was shot in the head and killed. Antonio was critically injured and underwent emergency surgery to repair his intestines.

In the wake of his brother’s murder, Antonio suffered severe trauma and depression. After he was released from the hospital, Antonio left South Central and spent over six months with family in Nevada before he had to return to Los Angeles.

Within weeks of his return to his home in South Central, 14-year-old Antonio got into a car with two older men who picked him up at a party. One of the men later claimed to be a kidnap victim. When their car was chased by the police and shots were fired, Antonio was arrested and charged with, among other offenses, aggravated kidnapping.

No one was injured during the chase, but Antonio was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

The United States is the only country in the world where children as young as 13 and 14 are sentenced to die in prison.

Our criminal justice system is thoroughly backwards, and disturbingly barbaric. I’m glad to hear that Antonio no longer faces such an extreme sentence. And thank goodness for people like Bryan Stevenson and the rest of the staff and attorneys at EJI who do this difficult work every day. Please consider donating to support their efforts.

Friday Random Ten – the May Day edition

You know the drill: Set your MP3 player to shuffle, and post the first ten songs that come up.

Friday video: Gawker is right, this is one NYU student I actually like (also, he is the cutest, and I do really love him after reading this interview — he’s also performing tonight at Bowery Poetry Club):

Nyle “Let The Beat Build” from Nyle on Vimeo.

1. The Kinks – Starstruck
2. Tom Waits – The Black Rider
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Gold Lion
4. The Pogues – White City
5. Suckers – It Gets Your Body Movin’
6. Silver Jews – How to Rent a Room
7. Spoon – The Fitted Shirt
8. Liars – We Got Cold, Coughed and Forgot Things
9. Mogwai – Moses? I Amn’t
10. The Parson Red Heads – Mossback

Souter to Leave Court

Big news. Here’s hoping Obama chooses a solid progressive legal thinker — because whoever he chooses, they’re going to be branded “liberal” and “activist.”