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Austinites gathered to read Martin Luther King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech. The speech was originally delivered on April 4th, 1967, at the Riverside Church in New York City and was his most direct critique of U.S. militarism.

Edited & Produced by Jeff Zavala. Vidography by Jeff Zavala & Grace Alfar. http://zgraphix.org

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On March 28, 2012, Dr. Norman Finkelstein spoke at the University of Texas at Austin about the Israel-Palestine conflict. His talk focused on the background and context of the struggle and his perspective on its future. Dr. Norman Finkelstein is a renowned American Jewish professor, political scientist, activist, and author who has worked on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict for over three decades. Dr. Finkelstein received his doctorate in 1988 from the Department of Politics at Princeton University and has written six books about the Israel-Palestine conflict. He has held faculty positions at Brooklyn College, Rutgers University, Hunter College, New York University and more recently DePaul University. For many years he taught political theory and the Israel-Palestine conflict and currently writes and lectures. This event was sponsored by the Society for Islamic Awareness (SIA), Amnesty International, Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), and the International Socialist Organization (ISO).

Produced by ZGraphix.org http://zgraphix.org Filmed & Edited by Grace Alfar

Audio by Allen Campbell from People United on KOOP 91.7 fm http://www.koop.org/peopleunited

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 The Austin Alliance For Peace (AA4P) is a trans-partisan organization dedicated to promoting peaceful solutions in an era where violence and threats are too often employed. The First Annual Austin Alliance for Peace 'Peace Rally" was held on Saturday, April 14 from noon-2 PM on the South Steps of Texas State Capitol. The purpose of the event was to reinvigorate the anti-war sentiment in the great State of Texas with the Peace Rally the day before National Tax Day. We are pleased that renowned peace activist, Dr. Dahlia Wasfi and the host of anti-war radio, Scott Horton were headliners for this event.  Other speakers from the Austin area spoke on how the cost of war has deeply effected our local community through such issues as police brutality, regional fusion centers, implementation of an American urban warfare state in major cities across the U.S. (including Austin) with the implementation of Urban Shield programs, and how local politicians accept "federal money" to further the growth of the police state in local communities. AA4P objectives are: 1) To educate the public on violations of peace in any form, 2) To mobilize the citizens of the state of Texas to bring peace wherever it is absent, 3) To pursue the redress of grievances in alignment with the tradition of non-violent resistance. 4) To build a constituency whose main priority is to practice diplomacy and to always strive to resolve problems without the use of violence,

Website: http://austinallianceforpeace.org/

Produced for Austin Indymedia by Grace Alfar.
A ZGraphix/Austin Indymedia production.
http://zgraphix.org

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Texans United for Families (TUFF) protesting Wells Fargo in Austin, TX

Reposted from Todo Austin

  On March 13, 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unveiled its new “civil” detention center in Karnes County, Texas, located one hour southeast of San Antonio. By the end of the month the facility will hold male migrants who are either asylum-seekers or have been categorized as “low-risk.” Karnes County contracted with private prison giant the GEO Group to build this detention center, which sits upon 29 acres of land and has 608 beds, with the possibility to expand to 1200 beds. The detention center is heralded by ICE as a model facility that is demonstrative of its efforts to move towards “humane detention.” Despite its shiny exterior and the presence of volleyball courts and soccer fields, the GEO group’s troubled history and record of human rights violations within its facilities are cause for alarm. The promise of “humane detention” itself is an oxymoron that community members should challenge. A gilded cage is still a cage.

Read more here.

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