Poster of the Week

May 1st, 2012 A Day Without the 99% 

No Work – No School – No Housework – No Shopping 

 Take the Streets on Tuesday! 

CSPG’s Poster of the Week Celebrates May Day and supports the 2012 General Strike organized by the Occupy Movement.

Eric Drooker
Occupy May Day 
Digital Image
2012

The celebration of May Day as a labor holiday marked by parades and red flags began on May 1, 1886. Behind the campaign was the universal adoption of the 8-hour working day, an improvement on the recent fight for a ten-hour day. In Chicago, the center of the movement, workers had been agitating for an 8-hour day for months, and on the eve of May 1, 50,000 were already on strike. 30,000 more swelled their ranks the next day, bringing most of Chicago manufacturing to a standstill. In a notorious riot that followed (the Haymarket massacre) the 8-hour movement failed, but the Chicago events figured prominently in the founding congress of the Second International (Paris, 1889) to make May 1, 1890 a demonstration of the solidarity and power of the international working class movement. Ever since, May Day has been celebrated globally as the international workers’ holiday.

For May Day 2012, Occupy is organizing the first truly nationwide General Strike in U.S. history. Building on the international celebration of May Day, past General Strikes in U.S. cities like Seattle and Oakland, the recent May 1st Day Without An Immigrant demonstrations, the national general strikes in Spain this year, and the on-going student strike in Quebec, the Occupy Movement has called for A Day Without the 99% on May 1st, 2012. This in and of itself is a tremendous victory. For the first time, workers, students, immigrants, and the unemployed from 135 U.S. cities will stand together for economic justice. 

To find events in your city: 
http://occupywallst.org/article/may-day/

http://www.occupymay1st.org/2012/04/21/nationwide-general-strike/

CSPG’s Poster of the Week is dedicated to Pete Jimenez, who died of AIDS last week at age 48. Pete was an amazing person who was fearless, funny, outspoken, gutsy, dedicated and committed. He was the quintessential activist, focusing on AIDS, anti-war, homophobia, universal healthcare, and militarism.

Over 300,000 U.S. AIDS Deaths
Jeff Schuerholz; ACT UP/LA
Photocopy, 1996
Los Angeles, California
33193

This poster was created for a demonstration on February 6th, 1996 in front of Chasen’s Restaurant, West Hollywood, where Ronald Reagan's 85th birthday/fund-raiser was being celebrated.

"We went there to spoil their party, the way they've spoiled our lives,"
said ACT UP Los Angeles member Pete Jimenez.

This was a very dramatic demonstration. Ronald Reagan did not attend the event for health reasons. 300 demonstrators banged drums, blew whistles shouted through bullhorns and created a very loud and boisterous disturbance about genocidal Republican AIDS policy. As Newt Gingrich, California governor Pete Wilson, Colin Powell, other Republican leaders and celebrities arrived, they were greeted with signs reading "You killed all my friends" and shouts of "Money for AIDS, not for dining!" Many demonstrators carried signs with a picture of Ronald Reagan and caption; "Over 300,000 US AIDS deaths - SHAME!" Several times the demonstrators surged toward the entrance of the restaurant only to be held back by the West Hollywood Sheriffs.

During his presidency, Reagan ignored his own Surgeon General and public health advisors, and allowed HIV/AIDS to spread unchecked with no concern for the mounting death toll.

The demonstration was organized by ACT UP/LA (the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power). Other participating groups included ACT UP/Ventura, WAC (Women's Action Coalition) Being Alive: People with HIV/AIDS Action Coalition, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and students from UCLA and LA High School for the Arts. Also Radical Fairies, The City AIDS Coordinators office of Los Angeles, members of the West Hollywood City council, some AIDS doctors, and scores of people with AIDS and their supporters.

This photo of Pete and Angela Davis was taken November 6, 2011, when Angela received CSPG’s Historian of the Lion’s Award.

To see a 2010 interview with Pete Jimenez and Jeff Schuerholz, President of CSPG’s Board, and Pete’s partner for more than 20 years, where they discuss this poster and more: http://activistvideoarchive.org/pages/PeteJimenezJeffSchuerholz.html

Two informative and moving obituaries:

http://lgbtpov.frontiersla.com/2012/04/15/his-one-queer-voice-pete-jimenez-february-12-1964-april-13-2012/

http://lgbtpov.frontiersla.com/2012/04/14/act-upla-protester-pete-jimenez-dies-at-48/

Posters of the Week

One Million Hoodie March

Artist Unknown,

Digital, 2012

New York, New York

Still Waiting for Justice

Hunter Langston

Digital 2012

Detroit, Michigan

On the 44^th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4, 1968, CSPG’s Posters of the Week commemorate the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, 17.

The story is now well-known: On February 26, 2012, Trayvon was shot to death in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, who stalked and then fatally shot the unarmed youth while Trayvon was returning from a convenience store. That Zimmerman was not arrested and allowed to keep his gun continues to fuel the national outrage.

But initially, the case received little press attention, and for the first 10 days after Trayvon's death, the story was only covered by the Florida media. Not until March 8, 2012, did the national media begin covering the case. And much of the subsequent attention is thanks to grassroots efforts.

On March 17, Maria Roach, Maryland resident and mother, began circulating a petition through MoveOn.org, demanding justice for Trayvon Martin. Nine days later, she delivered more than 500,000 signatures to the Department of Justice in Washington. If you want to add your signature: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=272971&id=37516-3264124-0OR8AXx&t=2

The case continues to polarize the nation, and demonstrations demanding justice for Trayvon, and the arrest and trial of George Zimmerman, have taken place throughout the U.S., including Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Indianapolis and New York. Many demonstrators wear “hoodies” to protest the stereotyping and racial profiling that led to this tragedy.

The two posters included here are very different, but both are inspired by the same tragic event. The first, done anonymously, has helped mobilize demonstrations around the country. The second, by Hunter Langston, a professional graphic designer, places the event in the context of Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law, as well is in the larger national debate around the need for gun control.

Sources:

http://www.santamonicadispatch.com/2012/03/moveon-delivers-petition-signed-by-500000-people-demanding-justice-for-trayvon/

http://moveon.org/SongForTrayvon?id=38007-19980072-qOzVwox&t=2

http://moveonorgnfo.blogspot.com/2012/03/stop-smearing-trayvon-martin.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-your-ground_law

DemocracyNow.org also has numerous articles and interviews regarding Trayvon Martin.

Poster of the Week

Poster of the Week – Commemorating the 25^th Anniversary of ACT UP

Silence=Death

ACT UP/NY, Gran Fury

The Silence = Death Project

Offset, 1987

New York, New York

27399

March 24, 2012 marks 25 years since the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) held its first direct action on Wall Street to demand greater access to HIV treatment. ACT UP was formed by a coalition of activists outraged over the U.S. government’s mismanagement of the AIDS crisis.

ACT UP quickly became a national and world-wide movement, with one of its most effective chapters in Los Angeles. ACT UP/LA stopped the Rose Parade. They shouted down elected officials. They negotiated the building of an AIDS Ward in a public health system that left people with AIDS suffering in hallways due to lack of a dedicated place for them.

25 Years ago, ACT UP shut down Wall Street. To commemorate their original action on the world's financial center, ACT UP will stage an action, in cooperation with Occupy Wall Street, on Wednesday, April 25. “ACT UP + Occupy To End The AIDS Crisis” will demand a “Robin Hood” tax on financial transactions to increase HIV/AIDS funding.

CSPG’s Poster of the Week was designed by ACT UP/NY, Gran Fury, and The Silence = Death Project. Gran Fury was a collective of AIDS activists, born out of ACT UP/NY, who provoked direct action to end the AIDS crisis. They chose the name 'Gran Fury' after the brand of Plymouth automobile used as a squad car by the New York City police department. They manipulated sophisticated advertising strategies in print and video to render complex issues understandable, and to reach an audience not often addressed by governmental and corporate media. They also retaliated against government and social institutions that made those living with AIDS invisible.

The pink triangle was established as a pro-gay symbol by activists in the United States during the 1970s. Its use originated in World War II, when known homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps were forced to wear inverted pink triangle badges as identifiers, much in the same manner that Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David. Wearers of the pink triangle were considered at the bottom of the camp social system and subjected to particularly severe maltreatment and degradation. Thus, the appropriation of the symbol of the pink triangle, usually turned upright rather than inverted, was a conscious attempt to transform a symbol of humiliation into one of solidarity and resistance. By the outset of the AIDS epidemic, it was well-entrenched as a symbol of gay pride and liberation.

Sources:

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/23/how_to_survive_a_plague_as

http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/anniversary_hiv_actup_1667_22130.shtml

https://www.facebook.com/events/208718522568785/

http://www.drkrm.com/actup.html

Poster of the Week

Stop LAPD Spying!

Jacinto De La Paz

2011 updated Feb. 2012

Special Order 1 authorizes LAPD officers to gather street-level intelligence and information, based upon what is termed “observed behavior.” These behaviors include such everyday activities as drawing diagrams, or taking notes, pictures or video footage, using cameras or binoculars. SO 1 solidifies and enables a system that normalizes racial profiling and places the brunt of these repressive policies on immigrants, students, social justice and political activists, poor folks and communities of color. It is important to realize that SO 11’s fundamental premise is that each and every person is a potential suspect.

COMMUNITY TOWNHALL MEETING

Immigrants, Youth, Formerly Incarcerated People, and Other Concerned Communities Join Forces to Stop Civil Rights Abuses Authorized in LAPD “Special Order 1”

Learn about the campaign to rescind LAPD’s Special Order 1 (formerly Special Order 11), a policy directive that infringes on privacy and civil liberties, promotes racial profiling and legitimizes spying by law enforcement.

JOIN US! GET INVOLVED!!

Saturday March 3rd, 2012 at 10:30 AM

828 W. Washington Bl., Los Angeles, CA 90015

(SEIU USWW Union hall)

For further information please call Hamid Khan at 562-230-4578 or email at hamidk@cangress.org

http://www.facebook.com/events/318021458235905

www.stoplapdspying.org

Poster of the Week

Warning: The Catholic Church Is Making Your Healthcare Decisions
Robbie Conal and Deborah Ross
Alan Shaffer: Photography
Anne Kelly: Designed back of poster
Offset, 2002
Los Angeles, California
20469

CSPG’s Poster of the Week was produced ten years ago by the California Women’s Law Center to oppose the dramatic decline in access to reproductive healthcare in California resulting from the take-over of hospitals by Catholic institutions. In the 1990s, hospital mergers increased in California, and many formerly secular hospitals came under the control of Catholic Healthcare West and others health care institutions opposed to a woman’s right to choose. But the poster was never distributed. After 5,000 were printed, the California Women’s Law Center decided not to distribute them as they were concerned about potential backlash. So women in California—and elsewhere—were not only increasingly denied access to reproductive healthcare including contraception and safe abortions, but a poster informing them of their eroding rights and who to contact was censored.

Robbie Conal and Deborah Ross came up with the idea of a woman being crucified, draped over the Caduceus, the ancient and universal symbol of medicine consisting of the winged staff of Mercury and two intertwining serpents. The Caduceus, medical symbol for health care since Ancient Greek times, was used as it partially resembles a cross and it also represents the care that women should receive at Catholic (or any) hospitals.

This ten year old poster could have been made this week in response to the debate around insurance coverage for women’s health. On February 16, 2012, House Republicans convened an all male Congressional panel to justify denying access to birth control coverage. The five men refused to allow even one woman to testify at the House Oversight Committee hearing. This continues the controversy over the Obama administration's proposed compromise to require most employers to fully cover contraception in their workers' health plans.

This debate is, of course, not new. In 2001, President George W. Bush, as one of his first acts in office, prohibited any organization receiving funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from using those or other funds to provide or promote abortion. Abortion could not even be discussed as an option. This global gag rule led to closed clinics, cuts in healthcare staff, dwindling medical supplies, and shortages in contraceptives, leaving women, children and families without access to vital healthcare services. By 2002, the gag rule had cut off shipments of USAID-donated supplies to 16 developing countries, because the only recipients in those countries were members of the International Planned Parenthood Federation which lost $20 million in USAID funds because it refused to comply with the policy.

And this reminds us of the recent controversy when Susan G. Komen for the Cure withdrew support for Planned Parenthood, until public outcry forced Komen to reinstate their funding.

The more things change…
And in this ongoing debate, it is important to remember that abortion has been legal in the U.S. since 1973, but access continues to be eroded.

Here are some petitions to sign to express your concern and outrage about the current Congressional debate that is excluding women:

http://www.dccc.org/pages/wherearethewomen
http://site.pfaw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HealthcareExtremism&autologin=true

Sources:
http://www.thetruthaboutgeorge.com/women/
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/17/where_are_the_women_lawmakers_walk
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/2/after_right_wing_campaign_leading_breast

Poster of the Week

Gay-In
Gay Liberation Front
Silkscreen, circa 1970
Los Angeles, California
34390

CSPG’s featured Poster of the Week announces an annual Gay-In that took place in Griffith Park. The celebratory image in this 40+ year old poster is a fitting tribute to the court ruling this week, overturning California’s ban on gay marriage, in effect since voters passed Proposition 8 in 2008. It is also one of the featured posters in Decade of Dissent: Democracy in Action 1965-1975, currently on display at the West Hollywood Library, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. through April 28, 2012.

The first of three annual Griffith Park Gay-Ins was held on May 30, 1968. It was a precursor to gay pride festivals that took place in major cities following the Stonewall riots of 1969. The Gay-In festivals suffered constant police harassment.

Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots. The Los Angeles chapter of the GLF was created in December 1969. One of the GLF's first acts was to organize a march in response to Stonewall, and to demand an end to the persecution of homosexuals. The GLF had a broad political platform, denouncing racism and declaring support for various Third World struggles and the Black Panther Party—some of whom would return the gesture of solidarity. They took an anti-capitalist stance, and attacked the nuclear family and traditional gender roles.

Poster Mystery – Help needed to clarify the history of the Gay-ins.
1. First Griffith Park Gay-In
The flyer advertising the first Griffith Park Gay-In, on Thursday, May 30, 1968, Memorial Day, can be seen on http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/The_first_Griffith_Park_Gay-In.

2. There is a reference to the 2nd Gay-In, July 1969 – but no specific date
http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/Griffith_Park_Gay-In

3. A poster announcing the 3rd Griffith Park Gay-In, is dated Labor Day, 1970.

4. The event for which this poster was made is thus a mystery. Were there more than 3 Griffith Park Gay-Ins? Were there 2 Gay-In’s in one year? We hope to hear from anyone with information to clarify this poster mystery.

Thank you to Lincoln Cushing and the AOUON Archives for providing this image. CSPG does not have a copy of this poster, and if anyone has one, please consider donating it to this unique archive.