Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

The Los Angeles Independent Media Center is proud to present the film, Bastards of the Party. The film explores the creation of two of Los Angeles's most notorious gangs, the Crips and the Bloods, from the perspective of the Los Angeles community. The documentary features interviews with gang members; historian Mike Davis, whose book "City of Quartz" inspired the film's title; former FBI agent Wes Swearingen; and Black Panther, Geronimo Pratt. The 2006 documentary film was produced by Antoine Fuqua and directed by former Bloods gang-member Cle Sloan.

The film screens this Friday, May 16th at 7:30 pm at Cafe Mariposa located in Echo Park at 1547 Sunset Blvd. See Calendar for details.

Update: LA Indymedia Film Night Report Back

A narrative film challenging the official story of 9/11 premiered in Los Angeles in January and continues to show on weekends, including President's Day. This film is a damning look at the media's coverage of 9/11, propaganda, and a piercing look at the complex search for truth. The Reflecting Pool--a narrative film that recently premiered in Los Angeles-- opens with a television interview of a journalist who has just written a book on Communist propaganda in the Soviet Union.

The journalist, Alex Prokop, is asked by his editor to review a video about September 11th and write an article comparing the official narrative--as expressed in the 9/11 Commission Report--to the facts about the event. Guided in his task by Paul Cooper, the father of one of the victims who has become an ardent researcher on the topic, Prokop spends two weeks in New York and Washington D.C., interviewing people and discovering damning information never mentioned in the 9/11 Report. The FBI becomes involved, and Prokop is attacked by a lawsuit and the media in an effort to discredit his story. From the newswire: The Reflecting Pool by Carol Brouillet

Since the late 1990s, activist Reverend Billy has been using his "surreal inventiveness" to raise awareness about the consequences of modern consumerism--including, among other things, the destruction of communities and products made with sweatshop labor.

The Reverend was created shortly after actor Billy witnessed his home, Time Square, being "turned into a mall." As he recalls: "Disney was signing this amazing Manifest Destiny deal to evict small vendors, and police were picking up anybody who didn't look as if they were in possession of a credit card. And that was happening before my eyes. . . . I had to ask myself: 'Who's shouting here? Who's really getting out there raising their voice a little bit?' It was the sidewalk preachers."

From the newswire: "What Would Jesus Buy?" (review) by R. Plesset

July 20, 2007: On Friday night, Neighbors for Peace & Justice presented Red Hill, a student project from the Echo Park Film Center about the history of activism in Echo Park. (The film is described here on page 10: Epian Ways. ) In all, at least 70 people were present. Many veteran activists attended as well as newer activists.

Echo Park became known as Red Hill (as well as Red Gulch, Mt. Moscow, and Lenin's Hill) in the 1940s because of the large concentration of activists, including communists. Jean Torre of Neighbors for Peace & Justice introduced the movie and facilitated a discussion afterwards. Full story: High Turnout for "Red Hill" Screening by RP

In December 2001, faced with a collapsing economy and a government that failed to respond to the people's needs, Argentina exploded into massive protests. What we saw were the four successive presidents thrown out of power, dramatic roadblocks called piquetes, and the masked protesters who organized them. But behind some of the piquetes lay an intricate network of neighborhood organizations that had as their ultimate goal autonomy and self-sufficiency for their community.

This video is a compilation of interviews and visits with four Unemployed Workers' Movements of Argentina. Come hear about their projects: everything from bakeries and soup kitchens to organic farms and gardens, even their own schools and neighborhood health centers. And listen to the organizers discuss their operating principles--autonomy, horizontal decision-making and direct democracy--and the day-to-day challenges they face.