Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

This Tuesday CineBang presents an evening of underground film and discussion with Franklin "The Stimulator" López of subMedia.tv. Join the subMedia posse – survival of the smartest starts now! Producer, videographer and creative genius Franklin Lopez exposes crucial current trends with video montages that mix culture jamming, news, satire, music and action to scratch the social justice itch.

Hopium is a crash course on the countercultures, protest movements, and underground forces set to collide in the post-Bush world. Hopium delivers 90 minutes of short films, mashups, and clips from Frank's series It's the End of the World and We Know It and I Feel Fine, the world's most subversive news show. The evening culminates with highlights from the forthcoming END:CIV, and the documentary hit GROUND NOISE & STATIC, a video report from the Democratic and Republican national conventions in 2008.
From the Calendar: Hopium: Confronting Fascism in the Obama Era a film by Franklin López

[Political analysis by Chris Burnett. host of "Indymedia On Air” - Mondays, 3pm, KPFK 90.7 FM] - Shepard's choice to become an instrumental part in creating brand Obama, given his street level marketing style, often illegal, provided a legitimacy that was certainly needed by the Obama campaign. Seeing Obama on every street corner in soviet-style branding (read "pro worker, average guy, savior") was shocking precisely because of what Hedges describes as spectacle on the one hand, and the illusion of street cred provided by Shepard's style on the other.

I thought I was seeing Mao and Che everywhere, as though this was some populist uprising against the ruling class, against a cynically corrupt political class. Far from it. It *was* the ruling class inverting and misdirecting our anger in order to advance a corporatist political party and agenda. Genius. Horrendous. No doubt, it had a profound affect on all of our psyches. But "HOPE" should have read "HYPE" and "PROGRESS" should have read "REGRESS". It was the epitome of bumper sticker politics: immediate gratification, feel good symbolism; very consistent with our hyperactive, but shallow corporate culture. Full article: Shepard Fairey’s Obama by Chris Burnett

BEVERLY HILLS, May 27, 2009 – A wide range of groups turned out to protest Obama’s visit to Southern California this Wednesday at a Democratic Party fund raiser. Protests began around 3:00 pm with a contingent of primarily anti-war protesters, who are disappointed with the contradiction between what Obama said on the campaign trail and what he is saying and doing now as commander in chief.

There are reports that Obama heard some of the protesters chants of “Obama Keep Your Promise” and that he addressed the protesters calls in his speech, asking them to work with him. However he did not give a direct response to the issue of US troops still waging war against the people of the Middle East.

Full report: Hundreds Protest Outside Obama Fundraiser in Beverly Hills by A || Anti-War Protestors Welcome Obama || VIDEO: Anti-war protest at Obama Event

Advocates of the poor and homeless community of Venice Beach have been fighting against Overnight Permit Parking Districts, which are used to criminalize people who park RVs on city streets. Negative press coverage may be contributing to persecution of the homeless, to whom California offers no protection from the rising wave of hate crimes.

Report with photos: LA Times Misses Mark - By a Mile - About RVs in Venice by Peggy Lee Kennedy | | UPDATE: California Coastal Commission Denies Overnight Permit Parking (OPDs) in Venice by Peggy Lee Kennedy

CALIFORNIA – Demonstrations took place statewide in reaction a court ruling upholding proposition eight, which amends the state constitution to deny marriage rights to same sex couples. In West Hollywood thousands rallied and marched to Hollywood Blvd. Estimates range from a low of 2,000 to a high of 10,000 people that took part in the Hollywood march. No arrests or police misconduct has been reported. Protests also took place in other parts of Southern California, including hundreds in Rancho Cucamonga.

Gay rights activists say that despite the courts ruling the fight for the right to marry is not over. Legal challenges will continue and there are discussions about a ballot measure to repeal Proposition Eight for the 2010 elections. From the Newswire Inland Empire resists Supreme Court's legitimization of discrimination by Rockero | | NOH8 - Chalking the Streets in Hollywood by Anna | | 11:30 pm - Cell Phone Photos from Protest | | MP3 Audio – Jorge Amaro, of Latino Equality Alliance Reacts to Court Prop 8 Ruling

VIDEO: West Hollywood Right to Marry Protests | | Press conference on Prop 8

Reports from San Diego: Over 4,000 Rally in San Diego Against Prop. 8 Decision and Over 70 Activists Stage Marriage Equality Sit-in at S.D. County Clerk’s Office by Mark Gabrish Conlan

Report from East LA: “MARRY US OR JAIL US” DARE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE EQUALITY ACTIVISTS by SCHA-LA | | East Los Angeles Prop 8 Court Decision Protests by Robert Stuart Lowden

PHOTOS: Los Angeles Propostion 8 Court Decisions Evening Protests Photo Essay by Robert Stuart Lowden