[ Social Unrest Analysis ] The Only Commonality is Uncommonality: Progressive Protest from Below since the Mid-1980s
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Recommended article: 'How Teacher Strikes Are Changing' by Madeline Will
The Chicago Teachers’ Strike of 2012 stimulated teacher organizing around the country, although it took a little while to detonate; where it first resulted in mass action was in West Virginia. (While some of the . . .
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George's spirit will always be with people around the world, fighting for social and economic justice
I can’t remember exactly how I got involved with Substance, but I started sending articles to George during 2013 and he published them. He soon invited me to the monthly Substance Editorial Board meetings |
Students to IDEM (Indiana Department of Environmental Management)... Gary is Not a Dump, Our Education is More Important than a Dump!
Over 80 students, teachers and supporters of the Steel City Academy in Gary, Indiana, rallied and protested Thursday night, May 10, 2018, first at the United Steelworkers of America #1014 hall and then later at . . .
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BOOK REVIEW: In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power by Alfred W. McCoy: A Review Essay... Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-60846-773-0
For over 40 years, Alfred W. McCoy has been trying to make Americans aware of what their government was doing around the world. Whether it was the CIA flying opium to Bangkok from anti-communist warlords . . .
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Two months teaching in Vietnam...
I spent this past summer (2017) in Vietnam, teaching a sociology course at Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU) in Ho Chi Minh City. TDTU is located in the southern part of the city in District . . .
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REVIEW: A family history of organizing across generation shows among other things that Chicago union organizing always required careful work... How an African American organizer who spoke Polish helped bring workers together in the 1930s...
Political activism affects individual lives profoundly. Once a person becomes politically conscious—no matter how it happens—it opens up new worlds to you, while it can distance you from your previous life. But how does it . . .
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BOOK REVIEW: Historical analysis of American white supremacy shows how Black subjugation in America developed and is maintained, noting that slavery was central to the development of world capitalism...
Books reviewed: Theodore W. Allen, The Invention of the White Race. London and New York: Verso, 2012.... Edward E. Bishop, The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism. New York: . . .
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Madison remembered...A Look Back in the Mirror at the Wisconsin Uprising:
A Review Essay of It Started in Wisconsin: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Labor Protest, ed. by Mari Jo Buhle and Paul Buhle; Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from . . .
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Strategic Thinking and Organizing Resistance... ' Rushing into the streets, as exhilarating as it can be, is not enough for the long haul. And if we want to win, we have to be prepared for the long haul...'
The first few weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency has seen an amazing explosion of mobilizing to oppose him and his administration on oh-so-many levels. And that has been heartening. But it is not enough. The . . .
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Reflections on the movie 'Salt of the Earth' and a 1999 book titled The Suppression of Salt of the Earth by James J. Lorence ...
[img=9747 Salt of the Earth is an important movie that bears recovery for those of us who are interested in resisting Donald Trump and his administration. Released in 1954, it has a dubious distinction: it . . .
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ELECTION ANALYSIS. Reflection on 'The Apocalypse'... 'The key to understanding this is economics... My analysis is that most of Trump voters are protesting the way they have been screwed over by the elites...'
It’s the morning after Trump’s election. I watched the election until about 2 am, Eastern time, so I knew he was going to win. Already early this morning, my friend, Karen, has called to talk—she’s . . .
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BOOK REVIEW: Why is the Obama administration working to whitewash the history of crimes of the USA during the Vietnam War and create another 'Noble Cause' myth...
Responding to the lies and distortions of President Obama concerning the US war in Vietnam, and his phony “commemoration” of those Americans who fought in the war, John Marciano has written a short, but incisive . . .
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Social Justice Unionism vs. Contract Unionism... again... How badly is this false dichotomy weakening the Chicago Teachers Union in the current financial and contract fights?...
A few months ago, I wrote a piece that was published in Substance, arguing that the distinction between “social justice unionism” and “contract unionism” was a false dichotomy (www.substnacenews.net/articles.php?page=5911§ion=Article), and putting it in dichotomous terms . . .
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'Get up, get down, Chicago is a union town!'...Logan Square backs CTU in April 1 events... Parents, students, teachers mobilize at the Logan Square Eagle on the way to downtown rally...
A cacophony of bleeping horns, loud chants and the sound of footsteps reverberated off Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square on Friday, April 1, 2016 as the neighborhood mobilized to support the Chicago Teachers Union in . . .
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Sanders campaign hosts huge event on eve of Illinois voting... Thousands packed the Auditorium Theater in Chicago's Loop late on March 14 to rally in support of Bernie Sanders...
Thousands of people assembled and stood for hours on Wabash Avenue under the �el� tracks in Chicago on Monday evening, March 14, 2016, waiting to hear Bernie Sanders�and when the doors were finally opened, the . . .
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Movie Review: Michael Moore's latest may be his best ever... 'Every American should see this movie... staring with high school students...'
Michael Moore�s new movie, �Where to Invade Next� is not what you�d expect from Moore. It is not some jeremiad against US nefariousness somewhere around the world, nor is it an enraged assault on capitalism, . . .
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Review... The Activist�s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, 2nd Edition, by Randy Shaw.
Review... The Activist�s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, 2nd Edition, by Randy Shaw, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2013, Reviewed by Kim Scipes... The emerging social justice activism and . . .
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Social Justice Unionism...Social Justice Unionism vs. Contract Unionism: A False Dichotomy...
The on-going debate in CORE and the Chicago Teachers Union about social justice unionism vs. contract unionism � perhaps using different terminology � seems to have pushed people into different sides, with perhaps some frustration . . .
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Students, Parents, Community Members, and Local Politicians Rally, Oppose Cuts to Programs and Staff at Kelvyn Park High School; Condemn Mayor Emanuel and Chicago Board of Education...
Students returning to school on Tuesday, September 8, 2015, at Kelvyn Park High School (4343 W. Wrightwood) in the Hermosa neighborhood of Chicago were greeted by a spirited demonstration supporting their efforts to get a . . .
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Iran teachers deserve our support... 'The General Secretary of the Iran Teachers� Trade Association, Mr. Esmail Abdi, has been refused permission to leave Iran after being invited to the 7th World Congress of Education International...'
Iranian Teachers have been trying to build their own unions to support education in Iran, their students and themselves. The General Secretary of the Iran Teachers� Trade Association, Mr. Esmail Abdi, has been refused permission . . .
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BOOK REVIEW: A practical guide for tackling health hazards...
[Editor's Note: The following review by Kim Scipes originally was published by Labor Notes and is reprinted here at Substance with permission of the writer. The URL is: equested: http://labornotes.org/blogs/2015/07/review-practical-guide-tackling-factory-hazards . George N. Schmidt, Editor, . . .
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Parent mentoring program highlighted... Antidote to Cynicism: Parent Mentoring Program Graduates 603 Parent Mentors for in-Classroom Student/Teacher Support
Covering education-related activities in Chicago � with clowns like Mayor 1%, the Chicago School Board or its �Chief Executive Officers� � can make one extremely cynical. Extremely fast. The corruption, the phoniness, the hypocrisy is . . .
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Standing room only for Sue Sadlowski Garza, Karen Lewis, Chuy Garcia, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders... Jammed Steelworkers union hall as the 10th Ward turns out in celebration, determination to elect Garza alderman on April 7....
An announced rally in Chicago�s 10th Ward � in the Southeast corner of the city � filled to standing room only as people of the 10th Ward strongly turned out to support the aldermanic campaign . . .
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REVIEWS: �There�s somethin� happenin� here, What it is ain�t exactly clear�... Reviews of 'Latin America�s Radical Left: Challenges and Complexities of Political Power in the Twenty-first Century' and 'We Created Chavez: A People�s History, A People's History of the Venezuelan Revolution'...
�There�s somethin� happenin� here, What it is ain�t exactly clear� (Stephen Stills): A Review of Latin America�s Radical Left: Challenges and Complexities of Political Power in the Twenty-first Century, edited by Steve Ellner (Rowman and . . .
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Traced back to Rahm Emanuel's NATO security frenzy... Protesters Target Chicago Police Department 'Black Site' at Homan Square; Demand that City 'Shut it Down!'
About 200 protesters rallied on February 28, 2015, at the Chicago Police Department�s �black site� at Homan Square, 3379 W. Fillmore (next to Homan Avenue) on a cold, but sunny day. The racially mixed but . . .
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MEDIA WATCH: Homan Square Police Site and the Mainstream Media�s Lack of Concern: Chicago Media Exposed for its Deceitfulness
We all know we�re not supposed to lie. As every adult knows, and as most teenagers figure out as well, there are two types of lies: lies of commission and lies of omission. Lies of . . .
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Chuy comes to Logan Square for massive rally on March 12... As the huge Logan Square auditorium filled to its more than 700 capacity, the candidate told the excited crowd, 'The Coalition of Chicago is Back!'
Showing Chicago a whole different concept of governing, and an appreciation for the people of our city, mayoral candidate Chuy Garcia came to Logan Square on March 12th and received a enthusiastic welcome from the . . .
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Bernie Sanders, the U.S. Senate's only socialist, will be in Chicago April 2 join Chuy Garcia to support Sue Sadlowski Garza out in the 10th ward...
US Senator Bernie Sanders is coming to Chicago on Thursday, April 2nd, to support the campaign of Susan Sadlowski Garza for Alderman of the 10th Ward, and Jesus �Chuy� Garcia for Mayor of Chicago. Garza, . . .
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[Book Review] Strike Back: Using the Militant Tactics of Labor's Past to Reignite Public Sector Unionism Today
A Review of Strike Back: Using the Militant Tactics of Labor's Past to Reignite Public Sector Unionism Today by Joe Burns ... Brooklyn, NY: IG Publishing ISBN: 978-1-935439-89-9 (paperback)... The book costs about $17 in . . .
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BOOK REVIEW: Hardhats, Hippies and Hawks: The Vietnam Antiwar Movement as Myth and Memory by Penny Lewis
Penny Lewis has written an important book about the Vietnam antiwar movement, challenging important myths and received memories that have affected US politics ever since. The myth�on which much �received wisdom� is based�is that it . . .
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BOOK REVIEW: How corrupt is Illinois?... '...between 1976 and 2012, the Northern District of Illinois (which includes Chicago) was the single jurisdiction responsible for the greatest number of corruption convictions in the country: there were 1,597 [federal corruption] convictions...'
Just released in time for the Chicago City elections, Corrupt Illinois is a must-read for anyone interested in politics and governance in this state, not only in Chicago, but especially the suburbs and across the . . .
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'Social Movement Unionism', 'Social Justice Unionism,' or some other understanding... Disentangling Theoretical Confusion within the Global Labor Movement
[Editor's Note: With the recent decision by the Washington Post, not generally a friend of labor unions, to feature a lengthy essay by Milwaukee's Bob Peterson, and the attempts by some in the Chicago Teachers . . .
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Four of the five Mayoral Candidates Respond to Questionnaire Regarding Bi-lingual Education in CPS Schools� Mayor 1% Doesn�t Respond� Parent Mentors from Four Schools Discuss its Importance
Parent Mentors�people who work in schools to support students and teachers�in programs sponsored by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) on the Northwest Side of Chicago got four of the five mayoral candidates to respond . . .
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Bringing the War Back Home, Courtesy of the Chicago Police Department: �Black Site� Used in Chicago; Local Press 'Uninterested'
An explosive article about CPD�s use of a �black site� to hide, isolate and sometimes torture people in Chicago has just been published by Stuart Ackerman of �The Guardian� newspaper. (The full article is at . . .
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January 16 Chicago Mayor Campaign Forum Has Two �Missing in Action� (Chuy and Rahm)... Those Present Spoke Eloquently
Arriving 30 minutes late to campaign forum at UIC�s Student Service Building on Friday, January 16, 2015, there were two things immediately noticeable when I walked into the room: only three candidates were present, while . . .
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�US, Ukraine and Russia: What Went Wrong?� A talk by John Mearsheimer and Rick Rozoff, Evanston, Illinois, January 10, 2015
Two widely recognized authorities on big power politics and NATO recently gave a public talk on the current situation in the Ukraine at the Evanston (Illinois) Public Library. Organized by the Evanston Neighbors for Peace, . . .
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PA court rules in favor of teachers against Philadelphia 'reform' commission's attempt to unilaterally end contract
A Pennsylvania state court ruled on January 23, 2015 against the Philadelphia "School Reform Commission" on the question of whether the commission could unilaterally terminate a teacher union contract. In October, the SRC had unilaterally . . .
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National Writers Union 'Read-in' on September 6 at Powell's on Halsted
Next Saturday, September 6, 2014, the Chicago Chapter of the National Writers Union will hold a �Read In� (something like a �Teach In�) at the Powell�s Book Store on Halsted, just south of Roosevelt Road . . .
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Logan Square parties for neighborhood schools, withstands downpour, and celebrates Karen Lewis� anticipated run for Mayor of Chicago
Everyone �knows� that Latinos don�t care about education. Yet anyone who thinks that Latinos don�t care about education hasn�t met LSNA (Logan Square Neighborhood Association) and its� supporters in the Logan Square neighborhood on the . . .
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BOOK REVIEW of Naomi Klein's 'This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate' '...You know your government has failed when your grandma starts to riot�... Naomi Klein's new book
�You know your government has failed when your grandma starts to riot�: A Review of Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014). ISBN: 978-1-4516-9738-4 --Reviewed by Kim . . .
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'Block the Boat' gets support from ILWU members at port... Oakland protests stop ship over Gaza attacks by Israel
Approximately 3,000-5,000 people mobilized in Oakland on Saturday, August 16, to support the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) in its efforts to �Block the Boat,� an Israeli ship trying to unload in Oakland. The . . .
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Labor 'read in' September 6... The Chicago Chapter of the National Writers Union is having a Labor Read-in on Saturday, September 6 to honor those who work and/or are members of unions.
Next Saturday, September 6, 2014, the Chicago chapter of the National Writers Union will hold a "Read In' (something like a "Teach In") at the Powell's Book Store at 18th and Halsted in Chicago. This . . .
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'Marine Military Academy' takes over another school building... Community bids farewell to Ames Middle School
Following the Logan Square Neighborhood Association�s (LSNA) annual convention, held at Funston Elementary School (Central Park and Armitage on Chicago�s Northwest Side) on May 20, 2014, about 300 people marched down Armitage Avenue to Ames . . .
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LET US TEACH! Teachers, Parents and Community Members Agree... Standardized Tests Suck, and Get in the Way of Educating Students
Between 150-200 teachers, parents and community members joined in a militant rally outside the CPS Network #7 (Pilsen-Little Village) office at 501 W. 35th Street in Bridgeport on Monday, March 10. They were there to . . .
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Ames struggle continues as voters vote two to one in support of the real Ames... Logan Square voters slap down phony claims of Alderman Maldonado, Mayor Emanuel, Board President Vitale and his minions, CPS 'CEO' Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Military Programs 'Director' Todd Connor
Fighting to keep Ames Middle School a neighborhood school, voters in precincts around Ames voted overwhelmingly against Ames being converted to a selective enrollment Marine Military Academy -- as desired by the powers-that-be -- in . . .
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Ames continues fight against militarization despite Board of Education vote, mendacity from Alderman Roberto Maldonado
Despite the vote of the Chicago Board of Education on December 18, 2013, to change Ames Middle School into a military academy featuring the United States Marine Corps, parents, teachers, students and neighbors of the . . .
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RAHMSWORLD: Keeping Chicago divided with new racist divide-and-conquer tactics for the 21st Century
The pages of Substance have long been filled with reports about Rahm Emanuel, otherwise known as "Mayor 1%." We�ve reported on his rants, his publicity stunts, his lies, his destroying the Chicago Public Schools so . . .
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH: National Writers Union to host African American writers 'Read In' on Saturday, February 22, 2014 in Chicago's Beverly community
The National Writers Union PRESENTS an "African American Read-In" on Saturday, February 22, 2014 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm in Chicago's Beverly community. The event will be held at the Reformation Lutheran Church, 11310 S. . . .
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Ames Community Assembles at CPS Headquarters: We Demand Open, Transparent and Democratic Decision-making; Respect for the Students; and Keep Our School a Neighborhood School!
Those troublesome parents, students and neighborhood supporters of Ames Middle School (1921 N. Hamlin in Logan Square) � the �SAVE AMES COMMITTEE!� � showed up to again pressure the Chicago Board of Education to treat . . .
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MEDIA WATCH: The Memories Return: Government Spying Redux as New York Times reports on how the public learned of COINTELPRO, FBI spying on dissidents, including Martin Luther King Jr.
On the front page of the New York Times on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, there was an important article: several people who had liberated FBI documents that contained details on domestic spying against the �New . . .
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'Creatively bankrupt!...' Tennessee Students debunk Common Core on videos
High school students at Farragut High School in Knox County, Tenn. are receiving widespread attention for eloquent speeches they made against Common Core at a school board meeting. Two students' speeches were presented on You . . .
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Ames continues fight against invasion from the Marine Military Academy with petition drive on Saturday, January 25 and organizing for a referendum vote on March 18
After what most parents, students and teachers at Ames Middle school have decided is a temporary setback in their fight to keep the school as a middle school for the community, the "Save Ames Committee" . . .
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'No Military Coup at Ames!' A Conversation with Women at Ames Middle School
On Friday, December 6, 2013, this reporter met with a number of parents in a collective meeting at Ames Middle School, at Armitage (2000 North) and Hamlin (3800 West), in Chicago. I had been reading . . .
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'You Haven�t Seen Disrespect Until You�ve Seen CPS Disrespect...' Lies, More Lies and No Grease at McAuliffe Elementary School Meeting
On Wednesday night, December 11, 2013, the CPS Office of Family and Community Engagement held a �community meeting� to discuss �Boundary Changes and Grade Expansion� from 6-8 pm at McAuliffe Elementary School (1841 N. Springfield�3900 . . .
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Rahm's fascism -- a reminder... Wexler movie documents NATO in Chicago 2012
Mayor 1% (Rahm Emanuel) invited the G-8 (the Group of 8 most economically powerful countries in the world) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to meet in Chicago in May 2012. Needless to say, this . . .
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High energy mobilization draws 2,000 to 'Take Back Chicago'
On a rainy night, in the shadows of the Chicago Loop, approximately 2,000 community activists and unionists joined together at the UIC Forum on October 15, 2013, for an inspiring political mobilization that involved people . . .
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September 11?... Chile 1973, Chicago 2013: 40 Years of Neo-liberal attacks on our societies
What do you think of when you hear the term “9-11”? September 11. A date. Does it remind you of the attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, or the attack on the Pentagon, or . . .
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War Overseas, Social Devastation at Home... An Evening with Iraq Veterans Against the War
As part of their national convention in Chicago, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) presented a public form titled “21St Century American Militarism: Occupation Abroad and Resistance at Home” at the Chicago Temple on August . . .
BOOK REVIEW: History needed to understand current events, a review of 'Kill Everything that Moves'
[Editor's Note: As classical readers of Substance know, Substance began publication in 1975 - 1976 as the publication of S.U.B.S., Substitutes United for Better Schools. Our roots, including the format for the tabloid newspaper, were . . .
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Letter: More materials on line providing the anti-war perspective about the Wars
March 23, 2008
Substance:
As we “celebrate” the 5th anniversary of W’s war, there are two things I want to draw your attention to if I may.
1) On March 13-16, 2008, . . .
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'Getting on the Bus for Justice' ... Veterans from Chicago and Northwest Indiana participate in 'Winter Soldier' hearings in Washington, D.C.
“Oh-dark-thirty”: military slang for “very early in the morning.” I remembered it as I delivered my wife, Hans Buwalda, to the Midwest regional office of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) at Diversey and Kimball . . .
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