Apr 2, 2005

Tom DeLay and his compassionate medicaid budget solution.

The 1965 Selma, Ala., events were a milestone in the great struggle for liberation. With the overthrow of Reconstruction in 1877, it had been a long, bloody road of struggle against the system of Jim Crow and Klan rule. The South was a haven for corporate profits because of its apartheid system, which also kept unions out and wages low. The Klan, the ultimate organized terrorist group, was the enforcer of this fascist-like system. Those who did resist were subjected to the murderous activity of the Klan.

The tragic, history-making events of “Bloody Sunday,” on March 7, 1965, in Selma, Ala., ultimately freed the vote for millions of African Americans. Forty years later, as we reflect on the march that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we are also reminded that more than 2 million African Americans continue to be denied the right to vote by one of the vestiges of American slavery.

“Silent Waters,” a film by Sabiha Sumar (in Punjabi with English subtitles), is set in 1979 Pakistan, when General Zia-ul-Haq took control of the country and stoked the fires of Islamic nationalism.

NEW YORK — The 3rd Annual South Asia Human Rights Film & Video Festival opens here April 7. The three-day festival features dynamic full-length films and documentaries by South Asian directors and independent filmmakers, throwing light on issues such as HIV/AIDS, women’s rights, sexuality, peace and conflict. Film directors and human rights activists will join the discussion after each screening.

CHICAGO — The nation’s largest, longest and oldest film festival will be held here April 8-20 at the Landmark, Piper’s Alley, and Facets theaters. The 21st Chicago Latino Film Festival’s 58 features and 81 shorts, representing a total of 44 countries, will be premiered.

There’s a moment in “The Take,” a recent Canadian documentary about the Popular People’s Power Movement in Argentina, that really grabs you.

Chicago, LA, St. Louis, Tucson,

WASHINGTON — Después de meses organizando y una huelga de hambre de nueve días en la cual dos estudiantes tuvieron que ir al hospital, una alianza laboral-estudiantil en la Universidad Georgetown ganó una tremenda victoria con implicaciones nacionales dicen los organizadores.

Un informe en el número de marzo/abril de la revista Health Affairs (Asuntos de Salud) estima que mueren 83.570 negros cada año como resultado directo del trato diferente entre los negros y blancos. El informe, cuyo autor es el ex cirujano general David Satcher, apunta a las “desigualdades penetrantes sociales, económicas y en el sistema de salud norteamericano”. El informe acusa al sistema médico de lucro por fallar a proveer servicios básicos a un gran segmento de la población estadounidense.