Black Friday – A Day of Resistance

Contrary to what the media tells us, Black Friday is not about shopping. The real Black Friday was about resistance, as on May 13, 1960 students in San Francisco stood up to the powerful House SubCommittee on UnAmerican activities which blacklisted and attempted to destroy the lives of countless creative and critical voices in the United States. The police turned the fire hoses on them and the crowd struggled to hold their ground. In the courtroom they sang and they chanted “We Shall Not be Moved!” That is the real story of Black Friday!

Cuban Blogger Crackdown

Part of visiting the US and my homestate of New Jersey, means constant visting friends and quality family time, hence the reduced posting.

I did want to point out the issue of the Cuban bloggers and a recent crackdown on their work and collective activities.? I’ve noticed reports about this on Global Voices and then recently Marc Cooper wrote a piece on it for Mother Jones:

Havana-based writer Yoani Sanchez was recently named by Time magazine as one the 100 most influential people in the world, and she won the 2008 Ortega y Gasset award for digital journalism. But that didn’t stop Cuban authorities from directly threatening her with jail last week.

Reading the content on the Cuban blogs, highlighted on GV, you’ll see statements by government agents who confronted the bloggers with threats and warnings that they had overstepped their freedoms, being accused of being on the side of so-called counter-revolutionaries.

It is, to a limited extent, surprising that the Cuban government is going about things this way. Especially when they could have built some momentum towards being more open domestically and internationally, to free-speech, self-criticism, and new ways of communicating in general.? When Raul first took the reigns, little things the the availability of mobile phones and some change in travel restrictions may have been a sign of a new direction to come. Alas, when it comes to blogging and citizen reporters, they’ve taken a sharp turn in the wrong direction.

Still technology and the voices using technology, will find a way.