World Day for Audiovisual Heritage: NYU Unveils “Lost” Films Of The Communist Party USA

Below is a press release from New York University about an event they are hosting this weekend. The Tamiment Library will be showing a number of extremely rare films from the collection of the Communist Party USA this Saturday as part of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. The films were donated to the library by the CPUSA as part of a larger gift in 2006. Go check out the event, but don't forget to join us for the United for Peace & Justice march and demonstration first!

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New York City, October 18 — The United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has established October 27, 2007 as the first-annual World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. To commemorate this event, New York University’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program and NYU Libraries are proud to present a showcase of rare 16 mm films from the Communist Party USA Collection.

The screening will be the first public glimpse into a landmark collection donated by the Communist Party USA to the University’s Tamiment Library & Wagner Labor Archives in 2006. The eight short films selected for this program will raise eyebrows and challenge stereotypes by offering fresh perspectives on everyday life in the Communist world.

What does it take to be a teenage Cosmonaut? How did camerawork convey meaning in propaganda films of South Vietnam? What music was popular on the far side of the Berlin Wall? What kind of future did the Communists foresee for an independent Angola?

Find the answers in

TEENAGE COSMONAUTS (USSR, 1980);

GOING UP THE LINE (South Vietnam, c. 1969);

ANGELA DAVIS REPORT (East Germany, 1972);

WHAT THE WAGE PACKET DOES NOT SHOW (East Germany, 1978);

WE NEVER TIRE OF SPEAKING ABOUT MOTHER (USSR, 1975);

MOSCOW OLYMPICS (USSR, 1980);

THE VOICE OF FREE ANGOLA (USSR, c. 1976);

and NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATION (China, 1959).

With this screening, NYU Libraries and the MIAP Program hope to raise local awareness about the significance of moving image collections to cultural history and collective memory. The program will also highlight challenges faced by today’s moving image archivists, from conserving obsolete formats and prolonging the life of decaying materials, to addressing the ethics of preservation for works historically underrepresented by governments and media conglomerates.

UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is hosted by New York University on October 27, 2007 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM at the Languages and Literature Building, 19 University Place, Room 102. The event is free and open to the public. For additional information on the event, contact:

Sarah Ziebell
New York University

(212) 998-2692
ziebell@nyu.edu
www.avheritage.com


About UNESCO — The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was established as a specialized agency of the UN in 1945. UNESCO works to promote international collaboration through education, science and culture, and to promote universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the UN Charter.


About NYU’s Moving Image Archiving And Preservation (MIAP)Program — MIAP is a two-year M.A. program that trains future professionals to manage preservation-level collections of film, video, new media, and other types of digital works, providing an international, comprehensive education in the theories, methods, and practices of moving image archiving and preservation.

NYC Taxi Workers Prepare for Another Strike, Monday Oct 22

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) has called another one-day strike of cab drivers in the city for Monday, Oct 22. The strike will begin at 5:00 am and run for 24 hours. The strike follows a successful two-day strike last month to protest a new policy mandating Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in cabs by the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). Drivers say GPS will further cut into their meager earnings and invade their privacy.

The new strike makes additional demands including health and pension benefits for taxi workers, and union recognition and the resignation. Even the editorial board of the New York Daily News now supports the cabbies' demands.

NYTWA is a member of the New York City Central Labor Council.

Passengers and other supporters can help in many ways:

1) Call 311, New York City's information and service line and voice your support for cab drivers and opposition to the GPS system.

2) Introduce resolutions in support for the strike in your union, church, community group, etc.

3) Attend the rally in support of cab drivers at 12:00 noon, Mon, Oct 22 at TLC headquarters, 40 Rector Street, Manhattan. Bring signs like, "New Yorkers Stand with its cab Drivers" and "Passengers Against GPS Tracking."

4) And don't hail any taxis on Monday! Show your solidarity by not crossing the picket line.

For more information and to get leaflets, volunteer, etc., visit the website of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance

Ground Zero Fire, Deaths Spur Questions

By Bill Davis

NEW YORK — Six years after the 9/11 attack, the fog of profiteering, corruption and secrecy continues to whirl around the demolition and reconstruction of the World Trade Center site.

The latest deaths in the ongoing tragedy were those of two firefighters killed fighting a fire in the adjacent Deutsche Bank building in August this year. Even as those deaths were being memorialized, two more firefighters were injured in a construction accident at the site. The building was so badly contaminated and damaged on Sept. 11, 2001, that both decontamination and demolition are needed.

A cigarette butt left by construction workers ignited debris causing the deadly fire. Fire standpipes had apparently been cut or damaged by subcontractors so water didn’t flow to the fire hoses.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has tried to blame the deaths on three high-ranking fire department officers who were said to have failed to have the building inspected or develop a plan for fighting a fire at the site. Firefighters have said they were discouraged from doing proper fire safety inspections by the city and demolition contractors.

Another factor contributing to the tragedy may have been subcontracting the demolition “on the cheap” to the John Galt Corp., an entity made up of executives of Safeway Environmental, a company criticized by New York City investigators because of ties to organized crime. The John Galt Corp. also has ties to Bloomberg’s administration.

Another subcontractor, North American Site Developers, Inc., indicated that it withdrew from the project after its president got an anonymous telephone threat.

The New York Daily News reports that state officials knew all along that yet another company, Rapid Demolition, with a history of worksite fires, was actually working on the demolition under subcontract to Safeway Environmental.

John Galt Corp. has since been fired.

Although the fire released toxic contaminants into the air of lower Manhattan, Bloomberg and city officials quickly gave an all-clear on air safety.

On this Sept. 11, the federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered the Deutsche Bank building sealed and all demolition work halted pending a full investigation and a new plan for safe cleanup.

First responders involved in rescue and search efforts at the WTC site, as well as area residents, say they have ongoing concerns about asbestos and other toxic pollutants in the air. The fears have been made stronger by high rates of illness and death suffered by those working and living in the area, and by public officials’ secret planning for rebuilding the site. Many cite the dissemination of false information by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Bush administration officials in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, claiming that the area was safe when in fact it was not.

Many say the main driving motive in this continuing drama has been the profits to be made from some of the world’s most valuable real estate. The scramble to get at least some part of the profits and the uncertainties of the real estate market, with the threat of a big downturn in the near future, has produced both an unseemly haste to move forward (running roughshod over sensibilities of victims’ families) and protracted struggles for control among city, state and federal agencies and developers (which have slowed down the rebuilding process considerably).

City officials have several times declared the search for victims’ body fragments complete in order to fast-forward demolition and rebuilding, only to be forced to retreat after further discoveries. Victims’ friends and relatives have had to press for a suitable monument to be included in the plans. Ceremonies to mark the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks were forced away from Ground Zero so that the events would not interfere with construction.

This article was first published by the People's Weekly World.

Principal's Arrest Highlights Problem of School Police

Yesterday's arrest of a New York City high school principal and his 17-year-old student is just the latest of incidents involving "school safety officers" in City schools. The school security officers are managed by the city's police department and not the Department of Education, and have a history of excessive force, arbitrariness, and focus on punitive measures instead of problem-solving.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) published a report on the behavior of the school safety officers and their many misdeeds, titled "Criminalizing the Classroom: The Overpolicing of New York City Schools." They also point to policy solutions such as returning school safety to the control of the Department of Ed, not the NYPD.

The firing of a popular mentor and counselor at the Community School for Social Justice in the Bronx in May 2007 also showed the vindictive attitude of the school cops. He was barred from the school after bringing observers from the NYCLU to witness the use of metal detectors in his school. Teachers and administrators who have stood up to or tried to protect students from abuse have been, arrested, beaten or even threatened.

It's time for comprehensive reform of New York City's education safety policies and practices, beginning with putting school safety back in the hands of educators.

Iraq Vets Lead Syracuse Peace March

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Peace activists held a historic march and demonstration Sept. 29 here. Nearly 3,000 people participated in the protest called by the Fort Drum chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and hosted by the Syracuse Peace Council, Student Peace Action Network at Syracuse University and the 1199 health care workers union.

The demonstration drew peace activists from around the region, arriving by bus, car and train from Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and many smaller towns.

“We are in the heart and soul of America here,” said Steve Kramer, 1199 union executive vice president, to the assembled crowd. People from “midsize cities and towns have come together to say no more war.”

The antiwar movement is continuing to keep the pressure on the White House and Congress to draw this war to an end. The demonstration was part of building for the 11 regional demonstrations called by United for Peace and Justice for Oct. 27.

“The only thing we should leave in Iraq is money for reparations and rebuilding,” said Elliott Adams, president of Veterans for Peace and resident of Saratoga Springs. “Not only do we need to get out of Iraq, we need to stay out of Iran.”

He and a number of speakers along with signs in the crowd warned against Bush administration threats of aggression against Iran.

“There is a drumbeat coming out of Washington for a possible war with Iran,” said IVAW member and conscientious objector Mike Blake from Binghamton. “But we are not afraid. We are standing up. There will be no endless war.”

Active-duty soldiers who inspired and initiated the protest made the march’s character unique. Fort Drum, which is located an hour and a half north of here, has had more Iraq casualties than any other U.S. base, according to IVAW. Several active-duty soldiers and Iraq veterans marched in the veterans’ contingent that led the march through the streets, carrying the U.S. flag and VFP colors.

Carole Baum of the Syracuse Peace Council, a group with an 80-year history, explained to the World the size and diversity of the protest by saying it is all about supporting the resistance in the military. “We are the nearest large city to Fort Drum.” She hopes that the event will help solidify the collaboration among upstate peace groups, “creating a web of activism where before there were just dots.”

The protesters also made the connection between the war in Iraq and the crisis of U.S. cities and towns.

Tanika Jones of Syracuse Citizen Action spoke about the loss of jobs in the city and the decaying of social services like housing, education and health care. “With the massive amount of money being spent on the war in Iraq, imagine what we could be building right here in our community.” Jones also told the World, “I am from Syracuse and I have never seen anything like this demonstration. Ever.”

As one protester turned to see the march stretch back half a mile or more, he said, “Wow! Right here in Syracuse.”

Derrick Davey, whose son died in Iraq in 2005, summed it all up: “Supporting the troops means bringing them home. It’s that simple.”

This story originally appeared in the pages of the People's Weekly World newspaper:
www.pww.org/article/articleview/11817/1/393