¡Solidaridad!
Our Solidarity
Shall Not Be Broken
A Note to Our Visitors
The Other OZ attended Monday's March and Rally in the urban heart of Springdale,
one of the hardest working cities in Arkansas.
&
We were inspired [again] by the enthusiasm of a nascent movement for Freedom & Justice,
a movement sharply attuned to the dignity of essential workers in poultry farms and factories of Northwest Arkansas.
⚫
Fearless activists
for just and fair human rights
— out front and visible —
marched in unity along busy city streets
⚫ peaceful, colorful, determined
on the afternoon of 31 March.
The Other OZ counted about 300 marchers.
Their civic action speaks to the essence of US democracy.
&
Splendidly organized,
emotionally compelling,
& downright enjoyable
the event — designed and orchestrated by volunteers under guidance of Social Justice champion Venceremos —
strengthens an emerging NWA coalition
committed to countering hate with love
&
ready to challenge at every twist 'n turn
the unethical, inhumane acts
of Old Man Orange & his Jumping Jack Boer
— money-mad men of a Dark Storm
rent by authoritarian power.
So,
to the MAGA women & men
— in league with crypto White Nationalism —
bent on demonizing immigrants & migrants
To them we shout:
Hell No!
¡Diablos, no!
In the streets we chant:
¡Sí podemos!
Yes We Can!
& today we announce:
Estamos listos.
We are ready. Bring it on.
Keep Families Together
First Step:
Rally for the Cause
The marchers,
preparing, gathered under a pavilion roof and along a sloping grassland at Murphy Park.
A band of three
musicians played traditional songs in the Spanish language.
Actors from Workers Theater
gathered behind a mock chicken line to dramatize the debilitating, oft dangerous work conditions at Tyson Foods.
Rousing speeches
by human rights activists urged the demonstrators to action.
First
a purposeful calm, quiet & serious. We were getting ready.
Then,
time to gather for marching orders.
Volunteer marshals,
allies and poultry workers, rustled the throng into squiggly lines. An excited chorus of voices fired the moment with anticipation.
Not long it was
until the lines morphed into good order, everyone in their places, chants practiced, mojigangas lifted toward the heavens, drummer boys pounding out a rhythm with their bamboo sticks on brightly adorned drums.
Helpful and polite,
the Springdale Police positioned their vehicles, lights flashing, to lead and protect the marchers from the bustling traffic.
And just like that,
Marchers for Freedom & Justice,
Human Rights & Dignity
◠ ◡
stepped proudly into the bustle of a city hard at work.
a n d
There's More
At times we move slowly here at our wooded retreat in the Ozark Highlands of far-west Arkansas.
Telling the story of Social Justice demands much and rewards much. We want to tell it right.
Posting to the World Wide Web
just after midnight on the first night of April,
we couldn't wait — and yes, there's more to report about Venceremos's Rally & March.
It's a story worth the telling. We shall carry on with the necessary task.
VWhat follows now
is our February report
about another Protest-Demonstration
in Springdale, a city of nearly one hundred thousand — the Latino vortex of Arkansas
&
if you stick around for the deep scroll,
you can peruse The Other Oz's draft document:
Manifesto for Universal Justice.
S
Ebenezer Baldwin Bowles
09:36 on 4 April 2025
A demonstration
about the meaning of liberty
— a gray, windy
winter afternoon
— out front
fearless
on the city streets
the peaceful demonstrators
A wonderful event to witness !
courage & a congenial spirit
— a neighborhood of toil and dreams
— unity & purpose
in the raw face of an ill wind.
They & Them & We & All
at the
Immigration Demonstration
inspire renewed commitment
to Social Justice activism
here at the Sanctuary of
The Other Oz.
You?
Everyone desires
a sanctuary,
a safe place of peace.
Saturday it was
— the 8th to be precise —
on the east side
of a busy urban avenue
&
at
an hour & a half past noon
we quickly count 1 hundred 20,
likely more in the throng
— animated, purposeful
chanting, singing, dancing
— hand-crafted posters rise, dip
sway side-to-side
— a primal rhythm of spontaneous unity
on full and powerful display
for the parade of passengers to see.
We witness ⌘ grace & awe
youthful USA citizens
stepping forward in public
to exercise a special Right:
Freedom of Speech.
The activists
gracefully
came together a thin line
a good 100 yds long
— to the North a powerful system
of traffic control
green - yellow - red
Sunset & Thompson
the Main Drag
thousands of motor vehicles
passing by
&
to the South
⛓ trouble & toil ⛓
ok alright
but not here now
no trouble & toil today
instead
at the Demonstration
energetic little ones
protected by
a shoulder-to-shoulder line
of watchful elders
Gathered, naturally
as children do
in the safe spaces,
away from the roar of engines
& played together
precious & innocent
☨
cartwheels little flags in hand
three or four whirling in a circle
running joyfully into the sharp wind
safe in good hands
in the Worker-Strong Vortex
of Latino Power in Arkansas USA.
Allies
Immigrants
Americans
Friday 14 February 2025
Our report about last Saturday's Immigration Demonstration ends — but only for now.
The struggle against injustice n’er ends.
With good fortune and stamina, we shall return to reflect again on 8 February 2025's special event on the hard-nosed streets of Springdale Arkansas USA.
&
a special shout-out to bobbyxwilliams,
“a proud Honduran” born in the USA.
Bobby organized the Immigration Demonstration.
&
You are invited to continue to learn about the mission of The Other Oz.
Here begins the latest version
of an everchanging
Manifesto for Universal Justice.
Hello, World!
Glad U R here.
The Other OZ
presents for your scrutiny
a shared space
for citizens, rebels, outlaws —
in other words, activists and advocates
who participate in the Public Arena,
United States of America,
with fearless determination.
The Other OZ hosts
a Cyber Vortex
for Lady Justice XI
& Her Champions.
Perhaps you are one —
a Champion of Justice for The Other,
knowing we R each The Other.
One in Chains,
None Break Free.
◈
If so,
join us as we share words & images,
re:
• Coalitions
• Visionaries
• Street-Wise Activists
• Concepts
• Definitions
• News
• Papers T L D R
[ & other manifestations
of public discourse ]
Today, 14 February 2025,
we continue our participation
in the collective struggle
for Social Justice Won & Gained —
&
to our friends amongst The Others
&
also to comrades, associates, allies
know this:
You are welcome here.
⌘
Let us rise-up & raise up
A Coalition of Knowledge
& a portal of timely information
to inform the sure-to-come struggle
against the authoritarian's storm —
knowing tempests already blow strong
against ramparts of Freedom.
⌗
From the unified voice we create,
wrought by a diverse chorus
of doers & thinkers,
each devoted to a unique perspective
on the meaning of Social Justice,
we at The Other Oz pledge
to create in the late hours ahead
a Manifesto for Universal Justice.
Perhaps, maybe
the others we champion
are invisible to the Greater Throng.
Being invisible is naught new.
Yearn to be seen.
⧝
Perhaps, maybe
the Seal of Approval
from the ubiquitous upper echelon
got lost in the mail,
or distorted in the fractured mirrors
of Zeroes ’n Ones.
Embrace the challenges.
☄
Perhaps, maybe
noble ambitions to communicate
are shuffled aside
by demands — equitable demands —
wrought by participation in the
Doom & Gloom
of daily life as an Activist.
Keep the faith.
So,
Eternal Morning awaits us,
knowing
we are just another of The Other
&
the voices afire in our shared Cyber Universe
are already too many to count —
YES it be.
& So it be.
& So what.
We move ahead.
Let us, then,
walking in our own ways,
pour determination
into our Passion for Justice
&
continue the struggle
against injustice,
& for a living wage,
& against mass incarceration,
& for unity & equality,
& against corporate greed,
& for protection of Planet Earth,
& against L G B T Q I A + discrimination,
& for The End of Genocide
in Occupied Palestine,
& for an Israel without existential threat,
& forever in favor of P E A C E .
Speak out & protest,
persuade & educate,
litigate & dream —
as necessary or as dutifully required.
Activists, advocates all:
political, social,
determined & united.
Are we The Other?
Come see.
freedom
The Other Oz
shines a bright light
of love and compassion
on activists and actions
in our community in Northwest Arkansas.
Our stories are linked below in an ever-emerging array of categories, each displayed as a banner, each banner an attempt to identify one vital outreach among an Array of Many & each in service to Justice. Submissions of text or imagery are invited.
A Diffractive Song: Social Justice from a Feminist Quantum Physics by Claire X Freeman
The idea to bring forth The Other Oz surfaced from a Call to Action…
⚅ ⚅
To Be Othered
“It needs to be framed more broadly under the umbrella of White Nationalism. The reason for that is because Racism is one lane, but when you're talking about White Nationalism, now you invite Xenophobia, you invite a number of different -isms into the picture to Other other people.
“And the reason why that becomes critical is because it's not just a conversation that Black people or Haitian people or people who are dark-skinned Dominicans or dark-skinned Cubans need to be worried about. It is a conversation that if you are not a wealthy, straight, White male, you can be Othered under this notion of White Nationalism. It is a virus that spreads. • • • •
“You have to expand the framing so that people understand this is not just a racial issue that extends to people who might appear to be Haitian in some way. This is something that potentially has the ability to affect all of us who can be Othered.”
Charles Coleman
Alex Wagner Tonight | MSNBC TV
19 September 2024
We R
each 'n all of us
an us,
even when we R alone,
&
in a trying Time
none of us
shall be alone
in the Arena
'cause
we R
a Coalition of the fearless
&
We say
“Got your back.”
!
T R A N S P A R E N C Y
•
Hand of Glory
the image shown below exists as an incomplete form, ever under refinement Z but ready ’nuff Z to be displayed as a symbol of Social Justice
[version 7 of 23 january 2025]
• • •
the original woodcut [ from which ] our image is revitalized reaches back into the 1720s, to a printmaking commune in Cologne the south of France, and is named Hand of Glory as published in Secrets merceilleux de la magie naturelle et cabalistique de Petit Albert by way of Henry Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim
• • •
the woodcut depicts the gibbeted hand of a criminal condemned to punishment for robbery
• • •
the severed fist with its candle alight — when placed outside a reconnoitered house in the darkness of night — glows & flickers to signal shadow creepers searching for loot: rob here!
• • •
so, we study and meditate about the metamorphosis of a gibbeted hand into a secret invitation, an occult act of darkly defiance by The Others, an UP YOURS! to the State which binds us
• • •
and then, we re-purpose the Hand of Glory into a symbol of Guiding Light for men and women in quest of their natural-born freedom
• • •
LIGHT to escape the iron grip of a State hellbent on mass incarceration and wage penury
• • •
LIGHT to break away from the self-righteous hands of private zealots
• • •
LIGHT to chart an equitable path to economic liberation from capitalist oppression
• • •
these Acts of Self become a necessary achievement as — united in purpose — we enter into the throes of a struggle for Justice
• • •
choppy seas at the bow & broken promises astern & profound opportunity for good somewhere ahead …&… within reach.
Is it?
Justice.
• • •
Ebenezer Baldwin Bowles
13 February 2025
The rural Ozark Highlands of western Arkansas
f
Be Strong
Be Many
Be True
The bits 'n bytes of The Other OZ reside on the World Wide Web as free members of the Domain CornDancer, a non-commercial platform for activists, creators, thinkers and doers — any & all advocates for the common good. Launched twenty-five years ago, CornDancer remains a tradition-honed, post-mod electronic venue — wrought bought & paid-for by one anonymous & ongoing gift. Hello World!
;
We invite you to visit again.
We also invite you to contribute
— NOT money —
but images or text or both if you so desire.
Social Justice has causes abounding.
May activists be strong.
May activists be many.
May our hearts be true.
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