A new documentary, simply titled Asparagus!, gives us big reasons to care about this one little green stalk. The film focuses a magnifying glass on Oceana County, Michigan, the asparagus capital of the world. Over the course of 53 minutes, we meet many of the residents, family farmers, and farm workers for whom asparagus defines life.
The film brings to life our country’s local asparagus industry, while pulling in issues from the local food movement to free trade to the U.S. war on drugs to the struggle of family farmers in an increasing globalized world. As many documentaries do, Asparagus! sets up a David/Goliath conflict: Oceana County’s asparagus community finds itself under serious threat from foreboding forces of the U.S. government’s war on drugs.
In the early 1990s, the government started using U.S. tax dollars to pay Peruvian farmers to grow asparagus instead of coca. Since then, hundreds of American farms have gone out of business. Not only is imported asparagus cheaper, but it’s available year-round – because Peru’s agricultural conditions allow for year-round growth.
For Oceana County, the impact has been particularly damaging. Many family farms have been forced to shut down. The ones still holding on for dear life struggle to compete with cheap imported asparagus.
Unsurprisingly, the so-called war on drugs initiative has done nothing to curb cocaine production or distribution. As one farmer in the film says, it’s not like coca farmers stopped their growing and switched over to asparagus. And why would they, when the cocaine industry is such a lucrative one, mainly due to high demand from the U.S.?
The film also takes on free trade, depicting small farmers whose lives and livelihoods are being greatly impacted by U.S. foreign trade policy.
But the real appeal of the film is that it’s got heart. As we get to know Oceana’s residents and farmers, hear their stories, and learn about their idiosyncratic love for asparagus, it’s hard not to fall in love with the town. Which also makes it hard not to get onboard with their cause.
Asparagus!, the award-winning “stalk-umentary,” is part of the Media That Matters film festival, and was released in its full length on DVD last week. Watch the trailer here.
Pro-Tibet Protests: Sports Lovers Meet Torture Victims
UPDATE: We've been holding the corner of Embarcadero and Washington streets since 10 a.m. this morning in San Francisco together with Tibetans, Students for a Free Tibet, Darfur activists, and then of course pro-China folks have been right here with us. Intense emotions abound as sports lovers meet torture victims.
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I'm sitting with a mix of folks from Students for a Free Tibet, Ruckus, RAN and others at the jail where the seven Tibetan rights activists who pulled off the stunning Golden Gate bridge action have been held since being whisked off the bridge yesterday.
Our latest news is that they're coming out any minute now -- that's been the word for two hours. I think of them through the labyrinth of halls and walls beyond the door so sleepy, sore, with perhaps no idea of just how far reaching their tremendous action has been for two days.
This isn't the first action on the Golden Gate Bridge, but a good friend pointed out that its probably the biggest action since 9/11. But the actions in this campaign so far have all been big -- Mt. Everest, the Great Wall, the Eiffel Tower. Well, almost the Eiffel Tower. Police presence in Paris was too high for the action to get going, so they defaulted to a nearby bridge over the Seine whose name escapes me now, writing this on my phone from the waiting room of this jail.
The demands -- no torch run through Tibet, an end to human rights abuses, and ultimately the liberation of Tibet -- are on the front page of newspapers worldwide.
The victory in many ways is already complete for the campaign on the torch. The Olympics were supposed to herald a new China. Thing is, the Chinese government thought it could get the symbolic stamp of approval without actually changing its behavior. As Tibet has escalated their campaign for international attention, China's government has shown its unwillingness to improve their violent history.
The activists are released one by one, first the women, then the men, swamped by journalists and then enveloped by loved ones.
They are free! Tibet is next!
WireTap Writer Biko Baker Becomes the Director of the League of Young Voters
WireTap is thrilled to announce that our editorial board member and writer, Robert "Biko" Baker became the Executive Director of the League of Young Voters this week. Congratulations to Biko and the League!
As Billy Wimsatt, the founding visionary of the organization and former executive director, explained in an email, "Biko has been with the League since 2003. He came up through the ranks from Local Organizer to State Director to National Organizing Director ... . When I started the League back in 2003, my greatest dream was to build a powerful national youth organization and leave it in good hands. Today, my dream has come true. ... It's the perfect time for me to move on, and pass the torch to the next generation. ... "
I first met Biko in person at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit. Biko was on a panel with the author and activist Grace Lee Boggs and talked about the power of "collective activity of everyday Americans." He argued that the Civil Rights history is dominated by stories about strong primary leaders -- Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. -- and how while they are important, their work wouldn't have lasting impact, if their rallies weren't attended by crowds of ordinary people, and more importantly, if the unsung heroes -- like Ella Baker -- weren't organizing tirelessly behind the scenes to bring people out to these rallies and engage them in the long term.
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Obama Gets Real, and Reflections on Take Back America
I'm at the Take Back America conference this week, seeing the event with the dual eyes I have been using for viewing this entire election season thus far.
This is the most exciting election of my lifetime and most of the folks I know have to say the same, whether they want to admit it or not. everyone's talking about it, the speeches and debates are water cooler conversation for more than the usual (political nerd) suspects.
Our next president will be a black man, or at the very least a white woman, according to the masses at this conference (nicknamed the "progressive convention"); the passion is in people's eyes, their bodies aquiver with the idea of advancing progressive ideals. it's been a while since we had a national moment of victory.
The speakers here are talking about green jobs, healthcare for all, workers' rights, Martin Luther King -- things/ideas/people I take seriously, believe in, need. and more than ever before, the speakers and participants here are referring to a history of nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, the idea of protecting our democracy with actions that make our words mean something. So that makes me happy.
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What Do You Think About Youth and Violence?
It’s time for Round 2 of our monthly Youth Media Blog-a-thon.
Beginning on Wednesday, March 19th we’ll be kicking off another round of blogging. This month’s topic is violence -- from violence on our streets to the war on Iraq. Once again, we’re asking for participants.
Here’s a little blurb from our official press release:
San Francisco, CA - YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia and WireTap will host the second round of the Youth Media Blog-a-thon from Wednesday to Wednesday, March 19-26, 2008. Youth bloggers (between the ages of 15-25) – along with any bloggers dedicated to writing about youth issues and youth media – will address the topic of violence and its effects on youth and our communities.
The monthly blog-a-thons will connect the youth media community around issues that affect their lives, asking for their thoughts on hard-hitting topics. The goal of these monthly events is to foster more dialogue between youth media, which will lead to their connectivity as media makers and as activists.
We’re coming off of a tremendously successful first round of blogging where over 15 young folks debated important issues surrounding the presidential election.
If you are interested in participating, contact me at Jamilah AT wiretapmag DOT org for more information on how to participate.
Here's an a list on a few of this month's participants:
- Oh Dang! (http://www.ohdangmag.com)
- Khmer Girls in Action (http://www.kgalb.org)
- Boston Progress Radio (http://www.bprlive.com)
- Vanessa Huang (http://graniterainbow.wordpress.com")
- Kameelah Rasheed (http://kameelahwrites.blogspot.com/)
- The Playground (formally known as Grits & Eggs: http://jaysplayground.blogspot.com)