tHe#200: September INDY 10–OctOber 14 pe{ SPECIALND ISSUEeNt} A Free pA per FOr Free peOpLe H Hollenbac D Davi HtIIStOrIcme mA rcFOHFOrr cLI mAteAct JuStIIONce IN NYc, Sept. 21 cOverAge StArtS p3 tHe INDYpeNDeNt tHe INDY At 200 By John Tarleton • Be open and transparent about hierarchies that exist within your or- tHe indyPendent, inC. ganization. Structurelessness doesn’t get rid of leaders, it just conceals 388 atlantic avenue, 2nd floor n September 2000 world leaders gathered in New York for the United them. brooklyn, ny 11217 Nations Millennium Summit. Organized at the dawn of a new century, 212-904-1282 Ithe stated purpose of this three-day conference was to alleviate global • Process matters, but it should not be fetishized. Endless meetings are poverty. Outside in the streets, thousands of protesters weren’t buying the no substitute for doing real work. www.indypendent.org offi cial rhetoric, pointing to the outsized infl uence that large corporations twitter: @theindypendent wielded over the proceedings. • You can be both idealistic and practical at the same time. Dealing with facebook.com/theindypendent The main demonstration was held on September 8, or in the nomencla- real-world challenges that pose contradictions (such as how to raise ture of its organizers, “S8.” At the protest, copies of UnSt8ted, a four-page money for a radical newspaper) is a part of life. The solutions you board oF direCtorS: black-and-white newspaper, were being handed out by members of the all- develop can strengthen your organization and make it more resilient Ellen Davidson, Anna Gold, volunteer collective that published it. Headlines like “Demanding Human for the long haul. John Tarleton Rights, Fighting Corporate Power” and “Anarchist Conference Offers Vi- able Alternatives” in UnSt8ed’s maiden issue refl ected the political moment While new media technologies enhance the individual’s ability to be a from which the paper emerged. channel of one broadcasting to the world, they can also leave us isolated. exeCutive editor: Shortly afterward, the UnSt8ted collective changed the paper’s name Publishing a newspaper, on the other hand, is a collaborative enterprise John Tarleton to The Indypendent and published a second black-and-white issue of eight that involves not only the people who produce it, but also subscribers, pages. The rest is history. We now fi nd ourselves celebrating our 200th issue donors, advertisers, sources who return our calls and even critics, who Managing editor: (and our 14th anniversary) as protesters once again target the United Na- keep us on our toes. Alina Mogilyanskaya tions, this time to demand action on climate change. More than anything, the Indy’s fi rst 200 issues suggest what people While the circumstances are familiar, the paper has changed consider- can achieve when we ably. Our issues are now printed in color, run from 20 to 24 pages and reach work collectively and do Contributing editorS: tens of thousands of readers every month through a citywide distribution so with the support of a Ellen Davidson, network. larger community. Thank Nicholas Powers you for sharing these fi rst in tHe beginning 14 years with us. illuStration direCtor: Informed by a participatory, “be the media” ethos, The Indypendent began as the offshoot of a New York City website that was a part of Indymedia, John Tarleton is a co- Frank Reynoso a global network of leftist news websites. The website that spawned us is founder of The Indypen- now defunct, but this newspaper has continued to fl ourish. More than 700 dent. Head deSigner: people have volunteered with us over the years. They include journalists Mikael Tarkela with decades of experience, novice scribes who found a place to hone their craft, artists who have graced our pages with their illustrations, photos and deSignerS: graphic design and many others who have helped out behind the scenes do- ing the invisible work that makes a newspaper possible. Steven Arnerich, Anna Gold, The Indypendent emerged during a moment of heightened protest activ- Christin Haschke ity on the radical left that began with the “Battle of Seattle” demonstrations in November 1999 and featured summit-hopping protesters who besieged Calendar editor: the meetings of international fi nancial institutions, national political con- Seamus Creighton ventions and just about any place where corporate and political elites gath- ered behind closed doors. The alter-globalization movement was adept at mobiliz- FelloW: ing large street protests, and with its emphasis on consensus Alex Ellefson process and its aversion to leaders, prefi gured Occupy in many ways. However, it left little in the way of enduring intern: institutions once the post-9/11 security state made it virtu- Rebeca Ibarra ally impossible for the movement to use the confrontational tactics that had initially catapulted it into the public eye. We are one of the few institutions to survive from that general inQuirieS: era, and we’ve learned a few things along the way: [email protected] SubMiSSionS and neWS tiPS: • Engage with the world. Don’t be [email protected] insular. The Indy sprang from a DIY (do-it-yourself) anarchist advertiSing and ProMotion: tradition but chose to embrace the [email protected] Left, broadly defi ned, and to re- port on it in a way that would be volunteer ContributorS: Sam Alcoff, accessible to activists and non-ac- Eleanor J. Bader, Bennett Baumer, tivists alike. This helped us draw more volunteers who brought Devika Bilimoria, Catherine Byun, José with them a greater variety of in- Carmona, Hye Jin Chung, Renée Feltz, terests and life experiences. Lynne Foster, Robert Gonyo, Michael Hirsch, David Hollenbach, Dondi J, Adam Johnson, Mamoudou Keita, “I’ve been subscribing since the very fi rst issue and Marty Kirchner, Timothy Krause, Rob The Indypendent just keeps getting better. Please join me in supporting it in whatever way you LaQuinta, Christine Larsen, Gary can.” —Naomi Klein tHe INDYpeNDeNt tHe Martin, AnnMary Mathews, David SubScrIbe tO tHe INDY! author of The Shock Doctrine & ■ 13 ISSueS FOr $25 ■ 26 ISSueS FOr $48 ■ ANgeL SubScrIptION: 13 ISSueS FOr $100 Meadow, Katie Moore, Mike Newton, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. ■ DON’t SeND me A SubScrIptION, but Here’S A DONAtION FOr $■■■■ the Climate Maya Peraza-Baker, Anna Polonyi, Andy ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Pugh, Ann Schneider, Jim Secula, Maiko NAme Sembokuya, Marlena Buczek Smith, Elke ADDreSS ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ cItY ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Sudin, Gabriella Szpunt, Diego Terros, StAte ■■■■■■■■■■■ zIp ■■■■■■■■■■■■ pHONe ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Lucy Valkury, Matthew Wasserman, emAIL ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Beth Whitney, Keith Williams and pLeASe SeND A cHecK Or mONeY OrDer tO tHe INDYpeNDeNt • 388 AtLANtIc Ave., 2ND FL. • brOOKLYN, NY 11217. tO September 10 – October 14, 2014 2 Amy Wolf. SubScrIbe Or DONAte ONLINe gO tO WWW.INDYpeNDeNt.Org. SLUG? NOW THROUGH SUN NOV 9 SAT SEP 13 VARIOUS TIMES • $8 THROUGH SAT OCT 4 EXHIBITION: A/WAKE IN THE VARIOUS • $8 WATER. “a/wake in the water: LAUNCH: NATURAL HISTORY MU- Meditations on Disaster” explores SEUM AT THE QUEENS MUSEUM. the repercussions and systematic Emphasizing the social and political neglect Black communities — and forces that shape nature, the launch Black bodies — experience as the of this new project will include a se- result of environmental hazards and ries of superb panels, workshops, and natural disasters. MoCADA performances with artists, activists 80 Hanson Pl, Bklyn and thinkers that include Christian mocada.org • 718-230-0492 Parenti, Astra Taylor, Liberate Tate, Jodi Dean, Eddie Bautista, Elizabeth Yeampierre and more. Queens Museum Flushing Meadows Corona Park, CLIMATE MARCH EVENTS Queens queensmuseum.org • 718-592-9700 GUIDE TUE SEP 16 FRI SEP 19 & SAT SEP 20 Panel discussions, workshops, teach- 6:30–9:30PM • $10 SUGGESTED 7PM • FREE SAT SEP 20 ins, movie screenings, direct actions FILM: THE FUTURE OF ENERGY. A PLENARIES: OPENING AND CLOSING 9AM–5:30PM • FREE new doc about the renewable energy PLENARIES OF THE NYC CLIMATE MOVEMENT BUILDING: NYC CLI- and more. It’s all happening here in revolution, featuring a great roster CONVERGENCE. Featuring movement MATE CONVERGENCE WORKSHOPS. New York in the days leading up to of movement leaders. Q-and-A with leaders and thinkers such as Oscar Dozens of climate justice workshops, filmmaker Max DeArmon to follow. Olivera, Immortal Technique, Naomi panels, teach-ins and more are on the and following the People’s Climate NY Society for Ethical Culture Klein, Desmond D’Sa and more. roster, and the day will round out with March. The roster of events continues 2 W 64th St St. Peters Church a People’s Climate Assembly in the tAbLe OF cONteNtS nysec.org • 212-874-5210 619 Lexington Ave Lower East Side. See convergeforcli- to grow as we go to press. To keep up convergeforclimate.org mate.org for more. on the latest, follow us a twitter.com/ Assembly: El Jardín de Paraíso 5th St btw Ave C & D TheIndypendent. Workshops: Various locations in downtown Manhattan. 9:30AM–5:30PM • FREE MEETING: YOUTH CLIMATE CON- VERGENCE. Let’s build the future of climate resistance. A youth-led convergence with workshops, train- ings and more. Workshop proposals welcomed, registration required. Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus DeADLOcKeD u.N. cLImAte A peOpLe’S cLImAte treAtY WHY We mArcH 122 Amsterdam Ave By Rae Abileah By Indypendent Staff [email protected] 4 tALKS By Chris Williams 5 Climate change doesn’t have to leave us feeling numb 6 A Sandy survivor from Red Hook, an indigenous The problem starts with how much the world’s big- and hopeless. A group of artists and activists has big woman from Canada, a minister, a muralist and a 10:30AM–3PM • FREE gest polluters benefi t from the status quo. plans for the end of the People’s Climate March. longtime NYCHA resident talk to the Indy about why EDUCATION: DECOLONIZE CLIMATE they will hit the streets on Sept.