Source:Pambazuka News
By Ama Biney
Can or will Barack Obama deliver a more peaceful, humane world, asks Ama Biney, a year after his inauguration as 44th President of the United States. Offering a tentative evaluation of the path followed by the Obama administration so far, Biney suggests that genuine change lies not with the president, but in the remobilisation of a grassroots movement among the ordinary Americans who had the optimism and motivation to campaign for him.

In revisiting some of the arguments I made in my New African article – sensationally entitled ‘Why I would not vote for Obama’ – I acknowledge that one year on, it is too soon to profoundly evaluate Obama’s presidency and the impact of his domestic and foreign policies to date.[1] I had deliberately entitled that article ‘Uncertainties in voting for Barack Obama’ to convey the considerable reservations I had at the time of writing and also the sense that historical perspective requires us to stand back from individuals and their actions in order to appreciate how intricate details contribute to the making of the larger historical picture. Also, the intention of the abandoned title was to suggest that in understanding current affairs, sometimes our noses are pressed too close to the events to enable us to properly explain them. Time needs to elapse before we can evaluate them effectively and soberly.

Since writing that article, I wish to correct two things. Firstly, Obama was the fourth African American to contest the presidential candidacy after Shirley Chisholm, Reverend Jesse Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton. Secondly, I concede to colleagues, friends and students who have since asked me: ‘Would you really not have voted for Obama?’ that if I were an American citizen entitled to vote, I would have given Obama my vote – but hesitantly – and not so much on the basis of racial solidarity but on the basis of harm reduction (i.e. between McCain and Obama it is the latter who, on paper, was the candidate more likely in November 2008 to better the world and America, rather than harm it).

With 20 January marking a year since Obama’s inauguration as the 44th President of the United States, it may be argued that it is not fair to judge him as his record is far from complete. Certainly, if Obama is to win the next election, historians of the future will have a solid basis to evaluate the impact of his policies on the American people and the world. However, one year into his presidency, a positive psychological impact of Obama’s presidency is that a black family is occupying the White House. Some argue, that it is an inspirational and symbolic role model for Africans in the diaspora, particularly in Europe and the UK, where we do not see many images of the African family unit in the mainstream media compared to in the USA, where there are far more TV programmes with black families featured in them. In the UK, the dysfunctional black family or black single parent is considered to be the stereotypical norm and therefore it is positive to see challenges to such representations.

An Indian College professor living in Maryland has developed a novel way to help people fight corruption in his home country. A "Zero Rupee Note" produced by 5th Pillar, an NGO, gives people a tool to challenge officials who deny services while seeking bribes. A small symbol of organization is giving a signal of strength to those who try to take advantage of the powerless.

This report comes to us from the World Bank.
"One such story was our earlier case about the old lady and her troubles with the Revenue Department official over a land title. Fed up with requests for bribes and equipped with a zero rupee note, the old lady handed the note to the official. He was stunned. Remarkably, the official stood up from his seat, offered her a chair, offered her tea and gave her the title she had been seeking for the last year and a half to obtain without success. Had the zero rupee note reached the old lady sooner, her granddaughter could have started college on schedule and avoided the consequence of delaying her education for two years. In another experience, a corrupt official in a district in Tamil Nadu was so frightened on seeing the zero rupee note that he returned all the bribe money he had collected for establishing a new electricity connection back to the no longer compliant citizen."

"Anand explained that a number of factors contribute to the success of the zero rupee notes in fighting corruption in India. First, bribery is a crime in India punishable with jail time. Corrupt officials seldom encounter resistance by ordinary people that they become scared when people have the courage to show their zero rupee notes, effectively making a strong statement condemning bribery. In addition, officials want to keep their jobs and are fearful about setting off disciplinary proceedings, not to mention risking going to jail. More importantly, Anand believes that the success of the notes lies in the willingness of the people to use them. People are willing to stand up against the practice that has become so commonplace because they are no longer afraid: first, they have nothing to lose, and secondly, they know that this initiative is being backed up by an organization—that is, they are not alone in this fight."

Erie County Executive Chris Collins is cutting the childcare subsidy, in another decision that reeks of economic shortsightedness and contempt for working Western New Yorkers. There will be a protest this Tuesday, Feb. 9th, meeting at St. Joseph's Cathedral at 4:30 PM, and ending at the County Building at 5 PM.

Read more about the issue here

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/937942.html

Watch on Youtube

Journalist and author Naomi Klein spoke in New York last night and addressed the crisis in Haiti:

"We have to be absolutely clear that this tragedy—which is part natural, part unnatural—must, under no circumstances, be used to, one, further indebt Haiti and, two, to push through unpopular corporatist policies in the interest of our corporations. This is not conspiracy theory. They have done it again and again. "

On Sunday, January 24th, the long awaited Buffalo episode of ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover finally aired. The main players from that surreal week in November --contracting company David Homes, PUSH-Buffalo, Buffalo ReUse and WNY Americorps--put together a red carpet gala at Shea’s Theater that brought out 2,000 people of all stripes. The mix of people in the crowd was unbelievable, from Mayor Brown to Bills player Chris Draft to jewelry peddler Eric Starchild to student-workers in the Youthbuild program. Big time donors in their finest suits stood shoulder to shoulder with people in hoodies and sneakers.

Without a doubt Hollywood’s visit to Buffalo was the biggest local story of 2009. Notwithstanding the expected pessimism of a sizeable minority, there has been considerable optimism and hope here for the past few months. But much like the nationwide wave of hope which came with Obama’s campaign, the major question remains; is all the hope just hype, or can it be used as a catalyst for serious change?

photo courtesy of http://bashbacknews.wordpress.org

by Jenna Piasecki

New years eve and very early new years day Buffalo experienced two hate crimes that were reported and publicized (although there are unreported hate crimes far more frequently). A 20 year old man was pepper sprayed, kicked, punched, and robbed while anti-gay slurs were being used against him. He was at the Galleria Mall north of Buffalo and the attackers, two women, were apprehended. About 12 hours later Lindsay Harmon was attacked outside of Roxy's lesbian bar in the Allentown district of Buffalo and stabbed in the eye and arm by a woman who was in a group of people yelling anti-gay slurs at Harmon and her girlfriend. A suspect was finally arrested around the 23rd of January and has been charged with stabbing Harmon.

The initial response by the media and Buffalo Police department was not very promising in the hate crime involving Harmon. There was very little publicity at first and the story was only picked up by main stream media after being reported by the IMC and GLBT media sources, and membership in a facebook group describing the stabbing grew.

By Jenna Piasecki

On January 20th, over 300 people gathered at Babeville to show support for hate crime victims Lindsay Harmon, the 20 year old gay man who was attacked at the Galleria mall, and the victims of unreported hate crimes that take place in Buffalo annually.

The Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus sang a very upbeat and cheery number to start the evening which carried on with a bit more serious tone.

Petitions circulated before the event online and in paper form calling for a BPD GLBT hate crime liaison, more lighting on Allen between Franklin and Main, and a camera on the corner of Allen and Main. Mayor Byron Brown spoke at the even and promised those requests would all be taken care of, with a camera up and operational in the next two weeks.

(photo compliments of Outcome: Buffalo's Gay Newspaper) http://www.outcomebuffalo.com/

By Jenna Piasecki

On January 15th the Buffalo GLBT community and allies came together to march through Allentown to show solidarity and speak out against the recent anti-gay hate crimes in Buffalo. Approximately 300 people participated under direction of well-known advocate Kitty Lambert, the president of Outspoken for Equality. http://www.outspokenforequality.org/

At around 1:30am on January 14th Nicholas Orrange, an amazing student activist from the University at Buffalo, died in a tragic car accident. Nick was an inspiration to many students at the University through his activism. He was currently serving as the Special Interest, Service, and Hobby Council Coordinator of the UB Student Association. At various points he was involved in efforts with UB Students Against Sweatshops, UB Anti-War Action, UB Freethinkers and UB College Democrats, becoming a very close friend to many activists at UB. Many will remember him as a frequent participant in the Buffalo midnight bike rides.

He will be greatly missed. The Spectrum has created a space for friends to share their memories of him here.

Many others have written about Nick and his passing (The Spectrum 1 2 3 4, The Generation, UB Freethinkers)

We now have a twitter account and would love for you to follow us! @indybuffalo