Do You Know How Freedom Sounds?

Diskarte Namin

Find out by getting the latest album from San Francisco band Diskarte Namin. The album “Kultural Guerrillas” is a mix of reggae, rock, folk and soul accented with Philippine indigenous instruments and driven by lyrics about love and liberation.

And it’s not just lip service—every album bought online will help support the struggle for human rights and self-determination in the Philippines.

All proceeds from album sales go to BAYAN USA, a national alliance of 18 progressive Filipino organizations representing organizations of students, scholars, women, workers, artists, and youth.

By downloading the online album, you’ll be donating $10 to BAYAN USA’s human rights work:

  • The Justice for Melissa Roxas campaign to obtain justice and accountability for the abduction and torture of Melissa Roxas and all victims of human rights violations perpetrated by state forces of the Philippines
  • The International Conference on Human Rights in the Philippines, to be held in July 2013.  This conference will bring together more Filipino survivors of human rights abuses, families of victims, and human rights advocates from around the globe to develop a shared analysis of the causes of the human rights crisis and to develop action plans to address the problem.
  • Manilakbayan – Bringing Mindanao Peoples’ Voices from the Margins to the Center, a week-long mobilization convened by Mindanao’s “Anawim” or “the unprotected” indigenous Lumads, Moro, small farmers and workers.  The mobilization will include actions to defend land, environment and human rights in the face of destructive large-scale mining and mining-related killings by state forces.

Buy your album today!
Be part of the movement for international human rights!
Support movement music and Filipino community organizing!
Spread the word to fellow music lovers and justice seekers!

Sample tweets and Facebook posts:

  • Happy International Human Rights Day!  Celebrate by downloading Diskarte Namin’s new album, proceeds benefit @BAYAN_USA and its campaigns for human rights in the Philippines diskartenamin.net
  • Diskarte Namin celebrates International Human Rights Day with release of new album, proceeds benefit @BAYAN_USA diskartenamin.net
  • Celebrate International Human Rights Day by buying Diskarte Namin’s new album proceeds benefit human rights work in Philippines diskartenamin.net

Panaghiusa (Unity): A Movement for Human Rights, Peace, and Justice in Mindanao

Join us for the launching of
Panaghiusa (Unity): A Movement for Human Rights, Peace, and Justice in Mindanao

In celebration of the Salugpungan Anniversary, Bonifacio Day, and Anakbayan’s 10th-Year Anniversary

Learn more about our 2012 advocacy medical mission trip to Mindanao and our plans for next year’s mission

Friday, November 30, 2012
Rosewood United Methodist Church
4101 Rosewood Avenue (nearest cross street North Vermont Ave)
Los Angeles, CA 90004

6:30 PM Reception
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Program

All love donations are gratefully accepted.

Special photo exhibit.  Photos will be for sale.  All proceeds go to Panaghiusa.

Sponsored by
Rosewood Advocacy Ministry
California-Pacific Annual Conference Chapter of Methodist Federation for Social Action
CAL-PAC Church and Society
Anakbayan Los Angeles and San Diego
Habi Arts
Sisters of GABRIELA, Awaken! (SiGAw!)
Filipino Migrant Center
Fil-Am Health Workers Association
NAFCON USA
BAYAN USA

Day of the Imprisoned Writer

On behalf of Habi Arts, we would like to appeal for the release of Ericson Acosta—an artist, poet, writer, cultural worker, and human rights activist—who is illegally detained at the sub-provincial jail of Calbayog City, Samar province.

We call for his immediate and unconditional release for we believe he is held solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed under Article 19 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the Philippines.

Today, November 15, also marks the “Day of the Imprisoned Writer”—an annual, international day intended to recognize and support writers who resist repression of the basic human right to freedom of expression and who stand up to attacks made against their right to impart information.

It is a shock to us that Ericson Acosta still languishes in jail without trial and due process after more than one year and nine months.  He is no criminal and no legal proceedings have taken place.  Instead, bogus reasons have been used to keep Acosta in illegal detention—away from his family, friends, and the community in which he has dedicated his time to serving.

Acosta was studying the human rights situation in marginalized and militarized communities in Samar when he was arrested without warrant by members of the 34th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army on February 13, 2011.  The military alleged that a grenade was found on Acosta and then accused him of illegal possession of an explosive, which is a non-bailable offense.

We urge Philippine authorities to free Ericson Acosta immediately.  We demand that harassment toward Acosta’s family stop.  We urge all to oppose attacks on artists and cultural workers—especially those facing repression and imprisonment—who use their talents and work to express the voice and struggles of the people.  Art and activism is not a crime!

FREE THE ARTIST!
FREE ERICSON ACOSTA!
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE PHILIPPINES!


Poem submission by a Habi Arts member for the “Day of the Imprisoned Writer” action for Ericson Acosta. Other submissions can be found here:
http://imprisonedwritersph.tumblr.com

You Tell the Stories They Are Afraid You Will Tell
by Melissa Roxas

for Ericson Acosta

You tell the stories they are afraid you will tell
because of this they take your freedom
your hand strums the guitar
your songs break the silence of the harsh afternoon
the people working in the fields hear them
the mother breastfeeding her child under the tree hears them
the child yet to know the weight of the world hears them
the child knows the songs are about her
she knows the songs are about her brother
she knows the songs are about her mother
she tastes the salt from her mother’s breast
and the sweetness from the earth
this is the earth you sing about—
this is you, Ericson,
telling your truth
and the stories that they are afraid you will tell
for this they take your freedom
for this they wanted to plant a grenade in your pocket
it’s true you carried a weapon
it was no grenade
they were only words to your song
your hands in your pocket strumming a tune
it was your bag full of poems
your pens waiting to touch the page—
they try hard to erase
the parts of you that love
that know the ache of people
fighting to death for freedom—
they took you, Ericson,
into their prison walls
made your body suffer
the weight of many burdens
but what lives in you
is more than a thousand songs
what lives is a rhythm the length of fields

FREE ERICSON ACOSTA NOW!
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!


Find out how you can support the Free Ericson Acosta campaign here:
http://freeacosta.blogspot.com

National Day of Action Against the Cybercrime Law and Political Killings in the Philippines

Wednesday, November 7, 2012; 5:30PM

Philippine Consulate
3600 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Sponsored by: Anakbayan-USA, Gabriela-USA, Bayan USA, ILPS, NAFCON, Filipino Migrant Center, Habi Arts

FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/402605106475873/

Join us as we protest the Noynoy Aquino administration’s signing of the Cybercrime Prevention Law and the escalating political killings across the Philippines under his regime. The Cybercrime Prevention Law violates people’s freedom of speech, internet freedom, and the right to privacy. It is being used as a way to censor and silence any dissent or criticism of the government. An anti-mining leader in Cagayan has already been arrested for a Facebook post, even though the law’s implementation has been temporarily suspended by the Supreme Court to review its unconstitutionality.

We especially condemn the brutal massacre of an indigenous B’laan family by the Philippine military in Tampakan, South Cotabato, Mindanao. The soldiers shot up the home of indigenous leader Daguil Capion, killing and desecrating the bodies of his pregnant wife, Juvy (27), and her two sons, Jordan (13) and Janjan (8). He and the B’laan tribe have been fighting against the foreign mining operations of Xstrata Sagittarius Mining Inc., which would destroy the environment to steal the rich gold and copper deposits in their area.

For more about the Cybercrime Law:
https://www.facebook.com/events/125448997605955
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/292664/cagayan-anti-mining-leader-arrested-over-facebook-post

To read more about the Tampakan Massacre:
http://asiancorrespondent.com/91082/capion-massacre-survivors-hijacked
http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/10/30/politicians-military-blamed-for-tampakan-massacre

(Source: anakbayanusa)

2012 Davao Interfaith Advocacy and Medical Mission Report Back

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