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“Minnesota is a celebration of independence in all its forms,” declared David Goodman. He and his sister, Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman delivered a book reading at SJA’s gymnasium to an enthusiastically sold out crowd on a Monday evening (4/28) to promote their just released eye opener Standing Up To the Madness: Ordinary Heroes In Extraordinary Times.
Because of delayed traffic with the freshly dismantled 46th street bridge, this event was held back by half an hour. David began this speaking engagement by celebrating everyday folks. “Our book looks at regular people like you and me, a lot of local voices,” said David, who offered 45 minutes of discussing the book. These socially conscious siblings of journalism have traveled world wide to champion the underdogs of social injustices and document people who stand up to make a difference for their communities. “During our travels, we see created grass roots existence. Coast to coast we see that people have been defending democracy,” said David.
This charismatic speaker peppers his easy speaking style with witty and sharply drawn anecdotes. He relived the tale of his recent venture in Seattle. “I try to reduce my carbon foot print,” he remarked. He proposed to share a taxi ride in Seattle with a stranger that turned out by discovery to be a defense contractor, one who’s into surveillance that involves the use of wire tapping and spy cameras. David asked him, “How’s business?” The contractor replied, “Never been better.” Considering Congress approved President Bush’s late 2007 request for expanded warrant less wiretapping of Americans, one could only imagine what would be going through this guy’s head if the muckraking Goodman had described his truth seeking style of investigative journalism to the contractor.
David summarized the woes of injustice by reading a beginning passage from Standing Up:
David described four brilliant librarians that were dubbed, “the fantastic four from Connecticut.” Gag orders were forced upon four librarians regarding the United States Patriot Act. These innocent Americans, from the Library Connection—a consortium of twenty seven Connecticut libraries that share a computer system— were being arrested for withholding information to the government regarding the names of patrons who used computers in their library system between 2:00 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. on February 13, 2005. A National Security Letter was issued “to protect against international terrorism.” NSL had issued many letters to unsuspecting innocent Americans all in the name of the Patriot Act. A harrowing aftermath for the librarians had followed but in the spring of 2006 Congress reauthorized the Patriot Act and “the librarians became rock stars,” said David. Reading a few other passages from the book, he concluded, “Now more than ever, we must stand up to the madness.”
Amy Goodman, his sister, followed and first discussed the impact that her program Democracy Now! has reached across the United States. “We are trying to build an independent media interlocking with stations around the world,” she said, “We are broadcasting news of another America, the silenced majority. We need a media that tells the truth about who we are, that power is not delivered from a barrel of a gun.”
Amy and her brother David are indeed the ultimate muckrakers. Amy discussed the horrible devastation of Katrina and the initial apathetic response from the Bush Administration. She asked, “Where was President Bush?” She responded, “Getting his picture taken with a Country Music star [Mark Wills] whose theme song is “Wish You Were Here.”” Or the Niger Delta oil spill that failed to be cleaned up by Chevron. She said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was proud of her work at Chevron and a tank was named after her. She inquired, “Where was Rice during Katrina?” Amy answered, “Taking in Spamelot [on Broadway] and in a Ferragamo shoe shop buying shoes.”
“We go from New Orleans to the librarians to the scientists to kids [Check out their report of the student play Voices in Conflict], Amy summarized regarding the wide breath of people they cover in the book. She feels that today’s newspapers are not competing with the digital age. They simply spin the news to the likings of the corporations that feed them.
Today, with a three trillion dollar war amongst us, the wounded warriors, these lucky ones who make it back should have their stories told in the front pages of newspapers, Amy offers. Their parent’s stories or the number of suicides of returning veterans go completely unreported by today’s media. As we enter our sixth year of occupying Iraq, we should honor the soldiers by simply listening to them. “We have to support independent media [covering] war and peace. Anything less than that is a disservice to a Democratic society,” she said. Her sage advice to the people of the United States regarding democracy: “If you are part of building a foundation, you will be part of directing a change, a turning point in the world. Tell [the candidates] what you want your country to be.”
Amy concluded her hour length talk by honoring Rosa Parks who died in 2007: “The way the media gets it wrong is that Rosa Parks was, they say, a simple seamstress, no trouble maker.” Amy corrected that statement by announcing, “Rosa Parks was a world class troublemaker, an activist and the media denigrates an activist.” Closing her tightly compacted speech, Amy professed, “War is not the answer to conflict in the 21st century.”
A thunderous standing ovation greeted both David and Amy at the conclusion of their talks. A book signing followed where long lines formed to greet these muckraking siblings who tirelessly push for the truth in all forms of media.
Standing Up To the Madness: Ordinary Heroes In Extraordinary Times may be purchased by logging on to www.democracynow.org or www.amazon.com.
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