Caitelle's blog

Hundreds of people gathered on short notice beneath the gold dome of the Georgia capitol in the final hours before Troy Davis was executed. Davis was killed on September 21 at 11:08 PM, charged with killing a Savannah police officer twenty years ago. His case was a symbol of the inherent injustice of the death penalty and galvanized the outrage of thousands. Read more here and here.

Although Davis has been killed, the movement continues. Check Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Amnesty International, Campaign to End the Death Penalty, the NAACP for information about future actions.

The capitol grounds are decorated with monuments to the state's racist legacy. Behind this person is a statue of Richard Russell, a white supremacist Governor and US Senator from Georgia, who led congressional opposition to Civil Rights legislation for decades.

By Bushra Khaliq, August 5, 2011

The floodwaters that ravaged the southern parts of Pakistan in the summer of 2010 have long receded. Gone are the makeshift tent camps on roadsides, however the revival of normal life still remains a challenge. Thousands continue a daily struggle to support their families and re-establish livelihoods. As a new monsoon season is in full swing, last year’s trauma and economic pain still linger. While last year’s victims struggle to recover, others now worry that changing world weather patterns will cause renewed flooding.

The devastation caused by the 2010 floods was the worst in Pakistan’s history; almost 2,000 deaths, nearly 20 million displaced or affected and one-fifth of the country went under water. The deluge inflicted unprecedented catastrophic damage on a country already reeling from the effects of US-led war on terrorism. A year later, the picture is dismal.

Although many flood refugees have returned home, little is known to the world about their miserable conditions and stories of struggle. Particularly the women who are the worst-hit still facing multiple challenges after one year. Their work burden is multiplied. While husbands and male members in poor families, being daily wagers, are struggling to find sources of income, women remain busy in rebuilding their damaged shelters and dwellings.

ATLANTA - Tens of thousands of protesters gathered at the Georgia Capitol on July 2 and marched through downtown in opposition to the newly enacted Georgia House Bill 87.

The demonstration, organized by the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights with the participation of over 60 other community-based immigration groups throughout the southeast, is part of a recent string of events put on by activists in an effort to push back against the increasing crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Earlier in the week, 6 undocumented youth (including 3 high school students) were arrested after staging a sit-in in the middle of an busy intersection adjacent to the Georgia Capitol. On Friday, activists issued a call to action for inaction -- in other words, a day of non-compliance in which immigrants refused to show up for work or spend money.

HB 87, which went into effect July 1, criminalizes those who apply for jobs using false identification and forces employers to check the immigration status of all employees.

Modeled after Arizona’s harsh immigration laws that were passed last year, HB 87 is just one of many pieces of legislation throughout the United States that seek to target undocumented immigrants and their families.

On March 31, I spotted a few billboards reading "Black Children are BEAUTIFUL" in downtown Atlanta. Underneath the still-drying wheat paste, the signs' original message was not so uplifting: Black Children are an Endangered Species. 

Over the past couple months, these provocative billboards have been sprouting up in Atlanta neighborhoods. Featuring a fearful-looking African American child juxtaposed with the disquieting statement, the billboards are part of a campaign sponsored by an organization called the Endangered Species Project. On March 29 a bill they supported, the OBGYN Criminalization & Racial Discrimination Act, was passed.

On March 15, Georgia Students for Public Higher Education sponsored a state-wide demonstration at the capitol in downtown Atlanta. GSPHE was formed at Georgia State University in Fall 2009 to fight a $200 fee increase for university students. In March legislators announced plans for massive tuition and fee increases, as well as furloughs and layoffs of campus staff and faculty.