Archie’s Journal NCMR June 7, 2008
This morning began at 6:30 AM in the Minneapolis Hyatt with a scramble to get up, get fed, get presentable, and walk the two blocks to get over to the NCMR conference auditorium to see Bill Moyers's Morning Plenary Address.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0r71L7cojE
Then we had a short break to complete our waking-up and processing of the address and to shop for a few protein and water supplies.
At 11:30, we sat in a large assembly room watching Norman Solomon open a meeting with Phil Donahue (who has just produced the amazing film Body of War), Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, Sonali Kolhatkar (Bleeding Afghanistan), and Hip Hop Caucus Rev. Lennox Yearwood on Media and the War: An Unembedded View. It was excellent and it was packed; in fact at least 3,500 people showed up for the conference this year, reflecting the annually growing number of activist bodies showing up to reclaim and put the “free” back in free press. At one point, Rev Yearwood dismissively apostrophized the Fox News contingent who was there among a number of other corporate press reportbots and who had made a nuisance of itself after the Moyers thing earlier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_2IZT4VgDY&feature=related
Short break – don’t remember what we did, other than we were out on the street some.
At 1:00 we went to the big ballroom to have Lunch With the Thousands. Folding chairs around formica-top tables; one line for tacos and one line for subs; plastic knives & forks (but not paper plates).
After lunch we went to find a store to furnish our hotel room with wine and spirits.
A little later – 2:30 – we sat in a partitioned-out assembly room attending to the observations of the two excellentest FCC commissioners, Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein. US House Representative Mike Doyle (D-Pa) was on the panel to add his thoughts on his propitious efforts to promote (by means of local low-power FM radio) the voices of the people – you know: the local folks who live nearby, your homeys.
Dinner: Staccato – little pizza and some Italian pasta dish (& steak if you wanna) place with booths, a couple of tables; music-themed décor since it’s near the symphony-oriented emporium.
8:00 – 11:00: Keynote. Awesome and inspiring, and with any luck rabble-rousing. Since it’s 1:52 AM Minnesota time right now, I can’t even begin to take on a summary of the whole biz. A salient recollection is Naomi Klein observing that (during a power imbalance similar to today’) popular pressure compelled Franklin Roosevelt to confront powerful corporate lobbyists with the ultimatum that either they accept the New Deal or the nation would face a revolution. Yes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97SzcumnYdc
(only available keynote footage so far. more maybe on YouTube soon or on Democracy Now! Monday)
Fading fast.
What do you think?
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1 comment:
Heya Ell, Thanks for keeping track of all of that. Though we were the walking wounded, we persevered! Minneapolis was a really new experience for such a well travelled person as I, I have criss-crossed the US many times, mostly long ago. Minneapolis is very modern, there are a series of tubes that connect a lot of the downtown buildings, over the roads. A kid we met said they call them gerbil tubes.I was a great experience. Yay Ell! Thanks for taking me there! xxxooo
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