Everyone’s efforts to get the word out on Andrew Berends and his detention in Nigeria have started to pay off. Senator Charles Schumer, D-New York has written a letter to Secretary of State Condelezza Rice calling for Berends’ immediate release:

“This situation is untenable,” said Schumer. “Mr. Berends, an award-winning journalist was making a film about the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s oil-producing area where government forces and armed separatists have been fighting for years. Unfortunately, it seems that the Nigerian government thinks that it can conceal the economic and ecological disaster in the region by harassing and intimidating foreign journalists. This is unacceptable.”

Way to go Senator Schumer and way to go everyone for getting the word out (Doug Fitzsimmons here at TakePart.)

Read the rest of this entry »

I didn’t expect the Republicans to be nice last night, they needed to energize their base and make a strong case against Obama and while they veered farther to the right than I thought they would, what surprised me and actually really angered me was when Rudy Giuliani mentioned that Barack Obama was a community organizer and following which, the crowd and Giuliani both laughed. And after that, Sarah Palin also dogged on Barack’s community organizing..

A group of young Obama supporters. Photo by Barack Obama (Creative Commons)

This I thought was pretty disgusting. Community organizing isn’t easy work, it doesn’t pay well and often yields small results, meaning the person doing the work has to find motivation somewhere other than instant success and change. They have to find motivation in the people they are meeting and truly believe in the grassroots work they are doing. And even if you can’t usually pinpoint it’s success, community organizing is vital to understanding how communities work and what the needs of working people, and low-income people are. And this it seems to me would be an important thing to understand as the President of our country.

Read the rest of this entry »

What an inspiring trailer! Gus Van Sant’s name alone would be enough to get me into a movie theater but combine that with a compelling true activist story and an amazing cast (Sean Penn, James Franco, Diego Luna etc..) and you get one of my most anticipated films of the fall. This film will be the first fictional portrayal of gay rights activist Harvey Milk and it looks great!

Read the rest of this entry »

Aside from pro-life demonstrations that happened daily, the biggest issue looming over the convention was immigration.

On Thursday, a large group (accounts seem to vary as to how many, with some estimates at 3000, some at 700) of protesters descended on LoDo, shutting down transit and tying up traffic. I was able to catch up with a group of high school students, many of whom have parents that are immigrants. They are calling for Immigration reform that includes more than just enforcement. Here’s what they had to say:

Read the rest of this entry »

Filmmaker Andrew Berends

Documentarian Andy Berends and his translator, Samuel George, are still in the custody of Nigeria’s State Security Services after being arrested Sunday afternoon. After 36 hours of questioning with no food and little water, he was provisionally released overnight and required to return in the morning. He’s been accused of (but not formally charged with) espionage; a conviction could mean death.

Andy was in the country — legally, it should be noted — filming “Delta Boys,” a documentary about the local conflict over oil in the Niger River Delta. This is the fourth time journalists and media workers have been arrested on baseless charges in the Delta since 2005, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Earlier in the year, the Nigerian military held the crew of “Sweet Crude” for six days and a CNN journalist was questioned for five days in May.

UPDATE: Nigerian state television reporter Felix Opute and at least 20 others have been detained today while covering a Niger Delta community meeting.

The Nigerian government is increasingly sensitive to coverage of the Delta region. Their military has been battling well-armed and well-organized separatists in the strategic oil-producing region for years.

takepart and pressure your representatives to help free Andy and Samuel.

caution. Photo by Max Sparber (Creative Commons)

If you were watching the Republican National Convention on CNN last night, you most likely noticed that they paused in their coverage inside the Xcel Center to briefly focus on what was happening outside of the building. They quickly, and without any alarm, mentioned that protesters had been gassed with some kind of chemical agent. Whoever their correspondent outside was also went on to mention that the protest wasn’t violent and was pretty normal, that there was some chanting. The commentators inside asked a few more questions, got a few more not super revealing answers and went back to the drama inside.

Does anyone else find it disturbing that a group of reporters, of supposed journalists, were told that a group of peaceful protesters were gassed with some kind of chemical agent and they had no reaction? They were not alarmed? They didn’t want to explore that more? Especially considering that the First Amendment that gives journalists their rights, is also the amendment that is supposed to give all people ” the right to peaceably assemble.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Once upon a time women couldn’t vote.Then a bunch of sassy sisters took action and made it so women were heard. So girlies, what’s your excuse now not to vote?

Get the stats after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Filmmaker Andrew Berends

As the news begins to spread through the media, friends, colleagues and supporters of filmmaker Andrew Berends have just set up a website to spread the word about his detainment.

takepart now and help get the word out. If you know someone in the media, Senate or House, send them the PDF press release from the Help Andy site — it’s been carefully worded to protect Andy.

If not, you can still send your thoughts, support and wishes for Andy to helpandyberends AT gmail DOT com.

From our good friend Agnes Varnum @ Doc it Out:

Andrew Berends, an established, award-winning American filmmaker and journalist from New York, was detained Sunday August 31st by the Nigerian military along with his translator, Samuel George, and Joe Bussio, the manager of a local bar. Andrew entered Nigeria legally in April 2008 to complete a documentary film.

Andrew was held in custody without food, sleep, or representation, and with limited water for 36 hours. He was questioned by the army, the police, and the State Security Services in Port Harcourt. He was then temporarily released, with an order to the SSS office at 9AM Tuesday morning. The State Security Services has confiscated his passport and personal property. Andrew’s translator, Samuel George, remained in custody over night.

More information on Berends and his arrest is available HERE

For more information on how you can help, takepart HERE

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s September and in the blink of an eye the fall movie season will be upon us. NPR has a piece up about many of the big Fall releases and we’ve posted trailers for most of the movies they mention here on TakePart:

• Miracle at St. Anna : Upcoming Movie Trailer
• James Bond, Quantum of Solace : Upcoming Movie Trailer
• Rachel Getting Married : Upcoming Movie Trailer
• Appaloosa : Upcoming Movie Trailer
• Oliver Stone’s “W” : Upcoming Movie Trailer
• Burn After Reading : Upcoming Movie Trailer
• Happy Go Lucky : Upcoming Movie Trailer
• Baz Luhrmann’s Australia : Upcoming Movie Trailer
• What Just Happened? : Upcoming Movie Trailer

And even though there isn’t a trailer yet, we’ve posted a ton of info (and are super excited about) one film that they mention, Participant’s The Soloist.

Read the rest of this entry »