Crossed Legs Movement

Colombian women are enacting a Lysistrata. The sex strike is being called the “crossed legs movement.”  Barbacaos’s sex strike will only end when the road is fixed. Barbacaos (small town in southwest Colombia) is accessible only by very poorly maintained dirt road. Apparently a trip to the closest hospital can take up to 14 hours… …

Narrative, comedy, and a message: The Internet Must Go

In 2012, market researcher John Wooley was dispatched to help the big ISPs figure out how to sell their vision for a “faster,” “cleaner” Internet.  Six months later he produced this report — and shared it with the world. A great example of using comedy to play the villain, a great narrative, and still able …

IMAGINE there’s no fracking …

“Don’t Frack My Mother” Sean Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Artists Against Fracking Present: "Don't Frack My Mother"Watch this video on YouTube In addition to coming together through song/video to send a message to Governor Cuomo this video, Yoko Ono and friends have been busy in other ways as well — learn about their efforts here  …

Are you an overworked activist?

“The enemy often tries to make us attempt and start many projects so that we will be overwhelmed with too many tasks, and therefore achieve nothing and leave everything unfinished. Sometimes he even suggests the wish to undertake some excellent work that he foresees we will never accomplish. This is to distract us from the …

Rights, Demands, and Radical Reimaginings: Art and Labor in the US

Alexis Clements is running a class on Art and Labor. When: Tuesday evenings, from 7.00-8.30pm Aug 27 – Sep 24, 2013 (5 sessions) Where: Brooklyn, NY (see class reg for full details) Description: In the past century, artists working across disciplines have undertaken a variety of efforts to not only get paid a decent wage …

Wealth Inequality in America – YouTube

Very encouraging that this video has 6.5 million views. Since our idea is so far from reality, how does this change the way we talk about this issue? How do we approach the topic so the people we’re talking to don’t dig in and defend what they believe to be true? And how does the …

Freedom to Fail, Harvard-Style

Even Harvard Business Review gets it: failure is a necessary part of creation and innovation.  This blog post highlights how a few forward-thinking organizations build failure-friendly practices into their structure.  One of our favorites is from DoSomething.org: DoSomething.Org, a nonprofit that helps young people take action on social change initiatives, has a “FailFest” once a …

Making Taxes Visible

In a recent New York Times editorial, Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton discussed America’s broad distaste for the institution of taxation, a phenomenon that plagues advocates of progressive taxation in this country.  Rather than addressing the historical-political underpinnings of these contemporary attitudes, they approach the issue from a design perspective.  Their conclusion?  Taxes could benefit …

Escrache in Spain

  The term “escrache” comes from Argentina, where it was coined in in 1995 by the human rights activist group H.I.J.O.S, to condemn the genocides committed by members of the military dictatorship that had been pardoned by Carlos Menem, who was prime minister at the time. When justice fails to signal a violation of human rights, the …

Those in Charge

On August 2012, seven black Mercedes drove through the Gran Vía, one of Madrid´s main streets. This image reminded of a State funeral, or some kind of military or religious parade. On top of each of the luxurious cars, there was an academic-style painting of a person that had been in “in charge” of the …