Organizing

Last night, the Shafeek Nader Trust had a presentation about the 19th Joe A. Callaway awards for 2008, which acknowledge recipients for their civic courage. I was talking with a colleague during the reception and we were talking about organizing, protest, and the current historical moment.

-- the protests in Greece in response to the shooting death of a 15 year old by police officers led to sympathy protests in other European cities, see "Greek protests spread to European cities" from the Telegraph;
-- the airport takeover in Thailand which led to a change in government;
-- the sit-in at Republic Windows in Chicago, after the business was closed due to a loss of credit. Banks are now offering the company financing, which will allow the business to reopen. See "Republic Windows & Doors plant sit-in still a stalemate" from the Chicago Tribune. (I missed this story in the parade of stories about Illinois Governor Blagojevich.)

Note that this blog entry from Inc. indicates that the owner of Republic Windows intended to shut down the company and transfer the orders and business to another company he bought in Iowa. See "No Good Guys At Republic Windows."