We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Writer to BBC interviewer: ‘Stop accusing me of being a rioter’

This 4:25m video from article by Dylan Stableford from Yahoo News.
The British media has fielded plenty of criticism over its coverage of the U.K. riots--in part, for siding with police in their clashes with London youth, and for not telling the latter's side of the story.
See how the BBC interviewer has difficulty managing the interview with Darcus Howe, a 68-year-old West Indian writer and broadcaster. When she doesn't get the responses her bosses want, she resorts to cutting him off and then trying to lead listeners to believe that he is a rioter. 

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