Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Explained: Why Julian Assange & Chelsea Manning hold key to Free Press [updated with an additional post.]

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

Friday, March 29, 2019

Explained: Why Julian Assange & Chelsea Manning hold key to Free Press [updated with an additional post.]

This article features a video in which Patrick Henningsen of the US explaining to leftist-Brit Mike Robinson (and to us in alternative media) the importance of Assange and Manning in the cause of a free media. This was posted on 21st Century Wire.

All journalists and publications, be they mainstream or alternative, must step up now or risk losing these freedoms permanently.

This short segment with Patrick Henningsen (21WIRE) and Mike Robinson (UK Column) explains why it’s absolutely crucial and in the public interest to support Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and WikiLeaks, as all three of these represent fundamental pillars of democracy – the right to publish, the rights of whistleblowers, and a free press. Watch:

Because I had contacted a number of left British websites regarding the importance of British activists to get involved in freeing Julian Assange and have to date received no response, I was especially interested in the reactions of Mike Robinson. I was disappointed that Robinson chose not to respond.

(You may also be interested in an insightful article entitled "Freedom Rider: Julian Assange and Robert Mueller" by Margaret Kimberley from Black Agenda Report.)