G-infinity - Breaking News From The G20

Carl Redwood, Jr. currently serves as convener of the Hill District Consensus Group and was Chairperson of the One Hill Community Benefits Agreement Coalition. Carl is a social worker and has participated in various community organizing efforts on the local, national and international levels.  He speaks about the nature of development and how developers use government and international organizations for their own benefit.  He also talks about his own experience with the Hill District and the development of the new Penguins Stadium. http://www.peoplessummit.com

On Monday September 21, local Pittsburgh community organizer Tim Stevens talked about abolishing the artificial barriers that cause division and how we have to be active in breaking these barriers and active in demanding justice from our elected officials.Active in struggles against racism and for civil rights since the 1960s, Stevens served for a number of years as President of the Pittsburgh NAACP. He is currently the Chairman of the Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP).The Peoples’ Summit, a program of informed dialogue about the economic, social and political problems facing the world, will take place from Saturday, September 19 to Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at several locations in the city of Pittsburgh. http://www.peoplessummit.com

Privilege Hanngandu delivers a speech at the Peoples' Summit on September 21, 2009 about the impact of the financial crisis and debt relief and a message to the members of the G20.  Privilege Hanngandu is a Debt Program Officer at Jubilee Zambia, a part of the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection, which aims at securing total debt cancellation and entrust in a national trade system for poverty eradication. The Peoples’ Summit, a program of informed dialogue about the economic, social and political problems facing the world, will take place from Saturday, September 19 to Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at several locations in the city of Pittsburgh. http://www.peoplessummit.com

On Monday, September 21 local activist Mimi Yahn spoke at the Women's Tent City, explaining the effects of war on women and the need to develop alternative systems, policies and models to create gender equality. After this talk, Rustbelt Radio interviewed her on the book she is coauthoring, an alternative feminist social model, and how both relate to the policies of the G20.

A flash-mob was held in downtown Pittsburgh on Monday, September 21st to bring attention to the need for climate action.

Interviews with activists and passersby at the Code Pink and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Tent City for Peace in Point State Park, Downtown Pittsburgh- Rustbelt Radio

Short interview with Dan Sullivan about police breaking into his house and questioning him about protesters in the area.This incident occurred Sunday Sept. 20, 2009.

Short interview with a witness of police intimidation against local residents in the hill district (09/20/09).

Clarence Thomas, the co-chair of the Million Worker March, speaks about the Bail out the People March that took place Sunday, September 20th. We spoke to him at the Hill District Tent City the following day.

 The Bailout the People Movement organized a March for Jobs in Pittsburgh on Sunday September 20th, in a lead up to the G20 Summit. The march began at Monumental Baptist Church in the Hill District, one of Pittsburgh's most neglected neighborhoods, and made its way to Freedom Corner, a historic site of social justice struggles in the Hill. Demands of the group include a moratorium on layoffs, foreclosures, and evictions; no cuts in social services; and funding peoples needs not war and greed. Listen to some of the participants of the march, including longtime activist Jasiri X. (16:45 minutes)

Scilla Wahrhafitg, an organizer with the interfaith G-6 billion group, explains the interaction with police at their event on Sunday, September 20th.

The Seeds of Peace Collective arrived in Pittsburgh with a bus equipped to prepare meals for G20 demonstrators. Its bus, parked legally in Oakland, was towed this weekend and one member of the collective was arrested. After delay and a $200 payment, the bus was returned. Vincent Eirene of Blastfurnace Radio gives us this report.

Students at Carnegie Mellon Univerity have built what they like to call a "shantytown" structure for people to come and question the G20 summit. All are encouraged to participate in the dialogue, whether it be by decorating the structures or presenting workshop on an issue they feel is under represented. The space has attracted students and many out-of-towners in a collaborative effort to understand the meaning of the G20 summit.

At the Bail out the People Tent City, Rustbelt Radio spoke to Sophia Bryant from Picture the Homeless, a New York based advocacy group entirely run by homeless or formerly homeless people.

Greg Coleridge of the Economic Justice and Empowerment Program and NE Ohio American Friends Service Committee speaks at the People's Summit on Saturday, September 19th. He follows the history of corporate regulation on the local, national and international level, explaining how the goals of the G-20 are not new. Coleridge then concludes with ways to challenge the legal, political, and economic power of multi-national corporations.

Sameer Dossani, the director of Amnesty International's Demand Dignity Campaign, speaks about health care reform from a human rights standpoint. For more information visit amnestyusa.org

FSRN´s Daniel Denvir has been traveling across the most economically depressed areas in America´s Rustbelt, speaking to people who have found creative ways to face the crisis. This special series focues on the cities of Cleveland, Detroit and Youngstown. Industrial washing machines in Cleveland. Photo by Daniel Denvir In part one, Denvir reports from Cleveland, Ohio on the soon-to-be open Evergreen Laundry, a worker-owned enterprise that is part of a larger effort to create jobs by locally channeling spending by the city’s big institutions.

While ordinary citizens are not allowed in to hear the dialogues of the G20, Pittsburgh residents and people from across the country will have the opportunity to take part in the People's Summit, which states it is neccessary to have "An informed dialogue about the economic, social, and political problems facing the world, including the role and future of the G-20"

People's Voices, is a project organizing five educational events between Wednesday, Sept. 23 and Friday, Sept. 25. These events will discuss the effects of corporate globalization and the policies of the G20. The events include discussion circles, a people's tribunal, a panel with leaders from Latin America, and an exchange with G20 representatives from the Global South.