Editor’s Note: OLB invited writer, veteran and medic Jacob Thomas to document his work with veterans who have served in the U.S. military, but were subsequently deported to Mexico. There are true American patriots in the world. There are people who believe in the principals set forth by the founding fathers, believe in the inalienable rights of … Continue reading Twice Betrayed: Deported Vets Struggle to Belong
Editor’s Note: OLB invited writer, veteran and medic Jacob Thomas to reflect on his experience at Standing Rock in early December, 2016. He sent this manuscript en route from Tijuana, MX, where he is working to document deported veterans’ oral histories for the Library of Congress. For more information on this oral history project see the GoFundMe … Continue reading Listen More & Talk Less: A Veteran’s Reflection on Standing Rock
This has been a year of intense activism focused upon water and indigenous rights in general, and we at the Overpass Light Brigade have tried to use our visibility to give focus to these issues. Last January hit hard and cold and the freezing weather was a match for the frozen hearts of our state … Continue reading A Year of Water and Indigenous Struggle
Last night, Milo Yiannopoulos’s “Dangerous Faggot Tour” came to UW-Milwaukee, hosted by a student front group, also responsible for the somewhat lame exercise in neo-McCarthyism, the “Professor Watchlist.” For over a month, faculty, staff and students have been expressing concern about the known dynamics of Milo Y, a kind of sly and slick performance of … Continue reading Hate’s Insidious Face: UW-Milwaukee and the “Alt-Right”
Writing and above photo by Barbara With Today, Chief Arvol Looking Horse held a ceremony around the sacred fire. The purpose was to hear a report from the UN representatives who have been investigating the allegations of human rights abuses and to bless the belongings of the people who had been jailed. The UN representative, … Continue reading News From the Sacred Fire
By Barbara With, October 29, 2016 All photos by Barbara With, except “Boys On Horses,” by Joe Brusky Today I made my first visit to the Sacred Stone Camps, the now-famous water protector settlement in Standing Rock, North Dakota. I arrived at Standing Rock casino well past midnight and arose early the next day to get to … Continue reading Standing Rock Will Prevail
It was horsemanship day at the Red Warrior Camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, and we had set ourselves up in the minimal shade of a small break of willow trees. It was the only shade around, and people drifted in to watch the riding events, joining us away from the blistering sun. We started … Continue reading Drone To Be Wild
We arrived early to the eerily fortified University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee campus, cameras in hand. Police were everywhere, whole sections cordoned off with temporary metal barricades, motorcycle cops buzzed the neighborhood, and sniffing dogs, nose to the ground, moved in their purposeful patterns zigzagging their handlers behind them. Donald Trump would be appearing in a … Continue reading Student Coalitions Rise Against Trump Hate
We greeted those arriving to the Music Under Glass event at the Mitchell Park Domes, Thursday night, to remind them that it was the current County Executive Chris Abele whose mismanagement put the future of this Milwaukee landmark in jeopardy. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, Abele’s destruction doesn’t end here. Milwaukee has over $200 million in deferred … Continue reading Milwaukee Has Had Enough of Chris Abele
Illumination Against Gentrification. Photo by Patrick Chang. In Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox For Revolution, the tactic “Light Brigading” is described “To broadcast a message through collective action; to frame nighttime actions with a key message; to make creative use of overlooked public spaces.” The end of 2015 brings us an inspirational collaborative project: “Illumination Against … Continue reading Community Building Through Light Brigading