Search Results for: belden fields

Belden Fields: Organizer for Justice

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Jim Barrett

Anyone who knew Belden Fields understands that he was an institution in Champaign-Urbana, someone who injected a message of social justice into our daily lives. Everyone will have their own way of remembering him. He was very smart, very funny, … Continue reading →

Posted in Chief Illiniwek, In Memoriam, labor, Sanctuary movement, socialism | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Belden Fields: Organizer for Justice

Belden Fields: Human Rights Scholar

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Walter Feinberg

Review Belden’s book Rethinking Human Rights for the New Millennium (2003), addresses a conflict among three human rights theories and provides a compelling synthesis of the three. According to The Declaration of Independence, “All men are created equal, . . … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, human rights, In Memoriam, Section | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Belden Fields: Human Rights Scholar

A Belden Fields Memory

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Jeff Machota

It’s February 8, 1990. The U of I Board of Trustees are meeting. The Coalition Against State Sponsored Terrorism (CASST) is protesting against CIA recruitment on campus. We have members inside the meeting planning to disrupt, but not get arrested. … Continue reading →

Posted in In Memoriam, Section, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A Belden Fields Memory

In Celebration of My Political Advisor-Turned-Surrogate Father: Belden Fields‬

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Carol Ammons

In 2025, in my eleventh year serving Champaign-Urbana as state representative, the world seems to be coming apart at the seams. We have a madman in the White House, who is shredding the last remnants of dignity our country had … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, In Memoriam, Politics, Politics, Section, Voices, Women | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on In Celebration of My Political Advisor-Turned-Surrogate Father: Belden Fields‬

Belden’s Democratic Socialist Vision

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Pat Simpson

What are we to make of the current horrors of a globally ascendent authoritarianism, an authoritarianism bred in the toxic soil of neoliberalism and the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Latin America that sent desperate migrants knocking on … Continue reading →

Posted in human rights, In Memoriam, socialism | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Belden’s Democratic Socialist Vision

Belden Rests in Solidarity

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Danielle Chynoweth

When I hear the word solidarity, the first person I think of is the late Professor Belden Fields; may his spirit rest in power. On the 25th anniversary of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, we honor our dear friend Belden, … Continue reading →

Posted in In Memoriam, police accountability, Police brutality | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Belden Rests in Solidarity

Belden’s French Connection

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Marie-Claude Smouts

I met Belden in 1963. We both were residents at the Cité Universitaire Internationale and attended the same seminar on the 1930s at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po). It was the start of a close friendship spanning … Continue reading →

Posted in 1968, 1968 Revolt, France, In Memoriam, International, International, Politics, Section, Students | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Belden’s French Connection

UCIMC’s 25th Anniversary

Posted on 01/09/2026 by Jane McClintock

Twenty-five years ago, Indymedia was born out of anti–World Trade Organization protests in Seattle in 1999. Using democratic media, volunteer journalists broadcast the voices from the global justice movement to millions of people around the globe. Out of that realization … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Section, UC-IMC, UCIMC | Tagged , , | Comments Off on UCIMC’s 25th Anniversary

Summer Issue Front Cover

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Public i

BELDEN FIELDS (1937–2024): SCHOLAR, ORGANIZER, ACTIVIST, SOCIALIST

Posted in In Memoriam | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Summer Issue Front Cover

Summer Issue Back Cover

Posted on 06/29/2025 by Public i

Community Memorial We hope you appreciate this special issue of the Public i remembering our colleague Belden Fields. It was gratifying for us to put it together. The IMC will be hosting a memorial at some point in the near … Continue reading →

Posted in IMC, In Memoriam, UCIMC | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Summer Issue Back Cover

Israel Anti-Boycott Act a Threat to Free Speech

Posted on 05/14/2025 by Belden Fields

As part of our continuing republication of past articles written by our late cofounder, editorial collective member, and longtime social activist Belden Fields, we chose the article below, from our September 2017 issue, for its clear relevance to the ongoing, … Continue reading →

Posted in Boycott, Free Speech, Israel/Palestine, Politics, Politics, Section, World-wide death and suffering | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Israel Anti-Boycott Act a Threat to Free Speech

D. J. Trump: Privileged Inciter-in-Chief

Posted on 02/21/2025 by Belden Fields

The Editorial Collective of the Public i has decided to periodically republish past articles written for us by our late colleague and cofounder Belden Fields. We will also be publishing a special memorial issue for Belden around May, traditionally the … Continue reading →

Posted in January 6 insurrection, subversion, Trump | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on D. J. Trump: Privileged Inciter-in-Chief

Winter Issue Back Cover

Posted on 12/23/2024 by Public i

The Public i editorial collective mourns the passing of our dear colleague and friend Belden Fields. A full appreciation will appear in our next issue.

Posted in Remembering, UCIMC, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Winter Issue Back Cover

A Surprise from the French Left in the 2024 Legislative Elections

Posted on 10/18/2024 by Belden Fields

Many French people were very anxious prior to the second round of their July, 2024 legislative elections. Unlike the American two-party system, in the French multiparty system a candidate needs 50 percent or more of the vote to be seated … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Elections, France, International, International, Section | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A Surprise from the French Left in the 2024 Legislative Elections

Shamar Betts Case Moves to Federal Appeals Court

Posted on 05/13/2022 by Janice Jayes

On April 8, the case of Urbana resident Shamar Betts moved to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Betts was arrested in June, 2020 in the midst of a national crackdown on protests against the murder … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Racism | Comments Off on Shamar Betts Case Moves to Federal Appeals Court

Scapegoating and the 2020 Marketplace Mall Riots

Posted on 08/04/2021 by Janice Jayes

I watched the legal machinery eat further into the life of a young man this past month. On June 14, I joined others at the sentencing hearing for Shamar Betts at the federal courthouse in Urbana. Betts is accused of … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Justice, Police | Comments Off on Scapegoating and the 2020 Marketplace Mall Riots

D. J. Trump: Privileged Inciter-in-Chief

Posted on 05/26/2021 by Belden Fields

The federal anti-riot law (18 U.S. Code § 2101) was originally enacted in 1968 to silence and punish civil rights and anti-Vietnam War activists, but has been amended after constitutional challenges since then. It now states: Whoever travels in interstate … Continue reading →

Posted in January 6 insurrection, subversion, Trump | Comments Off on D. J. Trump: Privileged Inciter-in-Chief

The 2021 Illinois Police and Criminal Justice Reform Bill

Posted on 04/04/2021 by Belden Fields

On February 22, Governor Pritzker signed House Bill 3653. This bill, rather a composite omnibus of many bills, was sponsored by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus in both the Illinois House and Senate. Several of the individual bills were sponsored … Continue reading →

Posted in Court System, IL, Justice, Police, Police Brutality, Policing | Comments Off on The 2021 Illinois Police and Criminal Justice Reform Bill

UCIMC News

Posted on 04/03/2021 by Public i

The C-U Independent Media Center, in collaboration with its Public i Working Group, presents a panel on “Grassroots Journalism in Our Community: Past, Present and Future,” with Belden Fields and Janice Jayes, Public i Editorial Collective; Phalonna Stewart, Public i … Continue reading →

Posted in UCIMC | Comments Off on UCIMC News

An Indymedia Genesis Story

Posted on 02/08/2021 by Sascha Meinrath

Indymedia is a wide-ranging phenomenon: its genesis in opposition to dominant powers; its constituency spanning numerous public interest movements; and its continuing success creating a proving ground for a next generation of leaders who today, 20 years later, are scattered … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, UC-IMC, UCIMC | Comments Off on An Indymedia Genesis Story