Category Archives: Section

New Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Offers Hope to Canada’s First Nations Populations

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Public i

Outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper was nearly universally viewed by First Nations (known in the US as “indigenous” or “native” people), Métis and Inuit peoples as, at the least, insensitive to their concerns and, at worst, actively hostile towards Canada’s … Continue reading →

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Children With Incarcerated Parents Played Key Role in Phone Justice Victory!

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Brian Dolinar

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted recently to cap the rates of phone calls from prisons and jails after years of profiteering by telecommunications companies that have made millions off of those incarcerated and their families. In her comments before … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Community Forum, Human Rights, IMC, National, News, Policing, Politics, Prisoners, UC-IMC, Voices of Color | Comments Off on Children With Incarcerated Parents Played Key Role in Phone Justice Victory!

Mother Nature EP by Klevah and T.R.U.T.H: The Elements Personified

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Ruth Nicole Brown

There is no greater time to be a hip hop head in Champaign-Urbana. While the towns have always boasted superb talent―there is deep hip hop history here―that two emcees joined forces to create something new is newsworthy. Shasta Knox a.k.a … Continue reading →

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Cuba-US Relations: New Beginning or New Offensive?

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Abdul Alkalimat

The US has opened up talks with Cuba and reestablished formal diplomatic relations so that the two countries’ “interest sections” are now embassies. Could this be a full normalization of relations, or is it just a new US offensive for … Continue reading →

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Hometown Dedication

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Coco Harmon

The below poem was read by Coco Harmon at the 15-year anniversary celebration for the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center. You can watch it online here thanks to UPTV. — Have you been there? You know, that moment when your legs … Continue reading →

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History Matters: Compromising How We Teach Slavery

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Stephanie Seawell

If you checked your Facebook feed early in October, there is a good chance you saw a news story about a textbook controversy in Texas. In case you missed it, here is what happened. A ninth grader opened his World … Continue reading →

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Whither the Refugees, W(h)ither Europe?

Posted on 10/08/2015 by Richard Esbenshade

Since I arrived in Hungary in early summer, the media, and everyday conversations, were filled with the refugee crisis. From the dangerous boat crossings from Libya to Europe’s Mediterranean island outposts such as Lampedusa, Italy, the main flow had shifted … Continue reading →

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Money and Otherness

Posted on 10/08/2015 by Raha Behnam

I was an immigrant child growing up in Vancouver. I spent a lot of time walking alone, to and from school, through the forested neighborhoods and along the suburban roads. Every day a new experience floating in my mind. Here … Continue reading →

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Purpose Workshop at the IMC

Posted on 10/08/2015 by Public i

Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Or maybe you “have it all” on the surface but deep down you’re just plain exasperated and fatigued. Lack is an illusion & you cannot step into a fulfilling life of purpose … Continue reading →

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Culture, Liberation, and #BlackLivesMatter

Posted on 09/03/2015 by Amira Davis

During the early 70s, Amilcar Cabral wrote extensively on the theme of liberation and the collective persona of subjugated people expressed as culture. His libratory praxis offered a context to dialectically engage notions of freedom and strategies for its attainment. … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Community Forum, Education, Women | Comments Off on Culture, Liberation, and #BlackLivesMatter

This Black Life Matters

Posted on 09/03/2015 by Teresa Barnes

Michael Brown was killed a year ago. They used to say, “It’s been a long, hot summer” but it’s been another long, hot, horror-filled year in the US; every single day another Michael Brown. This is someone I know. In … Continue reading →

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Thank You, Mr. Walton

Posted on 09/03/2015 by Chris Evans

On June 23rd, longtime homeless man Bill Walton passed away at age 69. He spent many of his last days on the steps on the Independent Media Center. Upon thinking of the passing of Bill this week, one of Bill’s … Continue reading →

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Police Lying

Posted on 09/03/2015 by Belden Fields

Do Police Lie? The answer is that some police officers do indeed lie. The major conditions under which police lie are three: to frame a suspect, to protect themselves or fellow officers from detection or punishment of misdeed, and to … Continue reading →

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First Class Justice vs. “the Cattle Call”

Posted on 09/03/2015 by Public i

By a Courtwatcher Courtwatch is a group of citizens who volunteer to attend criminal proceedings by request of the defendant or a family member of a jailed defendant. We are there as witnesses to criminal justice in Champaign County, to … Continue reading →

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Work Day: Lament for Darius Graves

Posted on 09/03/2015 by Public i

The below poem was written by Ryan Collins for the project Lament for the Dead (http://www.lamentforthedead.org/), an online community poetry project which marks the death of every person killed by police this summer, and every police officer who loses life … Continue reading →

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IMC Gallery

Posted on 09/03/2015 by Public i

The IMC Gallery this summer collaborated with the Arts of Life to present a group show curated by artist Tim Stone, of the Chicago Studio. The Arts of Life is a studio based community for adults with developmental disabilities. This … Continue reading →

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Oct. 9-11: UCIMC 15th Anniversary

Posted on 08/21/2015 by Public i

Reunion, Celebration, & Conversation Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 9-11 at the Independent Media Center 15 years ago a handful of people gathered in a living room, collectivized their media equipment and started to tell untold stories. In 2005, we bought the post … Continue reading →

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New Mural by CU’s Own Langston Allston in Downtown Urbana

Posted on 07/08/2015 by Public i
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Islam and the Inmate: Mislabeled “Menaces”

Posted on 07/08/2015 by Public i

By Anatta Oknokwo “Allahu Akbar!” Mack Trimble, Jr. enthusiastically calls his fellow inmates to prayer.  Soon the chapel of Jackson State Prison will hum with the melodic recitation of the Holy Qur’an as the community of Muslim males prostrate before … Continue reading →

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The Greek Crisis: Beginning of the End for European Unity?

Posted on 07/08/2015 by Richard Esbenshade

Protesters burn an EU flag during an anti-austerity demonstration in Thessaloniki, Greece. Practically since the moment of its victory in the January 25 elections, Greece’s Syriza party has been locked in a struggle with the “troika,” the triumvirate of the … Continue reading →

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