Category Archives: Section

“Secure Communities” Program Adopted by Sheriff Wreaking Havoc in Local Immigrant Community

The “Secure Communities” program being adopted in local counties across the United States has already caused much controversy in its short history. The implementation of Secure Communities by Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh has brought great distraught to several families … Continue reading

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Hard Up for Work

By Ricky Baldwin Mary is laid off from her job in food service at the University of Illinois four times a year for a total of four and a half months. During this time, she does not count as unemployed. … Continue reading

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Credit as a Cover for Cutbacks Over the Past Thirty Years

By Michael Brün Two facts are important for understanding our current economic situation and how we got here. The first is that the finance industry has grown from comprising less than one tenth of our economy in the 80s to … Continue reading

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Consumer Debt’s Central Role in Finance-led Capitalism and Class Warfare-An Organizing Opportunity

“For at least five thousand years, popular movements have tended to center on struggles over debt—this was true long before capitalism even existed. There is a reason for this. Debt is the most efficient means ever created to take relations … Continue reading

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What Has 9/11 Done to the United States?

In the October 2001 issue of the Public i, I examined elements of US policy that might have contributed to the 9/11 attack terrorist act that violated the human rights of the people killed and injured. Here I want to … Continue reading

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Sweet Corn Festival Brings Major Disappointment

At a time when our community has been so significantly impacted by the death of a young African-American man at the hands of the Champaign Police, we continue to be mourning and healing. I teach courses on race, gender and … Continue reading

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Emails Leaked at IMC Web Site Detailing the Internal Struggles of the Champaign Police Department

Operating for more than a decade, the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center website has become known as a local source for exposing police misconduct. For perhaps the first time at any IMC site, somebody from behind the “blue line” leaked information … Continue reading

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Ironworkers at Labor Day Parade Pose for a Photo with the Latest Public i

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Mother Jones Spotted at Labor Day Parade

Many were at the Labor Day Parade in Urbana, Illinois, including Germaine Light who dressed up as Mother Jones and marched with the local chapter of Jobs With Justice.

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Champaign-Urbana to Host International Restorative Justice Learning Event

Seventeen years ago, Dominic Barter walked into a shantytown near his home in Rio de Janeiro with a question – what happens when I walk toward conflict, rather than away from it? Could it be that conflict becomes violent when … Continue reading

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2011 Latin American Film Festival

2011 LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL Organized by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) September 23-29, 2011 Art Theater, 126 W. Church St., Champaign, IL También la Lluvia/Even the Rain FRI Set 23, 6:00 pm / SUN Set … Continue reading

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Pages for Pennies Book Sale to Benefit Books to Prisoners

UC Books to Prisoners is holding its Fall Pages for Pennies Community Book Sale Friday September 30 through Sunday October 2nd.  Tens of thousands of high quality books from fiction to text books will be available.  Come early for the … Continue reading

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The Beehive Collective to Come to Urbana

The Beehive Collective will bring their exciting, interactive presentation to the UCIMC. Come join us for an evening of art, education, community, and fun. Thursday October 6th at 7pm Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center Long exploited as a resource-extraction colony within … Continue reading

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The Neo or Continuing Haitian Revolution

Is there no end to US ignominy? Will the name “America” go down in history, in real history, as one of the worst plagues to have visited our uncultured humanity? It would seem so, especially if, like me, you have … Continue reading

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U of I Law Professor Harassed by FBI/CIA After 9/11

Francis Boyle at the World Court The attorney-client privilege assuring confidentiality between the two parties is one of the most cherished rights of the American law system, but according to internationally recognized lawyer, author and professor Francis A. Boyle of … Continue reading

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Ten Years of Indypendent Media: An Oral History of the Public i

The Public i commemorates ten years of publication by interviewing some of those who have worked on the newspaper along the way. Darrin Drda Darrin Drda is a former Champaign-Urbana resident who now lives in San Rafael, California with his … Continue reading

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Thank You Urbana-Champaign Sustainers and Readers

Thank You Urbana-Champaign Sustainers and Readers From the Editors and Facilitators of the Public i This is the 10th anniversary issue of the Public i and we want to thank all of those who have made this paper possible. These … Continue reading

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The New Operation Wetback? Immigration and Mass Incarceration in the Obama Era

(This article first appeared in Counterpunch Online August 4, 2011) Last week Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) joined a demonstration in Washington D.C. to protest the refusal of President Obama to use his executive powers to halt the deportations of the … Continue reading

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The Sound Before the Fury: The California Prison Hunger Strike

Beginning on July 1, 2011, hundreds of prisoners of all races in California’s Pelican Bay SHU (“Security Housing Unit”) began a historic hunger strike to demand an end to the cruel and inhumane treatment that they suffer under – including … Continue reading

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Progressive Voice Needs Clearer Expression Prior to the 2012 Elections

Progressive Voice Needs Clearer Expression Prior to the 2012 Elections Progressives need make a much simpler and more direct case for their positions going into the Fall 2012 elections. Tea Party advocates have managed to capture the rhetoric being used … Continue reading

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