PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Cuts were implemented on June 19, 2005. Riders to rally on June 29, 2005.

[ read more | previous features 1 2 3 ]

On Saturday, June 18, Pittsburgh's annual PrideFest began with a march Downtown which saw participation from GLBT advocacy groups, Drag queens, progressive churches, and more. The festival continued for several hours in River Front park. But while some march participants touted signs and sang songs calling for "equal rights" others felt that this year's theme of "equal rights: no more no less" falls short of their ultimate goals for the queer movement.

About 60 members and supporters of RESYST, a radical queer project of the Thomas Merton Center, descended on the 2005 PrideFest to insert a more radical queer presence in the form of a colorful pink and black bloc, complete with radical cheerleaders, signs, banners, drums, enthusiastic chanting, and a Rick Santorum puppet, which was later burned. Resyst members feel that the annual Pride Parade and Festival has become the epitome of the corporatization and maintstreaming of LGBT culture and identity.

[  stories 1 2 |  photos 1 2 3 |  audio | Resyst call to action ]

While Massey Energy stockholders met at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, parents, grandparents, and other residents of Coal River Valley, West Virginia rallied to oppose Massey's operations adjacent to Marsh Fork Elementary School. Two grandmothers and a third resident of the valley attempted to deliver a list of demands. The residents were met by the plant's head of security who refused to allow them to present their demands. When the residents again attempted to present their demands, they were arrested in a moving and dramatic act of civil conscience.

[ Read more... | Shareholders protest in New York City | Rustbelt Radio coverage ]

Also: Protests are planned in downtown Pittsburgh when the "National Coal Show" visits the convention center.  Visit Canaries in the Coalfields for more information.

Update!  16 more people were arrested in Sundial, WV today (5/31) for crossing onto the property of Massey Energy.  Read more...

The Port Authority of Allegheny County may turn over some routes and bus maintenance to privately-run businesses, warns the advocacy group Save Our Transit. The move would cut jobs and potentially drive down wages.

[  read more | March 11th Feature ]

On Saturday, May 14th, twenty members and supporters of Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) shut down the primary military recruitment center in Pittsburgh. Located in the heart of Oakland, the neighborhood where three of Pittsburgh's universities are located, the center serves as the operation base for multiple army recruitment teams. Saturday's action was the second time in three weeks that POG stymied military recruitment in Oakland.

[ read more | POG counter-recruitment action at CMU ]