The slideshows of the Tax Collectors strike leaders are now available with Spanish subtitles at Egipte rera la Barricada.
Well done. (¡Muy bien hecho!)
Courageous Women: Mervat Qassem Hilal
May 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I’ve been hard at work making slideshows from interviews and photo sessions Hossam and I did in Egypt, and I’m finally on the home stretch. You can follow my progress on my vimeo account
I think this video is my favorite from the project. In the West, I we’re too often taught to assume that a woman in hijab — an Arab, a Muslim, a wife and a mother — is automatically a victim, passive and oppressed. I wish we got to see more of women like Mervat, who plays an active role in agitating for her own rights and those of her colleagues. She was on the front lines of the struggle to unionize the tax collectors, sleeping on the streets during the strike, facing down government officials, and persevering despite threats against her and her family.
It’s also quite touching to see the support she gets from her husband and son.
More slideshows from Egypt
March 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Grad school insanity (in my case) and general Egyptian turmoil (in Hossam’s) have kept us from making much progress on the Tax Collectors’ strike project. My spring break is coming up, though, so there’s reason to hope it’ll be finished by the end of the month.
In the meantime, a few more slideshows are subtitled and up on vimeo.
Strike leader Kamal Abu Eita, a long-time activist, explains how his record as a student activist kept him from his planned career, and how he has kept his activism alive while working as a tax collector:
Kamal Abu Eita explains that unlike previous strikes in Egypt, which were confined to a single workplace, the tax collectors’ strike drew workers from offices all across Egypt:
This short clip illustrates unity between Muslim and Coptic Christian strikers. The recent wave of labor activism in Egypt has been marked by cooperation between Muslims and Copts, belying the popular myth of irresolvable communal conflict:
Abdel Qader Nada on life on the picket line:
I’m hoping to work next on interviews with Mervat Qasim Helal Mohammed, one of the many women instrumental in planning and conducting the strike. Not only is she one hell of a character, but I think stories like hers help counter the media trope of “veiled Muslim woman as passive victim.”
related: Hossam posts the slideshows here
Juana Change
January 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I’ve been a bit out of the Philippines loop this past month, so I just now heard about Juana Change’s Youtube channel, which is making a huge splash in the Philippines right now (thanks Noah) — the Youtube view counts may not be all that high, but the videos have been replayed on major news networks.
The videos, four so far, are in heavy Taglish, and probably make no sense without translation and explanation of specific cultural references. (Someone should get on this, and it is NOT gonna be me, I already have WAY too much on my plate as it is). But trust me, they’re hilarious.
The video below, for example, tackles Charter Change, known as Cha-Cha — attempts by politicians to change the current constitution (which was put into place following the popular uprising that overthrew the dictator Ferdinand Marcos). Among other things, Cha-Cha might make it possible to extend much-reviled current President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term beyond 2010 (the current constitutional limit) and is widely viewed as a power grab by Arroyo and her political allies.
Juana Change takes on corruption, power grabs, brain drain, political assassinations and much more in just a few minutes, and calls on viewers to reengage with politics.
Even if you don’t get the language or the political context, I still think it’s a powerful example of how social media and satire can be used to send a political message to a wide audience.
The first completed clip…
January 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I haven’t been posting lately, largely because I’ve been holed up working on the tax collectors project.
Here’s one clip from the project, which shows tax strike leader Abdel Qader Nada explaining some of the conditions that pushed real estate tax collectors to launch a (successful!) strike last year.
This video, along with about a dozen others, will be embedded into a multimedia presentation illustrating the history of the strike, and the subsequent formation of the first independent labor union Egypt has seen in 50 years.
Egyptian Tax Collectors: Working Conditions from Isabel Esterman on Vimeo.
For more background information on the Tax Collectors, check out the blog of Hossam, who I’ve been working with.
Crew slideshow
October 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment
My multimedia slideshow on the Jack London Aquatic Center’s crew team for Oakland youth is now up at OaklandNorth.net.
More to come…