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This week on Uprising:

*Will Congress and Obama Act Swiftly on Global Warming?
*Empire Notes on: Obama and the “War on Terror”
*The Psychology of Resolving Global Conflicts
*Black Agenda Report on the Crime of Walking While Black
*Youth Activism and Obama

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Will Congress and Obama Act Swiftly on Global Warming?

Former Vice President Al Gore recently addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to strongly urge congressional action on global warming this year. Ahead of an international conference in Copenhagen, Denmark later on this year in December, Gore …

“If you have come here to help me, then you are wasting your time…But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” — Lila Watson

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Former Vice President Al Gore addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday to strongly urge congressional action on global warming this year. Ahead of an international conference in Copenhagen, Denmark later on this year in December, Gore warned that “We have arrived at a moment of decision.” Indeed, a new report on global warming concluded that its effects are, in a sense, irreversible. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, states that even if all carbon dioxide emissions were to cease today, the climate would still feel the effects of what has already been done for the next 1,000 years. Susan Solomon, the lead author of the report, noted that such a finding only makes taking current action all the more imperative. The …

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In Seattle, Washington community members gathered on Wednesday as lawmakers announced hopes to expand the state’s domestic partnership law. The 110 page bill would extend state laws that currently only apply to married couples to same-sex unions. Meanwhile, in New England, marriage equality is being actively pursued. In New Haven Connecticut, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders or GLAD, already has two gay marriage victories in Connecticut and in Massachusetts: now the only two states where same-sex marriage is legal. However, GLAD is also hoping to win equal marriage rights for the LGBTQ community in all 6 New England states by 2012 as part of its new initiative called the “6 by 12” strategy. GLAD’s director of public affairs Carissa Cunningham, believes that this strategy could also help …

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On Jan. 21st, a day after the presidential inauguration, The Southern Poverty Law Center published an article on their website titled “Hatemongers Poised to Exploit Obama Elections and Tough Economic Times.” The article highlights how racist extremists have been energized by Obama’s election, hoping to exploit an Obama backlash among whites who resent having a black man in the White House. The article goes on to quote neo-nazi David Duke saying How Obama will be a “visual aid” for angry white Americans and will provoke a backlash among relatively mainstream whites that will “result in a dramatic increase in [the] ranks” of extremists, a sentiment which many other hate group leaders agree.That backlash was evident in the aftermath of the election as scores of racially charged …

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Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report. This week’s commentary is on the crime of walking while black.

Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

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The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Subversive Historian Gabriel San Roman

Sixty-one years ago on this day in people’s history, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi, India. On January 30th, 1948, the pacifist proponent of non-violence was shot and killed by a Hindu extremist named Nathuram Godse. The assassin was motivated by Gandhi’s last hunger strike which aimed at persuading the newly independent nation of India to stop withholding payment to the newly portioned nation of Pakistan. Having been long opposed to the controversial partition before a last minute change of opinion, he also sought to end the violent riots that erupted in its aftermath. In a polarized atmosphere, Gandhi’s hunger strike and reconciliation efforts were unforgivable to his killer. On the night of his death, Gandhi …

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Yesterday, the Democratic controlled House of Representatives voted to pass President Barack Obama’s $816 billion dollar economic stimulus plan, one of the largest in history. The bill passed by 244-188 vote. Although Democrats had accommodated some of the Republican concerns, all of the House Republicans voted against the bill, as well as eleven Democrats. In the House of Representatives, Republican members opposed to Obama’s plan insisted that more tax cuts, particularly those aimed at housing, and a small business capital gains tax break would create jobs and boost the economy. President Obama had supported such ideas as a candidate. In the midst of an ongoing recession and more news of massive layoffs from major corporations, Obama urged expediency in bringing the legislation to his desk, stating, “We …

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The twentieth century has been deemed the bloodiest of all by scholars with more than 60 million people, possibly 100 million people killed at the hands of government decrees and enacted by both civilians and soldiers. The United States is still engaged in two wars and Israel just killed more than 1200 Palestinians in its Gaza incursion. War wages on in Darfur, the Congo, and throughout the planet. Some believe the election of Barack Obama signals a new turn towards less violence, less war and more dialogue. So how do we resolve violent conflict, particularly when they are deeply, deeply acrimonious? What are the assumptions we just might have to let go of?

GUESTS: Mari Fitzduff, professor and director of the International Program in Co-extisence and Conflict at Brandeis University. …

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Imagine a pregnant teenager traveling from Kentucky to San Francisco and just can’t bear to bring her baby into this troubled world so she willfully carries and carries – from the Civil War to the present day. That’s the story of Martha who is abandoned by her father, separated from her lover in the new play “Battle Hymn,” which is currently showing at the Ford Theater. Written by award winning playwright Jim Leonard, the historical fantasy play features tragedy, humor and hope as Martha travels across the painful history of the United States that is often forgotten or ignored.

GUESTS: Jim Leonard, playwright, Susie Jane Hunt, Robert Manning, actors

For Battle Hymn showtimes and more information, please visit the Ford Amphitheatre