CounterPunch February 16, 2016 ZNet February 16, 2016 It’s no surprise that a movie, with some of Hollywood’s finest acting, writing, directing and filmmaking, failed to win a single Oscar or Academy Award, particularly since the movie criticizes Hollywood for its unethical political discrimination. “Trumbo” is about James Dalton Trumbo (December 9, 1905 –September 10, 1976,) the screenwriter who broke… Read more →
Margot with Cleo & Trumbo, 1970 (Excerpt from chapter 45, “Through the Wall; A Year in Havana (p. 176, Freedom Voices)” West Hollywood, circa 1971. A drifting net of cigar smoke let me know the world-famous director was at his desk; I’d have to steal down the stairs past him and out the glass doors to get to the pool.… Read more →
The 47-year-old blockade now costs the United States far more than it costs Cuba. By Margot Pepper Dollars & Sense, March/April 2009 Common Dreams, March 7, 2009 On January 1, Cuba celebrated the 50th anniversary of the revolution against the U.S.-backed Batista regime. For 47 of those years, Cuba has suffered under what U.S. officials call an “embargo” against the… Read more →
A Documentary Drama About a Bay Area Legend By Margot Pepper Monthly Review, October 2012 Who would dream that two environmentalists-turned-redwood warriors could sue the FBI for framing them with the same COINTELPRO campaign that locked away Leonard Peltier and Geronimo Ji Jaga (Pratt) yet actually win? Mary Liz Thomson’s award-winning documentary Who Bombed Judi Bari? reveals the remarkable story… Read more →
By Margot Pepper Free Venice Beachhead, April 2012 Scoop Independent News, April 2012 Before global warming permeated contemporary consciousness, Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney popularized protests against clear-cutting in the 1980’s. On May 24th, 1990 in Oakland, California, a bomb exploded in Judi Bari’s car and the former union organizer suffered debilitating injuries alongside Cherney. “Who Bombed… Read more →
A look at the Hobos to Street People Exhibit and Catalog By Margot Pepper The last thing one would expect an art show and catalog focusing on poverty to do is inspire, particularly during such challenging economic times. Curator, artist and author Art Hazelwood has masterfully juxtaposed art created during the Great Depression of the 1930s to the daring… Read more →
By Margot Pepper Berkeley Daily Planet,February 2009 Scoop Independent News, January 2009 The U.S. blockade is causing more economic damage to the United States than it is to Cuba. A December letter signed by a dozen leading U.S. business organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged then-President-elect Barack Obama to initiate the process of scrapping the 47-year old… Read more →