Group plans to protest Redford's environmental views at film festival: (Exxon has given $250,000)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=5246896&autostart=y

Group plans to protest Redford's environmental views at film festival

January 6th, 2009 @ 10:10pm
By John Hollenhorst

A national coalition is taking aim at one of Utah's best-known citizens, hoping to rain on Robert Redford's parade. They hope to stir up opposition to his stance on oil and gas drilling at his Sundance Film Festival.

The group leading the charge is the civil rights organization that organized Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous march on Washington. As they've drifted into environmental politics, critics have claimed the group is heavily subsidized by industry. Now the group is setting its sights on Redford.

…

"The fact is there are alternatives that have been in front of our noses for years and years," Redford said. "Put your energy into that. Don't dig up land you don't need to dig up, because you'll never put it back again."

Innis argues that Redford, himself, will use up a lot of oil and gas when he holds his film festival. But even the original founder of the Congress of Racial Equality has accused the current leaders of "farming out the group's reputation" in return for money from industry; Exxon alone has reportedly given $250,000.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. That is disgusting.

[drm604]

2. CORE since 1968

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Racial_Equality#CORE_since_1968

CORE since 1968

Since 1968, CORE has been led by National Chairman, Roy Innis, who initially led the organization to strongly support Black Nationalism. However, subsequent political developments within the organization led it turn more towards the right. CORE supported the presidential candidacy of Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972.

Recently, on same sex marriage and black health in the U.S.: "When you say to society at large that you have to accept, not only accept our lifestyle, but promote it and put it on the same plane and equate it with traditional marriage, that's where we draw the line and we say 'no.' That's not something that is a civil right. That is not something that is a human right," said Niger Innis, national spokesman for CORE, and son of Roy Innis. COREcares, an HIV/AIDS advocacy, education and prevention program for black women, was dismantled. Innis is on the board of the conservative Project 21 organization.

According to an interview given by James Farmer in 1993, "CORE has no functioning chapters; it holds no conventions, no elections, no meetings, sets no policies, has no social programs and does no fund-raising. In my opinion, CORE is fraudulent."

CORE in Africa

During the 1970s, CORE supported Ugandan military dictator Idi Amin, who was awarded a life membership.

CORE has an African branch based in Uganda, with Fiona Kobusingye as is its director. Bringing attention to the malaria crisis is one of the organization's main activities, and it has championed the use of DDT to fight the disease. In 2007, CORE organized a 300-mile walk across Uganda to promote DDT-based interventions against malaria. CORE paid university students to participate in the walk, and then left them in Kampala at the walk's conclusion without means of returning home. "We feel used, dumped and taught to lie," said one student. CORE staff said the students were exaggerating.