An estimated 100,000 Brazilians have taken to the streets to protest police violence and political corruption. The protests are being called the largest in a generation.

It’s been about a week since Istanbul’s Taksim Square rose up, and the “Occupy Gezi” movement has since exploded across several Turkish cities, taking various forms: environmentalist sit-in, pro-democracy rally, street festival, and urban riot. [Last] week, it went on strike. Several unions are leading a work stoppage affecting some 240,000 workers. What shape the movement will take next is an open question.

For me, Saturday’s event was worthwhile and fun, as I got to reunite with several Occupy folks whom I had not seen in a while, and also meet some new people who are in what seems to me to be an ever-expanding environmental movement. But the best part about Saturday’s March Against Monsanto was the fact that most of the people participating in the march and pre-march rally were young folks in their 20’s and 30’s. [cont'd]

The San Francisco Pride Committee held a meeting on Tuesday night. It was their monthly meeting and the Board of Directors was well aware that there would be individuals from the community that would be attending to express their outrage at the Board’s decision to not allow Pfc. Bradley Manning to be honored as a Grand Marshal at this year’s Pride parade. However, the meeting was held in a small conference room and members of the public and press were kept out of the meeting.

Listen to that whispered voice and remember the oppressed, the silenced, the fallen. Sanctify them. Dissent is a solemn and sacred dance, protest is a solemn and sacred dance, civil disobedience is a solemn and sacred dance. Solemn and scared dances of ultimate meaning and purpose.

Last year, May Day saw violence as well, with demonstrators engaging in property damage. An independent review found that officers had been confused about who was in charge and “when they could use force to stop violence.”

This year it appears the opposite occurred. The police were authorized to fire off flash bangs or pepper spray at their discretion and they were not restrained in their use of either. They did not want a repeat of what happened on May Day in 2012.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) currently intend to close fifty-four schools before the year is over. This means Chicago is likely to have the largest number of school closures in any city in America this year.

Somewhere around thirty-five to forty thousand people came to the National Mall in Washington, DC, for one of the largest climate rallies in history. Those demonstrating demanded that President Barack Obama honor his inaugural pledge and take action on climate change. They also called on Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline being built by TransCanada.

A youth pastor from Oklahoma named Stefan Warner locked himself to machinery being used to build the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline this morning. He was arrested along with six others who showed up to demonstrate and support him while he was locked to the machinery.

Three events collided this past week for me in the space of 36 hours, all revolving around climate change: Obama’s inaugural address, the death of John Chandley, and the decision of Nebraska’s governor to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built in his state. Three other events loom on the horizon: the ongoing drought, the Presidents Day protests in DC led by 350.org and Bill McKibben, and the eventual decision — one way or another — by President Obama on that pipeline.