Mickey Z.   “The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.” – Carl Sagan   Upon receiving an invite to the NYC Cannabis March on May 5, I found [...]

Mickey Z.   “While they were saying it couldn’t be done, it was done.” – Helen Keller   One Sunday afternoon last November—in the pre-eviction Liberty Square/Zuccotti Park encampment—my jaded eyes lit up when I saw a sign that read: KRIPS OCCUPY WALL STREET. Mic Check: The sight of dozens of disability rights activists occupying [...]

Mickey Z.   “We know we cannot be kind to animals until we stop exploiting them—exploiting animals in the name of science, exploiting animals in the name of sport, exploiting animals in the name of fashion, and yes, exploiting animals in the name of food.” – César Chávez   If anyone requires proof that dark [...]

Mickey Z.   “Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it.” – Banksy   As we bear witness to the current version of America’s presidential election charade, I’ll remind you of something I wrote earlier this year: The most consistent and primary difference between Republicans and Democrats is [...]

Mickey Z. “Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it with our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories.” – Arundhati [...]

Mickey Z.   “The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to say, “What are you going through?” – Simone Weil   In this digital age, we’ve all experienced situations in which a text message or e-mail was misconstrued because the person on the receiving end could not discern tone. [...]

Mickey Z.   “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” – E. O. Wilson   Too often, we humans like to see ourselves as above or perhaps not [...]

Mickey Z.   “May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back…” – Rainer Maria Rilke   The land we currently call “United States of America” is home to more than a quarter-million rivers. Of those 3.5 million miles of water: 235,000 miles have been channelized More than [...]

Mickey Z.   “What are men to rocks and mountains?” – Jane Austen   While on a flight to Portland, Oregon a few years back, I looked out the window and my jaw dropped at the sight of Mount Hood. Moments like that make it easy to love mountains but—except for climbers and greedy coal [...]

Mickey Z. Since I’ve already told you how today’s occupants can learn from the labor movement and how essential it is to #occupy filmmaking, how about a union-themed, somewhat forgotten movie classic as a path toward activist inspiration? Name the best-known early 1950s motion picture with a union theme? Easy. That would be On the [...]