Political Activism

Mike Roselle is in his element -- fighting a controversial coal industry practice called mountaintop removal mining in the town of Rock Creek, W. Va. "I had to bail some people out of jail," the 55-year-old rumbles happily by phone from the office of Climate Ground Zero. "We've been unleashing hippie hell on them." By "them," he means Massey Energy, the coal megalith that controls huge swaths of West Virginia and employs a fair percentage of its residents. Roselle is a stranger there, but after seven months he finds himself in familiar territory.

Hannah Giles was in the middle of her guerrilla warfare lecture this weekend at the young conservatives leadership conference when a man in the audience interrupted her. "We love you!" he cried out. The crowd erupted in applause and whistles. "Aw," Giles said into the microphone. "I love you guys too." At age 20, Giles is a rock star of conservative activism. She shot onto the national scene in September after posing as a prostitute at ACORN offices around the country, where she secretly videotaped employees who appeared to give her advice on tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution.

Armed with a law degree from the University of East Yangon, 22-year-old Win is clear-eyed about his job prospects: Practically speaking, there are none. For him, the future lies overseas. Abroad there is "some hope, some opportunity. But in our country, there's no hope left," said Win, who is applying to go to Australia for further studies. Unlike the students who hit the streets in 1988 in big demonstrations against the military government, the generation now emerging from college is focused on avoiding political activism, learning English and seeking opportunities in a world they have come to know through TV and the Internet.

With a date pending in immigration court, Roberto Perez worries he will not be able to convince a judge that he fled war-ravaged Guatemala fearing for his life. The Los Angeles resident is a Maya. His native language is Mayan. He speaks no English and limited Spanish. Thus he will find it hard to explain to the judge why he left Guatemala during the civil war of the 1980s. His father and cousin, he said, were killed by left-wing guerrillas.

Salvador Hernandez, a 38-year-old gardener, was returning from Sacramento an optimistic man. The native of the Mexican state of Zacatecas had just spent two days lobbying legislators in favor of a bill that would overturn the Los Angeles city ban on gas-powered leaf blowers. As he headed south on Interstate 5, the green flag of the Assn. of Latin American Gardeners of Los Angeles flapped proudly from his pickup. But Hernandez never made it back to his Inglewood home.

For weeks, Mario Obledo waited for someone to do something about the sign declaring California the "Illegal Immigration State." But no one did. The question before Obledo was a tough one: Should an aging civil rights warhorse like him jump into the fray or leave it to the new breed of Latino leaders and civil rights activists? When no one stepped forward, he decided to again do battle. "Somebody had to do it," Obledo said. "I vowed to burn or deface the sign."

For weeks, Mario Obledo waited for someone to step forward and do something about the sign that declared California the "Illegal Immigration State." But no one did. The question before Obledo was a tough one: Should an aging civil rights warhorse like himself jump into the fray or should he leave it to the new generation of Latino leaders and civil rights activists? His dilemma was answered when no one did anything about it.

A wrinkle in a state law will give activists petitioning for a study of San Fernando Valley secession an extra 15 days, and possibly more than three months, to collect additional signatures if their initial effort fails, a county attorney said Monday. Valley VOTE, the group leading the campaign, will be allowed to submit a "supplemental petition" if it is not able to gather the 135,000 signatures required by Aug. 27, said Lloyd Pellman, senior assistant counsel for Los Angeles County.

Taking their cue from Valley VOTE, residents from communities outside the San Fernando Valley on Saturday plotted their own strategies to break away from Los Angeles. Activists exploring secession drives represented areas including West Los Angeles, South-Central, Eagle Rock, San Pedro, Wilmington, Westchester, Mar Vista, Playa del Rey and Venice.

Taking their cue from Valley VOTE, residents from communities outside the San Fernando Valley on Saturday plotted their own strategies to break away from Los Angeles. Activists interested in exploring secession represented areas that included West Los Angeles, South-Central, Eagle Rock, San Pedro, Wilmington, Westchester, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Villa Marina and Venice.