It has been over 70 years since D-Day or
during the date of June 6, 1944. D-Day occurred before both of my parents were
born. My grandparents lived during that time. It was the date that when the
Allied forces came into Normandy to fight the German Nazis. Also, it is important
to note that the Soviet Union ironically enough made a huge contribution in
defeating the Nazis. Many Soviet forces died in Stalingrad, Moscow, Kursk, and
in other cities. Yet, the Soviets continued to fight and ended the Nazi advance
in Europe. The Nazis were pushed back in the eastern front. Many human beings
died during D-Day. It was a massive amphibious invasion of Nazi conquered territories.
The Nazi regime was evil and unparalleled in its barbarity. The Nazis killed
six million Jewish people and millions of other human beings of numerous
backgrounds. WWII ended the powerbases overtly of many European Empires. Yet, America
grew in its Empire internationally more after WWII. We have to know that many
Western capitalists originally supported Hitler including the Nazis plus Mussolini. They did so, because the Western elite wanted the Nazis to be used as a buffer against
the Soviets (who was formed after the Russian Revolution). Many of the Allied
nations still exploited the masses of the world, especially people of color via
their Empires. If the British leadership, etc. really wanted democracy, then
they would immediately end their Empires during World War Two. D-Day was a
brave action that many took to fight the fascist Nazis. Black people fought in
WWII courageously and with bravery. Yet, back then, black people faced lynching,
massive discrimination, and degradation by the white racist power structure.
America was heavily built on black slavery and capitalism. D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in human history. General Dwight
Eisenhower was heavily involved in the invasion. General Dwight Eisenhower reported by
cable to General Marshall at 8 a.m., that the operation was going well. That
day President Roosevelt led the nation in prayer. Eleven months later, with the
Eisenhower-led forces crashing in from the west and Soviet forces sweeping into
Berlin, the Nazis surrendered to the Allies. The Allied soldiers during D-Day
risked their lives in fighting a real enemy. Also, the French Resistance was
involved in fighting Nazi oppression too. Their story should be told too. Many
men died during and after the D-Day invasion. Their memories ought to be acknowledged and
respected. The memories of the heroic Soviet peoples in the liberation of
Stalingrad and Kursk ought to be respected too. Even with the legitimate
overthrow of Nazism in Europe, we still face the evils of Western imperialism
and totalitarianism in the world today. Humanity should utilize the D-Day
invasion as a means to fight back against the pernicious evils of the world. We
should follow righteousness and truth.
The bigger threat is how corporate executives
actually making billions of dollars of the exploitation and degradation of
black men, black women, and yes black children. This multinational corporations
pay entertainers to promote anti-black rhetoric, misogyny, and unjust violence.
The foolishness of Justin Bieber should surprise no one. His racism ought to be
condemned (Justin has no respect from me and anybody justifying his words is
completely wrong. Likewise, we should continue to oppose the usage and
glamorization of the N world. I want to be made clear on that point), but we
have to do more than condemn his evil words. We have to battle back against the
system that makes profit off the suffering of our people. One documentary on YouTube
entitled, "Hip Hop, White Supremacy & Capitalism" talks about
this issue in amazing detail. White supremacist views have infiltrated our
society and we have the right to fight the evils in our world. We must continue
to condemn the false stereotypes that many ignorant people hold about black
people. We have to expose the evils found in the US prison industrial complex,
which legalizes mass incarceration/enslavement of African/black men and women.
Unjust laws ought to be abolished. We ought to set an example too. We should
not use the N word, we should take care of our families, we should live our
lives morally, we should defend the interests of our people, and we ought to
condemn the evil white supremacist power structure too. There are many programs
dealing with cooperatives in communities, and other community based programs
that I agree with too. We are a diverse people and our diverse talents ought to
be expressed fully in society. Some of our people want reactionary views to
embrace. Yet, many of our people are enlightened and seek to look beyond the
distractions. Many black people see the truth and want a revolutionary change
in the Earth, so we should not worry about laws that violate our human rights
(if we were truly free). We should not experience legal disparities in the
judicial system (if we truly have total justice in the world). We should not
experience discrimination and racism by virtue of our skin color (if this
society was truly fair). These cowardly crooked police have beaten our people
too with weapons like cowards. As the late Dr. Martin Luther King has said, we
have to condemn monopoly capitalism. Yet, we do have an opportunity to fight
back and express real respect for our Brothers and our Sisters. This fight is
not easy, but we fight not because things are easy. Demanding real change is
not whining. It is common sense. Black
people have every right to make their voices and interests heard in the world.
We should never relinquish our right to speak truth to power at all. We have a
long way to go when we witness how murderers, rapists, and other sick people
receive time than him. George Zimmerman claiming that it was God's will to do
what he did is beyond sick. We should continue to defend truth and defend
justice. Every human being has the right to have their basic human rights
preserved. We fight, because things are hard and when we are victorious, the
victory will be so much more rewarding.
There has been the mainstream media dealing
with the release of the POW Bowe Bergdahl. Many in the corporate media have
shown propaganda and the reactionary conceptions about this incident. Sgt. Bowe
Bergdahl and his father have been vilified by reactionary forces. Sgt. Bowe
Bergdahl was released in May 31 in Afghanistan in a prisoner exchange with
Taliban members. Some want Bergdahl to be killed by a firing squad since they
accuse him of desertion. The column (form the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday)
quoted Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: “Any person found
guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is
committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial
may direct.” Many of former members of his platoon in Afghanistan accuse
Bergdahl of desertion. Many reactionary forces in the Republican Party are
against him too. They include people like: Richard Grenell, a former aide to
then-US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who went on to work in
2012 for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, has been identified as the main
go-between for the former soldiers and their media publicists. Some media
reports have quoted snippets of email message sent by Bergdhal to his parents.
This was during the months before his capture by the Taliban. They outline his
increasing disillusionment with the war in Afghanistan. There are long extracts
of these emails shown in the June 21, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone. The title of
the article is, “America’s Last Prisoner of War.” Bowe apparently reached the
breaking point on June 25, 2009, after a young officer he knew and liked was
killed by a roadside bomb. Two days later he wrote his parents, “... I am
ashamed to even be American. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that
they thrive in. It is all revolting.” “I am sorry for everything here,” he
continued. “These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited
country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are
stupid, that they have no idea how to live.” Referring to a particularly
gruesome incident he had witnessed, he added, “We don't even care when we hear
each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our
armored trucks.” Later, Bergdahl left his unit. He had only a knife and he
apparently wanted to walk to Pakistan or China. He was soon captured by
insurgents. According to the Rolling Stone account, he escaped at least once,
in August or September 2011, but was recaptured. He has been smeared as being
responsible for the deaths of American soldiers, because supposedly they were
searching for him in eastern Afghanistan (and ran into IEDs or Taliban
ambushes). Wednesday’s New York Times, however, in a front-page report citing
evidence from the Afghanistan war logs leaked to WikiLeaks by Army private
Chelsea Manning, acknowledged that there was no evidence of a connection
between these deaths and Bergdahl. Perhaps the most apt response came from
Thomas Ricks, former Washington Post reporter and author of several books on
the Iraq war, who wrote on Twitter, “Re Bergdahl: If we’re trying people for
causing the deaths of soldiers, I know of a lot of people more culpable than a
depressed private.” Many Western political leaders are responsible for the
deaths of folks in the war on terror. We see that the campaign against Bergdahl
is used as a means to counter his accurate anti-war views. His views represent
majority American opinion. The mainstream media continues to support the
criminal and neo-colonial character of the war on terror. This situation ignores the war
crimes done in our name in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries. As far as
the media apologists for imperialism are concerned, a soldier who is horrified
by crimes against humanity and refuses to participate in them is a criminal,
while those who obediently carry out atrocities are heroes. It should be
recalled that the defense of “just carrying out orders” was flatly repudiated
by the Nuremberg Tribunal into the crimes of the Nazis during World War
II. So, we should end this war on
terror, so even greater crimes will not exist.
We don’t know who the next President is now.
Yet, the elite would not complain if Hillary Clinton would be the next
President. Hillary Clinton supports warmonger for the bankster elite. The same
banks and corporations that supported Bush and Obama ally with Hillary Clinton
too. The U.S. government’s mainstream media have not been fair and balanced.
Hillary Clinton has supported the military industrial complex’s goals and we
are still fighting for a better society in the world. It is easy to witness
that we have an authoritarian plutocracy run for the sake of the mega rich and
the powerful global internationalists. If Hillary Clinton will become the
Democratic contender for President, then he will receive a wide spectrum of
support. Jeb Bush could run for President. The Bush-Clinton dynasty can
continue. Hillary Clinton’s aggressive views on foreign policy are respected by
the establishment. We have witness over 10 years in this century of bombing
small helpless nations and bailing out transnational banks. Hillary Clinton
running for President possibly in 2016 could be more effective in carrying out
the American Empire, because she can appear to more constituencies than a
reactionary Republican can. The imperial agenda is wicked as history has shown.
There has been a great collaboration between Democrats and Republicans in terms
of economic and foreign policy endeavors that have a detriment to the American
populace. It is not just Hillary Clinton that is elitist. We know that the
current administration has militarized Africa, propped up the prison state,
privatized education, slashed social programs, supported NATO led wars in
Eurasia including Africa, dropping drones, eroded civil liberties, bailed out
Wall Street, etc. Democrats support all of these policies, so they are just as
wrong as the Republicans on many issues. Much of the Occupy Wall Street has
been harmed and some in the U.S. anti-imperialist movement has been harmed.
Yet, the good news is that the anti-imperialist movement is still here. We have
to take a stand. We need to support the interests of the oppressed people of the
world. Hillary Clinton supported the extrajudicial murder of Muammar Gaddafi by
US/NATO-backed terrorists. She agreed with the NATO overthrow of independent
Libya, NATO involvement in Syria, and the U.S. engineered illegal coup in
Ukraine (when fascists have power in Ukraine). She is like Bill Clinton. Bill
Clinton, when he was President, eliminated welfare, passed the three strikes
law, supported NAFTA, and had many economically regressive policies.
Their own website mentions information on
their non-discrimination policy that prevents discrimination on the basis of
religion. Therefore, Sister Dalisha Barnett has every right to wear the
religious hijab in the classroom. The SCLC is doing the right thing in this
affair to defend her religious liberty rights. The right to religious
expression and Pro Way Hair School’s own policy (of forbidding discrimination
on the basis of religion) trumps a request. Also, a hijab has nothing to do
with her performance in handling human hair. Muslims in America have suffered
assault, ridicule, scapegoating, slander, and other injustices. There are
numerous progressive Muslims who believe in human rights, dignity, and respect.
Muslims are not monolithic and most Muslims in the world don’t reside in the
Middle East. Indonesia is the nation with the highest Muslim population in the
face of the Earth. Many Muslims have been killed by Western imperialism in the
world too. So, I wish for Dalisha Barnett to continue to defend her religious
liberty rights. Such Voter ID laws deal with more things than just IDs. Many of
such laws restrict the amount of days people can vote on. Many of such laws
restrict the types of IDs folks can use. Many GOP folks have explicitly said
that they are using such laws to prevent non-Republican voters from voting in
the world. Voter suppression occurred decades ago, in the 2000 election, and
today. Even a 93 year old man has been disenfranchised by the Alabama voter ID
law. Mims wasn’t even offered the chance to cast a provisional ballot, as the
law requires in that situation. We follow the truth not based on polls, but
because it is right. As Dr. Martin Luther King have said in 1967: "...On
some positions a coward has asked the question is it safe? Expediency asks the
question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But
conscience asks the question is it right? And there come a time when one must
take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular but he must take
it because conscience tells him it is right..." I like the word
selflessness. We should be selfless. In other words, we should be motivated to
work in the advancement of our community while realizing that we can't embrace
some social Darwinism. We care for ourselves by helping our neighbors. Nothing
changes unless we help our neighbors. We should promote the interests of our
community as African Americans, but our people don’t just exist in America.
They exist globally and we should have an understanding of the culture,
history, languages, etc. of our people in the four corners of the world. We
should follow just laws and not unjust laws. One lesson of the civil rights
movement is that we have every right to reject unjust man-made laws. Our
strength is about discernment too and too many people embrace reactionary
rhetoric about men, women, and others in the human family. We should not only
promote black culture. We should be concerned with workers' rights, the
environment, our civil liberties, and other functions of a real society. We
have to comprehensive in outlook, but keen on focusing on advancing
righteousness in the world.
By Timothy
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