Real Facts

The events in Ferguson, Missouri were so bad that the Department of Justice had no choice, but to launch a civil rights investigation into the Ferguson Police Department and the shooting of the teenager Michael Brown. Attorney General Eric Holder came into Ferguson recently, he said a speech, and he wanted to have an investigation about the issues of police conduct and other issues as it pertains to the judicial system. The new Justice Department probe wants to see if there has been a pattern and practice of the abuse of black people’s civil rights in Ferguson. There are tons of evidence to look at. Obviously, black people have been oppressed not only in Ferguson, but nationwide. There is the case of one black man who was beaten bloody and then he was charged with the destruction of public property because his blood was found on policemen’s uniforms. The truth is obvious. The reality is that we have a system where black lives have been harmed by crooked police officers and the prison industrial complex. Even in the state of Florida, not a single police officer has been charged for using deadly force against civilians in 20 years. We see not only class oppression in America, but discrimination and the systematic abuse of the human rights of black people in America. The criminal justice system is very corrupt ad it needs an outright overhaul. The current system allows millions of black people to be incarcerated into the largest prison system on Earth. Many people in prison are innocent of any crime. Sentencing has been unfair and both major parties are complicit in the system. That is why the solution is mobilization and organization into independent political plus economic power bases where the rights of humanity are defended. The people of Ferguson were not imitated. That is one great lesson from the Ferugson rebellion that we can take. When militarized police can in Ferguson (as similar to what has happened in Gaza, etc.), the people of Ferguson were not afraid. They were not afraid of the curfews too. They used mass resistance to oppressive conditions. We should not be afraid. We should not only talk about economic manipulation, but we should talk about eliminating discrimination and fighting the evil system of white supremacy. We have every right to be free.


I have looked at many sides. Here are my views on the incident pertaining to Jamiliah Nasheed and Ty Turner. Now, I am tough not only against white racism, but any form of oppression done by anyone (regardless of the color of the ones doing the oppressing). The Jamiliah Nasheed is a case of a Strong Black Women telling the police about her views. She was strong, she was honest, and she never assaulted the officers. She never threatened the officers. She just wanted a petition to be sent up. The officers allowed her to send the petition into the building. So, that situation is easy to define. More PEOPLE need the courage of Jamiliah Nasheed in standing up against oppression. Every time that I investigate about what happened to Ty Turner, I see the Joseph Houseman situation as an example of double standards. Joseph was belligerent, he held up a rifle, and he was shouting to dare at the officers to do something. The officers peacefully handled the situation without incident. Ty Turner, on the other hand, was unarmed, he was not threatening the officers, and he just demanding to be told about the citation that he was being detained under. The officers did not afford the same respect and courtesy given to Ty Turner as the other officers gave to Joseph Houseman. The officers can easily peacefully resolve the dispute by giving Ty Turner a greater explanation of the law, a citation, and it would have been over. Yet, they arrested Ty Turner, because the officers wanted to do so. Even if the officers were not legally required to give him a reason on why he was being arrested, it is still morally RIGHT for the officers to give him the citation of the law. That is why I advocate laws to be changed, so officers are required to tell people what laws they are violating before they are arrested. So, in that sense, transparency can increase. The officers should not have been as hostile to the young man for something not as serious as other matters. Courtney made an excellent point about that. Officers are not gods. They have to follow the rules too. So, the Ty Tuner situation is about miscommunication, a lack of transparency on the part of the officers, and a total investigation should exist. There is the double standard as Sister Courtney, Brother Chazz, and others have written on this issue. I am glad that Ty Turner was not placed into prison. I am glad that Jamiliah Nasheed was not imprisoned as well. Ty Turner’s action pale in comparison to the acts of murder, assault, and police brutality. Black people and all people have the right to stand up against police misconduct and stand up for voting rights. My black people (including other people) shed blood and died for voting rights, so I will advocate that right no matter what.


Guatemala rejects the U.S. trade law that protects Monsanto and GMOs. It is obvious that Big Biotech has used policies that have squeezed out every other choice against the will of the impoverished people (which they claim to feed). This action is very cruel and exploitative. It has been used historically by Big Biotech as a means to allow U.S. and Western nations to occupy other countries. People in various nations are fighting back against multiple soft sanctions on food. The people of Guatemala have been caught on to the deceptive nature of an U.S. Trade Agreement with Central America. It has been marketed as a way to “modernize” them according to the supporters of the trade agreement. The deal pretends to protect new seed varieties and paints the seed bearers in the need of protection as small farmers. This tactic is a way for big biotech and seed companies like Monsanto, DuPont, Duwest, Syngenta, etc. to assume power and immunity as owners of their food supply. Guatemala calls this policy as “Monsanto Law.” It is very similar to the “Monsanto Protection Act,” which was a rider slipped into an U.S. financial bill last year (now considered gone). “Monsanto Law” has been criticized as violating national seed sovereignty. Opponents include indigenous organizations, environmental groups, scientists, artists, and members of Congress. A petition has been sent to President Otto Perez Molina to call the law unconstitutional. “This law violates articles of the Constitution relating to the Protection of Individuals, Cultural Identity, Natural Heritage, RIGHT to Health, the principles of the Economic and Social Regime, in addition to the obligation of the state to protect consumers,” the petition states. If that isn’t enough, according to the Rural Studies Collective (Cer-Ixim) the implications of this law are harsh and dire (but not too surprising, considering Monsanto’s treatment of farmers in the U.S.). The law says that it is illegal and punishable by imprisonment if farmers do the following: possess or exchange protected seed varieties without authorization, possess the harvest or save seeds for future use, and use the product of “varieties essentially derived from the protected variety.” That means even unintentionally doing it via contamination. This law gives biotech seed companies even more power while small farmers suffer. Many Guatemalan groups oppose this deal as for its unconstitutionality, a loss of biodiversity for foreign interests, and the lack of consent. That is why recently the Constitutional Court of Guatemala suspended the controversial “Monsanto Law,” which was a provision of an U.S. Central American trade agreement. Health freedom not corporate exploitation should be advanced in the world.

The high unemployment number for black Americans is a shame. The status quo doesn't work. This is a national emergency. Also, I found that the yearly income of a typical US household dropped by a massive 12 percent, or $6,400, in the six years between 2007 and 2013. Economic inequality has grown since the super wealthy has gained a greater concentration of wealth. Some of the misleadership class refusing to greatly talk about the black unemployment rate is a total shame. The only solution to this problem deal with creative, revolutionary solutions (we have to not only deal with EDUCATION AND TRAINING, but racism too as a means to address this issue. We should organize mass political and economic mobilization to help our own communities. Not to mention that it is just commonsense to eliminate all unfair loopholes and end all unfair subsidies. That can save money and assist the economy). A report several years ago in the American Economic Review, titled "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?" found that applicants with "Black-sounding" names received 50 percent fewer callbacks than those with "white-sounding" names. Sociologists Devah Pager and Bruce Western found that white men with a CRIMINAL RECORD were more likely to be called back for a job than Black men with no criminal record at all. There should be a radical job development plan involving all levels of government (with input from the communities of America). We have a role to play in improving our society including others. There should be individual and collective actions done. One problem is that the Federal Reserve is bailing out the big banks (estimated at about $7 trillion while giving crumbs in comparison to Main Street), there is wage cutting, and corporate profits are in record highs. The jobs growing now are heavily low wage, service jobs. There is the continuity among administrations using the same policies of war abroad and economic destructive policies at home. Things must change. The status quo is not working. If it was working, people would be totally satisfied. People have the right to peacefully protest and allow their grievances to be known. The vast majority of Americans support an increase of the minimum wage (this policy has been opposed ironically by Wall Street interests and reactionaries). Washington state has the highest minimum wage and saw the biggest increase in small business jobs last year. Its job growth has also remained steady and above average in the 15 years since it raised its wage. So, fair economic changes are needed in America. There must not only be a living wage for people, but unfair economic loopholes must be eliminated, the tax code must be changed to be more fair for the poor & middle class, and corporate welfare must be addressed.


We can never learn about Africa without first respecting Africa. We’re Africans. All those of African descent globally are one people. We are one people in the human family. Our ancestry is from Africa. We all share a common history and we have a great culture. Also, in order for us to establish solutions in Africa, we have to understand history as well. It is a historical fact that the oppression of Africa by many Europeans (via the Maafa, colonialism, neo-colonialism, etc.) has harmed Africa in many ways. Many European imperialists stole the resources of Africa to fund Western society. This is not just me typing these words. The economic exploitation of Africa by evil people has been fully documented by enumerable sources like Walter Rodney’s “How Europe Undeveloped Africa.” That is why revolutionaries back then and now seek a revolutionary change in the beautiful continent of Africa. There can be no liberation for the continent of Africa or for human life in general without the empowerment and the liberation of the working class including the poor. Society is judged on how it treats the poor, its working class, the elderly, the sick, and the oppressed. Therefore, we have to do actions as a means to help the human race. Civil rights are fine, but it is not enough. We need human rights and we have total solidarity with all people of African descent globally. We know how the ruling class uses the bourgeoisie as a means to contain and prevent true revolutionary change. One example deals with J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon. Hoover used COINTELPRO as a means to try to end the black liberation struggle in America. One sign of a real revolutionary is a person who opposes imperialism. When Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Hampton, and others linked the oppression of black people in the States with the oppressive war in Vietnam, then they were soon assassinated by reactionary forces. Also, the Sisters have made a huge contribution in the struggle for liberation like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Septima Clark, etc. Richard Nixon also used tactics to not only harm the Black Panther Party movement. He promoted “black capitalism.” He has done this to create a “black middle class” as a means to use that as a buffer between the bourgeoisie and the oppressed African people. This along with neo-liberal, predatory capitalism, the War on Drugs (including mass incarceration), and other evils have been harming many black people ever since the late 1960’s. Therefore, we want real freedom. The people in Ferguson make this call for freedom and justice that much clear. Peace is fine with me. We can only have peace with us fighting evil and advancing goodness in the globe.


By Timothy