Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Foreign Policy News in late September 2015
The historic 70th annual United Nations General Assembly includes speeches from President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Cuban President Raul Castro, and other human beings. The meeting between Obama and Putin was historic since it was the first time that they had an extensive meeting on foreign policy since 2013. Each has agreements and disagreements on many issues. President Barack Obama’s foreign policies have been so reactionary that he has no other option, but to talk with Putin in order to find the resolution to the Syrian civil war crisis. This situation is complicated. We know that the Washington wars of aggression and military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, etc. have failed to establish a more cohesive stabilized Middle East, Asia, Horn of Africa, etc. These interventions overtly violate international law and contradict the essence of peaceful diplomacy. Now, Putin has spoken about supporting the separatists in Ukraine and wanting the regime of Bashar al-Assad to stay. Putin has been portrayed by the neo-cons and others as an international outlaw and a threat at to world peace. The truth is that Putin is not perfect, but his foreign policy positions are vastly more reasonable than the neo-conservatives. Putin told the truth that interventions in the Middle East have caused the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (or ISIS) to grow their terrorism in the region. The President has said that he wants to talks with Russia and Iran (which is a Russian ally) in order to resolve issues. The Presidency of the Obama administration now wants a transitional period before Assad is removed in an “orderly” fashion. The war monger General John Allen is soon to resign. Other neo-conservatives like John McCain want the President to be even more aggressive in the Middle East. Of the forces thus far trained by the US, some were wiped out by the Al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front as soon as they entered Syria, others defected to anti-Assad Islamist militias, and still others turned over their weapons in exchange for safe passage.
Russia has sent its military support for Assad. They have reportedly setting up a new air base in northwestern Syria, the traditional stronghold of Assad’s Alawite Shiite regime, a development Washington has been unable to block. And on the eve of Obama’s speech to the UN, the US-backed Iraqi government announced that it had signed an intelligence-sharing agreement with Syria, Iran and Russia, evidently without the prior knowledge of the US government. An Iraqi government official said Monday that Baghdad would welcome Russian surveillance flights over the country. The West wants Syria to be rid of Assad in order to spread a pro-Saudi hegemony. Saudi Arabia wants Assad gone to promote its interests and Assad is a Shia person (while the Saudi leadership is Sunni). The Western instigated sectarian civil war in Syria has caused massive amounts of refugees to leve Syria and come into Europe, etc. The U.S. wars in the Middle East exist in order for the West to gain the region’s energy resources, to promote American hegemony in the region, and to counteract the political moves made by Russia including China (which are both nuclear powers). Essentially the same jihadist terrorist forces that constitute ISIS were financed and armed by the CIA, Washington’s Sunni Gulf allies (Saudi Arabia, Qatar) and Turkey to serve as proxy forces in the overthrow and murder of the secular Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, as well as in the war for regime change against the secular regime in Syria. Iran, (which has been called an evil empire by the neo-cons), is today a potential asset of US imperialism in the region. The US is backing a Shiite sectarian regime in Iraq that is aligned with Iran, even as it collaborates with Sunni Saudi Arabia in waging war in Yemen and the effort to topple the Shiite Assad regime in Syria. These are all contradictions and it shows the complexities of the war on terror. These wars have caused chaos and most Americans don’t want more massive wars in the Middle East. The reactionary Republicans like John McCain, Rubio, etc. are trying to pressure the White House to be more hawkish. We see NATO still showing an aggressive posture towards Russia. NATO supports military war games near Russian territories along eastern European countries.
There should be a change in current system. There has been the overt ruination of lives as a product of the prison industrial complex. Angela Davis and the late George Jackson have told the truth on this issue. Prisons are readily privatized for profit. Many prisoners are nonviolent drug offenders and their voting rights and economic opportunities are readily stripped. Some nonviolent drug offenders serve longer sentences than assaulters and rapists, which is a disgrace. People from across the political spectrum know that minimum sentencing laws and other regressive policies are just retrograde and wrong. The documentary is accurate to talk about the crack and cocaine sentencing disparities (which grew from the 1980's to the present). Fixing this problem will cause more economic stability in the lives of Americans too. America imprisons the highest number of people in the industrialized world. We know about the racism found in the criminal injustice system too. The system is backward. Prisons are readily overcrowded and we can’t follow the status quo at all. There should be investments in drug courts and the elimination of the War on Drugs with progressive alternatives. Timbuktu and Napata weren't built in a day, so our liberation will take hard work, struggle, and determination. We certainly need more unity as the truth is that unity creates power. Back in 1972, black people tried to use the Gary Convention as a means to create a political platform for our people. In our generation, we should develop a political platform too and pool our resources (as other ethnic groups have done for generations). We have to confront poverty and economic inequality as well.
The documentary (from BET called "Who Got the Juice?") does look interesting. There are many stories to describe the OJ Simpson situation. First, the trial was controversial. Every day, there were stories about it when I was in middle school. When the verdict came about, I was in my 7th grade classroom. The defense team included extremely talented people like Johnnie Cochran (who defended many people. Also, he tried to bring up a trial to fight for reparations for black people. RIP Brother Johnnie Cochran). They showed the verdict throughout the school where I was in. When the verdict was read, all of the black kids in my classroom cheered, so there was disagreement about whether he was guilty or not. Many people ignore or downplay the injustices that black people go through and that's a shame. Back then, I thought that he was innocent. Today, I don’t know if he is innocent or guilty of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. I’m agnostic on his guilt or innocence today. This was before we knew the real OJ Simpson. The real OJ Simpson committed adultery against his first beautiful wife Sister Marguerite L. Whitley. The real OJ Simpson suffered racism all of his life, but expressed self-hatred instead of truly fighting back against the evils of racism/white supremacy (in a comprehensively way. At one time, many members of society loved him a great deal). After the trial, he made even more mistakes out of his own doing. He is in prison now, because of his reckless behavior. The most important thing to know about OJ Simpson is that his story is a lesson. It’s a lesson that self-hatred is never the answer and self-hatred including reckless, bad actions can cause bad Karma literally as exemplified in the tragic story of OJ Simpson. We know that the criminal injustice system historically has been unfair towards black people, the poor, other minorities, etc. We know that we must fight racism, economic oppression, and discrimination. Also, it is true that there is no excuse for murder, domestic violence, self-hatred, or other evils in our society. So, this controversy should educate us and motivate us into being better human beings and to stand up against any injustice.
I’m not shocked at Cameron’s comments (about telling Jamaicans to move beyond discussing about reparations). Cameron has promoted anti-civil liberty policies in the United Kingdom and has executed war mongering policies overseas (like supporting extrajudicial assassinations of British citizens overseas). People, from the Caribbean and from the USA, have supported reparations for years. Jewish people received reparations after the Holocaust. Japanese Americans received reparations during the 1980’s via the action of Ronald Reagan. Native Americans received reparations centuries after the massive genocide of Native human beings by white racist terrorists. We know that slavery and colonialism of the Caribbean, in the Americas, etc. existed for a long time. The mentality of neo-colonialism and paternalism (as shown by David Cameron, which is typical of an UK Conservative administration) hasn’t ended in the 1960’s. It continues today. Therefore, people have every right to call for reparations, especially since our black ancestors suffered the worst forms of slavery in human history (our ancestors were kidnapped, raped, and sent to multiple continents worldwide over the course of centuries). The Maafa involved multiple European countries. Our ancestors were stripped of their language, religion, culture, economics, and in many cases, families were broken up. We, as members of the African Diaspora, will stand up for the truth.
By Timothy
Russia has sent its military support for Assad. They have reportedly setting up a new air base in northwestern Syria, the traditional stronghold of Assad’s Alawite Shiite regime, a development Washington has been unable to block. And on the eve of Obama’s speech to the UN, the US-backed Iraqi government announced that it had signed an intelligence-sharing agreement with Syria, Iran and Russia, evidently without the prior knowledge of the US government. An Iraqi government official said Monday that Baghdad would welcome Russian surveillance flights over the country. The West wants Syria to be rid of Assad in order to spread a pro-Saudi hegemony. Saudi Arabia wants Assad gone to promote its interests and Assad is a Shia person (while the Saudi leadership is Sunni). The Western instigated sectarian civil war in Syria has caused massive amounts of refugees to leve Syria and come into Europe, etc. The U.S. wars in the Middle East exist in order for the West to gain the region’s energy resources, to promote American hegemony in the region, and to counteract the political moves made by Russia including China (which are both nuclear powers). Essentially the same jihadist terrorist forces that constitute ISIS were financed and armed by the CIA, Washington’s Sunni Gulf allies (Saudi Arabia, Qatar) and Turkey to serve as proxy forces in the overthrow and murder of the secular Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, as well as in the war for regime change against the secular regime in Syria. Iran, (which has been called an evil empire by the neo-cons), is today a potential asset of US imperialism in the region. The US is backing a Shiite sectarian regime in Iraq that is aligned with Iran, even as it collaborates with Sunni Saudi Arabia in waging war in Yemen and the effort to topple the Shiite Assad regime in Syria. These are all contradictions and it shows the complexities of the war on terror. These wars have caused chaos and most Americans don’t want more massive wars in the Middle East. The reactionary Republicans like John McCain, Rubio, etc. are trying to pressure the White House to be more hawkish. We see NATO still showing an aggressive posture towards Russia. NATO supports military war games near Russian territories along eastern European countries.
There should be a change in current system. There has been the overt ruination of lives as a product of the prison industrial complex. Angela Davis and the late George Jackson have told the truth on this issue. Prisons are readily privatized for profit. Many prisoners are nonviolent drug offenders and their voting rights and economic opportunities are readily stripped. Some nonviolent drug offenders serve longer sentences than assaulters and rapists, which is a disgrace. People from across the political spectrum know that minimum sentencing laws and other regressive policies are just retrograde and wrong. The documentary is accurate to talk about the crack and cocaine sentencing disparities (which grew from the 1980's to the present). Fixing this problem will cause more economic stability in the lives of Americans too. America imprisons the highest number of people in the industrialized world. We know about the racism found in the criminal injustice system too. The system is backward. Prisons are readily overcrowded and we can’t follow the status quo at all. There should be investments in drug courts and the elimination of the War on Drugs with progressive alternatives. Timbuktu and Napata weren't built in a day, so our liberation will take hard work, struggle, and determination. We certainly need more unity as the truth is that unity creates power. Back in 1972, black people tried to use the Gary Convention as a means to create a political platform for our people. In our generation, we should develop a political platform too and pool our resources (as other ethnic groups have done for generations). We have to confront poverty and economic inequality as well.
The documentary (from BET called "Who Got the Juice?") does look interesting. There are many stories to describe the OJ Simpson situation. First, the trial was controversial. Every day, there were stories about it when I was in middle school. When the verdict came about, I was in my 7th grade classroom. The defense team included extremely talented people like Johnnie Cochran (who defended many people. Also, he tried to bring up a trial to fight for reparations for black people. RIP Brother Johnnie Cochran). They showed the verdict throughout the school where I was in. When the verdict was read, all of the black kids in my classroom cheered, so there was disagreement about whether he was guilty or not. Many people ignore or downplay the injustices that black people go through and that's a shame. Back then, I thought that he was innocent. Today, I don’t know if he is innocent or guilty of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. I’m agnostic on his guilt or innocence today. This was before we knew the real OJ Simpson. The real OJ Simpson committed adultery against his first beautiful wife Sister Marguerite L. Whitley. The real OJ Simpson suffered racism all of his life, but expressed self-hatred instead of truly fighting back against the evils of racism/white supremacy (in a comprehensively way. At one time, many members of society loved him a great deal). After the trial, he made even more mistakes out of his own doing. He is in prison now, because of his reckless behavior. The most important thing to know about OJ Simpson is that his story is a lesson. It’s a lesson that self-hatred is never the answer and self-hatred including reckless, bad actions can cause bad Karma literally as exemplified in the tragic story of OJ Simpson. We know that the criminal injustice system historically has been unfair towards black people, the poor, other minorities, etc. We know that we must fight racism, economic oppression, and discrimination. Also, it is true that there is no excuse for murder, domestic violence, self-hatred, or other evils in our society. So, this controversy should educate us and motivate us into being better human beings and to stand up against any injustice.
I’m not shocked at Cameron’s comments (about telling Jamaicans to move beyond discussing about reparations). Cameron has promoted anti-civil liberty policies in the United Kingdom and has executed war mongering policies overseas (like supporting extrajudicial assassinations of British citizens overseas). People, from the Caribbean and from the USA, have supported reparations for years. Jewish people received reparations after the Holocaust. Japanese Americans received reparations during the 1980’s via the action of Ronald Reagan. Native Americans received reparations centuries after the massive genocide of Native human beings by white racist terrorists. We know that slavery and colonialism of the Caribbean, in the Americas, etc. existed for a long time. The mentality of neo-colonialism and paternalism (as shown by David Cameron, which is typical of an UK Conservative administration) hasn’t ended in the 1960’s. It continues today. Therefore, people have every right to call for reparations, especially since our black ancestors suffered the worst forms of slavery in human history (our ancestors were kidnapped, raped, and sent to multiple continents worldwide over the course of centuries). The Maafa involved multiple European countries. Our ancestors were stripped of their language, religion, culture, economics, and in many cases, families were broken up. We, as members of the African Diaspora, will stand up for the truth.
By Timothy
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Monday, September 28, 2015
News on Refugees, History, etc.
The refugee crisis continues in September and it will continue in October of 2015. Video from the border on September 15 and 16 showed Hungarian riot police using tear gas and water cannons indiscriminately against desperate refugees--including families with small children--clamoring to be allowed into the country from neighboring Serbia. On September 21, Orban's right-wing Fidesz party backed with the far-right nationalist Jobbik party to pass a new law that allows the military to use even greater force against refugees who want to cross the border, including "rubber bullets, pyrotechnical devices, tear gas grenades and net guns," according to a statement on the Hungarian parliament's website. Hungary has deployed the army against refugees too. This happened after the parliament of Hungary passed a constitutional amendment on Monday, which permitted the deployment of the country’s army at the country’s borders to repel refugees. There were 152 votes in favor of this including the votes of the ruling Fidesz party and the far right Jobbik party. The bill received the two-thirds majority required for changes to the constitution. The new law will allow the armed forces to stop people at the border and search vehicles. The army will also be allowed to use batons, rubber bullets, and nets. The initial draft also allowed police to search homes without a court order if they suspected the presence of refugees. This provision was then deleted from the final text following a wave of protest. Hungarian soldiers have already been mobilized on the country’s border with Serbia to erect a high barbed wire fence. They are also permitted to reinforce police units at the border. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban defended closing the border in parliament too. Orban has already built a 175 kilometer long fence on Hungary’s border with Serbia. It is currently building similar fences on its borders with Romania and Croatia. On September 15, a law also came into existence that made the illegal entry into Hungary a serious crime, punishable by three years in prison or deportation. The mobilization of the military at the border, while targeting refugees, aims at annulling fundamental democratic rights for the entire population. Civil rights activists have criticized this policy. People who are restrained in a camp under “house arrest” are not allowed to take phone calls or have personal conversations with a defense lawyer. Some in Germany, Latvia, and in other European countries want border fences or troops on the borders of their nations in order for them to prevent more refugees from coming into their nations. Slovenia has also sealed off its border using the harshest of measures. Last week Slovenian police used tear gas against hundreds of refugees, including children, on its border with Croatia. There is a war on refugees on Europe. People are risking their lives to survive war zones in the Middle East and many of them are treated as criminals instead of being treated in a humanitarian way. That is why refugees should never be scapegoated for the evil actions of ISIS and Western imperialists. Many Europeans advocate mass action and solidarity with the refugees in order for their rights to be protected. The rights of all immigrants and all refugees must be protected, so justice and democracy are maintained.
Recently, Pope Francis I canonized a person (or a California friar) who colonized Native Americans. The Pope did this in the Washington basilica. The canonized person is named Junipero Serra. Serra promoted Catholicism in California in about 300 years ago. Serra was involved in the colonizing of North America (which was also done by Euro-Americans). Corrina Gould, the co-founder Indian People Organizing for Change (and is a member of the Chochenyo Ohlone people, indigenous to what is now northern California) said of the Pope’s action: “The canonization of Serra is not complicated or complex. It is fairly simple, My ancestors were enslaved at this concentration camp created by Serra for his own ego, for the Spanish crown and for the Catholic Empire. Serra didn’t save us. We already had our own religion! In fact, we were the ones that were civilized and it was Serra that introduced us to HELL.” Valentin Lopez, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band told NBC News “It is very offensive to canonize the person who actually enslaved, whipped, tortured and separated families and destroyed our cultural and spiritual beliefs. How can that behavior be recognized as saintly behavior?” Serra founded missions where Native Americans were imprisoned and tortured and where thousands died. In essence, Serra was no true “evangelizer.” He was an agent of colonialism, death, and destruction. He started missions in 1769. As San Francisco magazine’s Gary Kamiya recently pointed out, “Every schoolchild knows that California Indians at Serra’s missions were taught the Gospel, fed and clothed; few know that many were also whipped, imprisoned, and put in stocks.” Serra’s mission, “to convert pagan Indians into Catholic Spaniards resulted not only in the physical punishment of countless Indians, but in the death of tens of thousands of them – and, ultimately, in the eradication of their culture.” Critics of Serra’s sainthood abound: Valentin Lopez, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and whose ancestors were at Mission San Juan Batista, told Nolte that “the missions were hellholes,” “They brought suffering, destruction, death and rape,” to the natives. “I felt betrayed,” Louise Miranda Ramirez, tribal chairwoman of the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, whose people occupied much of northern California before Serra’s arrival, told Gary Kamiya. “The missions that Serra founded put our ancestors through things that none of us want to remember. I think that the children being locked into the missions, the whippings. … That pain hasn’t gone away.” Steven Hackel, history professor at the University of California, Riverside, and author of a 2013 biography of Serra, said “There’s no question that his goal was to radically alter Native culture, to have Indians not speak their Native languages, to practice Spanish culture, to transform Native belief patterns in ways that would make them much less Native. He really did want to eliminate many aspects of Native culture.” Terrorism and colonialism are evils that should be always be repudiated.
Obviously, life should be more than about Netflix. Both men and women in relationships should show a strong effort in caring for each other and showing that they want a relationship beyond just watching a movie. Dates in restaurants, parks, other countries, and in other places not only build up social skills and mutual bonds. They are fun and are exciting. Therefore, life is about balance. We can balance work and fun, so a fuller life can be realized. Any relationship should develop the human bonds of love, trust, and reciprocity. I am elated at the History Makers project. This is incredibly great news. Students need access to a diverse array of our people, so that they can be inspired to follow their dreams. Mentorships are important. Young people need to know that they have value, their lives count, and that they can have excellence via hard work and determination. These black role models should be applauded for their efforts. Technology via the digital archive is such a wonderful way for many people (especially black people) to know about the richness of the African American experience. Many of us have to go into college or be educated by our parents about black history in a comprehensive way. The digital archive gives people more access to black history in a way that's interactive and interesting. Last year the Centers for Disease Control said the prevalence of obesity dropped 43% among young children -- aged 2-4 -- between 2004 and 2012. Still, we have a long way to go. We know about the issues. The problem is that we have certain political figures who refuse to invest in the solutions, because of ideological reasons (some folks worship laissez faire capitalism instead of helping the people). It is true that many poor communities lack healthy food choices. That should change. We need better health care too and there are programs in the black community who are talking about this issue. Also, another important point must be made. We know that point. A healthy body image doesn't have to be extremely skinny. There are healthy people in a variety of sizes or physical appearances. We want people to be healthy without demonizing or disrespecting someone because of their weight. That point must be emphasized. A comprehensive approach is needed.
There can be no mention of Atlanta without mentioning the civil rights leader Andrew Young. He was born in March 12, 1932 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Daisy Fuller Young and Andrew Jackson Young Sr. He experienced Jim Crow segregation first hand in New Orleans. He graduated from Howard University. He earned a divinity degree from Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut in 1954. He was a preacher too. He preached in Marion, Alabama and followed nonviolent action as way for social change to come about. He encouraged African Americans to register to vote. During the 1950’s, he became a friend and ally of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1961 after he joined the SCLC in 1960. He was the executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was one of Dr. King’s lieutenants. Dr. King and Andrew Young agreed on many matters. Andrew Young was more conservative than the progressive Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Andrew Young worked in the Civil Rights Campaigns of Birmingham (1963), St. Augustine (1964), Selma (1965), and in Atlanta (1966). Andrew Young worked with Dr. King in Memphis too. He originally had doubts on Dr. King’s anti-Vietnam war campaign (later, he strongly opposed the Vietnam War) and on the Poor Peoples Campaign, but he allied with Dr. King ultimately. According to Harry Belafonte, Dr. King said that Andrew Young was a capitalist while he or Dr. King was not a capitalist. Andrew Young, according to Belafonte, said that it is just part of the system which was the problem, but Dr. King said that the entire system is the problem (and he wanted to change it). Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. Later, Andrew Young ran for Congress in Georgia as a Democrat in 1970. He lost. Andrew Young would be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus in the 1970’s as a Congressman. The CBC or the Congressional Black Caucus was invented originally to make sure that the political and social issues of black people are represented fairly in American society. He was appointed by Jimmy Carter in 1977 as Ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador Young helped to secure Israeli-Egypt peace talks.
The peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was one of the greatest accomplishments of the Jimmy Carter Presidency. Ironically, Andrew Young was criticized in 1978 for telling the truth that America has hundreds of political prisoners in America (like civil rights and anti-war protesters). Andrew Young called for a Palestinian state back in the late 1970’s too. Sister Coretta Scott King and others inspired Andrew Young to run for the mayor of Atlanta. He won in 1981. Andrew Young as mayor continued and expanded Maynard Jackson's programs for including minority and female-owned businesses in all city contracts. The Mayor's Task Force on Education established the Dream Jamboree College Fair that tripled the college scholarships given to Atlanta public school graduates. He opposed apartheid in South Africa and he wanted economic development in the Third World, espically in Africa. In 1985, he was involved in renovating the Atlanta Zoo, which was renamed Zoo Atlanta. Young was re-elected as Mayor in 1985 with more than 80% of the vote. Atlanta hosted the Convention during Young's tenure. He was prohibited by term limits from running for a third term. During his tenure, he talked about how he was "glad to be mayor of this city, where once the mayor had me thrown in jail.” Andrew Young unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Georgia. He co-founded Good Works International, which has gone throughout controversies. As time went on in the 21st century, Andrew Young would be more neoliberal on some issues. He wrote letters praising the war monger Paul Wolfowitz, who was once the President of the World Bank. Wolfowitz (his ally is George Schultz) was one man (out of many) who was responsible for the terrible war on terror, especially the Iraq war that has killed thousands of human beings. Andrew Young, years ago, allied with Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria (who has a controversial history during the 1960’s and during the 1970’s). Andrew Young has worked with many big corporations too. Today, Andrew Young has worked in international business ventures, funding various programs, etc. To be fair, Andrew Young made great accomplishments for black people (including all people) and he made mistakes. So, we will always remember this important history of Atlanta.
By Timothy
Recently, Pope Francis I canonized a person (or a California friar) who colonized Native Americans. The Pope did this in the Washington basilica. The canonized person is named Junipero Serra. Serra promoted Catholicism in California in about 300 years ago. Serra was involved in the colonizing of North America (which was also done by Euro-Americans). Corrina Gould, the co-founder Indian People Organizing for Change (and is a member of the Chochenyo Ohlone people, indigenous to what is now northern California) said of the Pope’s action: “The canonization of Serra is not complicated or complex. It is fairly simple, My ancestors were enslaved at this concentration camp created by Serra for his own ego, for the Spanish crown and for the Catholic Empire. Serra didn’t save us. We already had our own religion! In fact, we were the ones that were civilized and it was Serra that introduced us to HELL.” Valentin Lopez, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band told NBC News “It is very offensive to canonize the person who actually enslaved, whipped, tortured and separated families and destroyed our cultural and spiritual beliefs. How can that behavior be recognized as saintly behavior?” Serra founded missions where Native Americans were imprisoned and tortured and where thousands died. In essence, Serra was no true “evangelizer.” He was an agent of colonialism, death, and destruction. He started missions in 1769. As San Francisco magazine’s Gary Kamiya recently pointed out, “Every schoolchild knows that California Indians at Serra’s missions were taught the Gospel, fed and clothed; few know that many were also whipped, imprisoned, and put in stocks.” Serra’s mission, “to convert pagan Indians into Catholic Spaniards resulted not only in the physical punishment of countless Indians, but in the death of tens of thousands of them – and, ultimately, in the eradication of their culture.” Critics of Serra’s sainthood abound: Valentin Lopez, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and whose ancestors were at Mission San Juan Batista, told Nolte that “the missions were hellholes,” “They brought suffering, destruction, death and rape,” to the natives. “I felt betrayed,” Louise Miranda Ramirez, tribal chairwoman of the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, whose people occupied much of northern California before Serra’s arrival, told Gary Kamiya. “The missions that Serra founded put our ancestors through things that none of us want to remember. I think that the children being locked into the missions, the whippings. … That pain hasn’t gone away.” Steven Hackel, history professor at the University of California, Riverside, and author of a 2013 biography of Serra, said “There’s no question that his goal was to radically alter Native culture, to have Indians not speak their Native languages, to practice Spanish culture, to transform Native belief patterns in ways that would make them much less Native. He really did want to eliminate many aspects of Native culture.” Terrorism and colonialism are evils that should be always be repudiated.
Obviously, life should be more than about Netflix. Both men and women in relationships should show a strong effort in caring for each other and showing that they want a relationship beyond just watching a movie. Dates in restaurants, parks, other countries, and in other places not only build up social skills and mutual bonds. They are fun and are exciting. Therefore, life is about balance. We can balance work and fun, so a fuller life can be realized. Any relationship should develop the human bonds of love, trust, and reciprocity. I am elated at the History Makers project. This is incredibly great news. Students need access to a diverse array of our people, so that they can be inspired to follow their dreams. Mentorships are important. Young people need to know that they have value, their lives count, and that they can have excellence via hard work and determination. These black role models should be applauded for their efforts. Technology via the digital archive is such a wonderful way for many people (especially black people) to know about the richness of the African American experience. Many of us have to go into college or be educated by our parents about black history in a comprehensive way. The digital archive gives people more access to black history in a way that's interactive and interesting. Last year the Centers for Disease Control said the prevalence of obesity dropped 43% among young children -- aged 2-4 -- between 2004 and 2012. Still, we have a long way to go. We know about the issues. The problem is that we have certain political figures who refuse to invest in the solutions, because of ideological reasons (some folks worship laissez faire capitalism instead of helping the people). It is true that many poor communities lack healthy food choices. That should change. We need better health care too and there are programs in the black community who are talking about this issue. Also, another important point must be made. We know that point. A healthy body image doesn't have to be extremely skinny. There are healthy people in a variety of sizes or physical appearances. We want people to be healthy without demonizing or disrespecting someone because of their weight. That point must be emphasized. A comprehensive approach is needed.
There can be no mention of Atlanta without mentioning the civil rights leader Andrew Young. He was born in March 12, 1932 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Daisy Fuller Young and Andrew Jackson Young Sr. He experienced Jim Crow segregation first hand in New Orleans. He graduated from Howard University. He earned a divinity degree from Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut in 1954. He was a preacher too. He preached in Marion, Alabama and followed nonviolent action as way for social change to come about. He encouraged African Americans to register to vote. During the 1950’s, he became a friend and ally of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1961 after he joined the SCLC in 1960. He was the executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was one of Dr. King’s lieutenants. Dr. King and Andrew Young agreed on many matters. Andrew Young was more conservative than the progressive Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Andrew Young worked in the Civil Rights Campaigns of Birmingham (1963), St. Augustine (1964), Selma (1965), and in Atlanta (1966). Andrew Young worked with Dr. King in Memphis too. He originally had doubts on Dr. King’s anti-Vietnam war campaign (later, he strongly opposed the Vietnam War) and on the Poor Peoples Campaign, but he allied with Dr. King ultimately. According to Harry Belafonte, Dr. King said that Andrew Young was a capitalist while he or Dr. King was not a capitalist. Andrew Young, according to Belafonte, said that it is just part of the system which was the problem, but Dr. King said that the entire system is the problem (and he wanted to change it). Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. Later, Andrew Young ran for Congress in Georgia as a Democrat in 1970. He lost. Andrew Young would be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus in the 1970’s as a Congressman. The CBC or the Congressional Black Caucus was invented originally to make sure that the political and social issues of black people are represented fairly in American society. He was appointed by Jimmy Carter in 1977 as Ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador Young helped to secure Israeli-Egypt peace talks.
The peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was one of the greatest accomplishments of the Jimmy Carter Presidency. Ironically, Andrew Young was criticized in 1978 for telling the truth that America has hundreds of political prisoners in America (like civil rights and anti-war protesters). Andrew Young called for a Palestinian state back in the late 1970’s too. Sister Coretta Scott King and others inspired Andrew Young to run for the mayor of Atlanta. He won in 1981. Andrew Young as mayor continued and expanded Maynard Jackson's programs for including minority and female-owned businesses in all city contracts. The Mayor's Task Force on Education established the Dream Jamboree College Fair that tripled the college scholarships given to Atlanta public school graduates. He opposed apartheid in South Africa and he wanted economic development in the Third World, espically in Africa. In 1985, he was involved in renovating the Atlanta Zoo, which was renamed Zoo Atlanta. Young was re-elected as Mayor in 1985 with more than 80% of the vote. Atlanta hosted the Convention during Young's tenure. He was prohibited by term limits from running for a third term. During his tenure, he talked about how he was "glad to be mayor of this city, where once the mayor had me thrown in jail.” Andrew Young unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Georgia. He co-founded Good Works International, which has gone throughout controversies. As time went on in the 21st century, Andrew Young would be more neoliberal on some issues. He wrote letters praising the war monger Paul Wolfowitz, who was once the President of the World Bank. Wolfowitz (his ally is George Schultz) was one man (out of many) who was responsible for the terrible war on terror, especially the Iraq war that has killed thousands of human beings. Andrew Young, years ago, allied with Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria (who has a controversial history during the 1960’s and during the 1970’s). Andrew Young has worked with many big corporations too. Today, Andrew Young has worked in international business ventures, funding various programs, etc. To be fair, Andrew Young made great accomplishments for black people (including all people) and he made mistakes. So, we will always remember this important history of Atlanta.
By Timothy
Sunday, September 27, 2015
The Timeline of Iraq
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-timeline-islamic-state-1508465
http://www.globalresearch.ca/syrian-war-islamic-state-isis-creation-timeline/5472680
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14546763
http://www.ntrepidcorp.com/timestream/isis/
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/tracing-rise-isis-menace-terror-n214266
http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/iraq-timeline
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/isis-fast-facts/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_ISIL_related_events
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-timeline-a-year-under-the-so-called-islamic-state-10342197.html
http://www.globalresearch.ca/syrian-war-islamic-state-isis-creation-timeline/5472680
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14546763
http://www.ntrepidcorp.com/timestream/isis/
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/tracing-rise-isis-menace-terror-n214266
http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/iraq-timeline
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/isis-fast-facts/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_ISIL_related_events
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-timeline-a-year-under-the-so-called-islamic-state-10342197.html
Friday, September 25, 2015
Friday News in late September 2015
World War II has a long history in Atlanta. First, the Great Depression started in 1929. It damaged the economic security of human beings all over America and throughout the world. Many cities in the South were poorly prepared to handle the emergency. In 1930, Atlanta was the least rank among similar sized cities in terms of per capita expenditures for welfare. In Atlanta back then, there were very few municipal agencies or programs in placed to help the rapidly growing number of unemployed people. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated in the early 1930’s. He passed New Deal legislation and programs in order to fight back against the Great Depression. Atlanta was one of the first cities in the nation to receive a federally operated relief program. The strength of the New Deal is that it saved lives, gave jobs to people, and improved society in many ways. There were agencies like the Civil Works Administration, the Public Works Administration, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) pumped millions of dollars into Atlanta projects and employed thousands of city residents in the process. Projects undertaken by these agencies included the building and repair of area schools, hospitals, gymnasiums, and other public institutions; the grading of runways at the city's airport, Candler Field; the organization of a forty-five-member symphony orchestra; the repair and touchup of the Cyclorama, a 358-foot-in-circumference mural depicting the Civil War Battle of Atlanta; and the construction of a new sewer system. The weakness of the New Deal is that the New Deal readily discriminated against black people and people of color. Many soldiers from across the Southeast of America went through Atlanta and later were discharged at Fort McPherson.
There was war related manufacturing like Bell Aircraft factory in the suburb of Marietta. Manufacturing jobs helped to increase the city’s population and economy. There was the housing project for whites created in 1935 called Techwood Homes. In 1938, University Homes for African Americans was opened in 1938. Charles F. Palmer was involved in these projects in order for him to replace slums with federal funded public housing. Charles was an Atlanta real estate developer. The public housing was also involved in lobbying by John Hope, who was the President of Atlanta University. The Great Depression decreased in its severity in Atlanta by the late 1930’s. The federal government trimmed the WPA workers in the city. Private businesses was picking up. The banks were in operation. Atlanta developed its aviation industry more. World War II and the industrial development grew Atlanta into the next level in terms of its industrial powerbase. It transformed the city into a more international city. During the events of World War II, the federal government invested more than 10 billion dollars in the South via war industries and military bases in the South. There were investments in public housing, health care facilities, aid to schools near military facilities, etc. Many black people, white people, men and women worked in the armed forces and other war related industries. Many soldiers were stationed in Atlanta during this time like Fort McPherson, Fort Gillem, the Naval Air Station, and the Army Hospital including the Airfield. Many African Americans and women worked in Bell Bomber (which was a factory). Coca-Cola distributed Cokes to servicemen and women all over the world during WWII. Back then, Eugene Talmadge was Governor of Georgia. He was a reactionary. Ellis Arnall replaced him in 1943. He balanced the budget, increased educational spending, and managed the state’ economic recovery. The NAACP increased voter turnout in Georgia via its voter leagues. Henry McAllister was a black American veteran of World War II. By the time of 1946 gubernatorial contest, more than 100,000 Georgians were registered to vote. Shortly after the war in 1946, the Communicable Disease Center, later called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was founded in Atlanta from the old Malaria Control in War Areas offices and staff.
David Banner has always talked about conscious issues for many years. He's right on this issue (of how some non-blacks readily use the N word). He is a very intelligent black man regardless if people agree with him or not. Also, I find his questions very legitimate. To answer his legitimate questions, a white person or a biracial person shouldn’t say the N word. Many of them do say the N word with the a at the end, but they rarely say the word “devil” or “c___ r.” I find that interesting, but not surprising. The line is that no one of any race should say the N word period. We, as black people, must stay firm in our convictions and in our words. For a long time, there has been one great lie promoted. That great lie is that the N word with the "a" at the end of it is somehow is endearing or promotes a sense of true self-identity among black people. That is a lie since that word seeks to dehumanize black people and it seeks to omit the horrendous legacy of the N word. Not only should black people never say the N word. We have to never support those who degrade us (as black people) irrespective of their background. Many white people are bigots and not all black people respect black people. There should be a radical shift in society where we instill in our children more about their real history, their real culture, and how black people throughout the ages made contributions all throughout human history. Racism is not only an abomination. Racism is part of emotional sadism (via the usage of the N word, etc.) against innocent people. We have to treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. History teaches us that the only people who can free us ultimately are us (as Brothers and Sisters). As the elders have said, we want thriving black communities. We want our communities to be free from police terrorism and economic deprivation. We want to see poverty abolished and health care available to all. We want freedom and liberation. We have to show more self-determination, stand up for black people, and fight back against oppression.
First, I commend Jason Pollock in making this documentary. People deserve the truth to be shown. The death of Michael Brown started a new chapter of the black freedom movement without question. The sick cop Darren Wilson’s actions speak for themselves. We all show our empathy towards the family of Michael Brown. Their lost is our lost. We want change and part of that change is for the people to get the facts as it pertains to the events of Ferguson, Missouri. One thing that I do know about Midwestern people is about their strength and passionate desire for truth. So, we are in solidarity with our Brothers and our Sisters in Ferguson who are fighting for real justice. The prosecutor Bob McCullough did a terrible job in supporting the testimony of a fraudulent Witness #40 (who lied under oath). There are many unanswered questions and that is why a trial should have occurred. The slander against Michael Brown (who was an unarmed person who was shot to death) by reactionary forces is disgraceful. The majority of the witnesses have said in a report by the federal government that Michael Brown turned around and put his hands up in a distance from Wilson, but Wilson resumed continuing shooting. We know that the DOJ report documented the classist and racist actions of the Ferguson Police Department. So, we are against the system of racism/white supremacy and we want true investments in Ferguson. So, we will continue to fight for the human rights of black people. We want justice. Homelessness is a serious national problem. Homelessness is made up of people of every color and background. Some individuals became homeless because of job layoffs, other economic reasons, some can’t afford housing, some have mental illness, some are rejected by their own families (because of various reasons), etc. Also, some cities and other locations in this country have made so many reactionary laws involving this issue, that they in fact criminalize homelessness in a de facto fashion instead of showing compassion to the homeless. What Los Angeles is doing is very historic and important. I support the initative to fight homelessness in LA. There will be questions about the allocation of the money, the composition of the program, and the administration of the plan. Those questions must be answered and investments must be used in the right way, so human beings can be assisted. Shelter, affordable housing, and other plans are needed. Also, homeless individuals have to be treated with respect. They not only need resources. They need to be shown that people care about them and respect their human dignity.
Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee stood up for civil rights, opposed the Vietnam War, stood up against police brutality, and fought against other injustices for decades. Josephine Baker advanced civil rights and she fought against the Nazis. Harry Belafonte is a living example of someone who stood up for social causes internationally not just in America. Today, we have activists from the Dream Defenders, Black Lives Matter, and other grassroots movements fighting for social change. It is very disappointing that some black celebrities are more concerned with comfort, the status quo, and not seeing color (when we have a society that promotes the myth of whiteness being superior and standard of Eurocentric aesthetics as being superior when the truth is that Blackness is glorious and Beautiful) instead of advancing true justice. The growth of materialism in Western society has gotten into the heads of some people. Some folks feel that they are too good to comment on injustices or they try to sugarcoat the seriousness of the problems that we face today as a people and as a community. Many of them are afraid of losing their white corporate backing as others have stated. We can't govern our lives by fear. We walk by faith and by works not by apathy or denial of realities. We certainly need the same spirit of unity today as it existed back then. The #MasculinitySoFragile hashtag accurately states that a woman has the right to her own mind, body, and soul. Men are never entitled to control any woman period. Sisters like Jamilah Lemieux are part of a new generation of progressive women who want the liberation of women via great insights and courage. Women being free to decide her own life choices are no detriment to any man’s livelihood. It is an added benefit for the enrichment of the entire human race. When we see wage disparities based on gender, when we see the epidemic of misogynoir, and when we see patriachical supremacy in the world, then we have to fight back against these evils. Patriarchy, misogynoir, misogyny, and economic injustice are all part of the system of racism/white supremacy. In fact, many of the same racists (as racists believe in bigotry instead of truth and wisdom) who abhor black people embrace reactionary, nonsensical views on gender. There should be equality for all and our people have a long history in fighting for that goal to be realized comprehensively.
#MasculintiySoFragile.
By Timothy
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
The Historic Visit of Pope Francis I in America
Pope Francis I’s arrival in North America is very historic. He was born in Argentina and now, he is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He wants to spread his gospel and he wants the expansion of the Roman Catholic power base especially among the youth since the youth is representative of the future. He has dealt with controversies head on. First, he traveled into Cuba to talk with Raul Castro and Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro was excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1963. Later, Cuba has a more open relationship with Roman Catholicism. The Pope came into Washington, D.C. on Tuesday afternoon. First he met with the President, First Lady Michelle Obama, Sasha, Malia, President Obama’s other relatives. He also met with Vice President Joe Biden and his wife as well. News media globally covered the events. Also, the Pope arrives in America amid the heaviest security for this temporary time period (in protecting one well known religious figure) in history. The Secret Service, Homeland Security, and other agencies among all levels of government are actively protecting the Pope. For example, the intelligence community called this event the National Special Security Event of the NSSE. There are FBI, Coast Guard, Capitol Police, Pentagon, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency working with local police departments in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Pope Francis I is an Latin American man and he has certain views on immigration, economics, poverty, etc. Federal employees have been told to work from home if possible from Tuesday through Thursday, the days when the Pope is in the US capital. On Friday, when he addresses the UN General Assembly, more than 5,000 New York City policemen will be deployed on Manhattan’s east side. Philadelphia will close many highways and bridges for two days throughout the papal visit, a more elaborate security measure than taken for a presidential appearance. These policies rise civil liberty concerns indeed. Pope Francis has a history in the controversial Dirty Wars of Argentina. Also, he has talked about the excesses of capitalism, global warming, and other issues that reactionaries don’t agree with him on. Also, I agree with the separation of church and state. I don’t believe in calling a grown man “Holy Father.” I don’t believe that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ. I deny transubstantiation and believe in the symbolic nature of communion. I don’t believe in the Immaculate Conception and I believe in the priesthood of universal believers not a select few who are forbidden to voluntarily marry. So, I have religious disagreements with the Vatican. Many of the views of Catholicism are false doctrines. I can't co-sign the belief that a grown man should be called the Pontiff. I can't venerate statues. I do believe that immigrants and refugees should be treated with dignity and with respect. I have no issues with immigrant rights. We should help the poor and the oppressed. The real point is that we need religious freedom and justice. We also need to fight for justice and reject capitalist exploitation. We reject imperialism.
For generations, black women have made excellent contributions in acting, teaching, and other endeavors of the human race. There is no question that some people are jealous of the strength and the excellence of black women. Viola Davis’ passionate speech has shown a great, radiance of light in the world. Her journey is a journey filled with many things including compassion and strength. Lena Durham and Nancy Lee Grahn’s distracting, hateful words can never stop the power of a black woman. Black women are leaders, mothers, trailblazers, and heroes. When a Sister makes a great accomplishment, some haters come out, but those haters can never stop victory. Haters can never stop the truth and the resiliency of the human spirit. So, we love the humanity of Viola Davis, Uzo Aduba, and other human beings who contributed their gifts to the world. We are in favor of building up our people. When a young black girl sees Viola Davis, she sees that she is valuable, strong, and filled with determination. Some white women, with fragile egos, hating on black women is a sign of those white women's desperation & profound insecurity. So, black women will always rise and keep on creating positive change in the world. Everyone can see how fake Nancy’s apology was. How dare she say that Viola Davis (who won an Emmy for Leading Actress) faced no discrimination. Black women face discrimination all of the time from the poor to the very rich black Sister. Viola Davis gave a passionate, emotional speech where she poured her heart out about the trials and tribulations that black actresses go through all of the time. Black women constantly and accurately say that they struggle to have certain roles on TV and film. This is another example of how some white women have arrogance and seek to minimize the pain, the struggle, and the accomplishments of black women. This is why an increasing amount of black women are classifying themselves as womanists instead of feminists. White privilege is not some anachronism. It is a total reality that occurs in the modern era. White women have always been praised in award shows for decades. All women (regardless of skin color) should be liberated, but women of color have been treated much harsher than white women in society. The jealousy of Nancy Lee Grahn reveals that black excellence intimidates many white people. If we want to get to a place of real justice, then we have to not only give opportunity to qualified black people. We have to call out those who seek to mock the accomplishments of our people.
#Black Excellence.
I do believe in medical marijuana for those that need it. There has been expansion of the marijuana industry, but we should think about the prison industrial complex. We have to deal with unfair sentencing where those with non violent drug offenses have a much lower chance to get a job and in some cases, their voting rights are restricted. I am more progressive on drugs than my older brother. I never believed in the War on Drugs for over 10 years. I believe that it should be abolished and replaced with alternatives. Those with drug addiction and who are nonviolent, I do believe merit drug treatment programs not imprisonment. Drug treatment programs can reduce the recidivism rate. I don't agree with children using hardcore drugs, because those drugs can damage their physiology forever. I believe in the medical usage of drugs for those that need it. Sentencing involving drugs must be changed. Portugal is one nation that once had a drug abuse problem. It used policies, which was a mix of hospitals, needle exchange programs, decriminalization, drug treatment, education, etc. These policies enacted in Portugal ended their war on drugs. There is a serious problem where some people in the streets with low level crimes are in prison longer than some assaulter, some rapists and some murderers. That is totally wrong. There has been stories where cannabis oil and other medical marijuana treatment which has helped countless lives. We have federal drug forfeiture laws which allow state and local law enforcement agencies to keep, for their own use, up to 80 percent of the cash, cars, and homes seized from suspected drug offenders (even if someone is accused of a drug offense). There is a prison industrial complex that allows non violent drug offenders to suffer in job opportunities, housing, voting, and other areas of society. I read about Brothers and Sisters being in jail unjustly and how eliminating the War on Drugs can cause massive economic savings. Saving money by causing more fair laws involving drugs can make investments in poorer and black communities more readily available.
I congratulate the three Sisters for their action of not endorsing any 2016 Presidential candidate. I’m going to go in, because the Black Lives Matter movement has been slandered unfairly. These words will set the record straight. One lie from the haters is that the BLM doesn’t have goals or a platform. That is refuted by the fact that Campaign Zero and various websites have Black Lives Matter organizers showing specific goals (many of them obtainable) and platforms to deal with police terrorism, racial injustice, and economic injustice. The other lie is that BLM is not credible, because it is decentralized and it has no singular leadership. The truth is that Sister Ella Baker taught the truth best on this issue. The Sister Ella Baker said that true power is not necessarily shown by one person controlling all facets of the movement. Power can be decentralized and the masses of the people can have a big role in how policies are made and how an agenda can exist. Therefore, the Black Lives Matter movement is spread nationwide with many chapters, so it is hardly disorganized and it is still decentralized in its cosmology. Establishment political figures (among both mainstream parties) have always wanted to co-opt the movement since its inception. These Sisters are right and courageous to embrace political independence. Putting forth candidates that promote imperialism, that promote privatization, that love the status quo is not a real goal that anyone should advance. The political independence of the BLM should be commended. Real movements for social change have worked in grassroots actions from the Black Panther Party, the labor movement, the abolitionist movement, and the anti-war movement.
Therefore, Black Lives Matter is using grassroots efforts in order for real political and social change to occur. Pessimism is not a solution. Too many people want to have apathy and our ancestors fought without apathy in order for their descendants to live on. This movement is less than three years old and skeptics still want to say that the movement is doomed to failure. Well once upon a time, many of these same skeptics said that overt slavery against millions of black people would last forever in America, that the bus boycott in Birmingham, Alabama would fail, and that a Voting Rights Act would never happen. These skeptics were wrong. So, we have to have faith and use action. The Black Lives Matter movement is letting it be known during this contemporary era of time that they won’t be owned by the Republican or the Democratic parties. They want freedom and they want justice. The Black Lives Matter movement is a real movement beyond hashtags and beyond just protests. They are involved in a wide range of activism (like standing up against police terrorism, promoting a living wage, fighting for voting rights, defending the lives of black people, working in community based programs, working in green programs in the black community, etc.). We have a long way to go, but we can do something and members of the BLM are doing something everyday. They are against racism, misogyny, and other injustices. We have to express self-determination without a defeatist attitude. It is a disgrace that some people want to have a defeatist attitude today when our black ancestors suffered much worse than us. Members of the Black Lives Matter movement have comforted families whose relatives were the victims of police murder. That is not a waste of time. That is an act of compassion. DEMANDING CHANGE IN SOCIETY, BUILDING IN THE COMMUNITY, AND HELPING PEOPLE ARE ACTIONS THAT ARE NEVER EQUIVALENT TO BEGGING. HAVING A PERMANENT, PESSIMISTIC SPIRIT IS BEGGING FOR FAILURE by DEFAULT. WE DON'T BEG FOR FAILURE. WE WANT JUSTICE AND FREEDOM PERIOD. So, the truth is here that the Black Lives Matter movement has inspired a generation of black people who will not turn around.
#Black Lives Matter.
By Timothy
For generations, black women have made excellent contributions in acting, teaching, and other endeavors of the human race. There is no question that some people are jealous of the strength and the excellence of black women. Viola Davis’ passionate speech has shown a great, radiance of light in the world. Her journey is a journey filled with many things including compassion and strength. Lena Durham and Nancy Lee Grahn’s distracting, hateful words can never stop the power of a black woman. Black women are leaders, mothers, trailblazers, and heroes. When a Sister makes a great accomplishment, some haters come out, but those haters can never stop victory. Haters can never stop the truth and the resiliency of the human spirit. So, we love the humanity of Viola Davis, Uzo Aduba, and other human beings who contributed their gifts to the world. We are in favor of building up our people. When a young black girl sees Viola Davis, she sees that she is valuable, strong, and filled with determination. Some white women, with fragile egos, hating on black women is a sign of those white women's desperation & profound insecurity. So, black women will always rise and keep on creating positive change in the world. Everyone can see how fake Nancy’s apology was. How dare she say that Viola Davis (who won an Emmy for Leading Actress) faced no discrimination. Black women face discrimination all of the time from the poor to the very rich black Sister. Viola Davis gave a passionate, emotional speech where she poured her heart out about the trials and tribulations that black actresses go through all of the time. Black women constantly and accurately say that they struggle to have certain roles on TV and film. This is another example of how some white women have arrogance and seek to minimize the pain, the struggle, and the accomplishments of black women. This is why an increasing amount of black women are classifying themselves as womanists instead of feminists. White privilege is not some anachronism. It is a total reality that occurs in the modern era. White women have always been praised in award shows for decades. All women (regardless of skin color) should be liberated, but women of color have been treated much harsher than white women in society. The jealousy of Nancy Lee Grahn reveals that black excellence intimidates many white people. If we want to get to a place of real justice, then we have to not only give opportunity to qualified black people. We have to call out those who seek to mock the accomplishments of our people.
#Black Excellence.
I do believe in medical marijuana for those that need it. There has been expansion of the marijuana industry, but we should think about the prison industrial complex. We have to deal with unfair sentencing where those with non violent drug offenses have a much lower chance to get a job and in some cases, their voting rights are restricted. I am more progressive on drugs than my older brother. I never believed in the War on Drugs for over 10 years. I believe that it should be abolished and replaced with alternatives. Those with drug addiction and who are nonviolent, I do believe merit drug treatment programs not imprisonment. Drug treatment programs can reduce the recidivism rate. I don't agree with children using hardcore drugs, because those drugs can damage their physiology forever. I believe in the medical usage of drugs for those that need it. Sentencing involving drugs must be changed. Portugal is one nation that once had a drug abuse problem. It used policies, which was a mix of hospitals, needle exchange programs, decriminalization, drug treatment, education, etc. These policies enacted in Portugal ended their war on drugs. There is a serious problem where some people in the streets with low level crimes are in prison longer than some assaulter, some rapists and some murderers. That is totally wrong. There has been stories where cannabis oil and other medical marijuana treatment which has helped countless lives. We have federal drug forfeiture laws which allow state and local law enforcement agencies to keep, for their own use, up to 80 percent of the cash, cars, and homes seized from suspected drug offenders (even if someone is accused of a drug offense). There is a prison industrial complex that allows non violent drug offenders to suffer in job opportunities, housing, voting, and other areas of society. I read about Brothers and Sisters being in jail unjustly and how eliminating the War on Drugs can cause massive economic savings. Saving money by causing more fair laws involving drugs can make investments in poorer and black communities more readily available.
I congratulate the three Sisters for their action of not endorsing any 2016 Presidential candidate. I’m going to go in, because the Black Lives Matter movement has been slandered unfairly. These words will set the record straight. One lie from the haters is that the BLM doesn’t have goals or a platform. That is refuted by the fact that Campaign Zero and various websites have Black Lives Matter organizers showing specific goals (many of them obtainable) and platforms to deal with police terrorism, racial injustice, and economic injustice. The other lie is that BLM is not credible, because it is decentralized and it has no singular leadership. The truth is that Sister Ella Baker taught the truth best on this issue. The Sister Ella Baker said that true power is not necessarily shown by one person controlling all facets of the movement. Power can be decentralized and the masses of the people can have a big role in how policies are made and how an agenda can exist. Therefore, the Black Lives Matter movement is spread nationwide with many chapters, so it is hardly disorganized and it is still decentralized in its cosmology. Establishment political figures (among both mainstream parties) have always wanted to co-opt the movement since its inception. These Sisters are right and courageous to embrace political independence. Putting forth candidates that promote imperialism, that promote privatization, that love the status quo is not a real goal that anyone should advance. The political independence of the BLM should be commended. Real movements for social change have worked in grassroots actions from the Black Panther Party, the labor movement, the abolitionist movement, and the anti-war movement.
Therefore, Black Lives Matter is using grassroots efforts in order for real political and social change to occur. Pessimism is not a solution. Too many people want to have apathy and our ancestors fought without apathy in order for their descendants to live on. This movement is less than three years old and skeptics still want to say that the movement is doomed to failure. Well once upon a time, many of these same skeptics said that overt slavery against millions of black people would last forever in America, that the bus boycott in Birmingham, Alabama would fail, and that a Voting Rights Act would never happen. These skeptics were wrong. So, we have to have faith and use action. The Black Lives Matter movement is letting it be known during this contemporary era of time that they won’t be owned by the Republican or the Democratic parties. They want freedom and they want justice. The Black Lives Matter movement is a real movement beyond hashtags and beyond just protests. They are involved in a wide range of activism (like standing up against police terrorism, promoting a living wage, fighting for voting rights, defending the lives of black people, working in community based programs, working in green programs in the black community, etc.). We have a long way to go, but we can do something and members of the BLM are doing something everyday. They are against racism, misogyny, and other injustices. We have to express self-determination without a defeatist attitude. It is a disgrace that some people want to have a defeatist attitude today when our black ancestors suffered much worse than us. Members of the Black Lives Matter movement have comforted families whose relatives were the victims of police murder. That is not a waste of time. That is an act of compassion. DEMANDING CHANGE IN SOCIETY, BUILDING IN THE COMMUNITY, AND HELPING PEOPLE ARE ACTIONS THAT ARE NEVER EQUIVALENT TO BEGGING. HAVING A PERMANENT, PESSIMISTIC SPIRIT IS BEGGING FOR FAILURE by DEFAULT. WE DON'T BEG FOR FAILURE. WE WANT JUSTICE AND FREEDOM PERIOD. So, the truth is here that the Black Lives Matter movement has inspired a generation of black people who will not turn around.
#Black Lives Matter.
By Timothy
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
Important Issues
If Toni Morrison gives the stamp of approval to Brother Ta-Nehisi Coates, then that means a lot. Ta-Nehisi Coates is brilliant and he’s a great writer. His words are eloquent. Yes, I have known about the Negro Report of 1965. Now, the Moynihan Report was created in 1965. It offered no solutions or explicit recommendations. We have to keep it 100. The report blamed not just black culture (which is ignorant since black culture is diverse). It also blamed matriarchal society (which is code language for single black mothers when matriarchal, progressive societies have existed for thousands of years) for the problems in the black community. This report has slandered single black women and the Moynihan Report has been used by conservatives and other folks who love misogynoir as a means for them to promote the myth that forcing all black people to have nuclear families will cure poverty and racism. Now, Moynihan became bitter and he allied with Nixon (who wanted to hurt black poor people as admitted in his secret tapes). Also, Moynihan even wanted black males to have jobs even if it meant that black women lose theirs in some measure. That’s sexist. Black people of both genders have the right to have a job. The view that black culture in poor communities inherently leads into pathologies is racist period. I don’t believe that black culture is inferior to other cultures. I don’t believe that the suffering poor should be neglected. They should be empowered with resources and investments from all levels of government. The stereotypical lie of the black poor as solely seeking welfare dependency, violence, and social nihilism is the height of overt racism and classism. There is a lot of talk about personal responsibility, but the report lacked to emphasis the social responsibility of society to promote the general welfare.
The conservatives talk about welfare, but in the past 40 years, the social safety net has been depleted in communities nationwide (via deindustralization, our civil rights gains being rolled back, urban renewal of the 50's and the 60's, bad trade deals, discrimination, and other neo-liberal policies from both major parties). What can be done? The solution is diverse. Now, we do need to improve ourselves. I have no problem with self-determination and building more of our institutions. There is nothing wrong with us using grassroots programs in our community to help us as a people (from mentorships, apprenticeships, and other social actions). There is nothing wrong with advancing integrity, and a more communal spirit. Yet, I also believe that the mass incarceration state must end. There is a consensus in this country that the prison industrial complex as it is must go. It has ruined families, promoted more discrimination, and ruined so many lives of our Brothers and Sisters. There should be a nationwide increase of the minimum wage. There should be an end to the War on Drugs with alternatives like investments in drug treatment programs, ending mandatory minimum sentences, etc. Community based programs to help families must be increased. We want our families to be strengthened. There are strong nuclear, single, and extended families. A strong family doesn’t have to be a nuclear one. There should be job creation programs in especially poor areas. We have a structural problem of oppression that must be addressed. In essence, there must be federal, state, and local social policies to address racism and economic oppression. I believe that Melissa Harris Perry had a great discussion with Ta Neheisi Coates (his article on Moynihan and mass incarceration was superb) on this issue.
Progress is when poverty is gone in our communities and when we own our institutions (and use them to help our people progressively excluding exploitation). Many have mentioned about some non-whites exploiting our culture for profit and they are right. That is why we have to not only create and produce resources. We have to own our resources and institutions and fairly distribute power to our poorer Brothers and Sisters (so, they can be empowered to live their lives without poverty). From the 1960’s to the present, there has been a certain amount of economic and political power given to a select amount of upper class and rich black people (we see the growth of some black millionaires and black billionaires in the States since 1968), but the masses of black people still suffer massive injustices from discrimination to economic deprivation. One reason for this reality was the growth of economic inequality, classism, the continuation of poverty, racism, discrimination, and the lax efforts to address poverty (with the evil growth of austerity) in the black community. Black people of all classes suffer racism to be fair. I have no problem with embracing a class consciousness too since economic justice is about making sure that the working class has power over their own lives without capitalist exploitation (as capitalism is linked to the Maafa as documented by Eric Williams. I don't support neoliberalism or the 1% having disproportionate power over the masses of the people). We do need to grow our infrastructure. I have read where the Polish people, Jewish people, Irish people, German people, Arabic people, etc. came into America to set up newspapers, cultural centers, and other large institutions to develop their interests.
We should do the same in a wider scale. We all know that we had the Chicago Renaissance, the Harlem Renaissance, Black Wall Street, etc. Yet, I do believe that during this generation, we should do that in a higher level since we have a serious problem of cultural exploitation and tons of our people are hurting. We abhor cultural appropriation and we love to see more growth of our cultural institutions. I learned that any movement for social change readily starts at the grassroots level or in the streets. The slave revolts, the civil rights movement, the cultural movements of our people, etc. began in the streets or in the grassroots level. So, we have to execute grassroots work (like community based programs that can help mentor people, educate people, and build up communities in general in a cooperative fashion. We are a cooperative, communal people as shown in our history and in our culture. We have a beautiful culture). Also, structures of oppression must end, so we have to build our own institutions and fight against racism, poverty, the prison industrial complex, and other evils. That is why I do agree with living wages, universal health care, voting rights, ending the War on Drugs, paid family leave federally, and fighting police terrorism. The prison industrial complex has harmed our people and it must go. We defend the rights of the poor and the working class. We can’t do this alone as black Americans. That is why I do advocate international pan-African discussions, forums, and collaborations with all black people of the Diaspora since oppression isn’t just a national problem. Oppression is an international phenomenon. The system of racism/white supremacy is a global system. Solutions will be multifaceted not monolithic. We all play a role and we can all do something. As you have mentioned, more rich black celebrities have to step up to the plate and be involved in developing black institutions and helping the poor (including speaking out in favor of social and economic justice). We need more hotels, schools, and other forms of power bases that we own and control. There is nothing wrong with power if it is used correctly and for the benefit of the masses of the people. Black children do need the opportunity to express themselves as many have outlined. We advocate freedom, justice, and equality for all and we mean it. Also, black mothers and black fathers have great value in the Universe. Their sacrifice, their strength, and their love must always be recognized and respected.
Of course, she or Bristol Palin wants to omit that many white people have advanced racial strife and outlined phony claims of "victimhood" for centuries. We didn’t originate the Maafa or Jim Crow. We didn’t originate racial strife as great people has mentioned. Bristol Palin is wrong on so many levels. Palin is expressing distracting commentaries as a way for her to ignore the serious problems of Islamophobia and racial injustice. First, racial strife in America existed long before Obama was born. President Barack Obama has gone out of his way to issue speeches that talk about race in a moderate fashion without inflaming racial tensions. Also, Ahmed was a victim of an injustice of being arrested unjustly. Britsol is just hating plain and simple . Haters will hate, but we will keep on moving as nothing will stop our shine. No one can stop our glory. She is certainly following the same talking points as the reactionary extremist Sarah Palin is expressing. She injected herself into a discussion and outlined falsehoods and distortions about Ahmed's injustice. We need more of the youth involved in STEM fields. I have noticed that she used the code word "victimhood." Bristol spoke in that way since she has a guilt complex and she hates the fact of people sincerely standing up against Islamophobia (when we have an epidemic of white racist terrorism going in American soil) and racism. We are undeterred, we will eloquently speak up for justice and tranquility, and we defend our black Brothers and our black Sisters.
By Timothy
The conservatives talk about welfare, but in the past 40 years, the social safety net has been depleted in communities nationwide (via deindustralization, our civil rights gains being rolled back, urban renewal of the 50's and the 60's, bad trade deals, discrimination, and other neo-liberal policies from both major parties). What can be done? The solution is diverse. Now, we do need to improve ourselves. I have no problem with self-determination and building more of our institutions. There is nothing wrong with us using grassroots programs in our community to help us as a people (from mentorships, apprenticeships, and other social actions). There is nothing wrong with advancing integrity, and a more communal spirit. Yet, I also believe that the mass incarceration state must end. There is a consensus in this country that the prison industrial complex as it is must go. It has ruined families, promoted more discrimination, and ruined so many lives of our Brothers and Sisters. There should be a nationwide increase of the minimum wage. There should be an end to the War on Drugs with alternatives like investments in drug treatment programs, ending mandatory minimum sentences, etc. Community based programs to help families must be increased. We want our families to be strengthened. There are strong nuclear, single, and extended families. A strong family doesn’t have to be a nuclear one. There should be job creation programs in especially poor areas. We have a structural problem of oppression that must be addressed. In essence, there must be federal, state, and local social policies to address racism and economic oppression. I believe that Melissa Harris Perry had a great discussion with Ta Neheisi Coates (his article on Moynihan and mass incarceration was superb) on this issue.
Progress is when poverty is gone in our communities and when we own our institutions (and use them to help our people progressively excluding exploitation). Many have mentioned about some non-whites exploiting our culture for profit and they are right. That is why we have to not only create and produce resources. We have to own our resources and institutions and fairly distribute power to our poorer Brothers and Sisters (so, they can be empowered to live their lives without poverty). From the 1960’s to the present, there has been a certain amount of economic and political power given to a select amount of upper class and rich black people (we see the growth of some black millionaires and black billionaires in the States since 1968), but the masses of black people still suffer massive injustices from discrimination to economic deprivation. One reason for this reality was the growth of economic inequality, classism, the continuation of poverty, racism, discrimination, and the lax efforts to address poverty (with the evil growth of austerity) in the black community. Black people of all classes suffer racism to be fair. I have no problem with embracing a class consciousness too since economic justice is about making sure that the working class has power over their own lives without capitalist exploitation (as capitalism is linked to the Maafa as documented by Eric Williams. I don't support neoliberalism or the 1% having disproportionate power over the masses of the people). We do need to grow our infrastructure. I have read where the Polish people, Jewish people, Irish people, German people, Arabic people, etc. came into America to set up newspapers, cultural centers, and other large institutions to develop their interests.
We should do the same in a wider scale. We all know that we had the Chicago Renaissance, the Harlem Renaissance, Black Wall Street, etc. Yet, I do believe that during this generation, we should do that in a higher level since we have a serious problem of cultural exploitation and tons of our people are hurting. We abhor cultural appropriation and we love to see more growth of our cultural institutions. I learned that any movement for social change readily starts at the grassroots level or in the streets. The slave revolts, the civil rights movement, the cultural movements of our people, etc. began in the streets or in the grassroots level. So, we have to execute grassroots work (like community based programs that can help mentor people, educate people, and build up communities in general in a cooperative fashion. We are a cooperative, communal people as shown in our history and in our culture. We have a beautiful culture). Also, structures of oppression must end, so we have to build our own institutions and fight against racism, poverty, the prison industrial complex, and other evils. That is why I do agree with living wages, universal health care, voting rights, ending the War on Drugs, paid family leave federally, and fighting police terrorism. The prison industrial complex has harmed our people and it must go. We defend the rights of the poor and the working class. We can’t do this alone as black Americans. That is why I do advocate international pan-African discussions, forums, and collaborations with all black people of the Diaspora since oppression isn’t just a national problem. Oppression is an international phenomenon. The system of racism/white supremacy is a global system. Solutions will be multifaceted not monolithic. We all play a role and we can all do something. As you have mentioned, more rich black celebrities have to step up to the plate and be involved in developing black institutions and helping the poor (including speaking out in favor of social and economic justice). We need more hotels, schools, and other forms of power bases that we own and control. There is nothing wrong with power if it is used correctly and for the benefit of the masses of the people. Black children do need the opportunity to express themselves as many have outlined. We advocate freedom, justice, and equality for all and we mean it. Also, black mothers and black fathers have great value in the Universe. Their sacrifice, their strength, and their love must always be recognized and respected.
Of course, she or Bristol Palin wants to omit that many white people have advanced racial strife and outlined phony claims of "victimhood" for centuries. We didn’t originate the Maafa or Jim Crow. We didn’t originate racial strife as great people has mentioned. Bristol Palin is wrong on so many levels. Palin is expressing distracting commentaries as a way for her to ignore the serious problems of Islamophobia and racial injustice. First, racial strife in America existed long before Obama was born. President Barack Obama has gone out of his way to issue speeches that talk about race in a moderate fashion without inflaming racial tensions. Also, Ahmed was a victim of an injustice of being arrested unjustly. Britsol is just hating plain and simple . Haters will hate, but we will keep on moving as nothing will stop our shine. No one can stop our glory. She is certainly following the same talking points as the reactionary extremist Sarah Palin is expressing. She injected herself into a discussion and outlined falsehoods and distortions about Ahmed's injustice. We need more of the youth involved in STEM fields. I have noticed that she used the code word "victimhood." Bristol spoke in that way since she has a guilt complex and she hates the fact of people sincerely standing up against Islamophobia (when we have an epidemic of white racist terrorism going in American soil) and racism. We are undeterred, we will eloquently speak up for justice and tranquility, and we defend our black Brothers and our black Sisters.
By Timothy
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Gentrification and Other News
http://socialistworker.org/2014/04/07/pushed-away-from-the-bay
http://socialistworker.org/2014/11/04/organizing-against-gentrification-u
http://socialistworker.org/2014/10/02/project-gentrify-in-oakland
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/16/stark-differences-jeremy-corbyn-vs-bernie-sanders/
http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/09/bernie-sanders-again-insists-that-saudi-arabia-should-kill-more-people-2/
http://twsp.us/briefing/20150920
https://www.facebook.com/taxwallstreetparty
http://socialistworker.org/2014/11/04/organizing-against-gentrification-u
http://socialistworker.org/2014/10/02/project-gentrify-in-oakland
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/16/stark-differences-jeremy-corbyn-vs-bernie-sanders/
http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/09/bernie-sanders-again-insists-that-saudi-arabia-should-kill-more-people-2/
http://twsp.us/briefing/20150920
https://www.facebook.com/taxwallstreetparty
Olive Morris
https://rememberolivemorris.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/brixton-black-panthers-movement/
https://rememberolivemorris.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/the-black-panthers-in-london-1967-72/
http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2010s/2014/no-1317-may-2014/mixed-media-british-black-panther-movement
https://rememberolivemorris.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/the-black-panthers-in-london-1967-72/
http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2010s/2014/no-1317-may-2014/mixed-media-british-black-panther-movement
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
The Second Republican National Debate
The 2nd Republican debate was longer than the first one (with 22.9 million people watching it on CNN). I saw most of the debate. Before I list the winners, I must tell which person was the loser of the debate. You know who that person is. LOL. Yes, I will say his name once again. The loser is Donald Trump. He lacked details in his responses. He defended his despicable and evil comments about Jeb Bush’s wife and against Carly Fiorina. He was tired and flustered by other candidates refuting him every step of the way. Trump promoted his irrational policies of eliminating the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship part and wanting to deport millions of people immediately (which will cause a police state in America. Trump refused to apologize for his evil comments about Jeb Bush’s wife. He is a racist and a sexist. Trump’s patronizing words to Fiorina were apparent). The debate happened in the Reagan Library and Ronald Reagan was responsible for union busting, race baiting rhetoric, Iran Contra, tricked down economics, and other evils in our society. Also, Ronald Reagan (as Governor of California) slandered the Black Panther Party during the 1960’s. Carly Fiorina came out strong in the debate. I don’t agree with her agenda, but throughout the debate, she outlined a strong tone and defended herself (yet, the HP situation will come up during her campaign). Rubio was strong in the debate in outlining his story and vision even though he is a notorious war monger. Ben Carson was in the middle. He didn’t do terrible, but his performance was more humble. He talked about vaccinations, immigration, and other issues. Jeb Bush was stronger during this debate than the first one. His big mistake was that he said that his brother George W. Bush made America safe. Bush was involved in the disastrous Iraq War, the economic downturn (we know about the big stock market crash of 2008), the disastrous response to the Katrina tragedy, and he promoted torture (many of the laws that he passed violated our human civil liberties).
Jeb Bush is allying with the same ruthless neo-conservative advisers that made so many mistakes involving the war on terror. So, the George W. Bush administration was a divisive, terrible Presidency. Kasich wanted unity among Republicans. He wanted to demand his record as Governor of Ohio. Scott Walker was unapologetic about his union busting and his antipathy towards a real living wage for workers. Chris Christie wanted to target Hillary Clinton and he has an abysmal record as New Jersey governor. Rand Paul wanted to promote his policies on marijuana as he has criticized the War on Drugs. He was constantly criticized by other candidates. I do agree with drug treatment programs and the ending of three strike laws. Yet, Rand Paul wants a harsh response to Iran. Ted Cruz and the overt theocrat Huckabee are stone cold extremists. I think that debate had more detail than the previous one. Many of the candidates wanted to promote a regressive tax policy like the fair tax (which will benefit the super wealthy at the expense of the poor plus working class). I have no problem with taxing hedge funders. The many candidates believe in war mongering while omitting the fact that Western imperialism (along with other forces) are responsible for the migrant crisis, for the Syrian civil war, and for the other forms of chaos in the Middle East. Jindal also cut services in Louisiana too. Even the Iran nuclear deal is very strict. Yet, some of these candidates are war mongers who want to even attack Iran under some circumstances. As other people has mentioned, the candidates didn't talk about Black Lives Matter, police brutality, education in our communities, and other real issues. This could be the beginning of the end of Donald Trump’s campaign.
She loves her family. She always respect talent, wisdom, and she has made beautiful comments on the truth on beauty. The cover is amazingly gorgeous (with superb fashion). I greatly respect the compassion and the strength of the beautiful Sister Lupita N'yongo. Our ancestors suffered the worst forms of slavery in human history, but we are here. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery couldn't stop us, the agenda of the bigots will surely fail. We do this for our ancestors too. Our ancestors lived, they suffered, and they died. Our ancestors experienced oppression. Yet, they also realized that during the future, people like us would exist to show a light. We will continue to show that light of truth, inspiration, and progressive insights, so the world can exist in true liberty and justice. We are a diverse people. We look at reality through our own eyes. I never agree with spewing FOX News talking points about black people. We are a strong people and the system of oppression has the goal of destroying the black community. There is a difference between individual responsibility and collective, systematic forces of oppression that must be fought against. We love truth and we believe in building in our black communities via self-determination.
We, as black people, are tired being condemned collectively for the actions of a few. We are tired of some who want to ignore the gallant efforts of black people who are actually fighting against intraracial crime. We are tired of the BLM movement being slandered by ignorant people and by white racist reactionaries (from FOX News, etc.) who don’t know a single, solitary thing about what the Black Lives Matter movement represents. BLM existed in the past few years. It was established with a specific goal which was to liberate black people from police terrorism and from any injustice. Overall crime rates have been going down for the past three decades in America while the police have killed almost 1,000 people in 2015 alone. As you have mentioned, crime is never limited by race. Crime is caused by socioeconomic factors. When our schools are rebuilt, when living wages come about, when illegal gun trading is truly fought against, and when real investments in growing jobs exist, and when ending poverty comes about, then a radical decrease in crime will happen. We know what works. The constant victim blaming (as embraced by extremists) is a disgraceful ideology and it is a sick slander that is found not only expressed by racist white people, but it is embraced by some black people too. The Black Lives Matter movement is still here and it has condemned murder (no matter who does it) in explicit terms. Before the BLM was established, black people have constantly been in the trenches fighting back against intraracial crime.
It is disrespectful to ignore the great efforts of black people who are building in our community. We are tired of being lectured by conservative pundits who believe in the myth that respectability politics is the panacea to our entire problems when we know that people like Aiyana Jones, etc. were murdered by the police when they have done nothing wrong. Black people, who do crime, are readily prosecuted nationwide, but the police, who swore an oath to protect citizens, are readily not prosecuted (if they committed an injustice) since they are defended by the establishment readily. Many of these people (who lecture us on black on black crime) want to blame black people collectively for the actions of criminals. What the haters don't get is that we oppose intraracial crime, economic inequality, poverty, discrimination, and police brutality simultaneously. Worshiping the police is an action which is embraced by many unfortunately. Just because someone disagrees with one athlete, doesn’t mean that we are upset with him. We are disappointed at him. Jesse Lee Peterson is black. Yet, he thanked God for slavery. Just because we criticize the ignorant words of Jesse Lee Peterson, doesn’t mean we want permanent divisiveness in our community. We want solutions. We want the poor to not be bashed unfairly, but treated with dignity and with respect. We promote justice and we have every right to disagree with certain viewpoints. Also, we have criticized white racists strongly. We want any oppression to be attacked on all fronts. We will get over not a single thing and the Jewish people never get over the Holocaust. Society must change and structural change is a necessity so capitalist exploitation is gone.
By Timothy
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Russia Joins Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizistan, and Tadjikistan in Urging UN Security Council to Back Syrian Anti-ISIS Mission for Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO); Proposal for World Coalition Against ISIS Will Be Launched at UN General Assembly September 27-28; Putin Will Chair Security Council and Announce CSTO Intervention with or Without US Assent; Obama Must Welcome Russia, Work with Assad, #FireAllen4ISIS !
Wednesday News
There are a lot of words that could be said about this issue. So, I will not compromise in my views on these issues. For long centuries, crooked cops have bullied black people, poor people, and other people. The Black Lives Matter movement existed in response to police oppression, racial profiling, and racial oppression. The BLM is not involved in overt bullying at all. They want justice. They want a society to be transformed where local police agencies are not militarized and where unarmed, innocent black people never should experience murder. There is a double standard in society where there are many instances of white men with guns being readily not killed while we have black people disproportionately being killed by the police. The police have killed almost 1,000 human beings in America during this year alone. In other industrialized nations, that number is much lower. The BLM has gone out to not only issue statements in social media. They have participated in protests nationwide. They have organized forums in talking about real issues and they have created specific platforms in addressing economic and social justice issues. The corrupt social order harming the poor, permitting oppression, and stifling progressive change is the epitome of that capitalist social order using civil disturbance against the common people. Black Lives Matter is a call for society to truly respect the human dignity and the autonomy of all black lives. It is never meant to degrade the human dignity of other human lives. Also, he or Ben Carson talks about Michael Brown, but he never criticizes the militarized police forces using tear gas against civilians in Ferguson (including against innocent journalists and innocent children) over a year ago. He never talks about how the surveillance state is linked to imperialism and that is also linked to the police occupation of our community. We have to fight without fright. When we fight, we will expose white supremacy. Exposing the brutality of capitalist exploitation and police corruption has nothing to do with advancing nihilism. His words represent what many conservatives actually believe in. So, his words are not surprising. Black Lives Matter is not about bullying and it is not hateful. It has inspired a new generation of people who want change now. It has galvanized many across the world to express that powerful, accurate precept that black human lives not only have value, but they deserve liberation. It has shown everyone that many of the youth get it and have a real consciousness about real matters. That’s real and that’s true.
The Black Lives Matter movement has done a lot to expose the systemic roots of police terrorism and racism in the American criminal injustice system during the 21st century. DHS has illegally monitor BLM members too. BLM activists have not only protested. They have established meetings nationwide including forums. They have organized civil disobedience nationwide, and they have organized other programs. So, they haven’t just used social media. Also, Campaign Zero, Hands Up Coalition DC, and BLM websites have explicitly mentioned concrete platforms on criminal justice, racial justice, and economic justice (which many other organizations don’t do and some organizations want BLM to be nothing more than an token adjunct of the Republican or the Democratic parties. This must not happen as political independence is the way to go). BLM is following the model of SNCC. SNCC never had a centralized leadership. Ella Baker taught us that leadership is not about one person ruling over everyone. Leadership is consensus, democratic power, and promoting justice. That's leadership. They had leaders in a grassroots format. SNCC didn't always agree with the SCLC too. BLM is a grassroots movement, so they need leaders being part of the overall participatory movement (not singular leaders dictating people in the movement in an authoritarian fashion). Like any movement, BLM need legitimate critique (like expansion of their platform, more organization, etc.) and inspiration not bashing. These are my views. I am in solidarity with the heroic people of the Black Lives Matter movement too.
#Black Lives Matter.
They (or Kai Davis and Miriam Harris of Temple University) are only telling the truth via their spoken word poem. Equality is never a gender limited ideology. Equality is meant for all. No one can be ‘conscious’ and disrespect the mother of human life, who is the black woman. It is as simple as that. Also, the people found in ISUPK (with one piece of work who calls himself General Yahanna) are the examples of the fake males that the 2 Sisters are describing. I never talked about ISUPK before on here. We know about Tommy Sotomayor, Sgt. Pete, but these ISUPK folks are off the rails too with their misogynist garbage too. They claim to be spiritual, but they curse with vile language and I do mean curse with vile language. Many of their followers say the N word and just call black women every name under the sun. They should be called out. Now, the women made the excellent point that some who claim to be “nice guys” are just as shallow, egoistical, and narcissistic as the “bad guys.” Patriarchal supremacy is wrong just like the system of white supremacy is wrong. Freedom is not about people seeking permission to be free. Freedom is about the right to be free by birthright without exception (and without oppression). There must be societal changes. Laws must be changed and human autonomy must be totally honored. If misogyny and racism are gone, then the world would be a much better place. There are plenty of fake people who use “conscious” rhetoric as an excuse for them to demonize black women (they condemn feminism in inaccurate terms as well). They are totally agents of evil without question. We have to not only defend the lives of black males who are the victims of police abuse. We have to defend the lives of black females too, who are the victims of police abuse. Black people in general (i.e. black females and black males) should have liberation and justice. Society works when people fight injustice, build in communities, respect each other as human beings, and stand up for the truth. I congratulate the two Sisters.
Racism has no place in any society. Anti-black racism is deplorable and evil. Anti-Latino racism is also evil and deplorable. Trump is a coward, a sexist, and a racist without question. White racists always had anti-Latino bigotry. They just use Trump as a way to try to make their hate socially acceptable, which it isn't. His views on foreign policy is equivalent to the neo cons, so he's a militarist too. You can't be a revolutionary and support imperialism. I will never support Trump at all. I am glad that protesters confronted his hate. A nation which includes the actions of illegal immigrant Founders (who stole lands and whose relatives broke treaties) and these bigots are hypocritical to slander immigrants (many of them are black people too). I believe in black unity, but I don't believe in anti-Latino racism. We can promote our black interests and Black Power too without unfair hatred.
The video (of the rally in opposition to the Iranian deal) says it all. Many people at the rally believe in historical revisionism, slander, and other forms of demagogic extremism. Iranians have been brutalized by Western backed coups (like Operation Ajax in the 1950’s), harmful sanctions, and other forms of injustices. Also, it is obvious that the President is not a Muslim. Many people in the rally refuse to expose how imperialism has harmed Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Syria, etc. Iran has no nuclear weapons while many nations including those in the Middle East plus Asia have nuclear weapons. For that one person in the rally to say that he’s glad that Carter is suffering cancer shows that person in the rally is a total disgrace. The worship of America as God is truly despicable. Glen Beck and Sarah Palin are deceiving others and they are reactionary extremists. The reactionary extremists talk about nuclear power when America has been the only nation to use 2 nuclear weapons in 2 cities in history. The policies of Empire, unjust surveillance, and neoliberal economic policies have existed in both the Bush and Obama administrations. Many Tea Party activists have been exposed as neo-conservatives. The slander of the BLM movement by those in the rally is not uncommon. So, the major point is that we are anti-imperialist, we don’t want war with Iran, and we want justice for humanity.
By Timothy
Have You Noticed Whenever Black Males “Crossover” in Hollywood Films…
http://racismws.com/2015/09/15/have-you-noticed-whenever-black-males-crossover-in-hollywood-films
LBM says:
September 15, 2015 at 11:03 pm
“In contrast, the unions between black males and white females in Hollywood films are SELDOM abusive, disrespectful or antagonistic.”…………………Pam, do you happen to remember Eric LaSalle in ER? I believe he brought this very point up in reference to the relationships he was having on the show – I guess they wanted his relationship with the black lady (biracial) to be cantankerous while it was to be peaches and cream with the white one.
Good post Pam. Many of the older brothers are too far gone but we can still at least prepare our younger males on the racist game that’s being played. We need to tell them how their “preference” is manipulated by racists who want males that look like them erased. They need to understand that males who look like them – strong masculine melanated men, by and large, will only be produced by them mating with black women.
The racists have convinced a good number of black males to genocide themselves through the very images Pam speaks of. Has anyone else noticed the number of print ads with highly melanated males with babies/children that look nothing like them. Or, as I witness on these gentrified streets of NYC, dark complexioned black males doting on their “mixed” children. I saw a dark brother carrying and kissing the cutest little chocolate baby and I had to say something to him. The image made my day!
I also notice how many of the black actors, especially the lighter ones, shave their facial and head hair as not to display those naps. Seems they have “issues” with their hair as well but handle it differently than Black women – although some do get a “texturizer” which ain’t nothin’ but a perm washed out a little sooner!
Note: To those who watch Power – please stop saying “latina” as if that makes Angela not white. There’s plenty black and otherwise darker complexioned women who’s first language is Spanish – if that’s what the producers wanted. Ghost has made it clear that the black woman was fine for his “dirty” life but for his “clean” life, he wants the white girl. So much for being the one who “put in the work”, who “stood by her man”–then in walks the white girl to reap the benefits. Power is so blatant with the anti-blackness and anti-black woman that it’s a good study piece but again – these things have to be called out if we’re going to watch at all.
______________________
Trojan Pam says:
September 15, 2015 at 11:37 pm
@ LBM
I agree. And the promotion of producing children with white people is so blatant almost every TV commercial features a so-called bi-racial person. The “better’ black” and more and more black people are producing children
THAT LOOK NOTHING LIKE THEM OR THEIR ANCESTORS
And some are proud of this NOT realizing this is the most BLATANT FORM OF SELF-HATRED AND SELF-CONTEMPT AND LOW-SELF-ESTEEM possible
No person with high self-esteem wants a child that looks nothing like them!
And what we are producing — and I’m going to be blunt here –are children who will for the most part want to be white and will side with whites even while pretending to be “black -identified” and will RUSH to breed that hated blackness out of their genetics. Hasn’t anyone seen this besides me?
The smartest ones will play both sides depending on which way the wind blows (like getting “black” scholarships even though they want nothing to do with black people)
and many will feel alienated and distant from their black side because they look different
And most will be used against their darker brethen as they were used in Haiti and South Africa and Latin America to promote white supremacy via them being closer to white than other black people
And while clueless black adults OOH and AHHH over them looking more white they will be DEVASTATING the self-esteem of the children who don’t then wonder what is wrong with them?
No people can survive their own self-extermination and I doubt we will be the exception
unless we shake off these mental chains and get our sanity back.
LBM says:
September 15, 2015 at 11:03 pm
“In contrast, the unions between black males and white females in Hollywood films are SELDOM abusive, disrespectful or antagonistic.”…………………Pam, do you happen to remember Eric LaSalle in ER? I believe he brought this very point up in reference to the relationships he was having on the show – I guess they wanted his relationship with the black lady (biracial) to be cantankerous while it was to be peaches and cream with the white one.
Good post Pam. Many of the older brothers are too far gone but we can still at least prepare our younger males on the racist game that’s being played. We need to tell them how their “preference” is manipulated by racists who want males that look like them erased. They need to understand that males who look like them – strong masculine melanated men, by and large, will only be produced by them mating with black women.
The racists have convinced a good number of black males to genocide themselves through the very images Pam speaks of. Has anyone else noticed the number of print ads with highly melanated males with babies/children that look nothing like them. Or, as I witness on these gentrified streets of NYC, dark complexioned black males doting on their “mixed” children. I saw a dark brother carrying and kissing the cutest little chocolate baby and I had to say something to him. The image made my day!
I also notice how many of the black actors, especially the lighter ones, shave their facial and head hair as not to display those naps. Seems they have “issues” with their hair as well but handle it differently than Black women – although some do get a “texturizer” which ain’t nothin’ but a perm washed out a little sooner!
Note: To those who watch Power – please stop saying “latina” as if that makes Angela not white. There’s plenty black and otherwise darker complexioned women who’s first language is Spanish – if that’s what the producers wanted. Ghost has made it clear that the black woman was fine for his “dirty” life but for his “clean” life, he wants the white girl. So much for being the one who “put in the work”, who “stood by her man”–then in walks the white girl to reap the benefits. Power is so blatant with the anti-blackness and anti-black woman that it’s a good study piece but again – these things have to be called out if we’re going to watch at all.
______________________
Trojan Pam says:
September 15, 2015 at 11:37 pm
@ LBM
I agree. And the promotion of producing children with white people is so blatant almost every TV commercial features a so-called bi-racial person. The “better’ black” and more and more black people are producing children
THAT LOOK NOTHING LIKE THEM OR THEIR ANCESTORS
And some are proud of this NOT realizing this is the most BLATANT FORM OF SELF-HATRED AND SELF-CONTEMPT AND LOW-SELF-ESTEEM possible
No person with high self-esteem wants a child that looks nothing like them!
And what we are producing — and I’m going to be blunt here –are children who will for the most part want to be white and will side with whites even while pretending to be “black -identified” and will RUSH to breed that hated blackness out of their genetics. Hasn’t anyone seen this besides me?
The smartest ones will play both sides depending on which way the wind blows (like getting “black” scholarships even though they want nothing to do with black people)
and many will feel alienated and distant from their black side because they look different
And most will be used against their darker brethen as they were used in Haiti and South Africa and Latin America to promote white supremacy via them being closer to white than other black people
And while clueless black adults OOH and AHHH over them looking more white they will be DEVASTATING the self-esteem of the children who don’t then wonder what is wrong with them?
No people can survive their own self-extermination and I doubt we will be the exception
unless we shake off these mental chains and get our sanity back.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
Eight Years of Clinton-Gore: The Price of Lesser-Evilism
http://www.isreview.org/issues/13/clinton-gore.shtml
http://www.isreview.org/issues/61/feat-pushdemsleft.shtml
http://socialistworker.org/2013/04/12/jesse-jackson-and-the-rainbow
http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/statements/stand-kurdish-resistance-against-turkey%E2%80%99s-air-attacks-and-us-schemes
http://socialistworker.org/2015/07/29/did-black-lives-ever-matter-to-the-democrats
http://socialistworker.org/2015/08/14/winning-talk-isnt-winning-action
https://www.facebook.com/keeangayamahtta.taylor/posts/10207878663228465
http://socialistworker.org/2014/09/03/who-ignores-the-real-crimes
http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2015/08/_blacklivesmatter_and_holding_democrats_accountable.html
http://www.thenation.com/article/economic-program-blacklivesmatter/
https://medium.com/focus-series/the-most-important-political-development-in-a-generation-8ff6876ca8e9
http://photos.essence.com/galleries/blacklivesmatter-6-women-who-stood-strong-though-tragic-loss-and-injustice
http://socialistworker.org/2015/09/03/confronting-the-pro-police-backlash
http://inthesetimes.com/article/17888/baltimore_riots_black_politicians
http://www.isreview.org/issues/61/feat-pushdemsleft.shtml
http://socialistworker.org/2013/04/12/jesse-jackson-and-the-rainbow
http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/statements/stand-kurdish-resistance-against-turkey%E2%80%99s-air-attacks-and-us-schemes
http://socialistworker.org/2015/07/29/did-black-lives-ever-matter-to-the-democrats
http://socialistworker.org/2015/08/14/winning-talk-isnt-winning-action
https://www.facebook.com/keeangayamahtta.taylor/posts/10207878663228465
http://socialistworker.org/2014/09/03/who-ignores-the-real-crimes
http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2015/08/_blacklivesmatter_and_holding_democrats_accountable.html
http://www.thenation.com/article/economic-program-blacklivesmatter/
https://medium.com/focus-series/the-most-important-political-development-in-a-generation-8ff6876ca8e9
http://photos.essence.com/galleries/blacklivesmatter-6-women-who-stood-strong-though-tragic-loss-and-injustice
http://socialistworker.org/2015/09/03/confronting-the-pro-police-backlash
http://inthesetimes.com/article/17888/baltimore_riots_black_politicians
Monday News and Information in mid-September 2015
Human beings need more cultural growth. That growth can come by a proactive approach in telling young black children about the essence of their beings. We have to build up a foundation for a stronger infrastructure in our communities. Sometimes, basic actions like mentorships and community actions are better than no action. We have to plant those seeds. Seeds need a firm foundation, water, and sunlight to grow. Therefore, we have to plant the seeds of knowledge in our youth. We have to show the water of history, culture, and STEM fields. We should allow the sunlight of experience and visiting AA museums to happen in their lives. In that sense, the youth can grow. Also, we have to address poverty since poverty is a serious problem for our poor Brothers and our poor Sisters. Schools are meant for education, inspiring people, and telling the people the truth without obfuscation. Many people are right that some teachers refuse to give the keys of wisdom to students. Some teachers just gloss over underrated black heroes from Paul Robeson to Gloria Richardson. We have a long way to go, but we have to begin at some place. The glory of Africa should be shown more to the world. Africa has great resources and it has overcome a lot. Our true history should be shown especially to black children since they will represent the future as black adults.
Irish Americans came into Chicago during the early years of the city’s existence. The fourth largest Irish population by 1860 would be found in Chicago. Many of them worked in labor from lumber wharves, railroads, stockyards, and steel mills. As time went on, the Irish people had a great influence in Chicago’s city government, the police force, the fire department, and the public school system. Since Chicago has a very large Catholic population, many Irish were leaders of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese. Chicago has great ethnic diversity and tensions arose among many ethnic groups, especially during back in the day. Yet, as time came on, many people have learned to live together as people. Every year, there is the South Side Irish parade on Western Avenue. It has rivaled the traditional downtown parade in size and influence. To this day, Irish citizenry in Chicago has done scholarly preservation, social activism, and other contributions in society. There are many other diverse ethnic groups in Chicago. Germans came into Chicago by the 1830’s. By 1845, there were 1,000 Germans in Chicago. People know about the Lager Beer Conflict that came about when Mayor Levi Boone of Chicago declared that on Sundays, all beer gardens and saloons will be closed. Many Germans were involved in antislavery abolition movements and in anarchist politics. Many were leaders of the labor movement. The peak of German immigration would be in 1890. Those of German descent were the largest ethnic group of Chicago from 1850 to the turn of the century. Polish people have a long history too. Polish Chicago is sometimes called Polona. People came from Poland to Chicago for economic reasons from the 1850’s to the early 1920’s. By 1930, Polish immigrants replaced the Germans as the largest European ethnic group in Chicago. During World War II and after the Communist takeover of Poland, more Polish people came into Chicago. Many of them set up institutions and neighborhoods. During the Solidarity movement, more Polish immigrants came into Chicago during the 1980’s. They are known for forming a community in the Northwest Side. Anthony Smarzeski-Schermann was a man who worked with the youth too. Polish newspapers opened offices throughout Chicago like the Gazeta Polska or the Polish Gazette in 1872. Polish Chicagoans of course worked in the labor movement. The Copernicus Center was created in the early 1980’s as a Polish cultural center. The Polish National Alliance has moved its headquarters to the far North Side of Chicago. There are Bosnians, Lithuanians, Welsh, Italians, Assyrians, Arabic people, Armenians, Iranians, Kurds, and other ethnic groups found in Chicago.
The Atlanta race riot of 1906 was a key part of the history of Atlanta. It happened from September 22-24, 1906. First, it is time to show the causes of the riot. Atlanta during the 1880’s has grown massively. Race relations in Atlanta back then (before the riot started) were better as compared to other Southern cities. It had become a regional economic power of the South. The city grew from 89,000 people to 150,000 in 1910. The black population grew from 9,000 people in 1880 to 35,000. Black men in Atlanta could vote. This political power caused more black people to be involved in the political realm. Black people in Atlanta during Reconstruction and beyond created businesses, more social networks, and built communities. There was a black elite who acquired more wealth, education, and prestige. Some of them distanced themselves from the black working class and especially the unemployed black people who were in the saloons on Atlanta’s Decatur Street. African-American women were also quite active in Atlanta. Many joined African American women joined women’s clubs. Most of these clubs were related or affiliated with the National Association of Colored Women. This organization was the dominant black women's organization in America. Women took it upon themselves to provide community services to poor black human beings. The men's organizations invested their energy into building social and fraternal organizations that worked for community betterment. Many whites were jealous of the advances of the black elite. They opposed the saloons as a pretext to try to harm the rights of black people. The political elites exploited the job completion among black and white workers. There were class distinctions between the rich, middle class, and poor residents of Atlanta. The city’s white political leaders wanted to promote more restrictions of the growing working class. This white political leaders exploited racial issues as a way to scapegoat black people for every problem in Atlanta back then. These racists feared the social intermingling of the ethnic groups. So, Jim Crow expanded to separate white and black neighborhoods and separate seating areas for public transportation.
The governor’s race in 1906 had 2 white supremacist candidates running. Their names were Hoke Smith (or the former publisher of the Atlanta Journal) and Clark Howell (the editor of the Atlanta Constitution). They used the newspapers to sway public opinion. Smith inflamed racism by wanting black people to be docile. Smith opposed the economic and social equality of black people. Howell said that he wanted a poll tax to limited black voting. Howell said that Smith was not a bigger racist than he was. Both were racists. The Atlanta Georgia and the Atlanta News newspapers made the slander that massive amounts of black men were raping white women. This angered many white readers. These newspapers also scapegoated black people with stories, editorials, and cartoon portraying black people as rapists, murders, and other evil stereotypes. This provocation influenced whites to use mob to use violence against innocent black people. On the afternoon of Saturday, September 22, Atlanta newspaper falsely reported four alleged assaults on local white women. City leaders, including Mayor James G. Woodward, sought to calm the increasingly indignant crowds but failed to do so. By early evening, the crowd had become a mob; from then until after midnight, they surged down Decatur Street, Pryor Street, Central Avenue, and throughout the central business district. On Saturday, September 22, white crowds along Decatur Street, many of them drunk and inflamed by the headlines, began to gather. Someone shouted, "Kill the n____s," and soon the cry was running along the crowded streets. Some 10,000 men and boys in the mob began to search for African Americans. This white racist mob attacked black owned businesses, smashed windows of the black leader Alonzo Herndon’s barbershop. Many barbers were killed. The racists attacked streetcars. They entered trolley cars and beat black men and black women. At least 3 men were beaten to death. A heavy rain came in 2 am. Later, the state militia came in to control Atlanta. On Sunday, September 23, the state militia continued to stay in Atlanta. The militia patrolled the streets and key landmarks. They guarded white owned property. White vigilante groups still invaded some black neighborhoods. Black people obtained weapons to defend themselves. Many African Americans defended their homes from white racists. Ironically, a white man saw the riots as a boy. His name was Walter White and he became a secretary of the NAACP. On Monday, September 24, a group of African Americans held a meeting in Brownsville, a community located about two miles south of downtown Atlanta and home to the historically black Clark College (later Clark Atlanta University) and Gammon Theological Seminary. The blacks were heavily armed. The black people have every right to have a meeting when their homes were being destroyed and their people were being killed. When Fulton County police learned of the gathering, they feared a counterattack and launched a raid on Brownsville. A shootout ensued and an officer was killed. In response, three companies of heavily armed militia were sent to Brownsville, where they seized weapons and arrested more than 250 African American men. Meanwhile, sporadic fighting continued throughout the day.
On Monday and Tuesday, businessmen, clergy, and the press called for an end to the violence. They didn’t do this for morality sake or the sake of causing revolutionary change. They did for the sake of maintaining Atlanta’s image as a thriving New South city. The riot exposed the truth that a massive amount of racism and classism still existed in Atlanta. The riot has been covered nationwide and internationally. Le Petit Journal reported on the riots. White civic leaders wanted a dialogue with black elites. This was rare since such a dialogue would rarely happen, especially during this time period. So, they had a dialogue. One group promoting racial reconciliation and understanding was called the Commission on Interracial Cooperation from 1918. It later was named the Southern Regional Council. The issue was that this interracial cooperation didn’t address the black social divisions based on class. Many black elites back then wanted to distance from its lower class Brothers and Sisters. Also, black people (regardless of class) are the victims of racism/white supremacy. So, I want to make that perfectly clear. No one of any class should suffer racism or oppression. Atlanta continued to be segregated and socially stratified based on class. The events caused the black community in Atlanta to be retrenched. African Americans were more likely to live in settled black communities. These communities were mostly found in the west of the city near Atlanta University or in eastern downtown. Black businesses were dispersed to the east where a thriving black business district soon developed. Its businesses and residences to grow, but there were statewide prohibition and black suffrage restriction in 1908, which was caused by white racists. This event refuted the accomodationist strategy of Booker T. Washington (who was right on many issues to his credit like promoting education for black people, but you know I disagree with his advocacy of capitalism. I disagree with his Atlanta Compromise speech). Militant activism is needed for black people to be free. W.E.B. DuBois lived in Atlanta during that time and he had a shotgun to defend his home during the riot. He wrote a powerful poem called, "The Litany of Atlanta." The riot at least killed 10 black people (some say that as high as over 20 black people were killed) and 2 whites. Still, black people continued to fight for justice then and now.
By Timothy
Irish Americans came into Chicago during the early years of the city’s existence. The fourth largest Irish population by 1860 would be found in Chicago. Many of them worked in labor from lumber wharves, railroads, stockyards, and steel mills. As time went on, the Irish people had a great influence in Chicago’s city government, the police force, the fire department, and the public school system. Since Chicago has a very large Catholic population, many Irish were leaders of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese. Chicago has great ethnic diversity and tensions arose among many ethnic groups, especially during back in the day. Yet, as time came on, many people have learned to live together as people. Every year, there is the South Side Irish parade on Western Avenue. It has rivaled the traditional downtown parade in size and influence. To this day, Irish citizenry in Chicago has done scholarly preservation, social activism, and other contributions in society. There are many other diverse ethnic groups in Chicago. Germans came into Chicago by the 1830’s. By 1845, there were 1,000 Germans in Chicago. People know about the Lager Beer Conflict that came about when Mayor Levi Boone of Chicago declared that on Sundays, all beer gardens and saloons will be closed. Many Germans were involved in antislavery abolition movements and in anarchist politics. Many were leaders of the labor movement. The peak of German immigration would be in 1890. Those of German descent were the largest ethnic group of Chicago from 1850 to the turn of the century. Polish people have a long history too. Polish Chicago is sometimes called Polona. People came from Poland to Chicago for economic reasons from the 1850’s to the early 1920’s. By 1930, Polish immigrants replaced the Germans as the largest European ethnic group in Chicago. During World War II and after the Communist takeover of Poland, more Polish people came into Chicago. Many of them set up institutions and neighborhoods. During the Solidarity movement, more Polish immigrants came into Chicago during the 1980’s. They are known for forming a community in the Northwest Side. Anthony Smarzeski-Schermann was a man who worked with the youth too. Polish newspapers opened offices throughout Chicago like the Gazeta Polska or the Polish Gazette in 1872. Polish Chicagoans of course worked in the labor movement. The Copernicus Center was created in the early 1980’s as a Polish cultural center. The Polish National Alliance has moved its headquarters to the far North Side of Chicago. There are Bosnians, Lithuanians, Welsh, Italians, Assyrians, Arabic people, Armenians, Iranians, Kurds, and other ethnic groups found in Chicago.
The Atlanta race riot of 1906 was a key part of the history of Atlanta. It happened from September 22-24, 1906. First, it is time to show the causes of the riot. Atlanta during the 1880’s has grown massively. Race relations in Atlanta back then (before the riot started) were better as compared to other Southern cities. It had become a regional economic power of the South. The city grew from 89,000 people to 150,000 in 1910. The black population grew from 9,000 people in 1880 to 35,000. Black men in Atlanta could vote. This political power caused more black people to be involved in the political realm. Black people in Atlanta during Reconstruction and beyond created businesses, more social networks, and built communities. There was a black elite who acquired more wealth, education, and prestige. Some of them distanced themselves from the black working class and especially the unemployed black people who were in the saloons on Atlanta’s Decatur Street. African-American women were also quite active in Atlanta. Many joined African American women joined women’s clubs. Most of these clubs were related or affiliated with the National Association of Colored Women. This organization was the dominant black women's organization in America. Women took it upon themselves to provide community services to poor black human beings. The men's organizations invested their energy into building social and fraternal organizations that worked for community betterment. Many whites were jealous of the advances of the black elite. They opposed the saloons as a pretext to try to harm the rights of black people. The political elites exploited the job completion among black and white workers. There were class distinctions between the rich, middle class, and poor residents of Atlanta. The city’s white political leaders wanted to promote more restrictions of the growing working class. This white political leaders exploited racial issues as a way to scapegoat black people for every problem in Atlanta back then. These racists feared the social intermingling of the ethnic groups. So, Jim Crow expanded to separate white and black neighborhoods and separate seating areas for public transportation.
The governor’s race in 1906 had 2 white supremacist candidates running. Their names were Hoke Smith (or the former publisher of the Atlanta Journal) and Clark Howell (the editor of the Atlanta Constitution). They used the newspapers to sway public opinion. Smith inflamed racism by wanting black people to be docile. Smith opposed the economic and social equality of black people. Howell said that he wanted a poll tax to limited black voting. Howell said that Smith was not a bigger racist than he was. Both were racists. The Atlanta Georgia and the Atlanta News newspapers made the slander that massive amounts of black men were raping white women. This angered many white readers. These newspapers also scapegoated black people with stories, editorials, and cartoon portraying black people as rapists, murders, and other evil stereotypes. This provocation influenced whites to use mob to use violence against innocent black people. On the afternoon of Saturday, September 22, Atlanta newspaper falsely reported four alleged assaults on local white women. City leaders, including Mayor James G. Woodward, sought to calm the increasingly indignant crowds but failed to do so. By early evening, the crowd had become a mob; from then until after midnight, they surged down Decatur Street, Pryor Street, Central Avenue, and throughout the central business district. On Saturday, September 22, white crowds along Decatur Street, many of them drunk and inflamed by the headlines, began to gather. Someone shouted, "Kill the n____s," and soon the cry was running along the crowded streets. Some 10,000 men and boys in the mob began to search for African Americans. This white racist mob attacked black owned businesses, smashed windows of the black leader Alonzo Herndon’s barbershop. Many barbers were killed. The racists attacked streetcars. They entered trolley cars and beat black men and black women. At least 3 men were beaten to death. A heavy rain came in 2 am. Later, the state militia came in to control Atlanta. On Sunday, September 23, the state militia continued to stay in Atlanta. The militia patrolled the streets and key landmarks. They guarded white owned property. White vigilante groups still invaded some black neighborhoods. Black people obtained weapons to defend themselves. Many African Americans defended their homes from white racists. Ironically, a white man saw the riots as a boy. His name was Walter White and he became a secretary of the NAACP. On Monday, September 24, a group of African Americans held a meeting in Brownsville, a community located about two miles south of downtown Atlanta and home to the historically black Clark College (later Clark Atlanta University) and Gammon Theological Seminary. The blacks were heavily armed. The black people have every right to have a meeting when their homes were being destroyed and their people were being killed. When Fulton County police learned of the gathering, they feared a counterattack and launched a raid on Brownsville. A shootout ensued and an officer was killed. In response, three companies of heavily armed militia were sent to Brownsville, where they seized weapons and arrested more than 250 African American men. Meanwhile, sporadic fighting continued throughout the day.
On Monday and Tuesday, businessmen, clergy, and the press called for an end to the violence. They didn’t do this for morality sake or the sake of causing revolutionary change. They did for the sake of maintaining Atlanta’s image as a thriving New South city. The riot exposed the truth that a massive amount of racism and classism still existed in Atlanta. The riot has been covered nationwide and internationally. Le Petit Journal reported on the riots. White civic leaders wanted a dialogue with black elites. This was rare since such a dialogue would rarely happen, especially during this time period. So, they had a dialogue. One group promoting racial reconciliation and understanding was called the Commission on Interracial Cooperation from 1918. It later was named the Southern Regional Council. The issue was that this interracial cooperation didn’t address the black social divisions based on class. Many black elites back then wanted to distance from its lower class Brothers and Sisters. Also, black people (regardless of class) are the victims of racism/white supremacy. So, I want to make that perfectly clear. No one of any class should suffer racism or oppression. Atlanta continued to be segregated and socially stratified based on class. The events caused the black community in Atlanta to be retrenched. African Americans were more likely to live in settled black communities. These communities were mostly found in the west of the city near Atlanta University or in eastern downtown. Black businesses were dispersed to the east where a thriving black business district soon developed. Its businesses and residences to grow, but there were statewide prohibition and black suffrage restriction in 1908, which was caused by white racists. This event refuted the accomodationist strategy of Booker T. Washington (who was right on many issues to his credit like promoting education for black people, but you know I disagree with his advocacy of capitalism. I disagree with his Atlanta Compromise speech). Militant activism is needed for black people to be free. W.E.B. DuBois lived in Atlanta during that time and he had a shotgun to defend his home during the riot. He wrote a powerful poem called, "The Litany of Atlanta." The riot at least killed 10 black people (some say that as high as over 20 black people were killed) and 2 whites. Still, black people continued to fight for justice then and now.
By Timothy
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