Thanksgiving 2021: Part 4

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

During this Fall 2021 season, we are not naïve. We have many challenges in the world from racial injustice, economic injustice, and the harm done by the coronavirus. The coronavirus caused 19,630 children in America to lose a primary caregiver, another 22,007 children lost a secondary caregiver like a grandparent who was living in the home. This is about over 150,000 children being left behind because of a dangerous virus. Recently, the FDA and CDC support giving children under 12 vaccinations, and over 1 million children under 12 have been given vaccinations in combating the COVID-19 virus. Also, Los Angeles has required proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter indoor restaurants, shopping centers, movie theaters, hair and nail salons, and other indoor venues. There has been a huge debate on vaccine mandates. There should be a balance. We want our civil liberties maintained without authoritarianism. Yet, we have a medical emergency still going on in America. So, I believe that it is reasonable to have safety measures that are meant to save human lives, especially where tons of people congregate. In that sense, you can help people move on with their own lives, as we don't want to witness the chaos found in 2020. No one wants massive closures of buildings, and the best way to stop that from happening is to have various mandates to defeat the coronavirus once and for all. You have extremists now who are threatening (with violence) parents, school teachers, and business owners who are masked or promote mandates. That is wrong. 

Many of the same ones who call medical mandates tyrannical are the same ones silent on police brutality (as one sheriff of California's Riverside County defended his brief membership in the extremist, terrorist group of the Oath Keepers militia in 2014), silent on environmental issues, silent on imperialistic wars of aggression, silent on racism, silent on economic oppression, and silent on gender oppression or any other form of oppression too. Therefore, I believe in civil liberties and freedom, but I don't believe in a virus harming human lives either. Also, we have to address the pernicious housing crisis in America too. Many people are homeless, can't pay rent, or struggle to find housing. That is why new investments in developing housing via infrastructure legislation is very important to advocate. More than 300 black pastors and leaders have shown solidarity to the family of Ahmaud Arbery, who was unjustly murdered by evil people. When the defense attorney said that he didn't want any black pastors, that proves that racism is a serious problem in America. The truth is that black pastors have every right to stand up and speak up for justice in opposition to vigilante terrorism against black people. 

 

   

 "...My family and I are really, really thankful for the verdict we got yesterday."  

-Wanda Cooper-Jones, who is the mother of Ahmaud Arbery

Certainly, we should continue on this journey of the black freedom movement. The breaking news is that all 3 defendants have been convicted of felony murder of Ahmaud Arbery. There is no excuse for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Vigilantes have no right to harass a black person walking around without just cause. The defense team did all that they could to dehumanize Arbery and lie about his life. Yet, the jury convicted all 3 criminals. The prosecution did a great job in gathering and showing the evidence in the courtroom. Ahmaud Arbery's mother has been a real hero in standing up for justice. She made a promise that justice will be served. I knew by intuition that the outcome of this case would be the opposite of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. Arbery's father also celebrated in great jubliation too. Travis McMichael was found guilty on all counts. The other 2 men were convicted on some counts and not on others. This trial took place in Brunswick, Georgia. At the end of the day, black human lives always matter. The defense lawyers use race-baiting nonsense about toenails and slandering black pastors, but the prosecution won. The long battle for black freedom continues, but I'm glad that Ahmaud Arbery's family and friends saw this verdict. 

 

This is a picture of the late civil rights activist Louise Patterson.

 

October 2021 was the first time that I heard of Louise Patterson. She lived to be 97 as she passed way in 1999. For decades, she has been one of the most unsung black revolutionaries in history. She worked side by side with Paul Robeson, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, her husband William L. Patterson, and other great leaders of our time. She lived her life to fight for equality and justice. She passed away in New York City on August 27, 1999. At a gala birthday party for her in New York in 1980, Frank Chapman, then the Executive Director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said, "She has seen the trials and tribulations of our century not as an observer but as a participant." Louise Patterson was born in 1902 in Chicago, and she was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. University of California is the location where she graduated from at Berkeley in 1923 with a degree in economics. She was one of the first African American women to have graduated there. Her husband, William L. Patterson, was the person who wrote his autobiography called "The Man Who Cried Genocide." He said that they first met Louise at an NAACP meeting in the Oakland Auditorium in 1919. They were students back then. She taught school in Arkansas and taught at the Hampton Institute in the 757 area at Virginia. She was a delegate to the World Conference Against Racism and Anti-Semitism in Paris in 1930, as was her husband.

  

 

 

On the left showed Langston Hughes and his close best friend writer Dorothy West. The image on the right is another picture of Dorothy West. 

 

She moved to NYC to join the Harlem Renaissance movement. She discussed politics in a group called "The Vanguard." They talked about Marxism and theater plus dance concerts. Many participants included the progressive Langston Hughes and the libertarian Zora Neale Hurston. She was a literary secretary for both legendary writers. Louise knew the legendary black author Dorothy West, and West was part of the Harlem Renaissance too. She was a friend to Congressional leader Adam Clayton Powell and Benjamin Davis. Louise Patterson was a great organizer and orator. She fought to save the Scottsboro Nine (who were black youth who were false accused of rape in Alabama). Louise married William L. Patterson, and Paul Robeson was a guest at the wedding. She was part of defending workers' rights as the Illinois State President of the International Workers Order (IWO). She spoke out against Hitler's fascism in NYC and Chicago along with leading large street rallies. She visited the Soviet Union and Spain to defend the Spanish Republic (against the fascism of Franco). She was a leader of the Council of African Affairs with Robeson and Du Bois. Louise worked with Lena Horne too to fund-raise money for the Abraham Lincoln School (that helped black workers). Louise and her husband signed the We Charge Genocide document accusing the U.S. government of crimes against genocide against African American human beings.  Robeson delivered the petition to the United Nations in New York, and William L. Patterson delivered it to the U.N. then meeting in Paris in 1951. He helped organize the 1949 Peekskill concerts for Paul Robeson attacked by fascist-like goons. She also organized Robeson's nationwide concert tour of Black communities after he was blacklisted.

In 1970, she served as chair of the New York Committee to Free Angela Davis. After Angela Davis was freed from prison, Louise continued to work with the National Alliance until her retirement. She had a daughter named Dr. Mary Louise Patterson, 2 grandchildren, and a great grandson. Louise Patterson was ahead of her time in helping human beings to stand up for liberation. Her legacy is still strong and will continue forever. 

 

Rest in Power Sister Louise Patterson. 

 

 

By Timothy