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Volume 10 Issue 15…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…April
13, 2007
Intuit's Vibe
For the Confederate Dead
By Kevin Young
I go with the team also. --Whitman
These are the last days my television says.
Tornadoes, more rain, overcast,
a chance of sun but I do not
trust weathermen,
never have.
In my fridge
only the milk makes sense-- expires.
No one, much less my parents, can tell me why
my middle name is Lowell,
and from my table
across from the Confederate
Monument to the dead (that pale
finger bone) a plaque declares war--
not Civil, or Between the States,
but for Southern
Independence.
In this café,
below sea-and eye-level
a mural runs the wall, flaking,
a plantation scene most do not see--
it's too much around the knees,
height of a child.
In its fields Negroes bend to pick the endless white.
In livery a few drive carriages like slaves,
whipping the horses, faces blank and peeling.
The old hotel lobby this once was no longer
welcomes guest--maroon ledger,
bellboys gone but for this.
Like an inheritance the owner found it
stripping hundred years (at least) of paint and plaster.
More leaves each day.
In my movie there are no horses, no heroes,
only draftees fleeing into the pines,
some few who survive, gravely wounded,
lying burrowed beneath the dead--
silent until the enemy bayonets what is believed
to be the last of the breathing.
It is getting later.
We prepare for wars no longer there.
The weather inevitable, unusual--
more this time of year than anyone ever seed.
The earth shudders, the air--if I did not know better,
I would think we were living all along a fault.
How late it has gotten . . .
Forget the weatherman
whose maps move, blink, but stay crossed
with lines none has
seen.
Race instead against the almost rain,
digging beside the monument (that giant anchor)
till we strike water, sweat
fighting the
sleepwalking air.
Risk of Rising Seas
The April 2007 issue of Environment and Urbanization on "Reducing Risks to
Cities from Disasters and Climate Change" claims that more than two-thirds
of the world's large cities, including New York and Los Angeles, are vulnerable
to global warming and rising sea levels. More than 600 million people that live
in low-elevation areas are at risk of flooding and intense storms.
The peer-reviewed study provides no time frame for rising sea levels or
potential flooding in the more than 180 countries identified with substantial
populations living in low-elevation coastal areas. However, it warned the
solution to the problem will not be cheap and may involve relocation, building
protective structures and halting or reducing population growth in coastal
areas. For more, see http://eau.sagepub.com/
and www.iied.org.
By John Burl Smith
The coming of the "iron horse" signified, particularly in North
America, the end of an epoch for Native People. During its reign, the train was
both savior and bane for things lying in it path or people and creatures living
alongside its tracks. The symbol of progress for more than two centuries, its
dominance over socioeconomic developments ended with the coming of the car and
airplane. Kicked to the side like an empty car, the train was treated like an
old mule that cannot be put out to pasture.
Personal transportation, cars, allowed the nation to squander the resource the
train became. Today, the Atlanta metropolitan area is a prime example of the
train's importance to the future growth and development of an entire region
that has prompted citizens to demand it be returned to prominence. The
Metropolitan Area Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), a product of the so-called
"New South,” was seen by segregationists as the spearhead of
integration. Funded predominately by blacks who bought into the promise of
increased mobility and access, MARTA became the only rapid transit system in
the South (1971).
Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. believed in the possibility of a "New South."
He helped drag "redneck" Georgia out of the throes of Ku Klux Klan
domination. This was a question of white supremacy, the use of race to maintain
an unfair and unjust advantage, verses moving toward fairness and justice for
blacks. A guiding principle of what seemed a new breed was, "the South
could not continue to practice blatant racial discrimination." This new
breed ceased pretending that unjust racial situations were not being imposed
upon blacks by whites.
Hoping it would transport the "New Southerner" beyond racism, MARTA
was seen as a first step in building a regional system that would put Georgia
at the forefront of regional transportation in the southeast. When first
proposed that was what the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority was to do.
But, racism and white supremacy drove this kind of thinking out of Georgia
politics, and the "Old South" rose again. The cost of paying for
regional transportation in Georgia is a prime example.
The total cost of a dedicated source of funding for transportation has been
placed solely on the backs of citizens in Atlanta, DeKalb and Fulton Counties
which are majority black. Georgia's US, Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss,
while in the state legislature, were stalwarts of fighting integration by
preventing the state from supporting MARTA with state transportation funds.
They supported the notion that extending MARTA into counties surrounding
Atlanta would help integration by making it easier for blacks to live and work
outside Atlanta. They refused to allow the state of Georgia to give MARTA
financial support. Now, they support MARTA's funds being taken by GRTA to pay
for state transportation needs.
Presently, MARTA is considering cuts or changes in service to meet budgetary
shortfalls. Citizens who pay the one-cent sales tax have faced continual
reductions in service in order to provide GRTA with funds. This unfair and
unjust taxation without representation dilemma in DeKalb may be addressed when
its Commission brings up a MARTA extension in the one cent sales tax until 2047
this week.
DeKalb CEO, Vernon Jones has expressed concerns about DeKalb's inability to get
rapid rail along I-20 to Stonecrest Mall and Arabia Mountain, but he has not
made a policy statement in recent days to make his position clear. Rumored to
be mulling the prospect of challenging Chambliss for the US Senate in 2008,
Jones could find support among very active public transportation and an equally
involved environmental movement in Georgia. This coalition sees rapid rail,
traffic congestion, and environmental pollution as issues that are going to
have a greater and greater impact on the quality of life in the future.
Future rapid rail transportation is a national problem that clouds the future
economic growth and development of the US. For Americans, this approaching
nightmare is a harbinger like the "iron horse's" arrival for Native
Americans. If the unfair and unjust system of funding is not addressed, our
children will face similar dire consequences as Native Americans in lifestyle
changes in the future.
Politicians should see a nightmare of ghostly visions involving environmental
degradation, LA-style traffic congestion and the rapid rail system everyone
relied upon falling apart because MARTA's one-cent sales tax could not pay the
total cost of transportation for the entire state of Georgia. If CEO Jones and
DeKalb County should recognize this and show some real leadership, representing
this view will at least make it possible for citizens to publicly debate the
unfair and unjust situation of taxation without representation. This change may
begin proposals that bring equity to transportation funding in Georgia.
On Imus!
By Dot
On Tuesday, I watched with pride as the coach and young ladies of Rutgers'
Basketball Team responded to the media and controversy created by Don Imus and
Bernard McGuirk's offensive, misogynistic and racist comments. Since calling
this talented group of athletes "hard core" "nappy-headed
'ho's," Imus has gone on the 'apology tour;' but Imus' apology is weak as
rainwater. Moreover, the two-week suspension by the networks that air his
program is a slap on the wrist, adding insult to injury.
As a black woman, I have no problem being called nappy-headed, since I wear my
hair naturally-- it can get nappy or kinky; I neither care nor am I ashamed of
my locks. What I object to is Imus calling these young women 'ho's. Where does
he get off using such a derogatory term on air in referring to college students
he does not know?
Imagine him calling a team of white college athletes
"straight-haired" 'ho's and getting away with a two-week suspension.
White America would be up in arms and Imus would be gone; no questions asked no
explanations required, because he overstepped all bounds of decency in
offending white women. But, since the derogatory comments were directed at
black women, the media will provide a little coverage. The incident will be
swept under the rug to be forgotten, until overt racism rears its ugly head
again.
Like many women, black and white, all across the USA, I plan to boycott Imus'
CBS radio and MSNBC television sponsors. For those who dismiss boycotts and do
not believe they work, let me refer you to Winn Dixie in Georgia! Thousands of
black individuals decided never to step inside the grocery store chain again.
It took years, but Winn Dixie went out of business! A repeat offender, Imus'
days are on the airways are numbered!
Disgruntled
wants to know: According to media reports, US Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales, the nation's chief law enforcement official, is in seclusion,
busy practicing telling the truth to Congress. Unlike his aide and White House
liaison Monica Goodling, Gonzales cannot plead the Fifth Amendment, rather than
testify before Congress. On Good Friday, Goodling tendered her resignation. The
33-year-old graduate of Rev. Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School is
the third Justice Department official to resign over the federal prosecutors'
dismissals. A loyal Bushie, Goodling, who graduated from law school in 1999,
enjoyed a meteoric rise in government. As the Justice Department's White House
liaison, her refusal to testify has raised serious questions about what she did
and the White House' role in the US prosecutors' dismissals. A Christian
soldier, why would Goodling be so reluctant to simply tell the truth?
Disgruntled feels: Disgusted! As Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and others so cogently noted, there will always be
blacks willing to ride in the back of the bus and speak out against those
blacks unwilling to be treated as second class citizens. This is the 21st
century, more than three decades after the civil rights movement, and they are
still there, making themselves look stupid employing all manner of excuses to
justify their self-hating behavior. These black buffoons show up on television
when whites need a black willing to do the unthinkable, like black rap artists
that spew the "b" word and call women 'ho's for a living. That said,
blacks do not control what gets on the airwaves. Whites do. Even though the
faces and voices spewing self-hate and denigrating black women in music and
videos are black, they do not determine the songs that make US radio stations'
rotations. Blacks are not even the major consumers of the music produced by
these self-haters; that would be young whites that live in suburbia. Many
blacks have long been disgusted by the content of this music, but our disgust
and outrage rarely get coverage by white-controlled media.
Disgruntled says: There seems to be
consensus within the Arab League - the US occupation of Iraq is illegal. This
consensus was eloquently expressed by Saudi King Abdullah, a longtime US ally,
at a recent Arab League meeting. On Easter Sunday, thousands of Iraqi citizens
peacefully demonstrated against the US occupation. According to most polls, a
majority of Iraqis want the US to leave their country. Moreover, they believe
their lives have deteriorated under this illegal occupation. Based on its troop
escalation and George W. Bush's demand for more unfettered funding for this
unpopular war, one would think the US is justified in being in this country. No
more US troops or Iraqis should die or suffer horrible wounds for the lies told
to start this inane, unjust and illegal tragedy.
Franken Food
When the agri-business fed cows cow, the end result was mad cow. Now,
California-based Ventria Bioscience has created several varieties of the rice
with different human genes to make the plants produce lactoferrin and lysozyme,
which are bacteria-fighting compounds found in breast milk and saliva. It
claims the proteins could be used to treat children with diarrhea, a major
killer in the Third World, and settle the stomachs of children in the West.
Ventria plans to harvest the proteins and use them in drinks, desserts, yogurt
and muesli bars.
Claiming the genetically-modified rice poses "virtually no risk," the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has given Ventria preliminary approval to
commercially cultivate its rice on more than 3,000 acres in Kansas. Originally,
Ventria planned to grow the rice in Missouri. However, when the brewer
Anheuser-Busch, a huge buyer of rice, threatened to boycott the state, those
plans were scrapped.
A number of advocacy groups in the US and EU, including the Union of Concerned
Scientists, American Consumers Union and Friends of the Earth, has expressed
opposition. Their concerns include contamination, lack of control over dosage,
allergic reactions to the new proteins and the ethics of interfering with the
building blocks of life.
The development is what many feared when food scientists showed what was
possible by inserting fish genes from flounder into tomatoes to help them
withstand frost. If allowed to proceed, Ventria's GM rice will be the first
commercially cultivated human-origin gene crop. And, within a few short months,
people will be eating people.
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and
Phone Calls
Email lhouse@yahoo.com The Case Against
George W. Bush - Must include Cheney...By Elizabeth Holtzman...With prominent
Republican Senators speaking out against a scandal-plagued White House, talk of
impeachment has moved from the margins to the mainstream. That may seem
politically far-fetched, but in fact, there is a strong case to be made. The
latest Bush administration scandal--the firing of eight U.S. attorneys under
highly questionable circumstances--has Washington abuzz with talk of a new
Watergate. The question on everyone's mind is: Could this be the president's
Saturday night massacre--the obstruction of justice that triggers impeachment?
Email impeachgbushNOW@yahoogroups.com
McCain Strolls Through Baghdad Market...Sen. John McCain strolled briefly
through an open-air market in Baghdad today in an effort to prove that
Americans are "not getting the full picture" of what's going on in
Iraq. NBC's Nightly News provided further details about McCain's one-hour
guided tour. He was accompanied by "100 American soldiers, with three
Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead." Still
photographs provided by the military to NBC News seemed to show McCain wearing
a bulletproof vest during his visit. McCain recently claimed that there
"are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those
neighborhoods, today." In a press conference after his Baghdad tour,
McCain told a reporter that his visit to the market today was proof that you
could indeed "walk freely" in some areas of Baghdad.
Email www.nytimes.com Judge Allows Private
Testing for Mad Cow...WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government must allow
meatpackers to test their animals for mad cow disease, a federal judge has
ruled. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a meatpacker based in Arkansas City,
Kansas, wants to test all of its cows for the disease, which can be fatal to
humans who eat tainted beef. Larger meat companies feared that move because if
Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they could be forced to
do the expensive test, too. The Agriculture Department currently regulates the
test and administers it to less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows. The
department threatened Creekstone with prosecution if it tested all its animals.
Email www.consumeraffairs.com Monsanto
Wants Feds to Silence Dairies...Monsanto, the giant chemical company, wants Big
Brother to protect it from those bullies that hang around the dairy barns. The
problem, to hear Monsanto tell it, is that dairies such as New England's Hood
and California's Alta Dena are making a big deal about how their milk comes
from cows that haven't been treated with an artificial growth hormone made by
Monsanto. The hormone -- recombinant bovine somatotropin -- or rBST -- was
approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993. But many parents
fear the substance can cause cancer, premature development or other conditions
in children. Some European countries prohibit using the chemical. Monsanto has
complained to the FDA and also to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
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