The DISH

Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use

Vol. 12 Issue 14…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…April 5, 2009

Intuit's Vibe

Patriot Act (Good Morning America)

By Yohannes Sharriff

Good morning America!

Between AIG, Octo-mom,

Bernie Madoff and what Iraq cost

I know we lost contact

Wrapping up bailouts and stimulus package

Dakota damaged by floodwaters

While stock markets drown

Brokers fall from the horrors of a drought

But the ghetto is bound to find the balls to bounce

The call of a devout hustler announces a poverty boycott

Though slavery's a hard lock to pick like a coarse knot

But of course not for naught despite how hard the knock

A roll of the dice and a good job just might

Squeeze lemonade out of sour lives.

Corporate welfare approved but my grant gets denied

Contradictions aside find my application with resume attached

I'm right around the corner

From where the sheriff met his untimely demise

Forget what you heard!

Dissent is an exercise required to mold a pious patriot

Listen, I know you're ripe with potential

United States initially spells us

But I'm feeling a divide

I call you home, but hard to say it with pride

I know you're on the wire

I know you lied

3/5 of my constitution already compromised

Relying on reality shows to justify

Tying wings to second hand to see time fly

Putting all mine behind bars like rhyme or nigga die

The American dream like standing in line

To get inside a building on fire

Money by the hour so we burn it down til 5

Working overtime inside privatized prisons

Designed for Blacks to fill 'em

Physicians prescribing pills to conceal symptoms

Invest (more) in a job than with your children!

Yo! We gotta problem

So pardon America but good morning

Over education you endorsing law enforcement

While my patience loitering on the verge of divorce

Man Georgia on my mind

Lke the way Ray made his organ cry

Like what kind of heroine bands the hero for life

Like so many black men before me

I'm treated better overseas

Than by police in my own streets

The definition of Black star pondering Marcus Garvey

Good morning America

It seems our swagger's world renowned

But where we are going when we walk it out

Lady Liberty does the stanky leg with a smile

All about arms and avarice

Unemployment up like Lazarus

But optimist say struggle just a catalyst

For the proactive, so glad we could get together

Good morning America

My president is black what a change for the better

But elders say be careful

When there's rebel in the music

They'll deny your humanity

While cloning the influence

Who this remarkable fresh off the easel

Canary island to black Wall Street

My people will not be forgotten

Though history tries not to acknowledge the obvious

There would be no District of Columbia

Without us sharecropping cotton to college to Congress

Something like the punch of Jack Johnson

Or the inauguration of Barack Obama

Astonishingly, we give so much to this country

Yet the sons of liberty hung us from trees

Good morning America

Character's the problem

Loaded revolvers can't solve it

Whether falling in the trap or postal at the office

We holding cause they lawless and wanting more (dollars)

Can get it popping like a stripper named Hope (dropping)

For d-boys making it rain

Making what scholarship wishes intended to pay

(Hope say) too young to die and death don't wait.

And everyday pay on the bill

So do what you will to make us work

Cause the reality is Good morning America.

News You Use

Dying While Black

Organized by Dr. Vernellia Randall, professor of law at the University of Dayton School of Law, the Webinar Dying While Black: Colorblind Policies and Eliminating the Slave Health Deficit will be held April 25, 2009 from 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM Eastern Standard Time.

At almost every income level, indigenous black Americans are sicker than whites and dying at a significantly higher rate. This seminar will trace current indigenous black American health status to slavery. It will explain why a color-blind policy approach will be ineffective for eliminating the health deficit. Finally, the seminar will provide a comprehensive approach focused on improving social determinants of health.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/243926080. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. To participate in the Webinar, the system requirements for PC-based attendees are Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server or Vista. For Macintosh®-based attendees, the system required is Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer version.

Space is limited, so register today. For more information, contact Dr. Randall at randall@udayton.edu.

The Sky Fell on Chicken Little and Change is Dead!

By John Burl Smith

The nation's fast-darkening circumstances define the essential dilemma of Barack Obama's presidency. His instinct is to govern by consensus, in the moderate middle ground of politics. Yet dire events are pushing the new president toward solutions more fundamental than those he had intended. The longer he resists taking more forceful action, the more likely it is that he will be overwhelmed by the gathering adversities..... William Greider

During its first sixty days, the Obama Administration recited an unending litany of doom and gloom to prepare the nation for the drastic changes needed. Though well-founded, these prognostications of change terrified Wall Street bulls and free market spendthrifts. Alarmed, they demanded rosier forecasts to persuade consumers to spend again. Accused of fear mongering for jawboning about the impending economic catastrophe, the President was decried as "Chicken Little." Bowing to masters on Wall Street, his rhetoric changed and dark clouds became sunny skies. Rather than seeing brighter prospects, maybe what really happened was the sky fell on "Chicken Little" and change is dead. Consequently, the status quo is back in power and only the "ghost of change" resides in the White House.

With nationwide protest planned for April 11, 2009 by "A New Way Forward" which is demanding businesses like AIG, CitiGroup and others be allowed to fail, the foregoing scenario seems the consensus among progressives, like William Greider. Author and Correspondent for The Nation, Greider's well-aimed kernels of knowledge have missed President Obama's noggin.

Greider says, "Three obstacles block Obama's path. First: his nearly $800 billion recovery package is... too small to produce a turnaround. Second, the financial system, despite the bailouts, is still dysfunctional. The government must nationalize and supervise banks like Citigroup, and liquidate those spiraling toward insolvency. Third is the global crisis: the US economy cannot return to normalcy unless the unbalanced world trading system, fueled by globalization, which has undermined US productive strength with trade deficits, is reformed."

Supporters, including myself, are holding our breaths, hoping we are not witnessing the demise of change and the capitulation of the Obama White House to the status quo. Concerned that President Obama has become the face man for Wall Street bankers, protest seems the only option. Greider penned it this way, "Stimulus alone.. will not work, given the distorted economic system Obama inherited. Will he have the nerve to tackle these fundamentals and undertake deeper systemic reforms right away, rather than wait for recovery? Some orthodox assumptions about free trade and private finance he shares with his economic advisers will have to be abandoned."

Although candidate and now President Obama touts change, unlike Chicken Little and the falling sky, he is quieter than a graveyard on the subject. Greider framed the subject this way, "The most complex barrier to recovery is globalization and its negative impact on the economy. Unlike other advanced nations, US companies get a free ride for relocating production abroad. The US has absorbed huge trade deficits, $5 trillion in capital debt as the buyer of last resort. The US keeps globalization going by supporting this grossly unbalanced trading system, while its economy steadily loses jobs and production to other nations."

Congress should redefine the relationship and obligations of US multinationals to the US economy. A ceiling on US trade deficits is needed, also tax penalties and national economic policies that demand US multinationals keep production at home."

The falling acorn that struck Chicken Little was real, but his reaction to it was irrational. Similarly, President Obama has brought in a litter of foxes to guard the chicken coop. They will not produce change! The slow death of change in the Obama White House began with the selection of Wall Street insiders Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary and Larry Summers, economic advisor, neither have records as change agents.

According to Greider both, "ingratiated themselves with superiors on the way up and adjusted their economic thinking in ideological fashion like seasonal changes. They learned the bureaucratic skills needed for policy infighting--how to cut economists with opposing views out of the debate." For instance, the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, a Keynesian think tank, tried to drop their nut of knowledge on Obama economists. "It will be impossible for the US to apply a fiscal and monetary stimulus large enough to return output and unemployment to tolerable levels within the next two years, given the virtual collapse of bank lending, private spending, consumer incomes and demand without drastic changes in economic thinking."

So now, President Obama resides in an echo chamber, surrounded by arrogant brainy technocrats wearing hard hats. Prisoner of group-think, tone deaf to the demand for change and without empathy for the human needs of the people they have been chosen to serve, the sky has fallen on "Chicken Little" and change is dead!

Kudos! Kudos!

Congratulations "Mr. P"

In the November 16, 2008 issue of The DISH (Vol. 11 No 46) I wrote a Bit of History on Dr. William J. "Bill" Powell describing his courageous effort to fulfill his life's love to play golf and the dream of owning, designing, building and managing a golf course where anyone that wanted to learn and play the game could do so without restrictions. I also wrote an opinion piece, The Price of Fame that described the travails and racist conditions under which he accomplished his phenomenal feat. But more importantly in that piece, I sought to enlist the support of our loyal readers to help Renee Powell, Dr. Powell's daughter, in her effort to nominate Mr. "P" for the 2009 PGA Distinguished Service Award.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009, the PGA announced that Dr. William J. (Bill) Powell of East Canton, Ohio, who overcame racial barriers to become the only African-American to design, build, own and operate a golf course while pioneering diversity in the game, has been named the recipient of the 2009 PGA Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Powell, 92, and a PGA Life Member, will be honored in conjunction with the 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. The award presentation will be conducted August 12, 2009 in Minneapolis. The PGA Distinguished Service Award is the Association's highest annual honor. Kudos Mr. P!

The DISH would like to thank all of its wonderful readers for their emails, letters and telephone calls in support of Dr. Powell and his family. Those who would like to read the notification letter and enjoy the feeling of being a part of something successful click on www.thedish.org/Powell. If you would like to send congratulatory words to Dr. Powell and his family email cv46@aol.com or go to www.clearview-gc.com.

Politics Y2K9

Race and Waffles Warmed Over

By John Burl Smith

Last week, during the Presidential news conference, America was served a very generous helping of something few ever want to see on the menu. The entree was served by ABC News Correspondent Ann Compton. "Could I ask you about race?" she set the table. "Yours is a rather historic presidency, and I'm just wondering whether, in any of the policy debates that you've had within the White House, if the issue of race has come up?"

Obviously caught off guard by a question no one thought would be asked, the President forked a pat response, however the syrup dribbled down his chin. "I think that the last 64 days has [have] been dominated by me trying to figure how we're going to fix the economy. And that affects black, brown and white." The cold response chilled the syrup and butter waffling in his mouth. A tortured smile followed as he struggled to swallow the lump. Conversely, his effort was not palatable because I struggled to avoid throwing up also. A sickening sight, it reminded me of a scene from The Last Samurai, where the young Japanese Emperor Meiji struggled to justify rejecting Katsumoto's plea to halt his government's Westernization policies.

Directed by Edward Zwick, The Last Samurai is a 2003 war drama about a battle between new and old forces vying to control the Emperor in the late 1800s. Mr. Omura (Masato Harada), a rich railroad industrialist, represents the merchant class. His political clout and economic power enabled him to gain control of the youthful Emperor (Shichinosuke Nakamura). Omura attempted to eradicate the Samurai in order to usher in a Westernized trade-friendly government.

The protagonist, Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), a venerated Samurai and leader of this ancient cult of warriors, has dedicated his life to serving the emperor. Katsumoto views the so-called progress -- telegraphs and railroads-- pushed by Mr. Omura, as engulfing traditional Japan and a threat to the values and codes that Samurai live and die for. Katsumoto sees himself and the rebellion as serving the Emperor and a last ditch effort to free him from Omura's control.

Mr. Omura hires US Army Colonel Bagley (Tony Goldwyn), who enlists the aide of Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) to train the Emperor's new Western-style Imperial Army. However, unknown to Algren, the enemy is another soldier like himself, who sees his way of life disintegrating. Algren, a Civil War veteran and Indian fighter, whose career has ended in disillusionment and sorrow, is adrift, haunted by his past and drowning in alcohol. Algren signs on to help Ormua but becomes an ally of Katsumoto while his captive and plays a pivotal role in the final battle against Omura's forces in which Katsumoto dies.

After his death, Algren delivers Katsumoto's sword to the Emperor, just as he prepares to sign a treaty giving the US an exclusive firearms deal. The Emperor understands the message and realizes he does not need to fear Omura and calls off the deal. He declares, "It is not in the best interests of Japan." Through Katsumoto's sacrifice, the Emperor, his former student, matures beyond the incompetent youth he was at the film's opening.

Although, set in a different time and place, the youthful Emperor and President Barack Obama share a similar reality -- surrounded by advisors, whose greed and hunger for power drive their policy prescription. Their advice has served the President up like hot waffles dripping with syrup as Wall Streeters lick their chops. Like the youthful Emperor, he seems intimidated by the Wall Street economic power brokers that have blinded him with glaze and rosy scenarios about bailouts and stimulus packages for culprits. Inured of the status quo, President Obama seems to be abandoning the middle class. Consequently those of us that elected him must now become Katsumotos and fight to wrench control of the change he promised America from the Omura's of this nation. They have blocked change for blacks in America beginning with the 3/5 Compromise, which remains a part of the US Constitution.

Waffling on race is George Bush warmed over. Change seems only window dressing in a restaurant with black and white signs, so blacks must still enter via the backdoor. A community organizer turned politician, Barack Obama seems to have forgotten, in the case of black folks, things never get better on their own. Waffling on his answer to Ann Compton was the kind of racial dodge Bush gave.

Anyone, whether black or white, who has read history, knows black people have unique problems related to their slave history and racism in the US. While it is true that if you help blacks whites are automatically helped - i.e., affirmative action and white women -- however, history has shown helping whites - the Bush tax cuts -- does not change the status of blacks. This is why the gaps in income, employment, healthcare, education etc., continue to exist. Mr. Obama should at least address the obvious truth about race when talking to the world (2 Corinthians 13: 7-10). The campaign is over, as the President, he should speak his mind, and not feed us warmed over waffles and syrup, unless that is all he is willing to give black people.

Venue for an Artist

Obama's Failure on International Human Rights and Racism (Excerpts)

By Vernellia Randall

"Race is a factor in this society. The legacy of Jim Crow and slavery has not gone away. It is not an accident that the African Americans experience high crime rates, are poor, and have less wealth. It is a direct result of our racial history. We have never fully come to grips with that history." President Barack Obama

On 21 March 1960 at least 180 black Africans were injured (there are claims of as many as 300) and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on approximately 300 demonstrators, who were protesting against the pass laws, at the township of Sharpeville. The Sharpeville Massacre, as the event has become known, signaled the start of armed resistance in South Africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of South Africa's Apartheid policies. March 21 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Established by the United Nations in 1966, the day commemorates the anniversary of the Sharpville massacre.

On this day, we must remind ourselves of our obligation to counter and ultimately defeat all vestiges of racism and xenophobia in all of their virulent forms: intentional and negligent.

Modern day racism is not intentional or individual; it is an institutionalized system of oppression and exploitation that is reinforced by a complex and pervasive system of beliefs, policies, practices and laws. In the United States, we have eliminated slavery and legal apartheid (Jim Crow) and that is significant progress. But racism like water finds a way.

Because it is hidden from the eyes of the every day person, racism of the 21^st century, (institutional, structural and systemic) grows as virulent and as egregious as slavery and legal apartheid.

Few people realize that in every area of life, except civic engagement, blacks are worst off than whites. Few people realize that it is not about class or poverty. That is, in also every area of American life there is a disparity between blacks and whites: poor blacks are worst off than poor whites and middle class black are worst off than middle class whites.

It was my hope that Obama, as the first Black president, would make eliminating these obvious racial disparities an integrated priority of his administration. It was my hope that Obama would take a different approach than his all white predecessors.

Unfortunately, Obama appears to have reaffirmed long-standing neglect of efforts to eliminate racism. After months of refusing to participate in the preliminary negotiations, the United States decided to take part in "planning" the Durban Review Conference for one week and then issued an ultimatum to the planning committee - "remove references to Israel, reparations or we walk."

Many would like to make the references to Israel the primary problem - but a look at the United States history leads me to believe that it is the United States' desire not to address racism as an international human rights issue that motivates the Obama Administration's behavior.

Case in point:

For over 40 years, the United States has failed to be a leader on eliminating racism. The United States did not ratify the Treaty on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) for 30 years (1994). When ratifying the treaty, the United States refused to broaden the human rights available to us and refused to allow us access to international tribunals to resolve issues of racial discrimination. The United States failed to issue the required reports under the treaty. It issued the first and second reports five years late; it has failed to issue reports 3, 4 or 5.

The US has consistently failed to fulfill its responsibility under the treaty. In the last "concluding observations to the United States" (2008), the CERD committee noted 32 concerns and recommendations, several which were directed at the condition of African Americans. The CERD Committee was concerned about residential segregation, criminal justice, police brutality, felony disenfranchisement and Katrina displacement. Furthermore, the CERD committee asked the United States to report back in a year (2009) about several urgent concerns: racial profiling at the federal and state levels, life sentence without parole against persons under the age of eighteen, return of persons displaced by Hurricane Katrina and the organization of public awareness and education programmes on the Convention and its provisions.

Importantly, Obama's decision not to participate in the Durban Review means that the first Black president will take the same action as his all white predecessors - refusal to engage and to be a leader in the elimination of racism.

In particular, the United States has failed to fully participate in every world conference on racism, i.e., 1978, 1983 and 2001. Now the United States has decided not to participate in the Durban Review Conference to be held April 20-24, 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland. It is time for the United States to be a leader on eliminating racism in the world and that can only occur if the United States stays at the international human rights table including participating in the Durban Review Conference. We challenge President Obama to take immediate and significant steps to repair the damage and improve the civil rights and human rights landscape in the United States.

About Me: Race, Racism and the Law - Speaking Truth to Power!! Dr. Vernellia Randall and others sent the above letter to Secretary Hillary Clinton and held a call for action on March 21 urging the Obama Administration to participate in the United Nations Conference on Eliminating Racism (Durban Review). For the letter in its entirety, click on http://academic.udayton.edu/race/00miscell/Newsletter/whatsnew.htm#Article_3.

Disgruntled says: It is time ladies for us to put the kibosh on the sag, which has gotten ridiculous. Our young men are looking more foolish as the "style," if one can call it such, has degenerated from baggy attire, particularly loosely fitting trousers, to pants riding below the hips, indecently exposing underwear. Obviously stuck on stupid with one hand ever ready to retrieve sagging garments, our young men walk down neighborhood streets with wide-legged exaggerated swaggers; one hand ever ready to retrieve sagging garments,. Desperately trying to look cool, they merely succeed in looking like fools participating in some weird contest to see who can master walking in the biggest pair of pants. Mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and lovers, we must take the lead in rescuing our young brothers. It is past time we let them know that there is nothing sexy, handsome or otherwise appealing about super sagging britches.

Disgruntled feels: Unconvincing! Citing the election of President Barack Obama, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue (R) has joined Texas and seven other states in filing an amicus brief in the case of Northeast Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder, which challenges the constitutionality of Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Southern states, such as Georgia and Texas, that have a history of violating the voting rights of black Americans, must seek court approval to implement changes affecting voting, including redistricting. These states would like to have this pre-clearance provision stuck down by the court. The most significant reason offered for seeking the change is insufficient and unconvincing. Simply put, the election of Barack Obama as the first black president does not mean the US is suddenly cleansed of racial discrimination. To the contrary, we must remain ever vigilant as the nation's racist past is very much a part of its present.

Disgruntled wants to know: Elected in large measure as a result of an anti-Bush, anti-war protest, President Barack Obama has not provided the change those voters anticipated, particularly the anti-war faction. Based on his measured withdrawal from Iraq, the US will remain militarily engaged in that country for years to come. United States and multinational oil concerns will guarantee that. On the Afghanistan front, the buzzword is escalation. We are being prepared to witness more casualties as our young men protect the gas pipeline and poppy fields of that country. In speaking about his ongoing "war on terror," President Barack Obama sounds just like George Bush; he even uses much of the same terminology and reasoning. Beyond skin color, what is the difference between Bush and Obama on the questions of war, drugs and oil?