Volume 2 Issue 26… Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race …July 9, 1999

Governor=s Official Position

 The DISH called Governor Barnes= office, again, for his official stand on changing the state flag. Unresponsive, the governor's press office has been dodging the topic. From Howard Mead to Jocelyn Butler, The DISH received the royal shuffle. Finally, through an intermediary, Butler allegedly said the governor has no official position. Her exact words were, and I quote: A We are not talking about that!@

 The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is just learning to play tennis. After a few outings and a few balls cleanly returned over the net, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro declared, AI won; I am the champion!" Batcave Comments

Disgruntled wants to know: If the attitudes that shaped the late 1950's and >60's are still with us today, where does that leave us in the struggle for human and civil rights?

Disgruntled feels: Drained from dealing with hypocrites!

Disgruntled says: Though the media seem pressed to convince voters that George W. Bush, Jr. received no preferential treatment to enter the National Guard during the Vietnam War, anyone with two cents worth of sense knows differently. More Disgruntled

by John Burl Smith

The fairy tale The Emperor's New Clothes explores the belief that wealthy people and those in authority possess or automatically acquire the requisite characteristics, skills and mental capacities which cause them to act wisely. This belief grew out of the >blue blood= mythology of Western Civilization. A hoax, both in content and result, Ablue blood@ proved far more disastrous for humanity than the common red it lorded over.

As money overwhelms America's political process, those bank rolling George W. Bush, Jr. represent a rebirth of the Ablue blood@ myth in America. While dancing to AMoney Can=t Buy Me Love,@ George W. poses as an anti-establishment compassionate conservative. However, with money raining down like Amanna from heaven, A Bush and company are staging a Wall Street style Ahostile takeover@ of America. George Jr. and his Ablue bloods@ hope voters forget Awhen money takes control of the political process, the people lose control of democracy.@ Conversely, such a reality would make representative government a Ablue blood@ myth.

Junior is a second generation, Ivy League educated, rich kid, who has never spent a day being anything other than rich. He has never worked for a living, nor has he volunteered any significant time serving humanity. Silver spoon in mouth and free pass in hand, Junior began as flying ace for the Texas Air National Guard. Riding the inside track to Harken Energy Corp., he hooked up with Bahrain. A layover at BCCI and Jackson Stephens, Junior made connection to James Bath and the CIA.

George Jr.=s campaign slogan is as transparent as the Emperor=s clothes. Donning the robe of compassion, while ascending the mantle of conservatism, he rejected Carla Faye Tucker=s plea for mercy to score political points. With the media hanging on every honey- dripped phase, he turned Carla Faye=s execution into a show of male resolve - a charade

Resembling a fighter=s meteoric raise through the ranks by fighting has-beens, new comers and bought opponents, none laid a glove on Jr. As the Aanointed one,@ Bush leaves voters like fans at a rigged fight or wrestling match, all one can do is cheer or boo. Shades of a Don King title bout, no matter who wins, Don manages both fighters. Faces may change, but the policies remain the same.

Germany in the 1930s reflects the fate awaiting any democratic state where citizens are reduced to cheerleaders, and electing a head of state is viewed as a team sport. ABlue blood@ or red, becoming head of state should require a candidate to be more than charming and folksy. Even in a Don King match, fighters have to show they can avoid a sucker punch. For a more extensive expose! on "The Man Who Would Be King,@ George W. Bush, Jr., visit Covert Action Quarterly http://www.caq.com/, and look for The Family That Preys Together, Vol. 2 Issue 1. More Essays by Mr. Smith

The Black Panther Party (BPP) for Self-Defense was very much a part of the Black Power Movement of the 1960s. Symbolized by the clinched fist and Afro, some believe the BPP developed from factions of the Civil Rights Movement that felt Dr. King=s nonviolent protest methods were inadequate in securing human and civil right for African Americans.

Founded in 1966 in Oakland, CA by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, the organization spread eastward to become a national force for the defense of black rights. Just as quickly as it rose to national prominence, the Black Panther Party came to a fiery end, as the federal government launched a nationwide assault called COINTELPRO. Many of those who struggled to secure black people=s freedom died in the struggle or ended up serving time in prison. For more on the positives and negatives of the BPP, contact Sundiata Acoli. Email: crsn@aol.com or safc@aol.com Bits of Black History

 The Struggle

by Gloria Winston Al-Sarag

 I believe God allows us to acquire knowledge or have experiences with the expectation that we will not keep it to ourselves. As a proud former member and section leader of the Black Panther Party (BPP) for Self Defense, I feel compelled to share some thoughts and memories, based on my experiences and dialogue with others.

First, I would not want those unfamiliar with the history of the BPP to misconstrue, take words out of context, or assume that everyone considered Eldridge Cleaver the group=s leader. There are those who credit him with its demise. Some who knew him, personally, questioned how an armed parolee could travel across country without being arrested. There are those who thought it interesting that, upon his release from prison, he landed such a visible position with Ramparts Magazine, a position some scholars have never been offered. Some folks felt he had the full support of the FBI when he fled to Algiers. This is not let=s-beat-up-on-the-dead-guy. One thing I am certain the FBI did well was to infiltrate the Panther Party with paid informants.

In my opinion, the organization=s founders, the late Dr. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, were the Party=s leaders. The rest of us were followers of their leadership. Under their 10 Point Plan, we convened political education and civic classes; we educated some of our people. We helped some brothers and sisters and sensitized those who would listen to the fact that we should stop assuming that everyone stopped by a cop had done something wrong. At the time, most African American churches and leaders ran for cover. The media crucified us; we were depicted as criminals, and some were murdered, in the name of the law. We experienced and learned that he who has the power to define controls.

J. Edgar Hoover's FBI was driven by hate; it is exactly what drives racism - hate and ignorance. But, it was also driven by fear, the fear of African Americans genuinely understanding their rights. There was the fear that teaching our people their rights and teaching them about the very laws created to continually enslave them.....would also free them.

 About Me: Gloria Winston Al-Sarag, (Rochester, NY) is a writer and community organizer; her "Straight No Chaser@ Column was featured in the Frederick Douglas Voice Newspaper. She wrote entertainment columns and editorials for the Buffalo Challenger Newspaper; she co-founded About Time Magazine and founded Spectrum Models. Other accomplishments include being the only Rochesterian to walk through the history book as a national staff member of Jesse Jackson' s first Presidential Campaign. Currently, she is a budding genealogist and researcher. She is a wife, mother of 2 adult sons, and grandmother of 4. Her favorite saying: AIt is the heat and pressure that forges the Diamond!@ E-mail JazzyG4202@aol.com More of Venue

Yohannes Sharriff Smith hosts Spoken Word at Soul Vegetarian, as Righteous Vibes presents another Saturday night live with resident DJ Jamal Ahmad (WCLK). On Saturday July 24^th, join Yohannes for food for the body and soul. Don=t miss this opportunity to experience the vibe at Soul Vegetarian, 879 Ralph Abernathy. Doors open at 9PM. Atlanta Vibe

Next Week: Funky Hood Update will provide time and place information for a meeting on ground water contamination and Seminole Landfill, hosted by Tom Black, Director of DeKalb County=s Public Works.

On July 26^th, the DeKalb Board of Commissioners will hold another zoning meeting in the Maloof Center at 1300 Commerce Drive in Decatur, GA. Meeting time is 7:00 PM. Zoning decisions that impact your community and your quality of life are made at these meetings. Take an interest in your community!

 On an Accident (Part 1)

by Dot Smith

Like little kids eagerly awaiting a special treat, we stood at the windows observing the activity in the street. From a perspective reminiscent of New Orleans' French Quarter, we watched the masses without becoming entangled in their idiosyncrasies, i.e., working hard to have some fun, begging for pennies to pay room and board at the Salvation Army homeless shelter, or running a hustle to get over on someone else. When viewed from above the fray, the teeming mass is often not a pretty sight. From our vantage point above the crowd, we witnessed an accident.

Below us, the Friday night thong moved along Peachtree. Bigger than normal, the crowd was swollen with zealous participants of the Southern Baptist Convention, which was winding up its stay in Atlanta. The police aggressively patrolled the street to keep traffic moving.

As we watched, a car drove up and stopped out front with its emergency park lights flashing. Moments after stopping, a patrol car drove up alongside the vehicle. The officer, no doubt, warned the driver that this was a no parking zone and told him/her to move along. This exchange blocked two of the three southbound traffic lanes.

A third vehicle drove up behind the patrol car; when the stopped patrol car failed to move forward, after missing a traffic light change, the driver switched to the outside lane, passed the patrol car, then attempted to switch back into the right-hand lane. Just as the driver made the lane change, the police car eased forward, bumping the fender of the other vehicle. Seconds later, the patrol car's red and blue emergency lights began flashing.

Normally, if the police are called in for such a minor fender bender, one expects the driver hitting the other car from the rear to be charged with failure to maintain a proper lookout or some such offense. Since no harm occurred to either vehicle or their occupants, most insurance-cost-conscious drivers would not involve police.

However, in this case, a police officer caused the accident. Policemen do not write themselves traffic tickets, so the driver at fault gave the driver of the car he struck a ticket. Concerned citizens, having witnessed this incident, we left our comfortable perch to tell what we saw. In future issues, The DISH will describe how the police and court responded to this bizarre little accident and our citizen involvement. More Hot DISHes

The DISH PAN Recommendation

A number of readers responded to DISHing It Up Hot! AOn the Curriculum Audit@ (Vol. 2 No 25). One reader's response is typical of those who wrote. AI have four children in the school system; I heard nothing about these meetings.@

I knew about these meetings, because I sat on one of the Action Teams, which were created to come up with actions/plans for addressing the eleven recommendations of the Phi Delta Kappa curriculum audit. In addition, I read about the meetings in the Atlanta Journal Constitution's AWhere You Live@ section. There is no evidence to suggest the school system informed parents directly about these meetings. Simply relying on the local daily to deliver this kind of news and information is clearly insufficient. Hence, this DISH PAN (Parents= Access Network) recommendation:

* PAN provides E-mail accounts to parents and teachers in every school.

Accessible at home, the public library or in school media centers, parents must access account weekly.

* PAN provides a vehicle for parents to communicate directly with teachers.

* PAN provides a discipline notification and tracking system for parents.

* PAN brings more people onto the information super highway.

* PAN fills that information source gap that is present whenever the Internet is not used to reach the public, since more and more people are relying on it for news and information

Renting movie videos is a cheap way to spend some leisure time, especially when living on a tight budget. For less than five dollars, a family or group of friends can spend an evening at the movies. Add a Abring your own snack and beverage proviso,@ and you have the makings for a very inexpensive party.

Recently, we watched ABlind Faith@ and ASummer=s Eve,@ both movies dealt with issues in the dialogue on race. The DISH highly recommends ABlind Faith@ for the powerful performance of Charles Dutton, who plays a black cop trying to gain acceptance only to lose himself and his family in the process. ASummer=s Eve,@ starring James Earl Jones, is another poignant look at American race relations during the late >50s and >60s. Check these titles out the next time you visit the video store. Invite some friends over and have a race dialogue.

Blah! Blah! Blahs galore on Payne for being one (a pain) for refusing to give us the goods on Atlanta=s successful Olympics bid. By holding out so long, Billy Payne, Andrew Young and company have made us all curious, if not downright suspicious of them. Apparently, people like these are good at holding out and holding up the public. For a profit, everything can be bought and sold most of all them. Question is how much of the rest of us was sold to secure the games? An informal DISH toll suggests we got sold down the drain. The Payne gang used an old trick that they passed on to Salt Lake City - buy up everything! More Kudos & Blahs

I was really proud to see something that I felt really strongly about in print. I realized that in your kindness I can email you any time and blow off steam, or cry about a certain subject, and its OK, because we are all of the same color inside, red, Blood red. It's just that God put us in different packages. It's OK to talk about this stuff, and have a safe place to say it. I thank you for making a place to say my peace, when it's my turn, and a place to feel safe to take my turn. THANKS Apehangmom@aol.com The Mailbox

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