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Volume 2 Issue 29……. Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race……. July 30, 1999

by John Burl Smith

On Our Own Terms, an article by Lyle V. Harris, (AJC 7-25-99) highlighted results of its Southern Focus Poll: Racial Identity. A yawner of a topic, respondents were quizzed about identity preferences, i.e. African American, black, colored etc. Regardless of preferences, opinions had no bearing on the daily struggle to survive. However, Clark Atlanta University professor Darren Rhym's off hand comment about student was offensive. While stating his preference for black, he said, "Now I think blacks are less politicized. The students I see are more concerned with wanting to integrate. They don't want to stand out and could care less about the black community."

Assisted by the Atlanta Vibe, The DISH has worked closely with and reported on young black sisters and brothers all over America. Consequently, it has not found any bases for such a harsh asinine assessment. The DISH did find that the efforts many are making are nothing short of remarkable. Without support from business, foundations, institutions or government, the Hip Hop generation has become a true political and socioeconomic reality.

Extending the impact of rap on American culture, hip hoppers have taken spoken word and elevated it to a performance venue, where skills are sharpened. Street poets are forming performance and publishing collaboratives and producing novel works. The Atlanta Vibe's collaborative performs regularly in schools, community centers, juvenile detention centers and on college campuses supporting causes in black communities.

It is easy for Professor Rhym to forget he teaches the students he sees. The maxim is "Students reflect their teachers." Last May a young black playwright Earl 'We One' Strozier premiered You're Tripping on the campus of Clark Atlanta University. 'We's' first production combined spoken word and the hip hop genre with a dramatic motif. Several of Clark's students were impressive, and the audience received the production enthusiastically. No faculty member supported the efforts of these young black students with their attendance. Where were you professor Rhym? Mr. Smith's Essays plus another in this issue below. Dissed Again!

Disgruntled wants to know: How can we end affirmative action when blacks are no better off today than when a black man was called "boy" and he answered?

Disgruntled says: Fiery rhetoric in speeches to save Atlanta's affirmative action harkens back to the sixties, because there is unfinished business in the equal rights movement.

Disgruntled feels: Committed to the struggle. Disgruntled

by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

This is a test. This is only a test...

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today

To get through this thing called life..."

Quarantined behind electrified fences

During this nuclear winter, we exist as mutants,

Surviving thru the fallout of economic revolution.

Retribution looking for rest-titution.

While malnourished dreams survive

On not enough of in 1999.

Making only two dollars a day picking peanuts

In Webster County, Georgia.

This is a test. Before they learn to play,

Beautiful black babies fall prey to the game

By age two too tortured by pain to maintain...

Like clay sculptures in the rain, our blues distorted.

Aborted dreams escape from the plantation

Only to sway from oak trees. How deep the pain?

When the city breathes, she speaks in tongues...

Robbed of her drum, she weeps

Beneath the dawn of Y2K electric blue rain drops

Falling thru a saxophone gray sky

Scraper = rapers of the original womb

Like red clay aching after-noon

Clear-cutting on 2^nd Avenue. Our blues distorted.

This is a test. Ghetto philosophers

Poses as winos and junkies faithfully dispensing

The daily gospel. "Christ is here!" (Pow!)

Through the flourescent streets of this mysterious city

Asleep beneath the eyes of God. Dearly beloved...

At Five Points find jazz lost in the art of Woodruff Park

Captivated by the thought =

A mosaic of park bench players and wise sages

Concentrating over a game of chess

A man races for his faith,

Proudly waving a giant yellow Jesus flag.

Wrapped tight in a rainbow of graffiti

Patchwork beautiful and lovingly stitched together

To weather the cold,

The black family boldly stands and does the "bus stop."

At the reunion on the corner

Of Renaissance and Peachtree, the city breathes

A prayer...Dearly beloved

We are gathered here today

To pay tribute to the ancestors.

My ghetto neighborhood hopes

Planting seeds for the rebirth of soul.

The sun burns for salvation and the earth answers.

She turns light into life

And I am a furiously ferocious dandelion,

Growing wild and green

Thru the cracked concrete of Atlantis.

Your wish has been granted.

For seeds to grow, they must be planted

To be beautiful, you must seek balance

See beautiful, speak beautiful, be beautiful...

Black be beautiful. "Dearly beloved,

We are gathered here today

To get thru this thing called life." More Intuit's Weekly Vibes

Kudos to a black policeman for fighting to keep his dreadlocks and his job by going to court. In Robinson v. District of Columbia, DC No 97-787, the judge ordered that officer Robinson, who wore his hair in short dreads to follow his religious and cultural beliefs, be returned to work with full pay pending final judgment in the case. D.C. police had demanded that he cut his hair or lose his job. He refused and sued. Kudos to Robinson for fighting to keep his hair and his job. Black natural hair is a tabu, especially when it is not shaved all off, worn low to the head or chemically treated. Kudos to a brother willing to fight the stereotype associated with black hair, showing us all that a black man can be a cop with locks or Afros!

Bill Bradley is the only candidate for President with a vision worthy of the new millennium. Plainspoken, Bradley does not beat around the bush about race. Confronting race head on will be the number one focus of his administration. Today, Bradley is The DISH man for President 2000. Let us know your views on race and the race for President. E-mail us your year 2000 choice for the Oval Office at icim@bellsouth.net. Results from our unofficial DISH poll will be posted on the Internet and printed in a later issue of The DISH.

Obsession, voyeurism and overkill are apt adjectives for describing the media coverage of the most recent Kennedy clan tragedy. Most of us who have been around for more than a decade or two were saddened at the tragic passing of another who may have done some more good in time, but shit happens; the media need to give the guy and the rest of us a break. Let the man rest in peace. Based on the life he lived, he would not appreciate the public spectacle being made of his untimely death. Kudos&Blahs

In a letter to DeKalb CEO Liane Levetan, The DISH asked county government to take a more active role in problems posed by Seminole Landfill, a county owned and operated facility. The DISH cited a letter written by U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney and an article in The Champion written by Aileen Harris (7/1-7/7). Rep. McKinney's letter asked the EPA to conduct an investigation into groundwater contamination caused by the landfill. The Champion article by Aileen Harris, "Couple's Water Problems Turn Dream Home into Nightmare," reported on the problem posed by groundwater contamination and the use of plastic plumbing pipes in a DeKalb County subdivision off Panola Road. Contaminates can leachate through these pipes, which makes water traveling through them unfit for consumption. The identity of the groundwater contamination in the Panola Road area is unknown.

We know Seminole is partly responsible for the groundwater contamination in south DeKalb County. Rapid residential development around the landfill includes many poorly constructed homes where these plastic plumbing pipes are used. Harris' article reveals an aspect of groundwater contamination that DeKalb County's Public Works Director Tom Black has heretofore overlooked in dismissing residents' concern about groundwater contamination in the Seminole area.

In mid-May, Black said the county would hold a meeting within the next 60 days to discuss the groundwater contamination report. He felt there was no health concern, because residents "don't get their drinking water directly from the ground." To date, no meeting has been announced. The county's inaction carelessly places lives at risk to groundwater contamination.

The DISH proposed: (1) Legislation be passed to close the building code loophole that allows homes to be built using plastic plumbing pipes below ground. (2) Inform residents of the groundwater contamination in the Seminole Landfill area. (3) Educate the community on the dangers posed by groundwater contamination and plastic pipes. (4) Work with county residents to secure a health assessment. (Click here for the complete letter to CEO Levetan.) FunkyHood

The long awaited health study on the South DeKalb County area surrounding Seminole Landfill remains a work in progress. In a letter dated July 1, 1999, the Department of Human Resources (DHR) indicated it has completed another phase of the health study process, which began in August, 1998. Below are excerpts from that letter:

" The GDHR has completed the first draft of the Public Health Assessment for the above referenced facility. The draft report will be submitted for technical review and, after all comments are received and necessary revisions are made, GDHR will send the final draft to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR) writer/editor. This process should be completed at about the end of July...

After the final draft is published by ATSDR, GDHR will be responsible for the release of the document for public comment. This requires a press release from our office announcing the dates the document is available for public comment (usually 30 to 45 days), placing the document in a public repository such as the library closest to the facility or in another building easily accessible to the public, and conducting public availability sessions if there is enough interest in the community." (Letter from Jane Perry Britt, Department of Human Resources). Other topics discussed in the Funky Hood

The Dark Knight/White Ninja/Zorro is on vacation. He promised to be back before you know it. (Other Batcave Comments)

by John Burl Smith

Evidence abounds in support of extending GRTA's formula for allocating transportation funding to all discretionary spending. The Georgia DOT announced recipients for 2000 and 2001 Enrichment Activity grants. Funded by the Federal Highway Administration, grants are awarded in four categories: multi-use trails for walking and bicycling, landscape and streetscape projects, preservation of archaeological resources and scenic preservation. Examples of the grants in this $47 million program are: Buford in Gwinnett County $900,000 streetscape; Athens-Clarke County $289,280 multi-use bridge; Gainesville $ 450,000 for Rock Creek Greenway, etc.

Fulton and DeKalb, the two most populous counties in the state did not received a dime of the $ 47 million in enrichment funds. The DISH, proposed as part of Atlanta's current effort to preserve its affirmative action program, that the city file suit against the State of Georgia to obtain an equal share of state revenues. Atlanta should demand GRTA's formula be extend to cover all discretionary spending. Legislators insisted the formula was necessary to insure fairness and equality in dispensing transportation funds.

"Enrichment"grants or transportation funds, state government views Atlanta as a beehive, producing honey for surrounding counties to harvest. Citizens of Atlanta deserve walking and biking paths. Desperately needing some streetscaping, they would definitely benefit from historical and scenic preservation. Depriving Atlanta of such projects is how the state has built up surrounding counties like "Gardens of Eden." Essays by Mr. Smith

Gas Competition Reminder....

The DISH's News You Use Vols. 11, 12 and 15 contained information on Georgia natural gas competitors. If you are an Atlanta Gas Light natural gas user, you must select one of these companies to provide your natural gas by August 11, 1999, or the Georgia Public Service Commission will select one for you. Visit The DISH web site at http://www.thedish.ws/ and click on News You Use for information you need to make a selection. (News You Use)

DISHing It Up Hot!

by Dot Smith

Recently, Venus and Serena Williams made tennis history. These new members of the U.S. Federation Cup team won all their matches to give team U.S. a 4-1 lead over Italy; their court savvy put the U.S. in the Fed Cup finals to be played later this year. The Williamses' court performances make us proud; they are skilled winners. Normally, American winners are inundated with media attention and treated like role models for the sport at which they excel. At a time when the female athlete is celebrated, ala the soccer babes, these tennis titans are mostly ignored in the mainstream media. Reading the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) and watching the local sports and news coverage on television, I wonder where is the coverage of these African American women?

Mainstream media treatment of the Williams sisters affirms ongoing institutionalized racism. A similar charge can be lodged against the local media's coverage of the campaign to save affirmative action. Obviously biased, the coverage is designed to discredit those spearheading the effort, while supporting its opposition, the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SELF). The larger issue of affirmative action as a mechanism to level an economic playing field skewed by slavery and segregation goes uncovered.

During slavery, there were blacks and whites who argued and fought to keep the institution intact. After fighting a civil war, the practice was outlawed, and then, there were blacks and whites who supported segregation and fought to preserve the unequal system. Today, there are blacks and whites who oppose affirmative action.

The DISH supports efforts to save affirmative action- interest on a debt never paid. An activist approach is the most effective way to bring about socioeconomic change. Laws are changed and even enforced when the citizen becomes an activist. The affirmative action campaign enjoys a large cross-section of black support, because we understand that, if we cannot secure the interest on the debt, we have no hopes of getting the long overdue forty acres and a mule, i.e., reparations. Activism is the only viable means of making sure that at least the interest is paid. Blacks are committed to fight in the streets, if necessary, to save affirmative action.

With a little more activism aimed appropriately at the AJC and the rest of the local media, we may be able to get some coverage of the Williams girls' awesome tennis.

(More DISHing It Up Hot!)

The Honorable Liane Levetan, CEO

DeKalb County Government

1300 Commerce Drive

Decatur, GA 30030

Madam Chairman:

In a letter to Mr. John Hankinson, Jr. dated May 11, 1999, U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney asked the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct an investigation into Seminole Landfill and the problem of ground water contamination. McKinney=s letter cited a consulting firm=s report indicating that Seminole Landfill Ahas contaminated the ground water with organic chemicals.@ Since being hired by the county in 1995, the consulting group, Ground Water and Environmental Management, Inc., has made other similar reports to the county. While McKinney has asked the EPA to look into this matter, Concerned DeKalb County residents believe our county government should take a more active role in identifying and rectifying any problems created by a landfill it owns and operates.

Last year, at a meeting at Cedar Grove High School to discuss the proposed purchase of some property around Ward Lake for recreational purposes, you pledged to work with south DeKalb residents on concerns about pollution associated with the landfill and do what is in their best interest. At that meeting, we requested a health assessment; actually obtaining one continues to be a work in progress. We believe south DeKalb County exemplifies the term environmental racism, which refers to the whole spectrum of social and political intercourse from decisions on where to place the next landfill or funk factory to the racism found in the criminal justice system. Environmental racism goes to the heart of how people are treated. We wish to bring this issue to your attention and ask your assistance as our county=s CEO in its eradication. Last year, we spread the word about the Ward Lake meeting at Cedar Grove High School; there was a large turnout, because people are concerned. Recent revelations has increased the level of concern among area residents.

An article in The Champion written by Aileen Harris (7/1-7/7) raises more questions and heightens the stakes in the race to build more poorly constructed homes around Seminole Landfill. Harris= article, ACouple=s Water Problems Turn Dream Home into Nightmare,@ reported on the dilemma posed by ground water contamination and the use of plastic plumbing pipes in a subdivision off Panola Road. Apparently, contaminates can leachate through plastic pipes making water traveling through them unfit for consumption. The source of the ground water contamination in the Panola Road area is still unknown. We know Seminole is a responsible party in the ground water contamination in south DeKalb County. We know the rapid residential development around the landfill includes many poorly constructed homes where these plastic plumbing pipes are used. Harris= article highlights an aspect of ground water contamination that DeKalb County=s Public Works Director Tom Black has heretofore overlooked in dismissing residents= concern about Seminole groundwater contamination.

In Mid-May, Mr. Black stated the county would be holding a meeting within the next sixty (60) days to discuss the report cited in Rep. McKinney=s letter. To date, no information on such a meeting has been forthcoming from his office. We do not want this proposed meeting to go the way of a similar meeting State Sen. Nadine Thomas promised to have more than a year ago. While the county procrastinates in informing the public and acting to safeguard it, the lives of many are carelessly placed at risk to the public health danger that lurks beneath the ground.

In writing, we propose the following: (1) In the area of legislation, the county must close the building code loophole that allows homes to be built using plastic plumbing pipes below ground. Groundwater contamination makes the building code change essential. (2) Inform residents of the groundwater contamination in the Seminole Landfill area. (3) Educate residents to the dangers posed by groundwater contamination with the use of plastic plumbing pipes. (4) Work with county residents in securing that elusive health assessment.

As our CEO, we are certain you share our concerns for a safe and healthy environment. We look forward to hearing from you about the above proposal. Your voice is needed in the struggle to make DeKalb County a wholesome place to live for all its current and future residents. Let us know what we can do to make it a reality.

Sincerely,

Dot Smith, Concerned DeKalb Citizen

Funky Hood

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