by John Burl Smith

Perceive Existence as an Evolutionary Process: A Work In Progress (AWIP) the third principle of T.H.I.N.C. addresses progress as an attitude toward growth. This process is called change. Life is a work in progress. "Just as death, experience and growth are inevitable." T.H.I.N.C. focuses on mis-steps as information gathering and mid-course corrections on the road to progress. However, trapped at the bottom of the chasm of inequality, progress is frozen for slave descendants in the three-fifths compromise, which denies African Americans full rights as humans.

By reducing the African slave's worth to three-fifths of a white person, the Great Compromise, embedded in Article 1 Section 2 of the United States Constitution, supports the inequality of slave descendants. Codified as "separate-but-equal" in Plessy v Ferguson, strict constructionism held that the Constitution made descendants of slaves less than whites, therefore they should receive less. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education threw out the whole concept, on the grounds that "separate but equal is inherently unequal" and denies slave descendants "equal protection and due process." Unwilling to concede, constructionists fought over what those phrases meant. Stopping integration and proposed remedies fueled battles, which raged like a second Civil War. Appointing judges, who pledged to reverse or undermine Brown v. Board of Education, Reagan/Bush revived the strict constructionists doctrine. Retreating to John Taylor's "judicial tyranny," Reagan/Bush argued that "courts did not have the power to change the status of slave descendants with decisions like Brown v. Board of Education. Reinterpreting "separate-but-equal," the three-fifths compromise enabled Reagan/Bush to stop civil rights progress and turn back the clock on fairness, justice and equality. They claimed only changes in the Constitution itself, not court decisions, could change "separate-but-equal" and the three-fifths compromise.

As a process, "separate-but-equal" is a classical experimental design. Whites are the control group, which learns in a supportive environment. Slave descendants are the experimental group, which learns in an unpredictably hostile environment. Strictly interpreting the Constitution, judges view "separate-but-equal" as the treatment prescribed by the three-fifths Compromise. Therefore, any harmful effects are the fault of the design, and those using the design can not be held responsible for the results. Moreover, strict constructionists dismiss charges, the experimental group never received the treatment given the control group, but are judged and scored as though they did. Consequently, strict constructionists judges rule as though the experiment never took place, even though slave descendants continue to receive disparate treatment. T.H.I.N.C. about it! Essays by John Burl Smith

by Ben Mboya Ward

Tis the season...

When African spirits rise from the ocean floor

and gather on native shores...

When 400 years of latent heat rages

and whips painful memories

into revolutionary storms that rock and roll

radical thought, radical courage

radical spirit to action...

When cosmic unity creates

an invincible wall of divine anger,

unstoppable determination and a wrathful eye

that retraces and remembers a middle passage

of death and destruction...

When the wicked tremble under storms

dropping torrential tears, loud voices

and winds that blow away every lie,

flag, prison and monument that hate built...

When nature becomes a dark cloud that rains justice

that washes bloodstained grounds

and topples ivory towers...

Tis the season that proves

Copyright 1999 by Ben M. Ward for Creative Learning

About Me: Ben Mboya Ward is a member of W.A.R. (Writers Against Racism). WAR is an association of writers dedicated to fighting racism in America by providing information and thought-provoking commentaries. As a systematic ideological force designed to rationalize and sustain white socioeconomic, political and cultural supremacy, racism continues to be the most significant threat to the human rights of African Americans. We believe that information sharing is empowering and a critical part of forestalling its destructive impact. If you would like to be a part of the WAR effort, email Ben at liberated_voices@yahoo.com. Other Artists in the Venue

Unequal Rights in the Three-Fifth Compromise

Article I Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution and its eventual "repeal" gives rise to the cry for an African American Equal Rights Amendment (AAERA). Specifically, the Constitution, as originally adopted, states "Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States, which may be included within this Union according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct..."

The three-fifths persons here is a reference to African slaves held in southern states. This is the Great Compromise that legalized American slavery. The DISH has long held that there is a need for an African American Equal Rights Amendment based on the lack of reparations in Amendments repealing Article 1 Section 2. Specifically, neither the Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth (1868) nor Fifteenth Amendment (1870) provides for reparations, leaving the door open for an abusive system of legal segregation and continued socioeconomic enslavement. In fact, the Fourteenth Amendment seems to make illegal such a claim against the U.S. government..."...neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave, but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void."

Passage of Civil Rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s acknowledged the difficulties blacks faced in exercising basic civil liberties. Unfortunately, even voting rights legislation passed in the late sixties under the 15^th Amendment must undergo Congressional scrutiny every quarter century (See The DISH v1no31). While these laws dealt with basic social and political liberties, the nation has never addressed the economic consequences of slavery and segregation.

To wit, it is possible to have children like Bridget Stewart, trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty in rural Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, etc., Tyisha Miller, callously killed by police trained not to value African American lives and James Byrd, Jr., killed by his fellow Americans for being black. Circumstances that shape the lives of these individuals dot the landscape of contemporary black existence. Current conditions scream for an Equal Rights Amendment. Its debate and hoped for passage can put to rest arguments about civil rights legislation every quarter century and provide African Americans their long overdue national apology and reparations.

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In early 1997, twenty-five (25) years after the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments (1932-1972) were exposed, President Clinton offered the victims a formal apology, complete with a White House visit. A DISH reader wanted to know whether or not the President's statements included an apology for slavery and segregation. The President's apology to these individuals came on the heels of an out of court settlement of a lawsuit filed against the government on behalf of the Tuskegee victims and their families. While the government admitted using some 600 black men like guinea pigs in a Nuremberg-type experiment, no one was punished for this atrocity. The victims and the families of those deceased received paltry monetary sums for the stolen lives of their loved ones. Minimized their entire lives, those living received about $35,000, while the deceased families received some $15,000. These are miserly sums for a life. Clinton's verbal apology just highlighted the injustice; it added insult to the enormous injury inflicted on these people. Even Clinton could not asininely assume his Tuskegee experiment apology mends the national wound caused by slavery and segregation? Bits of Black History.

Re-Marketing Hip-Hop!

The most power force in the universe is an idea. Whoever harnesses ideas best will lead the new millennium. Information technology offers humanity an enormous opportunity to lay aside its brutish tribal animosities and cultural taboos for brighter prospects of a changing world. Hip-hop frees the mind of concepts, which feed humanity's ignorance and provincialism.

Imposing limits restricts new ideas and preserves the status quo. Currently, hip-hop artists with new ideas are shut out of the marketplace by gimmick merchants. Hooked up cheddar stuffers are pushing repackaged retro reruns as today's new trend. "There ain't nothing new out here. They bought it once; they will buy it again. And, we'll buy your idea when it gets old." T.H.I.N.C. about it! Atlanta Vibe

Althea Gibson

Althea Gibson, born August 25, 1927 in a small South Carolina town, paved the way for Venus and Serena Williams, the African American teenagers who recently made tennis history. The young sisters captured the U.S. Open doubles championship and made it to the semi-finals in women's singles where Serena Williams, the younger of the two by fifteen months, won the women's single title. Only the second African American woman ever to do so. In 1950, Gibson became the first black permitted to compete in the U.S. Nationals. At the ripe old tennis age of 23, Gibson broke the color barrier and six years later; she made tennis history by becoming the first black to win a grand slam event.

An inductee in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Gibson currently resides in NJ, where, according to a Times look at her contribution to women's tennis, she is an ill recluse. The Williams sisters, Arthur Ashe and all up-and-coming tennis players of color owe Gibson a debt of gratitude for making the sport accessible to African American athletes. Althea Gibson was the first black to win a grand slam tournament, capturing Wimbledon, the French Open and the U.S. Nationals (U.S. Open). Including six doubles titles, Gibson won eleven grand slams, a most impressive number of titles. Other Phantom Scribbles

 Kudos to Liane

Kudos are in order for DeKalb County's CEO Liane Levetan for dismissing SELF (Southeastern Legal Foundation) and its titular head Matt Glavin. DeKalb's CEO knows an affirmative action program is needed to overcome current and past discrimination in the administration of county government. The county is well over forty percent black, but whites enjoy more than 90% of all the county's business. This situation screams for affirmative action. It's time local governments dealt with the truth and stopped dodging threats issued by preservers of white privilege like SELF and Matt Glavin. Way to go Liane! She basically told the man to be still and shut up! Levetan refused to "lower herself by getting into a discussion with a group that (she) does not think (is) credible" (AJC 9/15/99). DeKalb's Public School System needs to follow Liane's lead and revisit its decision to end its M-to-M program, because Glavin and SELF threatened to sue. Kudos & Blahs Galore!

Tampons Revisited

In reference to a recent Hood Notes on dangers posed by the feminine hygiene product tampons. According to es@rw.ped.emory.edu, "the information is not correct." The writer suggests we refer to information published at http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ocd/tamponsabs.html

In this official website, the government states its position on the asbestos and dioxin situation with reference to tampons. Basically, the government believes it is all rumors and the products manufactured in America are safe. No evidence of the bleaching, which produces dioxin, occurs, and manufacturers do not use asbestos to promote bleeding. So, it comes down to who you believe. My experience is that it is best to err on the side of caution in these situations. Try your own experiment. If you use tampons, stop using them for a couple of months and decide for yourself. Do you bleed less? Write the company and ask them about the process used to produce feminine hygiene products. Let me know the results of your experience. The DISH will publish the data. Armed with more information, we can better decide which products to use. More Hood Notes

"DO NOT purchase anything from Comp USA now or in the future. I was listening to the Tom Joyner show this morning. During Tavis Smiley commentary, he read a letter received from Comp USA in answer to Tom Joyner's comment about them not willing to advertise on Black Radio or TV. The Director of Marketing for Comp USA sent a letter to Tom Joyner and Tavis Smiley, stating "instead of you trying to bring notice to the public non-minority business not advertising on Black Radio and TV, you, Tom Joyner and Tavis Smiley, should spend your time working with minority businesses, to bring their business up to the level of a non-minority business." He went on to comment on the inferiority of the minority business; Tom and Tavis were steamed." The black commentators are going to show Comp USA how dependent they are on the black consumer. They are asking everyone to send in their receipts, even if it is only $5.00, spent with Comp USA. They are going to tally it all and send it to them. Then, they are asking minority small, medium and large businesses not to purchase anything from Comp USA. Tell your friends and family members; don't buy from Comp USA." Drexel Mitchell- email forwarded by pantherx@slip.net.

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"Families victimized by Brutal, Murdering Cops say: we are parents and other family members of people killed by police or racist mobs or railroaded to prison on false charges. Our experience has taught us some things about the criminal justice system in this country. We know that when the police confront your people of color at night on the streets of our cities, they often brutalize them and even kill them. We know that cops, district attorneys and judges hide evidence of our children's innocence and use manufactured evidence to railroad them to jail. We know that the media almost always runs the police story and paints our children as wrong.

Mumia was railroaded to jail on charges of killing a cop because he is an outspoken opponent of police brutality and other forms of government injustice. He joined the Black Panther Party at the age of 14, and he's been fighting for his people ever since. He is also a renowned journalist who uses his skill to expose what the authorities do to people who are poor and powerless. In fact, the authorities want to execute him to silence his voice. The fact that they have ignored witnesses and other evidence that has been dug up that proves Mumia's innocence shows this to be true." Email forwarded by Oct22@unstoppable.com Atlanta's Mumia Awareness Festival is Saturday, September 24^th at Coan Park in Kirkwood from 2-6PM.

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"Don't Watch Network TV! Read a book! Watch a video! Go online and talk to some friends! Workout! Mow the lawn! Go to the Mall! Shampoo your hair! Cook your favorite recipe! But, by all means, don't watch the following network's season premiere. Only we can make a change for US. Several minority groups are joining forces to boycott ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and the WB." Email forwarded by regge_life@juno.com More from the Mailbox

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