Volume 2 Issue 43 …Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race …November 5, 1999

Beautiful Black Child

by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

Beautiful black child fill the world with wonder

Breathe life into exhausted hopes.

Your pure innocent nature,

Not yet hindered by the evils of this world,

Forever changes those you touch.

Help us to honor the love still living in slave quarters.

The blood shed and pride fed to European insecurities

Whips struck lashes like lightning

Across an horizon of shackled African bodies.

Field hands wounded and bleeding

Run north for freedom, escaping the Klan.

Communing with natives in swampland.

Recaptured stretched necks suspend in midair.

From Southern trees, nooses dangle strange fruit

Burned bare, blistered ebony backs

Frying in the Mississippi sun,

Crisping while picking cotton, crying a soulful moan

Stalks prick over-worked finger tips.

With impunity that massa bastard

Raped your queens forcing father to watch.

All endured 'cause da baby can't go hungry.'

Do not let fear rob you of your gift! You are special!

Lead the way for the future who follow.

Defy the odds! Let your light shine in defiance;

Sheer brilliance blinding the faithless, guiding believers,

An ever glowing tribute to your people.

Beautiful black pearl, the inhumane conditions

You have endured for thousands of generations transforms you.

Glory belongs to our ancestors' sacrifice.

Darwin is the witness;

Evolution is ours!

We possess the will to survive.

Beautiful black butterfly

Rise as the sun with your dreams firmly in hand

Boldly place then amongst the stars,

Ever burning spectacles for the world to gaze upon.

Beautiful black people,

Let our audacious ascension emulate the Nile River.

It began as a few struggling drops.

As time passed, its surging growth overcame obstacles;

Defeating whatever lay in its path.

Refusing to allow the world to define it,

Our existence instead defines the world.

We are an unstoppable force shaping the universe.

All lips shall utter these words: "Black is Beautiful!"

Beautiful black child, this is my prayer for you.

(Re-printed from T.H.I.N.C.) Intuit's Weekly Vibes

Mumia has been granted a stay of executive! Want to know more about Mumia's situation? Tune into PTV Cable Channel 12, Saturday Nov. 6 from 5:30 to 7 PM.

The Atlanta Vibe will be taking it to the next level November 19 - 28, 1999 when Quest 4 Knowledge, Inc. presents Gemini Rising. Billed as the first urban soul hip hop musical, the venue will feature the ATL's own rising spoken word artist Yohannes Sharriff Smith for the show at Seven Stages. Stay plugged into The DISH for more info, or hit them up at MAJECHOU@aol.com More from the Vibe

By John Burl Smith

Overlooked in life as in death, George Washington Carver, slave, educator, scientist, businessman, agriculturist, author, lecturer, reformer and performing artist is never accorded his just desserts. Showing great promise on the Missouri farm where he was born, segregation prevented him from attending school as a child. His hope for education came when Simpson College allowed him to study piano and art. Just twenty years out of slavery, at the age of 30, Carver entered Iowa Agricultural College and became a faculty member.

Those amazing accomplishments brought Prof. Carver to Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes. Rivaling Henry Ford, Thomas A. Edison and Alexander G. Bell, the prolific Prof. Carver developed crop rotation methods, which revolutionized southern agriculture. Convincing farmers that alternating peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes would rejuvenate cotton and tobacco depleted land, Dr. Carver breathed life into the South's dead economy. He gave farmers hundreds of profitable new crops. His inventions and processes changed the South from a one-crop region devastated by Civil War into the most prosperous agricultural area in the world.

Dr. Carver produced 325 products from peanuts, 108 applications from sweet potatoes and 75 products derived from pecans, as well as paints and stains derived from soybeans. His work established him as the father of the American Agri-business industry, i.e., Cargill, ADM. During WWI, Dr. Carver's work benefited mankind, producing more than 500 different shades of dyes, synthetic rubber and material for paving highways. However, his invention that saved millions from certain starvation is peanut butter.

The tremendous number of products and processes invented by Dr. Carver changed not only the South and America, but the world. Contrary to most, Dr. Carver declined to work for a salary of more than $100,000 and dedicated his work to humanity. Unlike the Bill Gateses and Ted Turners of today, the philanthropic Carver was Horatio Alger. Citing God as his inspiration in an age of materialism, he would not patent hundreds of his inventions, saying "God gave them to me. How can I sell them to someone else?" For having begun so late and gone so far against the barriers he faced, George Washington Carver is The DISH's Millennium Man. Bits of Black History

Pine Lake Protesters

Remember the Pine Lake Protesters, Darryl Dorton, Douglas Coffey and Karim Shahid? The DISH highlighted their protest against racial profiling and the hidden tax levied against the community. These young men held daily protests at the Pine Lake Courthouse, encouraging all those who had received traffic tickets issued by Pine Lake police officers to have their cases moved to DeKalb County Court. Their protest has resulted in a substantial loss in revenue from what was essentially a cash cow for the small municipality. These young men assumed personal responsibility for changing a situation they knew was wrong. Kudos to them for standing up and making a difference! (On the Pine Lake Protesters)

The city of Pine Lake is asking state government for a bailout; it lost so much revenue so quickly. Dorton's group, Citizens for Justice, does not support a bailout. Pine Lake must learn to live within its means, which means tightening up its fiscal belt, now that the cash cow has been slaughtered. For more info on Pine Lake, contact Citizens for Justice at 770-484-5503. Other Kudos

Disgruntled says: Surely, our society would move into a new freaky, dark and unchartered realm of human relations, were we to consider killing people conservative compassion.

Disgruntled feels: conservative means preserving the Earth and all her inhabitants.

Disgruntled wants to know: When will our nation engage in a scientific examination of the causes and consequences of slavery and segregation? More Disgruntled

DISHing It Up Hot!

On Advice for "Good Blacks"

by Dot Smith

In discussing The Good Black: A True Story of Race in America on C-Span, Paul M. Barrett said he advised Attorney Larry Mungin, subject of his non-fiction, not to fight his racist law firm. Barrett advised Mungin to move on with his life and forget it. His advice implies one cannot win, even on the rule of law in a biased system. Barrett did not understand Mungin's decision to fight. Barrett is white.

Mungin stood up for what he believed to be right; he sued his law firm for discrimination and won. "Standing up for what is right" seems good advice; it promotes a positive self-image. Principled people do the right thing. Our children should be taught to be such people; yet, this is not the advice given Mungin.

"Good blacks" discriminated against in the workplace and other areas of life are advised by friends, family members, EEOC advisers and mental healthcare providers to forget about it. To make doing so easier, psychologists and psychiatrists prescribe Zoloft or blue coffins, which make patients receptive to psychological counseling or double-think, a process which allows the patient to forget what is right and accept what is wrong.

The advice given "good blacks" is bad advice; it means the individual must suborn his welfare to maintain the status quo, a system of rewards and punishments based on race and class, rather than individual merit. This advice reinforces the notion that "this is the way things are, and nothing can be done." It is bad advice because it ignores "the awesome power of one."

An individual possesses enormous power to affect change; we can end racial discrimination Like spousal abuse, which ends when its victims stop being willing victims, if each of us stopped accepting the abuse, a metamorphous in race relations would ensue! Only then, will our nation be on track toward treating people according to its creed that "all men are created equal." To make that happen, the individual must stand up for what is right; this is good advice for "good blacks" and every other American. More Hot DISHes

Zoloft, the anti-depression drug manufactured by Pfizer, has been on ICIM's list of boycotted items for more than a year. FDA's approval of the blue coffin-shaped pills for the treatment of post-traumatic stress or any mental illness is opposed. African Americans who suffer from depression, which is a normal consequence of the discriminatory experiences we encounter daily, are advised to avoid Zoloft. There are healthier alternatives to drugs for the treatment of mental trauma, such as diet, rest and exercise. People taking Zoloft lack the will to do the right thing. T.H.I.N.C. about it! "A mind is a terrible thing to waste; " filling it up with blue coffins is certain death to an independent intellect. Other Hoodnotes

Politics 2000

Democratic Party Presidential hopefuls, former Sen. Bill Bradley and Vice-Pres. Al Gore, met in a town hall meeting at Dartmouth College. Broadcast live, CNN hyped the setting. Gore seemed destined to beat Bradley. But, Bradley scored the big applause. His quiet plainspoken professorial demeanor trounced Gore's reinvented gimmickry. Voters are looking for astute leaders to deal with the tough issues, Gore is "happy plastic,' all wrong for the serious occasion.

Bradley articulates well the problems facing this nation. More important, he shows a willingness to make changes to resolve them; he wants to make government responsive to the people, rather than special interests. Like Republican Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain, Bradley represents the change Americans are clamoring for. Gore and Bush represent the status quo, and Americans are sick of special interests and big money controlling government. Bradley and McCain will give Americans a real choice come November 2000. Too bad they are not running mates Voters like both. More Politics2000

Barnes' Bite or the Irony of Hate!

by John Burl Smith

To Participants Turnout 75%: The greatest irony of hate is " one cannot change history, one can only lie about it." Governor Roy Barnes of Georgia (AJC 10-26-99), while raising money for Al Gore, continued a disturbing campaign trend. Claiming Al, like a prodigal son, Barnes stressed their agreement on issues, style and strategy. Following Gore's lead, Barnes attacked Bill Bradley for being too liberal. Lashing out, Barnes continued the harsh criticism of Bill's credibility as a Democrat. Retrospectively, Roy Barnes, as many diehard segregationist left the Democratic Party to support George Wallace. Symbolizing their heritage, Dixiecrats like Barnes support flying the confederate flag, while working to keep blacks out of Democratic power circles. As part of the Gore strategy, they are attacking those who stayed and fought off racist attempts to turn Democrats into what Republicans have become. Bradley did not run away from that fight.

Adopting Republicans' negative crash and burn, but win at all cost approach, Barnes reflects Gore campaigning; both are proponents of "smart growth," environmental quality of life issues, education and affirmative action. However, in office, Barnes has reinvented government by creating the largest bureaucracy in recent history. Reestablishing cronyism, Barnes is rewarding good old boys with development programs to enrich Cobb as well as North Georgia.

For blacks, "smart growth" is more than a matter of style. Coming at the expense of predominantly black areas, as did sprawl, it siphons off urban development money. Although blacks supported his election overwhelmingly, Barnes has turned his back on affirmative action. His administration has only 13 percent African American representation. Presently, Roy is carving up over $500 billion in transportation, $300 million in environmental enrichment, and $800 million in related growth opportunity projects, but refuses to insure African Americans get a fair shot at contracts.

Avoiding Dialogue on Race exposed Gore's thin veneer of credibility. Dismissing institutionalized racism, as a barrier blocking equal education, employment opportunities and economic development, Gore ducked leadership. On these issues Barnes and Gore are identical, while Bradley made improving race relations the cornerstone of his campaign.

Comparatively, a Gore administration will downsize blacks, continuing his "reinvention of government." For Gore and Barnes, southerners relying heavily on black votes, the reciprocal irony of hate reached across the years to embrace George Wallace at the end and stares at Lester Maddox in the looking glass. Other Essays by Mr. Smith

G.W., the Republican frontrunner, is avoiding debates against his fellow contenders for the party's presidential nomination. Those behind the scenes believe it is smart. "G.W. isn't ready to play HARDBALL with the big boys, " says one source. Who elaborated, "he is no Buchanan, who honed his skills in front of television cameras on shows like Crossfire and Hardball. G.W. is no competition against McCain, Bauer, Hatch, Forbes or Keyes, the lone black candidate. Intelligent and articulate, Keyes has little chance of winning the GOP nomination, but in a debate, Keyes can take G.W's lunch.

"Let's be honest! G.W. got the money and no brains, " one exclaimed, while another chimed, "we do not need another zombie in the White House; it gives special interest carte blanche. McCain is my choice for the party's nomination, even though G.W. has the money." Gore's shot in the foot performance in New Hampshire made GW's people more afraid of exposure. Insiders strongly favor something materializing, a special birthday party, funeral or award ceremony, anything to keep exposure at bay receives serious consideration. Phantom Scribblers

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