The Tide

by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

The night, it moves.

Its life's breath is birth by the approach of dusk.

While the day dies, it whispers amongst the trees.

Patiently waiting in the shadows,

As the sun welcomes death,

Sliding down from the rafters

And crawling out of the depths,

It sings softly in car engines and hums

As rush hour tires meet the steady concrete.

The lonely eye wonders its mystical presence,

Lost amongst kissed black by mellow urban lights.

And, twinkling stars screaming their silent life.

While swimming in this celestial menagerie,

Seekers lose substance and inner rivers of self

Merge with universal waters.

Children faithfully follow the piper's enchanting music,

As it plays a gentle invitation to join the great beyond.

The pulse of the quiet noise

Calls with a hypnotic weight,

Summoning the creature inside.

So, the soul may dance naked,

In the furious unknown of the nocturnal tide. Other Intuit Vibes

Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is back! He saw The Matrix and learned some new techniques! After demonstrating an intricate move, Dark One/Ninja/Zorro said, "Grandmas are too old to do a back flip!" Other Bat Comments

ReT.H.I.N.C. Traditions!

Tradition is defined as "the handing down of information, beliefs and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instructions." Traditions are like flags; they say something about those upholding them. Some customs are dangerous. One is the annual Texas A&M bonfire. Faced with dwindling natural resources, poverty and homelessness, a small forest of at least 5,000 trees is consumed on a pyre to inspire school spirit. This year, a dozen died and scores injured while building the pyre. For an institution of higher learning, the practice defies reason, yet there are some who defend the spiritual tradition.

Another unsavory, dangerous and unhealthy tradition is swine consumption, especially the intestines, which harbors bacteria identified by the CDC as Yersinia enterocolitica. According to the CDC, the bacteria, which lives in pigs and other animals is responsible for causing annual outbreaks of gastroenteritis. Its symptoms are diarrhea, fever and stomach pains. Primarily consumed by blacks from Thanksgiving to New Year, cold temperatures do not kill these bacteria. Adept at growing in cold places, it can spread in a refrigerator. So, just because your guts came frozen in a red pail does not mean they are bacteria free. For more information on cooking and handling raw pig guts and the dangers posed in consuming them, email Dr. Anthony Flore at gaepinfo@dhr.state.ga.us. With more information, perhaps blacks can begin to re-T.H.I.N.C. consuming animal waste disposal systems and calling them "southern delicacies, " which is a marketing strategy designed to keep them eating the, pardon my French, "shit" no one else wants. More from the Hood

Most scholars agree that the French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville aptly described Americans of the 1800s as "vulgar." What if their vulgarity included eating each other? Cannibalism is not normally associated with America, at least not the North American continent. Those bloodthirsty savages, native Americans, seem to have escaped charges of this barbarism. The same cannot be said for the pilgrims of Jamestown, Virginia. Had de Tocqueville ventured to Jamestown during the winter of 1609-1610, he may have been dinner.

According to historical accounts, that winter "turned into a starving time, worse than anything before. Jamestown settlers were reduced to eating dogs, cats, rats, snakes, toadstools, horsehides and even the corpses of dead men. At least one settler was reported to have killed his wife and ate her through the winter. In the following month of May, when others arrived at Jamestown, they found 60 scarcely human wretches still alive, when there had been nearly 500 the previous summer."

This Jamestown incident may be the roots of this tradition, which Sam Schenchner, an Indy features editor, sums up in The New Cannibalism, i.e., "my earliest moral maneuvering can be summed thus: it's okay to kill animals, if you're going to eat them. And aren't we just animals?" Email Schenchner at indy@netspace.org.

For the most part, the African American diet, including that southern "delicacy" chitlins or chitterlings, is a function of our slave history and abject poverty. Hungry people eat things the well fed would never touch. Contrary to the notion that slaves were treated as prized stock or "beloved children," they received just enough to keep them alive and working. The slave diet consisted primarily of "corn meal, salt pork and molasses." Slaves were forced by circumstances to survive off the crumbs from the master's table. Desperate and creative, they discovered edible things. To survive, they ate everything available, except each other. When hogs were slaughtered on southern plantations, slaves got the scrap heap, i.e., guts, ears, tails, feet, "everything from the rooter to the tooter" the master did not sell or eat. Ironically, some things slaves ate out of necessity are now marketed as "delicacies." Sadly, African Americans pay dearly for the marketing strategy, as many of us pay dearly for a pail of diseased and deadly chitlins. Other Bits of Black History

 Movement!

by John Burl Smith

As late as 1958, freedom of movement advocates could not convince national leaders blacks were being held prisoners of southern farms. Debt reduced blacks to virtual surfs on the land. Whites patrolled southern roads to prevent families from leaving for the North. Therefore, one's only hope of escaping sharecropping slavery was to travel at the peril of one's family at night.

By 1962 brothers and sisters working the fields conceived of "freedom rides" to increase freedom of movement for families wanting to sell their labor on the open market. National organizations supporting college students saw "freedom rides" less idealistically. They aimed at mobilizing around black and white signs to increase identification. Middle class-minded national leaders sought greater social access, rather than economic freedom.

Blacks most affected by southern oppression believed this strategy downplayed the larger implications of racism. Breaking the economic grip of slavery on slave descendants became a battle over black and white signs.

Traditionally, advances by African Americans begin with grassroots action. Freedom rides, sit-ins and the Memphis sanitation strike all drew national attention as local efforts became effective. National leadership nationalizes issues. Local politicians recognize such personalities and attribute results to their presence. As during "freedom rides," national leadership undercut those who developed local issues. When national personalities quit the scene, this diminution process leaves local organizers without credibility

Retrospectively, national organizations reduce movements for economic freedom to lunch counter access-type issues, rather than the economic freedom of black families to sell their labor like other citizens. Blacks in Decatur, Illinois are trapped in the same neo-slave economic system. Institutionalized racism keeps African Americans locked in the chasm of inequality. By fighting over black and white signs, national leaders sacrificed the greater concern. Consequently, blacks in Decatur are still "freedom riders." Other Essays by Mr. Smith

From the Voice of Minorities in the Trench (VOMITT) comes the 1999 Grassroots Economic Report on Inequality: An American tradition. Despite unprecedented economic prosperity, VOMITT found most blacks felt they are running in place, relatively speaking. More than a sentiment, their gut instincts are borne out by objective economic measurements.

Most Americans are members of families, so family income is an important indicator of economic welfare. While nominal increases in family income occurred over the past 40 years, real incomes, adjusted for inflation, grew little. Moreover, the historic income disparity between black and white families did not change. Historically, black family median income is about 60% of white median family income. Because wages make up the greatest share of family income, black labor is valued at three-fifths of white labor, i.e., b=3/5white. This value is in Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution; it legalized slavery and created the chasm of inequality between blacks and whites. This tradition of institutionalized racism guarantees the chasm of inequality.

In 1998, the latest year annual income data are available, black family median income was $25,351, and the white family median income was $40,912. Black median family income was 62% of white family income. Traditionally, black family income is between 50% to 65% of white family income. 1999's income data are sure to show a continuation of this traditional income inequality. Given historic socioeconomic practices, we will continue the tradition of two separate and unequal societies. More News You Use

 The Atlanta Vibe

In an explosive return, Kimani launched his new project, Cultural Shock II with Keys 2 Kurrents last Tuesday November 30, 1999 at MJQ. Formerly of The Mighty I Am Project, Kimani has recast his concept. Playwright We One hosted, and Yohannes Sharriff put the show in orbit. Asked about the event, Yohannes said, "It shows the strength and power of the ATL vibe. Sisters and brothers are working hard to elevate their performances. By giving love and supporting each other, confidence grows, so you try something a little bolder next time. It is great to see Kimani back on his game." More Atlanta Vibe

 DISHing It Up Hot!

Though relatively young, America, particularly the United States, is strong on traditions. This issue of The DISH has identified several unsavory and dangerous ones. Thanks to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's exposé on historic Peachtree Street and several editorials on Atlanta's affirmative action dilemma, we can add another time-honored tradition practiced in this southern city.

In 1906, Alonzo Herndon followed this long-standing tradition, which was repeated by Coretta Scott King and others in 1968. That tradition is embodied in the "advice to good blacks." The tradition is actually taking the advice to "get things back to normal," according to the dictates of the city's white elite establishment that wishes to maintain the facade of racial harmony and equal opportunity.

Cynthia Tucker of the AJC editorial board, a black, has been highly critical of Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell for his vow to "fight to the death" to save the city's affirmative action program. Tucker has made the attack personal by calling Campbell an egomaniac. Tucker's advice to Campbell is "accede to the wishes of the city's business leaders." The bottom line is "they know better!" Tucker is good at giving "good black advice," which, if taken, keeps blacks at the very bottom of America's socioeconomic and political ladder.

From slavery, coalitions of concerned business and clergy have joined forces to persuade blacks to be "reasonable," forget inequities, past and present injustices and "get things back to normal." Getting back to normal means getting blacks in line. Acceptance of "normal" conditions precludes correcting inequities and improving the socioeconomic condition of the majority of blacks. Tucker-types and her white counterparts adhere to the unscientific and historically ridiculous notion that blacks can compete, unimpeded in America's economy. In other words, blacks roared back from the devastation of slavery, Jim Crow segregation and continued institutionalized racism, without reparations, to level the economic playing field. To allow affirmative action to end is to maintain the status quo, a situation, which places blacks in a position of distinct disadvantage, another American tradition. More Hot DISHes

Did you ever wonder how politicians successfully campaign on "family values" platforms, while getting divorces, engaging in adulterous relationships, etc.? Having rendered their families asunder, they appear in public with straight faces dripping moral authority and pledging to "preserve American family values." How do they escape ridicule for this hypocrisy? Why are they popular among certain constituencies and the mainstream media?

Obviously, these politicians and those who support them do not see them as garden-variety hypocrites for saying one thing and doing the opposite. A plausible explanation has surfaced and is being circulated, i.e., "preserving family values" are code words much like "law and order, " which means "more police and harsher penalties for blacks, the criminal element." Law is used to criminalize behavior, while police and prisons protect white privilege. "Family values" or rather the promise to preserve them means a commitment to white privilege and "family values" embedded in the Constitution. In other words, we will preserve the 3/5ths Compromise. Now you know why Newt Gingrich, Bob Barr, Bob Livingston, etc. are not run off stage or off the air. Their coded messages are well received by those who support maintaining "traditional family values." Other Phantom Scribblers

Disgruntled says: No wonder Atlantans are confused. The AJC needs to get it right. Either DeKalb's School Board lost a lawsuit over its M-to-M program or it caved in to a SELF (Southeastern Legal Foundation) threat of a suit. It can't be both!

Disgruntled wants to know: What family value message does the Ramseys deliver, when as parents of a murder victim, they invest in defense attorneys and ghostwriters instead of a P.I. to find their child's murderer?

Disgruntled feels: Y2K unready! Other Disgruntled Moments

Born during the era of "The Brown Bomber," Joe Louis epitomized heroism. A representative of otherwise impotent people, Joe colors my perception of all who have come after. Mohammed Ali is the exception.

Until Tim Russet's Meet the Press interview with George W. Bush, Jr., I never understood why Mohammad Ali called Floyd Patterson, "The Rabbit." My favorite fighter at the time, he represented American values. Like most confused Americans, I hated Ali for changing Classius Clay into someone we thought hated America. From our perspective, Ali could never beat a "true American" like Floyd Patterson.

However, Ali saw in Patterson's eyes, what I recognize in Jr.'s. Training never made a champion, it only makes him better. Joe showed up every time, and Ali always answered the bell. Like George Jr., Patterson only showed championship stuff against lesser opponents. Ali saw through to the rabbit's heart. Money can not hide fear, it only buys room to run.

Gags 2000 $@#+?=%

What do you call someone with his feet in his mouth, who can still talk out of both sides? Ans. George W. Bush, Jr., of course! Oh! Oh! Oh! ....

Well, then, how about this one? How do you compute the distance between two bushes? Ans. Measure the space between Jr.'s ears times 2.

0k, ok, ok...What is the favorite beer in Texas? Ans. Bush Light. Check this out! How big is a $60 million rabbit? Ans. As BIG as Texas.

Ok! Ok! One more, one more! Why did the Republican National Committee buy $10 million worth of anchor wire? Ans. They did not want their Bushes flapping in the wind. More Politics 2000

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