The DISH
"Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use"

Volume 2 Issue 52 …Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race… January 7, 2000

Emblematic of Washington, D. C., African American mayors are losing home rule. Proponents of states rights and local control, Governors defend "the right of people closest to the problem to decide their fate." White Mayors have incompetent, corrupt and inefficient administrations. Governors, rather than intervene, maintain "these are local matters." Hostile to federal action, they say, "intervention is an unwarranted intrusion into local affairs." Conversely, whether Democrat or Republican, mayors in Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, Memphis, New Orleans and Houston are under attack like black politicians in the 1890s. Contrasting their laissez-faire attitude, state governments are strong-arming cities by overruling local choice.

Michigan Governor John Ingler (R) took over Detroit's Schools, outlawed resident requirements for city employment and aims to take over the water system. He ignores the fact that Michigan's legislature robbed Detroit schools of funds to support suburban schools for years. He knows state government forced Detroit schools to fail in order to hide the real change. Ingler and Republicans see the economic power Detroit's casinos will bring the mayor and are moving now to take control.

Atlanta is comparably situated. Governor Roy Barnes (D) made his career fighting Atlanta. Now, he is using the legislature, appointed boards and commissions to take control of Atlanta's services. Fighting to control schools, Barnes plans to transfer education money out of Atlanta to help rural schools. Having farmed Atlanta like a cash cow as a legislator to finance sprawl, Roy's boards and commissions will trap any funds coming directly to Atlanta from the federal government. Simultaneously, Barnes has hatched a scheme to take over Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) by absorbing it into his new Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA). This will give him control of all highway and light rail funds coming to Atlanta for air quality and traffic improvements.

Urban takeover strategies keep resources flowing through the same channels to white business interests. Controlling economic resources victimizes blacks through taxation without representation. Whites keep money decisions out of the hands of African Americans through panels, boards and commissions. These catch basins give whites another slice of the economic pie, by reducing the amount needy people eventually get. This is the slave/master mind-set; "Blacks are too incompetent and dishonest to be trusted with money. Only whites can be entrusted with it." Other Essays by Mr. Smith

Disgruntled feels: Y2KKK-ed after being CNN-ed to death about the new millennium!

Disgruntled says: When George Bush, Jr. pulls out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, he should donate what is left of his $60+ million war chest to the church or other faith-based charitable organization, because "Jesus changed his heart!"

Disgruntled wants to know: Our reader poll shows that 73% of those identified as Georgians favor changing the state flag (margin of error +/- 4%). As a state legislator, Roy Barnes fought to keep the confederate battle emblem a part of the state flag. Now, as the governor, how does Roy square being out of sync with the vast majority of his constituents? More Disgruntled Moments

OH--well! After one trip to the strip,

How soon we forget.

Young and active with no regrets

Putting it all on the table while the hood-licks

Hang around placing their bets.

Life goes on all is well, no love lost.

If so, I will assume the cost.

It's your world my friend be your own boss.

So many experiences it blows my mind.

So much learned in such a short time.

My heart is talking but I listen to my mind.

I see the warnings and assume everything's fine.

Hey, I'm young I still have time.

Remember your heart is talking. Is anyone there?

Miss Thing you're grown. Not listening

Couldn't give a damn and still don't care.

What a shame another wasted mind,

Butt up in air being rode

Like a bull harnessed with twine.

You rebelled against advice; refused to see the signs.

Foolishly thinking every man was a friend

And any boy could be mine.

Four are gone, good years left behind.

Chalk up another casualty to the group

Representing the dumb, simple and blind.

Too young to be used when you really were fine...

I pray my sister that you wake up in time.

About Me: "Air Jay "(bro_ic@hotmail.com) My name is Rick Roberson. I am a Christian single black male in my mid thirties. Jesus is my life. I work in Computer Information Technology. I love working with people and computers. I also enjoy writing poems or stories and chatting with friends on Aim. Other Artists in theVenue

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro loves being home with grandma. According to the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro, "At grandma's, it feels soft, and I am warm and comfortable." More Comments from the Bat Cave

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is the South's only urban mass transit system. Unlike its northern counterparts, MARTA is clean and efficient. If you work in Atlanta, MARTA is cheaper than most paid parking. It makes sense for attending Mecca entertainment events. Yet, Cobb, Clayton and Gwinnett counties' citizens voted against the MARTA referendum. In 1971, having passed in the city of Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb counties, the referendum became law. According to Sandra Gray, MARTA's legal department, "counties that voted it down are still served by MARTA, since 80% of its funding comes from the federal government. Only 20% is locally funded through the sales tax and fares."

For years, MARTA tried to bring them onboard. Programmed to believe MARTA would bring crime and other social ills, they adamantly opposed mass transit. Like Rocker, they wanted to avoid close encounters with ethnic diversity; they preferred polluting private automobiles. But, the AM influx to fill Atlanta jobs and the evening suburbia exodus meant gridlock. Re-thinking mass transit, they are begging for alternatives. Smarter, cheaper and cleaner, now they want MARTA. The needs of the people who paid all along and were promised rail service, like south DeKalb County, are pushed to the back burner to appease suburbia. This is taxation without representation in transportation. Other Bits of History

In his first jam with the Atlanta Vibe, Saul Williams hosts Echoes of My Mind, a collaboration of One Mind Production and B.O.B. Entertainment. "Echoes" creates a montage of spoken word, culture drums, jazz-R&B, visual art and hip hop artists. Featuring house-rockers and mind-blowers like Shawna, Starr, Mykel, Dialectic, Sayyid, Mayd Ta' La and Yohannes, this venue is guaranteed off da' hook! This New York style show blows the roof off the Atrium to begin the new millennium. Doors open @ 6 PM on January 22, 2000. This is where the future is happening. Be there or be left behind! Other Vibe Events

"Reinventing government," VP Al Gore's first demonstration of presidential timber escapes notice. A clarion call, stain hides the true grain of his dogged pursuit. Not claiming the fruit of his labor, Al hopes voters will not blame him for worms in his reinvention. Public scrutiny of his handy work will expose a record he wishes to conceal. Sweeping "the last hired," from the federal payrolls, he harvested patronage pledges, like campaign financing in 1996. Knowing Al, when "there is no controlling legal authority," government jobs give him control of super delegates and a lock on the Democratic nomination.

Many of those "last hired" held affirmative action positions managers wanted to eliminate. However, Clinton/Gore's "reinventing government" opened the floodgate. Affirmative action came to a virtual halt. Their retreat from fair employment, discrimination, harassment and retaliation lawsuits resulted in wholesale dismissal of African Americans from federal employment. Al Gore takes credit for the work of other. Amazingly, he avoids credit for the one thing for which he is well known - reinventing government. More Phantom Scribblings

by John Burl Smith

Vice President Al Gore's education proposal reveals the fundamental flaw Seattle demonstrators pointed out about President Clinton's trade policy: lack of proportionality and perspective. Specifically, it maintains a lavish lifestyle of the status quo by keeping people in poverty. Responding to Bill Bradley, Gore released a $115 billion plan for universal preschool and teachers' salaries. Claiming education is "too important to be left solely to state and local governments," Al wants to expand many Clinton administration programs. One example is in Chicago. Touting globalization and free trade, Education Secretary Richard Riley and the INS approved foreigners for teaching positions in Chicago schools. African American children find it difficult enough coping under current conditions, adding foreigners to the mix widens the gap.

Called "Global Educators Outreach," the Chicago program will hire fifty teachers a year from Britain, Israel, South Africa and India. Getting work visas, lodging and stipends during six weeks of qualification training, they can borrow against their $35,000 starting salary. These foreigners will get four years to get standard state certification. After six years, they get permanent visas.

According to Secretary Riley, "2.2 million teachers are needed over the next ten years to fill shortages." With this agreement, public education follows trends set in high technology, scientific research laboratories and universities in which foreign workers are imported to fill positions. Secretary Alexis Herman certified critical shortages of educators with certain specialties and agreed to approve work certificates. Like Al Gore's "reinventing government patronage," Chicago is crucial to the Democratic nomination.

Seattle protestors pointed out trade policies shackle poor people trying to change their status. African Americans are sacrificed, so neo-xenophobes in Chicago can import Europeans to take high paying America jobs. If African Americans were given this kind of special treatment in order to fill vacancies, whites would call it reverse discrimination and quotas. Even though the Labor and Education Departments identified these critical shortages in 1992, Clinton/Gore failed to prepare Americans for these job opportunities. Had African American children been given opportunities back then, four classes would have graduated. All African Americans have to show for supporting Clinton/Gore and being Bill's staunchest backers during impeachment is more promises. Electing Al Gore means eight more years of silence and taxation without representation, which is economic slavery. More Politics2000

DeKalb County's School System paid Southeastern Legal Foundation (SELF) $5,000, in the wake of a threatened lawsuit. This is blackmail! SELF has illegally obtained public education tax dollars. Our board should not yield to this kind of extortion; it wastes scarce funds. DeKalb's school system incurred no debt to SELF; no lawsuit was filed. The use of education tax dollars in this manner is an example of taxation without representation in education. A new school board can prevent future waste of tax dollars! More Blahs! And Kudos!

by Dot Smith

On December 20, 1999, The DISH sent another memo to the Honorable Governor Roy Barnes requesting his official position on changing Georgia's flag. In part, it reads, "For some time now, I have been trying to obtain your official position on changing Georgia's flag to remove the confederate battle emblem. Your media representative, Jocelyn Butler, has consistently given me the runaround and refused to answer the question. She has dodged, and we have played this cat-n-mouse phone tag game for far too long, so I am forced to appeal to you directly. Allow me to apologize in advance for interrupting your hard work creating commissions to solve Georgia's problems and the important business of drafting your state of the state message for January. We hope you will include in that message some indication of where you stand on the Georgia flag issue. Moreover, we hope you will encourage the honorable men and women in the General Assembly to undertake the symbolic gesture of changing the state flag to show Georgia is a state for all its citizens.

We believe changing the flag is in the interest of all Georgians. According to Georgia 10^th grader Crystal Clemons, "When adopted by a state, a flag is supposed to be inclusive; it should symbolize every Georgian." We stand behind her 100%. It is time our state adopted a symbol that is not divisive, but rather "a symbol around which all Georgians can rally." Other Hot DISHes

Like Georgia's governor, the presidential candidates have not responded to our Confederate flag survey. However, the January 7, 2000 debates in South Carolina are sure to touch on this important subject. And, while Alan Keyes openly opposes the flag, the other Republican and Democratic candidates are largely silent on this issue. George W. Bush is lukewarm in his support of the confederate flag flying atop SC's state capitol building. He thinks the matter should be left up to the state and takes no stand otherwise. All the other candidates have avoided the topic entirely. Other Hood Notes

"Pretty cool piece you sent me recently...especially "Saluting a Beautiful Brother," by John Burl Smith. Did you know the very last dead USMC Vietnam tanker of the war was a black tanker from Washington D.C. named Charles Pugh of Charlie Company? I spent many good times and lots of tough ones up and down the Charlie ridge with one of the finest black men I will ever know, lance corporal Eubanks, South Carolina, 1969-1970. Ambush platoon, 1^st tank battalion, this big strapping man, scary looking as all get out, but a magnificent specimen of a U.S. marine, is one of the nicest people ever born. He was the m-60 machine gun "a-gunner" with my squad, and he told me, when I first got there, in a dragged out southern drawl, as he strapped on four, count 'em, four, of them big heavy machine gun belts, a hundred 7.62 caliber rounds apiece, "If you're still here in 90 days, then maybe you just might have a chance of getting outta here alive, but there's no guarantees. You can get yourself blown away just as fast on your last day as you can on your first day." He saved my young, dumb, white butt a couple of times. We were brothers, like flesh and blood. Afterwards, I never saw him again. I hope he is well tonight somewhere out there, I will never forget him, and he remembers me." cbdoten@azstarnet.com

"I've been enjoying The DISH for a couple of years now -- I'm not sure just how long. I'm glad you're doing it. But I'm curious. How on earth is it that I'm on your mailing list? I don't live in Atlanta, though I did a summer internship with Atlanta Legal Aid in DeKalb County about 10 years ago. And I'm not African-American. Most of my work as an attorney has been on behalf of Hispanic immigrants, but I don't think I've done anything notable that would have come to your attention. Sometime when you have a spare minute, I'd like to know who you are. Keep up the good work and best wishes for the holidays. Email:dipierro@mindspring.com More from Our Readers

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