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Volume 3 No 11..… Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race ...March 24, 2000

Note: The DISH is based on themes from T.H.I.N.C. (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness): The Chrysalis of Evolution. According to the President's Initiative on Race, "The issues that this book brings to the forefront are important in our efforts to achieve the goals set forth by the President for the Initiative. This work will serve as a solid resource for us as we begin to examine these critical issues." For your copy of T.H.I.N.C. or to submit comments, contact ICIM, Inc. at (404) 244-6023 or email us at icim@bellsouth.net. All rights reserved The DISH © 1999

by John Burl Smith

Leaving Georgia Southern University on a quest to become the consummate spoken word artist and messenger of truth, Yohannes Sharriff Smith has sharpened his performance skills while representing the Atlanta Vibe. Outstanding performances earned him several awards last year, and the message in 2000 will remain "just as raw and real." T.H.I.N.Cers hanging in the Vibe recognize his tremendous stage presence. Channeling an audience's energy, while making it work in ones' favor, takes the measure of an artist. However, the grinds of the road, unfamiliar faces and distant places are fires, which temper true performers. For Yohannes, the 1997 National Poetry Slam Championship in Middletown, CT ripped away his chrysalis.

As we entered the time warp of Pleasantville, like an evening fog "You do not belong," pervaded the atmosphere. Only a handful of black poets dared show up. Hospitality caustic, faraway stares zeroed in like howitzers, as exploding snickers whizzed by like shrapnel. Without any doubt, we were in a war zone. Slotted in the most hostile venues with white judges pulling for the local team and dread-locked down, Yohannes was forced to defend his audacity - showing up and claiming to be a poet.

 Ambushed the first night, this was a knife fight in a dark alley. How would Yohannes respond? Just before taking the stage, he said, "This is not about winning any longer. Last night these rednecks did not recognize themselves in Ham and Cheese: Linear Secularism. Tonight, I will show them Beautiful Black Child. Pride will not allow me to accept being dissed after coming this far to represent the ATL Vibe." Out of the stratosphere, dropping truth like a mad bomber blowing up consciousness, Yohannes torched the scores and left them eating smoke. If one is to succeed, one cannot run away from some battles. Truth is its own reward. John 2000

Centennial High 10th-grader Crystal Clemons and classmates deserve special kudos. Thanks to them, Georgia is feeling the groundswell to change the state's flag to remove the Confederate battle emblem. Crystal brought the wave to her school. She delivered a powerful speech to her advanced English class, which included a poll before and after her presentation. Prior to her persuasive speech to change Georgia's flag, 69% of her all white classmates voted not to change the state flag. After she educated them to our shared history, 69% voted to change the flag. Providing cogent evidence that the flag contained a divisive emblem, Crystal made her case that as the state's symbol, the flag should unite, rather than divide its citizens.

Crystal's experience raises questions about what our children and those charged with teaching them really know about our shared history. When teachers are ignorant, what can we realistically expect our children to know? If taught the truth, there would be no discussion about changing the flag. We would rush to remove it from public view. Kudos to Crystal! She took on the dual roles of student and teacher. Thanks to her, Centennial High students voted not to display Georgia's flag.

by John Burl Smith

Dune, a sci-fi movie, is about a harsh desolate inhospitable plant, teeming with life just beneath its surface. There, the Fremen have a saying: "God created Arrakis to train the faithful." This analogy describes America for African slaves' descendants. Let's Make a Slave, Willie Lynch's economic philosophy, assumes there will be no retribution. Defining African slaves as property, uncivilized and outside Christendom, denies any reflection of godliness. Beasts can be broken and subjugated to God's will. Lynching demands church support. Accepting slavery as the best means of civilizing savage African heathens, the Pope presided over slave trading and profited from the sale of human beings. Christian missionaries served as advance guards justifying African enslavement as the will of God.

Lynching is the ultimate lesson. Exemplifying Christ's death to absolve men of their sins, blacks are Eucharistic elements, symbolizing that spiritual reality. Slavery is what everyone agreed served European economic interests. African enslavement was not about bringing blacks to Christ; it was about enslaving them. That economic system has undergone dramatic facelifts, but it is still the "grim reaper" for slaves' descendants. Epitomizing the body of Christ, blacks are ritualistically sacrificed to preserve white privilege.

The American Christian Church has always supported slavery in one form or another. Particularly, its subjugation of blacks, Native Americans and women has been unwavering. The South made lynching a way of life. Synonymous to Germany's "Final Solution," "Tough on crime" is code for strictly enforcing lynching. How else do Christians fight to save those unborn and fight to kill those already here? Under Clinton/Gore's "Welfare to Work," the plight of single mothers is the testing phase of the Y2KKK lynching process. Stretched out between the two horses of drugs and prison, black men are rendered impotent before the world. Young blacks in America's prisons are denied education and rehabilitation. Facing life without parole or the death penalty, young black men are aborted after being born.

What will an apology do for this generation of slaves' descendants? Like Willie Lynch, white Christians assume God will not judge them for the sins of their heritage. Whites feel justified in their 3/5ths view of blacks and teach their children, "lynching is necessary," witness Amadou Diallo. Presently, state governments are re-segregating blacks based on income level. Through the church and the Confederate flag, whites teach their children, "in order for you to have what we have, you must do what we did, be good Christians and become lynchers." Without retribution, there is no justice. God is justice! John 2000

Rapidly becoming a rehabilitative stop, Soul Vegetarian's Righteous Vibes hosted by Yohannes Sharriff Smith has become the jumping on point for artist regrouping after a serious brush with reality. In a new trajectory, Dionne Farris will "RNR" with the Vibe Saturday, March 24, 2000. Like a blast from a Saturn V rocket, scorching all who dare stand too close, her performance promises to elevate. Sizzling the charts with Hopeless, she is heating up again with new projects in the works. The doors open @ 8 P.M. Shoot through and check her out. Some sisters are better on the rebound!

ATL Vibe's Sol Konfiscation hip-hops Urban Groovz, hosted by Seventh Sun. Sunday, April 9^th @ 7 PM. 22^nd Street Jazz Café, 710 South 22^nd St., Birmingham, AL.

The British monarchy marginalized well. As the premier new-world colonial master, Great Britain imposed taxes and generally suppressed economic freedom in its colonies. The Boston Tea Party (1773), where chests of tea were tossed into the harbor, was one of the protests among many, which were staged by Americans opposed to British laws that unfairly taxed colonists. America's revolutionary spirit grew out of the unfairness. Taxation without representation was the rallying cry and cause, which eventually led to the revolutionary birth to our great nation.

In January 1776, the pamphlet, Common Sense, summed up the feelings, which stirred in the breasts of Americans. Thomas Paine, its author, persuaded colonists that separation from Great Britain was in their self-interest. To Paine, England was a corrupt and brutal island kingdom no more fit to rule the American continent than a satellite was fit to rule the sun. Helping to crystalize their feelings toward this brutish tyrant, Americans embraced Paine's commonsense philosophy.

Hood Notes

One reader wrote, "I THINC it is time for a tax revolt!" Another said, "I am sick and tired of watching our children die, and we can do nothing!" Yet another chimed, "It is a crime! I can't make my elected officials see that our children are being cheated in education; we pay more than the average in taxation, but we have the worst public transportation and other amenities in our communities." These readers desire change. Real reformers, they need ways to make the system responsive to them as taxpayers. Primarily women, The DISH is advising them to take individual action. What they choose to do will make all the difference. If we are to throw off mediocre representation and instill officials who will speak to our socioeconomic and political welfare, we must elect people to office who care.

South DeKalb County faces serious long-term problems. Specifically, families living near Seminole Landfill and along Panola Road face special hardships. Plastic plumbing pipes were used in building their homes on land where there is soil and groundwater contamination.

According to Jane Perry Britt, Georgia Department of Human Resources, we are closer to a health study for the Seminole Landfill area. In her letter of 2/3/00, Britt stated, "The GDHR has completed the final draft of the public health assessment. The draft report has been submitted to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for publication. After publication, there will be a public comment period." In April, look for the final report to make your comments about conditions around Seminole Landfill.

For nearly two years, State Sen. Nadine Thomas promised to hold meetings on Seminole that never happened, while people remain adversely affected. Tom Black, DeKalb's Public Works Director, said he would meet with area residents to discuss findings in a study on groundwater contamination, after U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney asked EPA to investigate. EPA said nothing, and McKinney is silent. Meanwhile, people continue to be exposed to soil and groundwater contaminants.

News You Use

The DISH suggested legislation to restrict the use of plastic plumbing pipes in construction where human habitation is likely. It proposed public education of health hazards in area where environmental racism is rampant. In response, let the buyer beware and keep them ignorant epitomize the attitude of our officials. Committed to self-interest, their personal greed is appeased at public expense. Thievery, few are caught or go to jail. Notable exceptions are Diana H. Johnson and Ralph D. Abernathy, III. Branded a criminal, Johnson was convicted of stealing; her actions mimic those of State Reps. Nan Orrock and Michelle Henson, who got money through the Holocaust Commission; they remain in office. Two others voted on Grady Hospital funding and own businesses connected with that institution.

In Coke country, ethics is a dirty word. Corruption investigations and prosecutions are limited to a few blacks. The big dogs conduct business as usual; they thrive by keeping the public ignorant. With an uninformed electorate, they get away with robbery, can ignore our wishes and remain in office. It is past time to disabuse them of the idea that we are ignorant.

Our intelligent children are the solution. They can beat these turkeys in debates on the issues; they can run for office to represent our people. Young people embody the solution to bringing about a revolution, which is essential, if we are to change our condition.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution did an investigative piece on Reverend Creflo A. Dollar, head of World Changers Ministries. Dollar refused to testify in the divorce case of Evander Holyfield. Dollar allegedly profited from Holyfield's membership. His spouse believes he hid millions with Dollar's assistance. I came away from reading the piece with the impression that Dollar is a two-headed penny. Then, I have never met a reverend that did not exhibit some unsavory qualities, such as emphasizing the dollar and personal luxury, too often bought with funds that should go to charity. Let us be honest. Dollar is not the only false prophet preaching to those that Minnesota Gov. Jesse Venura and the media mogul Ted Turner refer to as "the weak-minded."

Come November, here are a couple of classic acts you should remember! District 46 in predominantly black Atlanta is represented by State Rep. Kathy Ashe (R). Wagging the dog, Ashe introduced a bill to change the state flag after the cutoff deadline for it to come to the floor of either chamber. The local press billed it as Ashe's valiant effort to represent the interest of her constituency. Come election time, Ashe can cry, "I tried to make a difference!" Appropriately reward such representation by sweeping the Ashes out of the house!

When South Carolina legislators could not get their colleagues to vote on removing the Confederate flag from atop public buildings, they targeted the Lt. Governor's office for a sit-in. In Georgia, Governor Roy Barnes told the world that he told Georgia's Legislative Black Caucus (GLBC) not to bring up the flag issue. Internationally embarrassed to be in sync with the racist southern heritage sentiment on this matter, Rep. Carl Von Epps and the rest of the GLBC troop, held a secret rally on the steps of the state capitol. A wag the dog photo-op, they expressed "disagreement with the Governor" by reaffirming commitment to changing the flag to remove the Confederate battle emblem. Keeping the rally secret enabled them to avoid the groundswell for changing the flag. In November, we will remember their "secret" rally!

Disgruntled wants to know: How can pundits, media talking heads and other gurus cogently link cultural violence to movies, music, television, video games, books and cartoons, but fail to grasp the obvious connection between speeding and deaths on the nation's highways to that popular American family pastime epitomized by NASCAR and auto racing?

Disgruntled says: It is impossible to clean a grungy floor with a soiled mop and dirty water. Likewise, the progeny of past evil doers, including the Pope, cannot hope to atone for their ancestral atrocities with a promise to come clean and then obfuscate to minimize the severity and consequences of all those mean things done to others.

Disgruntled feels: The movie on Thomas Jefferson's slave concubine Sally Heming is a lemon; it adds insult to injury when white folks attempt to romanticize slavery.

By Dot

In the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Sunday, March 12, 2000 Perspectives section, Jeff Dickerson contributed an article called "Coming Clean." It chronicled some well-known lynchings and massacres, such as those in Rosewood, FL and Greenwood, OK, and the Oconee County, Georgia lynching of George Dorsey, et al. We may never know how many blacks died in massacres across America. Conservative estimates run into the millions. Apparently, whites killed to cull the black population and to make sure blacks did not gain economic emancipation. These massacres partially explain why blacks are such a small percentage of the population, when at one time they outnumbered whites in some states. What happened to my people? Picnics (pick niggers for lynching) were American family pastimes, much like auto racing today. This land is soaked with the blood of my people; their spirits call out for justice. No justice, no peace is our mantra.

Dickerson's effort can at best be labeled obfuscation; it is designed to minimize the atrocities. Obscuring the facts and pretending evidence is unavailable set the stage in shadows so it does not look and sound so bad, like romanticizing the relationship between an old man named Thomas Jefferson and his child slave, Sally Heming. Instead of coming clean and exposing the sheer horror necessary to enforce slavery, we have had to bring whites kicking and screaming to the point of just admitting they and their ancestors did terrible things to black people. Now, rather than admit they were wrong, they want to minimize slavery. After they obfuscate and romanticize the treachery, then they can say, "it was not that bad; blacks live in our country; some even get social welfare payments. Apology and reparations are unnecessary!"

Those of us who know better than to allow such a whitewash of history demand reparations. We want the truth in all its gory details known and placed in American history books, the ones used in our public schools. More important, we demand an equal rights amendment to the Constitution, which will get blacks from under the thumb of the 3/5ths Compromise and a strict interpretation of the law of the land, which legalizes lynching and institutionalizes racism. No amount of obfuscation can alter our mantra: No justice, no peace!

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