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Volume 3 Issue 13…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race… April 7, 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., The DISH or to submit comments, contact ICIM, Inc. at (404) 244-6023 or email us at icim@bellsouth.net. All rights reserved © The DISH

by John Burl Smith

"Watch the muppets cast an illusion before your eyes. As comatose couch cushions pin senses to soaps, sensors wash commonsense, with seductive corruption, spawning controlled consumer surrender."

This verse begins Ham and Cheese: Linear Secularism, a poem from the philosophical treatise, T.H.I.N.C. (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness): The Chrysalis of Evolution by Yohannes Sharriff Smith. A chronology of his first two years of college, this book allegorically defines Linear Secularism (LS) as the mind-set of slave masters. Ridiculing the absurdities of second class citizenship endured by slaves' descendants, Yohannes satirically barbs the concepts of freedom, justice and equality; those noble principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence. Targeting the belief that these principles are a part of the United States Constitution, T.H.I.N.C. teaches four basic lessons, which expose this illusion as a disguise to hide the fact that blacks have never been granted full rights of citizenship.

Introducing the counterpart of LS, Conditioned Subordinate Psychology (CSP), Yohannes castigates the absurd notion slavery ended. Passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution declared, "The right of citizenship of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged...on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." For the first time descendants of slaves are designated as a group protected by the manifold guarantees of citizenship. Previously, the Thirteenth defined conditions under which slavery is permissible and Article I Section 2 refers to "other persons" and values them as 3/5ths whites. However, the 3/5ths "other persons" value was assigned blacks and has never been repealed. Therefore, blacks have never been granted full value as individuals, reinforcing CSP.

Crashing headlong into Georgia Southern University's slave/free glass ceiling, Yohannes experienced firsthand Willie Lynch's Let's Make a Slave. Wrapped in this colored man's chrysalis, Yohannes careens through a panoramic kaleidoscope of doublethink and crystal images of the American dream. Emerging as a struggling poet, he came to grips with the reality of young black men in America. Caged in Segregated Citizenship: Lesson I, Yohannes sets a goal to educate young people about America's true heritage of lynching, institutionalized racism and genocide. T.H.I.N.C. metaphorically strips away the incredulous veneer of American equality. Moreover, T.H.I.N.C. illuminates the reality America's schools and universities are seedbeds of Linear Secularism and CSP. T.H.I.N.C. about it! (For the full text of Ham & Cheese and other works by Yohannes Sharriff Smith visit The DISH at Intuit's Vibe) John 2000

Disgruntled says: For black Americans, both the Democrats and Republicans in this two-party political system just eat our lunch. On a daily, with crumbs remaining, both have the unmitigated gall to demand we serve them punch!

Disgruntled wants to know: To whom does one complain when you are on trial - fighting for your life- and Judge Jackson naps during the portion of the proceedings relevant to rendering a just decision?

Disgruntled feels: "No lye" relaxers straighten kinky hair, but no lie relaxes the knotty truth!

Established and maintained by law, slavery forbade property ownership. A slave could not leave his master's premise without permission, be out after dark, congregate except at church, carry firearms or strike a white man even in self-defense. Laws prohibited teaching slaves to read or write and denied slaves the right to testify in court against whites. These laws held no provisions for slave marriages and divorces. Unless he proved otherwise, anyone with a strain of African ancestry was presumed to be a slave. If an owner killed a slave, it was not considered a crime.

In response to this peculiar system, slaves reacted in different ways. Domestic servants who identified with the master accepted subservience with little difficulty and/or genuine contentment. Others learned to adjust to necessity by acting out. White's expected and got some shuffling, grinning and head-scratching deference. Others could never either accept or accommodate slavery. They harbored an unquenchable thirst for freedom. The tremendous frustration left some slaves with personality disorders. Reported in newspaper ads for runaways, they were described as having a stutter or other behavioral quirks. Some chose suicide to escape the mental anguish and physical pain of oppression.

Atlanta collects crime stats for one event that gets press coverage. The data make Freaknik -black spring break- a law enforcement revenue generator. Major black haters, ATL cops and GA troopers write a ton of tickets, tow cars and send many to jail for offenses unnoticed at other events. Under Mayor Bill Campbell, Freaknik is a picnic. Derived from "pick a nigger," it refers to lynching.

Campbell is a "black of consequence." Drenched in CSP, Atlanta's "leader" talks justice and equality rhetoric, while pandering to special interests. He gains political points lynching our children. This Freaknik, he plans a job-fair and offers a warning: "If you dare come to Atlanta, your stay will be so miserable you'll wish you had gone elsewhere for vacation." Houseboy for the Buckhead Coalition, he obeys its instructions, and for the past three years, he worked to destroy Freaknik. Respect yourself! Refuse to be dissed! Stay away; support the Georgia boycott and send a message to black haters!

by Shawna Kent

He stood at the edge of my bed quietly.

He was beautiful and intriguing.

I found myself drawn to him,

Like a sick child, I listened

As he offered to vacuum my soul of the pain

I laid in my bed and contemplated his offer.

I found myself falling into the most profound star-crossed love.

He told me my life be surreal to his reality

As he spoke, I laid in my bed

Listening to the seductions of his voice.

I fantasized about his dark skin

Ached to feel the depth of his embrace.

My mind masturbated the thought of him.

He made me promises that only he could keep

I could never tell. He swore to God,

He could vacuum my soul of the pain

Give to me eternal rest.

So, I laid in my bed and contemplated his offer.

About Me: Born in San Diego, CA, Shawna lives in Atlanta, GA. "Suicide's Offer" is from Words, a wonderful read from cover to cover. In Words, Shawna pays tribute to her commitment to continuing our rich oral and written traditions. She performs at local venues, so catch her next outing. For time and location or your copy of Words, e-mail Shawna at shawnak@bellsouth.net.

On a roll from a very rewarding performance recognizing Georgia State University students' outstanding community service, academic achievement and exemplary leadership at the Eleventh Annual African American Heritage Awards, Yohannes' next target is Augusta, Georgia. Saturday April 15, 2000 @ 6 PM. Flying heavy support for Reesee Willis' production, "Dawning" Poetry on the Riverwalk, the "mad bomber of truth" will explode new consciousness for the ATL Vibe. From the ionosphere, Yohannes will line up with poets such as Kamal Dixon (ATL), Jason Odom (TX), Annette Middleton (SC), Jean Embry (Augusta) and others to officially launch spoken word and welcome Augusta into the Vibe.

An Atlanta newspaper editor, Cynthia Tucker coined "blacks of consequence." She uses "no lye" relaxers. Free of kink, she detests her African roots. Inured of the system, the self-hater sees herself as equal to whites and knows other blacks are less. Ironically, blacks of consequence relish our second class citizenship. House niggers, they practice self-hate by suppressing their naturalness to embrace a white imitation of life.

On race, Tucker writes in sound bytes of self-hatred. Aping whites, she is the consummate house nigger. In "Don't confuse hoodlums with black civil rights leaders," Tucker shows her heritage to reaffirm her values. Raised middle-class by folks that barely tolerated the Afro, Tucker screams self-loathing. Sadly, mainstream black writers hate reflections of themselves. These house niggers see the perfect world as one in which a few of them entertain whites in the big house, while the rest slave to finance the lifestyle whites command. Like rats, they chase crumbs from the master's table.

Let us be frank! We are on the economic bottom in this society because the system was designed to keep us there. Moreover, black people facilitate it. An abundance of scientific and historical evidence supports this contention. Too persuasive to dismiss, truth must guide improving race relations. The urgent need to address its absence is symbolized by the Confederate flag controversy. Either we step up to the plate to change our state, or realize we doom ourselves to being slaves for infinity. If passive, the few who live well and claim to be our "leaders" will serve up each generation of black children to the slaughterhouse of institutionalized racism. Like Rocker-types, Tucker-types will gleefully write their epitaphs, while blaming them for being people of color.

Dark-Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro drops words like pearls of wisdom. Coaxed for comments, he chimed, "You have a brain! Stop trying to use mine!"

Desperate Legacy

Great photo-op, a smiling Clinton administers oral vaccine to a baby in a distant nation. Silent on America's race relations, the lame duck sits on his race commission's data. Like his predecessors, Clinton's race card is trumped by expediency as he upholds the Constitution. Ironically, the law must change to better conditions, since it dictates the value of labor. With race ripping the social fabric, he trots abroad in search of a foreign policy legacy his final year in office. Ditching the dialogue, Clinton honors his heritage. Like Germany's WWII Alliance, which persecuted Jews as the "Final Solution," he is George Wallace reincarnate barring the schoolhouse to black children. Personifying whites committed to what the Confederate flag symbolizes, he will not denounce it.

Indeed, were he sincere about race, he would use his bully pulpit to call for an amendment to the Constitution to repeal Article 1 Section 2 and give slaves' descendants reparations. Instead of sincerity, the country is enmeshed in symbolism. Drowning in it, Clinton took his linear secularism to SC. A slap in the face, he wagged the dog on blacks mis-educated to "cope with inequality." Hypocrite, Clinton honors the 3/5ths rule of law. Like the conservative right and organized religion, which supported slavery and segregation, Clinton supports the Confederate flag and death penalty. Christians, all condone public executions as if they differ from Jesus' crucifixion. Real and raw, Clinton's only legacy lies in ridding us of the slavery that still determines outcomes in America's economy - relatively speaking! Anything less is a desperate legacy!

Kissing Kin?

Georgia's 2000 legislative session ended in March. We got an animal rights bill. Lawmakers killed many hours haggling over penalties for animal abusers. They ignored the groundswell to change the state's symbol; Governor Barnes put his foot down on the flag. A sign of things to come, he again got all the laws he wanted. Establishing more agencies, the state will be deep in patronage for years to come. Some say he is like that rascally Tennessean whose administration sent him to prison. Astute long-time insiders think Roy Barnes may end up in jail like Ray Blanton. Others caution; this is Georgia, where ethics is a dirty word and conflict of interest is the regular order of business!

Bush's Judicial Appointments

Scion of the noblesse oblige, George Bush, Jr. pledged to appoint judges to the Supreme Court that "strictly construct" the Constitution. He provided no case law to explain. Given an aged Court, the next appointees will influence American jurisprudence for a long time.

What is meant by "strict construction?" In a nutshell, Bush means he supports white privilege. "Strict interpretation/construction" leaves the 3/5ths Compromise of Article 1 Section 2 intact. "Strict construction" means it is legal to discriminate against people of color; it telegraphs support for the economic system based on those unequal "traditional" family values.

After his move to the far right to secure SC's Republican primary, which included that infamous visit to racist Bob Jones University, Bush became "a reformer with a record." Because the mainstream supports his doublethink, the media will let him get away with his pseudo-move to the center. The voting public must understand Bush's vow means an ultra-conservative Supreme Court. None can explain his oxymoron compassionate conservatism in the face of rabid support of the death penalty. Go figure! How can he run for the highest office in the world without defending his positions on the issues that affect our existence?

On Heritage

by Dot

Crystal Clemons' hour-long WSB-TV interview on Centennial High School's vote to remove Georgia's flag from the school's flagpole did not air. The station felt the 10^th grader's views were "too strong." Historical facts disregarded, her perspective is dismissed, not because it is wrong; it does not paint a pretty picture of white heritage as embodied in the Confederate flag.

What do our young learn about right and wrong? White is right, even when wrong! Ignorant of their history, southern whites want us to think we are all willing slaves. Asinine, they want us to soft pedal on the atrocities committed against our ancestors. Intelligent, our children do not buy it! They know better!

Regretfully, this is the fantasy whites try to palm off on us, calling it history. Only their whitewashed version matters in the fight over symbols. Fact is while whites acquired their heritage, blacks were the caged assets making their privilege possible. So, as they gained a heritage defined by privilege and white supremacy, blacks earned the right to be treated like cattle to secure a heritage of CSP and learned helplessness. We share slavery; it is our heritage. Only the narrow-minded think they gained a heritage in isolation. There are two sides to every story. Drenched in their narrow perspective, whites assume a monopoly on determining the symbols with which to represent a shared past.

These are the same individuals who only see America's "manifest destiny" as a positive, when in fact it meant genocide for native Americans. Much like a few remaining American buffalo, a delicacy served to special guests of media mogul Ted Turner, the native son has been pushed off his land and brought to the point of extinction. Whites ignore this crucial aspect of westward expansion. This is the perilous pitfall of a narrow perspective. It is this kind of pitfall we find in support for the Confederate flag. With no cogent reason to display the divisive symbol, whites sought the last refuge of scoundrels, proclaiming the fight to keep the flag flying is about heritage - as though this somehow changes the argument for adopting a symbol free of division, which reflects a positive aspect of our shared experience.

Symbols are important; they say something meaningful about the people who adopt them. Georgia's 1956 flag change grew out of a refusal to provide an equal public education for black children. Today, wherever the Confederate symbol flies, it says clearly to the world that we are proud practitioners of institutionalized racism. Thanks to our young people, like Crystal, Centennial High School is one less place where it is allowed to fly. Our children will lead us out of the wilderness of ignorance and learned helplessness.

The list continues to grow. We recently added the states of Georgia and Mississippi. They must be viewed with the same lens as South Carolina. Until they remove the racist emblems from their flags, we will boycott these states. Coca-Cola, Waffle House, MCI and the MARTA sales tax joined the list. We failed to identify Lockheed, which practices employment discrimination. Please add them to your mental Rolodex of people, places and things to avoid.

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