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Volume 3 Issue 15…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race… April 21, 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 2000.

The Brotherhood of Thieves

by Stephen S. Foster

The church, slavery and the mob are a queer trinity! And, yet that they are a trinity - that they all "agree in one" - cannot be denied. Every assault which we have made upon the bloody slave system has been promptly met and repelled by the church, which is herself the claimant of several hundred thousand slaves; and whenever we have attempted to expose the guilt and hypocrisy of the church, the mob has uniformly been first and foremost in her defense. But I rest not on presumptive evidence, however strong and conclusive, to sustain my allegations against the American church and clergy. The proof of their identity with slavery and of their consequent deep and unparalleled criminality is positive and overwhelming, and is fully adequate to sustain the gravest charges and to justify the most denunciatory language that have ever fallen from the lips of their most inveterate opponents.

I said at your meeting, among other things, that the American church and clergy, as a body, were thieves, adulterers, man-stealers, pirates and murders - that the Methodist Episcopal Church was more corrupt and profligate than any house of ill fame in the city of New York - that the Southern ministers of that body were desirous of perpetuating slavery for the purpose of supplying themselves with concubines from among its hapless victims - and that many of our clergymen were guilty of enormities that would disgrace an Algerine pirate!! (Excerpts from a letter by Stephen S. Foster in The Brotherhood of Thieves or A True Picture of the American Church and Clergy. Written in July 1843 to Nathaniel Barney, who had requested that Foster justify the strong anti-clerical language employed at an anti-slavery convention in Massachusetts, pp. 5-14)

Remember the "Contract with America," crafted by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich? Though Gingrich is gone, the "Contract," which helped secure a Republican majority in Congress, lives on. Clinton/Gore embraced its welfare reform, so did the compassionate executioner Gov. George W. Bush, Jr. It is most popular; chief among its tenets is the vow to turn the clock back on social programs and any perceived gains made by blacks in this country.

Mark my words, to carry out their diabolical scheme, speaking frankly about slavery, segregation and contemporary African American conditions could become hate speech. If Americans who support the Contract have their way, it will be a crime to say slavery, and blacks will mime a whitewashed version of American history in their acceptance of re-segregation. This is the scenario concocted by proponents of the Contract with America; they pledge to "stand in the gap" as the nation refuses to pay reparations for the many atrocities committed against people of color. These are the same sanctimonious hypocrites who love their personal freedom, but who wish to live well for another generation off the economic enslavement of others.

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro recently celebrated his seventh birthday. Convinced that he is "THE ONE," we celebrate his birth. According to the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro, "It's April, so it must still be my birthday!"

by Dot

The issue of school prayer is a no-brainer. People who believe in God must believe every thought and deed is known. Every nanosecond we worship or denounce God. The cacophony of our deeds speaks louder than words, especially orchestrated displays of love and devotion. Were the school prayer proponents themselves Christians, then they would know prayer already exists in our schools, unless they are suggesting our school children are godless beings. This would mean America is a godless nation; our children are not raised as Christians at home. However, that runs counter to the perception of America as a Christian nation. If this is a Christian society our children will practice doing unto others, believe thou shall not kill, etc., because that is what is done in the society. If not, school prayer is neither the problem, nor a solution.

As for prayer, Christians utter them zillions of times a day in thanks for every breath we take. No special time need be set aside; no public display is required. In the midst of a crowd with no one else participating, watching or leading, Christians honor their Creator. Each moment of everyday presents its own unique opportunity to give thanks and pay homage to the ALL MIGHTY! Hypocrites demand demonstrations from others to cover their own lack of faith and relationship with God. These none-believers run organized religion; they are of the same mindset that supported slavery in this great Christian nation.

Why force everyone to a prayer schedule? This is a red herring! These zealots are not Christians at all; they are slave masters out to make certain our children's minds are enslaved to them. They can ill-afford a generation of children who THINC. Pray they never succeed; children will be forced to check their brains at the schoolhouse door!

News You Use

Rev. Jesse Jackson came to Atlanta to wag the dog on the Coca-Cola employment discrimination lawsuit. Afterwards, he was spotted at the janitors' strike in California, a real comedown for the middle-class minded reverend. Working for the opposition, but claiming to speak for the little people, Jackson is a black preacher, a.k.a. house nigger!

Calculated to aid Coke, Jackson's media stunt fell flat. Charismatic, the black preacher is a skilled negotiator on behalf of himself. Representing the monied people, the Reverend hoped to do for Coke the rope-de-dope thing he did for Texaco. With a financial hold on the reverend's conscious, Coke dictated Jackson's sermon. A paid mouthpiece, he preached Coke's goodness and called for a settlement of its discrimination case and scurried from the city!

Get real Jesse! This is 2000! Black folks neither need nor want a sell-out artist to play to the media as our leader. We demand justice from private and public sector employers that blatantly practice the southern plantation style of management. By its very nature, these employers' attitude creates an adversarial environment where the weaker of the parties (black employees) are inherently mistreated and blatantly discriminated against in hostile working conditions. Coke practices this style of management; the federal government is another practitioner.

Like Texaco, I gave up Coca-Cola. I realize we lack leadership and depend on individual actions to change conditions. Doing blacks a grave disservice, Jesse and the rest of our "black preachers" espouse a Booker T. Washington philosophy, which convinces blacks that they should ride in the back of the bus! These are not leaders; they are house niggers. Only marginally worse than Y2K Toms, black preachers profess to believe in God and claim HE anointed them to lead us out of the wilderness.

ICIM Boycotted People, Places and Things: Contract with America, organized religion, churches with fences, Coke, Confederate flag, Bush babies, MCI, Waffle House, South Carolina, Mississippi, New York City, death penalty, Georgia's flag, Trent Lott and other weapons of mass destruction! (For a more complete listing, visit our consumer alert page. Click on Alert and know who we boycott.)

by Dot

For more than two (2) years, The DISH has sought to delineate the issues in the dialogue on race. With the President silent, let us sum up our findings, which are simple really. Not much has changed since the 1800's, relatively speaking. This is especially true from an economic point of view. If measured by standards used in Third World countries, this nation would be brought before the International Court of Justice on human rights violations.

The conscious among us knows, we are trapped addressing the same dilemma, because the society treats people differently based on race, class and ethnicity. Back in the 1800's, it was the law to value and treat blacks as less. The country fought a civil war. Amendments were made in the law, but they did not change how those in control viewed slaves' descendants. More important, if strictly interpreted or strictly constructed, then Article 1 Section 2 remains the law for valuing human capital!

Black farmers' experience echoes the black man's dilemma. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is guilty of systematically discriminating against black farmers; it has admitted its guilt and is making minuscule restitution for damages to those injured. However, the same people who discriminated in the past are still employed and in control. No one lost a job due to this blatant racial discrimination. More important, the same whites that deliberately discriminated against black farmers in the past by blocking them from receiving loans and other assistance are still in charge of the day-to-day USDA administration. There is nothing to prevent this type of racist practice from continuing, which leaves black farmers in the same relative position, faced with the same ongoing institutionalized racism.

A "strict interpretation" of the Constitution and subsequent amendments in terms of Article 1 Section 2 leaves the 3/5ths Compromise intact. Where is the debate on this reality? Dead in the water! When Clinton went to South Carolina to embrace the Confederate flag as a symbol of his heritage, he put the nail in the coffin on a race dialogue. Mark my words! Ladies and gentlemen, our President William Jefferson Clinton - a contradiction for the new millennium, will embrace the hypocrisy of the founding fathers. Thus, we will keep repeating our history, because America refuses to honor the noble principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence in regards to black people. (Reparations)

by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

Escaping the funneling cumulus clouds of cannabis,

Creativity searches for salient conversation.

The artist is welcomed into the serenity of night,

Praying for asylum in the gospel.

Mediation finds my church on porch pews

Listening to echoes of ancient time

Nature's breath is hypnotic wine.

The wind blows a soulful chime.

Intoxicated muse fills the temple.

The poet in search for more

Grabs the Grail with frenzied hands.

Intimately desiring to know the mother of souls,

The father of intuition.

As one the mixture blends through the Portal,

Never quenching the thirst,

But, eternally refreshing the pursuit.

According to the Caribbean Express (March, 2000), black men who sport dreadlocks must secure written permission to enter the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Dennis Jennings, deputy chief immigration officer for BVI, told the Royal Gazette newspaper, "Our policy is that those with dreadlocks must request permission in writing from the immigration department to enter the country, stating their reason for coming here and the duration of their stay." No further explanation for this discriminatory policy was offered! If enforced, this new immigration policy will affect soccer players from around the world who participate in World Cup matches and who happen to sport African hair fashions. Now the hair, what will they seek to control next?

Disgruntled says: Gov. Roy Barnes made a bad decision in making Georgia the firewall against efforts to remove Nazi symbols from public places.

Disgruntled wants to know: Most private enterprises and public facilities do not fly the state's divisive symbol. So, why is our legislature unable to bring a flag bill up for a vote to rid us of this choking yoke and cease making Georgia an international joke?

Disgruntled feels: Mis-education is deadly!

by John Burl Smith

Crusted over like melanoma, America's emasculation of blacks festered under Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise." Brown v. Board of Education ruptured "separate but equal." Smoother than a funky blues base line, Black Power lanced that canker, melodically etched by Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. Echoing their refrain, Steve Wonder's Innervisions poetically singed America's consciousness, musing, "Jesus Children of America and He's Misstra Know-it-all." Such icons, rhythmically identifying with Black Power prompted integrationists by hook or crook to attack it.

Exemplifying the time, Benjamin E. Hooks opposed Black Power. A preacher, attorney and civil rights leader, Ben Hooks believed blacks needed to prove themselves to whites. Personifying the Atlanta Compromise, he preached "Negroes should accept their status, while working to show whites they could like him, "a credit to his race."

Typifying civil rights leaders, Hooks felt the problem was not enough Negro judges, policemen, doctors and politicians. An integrationist, he worked for racially balanced schools, neighborhoods, full employment and public accommodations. His line was, "With Negroes, there will be less brutality and police killings, fewer Negroes going to court and getting death sentences, fewer color folk being turned away from emergency rooms and refused treatment. But above all, if we could vote and elect colored folks, we could change the way things are done in City Hall."

Picking up on Black Power's beat, Donny Hathaway screamed about "The Ghetto." Militants educated blacks about mobilizing around economic and political interests. They organized to drive businesses that exploited people out of their communities. Rejecting Booker T. Washington's second class citizenship, they demanded control of their communities.

Succeeding Roy Wilkins, Hooks took over the NAACP after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. Black Power represented a battle between good and evil to Hooks. A harsh critic of black militants, he castigated their philosophy of black independence. Chiming in on Curtis Mayfield's "Keep on Pushing" and "People Get Ready," Ben offered Mahalia Jackson Fried Chicken. Hooks ridiculed black is beautiful by insisting he be called Negro. Nonetheless, Rev. Hooks adorned an Afro after Marvin Gaye asked everyone, "What's Going On?" Considering black militants hoodlums out to destroy the black community, Ben advocated federal and local governments break up black power groups. The good Reverend's sermon was "Negroes should accept and support whatever whites do to get rid of Black Power."

Following several assassinations, Mark Essex, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, Black Power was crushed. By the late 1970s, music changed to disco. The good Reverend and his disciples controlled the black community. They deserve credit for turning black people's attention away from independence and self-help and back to dependence and self-loathing. Hooks or crooks, Y2K Toms are singing second class citizenship for the next generation.

An intriguing enigma eluded enlightenment until recently. Ponder this, "Why did Jews wonder around in a wilderness for forty years looking for a Promised Land? It seems they were not looking for the Promised Land at all, because it was not lost. They were trying to find themselves lost in a world of promise. One must realize the only land promised anyone is the square on which one stands. With self-control, one commands the square. Individual responsibility extends influence to the miles around. At this level of T.H.I.N.C., the wilderness becomes the 'Garden of Eden." John 2000

Making another big pitch for Poetry Month at Clifton Elementary School in DeKalb County, Yohannes Sharriff Smith talked with students about the importance of language arts. Students were treated to an up close and personal conversation with Yohannes. Copies of The DISH were distributed, and copies of T.H.I.N.C.(Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness): The Chrysalis of Evolution were given to students as a poetry quiz prize.

Speaking about language arts, Yohannes said, "It is all about information and communications. Poetry is just one use of language. Written and spoken communications allow others to enter our private worlds. Like a painter, words are the brush strokes. The better one refines the strokes, the clearer the image. Poetry in schools can aid students in expressing emotions, fears, dreams and other fantasies, while allowing others to examine and respond empathically."

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