Volume 3 Issue 26…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race… July 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. The DISH 8 2000

Sources of Anti-Semitism

Jews have been part of Western culture throughout recorded history. Western civilization is indebted to them for practices that shape today's financial markets. Jewish success in money matters is viewed with some suspicion and hatred. This hatred or anti-Semitism has been examined extensively by scholars through the ages. Some suggest their haters are green with jealousy and envy.

Historical racial discrimination forced them from agriculture, handicrafts and many matters of commerce, so Jews developed a society of peddlers, middlemen, and moneylenders, which aided in the transition of Europe from a barter to finance economy. Their success brought power and wealth. Jewish financial prowess and the deep pockets of the Church made slavery a lucrative endeavor.

In addition to Jewish financial success, there is Judas Iscariot's role in Jesus' crucifixion to fan the flames of irrational hatred. Son of Simon and disciple of Jesus, Judas contracted with Jewish priests to betray Jesus, a fellow Jew, for 30 pieces of silver. Judas' kiss on his cheek singled out Jesus as the mark. This early betrayal for money is still a source of modern-day anti-Semitism.

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro seeks his soul-mate. At seven, he must know it is not too late. Still, he laments his mate-less state. Born in the Chinese year of the Cock, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro is a handsome rooster with much to crow about. This early in the game, he can afford to exercise caution and be selective. But, when it comes to the fairer sex, like any good rooster, the more the merrier. Even those not nice or interested in his brand of persuasion rate attention. In defense of his youthful ardor and desire to please, he says, "Grandma, I just love them!"

The June 2000 issue of AARP Bulletin features a must read article on predatory lending. Critics blame "sub-prime" lenders for the unethical practices that prey on the elderly, poor and minorities. Serving those with poor, no or "slow" credit, these bottom feeders are affiliated with "prime" lenders. For example, First Union owns The Money Store, a "sub-prime" lender.

Predatory practices include flipping or frequent refinancing, asset based lending that does not take into consideration the homeowner's ability to make mortgage payments, packing which includes unnecessary credit and life insurance, balloon payments, and more.

In DeKalb County, a combination of these practices and the affectations of re-gentrification have led to record foreclosures. With so many victims of predatory lending across the country, Congress held hearings last week. Witnesses recounted the practices that cost them homes, even when financing is secured through the federal government. For more and online assistance, e-mail legal questions to Lawyers@mylawyers.com. There may be an ongoing class action suit that includes your predatory lender.

Six Flags over Georgia's theme park flies England, Spain, France, the Confederacy, the United States, and the State of Georgia's flags. Georgia groundswell supporters feel it should be included in our boycott. All for 'One Georgia,' they see the state's flag and the Confederate banner as divisive symbols. Neither serves the state well as something around which all Georgians can rally. Boycott for change!

by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

"I got dreams to remember..."

Blazing electric crescent moon illumes wafting waves of burning Nan Champa,

As I sip the slightly aged, light-year book of my lifetime.

Blood red wine soaks on the closed caption

Of my graduation photo which reads

"Voted most likely to be pointed out in a police line-up."

But, I say fuck the Willie Lynch suspense thriller.

Until this public enemy is number one,

My fire burns Hollywood and Babylon!

Stunned the white winter world when I turned the page.

Changing the picture of this semi-automatic biography,

I figured, all the six day sinners want me to pour sugar...

Should I pour sugar in 400 hundred years of piss

And call it lemonade? In the universe of bright ideas,

What I perforate births a world of black suns.

Ohm... copper is a good conductor

So I rub my last two pennies together for good fortune.

Cookie cutter, corporate costumes continue to drive

Institutionalized racism up my rear view,

While Co-Intel-Pro plays chicken with the uninsured vehicle of my future.

Fuel injected computers rule the users of this technologically advanced age of wireless control.

Whoo… maybe… everything is cordless...because the material was used to build the shackles of financial debt around my neck, wrist and ankles.

I know 85 percent want me to pour sugar...

Should I pour sugar in 400 hundred years of piss and call it lemonade?

How in heaven do I make enough to buy my freedom?

Do we keep traveling in circles, around the same 40 green acres and mule?

Fuel prices keep rising, so I dirt bike down back streets and alongside information super highways.

But sometimes the grind makes me feel

Like I'm pedaling my life away.

Everyday ghetto flowers caught in a shower of debt.

Without the advantage of credit you can BET

Black Star Power will remain locked in prison towers.

Soured by too many hours of solitary confinement,

Underestimated potential throws rehabilitated game

At the parole board like hail Marys.

Now thug anthems pour out liquified instructions

For thousands of housing project soldiers,

Getting ahead in dark allegories.

Capped knees prepare for the rally,

'Cause Sally the hard-time ho' will do

"Anything for a nickel!"

This business transaction is built on pimping

Men, women and children of color

Caught beneath the collapsing ceiling of paying rent.

I know all the hypocrites want me to pour sugar...

But sugar in 400 hundred years of piss

Doesn't make it lemonade.

Claiming to be thirst quenching,

Slave-masters serve 40's of Nutra-sweet religion.

Pawning this toxic beverage off as Powerade,

Reverends man the poverty pimp stands

In the middle of crack vigil cop flooded auctions blocks,

Exchanging faith for potpourri cutouts of Jesus Christ.

Overseers keep burning the common in sense

To aroma-therapy the stench of rotting bodies that lie buried behind the elementary.

Having a May field-hand day,

Gray thoughts recess, as my pre-school spirit runs free.

Screaming, no more back pedaling,

No Steppin' Fletcher, Electric Boogaloo routine for me.

In my 1975 dream, I'm a 1968 black glove,

Olympic medallist, old school, cool cat

Wearing football socks and a black fist pick

In the back of my blown out 'fro.

Smoking a purple spliff, I ten-speed thru the redlines

Of my bank abandoned community.

Since ain't nothing new under the sun, I re-cycle hope

Around rat race tracks of ho's and hustlers.

To obstruct the likelihood of me robbing the big game,

Shady pasties raise the stakes and charge me 40% of my income to play.

In the game with no sponsor

And constantly monitored by security cameras,

How in heaven do I make enough money to purchase my freedom?

Needing to make ends meet,

I stand at the Pearly Gates, locked outside the stadium,

Peddling my dreams for change.

Mama, they got me peddling my dreams.

But, I refuse to pour sugar in piss and call it lemonade.

Disgruntled wants to know: Now that the primary season is over, how are convention delegates chosen?

Disgruntled says: Those who seek solace in prayer never hesitate to speak with God where and when we please. The faithful do not need others to give praise to Him!

Disgruntled feels: In Christ's teachings, the death penalty is an abomination. Jesus advocated redemption and rehabilitation; he personified compassion.

Bullworths in Action

Neither Al Gore nor George Bush mentions race, yet both need minorities to win in November. To secure black votes, Gore will do the church circuit. In Atlanta, he will speak at Ebenezer Baptist, where the good Reverend will give him a ringing endorsement. Gore will leave the Mecca convinced he has secured the black vote. Obfuscating to minimize, both candidates are on the wrong side of issues important to blacks. Silent on race, they support the death penalty and condone the gross inequities in America's criminal justice system. More important, both see the Confederate flag as a symbol of their heritage.

In the past, blacks were tied to one or the other major party. Now, there is the Green, Reform and Libertarian Parties. Come November, some of us will look to minor party candidates, such as Ralph Nader. He talks about improving the lives of people and protecting the environment, rather than proposing ways to give special interests greater access to the federal treasury, such as the prescription drug coverage, which benefits insurance companies and drug manufacturers. Gore and Bush are Bullworths, they say much that signifies nothing.

Ever tried to cash a check without a bank account? Even federal income tax refund checks can be difficult and costly to cash without benefit of a checking account. Most banks will not touch a non-customer's check, while others set artificial limits on honoring even those backed by the federal government. These practices force those who receive payroll checks or government payments to have a bank account or pay the fees charged by check cashers. These predators flourish in poor minority communities; they suck away hard-earned income from those least able to pay for access to their own money! This is a rip-off!

On Draining the Tank

by Dot

John has a recurring image that a couple of artists tried to capture; it is a cartoon of a goofy fellow checking out his back pockets. A perplexed expression contorts his face; the guy's body resembles a gasoline tank that is sixty percent full. This percentage is the value of black human capital in the labor market, i.e., 3/5ths white mandated by U.S. law. In successive frames, this amount declines. Protruding from the guy's pockets are straws being sucked on by those responsible for the flipping, foreclosures, fees, fines, high taxes, garnishments, judgements and imprisonment, etc. suffered by the victims of a biased system. The usual victims are blacks; they pay more for everything from state mandated automobile insurance to food in neighborhood grocery stores.

The guy is left with little more than fumes to go on, much less anything to save and invest. Sucking on these straws are financial institutions. There are banks and credit unions that redline black communities. Check cashers, other sub-prime lenders and even the government charge exorbitant fees and drain away equity. There are insurance companies that charge blacks more for every policy sold and law enforcement where racial profiling takes its toll on what little income goes to a black household.

This cartoon image speaks to the vagaries that characterize black existence, such as taxation without representation. Locally, we pay a sales tax for public transportation that is used to provide services and economic development for areas that are not required to pay this tax. John's image would be hilarious, if its reality was not so costly. Can you visualize and draw it? Send us your best rendition, and we will share your art with others on a web page dedicated to your art. "A picture is worth a thousand words," so send yours to Dot at ICIM. For more, e-mail me at yicim@worldnet.att.net.

by John Burl Smith

In the 1970s, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, bankers, politicians and developers like Post Properties used racial fears, school busing and integrated neighborhoods to fuel white flight to suburbia. Glazing over their scheme with recommendations from groups of white men such as the Urban Land Institute (ULI), they agreed developing North Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett Counties was the road to prosperity. Today, sitting in automobiles for hours, choking on gas fumes, commuting to support a higher standard of living paid for by a reduced quality of life, the dream home in suburbia far away from blacks is now a nightmare.

Spouting concern for environmental, air quality and other drive time woes, Governor Roy Barnes and cronies now plan to use revenue for future growth on the south side of town. Calling it "a new interest in development south of I-20," they are like "born again Christians" stamping out sin. Throwing around terms, such as "smart growth," "new urbanism," "Clayton County Transportation corridor," and "maglev super-trains," Chamber President Sam Williams announced planners from the ULI will arrive July 23 to "study and make recommendations for shifting future economic growth to the south side of town." ULI are the same boys who planned Centennial Olympic Park and the 1996 Summer Games. Like Roy Barnes',"great train robbery," Billy Payne covered up making millions of dollars, thanks to the same boys. The bottom line is, when these guys left town, groups of white men, like the Fairlie-Poplar Historic District (CAP), ended up controlling urban development funds for Atlanta and DeKalb County.

Sam Williams claims the current effort will correct economic injustices and neglect on the south side created by sprawl on the north side of town. However, bypassing East Atlanta and South DeKalb County to concentrate development around Hartsfield International Airport moves the future to Clayton County. This cookie cutter approach to economic development continues the "doughnut" psychology pursued by banks and developers, which depressed property values in black areas to create sprawl. Resembling a black hole operating in reverse, economic resources are sucked out of East Atlanta and South DeKalb to revitalize other counties. Urban Renewal and Revenue Sharing funds glazed North Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett. Like candy sprinkles on doughnuts, Empowerment Zone money was showered on white front businesses. Since 1971 South DeKalb's one cent MARTA sales tax has paid for rail service it cannot get but is obliged to provide for areas where the tax is not imposed.

Sugar coating the "doughnut" hole effect, Gov. Roy Barnes is laying it on thick, "DeKalb can afford to wait, it has no pressing need for economic development. There are more important areas that need developing." Sounds like the Confederate-Georgia Flag debate. John 2000

A Birth in the Vibe heralded the coming release of the Atlanta Vibe's first CD. Vibe Sessions raises the consciousness level among slaves' descendants regarding our survival as a people. "A voice crying in the wilderness" or "Gideon's sword," Vibe Sessions screams institutionalized racism and attacks American genocide as the greatest threat. Vibe Sessions points up the fact, "blacks in America are a dispossessed, destitute and desperate people living hand-to-mouth." Truly an elevation of ATL spoken word, the new millennium shamans featured on Vibe Sessions foresee extinction eminently looming and are sounding the alarm.

A compilation featuring cutting edge poets Ratsack, Cola Rum, Aqiyl, Shawna, Kwan, Starr, Sunshynne and Yohannes, Vibe Sessions presents the world though the eyes and expressions of these up-front-in your-face mad bombers of truth. A labor of love requiring libations and incantations from some and walking on hot coals for others, Vibe Sessions lives up to chief wizard and producer Jon Goode's name.

Goode's assemblage of Atlanta's top spoken word artists breaks new ground by reintroducing historical elements through a new medium based on contemporary images. Resembling visual artists combining light, color and shadow to create intensity, mood and depth, Goode and his daring cast of necromancers brewed classic contemporary musical and verbal themes into a powerfully expressive motif. A volatile concoction, Vibe Sessions will explode your consciousness with today's reality.

ICIM Boycotted People, Places and Things: Death penalty, MARTA sales tax, Georgia and Confederate flags, Contract with America, Jeffersonian thinking, modern day slave masters such as temporary agencies, check cashers, predatory lenders, crocked politicians, milk and meat, Coca-Cola, Waffle House, Trent Lott and other weapons of mass destruction.

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