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Volume 3 Issue 32… Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race… August 18, 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 © 2000
A Court Connoisseur's Appreciation
On the tennis court, eating someone's lunch is a delicate feat. A real work of art, it is especially thrilling when one pulls it off from the jaws of defeat. Tennis requires an artful finesse to slice, dice, cook and eat a worthy opponent's best shots. On Sunday, Serena Williams did just that to fellow American Lindsay Davenport who holds the world number two spot in women's tennis. Showing what ex-tennis player turned television commentator and critic Tracey Austin calls mental toughness, Serena ate Lindsay's lunch.
Serving for the match after breaking Williams to go up 6-5 in the third set, Davenport lost her service game at love. Williams easily broke her in the tiebreak to win the estyle.com Classic match. Mental toughness served the defending champ well. With so many service breaks in the match for both players, it became a game of "who keeps it together best." Williams won the head contest, eating Davenport's lunch. In the heads up stats, Serena Williams is 5-1 over Davenport. Kudos to Serena's mental toughness! For this court connoisseur, Serena made eating Lindsay's lunch a work of art.
Philosophy: T.H.I.N.C. About It
"Mohammad did not inherit his father's herd" is a maxim for beginners. Where does one start when change is the goal? Spoken word artists occupy a unique position compared to other performers. Their philosophy is based not on what they say but on choices they make everyday. Individual philosophies give spoken word its cutting edge. Truth is the common value connecting artists. Gleaming principles from truths, spoken word guides their messages, as well as their lives. Listening to these artists provides a portal to their visions of the world.
Yohannes Sharriff Smith presents such a starting point in T.H.I.N.C. (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness): The Chrysalis of Evolution for those struggling to build their own philosophy. The book reflects Yohannes' struggle to change his world. A very simple five step thought process for changing one's consciousness, T.H.I.N.C. stresses individual responsibility. Communicating positive messages through spoken word is the philosophy, which holds the Vibe together. The ATL has always had those who spoke of truth poetically. However, new voices emerged in 1997 to move truth from the ethereal to the practical.
The Atlanta Vibe represents this new consciousness with its up-front in your face explosively emotional performance style. Symbolizing a total break with Booker T. Washington's Atlanta playbook, this cadre's self-help network is based on all individuals playing leading roles. They reject entirely the arcane notion of leadership. They do not accept that some people can not be helped or some must be left behind. The ATL Vibe's tenets preclude walking on one another to advance self. Vibers prefer to draw on each other's strength for support and not stand on one another as a foundation. Their philosophy is our future! T.H.I.N.C. about it!
by John Burl Smith
In 1998, the U.S. Justice Department condemned Georgia's 32 juvenile detention centers as "egregious" havens for physical, sexual and mental abuse. An interim report on Georgia's progress paints a dismal picture of foot dragging, obstruction, and outright denials by state officials. Not providing necessary educational and mental health services in overcrowded facilities topped the list of complaints. Shortages of well-trained, experienced staff, an extremely high incident rate of "use of force" by guards and inaccurate statements about such incidents have unsatisfactory explanations. Forty percent of incarcerated youth with special education needs have no teachers. This combined with insufficient books and materials leave detainees sitting in classes doing nothing. Gov. Roy Barnes is unconcerned. Having spent $65 million on the 105 Justice Department complaints, Georgia's juvenile justice system is still in a deplorable condition.
Rick McDevitt, President of the Georgia Alliance for Children believes, "If these children were white kids from Alpharetta, they wouldn't be placed in these dungeons." Incarcerating youth is big business in Georgia, and Gov. Barnes supports locking kids up. Improving Georgia's youth detention centers is a matter of will, rather than funds. For instance, Georgia will receive $4.8 billion from the tobacco settlement. Reimbursement for cost incurred treating smoke related health problems, communities were supposed to share tobacco settlement money for hospitals like Grady in Atlanta, and prevention and rehabilitation.
A tobacco supporter, Roy Barnes see settlement funds as a windfall to use anyway he pleases. He has concocted a scheme to divert tobacco settlement money to aid Democratic campaign contributors. He established two state boards chaired by him. The OneGeorgia Authority has complete control over tobacco settlement money and has set aside $13 million to help those holding tobacco subsidies. The Georgia Tobacco Community Development Board was created to administer the $13 million. However, the "gratuities clause" in Georgia's Constitution prohibits the state from making direct payments to private residents unless it gets something of value in return. At Barnes' request, U.S. Rep. Saxby Chambliss attached a rider to the crop insurance bill that gets around the Constitution by calling the $13 million federal matching funds. A Democrat, Attorney General Thurbert Baker has ruled this end run to circumvent the Constitution is legal. If these were drug dealers, the Attorney General would call this money laundering. An affront to the "gratuities clause," the state still is not getting anything of "value" for its money.
Nothing more than a slush fund for Barnes, Baker and Democratic legislators, they are skirting the law claiming to aid family farms but are helping themselves and their agribusiness contributors. Considering incarcerated youth make up a large portion of young smokers, anti-smoking activists say, ethically prevention and rehabilitation should get this money. This $13 million could go a long way toward bringing Georgia's 32 juvenile detention centers up to standard. Giving tobacco money to those who helped create the problem sets a very bad precedent. Moreover, Barnes' scheme opens the door to corruption and does not reimburse communities for health cost. Grady is not getting a dime. For more, see the Genocide Chronicles. John 2000
Blues: The Roots of American Black Art
Like the perfect pearl, art is the product of conditions that are oftentimes unpleasant. In the case of the pearl, an oyster's irritation creates a valued human adornment. And, so like the oyster's angst and pain, which yield this gem, an artist creates works that reflect his environment from his perspective and unique abilities. This is true of American black art.
It is impossible to divorce American black art from any African influence. Obviously, ancestral pasts help shape artistic expressions. However, American black art owes more to the Middle Passage, slavery and American racism than it does to Africa. Black music and poetry are deeply rooted in the blues that started in the Middle Passage. Slaves were forced to sing and dance in shackles to prevent disease and "melancholy."
On southern plantations, slaves sang bluesy spirituals that told the black man's story. Throughout our history, the blues and its offshoots, i.e., spirituals, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, rap, hip-hop and spoken word, reflected black existence. For so long, blacks were not allowed to read and write; the message of our struggle for equality came via word of mouth. Each generation of blacks uniquely expressed its American experience in art, which is rooted in the blues of the Middle Passage. The latest pearl from the pain of contemporary America existence is spoken word.
Disgruntled wants to know: Will all the Georgia legislators who want to keep the state's flag with its Confederate battle emblem intact please stand up?
Disgruntled says: Atlanta has some of the best Spoken Word artists in America. When the National Black Arts Festival (NBAF) came to the city, it basically dissed the local artists who put Atlanta on the spoken word map.
Disgruntled feels:
With no go-to guy among "black leaders," their silence is deafening on real issues!Reconstruction Race Riots (1866)
The first impeached President, Andrew Johnson is blamed for much of what transpired during Reconstruction. Like Bill Clinton, who became the second president to be so distinguished, Johnson's 1868 impeachment did not lead to his conviction and removal from office, probably because the charges were so "flimsy and/or false." However, according to D. H. Donald -Why They Impeached Andrew Johnson, "before the bar of history itself Andrew Johnson must be impeached with an even graver charge - that through political ineptitude he threw away a magnificent opportunity." Historians may also come to view Clinton's impeachment in a similar light, since his administration offered such hope in closing the American racial divide, an effort he has since abandoned, some believe to save his hide.
Under Johnson, ex-slaves received little liberty, so not surprisingly there were Reconstruction race riots. Two of the most notorious occurred in Memphis, home of the blues, and New Orleans, the jazz capital of America. In 1866, Memphis rioters led by the police and poor whites raided the Negro quarters to burn and kill at will. The New Orleans riot that same year shed light on the dark side of the racial divide as police and citizens killed Negroes indiscriminately following a march for Negro suffrage and equality. Forty blacks and their supporters were killed. Over 100 were wounded. Black codes and these race riots provided a devastating picture of how President Johnson's policy operated. Southern states were not going to protect black basic rights. Grudgingly, they accepted the results of the war. With Johnson's blessings, southern states expected an even stronger voice in Congress. (An Historical Perspective, John Garrity)
Sinterklaas II
Below are some things about me for your readers. I am a 39 years old African woman. Though born here in Amsterdam, Netherlands, my parents were both born in the Dutch colony Surinam, which the Dutch traded for then New Amsterdam, which is now New York. I am a single mom of two. Yes, confusion is a part of relationships all over the Diaspora. My children, a boy and girl are 18 and 7. As a child, I remember the anger and confusion of Sinterklaas, which is why I want to protect children and do away with this celebration.
I teach at a junior high school here aimed at special education. I work with young people from 12 to 18 years old, who have behavioral problems and/or are expelled from school. Do I need to say that about 70 to 80 % of the students are black? I guess not. I work with them, try to get them back in regular school, most of the time my effort works.
I am part of a growing community of conscious Africans who are willing to make a change; it is a good feeling. When you realize the Dutch contributed only one word known the world over- APARTHEID, then you understand the state of black people here. It looks like 2000 is a different year. I am trying my best to contribute to this change; we will have to take on the big corporations that sold our ancestors. I have made an exhibition about slavery that I plan to put on the net.
It is important that brothers and sisters around the world see Sinterklaas for what it is. The truth will make it easier for us to make the changes that are needed, and change we will, because I am really tired of it. I was tired when I was a little girl and people called me zwarte piet (Black Pete). It still happens once in a while. Sometimes I get into it, and sometimes, because I know I will become aggressive, I let it go. I will send The DISH to my brothers and sisters. Thank you again, bless The DISH and its staff for producing a very strong e-mag that represents the people. I am always happy when I see it in my mailbox.
ICIM Boycotted People, Places and Things: Sinterklaas, the death penalty, Bush babies, Texas, NY, Florida, IRS, "Contract with America," MCI, IBC, CIA and covert operatives, security guards with itchy trigger fingers, police brutality, Coke, Bob Barr, Trent Lott, Dixiecrats and other weapons of mass destruction.
On Clinton/Gore Legacy
by Dot
For all their self-congratulation over the performance of the economy, Clinton/Gore deserves credit for the continued pain in some quarters. Sure the fat cats and big corporations with resources and connections who made campaign contributions did well in this economic expansion. However, most working middle and low-income families just tread water or went under by filing for bankruptcy. Those who lost their jobs to government reinvention, privatizing and downsizing are not doing better. Certainly, those holding down two jobs, which barely make ends meet, do not feel there is much reason for celebration. Many are still awash in a sea of debt from high interest credit. Too many lack health care, and those who do are victims of insurance companies.
To amass its federal budget surplus, Clinton/Gore embraced the Republican "Contract with America." It funded police and prisons over social programs. The "War on Drugs" criminalized a generation of blacks; close to a million languish in prisons, many for non-violent drug offenses. Zero tolerance, racial profiling and private prisons flourished under Clinton/Gore. Unfortunately, Republican candidate Gov. Bush promises more, as his state of Texas leads the nation in executions and incarceration. This is pain; it is a lack of welfare that is ignored when Clinton and Gore pat themselves on the back because stock prices are rising.
Clinton, Gore and Bush claim to be "a work in progress (AWIP). Professing to possess compassionate natures, they want people to understand their human failings, grant them forgiveness for their indiscretions and provide ample opportunities to succeed. Yet, they do not believe blacks should get the same consideration. Black children must do it right the first time, and even then, they are given only a partial opportunity to succeed. The schools where they learn to be citizens are more like prisons than institutions of learning. One candidate for the Atlanta Board of Education called the city's schools "holding pens for the criminal justice system." Held in these weigh stations as teens, blacks are racially profiled for prison as adults, if not before then.
Clinton/Gore did much that does not call for celebration. Included are its "War on Drugs" and its policy on the pattern of pain that exists in this nation.
Defining Welfare
In economics, welfare is not public assistance programs, such as AFDC, business tax breaks and subsidies, referred to as corporate welfare. These programs may change conditions, but welfare here has to do with the economic health of the country. It speaks to how the system distributes the pain and pleasure of its successes and failures. Welfare economists look at national income and its distribution to assess the country's health. The largest component of national income is from employment, making unemployment an indicator of pain or a lack of economic health.
Black Americans incurred the most pain in the best and worst of economic times. Historically, the black unemployment rate averages two times the rate of whites, and it is consistently higher than the national average. This stable pattern of unemployment assures a relatively stable income disparity between black and white Americans. Examining the historic unemployment data provides another way of showing America's pattern of pain is consistent with the 3/5ths Compromise.
Rats
Templeton is the rat in Charlotte's Web. The book and animated feature come highly recommended for children. Templeton's philosophy is "what's in it for me." Senator John McCain is Templeton. Born in the Chinese year of the rat, he was booed at the Shadow Convention in Philadelphia for endorsing Bush. In doing so, he lost all credibility on the single issue for which he attracted national attention- campaign finance reform.
Bush personifies the role of big money in politics and the influence it exerts on the government. McCain was supposed to be fighting to take back control of the government and return it to the people. Asking the Shadow Convention to endorse Bush, the Evil Empire of money and influence, is treasonous betrayal.
Though his primary campaign used the movie Star Wars' soundtrack, McCain is no Luke Skywalker. He is more akin to Anakin, Luke's father who became one of the Emperor's minions. Endorsing Bush, McCain became Darth Vader. Bush talks about a campaign that appeals to our better angels, but he is the Emperor's son, and the dark angels are his father's sinister legions.
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