Volume 3 Issue 47…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race… December 1, 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

a love poem for Tamara

by Yohannes Sharriff

At first, it comes as a pleasant surprise, an unexpected pleasure

shower Sunday with summer sun rain.

Soft, delicate and unobtrusive morning dew,

her disposition deceptively placid.

Yet, beneath the surface

passionate screams stir swirling whirling

circles twirling tumble me

twisting gently turning my ego humbly

inside out, upside down and sideways

within the amazingly crafted curves of her.

Love, I saw that look... a frozen momentary hesitation.

I'm saying woman through your eyes

I see a better me.

So, love don't you dare stop reciprocating the tidal flood

of emotional explosions overflowing afromantic poetry.

Afterglow undertow sweeping across the deep.

At first, the need is like a lover's scent,

sweets lingering long after you leave.

She is spiritual healing seeping into my pores

with the force of sensual woman warrior mother goddess.

The source of her touch originates

from the floor of an uncharted forest

on the dark continent.

One of the secrets whispered only in ancient text

or on the bourgeon lips of the few

who choose to channel the wisdom of the Orishas.

First the fever flutters like butterfly wings,

then rushes like thunder claps up your spinal column.

She speaks...And, at first, it's like smoke.

Thin mysterious wisps of frankincense

longingly stretched across the Afro-blue.

Moonlit reunion illuminates my view

with voice inflections undressing

an audience of undivided attention.

I'm paying the red hot melodic lover

to refresh this cold room.

Ethereal firelight honeysuckle laughter

to remove these walls and introduce spring cleaning

to the cluttered corners of my mood,

I stand naked before the mirror.

Her hands familiar as my own,

yet, they don't belong to the arms,

which long to hold the bones

masterfully gift-wrapped in imagery.

Caressing the aesthetic fancy of an angel,

I angle my head to recognize the rhyme,

pondering why and where this muse resides?

I surmised her house of love must thrive

in some unknown labyrinth

where dandelion and honeydew water fountains

bathe her soul in something

so potent the opus is beyond articulation.

I pray to know the magic

the green palette she uses to paint dreams

in vivid majesty.

I long to be just one note of the intonations

within her emotional phraseology.

At first, love roars like silence,

then burns the world with a cool inferno.

by John Burl Smith

Other than grandmama and granddaddy, my earliest companion was an old drycell radio. Daily at 4 o’clock, when it was operating, a hauntingly robust laugh echoed through the Mississippi delta. A clarion call to blacks, "Ha ha haa aahaaa this is Nat D. on WDIA in Memphis, the home of Beale Street, where W.C. Handy wrote the blues," began the day’s lesson as the "Memphis Blues " moaned in the background. Nat D drew listeners into an inner-sanctum. On the wings of his words, we soared to distant places, met interesting people and learned important facts, while getting tidbits of news about what was happening to "colored folks." In 1948, I joined my family in Memphis. They had escaped the dreaded sharecropper’s life under the cover of night. Years later, I came to know the man that was the lifeline connecting granddaddy’s isolated and desolate Mississippi delta sharecropper’s plot to the outside world.

In 1967, I organized a group of black teens called the Invaders in Riverside, a South Memphis neighborhood. Many of these young people’s fathers, brothers, relatives and friends were the families that depended on a sanitation worker’s earnings. Naturally, the Invaders became involved in the strike; Nat D was the only black DJ who gave young radicals a voice. Teaching history at Booker T. Washington High School, a few blocks from Beale Street, Nathaniel Daniel Williams labored tirelessly to pry open students’ minds by helping them develop pride in being black in a segregated world. Professor emeritus of Beale Street history and culture, Nat insisted colored folks must be educated.

Awaiting trial in the Shelby County Jail for protesting during the sanitation strike, Richard L. Kirksey, Jr. and I were there on totally unrelated charges, but we shared a common connection in Nat Daddy, as Richard called him. Born into very impoverish circumstances, Richard was one of many students Nat D fought desperately to save. Raised by grandparents, early on Richard began a life of hustling on Beale Street to survive. Nat D was the unofficial Mayor of Beale. Consequently, he looked after all the kids living on the world-renowned street. Daily epitomizing the good shepherd, Nat swooped down on Beale picking up kids by the carload. He would feed them, and then carry them to school. On many occasions, playing this game was Richard’s only chance to get a hot meal.

He cherished the influence and kindness of the "Curtis Mayfield look alike." Motivated to repay Nat D, Richard tried to provide black children the guidance he received. Richard founded Big Brothers Jr. Achievers modeled after a youth basketball team started by Nat D in 1948 - The South Memphis Cagers.

The Invaders were scapegoats for the riot that brought Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Memphis, and I served five years in prison. On my return to Memphis in 1972, Richard offered me a chance to move beyond radicalism and become Program Coordinator for Big Brothers Jr. Achievers. That offer marked a significant point in my conscious transformation. It gave me an opportunity to honor Nat D as our patriarch, the man who taught me the meaning of community service. John 2000

Predictably, the talking heads and late night comics are ripping Katherine Harris, Florida’s secretary of state, to shreds. Bathed in Bush bias and brass, Harris refused to accept votes from a hand count in Palm Beach County and certified bogus election results. Harris did everything humanly possible to prevent manual recounts in the four predominantly black counties.

Now that all the cruel tasteless jokes have been told, Harris will have the last laugh, as she will probably go on to become an ambassador or hold a cabinet position in some Republican administration. Harris has balls, and she has no problem using them. You have to give credit where it is due; Harris did things few men had the courage to. Awash in a sea of recused parties from Jeb, the governor, to a shit-load of judges, Harris showed big balls and delivered Florida’s tainted electoral votes to "his fradulency 2000," George W. Bush, Jr.

Harris is like the character in the movie Disclosure. Based on the best-selling thriller by Michael Crichton, Disclosure stars Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. The 1994 movie is about money, control and power. Moore plays the alpha-female in this tale of corporate intrigue. Rent the high-tech thriller soon; it will entertain and educate you about the alpha-female. For her, there is no sacrifice too great, no lie too big to tell and no principle that cannot be sacrificed to accomplish a mission. In this case, the mission is to bring down the character played by Douglas. Check out Disclosure and get a realistic look at Harris. No laughing matter, she is an alpha-female character.

Disgruntled wants to know: South Carolina has a huge black population. During slavery, the state was majority black. Like Georgia, Florida and much of the south, Bush "won" South Carolina in the presidential election. Blacks did not vote for him. So, how did he take South Carolina or Georgia for that matter?

Disgruntled says: In democracies, every vote counts. It is time America ate what it feeds the world. The world's premier "democracy" should embrace the philosophy that all men are created equal. It would be a refreshing departure from America's history of hypocrisy on the subject of democracy.

Disgruntled feels: Spouting GOP talking points, Bill Bennet, the Republican Party's moral compass, relinquished all claims to credibility by trying to justify not counting all votes cast in Florida. What a hypocrite!

Shrouded in suspicion, Rutherford B. Hayes' Presidency (1877-1890) is significant because it ended Reconstruction and signaled a return to white supremacy. By pulling federal troops out of the South, Hayes returned the nation to legal racial discrimination. Without federal protection, the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th Amendments to the Constitution were worthless. The human rights of former slaves were trampled under the tyranny of white supremacy.

Though Negroes continued to vote after Reconstruction, they did so in greatly reduced numbers. Some states used threats; others nullified their votes with tricky devices, such as tissue ballots and other complicated arrangements to disqualify their votes.

A bought and directed franchise at best, control of the Negro vote meant control of the Democratic Party. Fierce competition between farmers and rich white folks over the Negro vote struck fear in the hearts of white America; it did not want Negroes determining the outcome of elections. In response, Southern states passed laws to disenfranchise Negroes in the 1890's. Whites effectively closed ranks to maintain white supremacy by disenfranchising black people.

Evading the intent of the Fifteenth Amendment, Southern states denied Negroes the right to vote. Discrimination made legal, two widely used devices were the poll tax or some form of property qualification and the literacy and understanding test, which required voters to demonstrate an ability to read and interpret the Constitution. The latter law allowed local registrars to administer the reading tests and rule on their interpretations, which were frequently found inadequate. Rutherford B. Hayes' administration can best be remembered for turning the country back to its roots of legal discrimination. His administration signaled a return to white supremacy, a legal anomaly in a democracy. (Source: Current, Williams and Freidel)

Comments from the Bat Cave

The Dark Knight/Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is a Toys R Us fanatic. He loves putting together Lego models and super hero action figures. When asked if he believed in Santa Claus, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro wondered aloud, "Is this another one of those trick questions?"

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is the south's only rapid rail public transportation utility. Under the Democratic leadership of Governor Roy Barnes, MARTA is a captive of his Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), which was created to manage sprawl, provide regional public transportation and clean up Georgia's air.

MARTA recently increased its fares. Effective January 2001, the rate increase is expected to cause a hardship for poor people that rely on public transportation. According to MARTA officials, the 25-cents increase was needed to meet a budget shortfall.

Imagine our surprise to learn that Buckhead, the upscale area of Atlanta in Fulton County, will be getting a free shuttle service. This is the second free service made public this year. Free transportation for some, while others pay more, raises serious questions about GRTA, how transportation dollars are spent and who pays and who benefits? The GRTA board chairperson is a black woman. She has yet to acknowledge there is a real problem in the disparate allocation of services and funding responsibilities in regional transportation.

MARTA is the cog in the regional transportation wheel. Yet, GRTA provides no MARTA funding. For those taxpayers funding MARTA through the local one-cent sales tax, free shuttle service for some is a hard pill to swallow on top of a MARTA fare increase.

In Georgia, when a customer's natural gas service is disconnected for non-payment, a hold is placed on the account through Atlanta Gas Light (AGL), which acts as a clearinghouse. In effect, AGL controls your gas service, even though a provider bills you for usage.

If you are disconnected, restoring your gas can be complicated and costly. To restore service, SCANA requires a $200 deposit and a $50 reconnect fee, in addition to the amount owed on the account ($138). The full amount had to be posted to our account before services are restored. In choosing not to pay the additional $250 by subscribing with another gas provider, we were told we would be without gas until the 1^st of the month. This meant going without heat for nearly a month, since the service was disrupted November 6^th, the day before elections. To avoid this lengthy delay, we could pay SCANA the $200 deposit and the $50 re-connect fee.

A call to AGL verified this policy, which is backed up by Georgia's Public Service Commission (PSC), which agreed AGL and the gas providers can impose these arbitrary restrictions, thus giving them the green-light to engage in monopolistic practices.

Refusing to pay this bribe, we mailed our payment of $138 to SCANA. Like most of the other gas providers, SCANA does not have a local payment office, which delays payment receipt and service restoration. On the following Monday, our payment posted to the account, but SCANA still had a hold on it. AGL refused to remove the hold until a "final billing," which they claimed meant waiting three more days for the "final billing" or pay SCANA the $250. To get another provider, we had to wait until the first of the month.

To prevent this unpleasant experience, avoid a gas disconnection in Georgia. Should you choose not to submit to highway robbery as we did, you can shorten the time they make you wait for restoration by calling your local gas provider after your payment posts. Tell them to fax AGL authorization to remove the hold on your account. If they refuse to comply, call the PSC and threaten to file a formal complaint. Our gas was restored the same day, but we had been without heat for a week. The best advice is, avoid disconnection. But, if you do get shut off, do not fall for the scam being run on gas customers by AGL, the gas providers and the PSC.

Prey America

by Dot

With all the drama of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) covert operation, the race for the U.S. Presidency comes down to Jeb Bush, governor of Florida and Dubya's brother. Jeb is faced with questions of morals and ethics. His integrity on the line, family loyalty holds sway in a family that preys together. Image conscious, Jeb recused himself from direct action, leaving the dirty work to Katherine Harris, Florida's secretary of state. Like the alpha-female in Disclosure, Harris is heavy-handed and obvious. So, Florida's crucial twenty-five electoral votes remain in contention.

Inundated with countless lawyers, special agents, media pundits and other interested parties, Florida is being raked over the coals; there is more to this story. Jeb's reputation hangs in the balance. Now, delivering Florida is more compelling; he may need a presidential pardon. Sooner or later, some revelation is sure to tarnish Florida's chief executive. Chances are excellent it will be soon, given the flimsy undemocratic talking points advanced by Republican Party operatives.

During his campaign, George W. Bush promised to stack the courts with strict constructionists. Bush let everyone know he plans to proceed as a white supremacist. His visit to Bob Jones University sent that message to South Carolina and the nation. Contrary to his campaign slogan, Bush is a divider. Like Rutherford B. Hayes, Bush is committed to turning the clock back on the struggle for racial equality. The stuff of CIA spy pictures - how a master spy slipped up stealing the presidency of the most powerful country in the world - this is high drama. No wonder so many Americans are glued to their televisions, awaiting the next development. This is better than Clinton's sex scandal, or is it merely a continuation? We are dealing with the same characters.

Clinton-haters called him the anti-Christ. At the dawn of the new millennium, indications are Bush is the most likely suspect for that designation. The signs are all there; it is a stellar alignment. Pray America! Should he become president, Bush will have a narrow Republican majority in Congress. Nothing stands in his way. Like Rutherford B. Hayes, his administration will make some Americans prey; legal racial discrimination will continue to be the rule of law. "Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it." Forgive any misquote; but, you get the picture. If not, THINC about it!

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