Volume 7 Issue 24…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…June 18, 2004

By John Burl Smith

"I will bring honor to the process and honor to the office I seek. I will remind Al Gore that Americans do not want a White House where there is 'no controlling legal authority.' I will repair the broken bonds of trust between Americans and their government." - George W. Bush, March 7, 2000

Reminiscent of choices facing the nation in 1860, November 2, 2004 presents similar demands for a new direction. George Bush has brought to a boil the cultural war that began when the 1940s and 50s baby boomers came of age. Baby boomers realized, if slave descendants were ever to receive the full measure of citizenship the US Constitution promised, then they had to oppose institutionalized racism.

The resulting confrontations in the 1960's and '70's opened a dialogue between blacks and whites to advance equal access, free expression and civil and human rights. Embracing these values, boomers protested against injustices like segregation, discrimination, the Vietnam War and sexism.

Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover saw blacks' demands for equality as a threat to whites and used Co- InTel-Pro to infiltrate groups, jail and/or kill leaders. Assassinated or deposed, black leaders were replaced by people willing to betray the movement for seats on corporate boards. The boomer generation, which had defined itself by valuing free expressions, such as lighting up, taking it off, letting it all hang out and making love not war, turned on itself and elected Ronald Reagan.

Dubbed Generation X, children of the 1980's saw their parents go from long hair, love beads and dashikis to born-again designer consumers lusting after tax cuts, condos and stock portfolios. Hung over and convulsing from repudiating their lifestyle, Gen-Xers watched their guilt-ridden boomer parents change the black/white dialogue from equal opportunity to welfare reform.

Inheriting a world without a conscience, Gen-X was criminalized for behaviors popularized by their boomer parents. The most vociferous critics of their former lifestyle, many born-again conservative Christians, boomers became Bush's base. However, recent polls indicate that, unlike Gen-Xers, the hip-hop generation is not marching to the beat of neocon drums.

Conservative pollsters like John Zogby are finding attitude shifts about the cultural war. Young respondents indicate they "lean to the left" on human rights issues. This means they identify more with their flower-children grandparents than with their Gen-Xer parents on issues such as the war in Iraq, prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Patriot Act, enemy combatants and globalism. Unlike neocons, hip-hoppers do not see these as black and white issues or in terms of good guys vs. evildoers.

To make their way, hip-hoppers seek collaboration, rather than fighting cultural or imperial wars. They use international "speak outs" to make their voices heard. During Bush's recent visit to Rome (6-5-04), while Pope John Paul "chastised" him "for recent deplorable events" that "trouble the civic and religious conscience of all," protesters outside behaved like their boomer grandparents." They threw objects, firecrackers, set trash cans on fire and clashed with police. On the same day, thousands of angry poor voiced international distrust and disgust for Bush administration policies worldwide as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited Singapore and Bangladesh.

Hip-hoppers oppose the US' global war of racism, persecution and economic slavery. Denouncing US aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq, hip-hoppers see Bush's preemptive invasions as naked imperialism designed to dominate the world's oil supply, while claiming to bring democracy to the people he is robbing.

Stokley Carmichael (1941-1998)

Civil rights activist, writer and black power advocate, Stokley Carmichael was born June 29, 1941 in Port Spain, Trinidad. In 1952, his family moved to New York City. Encouraged to excel in school, he won admission to the Bronx High School of Science (1956).

After entering Howard University (1960), he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1961, he became one of the Freedom Riders that sought an end to racial segregation in the Deep South. On a trip through Mississippi, Carmichael was arrested and jailed for 49 days in Parchman Penitentiary.

Carmichael graduated from Howard with a degree in philosophy (1964). In 1965, he moved to Alabama, where he worked in the voting rights campaign and helped organize the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO). His success in attracting black support led to his election as chairperson of SNCC.

After a sniper shot James Meredith, Carmichael joined Martin Luther King, Floyd McKissick and other civil rights advocates in continuing Meredith's March Against Fear from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi as a protest against racism. Marchers were arrested in Greenwood, Mississippi. Upon his release on June 16, 1966, Carmichael delivered his famous Black Power speech, which urged blacks to unite, form their own organizations and reject American values.

With Charles Hamilton, Carmichael co-wrote Black Power (1967). He adopted the slogan "Black is Beautiful." Black baby boomers across the nation discarded hair-straighteners and embraced the Afro in a show of racial and cultural pride. In February 1968, Carmichael became Prime Minister of the Black Panther Party. In stark contrast to the SCLC and NAACP, which advocated non-violent social change, Carmichael argued for the use of violence to attain black demands. When he denounced U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, the government confiscated his passport.

Ideological differences between Carmichael and some members of the Black Panther Party led to his resignation in 1969. When the government returned his passport, Carmichael and his wife, Miriam Makeba, moved to Guinea, West Africa. He wrote Stokely Speaks: Black Power Back to Pan-Africanism (1971) and changed his name to Kwame Turé (or Touré).

A proponent of Pan Africanism, the belief that Africans throughout the Diaspora should unite, Stokley helped establish the All-African People's Revolutionary Party. He served as an aide to Guinea's prime minister, Sekou Toure and returned occasionally to the United States to lecture. On November 15, 1998, Carmichael died of prostate cancer. (Sources: www.aaregistry.com and www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk)

Juneteenth

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery in the rebel states. On April 9,1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union Army at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger read General Order #3 to the people of Galveston, Texas. It was the first time Texas slaves heard about Lincoln's Proclamation and learned the Civil War was over.

In part, General Order #3 stated..." in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them become that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."

In 1866, black Texans began to celebrate this day as their day of independence instead of the Fourth of July. Early celebrations included prayers, speakers, readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, oral slave histories, food and dancing. Migrating Texans carried the celebration with them to other states. During World War II and the 1960's, June 19 celebrations waned as blacks engaged in the civil rights struggle. Ironically, on June 19, 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act to enforce the basic constitutional right of blacks to vote.

In 1976, the Texas state legislature passed a bill declaring June 19 "Emancipation Day in Texas." It became a state holiday effective January 1, 1980. Today, blacks across the nation are working to have this date, which is commonly known as Juneteenth, recognized as the National Freedom Day for black Americans. (Sources: www.aaregistry.com and Webster's Encyclopedia)

By John M. Swails

Position and responsibility

dictate harmonic appearances which are sincere,

as far as motivation is concerned.

Bright outlooks are a learned Behavior.

While saviors from personal trauma

are still patiently awaited;

though that fact is held back from the general public

so as not to be the subject of scrutiny.

With eyes selectively blinded,

I am the embodiment of positive thinking.

Drinking more than my share of escape

I still awake within a kingdom

far beyond my capable responsibility,

but it is a cause taken up

by me and me alone,

because while GOD would never give me

more than I can handle

my pride created what will inevitably become a scandal,

created to boost my low self-esteem.

Long ago leaving GOD's purpose behind,

I tried to attain a promised but unrealistic Dream.

Though never succeeding I continue anyway.

Ignoring the many failures of today,

I look towards an unprecedented

success for tomorrow

and that just so I have ammunition,

albeit weak, to ignore the magnitude of sorrow

created by me today.

Because Ignorance is bliss!

And money justifies a corrupt but profitable lifestyle,

and that and the alcohol

help to drown out the cries of those

who trusted I would help them.

Yes, ignorance… is bliss, even when it's self induced,

and what I cannot ignore alone

is stifled by special interest groups.

And so it goes until my name is all I hold,

that remains from this journey's start.

My heart… must be noticed to be missed…

and ignorance…is bliss.

About Me: A Politician's Conscience is from the Politically Incorrect section of his new book Fabric Of Life. Swails has been writing poems and short stories since the age of nine. His poetry has appeared in several publications. For more about the author and his work, log on to http://poetrypoem.com/blackanalyst.

Targeting Caterkiller

On Sunday, March 16, 2003, peace activist Rachael Corrie, 23, a student at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington died in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. She made the fatal error of trying to halt an Israeli bulldozer from tearing down a Palestinian home. According to eyewitnesses, Corrie fell in front of the machine, which ran over her and then backed up. An Israeli military spokesperson characterized her death as "an accident," while others claim it was murder.

Groups worldwide have called on the American company that manufactures the bulldozers used by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) to stop supplying these machines. Instrumental in the Israeli occupation, Caterpillar's bulldozers have been used to murder countless civilians and demolish thousands of homes in illegal acts of collective punishment.

Caterpillar, which is called Caterkiller, ignored the request. Peace activists responded with a series of actions that include calling for a boycott of Caterpillar products, a work stoppage on the anniversary of Corrie's murder, rooftop occupations at the company's headquarters and attempts to present Caterpillar staff with a 'Homewrecker of the Year' award.

On Friday, June 25, 2004, demonstrations will resume in the United Kingdom's West Midlands area where Caterpillar has a number of plants. For more about the campaign against Caterpillar, visit www.indymedia.org.uk.

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is relearning the value of telling the truth. He says he understands the parable of the boy who cried wolf and knows problems can develop when lies are told. Making the lesson for this impressionable youth more difficult are world leaders and adults that lie on a regular basis. So, it came as no surprise when the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro wondered, "Is telling the truth for kids only?"

Disgruntled wants to know: According to economic data collected and analyzed by the Bush Administration, the US is experiencing its strongest boom in twenty years. The presumptive Democratic candidate John Kerry is being chided by Bush talking heads for singing of doom and gloom when everything is "great." One wonders where were these Republican critics when George W. Bush was jawboning down the economy to justify a tax cut for his wealthy campaign contributors?

Disgruntled says: On Monday, a barrel of crude oil rose to a historic high of $42.00. Oil is a critical component of the production process. When it goes up, so does production costs and just about everything else. Needing to project only good news, the Bush Administration decided to indefinitely delay publication of the Producers Price Index (PPI). As it turns out, it is easy to cook consumer prices to score political points and get away with it, but publishing faulty producer numbers is too risky. The chances of getting caught in a lie, like Colin Powell and his cooked State Department global terrorism figures, are too great.

Disgruntled feels: Contemptuous! To shield George W. Bush from being implicated in authorizing interrogation methods used at Abu Ghraib prison, which violated international law, Attorney General John Ashcroft risked contempt of Congress. Polls commissioned by the Coalition Provisional Authority show Iraqis view Americans as occupiers, rather than liberators, and pretty much hold them in contempt. Likewise, blacks should find it equally contemptuous that black faces are paraded before the media to explain and justify every Bush administration lie and deception.

Email hsharlis@yahoo.com On June 12, 2004, Ronnie Reagan eulogized his father, former President Ronald Reagan, at a ceremony for the family. His remark, "....Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man. But he never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage. True, after he was shot and nearly killed early in his presidency, he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. And, there is a profound difference." Understandably, George W. Bush and politicians of his ilk felt the sting of those remarks.

Email yukonOG@aol.com When the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq hit 800, suddenly, the method for "death count bookkeeping" at the Pentagon - and reported by the media - changed. Now, to count as a "death," you have to die on the spot "in combat." That means that you do not count as officially "killed" if you step on a land mine and die a week later in agony in Germany. Pretty neat trick, eh? How stupid do he and his pals in the media think the public is? When you learn about the use of depleted uranium (DU) in Iraq, this counting method seems even more disgusting. Presumably, DU deaths are not being counted.

Email revg@minister.com Do not hold your breath waiting for George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Arnold the Android, or any outed Republican to admit they are veracity challenged. They do not serve a constituency demanding their heroes, idols or lesser gods be honest in matters questioning their character - just that of Democrats. The avalanche of events swirling around the above, including Bill Bennett, Trent Lott, and possibly Karl Rove, will not impact their ability to continue to deceive their supporters. Only thinking people can look at this bunch and discern what a motley crew of charlatans they really are.

Email alarkam@webtv.net This story has been forwarded to you from http://ipsnews.net. POLITICS: US...9/11 Panel Challenges Bush on Al-Qaeda-Iraq Links by Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, June 16 (IPS) - In a direct challenge to recent assertions by both President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the special bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York and the Pentagon has found ''no credible evidence'' of any operational link between Iraq and al-Qaeda.

Email www.latimes.com Retired Officials Say Bush Must Go by Ronald Brownstein (June 13, 2004) -- A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials, several appointed to key positions by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, issued a joint statement arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America's national security and should be defeated in November. The group, Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, explicitly condemns Bush's foreign policy.

Email pitnews@ebn.co.uk Britons handed Tony Blair heavy electoral reverses in local elections. Will Blair heed calls for his resignation or blame terrorists?

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