The DISH
Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use
Vol. 9 No. 36…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…September
8, 2006
Heroes
By C A Webb
A tribute to all the
fearless warriors in our lives.
Heroes don’t
die.
They rest. After
giving us their very best,
we keep them alive by
striving to remember
the work they did and
follow their example.
Such is the case with Rosa Parks.
When she fell asleep in death on October 24, 2005,
it caused all of us
to realize
how so much of what
she started remains undone.
As influential as she was,
I didn’t know
much about her.
But as her life was reflected upon the TV,
it became plain to
see
how big a hero this
humble warrior was.
Yes, I said a warrior. She
was a leader
who knew how to say
enough is enough
when things
weren’t turning out the way they should.
Mrs. Parks, in her quiet, soft spoken way,
was not going to be
one who turned away
when she saw others
were being mistreated.
And on that day—back in
a simple test brought
alive a moment when she said
that no matter what
her color,
she had a right to
her dignity.
On that day the little lady started a big war
that wasn’t
going away
and is still
enlisting soldiers today.
By sitting down she stood up for herself
and bared her weapons
of live and non-violence,
showing she was never
giving up.
And now she sleeps,
yet we have been
given our marching orders
to keep the work she
started going.
So we must report for duty. I
find it hard to believe
that we say we
respect such heroes
when in the
a woman like her is battered
each day.
Yes, the world is failing the test of humanity,
so you see why
it’s so important
to respect those like
Mrs. Parks.
Age is a gift that many abuse,
refusing to
understand the privilege
of becoming a mature
woman or man.
Those around us that have been blessed to grow old
should be told how
much they mean to us,
without feeling they
have become a burden or tiresome load.
I think about my grandmother, Quattie Webb,
and how even
I’ve failed to always show her consideration
—no matter how much
I tell her I love her.
Yes, regardless how
busy or important we think we are,
It’s never too
late
to start doing what
we know to be the right thing.
And as we proclaim
‘Let freedom ring’
may we believe that
when all of us show mutual respect.
There is no way that
we can expect anything less,
Because we will all
be heroes.
"Rocky" Rocks the House
In late August, 2006, George W. Bush came to
Perhaps, the most memorable
speech that day was given by Salt Lake City Mayor Ross C. "Rocky"
Anderson. Beginning by making the
statement, “A patriot is a person who loves his or her country,”
Mayor Rocky Anderson unleashed a storm of criticisms of the Bush administration
from its “abuse of power” to the “mission of lies” that
led the country to war in
Alcee Lamar Hastings
Born September 5, 1936 in
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter
appointed
After his removal from office,
A member of the Congressional
Black Caucus, Hastings is a member of the House Rules Committee and a senior
member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI).
A Senior Democratic Whip,
Hastings is Vice Chair of the Florida Delegation. He serves on the U.S. Helsinki
Commission. Selected to represent the U.S. Congress in the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in
Rep. Hastings became a hero in
the black community, when he and a handful of the 538 congressional members
defied the odds and stood for democracy by challenging the certification of
For 2006, Rep. Hastings is unopposed in his reelection bid. He is working to elect Democrats. (Sources: http://alceehastings.house.gov/ and http://en.wikipedia.org)
The Republican Party controls all three branches
of the
Consequently, the desire for change could be a
bonanza for Democrats. Pundits are predicting enough seats will change hands to
give Democrats control of the House of Representatives. With high GOP
negatives, Democrats could regain control of the Senate, particularly if the
elections are open, honest and votes are counted.
Bush administration and GOP operatives are
tarring those likely to serve as majority leader (Nancy Pelosi, D-California),
committee chairmen, etc., should Democrats prevail in November. Causing concern
for the GOP are the likely changes in congressional oversight that should come
with a new party in office, given the frightening direction the nation has
taken under the Bush administration.
While John Conyers (D-Michigan), the ranking
member of the House Judiciary Committee, which initiates impeachment
proceedings, is a threat on the horizon with a Democratic win in November, the
real specter haunting the GOP is Alcee L. Hastings, (D-Florida). A member of
the House Intelligence Committee, Hastings is the ranking Democrat on the
subcommittee on terrorism and homeland security. Should Democrats prevail in
November,
The prospect of
By John Burl Smith
Considering heroes as a child, John Wayne impressed me as a rough and rugged
stalwart. Errol Flynn, a suave,
gallant, flamboyant swashbuckler,
kissed the girls while saving the world. And then, there was Shaft, “a
complicated man” dishing it up hot with the hood as the backdrop. These images cut a real slash across the
vivid imagination of an impressionable kid. Over the years however, life’s
jagged edge gashed the thin rosy veneer coloring the cold dark reality of empty
prospects for blacks.
A recent controversy involving
Rev. Andrew Young prompted a retrospective on the great survival struggle of
black people in the
Rising out of the depths of
oppression, deprivation and powerlessness after emancipation (1863), blacks
were destitute. Kidnapped from
Oppression produced an insidious
self-hatred related to their powerlessness. Deprivation created an enormous
level of illiteracy. Through
segregation and lynching, whites maintained conditions that kept blacks in a
state of socioeconomic and political slavery for another one hundred
years. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
inflamed racial hatred. Fortified
by law, the KKK helped foster a mind-set of institutionalized racism. Whites exercised the power of life or
death at any time for any reason over blacks with impunity.
Dominated by such dire
circumstances, individuals lost importance and survival of the group gained
significance. Amazingly, in less
than twenty years after emancipation, blacks created a parallel society. Although not as many or as prosperous,
whatever existed in the white society, blacks produced for their
community. Starting around 1900,
this collective identification developed into several socioeconomic hubs, like
Leaders that developed during
these times were motivated by a collective consciousness. Producing leaders like Marcus Garvey,
Booker T. Washington, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, George Washington Carver,
Rev. Benjamin Mays, Mary McLeod Bethune and many others, their mind-set was not
motivated by personal fame and fortunes, rather by a desire to move blacks
forward. Black stalwarts and trail
blazers helped foster a collective ideal for progress: “Each generation
must push the next generation up the hill a little further than where that
generation began.”
Actors like Wayne and Flynn are
created by
Rev. Young spoke the truth about
black people being exploited by everyone, including other blacks; it is an
establish fact. To validate this
assessment, all one needs do is read history and travel through the black community.
The present attack on Rev. Young is not
intended solely to besmirch him. It is designed to undermine our willingness to
identify with each other and trust in our collective ideal. Whites create the slave mind-set by
controlling all resources. Doling
out crumbs, they convinced some blacks that identifying with whites provided
the only access to success or survival.
Intimating Rev. Young is an untrustworthy scoundrel for speaking the
truth undercuts our efforts to build unity. It is an insinuation designed to justify
other people exploiting the black community. Looking back or forward, blacks see the
same reflection of exploitation.
What this controversy makes clear is that it is time the next generation
of Rev. Youngs takes the stage!
Disgruntled feels: Unreal!
The
Disgruntled says: Last week, we
commemorated the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Much has been done
to restore the lives and land ravaged by the natural disaster. Clearly, much
more remains to be done. After the postmortem and speeches, the spotlight was
dimmed. For a brief moment, Katrina forced us to take an uncomfortable look at
that other America. With no national leadership, the dialogue the nation should
have had on poverty and deprivation in the land of plenty never happened.
Disgruntled wants to know: On last week,
George W. Bush addressed the American Legion National Convention in
End Electoral College?
The US Electoral College system
is an institution established by the US Constitution. Like slavery, the
Electoral College was created based on the 3/5 Compromise. Used to elect the US
president, the Electoral College negates one-man one-vote democracy. A
constitutional amendment, which is a high hurdle, is required to abolish this
unequal vote count system in which votes are weighed differently.
Creating an end run around the Electoral College, without a constitutional
amendment, the Democratic-controlled California Legislature passed Assembly
Bill 2948. If signed into law, the legislation will give California's 55
electoral college votes to the national popular vote winner, rather than the
presidential candidate capturing a majority of the state's votes. It will also
make California part of an interstate compact in which members agree to cast
their Electoral College votes for the presidential candidate receiving the
national popular vote.
Similar legislation is pending in
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and
Telephone Calls
Email www.washingtonpost.com 'Mortgage
Moms' May Star in Midterm Vote With Wages Stagnant and Debt Growing, Democrats
See an Opportunity By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Chris Cillizza..Every election
cycle has its own important set of undecided, or swing, voters. In 2000, it was
the "soccer moms," targeted by both parties with appeals based on
education and quality-of-life concerns. In 2004, it was the security moms,
normally Democratic-trending women whose concerns about terrorism helped give
Bush his margin of victory. This year could mark the emergence of what might be
called mortgage moms -- voters whose sense of well-being is freighted with
anxiety about their families' financial squeeze. Democrats are betting that
this factor is strong enough to trump security or cultural values issues.
Email www.informationclearinghouse.info
"The Five Morons Revisited" by Paul Craig Roberts-- When the neocons
launched the Bush administration's invasions of
Email www.cbs46.com/global ...A Korean
grocers' group sued former UN ambassador Andrew Young for libel for claiming
that they and other market owners "ripped off" blacks. The suit,
filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, also names the Wal-Mart
store chain and seeks at least $7.5 million in damages. In an interview with
the black-owned Los Angeles Sentinel, Young said that Wal-Mart competition had
forced smaller, "mom-and-pop" stores out of his neighborhood.
"But you see, those are the people who have been overcharging us, selling
us stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And, they sold out and moved
to
|| 2006 Issues || The DISH ||