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The Moynihan Report
30 Years Later and Counting
By Elizabeth Wright
[Reprinted from Issues & Views Winter 1995]
"The situation may indeed have begun to feed on itself," reads a gloomy reflection in the Moynihan Report. Published in 1965, few public documents have been the subject of so much misunderstanding and scorn.
Just what was the situation that was "feeding" on itself? The Report, a meticulous piece of research, described the ongoing disintegration of the black family, as demonstrated especially by the weakened role of men. It emphasized the need for public policies designed to strengthen the economic role of black men. Entitled, "The Negro Family: The Case For National Action," its central thesis raised questions about the ability of the black family to continue its important function as socializer of future generations.
Much of the information in the Report was first communicated by the eminent black sociologist Franklin Frazier, who published important studies on black culture from the 1930s to 1950s. In a sense, the Report merely updated the early findings and observations of Frazier and other black social scientists. A major reason why it set off a firestorm of criticism is because it made the mistake of being published when the high follies of the 1960s were in full swing.
This year, the 30th anniversary of the Report’s publication, finds the black family in even greater distress. In fact, the Report’s term "disorganized," which was used to describe much of black family life at the time, today sounds rather restrained. Not only have the follies of the ‘60s not ceased, they have been buttressed by official government policies that reward capricious lifestyles undreamed of even in the heady days of the flower children.
In 1965, when news about the contents of the Report hit the fan, an armed assault team of social scientists, black and white, set out to discredit its findings. Politically correct ideology was blatantly substituted for objective investigation. In fact, several of these academics condemned what they called the Report’s "cold, scientific" approach to the facts.
Refusing to distinguish reality from pipe dream, people who once were judged sane set off in all directions to go on record as pious protectors of the downtrodden. Instead of helping poor blacks comprehend the cycle in which they had become trapped, people who should have known better set in motion new forces that insured the poor’s continued decline.
Numbers of black academics determined to conduct their own "research," with some of them boldly stating just what they would be looking for. They, by God, were going to locate the "strengths" of the black family and put to rest this talk about its disintegration. Without a trace of shame, they announced that the ultimate goal of what they called "black social science" was not to achieve scientific competency, but to bring about "black liberation."
And so these purveyors of a new black sociology set out to discover order and meaning in the behavior of the lower class. Locking horns with their white counterparts, black "intellectuals" fought for recognition to be the sole interpreters of black behavior. They, after all, were better attuned to finding the truth, so they claimed. While black youth rioted and families continued to crumble, this interracial gang of hucksters fought over the lucrative spoils that go to those who generate doctoral dissertations, journal articles, magazine features, conferences, seminars, curriculums, and endless streams of books.
The Report’s most significant contribution was its clarion call to action. In fact, its subtitle is "The Case for National Action." In stark, statistical detail, it made clear the urgent need to reverse negative social trends where tens of thousands of young males grow up with no clear picture of the responsible roles they must play as men. While detailing the nature of the problems confronting the poor, it placed great emphasis on the need for immediate strategies to improve the lot of families through higher rates of male employment, income maintenance and education.
The renewal of fragile families was central to the Report’s thesis. The implication was clear that social programs should be evaluated primarily for their benefits to families and their potential to help keep families intact.
Defensive posturing now got under way in earnest. Slick, upper class columnist Carl Rowan, complained that he was "weary of being analyzed and mesmerized." Apparently, for Rowan and other prominent blacks like him, the Report’s "exposure" of the negative lifestyles of any black men was an attack on him and all black men. These worthies were embarrassed.
James Farmer, the director of CORE, claimed the Report simply provided fuel for a new racism and was really a covert attempt to get blacks to "take our eyes off the prize." Whitney Young of the National Urban League insisted that discrimination alone accounted for the continuing troubles of the poor, and that the subject of family instability was a "peripheral issue." Bayard Rustin of the A. Philip Randolph Institute claimed that, what might seem to be social disease to one group, "may be a healthy adaptation to the Negro lower class." Clarence Mitchell of the NAACP rejected the Report’s implication that blacks might benefit from examining internal dynamics to get a handle on solving some of their problems.
One rationalization after another was proclaimed by apologist leaders in newspaper columns, in public forums and from church pulpits—dismissing the insights and wisdom of the Report. All of which could only leave the sober black observer to ask, "With ‘leaders’ like these, who needs outside enemies?"
Unfortunately for the black poor, these notables, along with their white liberal confidantes, held the power to dictate the nature of social policy for years to come. As grandstanding opponents to the Report took center stage, those blacks who appreciated the Report’s candidness could find few forums in which to be heard. In general, they were ignored by the mainstream media. Sociologist Nathan Hare, for example, was a lone voice denouncing those who were most instrumental in shutting down debate over the issues raised.
The shrill cries of the civil rights establishment prevailed. Middle class blacks now sought to use the findings of the Report as proof of the need to speed up moves toward integration. Such misguided schemes only sounded another death knell for poor blacks, whose urgent problems had nothing to do with attaining greater social proximity to whites.
Following are excerpts from the Moynihan Report:
Margaret Mead has pointed out that while ‘In every known human society, everywhere in the world, the young male learns that when he grows up one of the things which he must do in order to be a full member of society is to provide food for some female and her young.’ This pattern is not immutable, however, it can be broken, even though it has always eventually reasserted itself.
‘Within the family, each new generation of young males learn the appropriate nurturing behavior and superimpose upon their biologically given maleness this learned parental role. When the family breaks down . . . this delicate line of transmission is broken. Men may flounder badly in these periods, during which the primary unit may again become mother and child, the biologically given, and the special conditions under which man has held his social traditions in trust are violated and distorted.’. .
A cycle is at work; too many children too early make it most difficult for the parents to finish school. . . . An Urban League study in New York reported that 44% of girl dropouts left school because of pregnancy. Low education levels in turn produce low income levels, which deprive children of many opportunities, and so the cycle repeats itself. . . .
At this point, the present tangle of pathology is capable of perpetuating itself. . . . The cycle can be broken only if these distortions are set right.
In a word, a national effort towards the problems of Negro Americans must be directed towards the question of family structure. The object should be to strengthen the Negro family so as to enable it to raise and support its members as do other families. After that, how this group of Americans chooses to run its affairs, take advantage of opportunities or fail to do so, is none of the nation’s business.
The true solution to the Negroes problem
As far as Negroes are concerned, in America we have the problem of lynching, peonage and disfranchisement.
In the West Indies, South and Central America we have the problem of peonage, serfdom, industrial and political governmental inequality.
In Africa we have, not only peonage and serfdom, but outright slavery, racial exploitation and alien political monopoly.
We cannot allow a continuation of these crimes against our race. As four hundred million men, women and children, worthy of the existence given us by the diviine Creator, we are determined to solve our own problem, by redeeming our Motherland Africa from the hands of alien exploiters and found there a government, a nation of our own, strong enough to lend protection to the members of our race scattered all over the world, and to compel the respect of the nations and races of the earth.
Do they lynch Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans or Japanese? No. And Why? Because these people are presented by great governments, mighty nations and empires, strongly organized. Yes, and ever ready to shed the last drop of blood and spend the last penny in the national treasury to protect the honor and integrity of a citizen outraged anywhere.
Until the Negro reaches this point of national independence, all he does as a race will count for naught, because the prejudice that will stand out against him even with his ballot in his hand, with his industrial progress to show, will be of such an overwhelming nature as to perpetuate mob violence and mob rule, from which he will suffer, and which he will not be able to stop with his industrial wealth and with his ballot.
You may argue that he can use his industrial wealth and his ballot to force the government to recognize him, but he must understand that the government is the people. That the majority of the people dictate the policy of governments, and if the majority are against a measure, a thing, or a race, then the government is impotent to protect that measure, thing or race.
If the Negro were to live in this Western Hemisphere for another five hundred years he would still be outnumbered by other races who are prejudiced against him. He cannot resort to the government for protection for government will be in the hands of the majority of the people who are prejudiced against him, hence for the Negro to depend on the ballot and his industrial progress alone, will be hopeless as it does not help him when he is lynched, burned, jim-crowed and segregated. The future of the Negro therefore, outside of Africa, spells ruin and disaster.
Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey p 52 Vol 1
The "Trick" of Integration
Hotep Africans:
One of the greatest gifts of becoming "African-centered" is the clarity that it brings to the mind. Once clarity has been established, the brain is able to see the "connected-ness" of all of the
seemingly disparate things that hitherto did not make much sense.
I read a story in the New York Times a couple of weeks ago. Here are the first three paragraphs of that story:
Mark Whitaker, who began his career at Newsweek as a college intern in 1977 and went on to expand the magazine's technology and business coverage and then oversee the pyrotechnics of the Monica Lewinsky story as managing editor this year, was named editor of the magazine yesterday.
Mr. Whitaker, who is 41, had been supervising the day-to-day editorial operations of Newsweek since the magazine's previous editor, Maynard Parker, fell ill with leukemia a year ago; Mr. Parker, who had been editor for 16 years, died last month at the age of 58.
The appointment came as little surprise to Newsweek staff members, who have expected Mr. Whitaker to become editor. His new job is significant: it not only makes him the first black editor of a major news weekly but comes at a time when the three major news weekly magazines --Time and U.S. News & World Report along with Newsweek -- are undergoing a period of self-scrutiny, competing for an audience increasingly distracted by television, the Internet and other news outlets.
I have been studying this concept of "the first black" for sometime in my overall examination of how "white supremacy/racism" works. When I saw the article about Brother Whitaker, my mind immediately went back to recall the movie, "The Sting" which starred Robert Redford and Paul Newman.
In the movie Robert Redford and Paul Newman wanted to steal some money. They also did not want "to be seen" as common thieves. They had to create something to make themselves feel better and to avoid detection and imprisonment. The solution to both problems was the construction of an elaborate scheme; kind of a "high class - white collar" embezzlement. Everybody knows that "high class - white collar" embezzlement is not the same thing as a "low life - common" crime. White folks do "high" crime, and as to "low" crime .....well ....Ya know !!!!!
To pull off the scheme, they constructed an elaborate drama in which all of the elements which "appeared" to be authentic were in fact "bogus". In other words, the unreal was made to seem real. The plan was to pull off a gambling hustle where the mark would think that he is placing bets, playing cards and shooting craps in a "legitimate", "illegal" (how's that for an oxymoron) gambling parlor. At the most critical point in the transfer of the monies, Redford and Newman arranged for the police arrive to arrest everybody in the gambling house. The mark was "allowed" to escape, happy to avoid arrest - but without his money. What the mark learns much too late is that the gambling house, the cashiers behind the betting windows, the other gamblers, the service people and the police were all part of the sting.
Please remember the critical elements of the sting. There is a mark who thinks that he is a player while he is "in fact" being played. All of the elements around him which look authentic are "in fact" bogus. What is represented as real is, in fact, unreal. And to unravel the scheme, the mark has to face the fear that his money was in fact ripped off and the embarrassment that he was so easily fooled.
The concept of the "first one" is a scheme built upon the scheme of integration; which is built upon the scheme of western christianity; which is built upon the scheme of white supremacy/racism. The construction is careful and deceptive. To illustrate how it works, I've got to review some history.
When what is now called "europe" first came into intimate contact wi the ancient world, the resulting clash of ideas caused great discomfort in the european arena. The system of traditional "gods" which had been worshiped in Greece and Rome (Zeus and Jupiter respectively) seemed childish next to the transcendent god systems of the ancient world. The god systems in the western part of europe (now England, France, Germany, Russia etc.) were even more primitive. The western europeans believed in "giants in the sky" and "trolls under the bridges". What we now take as fairy tales is what was saved of the original european belief systems. Giants and trolls was their previous religion.
In trying to construct a new european belief system, the europeans faced several problems. Their first problem was antiquity; they didn't have anything that was old enough to compete with the belief systems of the ancient world. The Kemetian belief system went back at-least as far as 4000 BC, Hinduism dates back to 1500 BC and Judaism to about 1250 BC.
The second problem faced by europe in the construction of a new religious system was authenticity. The ancient world was not as focused on modernity as we are now. We have been trained in the post-european period to equate "new" with "better". In the ancient world, "old" was "better". A new religion would need to establish itself as authentic to be able to gain followers.
The third problem faced by western europe was connectedness. Europe was not really connected to the existing systems in any meaningful way. All of the other systems had a base of commonality in their beliefs. While it is true that Hinduism differed from Judaism; and Judaism differed from the Kemetian system, still they all shared common themes.
Europe knew that it would have to seek a new religion while simultaneously solving its other problems. It decided to make its attack through Judaism. Fundamentally, religion is mythology. In the modern world, which has come under european control and definition, mythology is seen as "something which is not real". In the pre-european world, mythology was seen as "something so real as to defy description except in parables and allegories" (remember- this was the method of teaching used by Jesus). In the ancient world, mythology was the attempt to describe ultimate truth in terms that could readily be comprehended while understanding at the same time that ultimate reality could never really be understood. Mythology then, was seen as an acceptable approximation.
In seeking to find a mythology that can be adopted as a replacement for your own, three things become important. The new mythology must come from what is available; it must have elements that make it compatible to your belief system and it must be seen as "better" than what you are leaving behind.
Of what was available to europe, the religion of the Hebrews (now called Judaism) was the "hands down" choice. The Hebrews saw themselves as"chosen" by god to lead the world (from religions standpoint). Nascent europe had the desire to lead the world in all ways and saw the concept of "a chosen people" as a natural way to achieve what they wanted. Beingchosen by god also carried "authority". Any actions which europe wanted to carry out could be seen as "god's will" and the fulfillment of "his purpose". Being chosen by god brought legitimacy and vindication ; it meant never having to say that you were sorry.
There was one problem however with Judaism. The Hebrews saw themselves as a insular group; small and special. The Hebrews have always seen themselves as "god's special elite". While it is possible to join through conversion (like Sammy Davis did), the Hebrews don't make it easy. And they definitely do not recruit.
Not recruiting was a problem for europe. Europe wanted to be special, but they did not want to be insular. Europe had big dreams. Europe wanted to be expansionistic; europe wanted to be imperialistic. Europe wanted to rule the world. Europe's dream was to find a religion that could be expanded on the base of the Roman Empire. Europe knew that if it could pull that trick off, it could succeed. In the end, two people were used to broker the deal. The two people were Constantine of Rome and Jesus of Nazareth.
The Roman Empire was built by military conquests. Military conquest is "labor intensive" - it takes a lot of troops. Already, by the time of the character who is called "Jesus", the Roman Empire was nearing its end in a blatant military form - it was stretched out and quickly becoming "stressed" out. It would have to change to survive.
Now, don't get me wrong. The Roman Empire had figured out some real important stuff. First, it had figured out that it could expand by "selling assimilation". Once Rome invaded and took over your country, a few of your citizens were "allowed" to gain Roman Citizenship. These "romanized" nationals became very helpful in controlling the other natives. Their feet were planted in their native soil: but their heads and hearts belonged firmly to Rome. The methodology was to extract some carefully chosen youth from the native population and to educate them as "roman". These "romanized" assimilates, when placed back in the native population, would cause irreparable harm to the native effort to seek cohesion and clarity.
***Special Note****
In our modern situation, we are much too ignorant of the histories of such men as Baltimore Mayor, Kurt Smoke and Mr. Justice Clarence Thomas until it is too late. Mayor Smoke shares "Rhodes Scholarship" with President Bill Clinton while Justice Thomas somehow made the leap from rural Georgia to the super-exclusive prep-school attended by George Bush (Exeter). It's a little late to figure out who these people are when their decisions have already begun to "bite" us on the butt.
Constantine conceived that he could use the character of "Jesus" to create an assimilation mechanism on the level of religion similar to that which the Roman Empire had done on the military level. But first, he had to construct a decidedly "un-Jewish" Jesus. Unless he "fixed up" Jesus, there were going to be a lot of problems. In fact, Jesus was a problem; but with some work, something could be done.
The character who is called Jesus is built primarily on the life of a Hebrew freedom fighter named Y'shua Ben Pendara (Joshua- son of the panther). Although there are many other elements which have now become integral to the christian story; the basic story is based in the life of Y'shua. And that, is where the problems start. The character of Y'shua was a freedom fighter, a therapute (healer), a rabbi (a religious teacher) and a member of the Hasmonean Maccabees. The Hasmonean Maccabees were a religious group of freedom fighters, who by the time of Jesus (Y'shua), had been fighting the Romans for some thirteen generations. Based upon the fierceness of their fighting ability, the Maccabees had been given a name by the people which translates to "the Black Panthers". It was to this reference that the founders of the American Black Panthers looked when clarity helped them to see the police in Watts as the "same Romans" who had persecuted Y'shua and were now fronting on them (excuse me for saying so..... but clarity is a "bitch").
Apparently, this Y'shua had been able to do something that had been almost impossible in earlier times. History gives indication that Y'shua had been able to unite all of the often-feuding factions of the Hebrew people (Remember Y'shua had following by both Matthew [a tax collecting government worker] and Judas [a member of the most feared "Zealots - 'sicarii"] plus all others in between).
With the crushing of the Hebrews after the life of Y'shua, and the final destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Hebrews had been disbursed - "like so many seeds in the wind - diaspora". The diasporic Hebrews, scattered from Rome and Corinth in the west to Tarsus and Antioch in the east, each had their own story or version of the events of Jesus' life as is shown in the four synoptic gospels [each of which preserved that particular communities' version]. And for the most part, these diasporic Jews adopted the religious premises of the Greco-Hellenic world.
Beyond the area of the diasporic Jews, in Asia proper, other names were being used. The most popular name in Asia for god was "Krishna" while in Rome the term "I Zeus" (Mighty Zeus) was popular. Constantine recognized that it would be impossible to build an empire if you could not even get agreement on the name of god. His solution was compromise: he joined the two most popular names I Zeus (Iseus) and Krishna to get "Iseus Krishna". We use the English form of this term today which is translated to "Jesus Christ". The name Y'shua actually translates to Joshua; you can hear the similar sound in the two names; Y'shua, Joshua. But since Constantine wanted to substitute Iseus (the english form is Jesus) the slight translation "error" was "de-emphasized" (like in - forgotten).
That Y'shua was a "nationalist" was another significant problem (See Matthew 15:22-27 or Mark 7:25-29). Constantine realized that he had to make Jesus an "internationalist". To accomplish this goal, Jesus was "re-cast" as a "love everybody" character and the nationalistic quality of the historical struggle of the Hebrews was "de-emphasized". Judas, the most militant anti-Roman figure was depicted as one who would sell out his people for money. The name "siccarii" which referred to the curved swords that the Zealots would use to cut the throats of "uncle Tom" Hebrews was "modified" into the word "Iscariot" which most christians today think was his last name. When King James had Shakespeare and his boys write the "King James" version, the books of I Maccabees and II Macabees were removed along with the Book of Tobit and the Book of Judith to hide the real story of the nationalistic background of Jesus. This change had to be made since the new "protesting" churches (now conveniently called protestant instead of "protesting") were going to be urged to actually read the Bible. This was not a problem for the Roman Catholic Church since in the Roman Catholic Church members were forbidden to read the Bible, but had to rely on what the priests "told" them that the Bible said.
Am I still talking about integration ?????
Constantine realized that he could use "Jesus" in the same way that the Roman Empire used
"Roman citizenship". Like Roman citizenship, "Jesus would become the "translation media" which would make the various conquered people "acceptable" within the new mechanism of the Holy Roman Empire - sorry - I mean the Holy Roman Catholic Church. When you accepted this "special" european, non-freedom fighting, non-Hasmonean, non-Maccabeean, non-Afro- Asian, non-Hebrew/Jewish "Jesus"; you would become grafted into the sting - sorry - mean the faith. It is called a "belief" because it is not "fact". The system that Constantine created had to be called a "faith" because it was not real - was not a "fact". Do you get this???? A "faith" is not a "fact" because the unreal has been made to become the real.
There were still a few problems with the Jews and with Jesus. The problem with the Jews was that they didn't believe in man/gods - that was a Greek-Roman thing (Remember good old Zeus and Jupiter). To the Jews, who had conceived the concept of "mashiach" [messiah], the person who fit the title was to be a prophet, priest or king. Prophets, priests and kings were the only three types of leaders that Israel had ever had and Hebrew theology made it clear; the messiah had to be one of the three or a combination of the three. That he be a military leader was a given - 'cause they was at war 'wid the Man. Constantine had to make the people forget that part - forget that the messiah was to be a man; not a man/god.
The problem with "Yshua - Jesus" being the messiah was simple. He simply didn't fit the definition.
When I was in Sunday School, years ago, they told me that the Hebrews (God's Chosen People) had not accepted Jesus because they were "hard-hearted". That seemed strange to me, but I was young and dumb and a lot of simple stuff seemed to make sense. Later, in a college chapel, the noted doctoral theologian told us that "God had blinded the eyes of the Hebrews in order that his plan and purpose of redemption could be carried out". That explanation seemed all right for a minute or two, but it sure diminished my appreciation for why the Jews wanted to be chosen people. I had heard another christain minister and quite a few Muslim ministers say that Black people were the "real" chosen people. One thing seemed increasingly clear to me- Chosen people got their ass kicked regular and often.
You see - the concept of the messiah is a Hebrew/Jewish concept. It is not a christian concept. Constantine set out to use the Jewish/Hebrew belief system because it solved the original problems. Co-opting Judiasm/Hebrewism gave the new european belief system connection; it gave them the concept of the chosen people; it gave them authenticity and it gave them antiquity.
But it could not be used in its original form - it had to be changed. The messiah, under Jewish/Hebrew theology would come and (1) defeat the enemies [Romans], (2) restore the Temple at Jerusalem, (3) organize an "earthly" kingdom which would be ruled by the
Hebrews/Jews, and (4) establish peace on earth. There was also some thought that this messianic period would herald in "the kingdom of god" whereby god "himself" would be established in the temple as the ultimate king/prophet/priest.
The problem with Jesus is that he didn't do none of that. The Jews believed in a "right now" messiah - not a "wait a minute" messiah. The messiah was not supposed to come, leave and come back. Under the Jewish definition (and it was their definition), the messiah was supposed to do everything all at one time. Under Jewish/Hebrew theology (and I repeat, it was their definition), there was no "I'll be back". Somehow, the european world had to be made to forget what the original definitions were and made to accept new definitions.
Just so you know - the Temple at Jerusalem was not rebuilt by the Jews; it was rebuilt by the followers of al- Islam. It is now called "the Dome of the Rock". Muslims say that Prophet Muhammed ascended to heaven from that rock (The names have been changed to protect the guilty). Today, muslims worship inside the building which has been "restored" as a mosque. Since the Jews cannot worship inside, they stand outside at the only remaining original wall and wail. That's why its called "the Wailing Wall" and now I've told you why they are wailing.
And that is why, right after Constantine codified the Holy Catholic Church (located at Rome - the Holy See [as in seat]), the european world closed itself off from the rest of the world for almost one-thousand years (called "the Dark Ages). In that 1000 years, Rome got itself together, perfected its white supremacy/racism; hooked its economics to its education; hooked up its education to its entertainment; hooked up its entertainment to its labor practices; hooped up its labor practices to its laws; hooked up its laws to its politics; hooked up its politics to its religion; hooked up its religion to its sexual practices; hooked up its sexual practices to its war machine and proceeded to kick the hell out of us. Dr. Welsing ain't never been wrong.
Integration is a sting built upon a sting built upon a sting. Integration is a game within a game which is within a game. Integration is "the okeydoke" raised to the "x" power.
First, if negroes did more reading and watched less television and talking less sports; they just might have time to read. Reading is Fundamental. Not reading is both "dumb" and "dangerous".
The word integration is built on the "cognate" or stem word, "integer". An integer is a "single-file" number (as in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).
In the 1960's, Black folks suffered from a socio-political governmental system called "segregation". Segregation prohibited the access or equal access to inter-state and intra-state transportation and public facilities. The logical remedy to do away with segregation would have been desegregation. However, using the "double agents" negro preachers that they had already developed through the desire for assimilation, the euro-american power structure introduced instead, a "dog" called integration. The logical point of attack was through the negro ministers since they had already swallowed the "sting" of christianity "hook, line and sinker" and were in the daily business of pushing the same "manufactured" concepts on us.
When you think how skillful the trap is, it makes you want to cry. Is at in the Baptist church for almost all of my adult life thinking that John the Baptist was a member of my church. I thought that he must have looked something like Deacon Brent. I was being "screwed" with words. In Hebrew, the name of the character is "John" - "the Baptiser".
"There's a big difference between "baptiser" and "baptist", but that's how the words are allowed to "slip just a little" so as to create just the "right" wrong impression.
Integration said that "certain" negroes would be "allowed" to become quasi-romans (I mean quasi-white people) by accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior (I mean "integrate into the mainstream larger society). I don't know why I keep getting confused.
Now never mind that no other group ever gained power single-file, integration promised acceptance so long as it was "singular salvation". Integration was designed, like christianity, for and by white people to serve their needs. Confusing us into thinking that we could make either one work for us was like convincing the Sunday chicken dinner to set the table and light the stove. Being "served up" is the automatic part.
This was the same trick that christianity used dressed up in some new clothes. To accept Jesus as your "personal" Lord and Savior was the same process as "integration". Fundamentally, both require, as the price of the ticket, that you separate yourself from the corporate needs of the masses of your people; make an individual self-centered choice; "save yo damn self " - "F-em".
In both cases, what you have to become, the definitions that you have to accept, the group power that you lose; everything - is built into the platform of the sting. All of the elements around you are in cahoots together.
And ultimately, "The Player Becomes the Played". Like I said before,
Clarity is a Bitch !!!!!!
There are a couple of other similarities.
In the process of christianity, as with the process of integration, as with the process of white supremacy/racism; information must be tightly controlled. In the movie, The Sting, the reason that all of the players had to be "in on" the trick was that if the mark ever got "outside" of the system he would be able to see the designs of the trick. That is why integration, christianity and white supremacy work so hard to keep you away from "independent" information.
Over the past year, there have been numerous on-going e-mail discussions between members of my study group and several fundamentalist christians. They all end the same way. As various questions are raised or answered by study group members, the christians counter with Bible verses. If we ask them to read; we get Bible verses. If we ask them to think; we get Bible verses, Finally, when the impasse is reached, a few will get up the nerve to read "outside" of the box - the rest retreat into self-declared silence. The ones who get up the nerve to read become "born again Africans" seemingly in a matter of minutes. From that time on, they worry you to death - want to borrow all of your books - wake you up in the middle of the night to tell you what they just read or figured out - and make you almost sorry that you ever told them anything in the first place.
A second similarity is the use of the "impediment". Both christianity and integration must make you accept as real that there is an impediment from which you need to be saved. In christianity, the impediment is "original sin". In integration, the impediment is "your Blackness".
Here again, the impediment is created wholly out of the air. Jews do not believe in original sin. The doctrine of "original sin" is a christian concept and that's another big problem. Christians base original sin on the story of Adam and Eve getting thrown out of the Garden of Eden. Only problem is - the story is a Jewish story and the Jews say that it does not have a thing to do with any original sin.
But if you "accept" the premise that you are somehow "cursed" by god - then you are ripe to accept the "cure" of salvation through the european Jesus. And if you accept the fiction that there is something bad and wrong with you Black skin - then you are ripe to accept quasi-white membership on any terms that they dictate.
Both integration and christianity make you dependent on forces "outside" of yourself - outside of your community. Both have you "waiting" for salvation or full acceptance. And both promise that you will get the benefits - after while - if you patiently wait.
It has been probably nearly twenty years since I saw the movie, The Sting. Now that I am beginning to understand it - maybe I'll rent it again and see what else I may have missed.
Now that I'm clear.
GAC CANADA STATEMENT ON THE STEPHEN HARPER’S GOVERNMENT’S
BARRING WINNIE MADIKIZELA-MANDELA FROM ENTERING CANADA.
Toronto, Canada, June 12, 2007: The triumph of ending political apartheid in South Africa is at the doorstep of the Rt. Honourable Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. When the racist and murderous apartheid regimes in South Africa and Namibia forced many freedom fighters into exile, and/or otherwise silenced them, they could not succeed in getting Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to compromise her principles, even in the face of death threats, bullying and coercion.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s record as a freedom fighter is impeccable and she stood her ground under siege, harassment, wiretaps and all the apartheid dirty tricks in the world to degrade, humiliate, disrupt and create chaos in the African National Congress (ANC) when she was the voice and face of the ANC.
She is feared by the white world- inside and outside of South Africa- because economic, social and cultural apartheid in South Africa is alive and yet to be dismantled. She carries this message every where she goes and to whomever she speaks. White control of the commanding heights of the South African economy and social institutions is the reason why Winnie Madikizala-Mandela is demonized and vilified inside and outside of South Africa by powerful corporate media conglomerates. Quite the opposite view of her is held by the downtrodden masses of African people.
The recent spate of barring of African justice campaigners from entry into Canada by the Canadian government, has everything to do with the growing consciousness of African Canadians with respect to their daily experience of racial discrimination, negative profiling, denial of access and opportunities and deprivation of rights and entitlements under the law.
African Canadians are organizing to fight the injustice they have faced from the period of European enslavement of Africans inside of Canada and its current day legacy that continues to blight the lives of Blacks, especially our youth. This sacred duty is embedded in the struggle for reparations and restitution within a framework of law and justice.
The barring of Bobby Seale, Malik Zulu Shabazz, and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is a straightforward case of anti-Black racism long advocated and articulated by members of the “New Conservative Party of Canada”, the former “Reform Party of Canada”, that forms the present government of Canada. Many in the present governing political party have disdain for Black people and have said so openly. They are now implementing such a policy in various ways.
One of these ways is under the guise of Law and Order, to build bigger top- security prisons as opposed to joining Black community leaders in the crusade against poverty.
Responsible and progressive leaders in the African Canadian community are cognizant of the interrelatedness between poverty and the increasing violent behaviour in our community and told this to all three levels of governments in Canada. To date, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused to meet with members of the Coalition of African Canadian Community Organizations to discuss this problem and search for practical, workable, solutions in the crusade against poverty.
A senior Cabinet minister in the present government did not have any problem giving his personal telephone number and returning telephone calls to a few leaders in the African Canadian community while in opposition. He is nowhere to be found today. Telephone calls placed to him are not answered either personally, or by ministry staff. Why is this Cabinet minister no longer available to work with the African Canadian community to address the removal of structural racism embedded in the Canadian society? Why is Prime Minister Stephen Harper fighting for Human Rights in Russia and China and not ensuring such rights for African Canadians at home?
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects the African Canadian community directly, affects all communities indirectly. The narrow provincial view of the “outside agitator” educating young people to understand their plight and inciting them to rebellion is a superficial social analysis that is avoiding the underlying causes of social alienation of African Canadians.
Freedom of speech is a right enjoyed by most white Canadians. Why should the African Canadian community have their rights guaranteed under the constitution taken away? Why do white societies think they can determine what information Black people should have and not have? Why do white societies think Blacks are incapable of deciding what to accept and what to reject?
Barring Bobby Seale, Malik Zulu Shabazz, and Winnie Madikzela-Mandela from coming to Canada is anti-democratic, racist and an affront to the sensibilities of African people. As Gandhi has said, “Freedom does not drop from the sky. One has to struggle and be willing to die for it.” This is something Black people understand and do not need any of the banned persons to tell them.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is one of our heroines, belonging to the pantheon of African heroes and heroines such as Harriet Tubman, Nanny (Maroon resistance leader against British slavery in Jamaica 1680-1750), Sojourner Truth, Marcus Garvey, C.L.R James, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint L’Overture, Antonio Maceo, Kwame Nkrumah, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Ture, Alfie Roberts, Walter Rodney -.the long list of Africans who fought against the turbulent history of slavery, and freedom from political and economic oppression.
How ironic that Nelson Mandela is revered all over the world because he was able to overcome his anger and bitterness at the apartheid regime’s crimes of murdering thousands of women, children, and men; Bantustan Laws (learned from Canada) and numerous crimes against humanity, including his imprisonment for 27 years? What lesson has the Stephen Harper government learned from Nelson Mandela’s political and life experiences?
Throughout the history of war there have always been casualties of war, and the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela-led ANC war against the criminal apartheid regimes in South Africa had its casualties.
The 2003 fraud conviction was related to bank loans while she was president of the ANC women’s league to assist women and children excluded from access to bank loans because of the criminal policy of the apartheid structure still waiting to be eradicated. The fraud was not for personal gain and benefit, unlike the British Royal family’s participation in the trade of Africans as slaves and slavery. The same can be said for the many Canadian government financial scandals where government officials’ participation was for personal gains.
African Canadians must lament and take action in relation to what is happening to their communities inside of Canada. It was Martin Luther King, Jr. who reminded us that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressors; it must be demanded by the oppressed. The Global Afrikan Congress is not afraid to speak truth to power and we will. We encourage other African Canadian organizations to do the same.
The Stephen Harper government is ideologically committed to further marginalizing and excluding African Canadians from the mainstream of Canadian society. In November of 2006, at the United Nations debate on the bicentenary of the so-called abolition of the trade in Africans as slaves, this government said slavery was legal, in defiance of the United Nations World Conference against racism that declared the slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity. The Canadian government is leading the white world against paying reparations and repairing the damage of slavery.
The government’s intensification of oppression and the abuse of human rights of African Canadians must be exposed and resisted. The Global Afrikan Congress submitted a report to the United Nations Convention on the Eradication of all Forms of Racial Discrimination in January 2007 and will seek out organizations like the Organization of American States (OAS) and the British Commonwealth of Nations to do the same. It is our blood responsibility and principles to defend the rights of African people, and we are proud to do so. We are not for sale and we will continue to inform and educate, speaking truth to power always with malice towards none.
Cikiah Thomas
Co-Chair
Global Afrikan Congress
Toronto, Canada
June 12, 2007
But what is surprising, is what the Warrens claim happened after they asked the police why they were treating the young man in such a manner.
“You want to know what the officer said to me, when I told him we would tell what they did. He said, ‘It’s your word against ours’,” Ms. Warren said.
On June 24, politicians and activists gathered on the steps of City Hall, claiming that the Warrens’ arrest was straining the relations between police and the Black community. “I am embarrassed by what has happened,” stated Councilman Robert Jackson (D-Man.), and co-chair of the Black/Latino/Asian Caucus. “We will address this with the mayor,” the councilman promised.
Mr. Warren has represented Shiek Abdel Rahman, accused in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center; rappers Tupac Shakur and Sean Combs; three of the Central Park 5, young Black men accused in the rape of a White jogger in 1989; and currently representing Black Panther Francisco Torres, who is accused in the 1971 slaying of San Francisco police officer.
Mr. Barron told reporters that the police refused to let him see the young man they had arrested, on a traffic violation. The police commissioner’s office did not return calls by press time.
While police haven't named the boy, family members identified him as DeAuntae Farrow, a boy who had just completed the sixth grade at Maddux Elementary School. On Friday, Farrow was spending the night with a 14-year-old cousin at an apartment complex just south of interstates 40 and 50.
Assistant Police Chief Mike Allen said two officers on an unrelated stakeout in the apartment complex's parking lot saw two people running past them and yelling. As officers got out of the car, they saw one of the people holding something that looked like a Glock pistol, the standard-issue handgun for the department, Allen said.
One of the two officers fired at the boy only after he made an "evasive action," Allen said.
"I don't think the officer realized until after the shooting that this boy was as young as he was," Allen told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "He just had no idea."
But family and friends believe the officer mistook DeAuntae for someone else.
"He had nothing," cousin Adrian Williams, who lives at the complex, told the Memphis (Tenn.) Commercial Appeal. "I saw him with chips and a pop in his hand."
The boy's aunt, Katherine Townsend, remembered DeAuntae as "a good neighborhood kid." "Believe it or not, he wanted to be a police officer," Townsend said. "It's pretty bad that his life was taken by a police officer."
The officer who shot DeAuntae has not been identified. West Memphis Police Chief Bob Paudert reiterated the 12-year-old did have a toy gun.
"I saw it. It looked so authentic," he said. The officer, who has been with the department for more than 10 years, was suspended with pay, pending an investigation.
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said the state police were investigating the fatal shooting. He did not provide further details, but said the findings would be turned over to the local prosecutor to determine if charges are warranted.
The West Memphis assistant police chief said he met Saturday morning with DeAuntae's mother, Debra Farrow, and a house full of other family members and friends. But Townsend said DeAuntae's family remains skeptical of the police's version of what happened Friday night at the apartment complex, which is home to many children.
"These kids are 5, 6, 7, 8 years old and someone they know just got murdered. How do they deal with that and still have respect for the police?" Townsend asked. "The reach of the police, it goes a long, long way - but the truth do, too. This child is not going to die in vain."
Injustice in Jena
Black Nooses Hanging from the "White" Tree
In a small still mostly segregated section of rural Louisiana, an all white jury heard a series of white witnesses called by a white prosecutor testify in a courtroom overseen by a white judge in a trial of a fight at the local high school where a white student who had been making racial taunts was hit by black students. The fight was the culmination of a series of racial incidents starting when whites responded to black students sitting under the "white tree" at their school by hanging three nooses from the tree.
The white jury and white prosecutor and all white supporters of the white victim were all on one side of the courtroom. The black defendant, 17 year old Mychal Bell, and his supporters were on the other. The jury quickly convicted Mychal Bell of two felonies - aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. Bell, who was a 16 year old sophomore football star at the time he was arrested, faces up to 22 years in prison. Five other black youthsawait similar trials on attempted second degree murder and conspiracy charges
Yes, you read that correctly. The rest of the story, which is being reported across the world in papers in China, France and England, is just as chilling. The trouble started under "the white tree" in front of Jena High School. The "white tree" is where the white students, 80% of the student body, would always sit during school breaks.
In September 2006, a black student at Jena high school asked permission from school administrators to sit under the "white tree." School officials advised them to sit wherever they wanted. They did.
The next day, three nooses, in the school colors, were hanging from the "white tree." The message was clear. "Those nooses meant the KKK, they meant 'Niggers, we're going to kill you, we're going to hang you till you die,'" Casteptla Bailey, mom of one of the students, told the London Observer.
The Jena high school principal found that three white students were responsible and recommended expulsion. The white superintendent of schools over-ruled the principal and gave the students a three day suspension saying that the nooses were just a youthful stunt. "Adolescents play pranks," the superintendent told the Chicago Tribune, "I don't think it was a threat against anybody."
The African-American community was hurt and upset. "Hanging those nooses was a hate crime, plain and simple," according to Tracy Bowens, mother of students at Jena High.
But blacks in this area of Louisiana have little political power. The ten person all-male government of the parish has one African-American member. The nine member all-male school board has one African American member. (A phone caller to the local school board trying to find out the racial makeup of the school board was told there was one "colored" member of the board). There is one black police officer in Jena and two black public school teachers.
Jena, with a population of less than 3000, is the largest town in and parish (county) seat of LaSalle Parish, Louisiana. There are about 350 African Americans in the town. LaSalle has a population of just over 14,000 people - 12% African-American.
This is solid Bush and David Duke Country - GWB won LaSalle Parish 4 to 1 in the last two elections; Duke carried a majority of the white vote when he ran for Governor of Louisiana. Families earn about 60% of the national average. The Census Bureau reports that less than 10% of the businesses in LaSalle Parish are black owned.
Jena is the site of the infamous Juvenile Correctional Center for Youth that was forced to close its doors in 2000, only two years after opening, due to widespread brutality and racism including the choking of juveniles by guards after the youth met with a lawyer. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the private prison amid complaints that guards paid inmates to fight each other and laughed when teens tried to commit suicide.
Black students decided to resist and organized a sit-in under the "white tree" at the school to protest the light suspensions given to the noose-hanging white students.
The white District Attorney then came to Jena High with law enforcement officers to address a school assembly. According to testimony in a later motion in court, the DA reportedly threatened the black protesting students saying that if they didn't stop making a fuss about this "innocent prank I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen." The school was put on lockdown for the rest of the week.
Racial tensions remained high throughout the fall.
On the night of Thursday November 30, 2006, a still unsolved fire burned down the main academic building of Jena High School.
On Friday night, December 1, a black student who showed up at a white party was beaten by whites. On Saturday, December 2, a young white man pulled out a shotgun in a confrontation with young black men at the Gotta Go convenience store outside Jena before the men wrestled it away from him. The black men who took the shotgun away were later arrested, no charges were filed against the white man.
On Monday, December 4, at Jena High, a white student--who allegedly had been making racial taunts, including calling African American students "niggers" while supporting the students who hung the nooses and who beat up the black student at the off-campus party--was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. The white victim was taken to the hospital treated and released. He attended a social function that evening.
Six black Jena students were arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder. All six were expelled from school.
The six charged were: 17-year-old Robert Bailey Junior whose bail was set at $138,000; 17-year-old Theo Shaw - bail $130,000; 18-year-old Carwin Jones--bail $100,000; 17-year-old Bryant Purvis--bail $70,000; 16 year old Mychal Bell, a sophomore in high school who was charged as an adult and for whom bail was set at $90,000; and a still unidentified minor.
Many of the young men, who came to be known as the Jena 6, stayed in jail for months. Few families could afford bond or private attorneys.
Mychal Bell remained in jail from December 2006 until his trial because his family was unable to post the $90,000 bond. Theo Shaw has also remained in jail. Several of the other defendants remained in jail for months until their families could raise sufficient money to put up bonds.
The Chicago Tribune wrote a powerful story headlined "Racial Demons Rear Heads." The London Observer wrote: "Jena is gaining national notoriety as an example of the new 'stealth' racism, showing how lightly sleep the demons of racial prejudice in America's Deep South, even in the year that a black man, Barak Obama, is a serious candidate for the White House." The British Broadcasting Company aired a TV special report "Race Hate in Louisiana 2007."
The Jena 6 and their families were put under substantial pressure to plead guilty. Mychal Bell was reported to have been leaning towards pleading guilty right up until his trial when he decided he would not plead guilty to a felony.
When it finally came, the trial of Mychal Bell was swift. Bell was represented by an appointed public defender.
On the morning of the trial, the DA reduced the charges from attempted second degree murder to second degree aggravated battery and conspiracy. Aggravated battery in Louisiana law demands the attack be with a dangerous weapon. The dangerous weapon? The prosecutor was allowed to argue to the jury that the tennis shoes worn by Bell could be considered a dangerous weapon used by "the gang of black boys" who beat the white victim.
Most shocking of all, when the pool of potential jurors was summoned, fifty people appeared--every single one white.
The LaSalle Parish clerk defended the all white group to the Alexandria Louisiana Town Talk newspaper saying that the jury pool was selected by computer. "The venire [panel of prospective jurors] is color blind. The idea is for the list to truly reflect the racial makeup of the community, but the system does not take race into factor." Officials said they had summoned 150 people, but these were the only people who showed up.
The all-white jury which was finally chosen included two people friendly with the District Attorney, a relative of one of the witnesses and several others who were friends of prosecution witnesses.
Bell's parents, Melissa Bell and Marcus Jones, were not even allowed to attend the trial despite their objections, because they were listed as potential witnesses. The white victim, though a witness, was allowed to stay in the courtroom. The parents, who had been widely quoted in the media as critics of the process, were also told they could no longer speak to the media as long as the trial was in session. Marcus Jones had told the media "It's all about those nooses" and declared the charges racially motivated.
Other supporters who planned a demonstration in support of Bell were ordered by the court not to do so near the courthouse or anywhere the judge would see them.
The prosecutor called 17 witnesses - eleven white students, three white teachers, and two white nurses. Some said they saw Bell kick the victim, others said they did not see him do anything. The white victim testified that he did not know if Bell hit him or not.The Chicago Tribune reported the public defender did not challenge the all-white jury pool, put on no evidence and called no witnesses. The public defender told the Alexandria Town talk after resting his case without calling any witnesses that he knew he would be second-guessed by many but was confident that the jury would return a verdict of not guilty. "I don't believe race is an issue in this trialI think I have a fair and impartial jury"
The jury deliberated for less than three hours and found Mychal Bell guilty on the maximum possible charges of aggravated second degree battery and conspiracy. He faces up to a maximum of 22 years in prison.
The public defender told the press afterwards, "I feel I put on the best defense that I could." Responding to criticism of not putting on any witnesses, the attorney said "why open the door for further accusations? I did the best I could for my client, Mychal Bell."
At a rally in front of the courthouse the next day, Alan Bean, a Texas minister and leader of the Friends of Justice, said "I have seen a lot of trials in my time. And I have never seen a more distressing miscarriage of justice than what happened in LaSalle Parish yesterday." Khadijah Rashad of Lafayette Louisiana described the trial as a "modern day lynching."
Tory Pegram with the Louisiana ACLU has been working with the parents for months. "People know if they don't demand equal treatment now, they will never get it. People's jobs and livelihoods have been threatened for attending Jena 6 Defense meetings, but people are willing to risk that. One person told me: 'We have to convince more people to come rally with us.....What's the worst that could happen? They fire us from our jobs? We have the worst jobs in the town anyway. They burn a cross on our lawns or burn down my house? All of that has happened to us before. We have to keep speaking out to make sure it doesn't happen to us again, or our children will never be safe.'"
Whites in the community were adamant that there is no racism. "We don't have a problem," according to one. Other locals told the media "We all get along," and "most blacks are happy with the way things are." One person even said "We don't have many problems with our blacks."
Melvin Worthington, the lone African American school board member in LaSalle Parish said it all could have been avoided. "There's no doubt about it," he told the Chicago Tribune, "whites and blacks are treated differently here.
The white kids should have gotten more punishment for hanging those nooses. If they had, all the stuff that followed could have been avoided."
Hebert McCoy, a relative of one of the youths who has been trying to raise money for bail and lawyers, challenged people everywhere at the end of the rally when he said "You better get out of your houses. You better come out and defend your childrenbecause they are incarcerating them by the thousands. Jena's not the beginning, but Jena has crossed the line. Justice is not right when you put on the wrong charges and then convict. I believe in justice. I believe in the point of law. I believe in accepting the punishment if I'm guilty. If I'm guilty, convict me and punishment, but if I'm innocent, no justice" and the crowd joined with him and shouted "no peace!"
What happened to the white guys? The white victim of the beating was later arrested for bringing a hunting rifle loaded with 13 bullets onto the high school campus and released on $5000 bond. The white man who beat up the black youth at the off-campus party was arrested and charged with simple battery. The white students who hung up the nooses in the "white tree" were never charged.
The people in Jena are fighting for justice and they need legal and financial help. Since the arrests, a group of family members have been holding well-attended meetings, and have created a defense fund--the Jena 6 Defense Committee. They have received support from the NAACP, the Louisiana ACLU and Friends of Justice.
People interested in supporting can contact: the Jena 6 Defense Committee, PO Box 2798, Jena, LA 71342 jena6defense@gmail.com; Friends of Justice, 507 North Donley Avenue, Tulia, TX 79088 www.fojtulia.org; or the ACLU of Louisiana, PO Box 56157, New Orleans, LA 70156 www.laaclu.org or 417.350.0536.
What is next? The rest of the Jena 6 await similar trials. Theodore Shaw is due to go on trial shortly. Mychal Bell is scheduled to be sentenced July 31. If he gets the maximum sentence he will not be out of prison until he is nearly 40. Meanwhile, the "white tree" outside Jena High sits quietly in the hot sun.
For one father, not enough has changed
July 8, 2007
WIMBLEDON, England - Once, Althea Gibson was barred from the grounds. A half-century later, the Williams sisters have won six singles titles.
Once, Gibson won two singles titles and had no prize money. Saturday, Venus Williams earned more than $1.407-million. Yet, said her father, Richard, not enough has changed.
"What it means to me, from the way I see things, is that blacks are treated the same way here at Wimbledon as when she (Gibson) was coming along in the '50s, " he said. "I don't see it any different than now. I will always see it that way."
Minutes after his daughter won her fourth Wimbledon title, he was talking as usual outside Centre Court. The Times asked about the significance of Gibson's breakthrough win in 1957, and he was off and running.
"If you're past 10 years old, you know what I'm talking about, " he said. "I turn on the TV here, and you can't find one black player, not one black man or woman or child, on TV that does a commercial. And we came here four days before the tournament. Why don't the English have one black (person) doing a damn commercial? I'm not saying they don't, but I've been here three weeks, and I haven't seen it, and I've taped everything. Not one. What 50 years are you talking about?"
Throughout the careers of daughters Venus, 27, and Serena, 25, Richard Williams has been outspoken, often amusing and often controversial. As he talked Saturday, his voice rose.
"I don't think there has been progress anywhere in America. In America, (George W.) Bush was the governor of Texas, and they pulled a black man down the street with his neck separated from his head (the James Byrd Jr. murder in 1998 in Jasper). Nothing has changed, and nothing's going to change. The only way I can see things changing is for the black people in America to do the same thing the Iranians are doing, and that's to fight until the s--- is over with. And this interview is over with."
posted by nathan a el at 6:10 AM
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