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NEWS & LETTERS, October 2002
Readers’ Views
AFRICAN REVOLUTIONS 50 YEARS AFTER The front page article by Bakary Tandia and Pauline Muchina,
"Africans struggle to overcome slavery, AIDS, neocolonialism,"
(August-September N&L) was very important. It is now 50 years since the
African revolutions, yet conditions seem worse than ever. The English and French
withdrew from Africa but that was only a "first negation." In her
writings on the Afro-Asian revolutions as they were ongoing, Raya Dunayevskaya
was asking "what happens after?" There has been retrogression. 50
years after we have AIDS, Islamic fundamentalism, and in Mauritania there is
slavery. I was very moved by this article. --African-American writer, California The August-September issue showed a lot about how unique
N&L is. It would be hard to find a paper that turned over its Lead to an
article written by others, such as was done for the article on Africa in that
issue. That a paper has the way to morph into someone's dreams and not be stuck
in old ways is really great. --Young Black activist, Memphis The Lead on Africa showed a whole new context for fighting
against Bush and globalized capitalism. Reading it, I could see the immediate
global context for Marx's CAPITAL, whether we are looking at the U.S. or Africa.
It seemed to me to have a striking connection to the Archives column in the same
issue, where Dunayevskaya is saying there is no compromise between the despotic
plan of capital and the plan of freely associated workers. She was arguing with
people who didn't see the nature of Stalinism and who said that the expansion of
constant capital (dead machinery) over variable capital (living labor) was true
of all societies. Dunayevskaya showed it was the hallmark of capitalism alone.
The rest of the issue, including that Lead, shows how this domination of
"constant" over "variable" is the question confronting us
all over the world. --RB, Oakland, Cal. I like the way you can read about philosophers' ideas and
people's struggles in the same journal. If you have one paper for the
intellectuals and another for others, it reproduces the split between mental and
manual labor in this society. N&L has both together. --Ex-anarchist youth, Tennessee RACISM U.S. STYLE I see a forgetting of the situation Black people face ever
since September 11. All the focus now seems to be on how rough it is for the
Islamic community. What long ago drew me to N&L was the level approach
Marxist-Humanism has always had to all human suffering. Is that still true? --Black civil rights activist, Detroit When I saw the national news reports of the Black farmers
demonstrating in Washington, D.C. weeks after I had read their stories in
N&L (August-September 2002), I wanted to congratulate you for your
"scoop." N&L is on top of a story like this, and was able to tell
it in the farmers' own words, because it is always listening to hear what it
calls those "voices from below." It goes without saying that the Black
dimension speaks especially forcefully in N&L's pages. --Marxist-Humanist, Pennsylvania There is no question that September 11 changed the world we
live in. For instance, even though the bill to allow religious organizations to
obtain Federal funding has not passed, public radio reported that agencies have
been given directives to ignore that fact and loosen the regulations against
this. The Black dimension has the greatest awareness of the ramifications of
this new "patriotism." I saw it in the way one of my Black co-workers
"joked" that the anti-Muslim fervor since September 11 took a little
heat off them--for a while. --Susan Van Gelder, Detroit YOUTH VS. AGEISM At a recent demonstration in Anniston, Ala. against the
army's proposed burning of toxic weapons of mass destruction, the youth were the
last people on the platform. By that time all the other speakers had walked
away, which I thought was very disrespectful. Not only that, the youth were not
given a voice in terms of speaking on the panels with the so-called
"important people." There were whole high schools there, and none of
the students were allowed to speak on how this would affect their health. When I asked a newscaster to get some youths' views he said
"Well, I talked to an older lady from the community already and got her
point of view." When we talk about discrimination, we have to deal with
ageism, too. It was so disappointing to see this in any movement. It was like
saying "children should be seen but not heard." We need to give youth
room so they can make the changes we need. --Marquita Bradshaw, Memphis FROM WITHIN THE PRISON WALLS: VOICES AS REASON It seems as if all the problems throughout the world today
ultimately end in violence. Religion, politics, laws -- all rely on violence if
their influence fails. What's the point of being right if those in the wrong
have the superior might to ultimately impose their will? Please keep producing
the thought-provoking information you give us. I'm thankful for the insight I've
gained over the years as a result of reading N&L. My thanks to all the
donors who provide access to these ideas to prisoners like me. The mind is a
terrible thing to waste. --Prisoner, Texas I and the comrades with whom I share your paper think it is great, but I have a few suggestions. 1) We have a hard time pronouncing some of the foreign names and places. Could you break down a pronunciation in brackets next to those words for us? 2) We would also like to learn more about the great minds of Raya Dunayevskaya and Marx and some of the other thinkers discussed throughout your paper. Could you add a one sheet flyer on their writings or an insert from books directly from their minds. --Prisoner, Corcoran, Cal. In a recent issue you ran an article called "Letter from a woman in a California prison" who described the poor medical care they received. From what I can see, most prisons have little or no medical help for inmates. In the last dozen years I have not seen a doctor that knows the difference between arthritis and an ingrown toenail. I have had arthritis for 40 years. You start to worry whether a doctor knows anything when he asks you what medicine you want or when you are told there is nothing wrong with you. Once I was sent to a large VA hospital not far from the prison, where they gave the vets 90 days worth of all the medication we needed. We found out the free medication was why we were allowed to go when it ran out in 25 or 30 days and they kept asking the VA for more. The VA finally got tired of sending more since we weren't getting it. There are a lot of battered and abused women, but there are also a lot of battered and abused men. --Prisoner, Maine Rights for prisoners is all about control. To women in
prison our hopes and dreams are in seeing and being with our families once
again. Family visits mean strengthening the ties that were broken by our
substance abuse. Once in prison, drug offenders are mandated to attend substance
abuse programs. Those programs can help us regain an understanding of who we are
and how to repair the broken relationships. But it is the visiting privileges
with our families that give us the opportunity to practice what we are told in
those programs. --Prisoner, California What makes N&L unique is that it speaks the truth on
all issues no matter what the subject is, but most of all about the struggle of
all oppressed people, no matter what their gender, ethnicity or creed. I thank
N&L for making its readers aware of the unjust, tax-gouging, human
warehouses called prisons that are being built one after another with the
concept of lock 'em up and throw away the key. If they continue locking people
up without providing any new direction, trade or education, nine out of ten will
be back through a revolving door. What is needed is a totally new direction. --Prisoner, Tamms, Illinois There are voices all over the globe that call out to be
heard. Yet the world continues to spin, and the voices still wait for someone
who will listen. The voices cost nothing, even whispers are free. The cost comes
when no one listens, because the voices will never go away. So I say continue to
speak with your voice because even words on paper will be heard by someone,
someone like me. I share my copies of the paper with others and I can tell you
they hear you too. We are listening, even to the whispers. --Prisoner, California I served my country in Vietnam attached to the Navy as a
paramedic. What I saw frightened me. What is scraps to us here in the U.S. could
feed an entire family in other countries. In every country I saw the predominant
problem was starvation and the U.S. is no different. I returned with a purple
heart. The government called me a hero and citizens called me a baby-killer. I
hated the Navy, the U.S., Vietnam, people, but most of all my own self. In my
bitterness I took another human life, not for my country but in pure
unadulterated hate. I've spent 27 years paying for that and doing a lot of
soul-searching. When I started looking for a better way to live I came upon
Marxist-Humanism. I am not stupid enough to believe this is the total answer but
it is an avenue worth exploring. The change must be in all of us. I will soon be
released with $50 in my pocket and a good luck wish, looking for something to
believe in. I think Marx had the right idea. --Prisoner, New Mexico My conception on life is change. I see life as a struggle
for freedom. I'm a wrongfully convicted prisoner that is going to fight for his
freedom, not only my own but everyone that is oppressed by the system. I see it
as a struggle for freedom and a new society where people will treat each other
with dignity and respect. Without that we will never experience real freedom. --Prisoner, Kentucky I've been studying AMERICAN CIVILIZATION ON TRIAL and see
the way times have changed and yet in some ways are the same but more
modernized. I see that slavery hasn't stopped, because they have me locked up
behind a razor barbed wire fence, with people who have guns and dogs to hunt a
person down. --Prisoner, Florida When I entered the bowels of Amerikka I did not have a
clue. I didn't know my butt from a hole in the ground and I wore my enormous
ignorance like a badge of honor and called it slick. What little education I had
I picked up in the ghetto streets on the South Side of Chicago. I couldn't read
or write and hated books and anyone with an education. In the 26 odious years
I've spent for crimes I absolutely did not commit I've tried to rid myself of my
enormous ignorance. Paramount to all else, I have turned the criminal mentality
into a revolutionary mentality. --Prisoner, Florence, Colorado FEMINISM, ANTIGONE AND HEGEL What I liked about the "Woman as Reason" column
on Antigone (August-September N&L) is that it makes a distinction between
political and philosophical thought in Hegel. This is tricky to write about
because of the attacks from other feminist writers against Hegel for being
sexist. Maya Jhansi asks "is his philosophy limited by his gender
politics?" Very few revolutionary thinkers would even entertain such a
question. The relation between politics and philosophy is not limited by the
originator of that philosophy. There is something objective about philosophy,
and others besides the originator may be able to move it forward. Articles like
this one are what distinguish N&L. --David Mizuno 'Oto, Oakland, Cal. In her article on Antigone, Maya Jhansi makes a distinction
between Hegel's politics and his philosophy, but doesn't make a good case for
why Hegel's philosophy is relevant to feminism. She depends on Marx. Marx wasn't
directly a feminist either. The case can be made, however, that even though
Hegel was limited by the sexism and racism of his time, his philosophy is rooted
in humanity overcoming its limitations. In our age, Women's Liberation arose as
force and reason explicitly against the sexism in the Left. Having a philosophy
that lets you figure out how to think through the contradictions of your
situation is what is important about Hegel. That is what makes Hegel's
philosophy relevant to feminism. --Woman's Liberationist, California It is great to see "Woman as Reason" as a column
heading. For too long, reason has been appropriated as a male-only category. --Librarian, Berkeley, Cal. FREE RICHARD FLOOD On Sept. 9 Judge Rozak imposed the maximum possible
sentence for Richard Flood--a former political prisoner who was falsely accused
of committing aggravated battery. (See August-September 2002 N&L). Despite
an extensive letter writing campaign that exposed the injustice of Flood's
conviction, the Judge refused to even discuss the circumstances which could have
been considered extenuating, like self-defense. Despite this setback, Richard remains undeterred in his
fight for the right of all prisoners. He recently wrote, "We must not allow
the level of support which we have achieved via all our struggles to waver or
wane." Richard encourages all readers of N&L to attend a rally against
the frenzy to incarcerate, on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. at the Cook County Jail
at 26th and California in Chicago. The struggle continues! --Solidarity activist, Chicago WELFARE REFORM = WAR ON THE POOR The federal welfare law will expire by the end of
September, but there is so little news about welfare these days in the media
that few are aware of what is happening. It is only now that more than half the
Senate sent a request asking for a debate on reauthorizing the welfare program
created by the 1996 law. The House passed a Bush bill that would impose a
stricter work requirement on recipients. The urgency is that if no law is
passed, the government can't make welfare payments to the states after Sept. 30. --Worried activist, New York The Welfare "Reform" which the government calls
TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) has been a terrible failure. It
removed nearly one million mothers from college classes. It forced millions of
single moms to take any job anywhere for any pay -- forcing families into
permanent poverty and even homelessness. It has increased infant mortality in
the African-American communities. And women of color are sanctioned, terminated,
and denied time extensions at a greater rate than white women. Now Congress must reauthorize the bill by the end of
September. We are asking everyone to let their U.S. Senators know that we need a
bill that: 1. Ends racial profiling and all discrimination; 2. Values all
families, regardless of marital status; 3. Counts education and caregiving as
work; 4. Ends time limits and sanctions. --Welfare Warriors, Milwaukee, Wis. PLAN VS. REVOLT At a recent discussion of longshoremen here, the Archives
column in the August-September issue on "The revolt of the workers and the
plan of the intellectuals," came to life. One radical said the problem is
that the union officials have already given up many jobs through the
introduction of computers. Now the union is fighting under the threat of Bush's
intention to take over the docks. They are bargaining over the number of jobs,
but the rank-and-file workers are concerned over the speedup in the jobs, which
comes through the overwhelming use of technology. Workers charge that this
caused nine fatalities in the last contract period. Automation has always caused
a great divide between the union leaders and the rank and file. But the leftists
still go on talking about a program or plan, not about workers freely associated
labor. --Marxist-Humanist, Oakland, Cal. FORUM ON AIDS As one of the longtime AIDS activists mentioned in Gerard
Emmett's article on the Video Machete forum this summer (August-September
N&L), I want to call attention to something it failed to mention--namely,
the point I had made in the discussion about the need for queer people of color
to initiate the next AIDS activist movement. The movement of the '80s and early
'90s was organized mostly by white, middle-class gays and lesbians, with the
exception of ACT UP New York, which was more multiracial. We also need to
challenge communities of color in addressing and confronting issues of human
sexuality, queer and straight. --Darrell Gordon, Chicago FORTRESS EUROPE War Resisters International is a pacifist network aiming to
link peace groups all over the world. More than 300 such people were registered
to take part in a Triennial conference in Dublin in August, but one third of the
invited participants from non-EU countries were confronted with Fortress Europe,
the infamous immigration policy of the European Union, when they were denied an
entry visa from the Irish authorities. People coming from Russia, Ukraine,
Georgia, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Cameroon, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Burundi,
Zimbabwe, Togo, Gambia, Kenya, Bangladesh and Pakistan were kept from attending
the conference. It is an example of the racist policy that wants to close the EU
to people coming from the Third World. Among those denied access were 16 members
of a Congolese study group on non-violent solutions for their country. The
astonishing reason given by the Ministry of Justice was that they couldn't enter
Europe because they had no visa history. Of course you can't get a visa without
having traveled and you can't travel without a visa. Fortress Europe is a new
Catch 22. --Andreas Speck, War Resisters' International INDONESIA TARGETS ACEH Indonesian police arrested a U.S. nurse, a British
academic, and their translator in the province of Aceh on Sept. 11 on charges of
"suspicious activities" in the area. They are alleged to have visited
the Free Aceh Movement, which has been fighting for independence since 1976. It
is a conflict that has claimed thousands of innocent lives. As of Sept. 24, all
three women were reported to be ill and unable to receive medical assistance or
lawyers. The Aceh Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence is
campaigning for their release. Following the arrest, ten villages in the area they are
said to have visited were targeted by 400 Indonesian military and police and a
brutal offensive forced villagers to flee their homes. The arrest of foreigners
and increasing murder and pillage reflect the green light given by the U.S. when
it recently restored military aid to Indonesia in spite of horrendous human
right abuses throughout that nation. --Anne Jaclard, New York HELP SAVE AMINA LAWAL! A Nigerian court has convicted Amina Lawal to death because she had a child fathered by a man to whom she was not married. As soon as the child is weaned, she will be buried up to her chest and stoned to death. Amnesty International has started a world wide campaign to reverse this decision. If you click on the following link, you can sign your name in opposition to this sentence. This is not a futile action. A few months ago the sentence
of another Nigerian woman was reversed due to a similar action. Please sign your
name and notify your friends about this action. --LaRuby May, Washington, D.C. CLOSING DOWN THE SOA Protests to close the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia have been effective, forcing the U.S. Military to change the school's name. As a School of Assassins, the SOA trained death squad leaders and military dictators while undermining democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. Now it is continuing its murderous business under a new name: Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation -- and every year the protests have continued. More than 50 women and men have served a total of 30 years in federal prison for these protests. At last year's action, two women managed to get inside Fort Benning's enclosure and were arrested. At trial they were sentenced to six months. We gave them a prison send-off on September 10 and are asking for letters to be sent to them during their imprisonment to show support for their courageous stand on this issue. Here are the addresses that must be spelled out exactly: Federal Prison Camp Greenville, Mary Dean #90965-020, PO Box 6000, Greenville, IL 62246. Federal Prison Camp Greenville, Kathleen Desautels
#90966-020, PO Box 6000, Greenville, IL 62246. --Anti SOA activist, Chicago |
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