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NEWS & LETTERS, JULY 2003
Readers’ Views
'SOULS OF BLACK FOLK' 'SOULS OF BLACK FOLK was a groundbreaking book 100 years
ago and is still a moving work today. John Alan's "Black-Red View "
(June N&L) was magnificent in illuminating its dialectical character and in
showing how that dialectic was stopped short because of Du Bois' "talented
tenth" notion, which put a barrier between his theory of struggle for
oneness out of a divided self, and the actual mass movement from practice toward
freedom that shaped history. --Activist/thinker, Memphis I concur with everything brother John Alan wrote in the
article on "Today's talented Tenth" ("Black-Red View," March
N&L) on Black culture being formed by freedom struggles. Writers like Gates
don't break down the fundamentals of their story. In oblique ways they denounce
brothers like Malcolm X, Huey Newton, George Jackson, and John Africa--the true
pioneers who defined Black culture so profoundly that it inspired brothers like
myself. The Black talented tenth struggled with the people at first, but then
advanced to a comfortable station in life and turned their backs on the
continuing struggle for liberation as if it was no longer needed. --A brother within, Wisconsin ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS Maya Jhansi raised some important questions in her
article about women's rights ("Race, class and the politics of
choice," N&L, June 2003). What particularly stood out for me is how she
discussed cheap remedies such as depo-provera for use on poor women. When people
talk about population control, they usually mean control of poor women. The
Right tries to justify its position by insisting people shouldn't have kids if
they can't afford them since the state will have to take care of them. It's all
against poor women. --Akili, Chicago I don't believe you can characterize most women's groups
as going into alliances with neoliberalist governments. The UN Cairo+5
population conference in 1999 was opposed to blaming women's fertility for
problems of overpopulation and attempted to transform the debate about
overpopulation to center on how capitalism allocates resources. You can't
control population unless women have free say. When women don't have control of
their bodies, they also end up having too many babies. Their health is seriously
compromised as is the health of their families. Let's not be afraid to take on
these problems head-on. --Women's Liberationist, Memphis DANNY GLOVER VICTORY Here is a positive story for a change. The "Dial-in
for Democracy Campaign" that was launched in response to the right-wing
attack on Danny Glover for opposing the policies of the Bush administration has
just won a resounding victory. The campaign, which was spearheaded by
TransAfrica Forum, had asked friends and supporters to contact MCI to insist
that it not back down on its relationship with Danny by canceling his appearance
in television spots for MCI. After an outstanding commentary by Tavis Smiley on
the Tom Joyner Morning Show on May 15, MCI was deluged with phone calls, e-mails
and faxes. Their response was short and to the point: "Our contract with
Danny Glover runs through January 2004 and we intend to honor our
contract." While we are celebrating we have to recognize that the attempt
to silence Danny Glover was a warning about what the extremists have in mind to
silence all of us. --Civil rights activist, Chicago THE MYTH OF INVINCIBILITY The June Archives column about destroying the myth of the invincibility of totalitarianism was quite timely. Unfortunately, that myth is back as is seen in the ideology that there is no alternative to capitalism. Consider how even those who opposed Bush's war against Iraq for the most part failed to find or even seek any connection to forces of revolt within Iraq, even though the 1991 uprising there should have been at the front of everyone's mind. When families of the imprisoned came out on the streets in Iraq last year to demand that Hussein's regime account for their loved ones, why didn't the Left address the significance of those voices? Instead, Voices in the Wilderness held an anti-war rally in Baghdad at about the same time that omitted any criticism of Hussein. That would not have happened if the driving force of the movement were a vision of self-emancipation by all the world's peoples and the transcendence of racist, sexist, heterosexist capitalism. --Anti-war activist, Tennessee As a 23-year-old who considers himself a Marxist-Humanist, it made me very proud to read about the anti-war demonstrations all over the country earlier this year. Because I was incarcerated I could not be there physically, but I was there spiritually holding an anti-war banner with a mind determined for peace. There were many prisoners from all religious persuasions who were against military action. There was even talk of how we could have a peaceful demonstration on our yard to oppose the war. Unfortunately not all the gangs and religious organizations could agree on how to carry it out. I am especially proud of the peace activists who made their views known even after Bush claimed the war was over. I feel he got what the government wanted, control of some if not all the oil flow in Iraq and that he is now trying to find another situation to take our eyes off of Iraq. --Still incarcerated, Michigan PROFITS AND ‘THE PEOPLE’ George Bush says, "The Iraqi oil belongs to the Iraqi people." The logical follow-up of this statement should be that "The American oil belongs to the American people." Unfortunately, it is common knowledge that the U.S. oil "belongs" or at least is exploited by the Big Oil companies and only a very small number of CEOs and shareholders benefit from the enormous profits. The U.S. attack on Iraq created tremendous destruction
of the infrastructure, water, electricity production and transmission, telephone
communications and so on. Before the war even started, Mr. Rumsfeld and company
handed out reconstruction contracts to chosen companies (including to Haliburton,
the company of its former chairman Dick Cheney). These contracts, worth hundreds
of millions of dollars to the U.S. companies to rebuild and restore the damage
caused by the massive U.S. "shock and awe" bombing campaign, will be
paid for by the Iraqi oil revenues. So much for the Iraqi oil belonging to the
Iraqi people. The correct name for the attack on Iraq should have been
"Bombing for Profits." --Georgio, Canada Research is being done to develop more specific
chemicals to control malignancies like cancer, when studies should be done to
determine why there are so many malignancies today, and increasingly in younger
people. Of course, that would no doubt expose to censure many of the chemical
and nuclear companies. That cannot be allowed. Instead new expensive chemicals
to combat cancer are found which bring further profits for the pharmaceutical
companies. It is disgusting to see our universities joining with the government
and business to help the ruling elite in their rush to obliterate any kind of
truly human society. --Senior citizen, Wisconsin A SCARLET LETTER IN LIFE In Florida a law was passed in 2001 that required women
who wished to have their newborns adopted to publish a list of all the men who
might be the father of the child in the local papers where the sexual
intercourse had taken place. The rationale for this anti-woman requirement was
that the father had parental (property) rights on the child and had to be part
of the adoption process or might want to keep the child himself. Women were
effective in standing up to the Florida law and now the possible father must
file with the confidential "father registry" before the mother begins
adoption proceedings. This is supposed to be an improvement. At least it is not
public. Now THE NEW YORK TIMES has reported a case where a
woman, married for five years, had a 10-year-old whom her husband wished to
adopt. She was required to place an ad in her college newspaper giving her name,
description and names of any men who might have been the father. THE SCARLET
LETTER is not just a book by Nathaniel Hawthorn. It lives on today. --Jan, Chicago REVOLUTION & RELIGION I asked for your pamphlet on "Marx's CAPITAL and
Today's Global Crisis" because most revolutionists I have read about, from
Mao and Stalin to Bolivar, Zapata, Sandino, Gandhi and Che Guevara, seem to talk
about Marx and I wanted to find out more about him for myself. This prison's
library has no books on struggle so you have to reach out to learn what you can.
I am an ordained minister with a degree and for much of my life was a religious
man but through studying history, politics, economics and absorbing the world
situation as well as studying in prison and on the street, I have come to
believe it will take more than religion to change the world. It will take
struggle. In your pamphlet on Marx it amazed me how much he wrote
about applies to today and how a capitalistic world is "one nation"
where the workers continue to produce and become more and more impoverished. I
would like to read more to better understand the difference between abstract
labor and concrete labor, which I see as what has to be grasped to truly
understand what Marx was talking about. --Revolutionist, Soledad, California AFFIRMATIVE ACTION After the recent Supreme Court decision allowing the
public media to be even more under the control of the wealthy few, thus wiping
out the ability of any independent or minority voices to be heard, and as
someone who works in the field of education, I was very fearful about what the
Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action would be. Like many others, I was
pleasantly surprised but a little confused at what was upheld. Considering the
complexity of the differences in "scoring" between the University of
Michigan basic admission policy and that of the law school, which was the one
favored by the Court, I wonder whether the "scores" won't wind up
reconfigured to turn the tables against minorities and the poor, no matter what
model is adopted. In practice, I believe the jury is still out on this one. --Erica Rae, Chicago BUS RIDERS UNION The local transit agency in Los Angeles (MTA) is planning to unfairly raise bus fares. This will especially affect the working class and the elderly of our community. The MTA is a hated agency here and has lousy bus/subway service. The Bus Riders Union is trying to protect the rights of commuters/passengers. We have organized over 200 Black, Korean, Latino and working class white workers and students for the May 22 MTA board vote. We won four "No" votes from them for defeating the fare increase but five were needed and the board is adamant about imposing the fare hike. Your Los Angeles readers are invited to attend a meeting
to discuss our demands at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 19, at 3300 Wilshire Blvd. or
to call 213-387-2800 for more details. --Amanda Potter, Los Angeles POEMS The inclusion of my poem, "A prayer for fools"
in the June issue was very welcome. Poems are birds and as they start their
flight you never know where they may go. Thank you for helping it on its way. --Patrick Duffy, Britain DEMANDING ANSWERS I have to ask again. What does it mean that several years ago Superintendent Hillard wanted two young African-American boys under the age of nine charged with rape and murder before they were found to be innocent--but three white male Chicago cops beat Timia Williams in broad daylight and they are still Chicago police officers? --George Wilfrid Smith Jr., Chicago How can our police murder unarmed citizens, some even children, and the court system refuses to demand accountability? The only murderers who are routinely acquitted or have convictions overturned are police officers. Any found guilty face sentences of far less severity than you or I would have. I find it a blessing and at the same time a shame that I can rely only on N&L to provide news from an honest perspective. The only complaint I have is that I wish its reader base was much larger. People deserve the truth. Every subscriber should get a friend to subscribe! --Supporter, Brooklyn REACHING OVER WALLS I am Palestinian and although I appreciate the full
content of N&L the articles on the Middle East are the most important to me
and the most informative because they present the raw truth. I usually refrain
from presenting my opinions because my reality is the walls that confine me.
They have convinced me that Dostoyevsky said it best when he wrote that the
degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. --Prisoner, Newark, N.J. I want you to know how much I appreciate reading N&L. It is the most serious publication I have ever received. I read them and pass them on to other brothers in the struggle. --Prisoner, Indiana |
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