Rethabile remembers Malcolm X on Poefrika. It’s an easy day for me to remember as it’s also my son’s birthday. He spent the day looking at some of his maternal ancestors over at the British Museum in London meanwhile here is Rethabile’s post
For Malcolm X
All you violated ones with gentle hearts;
You violent dreamers whose cries shout heartbreak;
Whose voices echo clamors of our cool capers,
And whose black faces have hollowed pits for eyes.
All you gambling sons and hooked children and bowery bums
Hating white devils and black bourgeoisie,
Thumbing your noses at your burning red suns,
Gather round this coffin and mourn your dying swan.
In Prison The Whole Of My Life is a documentary covering the arrest, trial, imprisonment and fight for a retrial for Mumia Abu Jamal. Mumia’s is presently undergoing a complex appeal process which focuses on three major trial violations - the racism of the judge who was heard by the stenographer at trial to make a racist comment about Mumia; the racial bias of the jury members; the prosecutor’s direction to the jury which “attempted to reduce jurors’ sense of responsibility by telling them that a guilty verdict would be subsequently vetted and subject to appeal”. Mumia remains on death row and the new trial will is to decide on whether Mumia should continue to face the death penalty or face life imprisonment with no parole. The campaign for a complete new trial on guilt or innocence remains.
The film links Mumia Abu Jamal with the many incidents of human rights violations and militarism in the United States such as the Iraqi war, Guantanamo Camp X-Ray, Abu Ghraib , Katrina. It also brings together the racialisation of the US justice system and the “prison industrial complex, the racialised death penalty and overall assault on dissent by the state and the federal government. One begins to see that US foreign policy of aggression actually starts at home.
One particularly obscene example is the bombing of the MOVE community on May 13th 1985. The film includes the actual footage showing the plane flying over the houses and dropping a bomb. Five children and six adults were killed, many injured and their homes destroyed…….more here and here.
I also believe the incarceration of Mumia Abu Jamal, the severe irregularities surrounding his trial, the racism and what I see as the US government’s systematic and continuous attack on the progressive and radical Black community are not disconnected from US foreign policy in Africa. For example the support of the continued occupation of the Niger Delta by the Nigerian military to protect US oil interests, the establishment of AFRICOM whether based in Africa or in Europe (deployment is instant either way). I also believe this is a Pan African issue in the sense that Africans and African descendants in the Americas and Caribbean (including and especailly Haiti) are in the words of Angela Davis
“…..have a special responsibility [to each other] not by virtue of their biological connection or racial link, but by virtue of a political identification that is forged in struggle. We should be attentive to Africa not simply because this continent is populated by black people, not only because we trace our origins to Africa, but primarily because Africa has been a major target of colonialism and imperialism. ….” “Abolition of Democracy”
The phrase “No Visible Movement” is taken from the film in a discussion between Angela Davis and the film’s narrator, William Francome, on the differences between the campaign to free Angela Davis and the Mumia campaign. In the case of Angela Davis there was a far more cohesive and much stronger radical and visible movement in the 1970s than we see today.
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. I hear that Hilary Clinton and John McCain will be in Memphis to mark the day. I am sure Barack Obama will seize the time add his $2 worth. I hear that Democratic and Republican leaders met yesterday on Capitol Hill to mark the day. No doubt the warmongering racist, Mr George Bush will speak to [dis]honour Mr King. Hypocrites everywhere will come out to speak false words and use the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr for their own interest.
They are all liars.
They will not say that the same forces who killed Martin Luther King Jr also killed Patrice Lumumba, Che Guevara, Salvador Allende, Thomas Sankara and thousands of others who refused to be silenced and dared to dream of another world.
They will not say that the same forces who killed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr are also responsible for the forced removal of President Bertrand Aristide who is still prevented from returning to his home and position in Haiti.
They will not say that the same forces who sought to destroy the reputation of Martin Luther King Jr are the same forces responsible for the disappearance of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine - a Haitian civil rights leaders who has fought consistently for the dignity and human rights of Haitian people including the end of the UN / US Occupation of Haiti
They will not say that Martin Luther King Jr was killed one year after he began to speak out again the US war in Vietnam [April 4th 1967].
The media will be silent on these facts and Martin Luther King Jr will be whitewashed 40 years after his assassination. Just as the media whitewashed Aristide and are silent today on the kidnapping and whereabouts of Haitian leader Lovinsky.
The media will be silent on the liberties that have been eroded over the past 7 years and are now reduced to the freedom to consume. As we move nearer and nearer to the possibility of a Black man becoming the next US President the media and white people and some Black people will attempt to whitewash the daily realities of race in America.
The realisaton of the dream is still a long way off. But it is only when you dream that you KNOW what is possible, what is real.
The Harper government can declare victory after a United Nations meeting rejected calls for water to be recognized as a basic human right.
Instead, a special resolution proposed by Germany and Spain at the UN human rights council was stripped of references that recognized access to water as a human right. The countries also chose to scrap the idea of creating an international watchdog to investigate the issue, choosing instead to appoint a new consultant that would make recommendations over the next three years.
Interesting how the logic of psychopathic capitalism works. You are a human being. As such, you need water simply to stay alive. But if we recognize it as a human right, then we will not be able to bottle it and sell it to you. Therefore it is not a human right. If you cannot buy it and you incidentally die, that is not our problem.
However to that police officer, that immigration officer, that airline worker and any other officialdom you come across as a citizen of the united Kingdom, it is a matter of Yes British but not the right colour and it seem frustrating that almost on a daily basis the posse ion of the UK passport is not enough as a tool of identity to an adopted homeland, You have to prove your commitment over and over again.
So here we are Black British and Proud but yet continue to face discrimination from British Institutions, Immigration officials questioning your possession of the British passport , British airline giving you 7 to 8 looks and interrogating you in spite of your possession of a valid British passport.
I am beginning to have serious thoughts about what People of Colour are doing in this country. Just maybe it is time for us all to rethink our lives and begin to consider returning home. It is only going to get worse. Already you have to show your passport if you: register at a doctor, rent accommodation, rent a van, rent storage, go to the dentist, even the gym asked for passport ID.
I come from the population of the Americas which is the Afrodescendant people. Afrodescendants of the Americas are the largest population of African people outside Africa. We are all over the Americas, not only in the United States. My ancestors were trafficked from several different parts of Africa. They were the people who survived what is called “the Middle Passage” – that is, the ship voyage of thousands of miles and several weeks – 2 or 3 months, I think – across the Atlantic slave trade. Researchers say that Afrodescendants are 33% or one-third of the entire population of the Americas.
They are every where, like pod people in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. If you don’t fall asleep and turn into a pod person too, they are out to get you.
I mean Obama supporters of course. If their adoration for cynical nothingness wasn’t so dangerous it would be funny.
*** Kameelah Writes is hyped up on Wax Poetic and Holga cameras and refuses to apologise for her “lack of excitement” over the primaries.
*** One I missed is Mike Tyson’s visit to South Africa and his hope of meeting with Winnie Mandela - WHAT! and Jacob Zuma - no surprise there. Loudrastress publishes a press releases asking people not to welcome Tyson in a country “where 1 in 4 women are beaten by their male partners and 1 in 3 are likely to be raped in their life time”
Last year over 52 000 rapes were recorded in South Africa - of which approximately 20 000 victims were girls under the age of 18. Although these figures are already horrendous, it is widely agreed that they are significantly inaccurate and that the real rate of rape is much higher but unreported.
Given this mantle of violence under which South African women must live, Mike Tyson is a highly insulting choice for a hero, and any suggestion that he has “changed” must be treated with the contempt it deserves: his conversion to Islam whilst serving a prison term for rape some years ago certainly made no noticeable difference to his attitude towards women, and only 3 months ago he was convicted of drug abuse and drunken driving. If newspaper reports are to be believed, it seems Tyson never misses an opportunity to demean and vilify women (see attached quotes). Is this has-been athlete with an on-going penchant for violating women someone South Africans should lionize? Is this a man we should present to South African children as someone to admire and emulate?
*** African Path reports on the merging of Tampax, Always and HERO (an awareness building and fundraising initiative of the UN).
“Working with HERO, the Protecting Futures program brings together the brands’ global resources to help make a positive impact on these young girls by improving access to feminine hygiene products as well as education and health services,” said Michelle Vaeth, Protecting Futures Program Director for P&G. “Through this program, Tampax and Always will help build an infrastructure that – with support from local and national governments - can give children in these communities the chance to reach their full potential.”
*** From Stereohyped’s Daily Dose of BHM on Wilma Rudolph, who despite having polio as a child, became the first American to win three gold medals at the Olympics.
She won a bronze medal in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, but it was during hte 1960 Rome Olympics that she broke the record with three gold medals. After retiring from sports, Rudolph became a teacher and sports commentator. She died of brain cancer in 1994.
*** Haitian Justice reminds us there is still no news on Haitian activist Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine who has been missing since 11th August last year. The third annual solidarity with the Haitian people takes place on February 29th. Finally the publication of the book by Peter Hallwood, Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment.
*** Sabbah publishes an extract from the “US Campaign to end Israeli Occupation - “$2.55 billion in military aid to Israel”…. One of the comments writes
Bush wont listen.
It doesn’t matter what anyone says. BUSH WONT LISTEN.
As much as most of the world hates OBL, Bush is the same person, only just on the other side.
Until Bush is gone there will be pandering for the Israelis.
After that event, there will be more pandering.
AIPAC controls the US.
The more important question is, if he becomes President, WILL OBAMA LISTEN?
