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.

UPDATE LINK: Democracy Now

Tags:
Martin Luther King Jr

The UN decides Water is NOT a basic right.

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.

I don’t get this, how can this be possible - there is some seriously skewed up and frightening thinking going on here. This comment says it all

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.

British but the wrong colour - Black more on travel terror in Europe and the daily Question, are you really Breeish?

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.

Nasra Al Adawi interviews Marian Douglas of Marian’s blog. Marian started the Facebook group “Women of Colour. Here she speaks about being an Afrodescendant of the Americas

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.

*** Freedom Rider on the “Obama Cult”. What a relief.

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?

Megan Williams is a 20 year old Black woman who was kidnapped, racially abused, sexually and physically assaulted for seven days last September in West Virginia. Her all white kidnappers included two mothers and their respective son and daughter and two others.

Among the allegations against the six people accused of holding Ms Williams are that they forced her to eat rat droppings and drink from a toilet.

They are accused of pouring hot water over her, choking her with a cable and cutting her ankle with a knife, while verbally abusing her.

Recently a FaceBook group was created to highlight the crimes committed against Megan and the silence of the mainstream media to report the case. The group “Students against the rape of Megan Williams and media that ignores her” presently has over 240,000 members. On Saturday one member of the group, Patrick Dyson posted this piece on the groups wall, “ARE BLACKS CURSED”.

Physical Features

You compare blacks nose, eyes, skin, hair, nose wide and bulbous, eyes dark and red, hair goose like, skin oily versus white nose straight and bi-symetrical, lovely different coloured eyes, lovely white skin, beautiful blonde , brunnette, redhead or silky black hair
IQ
The educational stats suggest that the IQ of blacks is at least 25% lower than the average white person. Others suggest its way more than that….. the piece continues in the same vein.

Posting this comment on a site created to support a Black woman who has survived multiple sexual assaults is Dyson’s way of raping her again. Not only has Dyson invaded and defiled the site, he has included a photograph of himself with three African women. This white supremacist travels all the way to Africa to have himself photographed with bare-chested African women - why? Dyson like so many white supremacist is obsessed with Blackness which is expressed by finding ways to invade Black spaces particularly those occupied by Black women. In this way he hopes to express his power as a white male and take control of our spaces and voices. With these two acts, Dyson has “attempted” to ridicule and degrade all Black women - in Africa, the US and other parts of the Diaspora. I say “attempted” because like most haters, his action and words expose him for what he really is - which is a powerless albeit despicable person and people like him cannot and will not succeed. The more he and others like him are exposed in this way the weaker they become. If you are a member of Facebook take action by writing to them. Use your networks and contacts to publicise this story in the blogosphere and the mainstream media in Africa and in the Diaspora.

Links:
Megan Williams Support Page
Petition to file Civil Rights charges against the 6 accused.

Tags:

Megan Williams
Violence against Women
Racism
Hate Speech

Inspiration from Noel Pointer - Jazz violinst and social justice activist.

Noel Pointer died in 1994 just a week before his 40th birthday. He studied classical violin and made his first solo appearance aged 11 when he played with Symphony of the New World Orchestra. He continued playing classical violin through to his early 20s when he turned his classical violin into an instrument for jazz. Pointer was also an activist and worked with children and young people promoting literacy and education in general.

I have two of his albums on vinyl - Hold On and All My Reasons. I havent yet got round to transferring them to CD so I have no samples. I remember some years back when I was trying to replace vinyls with CDs looking for these two albums or anything by Pointer but could find nothing. Now his music is out on CD - I found this slide video on YouTube with Pointer playing Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the City”.

I checked out the lyrics of “Living for the City” and reading them I note not much has changed over the past 35 years!

Noel Pointer
Jazz Violin