Monday, February 29, 2016

150 years of Black liberation struggles

http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/02/10/150-years-of-black-liberation-struggles/

http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/02/05/vernon-dahmer-unsung-martyr-of-civil-rights-struggle/

http://www.workers.org/articles/author/abayomi/page/2/

Guyana commission confirms Burnham gov’t murdered Walter Rodney

http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/02/28/guyana-commission-confirms-burnham-govt-murdered-walter-rodney/

Trump backed by fascists, quotes Mussolini

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/29/trum-f29.html

Seattle

http://socialistworker.org/2016/02/24/the-secret-hidden-behind-seattles-boom

Great Advice from a Black Woman

Judge Scalia Was With Members of an Elite Secret Society When He Died

http://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnews/judge-scalia-spent-his-last-hours-with-members-of-a-secret-society/

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/29/scal-f29.html

Information in February 28, 2016

The city of Detroit experienced bankruptcy from 2013 to 2014. The following information is the truth and we know that economic exploitation by the oligarchy is real. There are many reasons for it. It was caused by many factors like the severe decline in revenues along with massive depopulation. Long term unemployment and depopulation caused the city’s property and income tax revenues to decline. The state of Michigan also slashed revenues it had shared with the city. This caused more problems. Wall Street banks sold risky financial instruments to Detroit along with economic mismanagement (as done by Republicans and Democrats) increased the economic crisis in the city as well. Wall Street derivatives deals (plus predatory lending schemes that harmed disproportionately African Americans and Latino Americans) were disastrous along with the Great Recession. That contributed to the economic problems. Corporate entities moved money and other resources from Detroit into mostly white suburbs.  For example, the state of Michigan owes Detroit more than $220 million in revenue-sharing state assistance. But it has refused to release the money. Meanwhile, the banks that pushed unaffordable mortgages on thousands of Detroit homeowners during the boom should be maintaining and paying taxes on the foreclosed properties they repossessed in recent years. Instead, in many cases, they've simply refused to pay up. In other cases, the banksters have taken homeowners into foreclosure without completing the process and obtaining title to the homes. Thus, thousands of people have been forced out of their homes, only to find out that the banks continue to stick them with the tax bill. This crisis existed by virtue of the city no longer bringing enough revenue to cover its immediate expenses. In June of 2011, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed legislation allowing Detroit to continue collecting income and utility taxes. Dave warned in November 2011 that Detroit faced a projected cash shortfall of about $150 million by the end of March 2012. On Dec. 2, 2011, Michigan launched a preliminary review of Detroit's finances, citing the looming cash crunch. It found the city had a mounting debt problem with long-term liabilities estimated to top $12 billion compared with an annual budget of about $3.1 billion. In July of 2012, Dave Bing (or the then mayor of Detroit) imposed pay cuts on workers. City authorities audited Detroit’s services. Later, there was the appointment of the emergency manager over Detroit. His name was the lawyer Kevyn Orr. The problem with an emergency manager system in Detroit is that an emergency manager is unelected and the democratic voice of Detroit citizens were excluded in the process. The emergency management plan was instituted against the wishes of Michigan voters who voted against the establishment of an emergency manager via referendum (on Public Act 4 in November of 2012). Emergency managers exist in Benton Harbor, Ecorse, Flint, Pontiac and Allen Park, and in the school districts of Muskegon Heights, and in Highland Park. All except one of these cities--Allen Park is the exception--have Black majorities. Orr followed austerity principles just like Snyder (who passed a right to work law in Michigan). The bankruptcy situation was the Snyder and Orr wanted pensions to be cut and assets to be sold to creditors (even to the big banks) in order for bankruptcy to end. They refused to outline other alternatives, but claimed that they had no choice, but to do it.

In fact, Snyder's office had lobbied Orr to take the job as early as January of 2013 and openly discussed with him arranging for the Chapter 9 bankruptcy, according to e-mails obtained by labor activist Robert Davis. Detroit was formally declared bankrupt in December 2013, a landmark ruling by U.S. Judge Steven Rhodes, who cited the city's dismal finances and $18 billion debt. About 40 percent of the city's streetlights did not work and about 78,000 abandoned buildings littered the city. Progressive activists like Demos and many socialists dispute the $18 billion debt number. Rhodes in April 11, 2014 approved a key settlement between Detroit and 2 investment banks over costly interest rate swaps. There was another deal between retirees and pension funds aided by an $816 million pledged by foundations, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the state of Michigan. Barclays bank and others received money. The state constitution protects pensions from cuts, but workers in Detroit have had their pension cuts for the sake of economic reasons. The banksters have taken jobs, homes and now massive assets of a major city. Citibank, General Motors, Chrysler, and other large corporations received a bailout from the federal government, but Detroiters have not. Many older workers who were retired have been forced to go back into work because of their pensions being depleted. On September 10, Detroit reached a deal with three Michigan counties over regional water and sewer services that could eliminate one roadblock to federal court approval of the city's plan to adjust its debt and exit bankruptcy. The deal with Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties created the Great Lakes Water Authority, a new regional water and sewer authority, but allows Detroit to maintain control of its local system. The deal was crucial to adjusting the city’s $18 billion of debt and exits the biggest-ever municipal bankruptcy. The end of bankruptcy in Detroit came about in December 10, 2014. In Detroit, the Brewster Projects and the Jeffries have been torn down and replaced with housing that most poor and low-income people cannot afford. The promised new housing for the most marginalized sections of the working class has never materialized in the U.S. There have been water shutoffs and many people were forced to pay huge water rates.  The Detroit News said that at least 4,000 households were living without water services including 66-year-old Fayette Coleman who has been shutoff since 2013. Out of the 200,000 customers, 108,000 were in arrears with 9,200 facing imminent terminations. Since the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 and the bailing out of the banks, insurance firms and auto companies, the corporations have failed to reinvest their trillions of dollars in job creation or infrastructural improvements — because they would not guarantee the rate of profit these entities are demanding.  The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) was turned over to a “trust” for its management and a scheme to construct a new hockey arena by Red Wings owner Mike Illitch was approved by a compliant City Council even before the bankruptcy had been finalized. As others have sad, we have seen a decrease in the majority black city of Detroit. The city of Detroit is still mostly black. We want black people to flourish in Detroit. Also, many schools in Detroit have been filled with mold and waste. That is why teachers have been protesting for justice. Downtown Detroit has seen development, but income inequality and poverty are serious problems in Detroit as well. We want the liberation of people in Detroit.


Now, we know about the New Detroit. The Detroit of the 21st century is filled with strong, courageous people making a different. The truth is that tons of Brothers and Sisters in Detroit are creating businesses and making a difference. There is the black nationalist group called New Era Detroit confronting violence, setting up neighborhood programs, and standing up against police brutality. They show a red, black, and green flag to outline solidarity with black Americans and all black people of African descent. New Era Detroit is working on a range of projects, including a street watch program, in which men would patrol streets looking out for potential criminals. Other plans are boarding up vacant homes, establishing an afterschool program, and an effort called Come Black Home aimed at convincing blacks in and outside Detroit to buy property and invest in the city. On Angel's Night last month, they held a kids and family event in Highland Park with music, games, and sports. And on Thanksgiving Day, they handed out free food to needy people on public buses. "The reason you're seeing more of them is because some of those older groups are in decline and there is a void," said the Rev. D. Alexander Bullock, who founded two years ago the social justice group Change Agent Consortium. "Detroit has always been that kind of place ... there is something unchanging about Detroit. That activist-entrepreneurial 'I am somebody' spirit is still in this city." Bullock’s organization also deals with education and poverty. There is the group Moratorium Now! in Detroit. Also, there is the Coalition for Black Struggle that deals with police abuse, water shutoffs, and housing evictions. The Detroit chapters of new national groups Black Lives Matter and Black Youth Project 100 have been active as well. The philosophies of the various groups differ, but they will work together on many issues. INN ANY movement for social justice, divergent voices exist. That’s normal. Yet, we do agree with the same goal which is the freedom, justice, and equality given to black people and the rest of the human race.
 
The 2016 movie “Race” is a very important one. It is the second feature biopic about the great African American athlete Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens was a black man who overcame so much and won a record breaking four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. The movie was directed by Stephen Hopkins and written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse. The film stars the following actors and actresses: Stephan James (as Jesse Owens), Shanice Banton (as Ruth Solomon-Owens), Jason Sudeikis (as Larry Synder), Jeremy Irons (as Avery Brundage), William Hurt (as Jeremiah Mahoney), Adrian Zwicker (as Adolf Hitler), Anthony Sherwood (as Rev. Ernest Hall), and Carice van Houten (as Leni Riefenstahl).   The film was released in America in February 19, 2016.  TriStar will release the film in all other countries worldwide. The film was supported by the Owens family, the Jesse Owens Foundation, the Jesse Owens Trust and the Luminary. The story of Jesse Owens is inspiring. Jesse Owens was the youngest of 10 children (three girls and seven boys) to Henry Cleveland Owens (a sharecropper) and Mary Emma Fitzgerald in Oakville, Alabama. He was born on September 12, 1913. His family moved to the city of Cleveland, Ohio for better opportunities as part of the Great Migration. During this time, about 1.5 million African Americans left the segregated South. He called himself J.C., but his new teacher called him Jesse because of his strong Southern accent. He delivered groceries, loaded freight cars, and worked in a shoe repair shop while his father and his older brother worked at a steel mill. He had a great love of running. He was very athletics. Throughout his life, Owens attributed the success of his athletic career to the encouragement of Charles Riley, his junior high track coach at Fairmount Junior High School. Since Owens worked in a shoe repair shop after school, Riley allowed him to practice before school instead. Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon (who lived from 1915 to 2001) met at Fairmount Junior High School in Cleveland. He was 15 and she was 13. They dated steadily through high school. Ruth gave birth to their first daughter, Gloria, in 1932. They married in 1935 and had two more daughters together: Marlene, born in 1939, and Beverly, born in 1940. They remained married until his death in 1980. Owens first came to national attention when he was a student of East Technical High School in Cleveland; he equaled the world record of 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard (91 m) dash and long-jumped 24 feet 9 1⁄2 inches (7.56 meters) at the 1933 National High School Championship in Chicago. He attended Ohio State University. Jesse Owens won a record eight individual NCAA championships, four each in 1935 and in 1936. He worked at part time jobs to pay for school. He was forced to stay in “black only” hotels and he ate at “blacks only” restaurants. Jesse Owens' greatest achievement came in a span of 45 minutes on May 25, 1935, during the Big Ten meet at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he set three world and tied a fourth. He equaled the world record for the 100 yard dash(9.4 seconds); and set world records in the long jump (26 ft 8 1⁄4 in or 8.13 m, a world record that would last 25 years); 220-yard (201.2 m) sprint (20.3 seconds); and 220-yard (201.2m) low hurdles (22.6 seconds, becoming the first to break 23 seconds).

He came to Berlin in 1936 to compete for the United States at the Summer Olympics. During this time, Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany. Hitler was a racist, an anti-Semite, an evil murderer, and an extremist. Fans in Berlin celebrated Owens’ arrival according to fellow American athlete James LuValle (who won bronze in the 400 meters). He usually had soldiers to protect him as he left the athletes’ village. Just before the competitions, Owens was visited in the Olympic village by Adi Dassler, the founder of the Adidas athletic shoe company. He persuaded Owens to wear Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik shoes, the first sponsorship for a male African American athlete. The 1936 Summer Olympic Games had huge crowds in Berlin. On August 3, he won the 100m sprint with a time of 10.3s, defeating teammate college friend Ralph Metcalfe by a tenth of a second and defeating Tinus Osendarpof the Netherlands by two tenths of a second. On August 4, he won the long jump with a leap of 26 feet 5 inches (8.05 m), later crediting his achievement to the technical advice he received from Luz Long, the German competitor whom he defeated. On August 5, he won the 200m sprint with a time of 20.7s, defeating Mack Robinson (the older brother of Jackie Robinson). On August 9, Owens won his fourth gold medal in the 4x100 sprint relay when coach Dean Cromwell replaced Jewish-American sprinters Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller with Owens and Ralph Metcalfe, who teamed up with Frank Wykoff and Foy Draper to set a world record of 39.8s in the event. This performance was not equaled until Carl Lewis won gold medals in the same events at the Soviet-boycotted 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. On the first day of competition, Hitler shook hands with only the German victors and then left the stadium. Olympic committee officials insisted Hitler greet every medalist or none at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations. Historians have noted that Hitler may have left the games at this time due to looming rain clouds that might have postponed the games. This happened well before Owens was to compete, but has largely come to be believed to be the "snub.” There has been debate on whether Hitler snubbed Owens or not. Eric Brown and Mischner claimed that Hitler shook hands with Owens. Regardless of the truth (Hitler was an evil murderous person and I’m glad that the Nazi Empire was defeated in 1945), Jesse Owens made extraordinary and excellent accomplishments during the Olympics. Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels in Germany as whites, while at the time African Americans in many parts of the United States had to stay in segregated hotels while traveling. During a Manhattan ticker-tape parade along Broadway's Canyon of Heroes in his honor, someone handed Owens a paper bag. Owens paid it little mind until the parade concluded. When he opened it up, he found the bag contained $10,000 in cash. Owens's wife Ruth later said, "And he [Owens] didn't know who was good enough to do a thing like that. And with all the excitement around, he didn't pick it up right away. He didn't pick it up until he got ready to get out of the car." After the parade, Owens had to ride the freight elevator at the Waldorf-Astoria to reach the reception honoring him. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) never invited Jesse Owens to the White House following his triumphs at the Olympics games. While the Democrats had bid for the support of Owens, Owens rejected those overtures: as a staunch Republican, he endorsed Roosevelt's Republican opponent, Alf Landon, in the 1936 presidential race. By the 1940’s, he ended his track and field career. He worked baseball leagues. He ran businesses and worked in other ventures. It is a historical fact that at first, Jesse Owens refused to support the black power salute by African-American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Later, he changed his mind. In his  1972 book "I Have Changed," he expressed a more revolutionary opinion by mentioning the following progressive words: “I realized now that militancy in the best sense of the word was the only answer where the black man was concerned, that any black man who wasn't a militant in 1970 was either blind or a coward.” A few months before his death, Owens had tried unsuccessfully to convince President Jimmy Carter to withdraw his demand that the United States boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He argued that the Olympic ideal was supposed to be observed as a time-out from war and that it was above politics. He died of lung cancer at the age of 66 in Tucson, Arizona. He was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago. He was heroic black man who represented black excellence and his strength plus courage of the human spirit. So, I do recommend the film “Race” as it shows the story of the life of a strong black man who performed despite the odds. Hitler wanted to show the world that Aryan people were the dominant race, which was a lie. Jesse Owens proved him wrong and he was the most successful athlete of the 1936 Games. His four track and field gold medals at the single Olympics included the 100m, 200m, 4X100 relay, and the long jump. The record was unbroken for 48 years. Black excellence is real and Black is Beautiful.


By Timothy

Friday, February 26, 2016

Haiti and More

http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/01/31/haiti-in-turmoil-as-masses-reject-corrupt-election/


http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/02/13/big-mama-thornton-and-reparations/

http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/02/19/san-francisco-labor-council-stand-with-the-haitian-people-overturn-the-stolen-elections/

http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/02/19/haitian-masses-demand-martelly-leave-set-new-elections/

http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/02/24/tear-down-the-walls/

http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/02/15/standing-on-the-wrong-side-of-history/

Friday Developments in late February of 2016





The recent Republican debate in Houston, Texas was contentious. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, and John Kasich spoke their minds. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio constantly criticized Donald Trump, because of his hypocrisies and his other views. Donald Trump accused Ted Cruz of being a liar, because of his ads and tactics. Trump said that Rubio wasn’t ready to be President and that he was a “choke artist.” Trump devises Rubio and Rubio has disdain for Trump. Rubio didn’t back down and said that Donald Trump isn’t a real conservative, that he is used corruption in his Trump University, and that he or Trump is a con-artist. Ted Cruz wants to promote reactionary views on immigration. Kasich believed that he can promote a positive message that can unify people. Ben Carson wanted to advance his conservative views too. Trump issued the false statement that the he is audited by the IRS because he’s a Christian. The GOP debate was filled with personal insults, a lack of decorum, and an omission of very important issues that Americans and anyone in general should know about. Trump (who wants to cut many government agencies) wants to deport all undocumented workers which is evil and impossible to do unless America is a police state. Trump’s bigoted statements are beyond the pale and it showed his extremism for all to see. Trump is no revolutionary. He opposes even the Iran nuclear accord. Kasich has ties to Lehman Brothers and wants regime change in North Korea. John Kasich is known to attack unions, but he was defeated in a referendum by a 3 to 2 margin in Ohio. The debate has increased the profile of Marco Rubio. Every candidate in that stage is a neo-conservative. We need compassion given to immigrants not xenophobia. We need a federal law to ban racial profiling not the continuation of the status quo. We want to end unfair tax loopholes. We want investments in our infrastructure and pay equity for women and people of color. We want a financial transaction tax on various financial market transactions. We want an expansion of public health care, so health care can be truly universal. We believe in living wage and an end to austerity measures. On the Democratic side, the South Carolina primary is coming up. Both campaigns are trying to get the African American vote. In the final analysis, we believe in progressive, revolutionary change in the world.


The 1970’s in Detroit represented the start of the era of the late Detroit mayor Coleman Young. His legacy has been debated to this very day. Many liberals love him while many of the conservative crowd blame him for the problems in Detroit. In order to show the truth, we should start from the beginning. Coleman Young was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in Mary 24, 1918. His father was Coleman Young and he was a dry cleaner. His mother was named Ida Reese Jones.  In 1923, his family moved into Detroit. He graduated from Eastern High School in 1935. He worked in the civil rights movement and union rights activism. He worked in the Ford Motor Company. Also, he was backlisted for his work in union and civil rights activism. He served in World War II as a Tuskegee Airmen. He was part of the 477th Medium-Bomber Group of the United States Army Air Forces. He was a bombardier and navigator.  As a lieutenant in the 477th, he played a role in the Mutiny in which 162 African-American officers were arrested for resisting segregation at a base near Seymour, Indiana in 1945. He worked with groups who had Communist members. Young's involvement in progressive organizations including, the Progressive Party, the United Auto Workers and the National Negro Labor Council made him a target of anti-Communist investigators including the FBI and HUAC. He protested segregation in the Army and racial discrimination in the UAW. In 1948, Young supported Progressive Party presidential candidate Henry A. Wallace (who opposed Jim Crow, supported no use of atomic weapons, and wanted a more peaceful foreign policy). Just because someone opposed the evil of McCarthyism doesn’t mean that this person should be disrespected. Communists and non-Communists have every right to show their views in any society.  In 1952, Coleman Young refused to tell the HUAC (or the anti-democratic House Committee on Un-American Activities) on whether he was a Communist or not. On HUAC’s charge that he seemed reluctant to fight communism, Coleman said: “I am not here to fight in any un-American activities, because I consider the denial of the right to vote to large numbers of people all over the South un-American.” On the HUAC congressman from Georgia: “I happen to know, in Georgia, Negro people are prevented from voting by virtue of terror, intimidation and lynchings. It is my contention you would not be in Congress today if it were not for the legal restrictions on voting on the part of my people.” Some historians like Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and Ronald Radosh accuse Young of being a secret CPUSA member, but he had the right to believe in what he wants as a human being. Freedom of thought is a basic human freedom that must maintained in the world. His actions made Young a hero in Detroit’s black community. Coleman worked in the East Side in the 1940’s and in the 1950’s to build his political base. He worked to form a new state constitution in Michigan in 1960. He was in the state Michigan Senate in 1964. His most significant legislation was a law requiring arbitration in disputes between public-sector unions and municipalities. During his senate career, he also pointed out inequities in Michigan state funding, "spending $20 million on rural bus service and a fat zero for the same thing in Detroit.

The 1973 mayoral election was polarizing. 92% of blacks voted for Coleman Young, while 91% of the whites voted for former police Commissioner John Nichols. Coleman Young talked about violence in an increasingly black city. Detroit was slightly less than 50 percent in 1972. Most of the police department back then was white. He wanted to eliminate one particularly troubled police decoy unit, STRESS (Stop the Robberies and Enjoy Safe Streets), whose officers had been accused of killing 22 residents and arresting hundreds more without cause during its two-and-a-half-year existence. He campaigned from the left. He wanted to work in a community policing fashion. He ended STRESS and he integrated the Detroit Police Department.  The proportion of blacks rose to more than 50 percent in 1993 from less than 10 percent in 1974 and has remained at about that level. Both actions were credited with reducing the number of brutality complaints against the city's police to 825 in 1982 from 2,323 in 1975. He won reelection by wide margins in November 1977 and in November 1981. He upgraded the transit system in Detroit and he established massive construction projects. His administration saw the completion of the Renaissance, Detroit People Mover, the General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Plant, the Detroit Receiving Hospital, the Chrysler, the Riverfront Condominiums, the Millender Center Apartments, the Harbor town retail and residential complex, 150 West Jefferson, One Detroit Center & the Fox Theater restoration, among other developments. Many neighborhood activists didn’t agree with these projects. This opposition typically manifested itself in rigorous budget debate rather than in serious electoral challenges against Young. Most of the time Young prevailed over this opposition, seeking jobs and economic stimulus as a way to help rebuild Detroit's neighborhoods.

There were problems too. Coleman Young emerged from the liberal element in Detroit, but not all of his policies were progressive. Highly controversial was his using eminent domain to purchase and raze an 465-acre inner-city neighborhood known as Poletown that was home to 3,500 people, mostly Polish property owners, in order to make way for a half-billion dollar General Motors Cadillac assembly plant. Rich argues that he pulled money out of the neighborhood to rehabilitate the downtown business district, because "there were no other options." He worked with Detroit’s economic elite on many issues. During the 1970’s and the 1980’s, Detroit’s crime rate increased. The homicide rate in Detroit existed long before Young was mayor. The crime epidemic persisted during the time that he was mayor. It persisted because of poverty, deindustrialization, the War on Drugs, the growth of gangs, and other reasons. Young is responsible for some of this trend not all of it. Dozens of violent black street gangs gained control of the city's large drug trade, which began with the heroin epidemic of the 1970's and grew into the even larger crack of the 1980's and early 1990's. There were numerous major criminal gangs that were founded in Detroit and dominated the drug trade at various times; most were short-lived. They included The Errol Flynns (east side), Nasty Flynns (later the NF Bangers) and Black Killers and the drug consortiums of the 1980's such as Young Boys Inc., Pony Down, Best Friends, Black Mafia Family and the Chambers Brothers.The Young Boys were innovative, opening franchises in other cities, using youth too young to be prosecuted, promoting brand names, and unleashing extreme brutality to frighten away rivals. There was a serious arson problem in Detroit, especially among Halloween called “Devil’s Night” in the 1980’s. This involved vandalism and arson. It peaked in 1984 when 800 fires were set in Detroit.  Several times during Young's tenure Detroit was named the arson capital of America, and repeatedly the murder capital of America. Often Detroit was listed by FBI crime statistics as the "most dangerous city in America" during his administration. Crime rates in Detroit peaked in 1991 at more than 2,700 violent crimes per 100,000 people. Many people left Detroit and even today, many abandoned buildings exist. Scholars and researchers believe that the 1967 rebellion contributed heavily too many of the problems in Detroit then and now. Also, redlining, white resistance to court ordered desegregating, aging industrial plants, and a declining automotive industry contributed to economic problems. A lax of tax revenue (including economic mismanagement, and a radical decline of population growth) led into lax services and a struggle for investments back during the tenure of Coleman Young.

Detroit civil rights leader Arthur L. Johnson in his memoir, Race and Remembrance blamed the racist policy of redlining by the banking and insurance industries for much of Detroit's problems. He cites a series of investigative articles in 1988 by the Press entitled "The Race for Money" which documented the discriminatory practices of the major banks in metropolitan Detroit. "The Free Press series showed that black Detroiters were much less likely to qualify for a home mortgage than suburban whites in the same income bracket... The unfair lending practices of the major banks also made it more difficult for blacks to secure business, home improvement and auto loans. In effect, banks were punishing blacks who wanted to make Detroit their home..." During Mayor Young's political tenure, with the unemployment rate trending from approximately 9% in 1971 to approximately 11% in 1993, when Young retired. However, most economic metrics (unemployment, median income rates, and city gross domestic product) initially dropped sharply during economic recessions, reaching their "low points" in the late 1980s and/or early 1990s, with the unemployment rate in particular peaking at approximately 20% in 1982. Coleman Young was known for his colorful language. He spoke the truth about racism being a serious problem, but he also used profanity. By January of 1994, he left being Mayor. He soon passed away at November 29, 1997 in Detroit at the age of 79 years old.  So, Coleman Young’s legacy is mixed. He has great things as standing up against racism, promoting infrastructure, and working in the civil rights movement. He has made mistakes as supporting many neoliberal economic policies (when he allied with the corporate world in cutting city services in many cases, reduced spending, and promoting the private economy. On many cases, Coleman was a fiscal conservative), and many of his other policies. Also, it is fair to point out that he was mayor during Reagaonomics and Reagan (via his crippling cuts in social programs during his Presidency) should also be blamed for much of the economic downturn in Detroit too. Young was the only Detroit mayor since 1950 to preside over a city with more income than debt, although he relied heavily on tax increases to pay for services. It is really inaccurate to blame one city for the bankruptcy of Detroit. So, Coleman Young was a man. He was a man who wasn’t perfect, but the problems in Detroit existed long before he was mayor. Ultimately, the urban decline, lax tax revenue, deindustrialization, evil, racist redlining policies, and other reckless economic policies contributed to the economic problems in Detroit.

By Timothy

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

No More Poisoned Babies: People Power vs. Corporate Emergency Managers

http://www.blackagendareport.com/people_power_vs_corporate_managers

Black History Month: Debunking the 10 biggest myths about black history

http://thegrio.com/2012/02/01/black-history-month-debunking-the-10-biggest-myths-about-black-history/

Obama's Plan to Close Guantanamo Too Little, Too Late

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15729

The Presidential season in 2016

The Presidential race is continuing. Donald Trump has won the South Carolina primary and the Nevada Caucus. Hillary Clinton has recently won the Nevada Caucus too. So, we see that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could be the nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties respectively. Trump's 2 major political opponents include Rubio and Cruz. Ben Carson and John Kasich are still running for President. Ted Cruz has used false ads and many of the other GOP candidates are calling him a liar. Donald Trump has detested Ted Cruz's actions and he called him a liar. Ted Cruz is fighting to win the state of Texas.  Hillary Clinton has gained momentum in South Carolina and Bernie Sanders is speaking all over America too. Bernie Sanders is obviously not a one issue candidate, but Hillary has placed that label on him. The Democratic Party establishment is in support of Hillary Clinton. Super Tuesday comes on March 1. After March 1, many delegates will come to candidates and the beginning of the end of the Presidential campaigns of both parties starts. Bernie has said that he will campaign all the way to the convention. Donald Trump won't quit either. The Republican establishment is angry at Trump since Trump is not a true conservative in their eyes. Trump is an extremist who has shown sexist, racist, Islamophobic, and other disrespectful statements. Yet, his popularity is high, because a certain segment of Americans are fascists, are sexists, and are bigots plain and simple. The right wing backlash is real and we will defeat reactionary propaganda in the end. We shall overcome.

One crucial part of creating solutions deals with social activism. Social activism throughout the ages has promoted workers' rights, caused the Voting Rights Act to be created, and caused more of an awareness on issues of criminal justice including police brutality. Today, we witness the man-made disaster in Flint, Michigan. This disaster is a product of austerity, deregulation, and the corrupt capitalist exploitation found in society. Children will be harmed for life for the actions of some people, so accountability must be made. It can cost over 1 billion dollars to replace and pipes and rebuild the plumbing system in Flint too. Flint Michigan has been a victim of deindustralization for decades and now its citizens have been poisoned of their water supply. Not only is Rick Snyder responsible for this situation (and he must resign. People must be prosecuted for this tragedy) as he is the Governor of the state. People from both major parties and multiple levels of government are responsible for the water switch, the cover up, and the other egregious measures that harmed the people of Flint too. For example, none other than Democratic Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon gave the official go ahead to the switch. The series of emergency managers that presided over the city during the crisis were all Democrats, as were the mayor and members of the Flint City Council. So, we know that the GOP is filled with sexists, xenophobes, racists, Islamphobes, and people with low character. I will never be a Republican. Yet, some Wall Street noeliberal Democrats also have done dirt too. The free event, which has been supported by the Blackout for Human Rights movement, is inspiring. I have great love for Janelle Monae and I have great admiration for Sister Ava Duvernay. Sister Ava inspired me to research the events of Selma in a higher level. I respect the courageous Brothers and Sisters who are helping the people of Flint too. The privatized, corporate entities promoting austerity in the region are wrong. The emergency manager system (which is blatantly anti-democratic) must end in Michigan. Folks involved in the poisoning of the water and the cover up must be prosecuted as tons of people have been sick including children. We are black people and we want justice. Therefore, I greatly appreciate those involved in this important event (I have great respect for Blackout for Human Rights), so human beings in Flint can be helped.
#Justice for Flint


It is right to say that no means no. The lie spewed by sexists today is that a woman with less revealing clothing or a woman with no clothing ought to be disrespected, called out of her name, and be maligned of her character. The truth is that whether a black woman (or any woman in general) wears clothing in a conservative fashion or wears clothing in a less revealing fashion, her dignity must be respected. There are plenty of black women wearing less than revealing clothing who want to celebrate their lives. That doesn't mean that they are sexually promiscuous or they lack personal integrity. A woman's humanity is always valuable and respecting women is about respecting her own choices not dictating to her how she should act in violation of her own human autonomy. We desire freedom not an authoritarian society where people violate women's personal spaces because of her clothing attire. I don't agree with Amber Rose on every issue, but she is 100 percent right in saying that No mean No period. She is right in telling both men in the video that a woman has the right to change her mind and not have sex if she doesn't want to engage in sexual intercourse. It is very important to respect each other as human beings. Relationships grow by being honest and confronting injustices wherever they exist.

First, the cops, who are using boycotts against Beyonce, are acting silly. The Flint water poisoning in Michigan, the health care system, and other issues are more important than Beyonce's performance. These same cops are more concerned with promoting their Blue Shield than respecting blackness. There is a serious problem where structural racism, police terrorism, the War on Drugs, and poverty have harmed the lives of many black people. Readily, numerous cops have killed black people with impunity. They have also killed Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in cold blood in 1969. Anyone can witness that Beyonce's performance is not even anti-all police. Louis Farrakhan is experiencing irony. On a previous occasion, he has criticized both Jay Z and Beyonce on the issue of clothing attire. Now, he has praised Beyonce because of her video. I don't know if Beyonce would accept the Fruit of Islam (who know martial arts and other self defense training). We shall see. Regardless, I won't support the far right crowd's slander of Beyonce. At the end of the day, our enemy ultimately is the system of racism/white supremacy. I believe in condemning white racism, I reject respectability politics, and I furthermore endorse an end to police terror in our communities. The lie shown by many conservatives and others is that black people don't condemn intrarracial violence (or what the far right crowd calls "black on black crime"). The truth is that black people for years and decades have used programs, protests, vigils, interventions, and other actions in fighting gun violence and intrarracial violence in the black community. Anybody who denies the efforts of many black people fighting intraracial violence in the black community is a liar. The Black Panthers used free breakfast programs, ambulance services, and other community programs. They opposed the evil Vietnam War and help so many of our people.

It is the lie that many whites (and some black people even) promote that no black person is standing up against intraracial violence. Black people for years and decades have opposed intraracial violence. It is very important to defend black human lives and to end violence in our communities and end police terrorism too. It is revolting for many people to exploit the deaths of black people as an excuse for them to promote the lie that black people aren't protesting against intraracial violence. For years and decades, black people have used protests, vigils, mentorships, and other programs to fight violence in our communities. Many of the same ones who promote this lie (of black people not being active in combating black on black crime) are active misogynists, make stereotypes about black women, and could care less about black people. They care about promoting a reactionary ideology that advances theocracy, patriarchy, and misogynoir instead of black liberation. So, we congratulate these courageous Brothers and Sisters in Compton, CA in standing up for what is right. We want safe communities, so our families and our black people in general can prosper.
RIP Sister Autumn Johnson

By Timothy


Haiti's fight for democracy continues

http://socialistworker.org/2016/02/04/haitis-fight-for-democracy-continues

Is Apple a privacy champion?

http://socialistworker.org/2016/02/24/is-apple-a-privacy-champion

Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 22, 2016

http://www.blackagendareport.com/black_agenda_radio_20160222

Monday, February 22, 2016

106-YEAR-OLD WOMAN HAS PRICELESS REACTION TO MEETING THE OBAMAS

Lessons for the new Black freedom struggle

http://socialistworker.org/2016/02/17/lessons-for-the-new-black-freedom-struggle

Trump, Clinton win US presidential nomination contests

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/22/prim-f22.html

An overdue dose of justice in New York City

http://socialistworker.org/2016/02/22/an-overdue-dose-of-justice-in-nyc

A message to Wisconsin's immigrant-bashers

http://socialistworker.org/2016/02/22/message-to-wisconsins-immigrant-bashers

http://socialistworker.org/2016/02/22/why-we-didnt-go-to-the-white-house

Historical Information





World War One in Paris was filled with many events, conflicts, and death. WWI existed for many reasons from European competition for resources, the development of conflict among various nation-states, and the expansion of the German Empire globally. Paris was in the World War One from 1914 to 1918. There was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz-Ferdinand by Serbian terrorists in Sarajevo, which caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary, because Russia had a treaty with Serbia. Germany declared war against Russia since Russia had a treaty with Austria-Hungary. France and Germany were known for tensions during this time. In 1911, a German gunboat, the Leopard, had made a provocative demonstration outside the port of Agadir in French-dominated Morocco. The right-wing parties in France wanted revenge for the defeat of France in the Franco-German War of 1870-1871 (when Germany defeated France over lands or territories), which had resulted in the loss of the French province of Alsace and much of Lorraine. Many on the left also favored war, to bring down the reactionary monarchies of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Parisians were highly patriotic. People in Paris experienced food shortages, rationing, and the epidemic of influenza. Yet, morale remained high until near end of the war. Men and women participated in the war effort. The city also saw a large influx of immigrants who came to work in the defense factories. The end of the war on November 11, 1918 saw huge celebrations on the boulevards of Paris.  France and Britain, bound by treaties with Russia, mobilized on August 1. Paris mobilized and many socialists and pacifists opposed the war. Jean Jaures (a socialist politician and a well-known opponent of the war) was assassinated at the Café Croissant on Montmartre, not far from the offices of the socialist newspaper L'Humanité, by a mentally-unstable man, Raoul Villain, who considered Jaurès an "enemy of France. Many socialists and pacifists continued to oppose the war under threat of arrest. The arrests were never carried out. Many thought that Paris will have an easy victory against Germany. There were parades and celebrations. Some refugees from Paris came into Paris.  On July 26, the same day that the refugees from Belgium began arriving in the city, General Joseph Gallieni was called from retirement and appointed military governor of Paris, a title which dated back to the fourteenth century. The city of Paris was fortified with weapons and defense systems. The French and the British fought the Germans in the First Battle of the Marne. Adjustments came into Paris in order for them to fight the war. The Parisians gradually adjusted to the life of a city at war. Avenue de l'Allemagne was renamed Avenue Jean-Jaurés, and the rue de Berlin became rue de Liège. The Grand Palais was converted to a military hospital. Concerts existed in Paris to fund efforts to fight the war and cared for wounded soldiers. Colonized people fought in the war too. By the spring of 1917, Paris workers wanted to have more compensation for their efforts. The cost of living in Paris rose twenty percent in 1915, by 35 percent in 1916, and by 120 percent between 1917 and the end of the war in November 1918, while the salaries of factory workers increased only 75 percent during the same period, while the salaries of government employees rose by only 50 percent.  So, strikes existed in Paris since workers wanted higher wages, better conditions, women workers’ rights, and an end to the importation of foreign workers.  Workers in general suffered danger from poisoning, injuries, and death. The first strike led by 2,000 women clothing workers called midinettes started in May 15, 1917. Art and culture continue to grow in Paris with artists and writers like. Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso and André Salmon. Paris was readily attacked by the Germans. Mutinies existed on both sides. Yet, when America came into World War One, things changed. The Allies forces began to win and defeat Germany plus the rest of the Central Powers. The German offensive failed and the Allied armies’ Hundred Days Offensive with 400 tanks (most of them produced in Paris) and 120,000 men pushed back the Germans. Equally enthusiastic crowds filled the Champs Élysées on 17 November to celebrate the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France. Huge crowds also welcomed President Woodrow Wilson to the Hôtel de Ville on 16 December 1918, when he arrived to take part in the peace negotiations at Versailles. World War One ended with a lot of bloodshed and the world would never be the same again.




After the end of the First World War in November 1918, there was jubilation and celebration. The population of Paris within its city limits had been 2,888,107 in 1911, before the War. It grew to 2,906.472 in 1921, its historic high. An enormous military parade was held on July 14, 1919 from Porte Maillot to Place de la Republique to celebrate the victory in the Great War. People felt relief in Paris, but soon unemployment surged, prices, soared, and rationing continued. Parisian households were limited to 300 grams of bread per day and meat only four days a week. A general strike paralyzed the city in July 1919. The old fortifications surrounding the city were useless and were torn down in the 1920’s. They were replaced by tens of thousands of low cost seven story public housing units that were filled by low income, blue collar workers. Paris struggled to regain its old prosperity and gaiety. On August 19, 1920, the French National Assembly voted to give a credit to give a credit of 500,000 francs for the construction of the first Mosque in Paris. The mosque was created to honor the sacrifice of tens of thousands of Muslim soldiers from the French colonies in Africa who had been killed in the War. The French economy boomed from 1921 until the Great Depression reached Paris in 1931. This period, called Les années folles or the "Crazy Years", saw Paris reestablished as a capital of art, music, literature and cinema. The artistic ferment and low prices attracted writers and artists from around the world, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali,Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, and Josephine Baker. Josephine Baker was a great dancer in Paris. She was also a social activist. One of the most popular entertainers in Paris during the period was the American singer, Josephine Baker. Baker sailed to Paris, France, She first arrived in Paris in 1925 to perform in a show called "La Revue Nègre" at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. During the 1920’s, fashion grew in Paris. The 1925 Exposition of Decorative arts featured the work of seventy-two Paris fashion designers; the leading figures included Paul Poiret, Jeanne Lanvin, etc. New forms of architecture developed in Paris too. Between 1919 and 1939, Paris hosted the 1924 Olympic Games, major international expositions in 1925 and 1937, and the Colonial Exposition of 1931, all of which left a mark on Paris architecture and culture. Socialists gained political power in Paris. Two-thirds of the seats of the National Assembly from Paris were won by the Bloc National, which included conservative republicans, radicals and socialists who refused any alliance with the Communists. The worldwide Great Depression hit home in 1931 in 1931 bringing hardships and a more somber mood. The population declined slightly from its all-time peak of 2.9 million in 1921 to 2.8 million in 1936. The arrondissements in the center lost as much as twenty percent of their population, while the outer neighborhoods, gained ten percent. The low birth rate of Parisians was compensated by a new wave of immigration from Russia, Poland, Germany, eastern and central Europe, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Political tensions mounted in Paris with strikes, demonstrations and confrontations between the Communists and Front populaire on the extreme left and the Action Française on the extreme right. By the end of the 1930’s in 1939, France prepared for war. On March 10, 1939, the civil population received gas masks. Signs existed that showed bomb shelter locations in case of future air raids. On July 14, 1939, the 150th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, British soldiers marched along with the French units in the national parade on the Champs-Élysées. On August 25, the government seized copies of the communist newspapers L'Humanitéand Le Soir for praising the Hitler-Stalin pact. On August 31, the government began to evacuate children from the city. September 1, 1939 was the time when news that Germany invaded Poland. So, France began a general mobilization and a state of siege was declared. France declared war on Nazi Germany on September 3, 1939.



There is a pyramid monument at the location of an important Bavarian Illuminati Congress. The Bavarian Illuminati was created in May 1, 1776 by Adam Weishaupt. He was a rationalist and was educated in a Jesuit University. Weishaupt wanted an Utopian society where monarchs, mainstream religion, etc. was abolished, so humanity can live in turned with Nature and form a state filled with their order. The Bavarian Illuminati worked in secret, infiltrated governments in Europe, and many members were Freemasons like Adam Weishaupt himself. The Bavarian government suppressed them later on before 1800. Back during the summer of 1782, the Landgrave of Hesse William IX invited Europe’s leading Freemasons in a conference. This conference was the famous Masonic Congress in the summer of 1782 (from July 16 to August 29, 1782). The masons in the conference deliberated on the fate of the rite of Strict Observance. Adam Weishaupt’s Bavarian Illuminati wanted to recruit key Masonic people like Landgrave himself. William built the pyramid on an artificial island two years later in 1784 to commemorate the death of his 11 year old son Friedrich. Friedrich died prematurely. Franz Ludwig von Canerin designed the pyramid. William IX wasn’t a Freemason, but his brother Prince Karl, Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel (1744-1836), was. Karl was the chief organizer of the conference, and second in command to Grand Master (Magnus Superior Ordinis; ‘Eques a Victoria’) Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel (1721-92) – Illuminatus, February 1783. The Landgrave later became Prince-Elector of Hesse. The Prince-Elector of Hesse later worked with the House of Rothschild.



The automobile industry developed greatly in Detroit. The work of Henry Ford is key to understanding Detroit history. Henry Ford was invoked in the establishment of the automobile Highland Park Ford Plant in 1910. His actions revolutionized automobile manufacturing. It grew the concept of the assembly line and mass production. This relates to workers building specialized parts, cars, other vehicles, etc. can be formed more efficiently and quicker. His manufacturing innovations were used by rival automobile manufactures. Most of these manufactures and their parts supplies back then were headquartered in the Detroit metropolitan area. Detroit has always been known as the world’s car capital. Today, the 1904 Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is a National Historical Landmark. The Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District and the New Amsterdam Historic is filled with references to early car history. Automobile assembly and associated manufacturing soon dominated Detroit, and the newly minted automotive magnates built commercial and office buildings such as General Motors Building (1919), the General (1928), and the Fisher Building (1928). Many of the best workers in the city worked in Ford plants. He dealt with wage policy. He began with a $5 a day minimum wage in 1910, about double the going rate at rival firms. It succeeded in stopping the massive turnover rate, raised productivity; lowered overall labor costs and helped to propel the Model T to industry dominance. During the 1920’s, Ford had a problem. By that time, his formula of cheap cars with little option fell behind General Motors. GM promoted upscale quality and variety. GM also provided financing for car buyers. The growth of the automobile industry caused labor to make more demands. More immigrants from Europe worked in such fashions. Also, the population grew massively during this time period. Between 1900 and 1930, Detroit's population soared from 265,000 to over 1.5 million, pushing the boundaries of the city outward. The population boom led to the construction of apartment buildings across the city, aimed at the middle-class auto workers. These include the Somerset (1922), the Garden Court Apartments (1915), and the Manchester Apartments (1915). With more population growth, transportation services changed. The Chestnut Street-Grand Trunk Railroad Bridge was created in 1929. It had a grade separation and unsnarled train and automobile traffic.  The Fort Street-Pleasant Street and Norfolk & Western Railroad Viaduct (1928) was a product of the same program, routing trucking traffic over the train traffic. And the West Jefferson Avenue-Rouge River Bridge (1922) allowed the Rouge River to be expanded for barge traffic. Henry Ford had controversies that dealt with accusations of anti-Semitism, patronize, and he had battles with labor unions constantly.

The 21st century in Detroit began with many expansions of new buildings and the continued class struggle. Economic inequality and poverty were still a problem in Detroit and throughout the Earth.  New downtown stadiums were constructed for the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Lions in 2000 and 2002 respectively.  In 2007, Detroit completed the first major portions of the River Walk, including miles of parks and fountains. The Renaissance Center received a major renovation in 2004. New developments and revitalizations are mainstays in the city's plan to enhance its economy through tourism. Along the river, upscale condominiums rose up, such as Watermark Detroit. Some city limit signs, particularly on the Dearborn border say "Welcome to Detroit, The Renaissance City Founded 1701." In 2004, Compuware made Detroit in downtown its world headquarters like Quicken Loans in 2010. The city has hosted major sporting events - the 2005 MLB All-Star Game, 2006 Super Bowl XL,2006 World Series, WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and the NCAA Final Four in April 2009 - all of which represented the growth of worldly culture. In 2008, the city witnessed grand restorations of the historic Book Cadillac Hotel and the Fort Shelby Hotel. The city’s International Riverfront was developed more.  Significant landmarks such as the Fox Theatre, Orchestra Hall Detroit Opera House, and the Gem Theater have been restored and host concerts, musicals, and plays. The Detroit Institute of Arts completed a major renovation and expansion in 2007. Many downtown centers such as Greektown, Cobo Center and Campus Martius Park, draw patrons and host activities. During this time period, Kwame Kilpatrick was the mayor of Detroit. He was the second black man to be mayor. Both of his parents were politicians. He was in the Michigan House of Representatives before he was mayor. He was elected mayor of Detroit in 2001 and he was inaugurated in 2002. Since his start, Kwame Kilpatrick was filled with controversy. He was one of the many Democrats who followed austerity policies. During his first term he closed the century-old Belle Isle Zoo and Belle Isle Aquarium. The City Council overrode his funding veto for the zoo and gave it a budget of $700,000. He enacted a no bid contract to a close personal aide. He received reelection in 2005. By 2008, things changed. In his 2008 state of the city address, Kwame Kilpatrick said that Detroit had positive changes like increased police surveillance, new policing technologies, and initiatives to rebuild blighted neighborhoods in the city. He received repeated standing ovations from the invitation-only audience. It is true that Kilpatrick was a victim of racist attacks, even against his own family. It is also true that Kilpatrick made mistakes in his mayorship. Scandal hit Kwame Kilpatrick involving corruption, an affair with Christine Beatty, and obstruction of justice. In January, the Detroit Free Press began publishing extensive excerpts of text messages by Kilpatrick and Beatty, sent out over their city-owned cell phones, which confirmed both their affair and the retaliatory firing of the policemen (Gary Brown, Harold Nelthorpe and Walter Harris). On March 24, 2008, Kilpatrick was charged with eight felony counts, including perjury, misconduct in office, and obstruction of justice. On May 13, 2008, the Detroit City Council approved a resolution to request that Michigan's governor, Jennifer Granholm, remove Kilpatrick from office. On August 8, 2008, Michigan's Attorney General, Mike Cox, announced two new felony counts had been filed against Kilpatrick for assaulting and interfering with a law officer. On September 4, 2008, Kilpatrick announced his resignation as mayor, effective September 18, following a guilty plea to two felonies for obstruction of justice arising from a complex settlement scheme in a civil case where he lied about an extra-marital affair under oath, then caused the case to be settled at a premium in exchange for an agreement by the parties not to disclose his affair. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison on October 10, 2013.  Kwame Kilpatrick, Federal Bureau of Prisons Register #44678-039, is serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno in El Reno, Oklahoma. There is no parole in the federal prison system. However, with time off for good behavior, his earliest possible release date will be August 1, 2037—when he will be 67 years old.  There are no serious political differences between Kilpatrick and the business and financial elite of the Detroit area. He has carried out the mandate of the auto bosses and millionaires to hold the line on wages and benefits of city workers, cut services to the city’s impoverished residents, and create a “business-friendly” environment in the city, including tax-free enterprise zones and the promotion of casino gambling that preys on the most vulnerable sections of the working class. The disaffection with Kilpatrick on the part of the corporate establishment arises because his personal corruption has become an obstacle to the implementation of their agenda. Even before the current scandal, Kilpatrick had become notorious for plundering city resources for his family’s benefit while demanding incessant sacrifices from city employees. In 2005, Kilpatrick barely survived a challenge to his reelection mounted by Freeman Hendrix, a former city deputy mayor. Kilpatrick finished second to Hendrix in the first round of the non-partisan election, but won a runoff by a narrow margin. In other words, Kilpatrick (and we know that the real power structure has done more evil than Kilpatrick) was used by the same corporate elites that he worked for. His actions (which were wrong) should inspire us more to also expose the evils of the one percent in general and continue to defeat the enemy of the system of racism/white supremacy. Following a special election on May of 2009, businessman and former Detroit Pistons star Dave Bing became the Mayor and was subsequently re-elected to a full term of office. The decades long deindustrialization, austerity, population decline, urban decline, and other problems led into the bankruptcy crisis of Detroit. The crisis has reached national news by 2013. On March 1, 2013, Governor Rick Snyder announced that the state would be assuming financial control of the city.


By Timothy

Friday, February 19, 2016

Liberation and Rights





The haters of freedom fighters of black liberation have no respect from me at all. These white racist trolls just lie and distort real history in trying to promote their agendas of American exceptionalism, compromise, post-racial propaganda, and hostility towards unapologetic blackness. The Black Panther Party of Oakland was created in 1966. The Panthers created their organization in helping the community, opposing police brutality, helping black people, and they allied with Third World World international movements for liberation. They supported the Vietnamese people, the Cuban people, and other human beings who were fighting imperialism plus colonialism in the world. They studied the works of Fanon, Malcolm X, and other revolutionary scholars. They were anti-capitalism and followed the tenets of socialism. Fred Hampton loved socialism and there can be no true understanding about the Black Panther Party without understanding socialism. The Black Panthers created free health care clinics, ambulance services, blood drives, actions to help the elderly, liberation schools, and other progressive actions in helping the black community directly. Bobby Seale, Fred Hampton, and others explicitly condemned racism in any form and in any manifestation. So, it is a slanderous lie for those trolls to equate the KKK (the Klan used rape, murder, lynchings, burning crosses, the deprivation of the voting rights of black people, anti-black slander, and other evils since their founding from the late 19th century) to the Black Panthers. We know that many Black Panthers are still in prison and that the FBI used warrantless searches, disinformation, murder, and other evil actions against the Black Panthers for years (via many programs from COINTELPRO, etc.). The FBI and the CIA have engaged in terrorist actions (from supporting assassinations to promoting the evil MK Ultra program. The Phoenix Program of the CIA used terrorism in Vietnam) against human beings for decades. We are further inspired to call for black liberation. Black liberation entails the growth of black enterprises (that treat workers fair with living wages and benefits. We reject maintaining permanently an anemic minimum wage in America forever), the growth of Black Power, the growth of our families, the end to imperialism, the unconditional love of our Blackness, the establishment of universal health care, the collaboration of black people internationally (irrespective of nationality in a Pan-African fashion), the end to misogynoir, the end to the system of racism/white supremacy, and the promotion of the growth of our communities in a progressive fashion. Black Liberation means many things and it ultimately is about the freedom of black people to achieve our own destinies via self-determination. Geronimo Platt (or Geronimo ji-Jaga), who recently passed, was recently left out of prison, but many Panthers remain in prison to this very day. So, the history of the Black Panther Party always reminds us of how the struggle continues. We are in the right side of history and in the end, we will overcome. All Power to the People.
Black is Beautiful.


The March visit to Cuba by President Barack Obama will be historic in many ways. The evil dictatorship of the reactionary Batista was overthrown by the beginning of the 1960's. Fidel Castro was praised by Malcolm X while the CIA tried to kill Castro multiple times. The Cuban Revolution documented how oppressed peoples can resist colonialism and oppression through many means. Cuba has supported the Angolan fight for independence and we thank Cuba for that. Cuba has a very low rate of childhood mortality rate and it has a high level of literacy including great health care services (some of the greatest on Earth) despite the embargo. The nation has over 30,000 doctors deployed in 100 nations and has been first to respond to crises such as Hurricane Katrina and Pakistan's 2005 earthquake with an extension of aid. Today, we see an easing of tensions. I do believe in the ending of the embargo and more cordial relations. Yet, Cuba has the right to be independent. I don't believe that Western corporations should economically dominate every facet of the Cuban economy or resources. I think that any discussion in Cuba should allow Assata Shakur to live in Cuba. Sister Assata Shakur deserves to live her life. We all love and appreciate Assata Shakur like a relative. Also, I do believe that Guantanamo Bay should be closed. Humanitarian and civil rights groups have rightfully called for its closing. We want human liberty to be advanced in the world not torture or the suspension of international human rights. Also, America can't lecture Cuba on human rights when America hasn't been so clean on human rights either (from the mass incarceration state, torture, the Patriot Act, etc.). The collective welfare of humanity must always be advanced.


Javier Ortiz is a disgrace. He disrespected Tamir Rice and his mother. He is the the head of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police. His despicable views aren't solely embraced by him. His lies are embraced by many cops nationwide. Many cops acted brutally in harming the labor rights movement when workers just wanted economic justice. Many cops acted brutal in beating innocent, peaceful protesters in Selma during Bloody Sunday. Many cops executed Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in 1969 without just cause. Even in our generation, innocent unarmed black men, women, and children have been murdered by the police. Beyonce's video and performance has nothing to do with condemning all police, promoting divisiveness, and promoting evil hatred. Beyonce wanted to express her feelings on Blackness, Southern culture, police brutality, and other issues that we are talking about. This right wing assault on the Black Panthers and Beyonce will inspire us further to carry on the tradition of our ancestors. Our ancestors fought back against white racists and we will fight back against police terrorism (from the criminal actions of some Texas Rangers over 100 years ago when they brutalized Black and Brown people to the police occupations of our communities today in 2016). The police institution is filled with corruption and nepotism. Soon, it will be the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party's existence. We will never back down and we will fight for the prize.  Toni Morrison is a writer of great dignity and incredible imagination. She has inspired black writers and writers of every background for years and decades. Her works have shown creativity, an excellent analysis of life, and a focus on the human experience eloquently. She is a blessed woman and she is a heroic black woman too.
Happy Birthday to Sister Toni Morrison




Sister Geneva Reed-Vea has every right to vote for who she wants. She is a citizen. She is a courageous black woman who has been through horrendous pain. Sandra Bland is her child. Sandra Bland is her daughter and we all express condolences to her and to the rest of Sister Geneva's family. With that being mentioned, Hillary Clinton is very clear that she wants reform not revolutionary change in claiming that revolutionary change is impossible or unfeasible. Decades ago, the naysayers said that the Civil Rights Act was impossible to pass. They were wrong. So, we have to have hope and stick up for our convictions without shame. Many of Hillary Clinton's speeches are funded by Wall Street corporate interests. I don't support Hillary Clinton's agenda. On foreign policy matters, Hillary Clinton is an outright hawk. She is not ambiguous on her advocacy of the NATO war crimes in Libya, and she advocates a no fly zone in Syria (which will cause more instability when there is a chance of a cease fire agreement now). We should always follow our conscience. Leomie Anderson was treated in a disrespectful fashion and she has the right to express her disgust at the status quo. This is why many people are speaking out. Many white make up artists have shown unprofessionalism and straight up offensive actions towards black models. This is why many black make up artists are going independent with their actions. The white make up artist (who ought to came prepared) should feel shame since a simple Google search can find many products that have make up for darker skin tones.

It is a total injustice and a disgrace that the residents of Flint, Michigan has to pay such an exorbitant amount of money for poisoned water. The residents of Flint are not only the victims of a poisoned water supply. The folks involved in the tragedy have used a cover up (in dismissing the courageous actions of whistle blowers like professor Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech, who was one of the first to expose lead in the water of Flint, and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who is a great woman helping society) in order to cover up their tracks. This blatant injustice once against proves that unregulated capitalism is not only evil, but it has ruined the lives of so many people (including black and poor people. Most of the residents of Flint, Michigan are black people). Austerity doesn't work either. People who are involved in this evil are among many levels of government not just the state government. The anti-democratic emergency manager system has overtly violated the human rights of the people of Flint and people from areas all across Michigan. Infrastructure must be rebuilt and pipes must be replaced. Billions of dollars are spent for warfare overseas, yet some people refuse to spend even millions of dollars to help the citizens of Flint. Flint has been a victim of deindustralization, rate hikes, and high foreclosures. The water crisis started in part, because some people wanted to cut corners and fund the bailout of bankers in Michigan at the expense of the water safety of people. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD), used revenue from water bills to pay budget shortfalls. Studies have documented that water privatization in many places of America has harmed quality, efficiency, and other processes of delivering water to human beings. High lead levels exist in cities throughout America as well. E-mails show Michigan state officials knew of Legionnaires’ outbreak in Flint in early 2015. The decision to stay on Flint River water was made by Emergency Manager Jerry Ambrose. In March of 2015, after nearly a year of public complaints about the water quality Ambrose overruled a Flint City Council vote to return to Detroit water system. Ambrose flatly refused the Council’s request. Governor Synder, Darnell Earley, and others must be held accountable for their actions. We abhor class oppression. The more facts that come out about this crisis, the more outrage people legitimately are expressing. The Emergency Manager Law must be repealed outright. Anyone involved in the poisoning and the cover up must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law (and sent into prison after due process). We want justice and we desire just treatment given to the human beings of Flint, Michigan.


By Timothy

Black Struggle Is Not a Sound Bite: Why I Refused to Meet With President Obama

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34889-black-struggle-is-not-a-sound-bite-why-i-refused-to-meet-with-president-obama

5-Year-Old Kid Saves Grandmother From House Fire

http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2016/02/5-year-old-kid-saves-grandmother-house-fire/

Thursday, February 18, 2016

The Timeline of the Flint Water Crisis


http://bridgemi.com/2016/02/flint-water-disaster-timeline/


http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/01/flint-lead-water-crisis-timeline

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/exclusive-gov-rick-snyder-s-men-originally-rejected-using-flint-s-toxic-river.html



http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-went-wrong-in-flint-water-crisis-michigan/

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/national/timeline-key-events-in-the-flint-water-crisis/html_bd959d4d-15b5-51d4-8afc-b1c09151dea1.html


http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20160124/NEWS/301249983/flint-water-crisis-timeline

http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/02/where_blame_leads_so_far_in_fl.html

https://www.rt.com/usa/332817-flint-water-pipe-replacement-pfcs/

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/21/us/flint-lead-water-timeline.html?_r=0

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/20/health/flint-water-crisis-timeline/

http://michiganradio.org/post/timeline-heres-how-flint-water-crisis-unfolded

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/feb/15/whos-blame-flint-water-crisis/

http://www.freep.com/pages/interactives/flint-water-crisis-timeline/

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/flint-water-crisis-timeline

http://acsh.org/news/2016/01/22/the-flint-water-crisis-timeline-plenty-of-blame-to-go-around/

“Vanguard of the Revolution” is Liberal History, Strips and Omits Socialism from History of the Black Panther Party

http://www.blackagendareport.com/node/4958

The Clinton-Sanders Debate: What Was Left Unsaid?

http://www.blackagendareport.com/clinton_sanders_debate_unsaid

http://www.blackagendareport.com/bernie_sanders_not_transformative

http://www.blackagendareport.com/black_politics_bernie_sanders

Flint and the Black Freedom Struggle.



http://www.blackagendareport.com/colonialism_michigan%27s_little_africa

http://www.blackagendareport.com/history_flint_river_enviro_racism

http://www.blackagendareport.com/repeal_emergency_manager_law

http://www.blackagendareport.com/movement_internal_struggle

World Bank Punches South Africa’s Poor and Coddles the Rich

http://www.blackagendareport.com/world_bank_south_africa_poverty

FBI wins court order forcing Apple to install backdoor in iPhone security systems

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/18/appl-f18.html

Chicago officer sues estate of teenager he fatally shot

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/18/poli-f18.html

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Cultural Information



There ought to be many points made about this issue. It is obvious that Kanye West is not a happy person. A person who has shown many outbursts, who has begged desperately for help, and an individual who has acted in bizarre ways outline the truth that he has issues. For generations, the elders have shown the blueprint in so many ways. They or our great elders have told the truth that true Black Power isn't about individual, selfish pursuits of making tons of money without the concern of the betterment of black people. True Black Power is about using means to help the black poor, to build up black institutions, and to be involved in activist movements that can help the black community collectively. We are a community and there is no solution without the input, the development, and the growth of the black community. People as ideologically diverse as Malcolm X, Dr. King, the Black Panthers, the UNIA, etc. all believed that black people should express self-determination in order for us to have liberation. Also, we should be empowered and we should use our power fairly. We should never be in favor of cut throat capitalist and form a black bourgeoisie that economically exploits our people. Black success is never about excessive materialism and greed. Black success is about compassion for our people irrespective of class and the growth of black solidarity. We want political and economic empowerment that is fair, egalitarian, and progressive. We want to live in a time where there is no police brutality and no sexism. We want to live in a future world where justice is made real. Therefore, we have work to do. We should always be about our goal of complete black liberation.

There are a lot of points to be made wholesomely (about a teacher ripping a little black girl's homework from the first grade because she had the wrong answer on a question). The students were quietly sitting on a carpet. Many elementary school students sit on the carpet during various exercises from reading to mathematics. I saw a SMART board device with a timer on it, which is a futuristic way of educating young people. SMART boards are connected to computers too. The teacher in the video was wrong for many reasons. The student, who gave the incorrect answer, was not belligerent or disrespectful at all. The student's paper should have never been torn in the first place. Likewise, the student, who made a math error, should have never gone into the corner. We have to encourage the young not ridicule them in such a cold, arrogant fashion. The overreaction of the teacher is very clear and that teacher was very lucky. In other schools, that teacher would have gotten suspended for a longer period of time or fired. The principal lacked a concern for the well being of the child. In the final analysis, a school is established in order for children to be educated efficiently. So when they become adults, they can be productive members of society. We know how many black students have been unfairly suspended and punished because of a teacher's anti-black biases. The teacher expressed a lack of discipline for something so minor. I do wish the best for the child in New York City.

My view is that there is a time and place for everything. Of course, we shouldn't be naked or wear no clothing in every public gathering. In the privacy of one's home, clothing attire is more progressive. So, the extreme view of being totally covered from the head to the toe isn't feasible neither is the other extreme view of wearing next to no clothing in mass public locations (filled with men, women, and children) like in a church or in a school. Therefore, balance is a policy worth following. Also, it is important to judge people based on the content of their character not solely on someone's clothing attire. If someone wears clothing that is the only form of clothing that someone can afford, that human being shouldn't be ridiculed or reviled. There should be human autonomy as human beings should never be coerced in their attire via authoritarian means. I do respect how Devon defended his wife and her human dignity in public. Commonsense has to take precedent on this issue. Regardless of what clothing that a person wears, that human being should be treated equitably and justly.


All of the time, I learn something new about black history. Our leaders are diverse from Frederick Douglas to Steve Biko and Harriet Tubman. Yet, our heroes wanted the same goal which is freedom and justice. For thousands of years, black people have fought for real change and developed communities. We are in this journey still. Blood, sweat, and tear encompass our journey, but quitting is not in our DNA. It is quite providential that during this time, we remember the past and we must also realize succinctly that black history is part of the present too. Many heroic Brothers and Sisters presently are standing up against mass incarceration, the poisoned waters in Flint, and other outrageous injustices that plague the world. We are from a strong ancestry and we acknowledge the sacrifice of our ancestors, who gave their lives for a better future. Today, we not only respect the leaders of the past. We work to promote a better future. Black History is being made now as well. We act in defiance against the evils of class oppression and racial injustice. We desire the human family to live without bigotry. We want our black people to have adequate housing, great health care, accurate education, and economic justice. So, we will continue to promote the commitment to black cultural growth and the love of our black people. At times, it is better to end a relationship so both people can move forward with their lives than to allow a troubled relationship to continue. Jordin Sparks has made her decision. She is entitled to follow through with her decision. I always knew that Jordin Sparks is a very down to Earth human being. She is very nice and she has great kindness. I don't know what the future holds for both of them. If they decide to reunite in a relationship again, then that's their business. If they decide to split up, then that is their business too. Sage the Gemini has expressed hurt and he knows that he has to be a better man (many males won't admit to this in private even). So, I do wish the best for Sage the Gemini. Ultimately, Jordin Sparks has the right to define her life on her own terms. I also wish more blessings for Jordin Sparks, who is a great singer too.

Any President has the constitutional right to nominate a judicial nominee before the election ends. So, the President has the right to nominate someone earlier. The deal is that we have a political gridlock. It is silly for all of the current GOP candidates to oppose any candidate being nominated before the election regardless. This is important, because the VRA is gutted, we have Citizens United, we have the selection of George W. Bush, and other bad decisions that came out as a result of Supreme Court jurisprudence. It will be interesting to witness what would happen if Loretta Lynch were to be nominated as a Supreme Court Justice. We shall see what the future holds. I am surprised that a NYPD officer was found guilty of manslaughter of a Black man. Usually, cops won't get convicted involving these circumstances. I am happy that the coward Holtzclaw was convicted. Also, the events of Ferguson and the BLM movement started a new civil rights movement in America. A lot of young black people in many organizations are standing up for what is right. The Wall Street corruption should be exposed as these Wall Street criminals caused homes to be foreclosed and many people to lose their savings while many of them have record bailouts. I do find that many of these haters are far right individuals and they try to minimize white racism while scapegoating black people (especially the black poor. One group of people that these haters or trolls despise the most is the black poor in my opinion). That is why the truth is on our side. Dr. King was aggressive against white racism and we know that Malcolm X was aggressive against injustice. Black people should never be docile. We have every right to be aggressive in standing up for our convictions progressively.


By Timothy

Recent Declines in Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db162.htm

Monday, February 15, 2016

Alabama's Black Belt helped form Black Panther Party

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/02/01/lowndes-county-black-panther-party-alabama/78943998/

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/05/18/civil-war-rages-black-america


http://rhrealitycheck.org/ablc/2014/10/20/whats-going-voter-id-laws-gif-splanation/


http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15474

http://mlkcommission.dls.virginia.gov/lincoln/african_americans.html

Beyone's Formation Video (Many different views shown)


http://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Facts-About-Beyonce-Formation-Music-Video-40151530#photo-40151546

http://www.blackagendareport.com/beyonce_politics_social_dominance

http://www.orchestratedpulse.com/2016/02/beyonce-slays-black-people/

http://www.blackagendareport.com/beyonce_james_brown_black_movements

http://negrawithtumbao.com/2016/02/08/beyonce-has-finally-won-me-over-with-formation/

The legacy of Antonin Scalia

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/15/scal-f15.html

http://www.globalresearch.ca/why-the-iowa-caucus-turned-into-a-voter-fraud-circus-in-favor-of-hillary/5505931

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-syrian-endgame-how-a-war-is-lost-is-dangerous-us-nato-saudi-arabia-turkey-losers-on-the-rampage/5507682

http://www.amazon.com/review/RZEJDE1RZIQFN

http://www.globalresearch.ca/financial-oligarchy-vs-feudal-aristocracy-the-parasitic-nature-of-finance-capital/5507512

http://www.globalresearch.ca/selected-articles-lessons-from-history/5507798