Faith in Action

Well, according to the United States he was a terrorist, but now he is a highly respected international diplomat. Mandela was on the United State’s Terror Watch List which made sure he had to jump through extra hoops to gain entry into the U.S. I’m sure his name being on that list also authorized the CIA or FBI to take some “other” actions against him as well. [read: wiretapping and other surveillance activities. I'm sure we'll read about it in a book after Mandela has made his final earthly transition.]

While most world leaders applaud Baba Mandela today (some going so far as to suggest that he is nearly a saint), he wasn’t always so celebrated - of course most of us know about his being an anti-apartheid political prisoner for 27 years in Robben Island Prison, but I wonder if most people know that Mandela came to be a proponent of armed self-defense in South Africa. Consider this quote from his Opening Statement in his defense case before the Pretoria Supreme Court in April 1964 entitled, “I Am Prepared To Die.”

At the beginning of June 1961, after a long and anxious assessment of the South African situation, I, and some colleagues, came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the Government met our peaceful demands with force.

This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle, and to form Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). We did so not because we desired such a course, but solely because the Government had left us with no other choice. In the Manifesto of Umkhonto published on 16 December 1961, which is Exhibit AD, we said:

“The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices - submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom”.

They say that the conservatives of today were the radicals of yesterday. While I wouldn’t say that Mandela is a “conservative” it is interesting studying his development. I have serious doubts about whether or not he would support armed self-defense today. Or maybe he would. Who knows.

What I do know is that the revolutionary spirit is alive and well in the world, especially in Nigeria where members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), are engaged in guerilla warfare against Western oil companies (Shell, Chevron, and others) who are extracting the “liquid gold” from their land and leaving the indigenous people to live in extreme poverty. Being that the government of Nigeria is not advocating for the masses of poor in the nation and non-violent rallies and protests are not working, groups like MEND have begun a campaign of sabotage, kidnapping, and murder of Western oil workers in order to aggressively reconstitute the redistribution of resources in their nation.

Now who are the terrorists in Nigeria?

How does this apply to other conflicts in the world? (i.e. Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinians, the Israeli Government, FARC, the Columbian Government, etc.)

How does this apply to historical conflict and its traditional re-telling? (i.e. the Black Panthers, American Indian Movement, Pilgrims, Black Muslims, Puerto Rican Independence Movement, the Central Intelligence Agency, Bloods, Crips, Black Guerilla Family, Young Lords, the Weathermen, MOVE, etc.)

I am encouraged to see the revolutionary spirit alive and well in these young people from Cali who are Young Black Panthers dedicated to projecting the true image of The Panthers. They call themselves “The Riders” and they are all former Bloods and Crips who have evolved in their thinking to a higher, revolutionary consciousness. Their spokeswoman is extremely impressive. My favorite soundbyte from her was: “You can’t be a revolutionary if you don’t read!”

This will probably go down as one of the top news stories of 2008 that you’ve never heard about. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) presented articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush on June 9, 2008. (It’s amazing that as Kucinich is presenting the articles of Impeachment in this C-SPAN video, his colleagues are not just ignoring him, they’re carrying on in conversation as if he’s not even speaking!)

Mainstream media gave very little attention to it - if any at all - because as the Fourth Branch of the United States Government their job is to control what you think and what you are exposed to. The Democrats and the Republicans are not interested in initiating impeachment proceedings against Bush though for different reasons.

The Republicans, naturally, wouldn’t want a sitting Republican President to undergo the scrutiny that comes along with the process - doing damage to the party and its future prospects of political leadership.

The Democrats, strangely enough, don’t want to support impeachment of George Bush because with his historically low approval rating, participation in war crimes, inattention to domestic programs, and general malfeasance in office, he has become a political pinata that the Dems can hold up and rally the masses toward the polls with. They wish to use him as a springboard for their return to power and are less interested in being faithful to their constitutional duty. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has even said as far back as two years ago that impeachment was off the table.

Which reminded me of a conversation that Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance clergy had with a popular Maryland Congressman last summer. When one of the clergy mentioned the prospect of impeachment against Bush, the Congressman laughed in our faces. Therefore, they are culpable in this mess as well.

I caught up with Troy Johnson from 105.7FM (Baltimore) this past Saturday at the African American Men’s Health Conference and he let me know that Congressman Kucinich may be joining him on his radio show on Monday, June 23, 2008 10AM - 12NOON on 105.7FM to discuss his plans to impeach Bush. I will be tuning in and I hope you will as well.

According to the Baltimore City NAACP’s report card on the city delegation, Del. Jill P. Carter received a 95 out of 100 - the highest grade of all of her colleagues!

Without a doubt she is the principled freedom fighter that society usually celebrates only after they leave the scene.

However, I opt to give her her flowers while she can yet smell them so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Del. Carter and please continue to honor the legacy of your father and so many others who fought for positive social change for those on the margins of society.

An excerpt from a 1963 speech by Bro. Malcolm X entitled “God’s Judgement of White America.”

In this deceitful American game of power politics, the Negroes (i.e., the race problem, the integration and civil rights issues) are nothing but tools, used by one group of whites called Liberals against another group of whites called Conservatives, either to get into power or to remain in power.

Among whites here in America, the political teams are no longer divided into Democrats and Republicans. The whites who are now struggling for control of the American political throne are divided into “liberal” and “conservative” camps. The white liberals from both parties cross party lines to work together toward the same goal, and white conservatives from both parties do likewise.

The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative. The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative.

Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro’s friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political “football game” that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives.

Politically the American Negro is nothing but a football and the white liberals control this mentally dead ball through tricks of tokenism: false promises of integration and civil rights. In this profitable game of deceiving and exploiting the politics of the American Negro, those white liberals have the willing cooperation of the Negro civil rights leaders. These “leaders” sell out our people for just a few crumbs of token recognition and token gains. These “leaders” are satisfied with token victories and token progress because they themselves are nothing but token leaders….

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Click here for more information about Peer to Peer.

Interesting 3min 43 sec piece about America’s political dance by Glen Ford from the Black Agenda Report website.

The American Electoral Charade (3:43)

Obama and the New World Order
by Rev. C. Solomon

I have been discoursing with purported members of Senator Obama’s political inner-circle. These individuals cannot see any conflict between Tavis Smiley’s outrage given that Senator Obama attended and spoke so gallantly (to defend Israel) at this Jewish conference, when on the other hand he snubbed the State of the Black Union Conference.

Many black Americans do not see a conflict between Obama’s politics as usual and his pledge to continue America’s venal and unbalanced support of Israel in deference to balancing the scales between Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah…! Some Americans have been duped into believing that Obama is simply playing possum, but once he gets elected Superman with his unfurled cape streaming in the wind is going to spring into action.

Folks, in my opinion, the reason that the USA is having so much turmoil and trouble with respect to Middle-Eastern and Near-Eastern nations, among other things, is its unfair and unbalanced support towards Israel against not only Hamas and Hezbollah but against other nations within close proximity like Syria, Iran…, and other nations that are at a greater distance!

America has pledged to destroy itself and its standing in the world right along with its 51st state, Israel. And even though American Christians have biblically inspired and romantic feelings toward the Israel of antiquity, the Israel of today was formulated, created and populated as a result of actions that took place in the UN in 1947/48. Much like it is within American leadership circles, many within Israel’s leadership ranks are nothing more than ungod-like natural born killers.

The Palestinian (Arab and Muslim Semitic people) were summarily evicted from their homelands and their homes, neighborhoods…., their homelands were turned over to the mixed European Jewish Diaspora who returned to Israel from European nations following WWII. When you hear Arabs and Muslims say that Israel does not have a right to exist, they base their opinions on the actions that were decided in the U.N. in 1947/48, having been pushed particularly by Great Britain, the USA and a few other nations. A nearly equal amount of nations abstained from the western backed insouciant injustice that took place in the United Nations in 1947/48.

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Hat Tip: Baltimore Afro Newspaper
By James Wright
AFRO Staff Writer

Sen. Barack Obama, one day after clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, assured Jewish leaders on Wednesday of his strong support for Israel and insisted that the nation’s security will be a top priority of his administration.

Speaking before the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobby, Obama endorsed a two-state Israel-Palestine settlement, insisted that Jerusalem remain the undivided capital of the Jewish nation and strongly urged Arab governments to normalize relations with Israel. He also said he would refuse to grant recognition to the Hamas government in Palestine until it renounces terrorism and supports Israel’s right to exist.

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Call To Action: We Can’t Let Our Young People Starve
By Lynn Pinder

As I watched the news last night, I was moved by the actions of a group of young people from Baltimore who launched a hunger strike as a last effort to force the City of Baltimore to provide $3 million dollars in support of a youth initiative called Peer to Peer Enterprises that would employ older youth in Baltimore to tutor young children. These young warriors – the epitome of youth development - are dynamic, articulate, and engaged in a righteous fight for justice. Their actions and behavior are in direct contrast to another group of older youth who also made the news last night for their vicious attack against a young barbering student last week.

As I sat watching the two stories, the urgency in the demands of the young people participating in the hunger strike pulled my heart strings as did the response of our City leaders. I heard the following comments from our City leaders: “The money has been allocated. We don’t have $3 million dollars. We’re willing to work with the young people if they will compromise.” And I wondered why should our young people have to compromise? These young people are our leaders today. Why can’t we – the adults – figure out a way to invest in them?

Although the City of Baltimore may not have the funds to support another youth initiative, it has access to wealthy business partners who might contribute financial support if they were asked. Corporations, production companies, developers, and investors - like the Ritz-Carlton, Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, Inc., the Marriott, Constellation Energy, the producers of the WIRE, and HBO - could easily write-off the expense of another youth initiative in Baltimore without it ever having to be a burden on the City’s “rainy day” budget.

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