By Larry Holmes

Holmes is a Workers World Party Secretariat member.

According to reports, 40 million people watched Barack Obama’s televised
speech on Aug. 28.

Along with everyone else who watched the speech was virtually every person of
African descent with access to a television, not just in the U.S. but
everywhere. Black people tuned in to watch Obama’s speech as well as that
of his marital partner, Michelle Obama, earlier that week.

Obama is a gifted orator, but that’s not the reason why Black people
wanted to see and hear his speech. It was about being part of a landmark event
in the struggle of Black people. It was about witnessing a giant step towards
the election of the first U.S. president of African descent. [Read more →]

Nashawn Williams was brutally attacked by racist whites in Plainfield while waiting for a school bus in Oct. 2007; yet there has been NO progress to date by the Plainfield Police department nor actions by the State of Connecticut speaking in outrage to such a racist act.

Date: Saturday, September 6th
Time: 11 am
Place: Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford, Carpools to depart at 11:15 am for Moosup.

Time: 12:35pm
Place: Town of Moosup

Gathering at parking lot where coffee shop eatery is located 12:35 PM, followed by RALLY at street of Union & North main (near white fence) where Nashawn was beaten and final short Rally at 29 Main Street where 17 whites hurled racial slurs at Nashawn et al.  Following rallies drive to Plainfield Police Station where Rabbi Donna Berman reads a Manifesto Statement, which is tacked to police station.
More info: Cornell Lewis: 860-220-4051 pager

Please re-post as widely as you wish!

Call For Papers: “Queering Anarchism”

Radical queer politics and anarchism have much in common. Queer theory argues against traditional identity politics, recognizing the social construction of “sexuality” and identity categories. Anarchism argues against any structured hierarchical arrangement of humanity that allows some members of society to systematically exploit and oppress others. Thus, both projects argue for a need to move beyond hierarchical and naturalized arrangements of socially constructed identities–though, at times, articulating those arguments in different ways. Nevertheless, despite these commonalities, little has been written about the deep connections between anarchism and radical queer politics. This edited volume is an attempt to fill that gap.

With this book, the authors wish to assemble writings that are useful to activists (i.e. not written in obscure academic jargon and relatable to social movement contexts) working in the intersections of queer and anarchist politics. Many anarchists use the term “queer” as shorthand for the LGBT community and have little understanding of what queer theory can provide for a contemporary radical praxis and how it differs from traditional LGBT politics—even some radical strands. Likewise, there are many among the queer community who know little to nothing about anarchism—relying mostly on the sensationalist news medias’ construction of anarchists as terrorists, anti-organizationalists, etc. This volume, then, will be split into three sections (theory, praxis, and personal experience) featuring writing that deals specifically with these intersections. [Read more →]

Actions challenge criminal injustice system

By Gloria RubacHouston, Published Jul 18, 2008 12:18 AM

The Harris County criminal justice system here has historically been racist and targeted the poor, with justice denied for untold generations. Within the last year, the struggle against this system has intensified to the point that ruling-class politicians have been challenged to examine its violent and racist practices.

July 10 rally demands indictment of racist vigilante Joe Horn;Photo: Jon Axford
Recently the federal Department of Justice did a five-day examination of the Harris County Jail, a massive complex of detention centers where more than 100 prisoners have been “found” dead.

A Houston Chronicle review of state and county records reveals that from January 2001 through December 2006, at least 101 inmates-an average of about 17 per year-have died while in the custody of the jail. In 2006 alone, after three consecutive years of failing to comply with state standards, the jail recorded 22 in-custody deaths.

At the times of their deaths, at least 72 of the inmates-more than 70 percent-were awaiting court hearings and had yet to be convicted of the crimes that led to their incarceration. [Read more →]

Cynthia McKinney for president

Workers World newspaper in the past has supported the candidates of Workers World Party running for national office in the U.S. presidential elections and who have put forward a revolutionary socialist program. This time we are taking the unusual step of endorsing the candidacy of Cynthia McKinney because these are unique times and this is a unique candidate.

McKinney, a courageous Black woman and former U.S. Congresswoman from Georgia, has become one of the most militant leaders and voices for the U.S. left, progressive and Black movements.

Because of her militancy in the struggle against the war, the struggle to impeach Bush, as well as her struggle to expose the government’s role in the displacement of survivors of Hurricane Katrina, she was branded too Black and too radical to walk the halls of Congress. She was pushed out, not once but twice, by the leadership of the Democratic Party. Last year, McKinney severed her ties to that party.

On July 12, McKinney and her running mate, activist Rosa Clemente, won the Green Party’s nomination to run for president and vice-president, respectively. The Green Party’s nomination will put McKinney on the ballot in about 20 states, which is no small thing in the U.S. where the ruling class has made it very hard for any electoral formation independent of, and even slightly to the left of, the two major ruling-class parties to get ballot status. The Green Party is not the reason why we are supporting McKinney. [Read more →]

Nashawn Williams and his family gathered with allies this morning for a press conference on
the steps of the Charter Oak Cultural Center to express our collective outrage at the lack of
even one arrest in the brutal hate-crime assault on Nashawn last October.

Nashawn, 16, spoke briefly before being overcome by emotion as his mother watched sobbing
in the background. Cornell Lewis, founder of the Men of Color Initiative, with his hand on
Nashawn’s shoulder, comforted the young man as he spoke.

Cornell said, “Shame on America” for the racist assault perpetrated by K-Nation that inflicted
such physical and emotional injury on a young African-American man and his family.
[Read more →]

Be it GAA or some current LGBT entity, the dirty little secret of Racism in the “gay” community still rears its ugly head. Below is a clip from the KQED documentary Outrage ‘69, where activists from the ’60’s and ’70’s talk about the issue of racism and sexism in the gay community. As the saying goes “The Names Change but the Story Stays the Same.” Be it 1969 or 2008, this clip would not be that inaccurate. The folks at QWB would encourage us in the LGBT/Queer community to engage in a serious dialogue of the “gay community’s Dirty Little Secret.” And feel free to start here on the QWB blog.

Nashawn Williams was brutally attacked by racist whites in Plainfield while waiting for a school bus in Oct 2007.  Minister Cornell Lewis will bring the family to Hartford for a Press Conference on Saturday July 12th at 11 AM.  This is the first time Nashawn Williams will publicly speak about the attack and having a group of whites taunt the family while inside their home.  Police are trying to close the case; no witnesses or arrests.

Place: Charter Oak Cultural Center

Address: 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford

Time: 11 AM

ok, not literally. but they are planning on installing these things, and it’s pretty clear who it’s aimed at. this shit is so crazy. hartford does NOT need bike racks, but it would be nice if the streets were more bike-friendly. as a former bike messenger, i can tell you there are PLENTY of good spots all over downtown to park your bike, and the rest of the city is just fine. sign posts, fences, etc etc etc.

the only reason i can think of why the City government would be wasting its time and money (which is the only thing the mayor/council are good at) is to entice more yuppies to spend time/move to the city. cuz, ya know, hartford ain’t nothin if it ain’t white. let me reiterate, bike racks are completely and utterly unnecessary. a little creativity is called for at times, but shit, come on yuppies. use some of that 4 year college indoctrination for something useful for once.

downtown is ripe for a good riot, and these racks will make useful material for barricades.

Demand Freedom for Our Political Prisoners and POWs! Jericho 10th Anniversary National March to the United Nations, NYC, Friday October 10, 2008. Followed by evening concert to benefit the prisoners! For details visit the National Jericho Movement website.

QWB supports the 10th Anniversary Jericho October 10th March on the United Nations for Freedom for Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War! QWB signs on to the Jericho pledge which proclaims: We understand that political prisoners and prisoners of war are our own freedom fighters imprisoned for believing and acting on ideals that are shared by people who struggle for a free and just society. We understand that our own freedom to resist comes in part from the sacrifices of our prisoners and that it is our responsibility to work towards their freedom. We think this march will be an opportunity to carry our movement forward! We stand in solidarity with the Jericho Movement on its 10th anniversary in the struggle! We stand in solidarity with the October 10th Coalition of NYC and we know that actions speak louder than words! Download Flyer(english) Download Flyer(spanish)

By Thirman Milner and Cornell Lewis

The media assassination of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright underscores the true message of what Rev. Wright was bringing out in his sermons, the racial divide that is not only damning this country but making an all-out effort to defeat the candidacy of Barack Obama. If words were not distorted from his sermons, preached years ago, the truth would clearly show that he was not damning America as a country but damning the injustices and racism that exist in this country as well as an unjust war. White media and ministers have done the same thing without any outcry. “One of this week’s hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis Farrakhan praised Barack Obama’s candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise. Nonetheless, Tim Russert demanded that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has no connection to — and, in fact, “rejects” — the ideas espoused by Farrakhan deemed to be radical and hateful. [Read more →]

by Eric Mann [a veteran of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and the United Auto Workers (UAW), and was a delegate to the United Nations World Conference Against Racism.]

[printer friendly pdf]

The Opening Argument

Hillary Clinton is running an increasingly desperate, unprincipled, and racist campaign against Barack Obama. She must be stopped. At this moment in history the defeat of Hillary Clinton and the victory of Barack Obama in the forthcoming Democratic Party primaries in Pennsylvania, Guam, Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota, and Puerto Rico is a critical question facing the anti-racist, civil rights, and Black Liberation Movement. [Read more →]

Over the weekend I read two blog posts about Barack Obama by two different white activists that I know. Both could be described as criticisms of Obama from the left. These are activists for whom I generally have some respect, and I’m convinced their comments come from a place of deep personal commitment to social justice. Even so, there’s something to that old saying about the road to hell being paved with good intentions, and in both instances I found myself wondering when we, as white activists, will begin holding ourselves accountable to black America rather than waiting for black America to be accountable to us. [Read more →]

No one really needs to say much more about this song. It still resounds today. I wanted to publish it here today because of the new 3 Strikes Law that was passed.  (check out Peter’s posting over at the Undercurrent click here.)  Len Chandler was born in 1935 in Akron, Ohio. He received a B.A. in Music Education from the University of Akron and a M.A. from Columbia. Chandler learned to play the guitar and played around Washington Square Park and landed a gig at the Gaslight Cafe. In the early 1960s Chandler began to be involved in the Civil Rights Movement and much of his material was related to the Black Panther Party.  A thank you to Len Chandler. Check more of Chandler out on you tube. His song Beans In Your Ears should be sung by everyone no matter what age. Try it here

By X357733

Introduction

The reasons for doing this event are simple enough. Having attended various fundraisers over the years, I had some idea which approaches were the best at bringing in a fairly large sum of money. A few hundred dollars from a punk rock show, for example, is always nice for non-emergency situations. But the situation with the IWW Food and Allied Workers Union 460/640 was, and continues to be, very serious. I have been watching that campaign for some time, but was not spurred into action until I became aware of the fact that the IWW grassroots had not adequately stepped up to raise the tens of thousands of dollars necessary to win perhaps our most important campaign in the latter part of our history to date.

In Connecticut, we have seen many raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which we hoped would bring more people to this event. Whether or not that was successful isn’t clear; however, the events that have followed the benefit might lead one to believe that perhaps we were on to something. The union hall that hosted us was raided two weeks later by ICE, and arrested one of their staff people. The union in question has always had a large immigrant membership, but people like Judi Bari and Martin Luther King Jr. might tell you that the forces of repression always hone in on the people who are building the connections between different movements and organizations.

[Read more →]