Date: Tue, 21 Jun 94 23:45 CDT From: James Davis To: pt.dist@umich.edu Subject: People's Tribune (Online Edition) 6-27-94 ****************************************************************** People's Tribune (Online Edition) Vol. 21 No. 26 / June 27, 1994 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 Email: jdav@igc.org ****************************************************************** INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition) Vol. 21 No. 26 / June 27, 1994 FRONT PAGE STORY FOLLOWS INDEX Editorial 1. DEFEND THE RIGHT TO VOTE AT ALL COSTS! News 2. A CALL FOR A SUMMIT AGAINST THE CRIMINALIZATION OF POVERTY 3. DROP THE CHARGES, STOP ARRESTS OF FOOD NOT BOMBS VOLUNTEERS 4. CHICAGO: VINCE LANE MUST GO! 5. NEW BOOK EXPOSES CLINTON'S BOGUS WELFARE REFORM 6. CLINTON HEALTH CARE PLAN FAILS WOMEN (PART TWO) 7. US-MEXICO FORUM HELPS IN 'BREAKING THE BARRIERS' AROUND CHIAPAS 8. ILLINOIS: WOMEN TAKE LEAD AGAINST POLICE TERROR Deadly Force 9. DEADLY FORCE: MOTHER OF FIVE BEATEN BY POLICE Culture Under Fire 10. WASHINGTON, DC: GIVE PACIFICA THE BOOT Announcements, Events, etc. 11. NOC ORGANIZATION MANUAL AVAILABLE 12. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE +----------------------------------------------------------------+ AMERICA IS STANDING UP TO POLICE TERROR BRUTAL BEATING SHOWS THE DRIVE TOWARD A POLICE STATE CHICAGO -- Her face was battered almost beyond recognition when Shirley Alejos staggered out of a police lock-up here June 11. Alejos is a 31-year-old mother of five children. Arrested in her North Side neighborhood during the early hours of June 11, Alejos was charged with allegedly vandalizing a police car and assaulting a police officer, charges she denies. The cops took Alejos to the Foster station. Four cops beat Alejos for 20 minutes while her hands were handcuffed behind her back. The cops pounded her head against the floor and called her a "slut" and a "bitch." This 92-pound woman tried to defend herself, kicking out twice at the officers. The cops stopped their beating only after Alejos pleaded with them and apologized. Incidents like this show what is happening in our country. We are not dealing with just a few "rotten apples" in this country's police departments. We are facing an open effort to turn America into a police state, a country where the police can beat or kill anyone they want and where democratic rights do not exist for the new class of poor people. For example: * In Riverdale, Illinois, hundreds of people staged a dramatic march June 4 to support victims of police brutality, most of them women, in that suburb of Chicago. * In Oakland, California, young people fought back with rocks and bottles when the police attacked a recent multi-ethnic gathering. * In Toledo, Ohio, outrage followed the shooting of a six-year-old accused of throwing rocks into a policeman's swimming pool. Across this country, new groups -- composed of the victims of police brutality, their families and neighbors, regardless of color -- are emerging with every act of brutality. The people who marched in Riverdale, Illinois June 4 and the friends and neighbors of Shirley Alejos who picketed June 14 at the police station where she was beaten have shown us the next step. We have to unify this movement against police terror and prevent the development of a police state! For more, see stories 8 and 9. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 1. EDITORIAL: DEFEND THE RIGHT TO VOTE AT ALL COSTS! By John Slaughter June 26 will mark one year since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the election of two African Americans from North Carolina may be unconstitutional because their districts had supposedly been "gerrymandered" on the basis of race. Elections in America should be "color blind," wrote Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in the Supreme Court's decision in the Shaw v. Reno case. In the year since that decision, the election of African Americans to Congress from Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama and other Southern states has come under attack. Can the clock be turned back? It is a cruel irony that African Americans who represent millions from their respective districts in the Black Belt South, and who have been denied representation for over 100 years, may have their elections reversed. Who says that an African American cannot represent a white worker? Are not both white and black workers being denied jobs, health care and education? In the name of color blindness, the game is the same: divide us on the basis of color and maintain white supremacy. What is really going on here? While "democracy" will be showcased once again in the upcoming elections, millions of poor and working-class citizens will have their access to the ballot box restricted and their choices limited to the likes of Ollie North. If only millionaires and those who represent the interests of the "haves" at the top of society can be elected, then our so-called representatives will be free to attack the "have-nots" on the bottom. They will be free to attack welfare mothers in the name of welfare reform, to fill the jails with our sons and daughters in the name of fighting crime. They will be free to not deliver what we really need: jobs, education, health care. Their property will be safe, while we go without. What we need is some real democracy. We cannot allow them to get away with denying us access to the electoral arena. We have to have our representatives in there making a fight for our interests. We have to use the system to overturn it. The have-nots are the majority. We should rule. [John Slaughter is the author of New Battles Over Dixie: The Campaign for a New South, and a member of the National Council of the National Organizing Committee. He available to speak through the People's Tribune Speakers Bureau. Call 312-486-3551 for more information.] ****************************************************************** 2. A CALL FOR A SUMMIT AGAINST THE CRIMINALIZATION OF POVERTY Dear Friend, The crime bill now flying through Congress is a final step in the criminalization of system-induced poverty. The increase of the crimes for which there are death penalties is discriminatory, unconstitutional and immoral. The "three convictions equal life imprisonment" provision and the fingerprinting of aid recipients are acts of war upon the poor. The rise in crime is because of unemployment and drugs. The street corner dealer is the target along with the addicted. Also the unemployed person who is hungry is the target. The gutless politicians in Washington, D.C. refuse to go after the rich and powerful. We need to create our own crime bill pointed in the direction of the real criminals, the powerful white-collar network. The director of the CIA should be tried under the drug king law, as should the bankers who launder the money, the chemical companies who supply drug-making chemicals and the senators or representatives who have knowledge of the CIA or FBI of DEA drug dealing and drug smuggling. Recent news accounts show the CIA purchased one ton of cocaine in 1991. Later reports note that 13 tons were shipped through Arkansas over a three-year period. If you cut 13 tons three times, that makes 39 tons of street drugs. Someone is getting rich and getting away with the murder of our youth. We would like your participation in a Crime Summit to write a Crime Bill about the Criminal Class Which Murders and Robs with a Pen. Please come and submit your model law or section of a crime bill which you or your organization think should be included. This is a non-sectarian action. You can print your own announcements, send a speaker, bring and display your literature and present your point of view. It's time we move to expose the hypocrisy of the Crime Bill. This letter is going to local and national welfare, civil rights, environmental, health and peace groups. All points of view are needed and will be included. If you cannot attend, please mail your law and it will be read and added to the bill approved by the general body of the summit. You will receive complete and full credit for the law and viewpoints you present. We must act now. We must develop our bill and present it to federal, state and local representatives and the media. (The next meeting will be on July 23, 1994, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., at St. John's Church, 27th and St. Paul, Baltimore, Maryland.) Yours truly, Truxon Sykes Reply by July 12 to: 1516 Pentridge Road #168, Baltimore, Maryland 21239. Phone: 410-435-5986 Fax: 410-243-5892 +----------------------------------------------------------------+ WE NEED A PEOPLE'S CRIME BILL! We need a people's crime bill, directed at the real criminals: the rich and powerful white-collar criminals. Resist the criminalization of poverty. Come join together to create our crime bill. Let us stamp out the root cause of crime and injustice in our society. Testify about the real problems faced by your organization. Let us draft laws against the causes of poverty! When: Saturday, July 23 From: 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Where: St. John's United Methodist Church At: St. Paul and 27th Street in Baltimore For more information, call 410-435-5986 or 410-486-1769. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 3. DROP THE CHARGES, STOP ARRESTS OF FOOD NOT BOMBS VOLUNTEERS By San Francisco Food Not Bombs SAN FRANCISCO --Keith McHenry, one of the founders of the nonviolent group Food Not Bombs, will go on trial July 11 on trumped-up felony charges. On January 4, Nick Roomel, an aide to San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan, slugged Keith in the back of his head as Keith was using a pay phone inside City Hall. Roomel admitted that he had been stalking Keith for several months. Prior to the attack on January 4, Roomel had also been yelling at Keith for over an hour outside City Hall. Less than an hour after he was assaulted, Keith was arrested. Keith was charged with felony assault, felony grand theft and felony strong-arm robbery, and later, felony witness intimidation. Keith's bail started at $10,000, but was raised by the courts twice -- each time he bailed out. On May 20, the district attorney finally asked for a quarter of a million dollars bail, but the judge only raised it to $75,000. Keith was again released on this bond after 12 more days in jail. There have been over 300 arrests of Food Not Bombs volunteers for feeding the hungry since the inception of the MATRIX program on September 2, 1993. [MATRIX is a program of police repression aimed at the homeless.] About 20 cases are still pending, including several more trumped- up felony charges against other Food Not Bombs volunteers. The district attorney has dropped all but these last 20 cases. Robert Kahn, who was convicted of serving free food without a permit and sentenced to 60 days in jail, is out on appeal. We need as many people as possible to attend Keith's trial on July 11. The trial will be held at 9 a.m. in The Hall of Injustice, 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco. We also need letters of support. Ask the D.A. to drop all the charges and stop the arrests. Write to: District Attorney Arlo Smith Hall of Justice 850 Bryant Street, Room 325 San Francisco, California 94103. It is important that you also send Food Not Bombs a copy of your letter for use in the many upcoming trials. Send copies of these letters and donations towards legal defense (made payable to Food Not Bombs -- BAIL) to: Food Not Bombs, 3145 Geary Blvd. #12, San Francisco, California 94118. Protests will be held in Boston, Washington D.C. and other major cities on July 11, 1994, calling for all the charges to be dropped and to stop the arrests of San Francisco Food Not Bombs volunteers. Call 415-330-5030 to find out more about protests in other communities. ****************************************************************** 4. VINCE LANE MUST GO! CHICAGO -- The letter printed on these pages is from the People's Campaign for Housing, Jobs and Food. These formerly homeless people from Chicago stood up to Mayor Richard Daley two years ago. They refused to leave the huts they were living in until all homeless people were promised access to Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) apartments. Now, as residents of CHA, they continue to be leaders in the fight for survival and justice. They help homeless people enter CHA apartments, but more, they are involved in the fight to expose and correct the corruption and mismanagement of CHA that makes the lives of many residents dangerous and miserable and only a small improvement over living on the street. They are conducting a campaign to remove Vince Lane as the chairman of CHA. Vince Lane is a political favorite of Mayor Daley and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros. Vince Lane is a front man for real estate speculators and developers. He is actively working to undermine and destroy public housing in Chicago. Even worse, the policies developed in Chicago are being used as a model for dealing with public housing across the country. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ DEAR MR. LANE: There are many things that are totally wrong in CHA. You are a chairman who is not concerned for our well-being and living conditions in CHA developments, but are more concerned about your high-profile projects and pet schemes. We know that you, Mr. Lane, are a household name to those in high places, but to those of us who are poor and live in CHA, you are way out of touch. Mr. Lane, you have truly failed the residents of CHA and it is time for a change. You do not understand the needs of our residents. You are surrounded by, and influenced by, people in high places and politicians. You have no control over your degrading and insulting staff, and have hired professional people who have no idea how we should live. You and your degrading board and staff have sabotaged our community on their own and with the assistance of many of our elected officials, who are nothing more than your pets. We need people who really care about the residents and community. What we do not need is people who are suck-ups to you. You have put our seniors into the hands of private agencies and others, who have robbed them of their human rights. They talk to them in any kind of way and threaten them. These people have taken away our seniors' activities and left them out of the process of deciding what is right for them. This is how you treat our seniors who are trying to enjoy the life of retirement that they have earned! What a shame. Our senior residents could be very instrumental in teaching our young mothers and our young men, but you, Mr. Lane, have confined our seniors away from them. You, Mr. Lane, have created problems and cruelty among us. We have excellent relationships with each other. It is you that can't understand our community. You have abused us all, shattering the dreams and visions of all CHA residents. You have robbed us of many resources and misused funds intended for improving our living conditions, totally destroying CHA for your own personal gain. While you have denied our residents decent housing, you have schemed to move us to the suburbs, where we will be in serious trouble, leaving us with nothing to say about our own lives. This year, the Chicago Housing Authority received notification of approved funding for $135,432,395 for our resources including security. It's a shame how you, Mr. Lane, took $63 million for security. Sixty-three million dollars! What are you securing, America? We believe that CHA should have security, but your security is not here to protect residents. It is here to protect CHA property, which you, Mr. Lane, have destroyed yourself. How is your security protecting our residents, when they are bringing and trying to sell drugs to our residents? How is your security protecting us when they are abusing our young women and men and elderly and attacking our young men violently? Mr. Lane, you are attacking CHA residents with $63 million [in] grant money that HUD meant for us. You have built your own police force complete with unqualified people who attack our residents with violent force. You have taken our funds for security vans, motorcycles, cars and computers. What about our paint, plaster, doors, electricity, recreation areas, and, number one -- jobs? Mr. Lane, your security has created trouble for our residents, for they abuse their power and have very, very bad attitudes. They mistreat women with abusive language and dirty, vile, sexual talk. Every day, our children see security people with guns, harassing their mothers and fathers and attacking relatives coming to visit. These security police attack community groups who are concerned about the residents. They attack friends of the residents, some who come to see about their girlfriends and children. They attack these young men, wrongfully, when they are trying to bring milk, diapers and food for their children. Just for plain conversation, you attack them. You crash into our homes illegally, and charge us with felonies and minor offenses when we defend ourselves from your attacks. You hurt our young people's future, for you have branded them with felonies. Mr. Lane, you and your security are criminals. It is you and your gang that have committed felonies, hate crimes and destruction of innocent people. It is you that should be incarcerated, for you have broken every law there is and you did it with our $63 million. We all realize that there are criminal activities in CHA. CHA created most of these activities by the policy of neglect of its leadership and staff. Who is more criminal than yourself, Mr. Lane? For you have the authority to help our residents with jobs for those who are jobless. We need jobs for our young people, not only in the summer, but throughout the year. We need to keep our children in school instead of dropping out. We are trying to save our children. You are trying to incarcerate them. If the residents in CHA had jobs in CHA, crime would cease, families would stay together and have a better relationship. Our community would be safer and better. Mr. Lane, with $63 million, we can protect ourselves. Instead of being attacked by your security, we can work and secure ourselves with positive and constructive things. Jobs, jobs, jobs and treatment centers for all who need help. Mr. Lane, we are tired of you and your security and we cannot trust you any longer. Your gang has created an apartheid system in CHA. Mr. Lane, you could have been a damn good role model to our children and to all the residents. Everything you do could reflect your love of the truth and that you are earnest about it. But you have chosen those of this world who are doomed to fall. It is you that is corrupt, not us. In other words, you have copied the behavior of people in high places (cruelty, dishonesty, cheating and corruption). You have acted like a big shot. You have given the residents no hope for the present or future and we have patiently endured suffering, hardship and trouble of every kind. What are we to you but puppets that have been put on display at the end of a victor's parade, to be laughed at and stared at by people like yourself? You seem to think that we are weak. Let us tell you something, Mr. Lane. Some of us have gone hungry and thirsty without even enough clothes to keep us warm. We have been kicked around without homes of our own. We have worked hard to earn a living for ourselves and our children. We have blessed those who cured us. We have been patient with those who have injured us. Also, we have replied quietly when bad things have been said about us. Yet, right up to the present moment, we are like dirt underfoot. Mr. Lane, you count yourself above average in intelligence as judged by this world's standards. You had better put this all aside and be a fool, rather than let it hold you back from the true wisdom from above, for the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. He knows full well how the human mind reasons and how foolish and futile it is. Are you really proud of your accomplishments? You have failed the residents and all of God's people, because you have failed to listen to the cry of his people. Only we, the residents, can solve the problems. We are hungry for new positive directions. We realize that we are poor, low-income families of different races, but we are human people with visions and dreams of how to better our conditions. Most residents of CHA are praying people, for we have to pray to keep you from doing things to us that are as harmful as they are now. We do not mind being poor, for the Bible teaches us that the poor will be with us always, and blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. The residents of CHA are real people who thrive on helping each other and sharing. Our residents are educated people, for we have common sense. Common sense is a gift from God. There is nothing godly about you. Our worst resident would treat us better than you. They can relate to us because we all have endured the suffering caused by you. Mr. Lane, all poor people are humanitarians hoping that things will change. We do not mind struggling, because it keeps us closer to God. Our residents are humble and gentle people and patient with each other, making allowances for each other's faults, because of our love for each other. You, Mr. Lane, should hate what is wrong and stand on the side of good, for when God's children are in need, you should be the one to help them out. We, the residents, are real people and we have a voice. You and your staff will hear it. We are a majority. We will join together to serve the people in our community. We, the residents, are the solution to our problems caused by you and we will take back whatever you and your degrading staff, board and security have taken from us. We want our paint, plaster jobs, doors and beautification of our community. We want a staff that we choose. We want jobs for all, and everything that we are supposed to have from CHA. We want no part in riverboat gambling or casinos. We want positive and constructive resources so we can live decently. For there is a brighter cloud somewhere and Jesus loves us. This we know for we are his people. The Peoples' Campaign For Housing, Jobs and Food Peter Byrd (312-871-5215) Calvin Gatewood (312-929-2977) +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 5. NEW BOOK EXPOSES CLINTON'S BOGUS WELFARE REFORM By Tom Hirschl A recently published book exposes how leaders from both major political parties gain political capital by promoting myths about welfare. The book is called _Living on the Edge: Welfare Realities in America_. The author, Mark R. Rank, shows that the actual lives of people on welfare have nothing to do with the political posturing that passes as "welfare reform." One of the political ruses that many states are now implementing (New Jersey, for example) is to deny a family added benefits to support the birth of a child. Rank's analysis demonstrates, however, that most women on welfare forego or delay childbearing. President Clinton's proposed welfare "reforms" are not significantly different from previous Republican and Democratic proposals. Clinton's pledge to "end welfare as we know it" is bogus because his plan is about adjusting the lie, not solving the problem. The solution to poverty is creating jobs for those able to work, and caring for those who, because of a disability or family disruption, are unable to work. Rank's book shows that the vast majority of adults on welfare want to work, but are unable to do so. The welfare system is useful to politicians who promote their careers by attacking the poor. For example, the Reagan administration took interest in Clarence Thomas because of a 1980 speech where he remarked that his "dependent" sister on welfare "gets mad when the mailman is late with her welfare check." This interest led to an offer to become the chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal judgeship and, eventually, nomination and confirmation to a position on the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet the actual story of Clarence Thomas' sister is that she was working two minimum-wage jobs while her brother went to law school, but stopped working to support an elderly aunt who had suffered a stroke. Her "sin" was to live on $169 a month for four years in order to care for an infirm relative. _Living on the Edge_ fails to take the final step of calling for a new political formation to solve the poverty problem. Yet a careful reading of this useful book shows that the current political parties have no intention of ending poverty. _Living on the Edge: Welfare Realities in America_ by Mark R. Rank, Columbia University Press, 1994, is available (in hardcover only) for $29.95 from bookstores or the publisher. ****************************************************************** 6. CLINTON PLAN FAILS WOMEN: WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT (PART TWO) By Barbara Newman, M.D., MPH [A version of this article appeared in the _San Francisco Examiner_ on Dec. 12, 1993.] Why should health care reform be of special concern to women? Four important factors place women's health in jeopardy: low social status, economic disadvantage, disproportionate vulnerability to chronic disabling disease, and lack of reproductive rights. Clearly, women need a system which provides health care irrespective of marital or employment status, income or pre- existing medical conditions. A system ensuring lifelong access for all to the same high level of care. A system emphasizing prevention and education and ensuring full reproductive rights for all. The Clinton plan fails to provide a model for such a system. First of all, it retains the link between employment and insurance, leaving out part-time workers, the self-employed, the unemployed and others not in the work force. Funding for federal subsidies to buy insurance is shaky at best, so people will go to the public system, which will be even more poorly funded, thanks to the administration's proposed Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Secondly, though the Clinton plan proposes to regulate the private insurance companies, how will they accomplish this? By getting around regulations, for one thing (they're experts at that), but more likely by cutting the number of providers, which means cutting quality. Thirdly, the Clinton version of managed competition ensures the perpetuation of our present multi-tiered system. Even the low-cost plan offered contains significant co-pays and deductibles. Women's and children's preventive services may not be received for this reason, especially among those of low and moderate income. Fourth, the plan will result in the consolidation of power in the hands of a few large insurance companies, which may well end up owning most institutions, employing most providers, and overseeing most medical treatment decisions -- always with their bottom line in mind. The basic flaw of the Clinton plan is that of offering only care as a commodity, to be bought and sold in the marketplace. The marketplace has so far succeeded only in running up an astronomical bill, at the same time insuring fewer and fewer people, while our infant mortality and life expectancy statistics deteriorate. Clearly, marketplace forces do not function adequately in the realm of health care. It's time we faced that fact and joined the rest of the industrialized world in treating health care as a social good, to be administered as a public trust. Such a vision is embodied in the concept of a single-payer system. It removes the for-profit insurance industry from health care -- once and for all. With all citizens covered by the same, single, non-profit, public insurer, truly universal access, with identical benefits for all eligible, will become a reality. How will such a system specifically benefit women? Health coverage will no longer be based on employment or marital status. There will be no threat of loss of coverage due to job loss, divorce or widowhood. Women will be able to make decisions based on their needs and those of their dependents, not on the demands of an insurance company. Patient and provider satisfaction in Canada, where such a system exists, far outstrips that of Americans. Polls show two-thirds of U.S. citizens would prefer such a system. It's time for all Americans, and women in particular, to stand up and see to it that our elected representatives send our health care system in the direction of real reform. The sham reform of the Clinton plan leaves in place, indeed strengthens, the very industry responsible for most of the system's ills. ****************************************************************** 7. FORUM HELPS IN 'BREAKING THE BARRIERS' AROUND CHIAPAS By Steve Teixeira "The path of democracy, freedom and justice, of the demands to give a voice to the voiceless, a face to the faceless, a tomorrow to those without a tomorrow, and a life to our death, will be that which our people follow through whichever of the two doors are open (peaceful transition or war), even at the cost of the lives of all the Zapatistas." Subcomandante Marcos, Chiapas. As it negotiates with the Zapatista revolutionaries, Mexico's government is quietly preparing to attack. Thousands of troops now ring the Lacondon Jungle, and there are reports of U.S. military advisers visiting there and with the Guatemalan generals on its other side. After August's national elections in Mexico, they may launch a bloodbath. But the isolation of the Rebellion is being resisted. In May an important forum titled "Breaking the Barriers" took place in Los Angeles, Mexico City and Chiapas. National Organizing Committee members joined U.S. and Mexican scholar-activists to compare the 1992 Los Angeles and 1994 Chiapas rebellions, so as to clarify where both societies are heading. Of Chiapas' 3.2 million residents, 2 million live in extreme poverty, especially the indigenous people. Yet, the forum proved that the uprising is much more than an "Indian struggle" or an "anti-poverty struggle." Data was presented showing that global high-tech industry has unleashed an economic revolution threatening the survival of millions of other Mexicans and "Americans." Their life or death now depends on whether the current economic system lives or dies. The forum criticized "neoliberal" governmental policies, which mean cuts in jobs and liberal programs, so as to throw billions of dollars into global high-tech production plans like the North American Free Trade Agreement. This has pushed millions of all colors into severe poverty -- as a result, these two rebellions involved not only U.S. blacks and Latinos and Mexico's Indians, but impoverished whites and mestizos as well. Now the question is how to find the link between the U.S. movement for survival and the movement to defend the Zapatistas from the U.S. government. ****************************************************************** 8. WOMEN TAKE LEAD AGAINST POLICE TERROR Riverdale Illinois: 'Not Just About White Cops And Black Victims' By Rich Capalbo And Mary L. Johnson RIVERDALE, Illinois -- Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the residential streets of this city June 4, demanding an end to police brutality. Their protest was to draw attention to a series of attacks recently against black residents, mostly women, now known as the "Riverdale Eight." Diane Overstreet, one of the victims, told the People's Tribune that the "Riverdale Eight" cases have all occurred over the past year. The victims were attacked by the police, in some cases knocked to the ground, hit and verbally abused without provocation. Ms. Overstreet said that none of the women knew each other before their run-ins with the police. They all met as their individual cases developed. Together with Stan Willis, a Chicago attorney, they decided to organize their fight-back. Janita Smith, another victim, said that she always thought it odd that the Riverdale police would use two cars to stop a lone young black male for a routine traffic stop. That hardly prepared her to see a six-foot cop in his twenties knock her 50-year-old mother to the ground. Ms. Smith rushed to her mother's defense. Now they are both fighting charges resulting from defending themselves from that attack. These are just three of the victims. There are many more. Tracy Matthews, a Chicago supporter, told the crowd as they rallied at the Riverdale Police Department, "Since we started marching, the Riverdale Eight has become seventeen!" More women came forward with reports of police abuse even as the march progressed through the community. THE STATE RETALIATES Since the eight started fighting back, Ms. Overstreet has been visited three times by the Department of Children and Family Services and the police, trying to scrounge up a child neglect case against her -- harassment for speaking out. Spectators along the route, residents of apartments known as Pace Setters, told us that their manager threatened them with eviction if they participated in the march. There is little doubt that the overseers of Riverdale have something to hide. Although most of the eight were unsuspecting victims of police brutality, many young men and women who joined the march weren't surprised at all. "They've been attacking us all along," one young man said. It seems that the Riverdale Eight's fight may pull the covers back on an ugly, festering example of what is in store for all of us. Mary L. Johnson of Chicago's Mothers ROC (Mothers Reclaiming Our Children), a longtime fighter against police brutality, pointed out, "People who have been brutalized are so fearful ... . The authorities count on that. They don't want us to get together." Ms. Johnson commented on the racial aspect of the cases. "All people have to understand: This is not just about white cops and black victims. This system never needed an excuse to attack black people. The upsurge of police violence and the new crime bill are aimed at the rest of the population. We all have to take a stand." ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ "Deadly Force" is a weekly column dedicated to exposing the scope of police terror in the United States. We open our pages to you, the front line fighters against brutality and deadly force. Send us eyewitness accounts, clippings, press releases, appeals for support, letters, photos, opinions and all other information relating to this life and death fight. Send them to People's Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Ill. 60654, or call (312) 486- 3551. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 9. DEADLY FORCE: MOTHER OF FIVE BEATEN BY POLICE Outraged Chicago community confronts cops By Anthony D. Prince CHICAGO -- Nearly 100 people marched on the Foster Avenue police station here June 14 to protest the savage beating of Shirley Alejos, a 31-year-old mother of five. Alejos was arrested June 11. Once inside the police lock-up, Ms. Alejos was handcuffed and beaten for 20 minutes by four 20th District cops. Throughout her ordeal, she was called "slut" and "bitch" and warned that this was the price for making cops look bad on the street. "I am not going to sit and be quiet about this," said Alejos, who suffered facial fractures and a severe concussion. Alejos will probably not regain full vision in one eye. True to form, the police claim her injuries were self-inflicted. "I want these cops off the street, suspended without pay until they go to court," Alejos said. "The majority of the police take the law into their own hands. They are making the decision of who is guilty or innocent on the street. It's like they are the judge and jury themselves." But it was an angry crowd that passed judgment on the Foster Avenue police. The verdict was "guilty of brutality." "This isn't a color thing!" protest leader Ruth Davis-Ishiba told the marchers. "This is a mixed neighborhood: black, white, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Filipino. We are all in this together." Nearby, one protest sign read: "First Rodney, now Shirley," a reference to the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles. "The police are out of hand," declared Davis-Ishiba. "This has got to stop." ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ CULTURE UNDER FIRE Culture jumps barriers of geography and color. Millions of Americans create with music, writing, film and video, graffiti, painting, theatre and much more. We need it all, because culture can link together and expand the growing battles for food, housing, and jobs. In turn, these battles provide new audiences and inspiration for artists. Use the "Culture Under Fire'' column to plug in, to express yourself. Write: Culture Under Fire, c/o People's Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 10. LET'S BOOST WPFW: GIVE PACIFICA THE BOOT A PROPOSAL FOR DC-FREE RADIO By Rick Tingling-Clemmons, community activist and WPFW supporter WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Radio station WPFW, through the hard work and commitment of its volunteers and staff -- despite its hard times and frustrations -- is an institution of great pride to the Washington, D.C. community. In the face of pressure and criticism, it has often upheld the principles of free speech through its programming, helped acknowledge and build appreciation for jazz in this community and beyond, and worked at various levels to address the issues of our community in an up-front and principled way. Yet, for the second time in a year, we find ourselves in a crisis that threatens to further compromise the history, viability and future of this station. This threat is directly related to the control and management of WPFW by Pacifica. WPFW, under Pacifica's management and control, has moved away from the station's traditional commitment to freedom of speech. Some recent examples follow. There was very little programming of Malcolm X's speeches or related programming on his birthday -- less, in fact, than other stations in the Pacifica network. There was very little programming regarding the 23rd Malcolm X Day celebration in Anacostia Park this year. There has been very little about African Liberation Day coming up this weekend. There has only been limited discussion on issues regarding Haiti and Bosnia. Even though the recent pledge drive focussed much of the evening air time on the issues of crime, there was not sufficient time allotted for discussion. The organization of the pledge drive undercut politics -- with blues replacing jazz, mostly music, talking comedians, limited conversation on the crime bill tapes (which were quite good and important to air but frustrating in the lack of adequate discussion time). It also repeated a number of mistakes of some previous pledge drives by pre-empting regular shows and reducing public affairs programming. What has happened to the commitment to jazz? Pacifica's management of the station during this drive must be held accountable. Pacifica's management of the station has brought WPFW down, by trivializing and/or dismissing the input of the local community and volunteers and inhibiting its independent development. For example, Pacifica acknowledged playing a substantial role in controlling the appointment from a distance of the last general manager. It now says the appointment was a mistake because, according to Pacifica, he put the station in great debt and virtual bankruptcy. Now Pacifica wants to dispense with any form of democracy in taking the next steps because it cannot afford any more mistakes. First Pacifica allowed no democracy because they didn't see the need and now they can't afford to allow democracy. The board refused to even meet with the contingent from WPFW that recently travelled to New York City for its board meeting. Pacifica's representative actively discouraged any subsequent contact between Pacifica board members and WPFW staff and volunteers. This dissing must stop. Pacifica has a license to represent the citizens of Washington, D.C. How can they have our best interests at heart when they don't live here and, for the most part, have not participated in the struggles of this community for independence and justice -- such as our struggle for statehood? In a nutshell, they cannot. As the last land-based colony in this country, we are getting the same treatment from Pacifica that we get from the U.S. Congress. We can prove that Pacifica is not representing our interests through its own actions. We should control our own station. There should be no compromise with Pacifica that nets us anything less than control of our own station. WPFW comes up for licensing soon. Pacifica was given the operating license by the FCC to represent the D.C. community. If they don't do it in the way we think they should, their right to the license can be challenged. We can prove that Pacifica's decisions "for us" have stifled WPFW's growth and limited its independence and development. Pacifica's management can best be compared to that of an absentee landlord. We could create a board in this town -- of conscious professionals, community members, and local leaders -- to help us professionally run the station, improve the quality of the technical operations and better develop the political aspects of our public affairs and cultural programming. A union is a good start but we need to give Pacifica the boot. Let's do it. This proposal is offered with great love for your dedication and in honor of your commitment to this community and to the right of the people to know. If you are interested in working with me on this proposal or want information, call 202-397-2277. ****************************************************************** 11. NOC ORGANIZATION MANUAL AVAILABLE TEACHING AS WE FIGHT: A MANUAL FOR MEMBERS By the National Organizing Committee The Organizational Manual for the NOC is now available. The price is $2 for members and $8 for non-members. __ Yes! Please send me Teaching as We Fight for $2. I am an NOC member. __ Yes! Please send me Teaching as We Fight for $8. I am not an NOC member. __ I want to join the NOC and get Teaching as We Fight for $27 -- $25 for my membership and $2 for the manual! Sign me up! Name_____________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________ City/State/Zip _________________________________________ Send your order to: National Organizing Committee, Teaching as We Fight, P.O. Box 477113, Chicago, Illinois 60647. ****************************************************************** 12. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, published weekly in Chicago, is devoted to the proposition that an economic system which can't or won't feed, clothe and house its people ought to be and will be changed. To that end, this paper is a tribune of the people. It is the voice of the millions struggling for survival. It strives to educate politically those millions on the basis of their own experience. It is a tribune to bring them together, to create a vision of a better world, and a strategy to achieve it. Join us! Editor: Laura Garcia Publisher: National Organizing Committee, P.O. Box 477113, Chicago, IL 60647 (312) 486-0028 To help support the production and distribution of the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, please send donations, letters, articles, photos, graphics and requests for information, subscriptions and requests for bundles of papers to: PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE P.O. Box 3524 Chicago, IL 60654 Respond via e-mail to jdav@igc.org Reach us by phone: Chicago: (312) 486-3551 Atlanta: (404) 242-2380 Baltimore: (410) 467-4769 Detroit: (313) 839-7600 Los Angeles: (310) 428-2618 Washington, D.C.: (202) 529-6250 Oakland, CA: (510) 464-4554 GETTING THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE IN PRINT The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE is available at many locations nationwide. One year subscriptions $25 ($35 institutions), bulk orders of 5 or more 15 cents each, single copies 25 cents. Contact PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, P. O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654, tel. (312) 486- 3551. WRITING FOR THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE We want your story in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE. Send it in! Articles should be shorter than 300 words, written to be easily understood, and signed. (Use a pen name if you prefer.) Include a phone number for questions. Contact PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, P. O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654, tel. 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