Date: Thu, 21 Jul 94 10:57 CDT From: James Davis To: pt.dist@umich.edu Subject: People's Tribune (Online Edition) 7-25-94 ****************************************************************** People's Tribune (Online Edition) Vol. 21 No. 30 / July 25, 1994 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 Email: jdav@igc.org ****************************************************************** INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition) Vol. 21 No. 30 / July 25, 1994 FRONT PAGE STORY FOLLOWS INDEX Editorial 1. MEXICO'S NEW REVOLUTION News 2. CALIFORNIA STATE BUDGET IS A CRIME AGAINST THE POOR 3. WELFARE MOTHERS: USE YOUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH! 4. ARKANSAS TO EXECUTE 3 MEN IN ONE DAY 5. THE CONSCIENCE OF AMERICA 6. SANTA CRUZ PHOTO ESSAY (SANS PHOTOS) 7. BLACK LIBERATION STRUGGLES CELEBRATED IN UTAH 8. CHICAGO PUBLIC HOUSING SCANDAL PROVES VINCE LANE MUST GO! Deadly Force 9. SHOULD STEALING $151 MEAN LIFE IN PRISON? Culture Under Fire 10. TICKETMASTER FLEECES: PEARL JAM AND FANS FIGHT 11. RADIO STATION LAUNCHES ZOOMIN' NEWSLETTER 12. POEMS Announcements, Events, etc. 13. PEACEFEST RETURNS! AUGUST 6-7 ON CRICKET HILL IN CHICAGO 14. 'WHY I WANTED TO JOIN THE NOC': ONE WOMAN'S STORY 15. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE +----------------------------------------------------------------+ JUSTICE TRAMPLED ARKANSAS PLANS TRIPLE EXECUTION Several weeks ago, the state of Arkansas executed two people on the same day. Now Arkansas plans to execute three men on August 3 in order to "save money" and "relieve stress on prison staff." Is this what America has become? What has happened to the nation which Abraham Lincoln once called the "last best hope on earth"? Today, there are over one million people in prison in the United States. These people did not fail America -- the system failed them. The rulers of this country have tossed millions of us into the unemployment and welfare lines, into prison and onto Death Row. Since these rulers can't end the growing hunger and misery in this country, they push "three strikes and you're out" laws -- and arrange three executions on the same day. If we allow the weapon of mass execution to be introduced into America, where will it end? It won't be the sons and daughters of the ruling class who die in groups. The needles carrying lethal injections of poison will pierce the arms only of poor and unrepresented people. It's time to speak out now -- not just against the judicial massacre being planned in Arkansas but against the entire direction in which our rulers are taking this country. For more information, see story 4. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 1. GUEST EDITORIAL: MEXICO'S NEW REVOLUTION By Arturo Santamaria Gomez With its extraordinary handling of the media, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) gained an important victory in the changing political process that Mexico has been undergoing since January 1994. In today's world, to be successful in politics or to obtain massive support, you need favorable coverage of the national and international media. This is particularly true with revolutionary movements. Since the fall of Eastern Europe and the dismantling of the USSR, a lot of political analysts and journalists see these movements as things of the past. Without the support of what was once the first socialist country in the world, and without the possibility of getting the support of China, which is hooked into the global capitalist economy, the revolutionary post-Soviet movements can only seek the support and involvement of their own societies and the solidarity of the world's people. The means to achieve this is not just through propaganda, but through the truth, the revolutionary truth. The Zapatistas have gained the sympathy and the support of millions of Mexicans because they speak the truth in a new language and, at the same time, they have rooted themselves deeply in the history of the poor. The cultural vision of the Indians of Southern Mexico has created a new model, a distinct form of revolutionary politics. The apparent paradox is that the most exploited and forgotten social sector, the "pre-modern" of Mexico, the indigenous people of Chiapas, were the ones who knew how to utilize the massive means of communication far better than any other revolutionary movement. The Zapatistas' ideological attractiveness and charm lies in their bringing together their historical roots, their language and a political strategy distinctly their own, fresh and undogmatic. Without a doubt, the mass acceptance of the Zapatistas lies in the fact that they don't speak in the name of the poor. They are, in fact, the poor speaking, the exploited speaking in their own language about justice, liberty and democracy. As of July, the Zapatistas had fought in only four towns in the state of Chiapas. Nonetheless, through the media, they have extended their influence ideologically and politically to other sectors of the population that support and follow them. In fact, a great civil movement has been built around the Zapatistas by other groups and other small movements of students, peasants, Indians, women, intellectuals and artists, squatters, Christians, etc. This great movement led by the EZLN aims to become a political force that relies on the electoral process due to explode August 21. The Zapatistas are fighting so that the present political crisis in Mexico, which is going through the presidential elections, has a revolutionary way out. This can be no other way than the defeat of the Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI) and the National Action Party (PAN), the conservative opposition party. Yet the electoral defeat of the Mexican political system, controlled by the PRI-government, does not mean a de facto political defeat. A great struggle is necessary to get the PRI- government to submit. Any Mexican knows this. Meanwhile, the EZLN is preparing the political conditions and, if necessary, the military conditions, to confront the government outside of the electoral process. Even though the EZLN strongly criticized the organization and political practice of the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD), the party led by Cuauhtemoc Cardenas is, in fact, the main partisan ally of the Zapatistas. The only really immediate alternative that the EZLN has is a revolutionary practice of a new type which inspires confidence, so that together they can fight for democracy, justice and peace. ****************************************************************** 2. CALIFORNIA STATE BUDGET IS A CRIME AGAINST THE POOR STATE POLITICIANS BELIEVE POOR KIDS ARE ALL POTENTIAL CRIMINALS By The Women's Economic Agenda Project OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA -- Renee Pecot, program assistant of the Women's Economic Agenda Project (WEAP), called the media spectacle of the O. J. Simpson hearings a "show trial of the rich" masking the real crimes in California -- hunger, poverty, homelessness. These crimes against the poor are on the increase as a result of the state's budget cuts. "The budget cuts of 2.3 percent to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the aged, blind, and disabled will penalize people who are already on the brink of starvation and homelessness," said Pecot. Only $4,000 per child per year is spent on education, while the state willingly pays $36,000 for a youth in juvenile hall per year, and $43,000 per adult inmate. "The ongoing shift from education and social service programs to law enforcement is a clear indication that politicians of this state, Democratic and Republican, regard all our children as potential criminals," said Renee Pecot. "If even one-third of the financial resources spent on law enforcement and imprisonment were used for education, jobs and housing, our communities would not be dealing with the social problems of long-term unemployment, illiteracy and poverty with their devastating consequences." In a statement by WEAP members Jean Sealy and Ethel Lawyer, they write, "Governor Pete Wilson continues to blame the poor for the budget deficit problems. With each of Pete's new ÔSave our State' proposals, children suffer and families are torn apart as tax dollars are funneled to pay for the ÔThree Strikes You're Out.' "So who does he want to save the state for? Is it the growers, garment manufacturers and other companies who keep immigrants coming by employing hundreds of thousands of them at illegal wages to do backbreaking labor? Is it the corporations that get tax breaks, interest-free bonds and billions of dollars in Ôwelfare to the wealthy'? Or is it for the fastest expanding industry in the nation -- law enforcement? "The truth is that all the welfare and services to the poor amount to only six percent of the state budget. All of Pete's proposals together are a drop in the bucket compared to the billions spent in Ôwelfare to the rich' and destruction of intact families." The Women's Economic Agenda Project rejects the welfare reform policies of both President Clinton and Governor Wilson. The answer to poverty is to put more money into keeping families intact so they can thrive. You can contact WEAP at 510-451-7379. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 'If even one-third of the financial resources spent on law enforcement and imprisonment were used for education, jobs and housing, our communities would not be dealing with the social problems of long-term unemployment, illiteracy and poverty, with their devastating consequences.' -- Renee Pecot +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 3. WELFARE MOTHERS: USE YOUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH! By Jan Lightfoot HINCKLEY, Maine -- Why do welfare mothers suffer in silence? Being poor in and of itself should not be a cause for shame! When Christ roamed the land, he was not concerned with acquiring earthly wealth. Other spiritual leaders, such as Buddha, did not acquire economic riches. Such is not a cause for shame. In fact, in the time of the knights, the poor were thought to have been "the Messengers of God" until the numbers of poor increased. Then meanspiritedness overtook the others. In that time, the nobles and the merchants blamed all their pain on the peasants. In a far-gone past, those who lived in poverty lacked any means to tell other folks that their meager survival could not possibly cause harm to those who were above them. Today, even the poor have a right to express themselves. One place of expression is the "Letters to the Editor" column. Someone living in poverty is free to utilize their "freedom of speech." They are free to inform others of the conditions under which they exist. Welfare mothers can tell the middle classes of the government's unfairness in providing a check which fails to cover the price of the rent, then calls her a cheat and fraud when she supplements her income to clothe her child. Those who do not live under these inferior conditions can only guess what it must be like. Please, working poor and welfare mothers, lower-middle classes, tell the others what life is like for you. Use your freedom of speech to inform. Write as if you were writing to a good friend. Simply write about your life, your hopes and your inability to make these dreams into a reality. Send that letter to the editor. ****************************************************************** 4. ARKANSAS TO EXECUTE 3 MEN IN ONE DAY 'THE MORE WE ERASE THE IDENTITIES OF THE CONDEMNED, THE EASIER IT IS TO EXPAND THEIR NUMBERS' By Anthony D. Prince LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas -- To "relieve stress on prison staff" and "save money," the state of Arkansas plans to lethally inject three men on the same day. The scheduled August 3 execution of Hoyt Clines, Darryl Richley and James Holmes, all convicted of the same crime, has deepened the raging debate over the death penalty in America. The idea that death sentences should be carried out in "money- saving" ways is a cruel joke. The cost of prosecuting, convicting, incarcerating and, finally, executing prisoners in the United States exceeds that of imposing a life term. The idea of streamlining executions to relieve prison staff "stress" is something one might find in the records of a Nazi death camp. By executing three prisoners at once, attention is shifted away from the individual circumstances of the condemned. The details of what may or may not have happened to land a person on Death Row -- whether they were properly represented (90 percent of all capital offenders were not); whether all the evidence was examined (in Texas, state law forbids introduction of any new evidence 30 days after trial); whether the condemned was judged by a jury free of racial bias (the overwhelming majority of convicts were not) -- all these issues are disregarded. The discussion moves instead to the most "efficient" way for the state to kill people. Take a look at Death Row. You'll find only the poor, the minority, the undefended, the defiant and the helpless. Once the state of Arkansas can kill people in a group, it will be easier to execute entire groups of people. The more we erase the identities of the condemned, the easier it becomes to expand their numbers. That is the aim of the proposed federal crime bill, a measure that adds 66 new crimes to the list of those punishable by death and would permit the execution of 13-year-olds. During his 1992 presidential campaign, then-Governor Bill Clinton left California to return to Little Rock and sign the death order for a severely retarded African American man. "They can't say I'm not tough on crime," said candidate Clinton, looking up from his desk and smiling. One wonders if Clinton heard about what happened July 5 in his home state. On that day, a federal appeals court ordered a resentencing hearing for condemned prisoner Darrel Wayne Hill, ruling that his attorneys had failed to produce evidence of severe mental illness. There will be no similar ruling for the man Clinton ordered killed. In the last few years, national attention has been focused on exactly who it is we are executing in this country. Cases such as Gary Graham's in neighboring Texas and the disproportionate number of minorities and poor and mentally ill people on Death Row have raised real questions in the minds of millions of Americans. What the state of Arkansas plans to do August 3 is counteract this re- thinking with a horrible exhibition of efficient, state-sponsored murder. Don't let them get away with it. We urge our readers to protest the triple execution planned by the state of Arkansas. Contact Governor Jim Guy Tucker at 501-682- 2345. Also contact the Arkansas Death Penalty Resource Center at 501-663-1440. ****************************************************************** 5. THE CONSCIENCE OF AMERICA By Dino Lewis LOS ANGELES -- Since the beginning of this society, people have watched this great white monster called America destroy and kill men, women and children in almost every country in the world. In every war since the Great Rebellion of 1766, these mass murderers, rapers and destroyers of human rights called the American army have been turned into heroes and sometimes even presidents, from General George Washington, who they say never told a lie, right down to the generals of the Persian Gulf War. While they were turning these great white fathers into heroes, they were creating monsters out of the good people whom the land really belonged to. History showed us what they did to the Native Americans and what they reduced their great warriors to. This process began with propaganda and outright lies telling of the animal-like red people and their savage ways. Then a full-scale attack on the very people they proclaim to be monsters by word of mouth and their mass media began. But one thing is sure, when a monster gives birth, it can only give birth to another monster. Let's take a good look at this process as it now takes place on the streets of America today. One by one, they are turning our black role models into wicked black monsters. Those that couldn't be tormented, intimidated and turned on their own people, they just kill, like Dr. King, Malcolm X and other great black leaders that were uncontrollable. This year, we sit and watch them turn one of the most harmless black mentors in the world into a sex maniac and a child molester. As we have also watched them over the years turn our young black future into dope dealers, gang members and killers. Between the L.A. 4, Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson, black people have received more bad media coverage than all of the mass murders in history. Wake up, America! The Cold War is over and the attack on those people who are no longer useful to the great moneychangers of this country has begun. The poor, the unemployed and those on welfare are under heavy fire and a full-scale struggle for our very lives is on. As you can see on TV and read in the newspapers, in this war there is no discrimination, no color lines like black, white or brown. If you are poor and unemployed, or on welfare, you had better know your enemy and have an army that is willing to fight for you. Or you will die on the streets, or in a prison cell like the common criminal or monster that America has proclaimed you to be. Now let me introduce you to a growing army and nationwide struggle for the lives of all people. An army formed by the leaders of grassroots organizations all over the nation. Leaders that have come together as one to fight every injustice that exists. It's called the National Organizing Committee (NOC). Be a part of this struggle or die alone. For if you're not a part of that five percent that receives 65 percent of the wealth in America, or one of their paid killers or flunkies and do not belong to the poor people's movement, you are truly alone. [Dino Lewis is a member of the Survival Committee of the NOC and is available to speak through the People's Tribune Speakers Bureau.] ****************************************************************** 6. SANTA CRUZ PHOTO ESSAY (SANS PHOTOS) SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA -- This picturesque city by the sea has been the site of waves of protest against a series of laws being passed to harass homeless and hungry people. The demonstrators in these photos are protesting city ordinances that make it illegal for people to sit on the sidewalk, ask for a dime or a cigarette. [Compiled from information sent to us by Lighthouse Linda of Housing NOW! in Santa Cruz.] +----------------------------------------------------------------+ [PHOTO 1] The end of December 1993 and the New Year: here's a pic of the "World Peace Vigil," and its "Sleep Crime in Progress." These new ordinances were passed in response to pressure from downtown merchants, who felt this display (again, at a corner of a vacant lot) was the last straw. (In the background: FEMA dollars for the earthquake bought a museum and offices, which remain vacant while the homeless sleep in the streets.) +----------------------------------------------------------------+ [PHOTO 2] A crowd of predominantly young people as they turned against police officers following 33 arrests of people who staged a sit-in in May. This crowd pushed the remaining police officers off the parking lot shortly after those put in paddy wagons were driven off. The police responded with violence. Newspapers in Santa Cruz made no mention of this. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ [PHOTO 3] After hitting a homeless man in the legs and knocking him down, the officer (left) ordered his V-formation of retreating police trainees to turn around and trample over the now-unconsicous man. When the man went to the hospital the next day because his ribs still hurt, instead of being greeted by the emergency room doctor, he was taken from the exam room table and arrested. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 7. BLACK LIBERATION STRUGGLES CELEBRATED IN UTAH By Brother Malik SALT LAKE CITY -- The black population here is only about 15,000, but hundreds of black and other Utahns turned out to celebrate African Liberation Day and Juneteenth. On May 27, the National Organizing Committee (NOC) sponsored Utah's first African Liberation Day celebration. Amidst the food, festivity, and fun, all acknowledged the serious situation facing both African and African American people. There were speakers from the NOC, the African National Congress, the Student Anti-Apartheid Coalition and other groups. They pointed out the challenges of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, disease, and police brutality facing people on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. On June 18 and 19, a community-wide coalition of organizations held its annual "Juneteenth Heritage Festival" in Ogden, just outside Salt Lake City. While the "freeing of the slaves" was celebrated, all understood that we continue to face dangerous times. Speakers from the NOC, the African National Congress and a host of community organizations identified the continued grievances and demands of our people. The decline of the railroad and mining industries has thrown Utahns, especially blacks, into service jobs and unemployment. Blacks in Utah and across the country understand that we are in a life-and-death fight for survival. As we celebrate past battles, let us prepare to fight those ahead. ****************************************************************** 8. CHICAGO PUBLIC HOUSING SCANDAL PROVES VINCE LANE MUST GO! CHICAGO -- Vince Lane, the head of the Chicago Housing Authority, and the other people who run this country can't come up with the solutions to our problems because they are the problem. While the Chicago police are sweeping away the dignity and constitutional rights of public housing residents, the CHA scandal shows who the real criminals are: the managers and contractors who stole nearly $30 million, the officials who allowed it, and the government that houses people in prison-like conditions in the first place. The federal government made this mess out of public housing by giving billions of dollars to private developers and letting them take their money and run. Don't let Vince Lane get the government off the hook. Let's hold the government responsible -- and force it to do right! Vince Lane's most important weapon is our lack of unity. Don't let Lane and the powers that rule this country confuse us and divide us over personal or petty issues. Let's force the Vince Lanes of this city and this country to do right or move out of the way. Let's unite on the solution! Whether it's the problems in Chicago's public housing or any other problems in this country, the solutions start with meeting the needs of people at the bottom, not with guaranteeing profits for real estate developers and building contractors. The People's Campaign for Jobs, Housing and Food will host a rally on July 23. The National Organizing Committee (NOC) supports this and all efforts to unite all the fighters for a real solution to the problem. Our government is turning from neglect to attack -- police murder and imprisonment of the youth, immigration raids, forced sterilization, executions and other forms of terror. Residents of Chicago's public housing have been thrown out of work and neglected by the government. They are now terrorized by the police, prisons and unconstitutional rules, regulations and sweeps. The National Organizing Committee is an organization of those who will not and cannot accept this death and destruction.. We are an organization of front-line fighters and crusaders against this system of injustice. Look for us at the rally on July 23. Use our newspapers -- the People's Tribune and the Tribuno del Pueblo -- to tell your story, to educate and to unite your fight. Join us. For more information, contact the National Organizing Committee at 312-486-0028 or the People's Tribune at 312-486-3551. ****************************************************************** 9. DEADLY FORCE: SHOULD STEALING $151 MEAN LIFE IN PRISON? PRISONER ANALYZES "THREE STRIKES YOU'RE OUT" LAWS +----------------------------------------------------------------+ "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. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ By Paul Wright [Editor's note: Below we print the second part of an article by a prisoner in Washington state analyzing the "three strikes and you're out" laws. These laws require people convicted of their third felony to be sentenced to either very long prison sentences or life imprisonment.] MONROE, Washington -- About nine hours after California's "three strikes and you're out" law went into effect March 7, Charles Bentely was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with the crime that could send him to prison for 25 years without parole: a 50- cent robbery. Donnell Dorsey, 37, is also looking at his "third strike" -- for sitting in a stolen truck. In March, Samuel Page became the first person in the United States to be convicted and sentenced under a "three strikes" law. He pleaded guilty in Seattle. About 15 people in Washington state have been charged with a qualifying "third strike." According to the latest report by the Washington Sentencing Guidelines Commission, in fiscal year 1993, there were 204 defendants who would have qualified as "three strikes" defendants had the statute been in effect at the time. (The law took effect December 2, 1993.) On April 15, 1994, Larry Fisher, 35, was convicted of his "third strike" in Snohomish County Superior Court in Washington. He will be sent to prison for the rest of his life. Fisher was convicted of putting his finger in his pocket, pretending it was a gun and robbing a sandwich shop of $151. An hour later, police officers arrested him at a bar a block away while he was drinking a beer. Fisher's two prior "strikes" involved stealing $360 from his grandfather in 1986 and then robbing a pizza parlor of $100. The take from Fisher's criminal career totals $611; he has never harmed anyone. How much will society pay to protect itself from this $611 loss? On average, it costs $54,209 to build one prison bed space and $20-30,000 per year to house one prisoner. (The costs are higher if financing and related costs are factored in.) If Larry Fisher lives to be 70, the total cost will be about one million dollars. Is society really getting its money's worth? Using the Sentencing Commission's figures as a base, let's assume 200 defendants a year will be sentenced for a "third strike" in Washington state alone. That allows us to calculate a need for 200 prison beds a year. Because those sentenced each year will never get out, the number of people in prison will continue to grow. Within 10 years, they will occupy at least 2,000 prison beds. The average prison in Washington holds about 800 prisoners. At the same time that Washington voters passed the "three strikes" measure called Initiative 593 in November 1993, they also passed Initiative 601, which limited the ability of the legislature and governor to raise taxes. All tax increases are now tied to population growth and must be approved by voters. This will present something of a contradiction in coming years. Voters want to lock everyone up for the rest of their lives, but do they want to pay for it? More importantly, can they pay for it? Stagnant economic growth (itself a leading cause of crime) results in a smaller tax base from which to pay for more prisons. There is a lot wrong with these "three strikes" laws. Aside from the fact that only poor people will bear their brunt, there is the matter of proportionality. Everyone has heard the term "an eye for an eye." The original meaning of that expression was that punishment should be proportionate to the offense. If someone's cow wandered into your pasture, your village did not destroy the village of the cow's owner. Does stealing $151 merit a sentence of life in prison? Is 50 cents worth 25 years? [To be continued.] [Paul Wright is the co-publisher of Prison Legal News, which can be obtained by writing P.O. Box 1684, Lake Worth, Florida 33460.] ****************************************************************** 10. TICKETMASTER FLEECES: PEARL JAM AND FANS FIGHT +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 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. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ By Scott Pfeiffer O.K., so Frederick D. Rosen, CEO of Ticketmaster, the nation's number one ticket distributing agency, with annual sales of $1.3 billion, is not a censor. But his company does keep us from jamming to the music we love, live. This is an economic problem. Fans without money to burn are excluded from shows by the surcharges and fees TM heaps onto tickets. You pay a "convenience" fee (typically around 30 percent of the ticket price) for each ticket, not per order. Chuck Philips of the L.A. Times has likened this to a supermarket charging you a "convenience" fee on a gallon of milk, for saving you a drive to the dairy. Phone customers pay a $1.55 processing fee. It all adds up to boost the cost of the average three-ticket order by over twenty dollars. And that's in addition to the facility fee, and before you pay for parking! I called TM for a Dylan ticket recently. When I got to the venue, TM had "conveniently" failed to show up. When they did, after I'd already spent a half hour watching fans who'd paid less file into the theater, I ended up standing in a long line of pissed phone customers to get my ticket. What is worse, "Ticketshafter" manipulates its shift schedules in such a way that its employees, mostly poor black women, can't rack up enough hours to earn full-time status. This way the company can deprive them of health insurance. As Bob Herbert writes in the February 14 New York Times, "This is clearly another example of a company prospering while its employees are condemned to a frustrating and nerve-wracking fight for subsistence." Ever since TM killed their summer tour as surely as any censor could, Pearl Jam, one of our most uncompromising bands, has been fighting back. Pearl Jam insisted on a cheap ticket with a "convenience" fee of no more than 10 percent. Fred Rosen said no way. And because TM has contracts with facilities and promoters guaranteeing that no one else can distribute tickets to events, the threat of lawsuits sunk the tour. In response, Pearl Jam on May 6 caused Sullivan & Cromwell, a pre- eminent anti-trust firm, to file a memorandum with the Justice Department's anti-trust division. Bass player Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard testified at a Congressional hearing on July 7. In the band's Seattle hometown, Pearl Jam fans have become a force, filing a class action consumer anti-trust suit against TM. Pearl Jam's audience is aware of the irresponsibility of passivity, and given how often this band has stood up for us, including on the issue of freedom of expression, it's up to us to think about how we can get busy. Specifically, how can band and fans ally themselves with poor TM employees? ****************************************************************** 11. RADIO STATION LAUNCHES ZOOMIN' NEWSLETTER Special to the People's Tribune LOS ANGELES -- Zoom Black Magic Radio, a Fresno-based radio pioneer, has just published the first issue of Zoomin'. This newsletter describes "our other voice to the world." Zoomin' asks the question: "Why is the government so scared of unlicensed radio?" and answers it this way: "Zoom Black Magic and other unlicensed broadcasters are under constant attack by the government for one simple reason: The fact that you can spend $150 and put a radio station on the air that will put you on a par with people who spend millions of dollars. That is one big no-no in this corrupt system. You might be able to contradict the lies the government puts out through the mainstream media. They can't afford to have that." Zoomin' also describes the long and exciting history of Zoom Black Magic, explains the origins of the Federal Communications Commission, and ends with a battle cry: "Underground radio is going to be very big and you should be part of it! If you don't have a million dollars to buy a broadcast license, just scrape together a couple hundred dollars and drive over to Radio Shack to get your gear!" For a free copy of Zoomin', write to Zoom at 8 Kaviland Street, Fresno, California 93706. ****************************************************************** 12. POEMS OUR NEW TURF Give me death If I ever regret My Latino tongue Not Hispanic I'm not from Spain Latin American Caribbean island Where I was born Tanned complexion Kinky hair Congas and trompetas Singing in my hands Along with crying guitarras Strings from my hair Our sacred skin Grinning eyes Dancing thighs Around salsa Merengue streets Surviving Away from home "Concrete Jungle" Never a substitute For our parents' land - Ariel T. Perez Jacksonville, Florida CONFERENCE OF THE LONELY Dragging their hopelessness, In beat-up tow bags, Into early morning, The homeless gather around, Await the opening of the Public Library. Closer and closer, To the doors of questions, That pull curiosity to the top of shelves, Catalogs of blank cards. Searching, For why seclusion, Has labeled them, On the shadows of cardboard boxes. - Ariel T. Perez Jacksonville, Florida ****************************************************************** 13. PEACEFEST RETURNS! AUGUST 6-7 ON CRICKET HILL IN CHICAGO HELP SPREAD THE WORD! By The Chicago Peace And Music Festival 1994 CHICAGO -- We are proud to announce that the Sixth Chicago Peace and Music Festival (a.k.a. Peacefest) is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, August 6 and 7, from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. Participants include not-for-profit organizations, hundreds of entertainers, poets and vendors of healthy foods, clothing, jewelry, arts and crafts, etc. Like the familiar Earth Day environmental celebrations, the Peacefest is an awareness campaign. We are also concerned with humanitarian and social issues. The Peacefest unites all these efforts under one banner by inviting all organizations to set up tables at the fest and reach the public directly. The Peacefest will happen in the usual place, on the north side of Cricket Hill. This is located in Chicago's Lincoln Park between Wilson Avenue and Montrose Avenue, east of Lake Shore Drive. Peacefest is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation dedicated to making people aware of environmental, social and humanitarian issues through the universal media of music and the arts. Call Bill Jenkins at 312-252-9150 for more information or write Peacefest, P.O. Box 47709, Chicago, Illinois 60647-7409. ****************************************************************** 14. 'WHY I WANTED TO JOIN THE NOC': ONE WOMAN'S STORY By Rosemary Williams BOSTON -- When you can look around you every day and see the by- products of joblessness, helplessness and hopelessness, it is very easy to see why people turn to drugs and other forms of false euphoria. In the same breath, if you can look around and see the despair and not want to become part of a positive struggle for hope, then your eyes have not been opened to the true reality of America -- a society destined to cripple the masses, not give them an advantage. In a capitalist system such as ours, where people are given access to a piece of the pie based on their ability to afford that meager piece, it is no wonder that the poor, homeless, disadvantaged, unemployed, etc. will not be eating much pie. As a matter of fact, most don't even know what the pie looks like. Can we continue to turn our heads to the injustices we see? Is it our social responsibility to fight for small things like a decent wage, health care and housing? I say it is and we must! A decent wage -- we must demand it! As a single mother, I must confess to being necessitous. I live every day, like many others, with the threat of not having a home for my children or health care when we are sick. These are the worries of many families who live every week from paycheck to paycheck, knowing if they fall behind it is almost impossible to catch up and pay up. It is evidenced in the streets of every city, in the working homeless, that a job does not guarantee a home. I see the fight, I hear the battle cry starting as a low moan toward a rumble within the army. Housing is a basic necessity, one that everyone has a right to. Why then boarded-up houses and homeless people? Why then children living on the streets? Why then are we not all sheltered? One of life's little anomalies? I think not! Stripping the boards and moving in a homeless family, getting thrown out by the police, coming back and moving the family in again, starting the process over, again and again, until they understand -- we will house our people! Now that would be an anomaly, a social responsibility and a small, low moan towards the rumble within the army. Health care, as told to me by one of my friends without any, is for the rich and healthy, not for the poor and sick. This seems to be the consensus of many uninsured, but, thankfully, not of the warriors for justice. I think we should write our own health plan that goes a little like this: Health Plan -- If you are sick, you go to the doctor/hospital and get treated, for it is your right to be well! To deny ourselves our basic rights is to deny ourselves the freedoms to which we are entitled: a decent wage, housing and health care. These are the things that the warriors for justice are chanting all across the country: a decent wage! housing! and health care! Americans living in the land of opportunity! "I hear a rumbling ..." (MWA) and I know it is the army gathering forces for the fight. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The National Organizing Committee (NOC) is a fighting organization. When homeless activists seize empty buildings, look for us. The NOC will be there. When the unemployed fight for jobs, look for us. The NOC will be there. When the victims of police state brutality speak out to expose injustice, listen for us. The NOC will be part of the chorus. We are revolutionary fighters from every battlefront. Our mission is to forge the revolutionary force necessary to destroy this capitalist system, a system of poverty and injustice. We are an organization that believes the poor and exploited people can be educated, organized and inspired to rise up in our millions. We want to create a new system based on justice and economic prosperity for everyone. ___ I want to join the NOC ___ Please send me the NOC program, information on speakers and samples of NOC publications ___ I want to make a monthly donation to the NOC of $_____ Name____________________________________________________________ Address_________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip__________________________________________________ National Organizing Committee, P.O. Box 477113, Chicago, IL 60647 (312) 486-0028 +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 15. 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. (312) 486-3551. ****************************************************************** We encourage reproduction and use of all articles except those copyrighted. Please credit the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE depends on donations from its readers -- your generosity is appreciated. ******************************************************************