From jdav@mcs.com Date: Wed, 3 Aug 94 10:58 CDT From: James Davis To: pt.dist@umich.edu Subject: People's Tribune (Online Edition) 8-8-94 ****************************************************************** People's Tribune (Online Edition) Vol. 21 No. 32 / August 8, 1994 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 Email: jdav@igc.org ****************************************************************** INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition) Vol. 21 No. 32 / August 8, 1994 FRONT PAGE STORY FOLLOWS INDEX Editorial 1. EVEN SOME JUDGES OPPOSE CALIFORNIA'S '3 STRIKES' LAW Focus on ASSEMBLY OF CARIBBEAN NATIONS Meeting, Aug 19-21 2. ASSEMBLY OF CARIBBEAN NATIONS TO MEET AUG. 19 - 21 3. RACISM, VIOLENCE MAR DOMINICAN ELECTIONS 4. INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY KEY TO RESOLVING DOMINICAN CRISIS Focus on TALKING WELFARE REFORM Conference, Washington, DC 5. 300 DELEGATES ATTEND WASHINGTON WELFARE REFORM CONFERENCE 6. WELFARE ADVOCATES AND RECIPIENTS CAN GO ON THE OFFENSIVE! 7. KENTUCKY WELFARE ACTIVIST: 'THE WELFARE MOTHER IS THE SCAPEGOAT OF AMERICAN SOCIETY' News 8. CHICAGO: LATHROP HOMES RESIDENTS RALLY TO OPPOSE CHA'S PLANS TO DESTROY PUBLIC HOUSING Deadly Force 9. THE THREE STRIKES LAW: WE CAN'T MAKE SOCIAL POLICY BY USING BASEBALL SLOGANS 10. LAWYER WRITES TO U.N. OFFICE ABOUT FRAME-UP OF TEXAS MAN Culture Under Fire 11. 'ROCK OUT CENSORSHIP' CALLS FOR DEFEAT OF CENSORSHIP BILL IN PENNSYLVANIA 12. POEM: CORRUPTED JUSTICE Announcements, Events, etc. 13. HELP SEND THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE AND TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO TO THE MEXICAN ELECTIONS 14. NEW WAYS TO CARRY THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE MESSAGE 15. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE +----------------------------------------------------------------+ A DESPERATE MOTHER GIVES UP HER 3 KIDS IS THIS WHAT AMERICA HAS BECOME? TEMPE, Arizona -- Cathy Nichols, 22, is homeless. Unable to provide for her three children, she took them to the local police. This was a desperate act by a desperate mother. What is wrong with America? Nothing, if we blame this mother for not being able to feed and house her young ones; nothing, if we see her situation as an isolated case. Everything, if we see that millions of Americans find themselves in the same desperate situation as Cathy Nichols. Seventeen million Americans will lose their jobs in 1994. They will join the 82 million people already in poverty. Yet this is not the same America that the rich and famous know. In June, Forbes magazine reported that there are now 120 fortunes worth more than $251 billion combined. Today, there are two Americas. Cathy Nichols lives in one. In the other America, the Walton dynasty, worth $23.6 billion, dwells in loathsome luxury. This gap between rich and poor is the heart of what's wrong in America. Did this class of billionaires make their fortunes legally? It all depends from which point of view you see America. During slavery, the slave master argued that the profits he obtained from the sale of slave children were obtained legally. This same slave master argued that raping a slave woman was also legal. So, he argued, was working his slaves to death. After all, didn't he own them? Yet from the point of view of the slave, the atrocities of slavery were not only illegal, they were immoral. So, while the slave master viewed the exploitation of the slaves as a mere "business transaction," this "business" moved the slave to rebellion. The same applies today. From the capitalist's point of view, those billionaires obtained their wealth legally, through mere "business transactions." But from the point of view of those of us who have been left in poverty, the billionaires' fortunes were obtained at the expense of our blood, sweat and tears. Consequently, all is not quiet in America. The rumblings of rebellion, oh so soft but yet so strong, can be heard everywhere. These rumblings have begun with people like Cathy Nichols, whether they realize it or not. What Cathy Nichols did was an act of rebellion against an economic system that has left her jobless and homeless. It will be the Cathy Nicholses who will unite to replace this poverty-polluting America with an economic system that will distribute society's wealth according to need -- not according to how much wealth an individual has taken from the people. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 1. EDITORIAL: EVEN SOME JUDGES OPPOSE CALIFORNIA'S '3 STRIKES' LAW In California, the "three strikes and you're out" law has been drawing boos from the courtroom benches. -- In early July, a northern California judge ruled that a defendant's two prior felony convictions should be dropped. The defendant was accused of stealing a beer from a convenience store. -- On July 4, a judge in San Diego reduced a petty theft charge against a 58-year-old man to a misdemeanor, saying it would be unconstitutional to apply "three strikes" to his case. -- On July 18, a judge in Santa Rosa refused to sentence a man convicted of the "third strike" of possessing a marijuana joint while he was in jail to a prison term of 25 years to life. Instead, the judge gave the man a sentence of four years. -- On July 21, a judge in Sacramento struck down a key part of the state's case against a homeless man accused of stealing a wallet as his "third strike." One of the man's prior convictions was not actually a felony, as the state claimed, but a misdemeanor. California's "three strikes" law, signed March 7 by Gov. Pete Wilson, calls for a prison sentence of 25 years to life for any felony committed by a person who has been convicted twice before of a serious felony. This law was rushed into the books following intense publicity over the murder last year of 12-year-old Polly Klaas. Ruling-class politicians -- right up to President Clinton -- thundered that an outraged public wanted a law that would put violent "career felons" behind bars for good. Today, "three strikes" laws are on the books in many states around the country, but they do not protect society from violent criminals. They protect wealth and property from the poor and propertyless. The "three strikes" concept is typical of the fascistic solutions put forward by the ruling class to the growing economic and social crisis. These laws throw together whole sections of this society which the rulers have always striven to keep disunited. At the same time, these same laws are causing splits in the very forces the rulers need to keep united. Some judges who may have found themselves on the same side as the police and prosecutors in the past now find themselves in contention with them. In the Santa Rosa case, Judge Lawrence Antolini told The Associated Press: "I'm just one lone voice crying out in the wilderness, so to speak, but I think someone has to cry out and point out to the public that there is an erosion of our Constitution that has to be addressed." These official breaks in the unity of the rulers' criminal injustice system are a welcome sight for the revolutionary movement, the movement of all those fighting to end poverty and to create a new society of abundance. There is a growing new class of people in America who are forced to fight for the things they need to survive. This class must fight for and win the power to impose its own solutions to the crisis, solutions based on common ownership of a new technology which is powerful enough to replace permanent poverty with permanent abundance for all. ****************************************************************** 2. ASSEMBLY OF CARIBBEAN NATIONS TO MEET AUG. 19 - 21 [The following is an excerpt from the call to the assembly.] People of the Caribbean -- Where do we find ourselves on the eve of the 21st century? How do the peoples of the Caribbean discuss our common preoccupations and aspirations and focus our energies towards a common agenda? During the last few years, a number of national and regional organizations under the initiative of the Oilfields Workers Trade Union of Trinidad and Tobago (OWTU) have been giving special attention to this question. From these dialogues comes the urgent necessity for a popular agenda for the sovereignty of the Caribbean and the well-being of our people, an agenda that establishes the popular vision of the region and how we can achieve our aspirations for a decent life and a just society. In the upcoming issues of the People's Tribune, we will carry a series of articles on the Caribbean. We begin with the Dominican Republic and will follow with articles on Haiti and Cuba. This series is in conjunction with the Assembly of Caribbean Nations taking place in Trinidad on August 19-21. ****************************************************************** 3. RACISM, VIOLENCE MAR DOMINICAN ELECTIONS [The following is excerpted from a longer statement issued in July by the Committee for the Advancement of Democracy in the Dominican Republic (CADDR), entitled "Policy Statement on Elections in the Dominican Republic." The CADDR is a nonpartisan group created to promote the growth of democracy in the Dominican Republic and throughout the Caribbean. CADDR urges the American people to convey to President Clinton, our local representatives and all U.S. policy makers our concern for democracy and the integrity of elections in this sister nation.] After a long, arduous and costly campaign marred by racism and violence, on May 16, the people of the Dominican Republic voted for the ninth consecutive time in the post-Trujillo era to elect their president, vice president, members of Congress and local representatives. The impressive voter turnout led many observers to believe this would be the culmination of the democratization process of this troubled nation. In the days that followed, these hopes for democracy turned to crushed expectations, as evidence of serious irregularities that affected the outcome of the elections accumulated. Such democratic infirmities are discrediting the electoral process as well as clearly undermining the trust in the democratic institutions within the Caribbean nation. The Preliminary Statement of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, a 26- member delegation of electoral observers, which included parliamentarians, political party leaders, regional specialists and election experts from ten countries, expressed their concern over democracy gone astray. The basis for the national and international indictment of this attempt to subvert the democratic will expressed in the polls are the many forms of electoral tampering that have been documented in that Caribbean nation. The list of electoral irregularities includes the following: 1) the elimination of the duly documented voters from the electoral lists; 2) the substitution of disenfranchised by other voters with the same ID number as the disenfranchised citizen, which affected an estimated five percent of the electorate; 3) dark-skinned Dominicans, particularly those residents of the border and the sugar mills, were prevented from voting by the allegation that they were Haitians; 4) candidates for office, including the Congress of the Dominican Republic, were prevented from voting because their names were not on the lists, although they were on the ballot. The American people cannot ignore recent events in the Dominican Republic. A growing number of our citizens and residents are of Dominican origin. Moreover, such excesses pose a serious threat to the U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere and democracy worldwide. Registered U.S. private investments in the Dominican Republic stand at $660 million and the U.S. accounts for almost 61 percent of Dominican exports. Furthermore, our hemispheric policy could be seriously jeopardized if the United States fails to support the democratization process in the Dominican Republic. President Clinton's foreign policy will be compromised before the upcoming elections in Mexico and Brazil. If democracy is the cornerstone of our foreign policy, we cannot remain passive when democratic rights are violated. It has taken a long time and it has cost too many lives to bring democracy to the Americas. We cannot go back to the days of dictatorships and military juntas. We strongly agree with Dr. Martin Luther King's exhortation to the nation: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." If democracy will survive and thrive in the Americas, the American people cannot remain silent before this attempt to subvert the democratic process in the Dominican Republic. [For more information, contact CADDR at 3123 Bailey Avenue, Suite 36, Bronx, N.Y.] ****************************************************************** 4. INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY KEY TO RESOLVING DOMINICAN CRISIS By Palmira N. Rios, Ph.D. [The following quote from Professor Palmira N. Rios, Ph.D. is a brief excerpt from a longer statement read at the "Briefing on the Elections in the Dominican Republic," held July 21 at the New School for Social Research in New York under the auspices of the World Policy Institute, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Committee for the Advancement of Democracy in the Dominican Republic.] International solidarity can be key to a fair, honest and viable resolution of the post-electoral crisis in the Dominican Republic. The sanctions imposed by the Organization of American States against Trujillo helped much to bring about the demise of his rule. The pressures exercised by the Carter administration in 1978 forced President Balaguer to accept electoral defeat. Today, we must uphold one of the principles of "Declaration of Santiago de Chile" (1950): "The governments of the American republics should result out of free elections." As the August 16 deadline for the inauguration of the president of the Dominican Republic rapidly approaches, the pressures for some resolution intensify: let's make sure the answer is in favor of democracy. If there is going to be a linkage between policies, it should be between development policies, democratization of the political system, and respect for human rights. ****************************************************************** 5. 300 DELEGATES ATTEND WASHINGTON WELFARE REFORM CONFERENCE By Leslie Willis WASHINGTON, D.C.--They traveled from every direction, like spokes in a wheel, to the hub of the welfare reform debate, Washington, D.C. Some 300 delegates arrived on July 17 to take part in the "Talking Welfare Reform" conference of welfare recipients and advocates on the Georgetown University campus. The recipients and most of the advocates were as hot as the summer weather outside about the ugly slurs aimed at poor women and their children and the punishing experiments being practiced on them in the name of "welfare reform." Even as they traveled the long miles home after the conference, Congress was preparing the steps to pass a welfare reform bill. A bill that will most likely exclude newborns from receiving aid and will kick the entire family off after two years if the mother cannot secure employment. The educated rulers of our country know that the expenses for poor women are a tiny part of the overall budget. None of them really believe they will solve the nation's problems by cutting off the thin lifelines these families are forced to hold onto. So what, then, is the reason for scapegoating welfare recipients? Someone must be blamed for poverty to hide the truth. And that truth is that we have an economic system that can't and won't employ all its people in decent-paying jobs. Depriving a generation of children of decent food, housing, education and medical care will not fix this problem. It's time for us to choose sides. Some people will be for starving and depriving, ridiculing and punishing. But the hope of the future lies in taking a stand for the well-being of all the people. This land we live on is rich in natural resources and we have the technology to create more than enough for everyone. What possible excuse can there be for poverty, other than that some people want to own more than they can possibly use, no matter what the cost in human suffering? We, the people of this country, must choose the vision we seek. Will this be a land of the ragged, the homeless, the starving and the sick? Or will it be one of equality, prosperity and hope? We can choose our destiny. Most of the participants at this conference are fighting for their only real option. What about you? ****************************************************************** 6. WELFARE ADVOCATES AND RECIPIENTS CAN GO ON THE OFFENSIVE! [Editor's note: The following is reprinted from the August calendar/newsletter of Women for Economic Security in Chicago. WES is an organization of current and former welfare recipients.] Eight of us from Women for Economic Security went to the Washington, D.C., conference "Talking Welfare Reform" July 17 and 18. Here are some initial ideas from the meeting. -- Too often, the welfare reform legislative efforts aren't in sync with the street/community organizing. It's up to our organizations (of welfare mothers) to know and put forward what welfare mothers think and want, and it's up to the welfare advocacy community to listen. -- Two-year limits mean increased control over poor women. Welfare reform as a whole is a smokescreen for an economic crisis which has reduced jobs, wages, health care, child care and other social services for many families, most of them not on welfare. If we look at this larger problem, we can unite with others to stop the attacks on welfare mothers. If not, we play into isolating welfare families to be "picked off." -- With allies, welfare advocates and recipients can go on the offensive instead of fighting defensively (and losing). Instead of debating whether poor parents are irresponsible, we can ask: Are you for feeding this nation's hungry children, or not? (Two-thirds of AFDC recipients are children.) No one is asking if rich parents are irresponsible! -- The welfare-to-work concept ignores the fact that welfare mothers work. First, they are raising children. Second, within three years of entering the system, 90 percent of all AFDC moms are working for a paycheck. But we're being handed welfare reform that punishes women for not working! -- Polls indicate that public opinion often blames welfare mothers for their situation, and politicians jump on this supposed "bandwagon." But public opinion is fickle and opinion polls each have their bias. In every successful movement in this country, controversy and polarization have ushered in change. We cannot let opinion polls be our limitations. If we hear that X percent of Americans are against us, let's lead those others who are with us and change some minds! ****************************************************************** 7. KENTUCKY WELFARE ACTIVIST: 'THE WELFARE MOTHER IS THE SCAPEGOAT OF AMERICAN SOCIETY' By Leslie Willis Welfare recipients and advocates from various organizations around the country met at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. on July 17-18 for a "Talking Welfare Reform" conference. At this conference, the People's Tribune interviewed Abbie Henry, director of Neighborhood House in Louisville, Kentucky. Originally from Pike County, Kentucky, Abbie Henry and her three children went on welfare after fleeing an abusive husband. Since becoming director of Neighborhood House, she has started a support and advocacy group for welfare recipients. Neighborhood House serves as a community center with a pre-school and after- school program for kids and evening programs for adolescents. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: What do you think of the welfare reform proposals being considered in Congress? ABBIE HENRY: I think that the present discussion on welfare reform, Clinton's package and a lot of the packages that our governors are putting together, are not really welfare reform at all. It seems to me that there is no desire whatsoever to try and reform the system. The main focus seems to be to try to reform the people who are on welfare, as though something were wrong with us. When you talk about two-year limits and when you talk about family caps ... I don't consider that welfare reform, I consider that insanity. Clinton's big phrase is "end welfare as we know it." Well, my experience with the general public and most of the media is that they don't know the welfare system. They want to end welfare as they think they know it, but their conception of what the system is like, and what people on welfare are like, is misguided and wrong. It's based on mythology and not facts. I'm interested in true welfare reform, which will provide women and children with a decent lifestyle, that will provide them with dignity, so that women can go out into the work force and earn a family wage and become truly self-sufficient. When you talk about "off the welfare rolls and back to work" -- what's missing from that discussion is work that will earn a family wage. Those jobs are not available without a lot of training, without post- secondary education degrees. When you talk about two-year limits, those things aren't possible. I think that the AFDC check should be seen as state-supplied child support, which is basically what it is. The father, for whatever reason, is not paying child support, so the mother and children are living in poverty, so they go to the state to get some money, which still leaves them in poverty and they're treated very disrespectfully. This society is destroying women's self-esteem and then saying, "go out and get a job." Ideally, to me, "women's work," raising children, would be considered work in the first place. Raising children is work. Raising children in poverty is more work. When I was on welfare and not working at all ... I got $365 in food stamps, a cash grant of $285 a month, and that's what we were supposed to live on. There are women on welfare who could be doctors and lawyers, there are women on welfare who could be our senators. There is probably a woman on welfare who'd be a hell of a lot better president than Clinton is. The key is to offer women the choices. Another thing that the present discussion of welfare reform does is make this incredible distinction between welfare mothers and the taxpayer. The fact is that most people on welfare are a lot like I am, they cycle in and out of the work force. I pay taxes; I'm paying taxes now. Most people on welfare work, several crises happen in their life, they end up on welfare, they're on welfare for awhile, they find another job, they work, they pay taxes, they end up back on welfare. This "us and them" mentality has got to stop. We need to see the welfare population as part of a population that's living in poverty, which most people in America are on the borderline of, anyway. If the kind of stereotypical statements that are made about people on welfare were made about blacks, were made about Native Americans or Latinos or Asian-Americans in good company, it would not be socially acceptable, but even very liberal-minded people will make slurs against people on welfare and it's accepted. Even our illustrious president, who would probably never say the "N" word in public, can make what I consider to be very demeaning stereotypical statements about people on welfare. Right now, way less than five percent of the federal budget is spent on AFDC. Welfare is not causing our budget crisis. It's a straw man that's put up to mask the real problems. You know, all this talk about welfare fraud, you could take all the welfare fraud in the nation and it wouldn't be a drop in the bucket of the fraud that went on with the S&L scandal. Who remembers the S&L scandal -- how much did that cost? If you can find a section of society that is defenseless, then it's just like the scapegoat in the Old Testament. The welfare mother is the scapegoat of American society right now. PT: And of course, that doesn't solve the crisis. As people are being pushed out of the manufacturing jobs, because of the technology, there has been nothing to take the place of these lost jobs. How are they going to absorb more people into the work force? AH: They can't. They're not thinking of long-term solutions. They're looking at quick fixes to make themselves look good. PT: There has been talk at this conference about a national guaranteed income. What do you think about that? AH: I think that's an excellent concept, but I don't think it's going to happen until we have a revolution. Big business is running this country. One percent of the population owns 90 percent of the wealth. No, it's not going to happen, because they're not going to give up one percent of their 90 percent, so where's the money going to come from? I think it is a beautiful idea. I also think that every American should work, because I think there's a job for everybody to do. I don't think they should be coerced into it, but I think if we had more of a true community in this country, then people would find their niche and there's plenty to be done. ****************************************************************** 8. CHICAGO: LATHROP HOMES RESIDENTS RALLY TO OPPOSE CHA'S PLANS TO DESTROY PUBLIC HOUSING By Rich Capalbo CHICAGO -- The People's Campaign for Jobs, Housing and Food held an organizing and information rally July 23 at Lathrop Homes, a North Side public housing site. The meeting was held to inform residents about the campaign to get rid of Chicago Housing Authority Chairman Vince Lane and to fight the plans to destroy or privatize much of Chicago's public housing and disperse the residents. The discussion at the meeting concluded that the many complaints, from poor maintenance to the corruption throughout CHA management, are all becoming tactics in the general plan to do away with public housing. On this page, we print statements and observations by some of the participating residents. Ruben Flores, a Lathrop resident off and on for 15 years: "There's nothing safe in these projects. The hallways are smelly and dirty. They don't use CHA money to fix anything, it seems." Pamela Williams: "CHA charges too much rent for the way they take care of this place. Also, there are homeless people that stay around the Lathrop office. ... There are apartments vacant here. That's wrong." Willy Williams, a CHA resident off and on for over 30 years: "They don't fix anything. There is one man for maintenance for hundreds of units here. I think they take our money and put it in their pockets. ... All that money missing; we'll pay for it. The poor always pay for it!" The shrine made by Adrian Coultier, thanking the Lord for giving him an apartment after being homeless. ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ "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. THE THREE STRIKES LAW: WE CAN'T MAKE SOCIAL POLICY BY USING BASEBALL SLOGANS By Paul Wright [Editor's note: Below we print the fourth and final 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 -- No laws will be passed making corruption by public officials, endangering the public health by corporations, etc. a "three strikes" offense. In 1989, the federal Sentencing Guidelines Commission was going to increase the penalties and punishment for corporations convicted of crimes, including making executives criminally liable. Corporate America promptly lobbied the commission and the U.S. Congress. These amendments never materialized. Unfortunately, poor people affected by "three strikes" laws don't command a voice that Congress or the media will listen to. The rich get richer; the poor get prison. Karl Marx once wrote that history repeats itself -- first as tragedy, then as farce. In 18th and 19th century England, people were hanged for offenses like pickpocketing, poaching, etc. In this country, many mandatory minimum sentences were repealed in the '60s and '70s as people realized they did not work and their only effect was to destroy what chance prisoners had to rebuild a life. Unfortunately, this repetition of history will not be farcical for those swept up by baseball slogans masquerading as social policy. The "three strikes" laws give the impression that most defendants had a chance to hit the ball the first few times. In reality, by the time most defendants step into a courtroom for the first time, they already have a couple of strikes against them: their class; alcohol and/or drug problems; illiteracy; joblessness; poverty; and, oftentimes, their race or a history of abuse. They've been striking out for a long time before they even get up to the plate. Assuming that a "three strikes" defendant has been to prison twice before he gets his third strike, it would seem only fair to receive a decent chance to get a hit or a home run. Instead, most prisoners go back to the same neighborhoods -- with the same poverty, joblessness, illiteracy and other problems -- from which they left, compounded by the brutalization and dehumanization inherent in the American prison experience of the 20th century. Right now, legislators and departments of corrections are endeavoring to "make prisons tougher" by eliminating what token vocational and rehabilitation programs exist. Combined with idleness, overcrowding, endemic violence, etc., a self-fulfilling prophecy is being created: more third-strikers. It's hard to get any wood on the ball under these conditions. Will things get any better? Georgia's governor is proposing a "two strikes and you're out" measure. California Gov. Pete Wilson, hot on the heels of signing "three strikes" into law, declared that California needs a "one strike" law for child molesters, arsonists and rapists. He called for a mandatory death penalty for murders committed during drive-by shootings or carjackings. It won't be long before they dispense with the wimpy "one strike" stuff and just go for the death penalty. [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. LAWYER WRITES TO U.N. OFFICE ABOUT FRAME-UP OF TEXAS MAN By Anthony D. Prince [Editor's note: Below we print an article about the case of Frank Navarro Cervantes. Convicted of a $48 robbery in 1981, Cervantes has spent more than a decade in prison. He has endured harassment, death threats, beatings and assassination attempts because of his refusal to bow down to prison authorities. On September 14, 1983, while confined in the Darrington Unit, a high-security Texas prison, Cervantes was assaulted by about 15 guards and prison officials. Cervantes suffered a coma and had to be flown by helicopter to a hospital in Galveston. Two prison officials were fired because of that incident and the warden was reprimanded. The U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted some of the officers who participated in the beating. Several of the defendants pled guilty to violating Cervantes' civil rights. Cervantes was convicted of two counts of assault on an officer of the Texas prison system in the incident and sentenced to 50 additional years in prison.] No matter how hard they try, they can't break Frank Cervantes. Originally incarcerated in Texas at the age of 17, Cervantes became a permanent thorn in the side of the Texas Department of Corrections at a time when a lawsuit by a prisoner brought national attention to that brutal prison system and put federal monitors inside it. At that time, a core of prisoners emerged who took the court's findings seriously and fought for change. "Frank Navarro Cervantes simply attempted to accept what had been written by the U.S. Federal Courts," wrote Rodolfo R. Munoz, Cervantes' attorney, in a letter to the Centre for Human Rights at the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland. "Our governmental authorities selectively destroy leaders (or Ôincipient/potential' leaders) such as Frank Navarro Cervantes." In his letter, Munoz blamed the federal courts for concealing the truth, including the fact that Cervantes was framed for allegedly attacking guards. The frame-ups have led to prison sentences for Cervantes totalling 50 years. "They covered their tracks," wrote Munoz, referring to prison and court personnel. "They filed perjured reports, planted a knife and all this is documented and written up in federal court." Munoz recounted what happened when Cervantes fought to maintain his independence and resist pressure to turn on his fellow inmates. "At perhaps about 5 p.m. on September 14, 1983, the Darrington Administration had resolved to Ôtake care' of Cervantes once and for all. It planned to permit a situation where the Inmate Gang could take him out ... or if that plan failed, do what was necessary to take Cervantes out themselves." Cervantes instead gained control of a section of the cell block and held it for 45 minutes. He was ready to surrender when "upwards of 15 officers armed with Riot Batons easily broke through the flimsy barricade" and "proceeded to vie with each other to violently administer a physical beating" that left Cervantes in a coma. According to Munoz, two guards who were later fired and prosecuted for their part in the beating gave sworn testimony that prison warden David Christian instructed them to falsify official reports and evidence. Despite this admission in open court, Cervantes was convicted of aggravated assault on a prison guard. Since that time, Cervantes has been continually moved from prison to prison, deprived of legal papers, routinely harassed and finally transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center Guaynabo in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a facility located thousands of miles from his lawyer and his family. What happened to those who combined to persecute Cervantes? David Christian is now a judge in Brazoria County, Texas. The prison guards all got slaps on the wrist. The Texas attorney general's office has violated its own policies and is defending the prison guards in federal court. In his letter, Munoz stressed that what happened to Cervantes is hardly an exception. It must be seen in the context of growing government repression. "[T]he hysterical rush to arm an ever larger police force while simultaneously disarming, disbanding, and imprisoning Chicano Youth can be interpreted as no more than a continuation of that same Historical Repression which is presently still being carried on inside Texas Prisons," Munoz wrote. [Write the People's Tribune to learn more about this case and similar struggles. To communicate directly with Frank Cervantes, write to: Frank N. Cervantes, #34042-079, Metropolitan Detention Center Guaynabo, P.O. Box 2147, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00922-2147.] ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 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. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 11. 'ROCK OUT CENSORSHIP' CALLS FOR DEFEAT OF CENSORSHIP BILL IN PENNSYLVANIA JEWETT, Ohio -- If Pennsylvania state Representative T.J. Rooney (D-Bethlehem) gets his way, it will be illegal for retailers to sell to anyone under the age of 18 albums, tapes, CDs or music videos bearing the infamous "Parental Advisory" sticker. Rock Out Censorship (ROC), the Ohio-based anti-censorship organization specializing in music and pop culture issues, has announced it will wage a "real war" to defeat Pennsylvania House Bill 2982, which now is in the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee. ROC urges all musicians, bands and fans, not just in Pennsylvania, but everywhere, to join in this struggle to defeat H.B. 2982 and all repressive legislation like it. H.B. 2982 will be subject to public hearings when the General Assembly returns from summer vacation in late September. Under Rooney's bill, retailers who violate this ban will be fined $25 per album for first-time offenses and up to $100 per album for subsequent offenses. The bill also contains language that would require anyone under 18 who is caught buying, or attempting to buy, "stickered" albums to perform at least 100 hours of community service at a domestic violence or rape crisis center. Said ROC co-founder John Woods: "ROC intends to make Pennsylvania a battlefield over this blatant attack on not only rock, rap, metal and hardcore music, but on free speech and the First Amendment itself. "Representative Rooney wants to imply that music somehow causes Ôyouth violence' and expects us to believe that the selected elimination of certain forms of music will somehow reduce crime. "Yeah, right! Anyone who believes that, call me about a nice bridge in Brooklyn that I want to sell." Woods added that, "There has never been any proven research that shows a correlation between what a person hears and how they act, never! We view this proposed bill as being even more dangerous than the ÔErotic Music Bill,' which the state of Washington has tried unsuccessfully to pass, twice." Woods declared that ROC "plans to fight the passage of H.B. 2982 with a full frontal assault." ROC was founded in 1989 in response to the censorship threats coming from Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). It now publishes a 24-page bimonthly newsmagazine called "The ROC," that's distributed throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. ROC chapters and representatives can be found in 20 states in the United States, with international chapters in Canada and England. [For more information on ROC and the fight against Pennsylvania House Bill 2982, contact Rock Out Censorship at P.O. Box 147, Jewett, Ohio 43986. Fax 614-946-6535.] ****************************************************************** 12. POEM: CORRUPTED JUSTICE World ignorance is killing our nation And no one seems to care, Poverty leading to crime You can see it everywhere. And it's all backed up by the government One hundred percent, That is why they tell us Truth that is bent. Corruption's their game Freedom is their excuse, And that is the cause For all this abuse. Oppressed races suffer daily And no one seems to care, They try to say we're equal But to me it's just not fair. Equal justice, there's no existence Not in this age of social persistence, Run the rat race, go for the gold If that don't work, then do what you're told. Rebellion is what we need The ancient KU DA TA, Fuck this corrupted government And all their fucked-up laws! They squander millions of dollars At the taxpayers expense, And whatever's left they waste On national defense. The cold war is over So what's the big deal, And when is the last time someone tried Our country to steal??? Equal justice, there's no existence Not in this age of social persistence, Run in the rat race, go for the gold If that don't work, then do what you're told. It's all part of their plan To keep us in line, Why do you think the Indians were given free wine? Self-destruction Is one of their best tools And everyone feeds into it Just like a bunch of fools. So open your eyes, look through the disguise Of the man standing at the podium, He lies through his teeth, he's nothing but a thief Of political pandemonium. --Eval Stratton ****************************************************************** 13. HELP SEND THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE AND TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO TO THE MEXICAN ELECTIONS The People's Tribune and Tribuno del Pueblo will be at the 1994 Mexican elections and you can take part. Ever since the historic New Year's Day uprising in Chiapas, the Mexican government has carried out constant harassment of the democratic aspirations of the Mexican people. Information is critical to block further governmental foul play. Our correspondents will be there -- taking pictures, getting interviews and monitoring election returns. Send your donation today! Yes! I want to help. Here's my donation: ____ $50 ____ $25 ____ $10 ____ $5 ____ Other [Send donation to: PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition), P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654] ****************************************************************** 14. NEW WAYS TO CARRY THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE MESSAGE By Jan Lightfoot HINCKLEY, Maine -- Here's an idea which might give tools to make more of us advocates more effective. A few months ago, one of the articles in the People's Tribune had a box which read: "When there are no jobs, taking people off welfare is a death sentence." This blew up into a fairly large bumper sticker which was passed out in the halls of the Maine state legislature. And it could have played a part in preventing the passage of rotten welfare legislation. It was hung on a bulletin board in the Statehouse, and because of its polish, remained up for weeks. A handwritten message would have been removed in hours. In this way, the People's Tribune can gather slogans from many advocates and include them, outlined in articles so they can be blown up into bumper stickers. Or they can be made into neat, professional-looking bumper stickers which can be handed out. Such slogans could include: -- "Clinton's welfare reform will fill orphanages." -- "Money saved on welfare will be spent on orphanages." -- "Welfare reform will revert us back to the 1790s!" -- "ABODE -- Everybody needs one!" -- "Call for IMPROVEMENT of welfare!" -- "There are no 'second-class' children!" I'm sure you and others can think of even more and better slogans to be printed in the People's Tribune that can be converted into bumper stickers or handouts. You can write articles that give warriors against poverty a valuable tool. ****************************************************************** 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. ******************************************************************