From jdav@noc.orgFri Apr 21 14:54:49 1995 Date: Fri, 21 Apr 95 16:41 GMT From: Jim Davis To: pt.dist@noc.org Subject: People's Tribune (4-24-95) Online Edition ****************************************************************** People's Tribune (Online Edition) Vol. 22 No. 17 / April 24, 1995 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 Email: pt@noc.org ****************************************************************** INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition) Vol. 22 No. 17 / April 24, 1995 Page One 1. A COMMUNITY TERRORIZED: HUNDREDS OF POLICE AND FBI AGENTS INVADE SOUTH CENTRAL L.A. Editorial 2. A VISION OF A NEW AMERICA News 3. IRISH-AMERICAN STUDENT ORGANIZATION STUDENTS JOIN PROTEST AGAINST 'CONTRACT' 4. THE BACK DOOR: 'I CLAIM THE PROMISE OF DEMOCRACY' (SONG LYRICS) 5. 'THE SHERIFFS FIRED ME!': FIGHT FOR YOUTH CENTER CONTINUES IN LOS ANGELES 6. OPERATION SUNRISE: 800 COPS ATTACK L.A.'S POOR 7. VOTE FOR ABU HENDERSON! American Lockdown 8. AS INDIANA INMATE NEARS RELEASE... 'I'LL FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF GUYS I'M LEAVING BEHIND' Culture Under Fire 9. MUSIC ALLIANCE TAPE IS A STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY 10. A VISION WITH RHYTHM Announcements, Events, etc. 11. DRAFT PROGRAM OF THE NATIONAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 12. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE ****************************************************************** 1. PAGE ONE: A COMMUNITY TERRORIZED HUNDREDS OF POLICE AND FBI AGENTS INVADE SOUTH CENTRAL L.A. On April 1, an army of 800 cops, state officials and FBI agents, as one local newspaper called it, invaded communities in and near Los Angeles, in what they called a sweep aimed at catching violent criminals. They called it Operation Sunrise. About 60 people were arrested in 150 raids, according to press reports. The numbers average to about 13 cops for each person arrested. But what about the terrified elders whose homes were ransacked and disrespected? What about the destruction done to the personal property of those who had nothing to do with a so-called gang or with anything illegal? Who will pay for the many front doors that were torn down? Then came the second blitz, upon the rest of us, in which the police and feds congratulated themselves and insulted the community by comparing it to Beirut, Lebanon, scene of 15 years of civil war. But what was the real message in the madness of the police? This was a show of force, and it was not for the reasons the government is stating now. The raid came as reports revealed that 2 million children are going hungry in California, a state where a half million jobs have been lost since 1990. Millions of people in California and elsewhere are being pushed down into permanent unemployment, homelessness and hunger. Out of this mass, revolutionary leaders are emerging who will form a threat to the rule of the billionaires who are sending the police. As the billionaires -- the real criminals -- step up their crime wave, stealing our livelihoods and our future, they will not be able to maintain power and the old order except through sheer force. This raid and similar attacks on democratic rights across the nation show how the super-rich plan to maintain power. Revolutionaries fighting for the interests of the new class of the American poor must unite to resist these steps toward a police state and gather the power to create the society the billionaires and their police can't: one of freedom and universal abundance. [For more on the police sweep in Los Angeles, see page five.] ****************************************************************** 2. A VISION OF A NEW AMERICA The first 100 days of the 104th Congress have come and gone. It is clear that the social safety net and the big government that went along with industrial expansion are being dismantled. The ruling class has made clear that it has no intention of taking care of those who have no way to make a decent living within the capitalist system -- from the welfare mother and her children to the person being replaced by computers and thrown out of their job. The vision the ruling class projects is one of fascism. They are implementing a legal and political structure that openly sanctions unrestrained state power. Supreme Court rulings are made which undermine the Constitution. State power is being expanded to control personal behavior and family life, to censor information and ideas, and to restrict dissent. All these are intended to guarantee the rights of the capitalists to do whatever is necessary to secure their profits. It is in this environment that the federal crime bill was passed and chain gangs have been reinstituted in Alabama. All the talk of controlling crime, building prisons and putting more police on the streets is aimed at controlling the growing mass of Americans who have no future in the capitalist system. But they do have a future in America. And the National Organizing Committee has a vision of what a new America can be. A VISION OF A NEW AMERICA Humanity is being reborn in an age of great revolutionary change. The tools and techniques exist which can produce all that we need. For the first time in history, it is possible to create the conditions for a true flowering of the human intellect and spirit. Our fight is to reorganize society to accomplish these goals. Our vision is a vision of a new America. We know the revolution we need is possible. We have the commitment and the moral passion to carry it out. We have the opportunity to end our poverty and suffering once and for all. Now the choice is ours to make. Our vision is our choice. Our vision is one of equality. Everyone must have the means for a decent life: enough to eat; a home to live in; life-long education; medical care and assistance when sick or alone or when growing old; the ability to enjoy all aspects of human culture, to have joy and laughter and love as their everyday companions. Everyone deserves this and everyone should have it. Our vision is a vision of a people awakening. We believe that all of us, especially the poor and the oppressed, the wretched of the earth, can discover within ourselves the moral courage and the political will to build a mighty revolutionary movement. A great moral optimism is beginning to sweep this country as the poor, the oppressed, the decent-hearted, embrace their revolutionary mission and make this vision a reality. ****************************************************************** 3. IRISH-AMERICAN STUDENT ORGANIZATION STUDENTS JOIN PROTEST AGAINST 'CONTRACT' [Editor's note: Below we reprint the text of a statement we received from the Irish-American Student Organization endorsing a rally against the "Contract on America." The theme of the rally, held at noon on April 8 in Chicago's Federal Plaza, was "Say no to the Contract on America; Say yes to jobs, schools, bilingual education, health care, affirmative action, labor and immigrants rights!" The rally was sponsored by the Metro Chicago Coalition to Promote and Defend the Rights of Immigrants.] CHICAGO -- Today in Chicago, the Irish-American Student Organization proudly joins with the Metro Chicago Coalition to Promote and Defend the Rights of Immigrants in a rally against Proposition 187 and the "Contract on America." The IASO opposes attacks on immigrants and other inhumane policies. Half the population of Ireland emigrates with each new generation and they leave for the same reasons as other immigrants -- war, poverty, oppression. This year, we commemorate the 150th year since the Great Starvation in Ireland. The potato didn't cause the "famine"; greedy British landlords and their armies did. While absentee British landowners shipped grain out of Ireland for profit, nearly 2 million people died while another 2 million fled to this part of the world. We will not forget our ancestors or the causes of their plight. How could we? The causes of immigrants' suffering today are so very similar -- Haiti, Mexico, the Philippines, Central America, Rwanda. Today, April 8, at noon, Irish-Americans across the United States are demonstrating at Federal Buildings in 12 cities and at the American consulate in Toronto. Our demands are as follows: 1. Release all Irish political prisoners in U.S. jails; 2. Stop all deportations and end INS/FBI harassment of Irish political asylum seekers; 3. Halt taxpayer-financed FBI training of the Royal Ulster Constabulary -- a discriminatory, British-funded police force in occupied Ireland known for its human rights violations; 4. End the "special relationship" between the U.S. Justice Department and the British government. The IASO, with the support of Irish Northern Aid, the Irish Political Education Committee, and other members of the Irish community, decided not to have our own picket [here in Chicago] because we felt it would be divisive and harm both causes. We care about recent Irish immigrants and we unite with other communities in our city who are affected by Proposition 187. We also want you to know that while President Clinton invited Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams to the White House, the Justice Department stepped up deportation and extradition hearings against former prisoners of British injustice who immigrated here to flee death squads and harassment in Ireland. Clinton says he advocates peace in Ireland while his judicial branch sends Irish people back to face more prisons, attacks, and death. The Irish-American Student Organization and Irish Northern Aid will hold a rally at the British consulate from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, May 5 to call for the release of Irish political prisoners held in British, Irish and U.S. jails. May 5 was chosen because it's the 14th anniversary of the death of Irish hunger striker and political prisoner Bobby Sands. The British consulate is located at 33 N. Dearborn in Chicago. [For more information, please contact the IASO at 312-296-6377. Ask for Tom.] ****************************************************************** 4. THE BACK DOOR: 'I CLAIM THE PROMISE OF DEMOCRACY' (SONG LYRICS) Editor's note: Below we print the lyrics to a song describing the struggles and dreams of Irish undocumented workers in the United States. The song is called "The Back Door." It appears on an album of the same name by a group called Cherish the Ladies -- Irish America's first group of woman musicians, singers and dancers. (On the album's liner notes, the song is dedicated "to all undocumented Irish aliens.") Formed in 1987, Cherish the Ladies emerged from a series of sold- out concerts on "Women in Irish Music" held in New York in the mid-1980s. A performing group was formed from the artists featured in that concert series and toured nationally, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. The verses below are eloquent, but reading them silently on a page is just no substitute for hearing the haunting beauty of the song's vocals and music. Our readers can make sure they experience that by ordering a copy of the album from Green Linnet Records, 43 Beaver Brook Road, Danbury, Connecticut 06810. We would like to thank Green Linnet Records and the song's author, Cathie Ryan, for permission to reprint the lyrics. Thanks, too, to our friend Tom Burke for taping the song for us. (Listening to that tape of this song helped sustain some of us during long hours spent producing this newspaper!) THE BACK DOOR Words and music by Cathie Ryan I didn't see the Statue of Liberty Never heard her welcoming words I came through the back door silently Unwanted ... unseen ... and unheard I know I'm lonely in this country I think I always have been I knew as child I'd leave Ireland The goodbyes were ghosts in the wind A dream handed down in my family Uncle Pat and Aunt Han before him And over the radio to haunt me All the songs they sang were of leaving I didn't see the Statue of Liberty Never heard her welcoming words I came through the back door silently Unwanted .. unseen .. and unheard I don't mind hard work for a living There's so much I'm able to do I can't spend my life as a "live-in" With nothing to look forward to I want my own bed, my own kitchen I want my nights to myself I don't want to hide underground anymore if it means that I hide from myself "Give me your poor, your tired, and your hungry ... ... The exiles of your teeming shores ..." Woods carved deep in stone And in the hearts back at home ... ... But not meant for the living anymore I'm a long time out by the back door A long time passing unseen. The voices that haunt me are harsh now Confuse me and urge me to leave But I claim the promise of this country I have the right to my own dream And no one can take that away from me I have half a chance here I'm not leaving I didn't see the Statue of Liberty Never heard her welcoming words I came through the back door silently Unwanted ... unseen ... and unheard (C) 1991 Wake the Neighbors Music (ASCAP) ****************************************************************** 5. 'THE SHERIFFS FIRED ME!': FIGHT FOR YOUTH CENTER CONTINUES IN LOS ANGELES By Dianne Flowers LOS ANGELES -- Youth workers from the Emergency Response Unit of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, a program funded by the Corporation for National Service as a result of the January 1994 Northridge earthquake, took over the Corps' Peace and Justice Center near downtown Los Angeles on March 9. The youths were protesting the arrest of their director, Carmelo Alvarez, for trying to grow an herb garden so that youths could learn to heal themselves. The arrest took place at the Corps' Hammel site in East Los Angeles. In a recent interview with the People's Tribune, Alvarez recounted the circumstances that led to his arrest and described a rotten power structure inside the LACC. Alvarez was the only Latino director in the LACC, even though Latinos are the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles and in the LACC. Most LACC directors do not come from the community and do not respect it, Alvarez pointed out. They are appointed by friends or relatives in positions of political power and do not want community members to be in control, Alvarez said. Alvarez believes that this situation is what led to his arrest by Lisa Martin, the director of the Hammel site. "She would say things like, 'We'll have an open house so that the people in the neighborhood don't steal the vans,' or 'I can't get any of my people to meetings unless free food is provided,' Alvarez said. "I'm transcending the color issue even though, at this time, we're feeling more oppression as minorities. When I say 'my own people,' I consider everybody, even white people. When she came in as director, I said 'Give her a chance. See how she does,' '' Alvarez said. Martin and Alvarez had a disagreement a couple of years ago. Alvarez said he searched his soul and put this behind him when he approached Martin earlier this year about setting up an herb garden for youth at the Hammel site. "I went in peace. I came with herbs as a peace offering. The youth workers planted them. She told me she had no problem with the project, but she had a problem with me. I told her that I could work with her. She said, 'I can't.' "That garden was open to the public. I said that I would do it as a volunteer. But they denied me as an employee, as a co-worker, as a community volunteer. "I was very upset. I said I will plant these herbs and you will have to kill me to remove me from this land. I did a one-man sit- in. The youth workers came around and I talked to them. Some sat with me. Lisa said 'By what authority are you here?' and I said 'By God's authority.' "The sheriffs came and told Lisa to do a citizen's arrest. They handcuffed me and took me to the car. By then, the youth workers from my unit came and started marching and protesting for me. The sheriffs wouldn't let me call my lawyer. They told me I didn't have one. I told them that I worked there. They told me I was fired! The sheriffs fired me! "My workers were waiting for me at the jail but the sheriffs wouldn't let me out until they were gone. Later, when I got out, I found out that my workers had already started organizing the takeover of the Peace and Justice Center. "I used to be sick before, because I always tried to make changes within the system. But it didn't work because it is stacked against us. We can't do it that way. I had to resist. I was liberated when I was handcuffed. I'm preparing myself spiritually for whatever comes. We're not violent, but they are threatening us with police action," said Alvarez. "We started mediation with the Corps. It came to a stalemate because the issue that kept coming up was me. I said I would resign if the Corps would reinstate the workers. They snatched up my resignation. But when the workers went to meet with the Corps, the Corps went back on their word and terminated the youth. The agreement we reached is that we will get this building and we would be allowed to establish an independent youth center here. But we had that agreement before March 9 when I was arrested. Now I'm out of a job, the workers are out of a job, and we will have to pay all the bills. Basically, it's been 'NO, NO, NO' throughout the whole mediation process. We didn't get anything out of the mediation process. We're looking toward the future. People can support us by coming on down. We're starting to have happenings here -- poetry, politics, art and music. That's what's happening here." [The Peace and Justice Youth Center is located at 1220 W. Fourth Street, Los Angeles, California 90017. Its phone number is 213- 977-0339.] ****************************************************************** 6. OPERATION SUNRISE: 800 COPS ATTACK L.A.'S POOR POLICE COMMIT OUTRAGE AFTER OUTRAGE By Fanya Baruti LOS ANGELES -- Ms. Louise Young of South Central Los Angeles was cleaning up her house on April 1 when she saw her door being broken down. She was about to dial 911 to call the police, then saw it was the police themselves coming in! They stormed through her home and handcuffed her son. She was one of a number of residents who spoke during a community- based press conference called after the outrageous raid. While Mrs. Young's home was being violated, more of the 800 cops blitzing the community were invading the home of James Banks, a frail senior citizen who walks with a cane and who recently had suffered a heart attack. They told him to come outside. When he did, he was handcuffed. When he asked the police why they were doing this, they told him to shut up and made him go back into the house and sit down with the cuffs still on. When Mr. Banks' wife arrived home from work, police told her she would be handcuffed too if she entered. When she asked what was going on, they told her to shut up. Mr. Banks said that the police stayed in his home for between eight and nine hours! During that time they could not answer their own telephone when it rang. He said the police would answer the phone and say no one was home. He said that when he needed to take his medication, they gave it to him without gloves. Gary Harris, another speaker at the press conference, said police came to the home of his mother, who had done nothing and where he does not live. They tore down his mother's door, took bills, pictures, newspapers, keys and personal papers. Michael Zinzun told the press conference, "We will begin to document all of the homes entered and show how the criminalization of our youth and communities has taken place continually." Jitu Sadiki of BACDO indicated that raids also took place elsewhere in the Los Angeles area. (Editor's note: According to the Los Angeles Daily News and the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the raids also struck homes in San Bernardino County, Long Beach, Inglewood, Gardena, Hawthorne, Torrance, Baldwin Park, Ontario, Culver City, Long Beach and Palmdale.) +----------------------------------------------------------------+ LEADERS, ACTIVISTS SPEAK OUT By Fanya Baruti LOS ANGELES -- At a community-based press conference, led by homeless activist Ted Hays, several speakers denounced the April 1 police raid. Several people focused on the remark by police chief Willie Williams, who referred to South Central Los Angeles in terms of war-torn Beirut, Lebanon. Hays said Williams had poisoned the minds of the people with his Beirut statement. "We have the responsibility to stand up against that sort of statement," he said. Georgina Williams, mother of L.A. 4+ defendant Damian Williams, said, "We cannot all blame the officers. They were carrying out an order. We must blame [Los Angeles police chief] Willie Williams [no relation]. "He is putting a label on the people by making his 'Beirut' statement. He is telling a black lie. You sent the FBI to our homes and terrorized our communities and you will have to answer to us," she continued. "And if South Central is like Beirut, we need another chief," she said. Cal Burton, who is a community activist, journalist and candidate for city council, said: "The answer we get from Mark Ridley Thomas and the mayor is that we get raided in the dead of night. It's wrong. ... Instead of occupying this community with police, we need to have it occupied with jobs for our youth. ... It's the system that is causing the problems. The leadership has to change." Referring to the three-year-old truce of the Bloods and the Crips, Michael Zinzun declared: "Since the unity of the youth of the red and blue, there has been an outright attack on them. "The gang truce is here to stay." Said Theresa Allison of Mothers ROC (Reclaiming Our Children): "Mothers stand out here to defend their sons. Our kids are the target. I've asked Willie Williams to meet with us and he refuses to meet with the mothers of this community. Why? "This is not a race issue. We have been caged like animals and disrespected. ... It hurts to know that my son, Dewayne Holmes, who started the truce, is not here free today." +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 7. VOTE FOR ABU HENDERSON! by Leslie Willis INDIANAPOLIS -- Sixteen years ago, Abu Henderson traveled to Indianapolis from Kansas City, Missouri, for a sporting event. "That's when I met my wife," he says. Today, he and his wife are raising their 15-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter on the East Side of Indianapolis. His deep concern for family and community has propelled Henderson into the race for the City-County Council seat in District 10. "The city has abandoned this neighborhood," he says as he describes what they see when they walk down the street. "No sidewalks on major streets, no curbs, nothing but pieces of old sidewalk remain, no street lights on major corners." "I live across from a big park," he says. Although lots of kids play there, "There are no 'watch for children' signs or stop signs at the intersections." Fed up after a year-long battle with present Council members to get some improvements, Henderson decided to go after the position himself. The community is littered with boarded-up, ramshackle, abandoned houses and schools. "The city has scheduled to tear down 110 houses and only 10 of these really need to be torn down; the rest can be saved." Rehabbing the abandoned "eyesores" in the community will create jobs, he says. "The old stuff has to be torn away and then we can start building from a new foundation. People could get construction training in building and rehabbing." Abu Henderson learned about rescuing this type of housing from personal experience. "When I first saw the house I live in now, it was boarded up and looked like a wreck sitting on the corner, ready to fall down." He purchased the house from the city for $1 plus other fees and insurance and got a loan to fix it up. He envisions his neighbors being able to do the same thing. Henderson has a track record in Indianapolis of working to improve the communities he has lived in. In 1991, he received resolutions from the city for his work with young people and received a scholarship from the Indiana Youth Institute. He was a coordinator for the Weed and Seed project when he lived on the West Side. He brought community organizations together to go after funds for rehabbing houses, parks and recreation and the overall development of the Near West Side. Besides the housing issue, Henderson is very much concerned with education. "I have a plan for how residents can complete high school and move on to vocational schooling," he says. Another objective of his campaign is to set up programs to safeguard the neighborhood. "We need to take control of our own neighborhood. No one should be going to jail if we can intervene and see if we can get some dialogue going." The key to neighborhood safety, he says, is "neighborhood unity." And Abu Henderson believes that home ownership is very important. He reports that many people rent, the rents are high and landlords don't fix anything, so tenants are forced to spend even more on their own repairs. For all these reasons and at least one more, Abu Henderson is a special candidate. He distributes the People's Tribune to some of his neighbors. "The People's Tribune is like a crusader newspaper and pinpoints the little people, the people most interested in building this country." We urge all those in District 10 to vote for Abu Henderson in the primary election on May 2. ****************************************************************** 8. AS INDIANA INMATE NEARS RELEASE... 'I'LL FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF GUYS I'M LEAVING BEHIND' Dear People's Tribune: I'm writing this letter in regards to your publication. First of all, I and those I know in here (Indiana State Prison) who have read your paper find it refreshing and inspirational. It feels good knowing that there are people in the free world fighting for our rights and who care. That is one of the reasons that I'm writing this letter. I have 155 days left on my 8-year sentence for forging a $220 check. I have every intention of helping to fight for the rights of the guys I'll be leaving behind. Since August 8, 1987, I've been chained down for a non-violent crime. I forged a $220 check knowing it was wrong and I'm in debt to society. However, I don't understand why I'm incarcerated and our nation's lawmakers several years back bounced hundreds of thousands of dollars in the House bank. All they got for this theft was their names in the newspapers. They knew what they were doing was wrong. Our nation has two sets of rules. One for the lawmakers and one for the lawbreakers. A congressperson right here in the state of Indiana had 619 bounced checks totaling $8,500, but those who make the laws can't possibly break the laws. I want to be able to help others ... once I'm released from prison. It's going to be difficult at first. I'm now confined to a wheelchair due to a blow to the head in 1988. I've been fighting for months now with the medical staff here at the prison to get me a new KAFO. (It stands for knee, ankle, foot, ortho). With this brace on my left leg, I can walk with crutches. I'm in the process of filing a complaint against the prison for failing to comply with Chapter 126 of the Equal Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities [Act] and the ADA Americans with Disabilities Act (1992) and for deliberate indifference. Not one thing has been done about the numerous grievances I've filed concerning accessibility to places here at ISP, such as the law library. The only way I am able to have access to the law library is through a request slip. So, if I'm not able to remember the exact page number and name or even know if the case cite even exists, I'm just out of luck. Even though I'm a convicted felon, I still have the constitutional right to the courts and to due process. It's a sad day when you pick up a paper and read that by the year 2055, some 50 percent of the male population is going to be locked up in one way or another. Then I watch our government officials say the programs that keep our children off the street is pork money, not needed. In closing, I'd like to thank you all again. It is a great feeling knowing there's someone to the other side fighting the struggle with us. Harold "Big Country" Bren, P.O. Box 41, Michigan City, Indiana 46361-0041. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ HAROLD 'BIG COUNTRY' BREN: SOMEONE WHO CAN TAKE IT By Anthony D. Prince WESTVILLE, Indiana -- Harold "Big Country" Bren has paid a heavy price for his work on behalf of hundreds of Indiana prisoners. Since, he says, the Indiana Department of Corrections has refused to comply with the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Bren has suffered physical injury while attempting to perform functions as elementary as going to the bathroom. "I haven't said anything in any of these letters to you that isn't the truth," Bren writes to the People's Tribune. "As for the administration doing anything to me, well I'm in segregation for something I didn't do (battery on staff), and I don't have any good time left." The "battery" mentioned by Bren refers to prison allegations that he assaulted a guard with his wheelchair. "They think that by putting me up here, it will stop me from assisting guys with their cases," writes the jailhouse lawyer. "That's a joke. ... They're not doing this to someone who can't take it." +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 9. MUSIC ALLIANCE TAPE IS A STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY By Danny Alexander KANSAS CITY, Missouri -- Three years of hard-won experience have taken the form of the new Kansas City Music Alliance compilation tape, "No Housing, No Peace!" dedicated to the National Union of the Homeless. It's a benefit tape, yes, but, more importantly, it's a statement of solidarity between musicians and homeless people. Over the course of the history of the alliance, one of the greatest allies the bands had was the KCMO Union of the Homeless, headed up by Ron Casanova between the years 1991 and 1994. Through its community work, the Union of the Homeless helped to raise awareness about the Alliance, and the Alliance did the same for the Union, and the two extended invitations back and forth when given a chance to take part tabling at shows, speaking to various community groups and throwing gigs. The relationship grew naturally because, while the Union fights to make sure that the voices discarded by the system get heard, the Alliance strategizes for the voices of those discarded, overlooked and exploited by the music industry -- both groups acting locally, linking up nationally. The resulting tape is a rich mix of funk, metal, country and grunge featuring eight of the area's most important acts -- Billygoat, the Starkweathers, the Hook, Power & Fear, Shag, Blue Museum, Joey Skidmore and the late Loud Sounding Dream. But the road to tape release was a tough one, with one duplication service sitting on the tape and then refusing to make copies because of "objectionable language" (the tape is anything but politically correct). And it is really anything but a collection of songs about the homeless. That wasn't the idea. It is about survival. All of us trying to link up in new ways around the country are kidding ourselves if we think the industry is going to passively accept the idea of musicians working outside of traditional systems -- booking each other, recording each other, building our own networks for touring and promotion. If we really took control of our destinies, those running the industry right now would be doomed. "No Housing, No Peace!" serves as a challenge, then, to all our allies in this nationwide struggle. If we all link up with those struggling to survive, we can build a force that must be reckoned with -- so that every musician and every fan has a place to call home. ****************************************************************** 10. A VISION WITH RHYTHM What if we all could eat and had a place to sleep? Wouldn't that be deep? A vision with rhythm. The beat is on. We are the ones who are being cut up, A vision of plenty to stop the corrupt. California alone can feed the many in the world -- boys and girls of the dirt. We must flirt with the potential of a grand land where computerized production planned to feed mankind a vision with the rhythm we must change the beat put the shoe on the other feet stop the cheats from controlling the flow, the bread and the dough. a few billionaires, not a million billionaires, run the show. Just ask yourself, "How much food, VCRs, toys are on the shelf, just sitting there, going nowhere 'cause money belongs to someone else?" A vision with rhythm This tone, then, must be shared production of the goods to service the poor a vision of a society where we focus on curing disease with minds like seeds serving people's needs. -- Monsa Nitoto ****************************************************************** 11. DRAFT PROGRAM OF THE NATIONAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE [The following draft program will be discussed and voted on at the Second Convention of the National Organizing Committee which will be held April 29-30.] This is an era of revolutionary change. For the first time in history, humankind can produce such abundance that society can be free from hunger, homelessness and back-breaking labor. The only thing standing in the way is this system of exploitation and injustice. The struggle today for homes, education, health care, freedom from police terror is the beginning of a revolution for a better world, economically and spiritually. [The NOC] takes as its mission the political awakening of the American people. We invite all who see that there's a problem and are ready to do something about it to join with us. With our organized strength, we will liberate the thinking of the American people and unleash their energy. We will win them to the cause for which they are already fighting. We will excite the American people with a vision of a world of plenty. Electronic technology provides better, cheaper and more products with less and less labor. Society now has the capacity to devote the energies and talents of its people to satisfying the intellectual, emotional and cultural needs of all. We will educate the people of this country about the economic revolution that's disrupting society. Every day, the new electronic technology throws thousands -- laborers and managers alike -- out of their jobs. Their labor is worthless to a system that values only what it can exploit. If they cannot work, they cannot eat. Radical changes in the way a society produces its wealth call for radical changes in how that society is organized. We will sound the alarm about the danger of a police state. The capitalist class cannot convince the American people to believe in their system while they are starving and freezing them and destroying their hopes and dreams. Their answer to the destruction of society is a police state. Their government takes away constitutional rights and gives back terror and prisons. They attempt to disarm the victims of capitalism by turning them against one another. We will inspire our people with the alternative to a police state: a society organized for the benefit of all. A society built on cooperation puts the physical, cultural and spiritual well-being of its people above the profits and property of a handful of billionaires. When the class which has no place in the capitalist system seizes control of all productive property and transforms it into public property, it can reorganize society so that the abundance is distributed according to need. We will empower the American people with the understanding of their role in striving for this new society and with the confidence that it's possible to win. The struggle of those who have no stake in this system carries the energy to overturn it. [The NOC] is an organization based on the aims of these millions of people. Our members come from all walks of life. We are in the thick of battle on every front. From within housing takeovers and protests, from within universities, hospitals and prisons, from within each of the scattered battles, from wherever there is poverty and injustice, we take this message out to politicize and organize the revolution that is already shaking up this country. We call on you to join us in crusading for this cause. ****************************************************************** 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 For free electronic subscription, email: pt.dist-request@noc.org 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 pt@noc.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 or pt@noc.org. ****************************************************************** 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. For free electronic subscription, email: pt.dist- request@noc.org ******************************************************************