From jdav@noc.orgThu Jul 6 18:08:45 1995 Date: Tue, 4 Jul 95 23:43 GMT From: Jim Davis To: pt.dist@noc.org Subject: People's Tribune (7-10-95) Online Edition ****************************************************************** People's Tribune (Online Edition) Vol. 22 No. 24 / July 10, 1995 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 Email: pt@noc.org ****************************************************************** INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition) Vol. 22 No. 24 / July 10, 1995 Page One 1. POLITICAL POWER FOR THE RICH EQUALS WELFARE FOR THE RICH News and Features 2. RELIGIOUS LEADERS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE FOR LABOR 3. MASSACRE IN MEXICO 4. RALLY TELLS D.C.'S FINANCIAL OVERSEER: QUIT YOUR CORPORATE POST! 5. AS HUD TAKES OVER CHA, WE MUST DEMAND DECENT HOUSING FOR ALL 6. IMMIGRANT DETAINEES REVOLT IN N.J.; CHICAGOANS PROTEST INS RAIDS 7. JONATHAN KOZOL AT THE AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION: AUTHOR CALLS FOR 'PROPHETIC RAGE' TO SAVE AMERICA'S POOR CHILDREN 8. CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF JULY; HELP SPREAD REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS! 9. LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS 10. WHY WELFARE 'REFORM' IS HAPPENING NOW 11. POVERTY GROWS IN THE LONE STAR STATE: WELFARE RIGHTS UNION SEEKS TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER Deadly Force 12. S.F. COPS HIDE TRUTH ABOUT KILLING American Lockdown 13. BLACK JOURNALIST AND COMMUNITY ACTIVIST FACES EXECUTION IN PENNSYLVANIA 14. 'NEVER EVER TOLERATE ABUSE': NETA PRISON GROUP FIGHTS FOR DIGNITY Culture Under Fire 15. LET'S KEEP CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN MUSICIANS AND FANS 16. BIRTHRIGHT RECORDS STANDS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Announcements, Events, etc. 17. EXCITING NEWS! PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE TO ATTEND U.N. CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN BEIJING, CHINA! 18. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE ****************************************************************** 1. PAGE 1: POLITICAL POWER FOR THE RICH EQUALS WELFARE FOR THE RICH In both houses of the pro-capitalist/anti-poor 104th Congress, legislators are working on drastic cuts in the Medicaid program as part of their drive to balance the federal budget by the year 2002. In separate bills, the House and the Senate have agreed to cut between $175 billion to $187 billion over the next seven years from Medicaid, which is the health insurance program for poor families including children and pregnant women, the blind and the disabled. Among other things, it also pays half the nation's nursing home costs. Politicians like House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kansas), who are among those in Congress leading this attack on Medicaid, say they are carrying out the will of "the American people." That's what they say. But what do we see? Welfare for the rich in action. While the poor lose coverage for badly needed prescription drugs, pharmaceutical giants like Eli Lilly and Merck receive $4 billion in annual tax breaks on their business interests overseas. (By the way, that's $28 billion over seven years.) It doesn't just stop there. Mining companies can buy mineral-rich land for a little as little $5 an acre and dig out billions of dollars in riches, then make you pay up to $72 billion to clean up their abandoned mines. Corporate welfare also comes in the form of you spending millions on studies of how to sell things like soup, beer and fried chicken bits. This attack on a vital need of poor people shows just what a difference political power in the hands of a class can make for itself and for the rest of society. The present ruling class of millionaires and billionaires has the power to pay for its welfare while abandoning that of the rest of us. That's why they are cutting Medicaid. If we are to live, then we, the millions of Americans in poverty, must rapidly educate ourselves and organize ourselves toward the goal of replacing the class of the super-rich and taking political power in our hands. ****************************************************************** 2. RELIGIOUS LEADERS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE FOR LABOR THREE DAYS OF PUBLIC PRAYER AND FASTING IN DECATUR, ILLINOIS Organized labor in Illinois has been hit so hard by employers that unions have begun to call the state a "war zone." In June, members of the religious community expressed their concern for the victims in that war. Three days of public prayer and fasting "for economic justice" took place June 19-22 at St. James Catholic Church, an inner-city church in Decatur, a city of 94,000 people in central Illinois. The idea for the vigil came from a verse in Chapter 9 of the New Testament's Book of Mark: "This kind [of healing] can only come about through prayer and fasting." The three days of prayer were called by religious leaders as a way to contribute to a just and peaceful settlement of three labor disputes in Decatur. These disputes involve workers at the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Co., the Caterpillar Tractor Co. and the Bridgestone/Firestone plant. The 760 members of United Paperworkers International Union Local 7837 have been locked out of Staley Manufacturing since June 27, 1993. The members of United Auto Workers Local 751 have been on the picket lines for a full year, in their second strike against Caterpillar Tractor Co. The members of United Rubber Workers Local 713 recently returned to work after a strike against Bridgestone/Firestone which began one year ago. The days of prayer and fasting were initiated by the Rev. Martin Mangan, the pastor of St. James Catholic Church; Dan Lane, a locked-out UPIU worker; and the Rev. Eugene Green, the pastor of Trinity CME Church. They sent a joint letter to 250 members of the clergy in the Decatur area inviting their congregations to participate in the effort. Over 150 people participated in the prayer services. Each service began with a welcome, followed by a hymn, a reading from Scripture, and an invitation to one of Decatur's locked-out workers or strikers to say a few words about how the different labor conflicts have affected their lives. The participants then joined hands and recited the "Our Father." The religious community has been an important part of the fight for justice for Decatur's unionized workers from the beginning. "I've always been interested in justice issues," Father Mangan told the People's Tribune in a phone interview from St. James Catholic Church. "The whole question of unions has always been important to me," Mangan added. Father Mangan described how he became involved in the fight of the Staley workers. "Whenever they would have a rally, I would go and walk around," he explained. Eventually, rally organizers began asking him to say a prayer or to speak. From this, St. James Parish evolved into the clearinghouse of the religious dimension of the fight for justice for labor in Decatur. Father Mangan played an important role in last year's Labor Day parade, the largest Labor Day parade Decatur has ever seen. Three thousand people participated in that Labor Day event. At the close of the parade, with the police and city officials all keeping a close watch (with video cameras) on the demonstrators, union members and their supporters gathered at the County Courthouse to listen to speakers. There, as the demonstrators knelt in prayer, Father Mangan prayed for justice. He implored all present to leave the area in silence and go to their cars. City officials and police officers were stunned and bewildered when everyone present complied with that request. Father Mangan has lived in Decatur for over four years. He volunteered to come to Decatur and work at St. James Parish when he learned that a Catholic school with over 100 students might be in danger of closing. Father Mangan told the People's Tribune that the original goal which the initiators of the three days of public prayer and fasting had wanted to achieve was simply "to raise consciousness, to do something." They certainly did that. For more information about the religious community's activities in the fight for justice in Decatur, Illinois, contact the Rev. Martin Mangan, pastor, St. James Catholic Church, 742 East Clay Street, Decatur, Illinois 62521. Phone: 217-428-7733; Fax: 217- 428-7426. ****************************************************************** 3. MASSACRE IN MEXICO On June 28, the police of the fascist Mexican government carried out an unprovoked slaughter of at least 18 children, women and men. A truckload of peasants on their way to a peacefully organized demonstration were stopped at a police roadblock. The government said the peasants attacked the police first with machetes and then fired on them. The police fired back in "self- defense." This is 1995, and someone had a camcorder. By the evening of the 29th, the world had seen the horror of unarmed people gunned down as if they were animals. As we go to press, the Mexican government, caught in a murderous lie, has yet to make another, clarifying, statement. This government, a creature of United States banks and industrialists, has no support amongst the masses. Its only role is to continue and guarantee the fabulous profits of the investors. In return, the United States assists them in the looting of the public treasury to the tune of billions of dollars per year. The deep and irresolvable economic and political crisis of Mexico was brought to the level of revolution by the NAFTA agreement. NAFTA immediately further impoverished the already desperately poor workers and peasants. Given the depth of the depression, the response of the Mexican masses has been measured, calm and within the law. Now the criminal character of the government is clear to all. The blood of Mexicans has been spilt by Mexicans in defense of a criminal foreign imperialism. Every revolution must have its Bloody Sunday, its Boston Massacre. This unprovoked spilling of blood will raise the revolution to a new level. Heroic Mexico again is in the vanguard of the struggle of the people of the world for a new and just society. In this great historic fight, we pledge our Mexican comrades our unqualified support. -- The Executive Committee of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America ****************************************************************** 4. RALLY TELLS D.C.'S FINANCIAL OVERSEER: QUIT YOUR CORPORATE POST! By D'Emilio [Editor's note: President Clinton recently appointed Andrew F. Brimmer, a wealthy corporate executive, as chairman of the newly created District of Columbia Financial Control Board. The Washington, D.C. budget is hundreds of millions of dollars in the red, and the board was created to ensure that the budget is balanced on the backs of the people of D.C. through cuts in city services.] WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Look who they put in to run the plantation! Andrew F. Brimmer. As a director on the board of Carr Realty Corporation, Mr. Brimmer makes his living showing building contractors how to dodge taxes at a time the city he oversees is in financial crisis. A city that faces heavy budget cuts to vital public services. A city that has already cut the school year by a week, has put police officers and school teachers out of work, and that has terminated prenatal testing, trash collections and rat control programs. But a city that, only in the wee hours of the morning -- 3:30 a.m. on June 15 -- granted the wealthiest and most powerful companies -- including Carr and other building contractors -- a $32 million tax cut! With Mr. Brimmer directing both Carr Realty Corporation and the D.C. Financial Control Board, the building contractors run the politics and the economics of the nation's capital. Justice for Janitors is at the forefront of the fight against Andrew Brimmer because it is on the backs of D.C. workers that Brimmer, Carr and Company have made their fortunes. Building maintenance workers in D.C. have had their wages cut and their pensions and health insurance eliminated. Carr Corporation takes its plunder out of D.C. and banks it in Virginia. Then it demands that D.C. grant it tax roll-backs and tax breaks. As a result, the kids had to leave school one week earlier this year due to lack of funds. That's the scam. Andrew Brimmer helped devise it. "It is wrong for you [Mr. Brimmer] to represent the citizens of Washington when you also work to fill the troughs of the hungriest corporate pigs!" shouted John Sweeney, international president, Service Employees International Union, while addressing hundreds of citizens at a noon rally to protest Brimmer's refusal to leave the Carr Corporation post after President Clinton appointed him overseer of the city's finances. "In this time of financial crisis, we need full-time representation for the working people of Washington," said Sweeney. "If you wish to speak for us, leave the world of privilege and join us in the world of reality! Reality is a Washington that can no longer afford to give up its precious budget dollars to fatten the likes of Oliver Carr! Reality is a Washington that cries out for justice! ... and we join together to fight today's enemies of justice!" +----------------------------------------------------------------+ FINANCIAL CONTROL BOARD SHOULD CUT CORPORATE TIES, SAYS WORKER [Editor's note: Dolores Darmon of SEIU Local 82 made the following remarks to a recent rally to protest the composition of the District of Columbia Financial Control Board.] Good afternoon, everyone! My name is Dolores Darmon and I am a member of the Service Employees International Union, Local 82. I work as a cleaner at the GAO building and have been a union member for eight years. I am here today to ask the new members of the Financial Control Board to "cut" off their corporate ties before serving on the board. As a resident of Washington, D.C. for 50 years, I am concerned with the future of our city. I think that those who will directly affect my future should be concerned with "the people" of Washington, D.C., and not these big corporations like the Oliver Carr Company! As a member of Local 82, I have marched on many streets, I have protested on the 14th Street bridge, I have yelled and chanted, I have attended City Council meetings. I have done all this so that Washington, D.C. can be a better place for working people like myself! But despite all this, it looks like I still need to be protesting so that big corporations like the Oliver Carr Company don't put their interests ahead of the interests of working people like myself. I demand that Andrew Brimmer resign from the Oliver Carr Company! For all the union members and other supporters who came here today for Justice for Janitors Day, I just want to say: "Keep Marching On!" Thank you! +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 5. AS HUD TAKES OVER CHA, WE MUST DEMAND DECENT HOUSING FOR ALL By Rich Capalbo CHICAGO -- The Department of Housing and Urban Development has taken over the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), declaring it has discovered mismanagement and corruption in the agency. In a flurry of news flashes since late May, we have learned that the CHA board resigned. That included chairman Vince Lane, a "visionary" in housing policy according to some, but a slumlord and real estate hustler if you were unfortunate enough to live in the projects under his rule. If HUD has only now noticed the corruption of CHA, it's because they haven't been looking. Lane is only the latest "visionary" to feed at the Chicago public housing trough. CHA has always been a rich source of contracts, deals, political payoffs and cronyism. The history of corruption is so deep that volumes could not contain the story. So why did HUD just "discover" this mess? The answer lies in understanding the economics of the present. It lies in understanding the master plans of a system that is engaged in a war on the poor, people who it can no longer use. We are living through a revolutionary era where an entire economic and social system is transforming. The time of big industry as king is passing, taking industrial labor with it. This is an era where a job for wages, as a fundamental part of everyone's life, is disappearing for many. From the lowest-skilled factory employees to surgeons, workers are being replaced by automation. The city of Chicago has no history separate from that of modern industry. And while Chicago has adjusted better than many cities to the changing economy, the end of industry has left many behind. Many of those, if they have a place to live at all, live in CHA sites. Not only are they left behind, they are in the path of urban renewal and speculation, the new big-money business in Chicago these days. Reorganization and cuts in public housing are part of the same transition evident in public education, welfare, Medicare and other social programs. These programs were established to keep a pool of ready labor for periods of high demand in the factories. With the permanent loss of jobs (the new reality) the government and business leaders are not willing to pay for the maintenance of excess people. There is no humanity in the capitalist's equation. If you are unable to contribute to their profits, they are not going to spend even the meager amount necessary to keep you alive. Public housing residents across the country are caught in a cycle that is pulling in more and more Americans every year. No job? Then you are at the mercy of HUD or in the street. And, of course, there are no jobs. Anyone who has observed public housing for the last 20 years has witnessed the de facto demolition of the projects, mainly through cutbacks in maintenance. By taking over in Chicago and elsewhere, HUD's present strategy seems to be shifting from slowly eroding public housing through neglect to rapidly and systematically privatizing, demolishing and abandoning it. There are other motives for HUD's rapid action at this time. The new reactionary Republican Congress is in the vanguard of the attack on the poor. HUD is on Congress' hit list. HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros knows that if HUD doesn't make drastic cuts -- and fast -- Congress will cut HUD, which it already tried to do in this year's budget. Cisneros couldn't wait for the CHA board and its 4,000-person bureaucracy to make the changes necessary to save his job. Even though Lane's long-term plan was no different from HUD's, the Chicago bunch was too mired in cronyism to act fast. They had to go. Further, the 1996 Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago's United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls. The center is only a block or so away from Henry Horner Homes, a CHA site whose residents have been pushed to the limits by appalling neglect. The Horner residents also face a redevelopment drive in their West Side neighborhood where the developers view them as obstacles. These angry residents could make the 1968 Democratic Convention look like a love-in, not a good image for the Democrats. The effects of the takeover will be mixed in the short run. HUD will make some improvements. They will demolish some of the housing. They will turn over some management to private companies. They will set up sites under tenant management. Housing conditions will probably improve for some. Well-organized residents will be able to use this period to demand overdue improvements and put tenants to work in management, repair and maintenance positions. The net result, though, will be less housing for the people who need it most. This is a city with almost 100,000 residents in public housing. CHA has a 10-year waiting list. This is a city with an estimated 40,000 homeless people. The loss of any affordable housing is not an acceptable solution for any city with the needs of Chicago. Chicago has been undergoing a loss of affordable housing for many years. The loss of CHA units will stress everyone in the market for a place to live except for the rich. We all have to fight for the right to a decent house for every human being, regardless of one's ability to pay for it. This is not an unreasonable or unrealistic demand considering the wealth of this country. However, the growing polarity between rich and poor forces some to live on the streets or in government slums while decent houses sit vacant and an affluent few retreat to their walled and guarded mansions. A revolution in the economic environment demands new ways to solve social issues. Denying people a decent home is not a new solution. Service cuts in a time of increasing need are not a new solution. If the political and business leaders cannot satisfy this demand, they should step aside. As poor as CHA and most public housing is at this time, it is better than living in the street. That is the destination of many residents as HUD and the system it serves carries out its attack on the poor. Some of the high rises will be demolished no matter what resistance is mounted. But we can demand that subsidized and affordable housing be replaced on at least a one-for-one basis and fight for it. We want to end up with more (and better) housing, not less. Public housing issues have been the bellwether for many social issues facing us all. The lockdowns of public housing reflect the government's police-state tilt. The nation's growing hard-core unemployment has been endured for years in the projects. The fight for public housing residents, the right to a decent shelter and a society that respects and values all people surely is a fight for us all. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ HUD OFFICIALS INSULT CHA RESIDENTS AT COMMUNITY MEETING By Rich Capalbo CHICAGO -- On June 19, residents of the Chicago Housing Authority's Robert Taylor Homes came to meet with representatives from HUD. At least 200 residents were eager to hear news of the HUD takeover of the Chicago Housing Authority. The residents waited. The HUD representatives did not appear. Mrs. Ethyl Washington, president of the Local Area Council, got on the phone to HUD and to City Hall. The representatives were not going to show up, but threats of embarrassing them through the media convinced them to change their plans. They arrived for the 5 p.m. meeting at about 6:30 p.m. Adding insult to injury, CHA did not turn on the air conditioning for the meeting. Neither did they provide microphones. The restless crowd could hardly hear the presentation. The HUD officials asserted that they wanted the tenants' input on a fast fix of more than 20 years of problems. But when one tenant asked a question about getting overdue repairs, Ron Carter, a security and safety specialist, responded: "We can fix buildings all day, but we can't fix people that keep tearing them up!" The meeting erupted and ended shortly thereafter. The residents had taken enough abuse for one day. Mrs. Washington just shook her head at the arrogance of the HUD officials. "What did they really expect to happen?" she asked. Mrs. Washington, who is proud of her Native American as well as her African heritage, pointed out the irony in the fact that the temporary director appointed by HUD for the CHA is in charge of both public and Indian housing. "Both are reservations," she said. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Public housing is under attack. Housing units are neglected, privatized, demolished or abandoned. The government feels it no longer has a financial or moral responsibility to the poor, and that "difficult" cutbacks have to be made. (But they do feel responsible to the corporations who get millions in tax write- offs). The point is -- there's NO reason for ANY cuts. America has the wealth and productive capacity to provide everyone with a decent home and more. The problem is the capitalist system of private ownership. We can build a cooperative society. We are the majority. Yes to public housing. Yes to a new America. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 6. IMMIGRANT DETAINEES REVOLT IN N.J.; CHICAGOANS PROTEST INS RAIDS By Allen Harris Some 300 people who had been imprisoned in a privately owned government jail for immigrants in Elizabeth, New Jersey have been moved to other federal and local jails on the East Coast following an uprising there on June 18, according to the New York Times. The special jail exploded in a six-hour rebellion because of the intolerably long jailing of people seized at the airport and held for trial before the immigration court there, for which there is only one judge. No one was seriously injured and no charges were filed. The site, operated by Esmor, Inc. of Melville, New York, is a converted warehouse which opened last August. Press reports said former detainees complained of substandard living and feeding conditions and of guards who would push them around and try to pick fights. One lawyer said guards shouted racial epithets. She also said she saw detainees who apparently had been beaten. A week after the uprising, federal and local officials were debating whether to keep the jail open. The government was reported pleading with local officials to keep it open, promising that the uprising won't happen again. On the same day in Chicago, about 100 supporters of the Pro- Immigrant Alliance protested the recent wave of Immigration and Naturalization Service arrests and deportations of Mexican workers in Chicago-area businesses. Since February, more than 500 undocumented and mostly Mexican workers have been arrested in a dozen INS raids, according to the Daily Southtown newspaper. This included 55 workers picked up at two suburban Chicago factories on May 10, which is celebrated as Mother's Day in Mexico. The protest in response to these raids came, appropriately, on Father's Day. "The community was outraged because many mothers were deported," said a march organizer, Guillermo Gomez. "We felt it was a deliberate attempt by the INS and a great insult," he said. "We've seen cases where mothers were deported and their kids were left with babysitters. Mothers were going frantic," said Salvador Cerna of the Chicago Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Protection. "Undocumented workers are not criminals and should not be treated like criminals," said Carlos Arango, another march organizer who told of recent deportations in which workers were picked up at 8 a.m. and were on planes to Texas and Mexico by 2 p.m. the same day. These raids on the undocumented, and the inhuman detention of immigrants such as in the New Jersey warehouse-jail, are attacks on all American workers and people in poverty which must be confronted by our unity along the road of struggle to a new society without persecution of anyone of any nationality. ****************************************************************** 7. JONATHAN KOZOL AT THE AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION: AUTHOR CALLS FOR 'PROPHETIC RAGE' TO SAVE AMERICA'S POOR CHILDREN Editor's note: A Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, Jonathan Kozol's lifelong dedication to the welfare of children began with a temporary teaching job in 1964 in Boston's segregated schools. His first book, _Death at an Early Age_, won the 1968 National Book Award and his 1985 book _Illiterate America_ received unanimous praise focusing public attention on illiteracy in this country. Kozol's newest book, _Amazing Grace_, is his report from one of the poorest places in the nation, New York's South Bronx. Following are excerpts from Kozol's remarks to the American Booksellers Association convention held in Chicago in June. ------------------------------------------------------------------ One night last winter, I watched two children, a brother and sister, saying their prayers before they went to bed in the South Bronx. The children were wearing feet pajamas. "God bless Mommy. God bless Nanny. God, don't punish me for being black." I had never heard that prayer before. I'm afraid we are going to hear it a lot in the next few years. _Amazing Grace_ is about some beautiful children who became my friends in the poorest place that I have ever been in the United States. The most diseased and violent neighborhood of the South Bronx, which is the poorest congressional district in America. Most of the book takes place in a single six-block area where 21 people were murdered in the two years just before I visited, half of them children under 18; where many children died in fires and shootings during the year that I was there, and when another child was murdered on New Year's Eve in an apartment house I just left two hours earlier. The children are black and Hispanic. There's hardly any white people in the neighborhood except for priests and cops. This is total segregation. More than 95 percent of the children there live in poverty. About half the families there live on $3,700 a year. A quarter of the mothers of the newborns in the neighborhood test positive for HIV when they go to the obstetric wards. The pediatric AIDS rate in the neighborhood is the highest in America. The frequency of asthma among the children in the neighborhood is the highest of any place I have ever been in the world. This is not a sociological study. It's not an analysis. It isn't a liberal reply to Charles Murray or Newt Gingrich. It recounts a journey, my journey. It tells what it's like to be a privileged person who lives in one world, enters another and knows that he will never be at home in either. If I were asked to say what the book is about ... I'd say this book is about miracles and ashes. The ashes are not just the many, many poisons that we pump into the neighborhood which these children live in. Lead poison. Sewage plants. Waste dumps of every kind, everything that we don't want in our neighborhood. Nor even the obvious plagues and poisons such as heroin and AIDS, TB, high- powered weapons, but also the toxin of utter racial isolation, by the ashes of despisal that are heaped upon their spirits every single day by our society. The miracles are the resilient souls of children, many of whom defy the stereotypes of inner-city children. Children in my book have beautiful names, real names. Destiny. I met her in kindergarten. She wrote her name for me with a purple crayon. Blessing. That is another child that I met. Jeremiah. Some of them die before the book is over. Two in fires. One in an elevator shaft. Virtually all these children believe in God. Many cry a great deal. Many pray. Many have breathing machines beside their beds. Parents in the neighborhood have all sorts of theories about why their children can't breathe. Some say it's because New York City dumps its sewage in that neighborhood, puts its medical waste burners there, because of all the filth and toxins. One boy, the central character in this book, eats cold oatmeal for dinner. When I met him first on Christmas Eve of 1993, I asked him what his life was like. "Mr. Jonathan," he said, "My life is like the life of Edgar Allen Poe." I thought that was an amazing answer. I said, "How do you know Edgar Allen Poe?" He said, "Because I have read his books." I asked, "What books have you read?" He said, "The Mask of the Red Death." I said, "What is that about? I've never read it." He said, "It's about a plague that stalks the Earth." I asked, "Where did you find this book by Edgar Allen Poe?" He said, "In a little store, a junk store. Many good things I have found in little stores." He told me he wants to be a novelist when he grows up, but he feels torn because he would also like to be a prophet. "Like Samuel," he said. I hadn't read the Bible in years. I said, "Who is Samuel?" He said, "All right, I'll tell you the story. For the first heaven and the first Earth were passed away. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, 'Behold, I make all things new. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, and God shall wipe away their tears.'" These children brought me back to religion. I met another lovely child whose name is Anabel. Her nickname was Pineapple. An 11-year-old. I asked her class, "What's the most beautiful thing you can think of?" Almost every child answered "Heaven." The beautiful poem of Langston Hughes reminds me of why heaven is so important to poor children: Sometimes a crumb falls from the tables of joy. Sometimes a bone is flung. To some people love is given. To others only heaven. These two kids I've told you about are two of the little miracles of the South Bronx. The trouble with miracles, however, is that they are too rare and a good society cannot be built on miracles. A good society has to be built on justice. The newspapers tend to exploit unusual children like the ones that I have described. They point to these rare children, these beautiful survivors, and they ask, "Why is it all the other children in the ghetto cannot bear their crosses with a comparable dignity?" They never ask why children should be bearing crosses in the first place. The children in my book are part of a rapidly growing population in America that has been exiled from the common areas of shared democracy. Their mothers know that they have been exiled. They speak of their lives in New York City as "our time in Egypt." People who care about me sometimes ask me, "Is it safe for you to be in neighborhoods like that?" I get angry when they ask that question. I say, "Safe for me? These children have to live there their whole lives." Children ... are not suffering by mistake. They are the outcasts of our nation's ingenuity. We lock them up in modern lazarettos. We label them unclean just as in the Middle Ages. We give them the worst schools; the most vile hospitals and filthiest surroundings in the Western world. Then we study them to find out why they do not have good values. It isn't the values of these children or their mothers or their fathers that concerned me. It is the values of a society that increasingly and unmistakably has made it clear that it does not love children and which willingly and shamefully allows the innocent to be destroyed. The book was very painful to write. If there are amazing graces in this soiled land today, I am convinced that they are these good children sent to us by God and not yet dirtied by the knowledge that their country does not like them. But their soiling will come in time. It is as certain as the night follows the day, unless good people who have power in America take action in unprecedented ways and with an unaccustomed fervor of prophetic rage. I hope I will live to see that happen. The book takes its title, of course, from the well-known song "Amazing Grace": How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I'm found. Was blind but now I see. The children I have met who sing that song in church are full of grace and they see clearly. It is our nation which is blind and needs our prayers. Thank you. ****************************************************************** 8. CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF JULY; HELP SPREAD REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS! By The Editors Life in America, July 4, 1995: For so many of us, it's rough just trying to survive and hold a family together. It might be a good time to look back to the original Fourth of July, for inspiration to carry on the fight, to remember the vision so boldly put forward more than 200 years ago. That vision, resurrected and enriched during the battles against slavery, today remains unfulfilled. Thomas Paine was one of the great revolutionaries produced by the fight for American independence. The role played by the ideas he popularized shows what revolutionaries need to do today. Although Paine was poorly educated and inexperienced as a writer, he became the American Revolution's most uncompromising revolutionary thinker. His ideas moved millions. Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense" was America's first best seller. More than 120,000 copies were sold in the first three months after its publication on January 10, 1776. Five hundred thousand copies of "Common Sense" were sold in its first year in print -- in a country with a population of 5 million. What did Paine advocate? American independence from England, of course; an end to slavery; equal rights for women; rights and protection for laborers; public employment; assistance for the poor; pensions for the elderly. He painted a picture of a true democracy, of human freedom and community. It is ironic that, so long ago, Paine wrote: "The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind." Today, we find ourselves in a similar situation, one which again demands a revolutionary solution. The greatest gap between wealth and poverty in the industrialized world exists in America. Our country is one of the few to still have the death penalty. Poverty, hunger and homelessness are spreading daily. The list goes on and on. The fight to save America is the fight to rid the world of human exploitation and oppression forever. Paine's words live on: "O! Ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. ... O! Receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind." The League of Revolutionaries for a New America has dedicated itself to the political awakening of the American people. What is needed today is to spread the understanding of the "cause of America," which Paine refers to, the vision of what our country can become. This understanding will be the engine driving forward the new revolutionary movement. For those who doubt the power of an idea whose time has come, let us go back to 1776. The ragtag Continental Army was on the verge of defeat. It was winter, and the troops were freezing and near starvation. It was hard to find a glimmer of hope among the men. During those dark days, Thomas Paine began writing a series of pamphlets called "The American Crisis." On Christmas Day 1776, a desperate George Washington ordered his troops to gather into small groups. The officers read to them from Paine's latest pamphlet. Many of the soldiers wept when they heard what Paine wrote. The power of his now-famous words energized them with the strength to carry on: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." That bitter Christmas night, Washington and his troops courageously crossed the Delaware River. They surprised and defeated the British at Trenton. That victory was a major turning point in the war. Today, for the first time in history, the conditions exist to make the vision of a just society, the vision Paine described so eloquently, into a reality. The way things are produced, particularly with electronic technology, makes a world of material abundance and cultural development for everyone possible. Throughout history, our cause has been brought to life, and further developed, during every new round of social struggle. Today, if revolutionaries introduce new ideas like Paine did, the realization of this cause is inevitable. ****************************************************************** 9. LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS By John Bailey SKY VALLEY, California -- I know what life and liberty mean. But happiness is hard to define. Is it a good-paying job? Is it shelter for your family? Is it good medical care for everyone? Is it plenty of food, as this is a land of plenty? More food is wasted in this country than anywhere else in the world. There is no reason to go hungry in this land of plenty. Or is happiness the right of religion to force its agenda down your throat, with its hate, intolerance and bigotry? Is that happiness? I think not. Or is happiness to have the state murder her citizens with impunity? Is it to have an elite that answers to no one? Or is it happiness to have John Bailey speak out for justice and for our Bill of Rights? These are dangerous days for our citizens. We are under fire with the hate, intolerance and bigotry expressed in the Contract on America. Just listen to these people who begrudge food for our children. The working poor paid for SSI and Medicare. The working poor fought our wars. And if you were lucky enough to get out of the service without injuries, that was happiness. Then, in later years, you found out that you were lied to, that you had poor medical care, that your housing was under a bridge. If you found that happiness in a bottle, the politicians cut your benefits. The same ones that are doing the cutting have never served in the military, have never had a real job. They have committed treason against the working poor. I could write on. I can say, prove me wrong. I can prove I'm not wrong. [John Bailey is a veteran of World War II and a retired worker, 72 years of age.] ****************************************************************** 10. WHY WELFARE 'REFORM' IS HAPPENING NOW By The Editors Just about everyone can see that the welfare programs that have been built up in this country over the past 60 years, including AFDC, are under attack. But why is this happening now, and what does it mean? To understand the answers to these questions, we have to understand the role of government. The main task of government is to create the programs and policies that allow the economy to function. When this society was mainly agricultural, the government took care of the needs of the big farmers and plantation owners. That meant, among other things, that the government forced the Indians off of fertile lands, that slavery was protected and extended, that shipping lanes for export were cleared and frontiers expanded. As the farm gave way to industry, the government transformed itself into a committee to take care of the new needs of industry. At that point government began to grow. Industry needed literate workers, so a department of education was created and the school system expanded. The army needed healthy young men to fight the wars brought on by industrial expansion, so a school lunch program was started. As industry grew, it spawned big cities, and a Department of Housing and Urban Development was created to give order to these sprawling metropolises. Government became big government in order to serve the needs of industry as it became big industry. The workers were kept relatively healthy and the unemployed were warehoused in such a manner as to keep them available for work with every industrial expansion. Big industry meant mass production with millions of workers on the assembly line. Today, big industry is giving way to mass production with a handful of workers using high-tech electronics. The millions on the assembly line are being steadily replaced with robots and computers. This means a huge and growing mass of people are no longer needed in production. And it means there is no need to maintain a "reserve army" of the unemployed -- a mass of workers who can be temporarily supported by public assistance until they are needed for the workplace. They simply aren't needed anymore. And with modern, high-tech warfare replacing the large infantry armies of the past, the government doesn't even need a mass of healthy young men for war. In other words, the new electronic means of production forced industry to "downsize," and the government downsized along with it. High-tech production means that a growing mass of people are permanently unemployed. This is why we are seeing welfare "reform" -- the ruling class of billionaires that controls the government is not going to feed labor that it cannot employ. The implications of high-tech production are profound. High-tech means much more is produced with very little labor, so there is at once a vast increase in production and, eventually, a massive increase in unemployment. Those displaced by high-tech are left with poverty-level service jobs, or no jobs, and with a public aid system that is rapidly disappearing. The result is that our society is splitting between absolute wealth (in the form of 145 billionaires) and absolute poverty (in the form of some eight million homeless). High-tech is creating a new class of permanently unemployed people who are being driven out of society. Cut off from jobs and public aid, they only have two choices: fight to build a new, cooperative society where everyone's needs are met, or starve. The same high- tech tools that are creating mass unemployment under the current system also make possible a new society where everyone can reach their full potential. But the billionaires would see the unemployed starve, in order to defend their wealth and privilege. Thus the debate around welfare "reform" is not about whether we can "defend" the welfare state. It is ultimately about who will rule this country, and about what kind of society we will have. ****************************************************************** 11. POVERTY GROWS IN THE LONE STAR STATE: WELFARE RIGHTS UNION SEEKS TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER By Sandra Reid The People's Tribune interviewed Flora Punch, president of the Independent Heights Welfare Rights Union in Houston, Texas. She is on the Board of Directors as a client representative for the Gulf Coast Legal Foundation (Houston's Legal Aid), is a member of their Client Council Committee, and volunteers services with the Houston Metropolitan Ministries in the Senior Food Program, which gives out packaged food to seniors on the third Saturday of each month. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: Flora, how did you get involved in welfare rights work? FLORA: In 1985, when I was having a welfare problem, the welfare rights organization had an office at the legal foundation where I was seeking help. They acted as a liaison between welfare and Legal Aid to help me solve my problem. Welfare could not decide if my youngest daughter would be eligible for AFDC, although she was in a household with an absent parent. I joined then and I've been here ever since. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: What changes in the welfare program are taking place in Texas? FLORA: They are working with the jobs program, trying to get people off welfare and into jobs. But I live right down the street from the unemployment office, and every morning the line is around the corner, with up to 200 people trying to get jobs or replace jobs. They are adding WIC (the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program for children under five years old) on to the Electronic Benefit Transfer card (EBT). We already have EBT for food stamps and AFDC. It's OK for a safeguard, but if these cards get lost, or stolen they are not replaceable. Once that benefit is lost you are only eligible for what comes the next month, so you starve. They are going to add Texas Medicaid for persons needing mental health, so rather than having regular Medicaid with regular doctors, it will be a program all to itself and you'll get even worse medical care. They make these changes where it looks like a real good thing, but when you really look at it, it's not so good at all. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: Is poverty growing in your state? FLORA: Like everywhere, homelessness is getting bigger instead of smaller. I see white people every day with no place to live and no clothes. It seems they are now more of a majority than a minority. It used to be that usually the white people had things and the blacks didn't. Now there's just as many white as black. If there is any organization helping, they keep it a secret. They made a new homeless hotel and the first day it's open, it's full to the brim. We have children on the street that can't find their parents or don't have parents, with no place to go. Covenant House used to take kids, now they won't. If you're 15, 16, or 17, you have to have a legal guardian or they won't give [you] shelter. I took my two little nieces to Covenant House to see if they could have a roof over their head for a while. They wanted to know "Where is mama?" I didn't know. They said they need a legal guardian before they can help. Kids are walking the streets trying to get a motel room day to day. If you are under 18 with a baby, you're not eligible for a house or anything and Child Protective Services will not help. If a child hasn't been a runaway or had problems with the police, they won't get any help. They spend $40,000 to keep someone locked up. They won't spend $10 to get someone in a schoolhouse or off the street. They had two executions this week. One guy had been on Death Row for 18 years. They said it was "cruel and unusual punishment" for him to be on Death Row that long. Looks like they want people to die right away. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: What does the Welfare Rights Union do ? FLORA: We inform recipients that there are programs available. When they go to an interview at the Department of Human Services, people are denied entitlements that [they] should not have been. People don't know you can make inquiries and have hearings, have someone intervene for you, accompany you, represent you. We try to remove the barriers that cause people to not get entitlements. Agencies have a habit of insuring you don't get benefits for too long. We're having a National Welfare Rights Conference August 18-20 in Houston so that we can get more awareness of the union. People are crying amongst themselves and don't know where to turn. People should join up, make a combined effort and make a difference! [For more information on the Independent Heights Welfare Rights Union in Houston, call 713-699-0362.] ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ "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. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 12. S.F. COPS HIDE TRUTH ABOUT KILLING By Jack Hirschman SAN FRANCISCO -- Another man, another black man, another poor man has been done in by the uniformed representatives of the State of Police, otherwise known as California. Aaron Williams, 35, died June 4, handcuffed, bleeding, pepper- spray brutalized by a bunch of thugs otherwise known as the police of San Francisco. As of this writing, memorial and protest marches for Williams and against police brutality are in motion. Many believe -- contrary to official evasions and attempts to denigrate Williams as a drug user and a man with "mental" problems -- that he was the 28th police victim since 1990 of pepper spray asphyxiation. Pepper spray is being used in California as a deterrent against "criminals." It contains substances that cause shortness of breath and, if one is using drugs, heart seizure. In Williams' case, moreover, after he was sprayed and cuffed, he was allegedly kicked and beaten by police and thrown into the back of a police van, his condition unmonitored. It was there he is said to have expired. Investigations are going on, of the police by the police (and one can just bet not for the People), including an "independent" FBI investigation. And, of course, mis-information, downright lies and buck-passing, is in high vogue. The cops and the ex-police chief and now mayor of San Francisco, Frank Jordan, want the Williams affair to go away. But the resonances of the Rodney King beating, trial and subsequent Los Angeles Rebellion of a few years ago run deep. Moreover, the death of Aaron Williams comes at a time when the Police State everywhere is tightening controls. Crime and punishment is the name of the game that city and state governments are spewing about through the mainstream media; but all that is to cover for the enormous cuts being stabbed into the back of the poor women and children and men who already are suffering under poverty, cuts that continue misery; misery that leads to grumbling and outrage and necessary organized action against the creators of such destitution -- the capitalists and the system of economic chains they've put in place around the necks of more than 75 million people in this land. And that's the real reason for the tightening of the screws, the deepening of police state activity. Fear of uprising. That's why more than 22,000 people in San Francisco alone have been ticketed, harassed and arrested under Jordan's unconstitutional "Matrix" program. Not just to keep the streets "tourist-friendly." Fear of uprising. Fear that the masses of people (who are sick of the bankrupt values of the crooked dogs who bark in local governments and daily accept capitalism's swindle, and sick of the indignity of living the lie of this false America) begin to realize that they are of a new class, a Poor People's Army that's destined to throw the whole rotten load of unPeople's Police into the jail of oblivion where they belong, and with the instruments to make abundance a truly generous answer to the needs of all, find that breathing of cooperation and commonly shared joy that has been for so long robbed from us by the same kind of asphyxiating spray of lies and death that murdered Aaron Williams. ****************************************************************** 13. BLACK JOURNALIST AND COMMUNITY ACTIVIST FACES EXECUTION IN PENNSYLVANIA PHILADELPHIA -- Mumia Abu-Jamal is a political prisoner on Death Row. On October 1, 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case and now the governor of Pennsylvania has signed his death warrant, setting Mumia's execution date for August 17, 1995. As a young man, Abu-Jamal was a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and developed his "pen" through writing for the BPP's newspaper. At the time of his arrest, Abu- Jamal was the president of the local chapter of the Association of Black Journalists. He was well-known throughout Philadelphia as "The Voice of the Oppressed" for his outspoken commentaries against police brutality. In 1978, Abu-Jamal covered the trial in which 15 members of the MOVE commune were convicted of the murder of one police officer killed during a 500-person police raid on the commune. During the trial, Abu-Jamal witnessed the state's corruption and took a public stand in support of MOVE. Abu-Jamal was convicted in 1982 of shooting a police officer who pulled over his brother. No substantial evidence links Abu-Jamal to the crime. "Physical evidence flatly contradicts the testimony of the state's two central witnesses -- whose accounts changed several times before trial. Hand-picked from over 125 eyewitnesses -- some of whom reported seeing someone else shoot the officer and flee -- both these witnesses had previous convictions and pending charges, making them susceptible to police pressures. Indeed, one defense witness testified that she and one of the state's witnesses were offered a deal to identify Mumia as the shooter." (Equal Justice USA). Though Abu-Jamal was discovered shot and close to death, he was beaten by the police. His trial was presided over by Philadelphia Judge Albert Sabo, responsible for sentencing more people to death than any other judge in the country. Abu-Jamal was barred from representing himself and from being represented by John Africa, his attorney of choice; instead, he was represented by an unprepared attorney. The state systematically excluded black jurors from the trial jury, resulting in an all-white jury except for one black person. Abu-Jamal's teen-age membership in the BPP was introduced in court to further vilify him in the eyes of the jury. Abu-Jamal's writings continue to appear in publications across the country such as the Yale Law Journal and the Chicago Defender. Recently, National Public Radio was scheduled to broadcast a series of 3-minute commentaries Abu-Jamal recorded, but then canceled in response to pressure from the police and politicians. Write, call, or fax Gov. Ridge at the Main Capitol Building, Room 225, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120. Phone 717-787-2121 and 717- 783-1198. Fax: 717-783-1396 and 717-783-3369. Urge him to stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. ****************************************************************** 14. 'NEVER EVER TOLERATE ABUSE': NETA PRISON GROUP FIGHTS FOR DIGNITY Dear People's Tribune: I'm a young Puerto Rican currently incarcerated in a New York state prison. I have just received the May copy of the People's Tribune from a brother of mine, and I'm very pleased and extremely happy to read that there are people who really care about racism and the minority struggle. I thought we were alone. I'm a member, highly active, of the Association NETA, and I'm deeply moved. NETA is a political movement which does not allow racism to exist within its structure, to hinder its progress in helping the young brothers in prison to struggle and survive the nefarious conditions. No one is safe from racism. As I think back, even in school, I was not protected from racism or given an education that could really give me consciousness. I was influenced by the conditions that surrounded me being incarcerated. These experiences also awaken my defiance and pride in being a NETA, struggling to face the suffering and abuse that I face in the system. It hurts me to see brothers 19 years old, coming to prison with no sense of direction, no education, with 25 to life. (I, at one time, was one of these brothers). We create a consciousness and awareness within them. We share everything, even our hurt and pain. Most of all, we NETAs encourage these brothers to continue their education and get a trade that will really provide them with a true chance in society, because prisoners say they can only go back to the game that got them here in the first place, and in that game they're only bringing down their people, their community, their society. However, the governor of New York, Governor Pataki, is threatening to kill lots of educational, vocational and drug counseling programs to save the state money. It's creating chaos and fear, fear of hope for the future generation of young brothers not being granted the opportunity to progress in education and vocational skills. How can they rehabilitate themselves and be productive in society without these benefits? The Department of Corrections is not correcting the problem, but creating one. The intellects control the masses in fighting the struggle. This is a revolution, a revolution of education and opportunity to learn. Without this, we get rebellious! Yet and still, Pataki wants to build more prisons to keep us oppressed. Prisons are not the answer taxpayers are looking for. Providing more educational and trade programs to keep prisoners out in society is the answer. Without these opportunities, prisoners can't prepare themselves After leaving prisons, they are naked! The Association NETA was founded in Puerto Rico in 1980. It was established by a humble and intelligent man named Carlos Torres Iliarte, (Carlito La Sombra), to fight against the abuse and injustice in the prison system. He and many others fought and died believing that their battles would live on. The government of Puerto Rico was very adamant in refusing to recognize NETAs. Today, the dreams and struggle live on. NETAs have grown and spread out into New York, Connecticut, and in Puerto Rico, where it's recognized and legalized. However, the Department of Corrections in New York City does not want to acknowledge it as a political movement, helping the minorities, exposing injustice, and teaching those willing to learn about the exploitation and oppression going on. Most of all, NETA creates awareness and pride, and installs a sense of accomplishment in its brother and sister members. Therefore, DOCS has created a campaign against the Association NETA, and called it a "gang"! Soon, maybe they'll be terrorist? If left up to DOCS! Even though the Association NETA was founded in Puerto Rico's prison, by prisoners, and established with Puerto Rican bloodshed, it does not discriminate in teaching and has members of all ethnic backgrounds active in the streets and prison system. Lots of people say, "Why the prison system?" It's here that lots of young brothers come through with no sense of direction and lack of awareness of the beast we dwell in, this capitalist government. We become role models to them and we emphasize that they continue in school and teach what was taught to them. To share and unite against the abuse is what Neta stands for, the philosophy of Carlito "La Sombra." De Corazon! "I'll rather die suffering and dreaming of a struggle, than to die of fear to struggle." -- Tito Blues. Never Ever Tolerate Abuse, NETA! Sincerely, Milton Enrique Corretjer "Tito Blues" NETA ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 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. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 15. LET'S KEEP CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN MUSICIANS AND FANS By The Music Group Music has become the conscience of the world, the soul of the planet. Musicians constantly do benefits, speak out on issues and write songs that condemn hunger, homelessness, and police brutality. Musicians stand up for the rights of the oppressed and promote unity. Musicians are also blazing a trail within the music industry itself as they challenge ticket-selling monopolies to stage tours with low admission prices; use the Internet to distribute music without censorship or middle-man markups or make soundtrack albums and issue-oriented compilation albums that break down barriers of race, sex, and musical style. All this activity represents the early stages of closing the gap that has always separated musicians from fans. This gap stems from the fact that the corporations which dominate the music industry view musicians as pieces of meat to be marketed like soap. But for the fans, musicians are the standard-bearers of a vital culture that the fans themselves helped to create. The efforts of musicians to communicate to their fans are consistently disrupted by a profit-driven system that erects political barriers (censorship) and economic barriers (obscenely high prices) in the middle of the creative process. Closing the gap between musicians and fans will unleash the full power of our culture because it will enable musicians to fully reflect the interests of the fans. It will help the fans to take the messages in the music and carry them toward their natural conclusion: A society free of violence and poverty. OK, how do we do this? 1. Break the blackout. Across America, the very people musicians write songs about are organizing and fighting back. It takes the form of everything from takeovers of abandoned housing by the homeless to gang truces. It can be seen in rallies staged by women on welfare or in tribunals against genocide held by Indian nations. Yet the media blacks out these struggles, stunting their growth and depriving others of the information that might inspire them to similar action. Musicians, with their power to reach beyond the confines of a neighborhood, city or state, can spread the news that a new class of people is on the offensive. "The vision is of a more equally distributed economic and social wealth. To get there, there's different ways, but our major battle is to make people realize that there can be a different way, that it doesn't have to be the way it is now." -- Speech of Arrested Development, People's Tribune, May 11, 1992 2. Give voice to a vision. The rapid growth of resistance in America is of the greatest importance. What's missing are long- term goals for this upsurge of activity. Goals can only be set if there is a vision for the future that's rooted in reality. The reality of today is that we no longer have to fight each other for access to society's wealth. For the first time in human history, we have the technology to produce an abundance for all. Musicians can change the course of history by inspiring the American people with a vision of a cooperative society based on public ownership of this technology, a society whose very structure puts the physical, environmental and cultural well-being of the people above the profits of a handful of billionaires. The alternative is to accept the vision of these same billionaires: a continuing downward spiral of poverty and violence that can only end in a full-blown police state. 3. Make our path a two-way street. Closing the gap also means the fans should support musicians in their battle to be heard. As our profit-mad, musicians-as-soap economic system effectively silences most musicians, fans and their community organizations can help fill the void by organizing events that provide an outlet both for the music and for expanding their own struggles. Musicians also need support in the battles against censorship and for lower ticket prices. The bottom line is that musicians and fans have common interests, not separate interests. Our diverse activity should be sewn together by that common thread. [The Music Group is a network of members and friends of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America (LRNA). Our goal is to make sure music plays its crucial role in freeing humanity from violence and poverty. Please write us with your ideas in care of the People's Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654.] ****************************************************************** 16. BIRTHRIGHT RECORDS STANDS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS By Danny Alexander While most of the record industry stands for little more than the ruthless exploitation of musicians, St. Louis-based Birthright Records stands for a vision we can all get behind. Its statement of purpose reads: "Birthright stands for the rights that we as human beings are naturally entitled to from birth, but, due to a wicked system, people of color, and many poor whites, have been denied. Those rights are love, truth, peace, freedom, justice [and] equality." You hardly need to hear the music to know you're going to be down with whoever created that statement. But it only helps because you also learn that Birthright stands for quality. Rappers Twice Da "G" come off just as playful and deadly serious as Snoop Doggy Dogg on their single "Once Upon a Time," telling gangsta tales with fluid rhymes and sing-song choruses. But the music is also about a search for answers to what is destroying their community. By the end of the rhyme, you know they have a plan, and it starts with the unity they build with their funk. Blending acid jazz with Public Enemy's in-your-face approach, MC Popaganda on one of his singles sounds the alarm on crack and, on another song, tells society not to pity him because he knows exactly what he's got to do to change society and he's doing it. Hollywood & Ace Boom lay down one wild, ragamuffin rap party, making clear that's all a part of their plan to stop the violence against one another on "Don't Waste Your Time." Each crew covers its own corner of the hip-hop universe with enthusiasm, crazy energy and finesse. And each crew offers its own fresh take on what it all means. That clarity of vision, no doubt, is at least aided by the fact that the label's president, Dianne Gray Coleman (D-Mix), has made sure she's built a community focused on the only goals that really matter. Great music has been the payoff. Write to Birthright Records at 4601 Korte Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63115. ****************************************************************** 17. EXCITING NEWS! PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE TO ATTEND U.N. CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN BEIJING, CHINA! The People's Tribune is going to China! We'll participate in the Non-Governmental Organization Forum, associated with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. The theme of the conference is equality, development and peace. Grassroots women from all over the world will bring the deteriorating plight of poor women and their children before the world. The purpose of the NGO Forum is to influence the Platform for Action that U.N. member states will adopt. We are honored to be part of the delegation sponsored by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under the Law. The People's Tribune, along with many others, will bring the point of view of millions of America's poor women to this historic conference. We will take pictures and cover the conference for you, our readers. Help make this trip possible by making a donation today! Laura Garcia, the editor of the People's Tribune, and others, will be available to speak to your group upon their return. Please make checks payable to the People's Tribune and write "China Trip" on the envelope. Mail your donation to People's Tribune, PO Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654. ****************************************************************** 18. 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: League of Revolutionaries for a New America, 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. ****************************************************************** 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 ******************************************************************