****************************************************************** People's Tribune (Online Edition) Vol. 24 No. 5/ May, 1997 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 Email: pt@noc.org ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE is now available on the World Wide Web at http://www.mcs.com/~jdav/league.html +----------------------------------------------------------------+ INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition) Vol. 24 No. 5/ May, 1997 Page One 1. ANTI-BLACK VIOLENCE: HOW IT'S USED TO CONTROL AMERICA Spirit of the Revolution 2. AMERICA'S RULERS EXPLOIT HEAVEN'S GATE TRAGEDY FOR POLITICAL ENDS -- THE HUNT FOR 'CULTS': THE NEW WITCH-HUNT? News and Features 3. L.A. WELFARE RECIPIENTS SPEAK OUT: 'WE HAVE THE POWER TO BRING THEM DOWN!' 4. PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE FORCES CONVICTION OF CHICAGO COP FOR KILLING HOMELESS MAN 5. WHAT IS MAY DAY'S MEANING FOR TODAY? 6. CINCO DE MAYO POINTS TO BATTLES AHEAD 7. IMMIGRANT FREED FROM DEATH ROW AFTER A LONG BATTLE 8. MANDELA VILLAGE CONTAINS PROMISE FOR THOSE LEFT OUT OF THE SYSTEM 9. DONALD TRUMP CAN'T PASS EXAMINATION!: DONALD TRUMP VS. THE KIDS AT P.S. 70, THE BRONX Women and Revolution: Visions for a New America 10. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN PHILADELPHIA: ANTI-POVERTY LEADER DEFIES PENNSYLVANIA WELFARE RULE 11. DAUGHTER OF 1937 SIT-DOWN STRIKE LEADER SAYS 'SENSE OF CLASS' IS NEEDED Culture Under Fire 12. 'WHEN WE WERE KINGS' 13. EMPOWERMENT (AND POETRY) TO THE PEOPLE: BALTIMORE'S MEN OF NOMMO >From the League 14. THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARIES FOR A NEW AMERICA: WHAT WE ARE AND WHY 15. LRNA HOLDS SCHOOL IN SPANISH Letters 16. READERS RESPOND TO ARTICLE ON THE 'WORK ETHIC' IN AMERICA ****************************************************************** 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, send a message to pt-dist@noc.org with "Subscribe" in the subject line. For electronic subscription problems, e-mail pt-admin@noc.org. ****************************************************************** ****************************************************************** 1. ANTI-BLACK VIOLENCE: HOW IT'S USED TO CONTROL AMERICA The history of violence against African Americans in this country is so horrific as to be almost beyond belief. But it happened, and it's still happening. The recent attack in Chicago on Lenard Clark, a 13-year-old black youth who was beaten into a coma by three white youths for straying into their neighborhood, is a case in point. And of course, even more barbaric acts have been committed. Since 1859, over 5,000 African Americans have been lynched in this country. Blacks have also been tortured to death with blowtorches, dragged to death behind cars, and doused with gasoline and set afire in public spectacles. The case of Emmett Till comes to mind; in 1955, the 14-year-old Till was abducted, brutally beaten, shot in the head and dumped in the Tallahatchie River near Greenwood, Mississippi, for allegedly whistling at a white woman. And the lynchings continue, in one form or another, to this day. In perhaps no other country on earth do skin color and nationality constitute such explosive material. While African Americans have suffered more or less continually from an ongoing nightmare of segregation, discrimination and violence, there have been periods when things seemed to improve somewhat -- as a result, for example, of the modern civil rights movement -- and periods when things got worse. For about the past 20 years, it seems, things have been getting steadily worse. We are now in the midst of a reign of terror against people of color generally, and against the African American in particular. There are reasons why this is happening now, and reasons why this violence -- or more specifically, the ideology of white supremacy it represents -- has profound implications for the future of all of us. There is also cause to hope that the day is at hand when we can put white supremacy and racial violence behind us once and for all. If we don't, there is little hope for building a new society free of poverty and repression. Outside the South, Chicago has been the scene of some of the worst racial episodes in the country's history. A lot was symbolized by the recent beating of Lenard Clark in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood. The location itself was symbolic. Bridgeport has a long history of anti-black violence. It is perhaps the most segregated neighborhood in a city that has been described as the most segregated in America. Bridgeport, where the roots of the politically powerful Daley family are, is also the historic seat of mayoral power and patronage in Chicago, a city that epitomizes how this country's ruling class has used racial politics to divide the people. (It's said that the late mayor, Richard J. Daley, had the Stevenson and Dan Ryan expressways built where they are to act as a barrier between Bridgeport-Canaryville and nearby black neighborhoods. And up until 1982, a locked iron gate at 42nd Street made access to Bridgeport impossible from the black Fuller Park neighborhood.) Bridgeport, a once-booming industrial area, also exemplifies what is happening to America's industrial working class as aging plants shut down, replaced by modern, automated factories which are often located in other countries. That there is a campaign of terror under way against the African American population is undeniable. There has been a general increase in hate crimes since the 1980s, including an ongoing assault on the black population, and working-class blacks in particular, by the police. Consider, too, the "suicides" of young black men in Southern jails; the black church burnings; and black police officers being beaten and shot by white officers. Couple this with all the media propaganda about blacks and crime, blacks and welfare, and blacks and "child abuse," which has helped foment an anti-black hysteria. Add to it the anti-affirmative action proposals that were considered last year in 35 states, plus the California anti-affirmative action initiative which was approved by voters last year and thus far has been upheld by the courts. Throughout this country's history, the capitalists have used white supremacy to control the white worker, and thus control the country. This has been especially true since the Civil War The role that white supremacy plays in the politics of America is bound up with the historical role of the South. The South became a colony of the North after the Civil War, and the forms of political control of the South flowed from the historical forms of control of the black slave -- segregation, brutality and terror. The capitalists used the ideology of white supremacy and the granting of petty privileges to whites to get the white workers to unite with the ruling elite. The inability of whites to unite with the black worker kept the working class as a whole powerless. This method of control has been extended from the South to the whole country. At the same time, the capitalists use the South as an economic and political reserve against Northern labor. The control of Congress by right-wing Southern politicians and the lower wages and living standards of the South make it impossible for Northern workers to realize their democratic aspirations or win their economic struggles. In the 1870s, Wall Street consolidated its control of its first colony, the South, and through the South, the country. This process was marked by a reign of terror against the blacks and the use of white supremacy to tie the whites to the ruling class. Today, a similar process is under way as a group of now-global financiers, led by the United States, moves to turn the entire world into one big investment colony. To do this, they must lower the standard of living of workers in the industrial countries, including that of most U.S. workers. They must ultimately impose some kind of worldwide fascism. This is at the root of the resurgence of white supremacy and anti-black violence that we see today. It's a divide-and-conquer strategy. But this is not the 1870s. For one thing, over the last 50 years the black worker has been economically (if not socially) integrated into the urban working class, and the black capitalist into the capitalist class. This is a material basis for working- class unity. Even more significant, today the combination of labor-replacing electronic technology and a global economy mean that a new class of permanently unemployed, destitute people is being created in our country. They are of every color and nationality, and they are economically united. With no hope of being able to buy the things they need to have decent lives, they have no choice but to fight for a new, cooperative society in which the necessities of life are distributed according to need. But they must be politically united around a strategy for victory. The role of revolutionaries is to give them this strategy. If the workers are not united around a program of class unity across the color line, most of us will suffer grinding poverty under the rule of a police state. The economic unity of the rising new class of poor eliminates the material basis for the ideology of white supremacy that has held the U.S. working class back. A number of whites in Bridgeport have publicly said that Lenard Clark's attackers do not represent them. Bridgeport's workers and the black workers in the surrounding neighborhoods have more in common with one another than they do with any capitalist, white or black. Chicago has been the site of profound working class struggles, including the fight for the eight-hour day, which led to the Haymarket massacre and the birth of May 1 as an international working class holiday. It will no doubt be the site of history- making struggles again, as the African Americans are at last liberated in the process of the liberation of the entire working class. ****************************************************************** 2. AMERICA'S RULERS EXPLOIT HEAVEN'S GATE TRAGEDY FOR POLITICAL ENDS THE HUNT FOR 'CULTS': THE NEW WITCH-HUNT? [Editor's note: Below we print the latest contribution to our regular column about spirituality and revolution. The material below consists of excerpts from a letter of protest written to the CBS television network. The letter was written by Chris Mahin, the coordinator of the Spirit of the Revolution column in the People's Tribune, shortly after CBS broadcast an attack on a religious group whose activities have been covered in this column. The letter was addressed to Paul LaRosa, the producer of the segment which aired on CBS.] I want to register -- in the strongest possible terms -- my anger and disgust at a recent segment of the CBS news program "48 Hours." On March 27, "48 Hours" broadcast a program about cults. It included portions of the videotape of the mass suicide at the Heaven's Gate compound in California. That edition of "48 Hours" included a lengthy segment on the Bruderhof religious community. The segment inferred that there was a similarity of some kind between the Bruderhofs and the Heaven's Gate group. Your program implied that the Bruderhofs are a "cult." The segment even contained an interview with an "expert" who called for "surveillance" of the Bruderhofs! Mr. La Rosa, like you, I am a journalist. For two years, my assignment has been to obtain stories about the moral crisis facing America and the response of many different kinds of people to it. In the course of my work, I learnt of the Bruderhof religious community and met representatives of that group. Over the past two years, I have come to respect the Bruderhofs for their heartfelt opposition to the death penalty, their militant defense of imprisoned journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, their opposition to the attacks on welfare, and their identification with the poor. I don't think I will ever forget the night in 1996 that I attended a meeting in Evanston, Illinois where Bruderhof leader J. Christoph Arnold spoke to a group of young Christians. Mr. Arnold eloquently reminded his listeners that the Bruderhof religious group began in Germany and had been forced to leave that country because of Nazi persecution. He warned those present that America too is in danger of falling victim to fascism. I have been struck by the willingness of the Bruderhofs to listen to, and work with, people with whom they disagree on some issues. If you had been interested in doing a serious and fair program, Mr. LaRosa, you could have really explained to your viewers who the Bruderhofs are, where they came from, and why they believe what they believe. You might have talked about their role in the international campaign to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former member of the Black Panther Party now on Death Row in Pennsylvania, for instance. You could have emphasized the fact that in mid-October 1996, New York Cardinal John O'Connor paid a friendly visit to the Woodcrest Bruderhof community. You could have stressed that the Bruderhof journal, The Plough, welcomes -- and often prints -- letters to the editor which are highly critical of the current direction of the Bruderhofs. Of course, if you had done any of those things, your segment's premise -- that the Bruderhofs are a "cult" -- would have been utterly destroyed. So, instead, your segment used cheap sensationalism. You rushed this segment on to the air shortly after the Heaven's Gate story broke -- two weeks before the segment was originally scheduled to be broadcast -- simply to boost your network's ratings. You implied a connection between the Bruderhofs and the terrible Heaven's Gate tragedy which did not exist and has never existed. Have we come to the point that any group can be labelled a "cult" by a powerful media outlet like CBS simply because that group holds controversial views? The cry of "cult" seems to have replaced the hunt for witches or for communists in America. It appears to be the new form of McCarthyism, the way that the powerful isolate those they need to isolate -- and obtain that "surveillance" which your segment's "expert" wants against opponents of the status quo like the Bruderhofs. I have heard that Bruderhof children who attend public schools are sometimes teased because of their distinctive style of dress. I worry that your irresponsible segment, broadcast to so many American households, may incite public distrust of the Bruderhofs, and subject these children to further pain. (I fervently hope that this is not the case, but I worry that it could be.) Dante once wrote that the lowest rung of hell is reserved for those who, in moments of grave moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. If he was right, surely the second-lowest should belong to those who endanger the safety of good and honorable people simply to boost their network's Nielsen ratings. Readers who wish to protest the CBS treatment of the Bruderhof religious community can call Paul LaRosa of "48 Hours" at 212-975- 1517 or send e-mail to audsvcs@cbs.com. ****************************************************************** 3. L.A. WELFARE RECIPIENTS SPEAK OUT: 'WE HAVE THE POWER TO BRING THEM DOWN!' Special to the People's Tribune "He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly." -- John 10:10 LOS ANGELES -- As 500 welfare recipients gathered here on April 12, three different voices had been telling the poor what to do. Gov. Pete Wilson wanted them to give up the fight against the new welfare reform law, and go looking for jobs that don't exist. Democratic Party politicians said they would lead the fight against Wilson and the Republicans -- not mentioning that it was Bill Clinton, a Democrat, who'd signed this evil law in the first place. And a number of poverty agencies were advising people to just write letters and ride along to government hearings. In other words, the same old hogwash. It might make the Democrats look good, or help someone keep their government funds, but it wouldn't build the kind of struggle needed to protect 500,000 people in Los Angeles County who this law will affect. "Some of us are able to see through the fine lines of political rhetoric," said Lupe Mauricio of Los Angeles. "I see it as a conspiracy creating chaos and separation of people." But the attendees wouldn't let the government pass the buck. Michele Prichard of the Liberty Hill Foundation said, "The private charities cannot begin to take up the slack from severe cuts in government programs." Flo Green of the National Association of Non-Profits warned that it was impossible for non-profits to increase their fund raising 254 percent to make up the difference. When people broke into almost a dozen small groups, they developed the usual long lists of things they needed, such as jobs, health care, and bilingual services. But fresh new ideas also began to emerge. Some recipients said it was crucial to link up with the employed workers who the government was trying to pit against them. One avenue mentioned was the new Labor Party's campaign for a constitutional amendment that would guarantee every American a job at a livable wage. Others called for the kind of "lawful civil unrest" that helped build the civil rights movement years ago. Still others suggested linking up with groups fighting the "three strikes and you're out" law and against new prisons, where the government is putting the money it cuts from poor people. "We live in a time where there is more than enough for everyone to live decently," said Dee Petty of San Pedro. "Instead, the government and the rich want to throw crumbs at us." To fight back, the Barton Hill Neighborhood Organization called on recipients to organize protests and sleep-ins at government offices. "Look around -- there is a new force beginning here," said Maria Teixeira of East Los Angeles, the last speaker. "It includes different races, different ages, working people and the unemployed. Technology is replacing our jobs and government is cutting the safety net. We need an America that speaks to our needs!" As Ms. Maurcio said, "We have the power to bring them down!" +----------------------------------------------------------------+ THE INTERNET: WOMEN RESPOND TO WELFARE BILL [Editor's note: Below we print excerpts from the discussion on the Internet from women's groups about the effects of the welfare "reform" legislation.] "There is no defense for Clinton signing the welfare bill. None. He did it on the advice of Dick Morris. ... [w]ho lives in the increasingly gated community of Redding, Connecticut. ... [T]here are no welfare recipients there -- or if there are, Dick Morris does not know them." Sarah "I went to a conference on domestic violence and one of the speakers during a private conversation said that the New Jersey police are having meetings to prepare for the uprisings this summer because of the welfare cuts/immigration law. ... Thirty- eight percent of the single heads of households who received AFDC were white and 38 percent were black. ... " Rita I think Rita raises some serious issues. The police are undoubtedly preparing for social unrest all over the country. We need to understand why the welfare bill passed and why every social program is on the chopping block. If we don't, we are destined to keep fighting in the same old way, and ultimately, against each other. No socially conscious person can stand aside from what is unfolding in our cities. There's a dramatic increase in white poverty today among formerly secure workers, as the computer, the robot and downsizing permanently eliminate jobs. The concentration of black poverty in our inner cities is because part of the legacy of slavery is that the blacks have been the last hired and the first fired in the semi-skilled and unskilled jobs -- the places where the technological revolution hit first. But the job-cutting is not stopping there. White and black workers increasingly find themselves in the same economic boat. Sarah's point about Clinton is well-taken but it's not just callous politicians. The problem is capitalism. Government is really just an executive committee for the capitalists. When the capitalists needed to expand social programs, i.e., when industry was developing and needed a well-fed, educated work force, the government expanded those programs. A social contract evolved where the capitalist bought my ability to work and paid me in money and I used that money to care for my family. That worked fine until job-replacing machinery disrupted the system of buying and selling. With fewer workers needed, the capitalists will not pay for social programs. In addition, why should capitalists pay high wages to American workers when they can get the same labor somewhere else for $1 a day? Today, as the capitalists search for maximum profits throughout the globe, the social privileges that have historically been given to whites in order to keep the poor divided are also being eliminated. This means unity is possible. It's hard to believe that a worker in our suburbs has something in common with a worker in our inner cities, let alone those in "Third World countries," but that's the way things are headed. We have to figure out how to fight in a new way. It's possible today, with this marvelous new technology, to feed and clothe the world and raise the cultural and living standards of everyone with little human labor. More than ever, visionaries are needed who can educate people about the possibilities that exist -- if we, the majority, grab the productive process and make the robot work for us in a new society. And women, especially those affected by the economic crisis, play a major role in providing the new leadership that is so urgently needed. S. Reid, Women's Desk coordinator, People's Tribune [Please send us your thoughts on these issues.] +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 4. People's struggle forces conviction of Chicago cop for killing homeless man By Allen Harris CHICAGO -- Police officer Gregory Becker was convicted on April 19 of the murder of Joseph Gould, a homeless seller of the newspaper StreetWise. The people won a victory in this case. We should celebrate it, while at the same time recognizing that the struggle is far from over. According to testimony at the trial, on July 30, 1995, Becker shot Gould in the head with a pistol he pulled from the trunk of his car as Becker and a woman were leaving a nightclub. (Becker said that Gould had been bothering him and the woman as they were going to his car.) After the shooting, the couple sped away, leaving Gould for dead. Witnesses gave Becker's license plate number to police, which led to his arrest. Becker claimed Gould was shot as he and Gould struggled for control of the gun. The prosecution said Becker pistol-whipped Gould and fired into the left side of his head. An eyewitness said Gould's hands were at his side when the fatal shot was fired, holding only the bucket and rag he used to clean car windshields. A forensics expert also testified that Gould could not have had his hands on the gun when Becker fired. The jury found Becker guilty of armed violence. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 28, and faces a minimum of 15 years in prison. To the shock of Joseph Gould's relatives, friends and the general public, however, Becker is free on bond pending his sentencing. The trial received a great deal of attention in this city where thousands of homeless victims of capitalist exclusion struggle to survive. They, and millions of other people in many walks of life, struggle in the face of a nationwide campaign of police terror designed to maintain the rule of a wealthy few. While the local media claimed that Becker's conviction showed the criminal justice system works, the fact is the system was forced to deal with Becker because of the ongoing public outcry and the fact that StreetWise would not let the police off the hook. How many other police murders have gone unpunished? The outcome of this case so far shows that victories can be won through struggle. But the struggle is far from over. When circumstances force it to, the ruling class is quite willing to throw one of its guard dogs to the wolves in order to protect the system as a whole. We live in a society where a handful of billionaires wallow in wealth while some 8 million are homeless. The existence of a growing class of utterly destitute people is a threat to the system itself. This is why we are seeing growing police repression. The means exist today to provide everyone with everything they need for a decent life. But to have what we need, and to end the repression, we, the people, are going to have to get control of our society, so that we are the ones who give orders to the police. ****************************************************************** 5. WHAT IS MAY DAY'S MEANING FOR TODAY? By Chris Mahin Holidays are important. Whether joyous celebration or solemn remembrance, each one conveys some meaning or teaches some lesson. When we celebrate a particular holiday -- or decide not to -- each of us says something about who we are and what we believe. For the downsized and the dispossessed, one holiday stands above all others. It is the only one observed by victims of capitalism the world over: International Labor Day, observed on May 1 -- May Day. May Day began in America. The story of how it began needs to told; it is a tale of how dramatic changes in the economy created a new class of people. It is the story of how men and women of different nationalities, born in different parts of the world, stepped forward to lead a new class of poor people and were willing to pay a terrible price for that decision. Above all else, May Day is about the absolute necessity of the unity of the poor -- white and black, male and female, immigrant and native-born. The story begins in Chicago. By the 1880s, Chicago was the fastest growing city in the world. Something new had been introduced into the economy -- steam power. The introduction of this new productive force led to a gigantic expansion of industry and created a new class -- the modern industrial working class. In Chicago, this new class included people from all over the world, as immigrants flooded into the city. In the factories of that era, the pay was low, the hours were long and the conditions terribly unsafe. On May 1, 1886, workers throughout the United States engaged in a massive strike to demand the eight-hour day. Chicago was the strike's center. On May 4, a rally was held at Haymarket Square in Chicago to protest a police attack on a group of strikers. As this peaceful rally was winding to a close, 176 cops moved in to forcibly disperse the crowd. Someone threw a bomb. It killed one police officer instantly and wounded many others. The police opened fire, killing many participants in the rally. A wave of hysteria followed. Hundreds of workers were arrested. The police broke into meeting halls, newspaper offices and even private homes without warrants. Suspects were beaten and even tortured. The extent of the hysteria can be measured by comments published in the respectable Albany Law Journal just 11 days after the Haymarket tragedy. The Journal called for "a check upon immigration, a power of deportation, a better equipment of the police, a prompter and severer dealing with disorder" and denounced Chicago's union leaders as "a few long-haired, wild- eyed, bad-smelling, atheistic, reckless foreign wretches, who never did an honest hour's work in their lives." The Journal declared: "This state of things almost justifies the resort to the vigilance committee and lynch law. ... It seems that the penal law of Illinois would warrant treating all these godless fiends as murderers, and we hope they will be so treated and extirpated from the face of the earth." In June 1886, several leaders of the Chicago union movement were put on trial, charged with being accessories to murder at Haymarket Square and with a general conspiracy to murder. Most of the defendants had not even been present when the Haymarket bomb was thrown, but that didn't matter. They were revolutionary leaders and Chicago's capitalists wanted their blood. The trial opened on June 21, 1886, with only seven of the eight defendants in the courtroom. All seven had been born or raised outside the United States. Chicago's newspapers had noted the foreign roots of most of the defendants and denounced them as "European assassins" and "foreign barbarians." But just as jury selection began, the eighth defendant entered the courtroom. Albert Parsons was a native-born American. He had escaped the police roundup completely and had been living safely in Wisconsin, but bravely returned to stand trial with his innocent immigrant comrades. Tried before a biased judge and jury, the defendants never had a chance. They were convicted; seven were sentenced to hang. (An eighth was sentenced to 15 years at hard labor.) At that point, many people thought the case was closed, but they had not reckoned with Lucy Gonzalez Parsons, the wife of Albert Parsons and a leader of the Chicago labor movement in her own right. While the case was being unsuccessfully appealed, Lucy Parsons took her two small children and travelled across the United States, speaking to anyone she could about the case. In almost a year, she spoke to about 200,000 people in 16 states. Her heartfelt eloquence helped spark a movement to stop the executions. Despite worldwide protests, five of the Haymarket defendants were killed by the state of Illinois in November 1887. On the morning of the execution of her husband, Lucy Parsons was arrested and locked with her children in a cell for attempting to see her husband one last time. On July 14, 1889, at the International Labor Congress in Paris, a delegate from the American Federation of Labor proposed that the Congress adopt May 1 as International Labor Day and a day to remember the "Martyrs of Chicago." This was accepted. Ever since, May 1 has been a day for the workers of the entire world to march in unison. Holidays do teach lessons; May Day teaches many. The Haymarket Affair shows that America's tiny handful of rulers will throw away all pretense of democracy once the stability of their rule is challenged by vast changes in the economy. It shows that they will make scapegoats out of the immigrant workers. It shows they will do anything to hold on to their rule. But Haymarket also shows us the weapon that a new class created by vast changes in the economy can wield against its rulers: unity. Perhaps the lesson of May Day can be summed up best in the words of Haymarket defendant Oscar Neebe. The last words of his autobiography read simply: "I call on all workingmen or working women of all nationalities and all countries to unite and down with your oppressors." ****************************************************************** 6. CINCO DE MAYO POINTS TO BATTLES AHEAD By Laura Garcia Cinco de Mayo is a holiday much celebrated in the Mexican communities in the United States. May 5, 1862 was the first battle (and the beginning of battles to come) against the French war of intervention in Mexico that finally ended in 1867. While on that day, many of us might proudly wear "our colors" and shout "Viva Mexico!," Cinco de Mayo's significance transcends ethnic groups and borders, because it is an example of the historical fight for independence and freedom that the oppressed peoples of this hemisphere have waged against their oppressors. What were the conditions that led to Cinco de Mayo? The 19th century found the world in chaos. It was a revolutionary epoch because every major country was affected by the new tools of production that culminated in the steam engine and the new toolmaking machinery that transformed manufacture into modern industry. This created a large class of manufacturing capitalists and a class of manufacturing working people throughout the world. NEW THINKERS This also gave birth to new thinkers who introduced new ideas that echoed all the way to the Americas. Those ideas were that all men had the same natural rights; that all men should be equal under the law, and no man should be ruled by anyone else unless he had agreed to that system of government. This revolutionary epoch ended with a new world order; economically, based on the industrial potential of the Industrial Revolution and politically with the formation of the nation-state as a new form of government. In 1862, Mexico lay exhausted and its treasury empty after the long and bitter struggle that had been going on since 1810. Britain, France and Spain were knocking on the door, insisting on repayment of the debts Mexico had piled up during the past years. Having no other recourse, Benito Juarez, then president, stopped all payment of foreign debts. This unleashed Europe's fury and provided the much-awaited opportunity not only to seize Mexico, but from an occupied Mexico, to break the United States' control in the Western Hemisphere. At that time, the Civil War had just begun in the United States and consequently the European powers felt no need to worry about U.S. intervention despite the Monroe Doctrine, which said that the United States would oppose any European move into the hemisphere. A PEOPLE'S WAR In their fight against the French army, sectors from all social classes -- Mexican peasants, hacendados, industrial capitalists -- united to defend their country. It became a people's war with the rising bourgeoisie at its helm. It established and consolidated a well-defined nation-state, victorious in war and firmly committed to "freedom" that is, freedom for unchecked capitalist development. This laid the foundation for a speedier development of capitalist forms of production. This proved to be successful: It can be seen by comparing the growth of the industrial workers between 1861 and 1877. A rough estimate of the economically active population in 1861 showed 61 percent to be jornaleros in agriculture and mining and another 2.5 percent to be stably employed in factories or artisanal workshops. By 1877, similarly rough estimates showed the regularly employed proletariat to include approximately 100,000 mine workers, 100,000 muleteers, 25,000 textile and tobacco workers, 60,000 urban artisans, 12,000 railway workers, and thousands of other wage and piecework laborers in industry or construction -- a total of about 9 percent of the adult work force. This was the context of the times that consolidated the power of the rising Mexican bourgeoisie and Mexico as a national state. This same process was repeated throughout the Western Hemisphere. Unfortunately, the peasantry and the working masses of the Americas still remained under the yoke of an exploiting class, the rising bourgeoisie. MAY 5, 1997 Today, May 5, 1997 not only finds Mexico but the whole globe in the grips of a worldwide social revolution. This present epoch of social revolution is the result of new tools of production: electronics-based production. The microchip defines the current stage of the growth of the productive forces. It replaces the need for living labor in production. With this new way of producing, new classes are emerging in the whole world, with totally different economic interests. On one side stands a rising new class of displaced workers, or what some refer to as "throwaway" workers. On the other stands a new class of capitalists. They are becoming an international class of capitalists who know or recognize no borders, and consequently are doing away with the national state form of government. They are the heads of transnational corporations. They pass international trade and investment agreements, like the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). They also enact structural adjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to maintain their supremacy. In opposition to their rule, new revolutionary thinkers with new ideas are emerging throughout the globe. They are beginning to question the "new world order" and are mapping out a new direction for humanity. Their vision is based on what is possible given the new tools of production, but not just for the minority but for the whole of humanity. The revolutionaries of our epoch envision a new world without borders, based on electronics-based production. Electronics-based production can end forever the backbreaking labor of millions of people and create such abundance of goods and services that humanity can step into a new life of prosperity and light; and leave behind, forever, the darkness of hunger, homelessness, deprivation, disease, ignorance, want. It is a vision where everyone gives to society and takes from society what they need. Revolutionaries in Mexico, Guyana, the United States, France, etc. are fighting against the obstacles -- of racism, gender, national boundaries, etc.--thrown their way by a tiny minority of capitalists who want to harness the marvels of the electronics-based production for themselves and leave poverty, devastation, and ignorance for the rest of humanity. ****************************************************************** 7. IMMIGRANT FREED FROM DEATH ROW AFTER A LONG BATTLE By Maria Elena Castellanos [Editor's note: Since 1982, the People's Tribune and our bilingual sister publication, the Tribuno del Pueblo, have reported on the fight for justice for Ricardo Aldape Guerra, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico falsely accused of killing a Houston police officer and sentenced to death in Texas. In April, Aldape Guerra was finally released from prison and returned to Mexico where he received a hero's welcome. Maria Elena Castellanos, a founding member of the Ricardo Aldape Guerra international defense committee, visited him at his family's home. Below we print excerpts from her report.] MONTERREY, NUEVO LEON, MEXICO, April 19, 1997-- Quietly, he crouched down to speak to the little girl in the gateway of his sister's house. During the previous three days, Ricardo Aldape Guerra had gone through a whirlwind of change and press conferences. But this one moment he gave entirely to the little girl. I was amazed by the tenderness in his demeanor. After 15 years of unjust incarceration, 14 of those on Texas' Death Row, Ricardo Aldape Guerra still treasured the love of his family and community above all else. After rising slowly -- his face beaming -- he moved toward me as I stood on the patio. I saw before me double images superimposed -- a slim, shiny-haired youth metamorphosized into a tall, mature man with tattooed forearms and a gentle manner. We didn't speak at all for the first minute. Someone's words floated on the warm night air. "She's a lawyer from Houston. She wanted to touch him outside of jail." Ricardo broke the silence. "I am well. Maria, they didn't change me. I am the same person. I told you that prison wasn't going to change me. Right now, I only want to be with my family. I want to thank you for your help but I can't pay you. You have been with me since the beginning. There is only one thing I can say -- thank you." I said, "No, Ricardo, you don't have to pay me anything. Your words of thanks are worth more than gold. All we wanted was to win. It is a victory for all of the people." He spoke briefly of his need for a quiet period -- a chance to get used to a normal way of life after so many years of being unjustly locked up. Then Ricardo moved into the cocoon of his large and loving family. The fact that Mexico had received him as a national hero, or that the governor had sent a private jet to bring Ricardo to his hometown of Monterrey, had not diminished his devotion to his family, nor his sense of values. I remembered how the English language newscasts in Houston continued to transmit the slander by a few Houston policemen who dare to call Ricardo a "cop killer" in the face of clearly exonerating evidence. Police and prosecutors in Houston are trying to deflect attention away from their own misconduct during the course of Ricardo's trial. Even a U.S. federal judge had described these officials' misconduct as "gross" and "rank." After capturing a sliver of Ricardo's joy on TV, I retreated to the safe haven of a long-lost Mexican niece's apartment in Monterrey. Little beknownst to Ricardo, I had also enjoyed that same day an unusual family reunion of my own with my cousins from Cerralvo, Nuevo Leon. We drove into the balmy night. A nearly full moon hung overhead. Images from a TV newscast beamed Ricardo's glowing face and words into my heart: "I just want to express my gratitude to the Mexican people in general and the Latinos living in the United States in particular. I also want to thank everyone who believed in my innocence from the beginning." Again thanks to all! Ricardo Aldape Guerra is home at last -- thanks to the people! ****************************************************************** 8. MANDELA VILLAGE CONTAINS PROMISE FOR THOSE LEFT OUT OF THE SYSTEM By Simuel Raimey OAKLAND, California -- Here in one of the most multicultural cities in the world, there is a vision of the future that is long overdue -- a place where all can go to learn and enjoy the cultures of other races. Mandela Village will capture the spirit of the African experience in America. It will be a place where all races can share this experience while dining and enjoying recreation or entertainment. The way I see it, Mandela Village has a bright future in which all will benefit. Mandela Village will be a place that represents the cultural history of African Americans and the labor that has historically been provided in the West Oakland community. African Americans are a part of the American dream, but they have not benefited from their efforts in building this country. Mandela Village will bring resources from all walks of life into Oakland's poorest community. Mandela Village will bring life to a heretofore unsung heritage. There will be businesses, jobs and housing that the people can be proud of. It will be a place for those being eliminated from the social programs such as SSI, welfare and General Assistance that were cut on January 1, 1997. The people need jobs and health programs. The president and Congress had something in mind when they talked about job opportunities. Sure, one can find a job (regardless of training) in America's fastest growing industry -- the corrections business. Inmates are performing all types of jobs, from taking hotel reservations by telephone to testing the blood of their fellow prisoners for major medical companies. Certainly, this should not be the only job market. Hopefully, it will not be. Mandela Village could be an example of opening up a different job market. The Port of Oakland should invest in this project, based on the profits they take from the community of West Oakland. The people should encourage the city of Oakland to support this project, based on all the years of labor stolen from this community. Private industry should be encouraged to invest in projects such as Mandela Village. The Enhanced Enterprise Community/Empowerment Zone (EEC/EZ) funds that were designated for different cities by President Clinton in 1994 are a chance for the bottom-up governmental political process of a city to build a project such as Mandela Village in their neighborhoods: a place where one can go to see and do things that one can be proud of. ****************************************************************** 9. DONALD TRUMP CAN'T PASS EXAMINATION! +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The billionaire real-estate and gambling tycoon has nothing to teach poor children in the Bronx and fails miserably as a principal for the day! +----------------------------------------------------------------+ THE DONALD: Donald Trump is famous as one of the world's wealthiest men, a billionaire who made his money in real estate and gambling casinos on the East Coast. But Donald is the son of a millionaire and never wanted for a thing. He went to private schools and his kids go to private schools. Why was he in one of the poorest communities and school districts in the country talking to kids about how great it is to be rich? Apparently that's The Donald's idea of leadership. "Who likes Nike sneakers?" he asked the excited fifth graders of Public School 70 in the Bronx. Mr. Trump was brought in as a guest principal in an effort designed to inspire students and encourage influential adults to become involved with developing programs for desperately needy kids. But all poor Donald knows is wheeling and dealing and being rich. So, first he teased the kids with a lottery to see which kids would "get lucky" and win some shoes. He pressed on, speaking through a bullhorn. "Is there anyone here that doesn't want to live in a big beautiful mansion? ... You have to work hard, get through school. You have to go out and get a great job, make a lot of money, and you live the American dream. And you're going to have fun doing it. It's a lot of fun." But 11-year-old Andres Rodriguez stopped The Donald in his Nike- loving tracks when he asked, "Why did you offer us sneakers if you could give us scholarships?" Mr. Trump failed this examination, and indeed failed overall to pass as a leader. Instead of providing hope, he showed himself off as a high-rolling braggart who doesn't get it. He offered some shoes. He handed out psychedelic Trump Tower hats. Then he left -- maybe heading for the Mar-lago Club which he recently bought in Florida, where members pay $100,000 to join and annual dues of $5,000. The people who have that kind of money are the kind of people Mr. Trump understands. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ THE KIDS AT P.S. 70: At Public School 70 in the Bronx, the kids were at first excited, then many were disappointed by Donald Trump's visit to their school. Those who didn't win his shoe lottery needed consoling from their teachers. The fact is that 97 percent of the children are so poor they qualify for free lunches. Many of these kids need real help getting an education. One thousand seven hundred children are crowded into a school designed for 1,400. Their championship chess team is trying to scrape together enough money to go to the national competition. We don't expect people like Donald Trump to really help these situations, as poverty attacks the dreams of our children. The dream of a quality education and a quality life is possible right now. To make it a reality, we have to get rid of the system that allows gross wealth and grosser poverty. ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ WOMEN AND REVOLUTION: VISIONS FOR A NEW AMERICA The purpose of this column is to open debate on all issues concerning women today. We see it as a place where women can discuss and debate strategies for winning women's equality and improving women's status. This is critical to our playing our historic role of leading in the building of a new America. Send your articles, 300 words or less, to People's Tribune Women's Desk at pt@noc.org +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 10. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN PHILADELPHIA: ANTI-POVERTY LEADER DEFIES PENNSYLVANIA WELFARE RULE By Chris Caruso PHILADELPHIA -- In early March, members and allies of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union rallied against the Agreement of Mutual Responsibility (AMR), which is the contract included in the new TANF plan in Pennsylvania. The executive director of the KWRU, Cheri Honkala, was scheduled to meet with her caseworker to begin receiving welfare benefits under the new plan. She was asked to provide proof of domestic violence, as the state requires all women to provide the name of the father of their children so that the Department of Public Welfare can collect child support (none of which goes to the family, but is instead absorbed by the DPW). Her caseworker required proof so as to determine if that requirement could be waived. There are dangerous implications in this for all battered women who need welfare benefits. The burden of proof should not be placed on the shoulders of women who have already endured violence and fear, and in most cases, do not want their batterer involved in any part of their lives. If a woman cannot provide "proof," she is forced to choose between not receiving benefits which may mean she and her family have no way to eat, or providing information about a batterer who may then find out where she is. Women should not be forced into situations like these because they are poor. In addition, Ms. Honkala refused to sign the AMR, citing that it is an unfair contract in which the state offers no responsibility to recipients (i.e., the right to a job at a living wage, child care, health care, transportation). The AMR is a form of economic violence on the poor, a document that in essence blames the victims of an unjust economic structure. Ms. Honkala was immediately sanctioned, which means she cannot receive benefits for one month, at which time she will be expected to sign the AMR. If she again refuses, she will be cut off for two months and the third time is a lifetime sanction. The KWRU rallied and when the sanction was announced, several members blocked the doors to the welfare office, closing it due to the unfair contract being implemented inside. State troopers forcibly removed the protesters several times, at which time the protesters moved to another welfare office where they provided an educational to recipients gathered there. The troopers returned, closed the building, forcibly removing the female protesters and arresting the three male participants. And the struggle continues. (In addition, Cheri Honkala announced two lawsuits she is filing against the state in federal court. The first asserts that the AMR is an unfair contract, for which Honkala will be represented by legal counsel provided by Local 1199c of the Union of Health Care and Hospital Workers. The second asserts that the demand to provide proof of domestic violence is a violation of women's civil rights, and a lawyer from Community Legal Services is taking this case.) ****************************************************************** 11. DAUGHTER OF 1937 SIT-DOWN STRIKE LEADER SAYS 'SENSE OF CLASS' IS NEEDED By S. Reid [The People's Tribune interviewed Carole Travis, political director of the Illinois State Council of the Service Employees International Union at the recent Central States Women's Conference of the SEIU in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Travis is also a lawyer and a United Auto Workers retiree.] PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: Carole, you have a very interesting background. Could you tell our readers about it? CAROLE TRAVIS: Yes, my father led the Flint sit-down strike in 1937. For 44 days and nights, the workers held one of the facilities on the General Motors properties in Flint. As a result, they got the first UAW contract with GM. This was the first industrywide contract. The strike is seen as the most important in the 20th century in the United States. It was the first major companywide contract in manufacturing in the U.S. It covered all 13 General Motors plants as a result of the action at that one location. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: How did your background affect you? CAROLE TRAVIS: I was on picket lines in my stroller. As the daughter of a labor leader, I was quite conscious. Also, my father, who was a vice president of the Illinois AFL-CIO in the 1940s, was run out of labor by Taft-Hartley legislation because he was a communist. It was illegal (under that law) to be a labor leader and a Red. I came of age in the 1960s when there was a radical wave. After college I threw my lot in with working-class people. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: Few had the courage to stand up for their beliefs during the McCarthy period. What happened to your father? CAROLE TRAVIS: He went from being a machine operator to a significant labor leader and couldn't get a job as either. He had a bad time and periods of difficulty during and after the McCarthy period. He was honored by the UAW before he died in 1974. They gave him a pension and honored him. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: What do you see as similarities and differences between the past and today? CAROLE TRAVIS: Then, with industry booming, there was a need for workers. Also, most workers were at the same level of insecurity. There was a sense of class not only in the U.S., but in the world. Now there is a tremendous excess of workers without skills and a sense that you are your own. Among working-class people today there is not a consciousness of class or group. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: What dangers do you see in the current political environment? CAROLE TRAVIS: There are many dangers. U.S. labor laws are terrible. It makes it very difficult to organize, although SEIU does a helluva job. The change in welfare laws will make wage levels at the bottom even lower. The singular driver in the world today is the accumulation of money at the top. And our communities are falling apart. There is very little sense of hope. It is a frightening time. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: What role do you see for women in the labor movement? CAROLE TRAVIS: Women are an increasing part of the work force, yet increasingly are in poverty. Women are the guardian of family structure. In order to survive, we must act and bind together. There is a potential for women as a group to become increasingly important both in organizing and in politics. ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 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 or e-mail cultfire@noc.org. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 12. 'WHEN WE WERE KINGS' There probably never has been as quiet a new champion's party. The boyish king of the ring came over to my motel. He ate ice cream, drank milk, talked to football star Jimmy Brown and other friends and some reporters. Cassius took a quick nap on my bed. -- from "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" No Vietnamese ever called me a nigger. -- Credited to Muhammad Ali To prevent the rise of a Black Messiah -- J. Edgar Hoover's stated goal of the FBI counterinsurgency "Cointelpro" program Power is the ability to define a phenomenon and make it act in a desired manner. -- Huey P. Newton By Curly Cohen Winner of the heavyweight championship of this year's Oscar for best documentary (and rightfully so), "When We Were Kings," a film by director Leon Gast, brings to life a 23-year-old snapshot of an era about which you might really say "wasn't that a time?" or "the whole world was active," an amazing and irresistible world-wide movement for justice. As we watch the film, we realize we're watching a series of stories woven together by a singular event known as "the rumble in the jungle." Gast weaves together an always-incredible Muhammad Ali, his political and spiritual homecoming to Africa, the title fight between Ali and a then-young and murderously powerful puncher and world heavyweight champ named George Foreman. The fight promoter is a young, infectious and affable ex-convict named Don King (before the Don King whose hair and principles took on mythic proportions). A music festival to coincide with the fight features James Brown (before he was crowned the King or Godfather of Soul), B.B. King, Miriam Makeba, the Jazz Crusaders, and the Spinners; two white writers, Norman Mailer and George Plimpton interpret the events for the establishment back home. And there is Joseph Mobutu (or Mobutu Sese Seko), the deadly military dictator of Zaire, responsible for the CIA-assisted assassination of Patrice Lumumba, because Lumumba helped signal the beginning of a 30-year movement to rid the African continent of its European colonial oppressors and exploiters. Mobutu put $10 million up for this fight and when it was delayed for six weeks because of a cut on Foreman's eye, he seized the passports of Ali and Foreman so they couldn't leave Zaire. And if this isn't enough, the fight happened about two months after the popularly demanded resignation of another military dictator, King Richard Milhous Nixon of the Super Imperial States, who left office dissed and disgraced. But it is Ali -- the greatest -- the champ -- the people's champ -- who we've come to see. We aren't disappointed. On the contrary, we're enthralled -- energized. Twenty-three years after the fact, we have the theater jubilantly ready to fight our way to the justice we never quite seized 23 years ago. It is all Ali -- whose simple, stinging truth defied a non-believing world that was so sure that Foreman was going to win. It was Ali who drew a line in America between the racists (whose hair stood on end) and his stinging truth. It's Ali -- who after his stunning upset of Sonny Liston in Miami in 1964 met reporters the following day to define a bigger "upset." The young and handsome boxer -- 1960 Olympic champion Cassius Marcellus Clay -- put more than his title up -- he gave up his future as a flag-waving puppet. Anything he wanted was his -- but he chose to reject it. He stood up like a man, raised his huge fists and his even bigger heart and said simply: "My name is Muhammad Ali, my religion is Islam (in contrast to a white God and a racist Christianity)." And of course he did not do it alone. He had an incredible and profound teacher named Malcolm X. And it was just at that moment that he became a symbol. A symbol of the salt, the sweaty "salt of the Earth." No, there wouldn't be any picture of Ali with the president. But you can be sure that in every village and holler or ghetto, his smiling and shining face signifying our aspirations graced our walls and wallets. He would hold two crowns -- as the people's champ and one as the champion of the people. He transformed the sports world into a political battlefield for the rights of the people. In 1968 at the Olympics in Mexico City, it was Tommy Smith and John Carlos who raised their black fists to denounce apartheid, from America to South Africa, nodding their acknowledgement to Ali. Of course, the hate machine didn't sit idly by. Within four years, while the champ was defeating all challengers, he was ordered to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, to go and fight the Vietnamese people who were standing up and resisting the system Muhammad Ali was fighting. Ali refused induction into the U.S. military and was charged, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for claiming his constitutional right to conscientiously object to the war. His title was taken away. No state issued him a license to fight. He made the connection between how America was using black and poor troops in 'Nam to stop a liberation movement there while suppressing the soldiers' liberation movement here in the United States. Five years after his conviction, he wins his appeal. Does the hate machine think he's too old to fight? Washed up? A has-been? Have they underestimated the dynamic potential a human carries in his heart? Did they underestimate the power of the mission that Ali undertook? Did they not have a clue or could they just not hear three billion people on Earth chanting: "Ali! Ali! Ali!" In a more just world, Ali would have easily and officially served as a good-and-just-will ambassador to the world. Don't miss this movie, and don't miss the movement. And thank you, Muhammad Ali. ****************************************************************** 13. EMPOWERMENT (AND POETRY) TO THE PEOPLE: BALTIMORE'S MEN OF NOMMO Several years ago, the People's Tribune interviewed Baltimore poets Mitchell Ferguson and Bashi, shortly after they founded their performance group Men of Nommo. From modest beginnings, they have advanced to being in demand among premier performance spaces in Baltimore. Below we print excerpts from a recent interview with Mitchell Ferguson. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: Describe the work that the Men of Nommo are doing. MITCHELL FERGUSON: We see ourselves as writers first, but our goal is to impact the community in a positive way. Art is a way to empower people and create new infrastructure. Those who control history have a way of distorting and misleading all of us about the real value of ourselves. We are split into different groups all the time. There is no separate African American, European and Native American history. There is only a true history that links us all; what is taught now is the history of the conqueror. We need a history that is inclusive, not exclusive. PT: You also perform cultural work in the schools. What are you trying to teach these kids? FERGUSON: Kids need to see how the past affects who they are now and what they can do in the future. Kids in the inner city lead lives of little expectations and basic hopelessness. It's not so different for the suburban kids; they live in shopping malls, in isolation. They are basically raised to be consumers. Our ultimate goal is to raise people's consciousness to the point that they know that they can be leaders and are the ones that can take power and build their own institutions. PT: What do you see as the main stumbling blocks in giving people vision and hope? FERGUSON: TV is part of an ongoing control. The media are closed and controlled by small select group. Unless we begin to build our own alternative media, we will continue to get lied to. PT: There are elements of control other than the media ... FERGUSON: There certainly are. I recently have gotten caught up in them myself. I was standing at a street corner on my way to one of our matinee performances at the Theater Project in Baltimore. I was told by a policeman to move on and basically arrested for not obeying. I was searching in my bag for my script. He made whatever assumption he made about me, arrested me and I spent until 10 that night in a Baltimore jail for reaching into my bag. Our matinee performance that day had to be canceled. It affected a lot of people: the other performers, the theater, revenues, the audience. There is a public hysteria about crime that is perpetuated by the media. It is in the interest of those in power to create a society of consumers and followers who feel like victims and not free people. There is a blatant attempt here to create a form of police state, to discourage dissent, even self-esteem; fear and repression control people like misinformation does. People who own the property and control the economy of the country are the employers of the police. We can't give in to the fears. We need to unify and become our own force and create an atmosphere where we can take care of ourselves. [In response to Mitchell Ferguson's upcoming trial, artists in Baltimore have formed a committee to organize a fundraiser and press conference. For more information, call the People's Tribune in Baltimore at 410-467-4769.] ****************************************************************** 14. THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARIES FOR A NEW AMERICA: WHAT WE ARE AND WHY [Editor's note: The statement below is printed here for the first time. From now on, it will appear in every edition of the People's Tribune.] The League is an organization of revolutionaries. * We are people from all walks of life, with various ideals and ideologies. * We are organized to awaken the American people to their growing poverty and the threat of a fascist police state. A police state is a society controlled by police forces who are above the law and responsible to no one but themselves. * We are organized to bring the people a vision of a peaceful, prosperous, orderly world made possible by the very automation and economic globalization which, in the hands of capitalists, threaten our existence. In a word, the League of Revolutionaries for a New America educates and fights for the transfer of economic and political power into the hands of the people so they can build a democratic, cooperative, communal society. HERE IS WHY -- Rapidly expanding automation is doing away with most work and will pauperize the work that remains. Capitalism has no use for and will not care for human labor when robotics is more profitable. Consequently, the growing mass of permanently unemployed people are sinking deeper and deeper into poverty. A huge global movement of the destitute is getting underway. The demand for the essentials of a decent life and no money to pay for it marks it as the world's first revolutionary mass movement for communism. (The American Heritage Dictionary defines "communism" as "a social system characterized by the common ownership of the means of production and subsistence and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.") This developing movement has no idea of its historic mission or how to achieve it. The number one need of the revolution is for an organization of teachers, of propagandists who will bring it clarity. Only then can the people of this country save themselves from the threat of a new world order of poverty and oppression. The League of Revolutionaries for a New America has been formed to carry out that task. Historically, a revolution in the economy makes a revolution in society inevitable. We must prepare for it. If you agree with this perspective, let's get it together -- our collective experience, intelligence and commitment can change America and the world. Collectivize with us. ****************************************************************** 15. LRNA HOLDS SCHOOL IN SPANISH Five adults, two kids and two babies made the ride up to Merced, California for a one-and-a-half-day Spanish school. We rented a van for the trip and stayed overnight with people in Merced. They treated us like family and we felt right at home. There were about 30 people in the school. The school opened our eyes to a lot of things. One of our main questions was, "Why are we poor?" We discussed how a small group of capitalists from all over the world are trying to get the most profit they can from workers. They don't care about the people and their families. They want to make profit and they bring in robots and computers that take workers' jobs so they can make more profit. This is happening all over, in Mexico, Africa, India and here in the United States. It's happening to Latinos, blacks, Asians and whites. This isn't about race, but about class: the rich class and the rest of us. We saw a video about professionals with master's degrees, Ph.D.s, engineering skills, etc. who are finding themselves jobless for eight months and more. The new technology and the crisis are affecting them, too. We saw a video and talked about how there have been changes all through history, from primitive communism -- like the cave man -- to feudalism, with kings and serfs, to slavery, to capitalism. Now we need another change -- to an economy where there aren't rich and poor but where all the resources in society can be used by everybody. Each epoch brings new ways to fight. We discussed past fighters from Emiliano Zapata to Cesar Chavez so we can use the past to plan for the future. Each period in history is a struggle to improve the lives of people. Even when we started our discussion disagreeing, we would eventually end up agreeing. Most of us in the school were immigrants and we didn't come to the United States to be poor. Sometimes life here is even harder than in our own countries. It is important for the LRNA to have Spanish schools. People have to discuss things in their own language. We are planning a Spanish school in May. We also want to use the school in May as a fundraiser to help pay for the school in Merced. Our role in the LRNA is to move society forward for all of us, not for the capitalists. -- An LRNA member in California ****************************************************************** 16. READERS RESPOND TO ARTICLE ON THE 'WORK ETHIC' IN AMERICA By R. Lee Two People's Tribune readers responded on the Internet to an article in our February issue on "The 'work ethic' and the electronic age." The article argued that the capitalist work ethic is used to turn the employed against the unemployed, and that it is becoming irrelevant because we are moving toward a society where no one will have to "work" in the traditional sense. Computers and robots will ultimately mean a workless society, meaning so many tasks will be automated that work for humans will have to be redefined. Each of us will need to make a contribution to society, but we won't have to sell our labor power to a capitalist under the terms of a dog-eat-dog competition with other workers. The article stated that the wealthy capitalists who tell the rest of us to get a job do not themselves work. One reader said we should not blame someone else for our hardships, should not hate the rich simply because they have money, and argued that the wealthy do, in fact, work. She also said that she had faith that national and international laws could be developed that would control the power of multinational corporations and other elites, and that these elites would gradually lose "their power to victimize the rest of us regardless of what job or economic status we possess." While capitalists may "work" in the narrow sense of performing some kind of mental or physical task, they don't have to sell their labor power for money in order to buy the necessaries of life, as workers do. They have a fundamentally different relationship to the means of production than the worker; they own and control the means of production, and they decide what will be produced and who will work. Our labor creates the profit they live on. It isn't a question of hating the rich because they have money. Capitalism of economic necessity is replacing labor with electronics, yet it refuses to support labor it can't exploit, thus condemning a growing mass of displaced workers to destitution. These people -- who eventually will be the majority -- are forced to fight for a new, cooperative society where the product of our labor is distributed according to need. Also, our labor creates society's wealth. And the new means of production can easily give all of us a high standard of living. As for laws restricting the power of the elite, the capitalists control the state. They ultimately make the laws. And they will not pass political laws that contradict their economic interests. Another reader asked, "But what exactly will happen to those who become obsolete? Will food and education and housing be given to them? Just because the work ethic disappears does not mean that those who presently hold power will disappear. ... The basic necessities remain in the hands of the powerful. Only by threat of revolution or by actively taking away their power/their machines, can those who are 'work/worthless' obtain the fruits of the electronic age." In fact, this was an implied point of the article that perhaps should have been stated. It's true that the capitalists won't support labor they don't need, and therefore those who are made destitute by the electronic revolution are in fact fighting, whether they know it or not, for a cooperative society where the people own and control the means of production. Our thanks to our readers for sharing their thoughts. Please share yours with us. See page 2 for our mailing and e-mail addresses. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD FIGHT FOR IN THE AGE OF TECHNOLOGY [Excerpted from a letter from a reader responding to a recent People's Tribune article.] Technology has changed the world. We can no longer fight for justice within the capitalist system. We must, as (Nelson) Peery says, "have a vision based on the capacity of the new means of production." We shouldn't be fighting for jobs. The capitalist system cannot provide jobs. It is more efficient to have robots. We should be fighting to eliminate the use of money to earn. We must work for the socialization of the Federal Reserve System of private banks that make money from the nation's debt. We, as a nation, must return the issuance of money to the United States Treasury. Why should our debt make the bankers wealthy? Any national debt should be made by the United States Treasury and repaid by taxes on everyone in equal share. We should fight to eliminate the use of capital to "earn" for those who control the capital. Labor created capital and capital should be public property -- to be used to provide a decent world for all of us. We should be fighting for shorter work days and higher wages. The new technology can supply everyone with a decent life if capit****************************************************************** ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, published every two weeks 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 ISSN# 1081-4787 For free electronic subscription, email: pt-dist@noc.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject. 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