People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (04-99) Online Edition .TOPIC 04-99 PT Index .TEXT .BODY ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.lrna.org +----------------------------------------------------------------+ PAGE ONE: THE ROOTS OF INJUSTICE IN AMERICA Amadou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, sold gloves and hats on the streets of Manhattan to make a living. After midnight on Feb. 4, he was brutally murdered in the doorway of his building by four New York police officers. Although Diallo was unarmed, all four officers claimed they thought he was reaching for a weapon. They fired 41 shots, hitting Diallo 22 times. Three thousand people expressed their outrage in Foley Square as friends and family continued to mourn. The outcome for the officers is still unknown, yet whatever repercussions follow, how will they address the root of the injustice plaguing our inner cities, our youth, our homeless, our communities? Startling new statistics about police brutality stream in daily. Recurring instances of the abuse of power by law-enforcement officials make it clear that such abuse has become chronic and the system needs to be re-evaluated. This re-evaluation process should not be just of individual police officers, of training on tactics, of cultural sensitivity, adequate measures, proper procedures and so forth. Rather, it needs to reflect on the role of law enforcement in society. Are they there to keep peace, to serve and protect? Or are they responsible for maintaining and enforcing social and economic order? Due to the augmenting of anti-police sentiment, public and government officials have been forced to address the issue. In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley has to implement massive reform in light of research showing an increase in police harassment in 1998. At least 50 civilians were shot by law-enforcement officials in 1998, up 47 from 1997. The city spent close to $30 million in lawsuits in the past decade to resolve allegations concerning excessive force, false arrest, violation of constitutional rights and more. In New York, 50 percent more people were stopped and frisked in 1998 than in 1997. Ironically, the number of arrests actually declined, yielding one arrested for every five who were publicly degraded and humiliated by police searches and interrogations. For those who are restrained, drastic measures have often led to brutal deaths, such as in the case of Amadou Diallo. It is no coincidence that most such cases involve racial minorities. Yet is this simply a racial issue or is it an issue of class in a capitalist system? What incentive does the ruling class have to implement reform it has no need to promote? Doing so would mean empowering the poor masses, hence endangering the economic control, security and stability of the capitalists. Instead, the rulers make a poor attempt to defuse anti-police sentiment by encouraging a community-police alliance such as the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy or CAPS. The purpose of CAPS is to bring the police, the community and other city agencies together to solve neighborhood crime problems. So, what problems have to be solved? Or more to the point, who are the problem elements that need to be extinguished? In supporting an anti-gang-loitering ordinance, Mayor Daley is clearly signaling that our youth are the "problem." If the youth are the problem, then, instead of building more prisons, why not invest more money in public education and youth- empowerment organizations? This, of course, would not work in the ruler's interest because then the youth would determine the destiny of our country. Today, high-school teachers fear for their students as soon as they leave the building, not so much because of gang warfare, but because of police harassment. Almost every day students come to school feeling angry, frustrated and violated because of an encounter with police officers. Many youth have expressed their outrage at violent and corrupt police who make their communities territories for abuse and humiliation. Chicago communities such as Uptown and Rogers Park have decided to work together and investigate the overwhelming number of complaints by the youth. In the meantime, more and more poor are being pushed out of gentrifying neighborhoods. Those remaining are harassed and targeted by police. Pushing our youth out of our communities will be guiding them toward the only avenue available for them to take: the prison system. A police state can only serve to alienate us from one another and to foster fear of neighbors who share our same plight. We can choose to take control of our own destiny and that of our children by uniting, educating, and empowering through knowledge, rather than by letting ourselves function as puppets of the ruling class. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 Editorial 1. THE VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE News and Features 2. CALL FOR A MARCH OF THE AMERICAS IN OCTOBER 1999: CONTINUING THE MARCH FOR OUR LIVES 3. HAVING THE COURAGE TO ACCEPT AND SHAPE CHANGE 4. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE RADIO HOST TELLS IT LIKE IT IS 5. TRUE MEN 6. WHY DO SOME PEOPLE OPPOSE GUEST-WORKER PROGRAMS? 7. MISSION STATEMENT FOR NEW COLUMN: CALL TO ALL REVOLUTIONARY YOUTH 8. FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL Spirit of the Revolution 9. NO ONE IS VOICELESS From the League 10. LRNA STATEMENT ON THE WAR AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA [To subscribe to the online edition, send a message to pt- dist@noc.org with "Subscribe" in the subject line.] ****************************************************************** We encourage reproduction and use of all articles except those copyrighted. Please credit the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO 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. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 Edit: The value of human life .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 1. EDITORIAL: THE VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE If anyone asked you how much your life is worth, what would you say? Do you think that $36 million could compensate you for 18 years of your life spent in prison? The "Ford Heights Four," four innocent men from suburban Chicago who spent 18 years in prison, answered like most of us would have: "No." Human life is the most precious possession we have. Yet those running the criminal justice system in Illinois think otherwise. Since capital punishment was reinstated in Illinois, 11 of the 22 human beings on Death Row have been found innocent. Individuals and organizations in Illinois are asking for a moratorium on the death penalty. Their pleas fall on deaf ears. As this editorial is being written, Illinois has just executed its 13th human being. Was this last individual innocent? Illinois is not the only state that gambles with human lives. The everyday actions of the prosecutors -- whether in Illinois, California or New York -- only mirror the judicial system they so proudly uphold. Yet this can be stopped. Revolutionaries have the task of winning the hearts and minds of the American people against the direction our country is taking -- toward a police state. Unfortunately, our rulers can't help but take the country in that direction. This direction flows from the objective needs of an economic system that puts profits before human life. Take away the present capitalist system and you take away the driving force toward a police state. Recent information shows that the exoneration of 11 prisoners from Illinois' Death Row is not a judicial aberration. As Ron Allen, a professor of criminal law at Northwestern University, stated in regard to the prosecution and frame up of Rolando Cruz, "This prosecution [of Cruz] emerged out of everyday actions of the prosecutors." Rolando Cruz spent 10 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Statistics show that violent crime is going down, yet the number of prisons is rising. Why? Because there's money to be made. The stock price of the Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest private jailer, has increased tenfold since 1994. Investments in the construction of prisons bring a nice return to those stockholders. New prisons are being built at a rate of one a week, helping to make the United States penal system the world's largest. Nearly one out of every 150 people in the United States is in prison or jail. Soon, the Justice Department will announce a figure that no other democracy comes close to matching. The total number of people locked up in federal and state prisons and local jails will soon reach the three million mark. New parents beware: If those who run our country have their way, the chances of your newborn living some part of his or her life in a correctional facility is one in 20. For the African American child, it's one in four. Welcome to a brave new world! The American people can take a different route. We can fight to create a cooperative society where we can use the new tools of production to create a different and more humane world -- a world where society commits to giving value to life and assures that the life of a child born in 1999 can be lived in freedom, not behind bars. Such a society will not only do away with a defective death-penalty system, but will look for and find the way to save everyone's life. Yet this can't be done without visionaries who will show what is at stake, who will point to and fight toward a world where life is treasured as humanity's greatest possession. The League of Revolutionaries for a New America was founded with the purpose of gathering revolutionaries who will crusade for an America free of want, poverty and deprivation, not an America behind bars. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ CLARIFICATION: We would like to clarify a statement in the March 1999 issue of the People's Tribune. The article "Women on the rise" on page 3 stated, "But we can't get to that good life for everyone under capitalism, which requires that global capitalists first create and then exploit the needy." Globalization is capitalism in the age of electronics. As electronics is increasingly applied to production, the number of people needed for production is drastically reduced. Thus, the leading aspect of this process is that the needy are cast outside of the process of production and not exploited at all. Exploitation is the extraction of surplus value in the process of production. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 Call for a March of the Americas in October 1999 .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 2. CALL FOR A MARCH OF THE AMERICAS IN OCTOBER 1999 CONTINUING THE MARCH FOR OUR LIVES +----------------------------------------------------------------+ 'In October 1999, poor and homeless families from all of the Americas, including families from Canada, the United States and Latin America, will march for our lives to the seat of world government.' +----------------------------------------------------------------+ [Editor's note: This call was read and approved during the Poor People's Summit held in Philadelphia on October 9-11, 1998.] Today, we in the United States and our brothers and sisters in every part of the world face a historic crisis. Millions in the United States are being denied their basic human rights to housing, food, education, health care and jobs at living wage; and this will worsen as millions more are cut off from receiving public assistance this year. As we in the United States experience the tragic effects of welfare reform -- as well as the results of years of massive layoffs and downsizing -- people all over the world are suffering from a miserable poverty that is deepening every day as a result of the economic crisis and the unequal distribution of the world's resources. As the world economic crisis develops and a few get richer, the misery of the majority is worsening. At the same time, however, people all over the world are fighting back. In every corner of the world, the poor are fighting for the human right to a full and dignified life, and to create a world without poverty. In every country in the world, the poor, who are the majority, are refusing to die. For this reason, during this time of worldwide crisis when we face a common enemy -- the system that is killing all of us -- we see the need to unite not only on a national level, but on an international level. As the economy globalizes, the struggle of the poor must be an international struggle. For too long, our common enemy has attempted to divide the poor in different countries. Now, if we do not globalize from below to reclaim our world and our economic human rights, we will die. We are proposing a March of the Americas that will take place during the month of October 1999. Continuing the Economic Human Rights Campaign, we will carry to the court of world opinion the economic human rights violations that we are suffering all over the world. This will be the next step in this historic campaign in which poor families from all over the United States are documenting economic human rights violations in this country and are organizing themselves against these abuses. During June 1997, poor and homeless families from all over the United States marched for 10 days from Philadelphia to the United Nations in New York to charge the United States government with violating the economic human rights of its people. The following year, poor families from all over the United States traveled for a month on the New Freedom Bus Tour to demand economic human rights and to let the people of the United States and the world know that the poor in this country refuse to die. In October 1999, poor and homeless families from all of the Americas, including families from Canada, the United States and Latin America, will march for our lives to the seat of world government. In the third March for Our Lives to the United Nations, we will march for 30 days from Washington to the United Nations in New York -- this time with our brothers and sisters from all over the Americas in an effort to unite our struggles for the economic human rights of all. We ask our companeros and companeras in struggle from all of the Americas to unite with us in this March of the Americas. Please contact us for more information and to make plans for this march. We invite everyone to unite in this historic march, in this struggle for our lives. Contact the Kensington Welfare Rights Union at http://www.libertynet.org/kwru/ .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 Having the courage to accept and shape change .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 3. HAVING THE COURAGE TO ACCEPT AND SHAPE CHANGE By Alma Ramirez We are at the beginnings of an exciting and challenging time. People across the world are preparing for major changes. The religious right continues to preach to its congregations about the immorality of the people and the crisis of Y2K (the "Year 2000 Problem"), while the political bigwigs prepare for the elections and the working class still struggles just to survive. The overall picture might look the same, but in reality the conditions and the players are constantly changing. With the rapid changes comes confusion, and we might ask: "How do we begin to accept and understand change? How can those changes make our lives and our world a better place?" "Change" never really has been easy to understand. As much as the working class agrees that this country needs to change, we still fear the outcome of changes. We accept things as they are rather than question the process by which things change. However, many of us only fear the idea of a change because we do not know or understand the solution. In any process, change is in constant motion. Whether we think of a change in time -- the change from day to night, or from fall to winter -- the world is constantly undergoing changes. As much as we fear the unknown and resist the changes that cloud our daily world, we fail to think of how change can also improve our world. Not all changes have to be negative or without understanding. There are changes that are possible that can improve the lives of many in our country. In thinking about the process of change and the results of every process, I thought about a major change in my own life. My father died when I was 17. I was a senior in high school and wasn't really conscious of anything, much less death. My father was only 45 years old when he died. I struggled to understand his death and the need for change within my family. Accepting his death would've meant that I was accepting of the change my family had to undergo. In my experience at the time, something was definitely wrong with losing him. Independent of my will, my family had changed. More importantly, understanding that I was not to blame for his death and that it was very natural was a difficult concept to accept. We were forced to reorganize our family without my father and, being a very traditional Mexican family, we struggled. But, through the challenging struggle, we learned a great deal about collectivity and the necessity of change. People don't choose for change to happen, but under certain conditions, there is a need for it. Did I choose for my father to die? No, but unfortunately he did die, and, through the process of that major transition, my family and I learned to work together. Individually, I took on the responsibility to become a conscious revolutionary and prepare myself with a fundamental understanding of change. As a society we are struggling to survive, yet we feel the need to survive as individuals rather than as a community. We blame ourselves for the overwhelming chaos that flows through our lives. But, as humans, we need to begin to empower ourselves as a community with an understanding of change. People need to become a family in order for change to happen. We all need to unite on the reality that there is something definitely wrong and that it needs to be changed. How can homelessness be right? The homeless person does not choose those conditions for herself or himself. He or she is forced to desperate measures when their society does not provide any better. How can we change that reality? As much as change is a natural process, and we as humans know that it is inevitable, there is still something very unnatural about how our society is changing. There is something wrong when people fail to recognize that death itself is in the streets of America. There is a cycle of dehumanization that is slowly killing off life in our world. While the world continues to spin and the scare of the new millennium enters the debate, we as conscious revolutionaries also need to enter the debate on change. We need a society in which all families can share in the joy of life. We need a world where people celebrate life and death for their naturalness, rather than fight and blame themselves for the unnatural form in which people continue to lose their lives. Why is it so easy for us to accept the changes that the government imposes on us every day, but so difficult for us to make a conscious decision to fight for a better world? It's time that we stand up and fight for a revolutionary reconstruction of society. It's time that we accept that our world is changing. But who or what is going to control the motion of that change? Let it be us! .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 People's Tribune Radio host tells it like it is .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 4. PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE RADIO HOST TELLS IT LIKE IT IS By S. Reid [Editor's note: Mike Thornton hosts People's Tribune Radio, a new monthly radio program produced by the League of Revolutionaries for a New America Radio Collective. He also airs his own show on KVMR-FM Radio in Nevada City, California. This interview describes what can be done to spread new ideas. As you read it, imagine the impact thousands of revolutionaries, united around a common vision to educate America, could have!] PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: Mike, tell us why you became active in radio. MIKE THORNTON: At the age of 13, I got shuffled into the criminal- justice system and got acquainted with the abuses of the system. On some level, I was able to see that something bigger was going on. Unfortunately, I was so loaded I didn't care. Eventually I stopped doing drugs and moved into radio. The defining moment of my consciousness was when I interviewed Mumia Abu-Jamal on Death Row. He said, "The system is rotten to the core." I kept thinking about that. The more I dug into doing stories, the more people I spoke to and compared what they said to mainstream corporate press, I realized he was absolutely correct. We have a government that allows tons of cocaine to be dumped into our communities. The few who are benefiting off the sweat and toil of the many will stop at nothing. I try to expose this through reporting on events from around the world. I see radio as a real potential for reaching people. PT: What is People's Tribune Radio? MT: People's Tribune Radio is distributed free to community and microradio stations. Our goal is to agitate -- to get people thinking, talking and acting. Our program is designed to reach the people who are seeking alternative analysis. That's why they are tuning into these types of stations. I believe the media can become our weapon. It takes time to build an audience, but, when people see that we pump out a good product with a style that captures their ears and minds, they'll want to listen [to] and play our tapes. We hope that people in radio will say: "Hey I only got 10 minutes of that person. I'd like to get them on the show and do one-half hour with them." At some point, we hope to get our program on satellite. Someday, we may create our own People's Tribune radio network of news from the grassroots -- people who are out on the street doing things to change the system. PT: Why did you join LRNA? MT: I was looking for guests to be on my show and was sent a tape of one of the League's speakers, Nelson Peery. I said, "Wow, I want to get this guy on the show." So many people from the so- called left are mealy-mouthed chickens who are afraid to stand up and say what they really think. Peery sounded like a real guy with a real vision. He told it like it was. I respected that and still do. I understood the concept of class and communism, and that working people and [the] disenfranchised are never going to throw off the George Soros and Bill Gates until people unite and get a society where the necessities are distributed by need. I said, if this is something this guy can be involved in, then so can I. I was influenced also by other Speakers for a New America such as Chris Mahin. He is so passionate about history -- explaining the history behind the history and how it leads to where we are today. General Baker was on my show early on. I really respect people like him, as well as Cheri Honkala, who go out on the line, fighting for the common person -- as compared to those that just stand around cocktail parties and talk. People in the League all seem to be that [the former] type of person. PT: Has the People's Tribune helped your work? MT: One thing I know about people we're trying to reach is that plain, intelligent speaking is always the ticket. That is there in the People's Tribune. The recent article on homeless kids on skid row was powerful. Several radio people jumped on it when they saw it on the Internet. I make sure that the paper is passed around at the station in an attempt to get other people interested in it. We gave everyone that pledged at a basic membership level a six-month trial sub. This is a good way to get the paper out and into a lot of people's hands. PT: As a revolutionary, what have you gained from joining the League? MT: A broader philosophical base. Also, hearing other people who see things similar to how I see them has helped me feel more confident to go out and advocate for things. I work with drug addicts. Many are part of the new class, completely marginalized and disenfranchised. I beat the League drum for them, too. I do this to help motivate them to do something else with their lives. I tell them, "If you're not high, you can get people to listen to you and stop being a chump for the system and fodder for the prison-industrial system." PT: What can our readers do to help spread the word on radio? MT: Go to your community and micropower [radio] and encourage them to air People's Tribune Radio! Also, become active with stations in your community. There are a lot of ways to support media outlets and craft them into organizations that serve the public. The most important thing, as the League points out, is that the technology is there to be used. Today, a laptop computer can be a portable digital-audio and recording workstation. My studio is the corner of my bedroom! At one time it would have been a multimillion dollar radio station. There are about 100 community stations licensed in the U.S. to provide public access. Many have broadcaster-training classes where you can get certified to go on air. Lastly, we welcome financial donations to People's Tribune Radio! They are very much needed. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE RADIO is a new monthly news and information program produced by the League of Revolutionaries for a New America. This month's show is on "Issues Affecting Families." For a free copy to take to your local radio station, call 800-691- 6888, or e-mail flr@jps.net or speakers@noc.org +----------------------------------------------------------------+ What people are saying about People's Tribune Radio: "In the area I live, there is 40 percent unemployment. No one in charge gives a damn. I'd like to air similar programs as yours." (Kentucky) "Our interview with Bob Lee went well. Hope we've signed up a few new PT subscribers. ... Got several approving calls after the show." (New York) "We are a media collective that broadcasts a three-hour radio show of alternative politics, art, culture and music. Send me a copy of the PTR show." (Canada) "We'd love to air PTR as a part of our daily news programming. As soon as our teen-oriented radio journalism gets going, we'd be happy to contribute!" "We want to receive your tapes and will continue to broadcast PTR. It's just the kind of material we need for our audience." (Texas) "I could listen to your speaker Marian Kramer all day. She's grassroots. She really cares about the struggle. She is so optimistic she made me optimistic." (Florida) +----------------------------------------------------------------+ SPEAKERS for a NEW AMERICA For a free brochure listing all of our speakers and audiotapes, write to People's Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654 or e-mail speakers@noc.org For a copy of "Moving Onward: From Racial Division to Class Unity," a two-tape series discussing the roots of racism and how it can end, send $6 to the above address. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 True Men .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 5. TRUE MEN By Arturo Santamaria Gomez Among the Tojolabal Indians, one of the ethnic survivors in the state of Chiapas and from whom was born the principal body of ideas of the Zapatista political philosophy, they have a definition of themselves: true men. To more than some, and perhaps to more than a few feminists, this self-definition could seem arrogant and "macho." Which would confirm the prejudices toward the indigenous cultures and more particularly toward the Zapatistas. This is precisely how it seems to the writer Luis Gonzalez de Alba, who was certainly one of the most distinguished leaders of the Student Movement of 1968 and who at present loves to shine as one of the most systematic critics of the Mexican Left. But, independently of whether machismo exists among the Tojolabales, it has been otherwise very much overcome in the indigenous army, according to the way the Zapatistas military women relate it to us in the book "Women of the Corn." What they refer to with this expression is more a manner of deciding community matters than masculine self-praise. The Mexican linguist Carlos Lenkersdorf, who lived among the Tojolabales for over 20 years, reveals to us the following in his work that is rightly called "The True Men, Voices and Testimony of the Tojolabales": "Among them, the decisions are not made by the leaders. There is not an imposing personality that decides things with a wave of his hand. There are leaders and the community respects them, but that doesn't make them bosses. The real leader stands out because he or she knows how to convince. He or she convinces those assembled because he or she knows how to win the consensus. From this is born the respect that recognizes the manifest ability of having the judgment to intuit the 'sentiments' of each and every one of the members of the community. "Where does all this lead to? Well, to simply give arguments intending to explain the political conduct of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) before the avalanche of hollow words of the Mexican government, follows to the letter a political philosophy very distinct from the Tojolabales." In Mexican history, we could rarely find a better example of the clash of two so distinct manners of understanding politics and respect of the delivered word. The indigenous rebel communities have constructed a collective truth that is therefore real to them. They don't understand how others who have agreed to this truth -- in this case the Mexican government upon signing the Accord of San Andres Larrainzar -- do not respect and carry it out. When these people don't keep to their word, the Tojolabales, in turn, keep their own words to themselves; they keep silent. And this is justly what the Zapatistas are doing due to the failure of the Mexican government to keep it's word and honor. Numerous commentators on Mexican politics -- among them, those of good faith, the salaried pens and those who speak without much thought and who are fed by their arrogance, or ignorance, which are frequently the same -- have repeatedly said that, as a result of the silence of the Zapatistas to the prior call for a National Consultation on March 21, 1999, Marcos is obstinate for not responding to the government's call to negotiate. But what those who hold those opinions do not understand is that the Zapatista silence was the response of the Tojolabal, Tzotzil, Tzeltal and Cholol philosophies to the lies and deceit. To the Mexican government, the Indians of Chiapas who rose up are enemies and they should be treated as such. And, indeed, the Zapatistas are enemies -- the enemies of a disgraceful political regime, of a protector of scoundrels, the corrupt, and the shamefully weak before the government and transnational corporations of the United States. In this war that progressively continues in this country, who truly represents the nation more: A political class that has robbed and squandered the riches of the Mexicans, or the unsubmissive, splendid and dignified Indians whose lives are hanging on a thread and who passionately fight for a life where one is recognized as a human being as important as any on this earth? In this unjust war unequal in fire power, who is it that lies: The Mexican government that signed some treaties and doesn't respect them; that says it doesn't want war and yet deploys 75 thousand soldiers in the state of Chiapas; that constructs enormous barracks right in the middle of the forest; that harasses and plunders the indigenous rebel communities? Or is it the Zapatistas, who remain silent and yet respond with the bravery and pride of women, children, the aged and adolescents who with the fingers of their hands and the fury in their eyes and voices repel the soldiers and protect their sons, spouses and brothers who await the final offensive in the hills deep in the Lacandona forest ? In this painful war who is right? The creators of the serious crisis in the Mexican economy who have permitted the plunder to proliferate as never before in the history of contemporary Mexico, or the Indians that personify the highest form of dignity to exist in this nation? The EZLN calls on the Mexicans that live in United States and in other parts of the world (10 million Mexicans scattered throughout North America!) to organize and participate in the consultation to approve or to reject the San Andres Accord where the political autonomy within Mexico of the indigenous communities will be proposed. The consultation will be held March 21, 1999 everywhere there are Mexicans. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 Why do some people oppose guest-worker programs? .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 6. WHY DO SOME PEOPLE OPPOSE GUEST-WORKER PROGRAMS? By Sal Sandoval Year after year, agribusiness interests such as American Farm Bureau, California Farm Bureau, etc., introduce bills to expand guest-worker programs-- the latest being the H-2C proposal, which farmworker advocates promptly defeated. This would have greatly extended the more limited H-2A program which has been in place for over 30 years. In addition, it would have reduced the farmer's responsibility to provide housing, which H-2A mandates, by providing a housing voucher instead. It also catered to the prevailing anti-immigrant sentiment by proposing that a portion of the salaries of guest workers be set aside until after they return to their countries of origin. So far this year, grower interests have been quiet on H-2C. Instead, growers have proposed a streamlining of H-2A, a proposal that farmworker advocates have promptly challenged. Their arguments are that the proposals by growers are self-serving and that U.S. workers should be hired instead. They protest that grower agents transport workers from far away countries while not providing for transportation costs of domestic U.S. workers to so-called labor-shortage areas. In addition, they argue that wage and work conditions on H-2A work sites are so poor that U.S. workers shun these jobs. Growers proposed shortening the time requirement for declaring a labor shortage so that H-2A workers could be brought in. This would certainly adversely affect U.S. workers, many of whom argue that, as it is, they are passed over by growers who prefer H-2A workers because they are more vulnerable. There is no question that the United Farm Workers opposes guest- worker proposals because they make unionization efforts more difficult. For example, it wasn't until after the Bracero Program was ended in 1964 that Cesar Chavez was able to seriously launch his organizing campaigns. And terrible conditions continue to exist. For example, in California's lucrative vineyards, a fifth of growers and half of contractors were recently caught paying below the minimum wage. However, other factors are at work. For example, the number of U.S. employers sanctioned by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has dropped from 2,000 per year in the early 1990s to 888 in 1997. And fines dropped from $17 million to $8 million in that same time period. This occurred while the INS announced efforts aimed at stricter apprehension of the undocumented at the border and prevention of their use of social services. In Georgia, when INS agents tried to enforce sanctions laws against onion growers, Congress intervened and the raids stopped so that Vidalia onions could continue to be harvested. Furthermore, Congress has been scaling back funding for enforcement of employer sanctions in 1998 and 1999. Now, with the effects of Hurricane Mitch, presidents of Central American countries are asking for a delay in deportations of undocumented workers from their countries to allow them to send remittances of money back home. Mexican workers alone send home $5.5 billion a year. It becomes clear that the government itself is favoring agribusiness interests -- just as it does any other corporate interest -- over those of workers. Guest workers or undocumented workers or U.S. workers, if they can be forced to, are all OK and will suit the demand, as long as they are plentiful and in need. In this post-Welfare Reform period and era of "McJobs," it is also clear that the standard of living for all workers in the United States is dropping down toward the level of the poorer countries, as workers there are drawn toward the relatively better standard of living here. This was one of the unforeseen effects of globalization. We must certainly continue to oppose guest-worker programs. However, new approaches are necessary when corporations, agribusiness or otherwise, can freely exploit workers on both sides of the border, and presidents of other nations are forced to beg for moratoriums on the deportations of their workers exploited by these same companies. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 Mission statement for new column on youth .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 7. MISSION STATEMENT FOR NEW COLUMN: CALL TO ALL REVOLUTIONARY YOUTH By Alicia Espinoza and Alma Ramirez As the media continues to bombard us with anti-youth propaganda, we and our children, our peers, our brothers and sisters continue to live in poverty-stricken, drug-infested neighborhoods. Powerless and voiceless, we youth are used as scapegoats for a faltering system that strategically situates us as the primary perpetrators of crime and violence in the very communities in which we were born and reared. The truth is that the youth will never be given an opportunity to speak, because our silence ensures compliance and maintains order among the hungry, angry, victimized masses that are ticking bombs ready to explode in a call for justice. We are inviting all young revolutionaries to join us in demanding a voice in the struggle for justice. The People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo, in collaboration with youth within the Chicago area, is working to unite with young writers, artists, poets and more, to establish an avenue for expression by which we youth can voice our thoughts. No one will ever listen unless we unite and prove that we have legitimate concerns, and that our struggles have nurtured visions and hopes for a better tomorrow. Together, we can begin to make a difference in our communities, and in society as a whole. Together, we can begin to identify issues weighing on our minds, to acquire the courage to voice our opinions and, as a collective, to suggest possible solutions. We welcome all contributions and we look forward to hearing from any revolutionary individual or organization willing to help with writing or collecting possible works to be submitted to the column. We are also interested in working with artists to create a logo and a name for the column that will encompass not only the struggles, but also the creativity that is possible within all human beings, especially young revolutionaries. Please feel free to write or submit any works to: People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo Attn: Youth Column Committee P.O. Box 3524 Chicago, IL 60654-3524 E-mail: youth@noc.org .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 For Mumia Abu-Jamal .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 8. FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL By Chris Mahin Whenever it faces a crisis, humanity needs voices bold enough to shout out the truth -- even if they have to cry out from the wilderness. At such moments, the individuals who step forward to fill this need earn a special place in the hearts of millions. Their names become banners of resistance. History is filled with examples of this process. In the 1700s, Tom Paine risked imprisonment and death to write pamphlets denouncing the crowned heads of Europe. In 1837, newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy was killed by an Illinois mob because he dared to condemn slavery. Today, the name "Mumia Abu-Jamal" has become such a banner. All over the world, people know about the journalist who used his skills to expose a brutal and corrupt police department -- and how he ended up on Death Row because of it. Many people see Abu- Jamal's refusal to "go along to get along" as the model of what an honorable, thinking person should do in a time of turmoil. And so, in the last days of an often-brutal century, at a moment in history when the moneychangers rule a global temple, one word -- a Swahili name taken years ago by a young man in Philadelphia -- has become an emblem of defiance to the status quo. That word is "Mumia." On April 24, a gigantic throng of people will gather in Philadelphia to celebrate Mumia Abu-Jamal's birthday and to demand a halt to the juggernaut of execution. We should all celebrate Mumia's birthday and work tirelessly to tear the poison needle away from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. While we do that, we should also -- like Mumia -- strive to be voices of the voiceless. Today, the dispossessed -- the voiceless, the jobless, the homeless, those without rights, those barely making ends meet -- can be found in every region in America. They include people of both sexes, all ages and all ethnic backgrounds. They have no hope in this system because a computerized economy run by speculative capitalists simply does not need their labor anymore. We honor Mumia and his revolutionary predecessors best when we continue their work of political exposure. Today, being the voice of the voiceless means telling the whole world that it's time to drive the moneychangers from the temple once again. It's time to create a cooperative society. In the long struggle to spread that message, we must be willing -- like Mumia -- to walk the path of duty and not faint. [Chris Mahin is a member of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America.] .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 Spirit: No one is voiceless .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 9. SPIRIT OF THE REVOLUTION: NO ONE IS VOICELESS By The Simple Way Community [Editorial note: This is the latest article in our Spirit of the Revolution series. Please send your comments or contributions to: Boxholder, Box 2166, San Jose, California 95109 or e-mail to spirit@noc.org] We were about to speak before a congregation. The person doing the introduction said, "These folks are a voice for the voiceless." And something inside me hurt. Everyone has a voice. I know many amazing people have used the term "voice for the voiceless" in reference to their calling (Bishop Oscar Romero or Mother Teresa, for instance). But no one is voiceless. The truth is, there are people who have stopped listening. Many have put their hands over their ears to silence the pain. Institutions have distanced themselves from the disturbing cries. But the shouting whispers of the "voiceless" are getting louder. It is one voice, and it is many. It is a chorus of deep harmony. We are joining the groaning and tears. We just went to the memorial service of a young child who was killed. The mother arrived late and was welcomed by a group of caring friends and family holding candles. At first, it seemed like any other funeral -- and then her knees buckled. She fell to the ground with an ear- splitting scream that emanated from the depths of her soul. Then something happened. I felt like I was screaming with her. Not that I could pretend to understand her pain, but I felt her voice. We now have a man named Sonny Jenkins living in the Simple community. Sonny is 50-something and has spent much of his life on the streets. He teaches us to laugh and to play, to cry and to live. Sonny is teaching us to join the voice of the poor. When his black friends on the street asked who the white kids were, he said, "They are as black as you." It was one of the better compliments of our lives! We long for unity, for Christ's prayer that we be "one." Sonny has taken me to some crazy churches (talk about dancing), and one old black pastor I heard said it like this, "Jesus is coming back for a bride, not a harem." Amen. Our work with the Kensington Welfare Rights Union has taught us the difference between speaking for the poor and speaking with the poor. We people of faith are very good at managing poverty, but it is another thing to end poverty. We are the masters of seeing the poor as projects, and it has taken us much unlearning to see the poor as friends, as family. The next year is going to be devastating to this country, and perhaps to the world. From the media and government to the nonprofits and churches, we have avoided and dodged and trivialized the reality of Welfare Reform and the "Year 2000 Problem" (Y2K) -- a catastrophic reality that has forced the government to begin considering martial law in the event of riots. Our dear friend Tony Campolo has told us that it is going to be so horrific that just to stay in the city will be heroic. We may run out of food and blankets, but if we can simply stay, if we can merely join the chorus of the poor, that will be enough. We could not imagine doing anything else. I like visiting churches and speaking, but I have learned that the solution to poverty is hearing the voices of the poor. I used to speak about community. Now I speak about love, about God. For I know if we figure out what it means to love, we will find community. The discovery of love marks the birth of community. I recently did an empirical study where I surveyed people who said they were "strong followers of Jesus." Over 80 percent agreed with the statement, "Jesus spent much time with the poor." Then I asked about the statement, "I spend much time with the poor" ("strong followers"), and only 1 percent agreed. Amazing. We cannot lose touch with the shouting whispers of the poor. The answer to poverty is first hearing the voices of the poor and then struggling with love. I learned that from two homeless guys: one named Sonny, the other named Jesus. Come dance with us. Please listen closely; you will hear the whisper become louder. There will be many other voices and all kinds of noise. But may we lay our head on the breast of God and hear God's heartbeat. Let us join the voice as it gets louder and louder, declaring revolution on the systems of injustice. Declaring freedom from the chains of oppression. Declaring wild hope, love, peace and justice. Declaring the dance of fools. Declaring that God's Kingdom come "on earth as it is in Heaven." [The Simple Way can be reached at Box 14751, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19134 or by calling 215-423-3598.] .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ****************************************************************** .TOPIC 04-99 LRNA statement on the war against Yugoslavia .TEXT ****************************************************************** People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition) Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 http://www.lrna.org .BODY ****************************************************************** 10. LRNA STATEMENT ON THE WAR AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA [Editor's note: The following is a statement by the League of Revolutionaries for a New America.] The United States and various European countries have joined forces under the banner of NATO to wage war on Yugoslavia. This ferocious attack has been carried out under the guise of defending the rights and lives of Kosovo's Albanians. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the ruling classes of the U.S. and European capitalist states are intent on securing the Balkans in the name of their own narrow political and economic interests. To understand these events, it's necessary to see the Balkans in a larger, regional context. The Balkans sit astride historical trade routes. They are the gateway between Europe and the Middle East. For the capitalists, control of the Balkans is key to having control of and access to the oil and other wealth of the Middle East and the Caspian Sea region. The U.S. has historically dominated the world's economy through the control of oil and is intent on maintaining this control. Also, the capitalist governments are bent on destroying any vestiges of socialism that remain in Yugoslavian society. They want to bring the country to its knees and put in power a government that will guarantee that Yugoslavia does not emerge as a communist country. The assault on Yugoslavia is also an aspect of the consolidation of global capitalism. This consolidation includes an ongoing process of smashing national sovereign rights in order to force the world's people to submit to the globalization of the market. The tactics of the U.S. and NATO beg certain questions. The U.S. and its "allies" claim they are acting to protect the rights and safety of the Albanian minority within Yugoslavia. Yet clearly the U.S. and NATO are not so concerned, for example, about the rights of the Kurds in Turkey, the Irish in the United Kingdom, or the Puerto Rican political prisoners in the U.S. Indeed, where was the concern for "human rights" when the U.S. sponsored the butchering of thousands of people in Guatemala in recent decades? And if it is now U.S. policy to intervene in other countries to "defend" national minorities, one wonders which country is next, and what the consequences might be. Also, what will be the impact of the war and its aftermath in Europe? The Kosovar Albanians will not settle for the "regional autonomy" that Clinton has promised them. They will fight for independence, and their fight will spark a sympathetic struggle by the Albanian minorities in surrounding countries, such as Macedonia. The implication is the creation of a large, poor Greater Albania -- something adamantly opposed by the rulers of neighboring countries such as Greece and Italy. Thus, while the capitalists seek to stabilize the Balkans under their rule, their intervention will promote further resistance and instability. In short, the U.S. and European capitalists have opened a Pandora's box with their murderous assault on Yugoslavia. Their economic interests compelled them to intervene, yet their intervention has unleashed forces they cannot control. The attack has evoked worldwide opposition, particularly from the populations of Europe and Russia. Russia, which has historic, ethnic and religious ties to the Serbs, could well be destabilized by events set in motion by the war, with profound consequences for the world. Even in the U.S., support for the war appears weak. Where do the interests of the world's people lie in all of this? They do not lie in supporting wars that are aimed only at securing the interests of a handful of wealthy capitalists. Global capitalism is creating a global class of destitute people whose common interest is in building new, cooperative societies where no one is homeless or hungry. This will be the foundation for a peaceful, prosperous world. .FOOTER ****************************************************************** This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO (Online Edition), Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999; P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.mcs.com/~league Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its readers. ******************************************************************