From [email protected] Jan 30 10:56:56 1995
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 94 17:25 CST
From: James Davis <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: People's Tribune 12-5-94 (Online Edition)

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                People's Tribune (Online Edition)
                Vol. 21 No. 49 / December 5, 1994

                P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
                       Email: [email protected]

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INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition)
Vol. 21 No. 49 / December 5, 1994

FRONT PAGE STORY FOLLOWS INDEX

Editorial
1. WHO IS NEWT GINGRICH?

News
2. DOCTOR CALLS FOR A UNITED FIGHT TO BLOCK PROPOSITION 187
3. CONFRONTATION IN MEXICO ESCALATES DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT CALLS FOR
   STRIKE IN CHIAPAS
4. BABS BELVITCH, A DEDICATED FIGHTER IN THE WORKING-CLASS
   MOVEMENT
5. WELFARE FOR THE RICH: U.S. BILLIONAIRES SAVE ON TAXES BY
   RENOUNCING CITIZENSHIP

Focus on Fred Hampton and Mark Clark: 25 years after the police
killings which shocked America ...

6. AKUA NJERI REMEMBERS FRED HAMPTON: BLACK PANTHER LEADER�S
   SPIRIT LIVES ON
7. THE STORY OF THE POLICE RAID WHICH KILLED FRED HAMPTON AND
   MARK CLARK: 'A DOTTED LINE OF DEATH'
8. NOC STATEMENT ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE PANTHER RAID

American Lockdown
9. INNOCENT MAN HELD HOSTAGE BY CALIFORNIA COURT

Deadly Force
10. TELL THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS: DON'T BLOCK A NEW TRIAL OR
FREEDOM FOR RICARDO ALDAPE GUERRA!

Culture Under Fire
11. TWO MAGAZINES FROM CHICAGO TELL THE RAW TRUTH

Announcements, Events, etc.
12. AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH 1995: WHICH WAY FOR AMERICA?
13. SHOP WITH THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE!


14. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
PAGE 1 STORY

CONGRESS TAKES AIM AT POOR CHILDREN:
NEWT GINGRICH WANTS TO STARVE OUR KIDS!

The November election results spell danger to millions of people,
but especially to America�s poorest women and children.

Led by the likes of Representatives Newt Gingrich of Georgia and
Phil Gramm of Texas, Republican politicians have declared that
they intend to carry out a "revolution." They plan to scrap most
-- if not all -- of the programs which benefit the poor and the
millions of people who face economic insecurity.

The representatives of  wealth and privilege fully intend to make
good on such threats, starting with teen mothers and their babies.

Meanwhile, these same politicians will protect the steady flow  of
billions of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of huge corporations
and wealthy individuals. (Such as the $29 billion given to
agribusiness alone!) Wealthy firms in the agricultural industry
(Tyson's, R.J. Reynolds, Nabisco, etc.) will rake in the dough,
while America's children literally starve.

President Clinton doesn't seem to have a problem with these plans.
That is probably because he and the other leaders of the
Democratic Party started the ball rolling for a lot of these so-
called "reforms."

Already suffering from rising unemployment and falling wages, we
have no choice but to fight these modern robber barons. We have to
mobilize large numbers of people who really care about this
country to save it from the gang who are about to set it back 100
years.

We know that poverty is not caused by poor people. We  also know
that the technology which is now being used to turn people like
Microsoft founder Bill Gates into billionaires could just as
easily feed, clothe and shelter humankind. We won't sit by while
self-righteous thugs like Newt Gingrich starve our kids.

If they want a revolution, let's give them one!

For more, see the editorial, story 1.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+



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1. EDITORIAL: WHO IS NEWT GINGRICH?

Who is Newt Gingrich, the man expected to be elected Speaker of
the House of Representatives in January? What will his rise to a
position of such power mean?

In the days following the Republican victory on November 8,
hundreds of newspaper articles were written about Gingrich. They
described his arrogance, his fanaticism, his often stormy
relationship with other Republican leaders and  even his supposed
"brilliance."

Most of the commentary missed the main point: Gingrich's
"radicalism" symbolizes the desperation of the ruling class. The
ruling class has been forced on the defensive because it cannot
provide a livelihood to millions of people it can no longer
exploit.

Gingrich's goal is nothing less than the complete elimination of
all the social programs enacted during the 1960s, a course of
action he describes as the "renewal of American civilization."

It was Gingrich who engineered the Republican "Contract with
America," a formal document signed by over 300 candidates for the
House of Representatives.

This "Contract" commits the new Republican majority to introduce
several pieces of legislation within 100 working days after the
104th Congress convenes on January 4.

One of these bills, "The Taking Back Our Streets Act," would
increase the use of the death penalty and allow some evidence
seized illegally by cops to be introduced into court.

Another bill, "The Personal Responsibility Act," would cut welfare
spending, prohibit welfare to mothers under 18 and kick people off
welfare after two years.

The part of the "Contract" dealing with "welfare reform" would
repeal the Food Stamp Act of 1977, the Child Nutrition Act of
1966, the National School Lunch Act of 1946, the Emergency Food
Assistance Act of 1983 and several other federal laws intended to
prevent hunger. It would replace the money allocated under these
laws with a limited block grant which would not guarantee
assistance to everyone who needs it.

Gingrich claims he will lead a "social revolution." There is a
social revolution going on in America, but it's not being led by a
slick Republican Congressman from Georgia. It's the desperate
struggle being waged by millions of America's  economic refugees
-- the struggle for food, homes, jobs, education and the other
necessities of life. That social revolution -- the real one -- was
sparked by the economic revolution which began when computers and
robots started to replace human workers in production.

For the millions of us who are fighting in the real social
revolution, Gingrich's rise to a position of great power should
serve as a warning. It shows that we have to go on the offensive
and fight to get rid of the system itself.


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2. DOCTOR CALLS FOR A UNITED FIGHT TO BLOCK PROPOSITION 187

By Dianne Flowers

LOS ANGELES -- The People's Tribune spoke with Dr. Jack Kent of
the Roybal Medical Clinic of Los Angeles shortly after the victory
of Proposition 187 in the November 8 California election.
Proposition 187 will deny education and health care to
undocumented immigrants and their children.

Before the election, Dr. Kent and many of his co-workers signed a
pledge stating, in part, "I will refuse to participate in any
mechanism designed to determine the immigration status of our
patients."

We asked Dr. Kent what he thought were the lessons learned in the
battle against Proposition 187 and what were the next steps that
the movement needed to take.

These are Dr. Kent's comments:

"I see a great opportunity for our side, the good folks. The
agenda of the haters has never been more clear. They picked their
first target, the immigrants -- with the women, the children, the
poor, to follow.

"We should be very happy. We're fortunate to be living in a period
of time when we can make history. If we can't unify now, we never
will.

"This is 1933 in Germany. Hitler was thinking of power and
destruction. In Germany less than one percent of the population
was Jewish. They were the initial victims, an easy target. In
California, they started with 25 percent of the population, the
Mexicanos. They were very foolish to pick such a large target.

"There's no way they can pull this off. We rally round the
Mexicanos and the other immigrants. And then we put forward our
own agenda, which is to share the wealth and establish a real
democracy.

"There is no reason for despondency. Where did that ever get us?

"In Germany, the Jews were the starting point. Then the whole
rainbow came next -- the gypsies, the labor leaders, you name it.
Some who supported Hitler thought they were sending a message and
all they were doing was building ovens.

"Our first specific task is to unite to prevent the implementation
of this hate initiative. It's going to start with health care.
There are many of us in the front lines who will be steadfast.
There are some who are wavering but who will also stay true when
they feel the support of the mass mobilization that must begin
today.

"Things are happening right now. We had a big rally outside the
Roybal Clinic on November 15. How many we get to participate in
preventing the implementation of 187, and how strong it is, will
depend on the mass mobilization.

"I'm available to speak. I want to talk to different groups to
guarantee this mass mobilization.

"The courts will hold up [Proposition] 187 for a few days or a few
weeks. It's not going to depend on the courts; it's going to
depend on the people. When have the courts ever supported the
people consistently? It's up to us.

"We just have to rise up. They are going to actually try to
eliminate a certain section of the population -- physically.

"When we succeed, we make history. I'm going to do my best as
someone who is responsible. What I'm doing has to do with being a
good doctor."


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3. CONFRONTATION IN MEXICO ESCALATES DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT CALLS FOR
STRIKE IN CHIAPAS

By Richard Monje

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico -- The confrontation between
the Mexican government and movement for democracy continues to
escalate. There are daily battles throughout Mexico, and
especially in the southern states.

Killings and illegal arrests by government forces of leaders
continue unabated. At the same time, there are land takeovers,
blocked roads, and sit-ins by the rural and indigenous people
demanding democracy and justice.

In Chiapas, they have taken over several municipalities in
opposition to the installation of the PRI (national ruling party)
candidates who were declared winners in the openly fraudulent
August 21 elections.

The democratic forces, organizations of campesinos and indigenous
people and the PRD (left-wing opposition party) candidate for
governor of Chiapas, Amado Avendano, have declared that they will
not accept the PRI candidate.

The Zapatista National Liberation Army has stated that there will
be war if the PRI tries to impose its candidate against the will
of the people. The PRI has stated that the governor's office is
not open to negotiation.

It is against this backdrop that the second session of the
National Democratic Convention was held. The convention's demands
are:

* Annulment of the August 1994 elections;

* Establishment of a transition government;

* New open and free elections.

In this session, they developed a plan of action. It calls for
massive national mobilizations for November 20 and December 1 when
President-elect Zedillo is due to take office. A general strike
has been called for December 8 when the governor of Chiapas is due
to take office.

In addition, Amado Avendano said that the democratic forces in
Chiapas "will make democracy with their own hand" by taking over
the governor's palace on December 8 and installing a transitional
government. They will call for a constitutional assembly to
rewrite the state constitution. "The government has left us no
other choice!" Avendano said.

The CND has called for national and international mobilization to
establish camps between the Zapatistas and the Mexican army to
prevent an attack and the killing of innocent people.

The CND has called for the formation of CND organizations within
the United States composed of immigrants and supporters of the
struggle for democracy in Mexico.

It is urgent that the people of the United States do everything
possible to keep attention focused on this situation in Mexico. We
call on our readers and supporters to contact the CND and help the
struggle for democracy in Mexico.

Under the banner of Liberty, Democracy and Justice, the CND and
the Zapatistas fight the same enemy that is attacking the poor in
the United States.

Contact: CND, CENCOS; Medell'n 33, Col. Roma.; Mexico, D.F. Fax:
525-208-2062.


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4. BABS BELVITCH, A DEDICATED FIGHTER IN THE WORKING-CLASS
MOVEMENT

By Nancy L. Singham

The struggles of the 1960s -- the civil rights, women's liberation
and anti-war movements -- threw up a whole new generation of
revolutionaries in Detroit.

Babs Belvitch, a mother with grown children, decided she had had
enough of the system and became a dedicated fighter in the
working-class movement.

She played an active and important role in many struggles in the
1970s, including the two attempts to elect General Baker to the
Michigan legislature. (Baker was a leader of the League of
Revolutionary Black Workers and is a founding member of the
National Organizing Committee.)

In later years, Babs was overtaken by Alzheimer's disease. It was
a serious loss to the ranks of the fighters.

The pitifully small amount of money spent by our government on
Alzheimer's research is further proof that this system throws away
society's older people when they are considered no longer
"useful." But when someone like Ronald Reagan declares he has
Alzheimer's, there is a big hue and cry.

Babs' legacy lives on: in the contribution of her daughter,
People's Tribune Editorial Board member Mary Kay Yarak, and in the
example Babs set for her many friends and comrades.

But most of all, her legacy lives on in the growing attempts by
the fighters to free themselves from this system.

If you would like to make a donation to the People's Tribune in
memory of Babs Belvitch, please send it to P.O. Box 3524, Chicago,
Illinois 60654 and indicate that the donation is in her memory.


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5. WELFARE FOR THE RICH: U.S. BILLIONAIRES SAVE ON TAXES BY
RENOUNCING CITIZENSHIP

'The world's richest soup line'

BY Leslie Willis

There's a debate raging in this country about whether or not to
deny education, health care and welfare to poor immigrants. These
"aliens" pay taxes to the U.S. government out of the smallest
paychecks in the country.

There is no debate, however, about whether our richest citizens
should be allowed to pocket the taxes they owe by renouncing their
U.S. citizenship. On the contrary, they are allowed to keep the
money they owe to society and keep their home and business in this
country, too.

Did you know that an heir to the Campbell Soup fortune,
billionaire John Dorrance III, avoided paying taxes by renouncing
his American citizenship? He is now a citizen of Ireland. Now he
lives there and in the Bahamas and in Devil's Tower, Wyoming. In
spite of this, in 1991-92, our government gave the Campbell Soup
Company a "welfare" check for $450,000 to promote overseas sales
of V-8 juice.

It's a strange government that allows a man like Dorrance to sit
on his can while immigrant labor makes him rich, then says nothing
when he takes off across the border to escape paying taxes he owes
the American people.

Another former U.S. citizen who profited by flipping off his
citizenship is Michael Dingman, chairman of Abex and a Ford Motor
Co. director. He used tax money he saved to build himself a
15,000-square-foot home and dock at an exclusive Nassau yacht
club. Cost: more than $10 million.

But, as the November 21 issue of Fortune magazine pointed out,
Dingman might save more than that much in taxes.

This debate over citizenship is set up to the advantage of wealthy
people, who have no allegiance to any people or to any country.
Their only concern is their bank account. For the love of all the
people who live in this land, we must banish the special
privileges and handouts for the rich.


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6. AKUA NJERI REMEMBERS FRED HAMPTON: BLACK PANTHER LEADER�S
SPIRIT LIVES ON

By Allen Harris

CHICAGO -- In this big, tough city there lived one of the most
outstanding young revolutionaries this country has ever produced.
He was Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black
Panther Party.

He was assassinated on December 4, 1969 during a "police raid" on
his home on the West Side of Chicago.

Akua Njeri was with Fred Hampton when the murderers came. She was
by his side when he was killed, pregnant with their son, Fred Jr.,
who would be born just three weeks later.

Njeri now is a leader in the National People's Democratic Uhuru
Movement in Chicago and she talked with the People's Tribune about
Fred Hampton and his namesake.

"Wherever he spoke," Akua said of Fred Sr., "people were taken by
his youth and his ability to explain a situation and spell out
what to do."

The Black Panther Party, said Njeri, promoted a 10-point political
and philosophical program that was based on seizing "the basic
things that people had a right to. It was a survival program."

The Panthers launched a service of free breakfasts for
schoolchildren. In Chicago, Fred Hampton Sr. organized the feeding
of 3,000 children a week.

He also organized a poor people's medical clinic that served the
community's health needs.

All this was pointed toward "making power to the people a
reality," Njeri said.

Fred Sr.'s focus was organization and political education. "Only
through organization, not just through good will," would the
African American people win total freedom.

"Our struggle is the struggle to organize the people to fight in
their own interests," Njeri said.

Fred Hampton organized the Rainbow Coalition in 1969, bringing
together the Illinois chapter of the party with street
organizations -- of all colors and nationalities -- from across
the city.

"These are our brothers," Njeri recalled Fred Sr. as saying. She
said he pointed out that "We got a common enemy -- the United
States government. We don't own no corner, we don't own any part
of the city. They can ride through here and arrest everybody."

This showed what Fred Hampton was all about as a revolutionary.
"Wherever the people were, Fred would go," said Njeri.

Fred Hampton Sr. was persecuted 25 years ago and Fred Hampton Jr.
is being persecuted today. Fred Jr. was sentenced last year to 18
years in prison on trumped-up charges of fire-bombing a small
business on the South Side. He now is in a prisoner of war camp (a
"state prison") in Menard, Illinois.

NPDUM is waging a struggle not only to free Fred Jr., but "to
expose the U.S. government's plan to use prisons and jails to wage
a counter-insurgency war against colonized and African people,"
said Njeri, "as a way to control the growing class antagonisms."

"In 1994," she said, "conditions are so oppressive. We can't even
walk down the street and deal with our own oppression." She cited
the spread of addictive narcotics such as heroin and crack, the
boom in prison and jail building, "the theft of African American
babies" by official agencies, the forced sterilization of young
girls with Norplant.

"They're intending to rebuild this economy on the enslavement of
imprisoned African and colonized people," she said. "The
conditions are so oppressive that it pushes you to fight. We have
no choice but to fight back."


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7. THE STORY OF THE POLICE RAID WHICH KILLED FRED HAMPTON AND MARK
CLARK: �A DOTTED LINE OF DEATH�

By Allen Harris and Anthony D. Prince


CHICAGO -- Nineteen sixty-nine was the year the police rode around
with riot shotguns clamped to their dashboards.

It was a year when the rebellion of the city's young people
against established power was at a high tide.

Chicago was a political dictatorship under Mayor Richard J. Daley.
In 1969 he had already controlled the city for 14 years.

It was 1969; the word was law and order, the reality was police
repression and the Cook County state's attorney, the local
prosecutor, was the ambitious Edward V. Hanrahan.

He was a rising star in Daley's Democratic Party Machine. He had
been elected in 1968 and launched a "war on gangs" which really
amounted to mass arrests, particularly of black youths.

Soon began a series of police attacks against the Illinois chapter
of the Black Panther Party. It had been founded in June 1968, with
Fred Hampton as its chairman. There were several shootouts between
the police and the Panthers around the chapter headquarters, which
suffered considerable damage.

Hampton was working under constant persecution and harassment. He
had been arrested and tried on charges of mob action for leading
an NAACP march in 1967 in suburban Maywood demanding integration
of a swimming pool.

He was acquitted, but in 1969 he was unjustly convicted and
sentenced to two years in prison in connection with an alleged $71
ice cream truck robbery. He was imprisoned during the summer of
1969 for that, but released pending appeal.

Meanwhile, there also were a number of young black men who were
murdered by the police. John Soto was killed at the Henry Horner
housing project; his brother Michael returned from Vietnam only to
be gunned down by the police on the same day as John's funeral.

They killed Panther member Larry Roberson in September and they
killed Panther member Spurgeon "Jake" Winters in November after a
furious shootout at 58th and Calumet on the South Side in which
two cops were killed.

It was just three weeks after this that they killed Fred Hampton
and Mark Clark.

Hanrahan took credit for this raid, but it was not just a local
matter. The FBI had an informant in the party who provided them
with a floor plan of the apartment where Fred Hampton and a number
of others were staying. He also drugged Hampton's food just hours
before the raid.

A death squad of 15 Chicago cops assigned to Hanrahan broke into
the apartment at 2337 W. Monroe at 4 a.m. on December 4, 1969.
They came in through the front and rear doors. The police in the
front of the house first killed Mark Clark, then sprayed a wall
with automatic weapons fire in a dotted line of death running
about two feet above the floor.

Through the wall, the bullets came. They tore into Fred Hampton's
body from head to toe, killing him in his sleep.

A news photo showed Chicago police smiling as they carried Fred's
body out of the apartment building.

Hanrahan held a press conference, clearly expecting to receive the
adulation of a grateful public for bagging the big one. Instead of
adulation, there was the silence of a public sickened to its gut.

Hanrahan claimed there had been a shootout, but it was really a
shoot-in.

The Panthers left the apartment untouched and opened it to the
public to see the truth for itself. For days after the raid,
thousands of people of all colors walked through and saw for
themselves the bullet holes in the bedroom wall and the blood-
drenched bed.

A series of official and people's inquests followed. Because large
segments of the public refused to let the case be swept under the
rug, Hanrahan and 13 co-defendants were indicted in 1971 and tried
in 1972 for obstruction of justice. Unfortunately, they were
acquitted in October 1972.

(Years later, Hampton family members won a multimillion-dollar
wrongful death lawsuit from the city of Chicago. However, criminal
charges have never been sustained against any of the police
officers, FBI agents or members of the Cook County state's
attorney's office involved in planning or carrying out the raid.)

In November 1972, Hanrahan was defeated by a 129,000-vote
landslide for re-election on the vaunted Democratic ticket.

That defeat set in motion a chain of events in Chicago that
ultimately led to the election of Harold Washington as mayor at
the head of a progressive, multinational coalition that carried in
it the undying spirit of Fred Hampton.



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8. NOC STATEMENT ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE PANTHER RAID

It is perfectly clear that the so-called law enforcement officials
will stop at nothing, including genocide, to keep the legitimate
political grievances of oppressed people from being expressed.
Some people will contend that our actions are of an extreme
nature, but I know of no other intelligent way to act in extreme
situations other than extreme.

--Fred Hampton (1948-1969)


By the National Organizing Committee

CHICAGO -- In the 25 years since their assassination, the image of
the bloodstained bodies of Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and
Mark Clark have been replaced with the images of hundreds of other
victims of police terror. These victims are disproportionately
minority and poor people, but they come from every ethnic group in
the country.

They include Leonard Bannister, 19; Joey Chlopek, 12, and dozens
more. Across this country, the story is the same.

Twenty-five years ago, the ruling class concentrated its attack on
the revolutionary leaders of that time. Today, the police violence
has broadened to include an entire segment of our population under
attack by a system that can't feed, clothe, employ or house
millions of us.

As electronic production and the computerized factory replace the
steel mills and shops of old, the capitalist system has nothing to
offer our kids but police, prison and death. The only guarantee of
a future for the generation that followed Fred Hampton's
generation is the overthrow of the system to whose destruction
Fred Hampton dedicated his life.

Fred Hampton was an outstanding revolutionary who stood for the
right of oppressed people to defend themselves. Tirelessly working
to unify warring youths, and bring together the poor across color
lines; laboring to expose the futility of reforming a system
driven by profit and protected by vicious police, Hampton and
Clark paid the ultimate price for their convictions.

The best tribute we can pay them  is to hold high their
revolutionary banner in the struggles that lie ahead.


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9. INNOCENT MAN HELD HOSTAGE BY CALIFORNIA COURT

By Gloria M. Sandoval
San Joaquin Valley NOC

MERCED, California -- A tragedy occurred here September 20, 1993.
An 18-year-old was the victim of a drive-by shooting while
standing near the corner of Childs and M streets after 9 p.m. Many
families have been affected by this kind of violence.

Joe William "Willie" Nunez was the only suspect arrested. Willie
has been held without bail for more than one year. He has been
charged with murder for allegedly driving the vehicle.

These are the facts of the case:

* Willie has numerous witnesses who agree that he was miles away
from the incident.

* Willie passed a lie detector test.

* After a four-week trial in August, estimated to have cost
$100,000, the jury could not agree that Willie was guilty.

Presently, the district attorney knows Willie is worn out. The
D.A. wants to make a deal with Willie, a plea bargain. If Willie
accepts a voluntary manslaughter charge, he can get six years in
prison.

However, Willie was told that if he wants another jury trial and
is convicted, he could face up to 45 years behind bars! All this
for a crime he did not commit! Is the D.A. willing to spend
another $100,000 to convict an innocent man?

This is not right. What about Willie's future? Would he survive in
prison? What happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?

What has to be done? We have to support Willie and his family. The
district attorney has to stop treating our sons and daughters as
if they are guilty before they are tried in court.

We want Willie to be released, to be reunited with his elderly
parents who are suffering along with Willie. We want Willie to be
able to get on with his studies at Merced College and get on with
his life.

Willie is innocent! Please help.

Contact any of the following: Central Valley Equal Rights
Congress, 209-723-9779; Committee to Defend Willie Nunez, 209-725-
3226; or the San Joaquin Valley National Organizing Committee,
209-723-0862.


[Editor's note: As we go to press, we have learned that charges
against Willie Nunez have been dismissed by the district attorney.
However, he has not been released due to a "hold" by Alameda
County. We will have further information in an upcoming issue of
the People's Tribune.]

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
The following excerpts are from a letter by Willie Nunez. Willie
was falsely accused of a drive-by shooting last year and is
currently incarcerated.

Life behind bars is hard, but then being released will even be
harder because of the outlook I now have on society.

Our system doesn't want to be wrong or proven wrong: that's why
the only right answer is to convict an innocent man. My loved
ones, my family and I have missed so much in life by spending many
holidays and other special moments behind bars. I cannot turn time
back. Bogus witnesses sit at home laughing about the situation
while I sit in jail.

I have done everything in my power to prove my innocence. Every
time I go to court, everyone talks about me and I just have to sit
and listen. This is my life. I have feelings and I hurt just like
everyone else.

--Joe William Nunez

I would like to say thanks to all my supporters, the People's
Tribune for their help, and my father and mother for always being
there for me.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+



******************************************************************

10. DEADLY FORCE: TELL THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS: DON'T BLOCK
A NEW TRIAL OR FREEDOM FOR RICARDO ALDAPE GUERRA!

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
"Deadly Force" is a weekly column dedicated to exposing the scope
of police terror in the United States. We open our pages to you,
the front line  fighters against brutality and deadly force. Send
us eyewitness accounts, clippings, press releases, appeals for
support, letters, photos, opinions and all other information
relating to this life and death fight. Send them to People's
Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Ill. 60654, or call (312) 486-
3551.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

By Allen Harris

HOUSTON -- The Binational Network Against the Death Penalty has
urged Texas Attorney General Dan Morales not to appeal a federal
court order in the case of Ricardo Aldape Guerra.

On November 15, U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Hoyt issued the
45-page opinion reversing Aldape Guerra's conviction for killing a
Houston cop, set aside the death sentence and ordered that Aldape
Guerra either get a new trial in 30 days or be freed. Hoyt cited
"overwhelming evidence" supporting Aldape Guerra's innocence.

Morales has until December 15 to make one of three choices: free
Aldape Guerra, order a new trial or appeal Hoyt's ruling to the
U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Attorney Maria Elena Castellanos of the Binational Network wrote
to Morales on November 21 urging him not to appeal.

"[F]or it is well established that justice delayed is justice
denied," wrote Castellanos. "Mr. Aldape Guerra already has
unjustly endured 12 years on Death Row."

Aldape Guerra's case has been closely followed here and around the
world. His trial was a travesty of justice. In his ruling, Judge
Hoyt denounced the "outrageous" misconduct in the case by police
and prosecutors.

The Binational Network also has urged affiliated organizations,
other human rights groups and all justice-loving individuals to
request that Morales not appeal Hoyt's decision. In particular,
the network has directed its call to president Clinton and to
Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

"Pressure should also be brought to bear on the Mexican Federal
Congress and/or the President of Mexico to demand the immediate
freedom for Aldape Guerra," said Castellanos.

People also should push for the disbarment of the prosecutors and
the firing of police for their professional misconduct in the
case, she said.

Castellanos pointed out that one out of every three people
executed in the United States in the past 20 years has died in
Texas and that more warrants for executions have been issued from
the courts in Harris County (which includes Houston) than any
other county in the nation.



Call President Clinton at 202-456-1414. Fax: 202-456-2461.

Call Texas Gov. Ann Richards at 512-463-2000.

Call Texas Attorney General Dan Morales at 512-463-2100. Fax: 512-
463-1849.

Send faxes to the Binational Network Against the Death Penalty at
713-650-9620.


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11. CULTURE UNDER FIRE: TWO MAGAZINES FROM CHICAGO TELL THE RAW
TRUTH

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
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.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

By Andy Willis

CHICAGO --The Journal of Ordinary Thought is anything but that. It
is, instead, extraordinary!

By publishing the reflections of people about their personal
histories and everyday experiences, communication is like
"enlightening bolts." You will understand.

What will you understand? If you read the magazine Through the
Eyes of a Villain, (a spinoff publication), you will be allowed
into the thoughts of members of a writing group made up of young
black men on Chicago's West Side.

The devastation and poverty encountered daily by these young men
along with the ongoing firefights and police abuse will remind you
of some sad, war-torn place like Somalia or Sarajevo. The place is
Austin. It is a Chicago neighborhood and it's a miracle that there
is any hope left there.

You will hear the voices of Joe Oliver, Flex, 40 oz., Sco-Twin and
many others. No longer anonymous, now demanding to be heard, these
are true prophets of America. And make no mistake -- they speak
for many.

"Our main objective is to represent the young black male. We are
the 'lowest of the low,' 'burdens to society' and outcasts in our
own community. Movies and television present only the extremes.
They'd have you believe we are all either yuppie white people with
tans, gun-toting drug-slinging gangbangers, or energetic hip-hop
dancers with funny hair cuts. Outsiders chisel an image from tales
and hearsay. With the exception of rap music, we have been totally
voiceless, until now.

"We don't claim to be of one mind. Our meetings never end without
a disagreement and they usually run long because of one. We place
no rules upon our writers. We answer only to emotion and
inspiration and in that respect we offer no apologies. We give the
real in the raw."

--Joe Oliver from the Foreword to Through the Eyes of a Villain.


Editor Hal Adams notes about these intense young writers: "Their
art is unflinching in its commitment to reflect the truth as they
see it. Occasionally, they speculate on the future, but creating
utopian views is not their strength. Their strength, rather, is a
basic understanding that the present must be faced honestly before
it can be changed, and that the vision for the future will grow
from the dismantling of the present."

We couldn't agree more. We are deeply grateful to the writers from
Through the Eyes of a Villain who tell about the Inner City Blue,
as H.B. Cool calls it.

The corrupt politicians of Chicago and other cities across this
country who set up and maintained the infamous segregated ghettos
and slums are thoroughly convicted in the hearts, minds and words
of our children.

These crooked politicians  now try to blame the victims who were
born into the hell of the inner city. Those they can't fool are
those they blame. The authors of these journals expose the hype
surrounding the stereotype of the "villain."

The complexity and difficulty in their lives and the constant
threats of a system determined to condemn them has not stopped
them, but instead has made them bold and honest. You realize some
of these young men are going to die senselessly, exactly because
of this system.

Your eyes will be opened wider by these journals and hopefully
you'll deepen your commitment to change forever a hell that cannot
be excused. Watch these pages for more!

Through the Eyes of a Villain can be obtained from: The Journal of
Ordinary Thought, Center for Urban Educational Research and
Development, College of Education, Mail Code 147, University of
Illinois, 1040 W. Harrison, Chicago, Illinois 60607 or Hal Adams
at 312-996-7357.


******************************************************************
12. AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH 1995: WHICH WAY FOR AMERICA?


Will America become a police state or a country where everyone has
a job, a home and equality? For a thought-provoking debate on
strategies for wining this NEW America, invite one of our speakers
to your celebrations.

Ethel Long-Scott is a nationally known organizer of poor people,
especially women. She is the executive director of the Women's
Economic Agenda Project in Oakland, California and has been
instrumental in leading campaigns to defend poor women accused of
"welfare fraud."

Abdul Alkalimat is a professor, activist, scholar and was the
organizer of the U.S. delegation to the Seventh Pan-African
Congress held in Uganda. He is an author of books on Malcolm X,
Harold Washington, and other subjects. He is also an organizer of
national high-tech and employment conferences, where the effect of
the electronic revolution on society is debated.

Nelson Peery, a leader in the revolutionary movement since the
days of the Scottsboro Boys case, is the author of Black Fire: The
Making of an American Revolutionary, a memoir about the black
soldier in World War II. Peery currently chairs the Political
Committee of the National Organizing Committee.

Dino Lewis is a poet, writer and organizer of the homeless and
poor. While in jail, he began writing about his hopes and dreams
for a new America. He is a founding member of the Homeless Writers
Coalition, a group of writers and poets from Skid Row in Los
Angeles who produced a jazz-backed CD called Sidewalk Prophets.

The People's Tribune Speakers Bureau has national and local
speakers on numerous topics. Send for a free brochure. Call or
write: P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654, 312-486-3551.


******************************************************************
13. SHOP WITH THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE!

For subscriptions, make checks payable to the People's Tribune,
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654. Circle the type of sub you
want and list the name and address below each item you check.  We
will send a card with the subscription. Let us know how you would
like it signed.

___ Send a gift subscription to the People's Tribune.

(____ $25 for one year or ____ $4 for 2 months)

___ Send a gift subscription to the Tribuno del Pueblo.

(___ $13 for one year or ___ $4 for 2 months)

___  Send a gift subscription to Rally, Comrades! ($15 for one
year). Make checks payable to Rally, Comrades!

___  I want to order an original People's Tribune cartoon by Andy
Willis. Cartoons are available on a full range of topics. "Time
Stepper" cartoons still available.  $35 each.

Send my gift subscription to:

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City/State/Zip __________________________________________________


Send order with payment enclosed to: People's Tribune/Tribuno del
Pueblo, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654 or call 312-486-
3551.

+----------------------------------------------------------------+

___ copies of Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary
by Nelson Peery, active in the revolutionary movement since the
days of the Scottsboro Boys, a memoir about the experience of the
black soldier in World War II. ($22.95)

___ copies of Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. by
Luis Rodriguez, award-winning poet and author, the story of his
life in the gangs with a message of hope for today's youth. ($10)

___ copies of New Battles Over Dixie: The Campaign for a New
South, a fascinating analysis of the politics and economics of the
South, by John Slaughter, who has been active in both the labor
and civil rights movement. ($16.95)

___ copies of Endless Threshold by Jack Hirschman, called
"America's most important living poet." ($10.95)

___ copies of The Blood About the Heart  by Sarah Menefee, poet
and activist against homelessness who has been arrested for
feeding the hungry. ($10.95)

___ copies of Harold Washington and the Crisis of Black Power in
Chicago by Abdul Alkalimat and Doug Gills. (Alkalimat is an
author, writer, organizer of the U.S. delegation to the Seventh
Pan-African Congress in Uganda.) ($5.95)

___ Videotape ($19.95) or audiotape ($9.95) of Noam Chomsky
speaking on "21st Century: Democracy or Absolutism?"

___ Tape of "Fresh Air" interview of Nelson Peery. (Order this
tape from Spencer Customer Service at 1-800-934-6000).

___ "Sidewalk Prophets," a jazz-backed CD by the Homeless Writers
Coalition. ($14.95)

___ "Empty the Shelters" T-shirts from a Summer People's Tribune
Speaking Tour promoting homeless organizer Ronald Casanova.
($4.95)

___ People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo "Key to the Future" key
rings (.99)

___ People's Tribune hats ($3.99)

___ "Pamphlets of the Decade" packet. A timeless collection of
important historical and theoretical works about revolution in
America.  ($4.95)

___ Marxist starter kit (Manifesto of the Communist Party; Epoch
of Social Revolution; Three Component Parts of Marxism and more).
($4.95)

Send your order with payment to:

Break Through Images, P.O. Box 3233, Chicago, Illinois 60654.
Include $1 postage for each item other than subscriptions.


******************************************************************

14. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE

The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, published weekly in Chicago, is devoted to
the proposition that an economic system which can't or won't feed,
clothe and house its people ought to be and will be changed. To
that end, this paper is a tribune of the people. It is the voice
of the millions struggling for survival. It strives to educate
politically those millions on the basis of their own experience.
It is a tribune to bring them together, to create a vision of a
better world, and a strategy to achieve it.

Join us!

Editor: Laura Garcia
Publisher: National Organizing Committee, P.O. Box 477113,
Chicago, IL 60647 (312) 486-0028


To help support the production and distribution of the PEOPLE'S
TRIBUNE, please send donations, letters, articles, photos,
graphics and requests for information, subscriptions and requests
for bundles of papers to:

PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE
P.O. Box 3524
Chicago, IL 60654

Respond via e-mail to [email protected]

Reach us by phone:

Chicago: (312) 486-3551
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Baltimore: (410) 467-4769
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Washington, D.C.: (202) 529-6250
Oakland, CA: (510) 464-4554


GETTING THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE IN PRINT

The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE is available at many locations nationwide.
One year subscriptions $25 ($35 institutions), bulk orders of 5 or
more 15 cents each, single copies 25 cents. Contact PEOPLE'S
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WRITING FOR THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE

We want your story in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE. Send it in! Articles
should be shorter than 300 words, written to be easily understood,
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IL 60654, tel. (312) 486-3551.

******************************************************************
We encourage reproduction and use of all articles except those
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