People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (04-99) Online Edition
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04-99 PT Index
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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
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The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO is available on the World
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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.
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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-
[email protected] with "Subscribe" in the subject line.]
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TOPIC
04-99 Edit: The value of human life
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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
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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.
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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
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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:
[email protected];
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
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TOPIC
04-99 Call for a March of the Americas in October 1999
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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
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2. CALL FOR A MARCH OF THE AMERICAS IN OCTOBER 1999
CONTINUING THE MARCH FOR OUR LIVES
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'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.'
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[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
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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:
[email protected];
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.
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TOPIC
04-99 Having the courage to accept and shape change
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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
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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
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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:
[email protected];
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.
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TOPIC
04-99 People's Tribune Radio host tells it like it is
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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
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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.
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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
[email protected] or
[email protected]
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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)
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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
[email protected]
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:
[email protected];
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
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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
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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
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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:
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TOPIC
04-99 Why do some people oppose guest-worker programs?
TEXT
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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:
[email protected];
http://www.mcs.com/~league
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TOPIC
04-99 Mission statement for new column on youth
TEXT
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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
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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:
[email protected]
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:
[email protected];
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
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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
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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
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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:
[email protected];
http://www.mcs.com/~league
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TOPIC
04-99 Spirit: No one is voiceless
TEXT
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People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
Vol. 26 No. 4/ April, 1999
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
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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
[email protected]]
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
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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:
[email protected];
http://www.mcs.com/~league
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TOPIC
04-99 LRNA statement on the war against Yugoslavia
TEXT
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People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
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P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
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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
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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:
[email protected];
http://www.mcs.com/~league
Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The
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