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Democracy?: As the Capitalist Robber Barons Steal from the 99% — Only the 1% Voted For Austerity — The 99% Should Decide On Austerity — Not Just The Who Profit From Austerity! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.
Images of the Day:
From my essay: The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement: . . . At first, there was an illusion of progress; there was a rise in the number of Black politicians. There was an increase in jobs for black professionals in government, in industry, and on television. There was an impression that things were getting better through the strategy of relying upon the Democratic Party to politically secure, protect, and advance the struggle for racial equality. An example of what was wrong with this strategy was clearly demonstrated when Maynard Jackson was elected mayor of Atlanta Ga., in 1974. At the time of Martin Luther King’s assassination, he was willing to risk jail and to organize a mass demonstration, in defiance of a court injunction and National Guardsmen, in armored personnel carriers equipped with 50-caliber machine guns, to help the striking Memphis municipal garbage workers. These workers ultimately won their union contract, and thousands of ordinary working families in that city got living wages that allowed them to educate their children, buy houses, live decent and dignified lives, and even retire. In his last speech, he stated: All we say to America is, “Be true to what you said on paper.” If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, MAYBE I COULD UNDERSTAND SOME OF THESE ILLEGAL INJUNCTIONS. Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they HAVEN’T committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for RIGHTS. And so just as I say, WE AREN’T GOING TO LET ANY DOGS OR WATER HOSES TURN US AROUND, we aren’t going to let any injunction turn us around.
In contrast, Maynard Jackson quickly demonstrated that he was not beholden to or a leader of the Black population that elected him, but beholden to those who financed his election campaign and who helped his personal political and financial advancement. In Atlanta, Jackson, instead of helping city sanitation workers, fired more than a thousand city employees to crush their strike. In this, he had the support of white business leaders and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This contrast was clearly stated in the essay A disgrace before God: Striking black sanitation workers vs. black officialdom in 1977 Atlanta: . . .
Videos of the Day:
US, Saudi CEOs Sign $20B Deals in NYC as Protesters Condemn Catastrophic War on Yemen Two hundred corporate executives dined at the Saudi-US CEO Forum in New York City alongside Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while protesters outside called for an end to the devastating war on Yemen
U.S.:
‘Beyond Disturbing’: Trump Says He’s Working on Plans to Deploy Troops Along US-Mexico Border A refugee rights group denounced the president for attempting to “bully” peaceful asylum seekers and threaten immigrants already in the U.S. After days of ranting and raving on Twitter about the “caravans” of migrants making their way toward the United States—”caravans” that are made up largely of Honduran asylum-seekers looking to call attention to their plight—President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he has begun working with Defense Secretary James Mattis to deploy the military to “guard” the U.S.-Mexico border until his proposed wall is constructed. By Jake Johnson
EPA Violated the Law by Failing to Respond to Civil Rights Complaints, Court Rules A court ruled today that the Environmental Protection Agency violated its duty to respond to civil rights complaints in a timely way. The case involved five organizations that had waited years for the EPA to respond to complaints filed under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, creed, or color. By Sharon Lerner
Environment:
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
Freedom Rider: Israeli Meddling and Palestinian Death “Any politician who questions Israeli policy is at immediate risk of being defeated by a well-funded opponent.” On March 30, 2018 the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) committed cold-blooded murder in Gaza. Thousands of unarmed Palestinians marched peacefully to protest the occupation and declare their right to return to their homeland. The Great Return March was met with gunfire and 18 people died. By Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist 
Independent Journalist Corner: A Conversation with Randi Nord “Anti-imperialism to me means supporting nations in their struggle against my government’s violent and exploitative influence.” This week I spoke with Randi Nord. Nord is a Detroit-based journalist and activist. She is the co-founder of Geopolitics Alert. Her pieces have also appeared in MintPress News. We discussed anti-imperialism and its relevancy to some of the more pressing questions of the period, especially in lieu of the ongoing US-led wars in Syria and Yemen. By Danny Haiphong, BAR contributor
Charlottesville Mural by Obama “Hope” Poster Artist Causes Controversy “The artist Shepard Fairey has a history of appropriating images from activist-artists of color and selling them for a profit, without ever acknowledging the originals.” Shepard Fairey, the graphic artist known for the iconic 2008 Obama “Hope” poster, as well as the Trayvon Martin and Women’s March posters, wants to donate a mural near the site where Heather Heyer was murdered by a white supremacist car attack on August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The proposed mural, which depicts a leaf with seven blades with Heyer’s ce in the middle, was conditionally approved by the city’s Board of Architectural Review but is now tabled due to community criticism. It has caused controversy since some argue that the proposed image fails to recognize the city’s history of black resistance . Thus far, these critiques leave room for the artist to propose a different mural, one more representative of the community’s history. However, many do not know (but perhaps should) that the artist Shepard Fairey has a history of appropriating images from activist-artists of color and selling them for a profit, without ever acknowledging the originals. By Anne Garland Mahler
A Brief History of Neo-Colonial Rape and the “Freak Shows” of Black Women’s Bodies “These sites of ‘disaster’ are created by the very ‘civilized’ men who then turn around and exploit the victims of their imposed ‘civilization.’” Catharine MacKinnon’s book Are Women Human? is a text which interrogates the violence specifically targeting women throughout history. From beatings, to torture, to rape, to sexual subjugation, to murder, and to genocide, there are myriad examples that show how women are rendered insignificant in the cultural landscape of human rights. MacKinnon’s text asks how women can be considered people since, when placed next to legal renderings of other groups of people, women are excluded from similar protections. “Are women human?” remains a question of great significance today, as even those on the left consider us less-than. There is also the fact that, for many, women’s rights are considered “already won” and therefore part of an antiquated movement that should just simmer down. By Julian Vigo
Evidence of Violent Extremism of Little Interest When Killer Is White “In the upside-down world of corporate media, the race of the terrorist, and the races of the people he’s murdered, seem to matter more than the actions committed.” Remember that Muslim mass murderer who belonged to an Islamic home-madrassa called INTIFADA, where knife-wielding Shari’a survivalists studied the Qur’an, guns and dangerous chemicals? And how the liberal media fawningly portrayed him as a misunderstood and under-loved young man otherwise full of promise? You don’t, because that never happened. But have you heard about of the Christian Texas child-killer from an all-white sect who slaughtered the president of a homeowners’ association and a 17-year-old aspiring neurosurgeon, both on their own doorsteps and in front of their families? Both victims were African-Americans. This same murderer was a suicide bomber who blew himself up before police could arrest him and take him for a hamburger (as they did with Dylann Roof, the young white man who killed nine African-Americans at their church). By Minister Faust 
If This Happened in Alabama There Would Be Uproar: In Israel, it’s the Norm “Half of Israeli Jews confess that they do not want ‘Arabs’ as neighbors.” How would you describe a white town in a southern state in the United States that froze the tender for plots of land in a new neighborhood because it risked allowing blacks to move in? As racist? What would you think of the town’s mayor for claiming the decision was taken in the interests of preserving the “white character” of his community? That he was a bigot? And how would you characterize the policy of the state in which this town was located if it enforced almost complete segregation between whites and blacks, ghettoizing the black population? As apartheid, or maybe Jim Crow? And yet, replace the word “white” with “Jewish” and this describes what has just happened in Kfar Vradim, a small town of 6,000 residents in the Galilee, in Israel’s north. More disturbing still, Vradim’s policy cannot be judged in isolation. It is a reflection of how Israeli society has been intentionally structured for decades. By Jonathan Cook
Two Salutes to Winnie Mandela “She will always be an inspiration for future generator of women revolutionaries.” On April 2, Winnie Mandela, the South African freedom fighter in the anti-apartheid struggle and the ‘Mother’ of the nation, died at 81 years old. In an interview in 1987, Winnie said this: “The years of imprisonment hardened me … Perhaps if you have been given a moment to hold back and wait for the next blow, your emotions wouldn’t be blunted as they have been in my case. When it happens every day of your life,when that pain becomes a way of life, I no longer have the emotion of fear… there is no longer anything I can fear. There is nothing the government has not done to me. There isn’t any pain I haven’t known.” The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) released the following statement after her passing. By Zwelinzima Vavi, SAFTU General Secretary, 2 March 2018
Labor:
Economy:
World:
Canada: Stalinist, sectarian witch-hunt against Marxists sabotages university strike There has been a four-week long strike by teaching assistants and sessional lecturers at York University. This strike by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 3903, which is made up primarily of graduate students as well as sessional lecturers, had the effect of inspiring a movement among undergraduate students. The strike is going through a challenging period, and now a witch-hunt by secrtarian elements, aimed against our comrades at York, threatens the entire movement. By Fightback Canada
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program: 1. Austerity, 2. Scapegoating Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal Immigrants’ for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel. 
Quotes of the Day:
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis: