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.
The first civil and human rights movement by and for Black people started during the Civil War and the period of Black Reconstruction that followed. It was a time of radical hopes for many freed slaves. But it was also a time of betrayal. Then President Andrew Johnson and the non-radical Republicans, in collusion with the Democratic Party, the party of slavery, sold out the early post-war promises for full equality and “40 acres and a mule”. Instead, the promise of equality was soon replaced by the restoration of the property rights of the former slave owners in the South. This was accomplished by the Compromise of 1877. How did they accomplish this betrayal? The answer is simple—terrorism. They used police and terroristic Ku Klux Klan violence. These extra-legal activities laid the basis for the overthrow of Black Reconstruction and the institutionalization of legal segregation (Jim Crow) in the former slave states. To enforceJim Crow, Black people were, for decades, indiscriminately lynched and framed. —Roland Sheppard, The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement
Videos of the Day:
Fmr IAEA Inspector: Netanyahu’s Cartoons About Iran’s Nuclear Program are ‘Baseless and Childish’In a ‘show and tell’ type talk, Netanyahu claimed that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program and tried to provide evidence that Iran is violating the JCOPA. Former US IAEA Nuclear Weapons Inspector Robert Kelley tells TRNN Netanyahu’ss claims are b’aseless, self-serving, and childish
Privatization is Killing Us: Dispatches from the Capitalist War on SocietyAs the capitalist elite continues to pour ever more resources into its crusade to dismantle society, it’s important to keep a tally of the damage done—if only to direct popular attention to where it’s needed most, and to where the Left’s own resources are needed most. High on the list of capitalist priorities, and thus of priorities for left-wing resistance, is the goal to privatize everything from education to nature to policing and soldiering. With that in mind, here’s a list of some recent “negative externalities” of privatization that I’ve culled from news sources. by Chris Wright
New Bipartisan Bill Could Give Any President the Power to Imprison U.S. Citizens in Military Detention ForeverOne of the most outrageous acts of Barack Obama’s presidency was his failure to veto the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012. The fiscal year 2012 NDAA included provisions that appeared to both codify and expand a power the executive branch had previously claimed to possess — namely, the power to hold individuals, including U.S. citizens, in military detention indefinitely — based on the Authorization to Use Military Force passed by Congress three days after 9/11. The New York Times warned that the bill could “give future presidents the authority to throw American citizens into prison for life without charges or a trial.” Not surprisingly, Obama’s decision generated enormous outcry across the political spectrum, from Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, on the right to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on the left. By Jon SchwarzEnvironment:
Freedom Rider: How to Remember Lynching“Lynch law is still practiced today by police across the country.” The National Memorial for Peace and Justice recently opened in Montgomery, Alabama, to great fanfare. The memorial tells the stories of the more than 4,000 recorded lynchings perpetrated against black men, women and children by American terrorists for nearly 100 years. The crimes were gruesome public spectacle. Victims died by gunshots, hanging, fire, dismemberment and castration. The massacres took place mostly in the South but not entirely. Lynch law was a nationwide phenomenon and while unwritten it was defended as much as any legislation on the books. By Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnistCory Booker Blames Black America for Trump, But Only Has Himself to Blame “Democrats like Booker have blamed everyone but themselves for Trump’s victory.” Corey Booker blamed Black America for Trump’s electoral victory at an event organized by Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. “We did it to ourselves,” cried Booker in his address to a crowd of Wall Street-owned Democrats. The event gathered potential Democratic Party candidates in 2020 to review Trump’s first year as President. Sharpton called attendees such as Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Corey Booker “presidential candidates” who were “testing the temperature” for the next election cycle. For Booker, low-voter turnout among Black Americans in the 2016 campaign gave Trump the Presidency and made it necessary for the Democrats to “test the temperature” from a position of weakness. By Danny Haiphong, BAR contributorBlues For Boss Tweet (and $cammany Haul) BY Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Called it ‘Stormy Sunday—’
Monday was more Mad
Called it ‘Stormy Sunday—’
Monday was more Mad
Mass murder worldwide—
Caracas to Baghdad…
Missiles flew on Friday—
Saturday he went out to putt . . .Re-Centering Anti-War and Anti-Imperialism as Working-Class Issues on May 1st “We will never support U.S. imperialism in any of its adventures.”May 1stis recognized as International Workers’ Day throughout the world except in the most bourgeois of bourgeois nations — the United States. Yet, even though the capitalist oligarchy has tried to erase the day from the awareness and memory of the working class and worker-oriented organizations and unions, the working class continues to embrace and take ownership of this day as its own. By Black Alliance For PeaceFormer Black Panther Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald Seeks Parole after 49 Years Behind Bars “People who were not members of the Black Panther Party or who were not political are released,” On April 26, former Black Panther Herman Bell was released from prison in New York State after 45 years. That leaves at least 10 surviving members of the Black Panther Party behind bars, including Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald, who is currently held at the California State Prison-Los Angeles. His next parole hearing is scheduled for May 4. By Ann Garrison, BAR contributorWorld Bank’s Rankings Reward Dispossession, Land Privatization, Corruption, Environmental Devastation as Good For BusinessTanzania recently made some seed saving a crime. Liberia lifted its requirements for trading companies to file environmental impact statements. Other countries have dispossessed their farmers and pastoralists, privatized their lands, and repressed their workers movements. In the World Bank’s ranking system, this is what it takes to be labeled a good environment to do business. The Oakland Institute’s Anuradha Mittal explains… By This Is HellA Powerful Memorial to the Men and Women Victims of Lynching Opens in Alabama Close to 200 women were murdered by lynch mobs in the American South.” A memorial to victims of lynching in the U.S. opened in Alabama on April 26, 2018. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice is a six-acre site that overlooks Montgomery, the state capital. It uses sculpture, art and design to give visitors a sense of the terror of lynching as they walk through a memorial square with 800 six-foot steel columns that symbolize the victims. The names of thousands of victims are engraved on columns — one for each county in the United States where a lynching took place. In Alabama alone, a reported total of 275 lynchings took place between 1871 and 1920. By Evelyn M. SimienFlint Crisis, Four Years On: What Little Trust Is Left Continues to Wash Away “Flint is a place a city where many people are unlikely to ever drink another drop of tap water as long as they live.” LeeAnne Walters was one of the activists who brought Flint’s brown, lead-laden water to the world’s attention, thrusting plastic bottles of dingy liquid into camera lenses and the national consciousness. Four years later, you might think things have improved in the Michigan city. But Walters is still bathing her kids in bottled water, which she heats on the stove in four separate pots and a plastic bowl in the microwave. By Jessica GlenzNicaragua: Next in Line for Regime Change?“The right-wing Citizens for Liberty and Sandinista Renewal Movement political organizations have led the violent protests.” Events in Nicaragua are clearly modeled on the kind of U.S.-led, NATO-drivenregime change that succeeded in Libya, Ivory Coast and Ukraine, but has so far failed in Thailand, Syria and Venezuela. At a national level, the protests have been led by the private sector business classes defending their rate of profit againstsocialist policies in defense of low-income workers and people on pensions. By Tortilla Con Sal
Managua : Masked protesters fire from a homemade mortars at riot police during a third day of violent clashes in Managua, Nicaragua, Friday, April 20, 2018. The clashes, pitting protesters opposed to social security reforms against riot police and pro-government groups, have rocked the capital, and a half-dozen other cities over the last three days. The Organization of American States have expressed concern over the heavy-handed crackdown, while also calling on demonstrators to protest peacefully.AP/PTI(AP4_21_2018_000020B)
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.
Quote of the Day:
Environment:
Freedom Rider: How to Remember Lynching“Lynch law is still practiced today by police across the country.” The National Memorial for Peace and Justice recently opened in Montgomery, Alabama, to great fanfare. The memorial tells the stories of the more than 4,000 recorded lynchings perpetrated against black men, women and children by American terrorists for nearly 100 years. The crimes were gruesome public spectacle. Victims died by gunshots, hanging, fire, dismemberment and castration. The massacres took place mostly in the South but not entirely. Lynch law was a nationwide phenomenon and while unwritten it was defended as much as any legislation on the books. By Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
Cory Booker Blames Black America for Trump, But Only Has Himself to Blame “Democrats like Booker have blamed everyone but themselves for Trump’s victory.” Corey Booker blamed Black America for Trump’s electoral victory at an event organized by Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. “We did it to ourselves,” cried Booker in his address to a crowd of Wall Street-owned Democrats. The event gathered potential Democratic Party candidates in 2020 to review Trump’s first year as President. Sharpton called attendees such as Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Corey Booker “presidential candidates” who were “testing the temperature” for the next election cycle. For Booker, low-voter turnout among Black Americans in the 2016 campaign gave Trump the Presidency and made it necessary for the Democrats to “test the temperature” from a position of weakness. By Danny Haiphong, BAR contributor
Blues For Boss Tweet (and $cammany Haul) BY Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Re-Centering Anti-War and Anti-Imperialism as Working-Class Issues on May 1st “We will never support U.S. imperialism in any of its adventures.”May 1stis recognized as International Workers’ Day throughout the world except in the most bourgeois of bourgeois nations — the United States. Yet, even though the capitalist oligarchy has tried to erase the day from the awareness and memory of the working class and worker-oriented organizations and unions, the working class continues to embrace and take ownership of this day as its own. By Black Alliance For Peace
Former Black Panther Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald Seeks Parole after 49 Years Behind Bars “People who were not members of the Black Panther Party or who were not political are released,” On April 26, former Black Panther Herman Bell was released from prison in New York State after 45 years. That leaves at least 10 surviving members of the Black Panther Party behind bars, including Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald, who is currently held at the California State Prison-Los Angeles. His next parole hearing is scheduled for May 4. By Ann Garrison, BAR contributor
World Bank’s Rankings Reward Dispossession, Land Privatization, Corruption, Environmental Devastation as Good For BusinessTanzania recently made some seed saving a crime. Liberia lifted its requirements for trading companies to file environmental impact statements. Other countries have dispossessed their farmers and pastoralists, privatized their lands, and repressed their workers movements. In the World Bank’s ranking system, this is what it takes to be labeled a good environment to do business. The Oakland Institute’s Anuradha Mittal explains… By This Is Hell
A Powerful Memorial to the Men and Women Victims of Lynching Opens in Alabama Close to 200 women were murdered by lynch mobs in the American South.” A memorial to victims of lynching in the U.S. opened in Alabama on April 26, 2018. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice is a six-acre site that overlooks Montgomery, the state capital. It uses sculpture, art and design to give visitors a sense of the terror of lynching as they walk through a memorial square with 800 six-foot steel columns that symbolize the victims. The names of thousands of victims are engraved on columns — one for each county in the United States where a lynching took place. In Alabama alone, a reported total of 275 lynchings took place between 1871 and 1920. By Evelyn M. Simien
Flint Crisis, Four Years On: What Little Trust Is Left Continues to Wash Away “Flint is a place a city where many people are unlikely to ever drink another drop of tap water as long as they live.” LeeAnne Walters was one of the activists who brought Flint’s brown, lead-laden water to the world’s attention, thrusting plastic bottles of dingy liquid into camera lenses and the national consciousness. Four years later, you might think things have improved in the Michigan city. But Walters is still bathing her kids in bottled water, which she heats on the stove in four separate pots and a plastic bowl in the microwave. By Jessica Glenz
Nicaragua: Next in Line for Regime Change?“The right-wing Citizens for Liberty and Sandinista Renewal Movement political organizations have led the violent protests.” Events in Nicaragua are clearly modeled on the kind of U.S.-led, NATO-drivenregime change that succeeded in Libya, Ivory Coast and Ukraine, but has so far failed in Thailand, Syria and Venezuela. At a national level, the protests have been led by the private sector business classes defending their rate of profit againstsocialist policies in defense of low-income workers and people on pensions. By Tortilla Con Sal
Labor: