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Images of the Day:
Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!
Always Remember: That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing, the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. — The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!
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 1% Who, Profit From Austerity!! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.! Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!
Quotes 0f the Day:
As the head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, John Lewis drafted a fiery speech to present to the crowds gathered at the March on Washington. But the night before the storied march, the speech was mistakenly leaked to the press, and as word of its contents began to spread, Lewis was summoned to a meeting with the march’s leaders and urged to tone down certain elements. Out of respect for leaders like A. Philip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King, Lewis edited his harsh criticism of the Kennedy administration’s civil rights bill, which he’d originally called “too little and too late,” and changed his call for a march “through the heart of Dixie, the way Sherman did” to a march “with the spirit of love and with the spirit of dignity that we have shown here today.”
Original Draft of John Lewis’ Speech
We march today for jobs and freedom, but we have nothing to be proud of, for hundreds and thousands of our brothers are not here. They have no money for their transportation, for they are receiving starvation wages, or no wages at all. In good conscience, we cannot support wholeheartedly the administration’s civil rights bill, for it is too little and too late. There’s not one thing in the bill that will protect our people from police brutality. This bill will not protect young children and old women from police dogs and fire hoses, for engaging in peaceful demonstrations: This bill will not protect the citizens in Danville, Virginia, who must live in constant fear in a police state. This bill will not protect the hundreds of people who have been arrested on trumped up charges. What about the three young men in Americus, Georgia, who face the death penalty for engaging in peaceful protest? The voting section of this bill will not help thousands of black citizens who want to vote. It will not help the citizens of Mississippi, of Alabama and Georgia, who are qualified to vote but lack a sixth-grade education. “ONE MAN, ONE VOTE” is the African cry. It is ours, too. It must be ours. People have been forced to leave their homes because they dared to exercise their right to register to vote. What is there in this bill to ensure the equality of a maid who earns $5 a week in the home of a family whose income is $100,000 a year? For the first time in one hundred years this nation is being awakened to the fact that segregation is evil and that it must be destroyed in all forms. Your presence today proves that you have been aroused to the point of action. We are now involved in a serious revolution. This nation is still a place of cheap political leaders who build their careers on immoral compromises and ally themselves with open forms of political, economic and social exploitation. What political leader here can stand up and say, “My party is the party of principles?” The party of Kennedy is also the party of Eastland. The party of Javits is also the party of Goldwater. WHERE is OUR PARTY? In some parts of the South we work in the fields from sunup to sundown for $12 a week. In Albany, Georgia, nine of our leaders have been indicted not by Dixiecrats but by the federal government for peaceful protest. But what did the federal government do when Albany’s deputy sheriff beat attorney C. B. King and left him half dead? What did the federal government do when local police officials kicked and assaulted the pregnant wife of Slater King, and she lost her baby? It seems to me that the Albany indictment is part of a conspiracy on the part of the federal government and local politicians in the interest of expediency. I want to know, which side is the federal government on? The revolution is at hand, and we must free ourselves of the chains of political and economic slavery. The nonviolent revolution is saying, “We will not wait for the courts to act, for we have been waiting for hundreds of years. We will not wait for the President, the Justice Department, nor Congress, but we will take matters into our own hands and create a source of power, outside of any national structure, that could and would assure us a victory.” To those who have said, “Be patient and wait,” we must say that “patience” is a dirty and nasty word. We cannot be patient, we do not want to be free gradually. We want our freedom, and we want it now. We cannot depend on any political party, for both the Democrats and the Republicans have betrayed the basic principles of the Declaration of Independence. We all recognize the fact that if any radical social, political and economic changes are to take place in our society, the people, the masses, must bring them about. In the struggle, we must seek more than civil rights; we must work for the community of love, peace and true brotherhood. Our minds, souls and hearts cannot rest until freedom and justice exist for all people. The revolution is a serious one. Mr. Kennedy is trying to take the revolution out of the streets and put it into the courts. Listen, Mr. Kennedy. Listen, Mr. Congressman. Listen, fellow citizens. The black masses are on the march for jobs and freedom, and we must say to the politicians that there won’t be a “cooling-off” period. All of us must get in the revolution. Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and every hamlet of this nation until true freedom comes, until the revolution is complete. In the Delta of Mississippi, in southwest Georgia, in Alabama, Harlem, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and all over this nation, the black masses are on the march! We won’t stop now. All of the forces of Eastland, Bamett, Wallace and Thurmond won’t stop this revolution. The time will come when we will not confine our marching to Washington. We will march through the South, through the heart of Dixie, the way Sherman did. We shall pursue our own scorched earth policy and burn Jim Crow to the ground — nonviolently. We shall fragment the South into a thousand pieces and put them back together in the image of democracy. We will make the action of the past few months look petty. And I say to you, WAKE UP AMERICA!
Videos of the Day:
United States:
The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War! Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich! — They Can Afford To Pay
Naturally, The Common People Don’t Want War The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion. — Trump, The Art of the Deal 
The Journalistic Censorship Industry Suffers Well-Deserved Blows The NYT’s Taylor Lorenz falsely accuses a tech investor of using a slur after spending months trying to infiltrate and monitor a new app that allows free conversation. A new and rapidly growing journalistic “beat” has arisen over the last several years that can best be described as an unholy mix of junior high hall-monitor tattling and Stasi-like citizen surveillance. It is half adolescent and half malevolent. Its primary objectives are control, censorship, and the destruction of reputations for fun and power. Though its epicenter is the largest corporate media outlets, it is the very antithesis of journalism. By Glenn Greenwald 
Democrats Stick With $75K Threshold for Stimulus Checks After Pressure From Left In the draft legislation, released by committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Massachusetts), individuals earning less than $75,000 a year and couples earning $150,000 a year will receive checks for the full amount of $1,400. This is the same threshold as was used in the case of the $600 stimulus checks in December. In the draft legislation, released by committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Massachusetts), individuals earning less than $75,000 a year and couples earning $150,000 a year will receive checks for the full amount of $1,400. This is the same threshold as was used in the case of the $600 stimulus checks in December. By Sharon Zhang
Environment:
Be Prepared — Get Your N95 Masks Now!: The Looming Fires Climate change, the bomb, or the flame of hope? If you live in California, you’re likely to be consumed on occasion by thoughts of fire. That’s not surprising, given that, in last year alone, actual fires consumed over four and a quarter million acres of the state, taking with them 10,488 structures, 33 human lives, and who knows how many animals. By the end of this January, a month never before even considered part of the “fire” season, 10 wildfires had already burned through 2,337 more acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). By Rebecca Gordon
Green Coalition Threatens to Sue Biden Administration Over Trump-Era Permits That ‘Jeopardize’ Wildlife If the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “continues to ignore its duty to properly account for the harm Nationwide Permit activities pose to species, then litigation may be necessary,” the groups said. By Brett Wilkins
Experts Say Burst India Glacier Shows ‘Catastrophic’ and Deadly Cost of Inaction on Climate Crisis “These events will occur more frequently and will become overall more destructive if measures are not taken to mitigate these risks,” said one researcher. By Brett Wilkins
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
But in becoming an icon, Parks has also been turned into a shadow of her real self. Few people are aware of her lifetime of struggle prior to and following that fateful day in December 1955 when her refusal to give up her seat on an Alabama bus triggered the 13-month long boycott that launched the modern civil rights movement. They don’t know about her behind-the-scenes nitty-gritty work to build the NAACP. They don’t realize that she had her own political views. How many people, for example, know that unlike Gandhi and King, she refused to rule out the righteous use of force? Not only did she admire Malcolm X; only a few years ago she flew down to Monroe, North Carolina, for the funeral of Robert Williams, the outspoken advocate of armed self-defense by the black community. — Grace Lee Boggs, Rosa Parka
Black American Slave Legacy Inherited by Diaspora Immigrants Black immigrants are not included in the standard American immigration story because newcomers from the African diaspora “inherit the legacy” of US Black chattel slavery, said Kovie Biakolo, a writer and scholar born in Nigeria. “White Americans do not like to engage in conversations that ultimately put slavery at the forefront,” said Biakolo, whose recent article is titled, “We Can’t Talk About Immigration Without Acknowledging Black Immigrants.”
Black Political Party Puts Grassroots Organizing FirstAlthough the Baltimore-based Ujima People’s Progress Party has engaged in electoral politics during its decade of operations, its focus is grassroots organizing, mutual aid, and political education, said party organizer Nnamdi Lumumba. “As long as there’s a capitalist class that is wealthy, electoral politics is not set up to make a real difference in people’s lives,” said Nnamdi, on Dr Jared Ball’s influential podcast, “I Mix What I Like.”
Activists Seed Public Schools With Black Liberation Curriculum The Ida B Wells Education Project has begun “centering Black liberation movements” in the classroom curriculum of a growing number of public schools, said Peta Lindsay, a founder of the project, that was launched after the gigantic anti-police repression protests of June, 2020. “A lot of teachers want to teach Black history,” said Lindsay. “We’re here to provide the resources.”
Labor:
Economy:
Retail Traders Are the New Lab Rats in High Frequency Trading Schemes Yesterday, reporters at the Washington Post provided important new information about the insidious machinations of high frequency traders’ efforts to rig U.S. markets in their favor. WaPo reporters Douglas MacMillan and Yeganeh Torbati revealed the following: By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
Tunisia: Biggest Protest In Years Amidst Increased State Repression On 6 February, thousands of protesters took to the streets in Tunis, chanting the slogan “the people want the fall of the regime” against the Islamist Ennahdha party, a member of the government coalition. Riot police had in advance of the rally deployed cordons around central Tunis preventing both cars and people from entering the streets around Avenue Habib Bourguiba, where the demonstration took place. Despite these efforts, the protest was one of the biggest protests in recent years. By Andreas Nørgård
Ecuador: Reversing the Pandemic Slump? Ecuador is a small South American state with just 17m people right on the equator. Ecuador’s main industries are petroleum, food processing, textiles, wood products and chemicals. The oil sector accounts for about 50 percent of the country’s export earnings and about one-third of all tax revenues. The main oil company is the majority state-owned Petroecuador, which is still 37% owned by Texaco. Indeed, state-owned companies account for more than 80% of Ecuador’s oil production; the rest is produced by the multi-nationals: Repsol (Spain), Eni (Italy), Tecpetrol (Argentina’s state-owned company) and Andes Petroleum, which is a consortium of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC, 55% share) and the China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec, 45% share). Ecuador is also the world’s largest exporter of bananas and a major exporter of shrimp. The first round result is an important blow against the machinations of imperialism in the region. It is likely to end the rule of the last four years of pro-business policies adopted by President Lenin Moreno, deputy to former leftist President Rafael Correa. Moreno reneged on Correa’s polices on taking office and instead locked up Correa supporters and imposed fiscal austerity, privatisations and other pro-business measures. By Michael Roberts
Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:
The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for themselves, but cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be, a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People Vote on Healthcare
In the Absence of COVID Safety Plans, Teachers Are Resigning and Retiring Early Racial Disparities Exacerbate Teacher Frustration This, Pringle says, is a frequent complaint. But, she continues, the NEA survey revealed another even more horrifying trend: Nearly half of the teachers of color interviewed — including 43 percent of Black teachers — told researchers that the decision to stop teaching has been hastened by COVID. Nonetheless, it’s not the only reason they’re dissatisfied. “When we talk about diversifying the field, we have to take on institutional racism,” Pringle says. “We know that people of color are being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Teachers of color are fearful for their own and their family’s health and are less trusting that the government will do anything to protect them.” Pringle also notes that teachers of color tend to work in schools that are under-resourced, less able to provide enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and space to make socially distanced learning possible. By Eleanor J. Bader
Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!: Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”
During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel! For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel! Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!
Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 8, 2021 With Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford