This is the twenty-ninth issue of my free newsletter. Your feedback is most welcome!
July 26, 2004
Here's the first of several reports. I'm not a delegate, but there is a lot going on outside--beginning with the Boston Social Forum, which I'll report on at a later time. Sunday night, there was a march through the Jamaica Plain neighborhood calling for the Democrats to have more "backbone." They hoisted a giant model backbone into the air; each vertebra bore a label such as "Universal Health Care," "US Out of Iraq," etc. Kucinich was given the "backbone award."
Dennis Kucinich and Jesse Jackson were the stars of a forum on Civil Liberties, Civil Rights and Justice, with a packed audience. Marty Martinez of Somos Latinos, GLBTQ Youth of Color, and the Boston AIDS Coalition spoke of attacks on bilingual education and immigrants’ rights, and urged the audience to link the struggles against all forms of injustice. He praised the black community for supporting the gays and lesbians in their struggle for same sex marriage. Margaret Prescod, of KPFK radio’s “Sojourner Truth” program, has been an activist for women’s rights and involved in building a grassroots global network in 60 countries. Two-thirds of the world’s work is done by women for 5% of the world’s income, particularly in the global south. She spoke against the kidnapping and removal of Haiti’s Aristide, and praised Venezuela’s peaceful revolution, which the US is attempting to destabilize. Dr. James Zogby spoke about Arab-American issues, especially the violation of their rights following 9/11. Although over 300 cities passed resolutions to protect Arab-Americans, thousands were arrested, detained, and deported. Most Americans would not tolerate this if they knew about it.
Dennis Kucinich, the only presidential candidate to vote against the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act, recalled the origins of the United States in its struggles against the British Empire. “We didn’t flee an empire to become an empire,” he said. Referring to the “Free Speech Zone” outside the Fleet Convention Center (a small fenced area with barbed wire atop), he declared, “There must be no limits on our freedom of speech!” It is our inheritance, he said, to challenge the status quo, and to rage against totalitarianism. The Patrio Act was passed in the middle of the nigh, and most of Congress had no time to read it. It has provisions such as: Librarians are required to turn over information on what people read, to the government. He called for teach-ins on the Patriot Act, amendments to defeat it, and a new Freedom march on Washington.
Jesse Jackson spoke of the need to expand the moral center. “We who are winners must not have a losers’ complex,” he told the crowd, reminding us of the democratic victories in 1992, ’96, and 2000 (when the votes of 1 million black voters were thrown out). Like building a fire, we must build from the bottom up, not the top down, he said. “The enslaved changed things, not the slaveholders,” he said, and the same was true with women’s rights: “from the bottom up.” He urged activists to register as many new voters as possible, and build coalitions.
Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, was the featured speaker at an exhibit of art work from the children of Iraq and the children of the United States, about the war. The Iraqi children’s drawings were poignantly filled with images of dead bodies, blood, helicopters and tanks, and people with tears streaming down. Zinn recalled his own days as a bombardier in World War II. “The bombers see no blood, hear no screams,” he said, and emphasized that in any war, more civilians than troops are killed, many of whom are children. He pointed out that although Bush says he is winning the war on terrorism, in the next breath he always says we are not safe and more terrorist attacks are expected. “Bombing creates terrorists,” he said. “Why does the US have to worry about terrorists, and Norway doesn’t? Could it be because they’re not bothering anyone?” When a country puts military bases in hundreds of countries and takes corporate control of the world economy, people get annoyed, and furious. “If you want to stop terrorism, look at your role in the world. Don’t be a military superpower; spend money on feeding people instead.” What sense does it make to bomb civilians because they are ruled by a tyrant? That is killing the victims. He described the American wounded, the amputees in military hospitals, and said, “Our government doesn’t care.” He chided Kerry for saying he would be “tough on security.” True security depends upon being a decent, peace-loving country which uses its resources to help people. People don’t support war without massive propaganda, he said, and urged everyone to write letters to the editor and call in on talk radio shows.
July 28, 2004
At a rally against the human rights abuses in Abu Grhaib and Guantanamo, many speakers decried the administration’s attempt to label the torturers “a few bad apples” and spoke of the systematic policies that came from the top levels. They called for the closing of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Nancy Murray of the ACLU said that most media do not talk about the penal colony in Guantanamo Bay. At least six children, aged 13-15 are there. Cells are lit all night long. The ratio of guards to captives is 4:1; the cells are 6x8 feet. Brutal beatings, electric shocks, sexual humiliation, interrogation, and total isolation are the norm. There have been 3 dozen suicide attempts. Prisoners do not get lawyers, and there is no habeas corpus. Joshua Rubenstein of Amnesty International said that torture is never legitimate. Since 2001 Bush has defied the Geneva conventions. AI has been protesting the torture for years, but only the Abu Grhaib photographs brought media attention and let the American people know. The Republicans want to avoid a full investigation, in order to get top officials off the hook. If this were China or India, wouldn’t the US be demanding a full investigation? The Center for Constitutional Rights has filed a lawsuit against the private contractors at Abu Grhaib. To the question “What have we become?” the answer is, a nation of fear. Patriotism should mean protecting the Bill of Rights.
Dennis Kucinich, who has worked to close down the School of the Americas, stated that human rights abuses are occurring not just with the permission of, but at the direction of, this administration; denial of humanity to people anywhere is an offense to people everywhere. He pointed out that there are daily abuses in our own prisons too. Referring to the caged-in area near the convention center designated as the “Free Speech Zone,” he called it a disgrace to the First Amendment. “Free speech and free assembly are essential to a democracy.” He reminded us that the object of violence is our brother and our sister. We must beware of thinking that separates us. “The other is us, an assault on them is an assault on us.”
Other speakers included a member of Physicians for Human Rights, who called Rumsfeld “Secretary of Torture” and stated that the prohibitions against torture are absolute, with no exceptions, according to the accords which the US has signed. A Native American Vietnam veteran spoke of the political imprisonment of indigenous children when they are sent to boarding schools; and of the imprisonment of Leonard Pelletier for 28 years for a crime he did not commit.
At the rally, the famous quotation from Martin Niemoller was graphically displayed: “When they came for the communists, I said nothing. I was not a communist. When they came for the Jews, I said nothing. I was not a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I said nothing. I was not a Catholic. When they came for me, there was nobody left to speak up for me.” One person held a sign with the quotation. A person in an orange jumpsuit (such as Guantanamo prisoners wear) held a panel with bars to simulate a prison. The final person held a mirror with bars through it so that, looking in the mirror, one beheld oneself behind bars.
On Wednesday afternoon, in a low-income, mostly black and Latino neighborhood, there was a spirited rally against the “Bioterror lab” planned by Boston University nearby. This research lab would cost $128 million and would be dealing with highly contagious anthrax, ebola, hemorrhagic fever, and the plague in an area with a million people within 10 miles. A community organization called ACE has been getting the word out about how this lab endangers the health of the people while providing no jobs except to PhDs. Young people aged 11 to 15 spoke up about their work to counter the lab, and entertained with rap and dancing. A member of Physicians for Social Responsibility spoke against the lab as well. Petitions were circulated, and a march was held.
Michael Moore was in Cambridge yesterday, speaking mostly to the press. “The unstated villain in Fahrenheit 9/11 was the press,” he declared, calling them “cheerleaders for the war.” The most common thing he heard people say after they had seen his movie was “I never saw that on the news.” (Black congresspeople turned down by the Senate; eggs hitting the presidential limo.) “We need you to do your job,” he implored. “Ask the questions! Demand the evidence! You do us no service by not asking. It’s patriotic to ask!” The best way to support the troops is not to send them to die to line the pockets of Halliburton. “The majority of Americans are liberal or progressive on the issues,” he said, and only a small minority hate. “Those folks are ‘hatriots’, not patriots,” he said.
Later that evening, Kucinich fans gathered around the TV sets at Emmanuel College (where a large number of activists are camped for the week). In his 7-minute speech to the convention, Kucinich sounded like Walt Whitman as he invoked the many workers who built this country, care for the sick, fought for the 40-hour week, and hunger for justice. While calling for unity, he also spoke strongly for nonviolence and an end to war, for spending not on arms but on housing, health care, and sustainable energy policies. “The weapons of mass destruction are poverty, homelessness, and racism! We must disarm these weapons.”
The issues director for Kucinich’s campaign reminded us volunteers that Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas ran for president many times and never came close to being elected, but they placed their agenda strongly before the American people, and FDR later enacted them—which was a true victory.
July 29, 2004
The Progressive Democratic Caucus held a workshop at Roxbury Community College on July 29. A prevailing theme was the need for grassroots organizing beyond the November election. Boston City Council member Chuck Turner decried the fact that $550 billion goes to the military while only $50 billion is spent for education in this country. Rep. John Conyers, a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, described himself as Ralph Nader’s closest friend in Congress, but warned people not to vote for him to avoid splitting the democratic vote.
Tom Hayden gave us a history lesson, tracing the progressive democratic movement back to its roots. He recommended Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States, which he said had reshaped how many of us view history. “Movements arise at the margins, march into mainstream, become the majority, and successive generations debate their meaning”—6 M’s to remember. He believed that Lincoln, JFK and others were actually pushed leftward by the social movements of their time. The Populist party and the Socialist party helped to establish the regulatory movement, workers’ compensation, occupational health and safety, and the progressive income tax. Seventy-three socialist mayors got elected; the foundation for the New Deal was laid. In the 1930’s, 477 sit-down strikes led to the formation of the CIO, and forced legislation including the Wagner Act and Social Security. The women’s movement grew out of the abolition movement. He reminded us how the immigrant girls at Triangle Shirtwaist factory who were killed due to being locked in during a fire, drew 100,000 protestors for better working conditions for women. In 1962, the Port Huron statement (of which Hayden was a co-author) helped to realign the Democratic party. He called Jesse Jackson the most important reformer in the Democratic party, which once rejected Fannie Lou Hamer. Thanks to the Rainbow Coalition, pressure was kept on the Democrats for civil rights for 20 years. The Republican agenda is to eliminate as much of the pro-worker, civil rights and environmental legislation as they can. “This election could be a referendum on the war,” he said, adding that if Bush is re-elected, it will send a negative message to the world.
Bill Moyer originated the “Backbone campaign” with its giant backbone street theater puppet (each vertebra marked with a positive platform such as universal health care, department of peace, etc.) He spoke of plans to give “Spineless Vote Citations” to those Congress members who violate the goals of the Progressive Democrats. His goal is to make the movement both fun and sustainable.
Howard Dean thanked Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton, and Carol Moseley-Braun for changing the party. “Voting is the bare minimum,” he said. “Tell young people to run for office!” Democracy cannot work when 50% don’t vote. In his experience, 95% of the American people want the same things: decent jobs, health insurance, good public education, and true national security (not achieved through wars). “Get the swing vote by standing up for what you believe in!” he exhorted. The way to win in a conservative district is to go to the unions, blacks, Latinos, and single women.
Dennis Kucinich pledged, “We won’t be quiet!” Unity, he said, is a capacity which begins with coalition-building and peaceful coexistence. We must learn the mechanics of unity in order to move America in an evolutionary process of change. As individuals, we can evolve to create a new world. His Department of Peace legislation has 52 Congressional members; 8 states’ party platforms have adopted it. “Our commitment to social and economic justice is not just for one election, it’s who we are,” he declared. He called on progressives to challenge the widespread fear in our country and help people get over that. Take joy in civic participation, he urged. “As we choose, so chooses the world.”
Dr. James Zogby of the Arab-American Institute charged the Democrats with avoiding open debate concerning the Middle East and Israel.” We can’t say we’re for ending weapons of mass destruction but not in the Middle East.” He praised progressive Democrats for pushing through 15 state resolutions against sending weapons.
“Granny D” (Doris Haddock) cheered for the independent media and films, as she decried the “dumbing-down” in the major media, the schools, and in politics generally. “Democracy is a lifestyle, not a fringe benefit,” she declared. Everyone used to be informed and involved, not only during elections. “It’s a lot of work, but will give you your best friends and deepest satisfaction,” she said. She herself has traveled 23,000 miles to register voters, and stressed the importance of listening to low-income people. Turning to the topic of energy, she informed us how the coal companies in West Virginia and Kentucky have created environmental devastation with floods and giant pools of toxic sludge, some larger than the spill of the Exxon Valdez. “An election is a report card of how you’re doing,” she said—how well the politicians are serving the needs of the people. She advocated starting at the town level to organize and solve people’s personal issues, such as the need for jobs and education and local renewable energy. “Town by town, renew the spirit of the Revolution,” she urged.
Barbara Lee, the lone Congressperson to vote against the war in Afghanistan, and co-chair of the Progressive Caucus with Dennis Kucinich, spoke up for the rights of youth. At a recent Hip-hop Summit of 5,000 young people, she said their agenda was the elimination of poverty and racism, universal health care, a clean environment and environmental justice, as well as repeal of “3 strikes” law, mandatory minimum sentencing, capital punishment, and adult sentencing of juveniles.
Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange reminded us that more civilians have died in Afghanistan and Iraq than were killed on 9/11. While Bush spends $1 billion a week on the war, 95% of the Democratic delegates believe that war is wrong. She was forced to leave the convention center for holding a sign saying “US out of Iraq.” She chided Kerry for failing to call for the tearing down of the “protest pen” outside Fleet Center, which is a slap in the face of free speech.
Marianne Williamson of Global Renaissance Alliance called for a renaissance of consciousness, recalling Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: “If you don’t have a cause worth dying for, you don’t have a life worth living.” King also said that desegregation was the external goal, but the deeper goal was “establishing the beloved community.” She asked, “How can a small group of fear-based folks hijack the system? Because they are focused and committed. Stand with as much conviction and commitment to love!” She drew an analogy of terrorism as a systemic disease, which like cancer can’t be eliminated with a surgical strike. “It’s not an operable cancer,” she said. “We must boost the spiritual and social immune system.” This holistic politics would include the establishment of a Department of Peace at the executive level, which gives nonviolent options and solutions to the president.
Late in the afternoon, protesters stood outside the Fleet Convention Center with their signs and chants calling for peace. “We want jobs and education, end the war and occupation!”
Final note: This writer was disheartened to hear the militaristic speeches of both Edwards and Kerry, but greatly encouraged by the presence of hundreds of progressive democrats willing to keep the heat on our elected officials to enact the programs we all need, especially peace! This is the last report, thanks for reading.
Cathy Holt
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