Friday, January 16, 2015

Friday News

I wish the best for Jamal Rutledge. This incident shows the compassion of black people, but we do realize that we have a very long way to go. In black communities nationwide, there is readily found police terrorism and economic exploitation. We can’t ignore these issues and we can’t brush these issues under the rug. We have to confront evil if we want to defeat evil. Back in the day, the Black Panthers not only condemned police terrorism. They actually observed the police working, so they could protect the black community. They also taught people about the law, organized health care programs, and promoted self-defense. So, we should organize our power, know about the law (especially about unjust laws, so we can fight unjust laws), and build in our communities in a higher level. Our consciousness must grow, because we can’t be free without the knowledge of Self. We have to love our black identity or our black personhood in order for us to be truly free. Our eyes should be on the prize. That prize is the eradication of police brutality and the establishment of the system of justice (so, black people can be free and liberated to determine our own destinies as human beings). It is very revolting to see stories about how innocent people have been sent into prison. Much more political leaders should advocate for radical, revolutionary changes in the criminal justice system, because the criminal justice system currently is a disgrace. The New Jim Crow has harmed and ruined lives for decades. True activists are right to mention that we need real change where the dignity of human life is truly honored and respected for real. Sharrif Wilson was a man who was a victim of the prison industrial complex. RIP Sharif Wilson.

The 1001 Club has not been talked about in many circles. We do know that NGOs, think tanks, and other multinational corporations have huge influence in the world. These organizations and private entities have more power and influence than some governments. Many world leaders like Prince Bernard, Prince Philip de Haes, and Anton Rupert are members. Rupert was closely associated with the Afrikaner Broederbond or the Afrikaner nationalist secret society. Each member pays a one-time fee of $10,000 for lifetime membership. It was created by Prince Bernard of the Netherlands with help from South African entrepreneur Anton Rupert in the year of 1970. Regular meetings of the 1001 Club still exist. There have been meetings in Monaco, Barcelona, and throughout Europe. A 1978 report in the Times confirmed that Prince Philip gave a reception at Windsor castle for 1001 Club members. There are differences between the Anglo-American elite Pilgrim Society and the 1001 Club. Both are aristocratic and they have very low profiles. They are international and they originated from England. Their memberships overlap with each other. One difference is that members from the 1001 Club are recruited from all over the world. Members of the 1001 Club involve Conrad Black including Maurice Strong (who are from Canada), Alf Bjercke (from Norway), Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza and Berthold Beitz (Krupp) from Germany, Gyanedndra Dev from Nepal, etc. The Pilgrim Society is mostly Anglo-American. A lot of royalty and nobility are members of the 1001 Club. Both organizations have members from the similar families like the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds. Printing money is not necessarily a sign of the heads of the power structure. Many of the global elite don't show their faces and they own the resources. So, we have to look at the people who not only own the central banks, but who own the resources of the Earth to witness the members of the establishment (like the Nobility families of Europe). Furthermore, quite a number of the 1001 Club members were part of the South African business sector that was the subject of a UN boycott during apartheid. The 1001 Club deals with mainstream environmental organizations. There is nothing wrong with helping the environment. Yet, the elite have corporations that they use to exploit the mineral records of the Earth under the guise of “sustainability” (and these same corporations do real damage to the environment via excessive hunting, excessive oil drilling, deforestation, pollution, toxic waste dumping, etc.). It has helped to fund the World Wide Fund for Nature of the WWF. Mobutu was a member of the 1001. Mobutu was a traitor to black people by opposing the sincere, heroic black nationalist Patrice Lumumba and by allying with the same Western imperial interests that harmed black people in Africa. Raymond Bonner in his book “At the Hand of Man: Peril and Hope for Africa’s Wildlife” has accused the WWF of using neocolonialist methods. So, it is obvious that the 1001 Club represents capitalist Western interests not all of the masses of freedom loving peoples of the Earth.



At the end of the day, marijuana is part of the Earth. It deals with Nature. We have to be wise and use reasonable actions when dealing with substances. We know that the War on Drugs has failed. It has ruined communities nationwide. Therefore, of course parents should do the right thing. Parents should not give children dangerous drugs in a recreational, reckless fashion. Yet, I have no problem with the usage of medicinal marijuana if it is done in a responsible way. That’s fine with me. Sending non-violent drug offenders into prison for extreme sentences (in some cases longer than assaulters, murders, and rapists) is totally reprehensible and wrong. There has to be a radical change in our judicial system and in our drug policies. We have to treat drug addiction as a health treatment matter. You have made an excellent point about the money rush, because many corporations are exploiting marijuana legalization in states like Colorado as a means for them to grow their corporate profits at the expense of the poor & the working class. The War on Drugs must end and alternatives ought to occur, so the masses of the people can benefit (not just the corporate elite). Eric Garner died at the hands of the officers and the disgraceful actions of the EMTs. If the EMTs intervened in a stronger fashion, Eric Garner could have been alive today. Eric Garner was a victim of police brutality and excessive force. The officer used a chokehold on the man, which was against NYPD procedure. When the officer took him down, Garner said that he can't breathe over 10 times. No other officer intervened to stop Daniel Pantaleo from harming Eric Garner. His death was ruled a homicide. There can be a myriad of alternatives that could have been enacted which could have solved the problem without resulting in Eric Garner's death. No one on this Earth will convince me otherwise. RIP Eric Garner.



The Republicans control most of Congress. Now, they want to pass the Keystone Pipeline, which will cause environmental problems and studies say that it won’t create massive jobs too. The President has threatened to veto the bill. The Republicans have been increasingly fascistic ideologically. Police state like policies are still in America. The reactionaries lecture people on work, but ignore how many NYPD people have withdrawn their duties in handling cases (while some of them try to justify the evil murder of unarmed citizens). The demonstrators have every right to speak their minds. Today, we see nonviolent social struggle being executed by humanity of all colors which has swept the nation. Not to mention that some corporations don’t want to pay a living wage for humanity, especially in the developing world. That is why wages are stagnant in America now with the reduction of the power of the unions at the same time. Reaganomics doesn’t work. There is no need to outsource jobs massively, the massive deregulation of corruption, etc. which harm the poor and the middle class. There is the relationship between racism and economic exploitation. We must end institutionalized racism. Capitalism, imperialism, and militarism have been linked on many cases. Black people have every right to be outraged at the repressive behavior of the police and the injustices of the judicial system. That is why we should promote a radical social movement to change the system and to transform people in embracing a revolutionary mentality. We should have great inspiration from the courageous revolutionaries of the 1960’s. SNCC and the old school Black Panther Party have valuable lessons and insights that we can embrace. Strong movements readily proceed from the grassroots level, so international change can transpire.  It is a disgrace for some to blame victims of their own oppression. Therefore, black people will continue to fight for the oppression and oppose imperialism. Black people have every right to stand up against police terrorism and to believe in justice.  Many black people today are scholars, teachers, economic leaders, theologians, engineers, lawyers, judges, construction workers, and other great contributors to society. So, I will still be here. My core convictions are firm.


This is the case of not only overt white privilege, but of blatant snubs. The movie Selma has sparked a lot of emotions. Also, Ava Duvernay should never feel shame for her effort in showing historical information about the civil rights movement. She should be further encouraged to continue in her directorial career. The lack of diversity in the 2015 Oscar nominations certainly proves that we have a long way to go in racial relations. We have the right to tell our stories unapologetically. Also, it doesn’t matter if Ava doesn’t receive an Oscar, because she is loved, she is valued, and she is appreciated by us as black people. That love can never eliminated by an award. That love is priceless. With events going on in the world, it is very important for the Voting Rights Act to be strengthened. GOP extremists have shown their views for years and the words from Goodlatte are not shocking. This is one reason out of many why I am not a Republican. I am a political independent. The fight for justice never ended in 1965. The revolutionary was found in Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Orlando Bagwell (who made the great Documentaries “At the River I Stand” and “Malcolm X: Make it Plan. At the River I Stand was about the Memphis Sanitation workers strike), Angela Davis, Ella Baker, Bobby Seale, Amilcar Cabral, and others have a revolutionary spirit from decades ago. Many of these revolutionaries are here now and the revolutionary spirit still lives in our generation. Ava DuVernay's responded that the claim that the Selma campaign was Johnson's idea was "jaw-dropping and offensive" to the "Black citizens who made it so." In an NPR interview, she develops her point more, stating that Selma was the culmination of many years of work by civil rights activists--that it was their idea and their fight, and Johnson's words to King were echoing back from what the civil rights movement had already done. The film Selma should inspire people to continue in the fight for justice.

By Timothy

No comments: