Douglasville Judge Denies Constitutional Rights to Court Observer
Posted On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at at 6:44 PM by Dan
This was originally published on the Guardian America site.
Georgia judge jails Muslim woman for wearing headscarf to court
• Two women barred from entering courtroom in recent days
• Sabreen Abdulrahmaan sentenced to 10 days in jail
by Daniel Nasaw in Washington
Wednesday 17 December 2008 21.15 GMT
Lisa Valentine was arrested after a Georgia judge charged her with contempt of court after refusing to take off her headscarf. Photograph: John Amis/AP
A city judge in Georgia has in the past eight days barred two Muslim women wearing Islamic headscarves from entering his courtroom, jailing one, and prompting an inquiry from the civil rights office at the US department of justice.
Judge Keith Rollins of Douglasville, Georgia, yesterday ordered Lisa Valentine, 41, to jail after she refused to remove her scarf before entering the courtroom, citing rules governing appropriate dress. Last week, Sabreen Abdulrahmaan was forced to leave Rollins's court before her son's probation hearing because she would not remove her scarf.
"It's a religious right," Valentine said. "It's our constitutional right that we can have our religious practices, no matter if it's a courtroom or not. He's supposed to be handing out justice, not taking away civil rights."
Valentine said she sought to accompany her nephew to a traffic hearing yesterday but was told by a court security officer that she could not enter the courtroom with her headscarf on. She said she refused to remove it and turned to leave, saying, "This is bullshit".
Security officers handcuffed her and brought her before Rollins, who sentenced her to 10 days in jail when she declined to defend her actions at the security checkpoint, her husband Omar Hall said. Valentine, an insurance underwriter, was forced to take off the scarf and don an orange jumpsuit, chained and put aboard a jail bus with men and women.
"It felt like I was naked, because that's how I feel without my hijab," Valentine said. "You could have taken off my clothes and it would have felt the same way."
Her husband phoned an Islamic civil rights organisation and sought an attorney, and she was released without explanation after about seven hours.
"Judge Keith Rollins has inexplicably, blatantly usurped our innate human rights as American citizens," Hall said.
Douglasville police told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Valentine was jailed for violating a policy barring headgear in the court. Neither court officials nor the police department returned calls seeking comment. Reached by the Associated Press, Rollins declined to comment on Valentine's case.
"It's an issue of religious freedom, it's an issue of access to the American legal system," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Islamic civil rights advocacy group, which advised Valentine and Hall on the case. "There are all kinds of implications that you can take form this troubling incident."
The US department of justice is reviewing the matter, according to spokesman Jamie Hais. Hooper said that Eric Treene, special council for religious discrimination at the justice department's civil rights division, was examining the case.
Valentine's case was Rollins's second dispute with a hijab-clad woman in a week. Last week, Abdulrahmaan, a 55-year-old community organiser, went to Douglasville municipal court to observe her son's probation hearing. Security officers outside the courtroom initially denied her entry, saying Rollins does not allow scarves in the courtroom. She made it into the courtroom, but once inside a bailiff motioned for her to remove her scarf. She told him she was a Muslim, but then left when he started to approach her.
"There are a lot of prejudices here," Abdulrahmaan said. News of Valentine's case, "just sent my blood pressure all the way up".
Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the matter does not merely affect Muslims.
"What if you're a Jewish man wearing a skull cap? What if you're a Catholic nun wearing a habit?" Hooper asked. "All would be denied access to this judge's courtroom. We need to know what's going here and why this has apparently been going on for so long."
Victory at Republic
Posted On Thursday, December 11, 2008 at at 1:01 PM by Dan
Below is a message directly from Jobs with Justice about the victory in Chicago at the Republic plant. For direct information go to the union's (United Electrical workers or UE) website here.
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After 6 days occupying the plant, workers at 
We want to extend a big THANK YOU to all of you who participated in this campaign.In Honor of Human Rights Day
Posted On Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at at 10:20 AM by Dan
Today is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Below is a paper I wrote on human rights as a strategy. In it I correct the idea that the UDHR, and human rights in general, came about because of guilt following the Holocaust. This is simply false. Human rights was developed by people of color around the world as a strategy for ending colonialism and racial discrimination. It is an organizing strategy for economic development not a legal strategy. Happy December 10th.
HUMAN RIGHTS AS A DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
On page seven of the introduction of the joint strategic plan for the United States Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) it reads, “We must…foster development to combat poverty and to lay foundations for economic prosperity, human rights, and democracy.” (State/USAID, 2007) While it is convenient for rich countries to see human rights as secondary to development, the view is historically inaccurate. Moreover, the idea that development, either traditional or sustainable, can help or hinder human rights misses the point. Human rights, as pushed by the lesser developed countries of the Global South after World War II, is a development strategy.
The modern concept of human rights is articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The popular myth of the creation of the UDHR is that a guilt-ridden world attempted to prevent future holocausts. For example, “Because of the genocidal horrors that occurred during World War II against Jews, Gypsies, and other groups in Europe, the world community founded the United Nations and immediately started working on a document that would be called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).” (Snarr & Snarr, 2008) As is often the case with myth, reality is quite different. The United Nations was already being established by the time Auschwitz was liberated and before the full extent of the holocaust was known. What’s more, human rights was already at the center of the idea of the UN. (Waltz, 2002) Human rights do not exist because of guilt, they exist because of an international campaign led by countries and peoples of the Global South.
As soon as it was clear the Allies were going to win the war plans were being made to create the United Nations. Two conferences held in 1944 outside Washington, D.C. at Dumbarton Oaks led to the creation of a specific proposal. These conferences were attended by representatives from the U.S., Great Britain, the USSR, and China, although only the U.S. and Great Britain were at both events. The Dumbarton Oaks proposal released in 1945 mentioned human rights only once in the text. Even this was a compromise granted to China, the only country at the meetings fully committed to having the phrase in the document. (Waltz, 2002)
Fortunately, the Dumbarton Oaks proposal was not the final proposal. Countries around the world immediately responded, many with outrage. Twenty nations gathered at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City for the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War & Peace as a direct counter to the Dumbarton Oaks proposal. The delegates stated that the Dumbarton Oaks plan needed to be improved and endorsed a list of fundamental principles they desired to have applied to the future peace. (Peace, 1945) The reaction within the U.S. was about the same. All manner of NGOs issued reports demanding that human rights be at the core of the new international organization, what became the United Nations. The American Bar Association, the American Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the Farm Bureau Federation, the NAACP, and others confronted State Department officials on human rights. In one month U.S. State Department personnel participated in more than 100 meetings, conferences and seminars with organizations across the country. In the end, the Dumbarton Oaks proposal was amended. (Korey, 2001)
In 1945 at the UN Conference on International Organization, human rights was given a central place in the charter. In addition, the permanent Commission on Human Rights was created. The Commission’s creation was largely due to the efforts of 42 US organizations and countless individuals who attended the conference. (Waltz, 2002) Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., an official U.S. representative at both the Dumbarton Oaks meetings and the UN Conference, said, “The provisions themselves owe much of their strength to the force of public opinion which was brought to bear in their support both before and during the San Francisco Conference.” (Edward R. Stettinius, 1946)
The rights defined in the UDHR can be divided into five areas: civil, political, economic, social, and cultural. Civil, political, and economic rights guarantee individual rights of equal treatment under law, participation in the political process, as well as protections at work and for property. Social and cultural rights can be viewed as collective rights of a people as well as for individuals. It was the intention of those fighting for human rights that all the rights be taken together. Human rights were proposed and are considered universal, inalienable, and indivisible. Human rights belong to all, they cannot be taken away, and the rights cannot be divided. Applying all five areas of rights at the same time to all was seen as necessary to counter racial discrimination and colonialism. (Waltz, 2002)
The history since the creation of the UDHR of African, Asian, and Latin American decolonization shows that the original idea of human rights as a development strategy can work. It is incumbent upon us that we not replace that lesson with myth.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Korey, W. (2001). NGOs and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights : a curious grapevine (1st Palgrave ed.). New York: Palgrave.
Peace, I.-A. C. o. W. a. (1945). Act of Chapultepec: Declarations on Reciprocal Assistance and American Solidarity Retrieved October 18, 2008, from http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1945/450303a.html
Snarr, M. T., & Snarr, N. (2008). Introducing global issues (4th ed.). Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
State/USAID, U. S. D. o. (2007). Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2007 - 2012. from http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/82819.pdf.
Stettinius, Edward R. (1946). Human Rights in the United Nations Charter. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 243(Essential Human Rights), 1-3.
Waltz, S. (2002). Reclaiming and Rebuilding the History of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Third World Quarterly, 23(3), 437-448.
Georgia Trying to Shut Down Black Colleges
Posted On at at 9:22 AM by Dan
Below is a great commentary on the move in the legislature to destroy Albany State and Savannah State by merging them with white schools. The essay is from Black Agenda Report, a great progressive site focusing on Black politics in the US as well as around the rest of the world.
The legislative champion of the move seems to be Rep. Seth Harp. I've written about Harp before. He pushed a plan to have counties vote on lifting the ban on alcohol sales on Sunday while also voting to ban municipalities from extending domestic partner benefits and from implementing living wage policies. At the end of this commentary is contact information for those interested in fighting to save Black colleges in Georgia.
PS - If the Georgia legislature were serious about cutting costs, why would they want to close colleges instead of prisons? Just a thought.
Black Colleges Face Whiteout
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=924&Itemid=1
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
"In Georgia, efforts are afoot to dismantle at least two Black colleges."
As the great unraveling of finance capitalism unfolds, lots of issues that were prime concerns in Black politics not long ago, are getting buried in the economic debris. To many, the survival of Black colleges seems less of a priority when measured against the loss of nearly two million jobs over the past year, and the impending erasure of what is left of the nation's industrial base. It is in times of general crisis that the enemies of identifiably African American institutions find new opportunities for mischief. Such is the case in Georgia, where efforts are afoot to dismantle at least two Black colleges: Savannah and Albany state universities.
Members of the Republican-controlled state legislature are using the economic crisis as a rationale to merge majority Black Savannah State with mostly white Armstrong Atlantic State University. Historically Black Albany State University would be forced to combine with majority white Darton College. Adding insult to injury, Darton College is only a two-year institution, a community college, while Albany State is a full university.
Modern-day racists have learned to cloak their anti-Black ideas in progressive-sounding language. Georgia Senate Higher Education Committee Chairman Seth Harp claims he wants to merge the Black universities with white schools because they're "part of the legacy of segregation." When a Georgia Republican goes on a crusade against the vestiges of Jim Crow, it's time to watch out! Senator Harp says the state would save money by eliminating duplication of administration and courses. Black lawmakers counter that the state could save money just as easily by merging nearby white-majority schools, such as Georgia Tech and Georgia State. But of course, the white alumnae of these two schools would not tolerate the loss of either institution's distinct identity.
"It is the white schools that have failed Black students."
Georgia's higher education chancellor Erroll Davis is more honest about the deal. He admits that a Black-white merger would be a "political decision," not one based on cost-cutting. The truth is, cost-cutting decisions are always also political decisions, based on relative political power. Georgia is betting that African Americans don't have the clout or inclination to save Savannah State and Albany State from institutional oblivion.
There is no question that Black colleges provide a modern, as well as historical, service of great value. White four-year state institutions seldom recruit Black students in numbers that even come close to the proportion of African Americans seeking higher education - and have even more difficulty retaining Blacks. The logical conclusion from the vast body of evidence is that white schools are often hostile environments for African Americans. In other words, it is the white schools that have failed Black students. White supremacist ideology cannot accept this obvious truth. No, the "problem" must always be rooted in Black institutions, or in Black culture - anything but white incompetence and hostility. Questions of equity in education require debate in which both parties are recognized as equals - which is precisely what racists cannot abide. Their solution is always to eliminate the Black voice - in this case, Black educational institutions - so that whites can win the argument by default. That is one lesson history has taught us.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
To become part of the Coalition to Save Albany and Savannah State Colleges, contact Ruby Nell Sales at 706 323 0246, or email spirithousedc@aol.com.Chicago Workers Seize Factory
Posted On Sunday, December 07, 2008 at at 3:21 PM by Dan
300 factory workers in Chicago have seized their factory after an announcement it would close. The workers are members of the United Electrical (UE) workers union, a militant independent union. You can check out the full story at the Chi Town Daily News. You can also follow the story along at the UE website.
Again, The Daily Show Says It Best
Posted On Thursday, December 04, 2008 at at 9:07 AM by Dan
The December 1, 2008 show of The Daily Show expresses quite nicely how I'm feeling about the Mumbai attacks. Funny, angry, sad.
Good Historical Analysis of Election
Posted On Thursday, November 20, 2008 at at 9:01 AM by Dan
I'm a regular listener to My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, a history podcast put out by Bruce Carlson. Carlson is not a historian, he's a serious observer with good insight. He has a recent podcast on the election called Historic. The first half talks about what happened after the Civil War. If this country had stayed on the path to democracy instead of betraying Reconstruction, who knows where we would be today. Below is the description of Carlson's podcast. I recommend it highly.
Historic
This election is clearly historic. In this podcast we talk of course about the most obvious way: the first African American President. And how that achievement might have happened a long time ago but not for a turning point in history. But we also talk about the myriad ways this election is historic: the major event of a serious female contender for President, the 2nd female VP candidate and first Republican, an election during a war, an election during a recession, an election with no incumbent or veep, a high turnout election, a non 'anti-Washington' election, an election with incumbent party candidates who (once again in history) tried without success to run against the President, an election where money was king but not fatcat money as much as little money, an election where the polls were right, an election where a losing VP candidate (edwards) and a NYC mayor didn't win..but a man unknown to most four years ago, became President - elect, something it appears Americans may like to do. So many ways 2008 is historic, and a great data point for future elections to be judged by. For historical political observers, it's like a nice piece of steak to dive into.I Can't Make This Up
Posted On Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at at 9:19 AM by Dan
Below is an AP story on Athens Congressman Rep. Paul Broun warning the people of the US to fear (wait for it...) an Obama dictatorship. Seriously. Check out the first paragraph where the AP talks about a "Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship." Yeah, fascism goes socialist. That's some deep thinking about the topic there, huh?
But what about Broun? Glad you asked. According to his website, Broun has sponsored such awesome legislation as constitutional amendments calling for castration for rapists, defining manrriage as between a man and woman, and that life begins with fertilization. I'm sure there's some sort of right-wing intellectual acrobatics that can convince people that a party dedicated to small government should have the right to define life, marriage, and cut your balls off. Instead, my favorite is HR 6783 which witholds federal funds from schools that permit or require the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or national anthem is anything other than English. Nothing says you hate fascism and/or marxism more than telling people you have to declare loyalty to a country in the language of the fatherland.
You know what else states a hatred of fascism? Coming out against torture. Does Rep. Broun support torture? I don't know. Steve and Angela Helwig asked him back in April 2008. He did vote against HR 952, the Torture Outsourcing Prevent Act.
Rep. Broun, if you really want to prevent an authoritarian dictatorship in the US then change your votes and stop worrying about Obama.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRxZox4GFoIweckPDP1oRhKBlHOwD94CDDM80
By BEN EVANS – 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship.
"It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism."
Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.
"That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist."
Obama's comments about a national security force came during a speech in Colorado in which he called for expanding the nation's foreign service.
"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," Obama said in July. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."
The Obama transition team declined to comment on Broun's remarks. But spokesman Tommy Vietor said Obama was referring in the speech to a proposal for a civilian reserve corps that could handle postwar reconstruction efforts such as rebuilding infrastructure — an idea endorsed by the Bush administration.
Broun said he believes Obama would move to ban gun ownership if he does build a national security force.
Obama has said he respects the Second Amendment right to bear arms and favors "common sense" gun laws. Gun rights advocates interpret that as meaning he'll at least enact curbs on ownership of assault weapons and concealed weapons. As an Illinois state lawmaker, Obama supported a ban on semiautomatic weapons and tighter restrictions on firearms generally.
"We can't be lulled into complacency," Broun said. "You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I'm not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I'm saying is there is the potential of going down that road."
Dear Ralph Nader: Shut Up!
Posted On Thursday, November 06, 2008 at at 3:56 PM by Dan
Dear Mr. Nader:
For the last 8 years you’ve pretty much shown you don’t care at all about social movements or justice. When you ran in 2000 I thought there might have been some possibility of you helping galvanize something at the grassroots. Your behavior then and after showed I was wrong.
I don’t mean you being a “spoiler” because that’s a straw man. You didn’t spoil the 200 election. Republicans stole and Gore gave it away. What I do mean is that you had a chance to build something and you passed. Have you yet shared your lists with the Green Party? Did you provide any help or substance in following up with the millions who did vote?
By itself these questions aren’t enough to lead to a letter like this. It is enough for me to not consider voting for you, or the Greens, again. It’s also enough for me to avoid watching you on TV, when I do get the chance to watch. By purposefully avoiding your image on the tube, and also by not turning it on much, I missed the interview you had on Fox “news” on election day. Remember that? You were asked about a comment you made to Fox “News” Radio. In that comment you said
“To put it very simply, he is our first African American president; or he will be. And we wish him well. But his choice, basically, is whether he’s going to be Uncle Sam for the people of this country, or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations.”
You had every chance to backtrack on that quote. You were specifically asked by Shepard Smith- who came across to me like an arrogant, self-righteous ass- asked, “If that’s what you want your legacy to be?” You wiggled around a bit, but you never admitted that phrase was offensive. Or that it could even be possibly considered. Smith actually gave you an out. Remember this:
SHEPARD SMITH: I just wondered if, in hindsight, you wished you used a phrase other than ‘Uncle Tom’?
RALPH NADER: Not at all
Frankly, when you said that you came across as an arrogant, self-righteous ass. Also, you’re a white supremist dickhead. I think you know exactly what you said, you meant exactly what you said, and you said exactly what you wanted to say. Now I’m going to take a turn. Can you just be quiet?
It does feel pretty good.
Seriously, though, shut up.
News about the Puerto Rican Teachers' Union
Posted On Saturday, November 01, 2008 at at 4:47 PM by Dan
This article is from Monthly Review, an excellent site you should check out ASAP. Early's piece is well written, comprehensive, and pulls no punches. Great work.
Puerto Rico's Teachers Show the Way: SEIU Learns the Meaning of "No"
by Steve Early
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/early241008.html
When last seen on the picket-line, Puerto Rican teachers were fighting their way through police barricades to appeal to fellow workers from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), at its lavishly funded convention in San Juan in June. (See "San Juan Showdown," CounterPunch, June 3, 2008.)
The message of the Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR) was simple: please stop SEIU President Andy Stern from colluding with the indicted governor of the island to replace FMPR with a "company union."
At SEIU's convention, only a handful of delegates dared to challenge Stern on this issue. When eight rank-and-file members from California tried to distribute a leaflet asking why the "top leadership has sided against the teachers of Puerto Rico in a gross case of 'colonial' unionism,'" SEIU staffers threatened several of them with reprisals. "They told us that this is a betrayal and that we could be suspended from the union if we continued handing out the fliers," delegate Brian Cruz, from Local 1021 in San Francisco, explained to the San Juan Star.
Most of the 3,000 delegates and guests simply cheered when Stern and SEIU vice-president Dennis Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico, introduced their good friend, Anibal Acevedo Vila, the Popular Democratic Party governor. Acevedo Vila is still awaiting trial on federal corruption charges and it was his administration that precipitated a ten-day, island-wide public school strike led by the FMPR last winter. As the Star reported June 3, SEIU used its convention and the governor's appearance to promote a rival organization, "which is hoping to become the new union representative for an estimated 42,000 public school teachers."
In the view of SEIU and Acevedo Vila, teachers needed a new SEIU-affiliated union because FMPR no longer had legal recognition after its walk-out over wages, classroom size, and the threat of privatization. This month, however, the teachers themselves disagreed that it was time for a change. By a margin of 18,123 to 14, 675, they voted on Thursday (10/23) against joining the SEIU-backed SPM (Sindicato Puertorriqueño de Maestros), which is closely aligned with another SEIU affiliate, the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, an organization of school principals and administrators.
The "Vote No" campaign was orchestrated by the FMPR which, as further punishment for its "illegal" strike, was denied a spot on the ballot. (FMPR was even barred from having observers at teacher polling places.) Prior to the start of the election, FMPR presented evidence to the labor relations commission showing that it still had voluntary financial support from 12,000 members (who have continued to pay union dues even though automatic deductions from all teachers' paychecks were discontinued when FMPR was "decertified"). Although SEIU favors "employee free choice" on the mainland and assured critics here there would be a multiple-choice ballot, Stern and his local allies limited Puerto Rican teachers to just one union option, which they then rejected.
The defeated SPM has almost no dues payers so SEIU had to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into this losing effort, much of it spent on advertising. As one FMPR supporter reported, SEIU had "paid staff at each school giving out free t-shirts and coolers and the media and the government were clearly in its favor but still they couldn't impose their union on us." FMPR activist Edgardo Alvelo, who teaches at a vocational school in Rio Piedras, estimates that his union spent only "$50,000 on the whole campaign." According to Alvelo, "that money was very hard to obtain, but it was enough to win. It was our people in the schools that did the job. Today, we are celebrating and tomorrow our struggle will continue in all our schools."
The representation vote turnout was extremely high. Of the 36,000 teachers eligible to participate due to their permanent status, 33,818 actually voted, with a thousand of those ballots being challenged or voided. FMPR now faces the task of continuing to function as what's called a "bona fide organization," under P.R. labor law. While still deprived of the full collective bargaining rights it had before the strike, FMPR retains a strong shop steward structure, the ability to represent members, and mobilize around educational policy issues and day-to-day job concerns.
FMPR supporters in New York, California, and elsewhere aided the successful "Vote No" campaign by raising money to help keep this militant independent union afloat. (For more information, see <mysite.verizon.net/vze2kxcd/fmprsupportcommitteenewyork/> or the FMPR's own website <fmprlucha.org>.) On October 14, some protested outside the Manhattan headquarters of United Healthcare Workers-East (the former SEIU/District 1199 long headed by Rivera), where they denounced Stern's raid on FMPR as an insult to New York hospital workers "proud history of fighting for justice and dignity."
During an August visit to the mountain community of Utuado, one FMPR Support Committee member, Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, brought money that was collected for FMPR members disciplined for their union activity. A registered nurse in NYC, Sheridan-Gonzalez reports that:
The union, in collaboration with students and parents, had developed a progressive, inclusive curriculum that was extraordinarily successful. This collaborative structure was unilaterally dismantled by the government/school authority in 2007 and 17 teachers were suspended when they fought back. They stood firm even without an income and the class of 2008 in Utuado even dedicated their graduation speeches to these teachers. Their energy and commitment was inspiring and reminiscent of the spirit of U.S. unions in the 1930s and Puerto Rican labor in years past.
That same feisty spirit was on display in this month's island-wide union vote, which gave SEIU an expensive lesson in the meaning of "No."
Steve Early is a Boston-based labor journalist and the author of a forthcoming book for Monthly Review Press called Embedded With Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home. He can be reached at <Lsupport@aol.com>.
Protest Execution of Troy Davis
Posted On Thursday, October 23, 2008 at at 10:54 AM by Dan
Troy Davis is scheduled for execution by the state of Georgia on Oct. 27. Amnesty International, the NAACP, and others are planning a rally for today, October 23. You can sign the petition and get more information at www.aiusa.org/troydavis. That page also has information on contacting the state pardon and parole board and the governor. Please take a moment and go.
Below is an AP story on the European Union protesting the execution.
EU legislature protests US death sentence
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jL2z4O3e7QjA1_VrRlYg0ynDmGSAD93VH4NG0
STRASBOURG, France (AP) — The European parliament is strongly protesting plans to execute a man in the United States who has been sentenced to death for killing a police officer.
Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed in Georgia on Oct. 27, despite calls from his supporters to reconsider because seven of nine key witnesses against him have recanted their testimony.
EU parliament head Hans-Gert Poettering says all executions are violations of human rights. He says the condemned American symbolizes the fate of all death row inmates, and vows the EU legislature "will fight against the death penalty under any circumstances everywhere in the world."
The 40-year-old Davis was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of 27-year-old Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. His case has also attracted support from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and South Africa Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Great news today. Chicago cop Jon Burge has been federally charged for acts of torture. Below is the full story from Reuters. You can find out more information on Burge and systemic torture in Chicago police department at Human Rights at Home: Chicago Police Torture Archive. Look to hear something about how this is just an isolated incident and not a symptom of a larger police problem. You might also hear about how torture is not a routine thing in the United States.
Ex-Chicago policeman charged in torture case
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE49K6I020081021?sp=true
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Tuesday charged a policeman accused of torturing suspects with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying in a civil suit brought by one of the tortured men. Former Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge, 60, whose activities were once called to the attention of the United Nations, was arrested at his home near Tampa, Florida. He could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted of the three criminal counts.
Burge was acquitted of brutality in a Chicago trial 20 years ago, but was subsequently fired by the police department in 1993. He still receives a $30,000 annual police pension.
Special prosecutors appointed in 2002 documented more than 100 cases of brutality involving Burge and other police officers who worked on Chicago's South Side. While prosecutors claimed several officers elicited confessions from mostly black suspects through torture, they said the statute of limitations had run out and no one was charged.
The suspects were beaten by mostly white detectives with telephone books, suffocated with plastic typewriter covers, burned with cigarettes, threatened with mock executions, and suffered electric shocks to their genitals.
"There is no place for torture and abuse in a police station. There is no place for perjury and false statements in federal lawsuits," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said. "No person is above the law, and nobody -- even a suspected murderer -- is beneath its protection. The alleged criminal conduct by defendant Burge goes to the core principles of our criminal justice system."
In a federal indictment, Burge was accused of lying about his knowledge of the torture in a 2003 deposition for a civil suit brought by Madison Hobley.
The torture allegations led former Illinois Gov. George Ryan to pardon four men, including Hobley, who confessed to murder after being tortured. Ryan also cleared the state's death row because of a pattern of faulty prosecutions.
While he was a Illinois state legislator, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama helped pass a state law requiring videotaping of police interrogations.
Victims' attorneys presented information about the brutality case to a United Nations commission on human rights in 2005, which called on the U.S. government to investigate.
(Reporting by Andrew Stern; editing by Michael Conlon)
More on ACORN
Posted On Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at at 8:58 AM by Dan
This is a good article on the status of Republican attacks on ACORN. The piece is copied from the Mother Jones blog. There's also an Associated Press article about the ACORN's press conference. I'm still not a fan of the organization, but I can't take issue with registering hundreds of thousands of people. Personally, I don't see a pattern of voter fraud by ACORN. The idea doesn't even make sense to me. I have deep criticisms of the organization, but they are based on actually talking with people. Having an organization-wide system of making up voter information runs counter to what they do. The problems, in my opinion, most likely stem from having an underpaid and overworked staff pushed to meet ever-increasing goals. They don't have a pattern of voter fraud, they have a pattern of staff abuse.
The ACORN Controversy: A Tough Nut to Crack
For years, conservatives have grumbled about voter registration efforts aimed at low-income citizens, particularly those mounted by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), claiming these campaigns are rampant with fraud and corruption that benefits Democrats. On Tuesday, this low-grade battle became a headline-making clash, as the McCain-Palin campaign blasted ACORN and the Obama-Biden campaign and ACORN responded in kind.
At a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, the McCain campaign put the chairmen of its "Honest and Open Election Committee," former Republican Senators John Danforth and Warren Rudman, front and center before the national media. The pair asserted that the election is in danger of being compromised, accusing ACORN of submitting thousands of phony voter registrations nationwide. They noted that they had sent a letter to the Obama campaign, Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean, and top state election officials proposing the creation of joint election observation teams. "Each campaign would list every precinct where either fears there is a potential for voter intimidation, fraud, or mistrust of the tabulation process on Election Day," the letter reads. "Each campaign would be responsible for recruiting a volunteer for each named precinct. The Republican and Democratic volunteers would work jointly as an observation team." (It is already routine for campaigns and parties to send election observers, often trained lawyers, to polling locations on Election Day. Representatives of local media outlets are commonly on hand as well.)
Danforth and Rudman's letter ends, "Let's talk." The Obama campaign isn't interested. It points out that the campaigns already dealt with this issue in an exchange of letters in September that generated little media attention. At that time, the McCain folks notified the Obama campaign of its joint observation teams idea and a week later the Obama campaign responded harshly: "This seems a starkly political maneuver to deflect attention from the reality of the suppression strategies pursued by national, state and Republican party committees." Nothing further occurred.
At the press conference, Danforth and Rudman suggested that ACORN was engaging in fraudulent voter registration on a massive scale — they mentioned 5,700 rejected ACORN registrations in Philadelphia, 1,400 more in New Mexico, reports of individuals registering to vote dozens of times, and so on. Senator Rudman said that he does not know what ACORN, which works with low-income communities and is a known sympathizer with liberal causes, hopes to accomplish, but that their actions call the integrity of the election into question. They repeated the charges on the cable news networks after the press conference.
The Senators didn't quite accuse of Barack Obama of orchestrating massive voter fraud, but they came close. "Senator Obama has a special responsibility to reign in ACORN," said Danforth. The campaign pointed to Obama's connections to the group: Obama worked with ACORN briefly while a community organizer, did minor legal work for it after law school, and distributed funds to it while a board member of the Chicago-based Woods Fund. Further, the Obama campaign paid a subsidiary of ACORN over $800,000 to help with get-out-the-vote efforts (not voter registration) in the Democratic primary. ACORN takes pride in primarily registering low-income people, people of color, and young people. All three groups are major parts of Obama's coalition. Together, these facts are enough for many on the right to claim a nationwide conspiracy to steal the election. Practically every conservative group with a mailing list, from the Republican National Committee to the pro-life Family Research Council, has sent an email alerting its supporters to the grave threat ACORN supposedly represents.
Shortly after the McCain press conference ended, ACORN had an opportunity to defend itself. Renting a room just down the hall from the McCain campaign press conference, the group admitted to the press that in the process of registering 1.3 million new voters with the help of 13,000 mostly part-time canvassers, problems have occurred. Most commonly, its representatives said, workers seeking to make a quick buck have inflated their registration totals with duplicate or fictional registrations — thus the report that the Dallas Cowboys roster has allegedly been registered to vote in Nevada. But there is no institutionalized attempt to steal the election, they maintained. In fact, problematic registration forms are flagged by ACORN before they are sent to election officials, who frequently require all forms, legitimate or not, to be handed over to the state in which they were filed. In many of the cases where hundreds or thousands of problematic registration forms were found, ACORN was the first to identify the problem. And, the organization pointed out, those responsible for submitting phony registrations have been fired and in some cases, reported to authorities for possible criminal action.
ACORN officials also pointed out that fraudulent voter registrations do not equal fraudulent votes. Someone registered to vote 72 times can only cast one vote at the polls. (In response, the McCain campaign pointed to vulnerabilities in the absentee voting system, but offered few details.) On this front ACORN was echoed by Demos, a think tank, and Common Cause, a good government advocacy group. The heads of both groups cited studies indicating that very few people try to use a fake name to vote. Voter fraud at the polls, they said, is a minor problem compared to voter intimidation, intentional voter misinformation campaigns, and barriers to voting commonly set up in conservative states, such as Voter ID laws. The Obama campaign, in a conference call held hours after the dueling press conferences, reiterated these points. Campaign manager David Plouffe called the McCain campaign's focus on ACORN a "strategic and cynical ploy… to sow confusion in a deliberate attempt to decrease turnout."
ACORN's leadership has sent a letter to Senators Danforth and Rudman requesting a sit-down meeting to address the controversy. It mirrored the letter Danforth and Rudman sent to the Obama campaign. The McCain campaign has a political interest in declining the invitation. After all, why would it put to bed a controversy that has the ability to energize its base in the final weeks of the election?
Voter Suppression Strategy Targets ACORN
Posted On Wednesday, October 08, 2008 at at 8:29 AM by Dan
I've done my bit of hating on ACORN on this blog, and I'm unapologetic about it. However, the story below from CBS News is not about ACORN, it's about how the U.S. has a history of pushing poor people out of the political process. You can check out more information on that by getting a copy of Project South's It Ain't Just About A Vote: Defining Democracy for Movement Building (go to the store and find it under toolkits). What struck me, however, after reading the CBS story was the similarities to another event, also related to Project South, from the 1980s. I found the following two articles searching the New York Times archive:
Voter Fraud Convictions Overturned
Lawsuit Against the Justice Department
Non-Profit Raided In Voter Fraud Probe
Questions Raised About ACORN’s Voter Registration Drive
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/07/cbsnews_investigates/main4508170.shtml?source=mostpop_story
October 7, 2008
(CBS) CBS News Investigative Producers Pia Malbran and Wendy Krantz wrote this story for CBSNews.com.The Las Vegas headquarters of the nation’s largest grassroots community organization for low-income people was raided today by Nevada state authorities as part of a voter-fraud probe.
The raid was initiated by Nevada’s Secretary of State, Ross Miller, after a series of accusations that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also known as ACORN, was submitting voter registration lists to the state that contained false or duplicate names of voters.
“When we got [to the headquarters], no one was there so, there were no arrests,” Secretary of State spokesman Bob Walsh told CBS News. But, he added “agents did seize lots of records.”
CBS News has learned that the state’s investigation is focusing on the conduct of ACORN’s work force. Critics allege that ACORN hires workers “off the street” to sign up new voters, paying them by the number of voters registered - sometimes resulting in false and duplicate names. But an ACORN spokesman dismisses this allegation and told CBS News that workers are paid “by the hour” and “not by the number of people they sign up.”
In an official statement, ACORN Interim Chief Organizer, Bertha Lewis, called today’s raid “a stunt” and said it “serves no useful purpose other than discredit our work registering Nevadans and distracting us from the important work ahead of getting every eligible voter to the polls.” Lewis says any time ACORN “identified a potentially fraudulent application” they notified election officials. But, Lewis claims Nevada election officials “routinely ignored” ACORN’s concerns and “failed to act.”
The raid comes two months after state and federal officials formed a task force to go after election-fraud allegations. Earlier this year, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey issued a memo to all Justice Department employees telling them in no uncertain terms that “politics must play no role in our efforts.”
ACORN has been around since the 1970’s and has offices nationwide to assist low-income people with a number of issues. Part of the organization’s mission is to help low-income Americans, minorities, and youth, who are “historically disenfranchised” from voting register for elections. ACORN’s website says they “helped more than 1.68 million citizens register to vote” for the 2004 and 2006 elections. And just yesterday, ACORN announced it had conducted its “largest and most comprehensive” voter drive for the upcoming presidential election helping “over 1.3 million Americans register to vote.”
By Pia Malbran
What Could Happen If Georgia Votes are Counted?
Posted On Tuesday, October 07, 2008 at at 3:28 PM by Dan
Below is an article from Five Thirty Eight about Black voter registration in Georgia. If voter turnout among workers, African Americans, and others is high there's a chance the state could go for Obama. Of course, that would be if all the votes are counted. Georgia has electronic voting and no paper trail. I remember Purdue's 23 point swing and have a hard time trusting the voting process. Still, there's always a chance. As an aside, most polls show Martin and Chambliss in a statistical tie for the Senate. To see Senator Shameless go down would be a pleasure.
In Georgia, Small Improvements in Black Voter Participation May Make Big Difference
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/in-georgia-small-improvements-in-black.html
Perhaps the only happy consequence of the segregation era is that a number of Southern states like Georgia are required by the Voting Rights Act to keep statistics on registration and turnout by the race of the voter. Those statistics suggest that black voter registration is up materially from 2004.
Here are the numbers. In November 2004, black voters represented 27.4 percent of Georgia's active registered voter pool. As of October 1st, that figure has increased to 29.0 percent.
Now, that might not seem like all that big a difference. But suppose that the black vote is split 95/5 between Obama and McCain, and the nonblack vote is split 30/70. (Obama probably will not win 30 percent of the white vote. But since Georgia also contains material numbers of Hispanic and Asian voters, winning 30 percent of the nonblack vote is probably reasonable).
In 2004, also according to statistics from the Georgia Secretary of State, black voters made up 25.4 percent of election day turnout (this means that they participated at slightly lower rates than white voters). Applying those 95/5 and 30/70 voter splits to the 25.4 percent figure would work out to a 7.0-point win for John McCain, about where polls seem to have Georgia now.
Now suppose that black and nonblack voters each turn out at the same rates as they did in 2004, but that we account for the increase in black registration. According to our math, John McCain's 7.0-point lead is now cut to 4.9 points.
But that is probably too conservative an assumption. Newly-registered voters -- and nearly half of Georgia's newly-registered voters are black -- turn out at higher rates than previously registered voters. In addition, one would assume that the opportunity to vote for the first African-American nominee might be just a little bit of a motivating factor for black voters. Suppose that African-Americans represent 29.0 percent of Georgia's turnout, matching their share of active registrations. Using the splits we described above, McCain's lead is now cut to 2.3 points.
Even this, however, may be too conservative. For one thing, the registration window in Georgia is not yet over ... it concludes today. The statistics I cited above only reflected registrations through September 30. There is typically a surge of registrations in the final few days before the deadline. In 2004, Georgia's active voter rolls increased by about 150,000 persons in the first four days of October, before the registration deadline closed. That was more than they'd increased in the entire month of September.
So suppose that by tonight, black voters have increased to 30 percent of Georgia's registered voter pool. Plugging that 30 percent number in, McCain's advantage is a mere 1 point.
Think these numbers sound unreasonable? Early voting is underway in Georgia, and according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, black voters do not represent 30 percent of Georgia's early voter turnout. Instead, they represent almost 40 percent. Although early voting figures can be idiosyncratic , Barack Obama certainly seems to be having little trouble getting his vote out. Indeed, Barack Obama is winning Georgia right now.
A related question is whether the pollsters are underrepresenting the black vote in their turnout estimates in states like Georgia. I think they might be. In their past two surveys of Georgia, SurveyUSA pegged black voter turnout at 25-26 percent. This is a pretty safe assumption, since it exactly matches the Secretary of State's turnout estimate from 2004. But this isn't 2004. I would be surprised if black turnout wasn't at least 27-28 percent, and somewhere in the 29-31 percent range is entirely possible. If those numbers are achieved, Georgia is pretty close to being a toss-up. And if it is a toss-up for Barack Obama, it is probably also a toss-up for Jim Martin, who is attempting to unseat Saxby Chambliss from the Senate.
Georgia is not quite a tipping-point state. In order to win it, Barack Obama will have to have made at least some inroads with Southern whites, and if he's done so, that will mean that he's won states like Virginia and North Carolina and won't need Georgia's electoral votes. But I'd guess that it represents a more plausible pickup opportunity for Obama than states like West Virginia and Montana, which are nominally closer in the polling. And if these black voter registration numbers are replicated throughout the South, Elizabeth Dole, Saxby Chambliss and Roger Wicker could all face tough re-election battles, substantially increasing the Democrats' chances of winning 60 Senate seats.
Monday, Oct 6
Georgia Senate Polls
Electoral Vote
Pollster.com
Support the Employee Free Choice Act by Watching this Funny Video
Posted On Sunday, September 21, 2008 at at 3:59 PM by Dan
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is a bill that will go some ways to make getting a union a more fair process. Right now the boss can intimidate at will while dragging out the election process for months. Even after the election the boss can delay the process for years sometimes. EFCA goes back to the spirit of the Wagner Act. Jobs with Justice has this video. You can check out the campaign at www.freechoiceact.org.
I Will Always Miss Seyoum
Posted On Thursday, September 04, 2008 at at 12:42 PM by Dan
I have a clan theory of humanity. According to this theory, there are a finite number of basic personality types and a finite number of basic body types. When you find someone who has your basic body type and your basic personality type, you have found a member of your clan. A little over a week ago the patriarch of my clan died. Seyoum Lewis was a giant of a man in many ways. He was an organizer for decades and a man of great principle. He laughed, hugged, and called people out all with great love. Below is a video by Sistah Nedra. The first five minutes are an interview with Angela, Seyoum's colleague at the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond. At the 5:15 mark is an interview with Seyoum. Watch this and know that I will always miss Seyoum.
Good bye compa~nero.
Call from Critical Resistance
Posted On Sunday, August 31, 2008 at at 2:49 PM by Dan
If you haven't heard already Hurricane Gustav is headed for New Orleans
and is predicted to be a category 3 hurricane, the same as Hurricane Katrina. There will possibly be a mandate for all people (outside of prisons and jails) of New Orleans to evacuate starting tomorrow August 29th, the three year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It is predicted that hurricane Gustav will pose great flooding potential regardless of its category rating, the levee that broke by elected official's decisions during Hurricane Katrina has not been fixed to it's potential, or replaced.
The over crowding Orleans Parish Prison, located in New Orleans, holds 2, 500 prisoners (this count is not certain, due to lack of information given to the public.) Although not official, we have information that the Prisoners of Orleans Parish Prison will be evacuating to Angola Prison and Hunt Prison in the next coming days and are also prisons that can be affected by Hurricane Gustav due to overcrowding.
During Hurricane Katrina there were prisoners able to evacuate and others who remained locked in their cells with a minimal chance of survival. Prisoners were left in flooded cells, with no food, and had minimal ventilation, to say the least. Family members, of prisoners who were held at Orleans Parish Prison, are still in the fight to locate their loved ones who had been evacuated to other prisons during Katrina. Due to the flooding, lack of organization and care from New Orleans Department of Corrections and elected officials, prisoner's records were also missing. As a result, prisoner's constitutional rights have been violated.
This abuse can not happen again!
What will happen to the prisoners of Orleans Parish Prison located in New Orleans this time?
Critical Resistance (CR) is demanding that the elected officials of New Orleans will not create the same devastating wrongs as they did to the prisoners of Orleans Parish Prison during hurricane Katrina.
1. we demand a full and safe evacuation of all prisoners
2. we demand to know what the evacuation plan for prisoners is
3. we demand to see a public document about that plan immediately
4. we demand information about how we can find people after an evacuation
We are urging every member, ally and comrade of New Orleans across the country, to make at least one call to:
Sheriff Malrin Gusman: 504.827.8505
please put in your email subject: How will you protect prisoners this time?
Please call as many times as you can to put pressure on them and let them know our demands and it is their job to be accountable to us!!!!!!!!
For further information from us please contact Critical Resistance New Orleans:
Mayaba: 917.385.5472 or mayaba@criticalresistance.org
