Dhoruba Bin Wahad: What Do We Do Now that Barack Obama is Re-Elected?

Hard Knock Radio logoIt’s always a pleasure to chop it up with author, former Black Panther and political prisoner Dhoruba bin Wahad. His political insights and analysis are always astute as he challenges us to not settle for anything less than justice for those who are oppressed.  Because of Dhoruba’s sharpness, we had to include him in our post-election series of  ‘Where Do We Do Now That Barack Obama Is Re-Elected?‘  He did not disappoint..

Below is our Hard knock Radio interview w/ Dhoruba Bin Wahad..

As you listen to the interview, here’s some background. The opening of our interview starts off with an excerpt from a landmark speech Dhoruba gave in the summer of 2008 at the National Hip Hop Political Convention in Las Vegas. We dubbed ‘A Message to the Hip Hop Grassroots‘.  Here Dhoruba talked at length about a 30 year attempt by far right forces in this country to consolidate power and dismantle gains made under the New Deal and later the Civil Rights Movementt.

Dhoruba Bin WahadDhoruba talked about the rise of a police state where the stripping of constitutional rights would seem normal to a beleaguered population. He also talked about what sort of things we could expect  slave ascends to the slave masters house including increased oppression not just from outside forces angry at a Blackening and Browning America, but also from President Obama himself and interests he represents.  Dhoruba notes that Obama is part of a larger scenario (the American Empire) where Black faces are used to get the masses to buy back into an imperialistic system versus oppose it..

Below is part of the 2008 speech  Message to the Hip Hop Grassroots.. We had the music and historic sound clips to enhance what Dhoruba was speaking about…

The Obama Conquest Newsweek Cover Stirs up an Array of Emotions.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this Newsweek cover ups the ante.  There’s a lot going on here with this provocative flick starting with the comparison of President Obama to Napoleon/ George Washington.

At a time when we have employers firing folks because Obama was re-elected, racial unrest on a college campuses like Ole Miss, folks from 15 states trying to kick off a secession movement and Fox News anchors having major meltdowns, this cover with its headlines will only serve to enrage folks more even if the story was intended to be complimentary.

At the same time one must keep in mind that the President of the US in many respects is the President of the world..so while many may see Obama as a conqueror of the racist adversaries who opposed him here at home, he’s still the man behind drone strikes, mass deportations Africom, regime change, and NDAA and in that sense he’s deemed a conqueror to be feared. The US is perceived as an empire and Obama is the head of it. the words Obama Conquest underscore that sentiment.

Toussaint L’ouverture

The Newsweek cover has in its headline GOP: You’re Old You’re White You’re History. Considering we had so much vitriol coming from the GOP with cries to ‘take the country back‘, which many took as code to stop Blacks and other people of color from advancing, this cover is sure to be a dagger is some people’s hearts. Obama winning or conquering has been his opposition’s worst fear. And while its true many have compared the picture to Napoleon or George Washington.. I’m gonna say Obama in this photo reminds me of Toussaint L’ouverture, the man who defeated Napoleon, maybe that’s why some folks are scared.

Anyway that’s my two cents, whats your thoughts on this cover?

Obama’s Re-Elected What Next? Michael Skolnik of Global Grind & Hip Hop Activist Rosa Clemente Weigh In

With the re-election of President Barack Obama, we been having a series of discussions on Hard Knock Radio with key activists and organizers all over the country about the next steps we should be taking. This is an important conversation considering how concerned and dissatisfied many were feeling in the weeks and months leading up to the 2012 election.

Many felt President Obama had come up short on a number of issues and was dreadfully wrong on others. Many who felt things weren’t headed in the right direction were cautioned that we should give the President time to get his bearings. We were told he inherited a tremendous mess and that change would not come overnight.

We were also told that President Obama was under tremendous pressure from his political opponents who were determined to limit him to one term. The type of obstruction Obama was up against in Congress was unprecedented. he amount of racism directed at him was unprecedented. Hence activist and organizers were encouraged to fall back and rally around the president with the goal of shielding him and getting him a second term.

That has finally happened the other night. In the aftermath of his re-election there should now be strong pushes for him to address issues of poverty, the plight of labor, ending the war and other imperialistic foreign policies, deading mass deportations and eradicating the ramped up domestic spying and erosion of constitutional rights via NDAA.

As Boots Riley of the Coup famously pointed out not too long ago, our vibrant movement for social justice where many of these key issues were being addressed and fought for long before Obama was even a presidential candidate somehow became morphed into a movement to get him into office. That was good for Obama but not necessarily good for the movement. The momentum garnered over the past 8 years should not have dwindled  It left us short-changed.

This time around, many are re-thinking, re-tooling and laying out plans of action for the next 4 years and beyond. Many activists are determined not to make the same mistake of jettisoning their respective movements for the sake of an elections. Others are determined to keep themselves and the people around politically engaged beyond 2 and 4 year contest. Still others are finding that its time to build from the ground up, by establishing strong local basis that can withstand any sort of national political storms.

Michael Skolnik

One of the people we interviewed a day or so after the election is Michael Skolnik who is editor and chief of Global Grind, which is an online publication owned by Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons. Skolnik was also a surrogate for the Obama campaign.

During our interview we covered a range of topics including how to hold this President accountable to why we didn’t see more young people who voted in overwhelming numbers having visible seats at the table.

We discussed some of the problems that many had with Obama on key issues and what would be the best ways to push him and not get be obstructed by supporters who were over defensive.

We also talked about long term strategies and what we should be striving for during Obama’s second term. Skolnik offered some great insight and suggestions Peep the Hard Knock Radio interview below. Let us know what you think…

We also spoke with long time Hip Hop activist and former Green Party vice presidential candidate Rosa Clemente. Rosa has long been pushing that the Hip Hop  generation move away from constraints of the democratic party and adopt a more radical and uncompromised politic. She feels Hip Hop has become too much of a mouthpiece for the democrats and has lost a lot of its bite and overall integrity, especially when it remains silent and actually cheerleads a president who embraces policies that Hip Hop folks have long stood against.

She talked about the importance of us focusing on younger voices, creating space for many who have been locked out and highlighting the work of on the ground organizations like the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement who never stopped organizing and pushing even with Obama in the White House.

Clemente noted that there’s been a pressure to vote over organizing and its led to folks believing that’s the only thing needed to be politically changed. This has been too much of an oversimplification in addressing systemic and complex problems and that perspective needs to be changed. With the re-election of Barack Obama, Clemente sees opportunity for endless possibilities for great change. She notes, the focus can now return to us  resolving our issues vs getting someone re-elected.

Rosa concluded our Hard Knock Radio interview by sharing her personal vision for change during which includes stepping up and strengthening the Green Party. .. Click the link below.

Was President Obama’s Re-Election About Our Hopes or Our Fears?

There’s a lot to reflect and say about last night’s election. The re-election of President Barack Obama brought enthusiastic cheers from all corners of the country. But one should be cautious and not misread those cheers. They weren’t the cheers of 2008 where there was literally dancing in the streets as history was made and folks were left hopeful.

Last night what we heard were cheers of relief. It was relief that came from millions of people having to endure he humiliation of chaos at the polls , where many wound up standing for up 6 or 7 hours or were aggressively questioned by Tea Party backed True the Vote poll watchers who suspected their eligibility, and a range other widespread voter suppression efforts.

Last night the cheers were being relieved of having to deal with Neandrathrolic behavior from sitting lawmakers who felt that there was ‘legitimate rape‘ and that women should not only not be allowed to have abortions, but shouldn’t have access to birth control

Last night we heard cheers of relief, because folks were fearful of having what little safety nets were left to be immediate dismantled or repealed on the day those seeking power took office…

Like it or not, Obama won last night’s election because of widespread politics of fear..not hope. Many who voted for him, did so with lots of dissatisfaction and disappointment on an array of policies the President championed or did not champion, but what they perceived was coming down the pipe was so frightening folks quickly got in line and pulled the lever for the President..

It was clear with Mitt Romney that there was a 47% of the population that needed to be ousted. He and many of his supporters felt like many of us were ‘leeches’ and no longer needed to be seen as fellow human beings… The mean-spirited racially charged policies being proposed and brought before the floor in Congress, sent a strong message to many, that there was a helluva a lot of white folks who were not playing around and were going all out to roll back anything and everything that had progressed in the past 50 years. That frightened people and Obama was a beneficiary.

Last night Mitt Romney had a voting base that consisted of 89% white people. That xenophobic angry base and how they see the world is best personified with the remarks of Bill O’Reilly and his Fox News cohorts. Its personified with the nasty tweets sent out by singer Ted Nugent where he refered to Obama supporters as whores and welfare cheats. Its personified by the angry tweets from Donald Trump who said the election was  sham and a travesty and America must fight to stop what had just happened.. (an Obama win)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZZt3jPDvNQ

Only time will tell if what we experienced was some grand exercise of Good Cop Bad Cop with the end game of getting everyone to reinvest into a system that has constantly failed people. But for now many are happy that they pushed back on something they felt would be irreversibly catastrophic. By voting and re-electing Barack Obama many who are part of a growing demographic of folks who feel they’re constantly marginalized felt like they were standing up and pushing back on the type of attitude expressed in the O’reilly video..

Unfortunately, it’ll take more than just voting. More push back is needed. It ranges from deading citizens united which allowed unlimited money to come into politics to having comprehensive election reform that restricts deceptive practices and voter suppression tactics. Close to 5 Billion dollars was spent for this past election..

It’s gonna require push back to stop the relentless attempts by corporate giants to own and privatize everything from our drinking water to FEMA which is what Mitt Romney proposed. It’s gonna require us to push back and demand economic and social justice..

All the forces that worried folks are still here, most likely plotting and scheming on how to better advance their cause. Bain Capitol and uncaring companies like it are still around and doing business as usual. In fact that might be vengeful and economically spurn their workers because of the win.

The forces behind banning ethnic studies books in Arizona have not left. Those who wish to public education and privatize public universities are back at work gearing up for the next round of tuition hikes. Police are still gunning down Black people every 36 hours..The people who obstructed Obama and demonstrated racial hostility are still in Congress and the Senate.

The policies that Obama embraced or didn’t embrace are still in front of us..How will we get him to match the words he uttered in his speech last night that left many feeling re-charged?  How will we become partners in reshaping America so that beneficial for all vs being disposable tools who are only tapped when its election time? In short there’s lots more work to do and hopefully all of us are up to the challenge.

written by Davey D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddx8t6zGWxA

Some Food For Thought on Cali’s Crazy & Controversial Propositions

Yes I know I posted this article earlier, but I’m having to do this again because apparently some of these popular social media sites including the one your reading FB wanted me to pay 2k to reach the large number of followers I spent 4 years building..

In the initial title of my post I called it a voter guide, which we believe triggered a pop up window asking for an obscene amount of loot, so we are reposting this with a different title..  In the meantime readers can do a couple of things to insure our blogs are showing up in your news feed..

1-Go to the our page and click the little “gear” they can add my page or others you like to their “interests” which will make posts from us appear in your timeline (all the time).

2-alert people that not all status updates are being delivered unless we pay some outrageous fee, so visit our page often.. Bookmark it can visit we will do the same for other. Thanks for understanding.. Now  here’s the article on Cali Propositions…

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With a few days left before Election Day, which is Tuesday November 6th 2012.. I wanted to weigh in on a few of the California state propositions and measures.. Yes all the attention is between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama and billions are being spent to get one of them in the White House.. While watching that contest where more than 3 billion dollars has been spent, i wanna remind folks that neither Obama or Romney have any say so on ending the death penalty or 3 strikes in Cali..There are propositions on this years ballot where voters can make those two factors disappear or forever remain.. The hell with those who tell you voting doesn’t matter when you can walk in a elementary school classroom in any hood and damn near every hand is raised if you ask ‘do you have a parent. older sibling or close relative in jail?

The hell with those telling you not to vote when you look at the fact we built 34 new jails in Cali over the past 20 years vs one university. Most doing time are for minor or low-level drug related offenses.. Many of those incarcerated are also getting out with no rehabilitation, training or prospect for employment so they wind up re-offending and heading back.. While the prison population booms, we have a powerful set of corporate backed politicians, many of them Democrats sadly, who are gung-ho about privatizing the California University and college system. The head of the CSUC system recently said students are lazy and that anyone who was a super senior, meaning they been there more than 4 years needs to be kicked out to make room for new students.

Chancellor Charles B Reed who recently stepped down, ignored the fact that tuitions in some universities have increased by 300% in the past 5 years..yes you read that right tuition has increased by 300% Schools that were once free for all Californians now have students strapped with loan debts of 15, 20 and even 30k by their 3rd and 4th years. Many students are holding down 2 and 3 jobs which means their stays at the university are longer, but we still have people like Reed and many on the Board of Trustees at CSUC and on the Board of Regents at UC who not only think like him, but are hell-bent on implementing more tuition hikes and policies to destroy these once revered public schools.. There are propositions on the ballot that will immediate stop proposed fee hikes and turn things around.. Obama and Romney have nothing to do with any of this…

There is a measure on the ballot that will make foods companies tell you when they are using GMOs (genetically modified organisms). It’s a bill against big agribusinesses like Monsanto who routinely sue farmers and other countries and small farmers because their patented seeds blow into other people’s farms and sprout up. Monsanto considers it theft. They’ve also been spending 10s of millions to defeat Prop 37. Obama and Romney have nothing to do with that…

This Monday at 4pm on Hard Knock Radio heard on 94.1 FM KPFA we will being doing a round table with community folks about the propositions… In the meantime here’s a few resources to get you acclimated and here’s my personal endorsements..

California-Calls-2012-voter-Guide2.pdf

http://www.theballot.org/guides/CA

Davey D’s 2012 Proposition Picks

Proposition 30-Vote Yes Save Education..This is a proposition against the 1%. It’s a vote against those who wish to raise tuitions and privatize the UC, CSUC and community colleges. The measure will temporarily raise sales taxes on the wealthiest Californians, many who pay lower rates the majority of us.. Keep in mind many of the folks pushing to raise tuitions at these schools got to go to them for free. There’s no excuse for students coming out of UC to be owing more in student oans then students coming of Ivory League schools. Education is a Right not a Privilege.. VOTE YES on PROP 30

Proposition 31 Vote NO… Govt Accountability.. This proposition is designed to streamline the often confusing and stagnant budget process in Sacramento. It highlights a pay as you go ethos, meaning that no program can be supported unless there’s money to pay for it or there is a revenue stream attached to it.. It also allows any governor to unilaterally cut out programs. It also allows local city government to set up its own rules as to who is and isn’t for state funded programs. I don’t know any way to describe this but to say its a slick confusing austerity measure program where the belief is that our budget crises is caused by folks who are recipients of safety net programs vs those who game the system by not paying their full share via tax loop holes etc.. I say VOTE NO on PROP 31

Proposition 32 Vote No... This is a real sinister bill. It masquerades like it’s a campaign finance reform bill when in reality its a pro-corporation anti-union bill. Given the obscene amounts of money spent on national and now local elections, many people are eager to get behind any bill that would reign the spending in and put a dent in the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. The problem is this bill doesn’t do that

Prop 32 is put together by folks who have the backing of large corporations, Big Oil, Superpacs, the Koch brothers and Karl Rove types all who would be exempt the campaign restrictions put into this bill. I kid you not, big businesses would be free to spend as much as they want like they always could on campaigns. Prop 32 is a bill designed to silence the few unions that are left..Keep in mind 30 years ago 20-25% of workers belonged to a union.. Nowadays its less than 7%..

Under Prop 32 workers in Cali who are trying to unionize Wal-Mart would be prohibited from giving money to campaigns that support their cause like raising the minimum wage, but their bosses who run Wal-Mart which spends millions on campaigns, candidates and superpacs, would be allowed to give unlimited amounts of money to anti-union candidates. This reminds me of Prop 209 from 15 years ago which was against affirmative action but advertised itself as a Pro- Civil Rights Proposition. This is a deceptive bill. Don’t be fooled VOTE NO on PROP 32

Proposition 33 Vote No. This is yet another proposition put together by big corporation with a deceptive premise. Its a bill put together by Mercury Car Insurance where they say they wanna add a hefty surcharge to certain drivers supposedly to save you money. That’s some real laughable BS. Here’s the breakdown..

Insurance companies have been pissed off ever since Cali voters put the clamp on them several years back. At every turn they been attempting to find loopholes and new ways to charge folks new fees. This is the latest scam. They wanna be able to raise rates on any driver who hasn’t had car insurance for 90 days in the past 5 years even if they didn’t own a car.. Yep you read that right..Even if you didn’t own a car they wanna charge you.

Over the past 5 years we had a crazy recession which meant in order to pay rent and put food on the table, many California cut back on everything from cable to internet to car repairs and to car insurance. Hella people, in particular students gave up their cars because things got so bad. The insurance companies now wanna go back and look at everyone’s records, see who dropped insurance and then raise their rates, even if they had stellar driving records.. They said they would make exceptions for soldiers and the unemployed. Don’t be fooled. Unemployed is not the same as Under-Employed which is what most Californians are and were over the past 5 years. VOTE NO on Prop 33.

Proposition 34 Vote Yes.. This a proposition designed to repeal the death penalty. On the surface the bill is no brainer for those of us who feel that far too many innocent folks are on death row, its inhumane to kill and unfairly and disproportionately applied to poor people and people of color. The flip side to this is that while it repeals the death penalty and convert folks to life in prison without the possibility of parole, it would also dead much of the appeals process.

The main complaint in some civic circles is that death row has cost tax payers millions and even billions because of the long appeals process each inmate under takes to save his/her life. While Prop 34 would stop folks from going to the death chambers it would also limit the appeals, so in theory you might have an innocent person doing life behind bars with no chance for appeal. This aspect has been cause for concern and divided many on the issue. I know many who have been incarcerated and heard folks who once were on death row speak to both sides of this issue.

I thought long and hard about this and decided to vote for Prop 34. First and foremost I wanna keep people alive especially if they are innocent. We can fight to make sure cases where its clear there are innocent folks locked up and get them free. We can’t bring innocent folks back who are killed by the state. VOTE YES on Prop 34

Proposition 35 Vote No.. Human Trafficking.. One of the worse things going on in this country is human trafficking. Here in Oakland its a major problem that extends well beyond petty criminals and wanna be pimps. There are serious organized rings that make Human Trafficking an international affair and it needs to be stopped with all those involved severely punished.

Prop 35 will increase sentences, but from the folks I spoke to who really study the criminal justice system, the language while well intentioned is also seriously vague which is a red flag.The way its written is that many consensual sex workers and prostitutes will be caught up getting harsh sentences vs the real culprits and pimping types who often remain hidden in the shadows. Its like a war on drugs where street sellers go to jail but king pins don’t.

We don’t wanna see another 3 strikes situation where we still have violence and hundreds of thousands of non-violent offenders locked up.. Many of the human rights and criminal justice advocates from the ACLU to Women’s Prisoners Coalition are not feeling this bill I think this needs to go back to the drawing board with clearer language and perhaps even a collaboration with those who don’t wanna see all sorts of folks unfairly and disproportionately swept up. A vote against this bill should not be the end in terms of folks fighting to end human trafficking. If folks choose to vote yes.. considering how bad this problem is.. I understand. I say VOTE NO on PROP 35

Proposition 36 Vote Yes.. End Mass Incarceration. This is a proposition designed to repeal California’s infamous 3 strikes law. Its return to Prop 66 which was proposed several years ago and was set to win before Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger threw his weight behind opposing it at the 11th hour. The prop lost by less than 5 thousand votes. Sadly there were many at that time who proclaimed voting was a fraud and didn’t mean anything so lots of folks stayed home and sat on their butts while many in their family and the community languished and still languish in Cali jails for non-violent minor offenses under 3 strikes. For example Black folks make up 7% of California’s overall population of 40 million and consist of over 45% of those incarcerated, the overwhelming majority for non violent offenses. This is a chance to get things corrected.

No this is not a bill designed to cuddle violent offenders. This is a bill designed to get folks out who shouldnt be there in the first place. We need to be working toward rehabilitating folks not warehousing them and thus far 3 strikes has done nothing but make money for the prison industrial complex without applying resources, time and attention to root causes of crime.. VOTE YES on PROP 36

Proposition 37 Vote Yes Food Labeling Bill.. We live in a day and time where millions of people are concerned about GMOs (genetically modified organisms and how they are used in foods we routinely consume. The feeling is many are not fully tested and the many do not want to be unwitting guinea pigs. GMOs come out of the pesticide industry and is motivated as a way to not lose crops vs making sure people’s health is improved. Many big agribusiness farms are behind the GMOs as well as big seed patent giant Monsanto.

Over the past few months tens of millions of dollars have been spent by corporate farmers and their lobbyists along with Coca Cola to stop Prop 37 which would require many foods to be labeled if they contain GMOs. The campaign to oppose Prop 37 has suggested that food prices would rise if they are required to include GMO labeling. They have also resorted to calling labeling GMOS a ‘deceptive practice’, using the language of activists and community groups. .

Millions of folks including myself say BS.. Outlets like Monsanto and their millions somehow got the NAACP to oppose Prop 37 which is a damn shame when you consider most civil rights groups and countries all over the world including Russia and China support labeling GMOs found in foods…It shows you the power of money. The rest of us are 100% behind this important initiative.. Right now there are 20 states with Food labeling initiatives.. All eyes are on California and the millions of fear based ads run by agribusiness to defeat the measure we say VOTE YES on Prop 37

Proposition 38 Vote No.. raise Taxes for Everyone.. This proposition basically came about in response to the push to tax the wealthiest Californians who don’t pay their fair share.. In short tax the 1%. This is basically embodied in Prop 30 and directly connected to stopping fee hikes at state colleges etc. Prop 30 is the measure proposed by Gov Jerry Brown..

The 1% folks got together and crafted Prop 38 which would raise taxes for 12 years on most Cali folks thus putting increased burdens on poor and working families. Prop 38 will absolutely do nothing to Stop the 6 billion dollars in deficit trigger cuts to happen later to education if passed. Prop 30 will stop immediate cuts..The concenses is the billionaire behind the measure Molly Hunger did this to confuse voters especially when she uses wording like this money can’t be touched by politicians in Sacramento. All money in Sac is touched.. Don’t be fooled.In the case of Prop 30 vs Prop 38 there is a transparency aspect to it where all can see where and how the money from these extra taxes are being used.. Vote NO on Prop 38

Proposition 39 Vote Yes.. Close Corporate Loopholes.. The best way to describe this bill is that it’s a way to stop instate outsourcing. In this case what we have are scores of big corporations here in Cali who operate in other states but don’t pay their share in Cali taxes. They use all our commons from freeways to police, fire and other infrastructure, but pay taxes elsewhere. They do this fancy financial trickery to avoid paying.. This bill closes those loopholes and is pretty much a no brainer..It would also push for companies to provide more jobs and training..Look if any of us do work out of state we pay taxes on the income earned.Lets make sure the big boys in business do the same.. VOTE YES on Prop 39

Proposition 40 Vote Yes Redistricting.. One of the most contentious process in government is around the issue of redistricting and how boundaries are drawn.. Over night we’ve seen long time incumbents removed from office that’s to the redrawing of district lines every ten years. The folks in charge have long been politicians. In some states it’s the governor. In other states it’s a governor and his appointees. In any cases district lines have been drawn to satisfy the political goals of those in power.

California decided to do something about this and had on the ballot a couple of years ago a proposition that created a council of citizens who got to redraw district lines. Needless to say this didn’t sit well with some Sacramento politicians, in particular Republicans have been the main opposition to this. If it fails redistrict lines will have to be redrawn again.. Call it a case of sour grapes on behalf of the GOP.. We say VOTE YES on PROP 40

 

Election 2012: 3rd Party Candidates Are Not Spoilers-Every Vote Must Be Earned

I just finished peeping an interesting article on 3rd Party candidates that appeared HERE in the UK Guardian. Some like to think a 3rd party candidate can spoil the election for Barack Obama… That’s totally stupid on a number of levels.. A vote with held from a 3rd Party candidate doesn’t automatically default to President Barack Obama..

I know lots of people still like to blame the 2000 election fiasco on Ralph Nader, but that’s just a weak excuse to cover up the fact that there were 250k eligible voters who never voted.. That means the out reach wasn’t there and rather than own up to shortcoming, it was easier to blame Nader who was a legitimate candidate who paid his dues as a long time political activist and consumer advocate.

Nowadays, when some one suggests that 3rd party candidate spoil elections, they really mean that a politically left leaning candidate would vote for Barack Obama if that 3rd Party candidate wasn’t on the ballot.. That’s simply not true.. First of all there are 25 candidates running for President and they span the political gauntlet. Someone please explain how someone attracted to the Libertarian or Constitution Party train of thought, which tend to be pretty conservative, are gonna hurt Barack Obama? If anything it might help Obama if in theory votes were being ‘diverted’ from Mitt Romney.

In fact this is what was said to be the reason Bill Clinton won his election in 1992 against George Bush Sr.. Ross Perot ran and supposedly split the conservative vote. Were folks on the left complaining about 3rd parties then? If I recall many Democrats welcomed Perot. Some even publicly thanked him. My point is this, why would someone who likes the platform of the Peace and Freedom or Green Party toss in their chips and get behind the platform of the Democrats when key issues are either not addressed or severely compromised?

The bottom line is every single vote, no matter what the party affiliation needs to be earned. No vote should be taken for granted.. Sadly, the Democrats and Republicans come to the table with considerable financial advantages. They’ve also done everything in their power to exclude 3rd party candidates from appearing on the ballots in many states by passing restrictive laws in many states preventing 3rd parties from getting on the ballot. The Democrats have been relentless in trying to block the Green Party from showing up on ballots. .

If that’s not enough, the two big parties have teamed formed an organization called the Commission on Presidential Debates, which ran roughshod over the League of Women Voters and took control over the debates. The end game was to keep the main debates between members of the Democrats and Republicans. A leaked contract between the two main political parties show that they negotiate what topics to talks about, format, moderator etc. You can read about that HERE. So before one goes crying about a 3rd Parties ask yourself, why are u cool with excluding people?

Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala
Green Party Candidates

As a result of all this exclusion Green party presidential candidate Jill Stein is suing the CPD. The suit was filed after Stein and Green Party candidate Cheri Honkala were arrested outside the second Presidential debate where they protested. Both women were shackled to chairs for over 8 hours.. The suit claims they were deprived of constitutional rights, due process, equal protection, and free speech, as well as her statutorily protected civil rights. This is ironic considering how both Romney and Obama have repeatedly talked about the importance of democratizing the world and making sure everyone has a fair shot. I guess that only applies if you go through one of the two parties.

It’s amazing some of the people who complain about 3rd parties are the same ones who haven’t done any phone banking or precinct walking-ever. It’s amazing they’ll complain about 3rd parties while ignoring the millions of people who are eligible to vote but still not registered. .Whats being done to win them over?

One should ask themselves how are there still millions of people unregistered after two years of presidential campaigning and BILLIONS of dollars spent in ads? Why get angry at someone who in spite of all the daily exposure went and politically educated themselves and decided they wanna vote Libertarian, Peace and Freedom or Green? Haven’t we demanded that people become more politically active??

If folks were smart they’d do like most countries..instead of having a winner take all system, they would have proportional representation..That means the percentage of people from particular parties sitting in congress or the senate reflects the percentage of votes received. Also folks should also keep in mind 3rd party candidates are running for every office not just president..but then again the average person voting for President is hard pressed to tell you about local races..Go figure..

Here’s an excerpt from the UK Guardian article which you can read by clicking the link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20019651

While Americans suffer a daily bombardment of opinion polls as election day looms, they are invariably asked to select from just two candidates – the rest are rarely included.

But Public Policy Polling (PPP) has surveyed the potential impact of the other candidates in key battleground states.

In Virginia, in a straight two-horse race, Obama is up three percentage points, says PPP’s Dustin Ingalls. But add the third-party candidates Johnson, Goode and Stein, who are all on the ballot there, and Obama’s lead increases to four percentage points.

Here is a recent debate between the 3rd parties moderated by Larry King

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoNPO4h2quk

Obama & Romney Spar Over Libya Both Fail to Mention Acts of Terror Against Blacks

During last night’s debate President Barack Obama delivered what many considered a death-blow when he and Mitt Romney exchanged barbs about Libya. Romney called into question Obama’s judgement or lacktherof around the securing of the Embassy which came under attack on September 11th resulting in the death of 4 Americans including ambassador Christopher Stevens.

In the back and forth, Romney attempted to chastise the President for not calling the attacks on the Embassy an ‘Act of Terror‘. Obama retorted that he had. He demanded that Romney ‘look at the transcript’. The nail in the coffin came when CNN moderator Candy Crowley backed up Obama’s claim and publicly corrected Romney. He had indeed referenced the attacks in Benghazi, as acts of terror.

It was also during this exchange that President Obama looking sternly at Mitt Romney and said he was taking full responsibility for what occurred in Libya. He said this in spite of the fact Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had already fallen on the proverbial sword. Obama made it clear that Hillary worked for him and the buck stopped with him.. The president was widely praised for his forthright remarks, even as pundits on both sides of the political aisle debated what the president ‘really meant’ when he uttered the phrase ‘acts of terror’ the day after the attacks.

Sadly what President Obama didn’t take responsibility nor ever reference was the ongoing ‘acts of terror’ and torture that have befallen Black Libyans since the US and NATO armed and aided the NTC militias. This is the dirty little secret known all over the world where the UN, Amnesty International along with former congress woman and Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney after returning from Libya on a fact-finding trek, have all weighed in and reported.

When conflict in Libya first emerged there were mainstream stories here in the US asserting that leader Moammar Gaddafi was hiring black mercenary soldiers. So for the few journalist who got wind of torture of Black Libyans, they dismissed it and said it was mercenaries working for Gaddafi being slaughtered. Such assertions have long been disproven. The folks being ethnically cleansed were Black Libyans and innocent Black migrant workers many of them coming from other countries like Ethiopia. The torture they’ve been subjected to have been horrific ranging from public hangings, whippings, entire families shot and burned out of their homes, while others Black Libyans have been put in zoo cages and forced to eat the new Libyan flag. All of this has been well documented but ignored by our President. Even Al Jazzera which is owned and financed by the monarchs of Qatar have even reported on the wholesale slaughter of Black Libyans and they have long been stark opponents of former Libyan leader Gaddafi.

Here in the US many in the mainstream media have blocked it out and so when mentioning it, its taken as something that’s unbelievable. Many will quickly ask where are the ‘reputable’ sources to this torture after all its something that journalist like award-winning Candy Crowley didn’t bother to mention in any of her questions. Many who are press from other countries had they been moderating would’ve definitely followed up with a question to President Obama about his thoughts and whether or not he would take responsibility for the widespread torture that militia’s he backed were committing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmzGJoQlw08

In all likelihood President Obama will be re-elected. Folks will see him being in the White House as something far better then the madness we see going within the GOP. With that being said, Obama being put into power comes with a responsibility ALL of us have. We can start with making sure he does something to end this Ethnic cleansing of Black folks in Libya and in other parts of Africa. We must strive to always keep a sense of our humanity and recognize the humanity in others, especially those who are being severely oppressed.

So yes, what took place on September 11th in Libya was an act of terror when 4 Americans who we will presume were innocent, were killed. But the hundreds and thousands of Black folks being tortured, killed and abused in Libya is also an act of terror. To ignore it is to be complicit. e could take it there and take about all the drone strikes taking place in countries like Somalia and Pakistan where scores of innocent people are being killed. There is no doubt those on the receiving end of US drone strikes see what we’re doing as an act of terror. To put someone into power who then sets policies in motion to carry out these horrific policies which are considered war crimes in many countries, in our collective names is terror. Hold this President accountable.

Below are just a few links to just a few of the hundreds of stories talking about this…

Obama & Romney Spar, Both Fail to Mention the Acts of Terror Against Black Libyans

During last night’s debate President Barack Obama delivered what many considered a death-blow when he and Mitt Romney exchanged barbs about Libya.  Romney called into question Obama’s judgement or lacktherof around the securing of the Embassy which came under attack on September 11th resulting in the death of 4 Americans including ambassador Christopher Stevens.

In the back and forth, Romney attempted to chastise the President for not calling the attacks on the Embassy an ‘Act of Terror‘. Obama retorted that he had. He demanded that Romney ‘look at the transcript’. The nail in the coffin came when CNN moderator Candy Crowley backed up Obama’s claim and publicly corrected Romney.  He had indeed referenced the attacks in Benghazi, as acts of terror.

It was also during this exchange that President Obama looking sternly at Mitt Romney and said he was taking full responsibility for what occurred in Libya. He said this in spite of the fact Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had already fallen on the proverbial sword. Obama made it clear that Hillary worked for him and the buck stopped with him.. The president was widely praised for his forthright remarks, even as pundits on both sides of the political aisle debated what the president ‘really meant’ when he uttered the phrase ‘acts of terror’ the day after the attacks.

Sadly what President Obama didn’t take responsibility nor ever reference was the ongoing ‘acts of terror’ and torture that have befallen Black Libyans since the US and NATO armed and aided the NTC militias. This is the dirty little secret known all over the world where the UN, Amnesty International along with former congress woman and Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney after returning from Libya on a fact-finding trek, have all weighed in and reported.

When conflict in Libya first emerged there were mainstream stories here in the US asserting that leader Moammar Gaddafi was hiring black mercenary soldiers. So for the few journalist who got wind of torture of Black Libyans, they dismissed it and said it was mercenaries working for Gaddafi being slaughtered. Such assertions have long been disproven. The folks being ethnically cleansed were Black Libyans and innocent Black migrant workers many of them coming from other countries like Ethiopia. The torture they’ve been subjected to have been horrific ranging from public hangings, whippings, entire families shot and burned out of their homes, while others Black Libyans have been put in zoo cages and forced to eat the new Libyan flag. All of this has been well documented but ignored by our President. Even Al Jazzera which is owned and financed by the monarchs of Qatar have even reported on the wholesale slaughter of Black Libyans and they have long been stark opponents of former Libyan leader Gaddafi.

Here in the US many in the mainstream media have blocked it out and so when mentioning it, its taken as something that’s unbelievable. Many will quickly ask where are the ‘reputable’ sources to this torture  after all its something that journalist like award-winning Candy Crowley didn’t bother to mention in any of her questions. Many who are press from other countries had they been moderating would’ve definitely followed up with a question to President Obama about his thoughts and whether or not he would take responsibility for the widespread torture that militia’s he backed were committing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmzGJoQlw08

In all likelihood President Obama will be re-elected. Folks will see him being in the White House as something far better then the madness we see going within the GOP. With that being said, Obama being put into power comes with a responsibility ALL of us have. We can start with making sure he does something to end this Ethnic cleansing of Black folks in Libya and in other parts of Africa. We must strive to always keep a sense of our humanity and recognize the humanity in others, especially those who are being severely oppressed.

So yes, what took place on September 11th in Libya was an act of terror when 4 Americans who we will presume were innocent, were killed. But the hundreds and thousands of Black folks being tortured, killed and abused in Libya is also an act of terror. To ignore it is to be complicit. e could take it there and take about all the drone strikes taking place in countries like Somalia and Pakistan where scores of innocent people are being killed. There is no doubt those on the receiving end of  US drone strikes see what we’re doing as an act of terror.  To put someone into power who then sets policies in motion to carry out these horrific policies which are considered war crimes in many countries, in our collective names is terror.  Hold this President accountable.

Below are just a few links to just a few of the hundreds of stories talking about this…

Barack X…. Our Intv w/ Jelani Cobb about Obama, Race & Black Image

Professor Jelani Cobb

Earlier this week, long time activist and historian Jelani Cobb put out an article in the New Yorker that talks about President Barack Obama and his image.. He goes in on what the image of a Black man in the White House has meant for the community at large, what its meant for folks all over the world and what type of backlash it has resulted in among white supremacists.

In his article Jelani says the following…

In black America—where people have been voting for Presidential candidates who didn’t share their racial background since even before the Fifteenth Amendment—the 2008 election wasn’t seen as the star-spangled “Kumbaya” it was billed as elsewhere. White rejoicing at Obama’s racial landmark seemed tone deaf, unduly self-congratulatory. White voters had simply done something black voters had been doing for at least the previous hundred and thirty-four years. For this reason and others like it, there was a tendency among blacks to see Obama as an extension of black achievement—but not necessarily a barometer of changing white attitudes. The hyperbolic talk of a post-racial society suggested that white voters, or at least a highly visible segment of them, tended to see the election in precisely the opposite terms.

The other night, we got Jelani to skype into our Black Images class at SF State and share his thoughts on Black image, his article and the complexities around how many see Barack Obama.. We spoke at length about what it means when a Black man is the head of an empire and is the face of foreign policy that is seen as unpopular and out right oppressive in some parts of the world..  Click the link to hear Jelani’s remarks which we aired the other day on Hard Knock Radio..

Rise Up Hip Hop Nation: 2012: A Year of Reckoning, Awakening, or Both?

One of my favorite people to build with is Professor Tina Bell Wright of Hip Hop Congress.. Her insights and political predictions are often eerily accurate and she always leaves one with lots to think about. Her mantra; ‘They don’t care about you’ is one that she says far and wide as a reminder for folks to how this system and those in power truly feel and how we must respond.. She hasn’t penned an essay in a while, but this latest one, which is actually a series of notes she plans to use for an upcoming panel discussion on Race and the 2012 Election is a keeper. It’s not a short read, but very, very necessary.. Please take some time to read it..It’s a sobering breakdown of many of social and political forces at play leading up to November and how and why the 2012 contest matters, but not in the traditional ways we’ve come to expect Will we keep counting on an ‘uncaring’ system to save us?  Its one of the realest articles I’ve read in a while.. Major props

-Davey D-

“2012: A Year of Reckoning, Awakening, or Both? — Examining White Supremacy, Corporate Fascism and the Generational Shift Defining the Political Landscape.” 

by Professor Tina Bell Wright

As you can probably tell from the title of my paper, I have a number of topics I hope to tie together. The plan is to pull together many ideas into one big theme (which is): this election matters, but not in the way it is usually framed. I don’t think this election matters politically at all, because politics as this system is now set up tells us nothing really. At best, it reflects the will of the highest bidder, or the frame of corporate media, or the effectiveness of the latest legislative tactics to manage or suppress voting (via voter ID laws or redistricting for example). Those that actually do vote do so with great skepticism, and a large percentage don’t even participate in the process at all. While the outcome of this election will not offer very different results (in terms of governance), it will illuminate two very different trajectories for this country (culturally)…and that matters greatly. That is what I want to focus on in this paper.

The Racialization of a Nation

Self inflicted wounds may be the most difficult to heal, psychologically at least. Since its inception, the United States has lived with a self inflicted wound that has defined every aspect of this society, most importantly, the distribution and control of all economic and political resources.  The racialization of this nation (or the color line as W.E.B. DuBois called it) continues to plague this country (and the globe more broadly) and the election of the first biracial president did nothing to change that reality.

But what elections won’t address, time eventually will in one way or another. As students of history, we are able to examine the effects of time and see that while it may be hard to see and feel change in the here and now, change does happen nevertheless. Historical factors are changing right before our eyes – namely the decline of the US Empire and shifting demographics. The results will define this country’s trajectory for the foreseeable future and could foster a progressive movement of the likes we have not seen in a generation. But backlash has thwarted progressive movements before, and it will this time again if the power of narrative building and cultural strategies are not properly understood

Culture Matters

After the 2010 election when the Tea Party swept into power, Colorlines.com published an interview w/ hip hop scholar Jeff Chang. The title of the article was “It’s Bigger than Politics, the Real Shift is Cultural”.

See: http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/11/jeff_chang_interview.html

Jeff Chang

In this interview, Chang argued that the culture wars were back, and basically a backlash to the election of Obama.

He also stated that culture always moves before politics.  He said:”culture impacts and often precedes political change….Or put in another way, political change is the final manifestation of cultural shifts that have already occurred.” 

Chang argues that the right understands the importance of culture and narrative building much better than progressives in either electoral or movement politics.

He states: “Sadly most progressives—whether they work in electoral politics or movement politics—have not yet figured culture into their theory of change. Unlike the right, they have no cultural strategy…..One thing progressives need to do is to understand the importance of expressing our hopes and dreams in narratives. Progressives misunderstand culture. The right is clear about it—Beck, Brietbart, and O’Reilly were long in the creation; they are the products of a four-decade long conservative movement building initiative. We need to build up an infrastructure that includes cultural strategy. We focus on facts and figures, but stories are what move the country. Culture is where ideas are introduced, values are inculcated, and emotions are attached to concrete change. It is where the national imagination gets moved. So we need cultural strategy.”

My work on hip hop and mobilization has brought me to the same conclusion.

I teach a course titled Sociology of Media and Popular Culture: Examining Hip Hop. In it, we discuss the theoretical foundation of media studies and the importance of examining media on three levels: production “the who” (who owns/produces media), content “the what” (what we get/see in media) and context “the how” (refers to the audience interpretation of media/ how audience understands media messages). That third level of analysis explains how one message can be understood very differently depending on the audience’s interpretation of it…which is a function of the (cultural – all encompassing) lens through which they view messages.

Applying the same multi-level analysis to this panel’s topic of Race and the 2012 Election, we realize that much of modern political analysis focuses on content – the “what”: elections, policies, etc.

For those that think critically, including sociologists, moving beyond the “what” level to examine “who” is in control is critical to understanding how the status quo power structure remains so entrenched. Much of our sociological analyses focus on the producers of our social woes – the corporate elite (1%), imperialists, corporate media, fascist governments, white supremacists, racists, democrats, republicans, Obama, Romney and so on.

Social structure we call it. It can change, but not easily, and definitely not overnight.  What we have not developed as well is our third level of analysis…our third eye if you will. And as they say, context is everything.  Power brokers (producers) and their power (content) may not change overnight, but how they are perceived and received can change everything. This is where a cultural strategy must come in.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

2012 is tagged the year of great transformation…apocalyptic even.  For many, the world we know ends, and if we are lucky a new and improved one begins. If we are not so lucky, it just ends or nothing changes. Interestingly enough, the fall of the US empire was not an apocalyptic event, but instead the result of a self inflicted wound that has been years in the making. Globalization and corporate fascism have weakened the nation state and the United States has itself to thank (or blame) depending on your perspective. Multinational corporations now trump the power of many nation-states …market supremacy has replaced white supremacy as the #1 global organizing principle. Everyone is in a race to the bottom which is now within reach for even middle class Americans. The concentration of wealth is in the hands of a smaller and smaller percentage every day.

The Dawn of OccupyHegemony Ends, Fascism Begins

While fewer and fewer control the world’s resources, the world has become more open in other ways, specifically due to technology. Disney was right: It’s a small world after all. 🙂 Technology has forever changed the power to control information. Propaganda is still a viable tool via media framing, but with technology, information comes quickly and much more freely via a number of sources.  The status quo power structure will have to take more drastic means to maintain its control; hence more infractions on civil liberties, police state tactics, etc.

Power via acceptance of dominant narratives is slowly eroding…people are waking up and losing faith in so-called leadership, especially politicians.

The more people challenge the system, the more police state tactics are employed. People now know better and must be physically controlled where mental control was all that was needed before. People are being beaten more because they are fighting back more.

Instead of building our own back door in compliance of a system never for us, police are forced to guard the front door with heavy artillery (see Carter G. Woodson’s Miseducation of the Negro). While it may not feel like it, this is progress. Military power is still power – a force to reckoned with to be sure…but with military power comes constant warfare – that type of power is always in danger of a coup…or a revolution…or friendly fire..a self inflicted wound that can fester and undermine its own prowess.  Hegemonic power, on the other hand, remains emboldened as long as all believe in the system as such.  Hegemonic power is not challenged if it is accepted as legitimate and right.

Shifting Demographics – Fear of a Black/Brown/Yellow/Red Planet

Census data shows us that fewer white babies are born today than babies of color. Whether the spike in hate groups and the recent mass shootings linked to white supremacists are manifestations of “white angst” over this reality or not can be debated, but much of the cultural strategy on the right seems to be a direct reaction to the shifting demographics. Nativist movements like the tea party exploit white fear to maintain a system of white supremacy in a country getting browner everyday.

So where does all this lead us with the 2012 election around the corner? Before we look ahead, let’s first look back and see how we got here.

2008 and the Election of Obama

When studies of the 2008 election were conducted, many focused on the demographic make up of the electorate…i.e. the youth vote, the black vote, the Latino vote, etc.  Three factors definitely contributed to Obama’s election in 2008. I think only the third will be a factor in 2012.

Factor #1: George W. Bush

According to some polls, many view GW Bush as one of the worst presidents in history; his two unfounded and unfunded wars and the heist of the US treasury left the mass majority ready for a DRASTIC change. Or to use the best anecdotal evidence I can cite, when asked by a pollster who he would vote for, one man from WVA or Kentucky said “I’m voting for the nigger.”

Factor #2: History

This probably was the most important factor. Most, including me placed a vote for history. This factor brought many people to the polls that would not normally go…and to be certain, many, especially young people of color will not come out again in 2012 in the same numbers.

Factor #3: The New Cultural Majority – Demographic make up of the electorate

The youth vote, the Latino vote and the black vote definitely helped Obama win the presidency. I was listening to talk radio the other day and I heard this white man admit that he even has grown tired of rich white men running everything. The New Cultural Majority represents a generational and demographic shift of this nation. In broad terms, it is less religious, more tolerant, less homophobic, and more open to diversity. The New Cultural Majority is not necessarily political, but leans more left than right, especially on social issues. George W. Bush and History will not be factors in this election. The question remains: will the New Cultural Majority show up in 2012?

Race and the 2012 Election: Cultural Strategies

Since Obama’s election in 2008, the right has relaunched their cultural strategy. With social media, the left is able to react quicker to many of the short term battles the right has waged. As well, demographic shifts and technology make it more difficult for one narrative to take hold and be the only story people get. This bolds well for short term battles, mostly the social issues. As well, with the new cultural majority, the demographic arc bends toward justice, but with ongoing economic uncertainty (with no end in sight), people’s fears can and will be exploited. Those that build the most compelling narrative will seize the nation’s imagination.

THE RIGHT: PRIVATIZE, PRIVATIZE, PRIVATIZE

The right’s cultural strategy involves both short term and long term objectives. The short term strategy consists of taking advantage of the 2010 gains at the local and state levels as well as tapping into white angst via nativist movements like the tea party. From it we have gotten a number of battles:1. Anti-immigration legislation, SB 1070 including even crazy talk about repealing the 14th amendment, 2. Ethnic study bans, revisionist history textbooks etc.2. Anti-gay legislation against same sex marriage etc…or even long lines at Chick Fil A to show support for “family values”3. All sorts of anti-abortion and anti-contraception legislation…probably the most targeted war on women since the women’s movement4. Anti-Muslim hysteria – Mosque protests in NY and TN, look up OC Hate video on YouTube, bans on Sharia law passed here and other nonsense5. Voter ID laws to suppress votes of students (youth vote), people of color (particularly black vote) and elderly (Medicare vote)

But given the generational shift, especially on social issues, the right has also embraced a LONG term cultural strategy…and that is best described by Ron’s Paul’s Revolution…Libertarianism…buzz words of anti-government, individual freedom, rugged individualism, free market capitalism, and privatization of all things.

This is a long tem strategy that keeps resources in the hands of few but promotes universal ideals that can transcend race, gender, sexual orientation, and age (generations).

In this LONG TERM strategy, the privatization of all publically controlled and resourced entities is promoted. Folks may not be ready to talk about privatizing Medicare, but Education is definitely the next major battlefield. Coming from California I have a first hand view of the war (see footnote; I have more to say on this but will leave to discussion and hopefully will have time). Again, privatization offers the right a way to control resources (and bodies) despite demographic changes.

Because the New Cultural Majority is younger and more progressive (socially at least), the window of opportunity to implement this long term strategy is closing quickly and they realize it. If there seems to be some fervor on the right to roll back civil rights or push through unpopular legislation, it is for a reason. Time is of the essence. But it is equally of the essence for progressives of the LEFT as well if we want to make sure our narrative is the one that takes hold.

THE LEFT: ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE

Succinctly stated, the left cannot depend on the weakening of the nation-state and shifting demographics alone to foster progressive social change. Demographic shift or not, white supremacy can and will manifest itself for generations to come via resource distribution and control. The LONG TERM war, the end of racialization of resources and the real healing of the wound that continues to plague this country will only be healed through changing attitudes, context, narrative building and cultural work.

The SHORT TERM strategy must include a focus on local community building and promotion of sustainable cultures. Our focus should be on localization – satisfying our basic needs within the bounds of our local environment.  But we must develop a coherent LONG TERM cultural strategy as well. If we do not, and the right is able to successfully privatize education, and subsequently Medicare and social security, game over. Or as I recommend to my students, have an exit strategy in place. You will find me in Ocho Rios 🙂

So in my view, this country heads in one of two directions on November 7, 2012.

TWO TRAJECTORIES:

Occupy v. Ron Paul’s Revolution

Democratic Socialism v. Rugged Individualism (Libertarianism)

brother’s keeper v. survival of the fittest

Saul Alinsky v. Ayn Rand

While the future is not clear, a few things are: The next generation will be more diverse; social issues will become less relevant with this next generation and hegemonic ideals that shape today’s political landscape will continue to be challenged…in other words, the younger generation is beginning to be a cultural force in politics. Does that mean the end of racialization of all aspects of this society? the end of white supremacy and corporate fascism? Not anytime soon but given the mass rejection of the political system by both sides of the spectrum, there is room for movement politics to take hold and a clear cultural strategy is required to move the movement in a progressive direction.

While demographics seem favorable for progressive change, backlash is always a powerful counterforce. The most important question = Which narrative will dominate the national imagination? If progressives do not clearly embrace a cultural strategy, I promise you the right will swoop in and push to privatize education, and instead of hailing Saul Alinsky as the example to follow to build strong people based power, and in it a more perfect union, one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all, we will be looking at Ayn Rand as the founding mother of the United States, 2.0 version…forget the union, you’re on your own, man, woman, senior, and child.

Added Footnotes.

1. Public Education: Ground Zero in Cultural War

The Privatization of Education: About Control, not Profit

In countries considered “poor”, i.e. most countries in the world, education is a luxury. In actuality, only about 7% of the global population receives a college education (college degree) and the majority of those people are in what are labeled the “developed” world (read richer nations).  Well, while education was never really treated as a right in the United States, the electorate is now being molded to accept education as a luxury that only the most affluent of the society will be able to afford (like the rest of the world). While the push toward privatization has taken on many phases (faces) over the last few years (from charter schools to anti-union measures), the next phase (face) is probably the most deceptive: student success initiatives. Budget pressures and student success task force reports provide the cover for the most dramatic changes to the public education system we will see pass through the state legislators to date. Students who are not already excellent academically or who are not economically able to afford increasing costs will be pushed out…and expeditiously. While public schools are still public, affected constituent groups (students, parents, and educators) must educate themselves on the changing laws and organize vehemently to hold THEIR public institutions accountable to the communities they serve. Education is one of the only paths of upward mobility in class based structures that define our society.  The more access to education a society’s members have, the less rigid its class system…the less access to education, the more rigid the class system. The privatization of education in a globalized system is meant to control who has access to education…the elite, and only the elite.

 Plan B: The Privatization of Prisons: About Control…and Profit

So what does a once educated country do when it stops educating a large majority of its population? Very few countries can boast a “middle class” of the sorts that once defined the United States. But with access to education disappearing, that middle class disappears also. Now what? Plan B. The prison industry has proven to be most lucrative. It should be obvious to all that middle class Americans would never be able to accept competing for slave wages in a global economy, and seeing that steep of a decline in standard of living, a forced alternative was hatched. Legal slave wages under the guise of the prison industry complex. Call it indoctrination into the global economy. Private entities can own prisons and corporations can utilize prison labor – from manufacturing products to telemarketing. Cheap labor once outsourced finds its way back to US shores. Those we are now locking out of education, can now be locked up into private prisons as bodies to fill new buildings and cheap laborers to make products.

2. Building a Sustainable Culture

In preparation for this panel, an alternet.org article was sent out via ABSdiscourse listserv titled: The 2012 Elections Have Little to Do With Obama’s Record … Which Is Why We Are Voting For Him…As always, it sparked some serious commentary, particularly about our tendency to fall into the trap of “voting for the lesser of two evils”. Most of the comments I read that expressed that sentiment, but I believe this comment offered not only good insight, but a viable path to progressive change.

 http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/2012-elections-have-little-do-obamas-record-which-why-we-are-voting-him?paging=off

Collapse

I suggest that you are optimistic about working within the political arena. I just can’t imagine any of the key players not complying with the wishes of those who finance their elections. Those that have stormed the WH (Chris Hedges, Bill McKibben) got some press and jail time but not sure there will be any movement in domestic or international policies as a result.

 What is my answer? Good question. For me, there are really only a few ways out and voting in meaningless elections isn’t one of them.

One is revolution. It’s a nasty and brutish with an outcome that is very difficult to predict. Revolutions can be hijacked just as easily as the electoral process (e.g., Libya). It would be my last choice.

Another is global economic collapse, somewhat likely given that all empires, like this one, have a tendency to overreach and eventually do themselves in. That will also be nasty with a big price to pay by all of us who have been drawn into the industrial culture where we depend on money and jobs for the basics of life (food, water and shelter). Most of us in the developed world are very vulnerable to collapse. One benefit of a near-term collapse, however, is the planet might not be totally ransacked leaving something to work with. Again, there are no guarantees that whoever rebuilds will have learned the lessons of the past. This would be my second choice.

Lastly, we can spend what time we have left creating a sustainable culture that, in the end, will undermine the mindless, heartless neoliberalism propelling us towards the brink. There will not be any single solution. Like nature, the solution needs to fit the ecological circumstances of the niches we live in. Among movements today, this is referred to as localization — satisfying our basic needs within the bounds of our local environment. It’s the antithesis of our globalized economy. It is the way our natural world works and we have clearly demonstrated we can’t improve on that. It is time to reestablish enduring relationships with our fellow humans and with the natural world. The risks of hijack are minimal and this would be my first choice.

3. See also:

http://riseuphiphopnation.blogspot.com/2009/12/disunited-states-of-america-red-white.html

http://riseuphiphopnation.blogspot.com/2010/08/white-supremacy-from-bacon-to-obama-are.html

http://riseuphiphopnation.blogspot.com/2009/08/miseducation-of-nation-unveiling.html

written by Professor Tina Bell Wright