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

November 7, 2012 By

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cheers of relief, because folks were fearful of having what little safety nets were left to be immediate dismantled or repealed on the day those seeking power took office…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

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

November 3, 2012 By

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

 

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What Does it Mean When Romney is Campaigning in Florida while Flood Waters Rise in New Jersey?

November 1, 2012 By

Last night I was looking at the footage of the devastation throughout New Jersey, parts of New York and up and down the East Coast and was saddened and shocked to see how much many of us underestimated the type of havoc Hurricane Sandy laid on folks.

Thousands were left homeless. Millions of people were left without power and water. Millions had no heat which was crucial considering that Sandy unlike most hurricanes was not one that came when the weather was warm. This was essentially a winter storm, one that dropped several feet of snow in some places.

It was surreal looking at the carnage and recalling that it was just a few nights before, many were on twitter and Facebook taking what some were calling ‘a storm of storms’ , lightly. Many saw this Frankenstorm as no big deal, especially since it was a category 1 as opposed to a category 5, but history will show, Mother Nature, was and is not to be toyed with. The devastation shown here in the states has left many mournful and speechless. One can only imagine what things are like in places like Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and other parts of the Caribbean where this monstrous storm struck first and not talked about too much in our media.

Mitt Romney opted to step away from Hurricane Sandy’s carnage & devastation and campaign in Florida

As the footage and stories unfolded about the immense destruction, I was surprised and left wondering why the hell presidential candidate Mitt Romney was a thousand miles away campaigning in Florida. As a leader and potential next President of the United States he should’ve been where the action is. His lack of presence in the storm zone was telling and a clear indication of what we might expect in terms of leadership or his lack thereof.

It wasn’t lost on many of us that Romney has consistently touted he’s a businessman whose acumen in that field lends to him being an effective problem solver.  It wasn’t lost on many of us that one of Romney’s business oriented solutions was to privatize FEMA.You can read about that HERE.

It’s with that in mind one has to wonder, why a supposedly business-savvy Romney was away campaigning in Florida as opposed to convening roundtables with all his business connects, collecting checks and showing the world just how effective the private sector or he as a ‘leader’ could be in rallying up the troops and resources for relief efforts..Yes, I know Romney did some sort of canned food drive/fund-raiser in Ohio, which was good for a nice photo-op, but anyone with an ounce of sense knows that’s not how big fundraisers are done when you play in the economic stratosphere on Romney. You don’t do food and clothing drives, you get on the horn and collect checks, the same way he does when running for office. There was no excuse for Mitt Romney not to have rolled up his sleeves and been in the hardest hit areas alongside everyone else delivering relief in the form of big checks to help in the recovery efforts.

It seems like everyone switched up their scheduled activities to focus, time and effort on victims of Hurricane Sandy. From media outlets which curtailed their regular programming to provide round the clock coverage to first responders from all over the country who ponied up resources, many on their own dime to get back East and chip in.. Mitt on the other hand opted to be elsewhere when he should had his own boots on the ground. What I’m saying is not far-fetched..We’ve seen private citizens with far-less resources and clout step up with great results in wake of a natural disasters

Case in point is Mississippi rapper David Banner. In 2005, Banner after toiling for years was finally on the music map, with a massive top ten single, ‘Play’ and a highly anticipated album due out that fall called ‘Certified‘. Banner was in the middle of tour when Katrina, a category 5 hurricane hit the Mississippi coast line and damn near wiped it away.

Most people around the world had their eyes fixed on New Orleans because of the levees bursting and the subsequent flooding, but the main brunt of Katrina was felt in Mississippi where she forever decimated entire towns and left much of the state in darkness and without power.

It was in this backdrop that Banner without hesitation, made the decision to end his tour and use the buses and his own money and resources to start delivering food, water and clothing to those who lost everything. Banner turned to his fellow rappers to join his efforts and soon had big checks from everyone from Nelly who helped him set up infrastructure to properly collect money and goods to Young Jeezy who gave 250k to help in relief efforts. Other artists called up clothing companies and used their endorsement clout to get supplies for those in need. It was all hands on deck as folks came together to help save lives and get people back on their feet. This was in addition to the fundraising concerts Banner organized.

David Banner was relentless in his efforts at great sacrifice. The promotion of his album, the momentum of his career in a fickle music industry and his lucrative tour took a back seat while he put in serious work to help in the recovery of Mississippi. Banner demonstrated leadership, ingenuity and resourcefulness something we saw lacking with Romney who is clearly showing us how a businessman operates in times of trouble, putting the economic and in this case his political bottom line over people.

Instead of showing and proving what he could do as a concerned citizen and leader, Romney and his billionaire cronies are gearing up to spend upwards to another 10-12 million dollars in political campaign ads over the next few days. This is on top of the estimated 5-6 billion spent in this election cycle. One would think some of that money would go toward recovery efforts, but perhaps that’s why so many of us are NOT business people on the level of Romney. We are not ruthless at all costs in our pursuit of the bottom line. We should note how folks who think this way come through or don’t come through during natural disasters.

I recall Banner telling me a year after Katrina that there were label executives who harshly criticize him for turning his attention to relief efforts vs promoting his album. I recall when he was MTV weeks after Katrina, he got major grief for giving out the phone number to foundations and talking up relief efforts vs pushing the release date of his album. Maybe some are in Mitt Romney’s ear telling him its wrong to show up to help those in need vs campaigning. Maybe they’re telling him ‘Win at all costs Get that money that’s the American way and the hell with those who are in need and even dying’.

I bring all this up, because in 2012 we are at a critical juncture, politically, socially and economically. Right now there’s a big push to privatize many institutions and services that in the public sector. It’s a push by folks who sit on both the left and right side of the political spectrum.  Romney and his people wanna privatize social security and outfits like FEMA. Here in places like California its corporate minded Democrats leading the charge to privatize our once revered public universities and colleges. So lets not get anything twisted. Privatizing everything from parks to schools to your local fire department is an end game for a whole lot of folks who are part of the 1% and folks best be thinking about this with every political decision made, no matter who’s in office.We should be asking are those repping us ‘corporate owned’ or ‘corporate free’?.

All of us should be asking what does that mean at the end of the day. Will you have to have good credit and a job to be rescued by a privatized FEMA?  With the devastating fire that torched more than 100 homes in Breezy Point Queens, would privatized relief efforts be for those who paid for premium relief service? Certainly folks recall the Tennessee fire department that stood by and allowed a home to burn because  the family neglected to pay their annual Fire Prevention dues to the local fire department..You can read about that HERE. 

It’s important that folks pay attention. The true measure of a person’s character is how they behave in times of crises. The day after one of the worst storms in American history, if your away campaigning and collecting advertising money  while fires are still burning and flood waters are still rising and millions are left suffering,  then folks should really take to heart when you (Mitt Romney) say things like;  ‘Corporations are People To My Friend‘ . In short, Mitt Romney may have gotten his fingernails dirty if a Bain Capital building got flooded, but if its Mrs Jones down the street, not so much.

Lastly, let me not, I’m no political novice, I get that with political rival President Barack Obama and Mitt’s good friend Gov Chris Christie showing love and publicly cooperating with one another is probably is rooted in political posturing. Yes I get that they are politicians and they are playing the role, but at least they have sense enough to do it in the disaster zone. At least they have sense to do a lil’ something to help bring about relief. If anything their presence has helped motivate people. They’ve demonstrates some degree of competence at the very least and genuine concern and sincerity at most  Romney should’ve been there as well.. The fact that he isn’t shows, just how out of touch he is and how incompetent on more levels than I can lay out in this article. The lack of concern is sickening.

written by Davey D

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Election 2012: In the Final Days.. Go Hard or Go Home & Blame Yourself if You Lose

October 26, 2012 By

After more than two years of non-stop campaigning, scores of debates and billions of dollars spent we are coming down to final 10 days of Election 2012. The lay of the land is such that in the Presidential race two of the primary out of the overall 25 contenders Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are at virtual tie..

On the Senatorial tip, races that will determine whether or not the chambers are controlled by Republicans or still be in the hands of the Democrats, are still up in the air.

Unless there’s some real sea changes at work, congress is most likely going to remain in control by an extremist, obstructionist Tea Party mob.  Democrats have a good chance to gain 8-10 seats. 25 seats are needed to take control of the house which seems like a small numbers considering we have over 500 congress people, but during the 2010 mid-term elections those who won local and state-wide elections got to redraw Congressional district lines, resulting in a virtual lock for certain seats to a particular party for the next 10 years.

With all that being said, the question being raised is what will you do over the next 10 days? Many have been fond of talking passionately about how our ancestors shed blood and sacrificed greatly for us to have the right to vote..And that is true.. My question is;  Over the next 10 days is more sacrifice needed? Is it enough to simply show up to voting booth on November 6th 2012, and pat yourself on the back thinking your job is done? I say ‘No’.

More sacrifice is needed at a day and time, when voter suppression efforts are in full swing. At a day and time when we have  racist, extremist types pulling out all the stops to make sure a growing population of Black, Brown and under 30 folks are disenfranchised it is not enough for you to simply vote? Steps will have to be taken to make sure everyone who wants to vote can do so, and each vote cast is counted. Here’s a small sampling of whats going on..

In Arizona the home to harsh xenophobic anti-immigrant laws like SB1070, where ethnic studies in schools is forbidden and books extolling the virtues of Mexican-Americans are banned, Latino voters were sent out official pamphlets and ballots that put the wrong date for voting.. You can read about that HERE

In Florida which is considered a crucial swing state, thousands of fraudulent letters were sent out to voters in 28 counties stating they were no longer citizens and were being removed from the voter rolls. This was a very sophisticated, intimidating tactic that has now led to the FBI investigating.. You can read about that HERE

Voters in Black neighborhoods all over key swing states woke up 3 weeks ago to large Voter Suppression billboards put up by Clear Channel radio which is owned by Bain Capital, the investment banking company started by Mitt Romney.The billboards warned that anyone committing voter fraud would be fined and go to jail.

Now on the surface , that doesn’t sound too bad, except accompanying these billboards was a sinister ‘misinformation campaign‘ stating that someone trying to vote who had not paid their child support, had outstanding parking tickets or had not paid their cable or cell phone bill were in violation of the law and could be imprisoned for committing voter fraud. Needless to say the local Clear Channel stations in the area did very little to set the record straight.

Barbara Arwine

For folks who think what I’m saying is far-fetched and a gross exaggeration, I urge you to take some time and listen to this in-depth run down by Barbara R Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights. You can peep it by clicking the link below to hear her presentation at a packed voter suppression town hall in Charlotte, NC

Earlier this week Clear Channel removed the billboards rather than reveal the name of the anonymous folks who sponsored them when they came under fire. Keep in mind, this is the same Clear Channel, which is home to many Hip Hop and R&B, urban formatted stations that didn’t bother to do any sort of voter registration drive, but saw fit to intimidate voters with these billboards. My question to those who talk about the sacrifices made by our ancestors, why are you still listening to Clear Channel knowing what they did? Here’s a list of Clear Channel /Bain Capital owned radio stations. Perhaps you’ll make sacrifices like our ancestors and boycott them.

Photo by Gage Skidmore

Joining the ranks of those employing voter suppression tactics are the billionaire ultra-conservative Koch Brothers along with Tea Party financiers  Americans for Prosperity who formed a company called True to Vote. Their stated goal was to get one million Tea Party folks to become poll watchers and head on out to Black and Brown communities all over the country especially in battleground states and challenge people at the polls. So over the top is True the Votes operation that congressman Elijah Cummings launched an investigation. You can read about that HERE

The list of Voter Suppression tactics being deployed in the 2012 election is a long one. Many think that the game plan is to prevent Barack Obama from being re-elected. Yes and No..While its true that racists types don’t wanna see Obama back in office, the real goal of voter suppression folks is to flip over hundreds of local elections which far too many have not been paying attention to.

For example in California, we have on the ballot Proposition 37 which would require food companies to label all their foods. The main point it to make sure we aren’t unknowing consuming GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) It’s being vigorously opposed by mega food giants like Monsanto.

We have another bill, Proposition 32 which is backed by Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers and is being marketed as an Election Campaign Finance Reform bill, states that corporations and unions can’t give to political campaigns.. When you read the proverbial fine print, you discover that exceptions are made for corporate executives and large corporations like Big Oil and  Big Banks who can continue to give unlimited amounts of money as they’ve always done.If this bill passes, the only ones who will be restricted will be unions who these corporate interest oppose.

From the elimination of the death penalty to the requirement that the 1% pay more in taxes to penalties levied on companies that outsource jobs, all sorts of local bills are in play and will likely be won or lost by small margins.  Its around those races where Voter suppression tactics come into play and will have major impact. Deciding some of these razor-thin senate races is where voter suppression tactics will make hay.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott

The voter suppression efforts have gotten out of hand that the UN is sending in election monitors, much like what we do in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and every other place we say needs to be transparent with their ‘democracy’.  The US has moved in the realm of being one of those countries that now needs to be watched to make sure elections are carried out and not stolen.. As the world watches, one would think we would welcome the monitors, if for any reason to show  ‘how things should be properly done’. Instead, what we have is stark resistance.

Two days ago, Greg Abbott the Attorney General of Texas which is a state long known for Voter Suppression and ground zero for the True the Vote outfit, threatened to arrest UN election monitors.. You can read about that HERE

All this is being mentioned as we come down to the final 10 days of this contentious election season to ask what role will each of you play to bring about a desired outcome? As I noted earlier, it should be more than obvious, it’s gonna take more than you simply showing up at the polls. It’s gonna take more than arguing on line with fathom bots that have now sprouted up all over twitter and Facebook. It’s gonna take some good ole fashion leg work and phone banking.

The lay of the land is two-fold. One, is getting folks who are registered to actually show up and cast ballot. Hopefully those folks are informed. You can help aid in those efforts by making your own voter guide or share the ones already made by people you know and politically trust.. Take a look at www.theBallot.org 

second, is opposing voter suppression tactics.. You can help by raising awareness and making  sure yourself and all your friends have this Election Protection phone number 1-866-OUR-VOTE

For those who feel there’s a lot at stake around the election of the next president, because of possible Supreme Court Justice appointments, the war on women and proposed harsh austerity measures etc, the action is in so-called swing states.

If you live in states that are pretty much gonna be red or blue, you best head on over to a phone banking place and start making calls to those battleground areas encouraging folks to get out. Don’t talk about how blood was shed for us to vote and how Martin Luther King marched, but you’re not willing to put in minimal amount of work when there is so much at stake.

This weekend I have several friends who are bypassing Halloween festivities and headed over to neighboring Nevada to walk precincts in what is considered an important swing state where its burgeoning Latino population are being targeted with voter suppression tactics.

I have folks in New York who are making the trip to Ohio and Florida to put in work. Others are staying close to home and bringing attention to key propositions and ballot measures. All next week on our HKR Radio show we will be going through the local and statewide propositions.

I have one friend who took vacation time and flew out from DC to California to do work around Prop 37. Her fear is that the GMO bill will have nationwide implications if it doesn’t pass.

I’ve also seen folks drive up to Cali from Texas and Alabama to do work around Prop 34 which will end the death penalty in California. A win here will give them momentum to fashion similar bills in their respective states.

Some folks are having fun and showing up to large football games and here in the Bay Area or the World series to do canvassing and GOTV work while wearing their favorite teams jerseys or colors sporting the names of the candidates they wanna see win.. Will you consider doing the same? Will you go to some of these large collegiate and professional sports outing which bring up to 80k people and make your political desires known? I think you get the point.

If this is the ‘most important election of our lives’ as many have claimed, then over the next 10 days you cannot simply sit at home talking smack while others put in work. It’s clear that those who wish to undo every single civil right hard fought for by people of color, women, LGBTs and others who have long been marginalized, are going all out to smash down.. To them their way of life where they could act with impunity and not have to share seats at the table is at stake so their not messing around. What’s the response to the efforts of these angry xenophobic types who are literally clinging to shotguns and perverted oppressive notions of religion? Whats the response to the increased corporatization of  the election process?

As we come to the final 10 days of the 2012 election either you go hard or go home and blame yourself for a less than desired outcome.

Davey D

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Dear President Obama & Mitt Romney… Don’t Forget About the Hood

October 25, 2012 By

Pittsburgh activist/ artist Jasiri X just dropped an incredible song and video called ‘Don’t Forget About the Hood‘.. Here’s what he penned with respect to the election and concept behind the video..

After three debates, with only a passing mention of the violence in Chicago by the President, I felt someone had to say something on behalf of the poor and inner city communities. And yes I know that Mitt Romney has basically written off anyone making less than six figures, but why is Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya more important than 46.2 million people who live below the poverty line right here in America?

Directed by Emmai Alaquiva, “Don’t Forget About The Hood” illustrates how the issues of the poor and urban communities have been all but forgotten in this current election season, and wonders what happened to all of the energy and organizing that took place in the wake of the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZvkFdDli3U

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

October 25, 2012 By

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

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

October 17, 2012 By

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…

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

October 17, 2012 By

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…

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Russell Simmons Responds to Jay-Z w/ a Stinging Open Letter About Occupy Wall Street

September 13, 2012 By

In recent days a firestorm erupted around rap star Jay-Z when he was quoted as saying he thought Occupy Wall Street was ‘Un-American’ when it demonized the 1%…

Jay-Z went on to state that he didn’t get down with the Occupy Movement because he didn’t know anything about it’s goals. Many of us found this to be a bit odd since Jay-Z had embroiled himself in a controversy last year when he announced that he would be making Occupy Wall Street t-Shirts, but he had no intention of sharing the loot with OWS.. Russell Simmons who is friends with Jay-Z noted that he talked with him about it..Eventually Jay-Z released a t-shirt line called Occupy All streets.  Its with tht in mind we found Jigga’s remarks about not knowing about OWS’s goals.. The other day Simmons set the record straight witha public response to Jay-Z’s NY Times interview.. Here’s the open letter which first appeared in Global Grind..

-Davey D-

Jay-Z Is Right 99 Times, But This Ain’t One By Russell Simmons

Russell Simmons

As a person who cares deeply about Occupy Wall Street, I have to honor their year-long effort and educate my long-time friend, Jay-Z. This weekend, he was interviewed by the New York Times where he discusses OWS, where he was quoted as saying “I’m not going to a park and picnic, I have no idea what to do, I don’t know what the fight is about. What do we want, do you know?” If he understood it and endorsed the movement, it would make a big difference to poor people. As the same man that said he would pay more taxes if it helped educate more children and create affordable healthcare, Jay-Z’s words matter. He was honest enough to say that he didn’t understand it. A lot of Americans don’t. He was also honest enough to recognize that there are some in the 1 percent who “deceiving” and “robbing,” so I know in his heart he gets it. I know he is a compassionate person who cares about the poor, so I’m certain if I had two more minutes with him, I could change his mind.

I went to Zuccotti Park, the home-base of the Occupy Wall Street movement, almost everyday for months. I listened to the young people talk about their 99 problems. The 99 percent. Healthcare reform. Prison industrial complex. The war machine. Bad schools. Lack of access to affordable higher education. Genetically modified food. Gay rights. Immigration reform. Crumbling housing projects. Climate change. Everyday, there was a new protester with a new sign, fighting for the rights of the under-served. There was never an official agenda or media-friendly talking points. Zuccotti Park and the Occupy camps that sprung up around the country were places for any and every person to come and share ideas about how to better perfect our union. Our democracy.

I would agree that for many it was hard to understand the purpose of the movement if you did not attend any of the General Assemblies, or march hand-in-hand with the millions of protesters around the country. The months during the height of the beginning of the movement were unlike anything we had seen before in our nation. A protest led by no one, but always led by leaders. Organized through social media, yet no organization at the forefront. This was a true people’s campaign.

If we look back at the accomplishments thus far of Occupy Wall Street, there are many. For one, the national conversation that preceded September 17th, 2011 was dominated by a manufactured political fight in Washington to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a credit default. Within the first weeks of OWS, the conversation had been changed to the real issue that is eroding America; economic inequality, a topic that hasn’t been discussed for decades. Within the first few months of OWS, the conversation evolved into an examination of how Wall Street’s money has destroyed our political system and took control of our democracy. The prison industrial complex, lower taxes for the rich, the outsourcing of jobs, Wall Street running rampant, poisonous foods for our children, even some wars and almost everything that disempowers the poor, is a result of money passing from lobbyists and corporations to our politicians. And that is what Occupy Wall Street is fighting against. It is a sad state that the politicians work for the people who pay them, not for the people who elect them. That is not democracy.

f you look at the current Presidential election, Money Mitt Romney and his buddies are spending 12 times that of President Obama in special interest money and/or Super PACs. Money Mitt is clearly being manipulated by big corporations and folks who can write $10 million checks. The man changes his position every three days. When the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizen’s United, our democracy sign was placed on the front lawn with big red letters: FOR SALE! I am encouraged by President Obama’s support of using a Constitutional Amendment as an option to return our democracy back to the people. This will be his legacy issue. I am sure of that. And without the pressure of Occupy Wall Street, this conversation might never have happened.

So, Jay, here’s the deal. You’re rich and I’m rich. But, today it’s close to impossible to be you or me and get out of Marcy Projects or Hollis, Queens without changing our government to have our politicians work for the people who elect them and not the special interests and corporations that pay them. Because we know that these special interests are nothing special at all. In fact, they spend millions of dollars destroying the fabric of the black community and make billions of dollars in return. For example, the prison lobby paid politicians to create a so-called “War On Drugs” that resulted in a prison economy that disproportionately locks up black and brown people, including many of your friends and mine. They took drug-infected, diseased people, locked them up, educated them in criminal behavior and dumped them back into our community, thus producing a jail culture for our streets. There are more black people under correctional control (prison, jail, parole, probation) today, than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War. This is just one issue that has been bought and sold. If we have to occupy Wall Street or occupy All Streets to change the course of direction of this nation, then we must. We must take our democracy off the market and let the world know that it is no longer for sale! Mic check!

Your Friend,

~Russell Simmons 

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Reporting Live from Charlotte.. The DNC 2012: Day 1

September 4, 2012 By

Live From the DNC-Charlotte Day 1: Today is the first day of the Democratic Nat’l Convention and already in there have been more and bigger protests in the past 3 days then all of what we saw in Tampa.. The big one was the Historic Wall Street South March which saw large number of Labor People come together to not only highlight economic disparities. 99% vs 1% but to also bring heat to President Obama and the DNC for holding a convention in North Carolina which ranks #50 in Union members..

In fact up until a couple of weeks ago some of those business interests supporting Obama had boldly advertised on their website.. ‘Welcome to Charlotte Where We Don’t Have Unions’.. It was a huge smack to labor who pulled back significantly in both money and support… They noted that they had very little input from day one on any decision making..The corporate bigwigs have their own trade associations and and belong to outlets like the US Chamber of Commerce who represent their collective interests, but those same forces are adamantly against the average worker organizing unions.   On the flipside of the coin, the DNC says they came to Charlotte to make sure that North Carolina, which had long been a red state would remain blue.. Obama made that happen in 08.. Currently Mitt Romney is leading in most polls in North Carolina..

Sadly for many union members they feel they have no choice.. So while many went in hard on Obama at the march, they tempered their remarks to say they will support him. Over the past few months I’ve been used to going to places where I would hear folks critical of the President..especially when it comes to him pushing an agenda that looks out for Black folks.. That definitely is not the case hear.. Black folks in Charlotte are riding uber hard for Obama. Over and over I heard from folks saying that was their guy hands down.. One brother who does radio out here even changed his name to Obama.. From what I gather the President and his people have a strong presence in Charlotte.. There’s a lot of communication.

BET/Hip Hop Caucus Townhall was packed

A lot of that support was evident when I went to the BET/HiP Hop Caucus Town Hall on Voter Suppression. It was packed with crowds spilling into overflow rooms. The Hood was definitely there.. Folks were attentive, soaking up the array of info on voter suppression tactics and what they need to do to combat it.. That townhall was impressive and scary just hearing all the madness being done to stop votes…From where I sat folks  at the townhall were rolling hard with Obama…

Some of this came to a head yesterday when about 30 members of local union UFWS, mostly African American came to a recently occupied Marshall Park in the center of the city wearing yellow shirts and said Obama 2012.. Seeing how much the unions spoke out against Obama at the big March the Day before, some of the Occupy folks confronted them an a war of word ensued.. The labor cats were chanting ‘4 More Years‘, Occupy folks chanted ‘No More Wars‘.. No More Years‘.. It got pretty heated.. The union cats refused to interview with me as they left in disgust.. The Occupy folks I spoke to said these guys were being corporate pawns and gave breakdown of where and how these folks had dropped the ball and in been slow in organizing.. Others said Occupy was out of line and made things ugly.. Occupy was definitely the aggressor and more animated in the situation.. Many were quite clear that corporate dominance is a problem in both parties. The racial dynamics did not go unnoticed of the Black union members and the 20 or so mostly white Occupy exchanging words over Obama..

Having a huge presence here in Charlotte are brown folks, many undocumented who came to the march deep  and held a Fear No Papers rally last night.. That rally was heavily supported by those who are documented.. Many are not happy with Obama and even though the President has promised to ease back and give folks a break, many are still angry that over one million folks were deported. That means one million families were broken up.. Most undocumented folks are connected to families who are citizens.. So each deportation means a mother, father Uncle etc has been shipped out..  Brown folks from all over, are here and they are geared up to hold a big event tomorrow night.. I don’t get the sense of excitement the way I did in Tampa last week..

The opening party held at the Music Factory was blah..Noticeably absent were all the big stars especially young popular artists and actors..No Jay-Z, Will I am, Diddy etc.. It’s not like 08 in the least ..The bulk of the people arrive today and thus that may change..Earlier this week there was a large contingent of local and underground artists including Rebel Diaz and their collective and Jasiri X among others.

Whereas Mitt Romney had to work at getting people to like him.. Obama will have to work at energizing young people and other parts of his base responsible for getting him into office..  In fact Obama the big concern now is whether or not Obama will be able to pack the Bank of America Stadium which seats 73k.. If that place is not packed , whatever damage Clint Eastwood did to Romney will be countered by photos and footage of a half filled stadium. He has Mary J Blige, Earth Wind & Fire and Foo Fighters performing, but there is still no buzz..Obama better hope the sporadic rain storms Charlotte is having occurs Thursday night..Tonight Michele Obama speaks. Also Julian Castro Mayor of San Antonio speaks.. The DNC is really going hard to win over Brown votes..

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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