Sistas in Struggle Fight Against Oppression: Good Sista Bad Sista

From July 2008. Let me just say that I am proud to call these bad sistas my friends
Photo: ME
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Sistas in Struggle Fight Against Oppression

Turiya Autry and Walidah Imarisha are professors in the Black Studies Department at Portland State University. They are also nationally known as the word slinging spoken word duo Good Sista/Bad Sista. Between them they ad film making, creative writing, acting, activism and journalism to their mix.
Even with Walidah’s move to Philadelphia of a few years, the women maintained a bond unbroken. Having known one another going on twelve years, the two women compliment the other with grace. Gentle and hard, tough and tender, good and bad, these sistas know what’s up. I joined them recently for a discussion about education, different forms of media and the many and myriad ways that oppression intersects itself in the lives of people of color.

ME: How did you two meet?

Turiya: It’s interesting that we both teach at PSU because that’s where we met. Talk about your full circle. We came together with a different dynamic as undergraduates and now we’re both faculty. It’s pretty exciting. We’ve both come a long way.

Walidah: We met twelve years ago and clicked as Black women at a mostly white university as students, poets, activists and organizers.

ME: How did Good Sista/Bad Sista come into being?

Turiya: Someone asked us to take part in a Black History Month tribute to Black women. They asked me to fill 15 minutes with poetry. For me at that time fifteen minutes was just daunting. I said to Walidah, “You have to do this with me.” We took two pieces that we had and meshed them into a new larger piece.
Walidah: The piece that we came up with was “No, You Don’t Know Me.”And it came together from us just sitting talking smack. We never set out to form a duo, it was just something that happened organically. Most of what we produce together happens organically, including teaching. Turiya was teaching a Black feminism class and said, “Hey, you should teach this class with me.”

Turiya: Right, I thought, “How can I know that Walidah is back in Portland and not have her teach this with me?”

Walidah: It was the first college level class that we jointly taught; we had already taught elementary, middle-school and high school writing classes together. The next class that we created was Science Fiction, Race and Gender. Again, it was organic; we didn’t have anything to work, it had never been taught at PSU, it came from us talking smack about movies. We considered the implications and dynamics of films and agreed that we should teach this. In the Science Fiction class we’re talking about what other visions for the future we could see. What would a vision based on the identity of a queer, working class, Black revolutionary woman look like? Let’s put that forward.

Turiya: We are always taking various aspects of film and popular culture through the ringer regarding things that we see are lacking. We wondered about what it would be like to talk about the way that race and gender is dealt with in science fiction. We started watching films and taking notes about what sci-fi would look like if it came from a different race/different gender point of view. When we began discussing this idea with others, we got really enthusiastic responses about what should be included.

Walidah: In framing it conceptually and logically; the reason that we like science fiction is because it is the one source of literature where you get to envision a different future, a different past or a different present. You are given the freedom to create whatever you want. This is not true in other forms of literature. Revolutionaries need to be looking at science fiction more deeply because this is the space where we can say, “Okay, we’re against all of these things; but what do we want? What can we build? When we’re finished, what kind of society are we going to have?”

I think science fiction has been controlled. The white supremacist patriarchy has a choke hold on it. The visions of the future that we are fed are the visions that merely replicate the present. We see the same people in charge, the same kinds of oppression happening, the same people getting shit on over and over again and we think, Okay, well; then this is all there is. There is nothing else. In being able to deconstruct this ideology and the messages that we are given and to see that they are clear conscious choices that people are making, white supremacist patriarchal culture that has really given them an insight and intuition that often times white students don’t have.

ME: I meant to ask how you came up with the name “Good Sista/Bad Sista?”

Walidah: We were performing in a show called Black Anger’s Last Stand. Black Anger is a revolutionary hip-hop group in Seattle. At that point we didn’t have a name. We were backstage and there was this brother who was like somebody’s second-cousin-best-friend-baby-momma next door neighbor who like got backstage. He’s totally mackin’ hardcore on Turiya, like (assumes mackin’ pose), “Waddup giiiiirrrl, how ya dooooin’, you sho look goooood...” And she’s like (slips into sweet, high pitched voice, “Um, while I really appreciate your energy and the support that you are giving me, I think I’m going to need a little space from you and find some breathing room to kind of be myself, if you would please allow me...”
Then he looked at me, and I’m like, “DON’T EVEN TRY IT. Brotha, you need to back the fuck up.” And he said, “Daaayum! It’s like being Good Sista, Bad Sista!”
Just then, someone came up to us and asked how we’d like to be introduced on stage and we said, “Well, how about Good Sista/Bad Sista.” And that’s how we got that name.

ME: Is there anything else that either of you feel is important to include in this piece?
(Pause...)

Turiya: Just that Portland better watch out because we have reunited.
(Laughter.)

Walidah: Yeah! Check yo’ back Portland, check yo’ back! (More laughter.)

Prison Interview with Convicted Oregon "Eco-Terrorist" Jeff Luers

Photo: Democracy Now! Interview 2009

Prison Interview with Convicted Oregon "Eco-Terrorist" Jeff Luers

When Jeff "free" Luers and Craig "Critter" Marshall drove away from Romania Chevrolet in the early morning hours of June 16, 2001 after igniting the wicks of two one gallon milk jugs filled with Coleman fuel, they could not have known that this action would come to significantly alter their lives.

The Eugene, Oregon anarchist eco-activists had placed the firebombs under a row of SUVs in an attempt to bring attention to the disproportionate air pollution caused by gas guzzling vehicles. Neither were aware that Luers had been tailed throughout the day by three plainclothes police since his release from jail earlier that day on a disorderly conduct charge stemming from activities during the Eugene "Seven Weeks Revolt" anarchist conference. The cops lost track of the two a block from the Chevrolet dealership. Ten minutes later, Springfield officers stopped them for a traffic violation. Both were taken into custody by the undercover agents who had been following them. It was later learned that one of the agents was from an anti-domestic terrorist unit. Luers and Marshall were arrested on Criminal Mischief One, a charge that carries about one year.

Damage caused by the fire was quickly put out with a simple fire extinguisher and totaled $40,000 worth of damage. In addition, all three vehicles were repaired and subsequently sold. No human life was taken or endangered, yet one week later Luers was arraigned on nine different felony counts including arson, attempted arson, and manufacturing and possession of destructive devices or explosives. Similar devices were found at petroleum distributor Tyree Oil in Eugene, and three weeks before his trial began, he was also charged with attempted arson of that facility and faced several more charges. By the time of his trial, he had accumulated 13 charges and was looking at serving 100 years if convicted. While no physical evidence was found to link Luers to Tyree, he was offered a deal for 15 years if he would plead guilty to both Romania and Tyree. He held fast and refused. In the end, he was convicted of 11 felony charges and sentenced to 22 years and 8 months with no possibility of parole. Co-defendant Marshall took a "conspiracy to commit arson" and "possession of destructive devices" plea and was released after serving four and a half years. It must be made clear that no part of this deal involved any admission of guilt or implication of guilt on the part of Craig Marshal or Jeffrey Luers. A later falling out between the two is unrelated to this plea.

In a decision handed down on February 28 of 2008, Luers' appeal for re-sentencing was heard in Eugene's Lane County Circuit Court. The new ruling brings his release date to December 2009. Luers originally filed his appeal in January of 2002. The original sentence handed down to Luers in June of 2001 was stunning in a most draconian sense and was clearly politically motivated.

Since the time of Luers' arrest, the United States has seen an unprecedented dismantling of civil liberties via the excessive reach of the War on Terror. The largest roundup of eco-activists in US history began with the launch of the FBI's "Operation Backfire" on December 7, 2005. At a national press conference in January 2006, then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller unveiled a 65-count indictment targeting the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) with the claim that a "vast eco-terrorist conspiracy" was the U.S. number one domestic terrorist threat.

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 27, 2006. It was pushed through Congress by wealthy biomedical & agri-business industry groups such as the Animal Enterprise Protection Coalition, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Center for Consumer Freedom, with bipartisan support from legislators Senator Dianne Feinstein and Rep. James Sensenbrenner.

AETA expands the legal definition of "terrorism" to include activity previously protected as free speech under the First Amendment. The Act's broad language brings ambiguity to statutory terms used in the offense and definition sections of the law. Such undefined terms as "interfere with," "profit loss," and "economic damage" might be applied to the results of lawful boycotts and peaceful protests: "interfering with" could conceivably cover undercover investigations of animal laboratories, Internet postings, email campaigns, or demonstrations and boycotts. Because of this ambiguity, the law arguably does not give a reasonable person fair notice of what is legal, as is required of a criminal statute. This is not resolved by the AETA's stated exemptions for "lawful boycotts" and "peaceful protests." Indeed, the elements of those acts may qualify as terrorist acts under the AETA. This brings a chilling effect not only to the work of eco and animal rights activists, but to all dissenters across the board. Luers in fact has never claimed affiliations with either ALF or ELF.

Jeff Luers has become internationally known and supported as a political prisoner, not only because of the length of his original sentence, but also because of his prior activism and the tree-sitting campaign at Fall Creek, Oregon. To some he is a true revolutionary. He also wears the label of terrorist. He has served time in a number of Oregon correctional facilities with the majority of his time spent at the maximum security Oregon State Penitentiary. He has been housed for the past nine months at the Columbia River Correctional Institution in Portland, Oregon. This interview was conducted by this author through a series of letter exchanges during late 2008 and January 2009.



ME-What is the status of your release date? Are you still looking at December 2009?

JL-My current release date is December 16 2009. There is some contention between me and the Department of Corrections about this; the date should be December 15. That is my good time release date. While it is unlikely to change, I could be released as late as June 17, 2010.

ME-What are you most looking forward to upon your release? What are you most apprehensive about?

JL-There are so may things that I am excited about. No more walls is a big one. I think that within my first weeks I'll find myself camped deep in the woods reconnecting with nature.

There doesn't really seem to be too much that I'm apprehensive about. Certainly, prison has changed me, but the core of my being is still the same. My biggest challenge I think, is going to be living indoors and paying rent.

ME-At the time that you began your activism, there were a host of eco issues to be addressed. What put you on the path to tree sitting as opposed to other environmental struggles?

JL-For me, tree sitting was all about the direct action. It was a campaign and struggle that was local that I could have a direct impact on.

The end goals of many struggles are completely beyond our reach. Not that we shouldn't still struggle to reach those goals, but they translate into petitions of redress. We must concede that we are powerless to create change ourselves and end up asking others to do it for us.

Direct action isn't like that. The power to create change or act on a belief system rests completely in our hands. It takes power away from the powerful and puts it in the hands of the powerless.

I got involved in old growth defense because I was physically capable of stopping the logging of that forest. And anyone familiar with the Fall Creek/Red Cloud Thunder campaign knows that we did not politely ask for that forest to be protected. Nor did we protest gently.

ME-What moved you to follow through with the arson at Romania? Did you feel that there was any other alternative at all to raise awareness about global warming? And, what was running through your mind when you set flame to incendiary?

JL-Our world is being physically and geographically altered by the greenhouse gasses that we're putting into the environment. Local and global climates are changing. These events have been happening for decades, but it is only now that this makes news.

Industry giants and corporate hooligans are making millions of dollars destroying the planet I love. They are putting people's lives at risk.

You ask me what moved me to follow through with these actions. I ask, what has not moved others?

There were plenty of other alternatives to raise awareness about global warming. Al Gore did a great job. He's also a former vice president and millionaire. It's harder to ignore him or shut him up though many tried.

Things have not changed much since the time of kings. Poor people are still ignored. Only when the peasants revolt does the king take notice.

Do you really want to know what I was thinking when critter and I lit the incendiary devices? Okay. I was thinking, "Don't set yourself on fire."

ME-You and critter both followed through in carrying out the arson action together and you were immediately arrested together after this action. Because of his plea, he was released after serving a four and a half year sentence in contrast to your original sentence of 22 years plus. What do you have to say to this? (Any comment for sake of clarity to the community regarding your falling out with him?)

JL-Critter and I talked extensively before he agreed to take his deal. He was firmly prepared to go to trial with me had I asked. I wanted critter to take the deal. At the time, they offered him five years. They were offering me fifteen. By taking the deal he in no way had to cooperate. Hell, he wouldn't have even had to acknowledge guilt.

The falling out he and I had is personal and between he and I. We have since made up. I am very much looking forward to seeing my old friend.

ME-How effective was your action at Romania, and is there anything that you regret?

JL-In some ways the Romania action was and is probably one of the most effective direct actions taken in the United States; I know, very modest of me, right? Our action changed the dynamics of clandestine actions for the earth in this country. Afterward, Romania car dealerships all over the world were targeted.

Suddenly, it was no longer just industry being targeted but the culture that is responsible for global warming.

And yeah, I do have some regrets about Romania. After all of the [prison] time that I got for that little fire, I wish I'd done something bigger.

ME-Your original sentence by any fair and rational definition was brutal and extreme, particularly in contrast to punishment meted out to rapists and other violent offenders, many of whom you saw and see released while you sit in a concrete cage. The effect on you has had to, at times, fill you with rage. What have you done to channel this rage?

JL-I've never been angry about my sentence. What am I supposed to feel rage toward? I already know that the system is corrupt and unjust. I already know that property is valued more than life. I know that an act of dissent will receive harsher punishment than crime. I was angry at those things when I took action. So I can't complain that [this punishment] happened to me. In some ways, I'm glad that they gave me 22 years and called me a terrorist. It not only proved that I was right about the things that I was saying, but it also showed that direct action really truly is a threat to business as usual.

The punishment has only served to further my dedication as demonstrated by my continuing struggle from inside these walls.

ME-Operation Backfire hit the environmental movement hard, in the NW particularly. You saw former comrades given lengthy prison sentences based on the testimony of other former comrades who rolled over for the feds. The Animal Enterprise Terrorist Act was signed into law in November of 2006. Clearly, the criminal factory farm corporations and capitalist industry polluters have it made in the shade as the government protects their interests at all costs. First, what do you have to say about these draconian measures and second, do you have any words of encouragement for activists who have fallen to fear and retreated to the shadows?

JL-Fear is the enemy of freedom. We fail to act because we fear the cost of living free. We live in a police state. The U.S. may be the kinder face of fascism, but it is still a fascist state. Yes, we have elected a man who may bring change, but the system that he upholds will still be a capitalist, imperialist monster. If anyone thinks that he isn't going to protect the corporate interests at the extent of the people, they are wrong. We live in one of the few countries in the world where corporations are granted and guaranteed the same rights under our constitution. By design, our government is structured to uphold that rule of law.

I would rather be in prison or dead than blindly submit to a government I know is corrupt and wrong. I would rather dare to live free and fight against injustice than cower in silence and despair. I think many people feel the same way. We just have to be smarter in how we speak out and in how we act.

Oppression is designed to break the free spirit of the people and force them to accept their lot. The whole nature of and desire for freedom is to break free at all costs.

There is a world beyond this one just waiting to be created. The right to clean air, water and food is a birthright. Freedom is ours by right of birth. It cannot be granted by any government. It cannot be bought at any price. It is ours and we must only choose to wear its mantle.

MG-You've kept us update via your Dispatches from prison. In your last one you wrote that you were tired of fighting. This is a right that you certainly have earned. You also wrote that you were not giving up, but are instead looking at different ways of fighting. Can you touch more on this?

JL-I've spent the last twelve years on the front lines. Sadly, nearly nine of those have been in prison. I want to focus on my life and family when I get out.

I've seen our failures at struggling against the symptoms. I'd like to focus on creating the cure. Direct activism and militancy is a mainstay of the struggle for social and environmental justice. Unfortunately, creating alternatives to today's mess has not been. That is where I would really like to work and bring really hands on changes and alternatives to the table.

ME-One of the more chilling Dispatches from you appeared online on Portland Indymedia in September of 2006. In it, you wrote about the more brutal aspects of prison life. In the space of a few weeks a guard had been severely beaten in the yard, fights in chow hall were averaging one a week and a man lay dying for five hours in front of your cell. You wrote, "I can watch a man get stabbed in the neck and keep eating. I can pretend to not see a man lying helpless in his own blood (along with everyone else on the yard). And I can watch a man die and be completely unmoved."

When you learned that the guy you watched die was a child molester, you wrote that you were glad that he was dead. While a few folks who commented seemed to understand what it was that you were trying to convey, one chastised you for feeling glad. She wrote that this was a "sad turn of events for you," and that if anyone should have compassion for another human being, it should be you.

Clearly, prison is a dehumanizing experience. While I understand that it is not your job to clarify your feelings, how would you respond to the woman's comments?

JL-This is the first time that I have seen these comments [I mailed Jeff a print out of the Indy post]. It is obviously a little difficult to respond to something I experienced years ago.

My friend Randy Cross-who took his own life not to long after-killed a man. I watched that man die. I felt nothing as I did. It was simply just another day in prison.

Many people cannot begin to grasp the violent life of a max security prison. The threat of death is in the air everyday. I lived that life without cowering from it. When threatened with violence I responded in kind. When threatened with being stabbed I had my own shank to turn to.

Every one of my friends had a weapon hidden somewhere. Prison is a war zone. We struggle for territory, space, to avoid becoming a victim. Right or wrong, that was my life. I fought, I stood my ground, and I survived.

When I learned the man Randy killed was a child molester who admitted in court that he raped and used a foreign object inside a little girl, a girl who wasn't even yet twelve, I was glad the monster was dead. There are several monsters that I would like to see dead and not all are in prison. Some start unjust wars.

I'm not sorry the guy died. And I don't need to justify or explain that feeling. What I am sorry about is that I can watch that level of violence and be unaffected by it. I'm sorry that society makes monsters that must be killed.

ME-What do you think the world will look like to you when you hear the steel door close behind you for the last time and you walk free? What do you think you will look like to the world? How will you see yourself?

JL-I think the only difference is that the world and I will both be a little older.
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Jeff was released on December 16, 2009 after serving more than eight years following a ruling the sentence was too harsh.

Jeff Hogg & the Liberation of Dissent

Ah, yes. NW Oregon and the "Green Scare."

Jeff Hogg 

Photo: Green is the New Red

Jeff Hogg & the Liberation of Dissent

The IWW union hall in North Portland was filled to capacity at the Liberating Dissent Ant-Green Scare event last night as Grand Jury resister Jeff Hogg shared his six month ordeal as a Green Scare political prisoner.

Until his release from the Josephine County Jail on November 11 of this year, Jeff found himself caught in the snare of the government war on dissent. His speaking presentation occurred as part of an international call to mark the weekend of December 7 as a display of unity and opposition to government repression. It was on December 7, 2005, that the FBI's "Operation Backfire" began with it's broad sweep of harassment, intimidation and persecution of eco and animal rights activists. The ensuing investigation with Grand Jury subpoenas and arrests has come to be known as the Green Scare.

Targeted because of prior eco-activism and activist associations in the Eugene area including work with the Earth First! Journal, Hogg was served with a subpoena in May of this year to testify before the grand jury in regard to a supposed ELF arson that caused property damage. His experience was one of intimidation from the beginning.

"OBVIOUSLY, THE GRAND JURY SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK"

Hogg began his presentation with an overview of the Grand Jury system and it's unlimited and unchecked misuse of investigative power. He began by offering statistics regarding the federal government's misguided crime fighting priorities.

"A couple of years ago the FBI announced that ELF and ALF were the number one terrorist threat in the country. They received funding to go out to harass and intimidate the activist communities. They are not really interested in going out to fight violent crime that terrorizes human beings. Their own statistics state that in 2003 there were 7,400 hate crimes committed that were motivated [to attack] one's race, ethnicity, religion or gender. That year there were also 450 crimes against the environment committed by corporate industries who violated the clean air and water acts and practiced illegal waste dumping. Their [FBI] priorities are somewhat eschewed. They are using the word 'terrorism' to play on our fear."

He went on to explain how the Grand Jury power of subpoena is used to gather information while counting on an individual's lack of knowledge about their constitutional rights. Many who have been subpoenaed have gone on to testify, feeling protected by the fact that as they have no information and therefore have nothing to disclose. What Hogg wants people to know is that Grand Jury subpoenas are used broadly as major fishing expeditions and that even the most seemingly insignificant information can and will be distorted and used against the radical community. With this, the decision is made as to what activity calls for surveillance, illegal wiretapping and where and when best to plant provocateurs. This kind of extra legal activity was widely used to derail the social justice movements of the sixties and seventies, and, this history is repeating itself before us again with Operation Backfire.

"60-100 people have been subpoenaed as part of the Green Scare since 2000. The vast majority were law abiding citizens called in to talk about co-workers, friends and neighbors in violation of the 1st Amendment right to free speech and association. Grand Juries are not entitled to ask for records of group membership, how money in organizations is used, who attends meetings, who your friends are or who you associate with. There was someone who went to a volunteer work party for the EF! Journal. They didn't need to offer that information. They could have gone to their lawyer to learn this."

One is not given the right to remain silent before a Grand Jury. You can still be compelled to testify. The government gets around this by giving you immunity. This means that one is guaranteed that your testimony will not be used against you and you therefore no longer have any legal ground to remain silent. Grand Juries are secretive and controlled by government prosecutors with no judge present. Jurors only look at evidence that the government chooses to present. Grand Juries are manipulated in this way.

"The purpose of the Grand Jury as stated in the Constitution is to protect people from prosecution that runs rampant and to keep the misuse of government power in check," said Hogg. "You have no right to an attorney in the Grand Jury room. Obviously, the Grand Jury system does not work."

SUSPENSION OF CONTSITUTIONAL RIGHTS

It was last May that Hogg was approached by an FBI agent and Eugene police officer as he was leaving his nursing school class.

"They told me that I was not in trouble, that they had questions and wanted me to testify against an arsonist. They implied that if I did not cooperate I might be charged with something. 'We'd hate to see you behind the defendant's desk' they said. I told them that I wasn't going to say anything until I got a lawyer."

In his search for legal representation, Hogg learned that the public defenders in Lane County were already tied up with Green Scare clients. His search led him to Portland attorney Paul Loney. One week after being asked to testify, Hogg was served with a subpoena. He refused to cooperate at the hearing by pleading the 5th.

"They walked me over to the court room. There a judge granted me immunity and said that now I had to testify. I was taken back before the Grand Jury and said I wouldn't testify and that this whole prosecution was in violation of my 1st, 5th and 6th Amendment rights. They walked me back to the court room where I was charged with civil contempt. Then I was taken to a chamber below the court room and was told, 'Well you have a few hours to reconsider your decision.'" He reconsidered nothing and was taken to jail in chains. He served 6 months in the Josephine County Jail in Grants Pass. This meant that his partner CiCi and had a 5 hour round trip to take for visits. His attorney would have an eight hour plus drive to consult with his client.

"This was challenging, especially not knowing how long the Grand Jury would be in session. The Jury is usually impaneled for 18 months, this one only had about 5 months left. They decided to extend it for another 6 months. They told my attorney that they still wanted me to testify. It was really depressing, thinking that I would not get out until March sometime. And then, I was suddenly released a week later."

By this time, Jeff had lost his job and his spot in nursing school. His grandfather also died and he was not able to attend the funeral.

"I want to thank everyone for their support. I don't think I could have gotten through this without it. The support was amazing. People from around the country wrote me letters, I had free legal representation, my friends and supporters did fundraisers, gave firewood, let my partner borrow their car when ours broke down, people came and did yard work—people came together in solidarity. That is something that you should all be proud of. I don't know if I could have done that [jail time] without all of that support. I see it as a statement from the radical community saying 'Fuck you! Your campaign of harassment and intimidation is not dividing this community. ' Thanks for even the smallest role of support. It was important not only for me but for everyone to make that statement, not just to lift my spirit but so that we can all experience that solidarity. Not only to help my partner pay our bills but for everyone's own faith and strength in the face of government repression. So that you know that if you are in my shoes, we have your back. Perhaps it was the lack of faith in support that that contributed to the breaking [of activists] under the threat of life sentences and to become informants. It's really sad, because the support is there."

PRISONER SUPPORT

Before leaving the microphone, Jeff touched on the dire importance of prisoner support. He stated that before he went to jail, he didn't much write to prisoners because he did not feel that he had anything interesting to say.

"Now, I have to say: when you're in jail *anything* is interesting." This brought great laughter from the event attendees. He went on to encourage folks to be creative and write about a hike you took, a work project, something of great beauty that you might have seen.

"Anything is always interesting when you're in a concrete box. So... please, continue to write to prisoners, keep up the solidarity. And, thanks." With this, this slight, soft spoken young man went back to tabling for Portland Books to Prisoners.

I caught up with Jeff a little later to ask if there was anything else that he felt was important to include in this article. He obviously has not had an easy time and with the attack on the right to dissent, he might have more hardship to endure. Did he have anything to say to activists who may feel the need to walk away from movement organizing out of fear of government retaliation?

He paused for a moment and then said, "I would say, just stay strong and have faith in your community. Keep working on building that community. And support our prisoners."

PDX Immigration Roundup: Tip of the ICEberg

This is from June 2007. More than disheartening as so much remains the same, with Trump leading the hate on immigration.
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Sanctuary Meeting

Reunion de Families 7:00

Community Center

Photo: ME

PDX Immigration Roundup: Tip of the ICEberg

In response to yesterday's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at the Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. plant in North Portland, over 300 immigrant workers, worker families and immigrant rights supporters came together last night to voice concerns and learn about resources available to those affected by the worker roundup in which 167 were arrested and detained for immigration violations.

At the emergency forum held at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in N.E. Portland and organized by local immigrant advocacy organizations and legal advisors, attendees learned about what rights are guaranteed undocumented workers upon arrest and detainment by ICE; what assistance is available families of those detained, and; what best next plans must be coordinated as it is expected that ICE is sure to add another notch to their "criminalization of immigrants (quotes by author)" campaign.

Corporate media denied access

                                                                    

                                                          

The evening began with some negotiation with local T.V. reporters. Forum organizers were concerned with the issue of video recording in contrast with necessary confidentiality regarding immigration status of some in attendance. Employer retaliation was also a concern as some worried about what reaction Del Monte supervisors would have upon seeing employees on camera at the pro-immigrant event. While the handful of corporate media sat in a funk just outside the church meeting hall, organizers discussed with attendees whether or not to allow filming access. After lengthy discussion among those in attendance, it was finally decided that those who did not want to be on camera would move to the right of the hall. In the end, only one photographer from the Oregonian was seen taking photos.


"We Are Not Criminals!"

After Father Charles Lienardt led a prayer asking that those affected by the Del Monte raid be provided with strength and support during their ordeal, VOZ day laborer organizer Pedro Sosa next addressed the crowd. As he waved a $20 bill in the air, he asked the audience what it was that he held in his hand and what one could do with it. After a myriad of responses, he crumbled the bill and threw it on the floor. "What can we do with it now?" Stepping on the bill and grinding it into the floor he asked, "Does it still have worth? Does it still have value?"

"Yes," came the answer. Sosa then held the wadded bill in the air. "I hope that when we think of the worth of this money that we think of our own worth. We have been stepped on and beaten down but we still have value, we still have worth and we still have our dignity. We must remain united in our opposition to a structure has no dignity and only values us for our labor and then throws us away when we are no longer needed. We are workers! We are not criminals!"

This was met with cheers and a brief discussion about the necessity of maintaining a united front. It was then time for an overview of the day's events. It was explained that the raid was the culmination of a six-month investigation into the illegal manufacturing and sales of identification cards including fraudulent social security numbers. Is is alleged by ICE that nine out of ten of those employed by Del Monte were hired while using phony I.D.s.

The forum next moved to those in attendance sharing their experiences. Family members spoke emotionally about not knowing where spouses, children and siblings were detained, how to reach them or when or if they would be deported. It was said that Del Monte supervisors were giving out as little explanation and information as possible to workers and their families. Daycare providers told of children who were still in their care as of late evening because their parents had been carted off by ICE law enforcement. When one daycare provider asked authorities what steps to take to reunite the children with their family, she was told to turn the children over to the Department of Human Resources. Another story was told of a neighboring family whose underage children were waiting for their parents to come home. With this, it was announced that immigration attorneys were in attendance and that anyone with questions about the location and status of family members, questions regarding their own resident status as well as information about reunification were free to meet in an adjoining room with counsel. Approximately more than a third of those present rose to do so.

Immigrant Rights and Sanctuary

Attendees were next informed of their basic rights and learned that they had the right to remain silent and request an attorney. They also were informed that they had the right to appeal their charges and request release on humanitarian assignment. This category can be extended to those under medical care, women who are pregnant or those who are the sole caregiver or family provider (obvious Catch-22 noted here). There is also the possible that some arrested may be released if it is evidenced that they are not a threat to the community. It is not known at this time if anyone has been released from the Tacoma WA Detention Center where they are held.

Also brought into discussion was the formation of a new Sanctuary Movement. This Movement reached its height in the mid 1980's as U.S. residents provided sanctuary for Central American refugees fleeing the U.S. sponsored terrorist death squads. These death squads who put into practice lessons learned at the U.S. School of the Americas, were responsible for the rape, torture, mutilation and murder of 300,00 innocent Central American civilians from 1979-87.

As the evening grew long and the schedule behind, some voiced the need to take organized action in a show of solidarity. It was also said that there was an immediate need to establish a worker fund for families targeted by ICE. It was suggested that those interested in forming committees to discuss specific tactics of resistance join together for separate discussions. Some tactics discussed were the possibility of an informational picket and migra (ICE) watch at Del Monte and other companies with a large immigrant workforce, an info picket at the Mexican Consulate as well as at the ICE office and a concerted effort to focus on Portland Mayor Tom Potter to urge him to implement discourse with ICE on comprehensive and humanitarian immigration reform.

Thoughts and Analysis

As former volunteer and staff with PCUN, The Oregon Farmworker Union, I have for years seen first hand the rampant, blatant, violent and racist exploitation of Latino agricultural and cannery workers. As summer approaches, the fields in the Willamette Valley will soon be full with workers who put fruit and vegetables on our tables, pick the grapes for our wine and cut the hops for our beer. It is well known among farmworkers and farmworker organizers that growers have often worked in tandem with ICE in coordinating immigration raids. Many times, raids occur just after harvest and workers are deported without pay. Without our support, undocumented workers are not likely to often speak out against unfair wages, inhumane working conditions, harassment or much of anything else.

Yesterday's raid at Del Monte is sure to be one of many such operations. It is important to strategise, support and take part in organizing an active resistance to counter inhumane ICE tactics.

I ask you to keep in mind that ICE is a wing of Homeland Security, brought to us via the Patriot Act. I also ask that at your next meal, you take time to consider that everything on your plate was first touched by an immigrant worker. They take care of our children, clean our houses, mow our lawns, construct our housing, cook at our restaurants, bus cafeteria tables, scrub public toilets. I ask you to consider news wire images of pregnant women led to jail in ICE handcuffs and leg chains. What is her crime?

Immigrant workers provide for us. Let's come together and provide for them.

Radical Women: Delores Huerta

I first met Dolores Huerta in 1995. She had come to PCUN in Woodburn, Oregon to speak at the memorial of PCUN co-founder Cipriano Ferrell. Since that time we have greeted one another at various marches, rallies and protests as we take part in the never ending struggle for the rights of undocumented immigrant workers. Like Fredrika Newton, Dolores most definitely is one of my sheroes. I may not agree with all of her political point of view (I'm a recovering liberal), but I continue to admire her nonetheless. She is a tireless and dedicated Chicana Warrior and can always be found on the frontline of the battle for human rights.
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Photo: Delores Huerta Foundation

Chicana Warrior Still Going Strong after 45 Years of Activism

Dolores Huerta ended her keynote address at the first Environmental Conference for Health and Justice with a familiar call and answer. Looking out over the audience that packed the Seattle Ethnic Cultural Center Theater, she called out, "We didn't cross the border!" The audience shouted back the answer, "The border crossed US!"
"Always remember this," she said. "If you are of Latino descent and someone tells you to go back from where you came from, make sure that you tell them that you ARE where you came from and that you were here a long time before they were, right?"
 
She then brought the crowd to their feet with the Farmworker Movement mantra Si Se Puede. "Se puede? (Can we do it?)" she asked. Attendees answered, "Si, se puede! (Yes, we can!)"
 
Huerta introduced this rallying cry in the earliest days of her work as co-founder with Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Worker Union in 1965. While Chavez has garnerd much of the spotlight in counteless books and documentaries, Huerta is at times a mere blip on the radar.
 
Huerta was born on April 10, 1930 in New Mexico. Her parents divorced when she was three. Huerta's mother was a business woman who raised her daughter to be outspoken and independent.

After earning a teaching degree at the University of Pacific's Delta Community College, Huerta ended a brief stint as a teacher because in her words, "I couldn't stand to see kids come to class and needing shoes. I thought that I could do more organizing farm workers than be trying to teach their hungry children."

As a founding member of the Stockton, California Community Service Organization (CSO), Huerta met Cesar Chavez when he joined the outfit in 1955. The CSO worked to organize voter registration drives, fought to end police brutality, battled segregation and pushed to improve resources for the poor and underemployed. in 1960, Huerta helped organize and found the Agricultural Workers Association. As a lobbyist she succeeded in obtaining that citizenship requierments be removed from public assistance programs. She also helped pass legislation that allowed voters the right to vote in Spanish as well as the right to take a driver's license test in one's native language.

In 1962, Huerta and Chavez recognized the need to organize farm workers. Together they founded the National Farm Worker Association. In 1965 they merged with the Filipino worker's Agricultural Farmworker's Association to become the United Farm Worker Union (UFW).

After a successful five year boycott of California grape products, the UFW won the first agricultural union contracts with the San Joaqchin Valley grape growers. It was Huerta who negotiated these first historic contracts. Since then, Huerta has worked tirelessly to lobby for better wages and working conditions for ag workers, fought against federal implementation of Guest Worker programs, pesticide regulation (it was the UFW that won the ban od DDT), and has spearheaded legislation to grant amnesty for farm workers who have lived, worked and paid taxes for years in the U.S. but have been barred from the advantages of citizenship.

During the last presidential election Huerta left the UFW (she is currently the UFW 2nd Vice President Emeritus) to work full time for the Gore campaign.

I had the honor of taking a few minutes with Dolores during a break in conference events.

ME: What have yo been doing since making the transition from full time work at the Union?

DH: Well. for one thing, I worked on the Gore campaign before I was hospitalized for an aneuyrsim. After that, I was sick for a whole year. Then, about that time one of my daughters (Huerta has 11 children!!), Anita, needed a transplant. One of my other daughters, Maria Elena who is a filmmaker, gave her 70% of her liver. Up until February of this year, I was pretty much tied up with my daughters. Then in February I hit the road. We had a lot of activities around March 31 which is Cesar Chavez Day.

ME: How has the focus of your speaking presentations shifted now that you devote much of your time to other causes?

DH: Well, I always use the farm worker struggle to show people what we can bring about through organizing.You know, Cesar and I started the Union with his wife, Helen. And I use the organization as an example of how we were able to rally enough people to change laws and bring about farm worker union contracts that included medical plans, job security, pension plans, paid vacations, and how the Union has grown throughout the southwest, Southeast and Northwest. We have a radio station, the Radio Campesino Network that broadcasts from Washington State all the way down to California's San Joaqchin Valley.

ME: How do you define your role with the UFW now. and, was there a sense of loss as you made the transition from the Union to campaigning Gore?

DH: Um, yes and no. I'm co-founder of the Union, so that will always be my title. You know, at some point you realize that other people can do the work that I used to do.

ME: And this is a way to build leadership.

DH: Right. And I'm always thinking of or doing other projects. One thing that I'm very involved in is promoting women's rights. I'm on the board of the Feminist Majority Foundation. This is the organization that brought attention to the plight of the women in Afghanistan. This is an organization that fights for gender balance, at least on the legislative level and public level. So, there's so much more to be done in terms of the fight against racism, sexism...I don't lack for things to do (laughs)!

ME: After all these years, you're still a powerhouse. Is there anything else that you feel is important to include in this interview?

DH: Only to remind the people that it is we who have the power and to always remember this.
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Visit her foundation site: http://doloreshuerta.org/dolores-huerta/

RADICAL ELDER: ANARCHIST PRIMITIVIST JOHN ZERZAN

John Zerzan gave a presentation in January 2005 at Laughing Horse Books in Portland OR. This piece was done just prior to JZ's reading there.
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RADICAL ELDER: ANARCHIST PRIMITIVIST JOHN ZERZAN

When investigators in the Ted Kaczynski case narrowed the scope of their search for an ideology that seemed to match that contained in the communiqué sent to the New York Times OP-ED by the then unidentified Unabomber in April of 1995, they found themselves taking a look at the anarchist and radical environmentalist communities of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

It was not long before a NY Times reporter found his way to Eugene, Oregon to speak with anarchist and primitivist theorist John Zerzan. The resultant full-page article on Zerzan, which appeared on May 7, 1995, moved Zerzan (who was never a Unabomber suspect) and the city of Eugene into the spotlight.


As a resident of Eugene for nearly 30 years, John Zerzan has been well known and respected as an elder within anarchist activist circles in the Northwest long before broad media attention came his way. The June 1999 Eugene Reclaim the Streets celebration (where gallant anarcho street fighters had police on the run) and the Seattle anti-WTO protest, which occurred later that year (and came to be a full blown riot of Gestapo-like police brutality), brought Zerzan into focus once again as the media sought him out to shed light on anarchism and black bloc tactics.

It is his association with Ted Kaczynski that has perhaps most indelibly marked Zerzan as radical elder. Zerzan was present throughout Kaczynski’s 1996 trial and conversed with him often. Two essays by Zerzan, “Whose Unabomber?” and “He Means It, Do You?” are evidence of his shared anti-technology Kaczynski ideology.

I recently asked Zerzan some questions about his work via e-mail.

ME: Can you share a bit about your background and what it was that brought you to anarchist thought?

JZ: I've been around since the movement of the '60s and '70s when I was a union organizer and activist in SF and Berkeley. After those days passed many of us wondered what happened, why it stopped, and why it didn't go further. Something seemed to be missing in the way we looked at things and of course since then we are seeing the deepening environmental crisis and the accelerating technologizing of society, to mention two major developments we weren't much aware of then.

Today we have new challenges and new questions and are being forced to look more deeply to explain the very threatening negative phenomena of today and to imagine how much things would have to change to qualify as liberatory change, as qualitative change.

One way of putting it is that it isn't enough to only oppose capitalism; the origins and dynamics of a worsening totality involve more than that.

ME: Your most recent work, “Running on Emptiness” touches on this.

JZ: Yes. Running on Emptiness (2002) is my latest book and my next one, “Twilight of the Machine,” will appear sometime in 2007. I've tried to explore possible beginnings of alienation and domination, in such basic social institutions as division of labor (specialization) and domestication/agriculture (control of nature), which make civilization possible. More recently my focus has been on modernity/mass society. We have taken the latter for granted; even radical theorists have only criticized it without proposing its abolition.

The promise of modernity has turned to ashes at every level, from the barrenness of daily life to warming. Anti-modernity has begun to emerge as a serious topic and not just among some anarchists.

ME: How does anti-civilization or green anarchy theory come into play? Do you see this kind of theory as a necessity for the future?

JZ: Given the failure of the Left to address reality, new sources - such as indigenous wisdom - are needed for sustenance and inspiration. The acceptance of mass production, mass society, mass culture, mass consumption is unacceptable; instead we need visions and critiques that refuse the industrial techno-culture and its suicidal trajectory.

Green anarchy/anti-civilization/primitivism poses questions without judgment. What has passed for opposition or resistance has gone along with what is questioning mainly only who is in charge in lieu interrogating and opposing the components of the dismal present.

To be anti-authoritarian is to be willing, as we see it, to make a break with "givens", today's politics, and all the rest that confines us.

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Catch up with John at www.johnzerzan.net

They’re Trying to Break His Spirit: Leonard Peltier and the Government’s War on Dissent

They’re Trying to Break His Spirit : Leonard Peltier and the Government’s War on Dissent
August of 2005

Leonard is in middle row, 2nd from right

Photo used with kind permission of Michael Kuzma

2009

Since July 1 of this year, political prisoner and American Indian Movement (AIM) warrior Leonard Peltier (Lakota/Anishinabe) has been moved from three different correctional facilities. On August 15, Peltier was moved to the USP facility in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania where he is serving out his sentence of two consecutive life terms for the false charge and conviction of the killing of two FBI agents. Prison officials at Leavenworth have downgraded the facility from maximum to minimum security. As Peltier is classified as a maximum security prisoner, Leavenworth could no longer hold him.

Peltier has been moved a vast number of times from one prison to another during his imprisonment which began in 1976. His latest move from USP Leavenworth in Lawrence, Kansas, to USP Terre Haute, and then to Lewisburg, via the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma was, according to Paula Ostrovsky, wife of Russell Redner, Executive Director of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee sheer torture. Throughout his time in incarceration, Peltier has been the target of mistreatment which has included beatings, FBI and prison authority assassination attempts, denial of proper medical care and deliberate exposure to radiation. "They are trying to break his spirit," states Paula Ostrovsky. We have to get him out."

Following are the facts of this case (for detailed background on the unjust persecution of Leonard Peltier and the FBIs war on AIM, go to www.leonardpeltier.org.)

The FBI Indian Wars
By June of 1975, when FBI agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler were shot and killed on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, life had become unbearable for the Natives who lived there. Under the rule of fraudulently elected tribal president Dick Wilson, the reservation had become a battleground as Wilsonite violence ruled supreme in its quest to silence grassroots activists who demanded a return of tribal decision making to traditional councils of elders. Under the Wilson government, tribal members had no voice in determining policy regarding sovereignty. Working in conjunction with corporate planners and under the protection and assistance of the federal government, Wilson imposed a reign of terror to ensure that his practice of misuse of tribal funds, ceding of tribal land for mining purposes and swift punishment against his opponents would all continue as business as usual. This reign of terror included rape, other physical assault and armed aggression that resulted in the murder of over 60 people between 1973 and 1976. Of these 60, the only cases ever fully investigated are those of Williams and Coler.

Long in the sights of FBI surveillance, AIM had been asked by Pine Ridge elders to set up camp and serve as an armed security force to counter acts of oppression perpetrated by a corrupt tribal government. With their militant stance corroborated by the 1972 takeover of the Washington D.C. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973, AIM accepted the invitation and set up camp on the Jumping Bull compound near the Pine Ridge village of Oglala. Leonard Peltier, along with Darrell Dino Butler and Bob Robideau were members of this armed security. It is precisely because of AIMs warrior culture as well as their presence at Oglala that the FBI, with full assistance from Wilson and his henchmen, stepped up their tactics to instill a full federal presence at Pine Ridge. It was in this climate of fear and oppression that Special Agents Williams and Coler drove onto the Jumping Bull property on June 26, 1975 to serve a warrant on Jimmy Eagle for the theft of a pair of cowboy boots.

That the FBI would use their resources to investigate a petty theft speaks volumes to the unprecedented attention given to AIM activity at Oglala. When the FBI agents without warning or provocation began shooting at the houses of residents on the compound, comprised largely of elders and children, members of the AIM camp returned fire. Within minutes agents Williams and Coler lay dead, as did AIM warrior Joseph Bedell Stuntz. No warrant was ever found on the agents. Understanding fully the concrete ramifications of what had occurred, Butler, Robideau and Peltier fled with the intent of going underground. Within days Butler and Robideau were apprehended and charged with the murder of the agents. Miraculously, their jury found them to have acted in self defense and therefore not guilty of the crime charged. Peltier was arrested 5 months later in Canada. He was brought back to the U.S. after unsuccessfully fighting extradition. The perjured testimony and manufactured evidence used in the affidavits to extradite him found their way into his trial. On April 18, 1977, Peltier was found guilty on two counts of 1st degree murder.

Peltier Update

I originally began this article in mid-July after learning that Leonard had suddenly and without warning been transferred from USP Leavenworth in Lawrence, Kansas, where he had served for 13 years, to the Indiana USP in Terre Haute. While awaiting his reply to a letter written to him (graciously accepted and passed on by Peltiers lead attorney Barry Bachrach) to include in the article, I learned that Leonard had been moved yet again to Lewisburg. The following update is culled from my first and second conversations with Peltiers lead attorney Barry Bachrach and Russell Redner.

Barry Bachrach: I've been involved in this case for three or four years now. Legally, we have a number of issues to work on. Two of these issues involve gathering information which could lead to further lawsuits and Leonard's immediate release. On June 15 we argued a motion to correct an illegal sentence. It is our position that the crimes for which Leonard was tried and convicted of were crimes that the US had no federal jurisdiction over. The only crimes that they could have charged him were crimes under the Indian Crimes Act. Were not saying that he could never have been tried but they didn't charge and try him or have him sentenced pursuant to statutes over which we contend the court had jurisdiction. We are awaiting a decision on this motion. The other case is pending in the District of Kansas and involves the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 in which Congress in a nutshell gave the parole commission five years to exist and by October 11 1989, the parole commission was required to give firm release dates for all in their custody. The parole commission didn't do that and that lawsuit contends that this violates the congressional mandate and there are constitutional violations also involved. We are also working with attorney Michael Kuzma on continuing our Freedom of Information Act requests because the government has still not produced over 140,000 documents on this case, 90,000 alone of which are at the Minneapolis [FBI] office. Leonard spent his entire time [six weeks] at Terre Haute in isolation. He was allowed only one phone call a month but was able to speak to me whenever I could set it up. He was given one hour a day to exercise which was basically him walking in a vented cage.

Leonard feels pretty strongly that if the FBI office releases over 140,000 documents that they are holding, we can use [the documents] to express our position regarding the factual evidence about this case. We can show a much different outcome with documents on this case, 90,000 alone of which are at the Minneapolis [FBI] office.

Leonard suffered a stroke awhile back, and has diabetes in addition to the wear and tear that 30 years in prison can put on a 60 year old man. Getting his medication to him was an issue at first. In beginning with the premise that no one in prison does well, Leonard seems to be doing as well as can be expected. He can now take part in traditional practices [sweat lodge] and has been placed in general population and it looks like he can get back to his painting [Peltier is an excellent self taught artist]. We had hoped that he could have stayed at Leavenworth by getting his security level lowered. I think this might be his last move for awhile. Leonard really appreciates every ones support and correspondence and wishes to thank everyone. We appreciate any support that will help Leonard get an appropriate placement. I have no doubt that the calls and letters of support for Leonard at Terre Haute were in large part a factor in his move to Lewisburg. Leonard's freedom is always the ultimate priority.

There is so much more to say about this case but right now there's not much else to say other than we are going to keep working until we get justice.

Russell Redner: The government has always placed an inordinate amount of attention on Leonard Peltier. During his trial, key evidence that exonerated him was withheld, witnesses were held and intimidated by the FBI, the FBI had exparte communications with a judge trying the case, Peltiers defense team was infiltrated and the prosecution was receiving first-hand information concerning the defense. We have reason to believe infiltration was still occurring as recently as June 2005.

The FBI has never demonstrated against the release or parole of any other person that they've interacted with or convicted as they have with Leonard. Lets not forget, when Leonard was seeking clemency from President Clinton in 1998, over 500 FBI agents marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to protest against his request. Former FBI agent Ed Woods has the No Parole for Peltier website which is basically a Peltier misinformation outlet. Several memorandum we recently obtained through the Freedom of Information Act describe FBI intervention against Leonards clemency bid, how they got their story out through FBI friendly media (Readers Digest, Life, Detective Magazine or other publications), a plan for a prompt and strong response if Leonard's side of the story was given press, and pressure put on public personalities like Robert Redford, Senator Daniel Inouye, and Judge Heaney to change their stance of public support for Leonard. This is a deliberate attempt to stifle the Indigenous voice in America. No other group has experienced this unwarranted attention in this fashion. COINTELPRO is still in effect for Leonard.

Leonard was moved from Leavenworth without notification. The prison had not been cooperative in informing even Leonard's own attorney, Barry Bachrach. We only discovered that Leonard had been moved when we were notified by Cyrus Peltier, Leonard's grandson who has routinely visited for the last 13 years. He had gone to see his grandfather only to be told rather abruptly by prison officials, "Hes not here." After a series of maneuvers by Barry, we learned that Leonard was in transit but were given no idea as to where he would end up. A day or so later, Barry was able to track him to Terre Haute. The reason finally offered for the move from Leavenworth was that the prison had been downgraded to a minimum security institution. While Leonard is classified as a maximum security prisoner he was originally told that because of his record of exemplary behavior he wouldn't be moved. Then, lo and behold, on June 30 at 11:30 pm, he was taken to Terre Haute.

The reason finally offered for the move from Leavenworth was that the prison had been downgraded to a minimum security institution. While Leonard is classified as a maximum security prisoner he was originally told that because of his record of exemplary behavior he wouldn't be moved. Then, lo and behold, on June 30 at 11:30 pm, he was taken to Terre Haute. Leonard feels pretty strongly that if the FBI office releases over 140,000 documents that they are holding, we can use [the documents] to express our position regarding the factual evidence about this case. We can show a much different outcome. We have some unfinished business with the FBI specifically and the United States government in general. Its about neo-colonialism. Our appeal is to the consciousness of the nation, or whatever is left of it with their racist system. Were going to fight the good fight and this good fight will be what carries us. In 1975 at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation we were attacked by the U.S. military and we acted in self defense. We have to take this case before the American people. We have to get Leonard out.

The Lakota have a number of Akicita [warrior] societies, each with specific roles in war time and peace time. One of them is the Tokala (Kit Fox) society, to which I belong. Another society is the Strong Heart Society, these warriors are in the front line during battle. Some of the Strong Heart warriors when under attack by the enemy and upon the people fleeing; would stop, stick their lance in the ground and stake themselves to it. They would not run. They would take on the enemy.

And that’s what Leonard did: He took on the United States government, and what they've done to him is what they did to Sitting Bull; they put him in prison. Like Sitting Bull, Leonard’s only crime was that he defended his people. He was asked to be there [at Pine Ridge]. He put his lance in the ground. Leonard is a Strong Heart.

UPDATE 2016: From the Indigenous Rrights Center LLC, 202 Harvard SE, Albuquerque NM 87106

We received a message from Leonard this evening. An excerpt follows.

"For months, if not at least a year now, I have been complaining about 
medical problems and that something is wrong with me… For the last few 
days, I have been on call out to go see the doctor. Today, I was called 
again and had my blood pressure taken and gave more blood for more 
tests. Apparently, they found what's called Abdominal Aortic Aneurism 
(AAA) and it is at a very dangerous [stage]. If it bursts I can die. I 
will bleed to death. So they are going to rush me through some more 
tests, a MRI on Sunday, then find the right surgeon to do the operation. 
The good news is [this surgery] has a high success rate… if nothing goes 
wrong."

At this time, we have no further details. Suffice it to say that, at 
Leonard's age, any surgery is risky. Also a concern is that during his 
treatment at a federal prison medical center, Leonard will be held in 
isolation.

 
Make reference to Leonard Peltier #89637-132 and USP Coleman I. Voice 
your concern about Leonard's medical treatment, and let the federal 
Bureau of Prisons know that the world is watching. We demand that 
Leonard receive the best possible care.

Please also contact:

Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St., NW
Washington, DC 20534
(202) 307-3198
info@bop.gov

In addition, when you make your call to the White House (as we know you 
often do) to voice your support for a grant of clemency, please mention 
Leonard's current health crisis. Mr. Obama must act now.

Leonard and the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee thank 
you for your support - in particular during this critical time.

We'll keep you informed of any developments.

Radical Women: Fredrika Newton

Fredrika was candidly honest throughout her presentation as well as afterward when we had dinner together with a small group of students.
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Widow of Dr. Huey P. Newton Continues Legacy of The Black Panther Party
March 2007

Fredrika Newton, widow of slain Black Panther Party (BPP) co-founder Dr. Huey P. Newton, brought the history of the Black Panther Party to PSU on February 27 as part of the celebration of Black History Month. Ms. Newton, who is also the President of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, gave a lecture and slide presentation and shared her experiences as young women in the Black Power Movement.

The BPP was founded as a grass roots community organization in Oakland, California in 1965. Dr. Newton and Bobby Seale created the organization on the foundation of Marxist internationalism. In October of 1966, Newton and Seale drafted the BPP Ten Point Platform and the Program of the BPP Party of Self-Defense. The Ten-Point Platform spoke to the needs and rights of the Black community and included the need for decent housing, education and full employment. It also included the exemption of all Black men from the military and freedom of Black political prisoners until tried by a jury of their peers. The seventh point spoke to the crisis in the Black community regarding police brutality and called for armed monitoring of police activity in Black neighborhoods. The Party also organized their Liberation Schools in which Black children were taught a curriculum of empowerment through Afro-centric teachings. There was also offered a free breakfast program for Black children, a free health clinic and community food giveaways.

Huey Newton was absent from the Party from 1967 to 1970 while he served a prison term for the killing of a police officer (this charge was overturned upon appeal). Upon returning to the community, he found difficulty in reestablishing his role. Internal conflict occurred regarding the direction of the Party. In 1973, Huey fled to Cuba rather than face new criminal charges. Upon his return, he found the party greatly lacking the prominence that it once had. Eventually, the Party dwindled significantly in its prominence. By the early 1980’s, the Party was all but extinct.

It was while a student at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, that Ms. Newton first became involved with the BPP. While visiting her mother in Oakland, California during the 1970 Christmas break, she went home to find Huey Newton chatting with her mother in the family dining room.

“My mother was operating as the real estate agent for the BPP and was helping party leaders get housing. Huey had recently been released from prison after serving four years for the murder of an Oakland police office (the conviction was overturned after 4 years). Huey was there in the dining room, and, I don’t know how many of you remember what he looked like—he was amazing looking and he was an amazing man. I was an eighteen-year-old girl and was totally swept off my feet. After speaking with him briefly, I went back to Oregon, packed my bags and went back. And, that’s how I got started with the organization.”

Ms. Newton began working at the BPP school (which became internationally know for its academic excellence) and was immediately taken by the degree of dedication by Party members. “There is nothing sexy about getting up at four in the morning to feed hungry children, folding up the BPP newspapers (The Black Panther) and going out on the street selling newspapers. It was just hard work. Originally, it was the children of Party members who sent their children to the school. As community members began to send their children to the school, many of the children came to live at the school, simply because their families were poor and had no other place to live. It’s been quite a journey and it’s just so very important that this history doesn’t get buried.”

Ms. Newton also worked to open the George Jackson People’s Free Health Clinic in Oakland, the first of the many free health clinics in the United States. The Party screened over 500,000 children nationally for Sickle Cell Anemia. All clinic doctors, nurses, techs and ambulance drivers volunteered their time to treat and serve community members. The clinics were open seven days a week. The BPP also operated a shoe factory whereby community members were able to get shoes for their families without cost. In addition, there was a legal education clinic that provided free legal services and workshops, a free bus service to bus elderly parents to visit their children to prisons (many prisoners were incarcerated many miles away from their families) and a free furniture store. A program for seniors called the S.A.F.E Program (Seniors Against a Fearful Environment) was staffed by Party members and volunteers to escort elders when leaving their homes. “Many older people are held hostage in their own homes because of the violence in their community,” stated Newton. “The S.A.F.E Program served as accompaniment for Seniors as they went out to attend to various errands.”

Of all of the incredible resources that the BPP provided, it was the free breakfast program for children that most raised the ire of then FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover. It was this program that was seen as the single most threat to national security. “It’s bizarre isn’t it?” asks Newton. “The reason why it was seen as the single most threat to United States security was because it was just a tremendous organizing mechanism for the Party. It really galvanized the community. Hoover saw that it worked. That was why he identified feeding children as this single most threat.” With this, Hoover repeatedly instructed personnel to destroy the BPP Free Breakfast for Children Program.

The FBI, in fact, waged a campaign of terror against the BPP that included infiltration and assassination. In 1969, Hoover ordered his Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) to “destroy what the BPP stands for and eradicate its ‘serve the people’ programs.” That same year, Fred Hampton, Deputy Chairman of the Chicago, Illinois Chapter of the BPP, and Party member Mark Clark were assassinated by officers of the Chicago police force after planting an informant in the BPP inner circle. This informant, William O’Neal, provided Chicago police with the floor plan of the house that Hampton and other Party members lived. On the evening prior to the murder of Hampton and Clark, O’Neal slipped sedatives into their beverages (Hampton had in fact fallen asleep in mid-sentence during a phone call to his mother conducted from his bedroom.) In the early morning hours of December 4, 1969, police stormed the BPP apartment and shot Clark and Hampton to death. In 1979, investigators found evidence that the FBI was involved in a conspiracy to murder Hampton and obstruct justice. Sanctions were imposed on the FBI for its cover-up activities and an award of 1.85 million went to survivors and families of the police raid.

Fredrika Newton was witness to this history of oppression and terrorism. She continued in her work as a tireless and dedicated Party member throughout the campaign of misinformation directed at the BPP. Fredrika and Huey married in 1981 and worked side by side through many a struggle. After years of government sanctioned assassinations, harassment, legal prosecutions and internal conflicts, many BPP leaders and members succumbed to movement burn-out. Huey Newton himself became increasingly dependant on cocaine. In 1989, Huey was shot to death during a dispute by a drug dealer.

“This was a profound experience in my life...today I am so pleased to see the insurgence of interest in the BPP. Through the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation we provide information on the history of the Party, because as you know, there is very little information out there.

We provide bus tours (Ms. Newton coordinated the Black Panther Legacy Tour) of the eighteen BPP historical sights in Oakland and are in the process of digitizing thousands of pages of archives at Stanford University. Stanford was the only university that would pay to have it archived and housed there. We also have a record label called Black Panther Records. We use music as a way to get the message out. Through the Foundation, we try to make sure that our history remains pure. There are a lot of revisionists out there. We try to make sure that the Party history is there for anybody to study. If any of you come to Oakland, please come and take the history tour. The tour is now incorporated in the schools in the 9th grade curriculum in the Bay Area as a result of our efforts in Oakland.”

After Ms. Newton’s presentation and book signing (she brought copies of the pictorial The Legacy of the Panthers, a Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation publication as well as books authored by her late husband), I asked her about her life after Huey’s death. Huey’s death is still suspected by many to be just another in a long line of government assassinations, a cover-up clouded with muffled conspiracy. How did Fredrika survive the loss of a companion who, as a Black Power Movement icon, was larger than life?

ME: You have been very generous tonight in sharing your experience and your life with Huey Newton. Life with Huey Newton must have been some experience. The question that I have for you is, what was it like for you to be without him, to experience that loss? What revived you? What kept you committed to continuing the work?

FN: (Bursts into laughter) Hmmm…a lot of questions in that one question, Sista! Life with Huey was an experience. During the time that we were active in the Party and after the party was over, we tried to preserve a sense of normalcy in our household that never really was. Huey never escaped police presence. He was hounded by the police until the day died. Our house was raided a couple of times, so my life with Huey was never really easy. What kept me going afterwards? There was a bit total collapse after he died, although I tell you, I was really prepared for his death because I knew that it was inevitable. I was fairly reclusive for a year. After Huey died, I became involved in a relationship with David Hilliard (BPP leader and Executive Director of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation) and he helped to really push me out there and accept the responsibility that I had as a result of being married to Huey. It hasn’t come easy because I’m a very private person. It’s a legacy that I’m proud of. Today I’m a nurse and work in chemical dependency programs. This came out of my life with Huey. He was addicted to drugs and alcohol when he died. This is a disease that affects every walk of life. I don’t think that it’s by accident that part of my life’s work is in addiction medicine. That’s half of my life. The other is keeping this history alive. I have a very rich life and strong support base of family and friends who have been there since the beginning.”

The Fredrika Newton presentation was brought to the PSU campus by the PSU Black Cultural Affairs Board, the Association of African Students and the Women’s Resource Center.

Amerikkkan Apartheid: Hurricane Katrina

A young boy covers his face to shield the scent of decaying bodies he stands in front of.

I was and am still incensed by the transparent measure of neglect shown that was clearly and purely racist as this narrative unfolded. The sheer disregard for human life on the part of FEMA and G.W. Bush in during this disaster was despicable. Nothing new there.
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Amerikkkan Apartheid: New Orleans Aftermath


September  2005

“Ya got to get mad. And you have to let them know that you have as much right in the house as they. And, if some of you can’t sit down in that house in peace, it’s better for you to put it on fire and burn it to the ground.”
--Malcolm X

"Go over the wall
Cause governments to fall
How can you refuse it?
Let fury have the hour
Anger can be power
If you know that you can use it."
Clampdown--The Clash

Al Jazeera is broadcasting live from New Orleans along with national and international news outlets. Clandestine freedom fighters world wide must be watching the unquestionable (deliberate?) incompetence of the u.s. federal government with eyes gleaming, suicide bombs at the ready. What better organizing tool can the u.s. possibly give to so called “terrorists,” both here and elsewhere, in terms of “rapid” response to cataclysmic catastrophe as we watch the Bush regime homeland security agency fail its’ first test?

As I write this, five evacuees have died of water born disease. The u.s. press reports on 22 bodies found last week that were tied together. The sheriff of the parish in which the bodies were found thought at first that rescuers had gathered them together with rope. It now appears that each was tied one by one, probably in an effort to be rescued as a group. Other bodies have been found in attics and tied to parking signs at other points of devastation. Family members have been separated and are still searching out for one another. It is reported from the airport triage center that 8-10 are dying a day. The u.s. public health service is preparing for  more bodies to be brought to St Gabriel prison, now commandeered as a morgue.

Who got out?

I have learned that New Orleans is two cities. Was two cities. One was comprised of a small number of affluent whites. The other was made up of mostly poor Blacks. Some Stats:
· New Orleans was 2/3 Black.
· Ranked as 9th poorest big city in the nation.
· Of the Lower 9th Ward, almost entirely Black, 6% were college graduates; national average is 22%. Average household income was $27, 499; national average is$56,644.
· The poorest neighborhoods were also the lowest lying neighborhoods (and most affected by flooding) and comprised overwhelmingly of Blacks.
· For years held the title of “murder capital” of the nation.

As poverty is one of the worst forms of violence, we should not be surprised at the murder capital info. Just as we should not have been surprised to hear that rescuers were met with firepower. Or that “looting” occurred. A word about this “looting.” Yes indeed, the u.s. print media DID run a photo of a Black trudging through chest deep water with a six pack of soda and a black plastic bag. The caption? “Looter.”Also run was a photo of a white wading through water with similar goods. The caption? “A survivor finds supplies.” The message is clear; Blacks loot. whites courageously find supplies. Two cities. Only in amerikkka. White folks had the way and the means to get out. The poor and Black did not. Without a car or money for gas or public transportation, where are you going to go?

Much has been made of the fact that Katrina occurred at the end of the month and as many of those who could not get out may have been welfare recipients, welfare money had run out. While some have attacked this notion as a stereotype, it is of course true that welfare is a constant in the lives of the poor. Short on cash for multiple bus ticket. No way out. At the same time, let me be clear; those left behind were also the elderly and infirm, and working poor, the two job families fighting to make ends meet and every bit as worthy as those on assistance for evacuation and rescue. 

So; why the delay to the help them? It has been said that those in power knew that the levees would not hold. They knew that a hurricane with the force of Katrina was due. So, where was help when it was needed? If the u.s. can fly the military all over hell for u.s. “intervention,” where was the u.s. intervention for Louisiana? Why was food and water not airdropped onto the rooftops where people were begging for help? Why were no watercraft deployed? Why were these people abandoned like dogs to die on bridges and in waterways?

What are we gonna do now?

There is so much more to say about what we have seen happen in the past 9 days. For now, I want to share something that happened to me this morning.

Walking near my neighborhood, I found myself in need of using a bathroom and stopped into one of those Starfuck(er) coffee places. As the bathroom was occupied with someone in line ahead of me, I waited for my turn near a table where two upscale soccer type moms sat sipping their four dollar cups of coffee, their napkins on their laps just so. They were going over the morning papers and bemoaning the Katrina tragedy and what one called “this country’s failing leadership.”

“Yeah, this truly calls for impeachment in my opinion,” said the other. This cracked me up. They noticed.

“What?” One asked. “You have a better idea?”
“Actually, yeah. Assassination.”
“Assassination?” I don’t think I have ever seen two white women go so pale. My dark skin and “Beat the Rich” t-shirt could not have helped.
“Assassinate who?” Folks were starting to look our way.

“Mmmm…this country’s failing leadership?” I answered.

At that moment, the bathroom door swung open. I walked in and took my place in the stall. As my piss hit the porcelain, all I heard in my head was “I must think before I speak, I must think before I speak, I must…” That and the fact that I was going to have to pass by these two on the way out. When I did pass them, they said nothing, just stared. I stared back. As I was exiting the door, a bemused older guy seated at the counter said to me, “So, I guess you aren’t one of those flag wavers?”

“Nope. Flag burner.”

Laugh? He peed.

Execute the generals?

My point is this (apart from having fun by saying things to rile up white folk); do I think that anyone soon will hold a gun to the head of this country’s failing leadership? Probably not. Do I think that extreme means must be used to shift the balance of power in this country? Oh, hell yes. Impeachment is not an option. Impeachment will never happen. No amount of voting, protest rallies or marches or non-violent direct action will create change in this country. We do not live in a country in which public outcry alone will affect government policy. We do not live in a democracy and never have. We do not need to fear the coming of the fascists because the fascists are already here. They arrived with columbus along with the systems of capitalism, captive labor (wage slaves) and categories and definitions for race and class. These systems have remained firmly in place. Do you think that if Katrina had hit the Hamptons, West Palm Beach or Malibu Colony that the federal government would have waited days to notice that something might be amiss? Stupid question. Not only would rescue and evacuation been swift, we would probably also have witnessed the immediate airdrop of food and water along with high powered automatic weapons to ward off potential looters. If Katrina has shown us anything, it is the fact that the lives of Blacks and the impoverished are not worth much to the leaders of the most powerful nation in the world. Cuba, Venezuela, Canada, Iran and Russia had already offered assistance to the victims of the hurricane in the form of cheap gasoline, food and water, and emergency medical supplies and technicians by the time that u.s. feds intervened. All offers were rejected by the federal government. The storm victims, of course, had no say in this matter of assistance. This should ENRAGE you. Where is your rage?

For days after Katrina hit, I was too enraged to offer anything intelligible about the actions/inactions of the federal government. My rage has not subsided. What I can offer is this; As evacuees have been relocated to what for them may be foreign soil, we should be prepared to see the deepening divide between the haves and have-nots and all that this will manifest. And I can only hope to see on a large scale the shift of the mind set regarding democracy, equality and freedom, because when you get down to the bone, it is starkly evident that in this country, none of these three states truly exist.

This is not about evolution. It is about revolution. If we were to learn that I or anyone else has been pushed to believe that nothing short of armed struggle will burn to the ground the infinitely evil power of the u.s. government, should we be surprised? Should anyone be surprised to realize that our freedom will never be given to us, that it is something that we have been forced to take, sadly, by any means necessary?Just how much more have we been conditioned to accept? Where is our fury?How fucked up does fucked up have to be before shit starts burning?

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag carrying a cross." Huey Long