Category: Black and Brown Issues

EDITORIAL: Flirting With Nazis Is Dangerous

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EDITORIAL: Flirting With Nazis Is Dangerous

The dark days of the Nazi control of Europe led to the death of millions.

EDITORIAL:

Flirting With Nazis Is Dangerous

A Neighbor’s Nazi Experience

D. S. Mitchell

Martin Hartman is a tall slender man. His thinning white hair is brushed back, his jacket zipped against the winter wind, as he leans against his cane for support. There is a deep sadness in his eyes and a soberness in his demeanor. You can tell he has a story, and he wants to share it. Martin Hartman is my neighbor.

Martin was born in Holland in 1924. Prior to the Depression of the 1930’s, his family had owned a prosperous construction business. His family like many others had suffered during those economically depressed times, but by 1940, the 97-year-old said, the economy “had begun to turn around,” things were looking up he confirmed. The future looked promising.

There had been rumblings of war, but few took them seriously, after all WWI was a mere twenty two years in the past. No one could imagine the world once again plunging into conflict. The next few days would change his life and those of his friends and family forever. “I was 16. It was May 10, 1940. We heard bombing and saw planes. It was the German invasion, and the blitz was over in three days.” The squashing of Holland’s defenses was quick, but far from painless.

After the German invasion, they began barricading city blocks and then sweeping the apartments for young men to fill the military ranks due to troop loss. Hartman describes it, “Gradually Nazism crawled into Holland. Good people were killed, or sent to prison . . . Jews and ministers.”

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OPINION: Joe Manchin Shows His Political Ass

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OPINION: Joe Manchin Shows His Political Ass

OPINION: Joe Manchin Show His Political Ass

I think it is time to remove the obstructionists from the Democratic Party

D. S. Mitchell

Joe’s Talking on Fox

12/19/2021. Joe Manchin (D.W.V.) is on FoxNews (sic) telling Bret Baier he “cannot vote” for the Build Back Better bill. Finally after months of dancing about, throwing up one road block after another Manchin, playing with the press and his colleagues has finally come clean and said it out loud. He, the lone Democrat,  was now going to squash the bill, that would have given assistance to 70% of his constituents.

Out of Touch

I am dumbfounded. How could this rich, fat, white, yacht sunning, coal mine owning, entitled man be so cruel, and corrupt? How can he shut his eyes to the basic needs of the most vulnerable people in his state? West Virginia is one of the poorest states in this country, it seems Joe wants to keep it that way. By standing against the BBB act Manchin is not only denying West Virginians food on the table, affordable prescriptions for life saving medicines, and dentures in their mouths, but every other person in the country. Without remorse, apparently.  Enraged, I switched to CNN where Jake Tapper was interviewing Bernie Sanders (I.Vt).

Unrestrained Passion

Bernie Sanders went after the failed senator from West Virginia with unrestrained passion. Bernie called Manchin a “coward” for not standing up to the lobbyists and special interest groups (which Manchin is part of). Bernie, is also a wealthy man, just like Joe Manchin. But, Bernie seems to have a deep well of human empathy, decency, and compassion, which apparently, Manchin cannot understand or emulate. Is Manchin capable of embarrassment?  Being the only Democratic senator that is willing to let kids go hungry, not only in West Virginia, but across the nation, should make him red faced with shame and embarrassment.

Purge the Party 

It is time to purge the Democratic party of obstructionists, like Manchin, that are willing to stop a president and his policies by their single vote. Joe Manchin you were not elected president of the United States. Get in line and support President Biden and the Democratic platform. Support voting rights. If you are a Republican, Mr. Manchin, run as one, don’t pretend to be a Democrat. Be brave. Be courageous. As I see it Mr. Manchin, is intent on his legacy being nothing more than the dark smear left by a wet fart.

Quotes on Courage

Here’s a brief collection of some pretty smart comments by some pretty smart people on the topic of courage in life and politics.

1.) “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen,” Winston Churchill

3.) “Courage conquers all things,”  Ovid

4.) “The strongest, most generous and proudest of all virtues is courage,” Michel De Montaigne

Conclusion

It is time to fight the obstructionists in the Democratic party. Joe Manchin cannot be allowed to stand in the way of progress much longer. He has ‘shown his ass.’ as they say in Texas, and a few other places; time for Mr. Manchin to vote with his party or leave the party.

Cori Bush: The Face of Perseverance

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Cori Bush: The Face of Perseverance

Tenacity, Perseverance and Determination, all in one woman, Cori Bush

On Friday 7/30/2021  First term Congresswoman Cori Bush sat down on the steps of the U.S. House of Representatives with a camping chair, a sleeping bag, and a commitment to stop the potential eviction of millions of Americans from their homes.

By William Jones and D. S. Mitchell

Those At Risk

When it became clear that neither Congress nor the White House was going to act to stop a pandemic-era federal eviction moratorium from expiring, leaving hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of low-income Americans at risk for eviction from their homes Cori Bush stepped up.  Ms. Bush — now 45 and a first-term Democratic congresswoman from St. Louis — felt a familiar flood of anxiety and a flash of purpose in the face of the pending crisis.

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“Just Dave” Stop The Police Killings

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“Just Dave” Stop Police Killings

“Just Dave” Stop Police Killings

Calamity News and Politics Vlog Cast this week is about the escalating violence of police officers around country. Police Brutality is out of hand. “Just Dave” is really upset, and so is everyone else in the country with a soul.  Calamity doesn’t like it when Dave gets upset.  The heartbreak of the recent murders by police is  more than our man can handle. If tears would fix the problem we could have already fixed it.  End police brutality. The fear of the police by the people of the community needs to stop.

 

David Shadrick “The End of the Trial”

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David Shadrick “The End of the Trial”

This week Dave Shadrick wants to remind folks not to tear your house down because you are mad about the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial; no matter what that verdict is.  No matter what the verdict let’s not have any more deaths. Demonstrate if you must, but use courtesy and commonsense.

OPINION: Derek Chauvin A Victim?

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OPINION: Derek Chauvin A Victim?

The Derek Chauvin trial is looking at policing in general

OPINION: Derek Chauvin A Victim?

D. S. Mitchell

Another OMG Moment

It is interesting how many ways the phrase OMG can be used, such as in total awesome disbelief seeing a father lift a car off his trapped son, or how about when there is a worm on your lettuce leaf, that’s a whole different kind of OMG. Then we have the OMG escape our lips when we watch the image of a Minneapolis cop slowly, seemingly arrogantly, extinguish the life of another human being on national television. Now, for any living breathing person with a heart who watched that video who wasn’t totally gut wrenchingly  appalled needs to seek immediate therapy.

An Unpopular View

I don’t want to piss everybody off, but as I have watched the prosecution case build on itself I have been disturbed by the brutality and the arrogance of the entire event. Derek Chauvin, according to media reports served for nineteen years on the Minneapolis Police Department and accumulated seventeen complaints of  misconduct complaints during that time. In what probably is a backlash response, I look at Mr. Chauvin and see what is bad about American policing. Not only did Mr. Chauvin fail his department and his community, but his department failed him. His is not an unusual case, other than he was memorialized for 9 minutes and 29 seconds by a teenage girl who filmed Chauvin’s left knee pinned to the neck of a black man while the victim pleaded for relief.  Derek Chauvin is now on trial for Mr. Floyd’s death.

Swift Action

In Minneapolis, after 19 years authorities finally took ‘quick’ action against Mr. Chauvin, and three other officers who were on the scene when Mr. Floyd died. This does not mean all of them are gone for good. Public employees can appeal their dismissals and in many cases, police officers win their cases and  municipalities put them back on the job every day. Despite community outrage nationwide over the deaths of black men at the hands of police it is notoriously difficult to hold police officers accountable in the United States. Some of the problem is because of the political power police unions wield, the hesitancy of investigators, and the reluctance of prosecutors and juries to second guess a police officer’s split second decision and the wide latitude the law gives the police to use force.

Interracial Challenge

The events have played out against, and in some ways have reinforced the racial divisions in America, as largely white police forces are accused of bias and brutality in black, Latino and other minority communities. The Floyd death came within weeks of killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. These deaths have unleashed a wave of protests unlike anything since the 1960’s.

From Within

Police Departments around the country are often the core of resistance against change.  Departments have consistently resisted civilian review or balked when it comes to overhauling officer disciplinary practices. Police chiefs in cities which have been the sites of high profile deaths of black men by white officers, have failed to punish or remove bad actors. Where civilian review boards are operating most are notoriously weak. Often they do nothing more than collect information, but have no power to make recommendations or enforce recommendations.

Patchwork Confusion

Several sources including Minneapolis Police Department Internal Affairs have released information on Dereck Chauvin conduct during his service.  We do know that Mr. Chauvin has been involved in at least three shootings in his career. In addition he left a trail of misconduct complaints and a reputation for aggression.  Chauvin’s combative reputation extended to his second job as a security person for a nightclub in the area.  It has been demonstrated that Mr. Chauvin has operated in disregard for the particular circumstances of a given situation in determining appropriate reasonable force and simply fully restrains suspects with no regard for their well being.

So Let’s Stop Here

I believe that Derek Chauvin is also a victim.  We hear TV commentators laud other cops who are testifying against him, like police chief  Medaria Arradondo for  “breaking the blue wall of silence.” As if  these ‘good cops’ are coming out to punish a ‘bad cop.’ Well, I think that is  a pile of horse puckie.  All these good cops had nineteen years to stop the bad activities of  Derek Chauvin and thousands more like him. He is now on trial because no one was interested in stopping him before his actions were so repulsive and appalling that millions hit the streets to demand better.  But, until then, shove it under the rug, ignore it, hide it.

Now What

So, here I am today, Sunday 4/18/2021 saying Derek Chauvin is now, just as he always was, just one of the guys. Derek Chauvin was allowed to manifest into a killer within the Minneapolis Police Department.  In a warm protective environment. I doubt Derek Chauvin would have ever killed anyone if he had not been wearing a badge. America’s policing is on trial. It is time that police departments sell off their tanks and invest in psychiatric interns, and marriage counselors to accomplish community ‘needs-based’ services.

911 Services 

Calling the cops is not the right answer for every stressful situation. But, the way our 911 system functions, cops are often the first dispatched personnel. Frequently such calls spiral out of control because the appropriately trained individuals have not been dispatched for the call. And often these mishandled calls end up in death. Personally I don’t think the needed changes  will happen from the inside.  I think we as a nation need to protect the Floyd George’s who are victims of police racism and brutality.

 

Motorhead “Ace Of Spades”

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Motorhead “Ace Of Spades”

Motorhead “Ace Of Spades”

Well, here’s another one of T.K.’s Jukebox Choice(s) of the Day. Motorhead with “Ace Of Spades” got three thumbs up here in the office.  You will find the lyrics below. Enjoy! DSM

Ace of Spades

Motorhead

If you like to gamble, I tell you I’m your man
You win some, lose some, all the same to me
The pleasure is to play, makes no difference what you say
I don’t share your greed, the only card I need is the Ace of Spades
The Ace of Spades
Playing for the high one, dancing with the devil
Going with the flow, it’s all a game to me
Seven or eleven, snake eyes watching you
Double up or quit, double stake or split, the Ace of Spades
The Ace of Spades
You know I’m born to lose, and gambling’s for fools
But that’s the way I like it baby
I don’t wanna live for ever
And don’t forget the joker!
Pushing up the ante, I know you gotta see me
Read ’em and weep, the dead man’s hand again
I see it in your eyes, take one look and die
The only thing you see, you know it’s gonna be the Ace of Spades
The Ace of Spades
Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Edward Alan Clarke / Ian Kilmister / Philip John Taylor
Ace of Spades lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, DistroKid

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Black and Blessed

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*Celebrating Black History Month

**At the close of Black History Month let’s take a look at ourselves and our country. DSM/Calamity**

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Black and Blessed

By Wes & Anna Hessel

 

A Black Mark Not On Our History

As Black History Month comes to a close, we must actively insure that the true history of Black Americans is told. All of it. The dark and the glorious. How this story ends will be a predictor of how our nation embraces our black brothers and moves forward.  We all recall as children eating peanut butter spread on crackers as we learned about George Washington Carver, but no other significant Black history was ever taught, at least any school I ever attended. African-American history remains mostly hidden and not taught in schools.

Inventors and Heroes

It is not a significant part of any school curriculums and it should be.  An accurate depiction of the history and culture of African-Americans must become part of American history classes.  Teaching a truthful history lends respect to those activities could over a generation change core attitudes. The history of blacks in America is our history, some dark and tragic, some brilliant and glorious. It is time we as a country accept that not all history worth being written down and taught was that of  white men.   The poem that became the lyrics of our National Anthem was written by an attorney who had little or no respect for Black people.   We now must educate about the atrocities of slavery and the important roles Blacks have played and continue to play in our history and our future.

Nothing New

Various peoples of Africa were brought to the “New World” as slaves, bought, sold, and treated like the property they were considered to be, not the persons of rich culture and tradition they had been.  The “first” African slaves brought to what is now the United States is typically thought to be a load of captives from what is now Angola, sold to Jamestown Governor George Yeardley and Abraham Piersey, the colony’s trade head, for food, near the end of August 1619.

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Zitkala-Sa: An American Indian Voice

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Zitkala-Sa: An American Indian Voice

The legacy of Zitkala-Sa lives on as one of the most influential Native American activists of the 20th century. She left an influential theory of Indian resistance and a crucial model for reform. It was the activism of Zitkala-Sa that made possible crucial changes to education, health care, and legal standing for Native American people and the preservation of Indian culture.

Life Story: Zitkala-Sa - Women & the American StoryZitkala-Sa’s Literary Work

“Much of Zitkala-Sa’s work is characterized by its transitional nature: tensions between tradition and assimilation, between literature and politics. These tensions are most notable in her autobiographical works. In her well-known “American Indian Stories”, for example, she both expresses a literary account of her life and delivers a political message. The narrative expresses her tension between wanting to follow the traditions of the Yankton Dakota while being excited about learning to read and write, and being tempted by assimilation. This tension has been described as generating much of the dynamism of her work.” Wikipedia

Zitkala-Sa: An American Indian Voice

By D. S. Mitchell

Who was Zitkala-Sa?

Zitkala-Sa was an American Indian woman who was an influential voice for indigenous people. Red Bird was a writer, editor, translator, composer, musician, educator, and political activist.  She struggled with her cultural identity and took that struggle to the written page. She also wrote books about traditional Native American myths and stories. Her writings were well-known  to a white English-speaking readership. She is considered among one of the most influential Native Americans of the twentieth century.

Red Bird

Zitkala-Sa was born February 22, 1876 on the Yankton Dakota Reservation in South Dakota. Zitkala-Sa means “Red Bird”.  She was later given the missionary name of Gertrude Simmons.  Ellen Simmons, a Yankton Dakota woman whose Dakota name was Thate Ivohiwin (Every Wind or Reaches for the Wind) was her mother. Her father was a German-American man who left the family when Zitkala-Sa was very young. Gertrude later married Raymond Bonnin and is often known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin.

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Malcolm X: Tides of Change

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Heroes Of The Civil Right Movement:

Malcolm X, Tides of Change

 

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MALCOLM X, TIDES OF CHANGE

By Trevor K. McNeil

A Complicated History

No one is perfect, including and especially those who claim to be. It is usually a mistake to meet one’s hero’s, particularly because it is difficult for anyone to live up to the hype. No where is this more true than with political leaders and martyrs. Many is the celebrated later found out to hold some less than savory ideas or to have done some strange things.

Revisionism Not Necessarily Bad

One of the few cases this has worked in reverse is the legacy of Lord Byron who, while largely thought of as a swaggering sex-mad dandy, was also a strong advocate for the labor movement and republican ideals, and was mostly against the church and war in general. A labor supporting, anti-monarchist, Republican pacifist not the safest thing to be in 19th century Britain. An American early civil rights leader that has had a morphing of his image recently is the famous and infamous 1950-1960’s civil rights activist Malcolm X.  In your case you are interested, Malcolm took the last name of “X” because he had no way to trace his African ancestral family name. That ancestral name has been lost to history because of the slave trade.

A Voice In The Wilderness

It is difficult to understate the influence Malcolm X had on the struggle for racial reckoning in the early 20th century. Still held up as an example along with other Civil Rights leaders such as  Martin Luther King, Jr. and the lesser known, but no less important, Medgar Evers. Malcolm is the most controversial. Preaching a ‘by any means necessary’ approach to race relations.  Such ‘means’  included violence against the police and the state, as well as anyone else who threatened black lives. X also propagated the idea of black separatism, and even black nationalism. Not in America mind you, despite being a believer in so-called ‘black supremacy’ at the time, he wasn’t arguing that black people should take over America, so much as form their own nation separate from it. He was often very critical of the mainstream Civil Rights movement, particularly due to its principle of non-violence and preference for racial integration, particularly in terms of schooling.

Rage of Youth

While generally associated with the 1960s many of the most controversial statements made by Malcolm X, were made in the early 1950’s.  The 1950’s was a time of  ardent racism in America, when the notorious Jim Crow laws were  at their full strength. For context, Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus in 1955. Malcolm X first came to attention with his fiery rhetoric in 1952. While it in no way takes back or erases some of his more unsavory statements, it is important to keep in mind that he was 27 years old at the time. An adult to be sure but, as anyone who has made it to the saner side of 30 can attest, with age can come perspective.

Stepping Back

By the early 1960s, Malcolm X had distanced himself from the controversial and notoriously violent Nation of Islam. Instead he converted to Sunni Islam, generally considered the more moderate of the Islamic paths. It was a first step on a path to reform. The once violent firebrand embraced the explicitly non-violent mainstream Civil Rights movement, as put forward by King and Evers after completing the Hajj to Mecca.

Ghost From the Past

In February 1965 Malcolm X was gunned down in Harlem during a speaking engagement. It has been believed for decades that members of the Nation of Islam assassinated Malcolm X,  due to the severely strained relationship. Two Nation of Islam members were convicted in Malcolm X’s murder. On the other hand King and Evers were both killed by Klansmen. If anything, showing the backlash from angered white people was not the only threat the Civil Rights movement faced, and it is, therefore, even more impressive it managed to largely succeed.

New Evidence Emerging

Fifty-six years after his murder new evidence has come to light as I write this piece, indicating that the FBI and the NYPD were involved in the killing of Malcolm X.  A retired NYPD undercover officer admitted in a death bed confession that he had been responsible for making sure that Malcolm X’s security detail was arrested before the assassination. The confession further states this move would guarantee Malcolm X would have no door security at the Audubon Ballroom where he was killed. Malcolm’s family is asking the murder investigation be re-opened. In a separate case, last year the Manhattan DA began reviewing the convictions of those Nation of Islam members convicted of Malcolm’s murder as part of an Innocent Project request.

On Saturday the NYPD released the following statement:

“Several months ago, the Manhattan District Attorney initiated a review of the investigation and prosecution that resulted in two convictions for the murder of Malcom X. The NYPD has provided all available records relevant to that case to the District Attorney. The Department remains committed to assist with that review.” At this point the best I can say is, time will tell, as to who killed Malcolm X one of the heroic voices of the civil right movement.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2021/01/18/the-words-of-martin-luther-king-jr/