W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: September 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

9/30/2009 @ 9PM C~W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: Remembering The Black Maverick: Dr. T.R.M. Howard...The Greatest Civil Rights Leader You Never Heard Of...

Celebrating 2 Full Years In The Biz: Ain't No Stopping Us Now!!!

September 2009 Theme: I Got The Will & The Power...

Air Date: Weds. September 30, 2009

E-mail: r2c2h2@gmail.com

Time:
9 PM C/10 PM E/7 PM P

Call-in Number: 646-652-4593

Listen To The Show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/10/01/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

Topic:

Remembering The Black Maverick: Dr. T.R.M. Howard...
The Greatest Civil Rights Leader You Never Heard Of...

Learn More About The Man Who Gave Us The Emmett Till Story As Well As Trained & Inspired Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rev. Jesse Jackson, & Mayor Harold Washington To Greatness And Who Indirectly Laid The Foundation For The Obama Presidency…The Greatest Civil Rights Leader You Never Heard Of…Until Now!!!

Featured & Honorable Guests:

1.) Dr. Linda Royster Beito, World Renowned Dr. T.R.M. Howard Expert & Co-Author Of Black Maverick:T.R.M. Howard's Fight For Civil Rights & Economic Power

2.) Civil Rights Legend Bro. Charles Evers, The Brother Of Medgar Evers & Dr. T.R.M. Howard's Protege

***

T.R.M. Howard, An Unlikely Civil Rights HeroWithout Howard, A Wealthy And Flamboyant Black Planter And Surgeon, We Might Never Have Heard Of Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers Or Operation PUSH.

By David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito

Picture from the Emmett Till trial, taken in 1955. Left to Right: Two witnesses at the trial on the murder of Emmett Till, Mamie Till Mobley (Till's mother), T.R.M. Howard, Rep. Charles Diggs of Michigan, Amanda Bradley (trial witness). Credit: Press-Scimitar Collection.

August 28, 2009

Fifty-four years ago today, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicago boy visiting family in Mississippi, was abducted, mutilated and slain after he allegedly whistled at a white woman. Several days later, his horribly disfigured body was fished out of the Tallahatchie River. Many such tragedies had previously happened to black Americans and then been ignored. The Till case was different because of the efforts of a flamboyant and wealthy black planter and surgeon, T.R.M. Howard.

Howard's place in history has been woefully slighted. Without him, we might never have heard of Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Medgar Evers or Operation PUSH. Howard was the crucial link connecting the Till slaying and the rise of the modern civil rights movement.

But he was an unlikely civil rights hero. A prosperous businessman who spared no expense on his wardrobe, sped around in expensive Cadillacs, gambled on horses, ran a successful hospital that provided affordable healthcare, hunted big game in Africa and owned a 1,000-acre plantation, Howard promoted an agenda of entrepreneurship and self-help.

Before his quest for justice in the 1955 slaying of Till, Howard led massive rallies and successful boycotts for equal rights in rural Mississippi. Evers, who went on to become a celebrated civil rights activist and martyr, got his introduction to both business and activism when Howard hired him as a salesman for the Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Co., one of Howard's many business ventures. Howard encouraged Evers to get involved with the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, a civil rights group Howard founded in 1951. (Howard would go on to play a similar mentoring role to the young Hamer.)

Till's killing moved Howard to even greater efforts. Vowing that there would be "hell to pay in Mississippi," Howard gave over his home as a "command center" for black journalists and witnesses, including Mamie Till-Mobley (Emmett's mother). He doggedly pushed the theory that more people had been involved in the crime than the two white half-brothers, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant. Sadly, as Howard had predicted in September 1955, an all-white jury ignored the overwhelming evidence and acquitted Milam and Bryant. Howard remarked bitterly that a white man was less likely to suffer a penalty for such a crime than for "killing deer out of season."

But the acquittal was just the beginning of Howard's fight. In the months after the trial, he gave speeches across the country to crowds of thousands, demanding a federal investigation. Mississippi's white press, which had once lauded Howard's self-help activities, was outraged. The Jackson Daily News castigated Howard as "Public Enemy No. 1." So scathing was Howard's criticism of the FBI's failure to protect blacks that J. Edgar Hoover took the rare step of denouncing Howard in an open letter.

One of the least publicized stops on Howard's speaking tour was to an overflow crowd Nov. 27 at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. The official host was a largely unknown 26-year-old pastor named Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa Parks was in the audience. Four days later, when she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus, Howard's speech was still headline news in the local black press. Parks reported that she was thinking of Emmett Till, a focal point of Howard's address, when she made her decision to act.

Though Howard spent much of his life in Kentucky, Mississippi and Illinois, his political formation came in Southern California, where he attended the College of Medical Evangelists (now Loma Linda University) in the early 1930s. While there, Howard wrote a celebrated weekly column called "Our Fight" for the California Eagle, worked on the political campaigns of radio preacher Robert Schuller and socialist author Upton Sinclair, and met his wife, the Riverside socialite Helen Nela Boyd.

Why isn't this larger-than-life figure better known? Howard, a classically American "man on the make," is hard to pigeonhole. His secular orientation and pro-business ideas made him an anomaly in a civil rights movement dominated by church leaders and left-liberal activists. Politically, his activities offer something to please and offend everybody: A staunch Republican and ally of President Eisenhower, Howard was also a committed feminist whose clinics offered safe abortions in the years before Roe vs. Wade.

But those who knew T.R.M. Howard (who died in 1976 at age 68) still speak about his energy, charisma and commitment. "The man was dynamic," recalled Mamie Till-Mobley. "I just thought he was the greatest in the world."

Visit http://www.trmhoward.com for more information...

David T. Beito, a professor of history at the University of Alabama, and Linda Royster Beito, the chair of the department of social sciences at Stillman College, are the authors of "Black Maverick: T.R.M. Howard's Fight for Civil Rights and Economic Power."

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

See Also...
Dr. T.R.M. Howard: Remembering A Fighter...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/09/dr-trm-howard-remembering-fighter.html

Contact An American Civil Rights Veteran Today:
http://www.crmvet.org/

More On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio:

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Special~Remembering The Black Maverick: Dr. T.R.M. Howard...
The Greatest Civil Rights Leader You Never Heard Of...
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/10/01/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

***

*W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Exclusive* I-Witness History: The Complete Interview With Dr. Hugh Stephen Whitaker, Pioneering Emmett Till Murder Case Researcher

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/09/10/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

***

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Special~Susan Klopfer: Blogging For Justice & History For Emmett Till & The Mississippi Delta...Using 21st Century Technology To Get Justice & Archive History For 20th Century Atrocities In The Mississippi Delta...

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/08/20/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

***

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Special~Meet Alvin Sykes: Civil Rights Cold Case Justice Crusader...

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/04/02/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

***

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Special: The Shame Of A Nation...The Emmett Till Legacy

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/03/12/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

****
Want More???

Want To Hear More Tha Artivist Presents…W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio??? Click On The Following Link:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe

E-mail Us Your Questions And Comments @ r2c2h2@gmail.com

As Always Please Spread The Good News!!!

Dr. T.R.M. Howard: Remembering A Fighter...

Jerry Mitchell Of The Clarion Ledger
jmitchell@clarionledger.com
September 27, 2009

In the spring of 1954, more than 10,000 people gathered in Mound Bayou to eat barbecue and hear Thurgood Marshall speak.

Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a largely forgotten hero of Mississippi's civil rights movement, organized the event.

Now, 55 years later, the first-ever book on Howard -Black Maverick: T.R.M. Howard's Fight for Civil Rights and Economic Power - chronicles the life of this physician, wealthy entrepreneur, civil rights leader and big-game hunter.

"He doesn't fit our image of a Gandhian figure for a civil rights leader," said David Beito, who along with his wife, Linda, have related the journey of this native Mississippian.

Last week, the couple signed books at Lemuria Book Store and other stores across Mississippi.

John Dittmer, author of Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi, said the Beitos' book fills a valuable need. Many Mississippians have heard of early civil rights leaders such as Medgar Evers, Aaron Henry and Amzie Moore, but few have heard of Howard, he said.

"He was larger than life, and he minced no words," Dittmer said. "He blasted black doctors for driving around in Cadillacs and not getting involved in the civil rights movement."

Beito said many books on the civil rights movement don't mention Howard, despite the fact he started the Regional Council of Negro Leadership in Mississippi.

In proposing this black leadership council in 1951, Howard publicly called for "equal partnership" to solve Mississippi's racial problems, saying it took it more than being raised with black people to understand the black man.

"You have got to be a black man in Mississippi at least 24 hours to understand," said Howard, who served as chief surgeon at the Friendship clinic in Mound Bayou.

Howard was a mentor to Evers, who sold insurance for Howard. Together, they enlisted the help of others in boycotting gas stations that refused to let black Mississippians use the restroom.

They distributed bumper stickers that read "Don't Buy Gas Where You Can't Use the Restroom."

As the town's physician and surgeon, Howard delivered Evers' first two children, Darrell and Reena Evers. Evers' wife, Myrlie, served as a secretary for Howard.

After becoming field secretary for the Mississippi NAACP, Evers sought to join the RCNL and the NAACP, but top NAACP leaders rejected this suggestion, Beito said.

In 1955, Howard became involved in the investigation into the killing of Emmett Till, a teenager from Chicago.

His home in Mound Bayou served as a safe house, where key witnesses stayed, including Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. And after the trial ended, Howard spoke around the country, helping to keep the case alive.

In 2004, after the FBI reopened the Till case, agents visited Beito and his wife because of their investigation into the case.

Not long after the Till trial ended, Howard suffered financial and death threats, forcing him and his family to move to Chicago.

Beito said he and his wife have often debated what might have happened if Howard had stayed.

One real possibility? He may have been shot or killed as many other civil rights leaders were in Mississippi in the 1950s and 1960s, Beito said.

In Chicago, Howard continued his dedication to civil rights causes, but increasingly moved in other directions, Beito said.

He served as president of the National Medical Association, the association of black physicians, and sometimes traveled to Africa for safaris.

"He had a big room filled with stuffed animals," Beito said. "He was a renaissance man."

Howard had people skills comparable to politicians like Bill Clinton, he said. "He was a witty, very kindly fellow. He would make people feel they were the center of attention. He would stop and talk to maids and janitors and make them feel important."

The Mound Bayou surgeon provided an important link from the Booker T. Washington philosophy to a new era, Beito said.

"Without Dr. Howard, would you have had a Medgar Evers?" he asked. "Would you have even had a Fannie Lou Hamer, who got her first introduction to civil rights at Dr. Howard's meetings?"

Evers' brother, Charles, said Howard, who died in May 1976 at the age of 66, remains one of his heroes. "He was the actual founder of the movement years ago when it wasn't popular."

Visit http://www.trmhoward.com for more information...

Contact An American Civil Rights Veteran Today:
http://www.crmvet.org/

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Another Mississippi Delta Cover-Up: The Murder Of Cleve McDowell

Campaigning In The Delta: Cleve McDowell & Rev. Jesse Jackson

Still Another (Unsolved?) Mississippi Murder; Cleve McDowell Investigated Delta Murder Victims, Including Emmett Till
http://emmett-till.blogspot.com/2009/09/still-another-unsolved-mississippi.html

9/23/2009 @9PM C: W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Special: Living In A Police State, Surviving On A Prison Planet Part 1

Celebrating 2 Full Years In The Biz: Ain't No Stopping Us Now!!!

September 2009 Theme: I Got The Will & The Power...

Air Date: Weds. September 23, 2009

E-mail: r2c2h2@gmail.com

Time:

9 PM C/10 PM E/7 PM P

Call-in Number: 646-652-4593 (Note: This Is Not A Live Show, But Folks Are More Than Welcomed To Call In To Listen!)

Listen To The Show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/09/24/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

Topic: Living In A Police State, Surviving On A Prison Planet Part One

1st Hour

"The Angola 3's Robert King Wilkerson Interview"

Bro. Robert King Wilkerson, a Black Panther & Prison Activist, spent 29 consecutive years of his life in solitary confinement in arguably America's most notorious and bloodiest prison, the 18,500 acre prison work farm known as Angola in Louisiana...His crime and reason for punishment??? Trying to better prison living and working conditions, stopping the sex slavery, rape and violence that was rampant in Angola in the 1960s and 1970s through political organizing and racial solidarity and integration...

Bro. Wilkerson's dedicated efforts were paying off...He was drawing major media and political attention to the horrible conditions of Angola...He was gaining support from influential people for his efforts...He was also making powerful enemies...

To slow him and the prison reform movement down, Bro. Wilkerson was framed for the murder of a prison guard...His fellow comrades Bro. Herman Wallace and Bro. Albert Woodfox were also framed for the murder of the same prison guard...Unfortunately, Bros. Wallace & Woodfox were also put into solitary confinement for nearly 36 consecutive years each!!! They recently got out of solitary confinement in March 2008 and are still waiting to be freed...

Bro. Robert King Wilkerson earned his freedom on February 8, 2001...He currently speaks around the world on behalf of his imprisoned comrades as well as other political prisoners of conscience still locked up in the world's biggest prison state, the U.S.A....The U.S.A. possesses 25% of the world's prison population (the most anywhere in the world)...Of the 2 million people locked down, half are people of color...The U.S.A. also have 4 million people on probation/parole...1 out of every 100 Americans are locked down...Sobering numbers...

Bro. Robert King Wilkerson makes a famous candy he created while in prison called 'Freelines' (similar to pralines and pronounced the same way)...You can order the deliciously sweet candy at his website http://www.kingsfreelines.com

For more information on 'The Angola 3' and how you can get involved please visit www.angola3.org

***

2nd Hour

"Salvaging The Black Vote From The Prison Industry Complex: A Conversation With Bro. Terry McMoore"

About Bro. Terry McMoore

The Legal Disenfranchisement of the Black Vote In The 21st Century: Ex-Felons Fighting For Their Voting Rights In Tennessee...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/03/legal-disenfranchisement-of-black-vote.html

Email: terrymcmoore@hotmail.com

***

"The Jena 6 Legacy: A Discussion With Louis Scott, Mychal Bell's Former Attorney"

Attorney Louis Scott and associate Carol Powell-Lexing. (Courtesy photo)

More Jena 6 News On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio:

"The Jena 6 Case Done??? Victory???"
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/06/jena-6-case-done-victory.html

Jena 6's Mychal Bell Shoots Self In Chest After Being Arrested For Shoplifting...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/12/jena-6s-mychal-bell-shoots-self-in.html

My President Iz Black & Mychal Bell’s Free…Finally!!! W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special Report
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-president-iz-black-mychal-bells.html

We Decide 2008!!!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/11/02/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

The Jena 6, One Year Later...

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/09/22/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

New Jena 6 Update...Marcus Jones' Updated Press Release...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-jena-6-updatemarcus-jones-updated.html

Jena 6 Is Far From Over...Mychal Bell's Lawyer Sells Out Client For A Plea...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/05/jena-6-is-far-from-overmychal-bells.html

Jena 6 Far From Over...Marcus Jones, Father Of Mychal Bell Speaks Out Once Again...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/05/jena-6-far-from-overmarcus-jones-father.html

April 27, 2008*Listen To The Latest Marcus Jones Interview (The Interview Is The First Hour Of Show) In Its Entirety By Clicking On The Following Link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2008/04/27/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

Special Jena 6 Post-Plea Bargain Show On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio
To listen to the entire Attorney Louis Scott and Marcus Jones interviews as well as others on this case please visit the following link on-line:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2007/12/16/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-Radio

Marcus Jones Sounds Off About Mychal Bell's Plea Bargain~
Father from Jena 6 Family Disagrees with Lawyer
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/630725/marcus_jones_sounds_off_about_mychal.html

Jena 6 Plea Bargain Deal Not A Win-Win...Tha Artivist Reports...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/12/jena-6-plea-bargain-deal-not-win-wintha.html

Jena 6 Defendant’s Plea Bargain Garners Mixed Response From Supporters, Experts And Onlookers...Tha Artivist Reports...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/12/jena-6-defendants-plea-bargain-garners.html

"Jena 6 Updates: Mychal Bell Plea Bargains" By Maroonsista:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/548601/jena_6_update_and_mychal_bells_plea.html

11-25-2007~W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Exclusive~James Rucker Defends Color Of Change In Jena 6 Gate:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/blog/2007/11/25/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-Radio

So-called Jena 6 Scandal More A Matter Of Bad Communication Tha Artivist Reports...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/11/so-called-jena-6-scandal-more-matter-of.html

Artivist MCs Historic Jena 6 Forum @ Washington University In St. Louis...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/10/artivist-mcs-historic-jena-6-forum.html

The First Jena 6 Show On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2007/07/29/tha-artivist-presentswe-all-be-radio

UNTIL THE JENA 6 ARE FREE NEITHER ARE WE!!!

Don’t Miss This Show Because We Are Truly Living In The Fierce Urgency Of Now!!!

Spread The Good News!!!

As Always Please Spread The Good News!!!

Free The Scott Sisters Update From Sis. Marpessa...

JAMIE SCOTT/SCOTT SISTERS UPDATES (9/18/2009)

Listen To The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Special:
All Eyes Are Still On Mississippi: Free The Scott Sisters!!!
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/09/17/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

The Scott Sisters (l-r): Jamie & Gladys

Warm Greetings all,

Mrs. Evelyn Rasco and Jamie Scott's 18 yr. old son, Terrance, have been speaking out on blogtalk radio and are very grateful for any and all support! On 9/18 Bro. Ronald Herd, II, did a dynamic program with Mrs. Rasco, Terrance, and Bro. Chokwe Lumumba, who called in at about 45 mins. into the show. Bro. Lumumba shared his perspective on the case and strongly urged that calls, letters, mass media promotion, and rallies in Mississippi (such as that being planned by the MWM) be organized to build large numbers of supporters and put continuous pressure on the system there. Bro. Lumumba pointed out that this case stands out as being unique among the many others in that the charge is so "mickey mouse" in relationship to the horrific sentencing that these women received (double-life each). He also educated listeners on the responsibility of Black/New Afrikan people as potential jurors in the court system, and much more. This show is archived at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/09/17/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio and is definitely worth checking out!

Mrs. Rasco received the troubling news yesterday (9/17) that even though we were told that Jamie Scott had been moved to the Medical Bldg. at the prison, she in fact was not. Although Jamie did receive her medications thanks to the efforts of the many people who called and wrote, she continues to be held in a repressive bldg. under severe restrictions with all of the privileges she has earned for 14+ yrs completely stripped away, including school, work, the law library and church. This is significant in that, once again, the punishment does not fit the alleged "crime" of being in the gymnasium when she was not supposed to be, although she was admitted into there by staff. This is a political move because other inmates with similar infractions receive nowhere near the level of the punishment Jamie has been dealt, particularly since she has had no previous write-ups in all these many years!

We continue to need your assistance in addressing this serious issue, as Jamie is terrified that she will be attacked in the bldg. she has been moved to. She is still recovering from illness due to lack of meds and is additionally very depressed and anxious. Please call and write these officials and let them know that Jamie Scott, #19197, needs to have her privileges reinstated and be returned to a more appropriate building and level of custody for someone with her previously blemish-free record.

Margaret Bingham, Superintendent of Central Mississippi Corrections Facility
(601) 932-2880
mbingham@mdoc.state.ms.us
FAX: (601) 664-0782
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, Mississippi 39208

Christopher Epps, Commissioner of Prisons for the State of Mississippi
601-359-5600
CEPPS@mdoc.state.ms.us
723 North President Street
Jackson, MS 39202

Emmitt Sparkman, Deputy Commissioner
(601) 359-5610
esparkman@mdoc.state.ms.us

Governor Haley Barbour
1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150

These politicians also need to receive information on the Scott Sisters because they are among their constituents:

Congressman Bennie Thompson
Washington, D.C. Office
2432 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-5876
(202) 225-5898 (Fax)
Jackson, Mississippi Office
3607 Medgar Evers Blvd
Jackson, MS 39213
(601) 946-9003
(601)-982-5337 (Fax)

Congressman Alcee L. Hastings
Washington Office
2353 Rayburn Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
Tel: (202) 225-1313
Fax: (202) 225-1171

Congressman Jeff Miller
Washington D.C.
2439 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4136
Fax: (202) 225-3414
Toll Free Phone Number to District Office
Pensacola, Florida
Phone: 866-367-1614

We continue to stress the need for a pro bono attorney for the women, legal guidance and representation is desperately needed as none currently exists. Many organizations have been contacted multiple times in the past and perhaps it will be YOUR letter or phone call to the Innocence Project, the ACLU, NAACP, etc., that will garner the positive response that we have not been able to obtain to date!

Also, when possible, please take a moment and send these women a card or letter as their 15 year anniversary of unjust imprisonment approaches. They need your encouraging words now more than ever.

Jamie Scott #19197
CMCF2/A-Bldg.
B Zone, Bed 196
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, MS 39288-8550

Gladys Scott #19142
CMCF/B-Bldg.
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, MS 39288-8550

Thank you all very much!
(On behalf of Mrs. Evelyn Rasco)

Link to Mrs. Rasco's website at http://www.freethescottsisters.blogspot.com
Official Yahoogroup: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreeTheScottSisters/
Official Facebook Group: Free The Scott Sisters
Official Petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Free-Jamie-Gladys/index.html
Subscribe to the listserve: Send a blank e-mail to FREETHESCOTTSISTERS-subscribe@topica.com and keep up with all of the latest information!

Please e-mail, repost, and broadly distribute this information!

Fear Of An Intelligent Black Man...

By The Honorable Minister Paul Scott

"If I'm not who you say I am then you are not who you think you are."
James Baldwin

Loeb/Getty

I want to extend my sincerest apology to the Right Wing Republicans; the Tea Party people , the Birthers, etc. For the last year, I have been calling you "narrow minded bigots who are just hatin' on the president because he's black!" However, based on the events of the last few weeks between the hecklers, the protesters, and the media lynching of former Obama green czar, Van Jones, I stand corrected. You guys don't hate him because he's black. You hate him because he's smart...and black.

Back in the early 90's there was a short lived fashion trend when black youth like the ones wearing Scarface T shirts, today, were proudly sportin' shirts with slogans such as "Knowledge is Power," "The Blacker the College the Sweeter the Knowledge" and my all time favorite, "Warning: Educated Black Man."

The latter was the expression of a sentiment that has existed in this country for centuries. White America is scared to death of a black man who can read and articulate a position.

On the plantation "Simple Jim" and "Big Buck" were never threats to the status quo . Nor are Krazy K and T-Bone who walk around with guns in their waste bands shouting obscenities at anyone who passes by. However, "uppity Negro" Frederick who would hide behind the barn and read a book and Marcus who walks around with "48 Laws of Power" instead of a 40 oz of Old English have always been public enemy #1.

Historically, it must be noted that up until the later part of the 19th century, black people were not ,legally, allowed to read as the plantation owner didn't want the people on whom he counted to pick his cotton to have delusions of grandeur that they could one day be running the joint and make his little rotten kids pick the cotton, themselves.

During the period following slavery it was necessary to give the newly emancipated slaves just enough training to make them productive parts of an economic system that was changing from agricultural to industrial. The idea was never to give the masses of black folks enough education to achieve equality with white Americans.

While an education indeed, was hard to obtain during the 1800's,some were able to break the color barrier. In 1826, John B. Russwurm became the first black college graduate. It must be noted that many of these early intellectuals used their education to write and speak out against slavery and later, with the coming of the WEB Dubois' and the William Trotters', speak out against racial inequality.

The continuing education of the masses of black folks has always been a controversial issue.

According to Harold Cruse in his book, "Plural but Equal," during the 1880's there was an attempt to pass a bill by Senator Henry Blair that would have required the government to provide $77 million dollars to be spent "equally for the education of all children, without distinction of race or color." This was followed by the investment of white philanthropists in the movement of Booker T. Washington that favored an industrial education for black folks instead of the challenging white folks intellectually and politically as advocated by Du Bois.

During the mid 1900's, many African Americans thought that public school desegregation (Brown vs the Board of Education, 1954) was going to be the key to social and economic equity that we have yet to achieve.

In regards to the Black Power Era of the 60's, while white washed history paints the protesters as "angry black militant thugs," it must be noted that the most vocal members of the leadership were intelligent and college educated such as Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and H. Rap Brown. And while the powers that be may have feared Black Panther, Huey P. Newton's gun, they were more afraid of the bullets that came out of his mouth.

It must also be noted that while Malcolm X went to prison as a street cat he came out of prison as one of the greatest debaters this country has ever known, often debating his philosophies on the campuses of major white universities.

During the "conscious" Hip Hop era (1988-92) it must be noted that those rappers who promoted intellectualism and academic development were demonized by those in power but the rappers who glorified gangsta-ism are still making CD's, endorsing products and even making kiddie movies twenty years after the fact.

I am sure that many of the parents who yanked their kids out of school, last week ,so they would not hear Obama's "stay in school" speech, have no problem with their children listening to Lil Wayne.

So, the problem of white intimidation by black male intelligence still exists to this day. Just ask any black student who was directed to the gym or the wood shop class by his advisor while his white counterpart was guided to the chemistry lab or advanced physics. Or the black man with a Master's degree who gets passed over for a promotion that is given to Jim Bob, who barely has a GED.

Maybe the attacks on black men like Van Jones and Barack Obama will serve a greater purpose.

We must use these intances as "teachable moments" to tell our young people that racists don't hate strong black men because of the color of their skin but they fear the genius that lies within.

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283
For more information on the "Intelligence Over Ignorance" Campaign go to http://www.ioimovement.com

Check Out The Honorable Min.Paul Scott On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio:

Pres. Obama A.K.A. Mr. Tough Love & The Myth Of A Post-Racial America Part One
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/07/23/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

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