W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: June 2010

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

NPR: The Many Voices Of Lauryn Hill

NPR: The Many Voices Of Lauryn Hill

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128149135&ft=1&f=1039

True Kings Of Rock : Willie John Episode #3

True Kings Of Rock : Willie John Episode #3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TABKVg61CSs

'The Runaway General' Or 'Why McChrystal Got Fired'...

The Rolling Stone: The Runaway General

Stanley McChrystal, Obama's top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236#

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Mumia Speaks: The 'Good Empire?'

The 'Good Empire?'

[col. writ. 6/20/10] (c) '10 Mumia Abu-Jamal

We are taught to think in schools, and by the lies of diplomats and politicians, that the U.S. goes abroad only to help people.

Any honest historian knows better, and won't dare write or teach this to serious students.

That's because the evidence to the contrary is simply too abundant, written in the blood and scarred earth of too many nations to dispute.

Shortly after the dawn of the industrial age, economic forces pushed politicians and through them, armies abroad to seize markets and resources to fuel the Machine.

The U.S. removed leaders, brought down governments, broke treaties, installed dictators and turned a blind eye to needless suffering, because such actions, in the short run, supported illusions of stability as defined by business interests.

In fact, in many cases, they fueled, funded and armed forces that would turn around and bite them.

Years ago, during the time of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the U.S. supported right wing mujaheddin forces that would one day emerge as the Taliban and Al Qaeda. One contemporary Afghan supporter warned the Americans, "For God's sake--you're financing your own assassins!"*

From Cuba, to Hawaii, to Haiti, to Vietnam, to Iran, to Iraq, to Afghanistan and points beyond, the U.S. imposed puppets and dictators to do their bidding, against the will of those peoples.

And from the 1800's to now, the U.S. used sweet platitudes, like liberty, democracy and freedom, to sell these ruinous imperial projects.

It happens today!

We do not know, and cannot now see, in what form this animus will return.

But return it will, perhaps in the words of the great Irish poet, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939):

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

---(c) '10 maj

{Source: Kinzer, Stephen, OVERTHROW: America's Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq. (N. Y. Times, Books/Henry Holt & Co., 2006), p.269}

=====================

The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!

URGENT Need for Petition Signatures at: http://www.iacenter.org/mumiapetition/

Audio of most of Mumia's essays are at: http://www.prisonradio.org

http://mumiapodcast.libsyn.com/

Mumia's got a podcast! Mumia Abu-Jamal's Radio Essays - Subscribe at the website or on iTunes and get Mumia's radio commentaries online.

Mumia Abu-Jamal's new book -- JAILHOUSE LAWYERS: PRISONERS DEFENDING PRISONERS V. THE USA, featuring an introduction by Angela Y. Davis -- has been released! It is available from City Lights Books: http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100448090

If you are planning to organize an event or would like to order in bulk, you can also receive a 45% discount on any bulk orders of 20 copies or more. The book retails for $16.95, for orders of 20 copies or more the discounted price would be $9.32 per book, plus shipping and handling. Prepayment would be required and books are nonreturnable. If you or your organization would like to place a bulk order, please contact Stacey Lewis at 415.362.1901 or stacey@citylights.com

Let's use the opportunity of the publication of this brilliant, moving, vintage Mumia book to build the momentum for his case, to raise the money we desperately need in these challenging economic times, to get the word out – to produce literature, flyers, posters, videos, DVD's; to send organizers out to help build new chapters and strengthen old ones, TO GET THE PEOPLE OUT IN THE STREETS … all the work that we must do in order to FREE MUMIA as he faces LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE OR EXECUTION!

Please make a contribution to help free Mumia. Donations to the grassroots work will go to both INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL and the FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL COALITION (NYC).

http://www.freemumia.com/

Please mail donations/ checks to:

FREE MUMIA ABU JAMAL COALITION

PO BOX 16, NEW YORK,

NY 10030

(CHECKS FOR BOTH ORGANIZATIONS PAYABLE TO: FMAJC/IFCO)

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

215 476-8812

212-330-8029

Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:

Mumia Abu-Jamal

AM 8335

SCI-Greene

175 Progress Drive

Waynesburg, PA 15370

WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!

Subscribe: mumiacolumns-subscribe@topica.com

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Mumia Speaks: Generals & Presidents

Generals & Presidents

[col. writ. 6/24/10] (c) '10 Mumia Abu-Jamal

The recent Obama-McChrystal tete'a-tete, which resulted in the general submitting his resignation (and the president accepting it) is but an historical echo from conflicts between the army and its civilian leaders, for generations.

When Abe Lincoln was enmeshed in the Civil War, one of his greatest opponents was also one of his generals, one George B. McClellan. When I heard of the words of disrespect attributed to Gen. McChrystal and staff towards the president and members of his cabinet, they seemed mild when set against the words and acts of Lincoln's generals.

Historians tell of Lincoln arriving at the Washington home of Gen. McClellan, only to be left waiting, for hours, only to be informed by the general's wife that he was indisposed. When someone in the Lincoln entourage remarked at this breach of protocol, Lincoln reportedly remarked that it mattered little that he was disrespectful, as long as he continued to fight and win his war.

But the general, who both loved and was loved by his men, couldn't bring himself to do that. He dilly-dallied, temporized, and threw away critical opportunities.

Lincoln sacked him, only to face him as a Democratic presidential candidate in the 1864 elections. Of course, Lincoln won, only to lose his life and win his war a year later.

The truth is, military men rarely really respect their civilian leaders, especially if they didn't serve in the military.

That was true for Lincoln (who only served during a brief skirmish during Illinois Indian wars).

It was true of Clinton.

It's true of Obama.

McClellan dissed Lincoln; McArthur dissed Truman; and McChrystal dissed Obama.

Is there a pattern here?

Most telling of the comments of McChrystal and his people weren't snickerings against Obama and his team, despite the press hype. It's the words of Maj. Gen. Bill Mayville, formerly McChrystal's chief of operations, who was quoted as saying, regarding the success or failure of the Afghanistan war: "It's not going to look like a win, smell like a win, or taste like a win. This is going to end in an argument."

Hmmmm....If it doesn't look, smell or taste like a win, what should you call it?

--(c) '10 maj

====================

The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!

URGENT Need for Petition Signatures at: http://www.iacenter.org/mumiapetition/

Audio of most of Mumia's essays are at: http://www.prisonradio.org

http://mumiapodcast.libsyn.com/

Mumia's got a podcast! Mumia Abu-Jamal's Radio Essays - Subscribe at the website or on iTunes and get Mumia's radio commentaries online.

http://www.freemumia.com/

Please mail donations/ checks to:

FREE MUMIA ABU JAMAL COALITION

PO BOX 16, NEW YORK,

NY 10030

(CHECKS FOR BOTH ORGANIZATIONS PAYABLE TO: FMAJC/IFCO)

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

215 476-8812

212-330-8029

Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:

Mumia Abu-Jamal

AM 8335

SCI-Greene

175 Progress Drive

Waynesburg, PA 15370

WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!

Subscribe: mumiacolumns-subscribe@topica.com

Read: http://topica.com/lists/mumiacolumns/read

Subscribe ICFFMAJ email updates list by e-mailing

icffmaj@aol.com!

6/30/2010W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio9PM C/10PM E**Memphis Sounds The Next Generation Part I & What's On Yo' Mind Open Forum

Celebrating 3 Years Strong & Still Got It Going On

June 2010 Theme: My Song...

Air Date: Weds. June 30, 2010

E-mail: r2c2h2@gmail.com

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

Call-in Number: 646-652-4593

Show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2010/07/01/tha-artivist-presentswe-all-be-radio

Topic: Memphis Sounds The Next Generation Part I & What's On Yo' Mind Open Forum

Featured Guests:
1.) Memphis Rap Phenom REBEL-[YUS

http://www.myspace.com/doctordef

2.) Chi-town Hip Hop Sensation & Aesthetic Force Of Nature Marcellous Lovelace a.k.a. Infinito 2017

http://www.youtube.com/user/INFINITO2017

http://infinito2017.webnode.com/

http://2017blackart.wordpress.com/

3.) Sis. Chandra Williams, award winning visual artist, scholar, all-around Renaissance Woman and founder of The Brilliant Easel School Of Art

4.) YOU!!!

***

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Needs Your Support...Give To Grow The Movement!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2010/03/we-all-be-needs-your-supportgive-to.html

***

Want More???

Want To Hear More Tha Artivist Presents…W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio??? Click On The Following Link:

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

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As Always Please Spread The Good News!!!

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Needs Your Support...Give To Grow The Movement!
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2010/03/we-all-be-needs-your-supportgive-to.html

True King Of Rock # 2 Bo Diddley

True King Of Rock # 2 Bo Diddley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onsuoPIF5v8

My Grandfather's Execution: Remembering Willie McGee

My Grandfather's Execution: Remembering Willie McGee

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126539134

More Civil Rights Movement On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. :

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/search?q=civil+rights+movement

Artur Davis Attacked Blacks To Gain White Support

Artur Davis Attacked Blacks To Gain White Support

By George E. Curry

NNPA Columnist

Jun 21, 2010

As an Alabama state senator, Hank Sanders has witnessed a long line of White politicians trying to get elected by what they used to call “outniggering” one another. Former Gov. George C. Wallace was a prime example. However, the last thing Sanders expected was an African-American trying to get elected by opposing the best interests of African-American voters and attacking Black leaders.

But that’s exactly what Congressman Artur Davis did in his unsuccessful campaign to become the first African-American governor of Alabama.

“Some Whites use race to consolidate White voters during election and some Blacks use race to consolidate Black voters,” Sanders wrote in Senate Sketches, his regular newsletter to his constituents. “But this time, there is a new context: a technically well qualified Black person is running for Governor of Alabama in the Democratic Primary against a technically well qualified White. There is also a new twist: a Black person is attempting to use the race of other Blacks to consolidate Whites behind him. It’s a new context with new twists in an age old saga.”

Any Black politicians thinking about adopting the same twist should study the outcome in Alabama. Davis was trounced by his White opponent 62 percent to 38 percent. Davis lost 10 of the 12 counties that make up his 7th Congressional District and all of the predominantly Black counties, some by margins as large as 70 percent. He even lost his own polling place, causing news analyst Roland Martin to say that maybe Davis’ mother didn’t vote for him.

Davis has announced that he will retire from politics after being roundly repudiated by voters. It doesn’t come a moment too soon.

In a major tactical blunder, Davis decided to bypass the endorsement screening process of the four major political organizations, leading to their decision to endorse his opponent, Ron Sparks, the state commissioner of agriculture. He also attacked three of the most powerful Black politicians in Alabama: Sanders; Joe Reed, chairman of the Alabama Democratic Conference and former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington.

In addition, Sanders said in his newsletter, “Over a year ago, [Davis] used the race of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who had become a racial symbol to send a signal. Rev. Wright was scheduled to speak in Selma at the old fashion mass meeting on Thursday night to open the Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee in Selma. Congressman Davis was scheduled to introduce U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that Sunday. Yet, he issued a press release objecting to Rev. Wright speaking at a civil rights event.”

Unlike Sparks, who proposed a state lottery and said had he been in Congress, he would have voted for health-care reform, Davis never developed a message that resonated with voters.

“Artur Davis gave the race issue another twist,” Sanders wrote. “He accused Ron Sparks, his White gubernatorial opponent, of playing the race card. But he was the one playing the race card time after time again in his pursuit of higher office.”

Sanders continued, “The challenge of using race against persons of the same race is a more delicate endeavor than using race against people of another race. The idea is to attack symbols (i.e. Black leaders and Black organizations) in a way that sends messages to White voters without alienating Black voters. It’s easy to miscalculate and Artur Davis miscalculated.”

A major miscalculation was Davis’ decision to oppose health care legislation. When he first opposed the measure in the House – the only Black member of Congress to do so – Blacks were upset with him but not enraged. Once the bill was scaled back in the Senate and the House had to vote again, and Davis again opposed the measure, there was a groundswell of opposition to his candidacy.

U.W. Clemon, appointed Alabama’s first Black federal judge by Jimmy Carter, said although Davis was his “personal choice,” he voted for Davis’ opponent.

He told the Birmingham News, “Artur told me while he couldn’t vote for the House version, he would vote for the Senate version, not to give up on him.”

Clemon, now retired, said he learned that Davis voted against the re crafted Senate version while watching television.

“I was stunned and I was disappointed,” Clemon told the newspaper. “You have to understand. I love Artur like a son. I’ve never personally known a politician with more intelligence, more gifts than Artur with the exception of President Obama.

“But, I also have to say that I’ve never been more disappointed in a person in my life. Artur walked away from the people who needed him the most, and he walked away from himself.”

Alabama voters showed that when a Black politician walks away from them, he can keep walking. That should be a lesson for anyone seeking office with the twisted idea that they can play Blacks for fools.

(George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge.)

Hear Bro. George Curry On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio:

2010 State Of The Black Union

“It Ain’t About Tavis, It’s About Us, & It's About Time!”

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2010/02/25/tha-artivist-presentswe-all-be-radio

Two Lawyers' Groups Have Reservations About Kagan

Two Lawyers' Groups Have Reservations About Kagan

By George E. Curry

NNPA Columnist

Jun 28, 2010

Although the NAACP and Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network have enthusiastically endorsed Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, two key legal groups have so far refrained from endorsing the former Harvard law dean amid questions about whether she would be a strong civil rights advocate on the court.

That split underscores the complexities of a civil rights community eager – some say over eager – to support the nation’s first African-American president and some highly-respected legal organizations that are in a much better position to evaluate the appointment of Kagan to fill the seat vacated by Justice John Paul Stevens, a reliable liberal vote on the sharply-divided Supreme Court.

Mavis T. Thompson, president of the National Bar Association, the largest organization of Black lawyers and judges, said the group gave Kagan only a lukewarm rating because of concerns about her positions on crack-cocaine sentencing disparities and her record on diversity at Harvard.

Although Kagan is clearly qualified to join the court, Thompson said, “We hope Ms. Kagan’s views on civil rights and equal justice will become apparent during the confirmation hearings. To date, the NBA has withheld its endorsement due to insufficient information to ensure that Ms. Kagan’s views are consistent with the core missions of the organization.”

Barbara R. Arwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, said her organization voted not to take a position on Kagan.

“There isn’t a judicial record to review, indicating her views on critical civil rights matters,” she told the Washington Post. “And otherwise, the civil rights record that exists is thin and mixed.”

Despite that mixed record, Sharpton issued a statement saying, “President Obama’s nomination of Ms. Kagan – a New Yorker who was a clerk for the Honorable Thurgood Marshall and who has shown balance and fairness throughout her career – is worthy of the support of the civil rights community.”

It took the NAACP just five days to endorse Kagan.

“After a careful and thorough review of Elena Kagan’s record, we have unanimously voted to endorse her nomination,” President and CEO Benjamin Jealous said in a statement. By contrast, the NAACP took nine times as long to research Clarence Thomas before opposing his nomination.

Jealous, like Sharpton, noted that Kagan once clerked for legendary Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. But make no mistake about it, Kagan is no Thurgood Marshall. Not even close. When Marshall joined the court, no one questioned his commitment to civil rights.

As a recent story in the Los Angeles Times observed, “Though Marshall was an unwavering liberal, Kagan already appeared less so. Memos on file in Marshall’s papers at the Library of Congress show Kagan to be cautious, skeptical and, at times, scornful of those who would push the law too far to the left.”

Because Kagan has not served as a judge, has written curiously little about major civil rights issues, and has a record of courting conservatives, many are looking at her time at Harvard, her service in the Clinton White House and her short tenure as solicitor general for clues on what kind of judge she might become.

Critics note that of the 43 full-time faculty members hired during her tenure at Harvard, only two were Black and one was Asian. After studying her record, scholars found that of the 32 tenured and tenure-track faculty appointments under Kagan, only one was a person of color (Asian) and seven were women.”

Kagan’s defenders argue that the law school faculty, not the dean, makes the final decision on hiring. But Kagan supporters can’t have it both ways. They can’t argue convincingly that she represented only one vote, while taking credit for her bringing in more conservative faculty members.

For example, President Obama in his nomination speech said, “At a time when many believed that the Harvard faculty had gotten a little one-sided in its viewpoint, she sought to recruit prominent conservative scholars and spur a healthy debate on campus.”

She was so successful attracting conservative faculty members that the right-wing Federalist Society gave her a standing ovation at one Harvard banquet. On its website, the group carries this quote from Kagan: “I love the Federalist Society…They are highly committed, intelligent, hard-working active students who make the Harvard community better.”

Many prominent conservatives have endorsed Kagan, including Charles Fried, solicitor general in the Reagan administration; Ken Starr, the person who prosecuted Bill Clinton, and Theodore Olson, who served as solicitor general for George W. Bush. Those endorsements have raised the eyebrows of progressives.

With conservatives holding a 5-4 edge on the Supreme Court, Obama can’t afford to be wrong about Kagan. Other presidents have lived to regret their Supreme Court appointments. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren as chief justice in 1953, feeling certain that he would be a reliable conservative vote. However, Warren moderated his views and became one the court’s most consistent and influential liberals.

Eisenhower would later say Warren’s appointment was “the biggest damn-fool mistake I ever made.” We can only hope that Obama won’t be able to say the same thing about Kagan.

Hear Bro. George Curry On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio:

2010 State Of The Black Union

“It Ain’t About Tavis, It’s About Us, & It's About Time!”

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2010/02/25/tha-artivist-presentswe-all-be-radio

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Negro Leagues Stadium Battling Neglect

Negro Leagues Stadium Battling Neglect

By Paul Lukas

ESPN

Page 2
6/21/2010

PATERSON, N.J. -- Brian LoPinto can feel the ghosts.

"Larry Doby probably stood right here when he tried out for the Newark Eagles," he says, poking at a threadbare patch of artificial turf. "Josh Gibson hit home runs here. Monte Irvin tried out here. History happened here."

It's a hot June afternoon, and we're standing inside Hinchliffe Stadium, a battered and dilapidated 10,000-seater that was built in 1932 and is one of the handful of Negro Leagues ballparks still standing. The New York Black Yankees and New York Cubans both called Hinchliffe home, and the stadium also hosted football, track and field, boxing and lots of high school sports.

But Hinchliffe has been closed since 1997 and is covered with graffiti and vegetation. LoPinto, a 31-year-old who grew up two blocks away, has spent the past eight years heading a preservationist group devoted to saving and restoring Hinchliffe before it deteriorates past the point of no return.

And lately his efforts have been bearing fruit. Last month, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Hinchliffe on its annual list of America's 11 most endangered historic places, which has focused additional attention on the stadium and the need to preserve what's left of the Negro Leagues' history.

"First and foremost, it should be a home to high school athletics again, even if it's football," says LoPinto, who's dressed for the occasion in a New York Black Yankees jersey. "And when it isn't hosting sporting events, you lease it out for concerts and other events. If the baseball gods were to shine some light on us, maybe we could have a minor league stadium here."

It doesn't take much imagination to see that Hinchliffe was once a jewel, especially from the outside, where its grand entrance, beautifully tiled ticket booth windows and Art Deco design flourishes still project a sense of faded grandeur. And if you believe in location, location, location, Hinchliffe is hard to beat: It's situated right next to the Great Falls, one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls in the eastern United States.

Inside, though, it's a very different story. With nobody minding the store, the place has fallen prey to vandalism, fire and forestation, which is encroaching everywhere, even through the turnstiles. It makes for a surreal tableau of decay, as you can see in this short video clip:

Down below, the "field" is basically a vast expanse of blacktop partially covered by some tattered AstroTurf. As LoPinto leads me around on an informal tour, I spot an odd shape and ask him what it is. "It's a ghost," he explains. "Where we're standing, this was East Side High School's end zone. The school was built over a cemetery, so they named their teams the Ghosts."

There's a sad irony to this -- it's almost too easy, like Irony 101 -- but LoPinto appears to be immune to it. "I like to stand right between the dugouts and imagine where home plate used to be," he says. "This little bush here, this was first base. And look, this rusted thing was the foul pole -- you can vaguely see the '271' marker." (As I later discover, the center-field distance marker is relatively unscathed by comparison.)

But LoPinto isn't some solitary quixote tilting at windmills. Lots of local people played high school baseball or football at Hinchliffe throughout the years (including LoPinto himself, who got his first varsity base hit here -- "a single to left," he says), and many of them have strong feelings about the place. One such person is New York Giants equipment director Joe Skiba, who played football at Hinchliffe in the 1990s. You might think a place like Hinchliffe wouldn't have made a lasting impression on a guy who now works in NFL stadiums, but Hinchliffe clearly left its mark on Skiba.

"For a teenager to be playing in a stadium like that, it felt like we were playing the NFL," Skiba recalls. "We'd never seen anything like it. An AstroTurf field, our own locker room underneath the stands, walking out from underneath the stadium when we were introduced -- we were always pumped to play there. It's just a shame what's happened to it, and I hope people will realize what a stadium like that could do for the community."

The Giants actually played several exhibition games at Hinchliffe back in the 1930s, something Skiba wasn't aware of until I showed him that newspaper clipping. He was completely blown away when he saw it.

Given Skiba's and the Giants' connections to the old stadium, along with the fact that the Giants are headquartered less than 10 miles from Paterson, wouldn't Hinchliffe's restoration be a perfect community project for the Giants to get involved in?

Unfortunately, it turns out that they already got involved, and it didn't turn out well. Back in 2004, the Giants and the NFL provided a $200,000 grant for the installation of a new, synthetic playing field at Hinchliffe.

But the Paterson school district, which has owned the stadium since 1963, sat on the funds so long that the grant was ultimately revoked by the NFL and reallocated elsewhere. "We've already been down that road, so it's hard to see us getting involved with that again," says Allison Stangeby, the team's director of community relations.

As you can imagine, LoPinto -- whose preservation group had nothing to do with that 2004 grant -- finds this more than a little bit frustrating. "They just weren't ready for the money yet," he says. "And the money was just for the field, which didn't make sense -- there were structural improvements that needed to be made and still need to be made. I wish there was some way we could revisit that with the Giants."

This tale of dysfunction seems sadly characteristic of Hinchliffe's plight. The reason the stadium was closed in 1997 was that the school district couldn't afford to repair a sinkhole that developed at one end of the field. The school district has since fallen into state receivership, and Paterson itself has become such a symbol of poverty and crime that the neighboring town of West Paterson recently voted to change its name to avoid any taint by association. So although local residents approved a nonbinding referendum this past fall for the city to put $15 million into Hinchliffe renovations, it's not clear where the money would come from, especially during a recession.

It all adds up to a steep set of hurdles. LoPinto knows all this, but he's undaunted. "People like the underdog aspect of the stadium and of Paterson," he says. "That's part of the story, part of the appeal."

Maybe, but underdogs don't always manage to pull out that victory. Here's hoping LoPinto finds a way to do it.

(Special thanks to Kirsten Hively, who took most of the photographs linked from this story. You can see her full set of Hinchliffe Stadium photos here.)

Paul Lukas, a Page 2 columnist, couldn't resist this Hinchliffe Stadium photo op. He's keeping his fingers crossed for the ballpark's future.

See also...

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: The Legend Of Art 'Superman' Pennington: Baseball Pioneer. Civil Rights Activist. Entrepreneur. A Man

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2010/06/03/tha-artivist-presentswe-all-be-radio

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: A Field Of Dreams & Possibilities: Reviving Negro League Baseball

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/11/12/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio

Not Your Average Joe: Joe B. Scott, Negro Leagues Star On 'Real Talk With Tha Artivist' & W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio!!!

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/07/not-your-average-joe-joe-b-scott-negro.html

Was Jackie Robinson A Pawn For The White Power Economic Structure??? Tha Artstorian Weighs In...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/04/was-jackie-robinson-pawn-for-white.html

More Negro Leagues Baseball On W.E. A.L.L. B.E.:

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/search?q=negro+leagues+baseball

Who Is The Real ‘American Gangster’?

Who Is The Real ‘American Gangster’?

June 22, 2010, 7:00 PM ET
The Wall Street Journal
'Speak Easy'

In 2007, actor Denzel Washington starred in “American Gangster,” a fictionalized film based on the career of real-life convicted Harlem drug dealer Frank Lucas. But Ike Atkinson, another convicted drug dealer, says he’s the real “American Gangster” and that he was behind some of the criminal innovations and successes attributed to Lucas, including creating a drug pipeline between the U.S. and Thailand.

“I might be the most successful drug dealer in the history of the United States,” said Atkinson, who estimates that during the 1970s his drug operation smuggled nearly a ton of heroin into places like New York City, New Jersey and Baltimore, Md. He is the subject of a new biography out this week.

However, Lucas, who released a memoir called “Original Gangster” earlier this month, says Atkinson’s claim to be the bigger crime figure is bogus.

“He’s full of crap,” said Lucas. “He’s just using my name to try and get publicity for his book. I was major. Check with DEA. They’ll tell you about what I did.”

Former Special Agent in Charge Lewis Rice, who worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York division from 1974 to 2001, says he prepared Lucas to testify against Harlem drug dealers and that Atkinson was a major dealer.

“He wasn’t as well known and as flashy as Frank Lucas, but he was the boss no question,” according to Rice, who also said that Lucas never went on the record saying that he smuggled drugs from Thailand.

A retired master sergeant in the U.S. Army, Atkinson, 84, was recently released from federal prison after serving 32 years in prison for his drug offenses.

In his biography “Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, and His Band of Brothers,” released yesterday, crime author Ron Chepesiuk details how Atkinson smuggled heroin from Southeast Asia into the United States and became a leader in the international drug trade.

Atkinson, who currently lives in Raleigh, N.C., talked to the Wall Street Journal about his drug enterprise, incarceration and “American Gangster.”

The Wall Street Journal: Why did you agree to let Ron Chepesiuk tell your story?

Ike Atkinson: At first, I thought about the embarrassment. I wasn’t interested in reviving things that happened thirty something years ago. When Ron told me about Frank Lucas taking credit for things I had done that weren’t true, I became interested.

Frank Lucas has said he’s responsible for smuggling heroin using the coffins of dead American servicemen. Is that not true?

He’s a damn lie. None of that is true. He had no part in any smuggling of no drugs from Thailand. This guy got his drugs from me and he and his lawyers made up this story.

How much money did you make while operating your drug business?

I never sat down to count my money. I was worth maybe 30, 40 million dollars. But it’s all drifted away. Now I have a pension from the army and I have my social security.

How did you get through 32 years in prison?

I had celebrity status. People would say, ‘We have never seen a black guy smuggle drugs like you have.’

When did you decide to stop smuggling drugs? Was it the incident in prison when you were busted for trying to revive your drug network and given an even longer sentence?

I caught two importation cases while I was down. I was going backwards so I said ‘I’m finished with drugs.’ After that, I didn’t get into any drugs.

What did you do while you were incarcerated?

Every time the doors opened, I was on the yard walking and occasionally I worked in the chapel. I didn’t do anything constructive. I just did my time, read a lot and called my friends that I had before I went to jail.

Do you think your book glamorizes the drug trade?

I don’t think it does. I think what it really does is challenge Frank Lucas and the “American Gangster” movie. I paint myself as no angel. I just don’t want Frank Lucas taking credit for what I did. I hope that’s the main thing that our book clears up.

Do you ever think about the impact that the drugs you dealt have had on society, especially within the Black community?

I have a reverend friend and his wife and son come to see me. Every time I see them, I see the son they’re raising and I think about the drugs I’ve sold and how it could end up in his hands. I don’t feel good about it at all.

Do you have any regrets?

I wish I had never got in the drug business. I was too successful. If I had to do it again, I would do a lot of things different. I have asked the Lord to forgive me and I think he’s heard me. I live with my [conscience].

What do you do with your time now?

I have a soap opera I like, ‘The Young and the Restless.’ I watch that and the news with Katie Couric.

See Also...

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: Chopping It Up With Sergeant Smack: The Real American Gangster

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2010/06/24/tha-artivist-presentswe-all-be-radio