Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Bolivia Says Yankee Go!

Bolivia's Morales rages against US 'coup-plotting

President Evo Morales addressing the conference of defence ministers of the Americas in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. President Morales is a staunch critic of the US

Bolivian President Evo Morales has accused the US of backing coup attempts against him and other left-wing Latin American leaders.

Mr Morales said US policies to combat drugs and terrorism were pretexts for "intervention" in the region.

He was addressing a meeting of regional defence ministers, including US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz.

Mr Gates listened but made no public response to the accusations.

The US embassy later expressed disappointment at Mr Morales's remarks.

In an hour-long speech, Mr Morales accused the US of backing failed coup attempts in Venezuela in 2002, in Bolivia in 2008, and in Ecuador this year.

He also accused it of involvement in the ousting of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya in 2009.

"Latin American compatriots, we must recognise that the US beat us in Honduras, the North American empire beat us. But the people of America also won in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador", he said.

"The score is 3-1".

The US has previously strongly denied involvement in all those cases.

US defence secretary Robert Gates at the conference of defence ministers of the Americas in Bolivia Mr Gates did not respond to President Morales's remarks

Mr Morales did not mention Mr Gates by name, but much of his speech was clearly directed at the US defence secretary and former CIA director.

The Bolivian leader said "nobody" would stop his country from forming the alliances it chose.

"Bolivia, under my leadership, will have agreements and alliances with every one," he said.

'Shared dreams'

Mr Gates did not respond to Mr Morales's accusations when he addressed the conference later in the day.

Instead, he backed a plan to improve disaster relief cooperation to respond to regional events such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile earlier this year.

He also gave his support to a proposal for greater transparency on defence spending in the region to prevent arms races.

"Let us not lose sight of our shared dreams and common aspirations for a free, prosperous and secure Americas", he said.

Mr Gates had earlier warned Bolivia to be careful in its dealings with Iran, which has offered to help it develop nuclear energy.

""As a sovereign state Bolivia obviously can have relations with any country in the world that it wishes to", he said on Sunday.

"Bolivia needs to be mindful of the of the number of UN security council resolutions that have been passed with respect to Iran's behaviour".

Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, is a long-standing opponent of US influence in Latin America and an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

President Barack Obama's administration has been trying to improve US relations with Latin America in the face of the rising influence of China and other powers, but has faced strong opposition from left-wing leaders in the region such as Mr Morales and Mr Chavez.

Womanist Musings: The F.B.I. and the NSA Are Not Cool: By Kola Boof

Womanist Musings: The F.B.I. and the NSA Are Not Cool: By Kola Boof

Dr. Yacoub's America


Dr. Yacoub's America


In the populist black studies of Elijah Muhammad, we are taught a big-head scientist genetically engineered the white man by separating the dominant and recessive genes from the aboriginal Asiatic black man. Yacoub's bio tech lab was not much different from the bio-tech labs operating in Berkeley and Emeryville, a few blocks from my house. We have no doubt they have cloned a man in these labs, but are simply delaying the announcement.

According to Elijah's Myth of Yacoub, the young scientist found the magnetic attraction between two pieces of steel. We maintain America is the land of Yacoub's children who love playing with steel. America spends a trillion dollars making weapons of steel, making her the number one arms merchant of the world. Children in the hood are addicted to steel as well, whether guns to mainly kill each other or cars they turn into weapons of destruction, using cars in "side shows" where people are needlessly injured or killed. The children will stand in the street or walk directly into a two thousand pound piece of steel and plastic, fearing nothing. If you stop before hitting them, they will curse you and/or pull out a piece of steel to shoot you. They use steel to resolve all disputes, sometimes before a discussion or conflict resolution.

Yocoub utilized three workers on his bio-tech project: the doctor, nurse and undertaker. These workers conspired to create the man of steel or devil. They practiced a form of selective breeding, allowing the black to mate with a brown and a brown with a lighter person until the white devil was created after hundreds of years, 600 to be exact. Two blacks were not allowed to mate in this experiment. Even today, there are some blacks who demand their children not marry another black skinned person, only someone lighter. This is no doubt residue from the Yacoubian psychopathology. If two blacks produced a baby, the doctor, nurse and undertaker would conspire to murder the baby to keep the experiment on track.

In modern America, we must note the three workers, doctor, nurse and undertaker, are aided and abetted by workers from the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industry, who are determined to fulfill their wish, "let us make a man." The petrochemical workers produce the food in oil, not earth. As much as possible the crops are genetically engineered. If not, they are created by a healthy dose of insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and dyes.

Naturally, the oil based rather than soil based food leads Yacoub's children directly from the fruit of petrochemical workers into the hands of pharmaceutical workers in league with the doctor, nurse and undertaker. The prescription drug dealers connect with insurance companies to guide the patient into the hands of the doctor, nurse and undertaker.

When poor Michael Jackson was found dead at the hands of his doctor, we knew the Myth of Yacoub was alive and well. Michael was so addicted to the Myth of Yacoub that he exceeded the limit of propriety in attempting to alter his blackness in favor of the Yacoubian ideal of whiteness. But note his doctor administered the hemlock that took him into oblivion.

There is almost no way to avoid the scheme or conspiracy of the Yacoubian team of workers, the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, medical and funeral agents.

When a man entered prison, the inmates warned him, "Don't get sick. Whatever you do, don't get sick up in here. There's a prison graveyard full of nigguhs who got sick." And so it is the same in America, don't get sick. Yacoub's team of workers are eagerly awaiting you, sharpening their knives until you get to the doctor and nurse, and finally the undertaker.

The only solution is to avoid stress, for dis-ease is brought about from stress, thus the food (petrochemical) is useless and dangerous; the medicine (pharmaceutical) is useless and dangerous as it is not designed to heal only prolong the illness unto death. Part of the last rites administered to the victim of Yacoub is that ride in a steel hearse.
--Marvin X
11/21/10

Veterans: Soviets in Afghanistan - Programmes - Al Jazeera English

Veterans: Soviets in Afghanistan - Programmes - Al Jazeera English

Monday, November 22, 2010

Brazil Celebrates Black Consciousness Day

Brazil commemorates Black Consciousness Day recalling fugitive slaves’ leader

Hundreds of cities, towns and villages throughout Brazil commemorated Saturday Black Consciousness Day with different festivities and cultural activities. Brazil is considered the second Black Country in the world behind Nigeria, with 75.8 million African-Brazilians and is still exposed to the consequences of racial discrimination.

Zumbi dos Palmares, a symbol for Afro-Brazilians


A hundred twenty two years after the abolition of slavery in 1888, Brazil recalls and honours on November 20th “Zumbi dos Palmares”, the last chief of a republic of fugitive slaves.

Killed on November 20, 1695 by the big landowners of the time he has become a symbol of resistance against slavery and has only lately been recalled as such.

According to Brazil’s statistics office, IBGE, of the 10% poorest and indigent Brazilians, 74% are black or coloured.

Afro-Brazilian organizations admit that some progress has been achieved by Afro-Brazilians in publicity or in less-demeaning roles in the country’s famous soap-opera industry. Similarly the colour of skin is less linked to household cleaning and maintenance services.

In Rio do Janeiro Black Consciousness Day inspired three plays in local theatres, with one of them particularly touching. ”The whip revolt” occurred a century ago, 22 November 1910 when a black officer from the Brazilian navy, Joao Candido, the son of former slaves and crew members of the cruiser “Minas Gerais” mutinied in the bay of Rio do Janeiro.

Candido and the 1.173 men on board threatened to bombard the city with the powerful guns and cannons of the cruiser unless the long established practice of corporal punishment and whip lashing were not abolished by the navy.

It was all triggered when a crewmember was sentenced to a punishment considered exaggerated: instead of the customary 25 whip lashes he was to receive 250 lashes.

United States also adhered to the celebration with a message from the State Department.

“The United States Government and the American people congratulate the people of Brazil as they recognize Black Consciousness Day, also known as Zumbi dos Palmares Day, on November 20. The life of Quilombo leader Zumbi and his unrelenting struggle against slavery stands as an enduring symbol of freedom and justice.

“Today, both Brazil and the United States recognize the important contributions of Afro-descendants in our societies and the imperative of combating discrimination, which has negatively impacted both of our countries. Just last month, our governments, in partnership with civil society and our private sectors, met for the third time in Salvador da Bahia under the historic U.S. – Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality. Together we are celebrating the diversity of our heritage and developing and sharing best practices to ensure equal opportunity for Afro-descendants and indeed all citizens of our nations.

“On this significant day, we congratulate the people of Brazil and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership as, together, we provide leadership and examples of democracy, diversity, and social justice to our Hemisphere and to the world”.

Elijah Muhammad's Great Grandson heads Schomburg

We know the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Clara Muhammad are smiling to know their great grandson Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad will head the world's greatest collection of black history that is housed at the Schomburg Library in Harlem. We think Malcolm and Betty Shabazz are smiling as well.
--Marvin X

Meet the new director of Schomburg
http://www.nypl.org/audiovideo/meet-next-director-schomburg-center-drkhalil-gibran-muhammad?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4ceabfb290a32b30,0#comment-3131

Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad to head the Schomburg Center



By Herb Boyd
Special to the Amsterdam News
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a scholar of African-American history from Indiana University, has been named the new director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

There were more than 200 nominees or scholars seeking the position since the announcement that Dr. Howard Dodson, Jr. would retire from the position next year. Dr. Muhammad, who is the son of the noted New York Times photographer Ozier Muhammad and the great-grandson of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, assumes the position next July.


“I am extremely excited to be selected to fill this prestigious position,” Dr. Muhammad said in an interview Wednesday afternoon at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope I can fulfill the legacy left by Dr. Dodson.”

Over the last several months the Schomburg Center has been mired in rumors that the center was imperiled and ever more so upon the notice that Dr. Dodson would no longer be at the helm. Furthermore, there was an outcry from the community with the demand that Dr. Molefi Asante of Temple University be appointed the new director.

“Yes, I am well aware of all the controversy and the first thing I want to do is to secure the trust of the community and the staff here at this historic institution,” Dr. Muhammad said. “This position affords me a national platform to contribute to conversations and even policy debates on issues pertaining to the arts and culture.”

A native of Chicago, Dr. Muhammad served as assistant professor of history at Indiana University for five years, where he completed a major scholarly work The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America (Harvard University Press, 2010).

According to Dr. David Levering Lewis, who nominated Dr. Muhammad for the position, the new director’s book “renders an incalculable service to civil rights scholarship by disrupting one of the nation’s most insidious, convenient, and resilient explanatory loops: whites commit crimes, but black males are criminals.”

“I am currently working a book that will deal with the history of racial politics surrounding the creation and swift dissolution of Prohibition-era ‘tough-on-crime’ laws, specifically New York’s four-strikes law of 1926,” he said.


When asked about some of his immediate plans, Dr. Muhammad said he would devote time and attention to some of the programs already underway at the Schomburg and initiated by Dr. Dodson. “I certainly will continue his thrust into digital technologies, particularly as we reach out to the younger members of our community.”

At 38, Dr. Muhammad, who grew up on the Southside of Chicago, is vitally in touch with the mood, attitude and aspirations of many in the Black and Latino community. A 1993 graduate of University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in economics, he received his Ph.D. in American history from Rutgers University in 2004, specializing in 20th century U.S. and African American history.

“I know that his career at the Schomburg Center will be one of excellence and innovation,” said Dr. Paul LeClerc, president of the NYPL.

Dr. Muhammad, who is married with three children, said that he will be convening a town hall meeting to get to know the community and for the community to get to know him.

“There has never been a more exciting time in the history of the Schomburg Center,” said search committee member Aysha Schomburg, great-granddaughter of Arturo Schomburg, the center’s founder. “Without any doubt, Khalil has the skills and the passion to build on the legacy. This is a great day for New York and especially for Harlem. We welcome him.”