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Review :: Civil & Human Rights |
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Elaine Brown on "The Left and the Significance of Elections" |
Current rating: 0 |
by IMCista
(No verified email address) |
11 Oct 2005
Modified: 08:14:20 PM |
This evening, Elaine Brown spoke at Allen Hall on campus about "The Left and the Significance of Elections." Elaine Brown was the leader of the Black Panther Party for many years and is now running for Mayor of Brunswick, Georgia in November, 2005 elections: www.elainebrown.org. If elected, she would be the first black and first female Mayor in this primarily poor, black town of 16,000 surrounded by some of the most wealthy areas in the country.
Tune into Womyn Making Waves on Sunday, November 6 from 1-3 pm on WEFT 90.1 FM to listen to the talk. Here are notes from her talk. |
Elaine Brown wrote:
*A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story* - a memoir about her time in the Black Panther party
*The Condemnation of Little B.* - a study of the murder trial of 13-year-old African-American Michael Lewis.
Elaine Brown founded:
*Mother Advocating Juvenile Justice*
*National Alliance for Radical Prison Reform*
Yummy Sandifer - 11 year old boy in Chicago - who was convicted of a crime of killing a young girl. He was killed himself. He was on Time magazine sensationalizing young black boys and their crime.
US is the only (developed?) country in the world that has not signed onto the International Law which prohibits trying kids as adults. Under Clinton, a crime bill was passed that allows states to decide to try kids as adults - in Georgia, the minimum age is 13 now.
"In America, crime is black - especially young back men. Even some African-Americans have told me this - "everything was fine, until this new generation of kids came along." Even Jessie Jackson has said he is nervous when a young black boy is walking behind him."
William Bennett said: "If we aborted all the black babies in America, crime would disappear." His book- Body Count: Moral Poverty...And How to Win America's War Against Crime and Drugs - claims crime is genetic.
"Where is the movement of outrage?
It's been murdered, bought, made comfortable ..."
"America has become so comfortable with racism and poverty."
From the Black Panther Party to Elected Office ...
- Ran in 1973 and 1975
- Wilson became first black Mayor of Oakland in 1979
- Now I am running for Mayor of Brunswick, Georgia where the majority is black - 16,000 people. It is a non-partisan race.
Why Brunswick?
There is a poor, black population - so there is a chance to seed change.
It is a small enough town to avoid the centralized power and corruption.
There is a powerful resource - a port - that could generate wealth to redistribute.
We are surrounded by rich white people - Seattle, Georgia is the third richest zip code in the nation.
We are going to TAKE the port of Brunswick. Nobody is going to take it with guns, so as Mayor we can pursue with eminent domain. We can begin to seize little pockets of power. I will turn property over to neighborhood development organizations. Local government can do a lot.
"That is why I am focused on Brunswick - I can see Brunswick. I can't see globalization."
"I am messing with some money and I mean to mess with some money. I am just like Allende who was killed for the same thing I am trying to do - nationalize resources." I intend to annex the north of Brunswick - the wealthy pockets who use the resources but don't pay for them.
I am going to pass an ordinance that police officers have to live in Brunswick to work on the police force. I will not allow the confederate flag. "There is no difference between the American flag and a confederate flag. When Betsy Ross was stitching the flag - she was stitching it for a slave-holding country."
In D.C. the precedent was sent that eminent domain can be used to buy blight and crime ridden areas - which means eminent domain can be used to take African-American communities and turn them over to corporations.
In Atlanta with all black council, mayor, states attorney and yet they just passed anti-panhandling ordinance. "They should fall on their knees and beg for forgiveness from their ancestors for that."
Martin Luther King
- focused on redistribution of wealth which is what got him killed.
- the only thing blacks are asked to remember about MLK was that he was NON-VIOLENT, because the philosophy of violence is reserved for the government.
What we need is a BASE to operate from. What do we want to do? Do we just want to whine and complain about voter fraud in Ohio and the criminal justice system?
"Karl Rove sold poor people in the south - 'we aren't black and we aren't gay' - and they bought it. You can't take white to the bank. The Green party is going to have to get in with these people. Black preachers were paid by the Bush administration." Blacks bought into the anti-gay rhetoric.
"We don't have a democracy - we have mob rule. When a majority can oppress a minority like they do - it's mob rule."
In LA, everyone loved the Black Panther Party until the first murders of black panthers by police happened and then you couldn't find a black panther jacket. Folks aren't ready for it - especially when there is blood. So we have to use what works - elections.
[ After Brown's talk, an African-American UIUC student the audience said: "I am not used to someone straight talking like you are on this campus. I notice black folks tone it down when they come speak here ... maybe so they don't scare the white people." ] |
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