Where do we go from here
Where Do We Go From Here: Community or Chaos?
By Alton H. Maddox, Jr.
New York City has a FIRE economy. This explains many of the opposing and contradictory struggles in the Black community and the seemingly strange behavior of Black leaders. If you are unaware of the workings of the FIRE economy, you should consult the history, economics, law and politics of New York City (HELP). Otherwise, it will be difficult to understand the following comments.
Before Sis. Eloise Dicks made her transition, she invited me to her home in the Bronx. Historically, Sis. Dicks has always been all business and all Black. It was no different when she and I were face to face in late June. She wanted me to commit to an involvement in the African Burial Ground issue. After my initial involvement with this issue, twelve years ago, I rejected a similar request from Cong. Gus Savage.
I attended Sis. Dicks homegoing services last month in Harlem. Homegoing services have their own limitations. It seemed to me that a community tribute for this heroine was appropriate. Arrangements were made for this to occur at the Oberia Dempsey Center on September 29. I made the announcement at the homegoing services which, in hindsight, was a mistake.
Afterwards, I told Sis. Ollie McClean that I would act as a stealth facilitator. Bro. John Beatty, owner of the Cotton Club, agreed to allow for a planning meeting on September 15. Prior to the meeting, I told Sis. McClean that my public involvement in the tribute would prove disastrous but that I was willing to offer stealth advice. I left the Cotton Club before the commencement of the planning session to avoid any confusion about my involvement.
The turnout on September 29, as I sadly predicted, would be low. Sis. Ollie, McClean, according to her, had a difficult, if not impossible, time of getting any media coverage. The Black media, I am sure, had already been alerted that I might possibly be involved in the tribute. Most of the media refused to publicize the tribute even though it was a tribute to a revered Ancestor. This is a disgrace.
Out of approximately 27 members of the Committee of Descendants of the African Ancestral Burial Ground, only about five members attended the tribute. Activist leadership was also MIA. Once I read the membership list, this low turnout was predictable. Bro. Elombe Brath, Min. Kevin Muhammad and Sis. Kephra were present. Committee members obviously stayed away because of my suspected presence.
Just as I was unable to get any support in August 2003 for my petition to be automatically reinstated to practice law, it is not surprising that support is lacking for a true, African memorial to our Ancestors. It is not personal; it is business. Dogs refuse to bite the white hand that is feeding them.
Law, in competent and courageous hands, can be an effective tool for securing intelligence. When Minoo Southgate became outraged at United African Movement for not allowing its weekly meetings at the Slave Theater to be converted into the slave quarters, she and Rudolph Giuliani sued UAM. This was the only organization Giuliani sued as mayor for being a threat to white supremacy. Curtis Sliwa and Michael Meyers were cheerleaders for the petitioners.
I required Southgate to be deposed by me. In testifying that she had learned of UAM meetings through listening to Rev. Del Shields on WWRL-AM, she stated that Rev. Shields was the most dangerous talk show host not because of his views but the views of his guests and callers. Blacks must continue to be misinformed.
Talk show hosts had been warned not to allow any controversial and threatening Blacks on radio. This was Southgate’s sworn testimony. Black leaders were afraid to support UAM at the hearing. WWRL’s format was drastically changed and Rev. Shields was given the boot for refusing to shield the airwaves from controversial Blacks.
She testified that Jews, particularly, had serious objections to many of the speakers at UAM. For this reason, whites had to be admitted to the weekly forums to monitor these speakers. UAM won a tremendous victory when it successfully argued that, unlike most Black organizations, UAM would not return to the slave codes. This was traditional, Black resistance which is no longer present in the Black community.
Nonetheless, the damage had been done. When whites disapprove of a Black person or organization, Blacks will automatically take flight away from the Black suspect for lack of courage and ideology. UAM shut down in August 2002 for lack of support and Blacks later asserted, through conduct, that UAM’s weekly forums have no place in the slave quarters.
Blacks have sunk to an all-time low in this city. Malcolm X predicted it, however. We are financing our oppression when we are not playing the divide and conquer game and we are not resisting the tenets of white supremacy. To the extent that we finance our oppression, we are a part of the problem. We not only export ninety-seven cents of every dollar outside the Black community but we also throw our wallets at Judas goats when they ring the bell for an assembly.
After the assassination of Amadou Diallo and the orchestration of an acquittal of the four assassins, it should have been clear to anyone with just one working brain cell that a full-scale, pacification program was in full effect. These acquittals and the anemic reaction from Black leadership could not have occurred without Negro complicity. Resistance took a holiday.
Most ethnic groups at least draw the line with their women like the Iraqis who are demanding the release of every female, Iraqi inmate. In this country, the incarceration of Black females is a booming business with Black politicians being caught with their hands in the cookie jar of the prison-industrial complex and then being rewarded by securing re-election to political office. Resistance is on vacation.
On the home front, a fifteen year-old girl was raped by white members of law enforcement and virtually every Black activist, leader, preacher and politician has jumped ship with either impunity, applause or a reward. The retreat from Tawana Brawley signaled an all out attack against Black females.
Law enforcement officials invaded the home of a Black female municipal employee, Alberta Spruill. She died from the police’s launching of a hand grenade in her home. Police Brutality seems to exclusively target Black women. You would be at a loss to name an Asian, Latino or Indian female who has been murdered by the police.
The district attorney refuses to disclose the supposed search warrant for the home invasion and the New York City Council continues to fund the district attorney’s office. This office receives public funds only because Black politicians are looking the other way. You have never heard of a single Black politician who has opposed funding a district attorney’s office.
Florence Rice, an elderly heroine and renowned consumer advocate, was unable to secure legal or political representation to prevent the illegal padlocking of her apartment. She deserves our support for several reasons. First, she is an elder. Second, she has sacrificed her life for Black people. Finally, the landlord is dead wrong.
Eloise Dicks spent the last years of her life fighting for an appropriate memorial for our Ancestors. Laws exist in this country for the appropriate preservation of burial sites for other groups except enslaved Africans and their descendants. Some of these laws are expressed in my column this week in the Amsterdam News. (“The politics of apologizing in the United States” 9/23).
We must learn to treat each other like we treat whites instead of practicing a double standard. Every Black leader in New York City has been either physically attacked, defamed, criticized, railroaded, ridiculed or a combination therein by whites. Yet, these same leaders gleefully engage in social intercourse with whites and readily forgive them for any act of racial hostility.
Blacks must learn to draw defining lines between a personal attack and a policy difference. Since no Black agenda exists in our community and no effort is being made to formulate a Black agenda, the attacks are, in most instances, personal. The formulation of policy including remedies is foreign to Black leadership.
People have a right to differ on goals, timetables, strategies and tactics. Personal attacks are off-limit except on the issue of credibility. Blacks must learn to listen as advised by Dr. John Henrik Clarke and especially to take heed of the red herrings or ad hominem attacks by Black leaders when they are cornered.
Black radio, like any Black organization today, is under tight scrutiny and only Blacks approved by whites have access to the airwaves or the microphones. A dumb down approach is afoot in our community with no resistance in the prescription. In fact, resistance to white supremacy no longer exists in the Black community.
When whites vote on November 2, it will be to elect political representatives. The Black vote, on the other hand, will be counted to determine the slavemaster, plantation overseers and slave drivers. This is why neither President-select George Bush nor Sen. John Kerry is talking to us unless you credit the rhetoric of Negro lackeys who purport to be their liaisons to the Black community.
###
By Alton H. Maddox, Jr.
New York City has a FIRE economy. This explains many of the opposing and contradictory struggles in the Black community and the seemingly strange behavior of Black leaders. If you are unaware of the workings of the FIRE economy, you should consult the history, economics, law and politics of New York City (HELP). Otherwise, it will be difficult to understand the following comments.
Before Sis. Eloise Dicks made her transition, she invited me to her home in the Bronx. Historically, Sis. Dicks has always been all business and all Black. It was no different when she and I were face to face in late June. She wanted me to commit to an involvement in the African Burial Ground issue. After my initial involvement with this issue, twelve years ago, I rejected a similar request from Cong. Gus Savage.
I attended Sis. Dicks homegoing services last month in Harlem. Homegoing services have their own limitations. It seemed to me that a community tribute for this heroine was appropriate. Arrangements were made for this to occur at the Oberia Dempsey Center on September 29. I made the announcement at the homegoing services which, in hindsight, was a mistake.
Afterwards, I told Sis. Ollie McClean that I would act as a stealth facilitator. Bro. John Beatty, owner of the Cotton Club, agreed to allow for a planning meeting on September 15. Prior to the meeting, I told Sis. McClean that my public involvement in the tribute would prove disastrous but that I was willing to offer stealth advice. I left the Cotton Club before the commencement of the planning session to avoid any confusion about my involvement.
The turnout on September 29, as I sadly predicted, would be low. Sis. Ollie, McClean, according to her, had a difficult, if not impossible, time of getting any media coverage. The Black media, I am sure, had already been alerted that I might possibly be involved in the tribute. Most of the media refused to publicize the tribute even though it was a tribute to a revered Ancestor. This is a disgrace.
Out of approximately 27 members of the Committee of Descendants of the African Ancestral Burial Ground, only about five members attended the tribute. Activist leadership was also MIA. Once I read the membership list, this low turnout was predictable. Bro. Elombe Brath, Min. Kevin Muhammad and Sis. Kephra were present. Committee members obviously stayed away because of my suspected presence.
Just as I was unable to get any support in August 2003 for my petition to be automatically reinstated to practice law, it is not surprising that support is lacking for a true, African memorial to our Ancestors. It is not personal; it is business. Dogs refuse to bite the white hand that is feeding them.
Law, in competent and courageous hands, can be an effective tool for securing intelligence. When Minoo Southgate became outraged at United African Movement for not allowing its weekly meetings at the Slave Theater to be converted into the slave quarters, she and Rudolph Giuliani sued UAM. This was the only organization Giuliani sued as mayor for being a threat to white supremacy. Curtis Sliwa and Michael Meyers were cheerleaders for the petitioners.
I required Southgate to be deposed by me. In testifying that she had learned of UAM meetings through listening to Rev. Del Shields on WWRL-AM, she stated that Rev. Shields was the most dangerous talk show host not because of his views but the views of his guests and callers. Blacks must continue to be misinformed.
Talk show hosts had been warned not to allow any controversial and threatening Blacks on radio. This was Southgate’s sworn testimony. Black leaders were afraid to support UAM at the hearing. WWRL’s format was drastically changed and Rev. Shields was given the boot for refusing to shield the airwaves from controversial Blacks.
She testified that Jews, particularly, had serious objections to many of the speakers at UAM. For this reason, whites had to be admitted to the weekly forums to monitor these speakers. UAM won a tremendous victory when it successfully argued that, unlike most Black organizations, UAM would not return to the slave codes. This was traditional, Black resistance which is no longer present in the Black community.
Nonetheless, the damage had been done. When whites disapprove of a Black person or organization, Blacks will automatically take flight away from the Black suspect for lack of courage and ideology. UAM shut down in August 2002 for lack of support and Blacks later asserted, through conduct, that UAM’s weekly forums have no place in the slave quarters.
Blacks have sunk to an all-time low in this city. Malcolm X predicted it, however. We are financing our oppression when we are not playing the divide and conquer game and we are not resisting the tenets of white supremacy. To the extent that we finance our oppression, we are a part of the problem. We not only export ninety-seven cents of every dollar outside the Black community but we also throw our wallets at Judas goats when they ring the bell for an assembly.
After the assassination of Amadou Diallo and the orchestration of an acquittal of the four assassins, it should have been clear to anyone with just one working brain cell that a full-scale, pacification program was in full effect. These acquittals and the anemic reaction from Black leadership could not have occurred without Negro complicity. Resistance took a holiday.
Most ethnic groups at least draw the line with their women like the Iraqis who are demanding the release of every female, Iraqi inmate. In this country, the incarceration of Black females is a booming business with Black politicians being caught with their hands in the cookie jar of the prison-industrial complex and then being rewarded by securing re-election to political office. Resistance is on vacation.
On the home front, a fifteen year-old girl was raped by white members of law enforcement and virtually every Black activist, leader, preacher and politician has jumped ship with either impunity, applause or a reward. The retreat from Tawana Brawley signaled an all out attack against Black females.
Law enforcement officials invaded the home of a Black female municipal employee, Alberta Spruill. She died from the police’s launching of a hand grenade in her home. Police Brutality seems to exclusively target Black women. You would be at a loss to name an Asian, Latino or Indian female who has been murdered by the police.
The district attorney refuses to disclose the supposed search warrant for the home invasion and the New York City Council continues to fund the district attorney’s office. This office receives public funds only because Black politicians are looking the other way. You have never heard of a single Black politician who has opposed funding a district attorney’s office.
Florence Rice, an elderly heroine and renowned consumer advocate, was unable to secure legal or political representation to prevent the illegal padlocking of her apartment. She deserves our support for several reasons. First, she is an elder. Second, she has sacrificed her life for Black people. Finally, the landlord is dead wrong.
Eloise Dicks spent the last years of her life fighting for an appropriate memorial for our Ancestors. Laws exist in this country for the appropriate preservation of burial sites for other groups except enslaved Africans and their descendants. Some of these laws are expressed in my column this week in the Amsterdam News. (“The politics of apologizing in the United States” 9/23).
We must learn to treat each other like we treat whites instead of practicing a double standard. Every Black leader in New York City has been either physically attacked, defamed, criticized, railroaded, ridiculed or a combination therein by whites. Yet, these same leaders gleefully engage in social intercourse with whites and readily forgive them for any act of racial hostility.
Blacks must learn to draw defining lines between a personal attack and a policy difference. Since no Black agenda exists in our community and no effort is being made to formulate a Black agenda, the attacks are, in most instances, personal. The formulation of policy including remedies is foreign to Black leadership.
People have a right to differ on goals, timetables, strategies and tactics. Personal attacks are off-limit except on the issue of credibility. Blacks must learn to listen as advised by Dr. John Henrik Clarke and especially to take heed of the red herrings or ad hominem attacks by Black leaders when they are cornered.
Black radio, like any Black organization today, is under tight scrutiny and only Blacks approved by whites have access to the airwaves or the microphones. A dumb down approach is afoot in our community with no resistance in the prescription. In fact, resistance to white supremacy no longer exists in the Black community.
When whites vote on November 2, it will be to elect political representatives. The Black vote, on the other hand, will be counted to determine the slavemaster, plantation overseers and slave drivers. This is why neither President-select George Bush nor Sen. John Kerry is talking to us unless you credit the rhetoric of Negro lackeys who purport to be their liaisons to the Black community.
###
posted by Attorney Alton Maddox at 8:21 AM
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