Collecting Signatures Like We Picked Cotton
By Alton H. Maddox, Jr.

My writings are done to, among other things, engage in comparative analysis of two different eras. At the end of these eras we can conclude that there has only been a change in venue and not a change in our predicament. We have gone from rural shacks to urban ghettos. Economic exploitation is still on a treadmill.

See, for example, Rev. Jesse Jackson's criticism of the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers with respect to Lebron James who escaped one plantation for. James is now on the plantation of the Miami Heat. The new plantation overseer is Pat Riley who played on an all-white basketball team at Kentucky under Adolph Rupp, an arch-segregationist.

I grew up in rural Georgia during the 1940's and 50's. It was an era of sharecropping. In order for Blacks to survive, they had to submit to economic exploitation. Land was a tool of survival based only on credit. Debit was not an option on the balance sheet. On the income statement of sharecroppers, expenses would perennially slam dunk revenues.

The land became a debtor's prison. If you fled it owing a debt, you became a fugitive slave. Because Black women also had to produce laborers, it was hard for a large Black family to escape the plantation intact. A mule and a wagon was the only getaway transportation.

Today, Blacks have moved from cotton fields to collection centers. In the 1950's, Blacks would boast about how many bales of cotton they could pick daily. Today, Blacks boast about how many judgments they can collect on a daily basis against debtors. The venue is different but the game is still the same.

Before 1965, most Blacks were barred form voting booths. Chief Judge Roger Taney wrote in Dred Scott that the "founding fathers" never intended for Blacks to be members of the political community. He was correct. Being a member of the Democratic Party is not tantamount to being a part of the political community.

In other words, political presence is not synonymous with having a political voice in the political community. On the Democratic plantation, there is a majority whip in Congress and a majority whip in the New York Legislature. Black elected officials have felt the whip.

Lebron James and all athletes in baseball, basketball and football should be thankful to Curt Flood who challenged baseball's "reserve clause" after refusing to be traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies. Flood opened the door to free agency. George Steinbrenner has exploited it to the hilt. Athletes acquired the right to bargain with sports owners after a specified period of time on the job.

Free speech and free associations are not options in the Democratic Party. For example, Cong. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. held a "Black Power" conference on Capitol Hill. Congress gave him the boot. Cong. Cynthia McKinney questioned 9/11. Congress gave her the boot. The Democratic Party conspired with the Republican Party in both instances.

Within three days last week, Hon. Betty J. Grant, an Erie County legislator, collected two hundred signatures for the Freedom Party. Sis. Eva Doyle gave me three hundred signatures for the 28th Congressional District this past Sunday, July 11. Only 100 valid signatures are needed to qualify in a congressional district. The Freedom Party must qualify in 15 congressional districts. Buffalo has taken the lead.

Sis. Grant should be held up as an example for all Black elected officials in New York State. None of them are willing to be identified with the Freedom Party except Assemb. Inez Barron. Under the U.S. Constitution, a free person is entitled to the right of free associations. Mental slaves are satisfied to stay on the plantation.

For example, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a registered Republican but he freely associates with the Independence Party. Andrew Cuomo is a registered Democrat but he also freely associates with the Independence Party. Neither Bloomberg nor Cuomo can leave home without it. William Thompson lost the New York City mayoralty in 2009 because he adhered to Dred Scott.

Black elected officials have no interest in winning a statewide office. Gov. David Paterson is a good example. He has always sought ceremonial jobs like New York State Senate Minority Leader. Democrats lacked a voice in the New York State Senate during his presence. Republicans ran it like a tight ship.

When the Democrats were on the verge of taking over the New York State Senate, Paterson jumped to become lieutenant governor. He never figured that Gov. Eliot Spitzer would be caught at the Mayflower Hotel with his pants down. Faced with gubernatorial responsibilities, he immediately declared himself lame duck.

I agree with Dr. Leonard Jeffries that Blacks must do a systems analysis and I agree with President Barack Obama that politics moves from the bottom to the top. This is also the plantation system except that Blacks must become "free persons" rather than "mental slaves".

Field workers made the plantation profitable. Organized labor and collective bargaining were not options. The Freedom Party incorporates both attributes of free labor. The Democratic Party ban them for Blacks. The absence of these attributes give rise to plantation politics. Otherwise, the slavemaster would have to cultivate his own crop.

The Freedom Party is required to submit 15,000 valid signatures by August 10, the deadline. The rule of thumb is that we must submit 45,000 signatures to get 15,000 valid signatures. If the Freedom Party submits 100,000 signatures, it will be a shot heard around the world. The Freedom Party would become a power broker in August and John White would be home in Suffolk County by Labor Day.