There was a time —I must have
been in second grade—our class went on an excursion to Wall Street. With my
seven-year-old nose glued to the glass, I remember staring in wonderment at an
exhibition case containing George
Washington’s false teeth, arguably the high point of my early indoctrination.
Tales of cherry trees and dentures laid the groundwork. Like all American children,
I was subject to the brainwashing that, with the exception of my eighth grade class
devoting a year to questioning segregation,
would leave me a contented and unthinking subject into adult life.
This week, the truth is out
about the founding father’s teeth. Several of them were human teeth pried from
the bloody jaws of slaves who worked on George Washington’s plantation.
This week Americans marked
the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr, piously mouthing his easier platitudes,
carefully sidestepping the demanding challenges of King’s moral universe—the
rights of the poor, the disenfranchised—all flotsam of the rich man’s world.
To my utter amazement, I
learned that one of my most politically astute friends had no idea that in
1999, nearly thirty years after his assassination, in a
civil suit, the King family applied to the courts for redress because they
believed James Earl Ray, the official U.S. patsy, was innocent. The King family hired lawyer Bill Pepper to defend him.
It is that story I need to tell today.
The Memphis court, after a
one-month trial with Judge James Swearington presiding, which generated 40,000
pages of documents, and which included 70 eye witnesses, three of whom placed
Ray elsewhere at the time of the assassination, exonerated him. And after less
than an hour’s deliberation, all defendants: the FBI, the U.S. Army, the
Memphis Police, the Dixie Mafia, and a bar tender named Lloyd Jowers were all
found guilty of collusion in MLK Jr.’s death. That night, Nightline reported
it; thereafter, the media responded to the decision with the absolute silence
for which they are known.
The King family’s motives for
going to trial were to get at the truth, and to exonerate Mr. Ray who had died
in jail of cancer the year before. For themselves, they asked for punitive
damages of $100 to be divided five ways.
Had they demanded $125,000,000
in damages, chances are you might have heard this story long before today.
The process of Dis Illusion
is a long one, and necessitates relinquishing ingrained belief systems one by
one, but none of us can hope for any significant social change in the U.S. until
this process is complete.
Sign the petition: Shut down and investigate child prison
camps at
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thin-wall canisters with proven thick wall casks at
Instruct Congress to oppose coup in Venezuela at
Sign here to oppose U.S. coup in Venezuela
Protest “usable” nuclear weapons by calling your
Representative at 202-224-3121 to support the Hold the Lyne Bill.
Combatting Racism
Black Lives Matter at School, started as a single day of
action in Seattle and now expanded to include 20 cities, is set for a week of
action February 4 – 8.
Southern Poverty Law Center sues Corinth Mississippi for
incarcerating poor debtors to pay fines.
Lexington’s Bishop Stowe challenges fellow Catholics to end
“our association of young people with racist acts and a politics of hate.”
ACLU sues administration for detaining 10,000 children
despite the fact they have sponsors waiting for them, and for sharing sponsors’
personal information with ICE, making them vulnerable for detention and
deportation.
In show of solidarity, Indigenous People’s march in D.C.
places their issues front and center.
Sustainability
Ten thousand students march in Berlin, and 30,000 in
Brussels as Global# #climatestrike
movement rises.
Sweden to ban sale of gas and diesel cars after 2030.
Greta Thunberg, who took a train from Sweden to Davos, and
camps there in a tent, warns Davos millionaires not to offer any hopeful
bromides but to panic “as if your house were on fire. Because it is.”
Winnemem Wintu and fishing groups sue CA department of water
resources to protect Delta water flows.
Trust for Public Land’s banner 2018 year includes protecting
177 public green spaces, and helping state pass 16 voter-approved ballot
measures generating more than $4.8 billion in new funds for parks and
protecting nature.
New York Governor launches Green New Deal with accelerated
targets.
EPA abandons plans to rollback essential protections for
farm workers.
In British Columbia forests, First Nations People continue
decade-long shutdown of dirty energy projects.
Despite shutdown, Federal Judge blocks regime’s plans for
issuing permits for offshore drilling.
People’s Policy Project issues seventh paper urging a green
Tennessee Valley Authority expansion all over the country.
Labor
De Blasio proposes ordinance making N.Y.C. the first city to
mandate paid time off for its workers.
TSA agents call in sick at unsustainable rates during
“shutdown.”
California farm workers to be paid overtime for working
fewer hours, and, beginning in 2022, to get overtime just like any other
worker.
LA teachers triumph after six-day strike, winning smaller
classes, better pay, a cap on charter schools, and more funding for school
nurses and counselors.
Brown University Dining Services student-workers hit
university with lawsuit alleging that Brown has been violating federal labor
laws for decades.
Minnesota prison strike wins concessions.
Resistance
Lady Gaga interrupts concert to sound out on VP’s so-called
‘Christianity’ and the regime’s shutdown.
Hundreds of thousands of gilets
jaunes, initially protesting fuel tax increase, initiate world-wide
movement which most recently has spread to Australia.
Mexican immigrant Celebrity chef, Jose Andrés’s pop up D.C.
kitchen serves nearly 10,000 meals in two days, feeding thousands of furloughed
federal workers.
“A coup is not a democratic transition” Medea Benjamin
points out, disrupting pompous Pompeo’s speech on Venezuela.
Domestic Politics
Supreme Court leaves program protecting young illegal
immigrants from deportation in place, defying bid to build a border wall.
Supreme Court declines attempt by the regime to terminate
DACA program.
U.S. Federal Judge throws out Resolute Forest Product’s $300
million SLAPP lawsuit against Stand.earth and Greenpeace.
Judge Tucker rules in favor of Mumia Abu Jamal after decades
of unjust imprisonment.
New United farm worker immigration bill introduced in
Congress.
Reporter Marzieh Hashemi is released from federal custody
after ten days of arbitrary imprisonment.
Four progressives named to House Oversight Committee.
Nomination of misogynist, homophobic Robert W. Patterson as
Acting Associate Commissioner of Social Security Administration rejected.
New York legislature passes college financial aid for
undocumented youth.
Lead by Barbara Lee and Ted Lieu, House Dems demand
diplomatic, political and humanitarian strategy for Syria withdrawal.
#45 takes ‘time out,’ ending shutdown by signing deal made
before Christmas.
Congress passes farm bill giving greater protection to farm
animals and pets.
Privacy
Ooops! France hits Google with $57 million fine for
violating EU’s new consumer protection rules.
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