*Poor-People-Led* Poor People’s Campaign Comes to Washington, DC
I’d learned of this group via the Popular Resistance Newsletter (Kevin Zeese and Dr. Margaret Flowers). You might enjoy reading their overview and the goals of the PPEHRC; it was enticing enough to me to bring their story to you.
The blurb beneath: ‘Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign arrives in Washington DC after a 10-day walk from Philadelphia and sets up Resurrection City II in Dupont Circle. They plan actions at HUD and around the city to highlight continuing economic inequality in the U.S.’
From the title by John Zangas and Anne Meador, DCmediagroup.us, June 12, 2018, and by way of a partial transcript of what Rev. Bruce Wright had told John Zangas in the video above:
“The new occupants of Resurrection City are advocating for themselves as poor Americans. Many of them are homeless and have never done anything like this before. Part of their message is that in order for meaningful progress in any movement, it must be led by those affected, according to Rev. Bruce Wright. “Any movement to end poverty must be led by poor people, homeless people, unemployed people and people impacted by it,” he said.
Rev. Wright was critical of Rev. William Barber’s Poor People’s Campaign, which has been underwritten by big monied interests such as the Ford Foundation. “No disrespect to him, he’s a good man, but I think he’s been co-opted by big money,” Rev. Wright said, adding that PPEHRC does not accept corporate sponsorships, big money donations or grants.”
You may remember that Bruce Dixon of Black Agenda Report had said much the same thing about D-allied funding sources of Rev. Barber, et.al.’s PPC, plus the clarion call to ‘vote like never before!’. He’s also noted that in his sermon on militarism that in no way did he appeal to class interests, most especially in his use of the term ‘moral’ a couple hundred times (which he calls a bad tactic for solidarity), and that Rev. Barber had refused to indict Obomba and other Democrats for their Imperial war crimes and border wall, but did indict the R team.
“Poor people are the ones that need to be heard,” said Wright. “Unless you have been homeless, unless you’ve been poor, unless you’ve experienced poverty, you have no right to dictate to poor people how their change should happen,” Wright said.
Leaders of large foundations and the Democratic National Committee are top-down organizations and want to take control, Wright said. This used against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s, when leaders from political parties tried to intervene in his campaign. “They tried to co-opt Dr. King and tell him don’t say anything because [President] Johnson is doing all this for the poor, and he said ‘I can’t not say anything, this isn’t about political parties.’”
Organizers are asking for support at Resurrection City II, including food, water, medical supplies, and moral support. They are also requesting donations to help with transportation costs. They plan to stay in Dupont Circle at least a week or longer if hey can generate the support needed.”
Wright had also claimed that the group’s Wiki page had been tampered with (he assumes by the PPC), claiming the group doesn’t exist, when it’s been in existence in Kensington in Philly for 25 years. As unlikely as that seems, it’s certainly feasible, for instance see: Craig Murray’s multi-part series starting with ‘The Philip Cross Affair’ on epically alarming levels of Wikipedia editing on his, John Pilcher’s, and other key truth-tellers’ entries.
Rev. Wright describes Kensington as being one of poorest communities in the country, with the highest rate of heroin addiction, the main economy is by people on disability insurance and drug-dealing, as they’re no real jobs there. And that ‘that’s the product of this economy, and the fact that the two parties that are in bed with capitalism.
Zangas mentions that the PPPCHR would be heading to the HUD office soon, noting that the key reason for it is that Ben [what a brain surgeon!] Carson had announced a plan in April that would raise rents for those receiving federal housing assistance by 20 percent to encourage folks to get off their asses and find jobs, help themselves, and bring back $ome pride to their mi$erable live$. According to an analysis just released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The proposal would affect 2 million households immediately and an additional 2 million in the next six years.
Wright further says that neither party want any control of public housing to be in the hands of poor people events, and that he’s bothered that too many groups are involved in identity politics and aren’t uniting as a class. If they could get enough support to stay in their Resurrection City II, he says, including food, water, medical supplies, transportation costs,and moral support, they’d stay for a week or more. They number about 50, many of them homeless, disabled, and veterans who’ve never taken part in any such advocacy.
On Monday the group went to HUD to speak to Ben Carson, and Cheri Honkala (Jill Stein’s running mate in 2012) got arrested while demanding a meeting with Ben “on behalf of poor families across the entire country. “Poor people deserve to eat. One fucking meeting!” Federal Protective Services took her into ‘custody’.
Now this gets tricky as the rest of the story so far is on Twitter, and I’m trying to link to them not embed them…and Twitter counts time.. backwards. But after their visit to HUD, the Park Police evicted their camp at night from Dupont Circle as Honkala demanded that they honor the permit they were given.
From Margaret Flowers on Twitter: “No one was arrested, but police confiscated tents and bedding. About 40 people staying in the park, many of them veterans as well as homeless, took refuge at a nearby church on 16th Street. They spoke out about why political parties and monied interests have failed them.”
Their website is here, with tabs for projects for survival, movement building, consciousness raising educationals, how to donate, their vision, press releases, alternative spring breaks, a photo gallery, and so on. This press release made me smile: ‘Don’t tell me how to punch if you are not in the boxing ring!’ February 22, 2018 One outtake:
‘Two important lessons for today!’
- Don’t tell me how to punch if you are not in the boxing ring!
- Follow the Money! Philanthropy is a scam!
Here’s the group’s Facebook page; I can’t click into categories since I don’t belong to any social-networking media. So: what’s next? Do they head back to Philly? One thing I can see is from Cheri Honkala Thursday morning:
“Interested in being clear and awake? Join with
The growing army of the poor at our next two day strategy conference. We will be mapping out a plan for our army. Which will include the mapping of money of politicans, unions, churches, foundations, womens groups, “progressive” social media and non profits. Our families lives are at stake. Its time to decide which side you are on. The people or corporations. Join us. Details will be posted this week. #PPEHRC #RememberUs #623livesmatter”
Now given that the group photo array from their DeeCee visit noted that Ajamu Baraka, Tom Morello, and Immortal Technique were in the photos, I’d like to bring this from Immortal Technique:
(the very raw, understandably in-your-face lyrics are here.)
Good Gawd all-friday: this just in from John Zangas via the morning Popular Resistance newsletter, the whole run-down of the Ressurection City II eviction plus photos and a video. Oh, well, guess I should have waited, but what else was I gonna do with these seven or eight hours, eh? Here’s the video featuring Cheri Honkala (about 6 mins). 
She hammers home the same messages, and good on her.
(cross-posted from Café Babylon)
Comments
Unintended consequences that I've seen coming for years.
Go into any homeless shelter, and you'll find a wealth of drive, intelligence and know how. You'll also see a lot of people told that the only way they can dig themselves out is to pray to a cult image of their choosing, by well fed fools who go home with a full belly and a private room.
The message to the Homeless and the poor for years, has been "We don't need or want you." suddenly with the war ramping up, recruiters are prowling the homeless camps again.
And the veterans who are thrown by the wayside are also being recruited... by those who claim that its the fault of the left that they are poor, and miserable after their honorable service. There's a way to gain back the respect and honor, you know... all you have to do is trust in the system, and be a loyal member of the party...
We already know it's working, since Veterans have been some of the ringleaders for the fascists recently. Course, the other corporate party is also trying to recruit them... because it's believed they'll follow orders if they get elected.
Those 30 pieces of silver are hard to resist when it's more than you'll ever see in your life.
(was going to post a video, and then I remembered that showing Real Nazi Propaganda and comparing it to modern propaganda might cause the site to be blocked for a few of our readers. The irony is palpable.)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
now i can't say for sure that i'm following your constructs
on veterans, but if you mean close to the D team cia and related military spooks, yes. other than that, explain it to me if you would? but no, it seems i've misconstrued as i read again. and please explain 'recruiters are prowling...' military recruiters?
as to working in homeless shelters, i hear you, as does paul haeder who work in one. i may not have cross-posted this, if i did there's no note of it, but: paul haeder’s ‘Capitalism’s heroes are the people’s scoundrels’ heh, looks like i used the same IT video.
and jacob freeze below was much the same on that thread.
No worries.
Yes, military recruiters hunt the homeless camps. They keep lowering recruiting standards, primarily so they can appeal to those who are desperate. (My opinion, and one the Army Vociferously denies)
We have seen that several of the leaders of fascist groups are veterans recently. They are recruiting among veterans as well, especially veterans who feel threatened and neglected by the government. (I've had my share of suggestions, which are frankly disturbing when you get them.)
Then we've got the D's reaching out to the officers and CIA, which just solidifies the image among many combat vets that the D's are not about helping them at all, since most combat vets absolutely HATE spooks and Brass.
The whole rotten system is awful, and seeing it from my position of minor respect makes me scared to set a foot in farther.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
hmmm. yes, the whole system is indeed rotten,
not quite sure what the rest of your sentence means, but it hints i perhaps shouldn't ask for
amplification lest... now military recruitment standards were indeed lowered, and given which ones i'd recalled, bingling brought me to this claim from 2012:
Goodbye to Waivers
"During the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army was forced to lower its recruiting standards in order to meet mission requirements, allowing recruits with a wide range of disciplinary issues to enter the service. These could be anything from a misdemeanor like shoplifting or assault all the way to a felony conviction for robbery or manslaughter. Exceptions were also made for recruits with low aptitude scores or a history of medical problems." (no mention of rape convictions waived, but yeppers: we know now that smarter soldiers are better soldiers' and the military's downsizing to lean and mean' or something.
longtime friend of the café is homeless in olympia; i'll have to ask him about recruiters.
ending the draft was brilliant, and the big bucks for signing up are too enticing, but the re-enlistment bonuses are huge aren't they? lotta our daughter's friend in c springs sign up because: big debts, many likely unnecessary ones in this consumer bigger/newer is better throw-away society.
I have no problem clarifying.
I mean that I get some respect as a veteran from politicians, at least when there are cameras in view. I don't want to try to become a politician, because I have seen how they act when the cameras are off, and there's an evil there I find abhorrent.
And the bonuses are a scam. If ANYTHING happens to you, you lose it. Unless you serve exactly the years and fulfill every letter of the Contract, they can and will snatch it back from you. (How I ended up with a month of leave and somehow left the army supposedly owing them money. Course, I grabbed every cent I could out of them since, and will continue to do so. I hate the game, but if I can win a quick victory and cash out with very little risk, I'll do it.)
As far as the waivers go... well, the Army has recently decided that they just aren't going to release the numbers on waivers because they feel that it would unfairly stigmatize those who served their country with a waiver, donchaknow? (Full disclosure, I got in on a waiver because of a disastrous year of service in the Navy at 18.)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
ha, good info to know,
i did realize that the 'free education' clauses were written with disappearing ink, but the claw backs you mention are hideous. oh, and the other lowered standards were height and weight, remember? and the ensuing gripes about short, fat GIs? sorry, it made me laugh then, and now as i remember it.
I never expected TPTB
to stoop so low as to
recruit those they've already fucked once. But, hey! Why not?! When you're out to totally fuck everybody why not recruit those you've already fucked (and who have nowhere else to go)?! A great move on the part of the Oligarchy /PTB! It's kinda like the DNC's approach in 2016. "Where else you gonna go?! Trump?!" Well, turns out we just said no to both and let the chips (votes) fall where they may. "Where else you gonna go, vet?! The Dims got nothing for ya. Society got nothing for ya. Come on back to the MIC! We got more wars to fight!" Three hots and a cot! You gonna eat and sleep well! Is this a great country, or what?! I see no cure. Or much hope. When the Oligarchy is recruiting which Should be Dem territory /responsibility, well... game pretty much over. Yet, still "we" carry on with marches like this one.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
low stooping PTB
There is no limit to how low TPTB will stoop.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
well fed fools
And by "their choosing", I assume you mean the "well fed fools who go home with a full belly and a private room".
"The white man goes into his Church and talks about Jesus; the Indian goes into his tipi and talks to Jesus!"
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Identity Politics for the Poor
Identity politics for the poor!
“Unless you have been homeless, unless you’ve been poor, unless you’ve experienced poverty, you have no right to dictate to poor people how their change should happen,”
So most of these schmucks never even heard of the New Deal, and FDR obviously had NO RIGHT to help the poor!
HARHARHARHAR!!!
They don’t call them “losers” for nothing!
I'm assuming this is snark.
Since I feel the need to hunt through Washington DC with a lantern, looking for one politician who would vote for the New Deal.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
har har har...
or this:
my hero, Diogenes of Sinope
Ah, in imitation of my personal hero, the Cynic sage Diogenes of Sinope! From the linked article:
Methinks we ought to send old Diogenes through Washington, DC with his lantern, seeking one politician who would vote for the New Deal. But we'd need to equip him with a mirror, lest he be tempted to resume his search for an honest man!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
how kewl; i get to read this rubbish from you in both venues.
i was at least glad to see that you pitched in some $$$ to JtC. as to your epically ignorant comment:
and yeah, i just took a mini-crash on the New Deal.
Thanks for the info. I like the concept of a movement
being led by those affected, something I've advocated for also. The faux liberals with the degrees from Ivy league colleges, the upper middle class professional activists, the democratic party. I've noticed a kind of professionalization of the left activism over the last fifteen years which as pointed out is part of the cooptation of movements. Kind of like Zeese and Flowers themselves.
I had to laugh when I read that Barber's PPC being underwritten by big monied interests like the Ford Foundation. Talk about a red flag. Just say Ford Foundation and turn out the lights.
I have a different opinion on what they're demanding, or what they're after. Which is where I think we're all stuck. Occupy showed that imo. Until we have a movement that actually challenges the power of the rich I don't see much progress.
welcome, and it's good you've advocated for movements
being led by those affected. i liked 'Follow the Money! Philanthropy is a scam!', on the same order. i follow bill gates and his fake-philanthropy quite a bit, including 'improving the lives of all'...then he and his minions create 'what should be done', especially in the developing world. and he makes more $ and harms a hella lot of people *who were never consulted* as to what they need. that's exactly why solutions should be true grassroots efforts, isn't it? kinda why i love the zapatista movement: ever idea starts with the people and works its way up to a sort of multi-caracola (six snails of them?) meeting to send out agreements or changes, then see what works, what doesn't, all by vote.
heh, i have a category at the café: dems as status quo gatekeepers. now here's what bruc e dixon had written about rev. barber's PPC, fwiw:
"The organizational forces mustered behind Rev. Dr. William Barber and the Poor Peoples Campaign are nothing less than a broad swath of mainline and other US Protestant churches, backed by the generous gifts of a galaxy of foundations and individual wealthy contributors, supplemented by the bottom-up energy pulled from many thousands of church communities, their activists, and the innumerable good works they carry on. Rev. Barber speaks for the politically leftish wing of the Institutional Church in the US, which has pretty much anointed him the mantle of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s final year with a way bigger budget, and minus the burden King carried as one of the nation’s most hated, derided and despised public figures."
dunno quite what you mean about OWS, and i dunno how far zeese and flowers have been coopted, but i wonder sometimes who the hell creates their newsletter. a few things are a bit wtf? like gene sharp/otpor glurging on...
but actually changing the dynamics of power...whooosh, a tall order...for now.
I'm not saying Zeese and Flowers have been coopted,
but I do think they're part of the professional middle/upper middle class activist class that seems to be able to fly all over the place going to conferences and holding rallies on everything under the sun, except challenging the power.
And I know it's a tall order. Every time doubts start creeping in on my quest to take down the criminal ruling class, I just read the articles on my favorite websites to see what they're doing and saying now.
challenging the power
Perhaps a conference on "challenging the power" is exactly what's needed here.
Advertise it as something else, close enough that the organizers can claim relevance when the switcheroo is pulled. Don't reveal the real agenda until after you've got their money!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
now that was funny,
if a bit cynical, aarrgh. is that perhaps what the Left Forum is supposed to be about? sounds as though they shut down a hella lot of actual challenges, as with 'The Fake Left at the Left Forum' danny haiphong, BAR, june 13
"These fake leftists reside in an alphabet soup of so-called Trotskyist organizations like the International Socialist Organization (ISO). So-called “Trotskyist” organizations have a long history of supporting US imperialism. I don’t pretend to know which organization the fake leftists who protested Baraka belonged to. An attendee told me that the organizers of the protest of Baraka stemmed from the League for the Revolutionary Party. Thetrend is more important than the organization. Just days prior to the Left Forum, activists in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) wrote an opinion piece claiming that “The 2,000 US troops in Syria are not there to conduct ‘regime change.’ They are there to defend the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in North East Syria and to oppose ISIS. Trump has made that clear.” One of the authors of the piece has been active on social media denouncing Baraka and the Black Alliance for Peace for being so-called apologists for Assad. This falls in line with the ISO, which has long been known to support US-led operations in Libya and Syria in the name of “revolution.”
“This band of leftists verbally states opposition to imperialism and an embrace of socialism in theory yet behaves more like amateur soft agents of the US intelligence services in practice.” there's a lot more of course, but in years past, apparently a lotta different panels were cancelled as 'promoting conspiracy theories' such as close to: 'the truth of 9/11'.
Netroots Nation, birthed from
Markos' ToP conference,
YearlyKos, started looking a lot less bottom up and way more top down by 2013 (if not before). "The Professional Left" (not the media entity) started infiltrating the annual event, and by Phoenix in 2015 the "Floor" started to look more and more like Wall Street had moved in. On "radio row" there, we started to ask ourselves, "where are the hippies??" Sadly, they had been replaced by the corporate Left. Which mostly ain't.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
interesting; thanks.
i never knew anything much about kos save for the fact that i shore as shootin' dinnae belong to the cult there, lol. well, and how butt-ugly the place was...
mmmm...i dunno. yes, they have enough bread to go hither
and yon, perhaps funded partially by their organization. but they were formerly: October2011 you;ll no doubt remember, and had hoped to bring down the government in a mass action at freedom plaza. unfortunately, those pesky kids hit zucotti park ahead of them... as vonnegut would have said: 'and so it goes...'
flowers' early dedication and activism was to single payer, now 'improved medicare for all', etc.
their newsletter is most defintely anti-war, anti-imperilism, and features boatloads of anti-capitalaist writers and actions. ha; i can read today's newsletter in my browser! meaning, so can you! and as i'd said, some bogus stuff gets included, meaning i dunno who edits it in the middle of the night.
wsws, moon of alabama, dissident voice, BAR, (even consortium news post-robert parry at times), pipeline resistors. ah, that's all i can think of for now.
forget who
Well, they're not going to be leaders of the PPHRC
are they? I have been a subscriber to their newsletter for years and have actually commented quite a few times on their Popular Resistance blog. Had a couple disagreements with Zeese and he appears to get hot very quickly. But maybe that's a good thing.
Relative to an earlier comment about purity and allies and all that. To me it all depends on the goal. And like I've said, I think that's where we get stuck. I think that's a large part of why there's been no antiwar movement while imperialism and empire have reached a zenith.
I wrote an article years ago about their effort for an Occupy in D.C., centered around ending the Afghanistan war, which as you said did end up being superceded by the Occupy started in N.Y. I always wondered how and why that happened.
they're not leaders, but seem to be avid followers;
at lest margaret. she was tweeting to beat the band, which helped me kinda follow along on twitter. dunno if t'were planned to get the jump on occupying freedom plaza, it did seem more spontaneous than that, even though the movement began in spain (indignatos, take the square, 15-m), they say. cool on your article, though.
two quotes from that commie langston hughes:
'That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we black are wise:
Her bandage hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.'
......................................
'Good morning, Revolution: You're the very best friend I ever had. We gonna pal around together from now on'
"The organizational forces
mustered behind Rev.
Barber and the Poor Peoples Campaign are nothing less than a broad swath of mainline and other US Protestant churches, backed by the generous gifts of a galaxy of foundations and individual wealthy contributors, supplemented by the bottom-up energy pulled from many thousands of church communities, their activists... "
True. It is. So?
Top down meets bottom up. The suggestion is that this is some sort of corporate scam and Rev. Barber is bought. Therefore the effort is moot at best. And maybe it is!
But results will be determined by the bottom up, not the top down. Something I suspect and expect Barber knows, even as he pockets that Ford money. For me (and paid PPC organizers, I suspect), the PPC campaign is a big GOTV effort. yuuuge effort! If it does something beyond that, fine, but the main goal of PPC is to 'woke' those unwoke and get them to the polls. I want to thank Ford and other corporate masters for making it possible. ymmv.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
your comment is rather ouroboros to me,
as in a snake swallowing its own tail: 'top down meets bottom up'? by the by, dixon didn’t imply that it’s a corporate scam, but that foundations and churches that want Ds elected and are the Solution are funding him. “If it does something beyond that, fine, but the main goal of PPC is to 'woke' those unwoke and get them to the polls.” we must have different definitions of ‘woke’ is all i can say.
thanks for weighing in, wink.
The more the merrier!
It's nice of that
other organization to march from Philly, but would they have bothered if Barber's PPC wasn't gaining momentum? Maybe I'm just being cynical. The PPC came to my church. Yes, there was some that I didn't like about them, but there was more that I did. I could "read between the lines" that this was mostly a GOTV effort, and that alone was good enough for me. And, if all PPC does is energize groups like this one from Philly, well, then, mission accomplished. I'll take any help I can get. Even if Corporate is writing the checks.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
I'm disappointed in Rev Barber's call for basic income...
...I believe in guaranteed, fulfilling, well paying jobs program, but I'm pleased to put my feet where my mouth is and participate in the struggle. I've been to Montgomery most weeks for our state's effort. I'm going down again next Monday.
I saw the clip earlier and the poor peoples economic human rights is a longer and more authentic movement. But I caution against purist approaches. For example I read the intercept when articles speak to me, I support Ron Paul's anti-war policies (while opposing his domestic strategies), and so on. We have to make allies where we can. If you look for evil you WILL see it. I know, I've dealt with the religious right here in Alabama for a life time...and they see evil everywhere. We have to look for friends that want to move in a direction we believe and work WITH them not sit by the side and criticize.
Amy is a russiagate, anti Trump nut, but I like many items she covers. Here's her coverage of the DC effort on Monday (video or text...which is one of the things I appreciate about her site.)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/6/13/special_report_in_the_streets_with
Do you think Rev. Barber is a sell out?
So criticize if you feel the need. It ain't perfect, but it is moving in the right direction...also non partisan.
PS I hope you have gotten a rain since we last communicated. Wishing you the best.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I believe any group...
that's primary message is that we can make meaningful chance if we just vote... for the candidate selected by the group that says we don't have any right to complain about the choice...
I believe they think they're doing good work. However, the message that embracing the system will fix the system's problems does not seem to be a message that benefits any... save the system.
When the march is over, and the politicians have made their promises, nothing will stop them from forgetting all about it in less than a day. The need to keep looking busy and gather funds will cause the economic justice dish to be placed back in the fridge, to be reheated and the aroma wafted across the room as they serve us another plate of dog shit.
/Cynicism
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
yes,
that's eggzackly it. as to the Ds: they're the ones who voted herr T an extra how many dozen billions for his military budget? and the D team is outflanking trump's deal w/kim jon ung...on the right!
‘Democrats Put Partisanship Before Prospects for Peace’, June 13, 2018, consortium news
‘North Korea Issue is Not De-nuclearization But De-Colonization’, Ajamu Baraka June 12th, 2018, dissident voice
“The critics had already signaled their strategy for derailing any meaningful move toward normalizing relations between the United States and North Korea. Right-wing neoliberals from CNN, MSNBC and NPR are in perfect alignment with the talking points issued by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the Democrat Party that took the position that anything short of the North Koreans surrendering their national interests and national dignity to the United States was a win for North Korea."
and 'Senators move to prevent Trump from removing US troops in South Korea'? abcnews (duckwort, cuz she's a vet, and chris murphy...a paranoid idiot.
♫ all we are saying is...don't give peace a chance...♫
oh, lookout.
i’d anticpated that this diary might be steppin’ on your toes, as well as those of others who are part of rev. barber’s PPC. i’d almost included this in the OP in ‘sense of fair play’, but hadn’t wanted to distract from a conversation about the ‘poor-led-PPC. it’s ‘Truthdig Correspondent Michael Nigro Arrested While Covering Poor People's Campaign in Missouri’, truthdig.com, June 11, 2018 and features boatload of other PPC coverage.
as for whether or not i believe rev barber’s a ‘sell-out’, of course i don’t. he’s a larger version of who he’s long been: an NAACP democrat in search of democratic votes since he began his Moral Mondays in 2014. i bear him no will, as i have to assume that he and many of his religious allies truly believe that they’re really doing The Lord’s Work; i just don’t is all. that they feature langston hughes’ poem ‘let amerika be amerika again’ is tantamount to blasphemy to me, though, given his line (America never was America to me) and with ‘vote D’...no, i don’t think hughes would have approved given his life, politics, and writings, and no, i think it’s a very partisan movement.
i read that the last day of the campaign will culminate “Saturday, June 23, 10:00 a.m. EDT 10am – Global Day of Solidarity and Sending Forth Call to Action Mass Rally in Washington, D.C., National Mall, 7th Street Stage
and they seem to believe 50,000 peeps will participate, and of course i’m left wondering if so,...who pays their way, why, and if it’s big foundations, it that a good thing?
but i certainly applaud your beliefs and dedication, almost even to ‘every positive step in the right direction’, we just don’t agree on what constitutes a good direction, i think. i’m with rev wright and cheri honkala ajamu baraka and the authors at wsws: a new party made of the rabble classes and working class.
as to rain...mr. wd says that weather underground says there’s a 90% chance that the remnants of hurricane ben out of the baja will bring us *up to* 2 inches of sweet, sweet rain, which would sure help the firefighters control the two largest fires in the area. but they do warn they will likely be electrical storms, lol. but still....thanks so much for asking. again, good on you for your activism.
p.s. oh, goodness, i haven’t the time to read the DN! transcript (i just spent over thirty minutes on this response, old turtle that i be), and as for ‘guaranteed basic incomes’, most versions are full of hidden dragons. but between that and ‘jobs’ (esp. 40 hr. weeks)is a whole ‘nother conversation, isn’t it?
hope your rain arrived...
The campaign is about fighting poverty, racism, militarism ,and environmental degradation. That is my fight and my message, and that is why I participate. The movement is happening in 40 states. I understand the cynicism. I've been to many marches over the years, and things have only gotten worse. But I'm gonna keep on awalkin' keep on atalkin' walking on to freedom land...
It is easy to find fault. Malcolm disagreed with Dr. King. Who ended up accomplishing the most? As I said Rev. Barber's strategies aren't always mine. I think the idea that we can vote our way out of this mess is naive. I'm a teacher, and I'm doing what I can to educate my fellow citizens about the 4 evils in the lead sentence.
You didn't step on my toes because you don't read the intercept nor march in the PPC....I just caution against the idea that the collective we must agree on everything before we work together. We make our own choice, mine is to do what I can in as concrete a way as I can. We walk our own path..no toes trod upon. It is a large struggle and many fronts to face at the same time. We do what we can.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
thanks for your reply,
and given what you say and believe, i won't quibble over the fine points, but your question about who made the most change, malcolm x or MLK is good for thought. another might be: 'would MLK have handed the baton to rev barber and approved of this movement?' especially in not calling out capitalism and imperialism as a major culprits, especially in so partisan a manner?
but my best to you, lookout, in all things and endeavors. it's misting lightly here, periodically dropping some 'gently female rain' as the dineh name it. that's best, as it might soften the soil so it can absorb more wetness if more comes. when we got up at 5, mr. wd, bless his heart, played our morning anthem by ladysmith black mambazo: beautiful rain!
to address poverty and militarism...
is necessary and is happening in our state. The size of the effort (40 states simultaneously) is encouraging and I take heart from it. Realize you are hearing about the PPC through the lens of corporate media and what they want you to understand. I'm not suggesting this is the end all and be all of movements...but it is a movement. Our meetings before the rallies provide everyone with opportunity for input. I didn't know MLK personally just many of his friends and colleagues. Those still living are participating. Marching and singing is powerful and good for the soul...at least my soul.
Congrats on the rain I hope you get a good soaking.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
good to hear,
and best of luck in your epic quest. seriously. the rain seems to have been blown away, sadly. maybe in july when what are almost comically called 'monsoons' sometimes happen.
wd
That Truthdig reporter
planned and expected
to be arrested. Or should have if he knew anything about the PPC. That's the point of PPC events. To get arrested. If not, his bad. PPC activists explain this at their church meet-n-greet events. "We expect to be arrested. You don't have to... " What he may not have expected was to be in jail 24 hours. Which is unusual.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now
That's Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. And I like the fact that you have the text option on the Democracy Now site, and the videos aren't set for that accursed autoplay!
Also: You're right about the purity thing. We really do need to get our allies wheresoever we can!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
who are your allies, then,
if i may be so bold as to ask? guess that's a large part of this diary.
allies
The "Poor People Led Poor People's Campaign", to the actual Socialist parties out there who don't flee from the name, to a good many of the folks around here.
Those who help the cause of me and those like me. Whenever they do so.
Nobody gets it right all the time. Sometimes -- as with Amy Goodwin -- getting it right oftener than getting it wrong is enough.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
oh, my. it's the end of a tiring day,
so i may need to answer more fully tomorrow, or at least ask more specific questions, but as to amy goodman, yes, she does some good storytelling very well, and i laud her for that.
but she and the intercept both applauded the 'white helmets' ugly and damaging psyop, and when the sainted glenn greenwald were on, joined hands to declare that assad had gassed his people. and pushing russia-gate which her sponsors must insist upon.
she had chris miller of the kyiv post on to explain how russia had stolen crimea from ukraine. yeah, an she used to have stephen cohen on, too. but stuff like that makes me pretty meh about DN! as a source. still, i do click in from time to time, much as i do at TRNN and the not-quite-so-much counterpunch.
peace to you; i think i'm out for the night. 'hope dies last' mural. too large to embed.
part II of my response would at the very least ask:
who are the 'actual Socialist parties out there who don't flee from the name'? 'to a good many of the folks around here' might be self-evident to you, but that's a pretty broad brush, of course, lol.
as to 'Those who help the cause of me and those like me. Whenever they do so'...i dunno what to say that wouldn't sound rather rude, but given i dunno who you believe is 'like you', or who you're in solidarity with, especially globally, i'll leave you alone on it, except to say:
i'm in solidarity with all of the global downtrodden who've been immiserated and oppressed by the western hegemon, colonized then re-colonized, the capitalist consumer state, rent-seeking beyond compare, global political prisoners of the truth-telling sort, central banks all of which should be public banks run by citizens, those murdered by bigPharma and esp. 'fast-tracking of drugs' from the O era and continued under T, the planetary ecocide brought to us by those who seek to profit and believe they can escape it, the global indigenous who are treated as 'inconvenient eaters', esp. to those who desire to decrease the surplus population seek to indict recklessly, well..you might get my drift, so i'll stop.
peace when you can manage it, dead head.
I'll take 'em where
I can get 'em.
The point of the diary, indeed. Some of us follow a more pure path.
Which is fine.
I choose to be less so, take my victories from wherever they come.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
to my mind, it has nothing to do with 'purity', but that
meme has been in use for a long time now, especially in lesser-evil voting terms. but you've made your position quite clear, as have many here. see rebecca solnit (word salad) oct. 2012:
"O rancid sector of the far left, please stop your grousing! Compared to you, Eeyore sounds like a Teletubby. If I gave you a pony, you would not only be furious that not everyone has a pony, but you would pick on the pony for not being radical enough until it wept big, sad, hot pony tears. Because what we’re talking about here is not an analysis, a strategy, or a cosmology, but an attitude, and one that is poisoning us. Not just me, but you, us, and our possibilities.
Leftists explain things to me
The poison often emerges around electoral politics. Look, Barack Obama does bad things and I deplore them, though not with a lot of fuss, since they’re hardly a surprise. He sometimes also does not-bad things, and I sometimes mention them in passing, and mentioning them does not negate the reality of the bad things.
So here I want to lay out an insanely obvious principle that apparently needs clarification. There are bad things and they are bad. There are good things and they are good, even though the bad things are bad. The mentioning of something good does not require the automatic assertion of a bad thing. The good thing might be an interesting avenue to pursue in itself if you want to get anywhere. In that context, the bad thing has all the safety of a dead end. And yes, much in the realm of electoral politics is hideous, but since it also shapes quite a bit of the world, if you want to be political or even informed you have to pay attention to it and maybe even work with it."
Agree. And I'll take
what I can get.
It may not be "pure," but what today is?
If Corporate wants to fund my GOTV effort start writing the checks!
Eventually the PPC becomes self funding, no corporate sponsors needed.
And that happens sooner rather than later.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Dems and gopers work at stopping activism for and by the poor.
I don't remember when it happened, but I was shocked when it did: a democratic candidate pushing that they will work for the middle classes. I am from the era of the Great Society. What would LBJ and dems of that era say about all this "I am a fighter for the middle classes" talk? In fact, John Edwards was ripped up and down for making poverty an issue. The endless narrative by dems and gopers around him was "how can a rich guy help poor people". Forget he came from a poor family. And there was ACORN which Obama democrats helped dismantle.
Assuming elections are honestly done, poor people could well have enormous political clout. In many ways direct political action by poor people has been beaten out of them. But here is an interesting article on voting patterns.
Who Turned My Blue State Red? Why poor areas vote for politicians who want to slash the safety net
And a video by Tom Hartmann--the democrats abandoned speaking for poor people and an electoral coalition.
well...
i guess this resonates from what i see around here:
"She landed a steady job at a nearby dialysis center and remarried. But this didn’t make her a lasting supporter of safety-net programs like those that helped her. Instead, Ms. Dougherty had become a staunch opponent of them. She was reacting, she said, against the sense of entitlement she saw on display at the dialysis center. The federal government has for years covered kidney dialysis treatment in outpatient centers through Medicare, regardless of patients’ age, partly on the logic that treatment allows people with kidney disease to remain productive. But, Ms. Dougherty said, only a small fraction of the 54 people getting dialysis at her center had regular jobs.
“People waltz in when they want to,” she said, explaining that, in her opinion, there was too little asked of patients. There was nothing that said “‘You’re getting a great benefit here, why not put in a little bit yourself.’ ” At least when she got her tuition help, she said, she had to keep up her grades. “When you’re getting assistance, there should be hoops to jump through so that you’re paying a price for your behavior,” she said. “What’s wrong with that?”
but lot of that 'voting against your own interest is is by way of the three Gs: god, guns, and gays. maybe now i'd have to add: abortion, but i guess that's 'god', too. dunno what to think about john edwards' Two Americas, as yeah, $400 haircuts were crap, but the larger issue might be 'who would he have been in the oval'? you must have some idea.
now kentucky has the highest rate of death by opiates, doesn't it? anyhoo, thanks, mr. webster. lbj's great society seems to have upsides and downsides, much like fdr's new deal, depending on one's point of view. (i just scanned the wiki entry.)
and O's dismantling of acorn: sigh.
can't say i really agree w/ tom's credo as to 'who a real democrat is', mainly as it's not what they say, it's what they do. al franken was one of the worst lying liars once he got seated, wasn't he? (not that i could come up w/ the issues off the top of my head). liz warren's a militarist imperialist, or always had been.
bing! n/t
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
The bottom line for me on Barber...
He talks a big line on Morality. But who's morality is he referring to? When he was not allowed into the state capitol in KY, he had his followers leave a bible at the front desk. A bible. THAT is Barber's idea of a guide to morality. Sorry, but that book is not my idea of a guide to morality.
He is trying to co-opt the very real social issue of poverty under the wing of Christianity.
That gives me a stomach ache.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
seriously?
leave em a bible as proof that not letting them in was...immoral or something? whooosh. i dunno, i do admire social gospel, and watched prolly over-avidly for churches that endorsed OWS back in the day. but the big names gave some speeches...and went back to their pulpits and made calls to their parishoners to...GOTV for...Obomba.
i reckon my favorite social gospel minister's been Osagyefo Sekou since the days of the ferguson uprising (@revsekou on twitter) and i've wondered what he'd been up to since those earlier days. he starting recording his own music, and now seems to be totally down w/ rev barber's PPC.
I'm tired of seeing that book used as a symbol for morality.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
there certianly some 'moral lessons' in parts of it,
including, i'd assume, in the first five books of the old testament (torah, pentateuch), but i've gotten tired of being metaphorically smacked on the head with it by fundie bible-thumpers in my life. they can always manage to find passages that *prove* what's right, whats wrong, when convenient.
but on a silly quest years ago i'd looked at wikipedia to read the many divergent ways even the ten commandments were translated in various versions, and have read essays about which teachings were...left out, including the gnostics: god within, god without, and so on.
but yeah, i hear you, especially if one is an atheist, or like myself, an apatheist, perhaps of the 'let the mystery be' sort (smile)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlaoR5m4L80]
DKos has tried to keep my opinions on religion off the site,
however, another one has taken my place! I loved seeing this. And she didn't back down during the whole comment thread.
KathleenM1 LV2N17June 15 · 01:16:19 AMExactly. This ridiculous spectacle of dueling bible verses is an embarrassment to what is supposed to be the fact-based community. Flinging verses from a book of primitive superstitions in which any verse can be found to support anything — it's a game for fools.
I fought for years against the Christian thugs who tried to squash atheist POVs over there.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
now hold the phone.
would your comments be deleted or your diaries on the subject be 'disappeared'? what was the subject of this estimable comment? but remember: post 9/11 caused a New Holy War.
The comment from KathleenM1 was from this diary...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/16/1772401/-Dear-AG-Sessions-Wha...
In fact there were others who sided with her view on the bible.
What happened to me over the years on there was basically a gang of people who would group flag me or use other means to try to get me timed out. I never wrote diaries there.
By the way, I like your monarch photo. I raise them every year.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
lol, big al's new diary is on the same bible-thumpin' subject.
as is one of the wsws diaries i'd linked to on hi diary. i photograph (take portraits of) butterflies and bees on the flowers we grow...as they've become such mind-bogglingly rare visitors here.
that particulr day...that gorgeous monarch was in love w/ the nectar of those sea mist (gorgeous in their own right) flowers. she allowed me about 40 mins to take her picture/s.
i allus tell tell the critters 'round here to settle and let me make them stars in their own right! (all my photos on flickr are free for non-commercial use).
thanks for explaining, though. i needed that, 'fishtroller of non biblical souls?'.
Nah... not interested in "souls".
The name comes from the boat owned by my much loved Uncle.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
True. True.
There's much to dislike.
I can do without the Bible thumping, the "morality" nonsense. But, as the old Bible verse goes, you've got to give some to get some. If it Gets Out The Poor Vote, as I expect it will, then I can put up with the thumping.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
If you read the Bruce Dixon essay linked in this diary
you will see exactly what I am talking about. This left side pushing of the bible and liberal Christianity as the answer to problems of poverty or getting the poor to vote puts our societal issues squarely in the arena of the intra Christian circular firing squad of who has the correct interpretations in Christianity. I want our politics... all of it... to be pulled OUT of that arena and back into the secular circle where it belongs.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
exactly. calling out much like 'we're a morality movement'
\
is a bad tactic for building solidarity coalitions, as soooooo many here claim to favor. but only in some cases, perhaps.
i'd reckoned that bringing this diary here wouldn't be
greatly appreciated, and it wasn't, lol. a mere 11 recommends, but 50+ comments that made for a mostly good conversation. thank you.
Well, I appreciated it.
and ten others. I appreciated hearing about this other effort and the contrast to the democratic party affiliated Barber effort.
and bless you for appreciating it,
and having noted that you'd said much the same as the PPPCHR that thoe who are affected should be arbiters of 'what helps'. i hadn't thought of it, although i've thought of so many examples of how that could have gone with post-gentrification housing, from the fucked 'cabrini green' brilliance to the terrifying 'projects' anywhere. keep em crap, keep em tall w/ elevators that break down...and stay broke down (disabled? so sorry! crawl on your knees to mammon!), with no repairs even to new light bulbs so drug dealers can rule, and the po-po are so terrified they don't answer 911 calls. and if they enter the stairways are so dark they shoot to kill...anything that moves. (akai gurley, brooklyn). can't remember if the eventually indicted cop had been found guilty or...justified.
on edit to add: not shoved into ghettos w/ no grocery stores but quick-stops, no 'prepared' food but macDogfood, no banks but quick-cash 'loans' check-cashing w/ usurious rates deducted. no economically 'mixed' neighborhoods, and so on. yeah, the poor should have a big voice.
anyhoo, thanks for rec'ing, smile.
That's my attitude. Relative to Zeese and Flowers,
the reason I rail is because those two and a whole lot of other "left" activists, are middle to upper middle class (and more), many are solidly in the one percent, you look at their antiwar and anti-poverty conferences they hold in D.C. or Philly or Chicago, and it's filled with speakers with degrees from Harvard, Yale, Rutgers, (or Georgetown like Zeese) etc., with people wearing nice suits and ties, etc., etc.
You know what they really do? They perpetuate their gravy trains, they keep the discussion and debate inside the accepted boundaries so as to not get too radical, not challenge the power as I said before. It's a generalization of course, but look at the last fifteen years and how the internet was supposed to do this and that for fighting the establishment. Here we have most of the people steering and organizing the discussion who actually are part of the establishment and the one percent. I may be being unfair to some people, but I don't think I'm being unfair to the situation. And evidently people like Rev. Wright would agree with that.
It's nice and all they're trying to help, but come on, where's the class diversity? Where's all the people from the trailer parks or ghettos or low income housing? Where's the people on food stamps, the people without high school degrees?
This effort you've essayed about at least has that right, the people most affected are leading the effort.
hold that thought, okay?
something weird seems to be going on in the twitterverse re: julian assange. today was to be the mass unity vigil in australia, although i can't figure out what time it actually is there now. (the 19th for the global ones)
but i do want to try to figure out your comment and answer if i can. back as i'm able.
okay read it again, and i agree for the most part.
as i'd asked above: who will be paying the travel expenses of those 50,000 peeps to join rev barber in the march on deecee in july? same as i've asked who the hell pays for the big people protests at the cop conferences, where freaking bill mcKibben, and the other big greens fly in planeloads of indigenous in ceremonial dress...to let ya know it's really all about THEM.
but yes, like those at davos telling the little people that they're there for da peasant class rabble...it just gets absurd. or the chomskys and hedges of the world giving us advice on how to proceed to 'save ourselves'. elite academics and polemicists only stretch so far, don't they? but i do at least like that zeese and flowers cover a wide range of issues and know wtf they're talking about on most of them. here's their page; take a gander. and they are indeed anti-war, anti-imperialist, and at least are fully behind VZ's
right to survive.
https://popularresistance.org/
Wow, nice website. Hadn't seen their evidently new one.
They got them some money for their activism. Professional activists so to speak. Interesting at the bottom of the page it says,
Donations to "Popular Resistance" are tax deductible through our fiscal sponsor:
The Alliance for Global Justice, 225 E. 26th St., Suite 1, Tucson, AZ 85713
I don't know if this is true, I'll do more research later, enjoying a beautiful day in my garden, but:
"The Alliance for Global Justice, an organization funded by the Tides Foundation -- a George Soros -backed charity - gave $50,000 to help fund a radical-left group that used violence to shut down an event at the University of California-Berkeley featuring Milo Yiannopoulos."
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2017/02/04/soros-funded-group-gave-50k-to-g...
ha. well, keep diggin'.
i dug up some info on tides from wrong kind of green. the fauxlathropic NGOs are soooo intertwined.
from another one of their very long exposés:
"Photo: Peter and Julie Buffett with former U.S. president, Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative. What the environmental “movement” does not wish to acknowledge is the fact that the Clintons were integral to the creation of 1Sky (1Sky/350.org) as were the Rockefellers. In the Rockefeller Family Fund 2007 annual report, it is clear that 1Sky is an actual Rockefeller-initiated NGO. Such incubator projects are common within powerful foundations, although the public has little knowledge of such practices.
Peter Buffett, musician and youngest son of investor, Warren Buffett, along with his spouse (who serves as president), are the founders and co-chairs of the NoVo Foundation. NoVo was created in 2006 after Warren Buffett pledged to donate 350,000 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to the foundation (value approximately U.S. $2.5 billion). [Source] As the charts below demonstrate, NoVo Foundation is (as of 2011), the top donor to Tides in the timeframe outlined. [Source: [3][4] Prior to being unveiled as NoVo, Peter Buffett’s foundation was recognized as The Spirit Foundation which was established in 1999 (#EI-0824753)."
guess the questions are two-fold: is it by way of noblesse oblige, or does the money control gate/keep their activism and content? they're pretty damned radical, so...i dunno.
guess i should have been bingling WKoG for alliance for global justice, lol. ah, mornings before the coffee kicks in.