Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
April 4, 2021
Hi All – Today is the anniversary – 1968 – of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. He was only 39 years old. In his short life he had made a journey from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the leadership of the US civil rights movement. As he is commemorated today, this is the life that will be remembered. And this is right and just.
But in the last year of his life King became an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War and a critic of "the madness of militarism." And at memorial events today, this will probably be forgotten. Indeed, speaking out against the Vietnam War brought down on him fierce criticism, even from the civil rights movement itself. Yet he persisted. On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his death, King gave his "Beyond Vietnam" speech at Riverside Church in New York. He said:
Surely this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. And he said
We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.
This is the Martin Luther King we should remember today - a leader for civil rights AND a fighter for peace. The article below elaborates on these points.
The Liberal Contempt for Martin Luther King's Final Year
By Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon, ZNet [April 1, 2021]
---- The anniversary of his assassination always brings a flood of tributes to Martin Luther King Jr., and this Sunday will surely be no exception. But those tributes — including from countless organizations calling themselves progressive — are routinely evasive about the anti-militarist ideals that King passionately expressed during the final year of his life…. King didn't simply oppose the Vietnam War. In an April 4, 1967 speech at New York's Riverside Church delivered exactly a year before he was assassinated — titled "Beyond Vietnam" — he referred to the U.S. government as "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today" and broadly denounced the racist and imperial underpinnings of U.S. foreign policy. From Vietnam to South Africa to Latin America, King said, our country was on the "wrong side of a world revolution" — suppressing revolutions "of the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Global South, instead of supporting them. [Read More]
News Notes
CD 17 Rep. Jamaal Bowman continues to hit hard, not only on domestic issues, but on foreign policy as well. He is such a welcome relief from decades of military-hawk Eliot Engel! On CNN this week, Bowman blasted US policy in Central America as largely responsible for the flow of people seeking asylum at our southern border. "We wanted their land and their natural resources, and we were engaged in coup d'etats and other behaviors in those areas in order to do so. Now we have to right our wrongs." [Read More]
When registration for the draft ("Selective Service") was reinstated in 1980, it was limited to males only. Now a Supreme Court case is challenging this; and it appears that the Pentagon has to choose between ending draft registration or registering young women as well. The debate within the military-political elite has raised some fundamental questions about "national defense." As this useful article by old friend Ed Hasbrouck says, "This is a choice about militarism, not a choice about gender equality." Check it out.
In 1998 the Treaty of Rome established the International Criminal Court, and it came into force in 2002 when enough countries had ratified it. Today 123 countries are signatories to the Treaty, but not the USA. Worse, in 2020 "President" Trump imposed sanction on the court and some of its personnel, when the court moved to take up war crimes in Israel/Palestine and Afghanistan. This week President Biden revoked these sanctions; but as this useful summary from Human Rights Watch argues, now the USA should join the Treaty. [Link].
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. Taking the Covid Crisis into account, we meet (with safe distancing) for a protest/rally on Saturday in Hastings, at 12 noon at the VFW Plaza (Warburton and Spring St.) Another vigil takes place on the first Monday of the month (April 5th), from 5:30 to 6 pm, in Yonkers at the intersection of Warburton Ave. and Odell. In this time of coronavirus, we are meeting by Zoom conference; if you would like to join one of our Zoom meetings, Tuesday and Thursday at noon and/or Saturday at 5 pm, please send a return email. Our weekly newsletter is archived at https://cfow.blogspot.com/; and news of interest and coming events is posted on our CFOW Facebook page. If you would like to support our work by making a contribution, please send your check to CFOW, PO Box 364, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706. Thanks!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
FEATURED ESSAYS
Biden's Plan for Central America Is a Smokescreen
By Aviva Chomsky, The Nation [April 1, 2021]
----Joe Biden entered the White House with some inspiring yet contradictory positions on immigration and Central America. He promised to reverse Donald Trump's draconian anti-immigrant policies while, through his "Plan to Build Security and Prosperity in Partnership with the People of Central America," restoring "U.S. leadership in the region" that he claimed Trump had abandoned. For Central Americans, though, such "leadership" has an ominous ring. … Instead of solidarity (or even partnership) with Central America, Biden's plan actually promotes an old economic development model that has long benefited US corporations. It also aims to impose a distinctly militarized version of "security" on the people of that region. In addition, it focuses on enlisting Central American governments and, in particular, their militaries to contain migration through the use of repression. https://www.thenation.com/article/world/biden-central-america-immigration. And for a powerful illustration of how US policy in Central America promotes despair and emigration, watch (Video) "'Crisis of Capitalism': Roberto Lovato on How U.S. Policies Fuel Migration & Instability," from Democracy Now! [March 30, 2021] [Link].
(Video) Amazon Union Drive Builds on Decades of Black Radical Labor Activism in Alabama
From Democracy Now! [March 29, 2021]
---- As thousands of Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, decide whether to form the company's first union, historian Robin D.G. Kelley says it could be a watershed moment for labor organizing in the United States. "This is definitely the most significant labor struggle of the 21st century, no doubt," he says. "The South has been the epicenter of the country's most radical democratic movements, which is why it's completely unsurprising that Bessemer, Alabama, would be the place where you'd have a renewed labor movement." [See the Program]
As Drone Whistleblower Daniel Hale Pleads Guilty, Advocates Warn of 'Profound Threat' to Free Press
By Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams [April 2, 2021]
---- Press freedom, peace, and human rights advocates are rallying behind Daniel Hale, the former intelligence analyst who blew the whistle on the U.S. government's drone assassination program, and who pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to violating the Espionage Act. … Hale was charged in 2019 during the Trump administration after he leaked classified information on the US government's targeted assassination program to a reporter. … He is the first person to face sentencing for an Espionage Act offense during the administration of President Joe Biden. … Hale's whistleblowing led to the revelation by The Intercept that "nearly half of the people on the US government's widely shared database of terrorist suspects are not connected to any known terrorist group," details on how the Obama administration approved targeted assassinations, and information about Bilal el-Berjawi, a Briton "who was stripped of his citizenship before being killed in a US drone strike in 2012." … Hale's sentencing is scheduled for July 13. He faces up to 10 years behind bars. [Read More]
WAR & PEACE
Could the U.S. and China Face an Unintended Blowup in the Western Pacific in the Biden Years?
---- The leaders of China and the United States certainly don't seek a war with each another. Both the Biden administration and the regime of Chinese President Xi Jinping view economic renewal and growth as their principal objectives. Both are aware that any conflict arising between them, even if restricted to Asia and conducted with non-nuclear weapons — no sure bet — would produce catastrophic regional damage and potentially bring the global economy to its knees. So, neither group has any intention of deliberately starting a war. Each, however, is fully determined to prove its willingness to go to war if provoked and so is willing to play a game of military chicken in the waters (and air space) off China's coast. In the process, each is making the outbreak of war, however unintended, increasingly likely. [Read More]
US-Iran meeting in Vienna signals new hope for JCPOA [Iran Nuclear Agreement]
By Trita Parsi, Responsible Statecraft [April 2, 2021]
---- Given the deadlock and the disappointing pace of movement in the first weeks of Biden's term, today's news that the United States will be participating in next week's meeting in Vienna between Iran and global partners towards reviving the JCPOA is more than welcome. Here is why: Privately, White House officials admit that they fumbled the Iran file early on (my words, not theirs). But the message we're hearing now is that things have changed, and Washington is now moving full speed toward a JCPOA return. We are now seeing the first signs vindicating this narrative. … t is frankly better for the United States, in my humble opinion, that the process is quick, as the Iranian elections may cause a lot of unhelpful political posturing by Tehran. The best thing is to get a quick choreography that binds both sides to full compliance, even though the steps may simply be binding decisions to do things within the next few weeks. The actual steps may be taken later, but the binding decision to take them will be made now.
That way, the JCPOA will be resurrected and protected before the Iranian elections — and not subject to the outcome of the elections. This clearly lies in the national interest of the United States — as Joe Biden himself has made clear numerous times. [Read More]
Yemen's Blood Is on US Hands, and Still the US Lies About the War
By William Boardman, Dissident Voice [March 24, 2021]
---- Six years ago, on March 26, 2015, the US green-lighted and provided logistical support for the Saudi bombing of Yemen that continues on a daily basis. The US/Saudi war, which includes as allies the several members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, is an undeclared war, illegal under international law, and an endless crime against humanity. The US and the Saudis have dropped cluster bombs on Yemen since 2009. Yemen has no air force and no significant air defenses. Two years ago, even the US Congress voted to end US involvement in the war, but President Trump vetoed the resolution. … [Secretary of State] Blinken did not acknowledge the US role in the air war on Yemen. Blinken did not acknowledge the US role in the naval blockade preventing food and fuel from reaching those 20 million Yemenis. Those obstacles to humanitarian access remain unchanged. The US has the power to remove either one unilaterally, just as it unilaterally chose to impose them. Blinken called on "all parties" to allow unhindered import and distribution of food and fuel, as if the US played no role in blocking both. [Read More] For a powerful short documentary film about the impact of sanctions on Yemeni children, watch "The Hunger Ward." Tuesday, April 6, at 7 pm. For a trailer, go here. To register for the Tuesday showing, go here.
Is the Long War Finally Ending? [Afghanistan]
By arch 31, 2021]
---- The fighting in Afghanistan has lasted nearly two decades, the most protracted conflict the United States has ever endured. This war is in turn part of a much larger battle that has been variously described as "America's endless wars," the "war on terror," or simply the "long war" that began in the wake of the attacks of September 11, though earlier skirmishes took place during the 1990s. The Biden administration is currently trying to negotiate a spheres-of-influence arrangement in Afghanistan. … The American-backed government in Kabul, according to this proposal, would share power with the insurgent Taliban forces as an interim step until elections can be held under a new constitution. Such a deal would make it easier for the United States to withdraw all of its 3,500 soldiers from Afghanistan by May 1, as laid out in a peace deal signed in 2020. Even if that withdrawal goes through, however, the institutional apparatus of the larger "long war" will still be operational. [Read More] For more on the Afghanistan War, read Robert Scheer's interview with retired Major Danny Sjursen,"What Is It About The Democrats' Love Of War?"[April 3, 2021] [Link],
THE STATE OF THE UNION
The Derek Chauvin Trial Is One Battle in a Wider War
By Alyssa Oursler and Anna DalCortivo, The Nation [April 2, 2021]
---- On May 25, 2020, a video of Chauvin fatally pinning Floyd to the ground outside a corner store in south Minneapolis spurred global protests. In the Twin Cities, thousands took to the streets, and MPD's Third Precinct station, which the officers involved worked out of, was set ablaze and left in ashes. Ahead of Chauvin's court date, city leaders braced themselves for a reignited boots-on-the-ground presence from protesters. Downtown, barricades and barbed wire began to appear. And yet the physical barricades are, in some sense, an illusion. The trial of Derek Chauvin is neither hidden nor isolated. Anyone with a smartphone has a front-row seat inside the courtroom via livestream. But the criminal case is also far from a discrete event. It's part of a much longer struggle—one that didn't begin with opening arguments this week and that won't be over when the trial ends, regardless of the verdict. [Read More]
Georgia's New Voting Law Is Rife With Hidden Horrors
By Greg Palast, Truthout [April 1, 2021]
---- Donald Trump infamously demanded the Georgia secretary of state "find 11,780" votes. The MAGA crowd in the Georgia legislature found 364,541 votes to cancel, that is, voters whose ballots would be blocked from the count in the next election. To understand how this mass attack on citizens will work, we have to go back to December 21, 2020, just before the Georgia Senate runoffs, when True the Vote, a Texas group founded by Tea Party crusader Catherine Engelbrecht, challenged the right of 364,541 Georgians to cast ballots. You read that number right: More than a third of a million voters almost lost their vote. Almost. County elections boards, facing threats by the ACLU and Stacey Abrams's Fair Fight, rejected the challenges, noting that the numbers were too huge to be credible. [Read More]
(Video) What if We Actually Taxed the Rich?
By Robert Reich, ZNet [April 4, 2021]
---- Income and wealth are now more concentrated at the top than at any time over the last 80 years, and our unjust tax system is a big reason why. The tax code is rigged for the rich, enabling a handful of wealthy individuals to exert undue influence over our economy and democracy. Conservatives fret about budget deficits. Well, then, to pay for what the nation needs – ending poverty, universal health care, infrastructure, reversing climate change, investing in communities, and so much more – the super-wealthy have to pay their fair share. Here are seven necessary ways to tax the rich. [Watch the short video]
For more on Tax Scam USA – "55 US Corporate Giants Paid $0 in Federal Taxes in 2020 Thanks to 'Gaping' Loopholes" by [Link]; "Fossil Fuel Companies Got $8.2 Billion in Tax Bailouts—Then Fired Over 58,000 Workers" by [Link]; and "How Lower-Income Americans Get Cheated on Property Taxes," Editorial, New York Times [April 3, 2021] [Link].
The Self-Determination Act Could Finally End US Colonization of Puerto Rico
By Natalia Renta, Jacobin Magazine [April 2021]
---- Last month, New York representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez — joined by New Jersey's Bob Menendez in the Senate — introduced the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act of 2021. If passed, the legislation would create a process for Puerto Ricans to finally determine the nature of their relationship with the United States, which for more than 120 years has colonized the island. The Self-Determination Act comes as Puerto Ricans are rising up — against a federally imposed fiscal control board, government neglect in the wake of Hurricane Maria, gender and racial violence on the island, and business as usual in local government — making the status quo colonial relationship untenable. …With an organized and engaged Puerto Rican public — a requirement for the passage of the bill and the success of the process it outlines — the time is ripe to end US colonialism in Puerto Rico once and for all. [Read More]
OUR HISTORY
A Secret War. Decades of Suffering. Will the US Ever Make Good in Laos?
By George Black, photographs by Christopher Anderson, New York Times Magazine [March 16, 2021]
---- Laos remained a forgotten footnote to a lost war. To those who followed the conflict's aftermath intimately, this was hardly surprising. Only in the last two decades has the United States finally acknowledged and taken responsibility for the legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam, committing hundreds of millions of dollars to aiding the victims and cleaning up the worst-contaminated hot spots there. … An in-depth, monthslong review of old Air Force records, including details of hundreds of spraying flights, as well as interviews with many residents of villages along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, reveals that, at a conservative estimate, at least 600,000 gallons of herbicides rained down on the ostensibly neutral nation during the war. [Read More]
White Supremacy and Labor's Failure
An interview with Michael Goldfield, Solidarity/Against the Current [March 28, 2021]
[FB – Mike Goldfield discusses his new book, The Southern Key: Class, Race, and Radicalism in the 1930s and 1940s. In it he argues that the "failure to fully confront white supremacy led to labor's ultimate failure in the South, and that this regional failure has led to the nationwide decline in labor unionism, growing inequality, and the perpetuation of white supremacy."]
---- Virtually all academics and liberals trace the low level of unionization in the South and the failures of union organizing to cultural attitudes, individualism, religiosity, submissiveness to elites. In The Southern Key I question these explanations, and focus on more material causes. Difficulties in labor organizing have rather been a result of the availability of cheap labor (often from agricultural labor surpluses), the strength of racial oppression, and more violent unified repression at the hands of southern political elites and capitalists, especially when those organizing have been Afro-American or interracial. Yet contrary to the accounts of most investigators, I trace a rich history of southern labor organizing, sometimes interracial. When given the opportunity, southern workers have been as militant, at times exhibiting strong racial solidarity, as those anywhere. [Read More]
