Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
June 20, 2021
Hello All – Earlier this month, Concerned Families of Westchester affiliated with Peace Action,
a national organization whose roots go back to the late 1950s and the era of "Ban the Bomb." My own, very first "march on Washington" demonstration was a protest against nuclear testing in the atmosphere, organized by Peace Action's direct ancestor, the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE). When this mission was accomplished, SANE and the Peace Action went on to oppose the Vietnam War and support disarmament treaties, especially those between the USA and the (then) Soviet Union.
Today Peace Action has many chapters and programs. CFOW has joined Peace Action New York State, which has about a dozen chapters and affiliates (us), with a paid staff person, an organizer for student chapters (surprisingly many), and monthly steering committee meetings (us). The main issues/projects are set annually, and now include working for the renewal of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, an end to US support for the war in Yemen, and a "Move the Money" campaign to redirect military spending to human needs. Peace Action also responds to breaking news, such as opposing US support for Israel during the recent war there.
Why did CFOW join a national organization, and an organization focusing on war and disarmament? The invitation came to us, in part, because we were the only organization in Westchester and "lower/upstate" that had a focus on war and peace. On our end, the growing danger of nuclear war, of US conflict with Russia and/or China, the national (and international) build up of nuclear weapons, the end of some important arms control treaties, and the massive funds ($43 billion next year; $1 trillion plus for "nuclear modernization) for nukes in the US budget makes it imperative that we push back on the military budget and the madness of a new arms race.
This new project, as an affiliate of Peace Action New York State, is in its infancy, but we think that it provides a platform to reach out to our neighbors about one of the most important issues facing humans. If you would like join us in the new work, or learn more about Peace Action, please send a return email. Thanks!
News Notes
This week Naomi Klein hosted a podcast at The Intercept in which she reported on the shocking revelations that hundreds of First Nation children who were taken from their families beginning a century ago had died at the schools where they had been sent to be stripped of their native culture. Read/hear the interview.
In the wake of Hurricane Maria's destruction of much of Puerto Rico, the US established a control board to manage Puerto Rico's economy, ultimately privatizing the island's electric grid. Last week one million people lost power. "A classic example of disaster capitalism," one community activist remarked. In this Democracy Now! segment, host Juan Gonzalez turns a spotlight on the predatory attack on Puerto Rico's economy.
Finally, each week CFOW holds vigils/gatherings to speak out for peace & justice. Last Saturday our noontime vigil in Hastings focused on the meaning of Juneteenth. And in Yonkers, each Monday at 5:30 pm stalwarts gather to support Black Lives Matter and Say the Names of Black people killed by police. Please join us!
Things to Do
On Tuesday, June 22nd, the website BanKillerDrones will host a webinar on "Drone use by US police and the Human impact of US drown attacks in Yemen." The program starts at 11 am and finishes at 12:30 pm. The webinar panelists are the Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, Executive Director of Fellowship of Reconciliation USA, and Mohammed Al-Ahmada, a Yemeni investigative journalist. To register, click here.
Very popular blogger Heather Cox Richardson is now joined by Joanne Freeman in a weekly discussion called "Then and Now." Last Tuesday their discussion focused on "Battling Over Critical Race Theory." Their discussion is a user-friendly way to catch up on the debate over "what is true?" and "what to teach?" burning through the blogosphere. To listen to this one-hour discussion, click here.
Fifty years ago this week (1971), Daniel Ellsberg released and the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers, 7,000 pages of a 1968 Pentagon study into the origins of the Vietnam War and why the USA was not winning. Last week the Vietnam Commemoration Committee held a webinar with Ellsberg, Noam Chomsky, and others to talk about what was in the Papers and how Ellsberg's action influenced the war and the anti-war movement.
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.) A "Black Lives Matter/Say Their Names" vigil takes place every Monday 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 Sunday at 7 pm., please send a return email. Our 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!
Rewards!
Honoring the making of "Juneteenth" a national holiday, marking the end of slavery in 1865, some songs from Sweet Honey in the Rock seem appropriate rewards for this week's stalwart Newsletter readers. Here are "Let There Be Peace"; "In the Morning When I Rise"; and "Ella [Baker's] Song. Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
CFOW Weekly Reader
Republicans Are Willing to Destroy Democracy to Retake Power
An interview with Noam Chomsky, Truthout [June 16, 2021]
---- The term "neoliberal proto-fascism" captures well both the features of the current party and the distinction from the fascism of the past. The commitment to the most brutal form of neoliberalism is apparent in the legislative record, crucially the subordination of the party to private capital, the inverse of classic fascism. But the fascist symptoms are there, including extreme racism, violence, worship of the leader (sent by God, according to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo), immersion in a world of "alternative facts" and a frenzy of irrationality. Also in other ways, such as the extraordinary efforts in Republican-run states to suppress teaching in schools that doesn't conform to their white supremacist doctrines. Legislation is being enacted to ban instruction in "critical race theory," the new demon, replacing Communism and Islamic terror as the plague of the modern age. … But some vestiges of democracy remain, even after the neoliberal assault. Probably not for long if neoliberal "proto-fascism" extends its sway. But the fate of democracy won't actually matter much if the "proto-fascists" regain power. The environment that sustains life cannot long endure the wreckers of the Trump era of decline. Little else will matter if irreversible tipping points are passed. [Read More]
War & Peace
Washington's Dangerous New Consensus on China
By Bernie Sanders, Foreign Affairs [June 17, 2021]
---- The unprecedented global challenges that the United States faces today—climate change, pandemics, nuclear proliferation, massive economic inequality, terrorism, corruption, authoritarianism—are shared global challenges. They cannot be solved by any one country acting alone. They require increased international cooperation—including with China, the most populous country on earth. It is distressing and dangerous, therefore, that a fast-growing consensus is emerging in Washington that views the U.S.-Chinese relationship as a zero-sum economic and military struggle. The prevalence of this view will create a political environment in which the cooperation that the world desperately needs will be increasingly difficult to achieve. … Americans must not be naive about China's repression, disregard for human rights, and global ambitions. I strongly believe that the American people have an interest in strengthening global norms that respect the rights and dignity of all people—in the United States, in China, and around the world. I fear, however, that the growing bipartisan push for a confrontation with China will set back those goals and risks empowering authoritarian, ultranationalistic forces in both countries. It will also deflect attention from the shared common interests the two countries have in combating truly existential threats such as climate change, pandemics, and the destruction that a nuclear war would bring. Developing a mutually beneficial relationship with China will not be easy. But we can do better than a new Cold War [Read More]
The State of the Union
Jim Crow Killed Voting Rights for Generations. Now the GOP Is Repeating History.
June 2, 2021]
---- On September 3, 1868, Henry McNeal Turner rose to speak in the Georgia House of Representatives to fight for his political survival. He was one of 33 new Black state legislators elected that year in Georgia, a revolutionary change in the South after 250 years of slavery. Eight hundred thousand new Black voters had been registered across the region, and the share of Black male Southerners who were eligible to vote skyrocketed from 0.5 percent in 1866 to 80.5 percent two years later. These Black legislators had helped to write a new state constitution guaranteeing voting rights for former slaves and leading Georgia back into the Union. Yet just two months after the 14th Amendment granted full citizenship rights to Black Americans, Georgia's white-dominated legislature introduced a bill to expel the Black lawmakers, arguing that the state's constitution protected their right to vote but not to hold office. [Read More]
The Police
To End Racial Capitalism, We Will Need to Take On the Institution of Policing
By Henry A. Giroux, Truthout [June 18, 2021]
---- Police brutality cannot be separated from the lethal nature of white supremacy, and in its recent incarnations became "the war on crime." Under President Nixon and every American president after him, the war on crime continued to expand and intensify into a war on Black communities. The call for "law and order" repeatedly served as a smokescreen for racist and militarized police practices that equated Black behavior with criminality and authorized the use of force against them. As the reach of the culture of punishment expanded, its targets included protesters, immigrants, and those individuals and groups marginalized by class, religion, ethnicity and color as the other — an enemy. This is the organizing principle of a war mentality adopted by the police throughout the United States in which the behavior of Black people and other marginalized communities is criminalized. … Policing cannot be understood outside of the history of criminogenic culture and a racist punishing state marked by both staggering inequities in wealth, income and power, as well as a collective mindset in which those considered non-white are considered less than human, undeserving of human rights, and viewed as disposable.
Israel/Palestine
The Real Danger of Israel's New Government
By Phyllis Bennis, Foreign Policy in Focus [June 17, 2021]
---- The new Israeli government takes office already largely paralyzed. With eight diverse parties, they agree only on two things. One, they want to get rid of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Check — that's done. Two, given the unlikeliness of reaching agreement on any major policy changes, they all agree that the current situation of occupation and apartheid for Palestinians is quite sustainable for Jewish Israelis. For now, the status quo will prevail. And that's a problem. … Because this new government has no intention of changing Tel Aviv's policies based on what the Israeli human rights organization B'tselem calls "a regime of Jewish supremacy" from the river to the sea. This new government has no intention of ending Israeli efforts to undermine the U.S. return to the Iran nuclear deal, even if war might be the result. These new leaders have no intention of holding themselves accountable for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Gaza or elsewhere. [Read More]
Our History
Juneteenth Reminds Us Just How Far We Have to Go
June 18, 2021]
---- Juneteenth should serve not only to remind us of the joy and relief that accompanied the end of slavery, but also of the unfinished work of confronting slavery's legacy. Thanks to the efforts of generations of activists, laws that explicitly discriminate based on race are a thing of the past. But today's conservatives echo their 19th-century predecessors when they justify federal inaction on voting rights with arguments about states' rights and spurious claims of electoral corruption. These arguments join a growing attack on the teaching of American history itself. Americans need to understand that the original Constitution, which protected slavery while providing few federal safeguards for individual rights, did not create a path toward abolition or racial equality. To the contrary, before and after Juneteenth, it was Black people and their white allies who fought to eradicate the racist legacies of slavery and who demanded that the federal government take action to protect the rights of all. [Read More] Also insightful is "Juneteenth and the Problem of American Freedom" by Anthony Conwright, The Nation [June 19, 2021] [Link].
