Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
January 16, 2022
Hello All – Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929. In 1983, after a long, state-by-state struggle, King's birthday became a national holiday, celebrated on the third Monday in January. In the way that Americans remember King, each year the celebration becomes a temperature-check on our national political consciousness. Though in his day King was widely viewed as a trouble-maker and a Communist, our national memory has transformed him into an American saint, focusing on his time with the Montgomery bus boycott (1955) and his "I have a dream" speech (1963). The incorporation into the national mainstream of King's commitment to nonviolence and his vision of a multi-racial America has come at the expense, however, of a more inclusive picture of what his life and work were all about.
King was only 26 years old when he became the public face of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955; and while he brought to this work years of thinking and study, it is not surprising that his views evolved over the 13 years that remained of his short life. Nonviolence and the importance of unity for the Black community were constants in his worldview, but his initial hope that white people could be persuaded to support a world that gave equality and dignity to Black people faded. He found himself in agreement with the observations of W.E.B. DuBois in his (1935) Black Reconstruction that the fatal flaw in the project of American democracy was that white workers saw their allies in white rulers, not in other workers who were Black. This view was reinforced by his experiences when he brought his civil rights work to the North, settling in Chicago in 1965 and experiencing vicious racism from white people. Though he continued to reach out to the organized labor movement, union leadership was reluctant to ally with civil rights movements, either because of the racism of union leaders or their belief that attempts at Black-white unity would endanger the union itself. Only a social-democratic program could accomplish what needed to be done, King thought, but the refusal of white workers to abandon their opposition to Black equality was a fatal barrier to the development of the interracial movement of poor and working-class Americans that King sought.
The final chapter in King's radical development, of course, was in his public opposition to the Vietnam War. While the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and some others parts of the black freedom movement opposed the war, the major civil rights organizations and their influential white supporters, including Democratic Party leaders (and President Johnson) were aghast at King's antiwar stance. This stance was evident, most famously, in his April 1967 speech at New York's Riverside Church, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence" (linked below), exactly one year to the day before his assassination. In his speech, he called the US government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today"; and he framed his opposition to the war as a critique of what he saw as American imperialism, saying:
A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just."
For this writer, the most chilling part of King's speech occurred just before the conclusion. Looking back, we can see now that the Vietnam War precluded roads not taken, roads that might have led to a different outcome than the one that now confronts us, which is so dangerous and discouraging. King said:
We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. The "tide in the affairs of men" does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: "Too late." There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. "The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on..." We still have a choice today; nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation.
We were warned; and in remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today, I especially remember his courage and insight in understanding this country and seeing where it was going, and in calling to his last breath for Americans to choose another path.
Some reading & viewing on the radical Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Martin Luther King Was a Radical, Not a Moderate," by Peter Dreier [December 27, 2021] [Link]
(Video) Martin Luther King speaks at the Riverside Church, NYC – "Beyond Vietnam" [April 4, 1967] [50 minutes] [Link]
Two articles from The Nation: "Let Justice Roll Down" – (The power of demonstrations and "legislation written in the streets.") [March 15, 1965] [Link]; and "MLK's Forgotten Call for Economic Justice" [March 14, 1966] [Link].
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. Weather/covid permitting, we meet for a protest/rally each Saturday in Hastings, at 12 noon at the VFW Plaza (Warburton and Spring St.) A "Black Lives Matter/Say Their Names" vigil will be held on Monday, February 7th from 5:30 to 6:00 pm in Yonkers at the intersection of Warburton Ave. and Odell. If you would like to join one of our Zoom meetings, each Tuesday and Thursday at noon, please send a return email for the link. 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!
Though Martin Luther King's birthday was on Saturday, January 15, it will be celebrated on Monday. Soon after King's assassination in 1968, legislation was introduced in Congress to make his birthday a federal holiday. but this was resisted in many states; and it was not until 1983 that King's birthday was finally made a national holiday. In 1980, during the campaign for the King holiday, Stevie Wonder recorded his fabulous "Happy Birthday" for King. In the same spirit, I think you will also enjoy "Ella's Song," honoring the great civil rights organizer Ella Baker, sung by the Resistance Revival Chorus. [h/t js].
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
CFOW Weekly Reader
(Audio) "Don't Look Up" and Fighting Capitalism With Naomi Klein
From The Intercept [
---- As 2022 begins, the world continues to see the effects of the climate crisis — from the severe drought in East Africa to the odd snowfall in British Columbia. But since December 5, a new film has been sounding the alarm. In Adam McKay's "Don't Look Up," an allegory about the impending climate disaster, scientists discover an approaching comet that will destroy Earth. But the media, politicians, and elite in the U.S. fail at every opportunity to prevent the impending doom. The Intercept's senior correspondent Naomi Klein joins senior writer Jon Schwarz to discuss the film, how present-day elites are failing to address the climate crisis, and the future of the climate justice movement. Klein is a professor of climate justice at the University of British Columbia and the author of many books on climate change, including her latest, "How to Change Everything: The Young Human's Guide to Protecting the Planet and Each Other." [Hear the Program]
Bin Laden and Trump: Two Bookends to America's Imperial Decline
By Walden Bello, [January 16, 2022]
[FB – As the founder of "Focus on the Global South," Walden Bello has given us insights on "the global north" for decades. I like this essay very much and encourage reading and discussion.]
---- The end of 2021 and the beginning of a new year is a convenient time to take stock of the causes of America's decline. This past year saw both Washington's inglorious exit from Afghanistan after 20 years in the country that had served as the launching pad for its direct military intervention in the Middle East and an historic insurrection at the very heart of the empire. … It is hard to avoid the sense that we are indeed at the end of an era. Serving as the bookends of this era were two individuals that stamped their personalities on it: Osama bin Laden at the beginning and Donald Trump at the end. … As the era 2001 to 2021 comes to an end, the American empire continues to be dominant, but its pillars have been severely eroded. Its ability to discipline the rest of the world has been shattered by its defeat in Afghanistan. Its credibility even among its western allies as a reliable partner is at an all-time low. Meanwhile white supremacist politics has become the hegemonic force in the politics of the white population, creating not only deep polarization but an existential threat to the world's oldest democracy itself. … A third wind is, of course, a theoretical possibility. But while we should be wary of deterministic projections, how such a rejuvenation can take place is much, much less evident today. Each empire descends from the zenith in its own unique way, but if there is one path that is broadly similar to that being trodden by the United States, it is that of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. Like the Ottomans then, the United States now is a very sick empire, faced abroad by powerful challenges to its hegemony, eroded by economic stagnation, shorn of ideological legitimacy, and torn apart internally by a civil war in all but name. [Read More]
Rebecca Solnit Is Not Giving Up Hope
By John Nichols, The Nation [January 14, 2022]
---- Rebecca Solnit, the great essayist of this time, gave us a fresh understanding of George Orwell with her brilliant 2021 book Orwell's Roses (Viking). But as with all things Solnit, Orwell's Roses is about a good deal more than its nominal subject: the flowers that the author of Animal Farm and 1984 planted in the garden of a rented cottage in the English village of Wallington. I spoke with Solnit about the need for bread and roses—especially in perilous times. —John Nichols [Read More]
War & Peace
(Video) Afghanistan in Freefall: Deadly U.S. Sanctions Blamed for Shocking Humanitarian Crisis
From Democracy Now! [January 14, 2022]
---- As Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian crisis, we look at how more Afghans may die from U.S. sanctions than at the hands of the Taliban. The U.S.'s attempts to block support for the new de facto government have prevented vital funding from flowing to the nation's civil servants, particularly in education and the health sector. Dr. Paul Spiegel says conditions in the hospitals he visited in Kabul as part of a World Health Organization emergency team are rapidly deteriorating, and he describes the lack of heat and basic amenities as winter descended. "There's been a drought. There's food insecurity. And all of this has been exacerbated due to this economic crisis and due to lack of the U.N. and NGOs being able to pay people in the field," says Spiegel. "What we see now is that it's not the Taliban that is holding us back. It is the sanctions," says Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. [See the Program]
Also upsetting – "Warning of 'Humanitarian Collapse,' Dozens of House Dems Urge Biden to Unfreeze Afghan Funds" by Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams [December 20, 2021] [Link]; "Progressives Demand Biden End Sanctions to Avert Mass Starvation in Afghanistan" by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams [January 10, 2022] [Link]; and [Audio] "Is Biden in the Midst of a World Historic Crime Against Humanity?" with Masood Shnizai, The Intercept [January 15, 2022] [Link].
Welcome to the New Cold War [US & China]
By Michael T. Klare, The Nation [January 14, 2022]
---- The word "encirclement" does not appear in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 27, or in other recent administration statements about its foreign and military policies. Nor does that classic Cold War–era term "containment" ever come up. Still, America's top leaders have reached a consensus on a strategy to encircle and contain the latest great power, China, with hostile military alliances, thereby thwarting its rise to full superpower status. The gigantic 2022 defense bill—passed with overwhelming support from both parties—provides a detailed blueprint for surrounding China with a potentially suffocating network of US bases, military forces, and increasingly militarized partner states. The goal is to enable Washington to barricade that country's military inside its own territory and potentially cripple its economy in any future crisis. For China's leaders, who surely can't tolerate being encircled in such a fashion, it's an open invitation to… well, there's no point in not being blunt… fight their way out of confinement. [Read More]
The State of the Union
(Video) "The Coming Coup": Ari Berman on Republican Efforts to Steal Future Elections
From Democracy Now! [January 13, 2022]
---- Mother Jones reporter Ari Berman warns the Republican Party is laying the groundwork to steal the 2022 midterms and future elections through a combination of gerrymandering, voter suppression and election subversion, that together pose a mortal threat to voting rights in the United States. Republicans, many of whom are election deniers, are campaigning for positions that hold immense oversight over the election process. "What's really new here are these efforts to take over how votes are counted," says Berman. "That is the ultimate voter suppression method, because if you're not able to rig the election on the front end, you can throw out votes on that back end." [See the Program]
I'm a Longtime Union Organizer. But I Had Never Seen Anything Like This.
Ms. Veselka is a writer and former union organizer.
---- Last winter, workers at a memory care facility in western Oregon decided they were done watching the residents suffer. Conditions at the Rawlin at Riverbend, a 72-bed home in Springfield, were horrific because of critically low staffing and a lack of training. Elderly residents screamed from their rooms for assistance, and workers had to make the kinds of decisions that people are forced to make in war: Do you take precious time to do emergency wound care, even though you aren't quite sure how, knowing that it means other residents might sit in their own feces for hours or trip and fall in the hallways? Do you stop to feed a resident who has trouble swallowing, knowing that others may not be fed if you do? According to workers, Onelife, the company that operated the Rawlin, did not provide enough staff to properly care for the dozens of residents with dementia and other serious health problems. Around 20 residents died in about two months, from mid-November 2020 to mid-January 2021, only six of them from Covid. Many of the other deaths, caregivers believe, could have been prevented with better treatment. … Caregivers at the Rawlin formed a traumatized family, which grew closer with each new death. They called the state. They pleaded with management for more workers and higher wages to retain them — at least something more than what they'd earn at a fast-food restaurant. Not knowing what else to do, they contacted the local union. [Read More]
Our History
In Hope and Struggle: an interview with Sheila Rowbotham
From Tribune Magazine [UK] [January 2022]
[FB – This interview with English feminist/historian Sheila Rowbotham focuses on her new book, Daring to Hope, her memoir of the 1970s. This was an explosive period in the development of the UK women's liberation movement, and Rowbotham was one of its leading activists and interpreters. I read her book with great interest and highly recommend it.]
---- I was always a rebel, but when I got to university, I met people who were socialists, and they convinced me that I couldn't just go around being mystical. The version of feminism we had at that time was maybe represented by St Hilda's College at Oxford, where I was, which had been formed by women in the early suffrage movement. We had this idea that they were a bit prim and proper, and not really like us. Instead, the people I related to first were women who'd been active in revolutionary movements in places like France: I had this connection to women who had been trying to change society, to change aspects of women's lives. I'd become aware through my own life, and through speaking with women friends, too, that there were problems we as women rarely talked about. … By the mid-seventies, I sensed that a new contingent of socialist feminists had emerged partly through the campaigns, with a total picture of socialist feminism. They spoke with a sense of certainty. They were more inclined to see being a socialist feminist as a political tendency, whereas I think those of us who'd been involved from the early times were still groping about trying to assimilate ideas from women's particular experiences, rather than seeing ourselves as having an encapsulated understanding. We possessed instead an underlying vision of total social and cultural transformation. [Read More]
