Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
May 16, 2022
Hello All – On Saturday in Hastings, CFOW hosted a rally to protest the Supreme Court's (likely) decision to end the right to abortion embodied in the Court's 1973 decision Roe. v. Wade. More than 100 people attended the rally, one of more than 400 events initiated by the Women's March and Planned Parenthood. As usual, our rally featured an "open mic," allowing people to share their opinions about what was going on. Many women spoke about their own experiences with abortion or reproductive health issues. (Pictures and video on our Facebook page.) Based on early reports, like the other rallies the tone of our rally was serious, angry, and full of determination to stop this threat to reproductive rights in its tracks, however long that will take.
The errors and absurdities in the Court's draft decision by Associate Justice Samuel Alito are cogently addressed in an editorial from The Lancet, the UK's leading medical journal. In part, the absurdity of the draft decision stems from Alito's basic position that, if something is not mentioned in the Constitution or stems from a long-standing American tradition, it is not a constitutional right.
What is so shocking, inhuman, and irrational about this draft opinion is that the Court is basing its decision on an 18th century document ignorant of 21st century realities for women. History and tradition can be respected, but they must only be partial guides. The law should be able to adapt to new and previously unanticipated challenges and predicaments. Although Alito gives an exhaustive legal history of abortion, he utterly fails to consider the health of women today who seek abortion. Unintended pregnancy and abortion are universal phenomena.
The Lancet points out that the Court's draft opinion also ignores the predictable consequences of a decision that will outlaw abortion for half of the states in the USA:
In the USA, Black women have an unintended pregnancy rate double that of non-Hispanic White women. And the maternal mortality rate for Black women, to which unsafe abortion is an important contributor, is almost three times higher than for white women. These sharp racial and class disparities need urgent solutions, not more legal barriers. The fact is that if the US Supreme Court confirms its draft decision, women will die. The Justices who vote to strike down Roe will not succeed in ending abortion, they will only succeed in ending safe abortion. Alito and his supporters will have women's blood on their hands.
By removing the 14th Amendment's "right to privacy" foundation of Roe, the Court also opens the door to legislation that would outlaw contraception, same-sex marriages, inter-racial marriage, and just about everything having to do with sex. What will women do – what will we all do – to block and defeat this Hand Maid's Tale dystopia? An organizer of Saturday's abortion rights rally in Washington, D.C. called for "a summer of rage." If this is what is needed, how will we in New York do our share of the work? I think this is an urgent question for us to discuss in the coming weeks.
News Notes
We are down to the wire with the effort to prevent the use of "hybrid" (and hackable) voting machines in NY. For some in-depth explanation about why these machines are dangerous, go here and here but the MAIN ASK is that you make 3-4 quick phone calls to Albany TODAY to let important people know that you want them to support the legislation called A1115C. Here's what to do: Please call:
1. Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, chair of the Elections Committee 518-455-4466
2. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie District number (718) 654-6539 or 518-455-3791
3. Central Assembly Staff 518-455-4355
4. Your own Assembly Member– Tom Abinanti – 518-455-5753 or find another.
From Extinction Rebellion, we have "Global Newsletter #64," featuring climate-crisis protests over the last few months in New York, Paris, London, and more. [LInk].
Hastings residents should welcome the Clean Air Collective. One of their projects is putting a stop to gas powered leaf blowers, which are noisy, polluting, and a poor substitute for the old-fashioned rake (or just leaving the leaves alone). According to the Collective, our Board of Trustees has not responded to their requests for action on this issue; so please consider signing
this petition asking the Trustees to stop the noise and pollution.
A few years ago, we were delighted by the rebellious antics and protests of Russia's Pussy Riot. Needless to say, now is a hard time to be a dissenter in Russia, and so please check out this exciting tale of one of the group's leaders escape from Russia, disguised as a food delivery person.
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. Weather 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 is held each Monday from 5:30 to 6:00 pm in Yonkers at the intersection of Warburton Ave. and Odell. To learn about our new project, "Beauty as Fuel for Change," go here. 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!
This week's Rewards for stalwart readers are some pieces (new to me) from Dixieland favorite Tuba Skinny. Here is a recent collection from a stripped-down Skinny team [Link]. And here's something lovely, as Tuba Skinny is joined by the Los Mariachis of Corpus Christi. And in case you missed it, a Ukrainian group won this year's Eurovision song contest. Check it out here..
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
CFOW Weekly Reader
The Palestinian "Nakba" (Catastrophe) of 1948
Nakba Day: What happened in Palestine in 1948?
By Mohammed Haddad, Aljazeera [May 15, 2022]
---- Every year on May 15, Palestinians around the world mark the Nakba, or catastrophe, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948. Having secured the support of the British government for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, on May 14, 1948, as soon as the British Mandate expired, Zionist forces declared the establishment of the State of Israel, triggering the first Arab-Israeli war. Zionist military forces expelled at least 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands and captured 78 percent of historic Palestine. The remaining 22 percent was divided into what are now the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. [Read More]
Also interesting/illuminating on the Nakba – "Nakba74: Palestinian refugees in Gaza remember the Nakba through possessions of their ancestors," by[Link]; "Nakba74: Rethinking Zionism as a gendered colonial enterprise," by[Link]; and (Video) "How the Nakba reshaped Arab politics for decades" Aljazeera [May 15, 2022] [Link]. An interesting four-part documentary about the Palestinian struggle is (Video) "Al-Nakba: The Palestinian catastrophe." To get started with Episode 1, go here.
The Buffalo Massacre
(Video) Buffalo Massacre: Gunman Cited Racist "Great Replacement" Conspiracy Theory Popularized by Fox News
From Democracy Now! [May 16, 2022]
---- The mass shooter who killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday posted a racist manifesto online before targeting a majority-Black neighborhood. His writings took heavily from conservative conspiracy theories that white people were in danger of being replaced by people of color. This so-called Great Replacement conspiracy theory has been promoted by major far-right media figures including Tucker Carlson of Fox News. "What it does is create a dynamic where believers view immigrants and nonwhite people as an existential threat not only to themselves physically but to their position in society," says Nikki McCann RamÃrez, associate research director at Media Matters for America, who has researched how Carlson uses his show to launder white nationalist ideology. We also speak with prominent antiracist scholar Ibram X. Kendi, who says mainstream conservatives are increasingly parroting extremist talking points. [See the Program] Also illuminating is "Why White Nationalism Requires Antisemitism," by Peter Beinart [May 15, 2022] [Link].
The War in Ukraine
Endless War in Ukraine Hurts National and Global Security
By Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation [May 11, 2022]
---- What are the United States' goals in the Ukraine war? Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently announced that the United States wants "Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine." The US commitment toward that end has been substantial. Congress passed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act by near-unanimous vote, invoking the "arsenal of democracy" we provided to Britain during World War II. President Biden is seeking $33 billion in additional aid. When the defense ministers of some 40 countries gathered at Ramstein Air Base in Germany last month, the focus was not a peace settlement but outright Ukrainian victory or at least the "permanent weakening" of Russia's military power. But as the violence continues, the war fever rises, and we had better be clear about our objectives. A commitment to a long, grinding proxy war with Russia would have severe consequences not only for the Ukrainian people but also for the security interests of the United States and its allies. [Read More]
America and Its Allies Want to Bleed Russia. They Really Shouldn't.
By Tom Stevenson, New York Times [May 11, 2022]
---- The war in Ukraine has entered a new phase. It is no secret that the initial invasion went badly for Russia. Expecting easy victories, the Russian Army inflicted terrible destruction — especially in its shelling of cities — but for the most part failed to take territory outside the southeast of the country. Ukrainian resistance was fierce. After six weeks of war, undermanned Russian forces were made to retreat from Kyiv and its suburbs. In the hope of winning new victories, Russia has now confined its forces to the south and east of Ukraine. The main battles are taking place in small towns and villages along the Donets River. Russia talks of cutting off the Ukrainian Army from the Donbas, but so far, its forces have made slow progress advancing from the Black Sea coast. In response, the United States and its allies have also shifted their position. At first, the Western support for Ukraine was mainly designed to defend against the invasion. It is now set on a far grander ambition: to weaken Russia itself. Presented as a common-sense response to Russian aggression, the shift, in fact, amounts to a significant escalation. By expanding support to Ukraine across the board and shelving any diplomatic effort to stop the fighting, the United States and its allies have greatly increased the danger of an even larger conflict. They are taking a risk far out of step with any realistic strategic gain. [Read More]
Also interesting/important on the war – "$40 Billion War Fever Grips Congress as U.S. Escalates Ukraine War," b
[Link]; and "Our Global Food System Was Already in Crisis. Russia's War Will Make It Worse," b[LInk].
The Climate Crisis
What's Left of the New Green Deal?
---- In November 2018, the Green New Deal became a rallying cry for climate activists when members of the Sunrise Movement occupied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office and adopted the slogan as their unifying message. A few months later, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who had joined the young activists in Pelosi's office, brought this message to Congress when she partnered with Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) to introduce their Green New Deal resolution. More manifesto than binding legislation, the resolution laid out a vision of an equitable clean energy transition for the United States…. Since the original resolution, other Green New Deal bills have emerged on education, housing, and cities. U.S. cities, too, have established Green New Deal initiatives, and many civic organizations continue to champion the GND as a radical vision for a reoriented U.S. society. Yet many of the actual components of a clean energy transition have stalled in Congress even though the candidate who promised such a transition won the presidential election in 2020. [Read More]
Israel/Palestine
(Video) Ayman Mohyeldin On The Killing Of Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
From MSNBC [May 11, 2022] [5 minutes]
[FB – Ayman Mohyeldin, now an anchor at MSNBC, was on the ground as an Aljazeera reporter in Gaza during the 2008-2009 war. His reporting (with his colleague Shireen Todros) was terrific, and their experiences during the war are recorded/honored in the prize-winning documentary "The War Around Us." The film is available via Kanopy to anyone with a Westchester library card; to see the film, go here.]
---- Ayman Mohyeldin remembers his friend and colleague, Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed today reporting on an Israeli military raid in the West Bank. "The killing of journalists, whether it's in Mexico or Ukraine or the Occupied Palestinian Territories, that must be condemned and investigated – but not by the countries accused of allegedly killing them, but by independent bodies who claim to uphold free speech and the right to a free press as fundamental human rights." [See the Program]
(Video) Rashid Khalidi: Israel Systematically Targets Palestinian Journalists to Hide Reality of Occupation
From Democracy Now! [May 12, 2022]
---- Palestinians are holding a state funeral in Ramallah for Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, a veteran journalist who was one of the best-known television journalists in Palestine and the Arab world. Abu Akleh, who was a U.S. citizen, was wearing a press uniform and covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank when she was fatally shot in the head on Wednesday. Israel initially claimed she may have been shot by a Palestinian gunman, but later said it was unclear who shot her, after witnesses, including other journalists, said she was shot dead by Israeli forces. "People are shocked all over Palestine, all over the Arab world, actually," says Rashid Khalidi, professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia University. Israel's "colonial army" has "systematically targeted" Palestinian journalists, says Khalidi. "It's really important to Israel that nobody see what's going on in the Occupied Territories." [See the Program]
To read more - Aljazeera has produced many excellent reports on the context and significance of the murder of its leading reporter in Palestine; check out (Video) "Is Israel a rogue state?" [May 12, 2022] [Link]. Also very good are "Killing journalists, attacking funerals: What fuels Israel's reign of terror?" by[Link]; and (Video) "Palestinian American Reporter Shireen Abu Akleh Killed in Israeli Raid in Jenin, "Brave" Truth Teller," from Democracy Now! [May 11, 2022] [Link].
Our History
(Video) Indian Boarding Schools Were Part of "Horrific Genocidal Process" Carried Out by the U.S.
From Democracy Now! [May 13, 2022]
---- The Interior Department has documented the deaths of more than 500 Indigenous children at Indian boarding schools run or supported by the federal government in the United States which operated from 1819 to 1969. The actual death toll is believed to be far higher, and the report located 53 burial sites at former schools. The report was ordered by the first Indigenous cabinet member, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose grandparents were forced to attend boarding school at the age of 8. "It's kind of a misnomer to actually call these educational institutions or schools themselves," says Nick Estes, historian and co-founder of The Red Nation. Estes says the institutions were part of a "genocidal process" of "dispossession and theft of Indigenous people's lands and resources." [Read More] And to get involved, check out "Support the Establishment of a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding Schools" [Link].
