Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
July 2, 2023
Hello All – This week the ultra-conservative Supreme Court unleashed a salvo of bad decisions, oppressive to the poor and not-White and not-straight, further undermining the protection of human rights in the USA. Below we print a guest editorial from the National Lawyers Guild, a cogent statement of what we have lost and what to do now.
[From the National Lawyers Guild] - This week, the Supreme Court escalated ongoing attacks on marginalized people in its decisions on affirmative action, queer discrimination, and student loan forgiveness. All of these cases are part of a harrowing destruction of rights and protections championed by civil rights advocates for over more than 50 years. The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is outraged by each of these decisions, and we encourage all of our allies to look to the leadership of grassroots movements as we forge a path forward together.
It is not a coincidence that the Supreme Court rendered these decisions amidst escalating state violence against queer and trans communities and Black, Indigenous, and other people of color in the United States. What's happening now goes hand-in-hand with legislation banning school discussions of racist systems and histories, stripping trans people's access to medical care, and expanding militarized policing.
Effectively ending many affirmative action policies and refusing to mitigate the student loan crisis means that institutions of higher education will be whiter and richer. Though we know that higher education itself is a method of maintaining classist and racist stratification, we also know that these institutions have immense power over political, social, and economic power distribution. Systematically excluding marginalized people perpetuates white supremacy both within and outside of higher education, especially when schools are banned from accurately teaching the histories of racism and genocide created by these very same systems.
Further, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a religious right to discriminate against queer people amidst a violent legislative attack on the very existence of trans people. The fascist right-wing often justifies these policies with the same regressive appeals to Christian doctrine that underpin the attacks on reproductive autonomy. While these bills criminalize transition and drag in medical and public spaces, the Supreme Court ruling emboldens individuals and businesses to carry out anti-queer exclusion and discrimination.
These interconnected fascist efforts are infuriating and terrifying, but they point toward a truth that can make our movements stronger: we must struggle for liberation together. From grassroots activists to progressive attorneys, solidarity is a central part of the fight to redefine our own systems to be better for everybody, not just for those with power. NLG will continue fighting alongside movements for liberation until we are all free. As abolitionist Mariame Kaba wrote, "Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despair."
Some useful reading on the Supreme Court and what it is doing
"A Tragedy for Us All": Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's Dissent
By Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
---- Gulf-sized race-based gaps exist with respect to the health, wealth, and well-being of American citizens. They were created in the distant past, but have indisputably been passed down to the present day through the generations. Every moment these gaps persist is a moment in which this great country falls short of actualizing one of its foundational principles—the "self-evident" truth that all of us are created equal. … The only way out of this morass—for all of us—is to stare at racial disparity unblinkingly, and then do what evidence and experts tell us is required to level the playing field and march forward together, collectively striving to achieve true equality for all Americans. [Read More]
Also of interest – "The Supreme Court Has Killed Affirmative Action. Mediocre Whites Can Rest Easier," by Elie Mystal, The Nation [June 29, 2023] [link]; "The US supreme court has dismantled our rights but we still believe in them. Now we must fight," by Rebecca Solnit, The Guardian [UK] [July 2, 2023] [Link]; and the "New York Times Editorial [June 30, 2023]" [Link].
Indian Point Update
For those just tuning in, at the very last minute the NYS Legislature passed the "Save the Hudson" bill, which now goes to the Governor for her signature … or Veto. The decommissioning company Holtec is still planning to dump 1,000,000+ gallons of radioactive water from Indian Point into the Hudson River in August. Please call the Governor at 866-696-8249 and tell the phone answerer (or machine) that you want the Governor to sign the Save the Hudson legislation. You can also sign a Food & Water Watch petition to the Governor asking her to sign the bill.
The main radioactive element in the water Holtec wants to dump is tritium. To learn more about how/why this is so dangerous, check out a review of a new book, Exploring Tritium's Danger, from The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
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 in Yonkers on Monday from 5:30 to 6:00 pm at the intersection of Warburton Ave. and Odell. Our newsletter is archived at https://cfow.blogspot.com/; and news of interest and coming events is posted on our CFOW Facebook page. Another Facebook page focuses on the climate crisis. 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. 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 focus on the Soviet poet Anna Akhmatova and the rendition of her poetry into song by Iris Dement. Born in 1889, Akhmatova was a witness to the great hopes of the Russian Revolution and the long terror of Stalinism. Her first husband was executed by Soviet police, while her second partner and her son spent years in Soviet prisons. Throughout her life, she bore witness to what was happening to her country, and was loved by enormous numbers for the risks she took in her writing and her stalwart defense of basic human values. In 2015 Iris DeMent put many of Akhmatova's poems – translated by Babette Deutsch and Lyn Coffin – to music in her album "The Trackless Wood." Last week was Anna Akhmatova's birthday; get to know her. (Thanks to DM)
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
CFOW Weekly Reader
Featured Essays
The Patriotism of Killing and Being Killed
By
---- The Fourth of July — the ultimate patriotic holiday — is approaching again. Politicians orate, American Flags proliferate and, even more than usual, many windows on the world are tinted red, white and blue. But an important question remains unasked: Why are patriotism and war so intertwined in U.S. media and politics? … Government leaders often assert that participating in war is the most laudable of patriotic services rendered. And even if the fighters don't know what they're fighting for, the pretense from leadership is that they do. … Such lofty rhetoric is routine. … We're encouraged to closely associate America's wars with American patriotism in large part because of elite interest in glorifying militarism as central to U.S. foreign policy. Given the destructiveness of that militarism, a strong argument can be made that true patriotism involves preventing and stopping wars instead of starting and continuing them. If such patriotism can ever prevail, the Fourth of July will truly be a holiday to celebrate. [Read More]
Let's Carry on Grace Lee Boggs's Revolutionary Legacy by Continuing Her Struggle
By
---- To celebrate Grace Lee Boggs — born on this day in 1915 — we should reflect on her concept of "living for change." While she built and strengthened a wide array of intersectional movements throughout her 100 years of life, the challenges facing radical visionaries have only grown more immense since Grace joined the ancestors. War, colonialism, exploitation and pandemics are bound up with climate change and the resurgent fascist threat. As such, the work and ideas that Grace produced — substantially through her four-decade partnership with James Boggs — are more vital than ever. … This visionary legacy includes the Boggses' classic book, Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century, whose lessons have come to the fore in the aftermath of the 2020 rebellions and demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd. They implored organizers to transcend the outrage and militance — no matter how justified — that fueled the urban rebellions of the late 1960s. Taking power without reimagining culture and society, they asserted, is nothing more than a coup. [Read More]
Imagination and Liberation [Indonesia – the Buru Quartet]
By June 27, 2023]
[FB – This is a review of a new book, Indonesia Out of Exile: How Pramoedya's Buru Quartet Killed a Dictatorship, by Max Lane.]
---- When I was doing interviews for my dissertation in Santiago, Chile, in 1972, I was told that the word "Jakarta" had been spray-painted on walls throughout the city. The message was unmistakable: the Chilean left should expect the same fate that had befallen their comrades in Indonesia in 1965. A year later, the threat in that one ominous word was carried out, as the government of Salvador Allende was overthrown, followed by months of extrajudicial killings and massive repression. What took place in Chile was horrible, but what happened in Indonesia in 1965 and 1966 was horrific. At least one million people were massacred by the Indonesian Army and allied paramilitary gangs in a killing spree that was one of the most vicious acts of genocide in the post-World War II period. The main target was the PKI, the Indonesian Communist Party, but caught in the dragnet were sympathizers of the party, supporters of President Sukarno, and so many that were far from the frontlines of political struggle … Pramoedya was the author of four scintillating novels that made up what became popularly known as the "Buru Quartet": This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps, and House of Glass. He was also tagged as a communist or communist sympathizer by the military counterrevolutionaries that engineered the mayhem of 1965. For his promoting progressive ideas in his journalistic work and fiction, he was imprisoned, without trial, for 14 years in the inhospitable, hardscrabble island of Buru, which served as a political penitentiary. [Read More] For some additional context, read "The Murderous Legacy of Cold War Anticommunism" [about Washington's support for the 1965 Indonesia massacres], by Stuart Schrader, Boston Review [May 19, 2020] [Link].
The War in Ukraine
FB - A week ago the mainstream Western media were giddy with hope that the military revolt of Russia's "Wagner Group" foretold the coming collapse of Putin's ability to govern Russia. More insightful interpretations were presented on Democracy Now! this week: Khrushchev's granddaughter Nina Khrushcheva described the revolt from her home in Moscow, and Barnard political scientist Kimberly Marten offered excellent analyses of the Wagner Group and how/where it operated - here and here. Veteran correspondent Seymour Hersh observed that the net result of the Wagner Group revolt was to "strengthen Putin's hand." At Responsible Statecraft, Branko Marcetic observed that "we shouldn't be cheering for state-collapse in Russia," noting that alternatives to Putin were generally from the fascist right, and that a nuclear-armed ultra-nationalist state was not something to be wished for.
Once again, there was little movement on the battlefields this week. The failure (so far) of Ukraine's long-awaited offensive may play a role in NATO's "summit" in Lithuania (July 11-12), as NATO nations have mixed views on the practicality of continuing to contribute tens of billions of dollars and risk a war with Russia if a battlefield stalemate is the best that can be hoped for. The US CIA Director made a trip to Ukraine recently, presumably to assess how realistic were Ukraine's claims of ultimate military victory. Once again Washington is doubling-down on military escalation, now about to approve the previously withheld long-range "ATACMS" missile system for delivery to Ukraine.
Two good articles appeared this week reviewing the tragic failures of diplomacy in the months leading up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Please check out former State Department officer Matthew Hoh's article, "Destroying Eastern Ukraine to Save It," [Link]; and "Two Ways That the Ukraine War Could Have Been Prevented (and Might Be Ended)," b , Counterpunch [June 30, 2023] [Link].
Finally, what is the hope for a near-term end to the war? Prof. John Mearsheimer, a leading "Realist" in international relations (balance of power, etc.), is not optimistic. For those of us who remain hopeful, these views need to be carefully considered.
The Darkness Ahead: Where The Ukraine War Is Headed
By John J. Mearsheimer [June 23, 2023]
---- This paper examines the likely trajectory of the Ukraine war moving forward.
I will address two main questions. First, is a meaningful peace agreement possible? My answer is no. We are now in a war where both sides – Ukraine and the West on one side and Russia on the other – see each other as an existential threat that must be defeated. Given maximalist objectives all around, it is almost impossible to reach a workable peace treaty. Moreover, the two sides have irreconcilable differences regarding territory and Ukraine's relationship with the West. The best possible outcome is a frozen conflict that could easily turn back into a hot war. The worst possible outcome is a nuclear war, which is unlikely but cannot be ruled out. Second, which side is likely to win the war? Russia will ultimately win the war, although it will not decisively defeat Ukraine. In other words, it is not going to conquer all of Ukraine, which is necessary to achieve three of Moscow's goals: overthrowing the regime, demilitarizing the country, and severing Kyiv's security ties with the West. But it will end up annexing a large swath of Ukrainian territory, while turning Ukraine into a dysfunctional rump state. In other words, Russia will win an ugly victory. [Read More]
Civil Liberties
FB – The extradition of Julian Assange from the UK to the USA is imminent. Upon arrival, he will face charges of 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act, a 1917 law intended to quash dissent during the First World War, and which allows for virtually no defense by the accused. Eve Ottenberg has written a useful update on the status of Assange's fight to block extradition. In November 2022 the New York Times and four other leading newspapers published a manifesto on why the charges against Assange should be dropped (here and here.) Assange's lengthy legal appeal against the US claims for extradition make interesting reading. – Monday is Julian Assange's birthday, and we hope/expect that there will be protest events around the world. Jonathan Cook has an interesting article below, comparing the media's construction of the "good leaker" (Daniel Ellsberg) and the "bad leaker" (Julian Assange).
Daniel Ellsberg Is Lauded in Death by the Same Media That Lets Assange Rot in Jail
June 28, 2023]
---- Rightly, there's been an outpouring of tributes to Daniel Ellsberg following the announcement of his death last Friday, aged 92. His leaking of the Pentagon Papers in 1971 revealed that Washington officials had systematically lied for decades about US military conduct in Vietnam. The disclosure of 7,000 pages of documents, and subsequent legal battles to stop further publication by the New York Times and Washington Post, helped to bring the war to a close a few years later. As an adviser to US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the 1960s, Ellsberg had seen firsthand the Pentagon's brutal military operations that caused mass civilian casualties. Entire villages had been burned, while captured Vietnamese were tortured or executed. Deceptively, the US referred to these as "pacification programs." But most of those today loudly hailing Ellsberg as an "American hero" have been far more reluctant to champion the Ellsberg of our times: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. [Read More]
Also of interest – "Conditions at Guantánamo Are Cruel and Inhuman, U.N. Investigation Finds," by Carol Rosenberg, New York Times [June 26, 2023] [Link]; and "American Inquisition: Field Notes from the Frontlines of the Government's War on the Left," by [Link].
Israel/Palestine
Palestinians are in Israel's crosshairs because they are not Jews
The Electronic Intifada [June 30, 2023]
---- If Israel were stripped of its endlessly elaborate narrative, all that would be left would be the violent replacement of a native population with an imported Jewish "tribe."
That – all charade dispensed with – is the reckoning Israel's supporters must face. To be sure, millions of Evangelical end-of-timers may say "Amen!" to that, but the pretense will be gone, exposing what Israel's claimed "right to exist" actually means. What stands in the way of that reckoning is language – control of the words used to explain the so-called conflict in Israel-Palestine, not least the word "conflict" itself. The manipulation of language is key to Israel's impunity, to securing the Western public's complicity for its crimes, and so a critique of that language is evident among those fighting for justice. Yet the most basic linguistic construct serving to blur public understanding of Israel's crimes has escaped proper scrutiny: the very term, "the Palestinians," as the target of Israel's crimes. Yes, they're all Palestinians of course — but although "being Palestinian" has long been synonymous with what puts them in Israel's cross-hairs, this equation obscures the deeper truth: their "crime" is not that they are Palestinian but that they are not Jews. Hiding this fact is essential to Israel's propaganda. [Read More]
Also of interest – "A Dangerous Shift Is Underway in the West Bank," by June 26, 2023] [Link]; and "'We Will Not Surrender': The Extraordinary Palestinians of Jenin," byJune 30, 2023] [Link].
Our History
(Video) Rachel Carson
From PBS, The American Experience [Aired July 1, 2023]
---- When Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published in 1962, the book became a phenomenon. A passionate and eloquent warning about the long-term dangers of pesticides, the book unleashed an extraordinary national debate and was greeted by vigorous attacks from the chemical industry. But it would also inspire President John F. Kennedy to launch the first-ever investigation into the public health effects of pesticides — an investigation that would eventually result in new laws governing the regulation of these deadly agents. Featuring the voice of Mary-Louise Parker as the influential writer and scientist, Rachel Carson is an intimate portrait of the woman whose groundbreaking books revolutionized our relationship to the natural world. Drawn from Carson's own writings, letters and recent scholarship, this film illuminates both the public and private life of the woman who launched the modern environmental movement and revolutionized how we understand our relationship with the natural world. [See the Program] Instead of a trailer, you can see the 8-minute "Rachel Carson," chapter 1, here.
