> WW News Service Digest #44 > > 1) Black History Month: Africa's gifts to civilization, part 1 > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) New Texas coalition calls for moratorium > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Washington's deceitful treatment of the Kurds > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Victory for lesbians and gays in Buffalo, N.Y. > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 5) Win end to sweeps of homeless in Cleveland > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >This digest is sent to you because you are subscribed to ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To switch to the non-digest, standard mode, E-mail to ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >Message-ID: <00e601bf7bc6$19690fc0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Black History Month: Africa's gifts to civilization, part 1 >Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:15:34 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Feb. 24, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >BLACK HISTORY MONTH-- >PART ONE: AFRICA'S GIFTS TO CIVILIZATION > >By Pat Chin > >The first Africans in the Western Hemisphere were not >slaves. In fact, mounting scientific evidence strongly >supports the view that Africans crossed the Atlantic Ocean >more than 100 years before Christopher Columbus reached the >Americas. > >Columbus' voyages, funded by the Spanish crown, sparked >the trans-Atlantic slave trade that launched the African >holocaust. Native peoples, whose ancestors were the true >discoverers of America, were also victims of the genocidal >slaughter unleashed by the Europeans in their lust for >territory and profits. > >Racism was most likely invented to justify the enslavement >of African people. An ideology deeply rooted in white >supremacy, racism continues to affect the lives of millions >some 500 years after Columbus first crossed the Atlantic, >laying the basis for capitalist exploitation and colonial >plunder. > >The myth that Europe introduced civilization to Africa >complements the racist lie that Black people are half- >animals and therefore inferior. The vast kingdom of the >Congo, to cite just one example, had been in existence for >hundreds of years before the Portuguese arrived in West >Africa in the 15th century. > >"There can be no doubt," wrote African-American historian >Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, "that the level of culture among the >masses of Negroes in West Africa in the fifteenth century >was higher than that of northern Europe, by any standard of >measurement--homes, clothes, artistic creation and >appreciation, political organization and religious >consistency." > >It is widely accepted in scientific circles, however >begrudgingly by some, that hominids--the ancestors of all >human beings--first appeared on earth some five million to >eight million years ago in Africa. It is not illogical to >believe, then, that this is where civilization first >developed. > >THREE GOLDEN AGES > >Dr. John Henrik Clarke documented three "golden ages of >grandeur" involving massive state and empire building in >ancient Africa. "The first two reached their climax and were >in decline before Europe as a functioning entity in human >society was born," noted Clarke. > >It all began around 6,000 B.C. when Egypt emerged as the >first organized nation, inspired largely by the cultural >influences of Black Africa. Development then spanned the >period of three great successive empires, starting in 1062 >A.D. with the rise of Ghana, the Mali nation with its >legendary capital at Timbuktu, and the Songhai. It ended >when the European slave trade broke up West Africa's coastal >states and expanded further into the interior. > >On this vast continent in ancient times fire and tools >were used for the first time. Medical practice was later >developed and the first phonetic writing system was invented >in Egypt. The drum was used for long-distance communication >in a way that rivaled the telegraph. > >Raw materials were mined and metals forged. In fact, >scientific evidence now proves that Africans were producing >carbon steel some 2,000 years ago on the shores of Lake >Victoria in furnaces unmatched until the 19th century by the >Europeans. > >During the long periods of ascendancy, science, technology >and the arts flourished. The calendar was invented and >agricultural science grew in early Africa, several thousand >years before the cultivation of crops on any other >continent. Africans used mathematics for trading and >astronomy as well as for executing great engineering feats-- >from rope suspension bridges to massive stone structures, >including the pyramids of Egypt and the Sudan. > >Some ancient sites, including the pyramids, were aligned >with the stars, reflecting an early knowledge of astronomy. >In fact, at around the same time that the steel furnace was >discovered, scientists found an astronomical observatory in >Kenya dated 300 B.C. > >"It was the ruins of an African Stonehenge, with huge >pillars of basalt like the stumps of petrified trees lying >at angles in the ground. Each stone was aligned with a star >as it rose in 300 B.C.," wrote Guyanese scholar, Prof. Ivan >Van Sertima. > >"This evidence attests to the complexity of prehistoric >cultural developments in sub-Saharan Africa," concluded the >scientists who measured the site. "It strongly suggests that >an accurate and complex calendar system based on >astronomical reckoning was developed by the first millenium >B.C. in eastern Africa." > >KNOWLEDGE OF ASTRONOMY > >Even more amazing was the discovery of a complex knowledge >of astronomy among the Dogon people of West Africa, whose >centuries-long understanding of the universe matches later >scientific "discoveries." > >The Dogon lived in the Republic of Mali, some 200 miles >from the capital of Timbuktu. They knew of the rings of >Saturn, the moons of Jupiter and the spiral structure of the >Milky Way galaxy. They knew that the universe was composed >of billions of stars spiraling in space and that the moon >was barren. > >They also knew, said Van Sertima, "far in advance of their >time, intricate details about a star which no one can see >except with the most powerful of telescopes. They not only >saw it. They observed or intuited its mass and its nature. >They plotted its orbit almost up until the year 2,000. And >they did all this between five and seven hundred years ago." > >It is not entirely clear how the Dogon were able to detect >a companion star within the Sirius star system so dense that >a German astronomer viewed the white dwarf in only 1862, >using the most advanced instrument of that day. But >scientists have unearthed evidence which suggests the >mountain-dwelling Dogon might have used telescopes as did >the ancient Egyptians during Egypt's African-dominated >period. > >Galileo himself reportedly insisted that "the ancients >used telescopes." Well before 1609, when he built one in >Venice, Africa in fact had an astronomical system based on >mathematics. This was long before 1202, when Hindu numerals >were first introduced into Western Europe. > >"Among the earliest evidence of the use of numbers is a >find in Africa in the Congo," wrote Van Sertima. "These are >markings--a notation count--on a bone 8,000 years old." >Scientists believe the bone was used as a lunar calendar. >It's the first of its kind found in Africa and one of the >world's original calendars. > >Mathematics was also used for trading and for engineering >projects, from pyramids to palaces, churches and ceremonial >centers. > >The building of "Great Zimbabwe," a massive stone complex >located in sub-Saharan Africa, required tremendous >engineering skill. It was once a seat of civilization, the >development of which was not restricted to Egypt in the >north. "Great Zimbabwe" was in fact one of over 200 stone >villages scattered across Zimbabwe and Mozambique. After the >pyramids, it was one of the most enormous construction sites >found in Africa. But even before "Great Zimbabwe" rose to >prominence, Africans in the south had dug the most ancient >mines discovered on the continent. > >Another great feat of African civilization involved >navigation in the search for trade routes and the crossing >of the Atlantic at least 100 years before Columbus' >unfortunate arrival in the Western Hemisphere. > >[Part Two will cover the pre-Columbian presence of >Africans in America and in early Asia and Europe. But no >work would be complete without an analysis of the economic >and class basis of the European trade in human cargo >snatched from the African continent.] > >Sources: > >Clarke, John Henrik, Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan >Holocaust: Slavery and the Rise of European Capitalism, >1993; Du Bois, W. E. Burghardt, The World and Africa: An >inquiry into the part which Africa has played in world >history, 1965; Josephy, Jr., Alvin M., 500 Nations, 1994; >Van Sertima, Ivan , ed., Blacks in Science: ancient and >modern, 1983; Van Sertima, Ivan, They Came Before Columbus, >1976. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00ec01bf7bc6$371e58e0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] New Texas coalition calls for moratorium >Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:16:24 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Feb. 24, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >NEW TEXAS COALITION CALLS FOR MORATORIUM > >The newly formed Texas Death Penalty Moratorium Committee >announced plans Feb. 11 for a campaign to get community >organizations of all kinds to sign onto a resolution to be >presented to the Governor and Legislature of Texas and the >President and Congress of the U.S. It calls for a moratorium >on and investigation of the application of the death penalty >in the state. > >The first community group to endorse the resolution was >Mohammed's Mosque #45 of Houston, represented by its >Minister Robert Mohammed, shown signing the document at the >SHAPE Community Center in Houston. > >Looking on are members and supporters of the committee. >Flanking Minister Robert is Clarence Brandley, who was freed >from Texas' death row 10 years ago by a massive people's >movement, and Natalie Paravicini of the Harris County Green >Party. > >Looking over their shoulders are international human rights >activist Frances "Sissy" Farenthold, Sharon Jason of Plight >Entertainment and a supporter of death row prisoner Shaka >Sankofa (Gary Graham), Joanne Gavin of Texas Death Penalty >Abolition Movement, SHAPE Community Center director DeLloyd >Parker, Toylean Johnson of the Justice for Pedro Oregon >Coalition, Mary Delany of SHAPE Center Elders' Council (in >white hat), Michael Haggerty of the National Black United >Front, and Frances Patrick, who is coordinating efforts to >prevent the scheduled March 1 execution of Odell Barnes, Jr. > >Copies of the resolution can be obtained from the Texas >Death Penalty Moratorium Committee, c/o SHAPE Community >Center, 3903 Almeda Road, Houston, TX 77004. A stamped, >self-addressed envelope is appreciated. Information can be >obtained by phone or fax from 713-861-3137 or e-mail to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >--Joanne Gavin > > > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00f201bf7bc6$52aa5960$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Washington's deceitful treatment of the Kurds >Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:17:10 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Feb. 24, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >OPPRESSION OF SMALL NATIONS: > >WASHINGTON'S DECEITFUL >TREATMENT OF THE KURDS > >By John Catalinotto > >In Bosnia and Kosovo, Washington justified military >intervention by claiming to be defending human rights. The >U.S. government often claims that the major factor >compelling it to intervene, whether alone or as part of a >military alliance, is to defend minority peoples from >violent attacks. > >It would be hard to convince the Kurdish people living >within Turkish boundaries that this is Washington's goal. >The Kurds are a people with a distinct language and culture >who inhabit territory within the borders of Turkey, Iran, >Iraq and Syria. > >While U.S. officials have abetted and championed the >attacks of Bosnian and Kosovar right-wing forces against the >Yugoslav government in the name of self-determination--even >unleashing a vicious NATO bombing campaign against >Yugoslavia last spring--they have fully supported the >Turkish military regime's assault on the Kurdish people. > >This assault has led to the deaths of 37,000 people, most >of them Kurds. It includes bombing of hundreds of Kurdish >villages and the use of tanks and planes--supplied by the >U.S. and German regimes--against civilians as well as >guerrillas. > >U.S. policy was underlined again with the one-year >anniversary of the Turkish regime's seizure of Abdullah >Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), >now on death row on a prison island in Turkey. > >The remaining PKK leaders, who have charged that the U.S., >Israel and Greece conspired to turn Ocalan over to Turkey, >called for supporters to stay home and keep businesses >closed the morning of Feb. 15. "The PKK leadership council >has called upon the Kurdish people to protest in a passive >way the first anniversary of the international conspiracy to >capture chairman Apo [Ocalan],'' a spokesperson for the >PKK's political wing told Reuters by telephone. > >U.S. officials had admitted in the days after Ocalan's >kidnapping that U.S. intelligence agents had helped track >him down and facilitated his being turned over to Turkey. >They also pressured the Italian government to refuse Ocalan >asylum in the fall of 1998. > >Kurds make up 20 percent of the 60 million people living >within Turkish boundaries. Turkish laws have repressed the >Kurdish people's right to speak their own language. > >In 1984, the PKK opened up an armed struggle against the >Turkish military dictatorship in an attempt to liberate the >Kurdish population. Since that time the armed liberation >fighters have waged a heroic struggle against difficult >odds. > >WHY WASHINGTON DEMONIZED PKK, NOT TURKEY > >Unlike the so-called Bosnian government or the KLA in >Kosovo, the PKK did not become an agent of the NATO >imperialists. It waged a truly independent struggle for >liberation from the Turkish state. This is what made >Washington declare the PKK an enemy. > >The Turkish army decided in the early 1990s to unleash an >all-out war against the Kurdish population in order to >defeat the PKK's attempt at liberation. > >If Turkey had been a foe of Washington instead of a client >state, this policy could have easily been the excuse for >launching all-out Pentagon bombing raids, economic >sanctions, or some combination of the two against Turkey. > >Instead the Pentagon has remained one of the main >suppliers of weapons to the Turkish military. Its other main >supplier is Germany's war industry. > >Even now, German arms makers plan to supply the latest >tanks to their counterparts in Turkey. This policy has >become a major focus of the struggle for the German anti-war >movement. > >Faced with an ever more difficult military situation, the >Ocalan leadership of the PKK attempted at the end of 1998 to >open negotiations with the Turkish regime on the basis of >winning some form of autonomy for the Kurdish population. It >withdrew any demand for independence. > >Instead of responding positively to this offer, the >Turkish regime kidnapped Ocalan from the Greek Embassy in >Kenya, where he had tried to take asylum. It did this with >the complete support of the U.S. government, which has a >master-client relationship with Greece and Kenya as well as >Turkey. > >Just this Feb. 9, the PKK leadership said the organization >would end the guerrilla struggle and take part in the >political struggle within Turkey for Kurdish rights. The >Turkish regime made no public response to this offer from >the PKK. > >It is unclear at this moment if the PKK announcement will >lead to any immediate change in the situation. Some within >the PKK are critical of this turn. > >Osman Ocalan, a PKK commander and brother of Abdullah >Ocalan, said the guerrillas would not lay down arms or >surrender because Turkey had not responded to the PKK's >previous peace overtures. > >"They will stay up in the mountains, not to attack, but to >defend themselves,'' he said in an interview with Brussels- >based Kurdish Medya-TV. > >Whatever the next steps in Turkey, it is clear that U.S. >policy as well as that of Germany and the other NATO allies >has been to back NATO-member Turkey in its most repressive >assaults on the Kurdish population. > >And it will be up to progressive forces throughout the >world to continue to call for the defense of the Kurdish >people from further attack by the Turkish regime. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00f801bf7bc6$8c3ca930$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Victory for lesbians and gays in Buffalo, N.Y. >Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:18:47 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Feb. 24, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >VICTORY FOR LESBIAN & GAYS: >SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO RESPECT DIVERSITY > >By Marge Maloney >Buffalo, N.Y. > >The Buffalo School district now officially prohibits >discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation, a >policy change that is long overdue. > >The school board voted unanimously to amend two existing >policies to include sexual orientation as a protected >category in hiring, promotions, and access to services and >benefits. > >In addition, the board also unanimously approved a >resolution declaring its determination to create "safe >schools in a pluralistic society" by promoting tolerance for >all people. The resolution further directs the district to >develop "age appropriate programs to teach respect for >diversity" through curricula, codes of behavior and staff >training. > >This victory over bigotry was made possible through the >efforts of a determined group of activists--parents, >teachers and lesbian, bi, gay and trans community activists, >who were committed to making Buffalo schools safe spaces for >all students. > >Dr. Frank Carnevale, a Buffalo pediatrician, cited studies >showing that lesbian and gay adolescents are at greater risk >for drug use, suicide and abuse at home and school. Of >successful teenage suicides, one-third of the victims are >thought to be lesbian, gay or bisexual youth. > >The Empire State Pride Agenda, a political advocacy group >for lesbian and gay issues, was also actively involved in >the successful passage of this resolution. > >Allen Richards, a spokesperson for the group, said that >prohibition of harassment or discrimination based on sexual >orientation is not common in school districts throughout the >state. "It's great that Buffalo has said `no' to >discrimination by doing this action." > >Buffalo is not a hotbed of progressivism. That this >resolution passed unanimously shows that bigotry can be >fought. The task for activists now is to make sure that this >policy is enforced on all levels. This is a great victory >over bigotry, but under a just system, where differences >among people are accepted and not exploited, this resolution >wouldn't even have been necessary. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00fe01bf7bc6$a52ffd70$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Win end to sweeps of homeless in Cleveland >Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:19:29 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Feb. 24, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >WIN END TO SWEEPS OF HOMELESS IN CLEVELAND > >By Martha Grevatt >Cleveland > >On Feb. 10, the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York joined >Cleveland activists in a demonstration to call attention to >the criminalization of homelessness nationally, and to call >for better treatment of homeless people locally. Called by >the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, the action >celebrated the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the American >Civil Liberties Union that had demanded an end to police >sweeps. > >In November, Mayor Michael White had instituted a policy >modeled after a New York City initiative to force homeless >people into shelters. White told police to arrest homeless >people on charges like blocking the sidewalk and disorderly >conduct in order to force them off the streets. He was >imitating New York's Mayor Rudy Giuliani, notorious for >thinking up new ways of criminalizing the victims of >poverty. Sharpton has been a militant critic of the Giuliani >policy. > >"We want to thank those organizations that helped exert >public pressure on the city to stop the sweeps," stated >Brian Davis, Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio >Coalition for the Homeless. > >The homeless who sued the city settled the lawsuit on Feb. >2 when Mayor White agreed to stop directing police to arrest >or threaten homeless people who sleep on the sidewalk. The >City of Cleveland agreed to a settlement that rolls back the >clock to the status quo before November. It had refused a >similar settlement in December. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
