[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > AG Jerry Brown, the San Francisco 8, and The Big Chill > > http://www.blackcommentator.com/257/257_represent_our_resistance_jerry_brown_sf8.html > > > ?This racial dilemma poses a serious problem for > white America?And the entire dark world is > watching, waiting to see what the American > government will do to solve this problem once and > for all.? (Malcolm X, ?America?s Gravest Crisis? October, 1963) > Democrat Jerry Brown and rock star Linda Ronstadt > were the flower children of the media during > Brown?s term as Governor of California. This was > back in the day, 1975 to 1983. Jerry Brown is > still around, without Linda, of course. In fact, > back here in the Midwest, I was surprised when I > was told Brown is, as of this year, the Attorney > General of California. Of course this is not > news to folks in California, particularly people > in Oakland, since Brown served as Mayor there > from 1998 to 2006. The point is - Jerry Brown is > still around and, as Attorney General of > California, he has focused his office?s attention on the San Francisco 8. > > In 1992, Brown, running for president (third > time) against Bill Clinton, according to Time > Magazine, ran an ?anti-establishment crusade? > campaign against big-money. Brown seemed to the > ?vessel of protest against big-money politics? > (Time April 6, 1992). The article continues, > ?Brown - who, even his fondest admirers admit, is > a political changeling constantly taking on new > personas - has finally embraced a cause that > returns him to his political roots as a > post-Watergate clean-government crusader in California.? > > Well, it seems Jerry Brown has changed > again. Brown, the ex-Flower child, ex-boyfriend > of Linda Ronstadt, ex-Rock star politician is now > very much the ESTABLISHMENT. > > What?s Brown up to as California?s Attorney > General? Well, ask any ex-Black Panther. He?s > hunting them down from New York to > California. Brown took office as AG this year > and immediately had the ex-Black Panthers and > supporters known as the San Francisco 8 arrested > and imprisoned in January, 2007 for the 1971 murder of Police Sgt. John > Young. > > Keep in mind that, as Ron Jacobs in The Case of > the San Francisco 8 reports, the ?federal court > ruled in 1974 that both San Francisco and New > Orleans police had engaged in torture to extract > a confession (see the Legacy of Torture video), > and a San Francisco judge dismissed charges > against three men in 1975 based on that ruling.? > > In 2003, however, the U.S. Department of Justice > re-opened the case, ?using funds set aside for > the Department of Homeland Security,? according > to Ron Jacobs. Grand juries convened over the > coming years, resulting in not a single > prosecuting attorney willing to pursue the > case. Again in 2005, a Grand Jury was convened > with no further evidence and this Grand Jury > expired in October 31, 2005. DNA was taken from > the men in 2006 and they were subpoenaed. ?We > refused to speak,? Richard Brown, one of the San > Francisco 8, told me. ?We were held in contempt > of court. I was in jail for six weeks.? > > But then came 2007 and Jerry Brown was sworn in > as Attorney General of California. Round-e-up > Jerry Brown has no qualms with confessions > obtained through torture in 1971. He?s all about > law and order in the new era of COINTELPRO. The > case of the San Francisco 8 is ?green-lighted,? > said Claude Marks, Committee for the Defense of > Human Rights. According to an affidavit from the > AG?s office, Brown threw his weight behind a > multi-taskforce comprised of the San Francisco > Police Department, Federal Bureau of > Investigation, California Bureau of > Investigation, and the United States Attorney?s > Office, and ordered the arrest of Richard Brown, > 65, Ray Boudreaux, 64, Hank Jones, 70, Richard > O?Neal, 58, Harold Taylor, 58, and Francisco > Torres, 58, on January 23, 2007. Herman Bell, > 59, and Jalil Muntaqim, 55, already in prison for > the last 30 years, were re-arrested for this > case. The men arrested were held until recently > because they refused to cooperate with these > Kangaroo kourt proceedings - still with no new > evidence. According to Steve Zelter, San > Francisco Labor Planning Committee member, ?if > this case were up to the city of San Francisco, > this wouldn?t happen.? Brown?s office, Zelter > added, is ?going along with the Federal > government? on this case. The man who was a > ?vessel of protest against big-money politics? is > on the side of ?big-money politics? now and > against those willing to protest injustice and inequality. > > Let?s remember what Martin Luther King, Jr. said > a year before he was gunned down: > > It?s not merely a struggle against extremist > behavior toward Negroes. And I?m convinced that > many of the very people who supported us in the > struggle in the South are not willing to go all > the way now. I came to see this in a very > difficult and painful way in Chicago? And I came > to see that so many people who supported morally > and even financially what we were doing in > Birmingham and Selma, were really outraged > against the extremist behavior of Bull Connor and > Jim Clarke toward Negroes, rather than believing > in genuine equality for Negroes. And I think > this is what we?ve gotta see now, and this is > what makes the struggle much more > difficult. (?The Other America? April 14, 1967) > > And it has become difficult. > The corporate-controlled media compels us to look > at the face of an ?extremist?: Blacks looting and > shooting for control of valuable city turf, > Latino men reclaiming U.S. soil by taking jobs or > raping little girls, and Muslims planning to > attack local malls everywhere. In > gated-communities, white America hears the > message: They are conspiring against you. > > We are distracted, once again, with a simplistic > debate about skin color as if the clocks have > been turned back and we have not covered this > ground before. The word ?prejudice? re-surfaces > and it is criminal, anti-American to discuss in > any significant way the very real collective > striving of white Americans, Republican or > Democrat, right wing or liberal, toward the > dominance of white supremacy. The dominance of > white supremacy is an absurd concept in a world > populated by people of darker hue. ?You and I > haven?t realized it, but we aren?t exactly a > minority on this earth,? Malcolm told an audience > in 1965! The word ?equality? precipitated the > ?big chill? and scared some whites into running > back to the ideals of their parents, who in turn, > knew that the only solution to the idea of > equality (social, economical, and political) > required more than just shooting Black, Latino/a, > and Native American leadership. > > Consciously or unconsciously, they co-opted > King?s ?beloved community? and got to work, > securing safe places (gentrification and > sub-prime loans), securing the economy and > employment (outsourcing for wealthy > corporations), and educational opportunities > (charter schools), along with promoting a war on > drugs and a war on terror to contain domestic and > foreign danger outside the ?beloved community.? > > White liberals and even notable Republicans have > expressed ?outrage? at the extreme behavior of > King George, Darth Vader, and the Neo-Cons who > are the Bull Conners and Jim Clarkes of today, > but these same whites are still unwilling to consider racial equality. > > Brown shows him a flag. "It looks like an > original flag from Castro's July 26 movement," > said Marc Cooper, as he sits in the car of then > Mayor Jerry Brown of Oakland, California (?Mayor > Jerry, Take II, The Nation, March, 2002)."You got > it," says the Mayor. "It was given to me by Che > Guevara's widow one night after I spent eight > hours talking to Castro. I'm taking it home from > my office to keep it in a safe place." > > Brown?s focus, writes Cooper, ?seems to drift > inward for a moment.? And Cooper hears Brown say > quietly: "That was a long time ago," and Brown, > Cooper writes, ?starts the car and drives out of the City.? > > Yes, that was a long time ago and for a very > short time, as William Hurt?s character said in > the 1983 film, The Bill Chill. It was a long time > ago when we knew one another - whites and Blacks > - and Malcolm and then King galvanized Blacks and > whites to protest against war and poverty. It > was a long time ago and it did not last long > because the idea of equality, human rights for > all must be felt in a personal way, not just by > the oppressed, but by the would-be supporters of > human rights as well. Campaigning for Mayor of > Oakland, Brown vowed to work on reducing crime, > re-vitalizing downtown, and establishing more > charter schools. As mayor, he talked about ?the > flow of capital? following the ?rules of > capitalism,? insisted that his job was to assure > investors that they were making right decisions > in their efforts to gentrify West Oakland where > the majority population was Black. According to > Cooper, when Brown was asked about the criticism > by Blacks and others displaced by the ?rules of > capitalism,? Brown responded that he ?no longer? > knew what ?they mean by gentrification.? He ?no longer? knew! Such > innocence! > > Today, white liberals like Brown, along with the > Neo-cons, talk about ?crime,? building more > corporate-operated detention centers, and > conspiracies. "Now we can see it was part of a > larger plan to kill cops," said David Druliner, > prosecutor for the Office of the California > Attorney General, referring to the San Francisco > 8 case. Attorney General Brown is determined to > enforce the federal prosecution of the San Francisco 8. > > ?Since when did you get so friendly with cops,? > Hurts? character in The Big Chill asked the > character played by Kevin Kline. The answer, > when there was a huge summerhouse, wife, and > children to protect. He couldn?t do it > alone. And who would expect those Blacks left > to sort out the mess after the killings of > Malcolm, Evers, King, and COINTELPRO executions > and imprisonment of Black Panthers and their > supporters. Did anyone say it was ?conspiracy? > that wiped out the Black leadership? > > Jerry Brown will be Jerry Brown. We must call > for justice! Along with the International Call > for Justice (November 30, 2007) by Nobel > laureates including South Africa Archbishop > Desmond Tutu, we must call for charges against > the San Francisco 8 to be dropped. Contact > <http://www.freethesf8.org/>freethesf8.org (the > Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, P.O. > Box 90221, Pasadena, California 91109). > > BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member > Lenore Jean Daniels, PhD, has been a writer, for > over thirty years of commentary, resistance > criticism and cultural theory, and short stories > with a Marxist sensibility to the impact of > cultural narrative violence and its antithesis, > resistance narratives. With entrenched dedication > to justice and equality, she has served as a > coordinator of student and community resistance > projects that encourage the Black Feminist idea > of an equalitarian community and facilitator of > student-teacher communities behind the walls of > academia for the last twenty years. Dr. Daniels > holds a PhD in Modern American Literatures, with > a specialty in Cultural Theory (race, gender, > class narratives) from Loyola University, > Chicago. > <http://www.blackcommentator.com/contact_forms/jean_daniels/gbcf_form.php>Click > here to contact Dr. Daniels. > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/cdhrsupport_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20071213/bc122524/attachment.html > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: clip_image001.gif > Type: image/gif > Size: 7017 bytes > Desc: not available > Url : > http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/cdhrsupport_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20071213/bc122524/attachment.gif > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Cdhrsupport mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://freedomarchives.org/mailman/listinfo/cdhrsupport_freedomarchives.org > > > End of Cdhrsupport Digest, Vol 12, Issue 6 > ****************************************** > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.1/1181 - Release Date: > 12/11/2007 5:05 PM >
