WE THE PEOPLE
MANDATORY MINIMUMS
A few years ago, for the first time, Congress did NOT accept the recommendation of the Sentencing Commission to rescind the crack-cocaine laws as racist and disproportionately targeting the Afrikan communities. In 1999, Rep. Maxine Waters introduced HR1681 to rescind the mandatory minimum sentencing, but it will affect only those who are presently awaiting sentencing on drug charges. For the millions of young Afrikans, Natives, Latinos, and Puerto Rican youth who are sentenced to life in prison with no possibility for parole, HR1681 is only an empty symbolic gesture. We can no longer allow knee-grows who are supposed to represent us in the political arena to continue making these symbolic gestures. We must begin to tell them loud and clear where we "The People" stand. If these politicians refuse to cast the vote according to The People, then they should serve only one term.
We The People must redefine what a public servant is. These politicians think their position belongs to them. We must remind them that it belongs to The People. Rep. Waters refuses to include retroactive provisions in this bill because of the current political climate. The position of substance for Rep. Waters is to make this bill retroactive--regardless of the racist climate. She should be focused on educating The People and her colleagues to support this bill with a plan of action in place if her racist colleagues refuse to vote correctly. We must ORGANIZE to pull this off. We can do it if we The People help our elected public servants understand their position. Since this system is inherently racist, politicians can no longer continue business as usual when they know the rules of the game. Each public servant should assign aides to decode introduced bills that are not in the best interest of The People and get that information to their local districts, which in turn should get the word out to local grassroots organizations.
When the bill was introduced to extradite Sista Assata Shakur back to the US, all those knee-grows of the Congressional Black Caucus voted in favor of it. When The People applied pressure to these knee-grows, Rep. Waters made excuses for ALL of them being asleep at the wheel.
Raise your voices and be heard. Let Rep. Waters know she must include retroactive provisions in HR1681. Write to Rep. Maxine Waters, 2344 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, Ph: (202) 225-2201, Fax: (202) 225-7854.
INVESTIGATION OF THE FBI
Senator Trent Lott has called for a wide investigation into the misconduct of the FBI. In the history of their existence, the FBI has never confessed to misconduct, so why would this racist Republican initiate an investigation of the FBI now? I believe it's a pressure-release tactic. The Republicans want to remove those presently in charge of the FBI and put in their own jack-booted thugs. The People are not so naive as to believe that a serious investigation of the FBI will take place.
Senator Lott and his colleagues do not have to reinvent the wheel. I suggest that he begin with The Church Committee report and read what his colleagues said about the government-funded terrorist operation COINTELPRO. Many of us believe that this illegal operation began in the 1950s. However, it began in the 1920s when the US government targeted Marcus Garvey, and it continues today. The Afrikan Communities have tried for years to get Black politicians to call for an investigation into the misconduct of the FBI as it pertains to the Black Liberation Movement in the 1960s and '70s to no avail. Once again, this is no more than an empty symbolic gesture. The FBI cannot investigate itself.
Waco is not the first holocaust (wholesale destruction of life by fire) on Amerikan soil. Where was Senator Lott when FBI operatives (local police) dropped a bomb on eleven MOVE men, women, and children, burning them alive? Where was Senator Lott when J. Edgar Hoover said the Black Panther Party was the greatest threat to internal security and waged war against them, killing many innocent young black males/females? This is an opportunity for The People to expose the FBI for what it is, a bunch of jack-booted thugs, and hold them accountable and punish them to the fullest extent of the law.
We must especially apply pressure to Black politicians on this issue, since they have historically ignored The People's call for an investigation into the misconduct of the FBI. Once the FBI files were ordered open in Geronimo Pratt's case and Dhoruba Bin-Wahad's case, evidence showed FBI misconduct, and these men were released from prison. Once the media stopped covering these cases, the government eagerly dismissed all charges and dropped the cases because the government can't afford to have any victims of COINTELPRO enter their kourts. This is why we must organize around this issue and apply pressure to politicians for the unconditional release of all victims of this government's terrorist operation COINTELPRO.