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For years, decades now, folks have celebrated Black History Month with a plethora of events. There will be movies, book readings, poetry events, concerts and the like. Coming, as it does, on the heels of the nation’s celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., much of what will be heard will no doubt echo that event.
But Black History is far richer, and far deeper, than King.
Rev. Dr. King, who has been edited into a safe, sweet, nonviolent modern-day Christlike figure and icon of peace, forgiveness and forbearance, has himself been transformed into a one-dimensional figure which ignores his fullness as a growing, thinking, developing man. He was far more radical than many of those who now call his name are ready to admit.
There will be little, if any, remembrance of the men and women who fought for freedom in far more aggressive and militant ways. While some may hear the occasional names, usually they, too, are softened and sweetened with time to make them safe historical morsels for white, and corporate consumption.
It’s doubtful that the name William Parker will be shouted out, even though, over a century and a half ago, he led the Christiana Revolt in Pennsylvania which, because of its nature, sent shock waves across the country, so much so that historians of that era, like James McPherson and Phillip Foner, considered Christiana to be harbingers of the Civil War to come. Parker, his wife Eliza and other members of “The Special Secret Committee” (a black self-defense group) fought against slave owners and U.S. marshals who wanted to send people back into slavery. The Parkers and their neighbors fought with guns, machetes and sticks. Parker and his clan of freedom fighters had to flee the US to find freedom.
The Christiana Revolt of 1851 should be on millions of lips during Black History month. But there will be no movies, no special notices in the corporate press and few scattered references to this signal event in the history of the struggle for freedom.
The great Frederick Douglass later wrote of Christiana, that it “more than all else” destroyed the fugitive slave law. Douglass wrote: “It became almost a dead letter, for slaveholders found that not only did it fail to put them in possession of their slaves, but that the attempt to enforce it brought odium upon themselves and weakened the slave system.” [Cited in: Forbes, Ella. ‘But We Have No Country: The 1851 Christiana Pennsylvania Resistance’. (Cherry Hill, NJ: Africana Homestead Legacy, 1998) , p. 114.]
And while we may know the name of the famous rebel, Nat Turner, how many of us actually celebrate his memory? His fight for freedom echoed around the world, for it showed that the violence of slavery would be answered by the violence of the oppressed. For what was slavery but violence, and resistance against that violence but self-defense?
I doubt that the name Charles Deslondes will elicit the least flicker of recognition, but he was the leader of a slave revolt that rocked New Orleans in 1811.
The revolt aboard the Amistad is known to many (due in part to movies).
But the Amistad wasn’t the only one. Ships like the Little George were seized over a century before the Amistad, but today, who knows its name? Here in 1730, some 96 captives seized the craft, and in 9 days, successfully sailed back to Africa. Two years thereafter, Africans aboard the William did the same thing, set the crew adrift and sailed back home.
The late, great Herbert Aptheker, in his classic *American Negro Slave Revolts*, recounted over 250 such rebellions against the vile slave system.
Coming closer to our time, how many of us will look back, not centuries, but mere months, to the horrors and hypocrisies of Hurricane Katrina? For Black History didn’t end centuries ago; and didn’t begin with the Civil Rights Act.
It’s an ancient history, and also as present as yesterday.
Katrina – the ravages, not of weather, but of government, as Black Arts Movement poet, playwright and essayist Marvin X put it so eloquently in his recent *Beyond Religion – Toward Spirituality: Essays on Consciousness* (Cherokee, CA: Black Bird Press, 2006):
“We have tried their sham democratic elections to no avail, as we saw in the 2000 General Election when our votes were discounted. Between our treatment in the 2000 election and Katrina, what else do we need to know about American Democracy? What part of no don’t you understand? Both events revealed America to be nothing more than a banana republic with respect to us: we were treated worse than dogs in both respects.” [p. 192]
Another poet, Palestinian-American Suheir Hammad, used her art to pose a potent question raised by Katrina: “Who do we pledge our allegiance to? A government that leaves its old to die of thirst surrounded by water is a foreign government.” [Fr.: *What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race and the State of the Nation*, ed. South End Press Collective (Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2007), p. 187]
Black History Month – a time to remember that which the corporate culture wishes is forgotten. A time to remember rebellion, resistance and what it means to be Black in the White Nation – today.
Copyright 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal
[Mr. Jamal’s recent book features a chapter on the remarkable women who helped build and defend the Black Panther Party: *WE WANT FREEDOM: A Life in the Black Panther Party*, from South End Press ( http://www.southendpress.org); Ph.
#1-800-533-8478.]
“Abu-Jamal is an award-winning Pennsylvania journalist who exposed police violence against minority communities. On death row since 1982, he was wrongfully sentenced for the shooting of a police officer. New evidence, including the recantation of a key eyewitness, new ballistic and forensic evidence and a confession from Arnold Beverly (one of the two killers of Officer Faulkner) points to his innocence! Mumia had no criminal record.
For the last 25 years, Abu-Jamal has been locked up 23 hours a day, denied contact visits with his family, had his confidential legal mail illegally opened by prison authorities, and put into punitive detention for writing his first of three books while in prison, Live From Death Row.”
Abu-Jamal’s is an unconquerable spirit, wielding his sword through prison walls, and this column comes to you “Live From Death Row.”
“When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is just, yet refuse to defend it-at that moment you begin to die. And I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about justice.” – Mumia Abu-JamalMumia

By Lauren Melodia

Families of those locked up by New York State finally won some justice this past month in their fight against a prison telephone contract that charges families of prisoners 630 percent more for collect calls than regular consumer long-distance rates.
As one of the first things he did in office, Governor Spitzer eliminated the State’s huge backdoor tax on the prison telephone contract because family activists helped make it a priority for his administration.  In another victory for families with incarcerated loved ones, the New York State Court of Appeals – the highest court in the state – also agreed to let proceed a lawsuit seeking a ruling that the kickback contract was unconstitutional and refunds for families paying the 630 percent markup on collect calls from state prisons.
For Ms. Walton, a grandmother in East New York and lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, making the three-hour trip to see her loved one can be cost-prohibitive and hard on her health, yet she has to limit the amount of time she can spend on the phone because she can’t afford the high costs.  Every expert agrees on how important it is for prisoners to stay in contact with family and community, yet high rates make that impossible for many.
The Elimination of the Backdoor Tax
On January 8, 2007, Governor Spitzer announced that he would eliminate the state commission provision of the New York State Department of Correctional Services (NYSDOCS) prison telephone contract.  Since 1996, the contract has required MCI/Verizon to pass 57.5 percent of its profits on to the State, resulting in the exorbitant rates.  Much of the commission was used to provide programs at NYSDOCS facilities for which families should not be financially responsible. 
More than $175 million has been put in the State’s coffers since the contract began in 1996.  That’s $175 million illegally taken from many poor families of color who often have to choose between keeping in touch with a loved one and putting food on the table.
 Governor Spitzer’s decision, which will go into effect on April 1, 2007, will immediately reduce the surcharge and per-minute rate of the contract by at least 50 percent – families will see their phone bills cut in half beginning in April.  Governor Spitzer has also guaranteed that the programs previously funded through the contract will remain fully funded through general state funds.
Update on the Lawsuit
On February 20, 2007, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) received word from the state’s highest court that its case, Walton v. NYSDOCS, will move forward.  The case challenges the constitutionality of the NYSDOCS prison telephone contract, specifically its unjust high rates and its illegal and unlegislated tax on prison families.
CCR will move to have the case certified as a class-action suit, and if the suit succeeds, all New York State residents who paid for collect calls from state prisons between October 2003 and March 2007 will have the opportunity to join the case and seek refunds for bills paid during that time.
Get Involved!
These successes are the result of the actions and organizing of prison families who, often anonymously, have participated in the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice.  The campaign members have organized actions at MCI shareholder meetings, boycotts and letter-writing campaigns.  Family members have done much of the outreach, spreading the word about the campaign to folks going upstate on buses, in waiting rooms at prisons, and in online support groups. 
 While the recent successes are significant, there is still work that must be done to ensure that any new contract meets the needs of families.  Currently, NYCTJ is pressuring the state legislature to pass the Family Connections Bill (S.705/A.3397). This bill would put a permanent end to the contract and replace it instead with fair rates and calling options, including a debit calling system. 
For ten years, families of New York State prisoners have been grossly exploited through this unjust contract between NYSDOCS and MCI/Verizon.  Families are charged 6 times more to receive collect calls from prisons than the average MCI collect-call consumer.  The average prison phone call is billed at 19 minutes, costing over $6.00.
Get involved with the NYCTJ to find out how you can support and participate in this grassroots effort and to receive updates on Spitzer’s decision and Walton v. NYSDOCS.  Check out www.telephonejustice.org for more information, and call 212.614.6481 or e-mail lmelodia@ccr-ny.org to join the fight!

By Akosua Kathryn Albritton

Is Spam So Bad?
Spam is unwanted mail from a known or unknown source.  By unwanted, it is meant that the marketing messages or advertising sent via e-mail weren’t requested by you.  The e-mail is dubbed “spam” because it’s as desirable as the canned meat product manufactured by Hormel.  Yet spam can’t be all bad because like Hormel’s Spam, many people purchase and consume it.  To a degree, e-mail users must be tolerant because it’s another media to communicate ideas, opinions, goods and services.  There are many items that aren’t on traditional media because the company can’t afford the advertising expense, traditional broadcast media deems it “not newsworthy” or the product/service provider understands many people aren’t watching as much television-cable or broadcast-listening to the radio or cut down reading magazines and newspapers.
Using the campaigns to relieve developing nations of crushing debt and the genocide occurring in Darfur, a region in the East African nation of Sudan, as examples, the average American has little awareness of these issues because many news outlets aren’t providing frequent and substantial coverage.  An organization called ONE uses e-mail promotion to inform people on the debt that developing nations can’t manage.  The strategy uses Brad Pitt and Bono to do short commercials that direct people to a Web site, www.one.org.  People visit the site and after learning about the issue, ONE asks the visitor to send a message about ONE’s mission to ten people as well as sign petitions and make a donation.  This is viral marketing.  One person shares with ten others.  Hopefully, these ten will spread the news to ten more.  The same strategy is used by Save Darfur, www.savedarfur.org. 
Is this spam?  Maybe, if you are one of the ten who received an e-mail from a friend who’s concerned about Darfur or debt service or global warming or any other issue.  Maybe, if you aren’t concerned or don’t want to be approached via e-mail.  The most effective method to deal with this kind of spam is to delete it and ask your friend not to send those kinds of messages.  Your friend may wonder what kind of heart you have; however, you did express your position.
There are other kinds of e-mail messages that are commonly agreed to be spam that is to be avoided.  The Get Rich Quick using the PC, Lottery Winner Notice, African Relative of a Deposed Leader, Banks and Credit Card Companies About to Close Your Online Account and phony eBay and Pay Pal account confirmation requests.  These are tricky to deal with.  Most messages have opt-out statements at the bottom of the message.  Do you click to opt out?  AOL Consumer Advisor Regina Lewis recommends that you don’t opt-out.  As explained on NBC’s The Early Show, Lewis says, “Don’t rush to reply.. Replying confirms a legitimate e-mail.”  There are computer servers that crank out thousands of e-mail addresses and names.  Clicking on the opt-out statement may result in different messages being sent to you.  Instead, Lewis advises deleting the e-mail and /or placing it in the “Junk Folder.”  She also says to read and uncheck boxes that are part of registering or purchasing an item.
Cases in point are the job search engines.  To access job postings, take aptitude tests and upload a resume, one must register.  Sometimes three pages are devoted to obtaining demographic information, purchasing behavior and magazine subscription sales.  There are smaller boxes for agreeing to “receive notices from our affiliates.”  These boxes have to be unchecked to prevent sales and marketing notices.
Lastly, a by-product of business networking is getting on postal and e-mail lists.  This is understandable; two businesspeople chat at a reception, boat ride or conference and subsequently exchange cards.  One of them emails the other to thank him for the conversation and request a coffee-klatch.  This may be the start of e-mail promotion or advertising.  Is this spam?  Maybe, if you’re not interested in forming affiliations.  Maybe, if the business owner relies on faxes, mailers and traditional media to obtain information.  Each business has its strategies for financial and business success.  Some strategies, however, don’t wire you for success in the 21st century.  This column asks that when business networking, make conversation to determine affinity rather than “tiling the room with your business cards.”

About A Spam Meister
Did you hear about Vardan Kushnir, the owner of English Language Center in Moscow, Russia?  Kushnir became rich by cranking out e-mails about the school.  Computer servers facilitated it.  He was known to send ten e-mail messages to one person in one day.  He believed in the buckshot theory.  The English Language Center had plenty of students and plenty of irate people who wanted an end to the spam.  Kushnir actually defied Russian authorities when asked, then demanded to cease and desist the spamming.  What did he do?  He revved up the spam.  One morning his body was found in the alley behind the school.  The murder hasn’t been solved (taken from “Who Killed Vardan Kushnir?” Wired. August 2006).

By Errol Louis

Corruption Trial Update
A bombshell hit the Clarence Norman extortion trial when Norman’s longtime pal, William Boone, testified for the prosecution. The  District Attorney contends that Norman, while boss of the Brooklyn Democratic Organization, illegally shook down Karen Yellen, who was  then a sitting judge, by demanding thousands of dollars in payments in exchange for the party’s support.
Boone testified that he ultimately got $9,000 from Yellen – and, considering it personal compensation, simply pocketed the funds.  Yellen lost reelection.
The whole dirty business was described by the late Jack Newfield in the New York Sun in a story that quoted one of the judge’s campaign  consultants as saying “Boone did zero work for the $9,000. He was supposed to provide Election Day workers but didn’t. He never spoke in one campaign meeting.”
The implication of such statements, now backed by Boone’s testimony,  is that a sitting judge was forced to pay $9,000 for nothing more  than being allowed to run as a Democrat on the party slate, which the jury could find amounted to extortion. The other question jury members may be wondering about – a question that prosecutors have never really answered – is why Norman got indicted and Boone never did.
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College for Your Community
One of the most important lines in Gov. Spitzer’s vast $120 billion proposed budget ups funding to the state’s 36 community colleges by  more than $614 million. That’s a smart investment – in fact, the number should be increased. Community colleges – two-year institutions that confer associate’s degrees – are an overlooked treasure, providing essential career education, a crucial center for economic development and a path to  the middle class for kids who might not otherwise continue formal education beyond high school.
Far too many community college students never move on to four-year institutions, but any amount of post-high school education is better  than none at all. A college degree is fast becoming what a high school diploma used to be – a minimum qualification for most white-collar jobs and a growing number of blue-collar ones. With few exceptions, you can’t become a cop or firefighter without at least two years of college – the  equivalent of the associate’s degree granted by community colleges.
Most people don’t realize it, but nearly half of all undergraduates in America attend community colleges – in New York, more than 290,000 students are in community college, out of just more than a million undergraduates statewide.
While attention gets lavished on flashy universities like Columbia and NYU, community colleges have quietly created partnerships with high-tech, construction and financial institutions to make sure students are learning what employers need them to know. Manhattan Community College, for instance, has teamed up with law firms to train legal secretaries, and Kingsborough Community College has helped train employees at nearby Woodhull Hospital.
La Guardia Community College has been a leader in training students for information technology jobs, and Bronx Community College recently  unveiled a group of programs to train local residents in the building trades. That not only helps the students find work, but the presence of a local, competent workforce helps convince companies to locate and expand near the schools – a crucial strategy for revitalizing inner-city neighborhoods and swaths of upstate New York.  We need many more vocal, highly visible champions of community college like Richard Carmona, who, until recently, served as surgeon general of the United States.
After getting a GED diploma, Carmona served in Vietnam, and later enrolled in Bronx Community College. Carmona went on to collect advanced degrees in medicine and public health and was named surgeon general in 2002 – and remained such a strong supporter that he sent his own kids to community colleges. There are more Carmonas out there. We need to put them on the biggest available soapbox where they can urge teachers and parents to steer kids to these forgotten jewels of the education system.
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Quiet Hurricane
To little or no media fanfare, Harlem’s Charlie Rangel has been holding hearings on income insecurity (what used to be called the plight of America’s poor), winning high praise from a member of his Ways and Means Committee, Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer. According to Blumenauer, “A Ways and Means Chairman under virtually any circumstance is a hurricane. But when that hurricane is a storm named Charlie, it is truly an amazing experience. He has brought to the committee Harlem street smarts, the sensitivity of somebody who knows what it’s like for life to be a little tough, a sense of  success and awe-inspiring smarts and personality. . . he has undertaken a series of hearings that weave together poverty, health care, pressures on the middle class and economic insecurity in the era of globalization.”

Marissa and I are the proud owners of Shakoor’s Sweet Tooth and we cordially invite you to experience our specialty gourmet desserts for yourself!
Shakoor’s Sweet Tooth is primarily a specialty bakery shop but we also have an extensive catering and takeout menu as well. We originally started from our house in 1999 using a $10 handheld mixer. Due to the demand for our quality products, we had to find a larger space to work from and in December of 2000 we opened at our present location. We expanded in 2001 and are now operating from two locations, but the store at 555 Throop Avenue is open to sell directly to the public.
We take great pride in everything that we do, which is evident once you taste any of our products. We use only the finest ingredients but the most important ingredient is love. We love what we do and you can taste the love and the quality.
One of our “best-sellers” is Shakoor’s Sweet Potato Cheesecake, which is the ultimate combination of a special blend of sweet potatoes and the finest cream cheese. We are certain that you will love it as much as we do.
We are equipped to provide small or large quantities of our Sweet Potato Cheesecake and many of our other products to suit your needs. Let us know what your needs are and we will customize a package for you.
Sincerely,
Shakoor and Marissa Watson
Owners of Shakoor’s Sweet Tooth