COMMONWEALTH CLUB, CHAUTAUQUA, TOASTMASTERS, TED TALKS, NPR – WHY SUCH GROUPS ARE IMPORTANT

COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY

BY LUCY WARNER

JULY 4, 2020

THE NAME “COMMONWEALTH CLUB” SOUNDS LIKE MOST OF THOSE FAUX PATRIOTIC ORGANIZATIONS WHOSE GOAL IS TO CEMENT FURTHER THE UNGENEROUS AND UNCARING POWER BARRIER TO HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT BY PEOPLE WHO COME FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS. TOO OFTEN, THAT IS WHAT MODERN-DAY “CONSERVATISM” REPRESENTS. THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO CALL A NATION WHICH IS PLAGUED BY POVERTY A “S-HOLE COUNTRY.”  IN SAYING THAT, THEY DO NOT SEE OUR COUNTRY AS BEING PLAGUED BY POVERTY. 

THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB, A LECTURE SOCIETY, FROM WHAT I’VE SEEN IS DIFFERENT. IT IS MORE LIKE CHAUTAUQUA, MADE UP OF WELL-INFORMED PEOPLE, BUT NOT CONCEITED OR POMPOUS IN ITS' PRESENTATION. ANYONE, IF THEY HAVE A COMPUTER AND AN HOUR OR SO AVAILABLE, AND WHO ARE WILLING TO SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO THESE PROGRAMS AND OTHERS LIKE THEM, CAN LEARN FROM WHAT SOME MAY CONSIDER TO BE "ELITIST” WEBSITES. LEARNING IS THINKING. THINKING IS LEARNING. THAT ISN'T ELITIST. IT IS BASIC.  A GOOD LECTURE OR DISCUSSION ON A SUBJECT THAT IS INVOLVED WITH LIFE STIMULATES NEW THOUGHT AND THEREFORE LEARNING. WHILE LISTENING TO A DISCUSSION LIKE THESE I WILL USUALLY FIND A WORD OR IDEA MENTIONED THAT IS UNFAMILIAR TO ME, WHICH I THEN QUICKLY SEARCH ON GOOGLE. IT ALSO IS A GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION. FRENCH WORDS IN PARTICULAR ARE A MYSTERY TO ME IN REGARD TO THE WAY THEY ARE PRONOUNCED AND SPELLED. 

SO, USING OUR HANDY COMPUTER, AS A WAY OF LEARNING LECTURES OR DISCUSSIONS TAKES LESS TIME THAN A BOOK, AND THEY GIVE ME THAT FEELING OF HUMAN CONTACT, THOUGH I WILL VERY OFTEN WANT TO GO TO THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THEY SAY. HEARING PEOPLE DISCUSS A SUBJECT OF IMPORTANCE OPENS UP MY INNER SELF FOR THE SHORT TIME OF THE LECTURE, AND TO ME, IT HELPS PREVENT LONELINESS. I OFTEN TURN  SOMETHING LIKE THIS ON AND LISTEN TO IT WHILE I COOK DINNER, EAT OR CLEAN UP THE KITCHEN. I DON'T HAVE TO LOOK AT IT TO UNDERSTAND IT. NOT EVERYONE WILL AGREE WITH THIS KIND OF PRACTICE AS A PRIORITY, BUT IT IS LIKE DOING EXERCISES WITH A GROUP. IT KEEPS ME MOVING ALONG.

THE CHAUTAUQUA MOVEMENT, ANOTHER LECTURE SERIES THAT IS BASED IN NEW YORK STATE, IS PARTICULARLY HELPFUL, AND THEY DO HAVE BIPOC (BLACK INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF COLOR)  AS SPEAKERS. SOME BIPOC SPEAKERS WHOM I HAVE SPOTTED ON THEIR WEBSITE  JUST NOW ARE: Wednesday, July 08, 2020 | 03:30pm EDT, African American Heritage House Lecture: Mustafa Santiago Ali; African American Heritage House Lecture: Fahamu Pecou; Janus Prize Celebration and Presentation: Joseph Earl Thomas, "Reality Marble"; and Stacey Abrams. A LIST OF SPEAKERS CAN BE FOUND AT THE WEBSITE: https://chq.org/season.

STACEY ABRAMS IS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO ME BECAUSE SHE IS CONSIDERED BY SOME TO BE A POTENTIAL VICE PRESIDENTIAL PICK FOR PRESUMED DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE JOE BIDEN IN 2020. I COULD HAPPILY VOTE FOR HER. TO WATCH ABRAMS' SPEECH, GO TO THIS FACEBOOK SITE. "CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION WAS LIVE ON JULY 17, 2019, AS SHE SHARED WITH THE PUBLIC,“THE ROAD TO A FAIR FIGHT: A CONVERSATION ABOUT VOTING RIGHTS.”   https://www.facebook.com/chq1874/videos/494955917908663.

IN ORDER TO DO MUCH SELF-EDUCATION, THERE IS A NEED FOR A COMPUTER AND INTERNET SERVICE IN THE HOME, OR IF NOT, THEN AT SOME COMMUNITY CENTER THAT IS EASY TO ACCESS. SOME CHURCHES MIGHT OFFER THAT TO MEMBERS, AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES USUALLY DO. IF A SEARCH ENGINE IS NOT AVAILABLE, THERE SHOULD BE A GOOD QUALITY COLLEGIATE PAPER DICTIONARY SUCH AS MERRIAM WEBSTER, AND IDEALLY A SET OF ENCYCLOPEDIAS IF THERE ARE CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE. EVEN IF THERE IS A COMPUTER ALSO, BOOKS MADE OF PAPER WILL STILL WORK WHEN THE ELECTRICITY BILL HASN'T BEEN PAID OR ALL THE BATTERIES HAVE BEEN USED UP. SO BUY AT LEAST A DICTIONARY. THERE ARE USED BOOKSTORES IF THE PRICE IS A PROBLEM. BOTH CHILDREN  AND THEIR PARENTS NEED LEARNING TOOLS WHEN THE CHILD IS IN SCHOOL. SOMETIMES KIDS NEED HELP.

PROVIDING COMPUTERS IS SOMETHING THAT I WANT TO SEE THE FEDERAL OR STATE GOVERNMENT DO, AT LEAST A LAPTOP WITH A BASIC INTERNET SERVICE, ESPECIALLY IF THERE ARE CHILDREN. OF COURSE, THE PARENT WILL HAVE TO INTERVENE TO KEEP THEIR CHILDREN FROM PLAYING VIDEO GAMES ON IT ALL DAY OR GOING ONTO SOME HORRIBLY DANGEROUS CHAT SITES, SUCH AS “THE SLENDER MAN.”  THAT IDEA THAT "HAND-EYE COORDINATION" IS SO VERY HELPFUL MAKES ME SUSPICIOUS. IT SOUNDS LIKE AN EXCUSE FOR WHAT IS NOT BEING TAUGHT TO THE CHILD. WITHOUT A COMPUTER, THOUGH, NONE OF THE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES RECOMMENDED BY TEACHERS CAN BE USED AT HOME. THAT IS ONE OF THE WAYS THAT POOR OR WORKING CLASS CHILDREN ARE LIKELY TO BE DISADVANTAGED.

ANOTHER THING WHICH SOMETIMES WE FEEL IS INTRUSIVE OR OFFENSIVE, BUT IT NEEDS TO BE SAID ANYWAY, BECAUSE IT IS A PROBLEM. IT IS THE NEED FOR LEARNING TOWARD THE MIDDLE CLASS AND GRADUATE LEVEL STANDARDS IN THE PRONUNCIATION OF WORDS. THAT IS THE KIND OF THING THAT GOING TO A PREP SCHOOL GIVES KIDS. WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT? BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THE BENCHMARKS FOR GETTING THAT “GOOD JOB” THAT WE ALL TALK ABOUT. AS LONG AS WE FEEL THAT OUR “GROUP IDENTITY” IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MAKING INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL PROGRESS, WE WILL HAVE A CLASS STRUCTURE WHICH IS AN ALMOST UNBREAKABLE BARRIER TO UPWARD MOBILITY. AS “ENRY IGGINS” SAID IN THE TRULY GREAT OLD PLAY MY FAIR LADY, “IT’S EEOOU AND GARN THAT KEEP HER IN HER PLACE, NOT HER WRETCHED CLOTHES AND DIRTY FACE.” ALL I MEAN BY THAT IS THAT WE HUMANS HAVE TO OPEN OURSELVES TO GOING “BEYOND OUR COMFORT ZONE,” BEFORE WE CAN MAKE MUCH PROGRESS. MOST EDUCATED PEOPLE FROM UNDERPRIVILEGED FAMILIES HAVE TWO LANGUAGES THAT THEY SPEAK FLUENTLY, ONE FOR HOME AND ANOTHER FOR WORK, WITH FRIENDS OR AT SCHOOL.

SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO THINK BEYOND OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND BOUNDARIES, AND THAT MEANS WE MAY HAVE TO RESEARCH THE MEANING AND PRONUNCIATION OF A WORD RATHER THAN FAILING TO DO THAT LITTLE BIT OF WORK; BECAUSE LEARNING NEW WORDS IN THAT WAY IS A BASIC PART OF THE SELF-EDUCATION PROCESS. IF A HOME DOES NOT HAVE A COMPUTER, AND I’M FAIRLY SURE A GREAT MANY THESE DAYS STILL DON’T, THERE NEEDS TO BE A GOOD PICTURED DICTIONARY FOR THE KIDS TO USE, SOME BOOKS THAT ARE FUN AND MEANINGFUL TO READ, AND IF POSSIBLE, SOME ENCYCLOPEDIAS. A BOOK OF OLD CLASSICAL POEMS WOULD BE GOOD ALSO. THOSE THINGS COST SOME MONEY, BUT IT IS A PERSONAL  INVESTMENT THAT NEEDS TO BE MADE AS LONG AS OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WON’T HELP PEOPLE WITH EVEN MORE BASIC FINANCIAL ISSUES LIKE FOOD AND MEDICINE. BY THE WAY, ANY HOME THAT CAN BUY A KID AN EXPENSIVE PAIR OF SPORTS SHOES CAN BUY BOOKS. NOBODY REALLY NEEDS "AIR JORDANS." I JUST PRICED THEM AND THE LEAST EXPENSIVE I SAW WAS $90.00. THE HIGHEST WAS $309.00. THAT IS THE KIND OF MATERIALISTIC THINKING THAT IS DRAGGING US DOWN AS AN ETHICAL AND MENTALLY HEALTHY SOCIETY. 

JUST TO EMPHASIZE THIS POINT, IN MY VIEW, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS “GETTING AN EDUCATION.” IT JUST ISN’T SOMETHING YOU CAN GO TO A STORE AND BUY, EVEN IF YOU HAVE PLENTY OF MONEY. IN THE VIEW OF SOME PEOPLE, OUR PRESIDENT, THOUGH HE PRESENTS HIMSELF AS HAVING LOTS AND LOTS OF MONEY, HAS NOT AVAILED HIMSELF OF THAT COMMODITY, OR SO IT SEEMS TO SOME. CONTINUING TO LEARN IS SOMETHING THAT WE MUST ACTIVELY DO, AND WHICH NOBODY CAN DO FOR US. PASSIVITY WILL GET US NOWHERE.

THE FOLLOWING TALK AND DISCUSSION FROM THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB IS BOTH INFORMATIVE AND ENTERTAINING ON SERIOUS SUBJECTS. THAT IS THE KIND OF LEARNING I LIKE BEST. FROM WATCHING SPEAKERS AT THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB WEBSITE, I SUSPECT THAT MOST OF THE ATTENDEES ARE WELL-TO-DO OR AT LEAST WELL-EDUCATED, BUT THE PRESENTATION IS  NOT POMPOUS OR OTHERWISE CONCEITED, AND I HAVE LISTENED TO THREE OF THEIR VIDEOS SO FAR NOW AND ENJOYED THEM VERY WELL. THEY DO HAVE “CONSERVATIVES” AS GUESTS, BUT THEY HAVE LIBERAL TO PROGRESSIVE PEOPLE ALSO. THIS ONE ON PRESIDENT TRUMP IS ONE OF THE BETTER INTERVIEWS I HAVE HEARD LATELY. I ESPECIALLY LIKE INTERVIEWS BECAUSE IN THE INTERPLAY BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE PEOPLE, I GET HINTS ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE REALLY LIKE AS PEOPLE. 

THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB FILM IS 1:08:48 HOURS LONG, BUT SITTING DOWN WITH A CUP OF COFFEE TO WATCH IT CREATES SOME GOOD HOME ENTERTAINMENT, WHILE WE ARE ALL MORE OR LESS IMPRISONED IN OUR OWN HOMES, TRYING TO AVOID BECOMING ILL WITH THE SHOCKING COVID-19 VIRUS, OR SPREADING IT TO SOMEONE ELSE. BY STAYING HOME, WE ARE DOING OUR PATRIOTIC DUTY, BUT THAT LEVEL OF INACTIVITY IS REALLY HARD FOR A CERTAIN PERSONALITY TYPE TO MAINTAIN. I HAVE SPENT THE TIME MOSTLY ON THE INTERNET. THIS IS TODAY'S ENTERTAINMENT.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQsY-bwuIWs 

1:08:14 MIN.

Jonathan Karl: Front Row At The Trump Show

91,132 views • Jun 21, 2020

UPS   1K    DOWNS   109

Commonwealth Club

68K subscribers

Veteran journalist Jonathan Karl has known and covered Donald Trump longer than any other White House reporter. And during this time he has been praised, has fought, and been branded an enemy of the people by President Trump himself.

Karl says we have never seen a president like this—norm-breaking, rule-busting, dangerously reckless to some and an overdue force for change to others. He goes on to argue that we are witnessing the reshaping of the presidency.

Get an extraordinary look at the president, the person and those closest to him. Karl will discuss the key moments defining the Trump presidency and offers his personal insights to what it is like being front row at the "Trump Show."

Speakers:

Jonathan Karl

Chief White House Correspondent and Chief Washington Correspondent, ABC News; Author, Front Row at the Trump Show; Twitter @jonkarl

In conversation with Nassir Ghaemi

Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine; Author, A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Health

Photo by ABC News

-www.commonwealthclub.org/covid19support

-Subscribe for more Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/commonwe...

-Upcoming events: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events

-Become a Member: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/memb...

-Donate Now: https://support.commonwealthclub.org/...

-Text DONATE to: 415-329-4231

****    ****    ****    ****   

BIPOC

COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY

BY LUCY WARNER

JULY 2, 2020

A NEW TERM HAS EMERGED CONCERNING MINORITIES, “BIPOC.” THAT IS A NEW ACRONYN FOR “BLACK, INDIGENOUS, PEOPLE OF COLOR.” IT REFERS TO A GROUPING OF ALL PEOPLE OF COLOR. IT IS HIGH TIME THAT SOMEONE SPOKE OUT LOUD ABOUT THAT ISSUE. AS MUCH AS I HATE WHITE SUPREMACY IN ITS’ IDEAS AND PRACTICES, IT HAS DISTURBED ME THAT THE BLACK COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE HASN’T SPOKEN OUT VERY OFTEN OR STRONGLY AGAINST THE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST OTHERS, ESPECIALLY THE AMERICAN INDIANS, BUT THE HISPANIC AND ISLAMIC GROUPS ALSO, OVER THEIR SKIN COLOR AND HERITAGE.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HIMSELF DID CALL HIS FAMOUS MARCH IN 1968 THE “POOR PEOPLE’S MARCH” ON WASHINGTON, AND HE SPECIFICALLY INCLUDED WHITES AND OTHER POOR GROUPS AMONG THEM. FOR THE POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN, GO TO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_People%27s_Campaign. SEE BELOW FOR SOME EXCERPTS FROM THAT ARTICLE.

I ALSO WANT TO REMIND READERS THAT POOR AND WORKING CLASS WHITE PEOPLE ARE INTENSELY STRESSED AS WELL AS PEOPLE OF COLOR (POC) IN AMERICA. AMERICA JUST DOESN’T PAY NEARLY ENOUGH ATTENTION TO HUMAN PROBLEMS IN GENERAL. WE ARE TRULY A MONEY OVER PEOPLE SOCIETY. ONE OF THE SHOCKING THINGS TO ME WHEN I GO INTO CERTAIN PARTS OF ALMOST ANY CITY IN AMERICA NOW IS THAT THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF HOMELESS PEOPLE SCATTERED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. LET’S ACTIVELY BE FAIR AND HELPFUL TO ALL WHO NEED IT. JUSTICE FOR ALL.

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE BLACK PEOPLE LIKE THE HISTORIAN JANUS ADAMS, QUOTED EXTENSIVELY IN THE STORY BELOW, LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE OF A DIRE NEED FOR WIDESPREAD AND DEEPLY RUNNING SOCIAL CHANGE. THE LIFE HISTORY OF BLACK PEOPLE IN A NUMBER OF PLACES IN THE WORLD, NOT JUST AMERICA, IS HORRIFIC, BUT IT IS NOT UNIQUE. THE NATIVE AMERICANS WERE ALL BUT EXTERMINATED, EXACTLY LIKE THE JEWS HAVE BEEN ACROSS EUROPE, SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY WERE THERE AND OCCUPYING THEIR LANDS. IN THE USA, IT WAS ESSENTIALLY A LAND GRAB, BUT OF COURSE WHITE SUPREMACIST HATRED OF ALL OTHERS WAS MIXED IN IT.

WHAT DISTURBS ME AS MUCH AS THAT HOSTILITY FACTOR, THOUGH, IS THE COLD-BLOODED WAY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOSTERED THE “SETTLEMENT” AND ANNEXATION OF LAND BY IMMIGRANT WHITES THAT BELONGED INDISPUTABLY TO THE INDIANS. WHEN THEY RESISTED THEY WERE KILLED. WHERE THEY SIGNED TREATIES, THE TREATIES WERE NOT HONORED, AND THE NATIVE PEOPLE WERE FORCED INTO RESTRICTED AREAS TO EXIST AS WELL AS THEY COULD. MOST OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE EAST WERE FORCIBLY MOVED OUT BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE WEST. THE BLACKS ARE THE GROUP IN THE EAST THAT RECEIVE THE MOST DISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT, BUT IN THE WEST IT IS THE INDIANS AND THE HISPANIC GROUPS OF ALL KINDS.

IN NEITHER CASE IS IT JUST OR ACCEPTABLE. ONLY A UNITED FRONT CAN PRODUCE THE CHANGE THAT WE NEED IN AMERICAN SOCIETY, AND THAT MEANS THAT BLACK LIVES MATTER NEEDS TO LET OTHERS IN AS ALLIES AND FRIENDS, GO TO HISPANIC OR AMERICAN INDIAN DEMONSTRATIONS OVER THEIR ISSUES, AND PARTICIPATE MUTUALLY AND EQUALLY IN ECONOMIC CHANGE OF THE SORT THAT SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS HAS ADVOCATED. I STRONGLY BELIEVE, FROM WHAT I HAVE OBSERVED OVER THE SPAN OF MY LIFE, THAT ECONOMIC ISSUES ARE AT THE ROOT OF THE RACIAL STALEMATE IN THIS COUNTRY. NO MONEY MEANS NO ADVANTAGES OF THE SORT THAT ALLOW A CHILD TO GROW UP WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. THAT HITS WHITE KIDS AS WELL AS BLACKS WITH THE SAME DAMAGING BODY BLOW TO THE INNER SPIRIT. IT’S HARD TO PULL YOURSELF UP BY YOUR BOOTSTRAPS WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE ANY BOOTS.

TO DO OTHERWISE THAN MELDING OUR FORTUNES TOGETHER MAINTAINS A STATUS QUO OF THE WORST KIND -- MUTUAL HATRED AND DISTRUST ACROSS GROUP LINES. THERE IS NO WIN WHEN SO MANY ARE LOSING. BESIDES, WE WILL LOSE TRACK OF WHAT THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA AT OUR BEST ARE ALL ABOUT – A HIGHER PLANE OF BELIEFS AND A BETTER ACHIEVEMENT OF THEM IN THE WORLD OF DAILY LIFE. IN A GREAT DOCUMENTARY INTERVIEW WITH MOTHER THERESA SOME YEARS AGO, SHE SAID, AND I’M PARAPHRASING IT, “SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO FEED THE STOMACH BEFORE WE CAN FEED THE SOUL.”

THEREFORE, I AM DELIGHTED TO SEE THE NEW GROUP CALLED BIPOC. IT FORMALLY AND SYMBOLICALLY MERGES THE PEOPLES OF THEIR VARIOUS SKIN AND LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTICS AS ONE IN COOPERATION AND RESPECT, WHICH MAY BE ABLE TO HELP MOVE AMERICA CLOSER TO THE DEMOCRACY MOST OF US WANT. THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT WE GIVE UP OUR INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS AND CULTURES. I WILL STILL BE ABLE TO GO TO THE SCOTTISH GAMES IF I MARCH WITH BLACK LIVES MATTER. THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL BLACKS OR JEWS OR HISPANICS BE RELATIVELY SAFE, PROSPEROUS AND FREE. NO PERSON’S LIFE IS EVER ENTIRELY SAFE, NOR OUR LIVES WITHOUT STRUGGLE, BUT OUR PRESENT SITUATION IN THIS COUNTRY IS INTOLERABLE.

IT ISN’T JUST WHITES WHO DO THOSE THINGS TO OTHERS, EITHER. IN AFRICA I REMEMBER A WAR OF ATTEMPTED EXTERMINATION (“ETHNIC CLEANSING”) IN AFRICA BETWEEN TWO ETHNIC GROUPS CALLED THE HUTUS AND THE TUTSI. IN JUST 100 DAYS, THE HUTUS KILLED SOME 800,000 MEMBERS OF THE TUTSI POPULATION IN AN ATTEMPT TO “CLEANSE” THE COUNTRY OF THEIR PRESENCE, PRESUMABLY BECAUSE OF SOME TAINT THAT THEY WERE BELIEVED TO POSSESS. THAT IS USUALLY HOW THE THINKING GOES IN THOSE CASES. X IS INFERIOR BECAUSE OF THIS OR THAT. IT IS SICK THINKING, AND WE NEED TO “CLEANSE” OURSELVES OF IT. ON THE TRAGIC CASE OF THE HUTUS AND THE TUTSI, GO TO: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26875506.

WE CAN START BY INTERACTING IN OPEN PERSONAL CONVERSATION AND MUTUAL RESPECT WITH INDIVIDUALS OF OTHER RACES AND RELIGIONS. SMILING AND SPEAKING IS A GOOD PLACE TO START. ONLY THEN CAN WE INDIVIDUALLY FEEL “SAFE” AMONG A GROUP OF THE “OTHERS.” WE NEED TO BRING BLACK LIVES MATTER INTO THE REALM OF A FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL INTERACTION RATHER THAN ONE OF SOMETIMES BARELY CLOAKED ENMITY. THAT’S A GAME THAT EVERYBODY HAS TO PLAY FOR IT TO WORK IN THE LONG HAUL.

THE LINK THAT TIES MOST WHITE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY TOGETHER IS THE VIEW THAT IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR RELATIVELY GREATER MONEY AND POWER, THEY MUST BE SUPERIOR. PROFESSOR ADAMS SPEAKS OF THIS NEW GROUP IDENTITY BIPOC THAT BINDS THE NATIVE AMERICANS WITH BLACKS AND OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR AS A “DISTRACTION.” A DISTRACTION FROM WHAT?

THE NEED IS FOR THE LESS AFFLUENT, BOTH WHITES AND RACIAL MINORITIES, TO BIND THEMSELVES TOGETHER WITH ALL PEOPLE OF A SIMILAR CONDITION, INCLUDING CERTAIN OTHERS WHO HAVE A LESSER CHANCE OF ADVANCEMENT AS SUCCESSFUL INDIVIDUALS IN AMERICA. I AM INCLUDING IN THAT THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY, THE DISABLED, THE MENTALLY ILL, THE ADDICTED AND THE HOMELESS, TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE BRICK WALL OF INDIFFERENCE THAT SURROUNDS THOSE WHOSE LIVES ARE EASIER. “NOT IN MY BACK YARD” IS THEIR BATTLE CRY. THERE WILL BE NO GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED HOUSING OR HALFWAY HOUSES IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD!

BONDING TOGETHER IN THAT WAY, WE CAN WORK ACTIVELY TO ELECT BETTER AND MORE SYMPATHETIC REPRESENTATIVES AND LEADERS, REGISTER EVERYONE TO VOTE, SET UP USEFUL INTERACTIONS LIKE TOWN MEETINGS ON ISSUES OF INTEREST OR CONCERN, ACTUALLY RUN FOR OFFICE FROM THE CITY COUNCIL LEVEL ALL THE WAY UP TO THE CONGRESS AND EVEN TO THE PRESIDENCY. THE WILLINGNESS TO GET OUT IN THE STREET AND DEMONSTRATE OR MARCH IS A VITAL PART OF THAT ALSO, BUT MORE IS REQUIRED.

I HAVE BEEN IMPRESSED WITH THE BLACK LIVES MATTER PEOPLE I’VE SEEN EXCEPT FOR ONE THING. THEY HAVE SOMETIMES EXCLUDED, AND RUDELY SO, WHITES AND OTHER NON-BLACK PEOPLE WHO “DARED” TO JOIN IN WITH THEM OR SPEAK ON WHAT THEY CONSIDER TO BE “THEIR” ISSUES. WE ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER. GOOD WILL GOES BOTH WAYS. GROUP IDENTITY IS GOOD FOR DEVELOPING PRIDE IN OUR OWN CULTURAL TIES, BUT IF IT PREVENTS OUR NECESSARY INNER WORK AS AN INDIVIDUAL TOWARD A MORE ENLIGHTENED AND BETTER SELF, AND IF IT DIVIDES WHAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE A BROADER AND STRONGER MOVEMENT THAT CAN PROVIDE MAXIMUM PRESSURE ON THOSE WHO OPPRESS US, IT IS NO LONGER AN ADVANTAGE. RIGHT? I THINK THAT IS AN OBVIOUS TRUTH.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bipoc-meaning-where-does-it-come-from-2020-04-02/

BIPOC: What does it mean and where does it come from?

BY CHEVAZ CLARKE

JULY 2, 2020 / 10:04 AM / CBS NEWS

The language used to describe racial minorities has fueled controversy in the United States for centuries. POC is widely used as an umbrella term for all people of color, but now a different acronym is suddenly gaining traction on the internet — BIPOC, which stands for “Black, Indigenous, People of Color”.

People are using the term to acknowledge that not all people of color face equal levels of injustice. They say BIPOC is significant in recognizing that Black and Indigenous people are severely impacted by systemic racial injustices.

According to Google Trends, the use of the acronym began to spike in May 2020, coinciding with the growing Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.

Founders of "The BIPOC Project" use the term to "highlight the unique relationship to Whiteness that Indigenous and Black (African Americans) people have, which shapes the experiences of and relationship to white supremacy for all people of color within a U.S. context."

But where does it come from?

Tara Young, a director at UC Berkeley who identifies as Black, Native American, Cherokee and Creek, believes the use of the term is a product of younger generations, but she appreciates its attempt to reflect both Black and Indigenous cultures.

"With older generations, they were so pushed to just choose one. You don't see a lot of people who are like 'I am Black, Native American,' or Black Indigenous in this case," she told CBS News. "It's trying to reflect both which I think is actually nice."

TRENDING NEWS

*A second stimulus check? Here's how much you could get

*Jeffrey Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell arrested by FBI

*Man who posted regret about going out died of coronavirus a day later

*Democratic senator blocks 1,123 military promotions over impeachment witness

David Dent, an associate professor of journalism and social and cultural analysis at New York University, said he is open to using the term to recognize the struggles that people in Black and Indigenous communities share.

[https://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/faculty/david-dent.html]

"In some ways, it connects Native Americans or Indigenous Americans more firmly to the cause — to the continued threats of racism in our society. I think that on some level that connection hasn't always been cemented," Dent told CBS News. "It is important, certainly at this moment, to help draw a significant connection."

Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, also believes the term provides a foundation of unity.

"Many of our communities have a common foundation of civil rights challenges," she said. "While we do have strength in our individual identities, as Native people, as Black people, we also have within our communities a unity of our citizenry. Some of our citizens face challenges, both as an Indigenous person and as a Black person and that intersection of challenges, presents a unique position."

The coronavirus pandemic is taking an especially heavy toll on Black Americans, from high rates of unemployment to increased risk of infection. Sharp said the Indigenous community also shares those same elevated risks.

"We're dying in high numbers all related to the same systemic racism, the same systemic oppression and inequality and inability to access just basic resources and food that other people take for granted. We have to fight for it and we struggle to just have a baseline level of quality of life," she said.

"Those are the kind of things that draw people together."

Sharp said those areas of common interest are why it is important to have acronyms like BIPOC - to reinforce the collective experience between Black and Indigenous people.

"Somebody who identifies with the Indigenous communities of this country can feel the pain and suffering that has gone on for centuries of genocide," she continued. "And then to have another part of your identity of history, where your ancestors were enslaved generation after generation, and to have the pain of the failure of this country to reconcile build, generation after generation — when those two historical traumas intersect in a single human being, it's quite empowering and it's quite different."

VIDEO – UNDERSTANDING JUNETEENTH’S SIGNIFICANCE, 08:29

But not everyone is convinced about the positive impact of embracing the term. Janus Adams, a historian who was one of the first children to desegregate the New York City public schools, argues that BIPOC is "a distraction."

"As long as this country has been in existence, it's been a racial moment. The idea that White people are White people, but everybody else is a group? I have no problem with that for an alliance or organization because there are similar experiences of racism. But the idea that identity should be conflated, I think is ludicrous."

Instead, Adams would prefer if we referred to Indigenous Americans by their individual tribes.

"If we're able to know the difference or hear that there is a difference between French, Austrian, English, Welsh, then why can't we know that there's Sioux, Cherokee, Shinnecock, Mohican, why can't we know that and why shouldn't we know that? This is a continuation of taking away the identity of these people," she said.

"Everyone but White people lose their identity. White people keep their identity. White people keep their racial/cultural, nation-state, heritage identities, but Black people, Indigenous people, Asian people, Latino people all get subsumed into something."

Adams believes that using the term leads the public on a "dangerous" path that could lead Black people to another struggle for their identity. "We've already been through that. We've been through White and non-White. We've been through White and colored. I don't need another acronym to go back to that."

She suspects the development of this term lends itself to the lack of historical education seen among younger generations.

"If you don't know your past, you really don't know where you're going and then that brings us right back to a path that we worked so hard to overcome," Adams said. "They want to ally with each other. And they want to honor the fact that they're all in that together. But that is not the way to do it."

First published on June 30, 2020 / 10:41 AM

© 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_People%27s_Campaign

Poor People's Campaign

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the 1968 US anti-poverty campaign. For the 2018 US anti-poverty campaign, see Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival.

[A READER OR EDITOR HAS OBJECTED TO THE STYLE OF THIS ARTICLE AND SUGGESTED CHANGES: This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (April 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)]

The Poor People's Campaign, or Poor People's March on Washington, was a 1968 effort to gain economic justice for poor people in the United States. It was organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and carried out under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy in the wake of King's assassination.

The campaign demanded economic and human rights for poor Americans of diverse backgrounds. After presenting an organized set of demands to Congress and executive agencies, participants set up a 3,000-person protest camp on the Washington Mall, where they stayed for six weeks in the spring of 1968.

The Poor People's Campaign was motivated by a desire for economic justice: the idea that all people should have what they need to live. King and the SCLC shifted their focus to these issues after observing that gains in civil rights had not improved the material conditions of life for many African Americans. The Poor People's Campaign was a multiracial effort—including African Americans, white Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans—aimed at alleviating poverty regardless of race.[1][2]

According to political historians such as Barbara Cruikshank, "the poor" did not particularly conceive of themselves as a unified group until President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty (declared in 1964) identified them as such.[3] Figures from the 1960 census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Commerce Department, and the Federal Reserve estimated anywhere from 40 to 60 million Americans—or 22 to 33 percent—lived below the poverty line. At the same time, the nature of poverty itself was changing as America's population increasingly lived in cities, not farms (and could not grow its own food).[4] Poor African Americans, particularly women, suffered from racism and sexism that amplified the impact of poverty, especially after "welfare mothers" became a nationally recognized concept.[5]

By 1968, the War on Poverty seemed like a failure, neglected by a Johnson administration (and Congress) that wanted to focus on the Vietnam War and increasingly saw anti-poverty programs as primarily helping African Americans.[6] The Poor People's Campaign sought to address poverty through income and housing. The campaign would help the poor by dramatizing their needs, uniting all races under the commonality of hardship and presenting a plan to start to a solution.[7] Under the "economic bill of rights," the Poor People's Campaign asked for the federal government to prioritize helping the poor with a $30 billion anti-poverty package that included, among other demands, a commitment to full employment, a guaranteed annual income measure and more low-income housing.[8] The Poor People's Campaign was part of the second phase of the civil rights movement. King said, "We believe the highest patriotism demands the ending of the war and the opening of a bloodless war to final victory over racism and poverty".[9]

King wanted to bring poor people to Washington, D.C., forcing politicians to see them and think about their needs: "We ought to come in mule carts, in old trucks, any kind of transportation people can get their hands on. People ought to come to Washington, sit down if necessary in the middle of the street and say, 'We are here; we are poor; we don't have any money; you have made us this way ... and we've come to stay until you do something about it.'"[10]

Development

Idea

The Poor People's Campaign had complex origins. King considered bringing poor people to the nation's capital since at least October 1966, when welfare rights activists held a one-day march on the Mall.[11] In May 1967 during a SCLC retreat in Frogmore, South Carolina, King told his aides that the SCLC would have to raise nonviolence to a new level to pressure Congress into passing an Economic Bill of Rights for the nation's poor. The SCLC resolved to expand its civil rights struggle to include demands for economic justice and to challenge the Vietnam War.[12] In his concluding address to the conference, King announced a shift from "reform" to "revolution" and stated: "We have moved from the era of civil rights to an era of human rights."[13]

****    ****    ****    ****    

            

SEND IN THE TROOPS – THE INFAMOUS TOM COTTON OP-ED

COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY

BY LUCY WARNER

JULY 2, 2020

THIS IS A PDF WHICH WILL NOT COPY, SO PLEASE GO TO THE BEAST AT THE SITE BELOW. IT IS THE FULL TEXT OF TOM COTTON’S “SEND IN THE TROOPS” OP-ED WHICH CAUSED TOTAL CHAOS WITHIN THE NEW YORK TIMES STAFF, AND ENGENDERED AVOWED CHANGES TO EDITORIAL POLICY. HOW LONG WILL THAT LAST, I WONDER?

DO GO TO THE WEBSITE HERE TO READ GORENBURG’S FINAL WORK. THE FINISHED RESULT IS PRESENTED BELOW FROM DOCS.GOOGLE.COM FOR THOSE WHO WANT A COPY; BUT TO READ COTTON’S ORIGINAL, WHICH IS INSTRUCTIVE FOR ELECTION TIME, SEE THE BEAST ARTICLE WITH THE RED PENCILED CHANGES. IT IS EQUALLY PROFOUND AND FUNNY.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-fixed-tom-cottons-new-york-times-op-ed

Opinion: I Fixed Tom Cotton’s Op-Ed

YOU’RE WELCOME

OPINION

Dmitry Gorenburg

Updated Jun. 04, 2020 7:36PM ET / Published Jun. 04, 2020 3:27PM ET

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photo Andrew Harnik/Getty

Graphic by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast / Photo Alex Wong/Getty

Click here to read Dmitry Gorenburg’s edit of Tom Cotton’s Op-Ed, with links.

FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF GORENBURG’S FINISHED PRODUCT, GO TO DOCS.GOOGLE.COM. IT IS A WORK OF ART, AND FULL OF INFORMATION TO BOOT. ENJOY! I HAVE SINFULLY UNDERLINED SEVERAL PARTS IN THE LAST FEW PARAGRAPHS, PARTLY TO POINT UP INFORMATION, AND PARTLY AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CHEERING OUT LOUD. I DON'T WANT TO DISTURB THE NEIGHBORS.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gLJ7IaOsAcc1c1qsRaVrO4HHAKebVEbmUT7589M4F20/edit

Disband the Police

By Dmitry Gorenburg

This week, police have plunged many American cities into anarchy, recalling the widespread violence of the 1960s.

New York City suffered the worst of the riots Monday night, as Mayor Bill de Blasio stood by while Midtown Manhattan descended into lawlessness. Bands of officers roved the streets, attacking hundreds of peaceful protesters. Some even drove exotic armored vehicles; the riots were carnivals for thrill-seeking white supremacists as well as other criminal elements working in police departments.

As usual, African-Americans, encumbered by racist politicians, bore the brunt of the violence. In New York State, police officers ran into protesters with cars on at least one occasion. In San Francisco, a protester is dead after being shot five times by a police officer while he was kneeling. In Louisville, a local business owner was killed by police officers as they attempted to disperse a group of protesters; in a separate incident, a 22-year-old man was shot to death by a bar owner as he tried to stop the man from shooting into a crowd after an argument. The county attorney refused to charge the shooter because he claimed self-defense.

Some elites have excused this orgy of violence in the spirit of law and order, calling it an understandable response to an orgy of violence and looting. Those excuses are built on a revolting moral equivalence of state-sponsored agents of terror to law-abiding agents of the peace. A majority who seek to protect society shouldn’t be confused with bands of miscreants.

But the police violence has nothing to do with George Floyd, whose bereaved relatives have condemned violence. On the contrary, white supremacist police officers are simply out to suppress legitimate expressions of grief and rage, with cadres of right-wing radicals like boogaloo infiltrating protest marches to exploit Floyd’s death for their own anarchic purposes.

These cops, if not subdued, not only will destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens but will also take more innocent lives. Many poor communities that still bear scars from past police riots will be set back still further.

One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of peaceful protest to shame, resist, and ultimately deter lawbreaking cops. But local activists in some cities desperately need backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do what’s necessary to restrain the police.

The pace of police violence and attacks on protesters may fluctuate from night to night, but it’s past time to disband local police departments and replace them with community-based policing. Some governors have mobilized the National Guard, who have generally refrained from indiscriminate violence against peaceful protesters. Meanwhile, authoritarian-minded politicians still advocate for the president to invoke the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to employ the military “or any other means” in “cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws.”

This venerable law, nearly as old as our republic itself, doesn’t amount to “martial law” or the end of democracy, as some excitable critics, ignorant of both the law and our history, have comically suggested. In fact, the federal government has a constitutional duty to the states to “protect each of them from domestic violence.” Throughout our history, presidents have exercised this authority on dozens of occasions to protect law-abiding citizens from disorder. In recent history, it has been used most often to protect peaceful Americans from violent white supremacist cops and politicians. In other cases it was used to support local authority, after an explicit request by a state governor. It does not violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which constrains the military’s role in law enforcement but expressly excepts statutes such as the Insurrection Act.

For instance, during the 1950s and 1960s, Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson called out the military when racist politicians and local law enforcement incited mobs that prevented school desegregation or threatened innocent lives and property. This happened in Tom Cotton’s own state, Arkansas. Gov. Orval Faubus, a racist politician, mobilized the National Guard in 1957 to obstruct desegregation at Little Rock Central High School. President Eisenhower federalized the Guard and called in the 101st Airborne in response. The failure to do so, he said, “would be tantamount to acquiescence in anarchy.”

More recently, President George H.W. Bush ordered the Army’s Seventh Infantry and 1,500 Marines to protect the status quo in Los Angeles during protests in response to another set of police officers being allowed to get away with attempted murder after the beating of Rodney King in 1992. He acknowledged his disgust at Rodney King’s treatment — “what I saw made me sick” — but he knew mass protests might spiral out of control and threaten the system of white privilege on which our country was based.

Not surprisingly, public opinion is on the side of the protesters, not the white supremacist cops and politicians. According to a recent poll, 64 percent of American adults were “sympathetic to people who are out protesting right now,” while 55 percent said they disapproved of President’s Trump’s handling of the protests. Only 43 percent of respondents believed that police were doing a good job, while 47 percent disagreed.  That opinion may not appear often on Fox News, but widespread opposition to police tactics is fact nonetheless.

The American people aren’t blind to injustices in our society, but they know that the most basic responsibility of government is to maintain public order and safety. Police describe their job as maintaining public safety and defending law and order. But the evidence is clear that throughout history police have actually served to defend the property of the wealthy and powerful while oppressing the rest of the population. In normal times, local communities can keep predatory cops at bay. But in rare moments, like ours today, more is needed, even if many politicians prefer to wring their hands while the police stoke the fires. The answer is to defund and disband existing police departments and to replace them with a community-based approach to protecting society that has a track record of reducing both police violence and other crime. In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd and the police riot that followed, Minneapolis is considering this approach. Hopefully other cities will follow.

****    ****    ****    ****