Wednesday, November 28, 2018

From The Living Archives Of Boston Veterans For Peace-They Ain't Your Grandfather's Veterans-Civil Disobedience And The Boston Common VFP Encampment On Memorial Day, 2018 As Part Of The Poor People’s Campaign-War Economy Week


From The Living Archives Of Boston Veterans For Peace-They Ain't Your Grandfather's Veterans-Civil Disobedience And The Boston Common VFP Encampment On Memorial Day, 2018 As Part Of The Poor People’s Campaign-War Economy Week  

[Ralph Morris who has lived in Troy, New York most of his life, been raised there and raised his own family there, went to war, the bloody, horrendous Vietnam War which he has made plain many times he will never live down, never get over what he did, what he saw others do, and most importantly for the long haul, what his evil government did with no remorse to people in that benighted country with whom he had no quarrel never was much for organizations, joining organizations when he was young until he came up a group formed in the fire of the Vietnam War protests -Vietnam Veteran Against the War (VVAW) which he joined after watching a contingent of them pass by in silent march protesting the war in downtown Albany one fall afternoon. Somebody in that contingent with a microphone called out to any veterans observing the march who had had enough of war, had felt like that did to “fall in” (an old army term well if bitterly remembered). He did and has never looked back although for the past many years his affiliation has been with a subsequent anti-war veterans’ group Veterans for Peace.  

Sam Eaton, who has lived in Carver, Massachusetts, most of his life, been raised there and raised his own family there, and did not go to war. Did not go for the simple reason that due to a severe childhood accident which left him limping severely thereafter he was declared no fit for military duty, 4-F the term the local draft board used. He too had not been much for organizations, joining organizations when he was young. That is until his best friend from high school, Jeff Mullins, died in hell-hole Vietnam and before he had died asked Sam that if anything happened to him to let the world that he had done things, had seen others do things, and most importantly for the long haul, what his evil government did with no remorse to people in that benighted country with whom he had no quarrel. As part of honoring Jeff’s request after Sam found out about his death he was like a whirling dervish joining one anti-war action after another, joining one ad hoc group, each more radical than the previous one as the war ground away, ground all rational approach vapid, let nothing left but to go left, until the fateful day when he met Ralph down in Washington, D.C.

That was when both in their respective collectives, Ralph in VVAW and Sam in Cambridge Red Front, were collectively attempting one last desperate effort to end the war by closing down the government if it would not shut down the war. All they got for their efforts were tear gas, police batons, and arrest bracelets and a trip to the bastinado which was the floor of Robert F. Kennedy stadium which is where they would meet after Sam noticed Ralph’s VVAW pin and told him about Jeff and his request. That experience would form a lasting friendship including several years ago Sam joining Ralph’s Veterans for Peace as a supporter, an active supporter still trying to honor his long- gone friend’s request and memory.

No one least of all either of them would claim they were organizing geniuses, far from it but over the years they participated, maybe even helped organize many anti-war events. One day their friend, Josh Breslin, who writes a by-line at this publication, and who is also a veteran asked them to send some of events they had participated in here to form a sort of living archives of the few remaining activist groupings in this country, in America who are still waging the struggle for peace.

Periodically, since we are something of a clearing house and historic memory for leftist activities, we will put their archival experiences into our archives. As mentioned above Sam and Ralph “met” each other down in Washington, D.C. during the May Day anti-war demonstrations of 1971 when out of desperation clots of anti-war radicals, veterans and civilians alike, tried unsuccessfully to shut down the government if it would not shut down the war. They “met,” their in forever quotation marks not mine, on the floor of Robert F. Kennedy football stadium after they had been arrested along with members of their respective collectives, Ralph’s VVAW and Sam’s Red Front Brigade after getting nothing but tear gas, police batons and a ride in the paddy wagon for their efforts. What they were doing, what for each of the them, according to Josh Breslin who met them shortly after they got “sprung,” also then a member of VVAW and also arrested by had been held in a D.C. city jail, were their first acts of civil disobedience. The first of a long time of such actions which is the lead in to the archival material presented in this piece.

Josh, who introduced the pair to me several years ago when I first came on board to manage the day to day operations of this publication after Allan Jackson, aging and ready to retire, brought me on board for that purpose so he could work on where the publication was heading. He mentioned the Washington action as their calling card although then, in 1971, I was about a decade too young to have realized what they were doing and how important it was for their future political trajectories, their political commitments to “fight the monster,” their term, on the questions of war and peace and other social issues. Not have realized, not having done any such actions how important civil disobedience, or the threat of such actions was, is to their political perspectives.

[By the way, as Josh was at pains under pressure from Ralph and Sam, to report to me that May Day action was not the first attempt by either man to “get arrested,” to “put their bodies on the line” as Sam articulated it to me one night when we were putting this piece together. May Day was just the first time when the cops, National Guard, Regular Army was willing, with a vengeance, to take them up on the offer. Both men had tried repeatedly to get arrested “sitting down” at their respective local draft boards in Carver and Troy in order to warn off young men on signing up for the draft. Maybe it was the nature of the times but the local police would not arrest them.]

As the following action announcement centered on Memorial Day, 2018 indicates they have never stopped “putting their bodies on the line.” Josh told me that the only difference between 2018 and 1971 is that they, and he include himself in this point, was that rather than do an action to court arrest they had changed their attitude to one of doing whatever action they were committed to doing and accepting the consequences. That would be Sam and Ralph’s position on Memorial Day when the local VFP leadership decided to encamp on Boston Common overnight as part of War Economy Week” (week three) of an on-going Poor Peoples Campaign on-going project.      

Mention of the Poor People’s Campaign should both ring a bell and be explained since the 2018 task were, are directly linked those in 1968. None of the men had had any connection to the original campaign in 1968 which had been organized and promoted by the late Doctor Martin Luther King before he was assassinated in April of that year and which was continued by other civil rights and social justice leaders after that into the summer of 1968. Josh was on in California as part of his extended Summer of Love experience before he got nailed by his draft board in Olde Saco, Maine. Ralph was in Vietnam and Sam was still busy supporting his mother and four sisters after his father had died suddenly. This point is important since none of them were active back then they grabbed onto the upcoming events with every hand.    

At every level it was a “no brainer,” Josh’s term for VFP to get involved with the 50th anniversary edition of the PPC since some many of the projected actions, including week three’s War Economy Week which would highlight the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) role in perpetuating war and draining resources from the continuing vexing social problems, social needs, around housing, homelessness, education, jobs and the whole smorgasbord of needs, especially as related to veterans who have increasingly been among those who are in need of a whole range of social services.

The idea of the forty-day Spring 2018 campaign was to have each week centered on a particular social issue, organize around that weekly issue and be committed to some very public social actions-including publicity catching civil disobedience. That is where the idea of the veterans’ encampment came to the fore which had some precedents with the Veterans march on Washington in the 1930s (suppressed by General “Dug Out” Doug MacArthur) and later in early 1971 on the National Mall. This is where the new-found notion of our guys of doing and action and accepting the consequences got a good work-out. They would keep the encampment overnight without permit (or rather overstaying the permit) and let the devil take the hinter-post) and see what happened. The big effort thus was to get enough veterans and supporters to made a splash and to defend the encampment-hence the plethora of announcements (In the event they said they could have gone either way-have the encampment stay overnight or have the police arrest veterans on sacred Memorial Day, the former happened). Site Manager Greg Green]   
 

In the interest of completeness, in the interest of archival norms we are including all of the announcements concerning the Memorial Day, 2018 activities mentioned above:

People Get Ready The Peace “Train” Is Coming-  If You Want To Join The Fight Against The Military-Industrial Complex Up Close And Personal-Looking For Night Owls- We Need Peace Team Members To Protect Our Poor People’s Campaign-VFP Encampment Monday Evening May 28th

Forward to anybody you think could help us Monday night into Tuesday
morning.

As all should be aware of by now we are planning an overnight encampment on Boston Common starting at noon on Monday Memorial Day May 28th and extending to about 11 AM on Tuesday May 29th - we need people who plan on staying overnight to be part of a peace team during the latter part of Monday from 6 PM through Tuesday morning around 9 AM -we expect to need 12-15 people in two or three person teams in shifts of two to three hours to protect the encampment and raise the alarm if necessary if something untoward happens during the night.    






Can you help by circulating this message to your network of contacts of people who might show after a personal appeal-thanks Al  


If You Want To Join The Fight Against The Military-Industrial Complex Up Close And Personal - Veterans For Peace and Supporters All Out- Memorial Day Monday May 28th and Tuesday May 29th  War Economy Week On Boston Common Are Your Days To Shine In Support Of The Poor People’s Campaign


Veterans for Peace and The Poor People’s Campaign Wants You - All Out!


This is a special appeal for all Veterans for Peace and their supporters in the Boston and New England area to show up and support the activities on May 28th and May 29th on historic Boston Common for at least part of either day. Al Johnson for the Smedley Executive Committee
********
The Smedley Butler Brigade, Chapter 9, Veterans For Peace has been a proud co-sponsor of the Poor People’s Campaign now in the midst of a forty day campaign to highlight the plight of the poor and oppressed peoples and communities in the United States (and internationally). We have already had two weeks of Monday actions in Boston.


Week three, War Economy Week, is obviously our week to shine since it will highlight the connections between the bloated war economy, the endless wars and the attempts to privatize the Veteran Administration services all of which directly affect the lives of the poor and oppressed. This week, these associations, and the huge possible impact are what we have been looking for now for many years. Here is your chance to be to on the front line of the fight against the Military-Industrial Complex.     


On Monday May 28th Memorial Day starting at noon on Boston Common members of Veterans for Peace, the Poor Peoples Campaign and their allies will conduct a day-long program centered on these issues. We intend to camp overnight in order to bring our concerns to various governmental agencies on Tuesday when those offices are open for business.


We will be pitching tents during this encampment, have literature tables, and have a speakers’ platform to let various organizations and individuals give their perspectives on the war economy and what to do about it. Since the State House will be closed that day for the holiday this week’s actions will be extended to a morning speak-out on the Common and a rally in front of the State House on Tuesday May 29th at 2 PM.

 Our Annual Memorial Day for Peace program will start at 3 PM at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial up the hill from the encampment.


We need you since we have many tasks that need to be taken care of now and on those two important days.   So, attention please - use this e-mail to volunteer for any of the following: helping set up tents, canopies, flags, banners, tables, chairs, and supplies; act as peacekeepers and marshals; help patrol the site during the night; help set up sound system and stage; contact other veterans and veterans organizations; make up banners, and help keep the site clean and clean up after our actions are completed.


Please, if you are planning on attending the activities either day or wish to help out with tasks now or then e-mail Dave Lucas  at davidlucas34@comcast.net    


Check our Facebook page and the Smedley Butler Brigade website for updates and other information during this coming week.  


We Are Getting Close- A Special Appeal - Veterans For Peace and Supporters All Out- Memorial Day Monday May 28th and Tuesday May 29th  War Economy Week On Boston Common Are Your Days To Shine In Support Of The Poor People’s Campaign


Veterans for Peace and The Poor People’s Campaign Wants You - All Out!


This e-mail sent is a special appeal for all Veterans For Peace and their supporters in the Boston and New England area to show up and support the activities on May 28th and May 29th on historic Boston Common for at least part of either day. Al Johnson for the Smedley Executive Committee
********
The Smedley Butler Brigade, Chapter 9, Veterans For Peace has been a proud co-sponsor of the Poor People’s Campaign now in the midst of a forty day campaign to highlight the plight of the poor and oppressed peoples and communities in the United States (and internationally). We have already had two weeks of Monday actions in Boston.


Week three, War Economy Week, is obviously our week to shine since it will highlight the connections between the bloated war economy, the endless wars and the attempts to privatize the Veteran Administration services all of which directly affect the lives of the poor and oppressed. This week, these associations, and the huge possible impact are what we have been looking for now for many years. Here is your chance to be to on the front line of the fight against the Military-Industrial Complex.     


On Monday May 28th Memorial Day starting at noon on Boston Common members of Veterans for Peace, the Poor Peoples Campaign and their allies will conduct a day-long program centered on these issues.


We will have literature tables, and have a speakers’ platform to let various organizations and individuals give their perspectives on the war economy and what to do about it. During the afternoon we will also have our annual Memorial Day for Peace program. Since the State House will be closed that day for the holiday this week’s actions will be extended to a morning speak-out on the Common and a rally in front of the State House on Tuesday May 29th at 2 PM.


We need you since we have many tasks that need to be taken care of now and on those two important days.   So, attention please - use this e-mail to volunteer for any of the following: helping set up tents, canopies, flags, banners, tables, chairs, and supplies; act as peacekeepers and marshals; help set up sound system and stage; contact other veterans and veterans organizations; make up banners, and help keep the site clean and clean up after our actions are completed.


Please, if you are planning on attending the activities either day or wish to help out with tasks now or then e-mail davidlucas34@comcast.net

Check our Facebook page and the Smedley Butler Brigade website for updates and other information during this coming week.  




Looking For Night Owls- We Need Peace Team Members To Protect Our Poor People’s Campaign-VFP Encampment Monday May 28th

Forward to anybody you think could help us Monday night into Tuesday  
morning.

As all should be aware of by now we are planning an overnight encampment on Boston Common starting at noon on Monday Memorial Day May 28th and extending to about 11 AM on Tuesday May 29th - we need people who plan on staying overnight to be part of a peace team during the latter part of Monday from 6 PM through Tuesday morning around 9 AM -we expect to need 12-15 people in two or three person teams in shifts of two to three hours to protect the encampment and raise the alarm if necessary if something untoward happens during  the night    

If you can help us out (Jeff and David are in charge) please use this thread to respond –thanks- the Smedley Ex Comm






A Personal Special Appeal - Veterans For Peace and Supporters All Out- Memorial Day Monday May 28th and Tuesday May 29th War Economy Week On Boston Common Are Your Days To Shine In Support Of The Poor People’s Campaign

Veterans For Peace and The Poor People’s Campaign Wants You - All Out!

This private e-mail sent to you personally is a special appeal for all Veterans For Peace and their supporters in the Boston and New England area to show up and support the activities on May 28th and May 29th on historic Boston Common for at least part of either day. Al Johnson for the Smedley Executive Committee
********
The Smedley Butler Brigade, Chapter 9, Veterans For Peace has been a proud co-sponsor of the Poor People’s Campaign now in the midst of a forty day campaign to highlight the plight of the poor and oppressed peoples and communities in the United States (and internationally). We have already had two weeks of Monday actions in Boston.
Week three, War Economy Week, is obviously our week to shine since it will highlight the connections between the bloated war economy, the endless wars and the attempts to privatize the Veteran Administration services all of which directly affect the lives of the poor and oppressed. This week, these associations, and the huge possible impact are what we have been looking for now for many years. Here is your chance to be to on the front line of the fight against the Military-Industrial Complex.     
On Monday May 28th Memorial Day starting at noon on Boston Common members of Veterans F    or Peace, the Poor Peoples Campaign and their allies will conduct a day-long program centered on these issues. We intend to camp overnight in order to bring our concerns to various governmental agencies on Tuesday when those offices are open for business.
We will be pitching tents during this encampment, have literature tables, and have a speakers platform to let various organizations and individuals give their perspectives on the war economy and what to do about it. During the afternoon we will also have our annual Memorial Day for Peace program. Since the State House will be closed that day for the holiday this week’s actions will be extended to a morning speak-out on the Common and a rally in front of the State House on Tuesday May 29th at 2 PM.
We need you since we have many tasks that need to be taken care of now and on those two important days.   So, attention please - use this e-mail to volunteer for any of the following: helping set up tents, canopies, flags, banners, tables, chairs, and supplies; act as peacekeepers and marshals; help patrol the site during the night; help set up sound system and stage; contact other veterans and veterans organizations; make up banners, and help keep the site clean and clean up after our actions are completed.

Please, if you are planning on attending the activities either day or wish to help out with tasks now or then e-mail Al Johnson at alfredjohnson34@comcast.net

Check our Facebook page and the Smedley Butler Brigade website for updates and other information during this coming week.  







A Personal Special Appeal -Veterans For Peace And Supporters All Out- Memorial Day Monday May 28th and Tuesday May 29th Od War Economy Week On Boston Common Are Your Days To Shine In Support Of The Poor People’s Campaign


Veterans for Peace And The Poor People’s Campaign Wants You-All Out


This private e-mail sent to you personally is a special appeal to all Veterans for Peace and their supporters in the Boston and New England area to show up and support the activities on May 28th and May 29th on historic Boston Common for at least part of either day. Al Johnson for the Smedley Executive Committee
********
The Smedley Butler Brigade, Chapter 9, Veterans for Peace has been a proud co-sponsor of the Poor People’s Campaign now in the midst of a forty day campaign to highlight the plight of the poor and oppressed peoples and communities in the United States (and internationally). We have already had two weeks of Monday actions in Boston.


Week three, War Economy Week, is obviously our week to shine since it will highlight the connections between the bloated war economy, the endless wars and the attempts to privatize the Veteran Administration services all of which directly affect the lives of the poor and oppressed. This week, these associations, and the huge possible impact are what we have been looking for now for many years. Here is your chance to fight the Military-Industrial Complex in person.


On Monday May 28th Memorial Day starting at noon on Boston Common members of Veterans for Peace, the Poor Peoples Campaign and their allies will conduct a day-long program centered on these issues. We intend to camp overnight in order to bring our concerns to various governmental agencies on Tuesday when those offices are open for business.


We will be pitching tents during this encampment, have literature tables, and have a speaker’s platform to let various organizations and individuals give their perspectives on the war economy and what to do about it. During the afternoon we will also have our annual Memorial Day for Peace program. Since the State House will be closed that day for the holiday this week’s actions will be extended to a morning speak-out on the Common and a rally in front of the State House on Tuesday May 29th at 2 PM.


We need you since we have many tasks needed to be taken care of now and on those two important days so use this e-mail to volunteer for any of the following: helping set up tents, canopies, flags, banners, tables, chairs, and supplies; act as peacekeepers and marshals; help patrol the site during the night; help set up sound system and stage; contact other veterans and veterans organizations; make up banners, and help keep the site clean and clean up after our actions are completed.


Please if you ae planning on attending the activities either day or wish to help out with tasks now or then e-mail Al Johnson at alfredjohnson34@comcast.net


Check our Facebook page and the Smedley Butler Brigade website for updates and other information during this coming week.  





A Personal Special Appeal -Veterans For Peace And Supporters All Out- Memorial Day Monday May 28th and Tuesday May 29th Od War Economy Week On Boston Common Are Your Days To Shine In Support Of The Poor People’s Campaign

Veterans for Peace And The Poor People’s Campaign Wants You-All Out

This private e-mail sent to you personally is a special appeal to all Veterans for Peace and their supporters in the Boston and New England area to show up and support the activities on May 28th and May 29th on historic Boston Common for at least part of either day. Al Johnson for the Smedley Executive Committee 

********
The Smedley Butler Brigade, Chapter 9, Veterans for Peace has been a proud co-sponsor of the Poor People’s Campaign now in the midst of a forty day campaign to highlight the plight of the poor and oppressed peoples and communities in the United States (and internationally). We have already had two weeks of Monday actions in Boston.

Week three, War Economy Week, is obviously our week to shine since it will highlight the connections between the bloated war economy, the endless wars and the attempts to privatize the Veteran Administration services all of which directly affect the lives of the poor and oppressed. This week, these associations, and the huge possible impact are what we have been looking for now for many years. Here is your chance to fight the Military-Industrial Complex in person.
  
On Monday May 28th Memorial Day starting at noon on Boston Common members of Veterans for Peace, the Poor Peoples Campaign and their allies will conduct a day-long program centered on these issues. We intend to camp overnight in order to bring our concerns to various governmental agencies on Tuesday when those offices are open for business.

We will be pitching tents during this encampment, have literature tables, and have a speaker’s platform to let various organizations and individuals give their perspectives on the war economy and what to do about it. During the afternoon we will also have our annual Memorial Day for Peace program. Since the State House will be closed that day for the holiday this week’s actions will be extended to a morning speak-out on the Common and a rally in front of the State House on Tuesday May 29th at 2 PM.

We need you since we have many tasks needed to be taken care of now and on those two important days so use this e-mail to volunteer for any of the following: helping set up tents, canopies, flags, banners, tables, chairs, and supplies; act as peacekeepers and marshals; help patrol the site during the night; help set up sound system and stage; contact other veterans and veterans organizations; make up banners, and help keep the site clean and clean up after our actions are completed.  

Please if you ae planning on attending the activities either day or wish to help out with tasks now or then e-mail Al Johnson at alfredjohnson34@comcast.net 

Check our Facebook page and the Smedley Butler Brigade website for updates and other information during this coming week.  




What Will I Do With the Baby-O Jean Ritchie Doc Watson

Patsy Cline - Crazy

Tulsa Queen, Emmylou Harris

Honor Native American Heritage Month In Real Way- Damn It- President Trump Pardon Native American Leader Leonard Peltier Now-He Must Not Die In Prison!

Honor Native American Heritage Month In  Real Way- Damn It- President Trump Pardon Native American Leader Leonard Peltier Now-He Must Not Die In Prison! 







Statement by the Committee For International Labor Defense 


Now that the bid by Amnesty International and others nationally and internationally seeking to get former President Barack Obama to pardon Leonard Peltier have gone for nought we supporters are between a rockand a hard place. The denial notice was for very flimsy reasons despite the fact that even the prosecutor does not know who killed those two FBI agents in a firefight at Pine Ridge. Hell it could have been friendly forces who knows sometimes in a war zone, and that was exactly what that situation was, who knows. (For a current example of another war zone on Native lands check the story on what the various local,state, federal and mercenary forces brought in by the pipe line company at Standing Rock. One false move, provoked or not, would have ended in a bloodbath according to a well-respected Vietnam veteran who along with a few thousand other vets showed up to defend the lands and water and  thought he was in the Central Highlands again.) 

All we know is that Brother Peltier has spent forty some years behind bars and has a slew of medical problems which would have let Obama pardon just on compassionate grounds. He didn't. Don't expect, we almost have to laugh even saying such a thing, one Donald J.Trump, POTUS, and maybe off to jail himself to pardon Leonard Peltier before his term of office is up.         

Still Leonard Peltier along with Mumia Abu-Jamal and now Reality Leigh Winner are America's best known political prisoners and need to be supported and freed. To that end we in Boston have committed ourselves to as best we are able to continue ot keep the Peltier case in the public eye by holding  periodic vigils calling for his pardon and freedom. We call on all Leonard Peltier supporters to keep his name before the public. Free Leonard Peltier-He Must Not Die In Prison     
*************
Latest Leaflet 

We demand freedom for Leonard Peltier!
Native American activist Leonard Peltier has spent over 40 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He was one of the people convicted of killing 2 FBI agents in a shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Reservation on June 26, 1975.  The others who were convicted with him have long since been released.  Prosecutors and federal agents manufactured evidence against him (including the so-called “murder weapon”); hid proof of his innocence; presented false testimony obtained through torturous interrogation techniques; ignored court orders; and lied to the jury.
In spite of his unjust imprisonment and terrible personal situation, being old and sick and likely to die in jail, he writes every year to the participants at the National Day of Mourning, which is held by Natives in Plymouth, MA in place of Thanksgiving, offering wishes for the earth and all those present and gratitude for the support he receives.  To read some of his statements, go to UAINE.org (United American Indians of New England).  That is also a good site for info about the National Day of Mourning and the campaign against Columbus Day and in favor of Indigenous Peoples Day.

Sometimes people claim that the US does not have political prisoners, but Leonard Peltier has been in prison for a very long time and even the FBI admits that they do not know who killed those FBI agents.  If Leonard Peltier dies in prison, it will be one of the worst miscarriages of justice in this country’s long history of injustice.
For more info and to sign a petition demanding hearings on the Pine Ridge “Reign of Terror” and COINTELPRO, a counter-intelligence program conducted against activists including Native groups, go to WhoIsLeonardPeltier.info.
Write to Leonard Peltier at Leonard Peltier, #89637-132, USP Coleman 1, P O Box 1033, Coleman, FL 33521.  Prisoners really appreciate mail, even from people they don’t know.  Cards and letters are always welcome.

This rally is organized by the Committee for Int’l Labor Defense, CForILD@gmail.com, InternationalLaborDefense.org.

In Harvard Square Cambridge, Ma Tuesday December 19th 5 PM to 6 PM The Committee For International Labor Defense (labor donated)

Free Native American Leader Leonard Peltier-Free “The Voice Of the Voiceless” Mumia Abu Jamal-Free Russian Interference Whistle-Blower Reality Leigh Winner-Hands Off Whistle-Blower Edward Snowden and all our political prisoners from this year’s anti-fascist struggles.   
Holidays are tough times for political prisoners- join us to show your support from outside the wall for those inside the walls so that they know they do not stand alone.  
******** 
Today the Committee for International Labor Defense (CILD) follows in the tradition of the International Labor Defense, established by the early Communist Party to mobilize labor and progressive-centered protest to free leftist political prisoners. An especially important tradition during the holiday season for those inside the prisons and their families.
Every political prisoner we honor today had the instinct and inner strength to rebel against the injustices which were there for all to see. They knew that if they fought those injustices in the face of governmental repression the prisons were part of the price they might have to pay for standing up for what they believed in.
The political prisoners of today, just as those in previous periods of history, are representatives of the most courageous and advanced section of the oppressed. They are individuals of particular audacity and ability who have stood out conspicuously as leaders and militants, and have thereby incurred the hatred of the oppressors.
As James Cannon one of the founders of the ILD said in The Cause That Passes Through a Prison- “The class-war prisoners are stronger than all the jails and jailers and judges. They rise triumphant over all their enemies and oppressors. Confined in prison, covered with ignominy, branded as criminals, they are not defeated. They are destined to triumph...”
This stand-out is organized by the Committee for Int’l Labor Defense, CForILD@gmail.com, InternationalLaborDefense.org.



Honor Native American Heritage Month- *The Trail Of 1000, No, One Million Tears- The Native American Struggle- “Broken Rainbow”

Click on title to link to "The New York Times Review" Of "Broken Rainbow".

DVD Review

Broken Rainbow, various commentators and Native American interviewees, Docurama Productions, 1985


Frankly, I have, other than a tribute to Native American folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie and many, many entries calling for the freedom of unjustly imprisoned long time Native American activist Leonard Peltier, not had occasion in this space to deal with the centuries long question of the injustices and horrors done to the Native Americans on this continent. This review of the film documentary, “Broken Rainbow”, acts as one attempt to spend more time on this issue. And in a sense this film fits neatly in with the other aims of the entries in this space; here to try and draw together the threads of the struggle for Native American rights with the other struggles of the labor movement.

In that sense this film is tailor-made for that connection. Why? Well, among other things, one of the key points made in this film is the trampling of Native American rights (and destruction of their cultural traditions) by the American government in the interests of the energy companies who exploit the minerals and other treasure on Native American lands in the West, focusing here on the ravishing of the Hopi and Navajo lands in the Southwest. And the prime example of acting in those interests as noted in the film was the relation between the Reagan Administration in the 1980s and the Peabody Coal Company. For those who know about the ‘exploits’ of this company in the eastern U.S. coal fields this connection is self-explanatory. For those who don’t viewing this footage will give a rather graphic picture of what the Kentucky and West Virginia miners workers went though in an earlier, more militant time.

That footage is the main political message to be taken from the film, at least that is how I took it. There are also other points made concerning the historic abuses of the rights and cultural expressions of the Hopi and Navajo tribes in the Southwest that are also in the center of the controversy here(destruction of burial and ceremonial sites, forced assimilation, etc.). Some time is also spent on the sorry history of attempts by whites, then (particularly in the 19th century) and now to, there is no lesser word to be used, decimate, the traditions and to “assimilate”, forcibly or not, the remaining Native American population. Or worst. The main importance of this film, however, and the reason that it was worthy of a film documentary Oscar back in the 1980s, is that it provides in capsule form and in a little over an hour all of the historic issues that are still unresolved if we are ever to make headway in order to bring some measure of justice to the original inhabitants of this continent. Oh, and by the way, just not lose sight of an important task still before us. Free Native American leader Leonard Peltier. That is always on the agenda. He must not die in jail.



To show, musically at least, the connection between the Native American struggle against the coal companies, , notably the Peabody Coal Company, here are the lyrics to John Prine's "Paradise". Sound familiar?

John Prine, Paradise Lyrics


When I was a child my family would travel
Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered
So many times that my memories are worn.

Chorus:
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill.

Repeat Chorus:

Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.

Repeat Chorus:

When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'
Just five miles away from wherever I am.

Repeat Chorus:

Bernardo Bertolucci Passes At 77-to Short Film Clips From The Class Struggle- Bertolluci’s “1900”

Bernardo Bertolucci Passes At 77-to Short Film Clips From The Class Struggle- Bertolluci’s “1900” 




Film Clip

1900, starring Robert DeNiro, Gerald Depardieu


This film is an interesting and visually very vivid attempt to come to grips with the agrarian question in early 20th century Italy through the device of intertwining the lives of a couple of generations of a landowner family and rural workers through the sons. The film takes one through the First War and its aftermath when there were real struggles by the Italian peasants (in conjunction with the working class in the cities) to fight for a socialist solution to the land question. The failure to win that fight was one of the conditions that led to the rise and success of fascism in the early 1920’s.


The highlight the film is the fight during World War II by the next generation of rural workers against fascism led by Communist partisans and the overthrow of Mussolini with the promise that again the socialist solution would finally occur. The most poignant moment is when at the behest of the local Communist leader (played by Gerald Depardieu one of the central characters of the piece) who had real authority in the struggle cajoled his fellows to put down their arms. At that point you know no socialist solution will occur, and none did. A very powerful and well-thought out movie.         

Honor Native American Heritage Month- From The Archives- The 1973 Occupation Of Wounded Knee-Free Leonard Peltier Now!

Click on the headline to link to a website, via Boston IndyMedia, that will describe the Wounded Knee Occupation of 1973.

Markin comment:

We have lots of unfinished business here. The first step, of course, is getting Leonard Peltier free. And now.

Jack White - Sittin' On Top Of The World - Cold Mountain Soundtrack



When The King Of Rock And Roll Held Forth In The Acre Section Of North Adamsville -In Honor Of The Generation Of ’68-Or Those Who Graced Wild Child Part Of It -On That Old Hill-Billy Down In The Hills And Hollows Come Saturday Red Barn Dance Father Moment
By Zack James

[Zack James has been on an assignment covering the various 50th anniversary commemorations of the year 1968 (and a few in 1967 and for the future 1969 which is to his mind something of a watershed year rather than his brother Alex and friends “generation of ‘68” designation they have wrapped themselves around) and therefore has not graced these pages for a while. Going through his paces on those assignments Zack realized that he was out of joint with his own generation, having been born in 1958 and therefore too young to have been present at the creation of what is now called, at least in the demographical-etched commercials, the classic age of rock and roll. Too young too for any sense of what a jailbreak that time was and a shortly later period which Seth Garth who was deep into the genre has called the ‘folk minute breeze” that ran rampart through the land say in the early 1960s. Too young as well to have been “washed clean,” not my term but Si Lannon’s since I am also too young to have been aware of the import by the second wave of rock, the acid rock period. Hell, this is enough of an introduction to re-introducing the legendary writer here. Lets’ leave it as Zack is back and let him go through his paces. Greg Green, site manager]    

Alex James was the king of rock and roll. Of course he was not really the king, the king being Elvis and no last name needed at least for the bulk of those who will read what I call a “think piece,” a piece about what all the commemorations of events a million years ago, or it like a million years ago even mentioning 50 or 60 year anniversaries, mean. What Alex was though was the conduit for my own musical experiences which have left me as a stepchild to five  important musical moments, the birth of rock and roll in the 1950s, the quick prairie fire called the “folk minute of the early 1960s and the resurgence with a vengeance of rock in the mid-1960s which for brevity’s sake call “acid” rock, along the way and intersecting that big three came a closeted “country outlaw moment” initiated by father time Hank Williams and carried through with vengeance by singers like Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, and Waylon Jennings, and Muddy Waters and friends blues as the glue that bound what others who write here, Sam Lowell, in particular calls the Generation of ’68- a seminal year in many ways which I have been exploring for this and other publications. I am well placed to do since I was over a decade too young to have been washed over by the movements. But that step-child still sticks and one Alex James is the reason why.

This needs a short explanation. As should be apparent Alex James is my brother, my oldest brother, born in 1946 which means a lot in the chronology of what follows. My oldest brother as well in a family with seven children, five boys and two twin girls, me being the youngest of all born in 1958. As importantly this clan grew up in the dirt- poor working- class Acre, as in local lore Hell’s Acre, section of North Adamsville where my mother, under better circumstances, grew up and remained after marrying her World War II Marine my father from dirt poor Appalachia which will also become somewhat important later. To say we lacked for many of the things that others in that now seen “golden age” of American prosperity would be an understatement and forms the backdrop of how Alex kept himself somewhat sane with music although we didn’t even have a record player (the now ancient although retro revival way to hear music then) and he was forced when at home to “fight” for the family radio to get in touch with what was going on, what the late Pete Markin his best friend back then called “the great jailbreak.”     

A little about Alex’s trajectory is important too. He was a charter member along with the late Markin, Si Lannon, Sam Lowell, Seth Garth and Allan Jackson, the later four connected with this publication in various ways since its hard copy start in the 1970s, of the Tonio Pizza Parlor corner boys. These guys, and maybe it reflected their time and milieu, hung out at Tonio’s for the simple reason they never had money, or not enough, and while they were not above various acts of larceny and burglary mostly they hung around there to listen to the music coming out of Tonio’s to die for jukebox. That jukebox came alive in maybe 1955, 1956 when they first heard Elvis (and maybe others as well but Alex always insisted that he was the first to “discover” Elvis in his crowd.) Quickly that formed the backdrop of what Alex listened to for a few years until the genre spent a few years sagging with vanilla songs and beats. That same Markin, who the guys here have written about and I won’t, was the guy who turned Alex on to folk music via his desperate trips to Harvard Square up in Cambridge when he needed to get out of the hellish family household he dwelled in. The third prong of the musical triad was also initiated by Markin who made what everybody claims was a fatal mistake dropping out of Boston University in his sophomore year in 1967 to follow his dream, to “find” himself, to go west to San Francisco for what would be called the Summer of Love where he learned about the emerging acid rock scene (drugs, sex and rock and roll being one mantra). He dragged everybody, including Alex if you can believe this since he would subsequently come back and go to law school and become the staid successful lawyer he is today, out there with him for varying periods of time. (The fateful mistake on the part of Markin stemming from him dropping out at the wrong time, the escalation of the war in Vietnam subjecting him later to the draft and hell-hole Vietnam service while more than the others unhinged him and his dream.) The blues part came as mentioned as a component of the folk minute, part of the new wave rock revival and on its own. The country outlaw connections bears separate mention these days.  
       
That’s Alex’s story-line. My intersection with Alex’s musical trip was that one day after he had come back from a hard night at law school (he lived at home, worked during the day at some law firm  as some  kind of lacky, and went to law school nights studying the rest of the time) he went to his room and began playing a whole bunch of music starting I think with Bill Haley and the Comet’s Rock Around The Clock and kept playing stuff for a long time. Loudly. Too loudly for me to get to sleep and I went and knocked on his door to get him quiet down. When he opened the door he had on his record player   Jerry Lee Lewis’s High School Confidential. I flipped out. I know I must have heard Alex playing this stuff earlier, but it was kind of a blank before. Background music just like Mother’s listening to 1940s stuff on her precious ancient RCA radio in the kitchen. What happened then, what got me mesmerized as a twelve- year old was that this music “spoke” to me, spoke to my own unformed and unarticulated alienation. I had not been particularly interested in music, music mostly heard and sung in the obligatory junior high school music class, but this was different, this got my hormonal horrors in gear. I stayed in Alex’s room listening half the night as he told me above when he had first heard such and such a song.

Although the age gap between Alex and I was formidable, he was out the door originally even before I knew him since at that point we were the only two in the house all the others in college or on their own he became something of a mentor to me on the ins and out of rock and roll once I showed an interest. From that night on it was not just a question of say, why Jailhouse Rock should be in the big American Songbook but would tell me about who or what had influenced rock and roll. He was the first to tell me about what had happened in Memphis with a guy named Sam Phillips and his Sun Record label which minted an extraordinary number of hits by guys like Elvis, Warren Smith, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee. When I became curious about how the sound got going, why my hands got clammy when I heard the music and I would start tapping my toes he went chapter and verse on me. Like some god-awful preacher quoting how Ike Turner, under a different name, may really have been the granddaddy of rock with his Rocket 88 and how obscure guys like Louis Jordan, Big Joe Turner and Willie Lomax and their big bop rhythm and blues was one key element. Another stuff from guys like Hack Devine, Warren Smith and Lenny Larson who took the country flavor and melted it down to its essence. Got rid of the shlock. Alex though did surprise me with the thing he thought got our toes tapping-these guys, Elvis, Chuck, Jerry Lee, Buddy Holly and a whole slew of what I would later call good old boys took their country roots not the Grand Ole Opry stuff but the stuff they played at the red barn dances down in the hills and hollows come Saturday night and mixed it with some good old fashion religion stuff learned through bare-foot Baptists or from the black churches and created their “jailbreak” music.

One night Alex startled me while we were listening to an old Louvain Brothers song, I forget which one maybe Every Times You Leave, when he said “daddy’s music” meaning that our father who had come from down in deep down in the mud Appalachia had put the stuff in our genes. He didn’t call it DNA I don’t’ think he knew the term and I certainly didn’t but that was the idea. I resisted the idea then, and for a long time after but sisters and brothers look at the selections that accompany this so-called think piece the whole thing is clear now. I, we are our father’s sons after all. Sons welded by twelve millions unacknowledged ties to those lonesome hills and hollows where the coal ruled and the land got crummy before its time and Saturday brought out red barn fiddles and mandolins an stringed basses with some mad monk calling the tune and the guys drinking home-made hooch and the girls wondering whether the guy would be sober enough to dance, hell, to ask for the last dance something out of  a Child ballad turned Appalachian mud by the time it got to the sixth generation fighting the land. Knew that they were doomed even if they could not appreciate in words their fate unless something like World War II exploded them out of their life routine like it had Dad when Pearl Harbor sent him Pacific War bound and then up north to guard some naval depot near North Adamsville toward war’s end. Alex knew that early on I only grabbed the idea lately-too late since our father he has been gone a long time now.                     

Alex had the advantage of being the oldest son of a man who also had grown up as the oldest son in his family brood of I think eleven. (Since I, we never met any of them when my father came North to stay for good after being discharged from the Marine after hard Pacific War military service, I can’t say much about that aspect of why my father doted on his oldest son.) That meant a lot, meant that Dad confided as much as a quiet, sullen hard-pressed man could or would confide in a youngster. All I know is that sitting down at the bottom of the food chain (I will make you laugh if you too were from the poor the “clothes chain” too as the recipient of every older brother, sister too when I was too young to complain or comprehend set of ragamuffin clothing) he was so distant that we might well have been just passing strangers. Alex, for example, knew that Dad had been in a country music trio which worked the Ohio River circuit, that river dividing Ohio and Kentucky up north far from hometown Hazard, yes, that Hazard of legend and song whenever anybody speaks of the hardscrabble days of the coal mine civil wars that went on down there before the war, before World War II. I don’t know what instrument he played although I do know that he had a guitar tucked under his bed that he would play when he had a freaking minute in the days when he was able to get work (which was less frequently than I would have guessed early one until Alex clued me in that non-job time meaning that he spent every waking hour looking for work and had no time for even that freaking minute to play some fretted guitar).  

That night Alex also mentioned something that hit home once he mentioned it. He said that Dad who tinkered a little fixing radios, a skill learned from who knows where although apparently his skill level was not enough to get him a job in that industry, figured out a way to get WAXE out of I think Wheeling, West Virginia which would play old country stuff 24/7 and that he would always have that station on in the background when he was doing something. Had stopped doing that at some point before I recognized the country-etched sound but Alex said he was spoon-fed on some of the stuff, citing Warren Smith and Smiley Jamison particularly, as his personal entre into the country roots of one aspect of the rock and roll craze. Said further that he was not all that shocked when say Elvis’s It’s All Right Mama went off the charts since he could sense that country beat up-tempo a little from what Smith had been fooling around with, Carl Perkins too he said. They were what he called “good old boys” who were happy as hell that they had enough musical skills at the right time so they didn’t have to stick around the farm or work in some hardware store in some small town down South.      

Here is the real shocker, well maybe not shocker, but the thing that made Alex’s initial so-called DNA thought make sense. When Alex was maybe six or seven Dad would be playing something on the guitar, just fooling around when he started playing Hank Williams’ mournful lost love Cold, Cold Heart. Alex couldn’t believe his ears and asked Dad to play it again. He would for years after all the way to high school when Dad had the guitar out and he was around request that Dad play that tune. I probably heard the song too. I know I heard Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies from the original Carter family or one branch of it. So, yeah, maybe that DNA business is not so far off. And maybe, just maybe, over fifty years later we are still our father’s sons. Thanks, Dad.       

The selection posted here culled from the merciful YouTube network thus represents one of the key pieces of music that drove the denizens of the Generation of ’68 and their stepchildren. And maybe now their grandchildren.   

[Alex and I had our ups and downs over the years and as befits a lawyer and journalist our paths seldom passed except for occasional political things where we were on the same wavelength like with the defense of Army whistle-blower Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley). Indicative though of our closeness despite distance in 2017 when Alex had a full head of steam up about putting together a collective corner boy memoir in honor of the late Markin after a business trip to San Francisco where he went to a museum exhibition featuring the seminal Summer of Love, 1967 he contacted me for the writing, editing and making sure of the production values.]