glenn - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-28T21:28:50Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/glennMarch Madness: Glenn Beck and the Death of Civil Rights.https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/march-madness-glenn-beck-and2010-08-23T06:14:49.000Z2010-08-23T06:14:49.000ZTheBlackListhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList<div><span style="text-transform:none;text-indent:0px;border-collapse:separate;font:medium 'Times New Roman';white-space:normal;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);word-spacing:0px;" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:19px;font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;" class="Apple-style-span">
</span></span><table border="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="line-height:1.5em;font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;" valign="top"><div><strong><font size="4">Paul Scott -</font></strong></div>
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<div>The date is August 28th 2010, and Glenn Beck stands before a crowd of 100,000 fellow Conservatives holding the severed head of a Martin Luther King Jr statue like a victorious Roman gladiator. With Sarah Palin by his side, he, triumphantly, yells, "free at last; free at last," as the civil rights leaders can only weep from afar...</div>
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<div>There is an old saying that if you love something, set it free and if it doesn't come back it was never yours to begin with; so it is with Glenn Beck and the Right Wing's, upcoming, "Restoring Honor Rally" which is scheduled to take place this Saturday in Washington DC, commemorating the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "March on Washington."</div>
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<div>Of course, some members of the civil rights generation are afraid that this is an attempt to kill their movement and are holding a counter rally called "Reclaim the Dream."</div>
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<div>What must be noted is that for many African Americans who came into political consciousness during the Hip Hop Era, the Civil Rights Movement died a long time ago, as its end game strategy of cultural assimilation has proven to be unable to cure the societal ills facing the black community.</div>
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<div>For nearly 50 years they have pushed a commercialized version of Dr. King's struggle for racial equality to this country. This is the version of black history that is easily co-opted by white America and of which Glenn Beck and others consider themselves the rightful heirs.</div>
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<div>However, there is a non-commercial version of the African American experience that the Right Wing will not touch with a 10 foot pole. This is the ideology embraced by many younger African Americans that includes black empowerment , black self determination and an Afro-centric world view.</div>
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<div>Can you imagine Sean Hannity holding one of his Freedom concerts at the site of the 1972 Wattstax Music Festival which commemorated the Watts Rebellion of 1965? Or do you really believe that Glenn Beck would hold an event on October 16 to commemorate the 1995, Minister Louis Farrakhan led, Million Man March/Day of Atonement and have a million white men gather to beg forgiveness for their crimes against non-white humanity?</div>
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<div>Of course not. These events are pretty much off limits. However, the March on Washington is ripe for the pickin'.</div>
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<div>Although, the conservative talking heads, constantly, refer to mainstream black leaders as "poverty pimps," who should not be in leadership positions, there is one major flaw in their criticisms. In some warped version of the Hegelian Dialectal Principle, they chose them. For the most part, the civil rights leaders have been ringers. (Or as we say in the 'hood marks.)</div>
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<div>Now, you have to give it to the Tea Party people , when they roll out to a march they come to chew tobacco and kick butt and at this point they are all out of Red Man. As for the civil rights folks, they put so much emphasis on easing ,unfounded, white fears of a bloody revolution that everything else kinda gets lost in the translation.</div>
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<div>"blah blah blah....NONVIOLENCE...blah blah blah"</div>
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<div>This lack of aggression does not go over too well with a generation who grew up on rap videos and Grand Theft Auto video games.</div>
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<div>Not to mention, the focus of the Civil Rights Movement on what writer Harold Cruse called "non-economic liberalism" is seen as outdated by members of a Hip Hop generation who consider black self -made millionaire entertainers as role models, some of whom got there start by selling cd's out of their car trunks.</div>
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<div>Also, for a community that is suffering from black on black youth violence, an over emphasis on "little black boys holding hands with little white girls" is seen as treason.</div>
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<div>As Hip Hop artist KRS once rapped "the civil rights leaders ain't seeing...they wanna be equal with the white...I wanna to be equal with the light...."</div>
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<div>As we move toward the mid term elections and King's, prophetic, "difficult days ahead," America will see the rise of a new movement of younger, more Afro-centric thinkers, writers, activists and historians who believe the keys to solving our problems do not lie in the minds of white Americans but are buried deep within our African souls.</div>
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<div>If more black folks knew the historical truth about Martin Luther King, instead of getting their underwear in a bundle over Beck's rally they would get quite a chuckle from the arrogant ignorance of the Right.</div>
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<div>For most people, their knowledge of Dr. Martin Luther King ends, immediately, after his "I Have a Dream Speech"of 1963. However, the remaining years of his life found him, increasingly, sounding more like a black militant Marxist -Leninist than the Southern preacher of the Montgomery Bus Boycott fame.</div>
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<div>Do the Right Wing champions of the white middle class realize that ,according to Kenneth O'Reilly in his book "Black Americans: The FBI Files," at the time of his death, King was planning a Washington Spring Project/Poor People's March which would have pressured the government to spend more money on the same social programs that are hated by Conservatives ?</div>
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<div>Also, how can a bunch of folks who pride themselves as being the major advocates of big business embrace the ideology of a man who, the night before he was assassinated, delivered a speech not only calling for economic sanctions against Coca Cola and Wonder Bread but also asking African Americans in Memphis Tennessee to take their savings out of the white owned banks and put them in black ones?</div>
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<div>Lastly, although the Tea Partiers constantly bash President Obama for hangin' with radical homeboys such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, according to Dr. Devin Fergus in his book, "Liberalism, Black Power and the Making of American Politics 1965-1980, the day of his assassination, King met with a gang called The Invaders, "a group patterned after the Black Panther Party" in order to "help the group secure funding for community programs."</div>
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<div>If a bunch of intellectually, challenged yahoos whose resident genius is Sarah Palin can 'jack an event held so dear to the civil rights folks, more power to 'em.</div>
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<div>Instead of "reclaiming the dream" we need to be reclaiming our history and cultural identity because ultimately, that is only the solution to our problems.</div>
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<div>As Dr. King said "Yes, I'm black and proud of it! I'm black and beautiful !"</div>
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<div>And that is something that Beck and company can never take away.</div>
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<div><em><strong>Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. For more information on the Intelligence Over Ignorance lecture series on Race, Rap and Revolution contact (919) 451-8283 or </strong></em><a href="mailto:info@nowarningshotsfired.com"><em><strong>info@nowarningshotsfired.com</strong></em></a></div>
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</tr></tbody></table></div>Tuesday, May 18th @ 9:30 AM Congressman Bobby Rush, Attorney Jim Montgomery Hold Press Conference With Family Of Anthony Kyser, Strangled To Death By CVS Employeehttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/tuesday-may-18th-930-am2010-05-18T06:44:07.000Z2010-05-18T06:44:07.000ZMark S. Allenhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/MarkSAllen<div><h1 class="entry-title"></h1><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><b><span lang="en-ca" xml:lang="en-ca">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:</span></b> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'sans-serif';"><font size="3">May 17, 2010 Stephanie Gadlin</font></span></p><p style="margin-left:1.5in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'sans-serif';"><font size="3"><span style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;" id="lw_1274157250_0" class="yshortcuts">(773) 224-6500</span> ofc.; <span style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" id="lw_1274157250_1" class="yshortcuts">(202) 286-9829</span> mobile</font></span></p><p style="margin-left:1.5in;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Stephanie.Gadlin@mail.house.gov" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:'sans-serif';font-size:9pt;"><font size="3">Stephanie.Gadlin@mail.house.gov</font></span></a></p><p style="text-indent:.5in;margin-left:3in;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="text-indent:.5in;margin-left:3in;" class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><b><span style="font-size:16pt;"><font size="3"><span style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;" id="lw_1274157250_2" class="yshortcuts">Congressman Bobby Rush</span>, Atty. <span style="border-bottom:medium none;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" id="lw_1274157250_3" class="yshortcuts">Jim Montgomery</span>, the Mother of CVS strangulation victim Anthony Kyser, area pastors and others to hold <span style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;" id="lw_1274157250_4" class="yshortcuts">Tuesday Morning</span> <span id="lw_1274157250_5" class="yshortcuts">News Conference</span> to ask for criminal charges against persons responsible for the man’s homicide</font></span></b></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="MsoNormal" align="center"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><b>CHICAGO—</b>In the wake of the recent strangulation death of a 35-year-old man by a <span id="lw_1274157250_6" class="yshortcuts">CVS store manager</span>, on <b><u>Tuesday, May 18 at 9:30 AM,</u></b> Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) will be joined by legendary <span id="lw_1274157250_7" class="yshortcuts">civil rights attorney</span> Attorney James D. Montgomery, Mrs. Ann Marie Kyser, mother of victim Anthony Kyser, <b><u>at a news conference at Beloved Community Christian Church, 6430 S. Harvard</u></b>. The lawmaker will re-issue his demand for the <span id="lw_1274157250_8" class="yshortcuts">Chicago Police Department</span> and <span id="lw_1274157250_9" class="yshortcuts">Cook County</span> States Attorney’s Office to file criminal charges against those responsible for killing the man accused of stealing toothpaste and crayons from a <span id="lw_1274157250_10" class="yshortcuts">CVS store</span> in the <span id="lw_1274157250_11" class="yshortcuts">Little Village</span> neighborhood. Ann Marie Balboa, the victim’s ex-wife, will also participate.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3">The lawmaker may also be joined by citizens who have come forward with other incidents of “shopping while black” at other CVS stores in <span id="lw_1274157250_12" class="yshortcuts">Chicago</span> and across the country. This will be the first time Ms. Kyser has spoken to the media regarding the horrific incident which she learned of while in church on Mother’s Day. Rep. Rush said police and prosecutors are strangely ignoring the loss of human life and “Anthony Kyser died at the hand of vigilantes,” who must be “held accountable for their acts that led to a man losing his life in an alley while a sworn officer of the law stood idly by,” he said. The man’s death was ruled a homicide by the <span style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;" id="lw_1274157250_13" class="yshortcuts">Cook County Medical Examiner</span> yet no criminal charges have been filed by authorities.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3">Incidentally, CVS Caremark was recently <span style="color:#383838;" lang="en" xml:lang="en">awarded a contract worth approximately $800 million to manage prescription-drug benefits for the city of Chicago and other <span id="lw_1274157250_14" class="yshortcuts">local government agencies</span>. The decision came despite a whistleblower lawsuit accused the corporation of bilking tens of millions of dollars from the state of Illinois from 2002 to 2005, when it managed the state’s pharmacy benefits.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#383838;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font size="3">A memorial service has been planned for Kyser <span style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;" id="lw_1274157250_15" class="yshortcuts">on Friday</span>.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><b><span style="color:#383838;font-size:14pt;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font size="3">RUSH/KYSER/CVS <span id="lw_1274157250_16" class="yshortcuts">STORE NEWS CONFERENCE</span>:</font></span></b></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><b><span style="color:#383838;font-size:14pt;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font size="3"><span style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" id="lw_1274157250_17" class="yshortcuts">TUESDAY MAY 18, 2010</span>; 9:30 AM</font></span></b></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><b><span style="color:#383838;font-size:14pt;" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><font size="3">BELOVED COMMUNITY CHURCH, 6430 S. HARVARD, CHICAGO</font></span></b></p><h1 class="entry-title"><font size="3">******************************************************</font></h1><h1 class="entry-title">Black Journalists, Activists, and Others Call On City Council Black Caucus To Seek To Rescind CVS Contract With City</h1><div class="entry-header pkg"><div class="entry-meta"><div class="userpic pkg"></div></div><div style="display:block;float:left;margin-left:0px;top:0px;" id="share-tools-wrapper" class="pkg horizontal-share"><h3 id="share-tools-title"><a class="smedia stumbleupon" title="Stumble this entry" href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagonow.com%2Fblogs%2Fand-the-ordinary-people-said%2F2010%2F05%2Fblack-journalists-activists-and-others-call-on-city-council-black-caucus-to-challenge-cvs-contract.html&title=Black%20Journalists%2C%20Activists%2C%20and%20Others%20Call%20On%20City%20Council%20Black%20Caucus%20To%20Seek%20To%20Rescind%20CVS%20Contract%20With%20City%20"><span id="stumbleupon-share"></span></a></h3></div>The original Letter was written by Mr. Glenn Reedus, Publisher of The South Suburban Newspaper and former Interim Executive Editor and Managing Editor of The Chicago Defender Newspaper with the request of Alderman Walter Burnett as Chair of The Chicago City Council Black Caucus and Black Council members to take the lead in The Chicago City Council to Rescind The $800 Million Dollar Contract With CVS Pharmacy., and today I am lending my voice as a veteran activist/journalist and to the public call on our City Council leaders to take a stand against CVS Pharmacy for it's role in the unnecessary death of an unemployed Black man, Anthony Kyser.</div><div class="entry-content"><p></p><p>Mark S. Allen</p><p>Associate Editor, The South Street Journal Newspaper &</p><p>Founder of The Black Leadership Development Institute, BLDI</p><p>449 East 35th Street, 1st Floor</p><p>Chicago, Illinois 60616</p><p>312-624-8351 or cell 773-392-0165</p><p></p><p></p><p>May 17, 2010<br />Hon. Walter Burnett<br />City of Chicago<br />Chicago City Council<br />121 N. LaSalle St. Room 300<br />Chicago, IL 60602<br /><br />May 17, 2010<br /><br />Hon. Walter Burnett<br />City of Chicago<br />Chicago City Council<br />121 N. LaSalle Room 300<br />Chicago, IL 60602<br /><br />Dear Alderman Burnett:<br /><br />I trust like so many Chicagoans you were shocked at the news that an alleged shoplifter at a Chicago CVS drug store was strangled to death by a store employee. Many of us were even more shocked and especially appalled and saddened that despite the medical examiner's ruling of homicide, the Chicago Police Department refuses to charge the assailant for this offense.<br /><br />Alderman Burnett, this incident sends a clarion signal that a Black man's life in Chicago is of little or no value - particularly if that man is ACCUSED of a crime. Even if we accept the story that Mr. Anthony Kyser did indeed steal toothpaste and crayons from CVS can you justify that those items were worth more than his life?<br /><br />Sir, it is imperative that the Chicago City Council - particularly the Black Legislative Caucus step in and take compelling action to address the death of Mr. Kyser. What I and others strongly recommend is the City of Chicago rescinds the Caremark-CVS contract the company "won" to manage pharmacy services for several Chicago entities-including the City.<br /><br />The City has already made a mockery of itself by awarding such a lucrative pact to a company that is under investigation for reportedly bilking the State of Illinois out of tens of millions of dollars. <br /><br />While some of your colleague may not recognize the significance of giving voice to this horrific matter; residents of Chicago, should be able to look to the Black Legislative Caucus as an exalter of justice and fair play. It is painfully clear justice and the Chicago Police Department are absolute strangers, as a voter, a Chicago resident, and a Black man; I expect much more from elected officials who share the deceased's ethnicity. <br /><br />Please help me understand, how in good conscience that the Legislative Black Caucus can 1) not speak with an authoritarian and sympathetic voice on the death of Anthony Kyser 2) award a contract to a company with such a questionable reputation when it comes to dealing with public sector clients.<br /><br />Page 2<br /><br />Walter Burnett<br /><br /><br />Mr. Burnett, you will be disappointed if you expect the balance of this letter to contain any demands, threats or innuendos. <br /><br />So many of us fully understand and accept that in every man's life he must take a stand on an issue. Often, that stand can be an easy one, because it is popular. There are other times when the stand is wholly uncomfortable because it means standing for what is right, but not necessarily popular.<br /><br />I implore to accept the discomfort of your leadership, and lead the way to telling Caremark-CVS that one of its own went too far in killing one of our own. Please rescind the $800 million contract and award it to the next lowest bidder-one without blood on its corporate hands.<br /><br />Respectfully<br /></p></div></div>