> WW News Service Digest #40
>
> 1) Environmentalists hit Gore in expulsion of U'wa people
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 2) Cops shot Diallo while he was on the ground
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 3) Albert Nuh Washington: "I am a political prisoner"
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 4) A must read: "A Voice From Harper's Ferry"
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 5) Serbian composer dedicates performance piece to Mumia
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 6) Feb. 19 protests in U.S. to demand Elian's return
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 7) Canadian student strike!
> by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
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>Message-ID: <008f01bf74f7$6da9ec60$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Environmentalists hit Gore in expulsion of U'wa people
>Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 20:21:02 -0500
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
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>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 17, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM IN COLOMBIA:
>
>ENVIRONMENTALISTS HIT GORE
>IN EXPULSION OF U'WA PEOPLE
>
>By Deirdre Griswold
>
>Occidental Petroleum's expulsion of Indigenous U'wa people
>from their land in the cloud forests of Colombia has sparked
>protests in the United States and around the world--and
>brought to light Vice President Al Gore's oil company
>connections.
>
>Gore, the front-runner for the Democratic Party's
>presidential nomination, has for years positioned himself as
>an environmentalist. He is author of the best-selling book
>"Earth in the Balance," from which he has earned over a
>million dollars in royalties.
>
>But Gore also has close connections to Big Oil, which
>environmental scientists see as the most important obstacle
>to reversing serious climate change caused by global
>warming. For over a decade, the oil and coal companies have
>been obstructing any international agreements that would
>impose limits on emission of "greenhouse" gases, caused by
>burning oil and coal, or would focus government monies on
>developing alternative energy sources.
>
>The recently published book "The Carbon War" by petroleum
>scientist Jeremy Leggett, available only in Britain, details
>the intense lobbying by the oil giants at every
>international conference on global warming over the last
>decade.
>
>Gore's father, Sen. Albert Gore Sr., became known as the
>senator from Occidental Petroleum. When he lost his Senate
>seat in 1970, Oxy CEO Armand Hammer made him president of
>Island Creek Coal--at that time the third-biggest coal
>company in the United States and owned by Oxy.
>
>Later, Gore senior became vice president and board member
>of the oil giant itself, at an annual salary of $750,000.
>
>The current Oxy CEO, Ray Irani, has been a frequent
>visitor to the Clinton-Gore White House. After one of those
>fabled nights in the Lincoln bedroom in 1996, he donated
>$100,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
>
>Over the last 25 years, Gore junior has received over
>$450,000 in royalties from Union Zinc for the rights to mine
>his 88-acre farm in Tennessee. His father originally
>acquired the land and the mineral rights from Armand Hammer
>on what according to the Sept. 29, 1999, Wall Street Journal
>appeared to be "highly favorable terms."
>
>Gore is also reported to own as much as a half-million
>dollars worth of Oxy stock.
>
>According to the U'wa Defense Working Group, Occidental
>Petroleum began moving the Indigenous people off their
>ancestral lands in Colombia on Jan. 25 in order to start
>drilling in search of an estimated 1.5 billion barrels of
>oil.
>
>Stephen Kretzmann of Amazon Watch says that Gore, who owns
>so much Oxy stock, "could stop the drilling with a phone
>call, and if he doesn't do something about this he will lose
>the environmental and human-rights vote."
>
>When the Colombian government issued a drilling license to
>Oxy last fall, members of environmental groups demonstrated
>in 21 cities around the world.
>
>The 5,000 surviving U'was have threatened to commit mass
>suicide if oil drilling on their lands begins in earnest.
>
>For 40 years Colombia has been locked in a civil war that
>is essentially over whether the country's riches will be
>used for the people's benefit or for the profit of a few
>capitalists, at home and abroad.
>
>In the federal budget just announced, the Clinton
>administration seeks to increase aid to the Colombian
>government--most of it military aid--to $1.3 billion. That
>would make Colombia the third-biggest recipient of U.S.
>military aid in the world.
>
>The excuse given for this huge increase is the "war on
>drugs." But even the New York Times admitted, in a front-
>page article on Feb. 6: "U.S. Antidrug Plan to Aid Colombia
>Faces Skepticism."
>
>It reported that many in the Pentagon, remembering
>Vietnam, fear becoming embroiled in the guerrilla war in
>Colombia. There, as in Southeast Asia, the leaders are
>seasoned Marxists who have a strong base of support among
>the workers and peasants.
>
>Gore stands to personally benefit from U.S. intervention
>in Colombia, since he is intimately connected to a
>corporation with vast material interest in exploiting the
>resources.
>
>Occidental Petroleum's pipelines have often been the
>targets of guerrilla actions by those fighting the
>government.
>
>George W. Bush would have a hard time openly making an
>issue of Gore's Oxy connections, since he himself comes from
>a family closely tied to the oil industry. His father waged
>the Gulf War on behalf of Big Oil, and much of the funding
>in his current race for the Republican nomination comes
>directly from oil companies.
>
>The Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition
>in Austin, Texas, says that, as governor, Bush has
>essentially allowed companies like Exxon to write their own
>lax rules about oil and chemical plant pollution in his
>state.
>
>But while Bush isn't likely to focus on Gore's connections
>in the campaign, he would not be averse to publicity that
>could cost Gore environmental votes.
>
>With two oil company candidates on the ballot, many
>environmentalists will be looking to direct action this year
>instead of the capitalist elections as they fight for the
>U'wa people and the earth itself.
>
>[Much of the factual information in this article came from
>the Rainforest Action Network's Web site, www.ran.org, which
>has links to various news sources.]
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <009a01bf74f7$d3c52500$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Cops shot Diallo while he was on the ground
>Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 20:23:19 -0500
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 17, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>HUNDREDS MARCH IN ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY:
>
>"COPS SHOT DIALLO
>WHILE HE WAS ON THE GROUND"
>
>On Feb. 4--the first anniversary of the police shooting of
>Amadou Diallo--400 to 500 people gathered at the site where
>the West African immigrant was gunned down. The candlelight
>vigil was held in front of Diallo's home on Wheeler Avenue
>in the Bronx, N.Y.
>
>Hundreds more had protested in Albany, N.Y., just four
>days before. On Jan. 31, the trial of the four cops charged
>with spraying 41 bullets at the unarmed Diallo opened. The
>trial's venue had been moved from the multinational Bronx to
>the predominantly white city of Albany. All the judges there
>are white men.
>
>On Feb. 7, Supreme Court Judge Joseph Teresi ruled that
>jurors will not hear testimony from Diallo's neighbor Ida
>Vincent. Vincent said that moments after they shot Diallo,
>she heard one of the cops say, "We're just going to say
>this. . . "
>
>Several witnesses testified that they heard a pause during
>the police barrage of gunfire, and then firing resumed.
>
>And in the most damning testimony of all, Bronx Medical
>Examiner Dr. Joseph Cohen said on Feb. 8 that some of the
>bullets that hit Diallo show that he was prone and paralyzed
>while the police were shooting at him.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <009b01bf74f7$eb0c9e00$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] Albert Nuh Washington: "I am a political prisoner"
>Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 20:24:32 -0500
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 17, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>"I AM A POLITICAL PRISONER":
>
>STATEMENT FROM ALBERT NUH
>WASHINGTON AFTER CANCER DIAGNOSIS
>
>By Leslie Feinberg
>
>Black freedom fighter and political prisoner Albert Nuh
>Washington has recently been diagnosed with liver cancer,
>and is expected to live from 3 to 10 more months.
>
>Nuh, one of the New York 3 defendants, has served 28 years
>of a 25-to-life sentence. The New York 3--Albert Nuh
>Washington, Anthony Jalil Bottom and Herman Bell--were
>victims of the U.S. government's ongoing war against the
>Black liberation movement.
>
>Although the three were tried and convicted in a New York
>state court for the murder of two New York City police
>officers, the orchestration of this case was designed in the
>White House with the help of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.
>
>The three continuously contended that they were being set
>up and framed, but were not allowed to raise this during
>trial because they had no evidence.
>
>It wasn't until after the Church Commission hearings on
>the FBI's covert domestic operations known as COINTELPRO
>were held that the frame up was confirmed. Ballistic
>evidence that had been under wraps was revealed. Lies told
>by police officers were uncovered.
>
>Yet the state has continued to hold the New York 3 behind
>bars.
>
>A concerted effort is underway to get Nuh released on
>grounds of terminal illness, despite the fact that New York
>State does not allow "mercy release" for those serving life
>sentences.
>
>In a message sent on Jan. 26, political prisoner Sundiata
>Acoli urges those in the movement to "demand that New York
>Governor Pataki sees that Nuh is released. Also urge your
>pastors, church members, Imams, Mosque members, family,
>friends and comrades to do the same.
>
>"Nuh is most beloved by all of us PP/POWs, and he's highly
>respected. I sincerely urge everyone to do all that's
>possible to get Nuh released."
>
>Arrangements for a Muslim funeral are underway. Donations
>toward a cemetery plot and headstone would be appreciated.
>Checks clearly marked "For Nuh Washington's Headstone" can
>be sent to Jericho Amnesty Movement, P.O. Box 650, N.Y.,
>N.Y. 10009.
>
>Messages to Nuh can be sent to: Albert Nuh Washington
>#77A1528, Great Meadows Correctional Facility, Box 51,
>Comstock, NY 12821.
>
>Nuh sent an eloquent statement from prison to the
>movement. Following are excerpts:
>
>"My name is Albert Washington. I am a political prisoner.
>I am called Nuh (Noah), and like a handful of others, I am
>one of the longest held political prisoners in this country.
>
>"As a member of the Black Panther Party, I worked to raise
>the political consciousness of Black people and teach them
>self-defense. The government-sponsored COINTELPRO created
>situations that led to the split in the Black Panther Party
>and forced many of us underground.
>
>"Underground we became the Black Liberation Army and
>engaged in active self-defense. In defending the Black
>community in San Francisco, I was shot and captured along
>with Jalil Abdul Muntaquin. Later I was charged with killing
>two New York City police officers with Jalil and Herman
>Bell.
>
>"The State has conceded that I have committed no act but
>that I taught political education classes. For that I have
>been sentenced to life imprisonment and subjected to the
>tightest security, not only in the states of California and
>New York, but in the country as well.
>
>"I am a political prisoner because I spoke out against
>racism and oppression."
>
>`STILL I AM IN COMMAND OF MY POLITICS'
>
>"My family instilled in me values and a sense of pride in
>myself, family, and people. They were always there. I am not
>allowed family reunion visits because I am considered a
>high-security escape risk, while others, who have escaped,
>can get them. It is now harder for my mother to visit me. My
>friends must make plans to get here. I have not held my wife
>in a long time.
>
>"I tell jokes and educate my fellow prisoners, which is
>why I am transferred a lot. The Black Panther Party is
>physically gone but the spirit lives in a lot of us. Just
>recently a brother asked me for the goals and rules of the
>Black Panther Party, and a few people wish to be part of it
>again.
>
>"After 20+ years as a prisoner, the memory of being with
>the people still brings a smile to my face and it is
>something I share with my fellow prisoners: The concept of
>unity, movement, and love.
>
>"I am a Prisoner of War as well as a Political Prisoner
>because of the historical and contemporary acts of war
>carried out against Blacks/New Afrikan people inside and
>outside these United States by the government and those who
>believe in white supremacy.
>
>"There is very little in here of me yet it is all me. I am
>kind to my fellow prisoners and I feel for others. I would
>like to take a walk at night and hug my baby. I'd like to do
>all the things that people take for granted in their so-
>called freedom.
>
>"Not being able to touch and share special moments with
>another makes one generalize. I tell myself I am all right.
>But who can be all right after all these years under these
>conditions?
>
>"Still I am in command of my politics. I can laugh and
>love, so the damage is not that bad. Whatever strength I
>have comes from the knowledge that I am a political prisoner
>and the things we stand for were/are correct."
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>
>Message-ID: <00a101bf74f8$07f08d60$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [WW] A must read: "A Voice From Harper's Ferry"
>Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 20:25:21 -0500
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 17, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>A MUST READ: "A VOICE FROM HARPER'S FERRY"
>With Essays by Mumia Abu-Jamal, Monical Moorehead & Vince
>Copeland
>
>By Pam Parker
>
>"A Voice from Harper's Ferry" is a must read for any
>serious student of the history of slavery, Black oppression
>and rebellion in the United States.
>
>The pamphlet was written by Osborne P. Anderson, who was
>the only surviving African American participant in the raid.
>It includes essays by the late Vince Copeland, a founding
>member of Workers World Party; Monica Moorehead, the 2000
>presidential candidate of Workers World Party; and Mumia
>Abu-Jamal, former Black Panther Party member and current
>political prisoner.
>
>Contrary to popular belief, there were a tremendous number
>of insurrections against slavery in the United States, Latin
>America and the Caribbean. These insurrections ranged from
>poisoning the slave masters to full-scale armed rebellions.
>
>One such rebellion that was pivotal to the struggle
>against slavery was the raid on Harper's Ferry on Oct. 17,
>1859.
>
>Osborne Anderson was a free man who, after surviving the
>rebellion, fought as a noncommissioned officer on the side
>of the Union Army in the Civil War. His first-hand account
>of the raid on Harper's Ferry was originally published in
>1861. This was right after the start of the Civil War.
>
>The manuscript was discovered in 1974 by Vince Copeland,
>and reprinted with his help in 1980. His introduction to
>that printing, "The Unfinished Revolution," appears again in
>the new edition.
>
>Monica Moorehead gives a thorough definition of what
>constitutes a nation. She writes that some may think that "a
>nation is a group of people who share a common language,
>common heritage, and common borders. But this gives only a
>partial answer."
>
>She explains that many nations are oppressed inside of
>other nations. Such was the plight of the African slave, and
>still is of many oppressed nations within the United States
>today.
>
>Mumia Abu-Jamal writes from his cell on death row that
>Osborne P. Anderson's account of the raid "opens the door to
>a history seldom seen."
>
>THE CAUSE OF BLACK LIBERATION
>
>This year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of John
>Brown. In 1854, Brown and six of his sons joined the anti-
>slavery struggle in Kansas. They played a crucial role in
>keeping Kansas free from slavery.
>
>Brown studied the slave uprisings of Nat Turner, Gabriel
>Prosser, Denmark Vesey and others as he painstakingly
>plotted the Harper's Ferry revolt. The plan was to capture
>Harper's Ferry, a strategically located town in Virginia,
>and use the huge arsenal there to arm the many slaves who
>lived in the area.
>
>Anderson reflects on the natural tendency of humans to
>reject being enslaved: "There is an unbroken chain of
>sentiment and purpose from Moses _ to John Brown _ to _
>Gabriel, and the Denmark Veseys, Nat Turners _ of the
>Southern states" to reject slavery.
>
>He describes the participants in the rebellion, giving the
>reader a glimpse into the personalities and backgrounds of
>these courageous men.
>
>He speaks with great admiration of John Brown, the white
>abolitionist who initiated the raid, looking past the fact
>that his skin was of the same color as the slave masters'.
>Anderson was inspired by the fact that this man was willing
>to take up arms against the slavocracy in the cause of Black
>liberation.
>
>He also speaks in admiration of the many Black men, some
>"freed," who gave their lives to the struggle. Many of them
>were offered arms shortly before the rebellion, and did not
>hesitate to fight.
>
>In his account you don't get the feeling that these men
>were on a suicide mission, but that theirs was one of many
>well-planned and well-executed rebellions against the
>cruelty and repression of slavery. Their intent was to
>incite widespread uprisings.
>
>Anderson gives delightful accounts of the fear and
>disbelief of the slaveholders as they were overtaken and
>stripped of their arms by slaves. One of the plans was to
>have a Southern colonel deliver his arms in surrender to
>Anderson, because "it is proper that the South be taught a
>lesson at this point."
>
>He explains that "Captain John Brown" lingered at the
>ferry while considering the release of his prisoners. This
>hesitation gave the "marines" the opportunity to close in on
>them from all sides and smash the insurrection. Anderson
>details the savage and merciless attack on his comrades by
>the enemy.
>
>There were no regrets. And even in the face of a military
>defeat, Anderson saw this battle as an example of what could
>
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