>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 22:34:03 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Mississippi: Lynching Cover-Up >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >MISSISSIPPI: LOCAL COPS TRY TO COVER UP LYNCHING > >By Monica Moorehead > >On June 16, a 17-year-old African American youth, Raynard >Johnson, was found hanging from a tree in his front yard in >the rural town of Kokomo, Miss. As of July 2, very little >national media attention had been given to this incident. > >A local coroner's report sanctioned the death as a >"suicide." But Johnson's family and others, including the >Rev. Jesse Jackson, said it was a lynching. > >The local sheriff's department stated that no hate group >left a message by the body--as if that alone classified the >death as a suicide. > >Johnson's family requested Jackson's intervention to >counter the suicide charge and to help get national >attention for what happened to their son. > >Gunshots were heard outside of the Johnson house for two >consecutive days before the youth was found dead. According >to his family, the belt around Johnson's neck was not his. >Maria Johnson, the victim's mother, stated that, "I know >that my son did not do this to himself." > >The family has asked that the Federal Bureau of >Investigation be brought in on the case to investigate >civil-rights violations against Johnson. > >Some Johnson family members said the youth's romantic >relationship with a young white woman was the motive for >the killing. Racist whites had harassed Johnson because of >this association. > >This motive for lynching is nothing new. There have been >thousands of lynchings of Black men, especially in the deep >South, who were accused of socializing with white women-- >even if it was just hearsay. > >Charges of rape against Black men have also frequently >been the excuse for state-sanctioned legal lynchings. The >Scottsboro Brothers were nine young Black men sent to death >row in Alabama after they were accused of raping two white >women on a train in the 1930s. > >They were finally exonerated of all charges thanks to a >worldwide movement that fought hard to save them. One of >the women later publicly stated that the cops forced them >to falsely accuse the young men of rape. > >MEMORIES OF EMMETT TILL > >Johnson's lynching conjures memories of what happened to >Emmett Till 45 years ago. Jackson even remarked that this >killing "had the smell of Emmett Till all around it, and >these questions have to be answered." > >In 1955, 15-year-old Till traveled to Mississippi to visit >relatives. He was brutally lynched by racists for allegedly >whistling at a white woman. > >This atrocity gained national notoriety at a time when the >civil-rights movement was picking up momentum. It followed >the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education >ruling that struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine >and the Montgomery bus boycott. > >No one was ever arrested, let alone convicted, for Till's >murder. > >Now it appears that local authorities want to close the >investigation on the killing of Johnson before it even gets >started by saying that the honors student killed himself. > >This is what is known as a cover-up. > >What do they have to hide? If a young white man had been >lynched, would they maintain such a cavalier manner? Not >hardly. > >The lynching of Raynard Johnson is the latest example of >the genocidal, racist campaign being waged against people >of color by legal and extralegal terrorists in the United >States. > >There are clear parallels between what happened to Johnson >and Gary Graham/Shaka Sankofa. > >Johnson's brief life was snuffed out by racist vigilantes. >At the same age of 17, Sankofa was sentenced to death for a >crime he did not commit. He spent 19 years on death row >until he was killed June 22 by the racist Texas criminal >justice system and that state's top Klansman in a three- >piece suit, Gov. George W. Bush. > > - 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) > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 22:34:04 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Houston: Tribute to Fallen Warrior >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >HOUSTON: THOUSANDS PAY TRIBUTE TO FALLEN WARRIOR > >By Monica Moorehead >Houston > >The Black community in Houston turned out en masse on June >28 to pay tribute to fallen revolutionary Shaka Sankofa. >Over 2,000 people filled the Community of Faith Church to >full capacity in honor of Sankofa, formerly known as Gary >Graham. > >Sankofa was 36 years old when he became the 135th person >to be executed by lethal injection at the hands of Governor >Death--George W. Bush--on June 22. > >As people filed past the open casket to view Sankofa's >body, sadness and anger permeated the air. > >Sankofa's family attended the memorial. But Texas prison >authorities refused to allow Sankofa's 20-year-old son, >Gary Lee Hawkins, to attend. Hawkins has also been accused >of murder. > >In a written statement, Hawkins said: "I know that this is >just the beginning of a war that must be won. ...The >struggle must go on. Let this be the case that opens the >door to be rid of legal lynching. We do not need the death >penalty." > >Bush did not act alone in carrying out Sankofa's legal >lynching. He depended on a number of other murderous >accomplices, including the Texas Board of Pardons and >Paroles--made up mostly of former prison officials and >Secret Service agents Bush appointed--along with the U.S. >Supreme Court and Texas courts. > >Sankofa's case received national and international media >attention due to the circumstances in which he was >convicted at the age of 17. A court sentenced him to death >for the murder of Bobby Lambert on the testimony of one >eyewitness. Six other witnesses, who never got a chance to >present testimony at the original trial, said Sankofa was >not the shooter. > >Sankofa received a poor defense by an incompetent lawyer. >This is the norm for poor defendants, not only in Texas but >in the U.S. criminal justice system in general. > >There was no physical evidence linking Shaka Sankofa to >Lambert's murder. Three jurors who sentenced him to death >recently stated in written affidavits that they would never >have sentenced him to die if all the evidence had come out >at the trial. > >All this helped prove that Sankofa was innocent of this >capital crime. But no court would hear the evidence. > >He was executed because he was poor and African American. > >Among the speakers, a number of political activists paid >tribute to Shaka Sankofa, including Gloria Rubac of the >Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement; Viola Plummer of >the December 12th Movement; Elombe Brath of the Patrice >Lumumba Coalition and WBAI Radio; Tonya McClary of the >National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty; and Monica >Moorehead of Millions for Mumia/International Action >Center. > >Also participating were Ashanti Chimurenga, Sankofa's >companion and a representative of the Shaka Sankofa/ Gary >Graham Justice Coalition; Dick Burr, Sankofa's lawyer; >Minister Robert Muhammad of the Nation of Islam; Kofi >Taharka of the National Black United Front; and Travis >Morales of the Revolutionary Communist Party. > >A message from Mumia Abu-Jamal was read. The Rev. Jesse >Jackson spoke about the lynching of Raynard Johnson, a >Black youth in Mississippi. A moving three-minute video was >shown featuring interviews with Shaka Sankofa along with >protests to save his life. > >Written statements paying tribute to the fallen >revolutionary, including one by Cuban President Fidel >Castro, were handed out to the crowd. > > - 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) > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 22:34:04 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable >Subject: [WW] Vieques Resisters Defy U.S. Bombs >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO: RESISTANCE CURTAILS NEW U.S. >BOMBING RUNS > >By Berta Joubert-Ceci > >After a year of peace, the Pentagon scheduled its first >massive practice with inert ammunition in Vieques, Puerto >Rico, for June 24. The practice shelling was supposed to >last six days--June 24-29. But militant protests helped cut >the Pentagon tests short--to just three days. > >The bombing tests aroused a week-long campaign of civil >disobedience that organizers called "extremely successful" >in a statement released June 29 by the National Hostosiano >Congress (CNH). > >The CNH is an umbrella group of several pro-independence >organizations, the Committee for the Rescue and Development >of Vieques, and the coordinating group All Puerto Rico with >Vieques. > >The Navy exercises were designed to ready the aircraft >carrier USS Washington for deployment in the Persian Gulf. >During six days of practice, this battleship group-- >consisting of 16 ships, 80 combat planes and 15,000 troops- >-was supposed to drop 130,000 pounds of bombs in Vieques. > >But the people of Vieques and Puerto Rico disrupted their >plans. > >PROTESTERS GET THROUGH CORDON > >As the CNH statement said: "The original announcement by >the Navy said that the exercises were to last from Saturday >the 24th through Thursday the 29th. That same Saturday >anti-Navy activists started massive incursions to the >bombing range by sea and by land, walking or riding horses. > >"The bombardments began on the afternoon of Sunday the >25th, even though there were demonstrators in the area. > >"The practices ended the afternoon of Tuesday the 27th, >after having to confront hundreds of activists who had >entered the zone at dawn and after having to confront >several fishers' boats who interrupted the military >maneuvers, resulting in two military patrol vessels getting >stuck in the keys, a moral defeat and an international >humiliating embarrassment [for the Pentagon]." > >Despite the heavy military watch in the shooting range at >Camp Garcia, anti-bombing protesters managed to enter the >area every day. The single largest incursion was on June 27 >by 130 members of the Puerto Rican Independence Party. They >penetrated the restricted zone at nine different points. > >Earlier that day five people on horseback joined the >incursions. > >Protester Miguel Gonzalez Rodriguez said: "It's the duty >of every Puerto Rican and Vieques resident to go inside and >stop the bombing.'' > >600 ARRESTED SINCE MAY > >More than 600 people have been arrested for entering the >restricted military zone and more than 89 boats have been >turned away in the surrounding waters since May 4. That's >when U.S. forces evicted the year-long encampment that >prevented the Navy bombardments. > >Washington, through its federal court in Puerto Rico, is >increasing penalties against the demonstrators. A month ago >the detained were freed under their own recognizance. Now >the courts impose bail--first $500, and lately $1,000--for >trespassing. > >Since most of those arrested refuse to cooperate with the >colonial authorities by paying bail, they are being jailed. >A big sweep happened during the July 1-2 weekend, after the >majority of those charged refused to abide by a June 30 >deadline to post bail. Federal marshals had to travel all >over Puerto Rico to apprehend the protesters, who were not >even hiding. > >The marshals missed catching one activist who was on a >picket line right in front of the federal court. > >There are so many people in jail or facing hearings that >the federal court in Puerto Rico issued a formal request >for help to the U.S. Justice Department. > >It even raised the possibility of transferring other >federal prisoners from Puerto Rican to U.S. prisons to make >more space for the protesters. > >A RESPONSE TO 60 YEARS OF VIOLENCE > >On July 1, U.S. Navy spokesperson Jeff Gordon said five >Marines were injured and several military vehicles damaged >after two violent confrontations between the Navy and >demonstrators. > >According to the military, a group of youths entered the >restricted area by ripping off 40 feet of fence at Camp >Garc=A1a's main gate. They drag ged it down with a rope >attached to a pickup truck. > >Confronted by Marines inside, the youths threw stones and >bottles at them. The activists escaped before the Marines >could catch them. > >According to Gordon, a second incident occurred when Navy >engineers repairing the torn fence were confronted by >another group of demonstrators. They charged the military >personnel with more bottles and stones. > >"This is a horrendous crime," said Gordon. > >Quite a statement coming from a representative of the most >violent armada in the world. > >To date no group has claimed responsibility for these >militant protests, so there is only the Pentagon's one- >sided account. > >But if it's true, it just means that Puerto Ricans have >responded with a few stones and bottles in the face of this >massive occupying force. > >The U.S. military has held the people of Vieques hostage >for 60 years; displaced them from their land; destroyed >their livelihood and their environment; poisoned their >waters; given them cancer and other serious illnesses; and >denied peace to their children. What are a few rocks and >bottles by comparison? > >The Vieques people's wish to live in peace has been denied >by the U.S. military. Every peaceful means that has been >used to try and oust the Navy from Vieques has been >contemptuously squashed by the United States. > >The people of Vieques and Puerto Rico have a right to >defend themselves, as Malcolm X said, "by any means >necessary." > > - 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) > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
