>make up 14 percent of active military personnel. All of >this has occurred under the leadership of the Democratic >Party. > >Currently, Vice President Al Gore is campaigning with the >same promise to the lesbian, gay, bi and trans community >that Clinton used. He too has sworn to lift the ban on gays >in the military. But what reason does the community have to >believe him? He has no record to support this claim. >Moreover, Gore also opposes same-sex marriage. > >Ralph Nader, presidential candidate for the Green Party, >articulated his disinterest in the issue of same-sex >marriage to the New York Times during his 1996 campaign. >While the platform of the Green Party includes rights for >"gay, lesbian and bisexual" people, Nader himself has not >stated his position on important issues like gays in the >military. > >None of the big-business parties will change >discriminatory policies and practices against lesbian, gay, >bi and trans people unless there is a mass movement that >forces them to do so. > >Those who are searching for real leadership that moves >beyond the token gestures of the Democratic and Republican >Parties should look to Workers World Party candidates >Monica Moorehead and Gloria La Riva. > >The position of these socialists can be seen in their >actions as they stand shoulder to shoulder in the streets >with lesbian, gay, bi and trans people in many liberation >struggles. Can Bush, Gore or Nader say as much? > > - 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: <010101c0070f$db8c9020$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Mumia on the Democrats: 'A party by and for business' >Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 19:23:45 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Aug. 17, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >MUMIA ON THE DEMOCRATS: `A PARTY BY AND FOR BUSINESS' > >Ona Move! > >Long live John Africa! > >The L.A. convention is but an echo of the recent >convention in Philadelphia. It is a convention bought and >paid for by corporate capital. > >It is a convention of the well-to-do and wealthy, not of >the workers or the poor and Philadelphia shows us that >politicians are nothing but public relations spokesmen >for their bosses. Whether one votes for the Democrats or >Republicans, ultimately one votes for their own >repression. The prisons that dot our landscape, 2 million >men, women and children held in American jails and >prisons, the 3,600 men, women and juveniles facing death >at the hands of the state are each and all the political >result of the politics of repression, estrangement, of >separation and of isolation. > >We are not used to seeing politicians, or for that matter >police, as tools and instruments of political ill will, >but they are that. We need to think outside the box of >the two-headed dog of American politics. > >Why not a party of those who labor? Why not a party which >includes the interests of youth, mothers, students or the >growing poor? You will see none of those interests >represented on the stages of the two party system. Isn't >it time to create an alternative? Both parties are >parties of death, of war, of alienation and of unending >conflict. > >Why not a party of peace and justice, of life and our >common humanity? Why not a party that speaks to our >highest hopes, instead of our darkest fears? The need for >change was never more obvious than now. To quote John >Africa, "Revolution means change. Revolution is doing it >or it ain't getting done." > >Let's do it. > >Ona Move! > >All my love. > >Free the Move 9. > >Long Live John Africa! > >Mumia Abu-Jamal, Aug. 7, 2000 > > - 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: <010701c0070f$f2115560$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] WWP candidates wage struggle campaign >Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 19:24:22 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Aug. 17, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >MOOREHEAD-LA RIVA 2000: >WWP CANDIDATES WAGE STRUGGLE CAMPAIGN > >[The following statement appeared in the Washington State >Voter's Guide.] > >Monica Moorehead and Gloria La Riva are both women of >color, labor unionists and leaders of Workers World Party. >Both are veterans in the struggle who have fought for jobs, >equality and socialism for over 25 years. > >Workers World Party participated in the Seattle protests >against the World Trade Organization because we believe the >world's wealth should be owned by those who slave every day >to produce the riches of the 21st century--the >multinational working class--not the giant corporations. > >Socialism is the way. It's the only answer to eliminate >exploitation, racism, war and environmental devastation. > >Moorehead and La Riva were among the 678 activists >illegally detained in Washington in April for protesting >against the prison-industrial complex and for the freedom >of Mumia Abu-Jamal. They have been in the forefront of the >movement to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and to end the racist >death penalty and police terror. They believe that a mass >united movement in the streets against the bastions of >power from Philadelphia to death row in Huntsville, Texas, >is the only thing that can bring about real change in this >country. > >Workers World Party demands that the U.S. force the >pharmaceutical corporations to release the necessary drugs >on demand to reverse the AIDS epidemic in Africa, which >afflicts 34.3 million people. Cancel the debt owed to the >IMF and World Bank by Africa and developing countries in >Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, the >international banks and the rich capitalist countries are >the ones that should pay--reparations to oppressed peoples >everywhere. > >Likewise at home, Moorehead and La Riva say enact a >national health-care program. Eliminate the involvement of >insurance companies. Defend women's right to choose. Health >care could be funded from the projected $2 trillion >government surplus--and from the budget for the Pentagon, >which should be shut down. > >Moorehead and La Riva are for: > >*A new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal. President Clinton must >grant executive clem ency to Native warrior Leonard >Peltier. > >*Union jobs at a living wage for all. Organize all workers. >Equal pay for women. No more layoffs or plant closings. No >to union busting and strike breaking. > >*Eliminate workfare, and provide an income for those unable >to work. > >*Child care is a right. > >*Restore and expand affirmative action for oppressed >workers and women. > >*Full amnesty for undocumented workers and their families. > >*Full rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender >people--including the right to marry, adopt children, and >live and work with dignity. End the Pentagon's "don't ask, >don't tell" policy. Sex reassignment for transgender people >on demand. > >*Restore and expand social programs and reverse the >cutbacks. More money for teachers and public schools. Every >child should be able to go to college. > >*Shut down the Pentagon. Stop all U.S. military >intervention and war. Close U.S. bases from the Persian >Gulf to the Balkans to Vieques to Korea. > >*Stop the blockade and sanctions against Iraq, Yugoslavia >and Cuba. > >We don't expect to win socialism through elections, but >this campaign can challenge the bosses' candidates and show >that there is a real alternative: united struggle by the >workers and oppressed. > >Vote for two workers, two women of color. Vote Workers >World Party. > > - 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: <010d01c00710$086546a0$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Ellen Andors: Teacher, videographer, revolutionary >Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 19:25:00 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Aug. 17, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >ELLEN ANDORS: TEACHER, VIDEOGRAPHER, REVOLUTIONARY > >By Sue Harris and Janet Mayes > >Ellen Andors--Ph.D., videographer, anthropologist, teacher, >communist--died on Aug. 2 from complications due to >endometrial cancer. She was 54. > >Ellen had been trained early in Marxist theory, and she >combined her revolutionary political orientation with an >intense interest in individual human development and >communication. She became an anthropologist and spent two >years living in a small village on top of a mountain in >Nepal. Her work with a group of teenaged women in that >village and her Marxist orientation to human and >social/economic development formed the basis for her Ph.D. >thesis. > >Ellen took media very seriously. She read voraciously and >was on every conceivable subscription list. She followed >the history of documentary film makers and could tell you >about the development of film in countries all over the >world, in places generally not known by the United States >mainstream for filmmaking, such as Senegal and Martinique. >An avid moviegoer, she didn't frequent the top ten box >office hits. Joining her for an evening of underground >films, you came away educated and aroused. > >Ellen taught anthropology at Borough of Manhattan >Community College and the City University system for 25 >years. She tried to impart much more than academic >information to her students. A gadfly, she used multi-media >to awaken her students to the realities of the rotten >capitalist system. She was well aware that political >organizing could go on in many forms, sharing that >knowledge with her students and more broadly through the >Internet. She compiled an immense collection of political >and anthropological videos for her students and colleagues. >Her major concern was to break through people's apathy and >depression and to impart a sense that they could change the >world, that they were not alone. > >For 15 years, Ellen was a member of the 4th Wall Political >Theater Company, a Marxist-oriented theater collective that >imparted a political messages in five weekly shows at the >Truck and Warehouse Theatre in Manhattan. The collective >played at rallies and union halls, and toured the Soviet >Union four times. Ellen played the piano and performed in >the comedy revue and children's shows. She was an >accomplished mime and comic, particularly loving the role >of a playful dog in productions such as "Lions, Leopards >and Litterbugs" a children's musical about protecting the >environment from capitalist ravaging, and "Toto and the >Wizard of Wall Street." > >As part of the collective, Ellen helped develop an organic >food coop. In their summer rehearsal residence, she was >often responsible for the kitchen, and she routinely cooked >sumptuous meals for 250 people, using vegetables from a >huge organic garden, which she lovingly tended. > >When the 4th Wall closed, Ellen began hunting for another >group that would provide an outlet for her political >principles. Ellen already knew about Sam Marcy and Workers >World Party. Ellen had often been a silent observer at >demonstrations and rallies. She was very shy, but she was >also very observant. The Party's combination of theory with >activist struggle appealed to her and she determinedly >began making herself available at events such as the >Pencils for Cuba rally at Symphony Space. Not long after, >she joined the Party. > >Quickly gravitating to the videographers in the Party, >Ellen became a driving force in Peoples Video Network. She >edited and produced "Metal of Dishonor" and "The Prison- >Industrial Complex: An Interview with Mumia Abu-Jamal," two >classic political videos, still broadcast around the world. >She also produced "Eyewitness Sudan: War of the Future," >about the NATO bombing of the Al Shifa pharmaceutical >factory. > >A meticulous editor, Ellen drew upon her vast collection >of archival material and hunted fiercely for more images >that would tell the story and wake people up. She could not >tolerate sloppiness. She was a stickler for detail. > >Although very shy, Ellen was a fighter. She had a temper. >She shouted and cried her way through every productive >project she engaged in. Yet underneath all the exasperation >was a determination to make it work. She harangued her >students, urging them to think and they came away loving >her, their lives changed. She wailed in the editing studio, >predicting one editing disaster after another, while >producing brilliant videos. > >Likewise, she fretted over every detail about how to bring >up her adopted daughter, Nora Maya, and lovingly raised a >child, now 8 years old, who is beautiful, open and >friendly, curious, and unafraid of the world. Nora is named >after Nora Astorga, a hero of the Nicaraguan Revolution. > >Ellen attended an Independent Media Conference in Cuba and >gave a talk on the use of alternative media, based on an >article she wrote for the PVN Web site. As Ellen conceived >it, "Alternative media must serve as an organizer for >change, for bringing people together, for shedding light on >the processes that create the world we live in and what it >takes to change that world for the better. We as >alternative media people need to coordinate our collective >efforts in that direction." > >At the Media's Dark Age conference in Greece, Ellen >interviewed many prominent journalists who were actively >engaged in opposing the U.S./NATO drive to rule the world. >Her experience in Greece bolstered her interest in >producing a video exposing NATO's role as imperialism's >henchman. She began to compile footage for a project that >she would not be able to complete. > >Tragically, in the late winter of 1998, Ellen began her >long battle with cancer. She fought her illness the way she >fought injustice and apathy--fiercely and with every fiber >of her being. > >Several days before she passed away, she told her friends >that she dreamed Mumia Abu-Jamal was free. Minutes before >she died, they assured her that our efforts would indeed >set Mumia free, that the revolution would ultimately >triumph, and that she had played no small role in the >struggle. > >Ellen Andors, presente! > > - 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: > __________________________________ 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] ___________________________________
