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Challenger Community News • February 18, 2015
Malcolm X
Malcolm X Was Right About America Part I of a 2-Part Series by Chris Hedges (Ed. Note: This month marks 50 years since the assassination of Malcolm at age 39. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom.The public viewing, February 23–26 at Unity Funeral Home in Harlem, was attended by some up to 30,000 mourners. Actor and activist Ossie Davis delivered the eulogy, describing Malcolm X as “our shining black prince.”)
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alcolm X, unlike Martin Luther King Jr., did not believe America had a conscience. For him there was no great tension between the lofty ideals of the nation—which he said were a sham—and the failure to deliver justice to blacks. He, perhaps better than King, understood the inner workings of empire. He had no hope that those who managed empire would ever get in touch with their better selves to build a country free of exploitation and injustice. He argued that from the arrival of the first slave ship to the appearance of our vast archipelago of prisons and our squalid, urban internal colonies where the poor are trapped and abused, the American empire was unrelentingly hostile to those Frantz Fanoncalled “the wretched of the earth.” This, Malcolm knew, would not change until the empire was destroyed. “It is impossible for capitalism to survive, primarily because the system of capitalism needs some blood to suck,” Malcolm said. “Capitalism used to be like an eagle, but now it’s more like a vulture. It used to be strong enough to go and suck anybody’s blood whether they were strong or not. But now it has become more cowardly, like the vulture, and it can only suck the blood of the helpless. As the nations of the world free themselves, then capitalism has less victims, less to suck, and it becomes weaker and weaker. It’s only a matter of time in my opinion before it will collapse completely.” King was able to achieve a legal victory through the civil rights movement, portrayed in the new film Selma. But he failed to bring about economic justice and thwart the rapacious appetite of the war machine that he was acutely aware was responsible for empire’s abuse of the oppressed at home and abroad. And 50 years after Malcolm X was assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem by hit men from the Nation of Islam, it is clear that he, not King, was right. We are the nation Malcolm knew us to be. Human beings can be redeemed. Empires cannot. Our refusal to face the truth about empire, our refusal to defy the multitudinous crimes and atrocities of empire, has brought about the nightmare Malcolm predicted. And as the Digital Age and our post-literate society implant a terrifying historical amnesia, these crimes are erased as swiftly as they are committed. “King failed to bring about economic justice and thwart the ra pacious appetite of the war machine.” “Sometimes, I have dared to dream … that one day, history may even say that my voice—which disturbed the white man’s smugness, and his arrogance, and his complacency—that my
“We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.” - John Russwurm, Freedom’s Journal. 1827 America’s 1st Black Newspaper
voice helped to save America from a grave, possibly even fatal catastrophe,” Malcolm wrote. The integration of elites of color, including President Barack Obama, into the upper echelons of institutional and political structures has done nothing to blunt the predatory nature of empire. Identity and gender politics—we are about to be sold a woman president in the form of Hillary Clinton—have fostered, as Malcolm understood, fraud and theft by Wall Street, the evisceration of our civil liberties, the misery of an underclass in which half of all public school children live in poverty, the expansion of our imperial wars and the deep and perhaps fatal exploitation of the ecosystem. And until we heed Malcolm X, until we grapple with the truth about the selfdestruction that lies at the heart of empire, the victims, at home and abroad, will mount. Malcolm, like James Baldwin, understood that only by facing the truth about who we are as members of an imperial power can people of color, along with Whites, be liberated. This truth is bitter and painful. It requires an acknowledgment of our capacity for evil, injustice and exploitation, and it demands repentance. But we cling like giddy children to the lies we tell ourselves about ourselves. We refuse to grow up. And because of these lies, perpetrated across the cultural and political spectrum, liberation has not taken place. Empire devours us all. “We’re anti-evil, anti-oppression, anti-lynching,” Malcolm said. “You can’t be antithose things unless you’re also anti- the oppressor and the lyncher. You can’t be antislavery and pro-slavemaster; you can’t be anti-crime and pro-criminal. In fact, Mr. Muhammad teaches that if the present generation of Whites would study their own race in the light of true history, they would be anti-White themselves.”
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Buffalo Schools at the Crossroads:
The Fight to Save the Buffalo Schools - Taking it to the Boardroom
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ince becoming a member of the Board of Education, I have attended any number of meetings that have extended over hours, some as long as 6 or 7 hours. During these extreme sessions we have addressed critical issues impacting our students, schools and staff. And yes, these meetings have been emotionally charged and high drama. The meeting of February 13th was, however, one of the most significant meetings of all as the stakes for the future of the District and the education of our children were the highest that they have ever been. The new Board majority had every intention of ramming through a plan that would have begun the implementation of their goal to “disassemble” the Buffalo schools. They summarily dismissed a Resolution proposed by Interim Superinten- Barbara Seals dent Donald Ogilvie, which offered a comprehensive and measured ap- NEVERGOLD proach to the phase out of several “out-of-time” schools; the phase in of schools to replace the “out-of-time”; the expansion of seats in two schools in good standing; the creation of several innovative programs, including a Newcomer’s Academy for immigrant arrivals to our City; and a plan to offer vacated school buildings for charter school leasing. Noting the ambitious nature of this plan, Mr. Ogilvie recommended delaying some actions until the 2016-17 school year, but beginning others in 2015-16. With little discussion on their part and citing the need for “urgency” as paramount, Mr. Ogilvie’s Resolution was quickly defeated by a vote of 5 to 4 (I’m sure you know who the four yes votes were). Even as they touted their proposal as the only way to save the “34,000 poor, suffering children” in the District, the majority’s plan would have, in effect, set into motion the implementation of the “Vision” they created after taking office last year and: •given away prime school buildings, all assets in those buildings, utilities and more to Charter Schools, •closed existing schools without consideration for the future of the children currently in those buildings •forced a series of “directives” on the Interim Superintendent that would have essentially rendered him ineffectual in his job and given the Board (the majority that is) the power to establish educational mandates as they deemed necessary; •tied the implementation of new school programs to contracts with the teachers’ and administrators’ unions and established a Board committee to engage in the negotiations creating the potential for the unions to sue the Board for not bargaining in good faith; •jeopardized the agreement with the US Office of Civil Rights, which is reviewing the District’s admissions policy for criterion based schools; Carl Paladino has written to the OCR consultant warning him to “Stay out of our way, Dr.” regarding the consultant’s request that the Board delay making drastic changes regarding school closures and Charter Schools. The consultant has now asked the Office of Civil Rights to take a much stronger position that could result in the agreement becoming a mandate; After a four hour, physically and mentally draining meeting, they weren’t able to approve their damaging measure! Not only was this proposal not voted on, but continued dialogue – aka – a filibuster - forced by the African American women of the Board ended in a compromise Resolution that was essentially that proposed by Mr. Ogilvie at the beginning of the meeting. The ultimate lesson of this story is that might does not always prevail over right! What stopped this “reform” juggernaut? A Community effort! With the refrain: “Whose Schools?! Our Schools! Who Decides?! We Decide! Concerned parents, community members and educators have rallied for weeks to call attention to the movement to destroy our District. To them, I say THANK YOU! Mr. Ogilvie also should be recognized for having the integrity and the courage to stand up to the majority members that brought him to Buffalo, seemingly to do their bidding. But against an increasingly hostile and controlling Board faction, he rose to stand up to deliver a plan that has the best interests of the children at the forefront. He’s likely to suffer backlash from his decision, not only from the majority Board members but from other influential community members who support the “reform” agenda. He needs our continued support as he works to fashion a plan that will support the education of students in this district. Finally, I have to give credit to the “Sisterhood.” Our refusal to accept a Robert’s Rules of Order process, which was designed to cut off debate and limit productive conversation, opened the door to the compromise that led to the acceptance of Mr. Ogilvie’s Resolution. Our refusal to be intimidated by powerful, entitled and mean-spirited Board members was central to the outcome. Our decision to filibuster, yes we did filibuster not “attempted filibuster” as the Buffalo News wanted to characterize our actions, prevented a vote on the Majority’s Resolution and led to the concessions, which omitted many of the strangle-hold actions the majority wanted to institute. Friday, February 13th, was a red letter day. But it was only day one in an ongoing struggle to keep public education public and out of the hands of privateers. Contrary to the picture that the media wants to paint, this is about the children! It’s always been about the children and will continue to be about the children. We implore the community to support THE CHILDREN by supporting all the constituents who have come together to Save Our Schools.
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