U'wa vs Occidental Petroleum
U.S. gives the Colombian military another $1.3 billion to force Native Americans off land they paid for as well as inherited so Los Angeles based Occidental Petroleum can sell you gasoline; U.S. VP Al Gore is paid the dividends & a diploma.
McKinney cf. final ¶

Occidental Petroleum:   industry news, Investigative Research Intl posts & the murders ¹ ²
Yahoo, Quicken (more news oriented than strictly financial), News Alert (financial)

Their route of entry in the New World was the Arctic land bridge connecting northern Asia to North America. The New World that they entered was a vastly different place from what it is now, with many large mammal species -- including elephant cousins such as mammoths and mastodons -- roaming around, and saber-toothed cats on the prowl. Those animals are now extinct, with other researchers blaming overkill by those early human hunters. In contrast, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Na-Dene-speaking people who appeared in the American Southwest as recently as 1,000 years ago possess more craniofacial traits characteristic of Mongolian, Chinese and Southeast Asian populations, the researchers said.
For the analysis, Brace and colleagues compared a battery of measurements made on each skull to generate a "dendrogram," a tree-like figure in which the distance between the twigs reflects the closeness or distance between any given group of people and the others. The researchers came from the University of Michigan, University of Wyoming, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, the Chengdu College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Sichuan province, and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in Ulaanbaatar.

Other Side of the Colombian Anti-Drug Policy
Feb. 24 Colombia Media Project 212.802.7209 & Patrice Lumumba Coalition hosted 3 black Colombian exiles, Oscar Gamboa, Carlos Rosero and Luis Gilberto Murillo, ex-governor of del Choco state, spoke to group of Colombians residing in U.S. along with American supporters at The House of The Lord on Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, pastorate of activist/preacher Herbert Daughtry. … Afro-Colombians criticism of US policy as misguided & driven by military imperatives to prop up present corrupt & racist regime. Existence of black people is barely acknowledged in their country. A point underscored in remarks by Afro-Americans during the question and answer period, who pointed out that they didn't even know Colombia had a black population. The Afro- Colombians were not surprised by American ignorance of their existence, although, according to Oscar Gamboa, they are 40% of 40 million population, visible everywhere on the streets & throughout countryside.
Bordered by Pacific Ocean & Caribbean Sea and rich in oil, natural gas, coal, nickel, emeralds, many species of flowers, and coffee with abundant forests & rivers, speakers constantly pointed out, there is much more to Colombia than cocaine. Present crisis of Afro- Colombians is in context of generalized crisis in that country, which includes a civil war, mass fumigation of crops, and the worst economic depression since the 1930s. Unemployment rates from 20% official rate to 50% many observers say is actual, a majority of Colombians live below poverty line. With widespread poverty is flourishing cocaine trade.

Oscar Gamboa, arguing against U.S. inspired Colombian govt crop fumigation policy, "Coca plant is not the problem. The peasants have long used it for medicine. The problem is sale & consumption of cocaine. And there are millions of dollars surrounding the cocaine business!" Gamboa also pointed out most people arrested for drug dealing in Colombia are the same type of small dealers generally prosecuted in U.S.; big money laundering traffickers go untouched. Furthermore, "Spraying coca crops hurts other crops more, contaminating rivers & lakes and destroying food crops peasants need to survive; they will starve." He said Afro-Colombians are heavily concentrated fighting & fumigation areas were taking place and portends a major disaster. He warned "If you destroy the countryside, blacks will be forced to go to the cities; they will not find work because of racial discrimination. Then in order to survive they will either turn to crime or make their way to the US by whatever means." Not only fumigation crop damage is forcing many black Colombians to leave countryside. Colombian army & right-wing paramilitary groups also wreak havoc on black & Indian peasantry. "In Colombia, killing people is almost an exercise. And we who attempt to organize to better our condition are risking our lives because we are labeled as guerrillas," says Gamboa. He argues, "as blacks in Colombia, we can't just sit with our arms folded and do nothing because we have children and we must leave them a country that they can live in. What we need in Colombia is peace so that our children can play and adults can work in peace knowing their children will not be killed in the war." Gamboa described killings, kidnappings and bombings in his country and pleaded with Americans to "Help us create a new reality because we don't want drugs or war." Murders in far away Colombia became all too real when a black Colombian expatriate dramatically arose from the audience and told of the murder of her brother. "That's why we are here," said Gamboa, "I heard about your brother's murder in Colombia. The media reported it but one death quickly follows another. That is why the people who are still in Colombia, still doing the work are the real heroes." Carlos Rosero, very dark complexioned with long dreadlocks, followed with powerful statement on the plight of Afro-Columbians. "We are located all across Colombia, on the Caribbean & Pacific coasts," Summed Afro- Colombian contribution to the national economy as "Everything that leaves Colombia, including products of the mines, has been largely produced by black hands." But he quickly pointed out, "still we have nothing. Slavery has been over for 150 years, but they compensated the slaveholders. We have yet to receive reparations." Along with the war against 2 major guerilla forces, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-peoples Army FARC, & National Liberation Army, or ELN and crop fumigations, Rosero offered an additional reason why the black population is forced to move from their land. "It is only recently, after 500 years, that we have land rights. Yet we, along with the indigenous people, are being displaced at a rate of 36%. At first, our lands were considered worthless, but now that they have been found to be valuable we are being dispossessed. Every time they build a bridge it seems as if it is to remove black people. That's because our lands are rich with biodiversity and other products, including oil!" [ Same strategy in Sudan & U.S. Bantustans: dislocate population to facilitate resource extraction. Where are U.S. conservatives lamenting the assault on property rights when it's on behalf of their stock portfolios? ] "We must develop a strategy to halt dispossessions," argues Rosero. "Without territory, we cannot build a community power base. A great part of the problem of Afro-Colombians in recent years is the absence of autonomy for our community. Colombia is ethnically diverse, but there is no official recognition that blacks have a right to develop as a people, as a community. That is the central problem of development." Rosero said. He then pointed out the similarity in the situation of Africans and Indians in Colombia. "The problems of the UWA Indians and the big US oil companies is based on this lack of recognition of their right to autonomous development by the Colombian government. The blacks and Indians should be consulted on any plans for national development." After presenting statistics on thousands of animals killed and vast acreage of farmlands destroyed, Rosero pleaded with audience for active support in changing US policy. "We must deescalate the war because it is being fought in our regions and we are most of the dead and displaced," he said, "so we want all parties to negotiate a peaceful solution to this conflict."   [ Same as DRoCongo; pastoral population of huge rich nation stuck between outsiders with imported munitions ] Rosero's statement echoed Gamboa's earlier observation that, "We cannot continue the strategy of trying to seek peace through violence. We must seek peace through peace." Guerrilla armies controlling almost half of the national territory and U.S. sending new arms to the Conservative Party's Pres. Andres Pastrana incl 42 Huey helicopters, 18 Black Hawk copters and funding to train more special forces to combat insurgents. Luis Gilberto Murillo, driven from office into U.S. exile by white Colombian paramilitary death squads, said situation in Colombia is so dangerous he wondered after arriving in the US whether he should "speak out or remain silent." He told the astonished gathering that: "Some of my friends advised me to keep quiet because blacks have enough problems in Colombia." By doing so, he "discovered that most African Americans were surprised that there were blacks in Colombia, and especially so many!" Murillo said "I want to show how a misguided US policy is affecting blacks and others in Colombia. So we decided to use Afro-American history month to begin a dialogue with our Afro-American brothers. We want to open a dialogue with other races in Colombia, but that attempt will only exacerbate other problems." This statement brings to mind Afro-Brazilians who risk being indicted for "disturbing the racial tranquility of Brazil" for accusing a white Brazilian of racism. Many blacks Latin America have a long & complex struggle ahead in countries where simply speaking out for basic human rights can result in imprisonment or death. For the moment, says Murillo, "We want to change American policy so that it is not so warlike. We would like to see a peaceful US policy, and in that respect we could use a lot of help from American citizens!" Congressional Black Caucus meeting, a body that has no counterpart in their native Colombia. There is no black person as powerful as Colin Powell. … Progressive white left often overlooks Afro- Colombian problem. Mario, light skinned native Colombian U.S. resident in U.S. for many years, referred to flyer by white leftists distributed at meeting yet failed to even mention black Colombians. Black Electorate   • Black Radical Congress   agenda   archive   Yahoo   post Halford Fairchild Prof.Psychology & Black Studies, Pitzer College (The Claremont Colleges) editor, Psych Discourse, monthly news journal Assoc. of Black Psychologists Irvin Landrum Jr. Justice Organizing Committee The Slaughter: An American Atrocity ¹   Carroll Case 300 pp. ISBN # 0-9666499-0-7 TransAfrica Forum   Horowitz ¹ ² re reparations ¹ Randall Robinson Backs Nader 6.9.00   WashPost pC1

Kathleen Cleaver   return to Emory after Skull & Bones Univ. & Sarah Lawrence re Mumia. Paris 1995 1969   WGHP born Tuskegee AL raised abroad (father in State Dept) Oberlin 1963 Barnard1966 NY/Atlanta SNCC Black Panther Party central committee 1967 With spouse Eldridge Algeria 1969 -1975 Yale B.A. History summa cum laude 1984; law degree 1988 Interview Africana.com 4.20.01 Zachariah Mampilly … empowerment, self-determination. … revolutionary movement. We weren't trying to get the right to vote. We weren't trying to get citizenship. We saw ourselves essentially as putting an end to domestic colonialism … told about, haven't actually seen, document in possession of State Dept released somehow. It stated what govt needed most to prevent, what they were most concerned about, was formation of close alliances to work together between African American or black revolutionaries, Arab revolutionaries and people fighting in Asia & Latin America, which is exactly what we were doing. We were working with people in Cuba, people in Mexico. We went to conferences with Vietnamese. When Eldridge left to Algeria, we organized the Intl Section of the BPP, which put us right in the same town with representatives of the MPLA from Angola, ZAPU and ZANU from Zimbabwe, ANC from South Africa, with people fighting in Ethiopia, in Canada, the FLQ, in Brazil. We made that link - completely. We were very clear about the way that the struggle we were part of was similar to struggles by people of color all fighting the same imperialist. It was anti-imperialist from the beginning, and recognized that we were up against the same enemy. … We could draw parallel between what the US Army was doing in Vietnam, and what Oakland police were doing in Oakland. It was not esoteric at all. … I had a son born in Algeria and a daughter born in North Korea, in Pyongyang. … The point is not the Party. The point is the political struggle and the movement. … This was an inspiring model. That's what is important about it. People took it and used it. That's why the govt had to destroy it. They did not destroy the model … In 1981, I had no opportunity to join any active revolutionary movement. There wasn't one. I moved and did something else. That is what many revolutionaries do. With revolutions, either you win or you die. We did not win. Our movement was dead. But the people, we aren't dead. … co-director, Human Rights Research Fund to look at gross human rights violations conducted by intelligence agencies & police agencies against those movements during the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s that were in opposition to govt policies. Document violations [committed by the US govt] … year by year, organization by organization. Violations incl murder, assassination, severe bodily harm and torture, use of the courts to falsely imprison … Compile a series of research centers with project directors in different regions of the country to accumulate this information, and locate people able to give testimony. Use this document to call for congressional investigations. … arrest of Jamil El-Amin [formerly H. Rap Brown] in Atlanta, and a few recent arrests of people who were formerly in the BPP on charges over 30 years old. … film festival. When we have proceeds, it goes to prisoners who were former members of the BPP serving extraordinarily long time. People like Eddie Conway, in for 30 years & still trying to get a hearing. … films that show active form of resistance. This is not something that happened in 1968 & finished. "The Murder of Fred Hampton"   88 min./b&w/1971   Michael Gray, prod.   documentary started during 1968 following charismatic young Chicago's Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton killed 12.4.69 … Film relentlessly pursues official spokesmen in their own lies & cover-up of govt assassination. INTERVIEWER: 1997. Largest black middle class in history. Largest black underclass. Black middle class has roughly tripled since the day King died, but 45 percent of all black children live at or below poverty line. How did we get here? CLEAVER: Well, one of the ways we got here was through the takeover by corporate interests of the legal and political structures that govern our lives. … "commercial democracy" needs a middle class to function smoothly. It doesn't need equality. What it needs is inequality. It needs a certain number of people at the elite level, a certain number of people in the middle level, and the rest of the people scrambling and hoping they could get there, all following the same zealous commitment to making money. Now, when you have people who are revolutionaries, they repudiate the commitment to making money, and say, "We want justice. We want change. We want truth. We want freedom." Well, that's not going to work if the structure is based on financial rewards and financial incentives. So we were at odds with the way the system worked. We had a different idea. We said, "Power to the people." … you have class conflict, or you have political conflict generated within dependent communities. And therefore, the leadership is either aligning itself with the status quo or annihilated, and essentially have a leadership vacuum. … why should we be worried about the middle class? That's what I'm trying to say. What we should be able to expect is a democratic opportunity to use the resources of this country, and a use of the resources to value humans over property. … With the collapse of essentially segregation and residential segregation on the basis of color, residential segregation now is on the basis of wealth. So in the past, black communities had integrated middle class, lower class working people all in the same area. Now, middle class don't live in the same area where poor people live. So the models and the leadership that is available on a community local level is no longer available. And therefore, the leadership that has developed out of the civil rights struggle, which is essentially reflecting middle class values and middle class concerns, does not deal with the problems of the underclass. And the isolation and the lack of resources of the underclass makes it very difficult to generate leadership that will be listened to by the larger society. … consequence of a collapse of the community. All this dysfunctional behavior is for people who have no families, who have no parents, who have no one who cares about them. That's where that comes from. So the question is: How do you reconstitute communities that have no resources, that have no jobs, that have no future? We can't do it without the use of the resources that have been taken out of those communities. You have to have (I agree with Jesse Jackson) a Marshall Plan for America. When Europe at the end of the war was devastated, did they say, "Oh, well, Europeans, you just pick yourself up by your bootstrap, be responsible"? No. They said, "We have wealth. We're going to rebuild this community." … we don't have the political power to make this happen, and the corporations have no interest in making it happen. And the govt is in the pocket of the corporations. So what we need is very fundamental change of political direction, in order to restructure the communities. Meanwhile, you do a lot of private small-scale things that people are doing, because the situation is so desperate.

Randall Robinson, anti-apartheid activist & president of TransAfrica, announced that he has signed on as the steering committee co-chair for Ralph Nader's presidential campaign. "The important thing is that Ralph stands for something," said Robinson at TransAfrica's annual dinner, an event attended by celebrities such as Danny Glover, Muhammad Ali, Angela Bassett, and Bill Cosby.

Afrocentrism ¹ ², essential ebonics & contraKwanzaa   cf §10 ¹ ;   sports
NAACP Saturday Academy   cultural school at UCIrvine for high school, intermediate, and elementary level children and youth to empower students to make a successful transition from high school to work and higher education through cultural education, tutoring in academics, and exposure to technology.
W.E.B.DuBois Virtual University
CORE & Cointelpro 2000
post modern elections: California decline in black officeholders

color vision Black disconnect 6.20.01   Tamara Holmes SF Bay Guardian IN TODAY'S TECHNOCENTRIC society the word geek might conjure up images of millionaires, such as Microsoft chair Bill Gates. Or it might make one think of two nerdy, pimply-faced teenagers engaged in a cutthroat battle of life, death, and Doom. One might even envision a long-haired, greasy-faced loner intently programming code with empty pizza boxes and soda cans scattered about. Whoever the word geek brings to mind, though, chances are he or she is white. But contrary to that perception, there is a developing subculture of black technogeeks who, like their white-mainstream counterparts, share a basic interest in innovation. But a love of technology is where the similarity ends. There's an inherent activism among black technologists, says Dwight A. Campbell, integration services manager for Alexandria, Va., management consulting firm Information Engineering Services. Campbell, who meets other blacks in the technology field through work, the Web, and career-related networking groups, says members of black technogeek groups generally share an interest in empowering minorities through technology. "The mission of empowerment shared by black technogeek groups is the only distinguishing factor that sets them apart from other geek groups," Campbell says. "But that one factor can make such a difference." Indeed, social activism is as much a part of the black technogeek subculture as technology itself. Some of the movers and shakers in black America's high-tech community even see activism as something of a calling. Self- proclaimed "technovangelist" and author Detrick DeBurr addresses the issue of technology and the role it plays in the black community in his book Deal Us In! How Black America Can Play and Win in the Digital Economy. "I wrote Deal Us In! to bring attention to what is being overlooked in all of the so-called digital-divide discussions," DeBurr says, referring to the schism between those with access to technology and those without. "Most of the efforts to address the divide have focused on providing access to technology. I believed then, and I still do, that if black people developed a healthy respect for technology, we would ensure our own access." DeBurr, Campbell, and so many other blacks in the technology industry are spreading their message to the uninitiated in the black community for often contradictory reasons. Ask five black technologists why they're activists, and you're bound to get five different answers. Some say it's their obligation to give back to the community. Others have more selfish motives, pointing out that the more blacks they can get to join the high-tech revolution, the larger the potential audience they have for their entrepreneurial products and services. But some say that communication among members of the black techno-elite is lacking. "We're here, but we're very disconnected," says Deidra McIntyre, founder of RedIbis.com, a networking organization for minority Internet professionals. McIntyre created the group - named for a bird that's indigenous to parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean - three years ago when she was working at community Web site theglobe.com. The inspiration came when McIntyre was unable to find other people of color in the Internet industry to network with. RedIbis features message boards and information about minorities' achievements in technology. Its e-mail mailing list for minorities, called dimeList, has grown to about 180 members, mostly black Americans, McIntyre says. On any given day dimeList messages might touch on new tech ventures by black Americans, news about the latest dot-com layoffs, an article quoting Federal Communications Commission chair Michael Powell on telecom issues, or news of an upcoming networking event. Despite the constant flow of information among dimeList subscribers, McIntyre is troubled by the fact that people sometimes choose not to share tidbits of inside information that could help others on the list close a business deal or meet a new contact. There is an unnecessary and unhealthy competitiveness among blacks in the industry, she says. "It's kind of tragic." DeBurr says such competition is largely a result of the fact that there are relatively few blacks in the industry and the road to success is so bumpy. "In many cases we had to fight so hard to get where we are that other blacks in technology may present some form of threat to our position," he says. And not all black Americans in the tech industry are engineers, says Bob Ponce, stationmaster for high-tech radio portal Siliconalley.net. According to Ponce, the black technogeek subculture includes artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers, and anyone else who sees technology as a tool for expressing one's creativity. "Technology is just something we throw into the mix with everything else," he says. DeBurr sees the black technogeek subculture becoming more pronounced as younger generations embrace technology and attempt to mold it into something that works for them. "I am excited to see a lot of the up-and-coming 'chip-hop' generation," DeBurr says. "The lack of distribution has kept much of the underground music scene underground. The Internet represents the greatest distribution channel in the world. I hope my young brothers and sisters see and seize this opportunity."

Black Group Seeks Repeal of Estate Tax Businessmen Say Levy Increases Disparity in Wealth Among Race 4.2.01   Glenn Kessler WashPost pA4 3 dozen African American business leaders this week plan to support repeal of the tax because they say it helps widen the wealth gap between whites and blacks. [ Indefensible nonsense from wealthy race traitors ] Pres. GWBush made repeal of the tax levied on the assets of wealthy Americans when they die a key part of his $1.6 trillion, 10-year tax plan. The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would repeal the estate tax by 2011, … Black Entertainment Tv chief exec Robt L. Johnson, who said he is worth more than $1.5billion, said although it might be easy for people who have accumulated assets for generations to support the tax, many African Americans have built up wealth only since 1964 Civil Rights Act passage. Even then, he said, African Americans often face subtle forms of discrimination, such as difficulty in getting bank loans, and have had to build up businesses by catering mostly to black customers. Now, Johnson said, this first generation of significant black wealth is threatened by the estate tax. Not only might the tax force sale of businesses with few liquid assets to pay it, but it also prevents passing on wealth to the next generation, he said. [ Said wealth passing having absolutely nothing to do with race and much to do with Johnson's unrepresentative economic class ] Other members of the group include Earl Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise magazine; Ernie Green, managing director of Lehman Brothers Inc.; Ed Lewis, chief executive of Essence Communications; and Dave Bing, chairman of the Big Group of automotive suppliers. Johnson also said the group believes the estate tax is a form of double taxation, because businesses have already paid taxes on earnings. [As are any form of income taxes & plenty of other taxes] "Many members of a white family may be wealthy in their own right," he said. In the black community, where a business executive may have been the first in a family to go to college, "all that wealth is in one person's hand, but others are living hand to hand." Repealing the tax, he said, will help close a wealth gap that has left the net worth of the average black family one-tenth that of the average white family. About 98 percent of all descendants do not pay estate tax because the first $675,000 of an estate is exempt from taxation, an exemption that is due to rise to $1 million by 2006 under current law. Only 47,500 estates paid estate tax in 1998, the most recent year for which figures are available. [ Which is why Johnson is cloaking his plutocrat status with the mantle of his race; estate tax repeal serves no one but the least needy. ] Businesses that oppose the tax say preparations for it, such as buying insurance, are costly and a drain on capital. [ Even bigger capital drains are living wages & costs for infrastructure disproportionately strained by commercial enterprises ] Johnson estimates he pays about $200,000 to $300,000 in annual insurance premiums, and said insurance costs were akin to "transferring wealth out of the black community to the majority community." [ Blatant illogical race baiting. No law stops Johnson from buying insurance from a black insurance agent or black owned insurance company or using his bilions to form his own insurance corporation. As for community based insurers, they were destroyed when Reagan deregulated the savings & loan industry so his puppetmasters could plunder them ] J.C. Watts interview 7.00   George magazine p99 The 1994 Republican class was one of the most partisan ever elected. Are you truly comfortable with Tom Delay & Dick Armey, who are so hard-line? [Pause] I was programmed in the team concept: big team, little me. You never focus on an individual, only the team. And Tom and Dick are my teammates. Sometimes, though we have the same objective, I would go about it differently. Tom DeLay is a very hard charger. That's a generous assessment. [Laughs] Tom has the throttle open, full bore, all the time. My nature is to bring in people, build. I don't have to be The Man, the guy out front. Dick is more conscious about his role as leader than [he was] 10 years ago. When you're in the majority, people want you to govern. In the minority, it's easy to throw bombs, beat your chest, say, "I voted no." I lead by treating people the way you want to be treated?whether or not we agree. I don't have the right to be ugly because we don't see eye to eye. You get it from all sides. An influential black leader told me: "J.C. Watts Talking to the nra is like Geo. Bush going to Bob Jones. It sends a bad Message." When I was growing up, my dad had guns in the corner of his bedroom, my friends had them in the gun-rack of

the pickup. In the Oklahoma 4th Dist., a lot of law-abiding citizens own guns. Don't paint everybody with the same brush that you paint those young men from Columbine.

Still, given the violence caused by guns in the ghettos, is it a good idea For a black man to address those whose mission it is to keep guns available?

What does the NRA have to do with illegal gun-use in black neighborhoods? With all due respect, this was not an issue 20 years ago when black kids were killing each other in the ghetto of South Central Los Angeles. Suddenly, white kids start getting shot and we're outraged. Why not enforce the existing laws to govern illegal gun use? Another gun law wouldn't have prevented what happened in Colorado. When the heart of a person is bad, he is going to get a weapon to be destructive. We are naive to say, "Let's take guns off the streets so bad people can't get them."

Organizing & Political Empowerment in Filipino American Communities incl Los Angeles
Alliance Working for Asian Rights & Empowerment   Dan Tsang, UCI
AsianAmerican Revolutionary Movement ezine radical resistance article

At Roosevelt, a difference between racial & racist
7.31.01   editorial Seattle Times

Kenneth Pettyjohn, the school security guard and an African American, has explained that he called the black students in to quash a situation before it escalated. Pettyjohn's actions weren't discriminatory, they were kind. Many black parents have complained their children are ignored or isolated in school. Roosevelt appeared to be tackling that problem head-on. Who doesn't remember high-school squabbles that escalated? What parent hasn't wished school administrators were more pro-active?
It is not unusual for schools to talk to students in smaller groups. An administrator may talk to kids with Russian parents about navigating American culture, cheerleaders about balancing schoolwork with the demands of their sport or special-education students about academics. But add the specter of race and a counseling session turns into something else. People with the most honorable of intentions are suddenly suspect.
Parents are right to try to protect their children from discrimination. Seattle Public Schools has spent a considerable part of this school year trying to understand the effects of discrimination, from low test scores to unusually high discipline rates among blacks. For the district, part of the solution will lie in figuring out a strategy directly targeted to African-American students. This is racial but not racist. There is a difference.

Cross-Cultural Center UCIrvine affil. organizations
sentiments & policy ¹ ² ³
People Against Racist Terror Turning the Tide "journal of Anti-RacistActivism, Research & Education" 310-288-5003 Culver City   part of Oct22 Coalition re police brutality
ColorLines nation's leading magazine on race, culture & organizing 510.653.3415
vaccination profiling ¹

contras   ¤   ¤   ¤   ¤   ¤   ¤   ¤

Rubén Blades   interview

bios ^{1 2}   Born Panama City, Panama 1948;
Cuban mother Anoland pianist & singer, police detective father Ruben bongo player;
credits his paternal grandmother for instilling life-long passion for truth & justice by introducing him to Hollywood film & U.S. culture. Focused on political & social issues in 1964 when US refused to raise Panamanian flag at canal zone, sparking bloody confrontation. Always had musical aspirations. grad. Univ. of Panama. Soon after arriving in Miami, left for NYC & burgeoning salsa scene.
postgrad Intl Law, Harvard Univ. Divorced.

recent news   films ^{1 2 3}   lyrics   music reviews & discography
Yahoo ^{1 2}   active forum   subscribe R.Blades fan mailing list   rec.music.afro-latin

trustee, Nosotros founded 1970 by Ricardo Montalbán to improve image of Latinos/Hispanics as portrayed in entertainment industry, both in front & behind the camera.

It was public enthusiasm for Blades' recording of "Plantacion Adentro" by Tite Curet Alonso, legendary 72-year-old Puerto Rican composer, musicologist, & journalist, about captive Indian populations being worked to death, that convinced Blades the U.S. salsa audience was ready for more incendiary social commentary. Tite was also way ahead of Rubén in musical expression to militant feminism. In 1968, his surprising bolero "La Tirańa" (The Tyrant) offered Cuban songstress La Lupe rare opportunity to aggressively deride male chauvinism & cupidity.
2.17.99   Carol Cooper "Beyond Salsa" Village Voice

1982 independent of Fania after suing for royalties.
1983 founds new group, Seis de Solar (Six of the Lot)
1985 Grammy for 'Escenas' w/ Linda Ronstadt & Joe Jackson
1987 'Agua de Luna', based on Gabriel García Márquez
1988 Grammy "Antecedente"; first English lang. album "Nothing But the Truth" w/ Sting, Lou Reed & Elvis Costello
1990 provoked controversy in Panama & his mother's wrath when he criticized 1990 US invasion of Panama
1992 Amor Y Control incl merengue "El Apagón" filled with clever lines re underdevelopment, compares Fidel Castro to Anastasio Somoza. "El Cilindro" & "Naturaleza Muerta" are wry comments on impact of modern technology on everyday life. Response to Quincentennial, "Conmemorando" tries so hard to avoid offending anyone that ends up not saying much.

In political restlessness, created his own party as 1994 Panama presidential election based on fight against existent social inequalities to wake up in its countrymen the illusion for a better future
1995 'Tras la tormenta' (After the torment) with Willie Colon
1996 3rd Grammy ''La rosa de los vientos' (Rose of the Winds) w/ Panamanian group Saravá mixes Afro-Cuban rhythms with "rock accent" with trumpets, violins & Osvaldo Ayala accordion, leading Panama interpreter of national dance cumbia. Fusion of Blades' salsa & Ayala's tipico (generic for cumbia and Panamá's other traditional folk music).

11.18.97   After 6yr hiatus, Paul Simon released Songs From the Capeman album, a mix of salsa, Caribbean music, doo-wop, gospel, & rock songs from forthcoming Broadway musical Simon began writing in 1990. Based on true story of Puerto Rican gang member Salvador Agron sentenced to death in 1959 after murdering 2 teenagers. Agron eventually had sentence commuted to life in prison where became published writer & poet. Paroled 20yrs years later a changed man and died of pneumonia in 1986. Simon wrote music himself, co-wrote book & lyrics w/ Nobel Prize author Derek Walcott. Songs feature Simon himself; other cuts by show's actual cast offer variety but bland. Exception is salsa-inflected centerpiece, "Time Is an Ocean" duet between Marc Anthony as young prisoner & Ruben Blades as older wiser Agron.
Brief Broadway run. Opening delayed; 3 different directors hired. Went through complete revamping just before launch. Finally opened Jan. 29; victims' rights groups protests claimed show glorified Agron. Critics: like watching a "mortally wounded animal." Closed March 28 after 68 regular performances & $11 million. Simon issued brief statement about show's demise, tried to remain upbeat: "What I enjoyed most, apart from the creative process, was the intensity with which the audience, in particular the Latino audience, responded to the play."

1999 4th Grammy (Latin Pop Performance) 'Tiempos' (Sony 9.20.99) w/ Costa Rican Editus, classical conservatory trained collaborator group met at 1997 environmental conference. "Not commercial work", Rubén Blades writes. "I wanted to make good music, period". Incorporates work like Astor Piazzola. Best Latin music album of year (1999) Rolling Stone. Songs "Puente del Mundo" decry exclusionary immigration policies and "20 de Diciembre" commemorate 1989 U.S. Panama invasion

7.19.00 Berklee Performance Center Boston
6.1.00 Lehman College commencement.   UN Goodwill Ambassador to generate public awareness prior to March 2001 World Conference on racism.
4.1.00   perform at Orpheum Theatre & speak to students at UWMadison. Lecture "Future of Panama Canal," 2:30 pm Musical workshop 4:15 pm

2000 prod. film "Buscando guayabas"

R. Blades in Cradle Will Rock
12.17.99   Elizabeth Hunter La Prensa

Ruben Blades at the Palladium
9.18.99   Achy Obejas Chicago Tribune

"What you have to understand is that Cuba's geographic placement in the Caribbean means that you can pick up all kinds of radio signals. Any band in Cuba is competing for the public's attention against all of that; you have no choice but to be familiar with everything, to incorporate it and make it your own just to sustain relationship with your fans. … for dance music, I listen to Cubans like Paulito F.G. & Charanga Habanera."
  Juan Formell, Los Van Van founder (1969), principal composer & bassist for special swing that sent most NY salsa artists into a harder drive. LVV songo & street talk inspired much of 1980s work by Blades, whose hit "Muevete" was one of Formell's most popular compositions.

Pop Life   3 Faces of Ruben Blades
8.26.99   Neil Strauss NTYimes

One of most innovative, poetic & intelligent artists ever to grace Latin music landscape. But Rubén Blades' latest sounds like an Al DiMeola record, and that's not necessarily a good thing. … defends his position in the liner notes: "I think it suicidal to condemn my creative potential by repeating schemes that would sink me in the depths of mediocrity and irrelevance," he writes. What is he talking about? Simply put, he is scolding us all for our unrepentant desire to see him do a salsa album again. Nobody is able to combine Afro-Cuban spice with socially conscious, emotional lyrics like Rubén Blades.

9.2.99   Ernesto Lechner LA Weekly

… lyric poems set to Latin symphonies played by classically trained ensemble from Costa Rica. Bitter sugar throughout … he refers to as our "ambidextrous world". … Blades often been called the Latin Bruce Springsteen, "Tiempos", with its moody self-examination, is the Panamanian performer's "Tom Joad". … Blades recorded Siembra with Willie Colon 1978, most successful Latin album of time, selling more than a million copies. That figure multiplied five times over by Ricky Martin. But Blades, who says he does not care about commercial music and cannot bear to listen to radio these days, is unimpressed with the fuss over so-called Latin pop, which, he suggests, has little to do with authentic Latin culture.
"I look at America like a house, with an upstairs and a downstairs, but everyone has to keep it functioning together," Blades says. "Latin America seems foreign and exotic, but in reality it's just another part of the house. But ours is like a house where you don't know who your neighbors are. I want to know my neighbors and that's what I'm trying to do now. Let people know these are Panamanians or these are Costa Ricans, this is their music, this is what they do. We really don't get that much information on a consistent basis here that would make people aware of the richness and variety of Latin America." He pauses and then adds sharply: "Instead we get stereotyped versions of Latino culture. We don't have much presence on film or television and that has contributed to a lack of interest."
Numerous films & tv movies playing, for the most part, believable characters who just happen to be Hispanic. Less success last year with the role of grown-up version of 16yr old convicted killer Salvador Agron in Paul Simon's painfully self- conscious Broadway fiasco "The Capeman". Leon Ichaso's 1985 film Crossover Dreams, he performed most true-to-life role as Rudy Veloz, a salsa singer who dreams of breaking into the intl scene, of basically becoming Blades. 1st world tour in 9yrs ; Sunday appears at Jas.L. Knight Ctr w/ Oscar D'Leon, also venerable salsa vet. Both performers previously canceled planned concerts in Miami after conservative Cuban exile activists questioned their political views on Cuba. "Politically speaking Miami has always been dicey," says Blades, who has not given a concert here in 17yrs, though did make brief appearance at MIDEM 1998 showcase. "On a couple of occasions a segment of the local radio took exception to my political position and a couple of concerts had to be canceled because of threatening calls that some people made." Blades adds that he was also blackballed in Cuba after publicly suggesting that Castro should hold free elections. "I've been consistent," he notes. "I believe in free speech in Cuba, and in Miami, too."
Blades isn't anticipating any problems this time, though. Appearing with EDITUS, he will perform music from the new album, but he is not adverse to serving up some salsa for his long-time fans. "We take a couple of trombones on tour so we can play some oldies out of respect for the public," Blades says. "But I don't feel I've had to grow on just that salsa side. I think throughout the years, my audiences have learned to expect the unexpected."

8.18.99   Judy Cantor Miami NewTimes

Ruben Blades Salsa Singer & Social Activist "Hispanic Biographies" Barbara C. Cruz
thoughtful bio of 3 Grammy winning singer, actor & activist. Conflicts over Canal led Blades to view music as sociopolitical expression. As young adult, moved to NYC, quickly rising to prominence in salsa music scene as first singer to use blend of African, Spanish, jazz, rock & blues music as sociopolitical commentary. Generally well written, book slows in middle chapters describing song lyrics & movie plots in excessive detail. Personal life largely ignored, with only passing references to his wife. Appearance in 1997 movie The Devil's Own & starring role in Broadway musical
Similar to Betty Marton's Ruben Blades (Chelsea 1992)   Illustr. b/w photos & maps

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