MF GALAXY

The 2005 destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina revealed a very important fact about the United States --the incapacity or unwillingness of its government to deal with major catastrophes so long as they threatened only the poor, and especially impoverished African Americans. Disaster management was insufficient or non-existent; devastation disproportionately affected the poor; no provisions were made to evacuate people without vehicles or to protect those who were too sick or infirm to leave. The death toll surged past a thousand, with tens of thousands turned into the internally displaced in the richest country on the planet. Many were warehoused in the barbaric conditions of a Texan sports arena. Amid millions of litres of water, some died of dehydration. And with so many National Guard troops overseas enforcing the US occupation of Iraq , the US government chose to deploy, among others, mercenaries in the streets of New Orleans , mercenaries whose corporate name, ironically eno

On March 4, 1968, the head of the US-based Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, sent a communiqué to the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge at Albany . The communiqué was entitled “COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PROGRAM, BLACK NATIONALIST~HATE GROUPS.” It read in part: “For maximum effectiveness of the Counterintelligence Program, and to prevent wasted effort, long-range goals are being set. “1. Prevent the coalition of militant black nationalist groups. In unity there is strength; a truism that is no less valid for all its triteness. An effective coalition of black nationalist groups might be the first step toward a real ‘Mau Mau’ in America , the beginning of a true black revolution. “2. Prevent the rise of a ‘messiah’ who could unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement. DELETED NAME might have been such a ‘messiah;’ he is the martyr of the movement today. DELETED NAME, DELETED NAME, and DELETED NAME all aspired to this position. DELETED NAME is less of

So Michael Richards messed up. Big deal. H e's one actor --a superb comic actor, mind you--whose career has fallen far from where, on merit, it deserves to be. And he's apologised. Well, good. From what he said (and yes, I saw the original sickening diatribe), he certainly sounds sincere. And really, can you read minds? If you think he's sincere, maybe he's not. If you think he's insincere, maybe he isn't. None of that matters. The only thing that does matter is what Richards does. That's the main part of his apology with which I disagree, in which he says (in answer to Letterman's question) that his job now is to work on himself. I mean, sure, fine, that's good--but it would be better if he could work with others, especially fellow Whitefolks ( Tim Wise is a great example of how to do that). But what's infinitely more important than the fate of this (excellent) actor is the structure of Hollywood itself. Hollywood is in the heart of Nativ

The excellent Murray Dobbin writes: "Americans--despite being shamelessly lied to by the Republicans and abandoned by their media -- came through in the end. They said enough is enough. Bless them. "Canadians are apparently not going to give Stephen Harper six years before they say enough. A poll released by Environics for the CBC on the day after the U.S. election showed the Harper Conservatives and the Liberals virtually tied (33 per cent versus 32 per cent), with the NDP up to 19 per cent and the Greens, notwithstanding their shiny new leader, at five per cent -- barely more than their showing in the last election. "Bush's humiliation will make things more difficult for Stephen Harper. For his core supporters, Harper's apparently 'good' relationship with Bush was a positive. It gave him the aura of a winner--a player on the world stage. "But Bush and his party will now be totally preoccupied with how to salvage something in the 2008 election.

Thanks to Fish Griwkowsky for this video clip , which features an MSNBC commentator denouncing the mephistophelian Ann Coulter in stunningly strong terms. Bravo.

Check out my exclusive conversation with poet supreme AMIR SULAIMAN on Wednesday's The Terrordome at 6 pm! Last March, a poet and MC came to the University of Alberta and rocked the box. African American and Muslim poet Amir Sulaiman is that dynamo , and tomorrow night he’s returning to E-Town to present a poetry and consciousness workshop and Friday he’s going to rip the mic again. 28 year old Amir Sulaiman is a stunning performance poet originally from Rochester , New York who’s been performing since age 12. A graduate of North Carolina A&T, in his sophomore year, he released his debut poetry collection Words of Love, Life, and Death . Sulaiman’s work is refined, intellectually and culturally broad, and as powerful and necessary as a vaccine during a pandemic. It combines the intelligence of a Claude McKay with the modern urban lyricality of a Rakim or a Chuck D. Sulaiman has performed on HBO’s Def Poetry, and has released four albums, including the brand-new

Sister Suzette Gardner writes: "As the movement for Trans-Atlantic slavery reparations gathers steam, the opposition is busy waging a strategic battle for the sub-consciousness of slavery's victims. "Reels of film are being thrown into production to depict Africa's part in the slave trade. Beautifully shot, their point is clear and simplistic: Africans sold Africans in slavery. There is no discussion of European guilt or responsibility, instead their plots go straight to the point and blame the victims. "The latest film inflicting this 'blame the victim syndrome' on our collective consciousness is the Swiss produced 'Adanggaman " distributed in the U.S. by New York Films. Frankly, this film has no relevance outside of being a conduit for an idea which, left un-discussed will 'guilt trip' slavery's victims into renouncing their due repar