Suppressing The Vote ... Jim Crow's Last Loud Hurrah

Facing the real threat of demographic extinction, the Republican Party is resorting to measures long condemned by no less an authority than the Constitution of the United States Of America to suppress the vote of Blacks and Hispanic voters. The 24th Ammendment states:

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."

Some members of the Supreme Court would argue that requiring voters to purchase state and federal IDs for the purpose of participating in elections is not a form of poll tax. While there may be some vague CommonSense appeal to that objection the facts on the ground speak a different truth, one articulated clearly by Justice Ginsburg in her dissent on the Texas Voter ID Law. The startling reality is that any economic burden that places an obstacle in the path of anyone desiring to exercise their sacred franchise amounts to, and qualifies as a "poll tax". There is a terrible history of voter obstruction that is in and of itself the only definition we need to qualify these actions as such.  

Justice Ginsburg was joined in her dissent by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. She wrote:

"The greatest threat to public confidence in elections in this case is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law, one that likely imposes an unconstitutional poll tax and risks denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of eligible voters, ... Senate Bill 14 may prevent more than 600,000 registered Texas voters (about 4.5% of all registered voters) from voting in person for lack of compliant identification. A sharply disproportionate percentage of those voters are African-American or Hispanic."

An examination of the tendency to impose voter ID requirements will show that this is a trend among Republican governors in the states that they govern. Never mind the fact that there has been no proven proliferation of voter fraud. The intent is clearly not to prevent voter fraud. Indeed this, by all accounts, is an attempt by a certain political group to perpetuate a fraud upon the electorate. A few simple unanswered questions are : Who would have an interest in voter suppression in our democracy? Why would our "elected" representatives want to limit the ability of citizens to vote? The simple answer is ... Those who realize that they and their policies have no future where the people have a vote...and a voice.

MALALA... A Symbol Of The Hope That Courage Inspires

E·qual·i·ty 
əˈkwälədē/

noun ... the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.

"Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. As a child, she became an advocate for girls' education, which resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. On October 9, 2012, a gunman shot Malala when she was traveling home from school. She survived, and has continued to speak out on the importance of education. She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. In 2014, she was nominated again and won, becoming the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize... " 
~From her biography 

All of us, female, male, and those who find themselves in the challenging position of not being able to declare for either side of the gender equation must speak with our own words about our own lives. We must articulate our aspirations with the force of our own breaths. This is the great challenge of our existence. It is a challenge that we must own in the face of every circumstance that seeks to define who we are and what we can become. And when we have lived up to that challenge we must then become the voice of those who cannot speak. We must stand up for those who cannot stand. We must insist on equal treatment for our fellow beings who depend on us because they suffer disadvantages and disabilities that make them unable to do so for themselves. 

In a world that has tended to encode the "law of the jungle" as our modus operandi, we continue to witness the use of tradition and religion to express the imbalance that is a fact of our communal experiences. In too many of our "villages" the "strong" continue to inflict their will on those they can use force to victimize. It is in this kind of world that a girl can be shot in her head for pursuing an education that does not limit her to the roles that some men have carved out for her. It is in this kind of world that girls and women are raped and sold into slavery to satisfy the fundamentalist delusions of those who have not sorted out their existential insecurities. The rest of us must not stand by and allow this lunacy. We must face this madness with resolve. We cannot ignore the cries of the disadvantaged, nor can we remain in our safe enclaves while our fellow human beings are subjected to the unspeakable horrors of a culture of vile ignorance.

The great challenge of our time is not just the building of civil societies. That work must be enhanced by our insistence on the encoding of Justice in our laws. Justice is a function of Equality... the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunity. This then is not just a work that must be pursued in Pakistan and other places afar off. The work of Justice must be done on our own doorsteps, in our own homes, and community, and nation. The areas of concern are many. They include the arenas of race and gender. Just wages. Equal access to every opportunity for betterment. Equal pay for equal work. The right to vote of every citizen must be guaranteed. 

Those who seek to deny others these basic human rights are in fact not better than the men who shot this young woman in her head. It is time to stand with courage against every brute who lives by denying others their just claim to Life,  Liberty,  and the Pursuit of Happiness.

WHO | Ebola virus disease

WHO | Ebola virus disease

The Ebola Pandemic...The Promise And Peril Of A Connected World

Initial responses to the outbreak of HIV/AIDS were hampered by the stigmatization and discrimination that went with the assumption that it was an affliction of gay men and intravenous drug users. In fact the condition came to be called GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency). With the prevailing historical prejudices against these groups, the Reagan Administration of the time was notoriously slow in initiating and funding an evidenced based approach to dealing with what became an international public health crisis.

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has compared this Ebola outbreak to the AIDS epidemic. This week politicians in Washington have been haggling about the allocation of appropriate monies to mount an effective response to this epidemic. According to the CDC Ebola has already infected over 8,000 and counting, with casualties passing the 4,000 mark as of today. Countries with widespread infection are listed as Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in West Africa.

There is no wishing away the horror that is Ebola. There are no safe borders from the tragedy that this epidemic brings in its wake. The death of a Liberian national in Texas this week brings this tragedy to our very doorsteps. We no longer have the vain luxury of thinking that this is just a problem for some people "over there". Efforts to othercize and ostracize the victims of this terrible disease will come back to haunt us.

We live in a world that continues to shrink. Air travel now makes intercontinental and international contact a matter of hours away instead of days and months. The barriers of time and space are reduced daily by technologies that bring home the fact that we are more and more "a village" in terms of how we affect, and are affected, by each other's lives...and deaths. It is time for us to start to truly act as neighbors. The fact is, we protect ourselves by acting in the best interests of others in our global village.

When a  Liberian shows up in the Emergency Room of a Texas hospital describing in himself the symptoms of a deadly disease we must stop and take notice. It no longer matters whether or not he looks or sounds like us. It matters not whether he has health insurance. What matters is that we give him the attention due to a fellow human being... A fellow villager. To give this person some Tylenol and some antibiotics and send him home with a fever of 103 degrees Fahrenheit is uncaring to say the least.

In the face of the perils of a death-bearing condition, we are obliged to keep the promise of our common humanity. That promise dictates that we treat each other as we ourselves would want to be treated. To neglect to do so for any reason, is to bring upon ourselves the same fate that beset those we carelessly brush aside.

In the fight against the spread of disease we emphasize the use of what we call Universal Precautions. Proper hand washing, the use of gloves, the wearing of protective cloaks and masks, and appropriate isolation of infected persons are all part of this. These measures are intended to protect both patients and their caregivers. As in the case of AIDS, our responses to this epidemic may be influenced by inappropriate cultural attitudes to its initial victims. With that in mind we should begin this fight by washing our hands of the cultural insensitivity that besets us. Ultimately it is the "cloak" of genuine concern that will protect us all from the threats of a proven devastating disease.

The Promise And The Peril Of A Connected World

• 
  In this March 28, 2014 photo provided by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), healthcare workers from the organization prepare isolation and treatment areas for their Ebola virus operations in Gueckedou, Guinea. One preacher advocated fasting and prayer to spare people from a virus that usually leads to a horrible death. Some people pray that the Ebola virus stays confined to a rural district. Others are unruffled and say the outbreak will blow over. (Kjell Gunnar Beraas/MSF/AP)
  
  
  There is no wishing away the horror that is Ebola. There are no safe borders from the tragedy that this epidemic brings in its wake... And with the death of a Liberian national in Texas we can no longer rest in the false sense of security that thinking it is just a problem for some people far away from the assumed safety of our own borders. We live in a world that continues to shrink. The barriers of time and space are reduced daily by technologies that bring home the fact that we are more and more "a village" in terms of how we affect, and are affected, by each other's lives...and deaths. It is time for us to start to truly act as neighbors. 
  
  
  When a  Liberian shows up in the Emergency Room of a Texas hospital describing in himself the symptoms of a deadly disease we must stop and take notice. It no longer matters whether or not he looks or sounds like us. It matters not whether he has health insurance. What matters is that we give him the attention due to a fellow human being... A fellow villager. In the face of the perils of a death-bearing condition, we are obliged to keep the promise of our common humanity. That promise dictates that we love each other as we love ourselves. To neglect to do so for any reason, is to bring upon ourselves the same fate that beset those we carelessly brush aside. Now let us wake up and fight this thing together. 
  
  
  And as far as "precautions" are concerned... Let us begin by washing our hands of the cultural insensitivity that besets us. Ultimately it is the "cloak" of genuine concern that will protect us all.

Ebola... The horror!

The Wheels Of Justice Grind On... The Michael Dunn Verdict

CNN BREAKING NEWS : Jurors found Michael Dunn guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday in the 2012 shooting death 17-year-old Jordan Davis.

Today a man in Florida found out the ultimate meaning of the term Civil Society.  Two years ago he indiscriminately ...and criminally ...unleashed the deadly force of the measure of his corrupted manhood on a group of black teenage boys playing music loudly in the SUV they were in. It was "Black Friday", and a dark day for the family of 17 year-old Jordan Davis. He was murdered by Michael Dunn.

As reported by CNN
 "Dunn has said he shot at the vehicle because he thought Davis had a weapon and feared for his life, but the prosecution has alleged Dunn was the aggressor and pointed out he kept firing even after the teens fled."

In closing arguments prosecutor Erin Wolfson declared to the jury
"Let me be very clear: There was no shotgun in that red Durango that night. ... There was no stick, there was no branch, there was no hollow pipe. There was no weapon. Inside that Dodge Durango were four teenagers... four kids who had just left their moms, four kids who were spending their Black Friday doing what lots of people do -- out at the mall, they were just hanging out, being kids, listening to music that they liked."

Those who knew him have spoken out about the belligerent vileness of Michael Dunn.
"Taking aim at Jordan Davis, 10 shots -- that's what he fired that Friday night, nine of them hitting his intended target, each time intending to kill, and kill he did," Wolfson said.
Dunn would have us believe that he is no racist, but his own words testify against him. These are his words in a letter he wrote from jail:

"I'm really not prejudiced against race, but I have no use for certain cultures. This gangster-rap, ghetto talking thug 'culture' that certain segments of society flock to is intolerable. They espouse violence and disrespect towards women. The black community here in Jacksonville is in an uproar against me -- the 3 other thugs that were in the car are telling stories to cover up their true 'colors."

Michael Dunn will have ample time for reflection. He faces life without parole...or a death sentence. In either case he must now man-up to the consequences of his inhumanity.

There was a time when he would have gotten away with this crime. There was a time in Florida when he would not have to face the legal ramifications of his actions. There was a time when white men in the South felt that black persons had no rights that they were bound to respect... Even the right to listen to music of their choice...at a volume of their choice, just like white people. That time must now end.

Now let the wheels of Justice grind... Ferguson, Missouri waits, and Darren Wilson is laying prostrate in its path. He has not yet been arrested.