Text of Kevin's talk given October 22, 2005 at the On The Frontlines Conference as written.

It's important to be here today, as it is an important issue that calls for this conference, and it is good to see people here.

Haven’t the last few weeks been kinda wild?

A week today, the Millions More Movement gathered in Washington DC, 10 years after the Million Man March. And it was clear to me and many of those who attended both events that things have really gotten worse for poor people and people of color in America. The turnout at Millions More was less than in 1995, but what I find most impressive was the sheer numbers of people of color who come out for Farrakhan. It was such a contrast to the small amount of people of color I saw during the September 24, Antiwar March in Washington a few weeks earlier. The lesson I saw was that if UFPJ and Answer want to see more people of color come out to their events, then they need to start building relationships with groups that are run by and that serve communities of color, the Nation of Islam could be one.

Also a week ago today, a small group of Neo-Nazis planned to march through a neighborhood in Toledo Ohio. Their Free Speech rights protected by the local police. I find it ironic that often when antiwar voices are expressing themselves, our Free Speech rights are stifled by batons, boots, gas and cuffs. But when a bunch of pro-war people or racists want to counter our protest or march through our communities with their hateful agendas, they get protected by the police. Needless to say, I think we all have learned our lessons about who the police protect and who they don’t. Anyway, the community came out in protest of the march and before long a riot broke out. A state of emergency was declared, a curfew was put in place and hundreds of young black men were arrested. The news coverage of this event was without context. There was no mention of the years of racial tensions in the community and problems with the Toledo Police Department, nor was there any mention or connection made to what the country witnessed a week before.

Two weeks ago today, Robert Davis, a 64 year old black man was viciously beaten by 3 white New Orleans police officers, it was filmed and broadcast all over the world just like the Rodney King beating over ten years ago. Only this time, with the internet we could watch the "raw footage of the beating", as described by CNN, whenever and however many times over. Indeed, that whole week after the incident many people were talking about the beating and how mad it made them feel. I saw the videotape. I saw a man standing up for his right to be treated with respect, and I saw the brute force of the state literally beating the idea- how dare you question me?- into the head of a former teacher. I saw the same boot, put to the backs of the necks of Iraqi detainees, put to the back of Robert Davis' neck, keeping his torn and bloody face in the dirt, effectively telling him, "you ain't shit.”

It wasn't long ago when Hurricane Katrina blew apart New Orleans, and one article I remember reading was about National Guard troops from Iraq patrolling the streets of New Orleans. The story described some of the soldiers as being grateful to participate in the humanitarian relief, while describing other soldiers who were, quote, "fighting the insurgency", and this was talking about the insurgency in New Orleans!

I didn’t think things could get worse for poor and black people than what I saw and read about the situation in New Orleans. I don’t think the mud caked streets were fully dry before the next uppercut came.

A former secretary of education, Bill Bennett, now a popular radio show host, made headline news saying “ if you abort every black baby in America, the crime rate would go down”. Straight faced and with no apologies. I couldn’t believe the chorus of defenders who came out of the woodwork to defend his comments and his rationale. Think about this for a second, this guy is saying that black people in America, a recognized numerical minority, is responsible for a majority of crime in this country. After all the images and rhetoric of the press covering Katrina, and all the controversy over “looting food” versus “finding food”, “evacuees” vs. “refugees”, Bennett’s comment is a dangerous one to put out there and have most of television’s talking heads condoning it.

Racism is alive and well in 2005 America.

The war in Iraq is another good indicator. The Iraqi people can’t fight for their own freedom, they can’t govern themselves, so benevolent America has to pick up the burden on their behalf. Reminds me of a similar venture, one that was commemorated two weeks ago, it began in 1492 and continues today. This past Monday 39 Iraqi civilians were killed by a US airstrike in Ramadi. The Iraqi people are faceless and nameless, theirs deaths are not counted and often go unmentioned even at antiwar rallies. Their homes, their cupboards, their family possessions and valuables, are not safe from intrusive searches by American troops. Their sons are guilty until proven innocent, and are detained for being “of military age” meaning if they are capable of carrying a weapon, they are fair game for detention, and as we are finding out more and more, they will be tortured and abused in detention. Their culture, language and religion are mocked and ridiculed. Another headline from last Saturday reads, 7 CA National Guard soldiers sentenced for abusing Iraqis. In 1967, it was Muhammad Ali who said “no Vietcong ever called me nigger”, today that message resonates with a protest sign I saw recently “no Iraqis left me on a roof to die”. Yesteryear’s “gook” is today’s “hajii”.

So what can we do and what are we doing? We must continue to do this counter-recruitment work because it is effective and it is rapidly growing as a movement. Last week the military released it’s final figures on recruiting. The Army, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Air National Guard all missed their recruiting goals by thousands. The Army’s pool of new recruits in the DEP has disappeared and there are predictions within the military that 2006 will be even tougher. What we need to do is keep on pluggin’ away, and not be discouraged or afraid of just how effective this work is. I see counter-recruitment information empower people every day, we must be patient and work in small steps. It’s important that we utilize all aspects at our disposal, and embrace a diverse range of strategies to do this work. It’s not just the figures from the military that convince me that we are effective. But also the growing violent response to counter-recruiters that makes me think we must be doing something right, something that scares the establishment, and forces them to send the boots out. Those boots on the backs of the necks of Iraqi detainees, can also be seen in the streets of Oakland and Philadelphia, with handcuffed black and brown youths, face down in the street, with a boot on their back.

These same boots are now trying to march us out of doing this work. They are trying to kick, arrest and beat counter-recruiters down from Holyoke Community College in MA, to George Mason University in VA, to the streets of Pittsburgh, where police dogs and tazers were used to stop a counter-recruitment protest at a military recruiting station. All these incidents happened within the last two months! It is dangerous and reckless behavior on the part of the campus police, and the authorities, to respond to non-violent protest with violence. But violence is the biggest tool that this government uses for control and to hold onto power.

The challenge is on us, and we must rise up to it. The challenge this weekend, is interrogating war, military recruitment, and to try and find options for young people in this area that don’t include putting on those boots and putting them on the backs of others. We don’t want young people to simply trade one death culture: life on the streets of America; for a more expensive and better armed one: life in the US military. For it is the very bloated ambitions of our foreign policy and the bloated budgets of our military, that reinforces and maintains, run-down communities here in the US. Communities that have high rates of drug sales, poverty and unemployment, police brutality, violence, poor educational systems and the lack of basic human needs and services. Solving those problems is not specifically part of the equation this weekend, but they are related. We can do this work and affect change in those areas, but we have to remain dedicated, committed, and fearless. It can be hard when you run the risk of arrest, and a beatdown for doing this work, but it is a risk, and a gamble that we must take today if we want a better world tomorrow. Can the stakes get any higher?