"A Menace to Society: Or How An Uppity Black Man Got Banned From Cody’s Bookstore" (tags)
Joseph Anderson is the outspoken author of a number of commentaries (available online) criticizing the racist stereotyping and pathologizing of Black males from young to old – and sometimes even by those particular *Black* authors, filmmakers and documentary makers eagerly given investment financing, contracts, buy-outs, royalties, grants, distribution, or platforms by white corporations and institutions to do so – attitudinally leading to the legalized, collectively *serial* murders of unarmed Black males by cops, white (or even 'honorary white') wanna-be cops (like George Zimmerman), and other racist assailants all over this country, as well as to Black males' systematic incarceration. This important, exemplified, 'vintage' article, asked for and published (at the literary journal "Konch") by the internationally famous African American author and UC Berkeley professor emeritus, Ishmael Reed, REVISITS and DETAILS some of Anderson's own experience with, and reflections upon, this – including, especially, white liberal racism. Unfortunately, like all prophetic writing, these reflections are all too true even today.
"The Activism Entry Point: Critiquing The Cancer in Occupy Debate" — by Joseph Anderson (tags)
Longtime Berkeley activist Joseph Anderson weighs in on the ongoing debate around Occupy Oakland on the issue of diversity of tactics and the use of BlackBloc style tactics. He weighs in on the recent debate between Chris Hedges and Occupy Oakland organizer Kristof Lopaur. The Occupy movement, Anderson says, cannot have both a diversity of people and a ”diversity of tactics” at this time – and the movement can’t shortcut the process of attaining, and retaining, the first by jumping to the second. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Same-Old-Same-Old from the Corporate Media: the Oakland Justice for Oscar Grant Protests" (tags)
Introduction by the very prominent San Francisco Bay Area radio journalist, writer and columnist, Davey D: This article by Joseph Anderson is important on a number of fronts. First it details accurately much of what took place in Oakland, CA, on Friday night, November 5th, 2010, after the sentencing was announced. The writer, along with photographer and photo-journalist Jay Finneburgh, not only monitored and documented the Justice for Oscar Grant march, and subsequent wholesale mass arrests, but kept a phone line open to our studios so folks not inside the riot police lines could actually hear what was being said. What was described by Anderson, documented by Finneburgh, and experienced by legal observers [including the NLG, one of whose members was also arrested, along with Andrea Prichett, founder of CopWatch] was a far, far, far cry from what was reported on the TV evening news when police held a press conference boasting about mass arrest numbers (152!). [In addition, officially and 'pretextually' declaring an entire neighborhood, a minority neighborhood, of course, to be "a crime scene", is a new political tactic by the police.]
The ‘Karmic Justice’ of Lovelle Mixon’s Act (tags)
- The cops called Lovelle Mixon (who killed 4 Oakland police department cops) “a cold-hearted individual who doesn’t have any regard for human life.” Well, the cops should know: they too, often against minorities, behave exactly the same way. -
THE LEFT AND THE ISRAEL LOBBY – by Joseph Anderson, Dissident Voice (tags)
Now that Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer have broken the taboo in the mainstream American media establishment of not only pointing out that the Israel lobby exists, but actually analyzing it from their perspective, the only place that open discussion, analysis and debate about the lobby remain firmly taboo is, ironically, ON THE LEFT! It’s a taboo imposed on the left by certain leftist icons and their suppression – if not censorship – of free expression and debate on this topic in progressive venues (lectures, panels, press or broadcast). Even some Palestinian-Americans have been forced to knuckle under to these leftist icons’ denial of the power of the Israel lobby in exchange for those icons’ or certain progressive/leftist groups’ political support. For example, as of this writing, where is an informed rebuttal to Noam Chomsky's dismissive position on the Lobby or at least an honest, open debate about the lobby on the national radio program Democracy Now? So, I wanted to incisively debunk at least some of the major arguments used by certain Left icons in denying the power and influence of the Israel lobby in U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and in suppressing discussion of its power domestically. Now, some people will bring up a red herring list of other possible influences in U.S. Mideast foreign policy to deny my analysis, but here I am dealing with THE ISRAEL LOBBY and how leftist icons respond to that topic. My ultimate position is: whatever our positions on the lobby, do we get to honestly discuss and debate it in formal public settings? Please read more:
The Left and the Israel Lobby (tags)
by Joseph Anderson
On MALIK RAHIM: Yesterday's Radicals Devolve into Today's (feelgood/checkbook) Liberalism (tags)
Last night (Mon, Oct 3) at Berkeley's Unitarian Fellowship MALIK RAHIM, former Black Panther, community activist from and speaker on the Common Ground Wellness Center in Algiers, New Orleans, said that he was "NOT POLITICAL" and that, "HE WAS GOING TO RUN ANYONE, WHO COMES TO NEW ORLEANS TALKING ABOUT POLITICS, _OUTTA TOWN_!!"
"'NEVER AGAIN' OVER AGAIN" — on Holocaust Remebrance Day (tags)
I thought that “Never again!” meant never again for all humanity — not just never again for European Jews.
BECKY'S BRAIN!!: An Amazing 'Interview' With Becky Johnson of Santa Cruz, by J. Anderson (tags)
This often humorous 'interview' with Becky Johnson of Santa Cruz (google her) was taken from a SC-IMC thread. ( http://santacruz.indymedia.org/newswire/update/index.php ) It was such an amazing exchange that I thought it should explicitly be given its own very special place as a separate article. HANG ON!! You're headed into the incredible matrix of Bekcy's brain!!
Pacifica Radio: FREEDOM TO SPEAK LARRY BENSKY'S LANGUAGE! (tags)
Many people in the KPFA listener community in the San Francisco Bay Area have asked me, Joseph Anderson, for a copy of my UC Berkeley "Daily Californian" newspaper guest column on Pacifica Radio's KPFA character Larry Bensky. At the time of its original publication, I knew nothing about Bensky other than how he came across on the air. I guess it is time for a confirming retrospective. Bensky hasn't changed a bit. This was written during the Pacifica Radio crisis of 1999, when Bensky was fired (thanks to *me*, now it can be told!). I immediately notified and talked to Mary Berry, then, about his insubordination and symbolically offered to let her have Bensky in exchange for Pacifica Radio back. But, it was still nice to have someone Black shut *Bensky* up!
Joseph Anderson Displays [Reveals] Anti-Blackism & 'Anti-Semitism' — by Alexander Cockburn (tags)
"Joseph Anderson Displays [Reveals] Anti-Blackism & 'Anti-Semitism' " — by Alexander Cockburn : Zombies for Kerry; Arundhati Roy Explains NGOs; Joseph Anderson Displays Anti-Blackism and 'Anti-Semitism'
RESPONSE TO GERALD A. GERASH, LA GREEN PARTY, RE OAKLAND "ANTI-SEMITISM" CONFER (tags)
Will the Green Party become Zionist-occupied territory too? It will if Gerald A. Gerash of the L.A. Green Party has anything to do with it -- complete with Zionist mudslinging and character assassination against anyone who ever dares to criticize Israel or its ethnochauvinistic state ideology -- and, of course, complete with the usual promiscuous charges of "anti-Semitism".
OPEN LETTERS TO OAKLAND "ANTI-SEMITISM" CONFERENCE! - by Jeffrey Blankfort; & Ji (tags)
I met with anti-Zionist Israeli activists in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, all of whom I informed, as an example of the sorry state of affairs on this [US] side of the water, about the subject of your upcoming [Oakland "Anti-Semitism"] Conference on what is alleged to be anti-semitism on the part of what passes for the left in the United States.
Are we to apologize for Israel-bashing? -- Jeffrey Blankfort (tags)
Read journalist and Jewish anti-Zionist activist Jeffrey Blankfort’s response to racist Zionist apologist Rabbi Michael Lerner’s whining about his not being allowed to horn in on Sunday’s (2/16/03) huge San Francisco anti-war march and rally. (Posted by Joseph Anderson)