Posted on 23rd Feb. This should really be an article rather than a blog post as I will return to edit it over several days as I have the time and inclination.<\/p>\n
Cynthia McKinney<\/a> is not well known by the mainstream media outside of the US. In the US the media seems to characterise her as crazy. This video of her at a Congressional hearing shows her to be a competent politician who is well worth listening to:<\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Here McKinney asks three question which are essentially about possible corruption within the US military industrial complex. The first question concerns a private government contractor <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/DynCorp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DynCorp<\/a> implicated in child sex trafficking; the second question is about billions of dollars unaccounted for in the Department of Defence; and the third question is about the air defence drills that coincidentally took place on the day of 9\/11.<\/p>\n<p>It’s worth reading the full text of McKinney’s <a href=\"Conversation with Gary S. Corseri\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Conversation with Gary S. Corseri<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A Conversation with Gary S. Corseri<br \/>\nThe former Georgia congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate discusses the evolution of her worldview: her opposition to U.S. imperial wars (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153the attack on Libya was an attack on Africa\u00e2\u20ac\u009d); the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Israelization\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of U.S. foreign policy; and her assessment of the Occupy Movement \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve given us a way to self-identify.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It feels odd that many people consider anyone who asserts that 9\/11 was ‘an inside job’ to be nuts. Their premise for this judgement is generally that it seems impossible that the government could have kept a lid on a crime of such enormity. They treat this as almost axiomatic and so are not willing to engage with the evidence. There is a sense of intellectual snobbery in their dismissal of those who take the inside job hypothesis seriously, but is actually intellectually dishonest; it is not axiomatic that a powerful organisation would be able to keep a lid on a vast conspiracy. The notion of ‘shadow governments’ existing in democracies below the radar of public scrutiny, far from being impossible is almost a necessary assumption, the only question is of the depth and organisation of ‘the shadow’.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Any time the War Machine rolls\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI have to oppose that!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nGC: In 2004, you signed the 9\/11 Truth Movement statement, calling for new investigations of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unexplained aspects of the 9\/11 events.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d More than 7 years have passed since then. What would you say are some of the more egregious \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unexplained events\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<br \/>\nCM: \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 How is it that the people of the United States can invest trillions of dollars in the military and Intelligence infrastructure\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand it failed four times in one day? \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 That singular question has never been answered.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>McKinney is not asserting that 9\/11 was an inside job she is only asking for a thorough investigation. Even if we accept the official story, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.innerquests.netstorms.org\/?p=156\" title=\"911\">the questions that have been raised<\/a> by reputable and technically qualified commentators should be answered.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cynthia McKinney - Palestine, Israel, Boat getting rammed Pt2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7jYc70aTHms?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>McKinney is much more of an activist than a politician; this is clear from the Gaza incident video above. She is prepared to put her life on the line. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>GC: Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s continue with this theme of recognizing other people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s human rights. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 More recently, this past year, you were in Tripoli when NATO bombed Libya. What were you doing there\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and can you describe that experience?<br \/>\nCM: I voluntarily went to Libya. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Any time the War Machine rolls\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI have to oppose that! Libya was a special case, a personal case\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 because I had just been to Libya. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I had taken a delegation of independent journalists to go to Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 because I did not believe the explanation that was given to the public about the necessity to bomb Tripoli and other cities in Libya. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 While we were there\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 we experienced what \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shock and awe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is all about. The individual who went to the UN with allegations of thousands dying at the hands of Colonel Gaddhafi and the Libyan government\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhen he was pressed to substantiate his claims, he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<br \/>\nGC:That reminds me of the allegations made against the Iraqis in Kuwait, back in 1990–that they were taking babies out of incubators and throwing them on the floor!<br \/>\nCM: It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a situation similar to that of the Cuban-American community congregated down in Miami\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 right after the Cuban Revolution in 1959 where we had a community of expatriates who were willing to unleash terror on their own country\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and, a similar thing was happening in Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 with the United States providing financing for these individuals willing to lie about what was happening.<br \/>\nThis information is available on the Internet. Julien Teil interviewed the individual making these false claims at the UN. The interview can be found at www.laguerrehumanitaire.fr [4]. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on YouTube, as well. Julien also interviewed the woman at Amnesty International who had claimed that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153African mercenaries\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were supporting Gaddafi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s repression of his people; but, when challenged\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand this was all after the devastation\u00e2\u20ac\u201dshe admitted that it was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153just a rumor.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nMy colleague, David Josue, and I had been in Libya to attend a conference for Africans on the continent as well as Africans in the diaspora. And what the Jamahariya government had devised was a call to Africans in the diaspora who were unhappy with their treatment at the hands of white Americans or white Europeans, etc.\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto come back home to Africa and to help Libya rebuild Africa and rebuild itself.<br \/>\n[Interviewer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s NOTE: (from Wikipedia): \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jamahiriya\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a term coined by Gaddafi, usually translated as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153state of the masses.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d]<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 That was the purpose of this conference I had attended. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 And it was at that conference that the Jamahiriya committed 90 billion dollars to help in the creation of The United States of Africa. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 That would also include a million-person army for continental Africa to drive back the attempts of AFRICOM and others to occupy the African continent. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 That was in addition to the proposal for a gold-backed dinar for all of Africa. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 The daughter of Kwame Nkruma was at that conference; the son of Patrice Lumumba was at that conference\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the grandson of Malcom X was there. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 The atmosphere was electric with the idea of the re-building, the re-kindling of the movement that these African leaders\u00e2\u20ac\u201dor their forebears\u00e2\u20ac\u201drepresented. Well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 that was all put to an end by NATO\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bombing. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\n[Interviewer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s NOTE (from Wikipedia): The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) is one of nine United Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces.]<br \/>\nThe attack on Libya was an attack on Africa! It was an attack on my aspirations as a person of African descent to have a free and independent Africa. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what was attacked!<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The attack on Libya was an attack on Africa!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nGC: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never had as complete a picture of that. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d heard that Gaddafi wanted to set up a gold-backed dinar. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 In fact, people like Ron Paul even talk about using gold-backed currency… so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard that as a rationale for what we were doing there\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtrying to prevent any challenge to the US dollar as the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reserve currency. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, nobody has described the situation as completely as you have.<br \/>\nMy final question on Libya is this: You have praised Colonel Gaddafi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s GREEN BOOK and the kind of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153direct democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d advocated therein. Can you give us a brief lesson as to how that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153direct democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d differs from our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153representative democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<br \/>\nCM: Our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is neither democratic nor representative! But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s start with what the Jamahiriya means to me. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 The only stake that I have is that I want to see a free and independent Africa\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, but the type of government that Libya has should be determined by the Libyan people. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really have a say in that. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 And I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a say in how they dispose of their governmental form. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Therefore, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inexcusable to ask another country to bomb your fellow countrymen if you really care about your country!<br \/>\nThe Jamahiriya–which had the highest living standard in all of Africa–had free education up through the Ph.D. level; free health care; free utilities, subsidized\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand free, if you were poor\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhousing; subsidized food; subsidized transportaion, including car expenses\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and so, the necessities of life were paid for by the direct democracy known as the Jamahiriya.<br \/>\nCan you imagine\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6? I have a cousin who is $120,000 in student debt in the U.S. She has a Master\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s degree as a social worker. Now, if she had been born in Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u201dshe would have no such debt. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I went to a university outside of Tripoli and asked the students about their tuition fees\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and the word didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t translate. I asked them about what they paid to attend the university. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 It was $9.00 per year!<br \/>\nWhen I was in Congress, one of my allies was Senator Mike Gravel\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and Senator Gravel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s initiative is about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153direct democracy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He had been to Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and he supported the establishment of the revolutionary committees which was the way Libyans determined how they would use their oil money.<br \/>\nA question under discussion when I attended the conference there was whether the subsidies for gas\/petrol or the subsidies for education would be increased! (In the US, under \u00e2\u20ac\u0153austerity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d measures, people are being told which programs will be eliminated or eviscerated; in Libya, they were voting on which programs would get increased subsidization!)<br \/>\nWhat I have said publicly is that what we have been seeing is the Israelization of US policy. You know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the only reason the Libyans took any interest in me was that someone in Libya, looking at their television, saw me having all these problems trying to get into Gaza\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and they said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We want to know her!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I was invited to attend this conference on THE GREEN BOOK\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto explain what I was trying to do in Gaza. And what I observed in Libya was the same kind of collective punishment I observed in Gaza. People supporting their own governments were being punished by outsiders who opposed those governments!<br \/>\nThis is the kind of thing that happens in the absence of ethics in journalism. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have journalists in the Mainstream\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI call it the Special Interests Press–to educate and provide information to citizens so they can make a critical analysis of issues. That is absent. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 We need ethics in scholarship; ethics in journalism, as well. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6The journalistic community has gone along with the kind of death and destruction that has been visited upon Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and so many other countries. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re setting up drone bases all over Africa\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and people here don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t begin to understand. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cynthia Mckinney on Libyan state TV\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rx2bFTLRHRc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>McKinney’s appearance on Libyan state television during the Intervention was courageous. It led to her being branded as a ‘Gaddafi supporter’ as though that were automatically a badge of dishonour and a cause for rejecting her as a serious commentator as in this article: <a href=\"http:\/\/lezgetreal.com\/2011\/05\/cynthia-mckinney-in-libya\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cynthia McKinney In Libya<\/a>. Supporting Gaddafi is certainly problematic; from the, admittedly superficial, research I’ve done Gadaffi comes across as an enigmatic figure who did a lot of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/lz-128\/6264601850\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">good for Libya<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/eccleza.net\/2011\/07\/17\/how-gaddafi-helped-africa-and-why-the-war-on-libya-also-is-a-war-on-africa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Africa<\/a> and yet at the same time earned the hostility of a large section of his people. Gaddafi <a href=\"http:\/\/truedemocracyparty.net\/2011\/11\/the-green-book-muammar-gaddafi-the-philosophy-of-liberty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">advocated direct democracy<\/a> and claimed to have no role in government yet he seemed to have had the right to determine the disposition of Libya’s resources. McKinney’s support for Gaddafi is understandable in the light what he was advocating for Africa and while it may be problematic given that he was an autocrat with a clear history of repression, there is value in having voices that run counter to the the consensus (in the West) characterisation of Gaddafi as a ‘demented dictator’ because that characterisation was used as a weapon to justify war.<\/p>\n<p>Related: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blackagendareport.com\/content\/mahmoud-jibril-and-qaddafis-wealth-redistribution-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mahmoud Jibril and Qaddafi’s Wealth Redistribution Project<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/exposingthetruth.info\/%E2%80%98occupy-together%E2%80%99-the-movement-grows-to-stop-bankers%E2%80%99-world-war-iii\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jamahiriya and Occupy<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>GC: Related question: Okay\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6also about Current Events: this is about the Occupy Movement, then. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nCM: Okay. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nGC: We live in a Surveilance State. Our license plate numbers are routinely recorded; we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re finger-printed for jobs, our Social Security numbers serve as National I.D.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, our e-mails are monitored for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153code\u00e2\u20ac\u009d words or phrases, our homes are surveiled by satellite mapping systems of Google, Yahoo, etc. Those who protest, as in the Occupy Wall Street movement, are arrested, booked, and more closely watched. Now they have \u00e2\u20ac\u0153records\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that affect their employment. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 My question is: how do we battle this pervasive system? Do you get discouraged? What do you do when you are discouraged? Who are your \u00e2\u20ac\u0153heroes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? To whom do you turn for inspiration?<br \/>\nCM: Do I get discouraged? Yes! What do I do when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m discouraged? \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 find other people who are not yet discouraged!<br \/>\nWho are my heroes? Everybody! Everybody who has a tough row to hoe in life! Those are my heroes. Those are the people who give the most! When I was running for Congress back in 1992–for the first time\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI was running to represent the second poorest district in Georgia\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and, what I learned was that the poor people gave the most! The people who had\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give as generously as the people who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have! So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 my first campaign theme was, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Warriors don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wear medals, they wear scars!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 my heroes are the community and neighborhood warriors who have a whole lot of scars, a whole lot of dignity.<br \/>\nGC: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like you to talk specifically about what used to be called the Black Liberation Struggle. As a young, white man, I was inspired by the works of black writers like Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Leroi Jones (now called Baraka), Eldridge Cleaver, W.E.B. DuBois, and poets like Langston Hughes. Martin Luther King and Malcom X were inspirational leaders for all people; Rosa Parks was a woman of quiet, dignified courage. But, now, with the election of Obama, and with the prominence of people like Bill Cosby first, and Oprah Winfrey, the billionairess\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe great struggles of the past almost seem quaint. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your take on this? Who are the great black leaders today? What is the struggle about today?<br \/>\n[Note:There are 7 million Americans now under \u00e2\u20ac\u0153correctional observation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d More African-Americans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 lives intersect with our prison-industrial-surveillance complex than there were African-American slaves in 1850!]<br \/>\nCM: You asked me who are my heroes. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 One of my heroes is Glen Ford, who writes for The Black Agenda Report [<a href=\"http:\/\/blackagendareport.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/blackagendareport.com<\/a> [6]\/]. I view him as the most astute political observer of our times.<br \/>\nThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a whole lot of pundits who are in our faces every Sunday morning who think they are political observers\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, but they are not astute! And they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re also not independent. Glen Ford is independent, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been through the wars and he has no special interests to kow-tow to. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 He just wrote a piece\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can the Proud African-American Progressive Legacy Survive Another Four Years of Cowing to the Corporate Servant in the White House?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strong stuff\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, but right on point!<br \/>\nWe have a situation now\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it was the Black struggle that really defined morality in the United States. It defined the moral imperative. And the character of the country was measured by how well it answered the call of Black people for justice. But what happens when Black people stop asking for justice? I think you get exactly what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got now\u00e2\u20ac\u201da President who is dropping bombs on Africa\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 which is un-thought-of; I mean, it would have been un-thought-of four years ago that Africa would be bombed\u00e2\u20ac\u201droutinely! But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a routine matter now that the United States Africa Command [AFRICOM] would actively establish itself and militarize the US relationship with Africa. AFRICOM represents a kind of US imperial occupation of the continent that we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen since the days of outright colonialism of the Europeans. We are being told about issues that are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153important\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re ignoring the real issues that are important! Henry Kissinger said that he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe the amount of good will that was embodied in this president! But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what people like Kissinger don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153get\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is that this president sits on top of the historic Black struggle that characterized the United States to the world! People around the world thought that Barack Obama characterized the New United States! But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 far from it! A lot of people got tricked and fooled and now\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 as philosopher Michel Foucault has observed\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe every-day actions of ordinary people actually entrap them in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153powerlessness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 So, to break out of your powerlessness, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to break out of your existing paradigm. So, as long as Barack Obama is representative of the existing paradigm, this is what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to get\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 because the existing paradigm is war and more war!<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Occupy Movement has given to us\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve given us a way to self-identify.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>GC: How do we \u00e2\u20ac\u0153break out\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? How do we fight the Mainstream Media that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s constantly projecting that paradigm and hammering it into our brains?<br \/>\nCM: The literature suggests that people have to be confronted with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disorienting dilemma\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that causes them to reflect on what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just experienced. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nGC: Cognitive dissonance?<br \/>\nCM: That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Reflect on what you always assumed\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been confronted with that contradicts your assumptions. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 For some people, it was the murder of JFK; for others, it was the murder of Malcom; for others, it was the murder of MLK; for a whole bunch of others, it was the murder of RFK; and for some people who began to look and pay attention like me\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it was the murder of all of them and then add onto it the murder of the members of the Black Panther Party\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho were attacked by our own government. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nYou could say that for me, my first \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disorienting dilemma\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was when I realized that I was black. I realized that the world around me was not like me, and that it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t value my black skin! That, for me was when I began to pay attention and wake up!<br \/>\nGC: How old were you?<br \/>\nCM: Seven or eight. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6You know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 for some people it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s religion, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s race, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gender, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, maybe, sexual orientation. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Everyone has their moment of reckoning.<br \/>\nI think, ultimately\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the love we have for humanity and how we see something is wrong and we have to stop it!<br \/>\nSo\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 by the time I got to Congress\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I had had my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153reckoning,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and I had had my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153break-out\u00e2\u20ac\u009d moments, and I guess this gave me strength and vibrancy\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and there were people who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it. I wore my hair differently, I dressed differently from the other people in Congress. There was even a segment of the Capitol Hill police that didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like that. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What happens when Black people stop asking for justice?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nGC: What year was that?<br \/>\nCM: 1993. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nGC: Wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there a much more recent incident with the Capitol Hill police?<br \/>\nCM: No, no, no. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 It happened for twelve years! \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Twelve years of harrassment from the Capitol Hill police! They considered it a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sport\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to harass me! \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s available on the Internet\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 if you go to YouTube and you put in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Last Plantation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nGC: The infamous incident is when you apparently struck back at the officer who was harassing you. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Is that correct?<br \/>\nCM: The officer had no business putting his hands on me! \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 And I reacted like any normal person would react when being attacked by some great big, huge guy from behind! \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 This was a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It was a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201da \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sport\u00e2\u20ac\u009d–for the white officers. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see if you go to that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Last Plantation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d site that I had been targeted because I had written a letter of support for the Black Capitol Hill police officers.<br \/>\nGC: And this most infamous incident\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 that was the same day as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted?<br \/>\nCM: That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 The Mainstream Media didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to lead with that indictment, did they? It was much more sensational and distracting to lead with the story of a black Congresswoman attacking a Capitol Hill police officer!<br \/>\n[Laughter]<br \/>\nGC: You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a pretty brave woman, aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you?<br \/>\nCM: Everybody can be brave\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 they just need that break-out moment of recognition. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve stood on some big shoulders. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 As I said before\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmy campaign theme: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Warriors don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wear medals\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 they wear scars.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Last Plantation\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a4mOZomLryU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Posted on 23rd Feb. This should really be an article rather than a blog post as I will return to edit it over several days as I have the time and inclination. Cynthia McKinney is not well known by the mainstream media outside of the US. In the US the media seems to characterise…<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/2012\/02\/23\/cynthia-mckinney\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,87,108,100,40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Here McKinney asks three question which are essentially about possible corruption within the US military industrial complex. The first question concerns a private government contractor <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/DynCorp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DynCorp<\/a> implicated in child sex trafficking; the second question is about billions of dollars unaccounted for in the Department of Defence; and the third question is about the air defence drills that coincidentally took place on the day of 9\/11.<\/p>\n<p>It’s worth reading the full text of McKinney’s <a href=\"Conversation with Gary S. Corseri\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Conversation with Gary S. Corseri<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A Conversation with Gary S. Corseri<br \/>\nThe former Georgia congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate discusses the evolution of her worldview: her opposition to U.S. imperial wars (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153the attack on Libya was an attack on Africa\u00e2\u20ac\u009d); the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Israelization\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of U.S. foreign policy; and her assessment of the Occupy Movement \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve given us a way to self-identify.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It feels odd that many people consider anyone who asserts that 9\/11 was ‘an inside job’ to be nuts. Their premise for this judgement is generally that it seems impossible that the government could have kept a lid on a crime of such enormity. They treat this as almost axiomatic and so are not willing to engage with the evidence. There is a sense of intellectual snobbery in their dismissal of those who take the inside job hypothesis seriously, but is actually intellectually dishonest; it is not axiomatic that a powerful organisation would be able to keep a lid on a vast conspiracy. The notion of ‘shadow governments’ existing in democracies below the radar of public scrutiny, far from being impossible is almost a necessary assumption, the only question is of the depth and organisation of ‘the shadow’.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Any time the War Machine rolls\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI have to oppose that!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nGC: In 2004, you signed the 9\/11 Truth Movement statement, calling for new investigations of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unexplained aspects of the 9\/11 events.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d More than 7 years have passed since then. What would you say are some of the more egregious \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unexplained events\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<br \/>\nCM: \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 How is it that the people of the United States can invest trillions of dollars in the military and Intelligence infrastructure\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand it failed four times in one day? \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 That singular question has never been answered.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>McKinney is not asserting that 9\/11 was an inside job she is only asking for a thorough investigation. Even if we accept the official story, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.innerquests.netstorms.org\/?p=156\" title=\"911\">the questions that have been raised<\/a> by reputable and technically qualified commentators should be answered.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cynthia McKinney - Palestine, Israel, Boat getting rammed Pt2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7jYc70aTHms?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>McKinney is much more of an activist than a politician; this is clear from the Gaza incident video above. She is prepared to put her life on the line. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>GC: Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s continue with this theme of recognizing other people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s human rights. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 More recently, this past year, you were in Tripoli when NATO bombed Libya. What were you doing there\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and can you describe that experience?<br \/>\nCM: I voluntarily went to Libya. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Any time the War Machine rolls\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI have to oppose that! Libya was a special case, a personal case\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 because I had just been to Libya. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I had taken a delegation of independent journalists to go to Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 because I did not believe the explanation that was given to the public about the necessity to bomb Tripoli and other cities in Libya. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 While we were there\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 we experienced what \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shock and awe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is all about. The individual who went to the UN with allegations of thousands dying at the hands of Colonel Gaddhafi and the Libyan government\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhen he was pressed to substantiate his claims, he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<br \/>\nGC:That reminds me of the allegations made against the Iraqis in Kuwait, back in 1990–that they were taking babies out of incubators and throwing them on the floor!<br \/>\nCM: It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a situation similar to that of the Cuban-American community congregated down in Miami\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 right after the Cuban Revolution in 1959 where we had a community of expatriates who were willing to unleash terror on their own country\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and, a similar thing was happening in Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 with the United States providing financing for these individuals willing to lie about what was happening.<br \/>\nThis information is available on the Internet. Julien Teil interviewed the individual making these false claims at the UN. The interview can be found at www.laguerrehumanitaire.fr [4]. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on YouTube, as well. Julien also interviewed the woman at Amnesty International who had claimed that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153African mercenaries\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were supporting Gaddafi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s repression of his people; but, when challenged\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand this was all after the devastation\u00e2\u20ac\u201dshe admitted that it was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153just a rumor.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nMy colleague, David Josue, and I had been in Libya to attend a conference for Africans on the continent as well as Africans in the diaspora. And what the Jamahariya government had devised was a call to Africans in the diaspora who were unhappy with their treatment at the hands of white Americans or white Europeans, etc.\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto come back home to Africa and to help Libya rebuild Africa and rebuild itself.<br \/>\n[Interviewer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s NOTE: (from Wikipedia): \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jamahiriya\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a term coined by Gaddafi, usually translated as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153state of the masses.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d]<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 That was the purpose of this conference I had attended. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 And it was at that conference that the Jamahiriya committed 90 billion dollars to help in the creation of The United States of Africa. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 That would also include a million-person army for continental Africa to drive back the attempts of AFRICOM and others to occupy the African continent. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 That was in addition to the proposal for a gold-backed dinar for all of Africa. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 The daughter of Kwame Nkruma was at that conference; the son of Patrice Lumumba was at that conference\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the grandson of Malcom X was there. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 The atmosphere was electric with the idea of the re-building, the re-kindling of the movement that these African leaders\u00e2\u20ac\u201dor their forebears\u00e2\u20ac\u201drepresented. Well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 that was all put to an end by NATO\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bombing. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\n[Interviewer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s NOTE (from Wikipedia): The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) is one of nine United Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces.]<br \/>\nThe attack on Libya was an attack on Africa! It was an attack on my aspirations as a person of African descent to have a free and independent Africa. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what was attacked!<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The attack on Libya was an attack on Africa!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nGC: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never had as complete a picture of that. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d heard that Gaddafi wanted to set up a gold-backed dinar. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 In fact, people like Ron Paul even talk about using gold-backed currency… so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard that as a rationale for what we were doing there\u00e2\u20ac\u201dtrying to prevent any challenge to the US dollar as the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reserve currency. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, nobody has described the situation as completely as you have.<br \/>\nMy final question on Libya is this: You have praised Colonel Gaddafi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s GREEN BOOK and the kind of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153direct democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d advocated therein. Can you give us a brief lesson as to how that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153direct democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d differs from our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153representative democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<br \/>\nCM: Our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is neither democratic nor representative! But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s start with what the Jamahiriya means to me. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 The only stake that I have is that I want to see a free and independent Africa\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, but the type of government that Libya has should be determined by the Libyan people. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really have a say in that. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 And I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a say in how they dispose of their governmental form. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Therefore, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inexcusable to ask another country to bomb your fellow countrymen if you really care about your country!<br \/>\nThe Jamahiriya–which had the highest living standard in all of Africa–had free education up through the Ph.D. level; free health care; free utilities, subsidized\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand free, if you were poor\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhousing; subsidized food; subsidized transportaion, including car expenses\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and so, the necessities of life were paid for by the direct democracy known as the Jamahiriya.<br \/>\nCan you imagine\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6? I have a cousin who is $120,000 in student debt in the U.S. She has a Master\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s degree as a social worker. Now, if she had been born in Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u201dshe would have no such debt. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I went to a university outside of Tripoli and asked the students about their tuition fees\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and the word didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t translate. I asked them about what they paid to attend the university. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 It was $9.00 per year!<br \/>\nWhen I was in Congress, one of my allies was Senator Mike Gravel\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and Senator Gravel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s initiative is about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153direct democracy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He had been to Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and he supported the establishment of the revolutionary committees which was the way Libyans determined how they would use their oil money.<br \/>\nA question under discussion when I attended the conference there was whether the subsidies for gas\/petrol or the subsidies for education would be increased! (In the US, under \u00e2\u20ac\u0153austerity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d measures, people are being told which programs will be eliminated or eviscerated; in Libya, they were voting on which programs would get increased subsidization!)<br \/>\nWhat I have said publicly is that what we have been seeing is the Israelization of US policy. You know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the only reason the Libyans took any interest in me was that someone in Libya, looking at their television, saw me having all these problems trying to get into Gaza\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and they said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We want to know her!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I was invited to attend this conference on THE GREEN BOOK\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto explain what I was trying to do in Gaza. And what I observed in Libya was the same kind of collective punishment I observed in Gaza. People supporting their own governments were being punished by outsiders who opposed those governments!<br \/>\nThis is the kind of thing that happens in the absence of ethics in journalism. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have journalists in the Mainstream\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI call it the Special Interests Press–to educate and provide information to citizens so they can make a critical analysis of issues. That is absent. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 We need ethics in scholarship; ethics in journalism, as well. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6The journalistic community has gone along with the kind of death and destruction that has been visited upon Libya\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and so many other countries. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re setting up drone bases all over Africa\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and people here don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t begin to understand. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cynthia Mckinney on Libyan state TV\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rx2bFTLRHRc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>McKinney’s appearance on Libyan state television during the Intervention was courageous. It led to her being branded as a ‘Gaddafi supporter’ as though that were automatically a badge of dishonour and a cause for rejecting her as a serious commentator as in this article: <a href=\"http:\/\/lezgetreal.com\/2011\/05\/cynthia-mckinney-in-libya\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cynthia McKinney In Libya<\/a>. Supporting Gaddafi is certainly problematic; from the, admittedly superficial, research I’ve done Gadaffi comes across as an enigmatic figure who did a lot of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/lz-128\/6264601850\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">good for Libya<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/eccleza.net\/2011\/07\/17\/how-gaddafi-helped-africa-and-why-the-war-on-libya-also-is-a-war-on-africa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Africa<\/a> and yet at the same time earned the hostility of a large section of his people. Gaddafi <a href=\"http:\/\/truedemocracyparty.net\/2011\/11\/the-green-book-muammar-gaddafi-the-philosophy-of-liberty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">advocated direct democracy<\/a> and claimed to have no role in government yet he seemed to have had the right to determine the disposition of Libya’s resources. McKinney’s support for Gaddafi is understandable in the light what he was advocating for Africa and while it may be problematic given that he was an autocrat with a clear history of repression, there is value in having voices that run counter to the the consensus (in the West) characterisation of Gaddafi as a ‘demented dictator’ because that characterisation was used as a weapon to justify war.<\/p>\n<p>Related: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blackagendareport.com\/content\/mahmoud-jibril-and-qaddafis-wealth-redistribution-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mahmoud Jibril and Qaddafi’s Wealth Redistribution Project<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/exposingthetruth.info\/%E2%80%98occupy-together%E2%80%99-the-movement-grows-to-stop-bankers%E2%80%99-world-war-iii\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jamahiriya and Occupy<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>GC: Related question: Okay\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6also about Current Events: this is about the Occupy Movement, then. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nCM: Okay. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nGC: We live in a Surveilance State. Our license plate numbers are routinely recorded; we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re finger-printed for jobs, our Social Security numbers serve as National I.D.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, our e-mails are monitored for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153code\u00e2\u20ac\u009d words or phrases, our homes are surveiled by satellite mapping systems of Google, Yahoo, etc. Those who protest, as in the Occupy Wall Street movement, are arrested, booked, and more closely watched. Now they have \u00e2\u20ac\u0153records\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that affect their employment. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 My question is: how do we battle this pervasive system? Do you get discouraged? What do you do when you are discouraged? Who are your \u00e2\u20ac\u0153heroes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? To whom do you turn for inspiration?<br \/>\nCM: Do I get discouraged? Yes! What do I do when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m discouraged? \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 find other people who are not yet discouraged!<br \/>\nWho are my heroes? Everybody! Everybody who has a tough row to hoe in life! Those are my heroes. Those are the people who give the most! When I was running for Congress back in 1992–for the first time\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI was running to represent the second poorest district in Georgia\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and, what I learned was that the poor people gave the most! The people who had\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give as generously as the people who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have! So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 my first campaign theme was, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Warriors don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wear medals, they wear scars!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 my heroes are the community and neighborhood warriors who have a whole lot of scars, a whole lot of dignity.<br \/>\nGC: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like you to talk specifically about what used to be called the Black Liberation Struggle. As a young, white man, I was inspired by the works of black writers like Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Leroi Jones (now called Baraka), Eldridge Cleaver, W.E.B. DuBois, and poets like Langston Hughes. Martin Luther King and Malcom X were inspirational leaders for all people; Rosa Parks was a woman of quiet, dignified courage. But, now, with the election of Obama, and with the prominence of people like Bill Cosby first, and Oprah Winfrey, the billionairess\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe great struggles of the past almost seem quaint. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your take on this? Who are the great black leaders today? What is the struggle about today?<br \/>\n[Note:There are 7 million Americans now under \u00e2\u20ac\u0153correctional observation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d More African-Americans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 lives intersect with our prison-industrial-surveillance complex than there were African-American slaves in 1850!]<br \/>\nCM: You asked me who are my heroes. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 One of my heroes is Glen Ford, who writes for The Black Agenda Report [<a href=\"http:\/\/blackagendareport.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/blackagendareport.com<\/a> [6]\/]. I view him as the most astute political observer of our times.<br \/>\nThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a whole lot of pundits who are in our faces every Sunday morning who think they are political observers\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, but they are not astute! And they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re also not independent. Glen Ford is independent, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been through the wars and he has no special interests to kow-tow to. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 He just wrote a piece\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can the Proud African-American Progressive Legacy Survive Another Four Years of Cowing to the Corporate Servant in the White House?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strong stuff\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, but right on point!<br \/>\nWe have a situation now\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it was the Black struggle that really defined morality in the United States. It defined the moral imperative. And the character of the country was measured by how well it answered the call of Black people for justice. But what happens when Black people stop asking for justice? I think you get exactly what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got now\u00e2\u20ac\u201da President who is dropping bombs on Africa\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 which is un-thought-of; I mean, it would have been un-thought-of four years ago that Africa would be bombed\u00e2\u20ac\u201droutinely! But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a routine matter now that the United States Africa Command [AFRICOM] would actively establish itself and militarize the US relationship with Africa. AFRICOM represents a kind of US imperial occupation of the continent that we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen since the days of outright colonialism of the Europeans. We are being told about issues that are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153important\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re ignoring the real issues that are important! Henry Kissinger said that he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe the amount of good will that was embodied in this president! But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what people like Kissinger don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153get\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is that this president sits on top of the historic Black struggle that characterized the United States to the world! People around the world thought that Barack Obama characterized the New United States! But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 far from it! A lot of people got tricked and fooled and now\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 as philosopher Michel Foucault has observed\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe every-day actions of ordinary people actually entrap them in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153powerlessness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 So, to break out of your powerlessness, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to break out of your existing paradigm. So, as long as Barack Obama is representative of the existing paradigm, this is what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to get\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 because the existing paradigm is war and more war!<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Occupy Movement has given to us\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve given us a way to self-identify.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>GC: How do we \u00e2\u20ac\u0153break out\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? How do we fight the Mainstream Media that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s constantly projecting that paradigm and hammering it into our brains?<br \/>\nCM: The literature suggests that people have to be confronted with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disorienting dilemma\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that causes them to reflect on what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just experienced. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nGC: Cognitive dissonance?<br \/>\nCM: That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Reflect on what you always assumed\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been confronted with that contradicts your assumptions. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 For some people, it was the murder of JFK; for others, it was the murder of Malcom; for others, it was the murder of MLK; for a whole bunch of others, it was the murder of RFK; and for some people who began to look and pay attention like me\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it was the murder of all of them and then add onto it the murder of the members of the Black Panther Party\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho were attacked by our own government. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nYou could say that for me, my first \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disorienting dilemma\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was when I realized that I was black. I realized that the world around me was not like me, and that it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t value my black skin! That, for me was when I began to pay attention and wake up!<br \/>\nGC: How old were you?<br \/>\nCM: Seven or eight. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6You know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 for some people it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s religion, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s race, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gender, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, maybe, sexual orientation. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Everyone has their moment of reckoning.<br \/>\nI think, ultimately\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the love we have for humanity and how we see something is wrong and we have to stop it!<br \/>\nSo\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 by the time I got to Congress\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I had had my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153reckoning,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and I had had my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153break-out\u00e2\u20ac\u009d moments, and I guess this gave me strength and vibrancy\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and there were people who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it. I wore my hair differently, I dressed differently from the other people in Congress. There was even a segment of the Capitol Hill police that didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like that. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What happens when Black people stop asking for justice?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nGC: What year was that?<br \/>\nCM: 1993. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nGC: Wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there a much more recent incident with the Capitol Hill police?<br \/>\nCM: No, no, no. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 It happened for twelve years! \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Twelve years of harrassment from the Capitol Hill police! They considered it a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sport\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to harass me! \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s available on the Internet\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 if you go to YouTube and you put in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Last Plantation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nGC: The infamous incident is when you apparently struck back at the officer who was harassing you. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Is that correct?<br \/>\nCM: The officer had no business putting his hands on me! \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 And I reacted like any normal person would react when being attacked by some great big, huge guy from behind! \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 This was a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It was a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201da \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sport\u00e2\u20ac\u009d–for the white officers. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see if you go to that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Last Plantation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d site that I had been targeted because I had written a letter of support for the Black Capitol Hill police officers.<br \/>\nGC: And this most infamous incident\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 that was the same day as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted?<br \/>\nCM: That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 The Mainstream Media didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to lead with that indictment, did they? It was much more sensational and distracting to lead with the story of a black Congresswoman attacking a Capitol Hill police officer!<br \/>\n[Laughter]<br \/>\nGC: You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a pretty brave woman, aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you?<br \/>\nCM: Everybody can be brave\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 they just need that break-out moment of recognition. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve stood on some big shoulders. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 As I said before\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmy campaign theme: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Warriors don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wear medals\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 they wear scars.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Last Plantation\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a4mOZomLryU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Posted on 23rd Feb. This should really be an article rather than a blog post as I will return to edit it over several days as I have the time and inclination. Cynthia McKinney is not well known by the mainstream media outside of the US. In the US the media seems to characterise…<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/2012\/02\/23\/cynthia-mckinney\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,87,108,100,40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerquests.chidakasha.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}