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From Common Courage Press
Recent
Stories
May
21, 2003
Dave
Lindorff
Ari Fleischer Quits the Scene: The
Liar's Gone, the Enablers Remain
Chris
Floyd
How Blood Money Becomes Business Opportunity
Dr. Gerry
Lower
Graham's God and Bush's Pathology
Patrick
Cockburn
In Post War Iraq, the Signs of Breakdown
are Everywhere
Brian Cloughley
The Fatuous Braintrust: Newt, Rummy and Wolfowitz
Saul
Landau
Shopping, the End of the World and the Politics of Bush
Larry Kearney
Two Morning Poems, May 2003
Steve
Perry
Chaos in Iraq: Just What the US Wanted?
Elaine
Cassel
Ashcroft Justice Comes to Iraq
May
20, 2003
Tariq
Ali
The Empire Advances
Ahmad
Faruqui
Whither American Nationalism?
Ben Tripp
Dialysis with Osama
Linda
Heard
The Cage of Occupation
Cynthia
McKinney
Toward a Just and Peaceful World
Edward
Said
The Arab Condition
Mokhiber
and Weissman
Why Ari Should Have Resigned in Protest Long Ago
Stew
Albert
Yale Men
Steve Perry
The New Face of Al-Qaeda
May
19, 2003
Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
A Letter to Kofi Annan on Powell's Missing
Evidence
CounterPunch
Wire
"Terror" Slut Steve Emerson
Eats Crow
John
Chuckman
Blair's Awkward Lies
Matt
Vidal
Corporate Media and the Myth of the Free Market
Michael
S. Ladah
The Fine Print to Bush's Road Map
Robert
Fisk
Bush's Eternal War Backfires
Elaine
Cassel
Clarence Thomas, Still Whining After All These Years
Jonathan
Freedland
Ann Coulter's Appalling Magic
Steve Perry
Play It Again, O-Sam-a
May
17 / 18, 2003
Uri
Avnery
The Children's Teeth
Peter
Linebaugh
An American Tribute to Christopher
Hill
Gary
Leupp
Nepal Today
Rock and
Rap Confidential
The Republican Plot Against the Dixie Chicks
Walter
Sommerfeld
Plundering Baghdad's Museums
Ron Jacobs
Condy Rice's Yipping Tirades
Thomas
P. Healy
Dubya Does Indy
Tarif Abboushi
Bush, Sharon and the Roadmap
Francis
Boyle
Debating US War Crimes in Iraq
Mark Davis
An Interview with Richard Butler
Richard
Lichtman
American Mourning
Michael
Ortiz Hill
Overcoming Terrorism
Adam
Engel
Uncle Sam is YOU!
Alan Maas
The Best News Show on TV
Poets'
Basement
Reiss, Guthrie, Albert
Elaine
Cassel
Good Enough for an Alien
Website
of the Weekend
The 37 Americans Who Run Iraq
Song of
the Weekend
Talkin' Sounds Just Like Joe McCarthy Blues
May
16, 2003
Leah
Wells
In Iraq Water and Oil Do Mix
Ben Tripp
Fear Itself
Sharon
Smith
The Resegregation of US Schools
Ramzy Baroud
Does Defeat Have to be So Humiliating?
Sam
Hamod
A Nation of Fear
Phil Reeves
Baghdad Pays the Price
Robert
McChesney
The FCC's Big Grab
Mark Engler
Those Who Don't Count
Steve
Perry
We're All
Extras in Bush's Movie
Website
of the Day
Iraq and Our
Energy Future
May
15, 2003
Ayesha
Iman and Sindi Medar-Gould
How
Not to Help Amina Lawal: The Hidden Dangers of Letter
Writing Campaigns
Julie
Hilden
Moussaoui and the Camp X-Ray Detainees:
Can He Get a Fair Trial?
Tanya
Reinhart
Bush's Roadmap: a Ticket to Failure
Laura Carlsen
Here We Go Again: NAFTA Plus or Minus?
Kenneth
Rapoza
The New Fakers: State Dept. Undercuts
New Yorker's Goldberg
Stew Albert
A Story I Will Tell
Steve
Perry
Bush's Little
Nukes
Website
of the Day
Strip-o-Rama
May
14, 2003
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Jason
Leopold
The Pentagon and Hallburton: a Secret
November Deal for Iraq's Oil
David
Lindorff
Fighting the Patriot Act: Now It's
Alaska
John
Chuckman
Giggling into Chaos
Jack
McCarthy
Twin Towers of Journalism: Racism
and Double Standards
Wayne
Madsen
Assassinating JFK Again
M.
Junaid Alam
The Longer View
Paul
de Rooij
The New Hydra's Head:
Propagandists and the Selling of the US/Iraq War
James
Reiss
What? Me Worry?
Steve Perry
More on Saudi Arabia Bombings
Website
of the Day
A Tribute to Ted Joans
May
13, 2003
Saul
Landau
Clear Channel Fogs the Airwaves
Michael
Neumann
Has Islam Failed? Not by Western
Standards
Uri
Avnery
My Meeting with Arafat
Steve Perry
The Saudi Arabia Bombing
Jacob
Levich
Democracy Comes to Iraq: Kick Their Ass and Grab Their Gas
William
Lind
The Hippo and the Mongoose: a Question of Military Theory
The
Black Commentator
Fraud at the Times: Blaming Blacks for White Folks' Mistakes
Stew Albert
Asylum
Hammond
Guthrie
An Illogical Reign
Website
of the Day
Sy Hersh: War and Intelligence
May
12, 2003
Chris
Floyd
Bush, Bin Laden, Bechtel, and Baghdad
Dave
Lindorff
America's Dirty Bombs
Sam
Hamod and Elaine Cassel
Resisting the Bush Administration's War on Liberty
Uzi
Benziman
Sharon and Sons, Inc.
Jason
Leopold
The Decline and Fall of Thomas White
Rich Procter
George Jumps the Shark
Federico
Moscogiuri
Going to Israel? Sign or Else
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 5/12
Book
of the Day
Fooling
Marty Peretz
Website
of the Day
T-Shirts to Protest In
Hot Stories
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Elaine
Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
Michel
Guerrin
Embedded Photographer Says: "I
Saw Marines Kill Civilians"
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
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May
22, 2003
It's Time for
Action
Reason for Hope
By CARL CAMACHO, Jr.
The following remarks were delivered
by Carl Camacho Jr., senior class president, on May 17, 2003
at the one hundred and fiftieth commencement ceremony of the
University of Wisconsin at Madison on behalf of the graduates
of 2003.
I would like to start by congratulating the graduates
of the class of 2003. We owe our success to our families, friends,
significant others, co-workers, and those that came before us.
It is not easy to complete a college degree by yourself. I would
like to give special recognition to my mother and father, whose
continued sacrifices allowed me to get here today. And to my
sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins: without their love and support
I would not have made it through school. And especially to my
grandfather and grandmother, whose values and knowledge have
kept me grounded and will forever inspire me.
Coming from the Southside of Chicago
to Madison was a big change for me. I entered an environment
completely alien to me. I was never away from my family or community,
nor was my racial identity ever such an issue. Working through
these challenges forced me to understand who I am and what my
goals are. And I stand here today having been exposed to a wealth
of knowledge, information, opportunities, and people from diverse
perspectives. The last five years have taught me a lot about
how our problems will not be solved until we take action on them.
In 1903, the great educator, W.E.B. DuBois,
once wrote, "the problem of the twentieth century is the
problem of the color line". Well, it is now 2003 and we
have not solved the problem. UW Madison, and for that matter,
the entire education system, has not effectively dealt with the
issue of dismantling the legacy and continued application of
white supremacy.
According to a study conducted by the
Chronicle of Higher Education, the average percentage of students
of color across the nation at public universities is 24 percent.
UW-Madison is at nine percent.
If this university is sincere about offering
equal opportunities for all, then there is much work to be done.
With the prison industrial complex getting more state dollars
than our educational institutions, it is time for this university
to take action. First, we must take aggressive steps in granting
reparations to the communities which have been systematically
excluded from quality education. In addition, the university
and its senior level administration must truly engage with the
community of Wisconsin to understand the needs of those who they
are obligated to educate. They must create a strong relationship
with the people of Wisconsin so that they, themselves, will urge
their representatives to increase funding for higher education.
Tuition is no longer affordable for working class families and
the Wisconsin Idea is no longer achievable, it is a dream that
only the wealthy can attain. It is the role of this university
to stay true to the principle of PUBLIC education, so that working
class families and students do not find themselves in debt in
pursuit of an education.
As for the graduates, we have a responsibility
as well. We must confront the current social and economic inequalities,
in order to make America truly a place for democracy and prosperity
for all. I ask that when you begin your professional and personal
journeys, you think about your role in this society. We cannot
become part of the 49 percent that do not vote in this country.
We must take an active role and begin to question the inequities
that surround us.
Why are huge tax breaks given to corporations
and millionaires in a time of economic crisis? Why do farm workers
get paid two dollars an hour when it is their labor that produces
the food on our tables? How is it that we live in the richest
country, yet we don't provide health care for all? Why are race
relations in America not yet on a path towards harmony?
Internationally, why do our tax dollars
support the Occupation of Palestine, AND fund human rights violations
occurring in numerous countries? Why do our public officials
continue to make unsound and deadly decisions abroad that will
create a new generation of hatred towards America? These are
all things we must ask ourselves because we are all affected
by the consequences. We must eradicate oppression towards people
of color, women, gays and lesbians, immigrants, and neglected
people across the world because oppression is a cancer in our
society.
Graduates, as leaders and parents of
tomorrow, I urge you to think of these issues and make the sacrifice.
Put in the hard work to correct the injustices of the past and
the present, so that those without power are equally granted
opportunities. We have complex social problems, and they will
not go away until they are adequately addressed by all of us.
And for all of you that are sitting there
wondering what this has to do with you, your personal and professional
actions do impact peoples lives on a daily basis. As the class
of 2003, we have a responsibility to utilize our college experiences
to make positive change. Good Luck and thank you.
Carl Camacho Jr.
can reached at cjcamacho@wisc.edu
Yesterday's
Features
Dave
Lindorff
Ari Fleischer Quits the Scene: The
Liar's Gone, the Enablers Remain
Chris
Floyd
How Blood Money Becomes Business Opportunity
Dr. Gerry
Lower
Graham's God and Bush's Pathology
Patrick
Cockburn
In Post War Iraq, the Signs of Breakdown
are Everywhere
Brian Cloughley
The Fatuous Braintrust: Newt, Rummy and Wolfowitz
Saul
Landau
Shopping, the End of the World and the Politics of Bush
Larry Kearney
Two Morning Poems, May 2003
Steve
Perry
Chaos in Iraq: Just What the US Wanted?
Elaine
Cassel
Ashcroft Justice Comes to Iraq
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