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Today's
Stories
April 12 /
13, 2008
Alexander Cockburn
Olympic
Torch Toasts US Candidates
Patrick Cockburn
Warlord:
the Rise of Muqtada al-Sadr
Mike Whitney
Want to Save the Economy?
Robert Fantina
Bush's Brand of Morality
Conn Hallinan
Another Defining Moment in Iraq
Bill Hatch
In Praise of Hippies and the Counter-Culture
Ramzy Baroud
The Basra Battles
George S. Hishmeh
Back to Square One
Charles Thomson
The British Prime Minister and the Tate's Tin of Shit
Alexander Billet
The Diseney-fication of CBGB
Missy Beattie
Huffing and Puffing to Failure
April 11, 2008
Nikolas Kozloff
The Clintons and Their Sordid
Colombia Advocacy
Wajahat Ali
Revenge of the Ghetto Nerd: an Exclusive Interview with Junot
Diaz
Sharon Smith
Let
Them Eat Ethanol!
Yigal Bronner
/ Neve Gordon
Digging for Trouble: the Politics of Archaeology in East Jerusalem
Alan Farago
Eating South Florida
Dave Lindorff
On Waking Sleeping Giants: Lessons for America from China
George Wuerthner
Money for Nothing? The Problems with the Conservation Reserve
Program
Christopher
Brauchli
Prostitutes Don't Do Funerals
Website of the Day
Animals Explain the Insurance Industry: a Health Care Video
April 10, 2008
Mathieu Vernerey
Tibet
for the Tibetans!
Elizabeth Schulte
Slavery
in the Fields
David Macaray
Labor
Unions Will Never Get a Fair Shake
Ashley Smith
The Rise of Muqtada al-Sadr
Peter Morici
Driving Up Debt and Dragging Down Growth
Jacob Hornberger
The Military's Distintegrating Family Life
Harold Austin
Snitch or Else: Prison Officials Threaten Gang Drop Outs
Website of the Day
Hillary: the Wal-Mart Videos
April 9, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Fading American Economy
Winslow T.
Wheeler
Congressional
Theater: the Petraeus / Crocker Hearings
C. Hand
Why Dave Marash Left Al Jazeera
Paul Krassner
Sex and Violins
Paul Wolf
Colombian "Magnicidio" Remains a Mystery After 60 Years
Wajahat Ali
Alien Invasion!
Karyn Strickler
Lost in the Fumes: the Sierra Club Sells Out to Clorox
Dan La Botz
Confronting the Economic Crisis
Eric Walberg
The Shadow of Munich: Another NATO Flop
Robin Millenthal
Enough Already! Growth and the Tar Sands Economy
Website of the Day
Conservative
Nanny State
April 8, 2008
Mike Whitney
Should
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed be Set Free?
Nikolas Kozloff
Bush
Bullies Congress on Colombia Deal
Greg Moses
Migrant Detention in South Texas
Joshua Frank
The Other Military Draft
John Ross
Mexico City's Urban Tribes Go on the Warpath Against EMOS
Michael Donnelly
Hillary's Western Swing
John V. Walsh
Why Obama Lost Massachusetts
Jeff Nygaard
Health, Security and Mandates
Bill Piper
Last Shot for a Bush Legacy?
Sen. Russ Feingold
Legal Representation and the Death Penalty
Website of the Day
Catonsville 9, Forty Years Later
April 7, 2008
Ishmael Reed
The
Irish Black Thing
Harry Browne
Irish
Peace Activist Acquitted; Deported
Uri Avnery
Tibet and Palestine
Lenni Brenner
Obama's Constitution, His Pastor and His Unbelieving Mom in Heaven
Ayesha Ijaz Khan
America Must Respect Pakistan's Democracy
Robert Fisk
Fearful Lives in the Land of the Free
Edwin Krales
Ensuring the Success of Fascism in Spain: the US Corporate Role
Chris Genovali
Vancouver Island's Dwindling Ancient Forests
Website of the Day
LA Artists Against War
April 5 / 6,
2008
Alexander Cockburn
Did
the Elites Want MLK Dead?
Ramzy Baroud
There
are No Checkpoints in Heaven
Ralph Nader
Runaway Bailouts
David Yearsley
How Scott Joplin Had Wall Street Down
Saul Landau
Sex Politics in America
Paul Craig
Roberts
The Petraeus and Crocker Show
Lawrence Korb / Ian Moss
Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a True Patriot
Seth Sandronsky
Meet America's Promise Alliance: Colin Powell's New Gig
John Ross
La Cumbia de la Doctrina Bush: Colombia Kills Four Mexican Students
in Ecuador Bombing
Robert Fantina
McCain, Republicans and Family Values
David Michael Green
Back to Disaster: Hoover at Home, Tet Abroad
Missy Beattie
McCan't
Patrick Bond
Vultures Circle Zimbabwe
Dr. Susan Block
The New American Pot Dealers
Phyllis Pollack
The Stones Meet the Press
Adam Engel
The Boobus in the Lie
Jeffrey St. Clair
Booked Up
Poets' Basement
Diamand
and St. Clair
Website of the Weekend
Richard Pryor Goes to the Gun Shop
April 4, 2008
Dave Lindorff
The
Night I Heard King Had Been Shot
Greg Moses
Missing
King
Ron Jacobs
Two Murders, 40 Years On: Bobby Hutton and Martin Luther King,
Jr.
Alan Farago
Show Me the Size of Your Bail Out and I'll Show You Mine
Alison Weir
Funding
Our Decline: U.S. Aid to Israel
David Rosen
Rape as an Instrument of Total War
Robert Weissman
The Unrealized Dream
Jacob Hornberger
Was Killing Iraqi Children Worth It?
Jackie Corr
Hillary and Obama Head for Butte
Carl Finamore
Taking On United Airlines
Laray Polk
We Are All Dith Pran
Susie Day
Advice for the War-Torn
Website of
the Day
Winter Soldiers: a Video Portrait
April 3, 2008
Peter Morici
The Deepening Recession
Joe Bageant
The Audacity of Depression
Andy Worthington
Cleared But Still Detained:
The Ordeal of Moroccan Prisoner Said al-Boujaadia
Nikolas Kozloff
Condi's Divide and Rule Strategy in South America
Rannie Amiri
The U.S. Disdain for Mideast Democracy
David Macaray
More Labor Strife in Hollywood
Stephen Lendman
Lynne Stewart's Long Struggle for Justice
Website of
the Day
The
True Face of Da Vinci?
April 2, 2008
Diane Farsetta
Indian
Point on the Potomac
Harry Browne
Bertie
Ahern Laid Low by Secretary
Wajahat Ali
The Folly of Attacking Iran: a Conversation with Steven Kinzer
George Wuerthner
Open Season on Wolves
Col. Dan Smith
The
Militarization of America
Philippe Marlière
The Politics of Bling-Bling in France: Sarkozy's Cultivated Anti-Intellectualism
Steve Early
A Purple Uprising in Oakland
Bernard Chazelle
Saving the American Left
Reza Fiyouzat
Bowling in Hell
April 1, 2008
Jeff Leys
Fracturing
the Peace to End the War
Thomas P. Healy
Restoring the Constitution: a Conversation with Daniel Ellsberg
Winslow T. Wheeler
When Pigs Sprout Wings: Mangled Rationales for a Fatter Defense
Budget
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
New Deal Nostalgia
Patrick Irelan
Cocaine, Colombia and the Cartels
Andy Worthington
The Case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani
John V. Walsh
The Shunning of Ralph Nader
Michael J.
Smith
Woolly Mamet
Robert Weissman
The New Philip Morris--Even Worse Than the Old?
Dave Lindorff
Bush's Defining Moments
Martha Rosenberg
Brain Mist Disease: Boss Hog's Gift to Humanity
Website of
the Day
Support Briana!
March 31, 2008
Mike Whitney
Dead
on Arrival: Paulson's Fixit Plan for Wall Street
Mats Svensson
Walls,
Tunnels and Daily Humiliations
Paul Rockwell
Hillary's
Lies About Outsourcing
Paul Craig Roberts
A Third American War in the Making?
Patrick Cockburn
Sadr
Calls for Ceasefire
Peter Dale Scott
The Showdown
Alfredo Molano
Cultura Mafiosa in Colombia
Peter Morici
Why Paulson's Reform Plan Falls Short
Uri Avnery
Day of the Land, 32 Years Later
Michael Simmons
The American Bard in New Orleans
Betsy Roberts
/ Karen Orr
The Clorox Coup
Phyllis Pollack
First the Sun and Then the Moon: Scorsese Does the Stones
Website of
the Day
Five Years Too Many
March 29 / 30, 2008
Alexander Cockburn
When
They Pick Up the Phone at 3 AM, What Will They Say?
Patrick Cockburn
Iraqi
Police Refuse to Back Maliki's Attacks on Medhi Army
Mike Whitney
Bernanke's Next Big Bail Out Plan
Christopher Brauchli
The Pastor of Armageddon and the Slave Sale: McCain, Lieberman
and Rev. Hagee
William Blum
China, Tibet and the Propaganda Olympics
Robert Fantina
Iraq
Troika: McCain, Obama and Clinton
John Ross
AMLO, the Comeback Kid? Fighting the Privatization of Mexico's
Oil
Allison Kilkenny
Shady Lending Hits Home
Nelson P. Valdés
Cuba, the Beatles and Historical Context
Suzanne Baroud
The Great Lake of Gaza: a New Crisis in the Making
Richard Rhames
Social Security: Throwing Granny from the Gravy Train
Christopher Fons
Transcending the 60s? Obama and the Baby Boomers
Carl Finamore
Misery at 35,000 Feet: Mergers Stall, Fares Soar, Services Slump
and Consumers Sour
Eamonn McCann
Hillary Misremembers Again!
Missy Beattie
Justice and the Monsters of War
Fred Gardner
Jim Thorpe, All-American
Kim Nicolini
Cock Chuggers and Cheese Curls: Richard Kelly's "Southland
Tales"
David Yearsley
"All the World's a Hospital"
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Booked Up
Poets' Basement
Valentine and Ko Un
Website of
the Weekend
Hidden Iraq
March 28, 2008
Saul Landau
Growing
Dread About Iraq
Alan Farago
Other People's Money: the Chop Shop Economy
Peter Morici
Knocking Down False Economic Gods
Andy Worthington
Plight of the Uyghus: a Chinese Muslim's Desperate Plea from
Guantánamo
Felice Pace
Ashes of Lies: Why No One Trusts the US Forest Service
Peter Montague
Sierra Club Cleans House -- With Clorox!
Dave Lindorff
The Mumia Exception
March 27, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
Basra
Erupts
Binoy Kampmark
Free Market Apostates
Joanne Mariner
"Was George Washington a Terrorist?"
Norman Solomon
NPR News: National Pentagon Radio?
William S. Lind
Mars Only Knocks Once: a Prognosis for Iraq
John V. Walsh
Obama's Speech: a Touch of Bigotry?
Robert Weissman
How Things Work
Ron Jacobs
Meeting Charlie Ehlen
Ralph Nader
Put Impeachment Back on the Table
David Macaray
Court Rules Against Grocery Workers
John Borowski
Clearcutting the History of Forest Destruction
Website of
the Day
Going Out for an English
March 26, 2008
Stan Cox
The
Germs Next Door
Sharon Smith
Greed
Pays: Welfare on Wall Street
Anita Sinha / Jill Tauber
Dreams Turned into Rubble in New Orleans
Matt Vidal
So Much for the Self-Regulating Market
William S. Lind
Operation Cassandra
Joe Mowrey
The Audacity of Hypocrisy: Obama's Pandering to Israel
Dave Lindorff
Duck and Cover (Up): Hillary Under Fire
Ray McGovern
Frontline's War: Too Timid, Too Little, Too Late
Justin Smith
Why Race and Gender are Separate Issues
Sam Husseini
The Winter Soldier Hearings and Indy Media
Martha Rosenberg
Blood on Ice: Gentlemen, Pick Up Your Clubs
Michael Dickinson
Politicians as Dogs
Website of the Day
The Wal-Mart Virus: How the Infection Spread
March 25, 2008
Ishmael Reed
The
Crazy Rev. Wright
Corey D. B.
Walker
The Politics of Jeremiah Wright
Linn Washington Jr.
Racism in America and Other Uncomfortable Facts
Alan Farago
The Money Launderers: a Picnic for Wall St. Insiders
Vijay Prashad
A Glimmer of Hope From the Gulf Coast
Joshua Frank
A Silver Lining to the Bush Years?
Ralph Nader
How Public Servants Can Help End This War
David Rovics
If I Can't Dance: Why is the Left So Boring?
Peter Morici
America's Banks are Broken
Dave Zirin
Olympic Flames: China's Crackdown in Tibet
David Krieger
The Crisis in Tibet
Website of
the Day
Memorializing Iraq
March 24, 2008
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Blonde
Ambition: Hillary's Berserker Campaign for 2012
Peter Morici
Digging Out of the Recession
Uri Avnery
Two Americas
Wajahat Ali
First of the Mohicans: an Interview with Rep. Keith Ellison
Paul Craig Roberts
Inside the Shell Game
George Ciccariello-Maher
The Coming War on Venezuela
Stephen Lendman
Sami Al-Arian's Long Ordeal
Christopher
Brauchli
Possessing Someone Else's Country
Cat Woods
A Letter to Mom on Obama
Stacey Warde
Tax Burden
Dave Lindorff
The American Dead Hits 4,000, But Who's Counting?
Website of
the Day
Live from the Longest Walk
March 22 /
23, 2008
Ralph Nader
Bush
Blisters the Truth on Iraq
Nicole Colson
Can You Afford to Feed Your Family?
James Petras
The Cost of Unilateral Humanitarian Initiatives
Laura Carlsen
From Bombs to Markets: The Andean Crisis and the Geopolitics
of Trade
Greg Moses
Tolerance and the American Pulpit
Andy Worthington
Torture Stories Dog Guantánamo Trials
Michael Dickinson
Art on Trial
John Ross
Bush's Surge Hits Mosul
Missy Comley Beattie
Killer Economics
David Michael
Green
Happy Anniversary, America!
Ramzy Baroud
The Coming Uncertain War on Iran
Martha Rosenberg
Easter Egg Shells from Hell
Paul Watson
Evolution is Going to the Dogs in the Galapagos
Isabella Kenfield
Monsanto's
Raid on Brazil
James Murren
Logging v. Water in Honduras
Jacob Hornberger
Sex and the Immigration Officer
Kathlyn Stone
Ben Heine, Master of the Art of Resistance
Seth Sandronsky
Rethinking New Mexico's History
Kim Nicolini
Class, Gender and Abortion in Communist Romania
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Booked Up: What I'm Reading This Week
Poets' Basement
Wilson, Woods, Gibbons and Orloski
Website of
the Weekend
Merci, McCain!
March 21, 2008
Marleen Martin
Land
Behind Bars: the Hidden Casualties of America's "War on
Crime"
Peter Montague
Run
Your Car on Coal? Maybe Not
Saul Landau
Monroe's
Deadly Doctrine
Anis Hamadeh
Merkel in the Knesset
Jacob Hornberger
McCain's Al Qaeda Scare: Slip or Tactic?
Khalil Nakhleh
Al Nakba of 1948: How Long Will It Persist?
Adam Isacson
Colombia, Paramilitary Threats and Assassinations
Kenneth Couesbouc
Money for Nothing
Madis Senner
Will the Feds Underwrite the Stock Market?
Monica Benderman
The Costs of Freedom: What Are You Willing to Pay?
Website of the Day
Stop Foreclosures and Evictions
March 20, 2008
Damien Millet
/
Eric Toussaint
The
Triple Failing of the Big Private Banks
Mike Whitney
Winding
Up Bear
John Ross
What Do We Owe Iraq?
Dave Lindorff
Paying the Piper: the Bodies and Bills are Piling Up
Wajahat Ali
Pakistan on Fire
Jill Nagle
Memo to Sex Workers: Stop Financing Shock Journalism
Manuel Garcia, Jr.
Obama and the Psychic Auto-Shrink-Wrapping Called Race in America
Dan La Botz
Obama's Race Speech
Robert Weissman
Alternative Power: Shutting Down the API
Stella Dallas
/
Jennifer Matsui
Apostasy Now! Mamet, Enter Stage Right
Website of the Day
The Angry Monk
March 19, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
A
War of Lies
Robert Fisk
The Little Men and the Inferno
Jeff Taylor
Five Years of War in Iraq
Ed Ruggero
From Pinkville to Iraq: the Dark Anniversary of My Lai
Ron Jacobs
Who'll Stop the Rain?
Christopher
Fons
Obama Takes the Race Bait
Sherwood Ross
In Defense of Rev. Wright
Cynthia McKinney
An Urgent Crisis: Confronting America's Racial Disparities
Joshua Frank
The Kool-Aid That Kills
Robert Weissman
Monsanto's Genetic Food Gamble
Walter Brasch
It's a Welfare State--If You're Rich
Yifat Susskind
Iraqi Women Resist the Occupation
Andrew Wimmer
War Demands Its Due
Website of
the Day
Glimpses of Nature
March 18, 2008
David Price
The
Military "Leveraging" of Cultural Knowledge
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Collapse of American Power
Tim Wise
Of National Lies and Racial America: Jeremiah Wright, Barack
Obama and the Unacceptability of Truth
Patrick Cockburn
One of the Most Disastrous Wars Ever Fought
Conn Hallinan
Afghanistan, a River Running Backward
James T. Phillips
Monsters: Past, Present and Wannabe
Uri Avnery
The Killing in Bethlehem
David Macaray
Could Wal-Mart Revive the Labor Movement?
Marjorie Cohn
Beware an Attack on Iran
Peter Zinn
Obama in New Orleans
Dan La Botz
The Economic Crisis, Labor and the Left
Monica Benderman
Where are We Going?
March 17, 2008
Pam Martens
The
Fed's Wall Street Dilemma
Sasan Fayazmanesh
The US, Iran and the Policy of Dual Containment
Nelson P. Valdés
The Imperial Branding of Simon Bolivar and the Cuban Revolution
Peter Morici
The Corrosive Consequences of the Trade Deficit
Wajahat Ali
Disrobing the Nine: a Conversation with Jeffrey Toobin on the
Supreme Court Since 9/11
Ronnie Cummins
Beyond Progressive Malpractice: Taking Down Big Pharma
Shaun Harkin
Saint Patrick's Day in Fortress America
Ali Khan
No Pardon for Musharraf
Robert Jensen
Beyond Peace
P. Sainath
Oh, What a Lovely Waiver!
Greg Moses
Jeremiah was a Bullhorn
Dr. Susan Block
Advice for Eliot Spitzer
Website of the Day
No Cowboys
March 15 /
16, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
How
to Destroy a Country in Five Years
Mike Whitney
Bearly
Alive: Investment Giant Rushed to ICU by Panicky Fed Chief
Ralph Nader
Of
Laws and Men
Robert Pollin
It's Still the Economy, Stupid
Diane Christian
The Poetics of Perversity: From Boccaccio to Spitzer
Wajahat Ali
Faking the Hood: a Conversation with Ishmael Reed
Tom Wright
/
Therese Saliba
Rachel Corrie's Case for Justice
Alan Farago
Back to Florida: Where Bushtime Began
Greg Moses
Raiding the Family Room in Texas
Michael Hudson
A Grand Global Bargain?
Martha Rosenberg
Why Hillary's Favorite Chicken Company is Eying China
John Goekler
Fourth Generation Warfare in a Fifth Generation Conflict
Uzma Aslam
Khan
A Letter to Barack Obama: Where's the Change, Barack?
Oren Ben-Dor
The Silencing of Gilad Atzmon
David Underhill
Mammon, Morals and the Mobile Tanker Deal
Fred Gardner
The Education of Eliot Spitzer
David Michael
Green
Why Spitzer Should Have Resigned (and Why He Shouldn't Have)
Rev. William E. Alberts
Jesus, Entombed in Heaven
Gail Dines
It's All About the John: Prostitution and Male Power
David Yearsley
Conducting, Anarchy and the Problem of When to Begin
Chris Clarke
Walking with Zeke: the Luckiest of Dogs
Poets' Basement
Anderson, Lodge & Subiet
Website of
the Day
Deviant Art
March 14, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
Watching
the Dollar Die
Don Santina
Vichy
Democrats: Pelosi and the Politics of Collaboration
Patrick Cockburn
Iraqi
Mother Vows Revenge on US: How She Lost Her Husband and Her Sons
Tim Rinne
StratCom
Rules! The Next War Will Start in Nebraska
Robert Fantina
In
Torture We Trust
Saul Landau
Letter
to the Presidents-in-Waitings
David Macaray
Common
Myths About Labor Unions
Franklin Lamb
Is
the Bush Administration Switching Horses in Lebanon
Michael Neumann
The
One State Illusion: Reply to My Critics
March 13, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
Republicans
and "Free Market" Zealots Bring Disaster to America
Mike Whitney
Meltdown
Looms Larger As Credit Markets Freeze
Assaf Kfoury
"One-State
or Two State?"- Sterile Debate on False Alternatives
Andy Worthington
Afghan
Hero Who Died in Guantánamo: The Background to the Story
Adam Federman
From
Autopia to Autogeddon: Cars Reach the End of the Road
March 12, 2008
Dave Lindorff
Bringing
Down Spitzer: It's the Big Brother Who Should Bother US
R.F. Blader
The
Spitzer Backlash
Yonatan Mendel
How
to be an Israeli Journalist. Never Write "Murder" or
"Palestine"
Jonathan Cook
One
State or Two? Neither. The Issue is Zionism
Bill and Kathy
Christison
Fallon
and Gates -- At Least One Cheer
James J. Brittain
Was
the U.S. Involved in Killing the FARC-EP Leaders
Ron Jacobs
"All
the Money You Make Will Never Buy Back Your Soul"
March 11, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
How
to End the Subprime Crisis
Ed O'Loughlin
How
Israeli Troops Invade Homes in Gaza, Brutalize, Smash and Steal
Ramzy Baroud
'Unwavering
Commitment' to Inequality
Kathy Christison
One
State or Two? The Debate Over Israel and Palestine
China Hand
PRC
Plays it Cool, as U.S. Tries to Amp Up Pressure on Iran
John Joslin
Thank
You, Nafta! Welcome to Weirton, Home of the Discount Cigarette
Mike Averko
Serb
Politics, Kosovo and the Moscow-Washington Divide
Ben Rosenfeld
Gavin
Newsom's Kneejerk Plan
Thierry Paquot
High
Rise, Low Spirits:The Curse of the Tower Block
March 10, 2008
Uri Avnery
"Kill
A Hundred Turks and Rest": The Five-Day War in Gaza
Col. Dan Smith
Scoring
the "Surge" and What Lies Beyond
R.F. Blader
Why
"Lock Them Up and Throw Away the Key" is Losing its
Sheen
Michael Neumann
The
One-State Illusion: More is Less
Bob Fitrakis
and Harvey Wasserman
Did
the Republicans Give Hillary Her Victory in Ohio?
James J. Brittain
Anti-Uribe
Protests in Colombia and the World
Missy Comley
Beattie
The
Passion of John McCain
March 8-9,
2008 Weekend Edition
JoAnn Wypijewski
The
Only Way to Fight the Clintons
Mike Whitney
Sorting
Through the Rubble in Post Bubble America
Peter Morici
Fed
and Treasury Fiddle as Economy Plummets
Ralph Nader
The
Silent Violence of Gaza's Suffering that Candidates Ignore
Jonathan Cook
The
Meaning of Gaza's Shoah
Steve Niva
Behind
the Israeli Escalation in Gaza
Bill and Kathy
Christison
Crisis
over Teheran's Alleged Nuclear Plans Nearing Climax
Hervé
Do Alto and Franck Poupeau
Bolivia:
Morales is Checked
Eric Walberg
To
Leave and Stay at the Same Time: Putin to Medvedev to…?
Scott Johnson
City
of A Thousand Foreclosures
Mark Scaramella
James
Brown's Gate
Bill Clinton
President
Clinton's Remarks on Naming William M. Daley as NAFTA Task Force
Chairman
Poet's Basement
St.
Thomasino, Engel, Davies and Willson
Website of
the Weekend
Hillary
Blackens Barack
March 7, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
Why
Iraq Could Blow-Up in John McCain's Face
Robin Blackburn
Question
for Barrack Obama: Why Afghanistan is the'Right War'?
Saul Landau
The
Stupid Economy
Binoy Kampmark
When
Competition is Good: McCain and the Muddled Democrats
Chris Floyd
Crushing
the Ants: Admiral Fallon and His Empire
Andy Worthington
Spanish
Drop "Inhuman" Extradition Request for Guantánamo
Britons
Will Potter
Before
the Smoke Even Clears in Seattle: Bringing Out the T Word
March 6, 2008
March 6, 2008
Vincent Navarro
The
Next Failure of Health Reform
Forrest Hylton
High Stakes in the Andes: Colombia's Cornered President
Peter Morici
Why the Dollar is So Cheap
George Ciccariello-Maher
Counter-Attack of the Bureaucrats
John Ross
Taxi! Taxi! The Dark Side of the Oscars
Jacob Hornberger
No Standing to Lecture on Justice
Paul Watson
Illegal Japanese Whaling by the Numbers
Dan Bacher
Off the Deep End
Website of the Day
A Katrina Reader Online
March 5, 2008
Cockburn /
St. Clair
A
Great Day for John McCain (and Maybe Nader)
Joanne Mariner
After Guantanamo
Fidel Castro
The Raid on Ecuador: Underestimating Rafael Correa
Christopher
Brauchli
The Turkish Invasions
Steven Sherman
Obama and the Prospects for a Renewal of the Left
Dave Lindorff
Busting Bush & Co. in New England
James Murren
Bombing Somalia
Adam Engel
Necropolis Now
Website of Day
Remember Song
March 4, 2008
Wajahat Ali
Mumbo
Jumbo: Naming Names with Ishmael Reed
William Blum
How Could Hillary Have Known?
Bill Quigley
The Cleansing of New Orleans
Ralph Nader
The Prince Harry Solution
Patrick Irelan
Oil and Health in Venezuela
James J. Brittain
/
R. James Sacouman
Uribe's Colombia is Destabilizing a New Latin America
Norman Solomon
The War Election
Jacob Hornberger
Hillary in Waco: the Missing Apology
Andy Worthington
Guantánamo and the European Parliament
Mike Averko
Kosovo and the Press
Website of the Day
Tex-Mex Primary
March 3, 2008
Jennifer Loewenstein
Gazan Holocaust
Alan Farago
American Politics and the Faltering Economy
Richard Gott
Colombian Deaths in Ecuador
Wajahat Ali
Who Speaks for a Billion Muslims? Analyzing the World Gallup
Poll with John Esposito
Paul Craig Roberts
The Mukasey Conspiracy: a Bi-Partisan Attack on the Constitution
Robert Weissman
When Multinationals Say Adieu
Uri Avnery
Good Morning, Hamas
Martha Rosenberg
When Your Meat is a Downer
Eva Liddell
Leave the Next Dance for Bill
Michael Donnelly
Will Ferrell Does Flint
Website of the Day
Muddy Waters: Train Fare Home Blues
|
Weekend
Edition
Apri1 12 / 13, 2008
Two Davids Talk
Race Divide and Common Slave Past
Meeting
David Wilson
By PRAIRIE MILLER
The least talked about subject by far,
in the incessantly gabby culture that characterizes America,
is that shameful buried past of slavery, and the social and family
blood ties that intimately connect the two races but whose relationships
with one another have long been buried and unacknowledged. So
young Newark, New Jersey born filmmaker David Wilson made the
very emotional, painful and quite courageous decision to search
for the white people down South that once owned his family.
And oddly enough, David discovered
in his research, the older North Carolina descendant of the family
that enslaved his ancestors, a man who also bears the name David
Wilson. The ensuing revelations, which included his forbears'
dismal slave quarters and cemetery on the former plantation property,
along with a subsequent journey back to Africa to seek spiritual
closure, had such a profound impact on the younger David, that
he created an extraordinary documentary about that entire experience,
Meeting David Wilson, which will air on MSNBC.
I contacted both David Wilsons
by phone, to talk about their remarkable encounter. In this joint
interview with them, they are identified as DNJ (David Wilson
in New Jersey) and DNC (David in North Carolina).
PRAIRIE MILLER: David, why
did you not only want to go on this journey, but also make a
documentary about this very personal experience?
DNJ: Well, when I first started
the journey, which is really looking into my family's past, I
had no actual intention of making a documentary. I'm really more
of a behind-the-scenes type of a guy!
But as I started making these
discoveries about my family's history, I felt, this is a story
that I have to tell, and that so many people would benefit from.
But it took me awhile to really see that.
PM: Now, what were the reasons
that it was important for you to discover this history, for better
or worse, because it could have turned out a lot worse.
DNJ: I always say, that this
is a journey that started for me when I was a little kid. I was
born in Newark, and I always wondered how and who I came to be
in life, along with my family. And so, I always had this burning
interest and desire, to know about my family's past.
And when I started learning
all these things about my ancestors, and about the other David
Wilson, I realized that all that low self-esteem and low self-worth
that I had experienced as a child, had I known all this information
about my ancestors - all their strengths and the things that
they went through, it would have made a great impact on the way
I perceived myself. And my chances in life.
And so I realized, this could
be helpful to a lot of other black kids, who were born into the
same environment that I grew up in. And this is also a way that
we can encourage a national conversation, a different conversation
about race.
You know, not one that's divisive.
But one that says okay, how do we move forward from here, and
where do we go. We understand history and we understand what
happened, but where do we go from here.
PM: And how do you see this
film as both a search for ancestry, and a search for identity?
DNJ: I think once you understand
who your ancestors are, and you understand their strengths, then
you realize that you are the sum of your ancestors. And if they
had the strength to go through all the things that they experienced
in life - from the slave ships and plantations to segregation
and Jim Crow - then that sends you a message.
And that's, hey listen, by
extension I have that same type of experience with race. And
I can overcome whatever problems I have today. And that gives
you a greater sense of self-worth.
PM: Now David, why did you
agree to be part of the other David's film? It must have been
a really strange request, and that you never got anything like
it before in your life.
DNC: Well, nothing exactly
like this! It was a call I got at my restaurant about two years
ago, and it was David saying that he thought my ancestors once
owned his ancestors. But it did get me interested, knowing that
my ancestors had property in the area where David was from.
And the more I talked to David,
this just sort of evolved. So the more David and I talked, the
more interested I became. But it didn't take long for me to realize
that David was genuine, and that his motives were too. And, you
know, not just trying to be sensational, or that type of thing.
And that he was interested in finding his ancestry. So it just
sort of evolved into a good relationship.
PM: Well, if you received
that call now, it probably would have been a lot less shocking,
what with all the DNA revelations recently about whom the presidential
hopefuls are relatives of, including Barack Obama being related
to Dick Chaney and Robert E. Lee.
DNC: Right!
PM: So talk about that whole
experience of getting that phone call from David asking to meet
you, and your emotional reaction.
DNC: Basically, I didn't even
know if it was serious, because it was completely out of the
blue. But I was certainly not offended by it. So my first reaction
was curiosity, and it just evolved from that.
PM: And David, what was
it like making that call?
DNJ: That telephone call to
David was probably the most awkward call I ever experienced in
my life. And probably ever will have. You know, I called him
up after I finally got the courage to do it.
I said to him, are you David
Wilson? He said yes. And I said, well I'm David Wilson too, and
I believe your family once owned mine. And he paused for a second
and said, well that could be.
And that was very uncomfortable,
and also very confusing to me. Because I always say, for every
situation in life, there are people who are in your life, elders,
who can tell you what you should expect to experience and feel.
But there was no such blueprint
or advice with this, you know? So I was really in uncharted territory.
And it was just such an awkward conversation, for both of us.
And we ended up having a really
brief conversation. We talked about the weather or something!
But we did agree that one day, we would like to meet each other.
PM: Do you feel that meeting
one another changed you in any way?
DNC: I think it encouraged
me to think more deeply about the period in time in which I grew
up, in the 1940s and 1950s. And that I was more or less naive
to the racial situations. The community I lived in was of course
segregated.
But it wasn't later on, until
the '60s, that things became more vicious. So the phone call
from David and the progression of this documentary, I think it
did cause me to re-evaluate, and look at things.
But I don't know that I look
at things really differently, Prairie, since that phone call.
I grew up with black friends and played with them in the rural
setting that we grew up in, even though we weren't in school
together. So I never felt that I was ever biased or strongly
against any ethnic group.
DNJ: For me, I actually learned
a lot about white America. And even about whites who were slave
owners. This experience gave me nuances, you know, instead of
people as caricatures.
So in meeting David Wilson,
I learned that white America is very interested in the issue
of race. But there's no forum for them to feel comfortable in
talking about race. And that's one thing that really surprised
me.
PM: And do you feel your
encounter changed the other David in any way?
DNJ: I think it's changed David,
in that he has opened up and started to see a lot of things.
And he's started to send me articles about race issues in America.
DNC: It probably changed both
of us. I don't like to speak for David, but I think by opening
up dialogue, we both were able to appreciate each other's point
of view.
And throughout this whole experience,
I have never felt - and I don't think David has either - that
there were any confrontational situations. I think it was just
a mutual dialogue, where we were trying to understand one another's
perspectives. And I think it worked out very well.
PM: Yes, I think it's quite
interesting the way this whole process evolved and changed. Because
at first you both confront one another rather uncomfortably,
standing outside on the lawn, talking. Then you end up later
on conversing together after settling into rocking chairs, in
a very intimate and trusting way.
DNJ: Ha! Well there is an evolution
in our relationship. At first, you don't know how to respond,
because it was very awkward then. At that particular moment,
I was feeling a whole bunch of emotions, that I couldn't identify
with. I mean, literally.
But the more we began to talk,
I felt that there was not just a burden on me, but I also felt
the burden of my family, of my people, and the burden of my ancestors.
So it was very nerve-wracking. But eventually, we really felt
comfortable around each other.
And that helped us to talk
about these very tough issues, that nobody wants to talk about.
So there was an evolution in our relationship. And I'm proud
and happy to say that our relationship still exists, and keeps
getting stronger.
DNC: I think that just came
out of opening the dialogue. And being able to listen as well
as speak, and understand where each of us was coming from. And
I think the conversation from both sides, came from our hearts,
and not from any past negative experiences, or that type of thing.
PM: In Meeting David Wilson,
you also go on a journey to see if you're blood related. What
mixed emotions between relief and disappointment were you feeling
about that beforehand, maybe thinking about a brutal buried history
of a family secret, or on the other hand, ending up disappointed
that you might not be related to a man whom you had come to feel
close to?
DNJ: You know, David says something
in the film, even before we discover whether or not we're blood
related - but we don't want to give that away to people who haven't
seen the film ! - and I think it's so poignant and powerful.
And that it speaks to the greater point of this film. He said,
even if we're not related by blood, we're related through history.
And I thought that was such
a powerful remark. Because it shows that yeah, we are all Americans.
And we are all related in that regard. So what affects you, affects
me. And that made whether or not we are blood related, less significant.
And it shouldn't matter, why should it matter. Because we're
all Americans.
PM: Did you gain any insights
into stereotypes, misconceptions or preconceived notions? Because
in a sense, the other David also bears the burden of his family
history and the burden of that history in general, of which he's
not personally responsible.
DNJ: Oh yeah, there was this
sense that when I went down there, I didn't know what to expect.
I talk about this in the film, that I was thinking I could meet
some, you know, straw-chewing guy on his porch in a rocking chair.
And that he was going to be some sort of pro-Confederate type
of guy.
But David turned out to be
the complete opposite, even though he's a Southern white conservative.
He also had an interest in race. And that was one of the biggest
discoveries that I came upon. And that is, that many white Americans
are passionate about the issue of race.
However, because of where we
are with political correctness in our society, there's really
a fear to talk about race in the way that it needs to be talked
about, in an honest way. So rather than really talk about the
tough issues, they shy away from it.
But David didn't do that. He
says in the documentary when I ask him, do you feel responsible
for what happened in your family's past. And he said, no I don't.
But I do feel responsible, in the sense that my job is to help
find a solution.
And I thought that was fair,
I honestly do. I think we all need, as Americans, to try to find
a solution. Because what's happening in the black community isn't
just happening there, it's happening in the American community.
So we need to see the world and each other that way.
You know, nobody wants to be
dubbed a racist or a bigot. But I think right now, there's a
real hunger for a discussion and a conversation about race. And
I think that in the past, those conversations were divisive,
and that they stopped at a certain point.
Like we'd talk about reparations
and affirmative action, which would have people going their separate
ways. But I think the conversations we want now, are more unifying.
We know our history, and we know there's a lot of divisiveness
in our history. But where do we go from there.
PM: So what do you feel
you learned about history through the experience of being part
of this film, and the often quite strange intersection of the
individual and history. And also the burden and impact of history
on the individual, that is not necessarily of his own making?
DNJ: Well, I think that history
is very important, in that it's the one reference that we have
to ourselves, that exists beyond ourselves. Most black kids only
learn about their history through the prism of oppression.
You know, we only learn about
our history through the prism of slavery and segregation, and
not about the great African civilizations. And that has an impact
on the way in which we see ourselves. And the perception that
we're born into a world that is stacked against us.
But one thing that I also learned
in this, is the strengths that our ancestors had, in going through
all the things that they went through. So I want to turn that
negative into a positive, and show black children that our ancestors
were not just victims, but victors, in their overcoming and their
survival.
And then they can use that
as a reference in their own personal lives. So yes, I think that
awareness of history is extremely important on a personal level.
And so now I put a premium on the value of history, more than
I ever did before.
DNC: This may not answer your
question, but I think the focus of David's documentary and what
it will reveal, is that you see two people from completely opposite
backgrounds and in our history, who are able to sit down together.
And I think from David's perspective
with this documentary, he was able to generate within the black
community, a sense of history. Also, that black Americans have
survived a lot of turmoil and abuse. And that there's a lot of
strength and character in their survival.
And that this would give hope
and encouragement, not only to black youth, but I think that
it could apply to whites too, and other ethnic groups. But me
and my family, we've all come to know David, and to admire what
he is trying to accomplish. And we respect him for that.
PM: David, you've said that
you accepted segregation in your youth, because it was such an
ingrained part of the social fabric back then. Do you feel you
would have also accepted slavery if you had lived at that time?
DNC: I don't know that I could
answer that truthfully. There are things that people do, whether
they are right or wrong, that they may not realize the difference
at a particular time in history.
You know, you can look back
and see what was done, and think that it was not a good institution
and that it was against Christianity. But at the time that it
was being done, I cannot say that I would have reacted against
it at that time.
And looking back, it was certainly
not a good point for our history. But to say how I would have
reacted back at the time, and being placed in that time, would
be hard to give an evaluation on.
PM: What about the discovery
in the film, of those slave quarters under the overgrown woodland,
what was your reaction?
DNC: No, I knew that they were
there. But Prairie, just being honest, I would not have had the
same emotional reaction that David had, in reflecting on all
of that.
So to be completely honest,
I don't know that I had any real reaction to that. But I did
have a reaction to the way David felt about that experience.
And I could certainly understand his very emotional reaction.
DNJ: For me, that experience
of being there in that physical space, where I know that there
were tears, I know that there was bloodshed, I know that there
were prayers, you know, that one day things would be better for
their children, for me to return there, knowing the life and
the liberties that I have, there's just no words for it.
PM: How so?
DNJ: Like just a great feeling
of gratitude. And appreciation for who they were, and the work
they'd done to make sure that my life is what it is today. So
it was a really powerful experience.
Like you know what, these people
worked so hard. And I really do wish, and I really hope, that
it does put them to rest and to peace in some way. And that's
why going to their slave cemetery was so important for me. It
was just so overwhelming.
PM: I can see it was. Did
the process of making this film change in any way your perception
of the meaning of race?
DNJ: Yes it did. Because it's
so silly, all the stock we put in race. And I discovered some
surprising things. For instance, many white people didn't believe
in slavery back then.
But it was their way of 'keeping
up with the Joneses.' And to be as well off as their neighbors,
by owning slaves to be their workers. You know, most of us are
decent and honorable people. But a lot of us, we do not have
the courage of our convictions. That is, to say, 'this is wrong.'
And I think that's what happened
with a lot of white America during slavery. And I feel that racism,
saying somebody is inferior because they have a different complexion,
helped to ease the anxiety and the doubt that many whites had
about that awful system.
And unfortunately, those stereotypes
have been perpetuated, and really affect young black people today.
So the unfortunate thing about race, is that it was used to justify
this capitalistic exploitation, which was free labor.
PM: What do you hope your
film conveys to black audiences on the one hand, and to white
audiences?
DNJ: I think for black audiences,
if we can understand the strengths our ancestors had in overcoming,
then we can have those same strengths. And we can overcome the
culture of violence, the drugs, imprisonment, and the culture
of anti-intellectualism. We can overcome all those things that
plague our community today.
And I think for a broader America,
I'm saying listen, let's have a conversation. Let's begin to
have an honest dialogue. Our future is together. And it's far
more important than our divided past.
PM: I guess people in your
town will be tuned in to the documentary when it airs.
DNC: They certainly will! But
everyone will certainly not view it in the same manner, I'm sure.
But I feel that there's a great message there. And I think it
will impact both blacks and whites, very positively in the long
run.
PM: What was your own reaction
when you saw the completed film?
DNC: Very emotional, I was
very emotional. I told David right after I saw it and called
him, I said to him, you've hit a home run! And I think he did.
I think he's done something that will touch the fiber and the
nerve of many people.
PM: And I think you were
very brave, to come forward and to be part of this documentary.
DNC: Well, thank you. But I
don't feel about it that way. I expect both positive and negative
responses to the film. But I think that what David has tried
to do, will make it all worthwhile.
PM: Do the two of you still
stay in touch, and do you consider yourselves to be friends now?
DNC: We do stay in touch and
communicate, and have dialogues two to three times a month now.
DNJ: We talk about everything
from politics and religion, to everything else. So this is something
that has certainly evolved. And I think we've each gained a friend.
For more information about
Meeting David Wilson and its upcoming DVD release, visit: MeetingDavidWilson.com.
Prairie Miller is a WBAI film critic, and host and
executive producer of The WBAI Arts Magazine. She can be reached
at: pmiller@wbai.org.
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