Ten Steps for Radical Revolution in USA, By Bill Quigley

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1967

One. Human rights must be taken absolutely seriously. Every single person is entitled to dignity and human rights. No application needed. No exclusions at all. This is our highest priority.

Two. We must radically reinvent contemporary democracy. Current systems are deeply corrupt and not responsive to the needs of people. Representatives chosen by money and influence govern by money and influence. This is unacceptable. Direct democracy by the people is now technologically possible and should be the rule. Communities must be protected whenever they advocate for self-determination, self-development and human rights. Dissent is essential to democracy; we pledge to help it flourish.

Three. Corporations are not people and are not entitled to human rights. Amend the US Constitution so it is clear corporations do not have constitutional or human rights. We the people must cut them down to size and so democracy can regulate their size, scope and actions.

Four. Leave the rest of the world alone. Cut US military spending by 75 percent and bring all troops outside the US home now. Defense of the US is a human right. Global offense and global police force by US military are not. Eliminate all nuclear and chemical and biological weapons. Stop allowing scare tactics to build up the national security forces at home. Stop the myth that the US is somehow special or exceptional and is entitled to act differently than all other nations. The US must re-join the global family of nations as a respectful partner. USA is one of many nations in the world. We must start acting like it.

Five. Property rights, privilege, and money-making are not as important as human rights. When current property and privilege arrangements are not just they must yield to the demands of human rights. Money-making can only be allowed when human rights are respected. Exploitation is unacceptable. There are national and global poverty lines. We must establish national and global excess lines so that people and businesses with extra houses, cars, luxuries, and incomes share much more to help everyone else be able to exercise their basic human rights to shelter, food, education and healthcare. If that disrupts current property, privilege and money-making, so be it.

Six. Defend our earth. Stop pollution, stop pipelines, stop new interstates, and stop destroying the land, sea, and air by extracting resources from them. Rebuild what we have destroyed. If corporations will not stop voluntarily, people must stop them. The very existence of life is at stake.

Seven. Dramatically expand public spaces and reverse the privatization of public services. Quality public education, health and safety for all must be provided by transparent accountable public systems. Starving the state is a recipe for destroying social and economic human rights for everyone but the rich.

Eight. Pull the criminal legal prison system up and out by its roots and start over. Cease the criminalization of drugs, immigrants, poor people and people of color. We are all entitled to be safe but the current system makes us less so and ruins millions of lives. Start over.

Nine. The US was created based on two original crimes that must be confessed and made right. Reparations are owed to Native Americans because their land was stolen and they were uprooted and slaughtered. Reparations are owed to African Americans because they were kidnapped, enslaved and abused. The US has profited widely from these injustices and must make amends.

Ten. Everyone who wants to work should have the right to work and earn a living wage. Any workers who want to organize and advocate for change in solidarity with others must be absolutely protected from recriminations from their employer and from their government.

Finally, if those in government and those in power do not help the people do what is right, people seeking change must together exercise our human rights and bring about these changes directly. Dr. King and millions of others lived and worked for a radical revolution of values. We will as well. We respect the human rights and human dignity of others and work for a world where love and wisdom and solidarity and respect prevail. We expect those for whom the current unjust system works just fine will object and oppose and accuse people seeking dramatic change of being divisive and worse. That is to be expected because that is what happens to all groups which work for serious social change. Despite that, people will continue to go forward with determination and purpose to bring about a radical revolution of values in the USA.

Bill is a human rights lawyer who teaches at Loyola University New Orleans and works with the Center for Constitutional Rights. You can reach him at quigley77@gmail.com.

MLK Injustice Index 2011: Racism, Materialism and Militarism in the US

By Bill Quigley
“We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values… when machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. April 4, 1967

As we remember the courage and hope of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we must not forget that he spoke out and worked against the injustices of our nation, particularly those of racism, materialism and militarism. Indeed that is what made him so hated and so dangerous when he was alive.

We have achievements to celebrate: the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell;” the release of San Suu Kyi in Burma; the enactment of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights by the NY legislature that extends important labor rights to 200,000 nannies and housekeepers; the victories of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers; and the exposure of secret US and other country machinations by Wikileaks, among others.

There has been progress in dismembering the laws of segregation which divided our country. We must celebrate the successes that many struggled to achieve. However, as we celebrate those victories let us not lose sight of the challenges still facing this country.

Here are some of the facts about racism, materialism and militarism in the US which we should reflect on as we decide how best to carry on the radical struggle for justice of Dr. King. (For each fact, I provide a brief cite to the sources which are listed at the end of the article).

Let us renew our commitment to the radical revolution of values for which Dr. King gave his life as we turn to the realities of current life.

Racism: Health, Housing, Income and Jobs

Infants born to black women are 1.5 to 3 times more likely to die than infants born to women of all other races or ethnicities. Black men and women are much more likely to die of heart disease and stroke than their white counterparts. Hypertension is by far most prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks (42% vs. 29% among whites). Uninsured persons are only about half as likely to have hypertension under control as those with insurance. Source: Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Twenty-five percent of black workers and forty-three percent of Hispanic workers do not have health insurance, compared to fifteen percent of white workers. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

Overall, sixteen percent of all whites, twenty-one percent of blacks and thirty-two percent of Hispanics do not have health insurance. Source: Census

Housing

In cities with large African American populations, black segregation looks pretty much the same as it did 40 years ago; Hispanic segregation is on the rise. Source: Princeton

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the crisis in subprime mortgages in minority neighborhoods was not the result of riskier lending spurred by the Community Reinvestment Act or a decline in underwriting standards. Source: Princeton

Even with similar qualities (credit profiles, down payment ratios, personal characteristics, and residential locations) African Americans were more likely to receive subprime loans. Similarly blacks and Hispanics were significantly more likely than whites to receive loans with unfavorable terms such as prepayment penalties. The result: from 1993 to 2000, the share of subprime mortgages going to households in minority neighborhoods rose from 2 to 18 percent. Source: Princeton

Because predatory lenders could efficiently target entire minority neighborhoods with subprime mortgages, larger numbers of people were affected than would have had they been more geographically spread out. In true layman’s terms, it was like “shooting fish in a barrel.” Segregated neighborhoods just made it too easy to engage large numbers of people in this devastating scheme and this multiplied the effect of the crisis. Source: Princeton

Black middle class families have been stripped of more wealth by the real estate and foreclosure crisis than any single event in US history. Due entirely to subprime loans, black borrowers are expected to lose between $71 billion and $92 billion. Source: Devona Walker

Income and Jobs

Median household income for white families is $51,861, for black families is $32,584, and for Hispanic is it $38,039. Source: Census

The Immigration and Enforcement Agency is on pace to deport about 400,000 people this fiscal year, more under the current administration than any before. Source: Slevin

The overall unemployment rate among whites is 8.5% and among blacks it is 15.8%. For white teenagers the unemployment rate is 22% and among blacks it is 44%. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Materialism: Inequality and Poverty

The top 25 hedge fund managers were paid on average, more than $1 billion each in 2009. Source: Schwartz, New York Times.

Between 2002 and 2007, 65 percent of all income growth in the US went to the top 1 percent of the population; that top 1 percent also held a larger share of income than any time since 1928, according to economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty. Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

There are 43 million people in the US living under the official poverty line. While there are more white people living in poverty (30 million) than black (10 million) and Hispanic (12 million) poor combined, the poverty rate for whites of 12% is significantly less than the 26% rate for blacks and the 25% rate for Hispanics. Source: Census

The bottom 20% of the US population have negative wealth, they owe more than the value of all their assets. From 20 to 40th percentile, the next 20% of the population, average about $5,000 in wealth. The middle 20%, from the 40 to 60th percentile, own $65,000 in assets. The next highest 20%, the 60 to 80th percentile, are worth about $208,000. From 80 to 90th, the average wealth is $477,000. From 90 to 95th, the wealth is $908,000 in assets. From 95 to 99th is $2,734,000 in wealth assets. And the top 1%? $13,977,000 in average wealth. Source: State of Working America

Since the economic recession started there has been a 25% rise in the number of people “doubling up” in housing by moving in with others, there has been a rise in the number of homeless families, and in not one of the 50 states can a person working full-time at one minimum wage afford a two bedroom apartment for his or her family. Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Militarism: Troops, Expenditures and Arms Sales

The US reports it has 1.4 million people in active military service in 143 countries around the world. The top places for US military are: Afghanistan (105,900), Iraq (96,200), Germany (53,951), and Japan (34,385). Source: Department of Defense

There are an additional 819,000 people in the Reserve and National Guard and another 709,000 civilian personnel. Source: 2011 Census Statistical Abstract, Table 506.

The US spent $774 billion directly on its military budget in 2010. The Department of Defense budget was over $660 billion, counting the special expenditures for Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Department of Veterans Affairs was $114 billion for 2010.

The US spends much more on its military than any other country in the world. Military spending has increased by 75% since the year 2000 and represents about $2100 for every person in the US. Excluding expenditures for veterans the US military budget in 2009 was over $660 billion. In second place globally was China at about $100 billion. France was third at $63 billion, the UK next with $58 billion and Russia in 5th place spending $53 billion. In fact the US spends more on military than the rest of the top 10 countries in the world put together. Source: SIPRI

The US also leads the world in the sale of lethal weapons to others, selling about one of every three weapons worldwide. The USA’s major clients are South Korea, Israel and United Arab Emirates. Source: SIPRI

The US continues to hold 174 people in indefinite and illegal detention in Guantanamo despite global calls for closure. Thirty eight of those still being held have won their habeas corpus petitions in front of federal judges but still have not been freed. Source: Miami Herald.

The US continues to launch remote controlled unmanned predator drones into Pakistan, a country we are not even at war with. In 2010, US drones struck Pakistan 118 times killing many civilians. Source: New America Foundation

The number of deaths in the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are difficult to calculate since the US only counts US deaths. The US reports 1277 US military have died in Afghanistan and 4427 died in Iraq. The Iraq Body Count estimates between 99,357 and 108,475 civilians have died in violence associated with the war in Iraq. Source: iraqbodycount.org.

Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates that the total cost of the Iraq war to the US is more than $3 trillion. For this estimate he calculated the actual military costs, the cost of treating and compensating disabled veterans, a $10 increase in the price of oil (the increase in the price of oil went from $25 a barrel when the US invaded Iraq to as high as $140 a barrel in 2008), the increase in the federal debt and the borrowing that demanded. Source: Stiglitz

Conclusion

As we celebrate the life of Dr. King, let us realize the challenges that still face those who seek a world of justice and peace. He showed us that anger at injustice can be combined with courage to create real hope for a better world. Let us address the injustices of continuing racism, materialism and militarism with the courage and hope that Dr. King displayed in his brief life.

SOURCES:

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Economic News Release, January 7, 2011, Table A-2.

Census: US Census, Income Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the US 2009.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Top 1 percent of Americans Reaped Two Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion.”

CDC: Centers for Disease Control Health Disparities and Inequalities
Report, US 2011.

Department of Defense: Active Military Personnel, September 30, 2010.

James Glanz: “The Economic Cost of War,” NYT, 2-28-09.

Kaiser: Health Insurance Coverage in America, 2009, Kaiser Family Foundation.

Miami Herald: Guantanamo by the Numbers. 12-26-10.
National Low Income Housing Coalition: Out of Reach 2010.

New America Foundation: The Year of the Drone: An analysis of US drone strikes in Pakistan, 2004-2011.

2010 Princeton study: “Racial Segregation and the American Foreclosure Crisis,” Jacob Rugh and Douglass Massey.

Nelson Schwartz and Louise Story: “Pay of Hedge Fund Managers Roared Back Last year,” New York Times, March 31, 2010.

SIPRI: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute:
Military expenditures: News Release June 2, 2010.
Sale of weapons by US: 2009 Yearbook.

Peter Slevin: “Deportation of Illegal Immigrants increases under Obama Administration,” Washington Post, 7-26-10.

Economic Policy Institute: State of Working America.
Joseph Stiglitz and Linda J. Blimes: “The true cost of the Iraq war: $3 trillion and beyond,” Washington Post, 9-5-10.

Devona Walker: “Foreclosures are destroying the Black Middle Class.”

Bill is Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights and a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. He can be reached at quigley77@gmail.com.

The Justice Revius O. Ortique, Jr. Civil Rights Awards Banquet

The Louisiana Justice Institute is holding its first gala fundraiser, the Justice Revius Ortique Civil Rights Awards Banquet at the Xavier University Ballroom, Thursday, August 26, at 7:00pm. Proceeds from this event will support for Louisiana Justice Institute programs such as Gulf Coast Advocacy and Claims, High School and Post-Secondary Education Internships, Education Advocacy, Project Transparency and more.

Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore' will deliver the keynote address.

"We need the community's support so we can continue to fight for the people who need help the most," said Tracie Washington, Managing Director of LJI.

This year the event will honor national, state, and local Champions of Civil Rights and Social Justice such as Rep. Maxine Waters, Shirley Sherrod, Alden McDonald, Bishop Charles Jenkins, Rev. Tyronne Edwards, Mary Joseph, Jerome Smith, Bill Quigley, and Don Hubbard.

"We are proud to honor some our most courageous Civil Rights champions. They inspire our work at the Louisiana Justice Institute each day," said Jacques Morial, Co-Director of LJI.

The event will feature cuisine from some of New Orleans' finest dining establishments, including Dooky Chase, Lil Dizzy's, Galitoires, and a host of others. This event will also feature networking, entertainment and libations. Individual Banquet tickets are available at a cost of $100. Patron Sponsorships may be purchased at a variety of levels including $500, $1,000, $1,500, and $2,500. As a convenience, all tickets and table sponsorships may be purchased online by visiting LJI's website at louisianajusticeinstitute.org.

For more information on the Awards Banquet contact Shaena Johnson at 504.872.9134 or shaena@louisianajusticeinstitute.org.

Historic March Begins With Easter Demonstration for Public Housing

This Sunday, the 42nd anniversary of the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, the national Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign will launch a March To Fulfill the Dream. They seek to build a movement to end poverty, and they demand guaranteed healthcare and housing for everyone in the US. They will be spending the next three months marching across the US to raise awareness and build alliances in this struggle. The march begins here in New Orleans on Sunday at 5:00pm at 3800 St. Bernard, and on June 20 they will arrive in Detroit for the US Social Forum.

The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign has been working locally with Survivors Village, a grassroots housing rights organization. Endesha Jukali of Survivors Village writes:

Survivors Village is sponsoring a Right To Return Rally in St. Bernard which is also meant to show support and give a good send off for Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and their allies who will be in New Orleans for the march/caravan. I know that it is asking a lot of some people to alter the plans that they normally make on Easter Sunday and come to a political event. That’s why I am hoping those of us who work for social justice everyday will be the nucleus of the rally.

Recently Pam Nath of Mennonite Central Committee wrote a letter urging Christians to follow in the path of Jesus and support the poor and the oppressed on this most holy of days in that faith. I am appealing to those of you who may not be Christians, but have admired the works of people like Martin Luther King and other social justice martyrs.

It is no coincidence that King’s move towards economic justice and opposition to the waste of resources and human life brought about by war immediately preceded his death. These were crucial and volatile issues then, and we are up against the same forces and the same issues today. Considering the sacrifices of those who went before us, giving up some time on Sunday, should not seem a terrible burden.

I am sure looking at the way things are in New Orleans, the U.S., and the world, MLK would preach his Easter sermon and then stand against poverty and oppression. Those of us who admire such a great man should emulate him. Do what you have to do on Sunday and then come and support PPEHRC as they start on their journey.

Housing activist Pam Nath writes:

When I think of Jesus’ life, I think of his first public proclamation of what his life was all about: “to bring good news to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” (Luke 4: 16-21). I think of how he “hung out” with poor folks and others who the society of the day saw as undesirables (the kind of folks that many folks might want to clear from their neighborhood or city if given the chance to create a “new” New Orleans) (cf: Mark 13: 41-44; Luke 7: 36-49; Mark 5: 24-34; Mark 1: 40-43; John 4: 1-27). I think of his saying “You cannot serve both God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24), telling the rich man to sell all that he had and give it to the poor (Matt 19: 16-24), and claiming that we would be judged by how we respond to the poor (Luke 17: 19-31). I think of him overturning the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple just a few days before he was killed (Matt 21: 12-18).

And Minister Kojo Livingston writes the following words in the most recent issue of Louisiana Weekly:

I personally believe that if Jesus were here in the flesh today, he would be spending a lot of time in jail for putting his foot in the behinds of religious and political leaders. If he saw the foul things that political and business leaders have done in the wake of Katrina, he would go straight off. There is nothing that the moneychangers in the temple did that was more profane than what the powers-that-be have done to the Black and the poor in New Orleans and Louisiana. Jesus was always down with the downtrodden and he would not be sitting around just yakin’ about how bad it was.

We'll see you on Sunday!

Time for a US Revolution: Fifteen Reasons, By Bill Quigley

It is time for a revolution. Government does not work for regular people. It appears to work quite well for big corporations, banks, insurance companies, military contractors, lobbyists, and for the rich and powerful. But it does not work for people.

The 1776 Declaration of Independence stated that when a long train of abuses by those in power evidence a design to reduce the rights of people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is the people's right, in fact their duty, to engage in a revolution.

Martin Luther King, Jr., said forty three years ago next month that it was time for a radical revolution of values in the United States. He preached “a true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.” It is
clearer than ever that now is the time for radical change.

Look at what our current system has brought us and ask if it is time for a revolution.

Over 2.8 million people lost their homes in 2009 to foreclosure or bank repossessions – nearly 8,000 each day – higher numbers than the last two years when millions of others also lost their homes. At the same time, the government bailed out Bank of America, Citigroup, AIG, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the auto industry and enacted the troubled asset (TARP) program with $1.7 trillion of our money.

Wall Street then awarded itself over $20 billion in bonuses in 2009 alone, an average bonus on top of pay of $123,000.

At the same time, over 17 million people are jobless right now. Millions more are working part-time when they want and need to be working full-time.

Yet the current system allows one single U.S. Senator to stop unemployment and Medicare benefits being paid to millions.

There are now 35 registered lobbyists in Washington DC for every single member of the Senate and House of Representatives: 13,739 in 2009. There are eight lobbyists for every member of Congress working on the health care fiasco alone.

At the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that corporations now have a constitutional right to interfere with elections by pouring money into races.

The Department of Justice gave a get out of jail free card to its own lawyers who authorized illegal torture.

Another department of government, the Pentagon, is prosecuting Navy SEALS for punching an Iraqi suspect.

The US is not only involved in senseless wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the U.S. now maintains 700 military bases world-wide and another 6000 in the US and our territories. Young men and women join the military to protect the U.S. and to get college tuition and healthcare coverage, and are killed and maimed by being placed in elective wars and used as the world’s police. Wonder whose assets they are protecting and serving?

In fact, the U.S. spends $700 billion directly on military per year, half the military spending of the entire world – much more than Europe, China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, and Venezuela - combined.

The government and private companies have dramatically increased surveillance of people through cameras on public streets and private places, airport searches, phone intercepts, access to personal computers, and compilation of records from credit card purchases, computer views of sites, and travel.

The number of people in jails and prisons in the U.S. has risen sevenfold since 1970 to over 2.3 million. The US puts a higher percentage of our people in jail than any other country in the world.

The tea party people are mad at the Republicans, who they accuse of selling them out to big businesses.

Democrats are working their way past depression to anger because their party, despite majorities in the House and Senate, has not made significant advances for immigrants, or women, or unions, or African Americans, or environmentalists, or gays and lesbians, or civil libertarians, or people dedicated to health care, or human rights, or jobs or housing or economic
justice. Democrats also think their party is selling out to big business.

Forty three years ago next month, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached in Riverside Church in New York City that “a time comes when silence is betrayal.” He went on to condemn the Vietnam War and the system which created it and the other injustices clearly apparent. “We as a
nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

It is time.

Bill is legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. He can be reached at Quigley77@gmail.com.