The SeeingBlack.com 411
July 2004

Political Power 2004: Hip-Hop's First Political Convention, Florida Abandons Purge List, A Plan to 'Postpone' the Vote?

Also, Miss Honduras Wins Court Case, Calling Isis Out of Her Name… And a new column, 'In Person,' on Baltimore's African American Heritage Festival

Compiled by the Red-Eye Crew
SeeingBlack.com Writers

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Hip-Hop's First Political Convention

The cipher formed outside the hotel around one in the morning. Among the fluid group of 10 to 15 people preaching personal philosophies was an elder who'd spent his time since prison providing economic opportunities for young folk in his community. He joined a handful of twentysomething brothers, one of whom related his experience earning his MBA and returning back to the impoverished neighborhood where he grew up. He chuckled, proud that his look and lifestyle stymied stereotypes, while a teenage sister with cornrows and an impassioned gaze stepped up to "speak for ourselves" when the conversation turned to what women want.

Even after a sometimes contentious weekend that included a youth summit, an intergenerational discussion, several free concerts, a film festival, and more than fifty workshops, these participants in the first National Hip-Hop Political Convention were amped about the opportunity to share stories with each other. The energy was hot, and lasted well into the night before evaporating as easily as it had come together.

This kind of interaction was exactly what the founders of this event had hoped for. The convention, held in Newark, New Jersey June 16-19, was, according to convention literature, "a non partisan project, charged with the primary purpose of developing a political agenda for the hip-hop generation through education, advocacy, organizing, and action." This effort balanced informal exchange about issues, including affirmative action, media accountability, the criminalization of hip-hop, misogyny, and AIDS awareness, with a steadfast commitment to democratic structure inside the sessions. "We wanted to bring as many folks to the table as possible, and we wanted to create a process by which people could be a part of what the national political agenda was and have a voice in it," said Bakari Kitwana, an author and a national spokesperson for the convention. To this end, more than 500 delegates and over a thousand attendees from 17 states participated in the crafting of a five point platform that highlights education, economic justice, criminal justice, health, and human rights.

Washington, D.C. coordinator Scott Heath believes the articulation of this agenda is a key component of creating change on a global scale. "It's important that we realize this convention [is about] saying to the public something more about what hip-hop is, what hip-hop looks like, and what it's capable of doing for us. After the platinum links have been put down, after we put down the gun talk, after MTV puts hip-hop down, we have a mechanism for organizing ourselves." Indeed, the mobilization that took place even before the convention began is notable. Recognizing that this generation comprises 33% of the American electorate, the majority of whom were not active participants in the 2000 election, organizers required that each individual delegate register a minimum of fifty voters. This momentum should only continue to build as Election Day draws nearer.

With 45 proposed amendments to the agenda pending ratification at press time, the work of this summit is just beginning to crystallize. However, buoyed by the success of these first steps, organizers are already planning a second convention to be held at Chicago State University in 2006 (www.hiphopconvention.org.) In the words of NHHPC co-founder Rosa Clemente, "we've made history. A 30-year art form that always was political but was never respected as a political force, is saying this is what we're gonna do as a generation. People of color are reclaiming the culture of hip-hop. And that to me is important." —Shani Jamila

Florida Abandons Purge List

The state of Florida has thrown out its list of potential felons who shouldn't vote in the November election, after the list was found to be deeply flawed. If the list had been used it could have helped George Bush win Florida in November. Of the 47,000 voters on the list, Latinos made up one tenth of one percent — even though roughly 20 percent of the state is Latino. Governor Jeb Bush claimed a mistake in the databases caused Latino names not to appear on the purge list. In Florida the Latino population, especially the Cuban immigrants, historically vote Republican. In addition the Miami Herald found nearly 2,500 felons, mostly African American, appeared on the list even though their voting rights had been restored. The makeup of the list was not publicly known until recently, when a judge forced the state to make the secret list public. During the 2000 election, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris ordered the purging of tens of thousands of alleged felons from the rolls five months before the election. According to BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast the list included at least 8,000 voters, mostly African-American, who had only committed only misdemeanors and should not have been purged. —From Democracynow.org

Bush Administration Examines Ways To Postpone Election

The Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security have begun examining ways to postpone November's presidential election in the event of an attack near election day, according to a report in Newsweek. The Department of Homeland Security has asked the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to analyze what legal steps would be needed to permit the cancellation and rescheduling of the election. This came in response to a request from the chief of the newly created US Election Assistance Commission for Congress to pass emergency legislation to empower the Commission to cancel and reschedule elections. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told Newsweek "We are reviewing the issue to determine what steps need to be taken to secure the election." —From Democracynow.org

More Black Casualties in Iraq

While Blacks make up a little more than 12 percent of the nation's population, the Pentagon reports that Blacks are 20 percent of the enlistees in the all-volunteer military. Congressman Charles B. Rangel (D-Harlem) said this overrepresentation of Blacks in the nation's armed forces would cause Blacks to suffer a disproportionately high casualty rate in the looming war. The Bush administration scoffed at this idea. Relatively few Blacks were in combat units, the Pentagon responded. The vast majority were assigned to non-combat jobs that would limit the likelihood of them being killed or wounded in battle. But Rangel's fear has been realized. From the onset of the war on March 19, 2003 through Feb. 26 of this year, 79 Black soldiers have died in Iraq. This number is 14.3 percent of the 549 combat deaths in this period. Hispanic soldiers account for 11.3 percent of the U.S. military dead during this time, according to the most recent casualty figures released by the Department of Defense. In the early weeks of the war, when the combat was very intense, Blacks died at an even higher rate, according to a report by the University of Maryland's Center for Research on Military Organization. One-fifth of the deaths between March 20 and April 10 were Black soldiers, the Center found. The percentage of Black fatalities in Iraq currently surpasses those of two of the nation's bloodiest wars. In the Korean War, 3,075 of the dead, or 8.4 percent, were Black. In the Vietnam Conflict, 7,241 of the dead, or 12.4 percent, were Black, according to U.S. Army Center of Military History. —From BlackAmericaWeb.com

First Black "Miss Honduras" Wins Court Case

On Oct. 13, 2001, a 19-year-old woman named Erika Lizet Ramírez Marín was crowned "Ms. Honduras Universe." At the time, Ramírez called the award an honor and said it made her feel proud to realize that her native Honduras was able to look beyond race prejudices and choose her, a Black woman, as its representative for the upcoming international Ms. Universe pageant. Ramirez is a Garifuna, a Central American descendant of Africans and Carib-Indians.

But there were some in Honduras who apparently did not want Black beauty representing Honduras. Since being crowned "Ms. Honduras Universe," Ramírez has spent the last three years in a marred limbo. She has been fighting to win respect from the national director of the Miss Honduras Universe pageant, Eduardo Zablah, who reportedly resented Ramírez for "making the Honduran crown Black" and has tried to deny her prize winnings: a college scholarship, jewelry, endorsements and cash prizes.

Ramírez had also claimed that while on tour for the international pageant, Zablah did not provide her with the resources she needed at various sites and that he ultimately left her unchaperoned in places where she found herself in danger. In response to her claims, Zablah brought a suit for 8.5 million Honduran lempiras (approximately 560,000 U.S. dollars) against the young woman and her family by claiming they had defamed his character.

As the defamation case was being heard in a Honduran court in the later part of May, Ramírez was even put under house arrest. But this past June 14, a tribunal in La Ceiba, Honduras dismissed all charges against Ramírez. Her lawyers—Rubén Darío Mateo Galán and Miguel Fernando Ruiz—are now expected to bring her case to Honduras' Supreme Court, to petition to have all charges against her dropped.

But what is so far a happy ending for Ramírez is still a case that has hurt the New York-based Honduran Garifuna community. At last week's "First Meeting of Garifuna and Afro-Centro Americans in New York," a panel discussion detailed the twists and turns in the case—and talked about the lack of support Ramírez received from the nation's leading women's rights groups.

"Shamefully, women's rights groups in Honduras only care about cases concerning mestizos," Miriam Tifre, the women's secretary of the Black rights' group ODECO, told the panel. Even though Honduras has been banned from entering contestants for international pageants since 2001 because of the Ramírez case, only ODECO has made public statements and pushed for national support for Ramírez.

Ramírez, reached by phone in Honduras, commented that the entire experience had been very difficult—it became a burden for her and her entire family. "I just kept my faith in God to see me through," Ramírez noted. She said that the continuing support of her family and of Hondurans in the New York area were her main sources of strength and faith. "I just want to finish my education," the young woman said, stating that she's looking to attend college now that her legal problems have ended. "After I finish my education, then I'll see what God really wants from me. However he wants to use me, I'll do what God wants." —Karen Juanita Carrillo

Calling Isis Out of Her Name

California state Education Secretary Richard Riordan drew fire recently for jokingly telling a preschooler that her name, Isis, meant "stupid dirty girl." The Associated Press reported that Riordan, the wealthy former Los Angeles mayor known for his support of public schools, startled friends with the comments at a Santa Barbara library.

Alice Huffman, president of the California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Riordan "is not suitable to lead education in our state" and should be removed.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his longtime friend, called Riordan's statement to the girl "unacceptable in any context," but gave no hint that his job was in danger.

The Sacramento Bee said California "shouldn't have an education secretary who makes offensive, damaging remarks to young children for no apparent reason."

"He's the governor's top person on education, which means we would expect him to have some love and respect for children," Huffman said. "I think he is the wrong man for the job. There is no way for him to explain this away."

The conversation, videotaped by KEYT-TV, took place July 1. The girl, 6-year-old Isis D'Luciano, asked Riordan if he knew her name meant "Egyptian goddess."

Riordan replied, "It means stupid dirty girl."

After nervous laughter in the room, the girl again told Riordan the meaning of her name.

"Hey, that's nifty," he said.

A day later, Riordan issued a statement that said he "teased" the girl. "I immediately apologized to her, and I want to do so again for the misunderstanding," Riordan said.
The girl's mother, Trinity Lila of Goleta, said her daughter was fine, and she considered the issue over.

"Obviously it hurt her feelings, but she didn't take it personally. She knew he was wrong and she let it go," Lila said. "I'm not going to sue them for therapy bills."

Later, Black civil-rights activists canceled plans for a protest after discovering that the girl was not African-Americanbut a blonde, white girl.

First Person: Baltimore's African American Heritage Festival

Though I've lived 25 minutes from Baltimore for three years, I've never ventured north on I-95 for any of the city's festivals. But this summer, I've decided to capitalize on East Coast living. The third annual African American Heritage Festival at Camden Yards had an impressive music lineup, and I decided to check it out. On Saturday, local favorite Raheem DeVaughn was opening for LL Cool J on the main stage.

The first thing that struck me—me being me—was that there was food everywhere. A massive amount of booths hocked, crab, fried fish, soul food delights, and fat cups of lemonade in the stadium's parking lot.

After I ate, I noticed the people. We were out in all our colors: A sea of dreadlocks, naturals, curls, and cornrowed manes. Turquoise-and-pink ensembles with matching plastic earrings. Outfits that only sistahs could put together. It was as if the brighter the mixture of colors and accessories, the better.

Black families, something that is supposedly an endangered species, appeared to be safe and thriving in the summer sun. The whole festival created a spirit of reunion. I felt excluded from it, being from Washington—which is like a different continent. But I soon caught the vibe when I bumped into a college classmate while browsing for t-shirts.

The vendor's row was split into two areas, one for shopping and one for self-empowerment. I was disappointed by the small amount of crafts, jewelry, and apparel booths, but the balance—Baltimore pride, housing, and voter registration booths—were more useful than t-shirts could ever be for the troubled city.

The festival had something very noncommercial, almost political about it. Clips from Eyes on the Prize appeared on the Jumbotron between acts. The NAACP had a huge presence at the festival, being in its hometown. Kwesi Mfume moved through the crowd and hopped onstage for a conversation with someone who looked important, waving to the cheering crowd on his way off.

At concert time, anticipation was high, mostly for the baring of LL's stomach. I found myself caught up when he did classic songs, and amazed by the span of generations in audience. Teens crowded the stage. Fathers hoisted their young sons on their shoulders. Older couples set up lawn chairs and watched from afar, sipping beers, as if tailgating at a Classic. Or Homecoming, which is what the festival felt like to me, even on this unfamiliar stretch of I-95. —Celeste Dawn Mitchell

—July 19, 2004

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