ISSUE 6 WWW.INDYBAY.ORG | FREE formerly complacent Americans. If Bush follows through on his threats to implement a theocratic social agenda, the mobilization of women, GLBT HARASS WIPE YOUR TEARS...WITH ALL THE UNCOUNTED PROVISIONAL BALLOTS communities and environmentalists will increase dra- matically. It seems quite possible, then, that the usual THE BRASS mass demobilization after electoral campaigns (eg. AND GET ORGANIZED! Matt Gonzalez in SF, Jesse Jackson in 80s, etc.) may not take place on the same scale this time around. So what forms might this potentially vast new opposition take? Undoubtedly, a huge chunk of it will remain in the electoral arena, particularly in the perennially futile campaign to reform the Democratic party. Given that the Republican Party fiercely mobi- lizes its base, and that the Democratic Party is scared of its (potentially much larger) base, such efforts are bound to fail. It is likely, however, that thousands of the Anybody But Bush brigades, Move On contribu- A REFUSAL OF WAR ORDERS BY tors and Air America listeners will throw themselves US TROOPS IN IRAQ—IS THIS THE into grassroots organizing, alternative media projects, direct action politics, community building and net- FIRST OF MANY YET TO COME? working, and will be asking themselves some serious By Kevin Keating questions about how things got to be the way they are. Once the shock of the election subsides, people will According to an AP wire story of Oct 16th, the begin to recognize that this society is not only polar- US Army is investigating up to 19 members of a sup- — ized, but politicized a rare moment in U.S. history. ply platoon in Iraq who refused to go on a convoy assignment, which they described as a "suicide mis- So, as dire as things are, it is impor- sion." Relatives of the soldiers said the troops consid- photo: Maiden Peter tant to put the opposition of the ered the mission too dangerous, in part because their Protests in San Francisco on Nov 3rd last couple of years in perspective: vehicles were in extremely poor condition. If the extent of fraud in the Bush/Cheney coronation is unclear at the time of this writing, More people voted against Bush than against any A spokesman for the occupation coalition in what is clear is that the world and people in the U.S. will be living with an even more president in U.S. history, despite widespread voter Baghdad said that “a small number of the sol- destructive and dangerous regime for at least the next four years. The corporate media and intimidation, harassment (6 hour waits) and ballot diers involved chose to express their concerns in spoilage. an inappropriate manner causing a temporary the Democratic Party have already concluded that the election is valid, thus averting a repeat breakdown in discipline.” of the legitimacy crisis of 2000. The worst immediate effect of all this may be that the peo- The numbers of people in the streets exceeds that of The reservists are from a fuel platoon that is part ple of the world are tempted to give up on the people of the United States. How can the the 1960s or any other historical period. The anti- war demonstrations in 2003 were among the of the 343rd Quartermaster Company, based in conscious people who live in this country demonstrate to the world that the 59 million peo- largest in U.S. history and the 500,000 people Rock Hill, South Carolina. The unit delivers food, ple in the U.S. who voted for the Bush regime are not even a plurality, let alone a mandate? who protested the Repubican National water and fuel on trucks in combat zones. Convention in NYC in August, 2004 was 50 Teresa Hill of Dothan, Alabama, who said her By Eddie Yuen when things do not go their way. However, there are times larger than the historic Chicago Democratic daughter, Amber McClenny, was among the soldiers several reasons why this is unlikely to happen (despite Convention protests in 1968. The pro-choice rally in the platoon, received a phone message from her The key question is what will the newly politi- the widespread declarations of intended flight to in DC in April 2004 was the largest feminist early Thursday morning saying they had been cized anti-Bush legions, who number in the millions, Canada). The U.S. political and military defeat in Iraq march in U.S. history. The immigrant labor cara- detained by US military authorities. do in the wake of this debacle? Many people in the and the grim outlook for the U.S. economy both van of 2003 was an unprecedented mobilization of Amber McClenny said that her platoon had U.S., unlike people in the global South, have the priv- augur a continued politicization on the part of many . See Enduring Democracy: page 5 ilege to retreat into their cocoons of consumption refused to go on a convoy to Taji, located north of Baghdad. “We had broken-down trucks, non- armored vehicles and, um, we were carrying contam- NATIVE AMERICANS LIBERATE THE ROCK inated fuel. They are holding us against our will. We are now prisoners,” she said. CELEBRATING THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ALCATRAZ OCCUPATION Hill said Spc. Tammy Reese in Iraq, who was Black Power Movement. The given back to the Native Americans calling families of the detainees, later contacted her. Panthers had been formed in now that the federal government was “She told me (Amber) was being held in a tent Oakland. The United Farmworkers, not using it. There was a Sioux treaty with armed guards,” said Hill, who spoke with her led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores which stated that all federal land no daughter Friday afternoon after her release. Her Huerta, were organizing in the San longer used must go back to the daughter said they are facing punishment that could Joaquin Valley. At San Francisco State Native people from whom it was range from a reprimand to a charge of mutiny. University and UC Berkeley, home of taken originally. Already in 1964, a the Free Speech Movement and group of Sioux Indians went to the The incident was first reported Friday by The Peoples Park, there had been "Third island, staked a claim, and had their Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. World Strikes”. Students had lawyer file papers in court to back up Family members told the newspaper that several demanded and clashed with the police their claim. Nothing happened. And platoon members had been confined, but the mili- for ethnic studies—Black Study nothing happened with Adam's pro- tary did not confirm that. Programs, Chicano-, Asian- and posal either. Native American Studies. On Wednesday, 19 members of the platoon did not By 1969, there was a lively discus- show up for a scheduled 7 a.m. meeting in Tallil, in Now there was Red Power. sion in the papers of the Bay Area southeastern Iraq, to prepare for the fuel convoy’s about the fate of the island. departure a few hours later, the military statement said. The Indians were the least-men- Newspaper readers even sent in photo: Ilka Hartmann tioned in the demonstrations and now coupons to their paper stating their “An initial report indicated that some of the 19 they had accomplished a symbolic preferences. A Texas millionaire, soldiers (not all) refused to participate in the convoy “We Will Not Give Up” Oohosis, a Cree from Canada, gesture that sparked everyone's imag- Lamar Hunt proposed a 21st century as directed,” the military statement says. space theme-park on the island; a ination and created enormous support and Brenda, an urban Indian from the Bay Area give hideous idea which would have trans- A whole unit refusing to go on a mission in a the Red Power salute on Alcatraz, 1971 throughout the Bay Area. formed Alcatraz to a bizarre commer- war zone would be a significant breach of military After the federal prison on cial piece of real estate. discipline. The military statement called the inci- By Ilka Hartmann dent “isolated” and called the 343rd an experienced to claim Alcatraz for the Indians. Alcatraz closed in 1963, the San Then, the San Francisco Indian unit that performed "honorable" service in nine When reading the news in the morn- Francisco Board of Supervisors began Center burned down and the many On November 10, 1969 newspa- ing paper, the vast majority of Bay accepting proposals for what to do Indians in the City no longer had a months in Iraq. per headlines read "Indians on with the unused island in the middle Area residents responded with the place of their own. They were now The platoon has troops from Alabama, of the Bay. Adam Nordwall (later Alcatraz". In the middle of the night, expression of the time—“Right On!” without a gathering place where they Kentucky, North Carolina, Mississippi and South Fortunate Eagle), a Bay Area urban Indians had chartered a boat and 14 could meet other Indians, speak their Carolina, said Hill. Indian leader, made a proposal to one of them had climbed onto The Rock There had been the Civil Rights native language and come together for Movement in the South, then the of the supes that the island should be . See Alcatraz: page 6 . See Mutiny: page 9 2940 16th Street - Suite 216 San Francisco, CA 94103 In This Issue: Angola 3 | Life After Oil | Horror in Haiti | Eminem the Activist | Rethinking Thanksgiving | Wallerstein on the Middle East A CALL FOR JUSTICE FROM THE ANGOLA 3 FORMER BLACK PANTHER HERMAN WALLACE HAS BEEN LOCKED IN SOLITARY FOR 32 YEARS- BUT HE CAN’T BE SILENCED Dispatch from “The Hole” By Herman Wallace My name is Herman Wallace.