****************************************************************** People's Tribune (Online Edition) Vol. 20 No. 28 / July 12, 1993 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 Email: jdav@igc.org ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ DETROIT'S MALICE GREEN TRIAL: AN OPEN WINDOW INTO POLICE TERROR DETROIT -- The trial to determine who murdered Malice Green has become an open window into police terror. Eyewitness accounts are being nit-picked to protect former members of the notorious STRESS squad [a special police unit]. Once again, the victims of poverty and racism are being forced to accept the injustice of police terror. On June 2, the trial of the three Detroit police officers charged with killing Malice Green began with the selection of the jury. There are 58 witnesses scheduled to testify. Attempts are being made to discredit three emergency medical technicians who witnessed the murder, and Malice Green's friends from the neighborhood are being intimidated. In preparation for this historic case, the Detroit Police Department set up additional training for crowd and riot control. The trial is expected to last until the end of July. We have to prepare as well. The people created a shrine of struggle to represent the fight for justice to avenge the murder of Malice Green. Now there are more than five other such shrines in the city for victims of poverty and state terror. The people of Detroit are creating a new culture of resistance and political symbols of fightback and struggle. For more on the Malice Green case and the struggle in Detroit, turn to page 8. For more on the Malice Green case and the struggle in Detroit, turn to page 8. VICTORY! DETROIT PAYS DAMAGES OVER TENT CITY DETROIT -- The city of Detroit paid $8,500 on June 30 to Michigan Up and Out of Poverty, Now! for the destruction of the Tent City erected on church land in Detroit's Cass Corridor during the winter of 1991-92. The Tent City had been erected to protest state budget cuts. Shortly after the Tent City was put up, Detroit police officers entered church property without any warrants, confiscating and destroying the tents, beating people up and arresting them without any legal basis. A Wayne County court Mediation Panel awarded the protestors the damages. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition) Vol. 20 No. 28 / July 12, 1993 Editorial 1. THE POOR SHOULDN'T PAY FOR THE DEFICIT! News 2. DETROIT REMEMBERS MALCOLM X AND THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARY BLACK WORKERS: CONFERENCE CALL -- July 23, 24, 25 3. DON'T LET THEM KILL GARY GRAHAM!! AN URGENT APPEAL 4. BI-NATIONAL NETWORK FORMED TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY 5. FIGHT THE LIES! HOMELESS PROTEST NBC SLANDERS 6. GIVE PETE WILSON AN OSCAR -- FOR THE MOST TIRED SCRIPT IN AMERICA! 7. DETROIT: FIGHT AGAINST POLICE TERROR GIVING BIRTH TO NEW REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT Focus on Housing the Homeless 8. RON CASANOVA URGES HOMELESS ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS TO REMIND CISNEROS AND HUD OF THEIR COMMITMENTS TO HOMELESS PEOPLE 9. CISNEROS PLEDGES HOUSING DURING CHICAGO VISIT: HOLD HIM TO HIS WORD! 10. CHICAGO'S HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSIONER SENDS MESSAGE TO HUD'S CISNEROS: PUTTING HOMELESS PEOPLE IN ABANDONED MILITARY BASES IS UNACCEPTABLE! Columns and features 11. DEADLY FORCE: POLICE COVER-UP? THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF RAYMOND CHANDLER 12. UP FROM THE RUST BELT (Special Series): POLLUTION, JOBLESSNESS ANGER VETERAN STEELWORKER 13. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE ****************************************************************** 1. EDITORIAL: THE POOR SHOULDN'T PAY FOR THE DEFICIT! Once again, those on the bottom in America are being asked to sacrifice so those on the top can keep their wealth and power. The House and Senate have passed different versions of a five-year budget plan backed by President Clinton and the Democrats. A final vote on the plan won't come until August, but from what we've seen so far, it's clear that Clinton and the Democratic Congress have turned their backs on the 70 million in poverty in this country. So far, either the House or the Senate or both have voted to limit the growth of health care spending for the elderly, and cut health care for the poor; give tax breaks for business; reject proposed increases in the Food Stamp program; and cut out money that would have gone to help families in danger of losing their kids. Even more cuts in programs for people are planned in specific spending bills in the months ahead. To top it all off, many people who don't make much money will see their taxes go up, one way or the other. And while the rich are supposedly going to pay higher taxes under this bill, none of the money is going to people who need it. And remember how Clinton promised a $30 billion jobs bill? Remember how it got whittled down to $16 billion, and Congress wouldn't even pass that? Well, the Senate and House have passed similar versions of an even tinier $1.9 billion "jobs" bill. It would create only a few hundred thousand summer jobs nationwide -- a drop in the bucket compared to what's needed. And most of the money in the bill would go to pay for U.S. military operations in Somalia, to local police agencies, and for tax breaks to business! We're going to get a budget that benefits the rich and a "jobs bill" that mainly benefits the police and the military. The message is loud and clear: more sacrifice and hard times to reduce the federal deficit. Many people had hoped that Clinton would make good on his campaign pledge to "put America back to work." Instead, Clinton and the "New Democrats" have asked those of us who are struggling to make ends meet to give up even more. Why should we share in the sacrifice to pay for a deficit we did not create? Everyone knows that during the last 10 years the gap between the rich and poor grew more than any other time in American history. The deficit is a direct result of the government's handout to the rich capitalist class. The changes in the income tax rates show this. In 1962 the tax rate, for wealthy individuals was 91 percent of their income. In 1992 the tax rate for the wealthy dropped to 31 percent. The poor are not responsible for this deficit. While the deficit ballooned, we faced homelessness, hunger and unemployment or minimum-wage jobs. An estimated 20 million across the country need full- time jobs. The economic terror sweeping our country is getting worse. Every day, major corporations announce the layoffs of thousands. Life without productive work is no life at all. We need jobs. Jobs pay the rent, feed our children and keep our families healthy. Clinton and his government are refusing to take action. So, we, the millions in need, will act -- and organize to force the government to "put our America back to work." ****************************************************************** 2. DETROIT REMEMBERS MALCOLM X AND THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARY BLACK WORKERS: CONFERENCE CALL -- July 23, 24, 25 Malcolm X has been proclaimed the main political symbol of Black radicalism in the 1990s. We stand in unity with the revolutionary impact of Malcolm X and, on this basis, we call for unity to rebuild a strong movement for Black liberation. THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION! There is an economic revolution that is replacing us with new technology. The places where we used to work are now filled with computers and robots while we are thrown out to the streets forced to fight for our very survival. If not now, then we are all fearful of this happening in the near future. Our people are being brutalized by hunger and homelessness, an inadequate and declining welfare system, concentration camp public housing, a poor health care system, but an expanding police force and prison system. WE'RE CATCHING HELL! Therefore, we are calling for a new movement, one that takes seriously the fighting spirit of our great revolutionary hero Malcolm X. We are calling this conference to commemorate the 25th anniversary of DRUM (Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement) and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. This is how the Black workers of Detroit carried forward the legacy of Malcolm X! We intend to honor Malcolm X on the basis of his legacy, the experience of what actually happened. This includes many organizations such as the Black Panther Party, Black Student United Front, Motor City Labor League, Republic of New Africa, Congress of African People, the United Black Brothers of New Jersey, the CTA Black Caucus of Chicago and the many chapters of the ALSC (African Liberation Support Committee) from throughout the U.S.A. and Canada. This is a time to remember, to rethink, to recommit. Only if we dare to struggle can we win and build societies of peace and justice, respect and honor. The Conference is scheduled for July 23-25 at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. ****************************************************************** 3. DON'T LET THEM KILL GARY GRAHAM!! AN URGENT APPEAL FROM THE NATIONAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE In America, you're "guilty until proven rich." Take the case of Gary "T" Graham, an innocent man who will die unless we act with urgency and in massive numbers. Proof of Gary "T" Graham's innocence came too late for Texas where state law does not permit any new evidence thirty days after trial. That law was upheld by the Supreme Court when it permitted the execution of Leonel Herrera earlier this year. In this country it is now legal to execute the innocent. Gary Graham was charged with this murder when he was 17. Now, in another case, the court has let stand a policy that permits the execution of teenagers. Gary's new execution date could be set at any time. This struggle is not just about one man. Take a look at the 2,500 people on Death Row, take a look at the 1.1 million people incarcerated in America: they are the impoverished, the minorities, the oppressed, the rebellious. Tomorrow they could include you or yours. The message of the Gary Graham case is that the rulers will protect their rotten system with imprisonment, frame-up, legal lynching and execution. Once again, as it has done throughout history, the U.S. Supreme Court is becoming all-powerful because our country is in an economic crisis. As millions sink below the poverty line the court is handing over sweeping, violent and unconstitutional powers to the states to control the people. We urge everyone to answer the call of Gary Graham's supporters for massive mobilization in the streets. His case has become an international symbol of "class" justice, and his fate is now in your hands. For the latest information and to coordinate actions, call the Gary Graham Justice Coalition in Houston, Texas, (713) 522-0254. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ MASS MOBILIZATION FOR GRAHAM SET JULY 10 By the Gary Graham Justice Coalition HOUSTON -- The Gary Graham Justice Coalition is calling for a massive mobilization of thousands, particularly including the Black and Hispanic communities, to take place in Houston, Texas on July 10, 1993. They are asking community justice committees in the United States and around the world to carry out contemporaneous marches, press conferences, church services, rallies, concerts and other demonstrations of support of this fight to save an innocent man in connection with local justice issues. The Houston downtown march is currently being referred to as a "Journey for Justice" because of the need to connect Gary Graham's case to the countless injustices this system imposes on poor minority and white youth every day. The march will involve the presence of celebrities but will focus on giving thousands of outraged Houstonians the chance to protest injustices imposed on their own children in the form of police brutality, wholesale destruction of neighborhoods through drugs; sabotage of the public school system by the government; unbridled bloodshed in poor neighborhoods; and the unjust incarceration of and threatened execution of many others in addition to the unjust death sentence imposed on Gary Graham. The goal is to amass thousands. Please help us finance this massive mobilization. Please send donations to the Gary Graham Justice Coalition, P.O. Box 66806, Houston, Texas, 77266. Phone: 713-522-0254. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 4. BI-NATIONAL NETWORK FORMED TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY By Nacho Gonzalez Representatives from human rights organizations in Mexico and the United States along with the families of Mexican national Death Row inmates in U.S. prisons met June 18 in Monterrey, Mexico. Among the Mexican organizations attending were the Centro de Estudios Fronterizos y de Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, the Jovenes por el Si a La Democracia, the Centro de Derechos Humanos Yax Kin, a Federal Deputy representing Monterrey and head of the Human Rights Commission. From the United States there were representatives from the Mid-Valley Community Center in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, the Coalicion de Trabajadores de America del Norte from Houston and the Equal Rights Congress National Office. Three families of Death Row inmates were present: the mother and brother of Cesar Fierro Reyna, the mother and father of Irineo Tristan Montoya and the parents of Ricardo Aldape Guerra. Some of the things decided were: the organization of a census that would determine how many Mexican nationals are on Death Row in U.S. prisons and to change the treaty between Mexico and the United States on the exchange of prisoners. Because Mexico doesn't have the death penalty the exchange of Death Row inmates in the United States cannot take place without changing the treaty. The intention is to change the treaty to exchange prisoners with the maximum sentence in each country. It was also decided to organize a fund for the families so that they can visit their sons in prison and organize the talents of the Death Row inmates so that publicity can be expanded on their behalf by selling what they produce. Lastly it was decided to organize a caravan through the Mexican state of Tamaulipas and Texas in the U.S., September 21- 25. After the caravan the families would be taken to Mexico City to meet with three commissions: Foreign Relations, Human Rights and Justice of the Chamber of Federal Deputies. Lastly it was decided to organize a bi-national network and an organization of the families of the Death Row inmates. The meeting ended on a positive note and the Mexican participants called for the unity of the minorities in the United States and for the human rights movements in Mexico and the United States. ****************************************************************** 5. FIGHT THE LIES! HOMELESS PROTEST NBC SLANDERS By Sarah Menefee SAN FRANCISCO -- Outraged by the attack on homeless people on KRON-Channel 4 local news -- they were called "bums" and "a plague" -- the homeless and their supporters held a spirited protest May 26 outside the station here in San Francisco. The three-night feature, pretending to "report" on "street people," depicted the poor as crazies, addicts, drunks and criminals. Shoving cameras into the faces of people with nowhere to escape to, the station put together one of the nastiest blame- the-victim pieces of media sleaze yet seen. It included the statement by a reactionary San Francisco Chronicle columnist calling homeless people "bums" who should be locked up or run out of town. "NBC, the Channel 4 affiliate, is owned by GE," stated homeless protester Don Cash. "They were behind the political career of Ronald Reagan, are a big defense contractor and builder of A- bombs. Are the media misinformed or do they have an agenda to put forward?" The disgusting smear job, designed to dehumanize and slander the victims of the system's economic collapse, horrified people all over the Bay Area. Several Stanford University students, members of the Stanford Homeless Action Coalition, which condemned this "stereotyping" as "an example of terrible journalism that plays off public fears of the poor," came up to San Francisco to join the protest. Chanting "Stop the Scapegoating" and "Lies Kill," the angry protesters forced the station to send down their cameras and show our action during the same news hour as the last of the "reports" -- a little bit of reality next to their ugly lies. This is the sort of propaganda we've seen before -- that certain people are less than human -- when genocide was being planned. Right now this genocide is taking the form of killer cuts in those few services and benefits still standing between people and starvation and death in the streets. We remember history, and are speaking up _now!_ Stop the Scapegoating! Resist the Lies! ****************************************************************** 6. GIVE PETE WILSON AN OSCAR -- FOR THE MOST TIRED SCRIPT IN AMERICA! By Ethel Long-Scott OAKLAND, California -- Governor Pete Wilson deserves an Oscar. As a modern mythmaker, he combines fear and terror in his annual action-packed budget thriller. Once again, the poor are bad guys and Wilson, like his old pal Ronald Reagan, is the caring, but tough hero who protects society against those bad people. You know, the ones who keep on being human with basic needs like shelter, food, education and jobs which pay living wages. Just like a bad movie, Pete Wilson writes a script about AFDC moms which eliminates the truth and relies on cartoon-like stereotypes to manipulate fear in the general populace. The real truth is that Aid to Dependent Families is only six percent of the state budget. Six percent. Not 16 percent, not 60 percent. Six percent. So tell us Pete, where is the other 94 percent going? We know poor people aren't going to see any of it. Even though Proposition 165 was clearly defeated in the 1992 general election, Wilson's 1993 budget proposals contain the same 15 percent cut of grants. This cut would leave a mother and two children on AFDC with $507 a month to pay for food, clothing and shelter. Do we have to remind Pete that 69 percent of AFDC recipients are children? Doesn't he know that the average cost for one child for one week of child care is $175? By any calculation that is 35 hours at $5 an hour before taxes. Where's the extra money left for transportation, food, shelter, clothes or utilities? Wilson's proposed 15 percent cuts will cut an AFDC grant (including food stamps) for a mother and two children to a figure 27.5 percent below the federal standard poverty line. Pete Wilson needs to ditch this action movie fantasy. Poor people are not the enemy to be herded like cattle. They are human beings struggling on a daily basis to bring up their children in difficult circumstances. Oh, yes, Pete Wilson certainly deserves an Oscar and it's for a whole new category: for the most tired script concerning the most vulnerable in our society: women and children. ****************************************************************** 7. DETROIT: FIGHT AGAINST POLICE TERROR GIVING BIRTH TO NEW REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT By the Detroit Chapter of the National Organizing Committee DETROIT -- As we enter the fourth week of the Malice Green murder trial, more and more people are thinking about Los Angeles and the Rodney King trial. The attention of Detroiters is being diverted from the necessary pressure to demand justice and the conviction of the three murderous police officers charged with Malice Green's killing. In June, Mayor Coleman Young announced that he was not running for re-election. This means that for the first time in over 20 years, Detroit will have a new administration in City Hall on January 1, 1994. Mayoral candidates are running law-and-order campaigns in a city that has had over 1,000 cases of excessive police force since 1987. The city government had to pay out $20 million in claims for police brutality in 1991 alone. But money is no substitute for life, so a militant movement for survival against police terror has to demand _justice,_ not payoffs! On June 26, the NAACP re-enacted the 1963 march that was led by Martin Luther King, Jr. They used the theme that "Freedom is Not Free." The march promoted "economic development" as opposed to the more widespread necessity of fighting for our basic survival against homelessness, hunger, cuts in welfare and police terror. After the 1963 march, the attacks against the people in Detroit intensified. By the fall, Malcolm X was in town to give his famous "Message to the Grassroots" speech. A new revolutionary spirit was born. In 1993, the Malice Green trial is scheduled to end at about the time the National Organizing Committee plans to have its conference on Malcolm X and the glorious history of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. We are fighting for the rebirth of a new revolutionary spirit! [The office of the Detroit Chapter of the National Organizing Committee is at 10 West Grand, Highland Park, Michigan 48203, telephone 313-867-4865.] ****************************************************************** 8. RON CASANOVA URGES HOMELESS ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS TO REMIND CISNEROS AND HUD OF THEIR COMMITMENTS TO HOMELESS PEOPLE CHICAGO -- Ronald Casanova led the New Exodus march of homeless people from New York to Washington, D.C. in October 1989. He was one of the marchers who met with Jack Kemp, then U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, at the end of that march. In June, Casanova issued a call to support the proposals submitted to the new HUD secretary, Henry Cisneros, by Chicago's People's Campaign for Jobs, Housing and Food. Casanova's statement reads as follows: I think it is time for homeless organizations all over the United States to send a copy of Jack Kemp's letter, along with your own letter from your organization, to Cisneros. Right now is the opportune time for us to remind HUD of its commitment to the homeless and to poor people. Peace, love and understanding, Ron Casanova [Send a copy of Kemp's letter and a letter from your organization calling on HUD Secretary Cisneros to (1) live up to the commitments made by Kemp and HUD; and (2) meet with representatives of the homeless in the near future, not advocates or social service agency representatives. Letters should be sent to: Mr. Henry Cisneros, Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. 20410. We reprint Kemp's letter in full below:] +----------------------------------------------------------------+ U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary Washington, D.C. 20410 October 6, 1989 Dear Housing Now: We commit that in 1990 we will make available 10% of HUD's single- family inventory for affordable housing for homeless people. We commit that we seek to reorient our voucher and certificate programs to assist those most in need to become self-sufficient. We will review specific proposals to expand the Dignity Housing model and to try to adapt such new housing initiatives as Operation Bootstrap to make this possible. We commit that representatives of HUD and representatives of homeless and low-income people will meet in October to begin to review specific proposals to use HUD funding and property to help the homeless. We will propose changes in the use of CDBG funds so that they will be used to fight poverty, increase self-sufficiency and opportunity in low-income communities and expand and preserve affordable, decent housing for low-income people. We must turn the abandoned homes throughout our cities and towns into decent, affordable homes for the homeless and low-income people, and I pledge to work directly and aggressively with state and local governments to make this happen. I pledge to work directly with individuals and groups throughout the country to assure that HUD's programs, properties and funds are used to expand opportunities for low-income people and help make decent, affordable housing a reality for all and to make it possible for all homeless men, women and their families to live in a decent home. As a member of the Bush Administration, and as his representative, I commit HUD to use the resources at our command to reach our common goal of economic opportunity and decent, affordable housing for all Americans. Very truly yours, Jack Kemp & P.S. -- on this occasion of the 25th anniversary of the war on poverty, be assured of my desire to work full time to win this war against poverty, homelessness & despair. J.Kemp +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 9. CISNEROS PLEDGES HOUSING DURING CHICAGO VISIT: HOLD HIM TO HIS WORD! CHICAGO -- Henry Cisneros, recently appointed Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), came to Chicago June 18 and 19. Local politicians and HUD officials planned his visit to consist of a series of showcase community meetings and visits to HUD-funded projects and a few Chicago Housing Authority developments. No meetings were planned with homeless representatives. However, at three stops on Cisneros' tour, representatives of the homeless and those working for the homeless were able to speak with the HUD secretary and hand him letters detailing actions HUD needs to take. At one of Cisneros' final stops, representatives from the People's Campaign for Jobs, Housing and Food were able to get Cisneros to talk about homelessness. (The People's Campaign was formed last year by homeless fighters and supporters of the battle around the hut encampment at "Tranquility City.") Ronald Casanova, currently the head of the Kansas City Union of the Homeless, was invited to accompany members of the People's Campaign. (Casanova was in Chicago on a speaking tour.) After a series of questions from homeless and formerly homeless people, Cisneros responded: "I have to believe that we at HUD can do better. I commit that HUD will cease being an enemy, an impediment and become a partner with people around housing." Cisneros continued: "Homelessness is a disgrace, a shame for a country as wealthy as ours. I have asked Congress for $200 million to expand homeless programs and services, not just for shelters, but for housing, support, training and counselling programs." The following points were made in the letter to Cisneros from the People's Campaign: Placing the homeless in isolated, abandoned military bases is unacceptable; HUD needs to study and implement housing programs worked out with homeless people, such as the program which has housed over 400 people in Chicago and Philadelphia's Dignity Housing; Cisneros must make HUD honor the commitments made to the homeless by his predecessor Jack Kemp in Kemp's letter of October 6, 1989; Cisneros and his staff must meet with homeless organizations soon; HUD must act immediately to undo the injustice represented by Chicago's Presidential Towers. This luxury apartment complex was built with HUD funds but its developers were exempted from the usual requirement to set aside units for low-income residents. ****************************************************************** 10. CHICAGO'S HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSIONER SENDS MESSAGE TO HUD'S CISNEROS... PUTTING HOMELESS PEOPLE IN ABANDONED MILITARY BASES IS UNACCEPTABLE! CHICAGO -- In June, the Reverend Daniel Alvarez, commissioner of Chicago's Department of Human Services (DHS), asked members of the People's Campaign for Jobs, Housing and Food to convey a message to U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros. Speaking at a DHS awards ceremony just days before Cisneros arrived on his two-day visit here, Alvarez made his comments in front of an audience composed of staff people from DHS Emergency Services and Homeless Services and guests from the Chicago Housing Authority. Addressing his remarks to Calvin Gatewood of the People's Campaign, Alvarez said: "Mr. Gatewood, when you meet with HUD Secretary Cisneros, tell him we don't like the idea of homeless people being sent to abandoned military bases. That's like putting them in prison. I say 'No,' and I'm sure the people of Chicago will say 'No' to this idea." ****************************************************************** 11. DEADLY FORCE: POLICE COVER-UP? THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF RAYMOND CHANDLER +----------------------------------------------------------------+ "Deadly Force" is a weekly column dedicated to exposing the scope of police terror in the United States. We open our pages to you, the front line fighters against brutality and deadly force. Send us eyewitness accounts, clippings, press releases, appeals for support, letters, photos, opinions and all other information relating to this life and death fight. Send them to People's Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, Ill. 60654, or call (312) 486- 3551. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ By Anthony D. Prince CHICAGO -- This is not about the famous mystery writer who was also named Raymond Chandler. This is about a very real nightmare that began in 1988 when an 11-year-old boy was found dumped in a North Side Chicago alley, dead from a gunshot wound. "I was wondering if I was still in the U.S.," says Dorothy Thomas, Raymond's mother, describing how little the justice system cared about what happened to her son. Thomas stares straight ahead, steely-eyed and intense, as she describes the events of January 10, 1988, when a would-be playmate of her son's pulled the slide on a .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol, observed that it was loaded, pointed and shot. Then, her mortally wounded boy was either left in the apartment of his killers or dragged into an alley and dumped hours before police became involved. When she finally entered the Belmont Area police station to find out what happened to her son, she got more than she bargained for. "When I first walked in, there was an air of secrecy, an unsteady air surrounding all the officers," she says. "I was talking to myself, [promising] that I was going to find out what happened, when Detective Joseph Guzolek attacked me from the back, hurled racial names and threw me into a side room. He got really infuriated when I asked him the name of the state's attorney who had closed the case within two hours." Bruised, beaten, grief-stricken by the loss of her son, Thomas recalls walking home in a pouring rain considering the conspiracy that appeared to be underway in the death of Raymond Chandler. "As I was walking I actually tripped over a big book that was soaking wet from the rain. It was a book of the United States Federal Code, a law book. I see it now as a sign." Thomas is demanding to know why paramedics failed to take Raymond to the nearest hospital, why inconsistencies appear throughout police reports and why, to date, authorities are still refusing to investigate any criminal responsibility on the part of the youths who last saw Raymond alive or their parents. The soft-spoken, self-educated Mississippian has single-handedly waged a determined battle against the state's attorney's office, the police, and state and federal courts. No lawyer represents her. No legal assistance firm has come to her aid; none of the established civil rights groups were apparently interested in her case. Her small Cabrini-Green apartment is littered with law books and police records and with court motions and affidavits which she has personally produced at a battered typewriter on a kitchen table. "The system has victimized me more than the awful act itself," says Thomas. Living in Cabrini-Green, she knows first-hand how little the system cares when a poor child dies. She turns, and with a look of iron determination says, "This isn't just about my son." [To contact Dorothy Thomas, write 412 W. Chicago Avenue, Apt. 508, Chicago, Illinois 60610 Phone: 312-944-0488.] ****************************************************************** 12. UP FROM THE RUST BELT (Special Series): POLLUTION, JOBLESSNESS ANGER VETERAN STEELWORKER PAUL PICCIRILLI: RUST BELT REBEL By Anthony D. Prince ALIQUIPPA, Pennsylvania -- Paul J. Piccirilli's grandson was born with a hole in his heart. "My kid was a motor inspector at J&L Steel," he says. "He was exposed to those PCBs [a deadly chemical found in electrical transformers]. His son was born with a perforated heart. My grandson only lived 18 months. J&L Steel killed him." Paul Piccirilli is a fixture in this depressed steel town near Pittsburgh. He is a revolutionary who spent 35 years as a bricklayer helper, sheet metal man and Steelworkers Local 1211 grievance man. And he's not afraid to speak out on the injustice of what has happened here. "I can take you out to the airport, and you can see our guys carrying luggage, doing menial jobs," he says, describing how the death of steelmaking has brought hard times. "Hundreds of people have lost their homes." But when he takes us to the backstretches of the old coke-making plant, you can see that the steel mill is still claiming victims -- through deadly pollution. "Coke" is coal that has had the impurities cooked out of it and is used to fuel ironmaking furnaces. Now, with the coke plant gone, the ground is filled with deadly chemicals, and as a result, a whole generation of Aliquippa may be endangered. Paul Piccirili is a bitter man -- bitter from years of battling the steel industry and too-cozy union officials, bitter from watching his mill shut down as the steelworkers battled to save it. When LTV took its money and ran in 1985, protected by federal bankruptcy laws, it left a bad taste in everybody's mouth. "They even took our $400 per month that they induced us to retire with." But Piccirilli is a revolutionary, and he's proud of it. He knows that ultimately the capitalist system cannot endure. He speaks of the thousands of permanently unemployed people in Aliquippa and around this country who have no stake left in the system. "President Clinton is a phony, he's not real. Five hundred thousand 'summer jobs' don't mean s -- t. This country is in serious danger, the chickens are coming home to roost." Piccirili points again to the fenced-in toxic dumps that now stand where a steel mill once roared. "These towns are all in the same plight," he says, remarking how the unemployed could be put to work cleaning up the mess the steel industry left behind. When I leave Paul J. Piccirilli, I see tears standing in his eyes. They are tears of anger. He clenches his teeth and declares against the steel companies for exploiting, using up and spitting out the immigrants, the African Americans and all who toiled to put millions in the steel companies' pockets. He hurts for the town they destroyed. He does not forget. He does not forgive. He continues to fight. I hope he sticks around for a while. ****************************************************************** 13. ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, published weekly in Chicago, is devoted to the proposition that an economic system which can't or won't feed, clothe and house its people ought to be and will be changed. To that end, this paper is a tribune of the people. It is the voice of the millions struggling for survival. It strives to educate politically those millions on the basis of their own experience. It is a tribune to bring them together, to create a vision of a better world, and a strategy to achieve it. Join us! Editor: Laura Garcia Publisher: Lenny Brody To help support the production and distribution of the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, please send donations, letters, articles, photos, graphics and requests for information, subscriptions and bundles of papers to: PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE P.O. Box 3524 Chicago, IL 60654 Respond via e-mail to jdav@igc.org Reach us by phone: Chicago: (312) 486-3551 Atlanta: (404) 242-2380 Detroit: (313) 839-7600 Los Angeles: (310) 428-2618 Washington, D.C.: (202) 529-6250 GETTING THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE IN PRINT The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE is available at many locations nationwide. One year subscriptions $25 ($35 institutions), bulk orders of 5 or more 15 cents each, single copies 25 cents. Contact PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, P. O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654, tel. (312) 486- 3551. WRITING FOR THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE We want your story in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE. Send it in! Articles should be shorter than 300 words, written to be easily understood, and signed. (Use a pen name if you prefer.) Include a phone number for questions. Contact PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, P. O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654, tel. (312) 486-3551. ****************************************************************** We encourage reproduction and use of all articles except those copyrighted. 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