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Some of you are celebrating now or are about to celebrate special days of r=
eligious or cultural remembrance.  This is a time for personal and national=
 reflection as we prepare to usher in a new year.  Hopefully, we can reflec=
t on this year that is about to end and say that we did all within our mean=
s to make our communities and our country better.  And we can certainly com=
mit to doing that in the new year.=20

Not too long ago, I released a video announcing my political intentions.  T=
hanks to you and many, many others, that video has now earned three YouTube=
 honors in the category of News and Politics:  Most Viewed, Most Linked, To=
p Favorites.  This means that you shared the VNR with your friends and post=
ed its link on websites that you frequent.  Help me get the good news out! =
 Please share this link with all you know: =20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D03cOM9r51Nw

Recently, I was invited to give remarks at the Chicago-WVON Pre-Kwanzaa Cel=
ebration.  I hope you will share these remarks with your friends because I =
believe its message is now critical. =20

Finally, please enjoy these days of celebration, remembrance, and reflectio=
n and I wish you all a Happy New Year if I don't get back with you before t=
his year is out.  Here is my speech:

Cynthia McKinney=20
Chicago Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration
December 16, 2007

I want to thank Chicagoans for the continuous outpouring of love and unders=
tanding that I've been shown throughout my political career.  In 1991, when=
 George Herbert Walker Bush decided to rain bombs down on Baghdad, I came u=
nder severe attack because, from the well of the Georgia House of Represent=
atives, I said, among other things, that George Bush ought to be ashamed of=
 himself.  My colleagues got up and walked out on me and I was repudiated i=
n the most vicious ways imaginable.  It was the viciousness that catapulted=
 me into some national notoriety, including here in Chicago.=20
As I ran for Congress and added my voice to others clamoring for justice, p=
eace, truth, and accountability, I began to experience the same type of vil=
ification as had happened while I was in the Georgia Legislature.

But what I began to realize was that it was the very fact of such treatment=
 that caused people around=E2=80=94at first the state of Georgia, and then =
later our country=E2=80=94to begin to pay attention.  Because the question =
soon arose, What's wrong with a message of justice, peace, truth, and accou=
ntability being delivered by the Representative from Georgia?  And just as =
Dr. King said, "There can be no great disappointment where there is no grea=
t love," more and more people became disappointed at the public flagellatio=
n I was continuously subjected to.=20

You recognized the spirit of Kunte in me.  You showered me with the love an=
d the nurturing I needed for political survival.  You traveled to Georgia t=
o prevent the retrenchment of my message and save my presence in the United=
 States Congress.  You sent dollars to my campaigns and fought for the rest=
oration of my seniority because you knew that I could be counted on to rema=
in a consistent voice of empowerment.=20

My voice for the voiceless, my speaking truth to power, has attracted suppo=
rt from all sectors of the American community.  Blacks, whites, Latinos, Na=
tive Americans, and Asians; every faith within our human rainbow are all re=
presented in my support base.  Thank you.  And as I contemplated the breadt=
h of such support, I also wondered why, since the Civil Rights Movement, bl=
ack participation rarely seemed to translate into broad policy strokes need=
ed to transform our community=E2=80=94indeed, our entire country. =20

I do believe that it is still within our power today to transform public po=
licy to benefit forgotten communities and restore the lost soul of our coun=
try.

I've decided to do something different in an attempt to have something diff=
erent.=20

I do this because I know that part of the story of human survival resides i=
n the success of humankind's ability to adapt to its changing environment. =
 Indeed, the story of evolution is marked by such changes, passed on from g=
eneration to generation, in every form of life from single cells, to plants=
, to very complex animals.=20

It is clear from life's model that a failure to recognize environmental cha=
nges and adapt to them rapidly can mean even the end of life.

Life is the overall purpose of any organism.  And so, there are various fun=
ctions within an organism that help it to survive.  For each of us, our eye=
s, our ears, our skin, our hearts are all differentiated organs that sustai=
n our lives.=20

Whole fields of science have been constructed to understand the role of dif=
ferentiation and evolution.  To ensure its survival, the polar bear evolved=
 into an animal that thrives in cold and ice=E2=80=94an endangered environm=
ent in a global warming world.  And therefore, the polar bear's existence i=
s threatened if it is unable to adapt to the climatic changes sweeping our =
planet.=20

And finally, for longevity, life must be reproduced.  Life without reproduc=
tion is death.

Because on the other side of the equation, there is the threat to life that=
 can come from the environment.  In order to survive, an organism, a specie=
s, a specific community, humankind, must understand its environment and ada=
pt so that it can withstand potentially hostile environmental changes.=20

Because Africa is so rich in resources upon which civilization as we know i=
t has grown to depend, because Africans were so resilient in what might hav=
e been harsh environments for others, because black people could be used to=
 satisfy the needs and wants of others, our very survival has had to overco=
me internal and external threats to our very existence.  Our survival as a =
distinct group worthy of self-determination and not just as the source of o=
ther people's gratification depends on our ability to understand our enviro=
nment, test it for its hostility, fashion strategies to survive in the face=
 of such hostility, and when that environment changes, adapt our strategy t=
o the new circumstances.=20

And it is to the political environment of African Americans that I must now=
 turn.

Those of you accustomed to hearing my messages know that I will recite the =
statistics that inform us of the state of black America.  You know that I w=
ill remind us all of the dire conditions facing our country as well as our =
community:=20
A 2003 Harvard University study found that even when minorities have health=
 insurance, they tend to receive less than adequate care.  Black infant and=
 maternal mortality rates are 2 and 3.5 times higher than for whites.  Dr. =
David Satcher found in 2005 that 83,750 black people died premature deaths =
for no other reason than that they were black.=20

The New York Times wrote that by 2003 nearly one half of all black men betw=
een the ages of 16 and 64, living in New York City, were unemployed.

The 2006 National Urban League Report informed us that the overall quality =
of life in the U.S. enjoyed by black people is only 73% that of white Ameri=
cans and that the economic conditions faced by blacks in the United States =
is 56% that of whites in this country.

I read the Hull House-Loyola University Report, "Minding the Gap," which st=
ated that were there to be no changes whatsoever in policy, that it would t=
ake black Chicagoans 200 years to catch up to the quality of life enjoyed b=
y those who are white and live in Chicago.  Referencing the report, the Chi=
cago Sun-Times wrote, "Page by page, paragraph by paragraph, and line by li=
ne the report describes two completely different cities, documenting dispar=
ities in income, education, housing transportation, health care, and safety=
."=20

The Report itself points out: "Whites are 125 percent more likely to use ma=
rijuana than blacks; 181 percent more likely to use cocaine; 431 percent mo=
re likely to use inhalants; 516 percent more likely to use LSD.  And yet bl=
acks account for 79 percent of all drug arrests."=20

Even in reading about Chicago politics, it became perfectly clear that befo=
re there was a Colonel Karpinski and Abu Ghraib, there was a Burge and a Da=
ley responsible for the Chicago Police Department's Area 2.

And finally, in its 2005 report, among other things, United for a Fair Econ=
omy told us that it would take 1,664 years to close the home ownership gap =
and that on some indices the racial disparities are worse now than at the t=
ime of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In their 2006 Report, Uni=
ted for a Fair Economy told us that blacks and Latinos lost ground, and in =
order to close the racial wealth divide in our country, it would take the e=
quivalent of a "G.I. Bill for Everyone" that would include comprehensive fe=
deral investment in low-income families and communities, with an emphasis o=
n people of color.  They recommended, I believe, what very few in this room=
 would disagree with:  progressive taxes on wealthy individuals and profita=
ble corporations to fund a real Ownership Society, not the phony proposals =
being put forward by the Bush Administration. =20

And unfortunately, in their 2007 State of the Dream Report, United for a Fa=
ir Economy wrote that people of color support Democrats in the voting booth=
, but are still waiting for policies and programs that close the economic g=
ap between them and whites.  They wrote that African Americans should expec=
t more from Democrats than what was received in the Congressional Democrati=
c majority's first 100 hours.  They wrote that people of color vote blue, b=
ut stay in the red.=20

So where's the outrage?  And where's the agenda for change?

According to the statistics, staying in the red means that our college grad=
uates will continue to earn on the average half as much as the overall popu=
lation of college graduates over their lifetimes;=20

Staying in the red means continued astronomical incarceration rates for our=
 children and their continued criminalization even in schools where adminis=
trative remedies exist=E2=80=94like in the Jena 6 and the Palmdale 4 cases;=
=20

Staying in the red means that more and more of our families will be displac=
ed in what some have called "Hurricane America" wherein gentrification is d=
isplacing millions of families of color=E2=80=94not nearly as violently=E2=
=80=94but the result is practically the same as has happened with Hurricane=
s Katrina and Rita;=20

Staying in the red means that merely increasing the minimum wage is insuffi=
cient because even if the minimum wage were to be increased every year at 7=
0 cents per year, a minimum wage worker supporting a family of three still =
would not rise above the poverty level until 2013.=20

Without specific funds for affirmative action programs that close the gaps =
in health, education, employment, incarceration, and other indices on which=
 our country fails to perform, staying in the red means continuing to put u=
p with the same inequalities that in some cases are worsening and hoping so=
mehow to escape from the consequences of the numbers.=20

If we continue to do what we've always done, we'll continue to get what we'=
ve always been given.  That means staying in the red.

And clearly, if black people fail to demand a discussion, an agenda, solid =
policy proposals that redress these circumstances, in my opinion, the black=
 body politic could go the way of the polar bear.=20

I refuse to have my community=E2=80=94or any community in this country--sta=
y in the red and I refuse to see those statistics go one more day without b=
eing addressed.

Earlier this year, on my birthday, I declared my independence from the lead=
ership that voted its complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity, to=
rture, and crimes against the peace.  I set as a marker repeal of the Patri=
ot Acts, the Secret Evidence Act, the Military Tribunals Act.  I asked for =
enactment of a national living wage, not just an increase in the minimum wa=
ge.  And I asked why is impeachment off the table.  I decried the Pentagon'=
s missing 2.3 trillion dollars and asked for that money back=E2=80=94for jo=
bs, for health care, for education, and for our veterans.  I asked for repe=
al of the Bush tax cuts.

And so, today on my mother's birthday, and in the spirit of Umoja and of Ku=
jichagulia, I have decided to do something I've never done before so that w=
e all can have something we've never had before.=20

In celebration of dedicated service to my community instilled in me by my p=
arents, and in the spirit of Ujima, Ujamaa, and Nia, I am ready to assert t=
hat the black community cannot and should not be forced to live in the red =
not one day longer without an action plan for remedy.  I am ready to put my=
 entire body against the gears and the levers and the wheels of the machine=
 and I'm willing to do whatever it is that I can to stop it.=20

And finally, in the spirit of service without expectation of reward, and in=
 the spirit of Kuumba and Imani, I will rely on our ancestors and our cultu=
re to see us through this journey.  My very first campaign theme was "warri=
ors don't wear medals, they wear scars."  I have felt the scars, you have s=
een my scars; but I also have weathered the storm.=20

But there are some principles that must be addressed and they are more impo=
rtant than me. =20

How will we engage the political process and reverse those statistics revea=
ling an unacceptable level of pain inside our community?=20

How do we inject a dose of radical common sense into the political process =
and resolve our problems?

Just this past week, reflecting a political impotence heretofore unknown si=
nce we acquired the right to vote, public housing in New Orleans was demoli=
shed despite being habitable enough for displaced residents to return.=20

I was awakened yesterday morning by the melodic voice of William Bell singi=
ng Trying to Love Two.  At the time, that song seemed to me a revelation be=
cause perhaps our failure to negotiate an agenda that addresses those stati=
stics could simply be that in the course of trying to satisfy others, we lo=
st sight of our own needs, our own agenda, our own solutions.  Bell conclud=
ed that loving two women wasn't easy to do.  He said it started out just fo=
r fun, but now he's the one that's on the run.  Now, he's trapped, not gett=
ing anywhere.  And it's messing with his head.  Also sounds like what can h=
appen to a community that fails to respond to severe threats lurking within=
 its environment.=20

Finally, and this is a big one.  Electioneering this season will be a billi=
on-dollar business.  How much of that money is going to minority printers, =
minority banks, minority pollsters, minority media and political consultant=
s; minority newspapers, radio and internet outlets?=20

Malcolm X said, the black vote can determine who goes to the White House an=
d who stays in the doghouse.  In 2000, an estimated one million black peopl=
e went to the polls and voted their dreams, their hopes, and their aspirati=
ons and the votes of those one million black people were not even counted. =
 Who fought for them?=20

In 2004, it was the black vote again that was targeted for nullification in=
 an election drive-by shooting.

How much more will we take?

And yet, we still wait.  For justice.  For peace.  And for truth.=20

I shudder to think what our country might become if we fail to turn these n=
umbers around.  Join me.  Dare to be different.  Dare to demand.  Our survi=
val could very well depend on it.

Thank you.



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Walter Lippmann
Havana, Cuba
"Un para=C3=ADso bajo el bloqueo"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
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