LORENZO KOMBOA ERVIN

THE REST OF THE NEWS - Racist Insurance Racket

When I was a boy coming up in the South, I used to hate to see the army of white insurance men coming into the Black community. They represented a variety of companies, many long since having been swallowed up by some multinational conglomerate, or not even in existence at all now. But I remember them well.

Who's Buying Up All The Black Funeral Homes?

I was talking to a funeral home director in Georgia recently who told me something that shocked me, and I am sure, will shock you too.

The Rest Of The News: Black People Have A Right To Rebel

A massive anti-cop rebellion has broken out in Cincinnati over the police shootings of 15 Black men, ranging in ages of 12-44 years old, all unarmed. The latest case of Timothy Thomas, a 19-year old brother, allegedly wanted for misdemeanor traffic offenses, was gunned down last week by a crazed white cop.

Black Capitalism: Part III

You know, everybody looks down their noses at poor Black people. They fault them for their own poverty, suffering and even deaths. They "lie, cheat and steal," both the smug well-to-do whites and suburban upper class Blacks say about the poor. They, of course, feel themselves every bit superior to "those people."

White On White Crime?

I get so tired of hearing all this garbage about "Black-on-Black crime" that the media created to hypocritically denounce internal crimes and contradictions in our communities, and justify police control of the community. I can prove it's propaganda.

Reflection Of Dr. King

I am not one of a number of persons and commentators who come merely to hypocritically give salutations to Dr. King, when in their own times, they betray his entire history of activism. In fact, the political establishment present us with a Martin Luther King, who never really existed. A saint, instead of an activist, a dream instead of a man, and a pacifist, instead of a man who would fight back if you personally tested him.

Black Faces In High Places

A right-wing Republican angrily wrote me a letter last week, something to the effect like: "why don't you Blacks just give it up about charges of fraud [?]... your man [Gore] just lost, and hey Bush has now appointed Black people to high positions in this administration, which shows he is not a racist." Well, yes, the Grinch (aka as George W. Bush) has now appointed a number of Black and Brown faces to his Presidential Cabinet, and we are supposed to believed that this "diversity" means something to moderate our views of him for the theft of the election and installation of a racist government.

The Ballot Or The Bullet?

There are no fair elections in America, certainly when the questions of race and political power are evident. It's interesting therefore to look at the presidential election of the year 2000. Many things have not been widely reported, which shows that this electoral race has come so close to political violence, if not outright fascism. The right-wing, including paramilitary militias in Florida and other states, have been planning for a civil war for quite some time. Now they have a genuine "excuse" for political violence.

Will The Revolution Be Televised?

I was reading a letter from an activist a few days ago about the protests around the Democratic and Republican political conventions this past Summer, and about how the media distorted and covered up everything that happened. Did you know that over 3,000 persons have been arrested since the November 30, 1999 demonstration in Seattle? There has been widespread police brutality and repression of all those protests mentioned, and those in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Cincinnati, and other cities in the USA.

Authoritarian Leftists: KILL THE COP IN YOUR HEAD!

It's difficult to know where to begin with this open letter to the various European-american leftist (Marxist-Leninist and Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, in particular) groups within the United States. I have many issues with many groups; some general, some very specific. The way in which this is presented may seem scattered at first, but I encourage all of you to read and consider carefully what I have written in its entirety before you pass any judgements.

Anarchist vs. Marxist-Leninist Thought on the Organization of Society

Historically, there have been three major forms of socialism -- Libertarian Socialism (Anarchism), Authoritarian Socialism (Marxist Communism), and Democratic Socialism (electoral social democracy). The non-Anarchist Left has echoed the bourgeoisie's portrayal of Anarchism as an ideology of chaos and lunacy. But Anarchism, and especially Anarchist-Communism, has nothing in common with this image. It is false and made up by it's ideological opponents, the Marxist-Leninists.

Police Death Squads

Police death squads in American cities are a sign of the times. Every year in the USA anywhere about 800-1,000 persons are killed in police custody. Like the nine people in Detroit this year, Amadou Diallo in NYC, Tiyesha Miller in Riverside, California, and many others whose names we don't know, they were undeniably slaughtered by the police. But these were no accidents, idle acts of racism, or even isolated vigilante actions by crazed cops. No, these death squads are carrying out *government policy* to rid the cities of "undesirables". In that sense, they are little different than the death squads in Latin America, who kill poor people and street kids in Brazil, Leftists and labor leaders in Guatemala, or police goon squads in any military dictatorship.

It's Racism Stupid!

In one of my columns about racial profiling and the Michigan police, a white "radical" wrote in "chastising" me about referring to this form of police harassment as "Driving While Black", since he said that he as a white male had on occasion been stopped by the cops himself because of his "long hair." He also went on to say that I should concentrate on "class politics", instead of "mere racial issues." Since I didn't want to answer him in a personal letter, frankly didn't have the inclination to engage in this discussion with yet another smug white middle class "radical", I decided to do it in my column.

Statement by Lorenzo Komboa Ervin

I wish to make this statement to the Australian people, and especially to the Black people of this country. It will probably be my last statement as I shall have been forced out of the country or held incommunicado at an undisclosed prison in another part of Australia, a place where my attorneys will not be able to freely visit me. I realize by revealing the facts of my treatment while in prison insures even harsher punishment.

Archive: Lorenzo Komboa Ervin and the Chattanooga 3