Nadir Omowale
Artist – Producer – Creative Strategist
On Oct. 6, 2007 artists and activists in Detroit held an event called Change::The Music. Proceeds from the event will be used to fund a billboard in downtown Detroit asking House Judiciary Chair John Conyers to impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney. For more information visit www.changethemusic.net.
Click HERE and listen as Nadir discusses the October 6 Change::The Music event and impeachment on WDET-FM’s Detroit Today program.
My interview with Hot Lava Records recording artist, Detroit rapper Stretch Money has been posted at DetroitFashionPages.com.
In it the 22 year-old Eastsider talks about his regional hit “Take Money to Make Money”, the rumors of legal action by Maze and Frankie Beverly over the use of their music and the stretch that Hot Lava CEO Crane Novacane is taking for the next 18 months.
Click HERE to check it out
My interview with Hot Lava Records recording artist, Detroit rapper Stretch Money has been posted at DetroitFashionPages.com.
In it the 22 year-old Eastsider talks about his regional hit “Take Money to Make Money”, the rumors of legal action by Maze and Frankie Beverly over the use of their music and the stretch that Hot Lava CEO Crane Novacane is taking for the next 18 months.
Click HERE to check it out
My uncle, a retired diplomat, sends a link to this CNN.com report: “Uncle Sam drafts diplomats for embassy in Iraq”.
The US embassy in Baghdad is the nation’s largest, and the State Department is having trouble staffing it. Of course, this human resource issue has nothing to do with the size of the work force or the lack of qualified personnel, and everything to do with the security situation in the war torn country.
So to rectify the problem, the State Department has announced that it will draft current employees, forcing them to serve in the Central Asian hellhole that the US has created. Anyone who refuses will face disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Incidentally, State has instituted this policy twice before. In 1969, an entire class of entry-level diplomats was forced to serve during another US imperial quagmire, this one in a country called Vietnam. The second was when the US was destabilizing the newly independent nations of West Africa during the 1970s and 80s.
This should remind us all of the sacrifices that US military personnel are suffering with multiple extended tours of duty in Iraq. But, at least our soldiers can shoot back if fired upon. Diplomats are not permitted to carry weapons. They can only travel around Iraq with heavily armed security teams manned by lawless mercenaries from companies like Blackwater USA.
Working in a duty station like Iraq is a diplomat’s nightmare. Why would anyone in their right mind want to be in that situation? It will be interesting to see how many career diplomats will give up their pensions and their jobs because of this policy.
My uncle, a retired diplomat, sends a link to this CNN.com report: “Uncle Sam drafts diplomats for embassy in Iraq”.
The US embassy in Baghdad is the nation’s largest, and the State Department is having trouble staffing it. Of course, this human resource issue has nothing to do with the size of the work force or the lack of qualified personnel, and everything to do with the security situation in the war torn country.
So to rectify the problem, the State Department has announced that it will draft current employees, forcing them to serve in the Central Asian hellhole that the US has created. Anyone who refuses will face disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Incidentally, State has instituted this policy twice before. In 1969, an entire class of entry-level diplomats was forced to serve during another US imperial quagmire, this one in a country called Vietnam. The second was when the US was destabilizing the newly independent nations of West Africa during the 1970s and 80s.
This should remind us all of the sacrifices that US military personnel are suffering with multiple extended tours of duty in Iraq. But, at least our soldiers can shoot back if fired upon. Diplomats are not permitted to carry weapons. They can only travel around Iraq with heavily armed security teams manned by lawless mercenaries from companies like Blackwater USA.
Working in a duty station like Iraq is a diplomat’s nightmare. Why would anyone in their right mind want to be in that situation? It will be interesting to see how many career diplomats will give up their pensions and their jobs because of this policy.
Nadir’s Note: I’m the “young artist” Shea Howell refers to in this editorial from The Michigan Citizen.“
By Shea Howell
Special to The Michigan Ctiizen
I first met Congressmen John Conyers in the early 1970s at a convention of the National Committee to End Racism and Political Repression. Representative Conyers welcomed Angela Davis, recently acquitted of murder charges, to Detroit. He praised her courage and brilliance in the struggle for liberation.
Since that long ago day, I have always been proud to have John Conyers as my Congressman. I knew he could be counted on to be on the right side of any issue. Until now.
Last Saturday Representative Conyers decided to attend the Gathering for Justice, City of Hope event at Youthville. He walked into the room quietly just as a young local artist was announcing Change the Music: "an art festival and political forum for local organizers working to keep pressure on Congress to hold the Bush administration accountable for its crimes.” As the young artist spoke passionately about the importance of pressuring Congressmen Conyers to impeach Bush, Conyers entered and took a seat directly across from him. Continue reading
Nadir’s Note: I’m the “young artist” Shea Howell refers to in this editorial from The Michigan Citizen.”
By Shea Howell
Special to The Michigan Ctiizen
I first met Congressmen John Conyers in the early 1970s at a convention of the National Committee to End Racism and Political Repression. Representative Conyers welcomed Angela Davis, recently acquitted of murder charges, to Detroit. He praised her courage and brilliance in the struggle for liberation.
Since that long ago day, I have always been proud to have John Conyers as my Congressman. I knew he could be counted on to be on the right side of any issue. Until now.
Last Saturday Representative Conyers decided to attend the Gathering for Justice, City of Hope event at Youthville. He walked into the room quietly just as a young local artist was announcing Change the Music: “an art festival and political forum for local organizers working to keep pressure on Congress to hold the Bush administration accountable for its crimes.” As the young artist spoke passionately about the importance of pressuring Congressmen Conyers to impeach Bush, Conyers entered and took a seat directly across from him. Continue reading
Once again, provocative and opinionated Detroit activist, Imhotep Bakara, begins an interesting debate. He forwarded this link to an article in the Detroit News called, “Many Metro blacks feel isolated in suburbs”.
He prefaced the link with this message:
It’s real interesting that the Det. News did this story. It’s seems to me they are saying “our plan is working”! It seems to me that some Blk people love to be confused about their place in Amerikkka!
I only can say, this brother aint going across 8 mile!
If i got to leave, it’s going to be to another “black city”.
Since we moved to Michigan in 1999, my wife and I have lived in suburban Wayne County – Westland to be exact. A lower cost of living and a quieter neighborhood that is more similar to the area we left in Nashville brought us here instead of within the Detroit city limits. Continue reading
Habeas Corpus, the legal action that gives a person the right to challenge an unlawful detention, is no more. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 revoked this right that has been a cornerstone of Western democracies since the 12th Century.
The Democratic-led US Senate again failed to pass a measure that would return this fundamental right to US citizens.
Said US Presidential candidate Senator Chris Dodd, “Each of us in the Senate faced a decision either to cast a vote in favor of helping to restore America’s reputation in the world, or to help dig deeper the hole of utter disrespect for the rule of law that the Bush Administration has created. Unfortunately, too many of my colleagues chose the latter.”
Yahoo News/The Nation
Habeas Corpus, the legal action that gives a person the right to challenge an unlawful detention, is no more. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 revoked this right that has been a cornerstone of Western democracies since the 12th Century.
The Democratic-led US Senate again failed to pass a measure that would return this fundamental right to US citizens.
Said US Presidential candidate Senator Chris Dodd, “Each of us in the Senate faced a decision either to cast a vote in favor of helping to restore America’s reputation in the world, or to help dig deeper the hole of utter disrespect for the rule of law that the Bush Administration has created. Unfortunately, too many of my colleagues chose the latter.”
Yahoo News/The Nation
