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We Will Not Be Divided
By Cynthia McKinney
05/03/07 "ICH"
-- -- Two centuries ago, the United States, Latin America
and Haiti were joined in the struggle for dignity and freedom.
In 1779, when a fledgling United States was fighting for its
independence, a unit of Haitian volunteers answered the call and
fought alongside George Washington in the Battle of Savannah.
When Haiti threw off imperial domination, it helped Latin
America to become free. In fact, Simon Bolivar received supplies
from Haiti for his victorious war over Spanish imperialism while
Venezuela's first tri-color flag was unfurled on Haitian soil.
Enslaved Africans in the United States fled to freedom in
Haiti—and also to Mexico.
Black people and the diverse peoples of Latin America share a
bond of blood and the struggle for freedom. Whether we are
children of Bolivar or the children of la negra Hipolita , we
are one.
However, a few cynical, greedy, amoral people who do not share
our values but who have a whole lot of power want to divide and
exploit us for their own selfish gain. We should never forget
that Jesse Helms won reelection to the Senate on a notorious TV
spot that pitted white workers against black workers. This
tactic has always been used to keep labor divided.
We won't let it happen! Slavery was abolished in this country in
1865. We won't go back!
Two hundred million people worldwide should not be forced to
leave their families behind and head for developed countries
because there are no decent jobs at home. Parents and children
should not be separated because of global forces that workers
don't understand, but must respond to. I.C.E. agents shouldn't
be picking up people on the streets and holding them
incommunicado as if this horrible global assault on human
dignity was caused by them.
Our country can do better than this.
U.S. policy should uplift workers abroad and at home. We should
demand fairness for labor and respect for the environment in all
of our trade agreements. U.S. corporations must be held
accountable wherever they might operate in the world. We must
demand a living wage. There must not be any race to the bottom.
By now, the new Congress should have repealed the Patriot Act,
the Military Tribunals Act, the Secret Evidence Act and George
Bush's tax cuts. They should have ensured the right of return
for all Katrina survivors; cut off all funding for George Bush's
wars; and they should have impeached Condi, Dick and George by
now!
Sadly, the Democrats were too quiet on the theft of two
Presidential elections, too quiet on the lies of September 11th;
too quiet on the neocons misleading us into the Iraq War; and
now they are too quiet on the carnage in Somalia and the
possibility of using nukes in Iran.
After his shocking incompetence during Hurricane Katrina, why is
Michael Chertoff still Secretary of Homeland Security?
Leaders in Washington, D.C. can change our disastrous military,
economic, and foreign policies that contribute to the shape our
country and world are in. What they do depends on us.
Between Democrats and Republicans in the corridors of power, the
fix is in. Now is not the time to be quiet. We will not be
quiet. We will not back down. We will not be divided! Our voices
will be heard!
Former Congresswoman
Cynthia
McKinney
served six terms in Georgia's Fourth District. This speech
was delivered May 2, 2007 at the Los Angeles immigration rally,
and reprinted in
Black Agenda
Report
.
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