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Did Oprah Pick Another Fibber? Truth and Fiction in Elie Wiesel's Night In his special report Alexander Cockburn interviews former Wiesel colleague and Holocaust survivor Eli Pfefferkorn. What Raul Hilberg, the Holocaust's greatest historian, really thinks about Wiesel's "Night". Also in this special issue: Is Hugo Chavez Hitler or Father Christmas? Larry Lack tells the full story of Venezuela's hand-outs to Uncle Sam's Shivering Poor. Plus, Jeffrey St Clair profiles the Endangered Visigoth and traces the rise and possible fall of Rick Pombo, destroyer of nature. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! |
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Today's Stories March 16, 2006 Clancy
Sigal March 15, 2006 Jonathan
Cook Winslow
Wheeler Diane
Christian Ron
Jacobs Missy
Comley Beattie Jared
Bernstein Noam
Chomsky Website
of the Day
March 14, 2006 Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Todd
Chretien Jason
Kunin Thomas
Palley Cockburn
/ St. Clair Website
of the Day
March 13, 2006 Uri
Avnery Dave
Lindorff Mike
Whitney David
Green Jeremy
Scahill Mike
Ferner Corey
Harris Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Paul
Craig Roberts Ben
Tripp John
Strausbaugh Landau
/ Hassen Robert
Bryce Gary
Leupp Fred
Gardner Ron
Jacobs Jonathan
Scott Ramzy
Baroud Jordan
Flaherty John
Chuckman Joe
Allen Julia
Kendlbacher St.
Clair / Walker / Pollack / Vest Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 10, 2006 Ben
Rosenfeld Lila
Rajiva Saree
Makdisi Elena
Shore Joshua
Frank Dave
Zirin Aura
Bogado
March 9, 2006 John
Walsh Annie
Zirin Brian
McKenna Chris
Floyd Rachard
Itani Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Wylie
Harris Alexander
Cockburn Website
of the Day
March 8, 2006 Patrick
Bond Brian
Concannon, Jr. Pat
Williams Lance
Selfa Mokhiber
/ Weissman Walter
Brasch Vijay
Prashad Website
of the Day
March 7, 2006 Werther John
Blair Dave
Lindorff Mike
Whitney Warren
Guykema Sen.
Russell Feingold Robert
Jensen Norman
Solomon Bernie
Dwyer Website
of the Day
Ralph
Nader Dave
Zirin Vanessa
Redgrave Walter
A. Davis Joshua
Frank Nate
Mezmer Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Jennifer
Van Bergen Steven
Higgs Winslow
T. Wheeler Ron
Jacobs Rev.
William E. Alberts Colin
Asher Fred
Gardner "Pariah" John
Scagliotti Seth
Sandronsky Joan
Roelofs Arjun
Makhijani Ardeshr
Ommani Diana
Barahona Ben
Tripp St.
Clair / Socialist Worker Staff Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend March 3, 2006 Laura
Carlsen John
V. Whitbeck Chris
Floyd Mohamed
Hakki Pratyush
Chandra John
Scagliotti Website
of the Day
March 2, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Dave
Lindorff Ramzy
Baroud Saul
Landau Joe
Allen Steve
Shore Denise
Boggs Norman
Finkelstein Website
of the Day
March 1, 2006 Mairead
Corrigan Maguire Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Faheem
Hussain Antony
Loewenstein Elizabeth
Schulte Mike
Whitney John
Ryan Michael
Donnelly Tom
Reeves Website
of the Day
February 28, 2006 Sen.
Russ Feingold Ralph
Nader Joshua
Frank Aziz
Haniffa Benjamin Dangl Norman Solomon Mike
Ferner Sharon
Smith Website
of the Day
February 27, 2006 Buncombe
/ Cockburn Paul
Craig Roberts Ingmar
Lee Ron
Jacobs Dave
Lindorff Pat
Wolff Lila
Rajiva Website
of the Day
February 25 / 26, 2006 Alexander
Cockburn Lila
Rajiva Lee
Sustar Jennifer
Van Bergen / Madis Senner Justin
E.H. Smith Paul
Craig Roberts Jason
Leopold Gilad
Atzmon Zahid
Shariff Fred
Gardner Dick
J. Reavis David
Stocker John
Bomar Mike
Marqusee Pratyush
Chandra Ben
Tripp Dr.
Susan Block Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
February 24, 2006 Alan
Maass William
S. Lind Dave
Lindorff Pierre
Tristam Meg
Bannerji Robert
Jensen Mark
Engler Jennifer
Loewenstein Website
of the Day
February 23, 2006 Chet
Richards Jonathan
Feldman Joshua
Frank Ron
Jacobs Amira
Hass Samah
Sabawi Norman
Solomon Christopher
Reed Website
of the Day
February 22, 2006 Robert
Pollin Phil
Doe Pirouz
Azadi Saul
Landau Brian
McKinlay Sam
Smith Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Diane
Farsetta Website
of the Day
February 21, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Franklin
Spinney Dave
Lindorff Alevtina
Rea Bruce
K. Gagnon Dave
Zirin Bill
Quigley Website
of the Day
February 20, 2006 Jennifer
Van Bergen Rachard
Itani Gideon
Levy Joshua
Frank Newton
Garver Pratyush
Chandra Seth
Sandronsky Cockburn
/ St. Clair Website
of the Day
February 18 / 19, 2006 Werther Uzma
Aslam Khan Joe
DeRaymond Edward
F. Mooney Paul
Craig Roberts Elaine
Cassel P.
Sainath Thomas
P. Healy Brian
Concannon, Jr. Fred
Gardner Rep.
Cynthia McKinney Brian
Tokar Chan
Chee Khoon Andrew
Freedman St.
Clair / Walker Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
February 17, 2006 Floyd
Rudmin Gervasio
Rodríguez Gary
Leupp Ramzy
Baroud Amira
Hass Matthew
Koehler Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Debbie
Nathan Website
of the Day
Febrauary 16, 2006 Lila
Rajiva Norman
Solomon Ron
Jacobs Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
February 15, 2006 Brian
Conacnnon, Jr. Dave
Lindorff Saree
Makdisi Joshua
Frank Amira
Hass CounterPunch
Wire Robert
Bryce Website
of the Day February 14, 2006 John
Sugg Don
Santina William
A. Cook Ray
McGovern John
Ross Website
of the Day
Lila
Rajiva Christopher
Brauchli Dave
Lindorff Ron
Jacobs Mike
Whitney Michael
Neumann Website
of the Day
February 11 / 12, 2006 Alexander
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Paul Craig
Roberts Pat Williams Fred Gardner Saul Landau John Chuckman Roger Burbach Seth Sandronsky Website of
the Weekend
February 10, 2006 Carl
G. Estabrook Sen.
Russell Feingold Roxanne
Dunbar----Ortiz Saree Makdisi Website of
the Day
February 9, 2006 Dave Lindorff Mike Marqusee Paul Craig Roberts Peter Phillips William S. Lind Christine Tomlinson Innocent Targets in the "Long War": False Positives and Bush's Eavesdropping Program Will Youmans Robert Robideau Richard Neville Peter Rost Website of the Day
February 8, 2006 Ron Jacobs Stan Cox Sen. Russ Feingold Robert Jensen Rep. Cynthia McKinney Niranjan Ramakrishnan Don Monkerud David Swanson C.L. Cook Christopher
Fons Jeffrey Ballinger Website of
the Day
February 7, 2006 Edward Lucie-Smith Robert Fisk Paul Craig Roberts Neve Gordon Joshua Frank Peter Montague Jackie Corr Jeffrey St.
Clair Website of the Day
February 6, 2006 Christopher
Brauchli Robert Fisk John Chuckman Jenna Orkin Paul Craig
Roberts
February 4 / 5, 2006 Alexander Cockburn Mike Ferner James Petras Alan Maass Fred Gardner Ralph Nader Bill Glahn Saul Landau Laura Carlsen James Brooks Mike Roselle John Holt Sarah Ferguson William S.
Lind Niranjan Ramakrishnan Seth Sandronsky Derrick O'Keefe Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Elisa Salasin St. Clair / Vest Stew Albert Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
February 3, 2006 Toufic Haddad Heather Gray Tim Wise Conn Hallinan Eva Golinger Daniel Ellsberg Dave Zirin Robert Bryce Website of
the Day
February 2, 2006 Winslow T.
Wheeler Stan Cox Rachard Itani Mike Whitney Amira Hass Norman Solomon Michael Simmons Christopher
Reed Website of the Day
February 1, 2006 Sharon Smith Jason Leopold Cindy Sheehan Joseph Grosso Earl Ofari Hutchinson Steven Higgs Robert Robideau R. Siddharth Jim Retherford Rep. Cynthia
McKinney Paul Craig
Roberts Website of
the Day
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March 16, 2006 The South's Rebel Without a Pause Anne Braden's Tireless War on Racism By HEATHER GRAY In less then a year, we in the South have lost three giants in the civil rights movement who knew each other and whose life's work intersected. First we lost Rosa Parks in October 2005, then Coretta Scott King in January 2006, and on March 6, 2006 the incomparable Anne Braden died in Louisville, Kentucky at the age of 81. Her biographer Cate Fosl has wisely said about Anne "Hers has been among the most forceful and persistent of white voices for racial equality in modern U.S. history." Fosl's "Subversive Southerner (www.subversivesoutherner.com) : Anne Braden and The Struggle for Racial Justice in the Cold War South" is an invaluable history of our Southern civil rights movement. Upon meeting Anne in 1957, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. said that she was "the most amazing white woman" for her dedication to civil rights. I recall in the interview by CSPAN's Brian Lamb of Kwame Toure (Stokely Carmichael), shortly before he died, Toure mentioning the importance of Anne's work in the 1960's. When Anne and her husband Carl were being maligned as communists during the height of the 1960's the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth of Birmingham fame told us at a gathering in the 1990's that in no way would he or did he abandon Anne. Cries of "communism", he said, were always the ploy in an attempt to destabilize effective work for justice. One of the many newspaper clippings about Anne at her funeral last week in Louisville described her in bold print as "A Rebel Without a Pause." That was Anne to be sure. The fact is, she never shied away from anything that would advance justice in the South and she never let anyone else pause either. This defiance on her part was always on the surface and always expressed. In the 1950's she and her husband Carl joined the staff of the civil rights organization, the Southern Conference Education Fund (SCEF). As a journalist, Anne wrote for SCEF's newspaper the "Southern Patriot". In a revealing 1962 "Patriot" article entitled "Don't Waste a Stamp" Anne addressed potential funders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Many across the country were concerned about the increasing violence in the south and wanted to encourage these young activists to leave. Anne wrote: While I was in Southwest Georgia, one of the two cars used by the student registration workers broke down. They managed to get it fixed, but the prospects were dim. And even two cars as not enough - not for 10 or more students to canvass over three counties and planning soon to expand into more. Food these students can sometimes manage without. Cars are essential. Thinking of their situation, you probably feel like writing them a letter urging them to get out of Georgia before they are killed. But I tell you this would be a waste of a stamp. They won't leave. So instead, why not use your stamp to send a check to help buy another car? Students in Mississippi have the same problem. One SNCC field secretary told me he is assigned to cover a 45 square-mile area populated by 28,000 Negroes. And he has no car at all. So sometimes he travels by mule, literally. Like hundreds of white and black activists throughout the South and the country, I am honored to acknowledge that I am one of her "white" step-children. Anne seemed to have her fingers on the pulse of activism throughout the entire South. She called upon countless numbers of us on a consistent basis to help her on a project or someone else in the region that needed assistance. Sometimes we didn't know what was happening behind the scenes. Only last week after she died did I discover, after a phone call from New York, that it was Anne who advised national organizers of the Africa Peace Tour that I organize the tour in the southeast in the 1987. Organizing the tour in seven states helped me considerably in subsequent work against apartheid and learning more about the southern region and its activists. Anne knew this would happen of course! Then she would draw upon those contacts and expertise for intensification and expansion of the work. I remember in the 1980's when I was in an Atlanta hospital for a major operation, just out of the recovery room, and the phone rings. It was Anne. Somehow she tracked me down from Louisville. Anne said "Heather, you're just out of the operating room? I'm so sorry but I need this important information." So, while I could hardly hold on to the phone, for some 30 minutes we talked about an upcoming major demonstration in the South to address the horrors of white supremacy. But that was Anne. None of us who worked with her would even think about not helping her with whatever she needed. I would venture to say that most of us felt honored that she even thought to call us for advice or information. I was also fortunate to serve on the board of the Southern Organizing Committee for Racial and Economic Justice (SOC) that Anne co-chaired along with Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. The organization was one of the few that provided the opportunity for us to think and act regionally and to make the essential connections of the myriad of issues we faced. From the 1980's and on the meetings were always filled with a diversity of black, white and eventually Latino activists in the region. We would sit for hours in New Orleans, Montgomery or Birmingham to strategize on various issues, activities and mistakes we've made then and in the past. We would also listen, learn and occasionally join in while the legendary leaders in our midst discussed and analyzed the dynamics of white supremacy, racial politics generally and labor challenges in the South. Anne was never without offering a lengthy epistle about anything until the wee hours of the night along with her ever present cigarettes! These sessions were often both grueling and enlightening. They were not only a history lesson but also a socialization process into the tactics of southern civil rights activism and Anne understood the importance of this. She wanted to pass this information on to all of us and to keep the momentum going at every conceivable juncture. The meetings were a roll call of southern leaders and activists the likes of Reverend C.T. Vivian, Jack O'Dell, Gwen Patton, Virginia Durr, Reverend Fred Taylor, Reverend James Orange, Connie Tucker, John Zippert, Jackie Ward, Reverend Ben Chavis, Charlie Orrock, Ann Romaine, Damu Smith, Jim Dunn, Judy Hand, Scott Douglas, Ron Chisholm, Spiver Gordon, Pat Bryant, Tirso Moreno and countless others. I remember a few years ago when Anne was to receive yet another award - this time from the Fund for Southern Communities. We watched as the small, frail, yet powerful Anne walked to the front of the crowded Sisters Chapel at Spelman College in Atlanta to receive the award. In what was vintage Anne, she told the crowd that while she appreciated the award it surprises her that she would be acknowledged in this way and that she always expects, instead, to get arrested! Anne was not unlike many white southern women in the civil rights movement who were essentially kicked out of their family when they declared their commitment to racial justice. She told me once that however painful the loss of family might be, the experience of battling white supremacy can be liberating. She said a few years ago that once we as whites have wrenched ourselves as much as possible from the horrible burden and shackles of white supremacy, we are finally free. But Anne also insisted, of course, that the responsibility of whites goes far beyond "examining our souls". In a January/February 2006 Fellowship of Reconciliation article, entitled "Finding Another America" she expressed that in a practical sense relatively little, if any, progress toward justice in America could be made until racism is confronted. She said, "It is certainly true that our society faces many life-and-death issues. But we can't deal effectively with any of these problems until we mount an aggressive offense against racism. This is not only morally right; it's a practical matter. As long as our society can dump its problems on people of color it will not seek or find real solutions." After her death last week, the following brief and informative encapsulation of Anne's history was provided by the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Carl Braden Memorial Center. "Braden catapulted into national headlines in mid-1954 when she and her husband Carl Braden were indicted for sedition for their leadership in desegregating a Louisville, Kentucky suburb. Their purchase of a house in an all-white neighborhood on behalf of African Americans Andrew and Charlotte Wade violated Louisville's color line and provoked violence against both families, culminating with the dynamiting of the house in June of 1964. A subsequent grand jury investigation concentrated not on the neighborhood's harassment of the Wades, but looked to the Braden's supposedly communistic intentions in backing the purchase, and they were indicted for sedition that Fall. The couples sedition case made national news and earned them the ire of segregationists across the South, which was reeling from the U.S. Supreme Court's condemnation of school segregation in its Brown ruling earlier that Spring. Only Carl was convicted, and that conviction was later overturned. The sedition charges left the Bradens pariahs, branded as radicals and "reds' in the Cold-War South, and they became fierce civil libertarians who openly espoused left-wing social critiques but would never either embrace nor disavow the Communist Party publicly because they felt that to do so accepted the terms of the 1950's anti-communist "witch hunts." Anne Braden's memoir of the case, "The Wall Between" was published in 1958, becoming one of the few accounts of its era to probe the psychology of white southern racism from within. Their case also introduced the Bradens to the civil rights movement blossoming farther south, in which white allies were few and far between.The Bradens soon joined the staff of a regional civil rights organization, the Southern Conference Education Fund (SCEF), and began traveling the region to solicit greater white support for the movement. As the 1960s dawned, Anne Braden became a mentor and role model to younger southern students who joined the movement a role she maintained for the rest of her life. Although she was suspect in some circles, Braden publicized and supported the student sit-ins in the pages of SCEF's Southern Patriot newspaper, which she edited, and she encouraged a broader vision of social change that would include peace and justice. She was also instrumental in Louisville's Open Housing movement in the layer sixties, and among the leading whit voices who helped to bring peace to the turbulent second generation o school desegregation, in which busing brought open violence to Louisville and other cities in the mid-1970's. After Carl Braden's untimely death in 1975, Anne Braden remained a central proponent of racial justice in Louisville and across the South, eventually evolving from pariah to heroine. Braden's primary message was the centrality of racism in the U.S. social fabric, bit she constantly stressed that civil rights activism was a much whites' responsibility as it was that of people of color. In speeches delivered in the nearly six decades of her activism, Braden would frequently reflect on her odyssey from segregationist youth to anti-racist advocate: a process she called "turning myself inside out." Reared in a middle class, pro-segregation family, Braden changed as a young reporter covering the emerging civil rights movement in 1947 Alabama, where she had observed two separate and unequal systems of justice meted out in the Birmingham courthouse. She subsequently left the supposed neutrality of mainstream journalism to apply her considerable journalistic talents to the aid of African Americans in their quest to end segregation. Her efforts against southern racism, her friend and fellow activist Angela Davis reflected, "enabled vast and often spectacular social changes.that most of her contemporaries during the 1950s would never have been able to imagine." Heather Gray is the producer of "Just Peace"
on WRFG-Atlanta 89.3 FM covering local, regional, national and
international news. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia and can be
reached at hmcgray@earthlink.net.
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from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair          Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.                  |
