This is an example of the incredible power of Jewish and Evangelical donors.
It's the Israel lobby at work. It's the reason for the anti BDS law in New York
and for the one they would have passed yesterday in the Senate, had the
Democrats not blocked it because of the government shutdown.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2019 12:00 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: my blog carl jarvis <carjar82.carls@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Civil Rights Institute Cancels Gala Honoring
Angela Davis After Outcry From Jewish Community
Angela Davis, one of our finest minds. I place her with Noam Chomsky on my
list of "Most perceptive" Americans.
As for Birmingham's prominent civil rights museum? If they had any integrity
they would blush with shame and close their doors forever.
Angela Davis's response was Classic Angela Davis.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/8/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Civil Rights Institute Cancels Gala Honoring Angela Davis After Outcry
From Jewish Community By Michael Harriot, The Root
08 January 19
One of the nation’s most prominent civil rights museums has reneged on
its plans to celebrate one of America’s most outspoken freedom
fighters, igniting a national controversy after seemingly genuflecting
to grumbles from the area’s Jewish community.
On Jan. 4, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute released a weirdly
nonspecific statement canceling its plans to bestow the institute’s
highest honor upon Angela Davis, a Birmingham, Alabama, native. The
ceremony was supposed to serve as the centerpiece of the museum’s
annual gala, planned for Feb. 19.
In October, AL.com reported that Andrea Taylor, the Institute’s CEO,
called Davis “one of the most globally recognized champions of human
rights, giving voice to those who are powerless to speak,” announcing
that they were “thrilled” to honor the educator, author, activist, and
Birmingham native.
Then suddenly, they weren’t so thrilled.
“In September of 2018, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s Board
of Directors selected Angela Davis to receive the prestigious Fred
Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award at its annual gala in February 2019,”
the statement posted on the BCRI’s website began, continuing:
In late December, supporters and other concerned individuals and
organizations, both inside and outside of our local community, began
to make requests that we reconsider our decision.
Upon closer examination of Ms. Davis’ statements and public record, we
concluded that she unfortunately does not meet all of the criteria on
which the award is based. Therefore, on January 4, BCRI’s Board voted
to rescind its invitation to Ms. Davis to honor her with the
Shuttlesworth Award. While we recognize Ms. Davis’ stature as a
scholar and prominent figure in civil rights history, we believe this
decision is consistent with the ideals of the award’s namesake, Rev.
Shuttlesworth.
We regret that this change is necessary, and apologize to our
supporters, the community and Ms. Davis for the confusion we have
caused. We will move forward with a keen focus on our mission: to
enlighten each generation about civil and human rights by exploring
our common past and working together in the present to build a better future.
The associated gala event, scheduled for February 16th at Haven has
been cancelled. Ticket purchasers will received a full refund.
Because the BCRI was less than transparent in its statement, many
people wondered why the institute would moonwalk back its support for
the hometown heroine. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin cleared up some
of the confusion in expressing his discontent with the Institute’s
decision. In a statement Sunday, Woodfin said:
As I consider the controversy over the Birmingham Civil Rights
Institute’s decision to honor Dr. Angela Davis with the Fred L.
Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award and its subsequent decision to
rescind that honor after protests from our local Jewish community and
some of its allies, my overriding feeling is one of dismay.
“I am dismayed because this controversy is playing out in a way that
harks backward, rather than forward,” Woodfin continued, adding that
the decision “portrays us as the same Birmingham we always have been,
rather than the one we want to be.”
According to people familiar with BCRI’s decision, the institute’s
reversal is centered around the local Jewish community’s opposition
with what the Associated Press describes as Davis’ support for the
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which seeks to rectify
Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Soon after the institute announced
their plans to honor Davis, Southern Jewish Life magazine published
what could only be described as a “hit piece” detailing Davis’s
support of policies that are often seen as anti-Israel.
“Something not included in the Institute’s publicity for the event,”
the article reads, “is that Davis has also been an outspoken voice in
the boycott-Israel movement, and advocates extensively on college
campuses for the isolation of the Jewish state, saying Israel engages
in ethnic cleansing and is connected to police violence against
African-Americans in the United States.”
According to AL.com, local organizers have vowed to protest the
institution if the author and internationally known academic does not receive
the award.
Activists and academics around the country were outraged by the
organization’s decision to bow to outside pressure, noting, among
other things, Davis’ long history in the struggle for equality for
people of all colors, races, religions, and gender.
Davis was born and raised in Birmingham’s “Dynamite Hill,” whose
nickname comes from the more than 50 bombings by white supremacists
trying to thwart integration during the civil rights era. She became a
professor at the University of California’s Los Angeles campus and was
known for her radical feminism and her involvement with both the
Communist Party USA and the Black Panthers.
After authorities accused Davis of purchasing weapons used in a 1970
courtroom takeover and police shooting, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
made Davis the third woman to ever be listed on the FBI’s Ten Most
Wanted Fugitives list. She briefly went on the run, was arrested, and
placed in solitary confinement.
Davis was acquitted of all charges.
She has authored a dozen books on race, class, feminism, sexual abuse,
and mass incarceration. Her life’s work has been fighting for justice
and equality around the world.
Using the hashtag #IStandWithAngela, social media users have pointed
out that Davis’ position on Israel is not only consistent with her
work and teachings, but it is also right.
Such is the problem with so-called allies.
Their support is always contingent upon their control. They believe
that they should have a say over what and whom Black America deems
“acceptable.”
Black protest is respectable until it appears on their street,
dishonors their agenda, or pops up during their football games.
Everyone is cool with the march as long as their toes aren’t stepped on.
Even worse, we are often all too willing to comply.
But I shouldn’t say “we.”
More than half of the BCRI’s Board of Directors, including its
chairman, are not black.
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