The Trial of Chris Horton

Doctor of Mathematics Fights the Bosses

Chris Horton is something of an enigma. He has a Doctorate in Mathematics and he is an organizer for the Worcester Anti-Foreclosure Team (WAFT).  Chris is about seventy years old and suffers from several ailments; yet he still fights the good fight.

In the Spring of 2014 Chris and other people of the WAFT organized opposition to an eviction of a Hispanic family on Providence St. 

He was arrested for alleged unlawful actions.  WAFT was only partially successful that day in 2014.  The family got a delay of the eviction for three months, but the judge was adamant that they would have be out by the end of three months.

Chris’ appeared in Worcester District Court on June 30, 2015 prepared for trial. 

One of the people who came to support Chris was John Marian who to a large extend is the heart and mind of WAFT. He only stayed until 9:30 AM and then left in order to get to Boston to speak at an anti-foreclosure hearing at the Statehouse. The hearing was related to the recent Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts’ ruling that the Worcester ordinance regarding foreclosures in Worcester was unconstitutional.

Silas and his wife came to support Chris. Silas is an organizer for WAFT. He spoke of how many people who are being evicted face other issues, such as a change in income caused by a divorce or involuntary layoff. He said only a small percentage of people wanted to oppose their evictions or wanted to take actions to modify their mortgages. Silas said that many organizers burn out. However he said that new people were always joining WAFT.

Before the trial there was a rumor that the City was offering a deal, but it needed the agreement of the arresting officer. It was unclear what happened on regards to the deal as Chris went before the judge and the trial was continued until August 26, 2015.

City Manager Has No Clothes

                                          

 Emperor Augustus Has No Clothes

The profound failure of the City Manager’s, Edward Augustus, so called dialog on race was sadly exposed at the June 29, 2015 hearing. There were no new proposals and no new ideas. The apologists for the City could not put pretend clothes on the naked truth.

Worse still is that most of the participants were stakeholders such as CEOs of non profits or coordinators from City departments.  Very few people attending were unemployed or a so called minority. For the discussions the participants were divided into Groups.

In group 9 to which I was assigned there was a discussion of small business development. One person had started a juice bar and told us of how she thought that local banks were better than national banks in that the local banks usually make loans locally. She also speculated that many of the people who worked in restaurants and worked as openers or closers did the grunt work and were paid under the table.

An older Hispanic man talked about his many years of experience running a business and his degree in management. He said that he attended a seminar at one of the Universities in Worcester and the information about running a business was too academic. He was looking for the resources to start his own business.

An assistant to the City Manager was in the group. When he was asked about the City providing more information in a timelier manner about projects in the City so that working people could have some say in the negotiations, the assistant manager said that the information could be found on a quarterly basis on the City Clerk’s website. He also said that a lot of information was private and available to the City, let alone the public in general. The Labor Coalition proposed the reservation of some jobs on big projects for local residents.

In group 4 a young man who said he led a Youth Anti Racism group and the capitalism was the sources of racial disparities. He concluded that racial disparities would continue until the abolition of capitalism.

                              

In Group 3 there was a short discussion of systemic or structural racism. One woman raised the problems found in poor education and the school to jail pipeline.

The hearings are essentially over. There is one more in which the notes of the hearings will be reviewed. This review is just a formality as solutions to race problems will not be found there and that is the naked truth. 

Racist Killings and Racist Blogs

The Connection between Media and Alleged Racist Killers

On June 22, 2015 the Department of Justice (DOJ) sponsored a hearing on Race and the Media. It was a lively event.

Before the start of the hearing the Progressive Labor (PLP) and the Massachusetts Human Rights Committee held a small rally outside of Worcester Technical High School. They stepped on and destroyed a battle standard of the Confederacy flag and expressed solidarity with the people in South Carolina in their struggles against racist terrorism. The group also passed out fliers saying that racist terrorism could also be found in Worcester MA.

                                Courtesy of Mass Live

At the discussions during the hearing there was talk of how race was portrayed in the media. It was said that some stories in the media lack context and allowed the false inference that all so called people of color were bad or inferior people. There was also a curious exchange between a Black man and a White woman about the racism found in the Worcester Telegram. He said that the Telegram editorialized that groups such as Black Lives Matter, NAACP, CUC, and White Liberals should not attend the DOJ hearings. She said that although the editorial was racist in substance, there was no evidence that the Telegram was racist.

A TV host from TV3 said that the Black Columnist at the Telegram received racist comments to his column. Some of the comments could be considered threatening. A person at the table then said that many people in the community, especially the community of color, have been intimidated by such racist comments as they do not have the resources and experience to fight back.

A member of PLP tried to make the connection between the media and Dylan Roof who has been accused of gunning down nine unarmed Black people attending church. It is known that Mr. Roof used the electronic and social media to re-enforce his views about killing Black people. It is clear that he made his decision to kill Black people after listening to the rants of racists who celebrated the death of an unarmed Black teenager, Tray Von Martin. The PLPer said that some malleable person listening to the racists rants like Turtleboy could like Mr. Roof come to the conclusion he should kill people based on their race.

The event became more curious as there was a public announcement made about “renegade fliers”. The so called renegade fliers attacked a racist blogger and the racist actions of the City government. The implication of the announcement was that the people running the discussion on race relations were defending the racists.

From what I could see there were no new ideas. Although these events make good theater and even good press, there was nothing added to public policy. 

Schools, Race, Poverty, and Jail

Schools, Race, Poverty, and Jail

There was a substantial difference in attendees at the June 1, 2015 Department of Justice (DOJ) hearings on race relations regarding youth and schools. There actually were some high school kids at the discussions. Most of them came as a result of youth organizations such as Dania and Matt’s work at SAGE, Joe and Maria work at YEA, Isabel’s and Angelique’s work at N-Cite, and Dee’s work at Future Focus.

The students brought with them their experiences of racism in the class room and elsewhere. When my kids went to North High School there was a history teacher who would use g.ks to describe Vietnamese, even with Vietnamese kids in the class. My children told us and we organized some parents to visit the principal and demand that teacher be fired. He was not fired, but he was allowed to retire after another year.

At the DOJ hearing people were asked what could be done. Unfortunately the enthusiasm of the kids could not replace the need to understand what had taken place in the past. Curiously City Councillor Konnie Lukes had some of that history, but she also brought arrogance and assertiveness to what should have been a discussion among peers. On the one hand she wanted to know the background of everyone at the table. Then she point out neighborhood schools was not desirable because of desegregation consent agreement and that curriculum was for the most part State mandated.

The Worcester Police Community Liaison Officer suggested that we look at the Nativity School for ideas. Although impracticable for a school system as large as Worcester, the Nativity School has a premise that low income kids have to be removed from the bad effects of poverty by means of long hours in school or in after school programs and school during the summer. It seems to be an effective pedagogy.

A member of the Progressive Labor and the Massachusetts Human Rights Committee raised the issue of no school to jail pipeline. She specifically attacked the proposal by the Mayor, City Manager, and others to have cops in the schools and the use of the criminal legal system to resolve school issues. She suggested mediation and other alternate forms of conflict resolution.

I am beginning to change my mind about the usefulness of the DOJ hearings. These hearings have allowed people to network. I still believe however that the announced goals of the discussions on race relations would have better served if the City Manager would have had direct discussions without the presence of people such as the Tea Party and Turtleboy and Billy Breault; all of whom are perceived as racists by some in the communities of color.

From this networking the voices of those dis-empowered hopefully will be stronger.

Race Identification

courtesy GJD

Material Conditions of Race Identification

Scientifically there is only one race, the Black race. Every single one of us came from Black ancestors originating in southern Africa.  White people are Black people too, but who do not accept that they are Black.

There have been only two countries that codified race into its laws, the United States and South Africa. The codification of race into laws was based on economics conditions that created a social structure of so called White supremacy.  We have seen several permutation of White supremacy as the economic conditions change, Ante Bellum Civil War racism, Jim Crow racism, and now a new Jim Crow racism.

In all cases Black people were cut off economically and oppressed socially. In order to overcome this oppression some of us Black people who could pass for White people did so in order to survive. Several of my people did so and some were killed when they were outed.  Passing was and is risky for some of us.

We in the Black community are very accepting. We have accepted everyone who says she is Black. We have accepted all races and so called mixture of races and all skin shades, and all languages as a part of our Family, after all everyone came out same African ancestry about 200, 000 years ago. In the United States it is an unwritten law that when you have dark skin and speak English you are Black.

What we don’t accept, based on my limited experience on earth, are people who separate themselves and attack us. These people are the KKK and Nazis and other groups who pretend they are better than us Black people. Some people with dark skin do not think of themselves as Black and attack us as well.

Regarding that lady in Spokane who is “transracial”, she is a media creation intended to take our minds off of the real issues of racial disparities.  I think if she wants to identify as Black, she can and she is welcomed. After all she can trace her ancestry to the migration of our ancestors out of Africa. Whether it is a fraud to imply that she has had the experience of an Afro American woman when applying as president of the NAACP, which is something between her and the NAACP.  Since she has resigned that issue might be moot.

It is time to focus on fighting racism in the City of Worcester and elsewhere.

Abolish Racist System of Mandatory Sentencing

permission Benito Vegas      

Abolish the Racist System of Mass Incarcerations

Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (EPOCA) is a member organization of Jobs Not Jail.  EPOCA is located in Worcester Massachusetts. On June 8 and 9 they held events in Worcester and Boston to end the racist system of Mass Incarcerations

On June 8, 2015 EPOCA organized a rally and standout at the Worcester County Courthouse garnering support for the larger rally and legislative hearing on the June 9, 2015. About fifteen people participated in a spirited

way drawing attention to their issues.

EPOCA  at Court House

On June 9, 2015 two busses of members of EPOCA and their supporters left Worcester City Hall for Boston. There they joined up with hundreds of families and people from across Massachusetts. In addition it was announced that about 130 religious and labor organizations were at the rally and hearings.

Busses at City Hall

The issue they rallied for is the abolition of mandatory minimum sentencing especially for non violent drug offenses. These incarcerations disrupt families for long periods of times and have a severe economic impact on them. As for the peopled receiving the sentences they are taken out of the economic system with little chance of reentry in a meaningful capacity.

Rally at State House

Minimum sentencing is of course racist as it affects the poorer communities most often especially communities of color. An example of this is the use of a CORI by an employer, whose use might be “colorblind” or neutral, but the adverse impact is negative.

The Center for Progressive Legislation is also lobbying for an end to mandatory minimum sentencing.

In Massachusetts there are mandatory minimum sentencings for Operation Under the Influence, Firearms, Stalking, and Drug violations. The minimum sentences for OUI may at a Judge’s discretion be reduced to alcohol treatment for a minimum of fourteen days. Firearms mandatory minimum sentence is one year incarceration. Stalking is mandatory sentence is also one year incarceration.

For the selling of pot the mandatory minimum sentence is three years. For the selling of heroin the mandatory minimum sentence is seven years.

It has been noted that when there were no drug laws in the United States during the 19^th Century the addiction rate was three percent of the population. When drugs laws were established in the United States during the 20^th Century the addiction rate of the population increased.  There is a statistical significance between the establishment and enforcement of drug laws and the increase in addiction and drug related violence. 

Students Tuition and Discrimination

Students’ Tuition and Discrimination

On June 9, 2015 the Student Immigration Movement (SIM) held a rally in front of City Hall Worcester Massachusetts. About fifty students and their supporters held signs and chanted in a rally for In-State tuition at public higher educational institutions.  At public universities and colleges the tuition for Out of State or Out of Country students is higher than that of students who are residents of Massachusetts and have a social security number.

The students were demanding that students educated in Massachusetts primary or secondary schools or both and who are residents be allowed to attend the Massachusetts public higher educational institutions paying the same tuition as residents with social security numbers.

The change would mostly affect students who came to the United States at young ages under sixteen years old. These students came to the United States with their parents and did not knowingly violate any laws.  These youngsters have been well educated in our public schools and the disparity in tuition is a barrier for them to gain further education to contribute to our society.

SIM has placed a resolution before the City Council of Worcester to support the abolition of Out of State tuition for students educated in public primary and secondary schools and are residents of Massachusetts. There is a legislative bill in front of the State Legislature to accomplish the lower tuition rate for undocumented students. There is also a resolution in front of the Worcester City Council intending to put some pressure on the State legislators to pass the bill. City Councillor Sarai Rivera spoke at the rally and said that she supported the SIM resolution.

Although SIM leaders only and narrowly rallied for the In State tuition rate for the undocumented students, this single issue has other implications.

One of those other implications is why are there more than one tuition rates. There is In-State, Out of State, Over Sixty Years of Age, possible one or two more. Being over sixty years old I am in favor of the no tuition policy for us seniors. I also think that there is no need for the Out of State tuition rate; and this should be eliminated. 

The revenue raised by the difference between the In-State and the Out of State tuitions is unlikely to be significant to the educational institutions. The difference between the In-State and the Out of State tuition is always significant to a low or middle income family.

Another issue is that most of the undocumented students are Latino, Black or Asian. The is a racial factor in the Out of State tuition.

Abolishing Out of State tuition for everyone would be a way to eliminate this neutral on its face but disparate impact issue of higher tuition for undocumented students. It would be equitable and give the legislators some cover from the anti immigrant racists in right wing groups such as the Tea Party.

The City Council of Worcester will vote on the tuition resolution on June 16, 2015. Will we see political courage on this issue?

The Sadness of Being Misled by City Bosses

The Sadness of an Inevitable Outcome.

On June 8, 2015 the Department held its third “discussion on race relations “in the AME Zion Church in Worcester Massachusetts. In many ways it was sad. I saw good people being misled by politicians, bosses, and those who are paid to pretend. Most of these people are good people, but they are trapped in a power structure of Worcester MA.  On the other hand I saw also saw brave people speaking truth to power.

Before the event, about a dozen people held signs saying “DOJ investigate WPD” and “Jobs – Yes, Racist Cops – No”. The group was from Massachusetts Human Rights Committee, Progressive Labor Party, and several said that they were not affiliated with any group, but were concerned about the issues.

More than eighteen “representatives” of break out groups from the discussions on race relations in Worcester, called “tables” gave summaries of the discussion at his respective table. It was clear that some of the representatives were self appointed facilitators and when they spoke it was not representative of the discussion at the table. For example at the table at which I was sitting I spoke of the lack of input regarding the use of deadly force policy of the police and the lack of policy regarding the neighborhood task force. These were never mentioned by the representative. There is evidence that the facilitators were instructed on how to minimize sharp criticism of the police.

Although good people the representatives spoke of old ideas that were raised decades ago and blocked by the City of Worcester, especially the Worcester Police Department. New proposals such as the Department of Justice investigating the Worcester Police were censored even though it was raised at several different tables.

Once again the bullies showed up with their seeming hatred and aggressiveness toward Black Women. One White right wing “activist” from Main South got into a heated in your face yelling match with a Black Woman organizer. Another so called activist Republican who has a TV13 show, intimidated and harassed a Black Women holding “No Racism, No Sexism, No Police Misconduct”. I can only assume that they are friends at least in spirit with the right wing blogger attacking Black women leaders in the City.

The police did not show up for the discussion on race relations. In some ways this was good for the participants as many said that they felt safer when the cops were not around.  The absence of the police also provided a pretext for the City and the Police Department not to answer questions about policy.

I doubt the next discussion on June 15. 2015 will be different, only just more of the same.

Union Contract

New Union at UMass

The United Commercial and Food Workers union (union) has recently been recognized by the UMass Memorial Hospital (Hospital).  It is in negotiations with the Hospital regarding its first contract. The main sticking point is the “no layoff” provision of the new contact. The Hospital does not want to guarantee jobs through the next contract. The union wants to keep its members employed. There was a proposal before the union came to close several departments at the Hospital and the lesson of layoffs has not been lost.

The last contract offer was rejected by the union in an overwhelming vote. Some of the workers on the picket line said that the Hospital bosses compelled some workers to go and vote as the bosses were under the impression that those workers would vote for the contract. There was a large turnout of workers, between four hundred or five hundred who came to vote with forty eight hour notice.

The union conceded pay raises in exchange for the no layoff guarantee, but the Hospital has not budged on this key issue. In response the union has approached Congressman Jim McGovern to act as mediator of sorts. This might have worked as the Hospital says it wants a settlement. 

To put the pressure on the Hospital the union held an informational picket at the Memorial Campus and the North Lake Ave. Campus. About fifty picketers showed up at the Memorial Campus. They carried signs and waived and cheered as passing cars sounded their horns in support of the workers. At times several of the union organizers would lead pro union chants as a way of increasing the enthusiasm of the people on the picket line.

Most of the signs carried by the picketers were about job security. Although good I thought that some signs would have dealt with patient care and racial disparities in medical care. About fifteen percent of the pickets were Blacks and Latinos. About half of the picketers were women and the other half men. There several kids, sons and daughters of the union members.

As is usually is the case corporations seek the protection of the state (police) when workers assemble.

The unionization of the workers by UCFW at UMass Hospital and the technicians at St. Vincent Hospital bodes well for the union movement in Worcester.  

Black Live Matter Protests Continue

Black Lives Matter Protests Continues

On June 2, 2015 there was a Black Lives Matter protest in front of City Hall Worcester where protesters talked with passers-by, held signs, and gave out flyers. One of the people taking a flyer was an assistant to the City Manager who immediately went back into City Hall.  The flyer said that the following:

     1. End racist police killing of unarmed people

     2. End the political intimidation and malicious prosecution of civil rights advocates

     3. Transparency regarding Worcester Police misconduct

     4. End the school to jail pipeline

Some of the protesters'signs read “Black (all) Lives Matter" and “Jobs – yes, Racist Cops – No “

There were protesters from Massachusetts Human Rights Commission, Progressive Labor Party, Socialist Alternative, and others unaffiliated from the community. The 

After about a half hour the small group of Black Lives Matter protesters began their march to the Korean War Memorial. On their way there the protesters blocked the entrance of the Worcester City Hall garage. Their action was more of symbolic gesture as no cars attempted to enter the garage in the approximately four and one-minutes they in front of the garage.

At the corner of Foster and Front Sts. the protesters spread out on two sides and held their signs and waving at the numerous cars and buses that passed by. Some of the motorists seemrd to honk their horns in support of the protesters and a few motorists asked for flyers.

After another half an hour the group split into two. One part marched back to City Hall via Franklin St. and the second part marching to City Hall via Front St. 

Political Trial of Worcester Four

                                        Photo  used with permission of Daily Worcester

Update on the Political Trial of the Four Worcester Black Lives Matter Demonstrators

On June 1, 2015 in Court Room 14 of Worcester District Court four protesters associated with Black Lives Matter civil right movement were arraigned for disturbing the peace. Their charges stem from the demonstration in a cross walk that ran through part of the Kelly Square intersection in Worcester Massachusetts.

At the arraignment each of the four defendants pled “not guilty” and was released on their own recognizance. The attorneys for the respective parties agree to a pretrial hearing date of July 19, 2015 at which possible resolution could be discussed as well as evidential issues.

The City of Worcester ordinance under which they were charge is the following:

      § 1. Disorderly Behavior No person shall engage in fighting, threatening or violent or tumultuous behavior; or conduct that creates a riotous commotion and excessively unreasonable noise so as to constitute a public nuisance; or conduct that creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition; which behavior or conduct has the purpose of causing public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, and which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.

The defense attorneys indicated that a possible defense is the element of the ordinance that calls for “legitimate purpose”. The reasoning is that protesters were exercising their freedom of speech. This is a constitutionally defined legitimate purpose. There according to one of the defense attorneys several courts have upheld freedom of speech as a legitimate purpose.  The term is not defined in the Worcester City ordinances. A different defense attorney indicated that might be other defenses.

Each of the defense attorneys indicated that he would file a motion to dismiss before the July 19, 2015 pretrial Hearing.