BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Black History Month is running in Glasgow with lots of events taking place. The STUC HQ in Glasgow hosted an event on Friday Oct. 20 th. 06 which I just couldn't miss. 'How to involve young black people in the political process' addressed by Jarvis Tyner, Jarvis who ? I hear you ask, so did I, well his CV made it a must go, he's an African American civil rights worker from the early sixties to today, ex candidate for the American Presidency and currently the vice leader of the American Communist Party, you just couldn't make that up. He took us through a fascinating journey from the time that he was organising blacks in Montgomery Alabama along with Doctor Martin Luther King and getting thrown in jail and beaten by the good ole boys of the Alabama National Guard, this guy literally had the scars to prove it. His message was still one of hope despite the present president ( he refuses to use his name ) he told us of the great work being done in the USA and some quite disturbing anecdotes about his family and their history of slavery, not the kind of thing you get on Fox News, try this on, a newly elected senator settling in Washington bought a house in the very affluent neighbourhood of Georgetown, he was presented with a legal document which prevented him from ever selling his house on to a black person which he gladly signed, that senator was John F Kennedy of the sainted Kennedy family, Dad the crooked rum runner, brother Bobby the McCarthyite witch-hunter and wee brother Teddy ( nuff said ) it was a fascinating evening and I came away feeling that the fight can still be won.