Chinese youth write to MIM Dear comrades: I'm a Chinese youth. Many revolutionary comrades, including me, are eager to know more about the communist movement abroad. We will support you. And we hope you will make more progress in the future. --A reader May, 2001 Vieques bombing only "necessary" to "oppress, tyrannize and exploit other people" I was happy to see your article (June 1, 2001) "Imperialist Navy back to bombing Vieques," and I am in total agreement with your article. Puerto Rico is my place of birth and my maternal side of the family lives in Vieques. I was brought to the United Snakes at the age of five and so growing I never really knew the extent of the problem my people were having with the u.$. navy. I became aware of it a few years ago and what I did learn shocked me profoundly. For over 60 years the u.$ navy has been conducting their bombing exercises on that island and for over 60 years they have been killing my people with their practices. To this day they continue to deny that their bombs have anything to do with the people in Vieques contracting cancer and other serious diseases. They've never even performed their own tests or they know the truth but choose to keep quiet because their exercises are more important than human lives. Puerto Rico says they're harming the people of Vieques they have the proof. The u.$. navy says "no we're not", yet they don't have the proof. The united $tates is killing and harming people who are not at war with them. Every time I look at the newspaper some military official or some ignorant or very confused person speaks about "Vieques being the only site for the exercises and our men/women need to be well trained." Or, "The people of Puerto Rico need to understand they have to make sacrifices the lives of our men and women are important." Either this is ignorant thinking or some foolish and evil thinking. It cannot be the best site because innocent people are dying. Puerto Rico needs to make sacrifices? What kind of sacrifices I ask you?!! That they give up their lives so that a sniveling united $tates can train more innocent people to loose their lives so that the u.$. can go into countries and oppress, tyrannize and exploit other people. Pure evil are the actions of the united $tates. Why my people ever let them get this far at Vieques I'll never understand. The u.$. wants to run around and tell everyone how moral, civilized, and for human rights they are along with a lot of other bullshit they attempt to feed us. They can sell that bullshit to someone else 'cause I'm not buying. Many of us see through your disguise. The united $tates is a wolf in sheep's clothing. "People open your eyes and see, lend your ears and hear, open your minds and understand. Wake up!" My mother died at Vieques medical center on October 4, 1999 as a consequence of those bombings. When she was over here she was good and healthy. She went over there and she got sick, got cancer and other illnesses. Every time it seemed she would pull through something else went wrong. The united $tats killed my mother along with many others who never did anything to them. I struggle with these thoughts day in and day out and I'm trying to do something positive. -- A prisoner in Pennsylvania 26 Jun 2001 MIM responds: This prisoner is definitely doing something positive by helping to spread the word about the movement to fight the u.s. navy in Vieques. We invite our readers to join this fight. MIM joins the urgent action call issued by Vieques Libre: Fax the White House officials and express your repudiation of the Navy's occupation of Vieques island. Demand that George W. Bush order the immediate withdrawal of the Navy. And send a copy of your protest letter to MIM Notes to help spread the word about the struggle. * Andrew Card, White House Chief of Staff Fax: (202) 456- 1907 * Joshua Bolten, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Fax: (202) 456-6703 Pigs harass ALKQN contingent in Vieques march In this brief letter I would like to speak about the importance of our struggle in Vieques. Our case is political in nature. It symbolizes the life and death struggle against every form of racist oppression, especially those involving police brutality. On June 10, 2001 in New York the Puerto Rican Parade became a massive rallying cry in support of Vieques. Millions of Puerto Ricans, their friends and supporters filled Fifth Avenue to show off Boricua Pride. Amongst them were our brothers and sisters of the ALKQN [Almighty Latin King/Queen Nation] fighting against the imperialists. At one point, a contingent from the ALKQN attempted to enter the anti-imperialist contingent but police blocked them. That right there shows one form of oppression, they try to stop us from uniting together. But later in the march, we the ALKQN victoriously joined the contingent as New York cops marched alongside the parade with nightsticks and handcuffs threatening to arrest any one they chose. Throughout the 44-block march the police directed menacing looks and sneers at the ALKQN. But it was the ALKQN and not the NYPD who were cheered along the march route. This is our message, we have to unite and continue our struggle against imperialism. Not go against each other and/or other oppressed nations, groups etc. Understand that the ALKQN represent resistance and the fight against police brutality. Before I sign off, I give my universal salute to all my direct and indirect brothers and sisters in our struggle. I also remain meek, humble and unbreakable. Righteous tribe.... -- A Pennsylvania prisoner, 3 Jul 2001 MIM adds: The cops' harassment of the Latin King/Queens is nothing new -- "back in the day," the Chicago police and the FBI tried to scuttle an alliance between the Black Panther Party and the Blackstone Rangers, a "street gang." As one cop put it, "we wanted to make sure that head [the Panthers] never hooked up with that body [the Rangers]." Now that the ALKQN is doing anti-imperialist organizing, the pigs are coming down hard on them, trying to divide them from the rest of the anti-imperialist movement. However, as this letter shows, the cops designs can be defeated through persistence and understanding who our real friends and enemies are. Independent media Dear MIM, I would like to comment on the mass media and the way they tell the news. When I started to become enlightened, or should I say started paying attention, what frustrated me is that it took me a while to get to the truth because I have to listen to the story that is portrayed more than once from different channels looking for inconsistencies. I speak about this because of the article about Palestine (in MIM Notes). Watching the TV it was as plain as it could be that the Palestinians were losing more lives compared to Israel, but yet the Palestinian was demonized. I knew the first step before a war is to make your opponent into a villain. I knew that the reason why the United States was backing Israel was because it was their spot to influence the Middle East. --a prisoner in TN July 2001 MIM responds: This reader gives a good example demonstrating the importance of alternative media. We publish MIM Notes because we want to give people an anti-imperialist perspective on the news. This means reporting information that the bourgeois media, with its corporate backing and u.s. government news sources, refuses to print. However, MIM Notes is only printed twice a month and it can't be anyone's primary source of news. This is why it is important to also follow the bourgeois news but, as this prisoner points out, with a careful eye for inconsistencies to try to pick out the true story. We call on all of our readers who see the importance of alternative media like MIM Notes to help us increase the scope and distribution of MIM Notes. Help us with distribution in your city and send us money to finance a larger and more frequently printed paper. Contact us at the address on page 2 to help out.