Journal Entry 1 by synergy from San Antonio, Texas USA on Friday, March 26, 2004

This book is mostly fiction but it's based on true events that happened back in the late 1960s. As the title may suggest to you, it's about the activities of the early days of the Black Panthers of Oakland.

The black people of Oakland living in the ghetto were getting tired of being pushed around, being called nigger, boy, and girl, and never getting any justice when they were mistreated by the average white person and also the police. Yet another hit-and-run at a corner (this time a boy on a bike) by people tearing through the ghetto using its streets to drag-race sparks renewed pleas for the installation of a stoplight at that corner.

However, no one of the establishment (read: white people) cares enough to listen much less take action and, especially after white police officers attack and arrest a peace demonstration at the site of the accident, citizens begin to organize to police themselves and surveil the police brutality. And so the beginning of the Black Panthers in Oakland.

Of course it wasn't long before black people organizing- LEGALLY no less- begins to alarm the establishment and next thing you know they're being targetted by local and national government for infiltration, internal dissent, and destruction. As one book review mentions, it covers the days of "Cointelpro," a program designed by, supported by, and run by the government to "neutralize political dissidents."

This makes me think of many things which are happening these days and makes me think apprehensively that this government may return to the days of full-force McCarthyism when it was acceptable to run that kind of program of which the main goals were the following:

"First, there was infiltration. Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. The main purpose was to discredit and disrupt. Their presence served to undermine trust and scare off potential supporters. They also exploited this fear to smear genuine activists as agents.

Second, there was psychological warfare from the outside. They planted false media stories and published bogus leaflets and other publications in the name of targeted groups. They forged correspondence, sent anonymous letters, and made anonymous telephone calls. They spread misinformation about meetings and events, set up pseudo movement groups run by agents, and manipulated or strong-armed parents, employers, landlords, school officials and others to cause trouble for activists.

Third, there was harassment through the legal system, used to harass dissidents and make them appear to be criminals. Officers gave perjured testimony and presented fabricated evidence as a pretext for false arrests and wrongful imprisonment. They discriminatorily enforced tax laws and other government regulations and used conspicuous surveillance, 'investigative' interviews, and grand jury subpoenas in an effort to intimidate activists and silence their supporters.

Fourth and finally, there was extralegal force and violence. The FBI and police threatened, instigated and conducted break-ins, vandalism, assaults, and beatings. The object was to frighten dissidents and disrupt their movements. In the case of radical Black and Puerto Rican activists (and later Native Americans), these attacks, including political assassinations, were so extensive, vicious, and calculated that they can only be accurately called a form of official 'terrorism.'"

For more info go to:
COINTELPRO
A Short History of FBI COINTELPRO 

Journal Entry 2 by synergy at Carver Community Cultural Center 226 N Hackberry in San Antonio, Texas USA on Friday, March 26, 2004

Release planned for Saturday, March 27, 2004 at Carver Community Cultural Center 226 N Hackberry in San Antonio, Texas USA.

I'm planning on releasing this book at the Carver on Saturday at some point in the afternoon. It'll probably be around 1PM or 3PM. The Carver is located about 6 blocks northeast of the Alamodome.