Re: [CONSPIRACY STUFF?] SLIGHT CORRECTION

At the conclusion of my just sent "Conspiracy" piece, there is the sentence:"I often use this case, with which I was and am personally quite family,"  Family of course should be familiar.

I can say definitely that this was not my direct error.  I proof read the piece several times, then did a spell check. Though the spell check didn't focus on that word -- familiar -- it did change it.  Although this is an older computer, the spell check has been sloppy for the last two years. It's likely I will stop using it.

Best, Hunter Bear

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Hunter Gray 
  To: Bear Without Borders 
  Cc: [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] ; [email protected] 
  Sent: Friday, March 07, 2014 5:31 AM
  Subject: Re: [BearwWthoutBorders] Chokwe Lumumba and Jackson -- now[CONSPIRACY STUFF?]


  First, thanks to Blue on RBB for sending me the Black Agenda's Report with its piece on the passing of Chokwe.  I find Black Agenda well worth reading though I can occasionally have disagreements with it.

  When Chokwe, the new and sensibly radical mayor of Jackson, passed on, I immediately figured there would be questions about the circumstances of his death and "conspiracy talk."  That doesn't require psychic abilities.  And now, in due course some of that is building.  My own opinion is that, sadly, he died of natural causes.  He was fighting cancer and apparently had heart issues as well.  He was an intense and dedicated public person and servant.

  I approach things like the conspiracy hypothesis very carefully.  This sort of thing can indeed have a basis -- but frequently does not.  It flourishes in troubled settings.  Where it does have some basis, it's often very localized and not grandiose.  Conspiracy talk flourishes in Mississippi faster than the sprouting of wild Kudzu vines.  And, frankly, that's not only true of Dixie generally but much of this country -- which does have a paranoid strain in its culture. And lots and lots of folks do like to chew and chew on conspiracy stuff.

  But if much of the "conspiracy stuff" is ungrounded, some of it can be grounded.  I, of course, have personal experiential and observational awareness of some murder plots and actions at Jackson.  In these cases, the conspiracies were very local with no governmental relationships at any level -- save a tiny number of rogue police -- a species pretty common in the Magnolia State in those days. (In fact, rogue police by reasonable standards could be the Dixie "norm" back then.) 

  In any of these cases, careful investigation is needed -- and forthwith.  But that doesn't always happen officially, of course, and then careful citizen investigation can certainly be useful -- if responsible.

  (I've mentioned before that, when Eldri and I were at the home of a University of Iowa faculty friend for dinner, his wife, who was a clinical psychologist, asked me about my involvement in the Southern Movement.  In time, she allowed I had a right to "earned paranoia."  I have always liked that term.)

  While we're in this particular pasture, let's spend a  moment on the "conspiracy doctrine" as it exists in Law.  I see it as a perennially dangerous approach -- whether targeting an individual or a group. It's frequently described by critical terms such as "elastic" and "sprawling." Prosecutors like it because it can shortcut careful and, hopefully, objective investigation.  It has an old and very shabby history in this country and has increased much in usage via the Bush 2 and Obama administrations.

  I often use this case, with which I was and am personally quite family, as an example of the cynical use of the conspiracy doctrine to union-bust.  http://www.hunterbear.org/Mine-Millconspiracycase.htm

  In Solidarity,

  Hunter Bear

  HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq / 
  St. Francis Abenaki / St. Regis Mohawk 
  Member, National Writers Union AFL-CIO

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  (Photos)
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Romi Elnagar 
    To: Hunter Gray 
    Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 1:46 PM
    Subject: Chokwe Lumumba and Jackson


    Hunter,
    Black Agenda Report has an article on Chokwe Lumumba that I thought you might want to see, if you haven't already.


    How and why did Chokwe Lumumba die?
    http://blackagendareport.com/content/how-and-why-did-chokwe-lumumba-die


    Also
    http://blackagendareport.com/content/jackson-mississippi-rising-alternative-gentrification-urban-economic-development



    Best,
    Blue


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