Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, January 15-21, 2021
By H.L.D. Mahindapala
H.L.D. Mahindapala is a
Sri Lankan journalist who
was Editor, Sunday Observer
(1990-1994), President, Sri
Lanka Working Journalists’
Association (1991-1993) and
Secretary-General, South
Asia Media Association
(1994).
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jan
14 2021 (IPS) – Democracy is
fragile. It is more fragile that
the window panes of the Congress
that were smashed by
the mob unleashed by President
Donald Trump. It is the
ultimate symbol of the desecration
of American democracy.
The world watched in horror
as the misinformed, misguided,
politically driven mob
went berserk destroying not
so much the material that
stood in their way but the
fundamental values of the
holiest shrine of democracy
that came crumbling down
with not a single guardian of
the law in sight to stop it.
It was a sad spectacle.
A delusional Trump, who
refused to accept the grim
realities facing him, tried
every trick in the book to
retain power which he had
lost. The voters told him to
go. The courts told him to
go – 62 times, sometimes by
judges appointed by him.
The states which he tried
to bully told him to go. Some
of his best friends and advisers
told him to go. He didn’t
budge. He believed fanatically
in his narrative that his victory
was stolen by Biden. His
perennial penchant to wallow
in his own lies was pathological.
When all his legal and
political tactics failed, he
tried violence. He instigated
the mob and told them to
walk down Pennsylvania Avenue
because “we can never
get back our country with
weakness”. His legal sidekick,
Rudy Giuliani, told the
crowd that there should be a
“trial by combat”.
The veiled messages were
quite transparent. Like Hitler,
Trump made use of the
democratic processes and
democratic institutions to
undermine the very foundations
of democracy. His
power was in manipulating
the racist slogan of “Making
America Great” which meant
reinforcing the power of the
White Supremacists.
He was aided and abetted
by the Right-wing racist
media, particularly the media
run by “Uncle Rupey” Murdoch
– a favoured guest at Mara
Lago club owned by Trump.
His media lackeys at Fox
News – Sean Hannity, Tucker
Carlson etc.,– have been blind
devotees of Trumpism. They
white-washed and justified
every move made by Trump,
even the violence unleashed
at the Congress.
Buoyed by the adulation of
his followers (72 million voted
for him) he once told a campaign
rally : “I could stand in
the middle of 5th Avenue and
shoot somebody and I would
not lose voters.” His meteoric
rise cast a spell on America.
His White nationalism swept
across America, from coast
to coast, making him a folk
hero.
He rose to be the new symbol
of America. The grassroot
forces were rallying behind
him with a fervour not seen
before. He resonated with
their aspirations and their
hates.
So, when the voters turned
against him it shattered his
own beliefs. He had vested
so much of faith in his own
powers that he refused to face
the reality. He began with a
bang.
His idiosyncratic style that
mesmerised the base of the
Republican Party made him
the most formidable force
overnight. The message went
along with it with his brash
style. Together they galvanised
the broader base of
White America. He created
a new political culture with
his incessant tweets, political
messages, aimed at creating
(successfully!) an alternative
reality.
By Keith Powers & Kevin
VanHook
There is a long list of New
Yorkers who have been devastated
by the COVID-19 crisis:
essential workers, the working
poor, and parents struggling to
juggle remote school with their
own work, to name a few.
Yet often lost in the conversation
is how the pandemic
has impacted justice-involved
individuals. Not only do those
cycling in and out of jail face
an extraordinary high-risk of
contracting the virus as they
sit in inhumane facilities where
social distancing is impossible
and access to health basics are
scarce, the pathway to stability
and success upon release has
become even more daunting.
Jails are hotspots for COVID-
19. At the height of the pandemic,
Rikers Island had an
infection rate that was approximately
four to five times higher
than city and state averages. We
cannot let lack of testing stop
our fellow New Yorkers from
reuniting with friends and family
or finding stable housing
due to the fear of the disease,
or worse, increased infection
rates. Just one day without a
place to stay can spell disaster
and lead to homelessness.
The City needs to take action
now to ensure the hundreds of
people returning home from
Rikers can get back on their
feet. While the Mayor’s administration
listed several positive
steps in a City Council hearing
last month to create a more
unified reentry process, there
are key issues we must act on
now: providing COVID-19 testing
and eliminating NYCHA’s
permanent exclusion.
There are common-sense
solutions will stem the tide of
New York’s homelessness crisis
and greatly improve the health,
safety, and lives of countless
New Yorkers.
Given the high-risk jails
pose to community spread, it
is imperative that justice-involved
individuals are guaranteed
testing before they leave.
As we see an increase in density
in jails, this infrastructure
should mirror that of entry
testing to ensure COVID-19
does not spread.
In addition to addressing
private landlord discrimination,
we must confront lessdiscussed
discrimination in
public housing: the NYCHA
permanent exclusion.
This policy allows NYCHA
to unilaterally decide whether
someone with criminal history
is “non-desirable,” thereby
banning them from tenancy
for as long as five years. Only
after reapplying can former
residents have the chance at
having this status removed.
This unfair and unjust rule
mirrors the racist and unequal
treatment in our criminal legal
system. We know that people of
color in New York City are far
more likely to get arrested than
white residents. Rather than
try and right the wrongs of
the past, the NYCHA exclusion
policy actively legitimizes this
broken status quo.
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America’s descent into depths
of disastrous Trumpism
Vaccine uncertainty isn’t the
only health concern for New
Yorkers at Rikers
President Donald Trump addressing the UN General
Assembly. UN Photo/Cia Pak
/schnepsmedia.com
