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THE OUTSIDER......LOOKING INSIDE
@
Don Grantham i 5.....
At the recent commission meeting held two
Monday's ago. commissioner Don Grantham, The
Say-it-like-it-1s - “Southern-Gentleman”™ showed
that he is true to the cause. Many have wondered
why Mr. Grantham, a well-known businessman,
has not been vocal abour bringing the commis
sion, and therefore, the community together. He
has unashamedly blasted the abstentions and lob
bied extensively against tunding inner city initia
tives. Though our dear commissioner has to listen
to his constituency, certainly he hasn't been told to
cut oft the minority community. To most people,
black and white, Mr. Grantham’s true colors show
quite vividly resembling the vibrant peacock. The
only ditterence is that he has many colors on the
outside but most obviously caters to the one side
(the white side) that he tights tor, vigorously. He
is sort of a modern day Robin Hood-gone-bad.
instead of stealing trom the rich to give to the
»oor: he steals from the poor and gives to the rich,
&Ln'lw that’s what his political athiliation is all
about-preserving the \\'C.lfi[h of a tew. It one was to
evaluate his voring record and observe his tone,
blatant outright criticism of his black colleagues
and his p.milm to hold back the progress of the
black community, they would find a threat 10
progress and a bold everlasting reminder of why
Augusta is not growing. With eople like Mr.
Grantham we will continue 1o klw perceived as
being a backward racist town and as tormer Mavor
Bob young put it. “A _cesspool of corruption.”
Here ‘again, is the ever-taithful zealot of the right,
and king of the white commissioners “Don the
Pun.” Billy Morris’ Pun is at it again.
During the committee meeting Don Grantham
went ballistic when he discovered that Mr. Calvin
Holland was appointed as chairman of adminis
trative services. While it was typical of Mr.
Grantham to play boss, this time he went far left,
a place where we rarely see him go. By left we
mean he had a “nuclear fit” and all but vowed 1o
let the government drown by simply refusing to
establish commirttees, \\'hicll'cmll«i have enabled
the city to move forward with our most critical
business.
One ot the major opponents of the current con
solidated government, he has demonstrated time
and time again that he does not care one single
iota about what the black community thinks. He
has committed the cardinal sin, as his compadres
would say. He has gone overboard to stop black
commissioners from having any chairmanships.
This 1s too much. While hc}lm.\ shown total disre
gard for us, he must hear from us and know that
he lives in this community and we will fight until
the very last undercover guardian and “protector
of the status quo” leaves h]iS cityy He is, for the
lack of a more subtle term, a wannabe Billy Mor
ris whose contempt for people of color is unparal
lel and bccoming&cucnd}.lr)'. On your back, sir, rest
the growth of a city torn by racial injustice and
power struggling. V&hcn Augusta makes its transi
tion of inclusion and the people, all of the people,
experience economic justice you will be remem
bered as the man that could have reached across
the aisle. Instead of trying to silence the voice of
the new commissioners you should have been the
mouth piece of cooperation. While your track
record speaks for itscl‘[ we would have ]lopcd that
somewhere down the line, you would have a
change in heart and at least fake it. You, sir, are a
piece of work carved by the environment in which
you came. We suppose that if you knew better you
would do better. t\&’c will see you at the polls. You,
sir, provide motivation for the apathetic in our
community to rise to the occasion. It is precisely
the likes ()f1 people like you, Austin and others ris
ing to the occasion like Andy Cheeks, that create
the wide chasm of division that seems to be brew
in&/every week now.
e are sure that when you attend the retreat
where you will be asked to’give your rationale for
being divisive, it will dawn on you that you are
perhaps a local ring leader of a ganf, of puppets
directed from Broa§ Street down at the Daily. We
Augustans have our eyes on you and we can see
past the race hustling that you and your friends
engage with righteous zeal. Please respond we
want to hear from you.
The views expressed are the views of the Out
sider....... Looking Inside and do not necessarily rep
resent the views of the publisher.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
The Ryan B Experience
Happy New Year! 2005 was a
great year for many of us; we
still have life and can call on our
Lord and Savior for help.
I would first like to start by
thanking all of our listeners,
sponsors and supporters for
sanding by Rejoice WAAW
94.7 FM throughout the year.
I would like o thank T7he
Augrsta Foous for giving me a
Spot to voice my opinions and
CONCEMs IN OUr COMIMUNIty.
We saw several major isues
come by this year. One of the
biggest was the Graniteville
train wredk where life was lost.
Additionally, it wouldnt be
nght if I didnt comment on the
Senator Walker Trial. But
betore | go there | must say the
Arm of Justice fell in Washing
ton, DC. & the Supreme
Court and deardy demonstrat
ed this counury s far trom pro
viding “justice for all”.
The Augusta Commission 1
not in gndlock! I want Andy
Cheek, Don Grantham,
Jimmy Smith and 7he Augsta
Chronicle 1o STOP SAYING
THAT! Why uy o fool the
people of Augusta all the ume
tor vour own personal agenda.
No. vou cant have your way
anymore, that’s over now! You
must share with all God's peo
ple. The Hon. J.R. Hamey and
the Hon. Calvin Holland have
armived and there is no more
buying the black othicial vores.
| was told that neither their
votes nor their integrity is for
sle. Al of the hl.nk comimis
sionen have c.\p('rk*nccd some
torm of the 60,
As 1 address some of the key
issues 1n Senator Walker's case,
I'm shocked that our black
churches didnt fully rally
around Senator Walker more
on his indiament. 1 believe
more support from the African-
Amencan community could
BLACKONOMICS By James Clingman
Let’s get rid of Congress
Why notz What good is it?
What power does it have? For
whom does 1t work? Consider
ing the things that have taken
place just over the past few
months, it is obvious our Con
gress caannot do anything
stop the thievery, the cronyism,
mj the absolute power of King
George and his band of miscre
ants, so we may as well all it
day for Congress. We are just
wasting our _money paying
their xfi.n‘k’.s; I'm sure Cheney
and the gang can put it 1o bet
ter use. §) let’s try it, at least for
a while, and maybe our Con
gress will finally realize they
work for us - not George Bush
and comp;m,\'. :
Isnt Congress there for
checking ;uuil’l).'llancin 2 Arent
they in %Va.shing(on ((hcgislarc
on behalf of “the people”s Did
nt you elect them to protect
your interests? Arent they get
ting paid six figures, with the
best retirement plans on earth
to boot’ Are they doing their
jobs? The answers are ()Eviom.
s 0 let’s kick ‘em out in Novem
ber 20006.
Dubya recently called a
meeting of poliical “0.G.5,”
which also induded his two
black tokens, Condi and Colin;
Bush did his fake mea culpa,
we re-all-in-this-together c{la—
rade, and his photo-op, to get
us to believe he is sincerely
interested in what we think.
That was just after he went
back into his bag of tricks and
made another recess appoint
ment of one of his g.trs. Julie
Myers, a no-experience, neo
glyte who is now nsible
r a $4 billion b% and
20,000 employees at the U.S.
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement /\gvcmy no less.
Bush is definitely a Playa. |
might start clling {fim.
“Goldie! Goldie”
Congress meets and speaks
and meets and speaks, ad nau
seam, only to disappear when
have made a big difference. The
court system had a modern day
Iynching, We have allowed
ounclves to be poisoned by
what we read in the white man's
newspapers like 7he Atlanta
Journal, Augusta Chronicle and
The Aiken Standard. The
Chronicle and The Standard
continue to misinform our
}{mplc “People of Color”.
hese newspapers dragged
Senator Walker through mud
betore he could ever get a fair
tnal. Not to mcmiulhlow the
court system railroaded him.
Removing four African Ameri
can fcnmfim from the jury was
their way of hanging Senator
Walker faster than ever. This
indicement was politically driv
en and the writng was on the
wall. Whenever a leader of
color even thinks of moving
towards the governorship in
this state or in many other
southemn states they are indict
ed or named in some mess.
Whar's really going on here! Are
all blacks in and out of ofhce
crooks?
As tor our staton, we will
continue to inform the people
of what’s going on and why we
are seeing a lot of the *sos and
‘608" ways repeat themselves in
our community. | will accept
the name that 7he Augusta
Chromicle called me, "r‘mc%'m\-
ther,” as long as I'm infonning
the people of color of their
wicked ways to poison our
minds and souls with trash they
write and we read. Why is it
that both of these papers con
tinue to put African Americans
on the ,imu page for minor
crimes. ... | dont see any whites
(European) on the front page.
Why do they contnue to drive
the black race in negative ways.
I know we were the best thing
that ever happened to Amernica.
We are sick of being mislabeled
George starts to pimp “the peo-
L»k‘. which ~is virtually
24/71365. You cant find them
with a search warrant in the
Capitol Building when you
lmhy need them to stand up for
us. Are they afraid of the dia
bolical “Darth Vadar Cheney”
and the evil villain “Simon
LaGree Rumsfeld?”
Why do we need a Congress
when we have a King am‘i" his
court? Or, should [ say court
jestens? It looks like most of
them will be busy for a while
anyway, either in court or in
nison, after taking bribes from
iad\' “Ri}»‘cnml'f; " Abramoft.
(Did Jack give any of his “jack”
to CBC members? | didnt see
any black folks on his list.)
Congress doesnt have time to
stop Bush's budget cuts in agen
cies that help poor people.
They dont have time to look
into what Bush knew prior to
the mine tragedy in Tallmans
ville, W. Va, just as they didnt
have time to [’)old him account
able for the information he had
before the levies broke in New
Orleans. Should I also mention
the information Bush had prior
to the World Trade Center dis
aprmrin*; act? David Copper
field couldnt top that illusion.
I'm telling you, we dont need
Congress. 'hlosc folks are doin;gv
a lot to us but very litde for us?
Are they really representin’ you?
They voted for a bankruptcy
bill that allows big corporations
to continue to fil% but prevents
r people from doing so.
my voted for a raid on [iraqs
natural resources, disguised as a
“war on terror,” in vlffhidm thou
sands have been slaughtered.
They allow King George to
lock-up U.S. citzens wfiout
due process, tap our phones,
and check our records. What's
next? Internment camps? Or
worse? Watch out for those new
televisions you are so eager to
Sce Congress, page 8A
by others.
So many crazy things har—
pened this year. We saw the
work of the devil once again
when it came to the mayoral
race. We saw how blacks were
paid to run and fight against
cach other to divide th:tfillack
vote. | saw one of the biggest
sell-outs in the history of é%or—
gla starting with Hc?én Block
er-Adams. There isnt much to
say about her other than God
bless you (sweetie) and shame
on you! When those Euro
peans hang you out to dry,
when theyre done using you
up, (like they did Freddie in the
parcr) we the mk of color
will accept you back with open
arms in our community as our
janitor to dean up some of the
mess you created. We are for
riving people you know. As to
%obbv Hankerson and Freddie
Handy, | was shocked by your
actions to change local govern
ment for the betterment of oth
ers. Moreover, Mr. Hankerson,
it didnt surprise me one bit
when you fired Teresa Smith
for no reason. Lets not forget
you clled my employer and
threatened 10 sue nji he didnt
terminate Mr. Adamson and
me. Sometimes the truth hurts
even though 1 dont believe in
sersonal attacks, but lets not
t'o set that you belonged to the
pJfiic at that tme... “Public
office.” To Mr. Freddie Handy,
I need not sav much, Nasty
Mouth Austin Rhodes said
more than enough. You were a
sell-out and rest assured when
vou crossed them they put you
out on Front Street “didn't you
see it in the papens.” | was sick
too and due at the doctor’s atter
| heard that you were going to
change the city government.
However, mine was for real, not
“play play” remember we as
people of color will forgive you,
Letter to the Editor
Dr. King had a dream: That dream is now a nightmare
Dear Editor
I am sitting her today
thinking about the
future of my people, try
ing to decide if I should
throw my hands up in
disgust or just hang my
head in shame. You see,
again we are about to
gccept the shoreest
month of year to pay
homage to our heritage,
with no vision to see its
Master’s same old game.
“Free at last, free at
lastl” Dir. King had a
dream. That dream is
now a nightmare, shad
owed by a dark cloud.
You sce, decades later
we're still not free, and
although black, will we
ever be proud?
Black people, Negro,
colored, and African
American, built this
country in which we live.
We are great minds, yet
remain the ultimate con
sumers who give.
We give away our
money, we give away our
pride and we give away
our babies, to an educa
tional system full of lies.
We give away our future,
we give away our self
respect, and next we'll
give our very souls via
our practice of racial self
neglect.
When will my people
wake up from this lull
aby, Master’s song to our
January 19, 2006
but we will never forget... So
please don't ever run for office
again, we cant afford to be set
badk anymore, this is, | think,
the 21st century right not
1960.
In final dosing, to my dear
friend Austin Rhodes, aka
“nasty mouth,” may God con
unue to bless you and heaven
smile upon you. 1 would love
to invite you to service with me
at Good Hope Bapuist Church
on Sundays at 10:45 am,,
where I'm atending with the
Rev. ].R. Hamey, Pastor. 1 do
believe the Lord can save your
soul too. When your radio
show stops dividing the people
and starts to bring us together
and your mouth becomes
dean, I promise I'll listen. Unil
then, | guess I will just keep my
dial on WAAW 94.7
Please join me on my new
show scheduled for January 24,
2006 which airs Tuesday —
Thursday evenings from 7:35
to 8:35. The Ryan B Experience,
where | will continue to shed
light on whar's going on in our
community. As a reminder to
people like Austin, Helen,
Bobby, Freddie, Deke, and Sue,
I'm unbossed and unbought
and neither my vote nor
integrity is for sale. And to any
other future sell-outs or officials
holding office, I will be watch
ing and responding to your
};ood and bad behavior as you
nandle issues and the taxpayers’
money. Dont forget, it’s not
your checkbook you're writing
from it’s the people’s.
The vieus expressed in this edi
torial is not necessary these of The
Augusta Focus
ancestors. Saying that
dark skin is worst and
light skin is best, while
teaching acceptance of
his mental molesters?
When will my people
wake up from this lull
aby, Master’s that crabs
in the basket are blessed?
Saying looks out for
yourself Uncle Tommie
and just forgets about
the rest.
“Amazing grace, how
sweet the sound...l once
was lost, but now I'm
found...” It is time for
the blind to see!” See
with your heart and
mind, we create our own
future, starting with just
you and me.
First we need to know our
HISTORY, understanding
it with knowledge overflow
ing. Because, if we don't
know where we came
from, we will never know
where we are going.
Second we need to
embrace SELF LOVE, to
erase the Master’s mental
attack, because, every
single aspect of beauty
can be found in each
shade of black.
Deborah Y. Anderson
Stone Mountain, GA.
5A