Desperate Cynthia McKinney: Our Brightest Light [View All]

Cynthia McKinney is a unique presence in the Congressional Black Caucus: a genuine “movement” activist. For that reason, she is hated and feared by white racists, for whom she is the epitome of the uppity Black; by corporate America and its vicious media, whose power she does not respect; by Democratic House leadership, which abhors activist Black lawmakers more than it does Republicans; and by cowardly African Americans who feel threatened by her example of principled speech and action for social justice and world peace. That’s why it is imperative that all people of good will assist McKinney in keeping her seat from Georgia’s 4th district, just outside Atlanta.

The racists and cowards smell blood. McKinney was forced into a runoff election, set for August 8, after failing to win a clear majority in this month’s Democratic primary. Turnout was abysmal – only 60,000 voters showed up, versus 95,000 in 2004 when she took back her seat after a two year absence.

McKinney garnered 47 percent of the vote in a three-way race, only 1,500 votes ahead of second place Hank Johnson, a compliant Black Dekalb County commissioner who brags that he is a “pothole” politician who will not stir up controversy. A white businessman got more than eight percent of the vote. His share will undoubtedly wind up in Hank(erchief head) Johnson’s column, on August 8. Clearly, McKinney must bring out her troops – which takes money. Her opponent’s surprise showing has invigorated those who backed Denise Majette with tons of cash to oust McKinney in 2002, and now see another chance to rid themselves of their nemesis.

McKinney faces a solid wall of corporate media hostility, most notably from the daily newspaper monopoly Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). In 2002, the AJC was an extension of Denise Majette’s successful campaign against McKinney. The paper claimed Majette was building a “biracial coalition” of voters who were tired of “civil rights-type” politics; that Black middle class voters would flock to Majette’s banner in disgust at McKinney’s activism. It didn’t happen that way. Instead, Majette won with massive white support, including loads of cross-over Republican voters. Nevertheless, the newspaper claimed to have done a post-election study that showed strong Black support for Majette. Black Commentator exposed that lie, in a November, 2002 investigative article by editor Bruce Dixon.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/193/193_cover_mckinney.html