"NAACP SNUBS LOCAL BLACK ACTIVIST"

(July 22, 2003)-On the surface, Kweisi Mfume and Robert Edward Forchion, Jr. share little in common. Mfume is the President of the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization. NJ resident Forchion is an ardent activist against laws criminalizing the use of marijuana who enjoys some nationwide notoriety but nothing approaching the stature Mfume.
 

 Despite their seeming dissimilarities, just below the surface Mfume  and Forchion share some things in common...one being 'dissed' by powerful people. Mfume and Forchion, for example, both share disdain for the policies and practices of President George Bush, who both men consider an enemy of the interests of African-Americans.
 

Mfume, during his keynote speech during last week's NAACP national convention, assailed Bush administration policies from affirmative action to the economy.Last week Forchion, during a Tribune interview, also assailed Bush policies, contending that the President is waging a deadly assault on the cherished civil liberties of all Americans…regardless of skin color. "Fundamentalists like Bush [and US Attorney General John Ashcroft] see their Bible as their guide, not the Constitution!" noted Forchion, whose moniker is: NJ Weedman.
 

 Arrest is another thing Mfume and Forchion share. Police have hauled both men away for participating in demonstrations opposing deprivations of civil rights.Yet, Forchion, unlike Mfume, has served months in prison for lawfully exercising his First Amendment right to protest. 
 
 

Earlier this year, a federal judge ordered NJ authorities to release Forchion, after Forchion served five months in prison for what the federal judge ruled was unlawful retaliation by NJ authorities to squash Forchion's constitutional rights of protest against Drug War abuses. Mfume and Forchion are both opponents of the Drug War and its racism.

Both Forchion and Mfume see intense racism in the Drug War from arrest through incarceration where law enforcement focuses on inner city streets to the exclusion of the suburbs and court authorities routinely give whites probation for drug convictions while sending Blacks to prison. 
 

 Forchion said the Drug War has deliberately created a circumstance where Blacks are "being re-enslaved legally by 13th Amendment standards" during his interview last week.The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution outlaws slavery "within the United States…"
 

 However, this post-Civil War constitutional amendment permits slavery and involuntary servitude "as punishment for crime." Receiving snubs from powerful people is a dubious thing shared by Forchion and Mfume. 
 

Last week three leading contenders for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination snubbed the NAACP by refusing to show-up at the organization's national convention. NAACP President Mfume lashed out at no-shows Joe Lieberman, Dick Gephardt and Dennis Kucinich, calling them "persona non grata…[with] no legitimacy" in the Black community during their presidential campaigns.

Interestingly, the powerful people who snubbed Forchion are officials of the NAACP - the organization headed by Mfume.
 

 Earlier this year, the NAACP's Office of the General Counsel sent Forchion a letter rejecting his request for their legal assistance in his battle against his illegal incarceration by NJ authorities. The January 9, 2003 letter to Forchion from Assistant NAACP General Counsel Jimmonique Rodgers reads like a laundry list of excuses. For example, Rodgers' letter said the NAACP was "unable to offer any legal assistance" because the NAACP only deals with "persecution…based on ethnicity…not religion."
 

Forchion had noted in one of his two letters to the NAACP that NJ authorities were persecuting him in small part because of his religion of Rastafarianism, which permits the sacramental use of marijuana. Forchion, during last week's interview, pointed to federal law exposing the "excuses" contained in Rodgers' letter. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act clearly provides "religious" protection against discrimination," Forchion said. "I'm sure the General Counsel knows this but probably thought I didn't."

Interestingly, three of the eight categories of "legal problems" that Rodgers' letter stated the "NAACP may accept" clearly included Forchion's case: "cases where there is compelling evidence of a violation of a fundamental right"; "cases that fall within our customary area of expertise" like criminal justice; and, "cases that may benefit all people of color."
 

 Forchion's case revolved primarily around violations of the First Amendment (certainly a 'fundamental right') plus his underlying case reeks with abuses of criminal justice rights like denial of a fair trial.
 

 The written opinion of the federal judge who ordered Forchion's release declared that there is "no question" NJ authorities imprisoned Forchion in "retaliation [for his] constitutionally protected" activities. 

Fortunately for Forchion, the NJ-ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union) saw merit in his persecution and offered assistance. The NAACP declined to get involved in a case that did produce a victory that could 'benefit all people of color' from Drug War abuses. Forchion says the NAACP failure to offer assistance is consistent with the failure of Black leadership in general to substantially attack current anti-drug policies.
 

 "These leaders on one hand want to call many Government actions "racist" but they themselves demand police action on drug issues which is like the pot calling the kettle black!" Forchion said last week. "The war on drugs is absolutely racist and to call for drug warrior action is to invite racism!"
 

 Forchion feels that Black civil rights leaders are blindly following the lead of Black religious leaders who have been "brainwashed into believing the lies" about substances like marijuana.
 

 Forchion says, "Black leaders should be demanding "LEGALIZATION," instead they call the "COPS!"
 

-THE END-
Linn Washington Jr. is an award-winning writer who teaches journalism 
at Temple University.

PAST PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE ARTICLES BY,Professor Linn Washington, Jr.
Jan, 03, 2003 "JUDGE FAVOR REVAMPED DRUG LAWS"
Jan. 14, 2003 "NJ AUTHORITIES DESTROY 'FREEDOMS' AS SURELY AS SADDAM"

CLICK PICTURE TO SEE NAACP LETTER

THE BEST TOOL WHITE SOCIETY HAS TO KEEP BLACKS FROM DEMANDING "FREEDOM OF RELIGION".  WHY AREN'T WE ALLOWED TO HAVE "FREEDOM OF RELIGION?" For over 250 years (1619-1865) white society thru the institution of slavery has forced AFRICAN-AMERICANS to be "CHRISTIANS". African slaves who refused to follow "CHRISTIANITY" had thier kids taken, this cruel practice is still in effect. ( SEE CHILD STOLEN).  Now over 135 years after slavery, we still aren't allowed to freely exercise native African faiths because many include the use of "MARIJUANA" as a sacrament. Laws have been imposed to "PROHIBIT" the use of our sacrament with no religious exemption. I was jailed for talking about it. ( SEE VIDEO ) Organizations like the NAACP are to dependant on the "CHRISTIAN CHURCH" to fight for the RIGHTS of non-christian peoples of color. Even during the Alcohol Prohibition in this country the use of alcohol was exempted for religious purposes (VOLSTEAD ACT). Churches/citizens were allowed to have wine. Why no religious exemption for the use of marijuana for peoples of color who choose to follow traditional african faiths?  In my appeal to the New Jersey Appellate Court I have challenged the state marijuana laws as being unconstitutional for failing to provide a religious exception. (Please read APPEAL BRIEF)