Danny Glover will be heard
Rally goes ahead despite right-wing campaign
By Bill Hackwell
San Francisco
Despite a barrage of attacks from the pro-war media, actor
and progressive activist Danny Glover will be speaking in
Modesto, Calif.--a city of 190,000 in California's
agriculturally rich Central Valley--on Jan. 19 to commemorate
Martin Luther King Day.
Glover had originally been invited to speak at Modesto
Junior College by the Modesto City Council. All that changed,
however, after the film star gave a speech at Princeton
University Nov. 16 that was critical of the indiscriminate U.S.
war against the people of Afghanistan, and defended people's
right to be in opposition to the war.
He also came out against the racist death penalty and for
the right of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal to a new
trial.
The Princeton audience was overwhelmingly supportive of
Glover's talk, but several newspapers and talk show hosts then
launched an attack on Glover, suggesting that if he "didn't
love this country, he should leave it." Col. Oliver North,
former organizer of death squads in Central America and current
host of the reactionary talk show "Radio America," rallied
racist right wingers against Glover, including calling for a
national boycott of his new movie, "The Royal Tenenbaums."
At this point the Modesto City Council buckled under the
pressure and decided to censor Glover, rescinding its
invitation. However, the local planning committee for Martin
Luther King Day activities has not only kept Danny Glover's
appearance alive but has called on all progressive people and
supporters of civil rights to attend the event.
Michael Napp, chair of the Modesto Committee for Peace in
the Middle East, one of the sponsoring groups, said the event
is receiving a lot of support from all over the state despite
threats of a counter-demonstration. Outraged students in the
group Alternative to War at Modesto Junior College have passed
out flyers to build the activity.
Glover is now scheduled to speak on Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. at the
Christ Unity Baptist Church, 1320 L St. in Modesto. In the Bay
Area, the International Action Center is organizing solidarity
car pools to Modesto. People interested in a ride should call
(415) 821-6545. For more information in Modesto call (209)
529-5750.
John Lucas, president of the Modesto Peace Life Center,
another sponsoring group, commented on the irony of the Modesto
City Council pulling out, given Dr. King's opposition to the
Vietnam War: "I find it interesting that Martin Luther King
would not even be invited to his own event."
Reprinted from the Jan. 24, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
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