Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1986. január-június (40. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1986-06-05 / 23. szám
15. AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZÓ Thursday, June 5. 1986. CELEBRATING THE STATUE BY ALEX ROSNER OF LIBERTY This is the year (1986) when a lot of sirupy speeches will be heard about our Great Lady standing with her Torch in the Port of New York. We expect to hear speeches from one, amongst other politicians, who is considered by the Media to be one of the most popular Presidents of all times, speeches with phrases lifted from all the class B movies (regardless who made them) which plague our beautiful and better deserving land. He will be telling us about our GREAT HERITAGE! He of course, can't be expected to say a word how our blessings should really be used and preserved for those who come after us, and will gloss over the plunder and exploitation now so prevalent - that if it continues - will make America in a few generations into another desert. He will speak of his great dream about Star Wars, a name that reveals his true intentions, so to make it more palatable to his constituents - at the prompting of his advisers - has renamed, and calls now Strategic Defense Initiative. He won't tell us much about how ordinary folks struggled to make ends meet and what sacrifices they made to improve their lives and their fellow citizens. Neither will he speak of the plundering of the wealth belonging to the Native Americans or how much it costs to Black people whose lifespan - according to well researched statistics - is about six years shorter then that of their fellow White citizens. Neither will he say much about the agony of the unemployed, the broken families, and the poor without shelter. Little will he say about the cutting of hot lunches for the little ones. He won't talk much about these realities. He won't say or see that for these people the Torch is still flickering. But he will speak of the Red menace from overseas. How else will he justify the billions and billions of inflated Pentagon budgets and the generous "subsidies" to the ever hungry armament industry which takes the Nation's wealth and destroys its economy. All this when the "adversary" pleads with us to end the race to Armageddon and is willing to make unheard- of concessions, because the preparation for nuclear war destroys their economy too. While our popular President will say that our Great Lady is the symbol to all oppressed people, he supports every tyrant who defends our investments. Of course if his political stance becomes untenable, he'll get the formula from his advisers on how to get off the hook. Thus Mr. Botha in South Africa, Pinochet in Chile and every military junta in South America become upholders of Democracy, and will deserve a plane like Mr. Duvalier of Haiti. In fact, the butcher of the- Philippines receives - as this is written - besides an Air Force plane himself and his cronies to escape the wrath of his people - two cargo-planes to help him take the loot out of the Islands. (Keep watching the careful handling of Mr. Marcos). The deadly power of said and unsaid words! Silently he whittles away Medicare A cartoonist commentary in the Detroit Free Press and robs Social Security cost of living adjustments from the old. He'll say no raise in taxes, while in reality he throws the burden of unfair new taxation on the over subsidies to the Agro Corporations while he tells family farms to fend for themselves. He won't speak of the millions of workers who bled to build their Unions, the only protection they had from the ever hungry cartels, monopolies and multinationals. And surely he won't remind the folks, how with the stroke of his pen he fired twelve thousand hardworking men and women and destroyed their Union. Do we remember the Air Controllers strike for a more humane work schedule? ** * How did Social Security come about? Unemployment Insurance? The right to belong to Unions? Did they come out of the social consciousness of the politicians in Washington? What did the people have to do to attain these goals? It wasn't all hurray-and-hoopla for those who had to do the pioneering work to achieve these lofty goals so needed by the "Little People" politicians love to talk about. The Steel and all the other Companies were not that amenable to grant these inherent rights symbolized by the Great Lady with the lit Torch, and Power was in their hands! Now there is a lot in the Media about the 100th Anniversay of our Statue of Liberty; moving descriptions of emotions, tears and prayers of the immigrants at the first sight of the Great Lady in the Port of New York. Will anyone remember to commemorate the victims of the struggle for the eight hour day in 1886, the "aliens" who were hanged after an unfair trial? In 1987 will anyone remember that it is the 50th Anniversary of what was to be a peaceful labor demonstration by these same "aliens" and native born at the Republic Steel ("Little Steel") which came to be known as "The Memorial Day Massacre"? Who will write or eulogize them? How many other similar anniversaries around this wast land of ours have been forgotten? To mention a few more, the massacre of the Ludlow miners, the heroic deeds of our "Premature Antifascists" Ernest DeMaio: SALUTE TO HUGO GELLERT (Delivered at the Hugo Gellert Memorial meeting in New York, on May 17.) Artists are rarely appreciated in their own time because the true artists are staunch revolutionary defenders of the people, promoters of their interests and welfare, defiers of the status quo and catalysts for change. Born out of their love for the people, they have the rare gift to sense and give meaning to their aspirations. They are the essence of culture and the indispensable ingredient of human dignity. Artists are the guardians of progressive culture and actively engaged in the struggle to defend it from the corruption, vandalization and the immorality of a dying capitalist social order. They are steadfast opponents of unbridled commercialism, the coercion of force, the propaganda and practices of racism, war and economic imperialism. As intellectual vanguards in every liberation movement, they are the targets of attack by the reactionaries in all fields of artistic endeavor. Diego Rivera's mural in the Rockefeller Center was destroyed. Paul Robeson was barred from stage, screen, radio, TV and concert halls. He was also denied a passport to travel abroad. Ten of Hollywood's best and brightest were jailed and blacklisted. Talented revolutionary writers are rejected by the big publishing houses and the so-called great museums have no space for peoples' artists in their galleries. Though reviled in America, they are revered, treasured and honored all over the world. However, no concerted conspiracy of silence could isolate them from the progressive, peace loving, anti-racist, democratic people here in the United States. Their contributions are among our finest traditions and a justifiable basis of our country's claim to greatness. A debt we owe, and only grudgingly recognized by the powers that be, after they are dead. The heritage they bequeath to us will live in our hearts and minds forever. The day is not too distant, when the cause for which they sacrificed so much, the torch they carried to light our way, and the goals they sought will be realized. It is an honor to participate in this celebration of the life and works of Hugo Gellert - Hungary's gift which has enriched our lives. Hugo was a dear old comrade in arms. His posters, like battle flags, blazed the way in countless forgotten struggles. They eased our burdens, raised our flagging spirits, clarified our objectives and brought us closer to our elusive victory. Hugo is gone, but his battle flags and goals continue to spur us on to that great day, when the final victory will be ours! Mr. DeMaio was the UN representative of the World Federation of Trade Unions. of the Lincoln Brigade who died fighting Franco in faraway Spain fifty years ago. Let us remember and give credit to those who died for the sake of the ideals of that Great Lady with the Torch held high for all to see. So this is written less we forget.
