How The CIA Created The Jamaican Shower Posse
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By Casey Gane-McCalla June 3, 2010 2:06 pm
With the recent violence in Jamaica and the controversy over alleged drug lord, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, many people are talking about the infamous Jamaican Shower Posse and the neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens, where they have their base. What is being is being ignored largely by the media, is the role that the American government and the CIA had in training, arming and giving power to the Shower Posse.
It is interesting that the USA is indicting Christopher “Dudus” Coke, the current leader of the Shower Posse for drug and gun trafficking, given that the CIA was accused of smuggling guns into Jamaica and facilitating the cocaine trade from Jamaica to America in the 70s and 80s. In many ways Dudus was only carrying on a tradition of political corruption, drug running, guns and violence that was started with the help of the CIA.
Christopher “Dudus” Coke’s father was was Lester Coke, also known as Jim Brown, one of the founders of the Shower Posse and a fellow champion and protector of the impoverished Tivoli Gardens neighborhood in Kingston. Coke was a political enforcer and bodyguard to Edward Seaga, the leader of the Jamaican Labour Party.
Seaga’s opponent Michael Manley had begun to adopt “socialist” stances and began openly criticizing American foreign policies and meeting with U.S. enemy, Fidel Castro, in the 1970s. Given the cold war the US was having with Russia, the CIA did not want Jamaica to be friendly with communists.
According to Gary Webb’s book,”The Dark Alliance,” Norman Descoteaux, the CIA station chief in Jamaica began a destabilization program of the Manley government in late 70s. Part of that plan was assassinations, money for the Jamaican Labour Party, labor unrest, bribery and shipping weapons to Manley’s opponents, like Lester “Jim Brown” Coke.
Author, Daurius Figueira writes in his book, “Cocaine And Heroin Trafficking In The Caribbean,” “In fact, it meant that illicit drug runners linked to the JLP were integrated into a CIA linked illicit drugs guns and criminal trafficking pipeline.”
Former CIA agent, Philip Agee, said “the CIA was using the JLP as its instrument in the campaign against the Michael Manley government, I’d say most of the violence was coming from the JLP, and behind them was the CIA in terms of getting weapons in and getting money in.”
One of Lester Coke’s associates, Cecil Connor, would claim that he was trained by the CIA to fight political wars for the JLP through killing and spying. Connor would stuff ballot boxes and intimidate voters to help the JLP win elections. Connor would go on from being a political thug to being part of the international Jamaican based cocaine ring known as the Shower Posse. He wound up testifying against Lester Coke and his cohort Vivian Blake, only to return to his native St. Kitts to become a drug kingpin who almost held the country hostage.
Christopher “Dudus” Coke’s father, Lester Coke has also been accused of working with the CIA. Timothy White speculates, in his biography of Bob Marley, “Catch A Fire,” that Jim Brown was part of a team of armed gunman that attempted to assassinate Bob Marley led by JLP enforcer Carl “Byah” Mitchell. Authors Laurie Gunst and Vivien Goldman also make the same assertions in their books, “Born Fi Dead” and “The Book Of Exodus.” Marley’s manager Don Taylor claims that one of Marley’s attackers was captured and admitted that the CIA had agreed to pay him in cocaine and guns to kill Marley.
Lester Coke would later be burned to death in a Jamaican jail cell, while awaiting extradition the the United States. Many people have claimed that he was killed so he wouldn’t reveal his secrets dealing with the CIA, JLP and criminal activity.
In its efforts to destabilize the Jamaican government in the 1970s, the CIA created a group of drug dealing, gun running, political criminals. Through the cocaine trade, these criminals would eventually become more powerful than the politicians they were connected to. The CIA destabilization program did not only destabilize Jamaica in the 70s, but it destabilized Jamaica for the next 40 years.
Given the secrecy of both CIA and Jamaican society, it is unclear exactly what was the CIA’s role in creating the Shower Posse. Did they give them guns? Were they given cocaine? Were they trained how to smuggle drugs? Did the CIA use the Shower Posse to try and kill Bob Marley? These are all questions that the CIA should answer.
If what is alleged about the CIA is true, then they are partially responsible for the cycle of gun trafficking, gun smuggling and violence that plagues Jamaica today. If the US can extradite the son of one of the CIA’s political enforcers for trafficking guns and cocaine, shouldn’t the CIA be investigated for training Jamaicans on how to conduct political warfare, arming them, giving them cocaine and helping them traffic it? Given the revelation that the CIA allowed Nicaraguan drug dealers to sell cocaine in the US to fund their revolution against their communist government, it is not that far fetched to believe that they would arm Jamaicans to with guns and give them cocaine to fight communists in Jamaica.
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Swimming Through the Spill ...
By SUSAN D. SHAW
Published: May 28, 2010
FOR the last few days, attention has understandably been directed at the shores of the Gulf Coast as oil has started to wash up on beaches and in marshes. But last week I had the chance to see the effects of the spill from another perspective — when I dived into the oil slick a few miles off the Pass a Loutre wetlands in southern Louisiana. What I witnessed was a surreal, sickening scene beyond anything I could have imagined.
As the boat entered the slick, I had to cover my nose to block the fumes. There were patches of oil on the gulf’s surface. In some places, the oil has mixed with an orange-brown pudding-like material, some of the 700,000 gallons of a chemical dispersant called Corexit 9500 that BP has sprayed on the spreading oil. Near Rig No. 313, technically a restricted zone, the boat stopped and I (wearing a wetsuit, with Vaseline covering exposed skin) jumped in.
Only a few meters down, the nutrient-rich water became murky, but it was possible to make out tiny wisps of phytoplankton, zooplankton and shrimp enveloped in dark oily droplets. These are essential food sources for fish like the herring I could see feeding with gaping mouths on the oil and dispersant. Dispersants break up the oil into smaller pieces that then sink in the water, forming poisonous droplets — which fish can easily mistake for food.
Though all dispersants are potentially dangerous when applied in such volumes, Corexit is particularly toxic. It contains petroleum solvents and a chemical that, when ingested, ruptures red blood cells and causes internal bleeding. It is also bioaccumulative, meaning its concentration intensifies as it moves up the food chain.
The timing for exposure to these chemicals could not be worse. Herring and other small fish hatch in the spring, and the larvae are especially vulnerable. As they die, disaster looms for the larger predator fish, as well as dolphins and whales.
As I swam back to the surface, some big fish came up to the boat — cobia, amberjacks weighing up to 60 pounds — looking for a handout. These are the fish that have made the Gulf a famously productive fishing area. But they rely on the forage fish that are now being devastated by the combined effects of oil and chemical dispersants. In a short time, the predator fish will either starve or sicken and die from eating highly contaminated forage fish.
Yes, the dispersants have made for cleaner beaches. But they’re not worth the destruction they cause at sea, far out of sight. It would be better to halt their use and just siphon and skim as much of the oil off the surface as we can. The Deepwater Horizon spill has done enough damage, without our adding to it.
Zap Mama & Erykah Badu - Bandy Bandy
Zap Mama - Bandy Bandy (Live In Philly)
Zap Mama featuring G.Love -- "Drifting"
Remember Marvin Gaye [film]
Synopsis: In 1981, Marvin Gaye, the all time champion of soul music, took refuge in Ostend, a little town located on the Belgian coast. Marvin’s choice to lay anchor in Ostend was totally unexpected, not to say incredible. On the fact of it, there was no reason for this charismatic character to come and live in the home town of famous Belgian impressionistic painter James Ensor.
Marvin nevertheless remained in Ostend for nearly two years. He went back to the States to receive a Grammy Award for his latest album “Sexual Healing”. He died in Los Angeles on 1 April 1984, shot dead at home by his own father, a clergyman. Twenty years after the making of a first 29 minute film entitled “Marvin Gaye Transit Ostend”, I decided to make this second documentary film. It’s my way of bringing to life the picture Marvin Gaye dedicated to me:
“To Richard, From my heart, I thank you for legitimising my artist soul, and above all, I thank you my artist friend for making me immortal”.
Thanks to the use of new technology, unedited rushes and interviews in Ostend of this great American singer were used to make “Remember Marvin Gaye” a poignant and exceptional testimony on this genius of Rhythm and Blues music, who died tragically at the age of 44.
$1,000 Cash Prize
Textnovel.com Writing Contest! No entry fee. And you might get published!
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Bonus: Our 2008 winner Shannon Delany picked up a 3-book publishing deal with St. Martin's Press! It is available for pre-order on Amazon. Our 2009 winners are still finalizing their manuscripts to get them ready for submission to publishers.
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Hunger Mountain Creative Nonfiction Prize
What is the Hunger Mountain Creative Nonfiction Prize?
An annual contest for the best writing in the boundless field of creative nonfiction. A chance for your creative nonfiction to be read by Hunger Mountain editors and guest judges!
What will the winner receive?
One first place winner receives $1000 and publication!
Two honorable mentions receive $100 each.Who can enter the contest?
Anyone! Everyone!
Who is this year’s judge?
The 2009 judge is Robin Hemley, author of Do-Over! In which a forty-eight-year-old father of three returns to kindergarten, summer camp, the prom, and other embarrassments.
When is the deadline?
The postmark deadline is September 10th.
Where are last year’s winning entries?
Right here! Click to read “Birds Have Eyes” by Valerie Arvidson, chosen by Robin Hemley.
Or here! Click to read runner-up Afterlife by Susan Southard, chosen by Robin Hemley.
What are the guidelines?
- $20 entry fee. Make checks payable to “Hunger Mountain” or pay with a credit card on paypal (scroll to bottom of page for Paypal link)
- Entries must be postmarked by September 10th
- Submit one piece of creative nonfiction, not to exceed 10,000 words
- Writing must be original, written in English, and previously unpublished
- Your name or address should not appear anywhere on the essay
- You may submit online using the Hunger Mountain online submission manager
- If you send your entry in the mail, enclose an index card with essay title and your name, address, phone number, and email address
- If you send your entry in the mail, enclose an SASE for notification of winners
- You may also enclose a postage-paid postcard for acknowledgement of entry (if you’d like)
- Entries must be typed, double-spaced, and on one side of the paper only
- Use a paper clip or send unbound—no staples or binding, please
- Once submitted, entries cannot be altered
- All entries will be considered for general publication as well as for the CNF Prize
- No artwork or translations please
- Multiple entries allowed—each entry must be sent separately and include a separate entry fee
- No entries will be returned
- Email hungermtn@vermontcollege.edu if questions arise
To submit online, go to the Hunger Mountain online submission manager.
To submit via the mail, send Creative Nonfiction Entries to:
CNF Prize
Hunger Mountain
Vermont College of Fine Arts
36 College Street
Montpelier, VT 05602Include a check for $20.00 payable to “Hunger Mountain” or pay using a credit card on paypal:
Unbound Press Literary Competitions
There will be three consecutive competitions during 2010:
Competition 1 - Short Story & First Chapter
Thank you for all your entries. We really enjoyed reading them and are delighted with the quality of the fiction submitted for our inaugural competition. Winners and runners-up are listed on our results page.
The competition anthology, containing the winners and runners-up from all our 2010 competitions, will be published in November 2010.Competition 2, for creative non-fiction, is now open.
Competition 2 - Creative Non-Fiction Essay & First Chapter
Opens: NOW OPEN
Closing date: 31st July 2010Competition 3 - Flash Fiction & Poetry
Opens: 1st August 2010
Closing date: 31st October 2010Winners in each category will receive a cash prize. The number of runners-up in each category will depend on length and quality of entries shortlisted.
Winners and Runners-up in our competitions will be published in the Unbound Press Journal and will each receive a free copy of the journal.
There is no theme to the competitions, but it is recommended you buy a copy of the Unbound Press Journal issue 1 as a guide to what we enjoy!
Competition 2
This is for writing in the genre 'Creative Non-Fiction.'So, what is Creative Non-Fiction?
It is defined as writing which is factually accurate and written with attention to literary style and technique. It should communicate information, while being shaped in a way that reads like fiction. Although there is no specific theme to the competition, subjects that work particularly well in this genre include personal essay, memoir, cultural criticism, nature writing, literary journalism, history.2 Categories:
- Essay
Prizes:
- 1st Prize: £100 + publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy
- 2nd Prize: £50 + publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy
- Runners-up: publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy
Length: up to 3000 words
Entry fee: £5
- First chapter of an unpublished book
Prizes:
- 1st Prize: £75 + publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy
- 2nd Prize: £25 + publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy
- Runners-up: publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy
Length: up to 3000 words
Entry fee: £5Rules:
- All entries to be in English and wholly and exclusively the original work of the entrant.
- Any subject matter as long as it adheres to the length limits above.
- No item to have been previously published in print or online.
- Entries to be received by midnight on the closing date stated.
How to Enter:
- First make your payment using this Paypal button
- Then submit your entry:
- Email entries only accepted, to upsubmissions@googlemail.com
- State the competition category in the subject line.
- In the body of the email please state:
- your full name and postal address
- title and word count of your entry
- your paypal receipt number.
Attach your entry in Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) Please include the title of your entry, but not your name, on the attachment. Announcement of winners:
- Winners and runners-up will be notified by email after the closing date and results posted on the Unbound Press website.
- All entries must be available for publication in the journal, and their authors should provide a brief biography and photograph for the journal when requested.
- All entrants will be informed by email when Unbound Press Journal 2 is available to purchase.
We look forward to your entries. Good luck!
Africa: Roger Steffans on Collecting Bob Marley
Whether you are a reggae fan or not, this BabylonFalling video of Roger Steffans walking the camera through six rooms of a lifetime dedicated to his friendship with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and a love for Reggae music, should take your breath away.
Involved since the earliest days of Reggae music's debut on the international scene and was with Bob Marley on his trip to Ethiopia and concert for Omar Bongo in Gabon in '78, Steffans, writes BabylonFalling, has "not only been a collector but a participant and key player in the development and spread of the music and culture."
Jun 3rd, 2010 - 12:24:37
Black Woman As Poster Child
When I watched both “Sex and the City 2,” based on the popular former TV series, and “Just Wright,” the new romantic comedy starring Queen Latifah and Common, I had on my mind the ways that Black women are always made the poster children for being frustrated and single (or unhappily unmarried).
By Esther Iverem
Jun 3, 2010, 11:24
The SeeingBlack.com 411
Trial begins for ex-Chicago police Lt. accused of torturing more than 100 African American men. Report: Haitian police shot dead at least 12 prisoners after earthquake. Aiyana Jones buried in Detroit. Texas approves new right-wing school curriculum. BP oil spill enters loop current as leak estimate rises. US continues funding segregated West Bank roads. And MUCH more...Check here for the REAL news!
May 25, 2010, 12:38
Coming Apart At The Seams
Steve Harvey’s tearful breakdown, Pastor Donnie McClurkin’s emotional rant and Tiger Woods’s destructive behavior provide insight into the contemporary crisis of Black masculinity, which has as much to do with the real structural challenges that Black males face as it does with desires within Black communities for performances of Black masculinity that are no longer viable or sustainable.
(Keynote Address, 2010 American Masculinity Studies Association, Atlanta, GA)
By Mark Anthony Neal
May 25, 2010, 10:59
The SeeingBlack.com 411
Family of slain 7-year-old Aiyana Jones files lawsuit against Detroit police. In "Mini Super-Tuesday" primaries, defeats for party establishments on both sides of the aisle. Tar balls in Florida keys, oil plumes raise fears of wider spill. Government exempted BP from environmental review. MMS official steps down. Obama calls testimony of oil execs "a ridiculous spectacle." Civil rights groups file suit over Arizona immigration law. Supreme Court issues rulings on teen sentencing, jailing sex offenders. Arizona students protest new law banning ethnic studies classes. Federal criminal probe of Wall Street banks expands. Senate votes to audit Federal Reserve. Record 575,000 stopped and frisked in NYC in 2009. And MUCH more! Check the REAL news!
May 19, 2010, 13:18
SB In The News!
The Washington Informer has published an awesome article by Nicole Crawford-Tichawonna on Esther Iverem's quilts, other fiber arts and her debut exhibit at Zimstone Gallery.
May 21, 2010, 13:41
Ticking Time Bombs
While corporate media types mock the tea parties, they miss the deeper flood of fear -- driven by economic experiences -- that pervades the land, feeding rivers and tributaries of racism, xenophobia, paranoia and hatred.
By Mumia Abu-Jamal
May 13, 2010, 12:16
A Month of Remembrance
Forty years ago: police kill two students at Jackson State in Mississippi, ten days after Kent State killings. Also, 25 years ago: Philadelphia police bomb MOVE headquarters killing 11, destroying 65 homes.
May 19, 2010, 13:50
The SeeingBlack.com 411
BP: Spill could be 10 times current estimate. Halliburton’s role in oil rig explosion probed. U.S.: suspect admits to failed Times Square bombing. N.Y. officials push for expanded surveillance. 28 die in storms in Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. Bolivia nationalizes four power companies. Phoenix Suns to protest Arizona anti-immigrant law. Plant overlooked contaminated materials in children’s medicines. And more...
May 5, 2010, 10:44
Lena Horne On Race
The pioneering singer, actor and civil rights activist Lena Horne has died at the age of 92. Here are excerpts from a rare 1966 interview with Lena Horne from the Pacifica Radio Archives. Also, listen the full interview and her music.
May 13, 2010, 11:10
The SeeingBlack.com 411
President Obama eulogizes Dorothy Height. BP oil spill hits Louisiana coastline. Thousands gather for march on Wall St. Goldman Sachs faces criminal probe. Protests, lawsuits challenge Arizona immigration law. House approves Puerto Rico referendum. Check the news!
Apr 30, 2010, 13:00
Venezuela Is Not Greece
Contrary to popular media spin, the idea that Venezuela is facing an "economic crisis" is simply wrong.
By Mark Weisbrot
May 7, 2010, 11:18
The SeeingBlack.com 411
Protests erupt over Arizona immigrant crackdown bill. Justice Dept. reviewing Arizona immigration law. Malcolm X assassin released on parole. Appeals court suspends ruling blocking ACORN funding. Goldman execs grilled at Senate hearing. Senate Republicans block financial reform bill for consecutive day. U.S. Coast Guard mulls “controlled burn” of Gulf oil slick. US extradites Noriega to France. Appeals court upholds Wal-Mart discrimination suit. “Avatar” director James Cameron follows box office success with advocacy for indigenous struggles. US to withdraw troops from Haiti. And More! Check here for all the news!
Apr 28, 2010, 10:36
Mary J Blige-American Voice
Mary J. Blige’s recent willingness to tackle Led Zepplin's “Stairway to Heaven" bolsters a long articulated claim that she—and by extension Black women vocalists—be read as a quintessential American Voice.
By Mark Anthony Neal
Apr 26, 2010, 17:16
The SeeingBlack.com 411
Dorothy Height and Benjamin Hooks join the ancestors. Hundreds mark 15th anniversary of Oklahoma City bombing. Pro-gun rallies held in DC, Virginia. Video captures Md. police beating of unarmed student. Gates criticizes WikiLeaks for releasing video of US Attack. Arizona bill gives officers right to stop those suspected of being an illegal immigrant. Goldman Sachs accused of civil fraud in sale of mortgage securities. ACORN staffer reported prostitution claims to police. Virginia Gov. apologizes for excluding slavery from Confederate History Month proclamation. US foreclosures break monthly record. Is the CIA assassination order of a US citizen legal? Air travel resumes in Europe amidst new ash warning. And MUCH more...Click to check all the news!
Apr 21, 2010, 12:43
Ethiopia: Gerima on the Representation of African Intellectuals in Film
Ethiopian independent filmmaker and film professor, Haile Gerima, was on NPR a few days ago talking to Michel Martin as his film, Teza, moves on to Detriot, Minneapolis and then L.A on its tailored-limited patterned release.
He talks about black filmmaking, Precious: based on the novel Push by Sappihre and the fact that in the 21st century there still isn't a black person or black owned film studio somewhere that can green light an uncompromised black movie. He also talks about characters in Teza representing African intellectuals who are rarely seen in movies:
The African intellectual, what he or she is thinking about is never in movies, it's never a story, its not even a novel. That's why I was hungry to tell this story, because for me, this displacement... everybody looks at foreigners only as just devoted immigrants; the turmoil of your body being here, your brain at home where you grew up is never being in movies.Back in April, he talks with Tigist Selam about the lack of a general economic infrastructure for making movies about non-white people:
H/T: Phyllis