Democracy Now! February 21, 2002

9:01-9:06 HEADLINES 9:06-9:07 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:07-9:20 AN AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH SPECIAL: A LOOK AT THE WIND DONE GONE, A PARODY OF GONE WITH THE WIND TOLD FROM A SLAVES PERSPECTIVE In 1965, the week before he died, Malcolm X wrote, You have to realize that up until about 1959, Africa was dominated by the colonial powers. And by the colonial powers of Europe having complete control over Africa, they projected Africa always in a negative lightjungles, savages, cannibals, nothing civilized. And you and I began to hate it. We didn't want anybody to tell us anything about Africa, and much less call us an African. And in hating Africa and hating the Africans, we end up hating ourselves, without even realizing it. Because you can't hate the roots of a tree and not hate the tree. You can't hate Africa and not hate yourself. Malcolm X always emphasized the importance of knowing African American culture and history. Today, we are going to look at some sketches of African American culture. The Wind Done Gone is Alice Randalls unauthorized parody of Gone with the Wind, the 1936 epic saga by Margaret Mitchell. More than any other, that classic story of Scarlett O'Hara has defined the countrys image of the antebellum South. But Alice Randalls version of the story brings to life the people who move on the margins of Gone With the Wind. Randall wrote The Wind Done Gone from the perspective of Cynara, Scarlett O'Hara's half-sister, the daughter of a slave and a white plantation owner. Cynara's diary of life as a mulatto at Tara mansion before the civil war and during Reconstruction reveals the story left untold about the racial underbelly of southern gentility. The book is a scorning rebuttal to what author James Carroll called "the most damning lie America has ever told itself: slavery. Renowned African American scholar Henry Louis Gates calls Randalls work a classic parody, in a long line of literary creations that extend back to the ancient Greeks." Alice Randall graduated from Harvard in 1981 and moved to Nashville to become a country songwriter. She is the only African-American woman in history to write a number-one country song, and has recorded over twenty songs, including two top ten records. But Randall had to fight the battle of her life against the Mitchell estate to publish her first novel, The Wind Done Gone. We are going to turn now to the story of the making of The Wind Done Gone, produced by the Radio Griott project, which airs on Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles. This piece is written and narrated by Roy Hirst. TAPE: Documentary: "The Making of The Wind Done Gone, a novel by Alice Randall 9:20-9:21 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:21-9:40 AN AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH SPECIAL: W.E.B. DUBOIS: SCHOLARSHIP AND PROPAGANDA, THE MAKINGS OF A RACE MAN WEB DuBois would have been 134 on Saturday. DuBois spent his 95 years stripping away at white supremacy. During his life he wrote over 4,000 works. He was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1910; and he helped organize the First Universal Races Congress and the First Annual Pan-African Congress. DuBois returned to the NAACP in 1944 as Director of Special Research but in 1951, he was indicted under the McCarran Act, after calling upon the United Nations to hear the crimes of the U.S. government against its own people. Today we will hear the story of another epic saga, a saga of the African American people, that of the life of WEB DuBois. And while he never achieved the mass acceptance enjoyed by the other African American leader of his time, Booker T Washington, his legacy is a consistent deep concern for people of color and for economic justice for all people. We go now to a documentary about the life of WEB DuBois, produced by Radio Griott, a program devoted to storytelling, which airs on Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles. It is written and narrated by Roy Hirst. TAPE: Documentary: "WEB DuBois: Scholarship and Propaganda, the Makings of a Race Man" 9:40-9:41 ONE-MINUTE MUSIC BREAK 9:41-9:58 O ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF MALCOLM XS ASSASSINATION, WE HEAR SOME OF THE LAST WORDS OF THE GREAT LEADER Today is the 37th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X. The leader one of the greatest this country saw in the last century was shot to death as he spoke before a packed audience in Harlems Audubon Ballroom. He was just 39 years old. In honor of Malcolm Xs memory, we turn now to a videotaped speech he delivered one week before he was assassinated. It is called The Last Message. TAPE: Malcolm X speech, 1965 MUSIC: 6 FRIENDS AND ENEMIES featuring the voice of Malcolm X by DJ Cam Back to Mine Everything But the Girl 20 HES GOT THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS by Marian Anderson We Shall Overcome The Historic 1963 March on Washington 40 A CHANGE IS GONNA COME by Aretha Franklin End TELL IT ALL Ashford and Simpson 9:58-9:59 OUTRO AND CREDITS