Imprisoned SWPer, Mark Curtis, fighting for justice on many fronts
1990Hayden Perry 1990-05Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 11 →
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On Saturday, April 14, Roland Sheppard, a national committee member of Socialist Action, spoke at a forum sponsored by the San Francisco Black Firefighters Union. Sheppard used the forum to express the idea that white fil efighters have to support unconditionally the fight for affirmative action i firefighters are to defeat the belt-tightening measures of Democratic Party Mayor Art Agnos. See next month's issue for an in-depth story.
SOCIALIST ACTION MAY 1990 11 Mark Curtis, a member of the Socialist Workers Party from Des Moines, Iowa, is serving a 25-year prison term in the state penitentiary on a frame-up conviction of rape and burglary.
In a new ominous development, Curtis is being sued by the parents of the girl he is accused of sexually assaulting. July 9 has been set as the date for the trial. Keith and Denise Morris, parents of the alleged victim, are seeking punitive damages for the "pain and suffering" inflicted on their daughter.
They are also laying claim to money from the "commercialization" of the case that might have been received by Curtis; his wife, Kate Kaku; and John Studer, the Coordinator of the Mark Curtis Defense Committee. If allowed, this would be an unusual legal step because the defense committee's finances are completely independent of Curtis's personal funds.
If the Morris family wins, the wages of Curtis, Kaku, and Studer could be garnished for at least the next 10 years to pay the debt. The Curtis defense would be severely crippled, and a dangerous precedent set for other cases.
The Workers League, an anti-labor sect, is a force behind the campaign to deny justice to Curtis. It spreads a carpet of lies about the case wherever the Curtis Defense Committee goes.
American problem any longer. It's a world problem, it's a human problem. And so we're striving to lift it from the level of civil rights to the level of human rights. And at that level it's international. We can bring it into the United Nations and discuss it in the same language as the problems of people in other parts of the world also are discussed." (Page 89, Malcolm X: The Last Speeches, Pathfinder Press.)
Like Malcolm X predicted, a quarter of a century later the fight for Black equality is still on the agenda. The struggle of the South African Black masses to win control of their own country is still to be won. The fight of working people here and abroad is still to achieve success.
When Kate Kaku went to Iceland, for example, she found that a daily paper, Thjodhviljinn, had editorialized against "support for the rapist." The Workers League had reached Iceland with its smear publication, "The Mark Curtis Hoax: How the Socialist Workers Party Tried to Dupe the Labor Movement."
Despite the efforts of the Workers League, Curtis defenders have won considerable support. The Icelandic chapter of Amnesty International will urge the center in Geneva to accept Curtis as a prisoner of conscience. A convention of the International Christian Exchange viewed the Curtis Defense video, and expressed support.
A group of women members of Iceland's parliament pledged financial support to the campaign, while a young Curtis supporter volunteered his blues band for a fund-raising concert at the local high school. About $150 was raised at a public meeting.
Meanwhile, the Curtis case is before the Iowa Court of Appeals. Defense lawyers contend that violations of Curtis's constitutional rights and the lack of evidence justify a new trial. A verdict is expected in about two months.
Curtis also has a civil suit pending against the police who beat him up. He is demanding $300,000 in damages for his shattered cheekbone and injuries that took 15 stitches to repair. This case will go to trial on Nov. 13.
It is for these reasons that the criminals who slandered Malcolm yesterday seek to hide behind him today. They can't urge Blacks and others to read and study Malcolm because those who do will see Malcolm did not support Democrats or Republicans for their central role in the oppression of Blacks. They will learn that Malcolm stood for freedom and against imperialism.
Black youth, students, workers, and others, will not be diverted by these hypocrites, as they study Malcolm's speeches themselves. The impending social crisis in the United States and abroad will lead to more resistance-on the picket lines, to union-busters like Eastern Airlines' Frank Lorenzo, and in the communities of the oppressed.
We can be sure that the ideas of one of the world's greatest revolutionaries, Malcolm X, will be a major inspiration to these fighters. MALCOLM X Figh for Black iberat Pamphlet for struggle by Kwame M.A. Somburu, Joe Ryan, and Nat Weinstein $1.25 (include $0.75 for postage).
Make checks payable to Walnut Publishing Co., 3435 Army St.. Rm. 308, San Francisco, CA 9411(
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Socialist speaks at S.F. Black Firefighters forum