Joseph Koch Reverend Jesse Jackson delivered an animated and stirring speech encouraging the activities and involvement of young people in political issues.

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"It is our burden, as leaders of churches and universities to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed until there is justice in the land."

Thus spoke Reverend Jesse Jackson at a social justice teach-in held yesterday on the Pitzer Mounds. Jackson spoke for inclusion of all people under "One Big Tent" that welcomes all races, genders, religions, and sexual preferences.

Jackson attacked "The dark underbelly of violence and fascism threatening the integrity of the American dream."

The teach-in was particularly resonant in the Claremont community in light of recent incidents of police brutality in the area. The Irvin Landrum, Jr. shooting that occurred January 11 in Claremont, and the Tyisha Miller shooting that occurred in Riverside last year are two cases that have drawn the attention of much of the community.

Although Jackson did not discuss the Landrum or Miller case in detail, when asked what he wants students to take away from the teach-in, Jackson responded that, "It’s important that they remember not only what I said, but also the stories of those who spoke before me." Speakers before Jackson included supporters of the Irvin Landrum, Jr. Committee for Social Justice, and the Tyisha Miller Committee, and faculty from the Claremont Colleges.

Hal Fairchild, professor of psychology and black studies at Pitzer, was co-moderator of the event, and opened the speeches with a call to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." He then called for a thorough investigation into the Landrum matter because, "truth and justice go hand in hand."

Fairchild offered alternate facts about the Landrum case that were not provided by the police’s fact sheet. The police stated that Landrum was driving without registration, when in fact he was driving a new car with temporary registration taped to the back window. Another misleading fact was the statement that Landrum was on probation for carrying a concealed weapon, when the weapon was actually brass knuckles that had been found in his car. Fairchild also said that an eyewitness reported that the officers had Landrum in a prone position when they shot him.

Many speakers at the rally echoed Fairchild’s view that, "We are fighting city hall." Mike Noonan, a Claremont political activist, is angry that the city is distributing a fact sheet that tells people what to think.

He compared Irvin Landrum to such notable martyrs as Socrates, Medgar Evers, John Brown, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr., claiming that all were victims of government murder conspiracies. He then tried to lead the crowd in cries of "Never Again," and "Run, Jesse, Run," echoing Jackson’s 1988 Presidential Campaign cry.

Along with the protests against stonewalling by the city, there were many calls to student activism. Jamie Asaka, PI ’00, recalled some of the more successful cases of student activism, such as the 1970s movement for ethnic studies programs. She remarked that, "Consciousness is power, power is education, knowledge, and awareness."

The American dream was the topic of many speeches, Jackson’s in particular. Jackson feels that, with so much violence, the United States needs to "choose another way."

"We are blessed as a nation," Jackson said. "So prosperous. Such technological genuis. We are also the most violent nation on earth." "We make the most guns, and we shoot them," Jackson continued. "We make the most bombs, and we drop them...Bombs bursting in air," he cited, to the ironic amusement of the audience.

The violence of war, urban life, and personal relations, Jackson explained, are transmitted through the mass media. He called for all dreamers to coalesce and "fight the spirit of fascism in the country."

"The constant struggle to make this a more complete union must be fought by all dreamers," said Jackson.

Jackson reminded the crowd of how the everyday travesties of life often take a back seat to violence.

"1500 Americans are dying a day of cancer...We shouldn’t have to be concerned with [violence]."

In order to eradicate violence as the basis for society, Jackson advocates a metaphorical "Big Tent" that would embody five basic principles: equal protection under the law, equal opportunity, equal access, a fair share, and a concern for the least of these.

Deborah Kitchen, professor of sociology and criminology at the University of LaVerne, shared Jackson’s concern with institutionalized injustice. Kitchen charged that "the legal system was founded on racism. The system was devised to facilitate the taking of land from Native Americans, the removal of Mexicans, and the enslavement of blacks."

The members of the various committees sponsoring the event are pushing for more truth in police investigations. They are asking for a fair and impartial investigation into the actions of the officers in the Landrum case.

Burnell Butler, a Riverside resident who is a member of the Tyisha Miller committee, led the crowd in chants of "What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now." Continued racism in the political structure formed the base of Butler’s speech.

He charges that police officers learn corruption and brutality, and bias and prejudice from their supervisors. He spoke of the importance of not letting police officers be above the law, and compared the police officers involved in brutality cases to such serial killers as Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer.

This claim was supported by Andrew Stein, a criminal defense attorney.

Stein provided statistics obtained from the coroner’s office that stated that within the past six years, 479 people had been killed by police officers in Los Angeles, and of these shootings, only one had been brought to trial.

Sid Lemelle, history professor at Pomona, decried the use of racial profiling techniques by the police, and cited statistics from a recent issue of The Nation which reported that in Maryland, 70% of all routine traffic stops involve minority motorists, while they make up only 17% of the drivers. Numbers like these have led some to use the recently coined phrase of "Driving While Black" to describe the probable cause for many traffic stops.

Joseph Koch Hundreds of listeners signed up after Jackson’s speech to register to vote.

Before Jackson came on stage to speak to the audience, he met with members of both the Landrum and Miller committees, as well as others who had lost family members to police brutality.

One man Jackson met with was Brian Smith of Los Angeles. Smith’s brother, Danny Ray Smith, a black man, was killed by prison guards after being transfered to the mental health facility of Twin Towers County Jail in downtown Los Angeles in August of last year. Danny Ray was walking with a Hispanic male, and this caught the attention of the guards, Brian explained. "There’s a lot of Latino/ African American conflicts in prisons," Brian continued.

The guards went on to strangle Danny Ray, claiming he resisted arrest, despite reports of the innmates saying Danny Ray was handcuffed. The guards initially reported that Danny Ray was not handcuffed, but later changed their stories. Though the case was settled out of court, Brian says, "Whatever they gave couldn’t compensate for his death."

During Jackson’s speech Robert Middauth, a Riverside resident, handed out flyers detailing recent cases of police brutality. Middauth’s father was a police officer in Los Angeles County and was disturbed by the overuse of violence among fellow officers. Middauth’s father did not have the courage to speak out against this brutality, as officers who did so often lost their jobs, Middauth explained. According to Middauth, his father was taunted by other members of the force for not using enough violence.

Although many of the speakers focused on the racist aspect of these abuses, Larry Holstead, the only white member of the Tyisha Miller steering committee, extended the issue to be one of human importance, not merely one of importance to blacks. "Erosion of civil rights is not exclusive to the black community." He ended his speech with a quote from the Woodstock anthem by the Youngbloods: "Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together and love one another."

Jackson also extended his desire for equality beyond the African American race, providing numbers suggesting the significant population of Chinese, Hispanics and Indians in the world.

"Jesus didn’t speak english," Jackson reminded the audience, continuing, "The Ten Commandments were not written in English." This was during Jackson’s push for respect of all races.

Violence in general was comdemned by Jackson. "It’s not just racial violence that concerns me," he said. He then alluded to the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, the World Trade Center bombings in New York, and other reactionary acts.

Irvin Landrum’s mother, Tracy Lee, spoke before Jackson came to the podium and described the pain of losing a child. She and others involved in the effort are calling for a thorough investigation by an independant party, in addition to reform of the system. Stein advocated a law that mandated a grand jury investigation in every police shooting. New York state has a similar law, and many feel that it should be enstated in California.

In order to change the structural racism that many of the speakers feel is rampant in California and the nation, they issued a cry for increased political participation. Jackson ended his speech by inviting all nonregistered voters to the front of the audience. The attorneys who spoke encouraged all people to serve on juries so they could impact society through the courts. The audience was also encouraged to contact their politicians and demand change.

"One thing that’s very important to remember," reflected Pitzer Nerurochemistry Professor Alan Jones, who also spoke at the teach-in, "is that we’re basically responsible for creaing the world around us. We need to get involved."

"I was shocked to see how many people weren’t register to vote," said Morgan Chitty ’02. "The way [Jackson] said, ‘If you liked what you heard today, come up and register to vote’ was really nice. The whole event was excellent."

"Events like this should pass spark awareness, and we should all get involved as a community," Timothy McEvoy ’02 said. "We need to push for reforms and know that we can have an effect on things."

The panel seated behind Jackson included Pitzer President Marilyn Chapin Massey, Ms. Lee, Lee’s pastor, Tommy Morrow, Pastor of Vicinity Church in Pomona, and other active community members.

"I thought [the teach-in] was awesome," McEvoy added. "There was good support for all speakers, and not just Jesse Jackson. That was quite uplifting."