“Warriors don’t wear medals—they wear scars.”
Introduction
I grew up in New York City, and have traveled and lived in different parts of the world, including about 18 years in the “Peachtree State” of Georgia. For almost as long as I lived there, I’d heard of Cynthia McKinney—the first African-American woman to represent Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives.
To be honest, a great deal that I heard from the Mainstream Media was negative, portraying Ms. McKinney as a crazy shrew, an over-the-top black radical who questioned the official story of 9/11; opposed the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—and, recently, in Libya; opposed Israeli policies, and supported Palestinian demands for statehood.
About three years ago, I heard McKinney speak at a conference at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Instead of a crazy firebrand, I heard an intelligent, measured, if passionate, presentation of why she challenged US war policies.
When I returned to Georgia, I wrote a friend in the UK about my hope to interview McKinney. My friend related a story about the “Dignity” ship, carrying food and medical supplies to Palestine, in 2008, rammed by the Israeli Navy in international waters. McKinney was on that ship, and when it was rammed, she turned to my friend’s brother and said, “David, I can’t swim.”
Nothing I had ever heard about McKinney revealed her character more succinctly. This is a woman willing to put her life on the line in support of her principles.
— Gary Corseri
CORSERI: Let’s start with a big one. The day that changed everything: 9/11. In 2004, you signed the 9/11 Truth Movement statement, calling for new investigations of “unexplained aspects of the 9/11 events.” More than 7 years have passed since then. What would you say are some of the more egregious “unexplained events”? One big question is: Where was our air force on 9/11? Why didn’t they prevent it?
MCKINNEY: We know where they were. The question is: Why didn’t they follow standard operating procedures?
CORSERI: And the other questions about buildings free-falling into their footprints… Building 7 —
MCKINNEY: Look, I spent last September 11 in the home of a woman who is afflicted with cancer… because she lived near the World Trade center. And all of that dust came into her apartment. And she had to clean it up. She will never figure into any of the statistics about who has been affected—her situation will never count— but it counts to ME, and to all of the other members of the 911 Truth Community!
CORSERI: Let’s explore another controversial issue linked to you…Ms McKinney, what does the number “88794” signify for you?
MCKINNEY: That was the number that was assigned to me by the Israeli prison system when—on my second attempt to get into Gaza—I was kidnapped on the high seas in international waters and taken against my will to Israel and put in prison.
David Halpin, the UK physician, and I sat next to each other because the volunteers—the activists that were on the boat—were international and spoke different languages…so I sat next to this English doctor…and he railed, he railed, he railed as the warship came close to us…then backed off…then approached us again—very quicly and very quietly—in this cat-and-mouse game.
And he cursed my government. Because it was with the assistance of the United States that those engines had been provided to the Israeli military so that they could do what they were doing to us.
CORSERI: Did you join him in the cursing?
MCKINNEY: No. In fact, I do a lot of apologizing! I can say this: in the struggle for human rights, I consider prisoner # 88794 a badge of honor that I’ve acquired as a result of what I have chosen to do: to assert my own right to recognize the human rights and dignity of other people.
CORSERI: Let’s continue with this theme of recognizing other people’s human rights. More recently, this past year, you were in Tripoli when NATO bombed Libya. What were you doing there? Can you describe that experience?
MCKINNEY: I voluntarily went to Libya. Any time the War Machine rolls, I have to oppose that! Libya was a special case, a personal case. Because I had just been to Libya. I had taken a delegation of independent journalists to go to Libya. Because I did not believe the explanation that was given to the public about the necessity to bomb Tripoli and other cities in Libya. While we were there, we experienced what “shock and awe” is all about. The individual who went to the UN with allegations of thousands dying at the hands of Colonel Gaddafi and the Libyan government—when he was pressed to substantiate his claims, he couldn’t.
CORSERI: That reminds me of the allegations made against the Iraqis in Kuwait, back in 1990. That they were taking babies out of incubators and throwing them on the floor!
MCKINNEY: The attack on Libya was an attack on Africa! It was an attack on my aspirations as a person of African descent to have a free and independent Africa. That’s what was attacked!
CORSERI: My final question on Libya is this: You have praised Colonel Gaddafi’s GREEN BOOK and the kind of “direct democracy” advocated therein. Can you give us a brief lesson as to how that “direct democracy” differs from our “representative democracy”?
MCKINNEY: Our “democracy” is neither democratic nor representative! The only stake that I have in this is that I want to see a free and independent Africa. That the type of government Libya has should be determined by the Libyan people. It’s inexcusable to ask another country to bomb your fellow countrymen if you really care about your country!
Libya had the highest living standard in all of Africa. It had free education up through the PhD level. Free health care. Free utilities. Subsidized housing. And free housing if you were poor. Subsidized food. Subsidized transportaion, including car expenses. The necessities of life were paid for by the direct democracy known as the Jamahiriya.
Can you imagine this: I have a cousin who is $120,000 in student debt in the U.S. She has a Master’s degree as a social worker. If she had been born in Libya, she would have no such debt! I went to a university outside of Tripoli and asked the students about their “tuition fees”. The words didn’t translate. I asked them about what they paid to attend the university. It was nine dollars a year!
What I have said publicly is this: we have been seeing is the Israelization of US policy.
You know, the only reason the Libyans took any interest in me was that someone in Libya, looking at their television, saw me having all these problems trying to get into Gaza. And they said, “We want to know her!” That’s why I was invited to attend this conference on THE GREEN BOOK—to explain what I was trying to do in Gaza. And what I observed in Libya was the same kind of collective punishment I observed in Gaza. People supporting their own governments were being punished by outsiders who opposed those governments!
This is the kind of thing that happens in the absence of ethics in journalism. We don’t have journalists in the mainstream media to educate and provide information to citizens so they can make a critical analysis of issues. That is absent. The journalistic community has gone along with the kind of death and destruction that has been visited upon Libya and so many other countries. We’re setting up drone bases all over Africa! People here don’t even know this. They don’t even begin to understand.
CORSERI: You’ve mentioned many potent issues, including the “Israelization of US policy.” I’d like to explore that…
In the 2002 election to the House of Representatives, people like your father and the editor and commentator Alexander Cockburn alleged that your defeat by Denise Majette was a consequence of out-of-state Jewish organizations and Jewish money working against you—
MCKINNEY: That’s not an allegation—that’s a fact! I was informed that I had been targeted by the pro-Israel lobby BY the media! I read about it in the papers! The evidence is readily available. So, the fact of being targeted by the number-one special interest lobby in the United States means that there is an engagement in every aspect of one’s political life.
CORSERI: Let’s tackle this head-on: are you anti-Semitic?
MCKINNEY: I’m no more anti-Semitic than any of the anti-Zionist Jews who I work with on an almost-daily basis to correct US policy. I would suggest the real Semites are the Palestinians. And therefore I would suggest that I’m not anti-Semitic. When I was in Congress, I organized a Press Conference with organizations like Jewish Workers for Peace. That very night, the Atlanta news criticized me for associating with “fringe Jewish elements”! What’s a “fringe Jewish element”? It was the Anti-Defamation League that was casting this aspersion!
The Anti-Defamation League is supposed to be a Civil Rights organization. In practice, it filed an amicus brief with five white racists to dismantle the district—my district!—that provided an opportunity for black people in the black belt of Georgia to have representation!
Those black people were the ones who sent me to Congress to represent them! I stand on their shoulders, and I did my darnedest to represent them! And I was rewarded by the Anti-Defamation League filing an amicus brief and a lawsuit to dismantle that district and take representation away from those poor, black people.
CORSERI: I can certainly understand your indignation. And I don’t want to hammer this issue. But I read about this on Wikipedia. About that election with Majette, your father, a former state representative in Georgia, stated that “Jews have bought everybody… And then he spelled it, “J-E-W-S.” Personally, I always make a distinction between Jews and Zionists. As you just did. I try to distinguish. I think writers like Gilad Atzmon, for example, have been very clear about making this distinction in his recent work, The Wandering Who?
MCKINNEY: Let me tell you something. The first time my daddy got into trouble was when he said, “racist Jew.” I had a Jewish friend who was trying to smooth things over. I asked her, “Is Jew a bad word? I didn’t know the word “Zionist” at that time.
Here’s the thing: the Anti-Defamation League says they represent all Jews—that’s what they tell us. AIPAC too. So I didn’t know there was a word called “Zionist” until I became involved with the Bertrand Russell tribunal on Palestine. And there was a famous Jewish lawyer who was one of the leaders in that tribunal, and I went up to him and I said, “Daniel, how does your family feel about your being in this tribunal?” And he said, “My family are anti-Zionist Jews.” And I said, “I don’t know what that is!” I was 50-something years old, and I’d never heard such language! Now of course I’ve been exposed, and I’m more sensitive that there’s a difference. Now I have marvelous Jewish friends. And I understand the difference between Judaism and Zionism. Whoever prays to whatever God they wish, that’s fine with me, but a political ideology is quite different. I know I have a lot to learn when it comes to Zionism and Judaism. I’m not very religious, but I am spiritual. And I’m very interested in people’s beliefs. But I’m more interested in the way people behave. So I would always say, Judge me on what I do more than on what I say. And, I acknowledge I can be wrong about what I say. And my father can be wrong about what he said…
CORSERI: Thank you very much. I think you’ve clarified that for a lot of people. Now… this idea of building alliance … I’d like to discuss current events, namely, the Presidential election
MCKINNEY: Um-ha.
CORSERI: First, a re-cap: In 2008, disgusted with the Democratic Party, you were the Green Party candidate for president. That same year, you joined a press conference held by 3rd party and independent candidates, including Ralph Nader and Ron Paul. The participants agreed on four basic principles:
1. An early end to the Iraq War, and an end to threats of war against other countries, including Iran.
2. Safeguarding privacy and civil liberties, including repeal of the Patriot Act, the Military Commisions Act and FISA legislation.
3. No increase in the National Debt.
4. A thorough investigation, evaluation and audit of the Federal Reserve System.
My question is this: If these different elements of Independent thought could come together on these four basic principles in 2008, why can’t they unite behind the same principles in 2012?
MCKINNEY: They can.
CORSERI: Isn’t it possible to conceive a party that speaks for the majority of Independents, that unites Independents? The four principles that united Independents then are still very much with us. In many ways the dangers are now greater. The possibility of war with Iran looms larger now, and there’s the National Defense Authorization Act, as well as the other intrusions on privacy and civil liberties. More Americans classify themselves as “Independents” than as Republicans or Democrats. How can the varied strands of Independents work together to defeat the Republicrats?
MCKINNEY: The answer to that question goes to the core of the kind of change we hope to initiate on a policy basis. So, how do we do that? I think the first thing is that we have to be willing to talk to each other. We have to recognize that there’s commonality despite difference. The thing that allowed Nader and me and Paul to come together is that we were at least willing to see areas of commonality. We should be able to do that across the political spectrum. And, in fact, when I was in the Congress, I was forced to do that. As a Southerner, I—and as someone who had to get votes—not lose them—I needed the endorsement of a leader in the community… and he was a Klan member… and I had no choice. … I asked him for his support—and I got it! (After I sat there for over an hour and he described to me how “confused” the people were because of the way they judged the Ku Klux Klan to be racist!)
[Here, MCKINNEY gives a strong, hearty guffaw!]
And… I sat there and found a place where we could have a meeting of the minds—and I did it!
CORSERI: Related question then: I’ve been criticized because I wrote an article, about a month ago—“The Lion and the Ox”– praising Ron Paul’s stance on ending the wars, ending the Empire, auditing the Fed. I also think his views on our antiquated, absurd and minority-punishing drug laws are far more enlightened than anyone else’s—with the exception of 2012 Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s. Paul makes a distinction between Capitalism and Corporatism—an important distinction. Now, I’m not a Libertarian; I don’t agree with “unregulated” Capitalism to the extent Paul and Libertarians do. But, I wonder: Given various points of convergence, how can the Green Party and Libertarians work together to overturn what we have in America today—basically, a one-party system, a Corporate Party system, abetted by corporate media?
MCKINNEY: Well, one thing is that the Libertarians and the Greens could join forces—kind of a united front. I’d like to see if those kinds of talks could get anywhere.
CORSERI: A friend of mine suggested a Paul-McKinney ticket …
MCKINNEY: That was your friend, huh?
CORSERI: Well, you know…when I first heard that, I thought, “That’s crazy!” But… I thought about it, and I thought, “Why not? We live in crazy times …”
MCKINNEY: Yeah, we do.
CORSERI: I mean… look what we have to choose from: Santorum, Michelle Bachman, Herman Cain, Gingrich, Romney–all these crazy people. …
MCKINNEY: Every time there’s a vote, it gets more outrageous, doesn’t it?
CORSERI: It does! Well… what do you think about Paul-McKinney?
MCKINNEY: Well, we’re not there yet, so I don’t have to think about it at all!
CORSERI: Well. …
MCKINNEY: Let me put it this way. … We do have overlapping constituencies. So it would be wonderful if the two circles could expand beyond their points of intersection. And I’m not just talking about Paul. I’m talking about people on the Left in general. Because there’s no more Left and Right. It’s only Right and Wrong now. And the old “Right” is Wrong. And the old “Left” needs to be more Right. Does that make sense?
CORSERI: Yes.
MCKINNEY: The Left is being co-opted. So the Left needs to be more Left!
CORSERI: There needs to be a convergence where the Greens and the Libertarians can meet—
MCKINNEY: And the militia! You know, I have to deal with the militia, too. I’m from Georgia, right? They participate in the political system—to the extent that they do—and somebody needs to be talking to’em… because, ultimately, they’re a part of the 99%. … And that’s the gift that the Occupy Movement has given to us—they’ve given us a way to self-identify. Now we know—it’s not about color, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation—all of those things. At the end of the day—if you’re part of the 99%, you’re part of us… and if you’re part of the 1%-—you’re part of them!
CORSERI: Related question: We live in a Surveillance State. Our license plate numbers are routinely recorded; we’re finger-printed for jobs, our Social Security numbers serve as National I.D.’s, our e-mails are monitored for “code” words or phrases, our homes are surveiled by satellite mapping systems of Google, Yahoo, etc. Those who protest, as in the Occupy Wall Street movement, are arrested, booked, and more closely watched. Now they have “records” that affect their employment. … My question is: how do we battle this pervasive system? Do you get discouraged? What do you do when you are discouraged? Who are your “heroes”? To whom do you turn for inspiration?
MCKINNEY: Do I get discouraged? Yes! What do I do when I’m discouraged? I find other people who are not yet discouraged!
Who are my heroes? Everybody! Everybody who has a tough row to hoe in life! Those are my heroes. Those are the people who give the most! When I was running for Congress back in 1992-—for the first time—I was running to represent the second poorest district in Georgia… and, what I learned was that the poor people gave the most! The people who had… didn’t give as generously as the people who didn’t have! So my first campaign theme was, “Warriors don’t wear medals, they wear scars!” My heroes are the community and neighborhood warriors who have a whole lot of scars, a whole lot of dignity.
CORSERI: I want to ask you about a recent incident in which you were involved with the Capitol Hill police…
MCKINNEY: No, no, no! It happened for TWELVE years! Twelve years of harrassment from the Capitol Hill police! They considered it a “sport” to harass me! It’s all available on the Internet… if you go to YouTube and you put in “The Last Plantation.”
CORSERI: The infamous incident is when you apparently struck back at the officer who was harassing you. Is that correct?
MCKINNEY: The officer had no business putting his hands on me! I reacted like any normal person would react when being attacked by some great big, huge guy from behind! I had been targeted because I had written a letter of support for the Black Capitol Hill police officers.
CORSERI: You’re a pretty brave woman, aren’t you?
MCKINNEY: Everybody can be brave. They just need that break-out moment of recognition. I’ve stood on some big shoulders. As I said before, my campaign theme is: “Warriors don’t wear medals—they wear scars.”
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What a courageous woman!! Great interview.. Just a note on Ron Paul and Libertarian. I’m a supporter and not a Libertarian, but Paul is a state’s rights person. My state has no money for clean water, clean air, pet shelters, state parks, public education, public transportation, and the list is endless. We are broke because all the money that would go to the list above that I really do care about goes to fighting wars for “you know who.” The citizens of my state always vote for the above list because they care as well and maybe we over do it and have not been as fiscally responsible as we should be but if we weren’t fighting wars all the time and that money went back to the state it would be a progressives dream come true.
Great stuff, Gary. Keep up the good work. Cynthia’s an American icon!
My only hope is that she does a bit more in the future to oppose the criminal polices of the Obama government — a government that has normalized torture and allows the President to kill anyone in the world, anywhere, who happens to displease him.
If I were Cynthia’s public relations advisor, I would do all in my power to make Cynthia America’s new Joan of Arc.
Here are three famous quotes of Rosa Parks
1- “you must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. ”
2- “Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again. ”
3- “Each person must live their life as a model for others.”
4- “I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”
I do agree with Berenice. Cynthia McKinney is an American icon.
Sadly, when she was kidnapped by Israel in international water, the US State Department told her father, ” don’t call us, we’ll call you!”
Contrast this with the reaction of our government toward the “Cairo 19″ who were arrested in Egypt for violating the Egyptian law is a sad sick joke. The US government immediately called for their release and has threatened to cut off aid to Egypt.
Former Congresswoman McKinney is courageous and compassionate woman, who reminds me of Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman. You go girl!
In November 2011 – four North Georgia men were indicted in a terrorist plot to assassinate former Congresswoman and world-renowned anti-war activist Cynthia McKinney, US Attoney General Israel-Firster Eric Holder and Barack Obama, the first US Jewish President.
Since Cynthia, unlike the other two, doesn’t have official security assigned to her – FBI has offered her “victim witness” protection. McKinney’s response was that while she is not afraid of the four Georgia men arrested in the alleged assassination plot, she remains concerned that the FBI that had on its payroll a hate radio host who announced to his listenership in 2006 that McKinney should be lynched on her way to vote. The radio host, Hal Turner, was found guilty in 2010 of making threats against three federal judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and was sentenced to 33 months in prison. It was also discovered in 2008 that Turner, who often called into the WABC-AM New York radio programs of Bob Grant and Sean Hannity, was a paid FBI informant.
Cynthia Anne McKinney, was a juror at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine held in Cape Town (South Africa) which in a unanimous verdict declared the Zionist regime a racist and apartheid under international law. In the past, Cynthia was against America’s invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. She also visited Libya during NATO’s war on the country. In May 2011, Cynthia visited Islamic Republic to attend anti-terrorism conference. She praised Iran’s efforts to push for a peace in the region. Watch a video below.
http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/who-gains-from-cynthia-mckinneys-assassination/
Rehmat: Thanks for these background biographical details of Cynthia McKinney. I was totally unaware of all these facts. Truly, I wish the world had more people like Cynthia in it.
If America were ruled by people like this, wise and compassionate and with a deep understanding of the hidden forces behind world events, there would be some hope for America.
Frankly, I see no light at the end of the tunnel.
America is run by a criminal mafia of elite Jews and their WASP lackeys. They are all war criminals.
Lynch Cynthia? Let me tell you this, Rehmat, if anyone deserves to be lynched, it’s these war criminals who run America from Washington — the world’s capital of crime.
Did I say Washington was the world’s crime capital? Sorry, I spoke too soon! I meant Tel Aviv.
It’s Tel Aviv that tells Washington what to do. That’s where the decisions are made and the whip is cracked. Washington is where the puppets sit and have their strings jerked.
Once upon a time, there was a very angery Afro-American, who rebeled against his religion and White American Establishment. He proclaimed the Jews and Whitefolks behind the persecution of Afro-Americans and Evildoers carry-on Holocaust around the world. He was so outspoken that Establishment took him a great threat to itself. In order to divert Afro-American from their pathetic lives in this powerful and rich country – the Establishment picked and groomed a Black clergy to destroy this angry Black trouble-maker. However, both were assassinated by FBI proxies.
The angry Afro-American in the above story was Malcolm X and the pastor, Martin Luther King Jr. The first is hated by the Establishment and the Jewish Lobby – while the later is honored by a national holiday.
Malcolm X: Judged by a Christian and a Jew
http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/malcolm-x-judged-by-a-christian-and-a-jew/