US Cuba Relations 1898 to 2025: What They Didn't Teach Us in School

  

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US Cuba Relations 1898 -2025: What They Didn't Teach Us in School

Cuba presented at Colleges of Complexes, a Chicago free speech institution since January, 1951. My talk was presentation No. 3,822 in C of C's 74 year history.

A number of colleges in Chi Town with C of C being the most unique.

The students at the College of Complexes are an eclectic bunch. They come from all walks of life and all corners of the world. Some are young and idealistic, eager to challenge the status quo and explore new ideas. Others are older and more world-weary, looking for new perspectives on the complex issues that had defined their lives. Despite their differences, the students at the College of Complexes share a common goal: to explore the most complex and controversial ideas of the day, and to challenge their own assumptions and biases in the process. Over time, the College of Complexes became known as a haven for free speech and intellectual exploration. It was a place where people can come together and engage in lively, respectful debate on some of the most pressing issues of the day.

Video runs 2 hours, 12 minutes.

My talk runs from 6:12 minutes to 50:00 minutes

Q & A runs from 50:00 minutes to 1 hour:24 minutes

Balance from 1 hour 24 minutes to 2 hours 12 minutes pivots to Open Forum on anything attendees wish to discuss. 2 rules at Open Forum. 1 fool at a time. No personal attacks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTiqLfE4NnU

Lowly Browns ’47 failed integration story largely erased from the Robinson/Doby storybook success

 Lowly Browns ’47 failed integration story largely erased from the Robinson/Doby storybook success

Ask someone to comment on the ’47 Major League Baseball integration story and you’ll get near unanimous mention of Jackie Robinson’s NL Dodger debut on Opening Day, April 15 followed by Larry Doby’s AL Indians debut on July 5. Both had tremendous careers enshrining them in the Hall of Fame. They and the owners Branch Ricky and Bill Veeck respectively are revered in the wildly successful ’47 integration story.

But virtually ignored is the third tho failed ’47 integration experiment of the sad sack St. Louis Browns. Owner Bill DeWitt took a flyer on 2 Negro League players, 22 year old Hank Thompson with just 134 Negro League games played and 32 year old journeyman Negro League player Willard Brown with just 316 games

De Witt did not approach integration with the preparation and heart of both Rickey and Veeck. Many saw it as desperate attempt to spike attendance for the last place Browns drawing more flies than fans. Both debuted just 2 weeks after Doby in the AL and 3 months after Robinson in the NL. Not prepared for the pressure of playing in the Majors southernmost city with teammates rooting for failure, neither Thompson nor Brown gained traction. They performed poorly and played just 21 and 27 games respectively before being sent back to the KC Monarchs in the Negro League.

Brown did achieve a bit of baseball history on August 13, hitting the first home run by an American League black player , ahead of future slugger Larry Doby. When Brown triumphantly rounded the bases and returned to the dugout…he found his bat had been broken, not by the ball but by the Brownies. Probably broke a piece of Brown’s heart as well.

Why has Thompson and Brown’s groundbreaking ’47 season largely been benched in MLB history? Neither fared well and didn’t make it back in ’48 (tho Thompson became a respectable player for 8 seasons with the NY Giants beginning in ’49). Poor preparation, racism among the ironically named Browns and lack of nationwide support sealed their fate.

Their virtual erasure from one of the most important chapters in the civil rights struggle is a shame. It didn’t fit the storybook narrative of Rickey, Veeck, Robinson and Doby. The woeful Browns’ owner Bill DeWitt and heir 2 black groundbreakers Hank Thompson and Willard Brown deserved better.

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Trump’s ‘America First’ is the opposite of its origins

 Trump’s ‘America First’ is the opposite of its origins

President Trump and conservative pundit Tucker Carlson has are having a kerfuffle over the meaning of ‘America First.’

Carlson is one of the few conservative influencers opposing America’s ‘forever wars’ whether it be our proxy war against Russia or current US aided Israeli war seeking regime change in Iran.

Carlson has framed his opposition to Trump’s support, indeed duplicity enabling the Israeli sneak attack on Iran, as a betrayal of his first inaugural address to put America First. Carlson charges Trump’s complicity in Israel’s criminal Iran war puts Israel First which could “lead to blowback warning that the consequences of supporting Israel will include “future blowback terrorism against the West and thousands of immediate American deaths, all in the name of a foreign agenda.” Carlson urged Trump to “drop Israel and let them fight their own wars.”

Trump no like. He told The Atlantic Magazine “Well, considering that I’m the one that developed ‘America First,’ and considering that the term wasn’t used until I came along, I think I’m the one that decides what it means. For those people who say they want peace – you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. So for all of those wonderful people who don’t want to do anything about Iran having a nuclear weapon – that’s not peace.”

George Orwell certainly presaged Donald Trump who charged non nuclear Iran at peace with the world represents war so we need war with Iran to bring peace.

Trump’ claimed he “developed America First and the term wasn’t used until I came along” is preposterous. The concept America First goes back over a century when President Wilson pledged neutrality in the war consuming Europe during the 1916 election .Five months later he said ‘Never mind’ and declared war to save peoplekind from future wars.

In the 1940 election FDR told the voters “Your boys are not going to be sent into a foreign war. That formalized the term America First in the September 1940 creation of the America First Committee which grew to over 800,000 members in 450 chapters nationwide.

Pledging neutrality help FDR win a third term. Then he spent the next year goading Japan into attacking in the Pacific so he could send 16 million boys to fight overseas.

What does America First really mean to Trump? It means demanding peace in Ukraine while still sending them weapons and cash to continue the lost war against Russia destroying Ukraine. It means sending tens of billions in bombs to Israel to complete the genocidal ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza. It means working stealthily with Israel to deceive Iran that peace was at hand to implement Israel’s dastardly sneak attack. It means ramping up massive US military force in the Far East to prepare for war with Iran.

Trump’s America First is simply Peoplekind Last.

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL

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