From: TransAfrica Forum News

"Our contract with Danny Glover runs through January 2004 and we intend to honor our contract... "

This message resonates with the sound of victory for our "Dial-in for Democracy" Campaign. It was launched in response to the right-wing attack on TransAfrica Forum Board Chairperson Danny Glover. Our action alert last week asked friends and supporters to contact MCI to insist that it not back down in its relationship with Danny in the face of attacks from right-wing extremists. Our alert was followed by an outstanding commentary by Tavis Smiley on the Tom Joyner Morning Show (May 15th), along with other media attention. A massive response ensued. MCI was deluged with telephone calls, e-mails and faxes.

This morning we confirmed that the message above is the official position of MCI. To put it in another way, we won!

On behalf of TransAfrica Forum, I personally thank you for your overwhelming support. Dial-in for Democracy was not simply about defending Danny Glover and his right to appear in television spots for MCI. It is about Danny Glover's right to free speech without fear of being targeted and isolated from any entity with which he chooses to be associated. It is about the rights of all of us to be free to oppose the policies of this administration without fear of reprisal, repression or the bully-type tactics that characterized the war on Iraq. If these extremists can successfully silence Danny Glover, they are a step closer to silencing all of us.

While this immediate campaign was a success, none of us can afford to rest on our laurels. What has become clear is that there are active forces who wish to narrow the acceptable space for debate. Using smear tactics and fear, their hope is to crush opposition to their agenda. We cannot ever permit this to happen. This effort in support of Danny is a reminder that in a society that professes democratic values, we all have a right, and in fact a responsibility, to express our views and be heard. Again, thanks very much for your support.

In struggle,
Bill Fletcher, Jr.,
President TransAfrica Forum

There has recently been renewed attacks on Danny Glover for his stand against the war. See the note from TransAfrica to the right, which indicates that a victory was won in this episode. [Danny Glover is currently performing on Broadway in Athol Fugard's "Master Harold and the Boys".]

Danny Glover's Long Road to Modesto, Feb '02

May 21, 2003
Danny Glover, Victim
of Privatized McCarthyism
By Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive

The New McCarthyism is resembling the old variety more and more these days, with the exception that the witch-hunting has been privatized. Instead of a Senator Joe McCarthy hounding alleged communists in Hollywood and elsewhere, this time rightwing radio personalities and Internet sites are doing the work.

The latest example is the attack on actor Danny Glover, star of the "Lethal Weapon" movies and pitchman for MCI.

Glover is an outspoken critic of President Bush and a longtime progressive activist. He opposed the Iraq War, he's assailed Bush's domestic policies, and he's even called Bush a racist.

These views are red meat for the media hawks, chief among them Joe Scarborough of MSNBC, as Laura Berman noted in her May 16 article for the Detroit News. Scarborouh organized a campaign to have his viewers deluge MCI with calls demanding Glover's head.

On May 15, Scarborough declared victory. "We received an e-mail today announcing that MCI would no longer be using Danny Glover as a spokesman," Scarborough said. "Because of your calls, Danny Glover is being held accountable for his comments."

MCI said in a statement, "Our contract with Danny Glover runs through January 2004, and we intend to honor our contract." It also said, "with the campaign having run its course, we are moving to new creative, which is more closely tied to our new MCI corporate branding campaign in terms of its look and feel."

So don't expect to see Danny Glover starring in that new campaign any time soon.

"The whole idea is to crush any kind of dissent," Glover told AP. "Something is happening now that is very dark and very sinister in this country, and for us to not admit it is happening is, in some ways, for us to be blind."

This is how it works in America today. If you dare to criticize your President, you're branded a traitor, as Glover is on a couple of web sites.

Your income is threatened, not that Glover is going to starve or anything, but if he indeed lost his pitching job because of the mobathon, that sends a sobering signal to actors with smaller wallets to keep their mouths shut.

And when celebrities are punished for speaking out, many Americans get the message that maybe it's just too risky to exercise our First Amendment rights.

These are the sounds of silencing that are reverberating all across the country today.
- Matthew Rothschild
Also see: http://www.g-way.net/FreeSpeech