{"id":1480,"date":"2007-10-15T22:19:25","date_gmt":"2007-10-15T22:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/911-truth\/cynthia-mckinneys-big-issue\/1480\/"},"modified":"2007-10-15T22:20:39","modified_gmt":"2007-10-15T22:20:39","slug":"cynthia-mckinneys-big-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/911-truth\/cynthia-mckinneys-big-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Cynthia McKinney’s Big Issue – 9\/11 Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a story which appeared in Big Issue No. 765, 8-15 October, 2007, pp. 6-9. John Bird, the publisher, was intent upon meeting her in person, but was off to Japan just as she was arriving in the UK. The reporter, Helena Drakakis, was one of the few British journalists who has covered the 9\/11 Truth Movement, having done a story about William Rodriguez and his tour of the UK earlier this year.<\/em><\/p>\n

Courage Under Fire<\/p>\n

A constant thorn in the US government\u2019 side, controversial former congresswoman Cynthia Mckinney tells Helena Drakakis why the authorities have been revealed as \u2018huge liars\u2019<\/p>\n

Cynthia McKinney hates the word \u2018conspiracy\u2019. As a former democrat and congresswoman she is never more than one step away from controversy, and she\u2019s in London to promote the 9\/11 Truth Movement, an organisation which disputes the official version of the Twin Towers attacks in 2001.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am just asking for the truth,\u201d she says as she carefully files her nails on the kitchen table of a west London flat. \u201cI am not into conspiracy, but there has been no independent commission over the events of that day. There are explanations that don\u2019t explain and conclusions that don\u2019t conclude. I just want people to demand the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever accusations have been levelled at McKinney (and there are many), no one could deny that she is determined. Not acting that way would betray her heritage, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand state-sponsored terrorism, but I am not scared. Malcolm X knew he was going to be assassinated, but on that day he told his wife to get dressed, to dress his children and he left to make his final speech. How can I ever say I am afraid of anything? That would be cowardice,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

McKinney, 52, was born in Atlanta, Georgia in the same year Rosa Parks sparked the black civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat to a white bus passenger. McKinney didn\u2019t know Martin Luther King personally, but she is close to people who did.<\/p>\n

Her father Billy McKinney was one of Atlanta\u2019s first black law enforcement officers, and a former Georgia state representative.<\/p>\n

As a black single mother, she has attracted disapproval and support in equal measure \u2014 and at times she\u2019s appeared as a lone crusader and voice on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

Since her debut into public office in 1988 she has been a constant thorn in the side of consecutive US governments \u2014 always the one to ask those awkward questions government officials would rather avoid answering. Her dogmatic approach has led to her being branded a \u201cloony\u201d, a \u201cloose cannon\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d by the US media and by members of her own party.<\/p>\n

After George Bush Snr\u2019s departure from the White House in 1993, she was the only member of Congress to demand a hearing on his involvement with Canadian gold-mining company, Barrick Gold. She wanted wanted to know whether its Congolese mining operations had fuelled a civil war.<\/p>\n

After 9\/11 she asked why certain groups and individuals \u2014 some of them members of the Bin Laden family \u2014 escaped investigation prior to the World Trade Center attacks, even though the FBI and CIA had recognised them as suspect terrorist organisations.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina she questioned why African-Americans are still twice as likely than any other race to be paid less than the minimum wage, and why \u2014 in a report by US homeless organisations Hull House \u2014 that in a city such as Chicago it would take 200 years for black quality of life to equal that of whites.<\/p>\n

So far, she says, she has not received any credible answers.<\/p>\n

She hesitates when she\u2019s asked about the PhD she\u2019s planning at the Univeristy of California, Berkely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure I want to tell people because it\u2019s controversial,\u201d she laughs. But, after a short pause, she can\u2019t help herself. \u201cI\u2019m looking at Cointelpro \u2014 the US government intelligence programme which targeted political dissidents. There are documents dating back to 1919 proving the US government used surveillance to target the black community,\u201d she says. Although the FBI claims Cointelpro no longer exists, McKinney is resolute that it still remains in all but name.<\/p>\n

She also claims, in the aftermath of 9\/11, that she was also under surveillance.<\/p>\n

As was her father: \u201cWe got used to it as kids,\u201d she says casually.<\/p>\n

But far from seeing successive US governments through Machiavellian-tinted glasses, she\u2019s insistent when she talks about government as capable of being \u201can agent of positive change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1954, under Eisenhower, the government began to be seen acting for the people. Jimmy Carter proved state power could be used with conscience. That is why I am appalled at what happened under the Bush administration. The government was illegitimate in the first place. The election was stolen from the people,\u201d she says. \u201cMy father taught me service without expectation of reward. That is not the motivation of those running for office.\u201d<\/p>\n

She admits that the efforts of the 9\/11 Truth Movement in holding the government accountable, in part, attracted her to the cause. That a group of people from \u201cdifferent strains of outrage\u201d can be moved enough to mobilise themselves at a grassroots level interest her even more.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople of conscience see the government as having taken a wrong turn and they have begun mobilising for a different path. Elected officials have lost their principles and the American people need to reclaim the government for themselves,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

According to McKinney, this reality did not hit home in the aftermath of 9\/11 but only in the months and now years since Hurricane Katrina destroyed most of New Orleans. She describes the catastrophe as a \u201crevelation for the world\u201d and the government\u2019s response to it as \u201can insult to all intelligent American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt showed the US government to be a hugely successful propagandist and a huge liar,\u201d she says, her southern drawl suddenly reaching crescendo. \u201cKatrina unveiled shocking statistics. Black people have known them for years but suddenly those figures meant something to white people. The pauperisation of this country at the expense of a war has moved people of conscience. It feels the same as when the American people woke up to what was happening in Vietnam.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is perhaps no surprise that McKinney has spent the last year being courted by the US Green Party as their next leader and 2008 presidential candidate \u2014 an offer she has gracefully bowed out from earlier this month but is thought now to be reconsidering.<\/p>\n

Her dalliance with the Green Party came after the Democratic Party ousted her (she claims) from Congress in January before a vote over funding for the Iraq war, which she vehemently opposed. It was reminiscent of 1991 when her colleagues walked out on her after she spoke on the floor of the Georgia House of Representatives against Bush Snr\u2019s bombing of Baghdad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Greens are good people. They are idealistic, but at heart they want the best for the planet and people. Their activists have always supported me politically,\u201d she reflects.<\/p>\n

What McKinney will do next is unclear, but it is doubtful she will stay on the sidelines of political life for long. \u201cI guess I am a voice people like. It has been hard for me, but I know I have to get up every morning and just keep on truckin\u2019,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a story which appeared in Big Issue No. 765, 8-15 October, 2007, pp. 6-9. John Bird, the publisher, was intent upon meeting her in person, but was off to Japan just as she was arriving in the UK. The reporter, Helena Drakakis, was one of the few British journalists who has covered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-911-truth","7":"category-general","8":"category-latest-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1480\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}