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The nation's largest civil rights organizations said Monday that they were profoundly disappointed by the Obama administration's decision to boycott the U.N. conference on racism this week in Geneva. After weeks of discussion, the White House announced Saturday that it would not send a delegation to the Durban Review Conference because of objectionable language in the gathering's official document. There had been concern that the document and speakers at the conference would be critical of Israel, because at the last race summit in South Africa in 2001, some Middle Eastern states compared Zionism to racism. On Monday, several diplomats walked...

Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) who visited Cuba called their meeting with dictator Fidel Castro “exhilarating,” “very informative,” and “the opportunity of a lifetime.” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif) praised Castro as “an extraordinarily warm person. He rose to greet me, kissed my hand and offered me the very chair he had been sitting in when we first entered the room. This is not the behavior of a mass murderer. Clearly Castro has been maligned by his right-wing critics.” Representative Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) compared his conversation with Castro to “talking with an old friend. The story of...

After returning from a visit to Communist Cuba, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California) and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus were overflowing with praise for former Cuban President Fidel Castro, the Politico reports. Hours after meeting with her idol in the class struggle, Lee, who chairs the liberal CBC, told reporters on Capitol Hill the tender reunion "was quite a moment to behold." Lee's been a friend of Cuba for years. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Illinois) was also filled with love. He said the retired dictator's home was modest and his wife hospitable. "It was almost like listening to an old...

HAVANA -- A "very healthy, very energetic" Fidel Castro asked visiting Congressional Black Caucus members what Cuba could do to help President Barack Obama improve bilateral relations during his first meeting with U.S. officials since falling ill in 2006. Caucus leader Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, said the ailing former Cuban president talked for nearly two hours with her and two other delegation members on Tuesday in a meeting seen as signaling Cuba's willingness to discuss better relations with the United States. "We believe it is time to open dialogue and discussion with Cuba," Lee told a news...

CBC members praise Castro By ALEX ISENSTADT | 4/7/09 7:01 PM EDT CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee and others heaped praise on Castro, calling him warm and receptive during their discussion. Photo: AP Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling for an end to U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, just hours after a meeting with former Cuban president Fidel Castro in Havana. “The fifty-year embargo just hasn’t worked,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Ca.) told reporters this evening at a Capitol press conference after returning from a congressional delegation visit to Cuba. “The bottom line is that we believe...

Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling for an end to U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, just hours after a meeting with former Cuban president Fidel Castro in Havana. “The fifty-year embargo just hasn’t worked,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Ca.) told reporters this evening at a Capitol press conference after returning from a congressional delegation visit to Cuba. “The bottom line is that we believe its time to open dialogue with Cuba.” Lee and others heaped praise on Castro, calling him warm and receptive during their discussion. But the lawmakers disputed Castro's later statement that members of...

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has held a meeting with three members of the US House of Representatives. The event was his first known meeting with US officials since he underwent emergency intestinal surgery in 2006. Castro has not been seen in public since he was taken ill, and ceded power to his brother Raul last year. Analysts say the meeting indicates an increased willingness on the part of Cubans and Americans to resolve tensions between the two countries. A seven-strong team of congressional Democrats is currently in Cuba, looking into ways to improve US-Cuban relations, but only three of...

ACORN, which former members are now trying to have investigated for racketeering (see earlier blog entry), is planning a party for March 12 in Oakland, California. The guests of honor include comedian Roseanne Barr and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California), a Marxist who once betrayed her country. Lee, a former social worker and chief of staff to Rep. Ron Dellums, was first elected to Congress in 1998 to replace Dellums. In 2001 she was the sole lawmaker to vote against authorizing the president to use military force against any group or nation involved in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001....

Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was among six democratic members of Congress who took a Caribbean trip reportedly at the expense of Citigroup. Citigroup is one of the Wall Street firms that has accepted billions of dollars in federal bailout funds. The trip to the island of St. Maarten took place just days after the November election. The House members attended a conference on multi-cultural business. Jackson Lee's office issued a statement regarding her participation in the trip. "Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has been invited to participate for a number of congressional terms in the Caribbean Multicultural Business conference... to...

Rep. Barbara Lee, who admits in her book that she has been called everything from a radical to an anti-American communist, is very pleased with the record of her friend, President Obama, or as she calls him, "Barack." In fact, she thinks he has been “phenomenal.”    At an event sponsored by the National Press Club, where she was introduced by journalist Helen Thomas, Lee said that she’s very excited about the bills that Obama has signed and the executive orders he has issued. And she thinks there is much more to come. She is even working for normalization of...

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, was announced as chairwoman-elect of the Congressional Black Caucus at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday. She takes the 42-member caucus' reins as its power seems ascendant. Members will lead the House Judiciary, Homeland Security and Ways and Means committees in the 111th Congress; another, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., will be the majority whip; and all of them will work in tandem with the nation's first black president, Barack Obama, of whom Lee was an early and ardent supporter. "We have many, many challenges, but those challenges do present historic opportunities," she said Wednesday. "When you...

Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland has been selected to chair the Congressional Black Caucus. The caucus made the announcement at a Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday where Lee accepted the gavel from outgoing Chairwoman Carolyn Kilpatrick. Lee, just elected to her 7th term, said she looked forward to working with President-elect Barack Obama in advancing goals of justice and equality. SNIP

Early signs are Obama has to guard his left Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political WriterFriday, November 14, 2008 (11-13) 17:44 PST -- As he prepares to enter the ring of White House politics, President-elect Barack Obama might need to perfect that left jab just as much as his right hook. Images View Larger Images Not only can the Democratic president-to-be expect the predictable shots from the conservative right, but eventually a pounding from the left if he doesn't deliver "change you can believe in" on issues that concern liberal voters - health care reform, an end to the war in...

Click photo to enlargeTwo young girls play hand games as Congresswoman Barbara Lee and a panel of community leaders...«12345»OAKLAND — Pledging to "take them on big-time," Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, sharply criticized the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency Friday and declared she would push for measures to reduce the fear she said agents have caused East Bay immigrant families. The Oakland Democrat told a packed North Oakland church that she wants to "ensure that ICE is following the rules and that those rules are well-known and publicized — especially when it comes to actions at schools, hospitals, religious centers...

President Bush can't make major, long-term economic and military commitments to Iraq without consulting Congress first, according to a resolution introduced Thursday by several legislative authors, including two Bay Area House members. The resolution isn't binding, acknowledged Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, who crafted it along with Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, and Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, to put on record congressional opposition to such far-reaching pacts. "Consistently I have seen this administration ... really erode our checks and balances, erode our democracy," Lee told reporters Thursday. "This resolution is long overdue and we've got to...

Three Bay Area House members were among nine Democrats who voted against a Republican-sponsored resolution "recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith." Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said she had opposed the bill Tuesday because using Christianity for political purposes is an affront to Christmas. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, invoked "Grinch" in saying the president's impending veto of a children's health insurance plan had him feeling anything but holiday cheer. And Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, said the holiday season "is a time to celebrate all religions and faiths," with Congress doing no more than wishing everyone good tidings. Rep....

Barack Obama on Monday won the endorsement of one of Congress' staunchest opponents of the Iraq war. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said she believes Obama is the most committed among the Democratic presidential hopefuls to ending the war. "This is, for me, about Sen. Obama being the right person at the right time for our nation," Lee, who represents Oakland, said during a conference call with reporters. In endorsing Obama, Lee parted ways with another prominent black Oakland Democrat and her former boss, Mayor Ronald Dellums. Dellums, who spent 27 years in Congress representing the district Lee now serves, endorsed...

If you believe the Beltway hype, members of Congress will return today to a fiery debate about whether or not the president's so-called "surge" has produced military progress in Iraq. Beltway pundits are breathlessly predicting Democrats will be thrown into disarray by claims that the increased troop levels in Iraq may have produced security results. Don't believe the hype. First off, the data are suspect. The Pentagon refuses to share the methodology by which it arrived at the metrics used to claim success. Even if the progress is real, it is hardly encouraging when put in perspective. When discussing the...

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, says she's ending her longtime support of the Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland and would have ended her support sooner if she'd known it had problems. The bakery has been in the news in the past eight days because Oakland police and other agencies raided it on Aug. 3 and arrested seven members and shut it down for health and safety violations. On Thursday, a federal bankruptcy court judge refused a request by a lawyer for the bakery, Fayedine Coulter, to reverse his previous decision to liquidate the bakery. In a motion filed with the...

The House approved legislation Wednesday preventing the Pentagon from establishing any permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. The legislation would bar the federal government from controlling any of that country's oil resources. Democratic leaders scheduled a vote on the measure, which was introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), as part of a concession to some of their liberal members who have been clamoring to de-fund the war. "It makes a clear statement of policy that the U.S. does not intend to maintain an open ended military presence in Iraq and that we won't exercise control over Iraqi oil," Lee said...

Delegates entering the California Democratic Convention hall in San Diego today have been greeted by 14 foot banners: "Investigations, Accountability, IMPEACHMENT Is On Our Table" and "Diplomacy, Not Warfare: DON'T ATTACK IRAN" and "Diplomacy, Not Warfare: END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ" The PDA presence here is ubiquitous -- our green "End the Occupation" stickers are on most peoples' chests, no matter who they're supporting for President. One of the thorniest issues at the convention for the state party leadership is impeachment. It's clear to everyone that the overwhelming majority of delegates want Congressional leaders to move expeditiously toward impeachment of...

Hundreds gather in Oakland to discuss how to get U.S. troops home - OAKLAND -- Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn was the star attraction at a town-hall meeting in Oakland today where hundreds of people gathered to denounce the war in Iraq and call for an immediate withdraw of American troops. Neither Penn nor Rep. Barbara Lee, the Oakland Democrat who has opposed the war since before it began four years ago, offered much in the way of specifics for ending the war, and they were largely preaching to the choir. The enthusiastic, and occasionally boisterous, crowd of 800 or so...

IT'S A QUESTION we should all ask ourselves: Do we have the courage and conviction to stand up for what we believe in, even if everyone around us opposes our position? Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, tested her own character in 2001. In the emotional aftermath of 9/11, she cast the only "no" vote atop Capitol Hill regarding the United States' invasion of Afghanistan. That made the vote a staggering 518-1 against Lee, not to mention the overwhelming public opinion in a revenge-minded America stacked against her. Facing such tsunami-like opposition, she held strong. But where did she find the backbone...

Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, was named to the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday, Lee's office reported. Lee will be one of five California Democrats on the Appropriations Committee, which is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government, according to Lee's office. `I look forward to working with my fellow Californians on the committee to ensure that our state is getting the federal resources we deserve,'' Lee said in a statement. `This committee assignment puts me in a better position than ever to continue to fight for and serve the people of California's 9th District.''

Democratic candidates spend time in church The Democratic candidates for governor went to church on Sunday and prayed for victory, as well they might in a race that is neck and neck heading into Tuesday's primary. Steve Westly, who made his fortune at eBay, and Phil Angelides, a wealthy former developer, have been battering each other with nasty television ads for several weeks. Analysts say voters may respond to the negativity campaign by not voting. Westly, the state controller, appeared with Rep. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles, at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, which he joined three...

_________________________________________ _________________________________________ Harry's latest 'boo-boo'--------------------------------------------------------Posted: January 13, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Just when you think the folks who comprise America's entertainment world can't sink to a new low in America-bashing, one of them goes and opens their mouth. The latest individual who seems to think the grass is greener on the totalitarian side of the world is crooner Harry Belafonte. Belafonte was leading a delegation of Americans to Venezuela to praise the nation's leader, leftist strongman, Hugo Chavez. Chavez has implemented a socialist takeover of Venezuela, and he sees himself in the style of one of his political...

Freeper and Lurkers because of you the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is starting to feel the heat from you who have signed the letter demanding the release of all donations made in the name of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The CBCF is in full defense mode and it is refusing comment on the growning scandal that this foundation and its members are withholding donations, while attacking President Bush, federal officials Republicans and Conservatives as being racist in responding to the needs of the victims. There is still time to apply heat to the CBC as they hope to duck...

BERKELEY - What's in a name? If we're talking about the Berkeley post office, we're talking a Category 5 storm of petty partisan politics, compliments of congressional Republicans. But liberal-minded Berkeley may get the last licks in this brouhaha, which has city leaders and citizens alike spitting mad. First, a little history. In case you missed it, our fearless leaders in Congress outdid themselves last week with their thumbs-down vote on a normally routine matter: the naming of a post office. According to Roll Call, measures to name post office buildings make up 12 percent of the laws Congress passes...

Maudelle Shirek may not get her name on a post office in her hometown, but the city could name a different building after the godmother of Berkeley progressives. She is so revered in one of the nation's most liberal cities that a committee of city officials and citizens has been meeting for four months to find ways to honor Shirek, who left the City Council last year after 20 years and was known for her political activism on national and global issues. On Wednesday, the day after Republicans in the House of Representatives rejected an effort to name Berkeley's main...

(AP) - WASHINGTON-House Republicans rejected a Democratic resolution to name a post office in Berkeley, California, after a longtime local activist and city councilwoman, saying 94-year-old Maudelle Shirek doesn't represent American values. The 215-190 vote was an unusual refusal of an honor that's normally routine. House rules allow lawmakers to propose renaming post offices in their district, and fellow lawmakers usually agree without debate. But Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican who led the opposition, said Shirek's background "sets her apart from, I will say, the most consistent of American values." King gave no details in a speech on the...

WASHINGTON - House Republicans on Tuesday rejected a Democratic resolution to name a post office in Berkeley, Calif., after a longtime local activist and city councilwoman, saying 94-year-old Maudelle Shirek doesn't represent American values. The 215-190 vote was an unusual refusal of an honor that's normally routine. House rules allow lawmakers to propose renaming post offices in their district, and fellow lawmakers usually agree without debate. But Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who led the opposition, said Shirek's background "sets her apart from, I will say, the most consistent of American values." King gave no details in a speech on the...

Cindy Sheehan is getting some help from far left Democrats in Congress, who are urging President Bush to meet with the so-called "Peace Mom." Rep. John Conyers of Michigan penned a letter to Bush making that request, and it was signed by 38 other members of the House of Representatives, all of whom are Democrats with the exception of Vermont's Bernard Sanders, who is an Independent. "We write to respectfully urge you to meet with Cindy Sheehan and other relatives of fallen soldiers who request a meeting to discuss their deep concerns about the war in Iraq," Conyers writes. "We...

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19 - T. J. Parsell was a lanky pimple-faced adolescent bent on mischief. So when he found a toy gun one evening in 1978 while wandering home from a high school party, he thought nothing of pointing it at a store clerk and grumbling, "Your money or your life." He got $50 for what he now calls "a stupid impulsive prank." The incident landed the 17-year-old Parsell in an adult jail, where on his first night, an older inmate spiked his drink with Thorazine and sexually abused and raped him. "While my friends prepared for our high...

U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Her name is among 1,000 women from more than 150 countries collectively nominated for the annual award and one of 14 from the Bay Area. The nominees were chosen by an international team to represent the many women who have worked for peace throughout the world. Lee was selected for being the only member of Congress to vote against the post-Sept. 11 resolution that authorized Pres. Bush to use military force in the fight against terrorism. Project organizers also said that Lee promotes human rights policies and...

ALBANY - U.S. Rep Barbara Lee reiterated her opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and accused the Bush administration of shortchanging veterans by $3 billion in the next federal budget. Lee made her remarks Saturday at a 90-minute town hall meeting on veterans' issues at the Albany community center. Lee said the Iraq war has cost the country $300 billion and she expects a request for more money in the fall. The country needs to spend billions more to provide medical care and mental health services for veterans, she said. "Three to 5 billion dollars is nothing," Lee...

Bay Area Reps. Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey were unanimously elected Tuesday as co-chairwomen of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Lee, D-Oakland, has been co-chairwoman of the group of several dozen liberal Democrats in the past; Woolsey, D-Petaluma, replaces Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. "During the last election cycle, tens of thousands of people got involved with politics for the first time because they were drawn to the basic principles of fairness and justice that the Progressive Caucus has long represented in Congress," said Lee, vowing to continue the commitment to those principles while building "stronger connections with young people and communities of...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Claims by the nation's biggest public pension fund that it has found no investments in Sudan prompted complaints Monday from U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, that the California Public Employees Retirement System is dismissing concerns about supporting Sudanese genocide. Lee released a CalPERS letter which stated it has discovered no Sudanese investments among 1,869 companies in which it owns shares. But CalPERS also acknowledged in the letter that only 11 percent of those companies responded to its survey last year about such investments. Lee spokesman Nathan Britton said the congresswoman considers the pension fund's response inadequate. Lee...

WASHINGTON - A group of congressional Democrats is asking President Bush (news - web sites) to dismiss a senior military intelligence officer who made church speeches that included inflammatory religious remarks while discussing the war on terrorism. In a letter to Bush released Thursday, Rep. Barney Frank (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., and 10 others said action in the matter of Lt. Gen. William Boykin is long overdue, and he must be removed from his post as deputy undersecretary for defense. A Pentagon (news - web sites) investigation concluded that Boykin violated regulations by failing to make clear he was...

Omega Letter Christian Intelligence Digest Ten Congress Members Call For Boykins' Removal They Were Appalled By His Mention Of GodCommentary on the NewsSaturday, September 04, 2004OL StaffTen members of Congress wrote a letter to President Bush stating that Lt. Gen. William Boykin should be dismissed as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. In case you don't remember, Boykin is the man in charge of hunting for Osama and was caught speaking to a church while in uniform. The letter states that Boykin has offended Muslims and he lacks objectivity. They seem to be overlooking the fact that it...

"I'm proud that John Kerry is with us," she continued. "He's going to continue to fight for human rights and civil rights for all." -Rep. Barbara Lee, CSSSM /// "...Democrat member of the House Armed Services Committee, Dellums went to Grenada to conduct his own fact-finding tour...Dellums acted as an agent of the Communist enemy in abetting his hostile designs against the United States. His emissary in this act of betrayal was Barbara Lee." -David Horowitz,FPM

On September 2, eleven members of Congress, led by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), submitted an official 'Dear Colleague' letter to President Bush calling on the dismissal and firing of Lt. Gen. William Boykin as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence for his anti-Muslim remarks made while in official military uniform. The letter reads, in part: "One such step…is for you to dismiss Lt. Gen. William Boykin as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. We were appalled when we learned of the comments General Boykin had made invoking religion in an inflammatory and inappropriate way while in uniform. Many of...

Only on a panel sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future.Boston"ARE YOU ALL READY TO TAKE BACK AMERICA?" Robert Borosage, the co-director of Campaign for America's Future, asked on Wednesday, standing in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge. And the crowd sure was ready. They hooted and hollared. They roared and screamed. They nodded their heads vigorously. The day before, Michael Moore had stopped by. On Wednesday, Reps. Dennis Kucinich and Barbara Lee, former senator Gary Hart, and Ambassador Joe Wilson took the stage.The occasion was a debate on the Iraq war, which may...

Claudia Bermúdez, daughter of slain Nicaraguan Contra leader Enrique Bermúdez is challenging Oakland, California tax and spend Democrat Barbara Lee (D-9). Claudia Bermúdez calls herself a Reagan Republican. To learn more http://www.goclaudia.com/

IMPEACH BUSH On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council will consider recommending to U.S. Representative Barbara Lee that she support the impeachment of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft. These unelected criminals have not only violated U.S. and international law by involving the U.S. in wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, but have now supported the violent overthrow of a legitimate democracy and ally in Haiti, and also kidnapped a chief of state and his wife. (The cross-examination of Noriega by the members of the Congressional Black Caucus yesterday demonstrated this without a doubt.) All of these actions are clearly...

Rep. Barbara Lee's Republican challenger this year is an online CEO, an energetic campaigner -- and also the daughter of the Nicaraguan Contras' late military commander, a heritage that has some East Bay liberals and human rights activists howling. Claudia Bermudez, 50, of Oakland, said she'll confront Lee on issues from homeland security to education. "I'm a businesswoman, I live here in the district -- I don't come as a Contra leader to come and overtake Berkeley." But she touts her father's legacy on her campaign Web site, saying she's "proud to carry on a tradition of political activism that...

Official honored for her 'fearless support of women's rights' Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, will receive the National Organization for Women's Woman of Courage Award today at NOW's national conference in Washington, D.C. "Barbara Lee has been a courageous legislator," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "NOW is grateful for Barbara Lee's fearless support of women's rights, civil liberties and peace. Her bravery in standing up for her beliefs and her commitment to equality and justice are an inspiration to women's rights supporters across the country." Lee said she's honored. "I accept it in the name of the many women of courage...

Chicago (CNSNews.com) - California Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) accuses the Bush administration of pursuing "white supremacist" policies in America. "This administration and allies in Congress are rolling back advances in racial equality, economic opportunity and gender equity," Lee said in a speech at the Rainbow/PUSH organization's 32nd annual convention on Monday. In her keynote address to a women's luncheon, Lee noted that even though the Bush administration distanced itself from Trent Lott's controversial remarks last year (Lott lamented Sen. Strom Thurmond's failed 1948 presidential campaign), the administration has essentially adopted the same racially segregationist platform that Thurmond advanced in 1948....

WASHINGTON -- Looking back on the wreckage of 10 years of lost elections, Democrats in Congress know it's broke. The question is how to fix it. As they look to next year's House races, various Democratic factions -- the moderate Blue Dogs, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific-American Caucus -- are joining to tackle such issues as President Bush's tax cut and changing priorities in the federal budget. "We're much more unified than we were in the past," said Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Calif.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,...

<p>Naked women, transvestites, dogs, dancers, singer Harry Belafonte and others joined Rep. Barbara Lee, California Democrat, for an antiwar protest Saturday to "praise the patriotism of the demonstrators and condemn the military action in Iraq," the Oakland Tribune reported yesterday.</p>

In a cruise dubbed the “fantastic voyage,” Haitians will have a chance to turn their image as “boat people” upside down. With the Cruising Into History Haiti 2004 Initiative, launched by the Haiti Support Project, Haiti will finally be honored for what organizers call its triumphant accomplishment of breaking the chains of slavery. On Aug. 14-21, 2004, an estimated 3,100 passengers will be transported to Haiti from Miami on a mega-ship as a part of the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Haitian Revolution.“We want people to get on board,” said Ron Daniels, founder and chairman of Haiti Support...