New Emmett Till Video Posted on YouTube; Mississippi, Conspiracies, Assassinations, Colonia Dignidad All Featured

Susan Klopfer, author

The Plan
http://susanklopfer.com

Publication Date: June 2013

The author of a new fiction book due out in June focused on the multiple murders of two black, gay lawyers and a straight, white FBI agent, today released a Mississippi-based video on YouTube.

"The Plan is based on actual and fictional characters. It starts out in the Mississippi Delta during the modern civil rights movement and moves into South America, as the truth about a torture colony there is coming to light."

Susan Klopfer, the author, once lived in the Delta, on the grounds of Parchman Penitentiary, before moving to Ecuador, where she currently resides. 

I wrote The Plan after spending a number of years living and doing research in the Delta, and wanted to share these photos with readers before the book actually comes out in June," Klopfer said.

"I especially hope that students will find this video on the Internet helpful, because it features dozens of photographs ranging from a civil war era, popular steamboat on the Mississippi River, to burial markers often found around the cotton fields, homes of early civil rights pioneers, as well as the faces of people who helped make a difference in the Modern Civil Rights Movement.

“In Mississippi, this movement was initiated by returning WWII veterans including Amzie Moore, Aaron Henry and Medgar Evers."

Delta Blues lovers will find photographs of The Crossroads sign in Clarksdale, a bluesman wall mural,  a famous rail crossing, Robert Johnson, the Dockery Plantation and more.

"The video also features photos relating to Emmett Till’s murder as well as Mississippi Burning, and I plan to add more photos as I go through my collection."

Klopfer said she included pictures of an early service station owned and operated by Moore, "who had one of the few bathrooms in the Delta that black people were allowed to use in Jim Crow times," as well as photos of the "burned out interior” of Henry's home in Clarksdale.

What’s The Plan about?

“In a nutshell, The Plan is a digital novel about two murdered gay, black lawyers (from Mississippi and Alabama) who probably knew too much about the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and President John F. Kennedy – and a murdered white, Vicksburg detective, formerly an FBI agent, who got in over his head in New Orleans, working for one of the alleged JFK assassination planners – with a quick sidetrip to Ecuador.”

Klopfer said she wrote The Plan with the Fiftieth Anniversary of the JFK assassination in mind. “We just cannot let this date pass by without asking questions. Few people, except for government officials, actually believe the Warren Commission Report was valid. It was even invalidated by a later House Select Committee on Assassinations that concluded the killing of the president was a conspiracy.

“Since only two reporters actually covered the civil trial relating to the murder of Dr. King, we understand well why the national media has continued to stick with its basically flawed reports on this death. In the words of Tommy Smothers -- "I feel nothing [for the national media] but total embarrassment"

Klopfer said she believes it is imperative that armchair historians and lesser known authors keep pushing for truth. “I personally look forward to the release of classified CIA documents on Colonia Dignidad in Chile, showing the agency's involvement in this torture chamber and its use of the facility as a training camp.

“For anyone asking what THIS is about, start googling – because most likely readers in the United States will be kept from the complete truth on this emerging news story, as well.”

The author said The Plan actually revolves around recent reports from Chile on a lawsuit filed against the that government by victims and relatives of people killed in the Southern Andes “Nazi torture chamber.”

“Will the U.S. government be embarrassed when it all comes out? I hope so. It’s our tax dollars at work, so at least anger is a possible response. But first the whole story is required."

The Plan is set for June publication and will be available on all major online bookstores in digital format.

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Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network: Main Stream Media Did Not 'Catch' all Election News

Received from GLSEN
Nov, 7, 2012

For those invested in equality for LGBT people, last night's election had several primary story lines – races and issues that loomed large on Twitter and our personal networks but that were not always front and center in the mainstream coverage. We bit our nails and sought out the latest returns until the historic results became clear:

• Tammy Baldwin became the first out Senator ever;
• Marriage equality won popular votes in Maine and Maryland, and is currently leading in Washington state, the first time ever that same-sex couples won the right to marry at the polls;
• An effort to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota was defeated at the polls;
• A pro-marriage equality Justice of the Iowa Courts was reelected despite being targeted by anti-LGBT forces;
• The nation reelected a President who endorsed marriage equality, LGBT students' rights, and LGBT-inclusive bullying-prevention legislation; repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell and refused to defend the "Defense of Marriage Act"; led federal agencies that have sought to act in the interest of LGBT people, particularly youth; and appointed LGBT people, including GLSEN's founding Executive Director Kevin Jennings, to a remarkable number of positions in his administration.

These victories for equality – whatever one thinks of the results of the Presidential election – underscore changing attitudes toward LGBT issues in our society that are the result of decades of hard work to change laws, to reach hearts and minds, and to integrate the lives and needs of LGBT people into policy and practice in this country wherever possible.

And all of that change was possible only because of coalition-building and years of effort to build strong partnerships for equality and justice across communities and lines of difference.

If you've made it this far, I ask you to pause for a moment and reread that previous sentence. That idea can become a cliché, stripped of meaning from overuse. But this election and the internal debates now looming for the Republican Party underscore powerfully what those concepts – coalition-building and partnership – really mean.

This was brought home for me powerfully this morning when I heard a conservative commentator respond to the suggestion that the Republican Party might need to rethink its approach to an increasingly diverse electorate in order to build a new majority. Current Republican strategy has its roots in the late 1960s, when a young Pat Buchanan suggested to Richard Nixon that the party could divide the country in half and win by retaining the "larger half." In other words, no need to broaden your base, just create a sharp, dividing line, and motivate those who agree with you by any means necessary.

Asked if the party might need to do more to bring new communities into its base, the commentator replied: "Ideas trump all. When you broaden the base, you weaken the foundation. You begin to lose sight of what you stand for." His comment efficiently killed a discussion of alternative Republican approaches to advancing conservative ideas.

In a way, he succinctly articulated the polar opposite of a coalition and partnership-based approach: a commitment to ideological purity over the kind of strategic clarity that powers great coalitions and effective partnerships. An approach that says "This is what you must each believe and act on" rather than "this is what we intend to accomplish together and let's agree on how we will work together to achieve that goal."

For twenty years, GLSEN has stood firmly for a coalition and partnership based approach to the long, hard work of change. Sometimes we have sought power from others in alliance, sometimes we brought our own power to bear on a common goal. Always, we have tried to do the listening and thinking and negotiating required to bring people and organizations together on common ground for a common purpose. Our mission statement articulates GLSEN's commitment to valuing difference itself for the contribution it makes to a diverse and healthy society. Last night we saw the incredible power of difference assembled for a common purpose to drive victories for equality and justice. The power to bring us closer to the day when each member of every school community learns to respect and accept all people regardless of sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity.

It is our youth who still struggle, in the hallways and classrooms where they spend their days, for the very basic tenet of equality – respect. That is why GLSEN has made passage of the Safe Schools Improvement Act and Student Non-Discrimination Act a priority. I am hopeful that the historic nature of yesterday’s election will help bring passage of these important bills closer to reality, and help ensure safe environments for every student to thrive.

Sincerely,

Eliza Byard
Executive Director

DOJ Settlement: HIV Discrimination

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, May 11, 2012

Health Care Providers Settle with Justice Department Over Complaints of HIV Discrimination

The Justice Department announced that it has reached two settlements today resolving claims that health care providers refused to serve people with HIV in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  

The first complaint was filed by a man with HIV who went to the Mercy Medical Group Midtown Clinic in Sacramento, Calif.   After meeting with the patient and examining him, a podiatrist at the clinic informed the patient of his treatment options.   Although surgery was one of the treatment options, the podiatrist incorrectly told the patient that he could not perform the surgery because of a risk that he would contract HIV from the patient during surgery.   The United States determined that the podiatrist’s actions violated the ADA by denying the patient the full and equal enjoyment of the services offered at the clinic on the basis of his disability.

The second complaint was filed by a man with HIV who went to the Knoxville Chiropractic Clinic North in Knoxville, Tenn., for chiropractic treatment following an automobile accident.   After examining him, the doctor determined that the patient required 24 subsequent appointments to treat his injuries.   On his third visit to the clinic, however, the receptionist informed him that the doctor would not see him because they could not treat people “like him.”   The United States determined that Knoxville Chiropractic Centers had a blanket policy of refusing treatment to persons with HIV in violation of the ADA.

“It is critical that people with disabilities, including HIV, not be denied equal access to goods and services, especially to health care services.   The Civil Rights Division takes discrimination based on unfounded fears and stereotypes about HIV very seriously,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.   “We applaud Mercy Medical Group and CHW Medical Foundation, as well as Knoxville Chiropractic Centers, for working cooperatively with the Justice Department to resolve these matters quickly and fairly.”  

The settlement agreements require the entities to develop and implement a non-discrimination policy and to train staff on the requirements of the ADA.   In addition, Mercy Medical Group and CHW Medical Foundation are required to pay $60,000 to the complainant and $25,000 as a civil penalty, and Knoxville Chiropractic Centers is required to pay $10,000 as a civil penalty.  

The ADA requires public accommodations, like doctors’ offices, medical clinics, hospitals and other health care providers, to provide individuals with disabilities, including people with HIV, equal access to goods, services, privileges, accommodations, facilities, advantages and accommodations.  

The Department of Justice provides a webpage specifically dedicated to information about the ADA and HIV at www.ada.gov/aids.   Those interested in finding out more about these settlements or the obligations of public accommodations under the ADA may call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA information line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TDD), or access its ADA website at www.ada.gov.  ADA complaints may be filed by email toada.complaint@usdoj.gov.