Jackson Free Press

The Ward 2 People's Task Force and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement joined forces Saturday to hand out about 4,000 free compact fluorescent light bulbs to Mississippi residents. People could pick up the squiggly shaped, low-energy bulbs at New Hope Church on the campus of Tougaloo College, True Gospel Church in Forest, and at Greater Northside Baptist Church and United Christian Church in Jackson.

The light bulbs, which average in price at about $8, come courtesy of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez, a socialist, made significant headlines in 2008 after threatening to cut the U.S. off from his country's extensive oil reserves following a $12 billion Exxon-Mobil lawsuit launched against the South American nation after Venezuela attempted to nationalize one of the Exxon-Mobil oil projects. The U.S. government officially sided with Texas-based Exxon-Mobile in the lawsuit, triggering Chavez' ire. It was not the first time. Former President George W. Bush and Chavez frequently traded barbs during the final years of Bush's presidency. Bush even refused to allow Chavez to donate gasoline to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Ward 2 People's Task Force representative Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the son of Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba, said his organization disagreed with Bush's handling of the Katrina situation.

"They offered to send indigent people free gasoline, and it was denied by the U.S. government. Our position is that we weren't in favor of that decision, and we feel that we're in a position where we'd like to help poor folks—indigent, elderly and disabled people—or anybody having economic problems," Lumumba said, adding that the organization saw no reason to let disagreements over politics affect the needs of the community.

"If they are willing to give light bulbs to indigent people, we'll take them, even though we're not always in political agreement. We need people in a better position than they are now," Lumumba said.

The Venezuelan leader has also donated light bulbs in Houston, Texas, and other U.S. locations, although Chavez' Venezuelan critics claim his international generosity hides his administration's failure to expand his own country's electrical power grid. The country recently put its domestic electricity system under state ownership.

Previous Comments

ID

152859

Comment

There was an episode of "Parks and Recreation" that lampooned this issue. For what it's worth, I think the low-point of our relationship with Chavez probably came when President Bush essentially endorsed a military coup against Chavez. This outraged members of the OAS, for good reason. The United States has rarely seen a military coup in Latin America it did not like. In this case, it backfired spectacularly when the coup fell apart after a few days. As usual, Bush did a heckuva job diplomatically, and John Bolton was impressed.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2009-10-26T13:58:29-06:00

ID

152868

Comment

Why are we accepting aid from a Communist Thug again?

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-10-26T16:47:39-06:00

ID

152880

Comment

This is a great step moving forward. Coming to the relief of a community's need is what one is supposed to do once in office. This clearly demonstrates what it means to put the people first and their needs met. Great job, Councilman Lumumba! A Ward 2 Goes... So Goes A Nation!

Author

americasdream

Date

2009-10-27T13:24:10-06:00