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Re: Gary Webb Presente!

Submitted December 14, 2004 - 4:23 am by Ron Smith
I first heard Gary Webb's Authentic Journalism in Winter 1996 at The Evergreen State College, when my professor, Angela Gilliam read quotes from Dark Alliance each day as it was printed in the San Jose Mercury News. Here, at last, proof of what we knew all along, the connections, the smuggling, the corruption that laid communities to waste from Colombia to Compton. I was completely blown away by the Dark Alliance series, it showed me what real investigative journalism was all about.

I learned a few weeks later of Gary's dismissal from the SJMN and saw what the mainstream media do to a real journalist as the New York Times began a smear campaign against his meticulous hard work and reputation. The website was impeccable. Gary's work on Dark Alliance was one of the rare gems, completely documented, irrefutable, dangerous. At the time, the commotion around the exposé was palpable. I can remember reading about the CIA director at the time being pelted in Southern California, addressing an audience from some of the communities most affected by the crimes Gary had documented. The hiphop community rose up and demanded, with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, an end to the CIA. It smelled like revolution.

I didn't meet Gary until 2002, when my good friend Angelo Sacerdote and I made the drive to Sacramento to interview Gary for my documentary project on the impacts of US military aid to Colombia. Gary could be heard from time to time on Flashpoints and other programs on KPFA in Berkeley, California. I thought maybe we'd have a chance to get one of the true heroes of journalism on tape. Gary welcomed us into his home, allowed us all the time we needed for a great interview, and was encouraging for the work we planned to carry out. Gary was warm, forthright, and eschewed conjecture for cold facts. When I read of his death, I was shocked into silence, then yelled out in the middle of a Seattle Coffeeshop.

What the Fxck.
I don't know what else to add.

I know the facts of Gary's death will emerge, but only through the kind of investigation for which he was both famous and infamous. Whatever happened to you Gary, we'll do our best to follow in your footsteps. You are a true martyr and we'll never forget the work you've done for us.

Paz con Justicia y Libertad.

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