Major Demonstration Planned in Jena to Protest Pending Charges Against Six Students

RE: Major Demonstration Planned in Jena to Protest Pending Charges Against Six Students by via Democracy Now Tuesday Sep 18th, 2007 7:41 AM -------------------------------- Thank you for welcoming me. Lucien BONNET PLEASE: SEE: "Bill A Ri And There Was Light!" in www.contact-canadahaiti.ca THE SPACE AGE, OPTICS, AND RACISM Racism, more particularly anti-Black racism, shows itself in many ways. But the general public is only aware of the visible tip of the iceberg: race riots, various kinds of segregation and obvious racist remarks. The other part of the iceberg, while less visible, is fundamentally more important and never ceases to affect human life. It constitutes, in short, a heavy handicap in inter-human relations and even blocks the road leading to scientific progress. One scientist who has found this to be true is Professor Carl Sagan, the famous astrophysicist from NASA. Through the careful study of cutting-edge research in astrophysics, among other areas, he was able to detect a set of anti-Black prejudices which, in his opinion, hinder progress and represent brakes on the pursuit of new discoveries in the Space Age. Professor Sagan's astute observation provoked a positive and yet critical reaction on the part of Mr. Lucien Bonnet, a member of the Black community in Canada and a specialist in optics, that " exclusive preserve of the scientific world, that beloved field whose seemingly complicated and dangerous approaches are actually transparently obvious " The Western world, accepting Newton's theory, has declared that white is the synthesis of all the colors; actually, according to Mr. Bonnet, the reverse is true: white is the " visible " analysis or breaking-down of light or colors, whereas black is the " invisible " synthesis or compounding of colors. In other words, according to the author's thesis, darkness or blackness and thus, by extension, " Black Holes ", are a source of energy and light. This raw material of light energy culminates, at its highest degree of radiation, in the neutralization of all the colors of the spectrum in the form of " white light ", to use the common term. Consequently, " absolute blackness ", the absorption of all colors, is a divisible compound of light. Without any doubt, Newton's theory, in excluding black, provides only a partial interpretation of the concept of light. Lucien Bonnet's thesis is intended to show that black is not only an integral part of the light process but the true synthesis of it. In this view, the concept of light is thus seen to be a " divisible " whole including a range of intensities (or colors), where black is the " invisible "(or absorbed) form of light energy. It was in order to introduce this new scientific vision of optics that Mr. Bonnet addressed the above-mentioned, particularly relevant, letter to Professor Sagan. This letter, published in booklet form, aroused considerable interest in Canadian and Haitian circles. In Canada, two prestigious publications "Le Devoir" and "Le Québec Industriel" mentioned it. While the 17th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union was taking place in Montreal in August 1979, Quebec's Telemedia Network, including Montreal television station Témétropole, interviewed the author, Lucien Bonnet. In Haiti, the weekly magazine Le Patriote republished in its entirety the document sent to Dr. Sagan. Aware that the ideas contained in that document might be of interest to the Christian world, the author also sent it to the highest authorities of the Catholic Church, as well as to the Supreme Pontiff, His Holiness Pope John Paul II. A full understanding of the elements making up this subject will doubtless help the reader to consider color problems, like those of optics and racism, more serenely and objectively from now on. Lucien BONNET Article published in the Montreal daily newspaper Le Devoir on June 25, 1980. SEE: "Bill A Ri And There Was Light!" in www.contact-canadahaiti.ca