When the Van Jones/White House controversy broke the blogs went crazy researching the Bay Area Group STORM. Within minutes hundreds, if not thousands of sites, had direct links to the STORM overview downloadable .pdf and most blogs cited that R.A.W. (Roots Against War) was the precursor to Van Jones' STORM. But who was R.A.W. and whatever happened to them? Did they just disappear? Or did they just merge with STORM and call it a day? If so, was Van Jones the only one who used his radicalism to further his career? This would be highly suspect considering the amount of potential employment opportunities open to left-wing radicals once they decide to stop marching and turn legitimate. Most radicals make their name in the grassroots...and then are forgotten during the transition time between marching and taking on real jobs.

Kareim McKnight (AKA Xochitl Johnson) Currently works as a Career Counselor in the Healthcare Workers West Division of the S.E.I.U. She is the co-founder of R.A.W. and founded the organization during the first Gulf War during the early 90's as a group (mostly young women) opposed to the military action in Kuwait as well as the effect these actions had on communities of color. Once the group had realized that their movement could move beyond the anti-war and racial justice aspect of their initial cause their anti-capitalism sentiments became clear. in a 1991 Z Magazine article (later republished in "Collateral Damage-The New World Order at Home and Abroad" pg. 345-357) McKnight said "I think that another important aspect of our principles is that we feel that liberation from capitalism and imperialism will not occur unless women and people of color are at the forefront of the struggle." Later in the interview Kareim talked about the teach-ins they did at local high schools and the groups that they targeted. Kareim stated "The schools we predominantly go to are Latino, Asian, African-American." When asked how white students respond, Naheed Islam said "The white students are not the ones we are targeting. They have other sources to get their information." If the anti-war movement was really focused on how it disproportionately affected the communities of color, shouldn't white students be included in this movement as well? One would think they would be the most important demographic for bringing about change and make great allies in this battle for social justice. Unless, of course, your real goal is to create diversity amongst races; then you should limit your efforts to minorities in order to properly stoke the flames of racial inequality.

However, that was the early 90's and most people change with time. But not Kareim. In August 2002 she was arrested in a peaceful Israel-Palestine protest in California. It wasn't Kareim's actions that drew my attention to the story in The Pasadena Weekly but rather her remarks and the writer's remarks that grabbed my attention. "I'm an agitator, thats what I do." McKnight said, followed by the writer's (Peter Piasecki) remarks "who is not shy about labeling herself a communist and a peaceful revolutionary" During the time of her arrest her father Ralph McKnight, member of the executive board of the California Democratic party, asked for donations to the "Kareim McKnight defense fund" and suggested that all donations be made to notinourname.net under Xochitl. According to my sources, McKnight did nothing wrong legally, and I'm sure her case was thrown out. After 6 years Not In Our Name was closed on March 31, 2008. McKnight has also worked with Inner City Youth taking them on rafting expeditions sponsored by The Sierra Club in March 2008 and March 2009. In the final report of the 2008 rafting training trip it was stated that scholarship funds were used for the trip. What we don't know is what scholarship was siphoned or where the funds were intended to originally go.

Now Kareim McKnight can rest comfortably in her new job at the S.E.I.U.-UHW as a career counselor. After all, considering labor unions were an invention of Communism, is there a better place a communist could be employed? This division of the S.E.I.U. was taken over by Andy Stern shortly after he was voted president of the S.E.I.U. and there has been some controversy surrounding his displacement of 60,000 U.H.W. workers into unstable organizations along with his support of fellow S.E.I.U. leaders who have recently come under fire for misappropriating funds and sexual harassment. Joan Braconi, the head of McKnight's division wrote a letter stating her disapproval of Stern's leadership as the new president of S.E.I.U. And Yes, this is the same Andy Stern who visits the White House on a weekly basis