I will scatter them, and then I will gather them:
Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:64; 32:26; Isaiah 11:12;
Jeremiah 23:8 / Read
about the African Slave Trade in Deuteronomy 28th Chapter.
REPARATIONS NOW
IN OUR LIFETIME!
N E W S L E T T E R…….#18
JULY 2001
“Take direct action against the U.S. government!” Dr. Robert Brock
*********
GIVE POWER AND
MEANING TO
THE
REPARATIONS MASS MOVEMENT
GIVE OF
YOURSELF!
Note from the
REPNOW Newsletter Editor:
No one would have guessed that the Reparations
Movement would have progressed so swiftly and effectively as it has these past
eighteen months. And thanks are due to
the efforts of the activists, organizations, and even individuals with solid
commitments to end the suppression, degradation, and affliction of Black Humanity
all over this World.
All of you who are making the effort to keep the
focus on Reparations for Descendants of Slaves, Black empowerment, Self
Determination, and true freedom to pursue happiness, please know that YOU ARE
GREATLY APPRECIATED. Stay strong and courageous, as these are
virtues much needed in fighting this battle for the long awaited justice that
has eluded us for far too long. The
sooner we acquire Reparations is the sooner we can begin to mend from being
subjects of White dominated societies that purposely sustain inequalities and
unfair rule over Black Peoples. It
would appear that a great many of us have had enough of suppression,
oppression, and racism and watching our Black Brothers and Sisters’ pain and
suffering in controlled ghetto communities replete with bad elements that
foster and perpetuate the rise and fall of “monsters” created by a system that
keeps Blacks impoverished, uneducated, on drugs, Blacks killing Blacks, and in
deep despair while Whites distinctly prosper and continue to excel and progress
while leaving Blacks in great tribulations!!!
I understand it has been suggested that Blacks must
learn to promote the use of “conflict resolution.” I’m not sure of the intention behind this
notion, but let me give you my concept of “conflict resolution.” The “conflict” is that Blacks out of
Africa were “forced” into Slavery and barbarically and mercilessly
abused, beaten, and categorized with animals and, as a result became the “have
nots” of White dominated societies unto this day. The “resolution” is that justice must be served in the form
of Reparations payments for the crime of forced migration and ethnic cleansing,
so that we can move on and heal ourselves and rise above the ubiquitous
race hatred and prejudice we face on this globe. Please, don’t let us buy into any new programs and/or efforts
that might “seem” worthwhile and “look good on paper,” but in fact can be of no
benefit to us whatsoever. We cannot
continue to be duped into proposals that waste our time, hurt our cause, and
prolong our endeavors. After all these
years of untold suffering, we are supposed to be the wiser now!
We can no longer trust or expect the descendants of
the Slave Masters, who have the same mentality of their forebears, to be
responsible for eliminating racism from this society. There are no
positive or productive programs in place that suggest that racism and prejudice
will ever be eradicated in these United States. And by some Whites validating the fact that racism in fact exists
has nothing to do with eliminating it.
Actually, we can cite a myriad of thriving instances that prove the
United States has a propensity to treat Blacks unfairly, with disdain, and with
prejudice. Consider one of the latest
outrages regarding the COINTELPRO misfortune for Blacks and Native
Americans. If that’s not enough to
demonstrate how much the White powers-that-be are against Black involvement in
politics for minority advancement, nothing will. I ask you to consider the other covert instances of racist acts
against Blacks that are in play of which we are not aware. What else will we discover to prove the
existence of full-blown racism and race hatred of Blacks in this country? What will it take for us to realize that the
US Constitution, even with its Amendments, was written only with Whites in
mind, and wasn’t even a consideration for Slaves or their Descendants? And what more do we need to see done to
Black Folks before we realize that we are not supposed to enjoy fundamental
freedoms don’t care how many of us are Congressional Representatives?
The race hatred and racism against Blacks is too
ingrained in the hearts of most Whites and too systemic in the social and
political systems and programs to hope that these maladies will ever be
eliminated in this country or in any White dominated countries. And whatever we do, don’t buy into
what’s called “sensitivity training” for White Folks. How can a semester or even a decade of
drilling the need for compassion for the underprivileged change the mindset of
racist men and women and their children?
Isn’t this also what the Civil Rights groups attempted to do in the
60’s with “Non-violence?” What did it
all prove? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, and that
was over forty years ago! Those who
are racist want no more to do with learning about how to treat Blacks and other
people of color than with wanting to learn about equal opportunities and
justice for all.
It’s no accident that all Black countries are
underdeveloped or, in the case of South Africa, economically controlled by
Whites to make the Blacks second-class citizens. It’s no accident that Blacks and other people of color make up
the poor and the destitute in these United States and the World. Think about it! This is a World for the survival of the fittest Whites – not
Blacks, as wealthy Blacks are no more in control than are ghetto Blacks. What can Oprah, Cosby, or any of the
wealthy Black celebrities do for Black Folks other than assist in the
Reparations Movement. We have
congressional representatives who can’t make it to first base with Congressman
Conyer’s H.R. 40. That speaks volumes
about how much control Blacks have in government or in any matters that affect
our lives. And you can bet that the
powers-that-be choose to keep it that way.
Even Affirmative Action was schemed to work against
us, and those who actually prospered from this arrangement to correct past
injustices against Blacks were White Women.
Hence, Affirmative Action panned out not to be the “tool”
necessary to improve conditions for Blacks who live in the White society. But we don’t hear any outcry from these
White Women about how unfairly the program worked for Blacks, do we? Not in another hundred years will the
White-powers-that-be succumb to and live up to the motto: “Justice for All” in
these United States or in this present World System. Hence, we must demand Reparations for the atrocities of the
Slave Trade – AND WE MUST BE FIRM AND ADAMANT ABOUT IT! The leaders of the countries that
participated in human bondage and our continued pain and suffering must be held
accountable, and that’s all there is to it!
Let’s learn from our mistakes. Let’s not permit those in power to establish
any more useless plans for Blacks that are without substance and that negatively
affect us and the lives of our children.
We don’t need any more false senses of justice. Our objective is to acquire Reparations
for the insane TransAtlantic Slave Trade, so let’s stick to that goal until it
is won. And when our Representatives
for Reparations go to Durban, South Africa for the World Conference Against
Racism (WCAR), at all costs it is imperative that they be relentless in
keeping the focus on OUR demand for Reparations. This “Debt” is long overdue and must be paid, and we cannot
allow Whites to continue to pass the buck and not be responsible for their
crimes against us. If we are not given
an opportunity to speak on this issue in Durban, South Africa, then we will be
faced with the racism and discrimination for which we go to WCAR to
eliminate. You can be sure that the
powers-that-be will be out in mass to sabotage our every effort
to put and keep Reparations and Racism against Blacks on the table. We all know this, therefore,
Representatives of Descendants of Slaves, be prepared, have a plan of action,
and make those of us who can’t attend proud of your efforts.
It is imperative that we acquire Reparations and use
these monies to establish admirable and worthwhile Communities/Settlements
(comparable to those the US tax dollar builds in Israel), educational systems,
quality health care, farms, and small businesses, be they in the United States,
in friendly countries, or in Africa. Only WE have the ability to change what
Whites think about Blacks.
BLACKS ARE NOT INFERIOR TO WHITES! And
it’s absolute nonsense to believe that we need their expertise to survive in
this World. There is no question that
in this World, we will have to work WITH THEM but NOT UNDER THEM. Just take a look at the scholarship and
fascinating proposals that surface in the issues of this REPNOW
Newsletter.
***
If the powers-that-be do not demonstrate that we
deserve justice in the form of Reparations for the atrocities of the
TransAtlantic Slave Trade, then after the World Conference Against Racism
(WCAR) in Durban, South Africa, our next trip has got to be to a Belgian court
to sue the United States and all countries that took part in the TransAtlantic
Slave Trade.
For those of you who are not aware of this being a
possibility, please know that Belgium has a unique 1993 law that allows the
Belgian court to try people, regardless of their nationality, for genocide and
other crimes against humanity. As many as 100 million Blacks lost their
lives enroute to Slave Ships, on the Middle Passage, and in the countries where
they were forced to serve as Slaves.
Countries responsible for these deaths and that prospered from those
Slaves who survived the degradation and humiliation of the voyage and enslavement
must pay for their crimes. The atrocities
and injustices that our forbears endured and that we continue to endure cannot
be dismissed. Let the White society
know that we are not going to shut up until they put up Reparations!
JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED! And if descendants of the Slave Masters yet enjoy the benefits
from the free labor of those who were enslaved, then our job is to do what
White Jews continue to do which is go after the descendants of the guilty
parties! It wouldn’t be difficult at all to list the companies/businesses
that existed during the days of Slavery and prove their involvement in this
institution of Slavery. If we are going
to fight this battle, we must fight on ALL FRONTS! We must use every weapon at our disposal, therefore, let’s
also present our case to the United Nations (the international community) to
tell the WHOLE SORDID TRUTH about forced migration and ethnic cleansing,
racism, and all that this has entailed, and then let’s take our case to all
the Courts – every last one of them!
By all means necessary, WE HAVE GOT TO MAKE OUR CASE AND BE
COMPENSATED FOR THE DISPLACEMENT AND CRUEL ENSLAVEMENT OF OUR FOREBEARS, FOR
LOSS OF OUR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY, AND FOR BEING LEFT PEONS IN THIS WORLD.
Those of us who wish to leave the United States or
other European countries have got to be given the right to relocate to
countries of our choosing and with Reparations, or we are still captives of the
countries responsible for stealing us out of Africa. And those
who wish to remain in the lands of our captors must be given an opportunity to
enjoy an equal distribution of wealth and empowerment and pursue a genuine
happiness. Slim chance, I hate to tell
you, but if Blacks remain in lands where our forebears were enslaved, you may
as well be prepared to continue an even greater fight to be accepted in the
countries built by Slave labor.
Finally, I have to admire Mawusi’s (Rhazard) desires
to establish a 55th State in Africa for Descendants of Slaves to
build a Nation of which Blacks can be proud.
Don’t frown on his efforts, as they make a lot of sense. His desires have fascinating merit that can
prove to be exactly what is needed to rise above the frustrations,
humiliations, and indignities Blacks face in White Societies. Give Mawusi a chance and lend your expertise
to his plans. By the way, if riots are
taking place all over this World, DO NOT rule out this also happening in the
United States. With police brutality
and murder of Blacks, racial profiling, and increasing knowledge of more and
more acts of atrocities and injustices
committed against African Americans, this place is fast becoming a ticking time
bomb that can go off at any time and in any place. Also take to heart what is being said about the need for a
Missile Defense Program. If the US has
a need to worry about being attacked, then Blacks should have a need to leave
this horrible place. Therefore,
Descendants of Slaves desperately need a State in Africa that’s stable and safe
for Blacks to start anew, but this time with the use of the Black “mind,” for
assured prosperity and progress for the benefit of all Black Peoples and for
the World. Somebody has got to end
the pollution and the destruction of people, animals, and living matter on this
Earth. We may as well set the stage and
the example, as no one else is doing it!
*********
Work with me, work with others, but let’s all work
TOGETHER for the betterment of Blacks all over the World. Either we attain this goal and be
successful and prosperous Black Peoples, or we can continue on the destructive
paths headed for the demise of Black Peoples that Descendants of the Slave
Masters have paved for us.
Many, many thanks to everyone making an
effort to do their part and/or work with others for Reparations.
Don’t forget to send me FEEDBACK regarding your meetings, Conferences,
dialogues, and debates, so that everyone can be informed of the progress of
Reparations’ activities and affairs.
By the way, make it your business to attend as many
Reparations Conferences as possible in order to be in the know, learn new
ideas, network, and pass the word along:
REPARATIONS NOW IN OUR LIFETIME!
Just one more thing, kindly realize that this
is OUR “Reparations” Newsletter. As much as I’d like to publish all the articles that come my way
regarding the injustices we face in White Societies, please know that I just
can’t. I must dedicate this Newsletter
to the “Reparations” Fight for Descendants of Slaves and our Liberation. Thank you for your support in this
regard.
Tziona
Yisrael, Editor
REPARATIONS NOW
IN OUR LIFETIME Newsletter
www.thelawkeepers.org
(Click on
“Repnow”)
***
If anyone has a list of E-mail
addresses of University and College Black Student Unions, please advise: Afraqueen@AOL.COM.
*********
June 19, 2001
Declaring
the Slave Trade a Crime Against Humanity:
In
September of this year in Durban, South Africa, the United Nations will hold
what could be one of the most momentous events of the 21st century, the World
Conference on Racism. Thousands of
people from around the world are expected to attend a conference, which will
address one of the most malignant maladies to plague the darker peoples of the
world historically - racism and white supremacy.
People
of African descent and other people of color from the developing world are
anxious to discuss the past and present effects of the castigation and
oppression of groups of people on the basis of skin color. As might be expected, the United States and many of
the nations of Europe are casting a leery eye towards the conference for fear
that the issue of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the demand for
"restitution" will become a dominant theme of the proceedings. Indeed,
the United States is taking extraordinary steps to prevent the slave trade and
the question of reparations from appearing on the agenda at all.
This
is proving to be a difficult task. Spearheaded by veteran human rights
activists and organizers from the December 12th Movement and the National Black
United Front, a formidable coalition of organizations is mounting a determined
effort not only to ensure that the slave trade and restitution are on the
agenda, but in a bold and visionary move, these organizations are pressing for
the introduction and passage of a resolution at the World Conference on Racism
that would declare the Trans-Atlantic slave trade a "crime against
humanity."
The
prospects that such a resolution will pass is causing grave trepidations in the
United States and among the circle of nations which are culpable in the most
horrendous holocaust in human history.
Without question, the passage of this resolution will provide an unassailable
moral foundation for the call for reparations. Equally important, this
resolution will also provide legal undergirding for the demand for reparations
in international law since there is no statute of limitations on crimes against
humanity. Hence, the argument that the slave trade was a long time ago and
therefore should not be subject to litigation or other forms of redress will be
severely undermined.
There
should be no question about the veracity of the claim that the Trans-Atlantic
slave trade was a crime against humanity. By some estimates more than 100 million Africans lost their lives
during the holocaust of enslavement. Beyond the unthinkable loss of life
however, in "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa," Walter
Rodney documents the devastating effects of the slave trade on African people
in terms of the disruption and destruction of families, communities and
nations, the distortion of social, economic and political relations and the
loss of "development opportunity."
The
economies of Europe and America developed off the free labor of enslaved
Africans while the continent of Africa was pillaged, ravished and
underdeveloped. Rodney recounts that
whole industries and cities were born and flourished as a consequence of the
involvement of Britain and France in the enslaving and trafficking of Africans.
Concurring with Rodney, Eric Williams in "Capitalism and
Slavery" documents how the fruits of the lucrative Triangular
Trade made huge fortunes for Europeans in the Caribbean and North America,
particularly New England. An entire continent was demonized, demoralized,
devastated and hurled backward in history by the holocaust of enslavement.
Once
in this hemisphere, enslaved Africans destined for North America were subjected
to a slave breaking process which not only involved raw naked terror and
intimidation but cultural aggression, the calculated attempt to dehumanize and
de-Africanize the African. Malcolm
X once said that of all the crimes committed by Europeans against Africans, the
greatest crime was to take away our names.
By that assertion Malcolm meant the effort to destroy our culture.
Our
ancestors were forbidden to speak in their native tongue, to practice
indigenous religions or to play African musical instruments. In addition, our
ancestors were taught that their African heritage tainted them and that their
color was a "badge of degradation." Any White person, no matter what their status or station in life was to
be respected and obeyed at all times. And, as chattels, property, our ancestors
could be sold and traded at will with no obligation to keep families together.
There should be no question but that the slave trade was a crime against
humanity. Slave labor made America prosperous while destroying and
stagnating the lives of the captive sons and daughters of Africa in this
country; a crime compounded by the fact that we were eventually
"emancipated" without compensation, no forty acres and mule, no
property or capital in a growing capitalist economy, whose explosive growth was
directly attributable to the free labor of our ancestors.
Europe
and America know that they owe African people a debt too enormous to be
calculated. But like cowards, they
continue to refuse to take responsibility for their dastardly deeds. And, they
will continue to refuse to acknowledge their crimes until the victims of the
holocaust of enslavement unite and fight to compel the perpetrators to confess,
apologize and make suitable compensation.
It
is for this reason that African people, other historically oppressed people and
our allies must transform the World Conference on Racism into a forum for
discussing the greatest crime against humanity in history. In so doing, we will
build momentum for the just and righteous demand for reparations for Africans
in America and the world!
Contributed by:
ronmae@aol.com (Ron Daniels)
rdaniel@ccr-ny.org,
ronmae@aol.com
worker-brc-news@lists.tao.ca
brc-news@lists.tao.ca
http://www.tbwt.com/content/article.asp?articleid=911
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The
Black World Today
http://www.tbwt.com/content/article.asp?articleid=965
CREATORS
SYNDICATE
Contributed
by AlArkam@webtv.net
***
[Black Slaves were first used throughout the Thirteen Colonies and were then supplied to so-called Southern gentlemen – also known as Slave Masters. And let’s not forget that the North also reaped benefits from this heinous Slavery. People should realize that many European countries participated in the TrasnsAtlantic Slave Trade, and those who indulged in Slavery in their mother countries emigrated to the United States and most perpetuated the crime. But we don’t hear about these culprits, as they are assumed to be innocent in this matter. However, the United States is guilty as sin, all because this atrocity took place on US soil and with the US government stamp of approval.
And don’t believe the hype that $ 6 trillion were spent on welfare mothers who were politely placed in welfare projects. We aren’t stupid!!! Just as the Pentagon wastes $ 700 of taxpayer’s money for a hammer, obviously these trillions of dollars went into the pockets of the White Folks on the watch. If Blacks had this kind of money, they wouldn’t be living in rat-infested projects or in slums. Please know that Black “criminals” are victims of this unjust society of “Privileged Haves.” Good try, Ms. Charen, but your article with its weak analogy doesn’t fly – not even with Blacks of minimal intelligence. T.Y., Editor]
*********
BROAD RANGE OF TACTICS
Successful
liberation movements have always employed a broad range of tactics to achieve
their goals: educational campaigns, political campaigns and cultural campaigns. They
also typically operate effectively at several different levels at the same
time: the grass-roots level, the national level and the international level. Today the Movement to obtain Reparations for
all African-Americans shows the potential of developing into the most
successful liberation movement which has ever sought justice for the
long-oppressed Black masses, whose ancestors were brought to America in chains
in 1555.
The
focus of this Movement has been educating and mobilizing our people throughout
the length and breadth of the USA, and more recently throughout the Americas. In preparatory conferences leading up to the World
Conference Against Racism, we have seen African-Americans from the United
States linking hands and mapping strategies with African-Americans from Central
America, the Caribbean, and South America.
We have also witnessed African-American leaders delivering oral and
written interventions before diverse United Nations bodies, including the
Working Group On Minorities and the Human Rights Commission. These interventions have exposed the diverse
ways in which the U.S. government has practiced genocide, ethnocide and forced
assimilation upon our people--while pretending to be keenly interested in
improving race relations. In his
April 12th 2001 intervention in the Geneva, Mr. Silis Muhammad asked that the
U.N. place a Reparations Sanction upon the U.S. government. On May 3rd 2001, the U.N. voted the USA off
the Human Rights Commission.
The
strongest aspect of the battle for Reparations emphasizes that this is a
struggle for the Restoration of a people who were robbed of their mother
tongue, original religion and original culture. In other
words, Reparations concerns far more than mere money. We are demanding justice in the broadest sense from the U.S.
government. We want both the U.S.
government and U.N. to acknowledge our collective political identity and the
need for Reparations to be defined by the African-American victims, not by the
oppressor.
In
truth, we need our own government and economy on some of this Earth that we can
call our own. We also want membership
in the United Nations.
While
we are focusing on educating and mobilizing our people, we should never
overlook the many tactics which our adversaries have historically employed to
side-track and destroy genuine liberation movements. The
government of President George Bush is keenly aware and deeply afraid of the
growing momentum of the Reparations Movement and its appeal to
African-Americans of diverse classes and persuasions. Many white media have
failed to even mention once the critical interventions which have been going on
inside the United Nations since 1998.
Others have suggested that maybe Blacks can receive restitution in the
form of educational "benefits" and "health care" benefits
to be determined by Caucasian America.
However, a growing number of our people do acknowledge that this
would be a far cry from real justice, namely full-strength Reparations and
self-determination.
As
the legal and spiritual war for justice unfolds on diverse levels, our people
should not hesitate to expose the U.S. government, private corporations and the
wicked mass media (e.g. ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times, the Washington Post,
the Boston Globe and many others) who have been systematically hiding the scope
of the Reparations Movement for years. African-Americans are well within our rights
to insist that all media comprehensively cover our liberation movement and to
legally chastise those who fail to do so.
Peace Be Unto The Righteous,
Minister Malik Al-Arkam
Boston Representative of the
Honorable Silis Muhammad
www.afre-ngo.org
*********
NATIONAL BLACK UNITED FRONT (NBUF)
REPARATIONS, AND BLOCK-BY-BLOCK
ORGANIZING
The National Black United Front (NBUF) is preparing for
the Twenty-second Annual National Convention to be held in San Francisco,
California from July 12-15, 2001. Since the launching of the NBUF Genocide
Campaign in October of 1996, NBUF has become one of the leading
organizations in the reparations movement, working closely with the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in
America (N`COBRA), in the United States and throughout the African World
Community.
NBUF’s
work in the Reparations Movement has intensified through our alliance with the
December 12th Movement in organizing to participate in the upcoming United
Nations World Conference Against Racism that will be held August 31 – September
1, 2001 in Durban, South Africa.
Over
the past two years, the December 12th Movement, with the support of NBUF, has
effectively made public, throughout the world, the African Group Resolution
that takes the position that the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery was
a Crime Against Humanity, and the Economic Roots of Racism should be examined.
In this context, we take the position that African people are owed
reparations throughout the world.
Currently, the
December 12th Movement and NBUF, along with African Governments, Non
Governmental Organizations (NGO’s), the African and African Descendents Caucus,
are fighting for the above positions to be included in the World Conference
Against Racism (WCAR) Durban Declaration. Obviously, led by the United
States, the European Union is opposed to the inclusion of these positions in
the Durban Declaration. They don’t want to admit that the Trans Atlantic Slave
Trade and Slavery was a Crime and that African people are owed reparations.
Our
voices have been made loud and clear as we continue our organizing work to
participate in the WCAR. In this regard, the theme of this year’s NBUF
Convention is:
Reparations: The Key to the African Struggle—
Building a Black Mass Movement through Block-By-Block Organizing.
The
central focus of this convention
is to address the growing organizing taking place in this country, and
worldwide, around the various demands and strategies in the worldwide African
Reparations Movement. To facilitate organization of our people, a primary
concern of this conference is the concept of "Block-By-Block
Organizing."
The
growing demand for reparations relates to the continued governmental and
corporate racist policies providing a rationale for the increased demand for
reparations, above and beyond slavery and the slave trade, and what happened to
African people before the Civil War. Therefore, in line with our theme, the
convention will address issues and strategies for organizing our people around
the case for reparations as a means of addressing the larger issue of
mobilizing our people for the liberation of African people worldwide.
Time
has a way of moving forward and it’s hard to believe that NBUF has been in
existence twenty–two years. It is a
remarkable achievement that a Black Movement organization made up of committed
volunteers, with limited resources, has survived and continues to grow and
develop.
NBUF
grew out of the spirit of the 1960’s and 70’s when African people in this
country were aggressively organizing around numerous issues. The activism of
the Civil Rights Movement and its challenges against legal segregation was a
spark that set off the mass motion of African people in America.
Over
this twenty-two year period, NBUF has organized around the following
principles:
To struggle for self determination,
liberation, and power for Black People in the United States.
To work in common struggle with
African liberation movements and African people throughout the world.
To build a politically conscious,
unified, committed, and effective Black mass movement.
To struggle to eliminate racism
(including Zionism and Apartheid), sexism (the oppression, exploitation, and
inequality of women), monopoly capitalism, colonialism, and neo–colonialism,
imperialism, and national oppression.
To maintain strict political and
financial independence of the National Black United Front.
To build unity and common struggle
with oppressed peoples in the United States and throughout the world, as long
as the best interests of people of African descent are not contradicted or
compromised.
To continue to struggle to maximize
the unity of the Black Liberation Movement and of people of African descent; to
eliminate internal violence, character assassination, and self-destruction; to
establish a viable process to arbitrate all major conflicts within the Black
Liberation Movement and the African community.
To continue the political/cultural
revolution to create a new vision and value system and a new man, woman, and
child based on the common struggle around the needs of the African majority.
NBUF
believes that in order for Black people in America to become free, liberated,
and independent, we must be organized.
Therefore, we believe all Black people should join an organization that is
working in the interest of our people. We believe that the National Black
United Front is such an organization and we urge you to join us and participate
in our Twenty–second National Convention.
Conrad Worrill
National Chairman
National Black United
Front (NBUF)
Contributed by
amcgee@well.com (Art McGee)
*********
News
Report from AFRE, June 2001
May has been a month of real progress in the reparations
movement. Clearly the movement has reached the point where a new question
is emerging. The question is not
reparations yes or no. Yes is the answer,
and the world now knows it. The new
question is... reparations for what?
Four
notable things occurred during the month: 1) The Reparations
Mobilization Campaign announced that it is organizing a seminar. Reparations seminars are not new, but this
one is unusual in that it seeks to be inclusive of leadership voices that have
previously been excluded. It appears
that the organizers are sincerely working to raise the standard of reparations
seminars. 2) Mr. Randall
Robinson, author of The Debt, was uplifted on television at the
Essence Image Awards ceremony for his reparations advocacy. This step taken by Essence Magazine tells
white America that all levels of Black society are behind reparations. 3) Dr. Ray Winbush of Fisk University
reported that a number of organizations of African Americans from the
Diaspora gathered themselves into the World Council of Churches headquarters in
Geneva, Switzerland, and in their meeting they all agreed that reparations are
due. The organizations were in
Geneva to attend the 2nd preparatory meeting for the World Conference Against
Racism. 4) One week earlier Mr.
Silis Muhammad was at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland representing African
Americans from the U.S. at the invitation of the United Nations Working Group
on Minorities. At this special
informal session, which was the first UN forum for African Americans in history,
the UN experts helped Black leaders from the Americas Region begin to
understand their position.
The
reparations movement is maturing, and as it does, the more refined question of
reparations "for what" emerges. Most people, including white
Americans, believe that reparations are for the horrors of the slave trade, for
the free labor of slavery, for the degradation of segregation, the lynchings,
the racial discrimination, and the many other injustices surrounding the ongoing
Black holocaust. When reparation is
demanded for these things, ample moral argument is established. Most advocates stand on the moral platform.
In
an effort to create a legal argument, a number of reparations organizations
have directed their minds toward the UN World Conference Against Racism. They
reason that if the trans-Atlantic slave trade is declared a crime against
humanity, the way will be opened for the moral arguments to become legal
arguments for reparations. It is
agreed that such a declaration would bring about numerous claims for damage,
especially against governments that have ratified the International Covenant on
the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against
Humanity. (The U.S. Government has
never ratified it.) Those who are watching
the World Conference know that there is great fighting over declaring the
trans-Atlantic slave a crime against humanity.
Although many predict that the final documents will not grant such
recognition, the results will not be known until September.
Another
answer to the question of reparations "for what" does provide a legal
argument for the restoration of human rights and reparations. This is the argument that the Working Group
on Minorities responded to four years ago when it was brought by Mr. Muhammad. He argued that international law protects
the rights of minorities to their language, culture and religion, i.e., their
collective identity. The
identity of African Americans was destroyed with the destruction of the 'mother
tongue' and through forced mixed breeding.
As a result, African Americans do not enjoy collective human
rights. This makes the damage to
African Americans current, affecting all, and ongoing. It is the duty and obligation of the United
Nations to grant human rights to everyone, everywhere, and the experts of the
Working Group on Minorities know this.
It is their profession, and their belief, and they are obliged to take a
stand on behalf of African Americans.
This they did in May of 2001.
Readers
may be asking themselves, how does it benefit African Americans to have their
collective political identity restored as a part of reparations? When African
Americans are internationally recognized, and their human rights as a group are
restored, depending upon the will of the people, different levels of self
determination can be negotiated with the U.S. Government. Under UN protection
and with assistance, this can be accomplished peacefully, without the fear of
reprisal, forcible separation or secession.
African Americans have a human right to live according to their own
collective will, and this human right must be established for reparations to
accomplish what reparations should accomplish.
The
reparations "for what" question comes into its clearest perspective
when viewed from the future. One
hundred years from now the descendants of today's African Americans will look
back. Will they be able to know
themselves as a distinct human family among the many families of the
earth? Today's reparations movement
decides that question.
In
this time of reparations progress, there is great danger that the U.S.
Government will manipulate, co-opt and redirect the reparations movement, so
that the highest potential of the movement will be lost. African
Americans are risen as a new people, in possession of the most profound
knowledge that can be gained from living life: the knowledge of the victory of
the human spirit over the greatest possible adversity. This knowledge is precious to life itself. As a part of their reparations, African
Americans must demand recognition of themselves collectively. They must gain an internationally recognized
political identity and the power over their own future that goes with such
recognition.
********
We
hope you feel the desire to support the work of AFRE. Since we do not
receive
corporate or government funding, we must depend upon the
contributions
of the public. In the month of June we
are in urgent need of
travel funds. Instruction on how to contribute can be found at www.afre-ngo.org.
Contributed by Hakimida@a... [mailto:Hakimida@a...]
*********
Dejoser
*********
FEEDBACK ON
THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS (CBC)
MEETING
ON THE DURBAN CONFERENCE
Tuesday, June 19, 2001
Opening Remarks
Tuesday June 19, 2001
Washington, D.C.
Welcome,
and let the spirit of Juneteenth pervade our discussions here today.
I
am pleased to introduce my colleagues who are with us this morning. More will
come throughout the morning.
The
World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) to be held in late August this year in
Durban, South Africa is an important world event. It seeks to focus world attention on examining
the causes of racism as well as providing an opportunity for nations to
formulate practical measures to prevent, and where possible, to eradicate
racism and other discriminatory practices.
What
could be more important than for the family of nations to come together as one
and to seek to end racism in the world today.
The
United States should fulfill its leadership position as a major world power and
attend the conference. We should send a delegation consisting of highly
respected and extremely capable individuals who hold high aspirations and deep
convictions on ending the scourge of racism in the world today.
The
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) can play a critical role in ensuring that this
current administration fully appreciates the importance of this World Conference
to people of color in this country.
The members of the CBC all represent districts affected by poverty and
race hatred, stricken with over crowding, violence and all the other familiar
ills of modern black urban life.
To
our nations great shame it has had much experience with racism. That experience spans almost every generation of our
nation’s history - from the early years of slavery during the establishment of
our nation, through the apartheid practices of the southern US states and
finally through the Federal Government’s physical destruction of the black
political movement here in this country during the 1960’s and 1970’s.
But our nation’s journey with racism will not end until it
faces the truth of its past. By drawing upon our nation’s history and
forging with it a willingness to confront these horrible truths, our delegation
should be able to make substantive contributions to the World Conference forums
examining the causes of racism, as well as, help formulate strategies to end
racism in the world today.
I
wish to briefly address two important issues which I think should
feature as center points in our discussion today:
From
1490 until about 1870 one of the most elaborate maritime and commercial
ventures arose, a result of which 30-60 million black men, women and children
were enslaved in Africa and carried packed in ships wearing leg irons, in foul
over crowded conditions and transported to the Americas to work on plantations,
in mines or as servants in fine houses. Tragically, many tens of millions of
them did not survive the journey and died en route during the Middle Passage
from disease, cruel treatment and the rigors of sea travel.
Slavery
stretched several hundred years, involved every maritime European nation, every
Atlantic-facing African people (and some others), and every country of the
Americas. On any view, this Slave Trade must rank as one of the greatest crimes
of all time.