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
28 th Chapter.
REPARATIONS NOW IN OUR
LIFETIME!
N E W S L E T T E R…….#15
April 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:
Is the REPARATIONS
NOW IN OUR LIFETIME becoming a force to be reckoned with or
What!!!!
At every turn someone, some way, and somehow is speaking positively,
and/or negatively about Reparations for descendants of Slaves. Hey, it's all
good. This is what it takes to get the word out to the grassroots, the
churches, the schools and universities, the Civil Rights groups, the government,
and the media regarding compensation for forced migration, enslavement, rape,
beatings, maiming, and murder. This Triangular/African
Slave Trade was the mother of all "CRIMES AGAINST BLACK HUMANITY."
Until everyone and his momma is talking about Reparations, our
job is still cut out for us! And when you see White folks concerned and speaking
out against justice and the needs of Blacks, then you know that we are moving in
the right direction - WE ARE BECOMING MOVERS AND SHAKERS for empowerment and
self-determination for our betterment, as well as for our progeny - something we
have not done since being forced to these shores!!! Did
you ever notice how issues, matters, and crises aren't important and urgent when
they are related to Black Peoples? Well, this is all about to change. Black
Folks are coming together to let it be known that WE, TOO, HAVE
HUMAN RIGHTS!!! Brothers and Sisters, things
have got to change if we are ever to improve our image and our ways. It is now
time to ROCK THE BOAT and MAKE WAVES , or remain a sunken and
nameless ship whose treasures are forever stolen.
At all costs we cannot abandon, prolong, or postpone our
fight for Reparations. Our right to justice served
is long overdue, and must be accomplished until the cries of our forebears can
no longer be heard deep in our souls. Our enslaved families that died and
endured relentless despair and untold merciless suffering won't rest until we,
their offspring, attain a more profound status in this World resulting from all
their blood, sweat, and free labor that established economic power and authority
on this globe for privileged White Folks! Yes, we are stigmatized and ostracized
and yet bear the scars of oppression, inequality, and discrimination
particularly in the countries that took us captive out of Africa, but
with Reparations, we can finally begin to change the negative image of
Black Peoples all over the World.
Right now, we are on a roll! Don't hold back,
and don't allow the enemy to dictate our needs or suppress our cries for
Reparations because fighting for this cause is "the right thing
to do." It seems everyone in power and authority is using this
phrase these days, so we might as well do the same but MEAN
IT!!!
Tziona Yisrael, Editor
REPNOW Newsletter
[www.thelawkeepers.org]
*********
Stay strong in the struggle; we will
win!
Dejoser
*********
NEW YORK TIMES ON
REPARATIONS AND THE UN WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM:
The December
12th Movement International Secretariat, the International
Association Against Torture and North-South XXI have for many years at the
United Nations fought for the issues of:
- Declaration of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery as a Crime
against Humanity
Reparations for Africans in the Diaspora and on the Continent
The economic basis of racism. The US has tried everything it can to
suppress and eliminate discussion or consideration of these issues at the UN,
in general, and at the World Conference, in particular. When media, such as the NY Times, are forced to acknowledge that
there is a debate going on around these issues, it reflects that the movement
is growing and cannot be ignored. We have to step up our organizing for
the World Conference.
The following article on Reparations and the UN World
Conference against Racism appeared in the New York Times on Sunday, March 4,
2001:
GLOBAL LOOK AT RACISM HITS MANY SORE
POINTS
UNITED NATIONS, March 1 A conference on racism this
summer could be one of the most explosive meetings this organization has ever
held, with moves afoot to cast globalization as a racial issue and to demand
reparations for the slave trade and colonialism.
Though the
conference is still six months away, the agenda is already being passionately
debated, and an increasingly broader range of issues is falling under the rubric
of race.
The meeting to be held in Durban, South Africa, from Aug.
31 to Sept. 7 was first proposed by developing nations led by Cuba, and it
was always expected to have something of an anti-Western bias.
But the opportunity to air grievances rarely heard on an
international platform has been seized by groups in developing nations too, from
China to Chile, that want to force often hidden and extraordinarily sensitive
issues into the discussion.
Beyond consideration of the North-
South hemispheric divide as a color line, those issues include treatment of
immigrants and asylum seekers in developed countries, the caste system in India
and contemporary slavery in Africa as well as discrimination in Latin America
and parts of the Caribbean against people of African descent.
Governments in some
regions have been fighting consideration of many of those issues. But human rights
groups, often linking through the Internet, have gained more leverage than ever
against the governments that have elbowed them out of the spotlight in the past.
The aim, the human rights advocates say, is to demonstrate
that racism is an international phenomenon that manifests itself in many forms.
And they point to the full title of the event the World Conference
Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance to buttress their argument. Two earlier meetings held
in 1978 and 1983 were more narrowly focused.
"The last two
conferences on racism were about foreign policy," said Gay J. McDougall,
executive director of the International Human Rights Law Group in Washington.
"The first one was on decolonization and the second one was on apartheid. But
this one is in everybody's back yard, and there's a lot of nervousness about
it."
Ms. McDougall is among those pressing for strong international action
on the slave trade and the legacy of colonialism on behalf of people of African
descent all over the Western Hemisphere. But she has also backed
calls to put the Indian caste system, which human rights groups say affects
between 100 million and 200 million people, on the conference agenda, over the
strong objection of the Indian government.
Smita Narula, who
has been studying caste for Human Rights Watch in New York, said that "for Asia,
caste has become coterminus with race inasmuch as it defines the exclusion of a
people based on their descent." But so far, she said, Asian governments have
succeeded in keeping the issue out of conference documents.
Representatives of
governments will begin a four-day meeting in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss the
conference agenda and the content of documents to be issued in Durban. Some new
issues have been assured a place in the conference, and battle lines have been
drawn for others in four regional meetings in France, Senegal,
Chile and Iran.
In Strasbourg, France, the issue of
Europeans' treatment of Roma, or Gypsy, people was put on the agenda by
governments themselves. In Santiago, Chile, strong lobbying by African-American
groups gave new visibility to racial discrimination in Latin America.
And
in Dakar, Senegal, where delegates were very strongly in favor of reparations
for the trans- Atlantic slave trade, the new president of Senegal, Abdoulaye
Wade, cautioned the conference against looking only to history when examining
Africa's problems. Ethnic intolerance and the
continuation of slavery are still issues.
The big story
for me," said Ms. McDougall who is also a member of the United Nations
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and attended the
Santiago meeting "was the cross-regional discourse that was generated in a new
way among African-descended communities throughout the hemisphere, the poorest
of the poor." When the meeting was over, she said, the topic of discrimination
against black Latin Americans, which was not in the draft of the regional
platform, had been added. "It was a recognition for the first time in a
multilateral document in Latin America that racism was an issue of current
salience," she said.
The Tehran meeting, grouping the Middle East and Asia, was the
most contentious, and there was a move to revive something of the old cold war
shibboleth of Zionism as racism. Though the word Zionism was
not used, official delegations urged the Durban conference to demand an end to
the "foreign occupation" of Jerusalem and characterized Israeli
domination of Palestinian areas as "a new kind of apartheid, a crime against humanity, a form of genocide, and a serious threat to
international peace and security. "Kishore Mahbubani, the
author of "Can Asians Think?" and Singapore's ambassador to the United Nations,
said in an interview that "racism is a sunrise issue."
"It is a natural
result of a shrinking globe," he added. "Races that in a sense never had contact
with each other are thrown together in close proximity in a new neighborhood.
The first sign of this is the new wave of immigrants."
But most
controversial is an international movement to make concrete demands for
reparations for the trans-Atlantic slave trade and for some form of compensation
for centuries of colonialism.
Mary Robinson, formerly the president of
Ireland and now the United Nations commissioner for human rights, generally
supports such demands, particularly in finding some form of recompense for
slavery. "That trauma is still there," she said in an interview,
"and it's deep, and it hasn't been properly acknowledged."
Mrs. Robinson said
the conference could achieve concrete results just by urging the enforcement of
existing laws and international conventions against bias and discrimination.
"About 85 percent of measures that can be taken are already in force or will be
agreed on without difficulty," she said. "Then there will be a number of issues
on which political leadership will be needed.
"One of them
will be how we find the language to condemn in full terms the evil of slavery,
returning to the issue of compensation for past practices. "It
may sound strange that we still have to do that, but in fact we need
to close off a period and say that this exploitation was in real terms a crime
against humanity when it took place and that it has had an effect into this
century. The more generous and open the condemnation is, the
less I believe there will be a push to focus on precise monetary
compensation."
By Barbara Crossette
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/04/world/04RACE.html
(Portions of this
article were also published in The Plain Dealer
International , out of
Cleveland, Ohio)
*********
RIDING THE REPARATIONS BANDWAGON
A WHITE WOMAN'S
PERSPECTIVE
March 2, 2001
I admit it. I, a
middle aged white woman, have jumped on the Reparations "band wagon".
When I was asked several years ago if I thought reparations for
the enslavement of African Americans were in order, I stammered and shuffled my
feet and said, "it depends". A safe response for a liberally minded white woman
who had absolutely no idea what I was really being asked. Like so many other
whites (and people of color) I thought reparations was only (and all) about
money. I thought reparations meant someone tossing out an arbitrary number
and someone else (the government) writing a check and that was
that.
This is exactly why most white people who hear and/or read
about the Reparations movement get nervous and defensive and respond with one of
several classic objections:
1) "I didn't have slaves, nor did my
family benefit from slavery."
2) "Slavery
hasn't existed for over 140 years, why do we have to pay for something that
happened then."
3) "Blacks have
been getting preferential treatment for years and frankly I'm tired of
it."
4) "It is only going to divide us
more."
There are of course dozens of other responses but these seem
to be four of the most popular and the most worthy of addressing in such a brief
article.
First of all Reparations is not a recent notion nor is it something born
out of the 60's civil rights movement. Reparations advocates (both black and
white) have been around for over 100 years. Reparations is a verb and not a
noun. The movement is a process of exploring the damages inflicted upon the
descendants of those who were kidnapped and held captive in the United States
throughout a period of several hundred years and dialoguing about potential
compensatory remedies. Also included in this
exploration are all the corporations and governmental organizations who benefited
from the slave industry and who are prosperous today because of their
practices.
No one would argue that receiving an inheritance from a
relative might affect what kind of future one might have. African
Americans have inherited the injustices inflicted upon their ancestors and are
living with them today in various forms. For those who are not
educated about our American history, it is tempting to view the few
civil rights laws and affirmative action programs of the last 30
years as remedies for several hundred years of hatred, mistreatment and
oppression.
As Congressman John Conyers pointed out at the Race Relations Institute Conference on
Reparations in Nashville in February, those who are promoting reparations on the
governmental level are (at this point) only requesting a study of the damages.
These damages are not limited to money, and frankly, there is not a
dollar figure large enough that could provide healing and justice for all the
victims of the legacy of slavery. And, it is not even
concluded that money will be the end result of reparations.
So far the
government has refused to support a study. This
does not mean studies are not being done, just that the government refuses to
acknowledge them.
It is telling that many Americans don't object to billions of
dollars being spent on strategic air missile defense systems -- which don't even
work or the money spent on the studies which examine why they don't work. And
yet, many white Americans vehemently object to a study of Reparations
-- something that could specifically identify the injustices heaped upon our
African brothers and sisters which have had lingering effects. A study of
Reparations is a study of our history and something that could help promote
racial healing and justice for blacks and whites alike.
In regards to one of the primary objections, my family didn't
have to own slaves in order for me to benefit from slavery. As a white woman
I have enjoyed first class privileges my entire life and I do not come from an
upper middle-class family. In fact I have never
forgotten the shame of seeing my mother pay for groceries with food-stamps when
our family was destroyed. But regardless of my economic status, I was (and am
now) the recipient of numerous invisible advantages every day. I
never knew what those advantages were or meant until I started working with
those who dealt with discrimination and oppression all of their lives. As a
white person, understanding the insidious nature of racism was an effort to
educate myself because it had no bearing on my everyday life. I couldn't see it
so it didn't exist for me. I had to open my mind in order to see
that racial discrimination is a stain in the fabric or our American
culture. I'm not just referring to the obvious kinds of racial
injustices but all the subtleties that keep people of color enslaved --
today.
As far as blacks receiving preferential treatment they most
certainly do. Blacks and other people of color are preferred targets of the
police and other law enforcement officials. People of color are certainly recipients of preferential treatment
in our criminal justice system as is evidenced by the fact that they receive
longer sentences for the same crimes committed by whites. It is certainly
preferable to many white owned financial institutions to deny home loans to
people of color in particular neighborhoods where whites are the
majority.
A cursory study of the criminal justice system will support these
allegations in black and white. When we look at the figures of who is in prison
and we realize that there were few (if any) prisons in America during slavery we
must ask ourselves some honest questions. Why are American prisons one of the
fastest growing businesses in this country? Is it possible that our prison
system has replaced slavery on some level? Are black men (and women) less threatening when they are held captive
in controlled environments? These are all very complicated questions that are
relevant to the issue of reparations and in need of
consideration.
I'm most fascinated when I hear someone
suggest that reparations will only serve to further divide the races and
therefore should be abandoned. I can think of nothing more divisive
than what has already been done to African Americans in this country.
Are white Americans honestly convinced that race relations are so
good now that we don't want to jeopardize them?
Learning about and
acknowledging another's oppression does not take anything away from me. If
anything, I have benefited enormously from re-visiting history and making
connections between the historical truths and contemporary social ills. I've
also learned a great deal from those who have been brave enough to tell their
stories. This is another reason I believe so strongly in the Reparations
movement. The road to healing race relations is the process of discovery and
listening. When whites and blacks join together to look truthfully at the past
and jointly explore what the damages were (and are) to those of African descent,
it is clear that money is not the only solution. Healing can occur in many forms
and no one -- so far that I know - is suggesting that money is the total
solution.
After hearing some preliminary figures of how much the U.S.
government profited from taxing the slave trade (it's not that far from George
W's proposed tax cut ironically) I personally believe that a check of some kind
must be written. But again, it is only part of the solution.
We whites need
healing too. Otherwise we wouldn't get so angry when we hear the words
reparations or compensatory remedies. It's not the words that cause such a
violent reaction in some, it is something much deeper that we must address. Our
own fear, hatred and anger has done a number on us whites.. It has made us
arrogant. And our arrogance is just a by-product of our ignorance -- which
fortunately can be remedied if we can stop blaming the victims long enough to
seek the truth.
It is often our arrogance that prompts us to dismiss (out of
hand) the idea of reparations. We have been in the driver's seat for so long
that we can't abide the notion that someone else might have another route worth
exploring.. I say let's scoot over to the passengers seat and ride the
Reparations band-wagon. No one knows where we will end up but we will at least
end up there together -- which is better than where we are right
now.
By Molly Secours mollmaud@telalink.net
Ms. Secours is counselor, writer and
racial dialog
facilitator and lives with her musician husband
in
Nashville, TN.
Copyright (c) 2001 Molly Secours. All Rights
Reserved.
(Permission was granted to publish this article.)
Molly
Secours
"Only when we cease to scream with activity
can we hear the
gentle murmur of peace within."
M.Secours
PO Box
681
Mt. Juliet, TN 37122
http://www.steveconn.com/molly
***
Ms. Secours' candid remarks on Reparations are greatly appreciated. She
did well in presenting her caring views on how the matter of Reparations should
first be addressed. Although, my personal views might differ in depth and
detail, Ms. Secours is deserving of prime kudos.
*********
LOCAL PRESS
ATLANTA WILL BE THE SITE FOR A GLOBAL AFRICAN
CONFERENCE
Atlanta Daily World
Officials with The Center for Constitutional Rights and
the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition have partnered with other leaders and activists to
stage a global conference on Africa to be held in Atlanta this winter.
The "State of the Black World" conference will convene in
Atlanta November 28, through December 2, at the Georgia International Convention
Center.
Invitations have been extended to civil rights activists here
and abroad, but it was not reported that any have confirmed they will
attend.
A similar conference was held more than 31 years ago, titled the
Congress of African People.
"The SOBWC is envisioned as
the first great gathering of the African peoples of the world in the new century
and millennium," said Ron Daniels, executive director of the Center for
Constitutional Rights.
"It is viewed as a vehicle to
confront the multitude of crises facing Black people."
The conference will also serve as a vehicle to form strategies that
will restore Africa as a leading force on the world stage. In
that spirit, the planning committee has adopted the theme "Creating Our 21st
Century."
People of African descent must begin to create their own futures,
according to Joseph Beasley, Southern Regional Coordinator for
Rainbow/PUSH.
"It is high time that our people begin to stand up and come
together," he said. "We are of the race, but it is high time we be
about the race. There is nothing wrong with being for the race."
Daniels, Beasley
and others including Markel Hutchinson, CEO/founder of the National Youth
Connection are expecting upwards of 5,000 Blacks to attend the
conference.
"Black people from all corners of the
globe will meet here to face the reality that the colorline, as W.E.B. DuBois
described it, afflicts us all everywhere," Daniels said.
Racism, White
supremacy, colonialism, neo-colonialism, poverty, hunger disease genocide and
fratricide are also problems that will be addressed at the conference according
to Daniels.
Though a supporter of the event, Faheem
Martin, of the Kalonji Brotherhood said he also hopes there will be some form of
action created that attendees will be able to implement in their respective
communities.
Rest assured, there definitely would be, according to
Daniels.
"A set of goals and objectives have been outlined," he
said. "We hope to identify, analyze and discuss the critical crises and issues
facing Black people. We also hope to provide some sort of leadership and skill
development training to enhance our collective capacity to engage the struggle
for liberation."
Organizers also hope to use the conference to heal the
centuries old estrangement between African and African American
peoples.
"Our agenda also includes discussion of meaningful definitions of
liberation and reconstruction, intensifying the global movement for
reparations and working towards the convening of an International
Black Arts and Cultural Festival," Daniels explained.
Organizers hope to
convene the festival in 2004 in Haiti to commemorate the 200th anniversary of
the Haitian Revolution.
"A conference of this magnitude is long
overdue,' said conference organizer Patricia Johnson.
For more
information, call 1-866-ATL-SOBW or visit www.TBWT.com
by Mashaun D.
Simon
This article was contributed by T'zirah Baht Yehudah
*********
AFRIKAN WORLD REPARATIONS AND
REPATRIATION TRUTH COMMISSION
P. O. BOX TN 1127, ACCRA, GHANA WEST AFRICA FAX: 233 21
777098
MEMORANDUM
TO: SELORM TECLU
FROM:
AFRIKAN WORLD REPARATION AND
REPATRIATION TRUTH
COMMISSION (AWRRTC) EXECUTIVE MEMBERS AND ELDERS
SUBJECT: DISMISSAL FROM AFRIKAN
WORLD
REPARATION AND REPATRIATION TRUTH COMMISSION (AWRRTC)
DATE:
19TH FEBRUARY, 2001
Effective, 8 February, 2001 AWRRTC
Executive members and Elders met and decided your immediate "Dismissal" from the
Afrikan World Reparations and Repatriation Truth Commission
(AWRRTC).
Reasons for such a decision are outlined in the attached
memorandum below, dated 11 January, 2001, as well as your refusal since
receiving this memorandum (11 January) to attend AWRRTC's weekly meetings, to
answer to the charge of 'Breach of Trust'.
AWRRTC Executive
Members and Elders are kindly requesting that you return all documents belonging
to AWRRTC, and do "not" speak, correspond, nor carry-on any business affairs on
behalf of AWRRTC.
cc:(i)Co-Chair Debra Kofie
Cotonou
Benin
(ii)NCOBRA, USA
***
AFRIKAN WORLD REPARATIONS AND
REPATRIATION TRUTH
COMMISSION
P. O. BOX TN 1127, ACCRA, GHANA WEST AFRICA FAX: 233 21
777098
MEMORANDUM
TO: SELORM TECLU
FROM:
DR. HAMET M. MAULANA, (Co-Chair Afrikan
World Reparation
and Repatriation Truth Commission (AWRRTC)
SUBJECT: YOUTH STUDY
GROUP
DATE: 11th January,
2001
Selem, after the last meeting with you, 17th December, 2000 and
reflecting on your statements concerning your Leadership position and influence
over the Youth Study Group, it comes now time herein for me to respond as
Co-Chair of AWRRTC.
Please know that AWRRTC considers the Ghanaian youth to be
absolutely essential and significant in its Reparations Claim for Mother Africa.
The Ghanaian youth is one of the medians AWRTC needs to help educate the general
Ghanaian population in their various ethnic languages about the Reparations
Claim. AWRRTC considers the youth to be a 'Critical' factor in the Reparations
and Repatriation movement.
Briefly, do know what is at issue here
with AWRRTC concerning you is a 'Breach of Trust'. Breach of Trust is predicated upon you telling me 17th December,
and I quote you:
"I did not want the youth in the 'Study Group' to feel that I
was using them, by telling them that the idea of the Study Group is affiliated
with AWRRTC. Because they may not want to be apart of AWRRTC. So, I never
mentioned AWRRTC's interest or connection with the Study Group". End of quote.
Also, you said that you are going to register the study group in the name of
illumini'. Selam, I believe you have been with the study group since its
inception in August, 2000. This was a period of over four (4) months, while
meeting on a weekly basis. Selam, are you telling me that you never once in this
time period, as a senior member of AWRRTC, who had just attended an NCOBRA
National Conference on Reparations in Washington, D.C. USA (June 14-20, 2000),
representing the interest of AWRRTC, had never once taken the time to announce
to the Youth Study Group, AWRRTC's interest and position with this
Group?
Selam, first of all, if I may recall to your attention, Co-Chair Lady
Debra Kofie and myself, along with you, after AWRRTC's 2nd International
Historic Reparations and Repatriation Conference in Accra, July 28-30, 2000; we
both advised you in the interest of AWRRTC on how to best go about laying out
the modalities and parameters in setting up an AWRRTC "Youth Study Group. You
heard us out very well on this matter, and agreed to pursue the project at per
recommendation from AWRRTC Co-Chairs. I even met with you in the month of
September,2000 at your work site office (Institute of Economic Affairs), to
reinforce AWRRTC's position vis-a-vis establishing the Youth Study
Group.
Selam, to this end, I felt the compelling need to tell you that in the
struggle for Reparations and Repatriation for African peoples, "TRUST" is
Paramount to the success of our overall mission.
This is absolute in
light of the fact that there is so much International 'Provocateuring' trying to
undermine, or, outright derail Africa's Reparations Claim against European
nations, as well as the USA.
EMAIL:awrrtc@hotmail.com
*********
…let's work
together to heighten this righteous call for justice.
Peace and
Power,
Ukali
*********
NEWSLETTER
BANTU-LAND Grassroots
Messages!
Volume XXIV ISSUE 1
MARCH 8, 2001
ST. LOUIS HOSTS REPARATIONS AWARENESS DAY
FORUM
ON UNITED NATIONS WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM
On Sunday February 25, 2001 at
2:pm the Clifford Wilson Center was the site of the Sunday Forum. The event was
sponsored by the December 12 th Movement International Secretariat, National Black United Front
(NBUF), National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA),
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM).
The forum facilitator, Mr. Alphonso
Lumpkins (NBUF/N'COBRA member) , welcomed the more than 100
people who came to the program and gave them some insight on NBUF's efforts in
bringing the charges of Genocide before the U.N.
The local chapter
of N'COBRA was introduced to the gathering by its Male Co-Chair Alvin
Brown who began by first explaining the purpose of the
N'COBRA surveys in helping to determine the manner of Reparations our people
would like then inviting those present to fill-out one of the surveys.
The
local chairperson of the Youth Commission, Richard Phillips, spoke about the
April 4, 2001 walk-out that is being led by the Tupac Generation and sponsored
by N'COBRA's National Congress of Economic Development Commissioners.
The local N'COBRA Treasurer, B. J. Brown was
introduced and she ended by inviting all present to join N'COBRA. X.
Peter Clark , local N'COBRA Secretary,
spoke on education's importance, and N'COBRA's demand in this area. The Female
Co-Chair Diane Allen (Lady D) then summed up N'COBRA's
message reminding all that this was Reparations Awareness Day, and the need
for Reparations because among other things "we have lost our minds!"
Sister Colette Pean was introduced and she began by
reminding us that "as Malcolm said"...."go to the U.N." She
said that the UNWCAR (Aug. 31 thru Sept. 7, 2001 in South Africa) will be a
continuation of the work of D12 and NBUF and N'COBRA to get the question of our
HUMAN RIGHTS on the world stage. She explained how previously the African
Group at the UN had banned together and presented a statement saying that the
"Atlantic Slave Trade" was a crime against Humanity and a violation of the Human
Rights of Africans by those Nations engaged in the trade. (The U.S. through its ambassador to the U.N. by threathening to cut off
aid to these countries, had this resolution removed)
She told us that
this conference has been 2 years in the making; that there are some 184 Nations
in the U.N., and that the United States has fought against holding this
conference. She said that this is the third world conference
against racism, and gave us some insight to the previous two. She compared the
efforts that were given by the U.S. for previously held conferences of this
nature, then compared that to the fact that "not one national or regional
meeting was held or scheduled to be held within the United States for this very
important (to us...this is our conference....something that we can give factual
information about) UNWCAR. She stated that the best place to hold
the conference would be the U.S. in New York where the U.N. has its
headquarters. The United States offers accessibility via roads,
communication etc., that other countries cannot offer. There are some 40 million
African descendents here, and combined with the large numbers in South America
(Brazil which is close to 60% Black; Columbia with some 15 million Blacks caught
in the middle of a drug war and a civil war) Latin America and the Caribbean and
Canada the western hemisphere has plenty of African descendents to give
factual testimony to the effects of Slavery and Racism and it's effects on us
today.
She explained the "Durban 400",
and
the need to have grassroots people addressing the African Nations and NGO's that
will be present. It is important that the central issues of this conference be
about a Declaration that the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery be
classified as a Crime against Humanity; the Reparations be paid [although at the
present time the word Restitution has be put in brackets] and that NGO
organizations such as D12 play a key role in accomplishing these
goals.
After a very informative presentation, the forum was opened
for questions from those present. The questions were varied, and the age
group of questioners ranged from grade school age to our senior
citizens. And of course, also present was the element that feels
that we should not be seeking Reparations or that Reparations are due to the
descendents of Slaves and tried their best to defend the United States
Government. {This was good because the people present were able to witness the
fact that in South Africa as here in the U.S. everyone who is Black will not be
there speaking on our behalf demanding Reparations.}
Special thanks were given to the United Black Community
Fund which made the Wilson Center available. The
forum ended with everyone invited to participate in a Caribbean dinner, which
the local Haitian Community had prepared in honor of our main speaker, Sister
Colette Pean.
Alvin Brown - Male Co-Chair
N'COBRA/ST.LOUIS
Contributed by
abantu@swbell.net
MALCOLM X. GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT
P.O.BOX 831
FLORISSANT, MO.63032
*********
Onaje Muid gave a presentation before
lawyers at Columbia University last evening (February 28, 2001) along with Sis.
Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, who began the research and struggle against Aetna,
Bro. Charles Barron, community activist and Bro. William Allen, a NYC Council
Member who gave the legislative/political side. There were judges and other
elected officials in the audience and the event was co-sponsored by the Black
Women's Lawyers Assoc. (or some such).
NCOBRA's on the move...
Sister Niamo
*********
JOIN THE BLACK REPARATIONS MOVEMENT TODAY !
IT IS A WIN, WIN CASE FOR US!
Oscar L. Beard
*********
The Reparations Movement's goals are as follows:
- Obtain
Reparations from all countries that prospered from Black Slave
Labor
Schedule Conferences, Marches, and Protests until the White Society
apologizes and
compensates Descendants of the Slave Trade
- Speak at the
United Nations on Reparations for Survivors of the Slave Trade in order
to gain International Support of all or most countries
- Demonstrate in
front of the UN in Geneva for World Attention
- Establish an
International Fund for Descendants of Slaves
- Target Companies
that existed during the days of Slavery for Reparations, and if they
do not comply, then list them as "Unworthy" for Black
patronage
- Seek support for Reparations from Companies that prosper off of Black
Clients
- Seek Celebrity support for Reparations
- Involve the
Media
- Make "Reparations" the buzz word for 2000
- Etc., etc., and
by "any means necessary" within the Law
*********
IN SUPPORT OF REPARATIONS!
WAKE UP!
STAND UP!
STEP
UP!
and DO SOMETHING IN SUPPORT OF
REPARATIONS!
OR THERE CAN BE NO REAL -
PEACE!
Ahna Tafari
*********
REPAIRING THE AMERICAN
HOLOCAUST
February 14, 2001
DURHAM, N.C. -- A new study in Germany
may help illuminate one of our looming issues here in the United States. The
study was on the children of Nazis, very comparable to our issue --
reparations for slavery.
Germany spent the
last 50 years both accepting responsibility for the horrors of Nazism and
educating its people to prevent any such repetition of history. But recently,
German public-opinion polling firms noted a growing sentiment against foreigners
living in Germany. One poll even found that nearly 10 percent of Germans thought
the Nazis had "good ideas."
Startled by that finding, social
scientists studied the communication of history within families. In summary, the
children and grandchildren of Nazi-era Germans believed that their ancestors
were at worst innocent bystanders or that they had actually worked (openly or
secretly) against the Nazi regime. And many of these descendants believed this
even in instances where the descendants had proof that the ancestor had been,
for example, in the Gestapo (literally, the Nazi "secret state police"). The
living ancestors themselves, when interviewed, often retained an intense dislike
of Jews or other Nazi victims, thus undercutting their descendants' conviction
that "grandmother sheltered a Jew."
Which brings us to American race-based
slavery.
To be sure, there were differences: race-based slavery arose from the
ancient practice of taking a defeated enemy as slaves. Portuguese traders
introduced the buying and selling of African slaves into Europe, and the new
labor source flourished where it was most economical: the Americas. American
slavery was thus a gradual historical process, not
the Nazis' pitched campaign to use existing biases to political advantage, and
ultimately to mass murder.
But Nazism was a systematically violent
attempt to build a new world order based on racist principles. American slavery
was an attempt to build the new world through systematic, often violent,
oppression of a group based on race.
Viewed in that light, American slavery
differs from Nazism only because it was based more upon exploiting people for
economic gain rather than exterminating them in pursuit of illusory "racial
purity." Either way, humans deliberately inflicted unprecedented
suffering. And that's not even considering the wars that ended those
systems.
Which brings us to reparations to black Americans.
Consideration of
reparations to black Americans dates back to 1829. It has been endorsed by many,
including Martin Luther King, Jr., who advocated a "massive program of special
compensatory measures."
Reparations are gaining momentum again
for both slavery and continuing racism (due in part to Randall Robinson's book,
The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks, and a [recent] reparations convention…in
Chicago). The reparations idea is also based on the claim that
every freed male slave should get "40 acres and a mule" as stated in the First
Freedmen's Bureau Act (defeated in Congress in 1866) and from the War
Department's attempts to help freed men who served under General William Sherman
(repeatedly blocked by President Johnson through the late
1860s).
So what can we learn from the German
parallel?
After World War I,
overly demanding reparations required of Germany helped bring the Nazis to
power. But after World War II, Germany, rebuilt with aid from its former
enemies, was able to pay reparations to Jewish Holocaust survivors. From the
1950s to the present, Germans choose to pay reparations, even though, according
to that study, living Germans seem to feel that neither they nor their relatives
were directly responsible for the Holocaust.
In the United
States, we have apologized and paid symbolic sums to Japanese Americans locked
in concentration camps here during World War II. Similar payments have been made
to several Native American tribes, descendants of those wronged long
ago.
There are thus numerous precedents in favor of reparations
for slavery. These should be paid to the immediate survivors and the
descendants who suffered from this great wrong. But
should descendants of those who profited from this wrong help pay those
reparations?
Like modern Germans, modern Americans claim individual and
collective innocence.
So should we, legal descendants of the nation which held
slavery as a "property right," be held accountable to the descendants of those
who were so gravely wronged? Should the payments be made by all whites to all
blacks, regardless of when our ancestors arrived here? Would reparations quiet
these claims of those historically wronged or merely help to smolder this sense
of resentment?
Our nation must have a discussion about this and resolve it
openly, rationally and respectfully. It should be clear by now that these
issues will not go away if we simply ignore them.
By Edward
Benson
The Chronicle
Duke U.
Contributed by Blazing Star's
Harmony Mailing
List
*********
AFRICAN CAUCUS GROUP (ACG)
PRESS STATEMENT
Africans and African Descendants unite to raise
concerns in Vienna meeting
In preparation for the UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR)
in South Africa August-September 2001, Africans and African
Descendants see a need to debate issues of concern in a
representable way. African NGOs from many countries will meet in
Vienna 28-29 April.
Conditions for
Africans and African Descendants must improve
The history of African
people and people of African Descendant is complex, intricate and embodies many
chapters of injustice and brutalisation. The people who can trace their lineage
back to Africa are found on all world continents, in every country. Although
their reasons for living in different countries are varied, people of African
descent share many of the same problems whichever country they reside in. The
African Caucus group hold the opinion that the WCAR will be a great failure if
it does not sufficiently address practical remedies to improve conditions for
Africans and African Descendents.
African NGO meeting in Vienna 28-29 April 2001
The African Caucus
Group appreciates the initiative by UN to put racism and means of eradicating
it, in all its forms, on the agenda internationally by staging the World
Conference against racism. The group wants to play a vital part in supporting
this process. To be able to pinpoint, discuss, highlight and outline the various
topics of specific relevance to Africans and African Descendants, a meeting for
African NGOs will be held in Vienna 28-29 April 2001.
The main objective
for this meeting is to plan how the various issues identified by the African and
African Descendants NGOs should be worked on leading up to World Conference
Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. This meeting is highly significant in
that it seeks to address issues on behalf of all people of African descent, and
by doing so, unifying people in a voice demanding to be heard. The overall
purpose of the meeting will be to seek consensus around matters, and means of
raising these matters, in the preparation process for the WCAR and beyond. 150
delegates from more than 30 countries are expected to meet in Vienna this
weekend.
Specific topics the African Caucus Group will work
on
- The question of the transatlantic slave trade and whether to declare it a
crime against humanity
Sources and causes of racism
- Remedies, redress and compensation scheme for victims of the slave trade,
colonialism and present injustices related to racism
The overall mention (or lack thereof) of people of African descent in the
WCAR declaration and plan of action documents
Action to combat racism
The legacy of apartheid, colonization and slavery
Migrants, asylum seekers and refugees
Education and employment
Youth and women
The documents from regional conferences in Africa, Asia and Latin
America & Caribbean give support to the implementation of the
above issues in the WCAR. They have all suggested specific
attention to the situation of Africans and African Descendants.
Western states, however, remain reluctant or silent to many of
these questions.
African
Caucus Group
Africans and African/Descendants have met during the
PrepCom, Regional and Inter-Sessional meetings and formed an African Caucus. The
group is a working group for all people of African descent, irrespective of
language, citizenship or other classifications. ACG is presently not formalised,
but operates as an international information network. For information:
african_caucus@yahoo.com
Contact:
Ihueghian Victor - Internal
Coordinator for the Vienna Meeting
Association for Human Rights and Democracy
in Africa (AHDA)
Vienna, Austria
Tel: (+43) 1-961-0672 or (+43)
1-961-0673
Mobile: (+43) 1-676-366-9409
E-Mail:
ahda@chello.at
Chinedu Ene - External Coordinator for the Vienna
Meeting
Petadisis Community Organisation
London, England
Tel: (+44)
207-241-2727
Mobile: (+44) 7940-515-902
E-mail:
chinedu@entelopson.freeserve.co.uk
Amani Olubanjo Buntu -
Coordinator of information, ACG
Afrikan Youth In Norway
Oslo,
Norway
Tel: (+47) 23 32 60 97 (work)
Mobile: (+47) 917 49 520
E-mail:
bababuntu@blackworld.com
AFRICANS AND AFRICAN DESCENDANTS
NGO MEETING
28-29 APRIL 2001, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Uniting Africa Worldwide
Venue: Afro-Asiatisches Institute, Türkenstrasse 3, A-1090 Wien, Austria,
Tel:
310-514-312
Information contents:
1. WCAR outline
2. ACG outline
3. Africans and African Descendants NGO meeting
4. Agenda
5. Accommodation
6. Important information
7. Contact details
8. Useful web link
9. Registration form
1. WCAR outline
Headed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary
Robinson, the United Nations will stage the conference:
World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia
and Related Intolerance (WCAR)
in Durban, South Africa 31 August to 7 September 2001. There will
be a NGO Forum taking place from 28 August-1 September. And a
Youth Summit is planned for the 27-28 August. All to take place
in Durban, South Africa.
The proposed motto for the conference is "United to combat racism:
Equality, justice and dignity".
To find documentation for the Conference and the Preparatory
Process, go to the website of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights:
http://www.unhchr.ch
Click on World Conference Against Racism on the left side of the
Home Page.
A great deal of additional information for NGOs has been posted on
an NGO website for the World Conference:
http://www.hri.ca/racism
The NGO Liason Unit maintains a ListServe with newsletters,
briefings and updates. To be added to the mailing list, just
send a message to lwiseberg.hchr@unog.ch
For specific information related to the NGO Forum, which is being
organised by the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO),
go to the NGO Forum website:
http://www.racism.org.za
2. ACG outline
In preparation for the UN World
Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in South Africa, Africans and African
Descendants see a need to debate issues of concern in a representable way.
Africans and African/Descendants have met during the PrepCom, Regional and
Inter-Sessional meetings and formed an African Caucus. The group is a working
group for all people of African descent, irrespective of language, citizenship
or other classifications. ACG is presently not formalised, but operates as an
information network.
The history of African people and people of African
Descendant is complex, intricate and embodies many chapters of injustice and
brutalisation. The people who can trace their lineage back to Africa are found
on all world continents, in every country. Although their reasons for living in
different countries are varied, people of African descent share many of the same
problems whichever country they reside in. The African Caucus group hold the
opinion that the WCAR will be a great failure if it does not sufficiently
address practical remedies to improve conditions for Africans and African
Descendents.
3. Africans and African Descendants NGO meeting
The African Caucus Group
appreciates the initiative by UN to put racism and means of eradicating it, in
all its forms, on the agenda internationally by staging the World Conference
against racism. The group wants to play a vital part in supporting this process.
To be able to pinpoint, discuss, highlight and outline the various topics of
specific relevance to Africans and African Descendants, a meeting for African
NGOs will be held in Vienna 28-29 April 2001.
The main objective for this
meeting is to plan how the various issues identified by the African/African
Descendants NGOs should be worked on leading up to both the 2nd
PrepCom (Geneva, May 2001) and the WCAR (Durban, August 2001). An agenda for the
African Caucus to meet at the PrepCom in Geneva will be established. 4-6
coordinators will be elected at this meeting, to assist and to facilitate all
practical needs of the process. At least one of these coordinators should
represent youth organisations and, at least, one or two should be women.
Representatives from African states governments will be invited to the opening
of the meeting, and will receive a statement form the group after the
meeting.
The group realises that there might be many NGOs who cannot
participate in this meeting, due to short notice, financial
constraints etc. Efforts will be made on national/regional
levels to to collect information from those who cannot attend
and make agreements on how they best can be represented. The
coordinators will also identify heads of states and
international NGOs which the Caucus should be in communication
with. It is especially important that youth and women must be
well represented in the meeting.
This meeting is highly significant in that it seeks to address
issues on behalf of all people of African descent, and by doing
so, unifying people in a voice demanding to be heard. The
overall purpose of the meeting will be to seek consensus around
matters, and means of raising these matters, in the preparation
process for the WCAR and beyond.
Specific topics the African
Caucus will work on
- the question of the transatlantic slave trade and whether to declare it a
a crime against humanity
compensation scheme for victims of the slave trade, colonialism and
present injustices related to racism
the overall mention (or lack thereof) of people of African descent
in the declaration and plan of action documents
action to combat racism
legacy of apartheid, colonisation and slavery
migrants, asylum seekers and refugees
education and employment
youth and women
4. Agenda
DAY ONE 28 APRIL 2001
Registration starts 0800. Meeting starts 0930. Meeting will close
1900.
1. Registration
2. Welcome address by the Director of AHDA in Austria
3. Address by the UN High Commissioner for Human Right
4. Adoption of agenda
5. General information
6. Plenary session
7. Workshops:
a) Sources & causes of racism
b) Remedies and redress/compensatory measures
c) Victims of racism
- Slave trade as crime against humanity
8. Presentation of papers
9. Summary
DAY TWO - 29 APRIL 2001
Meeting starts 0900. Meeting will close 1800.
1. Keynote address by African Ambassador (tba)
2. Address by High Commissioner for Refugees
3. General information
4. Plenary session
5. Workshops:
a) Action to combat racism
- Legacy of apartheid, colonization and slavery
Effects of racism, slavery, apartheid and colonization on the
African/African descendants women and youths
- The Media Manipulations: Implications for racism, migration,
immigration, asylum seekers and refugees
6. Reports from workshops, summary
7. Adoption of final report
Venue: Afro-Asiatisches Institute, Türkenstrasse 3, A-1090
Wien, Austria, Tel: 310-514-312
5. Accommodation
List of Hotels in Vienna
Hotel-Pension Ziper
Hotel Goldener Bar
8, Lange Gasse 49
9 Turkenstrasse 27
Tel: 01/404540
Tel: 3175111…0
Fax: 4085266/13
Maximal 7EZ, 7 persons ca.880
EZ: ca. 890/day (ca.10 Persons)
single room ATS 880 daily
Hotel Nordbahn
Best Western Hotel Beethoven
2, Prater Strasse 72
6 Millockergrasse 6
Tel: 21130…0
Tel: 5874482
Fax: 21130/72
Fax: 5874442
Reserve 1 month ahead, EZ ca. 870/Tag Maximal 7
persons @ EZ1350
Discount for 20 persons
DZ 1450
Single room ATS 870 daily
Hotel Auhof
Pension Schonbrunn
13 Auhofstrasse 205
12 Schonbrunner Schlobstrasse 30
Tel/Fax: 0043-1-8775289
Tel: 8155027…0
CA.10 EZ ( 10 Persons )
Fax: 8155027-300
Single Room ATS 360 daily (no bath in flat) EZ ca
610/Tag (5 Persons only)
Please, note: It is recommended that
you make reservations as soon as possible, as April is a busy time in
Vienna.
6. Important information
Who can attend the
meeting?
- The Africans and African Descendants NGO
meeting is open to all people of African descent/heritage, regardless of
nationality, place of birth and language. Africans who do not represent a
specific NGO, are urged to seek representation on behalf of her/his community
where she/he lives. Non-Africans who want to support the work are encouraged to
submit their contact details and will receive a report after the meeting
What if I need a visa?
- If
you need a visa to enter Austria (find out from your Foreign Department), please
contact Ihueghian Victor (see information details below) as soon as possible for
an invitation letter.
How do I register
for the meeting?
- Enclosed you will find a
registration form, which you are asked to fill in and submit by mail as soon as
possible. For practical purposes it is important that you register by
20th April.
Is there a
registration fee?
- Registering and attending the
meeting is free of charge. Coffee, tea and refreshments will be available free
of charge throughout the meeting. All meals must be purchased and paid by the
individual attendee. Arrangements will be made to suggest suitable places to buy
lunch and dinner.
Can I submit
papers?
- Attendees are encouraged to submit
papers, recommendations, outlines etc. as contributions to the meeting
discussions. Please, send your written entry to:
african_caucus@yahoo.comby
15 April.
Papers will be compiled and duplicated (should not exceed 10
pages each), and made available for the meeting. It is important that your
contribution is in line with the topics chosen for the meeting (see point 3 and
4). If the Coordinating Committee does not find your paper to be of specific
relevance, you will be asked to facilitate your own copies. The Coordinating
Committee also reserves the right to decide which papers will be presented at
the meeting.
Which language will the meeting be held
in?
- The meeting language will be
English. However, we will try our best to accommodate translation needs. If you
have specific translation needs or inquiries, please contact Ihueghian Victor
(see information details below) as soon as possible.
What means of transport should I use within
Vienna?
- From the airport you can take a taxi
to your hotel. Once in the city you can reach the meeting venue
(Afro-Asiatisches Institute, Türkenstrasse 3) by taking the street train to the
end station Schttentor/University. You can take trains 1, 2, 37, 39, 40, 41, 44D
and street bus 40.
How can I get more information on
Vienna?
- You can find information and city
plan about Vienna at this website: http://www.wien.gv.at/english/
How can I convert Austrian prices to my
currency?
To convert to Austrian currency (ATS),
go to the Universal Currency Converter: http://www.xe.net/ucc/
For more
information:
For all inquiries concerning the
meeting in Vienna, please, get in touch with Ihueghian Victor and the rest of
the staff at Association for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa
(AHDA)
Mr. Ihueghian Victor, Director of AHDA:
Tel: (+43) 1-961-0672
or (+43) 1-961-0673
Mobile: (+43)
1-676-366-9409
Mail:ahda@chello.at
7. Contact details
Ihueghian Victor - Internal Coordinator for the Vienna
Meeting
Association for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa
(AHDA)
Vienna, Austria
Tel: (+43) 1-961-0672 or (+43)
1-961-0673
Mobile: (+43) 1-676-366-9409
E-Mail:
ahda@chello.at
Chinedu Ene - External Coordinator for the Vienna
Meeting
Petadisis Community Organisation
London, England
Tel: (+44)
207-241-2727
Mobile: (+44) 7940-515-902
E-mail:
chinedu@entelopson.freeserve.co.uk
Amani Olubanjo Buntu -
Coordinator of information, ACG
Afrikan Youth In Norway
Oslo,
Norway
Tel: (+47) 23 32 60 97 (work)
Mobile: (+47) 917 49 520
E-mail:
bababuntu@blackworld.com
African Caucus Group
(ACG)
If you have comments, questions or
requests related to the African Caucus Group, the Vienna meeting or beyond -
write to our e-mail. Your mail will be forwarded to the right person, and sent
out to our international network if appropriate:
E-mail:
african_caucus@yahoo.com
8. Useful web link
For
useful information on various aspects of the Reparations and Compensations
question, please go to the website of African Reparations
Movement:
http://www.arm.arc.co.uk/
9. Registration form
Please, submit form by 20 th April to ahda@chello.at
Name:
Organization:
If you do not represent a specific NGO, please indicate whether
you will participate as representative for a community or group:
Postal address:
Country of residence:
Country (countries) of origin:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Specific dietary needs:
Translation needs:
Contact Ihueghian
Victor for all practical details concerning the meeting in Vienna:
Tel: (+43)
1-961-0672 or (+43) 1-961-0673
Mobile: (+43) 1-676-366-9409E-Mail: ahda@chello.at
*********
*****MARK YOUR
CALENDAR*****
SUNDAY REPARATIONS MEETINGS
Muhammad Mosque of Islam in Boston, Massachusetts invites you
to attend weekly meetings each Sunday at
the Dillaway located at:
183 Roxbury
Street
Roxbury, Massachusetts
(Next to the Timilty School, in
Roxbury)
Meetings start at 2:00 PM, but on the last Sunday of the month we start
at 1:00 PM.
For more information and to schedule free lectures on
Reparations at your church, school, business or organization, feel
welcome to telephone Minister Malik Al-Arkam at (617) 770-2017.
In April 2001, the
Honorable Silis Muhammad will again be traveling to Geneva, Switzerland to
testify before the U.N. Human Rights Commission on behalf of 40 million
oppressed African-Americans.
*********
FREE THE MIND... FREE THE PEOPLE... FREE THE LAND
THE NATIONAL COALITION OF BLACKS FOR
REPARATIONS IN AMERICA (NCOBRA)
*********
April 4, 2001
N'COBRA CALLS FOR APRIL 4 TH REPARATIONS WALK-OUT
FROM: Alvin Brown
RE:
April 4th 2001
TIME: 1OAM-3PM
WALK-OUT OF SCHOOLS INCLUDING
COLLEGES DEMANDING REPARATIONS NOW!
MARCH ON ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICES In Honor
Of ROSA PARKS AND ALL COURAGEOUS Freedom Fighters Led by The TUPAC Generation.
TAKE A LUNCH BREAK BETWEEN NOON AND 2PM
AND JOIN OUR NATIONAL SCHOOL WALKOUT IN D.C. WE WILL WALK ON THE JUSTICE DEPT.
AT 10TH AND PENN. AVE. NW.
April 4, 2001
COMMEMORATE THE LEGACY OF DR. MARTIN L.
KING, JR
IN THE STREETS!
We must strengthen our resolve to actively engage in our
struggle for freedom. We must:
Stop the Death
Penalty!
Free the Land for African People!
Free All Political Prisoners and Prisoners
of War!
Fight for our Human Rights!
Demand Reparations for African People at
the upcoming United Nations World Conference against Racism!
March &
Rally
Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Assemble at 4:00pm Sharp!
26 Federal Plaza
Downtown Manhattan
For more information contact the
December 12th
Movement
(718) 398-1766 / D12M@aol.com
*********
April 7, 2001
National Chairman, Alderman Dorothy
Tillman, from Chicago will hold a National Reparations Conference in
Memphis, Tennessee on April 7, 2001.
For more information, please contact:
Dejoser@AOL.COM
*********
April 15, 2001
MARCH ON WASHINGTON TO PUSH H.R.
40
We are asking for the support of all! For more
information, please E-mail me at:
acoxl@aol.com
Thanks,
Luv glo
Contributed by RHazard, N'COBRA
*********
April 28/29, 2001
AFRICAN CAUCUS GROUP (ACG)
PRESS STATEMENT
Africans and African Descendants unite to raise
concerns in Vienna meeting
In preparation for the UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR)
in South Africa August-September 2001, Africans and African
Descendants see a need to debate issues of concern in a
representable way. African NGOs from many countries will meet in
Vienna 28-29 April.
Contact:
Ihueghian Victor - Internal Coordinator for the Vienna
Meeting
Association for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa
(AHDA)
Vienna, Austria
Tel: (+43) 1-961-0672 or (+43)
1-961-0673
Mobile: (+43) 1-676-366-9409
E-Mail:
ahda@chello.at
Chinedu Ene - External Coordinator for the Vienna
Meeting
Petadisis Community Organisation
London, England
Tel: (+44)
207-241-2727
Mobile: (+44) 7940-515-902
E-mail:
chinedu@entelopson.freeserve.co.uk
Amani Olubanjo Buntu -
Coordinator of information, ACG
Afrikan Youth In Norway
Oslo,
Norway
Tel: (+47) 23 32 60 97 (work)
Mobile: (+47) 917 49 520
E-mail:
bababuntu@blackworld.com
See full details above "Mark Your Calendar."
*********
May 19, 2001
BLACK HUMAN RIGHTS DAY/ MARCH AT THE
UNITED NATIONS IN
CELEBRATION OF MALCOLM X'S BIRTHDAY
*********
June 22 - 24, 2001
N'COBRA 12 th ANNUAL
CONVENTION
National Co-Chairs: Dorothy Benton Lewis and Hannibal Tirus
Afrik
Location: Baton Rouge,
Louisiana
Site: Southern
University
Theme: "Positioning Ourselves To Get
Paid"
Convention Contacts:
Constance Randolph (225) 237-3065
Rev. Carlton "
Bahiri" White (225) 778-1561
Early Registration:
Before February 25 th : $ 60.00
After February 25 th : $ 75.00 Until June
1st Thereafter : $ 90
Convention registration includes:
Program book, convention T-Shirt, ENCOBRA Magazine, membership dues,
admission to all convention events, including a tour of the River Rd. African
American Museum in Gonzales.
Make Check or Money Order payable
to: N'COBRA and mail to:
P.O. Box 75437 *
Baton Rouge, LA 70874-5437.
Suggested Hotel
Accommodations:
The New Comfort
Suites Airport: Call (225) 356-6500 - Mention N'COBRA Convention
Vendors, workshop
panelist / leaders, performers, etc. are Welcome. Call for arrangements.
PLEASE SEE COMPLETE AD A FEW PAGES
DOWN.
*********
August 31, 2001 - September 7,
2001
THE LEGACY OF THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT
AND
THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM
The December 12th Movement, based in New York, and
The National Black United Front (NBUF) are co-sponsoring a Black Power
conference in support of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism.
The United Nations World Conference Against Racism will be
held in Durbin, South Africa from August 31, 2001 - September 7,
2001.
By Dr. Conrad W. Worrill
***
YOU MUST BE IN SOUTH AFRICA NEXT AUGUST 2001!
To All
Concerned African People:
The United
Nations' World Conference against Racism begins August 31, 2001 in Durban,
South Africa. The December 12th Movement International Secretariat is
seeking you to be a part of the Delegation of 400 African people to South Africa
in support of two crucial issues:
1) Declaration of the
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as a Crime against Humanity
2) Reparations for Africans in the Diaspora and on the
Continent.
Malcolm X said that
we must put our situation on the international agenda, in the international
arena. We must be there in a massive presence to defend our human
rights.
Join us, if you want to go to Durban in support of
these issues. The application is included in the text of this message, as well
as an attached document in .rtf format.
Costs:
We estimate that the
total cost for the trip (the Conference is from August 31, to September 7),
i.e., travel, lodging and meals, will be approximately $2500. If you are planning
to go we need a deposit of $250.00 immediately.
We, along with the
National Black United Front, are working with a Black Travel Agency based in
Chicago which has already made airline travel arrangements to and reserved
blocks of hotel rooms in Durban. Your check or money order should be made out to
AARCO TRAVEL AND TOURS and should be sent to
the:
December 12th Movement
456 Nostrand Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
11216
For more information on the World Conference
against Racism and the struggle to defend the human rights of African people,
contact us at:
Telephone #718-398-1766
Fax #623-1855
E-mail: Error! Bookmark not defined.
IF YOU WISH TO GO TO SOUTH AFRICA, PLEASE FILL OUT THE FORM
BELOW.
APPLICATION FORM FOR THE DURBAN
400
NAME:
ADDRESS
PHONE
:
FAX:
E-MAIL:
ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATION (if
any):
YES: I want to be a member of the Durban 400. Enclosed is
my check in the
amount of
$_______________.
_____________________________________________________________
NAME
*********
October 19/20, 2001
PHILOSOPHY BORN OF STRUGGLE CONFERENCE
ON
RACE, REPARATIONS, AND RESTITUTION
Place: Brown
University
CONTACT:
J. Everet Green
HUMANITAS 3000
37 Old Oregon Road
Cortlandt Manor
New York, New York
10567
Please send out a call to the Reparations Community to rally around
Professor Lewis Gordon and the Black Students and other people of good
will at Brown.
J. Everet Green
(Below is a letter by Prof.
Gordon's.)
*********
November 28 - December 2,
2001
THE "STATE OF THE BLACK WORLD"
CONFERENCE
Convenes in Atlanta November 28 - December 2, 2001 at
the Georgia International Convention
Center.
"A set of goals and objectives have been outlined," he
said. "We hope to identify, analyze and discuss the critical crises and issues
facing Black people. We also hope to provide some sort of leadership and
skill development training to enhance our collective capacity to engage the
struggle for liberation."
"Our agenda also includes
discussion of meaningful definitions of liberation and reconstruction,
intensifying the global movement for reparations and working towards the
convening of an International Black Arts and Cultural Festival,"
For more information, call 1-866-ATL-SOBW or visit www.TBWT.com
*********
Thanks [J. Everet
Green] for the kind words of support. Here is an updated letter I have been
sending to answer the many queries.
Lewis…
23 March
2001*
It has come to my attention that my actions over the past week have been
grossly misrepresented by some members of the media and the Brown University
community. I have no recollection of saying such a thing. Here are the facts.
I
was contacted by students who felt that there was not support for them at Brown
because of the Acting President publicly condemning them last week without also
including a condemnation of the racist assaults and rebuffs they had received
prior to and after the incident. They wanted to meet with the
Press but felt there was no safe environment in which to do so. So, I offered a
room in the office building over which I am director. The students met with the
Press but refused to be filmed in order to maintain their anonymity. In my
interview with ABC and New England Cable and Fox, I said that what concerned me
was that the ad was both hate speech and a solicitation for financial support to
develop antiblack ad space. I was concerned that it would embolden
white supremacists and antiblack racists.
The next day I
received hate phone calls, hate mail, and the situation has become such that I
have to take precautions for the safety of the staff in Afro-American Studies at
Brown and my family. I spoke out against the harm
suffered by Black students and staff since the emergence of this conflict, and I
stressed the need for the Brown community to defend their right to assemble,
work, and in some cases (e.g., students) live on this campus. I received many
letters of support from Brown faculty who were, however, afraid of speaking
publicly. In other words, tenured professors were afraid of voicing their
opinion in public! Thus, I became the only public, where another faculty member
came out as a voice of dissent.
My public position is that what happened
last week reflects both questions of the parameters of responsible versus
irresponsible activities on the part of the press and the question of racism. I
was also concerned that the public spaces at Brown were being bullied into white
spaces versus spaces for the entire Brown community regardless of race, gender,
sexual orientation, and class. People who cannot afford, as Horowitz was able,
to purchase space to air their points of view rely only on places of assembly
with the hope of coverage from the other venues. majority position. The
distinction between a minority version of a majority opinion and a racial
minority, for instance, was blurred in the conflict.
I have become a
scapegoat on these matters. The record is that I am being attacked by such
critics for exercising my right to disagree with them. In
effect, they attack me because I do not share their point of view. Free speech
for them seems to mean only their point of view.
The Constitution
protects free speech and our right to assemble. There is also an equal
protection clause. The events that have unfolded are clear indications that
racism is still such that equal protection of Black people is still in the
making.
Finally, I should like to make a statement on the forum held on March 22,
2000. He also wanted an environment in which the members of the school paper,
the coalition, the rest of the Brown community (faculty, deans, workers) can
meet and speak honestly without threat. That I have been so severely rebuked
for simply demanding both an affirmation of free speech and a condemnation of
racism signaled to him and the other organizers how nasty the situation was and
there was fear that no one would speak out from such threats. My
role in the organization of the panel of experts was to demand that it include
white faculty with diverse views on these issues. That is what was assembled,
and that is what we had last night, a panel designed to articulate the
issues at stake since there were so many heated positions floating around the
campus.
The Dean of the College told the Press that they could have a
press conference after the panel, but there was concern about their presence
harassing people who may not have wanted to be on camera or for their identities
to be made public. The students met. The Dean and others came out afterward.
They waited in the rain, and then went home.
The next day, I
was shocked to find out that a student from the campus paper went on a talk show
and imputed to me inflammatory words that I simply did not say. The
circumstance exemplifies my early observation that hate words are not in the
spirit of speech but harm. I subsequently met with several stations. I am
answering the many phone calls from press officials. It is taking me time. I
have, after all, as do many other professors, obligations to my family, my
students, my colleagues, and, through my effort to defend the right of assembly
and speech for those in the genuine minority, the community.
Now, to my
chagrin, I am being vilified. I am being accused of things
I did not say, and I am being attacked for not only being a minority, but a
minority who speaks out and has taken the risk of trying my best
to assure that students can assemble peaceably at Brown with the assurance that
it is an institution in which each of them is welcomed as a full
member.
Sincerely,
Lewis R. Gordon
Professor of
Afro-American Studies, Religious Studies, and Modern Culture and
Media
*I wrote this letter on March 22nd and revised it for March
23rd as more facts unfolded. Since then, even more information has come to
light, which would have required rewriting the entire letter. I have thus
decided to write this addendum.
On Friday, March 23rd, I appeared on the
FOX
Television Station. In that interview, a tape
was played that was truly shocking. It was a clip from an interview with several
members of the Brown Daily Herald editorial board and staff. The BDHst while I
was in Providence speaking at the Forum under the auspices of the Dean of the
College. The BDH What they had done, in other words, was worst than I had
thought, and they had in effect, through their lies, irresponsibly rallied
across the nation a lynch-mob mentality against me, the Program in Afro-American
Studies, and black students at Brown. In my reply, I stated much
of what is included in this letter. The host of that program stated that he
would like the entire faculty of Brown to gather and condemn the students. I
responded that it is irresponsible for people to make judgments and sentences
without knowing the facts, without going through the process of a tribunal, and
without even having reflected on the issues. In effect, he was demanding a
totalitarian environment. He responded that 80% of the U.S.
population is against paying reparations to Blacks. I replied that such a fact places Horowitz in a majority position,
which makes the demand to bully the 20% minority over to his side a desire more
for totalitarianism than for a majority position (which is already there).
In many ways, the economic dimension of such activities
substantiates my point on the class and race dimensions of what was going on. It
is no accident that the right of assembly is under attack by such groups who, in
the end, prefer a press that money can buy or, in other words, a purchased
public sphere. I concluded by reiterating that the lies those students told have
harmed a community of people, and the harm they have done to me is salacious.
That group (the editors and staff of the BDH) abused this privilege by
terrorizing students and faculty. The ire dished against me was an effort to
beat the Brown faculty into submission for the purpose of presenting a lie of
unanimity or, again, total condemnation of their critics and anyone who may have
given the multiracial group of protesting students the benefit of the doubt and
room to assemble and present their points of view to the concerned
public.
Since this is in effect a second letter, I would like to conclude by
thanking the people who have supported me in any way. I
appreciate the department that sent flowers, candy, and a card in support of me
and my colleagues; I appreciate the letters of solidarity some of you sent; I
appreciate the members of the Brown faculty (and those at other universities)
who are beginning to stand up and organize groups against the efforts to bully
the faculty into what would clearly be an environment that smacks of fascism; I
appreciate those members of the press who acted responsibly over the past week
by checking the facts and remembering that there is more than one side to many
stories; and I appreciate the letter of apology from the concerned citizen to
whom I had sent the original version of this letter.
Lewis
Gordon
March 24, 2001
*********
"Power never conceded without a demand,
it never did and never will - where there is no struggle, there is no progress."
F. Douglas.
BECOME A MEMEBER OF N'COBRA. Visit
us at www.ncobra.com, write the national headquarters at:
P.O. Box 62622
Washington. D.C. 20029-2622
E-mail me for further information about
the WCAR at onajemuid4@cs.com or
write:
Onaje Mu'id
P.O. Box 8003
Englewood, NJ 07631.
* Onaje
Mu'id is a human rights activist with the International
Commissioner of N'COBRA and Policy Chair of the National Black Alcoholisms and
Addiction Council-New York Chapter and Ndundu member of the Council of
Independent Black Institutions.
*********
BOOK LISTINGS
The book listing on Reparations and Black History can be found
in REPNOW Newsletters 1 - 5.
WE SHALL WIN THIS WAR!
Imari A. Obadele
*********
"Without Sanctuary"
The web address for Without Sanctuary" is listed in the REPNOW
Newsletter #13.
Please pass this information on to others for it is out of…
AMERICA'S SHAME: CONTEMPT & THE
LYNCHINGS
James Allen's photos on the lynchings of Blacks in America
*********
E-mail Addresses & WebSites On Reparations, Black Issues, and Current
Events:
UNFORTUNATELY FOR SOME REASON, I KEPT GETTING "Error!
Bookmark not defined" FOR ALL THE WEBSITES THAT
WERE LISTED, SO I HAD TO ELIMINATE THEM FROM THIS NEWSLETTER. However, please
see the complete list of WebSites in the REPNOW Issue #13. If
someone knows how to remedy this problem, so that I can retain the Website
addresses, please advise.
Tziona Yisrael, Editor
*********
Hotep,
I am Gregory Carey, Founder and President
of Reparations Central , an online reparations
searchable database. We would like for you to view our website that is in the
development stage at http://www.reparationscentral.com
We are also
attempting to unify and centralize the reparations movement. We are looking for
other organizations that are doing reparations work to put on our website. Also,
we are asking every organization to consider putting an audio/video presentation
on our website. This website is the hub of the reparations movement worldwide.
We
need your support and help to make this reparations clearinghouse a successful
venture.
In Struggle,
Aluta Continua Asante Sana
*********
HOW CAN I SUPPORT THE REPARATIONS MASS MOVEMENT?
1.) I suggest that you approach the city in which you reside
for reparations, support for reparations, or information as to how to obtain
reparations. Your strategy may be a model we all may benefit from at the local
level.
2.) Next, demonstrate your willingness to join others in the struggle for
reparations.
3.) I would hope that you join or start an N'COBRA chapter in
your locale area (if there is none) and become an active and energetic
member/reparations information resource, for your Afrikan brothers and
sisters.
Submitted by R. Hazard, N'COBRA
*********
"Together We shall Win REPARATIONS
NOW!!!"
Free Your Mind - Join NCOBRA.... Free The People.... Free The
Land...
Robert Hazard
S.E. Regional Rep. NCOBRA
*********
"If you are thinking one year ahead, sow a seed.
if you thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree.
If you thinking one hundred years ahead ...
educate the people."
A Manchurian Proverb
Compliments of Shakira A. Ali
*********
Interesting Information of Significance and
FYI:
AS A RESULT OF DAVID HOROWITZ'S EFFORTS TO THWART THE REPARATIONS
MOVEMENT,
JUST TAKE A LOOK AT ALL THE ATTENTION
THE REPARATIONS THRUST IS GAINING:
On this Horowitz thing. Maybe national N'COBRA can
write a letter of support to all the black student associations in their efforts
to counteract this racist diatribe. That letter could be the basis of
organizing eventual N'COBRA related groups on the campus. Moreover, maybe
N'COBRA could take out an ad in selected campus newspapers which would expose
Horowitz's background, while dealing with the issue of reparations from our
point of view. Finally, the black woman president of Brown University should be
contacted to ascertain where she's at on the specific Brown thing.
Peace,
Dr. Ibn-Ziyad,
Camden
***
BROWN UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS
STEAL PAPERS IN PROTEST OVER HOROWITZ'S AD
BOSTON (AP) -
Brown University students stole the entire press run of an issue of
the Brown Daily Herald in an apparent protest of an ad denouncing reparations
for slavery that appeared in an earlier edition.
Herald staff
members Friday physically restrained a mob of students who tried to force their
way into the newspaper's office and destroy the remaining 100 copies of Friday's
newspaper. The protesters pounded on the door and demanded an apology and
financial amends for the ad in Tuesday's editions, The Boston Globe reported
Saturday.
The advertisement had a headline that said, ``Ten Reasons
Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea and Racist Too'' and a
layout that was similar to the Bill of Rights. It stated that black Americans
owed the United States more than it owed them.
The Herald became
the first Ivy League newspaper to print the ad from conservative theorist David
Horowitz. It had been rejected by at least 18 college newspapers, including the
Columbia Daily Spectator, the Harvard Crimson, and UMass-Amherst's Massachusetts
Daily Collegian. Of those that ran it, at least four quickly apologized.
The newspaper on Thursday issued a statement defending its decision to
print the ad.
``We understand that the advertisement
contains content that some may find disconcerting,'' the statement said. ``But
we will not apologize for printing a legitimate advertisement that may offend
some of our readership.''
Leaders of Brown's minority student
associations demanded that the newspaper donate the $725 fee received from the
advertiser to campus minority projects and issue a formal statement of regret.
They also removed the papers from their distribution bins and replaced
them with fliers that accused the paper of insensitivity.
"I think there's
a fine line between free speech and being disrespectful and distasteful, and the
Brown Daily Herald clearly crossed the line,'' sophomore Clement Tsao told the Globe.
The Herald
planned to reprint Friday's editions for distribution Saturday and beef up its
newsroom security. In a statement Friday, the
Herald called the seizure of the newspapers ``an unacceptable attempt to silence
our voice,'' and added that ``we will not censor advertisements because of their
politics, which is what we believe our critics wish us to do.''
The ad has
sparked similar protests at other universities, including the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, where 100 protesters stormed the student newspaper's office
last week and demanded the top editor's resignation after the newspaper ran the
ad. The Badger Herald refused to apologize, saying to do so
would hamper free speech.
The Daily Californian, the newspaper at
the University of California at Berkley, issued a a front-page apology for
running the ad, saying the newspaper was an ``inadvertent vehicle for
bigotry.''
Associated Press
Contributed by T'zirah Baht
Yisrael
***
I don't find it amazing that David Horowitz and some other racist
White Jews can say and literally do anything they want against Blacks AND get
away with it. However, when people object to, denounce, or tell the
TRUTH about them and their shrewd economic practices, they either get them fired
from their jobs or call them anti-Semitic. Without a doubt, this degradation
that Horowitz has brought to the forefront will certainly hamper relations
between Blacks and White Jews if he is speaking in their behalf. In any case, I
have yet to hear Jewish organizations utter one word in support of Reparations
for descendants of Slaves. What are they afraid of??? equity and justice for
"All," and this time including Black Folks??? Or are they afraid of history
being revealed, i.e., their involvement in the African Slave Trade???
Hmmm…
Horowitz reaps benefits from two countries: Israel (at the expense of US
tax dollars) and the United States where he is one privileged character in every
respect. But yet he is not satisfied. Whose fault is that? He takes pleasure in
going on national television to promote "Ten reasons why reparations for
slavery are a bad idea for black people -- and racist too." I
could give 100 reasons why US tax dollars should not go to Israel, especially
since Black Communities suffer while Israelis live quite fashionably in fancy,
brand new settlements, compliments of Black and White Folks in the "Good Ol'
U.S. of A."
Mr. Horowitz, don't get me started!!! I see through your smoke
and mirrors! Don't look now, but the Most High GOD of Abraham and Moses yet
lives and is in on this ACT!!!
Tziona Yisrael, Editor
***
The Herald planned
to reprint Friday's editions for distribution Saturday and beef up its newsroom
security. In a statement…the Herald called the seizure of the newspapers ``an
unacceptable attempt to silence our voice,'' and added that ``we will not censor
advertisements because of their politics, which is what we believe our critics
wish us to do.''
***
FACISM HITS BROWN UNIVERSITY
This post touches on the same topic that Ohso touched in one
of his posts a little while back, the intolerance on college campuses of opinion
that is not "politically correct." Recently the Brown University school
newspaper The Brown Daily Herald printed an advertisement by
conservative commentator David Horowitz. In the advertisement, Horowitz
outlines the reasons why one should be opposed to government reparations for
slavery. Various student activists groups on the Brown
University campus responded in a similar matter intolerant people around the
world do: they confiscated copies of the Herald.
Now if one
disagrees with Horowitz's point of view, one should state why they are opposed
to his views instead of bashing the newspaper that publishes his opinion.
College campuses should be places where opinion is free flowing. Those who
confiscated copies of the Herald probably don't have the intellectual ammunition
to put forward an opposing view point, or maybe they don't believe
in free speech for those who disagree with them. Or maybe it's a little of both.
Below is a link with more information on the topic.
projo.com/news
***
Projo.com/news states that "one should state why they are
opposed to his [Horowitz's] views." Well, PROJO, here it is…
RESPONSE TO DAVID HOROWITZ
June 5, 2000/ Revised March 25, 2001
David Horowitz's article, "Ten reasons why reparations for
slavery are a bad idea for black people -- and racist too," dated
May 29, 2000, is most insensitive and outrageous. Coming from a Jew whose people
have experienced a holocaust at the hands of Hitler and who cry, "Never Again,"
I am shocked that he would take the time to express such prejudiced and bigoted
views. If people so much as write half his negative assertions about Jews, they
would be termed "anti-Semitic."
Horowitz's ten reasons why it's a bad
idea for Blacks to receive Reparations should cause folks to wonder why he went
to so much trouble to degrade and slander Blacks and attest to lies in hopes
that Blacks will continue to remain disadvantaged, in poverty, and without an
adequate education. After all, European Jews
have had U.S. government approval and assistance, at tax payers expense, to
obtain their monies from Swiss banks, and no one raises an eyebrow. "In
December, U.S. and German negotiators, at the behest of President Clinton and
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, announced a deal to establish a $5.2
billion German fund to compensate hundreds of thousands of people forced to work
for the Nazis and German companies during the war." By BRIGITTE GREENBERG,
Associated Press Writer
For whatever reason, President Clinton
has gone above and beyond for European Jews and Israelis, even though they
bombed the USS Liberty and got away with it. But
Blacks who have died in every major war that this country was involved in
haven't the respect and the staunch attention that White Jews attract from this
U.S. government.
Blacks haven't so much as received an apology for Slavery,
for the barbaric, merciless, and inhumane treatment of people forcibly migrated
to these shores and to other European countries, much less
Reparations. Israelis receive a minimum of $ 3 billion every single
year from U.S. tax payers, and they are deemed the greatest welfare recipient in
this World. At the expense of Americans, this country has fabulous settlements
all over Israel that Blacks wish they could have in the controlled environments
or rather ghettoes in which we are forced to live. Horowitz should have
considered these facts before denouncing the Blacks of America who help foot the
economic expenses of Israel and who have always been oppressed and afflicted
because of the Triangular/African Slave Trade.
Horowitz is not in
denial, he knows well what he is doing. He knows who are second-class citizens
today in every white society that exists on this globe, and he knows that it's
no coincidence that not one black country on this planet is a developing country
or enjoys an equal distribution of the wealth of this World. Horowitz knows that
World Leaders have been quite effective in ostracizing Blacks as true rulers and
leaders, and he wants it to stay like that.
Horowitz
proclaims that Reparations would "intensify ethnic antagonisms and generate new
levels of racial resentment," and he states that Whites "have made significant
contributions to ending discrimination and redressing any lingering
injustice."
[IF HOROWITZ THINKS THAT DEMANDING REPARATIONS WILL
"INTENSIFY ETHNIC ANTAGONISMS AND GENERATE NEW LEVELS OF RACIAL RESENTMENT,"
THEN JUST THINK OF THE CONSEQUENCES IF WE DON'T.]
Were ethnic
antagonisms the situation when the Germans declared $ 70 billion for the free
labor and for the 6 million Jews who died in the holocaust? Did the Germans seek
to befriend and make amends with the European Jews, or did this compensation for
the atrocities committed against the Jews in Europe cause more race hatred and
discrimination against the Jews? Where is the proof of Horowitz's
assertions that Reparations for descendants of Slaves and for the race hatred,
discrimination, and prejudice that Blacks yet endure, today, will cause
"antagonisms and generate…racial resentment" if this has not happened to the
European Jews or to the Japanese or to the Native Americans?" One
would think that Horowitz wants all the US tax dollars for the
Jews!
I am totally shocked that he has the audacity to print false
information stating that Whites have made significant contributions to end
discrimination and injustice. Where is his documentation?
On the contrary, the First Lady Hillary Clinton, in her bid for the NY Senate
seat, admitted to the discrimination and disparities that yet exist against
Blacks in this country. President Clinton in his last State of the Union Address
confirmed same, but Horowitz would rather delude himself and paint falsehoods
about the truth of the Black dilemma here in the United States. Horowitz's
assertions prove one thing, race hatred, discrimination, and cunning deceptions
about Blacks are alive and well, and that bigots are determined to maintain the
haves and the have nots at all costs.
I am fed up with hearing that the
powers-that-be are "striving to end inequality" and from others that "most
Whites are not racist." Juliani, the mayor of New York, is just one evil and
merciless example of a leader who is one of the most racist and heartless men
since the abolition of Slavery. But enough already about him, as GOD has dealt
HIS Judgment against this bigot. If most Whites are not racist, then
where are they? They certainly aren't in
government making changes that would eliminate poverty and improve and regulate
the social and economic systems to work for the Blacks in this country.
And
they absolutely are not making efforts to right the wrongs of the African Slave
Trade and the Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws, and institutional racism that
followed. WHERE ARE THESE WHITES WHO ARE SO CONCERNED ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS FOR
BLACK FOLKS AND ENDING PREJUDICE??? It would appear that they are busy
eliminating Affirmative Action!
As a child, no one can imagine the
humiliation and despair I experienced from being Black and poor. My parents have
never been on welfare, and my father went to work even when he was sick because
he couldn't afford to lose a day's pay. I can still remember him going to work
with the measles. And I can yet remember the endless days searching the "want
ads" trying to find a better job for my dad only to find "Coloreds Need
Not Apply." Many a day I went to school with holes in the bottoms
of my shoes and wearing the same clothes too many times a week because my dad
couldn't find a decent job and my mom couldn't scrub enough White Jewish floors
to support their five children. Is this a unique page in the history of a black
family in these United States, or is this the way it was/is in every black
community that exists in America? The information regarding destitution
and the impoverished peoples in this country is well documented, and the truth
of the matter is that the socio-economic dilemma of Blacks runs high on the
list, and to date, the matter has only worsened.
The sixties brought
about a slightly more positive change, but it wasn't because Whites made a
significant effort to end discrimination and injustice. It's because Blacks got
fed up and demonstrated for Civil Rights, a fight one would think wouldn't exist
in a society where so many Whites are making "significant progress to end
discrimination and injustice" against Blacks. Thus, the reason for the
Reparations Mass Movement gaining momentum. Horowitz should know that THE MASS
MOVEMENT FOR REPARATIONS IS AN ASSAULT ON INJUSTICE AND ALL ABOUT EFFORTS TO
IMPROVE THE BLACK DILEMMA IN THIS WORLD, nothing more and nothing
less.
Horowitz is oblivious to the fact that
since the sixties, Blacks have gone and gotten the degrees necessary to improve
their lifestyles, just as some Whites advised, but to no avail. The race hatred
and prejudice against Blacks is ingrained and deeply rooted in the minds of the
powers-that-be and exists in the systems that make up the "American Way."
Therefore, Horowitz is deluding only himself. The only legacy Blacks have since
being forced to live in America is subjugation, poverty, sorrows, and despair,
and honest Whites will attest to this fact. Oh,
and please don't let me forget the poverty of the inner cities and the lack of
adequate educational systems for Blacks in this great country with "Justice for
All" called "Good Ol' U.S. of A.
The legacy of the Slave Masters yet
exists and for the benefit of their privileged descendants and not the
descendants of the Slaves whose forebears served them for many generations with
free labor and in want of all things. "THE PRIVILEGED" IS A PHRASE ONLY
ACCURATELY USED WHEN IT DEALS WITH WHITES. NEVER HAVE BLACKS BEEN PRIVILEGED
SINCE FORCIBLY BEING BROUGHT TO THESE SHORES DURING THE AFRICAN SLAVE
TRADE.
Horowitz attempts to blame the Africans for the African Slave
Trade. His efforts fail miserably. It was not the African's bartering with
human beings for alcohol, trinkets, and guns that established the prosperity and
great wealth from the Triangular/African Slave Trade that made America and
European countries the economic giants and World Powers that they
are. The Africans had been dealing in Slavery for a long
time, but nothing like what compared with the Europeans who forcibly migrated
Blacks to the four corners of the Earth and caused the complete ethnic cleansing of
many millions of Black Peoples unto this day. Horowitz's desire to blame the Africans for the Slave Trade that
gained them nothing of significance, and least of all wealth and prosperity,
just won't fly.
I could not believe that Horowitz would suggest that "Most
Americans living today (white and otherwise) are the descendants of post-Civil
War immigrants, who have no lineal connection to slavery at all" and would
include the Jews in this group. Doesn't this man know
history and even the acts of his own people??? Many nations were involved in the
Triangular/African Slave Trade: Portugal, England, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, and Colonial America to name a few. People
emigrating to the Americas from these lands only perpetuated the lucrative
market of owning and selling Black Slaves out of Africa.
There is absolutely
no argument regarding the fact that Jews were very much involved in the African
Slave Trade. This is documented information by Jews themselves. I
might also add that many of these white immigrants came from countries that also
indulged in the Triangular/African Slave Trade. Blacks know
their history and which nations were involved in the Triangular/African Slave
Trade whether members of these countries migrated to America or
not.
The truth of the matter is that European Jews were very
much involved in the African Slave Trade, and few people will openly discuss
this matter because of the positive image Horowitz and other Jews wish to
maintain for themselves. However, because Horowitz
chooses to sabotage the Reparations Mass Movement and present such a squeaky
clean image for himself, let the true facts and the undeniable documentation
spring forth.
The worst of the Slave Masters were the Jews and the
Christians. The 16 th and 17 th centuries were
prosperous years for Portugal due to the Slave Trade that was financed by Jews.
This is history, and documentation that was startling information even for those
of us who are Black. The Jews out of Portugal were "The mother of all Slavers."
(White Jews: JRM/Memoirs (1,2,3) - Jacob Rader Marcus,
Memoirs of American Jews 1775 - 1865, New York: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1974, 3 volumes
and Jews and Negro Slavery by Bertram W. Korn)
If people are to be blamed for the
African Slave Trade, then let all who participated and prospered from this human
bondage pay restitution, including the White Jews. The Americans and Great
Britain admit to this inhumane and cruel enslavement, and so should the
Jews. In the late 1500's when other European countries saw
the economic profit in owning Slaves, other European nations followed Portugal's
lead and partook in the African Slave Trade, as well. These peoples also
prospered from black blood, sweat, tears, and free labor: the Swedes, Danes,
French, Germans, Dutch, and of course the English. In later years, some of these
same Peoples emigrated to the Americas and again participated in the affliction
and destruction of defenseless black men, women, and children. They are not
exempt from their involvement in the African Slave Trade - not by any means.
All
Peoples who have prospered due to the Slave Trade, be it directly or indirectly,
are to blame for this insane bondage that killed as many as 200 million black
peoples (UNESCO's 1978 Report).
Yet, Horowitz has found the need to
encourage all Whites to denounce our efforts and to belittle and ridicule those
of us who seek Reparations for the hundreds of years of free labor and pain and
suffering Blacks have endured unto this day. Let
it be known that we, survivors of the African Slave Trade and victims of
continued race hatred and prejudice, are not deterred or dissuaded from steps
we
must take if we are to rise above the hell in which we live in
white societies. Horowitz should know that
though we are under the control of white rulers, we are no longer chattel, and
just as Civil Rights Activists were successful in eliminating overt forms of
racism, Blacks will be successful in obtaining Reparations and with the help
of the All-Mighty GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
With these
Reparations payments, we will build our own Communities, educate our children,
establish Health Centers, and start small businesses for our livelihoods. And
for those who choose to leave the lands of our captors, they will pursue
happiness in friendly countries that do not tolerate any forms of racism and
injustice but are ready to receive descendants of Slaves with open arms.
Reparations will enable these Blacks to do same for a real opportunity to live
in environments where they need not be self-conscious about the color of their
skin and deal with racist bigots like Horowitz.
Racist
environments yet exist, discrimination, and injustice yet exist. Lynchings,
racial profiling, police brutality, and murder of innocent Blacks still exist.
We are tired of continuously fighting for Civil Rights that can obviously never
become a reality. We have sought the aid of government, many groups, and
individuals to put an end to this maddening racist society. Letters go out to
our Congressmen and Senators and even to the Presidents, past and present leader
of this country, President Clinton, who "can't understand why Blacks support
him" (The Debt by Randall Robinson), but to no avail. President Clinton should
know that Blacks supported and elected him because they believed him to be the
right candidate to improve the lot of Blacks and put an end to the racism in
this society. Thus, not even this President of the United States has done a
thing to end discrimination and redress injustice, as Horowitz suggested.
Horowitz should know that after almost eight years in office, President
Clinton has done absolutely nothing to end discrimination or address
Reparations, and neither has anyone else.
Therefore, because we, descendants of Slaves, want to move on and rise
above our horrible past and the indignities and degradation that have been a
part of our lives due to Slavery, we will continue to seek Reparations, as well
as self-determination for the betterment of all Blacks in and out of Africa. And
we won't rest until every country that has enslaved Black Peoples pays
retribution for this heinous crime regardless of the many asinine reasons why
people like Horowitz deem "Reparations are a bad idea for black people."
Not only should the United States pay Reparations, but
every country that advocates "Justice for All" should take part in an
"International Fund for Descendants of Slaves," so that Survivors of the Slave
Trade can establish a more honorable image in this World. This
is equity, justice, and the right thing for all countries that were involved in
the trade of human beings to make a reality. This is only the beginning of
demonstrations and black and white voices for Reparations.
We are human
beings with feelings and with honest desires to prosper, and above all, with an
inalienable right to live decent and respectable lives. And
with the help of the All-Mighty GOD, the nations that were involved in the
Triangular/African Slave Trade will justly compensate the Survivors of the Slave
Trade in payment for the hundreds of years of Slavery, oppression,
discrimination, and pain and suffering Blacks have experienced in the lands of
our captors.
The Reparations Mass Movement will continue, and in
fact, it is indeed already growing and strengthening through the "Black
Realization" that if we do not speak out and do for ourselves, then folks like
David Horowitz and others in the white societies in this World will assume that
we are satisfied with the racist relations and deplorable conditions, as they
now exist. And nothing could be further from the truth.
Tziona Yisrael
Black Hebrew Israelite, rightful descendant of the Biblical
Israelites
That's another story to tell for another time complete with
even more documentation.)
www.thelawkeepers.org
[Our disdain
for Horowitz's attempts to sabotage the Reparations Movement for descendants of
Slaves is not about anti-Semitism, as some White Jews would like to allege. This
Black Thrust is all about TRUTH, JUSTICE BEING SERVED, EQUITY, AND SELF DETERMINATION, not to mention
MOVING ON to better the lifestyles of Black Peoples all
over the World ! ]
***
I guess an Old University like Brown that made big
money during the slave trade has no political conscious after making money
from the Triangular Trade Route participation. The students should check out how
the founders of Brown got paid.
Free the mind.....
Robert
***
DURHAM HERALD-SUN
ANTI-REPARATIONS PROTESTS
CONTINUE
March 23, 2001
DURHAM -- One hundred
fifty students filed silently from the student union to Duke President Nan
Keohane's office early Thursday to deliver petitions protesting a political ad
against reparations for slavery that appeared in the Monday edition of the
student-run newspaper.
Like a funeral procession, the
protesters -- black, Asian and white -- used one arm to hold the person in front
of them and the other to hold signs that screamed their anger and
hurt.
"It's not a black thing," "Stop the hate," "Make The Chronicle
responsible," the signs said.
After entering Duke's Allen Building, the
protesters slowly climbed the winding staircase and pushed through the glass
doors of the administration offices. Keohane stood outside her door, flanked by
several of her senior officers.
The students brushed by, dropping into
the president's outstretched hands reams of paper -- 269 signed petitions
demanding the university account for its progress after past protests by black
students in 1969, 1975 and 1997 - as Keohane tried to
shuffle the stack into an orderly bundle.
They then moved down the long hall,
turned, and made their way back out the door, their backpacks and trendy
messenger bags slung over their shoulders, their dorm keys jangling on their
chests off of long cords.
After the students left, Keohane called
the march a "very important way of making a statement."
"It was
appropriate and quite moving," she said, before retiring with administrators to
discuss the petitions.
The students demanded that the
university make a progress report of demands from past protests and pull its
advertising from The Chronicle if the newspaper did not give them two pages: one
for an apology, and one to rebut the ad, titled "Ten Reasons Why Reparations for
Slavery is a Bad Idea -- and Racist Too."
In addition, the
students demanded the newspaper reform its policy on reviewing ads, so that
"offensive material is not published outside of the editorial page," and that
the paper provide full and adequate coverage of minority events. The money
received from the ad should be either returned or given to an agreed-upon
organization or cause in the Durham or Duke community, they
said.
On Monday, The Chronicle published the full-page anti-reparations ad
placed by the conservative columnist David Horowitz for
$793.80.
The ad argues that reparations paid to the descendants of
slaves would be unjust, as recipients' sole qualification for receiving the
payments would be skin color. In addition, the ad says
American blacks are better off today than Africans; reparations have already
been paid through welfare and the Civil War; and only a tiny minority of whites
owned slaves, but all would pay the reparations.
More than 200
students attended an all-day sit-in of a room near The Chronicle's offices
Wednesday. They developed a plan of action late that night, and a smaller group
of about 15 marched into The Chronicle after midnight. Told it was a private
space and that police had been called, the group re-grouped at the Bryan Center,
where 50 to 75 students spent the night.
The silent march started at 10:30 a.m.
Thursday and lasted about 30 minutes.
Ronald Nance, a late-night housekeeper
at the Bryan Center, said when he got off the elevator to clean the floor, he'd
"never seen that many people here at 3 a.m." Usually, the Bryan Center closes at
3 a.m., but the students had special permission from the Duke Police to stay in
the building.
Nance, who is black, looked on as the
students slowly dispersed from their circle. He said he hoped they would
prevail, but that it was in God's hands.
Around 6 p.m.,
Keohane e-mailed several of the student leaders and said she would pull together
a report on previous demands by March 29. However, she would not promise to ask
university departments and academic units to withdraw their ads from the
newspaper.
"If the university needs to announce, for legal and safety reasons, the
conditions under which a bonfire may occur to celebrate a Final Four basketball
victory, we need to publicize that broadly. The university administration does
not tell individual offices where and what they may advertise and, in the
interests of all the students who depend on The Chronicle for such information
that is important to their academic and other decisions, it would be
inappropriate for us to do so," she wrote.
But, if The
Chronicle does not provide the space for a rebuttal and refutation of the
arguments in the ad, Keohane promised to "underwrite the full cost of the
page."
She reiterated the university's commitment to free and open
inquiry, and dialogue about the issue in Duke's classrooms and open
forums.
"Through such dialogue, and through continuing to support one another
sensitively in times of pain and hurt, we strengthen our university," Keohane
wrote.
Greg Pessin, editor of The Chronicle, said a response, signed by all the
editors, would be given to the student protesters at a meeting late Thursday
evening. This event was to occur after The Herald-Sun's
deadline.
Pessin had previously refused to apologize, saying, "Open debate, open
discussion, should not be sacrificed for comfort." Pessin wrote in the
newspaper's Wednesday issue, "The free exchange of ideas and the academic
freedom so dear to our university cannot be realized unless all voices,
regardless of controversy, are heard."
Sarah Wigfall, Duke junior and a leader
of the protest, said she'd never had a problem with race "at this school until
Monday."
This ad, she said, made her cry in her dorm room, where she
and her roommate sent out a missive over an e-mail list compiled in the past for
a party.
So, instead of studying for an important test, Wigfall got one hour of
sleep at the Bryan Center.
"Life here is stressful enough at
Duke," she said. "Now we have to deal with an issue that should never have
occurred."
The ad was sent to nearly 50 universities, of which at
least 18 have refused to run it.
At least nine student newspapers have run
the ad, after which the newspapers at Arizona State, Berkeley and the University
of California at Davis also apologized. Friday, student activists at Brown
University -- where the ad appeared March 14 -- stole 4,000 copies of the paper
in protest.
By Jennifer Chorpening <jlc@herald-sun.com
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-88198.html
--
Links related to
this article:
Text of Horowitz ad:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/horowitzsnotepad/2001/hn01-03-01.htm
***
THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE BLACK RADICAL
CONGRESS
STATEMENT BY THE BLACK RADICAL CONGRESS (BRC)
BLACK RADICAL CONGRESS (BRC) STATEMENT ON
STUDENT PROTESTS AGAINST HOROWITZ AD
For Immediate Release
March 28, 2001
The recent attack on Black people mounted by ultra-right winger David
Horowitz, in full-page, anti-reparations advertisements which he attempted to
publish on more than 50 university campuses nationwide, has created an unsafe
climate for Black students on those campuses. The
content of the ads, particularly in the absence of any refuting arguments,
constitutes a message of hate, pure and simple.
In attacking the
basic concept of reparations, a concept the Black Radical Congress strongly
supports and which is rapidly gaining diverse support around the country, the ad
maliciously misrepresents the activities and perspectives of historical Black
movements.
We stand by the declaration in our Freedom Agenda, that "As
the descendants of enslaved Africans, we have the legal and moral right to
receive just compensation for the oppression, systematic brutality and economic
exploitation Black people have suffered historically, and continue to experience
today."
But even more outrageous than Horowitz's views -- views he
is constitutionally entitled to express -- is his use of campus newspapers as
the principal weapon to specifically target a nearly defenseless population:
Black youth. Obviously, he knows that Black students lack access to
the financial means required to mount a counter-attack.
The Black
Radical Congress applauds the valiant efforts of Black students and their
supporters -- White, Latino, Asian and Native American students -- who are
protesting the use of institutional publications by the equivalent of a
Holocaust-denier to purvey his white supremacist ideology. We
join these students in demanding that universities provide a safe and positive
environment for all of their students, equally. The First Amendment does not
justify racism or entitle hateful people to destabilize and render dangerous the
learning environments of Black youth.
Contact: Erica
Smiley, yelimske@hotmail.com
Sam Anderson,
ebontek@earthlink.net
Black Radical Congress
National Office
Columbia University
Station
P.O. Box 250791
New York, NY 10025-1509
Phone: (212)
969-0348
Email: blackradicalcongress@email.com
Web: http://www.blackradicalcongress.org
***
TEN REASONS WHY CONSIDERING REPARATIONS
IS
A GOOD IDEA FOR [BLACK] AMERICANS,
AND HOROWITZ TOO
March 30, 2001
Conservative muckraker David Horowitz
has been verbally mugged for peddling an ad to college newspapers giving ten
reasons why reparations is racist. But the name callers have
done little more than canonize Horowitz as a martyr for truth and free speech.
Even worse, they've failed miserably to tell why reparations merits a serious
look. There are ten compelling reasons it
does .
1. The U.S.
government, not long dead Southern planters bears the blame for
slavery. It encoded it in the Constitution in article one. This
designated a black slave as three-fifths of a person for tax and political
representation purposes. It protected and nourished it in article four by
mandating that all escaped slaves found anywhere in the nation be returned to
their masters. In the Dred Scott decision in 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court
reaffirmed that slaves remained slaves no matter where they were taken in the
United States.
2. Major institutions profited from
slavery. In October, the California state legislature passed a
bill requiring insurance companies to disclose whether they wrote policies
insuring slaves. This was recognition that insurance companies made profits
insuring slaves as property. The insurance industry was not the only culprit.
Banks, shipping companies, and investment houses also made enormous profits from
financing slave purchases, investments in Southern land and products, and the
transport, and sale of slaves.
3. Slavery ended in 1865 but the legacy
of slavery still remains. A report by the National
Conference for Community and Justice, a Washington D.C. public policy group in
2000, found that blacks are still the major economic and social victims of
racial discrimination. They are far more likely to
live in underserved segregated neighborhoods, be refused business and housing
loans, be denied promotions in corporations and attend cash starved, failing
public schools than whites.
4. There's a direct cost for slavery's
legacy. Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Andrew Brimmer
estimates that discrimination costs blacks $10 billion yearly through the
black-white wage gap, denial of capital access, inadequate public services, and
reduced social security and other government benefits. This has been called the
"black tax."
5. The U.S. government has shelled out billions since the1960s
to pay for resettlement, job training, education, and health programs for
refugees fleeing Communist repression. Politicians and the majority of the
public enthusiastically backed these payments as the morally and legally right
thing to do.
6. The reparations issue will not fuel more hatred of
blacks. Most Americans admit that slavery was a morally monstrous system that
wreaked severe pain and suffering on America. City councils in Chicago, Dallas,
Oakland, and Los Angeles, and other cities in the past year have passed
resolutions supporting a federal commission to study reparations. Also, there
was no national outcry when the U.S. government made special indemnity payments,
provided land and social service benefits to Japanese-Americans interned during
World War II, Native-Americans for the theft of lands and mineral rights, and
Philippine veterans who fought with the American army during World War
II.
7. No legislation has been proposed that mandates taxpayers
pay billions to blacks. A bill by Michigan Democrat
John Conyers that has languished in Congress since 1993 simply establishes a
commission to study the effects of slavery. The estimated cost is less than $10
million.
8. There is a precedent for paying blacks for past legal and moral
wrongs. In 1997 Clinton apologized and the U.S. government paid $10 million to
the black survivors and family members victimized by the syphilis experiment
conducted in the 1930's by the U.S. Public Health Service. In 1994, the Florida
legislature agreed to make payments to the survivors and relatives of those who
lost their lives and property when a white mob destroyed the all-black town of
Rosewood in 1923. The carnage was tacitly condoned by public officials and law
enforcement officers. The Oklahoma state legislature is currently considering
reparations payments to the survivors and their descendants of the destruction
of black neighborhoods in Tulsa by white mobs in 1921.
9. Oprah Winfrey,
Bill Cosby, Michael Jordan and other mega-rich blacks will not receive a penny
in reparations. Any tax money to redress black suffering should go into a fund
to bolster funding for AIDS/HIV education and prevention, underfinanced
inner-city public schools, to expand job skills and training, drug and alcohol
counseling and rehabilitation, computer access and literacy training programs,
and to improve public services for the estimated one in four blacks still
trapped in poverty.
10. Thirty years ago a writer passionately
argued that the U.S. government has kept the "black ghettos in a colonial status
since Reconstruction" and refused to meet the "most basic political and economic
demands of the black movement." That writer was David Horowitz. He made the
argument in his book, Empire and Revolution, a blistering indictment of the U.S.
government. Radical hyperbole notwithstanding, Horowitz recognized then that
America owed a debt to black America for past and present sins. It still
does.
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson <ehutchi344@aol.com>
--
Earl Ofari
Hutchinson is the President of The National Alliance for Positive
Action <http://www.natalliance.org> and the author of
The Disappearance of Black Leadership (Middle Passage Press).
Copyright (c) 2001
Earl Ofari Hutchinson. All Rights Reserved.
*********
Up You Mighty Race; We
Can Accomplish What We Will!!!!
I Remain to Serve,
Senghor Baye
*********
What is it going to take before Descendants of Slaves finally
decide to do something about our predicament and the injustices we face? Our
children are suffering in every respect, and we have no legacy. Let's all become
"Activists" in fighting for Reparations and our human rights, before our
children start asking, to our chagrin, why we have permitted this unfairness and
degradation to continue for so long.
Tziona Yisrael, Editor
REPNOW Newsletter
[www.thelawkeepers.org]
*********
WHY THE-POWERS-THAT-BE OWE US…BIG
TIME!
[IF THERE WERE] taxes on property, including "houses, lands
and slaves." This meant that there was now an economic motivation to under-count
this part of the owners property - the fewer slaves reported, the less taxes
paid; Slaves were easier to hide than houses or land.
This is coupled
with the natural inclination of the Census to under-count the Black population.
The evidence is clear in the General Population Statistics, 1790-1990. By 1860,
the "Percentage increase in Black population over preceding census" averaged
28.8% since 1790. In the 1870 census, the percentage growth was only 9.9 %. So
what happened to the other18.9 % of the expected population? They disappeared in
1865 with the Emancipation Proclamation.
No longer having a value attached to
them, these 859,000 African-Americans were lost. It's
been 120 years, and judging from the low-count controversy of the 1990 census,
the
Bureau hasn't found them yet. We can safely regard these
census counts as the way-down-low end of an actual population estimate. Before a
final figure can be determined of the debt due on this slavery phase of the
African Holocaust, some account should be taken of the working conditions. You
can get an impression by looking no further than the evidence found in the
African Burial Ground in Manhattan, New York. Here, recent
analysis of the remains held at Howard University show that children as young as
7 years old were worked so hard that their bodies were mis-shapened and their
spines driven into the brain, from carrying heavy loads. Rich
Phillips, in American Negro Slavery says of J.B Say, an economist must tell us,
said he, that a slave's maintenance must be less that of a free workman, since
the master will impose a more drastic frugality than a freeman will work,
further permit so much leisure and freeman customarily enjoys." This is why we
include the entire slave population as laborers, and we leave it to others to
argue we should not. By 1856 the advertised prices for European-owned
African-Americans on one document of that time ranged from a high of $2,700 for
Anderson, a "No.1 Bricklayer and mason," and $1,900 for George, a "No. 1
Blacksmith," to $750 for Reuben, even though he was labeled "unsound." (See
Railroad Contractor's Credit Sale document of a choice gang of 41 slaves.) The
average cost for this lot of people was $1,488. As a second reference for this
number, we can look at the chart for the cost of Prime Field Hands, and find
that it is pretty accurate. By multiplying the census count of
slaves by the average advertised price, we arrive at a value of $5.3 billion
($5,327,079,968).
This may not look like a lot of money now,
but compare it to other figures of the day. The National Wealth Estimate for the
entire nation in 1856 was $12.3 billion ($12,396,000,000). [Note: All figures
come from Tables in the cited U.S. Bureau of the Census publication]
Total Bank Savings Deposits in1856 was $95.6 million. Manhattan
Island, Land and Buildings, was worth only $900 million dollars, less than
one-fifth of the value invested in African-Americans. The 1855 total capital and
property investment in railroads was only $763.6 million dollars. Why the $5
billion dollar investment in slaves? In 1859, the total private production
income was $4,098,000,000 ($4 billion).
Cotton Manufacturers in 1830
Of this total, labor-intensive industries like "agriculture"
and "transportation and communication," accounted for $1,958 million (1.9
billion). Almost one-half the total private income. This explains why "a good
field hand and laborer" would run you $1,550 for Big Fred aged 24 and $1,900 for
George, a "No. 1 blacksmith". Men like these gave such a good did, kill freely
to keep the system in place. The money earned from this investment
found its way into a variety of banking institutions, which increased from 506
in 1834 to1,643 in 1865.
Many of the names remain familiar to
this day: The Bank of New York Company, Inc. - founded 1784, Fleet National Bank
- 1791, Chase Manhattan Corporation - 1799, Citicorp/Citibank N.A. -1812, The
Dime Savings Bank -1859. As banks in King Cottons' "Chief American market, that
of New York," it is inconceivable that these institutions, and through them the
nation, did not benefit from the profits made on a slaves' wages.
Their business then, as it is now, was to be a source of funds to
build empires in a variety of industries, across the continent, to make land
purchases, upgrade equipment, save to send children to college, etc.
Railroads could be built using a combination of slave labor and loans
taken at banks that held money on deposit from the cotton/slave
industry.
Money was also paid to a variety of people who, while not
slave-owners themselves, were "in the loop" of payments for goods and
services. Thus were assets being used to develop the country for the
benefit of Europeans and their heirs. The nation as a
whole benefited, and that's why the nation as a whole should pay.
When we take that figure of $5,327,079,968 and compound it
annually at 5% interest for 142 (1856-1998) years, we arrive at $
5,437,129,590,059 or 5.4 trillion dollars. The 5% interest rate is actually a
modest one. We would much rather have employed the interest paid on Railroad
Bonds in 1857, with yields of 6.577 (low) to 8.23 (high), but the computer
calculator ran out of room and the lower rate had to be used. Recently, the
Jewish community has begun demanding that Swiss banks which received deposits of
money and valuables confiscated from Jews by the Germans, repay the principal of
those deposits with interest.
They have received Congressional support,
had a respectful hearing, and are seeing the Swiss banks begin to comply and
total accounts. The Jewish Holocaust ended in 1945 with the surrender of
Germany. The Slavery period of the African Holocaust, ended only 80 years
earlier in 1865 with the surrender of the southern states. It was at that time
that the right to own African-Americans outright, was given up throughout the
United States. In recognition of the wrong done, Congressman John Conyers
has sponsored a reparations bill, H.R.40: "A bill to acknowledge the fundamental
injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States
and the13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission
to examine the institution of slavery, subsequent de jure and de facto racial
and economic discrimination against African Americans, and the impact of these
forces on living African Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on
appropriate remedies, and for other purposes." Twenty-five years ago, Queen Mother Moore was at the First Black
Political Convention in Gary, Indiana.
There she stood in a hotel lobby wearing
African clothes, handing out literature and accepting hugs, while shouting,
"Reparations. Reparations honey, come get your reparations. They got
to pay you." The Queen Mother was right. It is in the context of
reparations that the nation should be discussing affirmative action; as part of
the mix of options a moral nation would consider to pay a long due debt. Thirty
percent of the nations' airwaves could be an option. Funding of African-American
banks could be another. Government contracts should be the easiest, with a
mandated percentage for each line item going to African-American businesses on a
sliding scale well into the next century.
Five trillion dollars may seem like a
lot of money, but if Congress can seriously consider a trillion dollar weapons
system now working its way through the appropriations pipeline, then a 5.4
trillion dollar reparations bill is doable over time. This
number is only for the slavery phase of the African Holocaust. It does not
include the theft of property rights inventions and patents. It does not include
damages for pain and suffering. It does not return lost
lives. It is an attempt to be another voice in the reparation process.
Until this debt is acknowledged and paid, America will forever be paying
in blood, tears, and the devil's wages.
Copyright 2000 Our Time
Press
Contributed by R Hazard
*********
Subj: [BlackPower]
Dec 12th Mov't: "Tolerance & Respect" UN Commission on Human
Rights
Date:3/30/01 9:04:32 Am Pacific Daylight Time
From:112213.3531@compuserve.com (aajamu)
Sender:112213.3531@compuserve.com (aajamu)
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Black Power - Black
Power
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"TOLERANCE AND RESPECT"
AN INTERVENTION PRESENTED BY THE DECEMBER 12 TH MOVEMENT
AT A SPECIAL SESSION AT THE UNITED NATION
COMMISSION
ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Presenter: Omowale Clay
DECEMBER 12TH
MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
456 Nostrand Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
11216
(718) 398-1766
(718) 623-1855 (fax)
D12M@AOL.COM
Commission on Human Rights
Palaic de Nations
Geneva, Switzerland
March 26,
2001
Item: Special Debate on Respect and
Tolerance
Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Panelists,
This is a joint statement by the December 12th Movement
International Secretariat and the International Association Against Torture.
There is no dignity in poverty, no inherent virtue in being poor. "The
dignity and worth of the human person," spoken of so eloquently in the preamble
to the Charter of the United Nations has never been rightfully applied to
Africans on the continent and throughout the diaspora.
Today, the
dignity and worth of the human person of African descent still suffers under the
economic, cultural and political devastation of Africa's Holocaust, the greatest
crime against humanity-The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
It is in this
context that we embrace this discourse on tolerance and respect among peoples of
the world, and believe that to find one's bearing in such a discussion, one's
compass must first find its true North - a location which is inseparable from
the quest for economic and social justice.
In discussing
universal tolerance and respect, in principle, it cannot be divided from
universal intolerance for injustice, or disrespect for ideas and their advocates
who would continually and ruthlessly subvert the historical necessity to correct
past crimes against humanity.
Africans are constantly being asked
overtly or covertly to tolerate the bracketing of those remedies to past
injustices that would profoundly change the status of their condition in the
world, because it would be offensive to the perpetrators of the injustice.
As the Secretariat noted...Securing the full, active, free and meaningful
participation of excluded groups means recognizing their rights in law, policy
and practice. It is the responsibility of political leaders to engage in political
discourse based on the high principles of upholding these rights through
exposing, fighting and correcting injustices. Not
by subverting these rights, which have played such an impactful role in the
incitement of intolerance. There are those leaders who denounce or
ignore the recognition of these rights, not based on the preponderance of truth,
but on the intolerance of their own self-interest. An interest clouded by the
necessity of not offending those who fund their electoral position, or assure
their continued appointment to a post.
It is evident
that only when discussions of past crimes affecting Africans are discussed, that
we have no stomach for remedies. We are intolerant. "It was too long ago". "How
can we ever figure it out." "Who is to blame?" These
are the points of order for those who have no interest in rectification. They
are appalled at the lack of sensitivity, and the inflammatory rhetoric of the
descendants of their holocaust. We Africans should be tolerant of the
Europeans' expropriation of our labor, wealth, lands and very life.
We should be respectful enough to attribute this calamity to our
inferiority and their superiority. Look at Zimbabwe, Europe was
tolerant of Ian Smith, but is intolerant of President Mugabe. It appears that tolerance is measured by the security of one's bank
account, not the correcting the historical wrong of stealing a whole nation's
land.
We believe that universal tolerance and respect are possible
only if and when intolerance to injustice is universal. Today, more than
at anytime before, the recognition the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery as
A Crime Against Humanity can move the society of humankind forward toward that
goal. Today the steadfastness of those who believe in justice
must be intolerant of those whose greed founded the slave trade, and whose lack
of penance would deny compensation to their victims.
Thank
you...
DECEMBER 12TH MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
456 Nostrand
Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11216
(718) 398-1766
(718) 623-1855
(fax)
D12M@AOL.COM
Contributed by [Black Power] 112213.3531@compuserve.com
(aajamu)
*********
Free The Mind... Free The People... Free The Land...
Robert Hazard
N'COBRA
Board Member
S. E. Regional
Representative
*********
INTERESTING
TIDBITS:
FROM THE MOUTHS OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF
AMERICA:
As if we didn't
know…
***
I am a firm believer in the people. If
given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The
great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.
-- Abraham Lincoln
I can conceive of no greater calamity than the assimilation
of the negro into our social and political life as our equal...
-- President Abraham Lincoln August 14,1862
From
Lincoln-Douglas Debate, published by Haldeman-Julius Company, Girard, Kansas
1923
I agree with Judge
Douglas that he (Negroes) is not my equal in many respects, certainly not in
color, and perhaps not in moral and intellectual endowment.
-- Abraham
Lincoln Page 81
I have no purpose to
produce political and social equality. I am not in favor of making voters or
jurors of Negroes or of qualifying them to hold office or allowing them to
intermarry with white people... I have never had the least apprehension that I
or my friends would marry Negroes, even if there was no law to keep them from
it... I will, to the very last, stand by the law of this state which forbids the
marrying of white people with Negroes.
-- Abraham Lincoln Page 44
I have no purpose to introduce
political and social equality between the white and black races. There is
a physical difference between the two, which, in my judgment, will forever
forbid their living together in perfect equality: and inasmuch as it becomes a
necessity that there should be a difference, I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in
favor of the race to which I belong having the supremacy.
--
Abraham Lincoln Page 80
From The
Collected works of Abraham Lincoln, published 1953, Rutgers University Press in
eight volumes.
Vol. II Pages 405-409 (Speech at
Springfield, Illinois - June 26, 1857.
Judge
Douglas has said to you that he has not been able to get me to answer the
question whether I am in favor of Negro citizenship. So far as I know, the Judge
never asked me the question before. (applause) He shall have no occasion to ever
ask it again, for I tell him very frankly that I am not in favor of Negro
citizenship. (renewed applause)... Now my opinion is that the different
states have the power to make a Negro a citizen under the Constitution of the
United States if they choose...If the state of Illinois had that power I should
be opposed to the exercise of it. (cries of "good," "good," and applause)
--
Abraham Lincoln
Vol. II, page 281
Speech at Peoria,
Illinois, October 16, 1854
In the course of his reply, Senator Douglas remarked, in
substance, that he had always considered this government was made for the white
people and not for the Negroes. Why, in point of mere fact, I think so, too.
-- Abraham Lincoln
Vol. III, page 399 Notes for speeches,
September 1859
Negro equality! Fudge!!
How long, in the government of a God, great enough to make and
maintain this Universe, shall there continue knaves to vend, and fools to gulp,
so low a piece of demagoguism as this?
- Abraham Lincoln
If I thought this war was to abolish slavery, I would resign my
commission and offer my sword to the other side" ?
-- General U.S.
Grant 1862
'Nothing
is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people 'the
negroes' are to be free. Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally
free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion has drawn
indelible lines of distinction between them'
Thomas
Jefferson in his autobiography
Contributed by Alevi and
Sugarslim81
***
The following information was received via a
circular:
WE KNEW THIS WAS COMING!
TO ALL CONCERNED:
THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT! MAKE, SO MAKE
SURE YOU CALL THE PHONE NUMBERS LISTED BELOW:
YOU CAN ACTUALLY
LEAVE A MESSAGE FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITEDSTATES!
We knew this was
coming... Our new President didn't waste any time. Please do your part to keep
affirmative action!
SENATE PASSES BILL ON:
"NO FUNDING FOR MINORITIES IN
COLLEGE"
A bill will be heard in Congress next week to prohibit
affirmative action in admissions for ANY institution of higher education that
receives ANY federal funding (Pell grants, loans, etc.).
This would end
affirmative action in EVERY COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES!
PLEASE READ AND ACT SOON!
Rep. Frank Riggs
(R-CA) Chairman of the House Education Subcommittee on Children, Youth, and
Families is planning to offer an ANTI-AFFIRMATIVE ACTION in admissions amendment
when the Higher Education Act is voted on the floor NEXT
WEEK.
The amendment would prohibit all institutions of higher
education from using affirmative action in its admission decisions? If even one
student at the institution receives federal funds (i.e., Pell Grant or Student
Loan), they would be violating federal law under this proposal.
Affirmative
action would be illegal even if the school believes it is necessary to insure a
diverse student body, or to remedy past or present
discrimination.
E-mail address:
http://www.house.gov/riggs/contact.html (Congressman Frank
Riggs)
CALL members of Congress: (202) 224-3121 AND
CALL the President: (202)
456-1414.
Congress and the President need to hear from us concerning the
importance of affirmative action for the peoples who have been and continue to
be maltreated and neglected since 1865.
PASS THIS MESSAGE
ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW! ALL OF US WILL LOSE IF THIS BILL BECOMES THE LAW OF THE
LAND!
***
ALL ABOUT NON-URBAN DICTATE
(NUD)
Re: Tom Joyner Radio
Ads
KNOWLEDGE IS
POWER!
You have probably heard of "N. U. D. " as a result of the Tom Joyner
morning show related to CompUSA.... It is the acronym for a very subtle and
little known marketing term specifically directed toward people of color. NUD
stands for Non Urban Dictate. Three words that essentially
mean a company is not interested in the Black Consumer. [A NUD label
means that a company does not want their marketing and advertising materials
placed in media that claim an urban audience as their main target.]
There are legitimate reasons for companies not using urban radio.
It may be that Blacks don't index high in certain categories or that a company's
strategy is to market to the Black consumer down the road after they have
established a strong position in their primary target.
But a NUD
usually means that a company is not interested in the Black consumer.
Companies evade discrimination liability by embracing it as theory
rather than policy. As a service to Black consumers, the Urban Institute will
list all companies that have a NUD policy. Armed with this information, we feel
that Black consumers will be able to make informed buying
decisions.
Companies with NUD:
Starbucks Jos. A
Bank
CompUSA Weight Watchers
Keebler Life Savers
Continental
Airlines Northwest Airlines
America West Airlines /HBO - Apollo
Series
Paternal Importers Calico Corners
OM Scott Pepperidge Farms
Ethan Allen Busy
Body Fitness
Mondavi Wines Builders Square
Don Pablo
Lexus
Aruba Tourism Ciba Vision
Kindercare Grady
Restaurant
Eddie Bauer
Please forward this information on to any other consumer
that you consider friend and advise them to do likewise. Remember, we can't act
wisely unless we are informed wisely.
Contributed by gpj@ix.netcom.com
*********
…Received in an
E-mail circular:
THEY ARE GOING TO TRY AND BREAK US
ANY AND EVERY WAY THAT THEY CAN!!
TAVIS SMILEY IS OUT!
I thought I'd share this bit of rather disturbing news please
share with your e-mail list
Rudene
***
I, too heard this
being talked about on the Tom Joyner Show. Viacom's address and telephone
numbers are listed at the bottom of this message for all those who want to
respond, and I think that we all should respond!!!!
***
To
All,
Please share your thoughts about this matter before these folks remove
all informational broadcasting which is helpful to us. If they are allowed to remove this show without any resistance for
Travis's own, then, they will continue to eliminate us one by one.
We all know what it is like to struggle for and through something
which is right.
"United we stand, divided
we wither away one by one."
Thanks,
Gil…
Good Morning All,
I don't know who of you get the Tom
Joyner Morning show but I was so moved by Tavis Smiley and his
commentary…regarding the regrettable and completely stupid decision of
Viacom/BET to cancel his BET Program. I alone can provide an array
of BET programming that should be cancelled without even touching Tavis Smiley's
show. Like Tom said, Tavis taught us how to be advocates for so many others
and for so many causes ranging from the plight of the HBCU's to the cancellation
of other worthy black programming. He now needs us
to move for him…
Tom Joyner gave out this data this
morning. I hope I wrote it correctly. If not, please go to Viacom's
website.
The number/person to contact/fax/email:
Mel Karmazin (not
sure of his title)
VIACOM:
51 W. 52nd
Street
NY, NY 10019
212-258-6000 main number
212-975-6500
212-975-5361 fax
mkarmazin@viacom.com
<mailto:mkarmazin@viacom.com
I'm hearing on the show as I write this,
that they are blocking emails to Mel Karmazin at Viacom.
***
Are we surprised??? Isn't this exactly what happens to every
Black Man or Woman who cannot be bought and stands up to speak the Truth against
the status quo and/or is a voice for Black Folks expressing their concerns? It's
no coincidence that Tavis is out following his recent Black Forum where many
important issues were aired regarding the Black dilemma in this "Good Ol' U.S.
of A.
Tziona Yisrael,
Editor
***
Excerpts from the words of Mr. Tavis Smiley:
"…As for me, it
is time to move on. To find and create new ways to fulfill my passion and my
purpose. And that, brothers and sisters, has not changed in the
least bit---to continue to use whatever talent God has blessed me with to help
enlighten, encourage and empower Black people. To do my part to help make Black
America better.
When we make Black America better, we make all of America
better. And to that end, there is much work to be done, and we
all have to enlist in the fight to redeem and save the soul of Black
America.
…outside of God's love, there's nothing in the world like Black love.
I will never forget that, I will never take Black love for
granted.
Thank you again and keep the faith!"
Tavis
Smiley
Compliments of BlackVoices.com
***
THE WORLD WITHOUT BLACKS
A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group
of white people who were fed up with African Americans, so they join together
and wish themselves away. They passed through a deep
dark tunnel and emerged in sort of a twilight zone where there is an America
without black people.
At first these white people breathed a sigh of relief. At
last, they say, no more crime, drugs, violence and welfare. All of the blacks
have gone!! Then suddenly, reality sets in. The "NEW AMERICA" is not America at
all-only a barren land!
1. There are
very few crops that have flourished because
the nation was built on a slave-supported system.
2. There are no
cities with tall skyscrapers because Alexander Mils, a black man, invented the
Elevator, and without it one finds great difficulty reaching high
floors.
3. There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a black man,
invented the Automatic Gear Shift. Joseph Gammell, also black,
invented the Super Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A.
Morgan invented the Traffic Signals.
4. Furthermore, one could not use the
Rapid Transit System because its precursor was the electric trolley, which was
invented by another black man by the name of Elbert R.
Robinson.
5. Even if there were streets on which cars and a rapid
transit system could operate, they were cluttered with paper because an African
American, Charles Brooks, invented the Street Sweeper.
6. There were
few if any newspapers, magazines and books because John Love invented the Pencil
Sharpener, William Purvis invented the Fountain Pen, Lee Burridge invented the
Type Writing Machine and W.A. Lovette invented the Advanced Printing Press. They
were all, you guessed it, black.
7. Even if Americans could write their
letters, articles and books, they would not have been transported by mail
because William Barry invented the Postmarking and Cancelling Machine, William
Purvis invented the Hand Stamp and Phillip Downing invented the Letter
Drop.
8. The lawns were brown and wilted because Joseph Smith
invented the Lawn Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower.
9. When they
entered their homes, they found them to be poorly ventilated and poorly heated.
You see, Frederick Jones invented the Air Conditioner and Alice Parker the
Heating Furnace. Their homes were also dim. But of course, stupid, Lewis Latimer invented the Electric Lamp,
Michael Harvey invented the Lantern and Granville T. Woods invented the
Automatic Cut-off Switch. Their homes were also filthy because Thomas W. Steward
invented the Mop and Lloyd P. Ray, the Dust Pan.
10. Their children
met them at the door-barefooted, shabby, motley and unkempt. But what could one
expect? Jan E. Matzelinger invented the Shoe Lasting Machine, Walter Sammons
invented the Comb, Sarah Boone invented the Ironing Board and George T. Samon
invented the Clothes Dryer.
11. Finally, they were resigned to at
least have dinner amidst all of this turmoil. But here again, the food had
spoiled because another black man, John Standard invented the
Refrigerator.
Now, isn't that something? What would this
world be like without the contributions of Black people? Martin Luther King, Jr.
said, "that by the time we leave for work we have been dependent on half the
world-modern America is created by dependencies on the inventions from the minds
of Black folks".
Black history includes more than just slavery, Frederick
Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and W.E.B.
Dubois.
Contributed by gpj@ix.netcom.com
*********
LAST BUT NOT
LEAST:
THE BALLOT OR THE BULLET
A speech given at a symposium sponsored by the Congress of
Racial Equality (CORE), at Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio,
USA.
AUTHOR: El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X)
DATE: April 3, 1964
EXCERPT:
When we begin to get in this area, we need new friends, we
need new allies. We need to expand the civil-rights struggle to a higher
level -- to the level of human rights. Whenever you are in a
civil-rights struggle, whether you know it or not, you are confining yourself to
the jurisdiction of Uncle Sam. No one from the outside world can speak
out in your behalf as long as your struggle is a civil-rights
struggle. Civil rights comes within the domestic affairs of this
country. All of our African brothers and our Asian brothers and our
Latin-American brothers cannot open their mouths and interfere in the domestic
affairs of the United States. And as long as it's civil rights, this comes under
the jurisdiction of Uncle Sam.
But the United Nations has what's known
as the charter of human rights, it has a committee that deals in human rights.
You may wonder why all of the atrocities that have been committed in Africa and
in Hungary and in Asia and in Latin America are brought before the UN, and the
Negro problem is never brought before the UN. This
is part of the conspiracy. This old, tricky, blue eyed liberal who is supposed
to be your and my friend, supposed to be in our corner, supposed to be
subsidizing our struggle, and supposed to be acting in the capacity of an
adviser, never tells you anything about human rights. They keep you wrapped up
in civil rights. And you spend so much time barking up the civil-rights tree,
you don't even know there's a human-rights tree on the same
floor.
When you expand the civil-rights struggle to the level of human
rights, you can then take the case of the black man in this country before the
nations in the UN. You can take it before the General Assembly. You can take
Uncle Sam before a world court. But the only level you can do it on is the level
of human rights. Civil rights keeps you under his restrictions, under his
jurisdiction. Civil rights keeps you in his pocket. Civil rights means you're
asking Uncle Sam to treat you right. Human rights are some thing you were
born with. Human rights are your God given rights. Human rights are the rights
that are recognized by all nations of this earth. And any time any one violates
your human rights, you can take them to the world court. Uncle Sam's hands
are dripping with blood, dripping with the blood of the black man in this
country. He's the earth's number-one hypocrite.
He has the
audacity -- yes, he has -- imagine him posing as the leader of the free world.
The free world! And you over here singing "We Shall Overcome." Expand the civil-rights struggle to the level of human rights, take it
into the United Nations, where our African brothers can throw their weight on
our side, where our Asian brothers can throw their weight on our side, where our
Latin-American brothers can throw their weight on our side, and where 800
million Chinamen are sitting there waiting to throw their weight on our
side.
Let the world know how bloody his hands are. Let the world know the
hypocrisy that's practiced over here. Let it be the ballot or the
bullet. Let him know that it must be the ballot or the bullet.
When you take
your case to Washington, D.C., you're taking it to the criminal who's
responsible; it's like running from the wolf to the fox. They're all in cahoots together. They all work political chicanery
and make you look like a chump before the eyes of the world. Here you are
walking around in America, getting ready to be drafted and sent abroad, like a
tin soldier, and when you get over there, people ask you what are you fighting
for, and you have to stick your tongue in your cheek. No,
take Uncle Sam to court, take him before the
world.
COMPLETE SPEECH:
http://www.indiana.edu/~rhetid/s302mx.html
http://www.indiana.edu/~rterrill/Text-BorB.html
http://www.humboldt.edu/~engl406/Z/malcolm/speech.html
Contributed by
110100.1564 @compuserve.com (onaje muid)
[IF YOU'VE SEEN IT BEFORE, READ IT
AGAIN, TAKE HEED, AND ACT NOW!!!
REPNOW…Editor ]
*********
Many thanks to everyone who has submitted support and information for
publication to help make OUR Reparations Newsletter the success it
is.
IF YOUR ORGANIZATION IS PLANNING A REPARATIONS RALLY,
CONFERENCE, OR MARCH, PLEASE:
E-MAIL Afraqueen@AOL.COM TO POST YOUR SCHEDULED
EVENT.
For previous postings on REPARATIONS NOW IN OUR LIFE TIME and
Newsletters, please go to the following link and click on
"Newsletter":
www.thelawkeepers.org
This REPNOW Newsletter is The LawKeepers' contribution to our
cause. For information about our determination and direction, please feel free
to visit our WebSite and Delphi Forum:
www.thelawkeepers.org
Yehudah Benyamin Yisrael, President (yehudah@thelawkeepers.org /
jwright@blackomahaonline.com / Yehudah74@hotmail.com)
Yehudah Yacob, Vice President (MilzAhead@AOL.COM)
Tziona Yisrael, Executive Secretary (Afraqueen@AOL.COM)
(We Exalt and Sanctify the GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and profess
the Laws HE gave to HIS Prophet Moses.)
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy
getting, get understanding, Proverb 4:7 / Deuteronomy 28th Chapter: The African
Slave Trade