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THE DRUM, SPRING 1976 Vol. 7 No. 2
Editorial, circulation and advertising offices located at 426 New Africa House, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. 01002. 1-413-545-0768.
Address all letters, poems contributions to the Above address
Copyright by Drum, 426 New Africa House
Printing: Gazette Printing Co., Inc., Northampton, Mass.
Front Cover: "The Genius" Maxwell Roach Photo taken by : David Strout
Any material, stories, articles are not necessarily the thoughts or ideologies of Drum staff.
DEDICATION
For the past two years, The University of Mass, Amherst, had the pleasure of being graced with the presence of Mrs. Shirley Graham DuBois. Wife of one of America's most noted Black intellectuals Dr. W. E. B. DuBois. Mrs. DuBois shall always be a part of our family and hearts. This issue of DRUM is dedicated to her.
Peace and Love Always
Special Dedication
This DRUM issue, "The Struggle and the Music" is spec- ially dedicated to Professor Max Roach, artist, composer and musician who has been at the forefront of both the struggle and the music and has been an uncompromising giant and inter- national figure in the struggle for Black Liberation.
Positive vibrations also to Professor Archie Shepp, without whose wisdom, strength and understanding much of what has occurred would not have went down. Peace to you Brother Archie. To the many, many brothers and sisters who have struggled to make our dream a reality, and to those people who have tried to stop us, this is one for you.
To all the beautiful Grassroots people in Philly, Chicago, New York, D.C., Boston and wherever we are on the planet. For Afrika and for the NEW Afrikan. Prepare thyself, walk in peace and always give praises to the Creator.
Richard Scott Gordon Editor— Grassroots The People's Newsweekly
Abdul Malik
Co-Editor Grassroots
Padmore Omar Layout
Debra Johnson Layout
Ed Cohen
Photographer
Carl Yates Graphics
EDITOR'S NOTE
This issue of DRUM was produced in cooperation with Black News Service and Grassroots, the People's Newsweekly. Together we Proudly Present
"THE STRUGGLE AND IT'S MUSIC"
TO THE STRUGGLE
Every war has its own melody Every fight a favorite tune Each battle a choice of weapons Every struggle a rhythmic cadence.
No, my struggle, our struggle is no different from any other.
There are those who die struggling and have caressed the bitters scars of struggle.
Yet I, we, shall not be turned around of defeat, not halted by traitors, or yield to
humanly hate and envy. I, we, shall continue to struggle
I, we, will struggle as consistently as notes fall like cascades of water, (knowledge)
from Shepp's fHome Boys) horn. We will be ever quick in our struggle
stepping to the rump, thump, thump, of Maxwell's Drum, grasping wisdom along
the way. And after, I, we pass on our struggle to someone else, I, we, will have become a conductor,
composer in our own realm.
And sit around the throne of the Greats.
Duke, Lady Day, "Trane," Diana And once the final note has sounded and the final thump been made. Then I, we, us will sip the sweet nectar of success, while bathing our unforgettable wounds of
struggle.
Denise Wallace
Co-Editor Drum Magazine
STAFF
Co-Editors Denise Wallace
David R. Thaxton
Literary Editor Tah Asongwed
Literary Sandy McLean
Angelo Herbert Vickie Taylor
Art Editor Pam Friday
Photographers Deryl Marrow
Keith Peters Juan Durruthy Sonali Williams Sharon Smith Tony Johnson Kenneth Robinson
Administrative Secretary Ms. Angle Small
Office Staff Roslyn Paige
Patricia Smith Brenda Bellizeare Latrica Black Jeanette Worley Pearl Wright
Distribution Robert Goodman
Nathenial Murray Calvin Collymore Elaine Nichols Elaine Jacinto Melody Carter Rick Grant
Table of Contents
3. Dedication Staff
4. Editors Note
5. Staff
8. Take Command Akbar Muhammad Ahmad
9. Editorial Denise Wallace
10. Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win ; Irving Davis
13. The Struggle and the Culture Rick Scott Gordon
14. I used to be Proud to say I was Born in Boston Alii Cabral
15. Student Involvement in New Political Directions Muhammad Ahmad
18. The Role of the Black Educator Rick Scott Gordon
20. A Black Perspective of the U. S. Bicentennial 0. C. Bobby Daniels
25. Black Power and Black Jazz Archie Shepp
28. Bill Hasson on Music Bill Hasson
Disco — The New Drug
30. Africa— Our origin, our destiny Wadada Tzake
31. Ella Fitzgerald Gail Bryan
32. The Dog Moon Vernether Lights
34. Reconstruction: New Energy to a musical tradition
36. Impressions of Max Roach Rick Scott Gordon
37. Alpha to Omega D. E. Johnson
39. Tribute to Duke Ellington Rick Scott Gordon
41. Semenya McCord
45. Gethers and Brown Case
46. Assata Shakur, A Revolutionary Black Women Rosa Blanco
52. Hope Annie Carpenter
53. Ghetto flower in Ivy Richard Fewell
55. Colonists in 1975 Earl Brown
56. To The New Afrikans Abdul Malik
56. Rebirth of New Africa House Kwaku Gyata
57. Black Students and the Bicentennial Muhammad Ahmad
60. Bullshit, You Know Better Yusef Komunyakag
60. For America Lloyd Corbin
61. Our Family Album
69. Black America and the Bicentennial John Bracey
Take Command
"When society
is in chaos
and there is confusion all about
TAKE COMMAND.
When no one knows what to do and all seems to be lost TAKE COMMAND.
When all around you Have lost their will, And your cause seems almost defeated TAKE COMMAND.
When others stop pushin'
and there seems to be
No burning light
TAKE COMMAND.
When others are disillusioned
and frustrated
and (yet) the goal is in sight
TAKE COMMAND.
When we are about
to move just a little bit
higher
and there seems to be
no solution,
TAKE COMMAND.
When others are afraid To step forward and no one seems ready TAKE COMMAND.
by Akbar Muhammad Ahmad
When we stand at The burning altar in the hour of decision And men fear life and death TAKE COMMAND.
EDITORIAL Where do we go from here?
One often can't answer that question unless they know where they are now. At this point in the year, many of the students here at U-Mass will go back to their respective hideouts. Away from the maddening screams of white maniacs blaring "Niggers" from the concrete projects of Southwest. A lot of us will be removed from the continuous fights against budget cuts, financial aid cuts and enrollment cuts. Some will remain completely oblivious to the fact that Black Studies programs are being phased out, CCEBS is viewed as obsolete, while we party to the funky sounds of Diana Ross' "Love Hangover" and we are left hung from a noose constructed out of computerized grades.
As the semester draws neigh others will seek refuge from the harrassment of the white frats and Blue Wall bouncers. Sisters will return to communities where they can walk down the streets in peace without a constant paranoia of rape, assault, and abuse lingering on their minds.
Yes, as the summer approaches, a lot of us will tend to forget U-Mass and spend the sum- mer shoo tin' the hoop, walking the streets, giging the gigs and hanging loose.
Yet, for most of us, when we leave U-Mass what do we go home to? The screams of Southwest are now replaced by anguished cries of hungry children. The pain felt by budget cuts are now felt by cuts in summer jobs and summer youth programs. The paranoia of walk- ing the streets in Amherst, is replaced by a more real fear of being mugged, attacked, kicked and beaten with a flag staff while approaching city hall in Boston. THE PLACE WHERE THE BICENTENNIAL ALL BEGINS.
Or could it be that this campus, this area, Amherst, Mass. is a place of refuge? Refuge for Black students wanting to get away from the maddening cries of the city. Is this the Never- Never land fantasy that leaves Black students on an apathetic high, that keeps them removed from the fact that 2 brothers, Craeman Gethers and Earl Brown, were snatched out of our midst, while some of us lulled away on a basketball jones. Could it be that Black students were too involved with the political processes and ideologies at home that they came to Amherst for a rest. Or could it be that Black students feel that nothing will be changed so their energies are best exerted elsewhere, at parties, B-Ball games, and Blue Wall discos.
Maybe their reasoning is right. Nothing will change. That first in order for U-Mass to change the system must change and since you can't change the system you can't change U- Mass. So progress is stagnated.
Yet there is no progress without struggle. And on the campus of the University of Mass. (Amherst), the struggle is alive and kicking. And shall continue to kick until changes and more changes are reached. The blatant racism that exist on campus shall not stop the struggle nor the strugglers. We Shall Win! We will Win and continue to struggle until all in our Family struggles are one. And so I say. Dare to Struggle! Dare to Win!
by Irving Davis Director of International Affairs SNCC
A speech delivered Sunday, March 16, 1969 at the Universalist Church New York City
I think it is commonly accepted among brothers and sisters in the Black liberation struggle today, that Frederick Douglass is the "Father of the Protest Movement." Even though we have definitely moved beyond mere protest, to more revolutionary positions today, Douglass' words were and still are relevant. It was over 100 years ago on July 4, 1852, that Frederick Douglass addressed an audience quite similar to many of you I'm sure, and in part said: "What, to the American slave is your 4th of July? I answer a day that reveals to him more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your nation- al greatness, swelling vanity, your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of ty- rants, brass-fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypo- crisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.
Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of every day prac- tices of this nation, and you will say with me, that for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy American reigns without a rival.
Americans! Your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly incon- sistent. You boast of your love of liberty, your supe- rior civilization and your pure Christianity, while the whole political power of the nation (as embodied in the two great political parties) is solemnly pledged to
support and perpetuate the enslavement of 3 millions of your country men. You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria and pride yourselves on your Democratic institu- tions, while you yourselves consent to be the mere tools and body-guards of the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. You invite to your shores fugitives of op- pression from abroad; honor them with banquets, greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them, salute them, protect them and pour out your own money to them like water, but the fugitives from your own land you advertise, hurt, arrest, shoot and kill. You glory in your refinement and your univer- sal education; yet maintain a system as barbarous and dreadful as ever stained the character of a nation —a system begun in avarice, supported in pride, and perpetuated in cruelty. You shed tears over failed Hungary, and make the sad story of her wrongs the themes of your poets statemen and orators, till your gallant sons are ready to fly to arms to indicate her course against the oppressor; but, in regard to the ten thousand wrongs of the American slave, you would enforce the strictest silence, and would hail him as an enemy of the nation who dares to make these wrongs the subject of public discourse! You a^e all on fire at the mention of liberty for France or Ireland; but are as cold as an iceburg at the thought of liberty for the enslaved of America. You discourse eloquently on the dignity of labor; yet, you sustain a system which, in its very essence, cats a stigma upon labor: You can bare your bosom to the storm of British artillery to throw off a three-penny tax on tea, and yet wring the last hard earned dime from the grasp of the Black laborers of your country. You pro- fess to beieve 'that of one blood, God made all na- tions of men to dwell on the face of all the earth,' and hath commanded all men, everywhere, to love one another; yet you notoriously hate (and glory in your hatred) all men whose skins are not colored like your own. You declare before the world and are under-
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stood by the world to declare that you 'hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; and that among these are, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness;' and yet you hold securely, in a bondage which, according to your own Thomas Jefferson, 'is worse than ages of that which your fathers rose in rebellion to oppose . . !"
Now with the exception of a few words, it is as if that speech was written yesterday for nothing has really changed for Black people. And if I were asked to give a title to Douglass' speech I would probably call it: "An Indictment against America." Yet for the most part, indictments against America are simply a waste of time and effort. For not only do these words fall upon deaf ears, but in many instances, upon hos- tile ears as well. An excellent example of this was the recent release of the Kerner Commission Report which declared that America is rampant with white racism and the reactions of Congress to that indict- ment was the cries for more law and order against Black people. This was the solution offered by the government, to cure white folks racism. Thus, it became clear to some Black people that to simply pro- test to the very people who were committing genocide against them, was futile. It also became clear that protest as a tactic was out dated and had to be re- placed. It did not take long to discover that the ulti- mate solution to the problem lie in Revolution, for it is a historical fact that when a people have ex- hausted all other possible avenues for redress of grievance, the ultimate choice is to rebel. Someone once wrote that there is a place reserved in hell, for those who in the time of crisis, remain neutral. Black people in America have been in a state of crisis ever since we were brought here, and for the most part, whites have either contributed to that crisis or re- mained neutral. That is a fact. In fact, the very fact that they have remained neutral is a contributing factor to that crisis. For those who become the reci- pients of the values obtained from another's oppres- sion are as equally guilty as those who commit the acts of oppression. We recognize this for what it is, and we also recognize our role in this dilemma: Our backs are up against the wall, we have a responsibili- ty to make the Revolution. I used to say Black people must band together because we truly understand this vival. I no longer think that is true today. I think we must band together becuase we truly understand this system which is operating to destroy humanity. And since our patriotism is toward humanity, we have an uncomproinising duty to work toward an end to that destruction. Our credo must be: "Every Blackman's death takes from me, because I am a part of Black Mankind!" And this is not racism either. You see, John Donne the Englishmen, taught that "each man's death diminishes me, for I am part of man- kind" in his famous oration: "For Whom the Bell Tolls" And Black people believed that; as a result
Black people wept for Kennedy and Roosevelt and probably wept for old Abe Lincoln and George Washington too. And I mean wept out of sincere sympathy and sadness. Some white folks finally, in 1968, wept for a Black man: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet the only reason they wept was because they thought the end of the world was near, because the black communities of 118 cities across the country were erupting in response to this cowardly act. I have no choice but to believe this since this nation would not even declare a national holiday in Dr. King's memory.
And, more important, whites did not stop all activities and insist upon it.
We of Revolutionary ranks, paid to Malcolm on his day and celebrated Huey P. Newton's birthday, for these men are what we stand for. As are Patrice Lumumba, Ben Barka, Che Guevara and men like them. Yes, and we paid our respects to Dr. King as well.
This is necessary since his death signalled the last phase of an era. An era of nonviolence as a tactic, or philosophy. And it marked the beginning of a new era, a era which says that every Black man's death takes from me, for now we clearly understand that if we are not for ourselves, then who will be for us??? And more than that, because our patriotism is toward humanity, which far exceeds the borders of any fron- tiers of land, that "us" includes the entire Third World of Africa, Asia and Latin America. That is why you see a rising tide toward Internationalizing our struggle, among Black people in America. To- day, we are clearly beginning to understand that they, like us, are indeed the: "Wretched of the Earth". That the same people who exploit and oppress them, are the same ones who exploit and oppress us. That we have common enemies: The military-industrial complex. And that just as the people of the Third World dare to struggle against their oppressors, so must we; for we are the eye of the octopus that as recent as since the times of Frederick Douglass, has stretched its tentacles across 3/4 of the earth. And that to talk about peace without first talking about power is pure foolishness!
Frederick Douglass taught us about power when he said: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depre- cate agitation are men who want crops without plow- ing up the ground. They want the rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a physical one, or it may be both moral and physi- cal, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will . . "Douglass transmitted two major points to us in that powerful message: Power and Struggle. And he clari- fied what he meant by struggle when he wrote: "Men may not get all they pay for in this world, but they must certainly pay for all they get. If we ever get free
11
from the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and if need be, by our lives and the lives of others." We see before us today, a Cultural Renaissance occuring among Black people in America. A cultural Renaissance that has spearheaded the dress rehear- sals of the Revolution that is yet to come. "Black Pride," "Black is beautiful," and other Revolution- ary idealogies are breaking the mental chains of cap- tivity that have been placed upon us ever since the physical chains were removed. And the battle-cry of Black Power has not only restored a new sense of direction for us, but has touched the revolutionary spirit of oppressed people all over the world, as well.
And it IS absolutely correct to say that our strug- gle will be both moral and physical. It will be physical because this country was founded on violence, is maintained on violence and perpetuated by violence. In fact, in the words of that most courageous brother, H. Rap Brown: "Violence is an American as cherry pie!" We Blacks have accepted this as a fact of life; and it is because we have accepted this as a fact of life and are no longer deceived by those who tell us that we can do the impossible and liberate ourselves any other way, that has upset whites so greatly. No- where is history, is there any record of a people who have freed themselves from the yoke of their oppres- sors, peacefully. Nowhere!! Ghandi tried it and was assassinated. Dr. King tried it, and was shot down in the street like an animal. But on the other side of the coin, America itself won its freedom from the British, not through peaceful coexistence, but with cannon fodder. Yet this is a part of history that white Ameri- ca would have us ignore, even though it is flaunted in our faces daily, on the TV and movies' screens. And in earlier phases of our struggle, I used to think that whites feared the physical aspects because of the loss of their lives, but today I know that this is not the case. A human life means nothing in America, be it Black or white. If it did, then this country would not ever go to war against any nation and it would be dropping tractors in Vietnam today, instead of bombs. But the truth of the matter is that it is more profitable to drop bombs; and profits is the basis of this entire system. And the more people that are ex-
ploited, the greater the profit. That is the true defini- tion of capitalism: profits through exploitation. And this capitalist system finds itself happiest, when it is exploiting people of color, for its major ally is racism.
That is why America will attack without hesitation, Japan, Korea, Cuba, Santa Domingo and Vietnam. How is it that the United States will go to war against so-called "Communist Aggression" in Vietnam and Korea yet when Russia invaded Czechoslovakia the best it could do was send Goldberg into the halls of the UN to raise his big, loud-mouth, in protest? Why, because it was white Russians and not Red colored Chinese, who were the aggressors! Thus, the physical part of the struggle for us is a fact. It is a fact because yesterday we loved life so dearly, that we allowed others to commit the most atrocious crimes conceiv- able unto us, in order to exist; today, we are learning not to fear death in order that our posterity might live and we are learning that lesson well!
Yet, it is the moral struggle that the "exploiters of the earth" here in America, fear most today. And justifiably so, since that struggle is engaged in a rejec- tion of the systems here, which they have perpe- tuated for centuries. Others have died protecting these evil and corrupt systems unknowingly to some degree and have never had an opportunity to share in them; but today this is no longer the case. Those of us who are aware and sincere are dedicating our lives toward an end to this destruction of humanity and are concerned about a new set of values with more humanistic traits and more creative life styles. There is no place for racism, capitalism and Imperial- ism in this concept of a new man and new society, thus, those who are now in control are in trouble.
Someone once said, "There is nothing more powerful, than a people whose time has come." Today 3/4 of the earth is rising up in revolution against those who seek to exploit and destroy them. Black people here in America are a part of that rising Revolutionary Force. Our time has come. Destiny whispers firmly in our ear: "Your time has come." And no matter who is eliminated among us in the process, our time has come. And destiny whispers one final, heroic note to us:
^ate to^ Stftuf^,
^cuie to^ Ti^wf
12
The Struggle and the Culture
Richard Scott Gordon— Editor of Grassroots— The People's News Weekly.
Much has happened here at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst since the fall semester 1975. From South Africa to South Amherst, from Massachusetts to Mississippi, we realize that the connections are the same. In South Africa, Black people are oppressed and exploited; I.D. systems used to enslave Black people. Here in Amherst Mass. in 1976, we have two innocent students in prison, their college I.D.'s used to oppress and detain, re- moving them from the mainstream of society.
Massachusetts is not unlike Mississippi during our struggle for national liberation during the 1960's. In Mississippi, Black people have encountered beat- ings, lynchings, and mob violence. No honest human being at the University of Massachusetts could deny the fact that brothers Craemen Gethers and Robert Earl Brown have been "legally" lynched by an "or- ganized" mob of whites legally termed "jury". Here at the UMass Amherst campus, the Black community has had to constantly fight racial attacks. Attacks have been consistent on all levels, from physical con- frontations all the way up to the Whitmore Adminis- tration building, where institutional racism appears to be at it's very best.
On September 13, 1975, a pregnant Black student was attacked by five white males, attempting to pre- vent the birth of her child. Nine Blacks, including five sisters, ended up fighting for their lives after being attacked by at least twenty whites at UMass' Bluewall bar on October 6, 1975. Two white students destroyed Third World election ballots and got away without retribution while four other white students are slapped on the wrist for the malicious break-in and destruc- tion of facilities at our Malcolm X center. Meanwhile, Craemen and Earl are unjustly incarcerated for being Black and trying to complete their education.
Already this year in 1976, we have had an attack on our only Black student publication, "Grassroots". It's editors illegally "fired", harrassed and the publi- cation halted for three weeks. Six whites attacked a Black student in James House dormitory in March. Meanwhile Black women are continually insulted and disrespected by white fraternaties. The epitomy of American racism!
While writing this editorial, I am sure that there have been more attacks.
* * * On Monday April 5th, a Black lawyer was beaten severely and had his nose broken by the steel staff of an American flag as he was about to enter City Hall in Boston, less than 100 miles from Amherst. The mob was composed of students from South Boston and Charlestown high schools who were protesting
busing but more importantly were protesting Black people. We have already been informed that approx- imately 1000 of these students are registered and will be at UMass in September 1976. Obviously, racial confrontation will increase.
What will save Black people and has saved them and kept us intact is our culture and tradition. A cul- ture that speaks to the needs of the people. In our music, our art, our drama and poetry and our dance we must provide an outlet for resisitance of the un- natural negative forces that continue to plague our communities. The need is not only for entertainment, but for education as well.
Our art must inspire the young and give new hope to the old. Our art must denounce and docu- ment injustices against our people. Our culture must unify our people, stressing the collective over the individual. The art must provide energy to create, re- create, to build and rebuild. Indeed art must be "col- lective, functional and committed" and always speak- ing to the needs of the people.
It is ironic that here at the University of "Mas- sassippi", we are blessed with the presence of Prof. Max Roach and Prof. Archie Shepp, internationally known and respected artists who are great Black leaders in their own right. These two men are pio- neers in the struggle for National Liberation and have dedicated their lives to the music tradition and cul- tural excellence. Their presence among us is an honor and should be cherished. Their contributions are too numerous to mention. Their music is a necessity, especially in 1976, dealing with the high level of racism that we are constantly confronted with. Max has already demanded "Freedom Now" in his Suite, while Shepp has made it clear that "things gotta change" or their will be some "Fire Music".
This magazine is a joint venture between the Drum staff and The Black News Service, creators and publishers of "Grassroots", "the peoples' news- weekly". Together, we hope to more effectively docu- ment the vast majority of events that have taken place in the Sept. 1975 to May 1976 academic year at the University of Massachusetts. And as the struggle continues, I would like to remind everyone that to go back to tradition is the first step forward. If we are able to survive on this planet as a people, we must work collectively instead of individually and accept a new value system that is common to us all. One that tolerates only positive action and movement that would be beneficial to our people.
And in the final analysis we cannot separate the struggle from the music and the culture. The two are inseparable and can only exist together.
13
I USED TO BE PROUD TO SAY I WAS BORN IN BOSTON
TheBusleft— Half full most of the kids
said Fuck that Shit I would have to but
Mom won't hear that Shit She said she didn't walk
into Bull Connors Water hoses For nothing
BANG ! A rock just hit the bus Joey Tailors' got a knife
I told him to stash it He said he was in some white boy's butt
We all laughed — Loud and long And it was good to be laughing And laughing And laughing
Alii Cabral
"75"
Providence
14
Text of Speech presented by Muhammad Ahmad— Feb. 18, 1976— National Black Solidarity Conference — Tufts Univ.
STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN NEW POLITICAL DIRECTIONS
The struggle in the 70's has reached new heights. Any social revolution must attack the weak points in the oppressive system first before making the main attack.
Due to the nature of the United States multi na- tional monopoly capitalist system, it's economic and military structures are its strongest points. But racism manifesting itself internally is U.S. imperial- ism's Achilles heel. The struggle for national demo- cratic rights (equality) becomes the movement's strong point and the system's weak point.
The contradiction of maintaining the racist system heighten's the consciousness of Black, Third World and eventually lower white working class people. Therefore, the present focus of total equality for Blacks and Third World people within the rac- ist capitalist system polarized the internal contradic- tions of the U.S. multi national monopoly capitalist system.
Democratization of the political system in the U.S. will lead to a second civil war (class war). The main focus should be to develop an independent Black Political Party that would struggle for complete national democratic rights (15% representation of all elected officials in America) for Black people. "Black people already have the voting potential to control the politics of entire southern counties. Given maxi- mum registration of blacks, there are more than 110 counties where black people could outvote the poli- tical parties and not waste time trying to reform or convert the racist parties." (1)
Since the 1960's there has been a development of Black political parties. In Mississippi there's the Mis- sissippi Freedom Democratic Party (Loyalist demo- crats); in Alabama, the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA); in South Carolina the United Citizen's Party (UCP); in Florida, the African People's Socialist Party (APSP). Black students should at- tempt to work with these parties and with voter regis- tration drives. They should spend the summer work- ing in black belt counties in the south. Credit for their efforts should be given through Black Studies and other programs at universities. The new concept of education brought out by student activism should be one of part time in the university and part time in the community— learning while doing.
(1) Carmichael and Hamilton, Black Power, pg. 166
Counter-revolution has set in and most of the 200 Black Studies departments in the country have revert- ed back to capitalist bourgeois elite orientation to aca- demic work. Black students must struggle with Black Studies departments to develop community out- reach programs. A vital program would be one of students receiving credit for working to build inde- pendent black parties in both the north and the south.
The struggle for Black Studies is not over. If Black Studies is to be meaningful, it must be revolu- tionary nationalist and political in content. Most Black studies programs presently place too much emphasis on culture and aesthetics. Culture is essen- tial but culture itself does not transform a political, economic and military power structure. Black Studies must teach students how to organize to overthrow the racist monopoly capitalist system. Each Black Studies department should include a course on Black revolutionary politics. Black Studies should be di- rectly linked to the Black liberation movement. Black Studies departments should be the center for information to Black students of what Black Libera- tion organizations are doing in different communi- ties and should be the vital link between students and liberation organizations. Black studies came into ex- istence for the struggle of Black people and its survi- val and success depends upon its live contact with people.
All Black students when entering any college or university with Black Studies departments should be required to take four semesters or two year of the "history of the Black liberation struggle." This course would prepare every Black student regardless of his class background or various ambitions to view the world correctly. The student would then be prepared to bring his or her skill back to the community. Every Black Studies department or Black Student Union should have a community based Institute of Black Political Education. Through the IBPS cadre study groups, adult education, forums and tutorial projects would form. The IBPS would also eventually provide the community with free legal assistance, martial arts training and medical services. IBPS would be more than an alternative community school where com- munity and students would get credit for developing community organizing skills, it would also provide the community with the new revolutionary culture.
15
A similar program that white radicals have created and one which we should study is the Boston Com- munity school. By struggling to build these commu- nity extensions students would have avenues to bringing their skills back to the community
The most important thing we must understand is that our struggle is protracted. (2) It will take years for our struggle to win and the racist U.S. monopoly capitalist power structure to be destroyed. With these understanding we will build our new Black student movement. The National Black Student Association would struggle to build a mass based membership not only among college and university students but also high school, junior high and elementary students. With the philosophy of each one teach one, we would build the new Black political revolution of the 1970's and 1980's among the millions of Black youth. Since the purpose of the purpose of the National Black Student Association would be to serve the people, the NBSA's main emphasis would be to develop com- munity strength. The best way this can be done is by showing the masses of black working class brothers and sisters that they can win victories no matter how small by struggling against the power structure. Winning continuous victories will build our people's self confidence and revolutionary na- tionalist consciousness. NBSA would attempt to cre- ate mass movements out of local community issues. When a community group is demonstrating or strug- gling over an issue, NBSA would help that group in organizing and would mobilize all Black students from elementary to college to support the demonstra- tion. NBSA would find issues sometimes hidden from the people, bring them out and educate the people to struggle around them. Through struggle NBSA would engage in mass cadre development. Summer seminar cadre institute's would be established to train students ideologically (politically) as they prac- tice. NBSA would develop through Practice, Study, Practice and operate on the principles of collective leadership, democratic centralism and Unity, Criti- cism, Unity.
NBSA would develop mass movements around struggle issues as they arise by having mass demon- strations around U.S. involvement in Angola, sup- port for Assata Shakur (Joanne Chesimard), Cherly Todds and Dessie Woods and many other victims of political frame-ups. Coming to the defense of Afri- can Prisoners of War is very important because unless we do the movement will continuously be picked off one by one. The best defense is an offense. Mass
(2) Mao Tse Tung, Selected Works, "Protracted War".
political defense through mass action (demonstra- tions) and teach ins is the first line of defense for the movement. Who respects a people who don't protect or come to the aid of their own kind? Besides the inability to raise independent finances, the lack of political defense work is the biggest weakness of our movement. Coming to the defense of African Prisoners of War will rebuild nationalism in the Black community which will lead to the rebuilding of the movement.
Mass political defense work must be viewed as self defense and if properly carried out will evolve eventually to armed propaganda. With this in mind NBSA should immediately address itself to organizing mass black independence/ reparations demonstrations and marches on the 4th of July in every local com- munity to protest the racist bicentennial. We should demand reparations* by setting up ad hoc reparations committees. For those from Chocolate City (Washing- ton D.C.) the reparations committee would organize a mass demonstration in front of the white house. We should also visit the congressional black caucus and ask them to introduce a reparations land bill before the congress.
Also with the new evidence on FBI, CIA, Army conspiracy against the movement we should form a lobby at the United Nations and ask all Third World countries to bring out issues concerning African Prisoners of War before the general assembly, charg- ing the U.S. with genocide-violation of the human rights charter. NBSA should use all forms of multi- media to get its message across to our people. We should remember there is constant protracted psycho- logical warfare going on against us. We must be aware that we are products of programmed learning. We must reprogram ourselves through Black pro- grammed learning. NBSA after calling its national conference and establishing itself should pressure Black educators to call a national conference on Black Studies to clean house, purge reactionaries and for students to regain control over Black Studies— making it once again revolutionary and nationalist. This would be the first step in the struggle in fighting for more financial aid and against admissions cutbacks. Through the grapevine the word should go out. Black is Back!
NBSA should be the beginnings of unity of all community nationalist and revolutionary organi- zations. As Black people progress in struggle we see our struggle moving closer to a national liberation front.
DARE TO STRUGGLE, DARE TO WIN!!!
16
I wonder what would happen if
the different me's decided to intergrate
Would that be a joyous reunion
encrushed in white
all smiles on a sunny day
faces tilted to greet the sun
Handshakes
Brothers-Sisters-God-Love?
Would there be abrasive spirits turned loose on one 'nother Campaigning for positions of incompatent power. Sloganing "Let the individual be". All caught up in intervascular symbiosis Nors squalor
What if each municapality opped to govern itself while vieing for overall prestigeous positions.
What atomic temperatures would be reached energies swollen strained proportions.
Would it be like orgastic joy or parallel meditative calm. Blurred gray, ivory fliting beneath suptle brown Mother of Pearl receiving life from father of man Bared sould embrassing foreign terrain giving footing for twists of spirit, anatomy, twisted minds
I ma
(Univ. of Mass)
Amherst
17
The role of the Black educator
by RICHARD SCOTT GORDON
One of the most important roles in the struggle for national Liberation of Black and Third World people is the role of the Black Educator. Education has always been a major setback for Black people in this country. After stripping them of their lan- guage, history, and culture. Whites have always made it extremely difficult for Blacks as well as other Third World people to obtain an education. During early slavery days. Blacks were not allowed to communicate either by speaking their native tongue or by means of the drum. Much communicating was done by grunting, and a form of "grunting" language was actually developed by these enslaved people. After the famous Emancipation Proclamation, in many states it was illegal to educate Blacks, especially the knowl- edge of reading and writing. In the state of North Carolina, the education of Blacks was banned -until the early 1900's.
There are many famous stories on how many Blacks obtained an education back in what Whites generally refer to as the "good ole days". The great politician, Stateman and Scholar, Fredrick Douglass learned how to read by tricking a white boy into teaching him. Other Blacks used to stand outside school houses and learned. Later in secret sessions, they would teach others. A few fortunate slaves were even educated by their slave masters.
Today in 1976, just as several hundred years ago Black people are in serious educational trouble. A recent study clearly indicated that schools in Black, Puerto Rican and other areas that contain people of color, are systematically excluded from quality edu- cation. These schools are usually overcrowded, un- derstaffed, and lack adequate educational materials necessary to keep the students mentally up to state and federal standards.
At the same time, the predominantly all white suburban and semi-suburban community schools are well equipped to go about the business of seri- ously educating their pupils. The facilities are usually from good to excellent, the classrooms are comfort-
able with only the best current education materials, and the faculty is really concerned about his or her student. The contrast between these two school sys- tems is great. The implications, especially racial, are strong.
It is said that Education is the key to unlock the doors of wisdom and knowledge. An illiterate person is someone who will have to be told about life, never living it. Keeping Black people uneducated will un- doubtedly keep them from the truth. Mis-education is lies, propaganda and serious brainwashing. With- out the proper knowledge of the past, it is doubtful that a people can prepare for the future.
So crucial is the role of the Black Educator that it cannot be over-emphasized. It is the responsibility of the Black educator to review all the so-called knowledge that the slave master has imposed on their people. To expose the lies, racism and injustices that have been integrated into the history books. To re- assess the economic, social and political status of Black people to use their skills to aid an oppressed and exploited people. In our schools, we must have Black Administrators and faculty dedicated into pro- viding the necessary information to students so that they may be prepared to deal effectively with the sit- uations at hand. Teach us about our history, culture and tradition. Fill in the blank spaces that were left by nonconcerned White and "white washed" Black teacher. Teach us of Turner, Walker, Garvey and El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X). Teach us survival, patience and understanding. Teach the truth.
We charge the Black educators with this task. We say that this is your responsibility. We are aware of those that have gone "off" on a PHd trip and those educators which have chosen to defect to the ranks of the oppressor. There are many good intentions. However, we can only recognize serious work and concrete accomplishments. You could say that the future of the world is in your hands.
18
19
A Black Perspective of The U. S. Bicentennial
O. C. Bobby Daniels
Associate Dean of Students
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01002
Notwithstanding the legitimate observances of our nation's bicentennial, the prevailing aura is a celebration in hypocrisy. If you are among the thirty million U. S. citizens of African ancestry, the bicen- tennial represents the fact that you are participating in an endless search for a clearer identity. If you are among the White citizenry of this country, you are most likely unaware that your identity has been dis- torted by the basic contradictions of U. S. history. In order to grapple with what history has made of us, we must first uncover the content and the extent of its control. This process involves identification of patterns in our culture which socialize and legitimate racists institutions.
Through cultural conditioning, history exerts tremendous influence over us. It forms our con- sciousness, which lurks behind our attitudes and behaviors. So pervasive is its influence that it aston- ishes us! We feel, say, and do things out of condi- tioned response, sometimes contrary to our conscious intent. St. Paul (RSV) described this awkwardness:
I do not understand my own actions ... I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
Many individuals may think that the bicenten- nial is irrelevant to their roles in our university com- munity. Such an approach to campus life is problem- atic, because it excludes the fact that Black and White citizens suffer from a lack of data about them- selves and our nation's 200 year-old history of racial, sexual, economic, political, and educational discrimi- nation. Individuals without general awareness of these forms of discrimination exacerbate rather than ameliorate the problem.
The purpose of this article is to present three of the most blatant contradictions in U. S. history which af- fect the day-to-day interactions between Blacks and Whites. Contradictions within the Declaration of Independence, the U. S. Constitution, and the U. S. Presidency are presented with special attention to their implications for practical action.
BACKGROUND
An unfortunate fact accounting for much of these bicentennial contradictions is the social mythol- ogy perpetuated through the works of leading White scholars, e.g., DeTocqueville, Morison, Commager, and Eilkens. This indictment could never have been stated had our leading American institutions recog- nized and provided research opportunities for their contemporary Black scholars, e.g., DuBois, Wesley, Woodson, and Schomburg. The critical balance of inter-racial apperception and ideology would have had a far better chance of attainment had American educational media reflected the contributions of all Americans toward the building of our nation. Instead, an insensitive combination of scholars has virtually ignored the presence of Black people since their arrival on these shores in the early Seventeenth Century. The tragic consequence of this irresponsible scholarship is the fact that when more sensitive White scholars (e.g., Margaret Mead, John Howard Griffin, and Gunnar Myrdal) emerged with data that exposed the inept history, the myths perpetuated by their predecessors had cemented societal norms, and provided an intellectual rationale for the oppression of racial minorities, especially Black Americans. Nevertheless, the U. S. Bicentennial provides an opportunity to apply Myrdal's (1962) myth and reality concept as a framework to check the consist- ency between what we say and what we actually do.
Implication; American education originated and continues to operate in this same White-dominated environment. A random sample of textbooks audio- visuals, and other forms of educational media over- whelmingly illustrate this fact. However, individuals need an accurate knowledge about U. S. history before they can identify and effectively deal with the subtle, overt, and potential racism in the education profession. The major implication of the American social order is a double bind which leaves all of us less than we could be. Consequently, the duty of Black people is first to become aware of these with others. Such an approach is essential if the univer- sity is to continue nurturing humaneness and assist- ing all involved in becoming more fully whole.
20
CONTRADICTION I: THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Franklin (1975) states one may well be greatly saddened by the thought that the author of the Dec- laration of Independence and the commander of the Revolutionary army and so many heroes of the American Revolution were slaveholders . . . Nor is one uplifted or inspired by the attitude of the Found- ing Fathers toward the sl?ve trade, once their inde- pendence was secured. In the decade following inde- pendence the importation of slaves into the United States actually increased over the previous decade as well as over the decade before the War for Indepen- dence began.
In the case of the Declaration of Independence, it must be recognized that racism and its myriad of insidious manifestations were no accidents in our na- tion's history. They represent the paradoxical legacy that the Founding Fathers bestowed upon us. The major heroes of the Revolution (e.g., the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and the commander of the Revolutionary army, George Washington) were slaveholders before and after the document became official. Mainly, because of attitudes similar to theirs, the importation of slaves into the United States actually increased dur- ing the decade following independence. In an Inde- pendence Day (July 4, 1852) address nearly a century later Frederick Douglass articulated the contradic- tion inherent in allowing slavery to exist within a society professedly dedicated to individual freedom (Brown and Ploski, 1967, p. 88):
"Co where you may, search where you will; roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypo- crisy, America reigns without rival." Franklin (1975) cites still another glaring contra- diction involving Paul Cuffe and his brother. In 1781 the two young enterprising Blacks, asked Massachu- setts to excuse them from the duty of paying taxes, since they "had no influence in the election of those who tax us." And when they refused to pay their taxes, those who had shouted that England's taxation without representation was tyranny, slapped the Cuffe brothers in jail. (p. 11)
Implication: The Declaration of Independence is regarded as the fundamental national document which affirms human equality and consequently, represents certain unalienable Rights, e.g.. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Many individ- uals operate on this assumption and in so doing model behaviors which ignore the duplicitious nature of the American social order. Granting this contra- diction, the University should provide relevant pre and in-service training for racial awareness for all students, staff and faculty.
CONTRADICTION II: THE CONSTITUTION
In the case of the U. S. Constitution, the very people who were denied participation in the framing of it have consistently emerged as its moral guardians. Initially, Black people and White women were viewed as unequal to White males. In 1787 when the document was adopted, a Black person was considered only three-fifths of a White male; White women were disfranchised. The 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments would not have been necessary had the moral fiber of our nation been woven with a basic humanity that viewed and protected all citizens as equals. Paradoxically, because of these Americans perennial struggle against lynching, rape, segrega- tion and tokenism various forms of socio-economic oppression previously neglected have again been exposed, e.g., sexism and poverty.
Twentieth Century history clearly indicates that Black Americans continue to be moral guardians of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independ- ence, he challenged organized religion. It would awareness among themselves and humanistically- oriented White Americans. The nation has never been the same since Thurgood Marshall and the Browns of Topeka successfully challenged the con- stitutionality of "separate but equal" schools. This foray combined with Rosa Park's challenge of the constitutionality of racial discrimination in public conveyances confronted White America in a way that no White citizen could rgardless how liberal his or her persuasion. The advent of Martin Luther King, Jr. provided an unparalleled era of spiritual leadership for our nation. Not only did he challenge the Constitution and the Declaration of Indepen- dence, he challenged organized religion. It would then seem only providential that Frank Wills, a Black security guard at the Watergate, should have initiated an inquiry that ultimately led to one of the gravest Constitutional crises in our history. Given the elements of time, location, and racism, only Mr. Wills could have awakened White America from its fantasy into the reality that skin color doesn't auto- matically insure Constitutional rights. Without these Black challengers of the law, our Constitution and the people for whom it was drafted to serve might well be out of touch with each other.
Implication: Unless education is reality oriented the process itself may well become a frustrating ex- perience for everyone concerned. Students and facul- ty must, therefore, be aware of their own attitudes, limitations and goals. The need for an on-going values clarification experience for both is essential. Clarification of racial and sexual values historically inherent in the American social order is critical to understanding identity and aspirational problems of today's students.
CONTRADICTION III: THE PRESIDENCY
From George Washington onward, U. S. Presi- dents have reflected the racism of the American
21
social order in shaping American domestic and for- eign policies. Two days before the Fourth of July, 1776 Washington wrote the following letter (Gregory, 1971, p. 8): Sir: With this letter comes a negro (Tom) which I beg the favor of you to sell in any of the islands you may go to for whatever he will fetch and bring me in return from him: one hogshead of best molasses, one ditto of best rum ... If Thomas Jeffer- son is to be viewed as the humanitarian many his- torians have portrayed him to be. Black people per- ceive him as a complex Virginia planter, slave owner, and politician. Suffice it to say, racist, integration- ists, abolitionists, and states righters proclaim him as their hero. Andrew Jackson was proud to be known as a slaveholder and an Indian fighter. Ac- cording to Steinfield (1972) one of the most shocking incidents in the shameful record of this country's relations with the Indian was Jackson's defiance of the United States Supreme Court and his insistence upon the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from their traditional lands.
It is astonishing that the myth of Abraham Lin- coln as the Great Emancipator continues to prosper. In 1858 Lincoln states (Steinfield, 1972, p. 124): I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor qualifying them to hold office nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical differ- ence between the white and black races which I be- lieve will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality.
Implication: As a socio-psychological frame of reference "The Presidency" is perceived as the final and most influential national office. When our Presidents recite the rhetoric of freedom and racial equality Black students (aware of their plight in the American social order) view such statements with distrust. In varying degrees this distrust filters through every aspect of American Life and accounts for much of the communication problems which con- tinue to exist between Black and white students. Implicit in this communication problem is the White students' recognition and reaction to the history of contradictions between White America's rhetoric and its behavior.
CONFRONTING THE CONTRADICTIONS
As we observe the U. S. Bicentennial, we must not apologize, compromise, and temporize on those principles of liberty that were supposed to be the very foundation of the American way of life. We must state with the full awareness that racial segregation is no unanticipated accident in our nation's history and confront this flaw in our national character. As we do this, it is well to remember that criticism does not necessarily imply hostility; and, indeed, the recognition of human weakness suggests no aliena-
tion. We should incorporate in our statements with others a deeper examination of the bicentennial and the need to improve the human condition. Franklin (1975) suggest an appropriate beginning would be to celebrate our origins for what they were, i.e., to honor the principles of independence for which so many patriots fought and died. Consequently, it is equally appropriate to express outrage over the manner in which the principles of human freedom and human dignity were denied and debased by those same patriots. Their legacy to us in this regard cannot, under any circumstances, be cherished or celebrated. Rather, this legacy represents a contin- uing and dismaying problem that requires us to put forth as much effort to overcome it as the Founding Fathers did in handing it down to us.
Finally, this encounter with the power of history brings Black Americans to the brink of the deeper meaning of freedom. We are beginning to come to terms with what history has made of us, and we are doing so, according to Baldwin (1966):
Because thereafter, one enters into battle with that historical creation, oneself, and attempts to re-create oneself according to a principle more humane and more liberating; one begins the at- tempt to achieve a level of personal maturity and freedom which robs history of its tyrannical power, and also changes history.
REFERENCES
Baldwin, J. "Unnameable Objects, Unspeakable
Crimes", in The White Problem in American
sp. ed. Ebony (Summer, 1966) Chicago: Johnson
Publishing Co. p. 174. Ford, P. L. (Ed.). The Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1899. Franklin, J. "The Moral Legacy of the Founding
Fathers", University of Chicago Magazine,
LXVII (Summer, 1975), pp. 11-13. Gregory R. No More Lies: The Myth and the Reality
of American History. New York: Harper and
Row, 1971. Mayo, B. Jefferson Himself. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1942. Myrdal, G. An American Dilemma. New York:
Harper-Rowe, 1962. Ploski, A. and Brown, R. The Negro Almanac. New
York: Bellwether, 1967. Steinfield, M. Our Racist Presidents. San Ramon,
California: Consensus, 1972. Swartz, B. and Disch, R. White Racism. New York:
Dell, 1970.
22
Cetn pffftj Htm cf^iirf'
The Singer
John Coltrane
was not a saxophonist,
but a singer.
He sang the blues,
He sang 'bout me and' you,
Tru/blk/musik.
He sang of love.
He sang of supreme love,
Tru/blk/love/musik.
He sang a song of us.
He sang a song of the people,
Tru/blk/people/musik.
He sang a song of warriors, He sang of revolution, Tru/blk/revolutionary ('s)/musik.
And they thought he played
an ins-tru-ment
for fun and money. And we all know
that he played a weapon
for ins-tru-men-tal purposes.
And they thought he died
with his death. And we know that he resurrected
with his song.
Yes 'Trane was a singer. And his voice was a tenor saxophone.
24
Permission to Reprint- Archie 5hepp, NY. Times.
Black Power and Black Jazz
by Archie Shepp, Jazzman and playwright
Shortly after World War II, over 50 per cent of the black people living in the United States were found to have moved from the rural south to the large industrial complexes of the North and Mid- west. A substantial number had settled even farther west beyond the Rockies.
Most brought with them a few worldly posses- sions, the family Bible and an enormously rich musi- cal heritage derived from Africa. Though they them- selves had limited access to musical instruments, save an occasional upright or a guitar, they were able to pass on through religious songs and church records— the only authentic cultural experience this country has ever inspired, with the possible ex- ception of the ritual of the American Indians.
More over, the provincial organ of the backwoods church could neither anticipate nor stay the cruel social and economic changes that would eventually up- end religion as the traditional moral force in the black community.
Both the church and its historical ally, the fami- ly, foundered on the devastating rock of depression and two world wars. Black men returned home bitter and jobless to face in peacetime the same igno- minious poverty they had always known. Indeed the American Dream appeared a nightmare, and the unful- filled hopes of the Reconstruction a remote and care- fully nurtured myth to a generation a hundred years removed. Not a few of America's black sons turned to dope (here I don't refer to marijuana) and crime as a last democratic response to an apathetic and unviable republic. Night life flourished as a nec- essary accommodation to this expanded social milieu.
Thus the black jazz musician, economically insecure just as the worker, made a similar trek north bringing with him the secular music of the streets, the language of hip and the lore of the bistros. One such man was Charles Parker, one of America's rare and seldom acknowledged geniuses. Mr. Parker, known to jazz devotees as Bird, was originally
from Kansas City. He settled in New York in the for- ties after having traveled extensively with the Jay MacShann band. His biographers state that he had already been involved with heroin by the time he was 15, a fact no doubt attributable to the extensive vice that existed during Kansas City's notoriously corrupt Prendergast regime.
The music of Parker and his contemporaries (Monk, Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, etc.) ignited the spark of a renaissance in so-called jazz music Bird, the man, was reflective not only of an emergent identity among black artists, but a growing socio-political awareness, among Negros in general. Through Park- er's music, the urbanization of the black man took on the added dimension of sophistication. This "sophis- tication" was in reality a realignment of values that would enable the Negro to deal with the specious hypocrisy of northern whites while at the same time maintaining his own sanity, or to put it another way, "Keep the faith, baby."
Parker's music found an eager audience in the cities, primarily among youth. The rootless, aliena- ted existence of the young Negro was made timeless and universal by the magic of his soaring sound and rapid notes. The Existential was lent a new plausibil- ity.
Then, in 1954, Bird died of pneumonia at the age of 35. To some, at least, his death seemed sense- less, not a providential act, but a systematic, socio- logical murder for which there was a precedent. Men like Max Roach, and Sonny Rollins, Parker's erst- while associates, began to involve themselves more directly in political action in order to change things. The black esthetic revolution now widened its scope to include its political counterpart. Roach's "Freedom Now" Suite was deemed so provocative that is was banned by the racist authorities of South Africa. Charles Mingus, well known bassist, invented titles like, "Fables for Faubus," and obvious reference to the school desegregation crisis of 1954. Moreover, the police action in Korea had released another bitter generation from the syndrome of world death. They
25
were to return like their fathers, Sancho Panzas without portfolio, perennial accomplices to internation- al crimes they neither caused nor condoned. The implacable fact would not yield to rationalization. A gook and a Nigger were interchangeable when the heat was off.
The urban black turned inward, became more taciturn. Was he really apathetic? Super cool? Or had Whites once again gratuitously misjudged the extent and potential of his political response to terror?
As the tempo of life increased, all art reflected the change. People walked faster. Notes were played faster. New hopes were born and, like the tall buildings of cities, they seemed to reach to the sky. The children of the previous generation were now grown up and were challenging the democratic proc- ess to provide solutions in place of academic in- quiries. They were not going to be put off with the same old lies, not about to be hacked to death on their knees. Suspicious of Christianity out of an historical pre-disposition, they either rejected the old mora! nostrums altogether, or re-interpreted the religious experience through Black Islam. The image of Buckwheat and Aunt Jemima which had persisted in the American mythology as stock types, were ex- posed for what they were: the absurd projection of an elaborate white fantasy.
The white world grew suddenly alarmed. In the midst of the Great Society a nation within a nation seemed to have developed. Not only was the black determined to be free; he was determined to be black and free. Watts exploded like a fat bloody watermelon all over America, and black youth were able to distill from the fierce cry and passionate urgency of John Coltrane's music the faint admoni- tion of Max Roach: "Freedom Now."
Thirty years before, Benny Goodman had won ac- claim from the white liberal establishment when he hired Teddy Wilson and Charlie Christian (both Negroes) to work in previously all-white clubs. But the benevolent patronage of well meaning whites, de- spite their intent, was beginning to wear a little thin to America's 20 million Negroes. A white "King of Swing" seemed to them as implausible and insulting as Tarzan and Jane in the Ituri.
Black power was the inevitable response of a people without power to a system which had grown
fat and indifferent to the yearnings of the poor; a system whose ethic, at least, was still rooted in the institution of slavery; whose immense wealth and idyllic democracy had failed at this late date to provide even a black quarterback, or a single soli- tary Negro billionaire.
LeRoi Jones's Black Arts theater schools was an ambitious attempt to offset these shortcomings of democracy, and acquaint the black with the full portent of his historical role. Though the organization was plagued with difficulties from its inception, it rep- resented a signal attempt by the black artist to com- bine his cultural and vocational aims into a specific political expression— not violence— but emancipation.
At the initiative of Mr. Jones, the first New Thing recording was done live at the Village Gate (The New Wave in Jazz, Impulse Records). This record- ing, led by the formidable John Coltrane, was a mile- stone in that it introduced a score of unknowns to the mainstream jazz audience, among them Grachan Moncur, James Spaulding, Charles Tolliver, Sonny Murray, Beaver Harris, Albert Ayler, and Archie Shepp Critics such as Jones began to point out the re- lationship of the new music to popular rhythm and blues. The burgeoning mass consciousness of the black artist had evolved into a complete esthetic expression. "Soul " was its creed, and "brotha" its most constant reference of endearment.
Bird, Rollins, Miles, Monk,Trane, Roach, Clarke, Roy Haynes . . . were the immediate ancestors of a revolution, a new American Revolution. Its demo- cratic message was hammered out in the intransigence of Elvin Jones's drum and the plangent sounds of the Trane's horn. Black youth found its kindred spirit in the new music and like Big George (an avid devotee of the Trane) they would shout, "git 'em Trane! " — in the sure knowledge that music works a magical power against evil. It was under the tutelage of the Trane that the so-called New Thing developed, but much of its conception was due to the innovations of Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman, its two found- ing fathers.
This new statement had been accused of being "angry" by some, and if so, there is certainly some justification for that emotion. On the other hand, it does not proscribe on the basis of color. Its only prerequisites are honesty and an open mind. The breadth of this statement is as vast as America, its theme the din of the streets, its motive freedom.
26
17
Bill Hasson on Music
They're afraid to listen to the Dolphy cause the Cannonball has flown and the train doesn't stop here any more, but the sun is still Ra and Ras. ... It is an undisputable fact that nature has exhibited its poten- tial power this past winter and in a very natural way. There was nothing that no one could do to prevent this tremendous forceful expression. It was a natural force. For those that are tuned in to the forces of nature and naturalism, they simply accepted and kept getting up. But of course, there was those who would like to have had curtailed this action of which they possibly had no control what-so-ever. We are still early in the game because there is more to come. The music has the same capacity to reveal itself in a very forceful and natural manner and the artist in the developing and development of his craft must accept this natural evolution. In order to understand all of this, one must have a knowledge and understanding of the historical aspects of naturalism and the music. Of course, there are those who would like to suppress and exploit, misuse, abuse and out right pie about music and the nature. Yet they are up against forces that have been ordained by the creator himself.
Given the kind of society we live in where a minority of people have been isolated for exploited reasons it would seem natural that all of the minori- ties expressive qualities should also be exploited for the gain of the oppressive majority. In some cases there are defectors from the ranks of the minority who in a confused state of aping the colonizers dis- tribute useless information, withhold skills and tal- ent, and operate in an exotic state of euphoria. Let's go disco. It is a sad state of affairs when a comedian named Nipsy Russell cannot even remember the name of Paul Robeson. Instead he feels comfortable calling him Robinson, or on the night of Mr. Robeson's funeral the television tragedy "Good Times" let Junior denounce the attributes of the people of Cuba, or the recent cartoon which appeared in the Collegian that would have you think that the Soviet Union and the U. S. are at odds in their support of the various factions in Angola. Our musicians are very impor- tant teachers, and predictors often guided by the forces of nature and we must protect, know, and cherish their music, all forms and expressions. I have nothing personally against the boogaloo, but there is more to the music than the boogaloo. While we are here at the University finding out all we can about Western civilization, we must dig deep into our own roots and we would be healthier persons through that exercise. I charge the disc jockeys to give us more than the hustle. Give us news, give us history, tell us who Bud Powell was, let us occasionally hear a record by Sid Catlett, let us know what style Dinah Washington represented and who were the pace setters in this original American Art Form. Action is truth. Let us know why the record companies took off Nat King Cole and since charity starts at home, let us all be present at the musical events here on Campus no one can save you but yourself, so there- fore, serve the people and save the nation.
Disco-The New Drug $2.00 for a high
Another negative cultural phenomena has in- flicted the Black communities of America. It is called Disco and thus is having essentially the same function that drugs did in the 1960's. It is being piped into our communities by electronic media and its function is to stifle our progress as a people; keeping us occupied playing superfly and generally encouraging us to play Negro.
Now please don't misinterpret what is being said . . . Black people have traditionally partied and danced, for it is an integral part of our cul- ture. What is being said is that disco is a very sta- tic, non-emotional addictive, and definitely un- black tradition that is doing damage to the moral and spiritual fibre of our communities. The word discoteche is a European word which has been ad- vanced by the American capitalist system as a way to make money, keep us pacified or cooled out (same as drugs) and to stifle our progress as a people.
It is totally absurd that white America makes money off black folks dancing and it is millions. All that is involved in having a disco is a large room, some rhythm and blues records and a flyer saying disco tonight at nine. Negroes will turn out from coast to coast, check out Rashid's, Bluewall, or your local Roxbury disco. Black people are there in droves supporting these establishments.
Why do we willingly allow these people to con- tinue to exploit us like this. How many of you payed to disco this past weekend? How many of you have purchased disco clothes with the silver trinkets on them and the stack heel shoes? The clothing industry has profited greatly off black people wanting to look like disco freaks. We also support the alcohol industry when we put this poison in our bodies. Alcohol does nothing to ele- vate us physically or spiritually.
Disco is also a means to encourage us to listen to only one hand of music and not to listen to the music of our progressive black musicians. If we could really dance then we would dance and groove to the music of Archie Shepp, Max Roach, and Sun Ra. Their music is about freedom and struggle, yet we allow the white media to distort our knowledge of the true function of music.
Do we have Angola, Roxbury, Earl Brown, Craemen Gethers or Malcolm on our minds when we disco? Are we even thinking of our own moth- ers when we disco?
We must move towards banning this hallucina- genic evil from our communities and towards devel- oping a greater understanding of the imperialist forces that are at work against us in the most subtle but deadly ways.
Let us dance on to freedom and liberation and to the control of our great natural resource . . . black music.
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SINGING BROOK
O waters so free, dancing and gay On the rocks of the brook Such music you play.
Under water caverns hand-made by the master,
Tells more stories
Than before and after.
The soothing sounds
Of the singing brook Speaks statements profound
From the eternal book.
by Doug Hammond
(Reprinted from, IN THIS MAZE OF SEEMING WONDERS)
FOR DAVID (Chaka's Tune)
Blowing, screaming, racing, burning Blow brother like fire pouring
Into the guts of a saxophone
You can't stop now, chasing notes
Through the lower register while Inner sounds of passion tell me of
Peace
by Abdul Malik Philadelphia, Pa.
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Africa— Our origin our destiny
foy Wadada Tzake
There is nothing on earth common to man that man cannot do. As the highest manifestation of life on earth every human being is a lord of all creation, made in the image of the creator and endowed with the power to think creatively and to shape his own destiny. When a man is unable to shape his own des- tiny he is no longer a master of the earth but rather a slave of the forces which prevent him from develop- ing his creative powers.
For the past four hundred years racism, exploi- tation and slavery has been inflicted upon the indig- enous inhabitants of Africa, Asia and America by white agressors. The inevitable result of four hun- dred years of savage and selfish world domination by the European and his offspring, the white American, is untold misery and suffering for the billions of black and yellow people throughout the world.
There are at least thirty million people of African descent in this country, but four hundred years of slavery has robbed us of our true culture and pres- ently the overwhelming majority of us live in a state of total ignorance and neglect of our African identity and of our status of independent human beings, capable of mastering all natural forces in the uni- verse.
The primary cause of our present condition is that as a race we have no authority and power. In this 20th century, an age characterized by exploitation and manipulation, a race without power is a race without respect and a future. For us, the African race, to remain as we have been in the past, divided among ourselves and nationalizing our activities as subjects and citizens of the many alien races and governments under which we live— can only result in our continued slavery and exploitation and possi- ble extermination. Chance has never satisfied the hope of a suffering people. Action, self-reliance, the vision of self and the future have been the only means by which the oppressed have seen and realized the light of their own freedom.
Here in America, many of us have become so engrained with white culture that we no longer even express the desire to rule our lives independently and appear satisfied to try and "get over" in this artificial and materialistic, white dominated American society. However, those of us who are so inclined will inevi- tably be forced to realize that there is no getting over in America. The mere acquisition of a few man made items (house, car, money etc.) will not bring you the lasting happiness which you seek, for these items are impermanent by nature and must sooner or later pass away. The foundation of American commercial society lies in the exploitation of the lives and coun- tries of the billions of black and yellow peoples in America and abroad. Consequently, when the time comes for this exploitation to stop, as it inevitably
must, American society will collapse into dismal ruin and so will the way of life of its inhabitants.
Both Marcus Garvey and Malcom X, pioneers in the struggle for Black Liberation, emphasized the absolute necessity for the cessation of the exploita- tion of the disinherited masses of the world and con- stantly urged the Black inhabitants of the five con- tinents to return to Africa to work to create a power- ful, unified Black nation. In the words of Garvey, "Be as proud of your race today as your fathers were in days of yore. We have a beautiful history and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world."
Black and other Third World students, who are attending American Colleges and universities, have a special task to perform. Indeed we are very fortu- nate to be able to attend institutions of higher educa- tion which enable us, to a certain extent, to shape our personal destinies; a privilege which very few black people have. However, whatever heights we are able to achieve in our education will be of no avail unless it is directed to the service of the Black Revo- lution. Our lives will be absolutely fruitless if our sole ambition is to obtain a high paying job, for all the money in the world won't save you or this coun- try when the suffering billions throughout the world unite to fight for their liberation and to bring an end to four hundred years of selfish world domination by the white race.
It is absolutely mandatory for us to educate and organize ourselves to unite with our oppressed brothers and sisters for the final showdown against our white oppressors. In working towards this objec- tive, here on campus, we need to create a central Black organization with the maximum membership of the Black community of the five-college area, with the objective of collectively shaping our so-called "higher education," for the liberation of Africa.
Indeed, the liberation of Africa is essential to our continued existence as a people as well as for the reestablishment of our status as masters of the earth; for it is the naturally ordained home of all Black people. Many of us were forcibly removed from the motherland and robbed of our culture. We have en- dured four hundred years of both physical and psychological slavery, intentionally designed to reduce us from our natural status as masters of the earth to a state of cringing weaklings who are depen- dent upon another race to think, organize and pro- vide for them. The only way for us to be free of this slavery and to regain our rightful places as "the lords of creation" is for us to move forward to mother Africa to live and love with one another and to work to develop it for the benefit of all African people. Free from any form of exploitation of man by man.
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Diana Ramos
Sun Ra's Band
Vishnu Woods
Sun Ra
Pro. Max Roach
Jean Cam
Impressions of Max Roach
By RICK SCOTT GORDON UJAAMA
It is Rare Indeed
To find a Man on the Planet
Who is Uncompromising
When it comes to Truth and Justice
A Man who had Dedicated
His life, using the Natural
Talent that the Creator has
Bestowed upon him to
Uplift his people
Exposing injustices
And denouncing Oppression
Wherever and Whenever it Exists
In our Family
Which includes all of Us
Who Know the Truth
And who Collectively break bread Together
Art is the materialization of Cultural Energy,
A necessity in Combatting Exploitation
Music is the Creators Gift, necessary to sustain Sanity
And at the Highest Realm
Of Great Black Classical Creative Heritage
Music
Music developed and created by Enslaved People
America's Only Original Music Form
Is Max Roach
International Giant, A man who is a Legend
In his own time
A Man who is Known, Respected
And Loved the World Over
Our "Prince of Percussion"
Master Musician, Composer
Artist and Leader
A Brother who's Great Contributions
To the Entire World have yet
To receive proper Recognition
Our Giant, Our Leader
Our Teacher and Our Friend
And most of all our Brother
The University of Mass. and Pioneer Valley's Own
Professor Max Roach
Denis Coulon
THE UNITY ENSEMBLE, L-R. Sulaiman Hakim-Reeds, Clifford Adams-Trombone, Charles Farnbor- ough-Bass, Aurell Ray-Guitar, Chris Henderson-Drums, Art Matthews-Piano.
Alpha to Omega
By D.E. JOHNSON
Unity. Ensemble. Think about the meaning of these two words— then consider an ensemble of rhythmetic thoughts joined in perfect harmonious unity. Feel being reached inside where you live and have all the joy— pleasure— pain— beliefs pulled out of you, flowing around you and in the center of it, silver strands of honey, warm like a summer breeze. Subtle play on your senses.
Conjure up all this magic and you have the UNITY ENSEMBLE-Sulaiman Hakim-alto and soprano sax, Clifford Adams— trombone, Art Mat- thews—electric piano, Aurell Ray— electric guitar, Chris Henderson— drums and percussion and Charles Famborough— bass; blessed with the special pres- ence of vocalist. Prima.
The Top of the Campus was transformed this weekend into a place of unbelievable celebration and the music is still circulating the atmosphere.
Starting off at alpha level, from Miles to Art Matthews own "Love Dreams" and "Ebony Samba" and more, they spiralled higher and higher 'till some- where at omega a meteor exploded— Chris Henderson went off taking the Ensemble with him and everyone else too. And if an even higher level could be reached all those beautiful brothers came in and out on their own, like a dream web. From very surreal to very mellow. In the middle of it all was Prima, the silver strand, a rare Black pearl. ; She and the Brothers got into "People Make the World Go Round" and as she said, "couldn't come out." Could be she is the summer that she sang, "knows". Had to be the unity of her brief ensemble with them-us made the snow outside seem out of place.
Unity. Ensemble, think about the meaning.
37
Far right; Clifford Adams-New Jersey-trombone, vocals and anything else, has recorded with dynamic Lonnie Liston Smith, and Charles Earland. Black classical music should be taken out of bars and night- clubs and presented in concert halls, so that the entire realm of Black people will get its true meaning and understanding.
38
Chris Henderson, from South Philadelphia, Co-leader of Unity Ensemble on drums, congas and miscellaneous percussion, is one of today's most outspoken artists— "Because of the lack of communication among most of our people we must realize that Black classical music has become watered down." Chris has also recorded with Marion Brown.
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Sulaiman Hakim— reeds— out of Watts Los Angeles, to his credit has played with such giants as Archie Shepp and Max Roach. He can be heard on the upcoming album "I Know About the Life", recorded under the leadership of UMass' own Charles "Majid" Greenly.
Archie Shepp
by Nelson Stevens
43
AFRICAN AMERICANS
we be pooooor, but we strive and survive.
STRENGTH
my strength comes from mom
Nan and grandpop Pleasant my sister and brothers, val, jimmy, and norman from beth, cary, tina, tyrone, kirn, debbie, ladonya, l<awesi kalama (norman jr.), malaki (denine), dad weston whose spirit is still alive and happy, and most of all my wife Ima. but i didn't forget you.
DESIRE
why i want to be so well known that when my name, chris henderson
is mentioned people all over the world will say yes with a smile.
i want Ima to always be happy, i want my family to grow stronger,
i want to be so good that when i play my drums everybody will smile.
i want enough money to fight the evils of the world, i want mom,
grandpop and nan to stop achin, i want the best of opportunities
for all oppressed people all over the world, i want to have good
strong and healthy children, i want to live a good long healthy life.
all of this will come, because i want, and with my want the creator
will provide, now i didn't mean to be selfish, let's take a look
at what YOU WANT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. and so on
Chris henderson
I
44
Reprinted from Grassroots—
The Peoples Newsweekly Vol. 2, Issue 2, Jarj. 27,1976
Gethers
and
Brown Case
Craemen Gethers third year math student at UMass has served one year of a 8-12 year sentence.
On August 7, 1974, a robbery took place in Mac- Donald's on route 9 in Hadley, Massachusetts and approximately $1200.00 was taken from the register at gunpoint. The police were sent to apprehend three Black men. Craemen Gethers, a third year math stu- dent at UMass was picked up by police and was tried and sentenced to 8 to 12 years at MCI Norfolk for armed robbery and assault. Craemen was on crutches and disabled at the time, with the proper medical receipts from his doctors to prove this fact. He could not have "leaped" over the counter at Mc- Donald's as one witness testified. Craemen also had an eyewitness who testified that he and Craemen were playing cards at a UMass dormitory during the alleged holdup, while he (the eye witness) was on security at the dorm. These facts did not save Crae- men from incarceration.
The case of Robert Earl Brown received a lot more attention than the Gethers case because Gethers was tried and sentenced during summer intersession, while most students were away. Earl Brown was a star athlete who was recruited by UMass from Elmira, N.Y. Earl played first string defensive halfback on the team for three years. Brown was good enough to have been watched closely by several pro scouts from across the country. Earl Brown was arrested by police after they searched the UMass I.D. files for Black male students who fitted the witness' description. We have learned since then that Police are free to examine personal students I.D. photos and files upon request, a system not unlike that of the racist South African regime.
Brown's room was entered by Police without his consent or knowledge and Police picked out clothes that fitted closest to the description given by one of the witnesses. Although State Police found a stolen car abandoned the next day after the robbery contain- ing a sawed-off shotgun and clothes that fit the wit- nesses' description of the alleged thieves, it appar- ently did not save Brown from incarceration. Al-
Robert Earl Brown played on UMass Football Team and was community organizer and activist.
though none of McDonald's employees could make a positive identification of Gethers and Brown and out of 10 witnesses, only 3 of them said they recog- nized Brown, he was still convicted. One of the wit- nesses said that the hold-up man had no mustache. Brown had several eye-witnesses testify that Brown has worn a mustache for years, this did not save Earl Brown from incarceration. Even though Brown's first trial ended in a hung jury, he was tried again by an all white jury at Northampton District Court and sentenced to 3 to 5 years, in prison at MCI Walpole. Presiding Judge Tamerillo gave Brown a somewhat lighter sentence than Gethers because of Brown's enormous support.
The stories that these two students have revealed from inside prison walls are tragic, sad and highly emotional. Both students were guilty only of being Black and trying to complete their education. From inside the confines of Norfolk prison Craemen told Grassroots that "It could happen to anybody." In light of the semi-Police state here at UMass; our I.D. photos and personal files open to Police upon re- quest; our rooms searched without warrants and our students pulled from out of the University confines, handcuffed, fingerprinted and booked on "Suspicion" charges. Grassroots wonders "When Will The Administration Take A Stand" on these injustices? Who Will Be Next? How many more will become the victims of injustice before our rights are protected?
Grassroots is calling on President Wood, the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, and Trustees and anyone else in the administration to take a stand on the plight of these two innocent students. We are calling on the Administration to use the power of the University to help free these students. In light of the continued silence of these powerful figures. Grass- roots cannot help but wonder what the Administra- tion's position would be if these two students were white!
45
'The degree of a country's revolutionary awareness can he measured by the political maturity of it's woman.
Kwame Nkrumah
A letter, To My People, from Assata Shakur and text of opening statement by Sister Assata Shakur, Black Liberationist, to Judge Thompson and Men and Women of the Jury; Preliminary Notes Gathered by Sister Jamila Semenya Gaston
Assata Shakur: A Revolutionary Black Woman
Rosa Blanco Gaston
Notes On Assata Shakur
For three years Assata Shakur, a woman totally committed to the liberation of oppressed people, par- ticularly Black people, has been engaged in a struggle to the death in the courts of these United States. She has been forced, under the most arduous circum- stances, to fight four attempts by the government, in the name of the "people," to legally lynch her. In May of 1973 Assata was being hunted by the police to face charges on a variety of cases, all of which she has been since judged Not Guilty. Assata Shakur's crimes against the government's "people" are political not criminal. She is invincible, she is Black and she is committed. The government is determined to break her and eradicate the example that her courage and perseverance set for all oppressed people.
Assata Shakur is presently on trial in New Brunswick, New Jersey on charges stemming from a confrontation with the Jersey state troopers on May 2, 1973, during which Assata Shakur was shot in the chest and lay near death; her comrade Zayd Malik Shakur was killed; another comrade, Sundiata Acoli, escaped but was recaptured within 40 hours; a state trooper was shot and wounded and another state trooper was dead. This entire episode took place as a result of the hunt for Black Liberationists associated with the Black Liberation Army. Sundiata Acoli was tried in a separate trial and given 24 - 30 years con- secutive terms for related offenses. Assata was ex- tradited to New York City where she was charged first with bank robbery then with robbery and kidnapping of a known drug pusher in the Black community and then another bank robbery charge. The government's cases against her were so blatantly fabricated by local lackeys and F.B.I, officials that the three juries found her NOT GUILTY. In another trial she was charged with the attempted murder of two New York City policeman but the case was dismissed for lack of evi- dence. Now the New Jersey attorney in collaboration with the F.B.I, and media supporters of the United States ruling elite are attempting to further victimize this Black woman by using every tactic imaginable to
make her succumb to this new form of genocide by trial. She stands accused of murdering the state troop- er who left her laying on the Jersey turnpike with a gaping bullet wound in her chest. During the entire period of her incarceration the government has care- fully segregated Sister Shakur from the rest of the prison population. Neither she, nor any of her coun- sel have been permitted to legally challenge this un- lawful act. The government placed her in a psychi- atric unit because she is considered a security risk to the "internal" institution because of her notoriety. She has been deprived of many of her constitutional and civil rights, as well as all normal "privileges" per- mitted prisoners in the general population. The per- sistent denial of adequate medical attention resulted in the paralysis of her right arm. Inappropriate medi- cal care also caused unnecessary pain during and af- ter the birth of her daughter in 1974. She is required to remain alone in her cell where there are no provi- sions for the intake of food. She is not permitted to attend legal education classes that would help her prepare her legal case for presentation. She is denied the right to attend college classes although she was formerly a college student and always a student of life's reality in the street. She was only permitted in the library under heavy guard escort. No one else is permitted in the room while she is there. Her mail, both legal and personal, is constantly opened and read before it is given to her. Letters she writes are not sent out for weeks so that she is prevented from re- ceiving adequate counsel and personal messages. Her cell is constantly subject to search and seizure by the guards so that she is constantly under pressure cal- culated to break her will. Since February 1975 Assata's attorney and his assistants have been denied access to their client in order to collect information for the trial. These are direct denials of civil rights. Only the persistent vigilance of the Committees to Support Assata Shakur will prevent the government trom succeeding in its mission to destroy Assata Shakur.
There has been a high level of security wherever
46
Assata has been imprisoned. Even her infant daugh- ter has been subjected to extremely thorough search in the fear that this two year old might somehow slip some weapon or message to her mother. Recently the New York Times and local New Jersey newspapers accused Assata of being the source of a revolt in a state prison for men hundreds of miles away. Throughout these trials and the persistent govern- ment persecution Assata has maintained her dignity and spoken directly to issues concerning Black peo- ple. Her latest trial began in March of 1976. Up to this point she has fought without the mass support of Black people. She has been declared Not Guilty on three occasions. This is the last go round. The gov- ernment is determined. They have successfully sur- rounded her in a veil of security and silence. We, as a people have the responsibility to let them know that their efforts to keep Black Liberationists work and ideas from the Black population are in vain. We will not permit them to lynch our women and our men in their courts. We will reach out to each other, we will defend ourselves and we will support our rights as human beings. We will fight unceasingly for the lib- eration of all oppressed people. We will always strug- gle and we will win!
Assata Shakur is one manifestation of the deter- mination of Black people. Following is a letter written by her to Black people on July 6, 1973 from the Mid- dlesex County Workhouse and the text of her open- ing statement to the jury and Judge Thompson in Brooklyn Supreme Court on November 10, 1975.
TO MY PEOPLE
A letter from Assata Shakur
Black brothers, Black sisters, I want you to know that I love you and I hope that somewhere in your heart you have love for me. My name is Assata Shakur (slave name jo anne chesimard), and I am a revolutionary. A Black revolutionary. By that I mean that I am a field nigger who is determined to be free by any means necessary. By that I mean that I have de- clared war on all forces that have raped our women, castrated our men and kept our babies empty bellied.
I have declared war on the rich who prosper on our poverty. The politicians who lie to us with smiling faces and all the mindless, heartless robots who pro- tect them and their property.
I am a Black revolutionary, and, as such, I am a victim of all the wrath, hatred and slander that amer- ikkka is capable of. Like all other Black revolutionar- ies amerikkka is trying to lynch me.
I am a Black revolutionary woman and because of this I have been charged with and accused of every alleged crime in which a woman was believed to have
participated. The alleged crimes in which only men were supposedly involved, I have been accused of planning. They have plastered pictures alleged to be me in post offices, airports, hotels, police cars, sub- ways, banks, televisions and newspapers. They have offered over fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in re- wards for my capture and they have issued orders to shoot on sight and shoot to kill.
I am a Black revolutionary and, by definition that makes me part of the Black Liberation Army. The pigs have used their newspapers and TV's to pain the Black Liberation Army as vicious, brutal, mad dog ciminals. They have called us gangsters and gun molls, and have compared us to such characters as John dillinger and ma barker. It should be clear, it must be clear to anyone who can think, see or hear, that we are the victims. The victims and not the crim- inals.
It should also be clear to us by now who the real criminals are. Nixon and his crime partners have mur- dered hundreds of Third World brothers and sisters in Vietnam, Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola and South Africa. As was proved by the Watergate, the top law enforcement officials in this country are a lying bunch of criminals. The president, two attorney generals, the head of the fbi, the head of the cia, and half the white house staff have been implicated in the Water- gate crimes.
They call us murderers, but we did not murder over 250 unarmed Black men, women and children, and wound thousands of others in the riots they pro- voked during the sixties. The rulers of this country have always considered their property more important than our lives. They call us murderers, but we were not responsible for the 28 brother inmates and the 9 hostages murdered at attica. They call us murderers but we did not murder and wound over 30 unarmed Black students at Jackson State or Southern State either.
They call us murderers, but we did not murder Martin Luther King, Emmet Till, Medgar Evers, Mal- colm X, George Jackson, Nat Turner, James Chaney and countless other Black freedom fighters. We did not bomb four (4) Black little girls in a Sunday School. We did not murder, by shooting in the back, 16 year old Rita Lloyd, 11 year old Rickie Bodden or 10 year old Clifford Glover. They call us murderers, but we do not control or enforce a system of racism and oppres- sion that systematically murders Black and Third World people. Although Black people supposedly comprise about 15% of the total amerikkkan popula- tion, at least 60% of murder victims are Black. For every pig that is killed in the so called line of duty there are at least 50 Black people murdered by the po- lice.
47
Black life expectancy is much lower than white and they do their best to kill us before we are born. We are burned alive in firetrap tenements. Our broth- ers and sisters O.D. daily from heroin and methadone. Our babies die from lead poisoning. Millions of Black people have died as a result of indecent medical care. This is murder. But they have the gall to call us mur- derers.
They call us kidnappers, yet Brother Clark Squire (who is accused along with me of murdering a new jersey state trooper) was kidnapped on April 2, 1969, from our Black community and held on $100,000 ransom in the New York Panther 21 con- spiracy case. He was acquitted on May 13, 1971 along with all the others of all the 156 counts of conspiracy by a jury that took less than two hours to deliberate. Brother Squire was innocent. Yet he was kidnapped from his community and family. Over two years of his life were stolen, but they call us kidnappers, but we did not kidnap the thousands of Brothers and Sisters held captive in amerikkas concentration camps. 90% of the prison population in this country are Black and Third World people who can afford neither bail nor lawyers.
They call us thieves and bandits. They say we steal. But it was not us who stole millions of Black people from the continent of Africa. We were robbed of our language, of our Gods, of our culture, of our human dignity, of our labor and of our lives. They call us thieves yet it is not us who rip off billions of dollars every year through tax evasions, illegal price fixing, embezzlement, consumer fraud, bribes, kick- backs and swindles. They call us bandits, yet every time most Black people pick up our paychecks we are being robbed. Every time we walk into a store in our neighborhood we are being held up. And every time we pay our rent the landlord sticks a gun into our ribs.
They call us thieves, but we did not rob and mur- der millions of Indians by ripping off their homeland, then call ourselves pioneers. They call us bandits but it is not us who are robbing Africa, Asia and Latin America of their natural resources and freedom while the people are sick and starving. The rulers of this country and their flunkies have committed some of the most brutal, vicious crimes in history. They are the bandits. They are the murderers. And they should be treated as such. These maniacs are not fit to judge me, Clark Squire or any other Black person on trial in amerikka. Black people should and inevitably must determine our destinies.
Every revolution in history has been accom- plished by actions, although words are necessary. We must create shields that protect us and spears that penetrate our enemies. Black people must lejrn how
to struggle by struggling. We must learn by our mis- takes.
I want to apologize to you, my Black brothers and sisters, for being on the new jersey turnpike. I should have known better. The turnpike is a check point where Black people are stopped, searched, har- assed and assaulted. Revolutionaries must never be in too much of a hurry or make careless decisions. He who runs when the sun is sleeping will stumble many times.
Every time a Black Freedom Fighter is murdered or captured the pigs try to create the impression that they have squashed the movement, destroyed our forces and put down the Black Revolution. The pigs also try to give the impression that 5 or 10 Guerrillas are responsible for every revolutionary action carried out in amerikka. That is nonsense. That is absurd. Black revolutionaries do not drop from the moon. We are created by our conditions shaped by our oppres- sion. We are being manufactured in droves in the ghetto streets, places like attica, san quentin, bedford hills, leavenworth and sing sing. They are turning out thousands of us. Many jobless Black veterans and welfare mothers are joining our ranks. Brothers and sisters from all walks of life who are tired of suffering passively make up the BLA.
There is and always will be, until every Black man, woman and child is free, a Black Liberation Army. The main function of the Black Liberation Army at this time is to create good examples to strug- gle for Black freedom and to prepare for the future. We must defend ourselves and let no one disrespect us. We must gain our liberation by any means neces- sary.
It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains!
In the spirit of:
Ronald Carter
William Christmas
Mark Clark
Mark Essex
Frank Heavy Fields
Woodie Changa Olugbala Green
Fred Hampton
Lil Bobby Hutton
George Jackson
Jonathan Jackson
James McClain
Harold Russell
Zayd Malik Shakur
Anthony Kumu Olugbala White
48
We must fight on.
July 6, 1973
Middlesex County Workhouse
Note: Information Came From the National Coali- tion To Defend Assata Shakur, P.O. Box 1352 Harlem, New York 10027
Opening Statement of Assata Shakur at her trial
JUDGE THOMPSON, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, MEN AND WOMEN OF THE JURY:
I have decided to act as co-counsel, and to make this opening statement, not because i have any illu- sions about my legal abilities, but rather because there are things that i must say to you. I have spent-many- days and nights behind bars thinking about this trial, this outrage. And in my own mind only someone who has been so intimately a victim of this madness as i have, can do justice to what i have to say. And if you think that i am nervous, your senses do not deceive you. It is only because i know that this moment can never be lived again, and that so much depends on it. I have to read this opening statement to you, because i am afraid that if i don't, I will forget half of what I have to say. Please try to bear with me.
This will not be a conventional opening state- ment. First of all, because i am not a lawyer, and what has happened to me, and what has happened to Ron- ald Myers does not exist in a vacuum. There are a long series of events and attitudes that led up to us being here.
When we were sitting in this courtroom, during the jury selection process, i listened to Judge Thomp- son tell yoj about the amerikan system of justice. He talked about presumption of innocence; he talked about equality and justice. His words were like a beautiful dream in a beautiful world. But i have been awaiting trial for two and one half years. And justice, in my eyesight, has not been the amerikan dream; it has been the amerikan nightmare. There was a time when i wanted to believe that there was justice in this country. But reality crashed through and shattered all my daydreams. While awaiting trial i have earned a PhD in justice, or rather, the lack of it.
I sat next to a pregnant woman who was doing 90 days for taking a box of pampers, and watched on T.V. the pardoning of a president who had stolen mil- lions of dollars, and who had been responsible for the deaths of thousands of human beings. For what? For peace with honor? Nixon was pardoned without ever being formally accused of a crime. He was pardoned without ever standing trial or being found guilty of a crime or spending one day in jail. Who else could
commit some of the most horrendous destructive crimes in history and get paid 200.00 tax dollars a year? Is there really such a thing as equality under the law? Ford stated that he pardoned Nixon because Nixon's family had suffered enough. Well, what about thousands of families whose sons gave their lives in Viet Nam? What about the families who have sons and daughters in prison, who cannot afford bail or even lawyers for their children. And what about the millions of people who have been sentenced at birth to poverty, to live like animals and work like dogs. Where is the justice for them? What kind of justice is this?
Where the poor go to prison and the rich go free. Where witnesses are rented, bought or bribed. Where evidence is made and manufactured. Where people are tried, not because of any criminal actions but because of their political beliefs. Where was the justice for the man at Attica? Where was the justice for Medgar Evers, Fred Hamp- ton, Clifford Glover?
Where was the justice for the Rosenbergs? And where is the justice for the native Americans who we so presumptuously call Indians?
I am not on trial here because i am a criminal, or because i have committed a crime. I have never been convicted of a crime in my life. Ronald Myers is not on trial because he is a criminal or because he has committed a crime. He was 19 years old when he turned himself in, after seeing his picture in the news- paper. He thought that the police would immediately see their mistake. I met Ronald Myers for the first time about 8 months ago in the lawyers conference room. It was a stiff and strange meeting, something i hope i'll never have to go through again. I was shocked to see how young he was. And no matter what the outcome of this trial is, i will always feel a bitterness about what has happened to Ronald Myers and what has happened to me.
I do not think that its just an accident that we are on trial here. This case is just another example of what has been going on in this country. Throughout amerika's history people have been imprisoned be- cause of their political beliefs and charged' with crim- inal acts in order to justify that imprisonment. Those who dared to speak out against the injustices in this country, both Black and White, have paid dearly for their courage, sometimes with their lives. Marcus Garvey, Stokeley Carmichael, Angela Davis, the Rosenbergs and Lolita Lebron were all charged with crimes because of their poUtical beliefs. Martin Luther King went to jail countless times for leading non-vio- lent demonstrations. Why, you are probably asking yourselves, would this government want to put me or Ronald Myers in jail? In my mind the answer to that
49
is very simple. For the same reason that his govern- ment has put everyone else in jail who spoke up for freedom: who said give me liberty or give me death.
During the voir dire process we asked you about the word 'militant'. There was a reason for that. In the late sixties and the early 70's this country was in an upheaval. There was a strong people's movement against the war, against racism, in the colleges, on the streets and in the Black and Puerto Rican communi- ties. This government, local police agencies, the F.B.I. and the C.I. A. launched an all out war against people they considered militants. We are only finding out now, because of investigations into the F.B.I, and the C.I. A., how extensive and how criminal their methods were and still are. In the same way that witches were burned in Salem, this government went on a witch- hunt, for people they considered 'militant'. Countless numbers of people were either killed or imprisoned. The Berrigans, the Chicago 7, the Panther 21, Bobby Seale and thousands of anti-war demonstrators were all victims of this witch hunt justice. Maybe some of you are saying to yourselves, no government would do that. Well, all you have to do is check out for your- self the history of this country and to look around and see what is going on today. All you have to do is ask yourselves, who controls the government, and who are the victims of that control.
Since you have been in this courtroom you have heard the name Black Liberation Army mentioned over and over. Those of you in the jury have been questioned as to what you have read or seen on tele- vision and what your opinions were about the B.L.A. Most of you have stated that you thought that the Black Liberation Army was a militant organization. You have said that what you have read or heard has come from the establishmentarian media. The major TV and radio networks, the times, the post and the daily news. I have read the same articles that you have read. I have seen the same news programs that you have seen. When it comes to the media, i have learned to believe none of what i hear and half of what i see. But i can tell you, if i were just Jane Doe citizen, if i did not know better, i would've read those articles, and come to the conclusion that JoAnne Chesimard, Ronald Myers and all other people called militants were a bunch of white hating, cop hating, gun toting, crazed, fanatical maniacs, fighting for some abstract, misguided cause.
But One percent of the people in this country control 70% of the wealth. And it is that One percent, the heads of large corporations, who control the poli- cies of the news media. And determines what you and i hear on the radio, read in the newspapers, see on television. It is more important for us to think about where the media gets it information. From the police
department or from the prosecutor. No major news- paper or television station has ever asked my lawyers or myself one question concerning anything. People are tried and convicted in the papers and on television before they ever see a courtroom. A person who is ac- cused of stealing a car becomes an international car theft ring. A man is accused of participating in a drunken brawl and the headlines read, "crazed maniac goes berserk".
During the 70's, the media created a front page headline, guaranteed to sell newspapers: the Black Liberation Army. According to them, the B.L.A. was everywhere. Almost every other thing that happened was attributed to the Black Liberation Army. Head- lines that are sensational sell newspapers. The media shapes public opinion and the results of that are often tragic.
Before you were sworn as jurors you were asked about your knowledge of the B.L.A. Most of you stated that you had no knowledge of what the Black Liberation Army was or what it stands for. However, most of you did say that you believed that the Black Liberation Army was a 'militant' organization. I would like to talk about that for a moment. The Black Lib- eration Army is not an organization: it goes beyond that. It is a concept, a people's movement, an idea. Many different people have said and done many dif- ferent things in the name of the Black Liberation Army.
The idea of a Black Liberation Army emerged from conditions in Black communities. Conditions of poverty, indecent housing, massive unemployment, poor medical care and inferior education. The idea came about because Black People are not free or equal in this country. Because 90% of the men and women in this country's prisons are Black and Third World. Because 10 year old children are shot down in our streets. Because dope has saturated our communities preying on the disillusionment and frustration of our children. The concept of the B.L.A. arose because of the political, social and economic oppression of Black people in this country. And where there is oppression there will be resistance. The B.L.A. is a part of that resistance movement. The Black Liberation Army stands for freedom and justice for all people.
While big corporations make huge tax-free prof- its, taxes for the everyday working person skyrocket. While politicians take free trips around the world, those same politicians cut back food stamps for the poor. While politicians increase their salaries, millions of people are being laid off. This city is on the brink of bankruptcy and yet hundreds of thousands of dol- lars are being spent on this trial. I do not understand a government so willing to spend millions of dollars on arms to explore outer space, even the planet Ju-
50
piter, and at the same time close down day care centers and fire stations.
I have read the Declaration of Independance and i have great admiration for this statement:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights. Governments are insti- tuted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it and to in- stitute New Government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and Happiness."
These words are especially meaningful in the year of this country's bicentennial. I would like to help make this a better world for my daughter and for all the children of this world: for all the men and women of this world.
But you understand that the B.L.A. is not on trial here. I am on trial here. Ronald Myers is on trial here. And the charge is kidnapping and armed robbery, where the so-called victim is a drug pusher, a seller of heroin, a man called James Freeman.
We live in New York, and it is impossible not to see the horror, the degradation and the pain associ- ated with heroin addiction. Most of you have seen the staggering numbers of young lives sucked into obliv- ion, into walking deaths by the use of drugs. Many of you have seen helpless mothers watch their chil- dren turn into nodding skeletons, whom they can no longer trust. And seen the dreams, the potential of a whole generation of youngsters drain away, down into the bottomless pit of a needle. And these victims also have their victim. The countless number of peo- ple who have been mugged, burglarized and robbed, by drug made vampires, who can care about nothing else but their poison.
We will show you that James Freeman is a liar. We will show you that the other prosecution wit- nesses are all friends, relatives, lovers or employees of James Freeman, and that they are liars. You will see for yourself that they have conspired and that they have been coached.
Men and women of the jury, human lives are serious matters. I have already told you that i have no faith in this system of justice and believe me i don't. I have seen too much. If there was such a thing as jus- tice i wouldn't be here talking to you now. You have been chosen to be the representatives of justice. You and you alone. You have said that you have no prej- udices or preconceptions. You have said that you could try this case on the basis of the evidence. What i am saying now is not evidence. What the prosecutor says is not evidence. You may or you may not agree with my political beliefs. They are not on trial here. I have only brought them up to help you understand the political and emotional context in which this case comes before you.
Although the court considers us peers, many of you have had different backgrounds and different learning and life experiences. It is important to me that you understand some of those differences. I only ask of you that you listen carefully. I only ask that you listen not only to what these witnesses say but to how they say it.
Our lives are no more precious or no less precious than yours. We ask only that you be as open and as fair as you would want us to be, were we sitting in the jury box determining your guilt or innocence. Our lives and the lives that surround us depend on your fairness.
Thank you.
Personal Statement from Assata Shakur
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Hope
Struggle on my brother cause the work must be done The fight has just begun As you travel through the valley of changable realities in shifting splitting opposites take with you these offerings The pillow of knowledge
to rest upon The hand of wisdom to point the way Flowing water
to comfort the soul Gentle arms
to balance the mind Struggle on my brother Peace and togetherness May the best of all the worlds follow you
by Annie Carpenter 1973©
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GHETTO FLOWER IN IVY
Yes,
I'll learn this White culture
but I won't forget
Watts/Harlem/South African shanty-towns &
other prisons.
I'll sail with lost Colunnbus & blaze Western trails with Dan'l Boone,
I'll mingle with the cavemen of Europe but I'll never forget the cattle/prodded Black bosoms or the snarling police dogs or the cracked skulls & castrated bodies of my brothers . . .
I'll learn to mathematize/calculize/systematize/ astronomize & chart a new route to the planets, but I won't forget those Freedom Marches down long dusty & dangerous paths
lined with sniper/cowards raised on special "K" (KK) breakfast sucked in from moma's milk. I'll swear that I'd kiss Shakespeare's wrist (in Act #1 ) & shoot crap with Sir Walter Scott & get drunk with Poe & trade words with Wordsworth & minuet with Emily Dickinson & walk thru hell with Dante & fight the devil with Dan Webster
but I won't forget those bullets
that knocked on Panther doors at 3:10 A. M. (Chicago time) or the blood/plastered balcony in Memphis where the Black Christ choked on his own non-violence or my little sisters bombed to God in B'ombingHam or the slaughter on Pork Chop Hill in Asia . . .
I'll Frost my cake
with Milton & Chaucer & swim in lonely lakes & tag along with Longfellow & lie on shores with Andy Marvell,
digging stars & clams & hang out in waterfront bars with Cap'tn Ahab (but while he's looking for a white whale, I'll be looking for a black catfish sam/mich wit mustard & hot sauce).
I'll play the game, Summa Cum Lame, but Phi Beta Kappa keys won't put me on my knees skin-poppin' White culture without TRUTH for a chaser.
I'll stand tall & rigid like a new African spear when they play "The Star-Spangled Banner" hand over my heart (like it says in the book), I'll drool when they sing "Rule Britannica . . Rule!"
but I won't forget Jean Toomer/Langston Hughes/Richard Wright/ (or Lerone Bennett's "other" history, left out of White books) or Chester Himes/James Baldwin/LeRoi Baraka/Larry Neal/ & Sonia Sanchez ain't Spanish & Don Lee ain't Robert E's son & Nikki Giovanni ain't no l-talian . . . U dig? I'll git yo bastard degrees & Master & Doc'trate keys
but I'll learn Karate (on the side) & how to make Mr. molotov's drink (poverty's A-bomb) in Lab 306 . . . Yea, baby,
I'll learn to speak/walk/& talk with the seasoned erudition & perspicacity of a neophyte scholar,
thinking of Ghana & sleeping giants who wake fast once they're aroused . . . kicking white sheets to the wind . . . Yes, brothers & sisters, I'll do all that shit
(until the final grade is in), or
. . . the Paradise is lost.
Richard Fewell Bridgeport, Conn.
54
Robert Earl Brown
from within Walpole MCI.
Colonists in 1975?
The following is a reproduction of the letter sent to the Black Affairs Office on Nov. 9, by Earl Brown, UMass student, convicted and sentenced to serve three to five years for armed robbery of a MacDon- alds Hamburger establishment on August 7, 1974.
I ask, are we the "Colonist in 1975"? The ques- tion is very relevent, when we view the recent hap- pening against Third World People. It is obvious that the system is perpetuating law and order in a colonist to master syndrome. We ask for justice, and receive in return promises. When acts of violence are brought on the master side (as the recent case of Brown and Gethers vs. the state), the first niggers will do. When the situation is reverse, the local ad- ministration wants to have a hand in the decision (as the case of the ballot box destruction of the break- ing and entering of the Malcolm X center).
Are we to stand by, and fall into the 1975 colo- nist legend, or are we to organize and separate the differences between our own races, in a united effort. Of course, each individual must decide his or her action or reaction. The situation which occurred late Thursday at 4:45 occurred in late June; occurred to a brother at Amherst college; occurred when two sisters were in an incident at the Bluewall; and oc- curred within the first two months of school. Attacks
and blind justice will occur as long as WE in the Pio- neer Valley remain asleep. Oppressed people will re- main as long as society has its way. No persons, or individuals are safe, as long as innocent people are behind bars. No race is safe, if bitterness separates nationalist goals. But, we will survive only by strug- gle, and lending each other both hands.
We will survive, only if we realize our own strength and weaknesses. This also takes into con- sideration whether the struggle is interpreted "By Any Means Necessary."
In summation, I have sensed that one day, the chains of injustice will revert into my freedom. That the tide is changing for the sleep to awake, and vice versa. And unless we remind ourselves, that the "Railroad Philosophy" can happen to me, whether in the Pioneer Valley or elsewhere; then the feeling
of being FREE will remain only a dream.
Earl Brown P.S. When the above was written, I had no access to a dictionary or other material to focus on my main topic. The article in Monday's Collegian, is what we face today. Unless we act in a serious manner there may be no one to write such an article.
I express my thanks to you and the community. For one day we will all be repaid.
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To The New Afrikans
By Abdul Malik, co- Out tribe has now developed into a viable force and has started moving towards positive changes. The elements of South Boston or the elements of Philadelphia are all of the same crust and must be thought of as such. We Black students here at the University of Massachusetts shall bear the responsi- bility of telling our youth of their past through the vehicles of education, the arts and sciences, as well as the methods of academic indoctrination; how it has been taught and applied. We must not forget these meanings nor these values ever. As we look at this past semester let us not forget that the struggle continues; its imperativeness must take a high pri- ority here at UMass. This, the final issue of the Drum for the semester, basically deals with the music and the struggle, which to most black folk go hand
editor of Grassroots
in hand. We've tried covering most of the major events that have taken place here in the Pioneer Valley.
Thank You, ARCHIE SHEPP, your political awareness; your musical expertise has been felt and appreciated. To MAX ROACH who has always been in the forefront of the struggle, his unselfish atti- tude has made us a lot stronger than we realized.
As Co-editor of Grassroots, I would like to express my deepest appreciation on the behalf of the entire Roots staff to our many brothers and sisters who fought with us for a free and independent news press. To the many of you, thanks; also thanks to our Philadelphia correspondent brother James Gilliam at Community College for his time and in- terest of the affairs effecting UMass students.
The Re-birth of New Africa House
Kwaku Gyata
Six years ago New Africa House came totally under the control of the Black community here at the University of Massachusetts, due to the mass action and coordinated efforts of every Black person on the campus at that time.
New Africa House, soon after, became the center of all Black activity on campus. The building contin- uously thrived with the excitement of Black folk doing their thing, living and maintaining their cul- ture on an alien white campus.
For some years New Africa House continued in this tradition. Many entities came into being within the building, providing the Black community with a place to eat food not so foreign and suspect as that served in the dinning commons; a place to party to the sounds we dance to; a place to hear the seri- ous classic Black music (an original Black art form) live on stage; a place to get our hair cut where the barbers were not so puzzled by our wooly hair; an art gallery to display the works of our Black artists.
YEAH NEW AFRICA HOUSE WAS HAPPEN- NING!!!
But then for some reason Black students interest in what was going on in New Africa House seemed to die, and with it the building began to die; the main activity was the classes held in the building. The result of this was devastating, without New Africa House serving as a center for Blacks to come together informally, to relax, be Black, and commu-
nicate with one another the Black community began to split into several cliques spread out over different parts of the campus.
This splitting of the community among other things weakened our political power base here on campus. This allowed the white administration to make certain cutbacks not least of which was the cut in the budget of the Black Cultural Center (the student run programming agency within New Africa House)
But . . . now again New Africa House is coming alive. Slowly New Africa House is being reborn as symbolized by the rededication of the building to the Black community and the raising of the Afri- can Peoples Party's flag two weeks ago. Inside the building Yvonne's West Indian paradise has become not only a place to enjoy the sister's good cooking, but a place to meet and talk with Black folk from freshmen to administrators. There is now a student run non-profit store growing to meet the needs of Black students and faculty. There is a Black News Service office that provides a place where informa- tion regarding the Black community is readily avail- able. But most important there is a spirit of together- ness and unity, and of collective work.
May nothing impede our progress. May ALL Black students (in the broad sense of the word) come together under the spirit of Umoja and make the rebirth of New Africa House complete.
HARAMBEE!!!!!
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''America's the Black Man's Battleground:" Black Students and the Bicentennial.
By Akbar Muhammad Ahmad
This year at Tuft's University (Medford, Mass.), Feb. 17 to 22 a National Black Students Conference was where the National Black Students Association was formed. There the Black Students issued a state- ment which reads in part:
Blacks are not and never have been included in the social, political and economic areas of this capitalis- tic-based society in which the "of the people, by the people and for the people" meant only those who were white and owned land, and since every attempt was made and successfully initiated during and since the Reconstruction Era to ensure that Blacks remain landless, his rights as a citizen were invalid. With that being so, we never had nor never will have a desire to join in an alien celebration predicated on prejudice, hypocracy and propaganda in the highest order. With this in mind we seek reparations for the countless injustices inflicted on our race and that a plebicite be started by 1980 to ensure this purpose. We collectively denounce the 200 years of imperialis- tic activities of the united states upon other coun- tries in her quest for Expansion, which included robbery of lands and resources, foreign aggression and domination, subversive activities and assassina- tions of domestic and foreign leaders. These activities are in no way affiliated with or aligned to the Black prospective, but rather it is totally divorced from the Black struggle. Therefore we see no need, wish or desire to participate in this celebration and most im- portantly, we denounce the celebration altogether.
Black people should ask themselves, what do we have to celebrate in 1976? We face the same situa- tions, poor housing, discrimination in employment, racial brutality, housing discrimination and live at the lowest subsistance level. What do the black poor in AmeriKKKa have to celebrate? It is time we be- gin analyzing why we are in the condition we're in. Just how did we get in this position and how we're going to get out of it.
Black people's struggle is a struggle for self- determination and in independence.
The recent framing of two Univ. of Massachu- setts student, Craeman Gethers and Earl Brown is
just part of what's happening across AmeriKKKa. Black people because they pose a potential internal threat to AmeriKKKan society are being framed by the hundreds and thousands. AmeriKKKa's new concentration camps are its prisons where thousands of brothers and sisters are. The prisons are bursting at the seams with black people.
Black people have historically been excluded from the decision making process in this country and are the victims of its hypocriscy.
Thirteen years ago this time, movement activists were evaluating the failure of the March on Washing- ton to achieve meaningful change in the condition of oppression of our people.
As we look around the country today, we see prisons filled up with ex-movement activists and thousands upon thousands of Afrikans who have been unjustly incarcerated by a racist economic- political system. When we address ourselves to the African Prisoner of War question we must address ourselves to a larger question, because we are dealing with the legality of the entire system.
This question has plagued our movement since before the civil war and the reconstruction period. The question revolves around our right to reparations, land, and whether we are a nation or a colonized minority.
This plagues us today because there are many among our ranks who are clear on the international question but confused on the national question and thereby unable to draft a suitable program to involve the masses of our people on a day by day level.
This is the precise reason Afrikan prisoners of war get so little support from the movement in 1976 because most of the movement is confused as to how to deal with raising the issue of Prisoner of War.
The late El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X), in 1964 saw this confusion forthcoming and this is why he said we must internationalize our question; our situation is not a domestic issue of civil rights but a question of human rights. What did Malcolm mean when he said our struggle is one of human rights?
57
This is what Malcolm knew. He knew that those Afrikans who were taken as slaves or were the de- scendants of slaves and pronounced "freedmen" by the Emancipation Proclamation were never given a chance to vote or to decide whether they wanted to become citizens of the United States or not. There- fore, the 14th, 15th and 16th amendments that stated we were citizens of the U. S. were and are today unconstitutional until they are ratified or rejected by mass vote of those descendants of slaves or persons of Afrikan descent.
This being true there are no laws that Afrikans have to abide by the U. 5. government until they (Sherman's field order #15) they set a statue of whether they vvant to be citizens of this government or want independence; land and a nation of their own.
Our so-called second class citizenship is in fact citizenship slavery; having the responsibilities of a citizen and denied the rights of citizenship. There is only one class of citizenship, first class; the other is called colonization.
When the capitalist ruling class decided upon our so-called emancipation, promising us forty acres and a mule if we would fight on the side of the union (Sherman's field order 15) they set a statue of limitations of 100 years in which we would become automatic citizens if no legal protest by the descend- ants of the former slaves was made. The statue was up in 1965, having been established in 1865. Brother Robert L. Brock, then chairman of the Self Determination Committee in Los Angeles, and a practicing lawyer, presented a legal protest, officially asking for reparations and a constitutional recall. In ordinary circumstances Brock's case— which went to the U. S. Supreme Court of Appeals— would have gone to the U. S. Supreme Court for a decision and would have been headline news. But this case is un- heard of. Decision is yet to be passed on it. Why? Because within Brock's legal document rests the key to our enslavement and also our liberation. The ques- tion is a historical one which was never resolved after the civil war and is the crucial question of the coming second American civil war.
During the reconstruction period, Thaddeus Stevens argued in Congress that the so-called freed- men, descendants of captive Afrikans, should be given 40 acres a piece of the confiscated land of the southern plantation owners. This was his Home- stead Act, which was defeated and never again dealt with.
New, what are we getting to? We are saying that if Afrikan people are 10 to 15% of the total popu-
lation of Amerikkka, then we should control 10% of the political structure, local, state and federal government; 10% of all the land of Amerikkka, 10% of the national gross product, the economy, 10% of the military, 10% of the industry, 10% of the police, 10% of the executive government, including the De- fense Security Agency, the FBI, Secret Service and CIA, 10% of the U. S. Supreme Court, 10% of Con- gress, 10% of all farms and food industry. That is, if we are to be given rights of "true" citizenship, first class. This is the least our oppressors should do until we have a right to vote to determine our self-deter- mination through a United Nations plebiscite.
If we deal with the original question of what we want, and what our oppressor owes us, we may go flip. Let's see what our oppressor owes us. We, as any colonialized and abused nation have the right to restitution or reparations (repayments for injustices done to us); for the 400 years of forced free labor (slavery); for the 400 years of genocide, denying us of practice of our native tongue, religion, culture, way of life; and also denying us the right to read even the oppressor's language for 400 years. All this made us into a different people, something we don't even recognize because we don't have the full knowl- edge of ourselves. Then another 100 years of en- forced citizenship slavery, the gross miseducation of our children that is forced upon them daily (Santa Claus, George Washington, so-called father of the country who never told a lie and chopped down some cherry trees, etc.). And yes, how about that promised forty acres and a mule for helping and winning the civil war for the union. Forty acres was to go to each freedman. So, every descendant of the freedman has a right to forty acres of land. Now, let's see, there are now 30 million or more persons of Afrikan descent in captivity in Amerikkka. That means Amerikkka owes Afrikans one billion, two hundred million acres of land without the interest of 100 years, and the mules would now equal tractor equipment— or at least a deuce and a quarter.
Amerikkka is a racist, criminal government of international gangsters. It is just as evil as it's U. S. A. partner, the union of South Afrika (Asania).
With the recent exposure of the watergate con- spiracy, which has led to the indictment of over 44 top Nixon aides plus the ex-attorney general, Mitchell, who was responsible for the mass raids on the Black Panther Party, and information that the late J. Edgar Hoover, former director of the FBI had given top priority orders to destroy any and all Black national- ist organizations by any means necessary— through agent infiltration or overkill, or frame up— evidence
58
shows that all Afrikans in prisons are victims of a conspiracy by white government officials on the local (police), state, and federal level.
The massive influx of drugs into the Black com- munities, the young left movement, and the army reveals that modern 20th century "opium war" was waged against the Black liberation struggle with the introduction and romanticization of scag and coke by "Superfly" planned by the Nixon-Axis.
Given these historical and constitutional ques- tions, all Afrikans in prison have constitutional grounds to be immediately released. An Afrikan Prisoner of War can use laws and grounds dealing with the burden of double jeopardy. This, he or she was forced to abide by the responsibilities of the law without having equal protection or benefit of the law.
We should do some thinking. This applies to all Afrikans until we as a people have a right to vote to determine our destiny (self determination).
Also, Afrikan Prisoners of War can use the Civil Rights Act of 1869, which states that a blackman has to have the same equal rights as a white man. If this be true, then there have been thousands of violations of this statute with all white juries finding black men and women guilty, plus the double jeopardy and also with the usual procedure of hearsay evidence, high bails, etc. Again, jailhouse lawyers, deal with the con- stitutional questions and flood the court system.
Now dig this. Sections 1981 and 1983 of the 1964 Civil Rights Act deal with "conspiracy by local, state and federal governmental officials to violate a per- son's civil rights." Afrikans, remember your human and civil rights have already been violated by you not
having due process of the law, to have any say so on whether you wanted to be a citizen or not, and then after forced to be a citizen without your consent, you are not afforded equal protection of the law nor equal protection of the law nor equal benefits of the so- called citizenship because of economic, educational, political and social discrimination. You are forced to live a life of a second class citizen, and all this is un- constitutional in the first place. Any time that you have had pretrial biased publicity, usually given to the newspaper by police officials, or one or more police agencies have cooperated prior to your arrest, any time you have been victim to a secret indictment, electronic surveillance, tapping of your phone, bugging of your home, car, and forced confessions resulting from police beating, or in any way been singled out because of your association in a libera- tion organization, or because of your race, religion, political beliefs or economic standing, then you can use the 1964 civil rights act to bring a people's indict- ment against your accuser.
We must flood the illegal court system from the outside and from the inside. Flood the court system with people's indictments. Jailhouse lawyers, go to the books; the laws are there and we can use them en masse. Let's take the real criminals to court. Write constitutional writs en masse. Someone is bound to win and then we learn from that victory how to gain others. Let the mass constitutional movement begin. Anytime the black and the poor must start a new constitutional movement, we say, AmeriKKKa's the Blackman's Battleground!
Dare to Struggle! Dare to Win!
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Bullshit, You Know Better
As if you didn't know
your father's hands
have become yours.
Hogwash, you tear out hearts
and you know why, America.
Tied down in the electric chair
of history, autopsy
of speech, the ceremony
of breaking bones.
Don't place my hand on your cunt;
Miss America, I don't forget,
forgive that easy.
Extravagant, the naked machine
ripping off legs and arms;
you've fallen in love
with mad capers
locked inside inventions.
Wretched, you can't wash
your hands clean, guilt complexes,
in the blue lake of my life.
Don't come on with innocence;
gifts of pink titties and ass.
Your laugh, your soft touch
grows into something still grey
with the stench of Zyklon B.
Yusef Komunyakag Denver, Colorado
For America
come young
lovers
love in the valley
of death
swim in the rivers
of blood
drink from the cup
of hate
marry into the house
of untruth
and bear
the children
of discontent
Be yourself
America!
by Lloyd Corbin (Djan gatolum)
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Black America and The Bicentennial
The role of the Black American in the Bicenten- nial is a subject that has provoked considerable dis- cussion during the past several months. By the time this is in print, most readers, more than likely, will have reached their saturation point of articles, pro- grams, etc. about the participation of Blacks in the Bicentennial. The basic positions, both for and against, have been stated quite clearly in Ebony (August, 1975). However, I would like to raise some questions which I feel should be considered if Black Americans are to more effectively examine and con- test the meaning of the Bicentennial and put it in a perspective more attuned to the historical and con- temporary realities of Black America. As much as we would like to. Black people cannot ignore either the Bicentennial celebrations or the ideological positions that accompany them. Too many Black people are already involved; silence might be mistaken for con- sent.
This discussion, therefore, will focus on three reasons why Black Americans should be critical of the Bicentennial:
1. To accept the white definitions of the impor- tance of such dates as 1776, etc. is to acquiese to the national mythology of White America and to do violence to the historical experiences of Black America;
2. Even the most superficial comparison of what Black Americans have contributed to the development of the United States with their cur- rent position in society will indicate that there is nothing to celebrate;
3. As we approach 1976, there is very little democracy left for anybody— Black or white— to boast of.
1. U. S. History vs. Black History
One of the difficulties in working out the rela- tionship of Black Americans and white Ameri- cans is that the historians of Black America too readily have accepted the categories and periodi- zation more appropriate to White America. July
4, 1776 is of less importance to Black Americans than the date of the Northwest Ordinance which banned slavery from the Northwest territory or the dates of the major slave revolts, e.g., 1739, Stono Rebellion; 1811, Louisiana; 1831, Nat Turner. One alternative periodization is as fol- lows: 1619-1860, Slavery; 1860-1877, Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction; 1877-1954, Black America as internal colony; 1954-1968, Black America: Decolonization; 1968-present, Black America: internal neo-colonialism. This is not the place for a full-scale exposition of this view or even for a more detailed breakdown of periods, but it should be clear that on the whole it fits the contours of Black American history more closely than the more dominant views that focus on the administrations of the various presidents.
What Black Americans Have Put into the U. S. vs. What They Have Gotten In Return
The Bicentennial has intensified the trend be- gun in the late 1960's of limiting the contribu- tions of Black Americans to the acts of excep- tional individuals such as Charles Drew, Crispus Attucks, George Washington Carver, etc., to lists of Black inventions or to the more obvious and outstanding cultural attainments.
These are indeed worthy of note, but Blacks have made a more profound contribution to the establishing and developing of the United States as the most wealthy and powerful nation in the modern world. Thomas Abernathy, a conserva- tive white Southern historian, in a moment of candor rare for American racists, spelled out that contribution:
Slavery was an ugly institution, and there was never any excuse for it except that there was no other labor force available for the production of the staple crops of the southern colonies and states. Without slaves, the settlement of the transmontane area between the Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico would hardly have
69
advanced as rapidly as it acquired. In that case we would not have been able to take the Southwest, including California, from Mexico, and the boundary of the Louisiana Purchase would probably have remained our limit in that direction. Thus the nation profited, and the South lost . . . (American Historical Re- view, LXXX, July, 1965, p. 1240).
In 1976, over one hundred years since the abo- lition of slavery. Black Americans have yet to receive anywhere near just compensation for their efforts. Blacks who are more than 10% of the population, own only 1.2% of business equity, 1.2% of farm equity and 0.1% of stock equity. As of 1970, Blacks received only 6.5% of total U. S. income and less than 1% of all investment and property incomes (Fact Sheets on Institutional Racism, July, 1974, pp. 1, 3, 4). By any measure of wealth and power. Blacks are still oppressed and exploited. A much fuller picture is presented in Victor Perlo's Economics of Racism U.S.A.: Roots of Black Inequality (International Pub- lishers, 1975). Even if one has serious reserva- tions about Black Americans' participation in the development of monopoly capitalism and imperialism it is still clear that Black America has been granted neither self-determination nor the just fruits of their labor.
3. 1776-1976: Monarchy to Autocracy
As we approach the elections of 1976, Ameri- cans, both Black and white, should reflect on the facts that the outcome of every presidential elec- tion since 1960 has been determined by gunfire and that the United States is currently being led by a president who was not elected. To refresh our memories, let us recall that the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963 elevated Lyndon John- son to presidency; the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 resulted in the election of Rich- ard Nixon; and that the shooting of George Wallace during the 1972 primaries cleared the way for a Nixon landslide. Unless we are plan- ning on a rerun of 1776 with Ford in the role of King George, I see too little left of what there was of United States democracy to boast about.
In conclusion, perhaps Black America should take its cues from Frederick Douglass when he was invited to participate in a July 4th celebration in 1852. In one of the most dramatic and telling speeches in the history of our sojourn in America, Douglass pointed out the irony in asking an ex-slave to join in a celebration of the liberty of a nation of slaveholders. I fear that many of Douglass' comments are still rele- vant today: Let Douglass speak:
. . . Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may re- joice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters in- to a grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today? . . .
Douglass said much more, but the point is clear: National celebrations are something to overcome, not to revel in. There are more important tasks to be done. Let us move forward.
John Bracey Univ. of Mass.
W.E.B. Dubois
Dept. of Afro. Am. Studies
Chair person
April, 1976
P.S.
A final ironic note on the meaninglessness of the Bicentennial to Black America is that on Monday, April 15, 1976, in Boston, Massachusetts, a Black man on the way to City Hall was attacked by a band of white Americans and beaten with a pole holding an American flag. Enough said.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The DRUM Staff would like to thank:
The Black Community for persevering with us in this struggle. The Black News Service Staff and Grassroots.
For Articles:
Bro. John Bracey 69
Bro. Bobby Daniels 20
Bro. Akbar Muhammad Ahmad 8,57
Bro. Rick Scott Gordon 18, 36, 39
Bro. Bill Hasson 28
Sis. Rosa Blanco Gaston 46
Bro. Archie Shepp 25
Sis. Vikki Lights 32
Bro. Earl Brown 55
Bro. Kwaku Gyata 56
Bro. Abdul Malik 29, 56
Sis. D. E.Johnson 37
Sis. Gail Bryan 31
For Poems:
Bro. Chris Henderson 44
Sis. Ima 17
Bro. Richard Fewell 54
Bro. Yusef Komunyakag 60
Bro. Lloyd Corbin 60
Sis. Annie Carpenter 52
Bro. Alii Cabral 14
For Photography:
Eddie Cohen 27,30,31,35,37,38,40
Deryl Marrow 66, 67, 68
Juan Durruthy 52
Fitz Walker 2,40,55
Kenneth Robinson 18, 52, 57, For Art work:
Ray Horner, Jr. 19
Pam Friday 6, 71
Nelson Stevens 43
Carl Yates 23
Front Cover:
Professor Maxwell Roach
Back Cover:
Sis. Pam Friday
And a very special thanks to Bro. Chet Davis and all the Brothers and Sisters that stayed on my back about this Magazine.
And to my Staff. Don't know how I would've made it without you.
Nisey 72
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