Monthly Archives: February 2011
The Fall of Mubarak Leaves U.S. Control Over the Region Shaky
By Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary-General of the African Socialist International.
After 18 days of ongoing people’s resistance in Tahir square demanding that Hosni Mubarak step down, the people of Egypt have finally won this critical round of the battle between the corrupt and tyrannical Arab rulers in Egypt and their allies from the U.S., Britain, EU and other parasitic entities who funded and backed Mubarak’s neocolonial regime. Mubarak resigned on February 11, 2011.
A few days earlier, Mubarak’s son who had been groomed to succeed him also resigned from his position of leadership in the National Democratic Party (NDP).
This is a big victory for oppressed peoples all over the world who are certainly encouraged by the ability of a mobilized population to bring down the dictatorship of Mubarak, Suleiman and other elements of the NDP in Egypt.
Reuters news agency reported that, “the United States has given Egypt an average of $2 billion annually since 1979, much of it military aid, according to the Congressional Research Service. The combined total makes Egypt the second largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/29/us-egypt-usa-aid-idUSTRE70S0IN20110129) Read the rest of this entry
Pauulu Kamarakafego, The Black Beret Cadre and Black Power in Bermuda
Dr. Quito Swan
To most people who know me I am the friendly neighborhood pissed as hell revolutionary native nationalist, fighting the good fight against colonialism, imperialism and capitalism in North America. However, in another life I was born on the tiny island nation of Bermuda, and was raised there. As such, even though I’ve long since left Bermuda, and have little in the way of plans to return (my calling in life takes me elsewhere) I’ve maintained a strong interest in Bermudian politics and history, and so it was with great interest that I happened upon the subject of today’s post.
A transnational, pan-African youth movement, Black Power in Bermuda sought freedom for Bermuda’s African population from the island’s White oligarchy and independence from British colonialism. It was spearheaded by activists such as Pauulu Kamarakafego and the Black Beret Cadre. The Cadre maintained relationships with revolutionary organizations across the African Diaspora, such as the Black Panthers. Emerging in the late 1960s, the Movement witnessed the assassinations of Bermuda’s British Chief of Police and Governor (1972-1973).
In this interview with Jared Ball on Vox Union, Bermudian and professor Dr. Quito Swan discusses his work, Black Power in Bermuda and the Struggle for Decolonization. Read the rest of this entry
Six Nations Land Reclamation 5th Anniverary ~ Protest Anti-Native Rally
On February 27th, 2011, at the fifth anniversary of the Six Nations land reclamation of Douglas Creek Estates, Gary McHale, anti-Native activist and executive director of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE), has announced his intention to hold a “Truth and Reconciliation Rally” in Caledonia, Ontario.
In 2006 people of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory reclaimed land in “dispute” for more than 150 years in order to stop development of a Caledonia subdivision on stolen land. In reaction to the reclamation, Gary McHale and his followers set about a political movement to end what they call “native lawlessness,” “land claim terrorism,” and “race-based policing”. CANACE has bolstered continued support for their propaganda against “reverse racism” and “two-tiered justice” that, according to them, victimizes the mainly white residents of Caledonia and Canadians more broadly. Following the patters of white backlash movements since the gains of the 1960s civil rights movement, CANACE misappropriates the language of civil and human rights, and readily proclaims its work to be part of Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy. Read the rest of this entry
Celebrating Popular Struggle in Cauca, Colombia
Written by Tejido de Comunicación (ACIN) and La Chiva Collective
Statement on globalizing resistance from the grassroots, with an introduction by the La Chiva Collective
Circulated in Spanish by the Tejido de Comunicación (of the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca – ACIN), the editorial translated below highlights both the bitter and the sweet of the CRIC’s first forty years, as well as the challenges underpinning the next. Achievements giving way to celebrations and contradictions warranting great challenges.
In the Sa’akhelu Ritual, held in Cauca’s indigenous territories every year, the hummingbird meets the condor. The hummingbird polenates, creates life, mesmorizes in its rapid-fire action, it’s beauty. The
Condor circles, hunting, looming overhead: it is a terrible kind of beauty. When one overpowers the other, say the Nasa, we lack balance or ‘equilibrio’. While the editorial below speaks for itself, the Tejido’s message is essentially a call to correct an imbalance, one that exists not only within the CRIC as an organization but also in Colombia, the continent and the world.
This message could not be more relevant as we hear of, and reflect on, struggles in other parts of the world: as much as we celebrate victories, we must be conscious of where we are headed.
La Chiva Read the rest of this entry
Strong Heart Warrior Society: Oglala Tribal Council Snubs Elders Again
Cante Tenza Okolakiciye – Strong Heart Warrior Society
Free & Independent Lakota Nation
Box 512, Hill City, South Dakota 57745 605-454-0449 or
605-517-1547 lakotaoyate.net
MEDIA RELEASE Feb 13, 2011
PINE RIDGE, South Dakota – The ongoing effort to get accountability for a series of physical and psychological abuses against Lakota elders on Pine Ridge continues to be stalled by Oglala tribal officials who fear investigations into years of graft and corruption within tribal government.
Following the most recent revelation of elder abuse in the Porcupine Elderly Meals Program, elders have met regularly with the traditional Strong Heart Warrior Society in order to explore ways to get accountability. Even tribal officials that have voiced support for the elders are now back tracking, likely out of fear of retaliation by corrupt families and officials.
Porcupine District President Virgil Bush and Porcupine Representative Scott Weston announced a hearing for the elders on February 21st - but the hearing never happened even though elders had gathered to attend. The meeting has reportedly been delayed to February 28th though activists are skeptical.
“Tribal government has always eroded its position,’’ explained Strong Heart Warrior headsman Duane Martin Sr.. “You cannot tell community members you are upholding policies and procedures but then deny elders due process.”
The truth depth of corruption within the Oglala Tribal Council, as well as its cultural separation from traditional elders and the Lakota people, is becoming clear to those even outside of Pine Ridge.
“So we have become our own worst enemies, we don’t listen to what our elders have to teach us,” added Martin. Read the rest of this entry
Two More Arrests as Indigenous Protest Border Patrol and Militarization
From Censored News.
Border Patrol Headquarters Occupation Protesters Stand Trial to Fight Charges
Two Arrested During March to End Border Militarization and Racist Laws Press statement
TUCSON – On February 23, more than 40 protesters took to the streets – two were arrested – while six people who locked-down and occupied the US Border Patrol Tucson Headquarters on May 21, 2010 stood trial fighting charges of “criminal trespassing” and “disorderly conduct.”
Lawyers William G. Walker and Jeffrey J. Rogers represented the six as the city prosecutor called Border Patrol agents and Tucson Police to testify. The defense argued the trespassing charge was not properly filed and were granted a request to file a memorandum addressing the technicality. The trial is expected to continue on March 22, 2011. Corresponding rallies and actions are being planned.
At 1:30 pm people gathered in downtown Tucson at Library Park for a rally and then took the streets with banners reading, “Indigenous Resistance, Protect Sacred Places”, “Free Movement for People Not Commerce, Tear Down the Wall” and chanting “No Borders, No Border Patrol.”
Two people were arrested for allegedly hanging a banner that read “Las Paredes Vueltas de su Lado son Puentes (Torn Down Walls Become Bridges)” on a street traffic light. They were arraigned and released at 8 pm at Pima County Corrections.
Additional banners were hung at various locations throughout Tucson stating “Egypt, Wisconsin, O’odham Solidarity,” “No raids, No deportations, No colonialism” and “Stop Militarization on Indigenous Lands.”
O’odham Elders attended the court proceedings to demonstrate their support. Read the rest of this entry
Black is Back Coalition Calls for National Conference on the “Other” Wars
From Uhuru News.
WASHINGTON, DC – On January 6 of this year the Steering Committee of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations voted to hold a National Conference on the Other Wars in this city on March 26 at a location not yet consolidated at the time of this writing.
The Black is Back Coalition was formed in September of 2009 and within less than two months after its founding organized the first national mobilization against the U.S. imperialist wars since the inauguration of the Obama regime. It is a coalition that encompasses a broad and ideologically diverse sector of the African population that is united by its opposition to imperialism and its commitment to the self-determination of African and other peoples.
In its adopted proposal to hold the National Conference on the Other Wars the Coalition expressed its dismay with the opportunist conduct of much of the traditional white left and anti-war movement, declaring:
The Coalition’s interest in this political intervention in the peace movement is based, in part, on our unwillingness to allow the white left to monopolize the definition of what the struggle for peace is about. Our Coalition is opposed to an imperialist peace, one that does not disturb the relations of power between the oppressed and the war-mongering imperialist oppressor.
It is this historical defect of the U.S. left that prevents it from giving genuine practical and material solidarity to the national liberation struggles of Africans and other peoples within the U.S. Indeed, the U.S. white left has been generally incapable of supporting any struggles anywhere that it did not benefit the leftists organizationally and/or politically or that did not revolve around issues that appear to present an immediate or future challenge to their material interests as U.S. North Americans. Read the rest of this entry
St. Petersburg, FLA African Community Under Siege After Police Killing!
From Uhuru News.
The African community in St. Petersburg, Florida is under siege after a cop in St. Petersburg, Florida was shot and killed on Wednesday, February 21.
David Crawford
Two cops, David Crawford and Donald Ziglar, reportedly came to 2nd Avenue South and 8th Street South at 10:30pm after allegedly getting a call that someone in the area had a brick.
According to the police, a few minutes later, shots rang out and Crawford was hit multiple times from close range. It’s not clear what the other cop did during the incident, but he was not injured.
The police don’t seem to have any idea who the person was who did it. There have been two different descriptions put out. First, they said they were looking for a young African with a white t-shirt and no shoes, but now they are saying they’re looking for an African with a black hoodie.
According to a witness who drove up to the scene, the shot cop was laying against his car with gun still in hand. The witness, Michael Ponce de Leone said when other police arrived they got very emotional. “Everybody was screaming,” he said. “All the cops were like, ‘No, not again!’”
Cops have locked down the African community and are engaged in what can only be described as collective punishment. More than 200 cops from half a dozen agencies are sweeping the African community, searching and storming people’s homes like Marines do in Afghanistan. Africans are being stopped in their cars with guns pointed to their heads and having their trunks searched, similar to what has been done at U.S. military checkpoints in Iraq. Read the rest of this entry
The Revolutionary Spirit
Reposted with permission from Fields of Concrete, the personal website a local Kitchener-Waterloo sister from the ummah, Timaj Garad. Timaj is a poet, spoken word performer and activist. Her site is brand new, so be sure to check it out!
The revolutionary spirit is comprised of a selfless relentlessness to create positive change. Many of us never develop this. Where we lack is not in the rigor with which we chase this pursuit, but in our perception of the starting point of this journey. The problem is that we want revolutions we fail to start within ourselves. It’s not a lack of wanting something enough, but of being and living what it is we want. When we want more than we are willing to work for, dreams become nothing but notions living vicariously in the mind.
I have learned through observation, experience, and conversation that many people want to contribute something positive to the world, many have a yearning for revolution; but many of those who have the capability never realize this potential. The reason for this outcome is one of the great obstacles of the human experience: “realism”. We fear what is uncertain, those intangible and tangible things that live outside our proximity. Realism acts as a blanket of comfort convincing us only that which has already occured is possible, ultimately destroying the imagination.
When we lose our capacity to imagine, our lives become redundant as we are found lost in the imaginings of others, trying hard to convince ourselves that the dreams we’ve stolen have always belonged to us. We want so much to believe that our borrowed ideas are original beacuse without them we are left with a graveyard of dreams, unvisited. We assasinate our own dreams, our own selves, and bury the evidence by cloaking ourselves in the ambitions of others to create the illusion that we are living the lives we’ve imagine–that we are free. Read the rest of this entry
URGENT CALL FOR SUPPORT: End the Collective Punishment of the Black Community of St. Petersburg Florida
From Unión del Barrio.
STOP THE COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT AGAINST THE BLACK COMMUNITY OF ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA!
Unión del Barrio has received an urgent call from the Uhuru Movement in St Petersburg Florida that the South Side of St. Petersburg is currently under siege by police agencies from throughout the area. Under the pretext of searching for a “suspect”, the entire Black community is being subjected to a form of collective punishment, with the area being sealed off, and homes, vehicles, and individual pedestrians being stopped and searched.
We call upon all our members and supporters to immediately call in to the St. Petersburg Mayor’s office and the Police Department and demand a halt to this collective punishment, and to make them aware that we are all watching their actions.
St. Petersburg Mayor’s office:
727-893-7201
St. Petersburg Police Department:
727-893-7780
PLEASE FORWARD/ POST THIS MESSAGE TO ALL YOUR ONLINE LISTS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS.
Incognegro: Frank B. Wilderson, III
In 1995, a South African journalist informed Frank B. Wilderson, III, one of only two Black American members of the African National Congress (ANC), that President Nelson Mandela considered him “a threat to national security”—in short, a terrorist. Wilderson was named such because he and his colleagues continued to clandestinely push for socialism by any means necessary while Mandela had embraced the military-corporate establishment and the idea of peace and reconciliation—the latter Wilderson dismisses as “anger management for Blacks.”
By night, he helped the ANC coordinate clandestine propaganda, launch psychological warfare, and more. During his childhood he lived in a white Minneapolis enclave “integrated” by his family. Later he lead a rebellious adolescence, spending time at the student barricades in Berkeley and under tutelage of the Black Panther Party. Later he spent time in the anti-apartheid struggle in the red dust and ruin of South Africa/Azania.
Recently People of Color Organize! conducted an interview with Frank B. Wilderson, which was met with a great many comments and sparked interest. Now POCO has presented an audio library of his most radical interviews with Professor Jared A. Ball of Morgan State University. Each of these interviews were done over the WPFW air waves, a Pacifica station in Washington D.C. Professor Ball structures the interviews so that Professor Wilderson is free to give honest and open responses. Please enjoy and make sure to browse Voxunion, there are plenty of awesome interviews that Professor Ball has done.
As part of my celebrations of African Liberation Month I have reposted these resources here. Also be sure to check out his writings Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid, available from Left-Wing Books in Canada.
Long Live Malcolm X! Revolutionary Martyr and True African Internationalist
All art by Kevin "Rashid" Johnson, imprisoned Minister of Defence of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party
“No, I am not an American. I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism… that’s what we are — Africans who are in America. You’re nothing but Africans. Nothing but Africans. In fact, you’d get farther calling yourself African instead of Negro.” – Malcolm X
Malcolm X was prematurely cut down by an assassin’s bullet 46 years ago today. The following is a presentation made by APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela at a May 19, 1977 Malcolm X commemoration program in Tampa, Florida.
I would like to thank our sister and brother comrades who are responsible for organizing this program in memory of the great African patriot and leader, Malcolm X. I would like to thank you first of all for organizing the program, and secondly, I would like to thank you for inviting me to participate in the program.
For, as many of you know, I am a great believer in the teachings of Malcolm X, and I am chairman of a political organization based in several states of the United States of North America which believes that Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey were two of the most significant political leaders of African people within current North American borders.
For me and the African People’s Socialist Party, the life and teachings of the great patriot, Malcolm X, mean more than just an annual celebration of his life. For us, the life and teachings of Malcolm X are not something to be understood in the abstract, separate and apart from the material conditions of life experienced by our people. For us, the life and teachings of Malcolm X are revolutionary guides to the liberation of our people in the real world. Read the rest of this entry
In Memory of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was assassinated 46 years ago today. The following Ossie Davis’ beautiful and moving eulogy of Malcolm X, respoken for Spike Lee’s Malcolm X. Also check out the Malcolm X and Black Panthers audio-video tribute I posted the other day, which contains some classic Malcolm.
25 Years of Principled Peoples Unity: Izwe Lethu i Afrika-¡Somos Un Pueblo Sin Fronteras!
On February 17th, the African People’s Socialist Party and Unión del Barrio commemorated 25 years of principled unity between our two parties. The event took place at the Centro Cultural de la Raza in San Diego, California, Occupied Mexico. Over 150 people turned out to listed to Chairman Omali Yeshitela speak on the role of a revolutionary party in the era of an empire in decline. He laid out the historical foundation upon which the world capitalist systems rests, colonialism and imperialism.
Among the speakers were Harry Simon and Belinda Zamacona on behalf of Unión del Barrio, Penny Hess, chairwoman for the African People’s Solidarity Committee and Laura Moreno, member of Unión del Barrio, the MC for the event. The single most important message was the need to join a revolutionary organization with a political program to provide consciousness and political direction to the growing masses of people who are rising up against the most repressive and brutal terror unleashed by U.S. Imperialism under the direction of Barak Obama, white power capitalism in a black face.
The central objective of this event was to recognize the strategically important relationship between our two organizations and our role in uniting our people, the Mexican and African working class, in our collective struggle against capitalism and the building of a new economic social order where there are no oppressors or oppressed, no exploiters or exploited, no slave or slave master; in sum the struggle to build a socialist future and kill off capitalism, a parasite on the body of humanity. Read the rest of this entry
Russell Diabo On Canada’s War On First Nations
Russell Diabo, a member of the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake, talks about “Canada’s War on First Nations”. This talk was a part of Indigenous Sovereignty Week 2010 in Ottawa, unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin Territory.
Russell Diabo is a member of the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake, Quebec. He worked as an Advisor to the Algonquins of Barrier Lake. He was a founding member of the Defenders of the Land Network, also bringing his experience as editor of the First Nations Strategic Bulletin. Read the rest of this entry
