RACE & REPARATIONS* Clarence J. Munford

[Baba Ahmed]

"Equality for Black folks worldwide can come only through the emergence of some Black nations as Great Powers. In order to survive economically and politically, Pan-Africanism must set itself a new agenda for the twenty-first century. Global equality is accessible only through raw, naked power - power that is economic, yes, but power that is also military. All other avenues have been tried and found wanting.

The military component is perhaps the key component in relation to membership in the circle of great powers. Now, the military need not be omnipresent, it need only be a protective shield. For this is where the concept of finite deterrence comes in. Required merely is the military ability to scare off a would-be aggressor. An African state need not be as strong as its adversaries in numbers of material resources and firepower to avoid annihilation. It need only be capable of retaliation - and to make its resolve to use that capability credible to white imperialism, to let the white world know we mean business. It is unlikely that any military threat to Africa will come from non-Arab Asia during the twenty-first century.

Military power is needed to overcome the fear that has paralyzed Black people for so long and that has made Africa a cipher in the diplomatic power equation. There is no ducking the need, therefore, to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Any Black nation which truly aspires to Great Power status must have them. The news of full-power weaponry at Black disposal would mean that our people would no longer be ignored during international emergencies. It would inspire confidence in Black folk wherever they live. We would know that our interests would be taken seriously. Black diplomatic input would not only be sought, it would finally have some clout. Just knowing that the hand of a Black statesman is poised somewhere over an Armageddon button, like the hands of white statesmen have been for decades, would neutralize the fearful inferiority some of us feel. It would also inspire some respect in the white man, causing him to fear us for a change. None of this is possible without a Black controlled-state-of-the-art defense industry, capable of manufacturing the sinews of war. It is indeed difficult to function as a great power, if one has to purchase one's weapons from one's adversary. Presently...no Black nation anywhere has a modern armaments industry. (pp.399-400)"
==========================

*Clarence J. Munford, in Race and Reparations cited in Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti's, ASAFO: A Warrior's Guide to MANHOOD, chapter two: POWER.