<![CDATA[Assata Shakur Speaks - Hands Off Assata - Let's Get Free - Revolutionary - Pan-Africanism - Black On Purpose - Liberation - Forum - Pan-Afrikanism & Afrocentricity]]> http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/ All African Peoples, no matter where we may be born, are one and belong to the African nation. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:05:40 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/images/misc_2/rss.jpg <![CDATA[Assata Shakur Speaks - Hands Off Assata - Let's Get Free - Revolutionary - Pan-Africanism - Black On Purpose - Liberation - Forum - Pan-Afrikanism & Afrocentricity]]> http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/ WWW and Unity http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/pan-afrikanism-afrocentricity/40313-www-unity.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:55:42 GMT As ragged as our movement and organizations may seem, we have managed to continue to function under very adverse conditions. It is because we have such a historic, heroic foundation to build on, given us by our ancestors at great cost in blood as well as sweat and tears. When we look back at the... As ragged as our movement and organizations may seem, we have managed to continue to function under very adverse conditions. It is because we have such a historic, heroic foundation to build on, given us by our ancestors at great cost in blood as well as sweat and tears. When we look back at the organizational successes and modes deployed by our great organizations, the CPP, the UNIA, the Nation of Islam, SNCC, SCLC, CORE, PAC, ANC (the progressive elements of its pre-1950s era and certain contemporary elements such as Warrior Queen Winnie), the BPP, the Deacons, the PDG, the MNC, Robert William's NAACP chapter, the OAAU, RAM, the revolutionary armies created by the Africans in Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, and other parts of the Caribbean and South America, the Africans in the US allied and or merged with the indigenous Seminoles in their very effective anti-settler military front and many others, we know that our people can and do wage successful struggles on every level.


Now, we have a great advantage none of our early movements and organizations, such as those mentioned above did not have, even though a few of the organizations, or their organizational offsprings do, such as the modern day PAC, SCLC, CPP, NOI or the A-APRP, APSP, PRSP, AAPRUP, PUSH...and that is computerized technology.


Since we have some limited access to this technology, as we have nothing remotely resembling that which the enemy has, we must use what we have wisely and precisely. If we can do this, it will go a long way towards helping us build the mass based organizational structures we will need to get over the top.



We can easily deploy the power of the web if we conceptualize the experiences we have shared together so far and then put the lessons we learn into the hands of every organizer we can reach and thereby impart such knowledge. The web gives us a powerful tool that facilitates both personalized, two-way communication between organizers, supporters and allies and group communications using alias and similar mass emailings – avoiding spam, that is making sure that the recipients are willing recipients, egroups, such as those hosted by Topica, AOL, Google, Yahoo!, independent activist social network systems such as the Assata Shakur forum, blogs, wikis and the like.

Obviously, the nature of what is communicated over the internet should be carefully determined no sensitive information of any kind, anything can be portrayed by our opponents as illegal, or otherwise not suitable for the world wide web and so forth. If we avoid these basic traps, and of course the tricks used to defeat our efforts, such as introducing inappropriate content, virus infections, spyware, phishing or any of the other ways that such communication is handicapped, this process can be an excellent supplement, but never a replacement for, direct and other forms of communication between humans that are not subject to such easy invasion by outside hostile elements.

Properly organized a strong online presences can provide searchable content, such as reading lists, reading material, such as books in Word or PDF or other format, which the organizer can then print, graphical, video, and audio.

Most group solutions, such as egroups or forums and the like provide group space for collaboration and other group actions facilitating production and ideological development. Even chat groups can be used to implement some aspects of group learning and projects online. Obviously, the chat groups should not be a general or specific purpose chat hosted by AOL or some similar agency, but a chat group that is the property of the organization itself, a group of its members, one member or at least a highly trusted ally or supporter.

Many organizations also used their web presence to create online bookstores and even whole schools.

Indeed even the existence of an online social network with the correct philosophical and historical view of reality would be exceedingly useful, even if the topics are as simple as sharing personal experiences or work techniques, all under the banner of keeping in contact, keeping in touch or touching base, however you see it.

A strong web based network can also be used to manage and post events with interactive calendars that are accessible to all valid parties.

Such a setup could be used to empower promotion and marketing committees, teams or task forces, to build specialized web pages using standardized templates and procedures specific to the particular organizations’ needs

It can even be taken to the e-commerce platform level which would radically enhance the development (that is fund raising) activities of the organization; for example, if a group wanted to sell caps with their emblem or initials, t-shirts, books, plates, or anything that is printable (which is pretty much anything from plates to skateboards to gym shoes.)

This will provide not only a means to raise funds, but also a conduit for the distribution of philosophical and pedagogically sound information in a virtually infinite number of forms.

Generally speaking a group’s online content allows it to meet the needs of their base anytime, anywhere, thus vastly helping the develop of essential and critical competencies. Such content can then potentially be provided on an ad hoc and ubiquitous basis limited only by our access to the hardware and competencies in information and communication technology.
 ]]> RWalker http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/pan-afrikanism-afrocentricity/40313-www-unity.html Unity http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/pan-afrikanism-afrocentricity/40092-unity.html Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:44:40 GMT Unity in a liberation struggle must be based on principles...if you want to be part of movement, system and process of unity for the liberation of African people, then you must know who the actual enemy is and you must choose your tactics according to your capabilities, your allies and their... Unity in a liberation struggle must be based on principles...if you want to be part of movement, system and process of unity for the liberation of African people, then you must know who the actual enemy is and you must choose your tactics according to your capabilities, your allies and their capabilities, and the conditions that are dominant at the time.

That means you unite with the people who have the same enemy as you do...anything else is playing with the concept. And unfortunately a lot of people who pose as "activists" are indeed doing just that,

All who are principled must oppose such actions constantly. Liberation is not about sentiment.

moderator ]]> RWalker http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/pan-afrikanism-afrocentricity/40092-unity.html Charles Wesley Mumbere, of Pennsylvania, crowned King in Uganda http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/pan-afrikanism-afrocentricity/40036-charles-wesley-mumbere-pennsylvania-crowned-king-uganda.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:19:01 GMT Ex-nurse's aide in U.S. crowned king in Uganda

Government recognition restores kingdom in Mountains of the Moon region

Charles Wesley Mumbere, at home on Sunday, was crowned king of the Bakonzo people in western Uganda.

View related photos
Karel Prinsloo / AP

updated 1:50 p.m. PT, Mon., Oct . 19, 2009

KASESE, Uganda - For years, Charles Wesley Mumbere worked as a nurse's aide in Maryland and Pennsylvania, caring for the elderly and sick. No one there suspected that he had inherited a royal title in his African homeland when he was just 13.
On Monday, after years of political upheaval and financial struggle, Mumbere, 56, was finally crowned king of his people to the sound of drumbeats and thousands of cheering supporters wearing cloth printed with his portraits.
At a public rally later in the day, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognized the 300,000-strong Rwenzururu Kingdom. Museveni restored the traditional kingdoms his predecessor banned in 1967, but has been adamant that kings restrict themselves to cultural duties and keep out of politics.

Karel Prinsloo / AP
People walked for miles to attend Mumbere's coronation.
Old men clutching canes shuffled up the hill beside women in colorful Ugandan dresses called "gomesi." Among them was Masereka Tadai, 43, proudly overseeing practice for a march that retired scouts and girl guides would perform before the king.
"Everyone is very happy because the president has accepted to come here and officially recognize the Rwenzururu Kingdom," Tadai said over a nearby drumbeat.
The new King of Uganda's Mountains of the Moon has undergone many transformations — from teenage leader of a rebel force to impoverished student to a nursing home assistant working two jobs in the U.S., where he lived for nearly 25 years.
Mumbere's royal roots only became public in Pennsylvania this July, when he granted an interview to The Patriot-News of Harrisburg as he was preparing to return to Uganda.
Father died leading rebels
He inherited the title when his father, Isaya Mukirania Kibanzanga, died while leading a secessionist group in the Rwenzori Mountains, otherwise known as the Mountains of the Moon. The rebels were protesting the oppression of their Bakonzo ethnic group by their then-rulers, the Toro Kingdom.
The Bakonzo demanded to be recognized as a separate entity and named Kibanzanga, a former primary school teacher, as their king in 1963.
"It was very difficult growing up in the bush," remembered Mumbere, who was 9 years old when his father took the family into the mountains. Although he received military training, Mumbere did not fight.
"Our country has been independent (from the British) for 40-something years but in Rwenzururu you may not find running water, there are no hospitals," Mumbere said.
Shortly after Kibanzanga died, his son led the fighters down from the mountains to hand in their weapons. Mumbere went to the United States in 1984 on a Uganda government scholarship, attending a business school until Uganda's leadership changed and the stipend was stopped. He gained political asylum in 1987, trained as a nurse's aide and took a job in a suburban Washington nursing home to pay his bills, said The Patriot-News of Harrisburg in a July 2009 story.
In 1999, he moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital, where he worked for at least two health care facilities.

Sought reliable job
He was "very loyal, a very hard worker, a very private person," said Johnna Marx, executive director of the Golden Living Center-Blue Ridge Mountain on the outskirts of Harrisburg.
Mumbere said he chose to train as a nurse's aide because the work "was more reliable. Other jobs you can be laid off easily."
Living in the U.S., however, was "a very difficult experience," he said. "Sometimes you have two jobs. You go to college in the morning, between 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Then you go prepare to go to work at 3 p.m. and then return at 11 p.m."

He is now a green card holder, and his son and daughter live in Harrisburg. But he never forgot the people he left behind. When the Ugandan government decided to reinstate the traditional kingdoms, Mumbere lobbied the Rwenzururu Kingdom to be among them.
After 10 years of negotiation, President Museveni announced in August the government would recognize the Rwenzururu Kingdom as Uganda's seventh kingdom. Government recognition does not grant any executive power but allows the monarchs to determine cultural and social issues affecting their people.


Peace be upon you
Ex-nurse's aide in U.S. a king in Uganda - Africa - msnbc.com ]]> Pragmatic http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/pan-afrikanism-afrocentricity/40036-charles-wesley-mumbere-pennsylvania-crowned-king-uganda.html