Unity, Organization and Leadership

[RWalker]

If we are honest about the situation in Africa, we are still not in control of our homeland. There is tension and violence throughout the continent. The Ivory Coast is a mess, the Great Lakes and adjacent areas are killing fields, the horn is turmoil, northern Africa is one big ball of confusion, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea continue to be unstable, today's Ghana is a mere political strumpet when compared to the Pan-Africanist Ghana of Nkrumah, powerful elements in the world are working overtime to destablize the progressive forces in southern Africa, and the ANC has abandon all pretense of working for liberation.

Africa needs a revolution, not an empty, meaningless renaissance slogan.

The World Bank under the guise of "sustained development" is pushing reduction in population and blaming the African government's policies as the cause of the continent's abysmal economic position in the world, never mind that the majority of these governments are adherents and loyal practitioners of the edicts of the World Bank and its twin the IMF (not to mention the governments and banks that are behind these Bretton Woods institutions).

The Pentagon is running most of the African armed forces; those that they don't run are generally controlled by the UK or France. Other western police and paramilitary elements are growing ever more entrenched in Africa under the guise of fighting terrorism.

African political leadership, in far too many cases, take their marching orders from Washington, New York, London, Brussels, Paris and so forth. It is only the people of Africa who are really resisting these phenomena as witnessed by the contribution of the African youth and women to the AU, and I would also have to include the workers and intelligentsia, especially the contribution of men and women such as Prof. Tony Martin. This is indeed, very, very encouraging. So all is not lost; nor is all fine and dandy.

The situation of African outside of the continent is no better. Africans burned alive as they sleep in France; lynched by ax in Liverpool, whole African commuities terrorized by the UK establishment military and police in the name of justice and fighting terrorism; subject to brutal assaults in Italy, Germany and elsewhere. Haiti invaded. Sisters sold into sexual slavery in Europe ... and a litany of other crimes committed against our people not only in Europe and the Americas, but in other parts of the world.

As Dr. Nkrumah wrote in his work "The Spectre of Black Power"

"Pan-Africanism has its beginnings in the liberation struggle of African-Americans, expressing the aspirations of Africans peoples of African descent...until the fifth and last Pan-African Conference held in Manchester in 1945, African-Americans provided the main driving power of the movement. Pan-Africanism then moved to Africa, its true home, with the holding of the First Conference of Independent African States in Accra in April 1958, and the All-African People's Conference in December of the same year.

"The work of the early pioneers of Pan-Africanism such as Sylvester Williams, Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and H. George Padmore, none of whom were born in Africa, has become a treasured part of Africa's history...

"The close links forged between Africans and peoples of African descent over a half a century of common struggle continue to inspire and strengthen us. For, although the outward forms of our struggle may change, it remains in essence the same, a fight to the death against oppression, racism and exploitation.

"Most of Africa has now achieved political independence. But imperialism has not been vanquished. International finance capital appearing now in its new guise of neo-colonialism seeks to maintain and extends its stranglehold over the economic life of our continent. Imperialists and neo-colonialists are resorting to every kind of stratagem to achieve their purposes. They have allied with reactionary elements in our midst to organize military coups and other forms of direct action in an attempt to halt the progress of the African Revolution. They are at the same time working in more insidious ways to undermine our morale and to divert our attention from the main purpose of our struggle -- the total liberation of the African continent, an All-African Union Government and socialism.

"The Organization of African Unity has been rendered virtually useless as a result of the machinations of the neo-colonialists and their puppets. Yet it is being preserved as an innocuous organization the hope that it may delay the formation of a really effective Pan-African organization which will lead to genuine political unification. Encouragement is being given to the formation of African regional economic organizations in the knowledge that without political cohesion they will be ineffective and serve to strengthen, not weaken, neo-colonialist exploitation and domination.

"Just as there is only one true socialism, scientific socialism, the principles of which are universal and abiding, there is only one way to achieve the African revolutionary goals of liberation, political unification and socialism. The way lies through armed struggle. The time for speechifying, for conferences, for makeshift solutions and for compromise is past.

"Similarly, with the emergence of Black Power in the United States of America, the liberation movement of African-Americans has become militant and armed. But as in Africa, the movement is having to be on its guard against the internal as well as the external enemy. There must be a closing of ranks and tenacious, united effort to carry the struggle through to its successful conclusion." Kwame Nkrumah, The Spectre of Black Power, pp. 421-423 Revolutionary Path

If you look at the political situation of Africans in the US, the exercise of the vote has become more and more difficult, to the point of being impossible, in much of this country. In places such as Ohio, and Florida, to name the two areas that have gotten the greatest publicity, the African vote has been virtually neutralized. People are illegally purged from the rolls, votes are thrown away, misapplied to candidates other than those the people voted for, misdirected by software programs installed on voting machines owned and operated by partisan elements, and a host of other impediments and / or outright denials. Lynchings are on the rise; killings of African people not classified as lynchings are on the rise; gentrification is used to destroy our neighborhoods; the Department of Education has launched an intensified effort to further brainwash our children; by all indices of socio-economic status we are suffering disproportionately, health, employment, income, home ownership, rate of incarceration, education, nutrition and so forth

As the journalist and legal scholar Aldon Maddox wrote, we are considered enemy aliens by the US system. The massive criminal assault against our people in the South, particularly in New Orleans, is a macro-symptom of our general status here.

Are you familiar with Sophocle's play Antigone? It is about a woman who disobeys the law when the king Creon orders that her brother Polynieces body is not to be buried. Antigone is arrested by the king's forces when she attempts to bury her brother because as she says to the king himself, human dignity and the higher laws must be respected even if it goes against the formulated laws of those in power.

I quote one of the central lines of the play:

Antigone to her sister Isemene: "But Polyneices, a dishonored corpse, so by report the royal edict runs. No man may bury him or make lament-- Must leave him tombless and unwept, a feast For kites to scent afar and swoop upon. "

I thought about this play when I saw pictures of the corpses in New Orleans, pictures of our innocent people cynically murdered by the "kings" of this society in the contrived disaster regferred to by most as the Katrina aftermath. Some of the pictures showed dogs eating their corpses, the corpses of our brothers and sisters.

(I chose not to include any pictures of these terrible desecratation of our people in this message. But I have included a link to one such picture that you can access on the web if you so choose:

http://www.bushspeaks.com/home.asp?did=206 )

My point is this, the way we, and others, are treated in this country is nothing short of a crime against humanity and we must not make the mistake of assuming that we can go on with "business as usual", we must be prepared to fight for our lives. And this means we must work even harder to achieve functional and then deeper unity.

This whole Gulf Coast situation has emphasized once again that the United States is a one-party fascist state. It is run by two wings of the same ultra-big money interest party. This is a position that has been documented by authoritative individuals such as Dr. Nkrumah, Malcolm X, Kwame Ture, just to name a few. It is time we act like intelligent men and women and deal with reality. As Malcolm clearly stated we must become Pan-Africanists.

However, that does not mean we should not support individuals such as Cynthia McKinney, although I am unalterably opposed to the Democratic Party. (Or for that matter Republicans who might resist aspects of the fascist system, such as Senator Percy did) Rep. McKinney deserves support because she is principled enough to defy the zionists, the big capitalists and general racist elements who are the powers that run this country and threatem to destroy human civilization. The overall work of individuals such as Sister McKinney is an asset to our struggle.

(If you wish to donate to her campaign goto http://www.cynthiaforcongress.com/donations.html)

An important part of our struggle must be to support/build our leading Pan-Africanist and African nationalist parties, such as Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) of Azania. You can donate funds to the PAC by sending a bank wire transfer through your bank. Your bank will need the following information:

The name and address of

PAC's bank:



First National Bank
Athfin Centre
Church Street, Athlone, 7760
Cape Town, South Africa


Recipient: Sobukwe Foundation
Account Number: 62012443975
Branch Code: 202409 -- Athlone Branch, Cape Town
Swift No: FIRNZAJJ133

Another way of building our people's power is to disseminate the work of:

MP (Rep. of South Africa) Dr. Motsoko Pheko of PAC, such as the "Road to Pan-Africanism", which can be found at http://www.panafricanperspective.com/pheko.htm

and

MP / Minister of Information (Rep. of Zimbabwe) Chen Chimutengwende's (ZANU-PF) thesis "In Defense of Pan-Africanism and Socialism." which has received wide circulation. If you have not seen it, please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theafr...r/message/7119

It is equally important to help strengthen, build / rebuild the PDG, CPP, PAI(GB & CV), UPC, Millions More Movement, the Nation of Islam, the Republic of New Afrika, the National Black United Front, December 12th Movement, Patrice Lumumba Coalition, 4-As, New Black Panther Party, the Million Women March Organization, Friends of Zimbabwe, APSP, AAPRUP and it's women's wing, RTAC, Sons (and Daugthers) of Afrika, the Kwame Ture Library/Research institution in Guinea, NAPO, A-APRP and it's women wing, ALISC, Pan African Association, UNIA, Hackney Black Peoples Association and all the others to numerous to mention, such as the GAC, SCLC, PUSH, NAACP, National Council of Negro Women, the various coalitions, think tanks, the BRC, historians, educators, students and youth groups and so forth...that is not to say that all these organizations hold the same views on all matters, nor that their tactics are identical, it is to say that we must at least try to find unity with them, and if we find that it is not possible then move on.

This is how Brother Malcolm saw the question of unity (keep in mind two things as you read this section: that he changed his definition of our proper nationalism from black nationalism to African Nationalism after discussions with Algerian Revolutionaries in Africa, and second, he emphasized that what people such as Billy Graham preached was NOT the Gospel of Jesus):

"We've got to change our own minds about each other. We have to see each other with new eyes. We have to see each other as brothers and sisters. We have to come together with warmth so we can develop unity and harmony that's necessary to get this problem solved ourselves. How can we do this? How can we avoid jealousy? How can we avoid the suspicion and the divisions that exist in the community? I'll tell you how.

"I have watched how Billy Graham comes into a city, spreading what he calls the gospel of Christ, which is only white nationalism. That's what he is. Billy Graham is a white nationalist; I'm a black nationalist. But since it's the natural tendency for leaders to be jealous and look upon a powerful figure like Graham with suspicion and envy, how is it possible for him to come into a city and get all the cooperation of the church leaders? Don't think because they're church leaders that they don't have weaknesses that make them envious and jealous -- no, everybody's got it. It's not an accident that when they want to choose a cardinal, as Pope over there in Rome, they get in a closet so you can't hear them cussing and fighting and carrying on.

"Billy Graham comes in preaching the gospel of Christ. He evangelizes the gospel. He stirs everybody up, but he never tries to start a church. If he came in trying to start a church, all the churches would be against him. So, he just comes in talking about Christ and tells everybody who gets Christ to go to any church where Christ is; and in this way the church cooperates with him. So we're going to take a page from his book.

"Our gospel is black nationalism. We're not trying to threaten the existence of any organization, but we're spreading the gospel of black nationalism. Anywhere there's a church that is also preaching and practicing the gospel of black nationalism, join that church. If the NAACP is preaching and practicing the gospel of black nationalism, join the NAACP. If CORE is spreading and practicing the gospel of black nationalism, join CORE. Join any organization that has a gospel that's for the uplift of the black man. And when you get into it and see them pussyfooting or compromising, pullout of it because that's not black nationalism. We'll find another one.

"And in this manner, the organizations will increase in number and in quantity and in quality, and by August, it is then our intention to have a black nationalist convention which will consist of delegates from all over the country who are interested in the political, economic and social philosophy of black nationalism. After these delegates convene, we will hold a seminar; we will hold discussions; we will listen to everyone. We want to hear new ideas and new solutions and new answers. And at that time, if we see fit then to form a black nationalist party, we'll form a black nationalist party. If it's necessary to form a black nationalist army, we'll form a black nationalist army. It'll be the ballot or the bullet. It'll be liberty or it'll be death."
from Malcolm's speech, "The Ballot or the Bullet"

Forward Ever.

Roy Walker