Adam Amato Emerald
Michael Naylor of the band Me and My Brother played at the EMU Ballroom Saturday as a part of the Dr. Edwin Coleman Conference.
Former Black Panther leader
urges crowd to act, not talk
■ A veteran civil rights activist
emphasized combating
oppression and discrimination
By Kara Cogswell
Oregon Daily Emerald
Elaine Brown, a former leader of the
Black Panther Party, stood before a
nearly full 150 Columbia Friday night
and said racism is not dead in America.
Brown spoke as part of the Dr. Ed
win Coleman Conference. A second
speaker, Amiri Baraka, was sched
uled to speak the same night, but he
missed his connecting flight and
could not appear.
Many people believe racism ended
with Dr. Martin Luther King, Brown
said. But in many ways, things are
worse now for blacks than they were
during the civil rights movement.
“We have public policies that en
force the repression of black people,”
Brown said. She pointed to “Three
Strikes” laws in many states, which
mandate that repeat offenders be sen
tenced to life in prison after a third
felony offense.
These laws unfairly target blacks,
Brown said. They often classify drug
and prostitution crimes as felonies,
and with nearly one-third of blacks
living in poverty, many have to resort
to such means to support themselves,
she said.
An advocate of slavery reparations,
Brown said the government should
compensate blacks for what they have
lost because of slavery. Slavery was a
crime, she said, and the United States
needs to pay the price for its actions.
Often, Brown said, the argument
that people make against slavery
reparations is that they should not be
held responsible for something that
happened before they were alive.
But, Brown said, she and other
blacks do not have the option of ignor
ing slavery — every day they have to
face the discrimination that has be
come a part of American culture as a
result of it.
“It’s not my fault either,” she said.
“So why should I have to pay for it?”
As the leader of the Black Panther
Party in the 1970s, Brown said it be
came apparent to her and other mem
bers of the militant civil rights group
that blacks are only one of many
groups discriminated against in this
country. Because of this, she said, the
Black Panthers also fought for the
rights of women, gays and lesbians,
people with disabilities and other mi
nority groups.
“We began to realize our struggle
was a part of all die struggles against
oppression in America,” Brown said.
The only way to end this oppres
sion is through action, Brown said.
“Dialogue is what you do when
you can’t do anything else,” she said.
Support for Brown was strong
among members of the audience, who
greeted her with a standing ovadon.
Freshman Jana Schmieding said
Brown was the perfect person to
speak at this event.
“She was so moving in every way,”
Schmieding said.
Brown’s speech was one of several
events held last week as part of the Dr.
Edwin Coleman Conference. Multi
cultural Center Director Erica Fuller
said Friday that the conference had
been well-received on campus.
“It started off on a positive note on
Wednesday, and the energy contin
ued to develop through the week,”
Fuller said.
Conference events wrapped up on
Saturday, with several workshops
diroughout the day and performances
at night by poet Aya de Leon and
singer Cristina.
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