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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 1979)
Global consciousness of Black America grows by Askia Muhammad (E d itor’s Note: Perhaps the most im p o rta n t s p in o ff o f the Andrew Young resignation fro m the UN has been the sudden emergence o f a s o lid ifie d Black lobby in fo re ig n policy. But the seeds o f Black con sciousness o f international affairs, especially relating to Africa and the Middle East, have been growing fo r many years and in many wavs.) W A S H IN G T O N , D.C. (PNS)— Not since the Reverend M artin Luther King got the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in hot water by opposing the Vietnam War has the Black civil rights move ment been as far in the forefront o f VJ.S. foreign policy as it is today. UN Ambassador Andrew Young's forced resignation from the center stage o f the international diplomatic theater has served to broaden and so lid ify a new and unprecedented global consciousness among Blacks. In time, and with direction from a number o f Black leaders who view social issues in international terms, this consciousness could coalesce in to a foreign lobby to equal the in fluence o f the powerful Jewish lob by. This Black sense o f an America en meshed in the w orld has evolved directly from the Black community’s African consciousness movement of 20 years ago. But it was not u n til 1967 that Stokeley C arm ichael’ s call fo r "Black power” really persuaded the civil rights movement to look toward Africa as the Black homeland and as a source o f advancement fo r American Blacks. Today, Black business and politi cal leaders travel from New York to Lagos almost as routinely as Martin Luther King traveled from Atlanta to Chicago. And instead o f bringing back just A frica n a rtifa cts and a sprinkling o f Swahili, they now take to Africa valuable technical expertise and often return with lucrative trade deals. As an example o f how far things have progressed, consider the lawyer who represented OPEC at its latest price-setting meeting. His name is Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansur, but he is not an Arab oil sheik. He is a Black San Franciscan who organized Black ghettos in C alifor nia with Ron Karenga back in 1966. Today, his First A frica n -A ra b ia n Corporation has three Saudi princes on its board o f directors, and it rep resents Arab interest, not American clients. The Concerned Black Americans In Support o f Africa and the Middle East, which he heads, has filed an amicus brief on behalf o f OPEC in the current court case in which OPEC is being sued by a U.S. trade union. Similarly, the election last year o f M arion Berry as mayor o f Washington, D.C. has thrust that basically Afro-A m erican city onto the world stage as something more than just the seat o f the U.S. govern ment. When Barry paid an official visit to Tanzania in July, for example, his ANDREW YOUNG (Photo DC) greeting was described as “ fit for a head ot state," by the Washington Post. Barry visited five African capitals and met with the heads o f govern ment in each, as well as others at the Organization o f African Unity con ference. ‘ ‘ The gap between those o f us living in the U.S. and those on the m ainland o f A fric a is closing rap id ly," he said. As mayor o f the city that houses the World Bank, the IMF, and the U.S. federal government, Barry plans to make W ashington the ‘ ‘ premier city fo r international business and tourism.” Two weeks after his African visit, Barry played host to Guinea’s Sekou Toure at a Washington luncheon at tended by Arm y Secretary C liffo rd Alexander, several members o f the congressional Black Caucus and a few African ambassadors. “ I f m ajority rule can work in the federal capital,” Toure told Barry, “ where the white people are not denied their privileges, the same principle can be applied to South A fric a ." Prominent among Toure’ s other stops during his American tour were visits to Howard University and a trip to “ see my people” in Harlem. This budding international con sciousness among American Blacks has been developing gradually through many channels, says Ran dall Robinson, director o f Trans Africa, a Washington-based African lobby group. “ W ith o u t a doubt, the role o f African Americans is increasing in African a ffa irs," he says. “ You have my organization working on a full time basis to win for Africa a more progressive foreign policy. You have other organizations such as Alricare, which for eight years has been doing tremendous work delivering re- ‘The PRODUCE CENTER of PORTLAND'^ TIM E TO CAM and FREEZE" RED GLOBE, ioaho freestone » * 2 5 -lb .* Q * Peaches carton • Elberta PEACHES SWEET and oeuaoos FREESTONE 25. $6” J BARTLETT PEARS A __________ * ♦ ... 2 3 $44’ ★ PICKLING CUKES, GARLIC, DILL, frovh d o ily * * * (RAVENSTEIN APPLES * FRESH ITALIAN PRUNES « R E D HAVEN PEACHES FRESH CORN 12P100 Bo« of S DOZEN EARS CANNING JARS $2« M A G IC M A S O N REG. MOUTH QUARTS DOZEN SniWUlTSWtlPICKlIS •M O M H T Y lf •FOtlSM •« O S H H OREGON M A ID ’S BONELESS """HAMS ¡CURED $ |9 8 lb. Whila r6oy lotil H I nets GOOD THRU SAI <6 O« Jar HEINZ 8BQ SAUCE ASST h or Whole $4W 16 a t 99 69‘ HOT DOCS $119 ib. I POTATO SALAD FOOT LONG ALEX'S BULK 2 lb *. lb 59* •1.15 SEAT 1,197» SHERIDAN FRUIT Co. S.E. UNION B OAK sources and goods to A frica. And you have virtually the entire national Black leadership involved to some degree in Africa questions now . “ A ll who understand the interde pendence ol countries in the modern w orld understand the degree to which the U.S. is growing progressively dependent on Africa for raw materials. “ Fhe extent to which A frica is strong,” he said, “ is the same extent to which African Americans work to cultivate that strength." The base o f Black international involvement has broadened to in clude mainstream civil rights acti vists, especially since Young's resig nation. " I t ’s a whole body o f people who are protesting A n d y’ s forced resignation,” says Operation Push president Jesse Jackson. “ I hey have concluded that Blacks must now en ter global politics as a part o f our re sponsibility as human beings. No longer is there any place in the world where America has an interest that is o il lim its to Blacks, whether in South A fric a , the M iddle East or south Georgia." Jackson proved that himself when he accepted a South African govern ment-approved invitation from that country's Council o f Churches to visit and speak there. He spent 17 days in South Africa saying things in public that would have landed any South African Black in jail. Jackson believes Black Americans are now beginning to cultivate seeds o f African consciousness planted by Black leaders from Marcus Garvey to M a rtin Luther King. “ I th ink we’ re not looking at the buds on the trees o f A fric a n consciousness, w ithin the black co m m un ity,” he said, “ and it’ s going to intensify." Some A fric a n support groups, meanwhile, are concerned about keeping the focus o f Black pressure on this side o f the Atlantic. Sylvia H ill, director o f the Southern Africa Support Project, says “ there is a growing number o f people who are beginning to understand that it is this nation which must be radically altered in order to fully support the struggle o f southern A frica .” H ill’ s group organizes community support in Washington and solicits school and medical supplies which it sends to refugee camps in frontline countries bordering Zimbabwe- Rhodesia. “ Let us understand that Africa is not a retreat fo r us,” she says. “ Africa has very serious problems. It can certainly use the skills we have, but it is not our little escape.” But Jesse Jackson says the in creased consciousness o f Africa has already helped Blacks escape in one way— mentally. "Tarzan and Jane and Boy are dead,” he says. “ We used to pull for Tarzan and Jane, we’ re now pulling for the Africans in those movies. O ur m ind has changed. "T h a t’s the most significant thing that has happened in the entire scheme o f things. O ur m ind has changed. Our economic status has not changed that radically, but our m ind has changed, and there is nothing more powerful in the entire world than a changed mind.” 5-9353 tAskia Muhammad’s a PNS con tributing editor who regularly writes f o r the Chicago Defender, The Nation and other publications, and reports f o r Pacifica radio.) 4 t Portland Observer Thursday. August 30,1979 Page 3 W om en's N ight W atch plans parade, rally The W om en’ s N igh t W atch is holding (he Third Annual Flashlight March, Friday, August 31st. Each year, women and children o f all ages, races and backgrounds gather to gether to protest the increase in rape, wife abuse, child abuse and other violence against women and children. Marchers will gather at 8:00 p.m. at S.W. Park and Clay. The march will begin at 8:30 p.m. and follow a route through d ow ntow n to O’ Bryant Plaza where there will be a rally at 10:00 p.m . C hildcare, Spanish translation and signing will be provided. J he march is fo r women and children only to dramatize the right o f women and children to walk alone without fear. Men are welcome to show their support by-attending the rally. The rally program w ill include music, poetry and a speech by State Representative Gretchen Kafoury. In conjunction with the march and rally we will also present a list o f specific- changes we want to see made by city government and other agencies. Women’s Night Watch has pre sented a list o f demands to the City Council that would require the provi sion o f lights, guards and alarm boxes in parks and on streets, and provide women-only sections; pro vide self-defense classes; find ad ditional shelters for women who are the victims o f violence. The organization demands better protection o f domestic violence cases and teaching about rape and incest in the public schools. They ask that escort services for night workers and synchronized shifts so all woikers would leave at the same time. 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