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-
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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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