Portland Observar October 9.1980 Page 3
Marable speaks
in Portland
D r. M anning M arablc, Black
historian and activist who writes a
weekly column “ From the Grass
roots,” (see below) in many Black
newspapers including the Observer,
w ill speak at “ The Red Rose
School” Friday Forum on October
24th at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Marable is a
professor at Cornell University. He
w ill speak on “ Beyond the C ivil
Rights Movement.”
The forums will be held at 4312
S.E. Stark. The school is sponsored
by the New American Movement.
Call 239-0181 for information.
Governor seeks
nominees
Linda Jo h n so n speaks to m e e tin g called by the
B lack U n ite d Front to o rg anize a g ain st re c e n t cuts
in w e lfa re a llo tm e n ts vo te d by th e le g is la tu re in a
reactio n to a d e fic it in e x p e c te d funds.
(P hoto: R ichard B ro w n )
From the grassroots
By Dr. Manning Marable
W h a t is fre e d o fn 7
Back in the 195O’ s and 60’s there
was the ever-present question that
white reporters and politicians, cor
porate executives and so-called in
tellectuals always asked the Black
community: “ What does the Negro
want?” Our reply to this question
was always the same, and it was
only one word: Freedom.
Frederick Douglass was about
ffreedom. That is why he escaped
fro m the b ru ta l clutches o f his
slaveowner, and followed the North
Star
tow ard
freedom .
Dr.
W.E.B.DuBois, the founding father
o f the N .A .A .C .P ., was about
freedom. That is why he left the
ivory tower o f scholasticism and
became the editor o f The Crisis, the
in itia to r o f the modern Pan-
Africanist Movement, and the ad
vocate o f world peace.
The Reverend M a rtin Luther
King, J r., was about freedom.
Martin devoted his life in the battle
to uproot and overthrow the terrible
system o f racial segregation,
A m erica's version o f apartheid.
M alcom X was about freedom.
Malcom told us to be proud o f our
selves and our heritage. Martin and
Malcom both gave their lives in that
pursuit o f freedom.
Today, we must ask ourselves
what freedom should mean fo r
Black and other oppressed people.
A ll too often, we think o f freedom
as the absence o f oppression. We
think o f freedom in negative terms,
rather than positive terms.
A ll o f us are against Jim Crow
and the system o f de jure and de fac
to segregation. But does our op
position to Jim Crow per se’ mean
that we are furthering the cause o f
freedom? We are against inferior
schools that miseducate our
children. We are against the Bakke
decision that attacked the principle
o f a ffirm a tiv e action in higher
education. We are against the racist
attacks o f policemen w ith in the
Black community, and we oppose
the reemergence o f the KKK.
We are against the high rate of
unemployment fo r Black people,
and particularly the alarming rate o f
joblessness among the youth. We
i
are against the political cutbacks o f
the Carter Administration in health
care, in welfare, in education and in
all social and human service areas.
Now we must ask ourselves,
“ What are we for?” We know what
the absence o f freedom looks like.
Now we must address the positive
side o f the equation; what are we
prepared to stand for, to affirm in
our hearts and in our minds, at the
voting booth and in street demon
strations, to further the freedom
struggle? What are we for?
We must be f o r the things that are
needed to make human life worth
living — the prerequisites o f human
development -- in all economic,
social, c u ltu ra l and p o litic a l
relations. We are for a national
health care program, that places the
lives o f people ahead of the selfish
private p ro fits o f the Am erican
Medical Association, the hospitals
and pharamaceutical corporations,
its obligations to its employees, that
it should be forced by law to remain
— either under jo in t management
between the employers and em
ployees, or directly financed and
operated by w orking folks them
selves. We are for economic equality
and an expansion o f p o litic a l
democracy inside the factories,
shops, warehouses and clerical o f
fices o f the nation. We are for a free
people, not fo r an irresponsibly free
enterprise - because the excesses o f
an unrestricted free enterprise have
come to mean an unfree existence
for the majority o f our people.
What are we for? We are for the
self determination of all the world’ s
oppressed and peoples o f color,
whether in Iran or Afghanistan,
South Korea or South Africa, or our
own com m unity. We are fo r the
existence o f safeguard to protect the
Constitutional rights o f women, and
for an equal rights amendment to
extend and preserve those rights.
We are fo r an independent
strategy in our political programs
and practices. We are for peace, the
reduction o f international tensions,
the a b o litio n o f both nuclear
weapons and nuclear power. We are
for a decent social and cultural en
vironment for our children, and for
their children, and all successive
generations. We are f o r freedom.
\r
G overnor V ic to r A tiyeh w ill
establish a Commission on Blacks
and a Commission on Hispanics ad
is seeking nominees for both com
missions.
Persons who are interested in
serving, or who w ould like to
suggest nominees, should call Kay
Toran, state affirm ative action o f
ficer, at 229-5700 extension 6868 or
378-6868 (Salem). Material can be
sent to her at the State C apitol
Building, Salem, Oregon 97310.
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