Portland Observer April 23.1981 Paga 7
Flemming directs activities
Author interprets historic origins
Grassroot News, N .W .- Among
the political apparatuses to emerge
as a viable force in the 80s, is the
Black United Front.
The F ront has remained quite
resilient as they m ount offensives
and defenses against social, political
and economic inequalities. On an
educational level, the Black United
Front is elevating the A fro -
American community’ s conscious at
the grassroot level by sponsoring in
ternationally known historians and
educators.
Last Wednesday, at the M allory
Avenue Church, Dr. Ivan Van Ser-
tima, author o f They Came Before
Columbus, shared his wisdom and
knowledge w ith the Black com
munity. Dr. Van Sertima is part o f a
unique group o f pioneer historians
which include Chekh Anta D iop,
Asa H illa rd and Chancellor
W illiam s. They’ ve devoted their
talents and education to offsetting
the absence and misconception o f
A fricans and their decendents in
European dominated history.
Dr. Van Sertima is currently a
professor at Rutgers University in
New Jersey. He holds degrees in
A frica n Studies, Linguistics and
Anthropology, and is well-known in
all three fields. He began his address
by stating that traditional historians
concentrated their tim e on one
period o f history and on one section
o f m ankind in A fric a -- the
"prim itive.”
"B o th Blacks and whites are en
closed in one chapter o f history in
what I call the Columbusian Room.
This room has become a prison in
many ways. Most o f our attitudes
and conceptions about ourselves,
and the way we are conceived by
other people are just aimed at events
o f the last 500 years. That has made
us think o f ourselves in an extremely
negative and lim ited way, because
500 years is a very small time when
we consider that they are finding the
first bones in Africa that dated back
five million years. The difficulty o f
reconstructing the history ot Africa
Earle Flem m ing has been ap
pointed A c tiv ity D ire cto r o f the
Salvation A rm y M oore Street
Center.
Flem m ing comes to the Center
through the Field Experience Pro
gram o f George Fox College, where
he is majoring in social services.
Flem m ing w ill set up programs
and tournam ents fo r youth and
adults. Sports programs which he
plans to initiate include basketball,
so ftb a ll and fo o tb a ll. Center ac
tivities w ill include ping-pong and
pool tournaments as well as swim
ming meets.
Flemming, who was born in Can
ton, Mississippi, has been active in
varsity basketball and baseball at
George Fox College.
and these Americans, not only are
created by great prejudices that exis
ted yesterday and today, but that
people have focused almost ex
clusively on p rim itiv e com
munities.”
Having done research on African
decendents’ effect on the space
program. Dr. Van Sertima went on
to show that Dart Vader is not the
only Black in space.
“ The leading Technical A stro
naut who entered the Space Shutter
with the two other Astronauts was
Fredrick
G regory.
C urrently
Gregory is designing the cockpit
shutter, a program that w ill last
into 1990.
Gregory completely revolutiona-
lized the landing o f the aircraft in
this country and the world. There
are also Black women in the Space
Program, specifically speaking, Dr.
Pat Cowens. Dr. Cowens has de
vised a method akin to Yoga, that
allows Astronauts to exercise w ith
out moving from their seats. In
space, Astronauts must perform
some form o f exercise because there
is no weight pull as on earth, and
as a result, w ill cause llu id s to
collect in the body. This just proves
that there’ s a vast amount ot know
ledge even in our own time that we
have no knowledge o f.”
During his presentation. Dr. Ser
tima linked people o f color to their
tra d itio n a l hom eland.
Even
though we can no longer return to
A fric a , A fric a is our ancestral
home. It becomes im portant
because we have our roots in
A fric a n and people judge us by
saying who are you? In spite ot the
problems o f modern Atrica, most of
what we hear on television about
A fric a is the begging bowls, thus,
we have no idea o f the potential of
A fric a or ourselves. This is why
biological theories o f racial d if
ference can arise.”
He goes on to discuss his book
and the long-term effects on history.
"There w ill be great fights over it,
and many parts will be contested for
a long time. 1 feel that now people
w ill no longer look at p rim itive s.
M ore and more Blacks w ill move
away from the images that was built
up. This body o f evidence is
grow ing everyday.
If
these
discoveries were made in other parts
o f the world there would be no sur
prise. But there’ s always a sense o f
surprise because it involves Africans
who always support to do nothing.
This recovery o f history is im port
ant.
"T h e Jews became pow erful
because they made their history
sacred. They remembered their
history and people who remember
their history become as powerful as
the history they enshine. People
who forget their history w ill lose
themselves. I t ’ s c ritic a l to know
history. You did not come from
slavery, although that’ s but a chap
ter of history. Our roots lie in larger
things, in greater things, in things
that go back to the very heart o f the
w orld. A resurrection o f con
sciousness is at hand. People o f
Africa decendents can now recover
something that was lost.”
In this recovery, a new awakening
is expected from Afro-Am ericans;
particularly the young who will find
something more than what they
now have. No longer w ill they have
wander aimlessly, because a correct
interpretation o f our people is all
that is needed to restore our people
to their traditional greatness.
not justice, it is racism. Once we
come to realize that white c o u rt
rooms are synonymous to white
supremacy and the perpetuation o f
white norms and values — we can
9
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By Asmar Abdul Seifullah
then attack and expose the system
for what it is.
The application and implemen
tation o f justice is designed to
protect the rich and suppress the
poor. Never has there been such a
blatant display o f economic,
political and social discrimination as
exist in the United States crim inal
justice system. The P atty Hearst
scenario is just one o f many insults
reaped upon poor people by the
c rim inal justice system. It was
always clear in the minds o f Black
people that Ms. Rich Am erica
would never receive the full measure
o f what should have been strict
justice. Compare the Hearst case
with that o f Joan Little and you will
have a small idea o f the type o f
justice America has to o ffe r Black
people.
It is a c h illin g experience fo r a
Black man to stand before the
bench o f justice -- the gavel, the
black robe — and understand that
the next stop is the hanging tree.
Once you have had the unfortunate
experience o f spending time in one
o f Am erica’ s prisons, you under
stand that there aren’ t any lengths
the system w on’ t go to ensure the
contiuance o f white supremancy.
The most d isturbing fact o f all is
that most Black people - those who
have been lucky at not falling into
the vindictiveness o f the crim inal
justice system actually believe them
selves exempt from the atrocious
treatm ent reaped upon less fo r
tunate Blacks. They continue to live
their lives in rat infested ghettoes,
content, passive and blin d to
coming destruction o f their debased
existence.
"U n ite d we stand, divided we
fa ll.” Never has it been clearer that
we must come together in opposing
all form s o f racism. The idea we
must bear in mind is that the system
is inherently racist and that it w ill
not give us our freedom, we must
take it! We must stand up and roar
like a m ighty black thunder, flin g
our lightning bolts at the object o f
our oppression. The systematic
racism perpetuated against Black
people comes in many form s...this
article is one o f them. The main
point is that we must recognize our
oppression in whatever form it
comes. D on’ t exclude my op
pression in your struggle sim ply
because you can’ t feel my pain or
N
Dr. Ivan Van Sertima shows ancient African art.
(Photo: Richard Brown)
Cell Talk
Since the inception o f the United
States Criminal Justice System, one
slogan stands out above all else;
"innocence before g u ilt." The
righteousness o f the slogan has been
the banner o f democracy promised
w ith in the U nited States crim inal
justice system. Innocence before
guilt signifies the equality o f men
under the law. It is a guarantee
against racial d iscrim in a tio n and
bigotry within the system o f law. It
promises every man a day in court,
Counsel fo r defense, due process
and the right to face one accuser.
Also entwined in this mesh o f legal
safeguards is the ju ry system which
guarantees a fair and impartial jury
of peers.
As we closely examine the
criminal justice system we find that
it has one very apparent weakness
and that is that it does not take into
account the inherient prejudices o f
our society. History has documen
ted the incidences o f racism in the
criminal justice system..."remem
ber t he Scottsboro Boys, Sacco and
V anzetti.’ ’ The release o f four
Miami police officers responsible
for the death o f Arthur McDuffie is
ndicative o f the brand o f justice
neted out under the jury system. It
is all too clear that the distribution
»f justice in America has a tendency
'o favor the majority stock holders,
a ho in this case happens to be white
people.
It is not realistic for us to believe
ifiat white juries w ill render just
verdicts to Black defendants. They
are too wrapped up in their personal
prejudices to judge fairly. The in
stant they see a Black face in the
i >urtroom they assume that he is
guilty or he w o u ld n 't be charged
with the crime. They refuse to ac-
iv p t the testim ony o f Black w it
nesses over white witnesses who
display racial preference in terms of
truth. C ourt appointed lawyers
rarely zealously defend Black clien
ts.
Due process is often circumvented
because most Black defendants are
i :norant to the law. The state’ s ob
jective is to try a case as quickly and
inexpensively as possible. Expedien
ce at the expense o f the defendant is
.1
|N DP VS
because you have been brainwashed
into believing that I am crim inal,
when it is the system that is
criminal.
May Allah guide us to the light ot
understanding. May he bind us
together into a united front against
the continuance o f racism in all
forms.
Dr James H Vale Optometrist
Dr Philip Stockstad. Optometrist
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TEEN HOSTESSES - W elcoming guests to the annual 4-H In te r
national Culture Fair Saturday evening, from 5 to 9 P .M ., at M a tt
Dishman Center, will be Teen Leaders (Left to Right) Kim Kimmons,
Royce Hardy and Lisa McConnell. Mrs. Betty Hardy is coordinator of
the colorful event, and invites the public to join in the festivities.
4-H holds culture fair
Over 200 youngsters and adults
w ill share the stage Saturday, April
25, at M att Dishman Center when
the Urban 4-H s ta ff and leaders
present the fo u rth annual 4-H In
ternational Culture Fair.
The program will open with a per
formance o f Cinderella by the New
Rose Theater, under the direction of
C laudia Johnston. Doors w ill be
open at 5 p.m ., w ith food tasting
and exhibit presentations following
the opening performance, and con
tinuing throughout the evening. The
4-H pledge and flag salute w ill be
follow ed by songs by a 100 voice
youth chorus, putting the program
theme to music, " I t ’ s a Small
World, After A IL”
Also to be presented are the
FRESHIE
M argarin e
Chinese Benevolent Lion Dance,
songs by the Sons o f N orw ay,
Laotian Dancers, Woodlawn School
Dancers, P ortland Indian T rib a l
Club, African Dancers, Sabin Super
S trutters, King Acrobats, Youth
Band and Al H arris w ith A frican
and Carribean Music.
The fair w ill continue to 9 p.m .,
and is open to the public admission
free. A special invitation is extended
to the Northeast community to take
part, announces Ira d. M u m fo rd ,
extension agent. “ It is hoped that
our program w ill again this year
prom ote better understanding
among the many ethnic groups o f
the com m unity and foster frie n d
ship between us all.”
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