Page 2 Portland Observer JUNE 8, 1989
EDITORIAL /
Vantage point
By Ron Daniels
BLACK POLITICAL
EMPOWERMENT
THE NEED FOR
PRINCIPLES, PROC­
ESS AND AGENDAS
The quest for political empower­
ment by the African-American Com­ guide for political and programatic
munity should occur within the frame­ action. In the electoral political arena,
work of a process which involves the
those who held public office as well
broadest possible spectrum of par­ as those aspiring to public office at
ticipation and input from the various all levels were to be evaluated in
organizations, agencies and religious terms of how they measured up in
institutions within the African-Ameri­ each category of the Elack Agenda.
can community.The first question The idea was that those who scored
which this process must address, is high on the Black Agenda were worthy
political empowerment for what? This of our support and votes., Those who
question must always precede all did not score high on the Black Agenda
others. It deals with the basic ques­ were not worthy of our support or
tion of what principles, goals and votes whether they were Black or
objectives will guide our political white.
Unfortunately in far too may in­
endeavors at the local, state, national
stances Black politics has moved away
and international level.
This is precisely why an African- from principles, goals and process to
American or Black Agenda should an emphasis on personality, individ­
be viewed as an indispensable com­ ual self-interest and self-aggrandize­
ponent of the process of African- ment. Too many Black elected offi­
American empowerment. For in the cials, for example, are not anchored
final analysis, we must never seek in their communities and fail to func­
power for powers sake. The purpose tion with a developed Black Agenda
for struggling to empower ourselves as their guide. Hence they often fail
is to achieve the goals which we to adequately represent the interests
aspire to based on principles which of the African-American community.
are consistent with the culture and Without a solid community based
history of our people. This is why foundation and a Black Agenda which
despite its shortcomings, the recent reflects the communities’ needs, Black
African-American Summit in New politics can degenerate into a vulgar
Oreleans was significant. The Sum­ game of power for power sake and a
mit challenged African-Americans shameless exercise in self-advance­
to discuss our future, our ideological ment of the expense of the commu­
and political principles, our goals nity. A majority of Black elected
and the strategies required for our officials, however, do fry to perform
survival and development as a people. in the best interest of the community.
In short, an African-American The problem is that the process and
Agenda.
systems to inform elected officials of
Without a Black Agenda we have the community will are either non­
no way of measuring our progress existent or woefully inadequate.
and no adequate means by which to
There is an urgent need to return
evaluate those who claim to be work­ to the basics. African-American
ing to advance our cause, Black or summits, Black political conventions
white. Without a Black Agenda the or Black agenda conferences need to
masses o f our people are vulnerable take place in every village, town,
to opportunism and exploitation. * ‘If city and state in America. Once agen­
you don’t know where you’re going, das are adopted, then representative
any road will take you there” .
accountability structures should be
The 1972 Gary Black Political organized to monitor the perform­
Convention established a model for ance of organizations and agencies
the development of Black Agendas. and elected and non-elected leaders
The Gary Black Agenda was de­ so as to safeguard forward progress
signed to deal with two basic ques­ around issues within the Black agenda.
tions. First what are the goals and There is no substitute for principles,
priorities of African-Americans in process and systems. They check
terms of public policy ? That is to say, agomania, cult of personality and
what is it that we hope to achieve megalomania.
through governmental action. Sec­
For a period of time after the Gary
ondly and equally important, the Gary Convention local, state and national
Agenda focused attention on what political conventions and agenda
we as African-American should do conferences were common place. For
utilizing our own human and mate­ some reason we lapsed into compla­
rial resources to advance our interest cency. African-American communi­
and achieve our goals. The catego­ ties need to get back into the habit
ries of concerns included employ­ again. Hopefully the New Orleans
ment, economic development, health Summit will serve as a spark to re­
and human services, education, cul­ ignite the process of refocusing on
tural development, rural development principles, goals, agendas and or­
and international policy.
ganized structures as a vital elements
Once adopted the mission was to of our quest for political empower­
use the Black Agenda as a basis and ment.
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OPIMOS
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
“TODAY’S CHILD, TOMORROW’S
HOPE”: SOUTHERN AFRICA
TELETHON
by Benjamin R. Chavis, Jr.
The Coalition for a Free Africa, Inc.(CFA) is to be congratulated for their
successful efforts in planning the first international television telethon to be
produced by African Americans to raise funds to support and benefit the
struggle in southern Africa. The telethon will be aired on Black Entertain­
ment Television (BET) on Sunday, June 25, 1989, from 5:00 p.m. - 11:00
p.m. EST. We support this effort wholeheartedly and we encourage all
Americans to view this important telethon and to pledge support.
The Coalition for a Free Africa is a public charity co-chaired by Solar
Records’ President, Dick Griffith, and California Assemblywoman Maxine
Waters. Griffith and Waters have been long time supporters of the cause of
freedom and justice in southern Africa. We believe that this type o f telethon
concretizes the meaning o f solidarity. The funds raised through this effort
is a positive step forward not only for the anti-apartheid movement in the
United States but also for the African American community in particular as
a means of increasing the relationship between the supporters of freedom
here and in Africa.This will also be a bold example of how the latest in
telecommunications technology can be and should be used to create positive
images and impact.
Too often the established media has negatively stereotyped the plight of
the situation in Africa as well as the situation here in the United States.
Nothing will be more positive and constructive than seeing millions of
persons throughout the United States and other parts of the world joining
together to support this telethon.
According to the Coalition for a Free Africa the purpose of the telethon
is three-fold: 1) To wage a national education campaign around the morally
repugnant system of apartheid and its devastating impact on the entire
southern Africa region; 2) To mobilize the African American community
and to challenge the entire family of humankind to share its resources with
the children of Southern Africa and; and 3) To raise substantial funds for
nutrition, education and health projects for the children of southern Africa.
At a time when African Americans spend over $200 billion annually in
the United States, financially supporting this telethon would be a significant
act toward re-directing the spending patterns of the African American
community.
The theme of this First Annual Southern Africa Benefit Telethon is
‘‘Today’s Child, Tomorrow’s Hope. A multi-racial lineup of internation­
ally-acclaimed stars and entertainers have already indicated their willing­
ness to perform for the telethon and to support projects helping our sisters
and brothers in southern Africa. Among the headliners are Stevie Wonder,
Chaka Khan, Sheena Easton, A1 Jarreau, Holly Robinson, Debbie Allen,
Roy Ayers, Atlantic Starr, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Third World, Casey Kasom,
and numerous others.Black Entertainment Television increasingly is be­
coming a viable form for newsworthy and noteworthy events in addition to
providing excellent musical entertainment The joint efforts of many
national organizations along with the hard work of the producers and the
Coalition for a Free Africa are a testament to creative pooling of resources
for a worthy cause.
Yes, today’s children are our hope and Sufriré, In Africaand particularly
in southern Africa, childrenare frying out for help and for freedom and for
peace. Our future will be dependent upon how well we respond individually
and collectively to the cries o f these children because their future is our
future.
ALBERTA STREET FESTIVAL
July 8
10 am -11 pm
Information Line
288-8569
AIDS CRISIS
MOUNTS
by John E. Jacob
America has a strange ability to
panic about an issue, recognize it as
a crisis demanding action - and then
ignore it.
The AIDS epidemic is a case in
point. The Public’s concern about
AIDS has tailed off just as the dis­
ease’s impact is hitting harder.
I have to wonder if a big reason is
the feeling that AIDS is now a prob­
lem primarily afflicting racial mi­
norities - and therefore, a problem
the majority community can afford
to ignore.
As AIDS spread among minority
drug abusers, many people warned
that the urgency surrounding the
epidemic would decline, and that is
precisely what has happened.
In fact, AIDS crosses race, gender
and class lines. Perhaps the fastest
growing group of AIDS victims arc
women and children bom with the
HIV infection.
No one can afford to smugly dis­
miss the threat to society at large
because we are all at risk - either
directly form the infection or from
breakdowns in health care and social
services stressed by the overwhelm­
ing needs of the victims.
The AIDS epidemic has exposed
the weaknesses of our social support
structures - the severe deficiencies
in health care, substance abuse treat­
ment, and housing, as well as the se­
vere shortages of trained health care
personnel and social service facili­
ties.
Despite warnings of the poten­
tially large demands on social serv­
ices caused by AIDS, little has been
done to expand and upgrade those
services and make them available to
all.
Often, resources have been so
limited that only terminal AIDS pa-
tients get help, while people who
have not developed symptoms or have
AI DS-related illnesses that stop short
WE WILL PROTECT OUR OWN!
The cops are out to kill another Black man. This time w e’re going to stop
them. The young brother’s name is Adam Abdul-Hakeem (formerly Larry
Davis). The cops fried to get him once before, in Oc tober of 1986, when they
came gunning for him at his sister’s apartment in the South Bronx.
But Adam shot back, and got away. Two Bronx juries have already
acquitted him—one on a quadruple homicide charge and the other on charges
of attempted murder; they knew the cops were lying when they said they had
come to ‘ ‘question” him; they believed Adam was telling the truth when he
testified that for years crooked cops have been recruiting poor young Blacks
and Puerto Ricans to do their dirty work for them, and that the police who
came to his sister’s house were there to kill him.
On Friday night of the Memorial Day weekend Adam was secretly
moved out of the m en’s prison on Rikers Island in New York City to the
Downstate Correctional Facility, the state prison in Fishkill, New York
about 100 miles north. The Department of Corrections’ explanation for the
sudden transfer—which neither his attorneys nor any of his family had been
informed ab o u t- was that Adam’s next scheduled court date is six weeks
from now, and they want to alleviate the overcrowded conditions on Rikers.
Now, you know that’s a lie!
Along with Adam, his mother Mary Davis, and his attorneys, I was
deeply concerned that the Fishkill guards-thinking that no one knew where
Adam was-w ould take advantage of the long holiday weekend to stage an
“ accident” or to provoke a situation ending up in Adam’s death.
The fear that Adam might be killed in prison by vengeful guards is not
exaggerated. New York’s prisons-like similar facilities around the coun­
try -are in fact significant population centers whose inhabitants, most of
them Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and other people of color, are routinely
subjected to the violation of their civil and human rights. The prisons are run
as the private domains of the wardens, who allow the guards free rein; racist
violence, dehumanization and sadism are the norm.
The uprising at Attica State Prison nearly two decades ago was not a
‘ ‘rumble’ ’ conducted by a few dissatisfied men in a bad mood; it was a
profound demand for human dignity, made by men who would rather have
died than continue to live under such conditions. There has not been any
substantial improvement in those conditions since then.
In such an environment, anything goes-including murder. Brother
George Jackson, murdered in cold blood by Soledad prison guards in 1971,
was perhaps the most famous victim of this prison policy. There are
thousands m ore-not so well known-w ho have been assassinated behind
prison walls. So when Adam Abdul-Hakeem issues a cry for help, saying his
life is in danger, he and we have every reason to fear the worst.
That is why, as the chairperson of the multi-racial, broad-based Adam-
Abdul Hakeem Coalition to save our Youth, I had a leaflet produced calling
on the community to help save Adam’s life by contacting every major
newspaper, radio and television station in New York to alert them to the
situation.
On Memorial Day, I went to Fishkill with Mrs. Davis. I wanted to make
it clear to Adam, and to the prison officials and guards as well, that some of
us were not on vacation! I wanted them to know that we were watching them.
And I wanted Adam to know that he wasn’t alone. He’s very strong, and
very smart. He’s committed to taking on this fight in a big w ay-not just to
save himself,but to save the young people of this city, this state and this
country. But prison is a very lonely and frightening place to be,especially
when you’re surrounded by Black-hating, brutal cops who long to see you
dead and buried.
For the time being, Adam’s life has been saved. Within hours after the
Coalitions’s leaflet was distributed, assignment editors were being inun­
dated with many hundreds of phone calls from the community demanding
coverage of the Adam Abdul-Hakeem story. The resultant glare of publicity
culminated in a ruling by a New Y ork State Supreme Court judge that Adam
be returned to New York immediately and sent to Bellevue Hospital for
treatment. He is in the hospital now.
But Adam is still in danger. He has been beaten again by guards since
coming back to New York City. The cops are out to protect their ow n-the
drug running hoodlums in police uniform who operate out of the 44th
Precinct. And they’re desperate: if Adam won’t keep quiet, they are
determined to shut him up. If they can’t intimidate or beat this brave young
brother into silence, they’ll murder him.
We are equally determined to protect our o w n -th e Black and Puerto
Rican Children who are being murdered every day-shot down by trigger-
happy cops on a rampage, or dying slowly of poverty, drug addiction and
despair. We are going to save our youth, no matter whose toes get stepped
on. And the professional politicians who cry crocodile tears over the “ drug
problem’ ’ but look the other way when names arc named had better look out.
Dr.. Lenora Fulani is the national chairperson of the New Alliance Party
and a practicing Social Therapist in Harlem. She can be contacted at the
New Alliance party, 2032 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10027 and at (212)
996-4700.
of being defined as AIDS cases, do
not have access to help.
In some cities, public hospitals
are the first line o f treatment for
AIDS, when alternative forms of care
would be more appropriate and would
free hospital resources for care of the
non-AIDS-related sick.
By A. Wali Muhammad
Nowhere is that shortsightedness
In the current rising tide ot news­
more striking than in the refusal to
paper ink devoted to international
expand drug treatment services. As
coverage, as usual, Black people and
the disease spreads among intrave­
nations either take a back seat or are
nous drug users, more and more people
projected in the worst light. Thus,
seek admission to programs that help
the domestic coverage of the quasi-
them kick their drug habit.
govcmmcntal news media is repeated
But despite all the rhetoric about
in international coverage (The net­
wars on drugs, treatment centers are
works, newspapers, magazines, etc.
understaffed and underfunded.
would reject the label “ quasi-gov-
Some big-city clinics have back­
em m ental,” but if it quacks like a
logs that require waits of 15 months
duck, its a duck).
for admission. By the time an appli­
Thus, the pimps, prostitutes and
cant is finally admitted it is often too
drug pushers on U.S. television (which
late to prevent infection with the
by the way is viewed all over the
HIV virus.
world through satellite transmissions
The federal government should
and cable networks), or the more
take the lead in a nationwide drug
positive image of basketball players,
treatment and rehabilitation effort.
boxers or musicians, translates in inter­
Appointing “ drug czars,” beefing
national coverage into depictions of
up law enforcement, and condemn­
African and Caribbean nations as
ing foreign drug exporters won’t be
petty dictatorships and tyrannies, im­
as effective as ensuring that every
poverished, bankrupt begging debtor
drug abuser has access to treatment
nations, cesspools of human misery,
that enables him or her to become
in need of the “ Great White Fa­
drug-free.
ther,” the U.S., to guide them into
Alternative AIDS-carc facilities
modernity. Or, like the sports and en­
need to be established and funded, to
tertainment images, as vast naturally
relieve the pressure on the health
endowed amusement parks, complete
care system and to ensure dignified
with home grown servants, chauf­
treatment and hospice facilities.
feurs, and sex partners-for-hire.
And resources for treatment, serv­
Although the picture of many
ices and education must be made
African and Caribbean Nations, as
available to local community based
well as many Central and South Ameri­
groups who arc the only ones that can
can nations, inhabited primarily or in
make a dent in this problem.
large part by Black people, such as
“ ANTI-BLACK
BLACKS” abort
progress
1
Brazil and Panama, is not a rosy one,
the root of the current condition of
these nations is totally ignored. The
savaged decimation o f these dark-
skinned peoples and their nation-states
resulting from American and Euro­
pean “ wilding,” also called imperi­
alist expansion and colonialism, laid
the basis for the current “ under-de-
velopment” as Caribbean scholar
Waller Rodney stated in his book,
“ How Europe Underdeveloped Af­
rica.”
In the tiny island nation of Do­
minica, a mountainous tropical para­
dise in the Caribbean between Guada­
lupe and Martinique, this inferiority
complex evidenced itself when the
Prime Minister, Eugenia Charles, her
strings pulled by “ massa” Reagan
in Washington, called in 1983 for the
invasion of Grenada, a neighbor is­
land. What a sight, the elderly Black
woman standing at a press confer­
ence at the side of cowboy Ronald,
his gun notched with the death of
Blacks all the way back to his gover­
norship.
On May 21, nearly 3,000 Domini­
cans gathered this year in the moun­
tainside village of Salisbury for an
African Liberation Day (ALD) rally
to decry Charles, and others like her
ruling the island at the dictates of
U.S. policy, as “ anti-Black-Blacks,”
as the opposition leader branded her.
(I tried to file a report on the activi­
ties from Dominica With the Sheri­
dan Broadcasting Network, a national
black radio network. They said they
would “ pass” on the story. Not
“ pass on,” but “ pass.” Isn’t that
special?)