Page 2 Portland Observer JULY 6,1989
EDITORIAL7
OPINION
Along The Color Line
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
“ Black Liberation Radio”
ECONOMIC JUSTICE: INCREASE
MINIMUM WAGE
by Dr. Manning Marable
Most oppressed people throughout the world are not controlled primarily
by force. Usually, they are denied accurate information by the media or their
government, which helps to perpetuate misinformation and political acqui
escence. A people kept ignorant can be politically manipulated. In recent
weeks, for example, when Chinese students and workers took to the streets
in Beijing, the Chinese government used the state-controlled media to keep
the masses in line. The vast majority o f the one billion Chinese peasants and
workers in the countryside have no access to accurate information.
In the United States, we like to say that we have “ freedom o f the press.”
In truth, there is only freedom for those who won the press. Although there
are nearly thirty m illion African-Americans, we have fewer than three
hundred Black-owned weekly newspapers. Most Black-oriented radio sta
tions broadcast little information which can mobilize the community or
provide political education. And the vast majority o f white-owned media
sources discourage any substantive reporting which targets police brutality
against nonwhites, or focuses on unemployment, poverty and institutional
racism. In short, the oppressed must find ways to develop their own sources
o f communication.
In Springfield,Illinois, Dewayne Readus, a blind and unemployed A fri
can-American, concluded that his neighborhood needed a local source o f
information which favored the interests o f Black people. In December,
1987, with an initial investment o f under S600, Readus initiated Radio
Station W TRA-FM , a low-watt station which had a signal reaching one and
one half miles. The station was based in Readus’ apartment inside Spring-
field’ s John Hay Public Housing Project
W ithin months, Feadus’s programs were reached up to three-fourths o f
the local African-American community. W TR A-FM featured Black music,
but also included commentary programs discussing political and social
issues. Readus’s radio commentary criticized local housing authority o ffi
cials, and discussed local cases o f police brutality. Victims o f police
harassment were guests on the station’ s programs. W ithin this hard-hitting
format, Readus also sought to train young African-Americans in conducting
radio interviews and running the equipment Although W TRA-FM had only
one watt o f power, it had become a voice for Black liberation for Spring-
field.
It was inevitable that Readus’s activities would come under political
scrutiny by those in power. Several months ago, the Springfield Police
Department initiated an investigation o f the station by the Federal Commu
nications Commission. The FCC inspector visited the station, and de
manded to see a “ valid radio station license.”
Readus replied correctly that there was no U.S. law requiring the
licensing o f FM radio stations which have less than 100 watts o f power. The
inspector attempted to intimidate Readus, im plying that the radio equip
ment was possibly “ contraband.” The police were called in, and Readus
charged with an FCC violation which carries penalties o f up to $10,000 or
one year in jail. The station was shut down.
M illions o f dollars are spent for “ Radio Free Europe” which promotes
U.S. propaganda. The corporations spend billions here in this country to get
Black consumers to purchase their products. Yet when a single African-
American exercises his rights to produce a media source dedicated to Black
liberation,the government and police responded with repressive measures.
Readus observed: “ I f we just talked about how great things were going,
we’ d still be on the air. B ut because we said that things aren’ t so great around
here, they shut us down.” DeWayne Readus and other sisters and brothers
like him deserve our support, in the battle to liberate Black minds.
Dictators Are Not Welcome Here!
By Dr. Lenora Fulani
Sese Seko Mobutu, the self-appointed president-for-life o f Zaire (for
merly known as the Congo), arrived in New York City last week en route to
Washington, DC where he was scheduled to meet with George Bush.
Dozens o f protesters were waiting at the W aldorf Astoria Hotel where
Mobutu was staying in New York to let this vicious dictator and abuser o f
human rights know that he was not welcome here! The protest was
supported by a broad range o f student organizations, long-time anti-Mobutu
and anti-apartheid activist groups, grassroots citizens’ lobbies, community
organizations and others concerned with the struggle for democracy here
and around the world; they included the US-Congo Friendship Committee,
the All-African Peoples Revolutionary Party, the New Alliance Party, the
Rainbow Lobby, the Patrice Lumumba Coalition and the American Arab
Relations Committee, which are leading the grassroots movement that is
coming together in this country to oppose this greedy tyrant who came to
power a quarter o f a century ago after collaborating with the C IA to
assassinate Patrice Lumumba, the father o f Conbgolese independence.
The hero’s welcome given to Mobutu by the President o f the United
States was a profound insult to the Black people o f this country and to our
African sisters and brothers. We should not be surprised by it; insults to the
African American community come naturally to the white supremacist
leaders of both the major parties. But the complicity o f some among our
official Black leadership in the scheme to make an international peace
maker out o f a murderous thug such as Sese Seko Mobutu is nothing less
than a betrayal o f Black people everywhere.
Last fall this ally o f apartheid hosted an official visit to Zaire from P.W.
Botha, the prime minister o f South Africa; when Zairian students took to the
streets o f Kinshasa, the capital, to protest this despicable act, they were shot
down in cold blood by Mobutu’ s soldiers.
This gunrunner has allowed Zaire to be used as a conduit for the arms that
the United States supplies to the contras o f Angola, Jonas Savimbi's South
African/US-subsidized UNTTA
mercenaries, in their 14 year effort to bring down the popular M PLA
government o f Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Now Mobutu is being promoted by
the White House as the elder statesman o f Africa, a peace-loving friend o f
democracy who is singlehandedly bringing the 14 year o f Angolan " c iv il
war” to an end. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The myth which the corporate-owned media are helping to promote is
part o f an elaborate public relations campaign now underway to clean up
Mobutu’ s image so that he can go on serving as the point man for US policy
in southern Africa. But no amount o f Madison Avenue manipulating can
transform this dictator into a diplomat. And no amount o f red carpet
can cover up the trail o f blood and tears that leads from Washington and
Kinshasa to Luanda, the capital o f Angola, and to Soweto.
I f Mobutu cared an iota about the well-being o f African people, he would
be cleaning up his own backyard-which is a cesspool o f human rights
abuses. It is to put pressure on this murderer and torturer that California
Congressman Ron Dellums has introduced H.R. 1899, which would cut o ff
US aid to the Mobutu regime until there is some improvement in Zaire’ s
abysmal human rights situation.
I am glad to say that a majority o f Mr. Dellums’ colleagues in the
Congressional Black Caucus support this very crucial legislation. I am
ashamed and angry to say that not all o f them do.
by Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
It was probably an easy task for the President o f the United States to veto
recently an increase in the minimum wage from $3.35 an hour to $4.55 an
hour. But for those whose lives he impacted with this decision, it was a
devastating blow to any real hope o f economic survival. President Bush, of
course, does not have to worry about his salary or the livelihood of his
family. It was recently revealed that Mr. Bush, like most o f the 1988
Presidential candidates, is a millionaire. We do not know if President Bush
during his career ever worked for the minimum wage. But we do know that
today the vast majority o f minimum wage workers can barely make ends
meet.
A t a time when the w orld’ s attention is on other nations, in particular
concerning the issues o f human rights, democracy and economic reform, it
is revealing that one o f the richest economies in the world cannot seriously
entertain increasing the minimum wage. Economic justice demands a redis
tribution o f the wealth o f this nation, especially to the millions of persons
who labor the hardest to keep the economic infra-structure o f the United
States intact. The legislation passed by Congress, however, did not call for
a radical redistribution o f wealth. Instead, the members o f Congress acted
responsibly to increase the minimum wage to $4.55 an hour in a minimum
effort to offset the increases in the cost o f living as well as inflation for
millions o f workers in this nation. President Bush vetoed this increase
because this would “ stifle the creation o f new job opportunities and hurt
poor peoples’ s chances o f getting jobs.” What the President does not seem
to understand is that the majority o f those working at the minimum wage
level are already hurting and barely able to survive.
This veto in no way helps poor people. It, in fact, hurts the poor even
more. President Bush’ s veto w ill increase the suffering in the African
American community, where many o f the families are single income.
Marion W right Edelman, President o f the Children’s Defense Fund, stated
that, “ this w ill hit women and minorities particularly hard.” Yet, this is
consistent with Republican policies concerning economics. For them, the
rich should get richer, while the poor get poorer.
This kind o f economic injustice points to the inherent contradictions in
the present economic system operative in the United States. President
Bush’s policies only reflect his allegiance to the maintenance o f the present
economic system at the expense o f the poor and those workers whose
fortunes are at the bottom rung o f the socio-economic ladder. It is unwise for
this nation to continue to mistreat those who labor. The market system
should not be permitted to thrive while increasing numbers o f citizens o f this
country lay homeless in the streets and while millions o f workers take home
salaries that are grossly inadequate.
DEMOCRACY HAS PROBLEMS,
TOO
by John
E. Jacob
Like just about everyone else, I was stirred by the resurgence of
democratic movements breaking out throughout the communist world.
After years o f police state oppression, citizens o f the U.S.S.R. actually
voted in relatively free elections, heard free and frank discussions o f
political issues, including open criticism o f their leaders, and watched
televised proceedings o f their new Congress that included blasts at the secret
police and other previous untouchables.
In Poland, the regime allowed free elections that demonstrated over
whelming support from democracy and rejection o f communist rule.
And in China, millions o f workers and students, through peaceful,
nonviolent demonstrations, exposed their rulers as having little popular
support - which was confirmed by the brutal, bloody suppression o f the
democracy protests.
W hile the tanks may have won in the short-term, the long-term prognosis
suggests that the popular demands for democracy w ill ultimately triumph.
But while I ’ ve been moved by this worldwide outbreak o f democracy,
I ’m also bothered by the smugness with which so many Americans have
reacted.
Editorials and think pieces, television commentators and politicians,
have all weighed in with self-satisfied statements about how American
democracy is the model for the whole world, and about the failure o f
communism to achieve a decent living standard.
They’re all saying - look at us, we’re the way to go, take our political
system and our economic theories as the example for your own countries.
I agree that the American model is one example countries might take as
they emerge from political dictatorship and economic mismanagement. But
it ’s not the only one.
Sweden and other countries have managed to combine political democ
racy and economic prosperity without slavishly following the American
model.
So let’s not get too arrogant - we’re good, but so are others. And the
American model has some flaws that other countries have to think twice
about before rushing to adopt.
Inequality here is more pronounced than in most other western nations.
Unemployment is high - at Depression levels for African Americans. O ur*
education system is a mess, especially in its failure to train the disadvan
taged. Crime and drugs are rampant. Racism is entrenched in too many
aspects o f our national life.
S ure, the system works well enough for most people, but how many Poles
or Russians would embrace a model that provides much less social services
and employment security than others?
And how good a model can we be, i f our inner cities are rotting, i f
homelessness is widespread, and i f nearly 40 m illion people have to share
apartments, stand in line for hours to buy a pair o f shoes, or live in constant
fear o f the secret police.
But they are very relevant to Americans who truly want their nation and
their society to be a flawless model for the rest o f the world.
I take little satisfaction in the fact that my country has more freedom and
a better economic system than do China, Poland and the U.S.S.R. I think
more o f myself and o f my country than to compare my society with
politically and economically backward nations.
The real comparison should be with what American democracy ought to
be; with how much better we can become, with how much more we have to
do to make our system work for each and every American.
VANTAGE POINT
TRAINING ORGANIZERS AND
LEADERS FOR THE FUTURE
During the era o f the sixties, a number o f African-American communi
ties benefited from the existence o f local regional and national educational
institutes and training centers where various forms o f leadership and skill
development training was provided. Frequently these centers or institutes
were organized by cadres o f political activist as part o f their programmatic
thrust
Ideologically these centers ranged from a civil-rights orientation, to
m ilitant reformist, to Black Nationalism, Pan-Africanism, and Socialism.
Ideological diversity notwithstanding, these centers and institutes func
tioned to groom individuals and groups for work within the African-
American community, particularly at the grass-roots level. The notion of
being trained to be a “ community organizer” was quite popular among
activists and aspiring young leaders in the sixties. Many o f us received our
inspiration and began to acquire our skills at conferences, workshops, and
at training centers and institutes.
The Pan-African Communiversity in Chicago, Black Peoples University
in Philadelphia, Malcolm X Unity House in San Francisco, Lynn Eusan
Institute in Houston Texas, People’s College in Nashville, the Pan-African
W ork Center in Atlanta, The Panthers Den in Milwaukee and the Uhuru
Center Cultural-Education Institute in Youngstown, Ohio are among the
institutes and centers that provided vital services in terms o f leadership and
skill development training at the local level.
On the regional and national levels the Political School o f Kawaida in
Newark, the Cabral Institute in Washington, D.C., Malcolm X Liberation
University in Greensboro, N.C.,The Center for Black Education in Wash
ington, D.C. and the Urban Training Center for Christian Mission in
Chicago serviced thousands o f African-Americans for work in the move
ment for Black liberation and empowerment. Taken together these numer
ous local, regional and national training centers functioned to equip inter
ested and eager potential workers and organizers with a Black oriented
political perspective, philosophy or ideology. They also equipped their
trainees with valuable community organizing and leadership skills and
instilled a commitment to work and struggle for the betterment o f African-
Americans and African-American communities locally and nationally.
These centers were crucial to the success o f the movement in the sixties.
As we approach the decade o f the nineties, any strategy for Black
empowerment or model for African-American community development
must take into account the need to properly educate and train our people for
service to the African-American community. This is particularly important
for our youth. A t a time when there is a renewal o f activism by African-
American young people, we need to make certain that these young people
are prepared with an Afro-centric perspective and the necessary skills to
effectively work for African-American Community empowerment in this
period.
The National African-American Community needs training centers or
centers for community organization and development to provide the kind of
direction and training that w ill equip hundreds even thousands o f people to
work for the improvement o f Black people. O f even more vital importance
are centers for community organization and development that can provide
leadership and skill development training at the local level. Regional and
national centers might facilitate networking between the centers in various
local communities.
As African-Americans, we cannot underestimate or neglect the “ how
to” aspect o f our struggle for empowerment. Its one thing to RAP, but its
quite another thing to know HOW TO construct the MAP or plan for action
that can produce concrete results. How do you identify the issues o f greatest
importance to your community and those issues that offer the best prospect
for SUCCESSFUL organizing? How do you identify the key centers o f
power and influence within your community that you w ill need to be aware
o f as you develop a plan o f action? What techniques can be utilized to
effectively mobilize people around an issue?
How do you organize an economic boycott or selective buying cam
paign, organize a picket line, or a demonstration? How do you organize a
press conference, use media to help you mobilize the community or design
a good poster or leaflet to generate support o f your mobilization? How do
you plan a workshop, a conference or a convention? Want to organize a
economic development or educational project, how do you go about it?
Want to run for public office, how do you organize a campaign? what about
computers and the use o f new technologies in our political empowerment
strategies?
Beyond the rhetoric, we need to teach, train, instruct and equip our
people to plan, organize and implement effectively. Building centers for
community organization and development in communities across this
country where people can be equipped with the philosophy o f liberation and
the tools to achieve our liberation is a major priority for Black empower
ment.
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