Page 7 Portland Observer AUGUST 24, 1989
The Voice of our People must be Heard!
Lenora Fulani
E arlier this month the Village
V o ic e -N e w Y ork C ity ’s most w ell
known liberal newspaper-printed a
cover story attacking M inister Louis
Farrakhan. The author o f the nine-
page article, entitled " W h o ’s listen
ing to Louis Farrakhn? couldn’ t un
derstand why so many African Am eri
cans support the leader o f the Nation
o f Islam.
T w o reporters from the National
A lliance, an independent weekly
newspaper that is also published in
New Y o rk, came up to Harlem to
hear what the sisters and brothers on
the street had to say about M inister
Farrakhan, the Voice’s attack on him,
and the refusal o f Manhattan B or
ough President David D in kin s -N e w
Y o rk ’s senior Black elected o ffic ia l
who is seeking the Democratic Party’s
mayoral nomination—to condemn the
attack. Their comments were so right
eous and rig ht on that 1 wanted to
share them w ith you. Here is a small
sample:
“ A Black leader should tell the
truth, no matter who it hurts, Black
or w h ite .”
“ Black people follow him because
he has a message. There haven’ t been
a lot o f other so-called Black leaders
who come out and really explain
w h a t’ s happening
to blacks
today...They’ re attacking him for the
same reason that they have attacked
[R everend A l] Sharpton and
Fulani...they 're just not going to side
with a brother who’s telling the truth.”
"M a lc o lm always said that libe r
als were very two-faced and tricky in
that they appear to be on your side,
but really they have ju s t as many
racist undertones as the racists from
M ississippi. So I think this is nothing
new. I t ’ s a facade they create to give
the appearance that they are really
for you, but they’re not.”
" I t ’ s strange that when Black
people stand behind each other, i t ’s
called racism ...It’s unfortunate that
Blacks feel afraid to stand behind
each other. They need to do that,
sim ply put, and stop being so sensi
tive to the w hite w orld as far as
thinking that any controversy is going
to hurt u s -in this case the D inkins
campaign,”
“ The V illag e Voice attacks inde
pendent Black leaders to discourage
people...if Farrakhan in 1985...I f
you’re going to call yourself a leader,
you should stand up and give your
voice to the issues. Having said that,
I think the Black com m unity should
vote fo r h im ."
" I don’ t agree w ith everything
Farrakhan says, but when he says
that we need economic and p olitical
control he’ s rig h t.If Farrakhan has
the strength to take these attacks, then
he wants to weather them too. You
have to ask yourself i f a paper is so
biased and attacks independent black
leaders, how liberal is it? ”
" F o r a black leader to think they
can’ t stand up fo r Farrakhan is
wrong...All those Black leaders we’re
supposed to look up t o - i f they can’ t
speak up, the Black com m unity can’ t
speak up.”
I couldn’ t have said it better
m yself! I am running as an independ
ent candidate fo r mayor o f New Y ork
C ity on the New alliance Party line to
give our people a voice in the up
coming election. Although I am sup
porting M r. D in k in s ’ prim ary bid,
and have pledged that i f he wins his
party’ s nom ination I w ill w ork to see
that he is elected mayor, i f he loses I
am not prepared to put the life and
death issues o f our people on a back
burner in the interests o f a Demo
cratic Party victory.
One o f those crucial and contro
versial issues is M inister Louis Far
rakhan, an independent Black leader
who has been v ilifie d in the white
corporate m edia-including "lib e ra l”
publications like the Village V o ic e -
just because he is independent. One
reason the Voice thought it could get
away w ith attacking M inister Farra
khan is that establishment Black
leaders like David D inkins (the " i n
siders” ) w on’ t stand up to defend
independent Black leaders (the ones
on the "frin g e ” who are far from the
center o f power and, therefore, clos
est to the Black masses) fo r fear o f
jeopardizing the privileges they de
rive from their status as the " le g iti
mate’ ’ Black leaders-m eaning those
acceptable to the w hite Powers That
Be.
When our o ffic ia l Black leaders
stand silently by w hile an independ
ent leader such as m inister Farrakhan
is trashed by the likes o f the V illage
Voice, they are participating in an
attack on democracy and on the Black
com m unity itself. A nd they must be
held accountable fo r that crim e o f
silence.
Dr. Fulani is chairperson of the New Alliance Party. Her
comments do not reflect the views of the Portland
Observer
VIOLENT
CLASH OF
JEWISH
GROUPS NOT
REPORTED
Police said Levy has a perm it fo r
a semi-automatic rifle , two shotguns
and four rifle s, but not fo r the Ruger.
Yet, in 1981, Levy was arrested on
charges o f bom bing the car o f a
Nigerian diplom at near the Soviet
United Nations missions.
Form erly a member o f the JD L,
Levy bolted from the group after
fighting w ith Rubin over who w ould
lead the group after the departure o f
the J D L ’s founder M e ir Kahane, now
a member o f the Israel Knesset.
THE RED, BLACK AND GREEN: WHAT
DOES IT MEAN
Run Daniels
In the last year or so suddenly we
have begun to see a flo u ris h o f red
black and green ornaments and attire
being worn and otherwise displayed
by African-Am ericans, particularly
Black youth. O f course this is not the
first lime that these colors have gained
prominence and popularity. In the
sixties and seventies,the era o f Black
consciousness, Black Power, nation
alism and pan-africanism it was quite
customary to see the red, black and
green in great abundance. These colors
have tremendous significance to
African-Am ericans. The question is
how many A frican- Americans have
even the slightest idea what the red,
black and green means?
Since values, images and symbols
are so terribly im portant to a devel
oping people,then it is crucial that
we coastantly teach those values which
w ill help us to survive and develop
and learn about and project those
afro-centric images and symbols
which w ill reinforce positive values
and further inspire our people to strive
towards fu ll freedom and develop
ment as a part o f the human fam ily.
It was Marcus Garvey who came
forth w ith the red, black and green as
the colors to symbolize the history
and aspirations o f Africans in Am er
ica. To paraphrase him, he once asked.
Black man where is your govern
ment, your flag, your men o f big af
fairs? Garvey proceeded to provide
answers fo r all o f those questions.
Based on his research into an ancient
African K ing, and his keen percep
tion o f what the psychological and
cultural needs o f Black people in
America were, Garvey offered A f r i
can-Americans a flag, O U R F LA G
W ITH THE COLORS RED, B L A C K
A N D GREEN.
RED symbolizes the B LO O D and
SUFFERING o f our people through
slavery, colonialism, segregation, dis
crim ination, and economic exploita
tion; B L A C K is for the people, A F
R IC A N PEOPLE, our culture and
our history o f triumphs and achieve
ments; and GREEN is for the L A N D ,
our homeland, mother A frica which
serves as a source o f strength, inspi
ration and a potential base o f power
and development for people o f A f r i
can descent everyone. Marcus G ar
vey and the U .N .I.A . popularized the
colors and the flag and left them as
legacies for future generations to pick
up and properly propogate.
So beyond the fad, fashion and
fleeting fancy o f the moment the red,
black and green has meaning and
significance to us which we should
never loose., L ike the Black National
Anthem, every African-Am erican
should know the history, significance
and meaning o f the the red, black and
green and our flag. The colors should
be displayed in African-Am erican
churches, institutions, agencies and
in our homes. Ornaments w ith the
colors from beads, medallions, neck
laces etc. should also be w om w ith
pride. In terms o f the appropriate
manner o f displaying the colors, they
should always appear in order red,
black and green from top to bottom
or from left to right. When someone
inquires about the meaning o f the
colors, we should be knowledgeable
enough to give an intelligent answer.
H opefully the popular rap groups
like Public Enemy, the Statasonics
and other artists and entertainers w ill
devote more tim e in their lyrics, raps
and videos to leaching the meaning
o f the red,black and green. The A f r i
can-American com m unity is deeply
indebted to those young people who
have picked up the legacy o f Garvey
and are spreading it in our time. They
need to keep on pushing it. Thank
god for some "C o lo rs ” that have a
real message and meaning fo r the
National African-Am erican Commu
nity!
Bob’s Outlet Store
5001 N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd.
jjSuper Deals on Home Furnishings
And More!!
Factory Close Outs
Overstocks
e’re new so come by and
get acquainted
by A. Wali Muhammad
When unarmed members o f the
Nation o f Islam threw to the ground
an apparent drug dealer w ielding a
shotgun at the outset o f the
Dopcbusters drug program in Wash
ington, D.C. in A p ril, the images
poppped up on television sets in liv
ing rooms throughout America.
Nevertheless, when a highly vis
ible Jewish " m ilita n t” went to a
rooftop in the East V illag e o f M an
hattan, New Y o rk C ity on august 10
w ith a high-powered rifle and shot a
69-ycar-old bystander, then held the
neighborhood under siege fo r nearly
tw o hours, very little national cover
age was given to the incident.
" I t doesn’t sound a ll that major to
me, “ responded an editor on the na
tional desk o f the Chicago Tribune
when asked why that paper, ranked
fifth in the nation, had not covered
the story.
[When asked his name, the editor
hung up the phone. The paper’ s
managing editor, F. Richard Ciccone,
later apologized fo r that editor’ s
behavior, but still said choices had to
be made about what stories would
run, and that story was not selected.]
A n ironic tw ist to the story is that
the Jewish " m ilita n t” is Mordechai
L evy, head o f the Jewish Defense
Organization (JDO),which advocates
violence and offers weapons training
to Jews, and called for the "d e a th ”
o f M inister Louis Farrakhan.
Levy and Irv Rubin o f the Jewish
Defense Lcaguc(JDL),both involved
in the incident, are responsible fo r
Black student
unions having to spend tens o f
thousands o f dollars in extra security
expenses because these Jewish " t e r
rorists” have alleged that M inister
Farrakhan is violent.
Even more ironic. Levy, 27, was
fleeing from Rubin when Levy ran to
the rooftop w ith a Ruger M ini-14
rifle and fired a burst o f shots toward
the street below. One bullet struck
C om inic Spinelli, 69, in the left knee,
as he sat in his com pany’s van, ac
cording to the New York Daily News.
The incident began when Rubin
and three others attempted to serve
Levy w ith c iv il court papers con
cerning a libel suit Rubin filed against
Levy.
Levy told police, after they had
talked him into surrendering nearly
two hours later, "T h e y came to my
building with guns...They were going
lo k ill me,” the D aily News reported.
Levy would probably face at
tempted murder charges, according
to Chief o f Department Robert Johnson
Safeway is in your Neighborhood to Stay
SAFEWAY
Ad Effective 8-23 Thru 8/29/89
Tender Plump
Fryer
Hindquarters
Approximate 5-Pound Bag. Tender, juicy
and a favorite for outdoor barbecues. Packed
with lots of nutrition and loved by adults and
kids. Perfect to oven bake or broil. Stock up!
(Smaller Size Packages . . . Lb. 49‘)
THIN CRUST
9 " Pizza
Single Topping Only! Choose
Cheese • Italian Sausage • Pepperoni
• Canadian Bacon. Extra toppings,
50 Cents each. Fresh Made daily.
SAFEWAY