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Portland Observer A p rii 25,1990, Page 7
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N ew A lliance P arty
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Who Says They Didn’t Make A Revolution? We Do!
The Private Industry Council Graduates (see story front page)
are seated, left to right:
Yvonne Hudson, Veronica Curtis, Donald Rogers and Irene Washington.
Standing:, left to right, John Miller, Brenda Clemons, Virgil Jackson, Kirsten Jones,
Charlotte Rogers and Geri Howe.
A frican A merican
F estival
J uly 18-22
K ing / Q ueen / P rince / P rincess
CROWNING
JULY 18
The w om en’s liberation movement,
ignited by the Black liberation m ove­
ment, erupted full force in the early
70’s. Dismissed by the corporate -owned
media as the hysteria of a few bra-
buming loudmouths, “ wom en’s lib ”
was in fact a mass movement of women
fed up with economic discrimination,
political disem pow erm ent and the cul­
tural disfigurem ent that reached into
every comer.of personal life; it made an
indelible mark on the thought, language
and aspirations of middle class women
and a significant dent in the laws up­
holding institutionalized sexism.
But the w om en’s movement was
never revolutionary; its leaders didn't
intend nor did they organize to bring
about the radical transformation of
society, in particular its structures of
power and privilege based on class,
race and gender. Underneath their
revolutionary ihetonc, they weren’t about
remaking an exclusionary and hierar­
chical system but about making it in
that system; they wanted brothers, bosses
and husbands to move over so there
would be room for them and for women
like themselves.
In fact the leadership w eren’t even
feminists in the true sense of that word;
what they meant by “ sisterhood” was
the loyalty of middle class women to
their own class interests and the coop­
eration of working class women for the
advancement of those interests. Then
as now , the m ovem ent’s leaders wanted
nothing to do with “ other” w o m e n -
genuine radicals who put their lives
(not to mention their careers and their
comforts, if they had any) on the line,
day in and day out, in the struggle to
make a belter world. The sham revolu­
tionaries have never been w illing to
give credit where credit is due—to women
like A ngela Davis and Lolita Lebron, to
the Maryknoll Sisters and the W eather-
women, to Asata Shakur (formerly
Joanne Chesimard) and Black Panther
M inister o f Information Elaine Brown.
By the late 70’s the leadership o f the
w om en’s movement had gotten much
of w hat it came for the life o f the
m ovem ent went out of it. W hat re­
m ained was embodied in the National
Organization for W omen, whose lead­
ers settled down into a marriage o f con­
venience with the Democratic Party.
This arrangem ent (which included as a
dowry millions of women’s votes), made
to benefit a handful of w annabees, per­
m anently excluded the broad masses o f
poor women and women o f color and
left behind millions of progressive middle
class white women who would soon be
abandoned to the “ dress for success’’
and “ having it a ll” form ulas o f the
Reagan years. As for the lesbian women
who had done much o f the work to build
the w om en’s m ovem ent, they were
shoved back behind the scenes and into
the closet. They, too, were not the right
kind o f woman.
I know all about the phony revolu-
tionary/fake fem inist leadership o f the
white w om en’s movem ent, because as
a working class Black radical I have
never been their kind o f woman, either.
And they haven’t hesitated to let me
know it.
Two years ago, when I was making
history as the first woman and the first
African American Presidential candi­
date ever to b on the ballot in every
state, 400 NOW m em bers attending the
organization’s annual conference in Buf­
falo, New york signed a resolution call­
ing for NOW to recognize the “ historic
achievement” of my independent Presi­
dential campaign and to “ inform all
women across the country” that there
would be an independentopion on the
ballot that year. But the phony revolu­
tionaries who were the leaders of NOW
were no more concerned with dem oc­
racy than the party they had married.
They didn’t w ant the women of A m er­
ica to know that a radical Black woman
was running for President as an inde­
pendent. And so they made sure that
the resolution would never see the light
phone! The “ revolutionary” d id n ’t
want a radical Black w om an to speak.
This past S unday ’s New York Tim es
M agazine featured an article called
“ W ho Says W e Didn ’ t Make a R evolu­
tion?” W ritten by som eone w ho made
a name for herself in the 60’s as one o f
the offical chroniclers o f the w om en’s
m ovement, the article is deeply o ffen­
sive; it dem onstrates that it’s not ju st
men (from the founding fathers o f the
18th century to the talking leftists of
our own day) who have given revolu­
tion a bad name in this c o u n try -a n d
why the “ revolution” of som e white
people, by some w hite people, for some
white people, is dead. Stone dead.
“ It is now 1990,” the self-serving
and unintentionally revealing article
concludes. “ The swirl and excitem ent
of the 70’s has, o f necessity, ab ated .”
Yes, the white revolution is indeed dead,
But in the streets o f A m erica’s w orking
class Black com m unities, on our c o l­
lege campuses, and at the polling booths,
something very much alive, som ething
very exciting, som ething very revolu­
tionary, is going on. It is a m ovem ent,
a Black-led and m ulti-racial, w orking
class-w ide, pro-wom an and pro-gay,
militantly independent political m ove­
ment.
It is part o f the w orld-wide m ove­
ment for dem ocracy, and its name is the
New Alliance Party. I am proud to be a
leader o f it and to be building it with the
support of many thousands o f middle
class women who are not content, as the
author o f the article is, with “ the m em ­
ory o f visionary politics” but are still
com m itted, still rebellious, and still
young (because it’s not a m atter of
time) enough to fight fo r-a n d not just
talk a b o u t-a better world.
o f day.
They went further than that. During
the first plenary session of the Buffalo
conference I responded to an invitation
from N O W ’s president, Molly Yard, to
every woman who was running for of­
fice to come up onto the stage. The
audience cheered and applauded when
I introduced myself. But as I began to
say more, Yard grabbed my arm and
tried to move me away from the m icro­
ence.”
In a year characterized by change
around the world. Essence begins its
third decade o f publishing by paying
tribute to women that have made a dif­
ference in the political, social, artistic,
educational and business arenas. This
bigger-than-ever Essence issue applauds
the diversity o f female heroines in a
three-part feature entitled “ Legends In
O ur T im e.”
In addition to Mother Hale, Harlem
matriarch and founder of Hale House, a
home for children with AIDS, Judith
Jam ison, former lead dancer and now
president o f The Alvin Ailey Dance
Theater, Dr. Johnetta Cole, the first A f­
rican-A m erican and woman president
o f Spelman College, Faye W attleton,
president o f the Planned Parenthood
We Can't S p ell Success W ith ou t U!H
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Federation o f America, Oprah W in­
frey, talk show host and leading film
producer, and W innie Mandela, South
African human rights activist, there are
also the women of prom ise who will
carry the tradition throughout the 21st
century. Some of these women are,
Barbara Ann Teer, founder of the N a­
tional Black Theatre, award-winning
director, actress and educator and Rev.
Dr. Johnnie Colem on, a prime m over in
the New Thought philosphy.
The 20th Anniversary issue scores a
scoop with a timely feature on O akland,
California, w hose resurgence is charac­
terized by the return of the NFL Oakland
Raiders from Los Angeles earlier this
month. Essence editors explore the city
that symbolizes the struggle o f African-
Americans, covering the 20 years be­
tween the Black Panthers and the com ­
plex social issues o f the 90’s.
O ther special features in the May
1990 anniversary issue of Essence (due
on newsstands April 15) are;
“ W oman Talk ” - a conversation be­
tween author, activist and poet June
Jordan and advocator o f change Angela
Davis.
“ D on’t W e Style!” - a n incredible
journey from our African past to today.
Black women dazzle with an inherited
.
’’Ava
;tr.
X— A quick, unihougM-out\
inswer is worthless to me; your
thinking silence when asked a
question is amply worth my
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great American writers share life les­
sons and personal practice.
“ W hat Have They Done For Us
L ately?” - t h e rise and fall o f affirm a­
tive action in the Suprem e C ourt
“ Black W omen At W ork” - w e ’ve
made gains as managers, anchorwomen,
m ayors, entrepreneurs, and presidents
of colleges; but where are w e really?
“ O ur Families Then and N ow ” —a
look at the A frican-A m erican fam ily
over the last 20 years.
“ Repeat Perform ance” - a pairing
of great women perform ers w ith the
younger ones who are carrying on tra d i­
tion.
Essence will celebrate its T w entieth
Anniversary throughout the year w ith
more special features. O ne o f the fa st­
est-growing m agazines in the U nited
States. Essence has a guaranteed monthly
circulation of 850,000 and a readership
o f more than 4 m illion. Its parent
company, Essence Communications, Inc.
(ECI), includes Essence D irect M ail,
which distributes Essence By M ail, a
catalog marketed to B lack consum ers,
and Essence A rt R eproductions. E s­
sence Licensing, another division of
ECI, includes the E ssence E yew ear line
and the Essence C ollection by B utter -
ick, a sew ing-pattern w ardrobe.
sense o f style.
“ Graceful Passages” -E leven o f our
Sauce Supreme
is now available to all
TJs Sentry Markets as well as m any other area stores.
SEE
the display at Strchecker’s this weekend
For more information call 284-4004
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Baker Cajun Style
Support Our A d vertisers
■ fi: {
Dr. Lenora Fulani
Chairperson, New Alliance Party
Essence Magazine Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary With Women
Who Have Made A Difference
May issue.
“ T he 20th anniversary issue o f E s­
sence is a living document to the struggle
and victories o f the African-American
w om an,” said editor-in-chief Susan L.
Taylor. “ W e have searched and trav­
eled the country to find the witnesses
and survivors who have made a differ­
Portland Observer
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New York, N Y -F ounded in May 1970
to provide a forum for issues concern­
ing African-American women, and a
showcase for achievem ent and talent.
Essence celebrates twenty years of
grow th, struggle, and progress in the
S a y You S a w It In The . . . .
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