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P age A 2
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The ¡DJortlanh (JDbserucr
■) B e rykt P owell J ackson
Civil Rights Journal
\p e r s p e c t i v e s
Nigeria's Day Of Infamy
A Renaissance For Northeast?
women and the burning o f homes.
o f the nation has become poorer,
Nigeria. I heCommonwealih nations,
A T ow that South Africa is
The human rights activists exe­
with per capita income dropping to
o f which Nigeria is a part, have sus­
free, it seems that Ni­
cuted by the government had been
$250 in 1993. With an inflation rate
pended Nigeria. And while the U.S.
geria is fast becoming
imprisoned for over a year, ostensibly
o f more than 100 percent annually,
has protested the executions, the N i­
the African nation with the
for the charges by the Nigerian m ili­
N igeria’scurrency is virtually worth­
gerian government has proved that
dubious honor of being “the
tary o f inciting riots which led to the
less. Last year a government panel
they do not respond to words and
most repressive regime.”
murders o f four Nigerian traditional
found that the government could no,
warnings. Only action w ill cause the
W ith the N igerian government’s
leaders. However, few actually be­
account for $12.2 billion in oil sales
Nigerian military to respond. Only
execution o f nine human rights cam­
lieve that the soft-spoken and profes­
made during the Persian G u lf War A
political and economic isolation will
paigners, including writer Ken Saro-
sorial Mr. Saro-Wiwa guilty o f those
nation once known for its excellent ‘ impact that government Only tar­
W'iwa, Nigeria has now become a
charges. He did lead a movement which
higher education system now has seen
geted economic sanctions, particu­
nation condemned by the world.
demanded that the government pro­
that crumble, and repression has re­
larly related to Nigerian oil, w ill im­
Despite warnings from the in­
tect their horn land’s environment from
placed free expression. Nigeria is
pact
that government. O nly targeted
ternational com m unity, N ig e ria ’s
misuse by U. S. oil companies and that
falling q uickly into total economic
economic sanctions, particularly re­
military ruler, General Sani Abacha
the federal government share oil reve­
and social decay.
lated to Nigerian oil, w ill impact that
proceeded with the execution o f the
nues with Ogoni people. Shell O il in
While nine o f the Ogoni human
government. Only the freezing ofthe
leaders ofthe Ogoni people, who had
particular had been a target for Mr.
rights activists were executed, others
assets o f the Nigerian military re­
been protesting the government’s
Saro-Wiwa’s movement.
remain in prison. Other Nigerians,
gime, as was done in Haiti, w ill im­
action in their land. Earlier this year
Many believe that it was the
including former military president
pact that government.
Human Rights Watch, the interna­
demand for the sharing o f oil reve­
Olusegun Obasanjo, who had been
(Note: Write to Senator Nancy
tional human rights organization,
nues that ultimately led to the execu­
accused o f plotting against the gov­
Kassenbaum, chairperson o f the Sen­
released a report showing that N ige­
tions. B y controlling Nigeria’s oil,
ernment but had his death sentence
ate Sub-committee on Africa, U S.
ria’s military had carried out a two
which provides 80 percent o f the
commuted, are still in danger In
Senate, Washington D C. 20510 or
year war against the Ogoni people,
country’s foreign exchange earnings,
reality, the whole nation is being held
write toShellO il, PhilipCarroll-Pres.,
who live in an oil-rich section ofthe
General Abacha and many senior
hostage to the Nigerian military d ic­
One Shell Plaza, 901 Louisiana Street,
countty. The report detailed attacks
military officers are said to have be­
tatorship.
Houston, T X 77002 and ask them to
on civilians, including shooting o f
come multi-millionaires.
The world has the responsibility
take action against further human rights
unarmed villagers, gang rapes o f
This had occurred while the rest
o f condemning wha, is happening in
violations in Nigeria.)
X /s m
f o g e
N o w , ju s t
how “ hum anis­
tic’’ this so cio ­
economic evolu-
I tion will be re­
garded probably
w ill depend on
the view-point o f the particular ob­
server (economic interest). It was
only a few months ago that I wrote
here ofthe changing nature o f traf­
fic on Northeast Alberta street
which, by the way has become a
high speedarterial--tohigh). O vera
period o f just five years, the ratio o f
five blacks to one white has exactly
reversed itself,
Along this Alberta Street cor­
ridor and other arterials, and partic­
ularly in respect to the adjoining
residential districts, real estate prices
(and rents) have doubled in many
cases. A key question is what does
this mean to those long-time area
residents and potential investors
who did make some overtures in
response to my articles.
The past few years where I ’ve
pointed out that Portland African
Americans o f 50 and a hundred
years ago found no difficulty in
I pooling their salaries and resources
to develop multiple housing units
and commercial properties.
W ill the impact o f today’s fast­
moving economic and social chang­
es on the area galvanize the area’s
residents into some long-overdue
efforts in the self-help vein — or will
many continue to wail "absentee
landlords” or "gentrification.”
There have been comments that
those old-timers did not have the
“advantage” o f today’s assistance
from federal, state and city agen­
cies, but yet they succeeded with
their “ in vestment clubs and employ­
ee’s association in a magnificent
manner and across the country.
It occurs that this may be ex­
actly why they did succeed - initia­
tive, drive and common sense. If,
today, we add those public sector
P o ir v t
Aristide Stiffens Resistance To World Bank/IM F Economic Plan
bi
D aniels
a n ie l s
R on D
C*
little more than a year
a9 °. ,he Haitian people
waved American flags
and welcomed U.S. Troops as
they landed to displace the
coup leaders Cedras, Francois
and Biamby. The stated goal of
the U.S. Brokered agreement
was to ensure the safe return
of President Jean Bertrand
Artistide to Haiti to finish his
term tin office.
. .
States, there ____________
was a concerted,
gov
ernment sponsored effort to discred­
it Aristide and undermine his popu­
larity with the Haitian people. The
last person the U.S. wanted to return
to power in Haiti, its public pro­
nouncements to the contrary, was
Jean Bertrand Aristide. The fact that
Aristide was democratically elected
by such an overwhelming margin
and the ruthless repression o f the
Haitian people at the hands o f the
coup
le ad ers
p laced
U .S .
policymakers in a bind. They were
forced to consider restoring Aristide
to his presidency. The question was
under what conditions would the U.S.
be w illing to return Aristide to pow­
er?
Vf/iat the Haitian people were
unaware o f was that the U .S. had its
own agenda and reasons for return­
ing A ristide to power. President
Aristide campaigned on when he was
elected to office by a landslide in
1990. Aristide promised land reform,
The terms were quite steep. The
an increase in the minimum wage,
U .S. brokered agreement called for
and other policies which would ame­
President Aristide to leave office in
liorate the plight o f H aiti’s suffering
January o f 1996, thereby relinquish­
masses. He also pledged that he would
ing the three and a half years which
resist efforts to make Haiti a neo­
he was unable to complete in office
colony o f the U .S. and other foreign
because o f the coup. The U .S. also
investors. A ristide’s militant equali-
demanded that Aristide agree to a
tarian rhetoric q uickly caused him to
structural adjustment program ”
fall intodisfavorwith H aiti's wealthy
fash ioned by the World Bank and the
elite and the U .S. government. The
International Monetary Fund.
coup d ’etat which toppled Aristide
According to an article in The
from power was in no small measure
Peasant, the official Newsletter o f
precipitated by his commitment to
the Peasant Movement o f Papay E d ­
real democracy and people based
ucation and Development Fund, key
economic development. H is first four
elements o f the structural adjustment
months in office made it abundantly
program include: “Opening up H ai­
clear that his campaign rhetoric was
ti’s economy by reducing all tariffs
not ju st electioneering but real.
to zero; privatizing state-held enter­
Hence, President Aristide was over­
prises; establishment o f a pro-busi­
thrown with the com plicity o f the
ness environment to attract foreign
U .S. government.
investment, including incentives for
During his stay in the United
export oriented industries in the as­
'
sembly plant sector; suppression of
wages...” Under this plan everything
from the state-held flour m ill to the
airport, the/:ement works, telephone
company, the seaport and the banks
would be taken over by foreign in­
vestors. Hence, Haiti would become
something akin to a giant “Em pow­
erment Zone" in the U.S. with out­
side interests exploiting cheap labor,
tax breaks and give aways to create
enormous fortunes for their inves­
tors.
Faced with the continued slaugh­
ter o f Haiti civilians, including large
numbers o f militants from the popu­
lar movement, Aristide reluctantly
agreed to these terms and returned to
Haiti riding on the bayonets o f what
became a U .S. occupation force.
There is no question bu, that Aristide
does not favor the World Bank/IM F
plan. But until recently he has largely
been held hostage to the internation­
al agreements which returned him to
power. It now appears that President
Aristide may have been stalling for
time awaiting the outcome o f the
elections for a new national assem­
bly to begin to play his hand.
The result o f the elections, in
which A ristide’s Lavalas Coalition
scored a sweeping victory, coupled
with growing protests in the street,
indicate that the Haitian people are
o verw helm ingly opposed to the
World Bank/IM F sponsored foreign
take over o f Haiti. The open and
growing opposition to this highly
unpopular plan has created some
space for President Aristide to ma­
neuver and he is showing signs o f
I®
'h e “Renaissance’ is
described as the
'tra n s itio n a l m ove­
ment in Europe betw een
medieval and modern times
beginning in Italy in the 14th
century - a humanistic revival
of art, literature, science and
architecture. I am using the
term as a metaphor for the
fluid and volatile situation in
northeast demographics and
real estate.
stiffening his resistance to the impo­
sition o f the Word Bank/IM F struc­
tural adjustment program. He recently
shuffled his cabinet, replacing Prime
Minister Smarck M ichel, who gener­
ally favored the rapid implementa­
tion ofthe structural adjustment pro­
gram, with Claudette Werleigh, a
Lavalas loyalist who previously
served as Foreign Minster. Though
Aristide seems w illing to thwart the
World Bank/IM F plan, he is still in a
very precarious position. The inter­
national community, led by the U.S.,
is threatening to cut offvarious forms
o f aid to Haiti if the Aristide govern­
ment does not comply with the struc­
tural adjustment program.
The current situation in Haiti
poses a major challenge to the U.S. -
Haiti solidarity movement which
seems to have gone to sleep at the
wheel since the return o f President
Aristide. Though we must continue
to support President Aristide, the real
struggle forauthentic democracy and
development is being waged by the
popular movement. It is critically
important that the solidarity move­
ment intensify the effort to mobilize
material support for the popular
movement to enhance its capacity to
be an effective voice for the Haitian
masses. Finally, the solidarity move­
ment must mount a campaign to ex­
pose the designs o f U.S. the govern­
ment to make Haiti a neo-colony.
President Aristide’s resistance to the
World Bank/IM F plan w ill be forti­
fied by the popular movement and
the work ofthe U.S. - Haiti solidarity
movement.
supports, can there be any excuse
for failure to develop' one’s own
community I am thinking in partic­
ular o f all the recent statements o f I
“commitment and renewal" on the
part ofthose brothers returning from
the "Mother O f A ll Marches” . W ill
it be more rhetoric? W ill we be like
the “ Red Queen” in Le w isC a rro ll’s
famous book. Through The Lo o k­
ing Glass? The Red Queen was not­
ed for running simply to stay in the
same place: On a |
treadmill!
I ce rtain ly!
By
hope not and I
Professor certainly hope we
Mckinley
are not going to
Burt
have more situa­
tions here like
one failed real estate venture in
Washington, D .C. -- a scene with
which I am intimately familiar. In
1971 I delivered a lecture to that
section o f the student body at
Howard University involved in tech­
nology. My, theme was a “ Renais­
sance’ was needed in terms o f the
early black contributors to the tech­
nology ofthe Industrial Revolution
(using my book. Black Inventors
o f America” ).
C arrie d aw ay by the su c­
cess o f the lectures and a stim u ­
latin g reception by the student
body. I m istaken ly carried over
this upbeat visio n to the general
com m unity - w hich was “ T a lk - j
in g -th at-ta lk" and m akin g n o is­
es about an econom ic R e n a is­
sa n ce ’ Not too far from the
school and a few b lo ck s from I
the W hite House was a group o f l
rundown m ostly vacant stone f
apartment b u ild in gs. The absen­
tee landlord across the rive r in
V irg in ia was bankrupt and want­
ed out -- “ no m ore b la c k s ,!
p lease."
A fter several months o f co n ­
versations with the h ig h -le ve l,
s u p e r-e d u c a te d b la c k s w ho
"talked" economic development
it became o b vio u s they had no
interest in re a lity ’ . T h e y re­
fused to co n sid er any uses o f the
properties and it reverted to the
city. The last time I was in Wash-1
ington (1991. twenty year la t­
er), the property had long since
been bought and converted to
so p h istica te d apartm ents for
high level bureaucrats ($ 1 0 0 a
room ). And b lacks were c ry in g
" g e n t r if ic a t io n - r ip o f f .” L i k e !
Portland?
kTlii' JjJortlanb (©bseruer
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ouncil _________
f f your house was burn­
ing, and your children
were in it, would you
care who brought the water”,
so quoted one of the speakers
at the Saturday informational
meeting who gave credit for
the quote to the Reverend
Lowery, Southern Christian
Leadership Conference at the
October 16, 1995 Million Man
March in Washington, D.C.
TB!
c®:
Some 125 local African Am eri­
cans, mostly males, attended this all
day workshop at the Lutheran City
Ministries at Skidmore and Martin
Luther King, Jr. Blvd. The workshop
commenced at 9:00AM with co-
chairpersons brothers Lolenzo Poe,
o f the Coalition o f Black Men and
Gary X o f the local Muslim temple
officiating Several very important
4
______ _____ i - j
persons attended including Bishop
W e lls and Representative Avel
Gordly. Contributions o f money and
people resources were made by other
community organizations.
The diversity o f the group was
emphasized by one o f the speakers
who attended the march in Washing­
ton who said he was impressed by the
nature o f the group, from the man
who was there with no shoes to the
brothers who had on $900.00 suits. It
appeared to be the same here in Port­
land as the young and old, low in­
come and middle income, male and
female attended this event
The organizations that could
readily be identified included repre­
sentatives from Albina Ministerial
Association (included the use ofthe
building furnished by Rev Gilmore),
the N A A C P , Coalition o f Black Men.
Nation o f Islam, and the Black I Init-
4
__
ed Front. While there was probably
other organizations present and par­
ticipating, they were not identified.
The program wasexciting Some
six (6) representatives who attended
the Washington event gave very ex­
acting and emotional accounts o f the
trip One brother who was in Boston
at the time and traveled early on the
day ofthe event, said that he thought
that he was going to have problems
locating Portland people, on ly to enter
the mall and see a very large brother
with a coverall suit on proclaiming o f
the back “C ity o f Portland '
Brother Jerome Polk, along with
others such as James Posey, O B
H ill. Floyd Cruse spoke o f how im­
pressed they were with the crowd
behavior Each one o f them, in some
fashion, indicated that there was so
much love, emotion and caring in the
group In fact, one brother stated that
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Some 125 Local African Americans Attended An All Day Workshop
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*
the action was in the crowd and at
times he did not pay attention to the
speakers and had to come home and
listen to the tapes.
During the highlight ofthe event,
a video tape presentation by the M in­
ister Farrakhan, Brother Gary X pre­
sented the group with the speech,
entitled “W illie Lynch Address? In
the year 1712.” Brother Gary X also
passed out the pledge that was taken
in Washington and here. Both o f
these are reprinted here for your in­
formation
I here is a Local O rganizing
Committee that has been organized
here to carry out the program so
articulated in D .C. and by so many of
the eloquent speakers here Ifyou are
interested in following up and being
invols ed in the program, please con­
tact the Nation o f Islam. N A A C P or
the Coalition o f Black Men
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