Make It Plain: Understanding the Historical Task In Front Of Us

The Completion of the Rebuilding The Pan-African Liberation Movement/Revolution And Understanding The Effects Of COINTELPRO On Our Movement

By Abdul Jabbar Caliph

“Specific steps should be taken to inhibit coordinated activity of the Black movement in the U.S. …Bing into effect a special program designed to perpetuate division in the Black movement to neutralize the most active groups.” (U.S. National Security Council Interdepartmental Group for Africa, National Security Memorandum No.46 [NSC-46]” 1973 Carter Administration 

Uhuru Comrades

I greet you with the Kiswahili word meaning freedom, the most important word in the vocabulary of a Pan-African Revolutionary and the number one priority in the minds of any real Pan-African solider! Currently we are faced with the incredible task of rebuilding a movement that was crushed during the mid-seventies by a ruthless anti-African counterinsurgency program. 

It is because of this defeat that today we find our movement in such a dire state of weakness, a weakness that has kept the people in servitude to the colonialist-capitalist structure that exist in the United States. Meanwhile, the rest of our people are forced in a live of political oppression and economical exploitation throughout the Diasporas by an internationalist monster known as imperialism because of the natural resources that exist in Mother Africa. Those resources being the human labor that we supply and the natural resources that are unearthed daily. 

In order to overcome this crisis we must examine the tactics that were used to halt the Pan-African Liberation Movement (PALM) of the 60’s and 70’s. The counterintelligence program of that decade, better known as the COINTELPRO was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had five stated goals and objects that had a global impact on our movement while it was in its infancy. Those stated goal and objectives were as follows:

1. The prevention of the coalition of any black militant nationalist organization, for in unity there is strength. They realized that this might be the first step towards a real “Mau Mau” in America, the beginning of a true black revolution; 
2. The prevention of the development and raise of a “Messiah” figure that could have the ability and the desire to direct a unified black militant nationalist movement
3. The prevention of violence on the part of black militant nationalist organization, this was of primary importance to this program. The identification and neutralization of any potential troublemaker to the internal security of this nation and its oversea interest
4. The prevention of any black militant nationalist organization from gaining any type of respectability
5. The prevention long-range growth of black militant organizations, especially among the youth.

It is because of this counterinsurgency program that we have lost many of our noble son and daughters of Africa due to political assassinations, imprisonment, forced exile and political slander conducted by this government. This program has not only affected us physically but it has damaged us psychologically. Many of our comrades are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder due to the affects of being under the constant threat of death in war time situation, low-intensity-conflict.

Comrades what we need to understand is that no domestic counterinsurgency program can be successful without it’s international counterpart. The Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, National Ssecurity Aagency, and all the other US spook organizations, have made it a habit to practice the domestic repression campaigns overseas. While many of us recognize the counterinsurgency program COINTELPRO many of us are unaware of the counterinsurgency program established by the CIA in the United States of America to destroy the domestic part of the Pan-African Liberation Movement.

Three such programs have been identified as being launched by the CIA domestically to help crush the movement. The United States Senate reveled this information after they conducted an investigation into the illegal activities of the CIA during the late 1960s and the early 1970s. The first counterinsurgency program was identified as Project CHAOS which involved illegal tampering with mail by the agency of those organizations identified as security threats on its “watch list”. The next program to be identified was named Project RESISTANCE which illegally gathered and compiled counterintelligence information on a number of alleged radical organizations. The last program to be identified during this period was called Project MERRIMAC which illegally operated in this country from the years of 1967 to 1973. Its primary mission was to conducted anti-black operations of infiltration of various Black political organizations.

During the 60’s many of us were already aware of the CIA involvement in Africa to a certain extent. They were responsible for the death of Patrice Lumumba and overthrowing Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana through the use of the military, through the use of coups d’état. They attempted to assassinated Castro of Cuba over 100 times, only to fail. We know that they followed Malcolm X while he was overseas and are even believed to have tried to assassinate him. Who can forget the assassination of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark here in the United States? Yes, this is the type of stuff that the United States government does to those who wish to free their people from political oppression and economical exploitation and establish justice under a socialist government that will truly offer real change.  Hell, in 1969 we witnessed the death of 28 panthers and the arreste and imprisonment 749 people who were activists.

"The nationalist liberation movement in Black Africa can act as a catalyst with far-reaching effects on the American Black community…(D)ue weight must be given to the fact there are 25 million American Blacks whose roots are African and who consciously or subconsciously sympathize with African nationalism.”    (U.S. National Security Council Interdepartmental Groups for Africa, National Security Memorandum No.46 [NSC-46])."                                          

The international implications of this counterinsurgency programs on the movement is not really understood nor is it discussed among us. We have to realize that every since 1963 the FBI has been requesting CIA intervention in the illegal investigation of Americans abroad. It was through these procedures that the FBI secured the assistances of the CIA in conducting illegal investigations of black militant leaders and antiwar activists who went overseas.  The United States Government is no fool, they recognized the fact that Pan-African Liberation Movement in Africa could act as a catalyst with far- reaching effects on Black people here in America. 

"With Africa now a crucible of great-power maneuver, we cannot afford to have our Africa policies hostage to the bitter memories still cherished by those who struggled for racial equality in America. We cannot let Africa become a stage on which America act out their psychic traumas. (Richard M. Nixon, The Real War, p.9)"

It is not widely known to the public that all law enforcement agencies, which are considered paramilitary organizations, receive some sort of counterinsurgency or counterintelligence training. This training is often masked as gang identification training. Those that are unfortunately labeled as such are identified under the label as “security threat groups” or “person of interest” and or often placed in photo binder with a photo of the individual(s) along with important information. Organizations such as Homeland Security, FEMA and other private agencies such as MARGIN and MACGLOCEEN often are given federal grant money to conduct such training programs. The majority of public gun ranges even conducted such training as well as the military with joint law enforcement agency.

Sister Comrade Assata Shakur was not wrong when she stated the fact that she believed that this program still existed just in another form. It doesn’t matter if you call it Safe Streets, Officer Friendly, McGruff the Dog, Weed and Seed, a War on Crime/Gangs or call it a War on Drugs they all are counterinsurgency programs designed to cripple the movement for the liberation of African People. Today we see the emergence of another counterinsurgency program designed to further oppress the people called the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which allows you to be illegally arrested and detained without questioning or due process of law, as if due process every really existed for  Black people. Under this act you can housed in a secret prison without anyone knowing for an undisclosed amount of time and be charged as a terrorist for what every crime the government see fit to charge you with: even for speaking out against this government.

It is because of this counterinsurgency program that we see the massive incarnation of the African working class today in the penal system of this country. Comrade Mumia Abu Jamal, a political prisoner points out the following in his article “From the Realm of the Dead” about the drastic effects of the COINTELPRO:

“The 1970’s marked a pivotal phase in U.S. history, as a time of the emergence of the Black Liberation Movement via militant groups like the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), The Republic of New Africa (RNA), and The Black Panther Party (BPP). The striking emergence, the author argues, gave rise to the often startling disparity reflected in statistics which show, in 1990 rates, how whites, roughly 90% of the U.S. population, can become a minority percentage (46%) of those admitted to state prisons, and how blacks (to be precise, black men), roughly 12% of the U.S. population, can balloon upwards to a majority percentage (53.2%) of state prison admissions.”

State Repression is an everyday occurrence if you’re Black and a member of the African working class. It doesn’t matter if you are born in the United States, Africa or any part of the African Diaspora. Under the current global political administration, you have everything to lose including your life. If you’re down for the freedom and liberation of African people then you are at war with Imperialism and it Neo-colonialist, boot-licking henchmen

What do you think AFRICOM is doing in Africa? They are running another counterinsurgency program under the disguise of an aid for humanity program which is designed to destabilize African countries. No matter how much aid they offer we must never let our guards down. AFRICOM is there for one reason and that is control of the resources in Africa! If that means the death and destruction of Africa as we know it, then so be it, they are prepared to do what they deem needs to be done in order to maintain their control over Africa. The questions for us is: are we prepared to do what it takes to win the freedom and independence of Africa? 

Comrades I leave you with the following quote from the late Fred Hampton of the BPP, brutaly murdered by the State of Chicago on December 4, 1968: 

“You can kill the revolutionary, but you can’t kill the revolution. You can jail the liberator, but you can’t jail the liberation. You can run the freedom fighter all around the country, but you can’t stop freedom fighting.”

 

References:

1.       “Black Prison Movements” NOBO, 1995

2.       “Racial Matters” Free Press,1989

3.       “An Unlikely Warrior” By Iyaluua & Herman Furguson ,2011

4.       “Lockdown America” By Christian Parenti ,1999

5.       “The Plot to Destroy” By Ahamadiel Ben Yehuda

6.       “Agents of Repression” By Ward Churchill & Jay Vander Wall, 1998

7.       “Fugitive Thought” By Michael Hames-Garcia, 2004 

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Equality in Marriage: An Issue of Human Rights

By Abdul Jabbar Caliph

“We’ve got to find a way to reconcile ourselves to living in a community, one group with the other. To be successful, the struggle must be waged with resolute efforts that are kept strictly within the framework of our democratic society. This means reaching, educating and moving large enough groups of people of both races to stir the conscience of the nation.” Martin Luther King

All across the United States we are seeing a highly political charged issue being debated that will determine the future of millions of colonized subjects trapped within the decadent boarders of this country. Some have called it disgusting while others have come out in support of it. Whether you call it a civil union, domestic partnership or gay marriage it is an issue that has divide the community not just along racial lines but class lines as well.  

Here in the State of Maryland we have seen the contradictions around this issue; and we have seen how the capitalist power structure has used this issue to divide the masses of the people. This issue has and is being used to elevate a few individuals and professional political operatives to a higher political office at the expense of the masses. It is an issue that keeps the people’s attention misdirected, focused away from the real contradictions that exist in this capitalist society: the contradiction of political oppression and economical exploitation.

We in the Pan-African International Coordinating Committee (PICC) have taken the following political position on this issue. First, we recognize the fact that this a highly charged political issue that is being used to divided the masses. Second, this is not a civil rights issue but an issue of human rights, humanity’s treatment of humanity. Third, we have taken the political position of the original Black Panther Party (BPP) on this issue: as along as a comrade is doing the political work to be free from political oppression and economical exploitation then we have to respect their rights to be a part of humanity, and live the kind of lifestyle they choose. As long as that lifestyle is not harming the interest of the people involved, or the community at large, we have no right to interfere and you had better not touch them. Finally, we also realize that this issue opens the door for other forms of marriage to be accepted such as polygamy. Maryland State must recognize the fact that they cannot regulate true love or what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes.  

We realize that gay bashing can only stop when humanity decides to stand up and end capitalism as a tool of oppression, only under Socialism will gays be able to be recognized as human beings. Second, in order to win their rights of equality the LBGT community must close ranks if this is too be achieved? They are too divided among themselves right now. Third, that which passes itself off as the progressive left in this country must take a stand and stop vacillating on this issue. This community has reached out for help and they deserve an answer. We recommend that instead of waiting and looking for support on this issue that the LBGT take charge and push forward their political campaign.

The LBGT community has not awakened to the fact that the issue homosexual couples being able to marry is being used to elevate certain political officials to higher office. Even through the issue passed both the Senate and the House the bill will not be signed into law by legislators. It will go to a referendum and the people will decide the issue.

This is a tool that relives Maryland States political officials of having any real commitment to the issue, not only that but the bill can still be defeated by gathering 18,579 signatures to stop it from going to the November 6, 2012 ballot. Del. Neil Parrot, a Western Maryland Republican is believed to be heading up the opposition to this bill. He has established a websites making it easier for people to see exactly how their names are listed on the Maryland voters roll so that you can see if the petition is signed correctly. The Ujima People’s Progressive Party (UPP) is establishing such a program in order to become the first Black official independent political party in the State of Maryland.

As we have suggested to a few of our comrades in the Liberate Baltimore Coalition (LBC), the LBGT community must take the lead on this issue. They must be willing to establish and give direction within the campaign, not only must these members be willing to do this they must seek the support of the coalition in order to develop strategy and tactics (goals and objectives) that can be achieved realistically. They need to recognize the fact that this campaign is far from being over.

Malcolm X was right when he said that we have to demand Human Rights not Civil Rights. Civil Rights get passed as Amendments into law and or voted on every 10 or 20 years to see if they are still of importance. The Voters Rights Act is such an issue. Human Rights are the right that you are born with and the rights that everybody must recognize

In closing I want to encourage the people involved in the fight for human rights for the LGBT community keep their heads up and come out swinging with both fist on this issue. If they wait for someone else to take charge of this campaign, they may never get another chance.  

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Samiah Nkrumah and the Current Struggle for Pan-Africanism

Kilaika Anayejali kwa Baruti

By the end of the sixteenth century Ghana with is overwhelming wealth was known as one of the most organized state in its region.  It was vastly known for its gold.  Another major export in Ghana is the Cacao tree, along with timber, and other mineral exports.  The Cacao tree itself exported over 20,000 tons in the 1920s.  The people were also a very skilled people, very well organized warriors and their hunting skills were unmatched.  Ghana carried a very heavy Muslim tradition in the northern sector; the northern sector was ruled by Mossi and Gonja rulers.  These rulers engaged in trade with Muslims which in turn led to the penetration of Islam into the native culture of the people.  Under the leadership of Chief Oti Akenten the Akan and the Ashanti merge into what is now known as Kumasi, through this emergence it brought forth the ritual of the Golden Stool, which Ghana is so popularly known for.  The symbol of the Golden Stool characterizes the chieftainship of the society and is a national symbol.

Even though this emergence came about because of the conquering of the Ashanti over the Akan, the Akan people were still allowed to carry their traditional beliefs and systems.  In this mergence they were not oppressed.  The Ashanti people were highly recognized well into the 18th century.  The Gold Coast at this time was bordered with European merchants.  The first arrival of Europeans was by the Portuguese in the late fourteenth century.  In 1482 the Portuguese built the very first trading coast on the borders of the Gold Coast.  About a century later came the arrival of the Dutch and through constant battle with the Portuguese the Dutch seized El Camino castle, the slave post of many Africans in 1637 along with Axim, another post in 1642.  By the mid-17th century Ghana become more that a trade post for merchants, the importation of slaves became its highest commodity.  Despite the great loss of slave’s lives through despair and disease the profits were increasingly overwhelming.

As reported by Eric Williams the author of Capitalism and Slavery, the only reason slavery was abolished was because of the rise of the Industrial revolution, although some historians would have you believe it was for a sympathetic one.  The rise of the Industrial revolution created a need for more raw materials and created competition in the market for finished goods.  The rise in machinery and industry advancing itself brought about the end of trade with human cargo. The Ashanti, in their quest for independence had many wars with the British known as the Anglo-Ashanti wars or also called the wars of the Golden Stool.  After several determined battles the Ashanti people were colonized in 1902 by the British.  Through the colonization, the British dominated the areas of education, teaching the Ghanaian people as all colonized nation have been taught, the oppressor’s way of life.  This process produced the colonized mind and from it sprang the Ghanaian elite.

During the Post-world war II era national consciousness begin to ensue.  As a result of ex-servicemen coming home from the war and conditions being unpleasant they decided no more.  They joined forces with the farmers and common people who were displeased with the colonized states.  Here the quest of independence began.  Out of the elite sprang the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC); these individuals were also known as the big six.  This was the very first movement to opposed colonial government; however they did not seek revolutionary action.  Kwame Nkrumah himself was a member of the Big Six and because the UGCC was not radical enough and Nkrumah felt that more qualitative action was needed, he formed The Conventional Peoples’ Party (CPP) in June of 1949.  His motto was, “Self-government now.”  The CPP was to carry the banner of the working people versus the intelligentsia which the UGCC carried.  The CPP would carry the torch for the workers, the farmers, youth, and people such as the market women.

Because of the need for self-government now, riots took place out of frustrations and as a result Nkrumah was imprisoned for sedition.  While Nkrumah was imprisoned he won a seat in 1951 in the legislative Assembly.  It is said that the seat was won through the efforts of the Positive Action Campaign that took place in the early 1950s. Once having a seat on the Legislative Assembly Nkrumah was declared Prime Minister and Nkrumah developed a Parliamentary system.  He and the CPP declared a government of political centralization becoming a Single-party state.  Through constant struggle the British finally granted on August 3, 1956 Ghana’s independence and on September 18, 1956 the British Commonwealth declared that March 6, 1957 would be the day that Ghana would be an absolute independent state.  The CPP put in place first the Deportation Act, which means any persons whose presence in the country did not serve the interest of the public good would be expelled.  

On July 1960 Dr’ Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah was declared president for life.  Not only was he president of the country, but he was a driving force to unite Africans throughout the world to work towards Pan-Africanism, for this was the next phase.  He made it clear that Ghana’s independence meant nothing unless Africans throughout the world had the same collective reality, in order to do so unity among the tribes is essential.  He authored such works as Africa Must Unite in 1963 Consciencism, Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare and many others writings that Black Nationalist and Pan-Africanist use as mandatory reading today.  He was a revolutionary visionary whose ideology was a socialist ideology; anti-colonialism, anti-neo-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and anti-exploitation the result of capitalist enterprise. Kwame Nkrumah made it clear that the present reality of today in relation to the advancement of the west, which was clear then, is a direct result of colonial adventures.  Kwame Nkrumah knew that the call for nationalism would be a struggle against the elites as they would compromise with western imperialist for their own self-interest.

So Nkrumah created the Youth Pioneer Movement, their minds were not yet tainted and were ripe for ideological training and would serve the interest of the people. Also out of the work of the CPP came the creation of the Akosombo Hydro Electric project; Tema Harbour, and the University of the Cape Coast. This resulted in Ghana becoming well respected around the world as a Single- party state under the CPP. This was not done without opposition to his revolutionary ideology. A few years later, the party was overthrown by a military coup in 1966 on February 24 while Nkrumah was away in China.  He then took up the rest of his life in Guinea where he later died in 1972.

The coup was led by the National Liberation Council (NLC).  The coup reasons, to justify their action, were saying that the CPP was corrupt and that Nkrumah was a dictator and the Single-party state lacked democracy because of all the laws that were in place to protect them against foreign interest and power.  This coup, many believe, was infiltrated and succeeded because of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The NLC called itself the new democracy and was heavily influence by a western style of government. Many of the members were actually members of the UGCC, which Kwame Nkrumah separated from before forming the CPP.  They stated that Nkrumah and his ideas put Ghana into debt that they had to overturn.  This debt which was supposedly Nkrumah’s fault was a huge conflict in Ghanaian politics in 1971.Cacao still the biggest import fell dramatically with the rise of competition from neighbouring countries such as Cote D’Ivoire, it is also said that with the rise in free market and competition, Ghana’s lack of knowledge of free market, was a cause as well to this decline.

The second republic after CPP being the first was formed the years of 1972-1979.  It held more military control than democracy most would argue. In 1974 there were major accusations of corruption that begin to surface and a s a result of it the Supreme Military Council was put into place in 1975.  In July 1978 inflation was very hard hitting to the economy with an estimated high of 300 percent.  The SMC was overthrown by a group of young army men in June of 1979 under the leadership of Jerry John Rawlings, who was a flight lieutenant, and they formed the AFRC, Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.  This created the third republic; under the administration led by Hilla Limman, the Limman People National Party (LPNP), which fell on December 31, 1981 due to another Rawlings, led coup and as a result established the Provisional Defence Council who suspended the 1979 constitution.  Ghana then moved from Single-party state to a Multi-party elections state.  Rawlings took leadership of the fourth republic which came into existence January 7th 1993. The current president of Ghana is John Evans Atta Mills, who took office as the third president of this fourth republic on January 7th 2009.  This term is expected to end 2009.  This now brings us to the current state of affairs and CPP’s relationship to Ghana.

Samiah Nkrumah, not only is the daughter of Kwame Nkrumah, but she is also a woman.  The odds have and are being stacked against her.  However, she is making leaps being elected Leader and Chairperson of the CPP. The CPP under the leadership of Samiah wants to serve the interest of the people but first they must raise the party’s profile.  They must spark a fire in the people that create unity.  Samiah has travelled abroad with the launching of the book Africa Must Unite and awakening people to these ideas proving that these ideas are still alive, but also more necessary today as they were yesterday.  Samiah is also reaching out to Africans abroad and creating solidarity with grassroots parties.  Many initiatives and programs have been launched to show solidarity around Ghana and to win the peoples trust in what can be.

Samiah is constantly battling negative propaganda, pessimistic view on the attack of the ideas of Pan-Africanism, yet she is consistent and sincere.  The CPP goal is to organize the party on the polling station level.  She wants to present to the Ghanaian people that with a credible and trustworthy candidate for 2012, a politician of integrity and sincerity that the initial party was built on, a party of selflessness and self-determination and for freedom from oppression and exploitation they can have a Ghana that serves the people.  They can again stand at the forefront of a Pan-African reality.

On January 8, 2010 the CPP marked Positive Action Day.  Samiah gave a speech in Jomoro.  She called for prayers in courage to be an honest politician a politician of integrity and a politician who can sacrifice and also tell the truth.  She spoke on the necessity for the people to be a people of self-reliance and confidence, a people who can depend on themselves.  She said it is so necessary even more today for people to retire the colonized ways.  Samiah has made it very clear that foreign advisors are not needed and that the women and men of Ghana can create their own solutions.  Samiah has pointed out the fact that many years ago Ghana under the leadership of her father obtained their political freedom and now today Ghana must gain control of their own resources so they can solve the problems of today.  She knows that this is a fight for economic freedom and to achieve it, moral courage is a necessity so that Ghana will not be a country lead by corruption.

Samiah mentioned that as everyone knows she grew up in a home where the word unity was used commonly.  She had a very clear idea of what the CPP was about and today she feels that she has a direct responsibility and allegiance to revive it based off of its principles alone. Samiah has made it clear that because they owe no one anything they can be more radical and that revolutionary change is needed, the people are needed.  She continues to call on the people to not be afraid.  She wants the people to break barriers. In a speech given on September 11th, 2011 she said that everything done in the political arena in Ghana must be linked to the total liberation and unification of Africa.  She told the people that they assembled on that day to honour her father Dr. Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah by continuing the work that he laid out.  This work can be thoroughly examined in Africa Must Unite.

Samiah Nkrumah and the CPP objectives are to revive the party, to broaden its name, to make it name that the people recognize and respect and have unity with.  “The CPP also plans to hold fast to its core principles of Pan-Africanism”, Samiah says.  One of its major missions is to link education and industrialization together in Ghana itself. They plan on gaining trust in the people and create a reality where not only hard work pays along with organization, but it also serves the interest of the people.  Samiah wants the people of Ghana to be armed with the vision of Pan-Africanism and what it required is complete sincerity, she understands.  Reviving core principles of tradition would be a guiding force in how the people relate to each other.

The CPP has started to focus on doing ground work on the grassroots level.  They want to satisfy or eradicate contradictions on the smallest level immediately, things such as poor housing conditions.  They are garnishing support throughout the world with the message of Pan-Africanism.  Samiah says that they have recently received one million dollars from India for a technical training center in Ghana.  Samiah knows that the CPP has to have a strong political party.  She says they have to create a strong core.  “We need Nkrumahist”, she says.  Samiah wants to be a source of inspiration as she said on a recent radio show, “and if I can, then why not?”

On another end of the spectrum Samiah and the CPP receives a lot of negative anti-CPP criticisms, even from her own brother Sekou, who says that it is the same old people in the party with old ideas.  He also said that Samiah stayed away from the ideas for far too long and what was needed then is not what’s needed today.  Her opposition normally comes in the form of pessimistic views to the ideas of Pan-Africanism.  As Samiah says and knows, “Everything is possible with hard work and sacrifice.”  She also stated that, “Yes the CPP is impatient to see change the youth in the women of Ghana know this and collective they have to believe in themselves to carry forth the work that needs to be done.”  Samiah says that there are too many things that cannot be tolerated and in politics are not credible.

The split that occurred in the CPP, was a result of Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom quitting the CPP and saying he will create his own political party came about because Nduom did not unite with the idea of the CPP focusing on just increasing its numbers in Parliament he felt that the mission should solely be focused on creating a Presidential Candidate for 2012.  Despite all the objectives and criticism the CPP is on the move and the importance remains that they still have a wide support system.

In our quest for Pan-African Internationalism, the Pan-African International Coordinating Committee (PICC) believes that we must support the positive endeavours that exist on behalf of the CPP while struggle for ideological clarification and exposing the current contradictions that may exist in the current work that is being established. We realize that positive alliances must be built throughout the world, based on principal unity to overturn the economical exploitation of the mineral resources and the labour of African working class as well as ending the political oppression.

We in the PICC believe that this can best be accomplished the formation of the People’s Democratic Republic of Africa (PDRA) which would remove the colonialist-capitalist artificially created boarders which keep us divided and allow Neo-colonialism to rain supreme. This physical change in Africa would created an important psychological change among the African working class and propel us into the 21st century. This accomplishment would allow the African working class to control the destiny of Africa for the first time in many years. Ghana must join the struggle to help achieve a unity Africa under Socialism, an Africa under the leadership of the African working class, an Africa knows as the People’s Democratic Republic of Africa.

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Make It Plain: Class Struggle in Africa - Which Way to Freedom, Socialism or Capitalism?

By Abdul Jabbar Caliph, Chief Editor

For years the people all over the world have asked themselves which path will the people of the U.S. follow. Will it be the parasitic path of Capitalism or will it be the path of Socialism, the only path of liberation for the masses of African people, particularly the African working class? In 1994 Nelson Mandela became the first black President of South Africa, a doomed state. Despite the fact that he was a political prisoner for 27 years, Mandela choose the path of Capitalism, a path of continued oppression and exploitation under the administration of Neo-Colonialism. 

Recent activity inside of South Africa (Occupied Azania) has proven that a new form of defiance has emerged among the masses, particularity among its youth. It is this population that is suffering the most from lack of employment, denial of educational opportunity, and inadequate health care due the raise of HIV/AIDS. It is this segment of the population that this author is attempting to reach out to in order to give guidance to.  They are the advanced guard and true hope of achieving the liberation and freedom of the toiling masses in this Neo-colonialist state. 

Recently, we have seen the firing of Julius Malema from his leadership position as the head of the African National Congress (ANC) youth coordinator. Malema was once considered the “future leader of South Africa” and on November 10, 2011 he was suspended from all party activity for five years after being accused of being a “reckless populist with the potential to destabilize South Africa and spark racial conflict.”  He dared to question the leadership of President Jacob Zuma, a Neo-colonialist administrator of white imperialism; he called for the nationalization of all industry in South Africa and dared to continue to sing the song after being hit with a two year sentence after calling for the death of the Boars. This gained him massive popularity among the youth of South Africa and, as is obvious, shocked the old guard, the regime of Neo-Colonialism. 

Julius Malema's proposal is by far the most radical position of any member of the ANC in recent times. This young man understands that by transforming the national economy to that of a socialist political economy that he would be thereby transforming society into that of a real Pan-African society, a Pan-African society under the leadership of the African working class, the main force in the history of social changge! Malema by now realizes that for any real change to occur such as those that he has proposed the following must happen immediately:

1. Malema must be willing to have open dialogue with PAC and other Pan-African forces inside of occupied Azania. This hopefully will led to a united Pan-African Front.
2. He must establish a way to unite the African working class in the participation of the development a new Pan-African socialist political economy which will be under the direct leadership of the African working class;
3. He must work towards the removal of all Neo-colonialist administrators from their political position and replace them with loyal, dedicated Pan-African political forces;
4. He must establish a method of releasing all Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War currently held in the penal system of South Africa;
5. He must be willing to destroy all of the artificial created colonialist boarders and sub-boarders inside of occupied Azania and inside of Africa itself. This will lead to the development of a People's Democratic Republic of Africa.
6. The greatest and possibly most difficult task for them is to separate from their current ideology and accept Pan-African Internationalism, the theory that calls for the total liberation and freedom of all African people all over the Africa Diaspora.

Comrades this is the minimum of what is required to free South Africa and the rest of Africa. There is no substitute for this task. We must either choose to move forward or forever move backwards into a total state of slavery and misery, forever at the beck and call of our former colonialist masters. To choose the second course of action is to betray our ancestors and to betray the African Revolution. It is the acceptance of Neo-colonialism! 

In order to free Africa of her legacy of colonial domination which is still in effect in Africa we must develop a Direct Action plan that will lead us to the liberation that we so desire! This action plan must include the common ordinary African citizens, the African working class participation within the struggle for the destruction of Neo-colonialism and the complete overthrow of Imperialism. This is the true course of action that must be taken, this is the course of action that must be used to unite the people and mobilize them towards true freedom!

Not only must Joseph Malema accept these truths so too must all of those who call for the total liberation of Africa. We must put aside our subjective, petty views and work towards the development of a society that is truly worthy of being called an African society, a society under the leadership of the African working class, the African proletariat the most noble and humble group of people in the world! 

The question we have to ask ourselves is, are we Africans or not? If we are African people then we have an obligation to rebuild Africa and transform her into a society truly worthy of being called an African society! It is an embarrassment to the descents of a noble nation of people to allow a small segment of Neo-colonialist and their imperialist puppet-masters to continue to oppress and exploited us! We are not chattel or property, we are human beings, we are African people and we should be proud!

 We as Pan-Africanist must realize that no amount of opposition must be allowed to stand in our way of seeing an unified Africa, an Africa that will usher us into a new era of leadership! It is this leadership that will pave the way for a new direction in the lives of African people as a whole throughout the Diaspora!

We must remember that no amount of protest or demonstration can or has every guaranteed a peoples liberation or freedom. No amount of environmental concerns will be able address the massive issues that we as a people face. Real power is achieved by the seizure and consolidation of power; therefore let the struggles inside of South Africa be the launching pad for the beginning of a new era inside Africa, the era of the Republic of Africa!

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The Only Solution to the Congo’s Crisis is a Unified Socialist Africa

By Kilaika Anayejali kwa Baruti

The Congo has been kissed by Mother Africa herself.  The Congo is her heartbeat, being the very center of all her existence, located in Central Africa and surrounded by nine other countries.  The land of the Congo is rich and plentiful just like the rest of her.  It is full of vast resources and the most beautifully skilled people that she birthed to care for the land, which is a natural law that they possess.  It is even more so natural that they should benefit from her by giving her continuous life and shall forever bask in all her glory.  However, this has unfortunately not been the case.  As beautiful and harmonious it could all be, it is not, although everything is as plentiful now as it has always been for centuries.  It is because over centuries as in other countries in Africa the land and the people have been exploited.  This must end.

The Congo is a land that is rich with resources such as; petroleum, potash, lead, zinc, copper, phosphates, gold, magnesium, cobalt, industrial diamonds, gem diamonds, coal, silver, timber, uranium, natural gas, and hydropower.  The main minerals that the Congo are also rich in that are commonly being mined today are cassiterite, coltan, gold, and tungsten ore also known as wolframite.  These are her minerals.  This is her blood.  Let us not forget the rubber which has mounds of exploitive stories to tell.  The Congo is also known for its production of things we love such as coffee, cocoa, tea, and sugar.  If ever a place was blessed or to be called an Eden we could call it the Congo.

Colonization had been the monster that plagued Mother Africa and the Congo specifically.  Indeed, I say, yes it still does till this day. The Congo’s first encounter with this parasitic beast came in the form of “Explorers” as they would call themselves.  They bore the face of the Portuguese in 1482.  They had an increasingly stronghold on the Congolese people.  Using Christianity as one of the biggest methods they managed to keep this grip.  Once they baptized King Nzinga Nkuwu on May 3, 1491, it was pretty much a wrap and later his son King Alfonso I.  The way of the colonizer is to destroy your way of life and give you what you think is his, which he will prove is more beneficial than your primitive ways.  It is this way that the people are manipulated.  Getting the people to believe what you want them to believe creates a place of submission.  This tactic has proven to be very affective.  Three centuries later these Portuguese “Explorers” ran up on Brazil in what they called, “discovery” and begin to transport over 300,000 slaves to Brazil from the Congo.  The Portuguese were extremely happy with the rights they possessed as time went by over their mining rights that they established in the Congo.  My, what wealth they weaved.  Things however started to turn the corner when the first revolt took place spear-headed by a Congolese woman by the name of Kimpa Vita.  Under the leadership of this bold African woman the Congolese people refused to give the Portuguese more mining rights and it resulted in the Battle of Mbwila.  Over 20,000 Congolese fought this war with the Portuguese, but for them it was a loss battle.  At the same time the Dutch were moving in which created dismay for the Portuguese.  The Dutch wanted their bite out of the Congo as well.  The Congolese more so took sides with the Dutch to help aid them in their struggle against the Portuguese and so they did gain their independence.  Even though Kimpa was revered as nobility by her people and victory was declared, she was later seized by her enemies and condemned for being a witch although she was baptized in the name of Christianity bearing the name Dona Beatrice.  Just the idea that she had the ambition to wage battle against her oppressor was a sentence to burn. 

Amid the quest of Europe’s need for power, which had them warring with each other, the Congo and its resources continued to suffer.  As a result of the Berlin Conference the French prevailed as the victors gaining control of Congo’s raw materials and at the time the highest commodity was rubber, palm oil, and cotton.  This fight between the French, Belgian, and the Portuguese led to the French gaining control of the Northern sector of the Congo while King Leopold II privately owned the area that is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.    The now one man show that featured King Leopold resulted in the most horrific atrocities known to mankind against mankind.  So many men, women, and children suffered unimaginable torture, again in the name of Christianity.  King Leopold’s greed for wealth somehow justified inhumane treatment to people often referred to as savages, the Congolese people.  Belgian soldiers without any moral consciousness hunted people and were known for cutting off limbs such as hands and feet collecting them.  This is just a small example of the wide scale torture the people suffered at the hand of Leopold.  He was criticized by his equally vicious peers around the world for these atrocities.  They labeled him a monster.  In King Leopold’s rubber collecting expedition he managed to create a death toll of ten million people.  The land he controlled was annexed to the British Parliament on Nov 15, 1908.  Not really changing the situation for the Congolese people.  It was merely an exchange of European power which continued to rule over them.  The Germans also had their hands in on the exploitation of the Congo with the introduction of the French granting them, through trade agreements, the laying of the German railway and it resulted in the death of over 23, 000 more Congolese.  These lives loss was a direct relation to forced labor.  Forced labor was abolished in 1946 because of the pressure that the U.S. was putting on the French about its colonial policies.  The world was taking notice, not because they cared about the lives of the people, but again because they wanted a piece of the pie.  This is a reflection of World War II.

Riots broke out in a place called Leopoldville and Stanleyville resulting in Congo’s independence.  The struggle for independence named Patrice Lumumba as it prime Minister.  Patrice Lumumba a great African, a revolutionary, and a freedom fighter waged tireless struggle for liberation.  He echoed the fact that History will one day have its say, but it will not be the history that Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations will teach, but that which they will teach in the countries emancipated from colonialism and its puppets. Africa will write its own history, and it will be, to the north and to the south of the Sahara, a history of glory and dignity. Because of it he suffered tremendously.  He suffered unjustly, just as Kimpa did.  Lumumba pushed very intensely for all foreign powers to be removed from the Congo.  He was aided in his quest for liberation with arms and weaponry from the USSR.  Many were not happy with this.  The C.I.A. infiltrated and aided in the overthrowing of the government and the unlawful arrest of Prime Minister Lumumba along with making sure he was tortured severely.  He was dismissed from office on September 5, 1960.  He was viciously murdered in January of 1961.  Those that continued the war cry of Lumumba fought continuously in rebellion. 

One known rebellion was the Simba Rebellion, which gained control of at least half the country, but Belgian troops were sent in to destroy the rebellion.  After five years of unrest Mobutu declared his self president in 1965 and was elected president officially in 1970.  Between the times of Congo’s independence up until now there have been so many episodes of corruption and scandals that have taken place in the name of democracy.  Yet we know and what we must continue to confront is the fact that we know it is indeed a struggle of conflict minerals and diamonds that create these neo-colonialist leaders that sacrifice the lives and livelihood of the people to satisfy their own thirst for wealth by aiding the foreign powers who seek to continue to monopolize off of the resources and will never care about the lives of the people of the land. 

There now is continuous struggle and unrest today in the Congo over the production of minerals such as coltan, gold, and ore.  These natural resources are those that are used in technological products across the world.  Products such as cell phones, laptops, computers, and phones are somehow more important than human existence.  The everyday products that come a dime a dozen and that are so readily available to be gobbled up at every moment by billions of consumers across the globe that are oblivious to the realities that goes into making these very products or that simply choose to ignore the fact because consumerism is far more important than humanism. 

In short there are military forces in the Congo, militias in the Congo, and leaders that know this market has an immeasurable dollar amount on it, as foreign interest want, need, and have to suck these raw materials up.  The only people that are paying the price are the people that suffer tremendously and yet reap no rewards at all.  They only die.  The only thing the people of the Congo see is death from this reality.  In a recent supposedly Democratic election Joseph Kabila was declared President.  Civil war has broken out in a country that that says the elections were stolen.  They say the election was unjust.    Tshisekedi’s stance echoes that the results were unjust and attempted to declare his self president.

 I must mention that this is a man that aided in the overthrowing, imprisonment, and torture of Lumumba.  The Carter Election Monitoring Center issued that the results were mismanaged as well.  As a result of it all people have taken to the streets in protest throughout the world and in the Congo.  Men and women have been abducted from their homes and manhandled.  I can safely say that this, as any many cases, has proven to be a question of power play.  I can say that I firmly believe that neither party holds the interest of the people at bay.  I can safely say that the abuse of power is clear and evident in the way that the military and the militias treat the people.  It is also clear that the people of the Congo have never reaped the benefits of these resources and that the President elects don’t have any interest to make sure that they do in the future.

It is my hope, and it is my hope because I know that it is the only solution, that African people throughout the world stand up collectively against Capitalism and Imperialism.  It is this driving component, these outside corporations and industries that are the catalyst for the chaos.  It is they who bid the highest bid for the resources and by this they lay the framework of exploitation.  When the people denounce Capitalism and Imperialism as one voice, African people, they can begin to collectively organize themselves to say, “Hey we will control our own resources.  We will not sale and exploit each other for a dollar.  We will collective fight against you if you try and take our resources.  We will not allow you to continue to do this to us and our children that come after us.”  African people must get organize and come to control the means of production and reap the benefits of the labor.  The crisis in the Congo is one that African people throughout the world must be concerned with. 

It is our responsibility to ensure that our brothers and sisters know that we stand in solidarity with them.  Yet we must organize the battle.  We must organize the masses to aid us in this struggle.  We must consistently expose the plight of our enemies and show the people how our enemies hold no love for us.  We must continue to expose these Neo-colonialist puppets that run for presidents and call filling their pockets democracy.  We must show the people that we will at all time safeguard Mother Africa.  She is our breath and we must make sure that she is breathing properly.  The only solution is a Unified Socialist Africa, an Africa that serves the interest of her people.  We call on you brothers and sisters to create the reality of Pan-African Internationalism, for it is the way to organize the Proletariat (working class) to total liberation!  UHURU DAIMA!

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The D.C. Job's Hustle and the Reality of the African Working Class

By Abdul Jabbar Caliph 
 

For the past five months we in the Ujima Peoples Progressive Party (UPP) have been struggling to build a broader coalition of progressive and revolutionary organizations to address the needs of the masses around the contradictions that exist here in this country, contradictions which have left the masses of the African working class suffering from massive unemployment and underemployment issues. These contradictions have revealed a host of other promenaded issues that non-whites in the United States of America of are suffering from under this current capitalist regime.

In September of 2011, Americas’ neo-colonialist President Barack H. Obama introduced a bill to the joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives. This bill was entitled the “American Jobs Act”, he then introduced a proposal for $447 billion dollars to congress to create job amidst what is perceived to be the worst economical crises since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. The economical issues of this nation can never be solved without first solving the political question first!   

The question that America must ask herself, particularly the African working class is if the Obama administrations plan can put us back to work and relive the suffering of untold millions in this nation?

We in Ujima believe that the answer to this question is no! With the massive issue of unemployment and underemployment growth being so rapid in this nation there is no way that we can trust the Capitalist administration of this nation, which has historically been an enemy of not only the African working class but also an enemy to all non-white people who have also been historically oppressed and exploited by this regime. For this regime has a Capitalist- Imperialist agenda for the suppression of all people and organizations that are opposed to it. 

The issues of unemployment and underemployment for the members of the African working class and other non-white people far exceed the numbers of whites in this country. The overall unemployment rate in this nation has been officially reported to be at 9.1 percent which means approximately 15 or 16 million people are struggling to find some form of employment in the artificial created colonialist boarder of this nation. In reality we believe that the numbers far exceed this amount that has been reported, we believe that the number is in reality about 30 million after you take in to the equation the ethnic characteristics of this nation.

The official unemployment/underemployment rate of the Latino community is reported to be around 11.3 percent.  While the massive unemployment/underemployment rate for the African working class is estimated to be around 16.7 percent a drastic increase from 15.9 percent since July. This figure does not take into account the amount of males who are members of the African working class who have a rate around 18 percent according to a report in August. For those among our youth, the African working class youth these figures are estimated to be at an astounding rate of 46.5 percent.

We here in the city of Baltimore, Maryland under the leadership of Chairman Nnamdi Lumumba of the Ujima People’s Progressive Party have purposed a “Living Wage Campaign” to address the need of not only the African working class but the entire population of oppressed and exploited people who make the working class movement of this city. This is something that the Occupy Baltimore Movement has refused to do; the fact it is under the leadership of Red Emma, a white middle class anarchistic organization explains why!

We also realize that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and her neo-colonialist cronies in her administration cannot solve the current political problems that plague this city and its residents. Baltimore city is a city that has a population of 620,961 plus with unemployment/under employment figure of 107,575 people. The African working class represents 418,951 or 64.34 percent of this city population; white working class members represent 205,982 or 31.63 percent of this city population and the fast growing members of this city population are the Hispanic community which have a population of 651,154 people.

Ujima People’s Progressive Party “Living Wage Campaign” addresses the following issue which affects the masses, particularly the African working class:

1.      The immediate end of unemployment/underemployment  as it relates to this nations domestic policy, full employment for all or employment for non (each according to his needs);

2.      The immediate end to all discrimination of descent and fair housing for of this nations population with an end to foreclosures and discrimination in housing and also the immediate end to the brutality practice of Homelessness;      

3.      The immediate end to mass incarceration which is directly reasonable for this nations vast growth of its prison population with an immediate end to police brutality on the streets and inside of this nations prison system;  

4.      The immediate end to all of this nation’s colonialist educational policy as it relates to the so-called citizens of this nation;

5.      The immediate end of gender and racial discrimination, we believe that these two issues have been exploited to their maximum degree to keep the masses divided.

6.      The demand for decent and acquitted health care for all, our motto is “Health before wealth”, this must be a reality in our life time;

7.      The immediate end of all imperialist war of aggression particular against Africa and her people. We believe that the money being used to wage these wars of aggression can be used to develop full employment for the citizens of this nation, let’s put America back to work under the governments full employment act;

8.      The immediate end to this parasitic relationship that exist between capitalism and the African working class by granting the immediate approval of Reparations to the African working class;  

9.      The immediate end to suffering and abuse that our elderly population has to endure, they deserve better treatment and our respect, don’t mess with their Social Security or their retirement benefits or Medicare;

10.  The immediate end of high tuition fees that are currently being charged students that are striving to receive a higher education that will allow them to be better productive members of society. 

We believe that by addressing these issues and building the first independent black political party in the state of Maryland that represents the African working class this will give us a chance to fight back along with the issue of networking with other progressive and revolutionary formations such as the Liberate Baltimore Coalition; the All People Congress and Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee will be able to achieve our objectives of securing the rights of the African working class and building and establish a protracted movement under and around the development of the African working class leadership.

We also believe that the current capitalist political regime cannot address the issue of poverty that has run amok due to the issue of wide spread unemployment and underemployment here in this country. Currently the poverty rate in this country is at one out of eleven people in America live in poverty which equates to 22.3 million people who now trapped/reside in America’s lowest socially economical areas (America’s domestically colonized community’s/ghettos). Between 2000 and 2009, the number of people dwelling in these “high-poverty areas”, (low social economic areas) grew by approximately 10 million that is an estimated population up from 33 million to 43 million making it a poverty rate of 14.3 percent.

For members of the African working class that means one in four people live in poverty approximately 7.6 million people and for the Hispanic community that means one in six people live in poverty approximately 7.1 million people.  According to the census tract 30 percent or more of America’s citizens live in poverty. This is what capitalism means to the average member of the working class community who share slavery and misery, and who understands this better then the African working class. Capitalism was after all build and founded on the back of African slaves who were brutality treated as human beings by white America and native population, look at and study the history of this country Indian population particularly the Cherokee nation’s ownership of human beings, African slaves.

In 2003 the United States government defined poverty as an annual income for a family of four, one adult and three children to be less than $18,392.00 dollars a year about $8.89 an hour. Comrades you need to understand this important fact, the Census Bureau has been using the same formula that was designed by the Social Security Administration since 1964. This nutty formula was developed around the spending patterns of 1955. They have been robbing and tricking people for the past 56 years using this formula.

We in Ujima realize that the only formula that can alleviate the crippling conditions of unemployment/underemployment and poverty is the total transformation of this plague ridden capitalist economy to that of a socialist economy that will render justice to the working class which can only be accomplished under the leadership of the African working class, the most oppressed and exploited class of people on the planet. 

Comrades we are calling on all Pan-African forces, progressive and revolutionary in this country to adopt a “Living Wage Campaign” and to organize the African working class to fight back against the oppressive and exploitive conditions that they may find themselves within. We believe that this tactic will allow us to best expose the contradictions that exist under this Capitalist-Imperialist Administration and its relationship to the African working class.  As Pan-African Internationalist we realize the current global economy and it parasitic relationship to the African working class movement is based on the rape, looting, and murder of African people. It is our job to awaken the masses and to organize the people to strike a blow against their former slave master and put an end to the parasitic relationship that exist between us, white supremacy and their neo-colonialist allies.

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