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THE DRUM, SPRING 1976
Vol. 7 No. 2

Editorial, circulation and advertising
offices located at 426 New Africa House,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst,
Mass. 01002. 1-413-545-0768.

Address all letters, poems
contributions to the
Above address

Printing: Gazette Printing Co., Inc., Northampton, Mass.

Front Cover:
"The Genius" Maxwell Roach
Photo taken by : David Strout

Any material, stories, articles are not necessarily
the thoughts or ideologies of Drum staff.

DEDICATION

For the past two years, The
University of Mass, Amherst,
had the pleasure of being
graced with the presence of
Mrs. Shirley Graham DuBois.
Wife of one of America's most
noted Black intellectuals Dr.
W. E. B. DuBois. Mrs. DuBois
shall always be a part of our
family and hearts. This issue
of DRUM is dedicated to her.

Peace and Love Always

Special Dedication

This DRUM issue, "The Struggle and the Music" is spec-
ially dedicated to Professor Max Roach, artist, composer and
musician who has been at the forefront of both the struggle and
the music and has been an uncompromising giant and inter-
national figure in the struggle for Black Liberation.

Positive vibrations also to Professor Archie Shepp, without
whose wisdom, strength and understanding much of what has
occurred would not have went down. Peace to you Brother Archie.
To the many, many brothers and sisters who have struggled to
make our dream a reality, and to those people who have tried to
stop us, this is one for you.

To all the beautiful Grassroots people in Philly, Chicago, New
York, D.C., Boston and wherever we are on the planet. For Afrika
and for the NEW Afrikan. Prepare thyself, walk in peace and always
give praises to the Creator.

Richard Scott Gordon
Editor— Grassroots
The People's Newsweekly

Abdul Malik

Co-Editor Grassroots

Padmore Omar
Layout

Debra Johnson
Layout

Ed Cohen

Photographer

Carl Yates
Graphics

EDITOR'S NOTE

This issue of DRUM was produced in cooperation with Black News Service and
Grassroots, the People's Newsweekly. Together we Proudly Present

"THE STRUGGLE AND IT'S MUSIC"

TO THE STRUGGLE

Every war has its own melody
Every fight a favorite tune
Each battle a choice of weapons
Every struggle a rhythmic cadence.

No, my struggle, our struggle is no different from any other.

There are those who die struggling and have caressed the bitters scars of struggle.

Yet I, we, shall not be turned around of defeat, not halted by traitors, or yield to

humanly hate and envy.
I, we, shall continue to struggle

I, we, will struggle as consistently as notes fall like cascades of water, (knowledge)

from Shepp's fHome Boys) horn.
We will be ever quick in our struggle

stepping to the rump, thump, thump, of Maxwell's Drum, grasping wisdom along

the way.
And after, I, we pass on our struggle to someone else, I, we, will have become a conductor,

composer in our own realm.

And sit around the throne of the Greats.

Duke, Lady Day, "Trane," Diana
And once the final note has sounded and the final thump been made.
Then I, we, us will sip the sweet nectar of success, while bathing our unforgettable wounds of

struggle.

Denise Wallace

Co-Editor
Drum Magazine

STAFF

Co-Editors Denise Wallace

David R. Thaxton

Literary Editor Tah Asongwed

Literary Sandy McLean

Angelo Herbert
Vickie Taylor

Art Editor Pam Friday

Photographers Deryl Marrow

Keith Peters
Juan Durruthy
Sonali Williams
Sharon Smith
Tony Johnson
Kenneth Robinson

Administrative Secretary Ms. Angle Small

Office Staff Roslyn Paige

Patricia Smith
Brenda Bellizeare
Latrica Black
Jeanette Worley
Pearl Wright

Distribution Robert Goodman

Nathenial Murray
Calvin Collymore
Elaine Nichols
Elaine Jacinto
Melody Carter
Rick Grant

Table of Contents

3. Dedication Staff

4. Editors Note

5. Staff

8. Take Command Akbar Muhammad Ahmad

9. Editorial Denise Wallace

10. Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win ; Irving Davis

13. The Struggle and the Culture Rick Scott Gordon

14. I used to be Proud to say I was Born in Boston Alii Cabral

15. Student Involvement in New Political Directions Muhammad Ahmad

18. The Role of the Black Educator Rick Scott Gordon

20. A Black Perspective of the U. S. Bicentennial 0. C. Bobby Daniels

25. Black Power and Black Jazz Archie Shepp

28. Bill Hasson on Music Bill Hasson

Disco — The New Drug

30. Africa— Our origin, our destiny Wadada Tzake

31. Ella Fitzgerald Gail Bryan

32. The Dog Moon Vernether Lights

34. Reconstruction: New Energy to a musical tradition

36. Impressions of Max Roach Rick Scott Gordon

37. Alpha to Omega D. E. Johnson

39. Tribute to Duke Ellington Rick Scott Gordon

41. Semenya McCord

45. Gethers and Brown Case

46. Assata Shakur, A Revolutionary Black Women Rosa Blanco

52. Hope Annie Carpenter

53. Ghetto flower in Ivy Richard Fewell

55. Colonists in 1975 Earl Brown

56. To The New Afrikans Abdul Malik

56. Rebirth of New Africa House Kwaku Gyata

57. Black Students and the Bicentennial Muhammad Ahmad

60. Bullshit, You Know Better Yusef Komunyakag

60. For America Lloyd Corbin

61. Our Family Album

69. Black America and the Bicentennial John Bracey

Take Command

"When society

is in chaos

and there is confusion all about

TAKE COMMAND.

When no one
knows what to do
and all seems to be lost
TAKE COMMAND.

When all around you
Have lost their will,
And your cause seems
almost defeated
TAKE COMMAND.

When others stop pushin'

and there seems to be

No burning light

TAKE COMMAND.

When others are disillusioned

and frustrated

and (yet) the goal is in sight

TAKE COMMAND.

When we are about

to move just a little bit

higher

and there seems to be

no solution,

TAKE COMMAND.

When others are afraid
To step forward
and no one seems ready
TAKE COMMAND.

by Akbar Muhammad Ahmad

When we stand at
The burning altar
in the hour of decision
And men fear
life and death
TAKE COMMAND.

EDITORIAL
Where do we go from here?

One often can't answer that question unless they know where they are now. At this point
in the year, many of the students here at U-Mass will go back to their respective hideouts.
Away from the maddening screams of white maniacs blaring "Niggers" from the concrete
projects of Southwest. A lot of us will be removed from the continuous fights against budget
cuts, financial aid cuts and enrollment cuts. Some will remain completely oblivious to the
fact that Black Studies programs are being phased out, CCEBS is viewed as obsolete, while
we party to the funky sounds of Diana Ross' "Love Hangover" and we are left hung from
a noose constructed out of computerized grades.

As the semester draws neigh others will seek refuge from the harrassment of the white
frats and Blue Wall bouncers. Sisters will return to communities where they can walk down
the streets in peace without a constant paranoia of rape, assault, and abuse lingering on their
minds.

Yes, as the summer approaches, a lot of us will tend to forget U-Mass and spend the sum-
mer shoo tin' the hoop, walking the streets, giging the gigs and hanging loose.

Yet, for most of us, when we leave U-Mass what do we go home to? The screams of
Southwest are now replaced by anguished cries of hungry children. The pain felt by budget
cuts are now felt by cuts in summer jobs and summer youth programs. The paranoia of walk-
ing the streets in Amherst, is replaced by a more real fear of being mugged, attacked, kicked
and beaten with a flag staff while approaching city hall in Boston.
THE PLACE WHERE THE BICENTENNIAL ALL BEGINS.

Or could it be that this campus, this area, Amherst, Mass. is a place of refuge? Refuge
for Black students wanting to get away from the maddening cries of the city. Is this the Never-
Never land fantasy that leaves Black students on an apathetic high, that keeps them removed
from the fact that 2 brothers, Craeman Gethers and Earl Brown, were snatched out of our
midst, while some of us lulled away on a basketball jones. Could it be that Black students were
too involved with the political processes and ideologies at home that they came to Amherst
for a rest. Or could it be that Black students feel that nothing will be changed so their energies
are best exerted elsewhere, at parties, B-Ball games, and Blue Wall discos.

Maybe their reasoning is right. Nothing will change. That first in order for U-Mass to
change the system must change and since you can't change the system you can't change U-
Mass. So progress is stagnated.

Yet there is no progress without struggle. And on the campus of the University of Mass.
(Amherst), the struggle is alive and kicking. And shall continue to kick until changes and
more changes are reached. The blatant racism that exist on campus shall not stop the struggle
nor the strugglers. We Shall Win! We will Win and continue to struggle until all in our Family
struggles are one. And so I say. Dare to Struggle! Dare to Win!

by Irving Davis
Director of International Affairs SNCC

A speech delivered Sunday, March 16, 1969 at the Universalist Church New York City

I think it is commonly accepted among brothers
and sisters in the Black liberation struggle today, that
Frederick Douglass is the "Father of the Protest
Movement." Even though we have definitely moved
beyond mere protest, to more revolutionary positions
today, Douglass' words were and still are relevant. It
was over 100 years ago on July 4, 1852, that Frederick
Douglass addressed an audience quite similar to
many of you I'm sure, and in part said: "What, to the
American slave is your 4th of July? I answer a day
that reveals to him more than all other days in the
year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the
constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham;
your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your nation-
al greatness, swelling vanity, your sounds of rejoicing
are empty and heartless; your denunciation of ty-
rants, brass-fronted impudence; your shouts of
liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers
and hymns, your sermons and thanks givings, with
all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him,
mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypo-
crisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would
disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation
on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and
bloody than are the people of the United States, at
this very hour.

Go where you may, search where you will,
roam through all the monarchies and despotisms
of the old world, travel through South America,
search out every abuse, and when you have found
the last, lay your facts by the side of every day prac-
tices of this nation, and you will say with me, that
for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy
American reigns without a rival.

Americans! Your republican politics, not less
than your republican religion, are flagrantly incon-
sistent. You boast of your love of liberty, your supe-
rior civilization and your pure Christianity, while the
whole political power of the nation (as embodied in
the two great political parties) is solemnly pledged to

support and perpetuate the enslavement of 3 millions
of your country men. You hurl your anathemas at
the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria
and pride yourselves on your Democratic institu-
tions, while you yourselves consent to be the mere
tools and body-guards of the tyrants of Virginia and
Carolina. You invite to your shores fugitives of op-
pression from abroad; honor them with banquets,
greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them,
salute them, protect them and pour out your own
money to them like water, but the fugitives from
your own land you advertise, hurt, arrest, shoot and
kill. You glory in your refinement and your univer-
sal education; yet maintain a system as barbarous
and dreadful as ever stained the character of a nation
—a system begun in avarice, supported in pride, and
perpetuated in cruelty. You shed tears over failed
Hungary, and make the sad story of her wrongs the
themes of your poets statemen and orators, till your
gallant sons are ready to fly to arms to indicate her
course against the oppressor; but, in regard to the
ten thousand wrongs of the American slave, you
would enforce the strictest silence, and would hail
him as an enemy of the nation who dares to make
these wrongs the subject of public discourse! You
a^e all on fire at the mention of liberty for France or
Ireland; but are as cold as an iceburg at the thought
of liberty for the enslaved of America. You discourse
eloquently on the dignity of labor; yet, you sustain a
system which, in its very essence, cats a stigma upon
labor: You can bare your bosom to the storm of
British artillery to throw off a three-penny tax on tea,
and yet wring the last hard earned dime from the
grasp of the Black laborers of your country. You pro-
fess to beieve 'that of one blood, God made all na-
tions of men to dwell on the face of all the earth,' and
hath commanded all men, everywhere, to love one
another; yet you notoriously hate (and glory in your
hatred) all men whose skins are not colored like your
own. You declare before the world and are under-

stood by the world to declare that you 'hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal; and are endowed by their creator with certain
inalienable rights; and that among these are, life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness;' and yet you
hold securely, in a bondage which, according to your
own Thomas Jefferson, 'is worse than ages of that
which your fathers rose in rebellion to oppose . . !"

Now with the exception of a few words, it is as if
that speech was written yesterday for nothing has
really changed for Black people. And if I were asked
to give a title to Douglass' speech I would probably
call it: "An Indictment against America." Yet for the
most part, indictments against America are simply a
waste of time and effort. For not only do these words
fall upon deaf ears, but in many instances, upon hos-
tile ears as well. An excellent example of this was the
recent release of the Kerner Commission Report
which declared that America is rampant with white
racism and the reactions of Congress to that indict-
ment was the cries for more law and order against
Black people. This was the solution offered by the
government, to cure white folks racism. Thus, it
became clear to some Black people that to simply pro-
test to the very people who were committing genocide
against them, was futile. It also became clear that
protest as a tactic was out dated and had to be re-
placed. It did not take long to discover that the ulti-
mate solution to the problem lie in Revolution, for
it is a historical fact that when a people have ex-
hausted all other possible avenues for redress of
grievance, the ultimate choice is to rebel. Someone
once wrote that there is a place reserved in hell, for
those who in the time of crisis, remain neutral. Black
people in America have been in a state of crisis ever
since we were brought here, and for the most part,
whites have either contributed to that crisis or re-
mained neutral. That is a fact. In fact, the very fact
that they have remained neutral is a contributing
factor to that crisis. For those who become the reci-
pients of the values obtained from another's oppres-
sion are as equally guilty as those who commit the
acts of oppression. We recognize this for what it is,
and we also recognize our role in this dilemma: Our
backs are up against the wall, we have a responsibili-
ty to make the Revolution. I used to say Black people
must band together because we truly understand this
vival. I no longer think that is true today. I think we
must band together becuase we truly understand this
system which is operating to destroy humanity. And
since our patriotism is toward humanity, we have an
uncomproinising duty to work toward an end to that
destruction. Our credo must be: "Every Blackman's
death takes from me, because I am a part of Black
Mankind!" And this is not racism either. You see,
John Donne the Englishmen, taught that "each
man's death diminishes me, for I am part of man-
kind" in his famous oration: "For Whom the Bell
Tolls" And Black people believed that; as a result

Black people wept for Kennedy and Roosevelt and
probably wept for old Abe Lincoln and George
Washington too. And I mean wept out of sincere
sympathy and sadness. Some white folks finally, in
1968, wept for a Black man: Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Yet the only reason they wept was because they
thought the end of the world was near, because the
black communities of 118 cities across the country
were erupting in response to this cowardly act. I have
no choice but to believe this since this nation would
not even declare a national holiday in Dr. King's
memory.

And, more important, whites did not stop all
activities and insist upon it.

We of Revolutionary ranks, paid to Malcolm on
his day and celebrated Huey P. Newton's birthday,
for these men are what we stand for. As are Patrice
Lumumba, Ben Barka, Che Guevara and men like
them. Yes, and we paid our respects to Dr. King as
well.

This is necessary since his death signalled the
last phase of an era. An era of nonviolence as a tactic,
or philosophy. And it marked the beginning of a new
era, a era which says that every Black man's death
takes from me, for now we clearly understand that
if we are not for ourselves, then who will be for us???
And more than that, because our patriotism is toward
humanity, which far exceeds the borders of any fron-
tiers of land, that "us" includes the entire Third
World of Africa, Asia and Latin America. That is
why you see a rising tide toward Internationalizing
our struggle, among Black people in America. To-
day, we are clearly beginning to understand that they,
like us, are indeed the: "Wretched of the Earth".
That the same people who exploit and oppress them,
are the same ones who exploit and oppress us. That
we have common enemies: The military-industrial
complex. And that just as the people of the Third
World dare to struggle against their oppressors, so
must we; for we are the eye of the octopus that as
recent as since the times of Frederick Douglass, has
stretched its tentacles across 3/4 of the earth. And
that to talk about peace without first talking about
power is pure foolishness!

Frederick Douglass taught us about power when
he said: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depre-
cate agitation are men who want crops without plow-
ing up the ground. They want the rain without
thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without
the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may
be a physical one, or it may be both moral and physi-
cal, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing
without a demand. It never did and it never will . .
"Douglass transmitted two major points to us in that
powerful message: Power and Struggle. And he clari-
fied what he meant by struggle when he wrote: "Men
may not get all they pay for in this world, but they
must certainly pay for all they get. If we ever get free

from the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us,
we must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice,
and if need be, by our lives and the lives of others."
We see before us today, a Cultural Renaissance
occuring among Black people in America. A cultural
Renaissance that has spearheaded the dress rehear-
sals of the Revolution that is yet to come. "Black
Pride," "Black is beautiful," and other Revolution-
ary idealogies are breaking the mental chains of cap-
tivity that have been placed upon us ever since the
physical chains were removed. And the battle-cry of
Black Power has not only restored a new sense of
direction for us, but has touched the revolutionary
spirit of oppressed people all over the world, as well.

And it IS absolutely correct to say that our strug-
gle will be both moral and physical. It will be physical
because this country was founded on violence, is
maintained on violence and perpetuated by violence.
In fact, in the words of that most courageous brother,
H. Rap Brown: "Violence is an American as cherry
pie!" We Blacks have accepted this as a fact of life;
and it is because we have accepted this as a fact of
life and are no longer deceived by those who tell us
that we can do the impossible and liberate ourselves
any other way, that has upset whites so greatly. No-
where is history, is there any record of a people who
have freed themselves from the yoke of their oppres-
sors, peacefully. Nowhere!! Ghandi tried it and was
assassinated. Dr. King tried it, and was shot down in
the street like an animal. But on the other side of the
coin, America itself won its freedom from the British,
not through peaceful coexistence, but with cannon
fodder. Yet this is a part of history that white Ameri-
ca would have us ignore, even though it is flaunted in
our faces daily, on the TV and movies' screens. And
in earlier phases of our struggle, I used to think that
whites feared the physical aspects because of the loss
of their lives, but today I know that this is not the
case. A human life means nothing in America, be it
Black or white. If it did, then this country would not
ever go to war against any nation and it would be
dropping tractors in Vietnam today, instead of
bombs. But the truth of the matter is that it is more
profitable to drop bombs; and profits is the basis of
this entire system. And the more people that are ex-

ploited, the greater the profit. That is the true defini-
tion of capitalism: profits through exploitation. And
this capitalist system finds itself happiest, when it is
exploiting people of color, for its major ally is racism.

That is why America will attack without hesitation,
Japan, Korea, Cuba, Santa Domingo and Vietnam.
How is it that the United States will go to war against
so-called "Communist Aggression" in Vietnam and
Korea yet when Russia invaded Czechoslovakia the
best it could do was send Goldberg into the halls of
the UN to raise his big, loud-mouth, in protest? Why,
because it was white Russians and not Red colored
Chinese, who were the aggressors! Thus, the physical
part of the struggle for us is a fact. It is a fact because
yesterday we loved life so dearly, that we allowed
others to commit the most atrocious crimes conceiv-
able unto us, in order to exist; today, we are learning
not to fear death in order that our posterity might
live and we are learning that lesson well!

Yet, it is the moral struggle that the "exploiters
of the earth" here in America, fear most today. And
justifiably so, since that struggle is engaged in a rejec-
tion of the systems here, which they have perpe-
tuated for centuries. Others have died protecting
these evil and corrupt systems unknowingly to some
degree and have never had an opportunity to share
in them; but today this is no longer the case. Those
of us who are aware and sincere are dedicating our
lives toward an end to this destruction of humanity
and are concerned about a new set of values with
more humanistic traits and more creative life styles.
There is no place for racism, capitalism and Imperial-
ism in this concept of a new man and new society,
thus, those who are now in control are in trouble.

Someone once said, "There is nothing more
powerful, than a people whose time has come."
Today 3/4 of the earth is rising up in revolution
against those who seek to exploit and destroy them.
Black people here in America are a part of that rising
Revolutionary Force. Our time has come. Destiny
whispers firmly in our ear: "Your time has come."
And no matter who is eliminated among us in the
process, our time has come. And destiny whispers
one final, heroic note to us:

^ate to^ Stftuf^,

^cuie to^ Ti^wf

The Struggle and the Culture

Richard Scott Gordon— Editor of Grassroots— The People's News Weekly.

Much has happened here at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst since the fall semester
1975. From South Africa to South Amherst, from
Massachusetts to Mississippi, we realize that the
connections are the same. In South Africa, Black
people are oppressed and exploited; I.D. systems
used to enslave Black people. Here in Amherst Mass.
in 1976, we have two innocent students in prison,
their college I.D.'s used to oppress and detain, re-
moving them from the mainstream of society.

Massachusetts is not unlike Mississippi during
our struggle for national liberation during the 1960's.
In Mississippi, Black people have encountered beat-
ings, lynchings, and mob violence. No honest human
being at the University of Massachusetts could deny
the fact that brothers Craemen Gethers and Robert
Earl Brown have been "legally" lynched by an "or-
ganized" mob of whites legally termed "jury". Here
at the UMass Amherst campus, the Black community
has had to constantly fight racial attacks. Attacks
have been consistent on all levels, from physical con-
frontations all the way up to the Whitmore Adminis-
tration building, where institutional racism appears
to be at it's very best.

On September 13, 1975, a pregnant Black student
was attacked by five white males, attempting to pre-
vent the birth of her child. Nine Blacks, including five
sisters, ended up fighting for their lives after being
attacked by at least twenty whites at UMass' Bluewall
bar on October 6, 1975. Two white students destroyed
Third World election ballots and got away without
retribution while four other white students are slapped
on the wrist for the malicious break-in and destruc-
tion of facilities at our Malcolm X center. Meanwhile,
Craemen and Earl are unjustly incarcerated for being
Black and trying to complete their education.

Already this year in 1976, we have had an attack
on our only Black student publication, "Grassroots".
It's editors illegally "fired", harrassed and the publi-
cation halted for three weeks. Six whites attacked
a Black student in James House dormitory in March.
Meanwhile Black women are continually insulted
and disrespected by white fraternaties. The epitomy
of American racism!

While writing this editorial, I am sure that there
have been more attacks.

* * *
On Monday April 5th, a Black lawyer was beaten
severely and had his nose broken by the steel staff of
an American flag as he was about to enter City Hall
in Boston, less than 100 miles from Amherst. The
mob was composed of students from South Boston
and Charlestown high schools who were protesting

busing but more importantly were protesting Black
people. We have already been informed that approx-
imately 1000 of these students are registered and will
be at UMass in September 1976. Obviously, racial
confrontation will increase.

What will save Black people and has saved them
and kept us intact is our culture and tradition. A cul-
ture that speaks to the needs of the people. In our
music, our art, our drama and poetry and our dance
we must provide an outlet for resisitance of the un-
natural negative forces that continue to plague our
communities. The need is not only for entertainment,
but for education as well.

Our art must inspire the young and give new
hope to the old. Our art must denounce and docu-
ment injustices against our people. Our culture must
unify our people, stressing the collective over the
individual. The art must provide energy to create, re-
create, to build and rebuild. Indeed art must be "col-
lective, functional and committed" and always speak-
ing to the needs of the people.

It is ironic that here at the University of "Mas-
sassippi", we are blessed with the presence of Prof.
Max Roach and Prof. Archie Shepp, internationally
known and respected artists who are great Black
leaders in their own right. These two men are pio-
neers in the struggle for National Liberation and have
dedicated their lives to the music tradition and cul-
tural excellence. Their presence among us is an honor
and should be cherished. Their contributions are too
numerous to mention. Their music is a necessity,
especially in 1976, dealing with the high level of
racism that we are constantly confronted with. Max
has already demanded "Freedom Now" in his Suite,
while Shepp has made it clear that "things gotta
change" or their will be some "Fire Music".

This magazine is a joint venture between the
Drum staff and The Black News Service, creators
and publishers of "Grassroots", "the peoples' news-
weekly". Together, we hope to more effectively docu-
ment the vast majority of events that have taken
place in the Sept. 1975 to May 1976 academic year
at the University of Massachusetts. And as the
struggle continues, I would like to remind everyone
that to go back to tradition is the first step forward.
If we are able to survive on this planet as a people,
we must work collectively instead of individually and
accept a new value system that is common to us all.
One that tolerates only positive action and movement
that would be beneficial to our people.

And in the final analysis we cannot separate the
struggle from the music and the culture. The two are
inseparable and can only exist together.

I USED TO BE PROUD TO SAY I WAS BORN IN BOSTON

TheBusleft— Half full
most of the kids

said Fuck that Shit
I would have to but

Mom won't hear that Shit
She said she didn't walk

into Bull Connors
Water hoses
For nothing

BANG ! A rock just hit the bus
Joey Tailors' got a knife

I told him to stash it
He said he was in some white boy's butt

We all laughed — Loud and long
And it was good to be laughing
And laughing
And laughing

Alii Cabral

"75"

Providence

Text of Speech presented by Muhammad Ahmad—
Feb. 18, 1976— National Black Solidarity Conference
— Tufts Univ.

STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN NEW POLITICAL DIRECTIONS

The struggle in the 70's has reached new heights.
Any social revolution must attack the weak points
in the oppressive system first before making the
main attack.

Due to the nature of the United States multi na-
tional monopoly capitalist system, it's economic and
military structures are its strongest points. But
racism manifesting itself internally is U.S. imperial-
ism's Achilles heel. The struggle for national demo-
cratic rights (equality) becomes the movement's
strong point and the system's weak point.

The contradiction of maintaining the racist
system heighten's the consciousness of Black, Third
World and eventually lower white working class
people. Therefore, the present focus of total equality
for Blacks and Third World people within the rac-
ist capitalist system polarized the internal contradic-
tions of the U.S. multi national monopoly capitalist
system.

Democratization of the political system in the
U.S. will lead to a second civil war (class war). The
main focus should be to develop an independent
Black Political Party that would struggle for complete
national democratic rights (15% representation of all
elected officials in America) for Black people. "Black
people already have the voting potential to control
the politics of entire southern counties. Given maxi-
mum registration of blacks, there are more than 110
counties where black people could outvote the poli-
tical parties and not waste time trying to reform or
convert the racist parties." (1)

Since the 1960's there has been a development of
Black political parties. In Mississippi there's the Mis-
sissippi Freedom Democratic Party (Loyalist demo-
crats); in Alabama, the National Democratic Party
of Alabama (NDPA); in South Carolina the United
Citizen's Party (UCP); in Florida, the African People's
Socialist Party (APSP). Black students should at-
tempt to work with these parties and with voter regis-
tration drives. They should spend the summer work-
ing in black belt counties in the south. Credit for their
efforts should be given through Black Studies and
other programs at universities. The new concept of
education brought out by student activism should
be one of part time in the university and part time
in the community— learning while doing.

(1) Carmichael and Hamilton, Black Power, pg. 166

Counter-revolution has set in and most of the 200
Black Studies departments in the country have revert-
ed back to capitalist bourgeois elite orientation to aca-
demic work. Black students must struggle with Black
Studies departments to develop community out-
reach programs. A vital program would be one of
students receiving credit for working to build inde-
pendent black parties in both the north and the
south.

The struggle for Black Studies is not over. If
Black Studies is to be meaningful, it must be revolu-
tionary nationalist and political in content. Most
Black studies programs presently place too much
emphasis on culture and aesthetics. Culture is essen-
tial but culture itself does not transform a political,
economic and military power structure. Black Studies
must teach students how to organize to overthrow
the racist monopoly capitalist system. Each Black
Studies department should include a course on Black
revolutionary politics. Black Studies should be di-
rectly linked to the Black liberation movement.
Black Studies departments should be the center for
information to Black students of what Black Libera-
tion organizations are doing in different communi-
ties and should be the vital link between students and
liberation organizations. Black studies came into ex-
istence for the struggle of Black people and its survi-
val and success depends upon its live contact with
people.

All Black students when entering any college or
university with Black Studies departments should be
required to take four semesters or two year of the
"history of the Black liberation struggle." This course
would prepare every Black student regardless of his
class background or various ambitions to view the
world correctly. The student would then be prepared
to bring his or her skill back to the community. Every
Black Studies department or Black Student Union
should have a community based Institute of Black
Political Education. Through the IBPS cadre study
groups, adult education, forums and tutorial projects
would form. The IBPS would also eventually provide
the community with free legal assistance, martial
arts training and medical services. IBPS would be more
than an alternative community school where com-
munity and students would get credit for developing
community organizing skills, it would also provide
the community with the new revolutionary culture.

A similar program that white radicals have created
and one which we should study is the Boston Com-
munity school. By struggling to build these commu-
nity extensions students would have avenues to
bringing their skills back to the community

The most important thing we must understand is
that our struggle is protracted. (2) It will take years
for our struggle to win and the racist U.S. monopoly
capitalist power structure to be destroyed. With these
understanding we will build our new Black student
movement. The National Black Student Association
would struggle to build a mass based membership not
only among college and university students but also
high school, junior high and elementary students.
With the philosophy of each one teach one, we would
build the new Black political revolution of the 1970's
and 1980's among the millions of Black youth. Since
the purpose of the purpose of the National Black
Student Association would be to serve the people,
the NBSA's main emphasis would be to develop com-
munity strength. The best way this can be done is
by showing the masses of black working class
brothers and sisters that they can win victories no
matter how small by struggling against the power
structure. Winning continuous victories will build
our people's self confidence and revolutionary na-
tionalist consciousness. NBSA would attempt to cre-
ate mass movements out of local community issues.
When a community group is demonstrating or strug-
gling over an issue, NBSA would help that group in
organizing and would mobilize all Black students
from elementary to college to support the demonstra-
tion. NBSA would find issues sometimes hidden from
the people, bring them out and educate the people to
struggle around them. Through struggle NBSA
would engage in mass cadre development. Summer
seminar cadre institute's would be established to
train students ideologically (politically) as they prac-
tice. NBSA would develop through Practice, Study,
Practice and operate on the principles of collective
leadership, democratic centralism and Unity, Criti-
cism, Unity.

NBSA would develop mass movements around
struggle issues as they arise by having mass demon-
strations around U.S. involvement in Angola, sup-
port for Assata Shakur (Joanne Chesimard), Cherly
Todds and Dessie Woods and many other victims
of political frame-ups. Coming to the defense of Afri-
can Prisoners of War is very important because unless
we do the movement will continuously be picked off
one by one. The best defense is an offense. Mass

(2) Mao Tse Tung, Selected Works, "Protracted War".

political defense through mass action (demonstra-
tions) and teach ins is the first line of defense for the
movement. Who respects a people who don't protect
or come to the aid of their own kind? Besides the
inability to raise independent finances, the lack of
political defense work is the biggest weakness of
our movement. Coming to the defense of African
Prisoners of War will rebuild nationalism in the Black
community which will lead to the rebuilding of the
movement.

Mass political defense work must be viewed as
self defense and if properly carried out will evolve
eventually to armed propaganda. With this in mind
NBSA should immediately address itself to organizing
mass black independence/ reparations demonstrations
and marches on the 4th of July in every local com-
munity to protest the racist bicentennial. We should
demand reparations* by setting up ad hoc reparations
committees. For those from Chocolate City (Washing-
ton D.C.) the reparations committee would organize
a mass demonstration in front of the white house.
We should also visit the congressional black caucus
and ask them to introduce a reparations land bill
before the congress.

Also with the new evidence on FBI, CIA, Army
conspiracy against the movement we should form a
lobby at the United Nations and ask all Third World
countries to bring out issues concerning African
Prisoners of War before the general assembly, charg-
ing the U.S. with genocide-violation of the human
rights charter. NBSA should use all forms of multi-
media to get its message across to our people. We
should remember there is constant protracted psycho-
logical warfare going on against us. We must be
aware that we are products of programmed learning.
We must reprogram ourselves through Black pro-
grammed learning. NBSA after calling its national
conference and establishing itself should pressure
Black educators to call a national conference on Black
Studies to clean house, purge reactionaries and for
students to regain control over Black Studies— making
it once again revolutionary and nationalist. This
would be the first step in the struggle in fighting for
more financial aid and against admissions cutbacks.
Through the grapevine the word should go out.
Black is Back!

NBSA should be the beginnings of unity of all
community nationalist and revolutionary organi-
zations. As Black people progress in struggle we see
our struggle moving closer to a national liberation
front.

DARE TO STRUGGLE, DARE TO WIN!!!

I wonder what would happen if

the different me's decided to intergrate

Would that be a joyous reunion

encrushed in white

all smiles on a sunny day

faces tilted to greet the sun

Handshakes

Brothers-Sisters-God-Love?

Would there be abrasive spirits turned loose on one 'nother
Campaigning for positions of incompatent power.
Sloganing "Let the individual be".
All caught up in intervascular symbiosis Nors squalor

What if each municapality opped to govern itself
while vieing for overall prestigeous positions.

What atomic temperatures would be reached
energies swollen strained proportions.

Would it be like orgastic joy or parallel meditative calm.
Blurred gray, ivory fliting beneath suptle brown
Mother of Pearl receiving life from father of man
Bared sould embrassing foreign terrain giving footing for
twists of spirit, anatomy, twisted minds

I ma

(Univ. of Mass)

Amherst

The role of the Black educator

by RICHARD SCOTT GORDON

One of the most important roles in the struggle
for national Liberation of Black and Third World
people is the role of the Black Educator. Education
has always been a major setback for Black people
in this country. After stripping them of their lan-
guage, history, and culture. Whites have always made
it extremely difficult for Blacks as well as other Third
World people to obtain an education. During early
slavery days. Blacks were not allowed to communicate
either by speaking their native tongue or by means
of the drum. Much communicating was done by
grunting, and a form of "grunting" language was
actually developed by these enslaved people. After the
famous Emancipation Proclamation, in many states
it was illegal to educate Blacks, especially the knowl-
edge of reading and writing. In the state of North
Carolina, the education of Blacks was banned -until
the early 1900's.

There are many famous stories on how many
Blacks obtained an education back in what Whites
generally refer to as the "good ole days". The great
politician, Stateman and Scholar, Fredrick Douglass
learned how to read by tricking a white boy into
teaching him. Other Blacks used to stand outside
school houses and learned. Later in secret sessions,
they would teach others. A few fortunate slaves were
even educated by their slave masters.

Today in 1976, just as several hundred years
ago Black people are in serious educational trouble.
A recent study clearly indicated that schools in Black,
Puerto Rican and other areas that contain people of
color, are systematically excluded from quality edu-
cation. These schools are usually overcrowded, un-
derstaffed, and lack adequate educational materials
necessary to keep the students mentally up to state
and federal standards.

At the same time, the predominantly all white
suburban and semi-suburban community schools
are well equipped to go about the business of seri-
ously educating their pupils. The facilities are usually
from good to excellent, the classrooms are comfort-

able with only the best current education materials,
and the faculty is really concerned about his or her
student. The contrast between these two school sys-
tems is great. The implications, especially racial, are
strong.

It is said that Education is the key to unlock the
doors of wisdom and knowledge. An illiterate person
is someone who will have to be told about life, never
living it. Keeping Black people uneducated will un-
doubtedly keep them from the truth. Mis-education
is lies, propaganda and serious brainwashing. With-
out the proper knowledge of the past, it is doubtful
that a people can prepare for the future.

So crucial is the role of the Black Educator that
it cannot be over-emphasized. It is the responsibility
of the Black educator to review all the so-called
knowledge that the slave master has imposed on their
people. To expose the lies, racism and injustices that
have been integrated into the history books. To re-
assess the economic, social and political status of
Black people to use their skills to aid an oppressed
and exploited people. In our schools, we must have
Black Administrators and faculty dedicated into pro-
viding the necessary information to students so that
they may be prepared to deal effectively with the sit-
uations at hand. Teach us about our history, culture
and tradition. Fill in the blank spaces that were left
by nonconcerned White and "white washed" Black
teacher. Teach us of Turner, Walker, Garvey and
El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X). Teach us
survival, patience and understanding. Teach the
truth.

We charge the Black educators with this task. We
say that this is your responsibility. We are aware of
those that have gone "off" on a PHd trip and those
educators which have chosen to defect to the ranks of
the oppressor. There are many good intentions.
However, we can only recognize serious work and
concrete accomplishments. You could say that the
future of the world is in your hands.

A Black Perspective of The U. S. Bicentennial

O. C. Bobby Daniels

Associate Dean of Students

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01002

Notwithstanding the legitimate observances of
our nation's bicentennial, the prevailing aura is a
celebration in hypocrisy. If you are among the thirty
million U. S. citizens of African ancestry, the bicen-
tennial represents the fact that you are participating
in an endless search for a clearer identity. If you are
among the White citizenry of this country, you are
most likely unaware that your identity has been dis-
torted by the basic contradictions of U. S. history.
In order to grapple with what history has made of us,
we must first uncover the content and the extent of
its control. This process involves identification of
patterns in our culture which socialize and legitimate
racists institutions.

Through cultural conditioning, history exerts
tremendous influence over us. It forms our con-
sciousness, which lurks behind our attitudes and
behaviors. So pervasive is its influence that it aston-
ishes us! We feel, say, and do things out of condi-
tioned response, sometimes contrary to our conscious
intent. St. Paul (RSV) described this awkwardness:

I do not understand my own actions ... I can will
what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do
the good I want, but the evil I do not want is
what I do.

Many individuals may think that the bicenten-
nial is irrelevant to their roles in our university com-
munity. Such an approach to campus life is problem-
atic, because it excludes the fact that Black and
White citizens suffer from a lack of data about them-
selves and our nation's 200 year-old history of racial,
sexual, economic, political, and educational discrimi-
nation. Individuals without general awareness of
these forms of discrimination exacerbate rather than
ameliorate the problem.

The purpose of this article is to present three of the
most blatant contradictions in U. S. history which af-
fect the day-to-day interactions between Blacks and
Whites. Contradictions within the Declaration of
Independence, the U. S. Constitution, and the U. S.
Presidency are presented with special attention to
their implications for practical action.

BACKGROUND

An unfortunate fact accounting for much of
these bicentennial contradictions is the social mythol-
ogy perpetuated through the works of leading White
scholars, e.g., DeTocqueville, Morison, Commager,
and Eilkens. This indictment could never have been
stated had our leading American institutions recog-
nized and provided research opportunities for their
contemporary Black scholars, e.g., DuBois, Wesley,
Woodson, and Schomburg. The critical balance of
inter-racial apperception and ideology would have
had a far better chance of attainment had American
educational media reflected the contributions of all
Americans toward the building of our nation. Instead,
an insensitive combination of scholars has virtually
ignored the presence of Black people since their
arrival on these shores in the early Seventeenth
Century. The tragic consequence of this irresponsible
scholarship is the fact that when more sensitive
White scholars (e.g., Margaret Mead, John Howard
Griffin, and Gunnar Myrdal) emerged with data that
exposed the inept history, the myths perpetuated by
their predecessors had cemented societal norms, and
provided an intellectual rationale for the oppression
of racial minorities, especially Black Americans.
Nevertheless, the U. S. Bicentennial provides an
opportunity to apply Myrdal's (1962) myth and
reality concept as a framework to check the consist-
ency between what we say and what we actually do.

Implication; American education originated and
continues to operate in this same White-dominated
environment. A random sample of textbooks audio-
visuals, and other forms of educational media over-
whelmingly illustrate this fact. However, individuals
need an accurate knowledge about U. S. history
before they can identify and effectively deal with the
subtle, overt, and potential racism in the education
profession. The major implication of the American
social order is a double bind which leaves all of us
less than we could be. Consequently, the duty of
Black people is first to become aware of these with
others. Such an approach is essential if the univer-
sity is to continue nurturing humaneness and assist-
ing all involved in becoming more fully whole.

CONTRADICTION I: THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE

Franklin (1975) states one may well be greatly
saddened by the thought that the author of the Dec-
laration of Independence and the commander of the
Revolutionary army and so many heroes of the
American Revolution were slaveholders . . . Nor is
one uplifted or inspired by the attitude of the Found-
ing Fathers toward the sl?ve trade, once their inde-
pendence was secured. In the decade following inde-
pendence the importation of slaves into the United
States actually increased over the previous decade as
well as over the decade before the War for Indepen-
dence began.

In the case of the Declaration of Independence,
it must be recognized that racism and its myriad of
insidious manifestations were no accidents in our na-
tion's history. They represent the paradoxical legacy
that the Founding Fathers bestowed upon us. The
major heroes of the Revolution (e.g., the author of
the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson
and the commander of the Revolutionary army,
George Washington) were slaveholders before and
after the document became official. Mainly, because
of attitudes similar to theirs, the importation of
slaves into the United States actually increased dur-
ing the decade following independence. In an Inde-
pendence Day (July 4, 1852) address nearly a century
later Frederick Douglass articulated the contradic-
tion inherent in allowing slavery to exist within a
society professedly dedicated to individual freedom
(Brown and Ploski, 1967, p. 88):

"Co where you may, search where you will; roam
through all the monarchies and despotisms of
the Old World, travel through South America,
search out every abuse and when you have found
the last lay your facts by the side of the everyday
practices of this nation, and you will say with me
that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypo-
crisy, America reigns without rival."
Franklin (1975) cites still another glaring contra-
diction involving Paul Cuffe and his brother. In 1781
the two young enterprising Blacks, asked Massachu-
setts to excuse them from the duty of paying taxes,
since they "had no influence in the election of those
who tax us." And when they refused to pay their
taxes, those who had shouted that England's taxation
without representation was tyranny, slapped the
Cuffe brothers in jail. (p. 11)

Implication: The Declaration of Independence is
regarded as the fundamental national document
which affirms human equality and consequently,
represents certain unalienable Rights, e.g.. Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Many individ-
uals operate on this assumption and in so doing
model behaviors which ignore the duplicitious nature
of the American social order. Granting this contra-
diction, the University should provide relevant pre
and in-service training for racial awareness for all
students, staff and faculty.

CONTRADICTION II: THE CONSTITUTION

In the case of the U. S. Constitution, the very
people who were denied participation in the framing
of it have consistently emerged as its moral guardians.
Initially, Black people and White women were
viewed as unequal to White males. In 1787 when the
document was adopted, a Black person was considered
only three-fifths of a White male; White women were
disfranchised. The 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th
Amendments would not have been necessary had the
moral fiber of our nation been woven with a basic
humanity that viewed and protected all citizens as
equals. Paradoxically, because of these Americans
perennial struggle against lynching, rape, segrega-
tion and tokenism various forms of socio-economic
oppression previously neglected have again been
exposed, e.g., sexism and poverty.

Twentieth Century history clearly indicates that
Black Americans continue to be moral guardians of
the Constitution and the Declaration of Independ-
ence, he challenged organized religion. It would
awareness among themselves and humanistically-
oriented White Americans. The nation has never
been the same since Thurgood Marshall and the
Browns of Topeka successfully challenged the con-
stitutionality of "separate but equal" schools. This
foray combined with Rosa Park's challenge of the
constitutionality of racial discrimination in public
conveyances confronted White America in a way
that no White citizen could rgardless how liberal
his or her persuasion. The advent of Martin Luther
King, Jr. provided an unparalleled era of spiritual
leadership for our nation. Not only did he challenge
the Constitution and the Declaration of Indepen-
dence, he challenged organized religion. It would
then seem only providential that Frank Wills, a
Black security guard at the Watergate, should have
initiated an inquiry that ultimately led to one of the
gravest Constitutional crises in our history. Given
the elements of time, location, and racism, only Mr.
Wills could have awakened White America from its
fantasy into the reality that skin color doesn't auto-
matically insure Constitutional rights. Without
these Black challengers of the law, our Constitution
and the people for whom it was drafted to serve might
well be out of touch with each other.

Implication: Unless education is reality oriented
the process itself may well become a frustrating ex-
perience for everyone concerned. Students and facul-
ty must, therefore, be aware of their own attitudes,
limitations and goals. The need for an on-going
values clarification experience for both is essential.
Clarification of racial and sexual values historically
inherent in the American social order is critical to
understanding identity and aspirational problems
of today's students.

CONTRADICTION III: THE PRESIDENCY

From George Washington onward, U. S. Presi-
dents have reflected the racism of the American

social order in shaping American domestic and for-
eign policies. Two days before the Fourth of July,
1776 Washington wrote the following letter (Gregory,
1971, p. 8): Sir: With this letter comes a negro (Tom)
which I beg the favor of you to sell in any of the
islands you may go to for whatever he will fetch and
bring me in return from him: one hogshead of best
molasses, one ditto of best rum ... If Thomas Jeffer-
son is to be viewed as the humanitarian many his-
torians have portrayed him to be. Black people per-
ceive him as a complex Virginia planter, slave owner,
and politician. Suffice it to say, racist, integration-
ists, abolitionists, and states righters proclaim him
as their hero. Andrew Jackson was proud to be
known as a slaveholder and an Indian fighter. Ac-
cording to Steinfield (1972) one of the most shocking
incidents in the shameful record of this country's
relations with the Indian was Jackson's defiance of
the United States Supreme Court and his insistence
upon the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation
from their traditional lands.

It is astonishing that the myth of Abraham Lin-
coln as the Great Emancipator continues to prosper.
In 1858 Lincoln states (Steinfield, 1972, p. 124):
I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in
favor of bringing about in any way the social and
political equality of the white and black races, that
I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters
or jurors of negroes, nor qualifying them to hold
office nor to intermarry with white people; and I will
say in addition to this that there is a physical differ-
ence between the white and black races which I be-
lieve will forever forbid the two races living together
on terms of social and political equality.

Implication: As a socio-psychological frame of
reference "The Presidency" is perceived as the final
and most influential national office. When our
Presidents recite the rhetoric of freedom and racial
equality Black students (aware of their plight in the
American social order) view such statements with
distrust. In varying degrees this distrust filters
through every aspect of American Life and accounts
for much of the communication problems which con-
tinue to exist between Black and white students.
Implicit in this communication problem is the White
students' recognition and reaction to the history of
contradictions between White America's rhetoric
and its behavior.

CONFRONTING THE CONTRADICTIONS

As we observe the U. S. Bicentennial, we must
not apologize, compromise, and temporize on those
principles of liberty that were supposed to be the very
foundation of the American way of life. We must
state with the full awareness that racial segregation is
no unanticipated accident in our nation's history
and confront this flaw in our national character. As
we do this, it is well to remember that criticism does
not necessarily imply hostility; and, indeed, the
recognition of human weakness suggests no aliena-

tion. We should incorporate in our statements with
others a deeper examination of the bicentennial and
the need to improve the human condition. Franklin
(1975) suggest an appropriate beginning would be
to celebrate our origins for what they were, i.e., to
honor the principles of independence for which so
many patriots fought and died. Consequently, it is
equally appropriate to express outrage over the
manner in which the principles of human freedom
and human dignity were denied and debased by those
same patriots. Their legacy to us in this regard
cannot, under any circumstances, be cherished or
celebrated. Rather, this legacy represents a contin-
uing and dismaying problem that requires us to put
forth as much effort to overcome it as the Founding
Fathers did in handing it down to us.

Finally, this encounter with the power of history
brings Black Americans to the brink of the deeper
meaning of freedom. We are beginning to come to
terms with what history has made of us, and we are
doing so, according to Baldwin (1966):

Because thereafter, one enters into battle with
that historical creation, oneself, and attempts to
re-create oneself according to a principle more
humane and more liberating; one begins the at-
tempt to achieve a level of personal maturity and
freedom which robs history of its tyrannical
power, and also changes history.

REFERENCES

Baldwin, J. "Unnameable Objects, Unspeakable

Crimes", in The White Problem in American

sp. ed. Ebony (Summer, 1966) Chicago: Johnson

Publishing Co. p. 174.
Ford, P. L. (Ed.). The Papers of Thomas Jefferson.

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1899.
Franklin, J. "The Moral Legacy of the Founding

Fathers", University of Chicago Magazine,

LXVII (Summer, 1975), pp. 11-13.
Gregory R. No More Lies: The Myth and the Reality

of American History. New York: Harper and

Row, 1971.
Mayo, B. Jefferson Himself. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin, 1942.
Myrdal, G. An American Dilemma. New York:

Harper-Rowe, 1962.
Ploski, A. and Brown, R. The Negro Almanac. New

York: Bellwether, 1967.
Steinfield, M. Our Racist Presidents. San Ramon,

California: Consensus, 1972.
Swartz, B. and Disch, R. White Racism. New York:

Dell, 1970.

Cetn pffftj Htm cf^iirf'

The Singer

John Coltrane

was not a saxophonist,

but a singer.

He sang the blues,

He sang 'bout me and' you,

Tru/blk/musik.

He sang of love.

He sang of supreme love,

Tru/blk/love/musik.

He sang a song of us.

He sang a song of the people,

Tru/blk/people/musik.

He sang a song of warriors,
He sang of revolution,
Tru/blk/revolutionary ('s)/musik.

And they thought he played

an ins-tru-ment

for fun and money.
And we all know

that he played a weapon

for ins-tru-men-tal purposes.

And they thought he died

with his death.
And we know that he resurrected

with his song.

Yes 'Trane was a singer.
And his voice was a tenor
saxophone.

Permission to Reprint- Archie 5hepp, NY. Times.

Black Power and Black Jazz

by Archie Shepp, Jazzman and playwright

Shortly after World War II, over 50 per cent of
the black people living in the United States were
found to have moved from the rural south to the
large industrial complexes of the North and Mid-
west. A substantial number had settled even farther
west beyond the Rockies.

Most brought with them a few worldly posses-
sions, the family Bible and an enormously rich musi-
cal heritage derived from Africa. Though they them-
selves had limited access to musical instruments,
save an occasional upright or a guitar, they were
able to pass on through religious songs and church
records— the only authentic cultural experience this
country has ever inspired, with the possible ex-
ception of the ritual of the American Indians.

More over, the provincial organ of the backwoods
church could neither anticipate nor stay the cruel
social and economic changes that would eventually up-
end religion as the traditional moral force in the black
community.

Both the church and its historical ally, the fami-
ly, foundered on the devastating rock of depression
and two world wars. Black men returned home bitter
and jobless to face in peacetime the same igno-
minious poverty they had always known. Indeed the
American Dream appeared a nightmare, and the unful-
filled hopes of the Reconstruction a remote and care-
fully nurtured myth to a generation a hundred
years removed. Not a few of America's black sons
turned to dope (here I don't refer to marijuana) and
crime as a last democratic response to an apathetic
and unviable republic. Night life flourished as a nec-
essary accommodation to this expanded social milieu.

Thus the black jazz musician, economically
insecure just as the worker, made a similar trek
north bringing with him the secular music of the
streets, the language of hip and the lore of the bistros.
One such man was Charles Parker, one of America's
rare and seldom acknowledged geniuses. Mr. Parker,
known to jazz devotees as Bird, was originally

from Kansas City. He settled in New York in the for-
ties after having traveled extensively with the Jay
MacShann band. His biographers state that he had
already been involved with heroin by the time he was
15, a fact no doubt attributable to the extensive vice
that existed during Kansas City's notoriously corrupt
Prendergast regime.

The music of Parker and his contemporaries
(Monk, Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, etc.) ignited the spark
of a renaissance in so-called jazz music Bird, the
man, was reflective not only of an emergent identity
among black artists, but a growing socio-political
awareness, among Negros in general. Through Park-
er's music, the urbanization of the black man took on
the added dimension of sophistication. This "sophis-
tication" was in reality a realignment of values that
would enable the Negro to deal with the specious
hypocrisy of northern whites while at the same time
maintaining his own sanity, or to put it another way,
"Keep the faith, baby."

Parker's music found an eager audience in the
cities, primarily among youth. The rootless, aliena-
ted existence of the young Negro was made timeless
and universal by the magic of his soaring sound and
rapid notes. The Existential was lent a new plausibil-
ity.

Then, in 1954, Bird died of pneumonia at the age
of 35. To some, at least, his death seemed sense-
less, not a providential act, but a systematic, socio-
logical murder for which there was a precedent. Men
like Max Roach, and Sonny Rollins, Parker's erst-
while associates, began to involve themselves more
directly in political action in order to change things.
The black esthetic revolution now widened its scope
to include its political counterpart. Roach's "Freedom
Now" Suite was deemed so provocative that is was
banned by the racist authorities of South Africa.
Charles Mingus, well known bassist, invented titles
like, "Fables for Faubus," and obvious reference to
the school desegregation crisis of 1954. Moreover,
the police action in Korea had released another bitter
generation from the syndrome of world death. They

were to return like their fathers, Sancho Panzas
without portfolio, perennial accomplices to internation-
al crimes they neither caused nor condoned. The
implacable fact would not yield to rationalization.
A gook and a Nigger were interchangeable when the
heat was off.

The urban black turned inward, became more
taciturn. Was he really apathetic? Super cool? Or
had Whites once again gratuitously misjudged the
extent and potential of his political response to
terror?

As the tempo of life increased, all art reflected
the change. People walked faster. Notes were played
faster. New hopes were born and, like the tall
buildings of cities, they seemed to reach to the sky.
The children of the previous generation were now
grown up and were challenging the democratic proc-
ess to provide solutions in place of academic in-
quiries. They were not going to be put off with the
same old lies, not about to be hacked to death on
their knees. Suspicious of Christianity out of an
historical pre-disposition, they either rejected the
old mora! nostrums altogether, or re-interpreted the
religious experience through Black Islam. The image
of Buckwheat and Aunt Jemima which had persisted
in the American mythology as stock types, were ex-
posed for what they were: the absurd projection of an
elaborate white fantasy.

The white world grew suddenly alarmed. In the
midst of the Great Society a nation within a nation
seemed to have developed. Not only was the black
determined to be free; he was determined to be
black and free. Watts exploded like a fat bloody
watermelon all over America, and black youth were
able to distill from the fierce cry and passionate
urgency of John Coltrane's music the faint admoni-
tion of Max Roach: "Freedom Now."

Thirty years before, Benny Goodman had won ac-
claim from the white liberal establishment when he
hired Teddy Wilson and Charlie Christian (both
Negroes) to work in previously all-white clubs. But
the benevolent patronage of well meaning whites, de-
spite their intent, was beginning to wear a little thin
to America's 20 million Negroes. A white "King of
Swing" seemed to them as implausible and insulting
as Tarzan and Jane in the Ituri.

Black power was the inevitable response of a
people without power to a system which had grown

fat and indifferent to the yearnings of the poor; a
system whose ethic, at least, was still rooted in
the institution of slavery; whose immense wealth
and idyllic democracy had failed at this late date to
provide even a black quarterback, or a single soli-
tary Negro billionaire.

LeRoi Jones's Black Arts theater schools was an
ambitious attempt to offset these shortcomings of
democracy, and acquaint the black with the full portent
of his historical role. Though the organization was
plagued with difficulties from its inception, it rep-
resented a signal attempt by the black artist to com-
bine his cultural and vocational aims into a specific
political expression— not violence— but emancipation.

At the initiative of Mr. Jones, the first New
Thing recording was done live at the Village Gate (The
New Wave in Jazz, Impulse Records). This record-
ing, led by the formidable John Coltrane, was a mile-
stone in that it introduced a score of unknowns to
the mainstream jazz audience, among them Grachan
Moncur, James Spaulding, Charles Tolliver, Sonny
Murray, Beaver Harris, Albert Ayler, and Archie Shepp
Critics such as Jones began to point out the re-
lationship of the new music to popular rhythm and
blues. The burgeoning mass consciousness of the
black artist had evolved into a complete esthetic
expression. "Soul " was its creed, and "brotha"
its most constant reference of endearment.

Bird, Rollins, Miles, Monk,Trane, Roach, Clarke,
Roy Haynes . . . were the immediate ancestors
of a revolution, a new American Revolution. Its demo-
cratic message was hammered out in the intransigence
of Elvin Jones's drum and the plangent sounds of
the Trane's horn. Black youth found its kindred
spirit in the new music and like Big George (an
avid devotee of the Trane) they would shout, "git 'em
Trane! " — in the sure knowledge that music works
a magical power against evil. It was under the tutelage
of the Trane that the so-called New Thing developed,
but much of its conception was due to the innovations
of Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman, its two found-
ing fathers.

This new statement had been accused of being
"angry" by some, and if so, there is certainly some
justification for that emotion. On the other hand, it
does not proscribe on the basis of color. Its only
prerequisites are honesty and an open mind. The
breadth of this statement is as vast as America,
its theme the din of the streets, its motive freedom.

Bill Hasson on Music

They're afraid to listen to the Dolphy cause the
Cannonball has flown and the train doesn't stop here
any more, but the sun is still Ra and Ras. ... It is an
undisputable fact that nature has exhibited its poten-
tial power this past winter and in a very natural way.
There was nothing that no one could do to prevent
this tremendous forceful expression. It was a natural
force. For those that are tuned in to the forces of
nature and naturalism, they simply accepted and
kept getting up. But of course, there was those who
would like to have had curtailed this action of which
they possibly had no control what-so-ever. We are
still early in the game because there is more to come.
The music has the same capacity to reveal itself in a
very forceful and natural manner and the artist in the
developing and development of his craft must accept
this natural evolution. In order to understand all of
this, one must have a knowledge and understanding
of the historical aspects of naturalism and the music.
Of course, there are those who would like to suppress
and exploit, misuse, abuse and out right pie about
music and the nature. Yet they are up against forces
that have been ordained by the creator himself.

Given the kind of society we live in where a
minority of people have been isolated for exploited
reasons it would seem natural that all of the minori-
ties expressive qualities should also be exploited for
the gain of the oppressive majority. In some cases
there are defectors from the ranks of the minority
who in a confused state of aping the colonizers dis-
tribute useless information, withhold skills and tal-
ent, and operate in an exotic state of euphoria. Let's
go disco. It is a sad state of affairs when a comedian
named Nipsy Russell cannot even remember the name
of Paul Robeson. Instead he feels comfortable calling
him Robinson, or on the night of Mr. Robeson's
funeral the television tragedy "Good Times" let
Junior denounce the attributes of the people of Cuba,
or the recent cartoon which appeared in the Collegian
that would have you think that the Soviet Union and
the U. S. are at odds in their support of the various
factions in Angola. Our musicians are very impor-
tant teachers, and predictors often guided by the
forces of nature and we must protect, know, and
cherish their music, all forms and expressions. I have
nothing personally against the boogaloo, but there
is more to the music than the boogaloo. While we are
here at the University finding out all we can about
Western civilization, we must dig deep into our own
roots and we would be healthier persons through that
exercise. I charge the disc jockeys to give us more
than the hustle. Give us news, give us history, tell
us who Bud Powell was, let us occasionally hear a
record by Sid Catlett, let us know what style Dinah
Washington represented and who were the pace
setters in this original American Art Form. Action is
truth. Let us know why the record companies took
off Nat King Cole and since charity starts at home,
let us all be present at the musical events here on
Campus no one can save you but yourself, so there-
fore, serve the people and save the nation.

Disco-The New Drug
$2.00 for a high

Another negative cultural phenomena has in-
flicted the Black communities of America. It is
called Disco and thus is having essentially the
same function that drugs did in the 1960's. It
is being piped into our communities by electronic
media and its function is to stifle our progress as
a people; keeping us occupied playing superfly and
generally encouraging us to play Negro.

Now please don't misinterpret what is being
said . . . Black people have traditionally partied
and danced, for it is an integral part of our cul-
ture. What is being said is that disco is a very sta-
tic, non-emotional addictive, and definitely un-
black tradition that is doing damage to the moral
and spiritual fibre of our communities. The word
discoteche is a European word which has been ad-
vanced by the American capitalist system as a way to
make money, keep us pacified or cooled out (same
as drugs) and to stifle our progress as a people.

It is totally absurd that white America makes
money off black folks dancing and it is millions.
All that is involved in having a disco is a large
room, some rhythm and blues records and a flyer
saying disco tonight at nine. Negroes will turn out
from coast to coast, check out Rashid's, Bluewall,
or your local Roxbury disco. Black people are
there in droves supporting these establishments.

Why do we willingly allow these people to con-
tinue to exploit us like this. How many of you
payed to disco this past weekend? How many of
you have purchased disco clothes with the silver
trinkets on them and the stack heel shoes? The
clothing industry has profited greatly off black
people wanting to look like disco freaks. We also
support the alcohol industry when we put this
poison in our bodies. Alcohol does nothing to ele-
vate us physically or spiritually.

Disco is also a means to encourage us to listen
to only one hand of music and not to listen to the
music of our progressive black musicians. If we
could really dance then we would dance and
groove to the music of Archie Shepp, Max Roach,
and Sun Ra. Their music is about freedom and
struggle, yet we allow the white media to distort
our knowledge of the true function of music.

Do we have Angola, Roxbury, Earl Brown,
Craemen Gethers or Malcolm on our minds when
we disco? Are we even thinking of our own moth-
ers when we disco?

We must move towards banning this hallucina-
genic evil from our communities and towards devel-
oping a greater understanding of the imperialist
forces that are at work against us in the most subtle
but deadly ways.

Let us dance on to freedom and liberation and
to the control of our great natural resource . . .
black music.

SINGING BROOK

O waters so free, dancing and gay
On the rocks of the brook
Such music you play.

Under water caverns hand-made
by the master,

Tells more stories

Than before and after.

The soothing sounds

Of the singing brook
Speaks statements profound

From the eternal book.

by Doug Hammond

(Reprinted from,
IN
THIS MAZE
OF SEEMING
WONDERS)

FOR DAVID
(Chaka's Tune)

Blowing, screaming, racing, burning
Blow brother like fire pouring

Into the guts of a saxophone

You can't stop now, chasing notes

Through the lower register while
Inner sounds of passion tell me of

Peace

by Abdul Malik
Philadelphia, Pa.

Africa— Our origin
our destiny

foy Wadada Tzake

There is nothing on earth common to man that
man cannot do. As the highest manifestation of life
on earth every human being is a lord of all creation,
made in the image of the creator and endowed with
the power to think creatively and to shape his own
destiny. When a man is unable to shape his own des-
tiny he is no longer a master of the earth but rather a
slave of the forces which prevent him from develop-
ing his creative powers.

For the past four hundred years racism, exploi-
tation and slavery has been inflicted upon the indig-
enous inhabitants of Africa, Asia and America by
white agressors. The inevitable result of four hun-
dred years of savage and selfish world domination by
the European and his offspring, the white American,
is untold misery and suffering for the billions of
black and yellow people throughout the world.

There are at least thirty million people of African
descent in this country, but four hundred years of
slavery has robbed us of our true culture and pres-
ently the overwhelming majority of us live in a state
of total ignorance and neglect of our African identity
and of our status of independent human beings,
capable of mastering all natural forces in the uni-
verse.

The primary cause of our present condition is
that as a race we have no authority and power. In this
20th century, an age characterized by exploitation
and manipulation, a race without power is a race
without respect and a future. For us, the African
race, to remain as we have been in the past, divided
among ourselves and nationalizing our activities as
subjects and citizens of the many alien races and
governments under which we live— can only result
in our continued slavery and exploitation and possi-
ble extermination. Chance has never satisfied the
hope of a suffering people. Action, self-reliance, the
vision of self and the future have been the only
means by which the oppressed have seen and realized
the light of their own freedom.

Here in America, many of us have become so
engrained with white culture that we no longer even
express the desire to rule our lives independently and
appear satisfied to try and "get over" in this artificial
and materialistic, white dominated American society.
However, those of us who are so inclined will inevi-
tably be forced to realize that there is no getting over
in America. The mere acquisition of a few man made
items (house, car, money etc.) will not bring you the
lasting happiness which you seek, for these items
are impermanent by nature and must sooner or later
pass away. The foundation of American commercial
society lies in the exploitation of the lives and coun-
tries of the billions of black and yellow peoples in
America and abroad. Consequently, when the time
comes for this exploitation to stop, as it inevitably

must, American society will collapse into dismal ruin
and so will the way of life of its inhabitants.

Both Marcus Garvey and Malcom X, pioneers
in the struggle for Black Liberation, emphasized the
absolute necessity for the cessation of the exploita-
tion of the disinherited masses of the world and con-
stantly urged the Black inhabitants of the five con-
tinents to return to Africa to work to create a power-
ful, unified Black nation. In the words of Garvey,
"Be as proud of your race today as your fathers were
in days of yore. We have a beautiful history and we
shall create another in the future that will astonish
the world."

Black and other Third World students, who are
attending American Colleges and universities, have
a special task to perform. Indeed we are very fortu-
nate to be able to attend institutions of higher educa-
tion which enable us, to a certain extent, to shape
our personal destinies; a privilege which very few
black people have. However, whatever heights we
are able to achieve in our education will be of no avail
unless it is directed to the service of the Black Revo-
lution. Our lives will be absolutely fruitless if our
sole ambition is to obtain a high paying job, for all
the money in the world won't save you or this coun-
try when the suffering billions throughout the world
unite to fight for their liberation and to bring an end
to four hundred years of selfish world domination
by the white race.

It is absolutely mandatory for us to educate and
organize ourselves to unite with our oppressed
brothers and sisters for the final showdown against
our white oppressors. In working towards this objec-
tive, here on campus, we need to create a central
Black organization with the maximum membership
of the Black community of the five-college area, with
the objective of collectively shaping our so-called
"higher education," for the liberation of Africa.

Indeed, the liberation of Africa is essential to
our continued existence as a people as well as for the
reestablishment of our status as masters of the earth;
for it is the naturally ordained home of all Black
people. Many of us were forcibly removed from the
motherland and robbed of our culture. We have en-
dured four hundred years of both physical and
psychological slavery, intentionally designed to
reduce us from our natural status as masters of the
earth to a state of cringing weaklings who are depen-
dent upon another race to think, organize and pro-
vide for them. The only way for us to be free of this
slavery and to regain our rightful places as "the
lords of creation" is for us to move forward to mother
Africa to live and love with one another and to work
to develop it for the benefit of all African people.
Free from any form of exploitation of man by man.

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Diana Ramos

Sun Ra's Band

Vishnu Woods

Sun Ra

Pro. Max Roach

Jean Cam

Impressions of Max Roach

By RICK SCOTT GORDON
UJAAMA

It is Rare Indeed

To find a Man on the Planet

Who is Uncompromising

When it comes to Truth and Justice

A Man who had Dedicated

His life, using the Natural

Talent that the Creator has

Bestowed upon him to

Uplift his people

Exposing injustices

And denouncing Oppression

Wherever and Whenever it Exists

In our Family

Which includes all of Us

Who Know the Truth

And who Collectively break bread Together

Art is the materialization of Cultural Energy,

A necessity in Combatting Exploitation

Music is the Creators Gift, necessary to sustain Sanity

And at the Highest Realm

Of Great Black Classical Creative Heritage

Music

Music developed and created by Enslaved People

America's Only Original Music Form

Is Max Roach

International Giant, A man who is a Legend

In his own time

A Man who is Known, Respected

And Loved the World Over

Our "Prince of Percussion"

Master Musician, Composer

Artist and Leader

A Brother who's Great Contributions

To the Entire World have yet

To receive proper Recognition

Our Giant, Our Leader

Our Teacher and Our Friend

And most of all our Brother

The University of Mass. and Pioneer Valley's Own

Professor Max Roach

Denis Coulon

THE UNITY ENSEMBLE, L-R. Sulaiman Hakim-Reeds, Clifford Adams-Trombone, Charles Farnbor-
ough-Bass, Aurell Ray-Guitar, Chris Henderson-Drums, Art Matthews-Piano.

Alpha to Omega

By D.E. JOHNSON

Unity. Ensemble. Think about the meaning of
these two words— then consider an ensemble of
rhythmetic thoughts joined in perfect harmonious
unity. Feel being reached inside where you live and
have all the joy— pleasure— pain— beliefs pulled out
of you, flowing around you and in the center of it,
silver strands of honey, warm like a summer breeze.
Subtle play on your senses.

Conjure up all this magic and you have the
UNITY ENSEMBLE-Sulaiman Hakim-alto and
soprano sax, Clifford Adams— trombone, Art Mat-
thews—electric piano, Aurell Ray— electric guitar,
Chris Henderson— drums and percussion and Charles
Famborough— bass; blessed with the special pres-
ence of vocalist. Prima.

The Top of the Campus was transformed this
weekend into a place of unbelievable celebration and
the music is still circulating the atmosphere.

Starting off at alpha level, from Miles to Art
Matthews own "Love Dreams" and "Ebony Samba"
and more, they spiralled higher and higher 'till some-
where at omega a meteor exploded— Chris Henderson
went off taking the Ensemble with him and everyone
else too. And if an even higher level could be reached
all those beautiful brothers came in and out on their
own, like a dream web. From very surreal to very
mellow. In the middle of it all was Prima, the silver
strand, a rare Black pearl. ; She and the Brothers
got into "People Make the World Go Round" and as
she said, "couldn't come out." Could be she is the
summer that she sang, "knows". Had to be the unity
of her brief ensemble with them-us made the snow
outside seem out of place.

Unity. Ensemble, think about the meaning.

Far right; Clifford Adams-New Jersey-trombone, vocals and anything else, has recorded with dynamic
Lonnie Liston Smith, and Charles Earland. Black classical music should be taken out of bars and night-
clubs and presented in concert halls, so that the entire realm of Black people will get its true meaning
and understanding.

Chris Henderson, from South Philadelphia,
Co-leader of Unity Ensemble on drums, congas
and miscellaneous percussion, is one of today's
most outspoken artists— "Because of the lack of
communication among most of our people
we must realize that Black classical music has
become watered down." Chris has also recorded
with Marion Brown.

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Sulaiman Hakim— reeds— out of Watts Los
Angeles, to his credit has played with such
giants as Archie Shepp and Max Roach. He
can be heard on the upcoming album "I
Know About the Life", recorded under the
leadership of UMass' own Charles "Majid"
Greenly.

Archie Shepp

by Nelson Stevens

AFRICAN AMERICANS

we be pooooor, but we strive and survive.

STRENGTH

my strength comes from
mom

Nan and grandpop Pleasant
my sister and brothers, val, jimmy, and norman
from beth, cary, tina, tyrone, kirn, debbie, ladonya, l<awesi kalama
(norman jr.), malaki (denine), dad weston whose spirit is still
alive and happy, and most of all my wife Ima.
but i didn't forget you.

DESIRE

why i want to be so well known that when my name, chris henderson

is mentioned people all over the world will say yes with a smile.

i want Ima to always be happy, i want my family to grow stronger,

i want to be so good that when i play my drums everybody will smile.

i want enough money to fight the evils of the world, i want mom,

grandpop and nan to stop achin, i want the best of opportunities

for all oppressed people all over the world, i want to have good

strong and healthy children, i want to live a good long healthy life.

all of this will come, because i want, and with my want the creator

will provide, now i didn't mean to be selfish, let's take a look

at what YOU WANT

5. and so on

Chris henderson

Reprinted from Grassroots—

The Peoples Newsweekly
Vol. 2, Issue 2, Jarj. 27,1976

Gethers

and

Brown
Case

Craemen Gethers third year
math student at UMass has
served one year of a 8-12 year
sentence.

On August 7, 1974, a robbery took place in Mac-
Donald's on route 9 in Hadley, Massachusetts and
approximately $1200.00 was taken from the register
at gunpoint. The police were sent to apprehend three
Black men. Craemen Gethers, a third year math stu-
dent at UMass was picked up by police and was
tried and sentenced to 8 to 12 years at MCI Norfolk
for armed robbery and assault. Craemen was on
crutches and disabled at the time, with the proper
medical receipts from his doctors to prove this fact.
He could not have "leaped" over the counter at Mc-
Donald's as one witness testified. Craemen also had
an eyewitness who testified that he and Craemen
were playing cards at a UMass dormitory during the
alleged holdup, while he (the eye witness) was on
security at the dorm. These facts did not save Crae-
men from incarceration.

The case of Robert Earl Brown received a lot
more attention than the Gethers case because Gethers
was tried and sentenced during summer intersession,
while most students were away. Earl Brown was a star
athlete who was recruited by UMass from Elmira,
N.Y. Earl played first string defensive halfback on
the team for three years. Brown was good enough to
have been watched closely by several pro scouts from
across the country. Earl Brown was arrested by police
after they searched the UMass I.D. files for Black
male students who fitted the witness' description. We
have learned since then that Police are free to examine
personal students I.D. photos and files upon request,
a system not unlike that of the racist South African
regime.

Brown's room was entered by Police without his
consent or knowledge and Police picked out clothes
that fitted closest to the description given by one of
the witnesses. Although State Police found a stolen
car abandoned the next day after the robbery contain-
ing a sawed-off shotgun and clothes that fit the wit-
nesses' description of the alleged thieves, it appar-
ently did not save Brown from incarceration. Al-

Robert Earl Brown played
on UMass Football Team and
was community organizer and
activist.

though none of McDonald's employees could make
a positive identification of Gethers and Brown and
out of 10 witnesses, only 3 of them said they recog-
nized Brown, he was still convicted. One of the wit-
nesses said that the hold-up man had no mustache.
Brown had several eye-witnesses testify that Brown
has worn a mustache for years, this did not save
Earl Brown from incarceration. Even though Brown's
first trial ended in a hung jury, he was tried again by
an all white jury at Northampton District Court and
sentenced to 3 to 5 years, in prison at MCI Walpole.
Presiding Judge Tamerillo gave Brown a somewhat
lighter sentence than Gethers because of Brown's
enormous support.

The stories that these two students have revealed
from inside prison walls are tragic, sad and highly
emotional. Both students were guilty only of being
Black and trying to complete their education. From
inside the confines of Norfolk prison Craemen told
Grassroots that "It could happen to anybody." In
light of the semi-Police state here at UMass; our I.D.
photos and personal files open to Police upon re-
quest; our rooms searched without warrants and
our students pulled from out of the University
confines, handcuffed, fingerprinted and booked on
"Suspicion" charges. Grassroots wonders "When
Will The Administration Take A Stand" on these
injustices? Who Will Be Next? How many more will
become the victims of injustice before our rights are
protected?

Grassroots is calling on President Wood, the
Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, and Trustees and
anyone else in the administration to take a stand on
the plight of these two innocent students. We are
calling on the Administration to use the power of the
University to help free these students. In light of the
continued silence of these powerful figures. Grass-
roots cannot help but wonder what the Administra-
tion's position would be if these two students were
white!

'The degree of a country's revolutionary awareness can he measured by the political maturity of it's woman.

Kwame Nkrumah

A letter, To My People, from Assata Shakur and text
of opening statement by Sister Assata Shakur, Black
Liberationist, to Judge Thompson and Men and
Women of the Jury; Preliminary Notes Gathered by
Sister Jamila Semenya Gaston

Assata Shakur: A Revolutionary Black Woman

Rosa Blanco Gaston

Notes On Assata Shakur

For three years Assata Shakur, a woman totally
committed to the liberation of oppressed people, par-
ticularly Black people, has been engaged in a struggle
to the death in the courts of these United States. She
has been forced, under the most arduous circum-
stances, to fight four attempts by the government, in
the name of the "people," to legally lynch her. In May
of 1973 Assata was being hunted by the police to face
charges on a variety of cases, all of which she has
been since judged Not Guilty. Assata Shakur's crimes
against the government's "people" are political not
criminal. She is invincible, she is Black and she is
committed. The government is determined to break
her and eradicate the example that her courage and
perseverance set for all oppressed people.

Assata Shakur is presently on trial in New
Brunswick, New Jersey on charges stemming from a
confrontation with the Jersey state troopers on May
2, 1973, during which Assata Shakur was shot in the
chest and lay near death; her comrade Zayd Malik
Shakur was killed; another comrade, Sundiata Acoli,
escaped but was recaptured within 40 hours; a state
trooper was shot and wounded and another state
trooper was dead. This entire episode took place as a
result of the hunt for Black Liberationists associated
with the Black Liberation Army. Sundiata Acoli was
tried in a separate trial and given 24 - 30 years con-
secutive terms for related offenses. Assata was ex-
tradited to New York City where she was charged first
with bank robbery then with robbery and kidnapping
of a known drug pusher in the Black community and
then another bank robbery charge. The government's
cases against her were so blatantly fabricated by local
lackeys and F.B.I, officials that the three juries found
her NOT GUILTY. In another trial she was charged
with the attempted murder of two New York City
policeman but the case was dismissed for lack of evi-
dence. Now the New Jersey attorney in collaboration
with the F.B.I, and media supporters of the United
States ruling elite are attempting to further victimize
this Black woman by using every tactic imaginable to

make her succumb to this new form of genocide by
trial. She stands accused of murdering the state troop-
er who left her laying on the Jersey turnpike with a
gaping bullet wound in her chest. During the entire
period of her incarceration the government has care-
fully segregated Sister Shakur from the rest of the
prison population. Neither she, nor any of her coun-
sel have been permitted to legally challenge this un-
lawful act. The government placed her in a psychi-
atric unit because she is considered a security risk to
the "internal" institution because of her notoriety.
She has been deprived of many of her constitutional
and civil rights, as well as all normal "privileges" per-
mitted prisoners in the general population. The per-
sistent denial of adequate medical attention resulted
in the paralysis of her right arm. Inappropriate medi-
cal care also caused unnecessary pain during and af-
ter the birth of her daughter in 1974. She is required
to remain alone in her cell where there are no provi-
sions for the intake of food. She is not permitted to
attend legal education classes that would help her
prepare her legal case for presentation. She is denied
the right to attend college classes although she was
formerly a college student and always a student of
life's reality in the street. She was only permitted in
the library under heavy guard escort. No one else is
permitted in the room while she is there. Her mail,
both legal and personal, is constantly opened and
read before it is given to her. Letters she writes are not
sent out for weeks so that she is prevented from re-
ceiving adequate counsel and personal messages. Her
cell is constantly subject to search and seizure by the
guards so that she is constantly under pressure cal-
culated to break her will. Since February 1975
Assata's attorney and his assistants have been denied
access to their client in order to collect information for
the trial. These are direct denials of civil rights. Only
the persistent vigilance of the Committees to Support
Assata Shakur will prevent the government trom
succeeding in its mission to destroy Assata Shakur.

There has been a high level of security wherever

Assata has been imprisoned. Even her infant daugh-
ter has been subjected to extremely thorough search
in the fear that this two year old might somehow slip
some weapon or message to her mother. Recently the
New York Times and local New Jersey newspapers
accused Assata of being the source of a revolt in a
state prison for men hundreds of miles away.
Throughout these trials and the persistent govern-
ment persecution Assata has maintained her dignity
and spoken directly to issues concerning Black peo-
ple. Her latest trial began in March of 1976. Up to this
point she has fought without the mass support of
Black people. She has been declared Not Guilty on
three occasions. This is the last go round. The gov-
ernment is determined. They have successfully sur-
rounded her in a veil of security and silence. We, as a
people have the responsibility to let them know that
their efforts to keep Black Liberationists work and
ideas from the Black population are in vain. We will
not permit them to lynch our women and our men in
their courts. We will reach out to each other, we will
defend ourselves and we will support our rights as
human beings. We will fight unceasingly for the lib-
eration of all oppressed people. We will always strug-
gle and we will win!

Assata Shakur is one manifestation of the deter-
mination of Black people. Following is a letter written
by her to Black people on July 6, 1973 from the Mid-
dlesex County Workhouse and the text of her open-
ing statement to the jury and Judge Thompson in
Brooklyn Supreme Court on November 10, 1975.

TO MY PEOPLE

A letter from Assata Shakur

Black brothers, Black sisters, I want you to know
that I love you and I hope that somewhere in your
heart you have love for me. My name is Assata
Shakur (slave name jo anne chesimard), and I am a
revolutionary. A Black revolutionary. By that I mean
that I am a field nigger who is determined to be free by
any means necessary. By that I mean that I have de-
clared war on all forces that have raped our women,
castrated our men and kept our babies empty bellied.

I have declared war on the rich who prosper on
our poverty. The politicians who lie to us with smiling
faces and all the mindless, heartless robots who pro-
tect them and their property.

I am a Black revolutionary, and, as such, I am a
victim of all the wrath, hatred and slander that amer-
ikkka is capable of. Like all other Black revolutionar-
ies amerikkka is trying to lynch me.

I am a Black revolutionary woman and because
of this I have been charged with and accused of every
alleged crime in which a woman was believed to have

participated. The alleged crimes in which only men
were supposedly involved, I have been accused of
planning. They have plastered pictures alleged to be
me in post offices, airports, hotels, police cars, sub-
ways, banks, televisions and newspapers. They have
offered over fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in re-
wards for my capture and they have issued orders to
shoot on sight and shoot to kill.

I am a Black revolutionary and, by definition that
makes me part of the Black Liberation Army. The pigs
have used their newspapers and TV's to pain the
Black Liberation Army as vicious, brutal, mad dog
ciminals. They have called us gangsters and gun
molls, and have compared us to such characters as
John dillinger and ma barker. It should be clear, it
must be clear to anyone who can think, see or hear,
that we are the victims. The victims and not the crim-
inals.

It should also be clear to us by now who the real
criminals are. Nixon and his crime partners have mur-
dered hundreds of Third World brothers and sisters in
Vietnam, Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola and South
Africa. As was proved by the Watergate, the top law
enforcement officials in this country are a lying bunch
of criminals. The president, two attorney generals,
the head of the fbi, the head of the cia, and half the
white house staff have been implicated in the Water-
gate crimes.

They call us murderers, but we did not murder
over 250 unarmed Black men, women and children,
and wound thousands of others in the riots they pro-
voked during the sixties. The rulers of this country
have always considered their property more important
than our lives. They call us murderers, but we were
not responsible for the 28 brother inmates and the 9
hostages murdered at attica. They call us murderers
but we did not murder and wound over 30 unarmed
Black students at Jackson State or Southern State
either.

They call us murderers, but we did not murder
Martin Luther King, Emmet Till, Medgar Evers, Mal-
colm X, George Jackson, Nat Turner, James Chaney
and countless other Black freedom fighters. We did
not bomb four (4) Black little girls in a Sunday School.
We did not murder, by shooting in the back, 16 year
old Rita Lloyd, 11 year old Rickie Bodden or 10 year
old Clifford Glover. They call us murderers, but we do
not control or enforce a system of racism and oppres-
sion that systematically murders Black and Third
World people. Although Black people supposedly
comprise about 15% of the total amerikkkan popula-
tion, at least 60% of murder victims are Black. For
every pig that is killed in the so called line of duty
there are at least 50 Black people murdered by the po-
lice.

Black life expectancy is much lower than white
and they do their best to kill us before we are born.
We are burned alive in firetrap tenements. Our broth-
ers and sisters O.D. daily from heroin and methadone.
Our babies die from lead poisoning. Millions of Black
people have died as a result of indecent medical care.
This is murder. But they have the gall to call us mur-
derers.

They call us kidnappers, yet Brother Clark
Squire (who is accused along with me of murdering a
new jersey state trooper) was kidnapped on April 2,
1969, from our Black community and held on
$100,000 ransom in the New York Panther 21 con-
spiracy case. He was acquitted on May 13, 1971 along
with all the others of all the 156 counts of conspiracy
by a jury that took less than two hours to deliberate.
Brother Squire was innocent. Yet he was kidnapped
from his community and family. Over two years of his
life were stolen, but they call us kidnappers, but we
did not kidnap the thousands of Brothers and Sisters
held captive in amerikkas concentration camps. 90%
of the prison population in this country are Black and
Third World people who can afford neither bail nor
lawyers.

They call us thieves and bandits. They say we
steal. But it was not us who stole millions of Black
people from the continent of Africa. We were robbed
of our language, of our Gods, of our culture, of our
human dignity, of our labor and of our lives. They
call us thieves yet it is not us who rip off billions of
dollars every year through tax evasions, illegal price
fixing, embezzlement, consumer fraud, bribes, kick-
backs and swindles. They call us bandits, yet every
time most Black people pick up our paychecks we are
being robbed. Every time we walk into a store in our
neighborhood we are being held up. And every time
we pay our rent the landlord sticks a gun into our ribs.

They call us thieves, but we did not rob and mur-
der millions of Indians by ripping off their homeland,
then call ourselves pioneers. They call us bandits but
it is not us who are robbing Africa, Asia and Latin
America of their natural resources and freedom while
the people are sick and starving. The rulers of this
country and their flunkies have committed some of
the most brutal, vicious crimes in history. They are
the bandits. They are the murderers. And they should
be treated as such. These maniacs are not fit to judge
me, Clark Squire or any other Black person on trial in
amerikka. Black people should and inevitably must
determine our destinies.

Every revolution in history has been accom-
plished by actions, although words are necessary. We
must create shields that protect us and spears that
penetrate our enemies. Black people must lejrn how

to struggle by struggling. We must learn by our mis-
takes.

I want to apologize to you, my Black brothers
and sisters, for being on the new jersey turnpike. I
should have known better. The turnpike is a check
point where Black people are stopped, searched, har-
assed and assaulted. Revolutionaries must never be
in too much of a hurry or make careless decisions. He
who runs when the sun is sleeping will stumble many
times.

Every time a Black Freedom Fighter is murdered
or captured the pigs try to create the impression that
they have squashed the movement, destroyed our
forces and put down the Black Revolution. The pigs
also try to give the impression that 5 or 10 Guerrillas
are responsible for every revolutionary action carried
out in amerikka. That is nonsense. That is absurd.
Black revolutionaries do not drop from the moon. We
are created by our conditions shaped by our oppres-
sion. We are being manufactured in droves in the
ghetto streets, places like attica, san quentin, bedford
hills, leavenworth and sing sing. They are turning out
thousands of us. Many jobless Black veterans and
welfare mothers are joining our ranks. Brothers and
sisters from all walks of life who are tired of suffering
passively make up the BLA.

There is and always will be, until every Black
man, woman and child is free, a Black Liberation
Army. The main function of the Black Liberation
Army at this time is to create good examples to strug-
gle for Black freedom and to prepare for the future.
We must defend ourselves and let no one disrespect
us. We must gain our liberation by any means neces-
sary.

It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our
duty to win. We must love each other and support
each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains!

In the spirit of:

Ronald Carter

William Christmas

Mark Clark

Mark Essex

Frank Heavy Fields

Woodie Changa Olugbala Green

Fred Hampton

Lil Bobby Hutton

George Jackson

Jonathan Jackson

James McClain

Harold Russell

Zayd Malik Shakur

Anthony Kumu Olugbala White

We must fight on.

July 6, 1973

Middlesex County
Workhouse

Note: Information Came From the National Coali-
tion To Defend Assata Shakur, P.O. Box 1352
Harlem, New York 10027

Opening Statement of Assata Shakur at her trial

JUDGE THOMPSON, BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
MEN AND WOMEN OF THE JURY:

I have decided to act as co-counsel, and to make
this opening statement, not because i have any illu-
sions about my legal abilities, but rather because there
are things that i must say to you. I have spent-many-
days and nights behind bars thinking about this trial,
this outrage. And in my own mind only someone who
has been so intimately a victim of this madness as i
have, can do justice to what i have to say. And if you
think that i am nervous, your senses do not deceive
you. It is only because i know that this moment can
never be lived again, and that so much depends on it.
I have to read this opening statement to you, because
i am afraid that if i don't, I will forget half of what I
have to say. Please try to bear with me.

This will not be a conventional opening state-
ment. First of all, because i am not a lawyer, and what
has happened to me, and what has happened to Ron-
ald Myers does not exist in a vacuum. There are a long
series of events and attitudes that led up to us being
here.

When we were sitting in this courtroom, during
the jury selection process, i listened to Judge Thomp-
son tell yoj about the amerikan system of justice. He
talked about presumption of innocence; he talked
about equality and justice. His words were like a
beautiful dream in a beautiful world. But i have been
awaiting trial for two and one half years. And justice,
in my eyesight, has not been the amerikan dream; it
has been the amerikan nightmare. There was a time
when i wanted to believe that there was justice in this
country. But reality crashed through and shattered all
my daydreams. While awaiting trial i have earned a
PhD in justice, or rather, the lack of it.

I sat next to a pregnant woman who was doing
90 days for taking a box of pampers, and watched on
T.V. the pardoning of a president who had stolen mil-
lions of dollars, and who had been responsible for the
deaths of thousands of human beings. For what? For
peace with honor? Nixon was pardoned without ever
being formally accused of a crime. He was pardoned
without ever standing trial or being found guilty of a
crime or spending one day in jail. Who else could

commit some of the most horrendous destructive
crimes in history and get paid 200.00 tax dollars a
year? Is there really such a thing as equality under the
law? Ford stated that he pardoned Nixon because
Nixon's family had suffered enough. Well, what
about thousands of families whose sons gave their
lives in Viet Nam? What about the families who have
sons and daughters in prison, who cannot afford bail
or even lawyers for their children. And what about
the millions of people who have been sentenced at
birth to poverty, to live like animals and work like
dogs. Where is the justice for them?
What kind of justice is this?

Where the poor go to prison and the rich go free.
Where witnesses are rented, bought or bribed.
Where evidence is made and manufactured.
Where people are tried, not because of any criminal
actions but because of their political beliefs.
Where was the justice for the man at Attica?
Where was the justice for Medgar Evers, Fred Hamp-
ton, Clifford Glover?

Where was the justice for the Rosenbergs?
And where is the justice for the native Americans who
we so presumptuously call Indians?

I am not on trial here because i am a criminal, or
because i have committed a crime. I have never been
convicted of a crime in my life. Ronald Myers is not
on trial because he is a criminal or because he has
committed a crime. He was 19 years old when he
turned himself in, after seeing his picture in the news-
paper. He thought that the police would immediately
see their mistake. I met Ronald Myers for the first
time about 8 months ago in the lawyers conference
room. It was a stiff and strange meeting, something i
hope i'll never have to go through again. I was
shocked to see how young he was. And no matter
what the outcome of this trial is, i will always feel a
bitterness about what has happened to Ronald Myers
and what has happened to me.

I do not think that its just an accident that we are
on trial here. This case is just another example of
what has been going on in this country. Throughout
amerika's history people have been imprisoned be-
cause of their political beliefs and charged' with crim-
inal acts in order to justify that imprisonment. Those
who dared to speak out against the injustices in this
country, both Black and White, have paid dearly for
their courage, sometimes with their lives. Marcus
Garvey, Stokeley Carmichael, Angela Davis, the
Rosenbergs and Lolita Lebron were all charged with
crimes because of their poUtical beliefs. Martin Luther
King went to jail countless times for leading non-vio-
lent demonstrations. Why, you are probably asking
yourselves, would this government want to put me or
Ronald Myers in jail? In my mind the answer to that

is very simple. For the same reason that his govern-
ment has put everyone else in jail who spoke up for
freedom: who said give me liberty or give me death.

During the voir dire process we asked you about
the word 'militant'. There was a reason for that. In
the late sixties and the early 70's this country was in
an upheaval. There was a strong people's movement
against the war, against racism, in the colleges, on the
streets and in the Black and Puerto Rican communi-
ties. This government, local police agencies, the F.B.I.
and the C.I. A. launched an all out war against people
they considered militants. We are only finding out
now, because of investigations into the F.B.I, and the
C.I. A., how extensive and how criminal their methods
were and still are. In the same way that witches were
burned in Salem, this government went on a witch-
hunt, for people they considered 'militant'. Countless
numbers of people were either killed or imprisoned.
The Berrigans, the Chicago 7, the Panther 21, Bobby
Seale and thousands of anti-war demonstrators were
all victims of this witch hunt justice. Maybe some of
you are saying to yourselves, no government would
do that. Well, all you have to do is check out for your-
self the history of this country and to look around
and see what is going on today. All you have to do is
ask yourselves, who controls the government, and
who are the victims of that control.

Since you have been in this courtroom you have
heard the name Black Liberation Army mentioned
over and over. Those of you in the jury have been
questioned as to what you have read or seen on tele-
vision and what your opinions were about the B.L.A.
Most of you have stated that you thought that the
Black Liberation Army was a militant organization.
You have said that what you have read or heard has
come from the establishmentarian media. The major
TV and radio networks, the times, the post and the
daily news. I have read the same articles that you
have read. I have seen the same news programs that
you have seen. When it comes to the media, i have
learned to believe none of what i hear and half of what
i see. But i can tell you, if i were just Jane Doe citizen,
if i did not know better, i would've read those articles,
and come to the conclusion that JoAnne Chesimard,
Ronald Myers and all other people called militants
were a bunch of white hating, cop hating, gun toting,
crazed, fanatical maniacs, fighting for some abstract,
misguided cause.

But One percent of the people in this country
control 70% of the wealth. And it is that One percent,
the heads of large corporations, who control the poli-
cies of the news media. And determines what you and
i hear on the radio, read in the newspapers, see on
television. It is more important for us to think about
where the media gets it information. From the police

department or from the prosecutor. No major news-
paper or television station has ever asked my lawyers
or myself one question concerning anything. People
are tried and convicted in the papers and on television
before they ever see a courtroom. A person who is ac-
cused of stealing a car becomes an international car
theft ring. A man is accused of participating in a
drunken brawl and the headlines read, "crazed maniac
goes berserk".

During the 70's, the media created a front page
headline, guaranteed to sell newspapers: the Black
Liberation Army. According to them, the B.L.A. was
everywhere. Almost every other thing that happened
was attributed to the Black Liberation Army. Head-
lines that are sensational sell newspapers. The media
shapes public opinion and the results of that are often
tragic.

Before you were sworn as jurors you were asked
about your knowledge of the B.L.A. Most of you
stated that you had no knowledge of what the Black
Liberation Army was or what it stands for. However,
most of you did say that you believed that the Black
Liberation Army was a 'militant' organization. I would
like to talk about that for a moment. The Black Lib-
eration Army is not an organization: it goes beyond
that. It is a concept, a people's movement, an idea.
Many different people have said and done many dif-
ferent things in the name of the Black Liberation
Army.

The idea of a Black Liberation Army emerged
from conditions in Black communities. Conditions of
poverty, indecent housing, massive unemployment,
poor medical care and inferior education. The idea
came about because Black People are not free or equal
in this country. Because 90% of the men and women
in this country's prisons are Black and Third World.
Because 10 year old children are shot down in our
streets. Because dope has saturated our communities
preying on the disillusionment and frustration of our
children. The concept of the B.L.A. arose because of
the political, social and economic oppression of Black
people in this country. And where there is oppression
there will be resistance. The B.L.A. is a part of that
resistance movement. The Black Liberation Army
stands for freedom and justice for all people.

While big corporations make huge tax-free prof-
its, taxes for the everyday working person skyrocket.
While politicians take free trips around the world,
those same politicians cut back food stamps for the
poor. While politicians increase their salaries, millions
of people are being laid off. This city is on the brink
of bankruptcy and yet hundreds of thousands of dol-
lars are being spent on this trial. I do not understand
a government so willing to spend millions of dollars
on arms to explore outer space, even the planet Ju-

piter, and at the same time close down day care centers
and fire stations.

I have read the Declaration of Independance and
i have great admiration for this statement:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights. Governments are insti-
tuted among men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed. That whenever any form of
government becomes destructive of these ends, it is
the Right of the People to alter or abolish it and to in-
stitute New Government, laying its foundations on
such principles and organizing its powers in such
form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
safety and Happiness."

These words are especially meaningful in the
year of this country's bicentennial. I would like to
help make this a better world for my daughter and for
all the children of this world: for all the men and
women of this world.

But you understand that the B.L.A. is not on trial
here. I am on trial here. Ronald Myers is on trial here.
And the charge is kidnapping and armed robbery,
where the so-called victim is a drug pusher, a seller of
heroin, a man called James Freeman.

We live in New York, and it is impossible not to
see the horror, the degradation and the pain associ-
ated with heroin addiction. Most of you have seen the
staggering numbers of young lives sucked into obliv-
ion, into walking deaths by the use of drugs. Many
of you have seen helpless mothers watch their chil-
dren turn into nodding skeletons, whom they can no
longer trust. And seen the dreams, the potential of a
whole generation of youngsters drain away, down
into the bottomless pit of a needle. And these victims
also have their victim. The countless number of peo-
ple who have been mugged, burglarized and robbed,
by drug made vampires, who can care about nothing
else but their poison.

We will show you that James Freeman is a liar.
We will show you that the other prosecution wit-
nesses are all friends, relatives, lovers or employees of
James Freeman, and that they are liars. You will see
for yourself that they have conspired and that they
have been coached.

Men and women of the jury, human lives are
serious matters. I have already told you that i have no
faith in this system of justice and believe me i don't. I
have seen too much. If there was such a thing as jus-
tice i wouldn't be here talking to you now. You have
been chosen to be the representatives of justice. You
and you alone. You have said that you have no prej-
udices or preconceptions. You have said that you
could try this case on the basis of the evidence. What
i am saying now is not evidence. What the prosecutor
says is not evidence. You may or you may not agree
with my political beliefs. They are not on trial here. I
have only brought them up to help you understand
the political and emotional context in which this case
comes before you.

Although the court considers us peers, many of
you have had different backgrounds and different
learning and life experiences. It is important to me
that you understand some of those differences. I only
ask of you that you listen carefully. I only ask that
you listen not only to what these witnesses say but to
how they say it.

Our lives are no more precious or no less precious
than yours. We ask only that you be as open and as
fair as you would want us to be, were we sitting in the
jury box determining your guilt or innocence. Our
lives and the lives that surround us depend on your
fairness.

Thank you.

Personal Statement
from Assata Shakur

Hope

Struggle on my brother
cause the work must be done
The fight has just begun
As you travel through the valley
of changable realities
in shifting splitting opposites
take with you these offerings
The pillow of knowledge

to rest upon
The hand of wisdom
to point the way
Flowing water

to comfort the soul
Gentle arms

to balance the mind
Struggle on my brother
Peace and togetherness
May the best of all the worlds
follow you

by Annie Carpenter
1973©

GHETTO FLOWER IN IVY

Yes,

I'll learn this White culture

but I won't forget

Watts/Harlem/South African shanty-towns &

other prisons.

I'll sail with lost Colunnbus &
blaze Western trails with Dan'l Boone,

I'll mingle with
the cavemen of Europe but I'll never forget
the cattle/prodded Black bosoms
or the snarling police dogs or the cracked skulls &
castrated bodies of my brothers . . .

I'll learn to mathematize/calculize/systematize/
astronomize & chart a new route to the planets, but
I won't forget those Freedom Marches down long
dusty & dangerous paths

lined with sniper/cowards raised on special "K" (KK)
breakfast sucked in from moma's milk.
I'll swear that I'd kiss Shakespeare's wrist (in Act #1 )
& shoot crap with Sir Walter Scott &
get drunk with Poe & trade words with Wordsworth &
minuet with Emily Dickinson & walk thru hell with
Dante & fight the devil with Dan Webster

but
I won't forget those bullets

that knocked on Panther doors at 3:10 A. M. (Chicago time) or
the blood/plastered balcony in Memphis
where the Black Christ choked on his own non-violence or
my little sisters bombed to God in B'ombingHam or
the slaughter on Pork Chop Hill in Asia . . .

I'll Frost my cake

with Milton & Chaucer &
swim in lonely lakes & tag along with Longfellow &
lie on shores with Andy Marvell,

digging stars & clams &
hang out in waterfront bars with Cap'tn Ahab
(but while he's looking for a white whale,
I'll be looking for a black catfish sam/mich
wit mustard & hot sauce).

I'll play the game, Summa Cum Lame,
but Phi Beta Kappa keys
won't put me on my knees
skin-poppin' White culture
without TRUTH for a chaser.

I'll stand tall & rigid
like a new African spear when they play
"The Star-Spangled Banner"
hand over my heart (like it says in the book), I'll drool
when they sing "Rule Britannica . . Rule!"

but I won't forget
Jean Toomer/Langston Hughes/Richard Wright/ (or Lerone
Bennett's "other" history, left out of White books) or
Chester Himes/James Baldwin/LeRoi Baraka/Larry Neal/ &
Sonia Sanchez ain't Spanish & Don Lee ain't Robert E's son
& Nikki Giovanni ain't no l-talian . . . U dig?
I'll git yo
bastard degrees &
Master & Doc'trate keys

but I'll learn
Karate (on the side) & how to make
Mr. molotov's drink (poverty's A-bomb)
in Lab 306 . . .
Yea, baby,

I'll learn to speak/walk/& talk
with the seasoned erudition & perspicacity of
a neophyte scholar,

thinking of Ghana & sleeping giants
who wake fast once they're aroused
. . . kicking white sheets to the wind . . .
Yes, brothers & sisters,
I'll do all that shit

(until the final grade is in),
or

. . . the Paradise is lost.

Richard Fewell
Bridgeport, Conn.

Robert Earl Brown

from within Walpole MCI.

Colonists in 1975?

The following is a reproduction of the letter sent
to the Black Affairs Office on Nov. 9, by Earl Brown,
UMass student, convicted and sentenced to serve
three to five years for armed robbery of a MacDon-
alds Hamburger establishment on August 7, 1974.

I ask, are we the "Colonist in 1975"? The ques-
tion is very relevent, when we view the recent hap-
pening against Third World People. It is obvious
that the system is perpetuating law and order in a
colonist to master syndrome. We ask for justice, and
receive in return promises. When acts of violence are
brought on the master side (as the recent case of
Brown and Gethers vs. the state), the first niggers
will do. When the situation is reverse, the local ad-
ministration wants to have a hand in the decision
(as the case of the ballot box destruction of the break-
ing and entering of the Malcolm X center).

Are we to stand by, and fall into the 1975 colo-
nist legend, or are we to organize and separate the
differences between our own races, in a united effort.
Of course, each individual must decide his or her
action or reaction. The situation which occurred late
Thursday at 4:45 occurred in late June; occurred to
a brother at Amherst college; occurred when two
sisters were in an incident at the Bluewall; and oc-
curred within the first two months of school. Attacks

and blind justice will occur as long as WE in the Pio-
neer Valley remain asleep. Oppressed people will re-
main as long as society has its way. No persons, or
individuals are safe, as long as innocent people are
behind bars. No race is safe, if bitterness separates
nationalist goals. But, we will survive only by strug-
gle, and lending each other both hands.

We will survive, only if we realize our own
strength and weaknesses. This also takes into con-
sideration whether the struggle is interpreted "By
Any Means Necessary."

In summation, I have sensed that one day, the
chains of injustice will revert into my freedom. That
the tide is changing for the sleep to awake, and vice
versa. And unless we remind ourselves, that the
"Railroad Philosophy" can happen to me, whether
in the Pioneer Valley or elsewhere; then the feeling

of being FREE will remain only a dream.

Earl Brown
P.S. When the above was written, I had no access to
a dictionary or other material to focus on my main
topic. The article in Monday's Collegian, is what we
face today. Unless we act in a serious manner there
may be no one to write such an article.

I express my thanks to you and the community.
For one day we will all be repaid.

To The New Afrikans

By Abdul Malik, co-
Out tribe has now developed into a viable force
and has started moving towards positive changes.
The elements of South Boston or the elements of
Philadelphia are all of the same crust and must be
thought of as such. We Black students here at the
University of Massachusetts shall bear the responsi-
bility of telling our youth of their past through the
vehicles of education, the arts and sciences, as well
as the methods of academic indoctrination; how it
has been taught and applied. We must not forget
these meanings nor these values ever. As we look at
this past semester let us not forget that the struggle
continues; its imperativeness must take a high pri-
ority here at UMass. This, the final issue of the
Drum for the semester, basically deals with the music
and the struggle, which to most black folk go hand

editor of Grassroots

in hand. We've tried covering most of the major
events that have taken place here in the Pioneer
Valley.

Thank You, ARCHIE SHEPP, your political
awareness; your musical expertise has been felt and
appreciated. To MAX ROACH who has always been
in the forefront of the struggle, his unselfish atti-
tude has made us a lot stronger than we realized.

As Co-editor of Grassroots, I would like to
express my deepest appreciation on the behalf of
the entire Roots staff to our many brothers and
sisters who fought with us for a free and independent
news press. To the many of you, thanks; also thanks
to our Philadelphia correspondent brother James
Gilliam at Community College for his time and in-
terest of the affairs effecting UMass students.

The Re-birth of New Africa House

Kwaku Gyata

Six years ago New Africa House came totally
under the control of the Black community here at the
University of Massachusetts, due to the mass
action and coordinated efforts of every Black person
on the campus at that time.

New Africa House, soon after, became the center
of all Black activity on campus. The building contin-
uously thrived with the excitement of Black folk
doing their thing, living and maintaining their cul-
ture on an alien white campus.

For some years New Africa House continued in
this tradition. Many entities came into being within
the building, providing the Black community with a
place to eat food not so foreign and suspect as that
served in the dinning commons; a place to party
to the sounds we dance to; a place to hear the seri-
ous classic Black music (an original Black art form)
live on stage; a place to get our hair cut where the
barbers were not so puzzled by our wooly hair; an
art gallery to display the works of our Black artists.

YEAH NEW AFRICA HOUSE WAS HAPPEN-
NING!!!

But then for some reason Black students interest
in what was going on in New Africa House seemed
to die, and with it the building began to die; the
main activity was the classes held in the building.
The result of this was devastating, without New
Africa House serving as a center for Blacks to come
together informally, to relax, be Black, and commu-

nicate with one another the Black community began
to split into several cliques spread out over different
parts of the campus.

This splitting of the community among other
things weakened our political power base here on
campus. This allowed the white administration to
make certain cutbacks not least of which was the
cut in the budget of the Black Cultural Center (the
student run programming agency within New Africa
House)

But . . . now again New Africa House is coming
alive. Slowly New Africa House is being reborn as
symbolized by the rededication of the building to
the Black community and the raising of the Afri-
can Peoples Party's flag two weeks ago. Inside the
building Yvonne's West Indian paradise has become
not only a place to enjoy the sister's good cooking,
but a place to meet and talk with Black folk from
freshmen to administrators. There is now a student
run non-profit store growing to meet the needs of
Black students and faculty. There is a Black News
Service office that provides a place where informa-
tion regarding the Black community is readily avail-
able. But most important there is a spirit of together-
ness and unity, and of collective work.

May nothing impede our progress. May ALL
Black students (in the broad sense of the word)
come together under the spirit of Umoja and make
the rebirth of New Africa House complete.

HARAMBEE!!!!!

''America's the Black Man's Battleground:"
Black Students and the Bicentennial.

By Akbar Muhammad Ahmad

This year at Tuft's University (Medford, Mass.),
Feb. 17 to 22 a National Black Students Conference
was where the National Black Students Association
was formed. There the Black Students issued a state-
ment which reads in part:

Blacks are not and never have been included in the
social, political and economic areas of this capitalis-
tic-based society in which the "of the people, by the
people and for the people" meant only those who
were white and owned land, and since every attempt
was made and successfully initiated during and since
the Reconstruction Era to ensure that Blacks remain
landless, his rights as a citizen were invalid. With
that being so, we never had nor never will have a
desire to join in an alien celebration predicated on
prejudice, hypocracy and propaganda in the highest
order. With this in mind we seek reparations for the
countless injustices inflicted on our race and that a
plebicite be started by 1980 to ensure this purpose.
We collectively denounce the 200 years of imperialis-
tic activities of the united states upon other coun-
tries in her quest for Expansion, which included
robbery of lands and resources, foreign aggression
and domination, subversive activities and assassina-
tions of domestic and foreign leaders. These activities
are in no way affiliated with or aligned to the Black
prospective, but rather it is totally divorced from the
Black struggle. Therefore we see no need, wish or
desire to participate in this celebration and most im-
portantly, we denounce the celebration altogether.

Black people should ask themselves, what do we
have to celebrate in 1976? We face the same situa-
tions, poor housing, discrimination in employment,
racial brutality, housing discrimination and live at
the lowest subsistance level. What do the black poor
in AmeriKKKa have to celebrate? It is time we be-
gin analyzing why we are in the condition we're in.
Just how did we get in this position and how we're
going to get out of it.

Black people's struggle is a struggle for self-
determination and in independence.

The recent framing of two Univ. of Massachu-
setts student, Craeman Gethers and Earl Brown is

just part of what's happening across AmeriKKKa.
Black people because they pose a potential internal
threat to AmeriKKKan society are being framed by
the hundreds and thousands. AmeriKKKa's new
concentration camps are its prisons where thousands
of brothers and sisters are. The prisons are bursting
at the seams with black people.

Black people have historically been excluded
from the decision making process in this country
and are the victims of its hypocriscy.

Thirteen years ago this time, movement activists
were evaluating the failure of the March on Washing-
ton to achieve meaningful change in the condition of
oppression of our people.

As we look around the country today, we see
prisons filled up with ex-movement activists and
thousands upon thousands of Afrikans who have
been unjustly incarcerated by a racist economic-
political system. When we address ourselves to the
African Prisoner of War question we must address
ourselves to a larger question, because we are dealing
with the legality of the entire system.

This question has plagued our movement
since before the civil war and the reconstruction
period. The question revolves around our right to
reparations, land, and whether we are a nation or a
colonized minority.

This plagues us today because there are many
among our ranks who are clear on the international
question but confused on the national question and
thereby unable to draft a suitable program to involve
the masses of our people on a day by day level.

This is the precise reason Afrikan prisoners of
war get so little support from the movement in 1976
because most of the movement is confused as to how
to deal with raising the issue of Prisoner of War.

The late El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X),
in 1964 saw this confusion forthcoming and this is
why he said we must internationalize our question;
our situation is not a domestic issue of civil rights but
a question of human rights. What did Malcolm
mean when he said our struggle is one of human
rights?

This is what Malcolm knew. He knew that those
Afrikans who were taken as slaves or were the de-
scendants of slaves and pronounced "freedmen" by
the Emancipation Proclamation were never given a
chance to vote or to decide whether they wanted to
become citizens of the United States or not. There-
fore, the 14th, 15th and 16th amendments that
stated we were citizens of the U. S. were and are today
unconstitutional until they are ratified or rejected by
mass vote of those descendants of slaves or persons
of Afrikan descent.

This being true there are no laws that Afrikans
have to abide by the U. 5. government until they
(Sherman's field order #15) they set a statue of
whether they vvant to be citizens of this government
or want independence; land and a nation of their
own.

Our so-called second class citizenship is in fact
citizenship slavery; having the responsibilities of a
citizen and denied the rights of citizenship. There is
only one class of citizenship, first class; the other is
called colonization.

When the capitalist ruling class decided upon
our so-called emancipation, promising us forty acres
and a mule if we would fight on the side of the union
(Sherman's field order 15) they set a statue of
limitations of 100 years in which we would become
automatic citizens if no legal protest by the descend-
ants of the former slaves was made. The statue was
up in 1965, having been established in 1865.
Brother Robert L. Brock, then chairman of the Self
Determination Committee in Los Angeles, and a
practicing lawyer, presented a legal protest, officially
asking for reparations and a constitutional recall.
In ordinary circumstances Brock's case— which went
to the U. S. Supreme Court of Appeals— would have
gone to the U. S. Supreme Court for a decision and
would have been headline news. But this case is un-
heard of. Decision is yet to be passed on it. Why?
Because within Brock's legal document rests the key
to our enslavement and also our liberation. The ques-
tion is a historical one which was never resolved after
the civil war and is the crucial question of the coming
second American civil war.

During the reconstruction period, Thaddeus
Stevens argued in Congress that the so-called freed-
men, descendants of captive Afrikans, should be
given 40 acres a piece of the confiscated land of the
southern plantation owners. This was his Home-
stead Act, which was defeated and never again dealt
with.

New, what are we getting to? We are saying
that if Afrikan people are 10 to 15% of the total popu-

lation of Amerikkka, then we should control 10%
of the political structure, local, state and federal
government; 10% of all the land of Amerikkka, 10%
of the national gross product, the economy, 10% of
the military, 10% of the industry, 10% of the police,
10% of the executive government, including the De-
fense Security Agency, the FBI, Secret Service and
CIA, 10% of the U. S. Supreme Court, 10% of Con-
gress, 10% of all farms and food industry. That is, if
we are to be given rights of "true" citizenship, first
class. This is the least our oppressors should do until
we have a right to vote to determine our self-deter-
mination through a United Nations plebiscite.

If we deal with the original question of what we
want, and what our oppressor owes us, we may go
flip. Let's see what our oppressor owes us. We, as
any colonialized and abused nation have the right to
restitution or reparations (repayments for injustices
done to us); for the 400 years of forced free labor
(slavery); for the 400 years of genocide, denying us
of practice of our native tongue, religion, culture,
way of life; and also denying us the right to read even
the oppressor's language for 400 years. All this
made us into a different people, something we don't
even recognize because we don't have the full knowl-
edge of ourselves. Then another 100 years of en-
forced citizenship slavery, the gross miseducation of
our children that is forced upon them daily (Santa
Claus, George Washington, so-called father of the
country who never told a lie and chopped down some
cherry trees, etc.). And yes, how about that promised
forty acres and a mule for helping and winning the
civil war for the union. Forty acres was to go to each
freedman. So, every descendant of the freedman has
a right to forty acres of land. Now, let's see, there are
now 30 million or more persons of Afrikan descent
in captivity in Amerikkka. That means Amerikkka
owes Afrikans one billion, two hundred million
acres of land without the interest of 100 years, and
the mules would now equal tractor equipment— or
at least a deuce and a quarter.

Amerikkka is a racist, criminal government
of international gangsters. It is just as evil as it's
U. S. A. partner, the union of South Afrika (Asania).

With the recent exposure of the watergate con-
spiracy, which has led to the indictment of over 44
top Nixon aides plus the ex-attorney general, Mitchell,
who was responsible for the mass raids on the Black
Panther Party, and information that the late J. Edgar
Hoover, former director of the FBI had given top
priority orders to destroy any and all Black national-
ist organizations by any means necessary— through
agent infiltration or overkill, or frame up— evidence

shows that all Afrikans in prisons are victims of a
conspiracy by white government officials on the
local (police), state, and federal level.

The massive influx of drugs into the Black com-
munities, the young left movement, and the army
reveals that modern 20th century "opium war" was
waged against the Black liberation struggle with the
introduction and romanticization of scag and coke by
"Superfly" planned by the Nixon-Axis.

Given these historical and constitutional ques-
tions, all Afrikans in prison have constitutional
grounds to be immediately released. An Afrikan
Prisoner of War can use laws and grounds dealing
with the burden of double jeopardy. This, he or she
was forced to abide by the responsibilities of the law
without having equal protection or benefit of the law.

We should do some thinking. This applies to all
Afrikans until we as a people have a right to vote to
determine our destiny (self determination).

Also, Afrikan Prisoners of War can use the Civil
Rights Act of 1869, which states that a blackman has
to have the same equal rights as a white man. If this
be true, then there have been thousands of violations
of this statute with all white juries finding black men
and women guilty, plus the double jeopardy and also
with the usual procedure of hearsay evidence, high
bails, etc. Again, jailhouse lawyers, deal with the con-
stitutional questions and flood the court system.

Now dig this. Sections 1981 and 1983 of the 1964
Civil Rights Act deal with "conspiracy by local, state
and federal governmental officials to violate a per-
son's civil rights." Afrikans, remember your human
and civil rights have already been violated by you not

having due process of the law, to have any say so on
whether you wanted to be a citizen or not, and then
after forced to be a citizen without your consent, you
are not afforded equal protection of the law nor equal
protection of the law nor equal benefits of the so-
called citizenship because of economic, educational,
political and social discrimination. You are forced to
live a life of a second class citizen, and all this is un-
constitutional in the first place. Any time that you
have had pretrial biased publicity, usually given to
the newspaper by police officials, or one or more
police agencies have cooperated prior to your arrest,
any time you have been victim to a secret indictment,
electronic surveillance, tapping of your phone,
bugging of your home, car, and forced confessions
resulting from police beating, or in any way been
singled out because of your association in a libera-
tion organization, or because of your race, religion,
political beliefs or economic standing, then you can
use the 1964 civil rights act to bring a people's indict-
ment against your accuser.

We must flood the illegal court system from the
outside and from the inside. Flood the court system
with people's indictments. Jailhouse lawyers, go to
the books; the laws are there and we can use them en
masse. Let's take the real criminals to court. Write
constitutional writs en masse. Someone is bound to
win and then we learn from that victory how to gain
others. Let the mass constitutional movement begin.
Anytime the black and the poor must start a new
constitutional movement, we say, AmeriKKKa's the
Blackman's Battleground!

Dare to Struggle! Dare to Win!

Bullshit, You Know Better

As if you didn't know

your father's hands

have become yours.

Hogwash, you tear out hearts

and you know why, America.

Tied down in the electric chair

of history, autopsy

of speech, the ceremony

of breaking bones.

Don't place my hand on your cunt;

Miss America, I don't forget,

forgive that easy.

Extravagant, the naked machine

ripping off legs and arms;

you've fallen in love

with mad capers

locked inside inventions.

Wretched, you can't wash

your hands clean, guilt complexes,

in the blue lake of my life.

Don't come on with innocence;

gifts of pink titties and ass.

Your laugh, your soft touch

grows into something still grey

with the stench of Zyklon B.

Yusef Komunyakag
Denver, Colorado

For America

come young

lovers

love in the valley

of death

swim in the rivers

of blood

drink from the cup

of hate

marry into the house

of untruth

and bear

the children

of discontent

Be yourself

America!

by Lloyd Corbin
(Djan gatolum)

Our Family Album

I r^irJlL Jlr. '

Left. Mrs. Shirley Graham DuBois

(Left) Prof. Nelson Steven

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Black America and The Bicentennial

The role of the Black American in the Bicenten-
nial is a subject that has provoked considerable dis-
cussion during the past several months. By the time
this is in print, most readers, more than likely, will
have reached their saturation point of articles, pro-
grams, etc. about the participation of Blacks in the
Bicentennial. The basic positions, both for and
against, have been stated quite clearly in Ebony
(August, 1975). However, I would like to raise some
questions which I feel should be considered if Black
Americans are to more effectively examine and con-
test the meaning of the Bicentennial and put it in a
perspective more attuned to the historical and con-
temporary realities of Black America. As much as we
would like to. Black people cannot ignore either the
Bicentennial celebrations or the ideological positions
that accompany them. Too many Black people are
already involved; silence might be mistaken for con-
sent.

This discussion, therefore, will focus on three
reasons why Black Americans should be critical of the
Bicentennial:

1. To accept the white definitions of the impor-
tance of such dates as 1776, etc. is to acquiese to
the national mythology of White America and to
do violence to the historical experiences of Black
America;

2. Even the most superficial comparison of
what Black Americans have contributed to the
development of the United States with their cur-
rent position in society will indicate that there is
nothing to celebrate;

3. As we approach 1976, there is very little
democracy left for anybody— Black or white— to
boast of.

1. U. S. History vs. Black History

One of the difficulties in working out the rela-
tionship of Black Americans and white Ameri-
cans is that the historians of Black America too
readily have accepted the categories and periodi-
zation more appropriate to White America. July

4, 1776 is of less importance to Black Americans
than the date of the Northwest Ordinance which
banned slavery from the Northwest territory or
the dates of the major slave revolts, e.g., 1739,
Stono Rebellion; 1811, Louisiana; 1831, Nat
Turner. One alternative periodization is as fol-
lows: 1619-1860, Slavery; 1860-1877, Civil
War, Emancipation, Reconstruction; 1877-1954,
Black America as internal colony; 1954-1968,
Black America: Decolonization; 1968-present,
Black America: internal neo-colonialism. This
is not the place for a full-scale exposition of this
view or even for a more detailed breakdown of
periods, but it should be clear that on the whole
it fits the contours of Black American history
more closely than the more dominant views that
focus on the administrations of the various
presidents.

What Black Americans Have Put into the U. S.
vs. What They Have Gotten In Return

The Bicentennial has intensified the trend be-
gun in the late 1960's of limiting the contribu-
tions of Black Americans to the acts of excep-
tional individuals such as Charles Drew, Crispus
Attucks, George Washington Carver, etc., to
lists of Black inventions or to the more obvious
and outstanding cultural attainments.

These are indeed worthy of note, but Blacks
have made a more profound contribution to the
establishing and developing of the United States
as the most wealthy and powerful nation in the
modern world. Thomas Abernathy, a conserva-
tive white Southern historian, in a moment of
candor rare for American racists, spelled out
that contribution:

Slavery was an ugly institution, and there was
never any excuse for it except that there was no
other labor force available for the production
of the staple crops of the southern colonies
and states. Without slaves, the settlement of
the transmontane area between the Ohio River
and the Gulf of Mexico would hardly have

advanced as rapidly as it acquired. In that case
we would not have been able to take the
Southwest, including California, from Mexico,
and the boundary of the Louisiana Purchase
would probably have remained our limit in
that direction. Thus the nation profited, and
the South lost . . . (American Historical Re-
view, LXXX, July, 1965, p. 1240).

In 1976, over one hundred years since the abo-
lition of slavery. Black Americans have yet to
receive anywhere near just compensation for
their efforts. Blacks who are more than 10% of
the population, own only 1.2% of business equity,
1.2% of farm equity and 0.1% of stock equity. As
of 1970, Blacks received only 6.5% of total U. S.
income and less than 1% of all investment and
property incomes (Fact Sheets on Institutional
Racism, July, 1974, pp. 1, 3, 4). By any measure
of wealth and power. Blacks are still oppressed
and exploited. A much fuller picture is presented
in Victor Perlo's Economics of Racism U.S.A.:
Roots of Black Inequality (International Pub-
lishers, 1975). Even if one has serious reserva-
tions about Black Americans' participation in
the development of monopoly capitalism and
imperialism it is still clear that Black America
has been granted neither self-determination nor
the just fruits of their labor.

3. 1776-1976: Monarchy to Autocracy

As we approach the elections of 1976, Ameri-
cans, both Black and white, should reflect on the
facts that the outcome of every presidential elec-
tion since 1960 has been determined by gunfire
and that the United States is currently being led
by a president who was not elected. To refresh
our memories, let us recall that the assassination
of John Kennedy in 1963 elevated Lyndon John-
son to presidency; the assassination of Robert
Kennedy in 1968 resulted in the election of Rich-
ard Nixon; and that the shooting of George
Wallace during the 1972 primaries cleared the
way for a Nixon landslide. Unless we are plan-
ning on a rerun of 1776 with Ford in the role of
King George, I see too little left of what there was
of United States democracy to boast about.

In conclusion, perhaps Black America should
take its cues from Frederick Douglass when he was
invited to participate in a July 4th celebration in
1852. In one of the most dramatic and telling speeches
in the history of our sojourn in America, Douglass
pointed out the irony in asking an ex-slave to join in
a celebration of the liberty of a nation of slaveholders.
I fear that many of Douglass' comments are still rele-
vant today: Let Douglass speak:

. . . Your high independence only reveals the
immeasurable distance between us. The blessings
in which you this day rejoice, are not enjoyed in
common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty,
prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by
your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The
sunlight that brought life and healing to you,
has brought stripes and death to me. This
Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may re-
joice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters in-
to a grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call
upon him to join you in joyous anthems were
inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do
you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me
to speak today? . . .

Douglass said much more, but the point is clear:
National celebrations are something to overcome,
not to revel in. There are more important tasks to be
done. Let us move forward.

John Bracey
Univ. of Mass.

W.E.B. Dubois

Dept. of Afro. Am. Studies

Chair person

April, 1976

P.S.

A final ironic note on the meaninglessness of the
Bicentennial to Black America is that on Monday,
April 15, 1976, in Boston, Massachusetts, a Black
man on the way to City Hall was attacked by a band
of white Americans and beaten with a pole holding
an American flag. Enough said.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The DRUM Staff would like to thank:

The Black Community for persevering with us in this struggle.
The Black News Service Staff and Grassroots.

For Articles:

Bro. John Bracey 69

Bro. Bobby Daniels 20

Bro. Akbar Muhammad Ahmad 8,57

Bro. Rick Scott Gordon 18, 36, 39

Bro. Bill Hasson 28

Sis. Rosa Blanco Gaston 46

Bro. Archie Shepp 25

Sis. Vikki Lights 32

Bro. Earl Brown 55

Bro. Kwaku Gyata 56

Bro. Abdul Malik 29, 56

Sis. D. E.Johnson 37

Sis. Gail Bryan 31

For Poems:

Bro. Chris Henderson 44

Sis. Ima 17

Bro. Richard Fewell 54

Bro. Yusef Komunyakag 60

Bro. Lloyd Corbin 60

Sis. Annie Carpenter 52

Bro. Alii Cabral 14

For Photography:

Eddie Cohen 27,30,31,35,37,38,40

Deryl Marrow 66, 67, 68

Juan Durruthy 52

Fitz Walker 2,40,55

Kenneth Robinson 18, 52, 57,
For Art work:

Ray Horner, Jr. 19

Pam Friday 6, 71

Nelson Stevens 43

Carl Yates 23

Front Cover:

Professor Maxwell Roach

Back Cover:

Sis. Pam Friday

And a very special thanks to Bro. Chet Davis and all the Brothers and Sisters that stayed on my back about
this Magazine.

And to my Staff. Don't know how I would've made it without you.

Nisey
72

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