AL-AfricaAmer-L Archives

From: "northernwinds" <>
Subject: [AL-AfricaAmer-L] Black News
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 21:54:00 -0400

his issue contains the following news items

News Item # 1 - Tribute to Dr. John Henrik Clarke
News Item # 2 - Our Other Enemy: The Three C's
News Item # 3 - Black Publishers' Summit Should Be Our Wake-up Call!
News Item # 4 - Caribbean News News Item # 5 - Motherland News

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News Item # 1 - Tribute to Dr. John Henrik Clarke

A Memorial Service and Tribute to Dr. John Henrik Clarke
Saturday, October 17, 1998 - Washington, DC
University of the District of Columbia

On July 16, 1998, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, one of the most revered
intellectual giants of the 20th century, was reborn into the world of
the ancestors at the age of 83. With the blessings of Sister Sybil
Williams Clarke, the John Henrik Clarke Tribute and Memorial Committee
was formed to organize an event to celebrate the legacy of this great
historian, scholar and Pan-African activist.

The John Henrik Clarke Tribute and Memorial Committee invites you to
join the friends, colleagues and loved ones of Dr. Clarke as they
gather to celebrate Dr. Clarke's "Great and Mighty Walk." The
Memorial Service and Tribute will be held at the University of the
District of Columbia and the location and time of each event is as
follows:

THE MEMORIAL SERVICE
2:00 PM to 4:00PM

This African Homegoing Celebration will feature African drumming and
dancing, libations, praise songs and fond remembrances of Dr. Clarke.
This activity will be held in the outdoor amphitheater of the
University of the District of Columbia (UDC), and is free and open to
the general public. Invited Participants include: Joseph Soh Mgwa,
Mamaidi Nyasuma, Laini Mataka, Kankourian - Junior Co., Int'l Capoeira
Angola Foundation-Berynbau Band, and others.

THE TRIBUTE
6:00 PM TO 10:00 PM

The tribute will begin with a screening of John Henrik Clarke: A Great
and Mighty Walk, an award-winning documentary produced by actor Wesley
Snipes in 1997. The film will be immediately followed by tributes to
the life and legacy of Dr. Clarke by those who knew him well. Invited
Participants include Sister Sybil Williams Clarke, Dr. Iva Carruthers,
Dr. Charshee McIntyre, Drs. Rosalind and Leonard Jeffries, Dr. James
Turner, Jr., Dr. Joseph Harris, Haki Madthubuti, Wesley Snipes and
others.

The tribute will be held in the UDC auditorium. These is a $15
admission for adults, $10 for elders and students with proper ID.
Children 12 and under are admitted free. Tribute tickets are only
available at the door on the day of the event. Proceeds from the
Tribute will fund the William Leo Hansberry Lecture Series per Dr.
Clarke's request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, and an update of presenters and performers,
please call: The Institute of Karmic Guidance at (301) 853-2465 or
http://www.karmic-ikg.com Sankofa Video and Bookstore at (202)
234-4755

Sponsored by the John Henrik Clarke Tribute and Memorial Committee,
Abena Walker and Tony Browder - Co-Chairpersons. Marimba Ani, Haile
Gerima, Joan Davis Ratteray, Ron Walters, and ADACI are Committee
Members.

Co-Sponsored by the Research Council on Languages and Cultures in
Africa and the Diaspora: Origin, Influence and Culture - The
University of the District of Columbia

Copyright BlackNews(TM) and Information Man, Inc.

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News Item # 2 - Our Other Enemy: The Three C's

OUR OTHER ENEMY: THE THREE C's
By Rick Adams

EVER wonder why Black people seem to be perpetually locked in a
position of dependence, poverty, and powerlessness? Why does poll
after poll taken in the last 25 years project a profile of Africans in
the United States at the bottom of all desirable socioeconomic
indices?

OF course white racism and European supremacy are to blame, no
observant, honest, and competent commentator could deny its
devastating consequences for people of color. Racists and conservative
social pundits would say that a debilitating culture that promotes
regressive social values, diminishes the bonds of family, and produces
morally irresponsible individuals is the cause.

THE truth of the matter is that African people are indeed still
struggling against the ravages of a centuries old economic system and
social infrastructure corrupted by a pervasive virus of European
ethnocentrism, supremacy, racism and exploitation. However Black
people are beset with an adversary every bit as tenacious and
insidious as our traditional enemy. This enemy is as vicious an enemy
African people, as the mythological, but also all too real specter of
the four horsemen of the apocalypse; war, famine, pestilence, and
disease. This ubiquitous foe of Black folks can be called the "three
C's"! Class, clan, and clique. The first two are intertwined with the
family, and ethnic group. The third is made potent by the "free"
association of individuals favored by relative social position and
material advantage.

Class is the sociological name for a social strata that is united by a
common economic status, measure of material wealth and power, and is
capable of reproducing itself and passing on its material advantages
to each succeeding generation of offspring. They control businesses,
financial, educational, and political institutions that serve to
enhance, preserve, and extend their power. The names Mellon,
Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Frick exemplify this elite group. At the
time the original and so-called old money was made, African People
were considered soul less human instruments of capital at best, and
livestock at worst. While fortunes were being made, Blacks were unable
to acquire wealth by the brutal circumstance of chattel slavery, and
later Jim Crow Apartheid. Now "neo-opportunity" proponents proclaim
that the descendants of African slaves no longer suffer from de jure
or de facto discrimination and exploitation.

We have been declared free and equal, hindered only by our God given
talents, and ambitions. Such misguided and dangerous absurdities mask
the reality that wealth is accumulated, invested, and expanded by a
system that insures the owners of a life of advantage without the fear
of the laboring classes ever catching up. The truth is that a third of
Black people toil below the poverty line, and one, lone white man,
Bill Gates possesses more than 10% as much money as all of the 35
million Africans in the United States! The class system is the
greatest and most formidable of the three C's.

CAPITALISM is often described as an economic system that is driven and
ruled by the individual. Contrary to that piece of conventional wisdom
the capitalist system is maintained and advanced by financial
institutions, businesses, and foundations that are created and
maintained by families or clans. Thus the second C is even more
exclusionary than class by its very definition. When was the last time
you heard of a person of African descent being a member of one the
wealthiest families in this society, or of marrying into one? This
stark truism reminds me of the wag, who once observed that a rich
people frequently think of themselves as having hit a "home run"
instead of recognizing the reality of being "born at home plate." If
you can figure how to break this monopoly please let me know.

FINALLY we ignore the existence of powerful cliques of individuals who
enjoy personal privilege, family status, and group power at our own
peril. Many times we are "bested" by powerful groups or cliques who
are not motivated as much by racism as by greed, opportunity, and
relative advantage. You know the story "them that got, get!" Further
those that form such groups do so with others of similar backgrounds
who meet in the neighborhood, the school, the church, the fraternal,
community center, or ethnic organizations to which they have access.
Need I point out how homogenous and segregated those structures tend
to be? Job referrals, successful job interviews, hot business tips,
and "insider" information all gravitate to persons of similar
background. The vital information essential to networking and social
mobility all accrue to people who live in the same or comparable
neighborhoods, attend the same or comparable schools, churches,
country and social clubs. Africans are frozen out of the mix not
necessarily by racism but by their absence.

CLASS, clan, and clique; the three C's are a daunting trio of
obstacles, that when coupled with European supremacy, function as a
nearly impenetrable wall of exclusion, restriction, denial, and
invisibility.

AFRICAN people must devise a sophisticated strategy of group
empowerment; including institution building, wealth acquisition, and
social mobility despite being an easily identified and despised
minority. If we don't many of us will be permanently relegated to the
bottom rungs of this society. Hey its JUST A THOUGHT...

Rick Adams is a 30 year veteran of the Black Freedom struggle. He is
also host of "BlackTalk" heard daily on WCXJ 1550am in Pittsburgh Pa.


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News Item # 3 - Black Publishers' Summit Should Be Our Wake-up Call!

Published September 24, 1998, Vol. 10, No. 4, Page 7A
PALM BEACH GAZETTE, "Tomorrow's Black newspaper today!"
***
Black publisher's Summit should be our wake-up call!
The Power of Positive Propaganda

By I. JABULANI TAFARI

It was definitely a first for me when Palm Beach Gazette publisher Lee
Ivory called me and said that he would actually pay me to cover an
important function in Fort Lauderdale. Usually, Black newspapers don't
have the money or the inclination to pay professional Black
journalists a decent rate for articles or to cover assignments. And
this was no boring or irrelevant function, but one that was crucially
vital to the survival of the Black Press as we know it, and equally
critical for the well-being and future development of Black
communities in Florida and throughout the country.

Therefore, Keith and Bernadette Clayborne of The Broward Times, Lee
and Gwen Ivory of the Palm Beach Gazette, and all the others
responsible for organizing the Florida Black Newspaper Publishers
Political and Economic Summit, deserve our highest praise and
commendations. They had the intestinal fortitude, the nerve, the
tenacity, the perseverance and the foresight to do what desperately
needed to be done, despite opposition from other supposedly powerful
and influential local Black publishers and politicians.

The summit provided an opportunity to begin attracting some real
corporate advertising accounts-the life blood of the publishing
business; put politicians-Black and white-on their guard that they
will be held accountable; and, reminded Black businesses in particular
and the Black community in general, about who really has their best
interests at heart.

Held on August 28 and 29, 1998, at the Sheraton Hotel in Fort
Lauderdale, the Political and Economic Summit encompassed a number of
Town Hall meetings, workshops, candidate forums and political strategy
sessions. According to FBNPA chairman Keith Clayborne, the group will
be spearheading a statewide awareness campaign aimed at preventing
youth violence and Black-on-Black crime, by mobilizing government,
churches, schools, media, community and industry participation.

The publishers association will also be launching a reading campaign
in Florida to help increase literacy in minority communities and equip
and enable Black youngsters to become potential readers and
subscribers to the very same Black publications which speak to their
needs and provide news and information vital to their political and
economic survival and progress.

Currently, there are more liquor stores in Black communities coast-to-
coast than libraries and bookstores. In fact, there are almost as many
liquor stores as there are churches-and we all know about the over
abundance of church buildings to be found in our communities, no
matter where in the world you go. So, if even every other present
liquor store location could be transformed into a Black bookstore, and
if we could succeed in attracting into the new bookstores the kind of
traffic that now patronizes these liquor stores, the resulting
intellectually energized Black minds could play a critical role in
unifying, developing and empowering our community.

In the meantime, the Black Press has the responsibility to ensure that
our community has a proper understanding of the elements of power that
make up the equation of real political/economic power. Such power is
key, because there is no freedom without power in all its aspects. For
instance, propaganda is an important aspect of power. The power of
propaganda is something the global Eurocentric power structure
realizes and utilizes to the max. Not so for the people of color
residing in the United States, who, with one year to go until the turn
of the century, face some critical decisions that will determine the
quality of life that we enjoy and ultimately determine our very
survival as a people and as a community.

According to the great Pan-African patriarch and philosopher, Marcus
Mosiah Garvey: "The white man is a great propagandist. He fully and
completely realizes the value of propaganda. Therefore you must
organize your propaganda to undo the propaganda of other people; if
their propaganda affects your interest."

The Bible is religious propaganda, the school book is literary
propaganda. The books and novels you read are also literary
propaganda, all calculated to bring about certain results beneficial
to the propagandist. Obviously, newspapers and magazines also qualify
as propaganda and it is therefore the responsibility of Black
publishers and editors to make sure that the propaganda (information)
in their publications serves socially- redeeming causes and has
economically empowering value for Black communities.

The latest figures indicate that over $400 billion dollars were spent
on advertising in the mainstream media, which, according to a New York
advertising agency, needs "prospects" and not "suspects" as customers.

An uproar erupted when an internal agency memo was made public
recently and it became known that advertisers were being advised by
this New York firm that whatever Black consumers were necessary could
be reached just as effectively by spending their advertising dollars
only in the white mainstream media and by-passing the Black media. We,
as Black people, almost make this claim true, when we don't buy and
read Black publications, don't listen to Black radio, don't watch
Black TV (even though Black Entertainment Television-BET-leaves a
whole lot to be desired), and don't spend any significant amount of
our advertising dollars with our own media outlets. This was one of
the issues percolating behind the scenes at the Summit-how to harness
more corporate advertising and grassroots community support.

As we approach the 21st Century, we need to use Black newspapers and
magazines to demand equity in our community, to demand equity in
business and to demand equity in advertising dollars. The few
remaining Black newspapers are the only voices left that can speak for
the community-if their publishers are brave enough and if such
publications are empowered by the people. Nation of Islam leader
Minister Louis Farrakhan recommended at the Million Man March three
years ago that we return to our respective communities and put our
money where our mouths are, by supporting Black magazines, newspapers
and other electronic media outlets. Publishers throughout the nation
were stunned when it became apparent that the Black men who pledged
their support were only joking.

So, when will we take heed? Remember, Black Radio, legitimate Black
Radio, is now a thing of the past, in part because the Black community
sat on its hands while mainstream interests muzzled our mouths. Now,
we just have something called "Urban Radio". The same is happening in
the print media, as Black newspapers turn into "Urban Newspapers". In
fact, according to the grapevine, the most successful Black
publications in America-Ebony/Jet magazines-may soon be sold off to
the highest bidder just as the most successful Black record
company-Motown-was auctioned off to outside interests.

Who will be left to speak for us? Can our community afford to allow
others to define us? African-American (and Afro-Caribbean people, too)
cannot afford to lose the power of self-determination and
self-definition, for when other expatriates have the power to define
us in their own image and by their own standards, they also have the
power to confine us politically, economically and socially. That is
why Black publications have to talk to and for the people. Talk to
their minds and talk up for their rights. As we are indeed responsible
for our own liberation and our efforts cannot be effectively maximized
until we are united, it follows therefore that the rate of our
liberation depends on the degree of our unity. In other words, the
more united we are, the faster we will achieve our liberation. Thus,
in a very real sense, our unity precedes our liberation and the kind
of unity we're talking about is unity in diversity- unity without
uniformity.

With the end of the Black collective community movement in the 1960's,
the benefits of the civil rights movement and the achievements of
affirmative action, have been rolled right back and negated, in some
measure, because of our own lack of unity and the forgetfulness
brought on by the "whitewashing" of our minds.

In his lunch-time keynote address at the Summit, guest speaker Rev. Al
Sharpton referred to "Negro amnesia" and the "illusion of inclusion".
Both of these conditions are results of negative mainstream media
propaganda aimed at Black people. "Negro amnesia" is a
propaganda-induced condition under which people of color have been
systematically conditioned to forget who they are, where they came
from, what was done to them and what they need to do to rectify their
deplorable state. The "illusion of inclusion" is also a media-created
perception, which, despite the fact that institutionalized racism is
alive and kicking (and killing) this late into the 20th Century, gives
the false impression that the race question has been solved,
integration is working, and that people of all ethnic backgrounds can
now all get along just fine in America. The duty of the Black Press is
to help our people wake up to the dangerous reality of our situation
and not buy into the illusion.

Reverend Sharpton also spoke about thermometers and thermostats.
Thermometers respond to and reflect change; changes in temperature.
Thermostats on the other hand, are unaffected by fluctuations in
temperature. Instead, thermostats actually determine what the
temperature will be, enforcing their will, as it were, on the
surrounding environment, in order to bring it to the required state.

The Black media-newspapers, magazines, radio and TV-has too often
played the role of thermometers, merely reacting to and reflecting the
climate of the community in which they exist. Furthermore, because of
economics-lack of advertising and poor community support-the Black
media is repeatedly turned into a barometer-like entity which only
responds to extremes of external pressure. Given present day
circumstances, now is the time for the Black media, especially the
print segment, to return to its roots and original function as a
leader, director and shaper of our community's aims, hopes and
aspirations. Now is the time to exercise the power of the pen, to
exercise the power of advocacy, to exercise the power of
self-determination, and to exercise the power of positive propaganda.

The Summit climaxed with a VIP "Rock The Vote" gala dinner featuring
PBS TV commentator and syndicated radio talk show host Tony Brown. As
he said in his book Black Lies, White Lies, Brown emphasized that
"Black America must chart its own course and stop waiting for white
America to solve its problems."

That is the crux of the matter. We have to do for self by forging the
required unity and by creating the wealth necessary to power our
liberation from conditions as they are. Maximizing the media power of
positive propaganda as Marcus Garvey did, is the key to unlocking the
secret equations of political power and economic independence. In
order to become relevant to our community and to assume the role of
thermostats and not thermometers, Black newspapers and magazines need
to participate in setting community standards and objectives, need to
assist in assigning and delegating community responsibility, and need
to review and assess the accountability of our elected
representatives, church, business and community leaders. Most of all,
Black publications have to make a conscious effort to overcome the
"Willie Lynch" psychosis which has been deliberately embedded deep
within Black minds for going on 300 years. The Willie Lynch syndrome
is a perfection of the old British policy of "divide and rule", and is
the historical/psychological foundation of the distrust and disunity
which plagues Black communities everywhere today.

The Economic and Political Summit in Fort Lauderdale was indeed a step
in the right direction-for unity is strength and unity is power. It's
35 years and counting since Martin Luther King, Jr. went to the
mountain top in his vision, but we all need to keep on stepping
because there is still a hell of a long way to go before we finally
get to the Promised Land.

(Native Jamaican journalist I. Jabulani Tafari is the author of A
Rastafarian View of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, and has been published in
newspapers in the U.S., Caribbean and Africa.) Distributed by Karen's
News Syndicate, 138 Ardmore Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254, (310)
545-8531, in association with the Palm Beach Gazette, P.O. Box 18469,
West Palm Beach, FL 33416-8469, (561) 844-5501. Lee Ivory, KNS
Managing Director and Palm Beach Gazette editor.

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News Item # 4 - Caribbean News

ANTIGUA GOVERNMENT FIXING FOOD PRICES

St. John's, Antigua, CANA - The Antigua and Barbuda government, which
is trying to rebuild the country following the devastation by
Hurricane Georges, will fix the price for essential food items. Prime
Minister Lester Bird told the nation Saturday the items that would be
fixed included milk, flour, rice, potatoes and bottled water. "It
should be clearly understood by all that the government intends to
enforce these fixed prices so that no one can profiteer at the expense
of people in need," Bird said.

ANTIGUANS GETTING BACK ELECTRICITY

St. John's, Antigua, CANA - Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister,
Lester Bird, said on Saturday that significant progress had been made
in restoring the electricity service which was disrupted by Hurricane
Georges. All the radio and television stations are back on the air.
"We also restored electricity at Holberton Hospital so that the
patients wouldn't suffer and medical treatment including surgery could
continue," he told the nation.

GUYANESE SOLDIERS TO HELP ST KITTS

Georgetown, Guyana, CANA - A team from the Guyana Defence Force will
leave today for St. Kitts and Nevis to assist with rehabilitation
efforts following the devastation caused by Hurricane Georges a week
ago. "The Government of Guyana is closely monitoring developments and
will coordinate efforts with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response
Agency," a government release said on Saturday. Hurricane Georges,
which killed more than 200 people during its trek across the
Caribbean, has caused an estimated US$444 million in damage in St.
Kitts and US$39 million in Nevis.

MP's RESIGNATION WILL NOT AFFECT TOBAGO

Port of Spain, Trinidad, CANA - Dr. Morgan Job, one of two Tobago
representatives in Parliament, says the departure of former Sports and
Youth Affairs Minister Pamela Nicholson would not affect the
representation of Tobagonians. "She spent a tremendous amount of time
during the last election campaign saying nasty things about me and
maligning me, I am not wasting time on anything Nicholson says or
does," he said in an interview with Sunday's Guardian newspaper.
Nicholson resigned last week citing differences with Prime Minister
Basdeo Panday and the government's failure to seriously address issues
facing Tobago.

ST LUCIA GOVERNMENT INQUIRY ENDS

Castries, St. Lucia, CANA - The Commission of Inquiry into alleged
wrongdoing under the former United Workers Party administration has
ended and a report should be submitted to government before yearend.
The final session last Friday wrapped up the probe into an auditor's
report that revealed "misappropriation of company funds and lack of
adequate documentation to support material account balances" of
Nationwide Properties Limited. The company, formed in 1993 mainly to
administer government-owned residential properties, was at various
times managed by businessman Peter Phillip, a former minister and
chairman of the Urban Development Corporation.

CHINESE FIRM EYEING GUYANA

Georgetown, Guyana, CANA - A U.S.-based Chinese firm is interested in
investing US$10 million in Guyana's agriculture and forestry sectors.
William Zhu, President of Lead A-A Transworld Corporation, visited
Guyana last week to explore possibilities for establishing joint
venture relationships between the governments of China and Guyana.
"One is setting up agriculture machinery assembling plants where we
will bring in components of tractors, tillers, harvesters, as well as
grain milling machines to be assembled here locally ..." a government
release issued Saturday quoted Zhu as saying.

BARBADOS' PM FOR WORLD BANK MEETINGS

Bridgetown, Barbados, CANA - Barbados' Prime Minister Owen Arthur left
on Sunday for finance meetings in Washington and Canada. Arthur will
speak for the Caribbean Community when he addresses the 1998 annual
meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington October 2-8. He will
also lead a delegation to the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting
in Ottawa, Canada, September 29 - October 1.

Copyright 1998 - Caribbean News Agency

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News Item # 5 - Motherland News

LIBERIAN FORMER WARLORD NOW IN NIGERIA: WITNESSES.

FREETOWN: Liberia's fugitive ethnic Krahn militia leader Roosevelt
Johnson is reported to have been flown to Nigeria after being
evacuated from the United States embassy in Monrovia to Sierra Leone.
Witnesses in Freetown say Johnson, who sought refuge at the embassy
more than a week ago, was flown to Nigeria on Saturday. Johnson took
refuge at the embassy U.S. embassy in Monrovia during bloody clashes
between his supporters and President Charles Taylor's forces.
Diplomats and relief workers say as many as 350 people may have been
killed in the security crackdown and related clashes. Taylor's
government accuses Johnson of treason, murder, rape and kidnapping.

DEMOCRACY NOT PECULIAR TO WEST SAYS SOUTH AFRICA DEPUTY PRESIDENT.

JOHANNESBURG: Democracy and economic development have been cited as
key components in the achievement of an African renaissance. South
African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki says it's time Africans put
behind them the notions of democracy and human rights as peculiarly
"Western" concepts. Mbeki was speaking at an African renaissance
conference in Johannesburg. He said he wanted to see an African
continent in which the people participated in government and where
they were truly able to determine their destiny. Mechanisms also had
to be sought to resolve conflict on the continent peacefully, and to
ensure that the competition for scarce resources did not result in
violent conflict.

AFRICAN WOMEN URGED TO FIGHT BURUNDI SANCTIONS.

CAPE TOWN: The wife of Burundian strongman Pierre Buyoya has urged
African women leaders to use their influence to have the economic
blockade against the country lifted. Speaking in South Africa's mother
city, Cape Town, Sophie Buyoya said women and children were bearing
the brunt of the sanctions. She was addressing a meeting of African
women leaders on the Burundian peace process. Regional heads of state
imposed economic sanctions on Burundi soon after Pierre Buyoya seized
power in a bloodless coup in July 1996. In December last year, the UN
special rapporteur on human rights in Burundi, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro,
called for a review of the sanctions saying they were contributing to
malnutrition, disease, and food and medicine shortages.

Copyright 1998 Channel Africa

---------------------------------------------

Peace and Blessings,

Bro. Mosi Hoj
The Information Man
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• [AL-AfricaAmer-L] Black News by "northernwinds" <>