It has been 50 years since the Black Panther Party was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. Today the organization is remembered for its black-clad, black-bereted members in disciplined formation, bearing arms.
These are compelling images, but they in no way capture the organization’s historical significance or its lasting contribution to public health. These iconic images provide opportunities to tell unfinished stories.
Fifty years is a long time to wait to restore the Black Panther Party’s image to reflect its full and lasting legacy. This legacy should acknowledge that, in just a few years, the Party rapidly extended its initial commitment to armed self-defense against police violence to mobilization against a more ambitiously framed concept of violence.
In this broader view, lack of adequate housing, education, and jobs were also forms of violence. And the Party proclaimed its obligation to act against these injuries as well. Protection came in the form of programs, not guns.
In expanding its perspective beyond the problem of police violence to the far-reaching consequences of racism in everyday life, the Party aligned itself with progressive forces such as the civil rights and women’s movements in the United States, and liberation movements in Africa and Asia.
The Party took up the right to health. It would be a mischaracterization to see the Party’s range of activities as a cobbled-together, mismatched chimera—part paramilitary and part social work.
Rather, its vision hewed closely to the fundamentally radical idea that achieving health for all demands a more just and equitable world. To model ways in which such a world might work, the Black Panthers opened free health clinics across the country. Eventually 13 were established.
The Black Panther Party clinics were part of a movement to deliver community-based health care that had roots in the civil rights movement, which gave rise to the Medical Committee for Human Rights.
In 1965, two physician-activists—H. Jack Geiger and Count D. Gibson Jr—opened the first US community health centers in Boston, Massachusetts, and Mount Bayou, Mississippi. Geiger and Gibson believed that health could not be fully achieved without addressing poverty.
The Black Panther Party took the argument one step further, articulating that the failure to address poverty (and oppression and unemployment and lack of adequate education and housing) were causes of poor health.
The Black Panthers emerged as champions of health as a human right: first for Blacks and later more broadly for the poor. Its first guiding document—the “Ten Point Program” issued in 1966—did not mention health. But by 1970, following a call from leadership to establish free clinics, the Ten Point Program was modified.
In 1972, health was formally added as the sixth point:
WE WANT COMPLETELY FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE
We believe that the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventive medical programs to guarantee our future survival.
Additionally, the revised Ten Point Program now referred to “Black and oppressed people,” not just Blacks. Looking back, the Ten Point Program shares both language and sentiment with the US Declaration of Independence, from which it quoted, and with the African National Congress Freedom Charter, articulated in 1955 to guide the next nearly 40 years of its 80-year fight against South African apartheid.
The Freedom Charter proclaimed that government would be responsible for free health care, both preventive and curative. The Black Panther Party was the second step on my path to public health. The first was a summer job after high school. I worked as a census taker in West Harlem, New York, in 1970, collecting data the old-fashioned way: going door-to-door.
As a college student, I volunteered at the Party’s Boston Franklin Lynch Peoples’ Free Health Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts sited to block construction of a proposed highway. It took its name from a young man who died at the hands of police, reportedly shot dead while hospitalized.
I was not a Party member, but as a volunteer I was given assignments. The first was to schedule doctors, all of whom were also volunteers, to staff clinic hours. Later, I would learn that they were all well-regarded academics from prominent Boston-area medical schools. I am sure they were busy, but I cajoled, bullied, and begged.
Then I got a better assignment: to run the sickle cell screening program. The Black Panther Party learned that sickle cell anemia was a neglected genetic disease—neglected because most of those affected were of African descent.
Although it had been described in 1910, it attracted little public attention and even less funding. Treatment was extremely limited, as it is to this day. There was a rapid screening test based on a simple finger stick, but the test was not widely employed. The Black Panther Party rectified this government failure to act by setting up a national screening program.
I recruited Boston-area premed students to perform the screening test. Panther members leafleted public housing buildings the night before, and each Saturday a group of a dozen doctors-to-be fanned out, wearing white jackets, to offer testing in people’s homes.
Area hospitals provided follow-up for those who screened positive. The sickle cell screening program was a lesson in community health that has never left me. It was more than just a service—it was an organizing tool.
That more than a dozen Panther Party members remain imprisoned five decades later has more to do with this legacy of addressing systemic inequity than with the berets and guns that so effectively propelled these beautiful, young Black people into public view.
In Stanley Nelson’s 2015 documentary “Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” a former leading Panther member Ericka Huggins noted smilingly, “We had swag.” They also unleashed a staggering government response, including the reprehensible intervention of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI in the form of the now infamous COINTELPRO that saw the leadership arrested, jailed, and killed.
While the Black Panther Party eventually disbanded in 1982, it popularized a set of beliefs that identified health as a social justice issue for Blacks and influenced public health to this day.
The Black Panther Party's militancy, blending science with community engagement, resonates today under the banner of #BlackLivesMatter. That health is a right, not a privilege, remains true. It is a proud legacy, one built by many, still unachieved, and still worth fighting for today.
by Kenny Anderson One key aspect of white supremacy is ‘paternalism’ the originating relationship from the slave plantation that Blacks both young and old were property defined, viewed, and treated as slave children of the slave master ‘white godfather’ (creator and destroyer).
In the paternalistic society of the plantation the white male slave owners were the godlike fathers of their families and all of their slaves and their white wives were the slaves mothers.
On the plantation grown enslaved Blacks were ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ and if they were thought to be ‘super-loyal’ they were at best called ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’; indeed grown enslaved children needed approval from their slave parents at all times!
The white slave-holding parents determined who were ‘good niggers’ (approved) and ‘bad niggers’ (disapproved). The white racist paternalists use the Bible as the text for Black approval seeking behavior - 'God approved slavery and disapproved disobeying the slave-master'.
Black folks are still viewed as dependent grown-children today and white fathers and mothers still knows what’s best in every aspect of our lives; they authorize, legitimize, credential, certify, verify, sanctify, employ, and approve us! White paternalism dictates what Black leaders we should follow; white paternalism knows best how we should even bury are dead!
White Paternalism and Aretha Franklin’s Funeral
Aretha Franklin’s funeral what was meant to be a final tribute to the Queen of Soul however it was labeled controversial by white paternalism media because it was disapproved.
The so-called controversies ranged from Bishop Charles H. Ellis III alleged groping of Ariana Grande and his 'Taco Bell' comment, Louis Farakahn being present on the stage, speakers highlighting racism – criticizing president Trump, to the eulogy of Rev. Jasper Williams, Jr.’s sermon about 'Black America Losing Its Soul'.
White paternalism wanted an approved funeral to focus solely on Aretha Franklin as the ‘Queen of Soul’, for whites she was 'their girl' so just focus on her amazing voice that entertained them; ex-president Bill Clinton said one of the main reasons he came to the funeral was he wanted to see what type of sharp clothes 'his girl' was buried in; whites didn’t want to hear anything ‘disapproved’ about Aretha Franklin the ‘Soul-Sista’ who supported the Black struggle against racism.
The white paternalists wanted to preapprove the Black folks who could attend Aretha's funeral. White paternalism was particularly outraged that Louis Farakahn was present at Aretha’s funeral despite the fact he knew her for over 30 years; they were outraged that Farrakhan was given a position of prominence sitting next to ex-president Bill Clinton.
White paternalism and some Black women did not like some of the comments from Jasper Williams eulogy; Williams was blasted because be said Black mothers could not fully raise their sons to be Black men; he was blasted for misogyny, bigotry, and the perpetuation of false science on race.
White liberal paternalists blasted Williams for blaming integration and the civil rights movement for ripping the heart out of Black micro-economies that once relied on Black-owned small businesses such as grocery stores, hotels, and banks.
What must become crystal-clear to Black folks from birth to death is that white paternalism - white liberals, white conservatives, white socialists, white pastors, white gays, white feminists, white anybody knows what’s best for us! Everybody and their mama had something to say about Aretha Franklin’s funeral - so did every race.
When whites have funerals, when Arabs have funerals, when Asians have funerals, when East Indians have funerals, and when Hispanics have funerals Black folks don’t really have nothing to say about how these funerals are conducted and who attends!
When whites bury their celebrities Black folks don’t really have nothing to say! Black folks didn’t really have nothing to say about republican senators John McCain’s funeral! Black folks aint gone have nothing to say about how Burt Reynolds funeral is going to be conducted!
White Paternalism and Black Approval Seeking Behavior
As Black folks are whole life since slavery we’ve been forcibly socialized and propagandized by white paternalism to seek their approval. Whether we want to admit it or not approval seeking is deep-seated in our minds and souls. This need for white approval is strong - it’s a self-limiting driving force in us; when we aren’t met with white approval we don’t feel accepted, safe, and protected.
I constantly hear many Black folks preface “I don’t want to sound racist” when addressing Black specific issues especially when whites are around; this preface really is an ‘apology’ to avoid whites disapproval, ridicule, or rejection; in so many instances we've become Black 'apologists' who continue to 'back-peddle' and 'moon-walk'!
Black approval seeking behavior is a need for ‘white validation’ which constantly erodes our self-worth, self-confidence, and self-determination. Black approval seeking behavior helps us to avoid seeing and addressing racist white oppression; it temporarily helps us cover up the unpleasantness of racism; this cover-up and denial tends to be distressing producing injurious health problems like hypertension and ulcers. Black approval seeking behavior results in shame-based living.
Approval Seeking Behavior and Shame-Based Living
Often today when I visit family, relatives, and friends and bring up any discussion of racist Black oppression, folks get immediately uncomfortable and defensive, some will even say I don’t want to talk about ‘that Black stuff’, some are even harsher saying I don’t want to hear that ‘Black shit’. I tell them you don’t want to talk about Black stuff because whites disapprove of it; but you talk about white approved Black shit like gossip and sports.
I tell them that you won’t hear white people say I don’t want to hear that 'white stuff' when it comes to their issues; you won’t hear Middle Easterners say I don’t want to hear that ‘Arab shit’. This attitude of 'not trying to hear no Black stuff' is shameful; shame in the sense of not addressing the varied problematic socioeconomic issues that we face due to racism; shame of not being responsible to ourselves; shame of not doing what we should be doing.
Unconsciously, Black folks are ashamed ‘covering up' - avoiding discussing their experiences with racism in the present or past; the roots of the word shame derives from a word that means ‘to cover’. Black shame is similar to wanting to hide our faces behind our hands, wearing a mask desperately trying to 'escape' from dealing with racism or 'pretending' that everything is okay. The more powerful our experiences of shame are, the more we need to hide those aspects from others and even from ourselves.
You won’t find 'disorders of shame' as a category in the DSM-5 (the official American manual for mental health diagnoses), and yet shame is probably the biggest single driving cause of most Black psychological problems - an ongoing source influence of 'internalize oppression'.
Excessive feelings of shame are at the heart of much Black psychopathology. It is concealed behind guilt; it fosters low self-esteem; it lurks behind anger; it fuels Black-on-Black violence; it can be disguised as despair and depression; its demoralizing and breeds apathy; it influences addictions and suicides.
Many Black people with shame develop an obsession with becoming someone other than who they are 'wanting to be white approved' – being validated in some form or fashion. Their entire life becomes a flight from self and a desire to merge with the ideal white image standard by altering themselves. They want to be free from Blackness and embarrassing traits, but can only hope to achieve this by cutting off a part of who they are.
Unfortunately, the distancing solution they are seeking - the problem they are trying to escape are two sides of the same coin. The more they pursue to become other than their Black self, the more they increase their judgment on who they really are. Shame and the pursuit of overcoming shame are thus often one and the same.
Moreover, Black shame may lead a Black person to make negative attributions about other Blacks that are disguised attempts to restore a positive self-view or hide negative self-perceptions in order to escape shame's self-diminishing effects. Thus a Black person attempts to bolster their own view of themselves by finding flaws in others so that they become the ones who are shameful.
This view of flaws in other Blacks also has collective self-sabotaging consequences; it fosters doubt and distrust that undermines racial 'Unity' preventing us from uniting to struggle for 'political self-determination' and 'economic self-reliance'.
Countering Black shame-based living is the process of transforming daily who one is and how one feels about oneself; it doesn’t come from changing who one is, but rather from truly embracing, knowing, becoming, developing, actualizing, and honoring who one is.
Countering Black shame-based living is to reject white paternalism and rid ourselves from approval seeking behavior by becoming unapologetically Black and self-validating!
Aretha Franklin the legendary Black musical icon
recently passed away at the age of 76 in Detroit, Michigan. From my perspective
Aretha Franklin was more than a singing legend - the ‘Queen of Soul’ she was also a ‘Soul
Sista’ – a talented Black woman who raised her voice and supported Black
freedom.
Soul Sista Aretha learned supporting Black freedom from
her father Reverend Clarence L. Franklin who was a good friend of Martin Luther
King Jr. Franklin pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church (Detroit, MI) organized
the 1963 ‘Detroit Walk to Freedom’
ahead of Dr. King’s March on Washington. Also in 1963 Reverend
Franklin with the cooperation of Reverend Albert Cleage of the Shrine of the
Black Madonna Church held an organizational meeting of new younger Black Power
groups at New Bethel.
This new generation of younger Black leaders in Detroit
demanded a much more rapid dismantling of the traditional racial hierarchy. These
groups consisted of GOAL (Group for the Advancement of Leadership), UHURU
(founded by Wayne State students who used this Swahili word for their
organization); the Detroit chapter of SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating
Committee) and RAM (Revolutionary Action Movement). These groups demanded control
of the institutions that determined the fate of Detroit's Black communities.
Several of their leaders, especially Robert F. Williams of RAM and the SNCC leaders
advocated using violence if necessary to secure Black control of Detroit.
In 1969, Reverend Franklin allowed the Republic of New
Africa (RNA) to celebrate their first organization anniversary at New Bethel
Church. The RNA’s meeting was adjourning about midnight when two Detroit police
officers saw a dozen or so apparently armed men in camaflogue walking in front
of the church. They stopped to investigate aggressively and an encounter occurred resulting in one officer being shot
to death and the other officer was wounded but managed to call for back up. Twenty
minutes later, 50 Detroit police officers attempted to enter New Bethel; the
commanding officer claimed the police were fired upon as their tried to enter
the church. Once they broke down the door, the police claim they came under
rifle fire from the altar and sniper fire from the loft. These claims were
disputed.
The police arrested 142 inside the church, found 9
rifles, three pistols and ammunition. Reverend Franklin instantly alerted
Blacks who had risen to positions of power: State Senator James Del Rio and
Recorders Court Judge George Crockett. Judge Crockett was not certain that the
Detroit police would treat the Blacks arrested well so he went to the lockup and established a temporary court room where he began releasing those who
were arrested, either on small bonds or on personal recognizance.
Judge Crockett released many but not all of those
arrested, including some that had tested positive for nitrate burns. Judge
Crockett also criticized police procedures and thus invalidated their right to hold
those arrested at New Bethel. Reverend Franklin never apologized for the New
Bethel incident. Indeed, he said that RNA would be welcome to meet at his
church again, but he would prohibit guns.
Aretha Franklin and Black Freedom Growing up with a father like C.L Franklin it’s not
surprising that Aretha Franklin would often use her talents to help further the
civil rights movement and Black freedom, even going so far as to tour with Dr. King
and fellow singer/activist, Harry Belafonte. Reverend Jesse Jackson said: “When Dr. King was alive, several times
Aretha helped us make payroll, on one occasion, we took an 11-city tour with
her as Aretha Franklin and Harry Belafonte and they put gas in the vans. She
did 11 concerts for free and hosted us at her home and did a fundraiser for my
campaign. Aretha has always been a very socially conscious artist, an
inspiration, not just an entertainer. She has shared her points of view from
the stage for challenged people, to register to vote, to stand up for decency.”
In 1967, Aretha Franklin released “Respect,” arguably one
of her most famous songs that became an anthem for the racial and gendered
political movements of the time. In her memoir Aretha ‘From These Roots’ she
stated: “Respect reflected the need of a
nation, the need of the average man and woman in the street, the businessman,
the mother, the fireman, the teacher - everyone wanted respect. It was also one
of the battle cries of the civil rights movement. The song took on monumental
significance.”
When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 Aretha
Franklin sang “Take My Hand, Precious
Lord,” at King’s funeral. Dr. King once stated that “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of
comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and
controversy.” In 1970 one of the most prescient examples of Aretha Franklin’s
character and commitment to Black freedom was her controversial support for jailed
revolutionary activist and scholar Angela Davis offering to post her bail.
Davis was a member of the Communist Party and accused of assisting in a
courtroom takeover in Marin County California to liberate imprisoned Black revolutionary
George Jackson that ended in four deaths. Aretha Franklin got a lot of flack from supporting Davis but she did not back down! In an interview with Jet, Franklin advocated for not only Davis but for Black liberation, Franklin
stated:
“Angela
Davis must go free! Black people will be free! I’ve been locked up for
disturbing the peace in Detroit and I know you got to disturb the peace when
you can’t get no peace. Jail is hell to be in, I’m going to see her free if
there is any justice in our courts, not because I believe in communism, but
because she’s a Black woman and she wants freedom for Black people. I have the
money; I got it from Black people they’ve made me financially able to have it and
I want to use it in ways that will help our people.”
Aretha Franklin will forever be remembered as the
legendary Queen of Soul, a six decade career during which she won 18 Grammy
awards and the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The white mainstream media will blow up and reinforce Aretha Franklin’s singing
legacy reducing her simply as the ‘Queen
of Soul’, but the conscious Black community must promote and celebrate
Aretha Franklin’s other loftier legacy as a ‘Soul
Sista’ who used both her voice and celebrity platform to advocate for Black
freedom.
Mutual assistance and self-help have been cornerstones of the African American community historically, W E. B. Du Bois called them "the first wavering step of a people toward organized social life." The development of mutual aid societies were the result of material necessity under slavery; they represented an organized desire for freedom and self-determination.
Some believe that Black Mutual Aid Societies were also influenced by African retentions of the West African concept of ‘Sou-Sou’ derived from the Yoruba word ‘Esusu’ which means a cooperative mutual arrangement. During slavery the ‘Underground Railroad’ was an abolitionalist Mutual Aid Society model for Black freedom.
After slavery Mutual Aid Societies sought to promote education and job training, especially for newly arrived African Americans, freemen and fugitive slaves. The earliest mutual assistance societies among free blacks provided a form of health and life insurance for their members - care of the sick, burials for the dead, and support for widows and orphans.
Blacks took pride in being self-reliant through Mutual Aid Societies; they understood clearly they could not rely on whites for aid including the American government; they clearly understood the Southern white motto of "Nigger root, hog, or die a poor pig." Through monthly membership dues, mutual aid societies dispensed sick benefits and funeral benefits while also serving as a network for jobs and businesses. Such groups promoted African-American political interests by supporting each other financially while constructing a sense of kinship.
Michigan African American Leadership Summit (MAALS) Affinity Groups a Contemporary Expression of Mutual Aid Societies
Affinity groups are simple; they are a vehicle for progressive Black people to do things together to advance self-determination. Things like organizing around specific issues, reading and discussing texts, building block-clubs, engaging in a demonstration, planning Black History Month or Kwanza activities, learning a skill together, or working on a publication.
The basic formula for Affinity Groups is talkingand engaging with your like-minded folks; survey the particular situations you’re inand take action or form projects that are timely and relevant to your group.‘Affinity’ means closeness, those who form an affinity group often already share ideas, strategies, and goals.
An affinity group is an informal convergence of Black people who choose to struggle together, usually consisting of two to ten people; being small in number often allows for faster responses to spontaneous events as they occur.
The uniquenessof each group means that they follow paths of their own choosing, experimenting with actions that are specific to their shared skills and desires without seeking permission from a larger decision-making body.
When coordination is needed on a larger scale, affinity groups strategize and work together. One model for this is the ‘Affinities Coordinating Council’ (ACC) that can be established locally or statewide where affinity groups can converge for discussion, each appointing one person to temporarily represent their group. The ACC is not a decision-making body it's a recommendation entity, so it doesn’t come to any binding conclusions that each affinity group is expected to follow.
Our recommendation for unifyingAffinity Groups is the MAALS‘19 Basic Rules for Black Unity, Survival, and Progress’ that’s spelled-out on the left side of our blog site.
People come together as an affinity group to act, not necessarily to grow the group through recruitment. An affinity group doesn’t even have to be political - they can focus just on Black health issues; they can exist for a long time or form temporarily to accomplish one task or many. If an Affinity Group weakens people can leave the group or choose to dissolve it altogether. There are no membership lists, and the organization of the group can be minimal.
If you are newly interested in Black self-determination or experienced and live in the state of Michigan MAALS encourages you to initiate an Affinity Group to address issues in your local area.
by Kenny Anderson The Michigan African American Leadership Summit (MAALS)
developed out of the Pontiac Black Activists League (PBAL) and the National
African American Leadership Summit (NAALS). Some of us as MAALS leaders like myself and Quincy Stewart are
from Pontiac, MI and We are mindful of our progressive Malcolm X influenced heritage
through Milton Henry from Pontiac, Michigan.
Henry was an attorney and former Pontiac City
Councilman and was a close associate of Malcolm X. Henry was a proponent of
Malcolm’s philosophy - he was a member of the Malcolm X Society and GOAL (Group
on Advanced Leadership).
Photo of Milton Henry and Malcolm X
Milton Henry interviews Malcolm
X (April 12, 1964) discussing with him the Organization of African American Unity memorandum:
Milton
Henry: Once again the GOAL Show microphones have with us our
brother, Malcolm X. This time we are on the other side of the world. We're at
Cairo, Egypt, where the independent African states have met in serious
confrontation for the last week. One of the significant additions to the
confrontation here was the presence of Malcolm X as a black American delegate
to the conference of black peoples here in Africa. Malcolm, would you tell us
something about the conference? First of all, we'd like to know about your
appearance how did it happen that you as an American were permitted to appear
at this conference of African people?
Malcolm
X:
First, I want to point out that we are sitting here along the banks of the
Nile, and the last time I spoke to you we were in Harlem. Here along the banks
of the Nile it's not much different from Harlem same people, same feeling, same
pulse. About my appearing here at the conference: At first it
did create a great deal of controversy, and, as you probably know, apprehension
on the part of the powers that be in America, because they realize that if any
direct contact, communication and understanding and working agreement are ever developed
between the 22 million or 30 million Afro-Americans and the Africans here on
the continent, there's nothing we couldn't accomplish. When I arrived here,
there was a great deal of publicity in all of the press over here concerning my
coming. It was historic in a sense because no American Negroes had ever made
any effort in the past to try and get their problems placed in the same
category as the African problems, nor had they tried to internationalize it. So
this was something new, it was unique, and everyone wondered what the reaction
of the Africans would be.
It is true that at first there were stumbling blocks
placed in my path in regards to being accepted into the conference, or into the
meetings. But I'd rather not say what happened in specific details. Thanks to
Allah, I was admitted as an observer and I was able to submit a memorandum to
each one of the heads of state, which was read and thoroughly analyzed by them.
It pointed out the conditions of our people in America and the necessity of something
being done and said at this conference toward letting the world know, at least
letting the United States know, that our African brothers over here identified
themselves with our problems in the States.
Milton
Henry: Now, Malcolm, I have read the speech [memorandum]
which was presented. Basically, as you say, it did deal with the abuses that
the American Negroes have suffered in America and it asked the consideration of
the African states of this problem. Now, will you tell us, was this actually
passed upon, and did any action come out of the Cairo conference with reference
to the American Negro? Malcolm
X:
Yes, a resolution came out, acknowledging the fact that America has passed a
civil-rights bill, but at the same time pointing out that, despite the passage
of the civil-rights bill, continued abuses of the human rights of the black
people in America still existed. And it called upon I forget the wording; when
I read the resolution it was 2:30 in the morning, under very adverse
conditions; but I was so happy to read it. In essence, I remember that it
outright condemned the racism that existed in America and the continued abuses
that our people suffered despite the passage of the civil-rights bill. It was a
very good resolution.
Milton
Henry: In other words, this type of resolution coming out of
a conference of thirty-four African states should certainly make the United
States take a new look at the American Negro?
Malcolm
X:
Well, I have to say this that the United States has been looking at the
American Negro. When I arrived here I did a great deal of lobbying. I had to do
a great deal of lobbying between the lobby of the Hotel Hilton, the lobby of
the Shepherd and even the lobby of the " Isis," the ship where the
African liberation movement was housed. Lobbying was necessary because the
various agencies that the United States has abroad had success fully convinced
most Africans that the American Negro in no way identified with Africa, and
that the African would be foolish to involve himself in the problems of the
American Negroes. And some African leaders were saying this.
So in the memorandum I submitted to them at the
conference I pointed out to them that as independent heads of states we looked
upon them as the shepherds not only of the African people on the continent, but
all people of African descent abroad; and that a good shepherd is more
concerned with the sheep that have gone astray and fallen into the hands of the
imperialist wolf than the sheep that are still at home. That the 22 million or
30 million, whatever the case may be, Afro-Americans in the United States were
still Africans, and that we felt that the African heads of state were as much
responsible for us as they were responsible for the people right here on the
continent. This was a sort of a challenge to them and I think that most of them
realize it today, more so than they did prior to the conference.
Milton
Henry: Malcolm, I think you are to be greatly applauded
because actually you were the only American recognized as a participant of the
conference, and of course you had the badge which permitted you access to all
of the rooms and so forth. The Americans here, including myself, did not have
that privilege, but you had the privilege of actually being with the other
black brothers. I had the feeling that there will be a great change in emphasis
because you have been here, and because you presented our position the position
of the black man in America so well, in a way that no one but an American
could.
Malcolm
X:
One thing that made most Africans see the necessity of their intervening on our
behalf was [their learning a bit of] the historic steps since 1939 in the
so-called rise of the black American. It was the world pressure, brought about
by Hitler, that enabled the Negro to rise above where he was [in 1939]. After
Hitler was destroyed, there was the threat of Stalin, but it was always the
world pressure that was upon America that enabled black people to go forward.
It was not the initiative internally that the Negro put forth in America, nor
was it a change of moral heart on the part of Uncle Sam it was world pressure.
Once this is realized as a basic fact, then the present
American Negro leaders will be more aware that any gain, even in token form,
that they get, isn't coming from any goodness out of Washington, D.C., or from
their own initiative it is coming because of the international situation. And
when they see it like this, in cold facts, then they will see the necessity of
placing their problem at the world level, internationalizing the Negro struggle
and calling upon our brothers and sisters in Africa and Asia and Latin America,
and even in some of the European countries, to bring pressure upon the United
States government in order to get our problems solved. And this was only the
first of a series of steps that the OAAU has in mind to internationalize the
black man's problem, and make it not a Negro problem or an American problem,
but a world problem, a problem for humanity.
Milton
Henry: I think of another real benefit from this conference,
Malcolm. You are living in a very advantageous spot, because it so happens, as
you intimated just a minute ago, that you are living with all of the freedom
fighters from all of the liberated and un-liberated parts of the world down
there on the " Isis" is that the name of the boat?
Malcolm
X:
Well, I don't know if I should say this, but it is true. The "Isis" a
beautiful yacht that floats on the Nile River, was set aside for all the
liberation movements that exist on the African continent. The leaders of these
movements from places like Angola, the Angola freedom fighters; freedom
fighters from Mozambique; freedom fighters from Zambia, known as Northern
Rhodesia, which is just on its way toward independence; freedom fighters from
Zimbabwe, known in America as Southern Rhodesia; freedom fighters from
Southwest Africa; from Swaziland; Basutoland; and South Africa itself all of
the representatives of these different groups of freedom fighters were housed
on this yacht called the "Isis."
I was very honored to be permitted to be housed right
along with them. Spending so much time with them gave me a real feeling of the
pulse of a true revolutionary, and it gave me an opportunity also to listen to
them tell of the real brutal atmosphere in which they live in these colonized
areas. It also gave me somewhat of a better idea of our problem in America, and
what is going to be necessary to bring an end to the brutality and the
suffering that we undergo every day.
Milton
Henry: I think that this is one of the advantages of a
conference like the one we have just experienced. The fact is that it is
important for people to get together to exchange ideas. Even apart from the
speeches and the organizational activities which go on with the formal
organization, it would seem that, as you indicated, the opportunity for the
leaders of each of these parts of the world to get together becomes an
invaluable asset to the total freedom struggle. Because without this, leaders
very often feel they work by themselves; and with it, they can see the whole
picture.
Malcolm
X:
Yes, this is one thing that I have learned since being out of the Black Muslim
movement. It's difficult to look at a thing through the narrow scope of an
organizational eye often times and see it in its proper perspective. If the
various groups in America had been less selfish and had permitted different
representatives from the groups to travel into foreign countries, and broaden
their own scope, and come back and educate the movements they represented, not
only would this have made the groups to which they belonged more enlightened
and more worldly in the international sense, but it also would have given the
independent African states abroad a better understanding of the groups in the
United States, and what they stand for, what they represent.
In my opinion, a very narrow, backward, almost childish
approach has been made by the groups in the United States, and especially the
religious groups; very narrow minded. Whenever you belong to a group that just
can't work with another group, then that group itself is selfish. Any group,
any group that can't work with all other groups, if they are genuinely
interested in solving the problems of the Negro collectively why, I don't think
that that group is really sincerely motivated toward reaching a solution. This
Organization of African Unity, this summit conference, is the best example of
what can be accomplished when people come together and their motives aren't
selfish.
Milton
Henry: Yes, it doesn't seem that it should be so difficult
for Negroes, if they are sincere, to get together.
Malcolm
X:
If they are sincere, it is easy for them to get together.
Milton
Henry: Perhaps those leaders will be passed by now, in the
events as they move forward. I am enthused about the OAAU, and I expect that
there will be some very concrete things happening with respect to that
organization that will make the so-called civil-rights movement just a thing of
the past almost.
Malcolm
X:
Well, one of the main objectives of the OAAU is to join the civil-rights
struggle and lift it above civil rights to the level of human rights. As long
as our people wage a struggle for freedom and label it civil rights, it means
that we are under the domestic jurisdiction of Uncle Sam continually, and no
outside nation can make any effort whatsoever to help us. As soon as we lift it
above civil rights to the level of human rights, the problem becomes
internationalized; all of those who belong to the United Nations automatically
can take sides with us and help us in condemning, at least charging, Uncle Sam
with violation of our human rights.
Milton
Henry: Yes, Malcolm, there is one other thing before we
leave. What do you think of this city of Cairo?
Malcolm
X:
Cairo is probably one of the best examples for the American Negro. More so than
any other city on the African continent, the people of Cairo look like the
American Negroes in the sense that we have all complexions, we range in America
from the darkest black to the lightest light, and here in Cairo it is the same
thing; throughout Egypt, it is the same thing. All of the complexions are
blended together here in a truly harmonious society. You know, if ever there
was a people who should know how to practice brotherhood, it is the American
Negro and it is the people of Egypt. Negroes just can't judge each other
according to color, because we are all colors, all complexions. And as Mrs. W.
E. B. DuBois pointed out, the problems today are too vast. Just as on the
African continent, you have this wide range of complexions so much so that you
can't call it a brown struggle, a red struggle, or a black struggle.
Milton
Henry: By the way, Brother Malcolm, before we close, did you
receive any promises of assistance or help from any of the African nations?
Malcolm
X:
Oh, yes, several of them promised officially that, come the next session of the
UN, any effort on our part to bring our problem before the UN. I think it is the
Commission on Human Rights will get support and help from them. They will
assist us in showing us how to bring it up legally. So I am very, very happy
over the whole result of my trip here.
Milton
Henry: So this conference has been an unqualified success
from all standpoints?
Malcolm
X:
From all standpoints it has been an unqualified success, and one which should
change the whole direction of our struggle in America for human dignity as well
as human rights.
Milton
Henry: Thank you very much, Brother Malcolm.
The development of the Michigan African American
Leadership Summit (MAALS) was heavily influenced by Malcolm X’s Organization of
Afro-American Unity (OAAU); John Henrik Clarke and other Black nationalist
leaders assisted Malcolm X in developing the OAAU. For the past 4 decades the
OAAU has been overlooked as a progressive self-reliant political model.
In 2017 Black folks are
still floundering ‘disorganized’ in
the midst of the current white backlash personified in ‘Trumpism’. Indeed, we believe the OAAU is still a relevant and effective
template for Unity, Black empowerment, and Self-determination. The following is an address
by Malcolm X introducing the OAAU: ********************************************************************
June
28, 1964
We, the members of the Organization of Afro-American
Unity, gathered together in Harlem, New York:
Convinced that it is the inalienable right of all our
people to control our own destiny;
Conscious of the fact that freedom, equality, justice
and dignity are central objectives for the achievement of the legitimate
aspirations of the people of African descent here in the Western Hemisphere, we
will endeavor to build a bridge of understanding and create the basis for
Afro-American unity;
Conscious of our responsibility to harness the natural
and human resources of our people for their total advancement in all spheres of
human endeavor;
Inspired by our common determination to promote
understanding among our people and cooperation in all matters pertaining to their
survival and advancement, we will support the aspirations of our people for
brotherhood and solidarity in a larger unity transcending all organizational
differences;
Convinced that, in order to translate this
determination into a dynamic force in the cause of human progress conditions of
peace and security must be established and maintained;
And by conditions of peace and security, we mean we
have to eliminate the barking of the police dogs, we have to eliminate the
police clubs, we have to eliminate the water hoses, we have to eliminate all of
these things that have become so characteristic of the American so-called
dream. These have to be eliminated. Then we will be living in a condition of
peace and security. We can never have peace and security as long as one black
man in this country is being bitten by a police dog. No one in the country has
peace and security.
Dedicated to the unification of all people of African
descent in this hemisphere and to the utilization of that unity to bring into
being the organizational structure that will project the black people's
contributions to the world;
Persuaded that the Charter of the United Nations, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Constitution of the United States
and the Bill of Rights are the principles in which we believe and that these
documents if put into practice represent the essence of mankind's hopes and
good intentions;
Desirous that all Afro-American people and
organizations should henceforth unite so that the welfare and well-being of our
people will be assured;
We are resolved to reinforce the common bond of purpose
between our people by submerging all of our differences and establishing a
nonsectarian, constructive program for human rights;
We
hereby present this charter.
I.
Establishment
The Organization of Afro-American Unity shall include
all people of African descent in the Western Hemisphere, as well as our
brothers and sisters on the African continent.
Which means anyone of African descent, with African
blood, can become a member of the Organization of Afro-American Unity and also
any one of our brothers and sisters from the African continent. Because not
only it is an organization of Afro-American unity meaning that we are trying to
unite our people in the West but it's an organization of Afro-American unity in
the sense that we want to unite all of our people who are in North America,
South America, and Central America with our people on the African continent. We
must unite together in order to go forward together. Africa will not go forward
any faster than we will and we will not go forward any faster than Africa will.
We have one destiny and we've had one past.
In essence what it is saying is instead of you and me
running around here seeking allies in our struggle for freedom in the Irish
neighborhood or the Jewish neighborhood or the Italian neighborhood, we need to
seek some allies among people who look something like we do. It's time now for
you and me to stop running away from the wolf right into the arms of the fox,
looking for some kind of help. That's a drag.
II.
Self Defense
Since self-preservation is the first law of nature, we
assert the Afro-American's right to self-defense.
The Constitution of the United States of America
clearly affirms the right of every American citizen to bear arms. And as
Americans, we will not give up a single right guaranteed under the
Constitution. The history of unpunished violence against our people clearly
indicates that we must be prepared to defend ourselves or we will continue to
be a defenseless people at the mercy of a ruthless and violent racist mob.
We assert that in those areas where the government is
either unable or unwilling to protect the lives and property of our people,
that our people are within our rights to protect themselves by whatever means
necessary.
I repeat, because to me this is the most important
thing you need to know. I already know it.
We assert that in those areas where the government is
either unable or unwilling to protect the lives and property of our people, that
our people are within our rights to protect themselves by whatever means
necessary.
This is the thing you need to spread the word about
among our people wherever you go. Never let them be brainwashed into thinking
that whenever they take steps to see that they're in a position to defend
themselves that they're being unlawful. The only time you're being unlawful is
when you break the law. It's lawful to have something to defend yourself. Why,
I heard President Johnson either today or yesterday, I guess it was today,
talking about how quick this country would go to war to defend itself. Why,
what kind of a fool do you look like, living in a country that will go to war
at the drop of a hat to defend itself, and here you've got to stand up in the
face of vicious police dogs and blue-eyed crackers waiting for somebody to tell
you what to do to defend yourself!
Those days are over, they're gone, that's yesterday.
The time for you and me to allow ourselves to be brutalized nonviolently is
passe. Be nonviolent only with those who are nonviolent to you. And when you
can bring me a nonviolent racist, bring me a nonviolent segregationist, then
I'll get nonviolent. But don't teach me to be nonviolent until you teach some
of those crackers to be nonviolent. You've never seen a nonviolent cracker.
It's hard for a racist to be nonviolent. It's hard for anyone intelligent to be
nonviolent. Everything in the universe does something when you start playing
with his life, except the American Negro. He lays down and says, "Beat me,
daddy."
So it says here: "A man with a rifle or a club can
only be stopped by a person who defends himself with a rifle or a club."
That's equality. If you have a dog, I must have a dog. If you have a rifle, I
must have a rifle. If you have a club, I must have a club. This is equality. If
the United States government doesn't want you and me to get rifles, then take
the rifles away from those racists. If they don't want you and me to use clubs,
take the clubs away from the racists. lf they don't want you and me to get
violent, then stop the racists from being violent. Don't teach us nonviolence
while those crackers are violent. Those days are over.
Tactics based solely on morality can only succeed when
you are dealing with people who are moral or a system that is moral. A man or
system which oppresses a man because of his color is not moral. It is the duty
of every Afro-American person and every Afro-American community throughout this
country to protect its people against mass murderers, against bombers, against
lynchers, against floggers, against brutalizers and against exploiters.
I might say right here that instead of the various
black groups declaring war on each other, showing how militant they can be
cracking each other's heads, let them go down South and crack some of those
crackers' heads. Any group of people in this country that has a record of
having been attacked by racists and there's no record where they have ever
given the signal to take the heads of some of those racists why, they are
insane giving the signal to take the heads of some of their ex-brothers. Or
brother X's, I don't know how you put that.
III.
Education
Education is an important element in the struggle for
human rights. It is the means to help our children and our people rediscover
their identity and thereby increase their self-respect. Education is our
passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for
it today.
And I must point out right there, when I was in Africa
I met no African who wasn't standing with open arms to embrace any
Afro-American who returned to the African continent. But one of the things that
all of them have said is that every one of our people in this country should
take advantage of every type of educational opportunity available before you
even think about talking about the future. If you're surrounded by schools, go
to that school.
Our children are being criminally shortchanged in the
public school system of America. The Afro-American schools are the poorest-run
schools in the city of New York. Principals and teachers fail to understand the
nature of the problems with which they work and as a result they cannot do the
job of teaching our children.
They don't understand us, nor do they understand our
problems; they don't. "The textbooks tell our children nothing about the
great contributions of Afro-Americans to the growth and development of this
country."
And they don't. When we send our children to school in
this country they learn nothing about us other than that we used to be cotton
pickers. Every little child going to school thinks his grandfather was a cotton
picker. Why, your grandfather was Nat Turner; your grandfather was Toussaint
L'Ouverture; your grandfather was Hannibal. Your grandfather was some of the
greatest black people who walked on this earth. It was your grandfather's hands
who forged civilization and it was your grandmother's hands who rocked the
cradle of civilization But the textbooks tell our children nothing about the
great contributions of Afro-Americans to the growth and development of this
country.
The Board of Education's integration plan is expensive
and unworkable; and the organization of principals and supervisors in New York
City's school system has refused to support the Board's plan to integrate the
schools, thus dooming it to failure before it even starts.
The Board of Education of this city has said that even
with its plan there are 10 percent of the schools in Harlem and the
Bedford-Stuyvesant community in Brooklyn that they cannot improve.
So what are we to do?
This means that the Organization of Afro-American Unity
must make the Afro-American community a more potent force for educational
self-improvement
A first step in the program to end the existing system
of racist education is to demand that the 10 percent of the schools the Board
of Education will not include in its plan be turned over to and run by the
Afro-American community itself.
Since they say that they can't improve these schools,
why should you and I who live in the community, let these fools continue to run
and produce this low standard of education? So, let them turn those schools
over to us. Since they say they can't handle them, nor can they correct them,
let us take a whack at it.
What do we want? "We want Afro-American principals
to head these schools. We want Afro-American teachers in these schools."
Meaning we want Black principals and Black teachers with some textbooks about Black
people.
We want textbooks written by Afro-Americans that are
acceptable to our people before they can be used in these schools.
The Organization of Afro-American Unity will select and
recommend people to serve on local school boards where school policy is made and
passed on to the Board of Education.
And this is very important.
"Through these steps we will make the 10 percent
of the schools that we take over educational showplaces that will attract the
attention of people from all over the nation." Instead of them being
schools turning out pupils whose academic diet is not complete, we can turn
them into examples of what we can do ourselves once given an opportunity.
If these proposals are not met, we will ask Afro-American
parents to keep their children out of the present inferior schools they attend.
And when these schools in our neighborhood are controlled by Afro-Americans, we
will then return our children to them.
The Organization of Afro-American Unity recognizes the
tremendous importance of the complete involvement of Afro-American parents in
every phase of school life. The Afro-American parent must be willing and able
to go into the schools and see that the job of educating our children is done
properly.
This whole thing about putting all of the blame on the
teacher is out the window. The parent at home has just as much responsibility
to see that what's going on in that school is up to par as the teacher in their
schools. So it is our intention not only
to devise an education program for the children, but one also for the parents
to make them aware of their responsibility where education is concerned in
regard to their children.
We call on all Afro-Americans around the nation to be
aware that the conditions that exist in the New York City public school system
are as deplorable in their cities as they are here. We must unite our efforts
and spread our program of self-improvement through education to every
Afro-American community in America.
We must establish all over the country schools of our
own to train our own children to become scientists, to become mathematicians.
We must realize the need for adult education and for job retraining programs
that will emphasize a changing society in which automation plays the key role.
We intend to use the tools of education to help raise our people to an
unprecedented level of excellence and self-respect through their own efforts.
IV.
Politics and Economics
And the two are almost inseparable, because the
politician is depending on some money; yes, that's what he's depending on.
Basically, there are two kinds of power that count in
America: economic power and political power, with social power being derived
from those two. In order for the Afro-Americans to control their destiny, they
must be able to control and affect the decisions which control their destiny:
economic, political, and social. This can only be done through organization.
The Organization of Afro-American Unity will organize
the Afro-American community block by block to make the community aware of its
power and its potential; we will start immediately a voter registration drive
to make every unregistered voter in the Afro-American community an independent
voter.
We won't organize any black man to be a Democrat or a
Republican because both of them have sold us out. Both of them have sold us
out; both parties have sold us out. Both parties are racist, and the Democratic
Party is more racist than the Republican Party. I can prove it. All you've got
to do is name everybody who's running the government in Washington, D.C., right
now. He's a Democrat and he's from either Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi,
Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, from one of those cracker states. And
they've got more power than any white man in the North has. In fact, the
President is from a cracker state. What's he talking about? Texas is a cracker
state, in fact, they'll hang you quicker in Texas than they will in
Mississippi. Don't you ever think that just because a cracker becomes president
he ceases being a cracker. He was a cracker before he became president and he's
a cracker while he's president. I'm going to tell it like it is. I hope you can
take it like it is: We propose to support and organize political clubs, to run
independent candidates for office, and to support any Afro-American already in
office who answers to and is responsible to the Afro-American community.
We don't support any black man who is controlled by the
white power structure. We will start not only a voter registration drive, but a
voter education drive to let our people have an understanding of the science of
politics so they will be able to see what part the politician plays in the
scheme of things; so they will be able to understand when the politician is
doing his job and when he is not doing his job. And any time the politician is
not doing his job, we remove him whether he's white, black, green, blue, yellow
or whatever other color they might invent.
"The economic exploitation in the Afro-American
community is the most vicious form practiced on any people in America." In
fact, it is the most vicious practiced on any people on this earth. No one is
exploited economically as thoroughly as you and I, because in most countries
where people are exploited they know it. You and I are in this country being
exploited and sometimes we don't know it.
