Here - National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
WINTER EDITION
JANUARY 2016
Inter-Community News Service
Publication of the National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party
Saying Good-Bye to Our Comrade
We Shall Never Forget
Lula “Smokie” Hudson
Inside this issue:
Panther to CFO
3
A Message to Bubber
MY COMRADE BROTHER,
JAMES "BUBBER" YOUNG
James "Bubber" Young
was the salt of the earth, a
dedicated friend, someone
I depended on and counted on and who always had
my back. He will truly be
missed but his legacy and
solid spirit will always
remain with us.
Bubber, your human spirit
remains an inspiration to
us all. Your spirit lives
within us, an eternal
flame, which will burn
brightly in our souls forev-
er. It lights our way and
commands us to follow
your example and be true
to ourselves and others.
All Power to the People!
In struggle,
Larry Pinkney
Rest in Peace and Power,
my Brother.
We will see you soon.
Big Man
Condolences
Please accept my very
deepest condolences on the
passing / transition of our
brother James 'Bubba'
Young. His legacy and work
on behalf of the people
shall always be remembered with great honor,
and he will be sorely
missed.
Photos provided by Steve Long
Special points of interest:
 Saying Good-Bye to Our
Comrade
Our Comrade James
“Bubber” Young has
joined the Ancestors
James “Bubber” Young
For Bub
I have known Bub since
our days in the Black PanContinued on next page
A Report On Mumia
6
Sanders Against Reparations
10
We have five committees:
Inside
Story
On
The
Web:
5
www.naabpp.org
6
Inside Story
Committees and Sub-Committees

Finance

Governance

Communications

Membership

Political Prisoners
Join
A
Committee Today!
Free All Political Prisoners
In the
land of
the free
Page 2
THE PANTHER POST
INTER-COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE
Good-Bye to Our Comrade – continued
ther Party in New York in 1969, New Haven, CT in 1970
and then in the Bay Area in the mid-70s. He, Omar Barbour, William ‘BJ’ Johnson and a host of others came up
in the Party, working with Sam Napier to distribute the
newspaper, working on the survival programs and putting in long hours of struggle. Omar, BJ, Bubber and I
have worked together off and on for over 40 years and
the one constant in all of this is we knew Bub would be
there for any of us in a pinch.
Our brother has had to lay down the shield and pass
on. I had the pleasure of accompanying him on his last
official assignment for the National Alumni Association
of the Black Panther Party, at the behest of President
Omar Barbour. We had lunch with Fredrika Newton in
Oakland, visited with Melvin Dickson in Berkeley during
a brief rain storm, drove to Santa Rosa to pay our respects to Elbert ‘Big Man’ Howard and ended our day
driving to Vallejo to visit with Chief of Staff David Hilliard. I knew he was not well, but he continued to push
on. I did most of the driving so that he could rest and
relax.
We talked on the phone often and he made me promise to do all I could to ensure that the 50th Anniversary
of the founding of the Black Panther Party went off
without a hitch. It is with this oath that I continue on.
My brother, my comrade, my friend, I hold back the
tears. Many will miss you, especially your family and
friends, but most of all, those of us who share a special
bond that can never be broken. I will miss your encouragement, your enthusiasm and your drive. We will continue on with ‘Unfinished Business’.
ple like James Young – who gave up their youthful endeavors to uplift their people – and the world as a
whole. Bubba became an amazing organizer within the
ranks of the Party. We love him, shall miss him. He will
remain in our hearts forever. Deepest sympathy to the
family both near and far.
Respectfully and Well Wishes to All,
Chairman Bobby Seale and Leslie
Steve Long
FROM: Bobby Seale and Leslie Johnson-Seale
Leslie and I are so saddened by the passing away of
James “Bubber” Young, we barely have the words to
describe our feeling of loss and grief. Bubba was a teenager when he joined the Black Panther Party, so
young…yet so wise. So dedicated. By most accounts,
teenage years are/should be spent exploring the pleasures of youth, going to parties, dating, going to college,
etc. I, as Chairman and co-founder of the Black Panther
Party, owe a great debt of gratitude to those young peo-
James “Bubber” Young’s casket
Observations of the Funeral
An emotional and empowering ceremony for Comrade
Bubba today. Saw folks I hadn't seen in ages, met Boston
comrades, and Cubs from all over I'd never met, or hadn't
seen in a long time. The casket was draped with the tapestry of fallen comrades of the Black Panther Party which is
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
Page 3
Good-Bye to Comrade — cont’d
then returned after the ceremony. RIP sweet, fierce
Comrade Bubba.
Omar Barbour
A Cherished Comrade
We worked with comrade James “Bubber” Young from
the East Coast to the West Coast and it was always a
treasured experience. In any discussion he could be
counted on to bring another point of view, but he was
always looking for a just outcome.
We will miss his indomitable spirit in trying to reach a
unified conclusion to opposing attitudes. Bubber will
always be with us.
Stretch and Sultan Ahmad
Sentiments from Artie McMillan-Seale
I am so, so sorry to hear about my dear friend. He was a
gentleman, a thinking man and a totally sweet person. I
will truly miss him, but I will have memories of him
always.
Just In!
We’ve just learned that another
comrade has passed away.
Julius “Coon” Cornell has joined
the ancestors. He was from the
Winston-Salem, N.C. chapter of
the Black Panther Party.
He was a hard worker and jovial
comrade beloved by all.
Condolences to the family.
From Black Panther to Nonprofit
CFO
Interview with Norma Mtume by Blue Avocado, magazine of
Non-Profits
Norma Mtume is my hero. As a college student she joined
the Black Panther Party and went on to serve as director
of the Alprentice Bunchy Carter and the George Jackson
People's Free Medical Clinics. She also co-founded a nonprofit in a broken-down trailer in Los Angeles -- SHIELDS
for Families -- and as CFO/COO for 24 years helped grow it
into a $28 million, multi-service nonprofit rooted in an African American and Latino community of South Los Angeles. We are very lucky that she has shared her inspiring
history and story with all of us:
Norma, how did you wind your way towards becoming a nonprofit CFO?
Well, just a week after I graduated from high school I
started at Cal State
Los Angeles as a
physical education
major with a minor
in mathematics, and
was working on a
teaching credential.
As a South Central
L.A. girl, I was going
to pull myself up by
my bootstraps, and
didn't realize until
later that I didn't
have any boots! I
attended classes
Norma Mtume
there for two years
before I dropped out, got married, had kids, and, later,
decided I wanted to be a revolutionary and change some
things to make life better for my community!
My first husband became involved with the Party when
he was going to UCLA. He sold papers and worked in the
Free Breakfast for Children Program. In 1969, police all
over the country were raiding our offices. My husband
was beat up pretty badly. That got my attention! I began
to understand what the Party was about. My first work in
the Party was working [volunteering] in the free breakfast program and later I started performing secretarial
work in one of the offices. Shortly after becoming involved and showing what skills I had, I was put in charge
of the free medical clinic in Los Angeles.
Continued on page 8
Page 4
THE PANTHER POST
INTER-COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE
Obituary for James “Bubber” Young
A man of distinction! A man of honor! A man of commitment! These are the words that we think of when we
think about – James (Bubba) Young, Jr. Born on September 21, 1951 in Mount Vernon, New York to the proud
parents of James and Sarah Young. He fell asleep on Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 8:30 AM at Lahey Hospital in
Burlington, MA. He had been hospitalized since April. From his early childhood, James was a gifted offspring –
blessed by Rabbi H.Z. Plummer and immersed at the age of 8 years old in Bellville, Virginia - he always had an
internal spiritual compass that guided him. He was an ardent member of the Church of God and Saints of Christ,
and served as the Father Abraham at the Tabernacle in Boston. He loved singing, as his Dad was a renowned
cantor, and he rejoiced in the Sabbath ceremony. He had a great love and respect for his leader Rabbi Jehu A.
Crowdy, Jr., GFA. He was educated in the New York City Public School System and graduated from Harlem Preparatory High School. The foundation of his education about life was established by the Black Panther Organization and was grounded in the principles of fairness, justice and equality. His membership with them was key
to how he lived his life and how he treated all people. Certified in three states as a master plumber, Georgia,
Maryland and Massachusetts, he was the only African American master plumber in Boston and rose to the position of Chief Plumbing Inspector. He also was a great teacher to many apprentice plumbers throughout the
state. In the Masonic Order where they take good men and make them better, he was a Past Right Eminent
Grand Commander of Knights Templar Prince Hall Jurisdiction of Massachusetts and a Past Master of William
G. Butler Lodge #12 Prince Hall. He also served in many offices in the lodge and worked on several committees.
He was known as a quiet, no nonsense straight-shooter who was trusted and loved.
James will always be admired for his ability to stay calm under pressure, to ease an aching heart with a kind
work or a word of encouragement or to think out of the box to solve a problem – no matter what the root
cause. He was hard working, dedicated and an individual upon whom you could rely. His word was his bond
and you could take it to the bank. His mechanical prowess was superior – he had the ability to engineer almost
anything. He was counted on as a confident, warrior, coach, father and friend. Anyone who knew James or came
in contact with him knew that they had encountered an angel on earth – an individual of great depth, who instilled in his son’s Carlos and Che spiritual understanding and love!
His son’s Carlos and Che remember their father as an individual who gave great guidance and advice - his voice
kept them on the right path. They never saw his blood pressure rise. He did not throw curve balls or sliders
only straight balls - he told you what you needed to hear not what you wanted to hear. Our Dad could not wait
for the 50th Golden Anniversary of the Panthers and the Superball – we will be there for him. James favorite
lesson to his sons was “In life you do what you have do to in order to do what you want to do. If you do not
have a plan, you do not have a future.”
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
Page 5
Black Panther Party
50th Anniversary Convening
October 21-23, 2016
Oakland, California
“Passing The Torch of Freedom to a New
Generation”
Celebrating and Honoring the Creative Legacy of
The Black Panther Party
More Info: www.naabpp.org
Page 6
THE PANTHER POST
INTER-COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE
A REPORT ON MUMIA
Report on Mumia Visit 11/27
December 6, 2015
Written by Suzanne Ross:
I just came back from visiting Mumia two days ago, and
am witness to the fact that we have all experienced a miracle. Sisters and brothers, comrades, and friends, we are
saving Mumia’s life. He looked so healthy and radiant, so
much like he used to, and he sounded so good. We both
celebrated, again and again, his survival from the biggest
threat to his life that he had yet experienced.
Remember, Mumia only got Hepatitis C because the police
tried to kill him in 1981 when they shot him in the lungs,
and beat him mercilessly after he was shot and in route to
the hospital. He need emergency surgery and blood transfusions. It was then that he was infected through those
infusions.
Mumia and many of us thought for sure, that he was
going to die. Didn’t he look like he was about to die? Remember those ghoulish frightening pictures with
Mumia sitting in a wheelchair, looking like he could
hardly hold up his head? THEY WERE TRYING TO KILL
HIM AND ALMOST SUCCEEDED. But the power of our
movement, and the thousands who called, wrote,
demonstrated, and prayed for Mumia’s life, defeated
this monstrous enemy that wanted him dead, that wanted him destroyed before our very eyes. Mumia says that
even when he was at his sickest, he could feel that love
and energy of the people fighting for him and wanting
him so badly to live. He says it gave him such strength.
No, Mumia is not cured. He still itches and still experiences pain, he’s still in the infirmary where for about six
months he has never gotten any fresh air or sunshine,
he still needs to cover his body twice or three times a
day with Vaseline and another cream to ease the itching,
and he continues to need the palliative baths he takes
two or three times a week. Plus, that itching could get
worse again because the underlying problem of Hepatitis C has not been addressed.
Now having nearly succeeded in killing Mumia, these
evil spokespeople and enforcers say that Mumia is not
sick enough to receive the drug that’s known to cure
more than 90% of the people who have Hepatitis C and
follow the 60 or 90-day regimen. No, of course Mumia is
not “sick enough”, as the Department of Corrections
(DOC) is claiming, for those who wanted him DEAD and
nearly succeeded in killing him.
Mumia with Suzanne Ross
He sure looks better
Subsequently, while in prison on a death sentence, they
tried to execute Mumia three times, once in 1994 but the
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
Page 7
MUMIA - cont’d
peoples’ struggle got Governor Casey not to sign the
warrant. Then in 1995 and 1999 Governor Thomas
Ridge signed two more death warrants and in both cases set an execution date. Ridge campaigned for office on
a “Kill Mumia” platform. He subsequently became head
of Homeland Security and now, in the post-Paris era, is
a cheerleader for increased repression.
We finally got Mumia off Death Row in 2012, and that
was a great defeat for them. They had to scramble for a
new strategy. They tried keeping him in isolation. But
we went straight to DOC headquarters with a sizable
group and threatened to come back and fight this relentlessly. The next morning they put Mumia in general
population.
Maureen Faulkner, mourning Mumia’s release from
Death Row, issued a thinly veiled invitation for other
prisoners to “take care” of him. But Mumia’s fellow prisoners love, respect, and protect him. He’s received
amazing support from those like Major Tillery who confronted the prison warden with a demand that Mumia
get medical attention when he was very sick and still in
general population, for which he paid a high price:
thrown into isolation and transferred to another prison.
Others have shown care and love for Mumia throughout
his sickness.
In 2014 the State resumed a deadly strategy. We don’t
know all the details. We can only guess what their evil
plans were. We can only conclude that for almost a year
they were again trying to execute Mumia, not by medical NEGLECT as has been said, but by medical MALEVOLENCE. Those of us who visited Mumia during his illness could hardly avoid noticing how much his skin
looked as though it had been radiated. We remembered
only too well that Puerto Rican Nationalist leader, Pedro Albizu Campos, was actually exposed to radiation
while in prison for fighting for his people’s independence, until he developed cancer and died.
Mumia developed a medically induced diabetes through
the Department of Corrections’ treatment for his skin
problem. They gave him a medication that the minute
he took it felt like his whole body, including his head,
got blown up to the point that he felt he had to straight-
en his head as much as possible in order to be able to
breathe. Through this same ‘medical’ malfeasance Mumia,
who had never had diabetes before, suddenly had such a
high blood sugar level that he was rushed to the hospital
in a near-coma state. He almost died from a diabetes they
induced but did not tell him he had until he was rushed to
the hospital with a dangerously very high blood sugar
level. The medical personnel at the infirmary had actually
known of the high blood sugar weeks earlier when they
did screening tests upon his admission but neither told
him or his family of this threatening condition.
And now these very same perpetrators of attempted murder are saying Mumia is not sick enough to get this medication. Does he need to die before they will consider him
‘sick enough’? Mumia is still not out of danger. He has
Hepatitis C which could cause other symptoms to emerge,
including the reemergence of the unbearable painful itching, or the increased damage to his liver, or some other
development that they themselves could cause. Are we
supposed to accept the Department of Corrections’ (DOC’s) saying that Mumia is not sick enough to get
this drug when Mumia’s consulting doctor, Dr. Joseph Harris, has stated unequivocally that Mumia needs this treatment as soon as possible? We have consulted with dozens
of other doctors who have agreed that Mumia should get
this treatment right away. Even the American Liver Association has made it clear that this new medicine should be
administered as soon as the illness is detected, in other
words as soon as possible. Are we supposed to give the
DOC another chance to kill our beloved and precious
brother?
NO WAY! WE DEMAND TREATMENT NOW FOR MUMIA
AND THE 10,000 OTHER PENNSYLVANIA PRISONERS
WITH HEP C! We demand that the DOC recognize the
basic human right, established internationally and even in
the US, that those in state custody, in this case in prison,
are entitled to the medical care they need. We will accept
nothing less.
Page 8
THE PANTHER POST
INTER-COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE
Panther to CFO— continued
What did your parents think about all this?
Initially, my parents weren't happy at all. They were
won over by learning about the services we provided in
our "survival programs." For instance, my older brother
was in prison; my mother didn't have a car so she had
never been able to get up to San Quentin to see him. I
was able to arrange for her and me to take the free bus
provided by the Party to go visit him. My father took a
little longer; they came around.
So how did you get from "typing in the office" to running a primary care medical clinic?
When I was a child and needed to go to the doctor, my
mom and I had to take a long bus ride out to the county
hospital, sit there a long time, and the care you got was
substandard. So it felt right when the Party said we
could start our own clinics with volunteers who were
nurses, doctors, and students. When the Party leadership learned that I was interested in health and had
some college education, I was assigned to work in the
free clinic in L.A., and ended up running it. I was 20! I
had a lot to learn and great mentors who taught me
what I needed to know in a short amount of time.
It's hard now to capture the history-changing importance of the Free Clinics and other Black Panther
programs that set the stage for the nonprofit health
and human services revolution of the '70s and '80s.
How did these clinics work?
This was the time of the Vietnam War and the antiwar
movement, and there were a number of young men
coming back from Vietnam who had been medics. They
taught us how to do a lot of procedures, including a lot
of preventive health. Well, we were sort of practicing
medicine without a license, but had physician oversight.
We learned how to draw blood and conduct other lab
screenings, give injections, and fill prescriptions. There
was a lab and a pharmacy on site. We reached out to
pharmaceutical reps and would go to doctors' offices to
ask them to donate their free samples to the clinic. So
people who came to the clinic were able to get many
labs and their meds from us right there at the clinic, free
of charge. We established referral mechanisms with lo-
cal physicians and the county, as well as negotiated for
some free/low-cost specialty and dental services. I was
transferred to Berkeley and became director of the clinic
there. At that time I had become a pre-med student at
[the University of California] Berkeley. We had a really
good collaboration with the medical students in the
Black Health Science Caucus there. Some were pre-med,
some were going to be lab technicians, and some were
going into nursing. Many of them volunteered their services at the clinic as well as mentored us undergrads.
There were resident medical students from Children's
Hospital in Oakland that started a pediatric clinic for us.
They treated our children like they were their own. During clinic sessions, we were taught how to listen to the
bronchial sounds and to determine if they sounded like
bronchitis, asthma, or pneumonia. We lived by the Merck
Manual, Our Bodies Ourselves, and the Physician's Desk
Reference! I read them backwards and forwards. As a
result, we became much more informed about the health
and health conditions which our communities were suffering from then, and now. Since that time, the term
"health disparities" has
been coined
to define
these conditions.
And how did
you find
yourself in
the finance
department?
When I was
Kathryn Icenhower, Dr. Xylina Bean, and
still in L.A.,
Norma Mtume
the person in
the Black Panther chapter who was handling finances
started working on the newspaper instead. So she taught
me how to handle the finances.
Later on, after we had founded two nonprofit organizations to provide a school and other supportive services, a
CPA came to one of our fundraisers. She ended up coming over and showing me how to do basic bookkeeping.
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
Page 9
Panther to CFO - continued
We had a pegboard system where you write the check
and it comes out with a carbon copy. That data would be
spread using columns to finally arrive at profit and loss
and balance sheet statements. Wow! Most of that is done
by computer now. I took a two-month accounting class
from that CPA. I learned how to write checks, reconcile
the bank account, and post to the ledger. I'm a left-sided
brain person. So, I need all the facts, all the numbers. I
guess it just clicked for me. And 20 or so years later, I
helped start a few nonprofits in South Los Angeles. One
of them is SHIELDS for Families, where I served as the
CFO & COO for nearly 24 years. The agency now has a
$28 million budget and nearly 400 staff members. And
we have always had a clean audit. I've always been involved with health and accounting. Numbers and the
body.
How did SHIELDS get started?
In the late 1980s, the beginning of the crack epidemic,
there were a lot of babies being born at Martin Luther
King Hospital [in Los Angeles] who had been prenatally
exposed to drugs. Kathryn Icenhower, CEO of SHIELDS
for Families, and I were working at the country alcohol
and drug program office. We were primarily doing
health planning, program development, and writing
grants. I had returned to college and gotten a master's
degree in health sciences. I later went back to school and
earned another master's degree in family therapy. Because of work that Diane Watson had done in the legislature, funding for county hospitals to start perinatal substance abuse treatment programs was passed. Kathy
and I met Dr. Xylina Bean, who was neonatology chief at
Martin Luther King Hospital. She told us that she knew
about babies, but not about substance abuse. Kathy and
I knew about substance abuse. So we started SHIELDS in
a broken trailer on the campus of the hospital and
Charles Drew Medical School. Kathy became the administrator and, because of my finance and operations background from the Panthers and other jobs, I became the
operations person [the three co-founders are in photo
above; Norma is on the right].
How are we going to get more women of color into
accounting and finance?
Honestly, I don't know and I've been thinking about this
question for years now. We need more people of color in
finance because it goes with the work we're doing in our
communities. When we look at disparities particularly in
health and social economic status, people of color are the
most in need and those who access services from our
agencies. Maybe we can reach out to young women in high
school or just beginning their college careers who are interested in and good at math. We need to offer some mentoring opportunities. We're working Saturdays anyway,
they may be happy to come and work with a mentor who
can introduce them to the field and assist them with their
college and career trajectories. We might also look into
partnering with sororities to reach them.
How are you enjoying your first weeks after leaving
SHIELDS?
How do you retire from a passion about wellness in the
community and nonprofits being able to survive? Retiring
from my main job has freed me up to go broader. I'm doing
a few projects with Charles Drew Medical School in South
L.A. I present to medical, nursing, and behavioral health
students at symposia and conferences about integrated
health care. I may work until my hands are all gnarly and
I'll have to dictate into a microphone. I'm working to better
balance my life, but giving up work entirely for and in the
community isn't on the horizon . . . not just yet. I love that I
don't have to supervise anyone anymore! I think that's the
left-brain part of me. I love people but would rather work
in a flat hierarchy where we are all responsible for ourselves. Maybe that is a dream world, but I can dream now. I
love to travel, just went to Seattle and Vancouver. Great
salmon and crab!
Are you in touch with some of the other women from
the Black Panther Party?
Yes. A lot of us are teaching. One teaches women's studies
and African American studies. One was a main administrator in the Party and is now an executive-level manager at
the American Red Cross; she just retired this month. Another is a professor of art history and Black studies and
Africa/African diaspora/black feminism/race theory. Others are still involved in community organizing or working
in higher level government positions. A lot of the people
Continued on last page
Page 10
THE PANTHER POST
INTER-COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE
Bernie Sanders Against Reparations
Why Precisely Is Bernie Sanders Against Reparations?
The Vermont senator’s political imagination is active against
plutocracy, but why is it so limited against white supremacy?
By Ta’Nehisi Coates
Last week Bernie Sanders was asked whether he was in
favor of “reparations for slavery.” It is worth considering
Sanders’s response in full:
No, I don’t think so. First of all, its likelihood of getting
through Congress is nil. Second of all, I think it would
be very divisive. The real issue is when we look at the
poverty rate among the African American community, when we look at the high unemployment rate within the African American community, we have a lot of
work to do.
So I think what we should be talking about is making
massive investments in rebuilding our cities, in creating millions of decent paying jobs, in making public
colleges and universities tuition-free, basically targeting our federal resources to the areas where it is
needed the most and where it is needed the most is in
impoverished communities, often African American
and Latino.
For those of us interested in how the left prioritizes its
various radicalisms, Sanders’s answer is illuminating.
The spectacle of a socialist candidate opposing reparations as “divisive” (there are few political labels more
divisive in the minds of Americans than socialist) is only
rivaled by the implausibility of Sanders posing as a pragmatist. Sanders says the chance of getting reparations
through Congress is “nil,” a correct observation which
could just as well apply to much of the Vermont senator’s own platform. The chances of a President Sanders
coaxing a Republican Congress to pass a $1 trillion jobs
and infrastructure bill are also nil. Considering Sanders’s proposal for single-payer health care, Paul
Krugman asks, “Is there any realistic prospect that a
drastic overhaul could be enacted any time soon—say,
in the next eight years? No.”
Sanders is a lot of things, many of them good. But he is
not the candidate of moderation and unification, so
much as the candidate of partisanship and radicalism.
There is neither insult nor accolade in this. John Brown was
radical and divisive. So was Eric Robert Rudolph. Our current sprawling megapolis of prisons was a bipartisan
achievement. Obamacare was not. Sometimes the moral
course lies within the politically possible, and sometimes
the moral course lies outside of the politically possible. One
of the great functions of radical candidates is to war against
equivocators and opportunists who conflate these two
things. Radicals expand the
political imagination and,
hopefully, prevent incrementalism from becoming a
virtue.
Unfortunately, Sanders’s
radicalism has failed in the
ancient fight against white
supremacy. What he proposes in lieu of reparations—job creation, investment in cities, and free
higher education—is well
within the Overton window,
Ta’Nehisi Coates
and his platform on race
echoes Democratic orthodoxy. The calls for community
policing, body cameras, and a voting-rights bill with preclearance restored— all are things that Hillary Clinton
agrees with. And those positions with which she might not
agree address black people not so much as a class specifically injured by white supremacy, but rather, as a group
which magically suffers from disproportionate poverty.
This is the “class first” approach, originating in the myth
that racism and socialism are necessarily incompatible. But
raising the minimum wage doesn’t really address the fact
that black men without criminal records have about the
same shot at low-wage work as white men with them; nor
can making college free address the wage gap between
black and white graduates. Housing discrimination, historical and present, may well be the fulcrum of white supremacy. Affirmative action is one of the most disputed issues of
the day. Neither are addressed in the “racial justice” section
of Sanders platform.
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
Page 11
Sanders Against Reparations— cont’d
Sanders’s anti-racist moderation points to
a candidate who is not merely against reparations, but one who doesn’t actually understand the argument. To briefly restate
it, from 1619 until at least the late 1960s,
American institutions, businesses, associations, and governments—federal, state,
and local—repeatedly plundered black
communities. Their methods included everything from land-theft, to red-lining, to
disenfranchisement, to convict-lease labor,
to lynching, to enslavement, to the vending
of children. So large was this plunder that
America, as we know it today, is simply
unimaginable without it. Its great universities were founded on it. Its early economy
was built by it. Its suburbs were financed
by it. Its deadliest war was the result of it.
One can’t evade these facts by changing
the subject. Some months ago, black radicals in the Black Lives Matters movement
protested Sanders. They were, in the main,
jeered by the white left for their efforts.
But judged by his platform, Sanders
should be directly confronted and asked
why his political imagination is so active
against plutocracy, but so limited against
white supremacy. Jim Crow and its legacy
were not merely problems of disproportionate poverty. Why should black voters
support a candidate who does not recognize this?
Reparations is not one possible tool
against white supremacy. It is the indispensable tool against white supremacy.
If not even an avowed socialist can be
bothered to grapple with reparations, if
the question really is that far beyond the
pale, if Bernie Sanders truly believes that
victims of the Tulsa pogrom deserved
nothing, that the victims of contract lending deserve nothing, that the victims of
debt peonage deserve nothing, that that
political plunder of black communities
entitle them to nothing, if this is the candidate of the radical left—then expect white
supremacy in America to endure well beyond our lifetimes and lifetimes of our
children. Reparations is not one possible
tool against white supremacy. It is the
indispensable tool against white supremacy. One cannot propose to plunder a people, incur a moral and monetary debt, propose to never pay it back, and then claim
to be seriously engaging in the fight
against white supremacy.
Ed Poindexter
Omaha, Neb
My hope was to talk to Sanders directly,
Set Free
Our
Omaha
Political
Prisoners
Bernie Sanders
before writing this article. I reached out
repeatedly to his campaign over the past
three days. The Sanders campaign did not
respond.
Reprinted from THE ATLANTIC online
Weren’t We
Brought Here
To Make Them
Money
So Where’s Our Cut?
Mondo We Langa
Omaha, Neb
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Panther to CFO - continued from page 9
who came to the Party
came with "issues." The
Party sheltered them,
gave them ideas about
life that made sense and
about the kind of work
that they could do. But
after we left, it was back
into the real world and
we worked to get a foothold. A lot of the women
who were in Party leadership have been able to
get grounded outside the
Party. Funny thing, most
of us are still doing the
work we began as kids in
the Party. What people
saw in the newspapers at
that time was Panther
women with their fists
raised looking like they
were wreaking havoc. Most
of the time we were really
serving the community in
various ways -- cooking
free breakfasts for children, giving health exams
to people who didn't have
health insurance, and educating the children. We
were the same people then
that we are now. In African
American communities we
have a lot more illness and
disability compared to the
general population. This is
something we have been
saying in the days of the
Party and we continue to
say and work to correct.
And we're still standing,
making it on the other
side.
Thank you, Norma. So
many nonprofits today
stand on the shoulders that
you and others have given
us.
(And as you can see, she
still has a lot of moves left
in her.)
Nuts