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Boycott Safeway

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EDITORIAL: Why Boycott Safeway?

No single group of laborers in America are as fiercely exploited as farm workers. The exploitation arises out of the rapid and widescale growth of giant, mechanized agro-business, absentee land ownership by huge corporations, the seasonal nature of agriculture and massive racism.

In California and throughout the Southwest, farm workers are predominantly Mexican-American. But in many parts of the country they are Black and poor White. This is no accident. It is part of the pattern of exploitation.

Depending on the high level of unemployment and under-employment of Mexican -- Americans and Blacks in areas of their high concentration, owners and managers of agro-businesses offer starvation wages and 19th Century working conditions to those who harvest much of the produce that the American people eat.

Throughout the rural South Black men, women and children have been exploited for decades as tenant farmers as well as farm laborers. Today, as the individual small farm of American tradition is rapidly being replaced by the new, modern, giant farm "plantation", the Black and small farmer is either being pushed off the land or forced into a new slavery little better than that the Civil War was supposed to have ended.

The federal government and state governments bordering on Mexico make a pretense of maintaining border controls to prevent hard-pressed Mexicans traveling north in search of a better life than they have known in their homeland. In fact, however, the evidence is overwhelming proof of the complicity of government with agro-business to import cheap Mexican labor to work in the fields.

All this helps to explain why the Black Panther Party has launched a full-scale boycott of Safeway supermarkets in Oakland, and has aligned itself wholeheartedly with the struggle of the United Farm Workers Union (UFWU), led by the indomidable Cesar Chavez.

The UFWU's dedication to ending the oppression of America's farm-workers has resulted in vicious repression. Corrupt elements in the leadership and from the ranks of the already discredited Teamsters Union have joined hands with the corporate growers to stop and break the UFWU in its efforts.

In the interests of farm workers and all oppressed and exploited of this land, we urge all Americans: DON'T SHOP AT SAFEWAY! DON'T PURCHASE NON-UFWU PICKED LETTUCE OR GRAPES ANYWHERE! SUPPORT THE UFWU!

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Letter to the Editor

Dear Editors,

This is just a short note to let you know how much I enjoy reading your weekly paper, THE BLACK PANTHER.

I find it very direct and informative in dealing with community, national and international news that we as Black, poor and oppressed people in this nation should be aware of.

It has always been of utmost importance, in my opinion, that Black and other poor and oppressed peoples here in this country have a viable, effective newspaper service whose impetus and direction serve as the voice of the common people. This is of no concern to the established media, who is supposedly doing this.

What the Black Panther Party is doing in Oakland is particularly beautiful simply because the peoples needs are trying to be met. This is always important because if Black and poor people don't have a motivating force to revolve around, which the Panther Party serves as, their exploitation by this inhumane social order will continue indefinately.

Once again, in closing, I really enjoy THE BLACK PANTHER and hope that the Black Panther Party will continue to be a servant of the peoples needs/always|

Sincerely,
Frederick Clark
St. Louis, Mo.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I would like to comment briefly on an article you wrote pertaining to the fourteen-year-old Sister shot by an Atlanta, Georgia, pig. It shows once again how degenerate and ruthless the animals are. First, the barbaric murder of young Brother Clifford Glover last month by the terrorists in New York. Now the incident with the Sister.

Many more of us will feel some of the fascist wrath before the inevitable destruction of the western hemisphere. To my Black Brothers and Sisters everywhere, I plead with you. Get yourselves together, because we don't have much time.

With undying love for my people
All power to the oppressed
Thomas Mathews, Jr.
New Orleans, La.

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Gratitude To B.P.P.

The following expression of gratitude was written by Ms. Shirley Mitchell, a White medical technician in Houston, Texas, and appeared originally in the Texas State Society American Medical Technologists Journal, June, 1973.

I do not believe most people are aware of the constant struggle that Blacks face in America. One need for survival in the Black community is to be aware of and to fight Sickle Cell Anemia.

Through my employers, The Fourth Ward Clinic, and by assisting the Houston Branch of the Black Panther Party in their free Sickle Cell Anemia testing program, I have had the honor of addressing, on numerous occasions, the student body of the Texas Southern University Pharmacy School on the topic of Sickle Cell Anemia. The students asked to help the Panthers in two neighborhood screening programs this spring. In the process, we taught about thirty students to administer the screening tests. Thereafter, the students asked the Panthers and me to help them organize a campus-wide Sickle Cell screening program for the 5,000 students at Texas Southern University.

Our program consists of the following: (1) making people aware of what Sickle Cell Anemia is; (2) administering the solubility screening test; (3) drawing a Hgb. Electrophoreses on the spot for all positive screening tests; (4) giving follow-up genetic counselling in the patient's home through a team of students and Panthers. We have tested over 7,000 people to date following the above program.

We have benefitted from the co-operation of many people. Mr. Neil Rawlinson, Nivalo Institute of Medical Technology, does our Hgb. Electrophoreses at no charge and Dr. Jim Guilford, T.S.U. School of Pharmacy, makes our reagent, which costs only $40 for 5,000 tests instead of the $2,500 we would have to pay for a commercially prepared product. They, along with others who saved disposable blood bank tubes, have helped cut the cost of screening 5,000 people from $7,200 to $140.

My part in a screening program is to organize the necessary equipment and personnel, to teach people to administer

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the tests, to supervise and draw blood at the testing location and to teach genetic counseling.

I thank the Panthers for showing me the "struggle" and involving me in it, the clinic for giving me encouragement and time off to work in these programs, and the T.S.U. Pharmacy School for all their help and interest. Most of all I thank all the people who have helped and been involved with the program. It has been a tremendous opportunity for all of us to serve the people.

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Pontiac Prison, Ill: Community Groups Meet Prison Officials

(Chicago, Ill.)-The Community Involvement Committee of Pontiac Prison met with top ranking prison officials at the facility on July 1st to discuss the implementation of a number of positive programs to aid the prison population here.

The 13-member committee, which includes Black musician Phil Cohran, PUSH community organizer Ma Houston, and such organizations as Chicago Connections, Search for Truth, Inc. and the Black Panther Party, met for over three hours with Dave Brierton, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, Pontiac Warden John J. Petrilli, and Assistant Warden Donald Harvey. The three officials made many promises to the group, but failed to respond adequately to the group's questions about the penal institution's latest violations of prison inmate rights, an illegal lock-up and unjust transferrals.

The meeting followed the committee's successful June 4th Community Prisoners Conference. At that conference, for the first time, prison inmates and community supporters met in workshops to outline programs to remedy prison ills.

The committee demanded that the officials explain why prison inmates were being transferred to other prisons without the notification of their families? Why prisoners were not being afforded an opportunity for religious services? Why prisoners were put on lock-up following the committee's June 4th conference? Why the ratio of Black guards doesn't nearly approach the percentage of Black inmates?

Warden Petrilli only gave piece-meal answers to these questions, demagogically stating that "there was a lot of hostility between the prisoners" after the conference, and that was the reason for the lock-up. Petrilli added that some prisoners were transferred because of threats on their lives.

Dave Brierton, who has held the position of assistant director of the Illinois Department of Corrections for only three and one-half weeks, outlined a number of plans which he promises will be implemented by September 15th. Two key programs he said would begin before that date are a Prisoners' Rights committee and a Legal Rights committee. The Prisoners' Rights committee is to be a grievance committee to which prison inmates can go for redress of problems they have.

According to Brierton, the Legal Rights committee would provide for a legal consultant on the staff of every state prison. Brierton says that a major change will be making prisons operate under a "unit management system, which breaks down the total prison system into separate departments… Most of the money from now on will go into training mid-management people so that we can begin to deliver and support services for the prisoner".

Brierton's promises sound good, but only the actual implementation of these programs and by fulfilling his promise to work closely with the committee, can he prove his sincerity. It is doubtful that any of these programs would be implemented, or even discussed at a meeting like this, if there was no strong community support for our incarcerated brothers and sisters in Illinois by progressive groups like the Community Involvement Committee. Their worthy example will undoubtedly be followed in other communities all over this country.

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Philly Welfare Check Delay Protested

(Philadelphia, Pa.)-Several hundred welfare recipients held a protest demonstration here last week because their welfare checks were two weeks late. The checks were held up by state capital bureaucracy and could not be released until the legislature passed a new budget. Meanwhile, many welfare recipients were hard pressed to find money for food and other essentials, such as medical care.

Welfare recipients arrived at the welfare assistance office in downtown Philadelphia as early as 7:30 a.m. on July 11th to receive authorizations for interest-free bank loans and emergency food stamps. The office was closed, and the waiting line overflowed into the large intersection of two busy streets.

Soon the welfare recipients had all traffic through the intersection blocked. Police arrived in buses and riot wagons, brutalizing and arresting men, women and children. However, this repression only increased the determination of the demonstrators, caused the demonstration to grow and ultimately resulted in welfare case-workers joining in.

By mid-day some of Philadelphia's poverty programs tried to quell the anger of the demonstration by providing food. But, when the demonstrators saw the bent, unlabeled, rusty cans donated by the Campbell Soup Company, they were outraged. The Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Panther Party added sandwiches, hot dogs and sodas to the food and blankets provided the demonstrators. As darkness fell over the crowded intersection, support shown the demonstrators had increased even more.

Just after midnight, a policeman allowed a friend to drive through the blockaded intersection. As the demonstrators moved to stop the car and ask the driver his reason for running the blockade, the car sped up and just mowed through the crowd, crushing the legs of an elderly man lying on a blanket.

The demonstration ended when police waded into the demonstrators and arrested 18 persons. Three

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policemen from the Civil Disobedience Squad and many protestors were injured during the demonstration.

Meanwhile, this same week, one of the city's largest hospitals, Philadelphia General, reported "large numbers" of welfare recipients complaining of illnesses stemming from lack of food and needed prescription drugs. Diabetics in need of insulin have been a big problem, the hospital reported.

Hunger and disease were spreading, but without an adopted budget the legislature could not spend money -- including money for welfare. Despite this, the House of Representatives in Harrisburg, the state capital, was in recess. The legislators tried to pass off their callous disregard for the survival of Black and poor people as a budget feud between the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic dominated Senate.

In addition to Pennsylvania's 850,000 welfare recipients, no state employees have received checks this month as a result of the budget crisis. In protest, hundreds of state employees rushed through the State capital building demanding a budget settlement. They demanded to see legislators who were conferring on the budget, but guards blocked them.

The National Welfare Rights Organization has filed suit in District Court to compel state officials to release welfare funds, but the suit was rejected.

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No New Trial For Gibson And Justice

(Marin, Ca.) - Superior Court Judge Joseph Wilson has denied all motions for a new trial in the case of Earl Gibson and Larry Justice, two Black prisoners unjustly convicted of murdering a prison guard and assaulting an inmate in San Quentin Prison. Wilson made this ruling despite much evidence and testimony clearly indicating their innocence and the proven and admitted evidence of jury misconduct.

Two jurors have admitted researching the case illegally after the jury was excused for the day. Another juror deliberately lied during the jury selection process. Judge Wilson maintained that this "may not have affected" the trial results.

There was no factual evidence at all linking the defendents to the crime. Fingerprints found on the murder weapon were proven not to belong to either defendent. Three civilian prison employees, reliable witnesses, confirmed that the two men running from the scene of the stabbings were not Justice or Gibson. Both defendents had several witnesses to the fact that they were somewhere else at the time.

The only prosecution testimony was the word of ex-inmate Herman Johnson, who Judge Wilson acknowledged was an unreliable, non-credible witness, and who is considered a "snitch" by other prisoners at San Quentin. Nevertheless, Judge Wilson callously denied Brothers Justice and Gibson a new trial.

The defense is raising $5,000 for an appeal. Send all contributions to: The Gibson-Justice Defense Fund, c/o Joe Scharlin, 2963 Magnolia Street, Berkeley, California 94705.

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Presidential Polls Reveal: Kennedy/Wallace Frontrunners

(Princeton, N.J.) - Edward M. Kennedy and George C. Wallace of Alabama are the two front-runners for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1976, according to a Gallup poll reported last week. However, a question designed to test the public's identity awareness, showed George Wallace edging Kennedy with 94 percent, to Kennedy's 93 percent, both leading the list.

The Massachusetts Senator is the first choice of 40 percent of those polled. Wallace is second with 16 percent. Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine is next choice with 9 percent, followed by Senators Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota and George McGovern of South Dakota with 8 percent each.

The poll was based on a nationwide sample of 1,566 adults, but only the views of the 659 persons labeling themselves as Democrats were used for the nomination choices.

Although the question of whether or not Kennedy will be a presidential candidate in 1976 is reportedly still up in the air, his recent sojourn into Wallace's racist territory to test the lay of the Southland indicates he is rapidly making up his mind to run. He recently announced he will reveal his plans shortly after the 1974 congressional elections.

WALLACE AND BLACKS

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported last week that Georgia State Representative Julian Bond and Governor Wallace will be among the speakers this weekend at a Democratic party delegate selection conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

The stage is being set. This Gallup Poll result, coming hard on the heels of Kennedy's appearance in Decatur, Alabama, as guest of Governor George Wallace, the symbol of American racism, is part of the pattern.

The appearance of Wallace on the same platform as Black Georgia State Representative Julian Bond, is meant to suggest to Blacks, and to the American people as a whole, that Wallace isn't so bad on Blacks, after all. He's speaking on the same platform with one, isn't he?

But Black Americans will not be fooled. We know who George Wallace is, and we know now who Kennedy is. Kennedy and Wallace in 1976, will make it impossible for us to exercise our right to vote unless we are given a real alternative to the Nixons of Watergate. To deny us the vote in this deceitful way is to open the floodgates for fascism in America.

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“Until We're Free”

A powerful, yet tender and important new album by Elaine Brown. The songs on the album weave a beautiful tapestry of protest against the quality of life for Black Americans. Listeners will find themselves engulfed in a flow of emotion as Elaine's melodic voice works its magic. Once you have heard "Until We're Free," you will understand why Huey P. Newton says: "A consuming talent, a total dedication and a proven committment are combined in Elaine Brown, making her the first, genuine People's Artist America has produced."

To Purchase This Album, Send $3.75 Cash Or Moneyorder To: Central Distribution, 8501 E. 14th Street, Oakland, California 94621. Also Available At Major Record Stores Near You.

SONGS WRITTEN AND PERFORMED
BY ELAINE BROWN
Album produced and distributed
by MOTOWN RECORD CORP.

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Southern U. Murders: Special Investigation “A Waste Of Time”

(Baton Rouge, Louisiana)-"A waste of time" is the way in which one Black member of the Attorney General's Special Commission of Inquiry described the commission's investigation of the November 16, 1972, fatal shootings of two Black students on the Baton Rouge campus of Southern University.

If they were going to indict anyone for the murders Sister Kuji Haqulia said after the commission's released its report July 10, "they could have passed down indictments in November". It is similar to the Kent State and Jackson State student massacres, in 1970, Sister Kuji told THE BLACK PANTHER, "they had investigation commissions and inquiries to look into exactly what happened, but no indictments were ever made against the murderers who actually fired the shots". Sister Kuji said that from films commission members saw and visits they made to the scene of the shooting, they could have determined which policemen shot the brothers.

The commission report, released last week by Attorney General William J. Guste, Jr., states: "Leonard Brown and Denver Smith were shot as they were running away from the entrance of the administration building. They were not under arrest and were not armed. They were shot as they ran along the escape route which the law enforcement agencies had planned in the event gas was used. There was no justification in law enforcement for their being shot. The entire confrontation of November 16, 1972, should never have occurred." Yet, the confrontation did take place, instigated by an insensitive school administration and racist White state police; as a result Brothers Leonard Brown and Denver Smith were killed.

Referring to these findings of the commission, Sister Kuji explained that these unjust police actions "had to come out, because there was no way they could justify the fact that they valued property over the brothers' lives".

STUDENT FRUSTRATION

The report further states, "Southern University is a Black school under the control of a State Board of Education which has no members who are Black. This fact evidently caused much of the student frustration, confusion and distrust that led to the unrest on the campus in October and November of 1972. The commission determined that there was a general feeling of helplessness on the part of the students…"

Although the commission alleges it "recognizes the intensity and scope of the Southern students' frustration", it contradicts itself contending that: "the student demonstrations at Southern University were beyond the bounds of constitutionally guaranteed protest and created disorder on the campus. This escalation of student grievances to student disorder did, in fact, disrput the normal function of the university." What they do not mention, however, is the frustration and rage of being Black in racist America.

The commission report also recommends reforms. They include a greater student voice in campus affairs, a better student relationship with administrators, and a student bill of rights. However, the commission contradicted itself again by proposing police state policies such as use of outside police on campus and more riot control training by state police.

Once again, despite overwhelming evidence establishing police responsibility in the deaths of the two brothers, those responsible remain free.

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Hayward Brown Wins Third Aquittal

(Detroit, Michigan)-Controversy surrounds the July 6th, acquittal of Brother Hayward Brown on two counts of assault with intent to murder two Wayne State University policemen. The jury of one Puerto Rican, ten Blacks and one Japanese-American brought the ten-day trial to a close after two hours of deliberations. As jury foreman Stanley Leon announced the unanimous, first-vote verdict of the nine man, three woman jury, Judge Samuel Gardner's court was filled with cheers. It was the third acquittal Haywood Brown has received recently; the other two coming in connection with cases associated with the notorious killer-cop squad, STRESS.

However, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor James T. Lacey did not share the spectators' jubilation. He was, "very disappointed by the verdict". The next day, Wayne County Prosecutor William Cahalan told the press that the third acquittal of Brother Brown on charges of shooting at policemen was a "miscarriage of justice" and declared that, "There should have been a guilty verdict".

When Brother Stanley Leon, the 57 year old jury foreman, saw the prosecutor's remarks in Sunday's newspapers he felt compelled to respond to the criticism. "We were told the law says we should not find him guilty if there was any reasonable doubt in our minds. I can tell you we all had so many doubts.

"It was no fault of the jury's that that man went free. There were so many holes in the case and too much conflicting evidence. Among other things, the jury found discrepancies in the ballistics evidence. Some of us work in plants and we're not stupid about how guns work", Brother Stanley Leon said.

"Cahalen is trying to show we were biased. He shouldn't try to find bias in our minds just because he feels we should return a guilty verdict. What did he want us to do, railroad somebody?"

In contrast, Brother Leon found defense attorney Kenneth V. Cockrel's case intelligent and convincing. Brown had twice before been attacked without provocation by police. Police Commissioner John F. Nichols had sent his men on the most intensive manhunt in Detroit's history to get the "mad dog killers". Said Brother Leon, "Here was a young man who'd ventured into danger. He was being hunted like a slave with a price on his head…When you're hunted you're afraid. He (Brown) had several opportunities to shoot the policemen-one said Brown even pointed his gun straight at him but didn't shoot, he didn't kill anyone."

Brother Haywood Brown acted in self defense because he was afraid for his life. One month after his capture two of his companions, John Boyd and Mark Bethune were gunned down by pursuing police, proving the validity of his fears. We are not surprised with Attorney Cockrel's statement, "There has never been a conviction (in Detroit) of a White officer for a homicide against a Black man" -- we know the reasons why.

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N.Y. Prisoners Boycott Court

(Brooklyn, New York)-Prison inmates in New York City's Brooklyn House of Detention, a pre-trial detention center for men, are staging a month-long court boycott. They are protesting the denial of their constitutional and human rights by the city and state of New York. Scheduled to end on July 31st, the boycott involves about 65% to 80% of the facility's 1,200 detainees.

The prison inmates seek an end to the practice by King's County District Attorney Eugene Gold of overindicting defendents. This is the act of deliberately charging a defendent with more crimes or more serious crimes than the D.A. has any evidence that the defendent has actually committed. This practice is used to give the D.A. a stronger negotiating position in the treacherous game of plea bargaining. The D.A. can promise

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to drop this or that charge, or reduce a charge to a less serious count, if the defendent will agree to plead guilty to the remaining charges. It is a vicious "game" and failure to play, or play well, has resulted in lengthy sentences for unfortunate victims.

Poor defendents must accept legal counsel from the court because they can not pay for private attorney. The court-appointed attorney can only provide inadequate and ineffective defense for the victim. The average "Legal Aid Society" lawyer is handling about 100 cases at a time. These attorneys rarely see their clients for more than five minutes before going to trial. This inadequacy and the slow pace of the court process, with some defendents waiting up to two years before going to trial, comprise violations of the prisoner's Sixth Amendment rights to "a speedy and public trial" and "assistance of counsel for his defense".

The ridiculously high bails that are set keep many defendents, particularly the poor, in jail for up to two years before going to trial. This practice flagrantly ignores the Eighth Amendment provision that "excessive bail shall not be required…" There is no question that the conditions at the Brooklyn House of Detention also violate the Eighth Amendment clause prohibiting "cruel and unusual punishments".

The removal of six judges, the Chief Clerk and D.A. Gold, all particularly unfair and repressive officials, is another prison inmate demand. The prison inmates also demand a federal investigation of their grievances, including irregularities in the Grand Jury proceedings, arbitrary denial of defense motions, and unnecessary transportation of inmates back and forth to court.

At least two national organizations have announced their support for the prisoner's boycott. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) recently held a mass rally in front of the jail. The Black Panther Party fully supports the prisoners' just demands.

BOYCOTT SAFEWAY

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Atlanta Party Member Arrested Twice In One Week

(Atlanta, Georgia)-As part of an obvious scheme to harass and/or destroy the Atlanta Chapter of the Black Panther Party, police here have arrested Party member Ron Carter twice in one week.

Brother Ron was arrested on June 23rd at his home and held in Fulton County Jail to await extradition on charges stemming from a New Jersey arrest for alleged arms violations. Ron's house was completely surrounded by police, who were heavily armed. Several days later, on June 29th, Brother Ron was arrested while he was peacefully circulating THE BLACK PANTHER newspaper on an Atlanta street.

When police entered Brother Ron's apartment in the first arrest, they had no warrants or extradition papers. The police went so far as to say that he may have been involved in the New Orleans shootout of January in which Mark Essex was killed. The columns of Atlanta's establishment press took up this far-fetched cry and tried to implicate Brother Ron in the shootout.

At a June 26th hearing, Brother Ron's case was postponed for two weeks while New Jersey prepared extradition papers. He was released on $1,000 bond. Brother Ron's attorney, Al Horn, said that the case was "a total political arrest, total political harassment". He said that if the police wanted Carter so bad, they didn't have to come to his house late at night and surround it.

Six days after this arrest Brother Ron was arrested again, this time on a downtown street as a result of the city power structure's policy of attacking distributors of newspapers they consider controversial. In one recent incident, in June, police murdered a young Black Muslim while he was selling papers. A police officer was killed in the incident and seven Muslims were arrested.

Two eyewitnesses to Brother Ron's arrest (who were later arrested themselves) said that he was standing peacefully on the street circulating papers and not bothering anyone when police arrested him. When he was effectively under police control, two men in dungarees, who were apparently undercover police, came running across the street and beat him up. Brother Ron received lacerations on one arm, a swollen lip and a bruise on the side of his head. He was charged with creating a turmoil, violation of the Safe Streets and Sidewalk Act, and inciting a riot. However, Atlanta police were the only ones who were guilty of these charges.

Brother Ron spent the weekend in jail after his friends were told his bail was set at $10,000, when it was actually $1,700. He was released the following Monday, after a hearing which "reduced" his bail to $1,600.

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People's Perspective

TALK SHOWS BUGGED

(New York)-The Secret Service and FBI are tuned in on people who phone radio talk shows with remarks critical of President Nixon. Tapes of their calls are being provided to the government. "We've been getting these requests every two or three months from Secret Service or the FBI", said R. Peter Straus, president of New York station WMCA, "particularly when the President is coming to New York…they monitor us very carefully for the voices."

PRISONERS UNION CALLED "RADICAL FRONT"

(Washington, D.C.)-Two Ohio police intelligence officers last week told the House Internal Security Committee that a prison labor union movement in Ohio is a "front" for groups seeking to radicalize inmates. Detective Robert Hislop of the Columbus, Ohio, Police Intelligence Bureau and a former undercover agent, claimed that the Ohio Prison Labor Union formed last April is actually a front for what he called the "radical" Prisoners Solidarity Committee. Both organizations are involved in efforts to gain improved prisoner conditions and prison reform.

BERKELEY COUNCIL SUPPORTS U.F.W.

(Berkeley, Ca.)-The Berkeley City Council last week moved to demonstrate support for the United Farm Workers Union led by Cesar Chavez and the struggle of farm workers by ordering city officials to purchase lettuce and table grapes picked only by unions that have agreed to "immediate, free and open elections". The Teamsters Union, claiming to represent farm workers in southern California, have repeatedly refused to agree to open elections.

VETERANS TRIAL TO BEGIN

(Gainesville, Fla.)-The Gainesville 8, seven members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VV-AW) and a supporter of the organization, victims of Watergate/Gemstone provocation and conspiracy, go on trial on July 31 in Gainesville, Florida, for "conspiracy". A five day demonstration of support, from July 31st to August 4th, is scheduled in Gainesville, including rallies, marches, music, guerrilla theater, courthouse watch and people's assembly/campsites.

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Attica Pre-Trial Hearings Begin

REPRESSION MARKS PROCEEDINGS

(Buffalo, N.Y.)-Last month saw the opening of pre-trial hearings in the case of 60 prisoners and former prisoners who were indicted by the state of New York in the aftermath of the Attica Prison rebellion and the subsequent massacre.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the House Select Committee on Crime released a report condemning the needlessness of the use of shotguns in retaking the prison. The senseless slaughter of 39 men including hostage prison guards, and the maiming of literally hundreds more resulted from the use of shotguns on that day.

Despite this "lip service" by the government, not one of the government's agents, troopers or state officials, have been indicted. All 60 defendents at the Buffalo trial are survivors of the unarmed prison population, who were attacked because of their demand for human rights, causing their oppressors to lose their prestige of power; senseless, inhumane retaliation killing innocent men who sought only their dignity.

Amid rigid security arrangements, Judge Carmen Ball's court was the scene of striking revelations as proceedings began on June 18. Defense attorney Don Jellirek, legal coordinator of the Attica cases, charged that "Watergate-type surveillance" of 278 members of the legal defense team is occuring. Attorney Arthur Kiney's phone has been tapped 26 times by the U.S. Justice Department's own admission. Attorney Jellirek's office was mysteriously broken into several times in the weeks before the hearings began.

Although the government has already squandered over $3 million researching and gathering evidence to be used in the trial, defense lawyers have not even been allowed to view the massacre site or read the ballistics and autopsy reports.

One defendent was beaten on the second day of the hearings by the guards and Erie County sheriff's deputies

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who maintain a strictly regimented atmosphere of repression in the court. When Attorney Jellirek demanded that Judge Ball conduct a hearing on the incident, Ball adjourned the court and left. Sheriff's deputies crowded the room, pushing and shoving the spectators and spoiling for a fight. Four people, including a lawyer, were arrested.

Days later on June 25th, four people were arrested again when one detendent pointed out that there is "no justice for the poor, Black or ignorant".

As courtroom evidence continues to pile up, exposing the fallacy of the myth of equal justice for all in America, the pattern of repression grows clearer, points more vividly to the fascist state that increasingly enfolds us all. Trial defendents are terrorized, their legal counsel are wiretapped arrested and denied access to important evidence; while the prosecution spends a fortune to convict the defendents and even breaks the law, tapping, bugging and burglarizing to obtain information.

As the injustice and corruption spreads, the New York State Select Committee on Correctional Institutions and Programs finds as of mid-June that: "…change which has a fundamental impact on the day-to-day existence of the inmate population remains elusive."

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N.C. Activist Receives Suspended Sentence

(Wilmington, N.C.)-"Even though I won't have to serve any time, I'm not content with this sentence. I'm innocent." These words were spoken by Ms. Mollie Hicks, Black community activist, after she received a three-year suspended sentence on June 29th. She along with Rev. Ben Chavis and her 19-year old daughter, Leatrice, were accused of being accessories after the fact in the 1971 accidental killing of Clifford Wright. (See the July 7, 1973, issue of THE BLACK PANTHER.)

A mistrial was declared against Leatrice. Charges against Rev. Chavis were dropped on June 22nd because of the flimsiness of the case against him and because of community support from throughout North Carolina. Ms. Hicks apparently was chosen as the scapegoat of the trial.

Ms. Hicks was accused of the "accessories" charge after claiming that Clifford Wright, who was accidentally shot by Donald Nixon while both were guarding her apartment, was shot by a white man as he opened the door of her apartment. However, Donald Nixon, the chief prosecution witness, reversed his previous statement and has now confessed to accidentally shooting Clifford while engaging in horseplay, as both were guarding Ms. Hicks' apartment during a period of racial violence in the city.

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Features: Remove The Chains: Johnny Spain Describes Courtroom Torture of San Quentin Six

PART I

The following, written by San Quentin Six defendent Johnny Spain, has been excerpted from a lawsuit filed by Brother Spain in Marin County Superior Court. The suit "seeks to halt all proceedings and matters related to this case until such matters as will be described below are heard and given disposition". Charging that their human rights have been neglected and denied, Johnny Spain vividly depicts the cruel and vicious beatings that the San Quentin Six are subjected to; recounting the chaining and torture of the defendents as only he can -- from the point of view of the San Quentin Six themselves.

Drastically restricted in their legal moves, and denied counsel of their choice, the San Quentin Six are also planning to file a $1,000,013,000 civil rights suit on these grounds.

In view of the fact that the Nixon-controlled media continues to hide from the public view the truth behind the case of the San Quentin Six, whitewashing the State's ruthless assassination of Comrade George Jackson on August 21, 1971, THE BLACK PANTHER is proud to reprint Brother Johnny Spain's account of the events at the Marin County Courthouse at the June 29th pre-trial hearing. In speaking out in his own defense, and in the defense of the San Quentin Six, Johnny Spain speaks for us all.

"On Friday, June 29th, 1973, the Six had an appearance, in San Rafael's infamous Courthouse, for what was called a "pre-trial hearing". When we left the prison that morning everything seemed more tense than usual. ote: We are not the ones who made things tense because we are very thoroughly search and even more thoroughly chained up. It is only too obvious that the San Quentin guards create the atmosphere of extra tenneness. Add: we are unarmed. They are armed, excessively and unnecesarily.

"The shackeling and chains should be explained. After being stripped and skin-searched", we are "chained up", which means literally that. There a waist chain, padlocked around ur waist; there are two single handcuffs on each side of the waist chain ich, once the chain is around our ist, our hands are cuffed to our des; there are the leg shackles, and finally there is a chain looped around our necks and padlocked to the waist chain in back of us. The most movement we have with our hands is holding our legal material -- very little else. We even have to strain in leaning over to smoke a cigarette. It is virtually impossible to comb our hair while in chains and, in fact, one could not even blow his nose if he wanted to.

"Opoosed to what the Right media has been saying, I have not been in the courtroom during any of the proceedings since they started earlier this year. Some reasons for this are: "(1) I have wrist injuries of the motor and sensory nerves as a result of the handcuffs tightening and damaging them when the prison guards attacked me September 7th, 1972, and despite medical record of this as well as doctor's orders for protective bandages to go between my wrists and the handcuffs, the court refuses to enforce the doctor's orders and allows San Quentin guards to prevent me from wearing these bandages. (I refuse to sit in the courtroom pretending that the cuffs are not damaging my wrists further when the fact is, they are!)

"(2) When we go in the courtroom we are put in more chains! There is a chain placed around our waist (a second chain) that is pad-locked to the seat, and another chain is looped through our leg shackles and padlocked to the floor. To sit six hours in that position is ridiculous, to use no lesser-term. When we get back from court our elbow and shoulder joints are extremely sore because they have been out of use and badly situated for 8 or 9 hours. I refuse to sit there and accept that. When in the holding cell, though still chained up, I can at least lay down on the wooden bench.

"(3) San Quentin guards jump us when they please, I'm not going to sit in the courtroom all chained up as if 'peace is normal', because it's not when the people are not able to see. The guards take the liberty to administer severe beatings while we're chained up, (we haven't left their "Adjustment Center" since August 21, 1971, without being chained up), so the court scene is a show, a circus. When the chains come off I'm sure you won't see any of those guards in the courtroom. In order for the situation to be "orderly", as they say, those chains will have

-- 16 --
to be off of me so that I can confront anyone who has taken, or plans to take (which, without chains, is only going to be an attempt) the liberty to attack me. (In this connection I've long assumed the right, in practice, to advise anyone who threatens my life, or the lives of those I love, to cease whatever action they are engaged in that is harmful to me and my love ones, and upon a refusal to do so -- I try my best to take them out of the box.)

"(4) I don't have the attorney of my desire representing me. This factor is purely conditional insofar as my position centers on it in that is not basically an issue of the attorney of my desire but rather an issue where in I demand that my human rights be fully recognized -- and this includes any and all matters that concern those who I love as well as myself… There are other reasons, naturally, but I think these four are sifficient.

CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

-- 8 --

Free David Hilliard

David Hilliard, leading member of the Black Panther Party and victim of the Watergaters, continues to be held at Vacaville (Medical Facility) Prison. We demand his Immediate release.

Unjustly convicted of a crime he did not commit; repeatedly refused parole despite an unblemished prison record; suffering from a chronic ulcer condition that grows worse under the stress of horrifying prison conditions, every day David Hilliard completes in Vacaville adds one more day of infamy to the records of those who put him there and those who refuse to release him.

-- 9 --

By Huey P. Newton: Revolutionary Suicide: “China”

PART 1

On October 8, 1971, in a press conference held at San Francisco International Airport, Huey P. Newton announced that he had just returned from a 10-day visit to the People's Republic of China. Accompanying Brother Huey on the trip were fellow Black Panther Party members Elaine Brown and Robert Bay. Below, THE BLACK PANTHER reprints excerpts from the chapter entitled "China" from Huey P. Newton's brilliant new book, Revolutionary Suicide. Find out why Huey says: "We felt that we were free for the first time in our lives."

Today, when I think of my experiences in the People's Republic of China - a country that overwhelmed me while I was there - they seem somehow distant and remote. Time erodes the immediacy of the trip; the memory begins to recede. But that is a common aftermath of travel, and not too alarming. What is important is the effect that China and its society had on me, and that impression is unforgettable.

"FELT AT HOME"

While there, I achieved a psychological liberation I had never experienced before. It was not simply that I felt at home in China; the reaction was deeper than that. What I experienced was the sensation of freedom -- as if a great weight had been lifted from my soul and I was able to be myself, without defense or pretense or the need for explanation. I felt absolutely free for the first time in my life -- completely free among my fellow men.

This experience of freedom had a profound effect on me, because it confirmed my belief that an oppressed people can be liberated if their leaders persevere in raising their consciousness and in struggling relentlessly against the oppressor.

Because my trip was so brief and made under great pressure, there were many places I was unable to visit and many experiences I had to forgo. Yet there were lessons to be learned from even the most ordinary and commonplace encounters: a question asked by a worker, the response of a schoolchild, the attitude of a government official. These slight and seemingly unimportant moments were enlightening, and they taught me much. For instance, the behavior of the police in China was a revelation to me. They are there to protect and help the people, not to oppress them. Their courtesy was genuine; no division or suspicion exists between them and the citizens.

This impressed me so much that when I returned to the United States and was met by the Tactical Squad at the San Francisco airport (they had been called out because nearly a thousand people came to the airport to welcome us back), it was brought home to me all over again that the police in our country are an occupying, repressive force. I pointed this out to a customs officer in San Francisco, a Black man, who was armed, explaining to him that I felt intimidated seeing all the guns around. I had just left a country, I told him, where the army and the police are not in opposition to the people but are their servants.

RECEIVED INVITATION

I received the invitation to visit China shortly after my release from the Penal Colony, in August, 1970. The Chinese were interested in the Party's Marxist analysis and wanted to discuss it with us as well as show us the concrete application of theory in their society. I was eager to go and applied for a passport in late 1970, which was finally approved a few months later. However, I did not make the trip at that time because of Bobby's and Ericka's trial in New Haven. Nonetheless, I wanted to see China very much, and when I learned that President Nixon was going to visit the People's Republic in February, 1972, I decided to beat him to it. My wish was to deliver a message to the government of the People's Republic and the Communist Party, which would be delivered to Nixon when he made his visit.

CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

-- NA --

Oakland - A Base Of Operation!: Boycott Safeway

"It's a natural alliance of poor people and people that understand that everyone has a right to live."

With these words, Ms. Elaine Brown announced, on Friday July 20th, an all-out boycott of Safeway supermarkets in the city of Oakland. In the background, three separate groups of high-spirited demonstrators representing the Black Panther Party, the New Oakland Democratic Organizing Committee and the United FarmWorkers Union, marched in a cadence common to all poor an oppressed people throughout this country: "Hey! Hey! I feel all right. Boycott!"

Standing on the corner of 27th and West Streets, in the heart of West Oakland's Black community, Ms. Brown talked with the press, clarifying the issues as she went along. "This is the first store that we are boycotting in support of the United Farm workers (UFW) struggle for their rights to organize a union and to receive decent and fair wages. Members of the UFW have been put upon by members of the Teamsters Union. Various thugs and gangsters have been beating people, beating families… and trying to deny them their legitimate rights.

"This is a very serious struggle and we intend to stay here at this Safeway store so Safeway can receive the same kind of economic strain they have put upon the farmworkers by accepting grapes from other unions and from non-union people." The nearly empty parking lot behind her testified to the fact that, indeed, a boycott of Safeway stores was truely underway.

The initiation of the boycott and picketing came as no surprise to those who had been following this swiftly-moving chain of events. Two weeks prior, on July 6th, Elaine and Brother Bobby Seale announced that they had just completed hand-delivering letters to the managers of six Safeway stores in Oakland, demanding that they end their sale of non-UFW picked table grapes. The letters stated in part: "Your failure to acceed to this demand will leave us no choice but to mobilize… the entire Black, Mexican-American and justice-seeking community of this city in a boycott of Safeway stores in Oakland on a scale unprecedented in California." This past Wednesday, July 18th, Safeway received a final ultimatum, this one with a 24-hour deadline. Again, Safeway refused to concede to the demand; one official stating they would, "… accept whatever grapes they could get their hands on".

Concerning the possible duration of the boycott as well as its outcome, Elaine said, referring to the highly successful six and one-half month boycott of Bill Boyette's Liquor Stores "We have been known to be very lasting in terms of our ability to walk picket lines and to have the strength to support what we say and support our convictions. So, if we have to be out here for the next year, we'll be out here." Mentioning that they intended to extend this boycott to at least five other Safeway locations, Ms. Brown frankly stated, "That will be accomplished as we build up momentum. We have a strategy in mind. People have to have a strategy when we're put upon by the strategy of guns and terror…"

The "strategy of guns and terror" to which Elaine referred

-- NA --
is, in fact, implemented daily by the Teamster-grower-Safeway alliance. Two weeks ago, if an effort to legally combat the vicious repression they are facing in the fields, the UFW filed suits against the Teamsters Union and 27 grape growers, seeking more than $50 million in damages arising from Coachella Valley violence. It was in Coachella Valley this past April that the corrupt Teamsters Union signed their now infamous "sweetheart contracts" (Cesar Chavez, Executive Director of UFW, wryly calls them "marriage certificates") with the table grape growers in this fertile region. This illegal action not only denies the migrant farmworkers true representation by the union of their choice, but it also sets the stage for the Teamster-instigated violence which has rocked the grape fields ever since. Armed with pipes, sticks, brass knuckles, chains, as well as shotguns and other assorted weaponry, racist Teamster goons -- paid $50 per day -- have been witnessed attacking innocent farmworkers whom they suspect sympathize with the UFW, as well as brutally beating UFW members and picketers.

The UFW's struggle has not stopped there. In the Fresno/Kern County regions, a seemingly unconstitutional court restriction has severely limited UFW picketing and strike-organizing tactics. Several months ago, Superior Court Judge John M. Naivn ordered that no UFW-picketers could stand or walk closer than 100 feet from each other and that the picketers could come no closer than 60 feet from the entrance to the fields. The use of bullhorns, essential to communications in the fields, was also prohibited. (Seemingly, this last restriction applied to the UFW only, for the Teamsters, as Elaine mentioned, have taken great joys in singing "Bye Bye, Blackbird" through bullhorns to the striking UFW members.)

Recently, to combat this illegal and repressive court injunction, the UFW has adopted the policy of massive civil disobedience. Maintaining their self-affirmed non-violent posture, more than 1,500 farmworkers have chosen to be arrested in order to challange the courts. This same tactic proved successful in Coachella Valley earlier this year and just last week, a Superior Court judge in Bakersfield indicated that he is inclined to agree with the case presented by UFW lawyers.

Meanwhile, in a closely associated but definitely distinct issue, both Bobby Seale and Elaine Brown spoke at a University of California at Berkeley campus rally and announced their support of a boycott of Gallo wines. On June 27th, Robert Gallo, owner of the world's biggest winery and reportedly making between $35 to $40 million annually, ended six years of UFW contracts and signed new, longterm "sweetheart contracts" with the Teamsters. At that rally Bobby Seale drew a thunderous ovation when he remarked:

"We have to relate humanistically to the fact that we're tired of exploitation in this society. We have to relate humanistically when people decide to get themselves together in order to stop being exploited; in order to stop the slave labor, the cheap labor. When people say they want decent wages, when they say the want certain fringe benefits, certain health benefits, it is their constitutional right to protest exploitation… I ask you to unite with us and strike against these capitalists and support the UFW. Boycott Gallo wines! Boycott grapes! Boycott Safeway!"

It was perhaps a comment made by Ms. Brown which best sums up the current situation and puts the entire issue in proper perspective. Speaking again to the press, that Friday morning when the boycott was initiated, Elaine said, "…We're boycotting Safeway, not just grapes alone. Safeway says that they don't care who picks their grapes or where they get their grapes from. In other words, they don't care that eight people in a family are living on $15 a week, they don't care about people being shot in the fields. As a matter of fact, we believe that Safeway is part of the violent activities because they haven't shown in any way that they want to stop those activities… In the final analysis, people are powerful and there are more people in support of the farmworkers than are in support of exploitation…" And, as Elaine continued the backbone of the boycott, the picketing demonstrators, suddenly began to chant as they marched, "I don't know, but I've been told, Safeway stores have got to be closed. Am I right or wrong? Right on. Am I right or wrong? Right on."

BOYCOTT SAFEWAY.

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Black Panther Party Program: March 29, 1972 Platform

WHAT WE WANT, WHAT WE BELIEVE

- 1. WE WANT FREEDOM, WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.

We believe that Black and oppressed people will not be free until we are able to determine our destinies in our own communities ourselves, by fully controlling all the institutions which exist in our communities.

- 2. WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE.

We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every person employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the American businessmen will not give full employment, then the technology and means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.

- 3. WE WANT AN END TO THE ROBBERY BY THE CAPITALIST OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.

We believe that this racist government has robbed as and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules were promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of over fifty million Black people. Therefore, we feel this is a modest demand that we make.

- 4. WE WANT DECENT HOUSING FIT FOR THE SHELTER OF HUMAN BEINGS.

We believe that if the landlords will not give decent housing to our Black and oppressed communities, then the housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that the people in our communities, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for the people.

- 5. WE WANT EDUCATION FOR OUR PEOPLE THAT EXPOSES THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS DECADENT AMERICAN SOCIETY. WE WANT EDUCATION THAT TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT DAY SOCIETY.

We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self. If you do not have knowledge of yourself and your position in the society and the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.

- 6. 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 preventative medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide ourselves with proper medical attention and care.

- 7. WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO POLICE BRUTALITY AND MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE, OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR, ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLE INSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

We believe that the racist and fascist government of the United States uses its domestic enforcement agencies to carry out its program of oppression against Black people, other people of color and poor people inside the United States. We believe it is our right, therefore, to defend ourselves against such armed forces, and that all Black and oppressed people should be armed for self-defence of our homes and communities against these fascist police forces.

- 8. WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO ALL WARS OF AGGRESSION.

We believe that the various conflicts which exist around the world stem directly from the aggressive desires of the U.S. ruling circle and government to force its domination upon the oppressed people of the world. We believe that if the U.S. government or its lackeys do not cease these aggressive wars that it is the right of the people to defend themselves by any means necessary against their aggressors.

- 9. WE WANT FREEDOM FOR ALL BLACK AND POOR OPPRESSED PEOPLE NOW HELD IN U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, CITY AND MILITARY PRISONS AND JAILS. WE WANT TRIALS BY A JURY OF PEERS FOR ALL PERSONS CHARGED WITH SO-CALLED CRIMES UNDER THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY.

We believe that the many Black and poor oppressed people now held in U.S. prisons and jails have not received fair and impartial trials under a racist and fascist judicial system and should be free from incarceration. We believe in the ultimate elimination of all wretched, inhuman penal institutions, because the masses of men and women imprisoned inside the United States or by the U.S. military are the victims of oppressive conditions which are the real cause of their imprisonment. We believe that when persons are brought to trial that they must be guaranteed, by the United States, juries of their peers, attorneys of their choice and freedom from imprisonment while awaiting trials.

- 10. WE WANT LAND, BREAD, HOUSING, EDUCATION, CLOTHING, JUSTICE, PEACE AND PEOPLE'S COMMUNITY CONTROL OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

-- 11 --

Intercommunal News: Lloyd Barbee Comments: On Bahama's Independence

Wisconsin state legislator Lloyd Barbee has consistently been one of the few elected officials in the United States who truly represents the masses of people. We present here an informative and perceptive commentary, authored by Representative Barbee, on the independence of the Bahamas proclaimed July 10, 1973.

The Bahamas, an archipelago consisting of approximately 700 islands between Florida and the island of Haiti, became an independent nation on Tuesday. By becoming the world's 143rd sovereign country, the Bahamas ended more than 300 years of British rule and eventually white domination.

Change for independence became manifest when Lynden Pindling became Prime Minister of the Bahamas and leader of the majority Progressive Liberal Party in 1967. This was the first time that a Black was chosen to lead this country. Considering the fact that 85% of the island groups' population is Black, it was about time.

Now that the July 10, Independence Day celebration is over, I cross my fingers in hopes that the country will now be able to deal with its economic development besides the promotion of white tourism. Pindling, it appears, is already on the road to solving the economic situation in the Bahamas. The new leader is planning on negotiating with Cuba about the new country's sea boundaries and fishing rights, as well as settling with foreign, investments.

The prime minister of the Bahamas is also considering raising the rent on the U.S. government for the military bases which are situated on the island. Because of past British-American relations, the U.S. government was getting off easy as far as reimbursing the Bahamas government for use of their land for military installations. Now, hopefully, the Bahamas will be able to settle for a more adequate reimbursement.

Racism, however, still exists in the Bahamas. A secessionist movement was started just prior to the island group's independence on the island of Abaco. Approximately 3,000 whites, comprising about half the population on the island, want to become a separate unit attached to the British Commonwealth. Some observers say that certain U.S. interests have come out in support of this move because of the fear that the islands will become a "second Cuba".

Critics of the Bahama government have charged that Pindling has been carrying out a "Blacks only" policy, especially in regard to employment. Government policy there bans the importation of foreign workers to perform jobs that Bahamians can do just as well. Previously, however,

-- 13 --
when the Bahamas were under white rule, the majority of Blacks were in a state of economic deprivation solely because very few native Bahamians were given decent employment opportunities. Most good jobs were taken over by foreign workers.

It is appropriate to congratulate Pindling for the liberal advances which he made within his political party and for the bloodless revolution resulting in the island group's independence. His accomplishments have done a great deal for making the country's future much more optimistic.

The A.P. and Milwaukee papers say the Bahamas were discovered by Christopher Columbus. This I must note with wry curiosity. Considering that the islands were already inhabited around 1492, it would be more appropriate to say that Columbus discovered that he and the white western world were ignorant about geography and people. Some of his descendants still are.

-- 11 --

“London Times” Account Of Portuguese Massacre

(London, England)-A British Roman Catholic priest has recently divulged the Portuguese army massacre of more than 400 Mozambique Africans, including women and children. In a July front page story in The Times of London, Father Adrian Hastings, recently returned from Mozambique and the source for The Times story, said that the growth of guerrilla activity by FRELIMO, the Mozambique Revolutionary Liberation Front, has sparked Portuguese government forces to systematically massacre people in villages thought to have helped FRELIMO.

The information about the massacre at the village of Wiriyamu came to Fr. Hastings from Spanish missionaries who themselves buried many of the victims. Two priests, who also personally met and talked with survivors of the massacre are now in jail in Lourenco Marques, capital of Mozambique, held by the Portuguese administrators for exposing this atrocity to the world.

Excerpts of Father Hastings description of the December 16, 1972, massacre, as it appeared in The Times of London, follows:

"Following a bombardment, the soldiers who had been transported here and had already surrounded the village, invaded it with ferocity, increasing the terror of the inhabitants already terrorized by the bombs. Once inside the village the soldiers started ransacking the huts, and this was followed immediately by the massacre of the people.

"One group of soldiers got together a part of the people in a courtyard to shoot them. The villagers were forced to sit in two groups, the men on the one side and the women on the other, so that they could more easily see those that were being shot. By means of a signal, a soldier indicated whom he wished, either a man or woman.

"The indicated person stood up, seperating himself from the group. The soldier shot him. This procedure brought about the largest number of victims. Many children at the breast and on the backs of their mothers were shot at the same time as their mothers." (The names of 86 people who were among those shot in this manner followed.)

The report continued: "One woman called Vaina was invited to stand up.

-- 15 --

She had her child in her arms, a boy of nine months. The mother fell dead with a bullet shot. The child fell with his mother and sat by her. He cried desperately and a soldier advanced to stop him crying. He kicked the boy violently destroying his head. `Shut up, dog', the soldier said.

"The prostrate child cried no more and the soldier returned with his boot covered with blood. His fellow soldiers acclaimed the deed with a round of applause. `Well done. You are a brave man.' It was the beginning of a macabre football match. His campanions followed his example.

"Other soldiers, wandering about forced people into their huts which they then set alight and the people were burnt to death inside them. Sometimes, before setting fire to the huts, they threw grenades inside which exploded over the victims." (There followed a list of 34 people, among others, who died in this manner.)

"Wandering about the village the soldiers found a woman named Zostina who was pregnant. They asked her the sex of the child inside her. 'I don't know', she replied. 'You soon will', they said. Immediately they opened her stomach with knives violently extracting her entrails. Showing her the fetus which throbbed convulsively, they said, 'Look, now you know'. Afterwards, the woman and the child were consumed in flames.

"Other soldiers amused themselves by grasping children by their feet and striking them on the ground." (Ten children, all under five, were named, among others, as having been killed in this manner.)

"Many of the people were taken outside the village and killed. In the following day many corpses of adolescents and children from 11 to 15 years were found at the Vyantawatwa River. They could be counted by tens. The bodies were totally mutilated.

"Some had been decapitated and others had their heads smashed. The corpses were lying about in different positions. Some were piled up mounds, others thrown aside, some side by side, the greater scattered along the river. There were indications that there had been some ghastly game before the victims were massacred."

-- 12 --

“History Will Absolve Me”

BY FIDEL CASTRO

20th ANNIVERSARY OF MONCADA BARRACKS ATTACK

When, on July 26, 1953, a group of slightly less than 100 idealistic and patriotic Cubans attempted to seize the Moncada Army Barracks, situated in the extreme east of the island, in Oriente Province, the results were disasterous; a massacre. However, when it was learned that the 70 dead men, all students and young workers, had not died in the course of the attack but, instead, were captured alive and then ruthlessly murdered on orders of the tyrannical Batista regime, public sentiment, already strong, grew even more aroused.

Considerable attention therefore, was focused on the trial of the leader of the attack, a popular young lawyer from Havana, Fidel Castro. Secretly and under tight military security, Fidel Castro, then 26, was tried alone by a tribunal situated in a small room of the Municipal Hospital in Santiago de Cuba. Prior to this trial, 26 of his companeros, comrades in the attack who escaped the massacre, were swiftly tried, convicted and sentenced to long prison terms in the infamous Isle of Pines.

Removed from the proceedings of his own trial, on October 16th, Fidel Castro was permitted to plead in his defense, before conviction and sentencing. THE BLACK PANTHER is pleased to reprint for our readers, excerpts from that brilliant four and one half hour statement, clandestinely printed and circulated the next year. "History Will Absolve Me" is more than an ordinary legal defense plea, more than just an insightful program for Cuba's reform. "History Will Absolve Me" reflects the true meaning of the Moncada Barracks attack, the true meaning of all oppressed peoples struggles against racism, exploitation and degrading conditions.

"Never has a lawyer had to practice his profession under more difficult conditions; never against an accused have more overwhelming irregularities been committed. Here, counsel and accused are one and the same. As attorney for the defense I have been denied even a look at the indictment. As the accused, I have been, for the past seventy-six days, shut away, in solitary confinementheld incommunicado in violation of every legal and human consideration.

"He who is speaking abhors-with all his being-anything that might be vain or childish. Neither by his temperament nor by his present frame of mind is he inclined towards oratorical poses-or towards any kind of sensationalism. I am compelled to plead my own defense before this court. There are two reasons: first, because I have been deprived almost enitrely of legal aid; second, because only he who has been outraged as

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deeply as I, and who has seen his country so forsaken, its justice so reviled, can speak on an occasion like this with words that are made of the blood of his own heart and the very marrow of truth…

"I deem it essential to cite, at the outset, what was the reason for the relentless isolation to which I have been subjected; what was the motive for keeping me silent; what prompted the plot to kill me -- a plot with which the Court is familiar; what grave facts are being hidden from the people; and what is the secret behind all the strange things that have taken place during this trial. All this I propose to do with the utmost clarity…

"But there is one argument that aids us more than all the others. We are Cubans and to be Cubans implies a duty. Not to fulfill that duty is a crime, is treason.

"We are proud of the history of our country. We learned history in school and we have grown up hearing of liberty, justice and human rights.

"We were taught to venerate the glorious example of our heroes and our martyrs. Cespedes, Agramonte, Maceo, Gomez y Marti were the first names engraved in our minds. We were taught that the titan Maceo had said that liberty is not begged but is won with the blade of a machete.

"We were taught that for the guidance of Cuba's free citizens the Apostol (Marti) wrote in his Book of Gold: 'The man who conforms by obeying unjust laws and permits anybody to trample the country in which he was born, the man who so mistreats his country, is not an honorable man.

'In the world there must be a certain degree of decorum just as there must be a certain amount of light. When there are many men without decorum, there are always others who bear in themselves the dignity of many men. These are the men who rebel with great force against those who steal the people's freedom -- that is to say, against those who steal human dignity itself.'

"…We were taught to cherish and defend the beloved flag of the single star. We sang every afternoon a hymn whose verses say that to live in chains is to live in opprobrium…that to die for the country is to live.

"All this we learned and will never forget, even though today in our land there is murder and prison for the men who practice the ideas taught to them since the cradle. We were born in a free country which was our heritage from our forefathers. The island would sink into the sea before we would consent to be slaves of anybody.

"It seemed that the veneration for the Apostol was going to die in his Centenary. It seemed that his memory would be extinguished forever. So great was the affront! But his dream lives. It has not died. His people are rebellious. His people are worthy. His people are faithful to his memory. There are Cubans who have fallen defending his doctrines. There are boys who in magnificent selflessness came to die beside his tomb, giving the blood and their lives so that (the dream of Marti) could continue to live in the heart of his country. Cuba, what would have become of you if you had forsaken your Apostol?

"I come to the close of my defense plea but I will not end it as lawyers usually do -- asking that the accused be freed. I cannot ask freedom for myself while my comrades are suffering in the ignominous prison of Isla de Pinos. Send me there to join them and to share their fate. It is understandable that honest men should be dead or in prison in (this) Republic where the president is a criminal and a thief…

"Still, there remains for this hearing a more serious problem, the issues arising from the murder of seventy men -- that is to say, the greatest massacre we have ever known. The guilty continue at liberty with a weapon in hand -- a weapon which continually threatens the citizens. If all the weight of the law does not fall upon (the guilty) because of cowardice, or because of domination of the courts -- and if then, all the magistrates and judges do not resign, I pity you. And I regret the unprecedented shame that will fall over the judicial system.

"I know that imprisonment will be as hard for me as it has ever been for anyone -- filled with cowardly threats and wicked torture. But I do not fear prison, just as I do not fear the fury of the miserable tyrant who snuffed life out of 70 brothers of mine.

"Sentence me. I don't mind. History will absolve me."

-- 12 --

Africa In Focus

GENEVA

Portugal withdrew from the annual conference of the International Labor Organization (ILO) recently, following the 48-member governing body's decision to invite representatives of liberation movements in Portuguese colonies to address the conference. Invitations were sent to the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), the People's Liberation Movement of Angola (MPLA), the Mozambique Revolutionary Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde Islands (PAIGC).

GUINEA-BISSAU

Four Portuguese jet fighter planes were shot down by freedom fighters of Guinea-Bissau in June, bringing to 18 the total number of planes downed since March 23rd. All four planes were shot down in action near the besieged enemy camp called Camael, in the south of the country. They were brought down on June 2nd, 7th, 10th and 11th.

VATICAN

Canon Burgess Carr, Secretary-General of the All-African Conference of Churches (AACC), raised the question of the Vatican's links with Portugal, especially in "territories still under Portuguese domination", when he met Pope Paul VI on June 25th. Canon Carr had earlier by telegram called on Pope Paul to abolish the agreement between the Vatican and the Portuguese government regulating ecclesiastical matters.

GERMANY

Brother Harry W. Johnson, on trial at Kaiserslautern, West Germany, on mutiny charges, produced documents showing U.S. deliveries of napalm and plant defoliants to Portuguese forces operating in Portugal's African colonies. He also produced documents establishing the training of Portuguese officers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and at several naval bases in California. Brother Johnson "resigned" from the U.S. armed services declaring: "I have withdrawn my services from aiding and abetting war crime."

MOZAMBIQUE

FRELIMO forces killed 150 Portuguese troops in an attack on a battalion stationed at Tembue, in Mozambique, recently. The attacking forces used heavy artillery and completely destroyed a storage depot, barracks, a commando house and the administrative post at Tembue.

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Burnham Wins Guyana Election

Forbes Burnham has won a third, four-year term as Prime Minister of Guyana, the only English speaking South American country and the only country on that continent headed by a Black government.

Mr. Burnham's victory is a vindication of his governments' policy of anti-racism. Guyana has experienced serious racial clashes between Blacks and the numerically dominant East Indians. Having received some 70% of the overall vote, Mr. Burnham clearly has won considerable strength in the rural sugar and rice belts. These areas, almost solidly East Indian, have traditionally been considered strongholds of his chief rival, former Prime Minister Cheddi B. Jagan, an East Indian who claims to be a Marxist.

-- 13 --

Watergate Low Lights

Herbert W. Kalmbach, President Nixon's personal attorney until May 1, testified before the Senate Watergate Committee that, on orders of John D. Ehrlichman and John Dean III, he raised funds for "legal fees and family support" for the seven Watergate conspirators convicted of breaking into the National Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. However, all the testimony of the past week indicates that the money paid to the conspirators was, in fact, money to assure their silence about those behind the conspiracy.

Asked about his present feelings toward Richard Nixon, John Ehrlichman is reported as saying: "I have no regrets at all. I think he has done great things. I think he has done good things and to the extent that I've had anything to offer to help him along, I'm glad I did. And I'll always be glad, regardless of how this thing might bounce."

Fredrick C. LaRue, a former official of the Committee for the Reelection of the President, told the Senate Watergate Committee that the break-in at Democratic Party headquarters had been sanctioned "at some high level", and described spystyle "money drops" and uses of aliases to mask his identity.

U.S. District Court Judge Damon J. Keith, in Detroit, ruled last week that the government's categorical denial of burglary, illegal wiretapping or other actions while investigating the Weathermen, was inadequate. Calling the denial a "perfunctory" response that "failed to go to the crux of the matter".

A $1 million civil suit was filed in Los Angeles last week against President Nixon and several other Watergate conspirators. The civil action was filed from Folsom Prison by Brother Elmer Davis, acting as his own attorney. The 45-year-old brother was imprisoned on the frame-up charge of having broken into the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist. His suit is against Nixon, John Ehrlichman, Egil Krogh, G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, Beverly Hills police chief B.L. Cork, and two Beverly Hills police detectives, Bruce Campbell and W.L. Franklin. Egil Krogh recently admitted that the break-in was actually committed on orders by the White House.

-- 13 --

Alabama: Prisoners Charged With Guard Murder

(Brewton, Alabama)-In Escambia County, noted for "officially" being the last county to free its slaves after the Civil War, seven Black inmates of the county prison are waiting to be tried for the murder of a prsion guard. THE BLACK PANTHER learned of this situation through a letter sent to us by a prisoner at the jail. The letter was a desperate plea to the community to help and support the six brothers. Information about the charges has been hidden by the racist prison and city officials in hopes that the trial will go unnoticed, allowing them to legally lynch six more Black prisoners.

The six men, Joe Smith, Tommy L. Dotson, Larry Williams, Charlie Bies, Jesse J. Canzy, Edward Ellis, and Robert Orr have been told by racist officials that they are going to kill them one way or another. Brother Joe Smith has been told that the next time he attends court in Brewton, they will kill him and claim that he was trying to escape.

THE BLACK PANTHER urges our friends in and around Brewton, Alabama, to investigate this extremely dangerous situation and provide us and others your findings. We'll share them with our readers.

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Who Pulls Nixon's Strings?

President Nixon says he ordered the elaborate bugging of his offices and telephones for historical purposes. The uproar this revelation caused and his decision to discontinue the buggings suggests that this was a lie. But, what is the truth?

No one has dared suggest that forces OUTSIDE the White House required such an operation to keep informed and to guarantee that their orders were being carried out. The idea that the President of the United States might be taking orders from somewhere other than The People through the legislative arm of government is too horrific for most Americans to even imagine.

But, why else such careful surveillance of the "Head of State"?

In search for legislative measures to prevent the recurrence of a Watergate, this is the question to which the Senate Investigating Committee should be seeking answers. Anything short of this will be another whitewash!

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Support the Intercommunal Youth Institute

THE CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE
WITHOUT THEIR GROWTH, WE, AS
A PEOPLE, CANNOT SURVIVE.

The Intercommunal Youth Institute is designed to help our children think. All instruction is made relevant to the survival of Black and poor people. We expand the concept that the whole world is the children's classroom.

The youth receive instruction in language arts, mathematics, science, health, physical education, political science and people's art. Our objective is the development of the well-rounded human being.

We need more instructors with ever expanding ideas to cope with the everexpanding ideas of the children. If you have teaching skills and can donate some time, please contact the Black Panther Party at 8501 East 14th Street, Oakland, California; or phone (415) 638-0195.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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Don't Shop At Safeway!

Safeway Supermarkets have long been the enemy of the impoverished farmworkers of this country and their union, the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). In view of their long and continuous train of abuses against the Farm Workers and Safeway's daily exploitation of our communities, THE BLACK PANTHER urges our readers to boycott Safeway Supermarkets. Boycott Lettucel Boycott Grapes! Boycott Safeway!

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Boycott Safeway

Those stores in Oakland where U.F.W. picked grapes are sold are:

FOOD FARM -- 2547 E. 14th Street

VERNS -- 5011 Telegraph

EMBY -- 6925 E. 14th Street

EMBY -- 10111 E. 14th Street

LUCKY'S -- ALL

P&X -- ALL

THE BLACK PANTHER urges all our readers to buy only U.F.W. picked table grapes!

-- 16 --

Boycott Farah Pants

Over 3,500 Chicano workers, the vast majority of whom are women, are on strike against Farah Mfg. Co., one of the world's largest manufacturers of men's pants.

Wages range from $1.70 an hour to $2.20 an hour after 20 years, high production quotas are used to deny raises and older workers are forced to quit before retirement and thus lose benefits. We urge you to join the growing number of people actively fighting for an end to social injustice. Boycott Farah Pants.

-- 16 --

Aid The Farmworkers

On April 16th, the hard-fought contracts which the United Farm Workers Union had won only two years before from California's grape growers expired. Immediately afterwards, the rich and racist growers signed contracts with the notorious Teamsters Union, despite strong protest from the UFW and the farmworkers themselves. The UFW, led by Cesar Chavez, promptly announced that another grape strike had begun; a lettuce strike was already in progress. Nationwide boycotts of both products are underway and are growing daily.

The farmworkers need our help. Their struggle is our struggle. To aid the farmworkers is to move us all closer to the goals of freedom and dignity.

I enclose $- to help the farm workers survive the coming weeks or months without a working wage

-- 17 --

A Program For Survival

PEOPLE'S FREE MEDICAL RESEARCH HEALTH CLINICS

Provides free medical treatment and preventative medical care for the people.

PEOPLE'S SICKLE CELL ANEMIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION

Established to test and create a cure for Sickle Cell Anemia. The foundation informs people about Sickle Cell Anemia and maintains an advisory committee of doctors researching this crippling disease.

PEOPLE'S FREE DENTAL PROGRAM

(Being Implemented)

Provides free dental check-ups, treatment and an educational program for dental hygiene.

PEOPLE'S FREE OPTOMETRY PROGRAM

(Being Implemented)

Provides free eye examinations, treatment and eyeglasses for the people.

PEOPLE'S FREE AMBULANCE SERVICE

Provides free, (24-hour) rapid transportation to people in need of emergency medical care.

FREE FOOD PROGRAM

Provides free food to Black and other oppressed people.

FREE BREAKFAST PROGRAM

Provides children a free nourishing hot breakfast every school morning.

PEOPLE'S FREE COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM

Provides free job-finding services to poor and oppressed people.

FREE PEST CONTROL PROGRAM

Free household extermination of rats, roaches and other disease-carrying pests and rodents.

PEOPLE' FREE PLUMBING AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

Provides free plumbing and repair services to improve people's homes.

DAVID HILLIARD PEOPLE'S FREE SHOE PROGRAM

Provides free shoes made at the David Hilliard Free Shoe Factory to the people.

PEOPLE'S FREE CLOTHING PROGRAM

Provides new, stylish and quality clothing free to the people.

INTERCOMMUNAL YOUTH INSTITUTE

Provides Black and other oppressed children with a scientific method of thinking about and analyzing things. This method develops basic skills for living in this society.

LIBERATION SCHOOLS

Provides children free supplementary educational facilities and materials to promote a correct view of their role in the society.

INTERCOMMUNAL NEWS SERVICE

Provides news and information about the world and Black and oppressed communities.

LEGAL AID AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

Provides legal aid classes and full legal assistance to people who are in need.

FREE BUSING TO PRISONS PROGRAM

Provides free transportation to prisons for families and friends of prisoners.

FREE COMMISSARY FOR PRISONERS PROGRAM

Provides imprisoned men and women with funds to purchase necessary commissary items.

SENIORS AGAINST A FEARFUL ENVIRONMENT (S.A.F.E.) PROGRAM

Provides free transportation and escort service for senior citizens to and from community banks on the first of each month.

-- 18 --