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CHRYSLER WORKERS HERO FIRED

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Editorial: “AMERICA GOES PUBLIC”?

The Democratic Party National Committee, nation-wide, prime time, eight hour telethon last week raised over $5 million under the slogan "America goes public". We don't know how much it cost the Democratic National Committee to pull off this one, but it's our guess it cost nearly as much as was pledged.

What is the slogan "America goes public" supposed to mean? The clear implication of this slogan is that all this time since 1776, the American people have been had. Only now, at this moment of TV truth, the ideals of government of, for and by the people, courtesy of the Democratic Party, is possible.

The most moving moments of the eight hours were those few devoted to ordinary citizens interviewed impromptu on the streets of America on their expectations from government. These, more than all the empty rhetoric about "party of the people" and "the common man", reflected the real mood in America.

These comments had little to do with party politics, Democrat or Republican. They were devoted to THE ISSUES; the high price of food, prohibitive property and purchase taxes, restoration of confidence in government and the like. Had more citizens been questioned we would have had more issues aired.

It was this that was sorely lacking in the eight hour show. All the politicos that appeared seemed to be vying with one another for the I-believe-in-the-infallibility-of - the two-party-system Award of the year. What has this to do with the very real issues facing this country today?

We have no quarrel with political parties relying upon the people they claim to represent to finance themselves. But we do object to being provided with such painfully forced displays of partriotism to prompt those contributions.

Today the American people are in search for truth and action for the common good in government. They are eager to believe in those they elect to public office. The "America goes public" telethon did little to provide us with hope for the realization of these essentials.

It is not enough for the Democratic Party to repeatedly point to Watergate, sneer and claim "We're clean". If the Democratic Party were clean, Watergate could not have happened. Watergate and all it represents is the logical result of the concentration of power in the hands of a few. Both Parties share responsibility for this violation of the people's trust.

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Letters to the Editor: A NIGGER IN THE WATERGATE

Dear Readers,

As you know there's a nigger in the Watergate somewhere. Our government could not possibly have the present crisis were it not so. Only a nigger could be at the root of such a scandle as this, and you can bet Senator Ervin will roust him out.

The overriding problem in the government, however, is that the federal service is polluted with niggers. You can hardly go into a government facility without seeing a filthy Black face. And, as everyone knows, when you hire a nigger, you get a nigger job. No wonder the government can't function. No wonder decent white folks complain about the bureacracy. The whole government is one big lethargic blob because the niggers are gumming up the works.

Now, we have no such problem as this in South Africa. My nephew, Tony, has just arrived from there and he says they don't fool around and give irresponsible niggers responsible jobs in government. Tony was with the police and he says a nigger who gets out of line gets the business end of a machine gun. They call him "Tough Tony" in Johannesburg. Why, he's shot the pants off more niggers than he can count, not to mention the one's he ruined with his bare fists.

When Senator Ervin finds the nigger in the Watergate, Tony should get a crack at him.

E. Boers
1832 Walnut Street
Alameda, Calif. 94501

P.S. Any nigger with two fists can call (415) 523-1732 and make an appointment for a free boxing lesson from Tony. Tony has to keep in practice for when he returns to Johannesburg.

P.P.S.: Members of the Dutch Reformed Church

Greetings Brother of Information.

We are brothers in the Army (U.S.) in Germany that feel as if we are being used and messed over, because we are fighting for the rights for the soldiers stationed in West Germany. Brothers here are always getting the bad end of the deal, and when we try to do something about it we get fined or they give us a hard time, and the brothers are getting restless. We don't use force or anything like that but it is very tempting.

We use Brother Huey Newton's book, "TO DIE FOR THE PEOPLE" as an example to try and better ourselves in a way that we can get the rights that all men in the Army have, no matter what color he is. We are sick of being treated as something less than a man, so we are writing to you to get information on how we can cope with this problem, because if anyone knows, you do. We are counting on you to give us the go ahead on whatever you advise. We will surely put it into action. We need your help bad, because we will surely "DIE FOR THE PEOPLE".

PEACE AND POWER FOREVER

Melvin Simmons
Ministry of Equal Rights
FTK, Germany

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COMMENT “A NIGGER IN THE WATERGATE”

On this page THE BLACK PANTHER reprints a letter we received from one E. Boers, of Alameda, California. We urge you to read it carefully.

The writer contends that all the ills of government in America, and particularly the Watergate scandal, can be traced to the presence of Black Americans in government. It is further suggested that the solution -- to Watergate and to bureaucracy in government -- is to be found in the application of the fascist policies and practices of racist South Africa.

The writer of this letter, a self-proclaimed member of the Dutch Reformed Church, is due for a very rude awakening. Seldom is the opportunity presented so ideally to point up the close ties between the struggles of Black Americans and our brothers in South Africa.

As the letter implies, Blacks in South Africa live under the constant threat of murder and attack. But Black South Africans are daily organizing and acting to change this condition. They are preparing themselves to take and hold power in their own land.

The writer of the letter seems totally unaware of this. So infected with the disease of racism is this person that his or her ability to observe and analyze reality, the events that surround us every day, has been totally distorted.

For this writer "decent white folks" should become killer animals of Blacks in order to save America and South Africa from ruin. As the letter reveals, White South Africans feel they have the right to snuff out the life of a Black South African at will. The courts of South Africa are notorious for their defense of this "right".

Such is the breeding ground of fascism; from Johannesburg, South Africa to Alameda, California. Such also is the breeding ground of revolution; from Johannesburg, South Africa to Alameda, California.

We are sure that if there were "a nigger in the Watergate" to be "rousted out" by Senator Sam Ervin, the Senator would be the happiest man on Capitol Hill. But stick around, E. Boers. Keep reading THE BLACK PANTHER. You'll discover that the real perpetrators of the Watergate Scandal and much more that is wrong with America are your own kith and kin.

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CHRYSLER WORKERS' HERO FIRED

(Detroit, Michigan) - Isaac Shorter, one of the two young Black men who shut off the electrical power at Chrysler's Jefferson Avenue assembly plant for 13 hours in July was fired last week for alledgedly "refusing to work" in the intense 90 degree heat in the plant. He was forcibly ousted from the factory by security guards who attacked him outside of the gates. The other brother who helped cut the power July 24,(Larry)Carter, was issued a reprimand by the plant management in another incident of harassment.

The acts of harassment against these two brothers are examples of the constantly oppressive treatment and conditions which Chrysler workers suffer from in the 21 plants in the Detroit area. The United Auto workers Union (UAW) called a general strike against Chrysler on September 15th after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract with the corporation. The full scale strike culminates a three-month negotiating period during which employees at three Detroit factories staged various forms of protest to Chrysler's continued refusal to speed up contract talks, halt health and safety violation, and end the institutionalized racism existing in the plants.

The UAW had announced in August that Chrysler would be its negotiations target in the weeks leading up to the contract expiration date. Under the union's "strike target" strategy, which the UAW has been using since 1955, pressure is put on one of the big three automakers, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler Corporation, to come to an agreement or face a powerful shutdown. If a strike occurs, the other two automakers continue to make cars until the "target corporation" complies.

The following is an interview with Larry Carter and Isaac Shorter, the Chrysler plant "Power Heroes", first printed in The Fifth Estate, a Detroit newspaper. In the interview, Larry and Isaac run down the troubles the rank and file union members face everyday, not just around contract time. They expose the racism and corruption in the plants, as well as the corruption and neglect within the UAW itself.

Q: What led you to take the action that you did?

A: (Isaac) From the time Tom Woolsey, the white supervisor, came into the department he has been constantly harassing us, laying people off, firing people. You name it, he was doing it.

So Larry and I decided to draw up a petition for immediate removal of Tom Woolsey. We carried the petition around and got a good response. We had 214 names on the petition.

Q: Do you see the conditions in Jefferson as being totally a question of racism?

A: (Isaac) No, no. Racism is a factor in the plant, but that place would still be messed up if there wasn't any racism on the part of the supervisors.

We can't change the conditions by asking for another foreman. The conditions will still be the same.

Q: Now, if you don't think that getting rid of one supervisor changes

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anything fundamentally, then why did you sit in there to get rid of Thomas Woolsey?

A: (Isaac) You see during the time that we had been passing around petitions on the matter, we didn't just say that all we wanted was to get rid of Woolsey. We told people that we wanted to get rid of Woolsey and the type of things that Woolsey was doing. We also talked about the conditions in the plant, the fact that Chrysler is engaged in exploiting us and about the capitalist system in general.

But as far as the specific demands, we knew that we couldn't demand that Chrysler share the profits before we'd get out of that cage. That would have been impossible, the way the system is set up. Getting rid of Woolsey was more or less an educational piece to prove the power that we workers have.

Q: How did the union relate to the action?

A: (Larry) Well on Monday, July 23, we turned in the petitions demanding that they get rid of Woolsey. I told the chief steward to bring me some response during the day. At the end of the day, he hadn't moved at all.

Q: What happened when you decided to act?

A: (Isaac) When we went in, I saw one guy and told him what we were going to do. But I didn't tell him the exact place. At 6:03 a.m. we climbed over the 10-foot fence and cut the power off. Then workers started gathering around asking what was going on and telling us we had their support. The foremen and supervisors were running around trying to find out what was wrong with the line. They kept running past us, not knowing who had cut the power off.

Black and White workers supported us. But it was majority Black. There are also a lot of Arabs in the plant and they were supporting it too.

Q: How do you think your action affected the UAW leadership?

A: (Isaac) Well, Douglas Fraser said that we were hijackers. We don't consider that we were hijackers for the simple reason that hijacking is an individual thing. We don't consider this as being sit-in either. You see, when we climbed that fence and pushed that button, it became the workers' thing -- it became the workers' struggle.

Q: Apparently the international Union eventually supported both your demands -- firing Woolsey and Amnesty. Did they support you out of the conviction that you were right or some other reason?

A: (Isaac) They did support our demand, but they did not support our position that we wanted to deal directly with management. The union has been going behind closed doors to negotiate with management and the workers don't even know what's going on. Workers couldn't even voice their opinions. Like now, with the contract talks. Do you think we know what's going on in those talks?

(Larry) We demanded that the company come out front and negotiate with us, and that's why it took so long, because they didn't want to come out front.

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(Isaac) You see we just put the union to one side. All we wanted the union to do was just stand aside and witness what's going on. This is what they did. They didn't have anything to say. In the end it was Larry and I negotiating with the management. And everything we said to put down on paper went down on paper. And the management signed it, and that was it.

Q: If you had dealt through the Union do you think you would have come out as well?

A: (Larry) No. They would have come down with the word, that they would get rid of Woolsey and there would be no repercussions, but that's it.

(Isaac) You see, we wanted them to come out and deal with us in front of the other workers so if they had anything to say on the matter, they could voice their opinion. The management didn't want to do that, but they ended up doing it about 7:30 that evening.

Q: In other words, you wanted this to be done publicly in order to have the other workers standing around to voice their opinions and decide whether it was a fair settlement?

A: (Larry) Right, and we couldn't even tell the difference between the union representatives and management, the way they were begging us to come out of that cage.

Q: Does this mean that you don't feel that there is any use in working through the union?

A: (Isaac) No, the main thing is, you must have the power. And I think we helped to show the workers that they do have the power, if they will use it.

We will move within the union, as well as outside of the union. We will not be bound by the union procedures in all cases, but we will attempt to transform the union. We know that there is a positive as well as a negative in UAW, but the predominant factor is negative. So what we're going to try to do is to correct this and make the union play a more positive role for the workers.

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OAKLAND HOUSING PROJECT: ACORN TENANTS FILE RENT COMPLAINT

(Oakland, Calif.) - Tenants at Acorn Housing Project in West Oakland have filed an administrative complaint detailing their opposition to a 15% to 17% rent increase sought by the Acorn management.

They point out that the increases are being sought as a result of ineffective management and a failure of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and the Building Trades Council to require adequate construction and maintenance from the outset. The complaint has been filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The tenants are asking that the 80 page complaint be reviewed by the proper HUD authorities in Washington, rather than the regional office in San Francisco. The San Francisco office has already made a decision to approve the rental increase without providing an opportunity for tenant opinion or giving advance notice.

Also, the area HUD director in San Francisco, James Price, was an assistant to the conservative Mayor John Reading of Oakland during the early stages of Acorn construction and is clearly partial to the position of the Acorn ownership and management.

The tenants feel that they should not be required to pay such a drastic rental increase, and may plan to refuse to comply if the increases are approved by HUD.

In the complaint filed with HUD, the following reasons are given by tenants as to why the proposed raise is totally unfair: "1.) Management has allowed vacancies to soar to 10% at Acorn I, losing a total of $55,000, through vacancies in both projects in the first ten months of this fiscal year. 2.) Management has allowed administrative expenses to soar 230% beyond original FHA estimates. 3.) FHA and Acorn ownership has grossly failed to require adequate construction of the project, even omitting gutters, landscaping, recreational areas and screens on windows. 4.) Management has allowed the project to fall into serious disrepair from the outset and has increasingly failed to properly maintain it. 5.) Management

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does not seem capable of establishing a positive cash flow even with a drastic rental increase. 6.) Nationally recognized management experts have determined that, given efficient and fiscally responsible management, the proposed drastic rental increase is not necessary."

It is not possible for many Acorn tenants to pay the 15%-17% increase. If enacted, the increase will bring about the eviction of at least 70 families. While HUD recommends that rents should not exceed 25% of their income, 79% of the over 200 Acorn tenants paid rents over this 25% limit even before the proposed rental increase. Twenty-seven per cent of the tenants now pay almost half of their net income in rent! It is estimated that over 65% of the tenants could no longer afford to live at Acorn if the request for the rental increase is improved.

During this period of ever-soaring food prices, this is no time to force such a great number of low-income tenants to take substantial funds out of their fund budget for drastic rent increases. There is no decent housing available in Oakland for the families who will be evicted. HUD, through its unnecessary destruction of thousands of low income housing units in Oakland is one of the primary causes for this severe lack of housing.

If approved, the rental increase would be the second in three years at Acorn and would effectively exclude low-income persons from living at Acorn. This is in direct violation of the National Housing Act, which states that Section 236 housing (like the Acorn Project) is to be established "for the purpose of reducing rentals for low-income families" and must be administered "so as to accord a preference to those families whose incomes are within the lowest protractable limits".

If the increase is enacted, a massive refusal by tenants to pay the increase may result. While these tenants are ready to pay their fair share of rents and to help make necessary improvements at Acorn, they state that it is time for Acorn management, ownership and FHA to correct the problems for which they are primarily responsible, rather than again looking to the tenants who are least able to bear this burden.

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ALAMEDA COUNTY COMPUTERIZES POLICE DEPARTMENTS: “SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTIONS” POLICE GOAL

(Oakland, Calif.) - The country's latest business craze -- computerized police improvements systems -- seems to have discovered a new, untapped market in Alameda County, California. In the towns of Fremont, Hayward and Oakland, police departments are spending public funds on electronic investigating and bookkeeping devices like mad. With the way business is going, the old - fashioned arrest-trial-justice process will be undermined, quicker than one can say "Big Brother".

Meanwhile, an advisory committee for the California Department of Health, Education and Welfare, studying the dangers of computer criminal justice systems which promotes injustice instead, has recently released its timely recommendations. Hopefully the state legislation will listen before it's too late.

The goals and directions of these new police toys is strikingly clear -- convictions. As one project summary report reads: "Proper collection and preservation of physical evidence is critical for successful prosecutions. This need has been reaffirmed by California Attorney General Evelle Younger with his announcement of the issuance of a $201,865 grant from the California Council on Criminal Justice (CCCJ) to the State Department of Justice to establish two core, eight regional and a number of satellite laboratories throughout California."

The particular project described in the report is a specially built and equipped "Mobile Crime Lab". This mobile lab is scheduled to be obtained by the Fremont Police Department following CCCJ criticism of that department for being "unable to meet (their) critical responsibility"; that is, "successful prosecutions".

This "Mobile Crime Lab" is but one of two new acquisitions for Fremont. Soon, Fremont police will be equipped with a new, computerized telephone and radio call/monitor recording system. Again, the intent is clear: "The ability to record and store such information is invaluable for… most importantly, admissible presentations in court."

In Hayward, police intend to purchase portable alarm and scrambler systems. Once installed, four silent alarm systems will tell, by pre-recorded message, that a burglary is taking place. The scramble will prevent monitoring of police radios by a knowledgeable thief. The system boasts that police stake-outs "will be a thing of the past".

In Oakland, the City Council at their July 3rd session voted unanimously to extend their highly computerized criminal justice system, the CCCJ-funded "Multidisciplinary Analysis of police Systems" (MAPS) project through October 31, 1974.

So infatuated have local police departments become with their new toys, so overwhelming is their goal of "successful prosecutions", that they intend to computerize the records for everyone arrested in Alameda County -- 87,654 people in 1972. CORPUS is the name of this super-computer system. It's 12 page publicity brochure double-talks that: "CORPUS, Criminal Orientated Records Productions Unified System, is a modern system of uniting the records of criminal actions in Alameda County so that… the criminal justice system will have time to save…" In other words, speedy convictions.

Neither blinded nor hypnotized by the blinking bulbs and machine hums of these new computerized police squads, a state advisory committee on these matters has recently completed a thorough investigation into the problems of such personal data

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systems. Dealing with what an Oakland Tribune editorial has called a possible "technological tyranny of computers" violating an individuals' constitutional rights, the committee urged:

-- Federal legislation guaranteeing individuals the right to find out what information is being maintained about them in computerized systems and to obtain a copy of it on demand.

-- Legislation allowing a person to contest the accuracy, pertinence and timeliness of any information in a computer-accessible record about himself.

-- That record-keeping organizations, like the police, be required to inform individuals, on request, of all uses made of information that is being kept about them in computerized files.

Revelations of secret "enemies" lists and growing, fanatically conviction-minded computerized police departments make such legislation necessary. Without it, Justice will tumble as "Big Brother" mounts his bloodied pedestal.

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RUCHELL MAGEE

(San Quentin, Calif.) - Ruchell Magee, awaiting his second trial on kidnap charges, has been granted by the State Court of Appeals the right to a hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court on whether he can receive a fair trial there.

However, the court rejected claims by Magee's attorney, Robert Carrow, that his client is being denied a speedy trial and that a second trial for aggravated kidnapping would put Magee in double jeopardy.

Ruchell has been fasting for more than a month now in protest against the harassment and repression he is subjected to in the infamous Adjustment Center of San Quentin Prison. He is demanding that he be permitted press interviews; be allowed to confer with two legal investigators of his choosing; that prison authorities stop interferring with his mail, and that authorities stop denying him visits with his family and friends.

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SEATTLE POLICE BEAT BLACK SHOP OWNER

(Seattle, Washington) - Seattle police, after illegally searching a Black business here, beat and arrested the owner when he asked the police to leave his store, the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party reported last week. The incident occured August 31st at 2509 E. Cherry Street and involved Curtis Harris, the owner of a small record shop, and five police officers.

At 11:50 a.m. Officer Sherver, allegedly looking for a "J-Walker", entered the Getto Record Shop and began searching. Because there was no J-Walker in the store and the officer had no search warrant, Brother Curtis asked him to leave. When the officer refused to leave, Brother Curtis stepped from behind the counter and explained to the officer that if he did not intend to make a purchase, he would be loitering.

Officer Sherver responded by calling his partner, who was outside the store writing a traffic violation. In protest Brother Curtis tried to close the door of his shop. However, the officer got his foot in the door and a moment later five officers converged on the shop, forcing their way in.

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"It was evident they were going to arrest me", Brother Curtis said, and he told the officers he would not resist. They then threw Brother Curtis to the floor, beat and stomped him.

The police handcuffed Brother Curtis so tightly that his fingers became paralyzed. His requests for medical attention were denied. Officer Sherver constantly harassed him on the trip to the police station.

Sherver threatened that he would do everything in his power to revoke Brother Curtis' business license. Brother Curtis told the Seattle Chapter that the shop, operated by he and his wife, has become a target of police harassment in recent years. He said, "The police don't want a Black man who stands up for his constitutional rights to manage a successful business".

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PRISONERS' FAMILIES AND FRIENDS FOR ACTION: 9 POINT PROGRAM GUIDES NEW DALLAS PRISON GROUP

(Dallas, Texas) - "The exploited and oppressed must organize to survive and to change the society that denies us the right to happy lives. Hardly is there a Black family unaffected by the prison system in some manner or another." So says Brother Fred Bell, long-time Dallas community organizer, ex-prisoner and founder of Prisoners' Families and Friends for Action.

The new group has a nine point Platform and Program to guide it in its struggle to establish prisoner rights and eventually abolish prisons and the conditions that send many to prison. Prisoners' Families and Friends for Action recognize that capitalism and the rule of powerful corporations is their primary enemy.

The organization particularly attacks the slave-labor operation of the Texas prison system which offers no pay and forces prisoners to work involuntarily at least six days a week. (See article this page.) There are no rehabilitative services offered in the Texas prisons.

The new prisoner defense group also encourages the people of Dallas to attend the trials of oppressed people in the city and stand in their support.

Prisoners' Families and Friends for Action is a body of people composed of "families and friends of victims of the police - court - prison network -- that is, those who share the suffering of prisoners".

Excerpts from the nine point Platform and Program follow:

"1. We struggle for fair trials by juries of peers for all persons charged with so-called crimes under the laws of this country.

"2. We struggle for implementation of the right to effective assistance of honest, interested and concerned legal council…

"3. We struggle for the right of trial without added hazard to the defendant. That is, we oppose the so-called `plea-bargaining' system…

"4. We struggle to change the peculiar relationship the District Attorney's office holds with the judges in Dallas…

"5. We struggle to effect implementation of the right to bail…

"6. We struggle for an enforced Bill of Rights for prisoners in Texas…

"7. We struggle to expose and end the slave labor system in the Texas prison system. Men and women are unemployed because of the economic system; no jobs available for masses of Black, Brown and poor. But let them be cast into prison and the same system provides them with plenty of work and no pay…

"8. We struggle for alternatives to jail and prison… we struggle to abolish the prison system as we know it… We thus struggle for the conditions and circumstances on the economic-political level that will provide for that change."

The Black Panther Party supports these goals and the Prisoners' Families and Friends for Action.

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RETRIEVE PRISON: TEXAS ACTIVISTS SUE IN “FATHER'S DAY SLAVE BEATINGS”

(Dallas, Texas) - The United Defense for Political Prisoners group reports that ten prisoners are sueing the Director of the Texas Department of Corrections for $400,000. The prisoners charge the state prison head is responsible for their having been bludgeoned with lead-filled rubber hoses and ax handles on Monday, June 18, 1973.

The five Black, three White, one Chicano and one Native American prisoner had refused to go into the fields to pick corn at the Retrieve Prison Farm. They refused to work on that day because it was Sunday, a traditional day off even for prisoners in this southern institution. It was Father's Day as well. They were finally not forced to work, but were locked in the isolation wing.

The next day, Monday, when they went to work, they were forced to run a gauntlet and clubbed repeatedly by prison guards. At the end of the line the bruised men climbed into the tractor-trailor that pulled them into the field. One of them suffered a heart attack.

PRISONERS BEATEN AGAIN

As they sweated in the hot Texas sun amid the rows of corn, they were taken from the field, one by one, beaten, and in turn sent back to the fields again. After enduring more work in the blazing heat, each was again taken in for abuse and then sent back a third time.

Blood mingled with the sweat. Welts and gashes grew soft and became infected under the blistering, afternoon sun on the 7,331 acre plantation. And, as Major Sammy Lanhams' corrections officers came back with their clubs to give their victims more torment, they found the men already tortured by the insects and the dirt. Some bled profusely in the cornfields.

The suit is filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, as a class action on behalf of all 650 of the prisoners at the Retrieve Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). Besides the State Prison Director, Major Lanham, the warden and assistant warden, guard Obie Harman, Lieutenant Lon B. Glenn and other guards are named.

The prisoners do not expect justice in this suit. There are too many examples to show that justice is unlikely for any poor and Black man in Texas, particularly prisoners.

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STATEVILLE REBEL PRISONERS DOUBLE-CROSSED

(Chicago, Illinois) - The predominantly Black rebel prisoners at Stateville prison are waiting to see how many promises the Illinois Department of Correction's new director, Allyn R. Sielaff will break. While one of the demands they won during their recent nine-hour cell block rebellion was granted, another promise was denied. The prisoners' 15 delegate representation was permitted to appear before television cameras and press to get their story to the outside.

As they entered the room the press met them in, they proudly stared back into the glaring eyes of the Illinois state troopers and guards who lined the walls around them. Across the table sat Director Sielaff calmly puffing on his pipe, in suit and tie. He smiled too much as he tried to accommodate them before the T.V. audiences' eyes.

The meeting began with a summation of the surrender terms. "Now you stipulated", Brother Sam Early began, "that there would be no reprisals and you granted amnesty, judicial and administrative, for all participants in this action…"

"No", interrupted Sielaff. "We talked about reprisals. We talked about brutality. We guaranteed there would be no reprisals. The question of amnesty was not involved."

Brother Early's eyes seemed to grow larger as he saw the trick.

"Well, this was the question that was involved when we had the hostages and we were talking and passing notes through that cell block door. We stipulated that we wanted amnesty. And you agreed.

"When you wrote on this paper guaranteeing no reprisals we were under the impression that you had complied with our request for total amnesty."

Sielaff smiled and puffed at his pipe.

"You see", Sielaff said, "as Director of Prisons I don't have the power to grant amnesty. All I did was assure you there'd be no brutality and no reprisals. That is my duty as Director of Prisons."

The 260 desperate prisoners who seized ten guards hostage in order to stop the four - month long, twenty-four hour a day lock-up that was in effect in cell block B were left exposed to the state's revenge. The representatives went on to describe

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the cages they were held in.

"Listen to me", one Black prison inmate shouted, "you got men stacked up there in those cells. It's 80 and 90 degrees. And all day long you got these guards on our backs. You got prisoners being beaten to death by those racist guards."

Sam Early broke in: "You took all the people you thought belonged to organizations and placed us all in one nasty, dirty cell house. Then you put your racist officers in that cell house to harass us daily. You wanted us to pitch each other 100 feet to the floor where that racist officer fell six months ago. (On April 26, 1973, a guard was pushed over a tier rail and fell 100 feet to a concrete floor.)

The director left the room to answer a phone call and Warden Vernon Revis took his place. When Sielaff returned he told the assemblage, "I thought I should tell you that I have just spoken to Governor Walker on the phone. I made a recommendation to him that we should not guarantee amnesty. Also, he supports my position in respect to no reprisals."

The prisoners were shocked. They had been betrayed. Sielaff was the official they had expected would encourage amnesty. Now, he was against amnesty. After only two months on the job, Sielaff, the "reformer", was lying and deceiving them.

"Will you just make one commitment?", Brother Early asked. "Will you promise that your racist officers will not come into my cell in the middle of the night and take my life?"

"I told you", Sielaff answered, "there will be no reprisals. We have promised you that. We will keep that promise."

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“BLACK PANTHER” [article] REPRINTED IN CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

(Washington, D.C.) - An article which appeared in the March 3, 1973, edition of THE BLACK PANTHER titled "Nixon Budget: 113 Social Programs Slashed", was entered in the U.S. Congressional Record of June 30, 1973, the Black Panther Party learned recently.

The article, a summary and analysis of the 1973-74 Nixon fiscal budget, was presented by a concerned citizen, Sister Carolyn Edgerson of Cleveland, at the April 6 hearings of the Northeast Ohio Congressional Council on the 1974 budget.

A letter from Sister Carolyn notifiying the Black Panther Party that the budget summary was recorded in Congress, included a copy of the June 30 House Congressional Record and a letter to Sister Carolyn from Cleveland Congressman Louis Stokes commending her for her excellent contribution to the budget hearings.

The letter from Congressman Stokes, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, states:

"I am writing to express my appreciation, and that of the Northeast Ohio Congressional Council, for your participation in our April 6th hearings on the 1974 budget. I believe that, working together as we did, we succeeded in painting an accurate picture of the effect of federal Budget cuts on the Greater Cleveland area.

"In recognition of the significance of these hearings, I placed a summary of them in the Congressional Record of June 30, 1973. The pages on which my remarks and the summary appeared are attached for your interest.

"Again, please accept my personal commendation for your excellent contribution to these hearings."

Sincerely,
Louis Stokes
Member of Congress

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INSIDE OUT

TOM BERKELEY "SHINES"
FOR PG&E FUNDS

Tom Berkeley, Mayor John Reading's token Black on the Oakland Port Commission, played an important role in undermining the Berkeley community effort for public ownership of the giant California "public" facility Pacific Gas and Electric. His newspaper, the Post, consistently editorialized against the move and opposed the Charter amendment that would make it possible for Berkeley to purchase PG&E facilities, and thus drastically reduce gas and electricity rates. For almost nine years Berkeley had been retained by PG&E at a fee of six to eight thousand dollars annually. But in 1972 that fee zoomed up to $16,000, making PG&E his best paying client. It was Tom Berkeley that approached and recruited Berkeley citizen Frances Albriar, to file suit against the original initiative to buy out PG&E.

WILCHER'S
ONE-MAN BAND

Marcus Garvey Wilcher, another Bay Area "champion" of minorities, considers himself "the man" when it comes to minorities and the media. That's why he got mad when Huey P. Newton signed for a Cable TV hookup in the name of the Black Panther Party to serve the community without Wilcher's involvement. Wilcher expected to line his pockets off the deal, but Huey was wise to him. Wilcher IS the Community Coalition for Media Change, which he operates from his home with the grandiose name Interracial House. His big thing is skipping from one million dollar foundation to the next getting grants and aid with which to enter fair employment suits with the FCC in the name of his "Coalition", then nothing happens.

WILMONT SWEENEY
HERE COMES DE JUDGE???

Wilmont Sweeney, the Berkeley City Councilman that headed up the move to recall D'Army Bailey, has moved a little closer to that desired Reagan appointment as judge with the success of his Black undermining venture against D'Army. Sweeney works with Skip Porter, attorney for Hardeman-Markey and is stepping up his already firm ties with the Bay Area's rightest political wing. All, while he poses as a champion of Black causes. Such "champions" we can do without.

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DISHONORABLE DISCHARGES CAN BE CHALLENGED: NEW PAMPHLET AIDS VETERANS

(San Francisco, Calif.) - CCCO, a non-profit, military and draft counseling agency with offices throughout the country, has published a six-page memo, "Upgrading Discharges", aimed at helping veterans who want to change their military discharge status. Its use might successfully open employment doors previously thought closed indefinately.

In the past 10 years alone, over half a million servicemen and women have received General, Undesirable, Bad Conduct or Dishonorable Discharges. Problems caused by such other-than-honorable discharges are numerous and formidable. A person often loses part or all of his veteran's benefits with any of the above mentioned discharges. He has trouble getting work or cannot advance in his job and is often branded an outcast in the civilian job market.

Statistics show that Vietnam era veterans, even those honorably discharged, face high unemployment rates. The outlook for veterans with bad discharges, especially Black veterans, is even bleaker.

For most of these people, the only possible solution is improving their discharge. It's not easy, however, and unless the veteran understands bureaucratic procedures and has plenty of time and patience, even an appeal will probably fail.

"Upgrading Discharges" outlines different means by which ex-servicemen can attempt to erase "the stigma attached to a bad discharge", and secure much-needed benefits.

The first, most common avenue for relief, a veteran might seek is through the Discharge Review Board (DRB). The board, consists of five members, usually active duty officers. The DRB can only change a discharge/dismissal or issue a new discharge. It cannot revoke one, nor, contrary to many servicemen's hidden fears, can it reinstate someone into the military or recall a person to active duty. Notable among other exceptions to this board's power is that the DRB canno review a discharge/dismissal resulting from a general court-martial.

Consisting of a board of at least three civilians, the Board for Corrections of Military or Naval Records (BCMR) reviews cases denied by the DRB and discharges resulting in court-martials. It can also approve claims for back pay and allowances. Applications for review and correction submitted to the BCMR however, must be done within three (3) years after the injustice, rather than the 15 year time period allowed applications to the DRB.

"Upgrading Discharges" points out that personal appearances before these boards are not mandatory for either the applicant nor his witnesses; notarized personal affidavits and other documents are fully acceptable. Obtaining legal counsel is encouraged, particularly in regards to legal review of the thoroughness of those documents and personal accounts to be submitted.

"Upgrading Discharges" can provide invaluable aid to ex-servicemen who, jobless and harassed, have only battlewounds and mental scars to show for fulfilling their "Duty" to America.

To obtain a copy of "Upgrading Discharges" as well as other service-related information send 20¢ to CCCO, National Office, 2016 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19103

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REPRESSIVE DRUG LAW TAKES EFFECT IN NEW YORK: MANDATORY LIFE SENTENCE FOR HEROIN POSSESSION AND SALE

(New York, N.Y.) - What many people call the most repressive drug law in the United States went into effect in New York, September 1st. Under the new law anyone convicted of selling or possessing narcotics such as heroin will receive a mandatory life imprisonment sentence. Conviction for possession of as little as one ounce of marijuana could bring a jail term of up to 15 years.

The new drug law brings more crimes under the felony category and provides stricter penalities for first and second offenders. The quantities of drugs set for felony crimes are considerably smaller. Plea bargaining is severely limited. And several new crimes related to attempts to bribe policemen or conspiracy have been added.

The laws provide a schedule of crimes (classes of felonies or misdemeanors) and related penalties. Not only narcotics, but barbituates, amphetamines, hallucinoge..s and other drugs are included. The law applies to anyone in New York State. They are: Public Health Law - Article 33; Mental Hygiene Law - Article 81; and Penal Law - Article 220.

Each crime and its penalty is determined by specific amounts for each drug. Anyone selling or possessing specific amounts of non-narcotic drugs, such as LSD, will receive a life term. Those paroled before serving life terms will be placed on strict probation for the rest of their days.

Controversy has surrounded the new drug bill ever since New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller rammed it through the New York State Legislature. The laws' opponents feel that increased arrests will overload New York's already clogged court system. Consequently, alleged drug criminals will be denied the consitutional right to a speedy trial.

The state plans to enforce the law through the establishment of 100 new narcotics courts staffed by 100 new judges, but experts suggest that New York City alone will need 200 courts the first year. Fifteen special narcotics courts are scheduled to open September 24th.

Many people feel the new law is useless because it does nothing to stem the flow of hard drugs into the Black and oppressed communities. The addict -- who, it is felt, is not a criminal but is sick, a victim of oppression -- will languish in prison, while the sources of addictive drugs in the community, those untouchables of organized crime, will remain free to peddle their poison.

To provide incentive to the public and to help police round-up dope pushers, Governor Rockefeller included what is called a "bounty hunters" provision in the new law. Under the provision, a $1000 reward is in store for anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person who sold any amount of heroin, or possesses any amount with intent to sell.

Because, critics say, the law is so ineffective or "irrelevant", they conclude that Rockefeller could care less about drug usage in the oppressed communities of New York, where there is an estimated 150,000 addicts. Rockefeller, they say, is seeking national acclamation as he prepares to enter the 1976 presidential race.

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“TO BE OR …”

The U.S. military is "studying" whether or not it will keep a deadly chemical nerve gas it had promised to destroy. The Army says the gas, stored at an arsenal near Denver, may be useful as a "deterrent".

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PEOPLE'S PERSPECTIVE

LEGALIZING "THE NUMBERS" URGED

(Washington, D.C.) - A panel of prominent lawyers recommended last week that the District of Columbia legalize "the numbers" racket to serve as a model for the nation. The panel's report said the numbers game was the most popular form of gambling in the inner city and that police concentrate their efforts there, tending to ignore illegal gambling by middle class Whites. In this way Blacks are discriminated against.

AN INTERESTING THEORY

(New Orleans, La.) - A political scientist told the American Political Science Association here last week that integrated schools may retard the political growth of Blacks. Alfred S. Arkley, professor at Western Washington State College said that research he compiled indicated that Black students in all Black schools were more politically aware and more inclined to participate in politics than were Blacks in integrated schools.

MORE TROUBLE FOR NIXON

(Anaheim, Calif.) - The California State Bar last week overwhelmingly endorsed a bar investigation of six California lawyers, including President Nixon, involved in the Watergate scandal. Each of the six could lose his license to practice law in California, even if not convicted of a crime. The six are: Nixon, Nixon's lawyer, Herbert Kalmbach, Robert Mardian, John Erlichman, Donald Segretti and Dwight Chapin.

FRENCH RACIST RETALIATE

(Marseilles, France) - An outbreak of racism on a scale unheard of since the days of the Nazi occupation in France, has occured here following the alleged shooting of five people by an Algerian immigrant. Retaliating, snipers have murdered seven Algerians in the street in the past week.

WILL U.N. DO ITS JOB?

(United Nations) - U.N. Secretary - General Kurt Waldheim declared recently that the basic question facing the United Nations was whether it really wanted an active organization with a life of its own rather than a mere forum in which to confer and pursue national policies. In his annual reports' introduction, issued August 26, Mr. Waldheim said his main purpose was to provide a basis "for constructive debate on the present state of our organization and on some of the problems of its future development as a universal instrument in a world of interdependent soverign states".

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REVOLUTIONARY SUICIDE: THE DEFECTION OF ELDRIDGE AND REACTIONARY SUICIDE: BY HUEY P. NEWTON

This is the third and final excerpt from "The Defection of Eldridge and Reactionary Suicide", chapter from Revolutionary Suicide in which Huey P. Newton analyzes the defection of Eldridge Cleaver from the Black Panther Party. In this excerpt Huey explains how Eldridge's incorrect ideas and his unscientific ideology caused him to equate revolution with violence. It analyzes the positive aspects of Eldridge's defection, how the end to his influence allowed the Party to return to its original vision and thereby gain a much wider acceptance in the community.

PART 3 CONCLUSION

Eldridge Cleaver identified with other negative aspects of the Party. It is not a coincidence that he joined the Party only after the Ramparts confrontation. What appealed to him were force, firepower, and the intense moment when combatants stood at the brink of death. For him this was the revolution. Eldridge's ideology was based on the rhetoric of violence; his speeches abounded in either/or absolutes, like "Either pick up the gun or remain a sniveling coward". He would not support the survival programs, refusing to see that they were a necessary part of the revolutionary process, a means of bringing the people closer to the transformation of society. He believed this transformation could take place only through violence, by picking up the gun and storming the barricades, and his obsessive belief alienated him more and more from the community. By refusing to abandon the position of destruction and despair, he underestimated the enemy and took on the role of the reactionary suicide.

Long before Eldridge's actual defection from the Party he had taken the first steps of his journey into spiritual exile by failing to identify with the people. He shunned the political intimacy that human beings demand of their leaders. When he fled the country, his exile became a physical reality. Eldridge had cut himself off from the revolutionary's greatest source of strength-unity with the people, a shared sense of purpose and ideals. His flight was a suicidal gesture, and his continuing exile in Algeria is a symbol of his defection from the community on all levels - geographical, psychological and spiritual.

From a dialectical point of view, something positive has arisen out of Eldridge's defection. While he and his followers still identify with aspects of the Party that once alienated us from the community, the Party has moved in a different direction. He has taken the media's image squarely upon his own shoulders. We are glad to be free of the burden. What little we lost in credibility we have gained in a wider acceptance of the Party by the community. We have reached a more advanced state. There has been a qualitative leap forward, a growth in consciousness.

Camus wrote that the revolutionary's "real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present". This, he says, grows out of an intense love for the earth, for our brothers, for justice. The Black Panther Party embraces this principle. By giving all to the present we reject fear, despair, and defeat. We work to repair the breaches of the past. We strive to carry out the revolutionary principle of transformation, and through long struggle, in Camus's words, "to remake the soul of our time".

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WATERGATE BURGLARS TO TALK: COURT OF APPEALS COMPROMISES ON TAPES, HEARINGS SHORTENED

News that Four of the "original" Watergate defendants now want to tell what they know about the conspiracy/ cover-up comes as a timely surprise. Hearings of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities are set to resume on September 24th. These men should be among the first called upon to testify.

The four men -- Bernard Barker, Frank Sturgis, Virgillo Gonzalez and Fugenio Martinez -- all anti-Castro Cuban exiles, have since the time of their arrest on June 17, 1972, maintained a stoney silence. They along with ex-CIA wiretap expert James McCord, were the actual burglars of the Democratic Party's National headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.; one of a number of illegal break-ins and burglaries in which they have been subsequently implicated.

At the Watergate, they were caught red-handed, burglary and wiretap tools in hands, and thousands of dollars of red-hot Republican Party campaign funds in their pockets. They are serving their ninth month of 40-year sentence, never once abandoning their silence.

On Friday, September 14th, after futilely awaiting some sign from the sidelines that they were not mere blockers, to be used and trod upon in their football loving president's game plan to power, the four have decided to talk. They have asked, in a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to have their convictions set aside and to withdraw their guilty pleas.

"Events since the time the guilty pleas were entered have demonstrated that the entire judicial proceedings in this matter were tainted by a massive fraud whose intended victims were the public, the prosecutors and this court.

"These defendants", the suit reads, "were not the perpetrators of this fraud, but were among its victims. In some respects they have suffered the most… have had their lives shattered due to an unconscionable deception that appealed to their patriotism." (We should remember, of course that their "patriotism", and the appeal to it, was and is the overthrow of the Republic of Cuba, and the popularly supported Fidel Castro regime.)

Still, the points and issues raised by this suit have strong validity. The four contend that they had been misled into believing the Watergate bugging was "sponsored and approved by a legitimate federal government intelligence agency". They also maintain that they presented no defense at their trial for fear of exposing "secret, confidential and sensitive national security operations of which they were a part". These "national security operations" include: the break-in of Daniel Ellsburg's psychiatrist, infiltration and surveillance of the Vietnam Veterans/Winter Soldier Organization, the rape of a White Los Angeles "Friend of the Panthers", and the probable break-in and theft of files in Black Panther Party Attorney Charles Garry's office and God-knows what else. Their guilty pleas were simply, "the product of a blind and ignorant loyalty fostered in the defendants' minds by deceptions practiced on them by others who purported to act under the color of a higher law". In view of testimony given at the color of a higher law". In view of testimony given at the Watergate committee, this higher law is apparently none other than the Divine Right of Kings.

COURT OF APPEALS

Meanwhile, in related affairs, the U.S. Court of Appeals has suggested that the President and Archibald Cox, the special criminal prosecutor, get together and review the secret White House tapes -- an unusual compromise move in the case of the American people vs. Nixon. Cox has quickly accepted the suggestion, while the White House cautiously claimed to be "studying" the memo. The half-ruling, coming as an alternative to an actual court order, was made in Washington, D.C., by the full seven member body. It was the first words by the court since it began its hastily-arranged judicial proceedings. Both the White House and Cox appealed to U.S. District Court Judge John Sirica that, he, Sirica, review the tapes alone before deciding a disposition in the case. Cox had argued, and still maintains,

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that the controversial tapes be handed over to a grand jury called to determine criminal activities concerning the planning and cover-up of the Watergate break-in; criminal activities concerning the planning and cover-up of the Watergate break-in; criminal activities involving the highest echelons of American government, activities requiring the impeachment of the president. White House lawyers, fevorishly cling to the vague and shakey "Executive privilege/national security" argument -- replete with paranoid delusions of grandeur.

Prior to this most recent court move, Cox urged the appellate court not to "shrink from a coercive order" against the President in the case because delicacy might create "confusion or doubt about the status of its judgment". He knows however, that pending the order, the present suggestion is a step in the right direction and that it is a good indication that, if the White House refuses to go along he will receive the decision he wants.

As this particular link in the swiftly-moving chain of events, moves to its fated Supreme Court conclusion, the Senate Select Committee has decided to sharply curtail its second session hearings to only 18 more public sessions. Making the announcement following a 75-minute closed meeting, was the chairman of the committee, Democratic Senator Sam Ervin and Senator Howard Baker, the ranking Republican. They both rejected any claim that the reduction was a response to White House pressure.

Ervin told reporters that the group believed they could expediate the hearings by focusing upon "key witnesses" and "salient points" of testimony, without going into "such details that we won't be able to see the forest for the bushes and the trees". Expected witnesses include Charles Colson, a Nixon aide whose fingers roamed in many pies, and the CIA's second story team of Hunt and Liddy, agent/conspirators who completed an astounding number of "dirty tricks".

Both Ervin and Baker also stood firm in defending the hearings against lingering pressures that T.V. cameras be barred from the sessions. Conservative senators Barry Goldwater from Arizona and Robert Dole of Kansas have both raised this bogus cry. Such a proposal, many agree, would seriously undermine the beginnings of a new and long-needed public right -- open government.

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Intercommunal News: CHILE COUP - MADE IN U.S.

(Santiago, Chile) - Jack Kubisch, assistant Secretary of State told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee shortly after news of the coup against Chilean President Salvador Allende broke, that there had been "no involvement by the U.S. government, U.S. corporations, agencies or citizens".

If the President of the U.S.A. can claim ignorance of subversive activities going on right under his nose, in his own office, how can this relatively minor administration figure responsible for Latin America be expected to know what government agencies, private U.S. corporations and U.S. citizens are doing in Chile?

The truth is that the Nixon admininstration, U.S. corporations and numberless American citizens contributed mightily to what the widow of the late President of Chile has called a "fascist coup".

Who is ignorant of charges made before a Senate subcommittee last Spring that the CIA, a government agency, approached the International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) Corporation about waging a campaign of economic sabotage against the government of Allende?

Are the American people so ignorant to believe that ITT's offer to the Nixon administration of a reported one million dollars to prevent the election of Allende was an isolated action? We insist that they are not. We have only the word of the Nixon administration that it did not accept the offer. This was one that got caught. How about the many that were never uncovered?

It is a matter of record that from the moment of Allende's democratic election as Chile's president, U.S. corporations, in concert with the Nixon administration and government agencies, declared economic war on Chile. The objective was to do everything possible to create economic chaos in the country making it impossible for the Allende government to rule.

This economic war took the form of an immediate cut-off of long-standing credits on the purchase of much needed U.S. manufactured and capital goods. Development loans were halted abruptly and U.S. corporations refused to sell vitally needed equipment, spare parts and raw materials with or without credit. These same corporations twisted the long but pliable arms of their subsidiaries and foreign associates to do likewise, and they complied.

Economic chaos resulted, fanned into hysteria by organized bands of right-wing elements and dubbed members of Chile's middle-class. Meanwhile, Chile's ranking military establishment, Allende's leadliest opposition, with the complete cooperation of the U.S. government, was being flooded with U.S. military hardware, training and purchasing facilities. No U.S. boycott existed in the area of arms. Allende's policies, frustrated

-- 14 --
by a non-cooperative legislature, consistently received the overwhelming support of Chile's working people and rural poor. These clearly constitute a numerical majority of the Chilean people.

Early reports say close to a thousand persons have been killed in this fascist coup in Chile. We may never know the actual figure. Allende's steadfast resistance to demands that he resign as the crisis neared is sufficient evidence for us that he did not commit suicide as the coup leaders insist, but that he was murdered.

In Paris some 40,000 demonstrators surged through the streets shouting "Coup-makers, fascists, murderers" and "Down with the murderers and the CIA" denouncing the overthrow and murder of Allende. Demonstrations were also held in Rome, in Milan, in Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and many other cities.

Former Argentine President Juan D. Peron, not unfamiliar with the workings of the U.S. government in South America, is reported to have charged that U.S. elements had helped the coup. He said: "I firmly believe that because I know all about this process; I believe it could not have been otherwise."

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FRELIMO LAUNCHES ROCKET ATTACK - PAIGC TO RECEIVE JETS

(Dar es Salam, Tanzania) - FRELIMO Freedom Fighters have launched another rocket attack on a major military town in Mozambique, reports the Daily News here. The Attack on the strategic garrison town of Tete took place only four days after a similar assault on the town of Mocimboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado Province.

Reporting the latest attack the South African Press Association in Johannesburg quoted a communique released by the Portuguese High Command in Nampula. The communique said that "several Russian-made 122mm rockets" were fired at sunset on to the town. The communique claimed that the rockets exploded in nearby bush.

However, on every occasion that the Portuguese have announced a FRELIMO rocket attack since last September, the Daily News writes, they have maintained that the rockets either missed their target or that minimal damage was done. Observers take these claims with a grain of salt.

This is the second time Tete town has been attacked with rockets. The first occasion was last November when an attack was launched simultaneously with a devastating assault on nearby Chingozi Airport. The massacres of civilians recently reported by Spanish priests and others took place a few weeks later in surrounding villages.

Meanwhile, the Star of South Africa reports that within two weeks of taking command of Portuguese troops in Mozambique, General Basto Machado appears to be readying a major onslaught on FRELIMO guerrillas in the Tete district.

The Star reports: "The FRELIMO have been so active in the Tete district in the past year or two that movement on roads is almost impossible except on defended convoys and is extremely risky on the one road open to lone travellers, that south from Tete to Beira."

In other developments in the southern Africa war of liberation, forty militants of the African Party of Independence for Guinea (Bissau) and Cape Verde Islands (PAIGC) have arrived back in Guinea (Bissau) after

-- 15 --
receiving fighter pilot training. "The Voice of Freedom" radio, broadcasting in Portuguese, reports that PAIGC will soon be equipped with modern Russian made MIG fighter planes and that MIGs piloted by PAIGC militants "will decisively change the balance of forces in the skies of Guinea Bissau".

In Portugal two respected Spanish priests who sent reports out of Mozambique describing massacres by the Portuguese armed forces are to be charged with "complicity in crimes of high treason". They have been held in jail by the fascist authorities for the last 18 months.

A military court charge sheet against the two -- Father Alfonso Valverde Leon and Father Martin Hernandez Robles -- alleged they wrote reports accusing troops of serious injustices against the population of Mozambique's Mecumbura district.

Included in the charges against the two priests: supplied cooked meals, foodstuffs, medicines, books and other articles to FRELIMO freedom fighters. A fifteen-year-old African boy who was among the few survivors of one of the massacres has been placed in hiding by priests of the Burgos order, to which Fathers Leon and Robles belong. The boy, known as Antonio, gave the first eye-witness account published abroad of what happened in a village in Tete last December when it was attacked by Portuguese troops.

The priests feared for the boy's life when it was learned the Portuguese authorities were searching for the youth to "question" him. Latest reports say the Portuguese authorities plan to expel from Portuguese-held territory all remaining priests of the Burgos order by the end of the year.

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THIRD WORLD UNITY STRESSED AT NON-ALIGNED NATIONS CONFERENCE

(Algiers, Algeria) - The 4th Conference of Non-Aligned nations ended here last week sounding a clear and unmistakable anti-imperialist, liberation call.

The representatives of 76 nations from Africa, Asia and South America representing more than two billion souls, voiced strong, unified support to the liberation movements of southern Africa, recognized the absolute sovereign right of nations to nationalize their natural resources and were opposed to the Big Stick policies of powerful, industrialized states.

Some of the main conference results were the following:

1. Agreement to sharply build material and moral support to anti-colonial liberation struggles throughout southern Africa. Many states pledged training facilities and funds to African liberation movements. Jamaica and Guyana, Black-ruled Caribbean nations, expressed their willingness to send volunteers from their countries to join the liberation armies.

2. Agreement on a charter of economic freedom, asserting that states owning oil and other natural resources can freely fix prices of these resources. Furthermore, in bargaining with the corporations and consumer countries, prices for oil, copper and other materials the industrial states must depend on the fairness of industry and corporations in the prices they charge for their manufactured goods.

3. Acceptance of Chile's idea of a non-aligned development bank to be financed chiefly by the rich, oil-producing states. It will furnish, pool and invest funds for needed development projects in member countries, cutting Third World dependence on highly industrial countries for development assistance.

4. Agreement on a strong anti-Israel resolution on the Middle East, calling on all non-aligned states that have not already done so to break relations with Israel and apply economic sanctions and trade boycotts until Israel withdraws from Arab territory seized in 1967. Also, the conference declared that the Palestine Liberation Organization is the "sole and authentic representative of the Palestinian people", giving a tremendous boost to the Palestinian guerrilla organizations.

5. Recognition of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam and the provisional regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia as the legitimate governments of the Vietnamese and Cambodian peoples.

Contrary to the conclusions of the U.S. press, these accomplishments are momentous. Attempts to play up the minor, individual differences that arose at the conference only reveal the fear and apprehension felt by the U.S. government at the tremendous significance of 76 nations coming together with the open intent of organizing to withstand the increasingly threatening inroads of world imperialism.

There was serious discussion at the conference on the creation of a permanent, non-aligned secretariat or headquarters and the formal creation of what might be termed a Third World United Nations. Final decision on this proposal was tabled, possibly for the next non-aligned conference which is scheduled to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in 1976.

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2ND TRIAL OF CARLOS FELICIANO BEGINS IN NEW YORK

(New York City) - "The case of Carlos Feliciano, forty-two year old nationalist militant, is more than the case of one individual. It breathes the life of a nation, of a history, both of which Carlos has come to symbolize, both of which he is a part."

These words by the Committee to Defend Carlos Feliciano express the significance of the latest trial of Carlos Feliciano, political prisoner and symbol of the struggle for Puerto Rican independence, which opened here September 4th. He is charged with attempting to bomb the General Electric building here on February 9, 1970, and with possession of dangerous materials. It is his second frame-up trial in a U.S. government move to cripple the Puerto Rican independence movement by falsely linking Puerto Rican activists with terrorist bombings.

In an earlier trial in June, 1972, Carlos was found innocent of attempting to bomb an Army recuriting station and of possessing dangerous weapons. The trial followed his May 16,

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1970, arrest ordered by two Bureau of special Services and Investigation (BOSSI) detectives, Andrew Guitierrez and Edward Rodriquez.

After the arrest New York District Attorney John Fine told the press that Carlos was: 1) responsible for 40 bombings in New York during the previous five months 2) a member of a clandestine group accused of numerous bombings both in Puerto Rico and New York and 3) affiliated with an "unfriendly" foreign government, later identified as Cuba.

At the trial, held in the Bronx, it was discovered that six BOSSI agents were assigned to watch Carlos around the clock and tap his telephone. The agents admitted that during the entire 60-day surveillance period, Carlos was not found to be engaged in any kind of illegal activity.

ATTEMPTING TO BOMB G.E.

Dissatisfied with the acquittal in this trial, the government decided to try him in Manhattan for attempting to bomb General Electric and possessing dangerous materials. Defense Attorney William Kunstler presented a motion in a pre-trial hearing on July 2, 1973, demanding the charges be dropped on the grounds that the prosecution's case was fabricated for political reasons and brought in bad faith.

The pre-trial hearing uncovered starting new facts from the testimony of prosecution witness Sergeant Dunn of the New York City Police Department. Under oath, Dunn admitted the complicity of City, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, federal and presidential agencies in the prosecution. He said the decision in early 1970 to put Carlos and other Puerto Ricans under surveillance was the result of a meeting BOSSI held with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Police, FBI, and the President's special security force.

Kunstler said a new hearing should be scheduled "at which the full measure of governmental misconduct in respect to the…prosecution may be determined, with information submitted in advance regarding the participation of the White House intelligence evaluation staff, including representatives of the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency, Departments of Justice, Treasury and Defense and the Secret Service, in the decision to prosecute Carlos Feliciano".

In the new trial the state's case has already received a setback. BOSSI detective Guitierrez, who ordered Carlos' arrest, has been suspended from BOSSI for taking a $15,000 bribe for allowing a drug pusher to escape arrest.

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Africa In Focus

UPPER VOLTA

The six Central and West African nations hardest hit by the devastating six-year drought, meeting in Upper Volta last week, called on all nations with which they have outstanding debts to agree to a ten year moratorium on those debts. This would mean that the six countries, Mali, Upper Volta, Mauritania, Chad, Niger and Senegal, would not be required to make the annual payments on those debts for ten years, allowing their governments to devote those monies to famine and drought relief. We await the U.S. government's reply to this request…

SOUTH AFRICA - RHODESIA

Officials of the International Federation of Amateur Swimming (FINA), meeting in Belgrade, Yugoslavia recently, decided to exclude South Africa and Rhodesia. An Investigating Commission formed at the 1972 Congress of FINA at the request of socialist countries reported that the registration and directions of swimming in South Africa are based on racist grounds and that integration there is as rare as in Rhodesia.

RHODESIA

The first visible signs of a serious revolt have appeared in the rebel army of Ian Smith, reports the Zimbabwe News, official organ of the Zimbabwe African National Union published in Lusaka, Zambia. The African soldiers have realized that they are fighting in the wrong camp and are refusing to obey orders from senior White rebel officers to act against African interests. Under the rule of collective punishment introduced by Smith three months ago, White rebel troops have resorted to widespread plunder of African cattle for their own possession. African soldiers have refused to participate in this activity and have reported these actions to African Liberation movements.

PORTUGAL

The Australian government will boycott a Portuguese trade mission due in the capital, Canberra, this month in protest against Portugal's Angola and Mozambique policies, a spokesman for the Overseas Trade Minister, Mr. James Cairns, has said. Mr. Cairns will not receive the Portuguese and there will be no Australian government recognition of the mission, the spokesman said. The government will not formally bar the mission, but will do its best to discourage it.

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S.A. POLICE RIOT - KILL 12 AFRICAN MINERS

(Johannesburg, South Africa) - The 12 African miners killed at the Deep Levels gold mine at Carltonville in South Africa's Transvaal were murdered by rioting South African police; not the other way around as the press has attempted to assert.

Called in by the mine's management to break up a picket line of Black machine operators, the police went berserk when the miners firmly refused to break their line, shooting into it and killing the 12 and wounding an additional 29 at least.

Eighty Black machine operators were picketing the mine over pay differentials between Black and White operators. When police appeared on the scene to break up the picket line, large numbers of non-skilled Black miners and laborers joined their brothers on the line to resist the attempts to break it.

This demonstration of strength, determination and unity on the part of Black miners infuriated and frightened the racist South African police and precipitated firing into the miner's peaceful demonstration.

Black machine operators in the mines of South Africa are paid about $71.00 a month. White technicians doing the same work are paid as much as twenty times that amount. While White miners are organized in strong unions that protect their interests, Black miners are forbidden to organize unions and are forced to work as much as 70 hours in a week.

The Carltonville mine is the third largest in South Africa. It produces uranium as well as gold and is reputed to be one of the most modern in South Africa. It is owned by the Anglo-American Corporation of Harry Oppenheimer.

For these and other reasons the murder of the 12 miners takes on

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an importance comparable to the Sharpeville shootings in South Africa in 1960, when the police killed 68 and wounded more than 200 Africans peacefully demonstrating against the infamous pass laws.

South African mines and industries are under increasing pressure to upgrade Black workers and improve their pay scales. The pressure comes from two directions: Black workers throughout South Africa are demanding living wages and greatly improved working conditions, and White workers are increasingly refusing to accept the lower level, skilled and semiskilled jobs.

In recent months some of these skilled and semiskilled jobs have been opened up to Black workers, but little or nothing has been done about increasing their below level poverty wages.

Black workers throughout South Africa and all those who are sympathetic to their just demands will see the murder by police of picketing miners at Carltonville as an indication that industry is taking the hardline approach to their demands. This can only mean a hardening of their resolve to obtain justice and consequently increasing, bloody confrontation.

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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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DEATH CELL READY

The re-institution of the death penalty in California has not taken San Quentin officials by surprise. They have kept the gas chamber (above) ready for use since the Supreme Court outlawed capital punishment as "cruel and unusual punishment".

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ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS: PRISON RECORDING ARTISTS: THE ESCORTS -- “ALL WE NEED IS ANOTHER CHANCE”

In any Black and poor community across this country we can find groups of young people harmonizing in song "on the block". They usually know all the top tunes and are equally at ease in the blues, gospel, rock and pop idioms of oppressed people.

"All We Need is Another Chance" is a first album by such a group -- with a difference. The seven young 'men who make up The Escorts are prison inmates at Rahway State Prison in New Jersey. Like many prisoners, these young men formed themselves into a singing group. Unlike many, they may get "another chance".

Such groups, whether from the block or the prison, sing of lost hope, lost love, of movin' on up, of things getting better. Not only are the songs an important sustaining force in the face of poverty, hunger, police or guard brutality and depression, but to many they offer hope of a future, a better life.

DREAMS ARE SHATTERED

For the most part such dreams are shattered and must be forgotten as the reality of struggling to survive -- of being Black and poor in America determines their destiny. A very few "make it" in the entertainment field. The rest end up with low paying jobs, on welfare rolls, in the army or in prison.

But, for Laurance Franklin, Reginald Haynes, Robert Arrington, William Dugger, Stephen Carter, Frank Heard and Marion Murphy, Rahway Prison inmates, the cycle may be broken. Brother George Kerr, professional song writer and record producer formerly with Motown Records, discovered The Escorts at a talent show over two years ago at the prison.

George Kerr was so impressed with what he heard that he decided they should be recorded. Thus began a two year struggle to get permission to enter Rahway State Prison to record The Escorts. He was finally able to do so and from this effort comes the album "All We Need is Another Chance".

In tight, mellow harmony The Escorts sing seven popular songs from the sixties and seventies. They include "Little Green Apples", "Ooh Baby, Baby" and "By the Time I get to Phoenix". The album's title is taken from an original composition by George Kerr, "All We Need (is Another Chance)." It is done on the Alithia label, out of North Bergen, New Jersey.

The royalties from this recording will be split, half will go to the families and half will go to the large welfare fund for prisoners at Rahway State Prison.

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4 MORE: HENRY AARON BREAKS ANOTHER RECORD

Last week Hank Aaron hit the 709th home run of his career, breaking another major league record -- the most home runs hit in one league. Following this record breaking clout, Brother Hank belted another homer later in the game, bringing his total number of runs hit in the National League to 710, surpassing Babe Ruth's previous American League record by 2. As we go to press Hank is only 4 home runs behind Babe Ruth's lifetime record of 714. It shouldn't be much longer before Hank Aaron is officially recognized as the greatest home run hitter in history!

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STRIKES HIT 700,000 SCHOOL CHILDREN

About 700,000 American school children are still on vacation because of teacher vs. school system disputes. Strikes have hit cities in Michigan, Ohio, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

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JAPANESE ARMY UNCONSTITUTIONAL

The Japanese army, the Self-Defense Forces, has been declared, unconstitutional by the Hokkaido District Court. The 13 division army and 1000 plane airforce as well as the navy are forbidden in Japan's constitution, written by the U.S. occupation army in 1945.

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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.

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.

DAVID HILLIARD PEOPLE'S
FREE SHOE PROGRAM

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

PEOPLE'S FREE PLUMBING
AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

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

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.

CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Provides 24-hour child care facilities for infants and children between the ages of 2 months and three years. Youth are engaged in a scientific program to develop their physical and mental faculties at the earliest ages.

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.

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