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AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY: CATHOLIC CHAPLAIN FIRED FOR B.P.P. SUPPORT WORK

(Palo Alto, Calif.) -- Lay minister Miriam Cherry, for five years associate Catholic chaplain for Stanford University, was fired from her position last week because she worked with Black Panther Party initiated survival programs in the Black, Chicano and poor communities of this otherwise affluent college town.

The action was taken by the governing body of St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church on March 10, at a highly charged four hour church council meeting attended by more than 200 parishioners and members of the Palo Alto community. Despite overwhelming support for minister Cherry repeatedly demonstrated by the large audience, the council voted 8 to 0, with two abstentions, to remove minister Cherry. The council consists of six Palo Alto residents, four Stanford students and one faculty wife.

Minister Cherry told THE BLACK PANTHER that although she had been aware of serious opposition to her ministry by certain powerful individuals in the Palo Alto White community, her immediate employer, campus Catholic minister Father John Duryea, had never approached her about her work. "My work was not being objected to by the chaplain, but by people not even connected with Stanford," minister Cherry is quoted as saying in The Stanford Daily.

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Two years ago an attempt was made to remove minister Cherry from her post when the finance committee of St. Ann's claimed there were not enough funds to maintain a salaried associate chaplain. At that time individuals on the council alleged they could not justify the salary because minister Cherry allegedly spent most of her time in Oakland working on the 1973 election campaign in support of Bobby Seale and Elaine Brown.

That attempt failed when a generl congregation meeting, including members of the east Palo Alto community and neighboring colleges, overwhelmingly opposed the removal of minister. Cherry detailed her many continuing efforts in administering to their community and insisted rather that her salary should be increased. In response the council voted minister Cherry a salary increase.

Among the many activities minister Cherry has administered to in the Black, Chicano and poor communities of Palo Alto, are the Marie Hill Free Child Care Center, Free Busing to Prisons, Free Plumbing and Maintenance in East Palo Alto, Sickle Cell Anemia testing, Free Food Programs, Free Legal Aid and sale of THE BLACK PANTHER newspaper. She was instrumental in organizing the Intercommunal Support Committee of Palo Alto in 1972, and has actively supported women's movements, anti-war activities and minority student issues at Stanford.

Minister Cherry told THE BLACK PANTHER that the sale of THE BLACK PANTHER in front of St. Ann's church on Sundays was one of the "disturbing issues" for those opposed to her ministry. Yet, she continued, "Catholic students from St. Ann's have repeatedly volunteered to sell the newspaper in front of the church…and others plan to sell cakes in front of the church to raise funds for the survival program, the planned Marie Hill Free People's Development Center."

Minister Cherry added: "Mexican-American students who have a deep Catholic heritage are the most outraged and feel this act is an attack on them; that there is a class of people at St. Ann's who do not want them. These students seriously question if they can ever attend mass there again."

The council meeting of March 10 was called to consider the following motion, raised by council President Richard Thesing: "Should the St. Ann community continue to have a full-time salaried member of the pastoral staff engaged in a prophetic ministry on campus and in the community, active on behalf of the interests of oppressed people?"

Following the vote of the council, Thesing told The Stanford Daily that the council "did not in any way mean to vote against the type of ministry she (Cherry) performed." He added, "It is more a problem of her not being able to work with other members of the staff."

(Thesing includes among his credentials the fact that he has represented the California growers in opposition to the United Farm Workers Union organizing efforts.)

Members of the congregation and community, sparked by Catholic Chicanos, have overwhelmingly expressed their support for minister Cherry and are planning campus and community actions to protest the firing, and are demanding a substantial severance award and creation of a survival fund to enable minister Cherry to sustain herself and continue her Christian liberation work among the oppressed and needy of the Palo Alto community.

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EDITORIAL: STANFORD JOINS THE WITCHHUNT

Powerful reactionary forces associated with the prestigious Stanford University at Palo Alto. California, have temporarily succeeded in threatening the existence of a group of vitally important free survival programs serving hard-pressed minority and poor students at Stanford and the depression-struck minority and poor community of East Palo Alto. (See stories, cover and page 4.)

These forces have done this by exerting what must have been enormous pressure on Stanford University Catholic Chaplain Father John Duryea to fire Associate Catholic Chaplain Miriam Cherry, for five years the "prophetic minister" of Stanford serving the most needy of campus and community with devotion, commitment and what she knew to be Christian charity.

In what must have been a shocking display of anti-Christian deceit, lies and racist behavior for the parishioners that Father John Duryea served, he and his small band of co-conspirators, using lynch mob tactics, attempted to defame and smear the character and person of Minister Miriam Cherry and those she has served in order to justify the firing.

The real issue was never touched: Miriam Cherry has for the past three years been a major activist of the Palo Alto Intercommunal Support Committee, initiated by the Black Panther Party and responsible for organizing and operating the Marie Hili Child Care Center. Free Food distribution. Free Sickle Cell Anemia testing. Free Plumbing and Maintenance. Free Legal Aid, Free Busing to Prisons and sale of THE BLACK PANTHER newspaper, all in Palo Alto.

The Black Panther Party views the firing of Miriam Cherry as a direct attack upon us and upon Black and other oppressed people. We understand that the objective of the perpetrators of this attack is to undermine and ultimately destroy the Black Panther Party's ability to serve the people. We are confident, however, that the Black, Chicano, Native American and depressed White communities of Palo Alto will confront and defeat this effort and guarantee the continuing work of the Palo Alto Intercommunal Survival Committee.

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An Appeal To Our Readers

Dear Reader,

The staff of THE BLACK PANTHER deeply appreciates and thanks those of you who have responded so generously to our urgent plea for financial help in these difficult times for us all. We have been most gratified by those who have sent contributions of from a quarter to five dollars, indicating that you are yourselves in very difficult straits, wishing you could send more and urging us to hang in there.

We want to assure you, good friends, that we've hung in there these past eight years, and we'll be hanging in there until our job is done. We know this because you're out there and your numbers are growing every day.

Those of you who have not yet responded to our appeal, we urge you to do so today. Don't wait. Help carry us over the hump. Send what you can and pass our paper around to those unfamiliar with it. Help THE BLACK PANTHER win new readers, new friends and new contributors.

There is another way you can help. We're looking for creators of crossword puzzles relevant to survival and liberation. If you're a crossword puzzle enthusiast, how about creating puzzles for THE BLACK PANTHER?

Remember, with every contribution of $25.00 or more you will receive free a one year's subscription. For every contribution of $100.00 or more you will receive free a life-time subscription.

By helping to keep THE BLACK PANTHER alive and well you will be directly contributing to your liberation.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

David G. Du Bois
Editor-in-Chief

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COMMENT: “TURN PRISONS INTO GOLD-FISH BOWLS”

By Tom Wicker

Below is Part 2 of an article which originally appeared in the March, 1975, issue of More magazine by New York Times' columnist Tom Wicker in which Mr. Wicker gives an insightful, critical analysis of the American press' inadequate coverage of prison conditions.

PART 2

Classically, none of the three (civil service, corrections officers' unions, and a quasi-police force) -- which in this case become a powerful one -- cherishes outside supervision or interference or "oversight," and each develops a dependence upon and a devotion for the service transcending its supposed social purposes.

And corrections officers -- ill-paid. ill-educated, usually untrained save by experience -- are not inclined to be overly sympathetic to the complaints or views of the criminals in their charge. And because they regard inmates as both dangerous and alien -- most of them are Black or Spanish-speaking and urban, these days, and frequently radical, corrections officers tend to submerge most other prison problems in the single, overriding need they see for "security" at all costs.

The response of the prison's bureaucracy to the revolt at the maximum security facility at Attica was to demand a "maximum-maximum" security prison.

DIFFICULT

All this would make it difficult for the most challenging press to provide comprehensive prison coverage for the most demanding public; what does publicity contribute to "security"? Nor does the law offer much help. The U.S. Supreme Court has held (June 24, 1974) that there is no Constitutional right for reporters to interview inmates on demand.

Most state systems nevertheless permit most inmates to be interviewed, generally in closely observed conditions: in California and numerous other prison systems

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-- including the federal -- officials say reporters can get guided tours of prisons more or less on demand, and even chat with inmates they encounter.

But that is neither guaranteed for free access, and such access as there is remains mostly subject to bureaucratic observation and regulation.

What's worse, there really is no challenging press -- certainly no demanding public -- when it comes to prison news. Day in and day out, assuming no "security" problems, these dark fortresses, these warehouses of human lives, go unexamined and unreported -- as, for the most part, do parole board meetings, corrections board meetings, prison legislation (if any) and the administrative functionings of the prison bureaucracy.

A man being legally sentenced to prison for 18 months might make the local papers; but an inmate being administratively sentenced to "the box" -- solitary confinement -- for 30 days or even longer usually makes nothing but the prison grapevine.

Yet, inmates, prison reformers, prisoners' rights advocates, even some corrections professionals -- of which a growing number are concerned and enlightened people -- generally agree that one of the most effective prison reforms, certainly one of the swiftest and least costly or complicated, would be to open up prisons to the press on demand.

GOLDFISH

"Turn them into goldfish bowls," in the opinion of Herman Schwartz of the State University of New York at Buffalo, a pioneer prisoners' rights attorney, and the worst conditions and abuses would quickly disappear.

How state authorities feel about such a prospect was illustrated in 1972 when the prestigious Correctional Association of New York, an organization of bankers, lawyers and businessmen, attempted to exercise a clause in its charter granting it the power to visit the state's prisons at will and to report on conditions there. Gov. Nelson Rockefeller promptly submitted, and the legislature passed, a bill to repeal that part of the association's 124-year-old charter.

But the failure of the press is not just that it has not exerted sustained and effective pressures on legislatures, prison officials and courts for the kind of prison access that could "turn them into goldfish bowls" -- the kind of pressures that, in recent years, have been brought in growing degree against such other closed institutions as the White House, the FBI and CIA. The real failure is that in its day-to-day coverage, as opposed to occasional spasms of enterprise and investigative stories, the press hardly seems to care.

TO BE CONTINUED

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SPECIALISTS URGE MOVE: COURT REFUSES JOHNNY SPAIN'S TRANSFER TO OUTSIDE MEDICAL CENTER

(Marin, Calif.) -- Marin County Superior Court Judge Henry Broderick last week turned down a written declaration by Attorney Charles Garry to have Black Panther Party prison activist Johnny Spain moved from San Quentin Prison hopital to a medical diagnostic center and to have his chains and shackles removed during court appearances.

Despite 28 pages of documented medical opinion and analysis from three expert specialists -- two of the seven affidavits explicitly calling for Brother Spain's immediate removal to a diagnostic center -- Judge Broderick ruled that it had not been convincingly demonstrated that San Quentin's Neumiller Hospital was inadequate for the treatment required.

AFFIDAVITS

The affidavits submitted with attorney Garry's motion detail the deteriorating health status of Brother Johnny, who presently alternates his time between Neumiller Hospital and his Adjustment Center cell. Two weeks ago, Broderick cruelly ordered Johnny removed from his hospital bed and brought to the courthouse here to attend pretrial hearings on charges stemming from the August 21, 1971, assassination of Black Panther Party Field Marshal George Jackson.

Among the medical data included in the affidavits is a March 10, 1975, medical report of Dr. Peter La Riviere, in which the Ft. Bragg physician expresses concern over the possibility that Johnny has contracted cancer (neoplasm).

Attacking the shackling and chaining of Johnny from a psychological point of view, attorney Garry included in his declaration a sworn statement by Dr. Joseph Satten, a prominent San Francisco psychiatrist, which attests to the detrimental and harmful effects such treatment has for its victim.

Vividly describing, in detail, the chaining procedures used to

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transport Johnny -- as well as the other members of the San Quentin 6 -- to and from court, and the extreme courtroom security measures taken -- which include the use of prison guards rather than Marin County Sheriff's Department personnel and a bullet-proof plastiglass partition which distorts visual images -- Dr. Satten writes.

"The shackling and security conditions outlined above are likely to cause a prisoner to come to believe that he never truly leaves the prison, even while he is in the courtroom…The courtroom itself is likely to be viewed by the prisoner as a mere extention of the prison itself, rather than a place where a fair hearing of his case can be held….

"Such handling and courtroom conditions, especially if they exist over a protracted period of time, could very possibly impair the mental health of the prisoner, activate any latent tendencies to morbid suspiciousness and materially weaken the abilities of the prisoner to assist in his own defense and to withstand the rigors of a lengthy court proceeding."

In another affidavit, written by Dr. Betty Jo Smith, dated march 4, 1975, the Black female specialist currently working with the Charles R. Drew Health Center in Palo Alto, examines three serious medical problems which Johnny is suffering from. Concluding her partial diagnosis after two visits of (1) "an unexplained progressive weight loss…in spite of his consumption of the food which is served him," (2) "Severe lower back pain, which radiates to the right hip and thigh," and (3) "A history of rectal bleeding, which may have been secondary to a Meckel's diverticulum and/or hemorrhoids, Dr. Smith writes.

"…since there appears to have been an inability of the prison's medical system to adequately manage Johnny's medical problems, it is in the best interests of his well-being that he be transferred to another medical institution beyond the walls of San Quentin."

In his letter to attorney Garry dated March 10, 1975, Dr. La Riviere similarly concludes:

"In summary, the serious problems pointed to by the findings of blood loss, weight loss and pain must be fully analyzed, or a serious risk exists that the conditions causing them could become irreversible. Enough time has now passed to show that these conditions are persistent, and that the evaluation which is indicated for them is beyond the capabilities of the Neumiller Hospital staff. Accordingly, the immediate transfer of Mr. Spain to a medical center capable of carrying our complex diagnostic studies necessary to diagnose and treat his condition is essential to proper treatment of his case."

Attorney Garry has indicated that he intends to pursue all legal avenues in order to obtain adequate and complete medical treatment for Johnny Spain.

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ELAINE ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

(Oakland, Calif.) It was a long, hard but valuable seven days on the campaign trail for popular community leader Elaine Brown last week.

Seeking the 3rd District seat on the Oakland City Council, Elaine stepped up her people-oriented campaign activities criss-crossing the city with an effervescent style and grace, drawing more and more supporters/believers as she went along.

"This one time, on April 15, right here in Oakland, we can make a difference. We can begin to move from a powerless situation, to a powerful situation," Elaine reiterated time and time again in her many speeches and conversations.

"If we elect, this one time, a true people's representative, one of our own, just imagine what that will mean for Black and poor people around this country. Imagine. And we can do it, right here in Oakland, on April 15."

Entering the final month of the 1975 campaign. THE BLACK PANTHER will be carrying more and more news and information on the campaign of Elaine Brown for Oakland City Council. Don't miss a single issue. As Elaine says, "Just imagine."

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELAINE, CHARLES!

(Berkeley, Calif.) -- Popular community leader Ms. ELAINE BROWN and noted defense attorney CHARLES R. GARRY had cause to be all smiles last weekend. On Saturday night, the two famous people's advocates were feted at a joyous birthday party here at the home of Ms. Pat Richards. Elaine, currently a frontrunning candidate for the Oakland City Council, 3rd District seat, turned 32 on March 2 and Charles, a long-time top legal defender of the poor and oppressed, was 66 on March 17. Happy birthday. Elaine! Happy birthday, Charles!

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MIRIAM CHERRY'S STATEMENT TO ST. ANN PARISHIONERS

(Palo Alto, Calif.) -- The following statement by the fired associate Catholic Chaplain for Stanford University, Miriam Cherry, was read before 2,000 persons attending Mass and Memorial services Sunday, March 9, at St. Ann's Catholic Church here. The statement was prepared after minister Cherry learned that the following night, March 10, the governing body of St. Ann's planned to act on a motion to remove her from her ministry.)

"Dear Members of St. Ann's Community: students, staff, faculty and friends:

"The members of St. Ann's who have been here during my ministry of 5 years I believe are aware of these principles. Two years ago at a council meeting I presented the basics from theology of liberation which guide my praxis (reflection and social scientific practice.) There was over-whelming support for my ministry at that time. Despite the low budget, the council voted for a slight raise for me.

LYNCH MOB

"Since that meeting two years ago there has been a small group who have acted like a lynch mob trying through various methods to discredit me. Two of them happened to get elected to St. Ann's Council and now insist that a vote be taken as to accepting the philosophical principles of my ministry. This strikes me as strange because at the last council meeting it was decided to talk about the personnel committee and the problems of the budget. Why is the agenda changed less than a week before the council meeting to vote keeping or not keeping me at St. Ann's? WOW!

"The essence of my ministry comes from the prophets and more and more. I'm told I have a prophetic ministry. The following is one of many passages which tell us that God is on the side of the oppressed:

"`Hear the word of Yahweh. What are your endless sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I am sick of holocausts of rams and the fat of calves. The blood of bulls and of goat revolts me. When you come to present yourselves before me, who asked you to trample over my courts? Bring me your worthless offerings no more, the smoke of them fills me with disgust. New Moons, sabbaths, assemblies -- I cannot endure festival and solemnity. Your New Moons and your pilgrimages I hate with all my soul. They lie heavy on me, and I am tired of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands, I turn my eyes away. You may multiply your prayers, I shall not listen. Your hands are covered with blood, wash, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed (stop the oppressor); do justice to the orphan, plead for the widow.'" (Isa. 1:11-17)

"Prophets indeed pose dilemmas for us. Yet we have to take their utterances seriously because they remind us of the justice of faith -- which is what the love of God is all about.

"Some of you may not understand ties I have with the Black Panther Party. Well, it seems simple to me. God can work through whomever He wants -- even Black Panthers -- as the following story illustrates:

"A canon lawyer stood up to test him. `Teacher,' he said, `what must I do to achieve eternal life?' Jesus said to him, `You tell me: what is written in the law? What do you see there?' The canon lawyer answered, `Love God with all your soul, strength and mind; love your neighbor as yourself.' Jesus said, `that's right. Do this and you will have life.' But the canon lawyer wanted to justify himself: he said `Tell me, who is my neighbor?' Jesus replied, `A man was going from Brooklyn to Harlem. A gang of boys on a late night subway robbed and beat him, took his coat and left him half dead at the 96th street station. Now, it so happened that a priest was going on the subway and he saw the man lying there, bleeding, half dead. But the train was coming and he rushed past. He had a meeting at eight o'clock and he was already late. Later a Presbyterian minister, a pillar of his church, passed through the turnstyle and saw the bleeding man, but he merely mumbled.' `Why don't the police clear these drunks out?'

COMPASSION

"Later a young man, a member of the Black Panther Party, entered the subway station and saw the wounded man. When he saw him -- a person, not a thing -- he had compassion, for he had known man's brutality to man. He went out of the subway and into a hotel, where he took care of him. The next day he gave the hotel manager twenty dollars and said. `Look after this man; the money should take care of everything. But if he needs more I'll repay you when I come back in three days.'

"Now which of these three men proved a neighbor and a brother to the man who had been brutally beaten? The canon lawyer shyly

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admitted: "The Black man -- the one who showed concern." Jesus said to him. "Go and do the same."

"The Black Panther replaces the Samaritan. The testimony of the Panthers is no more acceptable today than that of the Samaritans was then. The Panther in this story gives more than ordinary charity; it is a radical love." -- QUOTATIONS FROM CHAIRMAN JESUS by David Kirk of the Emmaus Community.

"From the above interpretation and from the prophets, my religious principle are based on `HE WHO LOVES -- KNOWS GOD,' And love is not mere words, but being actively engaged in bringing His people out of slavery. This means using all the means we can to not just care for the poor, but in fact having the HOPE of changing poor, oppressive conditions. Deep down we know when we are seriously involved in changing conditions of the most oppressed people in our society. And we know, deep down, when we are not: `HE WHO HATES HIS BROTHER OR SISTER AND SAYS HE LOVES GOD IS A LIAR.' Isn't "benign neglect" the worst form of hatred? That's what we at St. Ann's must ask ourselves everyday. My vision is to break down dominance and elitism, as are 3rd World students attempting to do at Stanford regarding minority cuts -- and I wholeheartedly support their endeavors.

"Did the 20 some-odd hours used by the personnel committee to discuss my job description and my worth as a human being -- also lead them to get someone out of jail or feed starving people or stop U.S. military aid to Vietnam or to buy some new clothes for children who have had only old used clothes affluent folks don't want anymore? How can the destructive discussions which absorbed members of the personnel committee reflect the genuine Christian sentiment of St. Ann's? Such injustice needs to be exposed and not covered up through secret meetings. This is an example of how I annoy some people.

"Should the council vote to end my ministry at St. Ann's on Monday evening I can say that I am glad to have known many of you and believed that although you and I are different, we are born in EACH OTHER."

With love to you,
Miriam

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THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

MARCH 16, 1827

Edited by Samuel Cornish, a Black Presbyterian minister and John Russworm, the first Black college graduate. (Bowdoin, 1826) Freedom Journal, the first Black newspaper in America, was published in New York City on March 16, 1827.

MARCH 20, 1852

Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous Uncle Tom's Cabin, a political narrative depicting the plight of Black slavery in highly-emotional terms, was published on March 20, 1852. The book sold 300,000 its first year.

MARCH 17, 1886

In the aftermath of the Civil War, smoldering resentment against Blacks by embittered Southern Whites often burst into violence, brutality and murder. In the states of Missiissippi and Louisiana, particularly, Whites attacked Black citizens with vindictive zeal. One such incident, the Carrollton Massacre, took place in Carrollton, Mississippi, on March 17, 1886. Twenty Black men, women and children were arbitrarily slain by a White terror mob.

MARCH 22, 1960

An Associated Press news dispatch dated March 22, 1960, reported that since the movement began in Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 1, 1960, over 1,000 Blacks had been arrested for participating in sit-in demonstrations.

MARCH 16, 1964

Protesting racial discrimination, insensitive teachers and inadequate facilities, over 267,000 Black and Puerto Rican students boycotted New York public schools on March 16, 1964. In a previous boycott on February 3, 464,000 students stayed home.

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AUTOPSY REVEALED: SEATTLE POLICE SHOT JOE HEBERT IN BACK OF HEAD

(Seattle, Wash.) -- A community meeting, called by the Justice for Joe Committee, was held March 6 at the Rotary Boys' Club, 19th and Spruce Streets here. The press was given firsthand information of the evidence proving that Brother Joe Hebert, who was shot to death on February 15 by Seattle Police Officer Allen Earlywine, was shot from behind with the bullet entering above his left ear and not, as an earlier police version stated, into the right region of the forehead.

After the facts were presented, the press was asked to leave at the request of the committee because of the distorted stories it had printed of the entire incident.

The purpose of the massive meeting was to organize a March 22 rally, to be held at Powell-Burnett Park at Empire and Cherry Streets, the purpose being to mobilize a large turnout for the March 24 inquest hearing.

Seattle police publicly confirmed these reports of the fatal shooting only after the coroner's report was made public by the Washington State Chapter of the Black Panther Party, at a March 2 rally called by the Justice for Joe Committee, who have pushed for a complete investigation into the shooting of Brother Hebert.

Earlywine claimed that at a distance of 30 feet at 11:30 p.m., after chasing the brother for five to six blocks. Hebert had turned with an object in his hand, alleged to have been a one and one-half inch blade knife. It was then, facing Hebert, that Earlywine originally claimed to have fired the fatal shot.

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Ron Johnson, Black Panther Party spokesperson at the March 2 rally, informed the crowd of the attempted police whitewash:

"A young Black man was killed, shot in the back of the head, under shaky circumstances. All indications are that the whole incident is being whitewashed as minority shootings are, those which occur at the hands of murdering policemen."

Other community spokespersons included representatives from El Centro de la Raza, a progressive Chicano community center; the United Construction Workers Association, a local organization fighting for full employment of Black and Third World construction workers; and John Canghlan, legal representative for the Justice for Joe Committee.

Canghlan, who has been a community servant in the legal profession for many years, told the crowd that a Black judge, Charles Stokes, had been chosen to chair the inquest.

PRESSURE

Canghlan went on to stress the continued pressure by the community on support of the following three demands:

(1)An inquest into the killing of Joe Hebert to be held immediately, no later than March 17.

(2)The inquest be open to the people and that it be held at a time and place where all persons interested may attend and observe the evidence concerning this killing.

(3)The inquest jury be composed of men and women of the Central District community where Joseph Hebert, Jr., resided.

A copy of these demands was given to Judge Stokes on Monday, March 10, along with 1,500 signatures of community residents supporting the demands and a letter from the Hebert family.

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FIRST REPORT WHITEWASHES OAKLAND POLICE RACISM

(Oakland, Calif.) -- If a preliminary, 146-page report prepared by the Deputy City Manager, Gerald E. Newfarmer, and Police Chief Gorge Hart, is to be believed, community charges of racism within the police department and racist behavior by White policemen in the Black community have little or no foundation.

In a cover letter to City Manager Cecil S. Riley, dated March 13, 1975, accompanying the report, Newfarmer concludes that although individual racist acts have occurred, "the record is clear beyond a doubt that the Oakland Police Department is neither a racist institution nor insensitive to the needs and desires of minority communities within the City of Oakland."

The investigation is being conducted as a result of a decision of the City Council to set up a 3-person Special Committee on February 6, in response to widescale community support of charges against the police department. Newfarmer was instructed by Riley to look into the charges and report his findings.

The report is obviously based totally on information supplied Newfarmer by Police Chief Hart and the police department. The cover letter explains that letters were sent to eight Black community and organization leaders requesting information "in writing" substantiating the charges of racism, and that "no input was received in response to those eight letter requests."

However, the cover letter fails to indicate that the City Council special committee was informed at a community meeting three weeks ago attended by Councilman Joe Coto, a committee member, that the community leaders collectively and adamantly refused to respond to the request contained in the city manager's letter charging that to respond in writing could constitute contributing to a "legalistic trap."

Alphonso Galloway, executive director of the Oakland chapter of the NAACP, a recipient of one of the eight letters and one of the persons appearing before the City Council on February 6 in support of the community charges, told THE BLACK PANTHER:

"On advice of three attorneys we refused and urged other community persons to refuse to respond in writing to the request because we had no desire to enter into the bureaucratic maze of the city manager's legal office."

Brother Galloway emphasized that the NAACP and all the individuals and groups were prepared to supply mountains of evidence supporting the charges to the City Council in open, public hearings where official testimony could be taken, and expressed confidence that the City Council would make such open, public hearings possible, "hopefully within the next two or three weeks."

In light of the fact that the city manager's office received no input from the community of racist behavior of White policemen in the Black communities and insensitivity on the part of the police department to the welfare of the Black community, observers are asking how the preliminary report dares to conclude that the OPD "is extremely ---- sensitive to the needs of the Black community in the city, as well as to the needs of the remainder of the multiplicity of heterogeneous communities within the city."

To the charge of racist slurs and statements within the OPD, the report claims no documentation was provided. To the charge of sharp conflict between White and Black officers on arrest procedures, the report claims no such incident has gone without investigation. To the charge of the unrepresentative ration of Black to White officers, the report claims the situation is being "effectively addressed."

To the charge of Whites being promoted over Black deputy police chief Odell Sylvester, the report claims Hart was "the most senior deputy chief of police at the time of his promotion to Chief." To the charge that several divisions in the OPD have no Black officers, the report admits the fact and explains the procedure for promotions, claiming that Black and minority patrol officers are receiving promotions at a faster rate than White officers.

The report inadvertently opens the way for community demands for open, public hearings on charges of police racism, stating that "the plea for any specific facts or information remains an open one."

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BLACK MAN ACCUSED IN MURDER OF L.A. DEPUTY

(Los Angeles, Calif.) -- A defense committee has been formed here to come to the aid of a young Black man charged with murder in the first degree of a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff.

Young Phillip Allen will soon stand trial for allegedly killing one White deputy and wounding two others who were among six or eight officers beating him on an L.A. street at the time.

At 3:30 a.m. on New Year's Eve, Brother Allen, age 19, was returning home from a party when he came upon a broken store window. He stopped to watch what was happening and soon found himself directly involved. Brother Allen, who only stands 5'3", was on the ground being kicked, choked, stomped and beaten by at least six big White deputies. Gunshots rang out.

Only one man, a deputy named Grimes, has said he can explain the origin of the shots. According to his testimony at the preliminary hearing. Phillip Allen grabbed Grimes' gun, slew one man and wounded two others. Yet, the deputy also claims to have fired the gun twice himself, at Phillip Allen and missed.

These facts are clear. The six-shot gun was empty. There

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were no fingerprints on it.

The questions are also obvious. Could a 5'3", 19-year-old grab a gun from a 6'6" policeman? Could he fire the gun while being beaten? Could he live to see the next day if he hand't killed them all? Could he wipe the gun clean of all fingerprints before his arrest by the three or more officers on the scene who remained unharmed? The answers to all these questions is probably not.

ACCIDENT

It seems more likely that Deputy Grimes shot at Brother Allen more than the two times he claims to and hit his fellow officers by accident. This is not at all unlikely in the general melee that was going on. Los Angeles County deputy sheriffs have been known to get drunk on New Year's Eve, and it is strange that the other surviving deputies claim to have no idea where the shots came from.

Contributions can be sent to the Phillip Allen Defense Fund, First Unitarian Church, 2936 W. Eighth Street, Los Angeles, Calif.

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RIGHTS COMMISSION URGES FUND WITHDRAWAL FOR FAILURE TO DESEGREGATE

(Washington, D.C.) -- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights urged the federal government last week in a new report to withdraw federal funds from public school districts that fail to desegregate their schools voluntarily.

The commission said that if after 90 days of trying, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) cannot obtain such voluntary desegregation it should begin proceedings to withdraw federal financial assistance to such schools.

According to The New York Times, the recommendation was one of 14 made to strengthen the enforcement of school desegregation made in the report issued by the Commission entitled, "Twenty Years After Brown, Equality of Educational Opportunity."

(This is the 21st anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education case in which the Supreme Court decided that segregatd schools are inherently unequal and violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws.)

Among other approaches the Commission recommended to end school segregation were:

- The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should revoke tax exemptions of private, segregated schools, and the federal government should withdraw any support for them.

- The federal government should withold money from school districts that fail to meet the special needs of pupils whose primary language is not English.

- A national standard should be set, adaptable to local situations, that would determine if a school district was in compliance with federal desegregation laws. Busing should be considered a valid instrument.

The recommendations were based on a series of findings indicating that segregated schooling had decreased in the South but had not changed in the North.

The report, said that the proportion of Blacks attending predominantly White schools in the South had increased from 19 to 46 per cent between 1968 and 1972. In Northern districts, 71 per cent of Blacks continued to attend predominantly Black schools in 1972.

In New York City, Blacks made up 36 per cent of the school population in 1972, but 83.5 per cent of all Blacks attended schools that were predominantly Black. In Palm Beach County. Florida, Blacks made up 28.6 per cent of the school population, while 43.3 per cent attended schools that were predominantly Black.

The report went on to say that:

"There appears to be legitimate fears that the South is in a transitional stage and is moving toward duplication of Northern residential segregation as desegregated schools are undercut by increasingly segregated neighborhoods."

Sixty of the nation's 76 largest school districts show a drop of White enrollment between 1970 and 1972. One-third of these districts are in the South, the report says.

Southern areas seem to be circumventing school desegregation orders by increasing the number of private academies, according to the commission. It said it would like to see the IRS police the situation more carefully so that segregated schools, which are not entitled to tax emptions, did not receive them.

-- 6 --

EYES ON CITY HALL

OPPOSE "SUPER MAYOR"

(Sacramento, Calif.) -- The recently announced plan proposed by Assembly Speaker Leo McCarthy to elect a "super mayor" or "governor" for the nine Bay Area counties has ominous implications for future Black Political participation in local affairs.

The plan, slated to be formally introduced in the state legislature later this month, would have the "super mayor" elected every four years by Bay Area voters. The "super mayor" would become the chief executive of the 50-member Bay Area Planning Agency (BAPA), regional government concept proposed in already pending legislation.

THE BAPA plan, proposed by Assemblyman John Knox of Richmond, would have overall planning and enforcement responsibility for the entire Bay Area in such matters as air and water quality, transportation, parks, land use, waste disposal, and perhaps others. As such, it would take over the functions of the existing Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area Sewage Services Agency, the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission.

Local city and county governments would be obliged to conform to a master plan developed by the 50-member board of directors consisting of 25 incumbent city council people from Bay Area city councils and 25 elected by the nine county residents.

Both the "super mayor" and BAPA plans, if initiated, would effectively undermine the Black and minority people's political strength currently building in a few local cities, such as Oakland, where Black and Chicano people now constitute a majority of the population. If this potential power base were to be spread across nine counties, where Whites overwhelmingly outnumber minority groups, the particular concerns, needs and interests of minorities would be swamped by the desires of the White majority. BAPA and the "super mayor" plans must be effectively opposed by all concerned Black and poor minority peoples throughout the affected counties.

-- 7 --

FOXX-LYNN FIGHTS FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: BLACK BUSINESSMAN JAILED WITHOUT CAUSE

(Oakland, Calif.) -- The jailing and racist abuse of Al Lynn, of the Foxx-Lynn electrical contractors corporation for participating in a peaceful protest picket line at a Lazear School construction site here last Wednesday, highlights the serious obstacles facing local, minority-owned businesses.

For the second time in recent months, the Foxx-Lynn Corporation was fired from an electrical sub-contracting job on construction work for the Oakland public school system (under the $70) million "Quake-Safe" program) after being hired as the lowest bidder for the work.

Al Lynn and other concerned Black businessmen, feel that Foxx-Lynn was used so that the general contractor -- in this case, Speigel from Berkeley -- could qualify for the job under affirmative action guidelines and then fired to be replaced by White subcontractors.

The excuse given for the Foxx-Lynn firing at the Lazear School is the same one as given for the firing at the Stonehurst School last fall: namely, that Foxx-Lynn, like many other minority subcontracting firms, does not have the financial capital necessary to be bonded (insured) for the job.

Yet, in an interview with THE BLACK PANTHER last Friday, Al Lynn reported that none of the White subcontractors are bonded either.

In fact, Mr. Lynn stated that following his arrest, an Oakland police sergeant told him that the only reason he was arrested was to stop the picketing at the Lazear School site. The sergeant reportedly told Mr. Lynn that the arresting officer could have given him the citation on-the-spot, rather than jailing him unnecessarily for five hours.

Mr. Lynn was also infuriated that the Oakland Tribune, in its coverage of his arrest, characterized him as a "clown."

Although only nine to 10 per cent of the workers presently at the Lazear construction site are minorities, the Oakland School Boards has refused to recognize this clear violation of the 50 per cent parity required by the federal and state affirmative action clauses.

In support of Al Lynn and the Foxx-Lynn Corporation, the local Black Businessmen's Association

-- 23 --
released the following press statement last week:

"We of the Black Businessmen Association wholeheartedly support Foxx-Lynn Electrical Corporation in its attempt to secure the contract for Lazear School, for which it was low bidder.

"The Oakland School Board cannot be accused of being inconsistent in letting of contracts for the construction of its schools. They are consistent with a 400 year policy of: excluding Blacks from full participation in the economic process. Now being forced to adopt affirmative action policies they fall back on the 400 year exclusion policy by creating gauntlets and obstacle courses which Blacks and minority businesses must overcome before they are allowed participation.

Such include:

"(1) Setting up an affirmative action program with no compliance officer to enforce it;

"(2) Requiring bonding with full knowledge that the capital necessary to obtain bonding will exclude Blacks and other minorities.

"The Black Businessmen Association makes the following demands of the Oakland School Board:

- "That it award to Foxx-Lynn the electrical contract for Lazear School.

- "That the School Board work in concert with prime contractors in providing bonding for minority contractors in hardship cases.

- "That it hire an affirmative action officer to implement its 50 per cent minority requirement.

- "That it set up a contractors' and businessmen's review board on a local level (to extend to a state level) to monitor and assist in the implementation of affirmative action requirements."

-- 7 --

HARVARD BLACK STUDIES HEAD CHARGES BID TO KILL DEPT.

(Cambridge, Mass.) -- Professor Ewart Guinier, chairman of the Afro-American Studies Department at Harvard University, has charged "Forces supporting White supremacy within Harvard" with trying to "Kill" the Afro-American Studies Department.

In a 19-page statement made public last week, Prof. Guinier charged that Harvard President Derek C. Bok and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Henry Rosovsky are attempting to enforce a "slavocratic" view to deprive the department of control over appointments.

He said in his statement that the removal of research funds and the removal of the long-projected W.E.B. Du Bois Institute from the Afro-American Studies Department was aimed at destroying the department. Prof. Guinier accused those who separated the Du Bois Institute from the department of being "the high priests of White supremacy and class privilege" and said "the removal of the research funds and the Institute had been "a pet project of the most conservative racist faculty members."

Following the removal of the Du Bois Institute from the department, it was announced last January that a $72,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation of New York had been made to the Institute. Andrew Brimmer, the Black former member of the Federal Reserve Board and a visiting professor at Harvard, was appointed by the Harvard administration to head an "advisory committee" to oversee the Du Bois Institute.

FACULTY

As regards the appointment of tenured faculty, that is, full time, protected faculty members, to the Afro-American Studies Department, Prof. Guinier charges that the procedure adopted is deliberately intended to take the decision for new appointments out of the hands of the department and place it in the hands of others.

Dean Rosovsky has restricted consideration for new appointments to those nominated by various other department heads from among the existing faculty, who would then hold joint appointments with the Afro-American Studies assignment.

-- 21 --

Dr. Guinier calls this procedure "patently absurd" because it assumes that "departments with a heritage of White supremacy" and a history of "racist scholarship on Africa" could really be in a position to recommend faculty appointments in the area of Afro-American studies.

Dr. Guinier said President Bok's appointees to the advisory board of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute were, with few exceptions "either ignorant of Afro-American studies or notoriously hostile critics."

Dr. Guinier is the Afro-American Studies Department's only tenured member. There are four other full-time members and a dozen others whose part-time work is the equivalent of five more full-time positions. Three hundred students took courses in the department last fall and 500 this term, Dr. Guinier said.

He estimated that Harvard had "fewer than 500 Black students" of more than 15,000 students, with Black freshmen down from a peak of 99 in 1969 to 70 last September.

Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois was the first Black to receive a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University. This was in 1898. Despite the fact that Dr. Du Bois is without doubt Harvard's most distinguished graduate, the university has consistently ignored Dr. Du Bois' many contributions and denied him university honors heaped on lesser individuals associated with Harvard.

-- 7 --

“RASHOMON” PERFORMED AT COMMUNITY FORUM

(Oakland, Calif.) -- The Son of Man Temple Community Forum last week presented Rashomon, written by Michael and Kay Fanin, produced and directed by Walter Dallas and performed by the Upstairs Arts Association.

Rashomon, which originally premiered as a film depicting ancient feudal Japan, evolves around a man, Tajomaru, who is accused of murder and rape. There wee three live witnesses, and the spirit of a fourth relayed by a medium. All four stories told different versions of the same incident. (See next week's issue of THE BLACK PANTHER for a review of Rashomon.)

The expertly directed and executed performances of Johnny Gohlestan, Theo Jordan, Cyril Tyrone Hanna II, Dereck Cooper, Sidney Coulter, Barry Wilson, Mary Ann Warren, Fran Cooper and Marion Witt. were thoroughly enjoyed by all.

-- 8 --

CHARGE PROSECUTION THREATENED ATTICA WITNESSES

(Buffalo, N.Y.) -- The Attica prosecutors, after several weeks of watching their case fall apart, announced recently that they are "revising" their list of witnesses against the Attica Brothers charged with the kidnap and murder of inmates Hess and Schwartz during the Attica uprising, the Attica News Service reports.

The prosecution is still presenting its witnesses in a pretrial "Wade" hearing designed to test the legality of the identifications made of the defendants by state witnesses.

The prosecution is attempting to prove that their witnesses' identifications of the defendants were not coerced or threatened or otherwise illegally gotten through promises of parole or immunity from prosecution.

However, through intense cross-examination, the defense has brought out the torture and harassment they were subjected to prior to identifying the defendants. Witnesses admitted that state investigators had questioned them repeatedly about the Hess and Schwartz incident and that they had denied any knowledge of the matter. Continuing pressure by the state on the witnesses ended in their giving false statements to the investigators in order to get the heat off themselves.

DEATH THREATS

One witness after another has repeated accounts of beatings, verbal abuse and death threats they received from Attica prison guards after the putdown of the rebellion They described how the prisoners were stripped in a yard and forced to crawl in mud. Guards and state troopers formed a "gauntlet" through which the prisoners were forced to run while clubs and guns struck their naked bodies.

They were locked three men in a cell built for one for several days. Fed infrequently, one witness said he was given a bowl of food only after guards had put "piss and spit" in it. In tears witness John Flowers described how a guard had informed him that he had deliberately killed a good friend of Flowers.

Witness Wilbur Harris had been singled out by the guards after the assault, taken naked to a room in the prison's administration building, and questioned for several hours. Tried, scared and hungry, Harris kept falling asleep, only to be shaken awake by guards insisting he stay awake to answer their questions.

Witness Charles Colvin, striped naked, had been put up against a wall. A white X was chalked on his back; he was told it marked him for death. Guards then took him to the administration building where they told him to write down the names of the rebellion's "ringleaders."

The testimony also revealed that not only threats, but promises by the prosecutor, had brought witnesses to the stand. Flowers got paroled a week after he gave the state a sworn statement about the Hess and Schwartz incident -- an event about which he had previously and repeatedly denied knowing anything. Witness O.J. Newport was offered a transfer to a medium security prison, instead of staying at Auburn, a maximum-security penitentiary, in exchange for his testimony.

Page 18 missing

-- 8 --

PEOPLE'S PERSPECTIVE

STOP KIDDING

(Washington, D.C.) -- "Yes, America is in a depression," So stated George Meany, AFLO-CIO president, addressing the National Housing Conference here last week. "When the unemployment rate is 8.2 per cent representing nearly 7.5 million people without jobs, it is time that the administration stopped kidding itself and trying to kid the people," concluded Meany.

ILLEGAL
TRANSACTIONS

(Washington, D.C.) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the Gulf Oil Corporation last week with falsifying its reports to hide a $10 million secret fund that was used to make illegal political transactions between 1960 and 1974. The fund was the largest of its type ever uncovered since the disclosure of illegal corporate campaign contributions began in 1973, as an outgrowth of the Nixon administration scandals. SEC also announced the filing of its suit against Gulf in United States District Court here and the company's agreement to a court order against it that will bar it from taking similar illegal actions.

SEX GRANT AWARDED

(Berkeley, Calif.) -- The Pacific Center for Human Growth of Berkeley, California, has announced the receipt of an unrestricted grant for $44,935 from the San Francisco Foundation. It is the largest grant ever given by a private foundation to an organization specializing in providing charitable and mental health services to homosexuals and other sexual minorities.

JAIL SUICIDE?

(New York, N.Y.) -- A month-long inquest into the death of a 31-year-old Puerto Rican musician in a police precinct jail has ruled the death a suicide. Eighteen witnesses gave testimony during the span of the inquest. Puerto Rican community groups have charged the police with murder. The musician, known to be a radical, allegedly led police to a booby trap bomb which exploded in an officer's face.

-- 9 --

9 BLACK INMATES CHARGED WITH MURDER OF MISSOURI PRISON GUARD

(Jefferson City, Mo.) -- Nine Black inmates at the Missouri State Penitentiary here have been charged by the Cole County prosecutor with murder of a guard in late January.

In a letter received by THE BLACK PANTHER, an inmate at the prison, Brother "Woheed M. Chaka," who did not wish to use his real name for fear of reprisals, said that Brothers Robert Gales, Archie Dixon, Clifford Valentine, Michael Shepard, Robert Johnson, Toney X., Cornell Jackson, George Williams and Conrade Adkins have been charged in the guard's death.

The body was found in Cell Block G. Brother Chaka wrote, "on or about the 20th of January."

Concerned inmates at Missouri State Penitentiary are forming a legal defense fund to help finance attorneys' fees for the brothers, and are appealing for help from the community.

PLOTTED

In his letter, Brother Chaka wrote:

"Immediately afterward (the killing of the guard), the administration assumed that the Black prisoners plotted this killing. Their first step was to enforce a wave of terrorism and madness that is almost unbelievable…

"This madness was without a doubt aimed directly at all politically minded Black prisoners such as the Black Lumpen Proletariat, the Black Muslims, the Black Patriots, etc. In less than one week, more them 45 Black prisoners were kidnapped and placed in…maximum security and a number of other out of the way places where they are being cruelly beaten and harassed.

"I know for a fact this is true because they let one brother go and his lips were swollen, one tooth was knocked out and his ribs were fractured…

"(The nine inmates) are quite obviously innocent of all these charges and are clearly being used as scapegoats while the administration and so-called law enforcement agencies' blundering allows the real guilty parties to go free."

-- 9 --

LORTON ORGANIZES PRISONERS AGAINST RAPE

(Lorton, Virginia) -- Having found that many so-called experts on the subject of rape, "have neither a meaningful theory, the practical experience nor the political consciousness to correctly deal with preventive measures, meaningful solutions or the casualties of rape," the brothers here at Lorton Correctional Complex have formed an organization known as Prisoners Against Rape (PAR).

"As former rapists, former aggressive-sexist-classist-racist beings, we are prepared, committed and dedicated to the down turn and ultimate death of the social illness that produces rapists," the brothers write in a statement announcing formation of PAR.

The main function of the organization is to help prisoners and feminists alike deal with the sociological problem of rape and how it is fostered by a sexist, therefore, racist/classist society.

"To claim that some women cause rape and not deal with who controls mental attitudes, places the problem on women instead of where it really belongs: on a sexist society," the brothers write. "To proclaim that rape is sexually motivated is a one-sided analysis implying that women are sexually impotent because few women are rapists."

Because of community support, the administration here recently recognized PAR and granted the organization "approved" self-help status. But that is just the beginning. Community support from around the country is needed and perhaps other chapters of Prisoners Against Rape can be started in other penal institutions, the brothers write.

For information on PAR contact William Fuller, Chairman, Box 25, Lorton, Virginia 22079, or Marty Sloan & Freda Klein, Rape Crisis Center, P.O. Box 21005, Washington, D.C. 20009 or Mary Sparrow, P.O. Box 1682, Hartford Conn. 10190.

-- 9 --

MRS. W.E.B. Du BOIS TO BE HONORED AT “BLACK SCHOLAR” ANNIVERSARY

(San Francisco, Calif.) - To commemorate the completion of five years of publishing, The Black Scholar magazine is sponsoring a Fifth Anniversary Dinner and Celebration. Subscribers and friends are invited to join us March 29 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel here for a gala festival. Shirley Graham Du Bois, author, freedom fighter and widow of W.E.B. Du Bois, will be guest of honor.

Awards will be given to the winners of the First Annual W.E.B. Du Bois Essay Awards. The three top winners are Ernest J. Wilson III, Pamela Douglas, and M. Frank Wright.

Tickets are $25.00 each. All orders and payment MUST be received by March 22.

There'll be good entertainment, good food, and good times. Don't miss it! For information and tickets, write The Black Scholar, P.O. Box 908, Sausalito, Calif. 94965, or call the magazine at (415)332-3130. Act today!

-- 10 --

EX-R.F.K. AIDES REVEAL C.I.A. PLOT TO KILL CASTRO

(Washington, D.C.) -- Charges that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) attempted to assassinate Cuban Premier Fidel Castro shortly before the agency's ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 were made last week by two former aides to the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy who said that Kennedy told them of the assassination attempt in 1967.

Adam Walinsky and Peter B. Edelman, who were assistants to Kennedy when he was attorney general and later senator, initially provided this information to The New York Times in separate, off-the-record interviews in 1972. The two men restated the information last week so that it could be made public.

Walinsky, now a lawyer in private practice in New York City, and Edelman, a vice president for policy at the University of Massachusetts, said that Senator Kennedy told them that he played an active role in stopping the assassination attempt on Castro. Walinsky recalled the senator as saying:

"He told us that he had discovered that the CIA had made a contract with the Mafia to hit Castro." Walinsky went on to say that Kennedy said he had received "assurances in writing" from the CIA that the attempted assassination had been stopped.

John A. McCone, CIA director between 1961 and 1965 under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, was quoted in an interview with the Associated Press as claiming that he knew nothing of assasssination plots "that involved Castro or any other person during my tenure of office."

The Edelman-Walinsky account is certain to impede the delicate negotiations currently underway by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to restore diplomatic relations between U.S. and Cuba. (See last week's issue of THE BLACK PANTHER.)

On March 3, 1967, syndicated columnist Jack Anderson reported that the CIA might have plotted Castro's assassination. In a column last week, Anderson noted that on January 18, 1971, he reported that the CIA had arranged six assassination attempts against Premier Castro.

Anderson said that underworld figure John Rosselli, described in confidential FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) files as "a top Mafia figure," was selected by the CIA to carry out the initial 1961 assassination attempt. Five later attempts also failed.

After the revolutionary forces of Premier Castro gained control of the Cuban government in 1958, several federal investigators report that the Mafia, angered because Castro closed down their illegal gambling and other syndicate holdings, worked closely with CIA agents in providing intelligence, planning and other help for the Bay of Pigs invasion.

In another revelation of the CIA's activities, Alfred McCoy in his book. The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, charged in 1972 that Corsican (Italian) and American mobsters had become involved in the heroin trade from Laos. Burma and Thailand, McCoy quoted Edward Lansdale, a high-level CIA operative in Southeast Asia, as telling him (McCoy) in 1971 that Lansdale had met with Corsican mobsters and told them he would take a hands-off attitude toward them because the CIA considered the drug trade to be helpful in fighting communism in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, Time magazine reported that it had been told by "credible sources" that in addition to attempts to kill Castro, the CIA had been involved in plots to kill General Rafael Trujillo, who was the dictator of the Dominican Republic for 31 years before his assassination in May, 1961, and had also unsuccessfully tried to murder the late Haitian dictator Francois Duvalier in 1963.

Adding to the CIA's list of dirty tricks in Latin America is the disclosure by former Costa Rican President Jose Figueres, who said he worked for U.S. intelligence in "20,000 ways… all over Latin America" for 30 years, even before the CIA came into existence.

The White House and the CIA had no comments on the Edelman-Walinsky account nor the alleged plots to kill Castro, Trujillo and Duvalier.

-- 10 --

ON THE BLOCK

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE DONE TO
IMPROVE THE EAST OAKLAND COMMUNITY?

George Raymond
1945 E. 29th St.
Unemployed

Any community needs education, you know, access to know what's happening in the community. I think education is of primary importance. Better schools, better facilities, this is what we need. Also, initiative on the part of people in the community to see these changes brought about.

Albert Porter
1002 104th Ave.
Retired

I'd like to see some of these damn boarded-up houses fixed up so people can live in them.

Adell Jeter
1273 100th Ave.
Carpenter

I would like to see all the rats around here removed. We have rats in the back of our house, from next door, which the landlord there won't do anything about. We called the city, and they came out and said there was a nest of rats under the ground, but they wouldn't do anything about it either.

Victoria Lane
1005 A Street
Student - Chabot

More job offers, and more activity within the Oakland metropolitan community. More neighborhood activities, more local community activities, brought down sort of individually, in each community, instead of being so wide and far-fetched that people feel they can't really get into it.

Ethel McCray
104 98th Ave.
Student -
Fremont H.S.

The first thing I'd like to see is E. 14th Street done over and properly. Repaved and buildings reconstructed.

Willie Clark
11032 Novella Dr.
Longshoreman

Improvement on the streets, better lighting, get rid of some of the junkies around here. Fixing up the streets is the most important.

Kelly Chaney
382 McBride
Housewife

More things for the younger children, recreation.

-- 11 --

ARMY HAIR FIGHT SPREADS

(Fort Meade, Md.) -- Three U.S. veterans, two civilians and one soldier, were arrested in front of the Fort Meade Post Exchange (PX) on January 11 for distributing a petition.

The six people arrested are petitioning for the release of Pvt. Bob Nuchow who was court-martialed and convicted of refusing to cut his hair to the required length. He also went on strike, along with 16 other members of his unit, to protest the haircut regulations, bad conditions and racism.

Bob Nuchow received five months at hard labor, a bust in pay scale, and an $1,125 fine as a result of his conviction. He is stationed in Berlin.

The six will fight their arrests in court and continue with their efforts to organize GIs against working conditions and racism in the military. They are part of a collective struggle of GIs, ex-GIs and civilian friends at U.S. military bases around the world.

The VVAW/WSO (Vietnam Veterans Against the War/Winter Soldiers Organization) are spearheading the soldiers and veterans' fight for their rights and benefits they deserve. The organization publishes Highway 13, a GI newspaper. A lawsuit against the military has won the right to distribute literature to the soldiers at Fort Meade.

ON APRIL 15,
USE
YOUR VOTE,
ELECT ELAINE

-- 11 --

“FED COPS” ASK WOMAN TO SPY ON UNION

(Rochester, N.Y.) -- A resident of this city has told the Rochester Patriot newspaper that she was approached by men claiming to be federal police agents and asked to spy on officials of the striking Communications Workers Union.

Local 1170 of that union is entering its 14th week of a strike against Rochester Telephone Company.

The local woman, who asked that her name be withheld, said she was approached by a man giving his name as "Vic Petros" while she was working at a downtown health spa. She said that Petros, who claimed to be a law officer, asked her to come up to Room 1527 at the Holiday Inn to talk. He said there was money involved for her if she cooperated, she said.

At the hotel Petros showed her a laminated identification card and claimed to be a government police agent. Petros and another man in the room were carrying weapons and electronic bleepers and the room contained what the woman identified as communications equipment.

The woman said that Petros offered her a plan whereby the two of them together would go to Midtown Lounge where she would act as a prostitute and he as her procurer. The Midtown Lounge is a bar on Clinton Avenue adjacent to the communication workers downtown union headquarters.

Petros told the woman that the law officers were trying to infiltrate the union and asked her to call him back if she was interested in the job. After leaving the room, the woman said she became frightened and never called Petros back.

INVESTIGATION

After some investigation the Rochester Patriot discovered a Vic Petros who works for the Wackenhut Corporation, a multinational security firm hired by Rochester Telephone. This Vic Petros is currently assigned and working in the Rochester area, a spokesperson for the corporation's Buffalo office told the Patriot.

Wackenhut, with main offices in Florida, is a large rapidly growing private security firm. The company employs over 18,000 people with offices throughout the U.S. and in France, Canada, England, Belgium, Italy. Ecuador and Brazil. The company reported a net income of over $2.2 million in 1973.

When the Patriot reached Petros in the Buffalo office he refused to talk to the newspaper about the incident and immediately transferred the call to a company official who refused all further comment.

While Rochester Telephone admits that the Wackenhut Corporation is under contract, telephone company officials say it is only to provide 25 guards during the strike.

Officials at Local 1170 told the Patriot that a Wackenhut guard told them that they have been promised work in Rochester until next September. A union spokesperson also told the Patriot that the union has purposely relayed false information over their phones and found it acted upon by the phone company, establishing the fact that their phones are tapped.

-- 11 --

GIs - KNOW YOUR I.D. CARD RIGHTS

(Okinawa, Japan) -- Did you know that if someone pulls your ID card to keep you on base or to keep you from going on liberty that you can write them up under Article 97 of the UCMJ (Universal Code of Military Justice)? That's right, because by doing so they are putting you under unlawful restraint. In other words, they are putting you on restriction without a trial or an Article 15 conviction.

Here's what Article 97 says: "Any person subject to this chapter who, except as provided by law, apprehends, arrests, or confines any person shall be punished as a court-martial may direct."

LIFER

For instance, if a lifer should pull your ID card and hold it form you, you can't leave the base and go out to town on liberty. They are placing you on restriction and the only person who can do that is your CO (Commanding Officer). He can only do it if you are accused of committing a crime under the UCMJ. Your CO has the power to delegate someone to put you under detention if you are accused, but not as a method of harassment against an individual of his command; like pulling your ID card for failing an inspection, not making your rack properly, or anything like that.

Remember that this article only works if you are unlawfully detained, that doesn't mean arrested or under apprehension, for committing a crime.

Anyone can file charges on anyone coming under the jurisdiction of the UCMJ. That means you can file charges against NCOs and officers if you think they have committed a crime. Here's what to do.

First, make sure all your info is correct to the best of your knowledge. You have to swear to these, so don't make anything up. It's also good to have statements from witnesses, but not necessarily. Write everything down so you don't forget it and go to the legal office and announce that you want to file charges. They are supposed to do everything else. but usually they don't.

So here's what do: get the name, rank and service number of the person you want to write up and the article under the UCMJ that you want to write them up on.

Now you are ready to draft your charges and specifications. The charge is simply the number of the article and the specification is a short statement explaining:

"1) who you are accusing;

"2) the rank, service number and unit of the accused,

"3) when, where, and what happened."

You can submit these to the legal office, handwritten, and they need only be sworn in to be valid. Sections 6 & 7 of the Manuals for Court-Martial (MCM) go over the whole procedure of drafting charges in detail and should be available at your company office.

If you have written all the charges up you can now submit this to the legal office and may attach your own written statement as to what happened.

-- 12 --

EX-MARC AGENT TALKS: “PULLING OFF THE UNDERCOVERS”

(Ann Arbor, Mich.) -- The following are excerpts from an interview with a former undercover narcotics agent of the Michigan State Police, which is reprinted from a recent issue of the Sun of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Peter (not his real name) met with the Sun in a local bar and offered to talk about his former job. A subsequent check by the newspaper verified Peter's former position with the Michigan State Police.

SUN: You say you were an undercover narcotics agent for the Michigan State Police?

PETER: I did road patrol for a county sheriff in the -- what do you call it -- Greater Detroit area for four years, then spent six months on an undercover narcotics unit like the Washtenaw Area Narcotics Team (WANT) before I quit. If I told you which one, they would probably figure out who I was.

SUN: So what did you do when you were on the undercover team?

PETER: Most of the stuff was pretty routine, but if the guys didn't feel like doing anything the crew chief would tell the lieutenant we were going out on surveillance, then we'd go to the beach, play cards or play sports all day long.

SUN: That sounds pretty nice. Did your narcotics squad -- do any of them -- ever get to major suppliers of drugs and affect the supply?

PETER: Practically never. Possession or delivery of marijuana comprised the majority of arrests my unit made. Even the people we were busting for heroin weren't actually criminals, just junkies trying to sell a little bit to pay for their own gig.

SUN: In 1973 WANT arrested 129 people for drug offenses, mostly for sale and possession of marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens and downers. Only 15 per cent of the arrests were heroin-related, and there's no hint that the arrests significantly affected supply. Why do narcotics teams survive, if they're not doing their job?

PETER: It's all statistics, busting little people to boost the arrest statistics so that they can get the money to keep the unit going. That's also why they'll never get to the real source of narcotics, because they're too busy with the dime-a-dozen stuff that'll look impressive in the annual report.

SUN: So what kind of people go out for undercover police work?

PETER: A lot of them are young cops who are still pretty excited about police work. They really don't have a conscience, in most instances, because they place themselves so far above the people they're busting.

The people with whom they have most in common are probably genuine, hardcore criminals, because they both share the excitement of the cops and robbers game and they both like to break rules. It's the authoritarian character. They're pretty disgusted with themselves, but they feel more important because of their job.

SUN: How are the undercover teams set up?

PETER: Usually the Michigan State Police provide the administrative crew leaders and assistant crew leaders, plus a few men. Then they solicit help from the local county and city agencies, who also contribute people. Crew leaders head surveillance, assign cars, duties and tactics. They decide if the unit is going to bust a place, or let it ride. If a bust is going to go smooth or go rough, that's the crew leader's decision.

They also decide if they're going to burn an informant, or if they're gonna treat him good, if he's going to get any money and how much money. The crew chief is usually a sergeant. Then there's a lieutenant, who's in charge of the unit, mostly shuffles paper and acts as liaison to higher administration.

SUN: What should happen on a raid, that is, if the police are conducting themselves properly?

PETER: The first thing police should do is identify themselves as police officers, with an officer in charge to show them a badge, and then they should freeze people on spot in order to insure the safety of everyone concerned. Then everybody should be frisked, so there aren't any loose weapons around.

RIGHTS

People should be advised whether or not they're under arrest, and if they are have their Constitutional rights read to them. Whether people are put up against walls and handcuffed all depends on the situation. If it's a student house in Ann Arbor it probably isn't necessary, but down in Detroit in the middle of a heroin operation the most security is best.

Basically, if a situation isn't heavy the police shouldn't try to make it heavy, but sometimes they do anyway. A lot of times they won't identify themselves when they come in. That precipitates smart remarks and gets the adrenalin flowing and then there's scuffles, which police often try to get going if they're not supervised.

SUN: Have you ever seen undercover police rip off confiscated drugs?

PETER: Yes, but you have to keep some for your own use. Like heroin, you might not turn in all your heroin in order to give informants a couple of spoons to

-- 19 --
keep going. And you might not give away all your reefer, so if you pick up a guy in your car you can smoke a joint with him and he won't think you're a cop. I had a lot of good reefer when I was a cop.

SUN: How do police treat confidential informants?

PETER: Most confidential informers are laughed at by police, not to their face but behind their backs.

SUN: How can persons protect themselves against undercover police?

PETER: You can prevent undercover cops from ever coming into your place if you shake down suspicious persons. In his boot or taped to his body somewhere will probably be a transistor radio, with a cord running up and a microphone taped to his shoulder or chest. It's battery operated and running all the time, so that out in the police car, the surveillance crew can hear what's going on.

Most undercover cops wear 45's, taped to the small of their back or in their boot, and sometimes they still have a badge in their wallet because they forget to take it out. Most of them wear the same kind of boots and they all dress the same. They like cowboy boots with buckles, they're state issue. Then there's the green Army fatigue jacket, or the checked pants, TV screen mod operator look.

If someone you know has just been busted, he's out on bond or on probation, and he suddenly brings some new guy around to cop drugs, you shouldn't sell -- that's a perfect set up.

-- 13 --

THE GENIUS OF HUEY P. NEWTON

In this conclusion of an essay written by the leader and chief theoretician of the Black Panther Party, Huey P. Newton points out that the struggle for freedom by Black people under capitalism has been constant. The search for alternatives to meeting the people's needs in mass has resulted in the creation of "Black Capitalism" which would only perpetuate the oppression of the Black masses. In order for the struggle against that system to progress, to succeed, there would have to be a recognition of the duality of weapons of suppression in this country -- racism and capitalism. One cannot be destroyed alone because each perpetuates the other.

CONCLUSION

Progress may come from the fact that we are suffering under an administration that could be fairly called a doomsday machine because it is forcing the country and people in the direction of destruction.

The Black Panther Party chooses life instead of death. Because we do choose life, we are searching for ways of avoiding destruction in the country so the people may live. We are absolutely certain that if this administration is not forced into some new direction, the people of the world will be destroyed.

At the present time there is talk of Black capitalism to parallel White capitalism. A part of the Black bourgeoisie seems to be committed to developing or attempting to develop a capitalism with the Black community -- or the Black colony as we call it. This would merely trade one master for another and a small group of Blacks would control our destiny. This bourgeois middle class group represents a small proportion of Black people but they would make decisions for the majority of Black people.

This is reminiscent of our history when we also had Black slave masters. A small number of free Blacks owned slaves and they were part of the bourgeois class of that time. They did nothing to alleviate the situation which caused slavery. These Black slave owners gave the Black masses Black capitalism because they were interested in their own profits and well-being. They were not interested in the well-being of the people.

BLACK POWER

Black power is a much more relevant solution to the people's problems. So far as Black capitalism is concerned, most of the Black bourgeoisie cannot be said to own any means of production. They do have bourgeois middle class ideas. They have many of the ideas of the White capitalist class and they have illusions that someday they will be owners. Such is not the case. There is no more free enterprise in America. There is only monopolistic capitalism where a few people have industry under their control and they will not give up this control. They will not share their profits with anyone unless the person proves to be of some aid to them in further exploitation of the people.

Many would-be Black capitalists do not understand the relationship of the Black bourgeoisie to the military-industrial complex controlling this nation's economy. Most of the Black bourgeoisie class is made up of people in professions such as education, social service and the like. They are also controlled subjects of the military-industrial complex and have to follow the orders of the rulers.

There is still a close relationship and sense of identity between the Black masses and this bourgeois class because of the element of racism in this country. Racism goes hand in hand with capitalism. It is in the interests of the Black middle class to enhance their position by eliminating racism, but racism cannot be eliminated unless capitalism is eliminated. Racism is profitable for the promotion of capitalism, historically and presently.

For a short time when Europe met Africa there was mutual respect and mutual trade. It was not until the capitalists found it economically advantageous to sever the relationship and subject the Blacks to a slave position that they did so. And they did so because they needed a work force. It was then that they came to the belief that Blacks are inferior, did not have souls, and were therefore less than human.

The Black Panther Party feels that this government and the institutions necessary to make the government function are illegitimate because they are not relating to the people. Therefore, they have no right to exist.

In the interest of the people new institutions should be established as old ones fade and crumble.

TECHNOLOGY

With the technology that exists in America there is no excuse in these modern times for people to be without food or other basic necessities of life. There is no excuse for the psychological conditioning man needs to labor in the paths of day to day living, the positive reinforcement of the values and reason for existence.

In America the true basis of creativity is suppressed. The value of man, the purpose of man -- returning to our basic premise -- is to have freedom and the power to create, to engage in productive creativity. This is the freedom we are talking about, the freedom which we think makes life worth living.

Black people have been oppressed so long until we have forgotten how to make a decision. We suffer from what psychologists call a fixation. We have done the same thing over and over again, and in a pathological way, even if no gratification whatsoever results from the activity, we go along with the old outmoded values. These values are in strict contradiction to our very existance simply because we have been programmed, indoctrinated, and -- totally stripped of our dignity.

But now Blacks are demanding change. Historically capitalism was a necessity before technology was developed to the point it is now. There was only a very small amount of wealth and therefore only a small amount of people could enjoy this wealth. People had to go without. But there is no excuse for oppression and exploitation today because no one has to go without.

Technology has developed in such a way that every person should have an abundance of the things he needs. It is no longer necessary for him to toil his whole life without even being able to meet his basic needs. There is no excuse for him not to be totally free. The only reason all human beings do not have food, shelter and medical care today is that the administrators are only interested in their profit. This is the nature of the military-industrial complex.

The Black Panther Party community programs are attempting to spur the community into action -- creative action -- to make decisions and regain the dignity of the people. We join the world and in this country no matter what color they are to gain these same rights. These are rights of man and not of any particular group.

-- 16 --

So the Panthers are in some ways like the psychotherapist in that we are trying to make the people whole again. The people have been made ill by those forces which have controlled them in their position of servitude.

The first thing we have to do is educate the people and make them realize that there are forces controlling them -- forces that appear to be beyond their reach. The external forces have become translated into internal forces through the indoctrination of the ruling class. Thus we have internalized certain behavior patterns which we feel are instinctual or a basic part of man, but they are not.

Freud developed psychotherapy because he found man was suffering from coercion and controlled by subconscious forces. Therapy was basically a way of unveiling these forces as a first step of regaining control of himself. The Panther educational program in the community tries to unveil these forces and expose them. On the sociological level we agree with Marx that outside forces control man's behavior patterns, and he will be frustrated until he can seize control of them and can act in his own best interest.

DUAL PROGRAM

So we have a dual program because of the very complex interactions and many stimuli that oppress our community. Because of the dual nature of man we have to consider the social interactions and man's existence as a unique organism. We base our program on our humanistic values and on those things needed for man to function. We include the things that man needs to experience his individual uniqueness as a person.

The Panthers are being harassed, persecuted and killed all over the country because we know the truth and are attempting to point it out to the people. The ruling class will not be able to last in the face of the unity of all oppressed people. They are no longer willing to be slaves. The ruling class, of course, is fighting every inch of the way to remain in control of the people's work. And that's a bag.

-- 14 --

CHINA-MOLDING SERVANTS OF HUMANKIND

By David G. Du Bois

This is the ninth in a series of articles on the observations and impressions of David G. Du Bois, Editor-in-Chief of THE BLACK PANTHER Intercommunal News Service and official spokesperson of the Black Panther Party, who has recently returned from his third visit to the People's Republic of China.

PART 9

Peking University, together with all the universities in China, is presently undergoing a proletarian revolution in education. China's universities are being transformed in accordance with the principles of the Great Proletarian Revolution and the campaign to criticise Lin Piao and Confucious. The central theme and objective of the proletarian revolution in the universities is: Education should serve proletarian politics and serve productive labor.

Before the Cultural Revolution admission to Peking University was granted automatically to Middle School graduates who passed entrance examinations. Thus, students came to the university without any practical knowledge of the world around them. They came out of the gate of the Middle School to enter immediately the university gates.

Now university admissions are dependent upon a body of practical experience. Students are drawn from the peasants, workers and soldiers who are rich in practical experience. After Middle School, the graduates must work at least two years in industry, on a farm or serve in the Army. They should have demonstrated excellence also in Marxism-Leninism and the ability to forge close links with the masses, acquiring the idea of serving the people.

The average age for entrance now to Peking University is 20 years of age, with an academic level above the Jr. Midddle School level. They also must be physically fit. On entrance and throughout their course of study, the state pays for all their expenses, including mimeographed textbooks and provides pocket money.

The procedure followed for entrance to Peking University is the following: the applicant voluntarily makes application directly to the university. Following this move, the applicant appears before his/her co-workers to present the reasons for applying and the co-workers are then asked to make a recommendation on the applicant. Following the recommendation of the co-workers, the leadership acts on the recommendation of the co-workers. And finally, the applicant is re-examined by an entrance committee at Peking University.

HIGH MARKS

Formerly, because students entered the university as a result of high marks in Middle School, or because their families could afford to send them or had the proper connections, students concluded that their purpose at the university was to study for themselves and their personal advancement. Under the present system of drawing upon working class and peasant youth and Middle School graduates who have spent at least two years in industry, in the countryside or in the army, the students are much more clear-minded about their purpose of study. They understand that they are studying for the revolution. They come to the university rich in practical experience making it possible to learn theory much faster and in a deeper way. They are better able to integrate theory and practice.

Formerly the teachers, the classroom and books were the centers of education, carried out behind closed doors. As a result, the students were divorced from the masses of

-- 15 --
people and from productive labor. Thus, the principle of integrating theory with practice was developed. In other words, to run the university with an open door policy. This policy takes the following form:

During the first half of 1974 nearly 6,000 teachers and students at Peking University spent time in factories, on farms and in the People's Liberation Army, learning. In the same period, teachers and students formed lecturing groups to go to the workers, peasants and PLA men and women to propagate the current movement to criticize Lin Piao and Confucious. More than 600,000 persons have been reached in this way by teachers and students from Peking University.

Peking University itself runs seven factories with 27 work shops. The university has contact with 65 factories for the study of students in practical work of production. "We are making efforts to educate our students in all-round development, morally, intellectually, physically; students as workers with a socialist commitment." Chou Pei-yuen, president of Peking University told us.

The school period is generally three years. For some courses of study it is four years. Since 1970, more than 7,000 new students have entered Peking University from workers, peasant and army origins. The university also conducts short term and advance study courses of from three to six months. Over 7,000 students participated in these courses in 1974.

RADIO DEPARTMENT

For example, the radio department of the university runs short term courses for mastering the technical skills in broadcasting. During 1974 some 2,600 worker, peasant, army students graduated from these courses at a generally higher level than earlier graduates. Natural science students during 1974 carried out 389 research projects. Of that number, 75 have reached advanced levels. Ten of the projects were formerly presented at the National Conference of Fuel and Chemicals, at which the country's top specialists come together. The projects were highly praised by the specialists. Formerly, research papers were highly individual, unrelated to the key national needs and often known only by the student and the professor.

TEACHING METHODS

The attempt in the present teaching method being developed at Peking University is to train students to analyze and investigate problems; to combine book knowledge with practical application. The method is the following: Students are provided with texts for the course of study. The students independently read and study the texts followed by student discussions, sometimes joined by the teacher, sometimes not. For these discussions, workers, peasants or army personnel are invited to contribute their rich experience in the area of study. Also, students and teachers organize trips to factories and to the country side, to hold discussions and to carry out activities related to the area of study. The point is to give full play to the students' initiative.

At present Peking University has 20 departments. There are seven departments under the Liberal Arts Faculty; ten department under the Natural Science Faculty; three departments of Foreign Languages and 75 specialities. There are at present 2,600 members on the faculty of Peking University.

(The next selection will begin a series on our three-day visit to the northeast industrial areas of People's China, highlighted by an extended visit to the great Taching oilfield.)

-- 14 --

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ARLENE EISEN BERGMAN: VIETNAM: “NOTHING IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN INDEPENDENCE AND FREEDOM”

The following is an exclusive interview with Arlene Eisen Bergman, author of the recently published book Women of Vietnam. Following its publication, Arlene Eisen Bergman was invited by the Women's Union to visit Vietnam. Her one month stay included two weeks in Hanoi, a trip south into Quangtri Province and a return journey through China. The interview, of which Part 2 follows, was conducted for THE BLACK PANTHER by Elsa Knight Thompson, veteran journalist and former program director for Berkeley radio station KPFA.

PART 2

B.P.: We can all find Hanoi on the map, but where is Quangtri Province in relation to the artificial boundary between so-called North and South Vietnam?

AEB: The temporary military demarcation line set in 1954 on the 17th parallel cuts through Quangtri Province and since 1954 the part of the province north of the 17th parallel is called Vinhlinh and only the southern part is called Quangtri.

B.P.: Did you go south of this line?

AEB: Yes, into territory previously occupied by American troops.

B.P.: So you saw, during the month you were there, a number of places and people. First impressions are often very important. What were yours?

AEB: I had been studying and reading about Vietnam for several years before I went. I felt familiar with Vietnamese history, with the details of their struggle and so on, through my reading. So very often when I first met people, especially people I had been in correspondence with or read about, I felt I was meeting an old friend, and very much as if I were on familiar territory on the one hand. On the other, nothing I knew before had really prepared me for understanding what we have done there or how great a feat it is that the Vietnamese manage to exist against the most advanced military machinery in the world.

We can read statistics about lack of industry or low economic levels, but until you see with your own eyes that most of the transportation of goods is by carrying poles on people's shoulders, that kind of pre-industrial reality just doesn't hit you with the same impact from simply reading about it.

B.P.: What kind of city is Hanoi? Does it look anything like an American city?

AEB: There are parts of it that are American in the sense that they have sidewalks, curbs, pavements, and downtowns areas. It really looks more like a French city. There are many lakes and it's very beautiful. But the thing that makes it totally unlike an American city is the fact that you can walk down most streets and not see a car. The kind of traffic that you see in the streets is bicycle traffic. There are virtually no private cars in Vietnam. When you do see a car, it's either a jeep or a truck or some buses. A few cars do exist that are special officials cars for very high level government leaders and their guests.

So the streets are very quiet. You hear bicycle bells but not too many horns. When there is a horn honk, it really shatters the tranquillity.

B.P.: And in the residential district what sort of house would the ordinary citizen live in?

AEB: There's been a lot of reconstruction of housing as well as public buildings so that nobody's living out in the streets. There were different kinds of housing that I saw ranging from pretty rural type housing on the outskirts of the city, more or less thatched huts made out of mud and straw and so on, to modern, prefabricated buildings that have been constructed since the bombing in '72, and everything in between.

-- 15 --

I had the sense that most people lived in a kind of stucco building that didn't have any plumbing or modern amenities indoors. There were neighborhood or street spigots, water-spouts, in a given block or area. They had outhouses. Things like electricity and refrigeration and are virtually unheard of. I got the sense that the refrigeration that did exist in the country was reserved for hospitals and other essentials.

B.P.: What is the diet and is it adequate?

AEB: I spent some time wandering around the city and the market areas and I was amazed at the variety and richness of the food available. All kinds of food, fruits and vegetables, grains, meat and fish, a lot of fish. One interesting thing that I found out from the Women's Union is that they set up in the cities community service teams where one person in a given community is responsible for doing the marketing for everyone else. If you need something, the night before you bring your shopping list to your community service team and they go to the market and get what you requested. Especially women who work don't have to worry about supplying their families with food. It's one step in the collectivization of household tasks.

B.P.: And the villages? What were your impressions of conditions?

AEB: Now that varies, too. When we were coming back from Quangtri driving north, we spent a few days in Vinhlinh and in Quonvinh. Quonvinh is the province just north of Vinhlinh that received the heaviest bombing in the north because it was closest to the 17th parallel. And it was there that people survived in tunnels for years and years. Most housing in those provinces has been destroyed.

In Vinhlinh especially it seemed that most people are living now in thatched houses. The further north you go, the more substantial the housing gets. It progresses from thatched to mud to brick. One other thing I noticed as we returned to the north was that I was shocked the first time I saw a two-story building and I realized that beginning about 80 miles south of Hanoi you don't see two-story buildings. They have virtually all been destroyed, and the reconstruction that's being done has been in terms of one-story buildings. They haven't built two-story buildings.

B.P.: You mentioned community shopping lists for women who work. Is that a large group?

AEB: Well, I would say that there really are no women who don't work except those who work in addition to what they do at home because that's work too, but work in the actual economy outside of the home. The only ones who don't would be the ones who are too old and too sick.

TO BE CONTINUED

-- 17 --

Intercommunal News: O.A.U. CONDEMNS RE-ARREST OF Z.A.N.U. LEADER

(Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) -- Expressing the outrage of the entire African continent, both the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and its important Liberation Committee issued statements last week strongly condemning the re-arrest by Rhodesian White authorities of militant Zimbabwe national leader Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole.

Rev. Sithole, head of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), was arrested in the Rhodesian capital city of Salisbury earlier this month on fabricated charges of "plotting to assassinate some of his political opponents in an attempt to gain leadership of the ANC."

In December, Rev. Sithole and Mr. Joshua Nkomo, leader of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), were released from 10 years prison "detention" in order to participate in talks with the White Rhodesian government of Ian Smith on the cessation of armed guerrilla activity and the establishment of a constitutional convention, leading eventually to African majority rule. The talks were to take place with Bishop Abel Muzorewa, leader of the African National Congress (ANC), acting as spokesman for the two militant groups.

STATEMENT

In the statement, released here by the OAU Liberation Committee. Hsinhua News Agency reports that the umbrella group "points out that if the illegal racist regime (of Ian Smith) thinks they can frighten the ANC leadership and the Zimbabwean people by arresting Sithole, it is in for a rude shock."

Appealing to the Zimbabwean people to remain united and firm in their struggle for independence based on majority rule and expressing total support for the ANC, the statement says:

"The heroic Zimbabwean people have already paid a very high price for the cause of freedom and liberty. They are, therefore, more than prepared to pay an even higher price to win final victory."

The next day, in a statement released from Addis Ababa,

-- 22 --
Ethiopia, the OAU leadership stated (in part):

"The arrest (of Sithole) is aimed at creating confusion and disunity in the ANC of Zimbabwe. The OAU calls on all Africans in Rhodesia not to succumb to the maneuvers of Ian Smith and to demand immediate release of Sithole.

"The OAU believes that Smith's tactics of `divide and rule,' which worked in the past, cannot succeed anymore, especially with the new political awakening of Africans in Zimbabwe."

Internal Zimbabwean protest has been equally strong and vigorous.

Immediately upon hearing news of the re-arrest, Bishop Muzorewa announced that all scheduled talks with the Smith regime were cancelled and that none would take place until Rev. Sithole was released.

ZANU second-in-command Robert Mugabe pointed out at a press conference that, "This action by the Smith regime has finally shattered whatever was left in the so-called detente and peaceful settlement exercise.

"ZANU intends to push for the goal by any means necessary, until the objective -- the realization of majority rule -- is achieved. There cannot be any compromise or surrender. The fight goes on."

-- 17 --

U.N. ECONOMIC COMMISSION ON AFRICA DEMANDS NEW WORLD ORDER

(Nairobi, Kenya) -- Resolutions expressing the determination of African countries to work in close unity for economic independence and a new international economic order were adopted here recently by the Third Conference of Ministers of the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa.

Major items on the conference agenda, Hsinhua News Agency reports, were a midterm review and appraisal of Africa's success in implementing international development strategy and a review of current economic developments and policies in the Commission's member states.

The meeting of the Commission follows two other major economic gatherings of Third World countries -- the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Council of Ministers and the 77 Nation Group, both of which are actively seeking to unify Third World economic interests against Western imperialism and exploitation. (See THE BLACK PANTHER, March 8, 1975.)

The U.N. Economic Commission's resolution on raw materials and the establishment of a new economic order noted that the current international economic order is directed at "perpetuation of unequal economic relations, imperialist domination and neo-colonialist exploitation."

RESOLUTION

The resolution went on to urge African countries to rely on themselves, and mobilize their resources and potentials to develop their economies. It emphasized the importance of the continent gaining complete control over its natural wealth and resources and means of economic development.

In order to gain total economic freedom from the West, the resolution pointed out that African countries have the right to "exercise an effective control over (their natural resources)… including the right to nationalize or transfer property to their nationals."

The resolution called on developing countries to take a unified approach in their negotiations with developed countries on raw materials and development problems.

Among the Commission's other decisions were to actively promote direct trade among African countries; strengthen their producers' associations already in existence and establish new ones; establish small and medium scale projects for the processing of raw materials, and devise common strategies for dealing with raw material producing countries.

ACTION

The resolution on the food situation in Africa and the program of action called upon the continent to take new coordinated and sustained actions to increase food and agricultural production.

The outgoing chairman of the conference and Ghanaian Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Kwame Baah called for greater Afro-Arab economic cooperation and added, "There is need to intensify our efforts and increase the tempo of struggle for Africa's economic independence."

A majority of African countries attended the conference, represented by delegations led by economy and planning ministers. Representatives from Guinea-Bissau took part in the conference as full members for the first time, and African liberation movements attended as observers.

-- 19 --

CHINA TOUR: FRELIMO DELEGATION VISITS TACHAI COMMUNE

(Taiyuan, China) -- The Mozambican friendship delegation, led by FRELIMO (Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) President Samora Machel, continued its third week on a special visit to the People's Republic of China by touring the fields of the Tachai Production Brigade in Northern China's Sihansi Province, a frontrunner in the country's agriculture.

Hsinhua News Agency reported that the FRELIMO delegation met with Chen Yung-kuei, vice premier of the state council and was accompanied by Chinese Minister of Communication Yeh Fei.

Kuo Feng-lien, chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Tachai Brigade, and other leading members of the Brigade greeted the friendship delegation upon their arrival at the Yangchuan train station.

Hsinhua, commenting upon the deep affection with which the Mozambique leaders were greeted, wrote:

"Peasants of the brigade were overjoyed at the visit by the distinguished Mozambican guests. The mountain village was bedecked and permeated (filled) with a jubilant atmosphere. Streamers in and around the village were inscribed with slogans of welcome.

-- 20 --

"Upon the arrival of President Samora Machel, the villagers waved flowers and streamers and danced to the strains of drums and Chinese sona trumpets in a manifestation of warm welcome."

The agricultural advancements of the Tachai brigade are of particular importance to the FRELIMO leaders because Mozambique is mainly an agricultural country. When FRELIMO assumed leadership of Mozambique's interim government last September, President Machel told his countrymen that, "Priority must be given to the countryside in economic development. Agriculture will therefore be the base of our production.".

The Mozambican guests, accompanied by Kuo Feng-lien, drove in cars along newly paved mountain roads to see the tiers of terraced fields on the slopes. They visited the irrigation project that leads water uphill and climbed on to the summit of Hutoushan Mountain for a panoramic view of the Tachai landscape.

TRANSFORMATION

Feng-lien explained to the visitors how the Tachai commune had transformed the natural environment in the area:

"We have improved and reimproved this gully (the `wolf pack' gully) on four different occasions. Last winter we started a fifth campaign here. It entails the removal of hillocks on both sides of the gully so that the hundred and more plots of terraced fields can be merged into a score of larger fields."

Complimenting the Chinese on their accomplishments, President Machel said, "There are no miracles here. All these are done by men. It is a man-made miracle."

The FRELIMO delegation was especially impressed by a stone aqueduct 120 meters long and 33 meters high, which the commune peasants built in four months last year. When Comrade Machel asked who the engineer of the aqueduct was, Feng-lien replied that "the masses were the engineers" and had designed and built the aqueduct themselves.

At the end of the visit, Brother Machel said:

"We have seen the people's strength here. What was formerly barren hills and gullies strewn with rocks have been turned into grain producers and sources of wealth."

He wished the Tachai peasants future successes in their work.

-- 19 --

U.S. IMPLICATED IN ASSASSINATION OF MALAGASY PRESIDENT

(West Germany) -- The February 11 assassination of Malagasy President Colonel Ratsimandrava completed the coup d'etat (overthrow of the government) begun last December 31 by American-European imperialistic forces, reports the West German weekly, Kummunistische Volkszeitung.

The goal of the U.S.-European conspiracy in the Malagasy Republic (formerly the French colony of Madagascar), the German publication said, was to regain control over the strategically located island in the Indian Ocean. The growing strength of revolutionary forces, particularly since 1972, had posed a serious threat to Western plans for economic exploitation of the island state.

WESTERN INTEREST

The upcoming self-rule for the former Portuguese colony of Mozambique -- June 11 -- and the gains of Black revolutionary forces in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) have increased the Western powers' interest in Malagasy as a base of operation. Because of its location, the island controls the shipping lines around the Cape of Good Hope, a route used by all the major oil tankers of the world.

Malagasy has been politically independent of France since 1958, but France has never ceased its economic exploitation of the country. Out of a total population of seven million, over 60,000 French nationals still live on the island.

The French colonialists used the historical contradiction between the different peoples of the island to strengthen their domination. When independence was declared in 1958, the French left the Malagasy government in control of the political representatives of the island's rich traders of the coastal region in the "Socialist Party."

Under the leadership of President Tsirana, the French maintained their economic influence over the island. Malagasy became a member of the "Franc-Zone," a group of former French African colonies which maintained "special connections" with France.

The worsening economic conditions caused by Tsirana's massive selling of the island's resources to imperialistic interests sparked a popular uprising among the people of the entire island in May, 1972.

The well-trained and well-equipped "Republican Security Forces" (made up of Malagasi nationals) of President Tsirana were called in to quash the rebellion. However, the president's private army was unable to break up the uprising and the army joined forces with the people.

The Tsirana government was forced to step down and Colonel Ramanatsoa was named President. He was a Merina, one of the inland majority of poor peasant inland majority of poor peasant people, causing the coastal bourgeoisie to lose their dominant influence over the government.

Under the progressive leadership of Colonel Ramanatsoa, Malagasy soon broke its ties with the "Franc-Zone" and strengthened relations with neighboring African states, particularly Tanzania. In October, 1972, Ramanatsoa received 90 per cent of the votes in a popular referendum, giving him a mandate to rule for five years.

The Socialist Party forces of ex-President Tsirana became openly hostile as President Ramanatsoa initiated a progressive government in Malagasy. The Tsirana forces publicly called for Ramanatsoa's removal from office and the formation of a new Tsirana government.

On December 31, 1974, the Mobile Peace Troops -- the former Republican Security Forces -- under the leadership of Colonel Rajaoharison, a follower of Tsirana, attempted a coup, which was defeated. However, the government failed to bring the troops under control, and they barricaded themselves inside several forts scattered around the island.

The entire cabinet of the Ramanatsoa government resigned on January 25, unable to regain complete control of the island. Colonel Ratsimandrava, the former minister of the interior, was named president on February 6 and formed a government representing the military and civilians. Five days later on February 11, he was assassinated in the country's capital. Tanaharive, by a unit of the Mobile Police Troops.

POLICE PLOT

A subsequent police plot to start a civil war between the coastal bourgeoisie and the inland Merinas (most of the army officers come from the Merinas) failed.

The newly-appointed military president, General Gilles Andriamahazo, formed a 19-member "National Committee under Military Leadership," composed of former allies of Ratsimandrava. The police surrendered to the army following the declaration of a state of emergency.

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LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES ESCALATE “BANANA WAR”

(Panama City, Panama) -- The "Banana War" started by Latin American countries a year ago to defend their national resources and state sovereignty against the exploitation and plunder by transnational companies is still going on, Hsinhua reports.

The seven producer countries -- Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica. Guatemala and Nicaragua -- which account for 65 per cent of the world's total banana exports recently met again in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil to coordinate activities and work out ways and means to deal with the transnationals.

U.S. TRANSNATIONALS

Standing against them are three U.S. transnational companies -- United Brands (formerly known as United Fruit), standard Fruit and Del Monte. These companies have for many years held large tracts of Latin American land on which they make exorbitant profits out of growing and trading in bananas.

Another means of crippling exploitation by the transnationals is monopoly trade in these countries, through buying bananas at low prices throughout Latin America. Over the past two decades or more, the price gap between bananas and manufactured goods has increasingly widened and the transnationals have profitted enormously to the serious detriment of the exporting countries interests.

Whereas these countries were able to get 1.18 tons of steel bars in return for every ton of exported bananas in 1965, in early 1974, they had to export four tons of bananas in order to import one ton of steel bars.

Transnational exploitation has driven Latin America's banana workers into abominable poverty. In Central America alone, some eight million banana workers live at starvation levels. In Panama, the workers charged United Brands with "cramming gold into their safes," while forcing workers into "green infernos." To defend their right to subsist, the banana workers have staged strike-actions and land-seizures.

Today the criminal actions of the transnational companies are encountering mounting resistance. The banana producing countries in Latin America are pooling their strength in common struggle against the transnational companies and in defense of their national sovereignty and interests.

In the "Guayaquil Declaration" of 1972, three banana producing countries -- Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica -- affirmed the decision to take joint action against the plunder and exploitation of the transnational companies.

At a ministerial level meeting held in Panama City last March, seven Latin American countries proposed the formation of a union of banana exporting countries and expressed their resolve to "bury the despicable name of banana republics once and for all."

At a meeting in Tegucigalpa that same moth, the heads of

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state and government of Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicargrua and Panama decided to levy a 2.5. cents (U.S.) surtax on every pound of exported bananas. A Panamanian newspaper stated that the decision is "a question of principle concerning national sovereignty and dignity."

As the opening gun in this struggle known as the "banana war," the formation of the union of banana exporting countries took place last September in defiance of every kind of sabotage by transnational companies.

To counter the joint action of the banana producers, the transnationals resorted to frantic retaliatory measures. With the imposition of the export surtax United Brands suspended all banana-picking and shipping in Panama; Standard Fruit sacked large numbers of workers and cut back banana production and exports in Honduras and Costa Rica wher it has operated for dozens of years.

But Latin American banana producers, by dint of mutual support and solidarity, struck back at the blackmail and intimidation of the transantionals. They held five intergovernmental ministerial meetings to discuss joint countermeasures.

PAY AS USUAL

The Panamanian government notified United Brands that it must pay the employees as usual and guarantee the banana plantations against any losses during the suspension of exports, or it would be subject to measures the government would find it necessary to take. At the