--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- [1] --

F.B.I. SET UP KARENGA MURDERS OF B.P.P. LEADERS

(Washington, D.C.) -- An FBI document released last week by the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating the FBI proves conclusively that the FBI actively instigated, provoked and assisted the Ron Karenga-led US organization to commit violence against the Black Panther Party in Los Angeles in 1968-69, with the expressed objective of disrupting and destroying the Black Panther Party.

The document is dated December 2, 1968, just six weeks before Black Panther Party Southern California leaders Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter and John Huggins were gunned to death by members of the US organization on the University of California, Los Angeles campus.

US organization members George and Larry Stiner were subsequently convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the slaying of Comrades "Bunchy" and John and were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, on March 31, 1974, both "escaped" from San Quentin prison by walking away from a family visitors' area during a weekend family visit.

Released with the document were nine, full-page leaflet drawings conceived and executed by the FBI, showing US organization members violently attacking and insulting leaders of the Black Panther Party. (See centerfold.) One leaflet pictures a figure labeled Ron Karenga perusing a list of "Things to do Today." The list contains the

-- 22 --
names of four leaders of the Black Panther Party at that time -- John Huggins, Bunchy Carter, Bobby Seale and Walter Wallace. Large checks are placed beside the names of Bunchy and John.

Black Panther Party comrades of the Los Angeles Chapter remember the leaflets having arrived by mail at the Party office there in envelopes containing San Diego postmarks. They arrived following the murders of Bunchy and John, and were a clear threat that the two unchecked names on the list -- Bobby Seale and Walter Wallace -- were next to be assassinated.

Only after the issuance of the FBI directive ordering local offices to develop "imaginative and hard-hitting" measures to cripple the Black Panther Party and in the aftermath of the assassinations of "Bunchy" Carter and John Huggins, the relationship between the Black Panther Party and the US organization grew increasingly tense. In San Diego only a few days after Bunchy and John were murdered 14 members of the US organization forcibly entered the Party's office with guns drawn.

Two months later, on May 19th, Malcolm X's birthday, a number of US organization members pulled their guns on a crowd of people attending a rally at Mountain View Park, in San Diego. Especially singled out in the crowd for harassment and threat were Party members. On May 23, Party members John Savage and Jeffrey Jennings were walking toward their office when they met up with an US organization member named "Tambozi." As the brothers walked by, Tambozi grabbed John Savage by the shoulder, jammed a .38 automatic into the back of his neck and pulled the trigger. John Savage, age 24, died instantly.

THREE MONTHS

Less than three months later, on August 15, Sylvester Bell became the fourth member of the Black Panther Party murdered in cold blood by Ron Karenga's men. Comrade Bell's murder came when the trial in Los Angeles of US organization members for the assassination of "Bunchy" Carter and John Huggins had just begun, in a blatant but futile attempt to intimidate witnesses at the trial. Sylvester Bell was 34 years old when he was murdered.

The murderers of Fallen Comrades John Savage and Sylvester Bell were never prosecuted.

The one-page COINTELPRO document (reproduced in Centerfold) came from J. Edgar Hoover's office and was sent to FBI offices in 13 cities; Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, Omaha, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. The document reads as follows:

"For the information of recipient offices a serious struggle is taking place between the Black Panther Party (BPP) and the US organization. The struggle has reached such proportions that it is taking on the aura of gang warfare with attendant threats of murder and reprisals.

FULLY CAPITALIZE

"In order to fully capitalize upon BPP and US differences as well as to exploit all avenues of creating further dissension in the ranks of the BPP, recipient offices are instructed to submit imaginative and hardhitting counterintelligence measures aimed at cripling the BPP (our emphasis).

"Commencing December 2, 1968, and every two-week period thereafter, each office is instructed to submit a letter under this caption containing counterintelligence measures aimed against the BPP. The bi-weekly letter should also contain accomplishments obtained during the previous two week period under captioned program.

"All counterintelligence actions must be approved at the Bureau prior to taking steps to implement them."

In fact, at the time this document was issued, the Los Angeles Black Panther Party Chapter was operating under Executive Order #1, issued as early as May, 1968, by then Deputy Defense Minister for Southern California, "Bunchy" Carter. The order directed all Panther Party members to refrain from "murder-mouthing" other Black organizations "like US and Brother Ron Karenga" and reminded Party members "History will show we have the correct analysis of the problem." (See Centerfold for full text of Executive Order #1). The only "gang warfare" and "threats of murder and reprisal" was emanating from the US organization at the instigation and suggested of the FBI.

The FBI memo quoted above clearly shows that the target of the FBI's inciteful campaign was the Black Panther Party. Its instructions to the local FBI offices were to draw up and submit biweekly plans of provocative actions "aimed at crippling the BPP." There is no suggestion whatsoever in the memo that the alleged counterintelligence measures should cripple or damage the US organizations.

This memo exposes recent press reports and FBI claims that the measures were merely intended to stir up animosity and conflict between the Black Panther Party and the US organization.

Ron Karenga, former leader of the now defunct US organization, reportedly told the Los Angeles Times when questioned about the revelation: "We always suspected they (the cartoons) came from the police. We played into their precious hands and were tricked."

CENTRAL DISTRIBUTION
8501 E. 14TH STREET
OAKLAND, CALIF. 94621

-- 2 --

EDITORIAL: JUSTICE FOR THE B.P.P.

Revelations by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee last week of covert FBI attempts to destroy the Chicago and Los Angeles Chapters of the Black Panther Party in 1968/1969 confirm what the Party contended at the time and has consistently charged since. However, these revelations only represent the "tip of the iceberg." (See the cover story, page 3 and centerfold.)

The one FBI COINTELPRO document on the US organization was sent to 13 cities throughout the country, with instructions for each local office to come up with similar covert operations and report every two weeks. In each of those 13 cities Black Panther Party formations came under violent attack in that period.

Further, the testimony of the former FBI informer that "infiltrated" the KKK Gary Thomas Rowe, Jr., before the Committee last week confirms charges made by the Black Panther Party and Black leaders throughout the country that the FBI and local police departments, particularly throughout the South, cooperated in provoking violence, including murder, against Blacks and other Civil Rights advocates at the height of that movement.

The Committee-released information clearly reveals that in Chicago the FBI attempted to instigate and provoke violent encounters between the then Blackstone Rangers and the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party with the immediate objective of undermining the BPP's attempt to politicize the powerful street gang.

The events of 1969 in Los Angeles establish that the FBI was successful in instigating and provoking the US organization to make murderous assaults against the Black Panther Party resulting in at least four murders of BPP members by the US organization.

There are railway car loads of evidence in the FBI and local police files around the country, some of which must be in the Committee's hands, proving FBI-police cooperation and instigation of violent assaults on the Black Panther Party as well as undermining and disruptive activity within the BPP.

Justice demands that that evidence be uncovered and exposed, that the Black Panther Party be publicly vindicated and compensated and the real criminals be prosecuted.

-- 2 --

Letters to the Editor

SHOW CONCERN FOR WRONGS DONE TO SEATTLE B.P.P.

Dear Sir:

I have been a close observer of Black Panther activities in the Seattle area for the past several years, and I know absolutely nothing that would justify keeping police files on them now or in the past or any real evidence that they have committed any illegal, or for that matter immoral, deeds.

They are a radical group -- but only in the sense that they believe that radical changes are necessary in our society -- which, through survival programs and the democratic political process they are trying to bring about. They wish to kill or harm no fellow human beings and quite to the contrary, are trying to bring about a society of decency and equality for all.

Also, I would like to point out that threats to the civil rights of Black Panthers cannot help but be threats to the civil rights of all people, including conservatives and citizens of all colors and shades of political opinion.

An example: Mr. Lloyd Cooney, a broadcasting executive for Radio-TV KIRO in Seattle is one of the conservatives who -- in the same net with the Panthers -- found his name was also, without justice, in the Seattle Police Department's special files. I personally remember one of his editorials spoken on TV which may well have gotten him there. All he said regarding prisoners in our local jail was to defend their personal rights not to be raped or mugged while in prison and insist that their sentences consist of the loss of their time and personal freedom -- not personal torment and abuse while they are in custody.

So, since certain minds consider any disagreement as "dangerous radicalism" in their minds, Mr. Cooney is presented as a "dangerous radical." He is, in fact, a conservative businessman and a member in good standing of the Mormon Church.

Now I would like to refer to one well known person, Pastor Martin Niemoller, whom I once personally met, who learned the hard way that not being concerned with rights of groups other than one's own can lead to.

In a sermon I personally heard when he visited Seattle some years ago, he confessed that while Hitler was coming into power in Germany, he was not as concerned as he should have been over what Hitler was doing to groups in society other than his own. Then, when the net tightened on him, he put up an heroic fight for the rights of all people, including many years in the Dachau concentration camp. There, amidst much suffering he made an heroic stand and did accomplish much. But, by his own admission, he was not able to be as effective as he could have been had he shown more concern at an earlier time for Nazi wrongs to any groups in society.

It is not too late now to show concern for wrongs done to Panthers and many groups, large and small, oppressed by official wrongdoing. All citizens of courage and honesty should demand respect for the civil rights of all our fellow citizens right now!

Sincerely,
Paul Dubnar
Seattle, Wash.

SEEKS INFORMATION ON B.P.P. MEMBERSHIP AND PROGRAMS

To Whom It May Concern:

I'm writing this letter seeking information on membership in the Party and my participation in your Survival Programs and liberation school. I have long been a big supporter of the Party and its programs.

I'd also like some information on how I can get your newspaper here to sell for you. I called out there Wednesday morning, October 1, around 8:00 a.m. A Black woman answered the phone and said there was no one there at the time I could talk to.

Please write back very soon. Keep up with the Struggle.

All Power to the People,
Your Brother,
Rubin Watson
Springfield, Ill.

-- 2 --

COMMENT: Past Time For U.N. To Act On U.S. Racism

In response to the passage of the United Nations resolution equating Zionism with racism, the Black Panther Party, in the following comment, calls upon the world body to just as solemnly and resolutely condemn the racist ideology of U.S. monopoly capitalism.

The recent United Nations resolution condemining Zionism as racism must not be allowed to isolate the state of Israel either as the only or the most blatant racist state, or Zionism as the most blatantly racist political ideology. We must never forget that this dubious "distinction" goes to the United States of America and the political ideology that guides monopoly capitalism.

Despite repeated attempts by Black Americans to obtain United Nations recognition and condemnation of the racist policies of the USA and the racist ideology of monopoly capitlalism, that august body has steadfastly refused to do so, calling into question the sincerity and conviction of at least some of those governments that voted to condemn Zionism as racist.

It is the racist ideology guiding the practitioners of monopoly capitalism, both here in the U.S. and throughout the world, that has led this country into repeated military adventures against peoples of color in Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East and particularly in Africa. It is the racist practices of the leaders of monopoly capitalism within the borders of the United States that has made it possible for the majority White population of this country to be led by the nose into these military adventures in which the flower of America's youth are the tragic victims.

Every member state of the United Nations suffers from the racist-motivated policies of U.S. monopoly capitalism -- some more directly than others. "Peace-keeping" armies created by the United Nations and stationed at hot spots around the Third World -- in the Middle East, on the island of Cyprus, on the Indian subcontinent and inevitably on

-- 10 --
the continent of Africa -- are made up of young men from various countries of the world, also victims.

Should the racist machinations of U.S. monopoly capitalism be allowed to produce yet a fourth armed conflict in the Middle East over who's going to control Middle East oil, the entire world could become embroiled in a nuclear conflagration. Should the racist-motivated plots of U.S. monopoly capitalism to assassinate Third World leaders and to instigate, finance and supply factions friendly to U.S. investors in internal struggles in Africa, Asia, South America, no country in the world will escape the horrors of the inevitable race war that could follow.

Few remember that in 1951 a delegation of Black Americans, headed by the heroic Paul Robeson and the Communist Party leader William L. Patterson, submitted to the United Nations Organization a mammoth document entitled We Charge Genocide. The document was prepared under the direction of the late Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois and chronicled in detail and in depth U.S. monopoly capitalism's consistently racist practices against Black Americans, charging a deliberate policy of genocide of Black people in this country.

The sojourn of Malcolm X on the continent of Africa nearly a decade later had as its chief objective securing the participation and support from African governments, members of the United Nations, in bringing before that world body the truth about the conditions of Black people in this country and securing United Nations condemnation of those responsible.

The effort of Du Bois, Robeson and Patterson in 1951 led to no action by the United Nations. The effort of Malcolm X was terminated by his assassination before he could act on it; and most of the many government leaders he contacted on the African continent were hesitant to commit themselves to such participation or support.

We hail the United Nation General Assembly's concern with racism as an evil to be rooted out of human society. But, if the members of the United Nations are serious about that concern, they will act with dispatch to expose and condemn the most powerful and therefore the most dangerous racism of our times -- the racism of U.S. monopoly capitalism.

-- 3 --

Lawyers In Fred Hampton Murder Case Seek Secret Documents

(Chicago, Ill.) -- Charging that a federal judge's prior rulings have "aided and abetted the defendants in their burning need to hide the truth" about the assassinations of Black Panther Party leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, lawyers for the Hampton Clark families and others have filed a "discovery and disclosure" motion for documents and evidence long held in secret by federal, state and local authorities.

Prompted by recent Congressional revelations of FBI attempts to pit the Chicago BPP Chapter against the Black Stone Rangers gang in an all-out effort to destroy the Party (see article, this page), a ruling on the motion, considered key in unraveling the breadth and scope of the police conspiracy, is expected to be made this Wednesday, December 10.

ISSUES

The complexity of the issues involved is increased in view of the fact that the judge who will make the crucial ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Sam Perry, is the same jurist attorneys recently sought to have removed from the case.

A poignant appeal by Mrs. Iberia Hampton, mother of the slain Party leader -- charging that Judge Perry (1) is prejudiced against Black people in general and against the Black Panther Party in particular; (2) displayed gross favoritism for the law enforcement officials who initiated and carried out the infamous December 4, 1969, assault; (3) is senile and at age 79 too old to deal with the issues -- was denied by fellow federal Judge William Lynde. (See last week's issue of THE BLACK PANTHER.)

Indeed, in the current motion, allegations of Judge Perry's bias in favor of former State's Attorney Edward Hanrahan and the other defendants abound:

Section 21 describes Judge Perry's position in this manner: "… Although the recent revelations in Washington (the Senate disclosures) suggest that the anti-disclosure policy of this

-- 10 --
Court is just one finger in a dike which is about to burst before a flood of unspeakable verities, it remains an arbitrary and oppressive abuse of judicial discretion to thus fetter (chain) plaintiffs' discovery and eviscerate (take away a vital part of) their case. The policy is wrong, and should be changed."

The 10-page, well documented motion details "the contention of plaintiffs (Mrs. Iberia Hampton, Mrs. Willie Mae Clark and the seven survivors of the assault) that the conspiracy they have complained of was formed in conscious pursuit of a policy established at the highest levels of government, in response to what the decision-makers told themselves was a legitimate, urgent national need to suppress the Black liberation movement in this country by any means necessary.

"In particular, the policy sought to `prevent the rise of a "messiah" who could unify, and electrify, the militant Black nationalist movement,' "the motion reads, quoting in part the COINTELPRO documents describing the FBI's plan for the systematic repression of progressive and revolutionary Black leaders.

Later in the motion, having established the vicious government conspiracy in general, the attorneys argue that: "In these conditions a messianic figure, Fred Hampton, who could and did unite and electrify masses of Black people (and White people!) wherever he went, did indeed arise in Chicago. In the atmosphere which existed at the time, with the murders of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King already accomplished and much of the Panther Party leadership in jail or exile, Fred Hampton became, to the agents of government responsible for the suppression of the movement, Number One on the Hit Parade; and thus he met his end.

"Such is the claim of the plaintiffs in this case; and such is the case they intend to put, which the Court's policy of secrecy has thus far obstructed."

The motion also describes several incidents of illegal police activity -- 25 to 30 informants in the Chicago Chapter at a given time, a forged letter to the Party leadership in Oakland attempting to discredit Fred Hampton, at least one other COINTELPRO document -- that Judge Perry's prior secracy rulings have kept hidden.

-- 3 --

F.B.I. PLOT TO PIT BLACKSTONE RANGERS AGAINST B.P.P. IN CHICAGO REVEALED

(Chicago, Ill.) -- FBI documents made available last week reveal for the first time that in January, 1969, the FBI composed, hand wrote and sent a letter to the powerful Blackstone Rangers, over the "signature" "A Black Brother you don't know," provocatively warning the Rangers that the Black Panther Party planned to have Ranger leader Jeff Fort killed and urging "retaliatory action" against the Black Panther Party.

The letter was sent on the recommendation of the Chicago office of the FBI and approved by J. Edgar Hoove in Washington, D.C. The recommendation was contained in a memo dated December 16, 1968. Approval was granted in a Washington FBI memorandum dated January 12, 1969.

The handwritten letter said the following: "Brother Jeff: I've spent some time with Panther friends on the west side lately and I know what's been going on. The brothers that run the Panthers blame you for blocking their thing and there's suppose to be a hit out for you. I'm not a Panther or a Ranger, just Black. From what I see these Panthers are out for themselves not Black people. I think you ought to know what their (sic) up to, I know what I'd do if I was you. You might hear from me again. A Black brother you don't know."

"Consideration has been given to a similar letter to the BPP alleging a Ranger plot against the BPP leadership," the letter said. However, it is not felt this would be productive, principally because the BPP at present is not believed as violence prone as the Rangers to whom violent type activity -- shooting and the like -- is second nature."

Authorization for sending the letter included the following instructions: "Utilize a commercially purchased envelope for this letter and insure that the mailing is not traced to the source. Advise the Bureau of any results obtained by the above mailing."

The authorization letter notes that "so long as Fort continues as the leader of the Rangers, a working arrangement between the BPP and the Rangers may be effected on Ranger terms. Chicago has recommended the anonymous mailing of the following letter in anticipation that its receipt by Fort will intensify the degree of animosity existing between these two Black extremist organizations.

"Consequently Chicago now recommends the following letter to be sent to Fort, handwritten, on plain paper: (The text of the

-- 4 --
letter follows, including the appropriate mispelling.)

The Washington authorization memorandum continues: "The above would be sent to Fort in care of the widely publicized headquarters of the Rangers. It is believed the above may intensify the degree of animosity between the two groups and occasion Fort to take retaliatory action which could disrupt the BPP or lead to reprisals against its leadership."

This disclosure was made last week by Senator Philip A. Hart of Michigan, at the Senate intelligence committee's hearings in Washington on FBI violations. An FBI official, James Adams, denied the purpose of the letter was to encourage the Blackstone Rangers and the Black Panther Party members to kill each other in street warfare. However, Hart said it is difficult to "come to any other conclusion."

Committee minority counsel, Curtis R. Smothers testified that in Chicago the FBI had a program to "exacerbate" (heighten) tensions between the Black Panther Party and the Stones. The object, Smothers testified, was "to cause gang members to attack Panthers."

The "Fort" letter was part of a previously disclosed FBI program known as COINTELPRO (See THE BLACK PANTHER, April 6, 1974) approved by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, to "disrupt, misdirect, discredit" Black organizations in general and the Black Panther Party in particular. One document revealed at that time dealt solely with the Black Panther Party and proposed having FBI documents "leaked" to the Party on a continuing basis. The plan included "fingering" individual members of the Party as FBI informants in the hope that the organization would take action against them.

The FBI memo about the Fort letter dated January 12, 1969, was from the special agent in charge of the Chicago FBI office, Marlin Johnson, to J. Edgar Hoover. Johnson, now Canteen Corporation vice president and head of the Chicago Police Board, could not be reached for comment.

-- 3 --

Bake Sale Raises Funds For Oakland Community School

(Oakland, Caif.) -- The Oakland Community School held another successful bake sale on Saturday, December 6, at the Park Boulevard Co-op, raising much needed funds for the model East Oakland community based school.

Parents and friends of the School prepared such tasty baked goods as chocolate and carrot cakes, potato and pumpkin pies, date nut squares, brownies and other delicious baked goods that were sold for the day-long event. In the photo above, Ms. VANETTA MOLSON (left), Group 3 instructor at the School, helps a customer with her purchase.

-- 4 --

La Peña To Host Oakland Community School Benefit

(Oakland, Calif.) -- A special fund-raising benefit for East Oakland's model elementary level school, the Oakland Community School, will be held on Sunday, December 21, at La Peña, a popular Latino restaurant, club and cultural center located at 3105 Shattuck in Berkeley. The children of the School -- some of whom are shown Above with a staff member and talented Mexican singer JOSE LUIS OROZCO (right) -- frequently attend the many cultural and educational events sponsored by La Peña that are part of the School's Spanish curriculum. The curriculm seeks to give the children an understanding of the culture of Spanish-speaking people as well as teach them the Spanish language.

The benefit program -- which will begin at 9:00 p.m. -- will feature poetry readings by Ms. Ericka Huggins, the director of the Oakland Community School, who will read poetry by Black Panther Party leader and chief theoretician, Huey P. Newton, Johnny Spain, one of the San Quentin 6 defendants now on trial in Marin County, as well as her own. Musical entertainment will be provided by the talented rock-blues singing group, Love, Power and Strength, and the band Supersnap. Admission will be $2.00.

-- 4 --

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

December 12, 1870

Following the Civil War and a convincing defeat of the Confederacy, the Reconstruction era of the South brought then unparalleled political and educational rights to Southern Blacks. On December 12, 1870, Joseph H. Rainey became the first Black person ever to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

December 11, 1872

The bold, daring and elegant P. B. S. Pinchback was a famous political figure of the Reconstruction South. In the state of Louisiana he was elected senator, lieutenant governor, and became acting governor on December 11, 1872, after an impeachment of the former office holder. Pinchback held more elective offices than any other Black man in American history. However, when Pinchback was elected to the U.S. Senate, he was refused a seat after three years of debate over his admittance.

December 10, 1964

On December 10, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in leading the famous civil rights struggle of the 1960s.

December 8, 1969

The Los Angeles Police Department, led by its infamous SWAT squad, laid siege on the Los Angeles Black Panther Party Chapter's headquarters with a vicious eight-hour assault on December 8, 1969. The military weapons used by the LAPD were the same ones which were being employed at the time by U.S. occupying troops in Vietnam.

December 11, 1970

A U.S. judge discharged a federal grand jury in Jackson, Mississippi, on December 11, 1970, after it failed to return any indictments against 40 state highway patrolmen and 26 Jackson policemen responsible for the shooting deaths of two Black Jackson State students on May 14 of that year.

-- 5 --

JOHN GEORGE: EARLY OFF THE BLOCK IN THE RACE FOR COUNTY SUPERVISOR

The frontrunning candidate for the recently created seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and "the people's friend" in the upcoming June, 1976, elections, is John George, an astute Black Oakland attorney who formally announced his candidacy at a press conference on December 8. Following is a reprint of an in-depth interview with Brother George written by Sue Soennichsen and published in the December 3 issue of the weekly, The Montclarion.

The highly touted new "minority" district the Alameda County Board of Supervisors formed when it redistricted recently is really not so much a minority district at all.

It is, more accurately, a liberal Democratic district. An estimated 36 per cent of the electorate in the new District Five is Black, around eight per cent are other minorities.

But the first, and some say the strongest candidate for that seat is a Black Oakland lawyer, John George.

George, at age 47, is homely, bright and possessed of a sarcastic wit that bursts forth periodically and unexpectedly.

Out of Atlanta, via Tuskeegee, through Cal Berkeley and Hastings Law School, George has made his imprint on East Bay politics, where his Democratic credentials are impeccable.

He campaigned for Congressman Ron Dellums, is founder of the Muleskinners, an Oakland Black Democratic club and is backed by a sizeable number of successful local politicians.

He is being opposed in District Five, which stretches north from Lakeshore and central Oakland, through Berkeley, by two Berkeley City Council members, Byron Rumford, Jr., and Sue Hone.

George, while a successful political organizer, till now has not been successful in getting himself elected. He lost in his 1968 challenge of Congressman Jeffrey Cohelan -- the congressman Dellums beat two years later.

But George is still running.

It was running that got him out of the South, brought him to California on a scholarship for his talent in running track.

"The world record for the quarter mile was 46.2 seconds," he says, "I ran it in 48.7 before coming out here."

This caused U.S. Coach Brutus Hamilton to feel he had promise enough, and George gives his coach the credit for helping guide him into a serious academic career.

"He didn't want athletic bums. He wanted you to go to school and get your lessons." George managed to do both. Switching his event to the 100-yard dash, he was good enough to make the Olympic trials finals in 1952.

It was the resources of the Cal and the Berkeley City Library which opened up to him the importance of politics in effecting economic change, he says, "I profited most, not from the lectures, but from the library." Studying what? "The American dilemma, economics and history."

The idea of community service comes from deep roots in his childhood -- "my family, the Bay Scouts" -- how to achieve it came to him as he went along.

"How do you explain the condition of Black people? How to improve it? This led me to economics -- and to examine who makes the decisions." This led in turn to the study of the economic structure and politics.

He graduated in 1956 with a degree in political science and history and returned to Atlanta and a job in the Post Office.

But he learned you can't go home again. And even in Martin Luther King country George knew the South wasn't right for him.

George was in sixth grade with King, remembers him as "mischievious," and was again with him in Atlanta's "Black" high school in 1945, but says he "didn't hear about him again until the bus boycott in 1955."

"I was told that the future of the Black man will be determined in the courts," says George. So he returned to California and Hastings School of Law in San Francisco. And was not allowed to run for the Olympic Club because he wasn't White.

"DABBLING AROUND"

Why do you want to be supervisor? "Well, for 13 years I've been dabbling around, working in politics."

It would be refreshing, thinks George, to get to where he would have some real authority, and direct access to information.

It would be pleasing to him to be the first Black supervisor in a county with a heavy but little represented minority population. And he has a lot of ideas about what he would do.

He sees the job as full-time. He indicates he would ease out of his law practice once elected. Currently, he has a general practice in a handsome building, "the Bench and Bar," on 11th Street

-- 26 --
near the county courthouse, that is a combination of restaurant and law offices.

George's practice is a general one, and includes some civil right cases which are reputed not to be very lucrative.

The morning The Montclarion followed George around was a vivid blur of a rush, first to Oakland Municipal Court, halls lined with a crush of people, waiting. Fast introductions to judges and other well-known Oakland figures.

"You're in good company," one Republican Muni judge remarked to The Montclarion.

While waiting for an elevator George is picked out of the crowd by a confused man, looking for help. Though pushed for time George guides the old man -- drunk already at 9 a.m. -- aiding him in finding directions to the court he is to be tried in on a shoplifting charge.

Then a drive over to San Francisco to the empty white halls of the Federal Courts, where George is representing a woman in a case against the U.S. Post Office. She claims that she was discriminated against because she is a woman and Black. They say she was not dependable. George fidgets when she is late for court, but it doesn't matter because another case is heard first.

TWO HOURS

Two hours later he retrieves his car from the lot across the street. The $3 charge, he remarks, is worth more than the car. Then back to Oakland, lunch and upstairs to the office (where staff is cleaning up after a burglary). Then to Berkeley Municipal court.

This reporter bailed out after lunch. But George was still going strong, and planning an evening political meeting.

"I can't play checkers, cards or golf," he says of his restless nature. "I can only sit when I read."

Do you ever read for pleasure, he is asked? Do you read fiction? "Only the Tribune," he shoots back.

George is proud of his family -- his wife and their three handsome children, of his older brothers, all athletes -- now teachers and coaches.

If elected, George says, he will strive for re-ordering of priorities: "There must be a change in the old priorities. The problems of the ethnic minority are based on the limitation of meeting their needs within the present economic and political situation."

He sees the citizenry rapidly despairing, losing faith in both the political and economic system -- "which is not able to distribute resources through wages, as jobs disappear, not only for Blacks and other minorities, but now for Whites as well."

"It will require a re-ordering of things," he predicts, "or a police state."

George praises the "opening up" to the people of the Supervisors' Offices, achieved by Tom Bates. But George has his own ideas on dealing with unmet needs. The most serious problems, he says, are housing, education and unemployment.

"I see new towns, in town," a catch phrase he repeats. "New towns in town means making the broken down neighborhoods livable. Getting the young, just-married people back into town, where they can raise families in a house, not just an apartment."

PROGRESSIVE COALITION

He sees himself as part of a "progressive coalition" of elected officials on several levels of government that would try to deal rationally with the problems of unemployment and pollution. "The task is to clean up the air and water. There are more than enough jobs in that to put many people to work."

"This country is filthy rich," he says with a double meaning.

He worries about the "warped priorities" of the country -- and the country. About money going into huge amounts of military and police hardware. "Why don't they talk about scrapping some of these military programs?

On crime: "Violent crime is a threat to human dignity. People should have a right to feel free from its threat. The minority community," he reminds, "suffers most under it. Yet the most economic resources are lost through white collar crime."

He questions the effectiveness of expenditures on the country's new multimillion dollar criminal computer data system, CORPUS.

"Do you feel any safer because of CORPUS," he asks?

George wants more community involvement in health planning, economic development and the myriad services labeled "law and justice" in the county budget.

As for welfare, "I think most people would like to work. We should provide jobs, or have a humane welfare system for people who cannot work.

He hates poverty and the lives people lead in the ghetto: Poor people shouldn't have to wait till they are middle class to be treated with respect.

"The ghetto produces monsters and ugliness. My whole life I've worked to eliminate this ugliness."

The violence in the schools: "I don't condone or excuse it.

"Poor people," says George, have to organize. "We need alliances, a coalition of unions, Whites, White liberals…"

George likes his Oakland-Berkeley district.

"There are good ideas in Berkeley," he says, "and Oakland can offer Berkeley, often wracked by struggles within the Democratic Party, a certain steadiness."

-- 5 --

Saudi Arabian Official Blasts Bias Charges Over Highway Jobs

(San Francisco, Calif.) -- Charges last week that Saudi Arabia would not permit the entry of "Jews, Blacks and women" on a highway construction projects have been branded as "false" by Saudi Ambassador Sheik Ali Alireza in a statement in Washington, D.C.

Ambassador Alireza was responding to the suspension of negotiations between Saudi Arabia and California officials on the $25 million project to hire state highway employees facing cutbacks in employment next year in California. California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., suspended the negotiations in response to protests by state officials and civil rights groups that the Saudi government would not welcome Jews. Blacks or women into their country.

State transportation officials touched off the controversy with remarks that the Saudi government would not welcome Jews, Blacks or women. However, Gene Berthelsen, spokesperson for the Transportation Department later said that the discrimination issue concerning Blacks and women was a "misunderstanding based upon some personal impressions by the members of the negotiating team that should never have gotten around."

The Saudi embassy statement clarified the issue with the stipulation that "Zionists" would not be allowed in the country, but that there was no stipulation that Blacks or women would be barred from entering Saudi Arabia.

-- 5 --

Muleskinners Hold Successful Fundraiser

(Oakland, Calif.) -- Alameda County Clerk RENE DAVIDSON (standing) and Oakland City Councilman JOHN SUTTER (seated to the left of Brother Davidson), were the featured speakers at the highly successful Muleskinners Democratic Club fundraiser held here recently at the Flaming Steer restaurant in East Oakland.

The affair, which attracted a broad cross-section of East Bay residents, including several prominent judges, city council people and high-ranking politicos, was superbly MC'd with wit and charm by attorney John George, a founder of the Muleskinners and the best bet to win a seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, in the June, 1976, elections.

-- 5 --

Free Prison Busing

(San Francisco, Calif.) -- The United Priosoners Union (UPU) has announced that a caravan to transport friends and relatives of prisoners in California to visit prisoners has been organized.

The following prisons are scheduled: San Quentin on Saturday; Vacaville on Sundays and Tracey on Mondays.

The trips leave from the UPU office at 1899 Oak Street, at the corner of Oak and Cole in San Francisco.

Persons wishing further information or to reserve a seat are requested to call (415) 863-1410 or 863-1411 between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. any weekday.

-- 6 --

318 TRANSFERRED FROM RIKERS ISLAND IN MOVE TO EASE OVERCROWDING

(Bronx, N.Y.) -- Acting swiftly in the wake of a coordinated, 17-hour takeover which ended in a victory agreement for the majority Black and Puerto Rican inmates, 318 pretrial detainees were transferred from the House of Detention for Men on Rikers Island here to other prison facilities.

The move -- to the Bronx House of Detention, the state prison in Ossining and other facilities on Riker's -- is a long overdue act intended to ease the tremendous pressures of overcrowding which served as one of the chief sparks for the seizure and destruction of several cell blocks late on Sunday, November 23.

Nearly all the 1,800-man population at the decrepit 42-year-old prison actively participated in the insurrection, which saw five guards barricaded in with the rebelling inmates, only to be released one-by-one as the demands were met. (See last week's issue of THE BLACK PANTHER.)

VICTORY ACCORD

The victory accord, negotiated between the inmates and two top Department of Correction officials included: amnesty for the rebelling prisoners; no prosecution for damages; the formation of a review board to monitor the amnesty; and a promise that the correction department "with all the resources" at its command, would tackle major grievances of overcrowding, bail, discipline, visting conditions and improper medical care.

Damages from the rebellion credited by knowledgeable insiders to have been the end result of long-time city stalling on court-ordered improvements, is expected to run into the hundreds of thousands. Two cell blocks, capable of holding over 600 men, were rendered totally unusable by the inmates, and extensive tunneling was done interconnecting the areas seized.

The only injury during the tense 17 hours occurred when a defective tear gas cannister exploded in the hands of Rikers warden, Louis Greco. Wild allegations of assaults on some of the prison guards -- whom inmate spokespersons emphatically denied were "hostages" but rather inadvertent captives in the fast-moving barricade process -- were discredited by both prison officials and the Bronx district attorney.

Many of the grievances for warded by the inmates were not new to prison officials, but are actually the same demands voiced during the famous "Tombs" revolt in 1970. Indeed, a major factor in the overcrowding at Rikers results from the city's ill-advised decision to close down the Tombs (Manhattan House of Detention) in December, 1974, rather than enforce certain court-ordered improvements.

In recent months, federal Judge Morris Lasker -- the same District Court judge who once ruled that the Tombs violated the Constitutional rights of the pretrial detainees confined there and would "shock the conscience of any citizen who knew of them" -- has passed down several directives on upgrading the conditions at Rikers, all of which were interpreted narrowly by the city or ignored.

During the seizure, the inmates armed themselves with spears made of ripped out steel piping, wrapped towels over their hands to block out the noxious tear gas fumes, ad erected mattresses as "shields." Yet, a possible police assault to retake the seized areas never occured, possibly because, in the words of Board of Correction chairman and active negotiator Peter Tufo, "When I saw these guys all I could think about was Attica.

A sad commentary on the transfer is revealed in the fact that over 100 of the men moved were assigned to the Bronx House of Detention, which itself had been scheduled to close because of budget cuts on Monday, December 2.

As of last Monday evening, all the remaining 1,449 inmates at Rikers were confined to their cells under a general lock-down.

Speculation that the transfers were made against certain politically active inmates or as reprisals against the rebellion leaders have, as yet, proved to be unfounded. Yet, remembering the city's bad faith in breaking agreements ending the earlier Tombs and Queens rebellions in 1970, constant vilgilance by both the inmates and the supporting community at large must be maintained.

-- 6 --

OUR HEALTH: F.D.A. Panel Finds Sleep Aids Unsafe

(Washington, D.C.) -- A panel of seven medical experts last week reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that none of the most common active ingredients in nonprescription sedatives and sleep aids can be classified as fully safe and effective for their advertised uses. (See THE BLACK PANTHER, October 14, 1975.)

The chairperson of the panel, Dr. Karl Rickels, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania, said the panel was shocked over the advertising claims and implications made for some of the drugs studied. The report studied three types of drugs sold over-the-counter: sleep aids, products to reduce nervous tension and stimulant pills.

The panel studied all available data on 23 chemical compounds that are the basic ingredients of the nonprescription drugs. In the stimulant category, caffeine was the only major ingredient considered "safe" and effective.

The majority of the ingredients studied fell in the second category -- not recognized as safe and effective. The rest were put in a category in which the panel said the available data were insufficient to show safety and effectiveness.

The panel was particularly critical of the drugs designed to relieve nervous tension and anxiety, many of which contain antihistamines, a chemical compound that may produce excessive drowsiness without providing any real anti-anxiety benefit.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Alexander M. Schmidt said that products with unsafe and non-effective chemical compounds would have to be reformulated or removed from the market after the FDA review process is completed.

-- 7 --

RACIAL STRIFE: Chicago Black Police Leader Attacked By White Cops

(Chicago, Ill.) -- "Somebody is going to get killed" if "racially motivated" attacks by White police officers against Black police officers continue within the Chicago Police Department, Renault Robinson, executive director of the Afro-American Patrolmen's League, warned here in a press conference on November 25.

The press conference was called by the League following the arrest and attempted brutalization three days earlier of three Black police officers, including Howard Saffold, president of the AAPL, on an alleged speeding violation. The three, Saffold, Edgar Gosa and Ocie Brown, members of the AAPL, were on route to the 9th District police station to recruit Black policemen for the League.

At the press conference, Howard Saffold charged that the two White arresting officers -- members of a tactical unit -- did not even carry a traffic ticket book when they stopped the car containing the three Black officers, approached with guns drawn and shouted racial insults.

"RACIALLY MOTIVATED"

Robinson charged that "the arrest of Officer Saffold and the other two officers was racially motivated." He said that when the car was stopped, the occupants identified themselves as policemen and asked that a supervising sergeant be sent to the scene -- the police department's required procedure for incidents between policemen.

Instead, Robinson charged, the arresting officers used their radio to issue an "officer-needs-assistance" call and 15 other policemen responded "like a wolf pack." Locking themselves inside the car and daring the threatening officers to "shoot us through the windows," the three officers insisted that a supervising sergeant be dispatched to the scene.

Robinson said that the White officers, with drawn guns, called the three officers in the car "niggers" and shouted other racial insults. When the three voluntarily emerged from their car, they were handcuffed,

-- 8 --
insulted with racial epithets and thrown into a squadrol (paddy wagon). He said the driver of the squadrol deliberately accelerated and braked the vehicle repeatedly in an effort to throw the handcuffed men to the floor. When they protested, Robinson said, the driver laughed, made more racial remarks and continued to drive as before.

INSULTED

At the station, the three were repeatedly insulted and shoved around and at first did not retaliate. However, Howard Saffold said he did strike back when one policeman, Dennis Molloy, shoved him. (Molloy required treatment for a concussion at Michael Reese hospital.) When leaving the station parking lot, Saffold said another policeman attempted to block his exit with a drawn gun, but withdrew when he spotted AAPL attorney Kermit Coleman watching the incident.

AAPL head Robinson said at the press conference that the affair is an example of how Blacks are regularly brutalized by White policemen. The Chicago Defender quotes Robinson as saying: "If Black police officers are treated this way, the average person doesn't have a chance." He produced a report showing that the AAPL has received 855 citizen complaints against the police this year. More than 50 per cent of these, he noted, involved officers in five heavily Black police districts.

The AAPL officials said they are requesting investigations into the incident and into racism in general within the Chicago police Department by the U.S. Justice Department and State's Attorney Bernard Carey. "This kind of harassment is going to have to stop," Robinson is quoted as saying. "You can't keep pushing people around who are carrying guns."

Police Superintendent James M. Rochford defended the action of the White officers and claimed that they were "baited into a flaring controversy" by the three Black officers. He claimed that the White officers "were simply doing their jobs" when they halted the car, and charged the three Black officers with having a "low performance" record, with being guilty of "noncompliance with rules" and with having "displayed racial prejudice."

UNSUCCESSFUL

Attempts by the arresting officers to enter charges of aggravated battery, resisting arrest and drunken driving were unsucessful. Reports are unclear of the remaining charges. However, it is reported that Molloy, the White officer with the concussion, entered battery charges against Saffold and Saffold entered similar charges against Molloy.

The AAPL notes that tensions between Black and White Chicago policemen are at an "alltime high" and blames the tension on racist resentment and anger of White policemen with the growing strength and influence of the Afro-American Patrolmen's League.

-- 7 --

FORMER UNDERCOVER AGENT'S SENATE TESTIMONY: F.B.I. KNEW ALABAMA CHURCH BOMBERS, OTHER K.K.K. VIOLENCE BUT FAILED TO ACT

(Washington, D.C.) -- The names of eight Klansmen, suspected of being involved in the infamous 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four Black girls attending Sunday school, were furnished to the FBI at the time, according to testimony given before the Senate Intelligence Committee by a one-time key FBI undercover operative.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the former operative, Gary Thomas Rowe, Jr., says he can also give the details of the FBI's campaign to defame and discredit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., before the civil rights leader's assassination in 1968.

Rowe has made several allegations, all of which he and his attorney says he is prepared to testify to before the Committee.

One allegation is that the FBI participated in at least a dozen cases of electronic surveillance involving churches and Klansmen's homes, as well as a motel room Dr. King was staying in.

Rowe says he gave the FBI three weeks advance notice that the Klan, in conspiracy with Birmingham police, was planning to assault Freedom Riders in 1961 in Birmingham.

The FBI apparently never relayed the warning to the Justice Department and the assault occurred without federal intervention.

Klansmen also had access to Birmingham police files on civil rights leaders and rode around in Birmingham police cars planning violence, all with the FBI's knowledge.

Rowe's fourth allegation was that Klansmen and the Jefferson County sheriff's office, with the FBI's advance knowledge, "planted" evidence of illegal liquor at an integrated country club. The club was padlocked after a sheriff's raid seized the "planted" evidence.

Rowe said he told the FBI about meetings he'd held with Birmingham police arranging a Klan "reception" for Freedom Riders when they traveled to Alabama in 1961.

The arrangement was for a Klan mob armed with clubs to be given 15 minutes in which to assault the Freedom Riders before any police would arrive on the scene. He said he passed the information on to the FBI.

The assault took place in Birmingham on Mother's Day, May 14, 1691. Rowe said several FBI agents observed the attack, including two agents who took moving pictures of it.

The late Eugene (Bull) Connor, who was Birmingham's police commissioner, later told reporters that police were not on the scene because it was Mother's Day and the police were at home with their mothers.

Rowe said that when first recruited by the FBI in 1960, he was told to "participate in no violence whatsoever."

"This went on for several months," Rowe said, "and then they said 'Look, there's crap going on that you're not reporting."

He said he explained that he could not get information on violence by merely attending Klan meetings, that he would have to participate in what the Klan called missionary work" and this would put him in jeopardy if he did not join in the violence.

"So after that I became very active in the missionary work," Rowe said, "but each and every time I would report to the FBI what we were going to do, and nothing was ever done about it."

Rowe served as in FBI undercover agent until he surfaced in 1965 as the star witness against three Klansmen accused of killing Mrs. Viola Liuzzo, a White civil rights worker in Lowndes County, Alabama.

Rowe said he decided to tell his story to the Senate committee because the FBI had failed to give him a life-time government job and fulfill other promises he said were made to him in return for his undercover work.

-- 8 --

HOWARD U. COMMUNITY DEMANDS OUSTER OF SOUTH AFRICAN PROFESSOR

(Washington, D.C.) -- Howard University students and faculty are angered by misleading and inaccurate media coverage by Washington area newspapers concerning the case of Leslie Rubin, White South African political science instructor here at the university.

Students insist that the basis for their demands for the dismissal of Rubin center around his professional incompetence while newspapers in the D.C. area are portraying the issue as racial. (See THE BLACK PANTHER, November 29, 1975.)

Howard University President James E. Cheek has failed to commit himself, saying: "My role is simply to insure that the policies of the (Howard's) board of trustees are followed and that Professor Rubin is given a fair, due process hearing."

However, when Rubin publicly charged that an attack is being waged against him by a band of Black, anti-Semitic, anti-White students and professors in the political science department. Cheek emphatically stated that, "'Those types of allegations are baseless."

Students at Howard have charged Rubin with "neglect of professional responsibilities" and have cited instances of physical confrontations between Rubin and students. It was brought up in a faculty meeting last year that Rubin had actually been seen physically assaulting a student.

Numerous instances of Rubin's ineptness and unconcern as a teacher have been brought forth. During the spring semesters of 1974 and 1975, students contend that Rubin did not even teach his class, "Problems of South Africa," turning those duties over to a graduate student. According to The Hilltop, the Howard student newspaper, Jones Akinbobola even took over the responsibility of advising and grading student research projects.

Because of student pressure the Howard political science faculty has recommended the dismissal of the South African. Dismissal hearings for Rubin were scheduled to start on December 3, bringing this longstanding contradiction to a head.

-- 8 --

PEOPLE'S PERSPECTIVE

Prostitution Law "Vague"

(Oakland, Calif.) -- A Superior Court judge here has upheld appeals by four accused prostitutes, prohibiting their trials on the ground that Penal Code sections covering solicitation and unlawful assembly are unconstitutional. Judge George W. Phillips, Jr., found that the language of the statues is "un-Constitutionally vague."

Atlanta Firemen Bias Suit Filed

(Washington, D.C.) -- The Justice Department filed suit recently charging that the Atlanta Fire Department discriminates against Blacks in job promotions. The civil suit, filed in U.S.-District Court in Atlanta, said Blacks make up about one-fourth of the fire-fighting force but hold only 2.5 per cent of jobs above the entry level.

Robert Williams To Face Trial

(Lansing, Mich.) -- Robert F. Williams, the Black activist who launched the first modern organized right of Black self-defense 15 years ago in North Carolina, said recently he was ready "psychologically" to go back and face false kidnapping charges. "I am ready to go into the battle. I think I've waited long enough in this trumped-up thing," Brother Williams said in a telephone interview with United Press International. Recently, the Michigan Supreme Court refused, after six years of litigation, to block his extradition from Michigan, where he returned from abroad in 1969.

U.S.-Cuba Baseball Vetoed

(Washington, D.C.) -- Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, irked by Cuban "meddling" in Angola and Puerto Rico, has vetoed a plan to improve U.S.-Cuban relations through sports. Another factor in Kissinger's refusal was Cuba's vote last month in support of the United Nations resolution linking Zionism with racism. State Department officials had conceived of a plan for U.S. major league baseball players to compete against a Cuban team next March in Havana as a step in thawing U.S.-Cuban diplomacy.

-- 9 --

TERRE HAUTE: Suit Filed Exposing Indiana Prison Health Care Abuses

(Chicago, Ill.) -- The mother of a Black inmate who was the fourth prisoner to die this year in the medical facility of the federal prison at Terre Haute, Indiana, is filing a suit seeking to expose the inadequacy of health care in the federal prison system in general and the Terre Haute prison in particular.

According to a news release issued on November 25 by the People's Law Office here, community support is building around the case of Brother Yusuf, a Sunni Muslim leader at the Terre Haute federal prison who died earlier this year. A House of Representatives subcommittee on prisons has been asked to hold formal hearings on deaths in the federal prison system, focusing on Terre Haute.

INVESTIGATION

A three-month investigation into Brother Yusuf's death has revealed 12 medical errors made by the prison medical staff in a period of 17 days.

The investigation conducted by the People's Law Office consisted of four particular procedures:

1. The exhumation of the body and an independent autopsy.

2. Obtaining the medical records from the United States Bureau of Prisons.

3. Having a physician and a pathologist study the medical records and autopsy findings.

4. Doing interviews with prisoners who worked or who were patients in the hospital at the time of Brother Yusuf's death.

The results of the investigation showed that drugs such as thorazine were administered by prison personnel other than doctors or registered nurses.

Another finding was that prison officials had ignored a recommendation by a local hospital physician who urged that Brother Yusuf be transferred to a prison in a drier climate and one that had adequate facilities to treat his acute asthma condition.

Medical care at Terre Haute has been a major issue with inmates and they have held two work stoppages in the past few years to protest against the poor quality of health care and inadequate medical facilities.

-- 9 --

STATEVILLE INMATES PROTEST INSTALLATION OF TEAR AND VOMIT GAS IN CELLBLOCK

(Joliet, Ill.) -- Authorities at Stateville prison here have recently installed 64 cannisters of "tear gas mixed with vomit gas" in a segregation unit housing 200 inmates -- 90 per cent of whom are Black. According to the prison doctor, J. Venkus, that is enought gas to suffocate and kill any person suffering from an asthma condition.

THE BLACK PANTHER has recently received a letter from Brother Frank Sam Early, an inmate at Stateville prison, which describes these newest tool of terrorism employed by prison authorities against progressive Stateville inmates. The following is an excerpt of Brother Early's letter:

"This communication is being directed to the BPP'S attention as a request for information and assistance in our struggle here at the Stateville Prison Segregation Unit.

"The amount of cannisters installed is 64. The cell house is 400 feet long, and 100 feet in height, and the section through the cell block is approximately 14 feet in width.

"We, prisoners of the segregation unit, which is 90 per cent Black, are forced to sleep under the threat of such gasses discharging. There are four other cell houses within the prison, and none of them had such an excessive amount of gas installed.

"Several of us prisoners here in the segregation unit deem the installment of such dangerous gasses as total disregard of prisoners who have respiratory ailments and heart ailments. It also constitutes a gross violation of our so-called 14th Amendment rights, and violation of the state of Illinois constitution, Article XI, Section 2 -- the right of citizens to live under a `healthful environment.'"

"The installment of the gas appears to be a `deliberate genocidal plot' by the Illinois Department of Corrections director, Allyn R. Sielaff, to destroy the so-called militant prisoners and political prisoners that the segregation unit houses!

"It is a `bureaucratic genocide plot,' perpetrated by the Illinois officials against the Black prisoners at the tax expense of our own Black people in the state of Illinois. We request the BPP to advise the community about it…"

INCREASING AMOUNT

The increasing amount of unity among inmates in the face of adversity is further shown through the creation last month of a prisoner newsletter, The Spark of Unity.

In its premiere issue, the newsletter made clear that, "the intention of the Spark is to stress unity in addition to writing the news that would encourage this unity. The kind of unity we encourage is unity among all the residents of Stateville.

"Regardless of who we are, what we are or where we come from, we are all sharing one common problem -- we are

-- 23 --
incarcerated in a place where we are being deprived of our most basic and common needs and desires.

"True, people are oppressed on the street, but in here, in Stateville concentration camp, we are being oppressed in the most cruel ways that are known to man.

"Our minds, bodies and spirits suffer in ways that no other man has to withstand unless he has been this way at Stateville. Thus we are forced to reach within ourselves for a certain strength.

"The Spark wants to create sparks in the minds of the residents. Since we do have one problem in common, one enemy in common and we all live in such close contact with each other, our goals should also be one.

"We, the editors of the Spark, merely suggest, `Let's pool our resources.' Let us stand back, and then come together in unity toward a common good. If we may do that, we might slowly but surely make this a better place to exist in until that time when we walk beyond these walls."

-- 9 --

Congressional Probe Into King Murder Demanded

(Washington, D.C.) -- High ranking Democrats here in both the House and Senate Demanded a Congressional inquiry into the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., last week.

Recently, Attorney General Edward H. Levi ordered a review by the Department of Justice of the FBI investigation that concluded James Earl Ray was the lone assassin of Dr. King. (See last week's issue of THE BLACK PANTHER.) This review was ordered as a result of the recent exposure of FBI illegal wiretaps, harassment, and intimidation of Dr. King and his family shortly before his death.

Democratic whip Robert C. Byrd urged the Senate Intelligence Committee to conduct a "thorough review" of the original FBI investigation. Speaking before the Senate, Byrd said the Justice Department could not conduct the review alone at a time "when some citizens believe that every government investigation of itself results in a cover-up."

Meanwhile, in the House, Rep. Phillip Burton of California said the House Judiciary Committee should conduct an investigation because of the "shocking and confirmed" disclosure of FBI attempts to discredit Dr. King.

Burton stated before the House that, "the people of the United States have the right to know the extent of the involvement of any federal agency in the invasion of Dr. King's privacy, his harassment, as well as the relevant facts of his assassination."

-- 10 --

ON THE BLOCK: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEWS THAT THE F.B.I. SPIED ON AND HARASSED DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING?

ASKED AT MacARTHUR-BROADWAY MALL

Jim Cook 735 Newcombe Unemployed

They were doing it. They set up the whole thing, the offing of him. They were probably sending him letters before he went down there and got hit. It goes into all that, Watergate, and all that.

Gerry Davidson Housewife

The things that they've done should have been brought out before. None of us Blacks knew what they were doing. They're revealing all this stuff now that the man's dead. Now it's too late.

Dawn Dyer 155 Pearl Teller

I didn't like it because it's not right. I knew that it wasn't right. Any Black man that's off in politics, the White man's going to be off in his case.

Helen Smith 4150 Sequoia Rd. Housewife

It didn't come as a surprise. I'm convinced that the FBI is not always operating in our best interests. At the time of Martin Luther King's assassination, I think most people believed that there was something more to it than what we were reading in the newspapers.

Theresa Kerin 1283 105th St. Dewey H.S.

They shouldn't have done it. It's not their business. Martin Luther King was going to do something to help Black people. The White man shouldn't have interfered.

-- 11 --

Researchers To Expose C.I.A. Role In International Labor Groups

(Marina Del Rey, Calif.) -- Research Associate International (RAI), a group of trade unionists, writers, researchers, academicians and others, has recently formed here to disseminate and publish information on the interrelationship between intelligence agencies, multinational corporations and the international trade union movement.

RAI will serve as a research and resources center for newspapers and organizations. The group has already published a list of available publications on the above topics and will regularly publish a monthly journal.

Emphasizing the need for an organization such as the RAI, the group's founders referred to a point made by Miles Copeland, former CIA officer and author of Without Cloak or Dagger and the Game of Nations. Copeland has stated explicitly that the CIA views its role to include a close working relationship with multinational corporations -- which, Copeland says, are using the governmental apparatus, branches of the international and national labor movements of the world in the interests of big business.

THE STRONG

"After all, someone has to protect the strong from the weak," Copeland has quoted CIA officers as saying.

The RAI declares that it "is on the side of the people -- the `weak'" -- those whom the CIA and big business seek to crush.

RAI sponsors include ex-CIA officer Philip Agee, who is the author of Inside the Company, CIA Diary; Sidney Lens, author of a series of book on the American labor movement and radical political movements; Melvin Crain, a professor and a former CIA agent who resigned several years ago in protest over the Agency's Middle East policies; Rodney Larsen, writer and former trade union official whose article, "The African American Labor Center and the CIA," recently appeared in THE BLACK PANTHER; Lennie Siegel, writer and editor of the Pacific Empire and World Telegram, published by the Pacific Studies Center; and David G. Du Bois, Black Panther Party spokesperson and BLACK PANTHER editor-in-chief.

-- 11 --

300 U.S. MERCENARIES RECRUITED TO FIGHT IN ANGOLA: Calif. Man Advertises For Volunteers In Fresno Bee

(Fresno, Calif.) -- "A mercenary is a guy who sees a job and does it. I don't suppose he would be the type of guy to be elected President of the United States."

The speaker, David Bufkin, is well qualified on his subject. He is one of several Americans who have recruited at least 300 U.S. mercenaries who are now fighting alongside anti-MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) forces in Angola in a U.S.-led desperate attempt to destroy people's power in the newly independent west African country.

Bufkin, 38, a crop duster in the farm community of Kerman, California, near Fresno, has recruited five of the 300 U.S. mercenaries with a newspaper advertisement in the Fresno Bee. He told the Bee in a recent interview that recruiters in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other U.S. cities are "winding up" their efforts to hire American mercenaries to fight in Angola. (See related article, page 17.)

Bufkin, who became involved in mercenary activities when he recruited American soldiers for the war in Biafra (Nigeria) in the late 1960s, has recruited mercenaries for Angola in Los Angeles. The total group of Americans recruited for Angola will assemble in New York City, Bufkin said, and then will be flown to Portugal, the former colonial power in Angola.

The "super patriotic" Bufkin -- at 15 he lied about his age to get into the Army to fight in Korea and re-enlisted in 1962 to fight in Vietnam -- declined to say who is financing the mercenaries. However, it is well known that the U.S. government is providing funds and weapons to the reactionary rivals of the MPLA, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

It is also reported that 20 per cent of the funding for the mercenaries is coming from private citizens in Portugal and 40 per cent is coming from Angolan Portuguese refugees.

Bufkin said the response to his classified ad in the Fresno Bee was good. A former colonel and captain from the Fresno area have contacted him, he said, as well as several former helicopter pilots and ground troops. He did not reveal the exact number of recruits he has enlisted.

Men who sign up for six-month hitches will get $800 a month, Bufkin said, and those who sign up for 12 months will get $1,200 a month.

"A mercenary fights better because he's paid better and has more experience. And we don't have as many handicaps," Bufkin said.

Bufkin, a husband and father of three children, owns a $40,000 home but apparently does not let his family or possessions affect his mercenary activities:

LIVES LOOSE

"Who says I'm not coming back? A mercenary is an individual who lives very loose. He looks at life as something that is not regimented. He has to have something to do that is … adventuresome. It's what I'm geared to," Bufkin said in expressing the fanatical devotion characteristic of an American mercenary.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Anthony Capozzi said Bufkin may have violated the U.S. Neutrality Act, which forbids U.S. citizens from joining any foreign army or recruiting for any foreign army, under penalty of a $1,000 fine and three years in jail.

Bufkin, on the other hand, claims that there is nothing illegal about recruiting mercenaries in the U.S. "The government can't stop people from leaving the country to work overseas," he said.

The typical mercenary, Bufkin emphasized, is a man with a very "loose" nature.

"They're men who don't want to be truck drivers, cooks and clerks. They're different than your run-of-the-mill people."

-- 11 --

Rosenberg Files To Be Released

(Washington, D.C.) -- The files of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg will finally be released after officials said here last week that the Justice Department and the CIA will waive nearly $35,000 in search fees.

The Rosenberg's sons, Robert and Michael, won a federal court order for the release of the files but had refused to pay the large fees for searching out files and copying them. The Justice Department said it was awaiting $20,458 in search fees because of the "public interest and historic significance" of the espionage case. At the same time the CIA disclosed that it waived its $14,155.30 fee on 953 pages of Rosenberg documents.

The Rosenberg sons, who use the name Meeropal from their adoptive parents, had not requested a waiver but threatened court action to have the fees removed. Their parents were both executed in 1953 in the face of massive protest after being convicted for allegedly passing atomic secrets to the Russians.

-- 12 --

…And Bid Him Sing

By David G. DuBois

Exciting New Novel Examines Lives Of Black Americans In Egypt

Part 9 of …And Bid Him Sing points out the futility of the attempted escape of the novel's central characters -- Black Americans, self-exiled from the U.S. in order to escape from racism. While they desire to be accepted as brothers by the Egyptian people, they are considered Americans first, thereby making them suspect in the eyes of many even though they are Black. David G. Du Bois, the author of the critically acclaimed novel and the editor-in-chief of THE BLACK PANTHER, lived in Cairo, Egypt, for 12 years and is well qualified to tell his story of Black American exiles living in Eqypt at the time of the 1967 Middle East war.

PART 9

I knew the answer now and was sorry I'd asked the question. In the six years I'd been in Egypt I'd never registered with the embassy. "American businessmen coming here on any kind of business usually register with the Commercial Counsellor at the embassy -- their names, company, and the nature of their business in Egypt. If they've not had business or personal contact with individuals or companies here before, the Commercial Counsellor will give them some idea of how to proceed. Often, he will introduce them to the people they want to see.

It's standard procedure. All the embassies do it. The Egyptians expect them to, so that if someone shows up cold at an Egyptian company with some kind of business proposition, the first thing the public relations man in that company will do is contact the embassy and ask what they know about the person, his company or organization and his business in Cairo."

Suliman had listened intently, the muscles in his neck visibly tightening. "The Goddamned embassy gets its fuckin' nose into everything," he growled.

"That's what it's here for. The companies Kamal has contacted here have probably gone through this process and discovered that the embassy knows nothing about him, or about any agency he'd told them he had in Philly. So, they decided not to pursue the matter further."

"Even here, in our own ancestral homeland, the Black man don't have a chance." It was said so flatly and with such finality that I felt challenged, although I don't think a challenge was meant.

"It would be the same for anybody claiming to have some business proposition for an Egyptian company."

"But, he's Black," Suliman retorted, "and a Moslem. And he's got good ideas. He never had a chance in the States 'cause he's Black!"

"Ideas that can't be translated into some kind of positive results are useless," I countered, hoping I'd not have to remind him that his friend could not write a simple, English sentence.

"Anyway," he continued, "if he'd been White, I bet these Egyptians would have laid out a red carpet for him and by now he'd be making all kinds of money for them and for hisself."

"If he'd been White," I bristled, "… he probably wouldn't have had the gall -- or the guts -- to leave the States and come all the way over here on his ass with nothing but some fancy ideas. He wouldn't have had to. If he'd been White he'd more than likely not have reached nearly thirty without being able to write an English sentence. If he'd been White he'd have had the Establishment working for him, not against him; he'd have found his way, honestly or dishonestly, it doesn't much matter. He'd have found it long before now. If he'd been White he wouldn't have had the need or the courage to change his religion to Islam or his name to Kamal; he wouldn't be searching in Egypt for his identity, his ancestry, his dignity. He'd have all these things, or believe he had them. And besides… if he'd been White you'd probably never have known him!"

A hint of a self-satisfied smile passed over the young man's face that puzzled and annoyed me and prompted me to go on. "A phoney is no less a phoney because he's Black. Kamal may think he has more justification for being a phoney, but he's still a phoney. Egyptian security already has more problems than it needs."

His face suddenly a question mark, Suliman said: "What's Egyptian security got to do with it?"

"When a foreigner shows up in Egypt pretending to be something he's not, the word goes out and the whole apparatus takes up the task of finding out what that foreigner really is and what he's really doing in Egypt. If your friend wants to stay in this country, I'd suggest you advise him to climb down off that self-constructed pedestal he's sitting on before it crumbles under him."

EMBASSY

"Would they go to the U.S. Embassy about him?" The question was asked carefully.

"They might, if the embassy hadn't gone to them first."

"Motherfuckers!" He hissed the word out from between clenched teeth.

"If the Commercial Counsellor at the embassy was doing his job correctly," I rushed on in what I immediately felt to be a too obvious manner, "… and they usually do when it concerns Black Americans overseas, after two or three inquiries about Kamal from Egyptian companies, he would hand the matter over to the embassy intelligence people. That probably means that Egyptian officials have been given what they call a precautionary report on Kamal, all in the alleged interest of good U.S.-U.A.R. relations."

"But the embassy doesn't have any information about Kamal. He never registered there." It was more a question than a statement.

"The Egyptians have all the information, and, under the circumstances, they'd have passed it on to the Americans, if they'd asked for it." I answered evenly.

"In other words, they'd rat on a Black man … and a Moslem!?"

TO BE CONTINUED

-- 13 --

REVOLUTIONARY SUICIDE

By Huey P. Newton

"The Brothers On The Block"

While in Oakland City College, Huey P. Newton made it a point not to move away from the street borthers. "When I was not studying or in class," Huey says, "I was right down on the block with the righteous brothers." When he was not fighting, he was blowing the brothers' minds with his interpretations of the philosophy of Hume, Pierce, and James. However, as you read this portion of the chapter "The Brothers on the Block," from Revolutionary Suicide, you will see that Huey strove to make the abstract philosophy real to his partners during his rap sessions on the block.

PART 28

Now that I was also in college, I did not want to move away from the street brothers, as Walter's friends had done. That is why when I was not studying or in class, I was down on the block with the righteous brothers.

I think one of the reasons why I, in particular, had so many fights was because I weighed only about 130 pounds. You got a lot of prestige from being able to fight the hefty guys, who first gained their reputation by downing lightweights like me. There were not many others as small as I was, who looked the big ones in the eye. I had an added disadvantage: all the way through school my baby face made people think I was younger than I was. I resented being treated like a baby, and to show them I was as "bad" as they were, I would fight at the drop of a hat. As soon as I saw a dude rearing up, I struck him before he struck me, but only when there was going to be a fight anyway. I struck first, because a fight usually did not last very long and nine times out of ten the winner was the one who got in the first lick.

HIT HARD

Sonny Man was very good with his hands, and he taught me how to hit hard in spite of my light weight. Most of the other guys really did not know how to hit, so I always fired first and knocked them out, or at least knocked out a tooth or closed up an eye. Finally, I got a reputation as a bad dude, and I did not have to fight as much. Every once in a while, however, one of the "tush hogs" -- our name for a bad, tough street fighter on the block -- would challenge me. After the fight we usually became really good friends, because he would realize that my features were deceiving.

Sometimes I got into teaching on the block, reciting poetry or starting dialogues about philosophical ideas. I talked to the brothers about things that Hume, Pierce, Locke, or William James had said, and in that way I retained ideas and sometimes resolved problems in my own mind.

These thinkers had used the scientific method by applying their ideas to particular formulas. They excluded those things that did not fit into the formulas. I explained this to the brothers, and we talked about such questions as the existence of God, self-determination, and free will. I would ask them, "Do you have free will?"

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in God?"

"Yes."

"Is your God all-powerful?"

"Yes."

"Is he omniscient?"

"Yes."

Therefore, I told them, their all-powerful God knew everything before it happened. If so, I would ask, "How can you say that you have free will when he knows what you are going to do before you do it? You are predestined to do what you do. If not, then your God has lied or He has made a mistake, and you have already said that your God cannot lie or make a mistake." These dilemmas led to arguments that lasted all day, over a fifth of wine; they cleared my thinking, even though I sometimes went to school drunk.

Some of the brothers thought I was a pedant, putting them down. Fights started occasionally over an imaginary insult, especially with newcomers to the group, who did not know me or my relationship to the brothers. I liked talking about ideas, and street brothers were the only ones I wanted to be with at the time, because I liked the things we were doing -- standing on the corner, meeting people, watching the women, and relating to those who struggled for survival on the block.

Rap sessions like this took place all over, in cars parked in front of the liquor store on Sacramento Street near Ashby in Berkeley, outside places where parties were being held and sometimes inside.

I told them about the allegory of the cave from Plato's Republic, and they enjoyed it. We called it the story of the cave prisoners. In the cave allegory Plato describes the plight of the prisoners in a cave who receive their impression of the outside world from shadows projected on the wall by the fire at the mouth of the cave. One of the prisoners is freed and gets a view of the outside world -- objective reality. He returns to the cave to tell the others that the scenes they observe on the wall are not reality but only a distorted reflection of it. The prisoners tell the liberated man that he is crazy, and he cannot convince them. He tries to take one of them outside, but the prisoner is terrified at the thought of facing something new. When he is dragged outside the cave anyway, he sees the sun and is blinded by it. The allegory seemed very appropriate to our own situation in society. We, too, were in prison and needed to be liberated in order to distinguish between truth and the falsehoods imposed on us.

The dudes on the block still thought I was "out of sight" and sometimes just plain crazy. One of the reasons for the "crazy" label was because I always did the unexpected, a valuable practice in keeping your adversary off balance. If I knew that some guys wanted to jump on me, I would go where they hung out -- just show up by myself and challenge them right on the spot. Many times they were too shocked to do much about it.

TO BE CONTINUED

-- 14 --

1968-69 F.B.I. PLOTS TO DESTROY L.A. AND CHICAGO BLACK PANTHER PARTY CHAPTERS EXPOSED

Nothing speaks more eloquently of the 1968-1969 efforts of the Black Panther Party to forward the freedom struggle of Black America than photographs taken at the time. The photographs on these pages, only a few from the massive photo archives of the Party, show leaders and members of the Party pursuing that objective in Los Angeles and in Chicago.

Interspersed among the photographs are reproductions of the provocative leaflets prepared by and distributed by the FBI in an attempt to undermine the Party's effort by turning other formations in the Black community against the Black Panther Party and provoking violence against the Party. Directly below, the FBI COINTELPRO memorandum instructing local FBI offices to draw up "hard-hitting counterintelligence measures aimed at crippling the BPP," is reproduced.

The photographs and leaflets surround Executive Order #I, issued in Los Angeles in May, 1968, by Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter (right), then Deputy Defense Minister of the Party for Southern California -- one of the victims' of the FBI COINTELPRO campaign, shot to death by members of the Ron Karenga-led US organization.

That Executive Order clearly sets forth the Black Panther Party's steadfast position against allowing itself to be used against other Black people in the community. This was the policy rigidly followed at that time and is the policy rigidly followed today. (See cover story and page 3.)

-- 14 --

1968 B.P.P. POLICY STATEMENT ON BLACK ORGANIZATIONS

DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENSE
Executive Order II

"The Correct Handling of Differences
Between Black Organizations."

Let This Be Heard

The Black Panther Party must never be the enemy of the people. The Black Panther Party must never put itself in the position that other organizations can make them seem to be the enemy of Black organizations, and thereby the enemy of Black people.

We have the correct analysis of the problems facing the Afro-American Nation. We have the solution, and it has been put into practice by Brothers like Hary Newton, Minister of Defense, Eldridge Cleaver, Minister of Information, and Bobby Houton, Treasurer.

Therefore, we do the people's thing! We do not murder-mouth other organizations, like US, and Brother Ron Karenga. History will show we have the correct analysis of the problem. The people will relate to the Party which relates to them. Therefore, we must continue to relate to the people. Therefore, we do not got in petty squabbles with either Black organizations. We do not have time for this -- when engaging in revolution.

So Let It He Done

DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENSE
Southern California
May, 1968

-- 16 --

THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY PROGRAM: MARCH 29, 1972 PLATFORM

WHAT WE WANT, WHAT WE BELIEVE

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

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

2. WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6. WE WANT COMPLETELY FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE.

We believe that the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventative medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide ourselves with proper medical attention and care.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-- 17 --

100 DEAD, 150 WOUNDED: Palestinians Vow Reprisals For Israeli Air Raid On Refugee Camps

(Beirut, Lebanon) -- The Palestinian guerrilla command last week vowed immediate and harsh reprisals for the surprise, midmorning Israeli air raid on Palestinian refugee camps and nearby villages in northern and southern Lebanon on December 2, in which more than 100 people, mostly women and children, were killed and over 150 were wounded.

Thirty war planes, believed to be French Phantoms and U.S. Skyhawk Jets, participated in the largest Israeli air attack ever against the vulnerable refugee camps and small peasant villages, swinging in eastward from the sea shortly after 10:00 a.m. and bombing and strafing for over one hour.

The main targets in the surprise attack were the Nabatiye refugee camp in southern Lebanon, where a primary school was completely destroyed, and the Badawi and Nahr el Bared camps in the north.

COMMUNIQUE

A Lebanese military communique warned, in addition, that the planes were believed to have dropped deadly, booby-trapped toys and cautioned people in the target area, particularly children, against picking up innocent looking objects.

Shock and dismay over the attack was widespread as news of the infamous attack flashed throughout the world.

In a statement issued the night of the incident, WAFA, the Palestinian news agency, said the "criminal attacks" were in response to "the mass uprising increasing in occupied Palestine" and "escalating military operations carried out by Palestinian commandos in the heart of the occupied homelands."

WAFA added that the "criminal attacks against innocent civilians in camps (is) a desperate Zionist act in retaliation for Palestinian victories at the U.N."

At the United Nations, an emergency Security Council session, which included the participation

-- 25 --
of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for the first time in the Council's history, was convened on Friday, December 5, to discuss the massive air attack. Israel refused to attend the debate.

The PLO's historic participation was occasioned by a 9 to 3 Security Council vote on what was called a "procedural issue." At last year's General Assembly session, the PLO was granted observer status at the U.N.

At the Security Council, debate centered on a proposed resolution -- submitted by Cameroon, Guyana, Iraq, Mauritania and Tanzania -- which expresses concern about the "deteriorating situation" resulting from Israel's military and political conduct and delivers a "solemn warning" to the Zionists that should the attacks continue, "the Council would consider taking appropriate steps and measures."

The last phase in the draft is interpreted as a clear reference to possible sanctions against the racist Israeli regime. The U.S. delegate to the debates, Daniel Moynihan, said that the American government would "neither condone nor excuse" the air attacks and hinted that the progressive resolution would be vetoed.

The Security Council debate was initiated by the Lebanese delegaton to the U.N. Lebanese Premier Rashid Karami appealed to world opinion immediately following the incident "to deter the oppressor and purify society of arrogance and actions of violation of the rights of people."

-- 17 --

SOUTH AFRICAN TROOPS FIGHT M.P.L.A. IN ANGOLA: “Communist Threat” Excuse Given For Intervention

(Luanda, Angola) -- South African Defense Minister Pieter W. Botha admitted last week that South African troops are fighting inside Angola, but claims he does not know which "liberation" forces they are supporting, according to a Reuters report out of Pretoria, South Africa, dated November 28.

Botha refused to say where the South African forces were fighting but said at a news conference that South Africa was "dedicated to any action to keep communism out of Africa," making clear that South African military forces in Angola were engaged against the Marxist-led, Soviet supported Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the legitimate government of the newly-created People's Republic of Angola.

On December 1, Reuters reported from Pretoria that a South African Air Force "reconnaissance" plane had disappeared over Angola. The announcement was made by the South African military headquarters in Pretoria. Aboard the plane were an Army captain and two South African Air Force second lieutenants, all missing and believed dead, the statement said.

Meanwhile, David Bender, writing in The New York Times from Washington, D.C., says that U.S. officials acknowledge that "since last spring" the Ford administration "has been channeling funds for the purchase of arms on behalf of the rebel National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA)" led by Holden Roberto and backed by the government of his brother-in-law, President Mobutu of Zaire.

The FNLA reportedly holds a portion of Angola along the northern border with Zaire. bender quotes "an official" as saying: "If we had had 40 mercenaries last summer we could have wiped up" the MPLA. However, Bender also quotes Secretary of State Kissinger as saying, "the United States will not intervene militarily in Angola" despite its strenuous objections to alleged Russian involvement in the west African country.

Repeated media reports that the People's Republic of China is supplying arms and support to the U.S. -- backed FNLA are untrue and deliberately circulated in this country in order to discredit China among Black and progressive forces in the U.S. Last summer THE BLACK PANTHER reported the recently The New York Times confirmed that China discontinued its support to Angolan liberation organizations at the time the three liberation organizations signed an agreement to form a transitional government in cooperation with the Portuguese to prepare for independence.

On the same day that the South African government admitted Military involvement in Angola, Kissinger is quoted by The New York Times as replying to a question regarding South African involvement: "To the best of my knowledge, the South Africans are not engaged officially. We prefer all outside intervention to cease."

Observers note that it is highly unlikely that the U.S. was ignorant of South African involvement since European reporters in Angola had for many days before been sending out reports with pictures of South African military personnel fighting in Angola in the south with troops of the renegade "liberation" organization,

-- 18 --
the Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

The Washington Post constinues: "Practically every day now, there are new revelations leaked by high-level officials about the scope and extent of present South African involvement in Angola, as if the government were preparing the public for even bigger things to come."

The Post writes: "The precise number of regular South African troops already inside Angola remains an official secret. But sources in the Zambian capital of Lusaka estimate that there are anywhere from 2,500 to 6,000 officers and enlisted men now involved in the over-all South African operation aimed simultaneously at bolstering the two Angolan groups fighting against the Soviet-backed Popular Movement and at wiping out Namibian nationalist guerrillas operating out of southern Angola."

Peter Pringle, writing in The Sunday Times of November 23, reports: "The CIA is using huge U.S. Air Force Starlifter transports to fly weapons and supplies into Zaire to boost the anti-communist Angolan forces. Equipment worth ten of millions of dollars has been flown in since spring and the airlift is being increased… The American arms are destined for the forces of Holden Roberto, whose 15,000 strong army of the FNLA has been the guest of President Mobutu of Zaire since it was formed in 1962…"

-- 18 --

ARAB SURVIVAL STRATEGIES IN ISRAEL

By Sharif Kanaana

The political, social and cultural oppression suffered by Arabs living in the occupied territories under Zionist Israeli rule is little known and little mentioned by the Western news media. In this regard, therefore, THE BLACK PANTHER thanks the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) and author Sharif Kanaana, a Palestinian Arab with Israeli citizenship now living in the U.S., for the timely and detailed information in the following article.

PART 4

Under British rule, as under Ottoman rule, there were no Arab Palestinian parties in the exact sense of the term. There were, rather, factions centered around self-appointed urban notables from big rich aristocratic families, such as the Husainis, the Nashashibis, the Khalids, and Abd al-Hadis: "There were no country-wide party elections, elected congresses, or representative executive bodies. Membership tended to be determined by family ties rather than on an individual basis." Families, clans and whole villages were attracted to one faction or another by the reputation of the leader's family rather than his personal qualities or qualifications.

During the Mandate days, the rich, the educated, the notables, the absentee landlords, the leaders, the nascent bourgeoisie, every one that counted among the Arabs, lived in the cities such as Jerusalem, Jineen, Nablus, Gaza, Jaffa, Haifa, Safad and Acre. At the end of the 1948 war the first four of these cities were outside the Israeli territory. The others were within the state of Israel but were completely abandoned by the upper echelons of the Arab population. The whole educated class was gone, including all teachers and government officials. This meant that the Arab masses remaining in Israel in 1948 were left with virtually no leadership, political, religious or economic.

The Palestine Communist Party had been an illegal underground movement until World War II, when Jewish and Arab members split over the Zionist-Palestinian nationalist contradiction. After 1948, only some of the Arab leaders of the Communist Party, such as Tubi and Habibi, stayed in Israel. There were not, however, either important or popular at the time.

However, when a non-Zionist Jewish faction was reunited with the Arab faction, the united Communist Party espoused the cause of the Arab minority, emerged as the sole advocate of Arab rights in Israel, and managed to win the loyalty and support of a significant part of the Arab masses.

In the new state of Israel, Arabs were given equal voting rights but were neither admitted to membership in Jewish parties nor allowed to form their own parties. Arabs were denied membership in the Histadrut; these parties espoused the Zionist ideology which by definition excluded the Arabs.

TO BE CONTINUED

-- 18 --

AFRICA IN FOCUS

Comoro Islands

The government of the newly independent Comoro Islands last week ordered the nationalization of all French government property in this Indian Ocean island group. The Comoro Islands were formerly a French colony. The property includes ratio and civil aviation equipment as well as buildings once housing French government agencies. An order signed by the president of the National Executive Council, Said Mohammed Jaffar, declared that the French property would now belong to the Comoro government. The Comoro Islands lie of the east coast of Africa, between Mozambique and the island of Madagascar.

Guinea-Bissau

The USSR has handed over to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau an unspecified number of MIG jet fighter planes to form the basis of the newly independent country's new air force. The handing-over ceremony was performed in the capital of Bissau. The Soviet ambassador to Guinea-Bissau formally made the presentation. The planes were not on view, having been flown to Bissau's military airfield. Guinea-Bissau has also announced that it will receive $2 million in economic assistance from Britain, according to the French news agency Agence France-Presse.

Rio de Oro

The Rio de Oro liberation movement, POLISARIO, has announced that it will wage all-out armed struggle in Rio de Oro (Spanish Sahara) against an agreement signed last month in Madrid by Spain, Morocco and Mauritania aimed at dividing Rio de Oro between Morocco and Mauritania, POLISARIO says, according to Africa News reports, that guerrilla forces will move to stop the partition agreement from going into effect. The division of the country is scheduled for February. The partition plan is scheduled to be taken up shortly by the United Nations.

-- 19 --

A.N.C., Z.A.N.U. DENOUNCE NKOMO AGREEMENT WITH IAN SMITH: Rhodesian Black Militants Press Demand For Majority Rule

(Salisbury, Rhodesia) -- Bishop Abel Muzorewa, exiled leader of the African National Council (ANC) of Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), and Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) leaders, together with Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) leaders have announced as "null and void" the agreement signed here last week between rebel, White minority leader Ian Smith and "the traitor" Joshua Nkomo, expressing their desire to negotiate a constitutional settlement in Zimbabwe.

In a statement received by THE BLACK PANTHER, the exiled ZANU leaders charge the agreement will negotiate Zimbabwe "into neocolonialism" and states that "our forces are intensifying the struggle to ultimate victory."

The statement continues: "No detente, negotiations or compromise will deceive the true Zimbabwe liberation forces. We will accept nothing short of immediate majority rule to be followed by socialist reconstruction. ZANLA fighters are unshakable on that position."

The agreement allegedly grants immunity against arrest for members of the breakaway, Nkomo-led faction of the African National Council's negotiating team. Nkomo has over the past few weeks been meeting with the rebel leader Smith. The meetings have been allegedly aimed at a resumption of talks that ended in disagreement last August at Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border.

The agreement stipulates that "representatives of the ANC" shall be "construed as a reference to all persons nominated by the ANC," meaning that only those persons may participate in the talks who are selected by the Nkomo-led faction of the ANC. The agreement gives formal recognition by the Smith regime to the Nkomo group.

Smith is reported to have said following the signing of the agreement that another meeting would be held with Nkomo next week to complete details for the first full session of the formal negotiations. A spokesperson for Smith's office hinted that the meeting might take place before Christmas.

Rhodesia is allegedly under heavy pressure from South Africa and neighboring Black states to reach an agreement. But the Smith regime is not yet believed to have settled on its negotiating position. White rebel government leaders have repeatedly said they are not prepared to accept immediate, Black majority rule.

Nkomo claims that any constitutional agreement would have to result in the immediate appointment of an interim government reflecting Black majority rule. He also claims adherence to a full one-person, one-vote system introduced within a year.

Ten years ago the White settler minority regime in Rhodesia declared itself independent of Britain and established a rebel, White minority government in Rhodesia. This action was taken allegedly in resistance to

-- 25 --
demands to yield on the question of Black rule in Rhodesia.

Blacks outnumber Whites in Rhodesia by 20 to one.

The ZANU statement denouncing the agreement declares: "We are warning those African governments that are forcing us to eat, drink and negotiate with Smith and Vorster (South African prime minister) that they are playing with fire. We say NO to such unprincipled reactionary advice. Down with reformist type politics! Down with all traitors to the Zimbabwe cause! Forward with the People's revolutions the world over! We are our own liberators! Down with all reactionary elements who eat and drink with racist minority regimes in southern Africa!"

-- 19 --

O.A.U. Ministers Propose Hard -- Hitting Economic Policies On Foreign Trade

(Algiers, Algeria) -- The 4th Conference of Trade Ministers of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) met here recently and proposed several concrete measures on the development of Africa's foreign trade, Hsinhua news agency reports.

The Conference, held at the Palace of Nations, was attended by ministers of trade from nearly 40 African countries who collectively developed their common position for the upcoming Fourth U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Colorful streamers inscribed with "For the Strengthening of African Unity" and "Africa Belongs to the Africans" were hung in the Palace of Nations.

In the opening address to the Conference, Algerian Minister of Commerce Layachi Yaker -- chairman of the 1975 Conference -- said: "The continuous deterioriation in the system of international economic relations has ever more gravely affected the underdeveloped countries."

Yaker went on to explain that the extensive economic exploitation of the Third World countries by imperialist countries has made it difficult for the poor nations to implement a mutually beneficial policy of development. Yaker stressed the necessity of "real economic decolonization and complete liberation of our countries and our continent.

"We should not forget that we have the duty of relying first of all on ourselves, our own forces and on our resources on a nationwide scale, on an African scale and the whole relevant Third World scale," Yaker added.

TRADE VOLUME

Yaker explained that the present volume of inter-African trade makes up a very small part of the total volume of African trade and is on the decline, therefore making it necessary to "eliminate all the obstacles to the development of inter-African trade and coordinate the trade policy of our countries."

William Eteki M'Boumoua, OAU secretary general, Gamani Corea, UNCTED secretary general, and Adebayo Adedeji, executive secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, also addressed the Conference.

-- 19 --

Samora Machel: “The People Are In Power In Mozambique”

Comrade Samora Machel, the brilliant leader of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and the first president of the People's Republic of Mozambique, discusses the latest developments in the ongoing Mozambican revolution in the following interview with Afrique-Asie which was made available to THE BLACK PANTHER by the People's Translation Service.

AFRIQUE-ASIE: Some of the foreign press has made hostile commments with regard to Mozambique. What is your response?

MACHEL: What they have to say about Mozambique interests us only in so far as it is always useful to know what your enemy thinks of you. If they criticize, denounce, become furious, slander, this is a good sign. That means we are on the right path, that our attempt worries them because it aims at wrestling our country from the foreigners' hold.

At the very start of our revolution we decided that ideology would guide our action at all levels. It was therefore essential to reject any compromise that would have betrayed our fundamental principles, which must determine our revolutionary options. If we had not adopted this course of action, our movement would have crumbled, then fallen from within.

Q: The latest economic accords with Portugal that you have just ratified finally put an end to those matters disputed by the two countries. What now? What kind of relations do your foresee with Protugal?

MACHEL: We now have normal relations with Portugal. Consolidation of those relations will henceforth depend on developments in Portugal. Obviously, they might be limited to diplomatic relations -- even good diplomatic relations. This is not what we wish. We would like to see established relations of solidarity between the two people. Things are evolving, changing… Such is the course of the Portuguese revolution. We think that our Portuguese friends will find a means of stabilizing and consolidating their revolution.

Q: In light of the latest developments in Zimbabwe, do

-- 24 --
you think that a return to armed struggle is inevitable?

MACHEL: Conditions in Zimbabwe in my opinion are excellent. It must be understood that the enemy does not have sufficient strength to contain the will of the people. While it is true that the situation is favorable for negotiation, which may make it possible to avoid armed struggle, which would cause a great loss of human life, nevertheless, the well-known fact remains that the Salisbury racists cannot resist as Portugal did. I am convinced that conditions are also favorable for armed struggle, for it would mean the strangulation of the minority regime. It must be borne in mind that the armed struggle in Zimbabwe will be a devastating fire in a dry forest. Once unleashed, nothing will be able to stop it. There is only one way out for Smith: turning power over to the people.

Q: Is it true that a sort of crisis has recently broken out within certain official circles of FRELIMO, notably at the level of the armed forces?

MACHEL: Of course, the FRELIMO has actually suffered from several internal crises, the most serious having broken out on the occasion of the 2nd Congress of FRELIMO in July, 1968. But we have never considered these crises to be an unpleasant or fatal problem. On the contrary. At the same time that foreign "observers" and the enemies of our people were asserting that the FRELIMO was shattered, liquidated, we were laughing about it. They did not understand that by exposing the opportunistic and traitorous elements, by dismissing them from our movement, we were undertaking an indispensable purification. When one's revolutionary objectives are clear, one must never fear purifying a revolutionry movement whenever weak, anti-revolutionary elements are unmasked.

Q: Yet were there not recent purges within the Mozambican armed forces? Were not twenty military cadres excluded, including members of the central committee and the governor of Lourenco Marques?

MACHEL: There again, I do not like the word "purge." I prefer purification. Let me tell you what really happened. In order to win the armed struggle in 1973, it was necessary to revitalize the armed forces of FRELIMO. At that time, some important military commanders wearing our uniform were in reality behaving like our enemies in spirit and in action. Their ideas, their life-style, their attitude… everything pointed out that they had been taken in by the enemy's ideas. They lived and acted in an intolerable way. We had already informed them of their errors during the war of liberation. Some were transferred out of their positions of command, others were placed in positions where they were unable to act against the interests of the Revolution.

After independence, their activities became more serious. Their behavior became even more dissolute: drinking began to surface in the barracks… and their private lives became scandalous. It was time to act. We could have quite simply expelled them from FRELIMO without saying a word. But we preferred the revolutionary way. Instead of merely announcing their transfer without any justification, as often takes place in most of the countries of the world, we preferred to reveal everything to our people, so that they could understand the full dimensions of the situation. We wanted them to realize that we are capable of making mistakes in our judgements, but also of correcting them without shame or reserve.

During several days, all our media broadcast the deliberations of the leaders of FRELIMO, the interrogation of the defendants… Our motto: "The people are in power," could not remain in a dead letter. The essential, you see, is to eliminate any spirit of favoritism. It is that spirit that is often at the bottom of those surroundings of principle that prevent heads of state or officials from removing the weeds, from cleansing, from cleaning up.

NEW PURIFICATIONS

Q: In other words, it is not at all excluded that there may be new purifications?

MACHEL: To make such a claim would be to deny the revolutionary process. Some comrades will be left behind by the events, some will lose courage, some will give up. This constantly occurs in our struggle. It is a continual, permanent transformation. There is a continous battle for new ideas, a struggle against bourgeois comforts, renunciation of privileges. For our only privilege is serving the people. It is the only way for the people to maintain confidence in us.

Q: What is the situation in the regions that had been liberated by FRELIMO during the colonial period?

MACHEL: Naturally the situation is very difficult. One must realize that everything is beginning from scratch, sometimes from even less. The only function of the colonial administration in these regions was to collect taxes. There were no schools, no hospitals, no stores. The only roads built were those which permitted the colonialists to repress the people, arrest our comrades, or collect taxes. When the war began, the colonial administration buildings became barracks -- surrounded outposts.

However, it is because we must start from scratch that we have great hope of being able to establish an economic system that truly serves the people in these regions. These regions are particularly fertile in ideas and very receptive to the creation of a new society. Economic, as well as social and cultural values must spread from the country to the cities.

Q: One last question: What type of socialism are you heading toward?

MACHEL: You know very well that there exists only one socialism -- socialism which responds to the demands of the people, a system which allows for the social and economic development of the country, a system which allows for an equitable distribution of national wealth to all social strata. There is not, there can never be an African socialism, a national, or Mozambican socialism. There is only on one hand, socialism, on the other, capitalism. As for the development of scientific socialism in the various countries, it depends, of course, on the extent of scientific socialism consciousness. It depends on the political line, which must be adapted to the needs of the people, to their economic development, so that misery and oppression -- the consequences of residual, archaic, feudal and capitalist systems -- can be eliminated.

What we want is a popular-based system that will allow the people to participate in the construction of a society, enabling us, on the political, economic, social, and cultural level, to recover our identity in a harmonious and structured way.

-- 20 --

ISRAEL AND SOUTH AFRICA: THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE

By George J. Tomeh

Following is Part four of an extract from the book The Unholy Alliance: Israel and South Africa, a revealing document on the extensive economic and military relations between Zionist Israel and apartheid South Africa. The book is written by Dr. George J. Tomeh, a Syrian and a leading Arab scholar who has served his country in several official capacities since 1945.

This week's except begins with the continuation of last week's discussion concerning the Israeli archeologist Yigal Yadin during his 1968 tour of South Africa.

PART 4

"Professor Yadin, who was accompanied by Mrs. Yadin, received the degree of Doctor of Science from Witwatersrand University. The citation recorded the University's esteem for the Hebrew University, the Land of the Bible and its people."

This "esteem" had, in the past positively contributed to the extablishment of the state of Israel. In fact, an Israeli veteran, Colonel Benjamin Kagan, in his book, The Secret Battle for Israel, gives an account of the development of the Israeli Air Force, with the help of "friendly" governments. Colonel Kagan, introduced as a man who played an important role in scavenging the world to collect the aircraft and parts that went to make up the early Israeli Air Force is uniquely qualified to tell his story.

From his book, it is evident that the Zionists' relations with South Africa were always cordial and friendly. Haganah's representative there recruited "volunteers" freely and without any obstacles from the government. The Haganah in 1947-1948 had no more than a handful of pilots in its own forces, and "South African pilots constituted the second largest group after the Americans."

In late 1947, Boris Senior, son of a wealthy family and an ex-lieutenant in the South African Air Force, along with Cyril Katz, attempted and failed to ship to Israel twenty fighter planes by sea. Later, they flew two Bonanza commercial planes. After some reverses, Senior reached a Jewish settlement in the Negev. One South African pilot was shot down by Egyptian artillery in June, 1948; another was lost, together with his plane, the following month.

Armaments, as well as volunteers,

-- 25 --
arrived from South Africa with the blessing and authorization of the officials of that country. During the 1948 war, planes were openly purchased by the Zionists from South Africa.

Leslie Rubin, professor of government at Howard University and former member of the South African Senate, wrote in an article entitled "Dialog: South African Jews and Apartheid":

"But as a community, the Jews of South Africa present a different picture. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies, which speaks for them, has adopted a policy which it is pleased to call one of nonintervention, or neutrality; individual Jews are free to express whatever view they please, but the Board refrains from comment on government policy. What this policy has meant in practice during recent years is that when new governent apartheid measures bring untold suffering to millions of non-Whites, the Jewish community remains silent while Catholic and Episcopalian archbishops or other Christian leaders protest.

"When the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 unleashed a flood of outraged protest throughout the world, the Board of Deputies had nothing to say."

TO BE CONTINUED

-- 20 --

WORLD SCOPE

Timor

The Timorese Liberation Front (FRETILIN) declared Timor independent of Portugal on November 28, officially proclaiming the People's Republic of East Timor. Referring to the civil war that has been going on on the island sicne last August, Rogerio Lobat, the military commander of FRETILIN, said that Portugal's "constant stalling" on peace negotiations had contributed to' the decision to declare independence. FRETILIN has been battling with pro-Indonesian forces (western Timor is occupied by Indonesia) and has succeeded in gaining control of most of the new repulic.

Marianas

The International League for the Rights of Man recently filed a formal complaint with the United Nations charging that the U.S. was violating its strategic trusteeship of Micronesia by seeking to annex the Northern Mariana Islands. The League -- an organization of Americans and Europeans dedicated to the protection of human rights, which has U.N. consultative status -- contended that even though 3,945 Northern Marianas voters to 1,060 favored a new commonwealth status last June 17, the trusteeship agreement requires self-determination by all people in the territory.

O.A.P.E.C.

The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) has decided to set up an Arab petroleum services company, Hsinhua news agency recently reported. The decision was made by the OAPEC Ministerial Council at a meeting held in the Saudi Arabia city of Riyadh on November 22 and 23. All 10 of the OAPEC member states agreed to set up a company with its headquarters in Tripoli, Libya's capital city, to provide the Arab countries with various services in oil prospecting, processing and marketing through specialized agencies.

-- 21 --

ENTERTAINMENT: To One Eldridge Cleaver

(But if the shoe fits wear it) You were among the many who shouted "Power to the People." "Death to the pigs."

You were a guiding light that provided a pathway to revolution.

You know you got some of us started -- that is -- being aware of our Blackness.

You were for us and with us. the crutch I had I threw away because I knew I had your strenght and determination to be free.

I saw my younger/older brothers and sisters struggle for your/our cause.

They continue on but yet you have abandoned them/me/us. Who wants to work with a system that periodically murdered/ murders our people.

Yes you were the one who shouted "Power to the People." "Death to the Pigs."

How could you -- shout/abandon us all in one prolonged step?

Eldridge Cleaver -- I carry your burden of shame -- the load is too heavy for you.

-- Sharon Denise Rivers --

-- 21 --

I Pray

I

pray to me

for a better life-lived

environment

I

arm me

to insure oppsition

to traditional accepted

madness
-- Willi K. Anderson Emeryville, Calif.

-- 21 --

BLACK PANTHER REVIEW OF “HARLEM: VOICES, FACES” PRAISED AND SUPPORTED

In the October 25, 1975, issue of THE BLACK PANTHER, the TV documentary Harlem: Voices Faces was the subject of a critical review citing the film's excellent portrayal of Black people's dignity and struggle against the oppressive conditions created by capitalist society. That review, while favorable to the Public Broadcasting System's (PBS) decision to air Harlem: Voices, Faces, was very critical of the Black panel of "spokespersons" who condemned the film. At the time of the review, it was mentioned that THE BLACK PANTHER was one of the few major Black publications to firmly make a positive public statement regarding the fine Swedish-made documentary.

Last week, the editorial offices of THE BLACK PANTHER received a letter from Lucien Scott Stone, a Black freelance TV writer/producer based in Berkeley, California. Brother Stone wrote, in part: "I am an avid reader and admirer of the Black Panther Party newspaper. I agree with your courageous and revolutionary vision concerning the analysis of the film, Harlem: Voices, Faces…"

Following, we reprint the review of this decumentary sent us by Brother Stone.

"It is my intention to join those voices who have spoken out against those who protest the making and showing of this film.

"First, the debacle and spectacle created by both the professional media Blacks who refused to review the film at the behest of PBS (Public Broadcast System) and those that finally decided to sit in on the panel following the only American showing of Voices… leaves much to be desired from our Black middle-class brothers and sisters.

"The most important aspect of the film was the treatment and look at the real destructive plague that dope has in the Black community, how it affects our everyday lives, the lives of our children and our families. The film reached the conclusion, well known to Blacks and others who have a healthy concern for the redevelopment of our community and lives, that to take an honest look at the effects of dope is to reveal some very difficult and disturbing truths concerning us as a people.

Voices and Faces contained the brutal and violent existence incumbent upon the Black people living in Harlem and all the other Harlems throughout the whole of the United States of America. These colonies are but cesspools created by racism in this country American racism is, indeed, a strange and perverse phenomenon. It destroys the very hope and will survive as the film so aptly pointed out.

-- 22 --

"How long will it take us, as a people, to wake up and take stock of those destructive elements in our community and move to point of action to eradicate those ills destroying our people. Our history is filled with much splendor and beauty. This film is but a record to be placed alongside others of this genre.

"The film itself was technically well coordinated and its producers are to be commended.

"My biggest complaint concerning the entire matter is the fact that we (Blacks) did not underwrite the making of such an historical document which would well have served our historical interest as a people.

"Where were all our famous Black entertainters, who are making money from Blaxploitation films or their sponsorship of such documents by young Black writers and filmmakers?

"Wake up brothers and sisters! "What are we doing, sitting around this `heah' expert table, talking abut two Swedish boys, who made a three and one-half hour film about Black people in Harlem, of which only ninety minutes was permitted to be shown in this country.

"Come on brothers and sisters, let us be for real."

-- 21 --

Weekend Performances Of “The Stud” Held At O.C.L.C.

(Oakland, Calif,) -- Last weekend, December 7 and 8 the Oakland Community Learning Center featured The Stud, an original stage play performed by The Black Ensemble Theatre Company. Set in the 1950s, the production took a mocking, comical look at the complications and woes in the life of a 17-year-old Black male prostitute, a "stud." In the scene above, Dana (played by WIMBERLY TUCKER) in his pre-"stud" days, is trying to convince his girlfriend, Ruby (played by TINY COLLINS) into going to bed with him after being egged on by his friends.

The Black Ensemble Theatre Company, led by director pro tem Theo Jordan, was founded in 1969 at Yale Drama School and in 1971 moved to U.C. Berkeley. The Company has flourished since then, mounting many productions and winning great popularity in the Bay Area.

-- 23 --

SPORTS: MARTIAL ARTS

The Laws Of Motion

Most human performances require the performer either to move himself or to transfer motion to an object. Therefore, motion is basic to the performance of skills, particularly those that require trained actions. Many of the actions performed -- actually all movements that demand special training -- require an understanding of the principles of motion.

These principles (general statements of concepts) come from three laws of motion that are derived from the science of physics. Any action that cannot be traced back through these three laws should be carefully screened by its performer to avoid injury to the body or to determine wastes of energy, speed, power. Many things do work in spite of their unsound relationship to the laws of motion, depending on the individual and his/her ability to perform a given movement or series of movements.

The first law of motion that we must consider has to do with resistance to any change in motion. It takes force to begin motion, slow down motion, to accelerate or to change the direction of a thing. The greater the change is to be in the existing condition, the more force will be needed to produce the change in motion.

The second law of motion involves acceleration. Obviously, if the body is at rest, it will have its greatest resistance to a force attempting to move it; the same amount of force will develop a greater acceleration (change of rate of speed) after the body is in motion. To make this idea more applicable, let us say that if a performance calls for maximum acceleration, successive forces by body parts should be applied to the object, allowing no decrease between newly developing body forces.

The third law of motion to understand is the law of counter-force. The effects of this law depend upon whether the body is supported or unsupported. If the body is supported by a firm surface, the effects of a counter-force (a force produced in reaction to another force) will be maximum.

-- 23 --

MUHAMMAD ALI DONATES $150,000 TO N.Y. HOME FOR ELDERLY

(New York, N.Y.) -- Muhammad Ali stunned the sports world, and his critics last week by offering $150,000 to a rest home for the elderly that was threatened with doom because of its inability to receive federal, state, or local funds.

Not long ago Ali announced his intention to use the wealth he has accumulated to begin to serve social programs. This particular act was not done for publicity since there was no prior announcement or fanfare.

According to The New York Times, Ali read about the plight of the Hillside Aged Program Center, a program which began in January, 1974, operating under the auspices of the Self-Help Community Service, an organization chartered to aid victims of Nazi persecution.

However, Self-Help agreed to finance the program for only one year, and efforts by the Center to get public funds were thwarted because in the words of Hillside social worker, Frances Adler, "We did not fit any of the guidelines."

Last week, after talking to his manager, Herbert Muhammad, Ali went to the Center, knocked on the door and said, "I understand you need a lot of money to stay open. I'll give it to you."

In conversations with the staff of Hillside, Ali first offered $100,000, then $150,000 to keep the program in operation for another year. The elderly residents of the Center began to hug and kiss the world heavyweight champ, astounded by his unexpected gift.

-- 23 --

Archie Griffin Wins Heisman Trophy For Second Time

(New York, N.Y.) -- Star Ohio State running back ARCHIE GRIFFIN (left) made collegiate football history last week by winning the prestigious Heisman Trophy for the second year in a row.

The powerful 5-foot-9, 184 pound Griffin already holds the NCAA record for rushing for 100 yards in 31 consecutive games. In his four-year college career Griffin rushed for an all-time major college record total of 5,177 yards. He will have one more chance to add even more to this total when the No. 1-rated, Buckeyes take on the UCLA Bruins in the Rose Bowl on January 1.

-- 25 --

Letters to the Editor

FREE H. RAP BROWN

To the Concerned Members of the Black Panther Party:

The August-September, 1975, edition of the "Unity and Struggle" newspaper pointed out that the racist police hold our comrade, H. Rap Brown, in prison. Hubert Rap Brown has recently been transferred to Clinton Correctional Facility, Dannemore, New York, which is a large behavioral modification center. He is serving at 12-20 year prison sentence.

For those of us who know H. Rap Brown, he is a Black Revolutionary -- a Black Nationalist of the highest degree. Former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, "Snick"), Comrade Rap is now in jail, framed by the FBI and CIA on some trumped-up charge.

I have written the people of the "Unity and Struggle" asking for further information on what we can do to help free him, but I received no reply. So I am asking the concerned members of the Black Panther Party to help Free Rap Brown and other political or Revolutionary Prisoners. H. Rap Brown has said: "I anticipate one day, however, that I will be arrested and there will be no legal procedure any lawyer will be able to use to secure my release. In fact, the first question will not be, `let's get Rap out of jail. It'll be, where is Rap?'"

Rap must be free by any means necessary.

Lasima Tushinde Mbilashaka (We Shall Conquer Without A Doubt).

Yours in Revolution,
All Power to the People
Richard B. Brown
New York City, N.Y.

(Please print this letter to show that Rap is not dead.)

STUDENT SEEKS INFO. ON B.P.P.

Dear Editor:

I'm writing to you in hopes of receiving some information in regards to the Black Panthers. I'm a student at Long Beach City College and currently doing work on the Panthers. My intention is to present a positive picture of the Panthers which shows the constructive side to your organization. During the '60s there was much negative journalism written in regards to the Panthers, and due to this the image which most citizens hold of the Panthers is warped. They visualize a group of gun-toting radicals, but this is not true. Most of the information which is available to me is a bunch of biased garbage.

What inspired me to write my paper on the Panthers was a commentary done by Gail Christianson of KNBC. She presented a film clipping on the Panthers, and I have to say that it was impressive. I had hoped to obtain some of her commentary from NBC, but the red tape is too thick. I did have an opportunity to speak to Ms. Christianson and she referred me to your office. She said the information which you provided was most informative. What I would like is any suggestions from you which would help me with my paper. Reference material such as pamphlets or books written by the Panthers which explain some of your social programs (day care centers) would be most helpful. Your time is greatly appreciated.

With Respect,
I'm White, but I sympathize
with your cries!
Matthew LeBlane
Los Alamitos, Calif.

(Editor's note: Our edition of the CoEvolution Quarterly is on the way.)

NEW TECHNIQUE FOR FREE PEST CONTROL PROGRAM

Dear People,

I saw in your paper that you are doing roach exterminating. I have been working here on a good roach killer that is not a heavy poison. I use Borax (20 Mule Team, available at the supermarket) and sugar finely pulverized. Borax has been known to kill roaches, but isn't as good as heavy poisons. I have added sugar -- eight parts Borax to one part sugar -- because it is one of roaches' favorite foods. Pulverizing it makes the Borax particles smaller and much more effective on the roaches.

As far as I can tell, this stuff is as good as the best poisons. It is not an immediate kill trip -- it takes one to two weeks to be fully effective and it goes on working. After a couple of months it lets up from absorbing moisture and should be replaced. It should be put down in a fine powder, dusting in all the dark places roaches like to hide out -- under sinks, stoves, refrigerators, behind stuff. The pulverizing can be done with a mortar and pestle blender, 2 × 4, in a pan or whatever.

I'm testing the stuff now and will market it soon with instructions on the label how to make it yourself. The stuff is not even a true poison. Borax is a naturally occurring salt.

If you try this, let me know how it goes.

Happy Trails,
Bob Freeston

-- 26 --

Answers to Last Week's Crossword Puzzle

Across: 1. Palestine 7. Aim 9. Zionism
11. Assembly 14. Pro 15. Lies 17. Hess
18. Immigrate 21. Am 22. TO 24. Era
25. Third 27. PLO 30. Yes 31. Faire
32. Jewry 34. Anti 36. Israel 37. No
38. Win 39. Judiasm 41. Elite
43. Legality 44. Programs

Down: 1. Political 2. Exploit 3. Too
4. Non 5. Discrimination 6. U.N. 7. As
8. Imperialism 10. Islam 12. Sephardic
13. Exist 16. Gentile 19. Goes 20. Arab
23. Religious 26. Doctrine 28. Semitic
29. Haven 33. Free 34. And 35. No
38. Watch 40. Wars 41. Land

-- 27 --

-- [28] --

The Black Panther Party And Electoral Politics

Sunday, Dec. 21 -- 2:00 P.M.

8507 E. 14th ST., OAKLAND

Corner E. 14th and 85th Ave.

(Black Panther Party Central Headquarters)

Everyone Welcome!!

Community Political Education Session

Every 1st and 3rd Sunday Of Month

Hear and discuss B.P.P. positions on local, national and world issues affecting Black, 3rd Worlds and Oppressed Communities

For Informatoin Call (415) 638-0195
SPONSORED BY THE BLACK PANTHER INTERCOMMUNAL NEWS SERVICE