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A SURVIVAL PROGRAM IN CONGRESS?

BLACK CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS CALLS FOR
RE-DISTRIBUTION OF U.S. WEALTH

"… OUR CONCERNS AND OBLIGATIONS AS MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DO NOT STOP AT THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR DISTRICTS; OUR CONCERNS ARE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IN SCOPE. WE ARE PETITIONED DAILY BY CITIZENS LIVING HUNDREDS OF MILES FROM OUR DISTRICTS WHO LOOK ON US AS CONGRESSMEN-AT-LARGE FOR BLACK PEOPLE AND POOR PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES. EVEN THOUGH WE THINK FIRST OF THOSE WE WERE DIRECTLY ELECTED TO SERVE, WE CANNOT, IN GOOD CONSCIENCE THINK ONLY OF THEM - FOR WHAT AFFECTS ONE BLACK COMMUNITY, ONE POOR COMMUNITY, ONE URBAN COMMUNITY, AFFECTS ALL."

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U.S. SAYS TOO MANY CHICKENS IN EVERY BAG

The United States is the wealthiest, most technologically advanced country in the history of the world. In spite of this, as we know, millions of oppressed people living in this country lack the basic necessities for survival, such as food, clothing, adequate medical care, or decent housing. Black people, because of the racism woven into the very fabric of the American society, have had to bear the full brunt of this contradiction. Despite all the wealth that the U.S. ruling class has accumulated through its worldwide theft of the people's resources, there still seems to be no limitation to U.S. greed.

Recently, the U.S. Senate Agricultural Committee proposed an "egg market control bill". The reasoning behind this bill is that egg prices on the consumer market are at a forty-year low. In other words, the price of eggs is too low to make the usual capitalist profit. Because of these "low" prices of eggs, the Senate wants to take measures to "drive up" their monetary worth. The proposed method of operation in this criminal conspiracy was to use the authority of the government to kill off hundreds of thousands of chickens at one time in a mass slaughter, to force up the price of eggs.

According to the Senate Agricultural Committee, when the price of eggs falls below the cost of production for at least three months, the newly formed "Egg Board" would then order the slaughter of thousands of chickens. The indiscriminate killing of chickens makes no sense to the many oppressed people who find it a struggle to provide their families with adequate meals on a daily basis.

The scheme of raising the price of eggs corresponds with what the U.S. government has been doing all along. Many U.S. farmers have become rich, because the government has actually paid them huge sums of money not to grow certain foods or raise particular animals. This has had the effect of keeping those prices of the food not grown, along with the animals not raised, on the increase, in regards to the prices we have to pay on the market.

Almost simultaneous with the defeat of this proposed bill, came the sudden "discovery" that there was an outbreak of Newcastle disease (a disease that is fatal to laying hens, once contracted) in chickens on the west coast of the U.S. To the minds of many, Newcastle disease was nothing more than a creation on the part of the government, which, anticipating the anger of poor people when news of the "egg market bill" reached them, decided that a "chicken epidemic" was the best strategy to still raise egg prices. According to Jack Dubose, President of the National Egg Company, the price of eggs would not take the usual post-Easter drop, since "As many as 1.5 million laying hens on the West coast have been infected or exposed to the disease." Strangely, this massive infection of laying hens was not noticed until after the bill was defeated on March 24th, in the Senate (the vote was 48 to 23).

In the midst of all this, the Black Panther Party recently gave away over 10,000 full bags of groceries, with a chicken in every bag, during the recent Black Community Survival Conference, on March 29th, 30th, and 31st. This was done because we understand the basic right of all human beings to survive. It's a simple formula: in order to live, you have to eat. The government destroys food in order to make a profit. Can there be any other alternative than for us to struggle until our survival is firmly secured?

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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FOR SAM

THE BODY OF COMRADE SAMUEL NAPIER WAS SNATCHED BY ASSASSINS A YEAR AGO NOW, ON APRIL 17TH. THE WORK, THE SPIRIT. THE LOVE HE BROUGHT WITH HIM ARE HERE TODAY, EVER-PRESENT AMONG THE PEOPLE AND OUR PARTY.

WE CANNOT AND WILL NOT FORGET HIS DEVOTION TO HIS PEOPLE, TO ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLE, AND HIS HARD AND DEDICATED WORK TO BRING THE TRUTH, ESPECIALLY THROUGH CIRCULATING THE BLACK PANTHER NEWSPAPER AS THE CIRCULATION MANAGER, TO THE MASSES OF PEOPLE. WE CANNOT FORGET BECAUSE SAM NAPIER LIVES.

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“THE CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST”

2,000 BLACK CHICAGOANS GET A CHICKEN IN EVERY BAG

For a long time politicians have been talking about how they are working in the interest of the people. They used to go around promising chickens if the people would, in turn, give them their votes. Chicago's Black community, however, knows them for what they are, "lying politicians" who are not concerned about the needs of the community.

On Saturday, April 1, 1972, the people of the Ida B. Wells housing project got a concrete example of what the Black Panther Party means when it says, "we are about meeting the needs of the community." On that date, free, full bags of groceries were given away (with a chicken in every bag), along with some brand new clothing. During the few weeks preceding the Free Food Give-Away, people heard about what the Party was going to do; but some people, who were mis-led by negative images of the Party, portrayed by the media, didn't believe it would be carried out. Once the people saw the food was a reality, it was accepted with open arms. Some were afraid the Party would run out of food; but, as the trucks kept on coming, they knew they would have at least a few happy meals over the Easter Holidays.

Over 2,000 free, full bags of groceries were given away. The food had been gathered through donations from businesses which depend on the Black community for their profits. Also different student groups participated in getting food, through having canned-food drives. The student participation was a step toward strengthening student-community relationships. We thank all those who helped make the Free Food Give-Away a success.

Comrade Bob Rush of the Black Panther Party gave a short presentation and encouraged everyone to register to vote. In order for us to obtain full and complete freedom we must use many tactics and strategies to change the wretched conditions under which we are now living. One of these methods is through our unified Black vote. In Chicago, Black people are faced with a very unique problem, since Edward V. Hanrahan, the murderer of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, and scores of other Black people, won the nomination of the Democratic Party as States Attorney, even though the majority of Black people didn't vote for him.

Since December 4, 1971, when the Fred Hampton and Mark Clark Free Food Program was implemented, close to 10,000 full bags of groceries have been given away to the people in the Black community of Chicago. In the coming months, thousands of full bags of food, Sickle Cell Anemia tests, brand new clothes and shoes will be given away free to the people. These are concrete examples of what can be achieved by unifying our Black votes around basic Survival Programs, Support The People's Free Survival Programs.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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“ANGELA'S GUNS” PURCHASED TWO YEARS BEFORE “CONSPIRACY”

The continuing fascist trial of Comrade Angela Davis was filled with drama on the part of Prosecutor Albert W. Harris, when, on April 7th, 1972, he dumped eight guns onto a table in the San Jose Courtroom, seeking the psychological effect of shocking Sister Angela's jurors into believing that she was actually guilty of the acts of murder, kidnap and conspiracy to murder. What Harris neglected to reveal, which was brought out later, in testimony, was that only two of the eight guns spread out across the table were even registered to Angela Davis; the other six guns belonged to the Marin County Police who were present at the Marin County Jail on August 7th (1970). He also neglected to mention that one of those guns was purchased in 1968, two years before the August 7th movement; and, the other, in 1969.

Those facts very definitely expose the lies of the Sate, lies that contend Angela purchased weapons to free Comrade George Jackson from prison. The State of California wants the people to believe that Angela purchased guns in 1968 and '69 for the purpose of using them in some so-called conspiracy over two years later. This is absurd. The only thing more ridiculous is the actual trial of Comrade Angela.

The prosecution even produced a "witness", an Owen W. Swisher, who testified that he sold Angela a carbine in 1969. He stated that Angela gave him sufficient identification to make the gun purchase, namely a passport and driver's license. The required Federal form Swisher filled out, however, identifies Sister Angela as a "male negro". Swisher passes this off as a "mistake" on his part. Another gun dealer, John Plimpton, said she bought an automatic pistol from him in January of 1968. He further stated that Angela had told him she needed a weapon for self-protection (which would not be unusual, for Black people are forced to buy guns, exercising our right under the law, to protect ourselves from the numerous racist, pig attacks). For Comrade Angela, the need to defend herself would be more urgent, given the fact that she had made many racist enemies because of her open and active work for the liberation of oppressed people.

We shall not allow such a beautiful sister as Angela to be railroaded to prison on the fabrications of a handful of pigs. We, the people, have the power to stop the trial.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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HAS CHINA BETRAYED THE “REVOLUTION”?

In response to the call for writers to use their skills in the interest of the people, we received the article printed below. We appreciate Brother Robert Seier's concern for the people by turning his talents to our interests:

In the second part of Comrade Elaine Brown's interview with Comrade Angela Davis, which appeared in the March 11th issue of the Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, Angela indicated some reservations about the People's Republic of China in light of the Nixon visit to that country. Unfortunately, a number of pseudo-revolutionaries, and revolutionaries as well, have condemned China, too.

At this point, I would like to present my views of the Chinese position and at the same time refute China's critics and offer some comradely criticisms to Angela, et al.

The conclusions of China's detractors from the Left and "Left" are incorrect because they originate from a false premise and are based on fallacious reasoning.

To begin with, Nixon showed an interest in visiting China and was therefore invited to come which he subsequently did. This is not necessarily a betrayal of the revolution. Chairman Mao has long contended that China would seek peace and do business with the imperialist countries but at the same time would "harbor no unrealistic notions about them". Keep in mind that it was Nixon who went to China, not vice-versa. It was Nixon who sat awe-struck in the presence of Mao Tse-tung. It was Nixon who ogled at China's architectural splendor like a little child. It was Nixon who wanted to talk. It was Nixon who was forced to recognize the reality of The People's Republic of China. And it was Nixon who was cajoled into agreeing to the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-Existence among nations, formulated at the Bandung Conference of 1955. And this is good, because now, certain "non-aligned" countries who may have respected and/or feared U.S. Imperialism, will now see its true perfidious and bellicose nature as it violates the Five Principles, as it has already done.

Obviously, the Chinese as well as we ourselves, realize that Nixon went to China to present the IMAGE of a peace maker, to bolster his re-election campaign, and, if possible, to open China up to U.S. monopoly capital exploitation. It is also apparent that the Chinese are not as naive as we (the revolutionaries) have been led to believe; and that we have underestimated them.

The criticisms of China are invalid because the whole of the matter was not taken into consideration when analyzing the situation. Most Americans (including revolutionaries) derived their information from the bourgeois-controlled media, with the views and interpretations of bourgeois "journalists" as our guides, and on this we based our opinions (unfortunately). This is why the critics are wrong. I wonder how many of them have been reading the Chinese Journals such as Peking Review, and have been listening to Radio Peking? Without doing this, their view of China is incomplete.

For some 50 years, Mao Tse-tung has worked diligently and unremittingly for the Chinese revolution; theorizing about its many stages and eventually carrying them through to completion, with the period of socialist construction still in progress. It's been said that in the 30's and late 20's (the lean years of the Chinese revolution), Chairman Mao was right when most others were wrong, invariably advancing along the correct path, depending upon the specific historical conditions in China at a particular period in time. After half a century of struggle, a man like Chairman Mao does not arrogate his principles overnight.

Chairman Mao has, in the past, supported the people's struggle for liberation in the U.S. and has issued statements attesting to this in 1963, '68, and '70, to name some recent ones. Obviously, Chairman Mao believes that at this point in time, China's current course is the best road to follow to ensure the success of the revolution. And it is not revisionist.

In 1945, Mao Tse-tung went to Chungking, sat, talked, and toasted with Chiang Kai-shek. Did Chairman Mao betray the revolution when he did this? Certainly not. He simply realized logically that the People's Liberation Army was not yet strong enough to defeat Chiang. So he sat and talked and stalled for time. Four years later he talked with a gun and seized the time. Chairman Mao knew exactly what to do and when to do it. He moved with the ebb and flow of the struggle. He won; Chiang lost. The reality of China at that time proved Chairman Mao correct. In view of the changing world situation, the Communist Party of China must keep pace with the reality of the situation, or face the possibility of becoming obsolete and anachronistic.

Speaking of revisionism, I noticed that these critics assailed China but remained reticent concerning the Soviet renegade clique. Shouting about imaginary Chinese revisionism, but ignoring Soviet backing of India's invasion of Pakistan. Obviously, the Soviet Union is endeavoring to carve the world into spheres of influence - one half for them and the other for the U.S. Imperialists,

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with the Third World having no voice. (In other words, the simultaneous contention and collusion of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. for world hegemony.) However, since their arrival at the U.N., China has stood up for the rights of The Third World community, which have been flagrantly violated by the two super-powers. (Naturally, Angela's Party, the Soviet-oriented Communist Party - U.S.A., backs Soviet revisionism to the hilt, and trumpets the Soviet-style anti-China rhetoric.) The Soviets have never supported the just struggle of the Palestinian people to recover their homeland, whereas China has consistently backed the Palestinians' war of National Recovery and Against "Israeli" expansionist aggression under the aegis of U.S. Imperialism. Despite this, I just read that U.S.S.R.'s chief negotiator, Leonid Iliyichef, recently returned to Peking. (So much for the China-U.S. "Love Affair".)

We cannot blame the Communist Party of China and take our frustrations out on China because we have been delinquent and negligent in carrying out our own revolution. We have only ourselves to blame. I think the problem is that too many revolutionaries have been living a vicarious revolution. Obviously, this is doomed to failure. We must concern ourselves with the business at hand and stop complaining about other comrades in the socialist camp. They're taking care of business there. It's time we took care of business here. Chairman Mao isn't going to march victoriously into Washington. We are.

(I do want to add, however, that despite my comradely criticisms of Comrade Angela Davis, I resolutely support her just struggle to win acquittal of trumped-up charges, fabricated by the Wall Street-Pentagon Regime.)

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

-- 6 --

ELECTRONIC SOLDIERS CAN'T REFUSE THE DRAFT

The following information comes to us through the Pacific News Service (copyright, 1972). The Author, Leonard Siegel, is a member of the Pacific Studies Center and specializes in the analysis of military electronics systems and the electronics industry:

Despite all the fanfare, the Pentagon's multi-billion dollar "Electronic Battlefield" is not working. The new equipment allows the U.S. to withdraw ground combat troops from Indochina, but the armed services are relying on overkill and devastation, not efficiency, to carry on the Indochina war.

The Electronic Battlefield, as revealed in Congressional hearings in late 1970, consists of four types of equipment designed to "find, fix, and fight" the enemy: sensors which sniff, hear sense heat, amplify light, detect movement or metal to find enemy trucks or men; navigational devices to guide planes, bombs, and artillery to their targets; computers to analyze the beeps from the sensors and coordinate the assault; and radio communications to maintain contact among the sensors, commanders, computers, and aircraft.

The Electronic Battlefield was first conceived in 1966 as the "McNamara Wall" or "Edsel Line," a barrier across the Demilitarized Zone designed to prevent North Vietnamese infiltration. The McNamara Wall was abandoned in 1969 -- too costly and ineffective -- but its systems and devices today form the foundation of the Electronic Battlefield.

Pentagon officials have consistently claimed great success with the new equipment, but reports from the fiel dispute this.

Equipment which operates well in Stateside laboratories breaks down in jungle heat or moisture. Air-dropped sensors often break on impact, and those that do not, perform on the average for only thirty days. Well-trained technicians can operate the sophisticated devices with effect, but draftees and short-term officers have difficulty. The badly-trained Vietnamese soldiers are even less competent. As a veteran of Vietnam told me, the ARVN (Saigon troops) "don't even know how to kick a radio when it malfunctions."

The National Liberation Front (NLF) and North Vietnamese troops, on the other hand, have discovered ways of deceiving the electronic devices. Bonfires confuse heat-detecting devices. Sacks of urine confuse "people sniffers." Radar detects moving things, so the guerrillas move slowly and often lie in ambush for days. A Pentagon official responsible for expediting Vietnam-related research admitted that a guerrilla "can stop a tank with a hand-held anti-tank weapon because he just plain sneaks up to it, stays under a bush two or three days, or submerges himself in a rice paddy and waits for the tank to come along." A pilot reports that North Vietnamese troops in rice-growing areas form lines to camouflage themselves as paddy dikes whenever U.S. aircraft fly overhead.

Other equipment works so well that the NLF and North Vietnamese use it. U.S. - issue Starlight Scopes, which electronically amplify light so a rifleman can see in the dark, have been recaptured from enemy patrols many times. U.S. officials in Vietnam used to be surprised that hill-top radio transmitters, easy targets for mortars or rockets, were not destroyed by the NLF. Electronics magazine reports why: "The enemy hasn't touched the (radio relay) network because they are using it too." U.S. officials say they have no way to know if a Vietnamese voice is ARVN or NLF.

Like the proverbial deer hunter, the Electronic Battlefield shoots at anything that moves. Anti-war groups have attacked the "indiscriminate" nature of electronically-directed warfare, but an Air Force pilot represented the sentiment of the armed services when he said, "Nobody out there is anything but unfriendly anyway."

The biggest use of the Electronic Battlefield has been along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, where an operation codenamed Igloo White keeps track of enemy troop and truck movement, and computers dispatch bombers to "interdict" the trail. The massive bombing -- history's heaviest campaign -- takes its toll, but the planes move too fast, the ground is poorly mapped, and no one in the air knows precisely what's going on at ground level. The ineffectiveness of Igloo White was underscored by the February, 1971 invasion of Laos. Not only had the enemy withstood the bombing, but the trail defenses were strong enough to devastate the elite ARVN attack corps.

Why, then, does the Pentagon continue to replace men with machines? First, it is financially advantageous, Though expensive, the machines in no way damage the American balance of payments (as overseas troop support does). All the money is spent in the U.S. And unlike U.S. ground troops in Indochina, the machines are not likely to refuse to perform assigned tasks. An opposition movement has yet to develop among the engineers and scientists back home who continue to develop and perfect the Electronic Battlefield.

But, most important, is its political value in an election year. Faith in a technological war -- automation in support of Vietnamization -- allows President Nixon and his advisors to announce further troop pullouts, softening for the time being domestic opposition to the war.

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BERKELEY COUNCILWOMAN EXPOSES PIG CHIEF

Back on March 6, 1972, young Berkeley Councilwoman Loni Hancock initiated a drive to expose the underhanded activities of Berkeley (California) Pig Chief Bruce Baker in trying to fool the masses of Berkeley citizens. That is, Pig Chief Baker, in full realization that the City of Berkeley had come very close to voting for a community-controlled police department (in the April, 1971 elections), decided to manipulate the situation to keep certain other City departments in the dark about the daily functions of the police department. However, on March 6th, Miss Hancock blew the whistle to halt these cover-up activities. The following is excerpted from a press statement from Miss Hancock's office, issued on March 6th:

"Berkeley City Councilwoman Loni Hancock today accused Police Chief Bruce Baker of deliberately sabotaging citizen participation in the police training process.

`Not only have representatives from my staff been excluded from key training classes,' Ms. Hancock said, 'but the police department has also excluded members of the Public Safety Committee, the city's Personnel Department, and representatives of Councilwoman Susan Hone.

'Several weeks ago, the Chief, at my request agreed that four members of my staff, along with these other representatives could observe the ENTIRE police training process. We felt that if Berkeley Police were to become representative of thinking in this community, that it was essential that citizens observe the training process so as to be able to make suggestions and give the Police Department input from the community.

'When citizens and members of the city's own personnel department began attending the training classes this week, they found out that they could not attend the Chief's own orientation class, nor could they attend classes on civil disobedience, and warrant service.

'Furthermore, they were told that they would be excluded from classes on arrest mechanics, sources of information, psychology of the officer, and psychology of the mentally ill.

'Not coincidentally, these are all areas which have long been the greatest source of controversy between the community and the police department. The exclusion of local citizens from these training classes seems to confirm what we have been saying for many years - namely that the Berkeley Police Department believes that it is an entity unto itself and need not be responsible to the people of the city.

'The Chief's excuse for reneging on the original agreement was that each individual officer-instructor should be given absolute control over the structure of their courses.

'The police department's responsibility is to the City Council and the people of Berkeley. If Chief Baker and the men teaching these courses cannot tolerate the presence of Berkeley citizens and representatives of Council members, then perhaps we need to consider major changes in the police department.

`As the Pentagon Papers so clearly showed, governmental secrecy is never in the interests of the people. We want more citizen participation in all aspects of government. The police department, I assume, is still a component of Berkeley City government. It must not be allowed to exclude citizens from overseeing its work…'"

Since this indictment on behalf of the people by Miss Hancock, Baker has come under full scale investigation by the people. With this kind of people pressure, after a City Council meeting detailing his side-stepping activities, Baker suddenly decided to open up the "public" police training classes.

Naturally, with this concession came further insults to the people. Baker has "allowed" the meetings to be open (as they should have been), but purposely gives his pigs instructions that are not complete, saving certain discussions for more private meetings. It is for these reasons that Miss Hancock will be initiating further investigation into the following areas of police work: 1) Police training; 2) Police gun policies; and 3) the exact relationship between the Berkeley Police Department and the University of California at Berkeley Campus Police Department.

Loni Hancock is proving herself to be one elected official that serves the true interests of the masses of people.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE.

-- 8 --

LET'S STAY TOGETHER

LLOYD BARBEE REVIEWS BLACK POLITICAL CONVENTION

March 21, 1972

"I shall make a few comments about the National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana last week.

"Blacks getting together nationally for political action in this Century was a first must. Staying together is a second must. This second must will be harder for some individuals and groups, but successful action requires committed people to work out a plan and implement it.

"The quality and quantity of delegates, leaders, and observers in Gary, March 10, 11 and 12 was impressive despite usual convention falderal and confusion. Individualists, collectivists, militants and moderates all had their say and way. Anti-bussing and anti-school integration resolutions narrowly passed. Thereafter, probussing and pro-school integration resolutions also passed. A somewhat long and controversial platform called a Black Agenda with inconsistent amendments was adopted and referred to an ongoing steering committee to refine, reconcile, and redraft by Malcolm X's Birthday, May 19th. A near impossible task and a great challenge.

"In summary, Blacks met together, set up a structure to keep together for the benefit of Black political effectiveness. This was an accomplishment worthy of historical note. From the present onwards, it's clear thinking, planning, and working that will result in true political achievement."

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OUT NOW STOP THE BOMBING: demonstrate to end the war

90,000 tons of bombs are being dropped on Asian people every month and six pounds of chemical defoliants have been dropped in Vietnam for every man, woman and child.

No politician, whatever party affiliation claimed, can alone end the war. Only the people - all of us, acting together can end this war and thereby help end the racism, capitalism and imperialism which permeate this society.

demonstrate
to end the war

SAT. APRIL 22
LOS ANGELES

Join with the thousands of us who will be in the streets on Saturday, April 22nd,

For more information please contact: April 22 West

National Peace Action Coalition
111 N. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90004

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WHERE BOMBS ARE COMMON

AFRO-AMERICAN BROTHER ENDURES PORTUGUESE ATTACK WITH FRELIMO GUERRILLAS

For the past 7 years, the people of Mozambique, the so-called Portuguese overseas province, have been struggling for liberation from the colonialism inflicted upon them by these European settler colonists. Under the leadership of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) they have been dealing heavy blows to the NATO-backed Portuguese forces in a protracted war of national liberation.

The following article (the third and last of a series), Inside Liberated Mozambique, and photographs are reprinted with permission of The African World newspaper, the news organ of the Student Organization for Black Unity, in which they appeared in an exclusive 6 part series at the beginning of this year. Due to the length of the article, The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service will only be able to excerpt information from the article, to be presented in a 3 part series. Because our struggle is one, because we suffer common ills under a common oppressor, let us review each other's experiences to enable us to unite for victory after victory:

PART III END OF SERIES

In the fall of last year, Owusu Sadaukai, Mwalimu of Malcolm X Liberation University in Greensboro, North Carolina, went to Tanzania in East Africa to attend a conference on African education. During his visit, he spoke with members of several of the legitimate liberation groups in Africa on behalf of Malcolm X Liberation University, the Student Organization for Black Unity (SOBU) and as a member of the international committee of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Development (IFCO), which was interested in supporting the liberation struggles.

For the past three years, two brothers from the United States - Bob Fletcher and Bob Van Lierop - had been planning an extended trip into liberated Mozambique to do a film and total audio-visual documentation of the FRELIMO struggle, in conjunction with Boubaker Adjali, a well known Algerian photo-journalist, Shortly before the trip was to begin, Adjali became sick and FRELIMO officials extended to Sadaukai the opportunity to go into liberated Mozambique in Adjali's place.

Sadaukai's trip was to have lasted 16 days, but because the column came under attack from Portuguese troops and planes, the journey lasted instead 31 days. Along with Van Lierop and Fletcher, Sadaukai was among the first Africans from the U.S. to be taken into the liberated areas…

ATTACKED BY THE PORTUGUESE

On the march with the FRELIMO guerrillas, each day would begin at about 5:30 in the morning, when we would rise, wash up, eat breakfast and then talk briefly before beginning the day's activity. On the morning of Saturday, September 11th, we were at a hospital base in Niassa province. We had spent that night and several others previously in the thatched straw huts typical of Mozambican houses.

It was a very gray morning with heavy clouds overhead. I had been asking the brothers and sisters if, because it was so cloudy and had rained the day before, the rainy season was approaching. Suddenly there was a sound that at first seemed like thunder. I looked outside the hut and saw people moving quickly about and scrambling, and then I knew it was something else.

I looked into the sky above my head and it seemed to be filled with helicopters and bombers. We were under air attack from the Portuguese.

Ordinarily one becomes acutely aware of the souna of Portuguese planes overhead. As much as a month after I had returned to the United States, in fact, I sometimes found myself automatically getting ready to move at the faintest sound of an airplane engine. Senses actually develop that keenly.

But somehow, because of the dark, thick air, we hadn't heard or seen these planes as quickly as usual and the Portuguese were upon us.

I grabbed my camera, which was just about all I had that was not already with me. I had been wearing big-pocketed fatigue trousers which allowed me to keep all of my important things - a diary, exposed film, malaria pills, etc. - on me at all times. I did this because I remembered that a white journalist had gone into Angola earlier and come out empty handed simply because he had left his notes and other materials on a table and was unable to retrieve them following a surprise bombing raid…

The first person I looked for was Cornelio, our interpreter. During such times as this attack, things are slightly less organized than at other times, when all of FRELIMO's actions are meticulously worked out. Everything in the base was cleared out and packed within ten minutes and the people - men, women, children and soldiers were ready to move. With things moving at that pace, being near someone whose words could be understood, was indispensable.

The general Portuguese strategy is simple. They use helicopters, bombers and troops. Through strafing over the area, dropping hand grenades and later bombs, they try to pin down the people. Once they have done that, they will, if the terrain allows, land the troops and move in for a kill.

The primary problem they face is, that like all invaders, they do not know the terrain. Even with the aid of Mozambican soldiers in their ranks (whom they arm with 1938 Mausers still having the swastikas on them and use as general scouts and cannon fodder) they are relatively lost in the interior.

-- 15 --

The FRELIMO bases, which are almost invisible from 100 feet away on the ground, are even harder to spot from the air. Unless they see movement or people, the Portuguese know nothing of what to do. FRELIMO knows this and this is their hole card.

Knowing this general pattern at the time of this attack, we moved out into the bush, small parties of people going out in different directions. We would run until Cornelio said stop, or drop down, lie still, don't move. The idea was that whenever a helicopter was directly overhead, there could be no movement, otherwise bullets and/or bombs could surely be expected, and maybe troops.

In this particular instance, the Portuguese had a general idea where we were. Three weeks earlier they had come upon one wing of the hospital and burnt it to the ground. Nearby they had found some of the villagers' crops and uprooted them. They knew we were somewhere, but just where, was beyond their knowledge.

Needless to say, the whole thing was quite an experience. There are large bombs exploding all around you, throwing shrapnel in different directions. The thoughts which pass through your mind are profound and often very basic.

While running from the bombs, you can really not do much speculating. Instead, you simply hope that one of them doesn't happen to fall on you. Now more than ever before, the question of Revolution and Armed Struggle suddenly takes on a whole new light. It is no longer giving a speech or reading a book ABOUT revolution, it is being in one.

More profound, clearly and dramatically, than the best of African writers can depict, you come to grips with what people actually endure just to govern their own lives and live as a people, as human beings. The fact that people are willing to undergo this day after day, twice a day, for over seven years now - this is the price of a free Mozambique and the people are willing to pay it.

Eventually, we made our way to a banana plantation nearby. This was not the best of places, for around it there were many cleared areas, dangerous not only because they were clear enough in which to land helicopters and disembark troops.

By this time, there were only two guns around us. We tried to literally become part of the banana trees. At one point the helicopters were less than 50 feet from us. I couldn't understand the Portuguese being spoken, but I knew things were serious.

The two brothers with us dropped the safety locks on their rifles and for the first time during the entire march, chambered precious shells and pulled out additional ammunition clips. Had the Portuguese landed, as it seemed they would, the 10-15 troops in the helicopter would probably have wiped us out. The FRELIMO brothers were ready, nevertheless, to take some Portuguese with them.

The thoughts in my mind now were much deeper than those when the hour and a half attack had first begun. Some people have said when they felt the possibility of death was near, they saw their entire lives pass quickly before them. My thoughts, however, were somewhat different.

At first, I thought how bad it would be to get killed and not return to tell this story. But I quickly realized that the attack was what it was all about. I thought about my family and about the work we were trying to do at Malcolm X Liberation University, but more important I thought of the real impact of all this…

The Portuguese did not see us, and they moved away. They flew instead to the area they had visited three weeks earlier hoping to find us there. Troops were disembarked there. It was a 2-4 hours walk away and in the direction opposite that we were going.

Leaving the banana plantation, we crawled through the bush for what seemed like a year, but was really about 20 minutes into a forest. The planes were still circling overhead, so we laid motionless for about an hour. Other groups began arriving, so we soon began a trek through the forest and up into the sanctuaries of the mountains. Here the natural terrain discouraged Portuguese air attacks.

A six day wait was necessary in order for FRELIMO to properly assess the enemy's new positions. FRELIMO owns no short wave radios and all messages between various detachments are carried by couriers on foot.

As I said earlier, the Portuguese do not know the land - it belongs to the people of Mozambique. Their superior technology enables them to land great multitudes of troops quite quickly, and to attempt to pulverize our people with bombs. Supplied by NATO, they have modern weapons. But after they are disembarked and begin their search for the guerrillas, they must return to their bases on the land.

-- 16 --

FRELIMO freedom fighters know this, and little did I know that during the very moments we were scrambling for our lives, FRELIMO troops were ready moving to encircle the area and preparing for their counter attack. There were only certain trails that the Portuguese could take to get out, and FRELIMO knew them all well.

Having gotten the larger party on the move, some of them would move to set up ambushes along those trails. Here they would wait, perhaps for hours, maybe for days, motionless. Soon the Portuguese would come and when they did, FRELIMO would be waiting.

We stayed in the mountains for about six days. From time to time FRELIMO parties would venture down and engage the Portuguese in battle. It was nine days after the original attack, however, that the major FRELIMO counter-assault against the Portuguese took place. At the time of the original attack one group had surrounded the invaders while a second had gone ahead to await the Portuguese march out of the area.

It was this second group who then ambushed the departing Portuguese dealing them heavy losses. It is a Portuguese practice to take away, if possible, all of the bodies of any soldiers killed in battle so as to make it appear as if the guerrillas are scoring no successes…

Nevertheless, when we again met up with the brothers who had carried out this ambush, they told us that they believed about 15 Portuguese had been killed and two trucks blown up.

The only FRELIMO casualty was one brother who had been wounded during the time FRELIMO was first surrounding the Portuguese.

One aspect of the reality of this situation is very close to those of us in the United States. Because Portugal is a member of NATO, many of her troops have received training in anti-guerrilla warfare from U.S. Army personnel.

When I returned to the U.S., I spoke with brothers who had spent time in Viet Nam, described the Portuguese maneuvers to them. They said these were the same kinds of tactics being taught and used in Viet Nam. (Oddly enough, they are working no better for the Portuguese against FRELIMO than for the Americans against the Viet Namese.)

I also learned about other training that had been done by U.S. personnel and soon found out that the odds were 10-1 that the very helicopters which attacked us and which were less than 50 feet from disembarking Portuguese killers to slaughter us were being flown by men trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, less than 200 miles from Malcolm X Liberation University.

Thus, in a very real sense, one can see the sameness of the African struggle. Efforts we make towards recognizing and dealing with this are very important.

THE ENEMY HAS MANY FACES

Portugal today is looked upon as one of the most diabolical among all the enemies of Africa, and rightfully so. Her audacity to claim African territories amounting to 35 times the size of Portugal as "overseas provinces" is in itself a deed of monumental shame…

Inside Mozambique, the immediate enemy at hand is Portugal. It is the Portuguese who have continued minority rule and colonial oppression. It is the Portuguese who send the bombing raids and butcher soldiers to bomb and slaughter the people of Mozambique.

But, even on the front lines, it is understood among the leadership as well as many of the rank and file of FRELIMO that Portugal is not alone in either its goals or its intentions. The manifestation of international cooperation on Portuguese piracy is felt here in many ways, and observations made while on the trail with the guerrillas can offer a very concrete and realistic appraisal of a phenomenon which many of us have long recognized, but often from only an academic point of reference.

It is well known that one of the primary sources of Portugal's assistance is its membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This conspiracy, ostensibly designed to protect western Europe from the "growing threat of communism" allows for the provision of military and other assistance to member states.

Portugal defines the three African colonies it oppresses - Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau - as integral parts of Portugal, overseas provinces, similar to Puerto Rico's position in the United States. It defines the guerrillas in these areas as "terrorists", thereby paving the way for a mop-up operation of an internal nature.

It has rarely admitted that the campaigns of the last seven years in Mozambique, for example, are part of a war of liberation. Because of such jive semantical maneuvering, more "liberal" countries like the U.S. continue to provide Portugal with

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all the arms it wants, pointing out that Portugal doesn't use them in any wars, because Portugal isn't fighting in any "wars".

Portugal is a poor country. It is among the poorest of European nations. A great deal of its national budget - somewhere in he neighborhood of 75 per cent - goes to fighting its colonial wars in Africa. Many of its youth have been annihilated in the many guerrilla successes and the country is rife with internal turmoil.

Portuguese men, upon coming of age, are leaving to go to other parts of Europe rather than fight in the African wars. Left wing diplomats are complaining of the futility of the wars, and inside the army itself, morale of both the Portuguese and African soldiers has been documented as being miserably low.

The only thing that keeps Portugal going is the support that it constantly gets from NATO and South Africa. Without this, Portugal would quickly crumble under the pressure of the African offensive.

Such is already the case in Guinea-Bissau, where now three-quarters of the country is under the control of the Freedom Fighters of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and the Cape Verde Islands (PAIGC).

Portugal is in fact a stage-prop power, a shredded paper kitten on its last legs. Yet it gains vital support from others. This support shows up inside Mozambique in very concrete terms.

For instance, many of the rocket casings we found were of unmistakable American make, since they were labeled in English and used inch rather than metric markings.

We found empty cans of food which had been manufactured in South Africa, France or West Germany. The helicopters which attacked us had been made in France, flown by pilots trained in the U.S. And one of the most vicious schemes yet designed to recolonize Mozambique - the Cabora Bassa dam project - has known backing from business interests in England, France, South Africa, West Germany and Canada.

Portugal is thus simply a front for international imperialism in Southern Africa; it is at one and the same time in the vanguard and in the middle. In terms of power, it brings up the rear. Yet it is a force to be reckoned with…

Similar things can be said for Portugal's principal ally on a day to day basis - South Africa. In talking with brothers and sisters from FRELIMO, I was told that there was little question in their minds that Portugal was weak. Yet there was also no question in their minds that when Portugal's position became irreparably weak, South Africa could be counted on to step in.

(Aside from exercising illegal control of Namibia, South West Africa) documented South African military activity inside Angola and Mozambique has already been observed.

South Africa's greatest presence in the Mozambique liberation struggle is manifest in its propaganda wing, Radio RSA, the Voice of South Africa, whose broadcasts can be picked up regularly inside Mozambique. In its programs and very essence, Radio RSA lays open the South African interest in Africa, what lies behind and what is ahead of it.

South Africa, to be sure, is the on-the-continent fortress of white minority rule in Africa. Technologically, militarily and economically superior to the other colonies, it forms the backbone of the on-the-spot operations…

South Africa needs to quell the guerrilla movements not just inside her own areas, but also in its buffer zones, Mozambique and Angola. South Africa respects and needs the continued economic enslavement it currently holds over Portuguese colonies, and it is no accident that one of the primary benefactors of the Cabora Bassa dam in Mozambique will be South Africa.

South Africa knows that it cannot exist without establishing some kind of rapport with the Africans. It has two barriers - its apartheid image and the guerrilla units and revolutionary governments, by offering dialogue and by encouraging neo-colonialism in the form of Bantustan development, it can not only change its image, but also move to isolate people like FRELIMO, MPLA and Tanzania, who have long ago realized that armed struggle is the only answer.

And as the outpost for western imperialism on the continent, it can enjoy a healthy role as middle man between the riches of Africa and the imperialist world. What a prize to to capture…

We would like to thank the Student Organization for Black Unity (SOBU) for allowing us the right to re-print portions of this informative series about the struggle of the people of Mozambique. It cannot be said enough that the unnatural separations and divisions that have been created by the racists, the fascists, the imperialists, particularly as fostered by the U.S. Empire, divisions of oppressed people everywhere have been created for and act to the advantage of our common oppressor. In the unity of the victims, the masses of people of color, poor people the world over lies our salvation, our survival our liberation from all oppression. We are beginning.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE.

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A SURVIVAL PROGRAM IN CONGRESS?

BLACK CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS CALLS FOR RE-DISTRIBUTION OF U.S. WEALTH

Sometime ago, thirteen Black members of the U.S. Congress came together to form the Black Caucus of the U.S. Congress, in an effort to respond collectively to the needs of Black people, through their elected offices. Recently, in a meeting of those thirteen members of the Black Congressional Caucus, the Caucus decided to present its recommendations to Congress, and more specifically to Richard Nixon, in March of last year, as a platform for Black people at the Democratic National Convention in July (July 10-14, 1972).

Within this proposal lies a concrete program, presented by Black representatives, in the true interests of Black and oppressed people. Its contents, excerpts of which we print here, indicate that the members of the Black Congressional Caucus - Charles C. Diggs, Jr., Chairman, Michigan; Augustus F. Hawkins, Vice-Chairman, California; Charles B. Rangel, Secretary, New York; Shirley Chisholm, New York; William L. Clay, Missouri; Louis Stokes, Ohio; George W. Collins, Illinois; John Cocyers, Jr., Michigan; Ronald V. Dellums, California; Ralph H. Metcalf, Illinois; Parren Mitchell, Maryland; Robert N. C. Nix, Pennsylvania; Reverend Walter Fauntroy, Delegate-Elect of Washington, D. C. - intend to serve the people, body and soul:

PART 1, OPENING STATEMENT

We sought this meeting, Mr. President, and of a deep conviction that large members of citizens are being subjected to intense hardship, are denied their basic rights, and are suffering irreparable harm as a result of current policies.

As you may know, all of us were elected by substantial majorities. We were given clear and unmistakable mandates to articulate the problems of our constitutents and to work for prompt and effective solutions to them. Most of the districts that we represent are predominantly black, though our constituencies also include whites, Spanish-speaking, Indians, Japanese-Americans, and Chinese-Americans, some suburbanites as well as residents of the central cities, poor, middle income, and even some well-to-do Americans.

But our concerns and obligations as Members of Congress do not stop at the boundaries of our districts; our concerns are national and international in scope. We are petitioned daily by citizens living hundreds of miles from our districts who look on us as Congressmen-at-large for black people and poor people in the United States. Even though we think first of those we were directly elected to serve, we cannot, in good conscience think only of them - for what affects one black community, one urban community, affects all.

We think it of singular significance that the leaders of national and local civil rights and human rights organizations, and hundreds of private citizens from all walks of life, have asked us to express their general and specific concerns…

Like us, they believe this must be only the beginning of a continuing exchange aimed at permanently changing, through persistent and far-reaching action, the harsh conditions under which all too many poor, black, and other oppressed Americans are forced to live.

We recommend that by the end of this meeting we agree on a mechanism for insuring continued productive liaison between the President and this Caucus.

Since you assumed office, we have spent billions on war, while over 2 million Americans have been added to the ranks of unemployed, and 2.5 million more are now on evermounting relief rolls. Inflation is reducing our standard of living, and most cities face bankruptcy. The racist policies of public and private U.S. institutions insure that blacks and other oppressed peoples suffer much more than others, whether in good times or bad. Economic recovery - not now in sight - cannot possibly secure rights and opportunities that millions of citizens never had. In our view, the quest for economic stability cannot be separated from the basic need for a redistribution of wealth and income, so that there is no longer destitution amid opulence. Nor can we easily repair the damage done to our children by inferior schools, hunger, and ill-health.

We would be less than honest, Mr. President, if we did not reflect a view widely shared among a majority of the citizens we represent. That view is that the representatives of this Administration, by word and deed, have at crucial points retreated from the national commitment to make Americans of all races and cultures equal in the eyes of their government - to make equal the poor as well as the rich, urban and rural dwellers as well as those who live in the suburbs.

Our people are no longer asking for equality as a rhetorical promise. We are demanding from the national Administration, and from elected officials without regard to party affiliation, the only kind of equality that ultimately has any real meaning - equality of results.

If we are in fact to be equal in this country, then the government must help us achieve these results:

THE ERADICATION OF RACISM WITHIN THE UNITED STATES AND

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IN ITS DEALINGS WITH OTHER NATIONS;

THE EARNING OF A DECENT LIVING, OR THE MEANS TO SURVIVE IN DIGNITY WHEN WORK IS NOT AVAILABLE;

DECENT HOUSING FOR OUR FAMILIES AND EQUAL ACCESS TO THE TOTAL HOUSING MARKET;

FAIR AND IMPARTIAL JUSTICE AND ADEQUATE PROTECTION AGAINST DRUG ABUSE AND CRIME;

THE ENFORCEMENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES THROUGH VIGOROUS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BY THE GOVERNMENT;

A FAIR SHARE OF THE PUBLIC FUNDS USED TO SUPPORT BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND FULL PARTICIPATION IN DETERMINING HOW TAX DOLLARS ARE SPENT IN OUR COMMUNITIES;

THE GUARANTEE BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF AMPLE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL CITIZENS;

THE PROTECTION OF FEDERAL STANDARDS AND GUARANTEES IN PROGRAMS FINANCED BY FEDERAL FUNDS; AND

THE FULL PARTICIPATION BY THE MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITIES IN THE EXECUTIVE, JUDICIAL, AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCHES OF OUR GOVERNMENT AT EVERY LEVEL.

The results we pursue as achievable goals are those whose affirmation we have often missed in the words and deeds of many who represent this Administration. And be assured that those for whom we speak cannot afford the luxury of criticism as a mere expression of partisanship. Indeed, when you have proposed long-needed, if inadequate, welfare reforms, or when Secretary Romney has argued against restricting low and moderate income housing to the inner cities, our people felt a momentary quickening of hope that perhaps the federal government was prepared to respond to their desperate needs.

But all too often we have heard discomforting references to "forced integration," or to the need to "broaden" the Voting Rights Act in ways which would have rendered it less effective. "Voluntarism" has been proposed as a means of achieving a compliance with federal law by those with a history of callously flouting such laws. The principle of equal justice under law has been clouded over by ambiguous pronouncements on "law and order" and "crime in the streets."

Though the Office of Economic Opportunity is to be extended, it seems clear that current plans for reorganization and revenue sharing will result in the dismantling and eventual destruction of the one agency whose primary mission is to give an effective voice to the poor, the near poor, and minorities.

But we are not here merely to recite the disappointments of the past. We are here to present the first of a series of constructive proposals for the immediate relief of our communities, and for making America in the 1970's a whole and healthy nation.

We do not underestimate the power of the presidency in achieving progressive change. Every sector of our society tends to look to the White House for cues to the direction that the society is taking. When those cues seem negative, contradictory or half-hearted, them citizens take that as evidence of a lack of national commitment to their well-being. If equality for all Americans is to be a reality, it must have the uniquivocal commitment of the Chief Executive. Every official in each federal department in Washington and the regional offices, every governor, mayor, county official, and local school board member must understand the clear direction in which the Administration is headed. If equal job opportunity in the private sector is to be real, then equal job opportunity in the federal system - from initial entry to upgrading - must provide a clearcut example for others to emulate. If the vast federal bureaucracy is to administer the laws of the land so that the poor, the black and the Mexican-American, the Puerto Rican and Indian, the Japanese-American and the Chinese-American do not suffer inequities, then it must be clearly evident that the President of the United States demands it.

In fact, as you well know, having served in Congress, the success or failure of progressive legislation often depends on whether or not the Chief Executive is willing to make a sufficiently strong fight for it.

Lastly, black Americans and many of our constituents, without regard to income or color, would want us to make plain our alarm at the devastation to four Indochinese nations. We say this out of deep concern for the untold misery suffered by the people of Indochina, for American families which should not have to suffer further, and for the continued draining away in this futile conflict of the human and financial resources needed to rebuild this society. All U.S. military forces, and related civilian personnel should be withdrawn from all nations of Indochina promptly.

The recommendations which follow represent our own deep concerns and the expressed concerns of organizations and individuals from all over the country. We have not attempted to rank them in any order of priority.

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We feel that they are all essential to the long overdue task of making America one nation. We do not claim that they represent a comprehensive agenda of needs and remedial actions. We do believe that they represent more than merely a good beginning. In the days, weeks and months that lie ahead, we hope to remain in touch with you and the members of your Administration on this agenda.

In discussing these recommendations with you, we will be focusing on executive action that can be taken immediately, as well as legislative programs whose success may depend on the nature and intensity of the support they receive from the White House.

PART II. RECOMMENDATIONS

A ECONOMIC SECURITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. MANPOWER AND EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS

Recommendation 1: Within the framework of a comprehensive manpower planning program, this Administration should provide permanent job creation programs - with jobs in the public sector targeted to the areas of persistent unemployment and underemployment without regard to national employment rates. These jobs must be useful and desirable and have adequate wages and supportive services. Present manpower programs fail to deal adequately with the gaps between national rates and the critically higher jobless rates for blacks and other minorities in urban and rural ghettos…

2. WELFARE REFORM

Recommendation 1: We recommend that the present welfare system be replaced by a guaranteed adequate income system. We oppose any welfare reform which fails to establish a satisfactory timetable for reaching a guaranteed adequate income system of a minimum of $6,500 a year for a family of four from cash assistance, wages or both.

Recommendation 2: Any federalization of existing welfare programs must have as an ultimate objective the realization of individual economic self-sufficiency. The federalized programs should guarantee the standardization of eligibility requirements, the establishment of adequate payment standards, the elimination of abusive and degrading administrative of practices, and the provision of suitable work opportunities which maximize individual freedom of choice and self-respect.

Recommendation 3: Until a fully operational cash assistance program is established, we urge you, Mr. President, to direct the appropriate federal agencies to overhaul the food assistance delivery system, so that the minimum standards and goals of existing legislation can be guaranteed. Further, the necessary budgetary revisions (or supplemental budget requests) should be made so that the needs of all children eligible for free or reduced-price school breakfast or lunch programs by 1972 are met.

3. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The Caucus recognizes that the concept of revenue sharing is already operative and that the issue is really one of block grants versus categorical grants. The federal government has been sharing federally-collected tax money revenue with states, cities, counties, and individuals for the past forty years. The Caucus would, however, support a form of federal assistance to state and local governments with the following provisions:

(1) Assurance that the funds will be spent in ways or in the amounts that will benefit the poor and the minorities who are least able to prevail in the inevitable contests at the local level that are bound to be waged over such expenditures.

(2)Allowance for the participation of neighborhood and other community units in planning and in the decisions about how funds will be spent.

(3) Enforcement of civil rights laws with respect to the expenditure of federal funds.

(4) Incentives for states to shift from forms of taxation that fall most heavily on low-income families to more progressive income taxes…

4. MINORITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Recommendation 1: An independent agency should be organized as a non-profit quasi-public, publicly-funded development bank for consolidation of present programs intended to assist minority business, and should receive an initial annual appropriation of 1 billion dollars. This agency should be under the direction of a board with broadly representative minority membership.

Recommendation 2: A federally-financed guarantee organization similar to the Government National Mortgage Association should be created to insure securities and obligations of community development corporations- firms providing employment for and owned by residents of low-income areas.

Recommendation 3: In addition to increased federal support and employment of direct set-aside programs for all procurement, we urge you to support the enactment of legislation requiring that contractors working on federally-assisted and financed projects, set aside a specified percentage of their subcontract work for minority firms…

5. POVERTY PROGRAMMING

Recommendation 1: We urge the

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Administration to abandon any plans - now or two years hence - which will weaken the programs now under the aegis of the Office of Economic Opportunity and submerge them in existing agencies or in a broader plan for government reorganization. We believe that converting the Office of Economic Opportunity to a research and evaluation organization will deprive the poor of an advocate agency in Washington. Further, we recommend the restoration of the $116 million by which the Economic Opportunity Act was reduced in the fiscal year 1972, and a substantial increase in anti-poverty funds for the following fiscal year, and the elimination of the matching requirement which make it impossible for some communities to participate in the program…

B. COMMUNITY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1. EDUCATION

Recommendation 1: We urge you, Mr. President, to initiate (and/or support) such child development legislation… which incorporate(s) the following principles: a) significant expansion of child development services; b) development rather than custodial programming; c) child development services provided as a right rather than as mandatory eligibility requirements; d) encouragement of educational innovation and reform; e) the validity of programs designed by and in accordance with the special needs of minority groups; and f) consumer control.

In conjunction with the support of minority business enterprises, special assistance should be provided to minorities for the development of day care and other child development programs. The grant system should be adopted, as opposed to the voucher system. Further, the federal government should issue grant and/or funds directly to day care institutions…

Recommendation 6: We specifically urge that the federal government increase substantially its financial support for predominantly black institutions of higher education in order to insure their growth and expansion. For immediate relief of black colleges we recommend the full funding of $91 million authorized in the Developing Institutions Program of Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965, and the elimination of the matching fund requirement…

2. HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Recommendation 1: We call for the immediate release of supplemental FY 1972 funds of $150 million for public housing. This can be accomplished immediately by Presidential action…

3. THE DRUG CRISIS

Recommendation 1: We strongly urge that drug abuse and addiction be declared a major national crisis. We call upon this Administration to use all existing resources to stop the illegal entry of drugs into the United States, including suspension of economic and military assistance to any country which fails to take appropriate steps to prevent narcotic drugs produced or processed in that country from entering the United States unlawfully…

C. JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS

1. CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Recommendation 1: We urge that the President and the Attorney General direct the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) to do the following: (1) support law reform and basic changes in the present system rather than the excessive purchase of weapons and equipment; (2) insure adequate minority, urban and community-level representation on planning boards at all levels; (3) guarantee vigorous Title VI enforcement in regard to grantees; and (4) make certain that urban areas, particularly inner-city communities are assisted in developing effective and fair criminal justice systems…

2. CIVIL RIGHTS

Recommendation 1: We call for the full implementation of the 1970 Report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and request that the findings derived from the White House inquiries of the 26 federal agencies be shared with the Black Caucus as well as with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights…

3. VETERANS' AFFAIRS

Recommendation 1: We recommend, Mr. President, that you direct the Departments of Defense, Justice, and State - assisted by selected members of the bar, including minority representatives - to investigate the quality of justice meted out to black and other minority servicemen. The investigation should also examine the conditions under which blacks and other minority servicemen are incarcerated in military prisons here and abroad. The resulting report and recommendations for action should be submitted to you, the appropriate committees of Congress, and the public…

4. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Recommendation 1: We urge you, Mr. President, to lend the vigorous support of your Administration to legislation providing for:

(1) full Congressional voting representation for the District of Columbia;

(2) Home Rule for the District, including an elected Mayor and City Council; and

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(3) a just and adequate automatic federal payment formula to provide revenues necessary to make the District of Columbia a model for the nation.

D. FOREIGN POLICY

Recommendation 1: We call upon you to effect disengagement from Southeast Asia as soon as possible, preferably by the end of 1971, and definitely within the life of the 92nd Congress…

We recommend that a special Task Force be created in the Executive Branch, composed of ranking members of the Departments of State, Commerce, Defense, and other pertinent agencies, where the variety of American policies dealing with Africa can be reviewed in a comprehensive manner and whose recommendations would be effectively implemented. In addition, several recognized experts of long time interest in this continent should be included (e.g., Members of Congress, academicians, journalists, and businessmen)…

Recommendation 4: United States relations with Southern Africa are in need of a major overhaul. This country should take the lead in isolating the Republic of South Africa, the world's most racist nation. Disincentives should be developed to discourage the expansion of further private American investment there. On the other hand, private American enterprise should be encouraged to seriously examine the potential for profitable investment in other parts of Africa…

Mr. President: as we indicated earlier, we have not at this time placed before you the full range of concerns which we and those we represent believe to be subject to amelioration by the federal government of which you are the duly elected head. We look forward to the opportunity to work cooperatively with you and with other representatives of your Administration on the issues we have laid before you today, and on others which we hope to consider with you in the future.

Respectfully submitted,

THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS.

NOTE: ANYONE WHO WISHES A FREE COPY OF THE FULL TEXT OF THE REPORT MAY CONTACT CONGRESSMAN RON DELLUMS' DISTRICT OFFICE AT 201 - 13TH STREET, ROOM 105, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 94604; OR CALL (415) 763-0370.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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Let this be his epitaph

George
Jackson

Blood in my eye.

(author of Soledad Brother)

This angry, passionate, eloquent book -- which takes up where Soledad Brother left off -- was completed only days before George Jackson was shot to death at San Quentin prison during an alleged escape attempt last August.

George Jackson spent the last eleven years of his life behind prison walls, seven of them in solitary confinement. During that time he developed a radical world view, a deep understanding of politics and history in relation to social change, as well as a remarkable voice as a writer. Blood in My Eye speaks out to the poor, the black, the jailed, the disenfranchised throughout the world. Born of a spirit that refused to be crushed, yet filled with a prophetic sense of his own impending doom, this powerful book from prison presents George Jackson's burning vision of the world that could be -- a world reshaped by "total revolutionary war."

George Jackson lived and died for the revolution. Blood in My Eye explains why.

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PEOPLE'S PETITION

FOR IMMEDIATE PAROLE OF BROTHER DAVID
HILLIARD FROM THE CALIFORNIA PRISON
SYSTEM OR AN APPEAL BAIL BOND WITH
A RETRIAL JURY OF HIS PEER-GROUP.

WE THE PEOPLE, RESIDENTS OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY, IN THE SPIRIT OF REVOLUTIONARY INTERCOMMUNALISM, DO HEREBY REDRESS OUR GRIEVANCE AND PETITION THE COURTS OF AMERICA AND THE CALIFORNIA STATE GOVERNMENT AND PAROLE BOARD: THAT DAVID HILLIARD BE RELEASED FROM HIS PRISON INCARCERATION IN THE CALIFORNIA PENAL SYSTEM TO THE PEOPLE OF OUR COMMUNITIES ON PAROLE OR AN APPEAL BAIL BOND.

BROTHER DAVID HILLIARD, POLITICAL PRISONER AND CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY, WAS IN FACT WRONGFULLY CONVICTED ON FALSE CHARGES BY A PREDOMINATELY WHITE RACIST JURY, AS ALL MEMBERS OF THE OAKLAND BLACK COMMUNITY WERE SYSTEMATICALLY ELIMINATED FROM THE JURY SELECTION PROCESS IN HIS TRIAL.

IN LIGHT OF THESE FACTS, WE THE UNDERSIGNED, THEREFORE PETITION THAT DAVID HILLIARD BE GRANTED HIS HUMAN AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, THAT IS, PAROLE FROM PRISON OR AN APPEAL BAIL BOND BY THE AMERICAN COURTS PENDING APPEAL OF HIS CASE BEFORE HIGHER COURTS, AND THAT HIS RETRIAL JURY BE OF HIS PEERS, A TRUE REPRESENTATION OF A CROSS SECTION OF THE COMMUNITY. NAME
ADDRESS
CITY/STATE/ZIP CODE
COUNTRY
IF IN THE
U.S.A.
REG. VOTER?

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