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LET OUR VOTES SPEAK OUT ON NOVERMBER 7TH

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BERKELEY RENTS RISING DESPITE THE “FREEZE”

Urban decay is frequently the topic of discussion by reformist philosophers and sociologist. The conclusions drawn from these needless discussions usually state the theme that the cities are decaying because white people are moving out and Black people are populating the inner cities. The neglect or refusal of absentee landlords to make needed housing repairs and improvements is seldom mentioned.

Recently, the people of Berkeley, California took a progressive step toward gaining control of one aspect of their lives. In the June 6, 1972 elections, a Rent Control Charter Amendment was approved by the voters. 11,000 signatures were required to place the Charter Amendment on the ballot. Most of the work of gathering signatures and organizing a successful campaign was done by an organization called the Fair Rent Committee. The Charter Amendment passed by a margin of 2,400 votes.

The Berkeley Board of Realtors waged a highly financed campaign to defeat the rent control amendment and is continuing the campaign even though the amendment has been passed. The provisions of this new law are:

1. All rents are frozen as of August 2, 1972.

2. On January 23, 1973, a 5-member Rent Control Board will be elected at large by the community.

3. Ninety days after the election, the Board will administer a rollback of all rents to the August, 1971 level (the time when the wage and price freeze went into effect).

4. The Board will rule on all adjustments of rents following the rollback. Tenants and landlords must petition the Board at public hearings for rent increases or decreases.

5. The Board will rule on all evictions.

6. The Board and tenants themselves can take punitive action against landlords who raise rents without Board approval.

7. The Board will set rents on all new constructions.

When the Secretary of State Edmund Brown Jr. signed the Rent Control Charter Amendment into law on August 2, 1972, the rent freeze went into effect. This meant that after August 2, 1972, there were not supposed to be any rent increases in Berkeley. The freeze will be in effect until 90 days after a Rent Control Board is elected to administer the city's rents.

Several large realtors and landlords have increased their rents in complete disregard of the new city law. Berkeley city attorney, Donald McCullum, has been receiving 30 - 40 complaints daily but still he refuses to enforce the rent freeze or even register new complaints. The Berkeley City Council has rejected several motions by councilwoman Ilona Hancock to enforce the freeze. The reactionary members of the council who serve the needs of the realtors and landlords have decided that the new rent control law is not in their interests. The fact that it is the will of the people means nothing to them.

At the Berkeley City Council meeting which took place on October

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10th, a hearing concerning the housing situation was held. Members of the community who addressed the council pointed out that hearings had been postponed for five months and demanded that the council take some action to ease the housing crisis in Berkeley. Senior citizens and people confined to wheelchairs came to the council meeting to voice their grievances about the difficulties they face in getting into and out of apartment buildings. They were all ignored by the insensitive members of the city council.

Specifically, a motion to direct the city attorney to enforce the rent freeze and prosecute violators was proposed by Ilona Hancock and supported by councilman D'Army Bailey and Mayor Warren Widner. Councilmembers Ed Kallgren, Susan Hone, Wilmont Sweeney and Thomas McLaren voted "No", thus defeating the motion. Another motion offered by Ms. Hancock which would have provided ramps and elevators in apartment buildings for the elderly and disabled citizens was also defeated with the council members voting the same as on the previous motion. The margin and voting pattern by which these motions were defeated clearly illustrates the alliance between the Board of Realtors and the reactionary segment of the Berkeley City Council.

Rent control is not aimed at home owners or small landlords. It is designed to prevent outrageous rents by large real estate companies and absentee slumlords. The people of Berkeley have grown tired of unfit, delapidated housing, and are organizing to change their living conditions.

The fact that the Rent Control Charter Amendment became law is in itself a victory for the people. It is a victory that the people must struggle to sustain. The landlords and big business interests will not surrender their huge profits passively. The reactionary segment of the Berkeley City Council exposed their callous disregard for the people when they refused to listen to the complaints of invalids who had come to the council meeting to express their grievances. The council simply rejected the motion which would have benefited people who are disabled and poor.

The Berkeley Tenants Organizing Committee (BTOC) is conducting educational panels and workshops concerning the Rent Control Law and the housing crisis in Berkeley. The BTOC is a coalition of tenants, homeowners, and community organizations, including the Berkeley Branch of the Black Panther Party. A conference will be held on October 24th by the BTOC to choose its candidates for the Rent Control Board. The candidates will oppose exploitation in any form. These candidates cannot succeed without the support of the community. If rent control is successful in Berkeley, it will set an important example for other communities and will be a large step towards gaining control of the forces which determine our destinies.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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WE SURVIVED ATTICA

AN INTERVIEW WITH HAROLD WALKER
OF THE SURVIVORS OF ATTICA COMMITTEE

The following interview is with Brother Harold Walker, a survivor of the fascist Attica State Prison massacre of September 13, 1971. Brother Harold Walker is also the Vice-President of sthe Survivors of Attica Committee.

He has been very active in aiding those still at Attica and in exposing the corrupt prison system of America since his recent release. The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service thanks him for sharing his first hand information with us for the benefit of our readers.

Q: Brother Harold, you were there at Attica, as a prisoner yourself, on the day that Rockefeller, Nixon and other government officials ordered the murder of the Black, white, and Puerto Rican prisoners and their own prison guards. Could you tell us what happened, why it happened -- your interpretation of the conditions that led up to the State murders?

HAROLD WALKER: The Attica rebellion signaled the oppression and exploitation that goes on at all the Atticas throughout the country, particularly at Attica prison where there is a maximum security system set up to dehumanize those unfortunate enough to be sent there, to strip them of their individuality and to keep them at a certain level, economically and educationally. This is a tool used to control people in prison. For example, everywhere that the inmates went they were subjected to a series of "counts." We were counted on the gallery, in the corridors, at every point we reached -- regardless; whether it was in the mess hall, the hospital, the movies…This is the general routine.

The work system is based on slave labor. The metal shop at Attica makes 3 million dollars a year, while the brother who actually works in this shop only makes 28 cents a day. The metal shop makes millions of dollars annually from the prisoner's labor; this is a fact and there are statistics to substantiate this. This is outright economic exploitation of the prisoner.

There is a small town, racist mentality at Attica. Most of the brothers in Attica prison come from New York's metropolitan area, but they are sent to a small town, with a racist mentality, 500 miles away. This means that the `hacks' (prison guards), who are all white and racist, cannot relate to the brothers (as human beings). So, conditions at Attica culminated to a point where a political stand had to be taken; the prison was overtaken and exposed to the world at large.

Q: One point that sticks in our minds when we recall Attica is the State, using its brain-washing news media, attempted to portray the prisoners as the criminals. Recently, a committee which had been "studying" those events at Attica presented a "report." Do you view it as just another attempt to dupe the people? To justify the murders at Attica?

H.W.: Most definitely. Rockefeller, who is the fascist who commandeered the whole massacre, issued the executive order calling for the formation of a group panel commission to "investigate" the causes of the Attica rebellion. The causes of the massacre were very obviously racism and economic exploitation based on the capitalist system. But, to reenforce the atrocities that they had committed, Rockefeller comes along with his commission, which produced a whitewash and a smoke-screen.

The commission, I think, interviewed thousands of people, gathering information -- sometimes priveleged information rather than valuable -- and eventually a book was issued, called `ATTICA', which supposedly outlined conditions before, during and after the Attica rebellion. It took Rockefeller to task for not coming to negotiate with the brothers in the yard. Rockefeller's response to the commission was, "You did a difficult job, a wonderful job." Now, this really is contradictory; if they're taking him to task, why should he compliment them?

He was telling the public that this is a "social pablum" that you will eat. In the meantime, since November 29, 1971, the grand jury in Wyoming County, which covers Attica, was and is considering bringing indictments

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against the brothers in the joint, also some of us out here. So this is really a white-wash and they're still trying to reenforce their law and order mentality with ploys of commissions.

Q: Can you briefly tell us what a few of the demands of the rebelling prisoners at Attica were?

H.W.: There were 28 demands which included free political activity, without persecution, a better law library, a better diet, more recreational activities, more equitable hearings on parole revocations, a Spanish-speaking person at the hospital (because the Spanish-speaking brothers did not understand what the English-speaking doctors were saying). These are some of the basic demands… As of now, not any of the demands have been met; and this is one year later.

Q: Some people believe that there have been radical or progressive changes at Attica since the rebellion and subsequent state massacre. Have there been any?

H.W.: No. There have been some superficial changes, but they weren't radical, of course. For example, in the visiting room there are now vending machines containing sodas and other knick-knacks for people who have visitors, which is good in itself but not a real change. There's so-called "night rec" now. Before we could only have recreation in the day-time for may be three to four hours at most. This serves as a good means of security and discipline for the pigs who run the joint. Also, the new warden has stated that he was going to let transistors (radios) come in. There has always been a heavy input, on the part of the administration, of pornographic literature to divert the prisoners minds from the real issues.

If there have been any radical changes at Attica, they have not been to the prisoner's benefit, but to the pigs. For example, the spending of millions of dollars since the rebellion to put gun towers, not around the walls (there have always been gun towers around the walls), but within the respective yards. In every yard now there is a gun tower with M-16's controlled by some pig… Attica's really worse at this point than it was before.

Q: Do the prisoners still maintain the unity showed during the rebellion?

H.W.: I think the solidarity is stronger now because a lot of petty differences between prisoners have been submerged for the real issues we have to deal with everyday, like keeping the pigs at bay. A lot of literature comes in on Third World questions and revolution. We got Bobby Seale's "Seize The Time", George Jackson's letters (Soledad Brother), Marx, Lenin, Mandel, and Cornforth. These books are read and absorbed. And we've used some principles in dealing with the pigs that they just don't understand. Solidarity is at an even stronger point as a result of what happened.

Q: You are the Vice-President of the Survivors of Attica Committee. What is the Committee's purpose and function?

H.W.: The organization was established about two months ago and is composed of brothers who survived the senseless murders at Attica. We set up programs to help brothers in the joint with legal problems, personal problems, or in any way we can. If a brother needs a citation, legal supplies or whatever, we will make provisions to send these supplies to him.

When a brother is released he comes home with $40 and a suit given him by the State. This is not enough for him to get a room, food and look for a job. If he comes to us, we tell him that we have a job referral system and he can go and apply for employment, but in the meantime, we can make an application for a peddlers license to sell different commodities. Also, we ask him to join the Survivor's Committee to set up a defense against the forthcoming indictments that are going to be lodged against us. We also educate the public with talks and lectures on Attica now; that there are 19 brothers still locked up in HBZ (solitary confinement) whom the state says are ringleaders of the September 13th rebellion. We give benefits to raise money, we go to different colleges and we communicate with law students and try to develop legal services for the brothers in the joint. We've had simultaneous rallies in California, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Buffalo and Chicago, to let the people know that Attica is very much alive and will be even more so when the trials begin. This is what the Committee is doing at this point.

Q: In your opinion, what help can the people give to the prisoners of Attica, the prisoners throughout this country?

H.W.: I think the people can become more aware of what's going on in the prisons. They pay the taxes and taxes are going to the prisons. People were shocked when all the Atticas took place; from San Quentin, Statesville and Joliet, to the Soledad Brothers and George Jackson. They felt it was just incredible that these things were happening. They really didn't understand the conditions that brothers and sisters are faced with in prison, constantly, 24 hours a day.

The people can organize for community control, bring the prisons to the community where they themselves can control the prisons. This would definitely be more humane for the prisoner. Even though I don't endorse prisons of any kind, in terms of practicality this would be the best thing to work for. Once the public has become more educated about the nature of prisons they will know how to ward off future Atticas, San Quentins, and fascist atrocities in general.

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ART FOR THE PEOPLE'S SAKE

EMORY DOUGLAS
SPEAKS AT
FISK UNIVERSITY

On October 2, 1972, Brother Emory Dougals, of the Black Panther Party spoke at Fisk University: a school with an all Black population, located in Nashville, Tennessee. In speaking to the Black students and professors, many of whom were studying and teaching the various creative arts, Emory explained how art could be used as a vehicle to elevate the consciousness of the Black and oppressed community. His talk exposed art, as it is presently constituted and used in this society. He showed how it functions to the disadvantage of the people. The lecture reads as follows:

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE. I'm very happy to be here as a representative from the Black Panther Party. Tonight, I would like to discuss with you the relationship of the Black artist to the Black community. We must take that as a very serious thing, because when we look at the world today, we see that we have very serious problems.

We have to understand that we have been duped into believing that we are supposed to criticize all the Greek, the Roman, and all the ancient European art. We have been taught how to criticize them; we have been told how to criticize them. But what happens when we criticize them? We begin to try to duplicate them. We begin to spend our time in trying to copy something that is old, that is decadent, that is out of date…like the work of Leonardo Da Vinci, and those other painters.

But we have a greater enemy in relationship to art. We have a greater enemy, I would say, in commercial art. What is commercial art? It is a method of persuasion, mind control; it oppresses Black people. If we look around our community, what do we see? We see billboards, with advertising, that tell us what to buy, how to buy. And we go out and buy -- our own oppression.

It (advertising) tells us to go out and buy a house, for 6% interest; we buy the house and suffer for the next 20 years trying to pay for that house. What am I trying to tell you? It's this: We have to take that structure of commercial art and add a brand new content to it, a content that will serve the interests of Black people. We see that they (the capitalists) have done what we should be doing. They have analyzed how to appeal to Black people, so that Black people will go out and buy. They have begun to analyze how to relate to Black people so that we will continue to suffer - peacefully.

But we say that if we take this structure of commercial art and add a brand new content to it, then we will have begun to analyze Black people and our situation for the purpose of raising our consciousness to the oppression that we are subjected to. We would use commercial art for the purpose of educating Black people, not oppressing them. So I made that statement, in the beginning so that perhaps I could get off into an outline with a few questions in regards to who art is for. I would say that art is for the masses of Black people; we must bombard the masses with art. We cannot do this in an art gallery, because our people do not go to art galleries; we can't afford to go to art galleries…

We have to put our art all over the United States, whever Black people are. If we're talking about an art that serves our people, if we're truly talking about an art that is in the interests of Black people, then we have to use, again, the structure of commercial art.

Isn't it true, that wherever you look, all over the country, you see billboards selling a product? Isn't it true, that whenever you look in a

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magazine, it's selling a product? Why can't we use that same structure, in relationship to ourselves, to raise the consciousness of Black people; in regards to using our art in that same form; putting it into posters, thousands upon thousands of posters, so that they can be distributed, so all Black people across the country can get the message…

We also have the question of how to define art (for ourselves)? Many would say that we define art from a dictionary, but we know that the problems are too complicated, too complex, to define art from a dictionary. We cannot even define art by a board of directors. We say that art is defined by the people, because the people are the ones who make art.

If we are truly drawing the people; if we are trying to reflect the society which we live in, then that means that we, the artists, will draw the people; but the people are the real artists. No artist can sit in an ivory tower, discussing the problems of the day, and come up with a solution on a piece of paper. The artist has to be down on the ground; he has to hear the sounds of the people, the cries of the people, the suffering of the people, the laughter of the people -- the dark side and the bright side of our lives.

The dark side is the oppression, the suffering, the decadent living, which we always expose. But the bright side is that which we praise; beautiful Black people who are rising up and resisting. There is a difference between exposing and praising. We don't expose the people, we expose the system (of the U.S.) in relationship to art, but, we praise the people in relationship to art. We show them as the heroes, we put them on the stage. We make characters of our people (around the idea of what they know life should be about).

We can talk about politics in art, and many people will get confused on the issue, in regard to what is primary. Is it the political situation, or the artistic situation? Art is subordinate to politics. The political situation is greater than the artistic situation. A picture can express a thousand words, but action is supreme. Politics is based on action, politics starts with a hungry stomach, with dilapidated housing. Politics does not start in the political arena, it starts right down there in the community, where the suffering is. If art is subordinate, then, to the political situation, wouldn't it be true that the artist must begin to interpret the hungry stomach, bad housing, all of these things and transform these things into something that would raise the consciousness of Black people? I think that would be the most logical thing to do.

In regard to criticism in art: We praise all that which helps us in our resistance, for future liberation. We condemn all those things in art that are opposed to our liberation.

If we, as artists, do not understand our role and relationship to the society, to the political situation and the survival of Black people, then how can we create art that will project survival? How can we begin to create an art that shows a love -- a true love -- for Black people? -- When the artist begins to love the people, to appreciate them, he or she will begin to draw the people differently; we can begin to interpret and project into our art something that is much greater than it was before: Freedom, justice, liberation; all those things that we could not apply to our art before.

How do we judge art…By the subjective intentions of the person (the motive)? Or do we judge art by the effect it has? We have to take both of these things into consideration. The motive is the idea; the idea that I believe a drawing should be drawn in a particular manner is only my personal thought. So, what I have to do is take into consideration, if the art is going to correspond to what's happening in the community. If it is going to elevate the level of consciousness of Black people in the community. That means that I have to go out into the community and investigate in order to find out if what I want to draw is going to correspond with the reality of the community. Then I will be taking into consideration, not only my motive, which is my own personal feeling, but I would also be taking into consideration the effect; the actual, practical everyday activity that goes on in the community. We have to link up the two…

You see, another thing that the reactionary system does, is to carry on a pacification program by using art. They tell us that we should not draw things that deal with liberation, that we should not draw things that deal with violence. But at the same time they perpetrate the worst violence on the planet Earth while they have us drawing pictures of flowers and butterflies. We must understand, that when there are over 20 million people in this country, hungry, then we, as artists, have something we must deal with…

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A CAUCUS FOR THE COMMUNITY

THE SAN FRANCISCO BLACK CAUCUS SERVES THE PEOPLE

In the Black community, numerous organizations with various philosophies, political ideas, and methods of action have been formed in an effort to change the oppressive conditions that exist. But, due to the fact that those who govern our lives care little about us (or how we live), informing them of our needs seldom brings about the desired changes. For this reason, various methods of protest against this unjust system must be used. Some Black organizations do little, if anything, to change the government or help our people in understanding the true nature of this repressive society. However, those progressive organizations that do aid in the survival of our people and the process of ending oppression are always opposed by the protectors of the ruling class -- the police forces, the FBI, the courts and all the other parts of the repressive machinery of the government. For trying to better our conditions, Black organizations and their members are investigated, harassed, illegally railroaded to jail, and many times beaten or killed.

The San Francisco Black Caucus is an organization which works to solve the general problems existing in the Black community, particularly employment problems that Black people face. The Caucus was organized in September 1970, and has since developed as a positive force in the San Francisco Black community. They have a membership of 500 people. The Black Caucus has been instrumental in getting Black people hired to top administrative positions in the city government and the city health care system. They have exerted pressure to have Black people hired to certain jobs and have protested the firing of several Black workers in the city. Because of their political activity, repression by the combined forces of the police departments of the Bay Area (which includes San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Richmond) has increased in the form of illegal surveillance and even illegal arrests.

The most recent act of harassment was the arrest of Kirk Taylor and Larry Pinkney, who is co-chairman of the Black Caucus. Brothers Larry and Kirk were driving back to San Francisco from nearby Richmond. On their way through Berkeley, they were stopped by Berkeley policemen who illegally searched their car without a warrant or permission, seized their weapons, (which were legally registered), and intimidated them at gun point. They were both taken to the Berkeley City Jail without being told whether or not they were under arrest. Larry was charged with carrying a concealed weapon; he was held overnight. The charges were dropped and Larry was released the next day. Kirk was charged both with carrying a concealed weapon and receiving stolen goods. To show their ability to fabricate any lie in order to hold a Black person behind bars, they also charged him with possession of narcotics and possession of a stolen credit card. Brother Taylor did not even know of the charges against him until the police had taken him to the station.

Brother Kirk was held on $8,500 bond and jailed for two days until it was reduced at his arraignment. At that time it was made clear that there was no case against him. The District Attorney's office informed Kirk that "the deal that the D.A. is willing to make" would be to drop all the charges except the weapons charges, sentence him to 90 days with 60 days suspended and two years probation. This proved that the charges stemmed from their desire to harass and intimidate members of the Black Caucus.

Many other Black Caucus members are under surveillance, Roberk Clark, chairman of the organization is constantly followed, and has been stopped and harassed by police on numerous occasions. One day, after he had brought some new tires for his car, he was stopped, under the pretense of "worn tires". Three months ago, two members of the group were arrested while coming out of a meeting for no reason whatsoever. They were taken to San Francisco Jail and released.

Perhaps, the San Francisco police see the Black Caucus as a threat to their power. When the organization was formed, the specific purpose was to stop the arbitrary firing of Black people, and to obtain jobs for our people. Soon after its inception, members of the Black Caucus protested at different businesses in the North Beach area of San Francisco. There, Italians own and control most of the businesses in the (predominately Black) community, and refuse to hire Black people.

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Another major action by the Caucus occurred last November, when they picketted an Atlantic-Richfield (ARCO) service station for not waiting on a Black sister. Members also marched on the main ARCO office in San Francisco and refused to leave until the racist station manager's franchise was revoked. They were also protesting Atlantic-Richfield's exploitative involvement in South Africa. Due to this action, the service station closed.

The organization has also put pressure on the racist hiring practices of San Francisco General Hospital. Although 65% of the hospital workers are Black, very few Blacks are on the staff, and even fewer are hired. Due to political action by the Black Caucus, San Francisco General may lose its accreditation for not hiring Black people to administrative positions. There are presently four positions open for administrative assistants, and S.F. General has left them all vacant for a year, rather than to hire Black people in those positions, as was demanded by the Caucus. The organization plans to put more pressure on San Francisco General Hospital in the future.

The San Francisco Black Caucus organized the Richmond Black Caucus, and they work closely together; they helped to organize a Caucus among the workers at San Francisco General Hospital. The San Francisco Black Caucus also works closely with other Black Caucuses throughout California; their representatives attended both the State and National Black Political Conventions. At the State Convention, Caucus members supported Bobby Seale's criticism of high-cost fund raising activities that most Black people could not afford. At the National Convention, members of the San Francisco Black Caucus and other delegates spoke out in protest to the disrespectful treatment of Bobby Seale. (Brother Bobby was forced to speak above the noise of band music in a nearby room, and was scheduled to speak during the portion of the program designated for entertainment). In fact, the Caucus members walked out in protest.

The San Francisco Black Caucus worked closely with the Black Panther Party to get Sister Gwendolyn Tucker re-hired last month when she was fired by KRON, a racist television station in San Francisco. (See Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, Saturday, October 7, 1972). As Larry Pinkney stated, "We are developing a very warm relationship with the Black Panther Party."

Also, the Black Caucus was instrumental in setting up negotiations between Foremost Dairy's management and Rose Abrams, a Black sister who was unjustly fired. (See Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, Saturday, September 16, 1972). The Caucus has many practical protests planned for the future, one of which is to run candidates for political offices.

Many organizations have formed with the name Black Caucus, but it is unfortunate that few are implementing concrete plans of action in the Black community. The San Francisco Black Caucus is moving very progressively; and this is why repression is becoming more intense. It is certain that the San Francisco Black Caucus will fight this repression and continue to work for the survival of our people.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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IN MEMORY OF WELTON ARMSTEAD

On October 5, 1968, Brother Welton Armstead, age 17, was murdered by police in Seattle, Washington. "Butch", as he was affectionately called by his friends, was a member of the Black Panther Party. Rather than submit to our racist oppression, Butch chose to dedicate his life to the struggle for the liberation of all oppressed people, and in doing so, was assassinated by the forces of reaction. Welton Armstead, our beautiful Black brother, made the supreme sacrifice; he gave his life for the people.

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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.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH BROTHER RON DELLUMS

Last December, Congressman Ron Dellums, of California, visited David Hilliard after he had received information that Brother David had succumbed to acute bleeding ulcers while he was in Folsom Prison (David is now in Vacaville Prison), and that he was not receiving adequate medical care. During the visit, he found that David was indeed receiving improper treatment from racist prison officials. When Representative Dellums asked that David's private physician be allowed to examine him, this request was denied until the request was taken to court. The following excerpts are from an interview with Representative Dellums that was on a local radio station after his visit to David:

RON DELLUMS: In talking to David, he indicated that he felt that it (the chronic bleeding ulcers) came upon him a couple of years ago at the time when he suddenly found himself trying to lead the whole Party almost by himself. He made a very sensitive kind of statement to me. He said, "You know, I had to be Atlas, to try to hold it together …And, I could not show that on the outside, so may be it had to express itself inside, which culminated in that physical condition."

…He and I talked…He said, "The ultimate objective of the revolution is humanity. And if we are to achieve it, then the revolutionary must himself be humane. But, at this moment in time we have to make very clear that the ultimate objective is humanity. There's a need to ultimately achieve the right and the freedom to live and to love." Now, This is DAVID HILLIARD. Then he said, "Now as I reflect being caught up in my own anger and my own emotions, and not being able to clearly see that. So, we had to evolve through the various stages to this point." For me, it was an extra-ordinary, delicate conversation I had with him, and a very sensitive conversation. I saw a young man, caught up in the leadership, under extreme pressure from the country. But, more, a human being who is behind bars, who is probably being repressed because of his political views, but whose head is in a very, very beautiful place.

INTERVIEWER: What about his sentence?

RON DELLUMS: He has six months to ten years.

He's been saying to the brothers… "the way to live here without allowing yourself to be destroyed and being forced to succumb to the lowest level of humanity, is to keep your mind outside these walls. He said to me, "even your visit, brother, is something that I will go over in my mind many times. Every memory outside is something that helps us grow." And, so I indicated to him that I planned to come back next week, and I would try to tour the adjustment center, and would try to look at some of the conditions there at the prison…

I'm going to follow up on some of the suggestions that he made with respect to problems at Folsom Prison… We've got to make Black people and every human being in this country aware of the fact that living behind bars is a nightmare for most of the people behind bars, and until we bring some humanity into that situation, then I think we're going to continue to have Atticas and San Questions.

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INTERCOMMUNAL NEWS: WHY THE VIETNAMESE ARE WINNING

AMERICAN BOMBING CANNOT DEFEAT
THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
PART IX

When will the current offensive end? It would be valuable to recall the Tet offensive of 1968 in trying to understand the short and long term effects of the offensive of the spring of 1972. In some ways the offensives are different, reflecting the favorable development of forces on the side of the guerrillas. The Tet offensive was composed of shock attacks on hundreds of district capitals and even on Saigon itself, to demonstrate the countrywide presence of the National Liberation Front at a time when Washington was claiming the war could very shortly be won. The 1972 offensive definitely seeks the complete liberation of the areas in which the uprisings are taking place. But the Tet offensive devastated American hopes in Vietnam as surely as the 1972 offensive is devastating the hope of Vietnamization. American officials in 1968 told the public that Tet represented only a "psychological victory" for the guerrillas, but they were supposed to have suffered a severe "military defeat" because of the supposed loss of tens of thousands of their rank and file. That too was supposedly a last gasp. In fact, the Pentagon Papers reveal that General Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, considered military defeat to have been "a very near thing" for the U.S. at the time. It was the American officials, not the Vietnamese, who were seeking to win in the arena of American public opinion what they were losing on the battlefield of South Vietnam. The immediate repercussions of their defeat in 1968 were not apparent, but within several months, the Pentagon Papers reveal, the process of withdrawing American combat troops had begun. A proposal by Westmoreland for 200,000 more troops had been rejected. Any American ambition to impose a military victory on Vietnam by American troops had been given up. Similarly today, one has to focus on the fact that repercussions of the defeat of the ARVN troops and the shattering of the pacification programs throughout South Vietnam will not be felt as deeply in the days they occur as they will in the days ahead. The same applies to the offensive as a whole. An offensive can end with a climactic victory (Dien Bien Phu) or in a delayed fashion, like a person collapsing from an internal hemorrhage several days after a body blow.

The 1972 offensive has not, of course, occurred without the liberation forces paying a terrible price in suffering and in damage to the countryside, primarily as a result of American naval shelling and aerial attacks. While it is crucial that Americans not be mesmerized in awe and fear at the power of American technology, it is also important that we not romanticize the revolutionary offensive without paying careful attention to the terrible losses, the terrible suffering, which the American government imposes as a cost on the guerrillas. Otherwise we would be trapped into romanticizing away the responsibility that Americans could still exercise to force the bombing and the war itself to an end before more blood is shed in Indochina. It is a continually amazing fact that public opinion, if prepared in stages, can accept American military escalation to levels which will

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be horrifying and incomprehensible for future generations in this country.

Will we ever have an adequate explanation to the question of how Americans can be concerned about the well-being of their individual prisoners of war, are tormented by the sight of a cat or dog being killed in the street, but still remain relatively unmoved when considering a B-52 mission which drops 60,000 pounds of explosives from a level of 30,000 feet, in a saturation pattern that makes no distinction between animals and humans, streets and houses, huts and factories, military and non-military personnel?

The effects of the bombing on the Vietnamese were approvingly described by a senior American official in the May 15 Wall Street Journal, in this vivid way: "Heads and arms and legs and blood and guts and zombies walking around concussed out of their minds." When B-52's saturation-bombed Haiphong City in mid-April, they came in a "box" pattern of threes, creating a rectangle of desctruction 1 1/4 miles long and more than half a mile wide in which 90 tons of bombs fell, B-52's were never designed for precision bombing; they were designed for nuclear or saturation bombing of countries like the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the raids on Haiphong were described as being aimed at "military targets" and "far away from population centers."

Nixon's escalations of the bombing and shelling were further proof of the complete collapse of Vietnamization. At the end of the third month of the offensive, while still talking about troop withdrawals, he has returned the American personnel level to the 1971 figure of 150,000 in the war zone, primarily operating out of Thailand and seven aircraft carriers in the South China Sea. He has planned to double the projected annual cost of the war. (N.Y. Times June 6, 1972). Aircraft carriers in the South China Sea are now at twice the number they were during the Johnson period. The 250 B-52s now in operation represent over half the B-52 fleet and are more than double the number used during the 1965-1968 phase of the air war.

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OAKLAND - A BASE OF OPERATION!

LET OUR VOTES SPEAK
OUT ON NOVEMBER 7TH
PART XIII

In the upcoming November 7, 1972, general elections, all California residents who are eligible to vote will find on the ballot box a number of propositions and amendments placed before them, to be endorsed or rejected by a simple "Yes" or "No" vote.

Though the process of voting on these propositions and amendments is a relatively uncomplicated thing, enough incorrect votes on the various proposals would create far reaching and tragic consequences, some of them relate directly to the welfare and survival of the Black and poor community.

The State of California is attempting to push certain reactionary proposals through on November 7th, or dupe us into voting "No" on others that would really be in the people's own interests. Propositions and amendments such as the ones calling for the racist restoration of the death penalty, and automatic annual pay raises for highway policemen, have official state approval, while oppressed people's proposals, such as the right to privacy to the free of government and state spying and the environmental pollution control proposal, the state would try to sabotage.

In the following article, part XIII in the series, Oakland - A Base of Operation!, the Black Panther Intercommunal News Service analyzes the ten most relevant (as they affect the Black and poor community) propositions and amendments that will be among the total of 22 appearing on the November 7, 1972, ballot. The necessity of oppressed people voting in our own interests cannot be minimized. We must all scrutinize and understand these propositions and amendments very clearly. Then we can challenge the racist plans of the state of California by voting for survival.

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Proposition 1. For Bends To Provide Public Community College Facilities

A "Yes" vote on this proposition would provide for a bond issue (the state of California would borrow funds from the federal government) of one hundred sixty million dollars ($160,000,000). This money would be used by public community college districts to key land, construct new facilities and purchase the necessary equipment to run a college. Community colleges in Oakland and the outlying Bay Area (such as Grove Street College, Merritt and Laney) which have a majority population of Black and other `minority' students, are in immediate need of these funds, to better connect the communities with the campuses. For this reasons, we urge the people to vote "Yes" on Proposition 1. Of course, once this proposition is passed, poor and oppressed will have to make sure that this money is really used for the improvement of our colleges.

Proposition 3. Environmental Pollution/Legislative Constitutional Amendment

Stopping pollution and the poisoning of the environment caused by American industries and corporations should not add additional taxes to Black and poor people. We are the ones most adversely affected by pollution, we cannot run to the suburbs for escape; neither should we pay the price to remedy the situation we did not cause. A "Yes" vote on Proposition 3 would authorize the state legislature to issue revenue bonds (which will not be funded through tax money) to be used for environmental control facilities. These facilities can then be leased or sold to the corporations or industries held in violation of anti-pollution laws. If they would threaten our right to life, then we should not have to pay taxes for their destruction.

Proposition 11. The right to Privacy/Legislative Constitutional Amendment

The right to privacy is a fundamental right of the people, supposedly "guaranteed" by the U.S. Constitution. It is time we made this clear to the government. At no previous time in the history of this country has there been such a high level of government, military and police spying; `snooping' into the lives of everyone, especially those of us who are fighting to bring about a change to this reactionary system of government. Modern U.S. technology has long been capable of monitoring, centralizing and computerizing our every move. It is doing so now, and must be stopped immediately. We are calling for an end to the illegal wiretapping, secret documents and all forms of criminal state surveillance of the people. Proposition 11 would amend the state constitution and add "privacy" to the long-forgotten inalienable rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

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Vote "Yes" on Proposition 11.

Proposition 12. Disabled Veterans Tax Exemption/Legislative Constitutional Amendment

Proposition 12 would extend tax exemption, either wholly or partially, to disabled veterans who have suffered a service-connected loss of the use of a part of the body. For years Black men and women have been used as cannon fodder in various American wars or aggression; we sustained injuries and were forced to return to compete in the racist dog-eat-dog job market. Even though Proposition 12 does not go far enough, the greed of the U.S. government is greater than its concern for the well-being of men and women who have served in the armed forces. If passed, this ruling of will be of some benefit to many people in the Black community. Vote "Yes on Proposition 12.

Proposition 16. California Highway Patrol/Initiative Constitutional Amendment

If this initiative is passed, as the state of California would like, then the proposed state budget, every year, would contain funds to automatically raise the salary of Highway Patrolmen to match the highest paid salary of any policeman or deputy sheriff in the entire state. This is definitely unacceptable to Black and poor workers, whose salaries are steadily on the decrease rather than the increase. We will not stand idly by and allow the state's oppressive machinery to get rich from our taxes. Vote "No" on Proposition 16.

Proposition 17. The Death Penalty Initiative

If passed, Proposition 17 would re-establish the death penalty in California and give the state legislature the right to pass arbitrary and racist laws calling for a mandatory death sentence. Because abolishing the death penalty provides for a redress of grievances to allow for the correction of injustices; because Proposition 17 specifically disallows review or appeal when a death penalty sentence is given; Proposition 17 would place the Black community at the mercy of a backwards and racist state. In fact, this reactionary move is backed and endorsed by Governor Ronald Reagan and Attorney General Evelle Younger, two men who have always held the lives and survival of Black people in contempt. We remember the Scottsboro case and thousands like it, where innocent Black men and women have been sentenced and executed at the whims of white racists. Proposition 17 will not stop people from committing murders, it will license murder. It will sanction and approve violence by the state against the poor and oppressed communities. We believe that only in defense of life should life be taken.

Vote "No" on Proposition 17.

Proposition 18. Obscenity Legislation Iniative

Historically, racist America has always attempted to set the values and culture by which the Black and oppressed communities live their lives. Black people have had their African heritage mocked and ridiculed, have been the `object' of sexually sick racist fantasies, and we have had our communities inspected and examined by countless groups of criminologists, psychologists and sociologists. Women, of all colors, but especially Black women, are treated as unthinking puppets, to be used and discarded in the white-male dominated U.S. society. Proposition 18 would only continue this trend. Certainly, pornography and obscenity have no place in society. However, right and wrong, good and evil, are not the same for both oppressed and oppressor. Self-determination, the right of Black, poor and oppressed communities to decide for ourselves what is best and moral applies to cultural values as well. A "No" vote on Proposition 18 will begin to end the cultural exploitation of our communities.

Proposition 19. Marijuana Initative

Proposition 19 will end all criminal penalties for the personal use or possession of marijuana. It will not affect laws dealing with the sale of marijuana or engaging in dangerous activities under its use. While the use of marijuana is wide-spread, the full criminal penalities against marijuana are seldom applied outside the Black and poor community. This arbitrary conspiracy between the police and the courts have sent countless Black people, particularly Black youths, to jail and prisons for years on end, while other people in other communities receive suspended sentences. So that this unfair discriminatory practice might be discontinued, so that laws far too harsh for the `crime' might be dropped, vote "Yes" on Proposition 19.

Proposition 21. Assignment of Students to Schools initiative

The U.S. Supreme Court decision that Black children must receive an integrated education because segregated education, is by the court's definition, inferior and less than desirable, is both paternalistic and racist. No other social group or instination can decide what is best for the Black community but Black people, ourselves. This is the only way a decision affecting our lives can be considered valid. Proposition 21, which states that, "No public school student shall, because of his race, creed, or color, be assigned to or be required to attend a particular school", still has the effect of deciding for as which schools we shall attend. The aim of the Black community is not toward segregated or integrated schools, but for quality education and self-determination. Vote "No" on Proposition 21.

Proposition 22. Agricultural Labor Relations initiative

The Black and oppressed communities of California must vote "No" on this proposition. Proposition 22 is the degrading and dehumanizing California Agricultural Labor Relations Initiative, designed to strip the Mexican-American farmworkers completely of their rights. This proposal, if passed, would make illegal all primary and secondary boycotts (this means that Mexican-American farmworkers could not boycott a farm or even a business that sold non-union lettuce), and would make illegal "publicity directed against any trademark, trade name of generic (plant) nature" of agricultural products. Since lettuce is a plant name, to say "Boycott Lettuce" would be a crime punishable by one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. In all, Proposition 22 contains 121 lines of unfair labor practices and unlawful acts for which the poor Mexican-American farmworker can be jailed, yet only 36 lines restrict the racist the wealthy growers the farmworkers must toll for, and not one of these 36 lines would make the grower a candidate for imprisonment. We stand in solidarity with the oppressed Mexican-American farmworkers. Proposition 22 must not pass!

-- D --

A PROGRAM FOR SURVIVAL

Free Breakfast Program

Provides children a free, hot breakfast every school morning.

People's Free Food Program

Provides free food to Black and other oppressed people.

Liberation Schools

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

Intercommunal Youth Institute

Provides Black and other oppressed children with a scientific method of thinking and analyzing things, basic skills for living in the society and a concrete alternative to established learning institutions.

Legal Aid Educational
Program

Provides full legal assistance to those involved in legal problems, as well as legal aid classes.

Free Bussing to Prisons
Program

Provides free transportation to prisons for families and friends of incarcerated men and women.

Free Commissary for Prisoners
Program

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

David Hilliard People's Free
Shoe Program

Provides free shoes to the people made at the David Hilliard Free Shoe factory and elsewhere.

People's Free Clothing Program

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

People's Free Medical Research
Health Clinics

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

People's Sickle Cell Anemia
Research Foundation

Instituted to test and establish a cure for Sickle Cell Anemia, to create better educational programs around Sickle Cell Anemia and maintain an advisory committee of doctors already researching Sickle Cell Anemia.

Intercommunal News Service

Provides news and information about the Black and other oppressed communities throughout the U.S. and the world.

Free Pest Control Program

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

People's Free Ambulance
Service

(Being Implemented)

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

People's Free Dental Program

(Being Implemented)

Provides free dental check-ups and treatment for the people, as well as an educational program for dental hygiene and preventative dental care.

People's Free Optometry
Program

(Being Implemented)

Provides free eye examinations, treatment and eye correctional equipment (glasses, etc.) for the people.

People's Free Plumbing and
Maintenance Program

(Being Implemented)

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

Community Cooperative
Housing Program

(Being Implemented)

Provides decent housing, cooperatively owned and managed by the resident families.

People's Free Furniture

(Being Implemented)

Provides free, decent furniture to improve our living standards.

People's Free Community
Employment Program

(Being Implemented)

Provides free job-finding services to poor and oppressed people, who cannot find work.

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EDUCATE TO LIBERATE

The Samuel Napier Intercommunal Youth Institute is a school designed to help our children think. It is located in the Oakland Bay Area and it points out through example that other schools have provided only the most basic courses. Courses that have little relevance to the survival of poor people. We are trying to expand the concept that the whole world is the children's classroom.

The youth at Samuel Napier receive instruction in language arts, mathematics, science, health, physical education, political education and People's art. All of these courses are geared to the development of a well-rounded human being.

We need the help of all interested people in making our school run smoothly. Since its inception in 1970, its enrollment has rapidly increased. We need more instructors. Instructors with everchainging ideas to cope with the everchanging ideas of the children.

If you have teaching skills and can donate some of your time, please contact the Black Panther Party at 8501 East 14th Street, Oakland, California; or phone 562-2086. The children, our youth, are our future. Without their growth we, as a people, can not survive.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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PEOPLE'S PETITION FOR THE TOTAL ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY

ALL LIFE SHOULD BE HELD SACRED, FOR THE RIGHT TO LIVE IS THE MOST BASIC OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS. NO GOVERNMENT HAS THE RIGHT TO ARBITRARILY TAKE THE LIFE OF A HUMAN BEING. DEATH SHOULD ONLY COME WHEN DETERMINED BY THE FORCES OF NATURE, NOT BY THE LEGAL MURDER MACHINERY OF THE STATE. GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO LEGISLATE DEATH TO ANY INDIVIDUAL, OR ACT AS GOD WITH HUMAN LIVES DEATH IS FINAL, AND LEAVES NO ROOM FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES. WHEN A GOVERNMENT SHOWS NO RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE, CAN IT LAY ANY CLAIM TO LEGITEMACY?

THE PLANS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO RE-INSTITUTE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT CONSTITUTES PREMEDITATION TO LEGALLY MURDER COUNTLESS POOR AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE, FOR WHICH IT RESERVES THE DEATH PENALTY. PROPOSITION 17, A DEATH PENALTY INITIATIVE, CALLS FOR THE BAN OF THE USE OF THE GAS CHAMBER IN CALIFORNIA TO BE LIFTED. PROPOSITION 17 IS ON THE NOVEMBER 7th GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT.

REALIZING THE PLAN TO RE-INSTITUTE THIS BARBARIC ACT OF LEGAL MURDER, WE THE PEOPLE, RESIDENTS OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY, IN THE SPIRIT OF REVOLUTIONARY INTERCOMMUNALISM, DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RECALL OF PROPOSITION 17 BY THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AND THE TOTAL ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT WITHIN THE UNITED STATES AND ON A WORLDWIDE LEVEL. ONLY IN DEFENSE OF LIFE SHOULD LIFE BE TAKEN. NAME
ADDRESS
CITY/STATE/ZIP
REG. VOTER?

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THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY'S

FREE BUSING TO PRISONS PROGRAM
WILL BE TAKING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES TO VISIT
PRISONERS AT THE FOLLOWING PRISONS:

ALL BUSES WILL BE DEPARTING FROM ALLEN TEMPLE CHURCH, LOCATED AT 85th AVENUE AND "A" STREET IN EAST OAKLAND (ONE BLOCK OFF OF EAST 14th STREET).

FREE CHILD CARE AND FREE LUNCHES WILL BE PROVIDED. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING, PLEASE CALL 532-6566 AND LEAVE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE NUMBER?

Sunday, October 29, 1972

SAN QUENTIN

Departing time is 8:00am

Returning to Oakland at 1:00pm

SANTA RITA

Departing time is 10:00am

Returning to Oakland at 3:30pm

Saturday, November 4, 1972

FOLSOM AND VACAVILLE

Departing time for both trips is 7:30am

Returning time for both trips is 5:30pm

Saturday, November 11, 1972

TRACY AND SOLEDAD

Departing time for both buses is 7:00am

Returning time for both buses is 5:00pm

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SUBSCRIBE TO SURVIVE

In order to enable members of the Black community to read our newspaper regularly and support the people's survival programs, in October the Black Panther Party will begin a door-to-door subscription drive for the Black Panther Intercommunal News Service in the Oakland area. Our newspaper will keep you informed of events that happen throughout the Black community and the world.

By subscribing to the Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, you will be helping the Free Food Program, Free Health Clinic, Free Shoe Program, Free Breakfast Program, and other survival programs implemented by the Black Panther Party to serve the Black community.

To subscribe for three (3) months is $2.50; $5.00 for six (6) months; $8.75 for 1 year; and $100.00 for a lifetime subscription.

When a Black Panther Party member comes to your door, he or she will present an identification card and ask you to fill out a subscription blank. If you are not able to pay immediately, payment can be made later.

Every subscriber will receive a free bumper sticker and a campaign poster of Bobby Seale (who is running for Mayor of Oakland) and Elaine Brown (who is running for Oakland City Council-woman).

To be informed and to participate in the survival of our people, buy the Black Panther Intercommunal News Service. Read about your community and the world.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE

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BLACK PANTHER PARTY PROGRAM MARCH 29, 1972 PLATFORM

WHAT WE WANT

WHAT WE BELIEVE

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

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

2. WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE.

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

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

We believe that this racist government has robbed 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 knowledge of yourself and your position in the society and the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.

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

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

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

We believe that the racist and fascist government of the United States uses its domestic enforcement agencies to carry out its program of oppression against Black people, other people of color and poor people inside the United States. We believe it is our right, therefore, to defend ourselves against such armed forces, and that all Black and oppressed people should be armed for self-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 institutions, because the masses of men and women imprisoned inside the United States or by the U.S. military are the victims of oppressive conditions which are the real cause of their imprisonment. We believe that when persons are brought to trial that they must be guaranteed, by the United States, juries of their peers, attorneys of their choice and freedom from imprisonment while awaiting trials.

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

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

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

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