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Page 4 THE BLACK /NK April, 1975 1975 Black Arts Cultural Festival Pan-Africanism—two views Struggle for Africa .. .Struggle at home Emma E. Pullen Associate Editor "A correct interpretation of history is crucial to the struggle of Africans today," Pan-Africanist Stokely Carmichael told an audience of the Block Arts Cultural Festival. "If you know what your people have done, then you know that there is nothing that you can not do." Carmichael, who is a member of the All Africon People's Revolutionary Party, continued, "Black men are enslaved all over the world. Our primary goal in the Pan-Africanist movement is the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism." He stressed that the only way Blacks will ever be free is through the total annihilation of world capitalism. "History is the tool that we must use," he said. "Black people must realize that our history does not begin in 1619 when the first slave was brought to America. "We ore all Africans," he said. "Africa is our home." Therefore he says that Blacks in America, the Caribbeans, South America and all over the world should channel their efforts toward the total liberation of Africa, to build its natural resources, to make it the richest and strongest continent in the world. Carmichael sees racism and capitalism as the basic elements that have to be destroyed. But, he said that the struggle as far as Blacks are concerned can not be a multi-racial class struggle, but must be a nationalist movement. "The fight against racism is paramount,*' he emphasized, "because of the realities of life in America today." Therefore, he said. Black people must fight to overthrow the racist image of themselves that is prevalent in American history books. "Our history is written as if we are a passive people," he began. "As if we were sitting in Africa until some good white people came over and saved us, and we passively followed them." "But Block people are strugglers. We struggled in Africa, we struggled during slavery and we are still struggling today." Carmichoel took this time to say that the Black Power movement is definitely not dead, it hos merely taken on a new form. "If you know what your people hove done, then you know that there is nothing that you can not do," he reiterated. "When one's history is correctly interpreted, it can be very inspiring." Stokely Carmichael “Students have the responsibility of tracing the correct interpretation of history to properly understand it and give integrity people." N Owusu Sadaukoi Listen children listen children keep this in the place you have for keeping always keep it all ways we have never hated black listen we hove been ashamed hopeless tired mod but always all ways we loved us we hove always loved each other children oil ways back to our pass it on Lucille Clifton i Emma E. Pullen Associate Editor Owusu Sadaukai differs from Stokely Carmichael in his interpretation of the role of Black Americans in the Pan-African movement and the struggle against racism, capitalism and world ■imperialism. Sadaukoi, founder of the now defunct Malcolm X Liberation University, spent time in the field with the Filimo, the freedom fighters of Mozambique. In his conversations with the freedom fighters and other Pan-Africanists on the Continent, Sadaukai was told they do not advocate that Blacks in America concentrate their efforts into freeing Africa for them. They, in effect, urge that Black Americans strike at the capitalist system where they ore, thereby weakening it. This would in turn create conditions favorable to the overthrow of monopoly capitalism in Africa. "We are not Africans in the indigenous sense," Sadaukai told an Afro-American Studies seminar. "Africa is our homeland in the sense of where we originated. But, in reality we are Afro-Americans. The focal point of our struggle has to be here." "Imperialism is worldwide," he continued, "but if manifests itself differently in different places,— America, the Caribbean and even among the different countries of Africa." "The struggle in America is not to free Africa, but to bring about socialism in the United States, breaking down copitolism here, so thot it can be destroyed internationally." Because the goal is world socialism, Sodaukaj says, the movement has to be a multiracial class struggle which would create a multiracial socialist nation. He says that he understands that racism will be one of the contradictions within the struggle that Blacks must deal with but he does not see the fight against racism as being paramount. Since the capitalistic system created racism, Sadaukai says that "the struggle is to destroy the system You con not destroy racism without first destroying the system that feeds off it." He also cautioned that once capitalism is destroyed that does not mean that racism will automatically vanish. But the destruction of the system will create conditions that are advantageous to destroying racism, os the break down of the system in America will create favorable conditions in Africa that will lead to overthrow of monopoly capitalism on the continent. Poets woo audience Tt«* Lost yifuiin dkKing lh« Block Art* Cultural Festival. Vanessa Gallman Staff Writer "They had better be bad," was whispered so often, that it echoed. The Lost Poets walked onto Memorial Hall stage after a more than forty- five minute deloy. They began, "Psychology is the pimp, ideology is the connection in between and sociology is its whore. And that's how they be dealing with your mind." "Automatic, pushbutton, remote control/ Genetics, synthetics command your soul." The Last Poets had redeemed themselves. Using only bongo drums and their voices, the three-man Muslim group have a musical-poetic interpretation of Block pain and oppression, a junkie's agony, the unfulfillment of the "American Dream" and the unreality of Christianity. Often, their Muslim theories evoked moons of disbelief and disapproval or laughter. But the audience soon realized that there wos no merriment in any theory that reveoled the wrhite men's baseness ond stressed the Block men's superiority. The Poets asked, "They say man descended from the ape, but who has flat butts and hair all over their bodies?" Making no concession for the whites in the audience, the Poets explained to them: "We come in as prisoners of war. Until now, it has been a harsh existence for us. And the fact that the 'American Dream has never been realized, not even for white folks; you know that it has only been a nightmare for us." Warning students not to feel they are free because they are students, the Poets pointed out that there are places on campus, now, that perpetuate racism. The Last Poets left UNC with their concept heavy on students' minds: "This is the last age of poems and essays. The pen is not mightier than the sword, but they ore equal in weight. Therefore, you have your pen in one hand and your sword in the other hand." Afterwards, giving and receiving the Black power handshake, students mingled around. And from every corner of Memorial Hall echoed, "They were sho' noft bod!"
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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April 1, 1975, edition 1
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