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177 T'r- r tester Doycol? Heeded To Frco A Weekly digest: of ; African Affairs F3 f vr.,r- n?i ill RHODESIA WOOS NKOMO , 1 " AN While internal settle-: ment talks proceed in Salis bury; Rhodesian officials are putting out the word through J ; Tarious sources, that Prime Minister Smith .wants na tionaliat ; leader., Joshua Nkomo to return and parti cioate in the negotiations.. Nkomo, a co-leader of the ; : w r- Patriotic Front , guerrilla; : movement, conducted ,nego4: tiations with Smith in, 1976. Nkomo is regarded by some'. whites as the most capable, and reasonable of the na tionalist politicians. , According to some ob servers, Smith's late October meeting with Zambian Presi dent Kenneth Kaunda, a staunch Nkomo backer, was intended to give the appear ance of a possible deal with Nkomo, w thus . , forcing Nkomo rivals inside Rhode sia, such as Bishop , Muso rewa, to the bargaining table. Now;that;talks mvirig-flttelS. and elsewhere, as Musorewa, Ndabaningi weil as on the fees paid by Sithole and Chief Jeremiah Chirau are under way, ana lysts say Smith might be persisting in his suggestions of a role for Nkomo out of a desire to break the unity of the Patriotic Front, which has rojecicu uic uncniai negotia tions. Representatives of Nko mo's organization inside Rhodesia have repeatedly denied that Nkomo has any plans to. return. African National Council (Zimbabwe) vice president Josiah China mano told reporters last week that rumors of a Smith-Nko-mo alignment were simply rubbish ANGOLA'S MPLA HOLDS FIRST PARTY CONGRESS AN The Popular Move ment for the liberation of Angola (MPLA) held its first national party congress this month and decided to -develop itself as a "working people's vanguard .party. . . "Assessing'tith- country's I poor economic performance . over the past year, the ruling party affirmed the impor tance of the state sector in revitalizing and transforming the economy. The congress ', also approved a general plan for economic and social de velopment -.. to : the period 1977498a, calling for further nationalization of industry and the .creation of more peasant cooperatives in the agricultural sector. Angolan leaders consider agriculture the basis for eco nomic recovery, providing not only food but a large part of the raw materials for both local industry and ex port. Gains in industrial pro duction, however, must also be scored if Angola is to generate the resources needed to meet its goals in the current three-year plan. These include an end to unemploy ment, the provision of basic food and clothing needs for the population, Universal free education and health care, and the extension of women's rights. Because many Angolan leaders were killed in the abortive coup attemp this past May 27, the election of new leadership was a major task of the MPLA congress. According to a report from Sara. Rodrigues of the Guardian (US), following intense debate, over leader ship qualifications and related ' matters, the gathering decid ed to limit Central Com mittee membership to those with at least eight years ser vice as an MPLA militant (active member). & HARD ROAD AHEAD FOR GUINIA BISSAU, CAPE VERDE AN The third congress of : tin African Party for the Independence of Guinea fS anjl Cape Verde (PAI independence of the two countries met in Bissau from November 15-20 in a mixed atmosphere of celebration : ' and sober planning for a still ouiicwi iuture. t The PAIGC. which is the - nillno nnrfv in hrtth AmintriA 1 fought a decade-long war for independence from Portugal in Guinea-Bissau and main tained clandestine opposition to Portuguese colonial rule over the Cape Verde Islands. In 1974, Portugal accepted the independence of Guinea- Bissau, declared the previous year, and in 1975 Cape Verde also gained its independence. . Reaffirming - the revolu tionary tradition of the war years-economic development involving and' benefitting the masse-the PAIGC has defined itself, as a national liberation ' movement . . in power, 1 seeking- broad national unity to confront ne two countries legacy 01. underdevelopment ' Both are among ' ' those " ' countries categorized by the United Nations as "hard core least developed." Guinea-Bissau has little but , the most - rudimentary agricultural exports, although in areas of the countryside liberated during the war years; there is, a tradition of self reliance in food production. The Cape Verde Islands, devastated by persistent drought,, must import almost all their needs, including most food, relying on income from Cape Verdean immigrants in aircraft in transit ; ( During the" colonial period stich problems as illiteracy in Guinea-Bissau and recurrent drought in Cape Verde met with neglect. Since indepen dence, resources to carry out the new governments' devel opment plans are scarce, and . international aid has been slow in trickling in. The PAlGC's plans for revolutionary transformation are therefore tempered with realism. Such measures as the development of people's courts, partial nationalization of trade, literacy efforts, and support of liberation struggles elsewhere in Africa have been accompanied by efforts to keep up good relations with Western countries and with the more conservative French speaking nations of West Africa.. And the distinct problems faced by each state have also dictated caution on the move to complete the unification of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verd4$!etfeei remains Mk coaL ?-fcia(( but it m4.chie Dy step, tnrougn concrete projects of cooperation such as the joint maritime trans- Eort company already estab shed. To lead the party in the new phase, the congress re elected AristSdes Pereira, President of Cape Verde, and Luis Cabral, President of the Guinea-Bissau Council of State, as PAIGC. Secretary . . . . . fipnAral unit Asrfstanrt Serre. tary Geheral,v respectively; ; - THE FEAR IS GONE: AND INTERVIEW WITH STEVE BIKO (Part III) i ANJ The final installment of a series excepted from the interview Steve Biko gave European journalist Edmund Wolff early this year. Froa M I OFF- m'(tW . t lipjn. ... ,. J I , " " ( '.;.- iiHfir?nPQi r V W r Q: You speak of an egalitari-k an society; Do you mean a;, socialist one? .; , -,' i BIKO: Yes, ! think there is no running away from the fact now that in South Africa 1 there is such an ill distribu tion of wealth that any form of political freedom that does not touch on the proper -distribution of wealth will be ; meaninpless Thft whitM hnv i; locked : Up t within ' small minority of themselves the v greater proportion i of the country's wealth. If we Jiave a, mere 1 change ' of .face .of those in governing positions what is likely to: happen is that black, people .will con tinue to be poor and you will get i a few. blacks, filtering through : into the . so-called bourgeoisie. Our society will be run almost: as yesterday. So for meaningful change to appear there needs to be an attempt at reorganizing the whole economic pattern and economic policies. BPC Black People's Con- , vention ; believes jht; a judi cious blending of private enterprise, which : is highly diminished, and state parti cipation in industry and commerce, especially in industries like mining (gold, diamonds, asbestos), like forestry, and of course com plete ownership of the land. Now in that kind of judi cious blending of the two systems we hope , to arrive at a more equitable distri bution of wealth. . Q: Do you see a country in which black and white can bve amicably on equal terms together? BIKO: That is correct. We see a completely non-racial society. We don t believe in the so-called guarantees for minority rights because guaranteeing minority rights implies the recognition . of portions of the community on a race basis. We believe that in our country there shall be no minority, there shall be no majprityi just" the people. And those people ! will , have . the same atatua law and wetfwill; JiNiiili-l rfitUM6 ...... . rights before thejaw. : Q: But will the vast majority of , blacks aft& 'vll their experiences be j able i to .live their life without gfyfagpnt ' to feelings of revenge? BIKO: We believe jt is the duty of the vanguard political movement which brings change to educate- people s outlook. Blacks havi never lived in a socialist economic systm. They've t to jearn to live in one: In th same way, they've always uvea in a racially divided society. They've got to learn to live in a non-racial society. They have go many things to Team. . . .PJeople are not nece ssarily revengeful, nor are they sadistic in outlook. The black man has no ill inten tions for the white man. The black man is only incens- ed that the. white man ? wants to entrench himself in a position of power to exploit the black man. But1, beyond that, nothing more. :. k - ; Q: Do you think of a one man, one vote franchise? : BIKOr . One ' man, 6ne;v vote.v No qualification what . soever except the :normal ' ones! you: find throughout .' the world; . . . The irony is ? that when the white govern- ment negotiates so-called independence ' for the so-called - Transkei, they don't speak in terms of a qualified francise.. In the Transkei, every Transkeian votes., . , But somehow, when it comes to the broader ' country, the blacks may not. vote because they do not understand the sophisticated economic patterns out here. They understand nothing. . . , This is fall nonsense; It is meant' to entrench the white man in the position in which he finds himself today. We will do away with it alto gether. There will be a com pletely non-racial franchise. Q: As a visitor, my feeling is that this is bound to be a very long and probably very bloody road. BIKO: , There is that possibility! As I said earlier it will be dictated purely by the response of the Nationalist Party. . If they have been able to see that in Rhodesia, Smith must nego tiate with the leaders of the black people of Rhodesia- I think conflict is unavoid able, given the predictable response from the present system. And this conflict can be pretty generalized and extensive and protracted. My worst fears are that, working with the present analysis, conflict can only be genera lized between black and white. We don't have suffi cient groups of whites who can form coalitions with blacks at the present moment The more such groups which come up, the better to minimize that conflict. . DM SOUTH AFRICA ON SOUTH AFRICA AN Delegates at last week's AFL-CIO convention adopted a resolution calling for "maximum political pressure on South Africa : and Rhodesia." The : reso lution . said that U.S. Cor porations in southern Africa should "recognize bona fide trade unions regardless of their racial composition." Every year the earth travels 600 million, miles through space. ', RALEIGH - A group;; of ministers,' ' 'including ' several from Durham who ii met with Governor James Hunt Monday, said that ? they are considering an Easter ' boycott of North Carolina , merchants, a means they feel ,would pressure : Governor James Hunt to pardon the Wilmington 1 10. Hunt told the ministers, including Rev. ' James Barnett, , who had walked 185 miles from Char lotte to. Raleigh, that he would not intervene in the seven year did case until . the courts have had rea sonable opportunity" to settle the case.' Several Dur ham residents walked part of 1 the way to Raleigh " with ; Barnett on Saturday The ministers made their comments after the meeting with Hunt. Rev. Z: D. Harris, pastor of Oak Grove Free Will Baptist Church, said a, ' boycott would force busi nessmen to speak to Hunt on the Wilmington 10 case. "If we can get the opportunity to start to hitting the big man in his pocket, he will come to the Governor in stead of us." Bishiop F. Yelverton, minister of Mount Calvary ' Holy Church, concurred that a boycott could be an effective means of pressuring Governor Hunt to pardon the Wilmington 10, said "that would be one of the greatest things that we could do now to show that we are interest ed in the pardon of the Wilmington 10." The boycott idea was first brought up by the minis ters at a mass meeting at Russell Memorial C. M. E. Church when Rev. L. H. ' Whelchel said to the audience "Black folk's religion is in their hands and feet, but white folk's religion is in their pocketbook", as he outlined the need for a boycott, in ; dicating that all blacks would have to sacrifice to get the Wummgjton 1 0 pardoned. 3W3ft when,; Hunt was ques- JJonefl G msVW press Vnrtfprpnr. ohr 'conference about discussions of a boycott, he advised "that would be very counterpro ductive, Very counterproduc tive You see, anything which happens ' to polarize the situation, I think, makes it far more difficult." Hunt continued, saying, "J would hope that nobody would do anything now that would put this thing in such a pf.ture as to make it more difficult.'' ff ', Rev. Tames Barnett ques toned Hunt at the Monday meeting as to what he meant i0i A' il mm 7 HOUSING AUTHORITY HONOREES - Last week the Durham Housing Aoffto nty took time out to recognize the tremendous service of its employees at a ban quet held at the Downtowner Motor Inn. Left to right are: Mrs. Norma Burton, Mrs. Winnie Martin, Mrs. KHtie Dempson, Mrs. Alma Steele, MrsvRena Mason, Mrs. Sadie Jacobs, Mrs. Etta Vinson, Mrs. Inez Gooch, Jesse Ferrell, Mrs. Gertrude Cheek, Mrs. Teresa Canty and Mrs. Euna Brandon. (Photo by Kelvin A. Bed). by acting on the case within a reasonable time? Hunt did not . respond to Barnett except' to say he had said all that 'he would say on the matter. Hunt responded to a reporter that he did hot know how long a reasonable time would be. Durham ministers gave a ; Warm reception for Rev. Barnett Friday, December 16, with several making rousing statements at a mass meet ing. Rev. Percy High told the people that "we are all in prison together" as he ex plained how the Wilming ton 10 case relates to the average man. High, President of the Durham Chapter NAACP, said that those of us out of prison have "psycho logical bars that control us." Atty. Irv Joyner, Direc tor of the Criminal Justice Program of the United Church of Christ, described the Wilmington 10 situation as "in sort of a holding action" between the state and federal courts which are pondering appeals and Gover nor Hunt and President Carter who have been asked to pardon the '10' ". Joyner related that Justice Depart ment officials have said that the courts are stymied with the. issues raised in the case and that both Carter and Hunt avoid tackling ; the case. ; On the question of a boycott, some Durham busi nessmen and civic leaders are not as sure of the strategy as the ministers. J. H. Wheeler .president pTMechanicsifid a;aquci papjtafj ubhijicijt of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, said that he was in support of the Wilmington 10 but had not given any thought to an Easter boycott. A similar response came from Durham County's representa tive to the General Assembly, A. J. Howard Clement III, who added that he believes a meeting in early January should be called to discuss and plan a strategy that would put "economic, politi cal, and cultural pressure on the Governor." i'4 p r ... .v,f'.' Whether the citizenry of Durham would support a mass boycott of merchants to free the Wilmington 10 is anybody's guess. One woman at the mass meeting charac terized the - expressions of many when she ' showed a strong perference to use political clout "Anybody who would vote for Hunt in 1980, the way he has done the Wflrnington 10, has got to have sawdust in their heads." The Wilmington 10 were convicted in 1972 of fire bombing a white owned gro cery in the town during racial strife in 1971 . The state's wit nesses at the original trial testified last May, in a post conviction hearing, that their first testimonies were Iks. Judge George Fountain ruled that the men told the truth at the first trial when he ruled against a new trial which is now subject of appeal to the N. C. Court of Appeals, j j r 7 Christmas time is thank-you time as we extend our gratitude to ail of our loyal patrons. We have enjoyed doing business with you and we hope that we will see you in the future. ENO FISH CAf.lP N. ROXBORO ROAD St where the trial lodge Robert Martin is now a judge- Other appeals are in the federal courts. Peo&o Yen to Sam Is Sloping a B.1 ? ' The idea of saving for the future appeals to most Ameri cans but not as much as it used to. the American Council of Life Insurance reports. Given three choices about sav ings. 72 percent of respondents in a 1977 Council Survey said they preferred to save regularly, compared to 82 percent in 1968. About J 6 percent in 1977 wanted to "spend now." com pared to 8 percent in 196S. Eleven percent in 1977 agreed with the third choice there's less reason to save because go vernment and employers are pro viding more financial security which was the preference of 7 percent in 1968. DURHAM, N. C to CCD VQt 9 . fH; . Hfe,-.fiS.''-iirf3x-'MM ynji ifcsi ii ww Haas i , .MwnrtKnyi fc
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Dec. 24, 1977, edition 1
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