Solidarity Statement by Chairman Omali Yeshitela of the African Peoples Socialist Party:

Editor's Note - The following is a solidarity statement given by Chairman Omali Yeshitela, of the African Peoples Socialist Party, at the National Raza Unity Conference; organized by the National Chicano Moratorium Committee. The Conference was held at San Diego City College on Sunday August 11, 1996

Uhuru [Freedom] Compañeros y compañeras

To the conveners of this important conference I would like to express a deep and profound appreciation for being able to share this meeting with you.

From the Central Committee of the African Peoples Socialist Party, I'm able to say that we think that this meeting happening here today is the most important gathering that is occurring in this country right now, and because of that, possibly, it is one of the most important gatherings happening in the world today. And I do not say this lightly, because we understand that United States (U.S. imperialism) is responsible for the suffering and poverty, of all the people's everywhere on the planet earth. And if we are doing something here today to challenge the ability of imperialism to starve and brutalize the people, then here - in the belly of the beast - we have to say that this must be the most important meeting happening in the world. [Applause]

Compañeros y Compañeras It is very easy for us - in the African Peoples Socialist Party - to unite with this conference - to offer our solidarity - because from our perspective, the foundation of U.S. imperialism, has been the exploitation and the oppression of our peoples. That until the 17th century there was no such thing as "Europe" or the "European." There was no such thing as; the "white man," if you will. But Europe, the Europeans have their origin from an area, where there was just a land of warring tribes and kingdoms to become the power that Europe has become. They have done this by uniting their people as a part of a process of genocide and colonization, rape and plunder of the planet!

Compañeras y compañeros We recognize that this land is the land of the indigenous peoples, of the Mexicano Indio peoples [Applause] . . . We recognize that there could be no U.S. imperialism without the theft of this land, without the domination of Indio Mexicano peoples, we understand that the political economy of the world - not only of America, but of the world - has its origin both in the theft of the land of the Indio Mexicano people here, the enslavement of Africans, the so called slave trade and the domination of the other peoples around the world. Therefore, we can state that we have absolute solidarity with this meeting in opposition to the Republican Party Convention. But more than that we stand with you in opposition to the Democratic Party. (Applause) More than that, we stand with you in opposition to U.S. imperialism and white power. Here and throughout the world, we recognize that U.S. imperialism must be defeated! [Applause]

I understand there was another meeting - I think on yesterday - according to a local reactionary publication that I saw here, having to do with the Republican Convention. It is associated with another meeting that will be occurring in Chicago as well, where the Democratic Party will be having its get together. And from what I read, this meeting expressed some concern - and there was a lot of African forces at this meeting, some of whom you know by name - expressed concern, because the Republican Party doesn't demonstrate an appreciation for multi-culturalism?! [Laughter] And of course, people in this room understand that the whole concept of Multi-culturalism is a fall back - a defensive fall back by white power - who recognize that the Mexicans and the African people are coming to take back our land and to take back our resources. [Applause]

So I'm told that these organizations want to put together some demands and take them to the Republican Party and to the Democratic Party, and while in general there is nothing wrong with taking the demands to the Republicans or the Democrats, this meeting has impressed us precisely, because there are groups of us that have come to understand that our fate does not lie with the Democratic or the Republican Party, but with the oppressed peoples of the world, and therefore, our responsibility is to organize our people. [Applause]

Compañeros y Compañeras We can stand here in solidarity with you because we know that you understand - just as we have come to understand - that imperialism, that the struggle we have with the schools, with 187, with the various other attacks at the border and what have you, are simply manifestations - profound manifestations - of the loss of self-determination by our people. That our solution does not lie in simply solving the problem at the border, in simply getting 187 repealed - although we should struggle against it - but in the final analysis there shall be no peace, until we have self-determination - until we are self-governing people once again. [Roaring Applause]

We know that this is a crucial time in history that we are living in, what a magnificent time to be alive. Look all about you, because this Democratic, this Republican and Democratic Party, here on one hand you have Clinton, an Arkansas Cracker, right?!, who is [Applause] . . . that's all he is, he's an Arkansas Cracker! With a Tennessee Cracker as the Vice-President, right?! - here you have them on the one hand, clearly, obviously attacking our peoples - and you know the Africans and the Mexicans are suppose to be Democrats, right?!, and then here's Clinton, it was Clinton who among other things made the attack that said he was going to put 100,000 new policeman in this country - and where were they going to be? In the colonies of the African communities and the Mexicano barrios, right?! It was Clinton who pushed forth the "Crime Bill" that threatens our very existence and the freedom of our people and that threatens the African community, that by the turn of the century, the majority of child bearing men - of the African community - will be in prison, or tied to the prison system in some way or another. It was Clinton who put forth the notion that, after two years, women should be kicked off what they call "welfare." Of course you and I understand the slander, they talk about us being on welfare. Well, the truth of the matter is that white power, and white people have lived off the welfare of the Mexicans and the Africans for the last five hundred years. [Roaring Applause]

So here you have Clinton and the Democratic Party making these terrible attacks on the rights, and the life capacity of our people on the one hand, and then of course you have the Republican Party doing the same thing, but don't just talk about the Republican Party, because this is something that all of us have to face up to - that in 1994 in the mid-term election that overturned the congress that put in the Republicans, the Republicans didn't put themselves in power. Here you have every politician in the country who run their campaigns, against whom? Their campaigns were run against the Mexican; their campaigns were run against the African; the basic policy of the Clinton government has been an Anti-Mexican, Anti-African policy, and the Republicans have simply out done the Democrats in that capacity. [Applause] But how did they get in power? There was no coup in Washington D.C. The fact of the matter is that the Republican Congress is in power because white people voted them in power; because they were anti-Black, anti-Mexican and against all the oppressed peoples of the world. That is the truth of the matter. [Applause]

But, Compañeros y Compañeras We can stand here in solidarity, with the certainty that our time has come. All you got to do is look around the world. It is clear that a page has been turned in human history. For the first time in more than fifty years look at Europe, for the first time you see white people killing, and shooting white people in what they call Eastern Europe, where they have more than two hundred and fifty thousand people kill each other. You don't see the bodies in the newspapers, you don't see the swollen dead bodies lying on the ground in the newspapers or the television, like you see if it was from Somalia, or like you'd see if it was from Rwanda - of course, because they'd show us pictures of Somalia and Rwanda and Mexico and places like that because they want to demoralize us and let the white people feel superior, so they don't show us all the dead people that died in Eastern Europe because they don't want to demoralize the white people, and they don't want to give up the idea that white people can die just like any goddamn body else! [Roaring Applause]

But its not just Eastern Europe. Look at Western Europe's profound, deep crisis. They were supposed to have created a European community in 1992, a United Europe, but they couldn't do it. Then they were suppose to - this year or last year, I think it was - suppose to have created a common currency, but they couldn't do it. And why couldn't they do it? Because they had made these restrictions about how low the budget deficit had to be before anybody could enter into this unity they wanted to make. Who had pushed this? Germany had pushed this, the so called engine - the economic engine of Europe. France had pushed this, but now the crisis is such that the political economy of Germany and France is so bad that even they don't qualify to be a part of the unity that they've been pushing for. That is the reality that we are talking about. [Applause]

How does this crisis manifest itself? It manifests itself in Europe just like it manifests itself here in North America. Why? They can't frighten us. It is they who are afraid. That's why they want tanks at the border, you don't have a confident compilation, you have some terrified whimps who are concerned with what's going to come out of the barrios and what's going to come out of the colonies. [Applause]

No more Africans from Haiti, no more Mexicans coming across an artificial border - there are too many of us already - and they know sooner or later our consciousness will catch up with the objective reality that we are living with, and we will rise up and destroy imperialism once and for all. [Loud cheers and Applause]

So Compañeras y compañeros Again, I really want to express a deep appreciation for being able to be here. You know, we've gotten pretty good at being able to criticize imperialism, we can tell you everything that's wrong with imperialism. But today what we have to begin to do is to help the masses to visualize the future, and the future is not a future inside the Democratic or Republican parties, the future is not a future integrating into America, the future for our people has to be the total destruction of an imperialist white power that can only live by sucking the blood of our people, and a totally liberated Aztlán and México, and a totally liberated Africa and African peoples through-out the world.

I just want to say that it's very important that we were here, I really have a deep profound appreciation for this meeting and listen, Compas; We come from a small organization and in many ways, the views that I hold today, are minority views - they haven't always been minority views, and next week they won't be a minority view, if not next week then next month, if not next month then next year, cause clearly the masses of African people shall wake up and we shall win!

But this is what I was saying; just being here and listening to compas - you know, as somebody from the outside - you know the colonial peoples, one of the things they do all the time to us, is they create, they crush our confidence and our own capacity in our own leadership, they destroy, they attack constantly our ability to even see ourselves as a free people, you know we haven't been free in so long that we don't even know what the hell it is to be free. Sometimes we're afraid of the idea, you know what I'm saying?! [Applause]

But listen, and I've listened to and heard the self criticism that happened inside of your conference and inside the meetings, the contradictions that people are experiencing - and just as an outsider, and not somebody who knows so much about many things, but as an outsider - I want to say that this is a profoundly important meeting. I think what my observations are that something very serious is happening in the Mexican community here, that imperialism - if it were wise - it would be quaking in its boots, because people will come to power, and this meeting is going to be one of the paths to liberation.

All Power to the people!
Chicano power to the Chicano people!
Uhuru!
[Cheers and a Standing Ovation]