Goddammit, Black is Back!

By Alexandrio Morley
BlackFood News Reporter

THE great tradition of Speaking Truth to Power is alive and kicking in the United States of America.

And again it is the Black community that is determined to take the lead.

On November 7th over two hundred persons, mainly Africans, gathered at the Malcolm X Park in North West Washington, DC for the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations Rally and March on the White House.

Remarkably, the Call for this mobilization effort was only sent out seven weeks prior to November 7th.

The Coalition’s Call to Action states that the need for its existence has become increasingly obvious to many who witnessed the paralysis of the African liberation movement within the U.S. subsequent to the election of Barack Hussein Obama as U.S. president.

It also states: “Black is Back is a statement of the re-entry of African people into political life independent of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. It is a statement that will rally those African people who have experienced political impotence subsequent to Obama’s election. It is also a statement to the peoples of the world that we know the difference in our interests as Africans and those of U.S. imperialism and that they should also know the difference.”

At the start of the Rally there was an eerie feeling in the air. It was tense and many were anxious to see how many people would come out. But somehow that feeling passed and quantity was no longer the primary concern. For it became clear that those in attendance represented authentic forces in the African community.

There were Pan-Africanists, Black Nationalists groups, Afro-centrists, Community Activists, Radical Feminists, and Agitators. There were Radical Youths, Black Muslims, and persons associated with unions. A few brothers from a black college fraternity, progressive intellectuals and journalists were also in attendance. There was also a sprinkling of white progressives from the anti-war movement and the Left.

They all traveled from various places, including The Bahamas, Florida, New York, Philadelphia and Toronto, Canada.

Representatives from the various forces were given the opportunity to take the stage and speak to the crowd. All of them, in their own way, pledged solidarity with the principles and demands as laid out in the Call for the Coalition.

Pam Africa of the Free Mumia Campaign delivered a potent speech. One had to be there to feel the immense power that this small Queen Mother displayed. Words cannot describe it.

She reminded the audience of the children, women and men of the MOVE organization who were attacked and slaughtered by the State in Philadelphia.

She also told the attentive crowd that we are at War and that we must understand that in a war there will be causalities. She said: “If you want freedom, what you gotta do? … You got to take it.” She also criticized us. “We have become too lazy to fight the fight,” she shouted.

Africa expressed appreciation for the Black is Back movement and stated that she was confident that those who witnessed the march in the streets, and those who are confused will come to understand.

When speaking of Obama, she said: “Obama was never OK. That motherfucker started off wrong. He started off wrong. He was a traitor to Reverend Wright. He was a traitor long before then.”

Cindy Sheehan of the Anti-War Movement said that there had been no real change under the Obama administration except for the change in our pockets. According to Sheehan, the white anti-war movement is in a state of “white flight” and has flown away from commonsense.

She called for the dismantling of the system so that we could build something new. She also shared her plans to move to D.C. in March of next year so that she could remain a pain in the neck of the establishment until the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan came to an end.

Sister Nellie Bailey of the Harlem Tenants Council spoke about the concrete problems faced by the black community in every city in the U.S.; and even the world. The academics call it gentrification. She said the real meaning of the word is “black removal”. “It is getting us out of these cities and it is privatizing our municipal resources; water electricity, transportation…,” she said.

She added that we had to be clear about who President Barack Obama is because he has always been very clear to us.

Chairman of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, Omali Yeshitela, gave closing remarks before the march to the “White Man’s House”. He spoke on international and national issues and asked the crowd: “What kind of people can we be if we can watch the murder that’s happening around the world and that is … now with a black face, that’s covering for this terrible white imperial power?”

He said that it was our historic responsibility to stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq and all oppressed people of the world.

Regarding Free Speech in the United States, Chairman Yeshitela told the audience: “I know about free speech because there are too many political prisoners that have been rotting … for years and years and years … longer than Mandela has been locked up.”

After five hours of arming themselves with truth the crowd was ready to march. They lined up in rows with banners and placards that read “No More AFRICOM”, “Reparations Now”, “Free Mumia”, “Free Iraq”, and “MINUSTAH out of Haiti Now”. From Malcolm X Park they  marched to the White House chanting slogans like, “Free, Free Palestine”, “Free, Free Iraq”, and “Goddammit, Black is Back!”

Following the march the crowd gathered at Lafayette Park directly across from the White House, where they, again, reaffirmed their position.

Later that night a small group of participants met up at Bukom Café in Adams Morgan. They ate and fellow-shipped and the very next morning they met again for a meeting to discuss the move forward.

At the meeting, Chairman Yeshitela told the group that the rally and march was a historic event. All agreed. The Chairman also said that they had taken the lead. That they had all “thrown their bodies on the grenade” and that now it was possible for others to step forward; for there is much work to be done.

Persons interested in learning more about the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations or in joining should visit: www.blackisbackcoalition.org.♦bf

Look below for more pictures of the Rally and March: