By Alexandrio Morley
BlackFood.org News Reporter
THE AFRICAN People’s Socialist Party held its 5th Congress in Washington D.C. early last month from July 10-14.
BlackFood.org was there. The slogan of the Congress was "One People, One Party, One Destiny." For five days the members of the Party and invited friends participated in workshops and discussions focused on Economic Develoment and Recruitment, the History of the Party, Achiveing State Power, Crisis of Imperialism, Mass Incarceration, Haiti, the Congo, Youth Resistance and African Women.
Solidaity statements were read from persons like Ernesto Bustillo (a founding member of Union del Barrio), the Deputy President of Pan-Africanist Movement of Azania, Penny Hess (Chairperson of African People’s Solidarity Committee), Marcos Garcia (Labor Attache to the Venezuelan Embassy in the U.S.), Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa Dorothy Benton Lewis (Co-Chair of International Affairs Committee, N’COBRA), Saladin Muhammad (National Chairperson of Black Workers For Justice). A Party member read a solidariy statement from Ramona Africa (MOVE), and Maria Cristina Guitterez (Frente Colombiana for el Socialismo) called in a solidarity statement.
The Party discussed the Political Reoprt to the Fifth Congress of the African People’s Socialist Party.
The Report states that as African Internationalists we recognize that Africa has been under some kind of attack for millennia, but that our struggle today is contextualized by the fact that the world economy that gives life to our oppression is a capitalist economy.
It states that our struggle is not fueled by a subjective need for vengeance against every group that has historically attacked Africa and that this means that the struggle must be waged against the capitalist social system that is the basis of our exploitation and wretched conditions of existence today.
It states that our struggle, if it is to be fought to its successful conclusion, must be led by the African working class and that it must result in the establishment of a united, socialist Africa responsive to the needs of African people worldwide.
The report also states that in so many ways, the African People’s Socialist Party carries on the legacy of the movement of Marcus Garvey during the 1920s and his organization of 11 million African members, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
According to the report, Marcus Garvey defied the verdict of imperialism that had defined African people according to the identities and needs of our colonizers and claimed African identity for us all and this was a political line that truly recognized the nature of our oppression and exploitation as a people and the line of march for our liberation.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela told the Congress that the Political Report anchors the Party therotically and politically in an era where imperialism is on its last leg.
The Chairman declared that: "We of the African People’s Socialist Party are 21 century Garveyites." And he called on the Congress to adopt the Political Report as the main resolution of the party for the coming years.
The 5th Congress of the African People’s Socialist Party also broke new ground with the adoption of a new Constitution which includes broad changes to the Party and its structure, including the Party’s name, which is now the African People’s Socialist Party-USA. The Party also elected a new Central Committee.♦ bf
August 14th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Great summary comrade Alex. The 5th Congress solidified this very idea for me; “[recognition] That Africa has been under some kind of attack for millennia, but that our struggle today is contextualized by the fact that the world economy that gives life to our oppression is a capitalist economy”.
Too many of us pretend there is no truth to this statement here. The Caribbean region is no exception.Likewise, I unite with the work you all are doing in the Bahamas, because it is a conscious effort at educating everyone on the ground about these realities. I hope it can work as a catalyst for all of us in the other islands.Look foreward to the live broadcast tomorrow, Sunday.
One People…One Party…One Destiny!
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:39 am
Uhuru! Great summation. I also know that the Solidarity Statement delivered by Alex Morley on behalf of the Black is Back Coalition was a superb internationalist statement. Also worthy of mention in addition to the new Party Constitution was the adoption of more than 14 Resolutions submitted by Party members, organizations, and friends, and adopted by the Congress. These resolutions will surely move the work forward. Keep up the good work, Blackfood,org.