Serving Eastem North Carolina Since 1981 Aug 9, 2002 = Aug 23, 2002FREEMillions For Reparations Mass Rally And Political Prisonersby Conrad W. Worrill, The ChallengerThe Millions for Reparations Mass rally was held on August 17, in Washington D.C., the 115th anniversary of the birth of the Honorable Marcus GarveyOne of the critical demands of the reparations movement is the release of African-in-America political prisoners, an issue that often vets swept aside inour demands. This should not be. There are many sisters and brothers who have sacrificed much for the liberation of African people in America and arelocked up unjustly in America and are political prisoners. When we discuss political prisoners, we are talking about othose persons harassed, arrested, framed, and imprisoned because of their relatively peacefulpolitical activity against the destructive conditions that their people live under. ?The goal of our political prisoners has been oto transfer power from the corrupt and racist business people, government officials, pseudo intellectuals,policemen, judges, and jailers, and keep them " -down to a captive nation of people to be free. ? We shouldall be aware that Marcus Garvey, Dr. Martin | A ATIONS Nok Luther King Jr. the Honorable Elijah ouhammad, SisterCallie House, and Huey P. Newton spent time REP $ in jail because they fought for our freedom, just as BrotherMumia Abu Jamal remains a political prisoner Beet. for his uncompromising political journalism.The origin of the campaign that has KINGDOMS 22-427" Re9 Pe pF RICA ROYED! 4 NA ~ OVERPGTANC,. : aa ERE,resulted in the more than 100 women and men who arelocked up in America as political prisoners, 0co many of them African Americans, is related to the osecretwar ? that was waged against the Black | _ SentFBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in the 1960s 9 4 Nad itf= 5 SSS- Liberation Movement by the FBI.and *70s led this campaign, an illegal and top-secretonslaught called the oCounterintelligenceOrganizations. ? Its goal was to disrupt,(COINTELPRO) program that targeted black activists anddismantle, discredit, and neutralize black groups andleaders, thus seriously crippling our movement.That is why it is important for AfricanThey were successful.people in America to join the reparations movement andhelp rebuild the Black Liberation Movement. |;must be the freedom of our political prisoners ,One of our critical demands of the reparations movementThe Jericho Movement explains oThe issue | 3/4and prisoners of war.of whether or not political prisoners and prisoners of warexist inside the borders of the United States of 3)has successfully been able to refute. They haveAmerica is one that the government of the United States3 been able to deny the existence of political prisoners andprisoners of war because we have not taken theWe began publicly addressing the issue of. A EEL. ALY), battle to them and forced them to address this issue. ?a ee SS x" Jax WAG het our political prisoners, in a massive wi. on August 17th.at the Millions For Reparations Mass Rally and MAS te mY PERS } ignited, educated, and inspired our people to expand thereparations movement to include, as a key , "ey yy WisIn this context, the Jericho Movement Qo 4/ff Component, our political prisoners.NW 4; Bers further explains that there oare brothers and sisters. menand women who, as a consequence of their Ne | acriminal charges, arrested, or captured, tried in . ~~a i fe rea political work or organizational affiliations were given "-" courts and sent to prison. While trying them as criminals,the government maintained files on them refer- encing their political activities, designed to insure theyremain in prison. ? We must expose this tactic by the US government in our demands that our political prisoners be freed.?"?~~The reparations movement must be more energetic in demanding and calling for the release of our political prisoners and prisoners of war. They includeJalil Bottom, Charles Sims Africa, Debbi Sims Africa, Herman Bell, Kojo Sababu, Lorenzo Stone Bey. Mark Cook, Mumia Abu Jamal, Mutulu Shakur. OjoreLutalo, Phil Africa, Richard Mafundi Lake, Robert Seth Hayes, Sekou Kambui, Sundiata Acoli, and Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin.It is only fitting that we remind ourselves that the Honorable Marcus Garvey was one of our first political prisoners targeted by the US vovernment.indicted on the trumped-up charges of mail fraud and convicted. The masses of our people in the mid 1920s demanded Garvey Ts release from prison, In1927, more than 100,000 African people demonstrated and protested that he be released. Garvey was released in 1927 and deported-from ihe United Statesas a condition of release.We must remember Marcus Garvey in our demands to free our political prisoners. They have sacrificed much for us. August 17th was the day wedemanded from the US government what othey owe us, ? and let them know, oIt Ts time to pay up! ?Conrad Worrill is national chairman of the National Black United Front / NBUF. located at 12817 S Ashland Ave. Floor 1, Calumet Park, IL, 60827 Contacthim by phone at (708) 389-9929; fax (708) 389-9819; or email: nbufchi'a allways.net. Visit the NBUF's website at: nbufront.org.Five of the reasons the de-scendants of the éaptiveswarrant compensationThey owe us {61|. The transatlanticslave trade and slavery: TheUnited Nations WorldConference Against Racismdeclared that the transatlanticslave trade and slavery wereagainst humanity.s against humanity haveno statute of limitations2. Expropriation olabor: For more than 2°for free. Our free labor vmajor. ingredient in the build-ing of America and its wealthas a nation. Alse 1ethousands of whiteals and their familieslated wealth that connefit them as a result of ourfree labor.3. Slave code lawsThe slave owners developedtheir own codes of what thecould do to enslaved Afpeople in America thameated throughout the egence of this countnmany ways, informalcodes exist today [racial p:o-iiling]}.4. Destruction of theAfrican family: The transit ¢lantic slave trade and slave \had a devastating impacdestroying and dismantl)African families4 Centuries of miseducation and Mental atrocitiesThis has caused serious daage to our people.continues to cause much men-tal confusion about «reality as an Africanand aroundDeadlines toregister tovote in NorthCarolinaThe deadline toregister to vote inthis State is 25days before theday of the election.Forms that are re-ceived by thecounty board ofelections office orpostmarked by thedeadline are ac-cepted as valid ap-plications for theupcoming __ elec-tion. Also, agencyand DMV voterregistration trans-actions that arecompleted by thedeadline are ac-cepted as valid forthe upcoming elec-tion. Applicantswill be notified bythe county boardof elections ofPraise in the city . . .. Greenville Mayor, Don Parrot, gives the keys to the city to BishopPatterson, the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God In Christ, at the Greater North CarolinaJurisdictional Convocation which was held at the new Greenville Convention Center.(see inside) Photo by Jim RouseHOUSE SEAT DISTRICT #8PAID FOR BY THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT JIM ROUSEHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DIST. #8Today, more than ever, we are in need of dedicatedpeople to get involved with all decisions being madeabout the communities in which we live and tobring forth new ideas that address those importanttheir precinct and issues that affect our citizens. fin Rousepolling place as- ~~signments. \ en AD dtRally Rally Rally, . ., Bro Britt ( extreme left ) stands beside Christine L. Fitch who isrunning for the U.S. House District 1 seat along withother supporters at a rally for hercampaign. Run Christine Run a photo by Jim Rouse T » , iat