Now that we've all had a chance to digest Common's powerful song about Assata Shakur, here's some more info on her case and things that we can do to help this revolutionary sister: (I know this is kinda long, but please read it. She deserves it)

WHAT IS THE HANDS OFF ASSATA CAMPAIGN?

The Hands Off Assata Campaign is a coming together of organizations and individuals who are outraged by the heightened attempts by the Congress of the United States and the State of New Jersey to illegally force a return of Assata Shakur from Cuba to the United States.

We believe that Assata Shakur is a bona fide political exile living in the island nation of Cuba. She was persecuted for her political beliefs and tortured while in prison. We support the international human rights and Geneva conventions, which enabled her to seek and secure political asylum in Cuba, and we support the right of the Cuban people to grant it to her. We are shocked by the actions of New Jersey's Governor Christine Todd-Whitman, who has issued a $100,000 bounty/reward on head of Assata Shakur. Doing such a thing is tantamount to a call to "soldiers of fortune" to kidnap and kill Ms. Shakur and for them to engage in international espionage against the sovereign nation of Cuba. We are shocked by the activities of the United States House of Representatives, which in September 1998 passed House Resolution 254, calling on the Cuban Government to extradite Assata Shakur. Given that there is no binding extradition treaty between Cuba and the United States, such a request is outside the context of international law. In addition, we call on the Congress of the United States to hold public hearings on the past and current impact of FBI's Counter Intelligence Program known as COINTELPRO. Given that Assata Shakur was not the only one politically persecuted for her political beliefs, we demand that a full airing take place on that program. And finally are calling on the United States end its hostility towards the tiny nation of Cuba by normalizing relations with the Island and ending the US economic blockade


Assata Shakur: Radical, Woman, Exile, Mother

ASSATA SHAKUR is an African-American woman. She is a social justice activist, a poet, a mother and a grandmother. She has lived in Cuba since the early 1980s. During the heady days of the 1960s and 1970s, she found herself a victim of both racial profiling and political targeting. After being spotted on the New Jersey turnpike on May 2, 1973, because she is black, it was discovered that she and her two companions were known members of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. Like Martin Luther King, Jr. Malcolm X, Leonard Peltier and many members of the Civil Rights and American Indian Movements, Assata and her companions had been watched, their phones tapped, their families monitored, their organizations infiltrated, and widespread disinformation campaigns waged against them. They were like many activists of the day --targets of the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO). In fact, Assata was wanted, not for anything she had actually done, but for a variety of crimes that government and state officials were
trying to pin on her. This was common in the 1970s: discredit the voice of activists by painting them as criminals, trumping up indictments, tying them up in courts and if possible jailing them. In the mid 1970s, The Church Committee of the Senate Select Committee to Study Government Operations and the Domestic Intelligence Subcommittee, headed by Senator Walter Mondale, provided incontrovertible documentation of a government sponsored conspiracy against the civil and human rights of all sorts of political activists.

THUS ON THAT DAY IN MAY, Assata was a marked woman. And after police stopped them, a shoot out occurred. When the smoke cleared one police officer, and one of Assata's companions, Zayd Shakur lay dead. Assata, shot in the back and dragged from the car, lay wounded. Only belatedly taken to the hospital, Assata was then chained to her bed, tortured and questioned while injured. In fact, she never received adequate medical attention even though she had a broken clavicle and a paralyzed arm. Nonetheless, she was quickly jailed, prosecuted and incarcerated over the next few years for the series of trumped up cases.
Interestingly, in five separate trials, and with largely white juries, charges were dismissed because of lack of evidence or she was acquitted of all charges ranging from bank robbery to murder. As the manager of one bank said at trial - she is just not the one who robbed my bank. Only in the final trial in 1977, where she was charged with the Turnpike killings, was she found guilty. This even though forensic evidence taken that day showed that she had not fired a weapon. She was sentenced to life + 33 years in prison. In 1979, and after nearly six years behind bars, she escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey and some time later emerged in Cuba where she applied for and received political asylum. Since being in Cuba, she has continued her college education, published an autobiography, and writes on global issues facing women, youth, and people of color.

DURING THE 1990S, rightist politicians and police bodies - this time in conjunction with conservative members of the Cuban-American community - reinvigorated their attempts to pursue Assata Shakur. They did this even though Assata has not tried to re-enter the United States and is, according to international law, a political exile who should be left alone. Linking "fear of crime" rhetoric with anti-Cuban sentiment, New Jersey governor Christine Todd-Whitman issued a bounty which is now up to $100,000, on the head of Assata Shakur. She even went as far as to announce her bounty on Radio Marti, the US government radio station which beams anti-Castro propaganda into the Caribbean. To do such a thing put Assata in danger because it is tantamount to encouraging any opportunists to kidnap and/or kill her for pay. In addition, in 1998, Congressmen Franks and Menendez from New Jersey and Ros-Lehtinen and Diaz-Balart of Florida introduced and got passed - House Resolution 254 - which calls for the Cuban government to extradite Assata Shakur as a condition to normalizing US-Cuba relations.
Interestingly, while Assata and Cuba are portrayed as "criminal", a terrorist bombing campaign - thought to be sponsored by ultra-rightist forces in the United States - has been launched against Cuba, killing and injuring Cuban citizens and foreign tourists alike.

Steering Committee (in formation): Adjoa Aiyetoro, Baye Adofo, Vera Beaty, Lisa Brock, Kedar Coleman, Otis Cunningham, Beryl Fitzpatrick, Cheryl Harris, Robin Hayes, Rosemari Mealy, Kamaria Ngozi, Ahmed Obefemi, Barbara Ransby, Walter Turner, Gail Walker

Endorsers (in formation): Black Radical Congress, Global Exchange, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, National Conference of Black Lawyers, IFCO/Pastors for Peace, Venceremos Brigade, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Crossroads, Jericho, New Afrikan Peoples Organization


What can you do?

1) Add your organization's name to our list of endorsers/ Take petitions.

2) Contact your Congressperson. Demand that he/she rescind House Resolution #254 and ask them to support congressional hearings on COINTELPRO.

3) Write to New Jersey Governor Christine Todd-Whitman and demand that she withdraws the $100,000 bounty on Assata Shakur's head. Governor Christine Todd Whitman, State of New Jersey, CN-001, Trenton, NJ 08625.

4) Plan a showing of the Film Eyes on the Rainbow (1996). This film portrays the life and current struggles of Assata Shakur.

5) Contact www.afrocubaweb.com; email: main@afrocubaweb.com for current HOA-Campaign Info.

6) Send a tax-deductible contribution: HOA Campaign/Global Exchange, P.O. Box 438731, Chicago, IL 60643


love and respect,
El Rey


"We live the now for the promise of the infinite." - Mos Def

http://www.mumia2000.org
http://www.mumia.org
http://www.mumia911.org

The Ofiicial fire quote librabry starts here:

I don't know it all but I do know lies when I read them. The foolish are fooling no one with their hating. - (c)fire

All I know is i made it to your supreme signature, i feel blessed. I'm gonna go cry now - (c)fire

Smoking weed is like eating oregano (I think). - (c)fire

When I am the millionaire I'm supposed to be I still don't want to lose touch with my community. - (c)fire

Tell Me the Meaning of Being Lonely could make me cry on the right day. - (c)fire

Some of my favorite artist's "happen" to be white. - (c)fire

Beauty isn't based on color, it's based on beauty. - (c)fire

Post this in General and the Lesson too, some people don't cross lurk. - (c)fire

Ronald McDonald is a satanic symbol - McDonald's is evil! - (c)fire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
who are you









really

Peace.
I think it's beautiful that Common's song has shed some light and Clarity on Assata Shakur and her story... but I also think it's sad that a lot of people had/have no clue who this women was/is. I have followed this case and known about the in's and and out's for as long as I can remember. My family has ties to the Black Panther Party (which; for the record, is still in full effect, just low, low, underground)- and I fully understand their intentions and the repercussions that WE as a people have suffered due to their efforts. Assata Shukur aka JoAnne Chesimard was set up, along with many other Panthers who were simply speaking the truth. Amerikah-kah-kah wants to keep people of Color (Black, Hispanic, Native american etc.)dumb, deaf and blind. I went to elementary school with Assata's daughter, and i still remember how the crisis affected her and all of us who really knew what was going on. I BEG you, find out what is UP.... find out why she.. and other 'Shakur's ' had to seek exile in Cuba to get away from this countries propaganda and conspiracy theories... think about it! Read the biography, 'ASSATA' by Assata Shakur, your eyes will be opened and maybe you'll Understand and eventually Overstand. Believe me, I have the inside track on this...
Peace and love,
Sistah7 (Nubia Earth)
"Even when the road is hard.. never let up."
-TuPac Amaru Shakur (L.I.P.- Live in Peace)

changed my life when I read it a while back!

Have you seen Gloria's film yet? I'm still waiting for it to be released on Video (for some reason, its the only one that Afrocubaweb isn't selling on video) cuz I missed it when she was bringing it around.

love and respect,
El Rey


"We live the now for the promise of the infinite." - Mos Def

http://www.mumia2000.org
http://www.mumia.org
http://www.mumia911.org

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
who are you









really

Thought you playas might want to hear how our own Common is
appreciated in the political scene for his beautiful song for Assata:

PRESS RELEASE
>
COMMON GETS PROPS FROM HOA ( HANDS OFF ASSATA)
>
Everybody gotta rap
Everybody gotta beat
Everybody gotta rhyme
>
But nobody but Common got Assata In the lyrical mix that combines rap
beat and rhyme!
>
SO WHATCHA SAY? WHO IS THAT? AND WHY DOES THAT MAKE
COMMON'S RHYME SO PHAT?
>
Common, in his newest and hottest CD, Like Water for Chocolate, knows
you not only got to keep it real, but you got to speak to the reality that
got us locked up, profiled, lined up and sidelined. He has been to school
and knows that the best way to get props is to give them. And so in
Common's new CD he has sampled and given props to Assata Shakur, a
legendary sista who stood up against the system in the 60s and 70s--
someone who refused to bow down to the idea that Black and poor people
had to accept the beat down. Then, like Malcolm, because she said NO,
she became an enemy of the state. Like other members of the Black
Panther Party, she came into the sights of Big Brother-the FBI's
Counterintelligence Program-- and was tapped, watched, harassed and
finally framed. Assata was no criminal but they wanted to make her one so
that no one today would know or care who she is or what she fought for,
but It did not work. You cannot stop the Spirit. And this is the spirit that
Common has called on in his rhyme that is in with the circle of time.
>
Today Assata is alive and well and living in Cuba, where she fled in fear of
her life after escaping from prison more than 20 years ago. She received
political asylum because another country accepted her claim that she
could not be treated fairly here in the US. Since then she has gone to
college, published an autobiography, written poetry and essays, and had a
movie made about her. She has kept contact with her daughter and
grandchild when they have been able to come and see her. She has not
tried to come into the United States for fear of inprisonment and death.
>
SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE YOU ASK? It is because Assata
did not die or sell out, it is because she is a symbol that you cannot kill
the spirit -- that to this day there are illegal efforts to try to force her
return, including putting a bounty on her head-like was done with runaway
slaves.
>
We at the HANDS OFF ASSATA campaign want to give all due respect to
Common for making the music the message. This is our song, our rhyme,
our beat: We are not going to let not one other of our sistas or brothers
who fought so hard for us, to be harassed, persecuted or kidnapped. The
law says Assata is a political exile entitled to remain where she is. So we
say to Governor Christine Whitman of New Jersey, call off your $100,000
bounty! Maybe you should use that money to see what the troopers are
doing to brothers and sistas on the turnpike today. We say to those
members of Congress that supported a call to Cuba to expel Assata , don't
be no fool--take it back. We say if you really want to know the truth
about what happened with Assata, and many of the too strong crew, call
for public hearings on the FBI's Counter intelligence program. Ask why she
was targeted, why her phone was tapped. Ask why in five cases brought
against Assata after she was arrested in 1973 , the charges were
dismissed for lack of evidence or she was acquitted in trials before largely
white juries. Ask about the facts behind her arrest in 1973 when she and
her companions were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike. Ask why there
was a shootout in which one policeman and one of her companions were
killed and she was shot in the back. Ask why she was chained to her bed,
and not given adequate medical attention. Ask why even though the
evidence showed she had not fired any weapon she was convicted and
given a life sentence plus 33 years. Ask why this case was put on her. We
all want to know. We know that what the FBI carried out has not seen the
light of day because if it did, a lot of cases besides Assata's would show
up shaky.
>
We at HANDS OFF ASSATA want to raise our hands in the air and wave
them like we DO care. We care about what Common cares about which is
what Assata cares about - we care about what happens to our youth, our
fathers, our mothers, our sistas, our brothers. We believe that by
struggling for ASSATA we struggle for the best in ourselves.
>
Come check us out at www.afrocuba.web; email main@afrocuba.web. or
send requests for info to HOA/Global Exchange, P/O/ Box 438731, Chicago,
Ill 60643.
>
HOA Campaign
****************************

love and respect,
El Rey

love and respect,
El Rey


"We live the now for the promise of the infinite." - Mos Def

http://www.mumia2000.org
http://www.mumia.org
http://www.mumia911.org

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
who are you









really

I was not too aware of her story until recently, but I think that the New Jersey government's recent actions to capture Assatta are a desperat political scheme much like the Elian Gonzolaz(spelling?)situation. I found it curious that freeing Assata was on Cuba's to do list to become "friendly" with the US. Whouldn't it be to to her opposers' advantage to have her as far a way from American as posible. What damage can she do in Cuba? Right now her story is widly unknown, but if they returned her, things whould get stirred up and things would come out. I definatly doubt that the New Jersey or the fed gov'ts want that to happen.

Thanx El-ray . ..I'll send the info out that you've written to many of my conscious contacts . . .copy and paste El-ray's message and pass it on . .

All is love. ..
Peace & Blessings~
Legal Tenda'

Free Mumia
Release Sista' Assata from Cuban exile . . .

Good lookin out. Definitely pass this on. Not enough people know about this righteous woman's struggle.

love and respect,
El Rey


"We live the now for the promise of the infinite." - Mos Def

http://www.mumia2000.org
http://www.mumia.org
http://www.mumia911.org

EFF AN OFFENSIVE QUOTE! MAY IS NEBBIE APPRECIATION MONTH:

"I done already took you off the topic and now you just fallin prey to what evea i say.....I be you govment now!!"

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"

"fuck turning the other cheek menatlity.....i got an 75% accuracy shooting"

"save ya souls fuck all this elian goverment guilliani crap......they aint no control over the universe.....that shit has greater power.....time to align ourselves with the universe..."

"i am really cool as shit...and yes i would beat a person with a bag of rusty screw drivers."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
who are you









really

I was reading articles on the crossroad support network site (which is a newsletter produced by and for political prisoners) and came across an interview w/ assata shakur. it was first printed in 1992, but her insight has relevance for today.
the interviewers were meg starr (ms), of the free puerto rico committee, and matt meyer (mm), of the war resister's league.

it's rather lengthy, so i am gonna just post some topics she covers, the question, and parts of her response. so each topic will be a diff post.

btw, i have no idea if it's even legal for me to do this.

ok, here we go!





**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

ms: ...Do you have any things that you feel were particular lessons? And I know you don't want to put this in dogmatic terms, but any particular lessons from the sixties and seventies that you've been thinking about?

assata: ...i think that one of the things that i learned, or think i learned, is that it's not important so much who directs, who is in the vanguard, it's that people work together wherever they are -- whether they're in a union; whether they're in a block committee, whether they're working in a political organization; whatever place they are: to do work; to become active; to become aware; to increase the level of activity rather than to concentrate on being the vanguard, on trying to lead a movement. A lot of times people who were trying to lead didn't know where they were going.

Leadership has to be, in the new sense of leadership, a collective process, and the concept of vanguard has to be collectivized, has to be put into the context of the 1990s and approaching 2000, because people come from many different concepts of freedom. The point is for us to sit down and make some kind of agreement on some basic things and understand that what is going to be freedom to me, is not necessarily going to be freedom for you. Self-Determination must be a very important part of what We're talking about when We talk about political organization -- political activity -- that has to be underlined because everybody doesn't have the same dream. So, there has to be room for everybody to attempt to move toward that dream, as long as that dream does not include oppressing other people; exploiting other people.


**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

ms: ...One of the terms that's come up from the sixties and seventies, in talking about the leadership of the Black Movement, within the movements in the united states, is that it had a role in radicalizing lots of other parts of the movement. I wonder how you see that -- the leading role of the Black Movement?

assata: ...Well, i think it's logical, and i also think it's correct that the people that are most oppressed, in any given country, should have a great deal to say about the direction that a movement must take, should take etc. ...The ideas and the revolutionary examples of Third World people have been ignored, minimalized, minimized. The contributions of so many revolutionary people have just been overlooked by the european movement, by the white left in the united states...The bankrupt kind of ideology, the kind of stagnation that has been coming out of the european experience, for the last years, shows that something else must be developed. The most oppressed people in the world right now are Afrikans, Asians, and Latin Americans. So, the ideological input of Afrikans, Asians, and Latin Americans is not only important, it is essential. It's necessary because imperialism has reached such a state it's really difficult to separate racism from imperialism; eurocentrism from imperialism, because they're connected. By perpetuating an ideology that is eurocentric, it is also perpetuating an ideological imperialism.

So, in order to destroy imperialism, there must be an ideological movement from the people who are victimized by imperialism. This is not to say that other experiences are not important, and not to say the contributions of european revolutionaries -- Marx, Engels, Lenin -- are not valid, not important. You don't throw them out. But, that must be expanded.

A science, to be a science, cannot be stagnant; it has to grow. If it does not grow, then it becomes a dogma. A science must be something that is constantly expanding, constantly growing, and one of the problems has been that there has been no systematic way in which socialist theory could grow because the dogmatism has just dominated -- for years -- the ideological, and in many ways, practical aspects of the left. That has to be re-thought, and those tendencies have to be thrown out the window, because they don't help and they've done a lot to hinder people's freedom.


**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

mm: ...what can european americans do to be a positive part of the process?

assata: Well, i think that one thing that needs to be done is education. People really need to educate themselves and to educate other people to communicate with others; to make use of the tremendous amount of technology that is in the hands of white north americans...What needs to be done is to use those things to organize in a creative way; to organize other white people, other people, in some cases Black people. But, i think the principle task of white revolutionaries is to organize white people and to struggle against racism -- not only in terms of institutional forms, but in terms of struggling against one's own racism. i think it is dishonest to say that white people living in a racist society; receiving racist education with racist teachers, and often with racist parents: reading racist books; looking at racist television, etc., etc., are not affected by racism. Everybody living in a racist society is affected by racism. White people have to deal with racism on two planes. One: a political level, and two: on a personal level. And that's a life-long battle for one who's seriously interested in struggling against racism...Obviously most white people in the united states are not going to feel outraged by extreme poverty, some will, but the majority won't. Most will become involved in issues that are related to the environment, women, etc., etc., etc., so coming from there --whether it's the environment, whether it's women -- and relating that to an international system of imperialism, understanding the underlying roots, and understanding in order to struggle against any form of oppression one has to go to the source. One must look at the whole system, and it's not just the united states. It's the military industrial complex; it's a system of international imperialism that is causing the destruction of the environment, that is causing the oppression of women, that is causing so many ills; that is causing racism, that is causing people to starve in Afrika, that is causing people to be tortured in El Salvador, it is an international system that must be struggled against...People who are concerned about the environment need to deal on an international level. People who are struggling to liberate political prisoners should organize on an international level, because this is the only way We're gonna win. What We're struggling against is an international system of imperialism and those imperialists are organizing very effectively internationally.


**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

mm: You know, one of the things white folk who have been struggling against racism on both a political and personal level have confronted is contradictions or confusions about what real solidarity means...Will you speak on the concepts of solidarity and intervention, define them and say what you think true avenues for that could be?

assata: OK, i think one of the fundamental things needed for solidarity is respect. The respect of other people's culture, other people's ideas, and respect for Self-Determination. Going back to the experience of eastern europe, on one hand you had Stalinists and the Stalinist model, and in some ways, some very real ways, the Soviet Union lent real help to Third World people who were struggling. In other ways they fell short of that. Many of the eastern european countries, with the exception of those having a pardon school (having some foreign students there), really showed no true internationalism in the sense of say, a Cuba. Even though Cubans are generally a people who share what they have, Cuba is an underdeveloped country. The sense of imperialism in Cuba is much more highly developed than in any of the european countries. That was one of the fatal errors of that process. To consider solidarity as simply going to the U.N. and voting with the Soviet Union and not much more. It did not include personal sacrifices, it did not include a much more serious commitment to the liberation of Third World people. And so you have european workers who did not really feel a sense of solidarity with workers in the Third World, but felt a material kind of envy for workers in england, france and the united states. Workers who shared those kinds of values, the "we want color tv's", and did not really perceive that the reason why the lifestyle of some workers, and i have to emphasize "some" workers, in the developed countries was at a higher level was because those countries were directly involved in sucking the blood of Third World workers -- Third World people. Only a country that is involved in this kind of behavior can give some workers a higher standard of living.

...You have a situation where europeans are attacking Third World people all over europe and eastern europe, too. Eastern europe, western europe, there is this wave of racism that didn't just come out of nowhere. It is there because there was not real struggle raised against it. There was not real ideological process that took place on any real, in-depth level. So, solidarity meant one thing very superficial, and in addition to that, there was chauvinism. A kind of "we have the answers and all y'all savages gotta listen to us, cause we got Marx and Engels and we know all the answers. And you can make a revolution just the way we think you should make it, and you can just repeat what we say. And if you say anything different from what we say you're a revisionist."

...And you had people, from Che Guevara to Nkrumah, who were completely ignored. i mean, nobody studied what Fidel was saying and Fidel made critical remarks about what was happening in europe dating back to 1968 or before. But nobody listened. He was like, "our boy in Havana" -- the revolutionary with the gun rather than anyone who had any ideological input into the world revolutionary movement. The same thing happened all over the world, whether it was with Ho Chi Minh or whoever. The ideological contributions were minimized. Therefore, the doubts and the problems raised in reference to the Third World were minimized.

...So, it was just this kind of chauvinistic outlook that the white left all over the world has been historically guilty of; must take the weight for; and must try to rectify by studying, listening, and learning from Third World people. They must recognize that logically, the most oppressed people must have a leadership role in any revolutionary process.

mm: ...intervention?

assata: Intervention can take place, armed intervention, ideological... Intervention is a broad term. If you talk about intervention in terms of the role of the white left in the united states--if that's the context we're using...

mm: Yeah. Absolutely.

assata: What people really have to think about is the work, and the content of that work. And if the content of the work is anti-racist, anti-arrogant, anti-imperialist, then i think that's the important part. i think the most important thing is to commit to an ideology and workstyle that's not arrogant and is anti-imperialist, anti-racist, anti-sexist, etc., etc., etc.

**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

ms: ...How were you empowered as a woman--a woman leader in the movement--and what things did you find empowering for yourself?

assata: Well actually, to tell you the truth, i don't feel em-pow-ered. i feel that i'm a woman who struggles in a society that is sexist, in a movement that is sexist, and that is an ongoing struggle. i feel that any leadership role that i have played, or may play in the future, has to do with the work i do and the historical role i will play (do play, hopefully). i tend to believe leadership should depend on one's ability, one's work. Period. And that too often people, men and women, are hung up on the leadership question. i think We should be more hung up on the work question. What is the quality of my work?

...you can eliminate sexism without eliminating, again, the roots of sexism; without building institutions that permit men and women to have non-sexist relationships. At this time, women are in a hell of a fix. The whole world is experiencing a crisis between men and women. The old way of relationships, the old division of work: men working in the field, women working in the home, is no longer valid. That is no longer real. Men and women have to find new ways to deal with each other that are not based on "me cookin' and you doin' whatever you do in the street". i mean there's no economic basis for those old relationships. The reality of the modern world is that men and women both have to work in most societies because of economic necessity; because of the objective conditions. Therefore, there must be new relationships between men and women based on equality. And that's gonna be a struggle because men are not going to give up those privileges without a fight. And right now men are privileged.

...In terms of African-American women and men, Our situation is one of oppression--serious oppression. The only kind of sane relationship We can have are relationships of partners, partnerships in struggle. Any human relationship, any human relationship with any kind of beauty, has to involve changing the definition of what relationships are, and change the reality of what We're dealing with in the context of the united states. So, We need to form a new aesthetic on how We relate to each other. We need to go to a new dimension in how We relate to each other out of necessity. Out of pure necessity. Because if We don't, We will be systematically wiped out. That's the reality.

**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

Just whe you thought a post was dead and e'ry body had forgotten! Thanks for the interview. This will be a good read once I'm done with work.

love and respect,
El Rey


"We live the now for the promise of the infinite." - Mos Def

http://www.mumia2000.org
http://www.mumia.org
http://www.mumia911.org


:-)
;-):-)
: :-)
: ;-):-) !!!!!!!!
: :-)
;-):-)
:-)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
who are you









really

mm: We want to hear a little about how the crisis in socialism has affected Cuba and some of the tasks for solidarity in terms of North Americans and people in the U.S.

assata: Well, at the present time, there are virtually very few socialist countries left. As you know, most of Cuba's trade was with the Soviet Union and with the eastern european countries. In terms of Cuba, the changes economically have meant the majority of the eastern european countries have not honored any, or most, of the contract agreements, and economic treaties, that they had with Cuba. So the goods that Cuba was expecting, were planning on, never arrived, haven't arrived, etc. In terms of the Soviet Union, some goods have arrived, but the numbers is around thirty percent of what was promised; what was agreed on. In different instances thirty percent, or less, has arrived. The Soviet Union (what was the Soviet Union; now We're dealing with the Commonwealth of whatever) is so unstable that it changes daily, so Cuba cannot really depend on the Soviet Union for anything at this moment. There's an extreme shortage of fuel, wheat, rice, beans... everything that Cuba needs right now is in shortage. So Cuba's in an extremely difficult situation, between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, Cuba is still suffering the effects of the u.s. blockade, economic embargo, etc. On the other hand, there's a kind of unofficial blockade by the Soviet Union and eastern european countries. Whether that's intentional or unintentional, the result is very real.

...There was never any logical reason for the blockade, but even the pretenses are no longer valid. Not at all. No one can be duped at this point into saying that Cuba is a satellite of the Soviet Union. Nobody can be duped any more into saying that Cuba is a strategic military launching point for the Soviet planes or whatever. If anybody might have been duped in the past, all of that is completely exposed and pure fiction. So there is no reason for the blockade to be maintained. People in the united states have to point this out and struggle around the issue that Cuba has a right to Self-Determination. People who believe in Self-Determination (whether they believe in socialism or not), who believe that a country has the right to determine what kind of government it has and what kind of system it wants, have to struggle to lift the blockade. The blockade is there for one reason, and one reason only, to prevent Cuban people from determining their own destiny. i think that has to be a focus of the movement, the left or anybody else concerned about Self-Determination and people's right to freedom, liberty and justice for all.


**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

mm: You've spoken about the need for a whole new work style on the Left; and that presently there are no recipes to follow. Given these two dynamics, what are your thoughts about future work in general: how do we go through the process of figuring out what to do -- in that we need to re-haul and there are no recipes to follow?

assata: Well, i don't think there were ever any recipes to follow. There was an idea and many people went around acting like they had the recipe; acting like socialism was something like red paint. You can just paint it on anything and it will come out socialist. Each specific country, each specific situation, each specific people have their own specific needs, requirements, desires, aspirations, etc. that fit into a movement. That's the kind of dialectic between the national reality of people, and the international reality of a world revolutionary movement -- and the need to struggle against imperialism. i really don't think there was ever a recipe. It's not like you took two cups of Marx and a cup of Engels, throw in three drops of Lenin, and you've got freedom forever. That's silly. The reality of struggle is that you have to think, invent and create. You have to work and learn from experience what works, and what doesn't; what makes sense, and what doesn't. You have to learn to get along. i mean to get along in terms of progressive people working together -- whether you agree on everything or not. You have to learn that it's not a luxury to form working unity, it's a necessity.

...But i think We've got to get away from the idea that one party is going to be the vanguard to lead us to some salvation. i mean, that does not fit with the reality of the 1990s. It might fit in some places where one party might lead a people to liberation, but in the majority of situations, especially in a multi-national place like the united states, that's very unrealistic. So, forming the leadership has to be thought of in collective terms. In order to do this, We have to develop the skills necessary to deal collectively. We have to learn by doing. We're in an electronic age. We have to find new ways of organizing people, new ways of educating people -- creative ways. It could be revolutionary folk operas, i don't know. We have to find and deal with people where they are -- not where We think they should be. i think a lot of the young rap artists are setting a great example. i think they're more in touch with people and more actively involved in changing people's way of thinking than many of the so-called revolutionaries with long histories, who just talk to themselves. We have to deal with that fact. It's o.k. to talk to yourself, and it's o.k. to talk among yourselves, but when you start doing that exclusively, then you start acting crazy. When all you do is talk to yourself, then you have got a problem. And many revolutionaries have got a problem. They are only talking to each other -- to themselves, but when they deal with people who have nothing to do with their movement, they talk at them. They don't listen to what the people are saying, they don't learn from them. So, it's a problem when you just talk to yourself and talk at people. That, you know, is a category of mental illness! i think that the movement has got to deal with being sane, being logical, being concrete and setting priorities -- realistic priorities -- not fantasizing, not trying to apply the experiences of other people mechanically.

**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

mm: Speaking of future work, you've spoken on the role of guns as almost the least important piece of struggle, can you share your reflections on this?

assata: The 1960s were very important in terms of the world liberation movement; in Afrika, in Asia, and in Latin America, there were many processes and people struggling for political independence. They were struggling against colonialism and imperialism. Many of those processes had elements of armed struggle. But in many cases, people romanticized the aspect of armed struggle without understanding that at the same time Vietnam was involved in armed struggle, there was also political struggle, diplomatic struggle, a struggle of the unions...i mean, there was a whole process of struggle that was going on. Many people conceived of the Cuban revolution, for example, as Fidel, Che and Raoul going to the mountains. But they did not understand that there was a whole political struggle that had been going on, that continued to go on, all the way back from before Cuba received its "independence". The July 26 movement was a political movement that was waged on campuses, had links with the unions and other leftist movements, and was able to forge a unity -- a political unity. It wasn't just a simplistic matter of going off into the mountains.

...In relation to the united states, obviously revolutionaries in the 60s and early 70s were very much affected by what was going on in Afrika, Asia and Vietnam; those were very inspiring revolutionary struggles that We were all affected by. In some instances, We tried to apply the experiences of other people mechanically to Our struggle. In the specific case of the Black Liberation Movement in the united states, the question of armed struggle had a very specific and a very important significance. The question of armed struggle took on added significance because all during the civil rights movement -- because of direct action and "non-violence" as the only framework Afrikans in the united states could struggle in; morally, realistically, etc. Instead of being dealt with as a tactic, direct action and non-violence was dealt with as an ideology. There was a need to combat on different levels: on the level that Afrikans in the united states have the right to self-defense, and that the right was an absolute; whether We defended ourselves or not, in a given situation, depended on what We decided -- what Our tactics were; what Our strategy was. That was important for Us to deal with as a people. So, the question of armed struggle within Our movement was even more important because there was a whole national media that was saying "look, you don't have any right to (a) defend yourself and (b) you must struggle under these terms and the terms We dictate. If you go outside of these terms -- that framework -- then you're crazy, you're terrorists". So it was important, in terms of the 1960s and 70s, to say (a) We have the right to self-defense and (b) that We have the right, as Malcolm X said, to struggle "by any means necessary".

...But that was a necessary time, it was a necessary experience, and it was necessary for Afrikan people to realize that We, as a people, are going to have to free Ourselves. That's a reality. That's an objective reality.

Hopefully We will not have to do it alone. For example, the experiences of the Soviet Union clearly shows what happens when different people work together to bring a huge country to a halt, within that process there were different people with different goals; different ideas of what Self-Determination is, but only by bringing the monster down is Self-Determination possible. Now, i'm not equating bringing down the united states monster with the bringing down of the Soviet Union. One is/would be a revolutionary process, as in the context of the united states. In the context of the Soviet Union, i don't know what the hell that is. i mean, there were people who sincerely wanted to reform socialism, who wanted to make it better, more human. There were other people who wanted to destroy it. Within the whole process of Glasnost and Perestroika you have people who were interested in making socialism better, others who were purely interested in personal power. That's my analysis. And it remains to be seen whose ends those changes are going to serve. Right now, it looks like the workers are the people who are going to suffer the most. i think it's a shame that the conditions of Stalinism and the kind of model that was constructed by Stalin was so negative that many people are manipulated by it today.

But there is a lesson to be learned for anybody in what looks like a huge, great power; it's that a huge, great power can be broken down to obtain Self-Determination -- not by one people, but by many people who are struggling within that structure to gain Self-Determination. It would be very difficult for Us to determine Our destiny without bringing the united states down, without a true revolution -- and it doesn't have to be a violent revolution, it just has to be a change; a total change by a variety of people because revolutionary change now can happen in any way. There's no formula for it and the reality is Our politics have to say that We don't like violence. Anybody whose politics say "I love violence, I like to kill" -- i mean, that's a crazy person. Our politics have to be i hate violence, i don't want to deal with it. If i am forced to deal with it, if there's no other way around it, i will be violent against those who are violent against me.

**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

ms: What do you think about the over 100 political prisoners and prisoners of war held in the United States? What do you think the Left should be doing about their cases right now?

assata: i think it's a damn shame, that's what i think about it! i think it's horrendous. The fundamental reason there are so many political prisoners in the united states is because the united states government's policy is to destroy anybody who poses a threat to the policies of its government.

There's a secondary reason why those political prisoners are still in prison -- so many political prisoners are still in prison. There are a lot of people in the united states who are brain-washed; there are a lot of people on the left who are brain-washed and who claim to understand that COINTELPRO was real and that COINTELPRO under another name, whatever they call it now, it still real. Even though people claim that they understand the history of the united states, that they understand McCarthyism, the problem of AIDS, the repressive role of the FBI, the police agencies, etc., there still seems to be a kind of mind warp in terms of supporting and freeing political prisoners. Because a lot of people, even though they claim to understand all that, they claim to see all that, but they are not actively supporting political prisoners. There's this kind of double psychology, "they must have done something". i think it has to do with the way that many of us are not conscious to the extent which the media shapes and forms the way We conceive of a given event.

So you have 200 and i don't know how many, political prisoners -- some of who have been in prison for more than 20 years. And you have a left that claims to be opposed to government repression, but has not done the job it should have been doing to free political prisoners. You have the case of Dhoruba bin Wahad who, after 19 years in prison, the government finally admitted that they played with the evidence, withheld evidence that would serve to free him and proved his innocence. And after 19 years, the government said, "yeah, well, you know..."

Can we deal with a reality where those who are victimized by the government are going to have to go to the government files to prove that the government victimized them? And when that same government, through the Freedom Of Information Act, sends blank pages, half or three-quarters of all of the pages blank, now how can you prove -- how can political prisoners be forced to prove they're innocence? How can they prove that their acts are political acts made in the valid struggle for Self-Determination and the liberation of their people?

i think that the only way We can principally deal with the question of political prisoners and prisoners of war in the united states is to demand amnesty for all political prisoners and struggle around that. It's important to work in defense committees, but as a movement, We have got to make decisions. We have to agree on certain basic things: a) That oppressed people have the right to struggle for their liberation, to struggle to end their oppression, and they need to be supported -- whether We agree with their particular line, organization, whatever; and b) That it is in fact true that the united states government frames people, sends them to prison, kills people, etc., and We have to be conscious that anybody who poses a threat, imagined or real -- is subject to that kind of repression. So that it is key to not deal with the specifics of the cases, but to demand amnesty for all political prisoners, period.

And also to realize, as political activists, if i do not struggle to liberate those who have been in prison for so long, then i am creating a situation where the government feels freer and freer to come after me. If We do not struggle to liberate those political prisoners who have been in prison since the 60s; since the beginning of 1970, then what are We saying to our youth? Are We saying: "Alright you struggle, if the FBI frames you, well, it's your problem. We're not going to defend you, we're not going to fight for your liberation. We accept the propaganda. We accept the right of the poor to be used as a repressive instrument, We accept that. We accept the position of the government. We accept the position of accusations of the government".

...If white people want to know what they can do in terms of struggling, one of the things they can do is struggle on a much more intense level to liberate political prisoners.

**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

the interview exerpts were taken from:
www.afrikan.net/crossroad/aataview.html
(sorry, i don't know how to post a link)

the places where ihave inserted "..." mean there is text missing, be it a sentence or a paragraph. i recommend the entire article, however, it is hard to read in the format on the crossroads site. so, i suggest copying it into a word doc and printing it out.

and laslty, giving credit where credit is due:

This interview first appeared in the Spring, Summer, and Fall 1992 issues of CROSSROAD.
Spear & Shield Publications
1340 West Irving Park Road
Suite 108
Chicago, Illinois 60613




**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh

Thanx for the very informative and up to date post of Sista' Assata . . . we in her mother's home have long supported the demands for our country's release of her from Cuban exile . . .and we support Castro for not cowtowing to the bullying tactics of American Government . . .many ask we does a country of our size and resources consistently denounce and withold trade embargoes with such a small country . . .the answer is very simple. . .Cuba is rich in land and resources that our government would like to forcibly control . . .Castro has refused any agreement with America to develop and purchase land in his country . . .realizing that once Americans are allowed to purchase land . . .pretty soon they will move in upon this little island like a virus and Cuba as it is known will be no more . . .if u follow history . . there is a pattern. . .why does our media not inform our citizens that Cuba has a 100% literacy rate and that they have contained the AIDS virus . . .why is it our governments attempt to proselytize.. .or destroy any group of people that will not submit. ..

All is love. ..
Peace & Blessings~
Legal Tenda'

Thanx for the very informative and up to date post on Sista' Assata . . . we in her mother's home have long supported the demands for our country's release of her from Cuban exile . . .and we support Castro for not cowtowing to the bullying tactics of the American Government . . .many ask why does a country of our size and resource consistently denounce and withold trade embargoes from such a small country . . .the answer is very simple. . .Cuba is rich in land and resources that our government would like to forcibly control . . .Castro has refused any agreement with America to develop and purchase land in his country . . .realizing that once Americans are allowed to purchase land and develop on it shores with condos/casinos, etc that many of they're citizens will not be able to afford to enjoy . . .pretty soon white Americans will move upon this little island like a virus and Cuba as it is known will be no more . . .if u follow history . . there is a pattern. . .why does our media not inform our citizens that Cuba has a 100% literacy rate and that they have contained the AIDS virus . . .why is it our governments attempt to proselytize.. .or destroy any group of people that will not submit. ..

All is love. ..
Peace & Blessings~
Legal Tenda'