<html>
<body>
<font face="arial" size=2>This is the editorial position of Nation Time
publisher, Iyaluua Akinwole.<br>
A national Jericho co-chairs statement is in process. <br><br>
Many thanks,<br>
Efia Nwangaza, National Co-Chair<br>
The Jericho Mvmt <br><br>
<br>
</font><font size=3>We just received this excellent criticism of the
Millions More March from<br>
National Jericho.<br><br>
Minister Louis Farrakhan laid out a beautiful program of<br>
self-determination in his 80-minute speech at the Million More
Movement<br>
Rally on Saturday, October 15, then stopped short of declaring for<br>
sovereignty and independence for our people and opted instead for a<br>
separate political party and a Disaster Relief Fund.<br><br>
It was this failure to offer a new and meaningful direction to our<br>
liberation struggle that disappointed many of the millions who
attended<br>
the rally and watched it on television.<br><br>
Even the concept of unity of all streams of thought in the Black
nation<br>
was flawed a concept touted throughout the event as well as in
promotion<br>
of the event. Indeed, there were many representatives of the Black
church,<br>
but no representatives of liberation theology like Father Lawrence
Lucas<br>
and Imam Talib. Politicians spoke; labor leaders spoke. The Black
farmers<br>
were there; the Hip-Hop Nation made a strong presentation, though
weakened<br>
by the ramblings of Erycha Beaudou. Native Americans joined the<br>
denunciation of the u.s. government; the usual civil rights leaders<br>
addressed the gathering. There was an international section of the
program<br>
in which we heard from Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban
National<br>
Assembly, and Prime Minister P.J. Patterson of Jamaica.<br><br>
However, with the exception of Chokwe Lumumba, who was alloted only
one<br>
minute to speak, no prominent nationalist was on the platform program.
No<br>
official from the Provisional Government of the Republic of New
Afrika<br>
spoke. There was no one from the New Afrikan Liberation Front. There
was<br>
almost a complete white-out of the views and determinations of those
who<br>
believe in and struggle for independence and sovereignty for New
Afrikans.<br><br>
The plight of our political prisoners and prisoners of war, whose<br>
sacrifices and struggles are what made it possible for a Millions
More<br>
Movement to assemble on the Mall opposite the Capitol building
without<br>
being mowed down by u.s. army gunfire, was given such short shrift
that<br>
many consider it the shame of the day.<br><br>
“The Jericho Movement was organized and endorsed by political
prisoners<br>
and ex-political prisoners.” said Efia Nwangaza, National Co-Chair
of<br>
Jericho. “Yet we were told we had 30 seconds to make a presentation
on<br>
behalf of our brothers and sisters. Thirty seconds to speak for men
and<br>
women who have been imprisoned for twenty, thirty and some over
forty<br>
years because of their defense of our human rights, our
dignity.”<br><br>
It had been arranged for the organizers of the rally to visit Mumia<br>
Abu-Jamal. Mumia taped a message for the rally. The tape was given
to<br>
Attorney Malik Shabazz, but he never played the tape. Millions of
people<br>
would have been energized by hearing from Mumia, who remains on Death
Row<br>
in Pennsylvania, while the people struggle to gain his freedom.
Playing<br>
Mumia's tape would have been a warning to the u.s. government that
Mumia's<br>
powerful voice and spirit will not be silenced. Instead, the program<br>
organizers kept Mumia mute. Silencing the brother was one of the
greater<br>
sins of the day.<br><br>
The presentations re the political prisoners, and the presentations of
the<br>
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Chokwe Lumumba, were scheduled for
the<br>
early part of the program, ensuring a minimal audience; the crowd did
not<br>
begin to swell until mid-afternoon.<br><br>
The existence of political prisoners is the dirty secret of the u.s.<br>
government, The Jericho Movement maintains a constant struggle for<br>
recognition of and amnesty for political prisoners and prisoners of
war.<br>
This Millions More Movement snubbed them, refused to allot an
appropriate<br>
amount of time to their spokesperson, and seemingly collaborated with
the<br>
u.s. government in keeping their existence a secret. Attorney
Shabazz<br>
attempted to address the issue near the end of the rally, but several
of<br>
the political prisoners have said, “he cannot speak for us.”<br><br>
When asked if Bush was guilty of “criminal neglect” in the Katrina<br>
disaster, every hand on the Mall was raised in affirmation. When asked
if<br>
the troops in Iraq should be brought home now, every hand on the Mall
was<br>
raised in affirmation. When asked if Bush should be impeached for
high<br>
crimes and treason because of his engaging in a war based on lies
and<br>
subterfuge to the american people, every hand on the mall was raised
in<br>
affirmation. But no direction was given to mobilize this force into
an<br>
instrument that would make impeachment happen.<br><br>
Dorothy Benton-Lewis of NCOBRA was scheduled to speak, but she was
bumped<br>
because of some programming glitch. In fact there were several “dead
air”<br>
spots in the program during the day that could have been utilized to<br>
address issues crucial to Black folks.<br><br>
A sister named Kim posted this comment about the October 16 rally on
the<br>
internet: “What happened? I am not sure what to tell my people that
did<br>
not come to DC. I am going home to do what I have been doing and that
has<br>
not been enough. What was the purpose? Reparations should have been
the<br>
main agenda and Katrina was more reason to tell our people that it
is<br>
NATION TIME. BLACK NATION TIME. How are we going to do anything if
our<br>
leaders are fearfully delivering messages to the masses and the message
is<br>
fruitless? We don't have time to be fearful and civilized. We are
dying<br>
brothah ... and if we can come together million + strong, then we
should<br>
be coming together bringing spiritual, hardcore, revolutionary energy.
We<br>
had an opportunity to do that yesterday and it was lost. I am leaving
and<br>
returning home to fight even harder because our leaders are getting
old<br>
and too humble .”<br><br>
It was a bright sunny day on the Mall, but a dark, dark shadow still
hangs<br>
over the National Liberation Struggle of New Afrikan people held
captive<br>
in the united states. Little was said or done at the Millions More<br>
Movement Rally to help move New Afrikans to eradicate that
shadow.<br><br>
—Iyaluua Akinwole<br><br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3>
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freedomarchives.org</a> </font></body>
</html>