Our Time PressThe Local Paper with the Global View

Damian
Million Youth March High School Representative
“There is an old Negro proverb: It takes a Village to  Raise a Child.  Well, we are the Village.  We are the Hands.  And the nation is our child.  And, as younger people in our society, we often hear the words, “The youth are our future.”  Well, you know what, youth?  We need to begin the future now, and stop waiting for the future to come tomorrow.  Going into the New Millennium, we make history.  Well, we are history.  As we stand here today, we are making tomorrow’s history today.  As I walk down the historical landmarks here in our Village,  I often dream that officials will one day name one of our streets in our Village – name it after us and call it The New Millennium Blvd.  I hope that we can one day come together as a people, as youth and as adults, to come together and move forward.   The New Millennium is here.   People categorize some of the older folks as hippies and baby boomers.  What do they call us?  Generation X.  What does that mean?  X has no meaning, X stands for no brand.  Well, I’ve been doing some homework.  X stands for New Millennium, and We are the New Millennium.   It was five-years-ago that my cousin had the opportunity to go directly into the NBA or to any college he wanted to.  He was robbed of that chance, robbed of that dream over whose first in line at a White Castle in the South Bronx.  He was shot dead over a -burger.  The New Millennium.   I can’t really say what I wrote because I don’t have the time.  But I’m going to just tell you how I feel.  We hear the words “No Justice, No Peace.”  What does that mean?  It doesn’t mean that if we don’t get justice we going pick up a gun and shoot ya.  “No Justice, No Peace” means if we don’t get justice, you won’t get peace of mind.  It means we will walk a hundred miles if we gotta.  By all means necessary.  It means we’ll stop wearing those fancy sneakers because it has the brothers and sisters killing each other for ’em.  I can go on and on but I don’t’ have the time… Like I said we ain’t out to kill nobody.   We’re the most passive people out here.  We’ve been working hard and we continue to strive and we continue to get knocked down.  I’m tryin’ to shake you.  I’m gonna be honest with you.  (A sign is handed to Damian.)  I gotta big old sign here that says Time.   Well, the time is now.  We need to get ready. We’re going into the New Millennium.  There’s no reason we should go into the New Millennium like this and I mean not only to find the ways we portray ourselves in our Village – we got to get that straight; this is a Village.  When you hear Village, what do you hear?  You hear peace.  You here love, Encouragement.  Well, I’m ready to go, but there’s one thing I’ve got to say: We’ve got to change the ways we treat our Mothers and Fathers and the way Mothers and Fathers treat their sons and daughters.  We got to change the way sons and daughters treat their brothers and sisters.  We need to get in it to win it.  And the time is now, I tell you.  And I beg and plead that we will all come together as one.   As we rob and steal from each other, there’s someone at home right now laughing at us.  Why give them the satisfaction?  We’re the only group that kills and fight each other – Why?  We’re the only group that had to get permission to be here today – Why?  And I will no longer tolerate it.  Now, time is an issue here but I encourage you all to hold each other’s hands, give each other a hug. Tell each other that we love each other.  And we need to move on.  The time is now.” 

Delois Blakely,
Sister-Queen, Honorary Mayor of Harlem

“The Black Mother of civilization is who I am.  I am on the Sphinx in Egypt and I walk the streets of Harlem. I went with Queen Mother Moore to the Million Man March.  (I brought) the warrior queen, sister  Winnie Mandela, to the Million Woman March. I am now standing in an historic spot in time at the Million Youth March.  I say to you, youth.   I say to you, my children: You come from a Mother of civilization.  You come out of my womb, and I want you to listen to me very carefully.  You have a right, you have a right – you’re hearing this from the Mother of civilization – to come home.  Harlem is home.  You can always come home.  I come to say to you that we want to hear what you have to say.  We’re here.   We rocked civilization.  500 million plus came out of the dungeons and the slave trafficking and through The Door of No Return.  I say to you, you come from my wombs and you will return to the continent of Mother Africa to inherent everything that you own, and your rightful place in history.   As the Mother of civilization I say to you, I will listen, I will listen, I will listen and hear from you today.  We love you.  We bring peace to you.  We bring our higher forces to you.  The God force of all life, we bring to you.
 The Five Percent Nation
“(Giuliani) wants us to fight and kill each other.  But we’re not having it, Black people.  We’re not having it. Everybody say, “Peace.”  You tried to stop our fathers, you tried to stop our mothers.  You had a problem trying to stop their babies.  Here we are America.   Everybody who is about to enter back into this wicked educational system, I want you to say, “Knowledge of self to better yourself.”  We are here in the spirit and essence of Christopher Wallace — the Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur.”

The Reverend Al Sharpton President,
The National Action Network
First, let me say I’m happy to have with me today to welcome youth from around the nation to the Million Youth March in Harlem,  Senator Ephraim Gonzalez who works with us in coalition.  You might have heard on the news that some people didn’t want you here.  But we come Black and Latino as a coalition to say, as the Mayor in Exile in New York, Welcome to Harlem.  As we talk about Black Power , we’re standing on Malcolm X Blvd.,  the convener of this march, Brother Khalid Muhammad, comes out of a movement started by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.  Then the movement was represented by Malcolm X the man they named this boulevard after. Now there is Minister Farrakhan.  There have always been different roads in our community, but we have not until late let people tell us when we could debate and dialogue on those roads.  One block over is Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.  Powell was a man who helped create the phrase Black Power. Even though he disagreed with Malcolm on some things, even though Malcolm disagreed with him on some things, they would stand on the corners of Harlem and speak together and debate together and work it out in front of the people.  And if Adam can stand with Malcolm, then Al Sharpton can come to the Million Youth March and stand up and not apologize to nobody.  Minister Khalid and I have had our differences, but I’m no boy and I’m not instructed by nobody, where to go and when to go, how far to go and how long to stay. Unequivocally, I’m against hate. I fought all my life against hate.   I get up every morning and see a scar from hate on my chest where a man stabbed me in Bensonhurst and I forgave him.  I unequivocally am against any form of anti-anything white, anti-Semitism, homophobia … any of that.  I ran for Mayor because of a coalition and I will continue to stand up and tell you we must make alliances.  But we can not be boys and we can not be told what to say whenever we go forward. 
Let’s be clear that if you got something to say, you don’t run from your children, you come to your children and you tell them,  “Let’s build together.”   Lastly, there are a lot of problems, and we have talked about everything in the media but the youth problem.   The problems are there is a surplus budget and they are building jails rather than schools.   We are 12 to 15 per cent of the population, but 55 percent of those who are in jail.  We are those that are now being put on workfare programs and they are closing open admissions to schools in New York, and they’re doing Proposition 209 in California.  That’s why we need to march.  Today there is a young man 16 years old laying on critical in Kings County Hospital shot at 17 times because he had a water gun. That’s why we March.  We don’t march out of hate; we march because we love ourselves and we love our children and we don’t want to see our children subjected to police brutality and a bad educational system and an unfair criminal justice system.  I am clear that the alliance of Goodman and Schwerner and Chaney died so I could run for Mayor.  I am clear on Abner Loiuma.  I am clear on what we did in the Civil Rights Era and  I’m also clear that today we must address the youth and not be intimidated by others to run us away.   And you must be clear as you come to Harlem, don’t let them defame Harlem.  
This is not a Village of hate; this is a village of hope.  In this Village, grandmamas raised their grandbabies on subsidized income.  This is a Village of hope, not hate.  In this Village, young people get up everyday facing the odds, trying to seek a better and fairer way of existing, This is not a Village of hate, this is a Village of hope.  This is where we have had some of the best minds, best entertainers, best athletes in the world.  So I welcome you to the Land of Giants.  John Henrik Clarke who recently made his transition lived in Harlem.  Adam Powell lived in Harlem. Welcome to the Land of Giants.  This is where Paul Robeson was.  This is where Malcolm was.  This is where Queen Mother Moore was.  Welcome to the Land of Giants. This is where we raised some of the greatest entertainers on the Apollo stage.  Welcome to the Land of Giants.  This is where Mr. Michaux’s bookstore was.  Welcome to the Land of Giants.  Don’t let no midgets give us a bad name.  There’s still some giants in Harlem, and we’re going to stand up for our Black people.
Min. Conrad Muhammad 
C. H. H.A N. G. E.
We need a change.  This has to be the first minute of a new day.  This generation has got to stand up.   I’m standing here with Brother Yusef Salaam who was falsely accused a few years ago with the rape of a woman in Central Park. The police department not only arrested the confessed brother, but everybody who was associated with that day.  But look at California.   A degenerate killed and raped a nine-year-old black girl, and his partner — his accomplice in the act — is now a freshman at the University of California at Berkeley while Yusef  Salaam spent time in jail. That’s why we need a change.  That’s why the hip hop generation must stand up.  Now more than ever we’ve got to stand.  We’ve lost a generation to death, black on black violence. We’re killing more of each other than the Ku Klux Klan ever did.  We need a change.  Tupac Shakur was shot down in Las Vegas.  Two years later, Tupac is dead, Biggie is dead, Orlando Anderson  who they said killed Tupac is dead.  Suge Knight is in jail. We’ve lost a generation of black men to death and jail.  We need a change.  Stand up and let’s make a change.  Stand up strong and we can change America and change the world.”
Brother Ayimbe
Youth Representative,
The All-African People’s
Revolutionary Party
“My comments are directed specifically to our youth and the students amongst us.   The primary task ahead of us as we look to achieving our revolution, is to transform our struggle for liberation from a spontaneous, mobilized action-oriented activity to an organized, coordinated activity.  This has been our fundamental problem, and this is what continues to plague us.  Mobilization speaks only to influencing power.  Organization speaks to seizing and wielding power.  This is our problem: we are politically powerless.  We must bring conscious coordination to our struggle by joining permanent organizations.  The greatest contribution youth and students can make to our process is by joining and building permanent organizations. This is where the problem has been.  This is the solution to our problems.  Without revolutionary consciousness, there is no revolution.  Our students, in particular, must bring concrete, scientific ideas to the liberation struggle.  The problem we face is the problem of abysmal political ignorance.   The only way we can correct that is with mass political revolutionary consciousness within an organization.  So I’m calling on everyone who is serious about our problem to get organized.  If you look ahead and above, you will see the police on buildings – very strategic.  That’s organization.  That is not haphazard.  That’s not shuck and jive.  Our solution is Pan- Africanism, the total liberation and unification of Africa under one continental union Socialist government for Africa.  It is only this action which will be able to safeguard and protect the African masses wherever they are, scattered and suffering throughout the world.  Africans, please get organized.  This is our solution.” 

Chief Long Walker
of the Ocala Tribe in California
“It’s hard for me to come into the city.  Where I live on the mountain, we are in charge of creation.  We have enough power here today. We are the majority. When the slave escaped, he was taken in by my ancestors.  From that day forward we became true blood brothers.  We are one people today, we are no longer separated. We are the landlords of this western hemisphere and you are the only people we welcomed. (The crowd roars.)  One more thing.  I am tired of speaking.  It seems like all of us – and I hate to say this -we have constipation of the minds and diarrhea of the mouth.  I am not a violent man, but I am tired of what they have been doing to us for over 500 winters…  All I have to say is we are our own worst enemies because we have allowed them to do that to us.  They do not have the power.  We do.  In closing we say, Red and Black Power.”

Voices From the Crowd

DJ SUPREME
Record Producer

“I seen the cops go into the middle section where the money was coming through.  I was right there with the press.  And after the money went through, they started assembling in the middle of the block in the back of the stage.  They acted like we were in the 1960’s when they used to use hoses and dogs on Black people.  But some of the Black officers, male and female, were breaking.  They didn’t want to be down with this.   They were saying, “This is bullshit.”  You should have heard some of their responses.  They felt bad about being there, and they walked away.  This day, the black community tried to be united and Giuliani was saying he had an Army.  And he had his boys out there acting up.  No other marches and parades are treated like this.  He don’t do that to any of them.  Why he have to do it to Black folks?  (Some people) wanted to get their kids out of there.  When they started moving in, you saw people grabbing their kids and leaving.  So the majority of the youth were out of there by the time the riot police started their thing.  When it jumped off, I moved out the way. I couldn’t understand it.
“Then when I got punched in the chest.  All I wanted to do was get to my car.  This cop looked at me in my face, snatched his badge off and punched me in the chest.  I wasn’t having it, but I started to leave.  He punched me kinda hard but it was just something to laugh it.  It was kinda funny.  Here, you have some cops trying to do the right thing.  But this one, he was off his rocker. 
“He took his badge off, then punched me dead in the chest.  Then he put his hand on my stomach to push me back.  But he couldn’t move me. He was standing there frightened.  His hands were shaking like a little girl’s.  I gave him that look.   They the ones trying to oppress people.  He was so scared after what he did because the reaction from my face was not valid.  He felt bad because I didn’t react.   All I wanted to do was get my ride because if I lost it I would have to take a train.  The reason I didn’t react the way he wanted me, had I made a funny move, he would have pulled out a gun.  But I felt his fear.  That’s why I played it cool.
“So when I left you (OTP had interceded when an enraged DJ started yelling at a police officer), “Mouse” and I went and found the cop that did it and Mouse starts to videotape the guy, the cop, and he’s laughing in my face. Just laughing.  We have him on videotape laughing.  I had to be in control.  That discipline comes from a lot of martial arts training.  A lot of  Kung Fu and Karate.  I am a third degree black belt.   I trained under Earnest Hightower.  It shows you how to hold your head even more.
“While the rest of his boys cheered him on, I did the right thing. So my friend, “Mouse” got this guy, the cop, on camera and me asking him why he punched me.  He was smirking and smiling.  I went over to the captain.  Now the captain is supposed to give a different response.  His response wasn’t correct with me.  I asked the captain, “Yo, all I wanted to do was go with my friend.  The officer had no right…”He interrupts me.  He tells, “You wanta make a complaint, go to 666 Broadway.”   When he laughed, I sort of laughed.  I felt his fear.  I had no choice but to laugh because he wanted a reaction and he didn’t get it. And what scared him the most was my reaction. Those cops come from a different area.  They take them out the suburbs and out them right smack in the middle of Harlem.
“I got to give my people a whole lot of credit for holding their heads cause they did it real slick.  They did it behind the stage.   They came there for a riot.  Nothing more. Nothing less. Everything was beautiful. All day long. No problems.  How could they do it with kids there.  How could they bumrush the stage after a couple of minutes after the hour.”  
We arrived at the Million Youth March at about 1pm.  When I heard the voice of a woman who sounded like Sister Soljah, I started moving through the crowd, down Malcolm X Blvd.,  closer to the stage.   Barriers were placed all around to discourage us; we just kept moving. Around, over and under.
I was with four people, Melissa, Brian and Rasheed.  We came to a barricade a woman said was locked and couldn’t get through. Her child sat on the ground nearby.  I examined the barrier and saw it wasn’t locked, so I started pulling it up.  The woman said, “Watch my son! Watch my son!”   I replied, “Yes, Mam.  I see your son.  He’s all our children.”  Then two men who heard me came over and helped us lift the barricade.
A Celebration

Queen Afua, the speaker who I thought was Sister Soljah, had finished  by the time we reached the front of the stage. There,  I saw more people I knew from Brooklyn.  On stage,  a warrior woman began to sing to a Reggae beat.  Everyone swayed and danced in their spaces.  I saw a teacher-friend Ms. Nzingha dancing and called her to come over.   At that point, everybody was so happy; it was a celebration.  An older gentleman told someone how the City didn’t want to let us have any sort of music like that because they thought it would prompt a riot or negative actions.   But that was a real moment.  The  people who lived on Malcolm X Blvd. were looking out of the windows, they were on the terraces, the fire escapes.  It was beautiful.  Except for all the law enforcement people present.  They, too, were on the terraces and the fire escapes and at the windows.

Anything Could Happen
Ms. Nzingha went back into the stage area, and we didn’t see each other again. Meanwhile, I started taking pictures.  After a while,   I looked up and saw what I thought were sharpshooters on the roof of the building.  We thought he was an assassin because we were looking for all those kinds of things. Anything could happen.  A black female camera operator got another cameraman to come over.  She, too, thought the figure on the roof  looked strange. The man’s head was half hidden; he was looking sideways as if he was looking through the lens of a sharpshooter’s gun. That’s why we were suspicious.   We couldn’t be sure what the man on the roof was doing, and that he wasn’t aiming at us.   But that sister got someone right on it, and she confirmed right away, looking through the camera lens, that there was no obvious weapon. 
I was not too faraway from Reggie Harris, the reporter for a local New York station.  I observed him reporting. He too had been watching for a long time.
For The Ancestors, Tears
 The actress who starred in “Sankofa” moved me. She poured libations and spoke in one of Africa’s mother tongues. I have never seen anything like it before; old people cried when she encouraged us to “Call out the names of your ancestors you know were in bondage.”  The elders broke down.  Young people helped a woman who collapsed from weeping.   She may have had a family member close to that time who was in bondage and she was remembering.  
I was impressed with the Native American elder’s speech.  I look up to our Native American brothers just as I look up to Black leaders. As the Native American woman spoke, at first I could not see her. I heard her voice, and thought she was a Black woman talking about the struggles of Black people.  She said: we’re all in the same struggle, it’s not a black thing, it’s a red, yellow, brown and black thing.  March organizers asked permission of the Native Americans to use the land, to use the space in Harlem, along Malcolm X Blvd. for the March. I respect that very much. When Chief Long Walker spoke,  he commanded power and attention.  He was so strong yet he was so peaceful.  I have never before seen Native Americans  like this, up close. Real, strong Native Americans.
When organizers asked for donations, they said, “Give whatever you can”.  Red buckets were distributed, and people passed 20s, 10s, fives, hundreds, checks.  One brother next to me said, “This is beautiful. This is really beautiful.” No one took any of the money.  I saw young people you  see around the way who do certain things in the hood.  They behaved and  passed the money.  Those brothers were in control, listening.  That was brotherhood working right there.
Like Vietnam
I don’t believe March organizers purposely went over four o’clock.  It’s just that everyone had something to say.  They knew how many speakers they were going to have, and there were several more at the last minute. Time was measured, but when Brother Khalid began to speak, it was a couple of minutes to four.  My friend was  like, “It’s almost four o’clock.  Dag, we got to be gettin’ out of here.”  Brother Khalid  said that the police were going to provoke a riot.  It was almost like he was predicting  what was going to happen.  A few minutes after that he said some things  – and that part was wrong.  Some people spontaneously started shouting, but what really revved up some people had to do with the police helicopter zooming down to within a few hundred feet of the crowd.  They may have zoomed over the crowd in reaction to what he said, but I think it was mostly to make the crowd go crazy. Then, a second one swooped over.  These were like fighter planes in Vietnam – swooping down to drop bombs.  The only time I’ve ever seen that is in war movies.  That’s what scared me, and that’s what angered me.   I’m sure they were taking pictures of the crowd, and I think that’s illegal.
“Slow Down. Don’t Run”
The crowd had begun to disperse even before Khalid spoke.  Others were leaving as he was speaking.  I was momentarily enraged.  I was angry because I did not understand why the police were acting this way, what was going on.  At that point, we were in the back of the stage facing the police in riot gear.  We were trying to figure out real fast what direction to go.  Someone said let’s go towards the podium, away from the crowd. We didn’t want to go into the crowd because more people were moving away from the stage than toward it.  I said, “Let’s go that way (pointing to the eastside of the stage area).”  I thought we could get away quicker. 

As I turned around to head to the side of the stage, I saw objects fly into the air.  I saw police in riot gear – shields – sticks, pushing people back.  Some police were moving towards the stage, but some were moving towards the crowd sort of like they were closing in on whoever was over there.  I saw people screaming.  It was so instantaneous.  As the riot police moved in, someone grabbed me out of their way, and we all started running.  Then Rasheed says, “Slow down. Don’t run!” We all stopped running.  We told each other not to panic.  We started walking in haste down a side street.  We passed more police officers, and continued down the side street.  Although I felt safer, there were people running still.  A lady was saying, “My heart, my heart.  I have heart problems.  I can’t take this.”  There were women with small children trying to get out of there.
Blessings
  Once we got down the street, we stopped at a fruit stand run by some elderly Black people outside their house. We bought oranges.  And the lady was like, “God Bless you. God Bless you.” She was giving us her blessing, but it didn’t end there for us.
 We continued walking up to Marcus Garvey Park. As we approached the park, we saw a chilling sight. There were 25 police officers lined up on horse back – we know because my friend counted them – 25.  They were blocking us. They were standing their on horseback with riot gear.  There were only two black officers in the bunch. And there was a captain, on the first horse.  It was scary because these police officers were positioned on horseback, just standing there, positioned. There also were women with children who were passing by these men on horseback. There was one little girl passing with her mother.  She said, “Ooh, mommy, can I touch the horses?” And the mother said, “No, I don’t think so.”
We got up to 125th Street.  All was calm. Vendors from all parts of the country were out there selling books and tee shirts.  It was crowded with shoppers because it was Saturday and it was no-tax day.  I saw one of my friends who used to be in the dance department at Harlem School of the Arts.  Her mother owns a fabric store where she sells African cloth and she is a seamstress. That’s where I will buy my fabric from now on.  As a matter of fact, Blockbusters was closed.  They either didn’t want our business or they didn’t want to be a part of this day. They were not supporting whatever was going on.  There could be another reason why they were closed: some of the businesses were probably notified there would be looting and rioting.
Awakening
We walked down 125th Street looking for a bathroom.  We went in all these places – Burger King, McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Popeye’s – looking for a bathroom.  The places were packed. We finally went to a McDonald’s on 124th Street.  As we waited on the line, a brother asked, “You just come from the March?” I said, “Yeah. You?” He said,”Yeah.” Then he was telling me how he was up close. He told me that the police officers in riot gear were pushing and beating people and someone was fighting one of the officers back, trying to defend himself.   He said the police officer took the brother, picked him up and threw him over the barricade.  He told me it was seven minutes after four when Brother Khalid’s speech ended.  He said the police started moving at four. They didn’t give the people a chance.  He said the people were peacefully retreating and the police started coming in like they wanted to beat those people down. I wasn’t fearful of the police.
 To tell you the truth that’s when I realized the police really started the whole thing. That’s when I realized it.  The police are supposed to protect and serve us.  And they were supposed to protect us not attack us.  I was not afraid of men and women  in uniforms authorized to carry guns. I was afraid of getting hurt.  I was afraid that a lot of people with kids and a lot of women would get hurt.
Preparations
To prepare for this day, I told all my friends to not bring anything that resembles a weapon. I said if something happens, they will bring us all down to jail, bring us all on charges.  I told them we can’t give them any excuse to arrest us.  I told them that was their way of making money.  As one young man from Los Angeles said at the March, more than two dozen new jails have been built in Los Angeles alone.  Although he talked about Los Angeles, in New York, it’s also a business.  Whether they take us into jail or kill us, it’s making money.  If they kill us it would be called justifiable murder, justifiable homicide. Both ways, they are getting rid of us.
I had on my long army camouflage skirt.  But I had shorts on underneath just in case I would have to get out of  there. I wore sneakers and my Million Youth March shirt from Sista’s Cafe. We had two bookbags filled with expendables,  water and fruit. The only thing of importance were my keys and my student ID. If I were to lose them, they could be replaced.
Love for the People vs Hate
for the enemy
Personally, I think Brother Khalid’s anger was over everything that happened the last few months with the courts and everything. It was pent-up anger over everything that he’s experienced.  

Chapter 15 of Frances Cress Welsing’s book,  “The Isis Papers” speaks to Brother Khalid and why he said the things he said.  Ms. Welsing writes that getting angry should have nothing to do with what you want to do.   She writes that when  you are a soldier or a warrior you can’t let your emotions cloud your mind or get the best of you.  I think what has to happen is  you have to have the love for your people guide you as a soldier.  That’s the passion that should get you passionate – not the anger.   Anger can get the best of you.  Love for your people overpowers the anger.  Let me read from Welsing’s book: “In our powerlessness and our frustration, we get mad…. (yet)  we prepare again to vote for (people) …  who will take us nowhere.” 
What Now?
On September 5, they paraded us like cows. Let’s move, they said. Let’s keep moving, they told us.  Now everyone regrets not voting for Sharpton – that’s the word on the street.   The young people who could have voted, didn’t.  So this is what we get.
Now there’s a sense of urgency.  Young people are saying,”Okay. Now what do we do next?”  And they are saying,  “It’s about voting and getting involved in some group.” But some youth don’t really know what groups to get involved in. We really don’t know what groups to join. A few of the young speakers at the March said what we should do. Some of the older speakers told us why we should do what we have to do.  But no one said where we should go?   Erica Ford said a good thing; young people should join in the boycott of white-owned businesses for three months, especially in December.  Minister Conrad Muhammad, the Hip Hop minister,  is organizing a new youth empowerment organization, C.H.H.A.N.G.E.  He is calling for change which we desperately need.
I think marching into the millennium rappers are powerful, they should devise a plank, organize a permanent organization, a union, and be involved. That’s also what young people need to do in their communities – be involved.  Rappers need to get educated about our culture. Although Rap is so many streams, all they would have to do is put the positive messages  about education, self-love, self-empowerment in their rap.  If they did, that message would be sent to millions of youth around the world.  The Million Youth March shows we need a code, a plan as we  move into the new Millennium.

Nation-Conscious Rap Artists…Around Unity
We’ve seen Brother Kazembe at several Unity Party rallies and meetings.  He is a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, currently living in the Albany Houses.  He is an activist who is working locally in his area as well as citywide on the Mary France for Governor  campaign.
OTP:  What is the Universal Nubian Association.
Brother Kazembe: The Universal Nubian Association is a loose network of Pan-Africanists and African Nationalists.  Young adults based mostly in New York City.
OTP:  What groups are involved and what is it that you do?
BK: Our primary focus is promoting nationalism and Garveyism in particular.  We work in the trenches.   We try to be involved with everything that’s going on in the movement and in providing troops and assisting other groups. We’re also on the campuses of BMCC and Lehman College.  We work to organize students around fighting against tuition increases and understanding the role that access to tutorial services has traditionally played at CUNY. We’ve been around for ten years in different forms.
We have a small membership, but we use our resources and our time to assist all of the larger existing organizations that are out there such as the United African Movement, the National Action Network, the Unity Party and so forth. 
We use our influence in our circles to work with groups that are doing work.  We have a chapter in the Bronx and in Brooklyn.  Sometimes our activity is just to encourage people to come out to the House of Justice or the Harriet Tubman School, to get information and to contribute funds if they can or just become involved in the overall movement. We used to have a base at the Muse on Bedford Avenue.  We’ve worked with people like Una Mozak, Sonny Carson, Alton Maddox and some younger people like Kevin Muhammad, Brother Eric Muhammad, Sista Soljah, Erica Ford, people like that.
OTP:  When I hear Garveyism or Nubian or Nationalism, I don’t usually associate that with the kind of work the Unity Party is doing.  How do you make that connection?
BK:  Within the Universal Nubian Association, we believe that we have to use the totality of struggle to achieve our ends.   That means whatever has the potential to work and advance the condition of our people, we will use.  It could be the ballot or protesting in the street.   Historically, over the years, our organization has kept good relations with different forces in the movement that didn’t relate to each other.  For example, for a while there was a big thing between Sharpton and Sonny Carson.   During those years we related to and did programs with both of those brothers.    We were able to do this because within our organization we felt that both of those forces were doing good and we were able to relate to both of them.  Now as far as the Unity Party is concerned, we definitely believe that there is a need for a Black led progressive political party in the state of New York and in this country.    When Sharpton ran for mayor and Barron ran for city council, I counseled both of them to consider running not as Democrats but as independents.   I thought that would have given them a better chance of impacting on the people in a permanent way and also potentially winning.   Especially since they would have been insured of having a rematch in the general election.   That didn’t happen in those two elections, but they are both in the vanguard of supporting and building the Unity Party which would serve this purpose in future elections.   The reason we are supporting the Unity Party is because we see the potential for it to be a Black organization.  That’s important to us, not because we think black people are superior just because they’re black, because we don’t.   We do see ourselves as black people, and we believe that because of the history of this country, and the way this country has developed, race is a key element, a key organizing element for us as a people because that’s how we’ve been oppressed.  We haven’t been oppressed because of our religion, our class or ethnicity or the language we speak.   Elements such as class may be present, but overall, race is the main factor and those other things come into it.   Therefore we believe there should be a black-led party as this country diversifies.   As black people, seeing the world through our own eyes, we demand, insist, and will fight for the need for acknowledgment of the contributions of black people in building this country and creating a progressive agenda.  The civil rights movement of the sixties led to benefits for women and other ethnic groups.   That was led by the black community.  Now as the country continues to diversify, we want the recent immigrants to this country to acknowledge and respect the contribution that black people have made.   Since the Democratic, Republican and Liberal parties are controlled by white people and corporations, we believe that the Unity party must be multiracial and black led.

OTP:  What kind of work do you do to increase participation in the electoral process? 
BK:  The main thing is to be out in the streets spreading the word.   Last year the Universal Nubian Association sponsored a cable show on BCAT called “Nubian Voices”.   We did a couple of shows around the political process and young adults and their opinions about the mayoral race when Sharpton was running.   Basically it’s voter education.  Getting the word out about the issues and the importance about how an individual can impact the system.  Not just by voting on election day, but also keeping a constant relationship with the local elected officials and other elected officials that represent them.  So we go out in the streets and encourage young people to get involved in the political process.   Right around now it’s been difficult because of the situation with the President.  People are pessimistic about the whole political process.  This is what I’ve seen over the past few weeks while carrying around the literature about Mary France and the Unity Party.  But I think that will pass.   Long term, I see young adults getting involved in the political process because Hip Hop culture has an impact on young adults worldwide.  Many of the leaders, be they artists or just people involved with the industry are starting to focus more on organizing that culture to get them to be more political and active as far as social issues.   I see that in the near future, possibly in time for this election to get Mary France those 50,000 votes, but definitely going into the new millennium, a new upsurge in activism coming from young adults because the Hip Hop Culture is beginning to focus in on that.   Steps are being taken to organize that energy and get the young adults to see that historically culture has played a key role in empowerment.  People like Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier they assisted the civil rights movement.   Prior to that you had the great Paul Robeson.  In the 80’s you had Public Enemy and KRS One and X-Clan as part of the Hip Hop generation.  That sort of got knocked out of the box by so-called Gangsta Rap.   Gangsta Rap took over.  But nowadays I see an upsurge in nation-conscious rap and that bodes well for young adults being involved in the political process.  The Nubian Nation, which is what we call the UNA as a street name, all along has been encouraging rappers.   Now we are working with Conrad Muhammad and other people putting the focus on organizing the Hip Hop community.   This is something that is going to takeoff and work.  Young adults are looking for established activists and or politicians who talk their language and understand where they’re coming from.   That’s why we’ve been advocating within the Universal Nubian Association that the Unity Party should add a plank to their platform that specifically deals with Hip Hop Culture.   The fact that it started in New York and is a cultural and economic force on a global level that needs to be supported by government so that they can create more jobs and continue to grow.   Such a plank by the Unity Party would be like an “invite”.  It would be opening the doors to encourage all these young adults who are in that culture to come aboard and get down with the Unity Party. 
OTP:  When you say Hip Hop Culture what do you mean?  Could you explain to me what you mean by Hip Hop Culture?
BK:  Hip Hop Culture started in the mid-seventies in the South Bronx.  Dealing with Graffiti as an artistic expression.  Also break dancing, deejaying and rhyming and rapping.  Rhyming and rapping sort of took off more than the other three aspects of Hip Hop culture.   To some it seems that the Hip Hop Culture itself is just Rap music.   But the other things the graffiti, the deejaying and the break dancing were all a part of it in the beginning.    It’s also mannerisms, the way you carry yourself.  It’s a language, it’s lingo that is used within the generation.  It also has expanded into film, comedy and clothing.  A lot of Hip Hop culture is very creative.  That’s how we talk about it in the UNA.  The creativity of Hip Hop Culture.   The ability to say, “Well we’re not being taught in schools how to play instruments because all of that has been cut out of the Board of Ed.  Fine.  We’re just going to hook up our turntables to street corner poles and take little bits of previously recorded music and make a whole new sound.”   The creativity of that, the ability to market out of the back seat of your car or to have the ability like the Wu Tang Clan, to go into various major labels and strike deals.  Deals that have the artist keeping creative control and getting a fair share of the profits.  This is different than how some of our artists were treated in the ’60’s, when they didn’t reap the financial benefits that they were entitled to.   Of course there are still artists that are getting ripped off and not getting their just do.  But there seems to be more creative control and business control with people like Master P or Sean “Puff Daddy” Coomb, in this generation than there was in the past.  Hip Hop Culture is global.  It’s beyond the Black and Latino neighborhoods of New York.  It’s in Germany, it’s in Japan, it’s in Cuba, it’s in Brazil.  It’s a global culture that’s youth oriented and deals with expressing your self.  And that expression usually comes through fashion, through music or through art.
OTP:  Last week I looked at a website that had on it some lyrics for Little Kim.  I was stunned.    Reading those lyrics and hearing you talk about Nation Consciousness, how are these two sides of the culture being reconciled?   What about lyrics that portray one kind of image, and the kind of image that you’re talking about now?

BK:  Nation Conscious Rap was a book that came out about 1990.  That was when Nation Conscious Rap was at it’s peak, with people like Public Enemy, X-Clan, KRS One and others.  That sort of got knocked out of the box by Gangsta Rap.  When NWA came out with, “”Fuck the Police”, and some of these other West Coast Rappers rose up.   Now with Little Kim, what she raps about is sexuality using vulgar and explicit lyrics. Now for every Little Kim there’s a Lauren Hill.  The number one selling album in the country– not only amongst rapper, is Lauren Hill. 
OTP:  Oh yes, I’ve heard of her.
BK:  The other two members of that group are of Haitian descent.  They’ve done a lot of good work.  Fund-raisers for the people in Haiti and so on.   For every Little Kim, there’s an Erica Badou.  Erica puts out positive conscious lyrics and she talks about empowerment and self development and spirituality.  We say that in Hip Hop there’s good and bad, just like in all things.   Look, you can go and buy violent movies or sexually explicit movies and magazines or you can choose not to.  I think artists have to be able to express themselves even though it is sexually explicit or is drug related or crime related.  I would not promote it and I don’t think young adults should listen to that twenty-four seven.   But I don’t think artists should be prevented from expressing themselves either.   People have the right to choose to purchase what they like.  Then it’s up to the community to step to these artists if they go too far over the line and to put them in check.
OTP:  Give me a listening list of some positive, nation-oriented rap artists.
BK:  I would say Erika Badu, Lauren Hill, Wycleff Jean, The Fugees, Digital Underground, Brand Nubian and Dead Presidents.   Of course, there’s Sista Soljah and Ras Baraka has some poetry out. There’s also A Tribe Called Quest, those would be good place to start. 
What we like about Hip Hop artists is that they put their friends and their family members on the payroll as they grow businesses.  Like Fat Joe up in the Bronx opened up a clothing store and he has a clothing line.  The Wu Tang Clan has a clothing line.  What we admire about the Hip Hop Culture is how people are able to get into it and keep spinning and revolving into different things.   First there’s the artist, then the label the clothing line and so on.  We think that bodes well as far as creativity and entrepreneurship are concerned.  And that is something this generation is into more than the prior generation.   We think that this generation can learn from our parents, the Civil Rights generation, about the need to struggle and to be out there and force the government to respect us as human beings.  But we also think that our parents can learn from this generation about ownership.  Not just looking for a job, but creating a job out of nothing and having ownership.
OTP:  What’s your background?  Did you grow up in New York?
BK:  I grew up in Bedford Stuyvesant on Jefferson and Tompkins.  I live in the Albany Houses now.
OTP:  What school did you go to?
BK:  I graduated from Boys and Girls and I went to Borough of Manhattan Community College. 
OTP:  Is there anything else you’d like to speak on?
BK:  The gang situation.   We believe as a consensus that our leaders have to spend as much time dealing with young adults that are NOT in the gangs, as they do with people who are in the gangs.
OTP:  If you were in charge, what kinds of programs would you see for young folks?
BK:  I see a program that is similar to what Richard Green does, even though I don’t like his politics.   There has to be a building.  A Plant where sisters and brothers can come in and get skills training and that has support services like access to computers.    Take the Jackie Robinson Center operation for example.  They’re getting a new building and it’s going to have studios, a library and more.    I think what the young people need is similar to school but more of an after-school program that they can tap into to build themselves up.  Most of the young adults, if you give them a chance, they want to do better.  They do negative things because they don’t see any other way out.   What we need is a building that provides support services for whatever it is that’s productive that the young people want to do.   It would be sort of and after-school, camp, skills/development center and it would be open twenty four seven.  That’s what I’d like to see.

“I like skylines,” says Miss Cave.  “I like the way the lights from each building kind of blend together to form a still light show.  The way the sky looked, the way the clouds reflected a yellow light over the building also encouraged me to take this picture. I like taking rooftop pictures because the sky symbolizes heaven even on its worst days.  Being further off the ground brings me close to my mother Sheila James Cave who passed three years ago.  And every time I develop a picture of a sunset or skyline, I hope to see my mother’s eyes hidden in the scene somewhere.”   (Miss Cave is the daughter of the well-known photographer, the late Robert D. Cave, Sr See page 22.)
THE BROWNSTONERS OF BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, CELEBRATE 20 YEARS OF PRIDE

20th Annual House Tour to Take Place Rain or Shine

Throughout New York and its many urban enclaves there are neighborhoods where generations of African-American families live surrounded by stately elegance and grandeur.  The members of the Brownstoners are the torchbearers of the untold strength and beauty of one such neighborhood: Bedford-Stuyvesant.  Their story is as much about a neighborhood and its housing stock as it is about the way of life that thrives in this community.   In fact, it is the coexistence of family, community, and striking residential architecture that make the Brownstoners’ story unique.
Over twenty years have passed since a small group of neighbors–gathered together socially in a tranquil backyard retreat on Chauncey Street–decided to form an organization devoted to celebrating the history, culture, and people of Bedford-Stuyvesant.  Insightfully, the Brownstoners’ founding members settled on a house tour that would illuminate the rich architectural and cultural heritage of the neighborhood, as the perfect venue to introduce, and in many cases, reintroduce their community to prospective homebuyers.  Since that first event back in 1978, the Brownstoners’ House Tour has become a highly anticipated and enjoyable neighborhood event.  Over 6,000 visitors have walked our streets and toured our homes, marveling at the timeless beauty of Bedford-Stuyvesant and catching the enduring spirit of the many families who so graciously opened their homes to tour-goers.
Presently, Bedford-Stuyvesant, like many communities in New York City, is enjoying the spillover effects of the current economic upturn-sharp increases in property values, numerous home renovation projects and an exciting mix of new businesses, operated by community residents are emerging throughout the neighborhood.  While some describe this recent activity as a rebirth, many Brownstoners consider it an awakening of outsiders to what they have always known to be true–Bedford-Stuyvesant is and has always been a viable community to raise children, open up shops and purchase homes. We who live here bask in the warmth of good neighbors and the spiritual presence of our historic churches.  As well, we take enormous pride in our economic, cultural, and educational institutions.  It is through our annual house tour that many city-dwellers continue to experience firsthand, the best that Bedford-Stuyvesant has to offer. Our repeat visitors agree and often point to the encouragement they receive from home-owners and the information they learn at our Home Buying Seminars as pivotal elements in their decision to purchase a home in the neighborhood or renovate their existing property.
On October 17th, the Brownstoners will welcome visitors into Bedford-Stuyvesant and inside some of our wonderful homes for the 20th celebration of the people, houses and community of Brooklyn’s “best-kept secret.”  Here is a sampling of what is in store.

On the day of the tour visitors will be transported to an era of bygone splendor where inside and out, late 19th and early 20th century nuances abound.  The exteriors of the buildings on display-some of which are among the earliest structures built in the neighborhood-are reminiscent of the many architectural styles of the period.  Along one street, a stately row of landmark buildings display varied forms and styles, which include Romanesque Revival, Federal, Queen Anne and Spanish Renaissance elements.   On the inside of these magnificent residences are many items original to the homes including elephant skin wall coverings, working dumbwaiters, built-in iceboxes, coal-burning stoves, vetted tapestries, an antique French shower with brass piping and the fittings of a central vacuuming system from the 1800’s. 
Some homeowners have undertaken projects to restore homes to their original beauty and will feature renovation projects completed by award-winning master craftsmen.  Intricately designed fretwork, balusters, pilasters and spindles have been recreated to exacting detail.  Others have combined the conveniences of modern life with vestiges of the past in a way that balances the old with the new.  Most all utilize African art and design either as an overall theme or as decorative accents. 
Finally, many of our homeowners describe their kitchens, both new and old, as the heart and soul of their respective homes.  From those with beautifully designed center-islands, granite countertops, spot lighting, and maple cabinets to others with 8-ft stained-glass windows and one that looks out on a serene reflecting pond, these rooms are a back-drop to the ebb and flow of family life in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
We invite you to come and see how people have been inspired, how they have been energized and why, year after year, they continue to “Come on Home to Bed-Stuy.”

About the Author
Crystal Bobb-Semple was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant and answered the call to “come on home” after attaining her Bachelors Degree in Economics from Hampton University and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Delaware.  She and her husband, Walston, managing producer of The Armchair Millionaire, a common sense saving and investing website, reside in the turn-of-the-century limestone they purchased in 1995.
Saturday, October 17

Information warfare is not techno-babble, it’s real and the chronicling of the Presidential sex life is the information warfare equivalent of a blitzkrieg.  It is a firestorm of information, none of it relevant to the nations’ business or the lives of its citizens.  This hounding of the President is consuming all media all the time. Granted, we do not expect the President of the United States to be cavorting behind closed doors like a character in a French farce, but surely the personal embarrassment will keep him on the straight and narrow path, at least through the remainder of his term.   His answers in the videotaped deposition were evasive and ludicrous, but that is exactly what the situation called for.  It was a setup and he handled himself well.   
The question should be: why is the ruling elite allowing this foolishness to go on and threaten this Presidency?  You can be surethat there are a number of items on the elite’s agenda and while the country is preoccupied with Kenneth Starr’s obsessions,  corporate lobbyists are hard at work to insure that the interests they represent will continue to move forward.    Those are not issues of universal healthcare, or reform of the criminal justice system, or intensified attention to the needs of children.  
 Then there are interests like the  FBI working on getting the power to track the location of cellular telephone users to within 20 feet of their location and the ability to intercept Internet traffic.    Based on the intensity of Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr’s investigation of the President’s sex life, does anyone feel secure that these powers will not be abused?  
The Republicans and their elite friends want to privatize Social Security and wrap their hands around all of that money.   They want to go forward with the Multi-Lateral Agreement on Investments which will prevent any emerging nation from taking advantage of the laws and tariffs that the global corporations used to grow themselves.  Then there is the African situation which involves the continued depopulation of Africa and buying up the land and mineral rights.  The Republicans want to complete the takeover of the judiciary and complete corporate ownership of the electromagnetic spectrum, federal lands, and the human genome among other assorted projects. 
What this boils down to is who will control the direction of society.
Social control in this part of the world has varied with the times.  In the beginning it was the indigenous people who controlled their populations by spiritually connecting with the land and the universe.   When the Europeans came to these shores, social control was clear as black and white.  The controlling consciousness of the Europeans found it perfectly acceptable to give free land and boundless opportunities to themselves, and slavery and death for the African and Indigenous Peoples.   After a few hundred years of this, the land ran out and direct slavery was no longer providing the financial return it once did.  By 1865 African Americans were costing $1,500 dollars a head and over $2,000 for a person with skills.  At those rates, it was cheaper to let the Africans be free to fend for themselves and pay them by salary.  According to the Census of 1850, salaries in those days ranged from $5.94 a month for female cotton workers in Mississippi, to $29.35 a month for a male cotton worker in Maine.  Combine that with incessant slave revolts the work of abolitionists, and the Civil War and slavery ended and Reconstruction began.
Reconstruction was a social bump in the road between methods of control.   It was a period when the social elite lost control of the African American population, and hence the direction of the country.  This initiative was recaptured by a combination of private and state-sponsored legal and physical terrorism.   Lynchings, murders, theft, and bombings were all used at whatever level was necessary to achieve that goal.
This worked fine through the early part of the century, but began to break down after the Second World War, when contradictions between how the United States wanted to be perceived and how it behaved had to be resolved.   The U.S. could not speak with moral authority and at the same time allow fire hoses and lynching to be used to prevent people from voting.  So those controls were released and a new more quiet method found.  That method was drugs. 

If government agencies are to be judged as people are, that is, not by what they say, but what they do, then it is clear that the primary mission of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security State is to remove the threat of masses of people exercising self-determination, both at home and abroad.  Internationally, dictators and guns work as well as anything.  Domestically, those methods are frowned upon except in cases of black militants.   White male supremacists such as a Bull Connor with his dogs or Rudolph Giuliani with his helicopters, are steadfast folk, and can generally be counted upon to handle the local uprisings.  But for the mass control necessary, drugs were the deliberate weapons of choice.   Doubters may read “Whiteout” by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Claire.  Their investigation of decades of literature shows that the Central Intelligence Agency has been and remains the overseer of the drug trade.  The CIA is the enabling force that secures routes, contacts and legal protections for the importing of drugs into the United State in general and African American neighborhoods in particular. This may seem a harsh judgement, but since the CIA has never published any of at least four internal investigations of their involvement in drugs over the past 40 years, it is the only inference that can be drawn from reading “Whiteout” or “Cocaine Politics – Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America” by Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall.  These two works alone have enough information for a real special prosecutor. 
Using drugs is really a no-brainer for the CIA.  They solve several problems at once.  First, internationally, it is inappropriate and expensive for the CIA to write checks directly to coup leaders and teams of mercenaries.  Therefore the drug trade provides a lucrative “day job” for these CIA surrogates.   It’s sort of like contracting out the work and contracting out the payment as well.   Secondly here at home, the drug trade provides income for people excluded from legal enterprises, and, when coupled with the criminal justice system, the trade provides hundreds of thousands of jobs for the working and professional class white population.  Thirdly, the drug trade, again combined with the criminal justice system, helps depress the number of black voters, first by outright imprisonment and second by destabilizing communities.   And here we are at the latest social control of society.  The basic problem is the same as it has been since the enactment of the Constitution and the later classifying of African Americans as citizens, because citizens have a vote, and that’s always a potential problem in a society that wants to be called a democracy.
But it’s a problem that is pretty much solved, judging from the 15% voter turnout in a local congressional election.  Fifteen percent of registered voters may be a record low, or unfortunately, it may not.  But as a barometer of public morale and interest in the system of government, it shows that there is little resistance anymore.
Even so, the elite fluctuates between being dismissive and terrified of the voting potential of the masses.  They know the masses can turn on you at any minute, witness the fall of the Berlin wall, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the ending of apartheid.   That’s why they want to use this time now to ratify systems that will legally bind a population, even after they wakeup.
Operations such as the Unity Party with Mary France on the ballot for Governor of New York, and a Movement for CHHANGE, (Conscious Hip Hop Activism Necessary for Global Empowerment) a new group formed by the Hip Hop Minister, Conrad Muhammad, have in them the kernels of forces that can put the reins of state power in the hands of the people.   Organizations like these can challenge the political system. 
African Americans and others, have to think of the vote as a weapon, and the address book as an ammo dump and start firing from where they are; the couch, the desk, the kitchen table.  A personal call from a friend, family member or acquaintance, telling them about the Unity Party and the candidacy of Mary France, would go a very long way toward giving the major parties a sharp crack across their snouts, and get their attention.   And if everyone who was called, called someone else, it would instantly remove the sex-obsessed reporting from the media front pages.   The only question that will be asked is “What happened?”  We have to ignore the babble and continue to organize, organize, organize.   DG

 African Americans are in the Way

OTP:   In terms of this campaign, what is the importance of another party line, what power does it give you, and what are the issues that your campaign will address?
Mary France:  There are several lines right now, but in spite of that none of the current parties represent the masses of the people.   None of them.  Not the Democrats, the Republicans, the Conservatives, none of them.   They have a White male dominated mentality.   Unity is very, very different.   Even the Green Party, which is a progressive party, is white male led.   So there is no message being sent to people who are not white, that there is a party that is out there for them.  And the issues of people of color and other oppressed people and working class people and people who don’t have jobs, those issues are not being met by the existing parties.    So we don’t really have a People’s Party.  That’s what Unity is about.  And it’s not just a one shot deal, we’re here for the long term.  Once we get our 50,000 votes and a ballot line, we will be able to run local candidates throughout New York over the next four years.  We’ll be able to make a real difference by offering a real alternative, a People’s Party that is focused on addressing the needs of the average person and the people who have been overlooked.   This stands against the major parties that look to protect the interests of the upperclasses.   Unity is a People’s Party that has more emphasis on meeting the needs of the poor and the average worker versus looking at corporate America.   It’s the people who we serve that make it a different kind of party.   The issues that come out of that are their issues.  There are issues such as the Prison Industrial Complex being built versus having schools and education as a priority.   There are issues of people not having jobs and then finding jobs created in prisons and holding facilities.   Many people don’t have access to health care.   The Unity Party will shift the emphasis of the health debate toward Universal Health Care so that people don’t have to worry about HMO’s and not being able to be served.   There are a lot of issues, but the ones that stand out for me are the prisons, jobs and education because they are all so intertwined.  We don’t put a priority on education.   We don’t try to rehabilitate.   Others talk about being tough on crime and all they mean is putting people in jail longer.  We’re tough on crime by being strong on prevention and rehabilitation. There’s only lip-service  being given to the youth.  What we need are strong after-school programs.  We have to come up with progressive human based solutions rather than this punitive based mode we’re in. Those are the kinds of issues this party will speak to. 
OTP:  You mentioned human type programs.  Give me an example of a human type program.
MF:   Look at community development.  We have to reinvest in the communities.  Right now, the emphasis is on trickle down.   Well, if you’re dying of thirst, a trickle of water is more frustrating than helpful and may be too little too late.    Giving millions to major corporations and having those corporations spread around some minimum wage jobs,  that does not help the communities or the lives of those people.   They don’t have develop any wealth, they don’t own anything.  The community doesn’t benefit.  So in terms of human type things, when we invest in the community, we’re building up the people in the community, we’re building up the infrastructure of the community the housing the schools the health care system.  We help that community be viable.   We are going to have programs that reinvest in the economic development of communities.   In the Unity Party, we call it a 21st Century Program for jobs.  We will be looking at banks and other financial institutions to show them their responsibility and determine how they can participate in the community building process.   We will be looking at their loan programs for home improvement, entrepreneurship and community investment. 
OTP:  In the last two days the Federal Reserve Board of New York stepped in to save a failing fund called Long-Term Capital Management. John Merriweather ran the thing and he was supposed to be this massive genius with Nobel Prize winners on his team.  Now he’s screwed up big time and they took $3.5 billion out of some fund and saved his ass.  It seems that the elite have a system in place to take care of themselves and their kind.  What systems would you put in place to take care of small businesses that come upon hard times?
MF:  We don’t need a new system.  The same one that worked for those people that got that $3.5 billion?   That’s what we need.  The monies are there, the only question is who gets it.   The money is always there when certain people need it.  When the S & L’s got into trouble the money was found for them.  Now you’re telling me they came up with $3.5 billion dollars?  That’s a whole lot of money.
OTP:  I thought so.
MF:  You see, if you have the right emphasis, there is no reason why we cannot have community development.  No reason why we cannot have plans and initiatives to help community people instead of just giving handouts to these big corporations.   I’m not familiar with the specific situation you’ve mentioned here, but I would examine those kinds of actions, examine the language and the structures that allow that, and make them apply to communities in the same way.  This kind of behavior is obscene.   There is no reason why communities have to suffer while these other guys get taken care of.  

It is important that communities have a positive sense of the future, that they have some hope they can have a thriving foundation.   Everything works together.  If you build up the community, if you create the housing, have the programs the development, get the school working, then you don’t have all of these other problems that people are locked up for.  You eliminate those problems with prevention.   Let me emphasize that I don’t just mean black communities here.  It is important that average working communities across the racial spectrum have the opportunity to grow and heal and save themselves.
OTP:  You spoke about the youth a moment ago.  You know there was a Million Youth March here in New York on September fifth.  Were you there?
MF:  Yes I was and when I arrived I was sickened at how people were herded like cattle through those metal barricade chutes.   To see that in 1998 people are so disrespected in the African community was disgusting.   This was a festive crowd of positive African people and other nationalities, simply hungering for ways to make their lives better, and they were treated like that.
OTP:  That was outrageous to have to wind through those mazes the police set up.  Looking at the behavior of some of the police units at the end of the march, what did you think of that, and as Governor what could you do about it?
MF:  When people ask me about the Million Youth March, the first thing that comes into my head is racism.  It’s ingrained in the fiber of this country.  People don’t like to talk about racism but it is a fact of life and New York is no exception.   It is conscious and unconscious.   At different levels and degrees people use rationales to cloak it and cover it up.  There is a tacit understanding of “Let’s keep certain people in their place.” 
As a Governor, at this point it is uncertain if there is any legal redress in terms of the actions taken by the mayor and the officials of the police department.   But as Governor of the State of New York, while Pataki may not have been able to take a legal position, he could have taken a humane position.  He could have taken a stand.  He could have addressed the concerns of an oppressed community in his state.   He could have at least done that.  As a leader he could have spoken out against the way politicians try to pit upstate against downstate in a racial divide.   He could have set the tone and said, “In the State of New York, we will not have this kind of Bull Connor attitude.  We have a diverse state and we will respect the contributions of all of the people.”  A leader should set those kinds of tones.  He could do that as a leader but he failed there. 
OTP:  What about the state budget and affirmative action spending.  I remember when Dinkins was mayor, he had a serious affirmative action component.  I was in a previous career at the time and I attended some of those proposal review sessions for contractors.   They had the contractors, and I was one of them working for a white company at the time, scrambling to find minority partners to fulfill their portion.  It was the first time I had seen that.   What kind of affirmative action component would you have in state spending budget?
MF:  When it comes to Affirmative Action, I would look at that history very closely.  Affirmative Action across the board has not necessarily benefited African people.    I don’t care what people call it, but there must be programs that bring equity and fairness and levels the playing field.  Any program I have as governor of the State of New York would be fair to all its citizens be they African American or women.   These are groups that have been disenfranchised, who have not had the equal footing and could not reach equal equity because they’re always behind.   The goal would be to put everyone on a level playing field.  Until that is done, we will work to have programs to insure that happens.  Historically, white men have had the power.   Women have not had it and African Americans have not had it.  If women and black people had not fought for the vote and other equalities they would never have come.  We have to make sure we do not stop that fight until we get there.  Affirmative Action has to exist, not just in regard to African people, but for all folks who are not where they could be because there has been a long history of inequality with certain groups benefiting over others.  We would change that.
OTP:  The prison population has been exploding and a lot of it has been based on the Rockefeller Drug Laws.  Could you comment on that?

MF:  We need to repeal these Rockefeller Drug Laws.  They’ve been in effect since 1973 and they are very discriminatory.  It doesn’t make sense that people would go to jail for a  small amount of crack and not go to jail for a large amount of powder cocaine.   But people have to be educated.  Many in our own community say, “Yeah, send them to jail.”  But it’s not fair that people should be in jail for years rather than be rehabilitated.  We have to look at bringing people out, helping them be productive citizens instead of just locking them up.   But again, the laws are designed to keep certain people in their place.  Most powder cocaine users are white, and they get to walk.  Most crack users are black and they get locked up for long sentences and a lot of the crimes are non violent.   It isn’t all shootouts.   A lot of it is someone found carrying vials and suddenly they’re locked up for long periods of time.  The worst part is the way people are being convinced that these are criminals.  I really resent that.  We have to look at that for what it is and change it.  These laws are set up so that African Americans don’t grow and be competitive as a people, and we need to be honest about that and deal with it.   If a person is a real leader they will address these things in a forthright manner.    If they don’t then it’s either because they feel African Americans should be dealt with in this way, or knowing the system is wrong, don’t deal with it because the people who vote for them wouldn’t like it and they don’t have the guts to stand up and say, “These things are wrong, let’s change them.”  We need to raise these issues and force politicians to deal with them, and where they don’t, we need to kick their behinds at the polls.