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Show FEBRUARY A975. THE BRUAD.AX :.,. PAGE BLACK POWER —RACIST AND IRRELEVANT = “+s... xe? eading the inch long gommunication.con-erning one of this eduntry’s most incisive _ laywright/poets, I was stricken with the wudacity of it and I had to laugh. There was sis African name in bold face and the Newark lateline ------- the city where he helped to nstitute the Black national anthem, which he had conjure up Africa as the viable frontier for _ Afro-American zionists. And I don’t mean any bullshit about our claiming our “birth - Black power, expressed in terms of the 60’s rhetoric also is invalid - the Africans have exploited that possibility as much as much as 20 years ago, and with European capital, carved out African nations. Today, rhetoric without.technological know-how and elated area should be touched upon. Against . “the background of the Middle East crisis, administrative expertise is as unwelcomed among these new nations as the southward creeping Sahara. Incidentally, the rhetoric of Garvey coincided with the advance guard of — American foreign policy makers have been. convinced that it is the duty of a secular the African students, who were later to _ initiate the evolution of authentic African states. Garvey, though in step with events in - Africa, was never to get his “Back to Africa” zionism off the ground among U. S. Blacks. -l am not suggesting a back-to-Garvey move- nation to defend the state of Israel. That is, __ the spiritual property of Jews, alone. Note, however, that the rhetoric is geared, for the popular mind, to the defense of a sovereign people. This would seem defensible enough. Note, too, that all rhetoric connected with ment, and I hope to make clear that Zion, | am not suggesting a back-to-roots movement. Power does not reside in cultural identity alone. African states, to the degree possible, are or the fact that a secular nation (i.e., the U.S.) must come up with costly weapon systems for the defense, as it turns out, of Zionism. Note, too, however, that there appears to be a con-_ — involved in a process of adaptation to sophisticated technological, agricultural, political and general administrative methods of operation. These methods and institutions often have been funded and authored by Western . governments. te : census in Washington which insists upon an open immigration policy of Soviet Jews to israel. What I am suggesting is that a serious | discrepancy exists here: on the right hand, Israeli leaders expect U. S. policy makers to _pass off defense of Israel as the routine de- While this process might not appeal to the traditionalist in us, there is nevertheless another reason to prepare ourselves to give aid to our “zion” - a reason for which mere disillusionment with, or hatred of America does fense of a state, allegedly “sovereign,” and on ‘the left, expecting the U. S. State Department to assume responsibility for Soviet immigres’ _ passage to a spiritual Homeland. What has all this to do with the LeRoi not alone provide reason nor motivation. The natural resources of Africa, the vastness of Jones statement? What has it to do with the the continent and the practicality of its ‘developing peoples and nations, coupled by I mean. LeRoi. Jones is on shaky ground when he asserts that_ the Black power movement is suddenly irrele- the fact that “development” and “modernization” are not matters of fact - all point to an enormous reserve of power on the continent for future use on a number of levels. No nation or group of nations, industrialized or -vant. As shaky as when Jews of the Zionist cast assert that the defense of Zion - and American commitment to the Zionis policy of Soviet - Jewish immigration to “Israel” - is | relevant to American foreign policy and to the American people. Further, on this basis, I mean to suggest that if any people have.a more solid ground on which to build a “zionist’? movement, more urgency to express not, can afford to ignore this potential power. A “zionism”’ among our people in this country, | dveloped along pragmatic lines, attuned to the development which is taking place and could: take place, could restore a considerable por- tion of our ancestral health. At this point I am brought back to LeRoi Jones and the misguided and unfortunate Zionism of the Jewish State of Israel. A Clear understanding of the potential of Africa Black power through a “zionist” impulse, it is Black:people. | } is I detect a tunnel vision syndrome among Afro-Americans who see a depletion of Black power when many of our people appear to be spending more time in unemployment and our people’s very real connection to it could save Jones from an ersatz and barren lines than using more muscle to demand connection with Marxism. Bearing in mind the gift of his voice, writing and vision on our. behalf, I can only hope to have addressed my- = since Africa first catled for its children to return from the self to his decision. Hopefully whatever Zionism We as a people develop (provided the European and American universities to build impulse can be directed) will bear in mind an - indebtedness to the Jewish communities, its nations. We hyphenated Africans in America were, two decades ago, justifiable fighting for basic rights in this country, and whose people have proven to be our tradition- al, if not our natural, allies. r Finally, I should indicate that this article could not relate to nation building in any sense. in this country. I suppose the punchline of all this is to of possible repercussions in AFrica. Before I spin off into why thereis no need vor a Marx and Lenin revival, another inter- reparations. | It has been over two decades AQUA’S MOODS “Israel” or Zion will be taking a real whipping before too long. In terms of the sort of “Zionism” Afro-Americans opt for - provided we see the options and act upon them - we should examine the form that Israeli Zionism. has taken, and examine our options in terms destructive thinking of the pre-nappy era. to establish a setting for the following: By Michael Kemp sonal interests, and historically, in terms of the “manifest destiny” of Indian killers and incarcerators. But two is too much. If there is validity to historical or traditional ownership of Jand anywhere, people, Black and white, wikl be forced,to deal with the Indian nations mercial center for European-Jewish imperialism. Owing to a multitude of reasons, ° statement. But tot state that Black power is — irrelevant, if the summation of his words is. accurate, goes beyond even the most self- interests. and power of Black people? iit _ Zion correlation, is that Zionist Jewry, has supplanted the natural longing for their spiritual “‘center” with a desire for a com-: ~ dialectic would prove more productive. Thaven’t read a counter-statement, by Jones _ .ndicating that the American press had missed the point, so I guess the statement is accurate. It isn’t much to say that the Black power movement is racist - it’s a straight-forward _ to mention MPTTTTTTTITTTTITITiii traditional African heritage, per se. What disillusions me, going back to the State of _gecome, in sixties’ terminology, racist and rrelevant, and that he and some of his people n Newark felt that turning to the Marxian ihe matter is cautious not Py eS right” after all this time, nor reclaiming our aught the kids to sing before grammar school sessions. This release read like the obituary of i school teacher fallen from grace in the District. : What did the release report? Simply that jones felt that the Black power movement BAe 2 A low-key wire release, summing up a -ecent statement by LeRoi Jones, appeared . n the “This World” section of the San *rancisco Chronicle, January 5, 1974. After —a ROR The idea of a Black nation, as it evolved during the sities in this country is absurd. I hopefully will provoke thought by the Broad can not relate to “nation time” rhetoric when Ax readership. Ihave risked appearing fanatic, perhaps even stupid and isolated. But I feel . safe because these ideas.are honestly felt and it involves an Americo-European nation built on the incarcerationof American Indians. One illegitimacy might be justified, in terms of per- - * expressed. SS . \ _ Sam King |
