Kwame Speaks: What Goes Around...

any students watched in utter disbelief as major financial services firms went bankrupt, merged with other firms, or were bailed out by the government last week. Much heralded investment banking firms and insurance giants such as Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and AIG became casualties of the now insidious credit crunch. Their over-exposed assets, poor valuation, and outright greed became their demise. The plight of these firms and the resulting effects on the economy were seen by many as the “end of the world.” However if we listen to the wisdom of our ancestors and elders, these events could have easily been predicted.

Ma’at in ancient Kemet signifies truth, justice, order, balance, harmony, righteousness and reciprocity. The Ki-Kongo people of central Africa had a worldview that saw life, experience, and challenges as cyclical rather than linear. In other words as the title of this article suggests, “What goes around…comes around.”

The previously mentioned corporations are part of a larger capitalist system that was built upon the enslavement and forced labor of African people. This system was enhanced by the rape of the resources and further colonial subjugation of the people of continental Africa and the Caribbean as well as the labor exploitation of African people in America. So to have a worldview that says “as you sow, that shall you also reap” logically means the casualties of Wall Street were (in)directly caused by the ill-gotten gains from slavery and colonialism that provided the fundamental base from which these corporations operate.

In Former Howard Professor and 1st Trinidadian Prime Minister Eric Williams’ Capitalism and Slavery, the theory that the foundation of capitalism and the Modern World System were in large part due to the enslavement of Africans is explained in great detail. In essence, the system by which Lehman Brothers and others rose and fell were vestiges of an ideology and system that was envisioned through the eyes of the same people who saw African people as chattel and unhman. In very literal terms, the traumatic experiences of our ancestors and its permutations in our lives today was necessary for the maintenance of a system that allows the CEO of Goldman Sachs to receive a 19 million dollar bonus while the masses of African descendants to remain in poverty.

The struggle on the continent in Africa near the end of the 19th century is thoroughly examined in Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. In it he explained the socio-economic implications that came to characterize capitalist exploitation on the continent and its global effects. In Kwame Nkrumah’s Neo-Colonialism, he not only names the corporations, but shows their relationship to the ongoing exploitation in Africa. The companies he names are the companies we interview for to fill their diversity quota today.

As slavery had already begun to set the foundation of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, cotton merchants Henry and Emanuel Lehman set out to capitalize on the high market value of the commodity. Lehman Brothers was founded and the rest is history, literally. It is no mystery who provided the labor that allowed them to have cotton to trade on the New York Cotton Exchange. Many of the other firms on the “Street” have similar histories. So when you feel sympathy for these firms, also understand that it has finally come around.

Kwame Speaks: Not Republican, Not Democrat, But Black

Many believe that this year’s election will bring about change, hope, and a new beginning for America and the global community. I would venture to say that every student on campus is aware of the candidates running for President and their party affiliations: Barack Obama (Democrat) vs. John McCain (Republican). However, I am sure that most students have failed to understand the historical relationships that these parties have with African Americans, and what their current relationship really entails.

Historically, African Americans have tied their political fortunes to different American political parties. During the years of abolition, we were staunch supporters of the Republican Party because of its anti-slavery stance. During the years of the Civil Rights Movement, we were behind the Democratic party because of their emphasis on civil rights legislation. However, as usual when dealing with these types of issues, it is not that simple.

To quote Neely Fuller, Jr, “If you do not understand white supremacy, then everything else will surely fool you.” It is essential for Blacks in America to understand what the system of white supremacy is including how it manifests itself in our social milieu. It is essential for Blacks in America to understand the concept of Eurocentrism. Eurocentrism and white supremacy dominate our lives on a daily basis and many of us internalize them to such a high degree that we uphold their sanctity. The pillars of Western society were built upon these basic concepts, and as the United States stretched its power these concepts solidified internationally. To truly understand the Democratic party is to understand that it is a white supremacist institution. To have any type of understanding of the Republican Party is to know that it is a white supremacist institution. As African American people living under this system, it is imperative that we understand this, and realize that these parties did what they did in order to remain in power (i.e. Aboltionism, Civil Rights). We have to begin to understand that they are concerned with African-American people only insofar as our vote, resources, and capital is concerned, not necessarily our humanity. The examples are endless of how much this country and the global powers value Black and/or African life. We have to understand that a political party within that very system cannot possibly be for the reclamation of the humanity of our people. We must know that political parties, regardless of their stated platforms and purported moral values, regardless of whether they are conservative or liberal, and regardless of whether they allow a Black man or white woman to run on their ticket, are defenders of the very status quo that has always worked to the detriment of our brothers and sisters throughout the world. When we understand these concepts collectively, we will no longer organize our time and energy for the Democrats, or go out canvassing for the Republicans. Our greatest defenders from David Walker to Kwame Ture, were never tied to a party, they were tied to their kinfolk. For those that truly love our people, when we come to understand the dynamics of American political party affiliation, it will be clear that our energies must be directed to the building up of our community on our terms. That is our goal, and “we all we got.”

KTS Reading: W.E.B. Dubois: Why I Won't Vote

By W.E.B. Dubois, The Nation, 20 October 1956



Since I was twenty-one in 1889, I have in theory followed the voting plan strongly advocated by Sidney Lens in The Nation of August 4, i.e., voting for a third party even when its chances were hopeless, if the main parties were unsatisfactory; or, in absence of a third choice, voting for the lesser of two evils. My action, however, had to be limited by the candidates' attitude toward Negroes. Of my adult life, I have spent twenty-three years living and teaching in the South, where my voting choice was not asked. I was disfranchised by law or administration. In the North I lived in all thirty-two years, covering eight Presidential elections. In 1912 I wanted to support Theodore Roosevelt, but his Bull Moose convention dodged the Negro problem and I tried to help elect Wilson as a liberal Southerner. Under Wilson came the worst attempt at Jim Crow legislation and discrimination in civil service that we had experienced since the Civil War. In 1916 I took Hughes as the lesser of two evils. He promised Negroes nothing and kept his word. In 1920, I supported Harding because of his promise to liberate Haiti. In 1924, I voted for La Follette, although I knew he could not be elected. In 1928, Negroes faced absolute dilemma. Neither Hoover nor Smith wanted the Negro vote and both publicly insulted us. I voted for Norman Thomas and the Socialists, although the Socialists had attempted to Jim Crow Negro members in the South. In 1932 I voted for Franklin Roosevelt, since Hoover was unthinkable and Roosevelt's attitude toward workers most realistic. I was again in the South from 1934 until 1944. Technically I could vote, but the election in which I could vote was a farce. The real election was the White Primary.

Retired "for age" in 1944, I returned to the North and found a party to my liking. In 1948, I voted the Progressive ticket for Henry Wallace and in 1952 for Vincent Hallinan.

In 1956, I shall not go to the polls. I have not registered. I believe that democracy has so far disappeared in the United States that no "two evils" exist. There is but one evil party with two names, and it will be elected despite all I can do or say. There is no third party. On the Presidential ballot in a few states (seventeen in 1952), a "Socialist" Party will appear. Few will hear its appeal because it will have almost no opportunity to take part in the campaign and explain its platform. If a voter organizes or advocates a real third-party movement, he may be accused of seeking to overthrow this government by "force and violence." Anything he advocates by way of significant reform will be called "Communist" and will of necessity be Communist in the sense that it must advocate such things as government ownership of the means of production; government in business; the limitation of private profit; social medicine, government housing and federal aid to education; the total abolition of race bias; and the welfare state. These things are on every Communist program; these things are the aim of socialism. Any American who advocates them today, no matter how sincerely, stands in danger of losing his job, surrendering his social status and perhaps landing in jail. The witnesses against him may be liars or insane or criminals. These witnesses need give no proof for their charges and may not even be known or appear in person. They may be in the pay of the United States Government. A.D.A.'s and "Liberals" are not third parties; they seek to act as tails to kites. But since the kites are self-propelled and radar-controlled, tails are quite superfluous and rather silly.

The present Administration is carrying on the greatest preparation for war in the history of mankind. Stevenson promises to maintain or increase this effort. The weight of our taxation is unbearable and rests mainly and deliberately on the poor. This Administration is dominated and directed by wealth and for the accumulation of wealth. It runs smoothly like a well-organized industry and should do so because industry runs it for the benefit of industry. Corporate wealth profits as never before in history. We turn over the national resources to private profit and have few funds left for education, health or housing. Our crime, especially juvenile crime, is increasing. Its increase is perfectly logical; for a generation we have been teaching our youth to kill, destroy, steal and rape in war; what can we expect in peace? We let men take wealth which is not theirs; if the seizure is "legal" we call it high profits and the profiteers help decide what is legal. If the theft is "illegal" the thief can fight it out in court, with excellent chances to win if he receives the accolade of the right newspapers. Gambling in home, church and on the stock market is increasing and all prices are rising. It costs three times his salary to elect a Senator and many millions to elect a President. This money comes from the very corporations which today are the government. This in a real democracy would be enough to turn the party responsible out of power. Yet this we cannot do.

The "other" party has surrendered all party differences in foreign affairs, and foreign affairs are our most important affairs today and take most of our taxes. Even in domestic affairs how does Stevenson differ from Eisenhower? He uses better English than Dulles, thank God! He has a sly humor, where Eisenhower has none. Beyond this Stevenson stands on the race question in the South not far from where his godfather Adlai stood sixty-three years ago, which reconciles him to the South. He has no clear policy on war or preparation for war; on water and flood control; on reduction of taxation; on the welfare state. He wavers on civil rights and his party blocked civil rights in the Senate until Douglas of Illinois admitted that the Democratic Senate would and could stop even the right of Senators to vote. Douglas had a right to complain. Three million voters sent him to the Senate to speak for them. His voice was drowned and his vote nullified by Eastland, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who was elected by 151,000 voters. This is the democracy in the United States which we peddle abroad.

Negroes hope to muster 400,000 votes in 1956. Where will they cast them? What have the Republicans done to enforce the education decision of the Supreme Court? What they advertised as fair employment was exactly nothing, and Nixon was just the man to explain it. What has the Administration done to rescue Negro workers, the most impoverished group in the nation, half of whom receive less than half the median wage of the nation, while the nation sends billions abroad to protect oil investments and help employ slave labor in the Union of South Africa and the Rhodesias? Very well, and will the party of Talmadge, Eastland and Ellender do better than the Republicans if the Negroes return them to office?

I have no advice for others in this election. Are you voting Democratic? Well and good; all I ask is why? Are you voting for Eisenhower and his smooth team of bright ghost writers? Again, why? Will your helpless vote either way support or restore democracy to America?

Is the refusal to vote in this phony election a counsel of despair? No, it is dogged hope. It is hope that if twenty-five million voters refrain from voting in 1956 because of their own accord and not because of a sly wink from Khrushchev, this might make the American people ask how much longer this dumb farce can proceed without even a whimper of protest. Yet if we protest, off the nation goes to Russia and China. Fifty-five American ministers and philanthropists are asking the Soviet Union "to face manfully the doubts and promptings of their conscience." Can not these do-gooders face their own consciences? Can they not see that American culture is rotting away: our honesty, our human sympathy; our literature, save what we import from abroad? Our only "review" of literature has wisely dropped "literature" from its name. Our manners are gone and the one thing we want is to be rich--to show off. Success is measured by income. University education is for income, not culture, and is partially supported by private industry. We are not training poets or musicians, but atomic engineers. Business is built on successful lying called advertising. We want money in vast amount, no matter how we get it. So we have it, and what then?

Is the answer the election of 1956? We can make a sick man President and set him to a job which would strain a man in robust health. So he dies, and what do we get to lead us? With Stevenson and Nixon, with Eisenhower and Eastland, we remain in the same mess. I will be no party to it and that will make little difference. You will take large part and bravely march to the polls, and that also will make no difference. Stop running Russia and giving Chinese advice when we cannot rule ourselves decently. Stop yelling about a democracy we do not have. Democracy is dead in the United States. Yet there is still nothing to replace real democracy. Drop the chains, then, that bind our brains. Drive the money-changers from the seats of the Cabinet and the halls of Congress. Call back some faint spirit of Jefferson and Lincoln,and when again we can hold a fair election on real issues, let's vote, and not till then. Is this impossible? Then democracy in America is impossible.

KTS Reading: To be an African Teacher: Baba Asa Hilliard, III

Ptahhotep, instructs the ignorant in the knowledge and in the standards of good speech. A man teaches as he acts… The wise person feeds the soul with what endures, so that it is happy with that person on earth. The wise is known by his good actions. The heart of the wise matches his or her tongue and his or her lips are straight when he or she speaks. The wise have eyes that are made to see and ears that are made to hear what will profit the offspring. The wise is a person who acts with MAAT [truth, justice, order, balance, harmony, righteousness and reciprocity] and is free of falsehood and disorder.

—Ptahotep 2350 B. C. E.
(From The Teachings of Ptahhotep, the oldest book in the world, 4750 years ago, an African book from KMT [“Egypt”]).

Many of us do not know it, but African people have thousands of years of well-recorded deep thought and educational excellence. Teaching and the shaping of character is one of our great strengths.

In our worldview, our children are seen as divine gifts of our creator. Our children, their families, and the social and physical environment must be nurtured together. They must be nurtured in a way that is appropriate for a spiritual people, whose aim is to “build for eternity.”

What a pity that our communities have forgotten our “Jeles” and our “Jegnas,” our great master teachers. What a pity that we cannot readily recall the names of our greatest wise men and women. What a pity that we have come to be dependent on the conceptions and the leadership of others, some of whom not only do not have our interests at heart, they may even be our enemies. Some actually seek to control us for their own benefit through the process of mis-education.

Henry Berry of the Virginia House of Congress (during the antebellum period) said this about African people:

We have closed every avenue through which light may enter their minds. If we could only extinguish the capacity to see the light, our work would be complete.

So we have two primary reasons for knowing our heritage in education and child raising, or socialization.

We have the best teaching and socialization practices ever developed anywhere in the world. These practices are still good for others and for us now.
The primary tool of our oppression is mis-education by our oppressors. We must regain control over the primary education and socialization of our children.
Everywhere on the African continent, from the time of the Pharoahs in Ancient KMT (Egypt) to the modern era, great African civilizations in many river valleys, from the Nile to the Niger and to the Cape, were the center of the most sophisticated education and socialization systems ever developed on the Earth. Some of these civilizations developed in Africa long before other civilizations developed anywhere else in the world. The vestiges of these brilliant African creations can still be found in Africa and throughout the African Diaspora (see Finch, 1998).

We must consider our ancient traditions; traditions that made us respected teachers all over the globe. Our people must hold their heads high in all matters that pertain to teaching and learning.

African traditional teachers were and are people of high character, who have deep respect for ancestors and for community tradition. African teachers accept the calling and the obligation to facilitate inter-generational cultural transmission. African teachers also strive for the highest standards of achievement in emerging science and technology, areas that have always owed much to African scholarship.

Our genius is a part of the foundation of the revolution in knowledge in physics, mathematics, engineering and cyber-technology. Our genius is present at the deepest levels of the arts and humanities. All of this is in spite of overwhelming resistance to our learning by determined oppressors.

Therefore, for many African Teachers, tapping the genius and touching the spirit of African children is not a mystery. Not only can our children learn, they bring awesome intellects to the task. It is a routine manifestation of the African teacher’s excellence to nurture this genius. Along with teaching content, teaching good character and social bonds are our historical and contemporary strengths.

African teachers, worldwide, share in a cultural deep structure, based upon an African “world-view,” a shared way of looking at the world and the human experience. This world-view channels the focus of African teachers, providing them with appropriate patterns for thought and practice.

While it certainly is a practical necessity to get academic degrees and certification from non-African institutions, such teacher training and legitimation is really minimal preparation for African teachers. We go far beyond these things to reach our traditional higher standards, whether we work in public or in independent settings, whether we teach our own children or also teach the children of others.

For the African teacher, teaching is far more than a job or simply a way to make a living. Students are not “clients” or “customers.” Our students and parents are our family. No sacrifice is too great for that family, for its growth and enhancement.

What is special about an African teacher? It is the world-view and the practice that comes from our world-view, even when it is a dim memory.

A teacher of African ancestry who does not go beyond certification and degrees to know or to embrace an African world-view is not an African! Cultural excellence is the essence of and African teacher. In all of our learning, we must acquire an understanding of ourselves and our heritage. This does not mean that we cannot learn from others. However, we must be critical learners, rejecting anything that is anti-African.

African teaching functions must be embedded in and must serve an African community. Traditionally, African communities have been identified by a shared belief in several key elements. It is these elements that are the foundation for African teachers.

The belief that the cosmos is alive.
The belief that spirituality is at the center of our being.
The belief that human society is a living spiritual part of the cosmos, not alien to it.
The belief that our people have a divine purpose and destiny.
The belief that each child is a “Living Sun,” a Devine gift of the creator.
The belief that, properly socialized, our children will experience stages of transformation, moving toward perfection, that is to be more like the creator (“mi Re” or like Ra, in the KMT language, meaning to try to live like God).
Since the deep guiding principle of “living like God” is to follow MAAT (Truth, Justice, Righteousness, Order, Reciprocity, Harmony, Balance), then African teachers focus the curriculum on the real and the true, on what was, what is, and on what can be, in keeping with divine principles.
African teachers place a premium on bringing their students into a knowledge of themselves and a knowledge of their communities. African people place great value on WHO each person is, on WHO the community is and the honored place that each member of the family occupies within the community.
African teachers respect mastery, and seek through apprenticeship to learn from truemasters, masters who are valued agents of the African community, who are steeped in the deep thought and behavior of the community, who exhibit an abiding unshakable primary loyalty to the community and who are in constant communication with the wise elders of the community.
African teachers recognize the genius and the divinity of each of our children, speaking to and teaching to each child’s intellect, humanity, and spirit. We do not question a child’s possession of these things. In touching the intellect, humanity and spirit within children, African teachers recognize the centrality of relationships between teachers and students, among students, and within the African community as a whole.
For the African teacher, teaching is a calling, a constant journey towards mastery, a scientific activity, a matter of community membership, an aspect of a learning community, a process of “becoming a library,” a matter of care and custody for our culture and traditions, a matter of a critical viewing of the wider world, and a response to the imperative of MAAT.
The African teacher is a parent, friend, guide, coach, healer, counselor, model, storyteller, entertainer, artist, architect, builder, minister, and advocate to and for students.
A brief sample of African socialization can be found in the work of K. Kia Kimbwandende Bunseki Fu-Kiau and A. M. Lukondo-Wamba, master teachers and authors of Kindezi: The Congo Art of Babysitting(1988):

The Kindezi can only be perceived and understood through the social context of the community it serves as an art and a big social responsibility. It is through the role that Kindizi plays in the community that one can appreciate its importance in the dingo-dingo (process) of shaping African social patterns. The quality and personality of the ndezi/babysitter, make by influence the quality and personality of the child in the sadulu (school place) and the community as well. Since it is the ndezi with whom the child stays all day long, the future of the child will greatly reflect the impact of Kindezi, the art of babysitting, not only upon the child but upon the society itself.

The contribution of Kindezi in Bantu societies in general, and the Kongo in particular, cannot be under-estimated or denied. The role it plays in all aspects of community life is so great that it merits erection of a monument. (p. 20)

…Though things are rapidly changing today in Africa, the Kindezi, in its substructure, still remains as a skill and are to be learned by all young community members, girls as well as boys, through an initiatic and practical process for, as a Kongo proverb would say, Kindezi M’fuma mu kanda (The art of babysitting is a baobab to the community), i.e., a string supporter of community economic activities… Babysitting, sala sindezi, is not instinctively acquired as some would assume or pretend. Dingo-dingo diena it is a process by which one discovers the mystery of human growth and reaches the total understanding of the psychology of the child.

By babysitting, one learns the wonderful skill of being responsible for another life and how to become a new “living pattern.” A “living pattern” is a model through which cultural values are transmitted from generation to generation. Through Kindezi, Africans acquire this skill, a skill that has made the African not only one of the most religious human beings on earth but, also, one of the most humanistic.

African parents, mothers in particular, have a great concern about their children’s childhood because they are aware that Kimbuta kia muntu, bonso kimuntu, ga mataba–“One’s leadership, like one’s personality, finds its roots in the child-hood.” Earlier events in the childhood life play an important role in adulthood. As such, great attention is paid to whoever has a role to play in the life of a child—the human being with the quickest copying mind. This basic understanding that childhood is the foundation that determines the quality of a society is the main reason that prompted African communities to make Kindezi and art, or kinkete, to be learned by all their members. Thus Kindezi is required in societies that want to prepare their members to become not only good fathers and mothers, but above all, people who care about life and who understand, both humanely and spiritually, the highly unshakable value of the human being that we all are. (p. 4–5)

Typically the African teacher leads a social collective process, one where social bonds are reinforced or created. In this social process, the destinies of the students are connected to each other, to their families, to their communities, to their ancestors, to those who are yet to be born, to their environment, to their traditions, to MAAT as a way of life, and to their creator.

From these few thoughts, one can see that the popular use of the African proverb, “It takes a whole village to raise a child,” is interpreted in a very trivial way, and is taken out of context. Africans who use the proverb understand it. It is a part of their world-view, their value system, a world-view and value system that may not be shared by those who quote Africans out of context. As Fu-Kiau and Lukondo-Wamba show above, the proverb is really about raising a village, not merely raising a child. It is not a matter of welfare as it is understood in the West. It really takes a whole village to raise itself, a village that values every member as a “living sun,” a village to which the child belongs, a village where every child is shown that he or she “will never be given away.” Clearly, this is a different order of “child care.” This is African teaching/socialization, and the incorporation of the child into the community.

Africans never take teaching lightly. It is a sacred calling. The long night of slavery, colonization, apartheid, and White supremacy ideology ruptured the traditional bond between African teachers and their nurture, and even their memories of that nurture. We have been reduced in our expertise, lowered in our expectations, and limited in our goals. We have even been dehumanized and de-spiritualized. We must return to the upward ways of our ancestors. We have forgotten our aims, methods and content.

We must not bring shame on ourselves and upon our descendants. We must bring light to the world again.

Selected References and Bibliography
Ainsworth, Mary (1967). Infancy in Uganda Infant Care and the Growth of Love. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press

Anderson, J. D. (1988). The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Callaway, H. (1975). “Indigenous Education in Yoruba Society” in Conflict and Harmony in Education in Tropical Africa (Studies on Modern Asia and Africa : , No. 10), G. N. Brown and M. Hiskett (Eds.). Rutherford, N. J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.

Carruthers, J. (1995). MDW NTR Divine Speech: A Historiographical Reflection of African Deep Thought from the time of the Pharaohs to the Present. London: Karnak House.

Erny, Pierre. (1973). Childhood and Cosmos: the Social Psychology of the Black African Child. New York: New Perspectives.

Erny, Pierre (1981). The Child and His Environment in Black Africa: An Essay on Traditional Education. New York: Oxford University Press.

Finch, Charles. (1998). Star of Deep Beginnings: The Genesis of African Science and Technology. Decatur, Ga.: Khenti Inc.

Fu-Kiau, K. Kia Bunseki and Lukondo-Wamba. (1988). Kindezi: The Congo Art of Babysitting. New York: Vantage Press.

Geber, M. (1958). “The Psychomotor Development of African Children in the First Year And The Influence Of Maternal Behavior.” Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 185-195.

Hilliard, Asa G. III. (1998). SBA: The Reawakening of The African Mind. Gainesville, Florida: Makare Publishers.

Pearce, Joseph Chilton. (1977). Magical Child: Rediscovering Nature’s Plan. New York: E. P. Dutton.

Webber, T. L. (1978). Deep Like the Rivers: Education in the Slave Quarter Community, 1831-1865. New York:W. W. Norton

Wilson, Amos (1991). Awakening the Natural Genius of Black Children. New York:Afrikan World Infosystems

Woodson, C. G. (1968). Miseducation of the Negro. Washington, D. C.: Associated Publishers (first published in 1933)

Kwame Speaks: The United African Alliance Community Center

The Black Panther Party is said to have deteriorated nearly three decades ago however some of its original members continue to operate thousands of miles across the Atlantic. This summer a handful of Howard students had the opportunity to travel to Arusha, Tanzania for a three-week intensive Kiswahili language course. Between the 8-hour lectures and weekend Safaris the students managed to set aside time to pay homage to political activists and former members of the Black Panther Party, Mzee Pete O’Neal and Mama Charlotte O’Neal. Their compelling story serves as a testimony of the continued international legacy of the Black Panther Party.
In the fall of 1969 Pete O’Neal, the chairman and a founding member of the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther Party, was arrested and charged with transporting a shotgun across state lines without a license. After repeated verbal threats from local police it became clear that a prison sentence would result in certain death. O’Neal was tried and sentenced to four years in prison. While out on bail, armed with little more than the ideology of the Black Panther Party, Mzee O’Neal and his wife, Mama Charlotte O’Neal, fled to Algeria with their two children where they remained for two years before relocating to Tanzania in 1972, once a hotbed for Pan-African activity. During their time in Tanzania, they became actively involved in community development and in 1991 officially transformed their home into the United African Alliance Community Center.
Today the organization serves a community of more than 200 people. The single room dwelling that once served as their home has since been turned into a recording studio for local artists. In addition, the UAACC houses a dining hall, dormitory, classrooms, art studio, and computer lab where various English, art, and computer classes are taught all free of charge. Aside from its various cultural and community events, the Center completed a major community water project, providing a continuous supply of fresh water to the surrounding community. The Center also facilitates student exchanges between Tanzanian and American university and high school students.
When asked about his and Mama Charlotte’s work in Tanzania Mzee O’Neal stated, "It's 100% a continuation of the work we were doing as members of the Black Panther Party without the politics - I never hesitate to tell people that. I am very proud of that history . . . We have taken it to another level by providing opportunities for education and enlightenment here in this setting. But it's the same spirit."
For the Howard University students, witnessing the impact of the O’Neal’s work in Arusha demonstrated the continued relevance of the Black Panther Party. One student noted, “It showed me you don’t need to be a high ranking USAID official or UN aid worker to make a difference. All you need is a solid ideological foundation rooted in the development of the community.”
Almost 31 years later, Mzee O’Neal, still considered a U.S. fugitive, is unable to travel back to the United States. He continues to maintain his innocence and work with lawyers in hopes of being granted a repeal.
For more information on the United African Alliance Community Center and ways you can make a contribution visit the website at www.uaacc.habari.co.tz/

KTS Meeting

Our first organizational meeting will take place on Thursday, September 4th, 2008. 7 pm. Founders Third Floor.