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B L A C K F I S T
Street knowledge for the radical massive
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ELECTRONIC ISSUE ONE
HARD COPY ISSUE EIGHT
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Malcontents
GIVING PROPS: EDITORIAL STATEMENTS
What is Black Fist
NEWS AND VIEWS
The Goldfront Project: Reparator-anarchist alliance
James Harry Reyos: Native American's case an injustice
New Afrikan, revolutionary nationalist ... and anarchist
DEEP SOUTH ACTIVISM
Grassroots revolt news
DISTRO INFO
Where to find us
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THIS COPY IS AN ABRIDGED ISSUE!!!
ARTICLES INCLUDED IN THE FULL ISSUE (AVAIABLE FROM SONICNET):
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Notice from Black Fist members
BFE (Black Fist Electronic) intro
To Steal or Not to Steal?
Some Thoughts on (T/t)heft, (J/j)ustice, and Capitalism
PRI's victory in Mexico a hollow one
Boyling Point: last thoughts on Stonewall
U.S. Postal Pigz: How to protect your mail
ANARCHIST BLACK CROSS SECTION
Futility plus good intentions equals ABC conference
Indigineous Peruvians struggle against Sendero and State
Minneapolis anti-racist's trial set for October
Free Manuel Salazar: victim of racism
Prison Briefs
ON GOGOL BOULEVARD SECTION
News from Nigeria, Poland and worldwide
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GIVING PROPS: EDITORIAL STATEMENTS AND SHIT
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What is Black Fist
Black Fist is a newspaper created by a bunch of
anti-authoritarians. Anti-authoritarians are basically people who do not
feel that the controls exercised over our lives are necessary - like, for
example, the pigs.. Or the government they work for and protect. The people
here do not want this control over our lives and want to see it torn down,
dragged out and burned in the middle of the street.
You can write us about joining up with Black Fist if you want, but
anarchy and self-determination starts at home. Speak out and don't be
afraid to confront those whose ideas are messed up. The biggest cops are in
our heads, and killing yours is the first step to personal revolution.
Subvert authority. Get involved in your community as someone against
authority. Start your own collectives to support others, foster education
and revolutionize. Put out propaganda as much as possible. Actively support
those in Amerikan gulags whose crime is delievering war to oppressors.
Support those around the world in struggle for liberation and justice.
Don't vote - revolt. Your "leaders" become more unimportant when you work
without them.
Black Fist appears out of nowhere on a bimonthly basis. Write us
with your input, poetry, art or articles - your thoughts are important.
Deadlines are the second Saturday of the month prior to publication.
You can get a one-year subscription for $6, but if you can send us
a little more, we can always use it. Donations are very much needed to pay
for printing costs as well as to support our free prisoner subscriptions.
Please make sure to send the money in well-concealed cash or blank postal
money orders.
All the opinions within may not represent all our feelings, but the
exchange of ideas is there. Any reprints should credit this newspaper and
have our address. Thanks. We try to credit most sources as well.
Black Fist o 15110 Bellaire, #317, Houston, Texas 77083
Electronic mail: st4gz@jetson.uh.edu
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NEWS AND VIEWS
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The Goldfront Project
Reparators and anarchists issue a joint community proposal
In one of the first alliances of its kind, New Afrikan reparators
and a collective of anarchists in Texas have put forth a community proposal
that calls for bringing "at-risk" youth to prisons to meet with reparators
to discuss the impact of prisons on oppressed communities.
The Goldfront Project is a joint initiative by the Amistad-March 31
chapter of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America
(N'COBRA) and the Black Fist Collective. It is the first time the groups
have made a proposal together.
Across Amerika, there is a growing phenomenon of putting "at risk"
youth in "scared straight" programs, or of bringing those programs to
different schools. What it usually consists of is a group of inmates, often
working for "good time," who go to schools (or whose students come to the
jail) to tell youth about how bad drugs and alcohol are, how you should
obey the law and not "be like them," and, basically, that you shouldn't be
a "bad" person. Such programs never even address the possibility of an
ideology behind an act.
A story by New Afrikan revolutionary Sanyika Shakur in the most
recent Black Panther is a good example. In talking about his former life as
a gangbanger, Shakur writes, "i had two choices. Either be a Crip, which
meant to be an outlaw, and be subjected to the harshest treatment
imaginable within the second stage of colonial indoctrination, or i could
simply be a "good boy," recognize the imperial state and kowtow -
psychologically adjust to the weight of Our national oppression. i chose
the former."
The Goldfront Project is different in that "at risk" youth will
meet with AM 31 members to talk about the ways behavior and society impact
in landing them in jail.
"We can demonstrate to the youth that prison in NOT a place for
'homecomings' with homeboys; that prison is not a place where prisoners lay
around, eating, getting fat and watching TV in air-conditioned rooms; that
it is a dehumanizing experience which leaves the person affected in a cruel
way; that disrespect for life and liberty are what's really happening; and
that no one does time alone!" the proposal reads.
Scared straight-type programs are not merely tools for propaganda,
but a means to keep the youth "in their place." Often, these are already
youth who have little or no faith or awe in the united snakes. Self-hate
and group-hate, propagated by a white supremacist power structure, causes
youth to turn their rage against their brothers and sisters in the
community instead of directing that anger at the conditions under the
cyst'm. It is hoped that meeting with AM 31 will help to put a new
perspective to what being in jail is about and what the conditions behind
bars are truly about.
AM 31 and Black Fist call for community groups, churches and
concerned people to contact the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice-Institutional Division (which oversees Texas' massive prison
system) and demand that such tours and interactions between youth and AM 31
take place. Meetings with and letters to state representatives, the
governor and other officials are encouraged.
"We can cite a litany of external causations for the problems Our
youth are having, such as funding for public schools continuously being cut
to build more prisons," the proposal notes, "but We see that a lot of Our
problems can and should be solved by Us!"
James Harry Reyos: Native American's case all a matter
of homophobia and injustice
by Bilal Nine
When the "justice" system needs to protect its phuck-ups, it will
do so with a passion strong enough to tell prosecutors, and even a govenur
to phuck off.
Check the case of James Harry Reyos, a Jicarilla Apache who's been
stretched out in the pen since '84 for a murder he confessed to, but didn't
commit. The victim of this murder was Patrick Ryan, a catholic priest whose
body was found tied and naked in a motel in Odessa, Texas. An Odessa
pathologist claimed that Patrick Ryan could've died from blows to the neck
by a heavy object that was never found.
Reyos testified in his trial that two days before The last time
they were together, (the morning of the day Ryan was murdered, he gave
Reyos a ride to Hobbs, New Mexico, 35 miles outside Denver City, Tx where
the two met to pick up Reyos' truck from inpound where he was arrested
there for drunk driving) he and Ryan had had a sexual encounter in which
Ryan made the sexual advances despite Reyos' rejections. Testimony
presented in the court has also pointed that Ryan has propositioned a man
other than Reyos.
So why did Reyos confess to a murder that he did not commit and did
the question of his innocence come up?
According to Dennis Cadra a prosecutor in Reyos's trial, John Cliff
Jr., Reyos's former defense attorney, and Sam Roll , a psychology professor
at the University of New Mexico who interviewed Reyos, all believe that
Reyos confessed out of guilt about his sexuality. With speculations made
that guilt stems from the homophobic teachings of Christianity and the
dominant culture's homophobia bum rushed on all Native Americans and people
of color, the guilt and hatred of self could push one to alchoholism,
(Reyos was drunk from a week long drinking binge when he called up 911 in
Albuquerque, where he moved 11 months after Ryan was murdered, saying he
killed Ryan.) and other "anti- social ills.
Reyos was arrested immediatley after his 911 call and was thrown
into a five day trial hyped by media as "This homo-thug who killed a lamb
of a Catholic priest..." The jurors seemed satisfied with Reyos's
confession as evidence that implied his guilt, so they sentenced him to 38
years.
In '91, Dennis Cadra happened to come across the transcript of
Reyos' trial and found pieces missing in the prosecutor's case like the
fact that after Ryan left Reyos in Hobbs NM, he got his truck and headed
out to Roswell, which is 115 miles northwest of Hobbs where Reyos ran into
a former schoolmate at a convience store. There was also a receipt that
showed that Reyos bought gas out there as well. Reyos and his homey spent
the early part of the evening drinking while, according to Odessa's
pathologist, Dr. Richard Cohen, Ryan died between 7 p.m. and midnight.
Cliff believes that Ryan checked into the motel in Odessa out of
parish outfit, and out of his parishiner's sight back in Denver city to
hook up with a sex partner between 7 and 8.
After midnight, Reyos was ticketed for speeding, still in New
Mexico heading east about 215 miles west of Odessa. Reyos would have to
have traveled to and from Odessa 110 mph. All these points of evidence were
not countered by the prosecuton at the time of Reyos' trial, meaning that
Reyos could've walked, but didn't. Where were the heads of the jurors and
judge to where Reyos was put into the lock down anyway? What about his
"court appointed defense"? Gow hard did they fight on the day of Reyos's
trial?
Now Reyos and outside supporters have tried to appeal to Gov. Ann
Richards to grant a pardon for Reyos, but according to Texas law, the
govenor can't grant pardon or clemency unless she gets a recommendation for
clemency action from the board of pardons and paroles.
The board of paroles voted by fax 16-0 on denial of clemency or
pardon for Reyos. Board members didn't even have transcripts of the trial
and it is ascertained by everyone in Reyos' defense of innocence that the
politicians have put pressure on the board in light of them putting out
"one too many" "hard criminals" who've wound back in prison. So even when
James Harry Reyos came up for parole he was ganked based on the state's own
robotic fumbles in human warehouse management.
For further info and current haps on James Harry Reyos's case,
contact: Peter Hofer and James C. Harrington, Attorneys-at-law, Texas Civil
Rights Project, 227 Congress Avenue, Suite 340, Austin, TX 78701-4210, or
call 512-474-5073. You can also write a letter to Reyos (#359384) at Route
1, Box 150, Coffield Unit, Tennessee Colony, TX 75884.
New Afrikan, revolutionary nationalist ... and anarchist
by Prince Imari A. Obadele
As to your question about my perspective of anarchism, i really
don't know enough about it to mack it to you properly, Cuz. But from what i
think i understand about anarchism i don't see where it's inconsistent with
what We're about as Reparators. In fact, the basic tenets of anarchism - as
i am aware of them - and, if i'm correct about what i think i know, then,
me thinks me's an anarchist!
Now, "real" anarchist (meaning those who have chosen anarchism as a
way of life and are true to the game) probably wouldn't consider me an
anarchist. They would, no doubt, find it a contradiction my being an
elected official of a New Afrikan Revolutionary Nationalist,
pre-independence government. But, i guess the same thing can be said about
some Black Nationalists who probably wouldn't consider me a nationalist,
either. After all, i eat pork, hang in after-hour joints, and run with
muggers, druggers and thieves. Nationalists don't fuck with the "lumpen".
So, i guess what it gets down to is a matter of definition, and who's doing
the defining. i have a good track-record, and i'm relatively intelligent,
so, i'll try to make what i'm about to say coherent enough to be able to
make some sense out of it. i have to tell you, though, i have no written
material on anarchism so most of my analysis is based upon what i've been
able to gather from reading anarchist newspapers. If i am not mistaken,
anarchists struggle for a world with no nations, no states, no
exploitation, no racism, no sexism (which includes no homophobia), no
repression, no oppression, no forms of aggression and so on and they
believe in agitation and confrontation with the "state" and other arms of
repression and oppression to reach the ultimate state of liberty. i'm up
for all that, and some!
One of the major principles of Amistad-March 31 is: "We believe in
personal liberties guided by collective responsibility." That basically
breaks down to this: as long as what one does does not cause anyone else
pain and discomfort (spiritually, physically and mentally), or, as in Our
case, affect the work of the struggle, no one is going to fuck with another
about personal preferences. Our Declaration unequivocally commits and
demands of Us active confrontation with oppressive powers, for the express
purpose of creating a better world. We just happen to say it in a different
way; everything is reparations with Us. This helps to keep Us from getting
bogged down in debates and polemics about specific ideologies and what
they're supposed to be and pins Us down to specific work with encompasses
almost ALL ideologies.
The New Afrikan Declaration of Independence (which is is what most
of Our philosophy is based on) likewise commits Us, indeed, every New
Afrikan who has affirmed the Declaration and Creed, to this: socialist,
world-wide revolution. And to, in my opinion, the ultimate state of
liberty; where there are no laws and repressive governments and other
agencies to enforce them; no exploitation of the land and people; where
everyone is in harmony, thus no oppression and exploitation being
necessary.
The New Afrikan Declaration of Independence says: "...in
consequence of Our raging desire to be free of this oppression, to destroy
this oppression wherever it assaults mankind in the world, and in
consequence of Our inextinguishable determination to go a different way, to
build a new and better world..."
Paragraph #3 begins: "Our's is a revolution against oppression -
Our Own oppression and that of all people in the world. In another place:
"To support and wage the World Revolution until all people everywhere are
so free..."
"To end exploitation..."
"To assure equality of rights for the sexes..." "To end color and
class discrimination, while not abolishing salubrious diversity, and to
promote self-respect and mutual respect among all people in the society..."
"To place the major means of production and trade in the trust of
the state and to assure the benefits of this earth and man's genius and
labor to society and all its members.
"(Note: This is [from] the verbatim document written and signed on
31 March 1968. In light of Our revolution's present consciousness of the
historic oppression of [wimmin] and the concepts and terminology which have
supported that oppression, the use of the male-centered language seems a
curious anachronism. Our awareness of the inappropriateness of this
male-centeredness is a sign of the growth which laboring toward
independence has brought Us. Dr. IAO, 1991)."
On the surface, it would appear that it is contradictory for me to
interpret a socialist/nationalist/revolutionary document as an anarchist
philosophy and to call myself an anarchist. On the surface it would appear
so! But, just as some enemies of the NAIM would interpret a Black, or Red
Nationalist who is socialist as being the same as a National-Socialist /
Nazi (which is White Nationalism, which is White Supremacy, which is
racism), or would compare segregation (an oppressive condition imposed upon
Us by Our enemy) with separation (an act by Us to relieve Ourselves of that
oppressive condition), or the violence of the oppressor with the violence
of the oppressed, one would be as wrong as two left shoes on a snake to say
that it is a contradiction for a New Afrikan Independence
fighter/nation-builder to be an anarchist!
Here is the hit: Political power, indeed life, is a process.
Ideally We move from a bad state of existence to a higher, or better, state
of existence. Marxists put it this way: We move from capitalism, to
socialism, to communism. According to them, communism being the highest
level of existence that people as societies can obtain. The anarchist takes
the process a step further. The anarchist believes that people can obtain a
level of existence without any dictatorship. (The Marxists believe that the
governmental structure must still exist and that the ideal situation is
that the proletariat becomes the government hence the dictatorship of the
worker.) i'm for no government at all! Ultimately.
i say ultimately because, at this stage in the process of
Reparating there have to be organized entities to mash on suckers who want
to oppress the rest of Us, and i'm talking about all forms of oppression:
political, social, economic and religious.
Which brings Us to the absolute necessity of New Afrikan
Revolutionary Nationalism, and why Black Nationalism is beginning to be
more appealing to the masses of Blacks.
Da Doc (Dr. Obadele, PGRNA) puts it this way: "[There is] the
reality of an underlying dynamic in America. People make events and
history, but they do not make events or history in a vacuum. White control
of the information media and the schools has always been a factor operating
against Us. ...It is clear to most of Our people that the strategy of using
electoral politics to gain Our larger goals has failed Us. Our youth in the
public schools are being 'pushed out' in large, unacceptable numbers, and
those who remain are being assaulted and often damaged physically by White
supremacist teaching and an abundance of White, female teachers who know
nothing of Black love and are supported by a dominating abundance of
purposeful White male and female supervisors. The drug economy has become
pervasive in Our necessary pattern of producing, earning and exchanging.
...Many of Our people - not just teenagers - are without either
self-confidence or hope. "The u.s. congress is boldly and openly pursuing
an anti-New Afrikan agenda, symbolized by its prison campaign and its
refusal to deal, so far, with reparations. The u.s. supreme court's gutting
of Black Congressional and judicial districts is being done, in the words
of Sandra Day O'Connor, to save Us from segregation.
"The Congressional Black Caucus today demonstrates neither
comprehensive vision nor a willingness to fight. The NAACP has so far
failed to move beyond palliatives.
"The united [snakes] staged an armed attack [several of them] on
the RNA Provisional Government in mississippi and then jailed several
leaders. ..Along with the killing of Black Panthers and George Jackson and
the assault on Attica...
"We may say today that while the Provisional Government has not
been simply waiting, the enemy, as predicted, is driving Our people toward
Us." That pretty much says it relative to the necessity and appeal of
Nationalism to the masses of Blacks.
The White Supremacy Power System is driving people to Nationalism.
It also says that We did not create the conditions and that in spite of all
our efforts to "get along," as Rodney King would have it, Whites don't want
to get along with Us and they have made that perfectly clear enough for
even the dumbest trick to understand. We must not forget that power is a
process AND that people are moved more by conditions and events than it is
that they make conditions and events. We did not create these conditions.
The White Power system did.
Oppression, by its very nature, means that we have to work within
the framework of oppression until We can bust out of it. What i mean by
that is as long as We don't control Our lives everything We do in the
attempt to control Our lives is dictated by the oppressive conditions that
the oppressor created. Yeah, Cuz, me thinks me's an anarchist, but at this
stage of the game where i have to work from is, and must be, Black
Revolutionary Nationalism. It is the only effective counter-measure to
oppression for Us at this time. Anarchism is the IDEAL state of existence,
but it is the last step in the process. So, theoretically, i am an
anarchist, but practically speaking, i'm a Reparator.
With all the problems that Black people are beset with, and all of
them are racially based; internally WE have Our niggahs, bitches and boys.
Externally We have the multi-faceted assaults on Black by Whites, and there
is the attitude that people have that people cannot control themselves
without being controlled.
With all these things facing Us we have to deal with the separation
of idealism and practice. We've got too much ass to kick right now. i mean,
WE've got a lot of reparating to do. So, that's my perspective on
anarchism. i believe in and struggle for an anarchist society. But i don't
control the existing conditions, so i practice New Afrikan Revolutionary
Nationalism.
Prince Imari A. Obadele is co-chair of the Amistad-March 31 chapter of the
National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA), is
Southwest Representative of the Provisional Government of the Republic of
New Afrika and is an anarchist. You can write Obadele by sending letters to
Prince Imari A. Obadele, Eliis I Unit, #563888, Huntsville, Texas 77343.
Free Prince Imari Obadele and James Harry Reyos!
Letters are desperately needed to gain freedom for Obadele and Reyos.
Please send all letters to Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, 8610 Shoal
Creek Dr., Austin, Tecas 78711, USA.
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DEEP SOUTH ACTIVISM
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The Red Flag Collective is currently making plans for a direct
action conference for activists in Texas, to take place in March, 1995. The
emphasis is to bring in a large number of groups, not only anarchist,
together to discuss organizing for direct action as well as toward a
statewide network to address community problems and activist emergencies.
The event will take place in San Antonio.
For more information about the conference and getting involved,
write to Red Flag Collective, 234 Senisa, San Antonio, Tex. 78228.
The Black Fist Collective in Houston is calling for submissions for
a newly revived Direct Action Manual project. The Direct Action Manual was
initiated by the (now dissolved) Web Collective in San Francisco,
California (USA), but was cancelled in early 1994 due to lack of support.
The Direct Action Manual project's end result will be a book with
information on taking direct action in your community. The Black Fist
Collective will be expanding the project to include aspects of grassroots
organizing as well as organizing solidarity/defense campaigns, prisoner
support and perspectives on building a diverse and active movement. Any
materials/contributions that were sent to the Web Collective are not in the
posession of Black Fist, so it's back to square one.
Please direct all correspondence, submissions and financial
contributions (in blank postal money orders or well-concealed cash) to
Black Fist, 15110 Bellaire, Box 317, Houston, Texas 77083.
Former Black Panther and author of Anarchism and the Black
Revolution, Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, will spend the end of September and part
of October on his first-ever speaking tour through Texas. Kom'boa will
speak on his experiences, about being a Black anarchist, and of his efforts
toward building a national network of community organizers and the
Federation of Black Partisans.
Huntsville prisoner Prince Imari A. Obadele, whose writing appears
in this issue of Black Fist, has recently completed a new book, It's About
Reparations With Us! An AM 31 Response To Some North American Leftists And
Others Who Believe That Black People Aren't Entitled To Reparations.
It's About Reparations deals with issues of divisiveness, degrees
of oppression, what reparations mean, and of the necessity for national
liberation for New Afrikans and Native Americans. In addition, the book
contains political and philosophical documents of the New Afrikan
Independence Movement, which Obadele helped to found when he signed the
Declaration of Independence when he was 12 years old.
The book costs $6.50 (includes postage and handling) and the
proceeds will go to Obadele's defense campaign. For a copy, write to House
of Songhay, P.O. Box 75437, Baton Rouge, La. 70874.
Anarchist activists are encouraging supporters to visit the
newly-claimed People's Park in Houston, located on West Alabama and
Graustark, in the Montrose area.
The park is, thus far, the spot for a biweekly gathering held by
the Houston Shitworkers Union. For gathering schedule and other
information, contact the HSU voicemail, 713/315-1211.
Touchstone is a new "progressive/left" journal coming from College
Station, where Texas A & M University is located. Issue #3's cover story is
about a movement to have a statue commemorating Matthew Gaines, the first
Black state senator from Washington County, erected on the A & M campus. In
addition, there's a piece about a community radio project in the area. Most
of the writing and positions are liberal-reformist, but it still makes for
interesting reading.
For information about the publication, write Touchstone, P.O. Box
2711, College Station, Tex. 77841.
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DISTRO INFO
_________________
Hard copies of Black Fist are available for one dollar each (domestic), or
fifty cents (in the states) each for bundles of six or more. All amounts
should be sent in well-concealed cash (amerikan currency), blank postal
money orders or IRCs. For issues and distribution in the United Snakes,
South Amerika and Mexico, please contact:
Black Fist
15110 Bellaire, Box 317
Houston, Texas 77083, USA
You can also purchase individual copies (for one dollar) in amerika from:
AK Distribution
P.O. Box 40682
San Francisco, California 94140-0682 USA
For individual and bulk purchases in Canada, please contact:
Marginal Distribution
277 George St. N., Unit 103
Petersborough, Ontario
K9J3G9 Canada
For individual and bulk purchases in Europe, please contact:
AK Distribution
22 Lutton Place
Edinburgh, Scotland
EH89PE
Complete electronic versions of Black Fist are available for fifty cents
and must be purchased by credit card. For the full electronic version of
Black Fist, please contact:
SonicNet
67 Vestry
New York City, NY 10019 USA
BBS: 212-431-1627
User Support: 212-941-5912
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