Reflections on the past few weeks...Rodney King,
Haiti, and South Africa... by Vera Michelson, co-chair
On Rodney King
riends of CD-CAAR
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members and friends of CD-C 7
for your rapid response to the emergency created by the verdicts in the trials of the officers
ith beating Rodney King.
rea got tg of the wade on Wednesday night, April 29, 1992, at the close of
the CD-CAAR ram on Haiti, We were as rg as anyone. The Tenton
Macoutes in Los Angeles had been acquitted. ee
" By 8:00 p.m. Thursday moming it had been decided that CD-CAAR andthe
NAACP would join forces to organize an emergency response demonstration the following
day. It was set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday, May Ist at the Federal Building in Albany. 3
You can imagine that things went into motion pretty quickly and within 32 hours
between 500 and people assembled at the federal site to demonstrate their outrage at the
Los Angeles verdict.
= The ability to mobilize so quickly was due in large part to the immediate response of
countless individuals and supporters. In particular we'd like to thank Suzy Pessuti, Mark
" tion, Jamie Denard, James Mosley and Mel Compos. : -
sie “ts addition, we feel that the collaboration between CD-CAAR and the NAACP paid
off in that it provided a vehicle for a large number of community residents to respond to the
crisis. We are pleased to have worked with the NAACP in the effort.
It is also important at this time to examine what the King verdict means to us
oe Some of the recent statements by Albany's Mayor ~ Chief se ia
ing the Rodney King incident were provocative an irresponsible.
Shortly after the verdicts were announced, they flatly stated that it could
er happen here!!! ee
Eptin Moe Whalen went so far as to say that "During my administration,
no citizen of this city will be subject to the type of violation of human and
civil rights which has troubled us ali." (Times Union 5/2/92) 4
Approximately one month ago James White, an African American male, who is
disabled, was attacked by the police as he walked out of his apartment door. Three officers
threw him up against the wall, down on the floor and then stepped on and broke his back
brace. Next he was taken into another re where a drug raid was going on, threw
him over a sink and finally handcuffed him tightly. 3
Mr. White was involved in no crime, he was not charged with a crime and he is not
acriminal. Asa result of this brutal act, Mr. White has been in excruciating pain for
which he has been receiving treatment. He also has to deal with the recurring nightmare of
the attack. .
Cannot happen here??? Has not happened here??? The only
difference between here and there is...no video. oy
It is easy for the Mayor to make pronouncements about an incident 3,000 miles
away. His past history on this issue has proven that these utterances mean nothing.
Let the "All American” Mayor show that he wants to address police abuse in Albany
by doing something meaningful. A police civilian review board with investigative powers
would mean more than his hypocritical words of indignation.
wee
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SMMC CLP ORLA ASTANA A Rr Nor os, tease PENS iat Attn att Daal LNs mnt
On_ Haiti
of the racism that guides U.S.. foreign policy. We believe that U.S. complicity with
dictators and thugs is a national disgrace. So too is the obvious disdain with which the
U.S. Government is treating the Haitian people. That is why we ask Americans to DENY
'T NO MORE. We call for the return of President Jean Bertrand Aristide to Haiti and the
Special Thanks to: The College of St. Rose: Arts and Humanities School, Math
and Science School, Student Association, Spectrum, Education Media Department and Car!
Swidorsky; Deejays at: WVCR, WRPI, WCBD; Jane Pattison of Pax Christi, who did
more than her share; Guy Rouchan , for his time and ideas; Jill Ives for being there; and,
the Haitian Student Association at SUNY A for general support and enthusiasm.
Program Endorsers: The College of St.Rose History and Political Science
Department; Telos Society; ASUBA, SCAAR, Fuerza Latino, Haitian Student
Association, and the Pan Caribbean Association at SUNYA; Center for Law and Justice.
Inc.; ALARM; Pledge of Resistance: Albany Branch NAACP; Pax Christi USA, Albany
Chapter; Black and Latino Student Alliance SCC; Pastor Ware and the Capital City
Seventh Day Adventist Church; SUNY: National Lawyers Guild (Albany Law School
Chapter).
We encourage CD-CAAR supporters to call for the return of
President Jean Bertrand Aristide to Haiti by calling or writing:
Assistant Secretary of State Bernard Aronson ee.
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520 ~
State Department Public Affairs Comment Line: 202-647-6575.
Rep. Michael McNulty
U.S. House of Representative U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20510
Capitol Hill switchboard: 202-224-3121
Senator Daniel P. Moynihan
On South Africa
We ask CD-CAAR members to stand by us as the struggle in South Africa
continues. As we have said many times in this newsletter "It ain't over ‘til it’s over."
The American Committee on A frica has put together a campaign to "STOP
THE VIOLENCE" in South Africa. The organizing package for this campaign comes
with echicational shee
government is behind the violence and what we in the United States can do about it. Any
Organization which would like more information about this campaign or can utilize this
video should call Mabel Leon at (518) 372-1531.
ts and a video which shows clearly how the South African
% limes Union, Albany
aes
af
» New York - May 5, 1992
600 attend L.A. Verdict Protest in Albany
|
>
uf :
And a struggle for justice on another front continues -
Redistricting in Albany County...Excerpts from testimony given by Anita
Thayer on behalf of CD-CAAR to the Albany County Legislature. April 30, 1992,
The Capital District Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism has decided to address the ¢ onnty
Legislature tonight on the issue of redistric ting because we believe that the decision the County Legislature
makes will be one of a small handful of events that will set the tone for race relations in the Capital
District tor the next decade. The County Legislature at this time has an unique Opportunity to show respect
tor the Black and nunority people of this City and County and to set an example of how people of different
backgrounds can come together with mutual respect and a spinit of Cooperation to create a more democratt
SOMEV..,
_ Although the Coalition usually does not involve itself in electoral-related issues. we have made
a exception in this case because we feel strongly that the NAACP proposal tor 3 intact munority majority
districts should be included in any final re-districting plans. Because race and racial relations are such central
issties (0 the future of this country and the expansion of demu racy and because the Albany Branch NAACP
and therr lawsuit represents the politcal empowerment of the Black community, we feel that particular
deference should be paid to their proposal - it also appears to us that the 7 NAACP proposed districts are
geographically intact and preserve as best as possible the integrity of the Black and minority neaghborhood
of the City. The Voting Rights Act was enacted to further electoral democracy after years of agitation,
protest and hogation by the civil rights movement of the late 50's and 60's. We ask our County
Legislature to porn in the spirit of that legislation and youn wi the spirit of the coal aghts movement and
mM jist hide behind a shield of alleged nomunal comphance while ignoring the real meaning of the Voting
Rights Act
Upcoming Events of Interest in New York City
On June 7, 1992, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (a national
group with which CO-CAAR is affiliated) is having its annual Human Rights Awards Luncheon at
12:00 noon at Loews New York Hotel in New York City. The event will honor Angela Davis
on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the victory of her historic case Special presentations
will be made by Sonia Sanchez and Pete Seeger. Tickets are $45.00. Interested in have a Capital
District table? Call Stephanie Perez at (518) 427-8647.
On June 16, 1976, South African police in Soweto killed hundred of Black children who
were peacefully protesting the impostion of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in their
schools. Today violence sponsored by the regime continues to be a growing obstacle to
democracy in South Africa. Since March of this year, more than 700 Black South Africans,
including children, have been killed. There will be a rally to commemorate Soweto Day and
to call for an end to violence and racism - in South Africa and the United States - on Tuesday, June
16, 1992 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Federal Building in Manhattan (Broadway and Worth Streets)
A letter from Cuba
(Mabel Leon, CD-CAAR Steering Committee Member has just returned from the Venceremos
Brigade trip to Cuba. The following letter was given to her by three young women she met at a
school there.)
Dear Mabel,
/ ask that if it within your possibilities to send uS your address so as not to
lose correspondence between us about the beautiful friendship that has
emerged today, April 30,1992, a date that we will never forget and we wish to
keep so as to communicate and interchange our ideas.
We, the young people of the school keep ourselves very happy and
willing to be together forever but unfortunately it can't be because we all have
tasks to do.
We want to express, once again, our great solidarity and this fraternal
love that we feel. We want you to know that we will never surrender. Not even
with only one of us left because after 34 years of revolution, we won't permit any
Stranger to step on our land.
Here we give you the three names of the girls that shared a while with
you - Malinka, Rochalie and Akemy.
Long live Cuba and all the countries lighting for freedom and
independence. Long live the the venceremos brigade. Socialism or death.
Our slogan is to save our homeland, our revolution, our society.
We greet you lovingly and respectfully. Write to us and send us your
address this very night. Take good care of yourself and keep in the struggle to
the very end.
We love you. So long.
What are the real messages sent by the Rodney
King verdict and the civil disorder that followed?
Metroland (May 7-13 edition) carried several responses to this question. We've reprinted those of Mark
Mishler and Merton Simpson,
MARK S. MISHLER
Civil Rights Attorney and
Member of CD-CAAR
Steering Committee
Is the Criminal-Justice system racist?
{ recently (pre-Rodney King verdict) asked prospective .
jurors from an all-white jury pool whether they agreed that
white people sometimes act differently toward an African -
American person than they would to another white person.
My client, a young African-American man, was charged
with assaulting a white police officer. Our position was that
he had been attacked by the officer. The prospective jurors
were uncomfortable responding to this question. | asked
shy. The following exchange occurred:
Juror: | don't know why you deep trying to make a
racial issue out of this case. There is nothing racial here.
To me, your client is as white as the rest of us.
MSM: Do you mean that my client is as good as the rest
of us?
Juror: Yes, that is exactly what | mean.
MSM: Do you understand that you have just said
something prejudiced?
Juror: No, | work with colored people all the time.
MSM: Do you know that most African -Americans
view being called “colored” as derogatory?
j= Juror: No, | didn't. You can call them anything and,
& you know how they are, they just laugh and call you
something back.
is the criminal-justice system racist?
This prospective juror-who happened to be a cousin of the police chief in the
community where this case occurred - did not think of himself as a racist. Yet. he knew
without hearing any testimony that the trial did not involve any racial issues.
How many racist assumptions are embedded in this brief conversation?
Assumption #1. Racism is not a problem in our society any more.
$5 ion #2. African- Americans always blame their problems on racism.
Assumption #3. Problems experienced by individual African-Americans stem not from
racism but from other sources, e.g.,. their own individual detects.
Assumption #4. “White” equals good, "black" equals bad.
Assumption #5. The juror and I, as white people, share certain views about African-
Americans, e.g. "vou know how they are.”
KUWATYAMA
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SAMA LTA ANTAL RI aN rane Sian Seti Da ee ca aca HUET OIE iweb wa Seenitr A aevieGiiao vly ies
Assumption #6. All African-Americans act in the same manner.
Assumption #7. It is appropriate to ignore clearly expressed preferences of an ethnic group
as to the manner in which they wish to be addressed,
38 i . Despite all of the above, the juror is not racist, and, if selected, would
make sure that my client received a fair trial.
is the criminal justice system racist”
In a post-Rodney King verdict conversation with "Mr. X,” a prominent local white trial
attorney, | asserted that racism was the only explanation for the acquittals of the police
offers who beat Rodney King. Mr. X responded, "Perhaps everything that has happened
since the verdict proved that the verdict was correct As the conversation continued, Mr. X
clarified his position. In substance, he said that African- Americans are violent and have no
respect for the law.
Mr. X does not consider himself racist.
Is the criminal justice system racist?
Ina suburban community populated by law-enforcement officers and others who have
moved away from the nearby large city, a jury with no African-Americans members
engaged in an act of civil disobedience. A choice had to be made, The jury could reaffirm
the right of African -Americans to be free from the use of excessive force by government
officials. Or, they could support the desire of the police to engage in an unrestrained and
brutal war against the African-American community.
The choice was easy to make. The jury refused to fulfill their obligation to base the
verdict on the law and the evidence. Instead, they acted as the “conscience " of their
community. The members of this jury did not consider themselves racist.
is the criminal justice system racist’
A federal agency responsible for enforcing criminal laws learned in early March 1991
of irrefutable evidence that an African-American man had been subjected to a deprivation ot
his civil rights by a group of police officers. No one seriously disputes that this conduct
constitutes a federal crime. Legally, a prosecution could have commenced immediately.
Yet, more than a year passed before the agency decided to consider prosecuting the
officers.
Is the criminal justice system racist?
One more story, An “All America" mayor expressed his dismay at an
injustice that occurred in another city, assuring his constituents that no
citizen of his city would be subject to the kind of violation of human and
civil rights that had taken place 3,000 miles away.
The people who lived in his city had trouble understanding what the
mayor meant. They knew, for example, that a white police officer had been promoted
after having been found to have unlawfully beaten a small, middle-aged African-American
woman with a flashlight. The same officer was later found to have illegally searched the
home of an African-American family. The citizens knew that this officer was never
disciplined by the city for her involvement in these incidents. The citizens also knew that
brutality, use of racial slurs and fabrication of criminal charged by police officers occurred
frequently, yet during a 10-year period only six citizen complaints had been sustained in the
police department's public affairs unit.
Is the criminal justice system racist?
The real question is, What can be done to rid our criminal justice system
of the laver upon layer of racism that infects its every aspect?
Pea ae
MERTON SIMPSON JR.
Co-Chair, CD-CAAR
"When all else fails to organize the people
- conditions will." This quote by Marcus Garvey
portends one of the potential outcomes of the Rodney King
verdict. There have been very few events in recent times that
have so graphically illustrated the nature and scope of white
supremacy m Amenca.
As a student of history, sociology and psychology of
white supremacy and institutional racism, it has taken me all
of my adult life to begin to understand the complexity of
racism,
As the oldest son of an African art dealer and a mother
who spent 36 years teaching, primarily in Brooklyn, it was
predetermined that my early world view would be
Atrocentric. However, it was not until my college days at
Long Island University, where | majored in social studies
education and philosophy that I began to appreciate the
complexity of white supremac What we see in Rodney
King's beating was nothing more than a modern, high-tech
version of the lynching of a black man. This ritual, which
was born of chattel slavery in the Americas, 1s symbolic ot
the fear that white people have of people of color. Most
people, whether they are classified as white or of color, do
not understand the historical distinction between prejudice
eines : land white supremacy.
a
TERU KUWAYAM.
Prejudice, according to Random House Dictionary, is the “unfavorable opinion or
feeling formed beforehand without knowledge, thought or reason.” Racism is "any
attitude, action of institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of
their color...racism is not just a matter of attitudes; actions and institutional structures can
also be a form of racism.” (Racism in America and Now to Combat It, U.S, Commission
on Civil Rights, 1970).
it needs to be understood that "racism is different from racial prejudice, hatred, or
discrimination. Racism involves having the power to carry Out systematic discriminatory
practices through the major institutions of our society.” (Whar Curriculum Leaders Can Do
About Racism , by Delmo Della-Dora, New Detroit, 1970),
In understanding the difference between prejudice and racism, we
observe that moving the King trial to net just an all-white community, but
an all-white community with more than 2,000 "police families," and the
subsequent not-guilty verdicts in the face of overwhelming evidence in the
video and other documentary records, is a case of white supremacy, or
racism. While the act of rage and frustration by the Black people who attacked the white
truck driver was an act that partially characterized by prejudice, any of the perpetrators
who; are caught will no doubt suffer to the full extent of the law!
The point is that without institutional racist power the trial could never have been
moved and it is clear why it should not have been moved. While no responsible black
leader condones the attack of innocent bystanders, the fact is that a level of justice will be
extracted from the attack on the truck driver that did not occur for the white police - who,
after all, are paid to protect the rights of the Rodney Kings of the world!
A report from the Center for Law and Justice
by Alice Green
By all accounts the "Second Annual Capital District
Community Conference on Crime and Criminal Justice” was
successful. The them of the Conference, "Separate and
Unequal, Racial Bias in Policing and the Courts" proved to
be a timely and popular topic. Close to 200 people attended?
Unfortunately, Don Carlos Jackson, scheduled tq_be
the morning session's keynote speaker, was unable to attend
due to the death of his mother on the day of the conference.
However, a video tape was presented that showed his
unprovoked beating by a white police officer in long Beach,
California and demonstrated his strong commitment to a
campaign to expose racist police violence in police
departments across the country. Mr. Jackson has offered to
come to Albany at a later date
In response to the panelists, a number of participants asked questions and gave
comments on the problems of police brutality and other policing issues of Police
Commissioner Charles Mills, Attorney Mark Mishler of Albany and Human Right Director
Nan Goldsberry of Troy. Of note, James Tuffy, President of the Albany Police Union
attended and began the community meeting segment of the morning session. Later, he
agreed to open a dialogue with community groups on the issue of racism in policing.
After the lunch break, a brief award ceremony was held to honor the first recipients
of the "Frederick Douglass Struggle for Justice Award." Award were given to attorneys
Ralph E. Powe and Mark Mishler for their contributions in the area of civil nghts. Both
recipients are members of the National Lawyer's Guild. Mark is a member of the Steering
Committee of the Capital District Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism.
The afternoon session on racial bias in the courts had as its keynote speaker Judge
Nicholas Figueroa, Vice-Chairman of the Franklin H. Williams Commission on Minorities.
The response panel included Judge Karen Peters of the Ulster Country Family Court and
local attorney, Randy Treece. General particpant reaction was somewhat negative toward
Judge Figueroa's presentation on the work of the Commission and his thoughts on the
existence of racial bias in the courts. Some found his message confusing, because he
acknowledged the existence of bias in his personal experience, yet did not strongly support
the Commissions Report that found the courts to be infested with racism and the existence
of two court systems in New York State, one for whites and another for people of color and
the poor.
Participant evaluation of the overall conference was extremely favorable. Important
suggestions and recommendations were offered for an “action agenda." They included the
need for: 1. racial sensitivity training for police and judges.
2.citizen oversight of policing.
3.minority representation juries.
4.increased use of alternatives to incarceration programs.
5.a court room monitoring program
6.networking with other communities.
The Conference planned a community strategy meeting to discuss and action agenda
to be planned and carried out in the Capital District Community. (Results of that
meeting will be on the agenda of the CD-CAAR meeting on May 28, 1992)
Center for Law and Justice Files Formal Complaint Against Lt.
Robert Wolfgang by Alice Green
In its April 1, 1992 edition, the Albany Times Union reported that Lt. Robert
Wolfgang of the Albany Police Department was critical of the Center's brochure announcing
the "Second Annual Capital District Community Conference on Crime and Criminal Justice”
whose theme was racial bias in policing and the courts. He charged that in the brochure the
Center had accused the Albany Police Department of misconduct in the deaths of two Black
males. However, Lt. Wolfgang never informed the center of his dissatisfaction or
concerns.
A few days later, Harold Rubin, President of the Council of Albany Neighborhood
Associations contacted the Center office making the same charge after speaking with Lt.
Wolfgang.
After several Conference sponsors reported to the Center that Lt. Wolfgang had
contacted them regarding their sponsorship of the Conference, Alice Green called Police
Chief John Dale and demanded that the contacts be stopped. Failing to hear from Chief
Dale, the Center decided to file a formal complaint against Lt. Wolfgang. A complaint was
filed on April 6, 1992.
The complaint charged that Lt. Wolfgang, by contacting Conference sponsors,
exceeded and abused his authority as a police official. It was further charged that the
contacts were made to coerce sponsors into dropping their support of the Conference.
In a letter dated April 20, 1992, Police Chief Dale claimed that a thorough police
investigation was made and the Department determined that coercion did not take place and
that the officers acted lawfully. Alice Green appealed that decision to Albany; Mayor
Thomas Whalen.
In the appeal letter she charged that a thorough investigation had not been done
because neither she, the complainant, nor all Conference sponsors had been contacted for an
interview which is customary practice by the Department. She also expressed concern that
the decisions did not address the main issues of why Lt. Wolfgang made the contacts in the
list place and whether his actions were proper in light of his duties, responsibilities and
authority as a police official.
In a letter dated April 29, 1992, Mayor Thomas Whalen referred Alice Green back
lo chiet Dale for the purpose of discussing the contents of the appeal letter. He also
indicated that he would discuss the matter with Alice Green after she had contacted Chief
Dale.
At this point Alice Green and the Center are prepared to pursue a fair and agreeable
resohition to the matter,
a
The Zenzeleni Community Centre Fund
A Project of the Albany Friends Meeting
727 Madison Avenue
Albany, New York 12208 May §, 1992
(518) 439-0297 / 462-1507
Dear Friend,
Three years ago, many of you responded generously to our request for money to support
the Zenzeleni Community Centre in Winterveldt, South Africa. The center, which opened in
1985, now occupies two brightly painted trailers and serves 100 children between the ages of
two and six. Last spring, one of us (1.B.) visited Zenzeleni, met again with its founder Frances
Baard, and saw the refrigerator and stove that were purchased with our donations.
Frances Baard and others working at the creche are hopeful about the promise of a
formal end to apartheid in South Africa. But its demise will leave a brutal legacy of poverty,
unemployment, and landlessness. The shortage of child care facilities will remain a particularly
acute problem for black women, whose income is critical for family survival. Jobs are especially
hard to find in Winterveldt, a barren rural slum located over an hour from Pretoria.
Frances Baard was a trade union activist and leader of the women’s campaign against
passes in the 1950s. Imprisoned during the 1960s, she was banished upon release to
Winterveldt, far from her home in Port Elizabeth. Though now over eighty years old and in ill-
health, she continues to organize around the needs of the local community and to work for an
end to racial injustice and exploitation. But her spirit alone cannot provide the center with
funds for teachers’ salaries or food for the children,
Your continued support of this project can help the women of Winterveldt in their daily
struggle for survival and can contribute to building the community solidarity necessary to
empower people on a grassroots level.
Contributions are tax deductible. Checks should be made out to the Albany Friends
Meeting and designated for the Zenzeleni Centre. |
Thank you once again for your assistance.
Sincerely yours, Jas J ‘
joe Levinger
Sw Brrgor
iris Berger
This letter was printed in our
March newletter but due to
computer difficulties it was
difficult to read. Please take
time to read it this month,
2
Capital District Coalition | Non-Profit
Against Apartheid and Racism Organization
A Project of the Social Justice Center | US POSTAGE
43 Central Avenue PAID
Albany, New York 12210 PERMIT NO. 800
Albany, NY
Important Notice:
The next meeting of CD-CAAR will
be at the Albany Public Library on
Thursday, May 28, 1992 at 7:00 p.m.
Note: Our regular meetings are the 4th Thursday of every month. There are no
regular meetings during the summer months. You will receive notification of any
special meetings - and on-going Committees will continue to meet. If you are
interested in working with CD-CAAR, or for more information, call 432-4623.
Justice
That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we black are wise:
Her bandage hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.
Langston Hughes
apes
Capital District Coalition
Against Apartheid
and Racism
Box 3002 - Pine Hills Station
Albany, New York 12202 _
A Project of the Social Justice Center
Thursday, September 24, 1992, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Albany Public Library
Washington Avenue, Albanv. New York
APARTHEID
IS NOT DEAD
AN EYEWITNESS REPORT
SLIDE SHOW AND DISCUSSION
Mozambique; former SWAPO exiles and Cuban solidarity workers in Namibia; people
who have lost their homes to Inkatha violence, former Robben Island prisoners,
squatter camp dwellers in South Africa. They also had the opportunity to visit with
families and old friends in South Africa.
At this September forum, Vera
Michelson and Eileen Kawola
will give a report on what's
happening in:
NAMIBIA, MOZAMBIQUE
and SOUTH AFRICA
(for more information, call 438-0309)
at
Capital District Coalition
; ° ‘ Non-Profit
Against Apartheid and Racism priate
A Project of the Social Justice Center US POSTAGE
33 Central Avenue | PAID
Albans, New York 12210
: PERMIT NO. S09
Albany. NY
"APARTHEID IS NOT DEAD"
Thursday, September 24, 1992
eae ins
A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS...
The National Conference in Support of the ANC and Other Democratic Forces for
a New South Africa is scheduled for the weekend of November 13-15, 1992 in New York
pio ; If you are interested in attending or for more information about the Conference, call 436-
The Social Justice Center of Albany Peace and Justice Awards Celebration -
"People Building Bridges for Justice" - is scheduled for November 8, 1992 at 6:00 p.m. at
the Westminster Presbyterian Church, 265 State Street, Albany, N.Y. Save the date! For
more information, call 434-4052.
National Mobilization for Survival has published a new and unique resource for the Columbus
uincentennial: 1492-1992: New Visions, New Alliances. This work focuses on
lumbus' impact on North America offering a more realistic portrayal of North American history
following the European invasion and the modern battles that Native Americans are still forced to
wage to protect their lives, land and sovereignty. It is available for $4.00 from National
Mobilization for Survival, Suite 155, 328 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238 (718)788-6071.
Cougraiulaiions to CD-CAAR member, Iris Berger, oa ihe publication of her latest book:
Threads of Solidarity - Women in South African Industry, 1900-1980, Indiana
University Pros. it wilt be evellabie at the Book House, Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany in October.
In memoriam - Ralph , founder of the Original Harlem Amateur Night. Mr. Cooper
helped launch the careers if ds of jazz, blues and soul performers including Sarah
Vaughn and the Jackson Five. As the marquee of the read at a memorial service:
Goodbye Ralph Cooper - We will mourn and miss you.
A thank you to all who donated generously and at the last minute for the material
aid that "Eileen Kawola and Vera Michelson teok to Mozambique. With the
approximately $450 that was raised,they were able to fill a huge duffel bag with some basic
medical supplies, pencils, pens, paper, soccer balls, t-shirts, caps, sewing materials. All the
materials were distributed at a school for children who have been dislocated by the war. It is the
school they have identified for an ongoing material sid prefect so you'll bs hearing more about tt in
NLT Seed are e Tn aNeN NT ne naw E Te EE EE LEE Oe ey ST SUNT Dee ORES SOO
Capital District Coalition
Against Apartheid and Racism
Box 3002 Pine Hills Station
Reig f New York 12203
October - November 1992
Tuesday, November 10, 1992, 7:30 p.m.
College of St. Rose, St. Joseph's Auditorium
‘ 985 Madison Avenue, Albany, N.Y.
South Africa: Stop the Violence
with Bernard Magubane, African National Congress member CS
and
Mozambique: Promote the Peace
with Prexy Nesbitt, Senior Consultant to Mozambique Government
sponsored by CD-CAAR and Specturm, the Black Student Union at the College of St. Rose
assisted by the History and Polictical Science Depts. and the Peace and Social Justice Club of St. Rose
On September 26, 1992, CD-CAAR members Vera Michelson and Eileen Kawola presented a
slide show and question and answer session to a gathering of about 150 people at the Albany
Public Library on the topic "Apartheid is not dead" where they discussed the violence in
Southern Africa and the long term effects of apartheid on other countries in the region,
especially in Mozambique and Namibia. in July of ‘92 Michelson and Kawola visited
October 15th edition of Metroland and is reprinted in this newsletter. The November event,
outlined above and in a flyer in this newsletter, will offer a further chance to gain information
and understanding about what is happening in Southern Africa from two nationally recognized
experts.
(Note: Instead of monthly meetings, CD-CAAR will offer bi-monthly programs this year
aimed at reaching a broader base of community people. Regular CD-CAAR business will be
conducted by subcommittees which meet on a monthly basis. If you are interested in working
with a subcommittee on Southern Africa or racism issues, call 4 562).
Oversight: The editor apologizes for an oversight in the mailing and flyer which announced
the September program. The book by CD-CAAR member, Iris Berger, entitled
Solidarity - Women in South African Ind 200-1980, is available at the
Boulevard Book Store, 15 Central Avenue, Albany, N.Y.
Police Abuse - Racial Violence - Update...
CD-CAAR working with two new coalitions to address issues.
SAFE
CD-CAAR members Merton Simpson, Mark Mishler and Gail Bymes are working with the
SAFE (Safety, Accountability and Fair Enforcement) Coalition which has been organized by the
Capital Region Chapter of the NYCLU. The aim of the coalition is to promote police
accountability in the City of Albany by creating an effective, independent investigation and review
process for allegations of police misconduct. The group plans a long term campaign to implement
a permanent, autonomous body to;
*receive complaints against individual police officers... .
*employ independent investigators - with no allegiance to the police...
“have power to issue subpoenas to compel testimony and the production of documents...
*hold hearings with procedural safeguards... ;
“determine discipline for police officers found responsible for misconduct...
“reinstate community confidence in the police department.
The group maintains that police fr,
accountability to the public is sacrificed
when police are put in the position of n:
policing themselves through internal wy x A
review of police misconduct. ‘ ¢
For more information call 436-8594. )
| Sad _-
@ |
CAARV
Merton Simpson, CD-CAAR Co-chair, and Deborah Williams-Muhammad are the Co-
Coordinators of a Center for Law and Justice* program, CAARY (Capital District Community
Action Against Racism and Violence). This coalition, born out of community outrage over the
Rodney King decision, seeks to put anti-racist activism on the criminal justice agenda and to give a
voice to community people. he
CAARV projects include: Youth Violence Prevention; Criminal Justice Sensitivity
Training; Child Care in the Courts; Court Monitoring; and studies of alternatives to incarceration
programs, jury selection; and community/police relations. Volunteers are still needed to work on
these and other projects. As Deborah Williams-Muhammad said at one of CAARV's general
meetings, "There are things that we can all do. If we want to see a change we must
become change agents."
*The Center for Law and Justice, Inc., headed by Alice Green, is a non-
profit community based criminal justice program funded in 1985 to effectively
address discriminatory treatment of poor people, people of color, amd other
powerless groups. The Center sees to involve a diverse community population in
working for change in criminal justice policy.
This Fall, a new publication was introduced to the Capital District Community. ” |
Advocate," the official newsletter of the Center for Law and J ustice will be published quarterly and _
will deal with a variety of criminal justice issues for the purpose of informing and educating. To
contribute articles or other materials to "The Advocate," please submit to: Editor, "The Advocate; _
The Center for Law and Justice; Pine West Plaza #2: Washington Ave. Ext, Albany, N.Y.12205 _
Mozambique Work - Update...
The CD-CAAR Mozambique Support Committee congratulates Bill Ritchie,
CD-CAAR member and Vice President of the Albany Public School Teachers Association, for the
wonderful work he has been doing for Mozambique. At the June meeting of APSTA he arranged
for Eileen Kawola, CD-CAAR member and also an Albany public school teacher to speak to the
Albany building representatives at a meeting, informing them of her trip to Mozambique,
requesting a letter of greeting to the teachers of Mozambique and a token gift. As a result of her
report, a letter and 1,000 pencils were given to Kawola to take on the trip. (He also arranged for
Kawola to receive letters of greeting to Mozambican trade unionists from the Central Labor
Federation of the AFL-CIO and the Solidarity Committee of the Capital District.)
Upon return, Ritchie also arranged for her to give a report on her meetings with members
of the Teachers Organization of Mozambique and on a visit with teachers and school children at a
school for children dislocated by the war.
Also in June, Ritehie presented the APSTA Advisory Council with a resolution
which they passed, entitled "Mozambique Support," for presentation at the seventy-
second convention of the American Federation of Teachers (AFL-CIO), held in
Pittsburg August 11-15. The resolution supported the ending of violence and the
holding of democratic elections with international observers, an increase in
humanitarian aid and it expressed solidarity with teacher unionists in
Mozambique. It was passed by the bedy. This resolution has been Signed by
AFT President Albert Shanker and sent to both Executive and Legislative
branches of the U.S. government. Ritchie is continuing to do Mozambique work, along
with his pressing teaching and union duties, by publishing facts in the APSTA newsletter about
conditions in Mozambique and seeking support for the Mocatini School project. (The CD-CAAR
plan to help this school, the Mocatini Schoo! Project, is described elsewhere in this newsletter)
aalsili:iis 1 <AZE=4Nis
South Africa - Stop the Violence Update...
At the June meeting of CD-CAAR a video entitled "Stop the Violence," produced by the
Africa Fund of the American Committee on Africa was shown. The Stop the Violence
Committee of CD-CAAR has made the video and speakers available to the community to explain
what is behind the violence in South Africa.
While in South Africa this past summer, CD-CAAR member Vera Michelson was able to
speak to people who have been affected by the violence and witness some of homes that have been
destroyed by Inkatha in Soweto and in Inanda Newtown townships. A slide show entitled
"Apartheid is not dead" and the "Stop the Violence” video are available, along with speakers, to
interested groups. For more information, call 436-0562.
We have reprinted in this newsletter a copy of an address givent to the Committees of
Correspondence National Convention held in Berkely, Claifornia, July 17-19, 1992 b
Hlatshwayo Madoda, Deputy Head of the African National Congress mission to the United States
Madoda's "We shall end minority rule and apartheid in any guise" addresses the question of
"who is behind the violence in South Africa?"
Oct. 15-21, 1992 « METROLAND
Boys recently freed from forced military service.
Vera Michelson
ay
he bride wore white, The groom,
in an elegant black tuxedo, was
] well-dressed too. And the sun
reflected brightly off the bridesmaids’
purple satin dresses.
For Vera Michelson and Eileen C
Kawola, it was a joyous, if incongruous,
moment during a remarkable July fact:
finding trip to southern Africa. During their
monthiong visit, the two activists from the
Capital District Coalition Against
Apartheid and Racism traveled to
Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia.
They visited squatter camps and tribal
homelands, saw elegant cities hard by
grinding poverty. They caught up with old
friends who had spent years in exile and
welcomed political prisoners who had just
been released from jail.
But for all that, there was something
special about the invitation to join a
wedding party in Ovamboland, an eight-
hour drive north from Windhoek,
Namibia's capital city. The groom was a
cousin of Helmut Angula, Namibia's
Minister of Fisheries and Marine
Resources. Like many other southern
Africans Michelson and Kawola visited,
Angula was an old friend, While an exiled
official of the South West Africa People's
Organization, he came to Albany to rally
support fer his nation's independence fight
against South Africa's apartheid
government
“H's a great honor to be invited to an
African family’s wedding,” says Prexy
Nesbitt, founder and executive director of
the Mozambique Solidarity Office. Nesbitt,
an African-American who lives in Chicago,
helped organize the trip and traveled with
Michelson and Kawola in Mozambique and
Narnibia. Nesbitt was making his 37th visit
to the region.
“One of the exciting things to me waa to
watch the kind of international link that
exists because people in Albany showed
hospitality and support to people from
Namibia and South Africa for se many
years," Nesbitt says, “and to see the joy
with which people received Vera and
Eileen.” Namibia, where the activists spent
seven days, is on Africa’s west coast
between South Africa and Angola. ft was a
South African colony until 1989.
“The wedding was a combination of
customs,”’ Michelson recalls, The bride and
groom dressed in their best Western, but
many of the quests wore traditional clothes.
It was a Christian ceremony, performed
outside a small church, Afterward, women
in traditional dress led the procession
across the dry, Namibian desert to the
bride's éraal, the enclosed family
compound typical of rural southern Africa.
There the couple received gifts and
congratulations before setting off ona
10-mile journey to the groom's home,
which, in accordance with tradition, the
bride had never seen
On their long drive across the dry
landscape, which is currently facing the
worst drought in years, Michelson and
Kawola saw the efforts Namibians must
make to survive. “We saw water holes that
are drying up, and we saw people walking for
miles looking for water and tending cattle,”
Michelson says. “We sometimes saw
people having to get water from the same
water hole the cattle were drinking from.”
Back in Windhoek, which has the flavor
and style of a modern European city, the
activists visited Katatura, a black township
on the outskirts of town. ‘It was as
oppressive as any township or squatter camp
we saw in South Africa,” Kawola recalls,
“Atter two years of independence, why
does this still exist?” Michelson asks
rhetorically.
National elections were held in 1990, she
explains, with SWAPO the winner, But the
towns have yet to hold local elections. So,
much of country is still under the control of
the same government and civil service that
ruled during colonial days, As part of the
United Nations-negotiated agreement that
led to South Africa's withdrawal from
Namibia, the country's whites will retain
their government jobs for life, And South
Africa still controls Walvis Bay, the
country’s main South Atlantic port.
Soe SWAPO looks to the future. “They
are focused on educating the young people
to expect their new constitutional rights,”
Michelson says. The youth will have learn to
claim all the rights their parents fought for.
he travelers began their African
sojourn July 2 in Johannesburg,
South Africa's largest city, but left
almost immediately for Mozambique
“Enjoy your visit, or whatever you're
doing,” the pilot said ominously as the
commercial airliner descended to land at
the airport in Mozambique’s capital,
Maputo. The country, which won its
independence 17 years ago, has been
devastated by war and internal political
conflict.
Like Nicaragua's Sandinistas, whose
dreams for independence were crushed by
war with the U.S,-backed contras, the
Mozambique Liberation Front, known as
FRELIMO, had to defer its vision while it
fought a civil war against South African-
backed rebels. In 1975, along with Angola
and Guinnea Bissau, Mozambique won its
freedom from Portugal. in the early years
after independence, FRELIMO, left with a
bankrupt government by the fleeing
Portuguese, set out to bring education to a
population that was 93 percent illiterate.
The country’s 1,300 public schools soon
grew to sare 7,600,
“Mozambique had this wonderful
socialist dream," says Kawola, “which got
crushed by the South Africans and anyone
in the world community who didn't want to
see it exist.”
Today, after a decade of civil war with a
South Africa-backed group called the
Mozambique Resistance Movement
(RENAMO), there are fewer thar’600
schools left. The country, like Somalia and
Narnibia, is gripped by the worst drought of
the century, Without help, millions more
lives will be lost.
“The drought in Somalia and
Mozambique is not the result of God,
African personality traits or accident,’ says
Nesbitt. “It’s the product of specific
policies and practices that have left Africa
unable to cope. The Mozambican drought
and famine would be manageable if not for
the war with South Africa.”
Mozambique was once one of the most
productive agricultural regions in all of
central and southern Africa. Now it’s not
only the poorest, but the moat foreign-aid-
dependent country in the world. It is deep
in debt to the United States, Italy, the
World Bank and the Internationa}
Monetary Fund. “One of the things we are
pressing for now is forgiveness of debts,”
says Nesbitt. “Mozambique will be paying
until 2085 on just the interest of its World
Bank loans."’
Author Joseph Hanlon, in Mozambique:
Who Calls the Shots?, his landmark study of
foreign aid, says that the West's largess has
been used to “subjugate Mozambique to its
pre-1975 status.” Donors insist on setting
up their own channels for administering the
aid, circumventing existing government
structures, ‘thereby lowering the
confidence, responsibility and sovereignty
of the Mozambican government.”
“What struck me in Maputo,” recalls
Kawola, "‘is that two blocks away from
downtown, you see a squatters’ settlement
being set up. There are people all over
selling whatever they can te get some
money; charcoal, a couple of oranges.”’
Meanwhile, the country's former exploiters
are coming back. For example, in Maputo,
FRELIMO had to sell its future party
headquarters, a former hotel, to South
African businessmen. And most of the
waterfront property along the city’s Indian
Ocean coastline has been bought by South
Africans or Portuguese.
“Now the people who destroyed it are
back reaping the benefits,” says Kawola,
& ur most chilling memary,
O the one that will never go
away,” says Kawola, came the
afternoon the three activists met with six
ragged teenage boys who had been forced
to serve with RENAMO, the Mozambique
Resistance Movement. “The atrocities
these children had seen or even committed
were told in their eyes-—~eyes so sad or
devoid of feeling."
RENAMO was created by the Rhodesian
intelligence agency te patrol and harass
Mozambique’s borders when Rhodesia's
white government was trying to defeat its
own liberation movement, Rhodesia failed,
and today the country is called Zimbabwe.
But the South African Defense Force took
over RENAMO, with the goal of using it to
destroy independent Mozambique.
The organization became a darling of
right-wingers in the United States, too,
who saw it as a vehicle to disrupt another
socialist experiment. In that, it has
succeeded. But RENAMO has fought one
of the most violent wars in modern history,
killing and torturing more than a million of
its fellow citizens. Nesbitt calls it ‘a war of
mutilation.” Teachers and rural medical
workers are favorite targets.
RENAMO also has become known for
taking young boys, like the six who spoke
with Kawola and had been recaptured by
the Mozambican military, and forcing them
into service. Sometimes, the boys are made
to commit an atrocity against their family
or village to ensure that their home ties will
be severed.
“We asked them what they would like to
do now,” Kawola says. "They answered
that they would like to go te school and be
reunited with their families.” But one of the
boys isn't welcome at home, He had been
forced to tell RENAMO where his mother
was hitting. They found her and she was
abtiucted. She survived, but is afraid that if
her son comes home, she will be kidnapped
again. Another of the boys explained that
he had once killed someone with a machete
“| wanted to ask hard questions about
how they felt,”’ says Kawola. But they
looked so wounded, she didn't have the
heart. “I never asked, did you do
something to your family?’
But Kawola did ask if they were ever
afraid. Zamito, one of the boys, answered
that he had been “immunized” againat
fear. ‘He told us that the boys would take
oS eS
razor blades, sling a cut in their legs, and
put some kind of powder they were given
into the open wourld. When the sore healed
over, they would prick the scar with a pin
whenever they felt fear—or hunger or
cold—and those feelings would go away ‘-
Zamito couldn't say what type of powder,
or drug, it was
“Those kids, who should be going to
school and playing with their friends, were
learning how to terrorize and kill,” says
Kawola, an Albany public school teacher
The boys have been reclaimed, she says,
“but their childhoods are long gone.”
Other Mozarnbican children have been
relatively fortunate. On a visit to the
Ricatla region outside Maputo, Michelson
and Kawola visited the Mocatina Primary
School, where some 600 children, about
200 of them orphans, are taught by nine
teachers earning the equivalent of $25 a
month. It’s a school without walls, since
RENAMO would destroy it. The Capital
District Coalition Against Apartheid and
Racism plans to begin a fund-raising
project for the school
Neshitt, back in Chicago, reflected on the
recent UN. decision to consider war-
crimes trials for those who commit
atrocities in the name of “ethnic cleansing”
in the former Yugostavia, “Why can't they
put on trial those who have been
responsible for the killing of over 1 million
people in Mozambique?” he asked bitter ty
“Killa bunch of white folks in Europe, it's
like playing with fire, Kill some black folks
in Africa, it’s like swatting flies.”
After five days in Mozambique,
Michelson, Kawola and Nesbitt flew back
to South Africa. “‘L just sat on the plane and
quietly cried,” says Kawola. “And we
certainly did not see the worst of
Mozambique.”
ver the years, Soweto,
the community of 3 million black
South Africans near Johannesburg,
has become synonymous with apartheid.
There's a clear division,” says Kawola.
“Johannesburg is such a big, industriai city.
And then you drive 10 miles, and you see a
green highway sign that says Soweto, and
the grass is all gone. It's dirt all over."
During a tour of the township, the women
saw two funeral processions within a half-
hour. Even though the South African
government has legalized the African
National Congress and released the
organization's president, Nelson Mandela,
from jail, violence is still a fact of life in the
country's black townships, squatter camps
and workers’ hostels. Townships like
Soweto were created to be reservoirs of
cheap black labor to serve the white cities.
Then Michelson and Kawola went to visit
Albertina “Mama” Sisulu, a heroic figure
in the anti-apartheid struggle and the wife
of Walter Sisulu, an ANC leader who was
jailed with Mandela. Their son, a
journalist, arrived shortly thereafter,
coming from yet another funeral. Much of
the killing in recent years is due to fighting
between ANC supporters and Zulus loyal to
Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi’s
Inkatha Freedom Party
Kawola stayed in a middle-class Soweto
house~it had electricity and a bathroom:
with the family of Yolande Chirwa, a
student who attends Hamilton College in
upstate New York. Chirwa often spends
her weekends in Albany, staying with
Kawola or other coalition members
Later, in Cape Town, Michelson and
Kawola stayed with the families of two
students who had lived with them in
Albany while the ANC was still a banned
political organization, Today, Sean Lewnhs is
getting his doctorate at the University of
Pittsburgh in applied linguistics, and
Shobhna Gopal is a research biologist at
Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, But in
1989, this writer was asked not to publish
the students’ names ina METROLAND
article, for fear of retaliation against their
families
In Cape Town, Michelson and Kawola
participated in an ANC “harman chain’
demonstration, Thousands of activists held
hands and surrounded the downtown
business district. It was a prelude toa
planned stay-away, an ANC show of
strength, that took place in August, shortly
after the women returned to Albany: More
than 4 million black and white South
Africans stayed away from wark or school
for two days. It was a peaceful protest that
shook up both South African President
FW. de Klerk and Buthelezi
And in Durban, the women stayed in
Kwamashu Township with Nathi Neoho
and his family, Neobo lived in Albany in
1990 and 1991 with coalition members
It was in Durban, a port city on the Indian
Ocean, that Michelson and Kawola saw
some of the most desperate living
conditions in a squatter camp
“You think of [the camps] as temporary,”
Kawola says. But people can live there for
years. In Kwarmashu, there was no
electricity, so there were no lights at night
and the people lived in fear of crime
Water is a concern every day,"’ Kawola
adds, They saw several hundred families
using a single outhouse. They saw one
water tap for 3,000 families, and it was
turned off each weekday at 5 PM. People
spend hours getting te work,” she says,
then they have to come home and find water
é I t'sa very dangerous time,”
says Michelson of South Africa
after returning to Albany. ‘There
is an obvious danger because the state-
sponsored violence has disrupted the
negotiating process. It's dangerous because
of the frustrations that build when
negotiations don’t happen the way people
had hoped. It’s dangerous because the eye
of the international community is not on
South Africa any more, like jt once was.”
The Capital District Coalition Against
Apartheid and Racism is certainly one
group that will keep watching southern
Africa. Formed in 1981 to lead
demonstrations against the South African
Springboks, a rugby team invited to play in
the Albany area that year, the coalition’s
efforts have earned it an international
reputation
“We find many people doing solidarity
work allover the country,’ says Nesbit!
whose own efforts have taken him to 48
states. ‘But {the coalition] stands out
because we don't find people doing it at the
same level for so many years.”
In 1990, the coalition presented SWAPO
with a check for $1,500, part of the city of
Albany's settlement with Michelson and
two others who were illegally arrested
during the anti Springboks protests. In
Namibia, Michelson learned the coalition’s
money had helped purchase a computer
SW APO used to keep track of the 1990
elections. And a $1,000 contribution, raised
during the coalition’s 10th anniversary
celebration last year, was used by the AN¢
to set up a rural radio network in South
Africa
Once negotiations started between the
ANC and the South African government,
however, worldwide pressure to boycott
South Africa faded. The country’s athletes
for example, were allowed back into the
Olympics this year. In fact, efforts to create a
new South African government where whites
and blacks will have equal votes have stalled
In late September, Zulu leader Buthelezi
withdrew his Inkatha party from the talks
According toa recent New York Times
story, Buthelezi has allied with the rulers of
two other black South African homelands
And the Times reports that he has been
“flirting” with conservative whites “who
would rather see South Africa fragmented
into ethnic principalities than handed over
to Mr. Mandela.” The most ominous
scenario, the Times imagined, is that the
Zulu chief would lead a separatist bloc
aimed at shattering South Africa like
Yugoslavia.
“Our task,” says Michelson, ‘is to get
South Africa back on the agenda and
support the ongoing struggle there.”
Instead of forgetting about South Africa
Michelson wants to talk about the
“interconnectedness of the violence in the
whole southern Africa region.” As long as
Mozambique remains in turmoil, Namibia
fails to prosper and Angola totters on the
brink of a return to civil war, pressure on
the apartheid government to reform is
weakened,
“We're talking about the violence in
South Africa that is sponsored by
apartheid,’ Michelson concludes, “and the
violence apartheid has organized across its
borders.”
Micheison and Kawola saw little, if any.
actual violence, During their nights in
Maputo, they heard gunfire in the streets,
and a visit to Mozambique's western border
area was impossible becuase of the fighting
But they saw the day-to-day pain of life
under apartheid in three different
countries. "You realize how long its going
to take for that to disappear,’’ Michelson
says. ‘The struggle there will continue
until the people have freedom, They make
that very clear. That is not in question.“ @
J) a
Wedding guests in Ovamboland, Nanubia.
Etleen Kawola
Eileen Kawola and Vera Michelson
in Mozambique.
Mocatimi School Material Aid Project
Before going to Mozambique, Eileen Kawola, an Albany Public School teacher, was given a letter of
greeting to the school children of Mozambique from the Albany Board of Education, signed by the
President of the Board, Mr. Ward DeWitt. She presented this letter to Graca Machel, former Minister of
Education and widow of Mozambique's first president, Samora Machel. Graca Machel now heads up the
National Organization of Children of Mozambique, an organization set up to help deal with the devastation
caused by the war on the children of the country. In a meeting with Michelson and Kawola, Mrs. Machel
told them of her great concern for the children of her country who have suffered from war, atrocities,
dislocation, and malnutrition. One of the objectives of the trip fo Mozambique was to identify a material
aid project for the Mozambique Support Committee of CD-CAAR. After talking with Mrs. Machel, and
after visiting a school for dislocated children, the Committee made a commitment to raising funds for the
children of the Mocatini school. A description of this project 1s included in this newsletter (on brightly
colored flyer). For more information call Debbie Maxwell at 393-4002.
SOUTH AFRICA
We shall end minority rule
and apartheid in any guise
by Hlatshwayo Madoda
n 1990-91, at a conference called CODESA (Convention for a
Demoaxcratic South Africa), both the ANC and the govern-
ment and other groupings committed themselves to a new con-
stitution that would be adopted on the basis of unity, democracy,
nonracialism and nonsexism that would create a new South
Africa. The process started at CODESA has now been dead-
locked. The problem, fundamentally, is with the ruling white
minority party, which continues to seck ways (0 guarantee itself
continued power regardless of its clectoral support. The regime
insists that the political majority, no matter how large, should be
subjected 1 a veto by minority political parties — in the main,
white political parties. Uniess the government comes forth with
a firm commitment to full democracy based on intemationally-
recognized principles and acceptance of sovereignty, the pro-
cess Cannot move forward.
After many years the struggle inside and outside South
Africa was brought to a point where we all generaily accepted
that ii could be peaceably resolved. The ANC went to the Gen-
eral Assembly [of the United Nations) and put forward the con-
ditions under which it was prepared tw enter into negotiations
with the de Klerk government. Among the most important was
that the negotiations must be undertaken only in an atmosphere
free of violence, The General Assembly was in full agreement.
indeed, the South African government itself adopted this posi-
ton ~ free discussions without intimidation, a clear, easy politi-
cal atmospbere in the country, and no violence. However, as we
all know, the violence has continued and the ANC feels it can-
hot continue negotiations as long as the people are being
slaughtered.
It is not only the ANC which is pressing the issue of vio-
lence. Other, non-political, independent organizations have
pointed out the de Klerk regime's involvement in the violence.
An independent organization, Community Agency for Social
Equity, has issued reports which found that the violence appears
to be switched on and off at strategic moments. “Behind the
scale of brutality is the clear evidence that the violence erupts at
points when it most weakens the ANC and its alliance and dies
down dramatically when it would most harm the government of
FW. de Klerk.”
The report notes that two political parties clearly seem to be
benefitting from this violence: the National Party, which is run-
ning the government, and the Inkatha Freedom Party of Mr.
Buthelezi. To the ANC, it is definitely beyond a reasonable
doubt that the violence in South Africa is both organized and or-
chestrated. It is specifically directed at the democratic move-
ment, whose activists, members and supporters make up the
overwhelming majority of its victims. This constitutes 4 cold-
blooded strategy of state terrorism intended to create conditions
under which the forces responsible for introducing and en-
trenching the system of apartheid would also have the possibili-
ty of imposing their will on a weakened democratic movement
it is widely acknowledged that agreements the ANC has
reached in the past with the de Klerk government, particularly
those aimed at curbing violence, have not been carried out. For
instance, the government has made no effort to implement
agreements reached bilaterally between Mr. de Klerk and Mr
Mandela (President of the African National Congress} on cul-
tural weapons and hosiels — areas over which it clearly has con-
trol. And it continues to blame the ANC for the violence. Faced
with the horrendous escalation of violence, as evidenced in the
Boipatong massacre and taking place in the context of the nego-
tations deadlock, the ANC has been forced to withdraw from
the multilateral negotiations process. From the ANC's point of
view, the blame lies squarely with the regime. Only the regime
has the law-enforcement personne! and legal authority 10 stop
the violence and act against the perpetrators. The goverment
has an obligation to protect the lives and property of all the peo-
ple. it has failed to do so.
The central thrust of the violence is to weaken the ANC
amd the democratic movement as a whole. The ANC maintains
thai the government is responsible for the violence, both by acts
of omission ~ such as failing to enforce the agreements - and
acts of commission, particularly the role played by its security
structures. International organizations such as the Intemational
Commission of Jurists and Amnesty {nternational have also
charged the government with failing to act agains! violence and
sig to bring to justice the individgais involved in the vio-
No action has been taken in a number of situations where
policemen were involved and Inkatha was involved, Nonethe-
less. Mr. de Klerk consistently points the finger at the ANC.
The ANC believes that de Klerk may, on the one hand, be com-
mitted 10 4 new dispensation against apartheid in South Africa,
but perhaps, on the other hand, may not actuaily have control
over the security apparatus. The ANC would like to assist de
Klerk, not only in terms of the self-interest of the mass demo-
cratic movement, but also in his own interests, by having the
United Nations involved in monitoring the violence, With the
U.N. physically in the country, monitoring the police and the so-
called violence from the ANC, de Klerk could indeed be free to
Carry on legitimate negotiations at CODESA, based on interna-
Yonally accepted principles of democracy. We have in South
Africa in 1992 an awkward situation where the vote of Africans
is supposed t© count for about three-quarters of the vote of
someone who is white. This is what they are pushing at CODE-
SA. The government wants everything to pass parliament on the
basis of a 7S percent plurality, which would mean totally weak-
ening the vote of the victims of apartheid. In U.S. history, Black
This is one of the fundamental problems here. Their
i . per-
run of the African people is as less than human. In spite of
‘called new era and the so-called new regime, they still
Row
hold their fascistic fantasies dearly. Although the ANC is pre-
pared to negotiate for a dispensation that will accommodate all
South Africans, including the reactionary whites, it is dealing
with people who are still wearing coid war blinkers. De Klerk
does not see our struggle for freedom as being legitimate. He
cannot see the ANC leading the people of South Africa ~ ail of
them, Black, white, Colored, Indian. To the contrary, he acts as
if the fascist whites have the right to bring in a new South
Africa. But, they have no capacity to change the country, Even
as we are speaking today, they are engaging in covert anti-
democratic actions. They do not compete openly, democratical-
ly, with the ANC’s new ideas. To the contrary, they murder: not
just ANC people but so-called sympathizers of the ANC.
Apartheid is alive and well in South Africa. Last year, after
Mr. de Klerk declared that apartheid was history, President Bush
rushed to lift the sanctions. We need the sanctions now, more $0
than ever. Apartheid will not wither away and it will not be dis-
maniled by de Kierk or Bush. We have to keep the pressure on.
Toward this end, the ANC, the South Afncan Communist
Party, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and other
democratic forces in the Black communities, such as Azanian
Peoples Organizations and the Pan-African Congress of South
Africa, are all going to be involved in a general strike on Aug.
3. We are asking for solidarity. The ANC views the international
community and its solidarity efforts as essential to our struggiec.
Let's keep the faith.
Today's situation is new for everybody, not only for the left
movement in the United States. The situation thai is in wansi-
von in South Africa is new both for South Africans and for the
solidarity movement. Recognizing this, the ANC National Ex-
ecutive Council, meeting at the end of May, called on the ANC
1 Organize imtemational solidarity conferences in the areas
where it has been operating most effectively: the Pacific Basin,
Europe and North America. At these solidarity conferences, the
ANC will present to the movement its reading of the new situa-
tion, and the solidarity movement will present to the ANC its
reading on new developments. This conference is planned in
November in New York City. These conferences can only be a
success if the grassroots are involved. The comprehensive Anti-
Apartheid Act of 1986 was enacted because of the pressure
from the grassroots. Mr. Reagan vetoed it thrice, but Congress
overruled him. So it's very, very important that the grassroots be
mobilized, that they hear directly from the people who are in-
volved on the ground on the new situation that has arisen and
how the ties, based on equality, should be enhanced.
We share the situation the left finds itself in in this country
today. The ANC itself, as an organization. is still reeling from
the new situation it is confronted with. Not only does it have to
fight against the apartheid monstrosity, but the ANC has to re-
build organized structures within the country, working through
at least three different traditions that have arisen in the course of
the struggle. The ANC has a tradition of struggle from the UDF
{United Democratic Front — a coalition of legal mass organiza-
tions ~ Ed.}. The second stream is the people who participated
in the struggle by spending most of their lives in prison. And
that's a large number of people — not only in the leadership but
also among the rank and file. The third stream in the ANC to-
day is composed of people like me, people who have spent 29
plus years in exile and struggied in exile, This indicates some of
the tasks that the ANC is confronted with. Thank you for the
support. A juia continua! Amandia'
Address of Hiatshwayo Madoda, deputy head of the Aincan Na-
tional Congress mission to the United States
rene —
‘This address wea given by Mr.Madoda at the National Conference of the
Comuittecs of © 20, in Berkely, California, July 17-19, 1992
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1992
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1992
On the next page you will find a full page fl
National Conference in Support of the Afric:
and other Democratic Forces for a New South Africa
November 13-15, 1992 at Riverside Church, New York City
If you have any questions, call the number listed, or locally, call 438-0309.
er describing the
rican National Congress
There've been lots of shows on T.V. in the last few weeks about the Cuban missile crisis and the almost
unbelievable mistakes and misunderstandings that surrounded that event. Now, thirty years later, the U.S.
continues,a misigken and misguided Cuba policy and continues to enforce a punitive embargo on Cuba. This
places incredible hardships on our Caribbean neighbors, And, normalized relations would benefit not just
Cuba bur also the U.S. Ifthe embargo were lifted, our right to travel freely between the U.S. and Cuba would
ee ae: )\, be restored and trade between the U.S. and Cuba could account for up to$ 3 billion annually,
Pow, Ly " , creating jobs here. It's time the misunderstandings stop. Promote
U.S. Cuba Friendship
An exciting new project - U.S. Cuba Friendshipment - is being organized
throughout the country by Pastors for Peace, with the endorsement of many
organizations including the Venceremos Brigade. On November 6th, caravans of
trucks, vans and cars will begin traveling on eight different routes through the U.S.,
meeting in Texas before crossing the border into Mexico. Once in Mexico, the
ie convoy will travel to a port city to be met by a Cuban boat which will take the
a wea to Havana. Caravan participants will fly to Cuba, where they will deliver the
aid and tour the. is or a week. The pian also calls for bringing Cuban products back into the U.S.
as the caravans return to their home cities.
There is no way to know how the U.S. government will respond to this initiative, although
they may consider it a violation of their embargo. They could prosecute in court and people
convicted of a crime under the embargo statutes are liable for fines of up to $250,000 and prison
sentences of up to 10 years.
At a July 8th press conference announcing the Friendshipment, Rev. Lucius Walker said,
"The U.S. government may view this humanitarian project as a challenge to its
embargo. in this case the U.S. government will have to decide how it chooses to
view the donation of food, medicine, Bibles and bicycies to people who are not
our enemy, who are no threat to the U.S. and with whom we are not at war.
Nevertheless, if our government decides to block this shipment, we will not back
down.”
Locally, we are accepting donations to send to Pastors for Peace to purchase medical
Supplies, dry milk and bicycles. Make checks or money orders payable to IFCO - Pastors for Peace
and send to The Committees of Correspondence, P.O.Box 681 1, Fort Orange Station, Albany, N.Y.
12206. Anyone interested in hosting a slide show presentation by individuais recently returned
from Cuba, please contact Mabel Leon at 372-1531.
A Friendship Renewed... a ietter trom Nathi Ncobo
It's 11 pm.on the 20th of July 1992 and | am sitting at my desk writing this note. it's still hard to
believe that | have Mike (Vera Michelson) and Eileen (Kawola) with me in my house in Kwa Mash
township. Anyway, thery are here. They have had a hectic day touring the townships and squatter
camps with a my friend, Emmanuel (Mthimkhulu) who has been an excellent tour guide for them.
They have had an opportunity to pass solidarity messages to the striking MWASA (Media Workers
Association of South Africa) members who are on strike against the South African Broadcasting
Corporation. All of today's events have made me remember the CD-CAAR - a fine organization with
people who really care.
The fight against apartheid is not over yet but the spirit of the people is still as resilient as
ever. We are sons and daughters of heroes of Africa. We are not going to give up the fight - not
when we know we have people like you on our side. Amandia!
é. “t
Social Justice Center
The Social Justice Center, formed in 1981, is an umbrella organization for
a peace and social justice groups in the Capital District. The Center's purpose
| is to increase the effectiveness of the ive movement by sharing
resources, equipment, organizing ideas and skills, and expenses whenever
possible. The Capital District Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism is
one of twenty one groups which belong to the Center.
We urge you to support the Center. How?
1, The Center publishes a quarterly newsletter, the "Activist," which includes articles on
peace and justice issues, The October, 1992 issue focuses on multi-cultural coalition building. To
subscribe to the "Activist," send $10 to the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Avenue, Albany,
New York 12210.
2.You can also support the Center is you shop at Peace Offerings, the store set up by
the Center to benefit Third World craftspeople and local peace and justice activism. The store has a
huge selection of beautiful hand made crafts from around the world, cards and note paper, jewelry,
clothing - it is the most interesting store in the Capital District, selling goods from cooperatives and
other sources of nonexploited labor. Peace Offerings in located in the Center building at 33 Central
Avenue, Albany - just a few doors down from Henry Johnson Boulevard. From September | Ith
to October 15th, Peace Offerings sponsored a unique and eye-opening exhibit - The Indigenous
Cultures of the Americas. The exhibit united art and politics through a series of events which
blended discussions of issues relevant to indigenous American people with craft wee bn On
Friday, November 27, Peace Offerings invites you to a Post Thanksgiving Celebration -
with food, music and a chance to see the goods available for holiday shopping.
3. attend..the Social Justice Center's
aaibhet a
Sunday, November 8th -5:30
Westminster Presbyterian Church
262 State Street, Albany, NY
Indian-Pakistani Cuisine by Shalimar - Desserts and Appetizers
Tickets:
$15 in advance $6 limited income and children
$20 at the door $40 sponsor
Child care available
Please call in advance
Information and reservations, call 434-4037
This annual fundraising celebration is held to recognize individuals who have made outstanding
contributions to the movement for social change in the Capital District. This year's celebration is
entitled "People Building Bridges for Justice” and the winners include: Deborah Williams-
Muhammad, Bonita Davis, Matilda Arias, Vera Michelson (CD-CAAR co-chair), Rev. Carl Taylor
and Gwen Wright.
Capital District Coalition Non-Profit
Against Apartheid and Racism Organization —
A project of the Social Justice Center US POSTAGE
33 Central Avenue PAID
Albany, New York 12210 PERMIT NO. 509
Albany, NY
Address correction requested
Save the date!!! Tuesday, November 10, 1992
CD-CAAR program:
"South Africa: Stop the Violence; Mozambique: Promote the peace"
Ses tes
seems to be holding and elections are planned for twelve months from now. The cessation of ‘
Mozambicans with starvation.
Important Date..The Albany Branch NAACP will hold its 57th Anniversary
AL aPPreciation for the contributions of traditional institutions and organisations within the
African American culture, For tickets or information, call the NAACP at 462-1823,
EN SA ab ANNBR NCA Mr RAR OAR ARONA PON REO
OETA Saas SIDI Scien sine ism heb metinsipamiaiinionirwnninnee vu
Capital District Coalition
Against Apartheid and Racism
Box 3002 Pine Hills Station
Albany, New York 12203
A project of the Social Justice Center
January - February 1993
Newsletter
Coming Up...and still going on
February 19, 1993 - " Racism, Law Enforcement and
Violence" with Don Jackson and Tyra Ferrell Jackson at the College of
St. Rose (see enclosed flyer)
"STOP the violence - South Africa" - campaign.
Mozambique Support Committee - work.
(Note: The STOP the violence campaign and the Mozambique support work have
been ongoing projects of CD-CAAR. Information on both projects are included in
this newsletter.)
Time to Party - CD-CAAR is planning another fantastic party and we need
your help. Anyone who would like to work on this event, call 432-4623
immediately - leave message.
A CD-CAAR public program in the Spring on the issue of
violence in South Africa and in the U.S. with particular emphasis
on Albany and the Capital District. If you are interested in working on
this program or want more information, call 432-4623.
The Center for Law and Justice Third Annual Community
Conferenceon Crime and Criminal Justice, 4/24/93
fenclosed flyer,
Wasted Talents or Wasted Resources?
Unlimited Minds is a not-for-profit organization founded to increase the educational, economic
and leadership opportunities of economically disadvantaged students with a primary emphasis on
students of color in the Capital District.
Unlimited Minds invites you to our debut reception/fundraiser on Thursday, February
[8th , 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Rockefeller Institute, 411 State Street, Albany, keynote
speaker - Patrick Swygert. For further information, 434-8933, Victoria Santos.
Mozambique Update
In the last newsletter we included information about
the CD-CAAR Mozambique Support Committee. As a result
of contacts made by CD-CAAR members who visited '
Mozambique last summer, the Mozambique Support Sia see
Committee set three priorities: ”
|. To find support for a Methodist Church outside |
of Maputo, This church was holding services in a :
borrowed Catholic Church while trying to raise funds for a
church/community center which serves many needs of the
congregation. Pastor Jamisse of the church stressed how the
congregation is especially focused on working with children,
many who have been orphaned by the war.
2. To find support for the Mocatini school - a
school in the bush for over 900 children who have been
dislocated by the war. The school has virtually nothing - no
building, no supplies - but it does have teachers and student
interested in learning.
3. To establish relations between teacher unions
in the United States and the Teachers Union of
RjUME peeves Ea
Mozambique, : oe es
All of these ventures are meeting with Children at site of Methodist church
SUCCESS, in progress, Liberdade, Mozambique
__ 1. The General Board of Global Ministries of the Methodist Church has informed us that
the Liberdade Church is on their list of recommended projects for second mile giving. They
have written about the church in the newsletter and advised churches that CD-CAAR members
are available to give slide shows and talk about the situation in Mozambique.
2. Different groups have expressed interested in raising funds for the Mocatini School.
We have already sent $250.00, half of which was raised at a collection at our November public
forum on South Africa and Mozambique. That first installment is being used by the teachers to
the peace agreement in Mozambique is meaning to the people.
3. A meeting was held between CD-CAAR teacher union members, Bill Ritchie and
Eileen Kawola, and the Executive Vice President of NYSUT. Mr. Herb Magidson. Mr.
Magidson advised them to contact David Dorn of the AFT International Committee. As a result
of the meeting CD-CAAR sent a letter to The Organization of Teachers of Mozambique advising
pa ate hopeful that progress will continue in all of these projects. CD-CAAR has
speake ; hese projects. CD-CA asa
Pras sey rs available if your group is interested in learning more about
"Breathing other air..."
Maputo, Mozambique
December 24, 1992
Dear CD-CAAR,
Greetings from Mozambique at this Christmas time 1992. I trust that vou are well and that
the holiday season will be a happy one for you and yours.
Prexy Nesbitt is here for a few days and brought me an envelope from you containing a
check for $250.00 also the pamphlet con ‘erning the Mocatini school. The director feels that the
first need is blackboards then I will be in contact with him to see what is next most important, |
will try and keep in touch with you so that you will know how the money is being spent, In the
name of all the children who will benefit from these gifts 1 want to thank you and the others who
remember these people who live in great difficulties but are interested in learning.
/ Know you must accompany the news from Mozambique knowing that a general peace
accord was signed on Oct. 4th. We are breathing other air afier so many years of war and
destruction. Some of the children will return to their home areas but as you know there are muny
orphans there who have no place to go and will need support for a long time.
Two weeks ago | was able to go by bus and car to Inhambane for our Annual Conference
of the Church, This is the first time in more than 10 years. Can you imagine the joy of the people
to see friends and families again?!
f will try and keep in touch with you. May you have a good year in 1993 with health and
joy and PEACE.
Sincerity yours,
Ainier Nanhiga
Simiao Manhica
CD-CAAR has determined to raise funds for the Mocatini school during
1993. Funds will be used for portable blackboards, chalk, notebooks,
textbooks, pencils and other basic school supplies. If you would like to
donate toward this school, send a check to CD-CAAR, noted Mocatini School
project.
In this newsletter we are reprinting some information about
the peace process in Mozambique. The information has been
taken from: Mozambique Peace Process Bulletin, Issue a
January, 1993 (a bulletin written and edited by Joseph Hanlon
and to be published irregularly until the first multi-party elections in Mozambique)
Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano and Renamo president Afonso Dhfakama signed
a general peace agreement in Rome on 4 October, 1992. It came into force on the cease-fire day
15 October. The accord includes seven protocols and four related documents.
After a few initial violations( four town were taken in October by Renamo but then taken
back by the government) Mozambique's 15 October cease fire is holding. Most main roads are
open and there is regular bus service between Maputo and Beira for the first time in a decade.
Aldo Ajello has been named interim special representative of the U.N. Secretary General,
with responsibility for monitoring the cease fire and elections and also for humanitarian assistance.
Ajello spent a month in New York lob ying for a strong U.N. presence. On December 16, the
aha General Boutros-Ghali Stessed that it will have four interlinked components:
olitical: to facilitate implementation of the agreement and chair the CSC (Control and
Military: to monitor and verify the cease fire, concentration of forces and demobilization: to
authorize security arrangements for vital infrastructures: and to provide security for United Nations
general peace agreement.” This leads officials in the government to warn that the U.N. could
become “a state within a state” and many feel that there will be much jockeying for power between
Rename abn non-governmental organizations as ell as on local t.v., tell of armed children sn
mo units, Some estimates put the number of such children as one third the Renamo fighters.
A draft election law is to be circulated i
early in 1993 and then there could be meetings of
parties to agree to the law. An electoral commission, medi ,
. Ar : ia access, fi ial assistance to parties
and foreign observors are all issues that have to be discussed. oy o
There is cautious optimism that the peace ia
i i
and privately that they want to learn the lessons 4 peer ladae ee Scene my ben erate
me
“Walk the remaining distance..."
National Conference in Support of the African National Congress
and Other Democratic Forces for a New South Africa
On the weekend of November 13-15, 1992, in New York City, over 1,000 delegates
from diverse national and regional organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada met in New
York City. The ANC and its allies in the struggle for a New South Africa sent a high level
delegation and these South African delegates, representing various interests and
constituencies, joined in the workshops which focused on 14 areas of concern.
A 50 page Program of Action came out of the Conference and it included resolves to:
|. maintain the effective pressure of sanctions until democratic forces call for their ending.
2. demand the U.S. government exert the maximum public pressure on the South African
regime to end its campaign of violence.
3. provide support and cooperation to the democratic movement to strengthen its capacity to
carry out the process of transformation. The ANC and other democratic forces preparing fora
New South Africa face immediate concerns. They much prepare a population, which has
been denied the vote, for elections. The expectations for the ANC and a new government are
very high and they are asking the international community to assist with development plans in
the areas of health, education, housing, corporate investment, culture and art, to name a few.
Probably the most important thing to come out of the Conference was
*
the commitment by the anti-apartheid movement to “walk the remaining
distance with the peopl S ica" (as Lindiwe Mabuza, ANC Chief
Representative to the U.S. put it in a thank you letter to Conference
participants) _ Wi :
The "remaining distance" isk,
includes a black majority still “~
denied political rights
including the right to vote
(Mandela is free but he still
can't vote).
The "remaining distance
includes a destabilizing
violence campaign emanating
from the structures of
apartheid. At least ten people
die from political violence each
day.
SN yee te
The "remaining distance"
includes massive inequalities,
created by vears of apartheid,
in education, housing,
employment and health, etc. If
you have specific skills in any
of these development area, call
Vera Michelson at 518 432-
4623 for more information.
by . % vy foo sat ae " 7
The remaining distance..children at squatter
camp for 3,000 people with one water tap
and 6 porta johns, Soweto, South Africa.
UOSIU PY BIA
2a
Several members of CD-CAAR attended the National Conference and CD-CAAR
has made the "Stop the Violence” campaign of the American Committee on Africa
one of the priority projects for 1992-1993, If you are interested in working with this
committee, would like to show the "Stop the Violence" video, or would like more
information on this issue, call 432-4623, The Committee is now planning a forum
to be held in the Spring dealing with the issues of violence. ;
Special mention goes out to the Albany Service Corps for its dynamic
participation in a study group on apartheid violence, CD-CAAR looks to further
col “armeea with the Corps as both organizations begin planning for a Spring forum on
vioience.
Some updates on the violence in South Africa...
Nelson Mandela was released from jail on February 11, 1990. In the three years
since his release more than 5,000 people have been killed in violence in South Africa. For the
same three years, Mandela has been charging that apartheid security forces have been behind
the violence. On December 19, 1992,” in a virtual admission that members of the South
African military had sought to establish a covert "third force” to thwart racial conciliation,
President F. W. de Klerk announced... the dismissal or suspension of 23 officers, including
six generals, suspected of activities including political assassinations.” Upon de Klerk’s
announcement, the ANC issued a statement ; “The steps announced by President de Klerk
are a step in the right direction, but are not nearly enough. There should be full public
disclosure of all criminal activities and attempts at destination, The current revelations are
clearly only the tip of the iceberg." (New York Times, Sunday, Dec. 20, 1992)
in November, the government appointed Goldstone commission confirmed that
South African Police and Defense Forces were involved in fomenting violence.
_ Another aspect of the violence was addressed in an interview with United Nations
Radio on December 1, 1992 with Popo Molefe, Head of the Elections Commission of the
African National Congress. "Mr. Molefe said the issue of violence in the hostels was
supposed to be addressed urgently according to the Vance Report to the Security Council last
summer, The Goldstone Commission, he continued, had recommended to the Government,
among other things, that dangerous weapons be outlawed, that hostels be fenced and
searched regularly. None of these recommendations had been carried out, he said.” (U.N.
Radio Broadcast: Special Committee Against Apartheid Holds Consultations With European
NGOS and Anti-Apartheid Movements, enh ay 1992) ss |
One step you can take to "walk the remaining distance" with the people of
South Africa is to circulate (feel free to make copies) of the petition on the
next page.
lt is a message to President Clinton that the j . W i
, people of the U.S. want their
novernment to pressure the South African government to end the violence
which is impeding South Africa's progress toward democracy.
a
ENR J a rh
A giant has passed...
but the words
will carry us on.
New York Times, January 25, 3993
Marshall: Liberal voice in conservative times
‘Thurgood Marshall is remem-
bered as a lawyer who never ran
from a fight and as ajusticewhose *
liberal voice sometimes echoed
alone in the waning years of his
service on an increasingly con-
servative Supreme Court:
WON SEGREGATION:
“The trouble with the doctrine of
separate but equal (is that it)
assumes that two things are
equal,”
Argument before the Supreme
Court in Brown vs. Board of Edu-
cation (1954)
MON FREE SPEECH: “The
mere fact that speech is accom-
panied by conduct does not mean
that the speech can be sup-
pressed under the guise of prohib-
iting the conduct.”
Amalgamated Food Employees
v's. Logan Valley Plaza (1968)
@ ON PRIVACY: “If the First
Amendment means anything, it
means that a state has no busi-
ness telling a man, sitting alone
in his own house, what books he
may read or what films he may
watch. Our whole constitutional
heritage rebels at the thought of
giving government the power to
control men's minds.”
Stanley vs. Georgia (1969)
@ON DESEGREGATION:
“Today's holding, I fear, is more a
perceived reflection of a public
mood that we have gone far
enough in insuring the Constitu-
tion's guarantee of equal justice
than it is a product of neutral
principles of law... . It may be the
easier course to allow our great
metropolitan areas to be divided
up into two cities — one white,
the other black —- but it is a
course, | predict, our people will
ultimately regret.”
Dissent in Milliken vs. Bradley
(1974)
MON THE RIGHT TO
COUNSEL: “The majority con-
tends that the Sixth Amendment
is not violated when a manifestly
guilty defendant is convicted after
a trial in which he was represent-
ed by a manifestly ineffective
attorney. | cannot agree. Every
defendant is entitled to a trial in
which his interests are vigorously
and conscientiously advocated by
an able lawyer.”
Dissent in Stickland vs. Wash-
ington (1983)
@ON PRECEDENT: “Pow-
er, not reason, is the new currency
of this court’s decision making.
_., The implications of this radi-
cal new exception to the doctrine
of stare decisis are staggering. The
majority today sends a clear sig-
nal that scores of established con-
stitutional liberties are now ripe
for reconsideration, thereby invit-
ing the very type of open defiance
of our precedents that the majori-
ty rewards in this case.”
Dissent in Payne vs. Tennessee
(1991)
ML PAOD) MADEN a aMare ee PAS OS TN eee He,
The Center for Law and Justice with co-sponsors
the Capital District Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism and
the Graduate School of Criminal Justice of the Rockefeller College
present a program
Don Jackson has been involved
in a long and couragous battle against
racism in policing in California. A
former police officer, Don set out to
expose police brutality and racism in
the Long Beach Police Department hy
orchestrating a sting operation in
which his own arrest and victous
heating were filmed by the Today
Show (NBC). Don its currently
pursuing his doctoral degree in
Criminal Justice at State College, Pa.
He continues to be an activist against
injustice and police abuse
Tyra Ferrell Jackson is an
actress (some of her roles have been as
the African American woman who
lived in Bensonhurst in "Jungle Fevery”
the —metier of Doughboy and Rickie in
"Boyz 'N The Hood," Wesley Snipes’ wife
in White Men Cant Jump.") She ts also
an activist against racism and strives to
promote positive portrayals of African
American women on screen
Friday, February 19, 1993
7:00 p.m.
The College of St. Rose
St. Joseph's Hall Auditorium
Madison Avenue, Albany, N.Y.
For additional information, call The Center at 427-B361
Conference 00 Crime and Criminal justice will
The Third Annual Capital District Community :
“By Any Means Necessary: The Fight Against
he a three-part conference that will have as its theme:
Racism, Police Abuse and imprisonment." individual programs inchude:
1. “Racism, Law Enforcement, and Violence” - a program presented by Don Jackson and Tyra
Ferrell Jackson, February 19, 1993 at 7:00 p.m. at the College of St. Rose, (see
>. "The Direct Relationship Between Prisons and Communities” 4 meeting of Black and
Puetor Rican Legislative Caucus members, prisoners, correctional administrators and communlly representatives at
Greenhaven Correctional Facility. It 1s tentatively set for Thursday, February 25, 1993 from 10:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m.
3. "The Effect of Prisons on Communities: Tssues and Alternatives” ~ 4 day long
conference to be held at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center Albany on Saturday, April 24, 1993. This
year's conference will again be sponsored by @ number of community residents, organizations and groups.
Assistance is needed 10 all areas of the conference planning and execution. Those with chills in writing, graphics,
telephoning, research, fundraising, registration and planning are especially needed!
above tot details)
for more information about any of the above, or to co-sponsor OF volunteer for the Center
conference, call 818-427-8361.
wal
WW tema corrpratgus.
Dizzy
By ABIODUN OYOWOLE
izzy died today
No he didn’t die
The God in him de-
cided
tojoin Miles and Art
a Philly and Dexter
Monk and Sarah
Sammy and Peari
Waiter and Aunt Baby
La Rocque Bey and Dinizulu
Kasa Allah and Akinyele
and Mother Hale
and all the other Black Stars
shining in the Heavens above
It’s January 1993
and it’s very clear to me
that if we are to be truly Free
we must have help
from our Family Tree
For we are only grapes
hanging from a vine
and the juice that we give
is finer than wine
Black juicy grapes
sweet to the taste
we're the favorite flavor
of the whole Human Race
Now Dizzy was drunk
with the wealth of himself
Be Bop in his walk
and everything else
Set the table for two
or nine if you please
Diazy’s on stage
Blowing a soft summer breeze
With cheeks full with air
like babies bellies’ well fed
he blew with a feeling
to inspire the dead
Dizzy heard Bird Be Bop
on his horn
So Diz stepped to the rhythm
and a new attitude was Born
cool as a flame
and much hotter than ice
Be Bop for Black folks
was a way of life
Sleep when the Sun rises
wake up when it sets
the night life mesmerizes
those who'd like to forget
Strange shadows on dance floors
just notes to a Song
collard greens and some chicken
Right Now nothing's wrong
Ah Yes Dizzy heard Bird
and the drums in his heart
he made the African Connection
to enhance this New Art
Afro-Cuban rhythms
Mambo through your mind
Dizzy made you Dizzy
with the music
of these tirnes
Night in Tunisia
written on a paper bag
a diamond in the alley
where lost Souls shoot scag
Kush was his message
to those who could see
just like the Pyramids
we live eternally
Swing low sweet Cadillac
Grandiose in his style
with a horn calling to God
and a sweet potato smile
Dizzy could never die
It’s not part of the Pian
His life is the Air
we breathe in this land
Some thought he was funny
and liked to tell jokes
when he was just a Reflection
of how we cope and keep hope
For seventy-five years
he was a Light on this Earth
the Brilliance of Dizzy
lit up the Universe
Now that he has ascended
to his Godly place
when you think about Dizzy
put a Smile on your Face
Amsterdam News, January 16, 1993
RRSP iat sian ya NOM Dn inlet Hana ie Fetewers eve vie ntameaatee tte HE sissies heat IRMA LAU Ua a GNA a eI ON RA bcente shit
Ss pagan jets ARR IE SANS ANA
“cass A OAS SANA RIT DRE ODO
CD-CAAR urges you to circulate the enclosed petition, part of the STOP Apartheid's
Violence Campaign of the Africa Fund, urging President Clinton to publicly condemn State
President F.W. de Klerk's government for allowing apartheid's violence to continue. The
week ending February 14, 1992 is STOP Apartheid's Violence week. Please return petitions
to CD-CAAR, Box 3002 Pine Hills Station, Albany, New York 12203.
STOP Apartheid's Violence
A campaign initiated by the Africa Fund
5 : February 1993
President Bill Clinton
The White House
Washington, D.C.
Dear President Clinton,
We the undersigned urge that you publicly condemn the South African
government for allowing apartheid's violence to continue and call for the
immediate election of a democratic government.
+**This month marks the third anniversary of the release of Nelson
Mandela from 27 years in South Africa's jails. Mandela is free but he still cannot
vote.
***Every day at least ten people die in South Africa from political violence
aimed at those who are struggling for democracy.
***The apartheid regime has refused to stop military and police
involvement in the murder of thousands of innocent people.
Until the white minority regime is replaced by a democratically elected
government, there will be no peace in South Africa.
Signatories
Name tt EL CE EE ae Pe es
Nemie a ae wae Address oe Se Lad,
SOE cre a eee eae Mi ia ieee
ii a Address_ ek ee re
| rey ee Renee Address ERE VC oa OL Sen ngnnn Se UAlaes
Name eae Address ae
Nutie. 2 Address SOP ones eta
iene
APO NERC OES ORC ONAN GE NMA cha adnate Use
Racism in Troy Housing... Moving for Change
The following facts about the Troy Housing Authority have been uncovered by
housing advocate and CD-CAAR member, Brian O'Shaugnessy. The pattern of
racism they reveal has moved him to take action in order to change the appalling
Situation that exists in the Troy Authority. (it also exists in the City of Troy, in
general, which employs only one African American police person and no
firefighters of color!) He is beginning to call low-income Troy residents
together, hoping initial steps will lead to a campaign to address the injustice
within the Housing Authority. CD-CAAR strongly supports Brian and this
movement for change in Troy. If you would like more information or are
interested in working with him, call 272-8275.
Facts regarding the Troy Housing Authority
During the 23 year tenure of the present Executive Director, not one African
American or Hispanic American has been hired to a management
position; the tenant population is 40-45% minority.
Five "favored families," holding a total of seventeen THA jobs, were paid
over $738,000 in salaries and benefits in 1992.
The Executive Director says he cannot find qualified minorities to
take the civil service exams. Yet of the 41 fulltime jobs at the Authority that
do not require an exam, only one is filled with a black and one with an Hispanic
employee.
In 1989, When one member of the “favored families” finished 9th out of 12th on
his civil service exam for Superintendent of Buildings he was not let go. He was
kept on and paid as Superintendent along with the person who finished first on
the exam. When this fact became known in 1992, he was promoted and given a
$12,500 annual raise. When the only black security guard did not pass the civil
service exam for this position, he was let go. The need for qualified people seems
to apply more to blacks and Hispanics than to whites at the THA!
The costs of racism cannot be measured only in terms of this
exclusion from employment. iow can anyone calculate exactly how
destructive it has been for minority youth to grow up in THA sites
without ever seeing a person of color in a management role? How
has almost total exclusion from THA maintenance positions
contributed to the weakened economic state of black family life?
(The facts and commentary are from an editorial by Brian O'Shaugnessy which
appeared in The Record, Troy, NY. January 16, 1992)
SES SRE ARRLOANSI SAE If AO aac rca ay enero a arr raise olmgssihnsd ere Nace aa
From the editor, Bileen Fawola...
IN MEMORIAM - LORRAINE FREEMAN
Several years ago | shared a room with Lorraine Freeman in Washington , D.C, CD-
CAAR had sent a van with about ten people to attend a Martin Luther King Conference
sponsored by the Washington Office on Africa which focused on South and Southern Africa
issues. The conference was very interesting and very useful for those of us working in the anti-
apartheid movement. We also took time to do a little sightseeing in Washington and eat at some
wonderful ethnic restaurants. Whenever | remember that weekend, though, | remember
Lorraine. Up until that time I only knew her as someone | would exchange greetings with at a
meeting Or see at a march or demonstration. _In this chance pairing for rooms, | had the
incredible good fortune to get to know Lorraine a little. We discovered that we shared some
unlikely experiences - including time spent with the Catholic Worker movement. Lorraine had
lived at their farm on the Hudson River for several years and knew Dorothy Day well. And we
learned that we shared a common love of poetry, especially by African American authors;
Lorraine also wrote poetry herself,
We spent hours talking that weekend and | came to realize that 1 was with someone who
had spent her entire life in struggle for justice. Her own life was a difficult struggle in many
ways but she remained firm in her beliefs about the need for social change and her commitment
to working for that change.
Lorraine Freeman died of cancer at the end of 1992. To Lorraine, one of the unsung
heroines, rest in peace.
A very sincere thank you...to Joyce Rose and the newsletter mailing
committee: Martin Manley, Sandy Gerrish, Peter Looker, Terri Robin, and Caitlin. For the
past two years they have done all of the grunt/gopher work that goes with putting out this
mailing - stapling, labeling, and sorting. In addition, Joyce has picked it up from the printer,
delievered it to the post office and kept our account straight with the Social Justice Center, Due
to other commitments, Joyce will not be able to continue the work and David Aube has
volunteered to take over. A most sincere thank you to Joyce and committee for an invaluable
service and a thank you to David for stepping in.
Some more thanks... to Peter Balint for assuming the CD-CAAR position on the
Social Justice Center Steering Committee. The Social Justice Center is Albany's umbrella _
organization for many groups working on peace and social justice issues, As a member, CD-
CAAR accepts certain responsibilities, including Steering Committee representation. Peter will
represent us well.
..to Naomi Jaffee for printing up CD-CAAR's 1993 jazzy membership cards!
Lincoln Park Shelter Wish List The Homeless Action Committee, Inc. has
compiled a list of things that would be of great use at the homeless shelter this winter. The list
includes:sheets, blankets, towels, washcloths, iron, t.v., ver, dishes, pots and pans, ironing
board, silverware, food storage containers, pajamas and robes, men's winter outdoor clothing,
a safe, cordless phone, garbage bags, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene
supplies (soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaving cream, razors.)
Please drop off at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Avenue, Albany, New
York or call Donna or Stu at 434-4037 for more information.
A
And speaking of violence...what about Haiti?
by Vera Michelson
Anyone looking for examples of racism in U.S. foreign policy does not have to look
very far. The images of Haitians being washed up on U.S. shores, being intercepted at sea in
rickety boats, being held at Guantanamo Bay (approximately 275 remain, forgotten by the
world and living in unbearable conditions) and others being forcibly retumed to a cruel and
illegal government never seem to fade.
The U.S. government tells us that Haitians are fleeing for economic and not political
reasons. Let them tell that to:
Aurelien Toussaint who was beaten and imprisoned after soldiers
found a picture of President Aristide in his home in Cite Soleil.
Albert Clotaire,24, and his coursin who were arrested by soldiers in
the Cite Soleil neighborhood of Port-au-Prince . Soldiers stopped the two,
thelling them they did not have the right to be out so late. Clotaire told the
soldiers they were on their way to visit a sick frienc and that the soldiers could
accompany them on the visit to verify that information. Instead, the soldiers
questioned the young men, demanding the names of neighborhood youths who
are members of local popular organizations. They then took Clotaire and his
cousin to an unknown destination.
Father Ednard Devalein, of the Saintard Parish, who was arrested
by soldiers in Arcahaie. He was driving in his car when soldiers stopped him,
arrested and beat him and searched his car. He was accused bo being an
Aristide supported. They detained him for several hours.
Joanis Pericles, a hairdresser in his 50's who was sot to death in the
Canape Vert neighborhood of Port-au-Prince . The victim was known to be an
outspoken opponent of the de facto government and a supporter of President
Aristide.
The general population which lives in constant fear and terror of
political repression by the illegitimate government and police force.
During the U.S. presidential election campaign, President Clinton called the Bush
policy toward Haiti "inhuman". During the campaign, Clinton also promised to:
1. Intensify direct U.S. pressure to help restore the democratically
elected government of Jean Bertrand Aristide to Haiti;
2. Seek tightening of the Organization of American States’ embargo on
Haiti and urge our European allies to observe it, particularly with regard to
oil;
3. Provide safe haven for Haitian refugees until democracy is restored.
As this newsletter goes to press, Clinton has been accused of reneging on these promises.
Pressure from the grassroots is the only way to insure justice for the Haitians.
CD-CAAR urges all readers to write to President Clinton at the White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C, 20500 and tell him to keep his promises.
<<
a
*
#
Seaaminaleniaen spree are yen ermnemnnes AAs agus Nabe mre Sn emt re
Cuba is Not Our Enemy
An ad-hoc committee on Cuba has come together to work to change the United States government's policy toward Cuba. It is
the goal of this group to pressure the government of the United States to end the economic blockade of Cuba, normalize
relations, and begin an era of cooperation. In late February the committee is going to run an ad in Metroland, the text of which
is below. Among the organizations that have so far endorsed this ad are: the Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism, the
Committee for Palestinian Rights, the Albany Peace and Energy Council, and the Capital District Committees of Correspondence.
Please join us in creating a new and rational policy toward Cuba - return the coupon below. For more info call Mabel at 372-1531
Dear President Clinton:
We, residents of the Capital District, want you to know that Cuba and it’s 11 million people are not our
enemy. Cuba is a poor nation that has eliminated illiteracy, produced the finest health care in Latin
America and eliminated homelessness.
On November 24, 1992, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution on
the need to put an end to the economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba, imposed by the
United States. Only two other nations voted with the U.S. against this resolution.
We believe that:
* the embargo has no moral basis and prevents critical medicine and food from reaching a nation
that in no way threatens the people of the United States;
. the United States government's pressure on the world’s nations to stop trade with Cuba constitutes
a blockade and an attempt to strangle Cuba economically and to starve the Cuban people;
. the United States blockade against Cuba is a violation of the rights of Cuba’s people and the
people of the United States. The blockade and travel restrictions against Cuba have prevented the
people of the United States from seeing an accurate picture of Cuban society.
We urge you and Hillary to visit the island to see for youself the Cuban reality.
We ask you and your administration to;
- End the blockade against Cuba
- Normalize relations with Cuba
+ Begin an era of cooperation and friendship with the beleagured Island
KOM RAMEE NEBR EEO A Pe ee
oe 0 ee ee omer an conten ee Noten — eta vase “
— ~~ “om
CO Yes, please include my name as a signatory to the “Cuba is Not Our Enemy” advertisement.
| want my name to appear as follows:
Signature: City:
Organization/job/title: (optional, for identification only)
Cl Yes, | want to make a donation, as indicated below, to help defray the cost of the ad.
CO do not want my name in the ad, but | have enclosed a donation, as indicated below.
Donation: $15 $25 c $50 } Other
ake checks or money orders out to: Committees of Correspondence - Ad
the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave, Albany, NY 12210
went hrc
Please m
Mail to: Cuba Ad Committee, a Project of
a _ oe
see ere ne
ie
ont aes aipintes ov. ie
Capital District Coalition
Against Apartheid and Racism Non-Profit
A Project of the Social Justice Center Organization
33 Central Avenue U.S. Postage
Albany, New York 12210 Paid
Permit No. 509
Albany, N.Y.
"Racism, Law Enforcement and Violence"
February 19, 1993 at the College of St. Rose (details inside)
In Memoriam - Dizzy Gillespie and Thurgood Marshall
We remember...with thanks for all they were, and all they did.
(Inside this newletter you will find a poem called "Dizzy" by Abiodun Oyowole, reprinted
from the Amsterdam News and some quotes from Thurgood Marshall
1993 Membership Reminder - Thanks to the many who have already responded to the
CD-CAAR membership letter which went out in January. If you haven't done so yet, please take
the time and money to respond - we need your continued support if we are to continue,
3002”. 20037, 12203? No, just $10.00! An apology is in order to all our readers
for the confusion over what is our real box number. On the membership/fundraiser letter which
went out in the middle of January our box number is listed differently, three different times! The
return envelope which was included is correct so that, at least, is a relief. If you don't have a return
envelope, our correct address is: Box 3002, Pine Hills Station, Albany, New York 12203. Sorry
for any inconvenience.
Somalia... If you haven't been reading the Amsterdam News you missed an excellent three part
series on Somalia written by WBAIT journalist Samori Marksman. These articles entitled "Why
have Black Leaders rushed to support the invasion of Somalia?" “Somalia: Warlords, Cold
Warriors and Global Warriors” and "Somalia: The White Man's Burden." If you would like
copies of these articles, please send a stamped self addressed envelope with a note to CD-CAAR,
P.O, Box 3002, Pine Hills Station, Albany, New York 12203.
CD-CAAR reminds members that the Amersterdam News often carries interesting articles
and reports not found in the mainstream press. The paper is devlivered from New York City on
Mondays and is sold in Albany at Coulsons, Finnigans, some Stewarts stores and several
neighborhood grocery stores.
\
Capital District Coalition
Against Apartheid and Racism
Box 3002 Pine Hills Station
Albany, New York 12203
A project of the Social Justice Center
March-April 1993
Newsletter
New Attitude - New Attitude - New Attitude
You may have noticed that CD-CAAR has not been holding
egular monthly meetings in the library anymore. This
decision was made after assessing our work, our resources, our
goals and the general state of affairs in the organization.
Many of us felt that, while for twelve years CD-CAAR has been
a successful and consistently active organization in the
Capital District, it has become absolutely necessary to reach
out to a broader and larger sector of the community. We also
wanted to assess the goals of our political work,
internationally and domestically, in these changing and
volatile times.
we have begun this review in an active way by focusing
our energies on holding community centered educational events
throughout the year and involving more people in the planning
and staging of these events. This process has been dynamic
and exciting. We have many new members in the organization
who have worked hard on these events and have been
instrumental in the ongoing process of reshaping and assessing
the programatic goals of the organization. This process does
not happen overnight. and it requires commitment and a
positive outlook. We cannot afford the, luxury of becoming
paralyzed because the injustices in the world, and down the
street, seem CO increase.
So we keep going. On the next page you will find a
listing of some of the events we have held in the last year...
SAVE THE DATE: SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1993 (details inside)
The third annual Capital District Conference on Crime und Criminal Justice
"The Effect of Prisons on Communities: Issues and Alternatives”
anes rrenanrecsansanrsneres tr
New Attitude (continued)
a public forum on Haite: Haiti - Deny it No More, featuring the video, "Haiti Under the Gun.”
a slide show and discussion: "The Effects of Apartheid on Southern Africa.
a forum entitled "South Africa: Stop the Violence; Mozambique: Promote the Peace"
with Bernard Magubane of the African National Congress (ANC) and Prexy Nesbitt Senior Consultant to the
Mozambique Government
with the Center for Law and Justice, "Racism, Law Enforcement
Jackson and Tyra Ferrell Jackson.
and Violence” with Donakd
in March we had scheduled an event (cancelled because of the blizzard of 93) with New York State
Assemblyman Roger Green and Dumisani Kumalo of the American Conmittee
on Africa. That event,
"Promote the Peace; Stop the Violence" was to address the issues of peace in U.S. communities,
especially with youth, and peace in South Africa. We have rescheduled a special event for April Ist - Going
the Last Miles: From Apartheid to Freedom with Miungisi (Lulu) Johnson, Deputy President of .
the ANC Youth League.
we have emphasized the same theme throughout - the need
for an end to violence if there is to be enduring peace, both
in the U.S. and in Southern Africa.
As we continue to try to figure out new CD-CAAR strategies
we need your support. We encourage you to call us at 432-4623
to get involved. The struggle for peace and j
ustice is long
and protracted and we aren't even close. But the struggle
continues!
And THANKS... On the back page of this ne
wsletter is a form
for those of you who haven't sent in your membership yet and a
thank you to those who have. We would like to make special
mention to some "special contributors" - both
local and far
away. You have really given us something to remember.
Gloria DeSole, Prexy Nesbitt, Sue McDermott and Torin Spellman, EJ. i
Green and Charles Touhey, Arlena Adams, Joe Levinger, Bob Cohen and Ruth
McGraw, Renee Hariton and Mark Mishler, Maud and David Easter, Art Kamell
Barbara Allen, Susan J. DuBois, Vijay and Arlene Macwan, Dick Melita, Chris
Margaret and James Cunningham, Carol Hausen.
sey, Tony Young, Alice
Foster, Sara and Brian
Carl and Theresa Swidorski,
tine Connell, Larry Peters,
re a ina ara
oe 4
Linoante abteresan tpt RCH UNRATED ANE EERE ORSON, AS Gate
The Center for Law and Justice, Inc. presents
The Third Annual Capital District Conference’on Crime and Criminal Justice
The Effect of Prisons on Communities:
issues and Alternatives
Schedule:
8:30-9:45 a.m. Empire State Plaza
Registration, Refreshments anc Convention Center
“Prisoners Speak" on video Albany, New York
Session | Saturday, April 24, 1993
10:00-12:30 8:30 am. - 4:30 p.m.
~Keynote Address: Eddie Ellis*, Free admussion - donations accepted
Warren Harry and George Prendes,
Activist Prisoners and Former Prisoners
Community Speakout **
12:30-1:30
Lunch, laformation Booths, Entertainment
Session H
1:30-2:00
-Awards Ceremony - Presentation of the
"Frederick Douglass Struggle for Justice
Award"
2:00-3:30
3 Roundtables** - One each focused on Albany,
Rensselaer, and Schenectady counties.
4:00
Coalition Against Racism and Violence (CAARYV)
-Reports and Summary
-Development of a Community Action Agenda
-Closing
*Eddie Ellis, keynote speaker, is a former Black Panther, Activist prisoner and community worker for the
Harlem Neighborhood Defender Services.
**Community Speakout and Roundtable Discussions on Racism, Law Enforcement and Drugs, Prisons and
Alternatives, and more.
pte menses nhensinatiminentinteaionisiviivninirinnite aaminnianiic hittin eae Ae Ne
~ Registration: Capital District Community Conference on Crime and Criminal
Justice "Effects of Prisons on Communities: Issues and Alternatives”
ii es eo sbi apip rues clea area meaeaaalananauani Ps | ee
Organization. se a a ON aoa lk ae rlnntaneiod
‘here is no charge for this conference. However, a donation of $5.00 would be
‘appreciated. All donations are tax deductible.)
Please return this form to: Center for Law and Justice, Inc. Pine West Plaza, Building 2
Washington Avenue Extension, Albany, New York 12205. Phone (518)427-8361.
SRR 5.4
By NELSON R. MANDELA
JOHANNESBURG (IPS)
eS “ y early next year at
* the latest —- more
Bs a likely by the end of
7 1993—South Africa’s
y firet truly democratic
“Ge elections will be held.
A constituent assembly will be
elected, which will draw up the
basis for the first democratic gov-
ermment.
The chapter of White minority
rule will finally come to a close. In
the context of South Africa today,
thisis a phenomenal achievement.
Despite the deadlocks and nu-
merous difficulties ofthe last year,
progress has been made: bans on
progressive organizations have
been lifted, political prisoners re-
leased, and exiles have returned.
Repressive legislation has been
either amendedor repealed, while
freedom of political activity has
been introduced to most of South
Africa. In addition, we have a
declaration of intention from the
multilateral talks — Congress for
a Democratic South Africa
‘CODESA) — which Jaid the ba-
sis for a united, democratic, non-
sexist society in a new South Af-
rica.
{ do not like to boast, but it is
necessary to point out that it was
the African National Congress
(ANC) which initiated this peace
process in July 1986, when, in
prison, | asked to meet with the
then-President P.W. Botha to pro-
pose that the ANC and the gov-
ernment sit down Logether to re-
solve our problems.
Those who appreciate the re-
alities of the South African situa-
tion must agree that the progress
made so far is satisfactory. But
there were, of course, far greater
and very widespread expectations,
many of which were naive and ©
romantic. There was the hope that
a messiah would step forth and
magically resolve all problems.
nex
unouyfy ay7 Jo quaprsasd
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SMAN WYGUALSAY WHOA MIN 3HL
step
L know that I was the subject of
such expectations when I came
out of jail. Many people, both at
home and abroad, seemed to for-
get that 1 was coming back to a
South Africa which had
been ruled by the Na-
tional Party for 40 years.
Yet not only did I not
have magic powers, my
fellow prisoners and I do
not think that a single
individual is responsible
for solving problems.
We are products of a
tradition of belief in col-
lective effort.
There ia not one of us who is
above others in position or ability.
Ifanyoneis made the focus around
which our efforts revolve, this is
the result of a team decision; and
without the support of that team,
Lor any other individual would be
uselesa.
Fortunately, the myths have
largely dissipated, and we areseen
today as ordinary human beings,
subject to all the usual frailties.
This is just as well, because there
are very harsh realities to con-
front, and there are no easy solu-
tions.
We must now adapt to the situ-
ation in which we find ourselves
and overcome the handicap of our
background as members of a re-
sistance movement. Previously we
opposed on principle anything
coming from the government. This
wasacorrect strategy for its time,
but new conditions require new
responses. We should not leave
the initiative for problem solving
to the government.
Because of our history, we are
the custodians of justice and fair
play in South Africa, and we
should continue to lead the gov-
ernment,
Whether we like it or not, the
ANC and the National Party gov-
ernment are the major political
players in the present transition,
i
and cooperation is essential. With-
out the involvement of the Na-
tional Party and the government,
therecan be noeffective change in
our country. Similarly, without
theinvolvementof the ANC, there
can be no forward movement.
The ANC on one side and the
government and National Party
on the other side must meet to
discuss each national issue and
come to an agreement which both
must honor in practice. We have
no less than 10 allies in the mul-
tilateral forum, and we have given
the assurance that we will be able
te carry them with us in any dect-
sion we take.
If the government is unable to
carry its allies — and it seers
they are in disarry —- we’ lo
what we can to help themfhe
process must not become bogged
down.
Though I am optimistic that
the process will continue and that
the ANC will win the future demo-
cratic election, winning political
power will be more difficult. To
win political power, we will have
to gain control of the
> civil service, defence
force, police and judi-
ciary as well as the
support of business.
This will take some
® time.
ar) We will also have
to guard against po-
pa) tential destablization
and counter-revolu-
tionary backlash. The best way of
preventing such a problem will be
to present a united front by form:
ing a voluntary government of
national unity.
The newly-elected democratic
government will have to invite
other political parties with sig-
nificant followings to join the gov-
ernment. The problems facin= °s
are so grave that I think su
step will be difficult to avoid. ~
We must assure peace and sta-
bility in South Africa. Only when
that is done can we begin the
crucial task of rebuilding its shat:
tered economy.
Pa
South Africa
“you have touched the women, you have struck a rock."
in September, 1991 the Women's League of
the African National Congress invited national
organizations to discuss a campaign for equal rights
of men and women in the new South African
constitution. Out of this meeting, the Women's
National Coalition (WNC) was formed, as a non-
party political body open to all organizations
interested in furthering the agenda of women’s
rights. Following the formation, a National
Workshop was held in April 1992, attended by over
§()9 national organizations, ranging from the ANC,
the Nationalist Party, the Inkatha Freedom Party, the
Democratic Party, the Rural Women’s Movement.
CODESA Gender Committee, to a wide range of
service groups and church organizations. Asa result
of the workshop and a national survey to determine
what are the priorities of South African women in
regard to the new dispensation, a campaign has
begun to incorporate a South African Women's
Charter in the "new" South African constitution,
Here in the U.S., the Africa Fund of the American Committee on Africa, in Februrary,
announced the creation of a Women’s Project. The project will support the women of South
Africa in this campaign for inclusion of a Women's Charter. The Africa Fund is looking for
endorsers of the Women's Project from U.S. Women’s and Anti-Apartheid organizations: the
Project was launched on March 8, in conjunction with International Women's History Month.
CD-CAAR has joined the Project in “...applauding current attempts by South
Africa's women to ensure their rights and equality will be protected in a
democratic South Africa. In order to secure the birth of a truly representative
and just society in South Africa, women will need to mobilize on their own
behalf. Therefore, we support the grassroots organizing undertaken by South
African women on all issues which determine the quality of their lives, from
political organizing and economic policy to health care, education and violence.
We salute the efforts of rural and trade union women, whose struggles have
encompassed all the harsh realities of apartheid South Africa. We pledge to
educate our constituencies about the position of South African women, and to
stand in solidiarity with their struggle."
If your organization ts interested in endorsing the Project, contact Rachael Kagan at the
Africa Fund, 198 Broadway, New York, New York 10038, phone (212) 962-1210. For those
who are interested in working with CD-CAAR on setting up a committee to work with the Africa
Fund Project, please call Iris Berger at 439-0297 or Eileen Kawola at 438-0309.
&
; , 4
toe om :
shea PRs uy i wie i $ it
Angola In Crisis
by Debbie Maxwell
As intense fighting continues in Angola, it is clear the peace process has
suffered a severe setback. In elections last fall, the ruling Popular Movement for the |
Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won a decisive victory in the vote for parliament and |
President Eduardo Dos Santos barely missed the needed 50% to win the presidency.
But Jonas Savimbi, leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola (UNITA), has renewed fighting rather than accept the electoral loss and face a
runoff election for president, an election he was expected to lose.
2 nA nL I iter a
The fighting is described as more intense than at any time during the 16 year
civil war that ended in May, 1991. Bombings of public buildings and assassinations
inside UNITA-held territory are among the terrorist acts being reported. More than
16,000 people have been killed. Thousands have fled UNITA-held areas, and
more than 1.4 million people currently face starvation. Most recently, UNITA has
seized much of Angola’s northern diamond and oil rich areas, putting a stranglehold
on the economy as oil accounts for 90% of Angola's revenue. Currently, UNITA
controls about 75% of the country.
Explanations of the failure of the peace process include several factors. First,
in their haste to get the election process moving, the United Nations and other
international monitors chose to ignore warning signs that Savimbi would not abide by
the election process should his party, UNITA, fail to win. Also ignored was
evidence discovered as early as July that large numbers of weapons were being
cached by UNITA. The failure to disarm both UNITA and government troops before
the actual elections has been heavily criticized. Another reason for the failure of the
peace process was that military monitors of the UN Angolan Verification Mission II
were far to few for a country as large as Angola.
it is widely accepted that UNITA’s current military offensive is being heavily
assisted by South Africans and Zairians as well as white mercenaries. The frontline
States called an emergency meeting in December to protest South African
destabilization tactics, and Namibian authorities seized three South African planes
attempting to ferry supplies to Unita from the northern town of Rundu. Meanwhile, a
UN ban on military aid to Angola is still in effect. Without immediate help defending ~
its people and territory, the Angolan government may have no alternative to breaking
this ban in order to survive.
