Tom C.
>Black Radical Congress
>Chicago, Illinois
>June 19-21, 1998
>
>The Struggle Continues:
>Setting a Black Liberation Agenda for the 21st Century
>
>Black people face a deep crisis. Finding a way out of this mess requires
>new thinking, new vision, and a new spirit of resistance. We need a new
>movement of Black radicalism.
>
>We know that America's capitalist economy has completely failed us. Every
>day more of us are unemployed and imprisoned, homeless and hungry. Police
>brutality, violence and the international drug trade threaten our children
>with the greatest dangers since slavery. The politicians build more prisons
>but cut budgets for public schools, day care and health care. They slash
>welfare yet hire more cops. The government says working people must pay
>more taxes and receive fewer services, while the rich and the corporations
>grow fat. Black people and other oppressed people have the power to change
>the way things are today. But first we must unite against the real enemy.
>
>Now is the time for a revival of the militant spirit of resistance that our
>people have always possessed, from the Abolitionist Movement to outlaw
>slavery to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, from Black Power to the
>anti-apartheid campaign of the 1980s. Now is the time to rebuild a strong,
>uncompromising movement for human rights, full employment and self
>determination. Now is the time for a new Black radicalism.
>
>If you believe in the politics of Black liberation, join us in Chicago in
>1998 at the Black Radical Congress. If you hate what capitalism has done to
>our community--widespread joblessness, drugs, violence and poverty--
>come to the Congress. If you are fed up with the corruption of the
>two party system and want to develop a plan for real political
>change, come to the Congress. If you want to struggle against class
>exploitation, racism, sexism and homophobia, come to the Congress.
>The Black Radical Congress is for everyone ready to fight back: trade
>unionists and workers, youth and students, women, welfare recipients,
>lesbians and gays, public housing tenants and the homeless, the
>elderly and people on fixed incomes, veterans, cultural workers and
>immigrants. You!
>
>Sisters and Brothers, we stand at the edge of a new century. The moment for
>a new militancy and a new commitment to the liberation of all Black people,
>at home and abroad, has arrived. Let us build a national campaign toward
>the Black Radical Congress, setting in motion a renewed struggle to claim
>our historic role as the real voice of democracy in this country. Spread
>the word: "Without struggle, there is no progress!" Now's the time!
>
>
>Black Radical Congress * Endorsers of the Call
>
>Larry Adams (President, Mailhandlers Local 300)
>Royce Adams (Local 1291, International Longshoremen's Association, New Jersey)
>Akbar Muhammad Ahmed (Instructor of African-American history & political
>science, Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland)
>Abdul Alkalimat (League of Revolutionaries for a New America)
>Makungu Akinyela (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Atlanta)
>Lisa Anderson, Ph.D. (Lafayette, IN)
>Sam Anderson (Network of Black Organizers, New York City)
>Marlene Archer (National Co-chair, National Conference of Black Lawyers)
>Taisha Ash (Southern International Education Committee)
>Ogundara Ayoka (Tampa, FL)
>General Baker (Auto worker, Detroit)
>Amina Baraka (Communist Party, USA)
>Amiri Baraka (Unity & Struggle newspaper)
>Debbie Bell (Communist Party, USA)
>Jean Carey Bond (Writer/editor, New York City)
>Herb Boyd (Journalist/author, New York City)
>Rose Brewer (Minneapolis, MN)
>Lisa Brock (Chicago)
>Humberto R. Brown (Afro Latino Network; Ida B. Wells-W.E.B. Du Bois Network)
>Linda Burnham (Women of Color Resource Center, Berkeley, CA)
>A.C. Byrd (Political analyst, Washington, DC)
>Horace Campbell (Global Pan African Movement; Syracuse University)
>James E. Campbell (Retired educator)
>Dr. Trevor Campbell (Pomona, CA)
>Mandy Carter (Durham, NC)
>Michelle Tingling-Clemmons (National Welfare Rights Union, Washington, DC)
>Rick Tingling-Clemmons (People's Tribune, Washington, DC)
>Cathy Cohen (New York City)
>Lisa Crooms (Washington, DC)
>Angela Y. Davis (Professor, University of California at Santa Cruz;
>Committees of Correspondence)
>Michael Dawson (Chicago)
>Rukiya Dillahunt (Black Workers for Justice, North Carolina)
>Ajamu Dillahunt (Southern labor activist, North Carolina)
>James Early (Cultural worker and political activist, Washington, DC)
>Robert Ellis (Attorney, New York City)
>Johanna Fernandez (International Socialist Organization)
>Bill Fletcher, Jr. (Labor activist and writer, Washington, DC)
>Gene Ford (News & Letters, Los Angeles)
>Tyrone Freeman (Executive Director, Local 1985, SEIU, Atlanta)
>Victoria Garvin (Veteran labor and community activist)
>Angela Gilliam (Northwest Labor and Employment Law Office)
>Doug Gills (Chicago)
>Lewis Gordon (Brown University, Providence, RI)
>Jim Grant (Black Workers for Justice)
>Venus Green (New York City)
>Arturo Griffiths (African-American Human Rights Foundation, Washington, DC)
>Evelynn Hammonds (Cambridge, MA)
>Peter Hardie (Roxbury Youth Works, Roxbury, MA)
>Cheryl Harris (ITT Kent Law School)
>Karega Hart (Labor activist & instructor, Oakland, CA)
>Judy Hatcher (New York City)
>Lennox Hines (International Association of Democratic Lawyers, North
>American Chair)
>Askhari Johnson Hodari (Washington, DC)
>Dan Holliman (Syracuse, NY)
>Dwight Hopkins (Black theologian, Chicago)
>Gerald Horne (Professor of African-American studies, University of North
>Carolina, Chapel Hill)
>Gerry Hudson (Executive Vice President, Local 1199 - National Health &
>Human Services Union, New York City)
>Lynette Jackson (African-American Agenda 2000)
>Geoffrey Jacques (Poet; Managing editor, New Labor Forum)
>Joy James (Boulder, CO)
>Ajagbe Adewole-Jimenez (Freedom Road Socialist Organization, New York City)
>J.J. Jobnson (DC 1707, AFSCME, New York City)
>Robin D.G. Kelley (Historian, Africana Studies, New York University; Ida B.
>Wells-W.E.B Du Bois Network)
>Marian Kramer (National Welfare Rights Union)
>N'Tanya Lee (Ann Arbor, MI)
>Clarence Lusane (Professor of Political Science, American University,
>Washington, DC)
>Shafeah M'Balia (Black Workers for Justice; health care activist)
>Julianne Malveaux (Economist & syndicated columnist, Washington, DC)
>Manning Marable (Co-chair, Committees of Correspondence; Ida B. Wells-W.E
>B. Du Bois Network)
>Togi Marshall (Washington, DC)
>Tracye Matthews (Chicago)
>David Maurasse (New York City)
>Sania Metzger (New York City)
>Denice Miles (Chicago)
>Cbarlene Mitchell (Co-chair, Committees of Correspondence; staff, Local
>371, AFSCME)
>Anthony Monteiro (Assistant Professor of Sociology, Philadelphia College of
>Pharmacy & Science)
>Robert Moore (President, Local 1199 EDC, SEIU, Baltimore, MD)
>Saladin Muhammad (Southern union organizer, Black Workers for Justice)
>Leith Mullings (Professor of Anthropology, City University of New York
>Graduate School; Ida B. Wells-W.E.B Du Bois Network)
>Salim Muwakkil (Chicago)
>Cheryl Mwaria (Ida B. Wells-W.E.B. Du Bois Network)
>Prexy Nesbitt (Chicago)
>Efia Nwangaza (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
>Ahmed Obafemi (New Afrikan People's Organization)
>Cheryl Johnson-Odim (Evanston, IL)
>Kenny Page (National Conference of Black Lawyers, Washington, DC)
>Jonathan Peck (Chicago)
>Roz Pelles (Washington, DC)
>Nelson Peery (League of Revolutionaries for a New America)
>Brenda Randolph (Africa Access, Maryland)
>Maria Ramos (New York City)
>Barbara Ransby (Chicago)
>Aisha Ray (Chicago)
>Adolph Reed (Labor Party, Chicago)
>Palmira N. Rios (Professor, University of Puerto Rico)
>Cedric Robinson (Professor of Black Studies, University of California at
>Santa Barbara, CA)
>Jamala Rogers (Organization for Black Struggle, St. Louis, MO)
>Don Rojas (Publisher, Black World Today, New Jersey)
>Kathleen Saadat (Portland Rainbow Coalition, Portland, OR)
>Bill Sales (Professor, Seton Hall University)
>Sonia Sanchez (Poet)
>Jerome Scott (Project South, Atlanta)
>Joe Sims (Communist Party, USA; Editor, Political Affairs)
>Barbara Smith (Albany, NY)
>Kim Smith (Chicago)
>Lasker Smith (Ecorse, MI)
>Leona Smith (National Union of the Homeless)
>Yicki Smith (Feminist Action Network, Albany, NY)
>Keeanga Taylor (International Socialist Organization; City College
>Coalition Against Cuts, New York City)
>Anthony Thigpen (Chairman of the Board, Action for Grassroots Empowerment &
>Neighborhood Alternatives, Los Angeles)
>James Tim Thomas (Executive Director, Emergency Services Network, Alameda
>County, CA)
>David Thurston (International Socialist Organization, New York City)
>Lou Turner (News & Letters, Chicago)
>Jarvis Tyner (Communist Party, USA)
>William Watkins (Chicago)
>Cornel West (Cambridge, MA)
>List in formation
>
>For more information about the Black Radical Congress, please write:
>Black Radical Congress, PO Box 5766, Chicago IL 60680-5766
>
>
>
At 04:54 PM 5/19/1998 +1000, Gary MacLennan wrote:
>I have been given an emergency task here. A colleague is ill and I have to
>give his lecture on Thursday on Singleton's BOYZ'N the Hood. the theme of
>the lecture is black filmmakers and urban social problems. Does anyone
>have any thoughts, obsessions, points to make.
>
>Where are Afro-American politics going now anyway?
>
>I recall the discussion on the million man march on the old Marxism list
>and then Rakesh made a point about the sexism of Singleton's film. If he
>is reading this and could jot down those thoughts I would be grateful.
>
>regards
>
>gary
>
>