Attica Rebellion (09.09-13.1971); Tupac Shakur (09.06.1996); World Trade Centers (09.11.2001) September is a month with painful memorable events. After moving out west, they said he hit bottom. He was constantly looking for a place to stay and something to eat. It seemed nobody liked him in those days, except his mother, who as we all know was struggling with her own problems. Finally, he made it! He became a star! He was a success! I would see him from time to time when he would come back to New York. His mother would call me and ask me to talk to him. But those were fleeting, superficial visits. When he was shot in 1994, he sent for me. I visited him at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. He had just been operated on. His head was bandaged and he seemed to be semi-conscious. I said to him, “Son, I’m going to pray for you and you’re going to be alright.” I put my hand on his forehead and prayed for him a brief prayer and I departed. When I returned to my church in Brooklyn about half an hour later, I was told by Deacon Leroy Applin Sr., “Tupac had gotten up and gone from the hospital.” We had many belly-laughs about that later. During the time when he was incarcerated on the sexual assault charge, I visited with him often at Rikers Island, at least once, sometimes two or three times a week. I went to court with him on the day he was sentenced and would have spoken on his behalf if I were asked to do so. During those visits, while I was in the private steeled enclosed room, we talked about many things and made many plans. At first, he would complain that he was being mistreated. I carried his complaints to the higher authority. Things became better. We talked about religion. I would remind him of his membership and his revolutionary aspirations. And would challenge him to live up to the ideals of those ideologies. I would speak to him of others who have used jail time to produce great good. There were times when he seemed depressed and angry with the system. He maintained his innocence but accepted the fact that he was guilty of other things. So maybe he was paying for those things. Tupac said he would be better and do better. He admitted that his head had not been clear for many years. He was thinking more clearly now. We talked of plans to help our people, especially our youth. I tried to get a commitment from him to help our prison program. He talked of his plans to have a retreat center in Atlanta where youth would be brought from inner cities and while there they could learn and train to enhance their schoolwork and be exposed to celebrities who would come and share experiences with them. We talked of his proposed marriage to Jada. He wanted me to do the ceremony. The wedding would be in Atlanta, Georgia. He had it all planned. We talked about his plays, movies, and songs he was writing. Tupac told me of one play, a young man was running away from a hitman and ran into this house where he hid out, and on and on it went. When he was through I said to him “Why not have the young man go into the church and have a minister help him?” He paused, he thought- he looked at me and said “That’s a good idea, you see, I have to write what I know about, what I have lived. I don’t know too much about the church and religion.” To return to religion for a moment, he was confused and troubled by religion. He told me that the Muslims were trying to convert him, but he was not moved by their efforts. Tupac said he couldn’t accept Christianity or the Bible for they were too closely associated with the white man. I remember one visit, in particular, he was extremely agitated, he had then been humiliated by certain acts by the prison guards. As was my custom, whatever else we discussed, I would bring the conversation back to the challenges and ideals and challenges of God, religion, and the Bible. On one occasion he said to me, “Reverend, I don’t want to hurt your feelings and I don’t mean any disrespect but it’s hard for me to believe in the same book as the white man. This system beats you, me, and my people, which does all kinds of evil things all over the world and claims the Bible as its book. How can I believe in the same book?” My response was, “Listen, I know how you feel. I went through the same thing. I have felt the same way. Maybe that's why I stayed away from the church for many years. In fact, all of my youth, although I came from four generations of Black preachers. But when I found the Lord or when God found me - after I had hit the bottom, that’s when my life changed. I began to study the history of our people and the history of religion. I discovered that the Bible teaches that blackness is the origin of civilization - that the so-called major western religions including Judaism, Islam, and Christianity have black roots, and that Christianity was shaped and influenced by African people.” I continued with my history lessons on African people and religion. I said one of the reasons that I believed God saved me was to send me on this mission to teach our people that the Bible and Christianity have African roots, and to encourage the struggle for human rights and self-determination, especially for oppressed people. When I finished, he stared at the floor for a long time. He looked at me and said, “I didn’t know that Reverend.” I said, “I know this truth has been kept from us by both white folks and blacks who benefited from my ignorance.” On one occasion, he told me something that was startling which revealed his toughness, tenacity, his fierce determination, and his intuitiveness. He said when he wanted to achieve something, he would find a picture of the thing desired or draw a picture. Then he would put the picture on the wall over his bed, and he said he would stare at the picture long and often. He would not sleep in the bed until he had achieved his goal. Now we know why he rose, like a phoenix bird of Greek mythology, from the ashes to soar to dazzling heights. He was all smiling one day. He couldn’t wait to tell me of the good deed he had done. He had secured tickets to Stevie Wonder for an officer who was going through a time of terrible loss. He explained all that he had to do to make it happen and he wanted it to be a surprise. To be continued…

Idalia, has brought to our attention the seriousness of climate change. Before Idalia, there were earthquakes and floods in California and before that, there was the heat wave in the Southwest, USA. Fires in Canada and even more devastating in Hawaii. In a word, climate change is here and if something isn’t done, it, along with wars, will spell the end of the human race. I’m including war because the damage done to the earth and the atmosphere attributes to the weathering change. I’ve been reading Al Gore, former Vice President’s sobering book, An Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore has been a lifetime student of the ecology. According to Mr. Gore, the devastation is moving faster than realized, with pictures, graphs, and statistics that even a child could understand. Al Gore has made a major contribution to enlighten us relative to the climate changes devastation and challenged us to do something about it. I know that there are those who are asking what brought about the change in the climate and so: “In a preindustrial world just the right amount for the sun’s energy was soaked up by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It was a wonderfully balanced system and accounts for why earth is sometimes called the Goldilocks planet. Neither too hot like Venus with its thick poisonous atmosphere nor too cold like Mars, which practically has no atmosphere at all. But when too much of the atmosphere is made up of greenhouse gases it leads to global warming. The suns energy centers in the atmosphere, some of that energy warms up the earth and its atmosphere then are radiated back into space in the form of infrared radiation. But greenhouse gas soaks up some of the infrared preventing it from escaping into space. The problem we now face is that the atmosphere is being filled by huge quantities of human caused carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. This traps a lot of the infrared radiation that would otherwise escape. As a result, the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and oceans is getting dangerously warmer. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be measured. Because of the changed atmosphere around the earth generated by greenhouse gases. They are the gases in our atmosphere that holds heat, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. They maintain an average temperature on earth of 59°F. Without greenhouse gases the earth’s surface temperature will drop below 0°F. But trouble has risen because industry, technology and our modern lifestyle releases too much of these greenhouse gases and that not good. Of all of the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide usually gets top billing because it accounts for 80% of total greenhouse gas emissions. They release CO2 when we burn natural gas, coal used in homes, cars, factories and power plants cutting down forests and producing cement also releases CO2.” It has been proven scientifically, carbon dioxide, which is a major contributor that has increased dramatically over the years. Mr. Gore says that there is still time for us to Save the Planet, but we have to change our lifestyle. I have been saying it for years, we have to Save the Planet and Save the People. We must cease wars and make changes on earth before it is too late. In the next several weeks I plan to commence a series of workshops on the subject on climate change. And the part that war plays on influencing climate change. Briefly and simply what happens is before the industrial revolution the significant changes in our lifestyle and the climate change. Heretofore the earth’s atmosphere has struck an amazing balance. The atmosphere around the earth is very thin and can influence what the gasses that emanates out of the earth. Then the sun rays which plays its part and can no longer penetrate completely through the earth so that the sun rays return back to outer space the sun in infrared light and all was well. “The fierce urgency,” to quote one of Dr. King’s favorite sayings is applicable now in regards to war and weather. Sign up at the link provided, if you’re interested in attending the workshops. Depending on the level of interest we will proceed with our preparation and hopefully start on the Wed, Sept. 27th or Wed, Oct. 4th.Let us know what day you decide to join us. It may be that God is calling you to be on a mission with us to Save the Planet and Save the People!

50th Alonzo A. Daughtry Memorial Daycare Center Graduation on August 17, 2023 at the House of the Lord Church – 415 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, NY Earlier in the day, on Thursday 8/17/2023 before the Marcus Garvey birthday celebration we had our 50th Alonzo Daughtry Memorial Daycare Center graduation. The daycare is named after my father Alonzo Daughtry. We were at the beginning of the daycare organizing for New York City, as they are now constituted. Georgia McMurray, who was the City’s Commissioner of the Agency for Child Development. We saw a need of daycare service for working mothers. We started in our church at 415 Atlantic Avenue. Founding members were my wife, Rev. Dr. Karen Daughtry, Sis. Eloise McConnell-Raab, etc. We used our resources to operate the daycare services, we learned that another daycare service was being proposed in a new building across the street from our church. We wrote letters to Ms. McMurray. In our letters we were informing her that we had started a daycare center and sought help from the city and never received a response. Yet, across the street a group who had not been involved in daycare were able to get a whole building for daycare service and other programs. I gathered the membership and went to McMurray’s office. Our intentions were to stay until we got a positive response. We were prepared to spend the night in jail. As we entered in her office she said, "what do you want Reverend?” So I said to her, “I don’t have a dog to walk or a cat to feed and all members of my family are here with me. So we plan to pray. We are Pentecostal people, we believe in praying all night long. When people don’t respond, their either sick, dead or near death.” Everybody in the group began to sit on the chairs and the floor and acted as though they were very comfortable. Ms. McMurray said, "What’s wrong?" I proceeded to tell her our story and that we communicated with her office and never got a response. She acted surprised. She called her staff in and asked them, "Is it true that the Reverend wrote a letter and we never responded?" They had to admit, yes, it was true. She said, “Oh Reverend, sit down and let’s talk about this”, we did and before we left her office she funded our program retroactively and supplied us all the furniture we needed and personnel, the availability of medical doctors, educational consultants, etc. And we became the best of friends until the day she died. She would often call for our assistance. Significantly as an aside, another person that was key to the formation of the daycare service was Mr. Lloyd Williams, Chairman to the Harlem Chamber of Commerce. Sunday 8/20 I was given a special honor in Harlem sponsored by Lloyd Williams and Rev. Al Sharpton. As mentioned in my previous posts via Facebook. So today, we, the adults watched beaming with pride. Hearts beating with joy as we observed our children participate in the graduation. The graduates had on little caps and gowns. A program of achievements, song and dance was apart of the program. Only my wife and I were the speakers. My wife became the Executive Director almost from the beginning. She extolled the children's behavior and accomplishments and also had high praise from the staff. She recounted the history that I’ve already recorded above. In my brief remarks, I emphasized that of the influences that shaped our children’s lives, DNA, environment, events, and parents are the most dominant. So, take time, take interest and by all means show love to your child. I told the story of our son, Herb Jr. when he was around the age of 3/4 years old. He was playing on the floor and I was kneeling watching him, asking questions about what he was doing. Then he looked up at me and he said, “Hey dad, I like you.” I said, "Why do you like me Dan?” He said, “because you watch me do stuff.” I’ve used that story in many places with many people but never more so than with parents. What this little fellow was saying to me, " You love me, and you are so interested in me that I’m the focus of your attention and I appreciate that very much." Let us give our children undivided attention. Indeed, all people and I have found when we give people our undivided attention they will respond in a positive way. Obviously cameras were everywhere, as we took the photos of our children in various activities. It was indeed a glorious occasion. My wife mentioned our children’s educational achievements. One in particular, germaine to the occasion was our baby daughter Dawnique Daughtry. She is/was a principal. Recently we attended her last graduation of MS113 Ronald Edmonds Learning Center. My wife recalled that Dawnique wasn’t always the most obedient child, but we gave her attention and eventually she went to the Syracuse University, received her doctorate from Fordham University and she was the principal for 12 years. Let us love our children and give them the attention they deserve. Photos: Below is the father Eric Blake, his son was a child in our daycare center. Now he has three children and the three of us together.

Passing of the Giants Minister Clemson Brown (cont.) In addition to his filming, he also worked very hard around the church. Nothing was beneath his concern and his labor. Some of the construction work he did in his construction company RECAP. We all laugh now when we think about his removal of the dirt in the church basement. As many of you’ve been down to the restrooms in our church basement and must have saw how clean and beautifully it was kept and well designed. There is even space for the ladies' rest lounge, it is hard to believe, and to convince people, that once upon a time that was all dirt, backed up to the walls. Minister Brown organized the youth, some of them as young as twelve and thirteen years old had started digging out the dirt. He created a conveyors belt that moved the dirt from down in the basement up to the ground floor where it could be removed from the church to the street. He was super special, he never tried to get in front of the camera. He was always content being behind filming the activities. The exception is when any of our people were in danger. Then, he became a raging tiger and would forget that his role was to record history. He was not just a professional videographer and traveling companion, but he was my friend. Traveling together, as I have stated, to the farthest corners of the world, up and down America. He invested his own resources; I can’t ever remember buying any of his equipment. I’m certain that we did raise money for his travel and his equipment, but he never made it publicly or privately known that he was in desperate need. To his family, wife Lady Brown, son Junior and daughter Herlina, we all owe you a debt of gratitude which no words could ever express, for allowing him to invest so much time, energy, resources in the freedom struggle for our people. There wasn’t anything I can think of that he would not do or give or say if it meant progress for our people. He truly believed that if our people knew who they really were, they would be further along on the freedom trail than they are now. And his primary role was to show, teach, by any means necessary, but especially by technological means, i.e., video, compact disc., voice record or anyway that would provide information for the people. *I don’t know how many people have seen Loud Mouth starring Rev. Al Sharpton. Some of the footage comes from Minister Brown’s work.* Well, I’ll conclude with the words of Apostle Paul, I believe they are most applicable to Minister Clemson Brown, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8 KJV So long old friend, brother and comrade, may bands of angels sing you to your rest. Paraphrasing the words of Marcus Garvey, “we will look for you in the whirlwind”. Wherever there is a fight on behalf of our people, we will look for you there. And I will see you again, one day soon. In 1983, as I became health conscious I organized a church committee, we called it Focus on Health and Progress. It was a sheet or up to several sheets sized 8 ½ x 11. One of the features was a particular person in our church. As I was going through my old files, I believe I was led of the Lord to some of the Focus on Health and Progress and I came across the edition in which Minister Brown was the focus. Some of this is repitious, but I thought it had a special quality to having this written back around 1983. See attachment below:

Passing of the Giants of the Human Spirit Minister Clemson Brown Pt. 1 Written: August 11, 2023 It was on Monday 8/7/23 at 5:41pm when my wife asked me, “Did you hear the news? She continued, “did you talk to Councilman Charles Barron?” She had that sad look in her eyes and her face tilted downward. I have seen that look many times before; suddenly a pall seemed to engulf the room. Then she said, “Minister Brown has made his transition.” I had no immediate response as I pulled myself together, softly I mumbled something, “Wow, is anybody left? Am I the only one still around. He gave it his best shot.” So often of late a stanza in Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard written by Thomas Gray : “What are the worst of woes that wait on age? What stamps the wrinkle deepest in the brow, To view loved ones blotted from life’s page And to be alone as I am now.” Minister Clemson Brown was a multi-talented, eager to use any of his talents to advance our people. I met him in 1976. It was the year Americans were preparing to celebrate its 200-year anniversary. A brother by the name of Dr. Chester Williams approached me with an idea of a quadricentennial, 400 years for people of African Ancestry, starting with the transatlantic slave trade. I thought it was a great idea. We began to organize the people that we knew. As a professor he organized primarily students and professionals. From somewhere came Minister Clemson Brown. At the time, his primary occupation was making different ceramics. We proceeded for the rest of 1976 organizing and educating regarding our history. Near the end of the year in November, a 15-year-old youth of African Ancestry, Randy Evans was shot in the head for no reason by police officer Robert Torsney. The following year almost to the date of the shooting, the killer cop was given a light sentence, two years of psychiatric treatment with weekends home. The community was furious. I’ve told this story before. There were four of us, Assemblyman Al Vann, Professor Sam Pinn, Educator, Cultural Crusader and Cultural builder Jitu Weusi and I had been meeting for months earlier. When the exoneration of the cop happened, we stepped forward with a plan to organize our community. Our first action was to call for Black Christmas 77’, a citywide boycott. By the end of 1976, Clemson Brown had become a member of our church. When we announced the protest, I told him that he should go and get a camera for we were going to make history. We were going to turn things upside down. He bought (some of y’all might remember) the Zoom camera and from that day until the day he died he videoed major events and personalities for nearly 50 years. I ordained him in 1978, after which he was given the title of Minister. We travelled together across America and many countries abroad. On two occasions we attended the Organization of African Unity (OAU as it was called then, now it’s the African Union –AU.) Nairobi, Kenya was the first OAU conference we attended and then in Tripoli, Libya when al-Gaddafi was the President. We attended many meetings in the Caribbean. Trinidad at the height of the demonstration led by Makandal Akhenation Daaga. I recall Daaga analyzing events in various countries. He said that the apartheid regime in south Africa was going to fall and the South African leaders would come to the Caribbean to find a safe haven. He was courageous, brilliant and strategically sound. He was well read and did a review for us of Eric Williams monumental book Capitalism and Slavery, which book I have used in my argument for reparations. Also, annually we would attend the yearly conference in Cuba sponsored by the Cuban government. (Significantly at one of the conferences I was asking to prepare a paper on the Nationalist Community in the USA. I sought the assistance of Dr. Cornel West. We together prepared the paper, I gave the speech which was well received. See Daughtry files.) On one of our visits to Cuba we decided that we would ask the Cuban government to reciprocate. We had been supporting, now they should show some support to our struggle in the USA. (Diplomatically correct of course. We would not want to heighten tension between Cuban government and the US government.) We suggested two things: one, that there be a national holiday in Cuba recognizing a leader or a person of distinction of African Ancestry in the USA. Second, that they give scholarships to student, especially in the area of medicine. They agreed to the first one, the question rose whom shall we recognize in the USA, our delegation was shocked when they said, they’d like to honor Dr. Martin Luther King! The reason we were shocked, after all NBUF which I headed was the preeminent Radical revolutionary, Nationalist, Pan-Africanist organization in America at the time. Cuba, being a revolutionary government, I think I would be far within the mark to say that the members of our delegation thought it would be Malcolm X. One of the key members of our delegation, Oba T’Shaka inquired why Dr. King? The response was, (and I shall never forget the words) “Dr. King has more tendencies around him.” It was clear to us what they meant. Dr. King was an organizer of all of the movements around the world. He wanted to bring all of the global community together to change the world. While Malcolm X, no disrespect to him or marginalizing him as if anyone could, but Malcolm clearly stated in words and deeds. He was concentrating on people of African Ancestry. The Cuban government and any government I think has to deal with all kinds of people and nations of the world. Well, when our delegation recuperated, we got to the question of scholarships. They agreed as I forestated, that they would offer the scholarships. This program has been going on ever since. After our involvement I understand it continued with Rev. Lucius Walker and other medical professionals. To be continued...

The continuation on the history of NBUF The National Black United Front Speech (Part Four) 44th Annual Conference, Healthy Village Learning Institute McKeesport Pennsylvania July 7th - 9th 2023 Because it is so relevant with the author Herb Boyd’s permission, I would like to include his editorial from The Amsterdam News on July 20, 2023. Another third party problem? by Herb Boyd July 20, 2023 Cornel West Photo Credit: Solwazi Afi Olusola photo Both President Joe Biden and former President Trump are flawed, according to Dr. Cornel West. In a move to distance himself further from the other presidential candidates, West is running on the Green Party and/or the People’s Party ticket. In his denouncements, he cited Biden’s past “connections” to segregationists, and Trump’s views on racial matters. During an appearance on Fox News Hannity on Monday, West stated that his bid for the Oval Office was as “serious as a heart attack.” To clarify his charge of Biden’s connection to segregationists, West cited that in 2008, Biden reportedly called the former Mississippi Sen. John Stennis, “a hell of a guy.” West is also accusing Biden of “crimes against humanity,” against African Americans, confirming a report that appeared in the New York Post. When Hannity noted that minority voters were mainly tied to the Democratic Party, West said it was as broken as the GOP, both he charged in the pocket of “big money” and corruption. Whether the Green Party or the People’s Party, West’s bid is getting the attention of Democrats, many of whom are recalling 2016 and the third-party campaign. “This is not the time in order to experiment. This is not the time to play around on the margins,” warned DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison, a close Biden confidant, over the weekend. Harrison is perhaps referencing Hillary Clinton’s race against Trump when considerable votes went to Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. Such a spoiler was also noted by David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s chief strategist. “Now, with Cornel West as their [Green Party] likely nominee, they could easily do it again. Risky business.” “What we see is a lot of folks who want to be relevant and try to be relevant in these elections and not looking at the big picture,” Harrison said. “We got to reelect Joe Biden.” There are marked differences between Clinton’s run seven years ago and West’s current bid, mostly between the candidates themselves. West may be popular on the left and in academic circles, he in no way brings the same kind of political background Stein possessed. Even so, there is a large swath of Democrats concerned about Biden’s age and his policies. End. It just so happened that the morning of August 14th I posted to Facebook an article entitled, Seventeen million people endorse force to restore Trump Third Party Candidates Think hard of the future of our people Later on, the same day as above I reflected on another subject in the same vain regarding Donald Trump. It is reported that with every indictment, his support increases. At this point he has been indicted on three felony charges, one more is expected this week coming out of Atlanta, GA- totaling four indictments. This does not include civil cases where he’s had to pay out money. Hence, we must face the incredible truths that Donald Trump has such influence over millions of people that has been publicly recorded, they are probably millions more undercover. What will happen next year should Mr. Trump win the presidency. And let’s face it that’s a possibility, especially with Third World candidates drawing votes away from the Democratic nominee. And if Mr. Trump loses will there be a Civil war or violence across America? In future possibilities, what ought we to be thinking and doing to prepare for any eventuality?

The continuation on the history of NBUF The National Black United Front Speech (Part Three) 44th Annual Conference, Healthy Village Learning Institute McKeesport Pennsylvania July 7th - 9th 2023 Theme: Freedom and Unity V. Institutional Infiltration We can develop a strategy for the infiltration of Institutions. On the way to achieving the major objective, there are minor objectives that we can achieve. There are unions, school boards, community planning boards, and religious institutions which we can infiltrate and capture and turn the resources to our benefit. Consider the unions in the City of New York. At least three of them have a rank-and-file which is predominately Black and yet the leadership is white. District Council 37 113,000 members 35% Black The majority are Black and Hispanic Transit Workers Union 34,000 members 50% Black Housing Patrolmen Benevolent Association 1,450 members 52% Black (This union does have a Black president, Jack Jordan) We need to develop a plan of action that would gain control of these unions. We have already considered the black presence in the school system across America. If we could lay hold upon these Institutions, many of which have tremendous resources, we would be a step closer towards the realization of our ultimate goal. A word of caution then. Let us refrain from condemning people who are employed in various establishment programs etc. because they may be on our side. We have come to see the wisdom of not asking all our supporters to reveal themselves. Vl. Marches and Rallies Let us not underestimate the masses in the streets. The day of marches is not over. It did not die with the Civil Rights Movement for it was not born in southern cities in the sixties. Before Dr. King there was Gandhi and before Gandhi there were others. As I have already stated, we need to look no further than Iran today where millions of people marching in the streets drove almighty monarch from the throne. Vll. Civil Disobedience We must always hold this tactic in the realm of possibility. With our numbers, we can prevent the government from functioning, businesses from operating, and the literary bottle of the city. Vlll. International Linkage It is imperative that we fortify or strengthen the international link that we have already begun. There are no local solutions anymore. If ever the poet's words were accurate, they are today, “No man is an island, the sufficient unto himself, but every man is a part of the continent. “Decisions made in the capitals of the world will have an impact on all the cities of the world. Because millions of people marched in the streets of Iran, a government toppled, oil ceased to flow thousands of miles away and we are told that our cars may soon cease moving. Gas will be rationed. The Battle of Crown Heights - the Hasidim Jews cannot be isolated but must be seen in the international context. We must go back to the United Nations again and again. We must influence the African leadership. We must be at the Conference of the Organizations of African Unity. We must work, converse, persuade, politicize, rally, and march until our cause becomes the cause of all third-world people, indeed the cause of all people of goodwill. As Malcolm stated, it is a human rights struggle and that is the struggle in which our all-righteous people should be counted. Here again, the importance of politics comes to play. If we developed political power commensurate with our numbers, we could make a considerable contribution to the struggles of third-world people. Her Excellency Ambassador Koni, of Zambia, in a speech at The House of the Lord Church, urged people of African descent to develop their political strength which they could then use to influence assistance for the liberation struggles in Africa as well as support for African governments. Consider the Zionists, who, though much smaller than other ethnic groups have been able to extract from the U.S. government a black check. These are some of the tactics that we can employ to achieve immediate and limited objectives and tactics which if done well would move us close to, if not completely to our ultimate goal. Let us return to the end result-the goal. And if or when we form our own government, again I ask, what kind of government, and who would lead it? And as a new government, are we going to form alliances with other governments or join them? A long time ago there was a question of resettling us in other countries. Even President Lincoln supported the idea. Would it be Liberia, Cuba, Sierra Leone, Haiti? Bishop Daniel Coker took 3,000 people to Haiti. But even during the discussion about recolonizing People of African Ancestry (POAA) there was serious debate among our leaders. Would you be satisfied living under this American government if we had what we wanted - freedom? Which means either we must change the parties, Democrat or Republican, or create another party that challenges the present parties radically. There was much talk of a Third Party at the NBUF Convention and indeed, there has been talk of Third Party since the inception of the US government. Let us remember Dr. Cornel West has decided to run for President. Remember Jesse Jackson, had the best opportunity for a Third party in 1983/1984. Let's be honest, the chances of our winning enough votes for us to gain the presidency or to gain enough votes to make revolutionary or even radical gains is farfetched. The danger I see ahead are that these fringe radical groups who seem to be critical of all or most progress we have made, as well as Black leaders of yesteryear and today. They are going to accumulate enough votes to deny the election of a progressive, liberal, white candidate, who is friendly toward us and therefore the country will be run by the most radical, racist and terrorist groups we have never seen in this country since post Reconstruction.

The continuation on the history of NBUF The National Black United Front Speech (Part Two) 44th Annual Conference, Healthy Village Learning Institute McKeesport Pennsylvania July 7th - 9th 2023 Theme: Freedom and Unity What is doable? What can we achieve in the meanwhile? In 1979, at the first New York Metropolitan BUF (we organized BUF in July 1978 after the killing of Randy Evans in 1976, and the jury’s decision to give the killer cop a slap on the wrist; and the chokehold death of Arthur Miller Jr. in June 1978 at the hands of New York Police.) At the BUF meeting I gave a speech in which I laid out what I considered doable. (See 1979 BUF Speech- Seize the Future in a booklet by same name.) “What are those things we can think and do to seize the future? What is graspable? realizable?accessible? do-able? What is it that will prepare us or move us into the position to claim the future? Keep in mind that each action, however small, sets the stage for a larger one. Power to the people can never be realized if people do not exercise the power that they have, however small or insufficient. The farthest journey begins with one step. He that is faithful over the little things, Jesus once said, will be faithful over the big ones. What then are those days we can do? I. Economic Boycott: We can use the method of economic withdrawal. There are three benefits this tactic gives us: 1. It is an effective method of mobilizing our people. Since it is an action that is available to all, it allows for massive participation. 2. In order for a movement to be viable, it must take care of its people. By using the method of economic withdrawal, we can be wiring from the system some of the crumbs to feed the movement. 3. The economic boycott allows us to enhance Black institutions and businesses even though we do not always agree fully with their policies and practices. By assisting them, they become grateful to us, expanding our appeal and supporters and further enhancing our credibility with our people at large. Economic withdrawal can be an awesome weapon if D. Parke Gibson is right in his book, $70 Billion in the Black, Black people's income is equal to the night largest nation in the world. Think what it would mean to the American economy if Black people decided not to participate. An ultimatum could be thrust before the governments articulating whatever demands are right and just and stating that unless these are met, non-economic participation will commence immediately. If there is large enough support, the government would have to yield for no government can function without Black participation. ll. Political Action: We can engage in political action at a massive level. 1.We can organize a political convention that would determine who represents black people and hold those representatives accountable. 2.We can construct a black political party or caucus that would set agendas and produce policies according to the inches of the people. 3. We can engage in massive political education and registration. To repeat, we need massive political participation, not just to support old politicians or to perpetuate old political processes or bolster decadent political parties but that we might create a viable Black political vehicle for our purpose There is another reason we must involve ourselves in politics. We must learn the art, science, and skills of governing. Even if we come by the machinery of government, how can we govern if we have never participated in that process? We must inspire our young to be political, to run for office, to learn the political process - not to do what others have done but to do what others ought to have done. It should be remembered that in June 1978 we organized a Black political convention. We endorsed ten candidates and supported them with funds and voter registration drivers etc. From this venture, we gained valuable experience to prepare us to establish a Black Convention as an ongoing reality. III. Program Development We must be program-minded. We must learn what business is and develop business cooperatives. While it is still true that ideologies inspire people, economics feeds them. Again, uppermost in our minds must be sensitivity to the immediate needs of our people. Jobs, housing, clothing, medical care, and education are some of the necessities that must be met by any movement which claims to represent the interests of the people. It is a legitimate desire to want to achieve these vital things as long as we understand that they are provisional and are necessary to keep us moving toward our goal. Significantly and strangely, there is the seldom-mentioned side of Malcolm X which showed him to be concerned about developing programs. He even wanted programs for drug addicts and unwed mothers etc. Malcolm was deeply concerned about politics, education, human rights, and all the things that directly bear upon the lives of our people. IV. Education We must educate! We must build educational institutions. No people can ever be free who leave the education of their young to others. To do so is to turn over the future to other people. Here in New York, we have a classic example. In a school system that has a Black student population of 40%, more than 90% of the teachers are Jewish. Is it any wonder that seven out of ten Black children will not complete high school and of the three that do only 50% will be able to read above an eighth-grade reading level? It is any wonder that our youth come to maturity unprepared for the demands and responsibilities of life. Baraka said, “Our children are our future. Who controls your children’s minds controls your life even after the death of your body. We must make sure our children are Black, not only by race and culture but through consciousness. Education is the development of consciousness." We should not be trapped in any absolute methodology with respect to the education of our children. We must have alternative systems. Bro. Jitu Weusi and the people at Uhura Sasa and others have shown us the way. At the same time, however, we cannot leave the public school system alone. Inasmuch as we have paid for it and are continuing to do so and most of our people are still there, we ought to develop a tactic to gain control of that system. The objective of capturing the inner-city school systems across the country is a worthy goal and if it were done, it would speed the revolution on its way. The following figures with respect to the Black student populations across the country are worthy of consideration: Baltimore 64% St. Louis 63% Philadelphia 58% Indianapolis 33% New York (about 22% Puerto Rican) 30% Black Boston 26% Cincinnati 42% Detroit 58% Newark 71% Chicago 52% Pittsburg 38% Cleveland 56% Buffalo 35% District of Columbia 92% Rochester 27% Note: The speech was given in 1979 so the figures reflect that time.

The continuation on the history of NBUF The National Black United Front Speech (Part One) 44th Annual Conference, Healthy Village Learning Institute McKeesport Pennsylvania- July 7th - 9th 2023 Theme: Freedom and Unity The subject before me is freedom and unity which is the theme of this year's 44th conference. To have unity we must agree on the goal. What is our goal? If we had our wish, if we could work magic today, what is it that we would say we want. What would be our goal? We say we want unity but how can there be unity unless we are clear on our goal. We say we want freedom, but is that the goal or a means toward the goal? Is that an objective or a goal? Let me distinguish between an objective and a goal. An objective may be what you do to get to your goal. Let me explain, I think much misunderstanding is directly related to our confusion let me set the record straight on whether a particular activity or action is a goal or an objective. Is freedom a goal or an objective? What does it mean when we say we want freedom? Do we mean we want freedom of mobility, to come and go as we please, where we please or how we please. And what restrictions are we going to place on our movements? We live in a world with other humans like ourselves. And even among us we may not always agree on our freedoms. Your freedom may restrict my movements, your freedom may interfere with my mobility. Likewise, the same thing would apply to all our actions. What you want to do requires restrictions if you plan to live in this world, unless you have enough money to live on an island by yourself like Robinson Caruso. But even so he had to depend on others for various kinds of things. So, in a sense you are not completely alone without others around you that caters to your needs. Hence, since we are going to live with others there is something else and more required than freedom. The American Constitution and Bill of Rights layout for us the governing of our freedoms. Yes, they say this is a free country. The 13th 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States provided for our freedom from slavery, our citizenship and political rights. And there is the Bill of Rights which spells out freedom of speech, religion, etc. Since we are going to live with others, we must have rules and regulations and laws that have to be made to govern our behavior and actions. During the Civil Rights days when the country was in turmoil around the rights, especially the rights of People of African Ancestry Rights (POAA), Billy Graham the world-famous holy man and evangelist, was asked about segregation and discrimination and about the rights of (POAA), he replied “you cannot legislate morals.” Yes, that is true, Mr. Graham, but a government must legislate action! It must govern the people's behavior or else it will dissipate or come apart in revolutions. Now we are talking about government. No matter whatever numbers or organizations, when we think of more than one person you have to be thinking of how you're going to live together. NBUF has a constitution. We agreed to be together and write a constitution. Hence from the smallest to the largest gathering there must be a government, to restrict or govern our behavior. If everybody got what everybody wanted, we would not have a government we would have fragmentation and chaos and perpetual hostility and war/fighting. So, when we talk about living together in any kind of gathering, we're talking about government. There is no such thing as laissez faire or do as you please, living together. Since we're talking about our people or people of African Ancestry, are we talking about a world government or an individual country where we or any people have their freedom with their own government alone. I think not. There will be a difference within and among other countries for the reality is more than ever before in history, we live in one world house. In the words of John Donne, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Or in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “We shall all live together as brothers or die as fools.” After saying all that, to talk of freedom of a people we must be talking about government, some form of governing to control or restrict our behavior. What kind of government do we want? What type of system will we want? Is it Fascism? Democracy? Socialist? Communist? or a combination of these. Or Socialist Communist, meaning economically socialist politically democratic. Someone has said, “we are a government of the people, by the people and for the people.” I think it was Abraham Lincoln. But what people? Our people, that is POAA? Euro Ethnic people? Chinese people? or are we talking about a whole world - the human family. I'm not here to tell you what government NBUF should have, but you have asked me to talk about Unity and to talk of Unity, as I forestated, there must be a goal. Unity around freedom to do what and live how? Which brings us back to government. Originally when we started NBUF, we defined our goal as to get control of government for the people. We stated some of the things we would do to get there, which were our objectives. So, we had a wide range of objectives in various cities, 35 when I was Chair. Thus, we did not have discord over objectives and goals. The next question, if we were defining our goal as a government, what form of governing, how do we get to our goal. To ask that question raises the question of objectives as I have stated. What you do to achieve your goal. It may be necessary to achieve any number of objectives, similar to steppingstones. You may go from one steppingstone to another stepping stone, but your goal is not to stop, you're simply using the stepping stones to get to your goal. It is right here where so much disunity has occurred. We confuse objectives with goals. Even Malcolm, at least to my knowledge, never expressed the difference between objective and goals. Again, let me be clear, a goal is the ultimate end result or the reason for all of your actions. To repeat, objectives are what we do to get to our goals. You may do different things at different times in different places. This means we are allowed to do different things given where we live and the time in which we live. As long as we are consistent with our goal and recognize we are doing these things to get to our goal. Principle of Unity (NBUF) Now there is another piece to Unity and Freedom. It is principle, not what we are trying to do or get but how we are going to go about getting it. What principles will govern, dictate, how we behave or act within our organization or among our people and in relation to other people. Are we only going to have principles among ourselves (NBUF Principal of Unity)? Are we going to coalesce with other groups to achieve our objective or goal? When we started NBUF there were Euro Ethnics who wanted to be a part of our struggle. We believed that they were sincere. But we thought it would be a contradiction to have Euro Ethnics in our organization. But we could embrace a Euro Ethnic support group. We were careful that they did not assume leadership, not even when we had Marches or Rallies. That, it seemed to me, is one of the non-negotiable principles of the Black Power movement and maybe one of the reasons it was initiated. We wanted to control our own Liberation struggle, our own organizations, our own programs and our own projects. There is a quote that says, “You can’t be free if people let you be free.” We wanted to be self-reliant, independent, but that did not mean we reject coalescing with others as long as they understood our principle.

Monday, June 12th, 2023 Press Release Sharman and I developed a press release for Remembering Arthur Miller Jr. on the 45th Anniversary and the Making of a Movement. We also issued a statement for the upcoming House of the Lord Dept of Women's Work National Women’s Conference in Philadelphia, PA July 14-16th, 2023. Sarah and I discussed the design of the physical banners for Arthur Miller and Kwame Ture. 41st Anniversary of June 12, 1982 On June 12,1982, we organized over 1 million people from all over the world to demand nuclear disarmament. There was a peace rally in Staten Island remembering June 12,1982. It was my intention to attend but an emergency occurred which prevented my attendance. Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 It started on the 14th of June, Wednesday which was the actual day of Arthur Miller’s chokehold death in 1978. As you probably know we had been planning a special recognition of the Life and Times of Arthur Miller which was to take place the following Saturday June 17th, 2023. Dr. Dawnique Daughtry, my baby daughter, Principal of Ronald Edmonds 113 had her last school's graduation. The major event however was the graduation ceremony of the Ronald Edmonds Learning Center Middle School 113 in Brooklyn, NY. I love graduations! They are special times to celebrate achievements, yes, but to reflect on what lies ahead. Is it just the end of the line for some of the students? Or a stepping stone toward greater achievements. But this graduation was super special. For our baby daughter, Dr. Dawnique Daughtry, she is the principal of the Ronald Edmond Learning Center and has been for 12 years. To see her acting as the principal amongst these wildly cheering students and proud parents and loved ones, brought back years when she was a student and we, my wife Dr. Karen Daughtry and I were attending her graduation. It was a great moment! But at the same time, I couldn't help but remember the death of Arthur Miller, 45 years ago. Such is life, the agony, and the ecstasy! We cry and we celebrate and how we balance the two will determine the state of our lives. Thursday, June 15th, 2023 Brooklyn Historical Society - Remembers Arthur Miller Jr. Gracie Mansion- Juneteenth Celebration The following evening, the 15th of June, I had two events. First, the Brooklyn Historical Society was doing a program on Arthur Miller (see interview on YouTube). I was invited to be a panelist which included two authors and Errol Louis, a CNN political commentator and the host of inside City Hall on New York 1. A New York all-news channel, served as moderator. The Brooklyn Historical Society is a major depository primarily, though nonexclusive, of Brooklyn history. Because of my other commitment at Gracie Mansion, I had to cut short my time at the Brooklyn Historical Society. In fact, would I agreed to do was an exclusive interview with Errol Louis and then depart for Gracie Mansion. have the highest admiration for Errol Louis, for his writing and his commitment. He was one of the young people who came down from Harvard to the church during the time of Arthur Miller and during the commencement of the black movement. We created the Timbuktu Learning Center, consisting of scholars, artists of every description, revolutionaries, activists, statesman, diplomats, literary giants, would assemble at the Timbuktu Learning Center located in the historic The House of the Lord Church, Brooklyn. It was indeed the place to be! They came from every aspect of life and every place of the African diaspora. It was at that time that now, Mayor Eric Adams, was a young man, amongst others, who I encouraged to join the Police Department. There were two major reasons why I admired Errol Louis in addition to his literary skills and commitment, he had written his support for our negotiations and support of Forest City Ratner, the developer, that proposed the building of the state-of-the-art arena and 16 high rise buildings in the downtown area of Brooklyn, which was resisted by the majority of the people who lived in the area, especially the homeowners. Eventually I saw the benefit that potentially the construction would bring to the community and beyond. I formed an organization called the Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Association to negotiate with the developer, Bruce Ratner and his staff. I was subject to intense criticism from practically everybody. The intensity which was comparable to any hostility and attacks that I ever had up to that point. But Errol Louis was supportive in his writings. The second reason was he once wrote that, "Rev. Daughtry acted like a man, who forced the world to accept him on his own terms. This is what I always wanted to do and it has always been one of my objectives." When I was a teenager in Brooklyn public school, I was considered a dummy, put in the lowest class, primarily because I was a disruptive, rebellious youth. So, they penalize me academically for my disruptive behavior. Years later after I had become a follower of Jesus Christ, my mind became a quest to read everything I could get my hands on. My love for learning was observed by a particular person who wanted to give me a scholarship for my education in the school systems. I rejected the scholarship, I said to myself, I’m going to make the school system accept me on my own terms. I want to make a statement on behalf of all black, white, poor youth who the school system treats as though they are morons and dummies because the system cannot cope with their rebellious behavior. So, when Louis wrote the above, it was the achievement of my objective. After the interview with Errol Louis, which can be seen on the Brooklyn Historical Societies YouTube page, I and my assistant, Mrs. Sarah Chambers, hastened to Gracie Mansion. There was a Juneteenth program scheduled and it was crowded. It seemed that the people were shoulder to shoulder. It was held in the park attached to Gracie Mansion. I received an award from the mayor. It was another high point in this week's events. To be honored at Gracie Mansion with so many people of every background you can think of, is a rare distinction. I only made a few remarks thanking the Mayor and Rev. Monrose, director of faith-based communities. After mixing with the crowd including family members, I headed back to Brooklyn. I received a message on my Facebook Page from Linda Baden, wife of Dr. Michael Baden who did an autopsy on Arthur Miller Jr. and Phillip Panell in New Jersey. Dr. Baden has since written a book called American Autopsy available on Amazon. Friday, June 16th, 2023 Last minute preparation for the Arthur Miller program tomorrow at The House of the Lord Church 415 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217 Most of Friday, June 16th was spent planning and organizing for the June 17th event. We organized the volunteers, servers, hostesses, people who hosted the book and registration tables. I was quite pleased with the commitment from the volunteers to do the work and the enthusiasm the volunteers brought to the occasion. Saturday, June 17th, 2023 Celebrating Arthur Miller Jr. on the 45th Anniversary In the morning we had breakfast for the volunteers and special guests after which the program started by showing a video entitled “Sermon”. It was a video that captured the events and personalities during the time of Arthur Miller, Randy Evans and the movement emanating from their deaths. I had not seen it for a long time and many people in the audience had not seen it. We are planning to do a series of videos for educational, motivational, and inspirational reasons. After the video we had a panel discussion including speakers: Adeyemi Bandele, Council Member Charles Barron and former Assembly Member Roger Green, all who played a key role in the movement. We had children of the movers and shakers in attendance as well, including, Lumumba Bandele (son of Adeyemi Bandele), Jelani Mashariki, (daughter of Job Mashariki) and Binta Vann, (daughter of late Assemblyman Al Vann) who told their story regarding their lives and what they remembered of the movement. Perhaps the panelists summed it up best when they agreed that the Black activist movement emanating out of the House of The Lord Church was a safe meeting place and it filled the void that had been left vacant as a result of the programs designed by the FBI to neutralize and destroy programs by the black movement. The civil rights movement starting in the 50s and 60s had become disappointing for so many people and had never gained a foothold in northern urban cities. They considered them diminished. Into this void came the movement that eventuated into the National Black United Front. The program concluded with the mothers and families as panelists whose children had been killed by the police or street violence. Mrs. Gwen Carr mother of Eric Garner, Myrlene Laurince, mother of Bernard Placide and Myriam Laurince, his aunt, Darlene Armstead, sister of Clifford Glover, LoLisa Miller-Bradford, daughter of Arthur Miller Jr. We also had several videos of important people who could not make it such as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, AG Letitia James, and Bishop Leah Daughtry. July 1-4th, 2023: I had a table where we sold our books at the 52nd International African Arts Festival. July 7-9th, 2023: I attended the 44th Anniversary of the NBUF in Pittsburgh. I was the founding chair; we reached a peak of having chapters in 35 states. I spoke: link article and speech. July 10, 2023 The Black and the Green I attended the showing of the black and the green at bam and it recounts my visit to the Ireland delegation which I was a member and there has been a history of Black and the Irish and been struggling together. On Thurs night, I was invited back to make comments on the film since I had been an integral part of making the film in Belfast with St. Clair Bourne. July 14-16, 2023: The following weekend was the National Women’s Conference in Philadelphia. July 22, 2023: Rally at Highland Park, Brooklyn, NY organized by Bishop Freddie Arnold and family. The family is still mourning their teenage son’s death, he was caught in a crossfire, the bullets were meant for someone else. I attended the memorial and suggested a street naming and a scholarship in honor of his son Julian Arnold. It was a Stop the Violence and Bring the Peace Rally. See videos, photos, etc via Facebook. July 23, 2023: Basketball Prayer and I promoted my recent published books : 52 Weekly Biblical Reflections for the Mastery of Life, The Life and Times of Arthur Miller, Reflections on the Pandemic 2020-2021. Books are available to purchase via the "Books" tab above. Following, we had our 8:45am Prayer. The gym was in Teaneck, NJ. Then our Jersey City congregation decided After which we decided to worship with our Brooklyn congregation at The House of the Lord Church 415 Atlantic Ave. Rev Dr. Karen Daughtry is the Pastor. I was so moved by Bishop Corletta Vaughn’s sermon at the conclusion of the Women’s conference that I wanted members of Jersey City to hear her. The service was on Zoom. There were 3 reasons why I urged the Jersey congregation and all my friends and supporters to attend the worship service in Brooklyn. She was profuse in her praise of our church. She knew the history of our synthesizing the secular and African-American history in an ever-deepening relationship with God. She emphasized our empowerment once we received the Holy Spirit. But she went further and we come to number four which was the Emphasis on “renovating humanity”. She said, “The Holy Spirit comes and gives us an unforgettable experience. Also, the Holy Spirit encounters us, gives something to us and takes something from us. Takes our surrender and gives us empowerment to renovate humanity. I have not heard it put quite like that. I say Save the Planet! Save the People! Jesus said, “you should receive power when the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you will be my witnesses. In Jerusalem, and the uttermost parts of the world. Two persons at the conference were filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues as we, who are Pentecostal believe the evidence of being filled is by speaking in tongues. Conclusion Looking over the six weeks. It was amazing the number of ventures or programs, but more importantly, was the diversity. Each event had its own personality or different people. Yet in some sense we’re all alike, but in another sense we’re all different. Thus, we had a wide range a personality type that were the dominant i.e. Arthur Miller Jr., were activists, nationalists and middle class and professionals and mothers whose loved ones have been killed by the police or street violence. The African Arts Festival was almost exclusively people of African Ancestry consisting of what we call nationalist and pan-Africanists, revolutionaries, activists, and artists. The Black United Front was a similar gathering comparable to the African Arts Festival. The Women’s Conference were exclusively women almost all pentecostal and all people of African Ancestry. The Stop the Violence Rally, those who attended were peace, activists engaged primarily in stopping the violence. Their work is primarily in the streets relating to the gangs. The basketball at the gym was representatives of the sports world, they talked sports when they met in the mornings when we’ d meet for the basketball game and the prayer. I thank God for a ministry that can reach the multitudes and wide diversity. This coming Saturday we will be remembering Kwame Ture and the years of the Black Power movement as well as planning and thinking about the future.

The continuation of the History of NBUF The National Black United Front Speech 44th Annual Conference, Healthy Village Learning Institute McKeesport Pennsylvania- July 7th 2023 Rev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry Sr. Part One Theme: Freedom and Unity The subject before me is freedom and unity which is the theme of this year's 44th conference. To have unity we must agree on the goal. What is our goal? If we had our wish, if we could work magic today, what is it that we would say we want. What would be our goal? We say we want unity but how can there be unity unless we are clear on our goal. We say we want freedom, but is that the goal or a means toward the goal? Is that an objective or a goal? Let me distinguish between an objective and a goal. An objective may be what you do to get to your goal. Let's me explain, I think much misunderstanding is directly related to our confusion let me set the record straight on whether a particular activity or action is a goal or an objective. Is freedom a goal or an objective? What does it mean when we say we want freedom? Do we mean we want freedom of mobility, to come and go as we please, where we please or how we please. And what restrictions are we going to place on our movements? We live in a world with other humans like ourselves. And even among us we may not always agree on our freedoms. Your freedom may restrict my movements, your freedom may interfere with my mobility. Likewise, the same thing would apply to all our actions. What you want to do requires restrictions if you plan to live in this world, unless you have enough money to live on an island by yourself like Robinson Caruso. But even so he had to depend on others for various kinds of things. So, in a sense you are not completely alone without others around you that caters to your needs. Hence, since we are going to live with others there is something else and more required than freedom. The American Constitution and Bill of Rights layout for us the governing of our freedoms. Yes, they say this is a free country. The 13th 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States provided for our freedom from slavery, our citizenship and political rights. And there is the Bill of Rights which spells out freedom of speech, religion, etc. Since we are going to live with others, we must have rules and regulations and laws that have to be made to govern our behavior and actions. During the Civil Rights days when the country was in turmoil around the rights, especially the rights of People of African Ancestry Rights (POAA), Billy Graham the world-famous holy man and evangelist, was asked about segregation and discrimination and about the rights of (POAA), he replied “you cannot legislate morals.” Yes, that is true, Mr. Graham, but a government must legislate action! It must govern the people's behavior or else it will dissipate or come apart in revolutions. Now we are talking about government. No matter whatever numbers or organizations, when we think of more than one person you have to be thinking of how you're going to live together. NBUF has a constitution. We agreed to be together and write a constitution. Hence from the smallest to the largest gathering there must be a government, to restrict or govern our behavior. If everybody got what everybody wanted, we would not have a government we would have fragmentation and chaos and perpetual hostility and war/fighting. So, when we talk about living together in any kind of gathering, we're talking about government. There is no such thing as laissez faire or do as you please, living together. Since we're talking about our people or people of African Ancestry, are we talking about a world government or an individual country where we or any people have their freedom with their own government alone. I think not. There will be a difference within and among other countries for the reality is more than ever before in history, we live in one world house. In the words of John Donne, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Or in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “We shall all live together as brothers or die as fools.” After saying all that, to talk of freedom of a people we must be talking about government, some form of governing to control or restrict our behavior. What kind of government do we want? What type of system will we want? Is it Fascism? Democracy? Socialist? Communist? or a combination of these. Or Socialist Communist, meaning economically socialist politically democratic. Someone has said, “we are a government of the people, by the people and for the people.” I think it was Abraham Lincoln. But what people? Our people, that is POAA? Euro Ethnic people? Chinese people? or are we talking about a whole world - the human family. I'm not here to tell you what government NBUF should have, but you have asked me to talk about Unity and to talk of Unity, as I forestated, there must be a goal. Unity around freedom to do what and live how? Which brings us back to government. Originally when we started NBUF, we defined our goal as to get control of government for the people. We stated some of the things we would do to get there, which were our objectives. So, we had a wide range of objectives in various cities, 35 when I was Chair. Thus, we did not have discord over objectives and goals. The next question, if we were defining our goal as a government, what form of governing, how do we get to our goal. To ask that question raises the question of objectives as I have stated. What you do to achieve your goal. It may be necessary to achieve any number of objectives, similar to steppingstones. You may go from one steppingstone to another stepping stone, but your goal is not to stop, you're simply using the stepping stones to get to your goal. It is right here where so much disunity has occurred. We confuse objectives with goals. Even Malcolm, at least to my knowledge, never expressed the difference between objective and goals. Again, let me be clear, a goal is the ultimate end result or the reason for all of your actions. To repeat, objectives are what we do to get to our goals. You may do different things at different times in different places. This means we are allowed to do different things given where we live and the time in which we live. As long as we are consistent with our goal and recognize we are doing these things to get to our goal. Principle of Unity (NBUF) Now there is another piece to Unity and Freedom. It is principle, not what we are trying to do or get but how we are going to go about getting it. What principles will govern, dictate, how we behave or act within our organization or among our people and in relation to other people. Are we only going to have principles among ourselves (NBUF Principal of Unity)? Are we going to coalesce with other groups to achieve our objective or goal? When we started NBUF there were Euro Ethnics who wanted to be a part of our struggle. We believed that they were sincere. But we thought it would be a contradiction to have Euro Ethnics in our organization. But we could embrace a Euro Ethnic support group. We were careful that they did not assume leadership, not even when we had Marches or Rallies. That, it seemed to me, is one of the non-negotiable principles of the Black Power movement and maybe one of the reasons it was initiated. We wanted to control our own Liberation struggle, our own organizations, our own programs and our own projects. There is a quote that says, “You can’t be free if people let you be free.” We wanted to be self-reliant, independent, but that did not mean we reject coalescing with others as long as they understood our principle. Next week we will discuss what is doable?

Photo Bio Series: Black Power Revisited (cont.) The following is the continuation from part IX of the Black Power series published Friday, August 4, 2006. This excerpt is taken from literature written over 40 years ago. I hope the reader finds the articles as interesting as I have found them. Fear of Isolation Then there is the fear of isolation of our movement. The perceived go-it-alone attitude of Black Power advocates frightens many Black people. This attitude is expressed by Loren Miller “To liberals a fond farewell with a thanks for services rendered. Until you are ready to enlist as foot soldiers and subordinates in Negro lead, Negro officiated armies under the badge of freedom.” What does this mean? First, it expresses a healthy distrust of whites. Black Power is cognizant of the fact that whites have seldom acted on their behalf from purely altruistic motives. Most of the time paternalism, duplicity, love of the game, nothing-else-to-doism and self-interest. “Indeed,” wrote Charles E. Silberman, “whites have decided everything-sometimes in malice, sometimes with the best intent, frequently because Negroes were unable or unwilling to decide for themselves.” He went on to say, “Even those actions which advanced the Negro cause, the Emancipation Proclamation for example were usually taken for reasons having little to do with Negro interests and needs. Hence, they tend to heighten, rather than lessen the Negro’s sense of anger and dependency.” “The tragedy,” wrote Saul Alinsky, “is that Negroes lacking the opportunity and trapped by insurmountable circumstances, could not themselves come to grips with issues of equality; that none of the issues were resolved on their merits or by the power of the oppressed. They were always a by-product of something more important. This series of situations left many Negroes more or less as by-products of themselves and inevitably diluted their dignity and strength.” Wendell Phillips observed that the Emancipation freed the slave but ignored the Negro. Even the most venerated of our white helpers were and are not free from the contamination of the prevailing prejudices. The radical abolitionist, Lloyd Garrison, expressed his conviction that the freedman was not ready for political rights and realities. Abraham Lincoln, the first of our Great White Fathers, expressed his view this way: “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the racial and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not, nor have ever been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry in addition, to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which I believe forbids the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And, in so much as they cannot so live there must be the position of superiority and inferiority, and in as much as any other man I am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.” In our day, we heard Jacob Javits call upon Negro leaders to denounce Black Power advocates – and some readily obeyed- as he had done to Ku Klux Klan and Birchers. Javits equation of Black Power with Klans and Birchers is an indication of his misunderstanding of black aspiration. Klan and Birchers contrive to deny rights to citizens. Black Power would deny no one his rights, but seek to secure the rights of Black people. But this distrust of whites has been with us a long time. When the NAACP was being born, one of the organizers said, “They are betraying us again, these white friends of ours.” Silberman was right again, when he observed, “Negroes never really trusted their white allies; they had always a nagging suspicion that the whites were holding them back; that they could gain more and faster, if they were only free to act on their own.” What we sometimes have thought to ourselves, and talked about in privacy-but for various reasons never would talk open; we are bold enough to shout from the housetops today. Secondly, it, the desire to do for self, expresses a healthy desire for independence. One of the most-if not the most - abysmal effects of sustained suppression-is the servile dependence on the oppressor. It is the deliberate design of the oppressor to instill a servile submissive dependence on themselves- the oppressor. It is literally caressing and clinging to the hand design of the oppressor. It is the literally caressing and clinging to the hand that is smiting and smothering. Someone has written, “The Negro has been subject to a system designed to destroy ambition, prevent independence and erode intelligence, for the past 3 ½ centuries.” “Slavery has emasculated the Negro males, had made them shiftless and irresponsible and promiscuous by preventing them from ever assuming responsibility, negating their role as husband and father, and making them totally dependent on the will of another. And servile and dependent-always servile and dependent!” “On this, the Southern whites were insistent. For it, they were willing to pay a heavy price. For the constant expression of humility and servility and dependency by Negroes-Southern whites were willing to put up with inefficiency and indolence.”