Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 7:58 AM Subject: AN INVITE TO AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY - PLEASE FORWARD AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY TO BE COMMEMORATED IN HARLEM ON OFFICIAL MAY 25TH DATE by Elombe Brath A Pan-African Coalition for African Liberation Day 2001 has been formed to commemorate African Liberation Day this year on its official designated date is extending special invitations to the African community to join them this Friday, May 25th at one of the most important celebrations of the founding of the Organization of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and its subsequent declaring May 25th to be thereafter known as "African Liberation Day." Tuesday, May 22, 2001 was the 38th anniversary of the convening of the Summit Meeting of the then-32 independent African states that founded the OAU. Three days later at the conclusion of their summit, the OAU encouraged all of those committed to the total liberation of Africa to use May 25th as the symbolic date to assemble annually to review and plan the best ways and means to advance the redemption of the African continent and the peoples of Africa scattered throughout the world. The Pan-African Coalition is extending a special invitation for those seriously interested in the current events in Africa to join them this Friday, May 25th at this historic African town hall meeting to commemorate the founding of the OAU and its subsequent declaring May 25th as "African Liberation Day." The program will take place this Friday, May 25th at the Harriet Tubman Learning School, located on 127th Street, between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and Frederick Douglass Boulevards in Harlem. The Harriet Tubman Learning School has become internationally renowned as the foremost venue for meetings where the historical, present and future politics, economic and social conditions in Africa has been objectively discussed for decades. Friday's "African Liberation Day 2001" will begin at 6PM and last until 9PM, and its theme is "Towards the Unity of African States and Peoples - Consolidating Regional Solidarity: The Case of SADC." It will update the current situation in Africa, particularly the western attack against countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and how this will affect the future of Africans throughout the world - especially those in the United States and the Caribbean who are in an excellent position to advance the cause of African liberation worldwide. And representatives from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, Cuba, Libya and the OAU have been invited to brief those attending on the on the ground situation and what we can do to assist our Sisters and Brothers still struggling to unify the African continent and its people and bring about a state of Pax Africana in our historic Motherland. Solidarity statements will be offered by Elombe Brath of the Patrice Lumumba Coalition; Viola Plummer, December 12th Movement International Secretariat; Dr. Arthur Lewis, Africans Helping Africans; Omowale Clay, Friends of Zimbabwe; Morris Powell of the African Nationalist Pioneer Movement and New Black Panther Party; along with Congolese author Prof. Yaa-Lengi Ngemi and Prof. James Small of City College. Politicultural inner-attainment will be presented by the African nationalist poet laureate George Edward Tait, the magnificent Ghanaian guitarist Kwame Nkrumah, among others. Speakers will share their views in a synopsis of a forty year retrospect of developments in Africa since the decolonization movement erupted in 1960 and how these events led to the formation of the OAU. It should be remembered that the historic summit meeting held in 1963 was called in order to find a way to stop the growing divide among those states that had achieved their independence but were soon impacted by the Cold War which pitted progressive states against so-called "moderate" or "conservative" (in reality, neocolonialist) countries. This divide sharpeed when the radicals who had supported Patrice Lumumba as the legitimate prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in June of 1960, opposed those who supported President Joseph Kasavubu and then-Col. Joseph Desire Mobutu. This fundamental contradiction caused Lumumba's government to be overthrown by U.S. counterintelligence operatives and their western Europen allies within two and a half months of the Congolese Pan-Africanist leader assuming state power and subsequently assassinated six months later, on January 1961. Thus the African continent was riven by the antagonism between the "Casablanca Group", represented by Presidents Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ahmed Seku Ture of Guinea, Modibo Keita of Mali, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and King Mohammed V of Morocco (although the leader of a kingdom, considered a progressive thinking member of Moroccan royalty, so much so that the other members of the group all who saw themselves as both socialist and Pan-Africanist agreed that their alliance be named after Morocco's largest city), and the "Monrovia Group", identified with Liberia's president, William V.S. Tubman and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, along with the leaders of Africa's two oldest independent nations, and the former French colonies who, after rejecting indpendence from France in the referendum of 1958, had accepted a neocolonial quasi-independence in 1960 - just in time to support the western axis against Lumumba, along with the newly independent former British colonies, etc. When Togo's President Sylvanius Olympio, who had been leaning towards African unity, was assassinated in a military coup on January 13, 1963 - two years after (and four days short) of Lumumba's assassination, African leadersns felt the need to sit down together and resolve some of their outstanding differences before they found themselves engaged in plots and counter-plots to aid and abet foreign intrigues to depose each other. The result was the Summit Meeting of the Presidents and Heads of States in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia which met four months later, between May 22-25 in 1963. In light of the recent events that have taken place during the last seven years, e.g. one million people killed in a fratricidal/genocidal campaign during 98 days in Rwanda; and the final overthrow of the 37 year despotic misrule of Mobutu's reign in the Congo saw that beseiged country have its chances to emerge from over three decades of exploitation undermined by a war imposed on it by two of its U.S.-supported neighbors, along with some opportunists members of the disgruntled indigenous opposition as their proxies. Since August 1998 this counterrevolutionary war has added another two million deaths in Central Africa and the Great Lakes region. And the assassination of President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo in January of this year - just a day short of the assassination his mentor, Lumumba, forty years earlier - was another ominous factor we must take into account. The ongoing calamity of internecine war, civil strife and the perpetuation of slavery in Africa are other destabilizing factors attributed to natural disasters, foremost among which is the pandemic of AIDS, which in my view is actually an Acquired Imperialist Dependency Syndrome) of suspicious origins. Following AIDS as ostensible catastrophic life-threatening diseases are drought, floods malnutrition and other such plagues that continue to haunt the African continent and its people. And now there is another negative force that grassroots African activists also have to contend with: Secretary of State Colin Powell left Tuesday for Africa to carry out George W. Bush's plans to concretize the Clinton-Rangel-Crane-Royce so-called "African Growth and Opportunity Act", claiming that the U.S. intends to also help Africa catch up with the rest of the world in bridging its intellectual technology and internet access gap. And finally, since some Pan-Africanists first noticed that whenever Afican Liberation Day's commemoration falls near the weekend it comes five days before Memorial Day, this ALD commemorative program will also pay its respects to all of Africa's sons and daughters who gallantly paid the supreme sacrifice in service of the African national liberation struggle. All of these are reasons that the Pan-African Coalition is calling upon all of those who are seriously interested in what Marcus Garvey called the 'upliftment" and "redemption" of Africa 70 years ago, to come out this Friday, May 25th in what is intended to become an African people's summit for activists to recommit themselves to do the work that must be done - and only they can do -to bring about the total liberation of Africa and all of its people - those at home and those abroad. A luta continua, vitoria e certa. (The struggle continues, victory is certain.) Admission is free and any further information can be obtained by calling (718) 398-1766 or emailing to [log in to unmask] or D12M @aol.com. The program that we are inviting you to attend will take place this Friday, May 25th at the Harriet Tubman Learning School, located on 127th Street, between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and Frederick Douglass Boulevards in Harlem. The Harriet Tubman Learning School has been internationally renowned as the foremost venue for meetings where the historical, present and future politics, economic and social conditions in Africa has been objectively discussed for decades. Friday's "African Liberation Day 2001" will begin at 6PM and last until 9PM, and its theme is "Towards the Unity of African States and Peoples - Consolidating Regional Solidarity: The Case of SADC." It will update the current situation in Africa, particularly the western attack against countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and how this will affect the future of Africans throughout the world - especially those in the United States and the Caribbean who are in an excellent position to advance the cause of African liberation worldwide. And representatives from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, Cuba, Libya and the OAU have been invited to brief those attending on the on the ground situation and what we can do to assist our Sisters and Brothers still struggling to unify the African continent and its people and bring about a state of Pax Africana in our historic Motherland. Solidarity statements will be offered by Elombe Brath of the Patrice Lumumba Coalition; Viola Plummer, December 12th Movement International Secretariat; Dr. Arthur Lewis, Africans Helping Africans; Omowale Clay, Friends of Zimbabwe; Morris Powell of the African Nationalist Pioneer Movement and New Black Panther Party; along with Congolese author Prof. Yaa-Lengi Ngemi and Prof. James Small of City College. Politicultural inner-attainment will be presented by the African nationalist poet laureate George Edward Tait, the magnificent Ghanaian guitarist Kwame Nkrumah, among others. These are some of those who have been invited to participate in a forty year retrospect of developments in Africa since the decolonization movement erupted in 1960 and how these events led to the formation of the OAU. It should be remembered that the historic summit meeting held in 1963 was called in order to find a way to stop the growing divide among those states that had achieved their independence but had began to feel the impact of the Cold War which pitted progressive states against so-called "moderate" or "conservative" (in reality, neocolonialist) countries. This divide sharpeed when the radicals who had supported Patrice Lumumba as the legitimate prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in June of 1960, opposed those which supported President Joseph Kasavubu and then-Col. Joseph Desire Mobutu. This fundamental contradiction caused Lumumba's government to be overthrown by U.S. counterintelligence operatives and the western Europen allies within two and a half months of the Congolese leader assuming state power and subsequently assassinated six months later, on January 1961. Thus the African continent was riven by the antagonism between the "Casablanca Group", represented by Presidents Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ahmed Seku Ture of Guinea, Modibo Keita of Mali, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and King Mohammed V of Morocco (although the leader of a kingdom, considered a progressive thinking member of Moroccan royalty, so much so that the other members of the group all who saw themselves as both socialist and Pan-Africanist agreed that their alliance be named after Morocco's largest city), and the "Monrovia Group", identified with Liberia's president, William V.S. Tubman, and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, the leaders of Africa's two oldest independent nations, along with the former French colonies who after rejecting indpendence from France in the referendum of 1958, accepted a neocolonial quasi-independence in 1960 just in time to support the western axis against Lumumba, along with the newly independent former British colonies, etc. When Togo's president Sylvanius Olympio, who began to lean towards African unity, was assassinated in a military coup on January 13, 1963 - two years after (and four days short) of Lumumba's assassination, Africans felt the need to sit down before they found themselves engaged in plots to aid and abet foreign intrigues to depose each other. The result was the Summit Meeting of the Presidents and Heads of States in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia which met four months later, between May 22-25 in 1963. In light of the recent events that have taken place during the last seven years, i.e. one million people killed in a fratricidal/genocidal campaign during 98 days in Rwanda; the final overthrow of the 37 year long despotic misrule of Mobutu's reign in the Congo, only to have the chances for that beseiged country which was emerging from three decades of exploitation undermined by a war imposed on it by two of its U.S.-supported neighbors, and some opportunists members of the disgruntled indigenous opposition, adding another two million deaths in Central Africa and the Great Lakes region since August 1998. The assassination of President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo in January of this year, just a day short of Lumumba's murder forty years earlier, was another ominous factor we must take into account. Add to the calamity of internecine war, civil stripe and the perpetuation of slavery, there are other destabilizing factors attributed to natural disasters, foremost among which is the pandemic of AIDS (an Acquired Imperialist Dependency Syndrome) of suspicious origins. Following AIDS as an alleged and/or ostensible catastrophic life-threatening diseases are drought, floods malnutrition and other such plagues that continue to haunt the African continent and its people. And then there is another negative force we also have to contend with: Secretary of State Colin Powell will leave today for Africa to carry out George W. Bush's plans to concretize the Clinton-Rangel-Crane-Royce so-called "African Growth and Opportunity Act", claiming that the U.S. intends to also help Africa catch up with the rest of the world in bridging its intellectual technology and internet access gap. All of these are reasons we are inviting all of you who are seriously interested in what Marcus Garvey called 70 years ago the 'upliftment" and "redemption" of Africa to join us on Friday, May 25th in what we hope will become an African people's summit for activists to recommit themselves to do the work that must be done - and only we can do -to bring about the total liberation of Africa and all of its people - those at home and those abroad. A luta continua, vitoria e certa. (The struggle continues, victory is certain.) Admission is free and any further information can be obtained by calling (718) 398-1766 or emailing to [log in to unmask] or D12M @aol.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------