OPINION
ed, -81a c« and -Gre
What does
B
I last year or so udden-
Iy we have begun to ee ,a
Oowish 0 red, bla d green
ornaments and attire being'
aDd otherwise displayed
by African-Americans, par
ti�ly Bla youth.
Of course this is not the first
� time that these colors have
gained prominence and
popularity. In the sixties and
seeenties, the era of Black con-
ciou ness, Black Power,
tionaJ· m d pan-africanism
it quite customary to see the
red, hi k and green in great .
abundance.
Th color have tr men-
dou significan to to African
Americans. The question is ow
m ny African-Am rieans have
even th lightest idea what the
red, bl ck and green means?
Sine values, images and
ymbol re terribly impor-
tant to a developing people,
then it is crucial that con
standy teach ue which
ill help u to urvive and
develop and learn about and
project tho afro-centric im
ages and symbols hich will
reinforce positive values and
further inspire our peopl to
strive towards fuH freedom and
development - as a part of the
human family.
It was Marcus Garveywho
came forth with the red, bl k
and green the colors to sym
bolize the history and aspira
tio of Africans in America. To
parapbl him, he once asked,
Black man where is' your
government, your flag, your
men of big affairs? Garvey
proceeded to provide ans rs
for all of theose questions.
B d on his esearch into an
. ancient African King. and his
keen p rception of hat the
psychological and cultural
needs of Black people in
Americ were, Garvey offer
African-Americans a flag,
OUR FLAG WITH THE'
COLORS RED, BLACK AND .
GREEN.
RED symbolizes the
BWOD and SUFFERING of
our people through slavery,
�
1989
colonialism, segregation, di -
. crimination, and economic ex
ploitation; BLACK is for the
people, AFRICAN PEOPLE,
our culture and our history of
triumphs and achievements;
and GREEN is for the LA D, I
our homeland, mother African
which serve as a source of
strength, inspiration and a
potential ba e of po er and
dev lopment for people of
Afri n descent everyone. Mar
cus Garvey and the U.N.I.A.
popularized the colors and the
flag and left them as leg cie for
future generations to pic up
and properly progogate.
So bey nd the fad, f hion
and fleeting fancy of th mo-
By A. Wall Mu m d
When unarmed members of
the National of lsi m threw to
the ground an apparent drug
dealer wielding a shotgun at the
outset of the Dopebusters drug
progr min W hington, D.C. in
April, the images popped up on
te evision ets in living rooms
throughout America.
everthele ,when highly
visibl Jewish "militant" went to
a rooftop in the EaSt Village of
Manh tan, e York City on
August 10, with a high-po red
rifle and sh a 69-year-old by
stander, then held the neighbor
hood under siege for nearly two
hour , very little national
coverage was given to the inci
dent.
"It doesn't sound all th
major to me," responded n
editor on the national desk of
the Chic go Tribune when
asked why that paper, ranked
fifth in the n lion, h d not
covered th tory.
. (When asked his nam , the
editor hung up the phone. The
paper's managing editor, F.
Richard Ciccone, later
apologized for that editor's be
havior, but till said choices had
to m de bout wha stori
uld run, and that story
not selected.)
At ironic twist to the story .
ment the red, black and green
h meaning and significance to
us which we should never 10 e.
Like the Black National An-
them, every African-American
should know the history, sig
nificance and meaning of the
red, 'black. and green and our
flag.
I The colors should be dis
played in African-Americ n
churches, institutions, agencies
and in our homes. Ornaments
I with the colors from beads,
medallions, necklaces etc.
should also be worn with pride.
In term of the appropriate
maneer of displaying the color
they should always appear in
order red, black and green from .
top to bottom or from left to
right .
When omeone inquires
about the meaning of the colors,
e hould be knowledgeable
enough to give an intelligent
an were
Hopefully th popular rap
gr�ups like Public Enemy, th
Stata onics and other rti t
and entertainers Will devote
more time in their lyrics rap
and videos to teaching the
meaning of the red bl ck and
green. .
The African-American
community' de ply indeb d
to tho e youn pe pI who h ve
picked up th leg cy f G rv y
nd are spreading it in our time.
Th y need to ke p on pushing it.
Thank God for som " olor
th t h ve a real m ge and
meaning for the tional
African-Ameri n Commnity!
Ron Daniels served as the .
Director of the National Rain
bow Coalition and as the Deputy
Campaign Manager for the
Reverend Jesse Jackson's
Presidential Campaign '88. He
has served as President of the
National Black Assem bty and as
Chairperson 01 the National
Black Independent Political
P, Tty. Currently, he serves as
Pry! ldent of the Institute for
. Community Organization and
Development in Youngstown,
Ohio. He may be contacted at
(216) 746-5747.
h of Jewi
repor ed
tba the Jewish "militant" is
Mordechai Levy, head of the
Jewish Defense Organization
(JDO), which advocate
violence nd offers weapons
training t Je ,and called for
the "de t " of Minister Louis
Farrakh
Levy a d Irv Rubio of the
Jewish De ense Le (JDL),
both . invo ed in the eident,
are respo ible for B ck to
den unio having t spend
tens of th usands of in
extra secu expenses use
t Jewi "terrorists have al
leged that Minister Fa rakhan
. violent.
Even m re ironic, �vy, 1:1,
flee· from Rub· when
Levy ran t the roofto with
Ruger Mi -14 rifle an fired
burst of toward t street
below. ne bullet truc
Dominic S inelli, 69, in the left
knee, as he sat in his co pany'
van, accor ing to the Yor
Daily ew.
The in ident bega when
Rubin an three oth r t
tempted to rve Levy h civil
court pape s concerning a libel
suit Rubin ed against Levy.
Levy to police, r they
had talked . into sur ender
ing nearly 0 hour late , ey
came to m building wi guns .
... They re going to . me,"
I-
.1
I.
the Daily ews reported.
Levy would probably face at
tempted murder charges, c
cording to Chief of Department
Robert Joh ton Jr.
Police said Levy h permit
f<v a mi- utomatic rifle, two
shotguns and four rifles, but not
for the Ruger. Yet, in 1981, Levy
was arrested on charges of
bo bing the car of a igerian
diplomat near the Soviet United
auo �on. .
Formerly a member of the
JDL, Levy bolted frQtn the
group after fighting with Rubin
over who would lead th group
after the departure of the JDL's
founder Meir Kahane, no a .
member of the Isr el Kne
welcome letter
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