By
The growing boycott of the
ike Corpor tion pearile ded
y Operation PUSH and the
controver y urrounding it
ug e t that it i impor nt to
remind African America of
the legitim cy and nece ityof
boycot a weapon in the
trug le for Black advance­
ment.
We need to begin with tbi
t r reality. Left to their 0 n
devi e mo t corporation
ithin cap it list society
ould imply run rough hod
over the people.
Am ric n capitali m i
b ed on one paramount prin­
ciple - maximize profits.
Most corporation could
care les about the welfare of
the people except a the
preservation of the people's
welfare e itber enhances or
detracts from their bottomline
- profit nd 10 •
In the broader ense, an in­
tegral p . rt of tho strugle for a
more hum ne celery in
America i the e sential effort
to m ke variou form of b i­
ncssc and corpor tion .
re sponsible and accountable to
the people. .•
Indeed, if there i ever to be
a more equitable di tribution
of goods. ervice and ealth
,within American society,
8y Dr. Le or .·ul al
I recently traveled to St.
Louis to t e part in a Nati nal
Summit Conference which was
ponsored by the United Front
to Stop the Roundup of Black
Leadership Committee.
Among those who p r­
ticipated in the conference wc(e
my very dear friend the
Reverend AI Sharpton, civil
righ ttorn y Alton Maddox,
and Minister Louis Farrakhan,
ho poke, to crowd of 5,000
people on the night of onday,
Au�t 13.
The con nor of the Summit,
Reverend Charles Koenof
Cairo, Illinois, is scheduled to go
on trial in September on charges
of embezzlement and arson. As
Reverend Sharpton says, "He
didn't do anything to get in­
dicted other than be B ck and
in the public eye." , .
T ATf CKS on BI ck
leader � most particularly in­
dependent Black leade ho
h ve rejected career in
Democratic Party politics or
ho h ve tried to buc the
Democr tic Party estab­
li hment from ithin - are
deliberate maneuver to disem­
po r and disorient the African
sary wea
cemen
mecbani m must be
developed to insure greater
economic democracy.
Tbe people mu t gai n
greater control over and be
able to decisively influence
the bebavior of corporate
America.
In the political ren the
vote i one means of exercis- I
ina de oc:racy.
In t
We must reject the notion
that bu i e e within
America ociety have no
Obligation for the we I f re nd
upkeep of oc:iely beyond the
Ie of co moditie, products,
erviees elc ..
e m I fight for and af­
firm ";ri iple lhat bu i-
a· ponsibility to
reinvest or plough back
reasonable portion of the
profits earned from the people
on
-bac to the people.
The obscene accumulation
of huge fortune for a few in
the face of poverty and misery
for the many mu t be chal­
lenged as totally unaccep­
table.
As it re lares to the African
American community, we
must be crystal clear that it is
appropriate and necessary that
we dem nd fair hare of
return for. the nearly $300 bil­
lion worth of income which we
invest/return annually to cor­
porate Americ .
We have every right to ex­
pect that corpor tions which
thrive off of Black consumer
dollars have SUFFICIENT
(not token) rcpr entation on
their executive and manageri I
staffs; repre ent tion on their
bo rd of directors; and mean­
ingful affirmative action
program which result in a uf­
ficient (not token) numbers of
Black employers at all levels.
Africans in America were
enstaved nd then eman­
cipated and thru l into a
capitalist 'society without 40
cres and a mule or any sig­
nificant base for development
in the American economy.
. Re trained nil re tricted by
r cist policies and practices,
African American business
development ha under­
standably lagged behind that
repudiate Minister Farrakkhan
as a condition for being included
in the televised gubernatorial
debates. I refused. The debates
were canceled. And within a 24
hour period over 200 death
threats poured into my offices.
As the Black-led, multi-ra­
cial independent political move­
ment grew stronger, and the
evidence of injustice gainst
Black p ople and its leaders
grew more and more clear, the
ADL ;has intensified it's STOP
FULANI" campaign. In early
1990, the ADL published a 15
page report entitl e New
Alliance Party: A Study in
Deception which accuses me,
my Jewish campaign manager
Dr. Fred Newman, Reverend
Sharpton, Sister Taw na
Brwaley and Minister Farr -
han of being anti-Semites.
The aim of this treatise was
clear: to scare Blac people
away from aligning with inde­
pendent African American
leadership, and to care
progre ive Jew way from
supporting us. Shortly after the
publication of this ADL reprot,
a second" udy" was issued en­
titled Louis Farrakhan: the
Campaign to Manipulate Public
SEPTEMBER '.15, 1
of the majority community.
White corporate America
may not understand our plight
or be sympathetic to it.
However, long a Black
dollars constitute a significant
quantity of the life blood for
their corporation, then,
African American organiza­
tions like PUSH are duty
bound to demand convenants
which are de igned ..10
facilitate the return of some of
our consumer dollars back into
our community.
If corporatin are going to
advertise for the Black dollar,
th y must spend some o( those
dollars with Black adverti ing
agencie , Black radio and'
television stations and Black
new papers. After all advertis­
ing is a legitimate tax deduct­
ible expense as re
contribution /donations to
char!tible and or tax exempt
.org niation , agencies, events
etc.
Convenants with corpora­
tion therefore should also
eek to ecure gen rou con­
tribution for organizations
and .agencies which are of
strategic import nee to our
development a National
African Americ n community
for example, the United Ne ro
College Fund, Tr ns-Africa,
The Council of Independent
Black Institution, the Nation-
Opinion, an attack on Minister
Farrakhan. The ADL does
more than dabble in racism. It
wallows in it.
The dialogue that took place
at e Summit was inten e and
forthright. Reverend harpto
taught that the attac on Blac
leadership must be recognized
as att cks on independent
leaders.
-rIlE two type of
leadership," he told us. Transac­
tional and transformational.
Transactional leaders cut deals
and transformational leaders try
to change society .•
At the pre conference
which followed the Summit,
Reverend Koen pre ented a
three-point joint statement. It
urged Marion Barry to see re­
election a an independent,
called for the convening of
conference in ew Yor City to
discuss ether Bla should
refuse to sene in the U.S. armed
forces in the Middle E t and
condemned the role of the ADL
in eking Black le dership.
On onday night Minister Far­
rakhan . d, "A 10 of people
ho talk bout being leaders
couldn't lead anyone anywhere."
A summit of '�Transformational" Black lead
MICHIGAN �ITIZEN
al Black United Fund .•.
Correctly conceived, a
boycott hould be an action un­
derta en for the b nefit of our
collective community or BI ck
Nation.
Therefore the benefit
should be widely disbur ed
and not confi ned to one cl
within our community or a nar­
row circle of self- erving
friend , bu ines soci te or
entrepreneur .
And tho e who receive the
benefit are, in principle,
obligated to use tho e benefits
to aid in the develop ent of
our community.'
Wi th the e principles in
mind., we ihould never qu -
tion the right to us boycott
or he uitatc to launch boycott
against an offending corpora­
lion.
We mu ,t d mand that a fair
� hare of OUR money be
u ed/re i nve ted for the
development of our peopl and
the community.
Ron Daniels erves a
President of the Institute lor
Community Organization and
Development in Young town,
Ohio, He may be contacted at
(216) 746-5747.
Dr. Lenora
Fulani
raciously he s id th
Rev rend Sharp on an I, w 0
h d the honor to sit . e him
n the dais, were Bl e le ders
who, like myself, had th red
the storm of controversy and t­
tack, but had remain d, indeed
had grown, as leaders.
I m very proud to be
counted among th "tr or-
mational" leaders of e Bl
community, who are ming
together around hared . '0 of
democracy and inclu . on d
·growing mutual r peel for d
ability to employ each other
tactics for the liberation of all
people.
Dr. Lenora Fulani is the chair­
penon of the New Alliance Ptuty
and a practicing social therapist
in Harlem. She can be consacted
at the New Alliance Party, 2032
Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
, 1{)()35 and at (212) 996-4700.
