�� , I
,�O ��c � TO AFR\CA "
" .
with hlny gun and t bblng
knltt of t I; In trum nt of
tortur. , cruel with word. J nd
hug whit t th nd d rk ned
oul ,plung d d P
In black n d a; th
men that kill; In crt p
whl' hlrt and h ndsom ul
with hoe th t tomp nd cru h;
with b' od- taln d ha nd .
h art. of ston ; who 'gacy
of hurt and pain; pr. adlng
death and human h me to
tho e of weaker tatuli, who
IItt h tt yet to matter to
th men that kill
wlth,bomb of nucl r overkill
and qrown-up toy. of scathln
h t; with yellow rain .and
h t Ing d hair, of painful
women/children crle and
human fI h that burning, d'
with Oli that e t to cor
of bone and mu c/e;
and year. of future struggle
with pol on d land nd
water-mla mlc Icy nd
memorle of fsmllle laughtered;
from men that lie and kill and
In th name of lib rty, have
pli d deathly hroud; ta"
cover, and behold the
mu hroom cloud.
Celln
THE MICHIGAN CITIZE
Publl h d each
Sunday by
NEW DAY
PUBUSHING ENTERPRISE
12 1 S cond St
P.O. Box 03580
Hlghl nd Park. MI 48203
Phon: (313) .0033/ Fax ,: (313) 8-0430
Western Michigan Bureau: 175 W. Main t
P.O. Box 2,8. B nten Harbor, 48022
(818) 827·1527
Publl her: Chari D. K lIy
Editor: Tere a K Ity
\M tem MIch/glJll Editor: Bernice Brown
Copy Editor. Leah amue.
Entertalnm nt Editor: Ka.cen Bark.
corr« ponden .
o rrlc C. L .I. nlc Sro n· M ry Golliday
Carla Hu ton· L ah Sam I • Nathanl I cott
'/I ra Whit •• Carolyn Warfl. d • Danny Cook.
Advert;lslng Rep(9 entat/ve: Ti rry Broyl
VfElVS
If nd kind, cul ..
tural, educational, economic politi-
cal and piri tual/religiou
-rell and in pendence were
the corner tone of G rvey '
nati . t phil phy.
Africa, the ancestral homeland of
Africanl the diaspora, the
nent of the C of t
the e of elf-
nde for
COmmunity.
Africa must emerge to project and
defend the Intere 11 of Africans
world ide. once GatVey pushed
the concept 0 ••• African for the
African at home and abroad."
Garvey's of images and ym-
bois as designed to prov.ide an
identity and convey a sense of the
po r ancI potential of Blac people
indepeDdent of Europeam.
mEUNlAasa
nation in becoming comple1C itb
it's political appuatlB and military
wi ,an ed Ii ystem and an
economic ystem. And thi nation-
Because of the wo of Marcus ment of the World African Com-
GaIvey and the UNIA, and devote mumty.
of the Garvey philosophy over the Africans in America lbould be
years, the Black Liberation Flag it proud of the Flag which Marcus Gar­
i often called, has come to bave vey bequeathed to . It is DOt just the
great igni cance within the African flag' an object, but the rich mean­
American community. iDg of the colors and the legacy of
The RED - symbolizes the,. tmggle, . tance and promiSe for
bloocl ad suffering of African people the future of our people which the
shed ln the truggle gainst lavery, F1 ymbolize which needs to be
oppression and domination; the constantly uplifted.
people in America and the odd.
• Tbe Red, Black, and Green' the
only flag in the country wortby of our '
salute and embrace. The birthday of I
Marcus Garvey should be/will
National African American :Flag'
Day. 3;:
Ron Daniels serves ident � .
of the Institute for C Or;
ganization and Dev 'P rat in I
Youngstown, Ohio. He may be con- <
tooted Ql (21�) 746-5747.
because of their political CIS of COD- .
science to challenge injustice. ....
The state and the govefIDDCDt bJi.. , 't
prison � iDDOCCnt perIODI 10., .
attempt to " iJeoce" their ice of v
opposition to injustice. Martin
Luther King, Jr. u a political II
prisoner on many occasioDi. 'll.
The latest DC j that !be many . �
years of uDjUlt imprisoDlDeDt
taken a toll on Geronimo's heal ,.
Assemblyman Willie L. Brown, ,
Speaker of the Assembly of the �
. California Le lanue., his tteaed ,
to the California Department of Cor­
rections the "exttaordioary" .
tion of injustice in regard to Pran'S '
continued i ncarcera tion and
deterioration of hi health.
It' therefore criticalllW imme.­
diate letters of protest, pedtio , and
other communications bC SCDt in
support of the "unconditional
release" of Geronimo Pratt to the
California Parole Board, mor
Pe llson, members 0 the U.S.
Congre ,Amne ty International,
nd to the International Campaign 10
Free Geroniplo Pratt.
Human freedom cannot be
miti ted by the grand de ires of the . I
forces of racial opp ion. H
liberty cannot �)jticalJy be parceled
out only to th e who submit tyran­
ny. And we will not be at rest until
Geronimo Pran i FREE.
II
domnowfor
II
ronim
By BENJAMIN . CRA VIS, JR.
The j t demand for the freedom
of poll tical prisoners is 8 demand that
most Americans are comfortable
i th matip in the interest of human
righ throughout the world, but i tb
one exception and that is hen the
political priSODtI'S re being held
here inside the UnitedSta . Today,
however, thousands of people are
now raising their voices to demand
the freedom of one of the longest
held political prisonelS in the United
. States: Geronimo li laga Pratt.
For more than 21 years Geronimo
P t bas been UDj tly imprisoned in
tnII�lC of California. Recently,
C ngressman 1\.on Id Dell um
(Dem.-CA.) nd renowed actor,
Danny Glover, rotc an open letter
tating, . ·W· rite on behalf of
Gtronimo n J t, a year old
African American man, ho
framed during the eight of the
"Bla Po Mo ement" in the late
60' .
Twenty-one years later Geronimo
and others remain in jail for the
t nd they. took rather tban the
crimes tbey purpot1edly commited ..
Plea e join with tho
dividuals throughout
bel' ve e do , Geronimo'
relea e i . twenty-one yeats over ..
d ... . .
have j t Ittumed from a trip
to Oakl nd, California as par­
ticipants in a "fact-findin mission"
concerning e of ronimo
Pratt. This mission was spomored
by the Oakland Community United
Church of Christ, 8 newly estab­
.1ished African American congrega­
tion. Reverend Dr. Lorenzo Carll le,
pastor of the church stated, "We
begin our outreach to the Oakland
community in the quest for justi�
for all of God's people.
is not guilty of the alleged murder of
a policemen in Santa Monica,
California over two decades ago.
& a direct result of Pratt' effec­
tive activism in, the ·African
American community during the
1960' as a member of -the Bl c
Panther Pany, he became a talJCt of
the FBI' infamo COINTELPRO
counter-intelligence program. Pratt
and many others were false ac­
cused of numerous allegations in a
y tematic attempt to "criminalize"
the just struggles of the �can
American community for empower­
ment,
For all milllo of penoDS in
thi nation and from aroUDd the
world .bo successfully dcmmded
the freedom of elsoll MIDdela from
the p system of apartheid South
Africa, this same type of ve
demand needs to be made on bebalf
of Pratt. Pratt is a Yictim of
Ameli rae aod rep 01 aod
hi continued imp . ODment i 111
atrod insult to human dipity.
If you ould liR more iDforma.
tiono . andw' htojoin .
gro ing campaign, pI contact
51 ler Mubjah Shakir, co-coordinator
Qf the International Campaign To
Free Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt, P.O.
Box 3585, Oa land, CalifOrnia
94609, (415) 268-0979.
APOLITICALPRI 0
A political prisoner
is a "prisoner of
� I.
conscience, " a
.
person who has
been unjustly
imprisoned because
of their political eas
of conscience to
challenge injustice.
�
AA.&'�'&:" IS NOT a case more
onby of our ctive Upport at this
time in history than the cUe of 0
brother, Geronimo Pratt. Hi t
incarceration stan an affront to
the ebri tian faith, aDd e intend
tand with him and his family and
this community that de perately
need commi tted leaders like
Geronimo c in our community
and c urcb."
Based 0 ur revie of record
o th trial, ubsequent Ie til,
and other new evidence that has
faced, it w conclude that Geronimo
Pratt' in ct political p Del
'"