u
-1 ,
h mb u:
HI Afrlc n
tory P r II I
J u
H ppy Afri n- nt red
New Year. Very few
people out ide of E t
Afri a h v ever h rd of
the legend of Khamb geu,
We felt it would be dif­
ferent type of
holiday /religio me age.
We hope that you enjoy.
The Sonjo people of
T nz nia trace their
religious and n tionallife to
figure known Kham-
b geu,
According to thei r
myths, Khambageu just ap­
peared among the people,
"without parent," many
years ago.
While one may immedi­
ately ee orne parallel be­
tween the life of Kham­
bageu and that of Jesus,
R.F. Gray, in his 1963 book,
"The Sonjo of Tan­
ganyika," pointed out that
the story of Khambageu
does not originate through
Christian influence or con­
tact of modern times.
KHAMBAGEU
LIVED among the people,
performing miracles of
healing the sick, opening
the eyes of the blind, ensur­
ing good crops and even
raising the dead.
He also acted as a judge,
ettling people's disputes,
and went from one village
to another, living for some
years in each place.
When people got tired of
him, they mistreated him
and even tried to kill him,
forcing him to flee to other
villages.
Eventually he grew old,
then went into his house and
died there.
Before dying, he in-
.structed the people to have
his body buried in a par­
ticular village, or leave it on
a rock to dry in the sun.
THESE PEOPLE DID
not, however, bury him
where he asked to be buried.
They put him in a grave in
another village.
On hearing about his
news, members of the vil­
lage where he should have
been buried went to claim
the body, They dug up the
grave, but found it empty ex­
cept for th andals which
Khambageu had been wear­
ing.
It was reported that some
people saw him rise again '
from his grave and fly to the
sun.
This is the myth which
surrounds Khambageu, and
he is now closely associated
and identified with God. He
is said to rule the heavens
and to have the stars as his
children. '
Sonjo religious life is
centered upon their stories
about Khambageu.
THEY HAVE sacred
places, tree , temples, tradi­
tions'and customs associated
with his life, and give him a
central position in their na­
tionallife.
These similarities be­
tween Jesus and Khambageu
should not overshadow the
fact that there are some sig­
nificant differences from the
Gospel stories. And nei ther
has Sonjo religious life crys­
tallized into anything like
the Christian Church.
But as Khambageu is in­
tegrated into the religious
and national life of the
Sonjo, he approximates the
title of a "religiOUS national
founder."
Let's talk. (714) 899-0650.
2
ICHI
VIEWS/OPINIONS
- .
,
uthor M rie Lee pointed to Ice
Cube inflamm tory bum one
or ore n-Ameri to ve
"Korean Al Sharpton." Sharpton,
loc I community ctivi t for
African-Ameri in ew Yor
frequentl y ta y in the m di by c
lenging political uthoriti and the
police. Mari Lee rgued that
imil rly , Korean ver ion of
Sharpton could " t ge m rene "
again t record companie which
produced raci t records. A Ko n­
American Sharpton "could help
focus attention on people' tendency
to loppily confu e nd lump
together di tinct Asian culture ,
tendency which Asians find offen-
ive. A Korean Al Sbarpton could
make it known that Korean mer-
I I '"Bl orea,"
African-Americans are encouraged
to 1 un h conomic boycot d to
mobilize agai t orean mercban
in their neighborhoods: "So don't
follow me up nd do our m etl
or your little chop- u y will a
target! of n tionwide boycott/
cho e WIth th people, that' wh t
th boy got! 0 pay respect to th
Black fi t/ or we'll burn your store
right down to a crisp .... "
In another ong, entitled "U ,It
other Asian-Americans become t.8
targets ofcritici m: "While I 100 out
the window I ee all the Jap rabbin'
every vacant lot in my neighbor­
hood, build a store and sell their
goods too."
Not surpri ingly, Ice Cube quick-
in raci
m:
my first visit. '
SUBSEQUENT TO that visit,
one person has been convicted and
sentenced to life for the murder. But
to my great disappointment, three
others were given only community
service, despite the fact that they
were involved and were, at the time,
out on parole for a racial attack on
another Black.
, So the U.K. seems to be like its
daughter the U.S.-unable to dis­
pense justice fairly for people of
color. Though there was not the
hysteria in the media that accom­
pained my first visit, there was cer­
tainlyas much attention and it was
certainly distorted.
I was again accused of coming in
to stir up trouble by leading non­
violent marches in Wales, by making
nonviolent appearances at five ral­
lies, by preaching at one church in
the Wilcock district and by doing
two nationally-televised shows dis­
CUSSing racism, which is indeed rare
in the United Kingdom.
In meetings with the Pan-African
Congress Movement, the National
Black Caucus and others I also
learned how racism i 0:1 the rise all
over Europe. There are weekly at­
tacks reported in Germany and
weekly killings reported in France.
The kinbeads and neo-Nazi are a
public, growing force all over Bel­
gium and Germany, as has been
reported intemationally.
So it eems to me naive at best and
insulting in fact that, with these for-
ces so much on the rise, the European
media would want to know why I
was back and wanting to unite with
other freedom fighters to combat the
undeniable rise of racism.
SECONDLY, WITH
AMERICA having just coronated
David Duke with a majority white
vote in Louisiana, it seemed time for
all of us who are serious to come
back to the front lines. You cannot
fight wi thout getting on' the bat­
tlefield. You cannot win the
ballgame without getting on the
playing field. And the field must be
broad enough to fight on a
worldwide level.
My last interesting encounter was
with Mr. Bernie Grant, the senior
Black member of the House of Com­
mons in England. Mr. Grant briefed
me on his recent trip to Libya. He is
convinced, and convinced me, that
tbe United States has not ruled out a
miliiary strike on Libya since they
have now indicted two Libyans for
the bombing of the Pan Am flight at
Lockerbee. He asked me to put
together an American delegation to
go to Libya by Christmas, where
Libya will formerly tell me--as they
have told Mr. Grant-that they
would be willing to submit to an
impartial judge. Why would they
submit their citizens to their enemy's
court system? I thought, as I sat
there listening to Mr. Grant, how un­
heard of it would be for America to
tum over Uni ted States ci tizens to
Twin si
It was around 8:00 in the morn­
ing, and I again found myself walk­
ing through Heathrow Airport
escorted by British police. Accom­
panied again by the able Mr. An­
thony Charles, I walked 'towards the
barrage of media, whose vicious ap­
petites, atitudes, writing and video
skills awaited my second arrival in
the United Kingdom.
I was there for the same reasons
that I had been there in April-to put
a spotlight on cases of police miscon­
duct, brutality and racism in the Bris­
tish courts. In Cardiff, which is part
of Wales, three young Africans had
been arrested and convicted of kill­
ing a young white female prositute,
despite the fact that police had put
out a sketch and had clear evidence
that the killer was a white male with
blood on his hands.
By some great mystery of both
science and law, the one white male
with blood on his bands transformed
into three Black men with no blood
who were not even in town at the
time of the killing.
Needless to say, the British press
ignored this atrocious miscarrage of
justice, so it was my duty to come in
and lead a Saturday march in Wales,
which got the first national (United
Kingdom) and international
publicity for. the case. As well, I
attended rallies in Wales, three ral­
lies in London and a ralJy in Birmin­
gham, and was able to meet again
with the family of Rolan Adams, the
16-year-014 killed by a white mob
whose case I w able to highlight on
TO Tour ang r t
ian-Americans d not, in the
long run, re olv th cri i of pover­
ty, economic oppre ion and I
of Bl ck own rship, which i the
consequen of a raci t corpo te
y tem. Attacking petty
entrepreneurs who are al 0 people of
color only permits those who direct­
ly benefit from the oppression of
ALO GTHE
COLORU
both group 0 et w y
Th nd problem p ented by
Ice Cube' lyric involve the
promise of truly progres ive, Rain­
bow Coalition. People of color m t
tra cend the terrible tendency to
blame each other, to emp ize their
differe , to h on nolber.
Th future ofth Uni ed Stat ,
we enter the 21 t century, bel on to
people of color-Asian-Americans,
Latino , Arab , American Indi ,
and African-American . A truly
multicultural democracy which em­
powers people of color will never be
won if we tolerate bigotry within our
own ranks, and turn our energies to
undermine each other.
epudlatlnq repudia ion
Jesse Jackson isn't running and that
Doug Wilder is. It's foolish to apply
our litmus test to Wilder-he's prac­
tically repudiated Dr. King!
Another Black independent,' Ron
Daniel , is considering a run.
Insiders ay that Daniel wa put
into the race by Reverend Jackson,
who told the Democrat that he
would' either keep the Black vote
from going independent or control it
if it did.
Daniels began his campaign by .
aying he was out to stop Fulanl. •
Now, he says he would welcome the .
opportunity to work with me-if I
broke from NAP, which he attacked
as pro-gay and not reall y Black.
. "
African Americans have a litmus
te t to judge political leader:
Where do you stand on Minister
Louis Farrakhan?
While Blacks who denouce Far­
rakhan may incre e their "worth" to
White America, they decrease their
value to us because, in repudiating
Farrakhan, they repudiate us.
Some ay that Je e Jackson's
repudiation of the Minister got him
more votes. But i also made it dif­
ficult to maintain hi connection to
Black people, as well as Latinos,
Asians and whites who rightfully
say, "If you are willing to com­
promise your own people, then how
do we know you won't compromise
us?"
In 1985 Mayor Koch demanded
that "responsible" Black leaders
rupudiate Farrakhan. David Dinkins
did. I welcomed the Minister and
joined him on stage at Madi on
Square Garden.
IN 1986, AS the New Alliance
Party candidate for governor of New
York, my support for the Minister
made front-page headlines. Right
wing Zionists threatened to kill me.
Governor Mario Cuomo asked me to
repudiate Farrakhan. I refused.
When Minister Farrakhan sup­
ported my 1988 independent
presidential run and endorsed my
1990 gubernatorial bid, the call for
repudiation intensified. I refused.
Now it's 1992 and I am once
again seeking NAP's presidential
nomination. I am disappointed that
U.
•
and U.K.
Libya, but how it is completely nor­
mal within the realm of white
supremacist thought for them to ex­
pect Libya ust to turn over its citizens,
to the United States.
Though I know this proposed trip
will cause great controversy, one'
must live with one's conscience, and
not duck one's responsibility be­
cause of whatever controversy might
arise. I also wonder what the reaction
would be to an activist rabbi if Isreal
was told that military strikes against
it were not unthinkable: Or Polish, or
French, Or Italian. But of course it's
scandalous for a Black activist to
think like other human beings, which
is the point And which is why I plan
to do what I can to ave the di -
proportionate number of African­
American lives that would be lost in
such a strike, and to deter a situation
that would cause the loss of human
life-period-if an impartial judge
can stop such an unnecessary blood­
bath. The fact that George Bush is so
low in the polls certainly makes him
more trigger-happy and more insen­
sitive to the blood that would be
shed.
So, "UK, '91 trip two" was an
overwhelming success. We shared
with the people, we put a spotlight on
their pain, we made plans to chal­
lenge an act of international adven­
turism by white imperialist
supremacists in both the United
States and the U.K.·So I head into
,what many call the holiday cason
doing what the child who w born
on that holiday would have done-
WHAT DOES MR. Daniel
think of the tens of thousands of ·
Black members of the New Alliance
Party and the hundreds of thousand
of African Americans who have
voted for me on the NAP line?
Aren't they really Black?
Is Mr. Daniels' po ilion-like •
those who repudiate Minister Far­
rkhan-that Black people don't have
the right to choose their own or­
ganizations? And what of the les­
bians and gays who supported Jesse .
Jackson? Is Ron Daniels repudiating
Jackson's Rainbow Coalition, too?
As ever, the issue in the Black
community is repudiation. Tho e
who repudiate Farrakhan and me .
reject the Black community and our .
struggle for democracy and power.
Dr. Lenora Fulani is the chair- :
person of the New Alliance Party and :
a practicing social therapist in Har- :
lem. ' •
REV.Al
SHARPTON
THE
PEOPLE'S
PREACHER
fighting for world peace, fighting
against world racism, trying to speak
for those who have not been spoken
for, trying to shine a light on a dark
comer, and trying to represent the
be t in the human experience from
an African perspective.
As I returned exhausted to the .
United States, I landed on the night
that Cedric Sandiford-who sur­
vived Howard Beach to watch his
soon-to-be stepson Michael Griffith
be killed there-was funeralizcd. It
was wi th sad irony that I left one .
battlefront to return to another, with •
one of our warriors being put to rest, .
knowing in the back of my mind that .
all of us have an obligation to the
Cedrics of the world-yea, in the
U.S. and the U.K.-to fight until we .
are put to rest. And even then, we •
should go down in our graves kick- •
ing and screaming, "No Justice, No :
Peace!",