VIEWS OPINIONS
EDITORIAL
,
in 19 4
Malcolm w willing to ugge t that
"perhap the ballot could b used by
BI c people and the oppr ed to
chieve a peaceful revolution.
However, Malcolm never retreat d
from his po ition that in the final
analysi it was "freedom by any
means necessary."
In 1992, another pre idential
election year, 28 years after
Malcolm's famous "Ballots or
Bullets" speech, the que lion of
which path/road to liberation for the
\ masse of Black people and the
oppressed is still an open question.
What i absolutely certain i that a
revolution - a radical redirection of
values and a radical reorganizaion
and restructuring of this nation is
required if the masses of oppressed
people are to breathe free.
The insurrection/rebellion in Lo
Angeles brought the question of the
ballot or the bullet into stark relief.
For far too long the people of
South Central LA and the hundreds
of south centrals across the U.S. have
suffered peacefully. The uprising in
o Q 50 cent of
every federal ta dollar on the
military defens /war budget while
th m e of poor and working
people, women and minoriti have
Ii ttIe or no "defense" against poverty,
unemployment, underemployment,
di ease, inferior educ tion,
illi teracy, drug , violence and a
polluted and poisoned environment
is intolerable.
To continue to promote an
anti-labor climate where unions and
their workers (from PATCO to the
UAW at Caterpillar) are threatened,
intimidated and broken by the
government and the corporations is
intolerable. These and a multitude of
other intolerable acts must no longer
be tolerated.
U.S. society must be radically
changed/transformed. Blac
people, people of color, women and
poor and working people, the
oppressed must be in the vanguard of
the struggle to create a new society.
It i the charge of progressive
political leadership in this period to
stand firm on the principle that there
democrats or
the Republicans or p eudo­
independents, neither Bushi m,
Clintoni m or Perotism will ve .
The progre sive movement must
forge an electoral force rooted
among the masses of the oppressed,
committed to the propo ition that we
will ve ourselves.
The oppressed must fight for
power.
And that fight for power cannot
not be confined ot ballots alone.
Tho e who would ee to promote
the vision and values essential to
create a new society must also
engage the fight for power in the
streets.
Picket lines, demon trations,
boycotts, civil disobedience and .
general strikes are instruments
which the masses of Black people,
Native People, Latinos, Asian
HONESTLY,I THOUGHT THEY WERE GUILTY TOOl
BUT VIOLENCE AGAINST INNOCENT WHITE PEOPLE
WILL NOT BE TOLERATED! THERE WILL BE ORDERI
The history of the freedom
struggle in this world will record the
life and contributions of Mary
Mojeska Monteith Simkins. Until
her last breath at age of 92, this
strong and courageous African
American woman from South
Carolina was a leader and a freedom
fighter.
She was considered by many to
have been one of the most effective
"matriarchs" of the Civil Rights
Movement in the United States.
Mojeska Simkins died in South
Carolina in April 1992. For decades
Simkins was a leader in the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP).
She,raised her voice forcefully in
the South, as well as in all other
sections of the nation. She also was
a leader of the Southern Organizing
Commi ttee for Economic and Social
Justice. Even during the repressive
McCarthyism of the 1950s, Simkins
refused to submit to the tactics of
political intimidation that was
targeted at her and others who were
demanding justice and freedom.
•
I
•
•
b eri ,
other minoriti , omen and poor
nd orking people t to
brin down the "wal of Jericho.
it m t be clear
th t imply rotating pre iden
within 0 wed and failing ci t
capitali t ystem will not liberate the
m who uffer in thi country.
Wh t we mu t fa hion i
movement that will accept nothing
le than new future within a new
ociety. Arld in the crusade to create
new ociety, it must be equally
clear that it will either be "freedom
for everybody of freedom for
nobody."
The oppressed must become
ungovernable if necessary to defeat
the tyranny of corporate dictatorship.
The les on of tlte
insurrection/rebellion in �q
Angeles is that 1992 "just might be
the year of the ballot-or the buller',
or both - -freedom by any meaDS
necessary. "
Ron Dankls serves as Presideiu
of th� Institute for Commu�ity
Organiuuion and �/opment in
Youngstown, Ohio. H� may be
contacted at (216) 746-5747.
OJ ....
In th 1 's p ople got used to demonstrations, marches,
pick ts, boycot , it-ins, prot . Activi ts acro the nation
moved th country forward with direct action, the more confronta­
tional the better. By the mid to late 70' though, the leadership got
hired, killed or tired and the "movement" petered out. Then in the
SO' , the task of making a living consumed more and more of
people' time and energy.
And 0, direct action all but di appeared. The community was
lulled by the rhetoric pewing from African American politicians.
In the treets, poverty pread and deepened; racism flourished and
more and more people were pushed up against the wall while
elected leaders fed on their distre with racial politics.
Almo t daily now, the press reports on the widening income,
life expectancy, education and infant mortality gaps between Black
and white in American. It eems there is no end to the negative
reports and little hope exists.
For example, when Pre idem Bush held a rare pre conference
last week, after 45 minute of que tioning, no reporter had yet asked
one question about Los Angele or related urban issues. Th largest
civil di turbance in U.S. history had dropped from the national
agenda within one hort month.
So where's the hope? The African American contractors in
Detroit hold out a little. After countless hours of meetings, one
picket line, and a lot of publicity, one small step has been taken to
make right the S240 million Veterans Administration hospital
construction job. A white contractor got fired from the job for not .
having an adequate plan to hire and subcontract with minorities on
the project. The work, at least part of it, will go to minorities.
If these contractors had not put forth the energy and time to
peak out, protest, strategize and demonstrate even, it would be
business as usual: white, non-residents working for good money in
the middle of an African populated city with high poverty and death
rate.
Though these contractors have a long way to go, they are on the
. right track. We urge them to keep on keeping on. We urge the public
at large to take a lesson. Frederick Douglass summed it all up over
100 years ago: power concedes nothing. .'
The suffering of the African American community will only
worsen until the community demands no more, enough!
Andhow do poor people get their mes age out? Protests, pick­
ets, boycotts, marches, sit-ins, demonstrations. Not for love. hap­
piness and history as recent marches by some groups have been
organized. But direct action for direct demands. Specific goals,
specific targets.
It's time to t the streets. Afflict the comfortable. Irritate the
complacent. Nudge the system. Move us all along. The young
people in Los Angeles showed they are ready. They will do more
of the same, unless the community steps forward to exercise the
only power poor people got: people power.
h
. FREE
·YOUR
AFRICAN
MIND!
READ
THE
MICHIGAN
CITIZEN
_,
. '
MOJESKA WAS a proud leader
who did not bow to the powerful
forces of racial injustice. She
attended elementary school on the
site of Benedict College from the
first grade as a child, seeking an
education at a time when racial
segregation in local chools in South
Carolina attempted to prevent ber
from getting an education. She later
-graduated from Benedict College in
1921. Her leadership and reputation
as a forceful advocate for the rights
of the oppressed quickly became
nationally known. Simkins worked
with W.E.B Dubois, Martin Luther
King, Jr., Ella Baker, Paul Robeson,
and many other leade�.
At meeting of the Civil Rights
Movement in South Carolina and in
other southern states, friends
remembered how much people in
local communities would welcome
Mojeska' "tell the truth" oratory and
grassroots leadership style. When
she ixty years old, she once
said, "Don't call me a senior citizen
because I have just begun to fight for
freedom and the' struggle is
life-long!" At a local radio station
CIVIL
RIGHTS
BENJAMIN
CHAVIS
near Columbia, WOIC radio, Laughlin McDonald, Director,
Mojeska, would always begin her . American Civil Liberties Union,
radio program with the saying, "1 Southern Region. As a school
woke up this morning with my mind teacher, civil right leader and
set on freedom." human rights advocate, Mojeska
It is important that we keep alive Simkins leaves a legacy of courage
the memory of heroines like and steadfastness of heart and soul.
Mojeska Simkins. She gave her
entire life for the struggle to ensure
that all children get an education and
to ensure that the challenges of racial
injustice be met by a greater force of
social change movement that moved
and inspired people to demand
justice. Appropriately, the funeral
for Mojeska Simkins was held on the
campus of the school and college
that she loved, Benedict College in
Columbia, South Carolina. Inside of
Antsidel Chapel, Rev. Dr. Marshall
Grigsby, President of Benedict
College, stated, "We have come to
say farewell to one of our greatest
leaders, a woman who kept the faith
in the struggle for' a mighty long
time."
Other tributes were given by Dr.
William F. Gibson, Chairman,
National Board of Directors of the
NAACP, and from Attorney
SHE BADthe determination 0
speak out when it was not popular
but as she used to say, "I have to say
what is right and tell the truth and if
that makes anyone uncomfortable ...
then I am sorry!" Long live the
memory of Mojesk Simkins. May
we also keep the faith and stay in the
struggle. We are thankful that for 92
years this great-grandmother of the
freedom movement lived, strugglc4,
won victories and set living example
of the necessity to be responsive am
responsible in the ongoing fight for
equal justice.
The best way to give a tribute to
th� memory of iitcr Simkins is 0
renew and revive the freedom
movement here in the United S1a
