ca e-
ByTOOENSI
n Citizen
DWAYNE BROWN
A federal law making it a
crime for GIs to advocate for, or
join, a labor organization has
been used to imprison two Black
GIs who pro ted command
sanctioned racism at Ft. Hood,
Texas.
Congress passed the anti-un­
ion la in 1977 in response to
fears that active duty service
o
e
By ALISON JONES
Spec�1 to Michigan Citizen
American (NCOBRA), has for­
malized plans to establish Black
Community Parole Boards to be
th decision- in of
Blacks being held prisoner in U.S.
jails and prisons.
"The current parole board sys-
HUNTSVlLLE. TX -Am' tad-
March 31 ella , • p r in
captivity" of National Coali-
tion of Blacks for Reparations in.
MARCH ON WASHINGTON - A large contingent of
Detroiters joined the recent annivers ry march on
Washington. Nathan Head, M4chlgan Civil Right
Department ,wa among those usi ng the march to protest
the North American Free Trade Agreement. (Photo by
Monica Morgan)
o
persona might begin to join
public employ unio
At that tim oonstitutional
schola warned that the lan­
guage of the tatute 0
broad that it could be used to
trample tb free speech and 88-
ociational righ of GIs, but
Congres ignored th con-
cerns.
A clever public relations cam­
paign equated GI membership
tern throughout this country, and
particularly here in Texas, is too
vicious and racist and utterly in­
capable of· '-'
ion in
and poor _lI"�
Imari A. Obadele, co-chair of
Chapter A-March 81.
Blacks face a triple threat
when facing the criminal justice
system, according to Obadele.
"On the one hand you have this
predatory species of Blacks imi­
tating white folks' deeth-styles
and preying on the Black commu­
nities," Obadele said.
"Secondly, you have the eoo­
nomic base -as sorry as it is­
being stripped from under Black
communities by folks that don't
live in, or give a damn about the
community," Obadele continued.
"THIRDLY, YOU have a situ­
ation where --in a male-domi­
nated society - Black men, who
are supposed to be the progeni- '
tors, producers and protectors of
the race, are systematically re­
moved from th Blackcommunity
and stashed away in these death­
camps."
Black Community Parole
Boards are one of many steps that
must be taken to counteract the
continuing Black Holocaust, said ,
Michael Malcolm 2X Sheffield,
chapter oo-chair.
The criminal justice system is
just one of the many "Big Guns"
the U.S. uses against us, said
Sheffield
Amistad-March 31's primacy
focus is helping to secure repara­
tions for Black people for the
crimes of slavery, genocide, men­
ticide, colonialism and exploita­
tion of Blacks by the U.S" said
Sheffield. "As a chapter of NCO-
See PAROLE, A8
•
a
III)
delays
1{I .. r break
- \.\
o
GUIDRY lodged a
formal complaint against t
non-oommi ioned officers, he
e ly ,ea ing
him to be h pitalized with a
nervou b -down.
As the Black Guard members
ng r duty hours
racism and oth r
�� over 60 hi
Guard membe from Louisi­
ana' 1 Battalion hired
and returned home to Shreve­
port in pro oftrainingcondi­
tions at Ft. Hood.
Once home, ome of th
A WOL GIs voiced their com­
plaints on local TV ne pro-
S SOLDIER. A8
Gathered for th op nlng program of the first International Conference for the National
Council for Black Studle , at the WEB DuBol Center In Accra, Ghana were (1-11) Dr.
Maya Angelou; Kwame Ture of Conakry, Guinea; Dr. Ruth B. Love, publisher from San
Francl co, California; nd Akbar Muhammad, international representative of the Nation
of I lam"
o
By TARIQ JABIR
Special to tIN Michigan Citizen
ACCRA-GHANA - Several
groups of African Americans, trav­
eled to Ghana recently to tour the
country and discuss ways to im­
prove the plight of Blacks in the
United States and abroad.
Prominent educators were
among hundreds of African
Americans touring, vacationing
and convening in Accra, in what
was hailed as ano her indication
of the growing inte t ot Black
people from the U.S. in strength­
ening ties with Africa.
The National Council for Black
Studies Convened their fll'St Inter­
national Conference in Africa.
During the same w k, th Black
Social Workers were also in
Ghana opening their convention,
One of the tour groups was led
by Akbar Muhammad, the Inter­
national Representative of the
Nation of Islam in Ghana. In­
cluded in his group we ,Dr.
Jawanza Kunjufu, Chicago, Illi­
nois, noted author of vera! books
about raising and educating Black
children, Bob Law, th late nighl
talk show host ofNite Talk Radio,
based in ew York and Bobby
Norfolk, a leading poet and story
tel r from St. Louis, Missouri.
group went to Kumasi and held
court with the Asante Hene and
toured the Slave dungeons in
Cape Coast and Elmina, wb
Africans were enslaved before be-
, ing taken to America.
The group also visited a camp
for the Liberia refu living in
Ghana, where some group m m­
bers donated money and gi and
pledged to work to publicize the
refu plight in hope of attract..
ing more aid.
Akbar Muh mm d' group
and another group of African
Americans, led by Anthony Brow­
der of Washington D.C., held ac­
tivities together, including a
EK-LO G visit that
included tours throughout
Ghana, A bar Muhammad's
S GHA A,�
, ·Yes. We need someone to run
our city. Detroit needs to be
prosperous again."
"No. The candidates waited
until the last minute to get their
ideas and Issues together. II
"Yes. We need someone who
has the people's needs and
concerns in mind,"
"Yes. We need changes in
Detroit and someone who's out
there working in and for the
community,"
-J me
Santori
- Li Ch mbers
- Sherri Gile