READERS WRITE Community must not cut otT those incarcerated' My name is Thomas Hamilton and I am 28 years of ��. I was born and raised in Detroit, Mi., but I am currently residing in the state of Pennsylvania. McKean Federal Correctional Institution hSH been my residence since July, 1992.'This year marks the beginning of my fourth consecutive year. I'm serving ten-year entence for drug related charges stemming from Detroit .: I recently subscribed .to the Michigan Citizen for � period of six months. The Citizen was brought to my attention by my mother who's en a resident of Detroit for over 30 years. I found the paper informative and inter ting. The cover story on Kwanzaa for our children (by Marian Wright Edelman) r lly enlightend me .on. a serious p.iece of African American history. I found it enriching to my mindl The Michigan Citiz ri newspa�r has gr�t potential to be.a source of healing for the community, to provide healthy media coverage to our p ple, about our people, enlighten�ng t�em on If, history, accomplishments, etc. There are certain things we as a people need to change in order to transform ourselves back to our original te of beingl "We must l�rn to �re for and love on another again." Kwanzaa (not Christmas) IS'a perfect start in doing away with American tradition and customs that have changed us all in a drastic way. It's like doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. "Think about it. - I w_as just an inti nt during he sixties and I can remember the stones from my mother, grs!1dmother, father, and school, on t�e8ix1:ies . d eventies, of how BI ck IJ:OOPI were together 10 unity, trong familie - the whole run -yards. 1994, what the hell happened? . .. .. I hope to develop a working relationship With the Michigan Citizen. I � 1 tha th Black C?m�unity sh�uld n.ot b� �t off from their long lost bro hers inside corr ional institutions, We mad sam mi kes against ourselv and our people, but that doesn't mean we're unable 0 change. I'� m�t b�thers here from all ov r th United Sta of AmerIca;. intelligent, talent d, conf d, humbl ,etc ... from all walks o�hfe who have 10 to hr. We look forward to the opportunity to mak a contribution to th Michigan. itizeri nd our people. Thorn H mllton,104134-030 P.O. Box 8000, Br dford, PA 16701-0980 - =�-,..--�---- �� _=----==- country. The years of tyranny and op- p ion that followed nd con- tinu today on the ex- la and their offsprings, created by the institution of a cruel lavery by the American people of the U.S.A." Not merely content to accept the payment of cash as full - titution for slavery, Mr. Ander­ son went further to " ... demand of'the U.S.A. Government a suit­ able territory, a apart of the U nited States, not some distant land over the , but the U.S.A. The land, every inch of which is hallowed by the blood of the Ne­ gro, hed in the upbuilding of this mpire." . Anderson suggested that the plight of Africans in the U.S. be taken before the World Court at Bill h 0 mule did th Con , it w v toedbyP id ntAnd w Joh n. In ffi A ri '\VI re m de citiz ns nd granted "political- righ without - ial" righ . Th former la w re freed without any m ningful provi- ion for u tantial economic b to undergird their political freedom. H nc th former slav we often compelled to return to the v ry plantations they were forced to work on dur­ ing slavery. This time th y would b sub­ jected to new form of slav­ ery/peonage as shar roppers, tenant farmers and agricultural laborers. The political freedom of the former slaves was Iso chal­ lenged as white racist nd ter­ rorist organizations like the White Brotherhood, the Knights of the White Camellia and the Ku Klux Klan unleashed a rein of terror designed to drive Afri­ cans from the ballot box and po- sitions of power� during the Re­ construction period. The cri w fa today Africa in America directly ttributable to th African Holo­ caust and lavery: the d true­ tion of African nation and communiti ; the nocidal d - truction of African people on an unimaginable Ie; and cul- tural a ion, th calcul attemp to de-Africanize African people in order to retard our ability to maintain functional African eommuniti . The crisis we face Africans in American will never be com­ pletely overoome until the dam­ ages done by lavery are repaired. Reparations, restitution for the centurie of forced labor which built this nation, is a cor­ rective and a major ingredient in the prescription to heal our peo­ ple. To this point in history the U.S. has refused to acknowledge its moral obligation to make res­ titution for the damages done to African people by slavery. AFTER THE CIVIL War African captive were simply "freed" and made citizens through the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitu­ tion. But there was no formal apol­ ogy for the crimes of capturing and enslaving African people. And there was no 40 acres and a mule, no granting of property or capital as compensation for the long and tragic travail of slav­ ery. A RI ID TEM of apart- heid was also installed enforced by massive lynchings, brutality and terror. Thus the status of the new "citiz ns" of the U.S. was one of d pendency, insecu­ rity nd continued oppression. There hav lways n Afri- V n Point tp Hagu if th deman for indemnification were not m . For the 1 t f w decad it w Qu n Mother Moor , a brilliant warrior woman with roo in th Garvey Movement, who relentles ly preached, taught and p the crusade for reparations. Queen Mother Moore' n- tial m ge has been that Afri­ can people in the U.S. can never achieve real freedom and If­ determination until we have been paid rep rations com­ pensation for the loss of our in­ heritance - the damage resulting from slavery must be repaired. Heeding the teachings of Queen Mother Moore and other freedom fighte , the National Coalition of Blacks for Repara­ tions in America (N'COBRA), has been spearheading the cam­ paign for reparations in recent years. The critical focal point of N'COBRA's work has been to mobilize upport for a repara­ tions Bill which has been intro­ duced in the U.S. Congress by Congressman John Conye of Michigan. H.R. 40, as the Reparations Bill is d ignated, w