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February 17, 1982 / The Maroon Tiger /Page 6
People And Ideas
Willie Ricks Makasa: Scientific Socialist
PART IV
by Wendell Williams
Willie Ricks Mukasa says he knew that
he was destined to be a freedom fighter at
age 17. Mukasa is now 38 years old, and his
committment to struggle and change
from all outside appearances, seems as
unshakeable and solid as ever.
The man has a vision of the world which
many choose to write off as naive, uto -
pian and, therefore, unrealistic. From
talking with the man and getting to know
him on a personal level, however, I get the
feeling that such opposition only serves to
strengthen the resolve of the man. He
wants to contribute, in his own humble
way, to a mounting world socialist order
which he views as both inevitable and
unavoidable. Here, for the fourth and
final time, is Mukasa.
Q. Why did you choose Morehouse to
pursue your recruiting activities?
A. I along with five other members of
the All-African People's Revolutionary
Party (AAPRP) were assigned to
Morehouse by the party. We understood
Morehouse to be one of the seats of the
intellectuals and intellegentsia. We had
many theories that we wanted to share
with the men of Morehouse, where they
could come now to digest and disect such
theories and give them back to the
masses.
Q. Where have you been successful,
and where have you failed?
A. We’ve been successful at putting
Africa on the lips of every brother here at
Morehouse. More people are now study
ing, analyzing and writing about scientific
socialism and African History. More
people are now analyzing and question
ing what they see on television, and in the
newspapers. More people now unders
tand the world socialist order and the
objectives of the AAPRP. This is success.
We have not failed in many areas.
However, the final success will be
ORGANIZATION!
Q. Listening to you speak and showing
sympathy for your cause is one thing; but
in the face of very low turnouts at your
AAPRP meetings here at Morehouse thus
far, do you really consider your stay a
success?
A. We’re looking for “quality” not
"quantity”. Our organization isn’t con
cerned with numbers, but with spirit and
dedication. I’m sure even Garvey’s move
ment started off small in number, but
soon grew to one of the largest
organizations this country has ever seen.
If only one shows up, I consider it a
success and would speak asdoud as if
there were 100 present.
Q. What’s ahead for the struggle, say,
five to ten years down the road?
A. Struggle and victory; more struggle
and more victory. The U.S. will definitely
loose South America. Africa will rise up.
The imperislist and zionst forces now
operating in Israel and South Africa will
be crushed. Here again, what you will see
is constant victory in the face of constant
struggle.
Q. Why is Pan - Africanism the answer
to the black man’s problems?
A. Pan - Africanism now comes to
recognize our land Africa, and to take
control of it as Africans. At the same time,
it would put us under an economic
system, scientific socialism, which
guarantees justice for all Africans. Until
Pan - Africanism and scientific socialism
take hold of Africa, the black man
everywhere lacks a national homeland.
Q. Scientific socialism sounds pretty
good on paper. However, given the
problems of Russia and other socialist
countries, is it really all it was cracked up
to be?
A. First of all, I am not at all sure that
Russia is having all of the problems we are
being led to believe. Over two - thirds of
the world has already gone up in revolu
tion fighting for scientific socialism. Dr.
Kwame Nkrumah said thought without
practice is empty, and practice without
thought is blind. Revolution is brought
about by men and women who think as
men and women of action, and act as men
and women of thought. In order for
scientific socialism to become a reality, it
must be put into practice. Capitalism is
simply standing in the way of scientific
socialism. It puts the people first.
Capitalism doesn't love Mary, doesn’t
love Jesus, and doesn’t love humanism.
Capitalism loves profits only.
Q. You have on a number of occassions
characterized Jesus as being a “socialist.”
Would you explain that?
A. Jesus was nothing but a socialist. He
tried to feed, clothe and give shelter to
those persons he came in contact with. He
said he had come to free the people in
captivity, give sight to the blind and solve
the human problems. He took his God
given powers and used them for the
betterment of mankind. This is scientific
socialism.
Q. A lot of black people started out in
the struggle, but left it when offered a
piece of the pie. Would you leave the
Bill
him. Still embittered by his recent ex
periences at school, he associated the
completion of his education with the
unpleasantness of the situation he had left
behind. But already a shift in his attitudes
was becoming more apparent.
He was in a state of drift, suspended
from the values and routine of his familiar
environment and with nothing else
emerging to take their place. It is only a
short step from this condition for a person
to veer over the threshold and commit
acts that he normally regards as for
bidden. And the magnetic pull of the city
was beginning to exert its sway on Bill.
Almost irresistibly he was being sucked
into the whirlpool of activities of his peers
in the park.
A smart boy, it did not take Bill long to
learn from the other boys how to fend for
himself and score in many ways. By the
end of his second week in Atlanta, he was
already playing up to the older men at a
well - known corner in the park. They
bought him beer and gave him money.
When he realized that I had detected the
‘games’ he was playing, he tried to cover
up his actions w_ith a blanket of in
nocence. He became more perky and
confident. He was now in the company of
the other male hustlers and although he
always came up and spoke to me, he no
struggle if offered a piece of th&pie by the
mainstream?
A. Those people who did such a thing
did not understand the struggle, and were
only in it for themselves. But I realize that
Africa has the whole pie, and I want the
pie, not the crums. I would not do
anything or take anything which would
compromise my principles and beliefs.
I’m not concerned with myself. I’m not
interested in the big homes or fancy cars.
I’m concerned about the seventeen
million babies who died last year of
starvation in a world of plenty. I’m
concerned about solving the world’s
problems through scientific socialism.
Remember to put the people first.
Q. Can the black man ever find
happiness, respect, security and love here
in America?
A. We have been here 400 years and we
have never been able to find love or
happiness here in America. 400 years of
lynching, 400 y ears of starvation, 400years
of miseducation; 400 years of someone
else’s history, 400 years of being led to
believe someone else did everything and
we did nothing. So here, we cannot find
freedom or happiness in America. We can
only find freedom and happiness in
Africa, under the total liberation and
unification of Africa under scientific
socialism. This the only objective that will
solve the international, social, political
and economic problems that the Africans
face where ever we may be in the world
today.
Note: This concludes the four - part
series. If you have any other questions, by
all means approach him with them.
cont. from pg. 3
longer sought my advice and soon he
stopped giving me his impressions of the
scene.
The point had come where Bill finally
seemed to make a conscious choice out of
drift and into defiance. This occurred
about thirteen days after I had met Bill. He
had begun to join his new companions. I
suppose that the prospect of ‘living it up’
and ‘having a good time’ in the Big City
was too strong for him to resist. The next
time I saw Bill his attitude and behavior
was more casual and relaxed. He was on
the path of becoming one of the male
homosexual prostitutes in the East End of
Atlanta.
Bill’s career as a male hustler was,
however, short lived. I learned from
another contact about two weeks later
that Bill had been apprehended by two
policemen. I conjecture here that Bill was
taken to the police station where they
established his identity and that he had
run avyay from home. His parents were
probably then notified of his apprehen
sion and within a few hours were in
Atlanta to take him home.
Editor's note: This is the second of a three
part series. The final part will appear in the
next edition of the Maroon Tiger. In the
final part we will view the situation
critically and objectively.
Religious Emphasis Week
Feb. 23,24,25
Theme: "Celebrating Our At - One- Ment”
Preacher: Rev. E. V. Hill, Pastor of the Mt. Zion
Baptist Church, Los Angeles, California
All taking place on the campus of Morehouse
College
in King International Chapel
The Public Is Invited: Free of Charge