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The i other ’ road to freedom
"Free the Land!” by Imari
Abubakari Obadele, The House of
Songhay, Washington, DC, 1984,
343 pp., s9(paperback)
By Alan Colon, Ph.D., Dept.
Afro- American Studies, Howard
University.
Historian Earl Thorpe has
correctly asserted that the central
theme in African-American history
is the search for freedom. Indeed,
the centuries-old presence in the
United States of people of African
descent has pivoted around their
quest for the group achievement of
political emancipation, economic
well-being, socio-cultural integrity,
fundamental human rights and
spiritual salvation. In this effort,
two general divergent trends have
prevailed.
First, therre has been the
movement for full inclusion of
African-Americans in the
American mainstream with the
corresponding expectation that
Blacks will extract the fruits of
participating in it. This has been
the dominant ideological,
organizatinal and institutional ap
proach to Black group problems.
However, it has yet to bear the an
ticipated fruit for the masses of
Black people.
By contrast, some African-
Americans have struggled for
autonomous development. They
have pursued such alternatives, as
Alphonso Pinckney has observed,
as colonization outside of the
United States, emigration (with or
without colonization), cultural
pluralism and internal statism to
achieve self-determination and
ultimate liberation. Nationalism
among Blacks in America,
although not a majority
movement, has been persistent.
Clear evidence of the persistence of
Black nationalist tradition, or at
least one stream of it, is found in
the recently-published book, “Free
the Land!” by Imari Obadele.
Black church
history worth
reading
A most comprehensive indepth
overview of the Black Church tht
will enhance your knowledge has
been nestled between the hard
covers by Jim Hurt, Jr. The for
mer vice president/general
manager Amsterdam News,
president St. Louis Board of
Education and owner/president
Employees Loan and Investment
Co., has filled a gaping historic
void with this book. Among many
startling facts, it estimates that
Black churches’ membership rolls
account for 60 percent of all
Blacks in the U.S. to number bet
ween 15 and 17 million persons.
Significantly approximately 66
percent of that number is female.
Across the nation the Black
Churches are made up of some
50,000 congregations. They are not
a single monolithic institution, but
rather an* aggregate of
denominatons which contains as
many as 1,500,000 Afro-
Americans. This is exclusive of the
Catholic Church which counts a
Black membership irf excess of
1,000,000. Significantly, quoting
the book, 9,000.000 of
acknowledge no formal religious
affiliation at all.
It was mare than 150-years after
the first enforced African Slave
arrived in America, 1619, before a
Black controlled organized church
was established. The earliest Black
institution was the Free African
Society of Philadelphia that was
organized in 1778 under the leader
ship of Richard Allen and Ab
salom Jones.
This organization became the
mother of two congregations, St.
Thomas Episcopal Church, the
First Black congregation in the
newly independent church and the
Bethel African Church, the first
Black congregation in the
Philadelphia Methodist Conferen
ce. Prior to the Civil War,
organized Black religion was
literally in its infancv.
The Dulk of Black Christians
belonged to predominatly white
Methodist and Baptist bodies.
They were more often, than not,
second class citizens. It was com
mon practice for pews to be set
aside for them in what was referred
to as “nigger section”.
Segregated sections were also
“Free the’ Land!” is
autobiographical. It is as much an
autobiograph of the Provisional
Government of the Republic of
New Africa as it is of Obadele, its
current co-president. Founded in
Detroit, in March, 1968, the RNA
rests on the idea that land is the
basis for a people’s independence
or nationhood.
Perceiving Blacks in the United
States as an oppressed nationality,
RNA lays claim to territory in the
Deep South which Africans who
were enslaved and their descendan
ts worked for free.
Until more permanent, broader
based popular elections are held on
body of knowledge of African-
American self-understanding
through struggle. Specifically, the
book presents the RNA strategy of
using the contridictions in U.S. law
to defeat the government in its own
courts.
“Free the Land!” painstakingly
documents the selective
miscarriage of justice against
Black people through the Coin
telprd-inspired raid on the RNA
headquarters in Mississippi in
1971. It offers revelaing glimpses
of the Black Liberation Army and
of the inevitable rigors and in
dignities of prision life.
It highlights, as well, the in
domitability of hte human spirit to
resist oppression. In RNA’s call
for reparations and independent
fund-raising, “Free the Land!”
emphasizes the critical need for an
economic base, an often
overlooked cornerstone of
freedom movements. It also
touches on the ideological
organizational schism in RNA and
the resultant continuing attempts
to reunify the independence
movement.
“Free the Land!” and the RNA
agenda it advocates raises and
provided in church cemetaries.
These and many other religious
gems fill this book which uproots
our faith from the mother land
through Africa where we came as
enforced immigrants in the
generation of our forefathers.
CITY OF AUGUSTA, GEORGIA
REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
RENTAL REHABILITATION PROGRAM
The City of Augusta is interviewing property owners for par
ticipation in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) Rental Rehabilitation Program. The purpose
of the Rental Rehabilitation Program is to support the
rehabilitation of rental properties and to increase the supply of
standard affordable housing units for low income households
within defined neighborhoods.
MAJOR PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
1. Eligible Owners. Any individual, corporation, partnership or
other legal entity that holds legal title to rental residential proper
ties to be rehabilitated.
2. Eligible Housing Unit(s). Any privately owned residential
property, where at least fifty(so) percent of the floor space is
used for rental residential purposes.
3. Eligible Property. Any rental residential structure located
wholy within an approved RENTAL REHABILITATION PROGRAM
NEIGHBORHOOD.
4. Eligible Tenant. Any tenant of a unit accepted into the
program shall be eligible for rental assistance provided the
tenant meets the minimum section existing housing arristance
payments program income eligibility criteria.
5. Rehabilitation Assistance. Fifty (50) percent of the eligible
cost of rehabilitation shall be made available to the property
owner as a forgiven loan Assistance limited to 50 percent or
5,000/unit, whichever is less.
6. Eligible Rehabilitation Costs. Required rehabilitation ac
tivities necessary to correct substandard housing conditions,
actions necessary to make essential improvements, and/or to
repair or replace major systems in danger of failing.
ALL INTERESTED OWNERS OF RENTAL PROPERTIES
SHOULD CONTACT:
Mrs. Christy Attaway
Rehab Program Director
624 Greene Street
404 724-0373
power of the U.S. government.
What seminal lessons from within
the organization of RNA and from
leaves some unanswered questions.
For example, while the African-
American thrust for self
determination is valid, the
legitimacy of the claim to the land
of hte five states by Blacks is sub
ject to dispute.
While potential conflict over
that land be easily settled through
negotiations iwth the Indians
whose ancestors were its earlier
inhabitants? What about the
soundness of the RNA concept? Is
it more separatist fantasy? Will
the dream of independent
natinhood for Black people be
fulfilled without political alliances
with African countries throughout
the Diaspora or with friendly
Third World nations? Is work
beign done now to solidify thes
the land the present states of
South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi and
Louisiana the Provisional
Government serves in a vanguard
capacity in building the emerging'
nation, New Africa.
Written with clarity, vision and
insight, “Free the Land!”
chronicles the victories and set
backs of the RNA and its suppor
ters in forging a radical solution to
the “race problem” in America.
In it, Obadele makes a
meaningful contribution to the
Engages?. Finally, “Free the
Land!” records the subversion
that a movement can expect to en
counter when it challenges the state
the experiences of Obadele, the
warrior, can be learned toward
building stronger organizations for
the challenges that lie ahead?
These issues aside, Imari
Obadele has written a passionate
and detailed personal account of
an attempt to test the viability of a
program for freedon. Is is an ex
treme proposal of which some
might make folly. But is not some
extreme or racial (i.e., non
traditional) solution needed to
solve a traditional problem which
traditional approaches have failed
to solve? Some alternative is
needed. “Freee the Land!”
presents an alternative.
The responsible reader will use
what Obadele has set forth the
RNA program and the experiences
of its architects and practitioners
as a basis for constructive
criticism and intelligent
questioning dialogue and refor
mulation as needed.
“Free the Land.'” is important
as a catalyst for the generation of
alternative theory and practice
required to create and sustain the
elusive reality of freedom for
Black people.
I A°'*'.C,O C ' 0 V 4 I
I Tom Allgood has the qualifications I
I and ability to do the job. I
I He is a man of the people who has I
I fought for them throughout his I
I career as an attorney. I
I Tom will represent you as your I
I Senator with honesty, dignity and I
I dedication. I
I ‘Paine College was granted SIOO,OOO in I
I the 1984 State Budget for a Performing I
I Arts Theatre and Tom Allgood was the I
I key person in securing this grant. I
I * Local organizations, including the CSRA I
I Business League and many others, have I
I received additional funds because of Tom I
I Allgood’s work and position in the Senate. I
I ‘District voting in Richmond County was I
I finally achieved in 1984 because I
I Tom Allgood authored, supported and I
I voted for Senate Bill 227 and provided I
I the leadership which enabled it to pass I
I the Senate during the 1984 session. I
I ‘Tom Allgood has sponsored and I
I passed various legislation for women and I
I minority employment. I
I VOTE ON NOV. 6 I
I PAGE 2 PUNCH NO. 26 I
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TV e Augusta News-Review NOVEMBER 3,1V84
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