I was born in a place that
used to be called British Guyana. I happened to have been educated in Jamaica,
to have lived among Black people in England and on the Continent. I have met
brothers and sisters who say that their mother-tongue is, quote-un-quote,
“French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese,” as well as English which we speak. And
because of this, we have a problem of identification: we do not know who we
are! And that is why this gathering is of great symbolic importance,
because it is an act of identification. We are saying that we identify with the
African people of the African continent. We are saying that we are an African
people. And when we make this identification, have no illusions about the fact
that this a very revolutionary initiative; it is a rejection of every other
form of identification which the white society has asked us to accept. Let me
draw your attention to something which white universities and white libraries
practice; and this is a university community; numerous universities lie around
this land (Bay Area): go into their libraries and check the Library of Congress
cards under Europe or European, you will find all entries listed concerning the
Continent of Europe; you will also find entries listed about Europeans in East
Africa; Europeans in Asia and Australia. Look under the Chinese, you will find
entries listed not only for Mainland China, but for Chinese in Malaysia, and
for Chinese North America, but look under Africa and Africans — the only entry
under Africans relates to the Continent itself — there are not entries under
Africans overseas — there is no such category. Africans who have been raped
from the Continent mysteriously disappear and become “Negroes”!
So when we reject the very
term “negro”, it is not playing with words; negro is a conception — when we
reject the term negro it is a rejection of a whole historical interpretation
because (get it very clear) negro is a thing! a negro is not a person!
Historically, when we were taken as slaves, we were dehumanized, we were
converted from people into things! In the literature of slavery, a slave is
referred to, an African is referred to as apiece. The Portuguese will say, “We
have thousands of pieces, hundreds of pieces” — those are Africans to whom they
referred. We were brought to this section of the world and we were auctioned;
and auction is something reserved for antique furniture. We were brought to
this section of the world and in Washington and in Virginia and in Maryland (my
God, in Maryland a cracker was shot the other day); in places like that, we
were bred as slaves, they were slave breeding grounds. Now breeding of that
sort is reserved for stud animals, so the negro was a thing — at best and
animate object in the category of cattle, horses and sheep. So when we break
with that and say we are an African people, that is a revolutionary
identification.
I do not say to understand
who we are is the be all and end all — on the contrary, it is merely a very
short step forward in the struggle, because freedom is a long road — freedom is
the road which the Vietnamese people travel on the Ho Chi Minh trail; each man
and woman carrying 60 pounds weight. Freedom is the long road which the
Brothers from Angola, in which the Movement of the Popular Liberation of
Angola, that is the road which they take week after week, crossing Eastern
Angola, indeed, crossing Zambia, crossing the plains, crossing the flooded
rivers, crossing the swamps, to engage with the enemy — that is the road of
freedom. Freedom is the road which carried in Guinea (Bissau), along the creeks
and the rivers, the Brother take the canoes to engage the enemy. Therefore, I
am not saying that the identification is all — it is a process of struggle —
and when we support Africa today, let no one have the impression that we are
supporting a passive people. Because the news media has either been silent or
deliberately mis-informative as is their want. They have not told you the level
which the struggle has reached in Southern Africa. They have not told you the
amount of territory which has been liberated from the Portuguese in Angola, Guinea
(Bissau), and Mozambique. They have not told you that in 1970 there was a massive
campaign by the Portuguese, a campaign to end all campaigns in Mozambique. It
was designed to eliminate the liberated zones. It had massive array of
armaments, 50,000 troops, American advisers; they went to the United States and
had one of their generals trained on the assumption that the United States are
the world experts on counter-guerilla warfare. But even if I had to fight the
counter-guerilla war, I would be reluctant to ask the advice of the Americans,
because they are only experts in losing! It turned out that they lost that
struggle — the people of the Mozambique today have a greater liberated area,
have produced an intensification, not only of their military program, but of
their socio-economic and political program. The same applies in Angola, the
same in Guinea (Bissau). And, furthermore, when we look at Southern Africa,
although it is true that there are certain areas when the armed struggle, the
highest level of struggle, has not yet been reached, we must not, for a movement
deprecate the energies, the courage, and the activities of our Brothers and
Sisters in that part of the world.
Let me say a brief word
about South Africa. The people of South Africa are not cheap as some would have
you believe. The people of South Africa have a long history of struggle, longer
than in many other parts of the African continent. In the period after the
first World War, there was in South Africa the strongest Black trade union on
the Continent and in most parts of the world. The trade union known as the
I.C.U., led by an African giant, Clement Sdale, was one of the greatest trade
unions of its time. It failed! Why did it fail? Let me tell you a secret, it
failed because it was betrayed by the white working class of South Africa.
Nevertheless, the struggle
continues in South Africa. What happens in Southwest Africa (Namibia)? Few
people know of Namibia. Namibia is the diamond mine of the world, that is where
the Oppenheimers, the Goldfingers, the later Englehart, that is where the
Rockefellers draft gem diamonds and industrial diamonds out of the ground by
the tons every year. And in Namibia, the people have had to face the brutality
of the Germans in the last part of the 19th century and in the present century.
Germany leaned to practice fascism in Africa before it practiced it in
Germany. It was against the heroic people of Namibia that the Germans
unleashed a policy of genocide. Nevertheless, enough of the people, and this is
a constant wonder — that we have managed to survive — to survive and to multiply
— which amazed them (white people). The people of Namibia last year staged a
tremendous strike against the mining companies — out of the blue — no one
expected it — the people of Namibia said to the mining companies, the white
race’s international monopoly capitalist — they said, “We are still here! We
are still here! And we will strike when the hour comes.” And this is true
throughout Southern Africa.
 |
| Journal of Black Poetry 16 (Summer 1972). Published in San Francisco. |
In Zimbabwe, the whites
thought they had a good thing going; they have banned Z.A.N.U., they banned
Z.A.P.U. They have some in prison, the rest are exiled. They brought in the
South African police and military. They have the support of the British
government, they have the support of international monopoly capital, and they
said, “We are going to stage a mock referendum which will draw the wool over
the eyes of the world because we have intimidated the African sufficiently that
we will get them to accept our domination by means of a referendum,” and then
they attempted to count this referendum, they sent the British commission, and
what happened? The people of Zimbabwe came out unarmed, unarmed mind you, to
face the guns and they said, “no! no!” in a very loud voice; it was heard
everywhere, it was unmistakable that they would not accept white minority rule
in Zimbabwe.
And when you talk about
struggle, furthermore, again it is to be remembered that there are governments
in Africa today, who are putting their integrity, putting their existence out
on the limb in order to support the struggle in South Africa. Governments like
Tanzania, Zambia, Guinea, Algeria, and even the U.A.R., although it is fighting
a war against the Zionists, they all have the time and resources to devote to
the struggle of African unity and African liberation.
These are things to bear in
mind when we say we are giving our support, because the world is full of many
people who are claiming their rights but doing nothing else about it. We will
support those who are claiming their rights and backing it up with what is
necessary to demand and grasp one’s rights.
There is another illusion
which must be squashed, and that is that when we support Africa, we are
supporting a foreign entity, we are escaping from the struggle here, but the
support of Africa is merely an extension from the struggle here. The struggle
is universal because the system of oppression is universal. The struggle is
international — and black unity must be international because we are the
world’s most authentic international people. We live on every continent,
through no choice of our own. But when the enemy has created a system of
production and a system of exploitation which rests upon our physical presence
in the Americas, in Europe, and in Africa, we will use that dispersed presence
to mount a tremendous international campaign to liquidate the struggle that has
reduced us to the position which we are in now.
Let me move toward a
conclusion, Brothers and Sister, a conclusion which asks you to bear in mind
what this gathering symbolizes. It symbolizes a “no” to Nixon, a “no” to the
murderous policies in Vietnam, a “no” to the United States companies which are
investing and exploiting on the African continent; a “no” to N.A.T.O. which
provides Portugal with the wherewithal to bomb and blast our African Brother
who are struggling for their rights in their own land. That must be an explicit
“no”! It is also a “yes” — it is an affirmation, we are saying yes to the line
which was developed by people like Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, George
Padmore, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Frantz Fanon. We are saying “yes” to
the struggle in Africa today which is led by such giants as Ahmed Sekou Toure,
Julius Nyerere … And we are saying “yes” to people like the Soledad Brothers
and the martyrs of Attica.
This time is a symbolic act
of coming together. This is also a time for self analysis and self-criticism
and rededication. So we will go from here with a new strength. We will
reconsider the nature of the domestic struggle and its relation to the
international struggle, moving toward the realization that the system must fall
— it all must fall! Have no illusions about it, the system that was created
within this country as it extends throughout the world is so immoral, so
vicious that there is no compromise, there is no remedying — except to banish
it!
So, we will move out, to
contemplate in our various ways how to arrive at its destruction. As we move
out, bear in mind a slogan which the Brothers in Southern Africa use. They say,
“Victory or Death! Victory is Certain.” Victory or death because they are
placing their lives on the line — the highest form of struggle! But they are
saying “Victory is Certain” because we are the future, we are the repositories
of the truth, we are the most exploited and the most oppressed _ and must, of
necessity, by the repository of freedom. So let us join and reiterate that
slogan of Southern Africa, “Victory or Death — Victory is Certain!” (Crowd
repeats: “Victory or Death — Victory is Certain!”). Power!
Walter Rodney, “The Meaning of African Liberation Day (a speech delivered May
27, 1972 in San Francisco, California),” transcribed and edited by Marvin X, Journal of Black
Poetry 16 (Summer 1972), 5-9. Thanks to @public_archive for the ref.
