Black activists call 'state of emergency summit'

A diverse array of organizations and individuals attended a conference at Cleveland State University Feb. 1 and 2 to discuss the urgent problems facing the Black community in Cleveland and other cities. The conference was called by the Cleveland Link of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense and co-sponsored by Black Lawyers for Justice and Cleveland State University Black Studies Program.

From left, Abdul Qahhar, Dr. Michael Williams, Abdul Kareen Muhammad. WW photo: Susan Schnur

The program opened with a stirring rendition of the Black national anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in four-part harmony. That was followed by youth performances from Marian Sterling Elementary School Drill Team and a pledge of allegiance to the red, black and green flag and drumming by the youth group, the Golden Ciphers.

In welcoming the participants, Dr. Michael Williams of the Black Studies Program spoke of needing to pay attention to the Black community’s “daily war report,” which consists of such statistics as the people who go to prison, the lack of health care, the unemployment, the suicides, the depression and the alcoholism. He spoke of his struggles to gain understanding within CSU, and declared, “I am not a dark skinned white person.” Of the hundreds of CSU faculty members and administrators, only 32 faculty members are Black and only five administrators are Black. When he informed the audience that the budget for the Black Studies Program was a mere $26,000, there was an audible gasp. He called for community support for the program.

The keynote speaker on Feb. 1 was Saadiqah Amatullah Hasan, whose husband, Siddique Abdullah Hasan, is one of the Lucasville 5, a political prisoner on Ohio’s death row who acted as a negotiator to bring the 1993 prison uprising in Lucasville, Ohio, to an end. The prosecution did not have real evidence against Hasan to support the capital charges. So, according to Ms. Hasan, “They used the only thing they had. They used lying jailhouse snitch testimony,” even though it conflicted with a forensic coroner. “It is about being a Muslim in a non-Muslim society,” she stated.

Chairman of the Cleveland New Black Panther Party Abdul Qahhar spoke with passion about the days of torment and horrible indignity forced upon Megan Williams of West Virginia. “At least they killed Emmett Till,” he said. “She died over and over for days.” He described himself as a revolutionary pan-Africanist, because “I am for the liberation of our people wherever they are on the planet.” He stated that he has always been for a united front. “To be a revolutionary, you have to be a lover, a lover of the people.”

Regarding the call for the State of Emergency, he stated, “We are here to come up with solutions, here to build a community government, government that belongs to the people, a People’s Community Congress. Each ward will have a leader that will be accountable to the congress.” He invited all the organizations represented at the conference and more to participate in this congress.

On Feb. 2, a panel of speakers addressed a variety of topics. Ori Muhammad of the Millions More Movement and Roland Muhammad of the Nation of Islam spoke to the issue of Economic Genocide in the Black Community.

On the topic of political prisoners,Yahya Abdus Sabur reported from the Imam Jamil Al-Amim (the former H. Rap Brown) Defense Committee, and Sister Amirah of the New Black Panther Party reported on two political prisoners on Missouri’s death row. Sister Fajr of the Midwest Team of Political Awareness of the New Black Panther Party is reaching audiences through hip hop and poetry as they go from city to city keeping people informed about the political prisoners still behind bars.

On the topic of the prison industrial complex, Ms. Hasan pointed out that prisons are a $35 billion, money-making business. As raw material for this business, she said, “Black men are being manufactured and processed.” She compared the prison system to the drug companies “which treat you without really curing you, otherwise they would go bankrupt.” So prison is not about rehabilitation. “The prison-industrial complex is not going to change if Obama is elected,” she stated.