Black Panther Party of Northern California - Freedom Archives

criticism dixected towards members of the
B1ac~common front is absolutely essential if
the TTY is to lead ~o a positive end (the
libexation-bf Mack people) . UMOJA without a
meant to haxness the evil spirits of disunity,'
vehich constantly attempt to disrupt the foxces
of 81aok harmony, is an UMOJA planted u upon,'
shaky earth, .
With this in mind, Brothers and Sister , it
must be said that the xecent remark that_'"e~
very Negro is a potential traitor" cumin"g ; to ;
us'from certain quarters is a very dangezous
concept . it runs counter to the fact that it
is the masses of peopJ.e (not "leaders", who
take ideas from the masses only to,give them
back in sys"tematized form) who bring int©' ,exi
tence the forces of change uppn the face of
the earth :` lt_~.s dangerous because it pulls
its insp~:ration NOT from Black people, :'ki+ut
from the'oppressor,,who has been jamming'sim- . ;
ilar ideas df . distrust in~a the corners,, .of ~'
our` brains for over three hundred ,years . Who
does thes idea benefit?? If 'pushed to tslogical
conclusion, this concept would poison
any and every basis fox `the foxmatio'n gf.UMO-
JA among $lack people throughout the U.S . ;
and the reflections of its evil 'vibrations
would cast their spell upon all the oppressed;
of the planet,. Only , the oppressor ~youLd-ben=' .
efit :
Realiz ng that MAN is bound by the concrete,
objective realities of the UNNETt5B, it is
o
p.o . box 15187
san francisco
PAGE 9 ~IA~I~ Pa'W~k
a] .so' true that if the i.dsaaas which he exp~xesses
fall shoat of these bo~xn.c]aries, the unnatural
barrier® of , tae m3;nd which he him$el~
has set up will at bef~ hinde~x his gxoW~h, ainc
at worst, threatcan ~i~ survival :",, If we sera
to believe that "evezy Nagra is a potential
trtr~tor," , an idea which mini find snppo~t . it
certain isolated circumstances, but wk~ich it
geheral is certainly untxue, we wou7 ;d never
be'able .to move beyond this synthetic ba~x e~
which we our elves have cotastruGted out ~a~
our own colonial mentalities . We woul d re "
main slaves not only to this idea,' but to the
powers which oppress us . . .
Brothers and Sisters : Let us~ move to sta:n~
out the' mental swamps imp~.inted by slaver3
and ueo-slavery upon the good Bl,a.ck moil' oy
good Shack minds. Criticism mint beg q fires"i
with self-cr _ticism , . and it must he carnet
out in a, way which brings about .UMOJA of sel~
and kind . `The HOUSS o~ UMOJA ex~.sts for _the
pur.pase of bringing about the UNIT'S and LIB"
SRATION of all Mack people . All of - us wil]
overcome our hangups, and Black people wil]
win : : That's how . bad we are: :
Ndarnase anal Nlkal moto
Co-Chairmen, ,IiOUS~i, of UMOJA
fihe, Journal of Black Po®t
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