Sat. May 26 -- African Liberation Day declares “One Africa, One Nation”
/When: Saturday, May 26, 2007
Conference 9:00 a.m. –1:00 p.m.; Rally 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Where: Washington, D.C.
Conference - Union Temple Baptist Church, 1225 W Street S.E.;
Rally - Anacostia Park, 1900 Anacostia Drive S.E.
Contact: Diop Olugbala, 646-620-2266, alduhuru@yahoo.com
On May 26th, 2007, African activists from throughout the U.S. and the world will converge on Washington, DC for a unique African Liberation Day (ALD) mobilization. This city, where decisions that affect the lives of billions of people around the world are made, has seen its share of protest. Recently, everyone from anti-war activists to immigration rights advocates has shown up at George Bush’s doorstep. Organizers of this African Liberation Day mobilization intend to utilize the event to create concrete programs and campaigns to solve the crises facing Africans worldwide.
ALD National Coordinator Gaida Kambon states, “Wherever we go, African people are suffering the same conditions. Unemployment, sickness, poor education, imprisonment, the list goes on. We can no longer afford to march just for the sake of marching. We must march with the intention of walking through the doors of a new period in history – a period in which the African will know freedom, dignity and pride. We are one billion people strong, building One Africa; One Nation!’”
African People’s Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela will deliver the keynote address to the mobilization. Other featured speakers include Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, Director of the Africanist Movement with over 70,000 members in West Africa; Wautella ibn Yusuf, Co-Chair of the Washington Metropolitan Chapter of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA); Malik Zulu Shabazz, Chairman of the New Black Panther Party; Pam Africa, President of the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Lawrence Hamm, leader of the People’s Organization for Progress; New York City Councilman Charles Barron, and Shaquanda Cotton, the 14-year-old girl just released from prison in Texas on charges of pushing a high school hall monitor in self-defense.
Dr. Aisha C. Fields, a PhD in physics and Director of the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project will lead a workshop on building sustainable energy and clean water infrastructure for African communities from Sierra Leone, West Africa. Max Rameau, the leader of Umoja Village, a shantytown run by the homeless in Liberty City, Miami will facilitate a workshop on housing rights. The “Touch One, Touch All” workshop will teach attendees how they can participate in the first Congress of the African Socialist International, set to take place in Senegal in 2008.
ALD organizer Diop Olugbala urges African people to participate in the practical work to build a worldwide liberation movement. “We’ve seen a million man march, a million woman march and a million youth march,” he states, “but the only real outcome was that 3 million people can say they marched. This African Liberation Day takes things to the next level. You won’t leave African Liberation Day not knowing what you can do to make change in your community!”
The African Liberation Day Conference will take place on Saturday, May 26, from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Union Temple Baptist Church, 1225 W Street, S.E. The Rally will follow, from 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Anacostia Park, 1900 Anacostia Drive S.E. Both events are sponsored by the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement, which organizes community self-reliance programs and campaigns for democratic and human rights throughout the U.S. and internationally.
For more information, contact the ALD Committee at 204 Washington St., Frederick, MD 21701, phone: (301) 695-2930, email: alduhuru@yahoo.com, or visit www.alduhuru.org.
