BLACK IS BACK!

Black Is Back Nov. 7th D.C. Rally!

Check out the link Below! Donate or join the Rally!

http://www.blackisbackcoalition.org/

UHURU HOLIDAY ONLINE AUCTION!

Socially Conscious Holiday Shopping Starts Now...

A fundraiser for the African Village Survival Initiative.
The Auction is now open for bidding! www.APEDF.org/AUCTION
(Bookmark this page!)

* Unique gifts! Something for everyone!
* Handmade, one-of-a-kind items!
* Massage, Jewelry, Original Artwork, Gourmet Foods, Pampered Pet Products, Gardening and more!

Your participation raises critically needed resources
for the programs of African Village Survival Initiative!

Other ways to support the Uhuru Holiday Online Auction:

* Forward this email to others!
* Join our Facebook page and "share" with friends!
* Contact us to receive promo cards - leave them at coffee houses, restaurants and other venues in your neighborhood!
* Make a donation! Any amount makes a difference!

All items in the Uhuru Holiday Online Auction were donated by artists, businesses and individuals to express support for the programs of the African Village Survival Initiative. Please bid generously - show your support for African development in African hands!

For more information contact: auction@apedf.org, 727-683-9949

Black Is Back Nov. 7th D.C. Rally

Check out the link to the video promo for Black is Back!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_5miyG5nTI

Urgently Needed Volunteers for Food Booth at Circus McGurkis

Uhuru Foods Needs Volunteers for our food booth at the outdoor all day festival, Circus McGurkis - Saturday, October 24th


Uhuru Foods is looking for volunteers to help with this important fundraiser during shifts from 7 am - 5 pm at Lake Vista park in St. Petersburg. We ask that you sign up for a four-hour shift or longer, if possible. You are welcome to staff with us all day!

Circus McGurkis is a fun and exciting outdoor event! This is a perfect volunteer opportunity for individuals or groups, no experience is necessary. Also a great way to complete volunteer service hours.

All proceeds from our booth supports active, community-based projects of the Uhuru Movement. Visit www.APEDF.org and www.DevelopmentForAfrica.org.

We call on all people seeking positive and lasting change in the world to support the Uhuru Movement's call for "Sustainability thru self-determination for African people."

For all our volunteers we provide a complimentary meal and the opportunity to demonstrate true solidarity with the peoples of Africa. Your hard work really makes a difference with Uhuru Foods!

Please join us as we roll up our sleeves and get busy - giving back to Africa!

For more information and to schedule a shift please contact Stephanie Midler, Volunteer Coordinator with Uhuru Foods at 727-510-4360 or stpete@uhurufoods.org.

Black is Back! Moblization Meeting

Attend the Uhuru Solidarity Movement meeting to mobilize solidarity with this historic African-led march!

Thursday, October 22nd at 6:00 pm

Atlanta Bread Community Room, 179 1st Ave. N., St. Petersburg

Get on the bus for D.C.!

Attend the meeting Thursday for full details.

Bus ticket costs $135 per person. Includes travel from Friday morning, arriving D.C. Saturday, 11/7 morning. Rally and March will last until the evening. Bus will leave D.C. that night and arrive back in St. Pete on Sunday 11/8.

Call us at 727-683-9949 for more information or email us uhurusolidaritystpete@gmail.com

Demonstration at Baywalk!

Gather at Baywalk, 8:10 pm sharp

Type:	Causes - Protest
Network:	Global

Date:	Friday, October 16, 2009
Time:	8:30pm - 10:30pm
Location:	Baywalk

If you can't attend but want to take action, contact your representatives and make your voice heard:
• Email or call Mayor Rick Baker at mayor@stpete.org, 727-893-7201
• Email or call City Council at council@stpete.org, 727-893-7117

Freedom Greetings and Uhuru Sisters, Brothers and Comrades,
A Call to Action

The last week has and particularly, this last Thursday's City Council meeting have revealed to us that CW Capital Holdings (the Wells Fargo Bank political hacks) has no intention of dealing honestly with African people or any other forces for that matter.

After the initial meeting of October 1, 2009 with CW Capital Holdings, the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, St. Pete for Peace, and Veterans for Peace, where we all agreed to operate in good faith as an initial step toward a possible agreement on the Baywalk Bailout and sidewalk giveaway proposal, we have encountered nothing but back door wheeling and dealing.

CW Capital has convinced the City Council to reconsider their tie vote that temporarily stalled the implementation of the Baywalk proposal that would give CW Capital control of the public sidewalk and prevent free speech in that traditional public forum. In addition, This proposal will give $700,000 in capital improvements to CW Capital Holdings, which has bragged that they have more than 11 billion dollars in assets.

Comrades this is an outrage. This proposal is being forced through council by CW Capital as 71% of the African community live at or below the poverty line. This money clearly should be redirected to the African community for economic development to create new African businesses and improve the existing African businesses.

Comrades sisters and brothers, the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement is calling on all who believe in justice and free speech to join us in principled unity and a day of outrage as we demonstrate at Baywalk on Friday, October 16, 2009 at 8:30pm.We are asking people to meet at the corner of 2nd street and 2nd Avenue to assemble for the demonstration at 8:10pm sharp.

The demands will be economic development for the African community, not for the Wells Fargo crooks and freedom of speech at Baywalk and to keep the sidewalk public. Please be advised that we expect at the Thursday, October 15th City Council meeting that council will give the public sidewalk to CW Capital Holdings and the $700,000 bailout with federal taxpayer's money. What this means is that there may be tresspass warnings given to protesters. However, the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement believes that if handled correctly this could actually work in the favor of the demonstrators.

We are asking all who believe in Justice to attend a strategy meeting on Wednesday, October 14th, at the Uhuru House 1245 18th Avenue South at 10:00am. We believe we can defeat this anti-democratic measure by the city and CW Capital, but it is going to take a protracted effort involving a multi-faceted strategy.

We are asking that all organizations and individuals please respond to this e-mail with their committment to attend the strategy session and demonstrations. InPDUM can be reached via e-mail address stpeteinpdum@yahoo.com or call us at (727)851-2086 or (727)322-3882.

Please bring blank posters so we can write them up for the demonstration.

Stand for Free Speech!
Stand for Economic Development for the African Community!
Chimurenga Waller, President InPDUM

African People’s Solidarity Day Challenges U.S. War Here and Abroad

A Call for Solidarity with the African Anti-Colonial Struggle

Sunday, October 11th, St. Petersburg, Fl
Tuesday, October 20th, Oakland, Ca
Sunday, October 25th, Philadelphia, Pa

Throughout the month of October, African People’s Solidarity Day events in three different cities across the country will organize solidarity with African and oppressed peoples rising up to take control of the land and resources of Africa and demand payback for the wealth stolen from African people that created the U.S. economic system.

Colonialism, Not Racism
In the face of a deepening economic crisis, the African People’s Solidarity Committee and the Uhuru Solidarity Movement are white people that stand in solidarity with the African liberation movement and organize support for the Uhuru Movement campaigns and programs. With thousands of foreclosures, massive imprisonment and rampant police brutality, violence and poverty afflicting the African communities in the U.S., we recognize that the question is not racism, but that colonialism exists right here.

Through the march at Malcolm X Park in Washington D.C. planned for November 7th by the newly formed Black is Back Coalition, the African working class led Uhuru Movement is leading the struggle to oppose U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to oppose the brutal wars against African and oppressed peoples right here in the U.S. Following the legacy of the Marcus Garvey Movement, Malcolm X and the Black Power Movement, the Uhuru Movement is building a movement for self-determination, justice and reparations to the African community.

African People’s Solidarity Day, an annual day of recognition, is a call for support and resources from the white community as an expression of unity with economic and social justice for the African community.

APSD programs feature dynamic leaders
Keynote speaker Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African Socialist International (ASI) will summarize the current world situation, comparing U.S. military and economic intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan with domestic counterinsurgency programs and discussing the Uhuru Movement’s strategy for achieving national liberation for African people worldwide.

Author and African People’s Solidarity Committee Chairwoman Penny Hess, whose multi-media presentation will detail the effects of U.S. economic and military policy on colonized African communities, declares, “We don’t want to see America’s economic crisis resolved at the expense of African people once again. This is a time of great opportunity to support sustainable solutions being put forward by the victims of the current system, who are rising up to define their own agenda and determine their own destiny.”

At events in St. Petersburg, Florida and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chioma Oruh, Chairwoman, of the ASI’s North American Region, and a nationally recognized expert on AFRICOM will explain the mission of AFRICOM and the response of African leaders to it. Chioma Oruh resides in Washington, D.C. where she is pursuing a PhD in African Studies at Howard University.

Featuring Keynote Speaker: Omali Yeshitela

• • Founder of the International Uhuru Movement
• • Leading a delegation to West Africa next month to found
  • African People’s Socialist Party, Sierra Leone
  
• • Founder of the “Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace & Reparations” marching on Washington D.C. Nov 7
  • Just back from the March & InPDUM Convention in Philly

Other Speakers:

Chioma Oruh
Chair, North American region of the African Socialist International

Penny Hess
Chair, African People's Solidarity Committee

Diop Olugbala
Phila leader, International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement

APSD raises money for African self-determination
African People’s Solidarity Day is a benefit for the African Village Survival Initiative (AVSI). The AVSI is the joint effort of the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project (www.developmentforafrica.org) and the African People’s Education & Defense Fund (www.apedf.org), to create community-led, self-sustaining economic institutions such as rain water harvesting, community agriculture and healthcare for the African community as a collective response to the global economic crisis. A local project of the AVSI is to outfit the Uhuru House in south St. Petersburg, with a recording studio as an institution of international African culture and a commercial kitchen for community based economic development projects.

Get Involved!

• Register for APSD in Oakland or Philly
• Take the Pledge to Take a Stand to Stop U.S. Colonial Wars Here and Abroad
• Donate! St. Pete • Oakland • Philly

Breakfast with a Good Cause!

Volunteer with us in our kitchen. No skills required! Food Preparation needed Wednesday 6 - 8 pm and Friday 10 - 1 pm. No skills required!

and/or Volunteer with Uhuru Foods at the St. Pete Saturday Morning Market at our gourmet breakfast fundraising food booth. Shifts available from between 7 am - 4 pm Saturday, October 17h! No experience necessary!

and/0r Volunteers needed to help load equipment onto our truck, unload food items into our kitchen and wash dishes! If you're not one to want to work with customers but want to volunteer with a great team - this behind-the-scenes volunteer opportunity is for you!

Date:	Saturday, October 17, 2009
Time:	1:00pm-4:00pm

Location:	Al Lang Parking Lot, Lakewood United Church of Christ
Street:	230 1st Ave. S., 2601 54th ave. S.
City/Town:	Saint Petersburg, FL

If you're interested in volunteering, contact us today and help raise money for sustainability and self-determination in the African community! Stephanie, Volunteer Coordinator, 727-683-9949 or email stpete@uhurufoods.org

The Murder of Oscar Grant, the Mehserle Trial and African People's Solidarity Day

Anyone who was born prior to yesterday knows that on January 1st of this year, young Oscar Grant was shot and killed in full view of the public and multiple videocameras shown for the world to see by former BART cop Johannes Mehserle in collaboration with a gang of other BART police officers.

As the Mehserle defense attempts to make their case to win a change of venue, citing "racial polarization," threats of violence and other "arguments," we must remember that African people and victims of police violence in this country have historically not been given a fair trial. 

In fact, the state apparatus protects itself.  It is a rare occurrence to even have a police officer stand trial for the "use of deadly force." History shows that police are systematically acquitted of murder.  The courts, crime labs and prison system all work together to ensure that police departments are rarely held accountable for their crimes. Case in point, the Oakland Riders, four cops accused of brutally beating suspects in West Oakland, falsifying police reports and planting evidence were acquitted time and time again.

Most recently, eleven Oakland officers were fired for falsifying search warrants that they utilized to raid peoples' homes in East Oakland. This is the same police department whose internal affairs chief was exposed as having killed Jerry Amaro III, after having kicked him to death in 2000. For nine years, this information was covered up by the Oakland Police Department. 

It should be as conspicuously clear to anyone who is paying attention that the police are a brutal presence in the African and other oppressed communities and that they lie to cover up their crimes. The mainstream media, for the most part, will only expose their crimes after the proverbial cat's body has completely jumped out of the bag. On a daily basis, the media works to justify the presence of the police in the black community, which is kept impoverished and under seige by the U.S. government imposed drug economy that in turn is used to justify more police. 

At this time in history, in spite of a black president, one million African people are locked down in prisons under this "war on drugs."  In California, even though African people make up just 5% of the population, they represent 50% of those incarcerated in the one of the largest prison systems in the world. 

While the city of Oakland spends nearly half of its general budget on this war, one in five households live on $5,000 or less per year and virtually none on economic development. Even their other budget that is supposedly earmarked for economic development is spent on police related services and gentrification efforts, buying banners and planters to superficially make a neighborhood look friendlier for shoppers using Community and Economic Development Agency monies that are supposed to go to alleviate the poverty in Oakland. 

The actions of Lovelle Mixon in Oakland, California on March 21st took place within this context. Mixon, having recently been released from prison in the fall of 2008, faced an unprecedented economic downturn. He was living in a city in which the public slaughter of Oscar Grant was captured on numerous phone and video cameras for the entire world to see.

We will never know exactly what was in the mind of Lovelle Mixon on that afternoon when he was pulled over on a "routine traffic stop," but we do know that the events of the day took place within a political context of police terror, repression and violence against the African community.

Recent revelations in the media also point to the coverup of lies that took place about exactly what happened in the apartment building where the Oakland SWAT team raid took place, resulting in the deaths of the third and fourth officers, so much that an independent panel will be called in for the investigation.

We may never find out what exactly happened in the apartment where SWAT officers Erv Romans and Daniel Sakai and Lovelle Mixon were killed; however, we do know that that the same entities that reported the reported the police version of events also reported the state crime lab results that pinned a rape of a child on Mixon. This was a rape that, if it did happen, was not reported to the school that stands within a mile of the area where they say it occurred. These were lab results that came out after Mixon was killed.

Time and time again, we see the war on the African community being carried out with the full support of the public and in conjunction with the media slander of an entire community. When Jody "Mack" Woodfox was killed by Oakland Police Officer Jimenez in July of 2008, there was no outcry from the public. Woodfox was killed by multiple shots to his backside while running away from the police.   Oakland police officer Hector Jimenez is also responsible for the shooting death of 20 year old Andrew Moppin, on New Year's Eve, 2007. 

When Jose Luis Buenrostro was killed in mid day just a block away from his house, the media reported the police version that the 16 year old had hidden a sawed off in his pajamas. They also came out with subsequent articles that insinuated that the Oakland Aviation High School student was somehow affiliated with a gang, assigning a low price to his life. 

When 71 year old Casper Banjo, a pillar in the Black Arts Movement had an epileptic seizure and was surrounded and shot right in front of house near Eastmont Mall, there was dead silence on the part of the general public and media. So far there have been no consequences for any of these deaths. 

It is time for those of us who say that we are about social justice to fully understand the role of the state, the organized system of violence that arises in society when there exists haves and have nots, colonized and colonized, oppressor and oppressed. 

For too long, white progressives, who may come out for a big march against the U.S. war in Iraq have stood silently where the African community faces this police terror, in the name of safety, in the name of diversity, with the celebration of a black president and in our name.

No longer can we afford to stand silently by while young people like Lovelle Mixon face no future. The African community has been the hardest hit by the economic collapse. No longer can we seek the means for our own survival - whether it be eco-friendly, DIY, gay friendly or in some other way alternative - if it does not include the complete and total transformation of a system based on genocide and slavery. 

The problems that African people face - in the U.S., on the continent, and around the world - are our problems to face, embrace and address. Let's support the African Village Survival Initiative and its collective response to the economic crisis. Let's say yes to collective and community gardening, rainwater harvesting, solar and wind energy, economic self-reliance, but it has to be under the umbrella of African self-determination, not within a system that robs self-reliance from the peoples of Africa and all over the world.

 

These problems can't be solved by a struggle against racism, which are simply the ideas in peoples' heads but are being solved by an anti-colonial struggle led by African and other oppressed peoples for liberation and justice in the tradition of Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party.

Come out to African People's Solidarity Day on Tuesday, October 20th from 6 to 9:30pm at the Humanist Hall at 390 - 27th St. to hear for yourself about the African Socialist International, the African Village Survival Initiative and the Black is Back Coalition challenging the U.S. colonial war here and abroad. $10-25 sliding scale but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

To register, go to www.uhurusolidarity.org. For more info, email oakland@uhurusolidarity.org or call 510-625-1106

Volunteers Needed for Food Prep, Sat. Morn Mrkt, and Breakdown!

Volunteer with us in our kitchen. No skills required! Food Preparation needed Wednesday 6 - 8 pm and Friday 10 - 1 pm. No skills required!

and/or Volunteer with Uhuru Foods at the St. Pete Saturday Morning Market at our gourmet breakfast fundraising food booth. Shifts available from between 7 am - 4 pm Saturday, October 10th! No experience necessary!

and/0r Volunteers needed to help load equipment onto our truck, unload food items into our kitchen and wash dishes! If you're not one to want to work with customers but want to volunteer with a great team - this behind-the-scenes volunteer opportunity is for you!

Date:	Saturday, October 10, 2009
Time:	4:00pm - 6:00pm

Location:	Al Lang Parking Lot, Lakewood United Church of Christ
Street:	230 1st Ave. S., 2601 54th ave. S.
City/Town:	Saint Petersburg, FL

If you're interested in volunteering, contact us today and help raise money for sustainability and self-determination in the African community! Stephanie, Volunteer Coordinator, 727-683-9949 or email stpete@uhurufoods.org

Volunteer with Uhuru Foods at the St. Pete Saturday Morning Market

Lend a hand!

Volunteer with Uhuru Foods at the St. Pete Saturday Morning Market at our gourmet breakfast fundraising food booth. Shifts available from between 7 am - 4 pm Saturday, October 3rd! No experience necessary! Make a difference - Have a great time! Uhuru Foods is raising money for urgently needed programs that are addressing the struggle of African people around the world for social and economic justice. We need volunteers to help prepare, serve and sell fresh made to order omelets, red potato home fries, locally made bakery toast, our famous breakfast burritos and scrambled egg platters! No experience is necessary and we will work with your schedule. Want to be part of an exciting day, on a great team? Need to complete volunteer hours? Uhuru Foods needs your help! Contact us today to sign up. Volunteers are needed between the hours of 7:00 am - 4:00 pm on Saturday. We invite you to sign up for at least a 4 hour shift. All volunteers with us will enjoy a free meal from our booth and the opportunity to be part of a truly meaningful fundraiser. Past volunteers have given their experiences with us rave reviews! If you're interested in volunteering, contact us today and help raise money for sustainability and self-determination in the African community! Stephanie, Volunteer Coordinator, 727-683-9949 or email stpete@uhurufoods.org

Be Part of History in the Making: African People’s Solidarity Day is your Ticket!

Secure your tickets now for:

African People’s Solidarity Day (APSD)

• - Register online: www.uhurusolidarity.org

Sunday, October 11th, St. Petersburg, Fl

1 pm at Studio@620

620 1^st Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL

$20 - $50 donation per ticket requested (No one will be turned away from attending the event due to lack of funds.)

Throughout the month of October, APSD events in three cities across the country are challenging the war abroad and the war here in the U.S., with a call for solidarity with the African anti-colonial struggle.

Your ticket to APSD will include:

• - Presentations by an incredible program of speakers!
• - Dinner
• - African drummers and dancers
• - Special Presentations including the unveiling of the 2010 historic calendar of Omali Yeshitela!
• - The opportunity to express solidarity with the right of African and oppressed peoples to the land and resources of Africa and to payback for the all wealth stolen from African people, economic development and social justice for the African community!

African People’s Solidarity Day – the event to kick off this time of genuine transformation in the world!

Also in October, the African People’s Socialist Party will put a branch of the organization on the ground in Sierra Leone, Africa. The Uhuru Movement in Africa means African people can organize in their own interests!

Then, on November 7^th, the newly formed “Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations” led by members of the Uhuru Movement and the NAACP, MOVE, the Green Party, Black Agenda Report and many other grassroots organizations will march on Washington D.C. to oppose U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to oppose the brutal wars against African and oppressed peoples right here in the U.S.

The African People’s Solidarity Committee and the Uhuru Solidarity Movement are sponsoring this event. We are white people that stand in solidarity with the African liberation movement and organize support for the campaigns and programs of the Uhuru Movement.

APSD Program:

Keynote Speaker: Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African Socialist International, providing a summary of the current world situation, comparing U.S. military and economic intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan with domestic counterinsurgency programs and discussing the Uhuru Movement’s strategy for national liberation for African people worldwide.

Chioma Oruh, Chair, African Socialist International, North American Region, and a nationally recognized expert on AFRICOM, explaining the mission of AFRICOM and the response of African leaders to it.

Penny Hess, National Chair of the African People’s Solidarity Committee, and Author providing a multi-media presentation to detail the effects of U.S. economic and military policy on colonized African communities, and the sustainable solutions being proposed.

Workshop: African Village Survival Initiative (AVSI), featuring:

Ironiff Ifoma, Director of Economic Development, African People’s Socialist Party

Kitty Reilly, Uhuru House Development Campaign

AVSI is outfitting the Uhuru House with a commercial kitchen and a state-of-the-art recording studio. Both are part of creating economic development by providing the space and essential equipment for burgeoning catering businesses, as well as artists in the community to produce and distribute their own culture!