'The spirit of freedom is rising' over yourself. Never say that the whole world has been

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The following is a speech by Don Muhammad, Min- nomic power, then you don't have any power. So make key to go into a dwelling ister of Mosque #11, Nation of Islam, in Boston, Mass. no mistake about it, that's what the bottom line is.

And if you play sports—they worry about you on have a home. Nobody has anything to eat unless we all South Africa Tour forum at Northeastern University first base. Maybe a little bit more on second [base]. But can get up with a full stomach. Say to the world that where the featured speaker was WOSA organizer Mercia when you get to third base, they've got to stop you no one is educated until the least is educated. Because Andrews. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Chris Nteta from scoring. So the move that's going on in South the world powers want to keep you and me fighting and Africa is tantamount to be the movement on third we must get rid of what is keeping us apart. Don't let WOSA who will gravitate to ber words. you like. power and money. And it's not really power today to go base-because the masses are crying out in South ears. And the Atlantic [Ocean] is not going to stop me to a restaurant with another individual. It's not real Africa that their voices must be heard.

They gave us the vote without too much of a fight in they need help today, we might need their help tomorvidual. It's not even real power to be able to sit in a America because our numbers were not that significant. row. And if we can get them freedom today, with the But in South Africa, you can vote yourself into power gold and the diamonds and the uranium and the tungsten See, real power comes from money. Real power and into economic independence at the same time. in South Africa, they can help fuel our revolution comes from economics. And the world powers see that That's what the fight is about.

people] to gain control of their economic destiny. And you in Roxbury, in Massachusetts, in Boston, in Because I'm just a cog in the wheel—the wheel of freeCambridge. And all over this country, hopefully, peo- dom that's going to roll over every oppressor on earth It's not about one man, and one vote. It's about get- ple will see that what Sister Andrews represents is a And you do not want to be underneath it, you ought to ting access to power. It's about getting access to what fight that we all must take part in. really runs the world. And if you don't have any eco- No decent human being should ever go to bed and say very much. • A monthly newspaper with a working class Introductory offer: $3 for 6 months SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL 1992 19 The speech was given at the March 6 Democracy in of Northeastern University.

Well, you really didn't come here to hear me this evening. I'm bere because I want to hear Sister Andrews. But 1 will just have a few words to say-because South Africa is just next door to Massachusetts. If you're not careful, it might be next door to Roxbury. We're not that far in this country from what is going on in South Africa today.

But what the world powers really tear about what is happening in South Africa is that people at Northeastern [University] tonight will listen to a representative of They're fearful that a movement might get started... that will see that justice is done.

Not only in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The world powers are fearful that a spirit of unity might be created, and watered, and nurtured here tonight.

So don't worry about thinking that South Africa is a long way off; it might just be at the tip of your fingers. Because what's going on in South Africa if we're not care.

ful, will come back to haunt us the way it was in Mississippi and Alabama just a few years ago.

Because the real threat today is about power to sit down at a lunch counter with another indischool with another individual.

what is going on in South Africa is an effort [by Black they want to cut it off at the pass.

... March 29 (continued from page choice" capitalist candidates.

If there were labor party candidates to vote for, an electoral strategy to winning our rights would make sense. In the absence of a mass working-class party, however, focusing on elections is tantamount to tying the movement to the very politicians who deny us our rights.

By contrast, speakers from Socialist Action and other groups who emphasized the importance of mass action, independent of the two-capitalist-party system, got the best response from the crowd. This showed that the activists gathered at the rally were receptive to strategies other than Name Address City Phone just voting. This message should not be lost on the leadership of the pro-choice movement when it decides its next step.

Unfortunately, besides going to the voting booths in November, not much else was presented to women's rights activists about what to do next.

For example, little was said of the need for continuing clinic defense against Operation Rescue. This was despite the fact that an Easter Week blockade is being organized for the San Francisco Bay Area.

Because of the electoral focus of many of the groups represented at the rally, it's unclear how the pro-choice movement will unite for the next steps after April 5. Many groups are focusing on the upcoming elections, at a time when the need for mass mobilizations in defense of our right to choose has never been greater.

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Clip and return to: Socialist Action, 3425 Army St., San Francisco, CA 94110. (415) 821-0458 They're fearful that some support may come from (continued from page politicians who, because they are beholden to the interests of the rich, will sell us out. This is the proven record of the electoral strategy of the women's movement.

On the other hand, these two marches prove that when the call goes out to mobilize in defense of our rights, and a serious effort to organize women's rights supporters is made, the response is tremendous. How can we capitalize on this success?

The March 29 action provides one answer. That march was organized on a local basis by the San Francisco Area Pro-Choice Coalition. Though people came from other areas in California and a few Western states, the bulk of the demonstraSay that-NO!-nobody has a home until we all anyone tell you that class, that race and creed, is the barometer.

No, I never saw a white person that didn't have but five fingers, and I never saw a red person that had more than two hands and I never saw a yellow person who didn't have two eyes. We're one and the same.

You know, it's just like mashed potatoes and french fries; it's just like potato salad and home fries; it's just like vanilla and chocolate and strawberry. It's just the flavor that But the flavor that stirs us all is freedom and we know when we don't have it. You cannot look at an individual and say, no matter what his language is, he cries the same way, he pains the same way, he loves the same way, he hates the same way, and the spirit of freedom is something on this earth that is rising And you may as well join this time or be swept by.

I'm here tonight because I want to support the freedom fighters whose cry for freedom is echoing in my from joining with my brothers and sisters because as should we need to have one in America So I'm happy. I'm pleased just to be here with you.

want to be with the wheel that's rolling. Thank you Joseph Ryan/Sociallst Actlon tors came from the San Francisco Bay area. In the current crisis, such local and regional efforts must be repeated on a coordinated national basis.

Failure to use our most powerful tactics—mobilizing ever-larger street demonstrations-can only result in a defeat, as the dismal example of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) campaign shows.

Abortion rights are being lost in state after state. Though we still formally have Roe v. Wade on the books, real accessibility has already been lost!

Independent mass action is a proven winner. It's how women won the right to vote. It's how workers won the eight-hour day. It's how Jim Crow segregation was smashed. We can win reproductive freedom by the same methods.

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