Black rights organization holds conference at U. this weekend

Urging both blacks and whites to revolt against capitalism and fight for a self-governing black community, an outspoken black rights activist gave the keynote address at a conference Saturday. Omali Yeshitela, chairperson of the African People's Socialist Party, told an enthusiastic audience of about 30 students and local residents that the success of capitalism can be directly traced back to the slave trade. "Capitalism must be destroyed and wiped off the planet Earth," Yeshitela said. "It creates the worst tendencies in human beings." The conference, sponsored by the African People's Solidarity Committee, was held in Logan Hall. Emphatically stating that "revolution is good," Yeshitela criticized black leaders who advocate integration. He called Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesse Jackson "sell-outs". "The problems of the African people didn't start when someone separated us from white people, they started when someone introduced the white people to us." During his speech, Yeshitela accused the United States government of masterminding a systematic "counterinsurgency" against revolutionaries in the black community. He cited the government-sponsored war on drugs as the most recent manifestation of this plot "designed to keep black people down." "The government puts the drugs in the community, then puts the war on drugs in the community," Yeshitela said. The conference, was aimed primarily at encouraging whites to work along with the black community to protect the rights of blacks. "Any time you see or know of the democratic right of black people being violated, you have got to take a stand," Yeshitela told the audience. The chairperson told the audience that they must become more involved in the political process in their own communities. Alison Hoehne, who moderated the conference, said "The white community has to recognize the truth. Right now we have the power over everybody in the world. We want to see the end of capitalism."

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