Dr. Khallid Muhammad: Warrior King for Contemporary Times

"THE CHOSEN PEOPLE"

From:

http://www.geocities.com/drkhalidmuhummadmemorial/

Greetings and Welcome to all who visit this humble contribution to the memory of our Brotha Dr. Khallid Abdul Muhammad. We are honored to share this. Both the website designer and the sponsor of this site, are most greatful for the blessing of having known brotha Khallid personally. Had We not, and We had to depend souly on the writings, commentaries and distortions available while researching, nothing would have been found except information on his passing or how those cultural imperialists and supremists distorted reactions to the dedication, commitment and principles that brotha Khallid embraced and the work he accomplished that benefited Black folks in the Diaspora.

We remember with gratitude the work and the good that he did to help in the rebuilding work of the Nation of Islam. Many of us benefited from his work to double the pace in our struggle for the complete liberation of Black people in the Diaspora. Brotha Khallid was a conscious New Afrikan and worked with the Provisional Government Republic of New Afrika to continue the work of building our soverign Black Nation. His Pan-Afrikan, Afrikan Centered, Black Nationalist spirit lives on thru his spirit and work.

Brotha Khallid attended Dillard University in New Orleans, in the late 1960s. It was there that he became interested in the Black liberation movement. Brotha Khallid became well known among the grass roots folks who weren't famous, had no national aclaim, but who were the ones doing the less than glamorous daily foundation work of Black Nation building. His circle of interaction, exceeded those thought of as "Black leaders" and spread to the masses of Black people.

Brotha Khallid was named one of Farrakhan's top lieutenants in the Nation of Islam in 1981. He served in Nation of Islam mosques in New York and Atlanta throughout the decade, and in 1991 became Farrakhan's personal assistant. It was Farrakhan who gave him the name Khallid — which is Arabic, and like the Ngoni Afrikan language is Kamau (quiet warrior), Khalid means durable; one who does not grow weak; or he remains strong even in old age; warrior — but he was born Harold Moore Jr. in 1948. "i was born to give the white man hell, and i will give him hell from the cradle to the grave," he told an Atlanta crowd in 1995. Bro. Khallid held the post of national spokesman for the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam from 1991 until 1993. By 1985, Brotha Khallid had become one of Minister Louis Farrakhan's most trusted advisors in the Nation of Islam. He accompanied Farrakhan on fund-raising trips to Libya, where he became well acquainted with Muammar el-Qaddafi. Brotha Khalid's dedication to Farrakhan and to the message of the NOI secured him the title of national spokesman.

Ma'at, "the truth" of Brotha Khallid's remarks, first drew harsh criticism for a speech he gave at New Jersey's Kean College in November 1993. He aledgedly referred to Jews as "bloodsuckers," and aledgedly called for the karmic-genocide of white people. Farrakhan responded to Brotha Khallid's speech by removing him from the NOI's hierarchy, although he took issue only with the form, not "the truth" of Brotha Khalid's remarks. After being stripped of his position as NOI spokesman, Brotha Khallid led the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense (NBPP), which was in the public spotlight in Jasper, Texas. He traveled with about 50 comrades to protect the streets of Jasper in the wake of the heinous racial (nebulous, vague and ambiguous term that it is to define our condition) murder of James Byrd Jr. He also organized and led the 1998 Million Youth March in New York. Many misinformed and deluted persons blamed Brotha Khalid for inciting the melee between demonstrators and new york city poLICE officers, which concluded the march, by exhorting the crowd to beat the police with rails and to shoot them with their own guns in "self-defense." What an oxymoron it is to acuse him of inciting against police as if such incitement is required to provoke nyc poLICE to attack Black people. Such delusions implies that Black folks have no right to self defense in the face of such common paternalistic superiority complexed attacks.

Muhammad led the "Million Youth March" in New York City in 1998. The rally, attended by about 6,000 people, ended in poLICE attack on marchers. Dozens were injured.

"We were successful to put Black power back in the hearts and minds of our youth, to put Black power back on the minds and hearts of our people as We prepare to go into the year two thousand," said Brotha Khallid. "After the Million Youth March, We can do nothing but move forward. After mass mobilization comes mass organization" said Brotha Khallid. He said that representatives and members of the Black Power Organizing committee for the Million Youth March, have begun to work in the cities to build Black power cadres.

He organized a second and third "Million Youth March," but the most recent one drew a crowds of about 100, poLICE said. Brotha Khallid laid the blame squarely where it belonged with the "devil white media" and city officials for the low turnout. Black folks are not so easily proned to selective or historic memory in the face of such poLICE action as Amadou Dialo's murder. We are neither fooled nor convinced that threats, harrassment and deceptions by poLICE and other factions of the imperialist infrastructure were not the cause of detering and discouraging turnout. It certainly would not have been the first time. There is historic prescidence for such harrassment. Can We say, southern voter registration?

Bro. Khallid, was the chairman of the New Black Panther Party. “The 35 chapters of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense lives on and carries out the instructions and teachings of our National Chairman, Minister Khallid Abdul Muhammad. The strong work of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense continues today, tomorrow and until the Black Nation is totally free. The Party is uncompromised, too Black, too strong and completely intact,” the Party declared in a statement released at the time of Bro. Khallid’s passing.

Minister Dr. Khallid Abdul Muhammad made his transition to the Ancestors at age 53. Funeral services for Dr. Khallid Abdul Muhammad were held on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2001, at 9 a.m. at Mount Olivet Church in Harlem, N.Y., at 120th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard. A wake was held on Friday, Feb. 23, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Unity Funeral Home in Harlem at 2352 8th Avenue.

Bro. Khallid, chairman of the New Black Panther Party, died Feb. 17 at Wellstar Kenneston Hospital in Marietta, Ga., from complications from a massive stroke he suffered on Feb. 14. At the time of his death, Bro. Khalid was surrounded by his wife, family, loved ones and the National Committee of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

Members of the New Black Panther Party, who call themselves anti-capitalist, embrace the Afrikan social theories of socialism and nationalism among Blacks. The NBPP has chapters in Dallas, Atlanta, South Carolina, New Jersey, New York, West Virginia and Philadelphia.

QUESTION: Was Dr. Khallid Muhammad Assassinated?

Web-designer's Note: As a member of the original Black Panther Party, having joined in 1968, in filthydelphia, pa, and continuing the principles and work of the Party, i hold great respect for the resurrection of the goals, objectives and principles of the BPP by the NBPP. i had the opportunity to meet with and interact with some of the young people of the NBPP several years ago, in Atlanta, GA, where the PGRNA had it's New Afrikan Nation Day legislative sessions and Black Nation building workshops. Security was provided by the Legion, the BLA, the BPP, and the NBPP. It was wonderful to see all of the genders, generations and self defense organizaitonal structures working together for a shared objective.

Visit the Dr. Khallid Abdul Muhammad Memorial Photo Gallery

Here are some NBPP Yahoo Discussion Groups:

New Black Panther Party National Email Group

Washington Chapter of the NBPP

The Black Power Movement

Thank you all for taking the time to view our memorial site and We trust that you will return often to share in the updates. In time, We will offer audio, video and writings by Brotha Khallid. Email us about this site content and/or composition, contact us at drkhalidmuhummadmemorial@yahoo.com

Mugabe is sworn in for sixth term and WHO is really the BLAME for ZIMBABWEAN TRAGEDY ?

WHO is really the BLAME for ZIMBABWEAN TRAGEDY ?
Text by Ghali Hassan

The British and U.S. governments have condemned and demonised the Zimbabwean government of President Robert Mugabe. They imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, and claim to be committed to Democracy, Human Rights and Ending the Suffering of the Zimbabwean people.

Aren't they Crying Wolf?

A brief history is instructive. During the British colonisation of Zimbabwe (1898-1979), thousands of Zimbabweans were rounded-up and sent to reservations and concentration camps or forced to labour as slaves in mines and plantations. The British-installed law prevented Zimbabweans from owning and cultivating arable land because most useable farmland reserved for White (settlers) Farmers. British savagery was designed to terrorise the population and destroy Black Farmers. For decades, white settlers who made up less than 1 per cent of Zimbabwe's population of 12 million people but controlled 70 per cent of the country's arable land reaps the benefits of British-imposed horrors of an apartheid system in Rhodesia, todays Zimbabwe.

After independence, the Mugabe's Government embarked on a program of land reform aimed at redistributing land to black Zimbabweans. Britain under Margaret Thatcher agreed to compensate its kith and kin white farmers, but in 1997 the British government (under the war criminal Tony Blair) reneged on its promises to provide compensations. The main aim is to destabilise Zimbabwe and incite Zimbabweans against each other. In addition, Britain and the U.S. ordered the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cut off aid to Zimbabwe and began a campaign of economic sanctions and anti-Mugabe propaganda. This deliberate destabilising campaign accompanied by funding the Western-oriented and manipulated opposition led by the opportunist Morgan Tsvangirai in a bid to remove the elected Mugabe's Government from power. With the help of inherently racist British media, led by the BBC propaganda, Zimbabwe is unfairly depicted as a pariah state led b a dictator.

Perhaps the greatest misconception about Mugabe is that he is some sort of a dictator. While Mugabe is not a saint, and the 2008 elections were questionable, Zimbabwe was and still is an example of Free and Fair democracy in Africa. Mugabe is simply thumbing his nose at the British and telling the West, that Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans and you should stop meddling in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe.

It is important to acknowledge that after decolonisation, Zimbabwe achievements were unique among African nations. Zimbabwe health care services and education were ranked high among developing nations. There has been massive growth in the provision of education. In 2005, adult literacy was estimated at 92 percent (the highest in Africa, with 95 percent for males and 89 percent for female), up from only 39 percent in 1962. The British-U.S. sponsored economic sanctions and interference in Zimbabwe internal affairs, directed at undermining and weakening Zimbabwe, are causing hardship to most Zimbabweans.

The Wests cliché of defending human rights and spreading democracy is an imperialist fraud aimed at manipulating public opinion and justifying aggression against weaker, defenceless nations. From Asia and the Middle East to Latin America and Africa, the Wests best friends are the worlds worst dictators, or U.S.

Friendly Dictators

Among the worst of these brutal dictators has been President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea. The oil-rich West African nation is just one example of many repressive regimes in Africa, including Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Swaziland and Uganda that receive U.S. militarised aid. According to Ken Silverstein of Harpers magazine, Zimbabwe looks like Sweden by comparison with Equatorial Guinea. Yet, Zimbabwe is demonised and considered an enemy of the West. In May 2008s rigged elections, when Obiangs party won 99 per cent of the vote, not a single Western media outlet had the honesty and courage to report the fraudulent results and were accepted as democratic. Obiang came to power in 1979 after he toppled and executed his uncle in a military coup d'état. Francisco Macias Nguema was a monster who murdered as many as 50,000 Equatorial Guineans (10 % of the population) during his long rule. Obiang is not very different from his uncle. He was his uncle defence minister. In Silverstein's words, Obiang is a killer. He is a murderer. He is a torturer and a crook. And he is a thief, who siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars from the people of Equatorial Guinea into his family U.S. bank account. Obiang is the worst dictator in Africa, added Silverstein. (For more on EG see: Ken Silverstein, U.S. Oil Politics in the Kuwait of Africa, The Nation, April 22, 2002). And because he does not trust his own people, Obiang dependss on Moroccan mercenaries to provide for his internal security.

As President Robert Mugabe is deliberately demonised in the West, particularly in Britain and the U.S., Obiang is welcomed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a good friend of the U.S. And the abysmal human rights record in Equatorial Guinea and the crimes committed by the dictator and his cronies have received little media attention in the West. Despite the wealth generated by oil, nearly half of all Equatorial Guinea children under five are malnourished and live in miserable condition without potable water or electricity. According to the CIA World Factbook, Equatorial Guinea is ruled by ruthless leaders which have badly mismanaged the economy. But because of oil, the poster child of undemocratic practices is considered one of America's most valuable allies in Africa today.

Meanwhile, to divert world public attention from the ongoing genocide in Iraq, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has decided to pursue (bogus) charges against President Omar Hassan al-Basher of Sudan. The charges brought by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo are part of a campaign to bully and demonise Developing World leaders, who refused to bend to Western-imperialist dictates. The aim is designed to incite more violence and bloodshed. It is a deliberate attack on the current peace negotiations for a lasting peaceful settlement in Sudan.

Since the 2003 illegal invasion, the U.S. and Britain are directly responsible for the killing of more than 1.3 million innocent Iraqis, mostly women and children. Hundreds of Iraqis, including women and children, are imprisoned and tortured in U.S.-run prisons throughout Iraq. According to UNHCR estimates, at least 5 million Iraqis were displaced. Of these, at least 2.8 million Iraqis are internally displaced persons (IDPs) faced worsening living conditions. More than 2 million Iraqis have fled the violence to neighbouring countries.


Moreover, it is revealed recently that the U.S. State Department, in collaboration with UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) are planning to relocate Palestinian refugees from Iraq to Sudan. If Sudan is one of the most violent places on earth as the ICC alleges , why relocate Palestinian refugees from Iraq to Sudan? In other words, if Sudan is not safe for Sudanese, why it is safe for Palestinian refugees fleeing Iraq under U.S.

Military Occupation?

As I write these lines, Iraqis are being killed, displaced, imprisoned and tortured on a daily basis. Would prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo consider bringing criminal charges against Bush, Cheney, Tony Blair and their accomplices for waging a systematic campaign of genocide, war crimes including murder, rape and torture , and crimes against humanity in Iraq? Overwhelming evidence shows that they have deliberately misled the world and masterminded an illegal war of aggression and mass murder against the Iraqi people, and so they should be persecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.


It is important to remember that the ICC was never in a position to indict the Israeli war criminal, Ariel Sharon even after the Israeli Kahan Commission found him "personally responsible" for the massacre of 2000 innocent Palestinian civilians at Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. To this day, Sharon remains unindicted criminal. But Sharon is not the only criminal the ICC has turned blind eye to his war crimes, many Israeli war criminals are criss-crossing Europe without fear of persecution.


It is evident that the ICC is a politically motivated tool promoting Western imperialism. From its inception, the ICC has been engaged in corrupt criminal justice system, including the illegal persecution of former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošovic. No one should be surprised if the ICC decides to bring charges against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

Finally, years of economic sanctions and Western interference in Zimbabwe's internal affairs have degraded Zimbabwean economy and destroyed people's lives. The shortage of oil and electricity supply, and the inability of Zimbabwe to import raw materials and spare parts decimated Zimbabwean industrial and agricultural productions. In November 1998, the IMF imposed unpublicised sanctions against Zimbabwe, by warning off potential investors, freezing desperately needed loans to Zimbabwe and refusing to negotiate Zimbabwe's debt. A year later, in September 1999, the IMF suspended its support for economic adjustment and reform in Zimbabwe. And in October 1999, the International Development Association (IDS), a multilateral development bank, suspended all structural adjustment loans and credits to Zimbabwe; in May 2000 it suspended all other forms of new lending leaving Zimbabwe desperate for needed funds. (For more on Zimbabwe see: Gregory Elich, Strange liberators: Militarism, Mayhem, and the Pursuit of Profit. Llumina Press, 2006).

Faced with these difficulties and challenges, the people of Zimbabwe have to reconcile their differences and continue the independent path to build a prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe for all Zimbabweans. Their struggle to defend their independence and democratic rights is an Imperative of International Solidarity.

Zimbabwe's Tragedy is a Western-Created Tragedy. Western leaders who pretend to be committed to democracy, human rights and ending the suffering of the Zimbabwean people are crying wolf. If the U.S., Britain and their allies are as committed to Democracy, Human Rights, the roles of International Law and Civilised Norms as they claim to be, then they should first end their murderous Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ghali Hassan is an independent writer living in Australia.

Mugabe is sworn in for sixth term

OFFICIAL RESULTS Robert Mugabe: 2,150,269 Morgan Tsvangirai: 233,000 Spoiled ballots: 131,481 Voter turnout: 42.37% Source: Zimbabwe Electoral Commission

Further Reading and Study:
http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/tags/zimbabwe.html

AFRIKAN INSURRECTION MUSIC and T.V. / United Front

50 Shots Back, Feat.Czar

About United Front

BROOKLYN & HARLEM, New York / Hip Hop / Rap

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT UNITED FRONT IS NOT CALLING FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST POLICE OFFICERS BUT, WE ARE DEMANDING AN IMMEDIATE CEASE TO THE BRUTALITY AND MURDER OF BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE BY RACIST POLICE WHO ARE AIDED BY INFORMANTS, SNITCHES & SAMBO TRAITORS.....THE BLACK COMMUNITY WILL PUT AN END TO IT BY " ANY MEANS NECESSARY ...."TAKE THIS AS A WARNING!...BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT GONNA JUST SIT BACK AND DO NOTHING WHILE YOU PIGS SHOOT US DOWN IN THE STREET LIKE OUR LIVES ARE WORTHLESS. REALIZE YOU'RE PLAYING WITH FIRE. A POWDER KEG " THAT COULD EXPLODE ANY DAY NOW....." AS BROTHER MALCOLM SAID. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN WITH DIALLO.... IT DIDN'T HAPPEN WITH LOUIMA....BUT NOW THE CONTRADICTIONS ARE BEING EXPOSED. WE KNOW YOU ONLY SHOOT TO KILL BLACK & BROWN PEOPLE.... WE KNOW YOU'VE BEEN EXPLOITING US AND OUR COMMUNITIES....WE KNOW WE GET SUB PAR HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION FACILITIES IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS....AND, WE KNOW WE LIVE IN A COUNTRY WHERE THE LAW DOESN'T PROTECT US, THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T CARE ABOUT US (ex. HURRICANE FEMA), AND THE HO-LICE BRUTALIZE US. WE HAVE THE GOD GIVEN, HUE-MAN (HUMAN) AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO DEFEND OURSELVES AND OUR COMMUNITIES AND WILL DO SO SINCE WE CAN'T GET JUSTICE.....NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!.....BLACK POWER!

AT LEAST 201 PEOPLE IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY HAVE BEEN KILLED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT SINCE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001:

September 20, 2001 - Gwendulina Brodie

October 6, 2001 - Malik Mustafa

October 8, 2001 - Shannon Vinson

October 8, 2001 - Donna Towe

October 9, 2001 - Richard Hatcher

October 15, 2001 - Unidentified Man

October 23, 2001 - Mohammed Rafiq Butt

November 11, 2001 - William Phifer

November 23, 2001 - Steven Michalacos

December 22, 2001 - Unidentified Man

December 31, 2001 - William O. Davis

January 16, 2002 - Georgy Louisgene

January 23, 2002 - Juan Mendez

March 11, 2002 - Jason Remillard

March 19, 2002 - Unidentified Man

March 30, 2002 - Cesar Mercado

April 10, 2002 - Dominick J. Galliano, Jr., Gail Galliano, Christopher Galliano, Gary Williams, Tina Williams

April 15, 2002 - Unidentified Man

April 16, 2002 - Santiago "Chago" Villanueva

April 19, 2002 - Jose Colon

April 21, 2002 - Ricardo Carlon

May 1, 2002 - Egbert Dewgard

Source of data: http://www.myspace.com/mayasa1

CHECK OUT:

Background of a Cultural Concept
“whose time has come”

This New Afrikan holiday is called ‘Gye Nyame.’ Pronounced ‘Gee-Nah-May’ or ‘Geen-Yah-May,’ it means in the beautiful Akan language spoken throughout Ghana “None is greater than God the Creator.” It is a central symbol among the rich, treasured Adinkra symbols of the regal Akan people.
‘Gye Nyame’ is not an Akan holiday, however. It is a New Afrikan holiday that synthesizes rich principles of faith found in several traditional Afrikan spiritual traditions, most especially the Akan and Yoruba traditions, and of course, Ma’at. Resplendid in its colors of black and gold being pure water sweet, this New Afrikan cultural holiday alternative was given to us by the immortal Khallid Abdul Muhammad.
Bro. Khallid developed Gye Nyame in November 1995. It was first celebrated on November 27, 1997 in Cleveland, Ohio by some 500 Pan-Afrikanists of a study circle called Egbe Nyame. Bro. Khallid’s youngest son, Farrakhan lit the candle in the first Gye Nyame ceremony.
Gye Nyame is New Afrikan in that it was forged to help Afrikans captive here in amerikkka return to the Afrikan philosophy and the original Afrikan way of thinking and doing. It is also New Afrikan in that it consciously seeks to ‘separate’ us from participating in the violently hypocritical holocaust holiday unique to the amerikkkan nation state known as ‘Thanksgiving.’ It is Pan-Afrikan in that it invites every man, woman and child of Afrikan descent to participate.
As a ceremony, Gye Nyame was designed to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November and to give Afrikan people captive here in the united states a conscious and cultural choice instead of being confined to Thanksgiving....Read More

ALSO CHECK OUT:

http://www.hip-hop4blackunity.org/

"Revolutionary Studies 101" # 1: Our Freedom Fighters vs Cointelpro & Rap Cointelpro

If we intend for our revolutionary education process to be true to history we must see to it that the voices of our PP POW are heard. And most importantly we must afford our Freedom Fighters the opportunity to Speak for Themselves and offer support best we can. They are locked away in amerikkka gulaugs for fighting for us.

--Lock down today because of an Illegal Program as determined by the Church Commission (see cointelpro link below)--

Jalil Abdul Muntaqim: BLA Political Prisoner




RBG'z Videos by Veoh.com

WHO ARE PP/POW's

Briefly, Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War are those persons who have been sent to prison for their conscious revolutionary political activities on the streets. Prisoners who went to prison as a result of non-politically motivated "crime" and became political while in prison are not Political Prisoners or Prisoners of War. Though all prisoners righteously struggling against the repressive prison system should be supported, PP/POW's deserve the priority support of the revolutionary movement that they have sacrificed their freedom to build. As anarchist POW Ojore Lutalo has stated, "Any political movement that does not support its political internees is a sham movement!"

Mumia Abu-Jamal On Assata Shakur's Bounty

See: New Afrikan Political Prisoner Marshall “Eddie” Conway Explains



Link Out: From COINTELPRO to the Patriot Act/

Hip Hop headz must learn more about how to support our PP & POW, as the U.S. Patriot Act of current has legalized everything that was done illegally under cointelpro. The Black Power Movement and otherwise progressive political dissent have been criminalized...and this is all the more reason that all our youth and young adults (old ones too) need to get more informed and more involved; the future of our children and the yet to be born is at stake.

Cointelpro Exposed

("The Patriot Act is Cointelpro legalized")





RBG'z Videos by Veoh.com

COINTELPRO AND THE WAR ON BLACK AMERICA

"The Counterintelligence Program is now being expanded to include 41 offices. ... For maximum effectiveness of the Counterintelligence Program, and to prevent wasted effort, long range goals are being set.

1. Prevent the coalition of militant black nationalist groups. In unity there is strength; a truism that is no less valid for all its triteness. An effective coalition of black nationalist groups might be the first step toward a real "Mau Mau" in America, the beginning of a true black revolution.

2. Prevent the rise of a "messiah" who could unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement. Malcolm X might have been such a "messiah;" he is the martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael and Elijah Muhammed all aspire to this position. Elijah Muhammed is less of a threat because of his age. King could be a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed "obedience" to "white, liberal doctrines" (nonviolence) and embrace black nationalism. Carmichael has the necessary charisma to be a real threat in this way.

3. Prevent violence on the part of black nationalist groups. This is of primary importance, and is, of course, a goal of our investigative activity; it should also be a goal of the Counterintelligence Program. Through counterintelligence it should be possible to pinpoint potential troublemakers and neutralize them before they exercise their potential for violence.

4. Prevent militant black nationalist groups and leaders from gaining respectability, by discrediting them to three separate segments of the community. The goal of discrediting black nationalists must be handled tactically in three ways. You must discredit these groups and individuals to, first, the responsible Negro community. Second, they must be discredited to the white community, both the responsible community and to "liberals" who have vestiges of sympathy for militant black nationalists simply because they are Negroes. Third, these groups must be discredited in the eyes of Negro radicals, the followers of the movement. This last area requires entirely different tactics from the first two. Publicity about violent tendencies and radical statements merely enhances black nationalists black nationalists to the last group; it adds "respectability" in a different way.

5. A final goal should be to prevent the long-range growth of militant black nationalist organizations, especially among youth. Specific tactics to prevent these groups from converting young people must be developed." (sent by Director to Field Offices on March 4, 1968) G.C. Moore to W.C. Sullivan, Feb. 29, 1968 Extracts from: www.cointel.org

LESSON PHOTO-STORY SUMMARY

RBG Photo-Story Mini Lecture-
POLICE STATE v FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Link outs to websites where you can learn more and offer support to our PP/POW:

National Jericho Movement

The Anarchist Black Cross Federation

4strugglemag

IMPORTANT POST-SCRIPT

N.B. There are a lot of hot-sauce integrationist on the web these days posing as revolutionary and Afrocentric educators in their work. Please be careful, as these folk are really liters and enemies of our struggle /re-education process in black face. They are diluting and dumbing down the truth and presenting "safe" issues as to not offend the enemy (their boss). Some B.E.T. shit. For example Malcolm X defined himself as a Black Nationalist Pan-Afrikanist Freedom Fighter, but all you'll find on the net is civil rights leader Mlacolm X. Malcolm fought for human rights and argued that (paraphrase) "you have to have human rights before you can have civil rights; human rights is the right to be considered a human being." He told us this some 50 years ago and the reality of his words ring a resounding cord today. "you can never get civil rights until you have human rights". When a stick is shoved up a man's rectum or one unarmed is shot 41 times , I would argue that the masses of our people still have no human rights. So know wonder they can write in civil rights laws like the voters rights act one year and threaten repeal the next--"they are not really entitled to civil rights, as we don't ever consider/treat them as human beings". So, it is dis-respectful to our true Afrikan Scholars and Freedom Fighters for the word revolutionary to even come out of their pseudo-nationalists' mouth. Remember "the man who butters your bread feeds your stomach"; all you have to do to know who they are and what they are really about is follow the money.

What our re-education and habilitation should be about is not merely a sterile, objective academic process; real lives are involved here and our people are/have been dying. It must teach us how to get involved in real struggle despite all it accompanying risk. Again Minister Malcolm X taught us "the price of freedom is death". We want peace, but the key to peace in dealing with this beast is the ability to make war. That's why they did Iraq and not North Korea. My point is, these closet boot lickers and toe suckers need to chill and you need to avoid them like the plague, because they are just as fatal.

AT SOME POINT THEY NEED TO BE CALLED OUT AND ACCOUNTED FOR.

Attachments for Download:

• RBG Militarization of the Police.pdf, 24 KB
• RBG Police Brutality and Misconduct.pdf, 132 KB
• Military Industrial Complex to Prison Industrial Complex.pdf, 695 KB
  

Rap COINTELPRO

I Vlog this video when they murdered Sean Bell

Rap COINTELPRO:

Subverting the power of Hip-Hop

By FinalCall.com
News Updated Jul 24, 2005, 10:53 pm

One-on-One with BlackElectorate.com's Cedric Muhammad

Political commentator Cedric Muhammad published a series of Rap COINTELPRO articles on his website (BlackElectorate.com) beginning in 2000 initially dealing with the suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths of Tupac Shakur (2Pac) and Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.)

With great insight, in later parts of the series, Brother Cedric broadened the topical range identifying and investigating the stratagem implemented by a growing number of police departments across the United States dealing specifically with increased surveillance – some would even say harassment – of Hip Hop artists and the peculiar treatment of crimes occurring within the Hip Hop community. Brother Cedric spoke with Final Call Online Correspondent Ashahed Muhammad about the relationship of those subjects to the global strategy of the infamous J. Edgar Hoover – whose plan was to stifle progressive activism within the Black community and to prevent the rise of a "Black Messiah."

Ashahed Muhammad (AM): Thank you for taking time out of your schedule. I know you are busy writing, publishing, being a consultant and political advisor, etc. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me today.

Cedric Muhammad (CM): Thank you. And it’s of course the greatest honor to be interviewed by the greatest newspaper on earth.

AM: Dealing with Rap Cointelpro – some Hip Hop artists have faced an increasing amount of legal harassment including surveillance. Talk to us about what acted as a catalyst for your Rap Cointelpro series.Read more

A RBG Street Scholar Educational Design

Related RBG Worldwide 1 Nation Classrooms:

• Dansu's Tribute to Malcolm X

• RBG4LifPanther

• 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Gurney X / Free Mumia Abu Jamal

• RBGz Free Em All Portal (PP and POW)

1968 Olympics and Beyond: The Stories of Tommie Smith and John Carlos

1968 Olympics

Striking a Blow for Freedom: The Courageous Story of Tommie Smith and John Carlos
By: Steve Yip

At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, two Black athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos thrust their fists in the air on the victory stand in a symbolic gesture against the oppressive treatment of Black people. Forty years later, on July 16, they will be the recipients of the Arthur Ashe Courageous Award at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles.1 The Awards will be televised on Sunday evening, July 20. Previous recipients of this award include Billie Jean King, the tennis player who fought for equality of women in tennis, Cathy Freeman, the Australian 400 meter Olympic champion, who struggled for aboriginal rights, Muhammad Ali, and Kevin and Pat Tillman. Pat was the pro-football player who was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire and Kevin, his brother, who opposes the crimes of the Bush regime and fought to expose the government cover-up of the incident when his brother was killed.2

This is the story of why Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists at the 1968 Olympics and the significance of this historic stand.

It was 1968.

One of those times where it seemed like a whole century of events gets crammed into a few months or even weeks.

Black neighborhoods across the U.S., smoldering with discontent, burst into flames of rebellion. Across the ocean, students in Paris shut down the university. Chicago police attacked protesters at the Democratic National Convention. National liberation struggles raged in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in socialist China was in full swing. Headlines reflected intense conflict, winds of change, and sky high dreams. The Vietnam War... the assassination of Martin Luther King... The Black Panthers... hundreds of thousands demonstrating against poverty, war, racism, and women's oppression.

It was on this backdrop that Tommie Smith and John Carlos stepped onto the stage of history and made their mark.

It was as part of this whole struggle for a better world that these two men took a courageous stand that today, 40 years later, is something to remember, cherish, and learn from.

Taking a Stand in Speed City

As star sprinters, for Smith and Carlos it was all about speed. They were not only tremendous athletes, but their whole style reflected the attitude of the times—sporting shades as they sprinted around the track. Both men were world-class athletes: Smith held 11 world records simultaneously, including in the 200 and 400 meters, some individually and some as a member of a relay team. John Carlos, at one point, held the 100-meter world record.

Tommie Smith was the seventh in a family of 12 children, growing up in Clarksville, Texas. His father was a sharecropper and Tommie got strong working in the fields. He remembers, as a kid, going to the store to buy ice cream and getting harassed by white racists who told him to "go back to the jungle."

John Carlos grew up in Harlem and got involved in civil rights and became an activist at a very young age. In high school he was already a track star and got a scholarship to East Texas State. He tells how, "About two minutes after I got there, I noticed that my name changed from John Carlos to Boy."

The two men ended up going to school at San Jose State College (now San Jose State University) in California. They joined what became known as "Speed City''—named for the collection of world-class sprinters trained by the innovative coach, Lloyd C. "Bud" Winter. It was here that athletes, both Black and white, helped form the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), which included athletes trying to make the 1968 Olympic team.

The OPHR's founding statement pointed out that "the oppression of Afro-Americans is greater than it ever was" and the athletes attempted to form a boycott of the Olympics in order to advance their demands. Three key demands were: (1) "Restore Muhammad Ali's title" that had been removed because he refused to go into the army and fight in Vietnam," (2) "Remove Avery Brundage as head of the U.S. Olympic Committee" because he was a white supremacist and a Nazi sympathizer, and (3) "Disinvite South Africa and Rhodesia" in order to support the black freedom struggles in these apartheid states.

When the International Olympic Committee decided not to allow South Africa and Rhodesia in the Olympics, many of the Black athletes decided not to boycott the Olympics, but began to look for other ways to protest.

As Smith and Carlos, along with others, prepared for the 1968 Olympics, controversy continued to swirl about whether there would be—and whether there should be—forms of protests by Black athletes at the games. Things divided out sharply. Some Black athletes were saying that they didn't want to make such a sacrifice, that they really wanted to get a gold medal. While others argued that the times demanded—and this was an opportunity to make—a strong statement to the world about the condition of Black people in the United States, even if this meant jeopardizing your scholarship or career.

This was the spirit of the times. These were the kinds of big questions lots of people, especially the youth, were confronting: What was your life going to be about? Were you going to just "look out for number one"? Or was your life going to count for something bigger? Were you going to just try and etch out a life for yourself in this messed up society? Or were you going to stand with the people of the world and join the struggle for liberation?

The very idea of Black athletes taking such a defiant, rebellious stand elicited angry reactionary responses and ugly threats. Athletes involved with OPHR received death threats and hate mail. And Avery Brundage, the president of the International Olympic Committee who was an open racist, publicly stated: "I don't think any of these boys will be foolish enough to demonstrate at the Olympic games and I think if they do they'll be promptly sent home."

At the same time, the strong stand by OPHR put a real pole out in society. And their cause got a lot of support and attracted people in society very broadly who saw this as part of the overall struggle for a more just society. That summer, leading up to the Olympics, many people started wearing the Olympic Project for Human Rights button as a way to show mass support and say to the world that this really mattered.

Victory and Defiance in Mexico City

October 2, ten days before the Games opened, the Mexican security forces massacred hundreds of students in Mexico City who were occupying the National University. When athletes arrived in the city for the Olympics, the government wanted to give an image of order and control and the Olympic Stadium was completely surrounded by armed soldiers. (See "The Year of the 1968 Olympics: A World of Struggle and Turmoil," online at revcom.us.)

Among the Black athletes there was a lot of tension and anticipation about what was—or wasn't—going to happen. Larry James, who won the Silver Medal in the 400 meter race, expressed what many of the Black Olympic athletes were thinking when he recalled: "When you go to the games you take yourself with you and what you do and how you do it is going to have an impact."

The performance of the United States men's track team was astounding. They won 7 of 12 gold medals and smashed five records. Tommie Smith and John Carlos finished first and third, respectively, in the 200 meters with Smith setting a world record.

The moment came when they were getting ready to take the victory stand. They were still trying to figure out what to do. At the last minute, they decided to put on black gloves. Peter Norman, the second place winner from Australia, wore an OPHR button on the victory stand. Norman later recounted, "I believed in human rights, I believed in what these two guys were about to do."

Smith and Carlos stood on the stand with no shoes, their feet only in black socks. As the national anthem began, both bowed their heads and raised their fists, covered with the black gloves, in the air. Tommie Smith had a black scarf around his neck and John Carlos wore beads.

Smith later recalled, "The black fist in the air was only in recognition of those who had gone, it was a prayer of solidarity, it was a cry for help by my fellow brothers and sisters in this country, who had been lynched, who had been shot, who had been bitten by dogs, who water hoses had been set on, a cry for freedom. You could almost hear the wind blowing around my fist."

The entire world saw this cry for freedom.

These two men courageously put the struggle of the people ahead of their own personal interests. And the power of their simple but profound gesture tremendously inspired people—then, and ever since, for the last four decades.

Immediately afterwards, in an interview with Howard Cosell, Smith explained the symbolism in their protest: "My raised right hand stood for the power in black America. Carlos's left hand stood for the unity of black America. Together, they formed an arch of unity and power. The black scarf around my neck stood for black pride. The black socks with no shoes stood for black poverty in racist America. The totality of our effort was the regaining of black dignity."3

John Carlos, in a recent interview with Dave Zirin, said, "The beads were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed that no one said a prayer for, that were hung tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage. All that was in my mind."

The International Olympic Committee board met the very next morning. They threatened to disqualify the whole track team for the remainder of the games. The decision was made to send Smith and Carlos home and ban them from the Olympic games for life.

The press was relentless with their attacks on Smith and Carlos. The Los Angeles Times accused them of a "Nazi-like salute." Time Magazine changed the Olympic motto to "Angrier, Nastier, Uglier." Sportscaster Brent Musburger called them, "Black-skinned storm troopers."

Despite the fact that they were being attacked broadly for what they did, Smith and Carlos had many supporters, including the Olympic Crew Team, all white and entirely from Harvard, who issued the statement: "We, as individuals, have been concerned about the place of the black man in American society in their struggle for equal rights. As members of the U.S. Olympic team, each of us has come to feel a moral commitment to support our black teammates in their efforts to dramatize the injustices and inequities which permeate out society."

Once back home, the two athletes received more than 100 death threats each. Both found it difficult to get a job. John Carlos said in an interview with Dave Zirin, "We were under tremendous economic stress. I took any job I could find. I wasn't too proud. Menial jobs, security jobs, gardener, caretaker, whatever I could do to try to make ends meet."

To the masses of oppressed people and others who hate the way things are in this country and in the world, Smith and Carlos were heroes because they took responsibility for telling the world the way things are and they never backed down from that stand.

In his autobiography, Silent Gesture, Tommie Smith answers the question why it is important for celebrities to speak out on social and political issues. He says, "…if you are one of the world's greatest in a particular field, as I was in athletics, you have an avenue, and you have a responsibility to use it, especially if you have something to say about society and how people are treated, people who are not in the position to say it themselves or who don't have the ability to say it."4

In 2002 Erik Grotz, a white student at San Jose State, organized to raise funds for a statue of Smith and Carlos when he found out about them and that they attended the school. "I couldn't understand why the campus didn't acknowledge their efforts as student activists," said Grotz. "It would be an inspiration to other students. It would prove to them they can make an impact now."

The 20-foot statue of Smith and Carlos on the victory stand was unveiled in October 2005. The second place spot on the podium, where Peter Norman was standing, was left open, so people could stand there to have their pictures taken with Smith and Carlos. Norman attended the unveiling, where he continued to support what Smith and Carlos had done 37 years prior. Norman was vilified when he returned to Australia after the 1968 Olympics for wearing the OPHR button on the medal stand. He, too, was not able to find a job, and when the Olympics came to Australia in 2000, he was not allowed to be a part of any events, despite the fact that he was one of the greatest Olympic sprinters ever.

Norman died in 2006, and Smith and Carlos, who continued to stay in touch with Norman throughout the years, were pallbearers at his funeral. About Norman, John Carlos said, "At least me and Tommie had each other when we came home. When Peter went home, he had to deal with a nation by himself. He never wavered, never denied that he was up there with us for a purpose and he never said 'I'm sorry' for his involvement. That's indicative of who the man was."

1968 was a high tide of struggle against the oppression of Black people in this country, and what Tommie Smith and John Carlos did at the Olympics is one of the greatest symbols of this struggle. In today's world acts of courage, like what Smith and Carlos did, stand out and really do make a difference. And there is a real need, now more than ever, for people to follow such footsteps—to dare to go against the tide, defy the oppressive status quo and fight to bring about revolutionary change.

To be recognized as the recipients of the Arthur Ashe Courageous Award just brings that point home, and Tommie Smith said it well at the unveiling at the statue where he expressed being proud of the past, but also acknowledging the challenges before us. "I don't feel vindicated," Smith said. "To be vindicated means that I did something wrong. I didn't do anything wrong. I just carried out a responsibility. We felt a need to represent a lot of people who did more than we did but had no platform, people who suffered long before I got to the victory stand....We're celebrated as heroes by some, but we're still fighting for equality."

*****

Tommie Smith and John Carlos never got the pro contracts or the big endorsements. They didn't "get paid" off their tremendous victory. Instead, they used their moment in the limelight to make a powerful statement about justice... and to move forward the struggle for liberation.

The powers-that-be made them pay dearly for standing up.

But they've never renounced it. They've never backed down. They've never apologized.

Was it worth it? Worth it to sacrifice so much to strike a blow for freedom?

Well, ask yourself this: Who does history remember? Who do the masses cherish?

The ones who go for self?

Or those who take a stand for the people, no matter what the cost?



NOTES

1. Arthur Ashe was the first Black tennis player to win the U.S. Open Tennis championship in 1968 and the Wimbledon title in 1975. He was the first African-American player named to the U.S. Davis Cup team and later was appointed captain of the Davis Cup team.

In 1983, along with Harry Belafonte, he founded Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid, which worked toward raising awareness of apartheid policies and lobbying for sanctions and embargoes against the South African government. In 1985, he was arrested outside the South African embassy in Washington during an anti-apartheid demonstration. He was also arrested during a protest against U.S. policy toward Haitian refugees outside the White House.

He contracted AIDS after he received an HIV infected blood transfusion following bypass surgery. In his memoir, Days of Grace, he wrote, "I do not like being the personification of a problem, much less a problem involving a killer disease, but I know I must seize these opportunities to spread the word." In the last year of his life, he founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS, which raised money for research into treating, curing and preventing AIDS, the end goal being the eradication of the disease.

On February 6, 1993 Arthur Ashe died of AIDS-related pneumonia in New York at the age of 49. His funeral was attended by nearly 6,000 people. The U.S. Tennis Association named the center stadium at the USTA National Tennis Center the Arthur Ashe Stadium. [back]

2. See Revolution #68, November 5, 2006, "Kevin Tillman and the Killing Lies of the U.S. Army."

3. Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith, Tommie Smith with David Steele, Temple University Press, 2007, p. 173.

4. Silent Gesture, p. 38.

Send us your comments.


--
Steve Yip
P.O. Box 941, Knickerbocker Station
New York, New York 10002-0900
866-841-9139 x2670, yipzzz@gmail.com

Fred Hampton Jr and (fka H. Rap Brown).mp3, f/H. Rap Brown/Jamil Al-Amin: A Profoundly American Story

http://www.myspace.com/freetheimam

H. Rap Brown/Jamil Al-Amin: A Profoundly American Story

By Ekwueme Michael Thelwell

Die Nigger Die!, the autobiographical political memoir by H. Rap Brown, is a vital American historical document--historical almost in the sense of a message found in a time capsule, a missive from another age. But it remains of considerable interest for what it tells us about social and political attitudes, behaviors and expectations of a time--so my students believe--long past. The time, in this case, being a discrete, relatively short period of domestic upheaval in this country during the late 1960s and early 1970s, a time of "revolutionary" black uprising in Northern ghettos following hard on the heels of the Southern, nonviolent, direct-action movement engineered by SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), a movement usually associated with Martin Luther King Jr. Rap's book has an added dimension of sociological interest, being a voice from the frontlines, the personal and political testimony of a radically militant chairman of SNCC who came to symbolize the defiance of a generation of angry and militant black youth. A third, perhaps less compelling, area of interest is the personal: what the voice and language reveal about the character and personality, the sensibility, if you will, of the speaker. Who is this man, of whom McGeorge Bundy reportedly commented at the founding gathering of the National Urban Coalition, "Wouldn't you, wouldn't all of us, sleep much better tonight if we knew that H. Rap Brown...was somewhere quietly running his own little drugstore?"

This essay will appear in longer form as the introduction to Die Nigger Die!, forthcoming from Lawrence Hill Books in April.

Well, for one thing, the author, H. Rap Brown, is no longer among us. Nor has he really been since 1971, when, as a young man in his late twenties, he made his shahadah (the Muslim declaration of faith). During a period of incarceration by the State of New York, the black activist known to the media as H. Rap Brown converted to orthodox Islam and emerged as Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a Sunni Muslim. Brown went in and Al-Amin emerged. This change was by no means cosmetic or strategic.

By all accounts and the overwhelming preponderance of evidence over years, this was a genuine religious conversion, a classically "profound transformation of self." Al-Amin embarked on a life of rigorous study and spiritual and moral inquiry with the same single-minded intensity and uncompromising commitment Rap had brought to militant social struggle.

It is important to mention this because, as we know, not all conversions--religious or ideological--are equal. This was a time particularly famous for sudden, public and apparently infinitely reversible self-reinventions, two of the more dramatic being Jerry Rubin's conversion from the stridently countercultural Youth International Party leadership to Wall Street broker (from yippie to yuppie) and Eldridge Cleaver's from Black Panther Party revolutionary to born-again Christian.

Al-Amin's embrace of Islam, however, proved neither facile nor expedient, as his emergence as a bookish Muslim cleric and his years of work in faith-based social improvement have demonstrated. The fiery and impetuous young rebel who speaks out of the pages of Die Nigger Die! has long since evolved into an austere religious scholar, disciplined by faith and projecting the aura of a spiritually disposed ascetic.

After thirty years, Al-Amin has become, in many important ways, a vastly different person from the author of this book. A respected imam, he now sees--and for some time has seen--the world, his own role therein and the eventual liberation of his people in quite different terms: those of faith, self-discipline and spiritual development. This vision is reflected in both his demeanor and his language. Consequently he has, at this time, serious reservations about the appropriateness of reissuing a book of youthful struggle. It is not that he repudiates any aspect of the book--not the tone, the defiant struggle out of which it came or even the youthful persona of that text.

While he considers some of the language of the early work "unseemly," his reservation is more that he considers his later work, Revolution by the Book, far more relevant to his current concerns and the work of thirty years, as well as being more indicative of his present personal and professional style. No two books could be more different in style and subject, but what they share, apart from their common paternity, is that both are earnestly addressed to the same audience and purpose: the re-education of the African-American grassroots.

Revolution by the Book is not, as might be inferred from a casual glance at the cover, a handbook on guerrilla war. The revolution of the title refers very specifically to jihad in its classical Islamic meaning of the daily, internal struggle for self-mastery and moral discipline. The book begins with a collection of sermons, each explicating one of the foundations of Islam--shahadah (declaration of faith), tauheed (the Oneness and uniqueness of God), salaat (prayer and worship), zakaat (the redemptive value of charity) and saum (purification by fasting and abstinence)--and the expression of them in the hajj, or prescribed pilgrimage.

Liberally illustrated with quotations from the Koran, the Sunnah and other secondary Islamic texts, Al-Amin's tone is learned and reverent, exhortatory and precise. It is an eloquent articulation of the fundamental principles, values and practice of orthodox Islam, affecting every aspect of life, personal and social. The revolution it envisions is a moral one, which begins with the individual, stressing awareness of God and self through piety, study and self-discipline, and moves through family and out into the larger society.,,Read More

"Coping With Babylon" and Rastafari Culture and Spirituality

"coping with babylon" looks at the present state of the world as perceived by some of the most outspoken members of the Rastafarian movement. Shot on digital video in New York and Jamaica, "coping" lets the subjects tell their own story in pure documentary style void of third party narration. The Rasta faith is revealed to be dynamic and grounding, even as each denomination, or "house" of Ras Tafari, exhibits a unique form of resistance against the power structure that shapes our world, the "Babylonian system," in Rasta terminology.

RBG Street Scholar On Rastafari Culture and Spirituality

Rastafari is a movement of Black people who know Africa as the birthplace of Mankind and the throne of Emperor Haile Selassie I -- a 20th Century Manifestation of God who has lighted our pathway towards righteousness, and is therefore worthy of reverence.

The Rastafari movement grew out of the darkest depression that the descendants of African slaves in Jamaica have ever lived in -- the stink and crumbling shacks of zinc and cardboard that the tattered remnants of humanity built on the rotting garbage of the dreadful Dungle on Kingston's waterfront. Out of this filth and slime arose a sentiment so pure, so without anger, so full of love, the Philosophy of the Rastafari faith.

Freedom of Spirit, Freedom from Slavery, and Freedom of Africa, was its cry.

Religions always reflect the social and geographical environment out of which they emerge, and Jamaican Rastafarianism is no exception: for example, the use of marijuana as a sacrament and aid to meditation is logical in a country where a particularly strain of 'herb' grows freely. Emerging out of the island of Jamaica in the later half of this century, the religious/political movement known as Rastafarianism has gained widespread exposure in the Western world.

Rasta, as it is more commonly called, has its roots in the teachings of Jamaican black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who in the 1930s preached a message of black self empowerment, and initiated the "Back to Africa" movement. Which called for all blacks to return to their ancestral home, and more specifically Ethiopia. He taught self reliance "at home and abroad" and advocated a "back to Africa" consciousness, awakening black pride and denouncing the white man--s eurocentric woldview, colonial indoctrination that caused blacks to feel shame for their African heritage. "Look to Africa", said Marcus Garvey in 1920, "when a black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is at hand". Many thought the prophecy was fulfilled when in 1930, Ras Tafari, was crowned emperor Haile Selassie 1 of Ethiopia and proclaimed "King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the conquering lion of the Tribe of Judah". Haile Selassie claimed to be a direct descendant of King David, the 225th ruler in an unbroken line of Ethiopian Kings from the time of Solomon and Sheba. He and his followers took great pride in being black and wanted to regain the black heritage that was lost by loosing faith and straying from the holy ways.

Rastafarians live a peaceful life, needing little material possessions and devote much time to contemplating the scriptures. They reject the white man's world, as the new age Babylon of greed and dishonesty. Proud and confident Rastas even though they are humble will stand up for their rights. Rastas let their hair grow natually into dreadlocks, in the image of the lion of Judah. Six out of ten Jamaicans are believed to be Rastafarians or Rastafarian sympathizers. The total following is believed to be over 1000 000 worldwide. 1975 to the present has been the period of the most phenomenal growth for the Rastafarian Movement. This growth is largely attributed to Bob Marley, reggae artist, and the worldwide acceptance of reggae as an avenue of Rastafarian self-expression. Marley became a prophet of Rastafarianism in 1975. The movement spread quickly in the Caribbean and was hugely attractive to the local black youths, many of whom saw it as an extension of their adolescent rebellion from school and parental authority. With it came some undesirable elements, but all true Rastas signify peace and pride and righteousness...

RBG The Art of War By Sun Tzu : Audio Book, Text and A Video Series

Translated by Lionel Giles

I. Laying Plans


1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.

2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.

5,6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

7. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

8. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

9. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.

10. By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

11. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.

12. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:--

13. (1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law? (2) Which of the two generals has most ability? (3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth? (4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced? (5) Which army is stronger? (6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained? (7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

14. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

15. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!

16. While heading the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.

17. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.

18. All warfare is based on deception.

19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

21. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.

22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

23. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.

24. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

25. These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.

26. Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

II. Waging War

1. Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand li, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

2. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

3. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

4. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.

8. The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.

9. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.

10. Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.

11. On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people's substance to be drained away.

12. When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions.

13,14. With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will be dissipated; while government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantles, draught-oxen and heavy wagons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue.

15. Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store.

16. Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.

17. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

18. This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.

19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

20. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.

III. Attack by Stratagem

1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more.

5. The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants, with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.

6. Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.

7. With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete. This is the method of attacking by stratagem.

8. It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.

9. If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.

10. Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.

11. Now the general is the bulwark of the State; if the bulwark is complete at all points; the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State will be weak.

12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:--

13. (1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.

14. (2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds.

15. (3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.

16. But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away.

17. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. (2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. (3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. (4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. (5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.

18. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

IV. Tactical Dispositions

1. Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

2. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

3. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

4. Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

5. Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.

6. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

7. The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete.

8. To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

9. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, "Well done!"

10. To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength; to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

11. What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

12. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage.

13. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

14. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

15. Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

16. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.

17. In respect of military method, we have, firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, Victory.

18. Measurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to Measurement; Calculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to Calculation; and Victory to Balancing of chances.

19. A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound's weight placed in the scale against a single grain.

20. The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.

V. Energy

1. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.

2. Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.

3. To ensure that your whole host may withstand the brunt of the enemy's attack and remain unshaken-- this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.

4. That the impact of your army may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg--this is effected by the science of weak points and strong.

5. In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.

6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

7. There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.

8. There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen.

9. There are not more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted.

10. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack--the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.

11. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle--you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?

12. The onset of troops is like the rush of a torrent which will even roll stones along in its course.

13. The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

14. Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.

15. Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.

16. Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat.

17. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline, simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.

18. Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder is simply a question of subdivision; concealing courage under a show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy; masking strength with weakness is to be effected by tactical dispositions.

19. Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act. He sacrifices something, that the enemy may snatch at it.

20. By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him.

21. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy.

22. When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones. For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if round-shaped, to go rolling down.

23. Thus the energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height. So much on the subject of energy.

VI. Weak Points and Strong

1. Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

2. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.

3. By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.

4. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move.

5. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.

6. An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not.

7. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.

8. Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

9. O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.

10. You may advance and be absolutely irresistible, if you make for the enemy's weak points; you may retire and be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapid than those of the enemy.

11. If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.

12. If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.

13. By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy's must be divided.

14. We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractions. Hence there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which means that we shall be many to the enemy's few.

15. And if we are able thus to attack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.

16. The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few.

17. For should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.

18. Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.

19. Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.

20. But if neither time nor place be known, then the left wing will be impotent to succor the right, the right equally impotent to succor the left, the van unable to relieve the rear, or the rear to support the van. How much more so if the furthest portions of the army are anything under a hundred LI apart, and even the nearest are separated by several LI!

21. Though according to my estimate the soldiers of Yueh exceed our own in number, that shall advantage them nothing in the matter of victory. I say then that victory can be achieved.

22. Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.

23. Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.

24. Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.

25. In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.

26. How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy's own tactics--that is what the multitude cannot comprehend.

27. All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

28. Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.

29. Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.

30. So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.

31. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.

32. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.

33. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.

34. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.

VII. Maneuvering

1. Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign.

2. Having collected an army and concentrated his forces, he must blend and harmonize the different elements thereof before pitching his camp.

3. After that, comes tactical maneuvering, than which there is nothing more difficult. The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.

4. Thus, to take a long and circuitous route, after enticing the enemy out of the way, and though starting after him, to contrive to reach the goal before him, shows knowledge of the artifice of deviation.

5. Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with an undisciplined multitude, most dangerous.

6. If you set a fully equipped army in march in order to snatch an advantage, the chances are that you will be too late. On the other hand, to detach a flying column for the purpose involves the sacrifice of its baggage and stores.

7. Thus, if you order your men to roll up their buff-coats, and make forced marches without halting day or night, covering double the usual distance at a stretch, doing a hundred LI in order to wrest an advantage, the leaders of all your three divisions will fall into the hands of the enemy.

8. The stronger men will be in front, the jaded ones will fall behind, and on this plan only one-tenth of your army will reach its destination.

9. If you march fifty LI in order to outmaneuver the enemy, you will lose the leader of your first division, and only half your force will reach the goal.

10. If you march thirty LI with the same object, two-thirds of your army will arrive.

11. We may take it then that an army without its baggage-train is lost; without provisions it is lost; without bases of supply it is lost.

12. We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.

13. We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country--its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps.

14. We shall be unable to turn natural advantage to account unless we make use of local guides.

15. In war, practice dissimulation, and you will succeed.

16. Whether to concentrate or to divide your troops, must be decided by circumstances.

17. Let your rapidity be that of the wind, your compactness that of the forest.

18. In raiding and plundering be like fire, is immovability like a mountain.

19. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.

20. When you plunder a countryside, let the spoil be divided amongst your men; when you capture new territory, cut it up into allotments for the benefit of the soldiery.

21. Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.

22. He will conquer who has learnt the artifice of deviation. Such is the art of maneuvering.

23. The Book of Army Management says: On the field of battle, the spoken word does not carry far enough: hence the institution of gongs and drums. Nor can ordinary objects be seen clearly enough: hence the institution of banners and flags.

24. Gongs and drums, banners and flags, are means whereby the ears and eyes of the host may be focused on one particular point.

25. The host thus forming a single united body, is it impossible either for the brave to advance alone, or for the cowardly to retreat alone. This is the art of handling large masses of men.

26. In night-fighting, then, make much use of signal-fires and drums, and in fighting by day, of flags and banners, as a means of influencing the ears and eyes of your army.

27. A whole army may be robbed of its spirit; a commander-in-chief may be robbed of his presence of mind.

28. Now a soldier's spirit is keenest in the morning; by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, his mind is bent only on returning to camp.

29. A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return. This is the art of studying moods.

30. Disciplined and calm, to await the appearance of disorder and hubbub amongst the enemy:--this is the art of retaining self-possession.

31. To be near the goal while the enemy is still far from it, to wait at ease while the enemy is toiling and struggling, to be well-fed while the enemy is famished:--this is the art of husbanding one's strength.

32. To refrain from intercepting an enemy whose banners are in perfect order, to refrain from attacking an army drawn up in calm and confident array:--this is the art of studying circumstances.

33. It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy, nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.

34. Do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight; do not attack soldiers whose temper is keen.

35. Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.

36. When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.

37. Such is the art of warfare.

VIII. Variation in Tactics

1. Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army and concentrates his forces

2. When in difficult country, do not encamp. In country where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions. In hemmed-in situations, you must resort to stratagem. In desperate position, you must fight.

3. There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must be not attacked, towns which must be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.

4. The general who thoroughly understands the advantages that accompany variation of tactics knows how to handle his troops.

5. The general who does not understand these, may be well acquainted with the configuration of the country, yet he will not be able to turn his knowledge to practical account.

6. So, the student of war who is unversed in the art of war of varying his plans, even though he be acquainted with the Five Advantages, will fail to make the best use of his men.

7. Hence in the wise leader's plans, considerations of advantage and of disadvantage will be blended together.

8. If our expectation of advantage be tempered in this way, we may succeed in accomplishing the essential part of our schemes.

9. If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.

10. Reduce the hostile chiefs by inflicting damage on them; and make trouble for them, and keep them constantly engaged; hold out specious allurements, and make them rush to any given point.

11. The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.

12. There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: (1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction; (2) cowardice, which leads to capture; (3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults; (4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame; (5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.

13. These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war.

14. When an army is overthrown and its leader slain, the cause will surely be found among these five dangerous faults. Let them be a subject of meditation.

IX. The Army on the March

1. Sun Tzu said: We come now to the question of encamping the army, and observing signs of the enemy. Pass quickly over mountains, and keep in the neighborhood of valleys.

2. Camp in high places, facing the sun. Do not climb heights in order to fight. So much for mountain warfare.

3. After crossing a river, you should get far away from it.

4. When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance to meet it in mid-stream. It will be best to let half the army get across, and then deliver your attack.

5. If you are anxious to fight, you should not go to meet the invader near a river which he has to cross.

6. Moor your craft higher up than the enemy, and facing the sun. Do not move up-stream to meet the enemy. So much for river warfare.

7. In crossing salt-marshes, your sole concern should be to get over them quickly, without any delay.

8. If forced to fight in a salt-marsh, you should have water and grass near you, and get your back to a clump of trees. So much for operations in salt-marches.

9. In dry, level country, take up an easily accessible position with rising ground to your right and on your rear, so that the danger may be in front, and safety lie behind. So much for campaigning in flat country.

10. These are the four useful branches of military knowledge which enabled the Yellow Emperor to vanquish four several sovereigns.

11. All armies prefer high ground to low and sunny places to dark.

12. If you are careful of your men, and camp on hard ground, the army will be free from disease of every kind, and this will spell victory.

13. When you come to a hill or a bank, occupy the sunny side, with the slope on your right rear. Thus you will at once act for the benefit of your soldiers and utilize the natural advantages of the ground.

14. When, in consequence of heavy rains up-country, a river which you wish to ford is swollen and flecked with foam, you must wait until it subsides.

15. Country in which there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between, deep natural hollows, confined places, tangled thickets, quagmires and crevasses, should be left with all possible speed and not approached.

16. While we keep away from such places, we should get the enemy to approach them; while we face them, we should let the enemy have them on his rear.

17. If in the neighborhood of your camp there should be any hilly country, ponds surrounded by aquatic grass, hollow basins filled with reeds, or woods with thick undergrowth, they must be carefully routed out and searched; for these are places where men in ambush or insidious spies are likely to be lurking.

18. When the enemy is close at hand and remains quiet, he is relying on the natural strength of his position.

19. When he keeps aloof and tries to provoke a battle, he is anxious for the other side to advance.

20. If his place of encampment is easy of access, he is tendering a bait.

21. Movement amongst the trees of a forest shows that the enemy is advancing. The appearance of a number of screens in the midst of thick grass means that the enemy wants to make us suspicious.

22. The rising of birds in their flight is the sign of an ambuscade. Startled beasts indicate that a sudden attack is coming.

23. When there is dust rising in a high column, it is the sign of chariots advancing; when the dust is low, but spread over a wide area, it betokens the approach of infantry. When it branches out in different directions, it shows that parties have been sent to collect firewood. A few clouds of dust moving to and fro signify that the army is encamping.

24. Humble words and increased preparations are signs that the enemy is about to advance. Violent language and driving forward as if to the attack are signs that he will retreat.

25. When the light chariots come out first and take up a position on the wings, it is a sign that the enemy is forming for battle.

26. Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot.

27. When there is much running about and the soldiers fall into rank, it means that the critical moment has come.

28. When some are seen advancing and some retreating, it is a lure.

29. When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food.

30. If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst.

31. If the enemy sees an advantage to be gained and makes no effort to secure it, the soldiers are exhausted.

32. If birds gather on any spot, it is unoccupied. Clamor by night betokens nervousness.

33. If there is disturbance in the camp, the general's authority is weak. If the banners and flags are shifted about, sedition is afoot. If the officers are angry, it means that the men are weary.

34. When an army feeds its horses with grain and kills its cattle for food, and when the men do not hang their cooking-pots over the camp-fires, showing that they will not return to their tents, you may know that they are determined to fight to the death.

35. The sight of men whispering together in small knots or speaking in subdued tones points to disaffection amongst the rank and file.

36. Too frequent rewards signify that the enemy is at the end of his resources; too many punishments betray a condition of dire distress.

37. To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy's numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.

38. When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.

39. If the enemy's troops march up angrily and remain facing ours for a long time without either joining battle or taking themselves off again, the situation is one that demands great vigilance and circumspection.

40. If our troops are no more in number than the enemy, that is amply sufficient; it only means that no direct attack can be made. What we can do is simply to concentrate all our available strength, keep a close watch on the enemy, and obtain reinforcements.

41. He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them.

42. If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive; and, unless submissive, then will be practically useless. If, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be unless.

43. Therefore soldiers must be treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept under control by means of iron discipline. This is a certain road to victory.

44. If in training soldiers commands are habitually enforced, the army will be well-disciplined; if not, its discipline will be bad.

45. If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual.

X. Terrain

1. Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) entangling ground; (3) temporizing ground; (4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights; (6) positions at a great distance from the enemy.

2. Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is called accessible.

3. With regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies. Then you will be able to fight with advantage.

4. Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called entangling.

5. From a position of this sort, if the enemy is unprepared, you may sally forth and defeat him. But if the enemy is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.

6. When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called temporizing ground.

7. In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attractive bait, it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the enemy in his turn; then, when part of his army has come out, we may deliver our attack with advantage.

8. With regard to narrow passes, if you can occupy them first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.

9. Should the army forestall you in occupying a pass, do not go after him if the pass is fully garrisoned, but only if it is weakly garrisoned.

10. With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up.

11. If the enemy has occupied them before you, do not follow him, but retreat and try to entice him away.

12. If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and fighting will be to your disadvantage.

13. These six are the principles connected with Earth. The general who has attained a responsible post must be careful to study them.

14. Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganization; (6) rout.

15. Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another ten times its size, the result will be the flight of the former.

16. When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is insubordination. When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is collapse.

17. When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the commander-in-chief can tell whether or no he is in a position to fight, the result is ruin.

18. When the general is weak and without authority; when his orders are not clear and distinct; when there are no fixes duties assigned to officers and men, and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner, the result is utter disorganization.

19. When a general, unable to estimate the enemy's strength, allows an inferior force to engage a larger one, or hurls a weak detachment against a powerful one, and neglects to place picked soldiers in the front rank, the result must be rout.

20. These are six ways of courting defeat, which must be carefully noted by the general who has attained a responsible post.

21. The natural formation of the country is the soldier's best ally; but a power of estimating the adversary, of controlling the forces of victory, and of shrewdly calculating difficulties, dangers and distances, constitutes the test of a great general.

22. He who knows these things, and in fighting puts his knowledge into practice, will win his battles. He who knows them not, nor practices them, will surely be defeated.

23. If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding.

24. The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.

25. Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.

26. If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind-hearted, but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable, moreover, of quelling disorder: then your soldiers must be likened to spoilt children; they are useless for any practical purpose.

27. If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.

28. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.

29. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, and also know that our men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the nature of the ground makes fighting impracticable, we have still gone only halfway towards victory.

30. Hence the experienced soldier, once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss.

31. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete.

XI. The Nine Situations

1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war recognizes nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) facile ground; (3) contentious ground; (4) open ground; (5) ground of intersecting highways; (6) serious ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemmed-in ground; (9) desperate ground.

2. When a chieftain is fighting in his own territory, it is dispersive ground.

3. When he has penetrated into hostile territory, but to no great distance, it is facile ground.

4. Ground the possession of which imports great advantage to either side, is contentious ground.

5. Ground on which each side has liberty of movement is open ground.

6. Ground which forms the key to three contiguous states, so that he who occupies it first has most of the Empire at his command, is a ground of intersecting highways.

7. When an army has penetrated into the heart of a hostile country, leaving a number of fortified cities in its rear, it is serious ground.

8. Mountain forests, rugged steeps, marshes and fens--all country that is hard to traverse: this is difficult ground.

9. Ground which is reached through narrow gorges, and from which we can only retire by tortuous paths, so that a small number of the enemy would suffice to crush a large body of our men: this is hemmed in ground.

10. Ground on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is desperate ground.

11. On dispersive ground, therefore, fight not. On facile ground, halt not. On contentious ground, attack not.

12. On open ground, do not try to block the enemy's way. On the ground of intersecting highways, join hands with your allies.

13. On serious ground, gather in plunder. In difficult ground, keep steadily on the march.

14. On hemmed-in ground, resort to stratagem. On desperate ground, fight.

15. Those who were called skillful leaders of old knew how to drive a wedge between the enemy's front and rear; to prevent co-operation between his large and small divisions; to hinder the good troops from rescuing the bad, the officers from rallying their men.

16. When the enemy's men were united, they managed to keep them in disorder.

17. When it was to their advantage, they made a forward move; when otherwise, they stopped still.

18. If asked how to cope with a great host of the enemy in orderly array and on the point of marching to the attack, I should say: "Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will."

19. Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.

20. The following are the principles to be observed by an invading force: The further you penetrate into a country, the greater will be the solidarity of your troops, and thus the defenders will not prevail against you.

21. Make forays in fertile country in order to supply your army with food.

22. Carefully study the well-being of your men, and do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength. Keep your army continually on the move, and devise unfathomable plans.

23. Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve. Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength.

24. Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear. If there is no place of refuge, they will stand firm. If they are in hostile country, they will show a stubborn front. If there is no help for it, they will fight hard.

25. Thus, without waiting to be marshaled, the soldiers will be constantly on the qui vive; without waiting to be asked, they will do your will; without restrictions, they will be faithful; without giving orders, they can be trusted.

26. Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared.

27. If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.

28. On the day they are ordered out to battle, your soldiers may weep, those sitting up bedewing their garments, and those lying down letting the tears run down their cheeks. But let them once be brought to bay, and they will display the courage of a Chu or a Kuei.

29. The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the ChUng mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.

30. Asked if an army can be made to imitate the shuai-jan, I should answer, Yes. For the men of Wu and the men of Yueh are enemies; yet if they are crossing a river in the same boat and are caught by a storm, they will come to each other's assistance just as the left hand helps the right.

31. Hence it is not enough to put one's trust in the tethering of horses, and the burying of chariot wheels in the ground

32. The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage which all must reach.

33. How to make the best of both strong and weak--that is a question involving the proper use of ground.

34. Thus the skillful general conducts his army just as though he were leading a single man, willy-nilly, by the hand.

35. It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright and just, and thus maintain order.

36. He must be able to mystify his officers and men by false reports and appearances, and thus keep them in total ignorance.

37. By altering his arrangements and changing his plans, he keeps the enemy without definite knowledge. By shifting his camp and taking circuitous routes, he prevents the enemy from anticipating his purpose.

38. At the critical moment, the leader of an army acts like one who has climbed up a height and then kicks away the ladder behind him. He carries his men deep into hostile territory before he shows his hand.

39. He burns his boats and breaks his cooking-pots; like a shepherd driving a flock of sheep, he drives his men this way and that, and nothing knows whither he is going.

40. To muster his host and bring it into danger:--this may be termed the business of the general.

41. The different measures suited to the nine varieties of ground; the expediency of aggressive or defensive tactics; and the fundamental laws of human nature: these are things that must most certainly be studied.

42. When invading hostile territory, the general principle is, that penetrating deeply brings cohesion; penetrating but a short way means dispersion.

43. When you leave your own country behind, and take your army across neighborhood territory, you find yourself on critical ground. When there are means of communication on all four sides, the ground is one of intersecting highways.

44. When you penetrate deeply into a country, it is serious ground. When you penetrate but a little way, it is facile ground.

45. When you have the enemy's strongholds on your rear, and narrow passes in front, it is hemmed-in ground. When there is no place of refuge at all, it is desperate ground.

46. Therefore, on dispersive ground, I would inspire my men with unity of purpose. On facile ground, I would see that there is close connection between all parts of my army.

47. On contentious ground, I would hurry up my rear.

48. On open ground, I would keep a vigilant eye on my defenses. On ground of intersecting highways, I would consolidate my alliances.

49. On serious ground, I would try to ensure a continuous stream of supplies. On difficult ground, I would keep pushing on along the road.

50. On hemmed-in ground, I would block any way of retreat. On desperate ground, I would proclaim to my soldiers the hopelessness of saving their lives.

51. For it is the soldier's disposition to offer an obstinate resistance when surrounded, to fight hard when he cannot help himself, and to obey promptly when he has fallen into danger.

52. We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes until we are acquainted with their designs. We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country--its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. We shall be unable to turn natural advantages to account unless we make use of local guides.

53. To be ignored of any one of the following four or five principles does not befit a warlike prince.

54. When a warlike prince attacks a powerful state, his generalship shows itself in preventing the concentration of the enemy's forces. He overawes his opponents, and their allies are prevented from joining against him.

55. Hence he does not strive to ally himself with all and sundry, nor does he foster the power of other states. He carries out his own secret designs, keeping his antagonists in awe. Thus he is able to capture their cities and overthrow their kingdoms.

56. Bestow rewards without regard to rule, issue orders without regard to previous arrangements; and you will be able to handle a whole army as though you had to do with but a single man.

57. Confront your soldiers with the deed itself; never let them know your design. When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy.

58. Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety.

59. For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm's way that is capable of striking a blow for victory.

60. Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose.

61. By persistently hanging on the enemy's flank, we shall succeed in the long run in killing the commander-in-chief.

62. This is called ability to accomplish a thing by sheer cunning.

63. On the day that you take up your command, block the frontier passes, destroy the official tallies, and stop the passage of all emissaries.

64. Be stern in the council-chamber, so that you may control the situation.

65. If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in.

66. Forestall your opponent by seizing what he holds dear, and subtly contrive to time his arrival on the ground.

67. Walk in the path defined by rule, and accommodate yourself to the enemy until you can fight a decisive battle.

68. At first, then, exhibit the coyness of a maiden, until the enemy gives you an opening; afterwards emulate the rapidity of a running hare, and it will be too late for the enemy to oppose you.

XII. The Attack by Fire

1. Sun Tzu said: There are five ways of attacking with fire. The first is to burn soldiers in their camp; the second is to burn stores; the third is to burn baggage trains; the fourth is to burn arsenals and magazines; the fifth is to hurl dropping fire amongst the enemy.

2. In order to carry out an attack, we must have means available. The material for raising fire should always be kept in readiness.

3. There is a proper season for making attacks with fire, and special days for starting a conflagration.

4. The proper season is when the weather is very dry; the special days are those when the moon is in the constellations of the Sieve, the Wall, the Wing or the Cross-bar; for these four are all days of rising wind.

5. In attacking with fire, one should be prepared to meet five possible developments:

6. (1) When fire breaks out inside to enemy's camp, respond at once with an attack from without.

7. (2) If there is an outbreak of fire, but the enemy's soldiers remain quiet, bide your time and do not attack.

8. (3) When the force of the flames has reached its height, follow it up with an attack, if that is practicable; if not, stay where you are.

9. (4) If it is possible to make an assault with fire from without, do not wait for it to break out within, but deliver your attack at a favorable moment.

10. (5) When you start a fire, be to windward of it. Do not attack from the leeward.

11. A wind that rises in the daytime lasts long, but a night breeze soon falls.

12. In every army, the five developments connected with fire must be known, the movements of the stars calculated, and a watch kept for the proper days.

13. Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those who use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength.

14. By means of water, an enemy may be intercepted, but not robbed of all his belongings.

15. Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.

16. Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.

17. Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.

18. No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.

19. If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are.

20. Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content.

21. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.

22. Hence the enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution. This is the way to keep a country at peace and an army intact.

XIII. The Use of Spies

1. Sun Tzu said: Raising a host of a hundred thousand men and marching them great distances entails heavy loss on the people and a drain on the resources of the State. The daily expenditure will amount to a thousand ounces of silver. There will be commotion at home and abroad, and men will drop down exhausted on the highways. As many as seven hundred thousand families will be impeded in their labor.

2. Hostile armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory which is decided in a single day. This being so, to remain in ignorance of the enemy's condition simply because one grudges the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver in honors and emoluments, is the height of inhumanity.

3. One who acts thus is no leader of men, no present help to his sovereign, no master of victory.

4. Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.

5. Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.

6. Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men.

7. Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: (1) Local spies; (2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies.

8. When these five kinds of spy are all at work, none can discover the secret system. This is called "divine manipulation of the threads." It is the sovereign's most precious faculty.

9. Having local spies means employing the services of the inhabitants of a district.

10. Having inward spies, making use of officials of the enemy.

11. Having converted spies, getting hold of the enemy's spies and using them for our own purposes.

12. Having doomed spies, doing certain things openly for purposes of deception, and allowing our spies to know of them and report them to the enemy.

13. Surviving spies, finally, are those who bring back news from the enemy's camp.

14. Hence it is that which none in the whole army are more intimate relations to be maintained than with spies. None should be more liberally rewarded. In no other business should greater secrecy be preserved.

15. Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity.

16. They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness.

17. Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports.

18. Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of business.

19. If a secret piece of news is divulged by a spy before the time is ripe, he must be put to death together with the man to whom the secret was told.

20. Whether the object be to crush an army, to storm a city, or to assassinate an individual, it is always necessary to begin by finding out the names of the attendants, the aides-de-camp, and door-keepers and sentries of the general in command. Our spies must be commissioned to ascertain these.

21. The enemy's spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out, tempted with bribes, led away and comfortably housed. Thus they will become converted spies and available for our service.

22. It is through the information brought by the converted spy that we are able to acquire and employ local and inward spies.

23. It is owing to his information, again, that we can cause the doomed spy to carry false tidings to the enemy.

24. Lastly, it is by his information that the surviving spy can be used on appointed occasions.

25. The end and aim of spying in all its five varieties is knowledge of the enemy; and this knowledge can only be derived, in the first instance, from the converted spy. Hence it is essential that the converted spy be treated with the utmost liberality.

26. Of old, the rise of the Yin dynasty was due to I Chih who had served under the Hsia. Likewise, the rise of the Chou dynasty was due to Lu Ya who had served under the Yin.

27. Hence it is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for purposes of spying and thereby they achieve great results. Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army's ability to move.

"Art of War Video Series from YT"

Soweto Youth Uprising, South Africa 1976 and the Hector Pieterson Memorial

By RBG Street Scholar

Fatally-wounded Hector Pieterson , one of the first fatalities, is carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo on June 16, 1976, with Antoinette Pieterson running alongside. Photo by Sam Nzima.
http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/hector-pieterson.htm

The Soweto uprising were a series of clashes in Soweto, South Africa on June 16, 1976 between black youths and the South African authorities. The riots grew out of protests against the policies of the National Party government and its apartheid regime.

June 16 is now celebrated in South Africa as Youth Day.

Roots of the uprising

The origin of the protests are traced back to 1949 and the Eiselen Commission's enquiry into the edification of non-whites. The commission recommended drastic changes, which were implemented through the Bantu Education Act of 1953. The legislation caused many mission schools, through which the majority of black children were educated, to lose government aid and close. Funding for black schools was drawn from taxes paid by black people, who were generally impoverished. The result was a very uneven distribution of teaching resources in black and white schools.

Similarly, the Coloured Person's Education Act of 1963 made coloured education the responsibility of the Department of Coloured Affairs and barred coloured children from white schools. In 1965 the Indian Education Act consigned Indian education to the Department of Indian Affairs.

The funding available for bantu education was diverted to building schools in bantustans between 1962 and 1971, and no new schools were constructed in urban areas for non-white students during this time. In 1972 the state committed itself to generating better qualified labourers by improving the education system and between 1972 and 1976 forty new schools were built in Soweto. The learning population in the township multiplied threefold, but still only one in five Soweto children attended schools.

The uprising

On the morning of June 16, 1976, thousands of black students walked from their schools to Orlando Stadium for a rally to protest against having to learn through Afrikaans in school. Many students who later participated in the protest arrived at school that morning without prior knowledge of the protest, yet agreed to become involved. The protest was intended to be peaceful and had been carefully planned by the Soweto Students’ Representative Council’s (SSRC) Action Committee, with support from the wider Black Consciousness Movement. Teachers in Soweto also supported the march after the Action Committee emphasized good discipline and peaceful action.

Tsietsi Mashininini led students from Morris Isaacson High School to join up with others who walked from Naledi High School. The students began the march only to find out that police had barricaded the road along their intended route. The leader of the action committee asked the crowd not to provoke the police and the march continued on another route, eventually ending up near Orlando High School. The crowd of between 3,000 and 10,000 students made their way towards the area of the school. Students sang and wove placards with slogans such as, "Down with Afrikaans", "Viva Azania" and "If we must do Afrikaans, Vorster must do Zulu".

A 2006 BBC/SABC documentary corroborated the testimony of Colonel Kleingeld, the police officer who fired the first shot, with eyewitness accounts from both sides. In Kleingeld's account, some of the children started throwing stones as soon as they spotted the police patrol, while others continued to march peacefully. Police attempts to calm the crowd verbally, or to disperse the students using dogs and tear gas had no effect. One of the police dogs was caught, set alight and beaten to death. When police saw they were surrounded by the students, they fired shots into the crowd, and pandemonium broke out.

Colonel Kleingeld drew his handgun and fired a shot, causing panic and chaos. Students started screaming and running and more gunshots were fired. The first person to be shot was Hastings Ndlovu, followed by 12-year-old Hector Pieterson. The photograph taken of his body became a symbol of police brutality .

The rioting continued and 23 people, including two white people, died on the first day in Soweto. Among them was Dr Melville Edelstein who had devoted his life to social welfare among blacks. He was stoned to death by the mob and left with a sign around his neck proclaiming 'Beware Afrikaaners'.

The violence escalated as the students panicked; bottle stores and beerhalls were targeted as many believed that alcohol was used by the government to control black people. The violence abated by nightfall. Police vans and armored vehicles patrolled the streets throughout the night.

Emergency clinics were swamped with injured and bloody children. It is not known how many injured children sustained bullet wounds because doctors refused to collect such details for fear that police would target the families of such children. In many cases bullet wounds were indicated on hospital records as abscesses.

Emotions ran high after the massacre on June 16. Hostility between students and the police was intense, with officers shooting at random and more people joining the protesters. The township youth had been frustrated and angry for a long time and the riots became the opportunity to bring to light their grievances.

The 1,500 heavily armed police officers deployed to Soweto on June 17 carried weapons including automatic rifles, stun guns, and carbines. They drove around in armoured vehicles with helicopters monitoring the area from the sky. The South African Army was also order on standby as a tactical measure to show military force. Crowd control methods used by South African police at the time included mainly dispersement techniques, and many of the officers shot indiscriminately, killing many people.

Casualties

The accounts of how many people died vary from 200 to 600, with Reuters news agency currently reporting there were "more than 500" fatalities in the 1976 riots. The original government figure claimed only 23 students were killed. The number of wounded was estimated to be over a thousand men, children, and women.

Sources: modified from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soweto_uprising

Further Study:

• The photograph that changed the world, by Jerome Cartillier, Mail & Guardian, June 16, 2006.

• Soweto uprisings . com, an extensive mashup with loads of info on the events on June 16th 1976.

• [3] The Youth Struggle: The 1976 Student's Revolts South African History Online. Documents the student uprisings on the 16th of June 1976 and related events

From: RBG Black History Month 24/7/365

Written by ikemacina

A Must See for all South Africans.

When you have a moment in time to spare, maybe a "Free" weekend; just take a drive to Hector Peterson Memorial. It will take you back in time. Children in High Schools should be encourage to visit this place - It is a whole new world frozen in time.

This picture is worth a 1000 words. Everyone knows it. Soweto and South Africa become known and history made because of this Picture.

The visitors to the Hector Peterson Memorial strangely, are from Europe i.e. France, Germany, Spain, USA, England, China, and Canada. Seldom you'll find visitors from Johannesburg suburban like Sandton or Bryanston let alone Pretoria i.e. Waterkloof. I was surprised for the third time when i visited Dr. Mandela's Museum - the attendance register reflects places i have mentioned above. Very few Black South Africans can even point where the place is situated. What a shame! Yet we call ourselves South Africans.

I urge all South African (local) White people to visit this place. It is an eye opener to the rich tapestry of this country's reconciled process. The Department of Arts and Culture or whichever Government department undertook to restore this monumental piece of our history! Has done a good job with the modern multimedia presentations.

It is imperative for students, especially Matriculants studying S.A. history to visit this place. The memorial is something to write home about. It will absolute make learning more easier and practical to comprehend. i can not say any more

Hector Peterson Memorial is not only an achievement to Black Liberation in the history of South Africa. It is also an Education Process that reminds all South Africans to appreciate the value of Freedom. This Memorial forms part of Soweto's Big Tourism Routes from Dr. Nelson Mandela's Museum right-through to the surrounding Soweto's most popular restaurant's, tourists and historical attractions.

Click below for more:

History should never repeat itself