WASHINGTON, D.C.— Africans and our allies came from throughout the U.S. for the Black Is Back Coalition (BIBC) for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations Annual March on Washington and Conference under the banner, "BlackPowerMatters,” on November 7-8, 2015.
This year marked the seventh consecutive year that the BIBC has mobilized to demand that U.S. president Barack Hussein Obama’s Democratic party regime—now in power—ends the wars of aggression around the world and to stop the war on Africans in the U.S. and for Reparations Now!
The BIBC’s message to the people was that Black Power Matters!
African people must struggle for Black Community Control of the Police.
African people must struggle for to the ability to hire and fire cops who occupy our communities, tote lethal weapons and are sanctioned by the State to use lethal force.
Many African people, including some self-proclaimed militants and revolutionaries, had been bamboozled by Obama’s selection as the first black president.
There was no one to challenge the war mongering, U.S. government, because black people demanded nothing of the new U.S. president.
The BIBC filled that void when the BIBC for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations came into being in 2009.
The Black Lives Matters movement and hashtag took the opportunity to put itself in front of the invigorating resistance by young, working class Africans in Ferguson Missouri, in 2014, then in Baltimore, Maryland in 2015.
The Black Lives Matters movement poses no challenge to and demands nothing from the oppressive U.S. government—they are, in fact, clamoring to join it.
Black power speakers!
Glenn Ford, Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report and founding member of the BIBC said, “Many of our politically active people do not know what the word ‘demands’ means… I’m not saying they shun demands and they don’t like demands, they don’t know what the hell a demand is… and that’s scary.”
The November 7, 2015 BlackPowerMatters march did not go as planned.
Constant, cold rain forced the activities to move to Howard University’s Blackburn Center Digital Auditorium.
Conference attendees were introduced to the leadership of the BIBC by Vice Chair Lisa Davis who moderated the program throughout the day.
A PowerPoint presentation laid out the abundant history of the organization.
Most of the scheduled speakers for the rally were able to make their presentations at the Blackburn auditorium.
Those speakers included BIBC Chair Omali Yeshitela; Vice Chair Lisa Davis, Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report, Marsha Coleman-Adebayo of Black Agenda Report and Kamm Howard, the Chair of Reparations Working Group. These were exciting presentations geared toward advancing our movement past protests and rallies.
#BlackPowerMatters conference convenes
Chairman Omali Yeshitela opened up by BIBC Conference, on November 8, 2015.
He spoke on the significance of the coalition and the work that it does and has done in its history—including the being the first, black led organization to challenge Obama and the Democratic party.
Other topics of the day included reports from the Reparations Working Group led by Kamm Howard out of Chicago, the Political Prisoners Working Group led by Ralph Poynter and the Healthcare Working Group led by Vice Chair Lisa Davis.
Herdosia Bentum, President of BIBC member organization InPDUM, urged the conference participants to join in the “Africans Charge Genocide,” campaign directed at the U.S. government for its historical oppression and exploitation of African people.
Kamm Howard of the Amos Wilson Institute spoke on the great need for reparations work.
He also spoke about continuing the initiatives that came out of the Durban, South Africa Conference in 2002.
Long time activist and Chair of the BIBC Political Prisoners Working Group, Ralph Poynter, advanced the conference attendees understanding of the U.S. penitentiary system. Poynter was clear, “These are not prisons. They are death camps.”
Vice Chair of the BIBC and Chair of the Healthcare Working Group, Lisa Davis gave a brilliant presentation on the history and need for revolutionized healthcare.
She called for the BIBC to intensify the struggle against “Depo-Provera” and mass incarceration, both forms of birth control that the State forces on Africans.
Comrade Zaki Baruti, President of the Universal African People’s Organization, gave a major presentation on the Electoral Politics campaign: “National Black Political Empowerment Movement to Achieve Proportionate Political Representation.”
Glen Ford made an excellent presentation on Black Community Control of the Police, why it is the demand of the day, and how to achieve it.
Gazi Kodzo, Director of Recruitment and Membership of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP), moderated.
Join, build Black Is Back!
A panel discussion that included Margaret Kimberly of Black Agenda Report, Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Herdosia Bentum, summed-up the world situation.
People came from throughout the country, including New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, California and many other places.
One highpoint of the Conference came during the call for resources.
A brother, who said he is a former Panther, remarked that the BIBC is the organization with the talk that he had been missing.
He also said he was tired of being a closet revolutionary, and with that said he had $1,000 to donate to the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations.
In addition, we sold every one of our $30 Black Power Matters t-shirts!
The weekend was a great stimulus for our movement. It was a great weekend of struggle that answered the question, “Or Else?”
The weekend’s activities ended with this call to action by Chairman Omali Yeshitela:
“Join this organization, join this coalition! Become organized, because as individuals we ain’t nothing. We ain’t nothing as individuals. We have no strength, no voice, no strategy . . . we have nothing but complaints.”
