The Burning Spear newspaper congratulates Comrade Kiongozi Binamu who received the African People’s Socialist Party’s esteemed Comrade of the Quarter award for the fourth quarter of 2015.
The Comrade of the Quarter is a popular acknowledgement awarded by the Party to members who have distinguished themselves through their efforts to build and forward Party-led work for the liberation of African people everywhere.
Every three months, movement forces submit nominations for outstanding members.
The nominations are reviewed and voted on by the Party’s Recognition Committee. The committee generally has a difficult time choosing from a number of enthusiastic Party comrades.
Every quarterly winner is announced at a major Uhuru Movement event, in the pages of The Spear and on UhuruNews.com and receives a $50 gift certificate. They also become a candidate for the Comrade of the Year award.
Kiongozi Binamu joined the APSP in August 2014 at the Party’s one-month Cadre Intensive in St. Petersburg, Florida and has since strived to develop politically and practically.
His actions make a statement of his understanding of the Party’s call for “Africans to Lead” and of what it means to be a true African Internationalist.
Kiongozi has begun to articulate the Party line in various ways, not just in doing the work, but in putting the line out in the world and demanding others to come into this work to help lead us into this new period.
Binamu was a key force in Oakland Uhuru House reconstruction as he utilized his construction skills to help turn the Uhuru House into a beautiful culture hub for the African community.
Kiongozi is also a major force in the 2015 pie campaign and in Black Star Industries’ (BSI) Uhuru Foods & Pies work.
The Comrade of the Quarter also turned Omali Yeshitela’s Library into something that represented the history of the African People’s Socialist Party by building bookcases, installing security bars, etc.
Kiongozi was always the first to arrive at Akwaaba Hall for our meetings and get the conference room ready.
A true definition of Cadre
Kiongozi also helped to provide leadership to new comrades.
When the Uhuru Pies campaign was faced with a need for everyone to do extra work, Kiongozi rose up and had a cadre stance of doing whatever needed to be done.
Kiongozi would stay until the pie production (baking, cooling, boxing, dividing) was done and the kitchen was clean.
He also volunteered to staff tables in November and in December 2015. In some cases, he would be at the kitchen late and on a table early in the morning.
On the day before Thanksgiving, Kiongozi had a commitment to his family, but he volunteered to cover a sales table for part of the day because he knew it needed to happen.
Kiongozi led a team of volunteers to sell more pies than we had ever sold on any table in the history of the pie campaign in December 2015. It was a real victory!
Kiongozi mentored young African volunteers who staffed with him.
Kiongozi is always a pleasure to be around. He is dedicated, funny and brings the best spirit. Most importantly, Kiongozi has grown leaps and bounds in this period, rising up to become a real cadre in the African People’s Socialist Party!
