It was about ten years ago, on October 17, 2015, that the African People’s Education and Defense Fund (APEDF) launched the annual Uhuru Book Fair (UBF) to contend with the educational and economic disparities African people in Philadelphia are subjected to under this social system that the Party has identified as colonialism. On September 20, the UBF will return to West Philly’s Clark Park to continue to build this goal of African self-determination.
Since its implementation, the Uhuru Book Fair has been one of many institutions of the Uhuru Movement that has put African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) Chairman Omali Yeshitela’s vision of dual and contending economic power into practice. This vision of an institution for and by African people is executed under the steadfast leadership of Ona Zené Yeshitela, President of APEDF.
Under the stewardship of the Northern Region of the African People’s Socialist Party, the UBF has grown to become a staple event in the historic Clark Park of West Philly. African vendors, authors, local organizations, and community members come out to support each other, exchange resources and learn about the Uhuru Movement.
Legacy vendors and supporters like Nana Bey, Shawn Alleyne of Pyroglyphics, Steve Williams, as well as organizations like Moravia Health, Treehouse Books, and Art & Soul Gallery and Boutique have contributed to the success of the market by co-sponsoring and endorsing the mission of APEDF through the Book Fair.
At last year’s UBF, Karen Smith, award-winning musician and veteran supporter of Uhuru Movement institutions, testified, “This is the ninth year of the wonderful African book fair. I’ve been a part of it for the past nine years. And it’s just so much here as far as vendors, entertainment, and information; and it’s a time for us to be more aware… it brings out the importance of solidarity and what this Uhuru Movement is all about… I love being able to do things for the community, and this is one of them. Uhuru!”
The vision behind the UBF was to also provide a space where local authors, performers and organizers could come to share their work without fear of censorship.
This was of special concern in the wake of the 2015 Harlem Book Fair, where Chairman Omali Yeshitela was rushed off the stage when he exposed the role that Barack Obama played as the black face of white power imperialism.
This culture of censorship on anti-colonial free speech was also exposed in bold relief during the July 29, 2022 FBI raids on the Uhuru Movement. With the swift mobilization of the Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa! Campaign, the Uhuru Movement was able to expose the lie that the Uhuru 3—Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel—were somehow in cahoots with the Russian government in their lifelong work to forward the African Liberation Movement.
In its nine-year run, the UBF has become the institution where African people can participate in a day of resistance to the censorship of our community and the abrogation of the democratic right to exchange free thought and express our interests and experiences.
Attacks on anti-colonial free speech and the stifling of revolutionary voices make institutions like the Uhuru Book Fair all the more important. It becomes an institution that the African community in Philadelphia can look to with full confidence that the Uhuru Movement will always have the interests of the African working class at heart.
Part of the success of the UBF is also the comrades who make the monthly trip to Philadelphia to assist the vendors, man the Party table and organize the overall One Africa! One Nation! (OAON) Marketplace throughout the year. Led by Northern Regional Representative Emmanuel Maku, as well as Tiffany Murphy, Comrades Kiongozi, bAk-rA, Cota, Shabaka and more take part in making a memorable day for the African business owners local to Philly.
Our Uhuru market expert, Comrade Tiffany, also summed up the significance of the OAON thus: “What you see here—the 80+ vendors, the authors, the education resources, the free resources that we’re giving away, the Children’s Circle—came with 20 years of struggle. The market has been here for 20 years, and that’s no small thing.”
Tiffany continued, “You don’t see many institutions, let alone African institutions, survive that long. And everybody who’s been following us knows that this institution has been under attack from the city, under attack from various groups who just did not want us here. In the midst of gentrification, they tried to push us out with crazy fees, unreasonable demands, threats—and yet we persevered. Because that’s what we do as Africans. We don’t just survive, we thrive. And because of that, we have grown to become this beloved institution.”
This year, the Northern Region is honored to once again have Betty Davis organizer with the Black is Back Coalition and the New Abolitionist Movement, as our keynote speaker.
We will also be joined by Mike Africa Jr. as one of our esteemed political speakers. His book “On a Move: Philadelphia’s Notorious Bombing and a Native Son’s Lifelong Battle for Justice” is one of many works that the UBF provides the space for promotion among the African working class.
On the musical front, the Uhuru Book Fair is excited to welcome back DJ Duiji13 of Vinyltap215 as well as our program coordinator, Comrade Cota, on the 1s and 2s.
If you find yourself in the Philly area on September 20, come out to Clark Park and take part in the APEDF’s mission to not only buy black, but Buy Black Power!
For information on how to get involved, visit OneAfricaMarketPhilly.org or call/text 267-875-3532
Putting the Power of Education in the Hands of the African Community!
This Time Til It’s Won!
Uhuru!
