“Confronting Empire: The Fight for Global Justice”

Black Radical Congress and Black Out in unity with the GSU African-American Studies Dept. and Sankofa present:

“Confronting Empire: The Fight for Global Justice”
June 17-19, 2005
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA


The Black Radical Congress will hold its 2005 meeting this year in Atlanta, GA on June 17-19th at Georgia State University. This year's event will be action-packed. You can expect a host of institutes, workshops, and trainings; documentary screenings; creative performances, and more!

June 5 was the deadline for mail-in registrations for the conference and housing. After that date, there will only be onsite and online registration. Make checks and money orders payable to the Black Radical Congress. Mail to the National Office at P.O. Box 24795, St. Louis, MO 63115.

Registration


Standard $35
Student/Youth $15
Unemployed $5


Congress 2005 Call Brief Released:
Confronting Empire: The Fight For Global Justice

PREDATOR NATION

On September 10, 2001, thousands of people from numerous countries were en route back to their homes from Durban, South Africa, where they had attended the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. In Durban, remarkable unity had been negotiated among peoples of African des-cent, indigenous peoples, South Asians, Palestinians and many others on fundamental issues of economic, political and social justice. And out of the gathering had come understandings about historical and contemporary patterns of oppress-ion, as well as mandates for action to redress grievances on all continents. The glow of Durban, however, would soon be extinguished.

What a difference a day made. Events of the next morning, September 11, propelled us into a new era – the most fateful yet, for the planet Earth, in the evolution of the United States empire. On one cloudless day, horrific suicide attacks on New York’s World Trade Center created conditions for the totalitarian corporatizing of U.S. domestic and foreign policy under the direction of an extreme right wing clique. The stated goals of these new robber barons are "freedom" and "liberty": that is, freedom for private industry from the few ties that have bound it since the 1930's to control the world’s resources by any means necessary, and corporate liberty from any responsibility whatsoever toward humanity or the natural world, anywhere on the planet. The George W. Bush White House, under cover of waging an endless "war against terror," is now the headquarters of a wealth-accumulation system more concentrated, predatory and global in its embrace than ever before.

The through-line of the new order is old: racism, discrimination, imperial domination, exploitation. Its most striking features are the roll-back and the roll-out.

At home, ...



Roll back affirmative action, Social Security, welfare, environmental protections, overtime pay, anything public that can be privatized, anything that cramps the corporate sector’s drive for profits.
Roll back the responsibility of government to provide for the public good.
Roll out new surveillance systems and new anti-immigrant policies.
Roll out Patriot Acts and other legal restraints to bring society under near militaristic control.
Roll out black and brown co-imperialists in high office to confuse those who haven’t yet figured out that "everyone who is my color isn’t necessarily my kind."
Roll out media whores of all colors to insure that government propaganda will saturate the airwaves.
Roll out the Big Lie to disguise intentions and cover all tracks.

Abroad, ...


Roll back diplomacy and roll out war -- war against any state that refuses to bow to the military supremacy of global capital's U.S. agents.
Roll out the Marines to stage coups d'etat, such as that against Jean Bertrand Aristide in Haiti, who tried to hold out against ceding his nation's resources and people to U.S. control.
Roll back cooperation and roll out covert action, such as that against President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, under whose leadership that nation's oil wealth is benefitting Venezuelan workers and the poor for the first time.


The Bush Administration’s criminal destruction of the most developed state in the Middle East, Iraq, must be seen for what it is: a rich man’s war fought by the poor – disproportionately, by the children of black and brown Americans.

At this writing, Iran and Syria loom as the next possible targets of naked aggression. All of which is creating a world of instability, chaos, violence, environmental pollution and fear.

We, of the African diaspora, cannot lie down for the sacrifice of our children's future to bad schools, bad health, pri-son and death as soldiers in imperialist wars. Neither can we fail to notice, in the harsh glare of Bush extremism, that injustice – racial, economic, social, sexual and political -- is a many-headed hydra known to millions of people everywhere. Thus, never have we been more aware of the need to work with others to link our multiple struggles across lines of color, class, cultural and ethnic difference, across borders and oceans. International solidarity and action were key to the defeat of apartheid in South Africa, and before that to African nations' successful fight for independence from colonial subjugation. Another world IS possible, if we think internationally while working locally, forge unity within cultural diversity, and seize this time, not only to strengthen resistance but to set a new liberation agenda.

The Black Radical Congress wants YOU to be a part of this effort by coming to Atlanta, Georgia to attend Black Radical Congress 2005: Confronting Empire: The Fight For Global Justice, June 17, 18 and 19, 2005.

At this Juneteenth* gathering, we will not merely sit and listen to talking heads. Workshops and plenaries will be interactive and inclusive. We will speak out, think together and work towards achieving:


Joint actions for change across the spectrum of the "Black rainbow" -- Africans, African Americans, Afro-Cana-dians, Afro-Latinos and Caribbeans -- within the U.S. and internationally.
Stronger tools of advocacy for the rights of Black working people, who are losing economic ground daily as the public sector shrinks, wages erode, jobs disappear and all of the poor get poorer.
Greater commitment of skills to, and active support for, progressive struggle from Black people in the media, academe and faith communities.
Closer cooperation among young and veteran activists and ongoing development of, and support for, young leaders.
A bigger and better BRC.


These are only a few of the issues we will address. How to fight militarism, neo-liberalism, AIDS, Black conservatism and homophobia, as well as building coalitions in pursuit of reparations, peace and sexual equality, will also be tackled. Atlanta on Juneteenth weekend is the place to be. We look forward to seeing you. Check details and updates for the Congress 2005 program at www.blackradicalcongress.org.

*The Meaning of Juneteenth

Two years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 became official, the enslaved Black people of Galveston, Texas finally received word of their freedom. By then, the Union Army had defeated the Confederates, bringing an end to the Civil War. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger announced: "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality ... between former masters and slaves ...."

Jubilant celebrations erupted among the freed African Americans, beginning a tradition that continues to this day.

The time lag that left Galveston slaves unaware of their release from bondage reflected the actual process of emancipation: The slaves gained freedom only gradually as the Union Army won battles and expanded its occupation of the southern states. Congress legalized abolition with its passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, for Black people June 19 – "Juneteenth" – came to symbolize the absolute end of slavery in North America, a day for rejoicing and reflection at picnics, lectures, religious services and music festivals.

Juneteenth was declared an official holiday in Texas more than 20 years ago.

Today, it is formally observed in more than 200 U.S. cities, unofficially noted in others and even celebrated in several foreign countries. In 1997, the U.S. Congress recognized the day as "Independence Day" for Americans of African descent. Many African American leaders are seeking to establish Juneteenth as a legal holiday in their regions, and the Washington-based National Juneteenth Observance Foundation campaigns to make June 19 a national holiday.