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African socialism is a belief in sharing economic resources in a "traditional" African way, as distinct from classical socialism. Many African politicians of the 1950s and 1960s professed their support for African socialism, although definitions and interpretations of this term varied considerably. This is due to the fact that African socialism has not been the product of one single thinker. One example of a definition of African socialism was phrased as a metaphor by de Graft Johnson, from the University of Ghana in 1962^[1]. His definition of African socialism was that “the principle of the State as a father, which is the basis of socialism, is what we have here in our clans or tribes which are in fact extended families. In our society, the collective wealth of the extended family is used for the welfare of the family as a whole. The extended families take on the functions of social insurance, and if a member of the family falls into debt, all the others help him to pay it; if he is ill, they look after him; if there is a bright boy in the family whom the immediate parents cannot afford to educate, the others help in educating him. Property, especially land, often belongs to the whole extended family. There are abuses in the extended family system, but its basic pattern, when enlarged to embrace the state, is virtually what is meant by socialism.”^[2]

The Origins and Themes of African Socialism[link]

As many African countries gained independence during the 1960s, some of these newly formed governments rejected the ideas of capitalism in favour of a more afrocentric economic model. Advocates of African socialism claimed that it was not the opposite of capitalism nor a response to it, but something completely different.

Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Léopold Senghor of Senegal, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Sékou Touré of Guinea, were the main architects of African Socialism according to William H. Friedland and Carl G. Rosberg Jr. editors of the book "African Socialism."^[3]

Common principles of various versions of African socialism were: economic development guided by a large public sector, incorporating the African identity and what it means to be African, and the avoidance of the development of social classes within society^[4] . Senghor claimed that “Africa’s social background of tribal community life not only makes socialism natural to Africa but excludes the validity of the theory of class struggle,” thus making African socialism, in all of its variations, different from Marxism and European socialist theory ^[5].

Ujamaa: Nyerere's Version of African Socialism[link]

The Concept of Ujamaa formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after Tanganyika gained independence from its colonial power Britain in 1961 and its union with Zanzibar to form Tanzania in 1964. The word Ujamaa comes from the Swahili word for extended family or familyhood and is distinguished by several key characteristics, namely that a person becomes a person through the people or community.

In 1967, President Nyerere published his development blueprint, which was titled the Arusha Declaration, in which Nyerere pointed out the need for an African model of development. That formed the basis of African socialism for Tanzania^[6]. The Arusha Declaration sparked international discussions and debates about African socialism in the academic and economic world.^[7]

However, according to the BBC, "while he united his nation and made major advances in the fields of health and education," Julius Nyerere's African socialist "Ujamaa" collectives "proved disastrous for Tanzania's economy".^[8]

See also[link]

• Third Worldism
• Pan-Africanism
• Arab socialism
• Melanesian socialism
• Ubuntu
• Ujamaa
• Harambee

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Bismarck U. Mwansasu and Cranford Pratt, Towards Socialism in Tanzania, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1979.
• Fenner Brockway, African Socialism, The Bodley Head, London, 1963.
• Ghita Jonescu and Ernest Gellner, Populism, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1969.
• Paolo Andreocci, Democrazia, partito unico e populismo nel pensiero politico africano, in Africa, Rome, n. 2-3, 1969.
• Peter Worsley, The Third World,Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1964.
• William H. Crawford and Carl G.Rosberg jr., African Socialism, Stanford University press, California, 1964.
• Yves Bénot, Idélogies des Indepéndances africaines, F.Maspero, Paris, 1969.

George Ayittey

Born	1945
Nationality	Ghana
Institution	American University
Field	Political economics
Alma mater	University of Manitoba University of Western Ontario University of Ghana

George Ayittey (born 1945) is a Ghanaian economist, author and president of the Free Africa Foundation in Washington DC. He is a professor at American University,^[1] and an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.^[2] He has championed the argument that "Africa is poor because she is not free", that the primary cause of African poverty is less a result of the oppression and mismanagement by colonial powers, but rather a result of modern oppressive native autocrats. He also goes beyond criticism to advocate for specific ways to address the abuses of the past and present; specifically he calls for democratic government, debt reexamination, modernized infrastructure, free market economics, and free trade to promote development.

Life[link]

Ayittey holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon, an M.A. from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and a Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba. He has taught at Wayne State College and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. He held a National Fellowship at the Hoover Institution in 1988-89, and then joined The Heritage Foundation as a Bradley Resident Scholar.^[2] He founded The Free Africa Foundation in 1993, to serve as a catalyst for reform in Africa.^[3] In 2008 Dr. Ayittey was listed by Foreign Policy as one of the "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" who "are shaping the tenor of our time".^[4] He lives in Lorton, Virginia.

Political Views[link]

Ayittey believes there are three keys to successfully rescuing Africa from oppressive despotism:

• First, he advocates forming coalitions consisting of small groups of "elders" who have no political ties and monitor the activities of the various opposition groups. Ayittey explains "They must be able to reach out to all the opposition groups."^[5] "The council should bring all of the opposition into an alliance ", which would prevent dictators from steam rolling the severely divided competition.

• Second, you have to gain control of the civil service, security forces, judiciary, election centers, and national bank. Ayittey sees control of at least one of these resources as central to subverting dictatorial power in African countries. These organizations are currently staffed by cronies of dictators throughout Africa.

• Third, and finally you have to use the correct sequence of reform.

Works[link]

• Indigenous African Institutions, Transnational Publishers, 1991; 2nd ed., 2004
• The Blueprint for Ghana's Economic Recovery, Africana Publishers, 1997
• Africa Betrayed, St. Martin’s Press,, 1992
• Africa in Chaos, St. Martin’s Press, 1998.^[6]
• Africa Unchained: the blueprint for development, Palgrave/MacMillan, 2004
• Defeating Dictators: Fighting Tyrants in Africa and Around the World published September 2011.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bio at A World Connected
• TED Talks: George Ayittey on Cheetahs vs. Hippos at TED Global in 2007
• Human Rights: Africa's Shady Politicians Are at Root of Continent's Destitution, commentary by Dr. Ayittey
• Works by or about George Ayittey in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

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Huey Percy Newton, (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American political and urban activist who, along with Bobby Seale, co-founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

Early life[link]

Newton was born in Monroe, Louisiana, the youngest of seven children to Armelia Johnson and Walter Newton, a sharecropper and Baptist lay preacher. His parents named him after former Governor of Louisiana Huey Long. In 1945, the family settled in Oakland, California.^[2] The Newton family was quite poor and often relocated throughout the San Francisco Bay Area during Newton's childhood. Despite this, he contended that his family was close-knit and that he never went without food and shelter as a child. Growing up in Oakland, Newton stated that "[he] was made to feel ashamed of being black."^[2] In his autobiography Revolutionary Suicide, he wrote, "During those long years in Oakland public schools, I did not have one teacher who taught me anything relevant to my own life or experience. Not one instructor ever awoke in me a desire to learn more or to question or to explore the worlds of literature, science, and history. All they did was try to rob me of the sense of my own uniqueness and worth, and in the process nearly killed my urge to inquire."

Although he graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1960, Newton was illiterate. However, he went on to teach himself to read. He struggled to read The Republic by Plato at first, finally reading it five times to better understand it, and it was this success that inspired him to become a political leader.^[3]

As a teenager, he was arrested several times for minor offenses, and by age 14, had been arrested for gun possession and vandalism.^[4] Newton supported himself in college by burglarizing homes in the Oakland and Berkeley Hills areas, and committing other crimes. Newton once said that he studied law to become a better criminal.^[5][6]

Founding of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense[link]

As a student at Merritt College in Oakland, Newton became involved in politics in the Bay Area. He joined the Afro-American Association, became a prominent member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, Beta Tau chapter, and played a role in getting the first African-American history course adopted as part of the college's curriculum. He read the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, Mao Zedong, and Che Guevara. It was during his time at Merritt College^[7] that Newton and Bobby Seale organized the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in October 1966. Based on a casual conversation, Seale became Chairman and Newton became Minister of Defense.^[8]

The Black Panther Party was an African-American left-wing organization working for the right of self-defense for African-Americans in the United States. The Party achieved national and international impact and renown through their deep involvement in the Black Power movement and in politics of the 1960s and 1970s. The group's "provocative rhetoric, militant posture, and cultural and political flourishes permanently altered the contours of American Identity."^[9]

Newton adopted what he termed "revolutionary humanism".^[10] Although he had earlier visited Nation of Islam mosques, he wrote that "I have had enough of religion and could not bring myself to adopt another one. I needed a more concrete understanding of social conditions. References to God or Allah did not satisfy my stubborn thirst for answers."^[11] Later, however, he stated that "As far as I am concerned, when all of the questions are not answered, when the extraordinary is not explained, when the unknown is not known, then there is room for God because the unexplained and the unknown is God."^[12]

Newton and the Panthers started a number of social programs in Oakland, including founding the Oakland Community School, which provided high-level education to 150 children from impoverished urban neighborhoods. Other Panther programs included the Free Breakfast for Children Program and others that offered dances for teenagers and training in martial arts. According to Oakland County Supervisor John George: "Huey could take street-gang types and give them a social consciousness."^[13] Newton was later accused of embezzling $600,000 of state funds from the Oakland Community School; the charges were reduced to a single count of cashing a $15,000 check for personal use, and Newton was sentenced to six months in jail and 18 months probation.^[14]

Fatal shooting of John Frey[link]

Newton had been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon for repeatedly stabbing another man, Odell Lee, with a steak knife during the summer of 1964. He served 6 months in prison, and by 27–28 October 1967 he was out celebrating release from his probationary period. Just before dawn on 28 October, Newton and a friend were pulled over by Oakland Police Department officer John Frey. Realizing that he had stopped Black Panther leader Huey Newton, Frey called for backup. After fellow officer Herbert Heanes arrived, shots were fired, and all three were wounded.^[15] Heanes testified that the shooting began after Newton was under arrest, and one witness testified that Newton shot Frey with Frey's own gun as they wrestled.^[16][17] No gun on either Frey or Newton was found.^[17] Newton stated that Frey shot him first, which made him lose consciousness during the incident.^[18] Frey was shot four times and died within the hour, while Heanes was left in serious condition with three bullet wounds. With a bullet wound to the abdomen, Newton escaped the scene by carjacking a local man at gunpoint. Black Panther David Hilliard took Newton to Kaiser Hospital in Oakland. He was admitted, but was soon handcuffed to his bed and arrested for Frey's killing.^[19] Newton was convicted in September 1968 of voluntary manslaughter for the killing of Frey and was sentenced to 2–15 years in prison. In May 1970, the California Appellate Court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial. After two subsequent mistrials, the Alameda County Superior Court dismissed the charges after the district attorney said he would not pursue a fourth trial.^[20] In his autobiography, "Revolutionary Suicide", Newton wrote that Heanes and Frey were opposite each other and shooting in each others' direction during the shootout. According to journalist Hugh Pearson, Newton boasted to close friend and sociobiologist Robert Trivers that he deliberately killed John Frey and never regretted it. Newton made the same claim to another friend, Willie Payne, just before Newton was murdered.^[21]

Murder of Kathleen Smith, assault of Preston Callins, attempted murder of Crystal Gray[link]

On August 6, 1974, Kathleen Smith, a 17-year-old Oakland prostitute was shot; she died three months later. According to the prosecutor handling the case^[22] and other sources, Newton shot Smith after a casual exchange on the street during which she referred to him as "Baby", a childhood nickname he hated. He was arrested on murder charges, then released for lack of evidence.

Similarly, Newton assaulted his tailor, Preston Callins, after Callins called him "Baby". Newton posted bond after being arrested for pistol-whipping Callins. Then Newton was arrested a second time for the murder of Smith, but he was able to post an additional $80,000 bond, thus securing his release until trial.

Rather than go to trial, Newton and girlfriend Gwen Fountaine fled to Havana, Cuba to avoid prosecution on the two charges, living there until 1977.^[23] Elaine Brown took over as chairperson of the Black Panther Party in his absence.^[24] Newton returned to the United States in 1977 to stand trial for the murder of Smith and the assault on Callins.

In October 1977 three Black Panthers attempted to assassinate Crystal Gray, one of the prostitutes present the day of Kathleen Smith’s murder and a key prosecution witness in Newton's upcoming trial. Unbeknownst to the assailants, they attacked the wrong house and the occupant returned fire. During the shootout one of the Panthers, Louis Johnson, was killed and the other two assailants escaped.^[25] One of the two surviving assassins, Flores Forbes, fled to Las Vegas, Nevada with the help of Panther paramedic Nelson Malloy. Fearing that Malloy would discover the truth behind the botched assassination attempt, Newton allegedly ordered a “house cleaning”, and Malloy was shot and buried alive in the desert. Although permanently paralyzed from the waist down, Malloy recovered from the assault and told police that fellow Panthers Rollin Reid and Allen Lewis were behind his attempted murder.^[26] Newton denied any involvement or knowledge and said the events “might have been the result of overzealous party members”.^[22]

During Newton's trial for assaulting Preston Callins, Callins changed his testimony several times and eventually told the jury that he did not know who assaulted him. Newton was acquitted of the assault in September 1978, but was convicted on two counts of illegal firearms possession.

After two trials and two deadlocked juries, the prosecution decided not to retry Newton for Smith’s murder. During later years, in discussion with friend and sociobiologist Robert Trivers, Newton referred to the killing of Kathleen Smith as "my first non-political murder," and admitted he felt some guilt about killing her.^[27]

People’s Temple[link]

In January 1977, Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones visited Newton in Havana.^[28] After Jones fled to Jonestown, Guyana, Newton spoke to Temple members in Jonestown via telephone patch supporting Jones during one of the Temple's earliest "White Nights."^[29] Newton's cousin, Stanley Clayton, was one of the few residents of Jonestown to escape the 1978 tragedy, during which more than 900 Temple members were ordered by Jones to commit suicide.^[29]

Academic achievements[link]

Newton earned a bachelor's degree from UC Santa Cruz in 1974. He was enrolled as a graduate student in History of Consciousness at UC Santa Cruz in 1978, when he arranged to take a reading course from famed evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers, while in prison. He and Trivers became close friends. Trivers and Newton published an influential analysis of the role of flight crew self-deception in the crash of Air Florida Flight 90.^[30]

Newton earned a Ph.D. in history of consciousness at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1980.^[31] His doctoral dissertation was entitled War Against the Panthers: A Study of Repression in America.^[32] Later, Newton's widow, Frederika Newton, would discuss her husband's often-ignored academic leanings on C-SPAN's "American Perspectives" program on February 18, 2006.

Death[link]

Relations between Newton and factions within the Black Guerilla Family had been strained for nearly two decades. Former Black Panther members who became BGF members in prison had become disenchanted with Newton for his perceived abandonment of imprisoned Black Panther members and allegations of Newton's fratricide within the party.^[33]

On August 22, 1989, Newton was fatally shot on the 1400 block of 9th street in West Oakland by 24-year-old BGF member Tyrone Robinson.^[31][34] Robinson was convicted of the murder in August 1991 and sentenced to 32 years in prison for the crime.^[35]

Robinson said that Newton pulled a gun when the two met at a street corner in the neighborhood but the police found no evidence that Newton was armed. The murder occurred in a neighborhood where Newton, as minister of defense for the Black Panthers, once organized social programs that helped destitute African Americans, such as feeding poor, young children in the community before they headed off to school.

Newton's last words, as he stood facing his killer, were, "You can kill my body, but you can't kill my soul. My soul will live forever!" He was then shot three times in the face by Robinson.^[24]

He was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland.^[36]

In popular culture[link]

There are many references to Huey Newton in popular music, including in the songs "Changes" by Tupac Shakur,^[37] "Welcome To The Terrordome" by Public Enemy, "Queens Get The Money" by Nas, "Sunny Kim" by Andre Nickatina, "Just A Celebrity" by The Jacka, "Same Thing" by Flobots, "Dreams" and "911 Is A Joke(Cop Killa)" by The Game, "You Can't Murder Me" by Papoose, "Police State" by Dead Prez, "Propaganda" by Dead Prez "We Want Freedom" by Dead Prez, "Malcolm, Garvey, Huey" by Dead Prez, "SLR" by Lupe Fiasco, "Bill Gates Freestyle" by Fabolous feat. Paul Cain, "Wake Up" by Black The Ripper, "The Martyr" by Immortal Technique, "Lick Shots" by Immortal Technique, "Huey Newton" by Wiz Khalifa & Currensy,"HiiiPoWeR" by Kendrick Lamar, "My Favorite Mutiny" by The Coup, "National Anthem" by Sir Mix-a-Lot, "Bobby Seale" by Lil Tweezii, "Dream Team" by Spearhead, From Here To Utopia [Ramshackle Glory] and "Free Huey" by The Boo Radleys. In the comic strip and cartoon show The Boondocks, the main character Huey Freeman, a ten year-old African-American revolutionary, is named after Newton; another reference comes when Freeman starts an independent newspaper, dubbing it the Free Huey World Report.^[38] In 1996, A Huey P. Newton Story was performed on stage by veteran actor Roger Guenveur Smith. The one-man play later was made into an award-winning 2001 film directed by Spike Lee.^[39]

Bibliography[link]

• Brown, Elaine. A Taste of Power. (Anchor Books: 1993) ISBN 0-385-47107-6.
• Foner, Philip S. (editor) The Black Panthers Speak - The Manifesto of the Party: The First Complete Documentary Record of the Panther's Program (Dial, 1970)
• "People of the state of California, plaintiff & respondent, vs. Huey P. Newton, defendant and appellant: Appellant's opening brief" (ERIC reports)
• Hilliard, David and Keith and Kent Zimmerman. Huey: Spirit of the Panther (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006)
• Jeffries, Judson L. Huey P. Newton, The Radical Theorist (University of Mississippi Press, 2002)
• Pearson, Hugh. Shadow of the Panther: Huey P. Newton and the Price of Black Power in America (Addison Wesley, 1994)
• Seale, Bobby. Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton (Random House, 1970)
• Obituary in The New York Times by Dennis Hevesi, (August 23, 1989). "Huey Newton Symbolized the Rising Black Anger of a Generation"

Books, articles, and oral histories by or with Huey P. Newton[link]

• Huey Newton Speaks oral history by Huey P. Newton (Paredon Records, 1970)
• Huey!: Listen Whitey! protest songs/spoken word by Huey P. Newton; produced by American Documentary Films; released by Folkways Records (1972)
• To Die for the People: The Writings of Huey P. Newton Toni Morrison (Editor) (Random House, 1972)
• Revolutionary Suicide with J. Herman Blake (Random House, 1973; republished in 1995 with introduction by Blake)
• Insights and Poems by Huey P. Newton, Ericka Huggins 1975)
• War Against the Panthers: A Study of Repression in America by Huey P. Newton (Harlem River Press, 1996: the published version of Newton's PhD thesis)
• The Huey P. Newton Reader David Hilliard and Donald Weise (Editors) (Seven Stories Press, 2002)
• Essays from the Minister of Defense by Huey P Newton, Black Panther Party, 1968, Oakland (Pamphlet)
• The Genius of Huey P. Newton by Huey P. Newton, Awesome Records (June 1, 1993)
• The original vision of the Black Panther Party by Huey P Newton, Black Panther Party (1973)
• Huey Newton talks to the movement about the Black Panther Party, cultural nationalism, SNCC, liberals and white revolutionaries by Huey P Newton
• Huey Spirit of the Panther by David Hillard with Keith and Kent Zimmerman (Thunder's Mouth Press)
• To Die for the People by Huey Newton (City Lights Publishers, 2009)

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	African American portal

• COINTELPRO
• George Jackson
• Soledad Brothers
• Angela Davis
• New Left
• White Panther Party
• People v. Newton

References[link]

This article's citation style may be unclear. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking. (March 2008)

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Huey Newton

• Civil Rights Greensboro: Huey P. Newton
• Video interview on African American History Channel
• Online audiorecordings and video of Huey Newton via UC Berkeley Black Panther site
• 1968 interview with Newton
• Newton Discography on Folkways
• A Huey P. Newton Story, Official Film Site
• A Huey P. Newton Story, directed by Spike Lee, as shown on PBS
• Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation
• Black Panther Tours
• Huey P. Newton's doctoral dissertation
• The Women's Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements: Speech given by Huey Newton
• Booknotes interview with Hugh Pearson on The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America, August 21, 1994.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2008)

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Omali Yeshitela (born Joseph Waller, October 9, 1941, St. Petersburg, Florida) the founder of the Uhuru Movement, a left wing, African Internationalist organization based in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Early background[link]

Yeshitela participated in the American Civil Rights Movement in his youth during the 1950s and 1960s as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. At the height of the civil rights movement in St. Petersburg, Waller was jailed for an act of civil disobedience in 1966, when he tore a mural in City Hall depicting degrading caricatures of African Americans. Waller spent two and a half years in jail and prison. After his release, he was stripped of his right to vote for decades until Governor Jeb Bush and three members of Florida's Cabinet restored his voting rights in 2000.

Civic activism[link]

In his civic activism in his native St. Petersburg, Yeshitela has stressed his view that political and economic development will bring peace to African American neighborhoods.

Yeshitela came under national attention in October–November 1996 when civil disturbances in predominantly African American South St. Petersburg were triggered by the police killing of Tyron Lewis, an 18-year-old African American motorist who had attempted to kill a police officer with a car. Yeshitela condemned the killing as the culmination of a long pattern of repressive and racist measures by the St. Petersburg Police Department in African American neighborhoods, and rallied support for the victim's family in the black community. As a result of the community outcry, the city came under federal scrutiny, leading to a meeting between Yeshitela and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, who was sent to the city by President Bill Clinton in answer to the disturbances. After meeting with the veteran civil rights leader, Cisneros warned the city council that the African American community's problems with the police were deeply rooted and that the demands of the community must be heard and called Yeshitela one of the most "admirable leadership figures" he had ever encountered. [1] According to the former HUD Secretary, Yeshitela is "a person who touches lives in a serious way." "I found him a thoughtful person who had some important things to say," said Cisneros.

Yeshitela served on St. Petersburg Mayor David Fischer's Challenge 2001 Steering Committee and on the St. Petersburg Housing Authority's Hope VI Advisory Committee, two projects dedicated to attracting jobs and investment to South St. Petersburg. He has also chaired the political action committee of the Coalition of African American Leadership, made up of a number of black churches and civil rights groups in the area, and served on the board of radio station WMNF community radio. Along with eight other candidates, Yeshitela made a run for mayorship in February 2001. Although he did not make it to the runoff, he won every African American and mixed precinct but one in the entire city.

Yeshitela is also the founder of Citizens United for a Shared Prosperity.

Uhuru movement[link]

The Uhuru Movement refers to a group of organizations under the principle of "African internationalism," or the liberation of Africans in both the continent of Africa and in the African Diaspora. 'Uhuru' is a Swahili word for freedom. The Movement is led by Yeshitela's African People's Socialist Party (APSP).

The APSP has formed several organizations, each with specific tasks and purpose. Affiliated organizations include The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, African Socialist International, African People's Solidarity Committee, and Burning Spear Productions, the African People's Education and Defense fund and the All African People's Development and Empowerment Project.

In May 1972, after his release from prison, Yeshitela founded the St. Petersburg-based African People's Socialist Party (APSP), a political party founded on an ideology combining black nationalism and socialism called "African internationalism." [2] Yeshitela later set up an organization for white people to join in solidarity with the APSP's goals, the African People's Solidarity Committee.

Later, the APSP formed the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement to work under the guiding principle that the only way for Africans to achieve liberation and self-determination is to struggle for an all-African socialist government under the leadership of African workers and poor peasants.

Yeshitela has also established the African People's Education and Defense Fund, which seeks to address disparities in education and health faced by African Africans, and Burning Spear Productions, the publishing arm of the APSP.

The APSP is affiliated with the African Socialist International, an organization Yeshitela helped establish that seeks to unite African socialists and national liberation movements under a single revolutionary umbrella in opposition to imperialism and neocolonialism.

He calls for reparations for the black community. Yeshitela has set up a coalition promoting reparations for slavery, arguing that African people worldwide are due reparations for more than slavery, but also over 500 years of colonialism and neocolonialism. [3]

Popular Culture[link]

Excerpts of a Yeshitela speech are played in multiple tracks of the album Let's Get Free by the hip hop duo Dead Prez.

Publications[link]

Self-published with Burning Spear Uhuru Publications / African People's Socialist Party:

• One Africa! One Nation! (2006), ISBN 978-1-891624-04-9
• Omali Yeshitela Speaks: African Internationalism, Political Theory for our Time (2005) ISBN 978-1-891624-03-2
• Social Justice and Economic Development for the African Community: Why I became a Revolutionary (1997)
• The Dialectics of Black Revolution: The Struggle to Defeat the Counterinsurgency in the U.S. (1997)
• Izwe Lethu i Afrika! (Africa is Our Land) (1991)
• On African internationalism (1978)
• Tactics and Strategy for Black Liberation in the US, 1978
• The Struggle for Bread, Peace and Black Power, 1981
• Stolen Black Labor, 1982
• Reparations Now!, 1983
• A New Beginning and Not One Step Backwards,1984
• The Road to Socialism is Painted Black, 1987
• Overturning the Culture of Violence, by Penny Hess and Omali Yeshitela, 2000 (ISBN 978-1891624025)
• One People! One Party! One Destiny!, 2010 (ISBN 978-1891624070)

See also[link]

• African internationalism
• Socialism
• Civil Rights Movement
• Uhuru
• Black Power

References[link]

• Enhancing Police Integrity, by Carl B. Klockars, Sanja Kutnjak Ivković, Maria R. Haberfeld, 2006 (ISBN 978-0-387-36954-9)
• Uhuru Are You? Meet the little-known black power group behind a well-known institution, by Tom Dreisbach, Philadelphia Citypaper, August 12, 2009.
• Officials in St. Petersburg Call Racial Unrest 'Calculated', by Mireya Navarro, New York Times, November 15, 1996.
• Effort to Heal Old Racial Wounds Brings New Discord, by Rick Bragg, New York Times, July 3, 1999.
• "NAACP-Connected Black Radical Praises Connecticut Mass-Murderer", by David Stein, Yes, But However!, August 12, 2010.

External links[link]

• Official Website of African Socialist International
• APSP Website
• Dead Prez Lets Get Free, a Dead Prez album featuring recordings of Omali Yeshitela
• International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement
• Uhuru Africa Club
• Uhuru Movement
• Burning Spear Uhuru Publications
• [4]
• [5]

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Max Romeo
Background information
Birth name	Maxwell Livingston Smith
Also known as	Adulfus Dulfile, Maxie Smith, The Son of Selassie[1]
Born	(1947-11-22) 22 November 1947 (age 64)
Origin	St. D'Acre, St. James, Jamaica
Genres	Reggae, roots reggae
Years active	1966–present
Associated acts	The Upsetters

Max Romeo (born Maxwell Livingston Smith, 22 November 1947, St. D'Acre, St. James, Jamaica^[2]) is a reggae and roots reggae recording artist who has achieved chart success in his home country, and in the UK. Romeo was responsible for launching a new sub-genre of reggae with overtly suggestive lyrics. At the time of release of his infamous "Wet Dream," Romeo had already had several hits with the vocal trio the Emotions. Romeo established himself as one of the most important figures in the roots scene.^[3]

Career[link]

Romeo left home at the age of 14 and worked on a sugar plantation outside Clarendon, cleaning out irrigation ditches, before winning a local talent competition when he was 18. This prompted a move to the capital, Kingston, in order to achieve a successful musical career.^[2][3]

In 1965 he joined up with Kenneth Knight and Lloyd Shakespeare in The Emotions, whilst also working as a record plugger for Ken Lack's Caltone label.^[2] The group were unsuccessful in auditions for other producers, but Lack offered them an audition after overhearing Smith singing to himself as he worked one day.^[2] In 1966, the group had their first hit, with the Lack-produced, "(Buy You) A Rainbow".^[3] The Emotions went on to have several hit singles and by 1968, the singer, by this point known as Max Romeo, felt confident enough to launch a solo career. Working with producer Bunny Lee, the young star recorded a number of pop songs, mainly love ballads, but they failed to be popular and so he returned to The Emotions, now recording for Phil Pratt.^[2][3] During this time he began work as a sales representative for Bunny Lee and did some recording with The Hippy Boys, which would later became The Upsetters.

Later on in 1968, Romeo wrote new lyrics for the rhythm track of Derrick Morgan's "Hold You Jack" and handed them over to Lee. Morgan, who was due to add his vocals to the track, ultimately gave it a miss, as did several other vocalists (including John Holt and Slim Smith), leading the producer to turn to Romeo to sing the lyrics he had written. The result, "Wet Dream" (1969), was an instant hit in Jamaica, although in the UK it was met with a BBC Radio ban, despite Romeo's somewhat-disingenuous claim that the song was actually about a roof that has a leak. Made more popular by the ban the single entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 10 and ultimately spending almost six months in the chart^[4] before featuring on his LP, A Dream (1969), which included several follow-up singles in a similar vein, such as "Mini Skirt Version", "Fish in the Pot", "Belly Woman", and "Wine Her Goosie".^[2] A UK tour also met with Romeo being banned from performing at several venues, although many allowed him to play, the singer staying in the UK for eighteen months.^[2]

In 1970, Romeo returned to Jamaica and set-up Romax, an unsuccessful record label and sound system.^[3] Following which, he recorded several singles, mainly with old producer Bunny Lee, before going on to work a host of other producers including Niney Holness. This was followed by a period of which saw the release of a series of politically charged singles, most advocating the democratic socialist People's National Party (PNP), which chose his song, "Let The Power Fall On I", as their campaign theme for the 1972 Jamaican general election. Romeo joined the PNP Musical Bandwagon, travelling around Jamaica, playing on the back of a truck.^[2] After this, Romeo recorded a number of religious songs, until he worked with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, producing the classic singles "Three Blind Mice" (an adaptation of the nursery rhyme with lyrics about a police raid on a party), "Sipple Out Deh", and "I Chase the Devil". A remixed version of "Sipple Out Deh", entitled "War Ina Babylon", was another popular track in the UK, the first fruits of his deal with Island Records, and was followed by an album of the same name, and a follow-up single "One Step Forward".^[5] Shortly after this the pair fell out, leaving Romeo to self-produce his follow-up album, Reconstruction, which could not match the success of its predecessor.^[3][6] Perry's animosity towards Romeo was demonstrated by his single "White Belly Rat", with Perry also writing the word "Judas" over a photograph of Romeo on the wall of his Black Ark studio.^[2]

Romeo moved to New York City in 1978, where he co-wrote (with Hair producer Michael Butler) the musical Reggae, which he also starred in.^[2] In 1980 he appeared as a backing vocalist on "Dance" on The Rolling Stones album Emotional Rescue. In 1981, the favour was returned when Keith Richards (of The Rolling Stones) co-produced and played on Romeo's album Holding Out My Love to You.^[3] The rest of his output during the decade went practically unnoticed, with Romeo finding work at a New York electronics store. He returned to Jamaica in 1990, and began touring and recording more regularly.

He visited the UK again in 1992, recording the albums Far I Captain of My Ship and Our Rights with Jah Shaka.^[2] In 1995 he recorded Cross of the Gun with Tappa Zukie, and he joined up with UK rhythm section/production team Mafia & Fluxy in 1999 for the album Selassie I Forever.^[2]

Romeo's music has been sampled by other artists. The Prodigy sampled his track "I Chase the Devil" for their 1992 UK Top Ten hit "Out of Space". Kanye West has also used samples from it to produce Jay-Z's hit song "Lucifer", which appeared on Jay-Z's 2003 release, The Black Album.

"I Chase the Devil" is featured on the reggae radio station K-JAH Radio West in a popular videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, released in October 2004. Romeo's single "Sipple Out Deh" appeared in John Peel's Record Box.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• A Dream (1969) Pama
• Let The Power Fall (1971) Dynamic
• Revelation Time (1975) Tropical Sound Tracs
• War Ina Babylon (1976) Island
• Reconstruction (1979) Island/Dynamic
• Rondos (1980) King Kong
• Holding Out My Love to You (1981) Shanachie
• I Love My Music (1982) Solid Groove
• One Horse Race (1985), Island in the Sun
• Transition (1989) Rohit
• Fari - Captain of My Ship (1992) Jah Shaka
• Our Rights (1992) Jah Shaka
• Cross or the Gun (1995) Tappa Zukie
• Selassie I Forever (1999) Mafia & Fluxy
• Love Message (1999) Warriors
• Something is Wrong (1999) Warriors
• In This Time (2001) 3D (Max Romeo & Tribu Acustica)
• Pocomania Songs (2007) Ariwa Sounds

Compilation albums[link]

• Max Romeo Meets Owen Gray At King Tubby's Studio (1984) Culture Press (with Owen Gray)
• Max Romeo and the Upsetters (1989)
• Wet Dream (1993) Crocodisc
• McCabee Version (1995) Sonic Sounds
• Open The Iron Gate (1999) Blood & Fire
• The Many Moods of Max Romeo (1999) Jamaican Gold
• Pray For Me: The Best of Max Romeo 1967-73 (2000) Trojan Records
• Perilous Times (2000) Charmax
• On The Beach (2001) Culture Press
• The Coming of Jah (2002) Trojan
• Ultimate Collection (2003) (compiled by David Katz)
• Holy Zion (2003) Burning Bush
• Wet Dream: The Best of Max Romeo (2004) Trojan
• Crazy World of Dub (2005) Jamaican Recordings
• Max Romeo Sings Hits of Bob Marley (2006), Jet Star

See also[link]

• List of reggae musicians
• List of roots reggae artists
• Island Records discography
• Pama Records

References[link]

External links[link]

• Max Romeo biography at Allmusic website