Or maybe ask why did we have Azanian Peoples Revolutionary Party a breakaway group from PAC in exile?
On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 11:32 AM, Thembeka Majali <[email protected] > wrote: > M'afrika what you are asking could be a similar question to why do we have > some faction calling themselves Youth League or Women's League. Is it about > branding or moving with fashion times? > > PAYCO I hope you could issue a statement to the Human Rights > Commission, dismiss those charges against you and publicly distance > yourselves from the League's confussion. > > Read todays SOWETAN. > > On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 11:31 AM, Mothibe, Lucas > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Izwe lethu >> >> >> >> Maafrica I need clarity in the following: >> >> >> >> Are we Comrades or Africanist ? >> >> >> >> Comrade is the term that was used by soviets (Marxists and Leninists) >> when greeting each other during those days. >> >> >> >> Are we socialist or communist ? >> >> >> >> Are we for a National Democratic Revolution(NDR) or African >> Nationalism? >> >> >> >> If NDR ,what is the difference between us and SACP. >> >> >> >> >> >> Regards >> >> Lucas Mothibe >> >> >> >> *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf >> Of *Mawande Jack >> *Sent:* 19 January 2010 05:24 PM >> *To:* [email protected]; PAYCO Azania >> *Subject:* [PAYCO] >> >> >> >> >> Haiti-A Call For Global Action >> >> by Randall Robinson >> January 07, 2004 >> >> *Part I* >> January 1, 1804 – January 1, 2004: >> >> This day is sacred. >> >> It is the 200th anniversary of the Haitian Revolution. >> >> Fought by Haitians. >> >> Won for us all. >> >> Between 1791 and 1804, hundreds of thousands of Africans enslaved in Haiti >> ignored the rivers, forests, precipices, swamps, mountains, gorges, >> bloodhounds, rifles, cannon, and whips that separated them and united to >> launch a massive, brilliantly executed, spectacular war of liberation that >> the armies of Spain, England, and France (with the help of the United >> States) all fought desperately – and failed absolutely – to crush. >> >> The Haitian Revolution was no "lucky break" involving "a few unruly >> slaves." >> >> This was no "plantation uprising." >> >> St. Domingue (as Haiti was then called by the French) was at that time the >> most prosperous colonial possession of any European power. It created far >> greater wealth for France than the thirteen American colonies combined. Its >> massive wealth-generating capacity caused it to be known far and wide as >> "The Pearl of the Antilles" and its French owners had a clear and proven >> management strategy for profit maximization: push the slaves to their >> absolute physical limit, work them literally to death, and then quickly >> import replacement slaves from Africa who would, in turn, be worked to >> death. This, St. Domingue's plantocracy had discovered, controlled operating >> costs, kept the pace of economic activity at a highly efficient and >> productive pace, minimized slack and wastage, and produced massive, >> stupendous profits. >> >> Two hundred years ago today, however, after a 13-year war of liberation, >> the slaves of St. Domingue celebrated their victory over France and other >> European powers by establishing the Republic of Haiti. They had wrested from >> Napoleon the engine of France's economic expansion, banished slavery from >> the land, and ended European domination of 10,000 square miles of fertile >> land and hundreds of thousands of slaves to work it. >> >> They had shattered the myth of European invincibility. >> >> "Most have assumed that (Haiti's) slaves had no military experience prior >> to the revolution," John K. Thornton explains in African Soldiers in the >> Haitian Revolution. "Many assume that they rose from agricultural labour to >> military prowess in an amazingly short time.... However, it is probably a >> mistake to see the slaves of St. Domingue as simply agricultural workers, >> like the peasants of Europe... ...A majority of St. Domingue's slaves, >> especially those who fought steadily in the revolution, were born in >> Africa... ...In fact, a great many... ...had served in African armies prior >> to their enslavement and arrival in Haiti... ...Sixty to seventy per cent of >> the adult slaves listed on (St. Domingue's) inventories in the late 1780's >> and 1790's were African born... ... ...(coming) overwhelmingly from just two >> areas of Africa: the Lower Guinea coast region of modern Benin, Togo and >> Nigeria (also known as the "Slave Coast"), and the Angola coast area.... >> >> "Where the African military background of the slaves counted most was in >> those areas, especially in the north (of St. Domingue), where slaves >> themselves led the revolution, both politically and militarily... ... >> ...These areas...threw up the powerful armies of Toussaint Louverture and >> Dessalines and eventually carried the revolution." >> >> A successful revolution in Haiti, Thornton explains, "required the kind of >> skill and discipline that could be found in veteran soldiers, and it was >> these veterans, from wars in Africa, who made up the general will of the St. >> Domingue revolt... ...Kongolese armies contributed the most to St. Domingue >> rebel bands... ...(Their) tactical organization was very different from that >> of Europe... ...(and they) had learned to deal successfully with Portuguese >> armies and tactics in the years of struggle (in Africa), driving out >> invaders... ...No doubt these tactics could help those who found themselves >> in St. Domingue on the eve of the revolution. >> >> "Kongolese armies seem to have been organized in...platoons...that struck >> at enemy advancing columns and sustained an engagement for a time before >> breaking off and retreating... ...They made use of cover, both from terrain >> and from woods and tall grass, in hiding their movements and directing their >> fire. When they fled it was not possible to follow them." Portuguese troops >> who had fought the Kongolese in Africa also reported that the Kongolese used >> "shocks – larger engagements involving massed Kongolese units. According to >> the Portuguese accounts, large bodies were assembled for shocks supported by >> artillery, sometimes they formed in extensive half moon formations which >> apparently sought partial envelopment of opposing forces, in other cases in >> columns of great depth along fronts of 15-20 soldiers.... >> >> "Their tactics showed a penchant for skirmishing attacks rather than the >> heavy assaults favoured by Europeans in the same era... ...Kongolese armies >> had a higher command structure that could mass troops quickly, and soldiers >> were also accustomed to forming effectively into larger units for major >> battles when the situation warranted.... ...Dahomey's armies included a >> fairly large professional force... ...Oyo relied heavily on cavalry forces, >> had relatively few foot soldiers and throughout the 1700's was the >> pre-eminent...military power in (west Africa)... ...Dahomey's troops... >> ...fought in close order using fire discipline quite similar to that of >> Europe... ... >> >> "It was from these disparate 'arts of war' that the revolutionary African >> soldier of St. Domingue was trained... ... >> >> "One can easily see, in the formation of the bands mentioned in the early >> descriptions of the (Haitian Revolution), the small platoons of the >> Kongolese armies, each under an independent commander and accustomed to >> considerable tactical decision making; or perhaps those small units >> characteristic of locally organized Dahomean units; the state armies of the >> Mahi country; or the coastal forces of the Slave Coast... ... >> >> "In addition the pattern of attacks with small scale harassing maneuvers, >> short, sustained battles and then rapid withdrawals are also reminiscent of >> the campaign diaries of the Portuguese field commanders in Angola. Felix >> Carteau, an early observer of the war in the north of St. Domingue noted >> that the (slave revolutionaries) harassed French forces day and night. >> Usually, he commented, they were repelled, but each time, they dispersed so >> quickly, so completely in ditches, hedges and other areas of natural cover >> that real pursuit was impossible. However, rebel casualties were light in >> these attacks, so that the next day they reappeared with great numbers of >> people. They never mass in the open, wrote another witness, or wait in line >> to charge, but advance dispersed, so that they appear to be six times as >> numerous as they really are. Yet they were disciplined, since they might >> advance with great clamor and then suddenly and simultaneously fall >> silent.... >> >> "It was not long before observers noted that the rebels (in St. Domingue) >> had developed the sort of higher order tactics that was also characteristic >> of Kongolese forces, or those of the Slave Coast.... >> >> "In addition to these tactical similarities to African wars, especially in >> Kongo, there were other indications of the African ethos of the fighters... >> ...they marched, formed and attacked accompanied by the 'music peculiar to >> Negroes....' Their religious preparation, likewise, hearkened back to >> Africa.... >> >> "It is unlikely that many slaves would have learned equestrian skills as a >> part of their plantation labor... ...Since there was virtually no cavalry in >> Angola, one can speculate that rebels originating from Oyo might have >> provided at least some of the trained horsemen. Also, the Senegalese, though >> a minority, also came from an equestrian culture... ... >> >> "African soldiers may well have provided the key element of the early >> success of the revolution. They might have enabled its survival when it was >> threatened by reinforced armies from Europe. Looking at the rebel slaves of >> Haiti as African veterans rather than as Haitian plantation workers may well >> prove to be the key that unlocks the mystery of the success of the largest >> slave revolt in history." >> >> St. Domingue's policy of working its slaves to death and then quickly >> importing replacements from Africa proved to be the ultimate karmic >> boomerang. St. Domingue's African-born slaves not only were not yet broken >> psychologically, but they were also in possession of significant military >> training and experience gained on the other side of the Atlantic. And they >> combined with brilliant, indefatigable, St. Domingue-born blacks like >> Toussaint L'Ouverture and Dessalines to create a black revolutionary >> juggernaut the likes of which Europe and the United States had not seen >> before – or since. >> >> The blacks of St. Domingue forced the world to see both them and the >> millions of other Africans enslaved throughout the Americas with new eyes. >> No longer could it be assumed that they could forever be brutalized into >> creating massive fortunes and building sprawling empires for the glory of >> Europe and America. >> >> On January 1, 1804, hundreds of thousands of slave revolutionaries >> established an independent republic and named it Haiti in honor of the >> Amerindian people, long since killed off by European brutality and diseases, >> who had called the land Ayiti – Land of Many Mountains. They had banished >> slavery from their land and proclaimed it an official refuge for escaped >> slaves from anywhere in the world. They had defeated the mightiest of the >> mighty. They had shattered the myth of European invincibility. >> >> Europe was livid. America, apoplectic. The blacks in St. Domingue had >> forgotten their place and would be made to pay. Dearly. For the next two >> hundred years. >> >> Toussaint L'Ouverture, Dessalines, and their slave revolutionaries must >> forever live in our hearts as inspiring, authentic counterweights to the >> "yassuh-nosuh-scratch- where-ah-don'-itch-and-dance-tho-there-ain'-no-music" >> image of our forebears that Europe and the United States have drilled into >> our psyches. >> >> And we must remember that history forgets, first, those who forget >> themselves. Via means direct and indirect, crass and subtle, there have been >> whispers and street corner shouts that "current conditions in Haiti" make >> our celebration of the Haitian Revolution "inappropriate" at this time. >> >> We, whose souls and psyches have been bleached of everything prior to the >> Middle Passage are now being told that we must tear from our consciousness >> and rip from our hearts the most dramatic and triumphal assertion of >> forebears' dignity, worth, and perspicacity since the Middle Passage. >> >> How diabolically contemptuous. >> >> Not only must we not forget the Haitian Revolution, we must celebrate it. >> Today, through all of this its bicentennial year, and beyond. >> >> And we must research, understand, and expose what happened to Haiti and in >> Haiti since the revolution. We must become fully conversant with the role of >> "the world's leading democracies" in Haiti between 1804 and today. We must >> develop a keen understanding of the repercussions of the 61-year economic >> embargo that the United States imposed on Haiti in response to its >> declaration of independence, and we must recognize the current-day >> consequences of France forcing Haiti to pay 90 million in gold francs >> (equivalent today to some $20 billion) in 1825 as "compensation" for Haiti >> declaring its independence – or be crushed militarily by France. >> >> Today, "the world's leading democracies" cluck and gloat at their ongoing >> stranglehold – in the form of a crushing financial embargo – on today's >> descendants of Toussaint, Dessalines, and their freedom fighters. Throughout >> the Americas, we who benefited from the daring war waged by the slaves of >> St. Domingue, must reject the maneuverings of the world's most powerful >> nations in Haiti and find ways to build bridges to the Haitian people and >> the officials they choose – through the ballot – to lead them. >> >> Just over two hundred years ago, after there had been a "cessation of >> hostilities" and the brilliant military strategist Toussaint L'Ouverture had >> already retired to a quiet life in the St. Domingue country-side, France >> decided, nonetheless, to arrest and ship him to a prison cell 3,000 feet up >> the Jura Mountains of France where he would freeze to death. As he stepped >> on board the boat that would forever take him away from St. Domingue, >> Toussaint issued a promise to his captors and a call to us all. >> >> "In overthrowing me, you have cut down in St. Domingue only the trunk of >> the tree of liberty. It will spring up again by the roots for they are >> numerous and deep." >> >> We are those roots. >> >> The revolution was fought by Haitians, but won for us all. >> >> Through our work and with our resources, in a spirit of self-respect and >> self-awareness, we must serve as counterweights to the powerful nations who >> deem the ballot box sacrosanct in their countries, but surreptitiously >> encourage and manipulate its rejection by "the opposition" in Haiti. We must >> serve as proponents of political civility and social justice in Haiti while >> "the world's leading democracies" slyly encourage recalcitrance, tumult, and >> division. We must reject being manipulated by the corporate media into >> embracing the notion that in France, Germany, the United States and other >> "civilized nations" elections are the only legitimate determinant of the >> will of the people, but in Haiti those street demonstrations specially >> selected by the corporate media for coverage tell us all we need to know >> about anybody's will. We must impress upon all Haitians the fact that the >> outside world does not distinguish between – and cares nothing about – >> Lavalas, Convergence, or any other political grouping. The world sees only >> "Haiti," "Haitians," and all the connotations that western media have >> attached thereto. Those nations that two hundred years ago failed >> desperately in their attempts to crush the Haitian Revolution today have a >> deep psychic need to "prove" Toussaint's progeny capable of nothing but >> disaster. We must reach out to and work with our Haitian brothers and >> sisters to prove these nations wrong. >> >> Throughout the Diaspora, we must stand with and defend Haiti – on this the >> anniversary of the Haitian Revolution, throughout this bicentennial year, >> and for all time. For in so doing, we stand for and defend ourselves. >> >> -- >> Sending your posting to [email protected] >> >> Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] >> >> You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco >> >> Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com > > > -- Sending your posting to [email protected] Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com
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