Sunday, June 10, 9:00am
“Stop Obama’s Wars: Occupy Imperialism!”
Uhuru Solidarity Movement National Convention
The theme of the 2012 National Convention of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement (USM) is “Occupy Imperialism: Crisis, Resistance and Solidarity with the Liberation of Africans and other Oppressed Peoples”.
The keynote speaker will be Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African Socialist International and founder of The Burning Spear newspaper. A political leader who emerged in the Black Power era of the 1960s, Yeshitela has traveled throughout the U.S., Europe and Africa, building a movement for the unification and liberation of African people worldwide.
Glen Ford, executive editor of Black Agenda Report and leader of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, will present a comprehensive review of Obama administration policies and their impact on working and poor communities.
Author and Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee Penny Hess will speak on the role and relationship of white people in solidarity with the African liberation movement. Critical of the Occupy Movement’s focus on white middle class issues and its failure to address the impact of Wall Street capitalism on the majority of the world’s peoples, Hess says “it’s time for a peoples’ movement inside this country, not to reform imperialism but to end it, by standing on the side of the movements of African and oppressed peoples.”
The Uhuru Solidarity Movement is the component of the black-led Uhuru Movement dedicated to building solidarity from the white community with the right of African people to self-determination and liberation.
Through its Convention, the group aims to take the current trend of social justice activism to a deeper political understanding and unity. “After three years of the Obama administration we are very far from the hope and change promised in 2008. As the economic crisis continues to deepen, Obama’s wars of occupation and terror against oppressed peoples proliferate in every corner of the globe, including inside the U.S.”
The first day of the Convention will be held on Saturday, June 9th from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, located at 2125 Chestnut St. in Center City, Philadelphia. The second day, Sunday, June 10th, will take place from 9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the Moonstone Arts Center, located at 110A S. 13th Street, Center City, Philadelphia. For more information, visit uhurusolidarity.org or call (267)571-9762.