Thursday, February 09, 2017

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, to Speak at African American History Month Forum on 50th Anniversary of the Detroit Rebellion
For Immeidate Release
Media Advisory

Event: African American History Month 2017
Topic: The Detroit Rebellion of 1967 and Its Global Significance
Title: Lessons of the 1967 Rebellions From Detroit and Beyond
Location: 5920 Second Ave. at Antoinettee, Midtown
Date: Sat. Feb. 25, 2017, 5:00-8:00pm
Sponsors: Workers World Party Detroit Branch
Contact: (313) 671-3715

Lesson of the 1967 Rebellions From Detroit and Beyond

Speakers Include:
Debbie Johnson, Chair--Workers World Party Detroit on "The Need for a Revolutionary Party Today"

Comrade Mond Toussaint Louverture--Workers World Party Youth Organizer and Spoken Word Artist on "The Role of National Culture in the Revolutionary Struggle": Perspectives on Frantz Fanon's "The Wretched of the Earth"

Abayomi Azikiwe--Editor of the Pan-African News Wire, Contributing Editor to Workers World Newspaper on "The Lessons of the 1967 Rebellions for the 21st Century"

On July 23, 1967, the largest urban rebellion in United States history began in the city of Detroit at the corner of Clairmount and 12th (now Rosa Parks Blvd). This year represents the 50th anniversary of this historic event which transformed the character of the African American liberation struggle in the U.S.

During 1967, urban rebellions took place in over 160 cities throughout the country. These events coincided with the rise of the antiwar movement in the U.S. and the advances of national liberation struggles around the world from Vietnam to Southern Africa.

Our African American History Month program this year will initiate a series of discussions not only commemorating these developments of 1967 but their significance in the reemerging peoples' movements in 2017. Today we are facing the rise of neo-fascism and renewed institutional racism designed to force the African American people, other oppressed nations and the working class as a whole back into extreme economic exploitation and state repression.

We need to assess the gains which emerged from the movements of the 1960s through the conclusion of the 20th century and the need to refurbish our analysis, fighting spirit and organizational capacity. In the city of Detroit we have been at the cutting edge of the mass and ideological struggles that have impacted both the U.S. and the world in the recent period.

Also registration information, palm cards and posters for the March 25-26 Midwest Conference on Socialism and National Liberation will be available at this forum. This conference is being sponsored by the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Wayne State University with the co-sponsorship of Workers World Party Detroit branch.

Please join us at this important political meeting. In addition to these talks there will be substantial time for audience participation.

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