Table Of ContentT'A.tsLE OF CONTENITS
INTRODUCTION...........
By WaY of Introduction lll
:il I
DESPAIR...
THE SOUL OF THE BLACK LIBERATION ARMY Some Others ....."""" "" 3
o \Vhat Form Do Demons Take? """"' 4
Copyright 1981 Julian Richardson Associates, publishers Song of Thirst 6
No One is PrePared to Melt l
Published by ()
A Thought.
Julian Richardson Associates, Publishers Day and NiCht,\Tinter and Summer IO
for
Members of the Black Liberation Army II
ANGER.....
l2
Death So Near
ISBN 0-910758-01-11 r)
Dragon/Fire
r4
All rights reserved Steve Biko. r6
Untitled
r7
Printed in the United States of America A Challenge r8
Seeds.........
r9
Chance.... '. '
The Sign of the Times 2T
Untitled Poem...'....'... 22
23
HATE
A Farewell to Another Level""' 24
A Paradoxical ResPonse z6
2f
Encounter
Beyond the Looking Glass \War z8
,o
A Curse on You.....'.
Credo 3o
We'se Steppin'-straight Ahead 32
Concrete Jungle Revolution' " "' a4
PITY.......... 37
Target Zone ......'... 38
Tain't Natural..'.'...'....'. 4o
4r
Live............
A Civil Rights Escape from the Ghetto 42
T'A.tsLE OF CONTENITS
INTRODUCTION...........
By WaY of Introduction lll
:il I
DESPAIR...
THE SOUL OF THE BLACK LIBERATION ARMY Some Others ....."""" "" 3
o \Vhat Form Do Demons Take? """"' 4
Copyright 1981 Julian Richardson Associates, publishers Song of Thirst 6
No One is PrePared to Melt l
Published by ()
A Thought.
Julian Richardson Associates, Publishers Day and NiCht,\Tinter and Summer IO
for
Members of the Black Liberation Army II
ANGER.....
l2
Death So Near
ISBN 0-910758-01-11 r)
Dragon/Fire
r4
All rights reserved Steve Biko. r6
Untitled
r7
Printed in the United States of America A Challenge r8
Seeds.........
r9
Chance.... '. '
The Sign of the Times 2T
Untitled Poem...'....'... 22
23
HATE
A Farewell to Another Level""' 24
A Paradoxical ResPonse z6
2f
Encounter
Beyond the Looking Glass \War z8
,o
A Curse on You.....'.
Credo 3o
We'se Steppin'-straight Ahead 32
Concrete Jungle Revolution' " "' a4
PITY.......... 37
Target Zone ......'... 38
Tain't Natural..'.'...'....'. 4o
4r
Live............
A Civil Rights Escape from the Ghetto 42
INTRODUCTION
Sittin'-watchin u play 43 fr"Tifhleln epssi"etn,c et aokfin wg ritipnigtt tpttoee itnry y oisu ar mruitnhdle sasn dp pearsinotninagl hthoante psitcyt'u nreo
Endangered Species.... 44 "
TShpaec eC eOlldyssey............ 45 forI to tihse ersx twreitmh ewlyo rhdasr'd to write the introduction to this book of
Untitled ar6 -^prrv-that is why the precedin gparagraphis there-to remind me
48 i, p.rronal honesty to capsulize for you" what this
"riitr"--rhl.r,
LOLeVipkEiec.s .n....o....... ..3..9.. .............. 45592r b,iooIontk ai sisr a- aynb .ao"t utBet'mefpotr tt ow eex gPoo saen yy ofuur tthoe trh we e" Saroeu gl ooinf gth teo Bhlaavcek toL icboemrae-
That \X/hich Is Shared.... to griPs with the terms we are using:
53
A Love Poem......... 54 For our purposes "Soul" will be defined as:
Blackness... 55 "the immaterial essence of an indiVidual
The Circle: Joe's Poem. j6 life; the spiritual principle embodied
The Blood of Life......... :8 in human beings in the universe; an actlve
An Open Letter to my Comrade..... 59 or essential Part; man's moral and
i can visualize ............... 6o emotional nature."
For the Shule Ya Mapinduze No. r 6r Invariably, when the American media condescends to write or
F"\Wore t hKen oSwhu lteh eY Ea mMbarpyion doufz Fer eNedoo. mz 66zt ,gp'u"ungt tu,"Utto rdr,e tvhoei dB oLfA h iut mdeapni cftese ilitn agss a agnrdo uepm ooft imonasra'uding thugs and
lJnritlcd 6s
"Emotions-Both'emotion' and'motivation'
REACHING OUT........... 6t come from the same Latin word meaning
Untitled Poem............... 68 'motion'or'to move" Emotions are
The Inclian Voice .......... 6q 'stirred up movements' or'stirred up feelings''"
Prospecting Life............. 7o The BIack Liberation Army is "The Peoples' Army"'What exactly
Prison is a Paper Barrier 7r does that mean? lt means that the first ob jective of the BLA is to
-.., ,ft. needs of the people' At this time one of the most pressing
A Final \7ord /5 needs of the people i, io huu" a correct understanding of the forces
that make up the BLA' The people need to know that the rnembers
Pictures & Prisons. of the BLA are first of all httman beings' Then they need to know
75 that as human beings they have a moral and emotional nature that
when stirred up give way to intense feelings such as love' hate'
J"rfuir, i"tt like any other human being' This book
is an effo"rr,tg etor ^sh.toJwp tih,avt ' Then, too' throughout this book,through
rhe strains of the poetry another quality becomes inherently appar-
ent-not by design, U,,i Uv simply that this book is written by BLA
members-th. qrruf*v of'qttiei determination-it is never yelled'
tft""r"a or flaunied, but always readily discernible'
INTRODUCTION
Sittin'-watchin u play 43 fr"Tifhleln epssi"etn,c et aokfin wg ritipnigtt tpttoee itnry y oisu ar mruitnhdle sasn dp pearsinotninagl hthoante psitcyt'u nreo
Endangered Species.... 44 "
TShpaec eC eOlldyssey............ 45 forI to tihse ersx twreitmh ewlyo rhdasr'd to write the introduction to this book of
Untitled ar6 -^prrv-that is why the precedin gparagraphis there-to remind me
48 i, p.rronal honesty to capsulize for you" what this
"riitr"--rhl.r,
LOLeVipkEiec.s .n....o....... ..3..9.. .............. 45592r b,iooIontk ai sisr a- aynb .ao"t utBet'mefpotr tt ow eex gPoo saen yy ofuur tthoe trh we e" Saroeu gl ooinf gth teo Bhlaavcek toL icboemrae-
That \X/hich Is Shared.... to griPs with the terms we are using:
53
A Love Poem......... 54 For our purposes "Soul" will be defined as:
Blackness... 55 "the immaterial essence of an indiVidual
The Circle: Joe's Poem. j6 life; the spiritual principle embodied
The Blood of Life......... :8 in human beings in the universe; an actlve
An Open Letter to my Comrade..... 59 or essential Part; man's moral and
i can visualize ............... 6o emotional nature."
For the Shule Ya Mapinduze No. r 6r Invariably, when the American media condescends to write or
F"\Wore t hKen oSwhu lteh eY Ea mMbarpyion doufz Fer eNedoo. mz 66zt ,gp'u"ungt tu,"Utto rdr,e tvhoei dB oLfA h iut mdeapni cftese ilitn agss a agnrdo uepm ooft imonasra'uding thugs and
lJnritlcd 6s
"Emotions-Both'emotion' and'motivation'
REACHING OUT........... 6t come from the same Latin word meaning
Untitled Poem............... 68 'motion'or'to move" Emotions are
The Inclian Voice .......... 6q 'stirred up movements' or'stirred up feelings''"
Prospecting Life............. 7o The BIack Liberation Army is "The Peoples' Army"'What exactly
Prison is a Paper Barrier 7r does that mean? lt means that the first ob jective of the BLA is to
-.., ,ft. needs of the people' At this time one of the most pressing
A Final \7ord /5 needs of the people i, io huu" a correct understanding of the forces
that make up the BLA' The people need to know that the rnembers
Pictures & Prisons. of the BLA are first of all httman beings' Then they need to know
75 that as human beings they have a moral and emotional nature that
when stirred up give way to intense feelings such as love' hate'
J"rfuir, i"tt like any other human being' This book
is an effo"rr,tg etor ^sh.toJwp tih,avt ' Then, too' throughout this book,through
rhe strains of the poetry another quality becomes inherently appar-
ent-not by design, U,,i Uv simply that this book is written by BLA
members-th. qrruf*v of'qttiei determination-it is never yelled'
tft""r"a or flaunied, but always readily discernible'
By WaY of Introduction
theT hseec t"iSonosu l aoref trheep rBesLeAn"ta itsiv ber ookf ethne d mowajno ri notvoe srrixid isnegc tifoenesli.n gFsiv eth oatf \7ho are You, I am asked
mseackteio nu pi sth een "tiimtlemda te"Rrieaal cehsisnegn cOe"u ot"f eaancdh iinsd tihviedruea lb elifcea.u Tseh ei ts iwxaths ltftl goinvley atenllasr wnehat I am called
impossible to leave it out. This section represents a growth and Having had manY names
development in the liberation struggle in America-ro the point It still does not saY
where we recognize rhar Black, \White, puerto Rican, Chicano, lVho nor what I am
Nanadt ioveur sA mis ear iccoamn,m Aonsi asntr,u sg7ghle4 1tosy rsi1d- vth/ee whaovreld ao cf ormacmisomn, coapppirteaslissomr Tioo t,hfte" oopppprer"ststoedt II aamm tthhee aannggeell ooff ddeeslivtreurcatniocne
and imperialism so that we can live together as human beings.
Finally, at the time of this wriring, all the contributors were So who I am dePends on who You are' ' '
Prisoners of \War, some confined within the United States penal
system and a few abroad. Even though they were physically confined Nuh QaYYum
they were still actively engaged in srruggle-to free your minds from 8-zz-7 5
the gross misinterpretation of the BLA engendered by the misinfor-
mation fed to you by the governmenr's media.
By WaY of Introduction
theT hseec t"iSonosu l aoref trheep rBesLeAn"ta itsiv ber ookf ethne d mowajno ri notvoe srrixid isnegc tifoenesli.n gFsiv eth oatf \7ho are You, I am asked
mseackteio nu pi sth een "tiimtlemda te"Rrieaal cehsisnegn cOe"u ot"f eaancdh iinsd tihviedruea lb elifcea.u Tseh ei ts iwxaths ltftl goinvley atenllasr wnehat I am called
impossible to leave it out. This section represents a growth and Having had manY names
development in the liberation struggle in America-ro the point It still does not saY
where we recognize rhar Black, \White, puerto Rican, Chicano, lVho nor what I am
Nanadt ioveur sA mis ear iccoamn,m Aonsi asntr,u sg7ghle4 1tosy rsi1d- vth/ee whaovreld ao cf ormacmisomn, coapppirteaslissomr Tioo t,hfte" oopppprer"ststoedt II aamm tthhee aannggeell ooff ddeeslivtreurcatniocne
and imperialism so that we can live together as human beings.
Finally, at the time of this wriring, all the contributors were So who I am dePends on who You are' ' '
Prisoners of \War, some confined within the United States penal
system and a few abroad. Even though they were physically confined Nuh QaYYum
they were still actively engaged in srruggle-to free your minds from 8-zz-7 5
the gross misinterpretation of the BLA engendered by the misinfor-
mation fed to you by the governmenr's media.
2 ^IHE SOUL OF THE BLACK LIBERATION ARMY DESPAIR 3
Some Others
Dream) it has been rekindled in ourselves as human beings. Some people come and staY
There are still momenrs, hours, days of despair for us though_ Others last not even a daY
when we look at the senseless destruction of rhe elements around
us, the waste of human lives, the miscarriages and blatant lack of Some step stride for stride
justice, rhe waste of time while we rot in cages. . . never asking the reason whY
FROM DESPAIR GRO\TS DETERMINATION. .
.
Others request the full plans
beforehand!
Then turn away
in dismay
desiring a road map
in detail, for whatever reasons
some need reassurance at every turn
waiver, yet always carry on
others drop, stop
back-up, haul ass or sell
Go to helll
Vhen taking flight
try as they might
it's impossible to flee
with dignity.
Living demands a pact with the dead'
Bearingsl
Straight Ahead!
Sundiata Acoli
TSP
r-a-78
