Uhuru draws small group at 'tribunal' at U.

The government of the United & States of America went on trial & Sunday. It was found guilty as charged. At the 11th session of the Na - tional People's Democratic Uhuru Movement's World Tribunal on Re - parations for African People in the U.S. at Irvine Auditorium, speakers testified and discussed crimes com - mitted against African people by & the government. Approximately 35 people were & present for the tribunal. "We are demanding reparations for well over 500 years of enslave - ment," said Uhuru member Imani Sharp. "We are asking for money to build back our own institutions so that we can control our own & communities." The tribunal lasted all day Sun - day and featured speakers from Uh - uru, the African People's Socialist Party and the Intercultural Coali - tion for Justice and Equality. Speakers testified about their ex - periences with police brutality and oppression. "Our people are colonized," said Troy Hendricks, local chairperson of the African Socialist Workers' & Party. "We are being totally domi - nated by an alien, hostile govern - ment for the purpose of economic exploitation of our people." Hendricks added that the roots of oppression and exploitation rest & with slavery. "Our people were brought here for one reason and one reason only -- to work," he said. "We had no say so in what time we got up, what time we went to sleep, when our children were sold. We had no say so if our wives were killed and her legs were chopped off." The National People's Democra - tic Uhuru Movement is dedicated to defending the interests of African people in Africa and in America. One of the main concerns & addressed on Sunday was Africans unjustly jailed by the U.S. & government. People like former Black Panther Mumia Abu Jamal, who was con - victed of murdering a police officer, and Fred Hampton, who was & charged with firebombing two & Korean-owned stores, are being & held unjustly, according to Uhuru members. "Any African in America is a & threat to the United States," said Sharp. "We're in jail because the system is not our system and they don't want us to destroy or disrupt their system." Sharp added that, in America, & "the lie is that we all exist & together." Black people are disaffected with the leadership of white liberals and middle-class blacks alike, accord - ing to Hendricks. "People are starting to see that the petty black bourgeoisie is no - thing but sellout leadership," he & said. "They want to join the gang of thieves and feed on their own peo - ple's flesh." Despite everything, several peo - ple said that the Los Angeles riots proved there was a movement in the making and that it was only a matter of time before things began to change. "Our people know what's going on," Hendricks said. "It's like a tick - ing time bomb. What happened in L.A. is going to happen again here." Andito Siwatu, president of the Baltimore Chapter of Uhuru, was even more emphatic. "We are mad and we're going to keep fighting and fighting until ev - ery last pig has been blown away," she said. Although attendance was poor, & organizers said it was clear that blacks and other minorities had had enough. "We ain't takin' no more. We're gonna fight back," she said. "We're gonna go back to our communities and we're gonna organize." "And I would advise you to get on board," she added.