Activist Ture speaks at Irvine

Amidst increased racial tension and concern over affirmative action policies nationwide, the man formerly known as Stokley Carmichael called for complete revolution yesterday in a speech at Irvine Auditorium. In the keynote address for the Greenfield Intercultural Center's celebration of African-American History Month, entitled "African American Student Movements, Yesterday and Today," Kwame Ture advocated organizing the African people to overthrow the American capitalist society. In the 1960s, as a prominent black activist, Ture -- then known as Carmichael -- founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, helped launch the Black Power Movement and was also a member of the Black Panthers. In fact, he is often credited with having coined the phrase "black power," although he said yesterday that he did not create it -- he only popularized it. Today --30 years later -- he is the founder of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party and lives in Guinea on the west coast of Africa. The party was originally formed in 1968. Ture prefaced his speech last night by establishing his credibility in the area of student protest. "When I speak of student movements, I speak of something not that I studied, but of that which I lived," he said. Ture described the importance of studying the values of society. He said students may either accept and perpetuate them or reject them and offer alternatives. "What are you for?" he asked. "Just saying you are against something doesn't do anything. It is what you are for." Ture stressed the importance of rejecting capitalism by calling it an "anti-human society that keeps its members unconscious of the values they are perpetuating." He also denounced the claim that conditions in the African-American community are more favorable today than 30 years ago because the representation of African Americans in universities and government has increased. "This progress is quantitative," he said. "Progress must be qualified to affect the masses of our people." Ture then told the audience not to underestimate the value of aggression in attaining revolution and urged the African-American community to "take violence and aim it at the enemy and be free." "No human advances are possible without the shedding of blood," he added.Ture then stressed the need for organization of the African-American community, especially students. "Student movements must have a strong nationalist base," he said. "They must be clear and precise. One must be willing to kill and die for it. " Ture said that every African American has a responsibility to get involved. "By your very act of inaction, you are against your people," he said. Many of the 200 audience members reacted favorably to Ture's speech. "[The speech was] right on point on the need for Africans to organize themselves," said Mel Davis, a member of the National African American Club. "Very good," Temple University senior Crystal Brown said. "We're always talking about what the problem is but not strategically planning how to solve it." Some white audience members said they felt uncomfortable, although they understood the speech. "I felt extremely self-conscious and sort of targeted," College senior Ian Glick said. "This audience is not for white folk," said Rev. Beverly Dale, director of the Christian Association. "But we all must learn. His critique of the capitalist system is right on target."

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