21st Century Slave Trade
by Sista Shiriki Unganisha
Slavery is alive and well in 1996. As a matter of fact, slavery
never left; it simply took on a new hi-tech face with slick public relations
promoting. I like to refer to slavery as overt (open) and covert (hidden).
We Afrikans must always remember, the only reason we were kidnapped and
brought to the shores of North Amerika was to fuel the lucrative slave trade.
Overt slavery goes back as far as the 16th century. Our struggle began on
the shores of Afrika where our ancestors were held captive for ships headed
West into overt slavery. During the 1800s the majority of the prison population
was white because Afrikans were more valuable economically on the slave
plantations where we were imprisoned for life as chattel (property) slaves.
The U.S. government's laws stated we were not full hue-mans; we were 3/5
hue-man. We were considered property, and our ancestors were worked from
sunup to sundown, six days a week, with no pay, for at least 400 years.
We were denied our families' names, culture, religion, education, and language.
During overt slavery, Afrikans were worked like animals; they planted acres
and acres of cotton by hand, picked acres and acres of cotton by hand, raised
massa's future slave-holders. Our women were toys for the slave massa and
any hue-man qualities were stripped from us. Laws criminalized us, such
as the Fugitive Slave Act, the Dred Scott Decision, and any white woman
crying rape.
Now let's look at covert slavery. The same ingredients are present in 1996.
We Afrikans are looked upon as being 3/5 hue-man. Remember, the only reason
we are on the shores of North Amerika is due to the slave trade. Since we
live in a capitalistic society and greed is what drives this cancer, your
free slave labor is needed today in the 21st century slave trade-Amerika's
prisons! Afrikans are the raw material and must be funneled into the system.
How? By criminalizing us, by characterizing us in the mainstream daily as
genetically violent, gang bangers, drug dealers, cop killers. And let's
not forget the infamous "crack law." These are the catalysts that
are used to propel Afrikans into the 21st century slave trade.
Now let's look at how this slave labor is used economically. The Federal
Prison Industries, Inc. operates 86 factories in 48 federal prisons around
the country. Afrikan males make up at least 61% of the federal prison system
population, when they are only 6% of the 13% of the entire U.S. Afrikan
population. Some of the products manufactured by slave labor are the following:
California prisons make Logos for Lexus; Hawaii makes Spaulding Golf Balls;
Maryland processes hot dogs; New Mexico makes hotel reservations; South
Carolina, electronic cables; Oregon, Prison Blues; Washington, Eddie Bauer
and office furniture; and the list goes on and on. Unicor is currently gearing
up for work on large orders from the Department of Defense, Germany, Veterans
Administration Hospital, and GSA (General Services Administration). The
Textile Factory (Leavenworth, Kansas) has received orders for postal inserts:
$5,230,000 worth from the Postal Service and $1,486,425 worth from a subcontractor
of Unicor. Furniture is working on a contract for D & Q Furniture totaling
$2.1 million and Print is producing $1.4 million of work for GSA. This sounds,
walks, smells, and looks like CHINA, right?
Now is the picture crystal clear about covert slavery? This country will
never be able to provide jobs for all people who desire to work. A capitalistic
society is not designed on that premise. Capitalism is designed to maintain
a permanent underclass. It targets the most vulnerable in society. Now more
and more people are put out of work, jobs are taken out of the country,
and the poor are characterized as the cause of society's ills. When the
discontent of the poor rises, what do you think is waiting for them? Amerika's
prison!
We must begin to chip away at this cancer, racism, more aggressively. We
must take away the oxygen (almighty dollar) which causes it to spread and
maintain. Under covert slavery, it will not be reserved for Afrikans alone
this time. It will include all races. So economic sanctions is what we need
to organize around across this country. If we understand money is the bottom
line, then we should understand that money is what we must withhold. STAC/SAFC
(Stop Targeting the Afrikan Community/Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign) is
calling for "Economic Sanctions Against Racism in Amerika."
Since the prison industry is the fastest growing economy in this country,
we must begin to expose to the world how the U.S. government makes laws
that target a specific group of people, Afrikans, and how excessive prison
terms are rendered in order to use prison labor to manufacture any products
that private corporations and the government desire. Our target is the prison
industry, the companies that buy and sell prison-made products, the drugs
used in state-sponsored murders, the manufacturers of these drugs and any
other products they produce.
So sistas and brothas, let's get busy researching and networking with one
another around these targets. For more information, call Sista Shiriki at
(816) 333-9814, or write me at P.O. Box 5161, Kansas City, MO 64132.
