Somewhat recently, I had the opportunity to correspond with a former friend and ally who I had come to know through my time as a cadre and/or activist in the Uhuru Movement. It was a private correspondence so I will keep the other person anonymous, but I feel the discussion is an important one and part of the greater discussion of how to make a revolution successful and what standards are acceptable in times of revolutionary war. I am therefore publishing the conversation here and invite criticism and analysis.

Matthew R Willis

Uhuru Supporter:
...Not to re- engage in any debate, I have read everything you've posted on facebook including links as well as anything I've had access to by Ajamu (sp?), Iyapo, Chernoh and others. I know it's still not enough. Thanks again Matthew. I did hear you moved. we can still talk when you want. Sorry I couldn't see you off.

Matthew Willis:
No problem. If you are interested in statements you might not have seen on the matter including one from Omavi, (I also tweaked mine some) you can go to asmsupporters.wordpress.com

i do not necessarily endorse any statements other than my own there. Yeah definitely lets keep in touch

Uhuru Supporter:
Thanks. I do remember reading a long statement by Omavi. I just couldn't believe it was written by a democratic centralist who ever really studied the Cuban, Chinese, Algerian,Vietnamese and African revolutionary movements. Che executed people based on what he admitted was less than judicial evidence. To quote Malcolm, "Revolution is big, it's bloody, it overturns." i fear it, but i support it, even if it kills me.

Matthew Willis:
There is nothing democratic - centralist or otherwise - about the way Uhuru does business,

Pol Pot and Stalin would agree with Malcolm there. Be careful what "revolution" you support my friend. I'm done with cults of personality.

Uhuru Supporter:
Any means necessary. I don't think any of us in the solidarity movement ever understood what a real war for liberation means. The damn boat motor matters, hugely. I should go to sleep now. Every successful revolution has involved a charismatic leader walking the line of democracy and dictatorship. denounce Omali and you must renounce Mao, Che, Castro,Lumumba, Fanon, and Garvey.

Matthew Willis:
No I mustn't.

I have no idea what really happened with the damn boat motor. But i do know once Uhuru has decided you are not in their camp, they will say anything to discredit you among the faithful.

The truth means nothing to the Uhuru Movement. I know this first hand. I know the things they wrote about me were lies. Why should i believe what they have to say about Chernoh?

Uhuru Supporter:
OK. I must sleep, though. you are free to believe what you will. I would suggest a review of revolutionary history and its bloody reality. I had to swallow that jagged pill before I ever lifted a finger for the movement. These are not peace times. have you seen "The Wind that Shakes the Barley"? I recommend it highly.

Matthew Willis:
I'm pretty familiar with revolutionary history, my friend. I was in Uhuru Movement studies regularly for 16 years and did my own research as well, but thank you for your suggestion.

I wish you a good night

Uhuru Supporter:
We part in peace.

Matthew Willis:
Hey Uhuru Supporter,

I know you are sleeping, but it's only 11:30 here in Cali, so I wanted to touch base with you again after some reflection on our conversation earlier. I would like to continue our debate in the spirit "of contradictions between the people" or friends, rather than contradictions between enemies. I feel this might be productive as long as we can refrain from focusing on the personal.

You express a readiness and ability to dismiss unprincipled behavior on the part of the Uhuru Movement based on your understanding that revolutions are bloody and ugly and maybe even unprincipled at times. Che said "we made some mistakes" referring to the wave of executions that occurred after Batista was ousted and Cuba was brought under his and Fidel's control.

I wonder if there is a point where there could ever be an action, tendency or behavior on the part of the Uhuru Movement or whoever else you deem as leading a revolution that you support, that you couldn't excuse. Something where you would decide that a revolution is pointless if it doesn't have any principles it is bound to uphold which its claimed enemy does not. It worries me that you seem not to.

Are you familiar with the expression "kill the chicken to frighten the monkeys"? I understand it's an ancient imperialist Chinese proverb which means brutally punish one to intimidate those around him/her into obedience. Demonstrate what happens when one falls out of favor.

Mao upheld this proverb as a revolutionary tactic, and you've upheld Mao as a revolutionary example in this discussion. Do you think contemporary China is some kind of revolutionary model to uphold, or do you think as I do that China has become another oppressive imperialist edifice that needs to be flushed down the toilet of history? If you agree with me here, was Mao's readiness to kill chickens to scare monkeys one of the philosophical contradictions that led to them become just another imperialist mess like the US?

I mention this because I believe the Uhuru Movement utilizes the kill the chicken tactic. I was the chicken. You are one of the monkeys. We both experienced it firsthand I think its abhorrent. Any group that claims to be building a socialist utopia that would use these kinds of tactics (this is just one of course) disgusts me and is really no different than the system it claims to replace.

I welcome your thoughts on this.

Uhuru Supporter:
No socialist utopia has ever been the stated goal of The Party or any successful revolution. Of course I have a moral compass, Matthew, I'm pissed you'd question that. I do not and have never held any leader beyond reproach, including APSP. I struggled over your public misrepresentation until it became clear how deadly dishonest and imperialist Chernoh's actions, which have never been denied, are. The movement told you you fucked up, you disagreed, they asked you to leave. That is their right as Africans and as an organization. move on. No one is being executed or imprisoned. When the UN and Sierra Leone's colonial powers realize the threat The Party is to their system, real oppression and counter revolution will begin. The movement made a mistake by making your creepiness to women an issue. You will make a name for yourself by helping to halt an internationalist anti colonial movement 40 plus years in the making. now it is getting personal. the goddamn UN, Matthew???? Reread what Fanon said about Lumumba's call out to the UN for help. It meant the death of the Congo's independence. I believe in the people being fed, housed, educated and taking control of their own resources. I have seen nothing to indicate the party has ever intentionally veered from this trajectory. I have a moral threshold and Chernoh has crossed it and then some. How much history of struggle are you willing to destroy to defend your name? You once told me it's not all about me, and that revolution is a process. I am observing from the sidelines because i know I'm fucked up right now and I would rather take no action than unprincipled action. All contact I've had from the movement has been about involving me in concrete actions to defend African lives and the right to resist. Check out the Eric Oliver Campaign on Uhuru News and pretend you and I don't exist for a moment. Serve the people or get the fuck out of the way. You helped teach me that, and I fear you've forgotten it. Omavi or someone had the audacity to accuse The Movement of being thieves of people's time and efforts. How petty and immature is that? What the hell will Chernoh's bid for office in Sierra Leone accomplish? Why do you think he was unable to register as a legal political org when he undemocratically disbanded the Africanist Movement and declared all members APSP? Now, last I heard, the ASM has managed to garner the money and influence to run for office and arrest Party members and seize their files and equipment. You're right to say you don't know what is really going on in west Africa. I don't know for sure either, but I trust the three comrades living and facing death to defend internationalism in Africa. They exposed Chernoh, and the Party let the us supporters know everything they could verify. that is the same spirit of Chairman's pamphlet, "Smash slander and build principled unity", a criticism of Stokley which was harrowing but correct. I believe you are too close to this to see its enormity with clarity. Please admit you fucked up and take a break. That's my current course. but when i get my shit together, I truly hope you're not still standing in the way. That is not a threat, it is honesty.

Uhuru Supporter:
also, what kind of organization are you representing that you can't support anything on their website except what you wrote and revised? i am interested in a disciplined organization determined to destroy this 500 year old system with unity of will. if that makes me the " faithful" or part of a "cult of personality" then i welcome those terms. this world of stolen comfort we live in is the real cult. i can't continue this debate any longer as a marginal individual member.

Matthew Willis:
You're right. You are making this conversation personal have taken it from the realm of respectful dialog into one of angry diatribe. Nonetheless, I'll attempt to break apart and respond to your giant, obnoxious, rambling wall of text, item-by-item. And we are now personal. (Suggestion: When attempting to make arguments in written format, paragraph breaks are your friends.)

i struggled over your public misrepresentation until it became clear how deadly dishonest and imperialist chernoh's actions, which have never been denied, are.

Please tell me when you ever struggled about Uhuru's "mischaracterization" of me. I'm not aware of you making any such struggle and would like to hear when you made it, who you made it to, and what the response was. I do know that in the meeting/trial which was the culmination of this you sat there in silence, and I think you've basically been done so ever since, except privately mull it over a few times with me. If I'm wrong here, please correct me. Your stance on that fiasco seems to be "maybe it was wrong but that's the way revolutions go" and posturing about how you're so hardcore that you'll let the "revolution" kill you if need be, all the while doing no actual work and nothing that puts you in any kind of personal jeopardy for your convictions. I have total disdain for this position and I'd be curious to see if this would have been your perspective had you been the one publicly humiliated, slandered and thrown under the bus.

Perhaps by "struggled over your public mischaracterization" you mean you were having trouble leveraging the slander against me with the organization you consider holy who did the public slander. But now that I've been slandered as second time in association with someone else slandered that you have no firsthand experience with, you are satisfied. If so, congratulations. Sleep well.

Every single allegation that Uhuru has made against Chernoh has been denied, including their characterization of him calling on the UN to "protect investments." You don't seems to pay attention to arguments that don't justify Uhuru's actions.

The movement told you you fucked up, you disagreed, they asked you to leave. that is their right as Africans and as an organization. move on. no one is being executed or imprisoned. the movement made a mistake by making your creepiness to women an issue. you will make a name for yourself by helping to halt an internationalist anti colonial movement 40 plus years in the making.

Actually I have moved on. However, unlike you, I am not comfortable on the sidelines. I can't justify complicity with imperialism by saying "I'm fucked up right now." I know you are good at talking and reading, but I was on the front lines of the Uhuru Movement for 16 years, where I would see you occasionally show up at bigger events that I had struggled for weeks and months to build. You can't understand this, but since getting kicked out of Uhuru, rather than just shrug my shoulders and do nothing, like many other "former" comrades, I have instead supported other African organizations and individuals that are struggling for the goals we both say we agree with. I do not necessarily agree with any of them 100% but I am capable finding places where we do agree and working from there. My punishment for doing this can be seen on Uhuru News in a 22-paragraph tirade within the first Chernoh slander article. Until that attack, none of the work I have done with these forces has had anything to do with the APSP. The APSP considers white solidarity their property and will viciously attack you if you ever offer it to another organization outside of their control.

Talk about neocolonialism. Chernoh can't have a voice on Uhuru News to respond to the attack on him, but if I use my access to the resources stolen from Sierra Leone to help him provide a way to respond on the internet, I am almost as big as criminal as he is in your eyes.

I was not told I "fucked up" nor was I "asked to leave" the Uhuru Movement. My entire character was assassinated, my many years of dedicated service (in which one slow week for me would have equaled months of what you contributed in terms of number of hours and otherwise) belittled and dismissed, and I was put on trial, kicked out and shunned. So-called "Creepiness towards women" was not one the crimes I was accused of. I was accused of being a "sexual predator." You were there. Don't revise history or sugarcoat unprincipled slander to make it more palatable with your complicity.

No, I wasn't executed or imprisoned. That's because the APSP lacks the power to execute or imprison, not because of a lack of intention. But you're right, so far, the only violence they've been able commit against me has been psychological. I'm not sure what your point is here, since you long for the day when the APSP has the power to commit these more permanent acts.

now it is getting personal. the goddamn UN, Mattthew???? re read what fanon said about lumumba's call out to the UN for help. it meant the death of the Congo's independence.

I'll admit I'm not familiar what Fanon wrote about Lumumba calling on the UN for aid. Did he launch a vicious propaganda campaign against him, labeling him as the lowest form of neocolonialist? Did he also attack anyone he could identify as an ally of Lumumba? If not, I'm not sure what the analogy is and how it relates the current situation, other than to demonstrate that legitimate revolutionary leaders have utilized the UN and other imperialist institutions to meet their strategic interests. (Whether in error or not is a different discussion.)

On the other hand, if Fanon's writings on Lumumba are similar to the APSPs on Chernoh, why do we all consider Lumumba a giant in the African Liberation Struggle to this day? Would it have been a crime against the revolution to make a flier or a logo, or set up a wordpress blog for Lumumba, as I have done for the ASM recently?

If you wish to maintain a legitimate criticism of me for not withdrawing my support of Chernoh after he called on the UN to monitor elections to prevent political violence and election fraud in Sierra Leone from the APC, you must read the relevant portion of my response and respond to what I've already written on this. Also, I suggest you go and actually read Chernoh's communique on the matter (have you even done this?) and not rely on paraphrases from Uhuru News. Currently you're parroting the mischaracterizations of it that and the hyperbole that is in the Uhuru News article and what Penny Hess said about Chernoh on facebook.

check out the Eric Oliver campaign on uhuru news and pretend you and i don't exist for a moment. serve the people or get the fuck out of the way. you helped teach me that, and i fear you've forgotten it.

omavi or someone had the audacity to accuse the movement of being thieves of people's time and efforts. how petty and immature is that?

Omavi did not accuse the Uhuru Movement of being thieves for stealing his time and efforts. He actually wrote the opposite of this. Your paraphrase here completely distorts and misrepresents the point he was making. As your comment underscores, Uhuru people have quite the penchant for misquoting and relying on their faithful not being critically minded and check the sources. You do so without the least bit of shame.

After working full-time in the party for about 5 years, if I called the Chairman a thief and demanded a return or refund on all the donations, resources, time, and work that I have given to the Uhuru Movement, that would be entirely unprincipled, because that was a willing donation that I made under the assumption that I was supporting a genuine revolutionary movement. In fact, if all those that have supported and sustained the Uhuru Movement over the years and now completely disagree and disunite with their organization demanded a return on all of their resources, the Organization would be literally bankrupt. So how is it fair, to demand a return of resources that you donated to the ASM because you now disunite with their organization?

End quote.

What the hell will chernoh's bid for office in sierra Leone accomplish? why do you think he was unable to register as a legal political org when he undemocratically disbanded the africanist movement and declared all members APSP? now, last i heard, the ASM has managed to garner the money and influence to run for office and arrest party members and seize their files and equipment. you're right to say you don't know what is really going on in west Africa. i don't know for sure either, but i trust the three comrades living and facing death to defend internationalism in africa. they exposed chernoh, and the party let the us supporters know everything they could verify. that is the same spirit of chairman's pamphlet, "Smash slander and build principled unity", a criticism of stokley which was harrowing but correct.

"What the hell will Chernoh's bid for office in Sierra Leone accomplish?" I answer that when you answer what the hell Diop's bid for office in Philly or Yeshitela's or Chimurenga's bid for office in St. Pete. would have or has accomplished.

Once again when Uhuru does something like enter the imperialist political arena and it is profound revolutionary tactics. But when someone outside of their control does a similar thing it is neocolonialism. I wish you could step back and see the hypocrisy but i know you can't. I was there once.

I'm glad we both can admit neither of us really know shit about what is actually happening on the ground in Sierra Leone between Chernoh and the few supporters APSP seems to still have there. While both sides are making accusations against the other, I'm also glad you are able to also realize that you are relying solely on your faith in the latter's testimony, based on the hearsay you've received about their supposed revolutionary character. That's fine for you I guess, But you don't respect that I can't join your faith and unity with this hearsay even after all you know I've experienced from the source of it. This is profound arrogance that borders on insanity.

Speaking of insanity, it was surreal and ridiculous that it took four or so articles on Uhuru News to finally get around to charging that they had firsthand-witnessed Chernoh pick-pocketing Nyabinga years before they made a public struggle against him and months after they launched it? I'll ask you again: if these charges against Chernoh are valid (or against me for that matter) why does Uhuru censor our responses? Smash unprincipled slander through principled slander seems to be the Uhuru way.

also, what kind of organization are you representing that you can't support anything on their website except what you wrote and revised?

I don't represent any organization. The claim that I'm a representative of some organization is just another of the many Uhuru lies that are being circulated to justify ostracization of me. What I have done is accept some comrades' requests for support of their organizations and causes. I also have needed to respond to the slander that Uhuru is again spreading about me for doing this.

i believe you are too close to this to see its enormity with clarity. please admit you fucked up and take a break. that's my current course. but when i get my shit together, i truly hope you're not still standing in the way. that is not a threat, it is honesty

I have never done a single thing to hold back the Uhuru Movement on anything, save their/your goal of vilifying me and intimidating me from continuing to exercise my right and responsibility to express my solidarity with African liberation movement outside of your jurisdiction. Uhuru was the one that rejected my solidarity, not the other way around. In any case, Uhuru does not own a monopoly on activism around the politics it upholds.

I do take it as a threat, rather than based on honesty, that in your collective imagination I'm "standing in the way" of the African revolution.

*******************************************

I waited several days before making this response in the hopes that you would retract some of your latest statement or at least its hostile tone, Uhuru Supporter. Now it is clear that you stand behind your words. Therefore I am removing you as "Facebook friend." I don't wish you any ill will, but I can't have people who are hostile towards me and treat me as an enemy of theirs having unabridged access to my information. If you want to respond, you are welcome to do so at johnbrown_lives@yahoo.com. Otherwise best of luck on your journey.

Matthew Willis:

Uhuru Supporter:

Matthew Willis: