Screed 15: GOOD FAITH FOOD
The idea of spreading food among the poor by means of extortion has had its major successes in South America, where poverty truly means hunger and may even mean starvation. Its SLA importation to the United States, where poverty has different meanings, was described by the columnist Max Lerner as "a kind of morality play in which the United States is depicted as starving its needy; and the revolutionaries as daring knights who perform deeds of great risk and valor to feed them" Lerner correctly added that the media, with its continual interest in the absurd and the poignant, and its lack of interest in probabilities and truth, "played the game of the terrorists".
In the demand for free food, the SLA miscalculated both the identity of "the poor" and the fortune of Randolph Hearst. Their list of recipient groups engrossed millions of Californians who were prosperous, and tens of thousands who classed as rich. Nothing about Social Security or military disability, for example, connotes any kind of poverty. It was immediately headlined all over California that the Hearst ransom, if paid out in full, would amount to a half-bilion dollars. This original confusion of thinking was to lead to many other well-reported muddles before the Hearst free food program was finished.
Had possible demands been made, and strictly carried out, the position would have remained the same. All three of the original speakers (Screeds 12, 13, 14) had stipulated that the free food would not be a ransom but a "good-faith gesture", meant to test "the real interest and cooperative attitude of the Hearst family". Through it the Hearsts would begin to show their "repentance for the murder and suffering they have aided and profited from". The question of Miss Hearst's fate would remain open. The Berkeley girls promised nothing.
Most of the organizations listed in Screed 15 as overseers or critics of the free food program are Black or Black-dominated. All are tax-exempt and some are tax-supported. Except for the San Francisco Chinatown location, and for Santa Rosa (Fahizah's home town), the specified locations are also Black in the main. The continuing desire of the SLA for media coverage gives rise to all articles of Section B.
(Section) A---
We have heard it said that Mr. Hearst wants to save his daughter, [but] we want to save all the children and people. In an effort to answer some of the basic needs of the people, we are asking for a symbolic gesture of good faith from this representative of the corporate state.
Each person with one of the following cards is to be given $70.00 worth of meats, vegetables, and dairy products: All people with welfare cards, social security pension cards, food stamp cards, disabled veteran cards, medical cards, parole or probation papers, and jail or bail release slips. So that all those with such cards have time, and will not be forced to stand waiting in long lines, the time for the distribution of this food must extend over a four week period, beginning February 19th. On each Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday for four successive weeks, each person with one of the listed cards can go to publicized stores and pick up their food.
1.
The stores where people can go are to be clearly designated and publicized in each of the communities listed below, and they are to be within easy access to the people of those communities. There must be at least S stores as distribution points within each community; these distribution points should be major stores within the community, we suggest such stores as Safeway and Mayfair.
2.The meat, vegetables, and dairy products must be of top quality, and in ample supply during all store hours.
3.TO THE PEOPLE: If you are not receiving your food, all you have to do is voice your discontent in the streets, at bus stops, movie theatres, etc. and we will hear about it. Also anyone facing any interference from the police state in the way of harassment should voice their discontent. The people's army calls upon community groups such as Nirobi [ie, Nairobi] College in East Palo Alto, Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, and The Black Teachers Caucus, the National Welfare Rights Organization, United Farm Workers, AIM, Third World Womens Alliance, United Prisoner's Union, as well as representatives from people's news services such as Getting Together, Kalayan, Triple Jeopardy, Black Panther Party, The Anvil, and others to act as observers and coordinators to see to it that the aged and disabled receive their food and ways to transport it and shop for it, AND to see to it that NO police-state agents, in or out of uniform, are allowed to be in the areas of food distribution, or photograph or harass the people.
4.Stores in each of the following cities or communities are to serve as distribution points:
San Francisco (Mission District, Chinatown, Hunters
Point, The Fillmore)
Oakland (East and west)Delano
RichmondSanta Rosa
East Palo AltoLos Angeles( Watts Compton, East Los Angeles)
(Section) B--
1.The document showing the emblem and meaning of the seven-headed cobra that is in the possession of police state authorities shall be placed in newspapers and other forms of the media in its exact form, not omitting any area.
2.The document that is enclosed regarding the declaration of war and the goals of The S.L.A. shall also be placed in its total form in newspapers and other forms of the media.
3.A copy of all these stated documents, along with a full copy of the tape enclosed recorded by myself [ie, Cinque? ] and Pat Hearst is to be distributed to the media for publication.
4.The news media is warned that all attempts to mislead the public concerning the intentions of The S.L.A., or to confuse the public by witholding or omitting sections of the tape or S.L.A. documents, jeopardizes the prisoner.
IF THIS GESTURE OF GOOD FAITH IS NOT MET, THEN WE
WILL ASSUME THAT THERE IS NO BASIS FOR NEGOTIATIONS, AND WE WILL NO LONGER TAKE, AND MAINTAIN
IN GOOD HEALTH AND SPIRITS, PRISONERS OF WAR.
S.L.A.
