Screed 26: FAHIZAH AND THE FIFTH PROPHET
Walking openly in the San Francisco streets, Fahizah had dispatched the bouquet of roses and the jocular screed of April 1 Still operating with boldness and independence, she wrote the most extraordinary of the new screeds of April 4.
Bolstered by her Christian upbringing and by a literary education, she was then able to offer Field Marshal Cinque as a qualified folk-hero or saviour, one who comes from nowhere, fights to free his people, and passes into the shadows with a promise to return, a new Elijah, Arthur, or Jesse James, if not a new Christ. Her statement that "Cinque" means "fifth prophet" has no lexicographical support, but provides her with opportunity to present the SLA leader as the legitimate successor to celebrated Blacks of the recent past.
As in her first long contribution (Screed 10), Fahizah insists upon the spiritual and artistic qualities of the SLA movement. Her best artist is her own leader, necessarily, since, as she says, "We have begun to redefine art as the natural creative reflection of our desperate struggle to survive. As an atheist and Marxist materialist, Fahizah also carefully redefined the spirit and all that is called spiritual". In its emphasis on sacrifice, on love, and on the transcendental part of dialectics, Fahizah's new gospel effectively introduced the emotional sweetness of Cinque's own farewell, which followed immediately on the tape and typescript.
Love to our sisters and brothers in prisons; courage & [sic] faith to our two captured soldiers; greetings to all oppressed peoples; may we connect. My name is Fahizah.
The SLA is taking these opportunities to speak with the people now, because we have been having a temporary period of inactivity while waiting for the completion of our unit's last action. We know that the people want far more than 6 million dollars of food; & we will continue to fight for the total liberation of all oppressed peoples by the only means available, that is force of arms. The Court of the People has issued The Codes of War of the Symbionese Liberation Army and I wish to state that Cinque Mtume is the General Field Marshal of the Symbionese Guerilla Forces, as well as chairman of the United Symbionese War Council. Cinque is a black brother who spent many years of his life in fascist Amerika's concentration camps: manchild years in prison cells & many years in prison cells. Cinque met literally thousands of black, brown, red, yellow & white freedom fighters while he was locked down, courageous comrade George Jackson was one among them.#1 The spirit of all the brothers Cinque knows lives in him now, and the spirit of all the sisters that Cinque never had the opportunity to meet, but knows by common bond like Assata Shakur, Lolita Lebron & Bernadine Dohrn is always in his heart.
When Cinque escaped alone on foot from Soledad prison he did so for one reason only: TO FIGHT WITH THE PEOPLE & TO LEAD THE PEOPLE IN REVOLUTION. He did not escape so that he could kick-back & hide & get high: he did not even escape so that he could satisfy a deep and longing personal ache to simply see the people, and be on the streets and re-unite with his family and be a father once again to his children. Cinque escaped so that he could actively stalk the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people. The lives both he & the people's fighting forces lead now may be harsh and dangerous, but it is better to work with hard reality, than to play in pleasant, but unproductive, enslaving dreams.
Cinque Mtume is the name that was bestowed upon him by 1st his imprisoned sisters & brothers. It is the name of an ancient African Chief who led the fight of his people for freedom The name means Fifth Prophet, and Cm (Cinque) was many years ago given this name because of his keen instinct and senses, his spiritual consciousness and his deep love for all the people and children of this earth This does not, however mean that Cinque is from God or someone that is holy or that he has an extreme ego problem, but simply that he to us and to all oppressed peoples is the instilled hope and spirit of his people & all peoples and that he is of the~ people and from the people A prophet is a leader and fighter who is one of the people Leaders are individuals who within themselves feel that it is time to lead and bring us one step closer to freedom for all peoples A leader is one who is able to sense and to see what is coming at us. A leader is one who is able to help the' people understand the swiftness and fierceness with which they must move if they would survive.
Part of the revolutionary process in which we are engagect involves the constant redefinmg of thought, word, and action We must deal with all the conditions outside ourselves which oppress and enslave us, and we must deal with the enemy within; we must deal with both these diseases simultaneously, and with an unrelenting commitment and understanding that in reality we are not living to die, but rather all who chose to fight to the death are dying to live Cm's example to the people has taught us thru his actions and by his own words, that he or she who is scared and seeks to run from death will find it, but she or he who is NOT AFRAID and who actively seeks death out will find it NOT AT THEIR DOOR.
We embrace the concepts of art and spiritual consciousness in material relevant terms based upon the common conditions of all oppressed peoples We have begun to redefine art as the natural
creative reflection of our desperate struggle to survive. Art for us is the total process of sharing and communally using what we learn in order to live and to fight. We recognize Cm as an artist for what he teaches the people, but we also realize as he himself has said, that truth has no author. Another thing which we feel is necessary to clarify is the word spirit & all that which is called spiritual. The spirit is the bodies and souls of all the people, and the spiritual is the intensity of our common instincts, as reflected thru out history to fight for the freedom of all oppressed peoples, to save the earth and the children from the putrid disease of bourgeois mentality and the putrid disease of the corporate fascist military state. In a profound and spiritual sense, as our sisters and brothers in the SLA have said, resistance to this disease is the single greatest human endeavor today.
Comrades in struggle, there is a high price that we have paid and will pay for our mistakes, and there is an even higher price which we have been paying for the loss of our leaders. We are speaking to the people now, because we all know that we cannot afford the loss of another leader; and we want the people to know that in spite of the enemy's technology and prestige of terror we DO have a leader that loves the people, and lives and fights for the people. This example helps to make a love among comrades that gives attention, appreciation, care and protection from each brother and sister to the other.
The oppressed peoples of this nation have and will continue to bring forth their leaders, prophets & fighters until they are free. The people brought forth Malcolm X who came to unite the people and warn the enemy of what would inevitably happen if the people were not freed. The enemy answered by murdering Malcolm. The people then did again bring forth another prophet, that prophet was Martin Luther King who with non-violence & humanity pleaded to the enemy to free the people. And just when King was ready to declare that nonviolent protest would accomplish nothing but the further enslavement and degradation of the people, the enemy murdered King. George Jackson was a prophet & leader from the streets & when the enemy imprisoned him, George received his education in the raw; he learned firsthand that there can be NO compromise with merciless pigs. George Jackson came from the prisons of Amerikkka & love-inspired he boldly fought the oppressor. When the fascist insect locked him down and murdered him, the people knew that they had suffered'. a great loss, but they failed to unite in immediate retaliation. Now, once again, the people have brought forth another prophet and leader.
This leader comes not to beg and plead with the enemy, he comes not to warn of violence, but is himself the bringer of the children of the wind and the SOUND OF WAR. He has ONE WORD to the children of the oppressed and the children of the oppressor: COME. We have joined together with love and unity and the understanding that those who would be free, must themselves STRIKE THE FIRST BLOW.
