Next General Peoples Assembly (GPA) - Saturday, 29^th June, 2013 - 4:30pm-9:30pm - at the Queen Mother Moore School, Clapham Methodist Church, Nelsons Row, Clapham SW4 7JR.

We greet you and your families in a spirit of love, unity and wellness and in the hope that you had a very enlightened and uplifting Afrika Liberation Day.

This is to remind or inform you that the next GPA of the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament (iNAPP) has been scheduled, as captioned above. This will be the first public gathering of the iNAPP since the National Black People’s Day of Action (NBPDA), March 2, 2013, and therefore the first opportunity to have a face to face community consultation.

Those of you who were present at the NBPDA would have witnessed a highly successful event, demonstrating even greater potentials. You may have been one of many present with a number of questions and comments regarding the history, functions and vision of the NAPP, much of which we were unable to fully address, due to time constraints. We are pleased to inform you therefore that at this GPA we intend to have an extended open forum to allow you as much time as possible for your questions and comments and us the opportunity to address them as well as share with you our ideas and aspirations.

As usual we will also have updates for you as to the work we have been doing on your behalf, as servants in this process. In context, we encourage you to visit our website (inapp.org.uk) and ask in particular that you read the first draft of our Manifesto, which will be on the agenda for discussion. Please also register yourself on the website for regular iNAPP updates.

In order to maximise the use of the time we have allocated for this very important event, please take careful note of the start time: 4:30pm. We urge you to arrive early for a prompt start, so we can quickly get into the serious discussion around nation building. The emphasis will be on the vital role that each one of us (including you) can and need to play in the building of the NAPP and how you can get registered and actively involved in the process.

We know that you fully appreciate why it is crucial that we do build our parliament as the representative body and governing structure for our people here in the UK. The recent Woolwich incident resulting in some 10 young Afrikan men arrested for various alleged acts of “terrorism” should be of deep concern to all of us. Moreover, the pervasive image of a young black man brandishing meat cleavers, with bloody hands accused of hacking someone to death, reinforces stereotypes which demonises every young Afrikan male in Particular and every Afrikan in general in this country. But how did these young Afrikans become embroiled in this situation in the first place?

As the government threatens more draconian measures to echoes of public consent reeking of crypto-fascist undercurrents and as the far-right flexes its political muscles in concert, we should be concerned to ask in earnest: where is our representative voice? Who will interrogate, for example, the role of MI5 who had these young men under its surveillance for a number of years and, reportedly,
had propositioned some for their employ? This is just one of a number of very important national issues which we have to grapple with, like: the impact of austerity measures (benefit caps, bedroom tax, etc), cuts in public services, deaths in custody, privatisation of the NHS, trans-racial fostering and adoption, school exclusions, etc.  

There are also international matters that affect and therefore should be of serious concern to us, like: Obama’s rapidly growing Africom (US military) agenda in 35 states across Afrika; the placing of Mama Assata Shakur on the US FBI most wanted terrorist list, with a $2m bounty; and the recent brutal murder of Malcolm Shabazz Jr (Malcolm X’s grandson), under the surveillance of the FBI and following months of FBI/police harassment..

Of course, building the NAPP is not only about how we will respond to negative issues that affect us, but, primarily, how we can proactively organise to procure the power to advance our own collective interests, through institution building: political, economic, educational, spiritual, health, employment, etc. Most importantly, it is about how we can, from an empowered position, secure a brighter and more productive future for our children.

We are very much looking forward to seeing and working with you towards fulfilling this exciting vision. 

TENDAI MWARI

In Divine service,

Bro Ldr Mbandaka and Sis Ekua ‘Esther’ Stanford-Xosei

(Co-Chairs)

(Vice-Chairs: Bro Cecil Gutzmore, Sis Jendayi Serwah, Bro Kojo Bonsu, Sis Asher John-Baptiste)