Omali Yeshitela facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Omali Yeshitela
Yeshitela in 2023
Born	Joseph Waller (1941-10-09) October 9, 1941 (age 83) St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
Political party	African People's Socialist Party
Spouse(s)	Ona Zené Yeshitela

Omali Yeshitela (born Joseph Waller on October 9, 1941) is an American political activist and author. He helped start and now leads the African People's Socialist Party. This group was formed in 1972 and guides the Uhuru Movement. Yeshitela has spoken up for reparations for Black people. He was a "People's Advocate" at an important meeting in Brooklyn, New York, in 1982. This meeting was about paying back Black people in the U.S. for slavery.

Omali Yeshitela's Early Life

Omali Yeshitela was born Joseph Waller, Jr. in St. Petersburg, Florida. This was on October 9, 1941. He grew up in a Black community called the Gas Plant Area. This area in St. Petersburg, Florida, no longer exists. It was removed to build Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team plays. Yeshitela went to Jordan Elementary School and Sixteenth Street Junior High. He also attended Gibbs High School.

Yeshitela is part of what historians call the "Black Power Generation." These were Black working-class activists. They grew up between 1955 and 1965.

His Time in the Army

In the late 1950s, big changes were happening. The Modern Civil Rights Movement was growing. Also, African countries were gaining independence. Everyone in the Black community talked about these topics. Yeshitela was a very good student at Gibbs High School. In 1959, during his last year, his class talked about "the advancement of African people." A teacher said Black people would need to "prove" themselves to white people to be free. This made Yeshitela decide to leave school. He then joined the United States Army.

Yeshitela finished his basic training in South Carolina. After that, he was sent to Germany. Yeshitela has said that in Germany, he started to learn about imperialism. He wrote, "As a U.S. soldier in Berlin, I heard lectures from white British officers. They told insulting stories about the war against our people in Congo. These people, led by Patrice Lumumba, fought to end control by Belgium and other colonial powers."

While in the army, Yeshitela saw how imperialism and colonialism connected. He saw how Black people were treated in the United States. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was in a military convoy in South Florida. A white restaurant owner refused to serve Yeshitela because he was Black. In Fort Benning, Georgia, he was accused of trying to hold a white woman's hand. This was because he would not drop money into her hand. This was a common practice to avoid touching Black people's skin.

To protest these unfair rules, Yeshitela wrote a long letter. It was 12 pages and sent to President John F. Kennedy. He said he could not serve in an army that "protected people like George Wallace." He meant an army that supported the oppression of African people.

Yeshitela said he "went on strike" and left the army. He started handing out flyers. These flyers spoke against the conditions of African people in the U.S. and the military. The army sent Yeshitela to a psychiatrist. The doctor said nothing was wrong with him. He just said, "You're just a Garveyite." This meant he was like Marcus Garvey, who led a movement for African self-determination. The army then tried to put Yeshitela on trial. Yeshitela defended himself and won. He received an honorable discharge from the army a few days later. When he returned to Florida, he became active in the Civil Rights Movement. He also joined the growing Black Power Movement.

Joining the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements

After leaving the U.S. Army, Yeshitela returned to St. Petersburg, Florida. He worked in many jobs. He was a manual laborer and a "copy boy" for the St. Petersburg Times. He also went to Gibbs Junior College. Yeshitela got involved with other college students. They organized against unfair Jim Crow laws in St. Petersburg.

Yeshitela explored different groups. He went to meetings and joined some actions by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). However, he did not agree with their methods. He also looked into the Nation of Islam because he admired Malcolm X. But he did not join them. Yeshitela then became involved with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). He helped organize a project to register voters and educate people in Black communities in North Florida. After working with CORE, Yeshitela joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

His Work with SNCC

Yeshitela was part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). SNCC was an important group. It started in 1960. SNCC worked directly with people in the South. They also built relationships with leaders in other countries. SNCC organizers met Ahmed Sekou Toure from Guinea and other African independence leaders. SNCC also had a close relationship with Malcolm X.

Yeshitela joined SNCC in 1966. This was the same year Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture) became SNCC's leader. Yeshitela noted that Carmichael "captured the imagination of the world" with his slogan, Black Power. SNCC also organized the Lowndes County Freedom Organization in Alabama.

In 1966, Omali Yeshitela started the first SNCC chapter that had members. SNCC had mostly been run by staff and volunteers before. This new structure made the St. Petersburg SNCC chapter similar to the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. That group was forming around the same time in Oakland, California.

SNCC worked to protect the Black community in St. Petersburg, Florida. Omali Yeshitela said one issue they cared about was a $50 million federal grant. The city of St. Petersburg wanted to use it to "beautify" downtown. Yeshitela and SNCC believed the money should be used for jobs and economic growth. They wanted it to improve the Black community in St. Petersburg. Yeshitela said this fight over money was important. It led to his famous act of tearing down a racist mural in St. Petersburg City Hall.

The City Hall Mural Incident

Yeshitela had a strong idea about colonialism and racism. He said "racism is simply the main idea behind capitalist imperialism." He also said that "the idea of 'racism' helps unite most white people and even some Africans." This unity supports the goals of imperialism. This helps explain the mural incident.

SNCC St. Petersburg organized a protest and press conference. It was at St. Petersburg City Hall at noon on December 29, 1966. The goal was to use the mural issue to get public support. They wanted to make the changes SNCC was working for. The mural was insulting. It showed minstrel culture, which was popular in American media during Jim Crow. George Snow Hill's "Picnicking at the Pass-a-Grille" was one of two images. They had been in St. Petersburg City Hall since 1945.

"Picnicking at the Pass-a-Grille" showed blackface musicians. They had exaggerated features and white paint around their mouths. They were entertaining white people on the beach. The other painting, "Fishing at the Pier," showed white families enjoying fishing. Bill DeYoung, a former reporter, said these murals were supposed to show "everyday life in St. Petersburg." The Black community had been against the mural for 20 years. For Black people in St. Petersburg, "The mural sadly showed the place Black people were forced into in this city. They had to work as servants for white tourists and elderly white retirees." Also, "The offensive mural showed a city where Black people were kept in a small, two-mile area. They had a curfew after 9 p.m. every night."

Herman Goldner, the Mayor of St. Petersburg, refused SNCC's demands. He said, "our minorities had to learn to be less sensitive." He also said, "I find nothing offensive in the portrayal of strolling troubadours and picnickers... I think you know that I, personally, am not a racist. I think... that all of our minority groups must mature to the point where self-consciousness is not a motivating factor for complaints."

Yeshitela and the SNCC activists did not plan to tear down the mural. The incident happened because white reporters and police laughed. They laughed at an older Black woman who spoke at the protest. She had joined the march when it passed her house. She spoke about unfair insurance that Black workers faced in St. Petersburg. Yeshitela wrote that the elderly woman "spoke 'broken English'... and the media and police found her funny." They treated her like entertainment. Yeshitela immediately walked into city hall. He then ripped down the 7 X 10 foot mural. The news spread quickly. It was covered by many media sources across the United States. This included Jet Magazine, which featured the incident.

Yeshitela was sentenced to five years in state prison for the mural incident. While in prison, Omali Yeshitela started the Junta of Militant Organizations (JOMO).

Starting the Junta of Militant Organizations (JOMO)

The Junta of Militant Organizations (JOMO) began in St. Petersburg, Florida, in May 1968. JOMO formed after the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Hutton. This was also during the St. Petersburg Sanitation Workers Strike. Omali Yeshitela created JOMO while he was in prison for the mural incident. In Spanish, "junta" means council. The letters JOMO also spelled the first name of Jomo Kenyatta. At that time, Kenyatta was believed to be linked to the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, also known as the Mau Mau. Yeshitela said, "Africa was clearly on my mind. It was central to our identity as a people. It was the starting point for understanding our situation in the U.S. and the world. The Swahili word for freedom, 'Uhuru,' became my guiding star."

JOMO became a leading anti-colonial Black revolutionary group in Florida. It also grew strong in other parts of the US South.

JOMO showed a way to organize large groups of people. Later groups in the Uhuru Movement used similar methods. In 1968, JOMO started The Burning Spear Newspaper. This is the oldest Black Power newspaper that is still being printed. In 1969, JOMO created the JOMO Blood Bank. It was at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. The blood bank was made "because of the high price of blood." A pint of blood cost Black people as much as $45. This would be about $300 today. On January 1, 1970, the blood bank gave 14 pints of blood to two Black women. This saved them $600 (about $4,000 today).

JOMO had seven main demands to help the Black community:

• Control of our schools – including what is taught, who is hired, and how much money is given to schools.
• A Police review board made up of many people from the Black community.
• An end to unfair business practices by white merchants in Black neighborhoods.
• Control of all Black public housing.
• All landlords who own poor rental property in the Black community must give it to the city. The city would collect rent and give the property to the residents after a set time.
• The lines of our voting districts should be redrawn. This would make areas where Black people are the majority into their own districts. This would give Black people the power to elect Black local leaders. These leaders would not need white votes to win.
• Complete control of the Black community.

Many people were members of JOMO, and it had a wide impact. For example, Geronimo Pratt later told Chairman Omali Yeshitela that he had been a JOMO member. This was in the late 1960s when he was in Florida. In 1972, JOMO joined two other Florida groups. These were the Black Rights Fighters of Fort Myers and the Black Study Group of Gainesville. Together, they created the African People’s Socialist Party.

Starting The Burning Spear Newspaper

The Burning Spear Newspaper is the oldest part of the Uhuru Movement. It started before the African People's Socialist Party was formed. The Burning Spear began in December 1968. This was two years after the city hall mural incident. It started in St. Petersburg, Florida. The first Burning Spear was a small, four-page newsletter. In December 1969, The Burning Spear became a professionally printed newspaper.

Yeshitela was the first editor of the newspaper. The Burning Spear was first made by the Junta of Militant Organizations (JOMO). This was the group Yeshitela started in 1968. The newspaper's name means "burning spear" in the Kikuyu language. This connects the Uhuru Movement in the US to the Kenya Land and Freedom Army of Dedan Kimathi. This group was commonly known as the Mau Mau.

Omali Yeshitela explained how The Burning Spear Newspaper grew from the Black Power Movement. He said, "The Burning Spear was born out of struggle. It came from the conflicts of the 60s that led to the Black Power Movement. It also came from the reactions: beatings, jailings, and murders by US law officials. From the start, the Burning Spear tried to focus our struggle for our people and our friends."

Omali Yeshitela has called The Burning Spear a "contending power institution." He explained this in 1985 at a forum in Berkeley, California. He said, "We don't see ourselves as just another media. We see ourselves as a strong opposing force." He added, "we see ourselves in fierce competition with the media." The cover of the December 1969 Burning Spear showed the Snow Hill mural. This was the mural Yeshitela tore down three years earlier.

The Burning Spear became widely read in the United States and globally. Bakari Olatunji, a long-time member of the APSP, said the newspaper was even given out by members of the Black Panther Party in Oakland. They distributed it alongside their own newspaper. In the 1980s, Omali Yeshitela met a white British man in a Black bookstore. The man was holding The Burning Spear and praising it as an honest source of truth. The newspaper also supports Russia and Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. It calls it a defensive operation.

Starting the African People's Socialist Party

Yeshitela helped start the African People's Socialist Party in May 1972. It was formed by joining three Florida-based groups. These were the Junta of Militant Organizations (JOMO) from St. Petersburg, led by Yeshitela. Also, the Black Rights Fighters from Ft. Myers, led by Lawrence Mann. And the Black Study Group from Gainesville, led by Katura Carey. In the same year, the APSP made JOMO's newspaper, The Burning Spear, its official publication. This newspaper is the longest-running Black Power newspaper in the U.S.

Yeshitela said early on that the APSP's goal was to "complete the Black Revolution of the Sixties." He described the 1960s as a time when the U.S. government fought against the Black Power movement. This led to a period of defeat. The U.S. government used programs like COINTELPRO to work against the Black Revolution. This included the deaths of leaders like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Hutton, and Fred Hampton. It also led to the destruction of their groups. Yeshitela himself was arrested and jailed many times.

The APSP officially adopted its rules at its First Congress. This meeting was held in Oakland, California, in 1981.

1982 World Tribunal on Reparations

The African People’s Socialist Party created its Working Platform on September 23, 1979. One of the 14 points in this plan was the demand for Reparations. For the APSP, reparations was seen as a demand for big change. The APSP's view on reparations is in Point 11 of The Working Platform:

"We want the U.S. and the international European ruling class and states to pay Africa and African people. This is for centuries of harm, unfair treatment, and enslavement of our people.

We believe that U.S. and European societies grew from stealing human and material resources from Africa and its people. We also believe this theft caused Africa and its people to be underpopulated and underdeveloped today. It also caused political servitude, poverty, and cultural loss for African people worldwide. We believe Africa and African people are owed reparations. This means fair money, billions of dollars. It must be paid to the Organization of African Unity or another proper international group of African people. This money would be for Africa's development. We also believe reparations must go to different independent African states around the world. And to the proper representatives of African people forced to move worldwide who are not yet free."

The Working Platform was updated and approved again. This happened at The First Congress of the African People’s Socialist Party in Oakland, California, in November 1981. The first thing they did after this Congress was to start the reparations campaign. Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the APSP organized the first World Tribunal on Reparations for African People in the US. It was held on November 13 and 14, 1982, in Brooklyn, New York. The Tribunal found the United States guilty of stealing labor from African people.

Unlike some ideas about reparations, the APSP and the World Tribunal did not stop their study at slavery. They brought it up to the present time. The Tribunal calculated that the debt owed to African people in the US was $4.1 trillion. This amount was explained in the book Stolen Black Labor: The Political Economy of Domestic Colonialism. The details of the World Tribunal were published in the book Reparations Now!: Abbreviated report of the International Tribunal on Reparations for Black People in the US.

Later Activities

In his work in St. Petersburg, Yeshitela has said that political and economic growth will end the oppression of Black communities. He moved to Oakland, California in 1981 and lived and worked there.

Yeshitela served on St. Petersburg Mayor David Fischer's Challenge 2001 Steering Committee. He also served on the St. Petersburg Housing Authority's Hope VI Advisory Committee. These projects aimed to bring jobs and money to South St. Petersburg. He also led the political action committee for the Coalition of African American Leadership. This group included many Black churches and civil rights groups. He also served on the board of radio station WMNF community radio. Yeshitela ran for mayor in February 2001. He did not make it to the final round. However, he won almost every Black and mixed voting area in the city.

In 2019, Yeshitela took part in the Oxford Union's Africa Debate. The topic was "This House Would Embrace an Ever Closer African Union."

Pop Culture Influence

• Parts of a Yeshitela speech are in several songs on the album Let's Get Free. This album is by the hip-hop duo Dead Prez.
• Parts of a Yeshitela speech are in the Chris Fuller movie Loren Cass.
• An excerpt of a Yeshitela speech is in the movie Loren Cass. This movie focuses on the effects of the 1996 shooting of TyRon Lewis in St. Petersburg.
• Benny the Butcher used a part of Sanyika Shakur reciting a Yeshitela speech. This was the opening track on his 2019 EP The Plugs I Met.

See also

• African socialism
• African People's Socialist Party
• Uhuru Movement
• Ujamaa