An important aspect of the current situation is the strong social reaction against suggestions that the home language of African American children be used in the first steps of learning to read and write.

During the days of segregation there was not a place of higher learning for African Americans. They were simply not welcome in many of the traditional schools. And from this backward policy grew the network of historical black colleges and universities.

An old African leader says about leadership he says that leadership should never be shared it should always remain in the hands of the dispossessed people. We will lead the revolution.

Take for example the African jungle the home of the cheetah. On whom does the cheetah prey? The old the sick the wounded the weak the very young but never the strong. Lesson: If you would not be prey you had better be strong.

Africa for the Africans... at home and abroad!

Let me tell you never before in the history of this planet has anybody made the progress that African-Americans have made in a 30-year period in spite of many black folks and white folks lying to one another.

We have our own history our own language our own culture. But our destiny is also tied up with the destinies of other people - history has made us all South Africans.

My father and I made genetics history. We were the first African-Americans and the first father and son anywhere to have their genomes sequenced.

Let's face it - think of Africa and the first images that come to mind are of war poverty famine and flies. How many of us really know anything at all about the truly great ancient African civilizations which in their day were just as splendid and glorious as any on the face of the earth?

From the world wars of Europe to the jungles of the Far East from the deserts of the Middle East to the African continent and even here in our own hemisphere our veterans have made the world a better place and America the great country we are today.