Black Panther Party of Northern California - Freedom Archives

T1ie sham elections held recently ~tiurn i~a_`l~a~~= P~i~q~a eyrp~end3~
at Merritt College . in Oakland (Cal-~ t~re~s ` "Tltie :~c~ee~S.~ on o~~~he'El~c~
ifornia) 3.n which the bo~~key admin- tioti Cbm~3atee `wait= ' u~Sh~~~ + .
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'the:'hY
'J1tdi'c a~l ' ~Couil l`~, : which" m'ove+d to
shat .t`hh,r,1, :! ~ t~~ ~ ~t s ~ ; ` with. the - ~ec~ ,r ;.
ciird °h~i+gl~at~ - .~~+Wnb+~x of ~'1`'ibt~s in the ;~~~. . .
gleo~i~rt~ .'' F~ol~:ow~i~ t3~is' actio~t°'by
the''":~'udicifl Coun'cil,~ f3~+~° faculty
3~~rate' , vo~+~d f9~1~ ''=t~o let students
, ~,r
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handle : th+s` at~~ar~rs~ 'of -the all-Black
s~Cudent government, but the racist
administxatian led by Reford decided
to move ova-tie student governwent
by declari,~a~ that the officers
from the honkey~-c.,ontrooled- pang; ~;
would be . ~p~~aiced in office until the
'.,,.d3`$pute" was ~e'~tled~~' `But there
was no sue~l~~ "dispute", for the dec
i.on- - . to ~placq. Sis'tex Harriet
Smith and her p~Yty . ,
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"in office was
made by the~Judicial Council, which
under student government c-e~T^,
has the last say in th+~"'
matter . Secondly, besides fn+~xvening
illegally in Black Student
government, Redfosd seated the disqualified
candidates on the Merritt
Council, contrary to all civilized
nations of justice .
The M.C . y , prir~~xily an adminis-, .
trative body . c~ltposed of facul" y, . .,':;,
administ~cation .~t`embers, and stu tbody,
off~.cei~s, then melt, illegally ~.
to "decide the outcome of--tl ti exec'
tion, ~ th the Merritt Audi°t,oax^i~e ;:. ..filled
with angay B~.ack ~lrudcnts,, .
Mwa~iaCilai ~rn3e Ahlen, *C~a~.rma~n b
THE HC)L1~°E- lOf; UMOJA (IJ1V"TZ`f j , . . . .°° ~ . ~
Black g~tt~dents in a walkout of the
illegal meeting, charging R~edi'ord
"out of ' oa~¢er ." Black Students
gin st congrega'~¢ `aut~side ,the auditorium,
and' tla~en-bustfd b;aCk into-~
the ~~th`td'f3um ., .
; . .~,tuxnaing. ,,. Pt~t"~, -the .
meeting . Re~~ord`, ,~p ~sik ~,~,`,-th~2-..face,
ran off the stage with ~''tfie .rest of
his ._Merri.tt Zoo K~p~e~~ ~.n~ ; f^i13ng
persuit, and 81-a .,p~ple-.fin held
their own meeting where the entire
election farce was run down,
The next day, tt~4 Merritt Co~A~^`',''.
held another meeting, this time in
private, and moved to intervene in
student affairs by placing the dis-
istration intex+~aened in 'the placing
of Black peppig iri the studeng gove~-nment
have - now : : ended Sin a com-
'ple~te de~ba~le : Honkey;~ aye pies"
era~.~~. ;~ ..-,chargi.'ng that :- 'w~3~ ack mili
tar;fi:s" hdve th ceateried-, them with
"ass~a.ssination'' ~un~~~ss they give up
t'-a~;ir positions ` in the . tudeng government,
a~hd 'they attempt to sup
por t their position , bpi stating `:~~~:a' .
se~JCnty let.te~ g ncl "~hyeical
assassination" wee sent to all
,:~-embers of -the governing body,
from offices to members of the
~-t~adent Council .
In fact, sister Harriet Smith, av
Mack militant and the rightful
pxe :~ident of ASMC, life was t3~rreaten~:~:
and brothers from as far as
L . A, have been guarding her,.house~
t . ~~i person since the election faYaa
It ; is°~- our . opinion that these
charges were brought foar~h_ . .to hide
~~hese facts .
The elections held at Merrit Colc?c!F
was held on January ~~~~a . .
2~z :~ .~~-nc~ in the e?ection~-~eas F '. ~~;~x ~ .
Ha~:~xet Smith along, ~ ;w°i~t~h other-;
Ef .~ck people from hey . ~arty,~, A ;
Yw3~~ :i ~e--controaled group ~ c:~x~a:~n" :.-+r
of ;nnakeys and a sprinkling°~' of
"well-meaning" l~egroes aXsa ;` ran: : in
the elections ., ,
A.ccording . , ", . to the admi,ni~stra'tion, -
the honkey-controlled group won the ;
~~~c~tion, but . the fact- is . ' .~ ~~~efn- .
1, :~-s of the Election Committee, were
n~ ;t - . allot~ed . to count .. the ballot .
Who did, then, count 'tlie ballot.? . ;, .
~t was the honkey administration
~. . : . ,e~.f which .- c e t~~.bal],cts,
and Black students ;who were to'have
done this . job : . :wire . ys:tetnati:Galiy
e:x.^lulled . from, the . rosm. ._where the
taK~k was being carried out : ~~ -~ Sb
qu~,et ~, as it's kept, nobody really
knows who won . Meanwhile, however,
t~ha !~ankey group was disqualified
by ~rae Election Committee fox campaign
irregularities, the most important
of which was its refusal to