My People Are Rising by Aaron Dixon

Author:Aaron Dixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Autobiography
ISBN: 111-1-11-111111-1
Publisher: Haymarket Books
Published: 2012-10-08T04:00:00+00:00

19

The Chairman Is Kidnapped

And if you had a choice of colors Which one would you choose my brothers If there was no day or night Which would you prefer to be right

—Curtis Mayfield, “Choice of Colors,” 1969

In August 1969 I was at the weekly party meeting at St. Augustine’s Church in Oakland. Comrades from all over the country were in attendance, listening to Masai Hewitt, the minister of education. Masai had taken over for George Murray, who departed in the summer of 1968 to become a reverend in his father’s church. Toward the end of the meeting, Chairman Bobby called on me to recite the ten-point program and platform, something often done at these meetings to make sure everyone was on their toes. I stumbled through the ten points, surprising even myself. Part of it was nervousness, the other part was indicative of the past year in Seattle, a year of turmoil and bad moves.

“Aaron, I want you to keep your ass down here for a couple of months,” responded the chairman.

I had seen the chairman come down on a lot of people. He was pretty much a fair and compassionate person in his dealings with party members, but if someone was bullshitting or fucking up, he would come straight out and say it in no uncertain terms. I was stung by his rebuke, yet his words rang true.

In April 1968, I had jumped right into the fire. I had not been fully equipped for what was asked of me. More recently, National Headquarters had begun requesting that newly appointed chapter heads spend some extended time in Oakland. But I’d had only the one week in April 1968, along with the weekly meetings, for which I would stay only a few days. I desperately wanted some time away from Seattle. I needed to be around the seasoned comrades in the Bay, and hoped that some of their wisdom and experience would rub off on me. When I got home, I spoke with comrades and family about the prospect of an extended stay in Oakland. A few weeks later, Elmer drove Tanya, little Aaron Patrice, and me down to National Headquarters and headed back to Seattle.

Early in 1969, National Headquarters had relocated to a new office in Berkeley, which was quite an improvement over the old one on 45th and Grove in Oakland. This office was a spacious, two-story brick structure with a large glass window on either side of the entrance. The new office would be able to accommodate all the visiting officers from chapters around the country. Inside, toward the back of the office, was a big, comfortable chair where the officer of the day (OD) sat. The OD ran the daily operations of the office, among many other things. On the left side of the office was a long counter with posters and books and papers. There were several smaller offices in the back. On the second floor was a large room in which John Seale, the chairman’s brother, had constructed two long drafting tables.

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