blackmattersus.com
Could you please tell us a little about yourself and your group?
Imamu Khari
I’m Imamu Khari, I’m from the Bronx, New York. I’m a Black rights activist. I’m with an organization called the New Generation Black Panthers and I’m 1st Cadet for the New York Chapter. I’ve been 1st Cadet for 2 years now, and it’s an organization quite like the original Black Panthers. We serve the community in a number of ways, like food and clothing drives, protection against brutality from police, we educate the community and pretty much things of that nature.
blackmattersus.com
Have you served in the U.S Army?
Imamu Khari
No, never served and I actually would not serve in the U.S Army. It’s just against the principles of the organization.
blackmattersus.com
I see. Could you tell us more about the Black Riders Liberation Party and its principles?
Imamu Khari
Sure. It was founded by General T.A.C.O. approximately 20 years ago in Oakland, California, and it pretty much developed from the original Black Panther Party. We operate the same way they did, we do the same things they did, and we still follow the same 10 point program. We’ve placed ourselves in the community to protect the community against police brutality, we hold food and clothing drives and educational seminars.
blackmattersus.com
You are the Captain and 1st Cadet of the New York Chapter. What exactly does it mean and what are your roles?
Imamu Khari
Yes, my role is to organize events. I organize police watches when the police come into our community, we use cameras and recording devices just in case something happens between the police and the community, we’re invited to witness and record anything. We’re also physically trained and prepared for any situations that may happen to be worse than that.
blackmattersus.com
You talked about having the same ideologies as the original Black Panther Party. Could you tell us some of these ideologies, where they coincide and if there are any differences?
Imamu Khari
There are basically no differences. First, we demand that every single person that lives in America of African descent be released from incarceration. We believe that no one of African descent should serve in the U.S military. Those are just 2 points in the 10 point program. We basically govern ourselves, we police ourselves in our communities, and we don’t let outside parties and forces govern our own communities.
blackmattersus.com
Why do you urge all Black Americans not to serve in the U.S army?
Imamu Khari
We follow that ideology because the country is against us. We were kidnapped and wrongfully brought here. This country isn’t ours and we already had to give our lives for our freedom from enslavement. No Black man should serve in a military where basically the country is anti-Black or anti-African-descent. It’s like say Oceania from “1984”, for argument’s sake, goes into Eurasia. And the next thing, they kidnap millions of people from Eurasia and they rape the women, torture the children and incarcerate the men. Then Oceania turns it around and makes them Oceanian citizens and asks them to fight in a war for the Oceanian flag. I don’t believe any Eurasian person would agree to still be obliged to Oceania based on the circumstances given.
blackmattersus.com
Well, I do agree with that analogy. So does the word ‘party’ mean that the BRLP is associated with making big policies?
Imamu Khari
Right. We’re trying to involve ourselves in American politics and we pretty much want to politic ourselves. Like I said, we’ll like to govern ourselves, police ourselves and take care of ourselves in our own communities. We don’t want to depend on politicians or government officials for anything because over the years we’ve been left out. We’re pretty much into the ideology of Intercommunalism where we create our own communities, network with different communities and take care of our own. We rely on no outside parties for anything whatsoever, be it production of food, financial aid, medical aid or anything. For all those things, we’re trying to provide for ourselves as a people instead of relying on politicians or the government to provide them for us. We practice the ideology of pan-Africanism which was created by Marcus Garvey.
blackmattersus.com
And does your participation with the BRLP cause any problems at your workplace and with your friends?
Imamu Khari
Not quite. There is no animosity towards the group. The only real confliction is with my availability of time. Most of these activities or events take place while I’m at work. That’s my only confliction.
blackmattersus.com
Do you support the Black Lives Matter movement?
Imamu Khari
Yes I do, and as a whole organization, everyone pretty much supports Black Lives Matter.
blackmattersus.com
So how do you react to the shootings of innocent Black men by the police?
Imamu Khari
They make us quite angry and disturbed and we’ll like to act on the shootings in any way possible, be it physically, mentally or spiritually. Anything that we can do to combat police brutality, we try to do it, even if that means facing the police ourselves. That’s part of what we stand for.
blackmattersus.com
Does that mean that you guys are ready to take up arms if need be?
blackmattersus.com
Could we talk about membership of your organization? How does one become a member of the Black Riders Liberation Party?
Imamu Khari
As a matter of fact, I have the authority to recruit people into the New York Chapter. Most people become interested because they’re tired of society and the role that Black people play in American society, they’re tired of police brutality and injustices and seeing all these Black men getting killed and the police that kill them not facing any charges. Indictments are always dropped, nothing ever happens when a police officer kills a Black person. They just take some leave. That’s just complete injustice and as an organization we must answer to that. So if anyone is interested in doing something about that, they reach out and contact us.
blackmattersus.com
Do you receive any donations?
Imamu Khari
Every once in a while we may get a donation, every few months or so.
blackmattersus.com
Are members required to pay any monthly or yearly dues?
Imamu Khari
They’re not required to, but we do have a newspaper which we sell to finance ourselves, like some local newspapers. Our newspaper is called the Black Riders Newspaper. It’s like the Final Call – from the Nation of Islam- but its Black Rider Propaganda.
blackmattersus.com
Do you have any upcoming events planned for New York City?
Imamu Khari
Currently we don’t have any.
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