STOKELY CARMICHAEL'S MESSAGE ON CHE GUEVARA
[The following is the text of a dispatch from Conakry, Guinea, reporting Stokely Carmichael's reaction to the death of Che Guevara. Previous to this, only a brief statement (which may have been but a part of the original) was carried by the press wires under an Algiers dateline. This was quoted in World Outlook November 10.
{The Conakry dispatch is undated but was printed in the November 26 issue of the English edition of Granma, the official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist party of Cuba.]
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Conakry (Teéfilo Acosta, special Prensa Latina correspondent). -- "With the death of Ernesto Che Guevara, it is our revolutionary duty to create Vietnams inside the United States," stated Stokely Carmichael in a message to the black people of the United States.
Carmichael, who asked Prensa Latina and Radio Havana Cuba to publicize his message, pointed out: "Guevara died the way we all should die: fighting imperialism, weapons in hand."
The message, given to this reporter in the capital of Guinea, reads as follows (in a retranslation from the Spanish):
"Brothers and sisters:
"With the announcement of the death of Brother Che Guevara, the imperialists have begun to think that our struggle, not only inside the United States, but also around the world and especially in Latin America, has been liquidated.
"They, the imperialists, have begun to laugh and celebrate. They think today, as they thought in the past, when they killed Brother Malcolm X, that our movement in the United States will come to a standstill. How wrong they are!
"Inspired by Malcolm X's blood, millions of young Afro-Americans came forth prepared to fight and fulfill their revolutionary mission.
"The death of Che Guevara places a responsibility on all revolutionaries of the world to redouble their decision to fight on to the final defeat of imperialism. This is not the time for tears but for combat. This is not the time to make long speeches dedicated to Che's memory, but a time for practical, courageous action on all anti-imperialist fronts.
"If imperialism believes that by killing Che Guevara it can hold back revolution in Latin America and the rest of the world, imperialism is sadly mistaken. From Guevara's blood will arise new revolutionaries, and we who already are revolutionaries will become stronger, staunch~ er, braver.
"Che Guevara died the way we all should die: fighting imperialism, weapons in hand. His example, like that of Malcolm X, like that of Patrice Lumumba, spurs us on in the fight and gives us strength to continue this struggle, which we shall win.
"Che Guevara has left us his example; he has left us his ideas, embodied in his historic letter to the Tricontinental Organization, which constitutes a guide for the blacks of the United States, for the fighters in Bolivia, in short, for all revolutionaries on this planet.
"Che's letter is very important for us. The slogan which he coined -- to create one, two, many Vietnams -- is the best way for us to help our brothers in Vietnam, who are fighting for all of us.
"This letter has given many of us inside the United States the strength to create Vietnams there. We are certain that our fight is to be waged in the streets of Detroit, New York, Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia, that our struggle is taking shape inside the United States, where we are exploited and oppressed.
"With the death of Ernesto Che Guevara, it is our revolutionary duty to create Vietnams inside the United States. Che explained clearly that there is no need to talk more, that the contradictions in the world are clear, and that the time has come for each to take his place in the fight.
"This is exactly what Malcolm X said: the time for words has passed. Now it is the time to fight.
"They died fighting. And we, from now on, will also die fighting.
"For me, it is difficult to speak about the death of Che or the death of Malcolm X, since it seems to me they are with us, since the causes for which they fought and died are the same causes for which we are fighting.
"That is why -- in essence -- Che Guevara is not dead. I do not wish to speak of Che as if he were dead. It would not make sense. His ideas are with us.
"I never met Che Guevara in person,
but I know him. And I know him even better now. The important thing is to realize that his ideas are with us, and that is why we are prepared to go on fighting. Let imperialism know that his physical death will be avenged.
"To my brothers in the United States I say: Black Power for all, from South Africa to Nova Scotia. When the world's 900 million Africans stand up to announce their presence in the Third World we will bring down imperialism and we shall win victory."