Red, Black and Green are the
oldest national colors known to man. They are used as the flag of
the Black Liberation Movement in America today, but actually go
back to the Zinj Empires of ancient Africa, which existed
thousands of years before Rome, Greece, France, England or
America.
The Red, or the blood, stands as
the top of all things. We lost our land through blood; and we
cannot gain it except through blood. We must redeem our lives
through the blood. Without the shedding of blood there can be no
redemption of this race. However, the bloodshed and sorrow will
not last always. The Red significantly stands in our flag as a
reminder of the truth of history, and that men must gain and keep
their liberty, even at the risk of bloodshed.
The Black is in the middle. The
Black man in this hemisphere has yet to obtain land which is
represented by the Green. The acquisition of land is the highest
and noblest aspiration for the Black man on this continent, since
without land there can be no freedom, justice, independence, or
equality.
The colors were resurrected by the
Hon. Marcus Garvey, Father of African Nationalism, as the symbol
of the struggling sons and daughters of Africa, wherever they may
be. Since the 1950's, when the independence struggle began to reap
fruit, the Red, Black and Green have been plainly adopted by
Libya, Kenya and Afghanistan. Other African States have included
the colors Black and Red, combined with yellow or white.
The colors were established in 1920
as the banner of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA),
and adopted as the symbol of Africans in America at the convention
of the Negro People's of the World. It is a symbol of the devotion
of all African people to the liberation of the African Continent,
and the establishment of a Nation in Africa ruled by descendents
of slaves from the Western World.
In addition, with the formation of
the Republic of News Africa, it has become the symbol of devotion
for African people in America to establish an independent African
nation on the North American Continent.
Thus, the colors were not chosen at
any limited convention of Black persons; but, have been, in
centuries past, and are now the emblem of true Black hope and
pride, as embodied in all theories of Pan-Africanism and Black
Nationalism.
Pledge
WE PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE RED,
BLACK, AND GREEN, OUR FLAG, THE
SYMBOL OF OUR ETERNAL STRUGGLE, AND TO THE LAND WE MUST OBTAIN;
ONE NATION OF BLACK PEOPLE, WITH ONE GOD OF US ALL, TOTALLY UNITED
IN THE STRUGGLE, FOR BLACK LOVE, BLACK FREEDOM, AND BLACK
SELF-DETERMINATION. |
