First Published: Berkeley Barb, September 1-7, 1967.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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BARB has received a letter from Bob Avakian protesting that an article appearing in the August 25 issue headed “FSM FUNDS MAY HELP BLACK REBEL GROUPS” may in fact have done a disservice to these groups, the FSM defendants, the Student Organizing Committee, and Bob himself.
If this is true, picture us with our head in our hands, tearing, out our hair and shouting “Mea Culpa!”
We didn’t mean to do it. One statement Bob finds “very unfortunate” is that SOC “possibly will use money left over from the FSM Defendants’ Fund to supply this assistance (to groups like the Black Panthers).”
It seems this is interpretable by people on the FSM Defense Fund Committee as “arrogance (on Bob’s part) in appropriating the money for this effort, without consulting the FSM defendants or the people holding the funds in trust for them.”
We thought it didn’t say how he would get the money at all; but we are sorry if we left it open to misunderstanding.
The article also quotes Bob as saying:
“I want the NCNP to call upon the United Nations to issue a resolution condemning the United States for genocide in Viet Nam and the U.S. Regarding the Black people...
The U.S. government should make reparation to these people. If the CNP won’t accept this, I’ll try to do it myself,”
What Bob actually said, according to his letter, was:
“If the NCNP decides not to do this, we will try to find another vehicle for doing it, although we believe the NCNP would be in the best position, nationally to do this.”
We apologize again. Perhaps our reporter’s pen moved too slowly. In any case, we always be glad to accept the offer of superior journalistic skills.