In 1996 Omali Yeshitela's office on the second floor of the Uhuru gym at 1245 18th Ave. S in St Pete Fl was lined with books -- on black history, socialism, revolution. One shelf contains a set of writings by Vladimir Lenin. On the wall hangs a framed, yellowing poster of Lenin in a dramatic pose with an exhortation in Slavic lettering below. On the right of Omali Yeshitela's desk is a small, yellow square of paper imprinted with: "F--- the Pigs."
It was in 1968 that Chairman Omali Yeshitela organized the Junta of Militant Organizations (JOMO), a Black Power Organization similar in goals and structure to the Black Panther Party which was growing in influence in California and the northern cities of the U.S.. It was also in 1968 that JOMO began to publish The Burning Spear, a mimeographed newsletter that a year later would become The Burning Spear Newspaper in its current form. The Spear is the only remaining African revolutionary publication from that period, making it the oldest such publication today.
"Based in Oakland (home of the Black Panthers) during the 1980s and the early 90s for 12 years, Omali Yeshitela aka Joseph Waller is known for his stand against the police containment policies imposed on the African community. From the Uhuru House at 7911 MacArthur Blvd. in East Oakland, Omali Yeshitela exposed the government’s role in flooding the African communities with deadly drugs (it was the Fed's that did it OMG) “Uncle Sam is the pusher-man,” pointed out that the drug infestation followed the government’s COINTELPRO attack on the Black Power Movement of the 60s."
In 1989, the late Black Panther leader Huey Newton spoke at the Uhuru House, effectively passing the torch when he said, “We might not have the Black Panther Party, but we have the Uhuru House!” "In 1993 Omali Yeshitela moved his Black Panther aka Uhuru House headquarters to St. Petersburg FL, where he continues to speak and lead campaigns throughout the U.S., Africa and Europe for the liberation of African people?????
ST PETE TIMES, Jan 13, 1988 ...``I began a chant, `The police and Klan work hand in hand .... Pigs out of the black community,``' Joseph Waller, 46-year-old head of the African People's Socialist Party (APSP), said Tuesday. ``
Barely two weeks after returning to his home town, St Pete, from Oakland, Calif., Joseph Waller says he has found a cause to inject new life into his revolutionary group - the fatal New Year's Day, Jan 1st, 1988, shooting of a 32-year-old robbery suspect named Kenneth Harrington. Harrington was shot six times by an St Pete officer near Fourth Street S and 17th Avenue. The officer had ordered Harrington to the ground, but Harrington tried to pull a gun, according to police accounts.
Waller, a harsh critic of local police, maintains that Harrington was murdered. Kenneth Harrington was a black militant (BLACK PANTHERS) during the 1960s and a member of Waller's organization, APSP members said. The day before Waller was arrested, the APSP held its own trial and found the ST PETE officer who shot Harrington guilty of murder. ``We are plagued with the same problems in 1988 as we had in 1968,`` said Waller, who also goes by the name Omali Yeshitela.
Bill Warner Private Investigator Sarasota Fl.
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