United Nations Grants Palestine Nonmember Observer State

U.N. Assembly, in Blow to U.S., Elevates Status of Palestine

Damon Winter/The New York Times

The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, center, was congratulated by Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu. More Photos »

By ETHAN BRONNER and CHRISTINE HAUSER

Published: November 29, 2012 514 CommentsRINTS

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UNITED NATIONS — More than 130 countries voted on Thursday to upgrade Palestine to a nonmember observer state of the United Nations, a triumph for Palestinian diplomacy and a sharp rebuke to the United States and Israel.

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• After Vote, Palestinians and Israel Search for the Next Step(November 30, 2012)

• Hamas Chief Revives Talk of Reuniting With P.L.O. (November 29, 2012)

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• Editorial: The Palestinians’ U.N. Bid (November 29, 2012)

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An Israeli envoy, Ron Prosor, right front, was not among those celebrating Palestine’s new status. More Photos »

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But the vote, at least for now, did little to bring either the Palestinians or the Israelis closer to the goal they claim to seek: two states living side by side, or increased Palestinian unity. Israel and the militant group Hamas both responded critically to the day’s events, though for different reasons.

The new status will give the Palestinians more tools to challenge Israel in international legal forums for its occupation activities in the West Bank, including settlement-building, and it helped bolster the Palestinian Authority, weakened after eight days of battle between its rival Hamas and Israel.

But even as a small but determined crowd of 2,000 celebrated in central Ramallah in the West Bank, waving flags and dancing, there was an underlying sense of concerned resignation.

“I hope this is good,” said Munir Shafie, 36, an electrical engineer who was there. “But how are we going to benefit?”

Still, the General Assembly vote — 138 countries in favor, 9 opposed and 41 abstaining — showed impressive backing for the Palestinians at a difficult time. It was taken on the 65th anniversary of the vote to divide the former British mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, a vote Israel considers the international seal of approval for its birth.

The past two years of Arab uprisings have marginalized the Palestinian cause to some extent as nations that focused their political aspirations on the Palestinian struggle have turned inward. The vote on Thursday, coming so soon after the Gaza fighting, put the Palestinians again — if briefly, perhaps — at the center of international discussion.

“The question is, where do we go from here and what does it mean?” Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, who was in New York for the vote, said in an interview. “The sooner the tough rhetoric of this can subside and the more this is viewed as a logical consequence of many years of failure to move the process forward, the better.” He said nothing would change without deep American involvement.

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, speaking to the assembly’s member nations, said, “The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the state of Palestine,” and he condemned what he called Israeli racism and colonialism. His remarks seemed aimed in part at Israel and in part at Hamas. But both quickly attacked him for the parts they found offensive.

“The world watched a defamatory and venomous speech that was full of mendacious propaganda against the Israel Defense Forces and the citizens of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel responded. “Someone who wants peace does not talk in such a manner.”

While Hamas had officially backed the United Nations bid of Mr. Abbas, it quickly criticized his speech because the group does not recognize Israel.

“There are controversial issues in the points that Abbas raised, and Hamas has the right to preserve its position over them,” said Salah al-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, on Thursday.

“We do not recognize Israel, nor the partition of Palestine, and Israel has no right in Palestine,” he added. “Getting our membership in the U.N. bodies is our natural right, but without giving up any inch of Palestine’s soil.”

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, spoke after Mr. Abbas and said he was concerned that the Palestinian Authority failed to recognize Israel for what it is.

“Three months ago, Israel’s prime minister stood in this very hall and extended his hand in peace to President Abbas,” Mr. Prosor said. “He reiterated that his goal was to create a solution of two states for two peoples, where a demilitarized Palestinian state will recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

“That’s right. Two states for two peoples. In fact, President Abbas, I did not hear you use the phrase ‘two states for two peoples’ this afternoon. In fact, I have never heard you say the phrase ‘two states for two peoples’ because the Palestinian leadership has never recognized that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people.”

The Israelis also say that the fact that Mr. Abbas is not welcome in Gaza, the Palestinian coastal enclave run by Hamas, from which he was ejected five years ago, shows that there is no viable Palestinian leadership living up to its obligations now.

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Jennifer Steinhauer contributed reporting from Washington, Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, and Khaled Abu Aker from Ramallah, West Bank.

Black Bird Press News & Review: Black and Nobel presents Marvin X, Friday,Nov. 16, 3pm

Black Bird Press News & Review: Black and Nobel presents Marvin X, Friday,Nov. 16, 3pm

Poet Eugene Redmond's 75th Birthday Celebration

Hail! Hail! Marvin X! See (below) what's happening in the "heart of the heart"
of the country . . .

Subject: SAVE the DATE - - Dr. Eugene B. Redmond's 75 Birthday Celebration

September-November 2012
From: Darlene Roy 618 235-1392 (poetdarlene@charter.net) & Donahue Redmond 919
334-9797 (dredmond@att.com)

TO: Media, Friends, Family, Fellow Artists, and Supporters of Dr. Eugene B.
Redmond
SUBJECT: FOUR-DAY FESTIVAL TO HONOR POET LAUREATE'S 75TH BIRTHDAY IN EAST ST.
LOUIS, IL

A four-day Metro-East St. Louis (IL) Festival (Nov. 28th-Dec. 1) will honor the
75th  birthday of Dr. Eugene B. Redmond, poet laureate of the city.
Highlighting his life and works, the celebration will include poetry
performances, music, dance, scholarship, and a “kwansaba” poetry writing
contest for high school students. All festivities, with the exception of an
invitation-only Multi-Arts Gala on December 1st (EBR's Birthday), are free to
the public.

An SIUE emeritus professor of English at Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville, Dr. Redmond is the author/editor of several dozen books, journals
and plays for stage and television, winner of two American Book Awards
(1993/2012), and namesake of the ESL-based EBR Writers Club.

Owing to the poet's close association with the late Katherine Dunham (1909-
2006) and his career-length engagement with the performing/percussive arts,
drum ensembles will invoke ancestors at each of the five major events.

Festival Sketch:

Wednesday, November 28th—free to family
12:00 Noon—Poetry Readings (& refreshments) with Michael Castro, Shirley
Leflore, & Desmond Porter, winner of the student poetry contest  (Library
[Building B] of the East St. Louis Higher Education Campus, 601 J.R. Thompson
Drive, ESL, IL 62201) (Contact: Treasure Shields Redmond at 618 874-8708)

Thursday, November 29th—free to family
12:30-1:30 PM—Kwansaba Panel/Readings featuring Charlois Lumpkin, Darlene Roy,
Jeffery Skoblow & Open Mic w/SIUE students (Southern Illinois U-Edwardsville
Lovejoy Library, 1st Floor [62026])
Reception from 1:30 'til 2:00 PM (Contact: Dr. Howard Rambsy at 618 650-2326)

Friday, November 30th—free to family
(#1) 2:30-3:45 PM—ESL Senior High School's (District 189) World Renowned Jazz
Band (Directed by Delano Redmond), Student Poets/Guest Speaker (Small Gym, 4901
State Street, ESL, IL 62205) (Contact: Darlene Roy at 618 235-1392)
(#2) 7:00-9:00 PM—Jazz & Poetry Festival at East St. Louis City Hall (301 River
Park Drive, 62201) w/The Bosman Twins, The Mark Haynes Trio & Visiting Poets—
free; adults only (Contact: Jaye P. Willis at 618 593-9142)

Saturday, December 1st—invitation only
6:00-10:00 PM—EBR Birthday Gala Banquet at ESL w/Sunshine's Community
Performance Ensemble, ESL Jazz Combo & Literary Luminaries (Contact: Darlene
Roy and/or Donahue Redmond; see below)

In lieu of gifts, the Festival Committee suggests donations to the Dr. Eugene
B. Redmond Learning Center and Reading Room. The Center, consisting of hundreds
of thousands of books, art works, manuscripts, photographs, letters, brochures,
flyers, playbills, posters, and other memorabilia, will be housed in the Elijah
P. Lovejoy Memorial Library at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Donations should be made (via check or money order) to Drumvoices Revue/EBR
Center and mailed to: EBR Writers Club, P.O. Box 6165, ESL, IL 62201. Donors of
$50.00 or more will receive a copy of Dr. Redmond's new book, "Arkansippi
Memwars: Poetry, Prose & Chants, 1962-2012."

Please let us know if you are planning to come to East St. Louis to join in the
celebration!!!

Please email or call the committee co-chairpersons, Darlene Roy at 618 235-1392
(poetdarlene@charter.net) or Donahue Redmond at 919 334-9797
(dredmond@att.com).

We are excited about celebrating Eugene's 75th year!!!

For info on the EBR Writers Club, call 618 650-3991; email: eredmon@siue.edu
EBR's website: http://www.EugeneBRedmond.com/

For more about the Eugene B. Redmond Collection visit
www.siue.edu/lovejoylibrary/ebr.shtml

To view digitized portions, go to
www.siue.edu/lovejoylibrary/about/digital_collections.shtml

Amiri Baraka on Newark's Neo Nazi Negro May Whore

Coery Booker, Newark’s “Virtual Mayor” Shows Out  As Negro Nazi

Amiri Baraka

               For two years or so Newark’s May Whore , Corey  Booker, never set foot in the City Council chambers. Why? So he wd  not have to be confronted by the peoples’ elected representatives. Instead, that is why he is called our “Virtual Mayor”, because on the tube he is ubiquitous, on radio, at press conferences from undisclosed hideouts. But personally, almost never.

               He has appeared, rarely, when the council smoked him out, e.g., when he tried to sell the city’s water, to some of his cronies disguised as the Municipal Utilities Authority(MUA). But  as a result of his desperate foray into the real world , the MUA  got defeated and apparently he learned from that and stayed out of sight except as  occasional  Oprah mascot and Steadman lookalike.

               At another rare emergence into the real world, when he closed our libraries (and  you wonder why a dude well advertised in his sweetheart press as Stanford Univ, Yale Law School, Rhodes scholar would close libraries – I tried to ask him this question , he turned his head to some white member of the library’s board, who said , “No”.

               The rest of the Newark Activists there rose up and started whooping and hollering at the Mayor’s brief excursion into reality. The people screamed at him and he fled. The main library was reopened.

               What I had wanted to ask was to address the mayor’s  Republican sounding statement that “ the government can’t do everything.” I wanted to ask him  then  Why  he doesn’t demand that  Prudential, the world’s largest insurance company  pay it’s taxes, since it hasn’t paid since 1970. That one white building is worth 300 million dollars a year, taxesl  A 45 year old tax exemption!

               Now, around the question of a replacement for City Council President, Donald Payne, Jr, who replaced his father as Congressman, the Virtual One decided to dare reality again. This time with the collusion of city clerk  “Bye Bye Bob” Marasco , and El Sucio Quatro, four council members to mislead the people—there was no mention of the replacing of the council president on the Council agenda, but in the middle of the seeming regular council business, the Virtual One tried to sneak back into reality . He tip toed, on a cue from Traitor Ramos & the Junta as they waved Booker’s replacement dummy on the scene and tried to have “Bye Bye Bob” swear her in.

               This whole scene was preposterous! When Councilman Baraka tried to protest this burlesque Traitor Ramos refused to recognize him. This prompted council persons Baraka, Sharif, & Crump to come off the platform, take the public mikes and began to assail the rump council’s illegal actions & Booker’s clownish violation of the city’s legal statutes.

               When these small time Nazis tried to continue their ripoff of Newark laws and democracy  the people in the hall started to scream foul and tried to stop the criminal actions en masse. Some of us were trying to tell Booker’s stooges  Ramos & the rest who are all linked to North Ward il Duce, Steve Adubato & his boy Essex County Executive, Joe DiVincenzo , that they were committing criminal acts .   Now people surged to the front demonstrating that they be  heard. Instead one policeman started pepper  spraying the people, while  the Virtual One tip toed back into his virtualness.

               It is said that Booker had fellow conspirator Marasco swear the fake council person in, Chenique Davis Speight ,whose husband is an political associate of Steve Adubato, in his office. But we must challenge this whole fiasco as an attack on Democracy and ask at the same time why wd you try this Nazi foolishness on us? Wait a minute, someone might ask, are you trying to accuse these people of Racism as well. How could you do that, the Mayor is a Negro.

    Very much so, we answer, but then we have to quote Fanon, “Some of the oppressed don’t want to destroy their enemies, they want to be them”.

                                                                                                                                                        
Amiri Baraka

                                                                                                                                                         11/28/12

Marvin X, one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement

Now Available for readings/performance/lectures

Booking agent: Sun in Leo PR 718 496 2305

prgirl@suninleo.com

MARVIN X INTERVIEWED FOR PBS DOCUMENTARY ON BLACK PANTHERS AND THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT

Marvin X concluded his Revolution on the Rocks Book Tour 2012 with a lunch interview with producer Laurens Grant who is working on a documentary on the Black Panther Party. Marvin X has urged her to include how the Black Panther Party in particular and the liberation movement in general was influenced by the Black Arts Movement. According to Marvin X, there was cross fertilization between the Nation of Islam, Black Panthers, Black Arts Movement and the Black Student Movement that led to Black Studies.

Bobby Seale and Marvin X at the Joyce
Gordon Gallery Black History Celebration, 2012

No aspect of the Black Consciousness Movement sprang up in isolation. We cannot discuss the Black Panthers without discussing the African American Association, led by Donald Warden, aka Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al Mansour. From the AAA's influence came the Panthers and the establishment of Black Studies at Oakland's Merritt College, even before the violent strike for Black Studies at San Francisco State College, now university.

And would the students at Merritt and San Francisco State have been motivated without the West Coast Black Arts Movement, e.g., Bobby Seale performed in Marvin X's second play Come Next Summer before joining the BPP. Bobby played the role of a young black man in search of revolutionary consciousness.

At San Francisco State College, LeRoi Jones, aka Amiri Baraka's Communications Project enrolled student actors and playwrights such as Jimmy Garrett, Benny Stewart, George Murray, Jo Ann Mitchell, Elleadar Barnes, et al., who went on to participate in the Black Panther Party after BAM consciousness.

At San Francisco State College, now University, Marvin X's first play, Flowers for the Trashman, produced by the Drama Department, 1965, ushered in Black Arts West Theatre, 1966, with X and playwright Ed Bullins. Danny Glover performed in BAW. BAW came under the influence of the Nation of Islam will key players joining the NOI, i.e., Marvin X, Duncan X, Hillary X and Ethna X.



The only known photo of Eldridge Cleaver and Marvin X


Upon his return from exile, Marvin X organized his Christian ministry and traveled with him
internationally.

Upon his release from prison, 1967, Eldridge Cleaver hooked up with Marvin X and they established the Black House, a political/cultural center, along with Ethna X, Ed Bullins and Willie Dale. Again the Muslim influence: Marvin X an d BAW guru and former inmate with Eldridge, Alonzo Batin, forced Eldridge Cleaver out of his white woman's house (Beverly Axelrod, the attorney who took his manuscript Soul on Ice out of Soledad Prison and whom Eldridge promised to marry, who also contracted a portion of royalties from Soul on Ice and won by default while Eldridge was exiled in Algeria). Eldridge died poor while his book is still an international bestseller as we write! You nigguhs keep fucking with Miss Ann and you will receive a similar fate! Marvin X eventually introduced Eldridge Cleaver to Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, Marvin's companions from Merritt College.

But just as the Nation of Islam recruited members of the Black Arts West Theatre, Marvin X would later recruit for the NOI. His biggest fish was no doubt Nadar Ali or Bobby Jones who Elijah Muhammad put over the fish import business.

Islam had a significant role on the East Coast Black Panther Party and the genre Muslim American literature begins with Marvin X and the BAM writers, e.g., Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, Askia Muhammad Toure, et al.

Marvin X and his mentor and associate, Master Sun Ra,

outside Marvin's Black Educational Theatre on O'farrel Street, between Fillmore and Webster, 1972,

Sun Ra and Marvin X were both teaching Black Studies at UC Berkeley. They produced a five hour concert without intermission and a cast of fifty, at San Francisco's Harding theatre on Divisadero St.

See My Friend the Devil, a memoir of Eldridge Cleaver by Marvin X, Black Bird Press, Berkeley, 2009. Also, Somethin' Proper, the autobiography of a North American African Poet, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, 1998. Somethin' Proper came off the press the day Eldridge Cleaver made his transition to the ancestors, May 1, 1998. Marvin X performed the memorial rites in Oakland. Kathleen and her daughter Joju attended the memorial. Kathleen said, "Marvin, the memorial was great, but there were just too many Muslims!" Alas, their son is Ahmed Maceo Eldridge Cleaver, a Sunni Muslim!

Junious Ricardo Stanton on the Kingdom of God is Within

                                                            From The Ramparts

                                                         Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                               The Kingdom of Heaven is At Hand

“If your guides claim that the Kingdom is in the sky, the birds of the sky will be there before you. If they say it is in the sea, the fishes of the sea will be there before you. The Kingdom is within you and without you. When you know yourselves you will be known. Then you shall know that you are Sons of the Living Father. But, it you do not know yourselves you are in poverty and you are poverty." The Gospel According to Thomas saying #3

A great awakening is upon us. We stand on the cusp of a New Age, a New Era, a time of personal and collective transformation. I’m not talking about the New World Order of the psychopathic/megalomaniacal international loan sharks, ruthless warmongers, and self-centered corporate CEO’s, no, I referring to the ancient prophesies and predictions of the Wise Ones, Seers and MYSTICS who anticipated a time when collective humanity would hear “the still small voice” of THE ONE, “dream dreams and have visions” of our DIVINE nature, our righteous possibilities and follow its guidance.

The great awakening and rising consciousness we anticipate are inner promptings and manifestations of an increasing attunement to the higher frequencies/vibrations constantly emanating from THE UNIVERSE, the one song, the whole which is a living cogent entity. The physical UNIVERSE is merely the embodiment/emanation/expression of SPIRIT/INTELLIGENCE/ENERGY/CONSCIOUSNESS that humans have called by many names (Amun-Ra, in Kemet, Nyame in Akan, Olodumare byYoruba, Mulungu by the Gogo people of Tanzania etc) throughout the course of our existence and history. 

The UNIVERSE as a physical emanation of THE CREATOR is both DIVINE and material in nature; as creatures within this mix so are we. Many are concerned about the Mayan prophesies and what will happen on December 21, 2012. The Hollywood mind control apparatus deliberately misrepresented the Mayan calendar to make it seem like it would be a doomsday scenario, the end of the world. While it made money for the studio, it was not an accurate representation of the Mayan Prophesies or what they mean. To expect the aspiritual, benighted and barbaric West with its strictly materialistic orientation and its social controlling institutions to comprehend or fathom spiritual and psychic prophesies or to present them in a righteous manner is foolish on our part.

Hollywood is the quintessential tool in the deliberate dumbing down, desecration and debasement of humanity. For us to think Hollywood or any Western institution including religion, for that matter, will tell the truth is insanity on our part. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over with the same people expecting things to turn out differently.  Do not look to Hollywood or the media for guidance or for truth. The Hollywood studio system merely reflects the consciousness, the values and aspirations of those who own and control it. We of all people know the owners of Hollywood are not about presenting truth, peace, humanitarianism or spirituality.

Many have heard about the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius and are mistakenly looking for outward signs and manifestations of this new era. Do not to look for outward signs in the sky or any place else. The Mayans, the Age of Aquarius, quantum shifts etc. are first and foremost spiritual and psychic phenomenon. The origin of this new age is the realm of spirit and psyche. The outward manifestations will only come into being when we do the work of letting go of our misconceptions and our egos and transforming ourselves. The new era is already here, it’s now we just can’t perceive it thinking on our current vibratory level. It will become real in our lives when we actually listen and abide by the promptings, ideas, images and inner urgings we are getting from THE UNIVERSE. 

We are all unique expressions of THE CREATOR, we respond, react and resonate differently to stimuli. For some the great awakening will be an aha, Eureka moment, for some it will be a quiet confident inner knowing, for some it will come as a result of life circumstances that unmistakably point to the need for personal change, for others it will be an unconscious following of a new direction, a new way of being/living. For each of us it will mean making a conscious choice/decision, choosing to change, choosing to be different. This can be frightening and unsettling but SPIRIT/INTELLIGENCE/CONSCIOUSNESS will guide us, inspire us and open amazing paths to greater experiences in life.

Humanity stands at a pivotal fork in the road. We have to empower ourselves by choosing which direction we go. Will we heed “the still small voice” and choose what Yeshua called “the narrow way” (Read  Matthew 7:13-14)  towards transformation? Or will we succumb to the Satanic tricks and traps of the psychopathic megalomaniacal ruling elites who will manipulate us by stimulating our appetites and passions, tempt us to mindlessly misuse and misapply our life energy and suggest we exchange our DIVINITY for the illusions of crass power they offer? All of us are like the Buddha, The Christos and every archetypical hero who was driven to confront his/her ego, their inner demons and shadow self; who must grapple with and resist giving in to their innate appetites and passions. This is what Yeshua meant when he said, "A man's foes shall be of his own household." 

We either resist temptation or succumb to it. We either remain ignorant or we become wise.This experience of resisting temptation ultimately leads to transcending the limited self, moving towards self mastery and enlightenment.

The enlightened life will not be an existence of asceticism, boredom, isolation or alienation. That was the old paradigm based upon misunderstanding and immaturity. The new era is one of ongoing enlightenment, engagement, cooperation and harmony. The genesis of this engagement is within us; it will be from the inside out. Once we become integrated, whole and united within, it will be easier for us to see beyond the barriers of the material world, break the illusions of separateness and enmity which are based upon ignorance and fear. This new revelation will result in living differently, relating to others in new ways and living in the world in a different manner. We will go from ignorance to enlightenment, bondage to liberation and we will open our eyes to our divine nature.

We stand at a crucial fork in the road. The rulers of the current system will use every trick in the book to keep us ignorant and in bondage, including wars to prevent us from evolving and transcending. To remain our overlords they must keep us dumb, distracted, diseased and discombobulated. Do not allow them to trick you. Save yourself!  Like Bob Marley sang in Redemption Song, “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds. Have no fear for atomic energy cause none of them can stop the time. How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look? Some say it’s just a part of it we’ve got to fulfill the book. Won’t you here to sing these songs of freedom cause all I ever have redemption songs.” 

Looking beyond the creeds, dogma and doctrines we have been feed, searching for the real message of existence we find this message, “Repent the Kingdom of God is at hand.” This is just as true today as it was two thousand years ago. The Mayan prophesies and astro-spiritual Age of Aquarius merely reinforce this message. The new age, the new consciousness is a redemption song telling us the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, right here and now. Free yourself from mental slavery and experience it.

Junious Ricardo (Ricky, Rick) Stanton the only child of Junius Langley Stanton and Elsie Mae Stanton was born on February 18, 1948. Ricky’s father died when he was three years old but he was raised and nurtured in a loving extended family and community. He attended Philadelphia public schools, graduating from Germantown High School in June 1965. In the fall of ‘65 he matriculated to Cheyney State College enrolling in their Liberal Arts program. In December of 1966 he was initiated into the Gamma Omega Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. At Cheyney, Ricky was involved in numerous social activities including Student Government and The Black Student League. He graduated from Cheyney State College with a BA in English in 1969 and entered the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Fine Arts where he earned a Master’s Degree in City Planning in 1971.