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FREEEDOM'S JOURNAL
MESSAGE FROM THE 404 CHAPLAIN, UNIA NEW YORK 
Greetings to all members and to those who like myself are in despair over the recent events that have engulfed our association. Let me encourage you all that we must stand and stick together no matter what has been done to us. We understand that these events have been unconstitutional and those accused will not prevail. We must stay focused on the goals of Garveyism. With our coming together we must remain united and fight against the dictatorial and tyrannical leadership that has perpetrated these illegal actions and call for the impeachment of our current leadership and those who have manipulated the office of the President General. I know many of you have received a letter asking you to pay your dues to the Parent Body if you intend on being an active member of the association. it makes me pause to wonder why is now I am considered a member yet during the convention I was a dues paying member but was not allowed to attend the convention. So now how can they ask you and me to fork over money without representation?!!!
Getting beyond this issue, however, it is my duty as Chaplain to recognize the passing of those stalwarts within our great association and the Pan-African movement at large which has taken place in recent months. Our most dedicated Lady President Tiffany who was in attendance at the funerals of those elders who transcended to the realm of the ancestors recently, gave us this report:------- Greetings fellow members of the A. L. Crawford Memorial Division, It is my extreme hope that this message finds you in good spirits and joy. As we are all aware, we have lost many elders in recent months. 
On December 29th, 2005 Abuna Yesehaq Mandefro, Ethiopian Archbishop, Head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the Western Hemisphere, died at age 72. On January 11th mourners gathered to pay their respects. I had the honor of attending the service that was held at the St. Bartholomew Church in New York City. Approximately 300 hundred of us gathered to celebrate his life, leaving me to conclude that the universe is making room for more greatness to come. Abuna Yesehaq's body was flown to Jamaica for funeral services and internment at the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Cathedral in Kingston on January 19th 2006.
In addition to Civil Rights heroines Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King, we lost our own Matriarch, Sister Estelle James, wife of the Honorable Charles L. James - on January 19th, 2006 at the age of 88. Alfred Rowe Tutu-President of Division 404, member Leroy Bristle and I were honored to attend her funeral held at First Baptist Church in Washington D.C. Sister Estelle James gave her life for the cause of this great association and her memory will live with us for generations to come. Let the lives of our fallen elders be an inspiration and let us honor their memories by continuing the fight that they have forged ahead in our favor.
 From Jamaica, Brother Golding of our New York Division has also written to express deep regret in mourning the passing of another of our outstanding elders. He writes, Mortimo St. George "Kumi" Planno must be remembered for the great contributions he made to the development of culture within the African diaspora. We recall his role as an official delegate of the mission of Jamaica that was sent to Ethiopia in 1961 and included representatives of the UNIA. "Kumi" was instrumental in promoting the cause of African repatriation through the Ethiopia land grant at shashemene and the founding of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jamaica. He remained a life long Amabassador of the Rastafarian movement. Through his constant vigilance and endurance in guiding the movement towards structure and organization, he has infuenced the lives of so many prominent Jamaicans such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh who propagated his lessons through their music, and became effective advocates for social change and cultural progress. Planno who joined the ancestors on March 6th was laid to rest on April 1st with services at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Kingston, Jamaica, of which he was among the first members to be baptized in 1970. We hail him with the immortal Psalms, "Princes shall come out of Egypt and Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God."
As Lady President of this historic UNIA Division, I want to specifically take this time to ask each and every one of us to re-evaluate our committment to our fight. Sometimes we get caught up in the things life throws our way and we forget that we are only here for a short while. During the time we are allotted here on this great Earth we are asked to do many things, to fulfill many obligations. At some point our spirit within asks our purpose in life and whether we are doing what needs to be done to fulfill that purpose before our time here is over. If we simply go through the motions of day to day existence are we really contributing to the overall progress of the human condition? Well if we love ourselves, love our families, love our communities, love our race, and love our motherland Africa, then we know that we need to do more in our efforts to secure a stable and fruitful nation! We can do no less. We will continue to fail if we don’t work through the defects that so often set us back and discourage us. We will continue to fail if we continue to perceive this as a personal mission. It is so much more than that. We must separate ourselves from the personal & emotional tribulation that hinders us from negotiation from sitting at the table with our brothers and sisters to simply just work it out. Yes, it is always easier said than done. Nonetheless, it must be done. Otherwise, what will we tell our children? We must encourage them to learn to work through their differences, not to just give up when the going gets tough. Isn’t that what we were told when we were young? We need to return to a childlike perspective when it comes to certain aspects of our struggle. Our time here is limited and we must make the most of it. We owe our future generations a better world. - Tiffany Newton, UNIA LP NY ------- In closing, as Chaplain, I offer this prayer from the sacred ritual of the UNIA: O GOD, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered; make us, we beseech thee, deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let thy Holy Spirit lead us through this vale of misery; in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our lives: That, when we chall have served thee in our generation, we may be gathered unto our fathers, having the testimony of a good conscience; in the communion of thy Church, in the confidence of a certain faith; in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope; in favor with theee our God, and in perfect charity with the world. All which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. I remain your humble servant, Canon Alfred Drake, African Orthodox xchurch UNIA Chaplain New York, NY, USA FREEDOM'S JOURNAL Vol.3  
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