VLVL UHURU

[Terrance]

> 
> >> "Uhuru", by the way, means "freedom" in Swahili, and is used in the name of
> >> various world-wide organisations devoted to democracy and equity for African
> >> peoples, including an organisation which began in California in 1981
> >
> > I wonder if Pynchon knows that. I don't know any brothers who  speak or
> > read Swahili, but reconnaissance in Black English means,  to police an
> > area. And, it kinda makes sense, don't you think?
> 
> I think the word "uhuru" is well-known enough to be an intentional pun on
> Pynchon's part, and, yes, I think African-Americans would know that word.
> And, by contrast to Cesar Chavez and 1966, it's actually there in the text.

 How does the pun function in the scene? 


> 
> I don't question the fact that there's irony in the name that the BAAD boys
> give to the car -- self-conscious irony on their part even, perhaps -- but
> "reconnaissance" means checking things out. I realise that it's important to
> your interpretation that the BAAD brothers are violent, and pre-emptively
> so; unfortunately there's nothing in the text to show that they are.

Violence in the text isn't the issue here. The Pisk Sisters don't blow
up any buildings in the text either, but they are violent
revolutionaries. Pynchon is focused on the 67-70 period here and he's
got all the violent factions represented. 

Bruno has been *redesignated* UHURU. Why? BAAD was invited to College of
the Surf by the Exterior Bureau. The EB was  searching  for allies in
the world at large and it invited BAAD in to **talk.**   BAAD doesn't
add anything to the dialogue, instead they play trash the children of
the surfing class. The People love it. 

BAAD is divisive. 

Rex is frustrated. He tries to convince BAAD that everyone, the children
of the surfing Class,  People's Republic,  and BAAD. 

Again, we agree that Rex has very good insights. 


I say he is frustrated with/by  Eliot X and BAAD and the People and you
disagree. I say that he is frustrated by the failure of the working
class to come together to face the common enemy. 

I say, BAAD is invited in ti help, but they don't do anything to help at
all. They walk off with Rex's car as the People cheer. 

I say that Rex is a volatile fanatic and that he murders Weed. 

I think we should move on now since we're not making any progress. 

I'll post more from Sale's SDS soon. 

I would like to hear more about Montage and Russian film. 

Thanks for the information about UHURU. Always something to be learned
on the P-List. 

T