360 was founded by Grant Brooks, Isaac Castelaz and Abayouni Imari Dukes on the campus of Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In the fall of 1996 Castelaz and Dukes met at an NAACP meeting, wherein they found many of their socio-political views to be similar. As friends, the pair saw that their desire for racial justice, equality and atonement linked them in a dynamic way. The following year they befriended Grant Brooks, a member of the Young Black Males Support Network. The trio came to believe that the campus lacked a radical, edgy element which could compel people to consider alternate thought processes regarding politics, history and race most especially. The renegade students took it upon themselves to create a progressive vehicle of consciousness, forming the 360 newsletter with the express aim of helping the student body “become more aware and learn to deal with the politics of white supremacy and academic apartheid.”
The first issue, printed in March 1997, included writings from Brooks, Castelaz and Dukes, as well Musa Tawwab Abdullah, a respected member of the Epsilon Xi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Circulation reached no more than four hundred. A second issue, published just before the spring semester finished, sparked controversy and discourse among African American students as a result of a Dukes article entitled “Introspection” in which he wrote:
….we are a strong people and we cannot allow the interference of European culture in our own to hinder our progress in society….sista, I love your skin and hair naturally – you do not need to destroy yourself for the white man’s approval.”
360 published a summer edition in response to a rally held by the Ku Klux Klan in Kalamazoo in July 1998. The presence of the Klan affirmed the 360 mission of combating white supremacy in all its forms. Imari Dukes and Tim Hampton, a 360 ally and WMU doctoral student, attended the demonstration and circulated hundreds of copies of the third issue. In so doing, Dukes and Hampton engaged Klan supporters in debate throughout the afternoon.
With another academic year at hand, Brooks, Castelaz, and Dukes committed themselves to challenging the student body to become active participants in the struggle to defy white supremacy. Aside from the first fall issue wherein Abdullah encouraged the WMU student body, specifically African Americans, to challenge racial injustice on campus, Brooks, Castelaz and Dukes planned 360’s first campus event entitled “An Assessment of Race Relations in America.” Only weeks before the panel discussion, an African American student at Kalamazoo College, just across from WMU, was victimized by a hate crime. The November discussion on race, facilitated by Castelaz and Brooks, attracted approximately one hundred participants and included several prominent WMU professors in addition to Nation of Islam (NOI) minister Ishmael Muhammad.
Despite the success of the first 360 discussion, campus support for the cause of racial justice was thin at best. In issue six, Abdullah railed black organizations on campus for their lack of support for a march spearheaded by Epsilon Xi in response to events at K-College. In his article entitled “Where the Hell were YOU?!?,” the controversial author wrote that:
I could bet a rat’s ass to a dollar bill that if there were grills blazing, brew flowing and women shakin’ their rears that turnout would have been legendary…..It is about time these so-called “black organizations” got up off their assess and did something that is monumental and could possibly make a serious change.
Meanwhile, 360 co-founder Isaac Castelaz outlined the philosophy of “Positive Eurocentrism” with the aim of deconstructing the thought process which leads to white supremacy. In issues five, six and ten he advanced the belief that whites should embrace humility in order to:
…realize that we are not infallible, perfect, and most of all superior…Through humility we will see that we are not entitled to special privileges because of our race and that we did not and could not build this country alone. …we will see that our success only comes at the price of another’s failure…..
Castelaz continued in issue ten that:
We must learn to consider things from the perspective of others….Obviously we [whites] do not see racism as a big problem because most of the time we are the ones hating, not getting hated….If we look at racism through the eyes of the hated and not just the hater, we will acknowledge the seriousness of the race problem.
While 360 supported the efforts of leading black organizations on campus, Imari Dukes was on the trail of an even greater fleecing. The crafty activist learned that new WMU president Elson Floyd was secretly planning to move the Division of Minority Affairs (DMA) out of the Office of Student Services and into the Office of Academic Services, a measure which could have depleted the ability of the DMA to provide students with tutoring, counseling and other forms of support. In an article entitled “Floydology,” Dukes asserted that the president had “shortchanged” the university’s minority population. The insightful writer called for “a forum discussing the future of DMA with President Elson Floyd.” Floyd was enraged and demanded a private meeting with Dukes & Co. No public forum was ever held, but the DMA would later become the Division of Multicultural Affairs, which would offer the same services as its predecessor.
Early in 1999 360 enjoyed what would arguably become it most successful stretch. Late in 1998 Jean Pitts, editor of The People’s Choice Tribune, discovered the work of 360 and invited the group to pen an article for her publication. The writers agreed and in January 1999, the magazine published an article written by Isaac Castelaz entitled “Shaky Foundation” in which he espoused many of the same sentiments outlined in his philosophy of Positive Eurocentrism, writing that:
No law can make white people change their attitudes. We can only change that for ourselves. But as long as we deny that there is a problem with our relationship with other races in America, it can never be solved. White people do not realize that we are victims of the race problem too, just in a different way. The freedoms white people have come at the cost of oppressing others. We must be aware that we cannot deny this much longer before society begins to cave in….
In February 1999, the group planned “A Tribute to the Revolution,” a presentation paying homage to social activists who made large contributions to the cause of racial justice. Campus organizations and several WMU professors took part. Almost one hundred people came to the March 25 event which saw Dr. Jonina Abron discuss Ella Baker, while Dr. Bruce Haight recalled Steve Biko. Imari Dukes recalled the work of Kwame Ture while Castelaz described the legacy of John Brown. Among the most stirring oratories came from 360 supporters, as Musa Tawwab Abdullah described the work of Malcolm X in asserting that “revolution is evolution fast forwarded.” Eric Brown paid respects to Fred Hampton.
One week later 360 returned NOI leader Ishmael Muhammad to campus to deliver a speech entitled “What Color is God?” While more than seventy-five people came to hear the youthful leader speak, 360 was not satisfied with the turnout. In the final issue of the 1998-1999 school year, Grant Brooks lambasted the apathy of the WMU student body in a column entitled “Where is Your Head At?” in which he wrote:
If you can gig for four hours then you can sacrifice two hours to be educated and informed with knowledge, wisdom and understanding. These are three principles that we try to instill in the minds of the readers of 360 as well as attentive listeners at our discussions. This is something you may not be interested in and you’re entitled to your decision… You can go through life and not give a damn about African American history or culture. Some do make this decision, this is why we have Uncle Toms today….There is too much work that needs to be done that cant get accomplished poppin’ and jitting on the dance floor, or drinking liquor or smokin’ weed or talkin’ on the phone gossiping about who’s on line with this fraternity and that sorority or how you wish you were back in the ‘D.’
The fall 1999 semester marked 360’s last contribution at WMU. In issue eleven, Grant Brooks continued to challenge African American students to go about college more seriously by taking up the fight against white supremacy, writing in “To Whom it May Concern” that:
African Americans need to start realizing their own means, not someone else’s. It’s true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I must tell you America, our black women are beautiful….At the same time we as African Americans have to show America the opposite of their stereotypes. Eurocentrism is a problem in the black community and has caused far too much confusion and destruction. Sitting back and watching is not the solution to the problem….
Imari Dukes echoed this sentiment, writing specifically to students new to WMU in his article entitled “High Hopes”:
….we hope that Western will be solace, a place where there is mental tranquility and prosperity. But we also hope that it will be the foundation for some of your political activities. Our time spent in college is one which there is little backlash. We don’t have to worry about jobs or family. So it seems appropriate that we spend most of our time doing things that we might be ostracized for, most specifically, speaking out against injustice…
Although this would be 360’s last active year at WMU, it was not without controversy. Within weeks of the opening of the fall semester, pamphlets and fliers were posted on campus denigrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When 360 learned that members of an upstart neo-Nazi group were to blame, the trio immediately challenged the white supremacists to a debate. The panel discussion, entitled “The Politics of White Supremacy in America,” was held on October 7. WMU professors Doug Davidson and Donald Cooney participated in the discussion before a group of well over one hundred. The distributors of the King leaflets never revealed themselves.
As the affirmative action debate in Michigan warmed up, 360 worked in league with the college chapter of the NAACP to facilitate “Affirmative Action: Friend or Foe?” late in October. Representatives from the local offices of the democratic and republican parties sparred over the issue before a crowd of just over thirty while 360 co-founder Isaac Castelaz played peacemaker. This event was followed by the “Second Annual Assessment of Race Relations,” a discussion which, while not as lively as its predecessor, still produced candid conversation about the state of race relations in America.
Not satisfied with the level of social consciousness on campus, Imari Dukes expanded the scope of 360’s focus, foreshadowing its later exploits. In what would prove to be the last issue of 360, Dukes penned perhaps his most powerful article called “Information highway” in which he wrote:
Our technological advances have overshadowed our social degradation. Economists have shown that fully one third of the African American community is worse off economically today than they were the day Dr. King was killed. The disparity of quality education between inner-city schools and white suburban schools are almost at the level that ignited the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision….Police brutality, even having exposed it, is still on the rise. Kalamazoo Police Department is under investigation for their role in the violation of one of its citizen’s rights. Political action committees control the politicians that “we the people” elected. Business leaders are making deals that benefit their economic prosperity at the expense of overlooking the American masses.
Late in 1999, the university newspaper took note of 360’s work. A January 2000 issue of the Western Herald included a front page article written by Nick Brown which detailed the work of 360. The article reiterated 360’s desire to debate the culprits of the Dr. King literature. The challenge was never answered.
360 did not endure the graduation and departure of its authors / co-founders. In reviewing its presence at WMU over the course of several years, one excerpt articulates 360’s past but more importantly, its future:
Our society is reaching a critical stage in its evolution, one which may lead to self destruction.…..There is a war going on. Consider 360 a war report. We consider ourselves to be in the middle of the combat. Thus we tell you what is happening in America; we let NBC tell you about Kosovo…..you may think you are safe from this war’s repercussions, but this is not so. You can become a casualty as easily as me or my fellow 360 officials….you may even get caught before us because you have nothing to fight with. We have the ammunition…..
