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Thank God that "Normalcy" Has Been Restored

1/20/2021

Trump is gone and Biden and Harris are the spokespersons for the bourgeoisie capitalist power structure now. The world can rest with ease again. We can all relax because we can peacefully go back to Flint, Michigan, U.S., and their large African and poor population having no clean water in silence. We can return to the glorious quiet of Standing Rock being pummeled by oil drilling companies. And, the crisis and turmoil that exists in every Central American country from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador on down – the very reasons so many of those folks are risking everything to escape those countries – can go back to where they belong, business and suffering as usual.

We are so excited to harken back to the calmness of the U.S. national budget spending over 50% of its vast annual resources on a military machine that torments and dominates the entire planet. Its ok though, because we can eventually defeat covid and go back to worrying only about our Friday and Saturday nights while AFROCOM continues to build military installations throughout Africa (proudly with our tax dollars) that continue to terrorize the African masses.

Speaking of covid, fortunately, we have a great opportunity right now to give platitudes to the hundreds of thousands who have needlessly lost their lives. We can use this wonderous time to quickly and decisively forget that socialist Cuba has all but eliminated covid by prioritizing people over profit while this country spikes towards half a million deaths. No worries though because Joe has the plan and soon, we will be benefiting from it. Besides, we desperately want to get back to a time when the U.S. can ruthlessly, violently, but quietly, sabotage Cuba and her quest for self-determination. A socialist self-determination.

Now, we can go back to the calm and systemic mass incarceration that devastates communities. We can continue to ignore the disaster being inflicted on the world through the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, driven by the U.S. which primarily finances those imperialist organizations. We can return to the backward notions that white supremacy, patriarchy, and homophobia are simply individual acts that should always be viewed and treated as such.

We have the chance now to land and thrive with the false narratives that pose as truth. That the people who engage in anti-fascist work are somehow as bad or worse than the fascists who terrorize society. We can go back to ignoring the planet and acting as if our individual needs are all that matters in assessing how we move on this planet. We can continue to turn our backs to mass deportations and the locking up the original inhabitants of this hemisphere. Xenophobia can happily exist in the background again, with no less effectiveness, but with complete application.

And, we can continue to pretend, as Jennifer Lopez – a descendant of the people who this land was stolen from – sang when she said “this land is our land.” We can step right over the theft of this land from Indigenous people and we can claim any history we want for the African masses in the west. Anything except the truth that we were viciously and brutally stolen from Africa in an effort that served to finance the development this empire.

Please, lets go back to pretending that European (white) liberals are our friends because those people are different than overt white supremacists. That there is somehow something that is supposed to be better about being talked down to and disrespected than there is in just being overtly called the n word to our faces.

And, finally, lets return to the time when talk and work for revolution is just simply a pipe dream for those who refuse to accept the reality of the greatness of this empire. Let’s continue to advance this farce that democracy defined is bourgeoisie power in force as long as that power has black, brown, yellow, and queer faces mixed in with it. Lets pretend that all the problems in this empire are solved through one bourgeoisie election. Or, maybe it’s the next election. Or, the one after that. Or, after that. It doesn’t matter. The point is now you can feel good. You can feel accomplished. You can feel calm and secure. Instead of living and even dying violently fighting for your dignity, you have the benefit now, again, to live and die quietly, in your sleep, living in the dangerous fantasy world that many of you have always preferred.

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Discussing the Movie "A Night in Miami."

1/16/2021

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“A Night in Miami” is a 2020 movie that was directed by Regina King. Like a ton of people, I became an instant fan of Regina King (and Nia Long) after 1991’s “Boyz in the Hood” was released. Still, as a lifelong and active participant within the African liberation movement, my first priority is always going to be ensuring that the historical perspective provided on our ancestors and elders who made their contribution to our people is displayed with honor and dignity. This is especially true when it comes to El Hajj Malik Shabazz, better known as Malcolm X. In many ways, I’m here today, doing whatever I do, in large part because of Malcolm’s influence on my thinking when I was a mere teenager. From that time forward I’ve emulated many of his life practices i.e. working hard to develop a reliable level of discipline in everything I do. Not smoking, drinking, or getting high. Doing my best to ensure fear never stops me from doing what’s right. Malcolm has always, and will always, mean an awful lot to me. And, I’ve always honored his contribution to my life and the struggle of the masses of Africans everywhere by spending an awful lot of time studying his life. That’s why whenever anything is written, spoken, or presented about any of our veterans of militant, independent struggle, especially when its about Malcolm, you can be sure that I will do my work to be out front and center with an informed perspective.

This film is a fictionalized account of the actual events which took place the night of February 25, 1964. That night, Muhammad Ali, when he was known as Cassius Clay, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X, spent time that evening together after Ali had won the heavyweight boxing title by defeating Sonny Liston earlier. Malcolm had served as Ali’s spiritual advisor and mentor in preparation for that fight. Ali had paid for what would turn out to be Malcolm’s only family vacation with sister Betty Shabazz and the children when Ali paid for all of them to visit Miami while he was training for the Liston fight. Dr. Shabazz and the children stayed a while in Miami with Malcolm before returning to New York while Malcolm stayed behind to continue to guide the then Cassius Clay. Malcolm of course was attempting to contribute towards recruiting Ali into the Nation of Islam. We know of course that by the time of the fight, Malcolm was serving a 90 day punishment from Elijah Muhammad due to Malcolm’s comments about John F. Kennedy’s death being a case of the “chickens coming home to roost.” In other words, we know that at that time, despite working to recruit Muhammad Ali, Malcolm had one fight inside and one foot outside of the Nation of Islam. It was less than two weeks after that night in Miami that Malcolm officially broke with the Nation of Islam and most people know the history of acrimony between Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad after that. Muhammad Ali sided with Elijah Muhammad in the dispute and ridiculed Malcolm up to and after his assassination on February 21, 1965. By some accounts, Malcolm was recruiting Muhammad Ali as a strategy to hold leverage over Elijah Muhammad since the conversion of Clay to Muhammad Ali into the Nation would be a large chip for Muhammad’s organization. We tend to believe that the situation was much more complex than that. There is no evidence to suggest that Malcolm’s recruitment work with Muhammad Ali was anything less than sincere. In other words, there are no accounts of Malcolm trying to convince Ali against staying within the Nation of Islam after he was no longer a member. Still, that night in February of 1964, what we do know is Malcolm was there as Ali’s mentor and advisor. Ali, a former Olympic Gold Medal winner four years previously, was given absolutely no chance to best Liston. Most accounts dismissed Ali as a clown due to his theatrical performance art leading up to the fight, making fun of Liston, making bombastic predictions, and doing so much to emulate the flamboyant antics he learned from wrestler Gorgeous George. Even Elijah Muhammad had advised Malcolm earlier to avoid being connected to Ali because of the broad perception that Liston would end Ali’s career the night they fought.

Sam Cooke was as popular a singer as there existed in soul music during this time. He had already produced multiple signature hits like “Chain Gang” and “You Send Me.” He had also demonstrated a strong business acumen, purchasing his own record label at a time when doing was extremely rare for any entertainer, especially an African one. Jim Brown was the poster child as the greatest running back in professional football. Before there was Marshawn Lynch, Emmet Smith, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, and O.J. Simpson, the model for the running back position was Jim Brown. And, Brown’s outspoken attacks against racist segregation and the oppression of Africans within the U.S. made him larger than football in many ways.
What we know for sure is those four African men shared an actual friendship and mutual respect together. What we don’t know is what actually happened in that hotel room that night after Ali became the boxing champion of the world. Regina King’s movie attempts to provide us a glimpse into that night when four iconic figures in African sports, entertainment, and movement history shared a historic night together.

The acting was good and the movie, despite the absence of any action beyond the initial fight scenes, was very engaging. For me the major appeal of the movie is its effort in portraying four very different African men, each with their own notoriety, who held a relationship with one another that was not burdened with jealousy and pettiness, but mutual respect.

The challenges I observed with the movie were significant. Unlike so many people who naively rely on capitalist Hollywood to educate them about our history, no matter the quality of the presentation, I can never forget that the objective of the movie industry is always to entertain and make money. For them, it’s the story, not the truth, that they are selling. Movies are not made to raise the political consciousness of the masses. Unfortunately, this movie does little to escape that mold. The characterization of that night is the characters portraying Ali, Brown, and Cooke, wanting nothing more than to go out, find women, and party. Meanwhile, the Malcolm X character takes charge of the night and pushes all of them to subscribe to a Muslim inspired night where they would sit around, alcohol and drug free, and reflect on their place in this world where African people are fighting for basic dignity. No women. No partying. Just reflection. For me, I did truly resonate with this part of the movie because I guess that’s one of the things I learned from Malcolm. The idea his character promotes for that night would sound pretty exciting to me.

The course the movie takes is for conflict between Malcolm and Sam Cooke to develop based on Malcolm’s ridiculing Cooke for not producing more movement promoting music. In essence, the entire movie takes on this theme of Malcolm forcing his values onto them despite the age old contradiction where his values are never actually explained. When this happens, the unconscious result is movement people seeming to appear dogmatic and inhumane to the average observer. This part of the movie was unappealing because it’s the same tactic that is often used to display radical and revolutionary Africans. Whether its Killmonger in “Black Panther” being unhinged and ruthless or Malcolm’s character in “A Night in Miami” being inflexible, bullish, and insensitive, it’s the same old narrative that these crazy militants can’t just relax and be regular human beings. Whether intentional or not, this is an extremely damaging narrative because most of our people don’t study our actual history, so these portrayals reinforce the belief that revolutionaries are really not people who know how to have fun, how to unwind, how to be human. This of course, unconsciously drives people away from the desire to interact with and emulate people like this. Who wants to become a robot?

Then, there was the always present, very subtle jab at those of us who decide to struggle uncompromisingly for justice. That jab is that we are always the ones who end up losing. That happened in the Black Panther movie where Chadwick Boseman (RIP) and even the Central Intelligence Agency guy come out on top while the Michael B. Jordan “revolutionary” character gets what he deserves in the end. We lose, again. Most of the time, these jabs are not even necessary or related to the plot which always leads me to believe their inclusion is never an accident. For example, in “A Night in Miami” during the ending movie credits, meaning after the movie is definitely over, something extremely strange occurs. As many movies do, the credits provide an update on what happened with each of the four men after that night. For Ali it was of course, the continuance of his boxing career before his eventual refusal to accept the immoral draft into the immoral Vietnam war. For Brown it was his surprising and early retirement from professional football. For Malcolm, it was a quote he made two days before the credits indicate he was not assassinated, but “murdered.” The use of that word instead of assassinated was interesting because murder seems to suggest a more sinister result, but that wasn’t the most insulting part of it. The narrative provided for Sam Cooke spoke of his recording of “A Change Gonna Come” after that night which was clearly an anthem for the movement during the 1960s. Then, his continued business accomplishments during that year. What was strange is although you are made aware in clear terms that Malcolm was assassinated less than one year after that historic night, the movie makes no mention of the fact Sam Cooke, like Malcolm, was shot and killed on December 11, 1964, more than two months before Malcolm was assassinated. This is significant because anytime you talk about someone’s life, and then demonstrate that they were killed for how they lived, which is definitely the story for Malcolm X, the unwritten and subtle suggestion for most people who are not well versed in struggling for justice is that if you fight against the oppressor, death awaits you. Ironically, Malcolm was killed by the U.S. government due to his increasing and emerging political radicalization on an international and Pan-African basis. Sam Cooke, all respect due, was killed under circumstances which at best have to be described as confusing and strange. He was shot and killed by an African woman hotel manager who testified that he had kidnapped a young woman and had held her against her will. The young woman also reported the same thing. Whether that’s what happened or not, the point is that it was indeed odd that the movie would not report Cooke’s demise the same way they reported Malcolm’s. In our humble opinion, it doesn’t happen that way because whatever the reason for Cooke’s death, it definitely wasn’t related to any fighting he was doing on behalf of the African masses so that usual dig suggesting that if you struggle, you die, wouldn’t be necessary.

Its that last part which makes yet another movie that falls far short. And, this isn’t shade against Regina King or any of the producers of the movie. The truth is the only reason any of the things are even issues is because despite the fact information exists every where we turn in this information based society, most of us have no interest and desire to study any of it. Hollywood will never educate us about our history. Even if someone like King wanted to, the Hollywood movie industry will never see doing so as a sensible profit approach because we as a community never demand that. So, to them, in order for anything to make money, even something presented about our historical figures, it must be done in an entertainment way as if we are pigs who only know how to wallow in filth to achieve satisfaction. Under these conditions, even if King was the most conscious and conscientious director on earth, it would not be possible to do much more than what was done. This is true because it is the masses of people who guide and direct the artists, not the other way around. Cooke producing “A Change Gonna Come” was the result of his being pushed to do so by not only Malcolm, but the burgeoning movement of our people for forward progress. People demanded more from the artists and they got it whether it was the Supremes, the Isley Brothers, James Brown, whomever. The capitalist system, always alert to ways to confuse us, continues to teach that individuals make history. As long as we continue to believe that and keep waiting for someone else to come along and do what only all of us are capable of doing, the best we will ever get is half stories and misguided confusion that further muddies the waters and keeps us from accepting our true responsibilities to ourselves, our families, our people, and our planet.

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The Untold African & Indigenous History of Leading ANTIFA Work

1/13/2021

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Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton posing in front of the original Black Panther Party for Self Defense office in West Oakland, Califonria, U.S. in 1966. Along with the American Indian Movement and other African and Indigneous orgnaizations that fought against state terror, there are no better examples of anti-fascist work

All over the world, especially within the U.S., the term “ANTIFA” is widely exploited today. The European right in the U.S. uses the phrase as a default for everything wrong in this society so of course, we know that we can quickly and easily dismiss anything that they say about it, and I mean anything. If you had a one hundred dollar bill at a rally for the outgoing empire president and you offered that money to anyone who could legitimately reveal books on anti-fascist work that they have read, you would leave that rally with that one hundred dollar bill every time.

Meanwhile, even among the European (white) left, the perspective of ANTIFA isn’t that much more appealing. Regarding the people who go out and do their absolute best to challenge white supremacists who are out and about all the time now, respect is due. Still, its important that those people, as well as everyone else who has a desire for justice, understands that the definition of people fighting against fascism, or ANTIFA, isn’t just a 20 or 30 something white anarchist dressed in black.

The definition of anti-fascist fighters also isn’t participants within the U.S. military who fought in World War II against the Third Reich and Nazi Germany. Those ex-soldiers are often used by the liberal bourgeoisie establishment as the poster child of anti-fascism, but within a logical context, this belief is incomprehensible. At the time of World War II, the U.S. was a society legally segregated based upon race. African people were relegated to unhuman treatment and Indigenous people were systemically removed from society and placed on reservations. The realities for Africans and Indigenous people during World War II (just as it is today) was the living definition of fascism i.e. living in a police state where the political, economic, and social order is organized to oppress and repress segments of the population as policy. This ill-refutable reality makes the capitalist effort to propagate the U.S. as being anti-fascist during World War II (the U.S. didn’t even see the necessity to enter the war until the Nazis had been in power eight years), as a joke.

What most people never think about when they hear the word ANTIFA is the African and Indigenous masses. Since most people see ANTIFA today as white anarchists, and they seldom see us at the face offs with the racist fascists, we are probably never the people that anyone who hasn’t studied history thinks of when the topic is raised.

We would suggest that there are concrete reasons why you don’t see multitudes of African and Indigenous people at the face offs with white supremacists. In many ways, we are still reeling and recovering from the tremendous toll this government’s counter intelligence programs aimed at African and Indigenous communities has had on our ability to organize. Whether we are talking about assaults against our organizations and/or systemic efforts to destabilize us through drugs, alcohol, etc., in our communities. We are still dealing with the physical (mass incarceration), and psychological impacts of that systemic assault against us that exists along with day to day white supremacy of all variations. So, again, the people showing up today, largely white youth, are to be commended for doing so because its needed, but just because we are not in your videos challenging white supremacists as much as you see yourselves doesn’t mean we aren’t doing it, usually much more often and intensely than anyone else.

It can easily be said that we are the original ANTIFA because the first colonial domination in Africa, in the 1480s by Portugal, was met with resistance by the Ashantis, Akan, and many other Ethnic groupings of African people. This represented the first definition of anti-fascist work because as was previously stated with the World War II example, anti-colonialism is the highest expression of anti-fascism. That’s why by the same token, the crashing of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) and his ships into the Dominican Republic and the subsequent resistance of the Arawak people against that invasion should be seen as the beginning of anti-fascist work in the Western Hemisphere.

Following the 1400s, the examples are endless. C.L.R. James cites in his classic book “Pan-African Slave Revolts” that approximately 500 organized/mobilized resistance efforts against European colonizers took place from the African continent through the middle passage (the terrible journey from Africa to the Americas). These anti-fascist actions happened from the 1400s through the end of chattel slavery in the late 1800s everywhere. The high mark was of course the glorious Haitian revolution in 1804, probably the most successful slave revolt and anti-fascist action in human history. The history here is overwhelming. In concert with those African revolts were the Maroon revolts in the Caribbean and South America that were often unified actions between Africans and Indigenous people. The Quilombos in Brazil are without question a manifestation of that phenomenon. And, Indigenous people waged relentless anti-fascist struggle as well, all through the Americas, non-stop.
The issue here is just one of people recognizing that anti-colonial struggle is anti-fascist struggle by definition. Even the white anarchists should be able to see that if they are against neo-nazis and white supremacists showing themselves that should be because they recognize that those groups have the objective of oppressing and repressing colonized people. That is the reason those organizations exist so by default, if white anarchists fighting them is ANTIFA, than the defining element has to be African and Indigenous people fighting them long before white people began doing it. The courageous battle of Crazy Horse and his people at the Battle of Little Big Horn, anti-fascist work. The Lumbee Indigenous people crushing the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi in 1957, anti-fascist work. The Mau Mau resisting the British in Kenya in the 50s and 60s, anti-fascist work. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense organizing against police terrorism against African people, anti-fascist work. The original Black Panther Party in Lowndes Country Alabama fighting against white supremacy there, anti-fascist work. The American Indian Movement defending the Indigenous people on the Pine Ridge reservation from Dick Wilson and his armed GOON squads, anti-fascist work. The taking over of Wounded Knee, South Dakota by Indigenous activists, anti-fascist work. The mobilization of the Republic of New Afrika against the state apparatus in Mississippi in 1973, anti-fascist work. And, the Black Lives Matter’s struggle against police terrorism in current times and the equally contemporary Standing Rock resistance to protect land and water rights for Indigenous people, anti-fascist work. We can go on and on, but the main point here is that African and Indigenous people started the clock on anti-fascist work all over the world. We have done serious anti-fascist work which by definition has to be defined as work that eliminates oppression against everyone, not pretending to fight fascism in the left hand while maintaining it in the right hand like the U.S. did in World War II

And, the white anarchist left, well intentions or not, needs to do an awful lot of anti-colonial study. Speaking from an analytical position and lots of personal experience, much of that anti-fascist work is far from absent from white supremacist values and practices.

So, don’t necessarily look for African and Indigenous people at the confrontation events. What you have to recognize though is that every movement we engage in is by definition a challenge to the status quo capitalist system. As a result, whether we hit the streets and/or organize against police terror, land/water rights, etc., that’s core ANTIFA work even if we aren’t wearing all black and covering our faces. The reality that the only reason ANTIFA is such a commonly used word today, whether used correctly or not, is the result of the exposure white activists have received by participating in Black Lives Matter activities. Yet another example of the mechanisms of systemic white supremacy where we do much of the groundwork, but never receive any of the acknowledgement.

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10 Word/Concepts that are Completely Misunderstood in the U.S.

1/8/2021

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Mass confusion has always been and continues to be a primary weapon utilized by the capitalist system to ensure the necessary interference and distraction is always prevalent to keep people focused on any and everything except the corruption and oppression coming from that system. A fundamental example that illustrates how common and normalized confusion is in this society is how little people are encouraged and/or required to study and present comprehensive analysis to support their opinions. Instead, any half-backed theory with absolutely no prepared analysis is acceptable because truth and justice have absolutely no connection to material reality within the capitalist system. In other words, according to capitalism, its perfectly fine for you to claim one plus one equals 40 because doing so is “your truth” and no one in this individualistic driven society has the right to invade upon “your truth.”
To demonstrate the foolishness of this thinking, we will showcase 10 words/concepts here that are commonly spoken about in this society and we challenge those reading to think through what level of unquestionable understanding you have regarding these words/concepts. What we already know is most people, as high as 85 to 90% of those reading, will truly have no concrete analysis to accompany not even 50% of these 10 words/concepts. What this “experiment” should clearly reveal to us is how much work needs to be done because no human progress has ever existed when ignorance and arrogance are the foundation from which a society permits itself to function.

Capitalism

Regarding defining the dominant economic system in the entire world today, most people if asked could not provide even a plausible definition of what capitalism is, where it started, how it started, and how its mechanisms manifest themselves on a day to day basis today. This is true for even the most rudimentary elements of capitalist operations i.e. what drives pricing for products in this society or how trade is managed internationally.

Imperialism

Vladamir Lenin, a leader of the Bolshevick uprising in Russia in 1917, called imperialism the highest manifestation of capitalism in his classic book “Imperialism.” Capitalist economies like the U.S., Canada, Europe, Israel, etc., are dependent upon imperialism to maintain their wealth and control internationally. In other words, without imperialism, the U.S. would not have the wealth it boosts today, yet most people within capitalist countries would struggle to explain what and how imperialism operates, what its relationship is to people’s day to day lives within capitalist countries and exploited countries, and what life would look like in capitalist countries once imperialism is eradicated.

Fascism

This term is being bandied about constantly in the capitalist media. There is so much confusion around it that the surreal reality exists today where people are calling anti-fascist activists = ANTIFA (which is exactly what ANTIFA means – anti-fascist) terrorists, while the white supremacists attempting to discredit ANTIFA are openly wearing clear fascist messaging celebrating the holocaust and parading around with swastikas and confederate flags, the poster child examples of fascism. Meanwhile, most of the people throwing the term fascism around couldn’t tell you what it means. Even the most well meaning folks are using the U.S.’s role in entering World War II in 1941 (after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii – 8 years after Hitler first started instituting fascist policies throughout Europe) as anti-fascism. How could that be true when the U.S. during the 1940s was and is today a fascist society. During the time of that war, millions of Africans in the U.S. were subjected to racist Jim Crow segregation laws in the U.S., the epitome of fascism. Indigenous people were subjected to being forced on reservations, an equal epitome of fascism. Yet, there is so much confusion about this word/concept that most people see absolutely no contradiction with this type of paradox of analysis existing and thriving throughout the discourse in this society.

White Supremacy

Despite repeated efforts by forces everywhere to properly define white supremacy as an institutional system of oppression, this term/concept as well as other derivatives like institutional racism, etc., are commonly thought to be defined by individualistic and unscientific interpretations. For example, its very easy to find people who will tell you with a straight face that it is not possible for a European (white) person who is clearly subscribed to racist ideology to be racist because they have a partner from a colonized community. This thinking is as absurd as my saying it would be impossible for me to abuse and oppress women because my mother and daughter are women.

Patriarchy

Further from the last example, patriarchy is so commonly misunderstood that its difficult to find people who have the political understanding to separate patriarchy as a form of institutional oppression from traditional cultural practices. For example, many African people are confused and believe practices like polygamy, forced marriage, the inability of women identifying people to divorce, etc., are traditional African cultural practices when in reality these practices are manifestations of the institutionalization of patriarchy as a dominant practice under the development of feudalism during that systems period of economic dominance.

Scientific Socialism

Being the antithesis of capitalism, socialism is possibly the most widely repeated, yet most commonly misunderstood, term in the English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and all of the colonial languages that dominate communication today. You don’t have to go far to find people who will tell you confidently that capitalist countries in Europe or Canada are socialist countries because those societies have social welfare programs brought upon because of the people in those societies pushing for socialist policies, even when those people don’t know it and consider themselves opposed to socialism. An example in the U.S. is people who would commit insurrection if their postal service was eliminated or if their government healthcare was stopped while at the same time, those people will die on the cross in their denouncing of socialism. No where within this confusion is there any requirement for people to at least identify the characteristics of the implementation of scientific socialism principles and practices. Its as if its perfectly acceptable for anyone to give themselves a label and/or anyone to pin a label on anyone and anything. As a result, its now acceptable for that label to become defined solely based upon what that entity tagged with the label is doing regardless of whatever objective criteria exists to define what that label actually should mean. As incredible as this is, the basic history of economics in the world is virtually unknown and most people believe, in error, that capitalism has always been here and it will always be here.

Organization and Mobilization

Most people, even those who consider themselves actively involved in activist work, cannot provide even a workable analysis of the difference between these two approaches. In fact, many people don’t even understand that there is a distinct difference between the two concepts. Anyone who thinks there is no difference or that the difference isn’t significant, is without question operating without a clear focus and we guarantee you that as a result, the efforts those folks make to engage oppression are consistently going to be met with frustration, confusion, and a further lack of productivity.

Revolution

I can never stop chuckling when I remember one of my very favorite rollercoasters located at the amusement park close to where I grew up in San Francisco. That rollercoaster was named “the Revolution” and what was intriguing to me about the title was the operation of that rollercoaster was to use high speeds to send the coaster circling up and down, multiple times. In other words, the motion of that ride went nowhere, symbolizing going in circles and standing still. Of course, the basis is the concept of revolutions which means a circular motion that generates speed based on circling over and over at an increased momentum. Clearly, that scientific definition of “revolutions” has absolutely nothing to do with the correct definition of mass and organized efforts by humanity to replace one political, economic, and social order with another one, the actual political definition of revolution. Yet, most people you encounter, if you simply ask them, a clear understanding and definition of revolution will be something that escapes you in frustrating fashion.

Anarchism

Another word/concept that is thrown around constantly. And, the sad truth about this term/concept is the majority of people’s understanding of it is based not on anything analytical, but how they understand the fictional television show about the motorcycle gang and similar focuses on people existing in a reality where there is no organization. In truth, this is the opposite of what anarchism actually means, but good luck finding people who can provide you a comprehensive definition of it, including many of the people who claim this term/concept as an ideology and lifestyle.

Nationalism

This term/concept is adversely impacted by white supremacy where the entire perspective of the world is defined through the experiences of Europe and its descendants. Since nationalism in Europe has been defined by hegemony and oppressive dominance like that of the Third Reich in Germany, this has become the working definition of nationalism despite the fact born out through Sekou Ture’s analysis that the histories of Europe and Africa, the Western Hemisphere, etc., are uniquely different and complex. Nothing is totally bad and nothing is totally good. A more balanced and correct analysis is that everything has good and bad and what’s in question is what degree of dominance each phenomenon brings to the table. Despite this being unquestionably true, and nationalism being a legitimate tool for colonized communities (something that even Lenin acknowledged in “Imperialism”), most people today could not decern the difference between the narrow chauvinistic and reactionary nationalism of white supremacy with the anti-colonial liberating nationalism of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America and the Caribbean.

I would jump up and do flips if anything stated in this piece could be proven inaccurate because doing so would mean we are much farther along on these critical topics/concepts than we actually are, but I know better. If anything, the ignorance around these questions is understated in this piece. And, although we only included 10 examples, we could easily include another 10, another 100. Another 500, etc. The solution to this is the institution of organized political education. That means us moving away from the criteria for analysis being having internet access, a keyboard, and a subjective opinion, to where it should be; engaging in constant study of the history and conditions that impact us and working with each other to learn how to use that history to properly interpret those conditions so that we can work together to effectively make the necessary changes. As Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) was fond of saying, “if you are sick, you take medicine. Why when you are ignorant don’t you read a book?” We would add why not read a book with others in a consistent and ongoing basis? We assure you that if you do so, the rest will slowly, yet surely, begin to take care of itself.

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A Pan-Africanist Perspective of White/Right Terrorism in D.C.

1/6/2021

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White/right terrorists decided to disrupt the bourgeoisie proceedings to validate the electoral college election of Joe Biden as the next empire president of the U.S. by storming and taking over the Capitol building, disrupting the congressional proceedings. The irony is everywhere and overwhelming. As I watched a European fascist sitting at and pillaging through the desk of one of the bourgeoisie lawmakers while resting their feet on that desk in the U.S. Capitol, I couldn’t help but reflect on all the irony. What those fascists are doing in D.C. is reminiscent of a scene from the 1915 movie “Birth of a Nation.” That movie, the calling card that served to popularize and normalize the Ku Klux Klan, had a scene where African legislators, elected as a result of the reconstruction period after the civil war, were sitting in the Capitol building, eating fried chicken, with their feet up on the desks. Its interesting that these pro-Trump fascists, many of them who ally with the ideas and actions of the Ku Klux Klan, are actually personifying in real life the white supremacy displayed in that racist movie 106 years ago.

Another irony is the fact that the takeover could happen as easily as it apparently did. News commentators on all the bourgeoisie stations, are repeating over and over how shocked they are at the reality of this takeover. Anyone who has paid even the slightest attention to the last several years in this country has been predicting events like this for some time now. Activists like myself ,who are greatly concerned about fascist violence being carried out against marginalized people in this society have been training and doing our best to prepare people for this terrorism. I am not at all surprised by what has happened at the Capitol. In fact, the only question I had was why it took the fascists as long as it did to give action to their grievances about the November election.

A third irony is how unprepared the bourgeoisie police forces throughout the Capitol were for this takeover. We know from history that these same police apparatuses know exactly how to secure those institutions. We can provide the example of the original Million Man March in 1995 and the follow up march in 2015. Organized by Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan, both marches attracted millions of participants. Both actions were widely viewed (especially the 1995 march) as subversive activities despite the themes being peaceful pronouncements like “Atonement and Reconciliation.” In comparison, these fascists announced their intention of taking over the Capitol and Trump himself called for people to march on the Capitol building while he spoke to his followers moments before the siege took place. For those who still don’t get it, the irony there is that during the Million Man March events, the entire city of Washington D.C. was shut down before the march events even began. As a participant in those marches, I can tell you that there was no public transportation, it was completely shut down. Streets were reorganized by police to facilitate their ability to control the movements of people. And, the police presence during those march events was overwhelming, even when entering the Capitol Mall early in the morning this was true. Even congressional business during the day of the original Million Man March, which took place on a Monday, was suspended so that the buildings would be empty. This was also true for downtown businesses. The city actually encouraged businesses to close in the days leading up to the march event.

The reality of how peaceful African participants in those Million Man Marches were perceived and treated compared to the cuddling, patience, and respect for these terrorist white/right people descending upon the Capitol now says all that needs to be said about the mechanisms of white supremacy. Still, despite the clear truth in that reality, people, please refrain from the tired analysis of “if it was Black people…” When we stand up for justice, we challenge the entire U.S. capitalist power structure. We do that because whether you know it or not, this power structure was built and is maintained on the oppression and exploitation of Africa and African people. By comparison, these white/right terrorists pose no threat to the capitalist status quo despite the claims by bourgeoisie news pundits. These people have been entitled and placated for the last several years. That’s the reason they are so bold as to carry out the actions they are carrying out in D.C. These entitled fascists don’t even have the political sophistication to hide their faces while they break federal laws. These news stations are looping footage of several ignorant fascists. It may take weeks, or months, but fascist police will definitely utilize their technologies to identify these fascist operatives so that they can respond to the sure to come political pressure from the liberal capitalist elements in this society to hold those people accountable. The boldness is symbolic of their arrogance due to police previously showing absolutely no desire to stop their terrorist activities. Police haven’t had that incentive because these non police fascists truly do not act against the interests of the international capitalist bourgeoisie. Their actions like the D.C. takeover may cause some inconvenience for the power structure, but those people are not working for systemic change. Consequently, they are never going to be the target of the fascist forces that pose as police, national guard, etc., in this country. If you still don’t see this clear distinction and naively expect respect and justice from the organized forces of fascism (police) that the amateur Trump fascists emulate and imitate, we don’t have anything left to say to you. And, further, there is very little that Rev. Al Sharpton says that I would agree with, but he was correct to raise the question of some police cooperation at best, or sympathy at worse, for these fascist terrorists as the only logical explanation to clear up how it was so incredibly easy for these people to gain such quick and complete access to the bourgeoisie Capitol building.

Finally, the references by the capitalist media to brand the Capitol takeover as “similar to banana republics” is yet another strong irony. By banana republics, these people are referring to unstable government transfer practices throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean. The same throughout Africa and Asia. What’s ironic about this is that these pundits will never say, and most of you will never take time to study, is the efforts by U.S. imperialism to work overtime to undermine the governments and democratic processes in those countries labeled as “banana republics.” The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA – criminals in action) played major roles in undermining democracy in the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, and other places in Africa. They have done the same in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Bolivia, Venezuela, and other places. Indonesia, China, Laos, Vietnam, and North and South Korea have also been victimized by U.S. intelligence sabotage. Anyone who has a sense of this history of repression knows that nothing happening at the U.S. Capitol now serves to justify some racist analysis of colonized countries. Instead, what’s happening at the Capitol is exactly what Malcolm X spoke off after the assassination of John F. Kennedy when he said it was a case of the chickens coming home to roost. If you initiate, facilitate, and carry out violence and destabilization against everyone around the world then eventually, that will come back to bite you as well.

Just to be clear, we have absolutely no dog in this fight. We don’t claim the U.S. Capitol. The entire U.S. government and all of its institutions are enemies of the African masses. The majority of these non police fascists carrying out this takeover are racist and against the interests of African people and the bulk of humanity. What we are shocked about is why it has taken the white/right so long to recognize the reality that this government does not represent their interests. We are not in favor of fascists taking over fascist institutions. Nor do we support police moving against them for doing so. Nor do we see this incident as significant beyond the news cycle for the next several days. What we suggest people take from this situation is that the naïve perspective of Trump as some sort of independent fascist entity that somehow has power over the capitalist power structure, is a fantasy. And, the full forces of U.S. capitalist/imperialism will demonstrate that with their response to this takeover. What people who are dedicated to justice should take from all of this is that although the white/right is erratic, racist, and in now way indicative and representative of any of the work we are engaging in for forward human progress, the fact the white/right has advanced to open attack and hostility against the U.S. capitalist system is noteworthy. White revolutionaries, wherever they are, if they are serious, they will take this as a clear invitation to initiate and intensify work to organize the white masses with correct political education messages that crush the reactionary white/right, racist foundation of their current actions. For the rest of us, instead of wasting energy lamenting why the police institutions don’t engage in the type of violent terrorism against white people as they use against the African masses, we need to wake up, get serious, and accept that this country is never going to treat us the same way they treat the masses of white people, no matter what they or us do. In fact, we can organize a 100% peaceful action and it will always be met with state terrorism while violent white fascists will be politely escorted away as they are being escorted from the Capitol now. Make no mistake about it, the capitalist system will regain this day, but the fascist white masses are not going to go away. Your lives as colonized Africans, Indigenous people, LGBTQ (especially colonized people), women, etc. You are in extreme danger. We can expect these people to target us because they do not have the organization, courage, or commitment to wage any real and sustained attack against the U.S. government. You should look at 2021 as a calling card to get prepared. Join an organization and get ready. Do work and continue to build capacity so that we can move to the point of being able to invoke the best interests of our people and communities despite whatever these fascist people and the certainly fascist government they are engaging with are doing.

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Exposing the Lies About White/Right Support for Police

1/3/2021

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The capitalist system has one major resource that it uses nonstop to maintain its overwhelming dominance over the entire planet. That resource is its ability to propagate the masses in any way that it desires. Need examples? Systemic problems like poverty, white supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia, and environmental decline are routinely dismissed and if the system grudgingly has to acknowledge these problems, they are reduced to individual manifestations instead of systemic operations. This is because the capitalist system always wants everyone to look any and everything except a critical assessment of the failures of capitalism.

Another outstanding example of this contradiction is the propagation of the European working class. And by European working class we mean everywhere they exist on the planet, particularly within the settler colonial empires like the U.S., Canada, occupied Palestine (Israel), Azania (South Africa), Zimbabwe, and Australia (although this is also a reality throughout Europe as well). In these countries the European (white) working class has been effectively convinced by the capitalist system that the only valid definition of what’s in the best interest of white people is whatever the capitalist system says those interests are. As a result, most white people in these countries view the interests of the ruling capitalist billionaire classes as the same as their interests, despite the fact they may be working poor, unemployed, have no healthcare, etc. And, this is not a new phenomenon. For centuries, white working class people have been deluded into believing their most important role is to serve as shock troops for international capital and they have served that role in sparkling fashion in Azania, Zimbabwe, Palestine, Canada,the U.S., Europe, and Africa.

One of the clearest ways this manipulation of white working people has been manifested is when it comes to the question of the police. When you look at places like Azania, the U.S., Canada, etc., the white right working class has positioned itself lock step with the police when it comes to police terrorism against the African, and other oppressed masses. In the minds of these people, no matter the evidence, no matter what the videos show, no matter the credibility of the victim, they always i.e. 100% of the time, stand with the police. In the U.S. an entire movement called “Blue Lives Matter” has emerged to demonstrate this unequivocal support for police whenever there is brutality against colonized people, And, this is true consistently even before facts and analysis of these incidents are available.

Of course, those of us who study this capitalist system carefully and consistently have never been swayed by these superficial appearances. As unlikely as it would appear, the coronavirus has helped expose just how false the narrative of universal white support for police is and always has been.

People within these capitalist countries are completely socialized to function through an individualistic perspective where the world is seen as an extension of our noses. Also, truth and justice and material reality are completely divorced within the capitalist system. As a result of these realities, people view and interact with experiences based not on questions of principle, but solely based on self-interest. In other words, although the white working class’s unilateral support for police may be portrayed as unwavering, the truth is these people will only support the police up to the point that it serves whatever objective they are pursuing. Their support of police is tactical, not based on principle as they would have us believe.

A broader analysis of this phenomenon was provided during the 1990s by Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) when he talked about the contradictions of the white working class in the 90s compared to the 60s. He discussed the fact that during his time working in the U.S. south for civil rights with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the white working class played a specific role as the troops for white supremacy and the capitalist system. The Ku Klux Klan and similar racist groups pulled heavily from the white working class and most of the terror carried out against the African masses during that time was carried out and supported by these people. In the 90s, Kwame emphasized that those very same white working class people who served as racial terrorists for the capitalist system, had evolved to engaging in direct conflict with the capitalist system. Or, as Kwame put it; “they began doing things that in the 60s they would have considered communist!” For example, white working class people in the 90s engaged in protest actions against the government. Examples of this are protests that developed around the U.S. government agency attacks against Ruby Ridge and the Branch Davidian group in Waco Texas, U.S. Kwame’s conclusion was that this reality served as an assessment of the decline of the capitalist system because instead of oppressed colonized people pushing from the left against capitalism being the only challenge to the system, now you had white working class people pushing from the right also.

Of course, Kwame and none of us were confused into believing the white working class upheavals against the government was a reality that would benefit the African and oppressed masses right now. These protests, from the left and right, are mostly spontaneous and lacking in clear political analysis so at best, these are reactions to the limitations of the capitalist system that we are seeing with the coronavirus in 2020 and beyond.

Still, despite the fact it is true that the white working class is Atlantic Ocean size separated from any type of class solidarity with oppressed colonized people, its important for activists for justice to have a clear vision on these questions. And, a clear perspective is that white working class people would not support police barging into their houses and shooting their family members, regardless of what crimes the police suspected, past criminal records of their families, etc. Examples of this are endless. The Proud Boys, a cowardly white supremacist formation that has roots in the U.S. and Europe, has portrayed itself as a pro “law enforcement” organization, but when police sought to intervene in unprovoked attacks Proud Boys carried out against state properties in protest of covid shutdowns, once the police engaged in skirmishes with them, they fought the police in ways left street activists like Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA could learn lessons from. Also, these international white working class protests against shutdowns in multiple cities are seeing white people engage in fights against police everywhere. And, the spectacle of the white working class family pleading for the U.S. government to intervene in the imprisonment of their daughter who was incarcerated in the Caribbean for violating covid protocols there says a lot about how white working people are pro police until they are impacted by police actions.

Understanding this reality serves multiple important purposes. First, colonized people need to take note of the fact that these white people have absolutely no moral grounding to criticize left activists i.e. BLM, ANTIFA, etc. Presently, they are engaging in the same vandalism against state properties that just a few months ago they castigated left activists for. And, of course, it has to be stated that allegations against left activists are clearly fabricated. So-called “riots” are always started by police and anyone who has attended any left demonstration has seen this with their own eyes. People on the left go to demonstrations to stand against injustices against humanity. No one goes intending to start a rally by breaking windows, burning cars, etc. These things, when they are even carried out by activists and not done by police informants, happen as a result of frustration and anger at being brutalized by police during these demonstrations. This contrasts with white right demonstrations where people are not out for any injustice as much as they are out because they themselves are being prohibited from doing what they believe they should be able to do, regardless of the adverse impacts on others i.e. covid spreading. So, we definitely need to understand that the arguments these people make against our legitimate left protests against police terror, etc., are ill-legitimate so we should stop attempting to defend our work to these people and continue working. Second, its important for us to recognize the ill-legitimacy of the capitalist system. In truth, no one respects and supports the police. The white working class, struggling with its own class confusion, only supports the police when police serve as an instrument to repress the African and other oppressed masses, but when police oppose white working class interests, it becomes clear that policing in capitalist societies really has no true allies.

The European anti-colonials activist community is overwhelmingly small and virtually nonexistent. And, the contradictions within white activism do not indicate that any strong changes to this unfortunate reality will be on the horizon anytime soon, but its still important to provide a more complete analysis so that any sincere activists can know what their work should be. The masses of white working class people everywhere need revolutionary organization. They need white people working to provide them with strong political analysis. The fact that this does not happen, despite those of us in the African liberation movement calling upon white activists who constantly ask us what they can do to engage this work, is the primary reason that these contradictions are so problematic today.

For us, a true and unfiltered understanding that no one really supports the police is necessary to help us avoid the pressure propaganda that is designed to make us feel that the only moral position we have available to us is supporting police on some level. Policing in capitalist societies is terrorism against our people. There never has been and there never will be a legitimate argument for supporting police. Once the propaganda is removed and honest discussions based on grounded history are engaged, there is no question about this no matter where, when, how, and who this is discussed with.

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