Kwame Nkrumah, El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X), Assata Shakur, and Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael)  were/are revolutionary activists and theorists.  Each of these immortal Africans articulated a revolutionary vision.  Each advocated socialist revolution as the solution to the oppression African people face.  Each were involved in armed resistance to the forces that exploit humanity.  All of them understood the role that guns play in our liberation struggle.  All of them realized that guns are a part of the struggle that will carry us forward.  What separates each of these immortals from those people who attempt to blur the lines between revolution and rebellion is while none of these freedom fighters opposed urban rebellion, none of them advocated rebellion over revolution.  Each of them understood the important distinction.  The responses to the racist decision not to indict a murderous pig in Ferguson illustrate to us that this distinction between revolution and rebellion must be clarified.  


Revolution defined is a protracted process where people work to organize the masses of people to engage in sustained resistance against the power structure in ways that will result in the overthrow of that power structure.  This "organizing work" consists of building relationships with people and engaging them in a process of political education and work that is designed to heighten political consciousness in a way that increases the chances for revolution to take place.  For example, I live in Portland, Oregon.  I grew up in San Francisco, California.  Oregon, unlike California, has a strong culture for recycling.  That culture is so strong it would not be unlikely that a person who decided to throw something that should be recycled into a trash can would be confronted for doing so.  This could result because of the aforementioned consciousness around recycling that exists in Oregon.  That consciousness is so evident that I've seen my own behavior advance around this question since moving to Oregon.  I find that I carefully think about where to place recycles, something I never would have thought about when I was living in California.  The point is the work that has been done in Oregon around creating a consciousness about recycling has created a cultural atmosphere where doing so is expected.  Believe it or not, this is exactly what we need to do in order to develop revolutionary consciousness.  The way we need to do it is by working with people on a daily basis in order to develop collective consciousness, not just around recycling, but around being 100% opposed to capitalism and organizing in support of revolutionary organization of every sector of society; women, students, workers, peasants, elders, etc., to move in unison against the power structure.  This movement takes place with an understanding that the objective is to remove the power structure and replace it with a revolutionary socialist system where people are more important than profit.  Where democracy becomes a valued component of society.  Where healthcare, education, etc, are provided to the people free so that a broader understanding of revolution is cultivated and institutionalized.  The type of revolutionary work described above takes time and dedication.  It doesn't generate the type of excitement that spontaneous rebellion i.e. being "on the streets" generates, but it is the type of work that will bring about the fundamental change that we say we want.  


By comparison, rebellion happens as a result of the people's righteous anger at oppression.  Rebellion, whether it involves burning property, attacking police, whatever, is justified and should always be looked at within the context of the long years of suffering the people reacting have experienced.  Anyone, after experiencing brutal treatment for a period of time, has a boiling point and when that point is reached, it is not going to manifest itself in a neat and comfortable way.  Still, this type of rebellion cannot ever be confused with revolution and people should develop a consciousness to not be tricked by the power structure into confusing revolutionary organizing tactics, which won't necessarily involve participating with rebellion activities, with being anti-militant action.  For example, revolutionary organizers will work with reformist activists as a part of revolutionary strategy.  Revolutionary organizers may participate in what some people would term as reformist rallies around issues like police terrorism, but those activists have a strategy in doing so that lay people don't understand.  That strategy is to politicize the reformers because revolutionaries understand that in this place and time in history, reformers have the numbers that we need.  Since revolutionaries understand that our task is to win the hearts and minds of reformists, reactionaries, and even counter-revolutionaries, over to revolution, we will work with anyone to advance the revolutionary ideology because we know that this is the proven strategy that will build the type of collective consciousness that will make revolution possible.  


So, understand that a critique of rebellion isn't a condemnation of violence.  Revolutionaries understand better than you do that violence is a necessary part of the revolutionary struggle.  The difference between us and you is we don't romanticize violence and we don't rise that phase above the critically important phase of political education and revolutionary organizing.  We understand that the only we will can expect the masses of people to have the determination that they can defeat the massive military might of the people we are fighting against is we have to convince enough people of the need to fight.  This is done by convincing people to get involved.  That's why we always encourage people to join organizations because we know that a non-participant cannot make a proper assessment of any situation.  Huey P. Newton correctly said "no participation, no right to observation."  So, telling people to join organizations, even reformist ones, is a part of the strategy to move people towards revolutionary consciousness and action.  Most of you who claim to be revolutionaries didn't come out of womb being for socialism or anarchy or whatever you claim to be your revolutionary ideology.  


Kwame Nkrumah advocated "positive action" in Ghana and the Convention People's Party engaged in a campaign of strikes, work stoppages, and societal disruptions, but these actions were not carried out by random individuals who are militant on a Tuesday night in November before sitting down to imperialist dinner on a reactionary holiday two days later.  Those actions in Ghana were a part of an organized effort with an objective of raising political consciousness.  And while Ghana did not do enough of the necessary political education work, there are plenty of examples in Vietnam with the Viet Minh Front, Cuba, etc. where these tactics are successful. It's not our responsibility to write everything here that you need to know. It's your responsibility join organizations and push them towards revolutionary consciousness building.  Until you are ready to do that, stop getting in grown folks business that you don't understand.  We will continue to organize people on a daily basis, in spite of how boring it may seem to those who are more interested in adventurism and ego gratification than the true liberation of the masses of people the world over.

I'm about to publish my second literary fiction manuscript (novel), but I feel like it's my first.  I published the 362 page "Find the Flower that Blossoms" in 2010.  It took me about two years to complete that one and it was my first attempt - and a very green one indeed - at getting my fiction work published.  I learned a lot from the experience, most notably that I would definitely use a different publisher the next time around.  The Publishing industry is without dispute a leg of the entertainment industry and consequently, once you interact with it, creativity and idealism stops where money starts.  All struggling artists understand that because this is the place where your art gets completely dismissed and disrespected as policy.  And, although I know artists who create music, poetry, paintings, etc., and I certainly respect all of those art forms to the fullest, I feel like the exploitation is turned to full blast with fiction writers.  I believe this because we can't produce our work in days, weeks, or months.  It's going to take years to produce a book, any type of book worth it's weight.  So, although I am convinced that my first novel was a quality work, I realize that it was my first, and I learned much about what and how I wanted to implement improvements on the sequel.

None of the above is the reason that I feel my upcoming book is my first, and not my second,  The reason for that is the mostly negative life changing events that I was experiencing at the time my first book came out.  I was suffering from depression at the time the first book came out, although I didn't know that.  I had just lost my mother and the racist, but well paying, job that I had at the time. I was working a boring job where I was severely overqualified and underpaid.  Plus, the person I was married too had checked out of the relationship, but hadn't informed me (you know how you keep trying until you realize you are the only one doing so).  So, things were rough.  Really rough.  I had no book release party.  No celebration.  In fact, the highlight of the announcement for me was commuting three hours from that terrible job to open the box of newly arrived books just to look at and hold a copy.  Just me.  No one else there to enjoy that moment with me. No one else that cared at the time.  The sad thing is that things in my life got worse before they started to get better so that night with the box of books ended up being the highlight of releasing my first book.  Still, its important that I say that all of the negative events that were taking place at that time set the stage for the much more positive environment that I find myself in today.  Sekou Ture said "quantity makes quality" or in other words, keep working, never give up, and never let anything or anyone discourage you, no matter how bad things may look.  Keep believing.  Keep working.  Keep moving forward.  Use the negativity as a channeling mechanism to keep you fighting back.  That's me. I refuse to let anything convince me I can't move forward or that humanity can't either.

Fast forward five years to November/December 2014.  I just got notification four days ago from my (new) publisher that they have completed editing my sequel novel (the publisher of the first book never edited it), and I've spent the last four days spending every waking moment available joyfully re-reading the book in order to sign off on it.  This evening, I pushed the button emailing my approved copy of the 330 page, 141,000 word manuscript entitled "The Courage Equation"  to this new publisher.  They have committed to release this book by the December holiday, 2014!  Needless to say, as the soul group Shalamar sang three decades ago "The second time around will be so much better than the first time!"  I will definitely have a celebration when this book comes out.  In fact, I'm going to spend the rest of the year celebrating.  And, although I feel my first book had a strong message, the message in this book I believe to be groundbreaking.  This five year work picks up where the first book left off.  It's a story that isn't being told by anyone else out here.  African women, many born in Africa, uniting with white women to wage a sincere struggle against racism.  Positive African men who are forced to battle against their sexism and work with the women on equal terms.  A positive depiction of Africa as the backdrop for the story and people fearlessly standing up against racist terror, sexual assault behavior, and institutional discrimination.  In other words, I'm extremely proud of what this book has to say and the way that it says it.  I'm glad to be working with a publisher that seems (at least so far) to respect the integrity of this work, and I'm grateful to be in so much of a better position in life today than I was in 2010.

My point in this post?  That capitalism is a decadent, anti-human system.  It will do everything it can to sap your spirit and make you think there is something wrong with you when things don't go the way they should.  The lesson that has been reaffirmed for me is if you don't have a process in place that reminds you of your humanity every second of every day, you will have no choice except to fall victim to this system's mechanism to break you down and steal your soul.  Believe in yourself because doing so makes it possible for you to believe in humanity.  And, if you can believe in humanity, you can believe positive change is possible.  I believe all of that and my life is a living testimony to those principles, despite the efforts of so many and so much to derail my work and crush my spirit.  So, yes, I'm celebrating. I know that anyone who reads "The Courage Equation" will be inspired, but more importantly than that, I know that even if not one person reads it, I've already won, but the beauty is with this book, unlike my first one, I know people are going to read it.  And unlike my first one, I have no anxiety about people reading it and I'm prepared and better experienced at being able to put it in people's hands.  Watch out world because this mission is in full swing and no force on Earth can stop us!  Last, but not least, I want to thank every person over the last five years (and there have been many) who has expressed kind sentiments of personal support and you know who you are.  I heard each and everyone of you and your words live within me everyday!

The accompanying picture is my daughter and I taken in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in April of 2014.  In case you somehow missed it, the significance of Philadelphia, and our reason for being there, is due to it being the place where Ku Klux Klansmen/women/police brutally and barbarically killed James Chancy, Andrew Goodman, and William Schwerner in 1964.  My daughter and I have always used our time together to commemorate the sacrifices of those who came before us, so we decided to spend each of our birthdays this year (10 days apart in April) in Mississippi.  It was surreal as we wandered around this rural Mississippi town of about 6000.  A young local African woman commented to us how much we didn't fit into rural Mississippi with my daughter's locked hair and African dress and my AFRICAN ball-cap and Black Panther tee shirt.  We had already concluded as much by the way the local white folks stopped to stare at us at every place we stopped in Philadelphia.  Yes, even 50 years later, the aura of oppression is still very much a stifling presence in the air, but this is also true in California, Oregon, etc., if you are skilled and experienced enough to detect it.

We traveled through and from Philadelphia, to Canton, to Jackson, and traced the footsteps of courageous warriors  before us like Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), Mukasa Ricks (Willie), Ella Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King, and all the other soldiers from the historic "March Against Fear" (the Black Power march) from June, 1966.  My daughter and I stopped along a lonely road and had a moment of silence for those who gave their lives for us, but  our mood was not a somber one.  We discussed the spirit of resistance that characterized our history and we recognized that our decision to travel those rural roads armed, in spite of it being 2014, was very consistent with that history.  She and I discussed in detail the fact that our people were always armed and ready to resist the KKK, police, and any racist elements that threatened them, and often they did end up doing just that.  

Our discussions motivated her to ask me about the story she had heard many times from myself and long time comrades about a previous confrontation I had with KKK members in California before she was born.  The story felt appropriate as we drove  those Mississippi back-roads that day so in spite of her already knowing these events, I immediately restated the events of that spring day in 1981 in Fresno, California.  I only lived in Fresno just long enough to complete classes at Fresno City College that permitted me to transfer to the university to complete my college education and to have this particular experience, but this day made Fresno a special place forever for me.  You see, myself and four homeboy African friends did what we usually did after our classes, we strolled down the street to the Manchester Mall on Blackstone Blvd, but this day was to be different.  In anticipation of the visit of then KKK Grand Imperial Wizard Bill Wilkinson, there were KKK members stationed outside the main entrance of the mall.  There were four of them, all decked out completely with white robes and hoods.  They were equipped with two doberman dogs and at least one of the men had a long linked chain that he kept lashing out in front of him.   They were distributing leaflets announcing Wilkinson's visit to mall visitors.  I remember the moment we all saw them.  We each stopped and I think one of us remarked something to the effect of "ain't this a b - - - h!!"  There was no horror.  No shock.  There was no trauma.  Instead, there was a strong sense within each of us asking who the hell did they think they were?  We interpreted their presence as an intimidation act against us and we weren't having it.  The other emotion I remember having is complete contempt for the large number of white people who I saw take literature from these robbed terrorists.  Seeing this confirmed for me that at least a large percentage of these people approved of the klan's presence, which in my mind, meant they agreed with this effort to intimidate us.  

Now, since I completely understand that today's world that we live in is completely different than the world that existed in 1981, I realize that many people today are confused about who the KKK is.  And, with some of their very strategic messages today, along with other white supremacist/separatist organizations, they are able to effectively trick some of you who have no historical context from which to properly evaluate the KKK.  For me, having even at the age of 18 engaged in pretty extensive study and analysis of the klan that included hearing the horror stories of elders in my family, there was no illusion that these people are violent, terrorist, cowardly, beasts who had a track record of inflicting attacks against my people with there usually always being no consequences.  As a result, I had already begun my life long journey of listening to the message of people like Malcolm X, Robert Williams, and Huey P. Newton.  People who advocated and practiced self-defense and organization among African people.  So, this consciousness fueled my, and my friend's strategy for responding to the klan that day.  We called reinforcements and assembled in the grassy area at the other end of the mall.  Some hour or so later, we had about 15 youth ready for action.

Without providing details, several minutes later, the dobermans ran free.  At least two of the klansmen were hugging the ground and two of them were partially disrobed and be-hooded.  We took several of their leaflets and spent the next several days having fun dialing the phone number to the KKK's Klegal office in Madera, California.  In the immediate time after the "incident" at Manchester Mall, the media kept reporting that there was an "attack" on KKK members there and the klan, for their part, stayed on the offensive in advertising Wilkinson's visit and their plans to lead a parade of armed klansmen/women down the center of West Fresno, the lone working class African community in Fresno.  We joyfully responded to this news by tirelessly canvassing that African community, making absolutely sure that every house was completely informed of the klan's intentions for their neighborhood.  The response we got from residents was overwhelmingly enthusiastic and the consensus was consistent - "if they come through this community, we got something for them!"

After consulting with trusted militant elders, we gladly flooded the Klegal with this information, encouraging whomever answered their phone to follow through with their threat with a warning that there would a major reception waiting for them.  Needless to say, the cowards never showed up in West Fresno.  

My daughter smiled at the end of the story as she had every previous time she heard it and we went on to celebrate our time together.  My point for telling the story here isn't to attempt to generate support for whatever perception people have of what happened that day in 1981.  My point is after decades of us enduring the worst violence and terror that people have ever had to experience with no justice, whatever action we take is appropriate whenever we see a klansman/woman, whether you approve of that action or not.  Somewhere along the way, racist white people have convinced themselves that they are the only people who own guns and that they are the only ones who will use them and that we will somehow just let them continue to terrorize us without standing up to protect ourselves as any decent human being has the right to do.  They discount the fact that literally millions of us have been forced to live in the inhuman and racist inner cities where violence is a way of life.  Speaking from personal experience, this inner city experience has produced a frustration that many people are just waiting for the opportunity to unload.  The KKK provides the perfect outlet.  So, the message here is if you are a race hating tool for the capitalist system and you think you will come out after the Ferguson decision, or at any other time, and inflict terror against us without a cost, you better think again.  your cowardly terror days are numbered.  It's you who is awakening a sleeping giant. 

As Pan-Africanists, we believe that all people of African descent are Africans and belong to the African nation.  You see, we completely reject the Western definition of nationality which defines it as people who reside within the same geographic area while speaking the same language.  This definition completely ignores the historical reality of African people all over the planet. We are scattered with sizable populations in almost 120 countries worldwide.  This reality instantly makes us the most dispersed people on the planet.  Unfortunately, our world travels are not the result of our curious spirit or our desire to venture away from Mother Africa and see what's out there.  Our current reality results from the brutal and devastating system of colonialism which seized control of Africa, split the continent up into (now) 54 colonial states, that due to do to how they were established - without regard to economic development - are incapable of developing any self sufficiency.  As a result, the neo-colonial system that dominates Africa today forces it to serve the purpose of being a cheap supply of natural resources (like coltan which harnesses communication technology in cell phones and computers.  This mineral ore can only be found in plentiful supply in Africa and currently goes for almost $400.00 a pound USD on the international market).  Colonialism's partner in crime was the brutal tri-angular slave trade which ravaged Africa, stole and kidnapped millions of our ancestors, and brought them to the Americas to toil and create the wealth for the U.S. and Europe that led to the industrialization and capitalism that serves as the world's dominant economic system today.  

This history confirms the real reason Africans, who could actually be biologically related, can meet on a street anywhere in the world today, but because one is born in Cuba, or Brazil, and the other is born in Canada, or the U.S., they don't even recognize each other.  It's these systems that balkanized Africa and created the ethnic strife that inflicts the continent today.  That's why we accept Kwame Nkrumah's definition of nationality which defines it as a people with the same history and culture.

Fortunately, African people are a people of spirit so the sad reality expressed above can never be the entire story.  Right along with that painful narrative must be a truthful account of our people's continuous commitment to fighting back against oppression and continuing our evolution which was slowed by the European intrusion into Africa hundreds of years ago.  One manifestation of that spirit of resistance is the objective of Pan-Africanism which seeks to address the problems of the political and economic instability of Africans by correcting the horrors of colonialism/slavery by uniting Africa under one unified, socialist government.  For Pan-Africanists, this objective will bring an end to Africa being a cheap source of wealth for European/U.S. capitalism. Under Pan-Africanism, Africa's vast mineral resources will be used to advance Africa and her people.  The immense pride and confidence this transformation will make within us will forever impact the negative vestiges of the last 500 years, wiping out any concept of Africa or Africans being inferior.  It will also reconstruct how other people view us as the entire world will witness our assent to true independence and self determination.

The All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) has certainly made and continues to make a concrete contribution towards achieving Pan-Africanism through its daily work all over the world today.  The Pan-African Congresses represent one of the many vehicles Pan-Africanists have used to advance Pan-African concepts.  In order to understand the impact of the Pan-African Congresses, it's important to first define the concept.  For example, what is the difference between a congress and a conference?  Well, a conference is a meeting where people get together to explore a theme or concept.  Workshops are provided around the said topic.  Speakers present.  At the end of the conference, ideas about where the concept will go are presented, but at the end of that conference, participants leave and that is generally the end of it until the next conference comes around, but even then, the concepts are generally initiated from ground zero and the concepts presented all over again, usually to an entirely new audience. By comparison, a congress is a declaration of a commitment to insure the concepts expressed are worked on going forward so that the next congress can not just restate and redefine the concepts, but can carry them forward towards the achievement of the congress objective.

In the case of the Pan-African Congresses, they officially stated with a conference in England in 1900. This meeting was convened by people like Trinadadian Barrister Henry Syvester Williams, and U.S. civil rights activists Anna Julia Cooper and W.E.B. Du Bois.  As this meeting evolved into a later congress, the first four congresses were carried out with meetings held in various locations in Europe.  Much of the work done at these meetings was carried out by intellectuals like DuBois, who during the 20s and 30s, practically kept the congresses alive by himself although it must be noted that Marcus Garvey, and the Universal Negro Improvement Association's (UNIA) work during the 1920s, contributed as much to Pan-Africanism as anything else, despite the UNIA's non-involvement with the congresses themselves.

Garvey and the UNIA's presence cannot be overstated as their militancy clearly made a stamp on the future of Pan African work.  In fact, Garvey himself was prophetic when he said "you never know what impact your work today will have on people tomorrow."  His words grew life with the coming of the 5th Pan-African Congress (5th PAC) in Manchester, England in 1945.  This meeting was very different from the previous four congresses.  DuBois, now in his seventies, was still active and present at the 5th PAC, but what changed was the overwhelming mass character present at the Manchester meeting.  Gone was the dominance of idealism and intellectualism, replaced by a mass of workers, students, and activists dedicated to direct action to bring independence to Africa.  Future anti-colonial leaders like Sekou Ture and Patrice Lumumba were there.  Amy Jacques Garvey, Marcus's widow, had a prominent role.  Kwame Nkrumah, the young leader from Ghana, was selected as the convener of the session.  The mood was uncompromising and this was demonstrated by the resulting resolution passed overwhelmingly that the thing Africa needed more than anything else was the establishment of one unified socialist Africa.  The fact that this resolution could be agreed upon by Africans brought together from every corner on the planet in the anti-communist charged atmosphere of the cold war in full force at that time is phenomenal.  Of course, the African independence movement sprang out of the 5th PAC and the U.S. and Caribbean civil rights movements did too.  There was additional work that advanced Pan-Africanism, like the independence of Ghana in 1957, the independence of Guinea in 1958, and the development of the radical "Casablanca Group" Union of Ghana, Guinea, and Mali in the 60s, but imperialism doesn't rest.  By the 1970s, the inspiration of Lumumba and the National Congelese Movement was snatched from us by a neo-colonialist CIA (criminals in action) effort to topple Lumumba's democratically elected government and assassinate him in the process.  Nkrumah's government was overthrown in 66 and with Sekou Ture's death in 1984 and the subsequent neo-colonial takeover of Guinea, most of Africa was firmly back in the hands of the imperialists.

The 6th Pan-African Congress took place in 1974 in Tanzania, but inconsistent with the meaning of congress, it did not advance the concepts agreed to at the 5th PAC.  In fact, those concepts backtracked.  Instead of examining how to bring one unified socialist Africa into existence, 6th PAC entertained anti-white sentiment as a dominant theme while embracing capitalist concepts like capital investment.  Sekou Ture's brilliant speech designed to take the congress back to 5th PAC was widely criticized by Western attendees as "letting the white man off the hook."  This is absurd when considering that Ture's call for scientific socialism in Africa is the last thing the capitalist white man ever wants to see in Africa or anywhere else for that matter.

There was a 7th PAC in Uganda in 1994, but this meeting regressed farther back into capitalist solutions than the 1974 meeting.  So, now we are looking at a call for an 8th PAC to be held during the first months of 2015 in Ghana.  There is an international Planning Committee and the agenda for discussion is a progressive one with a focus on women's rights in the African world and solutions to the problems facing African people worldwide. The A-APRP is not endorsing 8th PAC in spite of the fact we have an active chapter in Ghana, where it will be held, and a genuine Pan-African presence around the world that many of the participants can only talk about having.  Our reasons for not officially endorsing 8th PAC are not spiteful.  We are always in agreement with Africans coming together to discuss our conditions, especially on an international scale.  Our issue is that the congress process must be solely dedicated to advancing Africa and African people, not just bringing Africans from across the world together to discuss our problems.  We have no reason to reinvent the wheel.  Our fore-parents established a solution for us at the 5th PAC and Nkrumah further developed it with his "Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare" in 1968.  This landmark book detailed the strategy to achieve revolutionary Pan-Africanism which the A-APRP is carrying out on the ground today.  A congress, especially a Pan-African Congress in the tradition of 5th PAC, must move beyond general talk. It must begin to discuss how to bring the vision of one unified socialist Africa into being.  It must involve serious revolutionaries who are ready to tackle that important question and it cannot be afraid to talk openly about the evils of capitalism in Africa and the importance of socialist revolution as our solution.  Anything else, is treason for those who came before us.  The manifesto of the 5th PAC is clear.  If some Africans don't want to carry that mandate, than call their meeting an international meeting of Africans, or even a Pan-African conference.  In order to advance beyond 5th PAC, 8th PAC would need to be a serious strategy session on how to build the All African Committee for Political Coordination and the All African People's Revolutionary Army as outlined in the Handbook.  This is a principled and uncompromising position that we must hold in order to protect the integrity of those who sacrificed so much before us while unselfishly giving us light. 

Today, we are looking at unprecedented attacks against African people.  There are 100 U.S. military bases in Africa and the rush to re-colonize the continent is in full swing.  African people are shot down by the agents of imperialism like dogs in the U.S. Europe, and Australia.  Africa is being accused of every problem imaginable from AIDs to Ebola in the continuing effort to disrespect our homeland and people.  It's time to move forward.  Our people called for revolutionary Pan-Africanism in an internationally organized fashion 80 years ago.  What are we waiting for?

On Thursday I bought Charles Cobb's book; "This Non-Violent Stuff'll Get You Killed!"  By Saturday afternoon, I had completed the 260 page book.  I read prolifically, having read thousands of books on Africa, Europe, North, Central, and South America, Asia, and the Caribbean, so being able to digest books quickly isn't unusual, but there's something else that motivated me to tackle this latest book with such enthusiasm.  What I loved about Cobb's book is that it provides a comprehensive perspective that asserts proudly that African people in the Southern U.S. have always had guns and have always been willing to use them against racists terrorists like the KKK, the Citizens Council, and police.  Cobb presents numerous examples that illustrate the patience and courage Africans displayed in demonstrating for our human rights and how we calmly used our guns to defend ourselves when peaceful means were ineffective.  The book also clarifies that while civil rights organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Congress of Racial Equality, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, all adopted non-violence as organizing principles and tactics, the African communities those organizations sought to organize in Southern regions never accepted non-violence and saw self defense as necessary to protect the civil rights workers and movement.

Cobb's perspective of Southern African communities in the U.S. was a breath of fresh air because it lines up with the common sense analysis that we as human beings would not be willing to risk our lives fighting for U.S. capitalism/imperialism in Europe and Asia just to return here and permit white barbarians to brutalize us without fighting back.  Cobb points to Franz Fanon's argument that African people have the right to physically resist racist violence as a methodology of throwing off psychological oppression.  As we get pounded this weekend with the annual propaganda around "Veterans Day" that tells us we should honor people who signed up to be trained killers for imperialism (understanding that they know not what they do), it does the spirit good to be reminded that many Africans used those imperialist acquired military skills to stand up against racists.

It's also equally soothing to remember the important fact that when we stand up to these people, time and time again, white sheets and all, badges and guns and all, they back down like the cowards they are.  Cobb's book contributes significantly , along with Robert William's "Negroes with Guns" and Kwame Ture's autobiography "Ready for Revolution" and other books, to the narrative that we have always used guns in disciplined and humanistic ways in spite of the brutal terror being directed against us.  This is a critically important argument in a time when even many Africans have accepted (at least on some levels) the backward and racist framing that African people who rise up in open defiance against police terrorism are "thugs and criminals."  If that racist framing didn't have such a devastating effect on the psychology of our people, it would be funny when compared to the fact white people in this society riot over sports teams winning championships and pumpkin patches yet no one speaks of the barbarism and thuggery of white people.  So the hypocrisy of white racism is clearly apparent here and white people are in no moral position to caste judgment on African people's just response to brutal terror against our communities.  

Finally, I think it's important to note that I am convinced that a major reason why Cobb's book was so on point is because of the perspective from which he approaches writing the book.  He has the usual academic credentials that go hand in hand with writing such a manuscript, but he also possesses the distinct position of having been an organizer in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee during the height of the Southern struggle.  This in my opinion sets his approach apart from the typical academic and journalistic approach to history that dominates the writing available today.  Huey Newton said "no participation, no right to observation" and Cobb's participation clearly comes across in his respectful treatment of the people who lived and struggled in this movement from Ella Baker to Fannie Lou Hamer to Gloria Richardson to Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael).  It's a respect that's absent from much of the material written on these immortal Africans.  Plus, he exposes the reader to courageous Africans like C.O. Chinn in Mississippi who marched into a courthouse for the trial of a civil rights worker while refusing to remove his pistol until the racist sheriff on duty removed his.  

Our people are human beings like everyone else.  We have the right to exist with dignity like everyone else.  We have the right to react to oppression as anyone else would and it's time that the complete story of our existence is told.  We have suffered, and continue to suffer, more than most people can ever imagine and yet we are characterized as violent despite the contradiction that we have been some of the most humanistic and  caring people this society has ever seen.  In fact, Kwame Ture was correct when he said "Africans have civilized America."  After the last 500 years, we would be justified if we burned this country down to the ground and anyone who came along and examined the evidence 100 years later would have to agree we were justified.  Yet, we continue to ask simply for justice, even when our children are gunned down in the street and the majority of white society acts in barbaric ways to how we react as if they would calmly accept their children being brutalized the same way our children are.

Our task is to correctly define our history, teach it to our people, and use it to organize ourselves for our liberation and forward progress.  Cobb's book makes an important contribution to that legacy by telling the stories of the Deacons for Defense, WWII vets who mobilized for self defense against the klan, and the many faceless thousands of people who paved the way for the justifiable militancy we see in Ferguson and other places today.  This is the narrative we need to popularize with our inner city youth.  We don't want them to put their guns down.  We just want them to know who they should be shooting at and it ain't each other.  The capitalist power structure knows that and this is why they work so hard to separate those of us with guns from the political analysis of what we should be using guns for.  African people, go and buy guns just like everyone else.  Learn how to use them properly and safely.  Connect your ownership of those guns with our struggle for justice and liberation and our solidarity with others doing the same.  This is what this country is really afraid of.  In fact, I like to joke all the time that if people really want comprehensive gun control in this country, just let it become known that millions of Africans are buying up lots of guns and you will see gun control advanced immediately with the racist National Rifle Association engaging in front seat support for it.  

None of that matters though.  What's important, and what Cobb's book contributes to, is the proper understanding that Malcolm X was certainly correct when he said we will achieve our self determination "by any means necessary!"