Cuban Revolutionary Leader Fidel Castro and Malcolm X, meeting here in Harlem in 1960, were both in different ways, used by imperialism to advance the perception that they were contrary to (in the case of Castro) the "principled" elements of forward progress. And (in the case of Malcolm) that current movements do not demonstrate the values they praise us and kill us for having
The funeral last week for U.S. Congressperson, and former civil rights activist John Lewis was yet another clear example. Former U.S. empire president – Bill Clinton, unfortunately given the opportunity to speak at Lewis’s funeral, suggested that John Lewis’s accommodationist approach to social change was a superior and praiseworthy approach compared to the militant and uncompromising ideas of Kwame Ture, who was previously known as Stokely Carmichael (please don’t calling him Stokely Carmichael today. The man changed his name 43 years ago).
Clinton’s subtle jab wasn’t missed by trained eyes. What he was really doing was expressing, to an overwhelming African audience, the idea that change is only acceptable at the rate and extent that the capitalist system is willing to accommodate it. And, anything or anyone who suggests anything outside of that parameter is mad, violent/bloodthirsty, and insane. Imagine the contradiction of this man, who pushed through the most comprehensive and successful mass incarceration legislation in history, the man who led some of the most murderous bombing campaigns against sovereign people, lecturing us about acceptable tactics we must use to win our freedom?
Yet, it happened. And, you would be naïve to believe Clinton’s strategic approach fell entirely on deaf ears. His point was clear; Black Lives Matter and any movement for African liberation, must operate solely within the realm of acceptable practice to the European Judeo capitalist system. Anything else, is a betrayal to humanity. And, it wasn’t unique that Clinton used the funeral of a deceased former fighter for African freedom to make this point while pitting that African as the acceptable son of capitalism, against Kwame Ture, who Clinton suggested was the anti-Christ. Ture, defeated Lewis as chairperson of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), arguably, the cutting edge civil rights organization at that time. SNCC’s work focus was on the ground organizing outside of the day to day eye of the capitalist media. SNCC activists faced raw terror. They were regularly and savagely beaten, jailed, tortured, and murdered. As a result, SNCC organizers became radicalized and the organization found itself moving rapidly in a more militant direction. Its projects illustrated that. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was SNCC’s attempt to integrate the Democratic Party in 1964. When this effort failed, SNCC moved to Loundes County, Alabama, U.S., the next year to help initiate the Loundes Country Freedom Organization, or the original Black Panther Party. The Loundes County Freedom Organization was a more militant manifestation than the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party because the Loundes County organization wasn’t seeking to integrate into the Democratic Party. It was seeking to create an independent African political party. Kwame Ture’s defeat of John Lewis as SNCC chair was representative of that organization’s push towards more militancy. A militancy that was less and less willing to compromise with capitalist oppression against our people. A militancy that recognized that since the U.S. capitalist system cared nothing for the African masses, it was time for us to learn how to care nothing about the current and future existence of this country until we were freed from oppression and all exploited people were liberated from this system. This is the independent and revolutionary consciousness that Clinton was speaking against and from a tactical standpoint, he used the recently deceased Lewis to attack the revolutionary African consciousness represented by Kwame Ture. Clinton, and the bourgeoisie establishment he represents, had the desire to make a contribution to cut the head – Kwame Ture – off from the body – Black Lives Matter and all current movements today.
There is nothing new about this tactic capitalism employs to use deceased revolutionaries against current movements. In 1967, Ernesto “Che” Guevara was executed under the direction of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA – reactionary anti-Cuban revolution Felix Rodriguez – a CIA operative engaged in terrorist activities against the Cuban revolution – oversaw Guevara’s assassination). From the moment he was assassinated, Guevara’s legacy began to grow. Today, he is one of the most iconic symbols of resistance against capitalist exploitation and oppression. The mere presence of his face on a tee shirt, etc., makes a clear statement of anti-imperialism/capitalism. Although the capitalist system obviously had an intense hatred of Guevara and all that he represented, they did kill him for these things, they were still astute enough to figure out how they could use Guevara to work against the ongoing socialist Cuban Revolutionary process.
While on the one hand, capitalism was working overtime to tarnish Guevara’s image by digging up ignorant comments he made at 22/23 years old against African people (as if anyone of us didn’t say stupid things in our younger years before our journey towards political consciousness), they still developed a strategy to use Guevara. Despite their evil lies about Guevara being a hatchet man against war criminals from the Bautista regime that the Cuban Revolution overthrew, they still managed to figure out how to use the deceased Guevara against Fidel Castro.
The CIA created a rumor during the 1990s that Castro abandoned Guevara during Guevara’s Bolivia mission where he was assassinated. Imperialism was telling you that Guevara’s cries for assistance during his efforts in Bolivia were ignored by Castro and that Castro instructed Cubans not to assist Guevara. Their logic was that Guevara was a burden to Castro’s efforts to solidify Cuba’s relationship with the then Soviet Union. Guevara was firmly on China’s side in the Sino-Soviet conflict and this was unquestionably an issue with Cuba’s relationship with the USSR. Guevara recognized this and that was at least one of the reasons he wanted to leave Cuba and pursue his Pan-American revolutionary vision which Bolivia was to be his first South American manifestation with his ill-fated “FOCO” theory (initiating an armed insurrection to create a revolutionary movement). Imperialism used the truth in that reality and built lies on top of it to try and create anti-Fidel Castro sentiment in Cuba (where Guevara remains loved and respected on an amazing level today).
Anyone who does even a cursory level of study about this history knows the lies contained in the narrative that Castro abandoned Guevara. Its well documented that Castro struggled mightily with his good friend to convince him to slow down in his revolutionary vision with Bolivia. Once it became clear to Castro that Guevara was convicted in moving forward, Castro gave Guevara every level of support imaginable to help ensure the mission was successful. Guevara didn’t go to Bolivia alone. He went with some of the most honored soldiers of the Cuban Revolutionary struggle as well as veterans from the Guevara led efforts to assist the Congolese fight against neo-colonialism. Harry Villegas, better known in Cuba as “Pombo”, who just made his physical transition months ago, was with Che from the Cuban revolutionary war to the Congo to Bolivia (he was one of only three combatants to escape Bolivia alive), wrote extensively about the level of support Castro and Cuba provided from combatants to equipment to international contacts, training, etc. Again, cursory study shows that the major downfall of the Bolivia mission was the inability of Guevara to get critical support for the guerrilla struggle from Bolivians on the ground in that country. The Bolivian Communist Party refused to support the mission once Guevara refused to permit the inexperienced Communist Party chair – Mario Monje – to lead the guerrilla mission. This reality isolated Guevara in Bolivia beyond a handful of Bolivians who joined the guerrilla forces. With that development, Castro again made every attempt to change his friend’s mind, but it was not to be. Imperialism knows this history as well as we do, but their cruel and immoral lie has gained traction over the years. There are more than a few people who today still believe Guevara is dead because Castro abandoned him in Bolivia and by promoting this, capitalism desires to discredit Fidel which discredits the Cuban Revolution. And, if they can discredit the Cuban Revolution, you can discredit socialist development which is the primary objective in everything capitalism and imperialism is doing.
Its important to note again that imperialism is completely immoral in how it utilizes this tactic. They will use people they killed, like Che Guevara, against existing movements. They have no shyness about doing this because they know most of us will never take the time to study our own history and learn the truth. This is why they were also able to assassinate Malcolm X and then turn around and use his memory to try and discredit modern day revolutionaries and Pan-Africanists and even the Nation of Islam. They have done this by attempting to portray Malcolm as a model of self-discipline and unprecedented personal development, citing his self-education – reading the entire dictionary. And, his disdain for drugs and alcohol, etc. They highlighted these elements in an attempt to portray the Black Panther Party for self-defense as undisciplined and lacking the type of character that led Malcolm to have the principles they killed him for. Also, imperialism, who without question orchestrated and facilitated the assassination of Malcolm X, would have you believe that the Nation of Islam was 100% behind Malcolm being gunned down. They have supported and promoted the promotion of multiple books that have advanced this thesis and the very short sighted Netflix supported documentary “Who Killed Malcolm X” which made major contributions towards placing the entire blame for Malcolm’s death on the Nation of Islam while ignoring the prominent role the U.S. government played in carrying out the assassination. Regardless of what you think you know about this situation, its ill-refutable that the U.S. government would have killed Malcolm with or without the Nation of Islam, but there is no scenario where the Nation of Islam could have assassinated Malcolm without the explicit support of U.S. imperialism.
This backward system has survived as long as it has, despite its atrocities against humanity, due to its resilience. They know that they are in trouble today. So, they go after our weakest points which they know are our lack of comprehensive political education. As a result, they work day and night to convince us that they are our friends and that anything not in their interest is not healthy and viable for you. The only way to overcome this confusion is for us to get organized. It starts with us getting involved in organizational work on a consistent basis. And from there, building mass political education so that we can continue to build our capacity to become stronger at challenging their efforts to keep us off balance and under their control. Our deceased soldiers are ours. With the proper political education we can create and maintain their legacy with the respect that our dignity deserves.
Clinton’s subtle jab wasn’t missed by trained eyes. What he was really doing was expressing, to an overwhelming African audience, the idea that change is only acceptable at the rate and extent that the capitalist system is willing to accommodate it. And, anything or anyone who suggests anything outside of that parameter is mad, violent/bloodthirsty, and insane. Imagine the contradiction of this man, who pushed through the most comprehensive and successful mass incarceration legislation in history, the man who led some of the most murderous bombing campaigns against sovereign people, lecturing us about acceptable tactics we must use to win our freedom?
Yet, it happened. And, you would be naïve to believe Clinton’s strategic approach fell entirely on deaf ears. His point was clear; Black Lives Matter and any movement for African liberation, must operate solely within the realm of acceptable practice to the European Judeo capitalist system. Anything else, is a betrayal to humanity. And, it wasn’t unique that Clinton used the funeral of a deceased former fighter for African freedom to make this point while pitting that African as the acceptable son of capitalism, against Kwame Ture, who Clinton suggested was the anti-Christ. Ture, defeated Lewis as chairperson of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), arguably, the cutting edge civil rights organization at that time. SNCC’s work focus was on the ground organizing outside of the day to day eye of the capitalist media. SNCC activists faced raw terror. They were regularly and savagely beaten, jailed, tortured, and murdered. As a result, SNCC organizers became radicalized and the organization found itself moving rapidly in a more militant direction. Its projects illustrated that. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was SNCC’s attempt to integrate the Democratic Party in 1964. When this effort failed, SNCC moved to Loundes County, Alabama, U.S., the next year to help initiate the Loundes Country Freedom Organization, or the original Black Panther Party. The Loundes County Freedom Organization was a more militant manifestation than the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party because the Loundes County organization wasn’t seeking to integrate into the Democratic Party. It was seeking to create an independent African political party. Kwame Ture’s defeat of John Lewis as SNCC chair was representative of that organization’s push towards more militancy. A militancy that was less and less willing to compromise with capitalist oppression against our people. A militancy that recognized that since the U.S. capitalist system cared nothing for the African masses, it was time for us to learn how to care nothing about the current and future existence of this country until we were freed from oppression and all exploited people were liberated from this system. This is the independent and revolutionary consciousness that Clinton was speaking against and from a tactical standpoint, he used the recently deceased Lewis to attack the revolutionary African consciousness represented by Kwame Ture. Clinton, and the bourgeoisie establishment he represents, had the desire to make a contribution to cut the head – Kwame Ture – off from the body – Black Lives Matter and all current movements today.
There is nothing new about this tactic capitalism employs to use deceased revolutionaries against current movements. In 1967, Ernesto “Che” Guevara was executed under the direction of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA – reactionary anti-Cuban revolution Felix Rodriguez – a CIA operative engaged in terrorist activities against the Cuban revolution – oversaw Guevara’s assassination). From the moment he was assassinated, Guevara’s legacy began to grow. Today, he is one of the most iconic symbols of resistance against capitalist exploitation and oppression. The mere presence of his face on a tee shirt, etc., makes a clear statement of anti-imperialism/capitalism. Although the capitalist system obviously had an intense hatred of Guevara and all that he represented, they did kill him for these things, they were still astute enough to figure out how they could use Guevara to work against the ongoing socialist Cuban Revolutionary process.
While on the one hand, capitalism was working overtime to tarnish Guevara’s image by digging up ignorant comments he made at 22/23 years old against African people (as if anyone of us didn’t say stupid things in our younger years before our journey towards political consciousness), they still developed a strategy to use Guevara. Despite their evil lies about Guevara being a hatchet man against war criminals from the Bautista regime that the Cuban Revolution overthrew, they still managed to figure out how to use the deceased Guevara against Fidel Castro.
The CIA created a rumor during the 1990s that Castro abandoned Guevara during Guevara’s Bolivia mission where he was assassinated. Imperialism was telling you that Guevara’s cries for assistance during his efforts in Bolivia were ignored by Castro and that Castro instructed Cubans not to assist Guevara. Their logic was that Guevara was a burden to Castro’s efforts to solidify Cuba’s relationship with the then Soviet Union. Guevara was firmly on China’s side in the Sino-Soviet conflict and this was unquestionably an issue with Cuba’s relationship with the USSR. Guevara recognized this and that was at least one of the reasons he wanted to leave Cuba and pursue his Pan-American revolutionary vision which Bolivia was to be his first South American manifestation with his ill-fated “FOCO” theory (initiating an armed insurrection to create a revolutionary movement). Imperialism used the truth in that reality and built lies on top of it to try and create anti-Fidel Castro sentiment in Cuba (where Guevara remains loved and respected on an amazing level today).
Anyone who does even a cursory level of study about this history knows the lies contained in the narrative that Castro abandoned Guevara. Its well documented that Castro struggled mightily with his good friend to convince him to slow down in his revolutionary vision with Bolivia. Once it became clear to Castro that Guevara was convicted in moving forward, Castro gave Guevara every level of support imaginable to help ensure the mission was successful. Guevara didn’t go to Bolivia alone. He went with some of the most honored soldiers of the Cuban Revolutionary struggle as well as veterans from the Guevara led efforts to assist the Congolese fight against neo-colonialism. Harry Villegas, better known in Cuba as “Pombo”, who just made his physical transition months ago, was with Che from the Cuban revolutionary war to the Congo to Bolivia (he was one of only three combatants to escape Bolivia alive), wrote extensively about the level of support Castro and Cuba provided from combatants to equipment to international contacts, training, etc. Again, cursory study shows that the major downfall of the Bolivia mission was the inability of Guevara to get critical support for the guerrilla struggle from Bolivians on the ground in that country. The Bolivian Communist Party refused to support the mission once Guevara refused to permit the inexperienced Communist Party chair – Mario Monje – to lead the guerrilla mission. This reality isolated Guevara in Bolivia beyond a handful of Bolivians who joined the guerrilla forces. With that development, Castro again made every attempt to change his friend’s mind, but it was not to be. Imperialism knows this history as well as we do, but their cruel and immoral lie has gained traction over the years. There are more than a few people who today still believe Guevara is dead because Castro abandoned him in Bolivia and by promoting this, capitalism desires to discredit Fidel which discredits the Cuban Revolution. And, if they can discredit the Cuban Revolution, you can discredit socialist development which is the primary objective in everything capitalism and imperialism is doing.
Its important to note again that imperialism is completely immoral in how it utilizes this tactic. They will use people they killed, like Che Guevara, against existing movements. They have no shyness about doing this because they know most of us will never take the time to study our own history and learn the truth. This is why they were also able to assassinate Malcolm X and then turn around and use his memory to try and discredit modern day revolutionaries and Pan-Africanists and even the Nation of Islam. They have done this by attempting to portray Malcolm as a model of self-discipline and unprecedented personal development, citing his self-education – reading the entire dictionary. And, his disdain for drugs and alcohol, etc. They highlighted these elements in an attempt to portray the Black Panther Party for self-defense as undisciplined and lacking the type of character that led Malcolm to have the principles they killed him for. Also, imperialism, who without question orchestrated and facilitated the assassination of Malcolm X, would have you believe that the Nation of Islam was 100% behind Malcolm being gunned down. They have supported and promoted the promotion of multiple books that have advanced this thesis and the very short sighted Netflix supported documentary “Who Killed Malcolm X” which made major contributions towards placing the entire blame for Malcolm’s death on the Nation of Islam while ignoring the prominent role the U.S. government played in carrying out the assassination. Regardless of what you think you know about this situation, its ill-refutable that the U.S. government would have killed Malcolm with or without the Nation of Islam, but there is no scenario where the Nation of Islam could have assassinated Malcolm without the explicit support of U.S. imperialism.
This backward system has survived as long as it has, despite its atrocities against humanity, due to its resilience. They know that they are in trouble today. So, they go after our weakest points which they know are our lack of comprehensive political education. As a result, they work day and night to convince us that they are our friends and that anything not in their interest is not healthy and viable for you. The only way to overcome this confusion is for us to get organized. It starts with us getting involved in organizational work on a consistent basis. And from there, building mass political education so that we can continue to build our capacity to become stronger at challenging their efforts to keep us off balance and under their control. Our deceased soldiers are ours. With the proper political education we can create and maintain their legacy with the respect that our dignity deserves.
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