The people of Venezuela should be center to everyone this May Day.
Tomorrow is May 1st which is May Day, the international day of the worker. By worker we mean anyone who provides labor to achieve a specific objective. Whether its working a job where you receive a paycheck or being a parent who raises a child, all of that and everything in between is work. May Day is the recognition of the work everyday people do everyday to push the world forward. African and other colonized people should honor May Day. We should because we are the most exploited workers on Earth and May Day, in its essence, is the commemoration of worker's fighting to free themselves from capitalist exploitation.
Us colonized people should definitely honor May Day, but we approach May Day completely different from the organized white left. And, by white left we mean Marxist/Leninist, Trots, Maoists, anarchists, etc. As was previously alluded to, African people are without question a part of the international working class, but because of international white supremacy, colonialism, and neo-colonialism, we will not heed the tired old refrain of the white left that we forget about those elements, push aside racist subjugation - including that within the white left - and pretend on days like May Day that we are all one unified working class movement.
The primary struggle for African and other colonized people today has to be our organization against our colonized state in the world. That means movements like revolutionary Pan-Africanism, Filipino national liberation, Palestinian national liberation, Indigenous National Liberation in the Americas, etc., has to be our primary focus. Clearly, the white left can be continuously counted on to ignore the realities of our suffering e.g. their May Day talking points never address the components of white supremacy that dominate our lives. A defeat of capitalism with no anti-colonial recognition where colonized people have the right to fight for our national liberation will bring no salvation for colonized communities. Even V.I. Lenin, in his classic work "Imperialism" acknowledges this despite his and Marx's limited analysis of colonized struggles. As Lenin indicates, national liberation is the "pre-requisite" to socialist revolution.
Due to the systemic disrespect and outright racism directed at colonized people by the white left, trying to talk most African activists/organizers into commemorating May Day is like trying to get an atheist to go to church. The suggestion here is that we approach May Day with the same approach we should use for all of our work. Our participation is defined by our culture, meaning we come with our own revolutionary Pan-Africanist analysis. So, we help organize May Day events and we ensure our reality as colonized African masses is central to any May Day themes (along with other colonized people). We ensure we invite our follow up people we are working with to May Day. We inoculate our follow up to the contradictions of white supremacy that will be present while at the same time helping our follow up people understand that our struggle is part and parcel of all worldwide struggles. That last part is critical for us because we must continue to promote the balanced perspective that only we can save ourselves e.g. Pan-Africanism, but our struggle must be class based, meaning our connection to other liberation struggles is essential. We cannot demote into this endless and unproductive and xenophobic black nationalist conspiracy theory based negative analysis of our place in the world. Or, as we call it in our Nkrumahist/Tureist ideological analysis; we hold a nation (race), class, and gender analysis of our struggle.
Finally, May Day for us must talk about eradicating capitalism. It must have a strong anti-capitalist message with a clear understanding that the alternative to capitalism is socialism. We must talk about how socialism will only come about through organized revolution, including the component of revolutionary violence as a part of our struggle to dismantle capitalism. These talking points must be used to confront the bourgeoisie dominance of most May Day commemorations, particularly in the capitalist epicenters, where the entire focus is on workers joining the bourgeoisie class. And, that break through is not going to happen from the white left. Its only the colonized masses, particularly the African masses, who can develop this level of consciousness among our people and societies as a whole.
So, keep organizing and happy May Day because for me, May Day and African Liberation Day are the only holidays I commemorate. African liberation tied into worldwide worker solidarity. We maintain our dignity and independence while contributing to the worldwide struggle.
Us colonized people should definitely honor May Day, but we approach May Day completely different from the organized white left. And, by white left we mean Marxist/Leninist, Trots, Maoists, anarchists, etc. As was previously alluded to, African people are without question a part of the international working class, but because of international white supremacy, colonialism, and neo-colonialism, we will not heed the tired old refrain of the white left that we forget about those elements, push aside racist subjugation - including that within the white left - and pretend on days like May Day that we are all one unified working class movement.
The primary struggle for African and other colonized people today has to be our organization against our colonized state in the world. That means movements like revolutionary Pan-Africanism, Filipino national liberation, Palestinian national liberation, Indigenous National Liberation in the Americas, etc., has to be our primary focus. Clearly, the white left can be continuously counted on to ignore the realities of our suffering e.g. their May Day talking points never address the components of white supremacy that dominate our lives. A defeat of capitalism with no anti-colonial recognition where colonized people have the right to fight for our national liberation will bring no salvation for colonized communities. Even V.I. Lenin, in his classic work "Imperialism" acknowledges this despite his and Marx's limited analysis of colonized struggles. As Lenin indicates, national liberation is the "pre-requisite" to socialist revolution.
Due to the systemic disrespect and outright racism directed at colonized people by the white left, trying to talk most African activists/organizers into commemorating May Day is like trying to get an atheist to go to church. The suggestion here is that we approach May Day with the same approach we should use for all of our work. Our participation is defined by our culture, meaning we come with our own revolutionary Pan-Africanist analysis. So, we help organize May Day events and we ensure our reality as colonized African masses is central to any May Day themes (along with other colonized people). We ensure we invite our follow up people we are working with to May Day. We inoculate our follow up to the contradictions of white supremacy that will be present while at the same time helping our follow up people understand that our struggle is part and parcel of all worldwide struggles. That last part is critical for us because we must continue to promote the balanced perspective that only we can save ourselves e.g. Pan-Africanism, but our struggle must be class based, meaning our connection to other liberation struggles is essential. We cannot demote into this endless and unproductive and xenophobic black nationalist conspiracy theory based negative analysis of our place in the world. Or, as we call it in our Nkrumahist/Tureist ideological analysis; we hold a nation (race), class, and gender analysis of our struggle.
Finally, May Day for us must talk about eradicating capitalism. It must have a strong anti-capitalist message with a clear understanding that the alternative to capitalism is socialism. We must talk about how socialism will only come about through organized revolution, including the component of revolutionary violence as a part of our struggle to dismantle capitalism. These talking points must be used to confront the bourgeoisie dominance of most May Day commemorations, particularly in the capitalist epicenters, where the entire focus is on workers joining the bourgeoisie class. And, that break through is not going to happen from the white left. Its only the colonized masses, particularly the African masses, who can develop this level of consciousness among our people and societies as a whole.
So, keep organizing and happy May Day because for me, May Day and African Liberation Day are the only holidays I commemorate. African liberation tied into worldwide worker solidarity. We maintain our dignity and independence while contributing to the worldwide struggle.
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