The Black Panther Party: A Critical Assessment Beyond Romanticism
DIGGING FOR COLTAN, NEO-COLONIALISM, AND YOUR CELL PHONE.
We say this repeatedly, but in this two minute attention span industrial capitalist society, its difficult for people to hear and comprehend the message. So, we will continue to say it. Your capitalist economy, or what you mistakenly call a free market enterprise, is based on exploiting Africa (and many other places around the planet as well). The wealth that exists in the Western capitalist countries isn't there because those countries are ordained by God. It isn't there because the people in those countries worked harder or smarter. It isn't there because people in those countries prayed harder. The wealth is there simply because it is systemically stolen from places like Africa where it rightfully belongs. Examples of this are all around us. We could be talking about the rubber industry. Or gold, diamonds, uranium, bauxite (aluminum products), oil, cocoa, and an entire host of industries, but we will make the point again using the industry of columbite tantalite or what's better known as coltan. Before we talk about coltan we do need to say it again because people in the Western world especially have been exceptionally programmed by capitalism to see the entire world as an extension of your noses. So, hear and read this again, loud and clear. Your capitalist system can never be great. It can never be the source and model of freedom and democracy. It can never be any of those things because it was built and is maintained on keeping people poor, oppressed, and exploited, so that it can benefit economically. And we will use coltan to illustrate to you one of the many ways that process works in today's international imperialist economy.
Coltan defined is a black metallic ore. An ore is a rock that contains minerals with elements within them that include metals that can be extracted from the rock and used for a number of productive purposes. In the case of coltan, this ore, once melted down into a powder, can absorb electrical charges. This makes it invaluable as a conduit for transmission of digital communication signals. So, coltan is used to create wiring that is used in all devices that utilize a signal. This includes, but isn't limited to, your cell phone, flat screen television, video game component system, lap top computer, tablet, iPad, dishwasher, and even some engine parts in your vehicle's diagnostic system. No one reading this doesn't obviously rely on a number of those devices for daily life functions. Consequently, you can easily see how coltan has quickly evolved into one of the most sought after minerals on Earth. Today, it sells for approximately $600 U.S. per pound. There are many places on Earth where coltan can be found from Afghanistan to Venezuela. Now if we were talking about a world reality where coltan, and all other resources, were being utilized for the objective of providing for people's needs, the reason the minerals are there in the first place, then there would be no problem here. Of course, in this capitalist dominated world economy, their objective for any product development is always profitability, not meeting people's needs. And the multi-national corporations who sit at the top of the economic ladder have perfected the process of achieving profits at all costs, regardless of the toll their objectives cause for the people they exploit. Another thing the capitalists have perfected is the ability to redirect most people's attention within the capitalist societies from being even the slightest bit conscious about these exploitative processes and the impact they are having on people and the planet Earth. Whether its coltan mining, or proposed oil pipelines over Indigenous people's lands in North Dakota in the U.S., most people in the U.S., Europe, Australia, etc., are completely ignorant about any of this. Its important that we do everything we can to correct this so we will reiterate the point that there are many places where coltan can be found. The problem for the capitalists is that since they are always all about profitability, and nothing else, they are only interested in being able to mine for coltan in conditions that are the most cost effective for them, regardless of the consequences for the people impacted or the planet. This is why the Congo, in Central Africa, remains the place where large percentages of coltan continues to be produced. The Congo has been destabilized by imperialism for decades. In 1960, the country had unlimited potential. Patrice Lumumba was elected as the new prime minister and his Pan-Africanist vision had great hopes for the future of the Congolese people. Since the central region of Africa remains the most mineral rich region in the world, Lumumba and his newly elected National Congolese Movement (MNC) had desires to use that mineral wealth to develop the Congo, the Congolese people, and all of Africa. One year later, Lumumba was dead - murdered by a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) supported assassination effort - the MNC was forced into hiding, and the Congo spiraled out of control into such a state of instability that schools, roads, and any level of infrastructure existed only on extremely sporadic and isolated instances. In fact, after 1960, the Congo didn't even experience another national election until 2007. So, this gives you an idea of how disrupted this region has been for the last 60 years and the CIA's involvement was motivated in large part due to its desire to protect the economic interests of the U.S. and Belgium mining companies who profited from readily exploiting the Congo's mineral resources before the MNC pledged to stop all of this madness. Its important here to note that the mining industry has historically been a major source of instability and exploitation in Africa. This is true because the mining industry, like all major industries in Africa, are controlled by foreign multi-national corporations whose only interest is taking what it can from Africa and leaving with all the wealth while leaving the masses of people there with nothing. This is model that has existed in Africa for centuries and the independence movement of the 50s and 60s has done little to stem that tide. Instead, capitalism has taken on a black face (the same way it has for the last eight years in the U.S.) where puppet leaders oversee the continued exploitation of all national resources in Africa in exchange for personal riches at the expense of the masses of Africans. This model is the living definition of neo-colonialism. As it relates to coltan mining in the Congo, let's illustrate how this devastating process actually looks for the people on the ground. Hundreds of thousands of Africans wake up every day in the Congo, meaning seven (7) days per week. They work twelve (12) hours a day minimum in the mines, digging out the coltan by hand. Their work conditions, having no oversight whatsoever, consist of working in poorly ventilated and highly pressurized environments that are proven breeding grounds for the worse types of respiratory ailments. This explains why the typical miner has a life expectancy of less than 40 years old. On top of that, these workers are paid an average of $3 to 5 dollars per day in an economy where the average sandwich would cost at least that much on the street. These workers have families and there is obviously no way working 84 hours per week for $35.00 total is going to do anything except guarantee generations of poverty of the worst kind. So, these hardworking miners finish this exploitative day by loading the coltan into plastic lined rice sacks that they carry on their heads and shoulders over to the symbolic water movement systems that take the minerals away from the mines and on their way out of Africa and into the coffers of Apple, Samsung, and the other multi-nationals who benefit from this devious process. And since those companies are product manufacturing entities, and not mining companies, they never set foot in the Congo. That work is done by major mining companies like the Britain based Coltan Mining LTD which facilitates processing the coltan into the powder based wiring that serves the manufacturers. There are other problems the coltan mining process presents. Like all mining in Africa, its done for the purpose of identifying cheap and ready sources of the material in mind, in this case - coltan. Its not done with any type of environmental sensitivity and as I've already stated, there is no oversight since so-called neo-colonialist officials are paid to look the other way. So, the fact that coltan mining in the Congo has eliminated the natural habitat of gorillas at an alarming rate has escaped the radar of even the most vocal animal rights activists in the capitalist countries. I guess that gorilla lives don't matter if they are in Africa which shouldn't be surprising to any African reading this. As a whole, this system works perfectly for the name brand companies because it gives them the cover of plausible deniability. Meanwhile, the Africans in the Congo are sick, dead, poor, and left with nothing. No future, no hope, and no ability to grasp control of their lives. Again, this is the standard mining process for any of the products mentioned at the beginning of this article and this process is the primary reason Africa remains poor and dependent and why the Western capitalist countries continue to own everything. Clearly, the continued white supremacist lie that Africans are lazy is easily dis-proven just by envisioning the hard labor these miners experience every day without rest. Work that the good European (white) capitalist loving communities wouldn't last one hour performing, despite all your prayers for God to bless you and your so-called free world. As D'Angelo sang "its all a lie, its all a lie." There's never been any greatness or freedom. Just the lies of a dying capitalist system. At least it should be clear to you by now why we proclaim Africa's liberation to be the primary objective of all real Black revolutionaries in the world today. As Sekou Ture told us, imperialism will find it's grave in Africa. Its only when this devastating system of exploitation is broken that imperialism will be defeated. You can organize all the workers in every capitalist country five or six times. Until imperialism is broken in Africa, it will never be defeated. So, next time you are staring into your cell phone, watching your flat screen, driving your car, or looking at your iPad or lap top, think about that. 1 Comment Matthew Ellis 9/20/2016 02:49:10 pmA very important read. Not too many talk about the importance of Coltan and it's relationship to Africa. No Africa means no Coltan yet most people I talk to have never even heard of Coltan while they spend most of their lives looking at their cell phones. Coltan epitomizes the Marxist concept of commodity fetishism because of how pervasive it's use is in our current society. Riwanda is another area that could be talked about within the context of Coltan with the so called genocide in Riwanda that portrayed simply as two warring sides with a troubled historical past free of U.S. involvement. The reality was we provided the weapons to destroy the plane of the leader of Riwanda with no media coverage in an effort to secure resources like Coltan. Reply Leave a Reply. SOME THOUGHTS ON THE UPCOMING 8TH PAN AFRICAN CONGRESSOrganizing and Writing for a Better World!Add text
0 Comments 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? our people died for the vote?November 2014 will signal another round of capitalist elections. It's during this season that we are hammered with the same tired rhetoric that "your people died for the right to vote so by not voting, you are forsaking the legacy of your own people's sacrifices!" So many well meaning people are taken in with this propaganda every time the demopublican machine seeks to exploit our people for it's master's - the multi-national capitalist entities that dictate imperialism.
First, let's deconstruct this false propaganda about our people dying for the right to vote. This rhetoric talks about voting as if it's a principle, meaning it's a value that we can never compromise. We can never confuse principles with strategy and tactics. The vote, especially within a capitalist political apparatus that we don't control, can never be a principle. Instead, it is without question, a tactic. And, like Kwame Ture always said "tactics change based on their effectiveness. If they work, you use them. If they don't, you try something else!" He should know. He was only arrested and beaten 41 times struggling for the vote for Africans in Mississippi and Alabama in the 60s when he was known as Stokely Carmichael and a member (and eventually chairperson) for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Now, no one needs to take from the above that we are telling people that you shouldn't vote. If you know anything about our political line, it's always consistent - join some organization working for our people. Some organization working for justice. We don't even say you have to join a revolutionary organization and this is where we receive plenty of criticism from so-called revolutionaries. We say join any organization because we know that we can't talk to the people about revolutionary organization until they understand organization, meaning they understand what it means to work with people, build with people, guide the direction of a program, and build capacity to fight. People who refuse to join the All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) can just as easily learn those things in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). So, despite the fact many people are dishonest and try to now pretend as if they were always revolutionary (in case you don't know, I'm talking to those of you who are so revolutionary today, but drank the "change" kool-aid of the obama democratic party rhetoric of 2008 and 2012), we all know we didn't start out with radical, revolutionary views. We know that someone had to work with us to bring our consciousness along. So, if people join organizations, any organizations, and learn to engage in organizational work, then that will make them much more open and available to learn and understand a revolutionary message somewhere down the road. So join some organization working for justice. So, say that organization is one dedicated to working within the capitalist electoral process. You still have no issue from us. Our only directive is that your electoral work cannot be focused on individuals or issues. It must be focused on building a movement and the individuals must simply be cogs for that movement to push the system for reforms while the revolutionary forces continue to organize for permanent change. If there is no mass movement, then regardless of your intentions, you are being unwittingly pimped by the demopublican machine because your candidate has no power to hold the system accountable to anything without the push that comes only from the organized masses. So, electoral politics, even in a capitalist system, has value with a movement behind it. It's not the solution, but it provides the initial movement that creates space for the true revolutionary struggle to take hold. But, electoral work, with no movement behind it, is fantasy politics. So when November comes and goes, remember - only the masses of people make history, not individuals. Remember that voting is simply a tactic, not a principle. Our principles are values centered around concepts that cannot be compromised e.g. free quality universal education and health care. Guaranteed employment and living space. Free child care. Racism, sexism, etc., being outlawed. These principles can only be actualized in a socialist system and that system will only happen with revolutionary change...Not electoral politics. No people can free themselves by negotiating, voting, and buying freedom from their masters. Freedom has to be taken and the only way we can ultimately do this is through organization, revolutionary organization. zionism - the enemy of african people!In 1991, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL - we call them the African Death League) issued a "study" that labeled the All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP), as "the most anti-zionist organization in the U.S. We proudly claimed that title because we had earned it! By that time we had already spent a number of years speaking out against the zionist movement, not just for it's oppression of the Palestinian people, although that is certainly the primary reason they must be stopped, but also because of zionism's exploitation of Africa to support it's illegal objectives. You see, zionism has always been very good at using confusion to advance it's agenda. Consequently, there are so many conflicting reports and opinions about the state of Israel floating around, and also - quite honestly, African (Black) people haven't enjoyed the best relationships with Arab people. So, it's important to remind people of some basic truths that can hopefully set the record straight. Those truths are that all reliable scholarship acknowledges that the Jewish religion originated on the African continent. The original Jews, known as the Falasha, were identified in Ethiopia thousands of years ago. These were unquestionably "Black" people who were the folks described in the "Book of Revelations" in the Bible who "had skin of bronze and hair of wool (dreadlocks)." This is the reason that Ethiopia, or Kush (Cush), is the first place mentioned in the Bible in Genesis, Chapter II, verse 13. It is also a fact that the translation of K/Cush is "land of the burnt faces." So, Judaism developed in Africa, so Africans could never be anti-Judaic because we produced the religion in the first place. We can also not be anti-Semitic because the definition of a Semite, even in the back Websters Dictionary, is that of a person of color. So, why all this confusion? And how have African people come to this place where we are disconnected from supporting the Palestinian struggle for just self-determiantion?
The answers are based in the proper understanding that Judaism and zionism are not the same thing. Judaism is a religion that, as was mentioned, originates in Africa. It's a religion that is practiced by millions around the world today of all nationalities. There are still African Jews. There are white Jews, etc. Then, there is zionism which is a political movement that has absolutely no connection to Judaism, although zionism attempts to shield it's ugliness by hiding behind Judaism. Since most people don't know the difference between zionism and Judaism, the zionists have created a reality where a critique against the political movement of zionism is considered an attack against Judaism and/or being anti-Semitic. Confused? Let's examine some critical history to clarify all of this. Recently, NBA Basketball player Dwight Howard got in hot water for tweeting out "FREEPALESTINE." The very same ADL that called us the most anti-zionist organization 23 years ago criticized Howard of being anti-Semitic. No Africans came to Howard's defense. Maybe we can correct this by providing the history of zionism. The political zionist movement has it's roots in the first zionist conference held in Balse, Switzerland, in 1897. This conference was convened by Theodore Herzl, the "father of zionism" who, according to his own memoirs, was not much of a religious man. In this conference, the founding zionists planned for the creation of a zionist state. Their stated desires for this state were clearly to achieve state power and all of the privileges and benefits of such. They initially identified Argentina and then Uganda as the zionist destination, but after much debate, they decided neither was acceptable due to both countries being somewhat landlocked. The zionists had vision. They wanted a land that had major shipping routes attached to it. So, they eventually chose Palestine. But, they knew they would not generate support to steal a sovereign country from it's inhabitants by just marching in and taking it by force. So, they made the decision to tie zionism to the Judaic religion in an effort to use the historical oppression of the Jewish people to justify the need for a Jewish state. The zionists went to work building support for this zionist state. They established political and economic relationships that would benefit their movement. One of the first such relationships was the establishment of ties with South African (Azania) Prime Minister Jan Smuts around the turn of the twentieth century. Chaim Weizman, the heir to Herzl's throne as the father of the zionist movement, helped put the wheels in motion to establish an economic relationship that made diamonds, highjacked from Azania-South African mines, as one of the primary export products produced from the state of Israel. From Israel's illegal inception in 1948, through present day, diamonds stolen from Southern Africa continue to be refined in Israel, serving as one of their primary financial exports. These diamonds are stolen systematically from Southern Africa by the De Beers Corporation, owned by the Oppenheimer family. These European criminals pay Africans pennies to dig the rough diamonds out and those minerals are shipped to Israel to be refined and sold to you. The Oppenheimers "earn" annual revenues of almost 10 billion USD dollars utilizing this illegal zionist pipeline and Nicky Oppenheimer remains the richest man in Africa today as a result of this criminal espionage. But, the zionists didn't stop there. Weizman built relationships with African organizations also. Understanding that Africans were legitimately seeking a homeland after being oppressed in the Western Hemisphere, Weizman manipulated Marcus Garvey into accepting zionism as a legitimate movement (Zion means to "go home") and this is why you can often see Garvey comparing the legitimate African movement for self determination with the illegal zionist movement. Weizman was just getting started with Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association. He established strong ties with the NAACP and convinced the leaders there to sponsor him on paid speaking tours. This relationship flourished through the 30s into the 80s with the establishment in the 60s of "Black Americans in Support of Israel Committee" or BASIC, which was an African advocacy group in support of Israel. These dastardly efforts also helped facilitate the illegal gun trade from Israeli gun manufacturers. And this is the reason why you know all about the Uzi sub-machine gun, which can be found in any inner city African community from Nairobi to New York, but you hadn't made the connection that Uzi's are Israeli made weapons and that Israel/zionism again manipulated and supported these ties to use African exploitation as a means to finance and support zionism on the backs of African people. The A-APRP has spent the last 40 years exposing the efforts of zionism to pimp Africans into supporting it's objective of dominating the Palestinian people, using our resources to do it. Since the establishment of the zionist state of Israel in 1948, the U.S. has served as it's primary welfare supplier because Israel serves U.S. capitalist interests by providing a reliable ally in a politically unstable region. The all important shipping routes through the Red Sea and surrounding oceans in the North and the Cape in the South, have to be protected for the shipment of products to be bought and sold. So, the U.S. has always been heavily invested in zionist Israel, regardless of whatever terror they inflict upon the Palestinian people. On the other hand, the A-APRP has supported the Palestinian cause uncompromisingly because we know that a victorious Palestinian people means a weakened zionist state of Israel. A weakened state of Israel means one less neo-colonialist grip on Africa and the African masses. It means less zionist merchants exploiting African communities with weapons and stores that exploit our people to make a profit to support the zionist state. This is reason the A-APRP built the Worldwide African Anti-zionist Front in the 80s/90s, which was comprised of some 40 African organizations, along with the African Anti-Zionist Front here in the U.S., which included groups like the New African People's Organization (the late Chowkwe Lumumba's organization) These organizations were organized by the A-APRP to do anti-zionist work on a worldwide basis. There is much more work that should be investigated such as the International Mathiba in Libya and it's anti-zionist propaganda and financial assistance for anti-zionism. The distribution of literally millions of Malcolm X's speech "Zionism and Dollarism" at the premiere showings of the Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" movie in November of 1992. I am honored to have participated in much of this work over the overs and we humbly suggest that this work set the stage for much of the current outrage about zionist terror today. That's why we uncompromisingly oppose the current wave of terror being inflicted on the Palestinian people in Gaza by the zionist state. The zionists are the invaders and occupiers. There is no way they can be defending themselves anymore than a robber who enters your house can defend themselves against your efforts to evict them. So, any smart African would have to support the Palestinian people because their fight weakens a primary enemy of African people. We know this because we are not anti-Judaic, but anti-zionist. When the A-APRP was speaking out against zionism in the 1970s and 80s, there were very few voices speaking out in support of the Palestinian people. I have myself witnessed zionists coming out in the dozens to protest speeches by the late Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and as Kwame's security, I've tangled with some of those zionists. That was 20 years ago. I've had zionists come out against me speaking on the subject in California and some of these instances ended in physical violence. So I know firsthand the cowardly method in which these people hide the truth of their terrorism behind the religion that originates from my national home. We stand 100% opposed to Holocaust deniers. We believe that the survivors and descendants of the Holocaust have a legitimate case against European countries like Germany, Austria, Russia, etc., not Palestine and the Palestinian people who had and have nothing to do with Jewish suffering or the Holocaust. Reparations and land owed to these righteous survivors should come from those European entities. And, it should also be understood that there are millions of anti-zionist Jews alive today. People who are Jews who do not support the state of Israel. We are not confused. We cannot be. We understand the issues clearly because we have a legitimate claim to the liberation and unification of Africa. We know what justice looks like and we know that we cannot expect justice for ourselves if we are unwilling to demand it for others who also deserve it. So, Dwight Howard, retweet the truth Brother! FREEPALESTINE! Africans. Stand up for Palestinian self determination and an end to zionist pimping of African human and material resources!! Why celebrate the fourth of the lie and not the fourth of july? |
Friday, July 4th, 2014, and the new All African People's Revolutionary Party chapter in Portland, Oregon has concluded a successful Fourth of the Lie commemoration. For the first major event we have organized here we had a decent turnout of about 100 people throughout the day. We fed everyone and treated them to some good edutainment and political education. The new work study members from each work study gave presentations on the history of the A-APRP, the need for organization, and the All African Women's Revolutionary Union. People were able to hear presentations from people in the community suffering from police terrorism and from Kent Ford, an original Black Panther in Portland.
The focus of the day was the need for Africans to get organized To join some organization working for justice, whatever organization that is. We did initial work to try and get other organizations to participate with us to share this message. We reached out to the Nation of Islam, Moorish Science Temple, and Ter Nefer Ankh. We invited each to come out and speak to the people, but we were not able to get any of them to do that, although members from those organizations did come out to the event to support. We are continuing dialogue with them and will continue to build those relationships.
Of course, our perspective is that Africans are not citizens of the united snakes of amerikkka and this is illustrated by the fact the Fourth of July is a holiday that supposedly represents freedom when African people were enslaved in 1776, a fact the stupid holiday completely ignores. And everyone walks around on July 4th ignoring that reality. Ignoring the reality that slavery produced that still continues today, e.g. the political, economic, and social inequality that defines social relationships today. So, we won't be celebrating any of your holidays. We will continue to use them as examples to point out the contradictions to our people and allies. We will continue to organize for Pan-Africanism. One unified socialist Africa.
We are continuing to recruit, building capacity. And we will roll out a program in the near future that is designed to uptick revolutionary consciousness in Portland by merging the on the ground activism of the Black Panther Party with the correct Pan-Africanist analysis of the A-APRP. Stay tuned.
The focus of the day was the need for Africans to get organized To join some organization working for justice, whatever organization that is. We did initial work to try and get other organizations to participate with us to share this message. We reached out to the Nation of Islam, Moorish Science Temple, and Ter Nefer Ankh. We invited each to come out and speak to the people, but we were not able to get any of them to do that, although members from those organizations did come out to the event to support. We are continuing dialogue with them and will continue to build those relationships.
Of course, our perspective is that Africans are not citizens of the united snakes of amerikkka and this is illustrated by the fact the Fourth of July is a holiday that supposedly represents freedom when African people were enslaved in 1776, a fact the stupid holiday completely ignores. And everyone walks around on July 4th ignoring that reality. Ignoring the reality that slavery produced that still continues today, e.g. the political, economic, and social inequality that defines social relationships today. So, we won't be celebrating any of your holidays. We will continue to use them as examples to point out the contradictions to our people and allies. We will continue to organize for Pan-Africanism. One unified socialist Africa.
We are continuing to recruit, building capacity. And we will roll out a program in the near future that is designed to uptick revolutionary consciousness in Portland by merging the on the ground activism of the Black Panther Party with the correct Pan-Africanist analysis of the A-APRP. Stay tuned.
Another violent weekend in the city of Chicago. Forty-one people shot and nine killed, including more small children, who were caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately this has not been an atypical weekend in Chicago and gun violence among African people is not an uncommon occurrence around the world today. Violence has occurred, and often continues to occur, on a consistent basis everywhere from Port-A-Prince, Haiti, to Kingston, Jamaica, to Bor, Sudan, to Johannesburg, South Africa (Azania), to Nairobi, Kenya, to any large city within the U.S.
The capitalist news media, the unconditional enemy of African people everywhere, has perfected the art of depicting African on African violence as some sort of dysfunctional affirmation of the mental and spiritual inferiority of these primitive people. Racists of all stripes use subtle and overt language to demean and disparage African people for being “such violent people.” Of course, the capitalist analysis is skilled at deftly avoiding any critical approach to understanding why these issues take place. A simple discussion about the impacts of the colonial legacy, coupled with poverty, coupled with systematic exploitation and repression, provide the perfect ingredients for violence. If you don’t believe that, place yourself in a room with your favorite person with no way to get out, not enough food, and no process in which to express your desire to be free. Then, add the availability of weapons, and provide a method in which you can observe, but not participate, in other people’s advancement through life. Create a scene with those ingredients, and in time, you will find that you are trying to kill even your most favorite individual due to the circumstances you find yourself in. This is a model example of the real life conditions that the masses of African people find themselves in every day. So, no trained sociologist has a difficult time realizing that the manifestations of our conditions i.e. the violence we perpetuate against each other is not a reflection of our nature as a people, but a consequence of our oppression.
By the same token, if African people take the initiative to organize our people, we can resolve these problems relatively fast. For example, there is no magic potion needed to stop the violence in places like Chicago. All we would have to do is organize women and men into formations that are trained with conflict resolution and weapons and self-defense skills. Then you send those teams of people into the community to knock on every door and talk to the inhabitants about the need to take responsibility for our communities. Does any logical person truly believe that the majority of people, who are terrorized by the violence they live under every day, are going to reject this message? In fact, history has shown us that people will respond overwhelmingly to that message and in thus doing so, they will provide the mass support for the following campaign of approaching the perpetuators of the violence and giving them a time frame to put down their weapons and accept our help in developing them into productive citizens of the community, or face the wrath of the community. A simple solution that is proven to work, but it requires organization. This is the same with the situation in Sudan. African people are not anti-Islam, anti-Christianity, anti-Arab, or anti anything. Our culture is humanistic. We are accepting of any people. So, once we organize the All African Command, which is the combined military of the All Committee for Political Coordination (A-ACPC), which is the united political parties that form the All African People’s Revolutionary Party) then the All African Command, or All African People’s Revolutionary Army (A-APRA) goes into Sudan, and taking a humanistic approach that is pro-African, puts a stop to the violence, and insures unity is the priority for all. And, in the same spirit of the Chicago example, people are encouraged to cooperate and help build up the Sudan and Africa and if they refuse, they are subjected to the wrath of the masses who are backed by African political and military power.
Again, this is not some solution that will take 100 years to develop, but it will take strong organization. The problem isn’t guns in the African community. Unfortunately, our enemies have guns. Lots of them. So we are going to need guns for a long time my friends. The problem isn’t a spiritual and moral breakdown in the African community. We have more spiritual and moral strength then everybody else combined. If not, for what we have suffered, we would have waged war against humanity a long time ago and if we had, no honest person could have blamed us. The problem is not anything except our inability and unwillingness to stop talking so much and posturing, and to start organizing. When all the ego, blustering, and fronting is peeled back, we all know this is true. The only question is when we will start to make it a reality.
The capitalist news media, the unconditional enemy of African people everywhere, has perfected the art of depicting African on African violence as some sort of dysfunctional affirmation of the mental and spiritual inferiority of these primitive people. Racists of all stripes use subtle and overt language to demean and disparage African people for being “such violent people.” Of course, the capitalist analysis is skilled at deftly avoiding any critical approach to understanding why these issues take place. A simple discussion about the impacts of the colonial legacy, coupled with poverty, coupled with systematic exploitation and repression, provide the perfect ingredients for violence. If you don’t believe that, place yourself in a room with your favorite person with no way to get out, not enough food, and no process in which to express your desire to be free. Then, add the availability of weapons, and provide a method in which you can observe, but not participate, in other people’s advancement through life. Create a scene with those ingredients, and in time, you will find that you are trying to kill even your most favorite individual due to the circumstances you find yourself in. This is a model example of the real life conditions that the masses of African people find themselves in every day. So, no trained sociologist has a difficult time realizing that the manifestations of our conditions i.e. the violence we perpetuate against each other is not a reflection of our nature as a people, but a consequence of our oppression.
By the same token, if African people take the initiative to organize our people, we can resolve these problems relatively fast. For example, there is no magic potion needed to stop the violence in places like Chicago. All we would have to do is organize women and men into formations that are trained with conflict resolution and weapons and self-defense skills. Then you send those teams of people into the community to knock on every door and talk to the inhabitants about the need to take responsibility for our communities. Does any logical person truly believe that the majority of people, who are terrorized by the violence they live under every day, are going to reject this message? In fact, history has shown us that people will respond overwhelmingly to that message and in thus doing so, they will provide the mass support for the following campaign of approaching the perpetuators of the violence and giving them a time frame to put down their weapons and accept our help in developing them into productive citizens of the community, or face the wrath of the community. A simple solution that is proven to work, but it requires organization. This is the same with the situation in Sudan. African people are not anti-Islam, anti-Christianity, anti-Arab, or anti anything. Our culture is humanistic. We are accepting of any people. So, once we organize the All African Command, which is the combined military of the All Committee for Political Coordination (A-ACPC), which is the united political parties that form the All African People’s Revolutionary Party) then the All African Command, or All African People’s Revolutionary Army (A-APRA) goes into Sudan, and taking a humanistic approach that is pro-African, puts a stop to the violence, and insures unity is the priority for all. And, in the same spirit of the Chicago example, people are encouraged to cooperate and help build up the Sudan and Africa and if they refuse, they are subjected to the wrath of the masses who are backed by African political and military power.
Again, this is not some solution that will take 100 years to develop, but it will take strong organization. The problem isn’t guns in the African community. Unfortunately, our enemies have guns. Lots of them. So we are going to need guns for a long time my friends. The problem isn’t a spiritual and moral breakdown in the African community. We have more spiritual and moral strength then everybody else combined. If not, for what we have suffered, we would have waged war against humanity a long time ago and if we had, no honest person could have blamed us. The problem is not anything except our inability and unwillingness to stop talking so much and posturing, and to start organizing. When all the ego, blustering, and fronting is peeled back, we all know this is true. The only question is when we will start to make it a reality.
The A-APRP is here in oregon!
In July of 2013, an orientation to join the A-APRP was held at Portland State University. A handful of people attended and indicated a willingness to join the process. Two Saturdays later, six of us met in a N. Portland park and discussed the A-APRP's Ideological Training Guidelines. Eight months later, that initial circle has lost a couple of people and gained a couple of people. The circle has been meeting consistently since that first July meeting and now, we are orientating a new circle that will be in conjunction to the first circle. Our numbers are increasing and the struggle to institutionalize our committee work and our "ownership" of our membership to build the A-APRP in institutionalizing. For some people, it's becoming harder. For others, things are starting to come together. We are growing in Pan-African character, consciousness, and the community's awareness of us is growing stronger. We still focus on gaining that all important political education...That understanding that Africa is primary, socialism is the solution, and what all that really means. A luta continua. We keep moving forward. We will continue to build and grow and one day we will be a major force in this town, but you can't run until you walk and you can't walk until you crawl. Everything is happening at the appropriate rate. Praise and honor to the ancestors and thank you for giving us the strength to wage this struggle. We will struggle to uphold our responsibility!
We commemorate 30 years since the physical transition of Ahmed Sekou Ture!
The enemies of African people have been maligning Ahmed Sekou Ture since the 1940s. They started their vicious onslaught against our brother when he was a trade union organizer. The lies increased when he led Guinea's campaign for independence. The treachery reached an entirely new level of disgusting slander when the political party Ture helped found - the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG) - had the audacity to reject France and vote for independence now in 1958.
From October 2, 1958 until March 26, 1984, Sekou Ture led the people of Guinea through the difficult period of attempting to build an independent and revolutionary nation. A major aspect of that process was Guinea's uncompromising support for African liberation struggles all over the globe. This support included steadfast material and ideological support for the African National Congress and Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania, South Africa. Other liberation movements receiving concrete support from Guinea included the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, FRELIMO from Mozambique, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from the U.S. civil rights and Black Power struggles, and African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau (PAIGIC), which was permitted to set up it's base in Guinea-Conakry. The PDG and Ture also supported the self-determination of the people of Guinea by promoting African independence and self reliance. Guinea was governed under those principles for 26 years, but imperialism was undaunted in it's efforts to discredit Sekou Ture. They called him a dictator. They pointed to mistakes within Guinea as proof of that. They never acknowledged their active sabotage which contributed to the mistakes. They also never explained how a dictator does nothing to exploit the wealth of the country. In fact, even Ture's most bitter enemies could never accuse him of stealing a marshmellow from the people. It was this unquestionable commitment to integrity that gave Sekou Ture, in spite of mistakes any young country is destined to make, unchallenged popularity among the people of Guinea.
Unfortunately, the most costly mistake the PDG committed was relying on Sekou Ture's popularity to overcome shortcomings in the party's ability to put together a principled political apparatus. This error, coupled with the PDG's lack of focus on political education within the country, made it possible for the enemies of Africa to exploit these weaknesses once Sekou Ture made his physical transition. Without the physical presence of Sekou Ture, the imperialists were able to quickly turn the people against the PDG as an effective governing apparatus and within days of his death, Guinea was stolen from the status of a liberated zone to that of an enemy held one, firmly in the group of neo-colonialism.
Today, Guinea remains a neo-colonialist territory, but the PDG has gained strength from this experience. Cadre have been developed through the work of the PDG and its association with the All African Committee for Political Coordination (A-ACPC), the coordinating body of liberation movements called for by Kwame Nkrumah to create the All African People's Revolutionary Party (in Nkrumah's "Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare)." Today, the relationship between the PDG and the A-APRP is stronger than it was when Sekou Ture lived. As Nkrumah requested, the PDG and the A-APRP are one and growing stronger to position ourselves for the push towards Pan-Africanism, which we define as one unified socialist Africa.
We remember Sekou Ture as the Pan-Africanist revolutionary that he was. The ideologue that has contributed so much to our understanding of what is required to build the revolutionary Pan-African political party. His writing on cadres have helped us learn the correct behavior in building the party and his example and works have contributed to our struggle all over the world today. We will always love and respect Sekou Ture and we stand ready to educate our people against the lies our enemies tell about him. Of course, we know what Malcolm X said to be correct: "Whomever the enemy says to hate, we know that's who we should run too!"
Viva Ahmed Sekou Ture!!
Viva the PDG - RDA!!
VIva the A-APRP!!
From October 2, 1958 until March 26, 1984, Sekou Ture led the people of Guinea through the difficult period of attempting to build an independent and revolutionary nation. A major aspect of that process was Guinea's uncompromising support for African liberation struggles all over the globe. This support included steadfast material and ideological support for the African National Congress and Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania, South Africa. Other liberation movements receiving concrete support from Guinea included the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, FRELIMO from Mozambique, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from the U.S. civil rights and Black Power struggles, and African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau (PAIGIC), which was permitted to set up it's base in Guinea-Conakry. The PDG and Ture also supported the self-determination of the people of Guinea by promoting African independence and self reliance. Guinea was governed under those principles for 26 years, but imperialism was undaunted in it's efforts to discredit Sekou Ture. They called him a dictator. They pointed to mistakes within Guinea as proof of that. They never acknowledged their active sabotage which contributed to the mistakes. They also never explained how a dictator does nothing to exploit the wealth of the country. In fact, even Ture's most bitter enemies could never accuse him of stealing a marshmellow from the people. It was this unquestionable commitment to integrity that gave Sekou Ture, in spite of mistakes any young country is destined to make, unchallenged popularity among the people of Guinea.
Unfortunately, the most costly mistake the PDG committed was relying on Sekou Ture's popularity to overcome shortcomings in the party's ability to put together a principled political apparatus. This error, coupled with the PDG's lack of focus on political education within the country, made it possible for the enemies of Africa to exploit these weaknesses once Sekou Ture made his physical transition. Without the physical presence of Sekou Ture, the imperialists were able to quickly turn the people against the PDG as an effective governing apparatus and within days of his death, Guinea was stolen from the status of a liberated zone to that of an enemy held one, firmly in the group of neo-colonialism.
Today, Guinea remains a neo-colonialist territory, but the PDG has gained strength from this experience. Cadre have been developed through the work of the PDG and its association with the All African Committee for Political Coordination (A-ACPC), the coordinating body of liberation movements called for by Kwame Nkrumah to create the All African People's Revolutionary Party (in Nkrumah's "Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare)." Today, the relationship between the PDG and the A-APRP is stronger than it was when Sekou Ture lived. As Nkrumah requested, the PDG and the A-APRP are one and growing stronger to position ourselves for the push towards Pan-Africanism, which we define as one unified socialist Africa.
We remember Sekou Ture as the Pan-Africanist revolutionary that he was. The ideologue that has contributed so much to our understanding of what is required to build the revolutionary Pan-African political party. His writing on cadres have helped us learn the correct behavior in building the party and his example and works have contributed to our struggle all over the world today. We will always love and respect Sekou Ture and we stand ready to educate our people against the lies our enemies tell about him. Of course, we know what Malcolm X said to be correct: "Whomever the enemy says to hate, we know that's who we should run too!"
Viva Ahmed Sekou Ture!!
Viva the PDG - RDA!!
VIva the A-APRP!!
"stokely - a lIFE" Starts STRONG, CRASHES HARD!
I admit fully that as soon as I heard about Peniel Joseph’s biography on the late Kwame Ture entitled “Stokely – A Life” I was skeptical. I felt that way for a few reasons, none of them new, as it relates to scholarship on the life of Kwame Ture, formally Stokely Carmichael. I think it’s fair to say the bibliography of Kwame’s life repeatedly plays up the approximately seven years he spent within the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (pronounced SNICK), and the one year he spent within the Black Panther Party (BPP), while down playing, or even ignoring, his last 30 years living in Africa as an organizer for the All African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP). The focus on the 60s is somewhat understandable due to the relative lack of attention paid to the bold work carried out by Kwame and other SNCC, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) organizers in the south. Kwame, when he was known as Stokely Carmichael, played a major role throughout the civil rights and Black Power movements, something even Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr did not do. So it is indeed logical that Joseph, and other scholars, would spend time wanting to retell the story of Kwame’s contributions to SNCC and the BPP. In fact, Joseph does better than most at relaying a narrative of how Kwame’s organizing skills developed, expanded, and intensified. “Stokely – A Life” does a great job of demonstrating the intellect, selflessness, commitment, and absolute courage that characterized Kwame’s work in the south during those years. For this contribution, we thank Joseph, especially for the vivid way in which he conveys the extent to which Kwame was demonized by the U.S. power structure during the latter 1960s. Joseph’s argues that impactful racist politicians like Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, and Spiro Agnew, owed their political advancement in large part to Kwame’s existence and articulation of the Black Power concept – a phenomenon that frightened white America more than 9/11 could ever imagine. This realization is a moving testimony to the incredible burden carried by a mere twenty four year old Stokely at that time. Joseph also skillfully exposes how the first African (Black) Senator since reconstruction – Edward Brooke – won his election in 1966 by specifically using the slogan “a vote against me is a vote for Stokely Carmichael.” The reader is magically transported into a time when Kwame literally commanded such a level of national focus that legislative ideas focused around repressive measures were being named after him. This is a magnitude of attention that escaped even Malcolm X, the man considered the true spokesperson for Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism in the U.S. during the 60s. Plus, the fact that Joseph produces a clear visual that Kwame never wavered in his militancy and commitment to an independent African agenda does more to honor Kwame’s 60s legacy than pretty much anything else written about his life during that period.
Still, the unique and powerful narrative Joseph carefully crafts up to 1968 diminishes quickly when he is faced with having to address Kwame’s move to Guinea-Conakry, West Africa in 1969. In fact, “Stokely – A Life” is so lean after 1968 that the book would have served a better purpose by stopping there to become a tribute to Kwame’s U.S. work alone. This is true because faster than the average African will switch off a country western song, Joseph’s book evaporates when confronted with dealing with Kwame’s Africa work. Actually, Joseph never actually addresses any of the work Kwame does in Africa. It’s almost as if Kwame did all this courageous work in the U.S. during the 60s before grinding down to a serious halt when he moves to Africa. Then, his contribution is portrayed as consisting simply of giving academic speeches on U.S. college campuses and other symbolic actions until his death. This is an old and tired replay of the same history being written about Kwame’s legacy once he leaves the U.S. for Africa. It’s an easier route for Joseph because it feeds into the same backward and corrupt school of thought that the U.S. is the center of the world struggle for human rights and dignity. This approach also permits the author to avoid having to research, analyze, and critically assess the value of Stokely Carmichael after he moves to Africa and becomes Kwame Ture. This analysis wouldn’t have been easy, but had Joseph attempted to go there, his work would have deepened to a level nothing previously written about Kwame has ever come close to achieving. Since Joseph ends up taking the same common route most historians have taken on Kwame’s life and contributions (after moving to Africa) this biography turns out to be nothing more than a brush fire – the analogy anyone familiar with Kwame knew he was fond of using to define the type of organizer who is active for a moment, but then burns out. Consequently, Joseph misses several key points in understanding Kwame’s thinking and action after moving to Africa. For instance, Joseph makes the point of questioning why Kwame would decide to stay in Conakry and take up the battle as defined by Kwame Nkrumah, but without analyzing Nkrumah’s ideas, Joseph lacks an understanding of the young Stokely Carmichael’s thinking and the older, wiser, Kwame Ture’s resolve. Unfortunately, Joseph has a lot of company in misunderstanding this important link between Kwame Nkrumah, Seku Ture, and Kwame Ture. Instead of seriously investigating that link, he casually dismisses it as a case of cult of personality. Then, Joseph continues down this path by presenting the tired and sadly misinformed assessment and analysis of Seku Ture’s administration in Guinea. In doing so, Joseph simply repeats the same tired rhetoric that Seku Ture was a dictator and Kwame Ture was a quiet co-conspirator to the senior Ture’s corruption.
It’s difficult to understand why there is such a consistent lack of intellectual integrity in assessing Kwame’s 30 years in Africa. It’s almost as if there is a conspiracy to actively avoid engaging in the proper research required to dissect Kwame’s legacy in Africa. It would be simple to illustrate for readers why Kwame chose to study under Nkrumah and Seku Ture. It is equally plausible to present an analysis that explains why Kwame decided to dedicate his life to their vision. Joseph could have accomplished this had he taken the time to study Nkrumah’s “Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare” with the respect it deserves. Unfortunately, Joseph apparently didn’t judge Nkrumah’s landmark “Handbook” worthy of time and mention beyond just stating that Kwame Ture read it in one night. Maybe if Joseph had taken the time to seriously study the “Handbook” he would have learned that this book contained a detailed analysis and strategy for achieving revolutionary Pan-Africanism – or one unified socialist Africa as defined by Nkrumah. He would have realized that this strategy came about as a result of Nkrumah’s experience founding the Organization of African Unity (the OAU which today is the African Union), having the practical applications of building Ghana, supporting the radical “Casablanca” Union with Guinea and Mali, experiencing the CIA inspired disaster in the Congo, and being victimized by the CIA-inspired coup that overthrew his government in Ghana. This groundswell of experience gave Nkrumah the qualifications to speak out against the evils of neo-colonialism and imperialism. He was also primed to learn from the mistakes of the OAU and devise a strategy that would build a grassroots revolutionary Pan-African movement. Its common knowledge now that imperialism exploited many of the class and cultural issues that Joseph defines as “shortcomings” to sabotage Nkrumah’s revolutionary actions. What’s not as widely known is the “Handbook” was Nkrumah’s answer to those experiences. Since Joseph makes it clear that the young Stokely Carmichael was searching for direction in 1968, it’s astounding that he and other scholars wouldn’t show more interest in exploring what young Stokely found in that handbook that shaped and characterized his work for the next 30 years. Did Joseph take this route to purposely sabotage Kwame Ture’s legacy in Africa or was this lack of focus simply intellectual laziness? We don’t know, but based on the detail Joseph places on Kwame’s work in the U.S., it just seemed logical that he would extend the same focus to finding out what Kwame established in Conakry once moving there. What we know is there was no A-APRP anywhere when Stokely Carmichael arrived in Conakry in 1969. Joseph neglects mentioning it, but the very first A-APRP work study circle consisted of Nkrumah, Kwame Ture, Amilcar Cabral, and Lamin Jangha (a student from Gambia). This group started meeting in 1969 once Kwame Ture moved to Conakry. The purpose of the work study process is to serve as an organizing unit that spreads the revolutionary political message of one unified socialist Africa throughout the African world. So, in fast forwarding through the 30 year span of Kwame’s work in Guinea, the A-APRP evolved from one work study circle in Conakry in 1969, to 2014, where A-APRP cadre have touched the ground in Conakry, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Senegal, Gambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Azania-South Africa, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Brazil, and the U.S. These organizers are working tirelessly to create a revolutionary Pan-African consciousness among the masses that anyone who pays attention can see is starting to take hold. The groundwork is being laid for the type of worldwide revolutionary African consciousness that will one day bring Pan-Africanism much closer to our grasp than it appears to Joseph right now. The work to create this reality is exactly the type of daily organizer work that Joseph praises Kwame so handsomely for engaging in during the 60s. This is the same work that elevated Kwame from a U.S. activist into a central committee member for the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG), along with becoming responsible for organizing hundreds of thousands of youth throughout the country. It was from this capacity that Kwame developed and guided A-APRP cadre into similar positions for Pan-African parties in Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ghana, etc. Kwame Ture continued with this work, not just in Guinea, not just in Africa, but in dozens of countries inside and outside of the African continent. Nkrumah’s primary message in the “Handbook’s” is the need to unite all independent revolutionary Pan-African political parties into one continental political party named the A-APRP. Kwame’s effort to coordinate and unite the work going on in all the countries mentioned above was the key to understanding what he was doing in Africa from 1969 to 1998. To not even give cursory mention to all of this monumental work is a sincere shame. And to dismiss Kwame’s commitment to organizing in Africa as simply paranoia at being persecuted by U.S. imperialism is tragically juvenile and reeks of dishonesty. A proper assessment of Kwame’s impact in Africa is to assess that his physical body hasn’t walked the Earth in 15 years, yet the A-APRP still continues to build a Pan-African reality. In 2014, any African movement or leader who wishes to be taken seriously by his people must pay lip service not just to some abstract version of Pan-Africanism, but to the precise vision articulated by Kwame Nkrumah. Robert Mugabe, who was recently elected to an executive position within the African Union, talks all the time about “Nkrumah’s vision for Africa.” Muammar Qaddafi’s push to create one Pan-African currency called the dinar – that would be backed by Libyan gold – was advanced with constant references to Nkrumah’s vision. It would be virtually impossible to find any sensible African, on the continent or not, who would not agree that a Pan-African currency is something Africa desperately needs. And, it isn’t an uncommon belief that it was Qaddafi’s push for this currency that led to the NATO bombings that caused his overthrow and death. A beginning student in economics would understand that a strong, united, African currency would change the game in the international arena. All revolutionary Pan-Africanists know that one African currency was not Qaddafi’s idea, but his attempt to fulfill the vision of Kwame Nkrumah. These same Pan-Africanists also know that Qaddafi’s unity with Nkrumah’s vision was influenced at least in part by the A-APRP’s work with Libya, most significantly through the contributions of Kwame Ture.
There’s no question that Kwame Ture understood he would not live to see one unified socialist Africa. He knew that his job was to create revolutionary cadre who would continue to carry out that objective once his life was over. The fact that SNCC and the Black Panthers no longer exist while the A-APRP is operational on three continents and the Caribbean is testament to Kwame’s wisdom and hard work. The reality that A-APRP cadre continues to do the work from Nkrumah’s “Handbook” and that their creation was the direct result of Kwame’s careful guidance cannot be ignored. Actually, it must be stated that Kwame’s work to create strong Pan-African cadre and the A-APRP’s work to push Pan-African consciousness, along with the examples of Mugabe, Qaddafi, and many others, speaks volumes about the increasing degree of sophistication reflected in Kwame’s vision. This is a truth that provides great perspective for evaluating Kwame’s emergence from a young civil rights worker in Mississippi into a world renowned organizer in Africa with strong international contacts and trained revolutionary Pan-Africanist cadre. Could this be the actual reason for the “confidence” Joseph indicates exists within Kwame Ture that was absent from Stokely Carmichael? Today, the A-APRP is responsible for creating this Pan-African cadre in dozens of countries. They speak with one message, using English, French, Swahili, Fante, Susu, Creole, Spanish, Patwa, etc., to call for revolutionary Pan-Africanism with a socialist path. With this type of perspective regarding Kwame Ture’s work it becomes unnecessary to make the point that he “never mastered French.” Whatever languages he spoke, the cadre he helped create spawned a multitude of projects such as schools in Sierra Leone, socialist food programs in Ghana, and other political institutions throughout Africa, Europe, and the Western Hemisphere. Today there are countless books, articles, and educational materials read by thousands supporting Nkrumah and (Seku) Ture’s vision for revolutionary Pan-Africanism. This is not to mention the work to strengthen the ideological and practical commitment to Pan-Africanism that has been waged by cadre within the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG), African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau (PAIGC), Pan-African Union for Sierra Leone (PANAFU), Convention People’s Party of Ghana (CPP), Pan-African Congress of Azania, South Africa (PAC), etc. This understanding effectively negates Joseph’s continued attempts to judge the A-APRP based on “the limited number of college students that join in the U.S.” It also nullifies the suggestion that Kwame’s work in SNCC somehow outdistances the significance of his Pan-African work. It’s no stretch to say that Joseph creates a grave disservice by denying his readers a scientific understanding of Kwame’s work in Africa. In fact, this literary work is ironic in its conclusion. The reader is left with the impression that Joseph is suggesting that Kwame’s work in the U.S. was tangible whereas his work in Africa was not. The truth is its Kwame’s mass work in Africa, which is only briefly described here, that continues to have life and potential to become a true manifestation of Black Power. Pan-Africanism is Black Power expressed in its highest form. So, Kwame didn’t go astray by moving to Africa and becoming a Pan-Africanist. He in fact completed his life mission. That is the reason why it’s so disappointing that a book that started with so much promise loses credibility so rapidly and completely by presenting Kwame’s work in Africa in the same racist and uninformed fashion that we have come to expect from white leftists and bourgeois scholars.
Then, to add insult to injury, Joseph presents us with the same tired smear job against the PDG and Seku Ture. Let us first admit freely that African revolutionaries, like everyone else, have a long way to go in learning how to effectively deal with political opposition without it becoming antagonistic. Guinea under the PDG, was certainly guilty of this shortcoming as was the Libyan Jamahiriya under Qaddafi. Still, it’s not a coincidence that both those governments suffered under intense repression. It’s also no coincidence that both countries existed, under the PDG and the Jamahiriya, for decades. Guinea was politically and economically isolated because of it’s bold stance in rejecting French neo-colonialism, it’s uncompromising support for African independence and liberation through its embrace of Kwame Nkrumah (when he was overthrown by a CIA inspired coup), and its supplying a base for the guerilla movement of the PAIGC in Guinea-Bissau (and Amilcar Cabral), and it’s extension of support to guerilla movements in Angola, Mozambique, and others. A major tactic used by imperialism to isolate and punish revolutionary societies like Guinea is to deny them access to the scientific technology needed to develop resources to serve its people. Lack of technology equals poverty. The pressure this situation creates causes a great deal of stress and tension within a society. Nkrumah speaks about this in his “Letters from Conakry” book, a collection of his letters during his exile years in Guinea. He speaks to the tension within Guinea as the country was strangled out of having even the basic necessities like toilet paper. History is full of examples of how the tactic of starving people against the revolution was successful in places like Nicaragua, Angola, etc. In this environment the possibility of what Seku Ture labeled “the 5th Column” or forces whose intention is to foment disruption in the country, is an everyday reality. These are the conditions in which Seku Ture and the PDG attempted to build socialism. Of course, explaining this reality is not an attempt to excuse mistakes in Guinea, but it’s important that context is given for the conditions in the country. This way, readers can hopefully understand that the situation is much more complex than Joseph’s attempt to simply explain it away as Guinea “being less open” than the rich and imperialist U.S. Within this tense environment of siege, there is no question that the Ture regime was impacted to over react, and much of what happened at Camp Boiro during this time is probably the result of that phenomenon. But, to present this interpretation of Guinea’s years after independence without placing it within the proper context is ill responsible at best and criminal at worst. In fact, a balanced assessment of the PDG and Ture would have to conclude that considering the pressure the young country was constantly under, their accomplishments were noteworthy. If you look at Guinea today, it consistently ranks as one of the most impoverished countries in the world. They annually produce one of the highest percentages of rain fall of any country, yet electricity is a commodity in Guinea so much so that college students must go to the airport parking lot in order to study at night. It is with this understanding and context that despite the shortcomings of the PDG and Seku Ture, what they accomplished in Guinea is nothing short of miraculous. Unlike most of the world, Seku Ture understood that Guinea is a country rich in mineral resources. Today, Guinea boasts at least 60% of the world’s bauxite reserves (the mineral used to make aluminum products) along with significant reserves of diamonds and uranium. Ture refused to buckle to imperialism’s desire to exploit those resources and he educated the people there around the necessity to use Africa’s resources to advance Africa – not the wealth of European and U.S. corporations. So, even after Ture’s death, the people of Guinea understood enough of his message to resist Lasana Conte’s efforts to sell off the country’s riches. So, those resources remain today, waiting for Pan-Africanism – to develop them for future generations. It’s important to say this because imperialism is always labeling the leaders it disagrees with as dictators, but in the case of Nkrumah, Ture, or Qaddafi for that matter, they never explain why the person they are calling a dictator never attempts to exploit his country’s resources for his/her own benefit? Since that never happened with the Ture regime, the question becomes if he was such a dictator, what and how did he benefit? It’s not like the U.S. supported dictators like Pinochet, Marcos, Mobotu, Bautista, Somoza, apartheid South Africa, Israel, etc., who’s bidding for imperialism rewards and rewarded them with massive riches thus giving them clear motivation to repress the masses. Instead of exploiting his country’s resources, Ture insured that Guinea made major inroads in using whatever was available to them to make literacy a priority along with health care. Doctors from revolutionary Cuba were welcomed into the country during the Ture years to attempt to confront health epidemics and some progress was being made in these areas until the Conte regime, a classic neo-colonial government, took over in 1984. It’s a shame that Joseph never bothers to mention that repression against opposition under the Conte regime makes what happened during the Ture years look almost non-existent. It’s also interesting that during his critique against Ture, Joseph never makes an effort to explain how it is that the “corrupt, violent, and paranoid” Ture was able to stay in power for 26 years, withstanding the animosity and sabotage of every imperialist country in the world for that entire period. This is clearly a feat that would have been impossible unless Ture enjoyed massive popular support. How else does one explain the several failed imperialist backed efforts to topple the Ture government. By the same token, Conte’s regime ruled for approximately the same period with massive strikes, demonstrations, violence, and upheaval unseen during Ture’s years, in spite of the fact Conte enjoyed the full support of imperialism. This is a clear indication of the lack of popular support for his regime compared to Ture and the PDG. Could it be possible that some of this context explains why Joseph incorrectly assumes Kwame Ture was so quiet in criticizing the Ture regime? Especially since anyone who has participated in an A-APRP circle process for any reasonable period of time knows that critical analysis of the PDG, and all African revolutionary formations, is a regular aspect of political struggle within the A-APRP. In fact, a leading A-APRP cadre living and organizing with the PAIGC in Guinea-Bissau, brother Imani Na Umoja, just published a very well balanced assessment of the success of the PAIGC in maintaining its power in Guinea-Bissau in comparison to the failure of the PDG to do the same upon the death of Seku Ture. Umoja points to the lack of political education – Kwame Ture’s primary legacy - as the difference between the PDG and PAIGC. Could this be the reason for Kwame’s work with the PDG, specifically his role with the youth? Maybe if Joseph had taken the time to talk to some of the A-APRP cadre on the ground in Guinea he would have been able to understand and include this critical discussion in his biography. In fact, maybe if Joseph had taken a different approach to trying to analytically interpret Kwame Ture’s work in Africa, or more importantly the work of the A-APRP, he could have given much more insight into the true legacy of Kwame Ture. Instead, what we are left with from Joseph’s work is the very thing any of us who worked with Kwame know he absolutely abhorred. We are left with a focus on the glamour of work in the U.S. with a secondary and underdeveloped dismissal of the hard and necessary work to rebuild Africa. This is especially ironic since Kwame Ture was nothing except clear that anyone serious about Black Power would have to one day come around to Nkrumah’s analysis that “the core of the Black revolution is in Africa and until Africa is free, no African anywhere will be free.”
Joseph’s biography disregards the selfless and sincere focus of Kwame’s decision to work for Africa. His book also dismisses Kwame’s concrete contribution to advancing revolutionary Pan-Africanism, an advancement that proceeds far beyond Kwame’s work in SNCC and the Black Panthers combined. To live in the true spirit of Kwame Ture, the African intellectual, academic class one day must grasp what that legacy truly means.