[PEN-L:1386] Black militancy

Frances Bolton (PHI) fbolton at chuma.cas.usf.edu
Tue Sep 1 08:42:42 PDT 1998


You're reading NY Magazine, Louis? 

That said, I'm hoping you can elaborate on a couple of things here. First,
how is NOI accomodationist? And, we've all heard the story that KM was
kicked out of NOI for his strong anti-semitic stance. Is that in the
article? I'm pretty sure, although not entirely sure, that his
anti-semitic comments were not simply invented by the ADL, although maybe
you know otherwise. Assuming KM's vocal antisemitism, can we consider him
a leftist, as you label him? (Note: I'm *not* equating antisemitism with
anti-Zionism, which *is*, in my estimation, consistent with leftist
politics) Actually, You said he's "to the left of thr NOI" which is pretty
meaningless, as I think even Al Gore is to the left of the NOI.


Some of these demands I find curious. In particular, I find curious his
call for repatriation and dual citizenship. Repatriation is, of course,
precisely what white supremecist extremists would like to see. And the
dual citizenship is sort of odd, too. It assumes that US citizens, who are
considered "white" in Africa regardless of skin color, have the right to
citizenship anywhere. Isn't that sort of presumptuous in a typical"First
World" sort of way?  And maybe you simply didn't put in all the demands,
but I notice a complete lack of gender and g/l/b/t awareness. That's
deeply troubling. And I've looked over it several times, and I don't see
any critique of capitalism, or any indiation that KM has taken seriously
the connection between capital and race stratification in the US. Those
are some pretty disturbing absences. The BRC explicitly addressed gender,
sexual orientation, and capitalism.  


 On Tue, 1 Sep 1998, Louis Proyect wrote:

((BIG SNIP))> 
> The theme of the march is not about black people looking for forgiveness,
> as was the case in the Million Man March. This is are some of the demands:
> 
> --The release of all Political prisoners.
> 
> --Full and complete reparations for the descendants of slaves.
> 
> --Black Power, Black Nationalism and Pan Africanism
> 
> --Jobs for Black Youth (organizing skills, technology transfers).
> 
> --Adequate resources for the programs that can improve the condition of
> Black Youth.
> 
> --Financial aid to Black Students.
> 
> --Black studies and African centered learning.
> 
> --Environmental Justice
> 
> --Repatriation and Dual citizenship.
> 
> --Unity between Black, Hispanic-Latino, Arab, Native American, and "Asian"
> youth.
> 
> --Establish Black Brain Banks and Think Tanks worldwide.
> 
> --The establishment of Black power conscience cadres and study groups to
> meet the needs of our people nationally and internationally.
> 
> --The establishment of Black Liberation/ Self-defense and security units to
> patrol and control Black communities.
> 
> --The Holding of a Plebiscite
> 




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