Please excuse the cross-posting of this message, but it's important that it reach all the folks who participated in the thread entitled "Anarchism vs. Marxism", which was originally sparked by some comments on the marxism list run by Louis Proyect.
In the course of the debate, Mr. Proyect gleefully trumpeted out the fact that the majority of the people involved with forming the Black Radical Congress were either Marxists or Revolutionary Nationalists. This is true, although to be correct, you need to add Revolutionary Feminists, since the BRC has probably the best gender balance at the national level of any non-gender specific left-leaning organization in the U.S. (half of our national Coordinating Committee are women), and they were critical to it's formation and it's continued operation. If they left, there wouldn't be any BRC in my opinion.
However, what Mr. Proyect and others may not clearly be aware of or understand, is that Anarchists deserve specific credit for keeping the BRC's online communications network running, while people with other political leanings have tended to be flakes or downright untrustworthy.
When I asked my Anarchist comrades for assistance, they came through and kept their promises. Even more startling, they showed me an example of trust which I would NEVER, EVER see from people with any other tendencies, including possibly the BRC itself.
Not only have Anarchists been extremely supportive from a technical standpoint, but their knowledge and understanding of the importance of online communication (not one-way diatribes and pronouncements) far exceeds that of anyone else I've dealt with, and I've been out here in cyberspace a long damn time.
In addition, as opposed to the various Marxist and Nationalist tendencies, Anarchists have been almost completely accepting of and supportive of the BRC from the beginning, possibly due to the non-coersive coalition nature of our structure.
How refreshing it is to deal with people who neither view you as a threat to their white supremacist leftist need for control, nor as a t-bone steak to be devoured in the frenzy to recruit new members. What a joy it is to interact with people who neither question whether we are Black enough, nor are whining because we only allow Black people to join.
Because of my political position within the BRC, it would be irresponsible of me to enumerate the fuckups by various people who call themselves Marxists, Nationalists, etc., so I'll stop and leave you to ponder the positive my Anarchist comrades have done for the BRC.
Lastly, if you're wondering how I would label myself politically, I'm probably closer to being a Revolutionary Nationalist, although as I mature, various aspects of Anarchism and Marxism have appealed to me.
In other words, I'm still developing and growing, so don't try to pin me down just yet. :-)
Thank you for listening.
Art McGee
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