Socialism and Black Liberation

Racism is a major pillar that props up American capitalism. Workers are divided against themselves along the lines of race so deeply, that there can be no successful socialist revolution in the U.S. unless it's a “combined revolution” that supports the right of African-Americans to self-determination. That is why we defend Black nationalism, and support the right of all oppressed nationalities in general to form their own autonomous movements and formulate their own demands.

We’ve set up this page to post materials on this very important question, as well as reports on the anti-racist and national liberation struggles within the borders of the U.S. We welcome your feedback.

Black Liberation News & Views:

The Mumia Exception: Since his conviction in 1982 for the murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, Mumia Abu-Jamal, through his numerous books, essays and radio commentaries, has become the face of the anti-death-penalty movement in the United States and an international cause célèbre. continued

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Mumia’s Appeal: On April 6, the U.S. Supreme Court refused Mumia Abu-Jamal's appeal (writ of certiorari) for a new trial based on the racist exclusion of 14 Blacks from the jury panel in his 1982 frame-up murder trial. The decision left in place Mumia's conviction and turned a blind eye to its own ruling in the famous Batson v. Kentucky case and related decisions that nullify murder convictions in which Blacks are systematically excluded from juries without cause. The court ruled without comment. continued

Kevin Cooper Files for Court Re-Hearing: The case of innocent African American San Quentin death row inmate, Kevin Cooper, has carved out over the last two decades a clear image of the terror the U.S. “criminal justice” system unleashes on its poor, and predominately Black and Brown citizens. continued

Free the Jena 6! End Racist Repression! On Sept. 20, at least 50,000 people, mostly Black, marched inJena, Louisiana, against the racist frame-up of six Black high school students in that town. The huge turnout is a reflection of the mass base of the movement, and has inspired those organizing around other cases of racist violence and legal frame-ups. Below we look at the case as well as the potential of the movement. continued

Black Community Protests NYPD Killing of Sean Bell: On Nov. 25, police murdered 23-year-old Sean Bell just hours before he was to be married. His friends, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, were wounded as five cops pumped 50 bullets into Bell's car as they left a bachelor party. The police claimed they had thought Guzman had a gun, yet no gun was ever found. continued

The Struggle of Black Farmers Today: The primary issue contributing to Black farmers’ decline is rooted in the reforged class structure that followed the abolition of chattel slavery after the Civil War. The war left the South’s infrastructure in ruins. Stripped of its main source of surplus value (profit)—slave labor—the Southern economy became subordinate to the new king, Northern industrial capitalism. continued

Remembering Richard Pryor: ReddFoxx used to say that Richard Pryor would have been banned from every nightclub in the country had he performed his act before the Black Revolution of the 1960s. continued

Malcolm X’s Advice to Young People: Malcolm X, born May 19, 1925, would have been 80 years old this month had he not been assassinated 40 years ago. Now, decades later, safely buried, Malcolm X has become respectable. This transformation has been some years in the making, but there can be little doubt of the result. continued

Reflections on the Life & Death of Malcolm X: Afro-Americans have produced many remarkable leaders from Crispus Attucks to Frederick Douglas. Malcolm X was the latest and not the least of these revolutionary representatives of the black people. His sensitivity enabled him to establish instant communion with the oppressed millions who impatiently await the emancipation and equality they have been promised. He was faultlessly attuned to their feelings of frustration, indignation and rebellion. continued

Afrocentrism vs. Eurocentrism: The slave owners’ society, Malcolm X said, created a racist ideology that included the proposition that Black Africans—the population of the African continent that lived south of the Sahara Desert—really had no history—at least, no history worth studying or discussing. According to that point of view, sub-Saharan societies were so primitive, so backward, that they were virtually timeless, that they hadn’t changed in thousands of years, and to say that they hadn’t changed is the same as saying that they have no history. continued

Malcolm X: Voice of the Black Ghetto: The embattled black people of America suffered an irreparable loss when bullets fired by assassins struck down Malcolm X in New York, on February 21, 1965. This criminal act did more than silence the voice of the most articulate spokesman for the poor of the teeming black ghettos of our northern metropolises. It robbed all the oppressed— black and white, yellow and brown— inside and outside the United States—of a brother, of an incorruptible voice, of a revolutionist of uncommon talent and ability who was yet to reach his peak as a brilliant revolutionary agitator and mass leader. continued