Black Internationalism

[Yhcrana]

What is it and how does it differ from Black Nationalism? Just curious. If anyone could provide me some insight, I'd appreciate it.

[homage]

I'm not exactly sure, but I think that it may be similar (if not the same) as Huey Newton's Inter-Communalism.

[Pomegranate]

i'm no expert but i have read a lot of malcolm-x, and almost every book the panthers wrote. <br> <br>black nationalism means protection of the community. malcolm-x encouraged the black community to build and support their local economies. ie, shop at locally black owned stores, build the local economies which will ultimately raise the standard of living for the entire local community. beyond that, it's about controlling education, housing, economies etc. in the local community. "the man who's controlling the stores in our community is a man who doesnt look like we do. he's a man who doesnt even live in the community. so you and i even when we try and spend our money in the block where we live or the area where we live; we're spending it with the man who when the sun goes down, takes that basket full of money in another part of town." <br> <br>later, of course, malcolm started to expand this to include black peoples worldwide - especially africa. he believed that the black community in america and the actual african nations were one in the same, separated only by forced removal, and he wanted to build a global power base to accuse the U.S. of various crimes in front of the U.N. his speech "the ballot or the bullet" is pretty clear about this. he also believed that black nationalism could "bring about the freedom of 22 million americans...where we have suffered colonialism for the last 400 years" much as he perceived various forms of nationalism to have freed many asian and african nations. <br> <br>as for huey's intercommunalism, he believed that nations were obsolete, so the word "internationalism" was pointless. he believed that proletarian revolution was inevitable and that this would be the new power base. local communities organized along the same lines which inevitably builds a huge power base of connected communities. the panthers believed in bridging gaps - which is why they were quick to collaborate with white groups which were idealogically similar. they also reached out to the cubans, chinese and other communist revolutionaries. the fine points could be hammered out after the revolution, what mattered was an immediate change in the quality of life and self-determination of the people. "all power to the people" is the most well-known panther slogan. well, other than "free huey!" <br> <br>while the panthers are known as maoists, the truth is that they sold the little red book to raise funds to buy guns (for the police patrols where they followed cops with guns and law books) long before they read it. they liked the ideas of mao, to be sure, but in the final analysis i believe huey would have considered himself more dedicated to the dialectic. the panthers were always willing to evolve, and the most common example given is the way their attitude toward the women members changed (quite quickly) from an almost patronizing attitude to one of equality. in fact, saying they were willing to evolve is probably not stating it clearly enough, they believed it was essential to a vital movement. <br> <br>

[Pomegranate]

also, i should point out that the panthers were in favor of "black capitalism" which, as with malcolm's ideas, means controlling the businesses in your own community, building economies from the ground up. so, this is another good example of how they were dedicated to the dialectic first and communism second. <br> <br>

[changeagent7]

Correction: Concerning the mistaken notion that the Panthers "were in favor of 'black capitalism,'" the Black Panther Party [BPP] took on different views during their 16 years of existence [1966-82]. These are best simplified by referencing the changes in Point # 3 of their 10 point platform and program: When founded in 1966, it read in part "We want an end to the robbery by the White Man of our Black Community." By the spring of 1969, the Panthers embraced Marxism and changed that point to read: "We want an end to the robbery by the Capitalist of our Black Community." [By the way the 1969-1971 period was the high point of the organization in terms of most membership, highest number of chapters and branches, highest level of gov't repression and highest level of Black community support of the BPP, and the time of origin of the People's/Survival Programs]. By 1972, the Panthers changed Point # 3 to read ""We want an end to the robbery by the Capitalist of our Intercommunal Community." However, as the Panthers began their long era of decline [from 1971-1982], they did "re-analyze" Black capitalism as having a very positive side when it economically supported Panther programs like the Free Breakfast for Children. Huey's "Intercommunalism" was an early globalization theory, embracing internationalism without using that term, since Huey thought that nations were anachronistic. I served in the BPP in Boston MA and New Haven CT.

[Guest]

First thing to say is thank you for your service.

Also, kudos for oldest thread resurrected

I'm curious what your thoughts are regarding marxism, then and now. Anarchists are typically opposed to marxism and maoism, both of which influenced the panthers. I feel there's a connection between authoritarian communist ideologies and the banking class which 99% of the left ignores or tosses aside because it seems counterintuitive to them. I guess what I am asking is... we all know the BPP was manipulated by cointelpro and the like, but was it ever manipulated ideologically?

I've spent a good amount of time in Oakland, and occasionally ride by the block where Huey Newton was murdered. It makes me wonder what the community was like when there was seemingly a little more consciousness around...