BLACK ANARCHISM

The Boston Anarchist Black Cross functions as the defensive arm of local anarchist struggles. We work to forge an organized support network for local activists in need and for folks behind bars. We seek the total abolition of prisons and work on projects in support of this cause. Boston ABC P Bo! "#$%&" Boston' (A $"%"# bostonabc)riseup.net m*space.com+abcboston

A TALK BY ASHANTI ALSTON

,ntroduction (an* classical anarchists regarded anarchism as a bod* of elemental truths that merel* needed to be revealed to the world and believed people would become anarchists once e!posed to the irresistible logic of the idea. This is one of the reasons the* tended to be didactic. -ortunatel* the lived practice of the anarchist movement is much richer than that. -ew .convert. in such a wa*/ it is much more common for people to embrace anarchism slowl*' as the* discover that it is relevant to their lived e!perience and amenable to their own insights and concerns. The richness of the anarchist tradition la* precisel* in the long histor* of encounters between non0anarchist dissidents and the anarchist framework that we inherited from the late %1th and earl* "$th centuries. Anarchism has grown through such encounters and now confronts social contradictions that were previousl* marginal to the movement. -or e!ample' a centur* ago the struggle against patriarch* was a relativel* minor concern for most anarchists and *et it is now widel* accepted as an integral part of our struggle against domination. ,t is onl* within the last %$ or %2 *ears that anarchists in 3orth America have begun to seriousl* e!plore what it means to develop an anarchism that can both fight white supremac* and articulate a positive vision of cultural diversit* and cultural e!change. Comrades are working hard to identif* the historical referents of such a task' how our movement must change to embrace it' and what a trul* anti0racist anarchism might look like. The following piece b* ,A4 5,nstitute for Anarchist 4tudies6 board member Ashanti Alston e!plores some of these 7uestions. Alston' who was a member of the Black Panther Part* and the Black 8iberation Arm*' describes his encounter5s6 with anarchism 5which began while he was incarcerated for activities related to the Black 8iberation Arm*6. 9e touches upon some of the limitations of older visions of anarchism' the contemporar* relevance of anarchism to black people' and some of the principles necessar* to build a new revolutionar* movement. This is an edited transcript of a talk given b* Alston on ctober ":th' "$$# at 9unter College in 3ew ;ork Cit*. This event was organized b* the ,nstitute for Anarchist 4tudies and co0sponsored b* the 4tudent 8iberation Action (ovement of the Cit* <niversit* of 3ew ;ork. 0Chuck (orse

Although we want to struggle' it is going to be ver* difficult because of the problems that we have inherited from this empire. -or e!ample' , saw some ver* hard' emotional struggles at the protests against the =epublican 3ational Convention. But people stuck to it' even if the* broke down cr*ing in the process. We are not going to get through some of our internal d*namics that have kept us divided unless we are willing to go through some reall* tough struggles. This is one of the other reasons wh* , sa* there is no answer/ we>ve just got to go through this. ur struggles here in the <nited 4tates affect ever*bod* in the world. People on the bottom are going to pla* a ke* role and the wa* we relate to people on the bottom is going to be ver* important. (an* of us are privileged enough to be able to avoid some of the most difficult challenges and we will need to give up some of this privilege in order to build a new movement. The potential is there. We can still win 00 and redefine what it means to win 00 but we have the opportunit* to advance a richer vision of freedom than we have ever had before. We have to be willing to tr*. As a Panther' and as someone who went underground as an urban guerrilla' , have put m* life on the line. , have watched m* comrades die and spent most of m* adult life in prison. But , still believe that we can win. 4truggle is ver* tough and when *ou cross that line' *ou risk going to jail' getting seriousl* hurt' killed' and watching *our comrades getting seriousl* hurt and killed. That is not a prett* picture' but that is what happens when *ou fight an entrenched oppressor. We are struggling and will make it rough for them' but struggle is also going to be rough for us too. This is wh* we have to find wa*s to love and support each other through tough times. ,t is more than just believing that we can win/ we need to have structures in place that can carr* us through when we feel like we cannot go another step. , think we can move again if we can figure out some of those things. This s*stem has got to come down. ,t hurts us ever* da* and we can>t give up. We have to get there. We have to find new wa*s. Anarchism' if it means an*thing' means being open to whatever it takes in thinking' living' and in our relationships 00 to live full* and win. ,n some wa*s' , think the* are both the same/ living to the fullest is to win. f course we will and must clash with our oppressors and we need to find good wa*s of doing it. =emember those on the bottom who are most impacted b* this. The* might have different perspectives on how this fight is supposed to go. ,f we can>t find wa*s for meeting face0to0face to work that stuff out' old ghosts will re0appear and we will be back in the same old situation that we have been in before. ;ou all can do this. ;ou have the vision. ;ou have the creativit*. ?o not allow an*one to lock that down.

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politicians. We look out for each other' we care for each other>s kids' we go to the store for each other' we find wa*s to protect our communities. Aven churches still do things in a ver* communal wa* to some e!tent. , learned that there are wa*s to be radical without alwa*s passing out literature and telling people' .9ere is the picture' if *ou read this *ou will automaticall* follow our organization and join the revolution.. -or e!ample' participation is a ver* important theme for anarchism and it is also ver* important in the Black communit*. Consider jazz/ it is one of the best illustrations of an e!isting radical practice because it assumes a participator* connection between the individual and the collective and allows for the e!pression of who *ou are' within a collective setting' based on the enjo*ment and pleasure of the music itself. ur communities can be the same wa*. We can bring together all kinds of diverse perspectives to make music' to make revolution. 9ow can we nurture ever* act of freedomB Whether it is with people on the job or the folks that hang out on the corner' how can we plan and work togetherB We need to learn from the different struggles around the world that are not based on vanguards. There are e!amples in Bolivia. There are the Capatistas. There are groups in 4enegal building social centers. ;ou reall* have to look at people who are tr*ing to live and not necessaril* tr*ing to come up with the most advanced ideas. We need to de0emphasize the abstract and focus what is happening on the ground. 9ow can we bring all these different strands togetherB 9ow can we bring in the =astasB 9ow can we bring in the people on the west coast who are still fighting the government strip0mining of indigenous landB 9ow can we bring together all of these peoples to begin to create a vision of America that is for all of usB ppositional thinking and oppositional risks are necessar*. , think that is ver* important right now and one of the reasons wh* , think anarchism has so much potential to help us move forward. ,t is not asking of us to dogmaticall* adhere to the founders of the tradition' but to be open to whatever increases our democratic participation' our creativit*' and our happiness. We just had an Anarchist People of Color conference in ?etroit on ctober #rd to the 2th. ne hundred thirt* people came from all over the countr*. ,t was great to just see ourselves and the interest of people of color from around the <nited 4tates in finding wa*s of thinking outside of the norm. We saw that we could become that voice in our communities that sa*s' .Wait' ma*be we don>t need to organize like that. Wait' the wa* that *ou are treating people within the organization is oppressive. Wait' what is *our visionB Would *ou like to hear mineB. There is a need for those kinds of voices within our different communities. 3ot just our communities of color' but in ever* communit* there is a need to stop advancing read*0made plans and to trust that people can collectivel* figure out what to do with this world. , think we have the opportunit* to put aside what we thought would be the answer and fight together to e!plore different visions of the future. We can work on that. And there is no one answer/ we>ve got to work it out as we go. D

lthough the Black Panther Part* was ver* hierarchical' , learned a lot from m* e!perience in the organization. Above all' the Panthers impressed upon me the need to learn from other peoples> struggles. , think , have done that and that is one of the reasons wh* , am an anarchist toda*. After all' when old strategies don>t work' *ou need to look for other wa*s of doing things to see if *ou can get *ourself unstuck and move forward again. ,n the Panthers we drew a lot from nationalists' (ar!ist0 8eninists' and others like them' but their approaches to social change had significant problems and , delved into anarchism to see if there are other wa*s to think about making a revolution. , learned about anarchism from letters and literature sent to me while in various prisons around the countr*. At first , didn>t want to read an* of the material , received 00 it seemed like anarchism was just about chaos and ever*bod* doing their own thing 00 and for the longest time , just ignored it. But there were times 00 when , was in segregation 00 that , didn>t have an*thing else to read and' out of boredom' finall* dug in 5despite ever*thing , had heard about anarchism up to the time6. , was actuall* 7uite surprised to find anal*ses of peoples> struggles' peoples> cultures' and peoples> organizational formations 00 that made a lot of sense to me. These anal*ses helped me see important things about m* e!perience in the Panthers that had not been clear to me before. -or e!ample' , realized that there was a problem with m* love for people like 9ue* P. 3ewton' Bobb* 4eal' and Aldridge Cleaver and the fact that , had put them on a pedestal. After all' what does it sa* about *ou' if *ou allow someone to set themselves up as *our leader and make all *our decisions for *ouB What anarchism helped me see was that *ou' as an individual' should be respected and that no one is important enough to do *our thinking for *ou. Aven if we thought of 9ue* P. 3ewton or Aldridge Cleaver as the baddest revolutionaries in the world' , should see m*self as the baddest revolutionar*' just like them. Aven if , am *oung' , have a brain. , can think. , can make decisions. , thought about all this while in prison and found m*self sa*ing' .(an' we reall* set ourselves up in a wa* that was bound to create problems and produce schisms. We were bound to follow programs without thinking.. The histor* of the Black Panther Part*' as great as it is' has those skeletons. The smallest person on the totem pole was supposed to be a worker and the one on the top was the one with the brains. But in prison , learned that , could have made some of these decisions m*self and that people around me could have made these decisions themselves. Although , appreciated ever*thing that the leaders of the Black Panther Part* did' , began to see that we can do things differentl* and thus draw more full* on our own potentials and move even further towards real self0determination. Although it wasn>t eas* at first' , stuck with the anarchist material and found that , couldn>t put it down once it started giving me insights. , wrote to people in ?etroit and Canada who had been sending me literature and asked them to send more. #

9owever' none of what , received dealt with Black folks or 8atinos. (a*be there were occasional discussions of the (e!ican revolution' but nothing dealt with us' here' in the <nited 4tates. There was an overwhelming emphasis on those who became the anarchist founding fathers 00 Bakunin' Eropotkin' and some others 00 but these Auropean figures' who were addressing Auropean struggles' didn>t reall* speak to me. , tried to figure out how this applies to me. , began to look at Black histor* again' at African histor*' and at the histories and struggles of other people of color. , found man* e!amples of anarchist practices in non0Auropean societies' from the most ancient times to the present. This was ver* important to me/ , needed to know that it is not just Auropean people who can function in an anti0authoritarian wa*' but that we all can. , was encouraged b* things , found in Africa 00 not so much b* the ancient forms that we call tribes 00 but b* modern struggles that occurred in Cimbabwe' Angola' (ozambi7ue' and Fuinea0Bissau. Aven though the* were led b* vanguardist organizations' , saw that people were building radical' democratic communities on the ground. -or the first time' in these colonial situations' African peoples where creating what was the Angolans called .popular power.. This popular power took a ver* anti0authoritarian form/ people were not onl* conducting their lives' but also transforming them while fighting whatever foreign power was oppressing them. 9owever' in ever* one of these liberation struggles new repressive structures were imposed as soon as people got close to liberation/ the leadership was obsessed with ideas of government' of raising a standing arm*' of controlling the people when the oppressors were e!pelled. nce the so0called victor* was accomplished' the people 00 who had fought for *ears against their oppressors 00 were disarmed and instead of having real popular power' a new part* was installed at the helm of the state. 4o' there were no real revolutions or true liberation in Angola' Fuinea0Bissau' (ozambi7ue' and Cimbabwe because the* simpl* replaced a foreign oppressor with an indigenous oppressor. 4o' here , am' in the <nited 4tates fighting for Black liberation' and wondering/ how can we avoid situations like thatB Anarchism gave me a wa* to respond to this 7uestion b* insisting that we put into place' as we struggle now' structures of decision0making and doing things that continuall* bring more people into the process' and not just let the most .enlightened. folks make decisions for ever*one else. The people themselves have to create structures in which the* articulate their own voice and make their own decisions. , didn>t get that from other ideologies/ , got that from anarchism. , also began to see' in practice' that anarchistic structures of decision0making are possible. -or e!ample' at the protests against the =epublican 3ational Convention in August "$$$ , saw normall* e!cluded groups 00 people of color' women' and 7ueers 00 participate activel* in ever* aspect of the mobilization. We did not allow small groups to make decisions for others and although people had differences' the* were :

seen as good and beneficial. ,t was new for me' after m* e!perience in the Panthers' to be in a situation where people are not tr*ing to be on the same page and truel* embraced the attempt to work out our sometimes conflicting interests. This gave me some ideas about how anarchism can be applied. ,t also made me wonder/ if it can be applied to the diverse groups at the convention protest' could ,' as a Black activist' appl* these things in the Black communit*B 4ome of our ideas about who we are as a people hamper our struggles. -or e!ample' the Black communit* is often considered a monolithic group' but it is actuall* a communit* of communities with man* different interests. , think of being Black not so much as an ethnic categor* but as an oppositional force or touchstone for looking at situations differentl*. Black culture has alwa*s been oppositional and is all about finding wa*s to creativel* resist oppression here' in the most racist countr* in the world. 4o' when , speak of a Black anarchism' it is not so tied to the color of m* skin but who , am as a person' as someone who can resist' who can see differentl* when , am stuck' and thus live differentl*. What is important to me about anarchism is its insistence that *ou should never be stuck in old' obsolete approaches and alwa*s tr* to find new wa*s of looking at things' feeling' and organizing. ,n m* case' , first applied anarchism in the earl* %11$s in a collective we created to put out the Black Panther newspaper again. , was still a closet anarchist at this point. , wasn>t read* *et to come out and declare m*self an anarchist' because , alread* knew what folks were going to sa* and how the* were going to look at me. Who would the* see when , sa* anarchistB The* would see the white anarchists' with all the funn* hair etc' and sa* .how the heck are *ou going to hook up with thatB. There was a divide in this collective/ on the one side there were older comrades who were tr*ing to reinvent the wheel and' on the other' m*self and a few others who were sa*ing' .8et>s see what we can learn from the Panther e!perience and build upon and improve it. We can>t do things the same wa*.. We emphasized the importance of an anti0se!ist perspective 00 an old issue within the Panthers 00 but the other side was like' ., don>t want to hear all that feminist stuff.. And we said' .That>s fine if *ou don>t want to hear it' but we want the *oung folks to hear it' so the* know about some of the things that did not work in the Panthers' so the* know that we had some internal contradictions that we could not overcome.. We tried to press the issue' but it became a battle and the discussions got so difficult that a split occurred. As this point' , left the collective and began working with anarchist and anti0 authoritarian groups' who have reall* been the onl* ones to consistentl* tr* to deal with these d*namics thus far. ne of the most important lessons , also learned from anarchism is that *ou need to look for the radical things that we alread* do and tr* to encourage them. This is wh* , think there is so much potential for anarchism in the Black communit*/ so much of what we alread* do is anarchistic and doesn>t involve the state' the police' or the 2