Black anarchism (also known as panther anarchism) is a term applied to a group of

people of African descent The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...

who identify with the principles of

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

. These people include, but are not limited to,

Ashanti Alston Ashanti Omowali Alston (born 1954) is an anarchist activist, speaker, writer, and former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. From 1974 to 1985, he spent time in prison for bank robbery, which caused him to become further ...

Kuwasi Balagoon Kuwasi Balagoon (December 22, 1946 – December 13, 1986), born Donald Weems, was an American political activist, anarchist and member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. Radicalised by race riots in his home state of Maryla ...

Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin (born 1947) is an American writer, activist, and black anarchist. He is a former member of the Black Panther Party and Concerned Citizens for Justice. He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and has lived in Memphis, Tenne ...

, Greg Jackson, and

Martin Sostre Martin Ramirez Sostre (March 20, 1923 – August 12, 2015) was an American activist known for his role in the prisoners' rights movement. Biography He served time in Attica prison during the early 1960s, where he embraced doctrines as diverse a ...

. Critics of the term suggest that it broadly eclipses important political differences between these multi-varied thinkers and incorrectly presents them as having a shared theory or movement. Black anarchism has had a major influence on the anarchist movement, black anarchists have a 100-year history in black-led anti-fascist and

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

history. Regardless, the individuals to whom the label has been applied all oppose the existence of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, the subjugation and domination of

Black people Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

and other ethnic groups and favor a non-hierarchical organization of society. In general, these individuals argue for

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

while stressing the importance of ending racial and national oppression, opposing

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...

, the state, and

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

Worldview

Black anarchists generally rejected narrow or explicit forms of anarchism that ignore issues of race and national oppression. Pedro Ribeiro defines it as a deformed "white, petty-bourgeois Anarchism that cannot relate to the people" and that refuses to talk or deal with issues of race by saying "No, don't talk about racism unless it is in that very abstract sense of we-are-all-equal-let's-sing-kumbayas-and-pretend-the-color-of-our-skin-does-not-matter anti-racism." Ashanti Alston, who has explicitly used the term ''Black anarchism'', also argued that "

Black culture Black culture refers to: * Culture of Africa * African-American culture * The culture of black communities in other parts of the world, see Black people See also * Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center for Resear ...

has always been oppositional and is all about finding ways to creatively resist oppression here, in the most racist country in the world

he United States He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

So, when I speak of a Black anarchism, it is not so tied to the color of my skin but who I am as a person, as someone who can resist, who can see differently when I am stuck, and thus live differently." As an anarchist, Alston added that he viewed

Black nationalism Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves ar ...

as progressive yet also as deeply limited, stating that:

"''Panther anarchism is ready, willing and able to challenge old
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
and revolutionary notions that have been accepted as 'common-sense.' It also challenges the bullshit in our lives and in the so-called movement that holds us back from building a genuine movement based on the enjoyment of life, diversity, practical self-determination and multi-faceted resistance to the Babylonian Pigocracy. This Pigocracy is in our 'heads,' our relationships as well as in the institutions that have a vested interest in our eternal domination.''"''@narchist Panther Zine''. October 1999. 1 (1).

Contemporary

Most recently, activists and scholars have emphasized the importance of Black anarchism in the formation of histories surrounding the

Black Liberation Army The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was a far-left, black nationalist, underground Black Power revolutionary paramilitary organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981. Composed of former Black Panthers (BPP) and Republic of Ne ...

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

and other modes of the Black

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

tradition beginning with

slave rebellions A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedo ...

in the European colonies of the late 18th century to the present day. In ''As Black As Resistance: Finding the Conditions of Liberation'', activists William C. Anderson,

Mariame Kaba Mariame Kaba is an American activist, grassroots organizer, and educator who advocates for the abolition of the prison industrial complex, including all police. She is the author of ''We Do This 'Til We Free Us'' (2021). The Mariame Kaba Papers ...

and

Zoé Samudzi Zoé Samudzi (born 1992/1993) is a Zimbabwean-American writer and activist known for her book ''As Black as Resistance''. Samudzi has written for ''The New Inquiry'', ''The Daily Beast'' and ''Vice magazine''. Samudzi was a 2017 Public Imagination ...

, describe the necessity of Black anarchism in current political struggles, arguing that "Black Americans are residents of a settler colony, not truly citizens of the United States. Despite a constitution laden with

European Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

values and a document of independence declaring certain inalienable rights, Black existence was legally that of private property until postbellum emancipation. The

Black American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

condition today is an evolved condition directly connected to this history of slavery, and that will continue to be the case as long as the United States remains as an ongoing settler project. Nothing short of a complete dismantling of the American state as it presently exists can or will disrupt this."

Notes

External links

"Black Anarchism"
by Chuck Morse includes transcript of a talk by

.
"Anarchist Panther"

"Black Anarchism. A Reader"

"Black Anarchism – Has Its Time Come?"

"Senzala or Quilombo: Reflections on APOC and the fate of Black Anarchism"

"Anarchy and Chaos in Black Communities"
by Robert A. Wicks at

LewRockwell.com Llewellyn Harrison Rockwell Jr. (born July 1, 1944) is an American author, editor, and political consultant. A libertarian and a self-professed anarcho-capitalist, he founded and is the chairman of the Mises Institute, a non-profit dedicated to ...

("pro-market" anarchism). {{anarchism African-American leftism Anarchism in the United States Anarchist movements Anarchist schools of thought Black Power Far-left politics in the United States Politics and race

Worldview

Contemporary

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links