The Black Radical Congress or BRC is an organization founded in 1998 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It is a grassroots network of individuals and organizations of

African descent 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 ...

focused on advocating for broad progressive

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

racial equality Racial equality is a situation in which people of all races and ethnicities are treated in an egalitarian/equal manner. Racial equality occurs when institutions give individuals legal, moral, and political rights. In present-day Western societ ...

and

economic justice Justice in economics is a subcategory of welfare economics. It is a "set of moral and ethical principles for building economic institutions". Economic justice aims to create opportunities for every person to have a dignified, productive and creativ ...

goals within the United States.

History

At the organizing congress in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in June 1998, 2,000 people participated in creating the organization.Black Radical Congress
,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

social justice wiki, accessed 2 January 2007 However, their first mission predates the organizing congress, having been publicly endorsed and published by a number of high-profile black scholars and activists on 16 March 1998. On 17 April 1999, the BRC ratified a "freedom agenda" listing 15 objectives dealing with racial and economic justice in the United States. The National Council of the BRC adopted a mission statement on 26 September 1999 in

East St. Louis East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. The opening paragraph states:

The purpose of the Black Radical Congress (BRC) is to promote dialogue among African American activists and scholars on the left; to discuss critical issues on the national and international scene that pertain to the Black community; to explore new strategies and directions for progressive political, social and cultural movements; and to renew the Black radical movement through increased unified action.

The complete mission statemen

discusses approaches to radical democratic methods involving conferences, forums and publications. "Principles of unity" were also adopted, stating that the BRC was established as a "center without walls" focusing on "transformative politics that focuses on the conditions of Black working and poor people." A national organizing conference was convened in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

in 2000, and other conferences have taken place in subsequent years.

Organization

The BRC has both individual and organizational memberships. It is headed by a National Congress. Each year, the BRC chooses a different "theme" to focus its work on; past themes have included

anti-militarism Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especia ...

and the prison-industrial complex. The BRC has at least two caucuses, subgroups within the organization, the labor and working-class caucus and the Pat Parker Queer Caucus. The BRC has local chapters in Washington, D.C.; the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

;

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

;

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

;

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

; New York City;

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...

;

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Principles

Race and racial justice

The BRC states: "Black is not necessarily a color or hue, but encompasses all peoples of African descent."Forging a Black Liberation Agenda for the 21st Century
", accessed 2 January 2007 Their work is focused on racial justice as well as broader social and economic justice as it intersects with the politics of race and racial oppression.

Radical politics

"Radical means getting to the root causes of society's injustices and working for root-level, fundamental change. Radicalism is an honored tradition in Black political history." The BRC has many ties to the

Communist Party, USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

, although the Congress does not explicitly identify itself as communist,

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

or Marxist.

Endorsers

A number of high-profile black scholars and activists endorsed the creation of the BRC on 16 March 1998:Black Radical Congress Mission," accessed 2 January 2007
/ref> * Marlene Archer (National Co-chair, National Conference of Black Lawyers) *

Amina Baraka Amina Baraka (born Sylvia Robinson; December 5, 1942) is an American poet, actress, author, community organizer, singer, dancer, and activist. Her poetic themes are about social justice, family, and women. Her poetry has been featured in anthol ...

(

) * Amiri Baraka (''Unity & Struggle'' newspaper) * Debbie Bell (

) *

Angela Y. Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...

(Professor,

University of California at Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge o ...

) * Johanna Fernandez (

International Socialist Organization The International Socialist Organization (ISO) was a Trotskyist group active primarily on college campuses in the United States that was founded in 1976 and dissolved in 2019. The organization held Leninist positions on imperialism and the role ...

) * Bill Fletcher, Jr. (Labor activist and writer, Washington, D.C.,

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...

) *

Lewis Gordon Lewis Ricardo Gordon (born May 12, 1962) is an American philosopher at the University of Connecticut who works in the areas of Africana philosophy, existentialism, phenomenology, social and political theory, postcolonial thought, theories of ...

(

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

) * Robin D. G. Kelley (

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

) *

Marian Kramer Marian Kramer (born 1944 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is a civil rights, poverty, and labor activist based in Detroit, Michigan. Family and childhood Early life Kramer has been involved with the Civil Rights Movement since childhood, when she atte ...

( National Welfare Rights Union) * Julianne Malveaux *

Manning Marable William Manning Marable (May 13, 1950 – April 1, 2011) was an American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University.Grimes, William"Manning Marable, Historian and Social Critic, Dies at 60" ''The Ne ...

* Barbara Ransby, African American Women in Defense of Ourselves, writer and historian *

Sonia Sanchez Sonia Sanchez (born Wilsonia Benita Driver; September 9, 1934) is an American poet, writer, and professor. She was a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement and has written over a dozen books of poetry, as well as short stories, critical essays ...

(poet) * Joe Sims (

) * Yicki Smith ( Feminist Action Network) *

Jarvis Tyner Jarvis Tyner (born July 11, 1941) is an American activist and the former Executive Vice Chair of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). He is a resident of Manhattan, New York City. In 1972 and 1976, he ran on the Communist Party ticket for Vice Presi ...

(

) *

Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, political activist, social critic, actor, and public intellectual. The grandson of a Baptist minister, West focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society an ...

(

)

External links

Black Radical Congress website

Publications

*

, by Jamala Rogers * " ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061015144938/http://www.blackradicalcongress.org/globalapartheid.htm Global Apartheid and America's New Racial Domain, by

*
Rosa Parks: A Woman of Substance
, by

Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African-American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstruc ...

, discussing the life and death of

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...

*
The Left and the Millions More Movement
, by Amiri Baraka *
We Charge Genocide
, by Jamala Rogers, discussing Hurricane Katrina *
The terrorist named Hurricane Katrina
, by Bill Fletcher, Jr., discussing Hurricane Katrina *
Whither the Struggle Against Racism
, by Rose Brewer, discussing the

World Social Forum The World Social Forum (WSF, pt, Fórum Social Mundial ) is an annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Brazil, which offers a self-conscious effort to develop an alternative future through the championing of counter-hegemoni ...

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 2005 *
Contemporary Police Brutality and Misconduct
press release, undated *

press release, undated *

, press release, 25 April 2001 *

, press release, 12 April 2001 *

, press release, 1 December 2000 *

, press release, 28 February 2000

References

{{authority control Organizations established in 1998 1998 establishments in Illinois African-American leftism African-American organizations Black Power Identity politics in the United States Community organizations Democratic socialist organizations in the United States Social democratic organizations in the United States