“We do not disassociate the degree of the people’s evolution from the nature and accuracy of their conceptions- of their ideology.”
Sekou Toure
As we celebrate 5 years of People’s Programs (our org turned five years old on July 16th) and head into Black August, the importance of ideology has been heavy on my conscience. As a revolutionary nationalist cadre organization, we’ve worked hard to define, understand, and live our ideology for New Afrikan Independence: FROLINAN (Front for the liberation of the New Afrikan Nation). FROLINAN is dedicated to:
- Ending [New Afrikan] Black people’s [neo]colonial subjugation through freeing the land from white supremacist capitalism and establishing a sovereign New Afrikan Nation in the Black Belt (Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina).
- The ultimate objective of Revolutionary Pan-Afrikanism – the complete unification and total liberation of all Afrikans under scientific socialism.
It was the acceptance of this ideological framework and its objectives by us as individuals, thus our organization as a whole, that allowed us to make qualitative leaps with our organizing. Which increases our positive impact in the worldwide anti-imperialist struggle. With Black August upon us, by fasting, going sober, increasing study and exercise throughout the month- members and volunteers of People’s Programs aim to deepen our struggle, and strengthen our understanding and commitment to our ideology.
If you’d like to learn more about Black August check out this Hella Black Podcast episode
“Thought without action is empty, and action without thought is blind.”
Kwame Nkrumah
In this country (the u.s.), all of our experiences are the material result of ideology. The schools, the clothes, the media, the workplace, the cars, the judicial system, are all manifestations of the ideology of white supremacist capitalism. This ideology is expanded and imposed upon the inhabitants of the planet through imperialism, and the superstructures made to strengthen it – structures like NATO, the IMF, the United Nations, and AFRICOM. Many of us (especially New Afrikans, Latin Americans, Afrikans on the continent and other oppressed peoples) did not choose this ideology – it’s been forced on us!
I write these words with the hopes of getting us to understand how ideology governs life. white supremacist capitalism has determined our lives of overworking, killing the planet (droughts, ice caps melting, animals going extinct), unaffordable housing and overcrowded prisons (this list is definitely not exhaustive). It is the reason over half a million people live on the street in this so-called nation, and why 31.6 million people don’t have health insurance. We are forced therefore to see the importance of picking and living by the correct ideology. One that prioritizes the prosperity of humans and the planet, over profits. An ideology that puts forward freedom and happiness of the masses, before the pockets of a few capitalist elites. This is what FROLINAN and Revolutionary Pan-Afrikanism are committed to!
Bound by Ideology
Ideology binds people together — for better and for worse. It is what keeps the masses in constant motion. The devilish ideology of white supremacist capitalism is what keeps the people of this nation constantly selling their labor for exploitative wages, despite material conditions consistently getting worse. For example, the price of the barrel of crude oil goes down, but the price of the gallon of gas goes up (making the capitalists more money)- yet and still, the masses, bound by ideology, move forward as if this is the natural way of life. Unemployment numbers increase while jeff bezos and elon musk continue to make billions- the masses proceed with business as usual, because that is what the imperialist ideology calls for.
The combination of the masses’ hope/belief that the capitalist system will “reward” us for our “hardwork” and “commitment”, despite reality showing us otherwise, and the mass media to keep people sedated via consumption- are the ultimate weapons of capitalist imperialism. We (the workers, the poor, the colonized) are united and bound by our subjugation. But as we know, anything that can be wielded for negativity (imperialism) can be used for positivity (revolution)!
Revolutionary Ideology
We’ve watched white supremacist ideology manifest throughout the history of euroamerikkka: the killing of the people indigenous to this land, the transatlantic slave trade, the berlin conference, jim crow, and even recent events like the neo-nazi shooting in Buffalo, NY that targeted and took the lives of 10 New Afrikans(the shooter left behind a manifesto stating his racist motives). At the same time, we’ve also bore witness to the many manifestations of revolutionary ideology, which rise out of these contradictions (white surpremacist capitalist imperialism). i.e. Dessalines, Toussaint Louverture, Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, the PAIGC, the FLN, the Black Panther Party, the BLA, the July 26th Movement, the Weather Underground, AIM, the list goes on.
If we study revolutionary movements of the past, we’ll see that Revolutionary Ideology is at the foundation of sustaining a movement aimed at the eradication of reactionary white supremacist capitalism, and the world it has created. Revolutionary ideology is the catalyst towards positive change! And to see the true manifestation of revolutionary ideology, individuals and collectives must work to create the conditions for their ideology to materialize in their daily lives.
Those committed to the liberation and happiness of the masses must understand the power of revolutionary nationalist ideology — without it, we leave our freedom up to chance. Bound by nothing more than our subjugation. Revolutionary ideology calls for us to reject the false comforts capitalism affords us and fight for our humanity. Revolutionary ideology is the correct expression of the people’s hopes and dreams. Their desire to be master of their fate! Revolutionary ideology has, and will, force the masses to wake up from the nightmare of our current oppression- and push us to reconsider our individual interests daily, and focus on the collective objective- freedom!
“My ideology is a practical ideology, and it must be manifested in my daily life.”
Kwame Ture
Decolonization Programs
For us at People’s Programs, history and our own experiences have shown us that our revolutionary ideology is brought to life via our decolonization programs. Through meeting the material needs of the people, we show our understanding and commitment to our ideology.
Each book that is read, every class that is taught, every meal distributed, all the grocery boxes handed out, every patient that is served through our mobile health clinic- this is ideology in practice. Without a vessel (I.E. organizations and decolonization programs) for your ideology to materialize, you cannot truly have a revolutionary ideology, which means there can be no revolution. Anyone committed to freedom and happiness for the masses (realities that can only be obtained through an equal distribution of wealth and resources) must be committed to revolution, and to be committed to revolution is to understand and work with the guidance of revolutionary ideology.
Ideology is either imposed or selected- it is of grave importance that we all begin to consciously choose the correct one.
FROLINAN FORWARD!
FREE THE PEOPLE!
FREE THE LAND!