Who has not heard of the Angola Three, three young black prisoners who were falsely accused of killing a prison guard in 1972 in the infamous Louisiana maximum security prison cited at a former slave plantation—and named for the place where the African captives came from, Angola. On Thursday, August 4th, attorneys for Albert Woodfox announced his passing at the age of 75. For over 43 years, Woodfox and several other black men were held in brutal solitary confinement, one of the longest held solitary prisoners on earth: 43 years, seven days a week, 23 hours a day. The United . . .
Black Panther Party
There is No Such Thing as Black Capitalism
51 years ago on 4th Dec 1969, Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr then chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and deputy chairman of the national BPP was assassinated by the Chicago County police in an unlawful raid. Hampton was only 21 years old when he was killed alongside Marl Clark another BPP member who was 22 years old. The anniversary to remember the life of Fred Hampton was quiet in 2021 without much celebration and recognition, obviously the mainstream media for known reasons do not have a history of celebrating radical revolutionaries. Although, maybe mistakenly one . . .
Misogyny and Homophobia in Kenyan Leftist Spaces
The rallying cry you will hear at almost every leftist gathering in Kenya is “Liberation for the masses! End all forms of oppression!” Often, it is men who send out this noble clarion call for emancipation from the shackles of capitalism and all the ills it represents. But, whose liberation is it anyway? What oppression are we ending when many leftist movements in Kenya harbor persons who hold on to harmful patriarchal attitudes like misogyny and homophobia? . . .
Abolitionist Efforts to Trangress the Prison Walls
Incarcerated radical intellectuals elucidate the nature of political struggle and its various arenas. Alongside these writers are solidarity groups that propagate their writings and intellectual products. Through a close reading of Black Communist trans prisoner Alyssa V. Hope’s legal efforts and writings, this article unearths how a pen-pal relationship transformed into a comprehensive abolitionist community. This case study provides an ex-ample of how abolitionists are grappling with the need to support the material needs of marginalised communities while still building otherwise possible worlds separate from a failing welfare state. Mutual aid projects, like the one formed by Hope’s supporters, showcase that otherwise possible worlds are not only possible, but they are being created right now be-fore us. . . .
Revisiting African Liberation Month 2022
In February 2022, the Hood Communist Collective commemorated African Liberation Month with four straight weeks of revolutionary African analysis. Here, you can find each of the pieces from that month, organized by the theme of each week. We invite you to revisit these pieces – or read them for the first time. We hope they will provide some guidance and clarity that will serve our people in our struggle for liberation. . . .
George Jackson: Black Revolutionary
By Walter Rodney, November 1971 To most readers in this continent, starved of authentic information by the imperialist news agencies, the name of George Jackson is either unfamiliar or just a name. The powers that be in the United States put forward the official version that George Jackson was a dangerous criminal kept in maximum security in Americas toughest jails and still capable of killing a guard at Soledad Prison. They say that he himself was killed attempting escape this year in August. Official versions given by the United States of everything from the Bay of Pigs in Cuba to . . .
Kuwasi Balagoon: Love, Power and Peace by Piece
Freedom is a habit and for Africans throughout history, it is one that can cost you dearly while under the repressive state apparatus of an imperialist power. Despite this, it has rarely discouraged those who’ve taken up the program for Black liberation from making the ultimate sacrifice out of their love for the people. Recognizing the colonial status of Africans in the US and in the diaspora is only the first step. Through organization, struggle, uniting around a set of principles and an unwavering commitment to the movement is where some of the strongest and most fierce of the litter . . .
Enemies and Friends: Resolving Contradictions
The following is an excerpt from Safiya Bukhari’s The War Before: The True Life Story of Becoming a Black Panther, Keeping the Faith in Prison & Fighting For Those Left Behind. This section is titled “Enemies and Friends: Resolving Contradictions and it was written some time in the late 1980s or early 1990s, during a time where those who had been targeted by COINTELPRO were trying to recover their relationships and figure out how they would be able to continue to do political work together. We have written extensively about the environment of mistrust created around the imprisonment of Geronimo ji Jaga. That environment contributed significantly to the solutions that Safiya offers in this work. . . .