Originally published on Siempre con Cuba, translated by Hood Communist staff. Members of the national coordinating committee of the Venceremos Brigade, made up of US citizens in solidarity with Cuba, affirmed the continuity of the project begun in 1969 and confirmed brigadistas are preparing for their 51st contingent to the island this year. Activists Nesbit Crutchfield, Onyesonwu Chatoyer, Sulan Mlynarek, and Rachel Ibrahim made a visit to the capital and held meetings with representatives from the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and other institutions in order to reiterate their determination to continue the long history of the . . .
International Solidarity
Xenophobia, Narrow Nationalism, & Capitalism
There is a devastating and unfortunate manifestation to the ruthless oppression African people have faced for over 500 years that we must discuss. Capitalism, built and maintained through its barbaric and horrific exploitation of cheap African human and material resources, has always utilized systemic white supremacy as its chief weapon to perpetuate its dominance. What this looks like in real time is a remote controlled misinformation campaign that paints Africa and the African masses (approximately two million of us scattered and suffering in almost 120 countries worldwide) as lazy, shiftless, dishonest, violence prone, and irresponsible. The reality is that those . . .
People(s)-Centered Human Rights & Malcolm X
Originally published on Pambazuka. There was something quite different with Malcolm’s approach to human rights that distinguished him from mainstream civil rights activists. By grounding himself in the radical human rights approach, Malcolm articulated a position on human rights struggle that did not contain itself to just advocacy. He understood that appealing to the same powers that were responsible for the structures of oppression was a dead end. Fifty-six years ago on February 21st, the world lost the great anti-colonial fighter, Malcolm X. Around the world, millions pause on this anniversary and take note of the life and contribution of . . .
All States Aren’t Bad
Despite what is being said in online fodder, a state is not inherently bad. A state is simply the governing institution of a society. This governance takes on the form of a formal government, schools, universities, and law enforcement agencies. A state is not neutral as these institutions are the vehicle through which one class maintains dominance over other classes. States each have their own specific class characters. If a nation is building socialism, the ruling class is not the small sect of corporations, but the people. In a socialist state, the masses would maintain dominance (ie. dictatorship of the proletariat). However, paternalism embedded in the US left completely ignores and rejects this. . . .
Crying at the Centro Fidel Castro Ruz
For most of my 10 days in Cuba I tried to play it cool, even though with it being my first real time out of the country, I felt overwhelmed the entire time. I kept it together though, for most of the trip, until our visit to the Centro Fidel Castro Ruz. It’s a museum dedicated to Fidel Castro, hero of the Cuban Revolution. And it’s a museum where I bawled my eyes out. . . .
Este es mi diario en Cuba (This is my diary in Cuba)
Buenas, if you are reading this and don’t know me, my name is Salifu. I am a member of the AAPRP, the Black Alliance for Peace and the Lowcountry Action Committee in Charleston, SC. This is my diary in Cuba. By the time I publish this, me and 75 other people are boarding a plane headed to Havana. On the flight with us are over two tons of medical supplies to be donated directly to the Cuban government. But the medical supplies are not what is bringing us to Cuba. As Gail Walker, the director of our delegation, has explained . . .
Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela: Class Warfare and Socialist Resistance
Why do Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela pose such an existential threat to the U.S.? Why are they able to unite all the wings of the democrat party and the republican party against them? It boils down to two factors. First, the power of their example in attempting to build independent, self-determining projects that center the material needs and interests of the people over those of capital. Second, the class warfare politics of the U.S. state. . . .
Why Black Revolutionaries Must Stand with the People of Nicaragua
On November 7th, the people of Nicaragua will go to the polls to reaffirm the commitment to their revolutionary democratic project, a project that began in 1979 when the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) defeated a vicious, neocolonial, gangster regime of Anastasio Somoza that was put in power by the United States. Under the leadership of the FSLN, the people of Nicaragua were able to finally control their own history and destiny. However, U.S. imperialism was not going to respect the wishes of the people. Under the neofascist president Ronald Reagan, the U.S. launched a brutal war of aggression, part . . .