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. . . .
revolutionary african women
When I Actually Got to Hang out with Assata Shakur
Some folks actually follow celebrities from city to city with the objective of taking pictures with these well known actors, musicians, athletes, etc. You’ll never catch me doing anything like that. I’ve actually had opportunities to meet many people in those fields whose work I admire such as George Clinton, Chris Webber, Forest Whitaker, and Derek Jeter. But I passed on walking up to them because although I respect their craft, I just don’t see what they do as something deserving of that level of adulation. At least not from me. What I mean is, it’s not like Jeter, Michael . . .
Origins and Objectives of Pan-African Women’s Day
Presented by Comrade Debora Soares da Gama, A-APRP Pre-Cadre; militant of the Amilcar Cabral African Youth (JAAC) serving on its Secretariat for Zone 4 of Bissau; and Pre-Cadre of the PAIGC Amilcar Cabral Political Ideological Training School. Origin of Pan-African Women’s Day Pan-African Women’s Day was founded on 31 July 1962, Dar-es-Salaam (Tanganyika), following recommendations of the All African Women’s Conference (AAWC) – Conférence des femmes africaines (CFA). that took place in July 1961, in Conakry, People’s Revolutionary Republic of Guinea. Prior to this conference, it was resolved to organize African Women’s Conferences each areas, (Liberation Movements and Independent African . . .
The African Woman: The Invisible Soldier
A society without women can be compared to humans without air. Africa without African women is like a mango tree without roots. The indispensable role that African women play in the development of society in general and community, in particular, cannot be matched or debated. However, despite this role African women from Toronto to Harare to London to Kingston find themselves often invisible. . . .
The Politician
The Politician is our organizer, activist, and freedom fighter. She is our mother, daughter, sibling, and compatriot. She walks behind, beside, and in front of us. She sets the pace and brings up the rear. She claims to be a servant, but we know her as much more than a servant of the people. She is our light in the dark. She illuminates the path we follow. . . .
Working-Class African Women in Revolution
It is the purpose of this piece to provide historical examples of how working-class African women, joined and supported by working-class African men, combatted the shackles of racism, colonialism, and imperialism regardless of their geographical position. We will use the women of Dahomey, Assata Shakur, and Claudia Jones as examples of significant working-class women who contributed greatly to African Liberation. . . .