Mapping our Legacy : 
The Narrative of Black Freedom Struggle
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Author : Afrofuturist Abolitionists of the Americas

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Black liberation is a living lineage. All of us inherit it and all of us
can be part of it. Like with any people's tradition, we have to go back and
fetch the history of Black freedom struggle, and place ourselves within
this beautiful heritage of resistance, in order to begin understanding how
we roll and why.



Black Anarchic Radicals, aka ''Anarkatas,'' trace our revolutionary
trajectory all the way back to precolonial Africa, to some of the communal,
gender fluid, ecologically sensitive, and egalitarian societies indigenous
to the Motherland. But more immediately, how we move is traced to lessons
learned from the Black Panther Party (BPP), the Street Trans Action
Revolutionaries (STAR), and the Black Liberation Army (BLA) in the
mid-to-late 20th century.



The Black Panthers (or BPP) began in Oakland with Huey Newton and Bobby
Seale, building off the influence of Malcolm X and the militant energy of
the Black Power movement that became more prominent after Martin Luther
King was assassinated by the US and many cities were torn apart by riots
from the Black masses. Their history is deep and worth more in depth study,
but the basics are that they highlighted the need for armed resistance in
Black liberation, and that they challenged the Capitalist economic system
and US aggression against global oppressed people. The party structure
needed to move away from its masculinist and hierarchical set-up, however.
These characteristics were what made the BPP vulnerable to the
divide-and-conquer tactics the feds played. Through counter-intelligence
and infiltration programs, the colonizer took advantage of gender violence,
ego-driven beef, and personality clashes in the Party to decimate its
unity. Despite this, the BPP was well known and influential, for not just
their speeches and guns, but their community survival programs, for
providing free breakfast and free education and medical testing and other
forms of care, and for their work in solidarity with many other movements.
This inspires Anarkatas.



Street Trans* Action Revolutionaries (or STAR) began in NYC with Marsha P
Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, a few years into the Black Power era, building
off the trans-led and working class street organizing which confronted the
pigs at the Stonewall Riots. Their history is deep and worth more in depth
study, but the basics are they brought to light the need for
anti-capitalist and racial liberation organizing that prioritized the needs
of houseless, queer/trans or gender variant communities of color. STAR was
still in the process of developing their politics and their community
programs, but unfortunately faced alot of betrayal and backlash from more
Assimilation aligned folk in the gay movement at the time. STAR had a
holistic view of liberation, and was a groundbreaking outgrowth of on the
ground queer/trans abolitionism and struggle in anti-war and other
movements at the time. The cooption of the impact made by the movements
STAR came out of at the hands of assimilationists posed a huge challenge to
Marsha P Johnson,



Sylvia Rivera, and other revolutionary street queens and QTGNC rebels at
the time. Despite this, STAR made an impact in the lives of many Black and
Brown gender variant youth, reclaiming empty properties and collaborating
with other orgs to help provide housing for young queer/trans Black and
Brown folk. They hosted parties and used political education as well
radical organizing and protest and sex work and prisoner support and even
ritual and African spirituality as ways to sustain the revolutionary
community building they did. This inspires Anarkatas.



The Black Liberation Army came out of the Black Panther Party and larger
Black Power era. Their history is deep and worth more in depth study, but
the basics are they formed in order to provide a clandestine/illegal and
militant or underground organ that supported and defended above ground
revolutionary activities happening at the time through armed struggle and
guerrilla methods. Certain tactical mistakes, but also conflicts in the
radical movement, along with media narratives that were boosted by
treacherous Black boujie leaders to villainize Black militants, all served
to weaken the BLA's impact/relevance—removing the necessary community
support that would have allowed their escalated efforts to flourish better.
These forces isolated as well as exposed revolutionaries and got them
jailed or killed. Despite this, the BLA reappropriated funds from the
agents which rob and disservice the people, such as banks, and like robin
hood, would redistribute those moneys to the people's liberation movement.
They also moved in a more decentralized fashion and some of them sought to
challenge the sexist nature of the larger Black Power movement at the time.
This inspires Anarkatas.



 *



We go directly to 60s/70s organizations such as the BPP, BLA, and STAR
because during that time mad uprisings and riots and movements were popping
off all over the world all at once to destroy the white power structure.
Sylvia Wynter teaches us that this worldwide challenge was part of a broad
anti-colonial upheaval, even it was eventually suppressed or coopted by the
Man. Collectively, the movements of the mid-to-late 20th century broke down
various forms of white power over the economic, cultural, environmental, as
well as racial and gender/sexual levels of human life. Six of the major
results from that time period that we still live with today are flag
independence for formerly colonized nations, as well as civil and workers'
rights (including for disabled and queer/trans folk), environmental
protections, community welfare programs, and a change in consciousness
toward Black self love, toward a drive for self-naming/self-defining, and
an understanding that all Black people globally are united as one people.
This inspires Anarkatas.



But the fight is not over. Surface level changes in the laws/politics and
even cultural consciousness of global society have failed to fully
guarantee us freedom, even if we have a few measures of safety. Over the
last few decades, we have begun to experience a wider and wider gap between
rich and poor all over the world, and mass environmental destruction, as
well as steady genocides against our people through the corporations,
prisons, police, hospitals, schools, and the military. Representation of
our people within white systems/media has not promised us anything
worthwhile at all, and often times our representatives betray the interests
of the collective for their own benefit. And xenophobic narratives continue
to be sown in our communities in order to divide us so we can throw our
most vulnerable siblings under the bus and betray each other. Many legal
protections are often denied anyway and even being rapidly taken away. All
of this has left our people and the entire planet vulnerable to death and
destitution. And meanwhile, the liberatory traditions that were so
impactful in the 60s/70s, are still being suppressed and
marginalized—labeled ‘terroristic’ and suffering widespread
repression.



Every time the enemy has tried to crush our lineages, however, our
ancestors have found a way to revitalize them. When our Afrikan ancestors
were violently invaded in the Motherland Afrika, and some were made into
chattel/property for European capitalist/colonizers, we fought in our
homelands to keep alive our people's legacies so that we would be able to
work out our own problems and control our own destinies. Anti-colonial and
national liberation movements find their origin then. When the Man forced
us into slave ships and shackles, we fought on the seas, hijacked the
vessels, or even jumped into the oceans in pursuit of freedom and autonomy.
Anti-slavery movements find their origin then. When we were brought to the
Americas and other places, forced to work in brutal conditions to build
societies that hate and exploit us, we still fought and fought and escaped
and created independant social lives/structures. Maroon communities,
religious/spiritual organizations, proto-anarchist initiatives, and early
Black feminist as well as Black queer resistance—all of these find their
origin then.



Each time a roadblock came, we would find a new way to apply our heritages
of resistance in a way that adapted to new challenges/conditions. In
Brazil, for example, as the kkkolonizer sought to suppress our
combat/fighting styles, Afro-Brazilians found a way to keep their martial
arts training alive through capoeira. To develop capoeira, our ancestors
had to discover how to get around the fact that fighting was outlawed. They
did it by using dance to revitalize and disguise their fighting systems.
Similarly, in the US, as the kkkolonizer sought to suppress our musical
communication/ritual styles, Afro-Americans found a way to keep our
rhythm-based spiritual systems alive through the ring shout. To develop the
ring shout, our ancestors had to discover how to get around the fact that
religious congregation was outlawed and drums were banned. They did it by
using coded songs and their bodies out in the bush/woods to revitalize and
disguise their spiritual/communication systems. In both instances,
something new was born in order to adapt to new challenges, all while
keeping our lineage of resistance alive. While the legacy was being
crushed, it was not and never has been, static or dead. Anarkatas keep this
same energy.



People like Assata Shakur, CeCe McDonald, Kuwasi Balagoon, Miss Major,
Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, and Ashanti Alston are some of the people who have
given Anarkatas the understandings we need to fortify and revitalize our
revolutionary legacy so that we can overcome the challenges we face. There
are many other influences too, past and present, from throughout the world
wherever Afrikan/Black people live, breathe, and organize, well known and
unknown. They have gone by many names, taken on many labels, advanced many
movements. ''Anarkata'' trajectories are like a cumulative outgrowth of of
their diverse contributions (and a response to their limitations).



 *



What Anarkata is about, basically, is Black liberation through anarchy, or
anarchy through Black liberation. Periodt. Anarchy does not mean
“chaos” in the way we commonly think of it. As our comrade Jai Renee
Gwalchmai says, anarchy is about “dismantling... [a]ll Systemic and
Individual/Interpersonal Oppression.” The goal of Anarchy is to “move
ALL humanity to a place where everyone holds material equity of power,
resources, and humanity.”



[“With anarchy, the society as a whole not only maintains itself at an
equal expense to all, but progresses in a creative process unhindered by
any class, caste or party. This is because the goals of anarchy don’t
include replacing one ruling class with another, neither in the guise of a
fairer boss or as a party.”]



The formula for anarchic organizing is that individual autonomy and
collective interests are balanced. Boundaries exist which are suited to the
material needs and histories of the individuals and groups involved. And
the work is about facilitating a dialectical pursuit of self-determination
among and for us all, from the standpoint of the most marginal.



Jai Renee Gwalchmai teaches us: “[Anarchy] doesn’t mean that Nobody
should be in charge, and that everyone gets to do whatever they
like....quite the opposite.



The symbol for Anarchy looks like this: ® The “O” around the “A”
stands for Order. Not chaos. The goal is a more horizontal democracy....
Every Single Voice Counts, and Must Be Included and Heard. The
disenfranchized and marginalized must be given a seat at the table, and the
power to shut down those who have traditionally held the lions share of
power and privilege.”



Jai Renee Gwalchmai adds that because of this, anarchy requires a lot of
“Self Work”...because We ALL Hold Areas of Privilege. Some folks hold a
great deal more privilege than others....but if the goal is to move forward
to a place of material horizontal equity, then we All have work to do. Some
people don’t Want to give up their privilege and power, because they
don’t have a lot of it and to have less sounds like death.... We all need
each other....and when we don’t recognize that, we all die in droves
together.”



Furthermore, according to Jai Renee Gwalchmai, anarchy comes from an
understanding that “oppression does not happen horizontally.. ..it looks
like a cage, with the top Oppression (that of the Elites/Rentier Class who
are more often than not CisHet & White) maintaining the... social system or
set of connecting social systems built around domination, oppression, and
submission.”



It is because of this class-aware understanding of hierarchy, and our
critical outlook on how race and gender condition access and oppression,
that Anarkatas prioritize concrete and material change. We want to
understand our positions in society, and put an end to our social or
economic or racial or gender or sexual oppressions, so we focus on what
actions we have to take to meet our material needs and take our power back.
Anarkata is not just about lofty abstract ideals and a belief that we all
matter and have value or deserve freedom. A belief/ideal is not enough to
liberate anyone.



As our sib Jai Renee Gwalchmai reminds us, “action and actual
physical/visible change that happens in Real Time is how we move. We want
it Today...NOW....Immediately...ASAP. Making people wait for equitable
access to material resources, humanity, and sociopolitical & socioeconomic
power is the physical manifestation of oppression. We are here to disrupt
that....by any means necessary.”



 *



In short, ''Anarchy,'' means 'without hierarchy' and implies a society that
lacks an unjust ruling class. Anarchy lacks any and all forms of material
exploitation and domination. Anarchy lacks any form of
social/racial/gender/sexual oppression. Anarchy is society without chains
or cages. Anarchy is a society where all power is taken up by all the
people (not just some ruling class). And, ''Anarkata'' is whatever works
toward this total liberation from inside the expanse of global Black
liberation and Pan African struggles.



For context, it was necessary to invoke “Anarkata'' in the Black freedom
struggle out of a recognition that our oppression is so volatile that only
non-hierarchical and non-masculinist organizations can make our movements
indomitable, ungovernable. ''Anarkata'' recognizes that the oppression of
the Motherland and its peoples is the basis of all modern oppressions; that
Afrika continues to be robbed by neocolonial rule and caged by US military
forces, which enriches capitalism and worsens ecological catastrophe,
threatening all lifeforms. Anarkata says we therefore need an
all-encompassing movement for Black people that builds from the ground for
the liberation of all. Anarkata says that liberation cannot be skewed
toward just straight men, or those in the US or who speak English, or to
those who are able-bodied, or those who are not in prison or who are not
forced to live on the streets, or even to just liberation of humanity. In
other words, we realize the need for another age of widespread liberation
movements, beyond borders and binaries, and we know that centering
Africa/Africanness is the only way to sit in the heart and the horizons of
what has become a truly planetary struggle.



What we suggest for beginning to align yourself with this narrative of
Black struggle is to find space either alone or with community to pour some
libations and say the following words:



“We pour one out for all our niggas: for the nomads, the ungoverned, the
refugees, the lil friends, the kinfolk, the pirates, the runaways, the
maroons, the insurgents, the gworls, the spiritual leaders, the guerrilla
warriors, the maGes, the street queens, the rioters. And all the wild
things Man cannot house.



And we pour one for all those who are forgotten and unprotected



All those who aren’t allowed to love or live as themselves freely



All those who fought and died for our freedom



For all our people wherever they are, and for our homeland, and for our
planet



For all beings, even those who are not human,



and for all the people everyone says are less than human



And for all people whose brains work different or whose bodies work
different



And for all those in prison or on the street



For all power to all the people. Ase”



This libationary is based on the Tradition section of the text Anarkata: A
Statement (which you can also watch on YouTube). Each of those invoked in
the libation are a different inspirational element for Black Anarchic
Radical histories. We suggest you research and study and learn from or
about who they are. Think about how to apply their contributions and
struggles to your development as Anarkata. Engaging with these iterations
of Black radical tradition (whether you use the ritual of libations or not)
is very important in allowing us to start moving along an Anarkata
frequency. Each one touches on a facet of our diverse Black revolutionary
heritage. We look back to those histories and contributions, so that we can
then honor a fight for all Black lives. Take time to learn from these
figures and formations as well as the radical frameworks that have emerged
because of them (Black feminism, Queer/trans liberation, Pantherism, Pan
Africanism, Black ecology, Afropessimism/antihumanism, disability justice,
prison abolition, Anarkata). This is what we suggest so we can learn how we
move forward, so that our people can sharpen what it means to be the wild
thing that Man can never, ever again house, can never, ever again
domesticate, can never, ever again suppress, can never, ever again coopt.



Suggested resources



Look for me in the Whirlwind by The Panther 21



Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence
against Women of Color by Kimberle Crenshaw



Rapping With a Street Trans Action Revolutionary- An Interview with Marsha
P Johnson



War Against the Panthers: A Study of Repression in America by Huey P
Newton



The War Before by Safiya Bukhari



Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur



Message to the Black Movement by the Black Liberation Army



Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson: Listen to the Newly Unearthed
Interview with Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries by Women at the
Center



African Anarchism by Sam Mbah and I.E. Igariwey



Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley
Snorton



The Black Liberation Struggle in Philadelphia by Russell Maroon Shoatz



We Will Return in the Whirlwind: Black Radical Organizations 1960-1975 by
Muhammad Ahmad



     From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org

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     Mapping our Legacy -- Added : January 22, 2021

     Mapping our Legacy -- Updated : January 06, 2022

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