#BlackRoseAnarchistFederation

In the expansive terrain of anarchist history, few events loom as large as the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). Countless books, films, songs, pamphlets, buttons, t-shirts, and more are rightfully devoted to this transformative struggle for social revolution by Spanish workers and peasants. But digging through the mountain of available material, little can be found on black militants in the Spanish revolution, like the one featured in the powerful photo on the cover of this reader — a member of the Bakunin Barracks in Barcelona, Spain 1936, and a symbol of both the profound presence and absence of Black anarchism internationally.

For more than 150 years, black anarchists have played a critical role in shaping various struggles around the globe, including mass strikes, national liberation movements, tenant organizing, prisoner solidarity, queer liberation, the formation of autonomous black liberation organizations, and more.

Our current political moment is one characterized by a global resurgence of Black rebellion in response to racialized state violence, criminalization, and dispossession. Black and Afro-diasporic communities in places like Britain, South Africa, Brazil, Haiti, Colombia and the US have initiated popular social movements to resist conditions of social death and forge paths toward liberation on their own terms. Given the anti-authoritarian spirit of these struggles, the time is ripe to take a closer look at anarchism more broadly, and Black anarchism in particular.

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/black-rose-anarchist-federation-black-anarchism-a-reader

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Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin speaks in various recordings in this video over ambient peaceful percussion and string instruments.

If you're going to beat back racism, the feds are not going to help you do it. And the civil rights laws in this country are not functional. They are not functional. And they are not meant to be functional. They've been functional in terms of creating a black middle class in this country. But they are not functional when it comes to beating back white supremacy, violent white racism. They are not functional for that. That requires a mass movement.

The climate is beset. With the economic inequality. The increase of that. With the building of prisons. With the limitless acts of police terrorism. All of these things are being allowed to happen by those in authority. It's really important to understand that. That's why we can't get fooled by this thing about the good cops. The good cops. Well, the good cops are the ones letting the so-called bad cops do the dirt.

The conditions for this kind of terrorism and this racism is not an accident. It's not a result of someones bad thinking. Or some ideas some white folks had. it's not a question of that. This government is the criminal that allows this to go on. We are not geting reforms. We are not going to get the kind of reforms that is going to deal with racism in this system. This government needs to be toppled, dismantled and destroyed.

If you look at this just in terms of the color of somebody's skin alone. And not attach an understanding to that about the nature of the state and of capital. And how they use race as a divider and class as a divider and rule over all of us with an iron fist. Unless you do this you will turn and attack the wrong folks. You will think the state is on your side or the state is impartial. The government isn't impartial.

And my understanding of government and state has nothing to do with protecting a so called lifestyle. I'm not trying to protect my lifestyle. I'm trying to protect my damn life. And that's a big difference because the state is the biggest killer, biggest oppressor, of all.

I mean throughout history, with wars and pogroms and mass murders of one sort or another. You can just point to it, at any point in history and you can see where these killers have perpetrated their acts of violence.

When you've got that many people that are in prison. The state has declared war on the youth. You have to understand that. The state has declared war on the youth, and especially, the Black youth.

And to them it's a national security matter. Because they know that the youth can rise up. And if they were politically motivated, overthrow this system. they know this because they had the experience of the Black Panther Party of The 1960's.

And regardless of whatever errors the Black Panther Party made, it proved decisively that the most despised sector, the working class, and specifically the Black working class, they have figured out that the most despised sector is capable of revolution. Of becoming a motive force for revolution.

Malcom X said if you want action, you gotta wake the people up. And I would say you not only need to wake the people up. You gotta get over there and help them mobilize and build autonomous formations in their communities.

#LorenzoKomBoaErvin #Anarchism #BlackRevolution #BlackRevolutionary #BlackAnarchists #BlackAnarchism #BlackAutonomyFederation #WarOnYouth #ClassWar #YouthLiberation #BlackPower #BlackLivesMatter #Anarchy #Anarchist #Abolition #Abolitionist #Abolish #SmashTheState