From the Rivers to the Seas of the world, the Peoples’ of this Planet Must be Liberated from U.S. and European Domination If we are to Survive
Gaza dramatically stripped away the murderous hypocrisy and deadly intransigence of U.S. and Western imperialism’s commitment to maintaining global hegemony by “any means necessary,” including using the weapon of genocide. For the Black Alliance for Peace, we have not been surprised by the barbarism of the U.S. and Israeli settler states. In fact, everything that has transpired since our founding in 2017 was predicted, including the jettisoning of all pretense to any commitment to so-called liberal values by the White West as it pursued its military-first strategies. We were not confused because we have consistently grounded our analysis and political work in our best understanding of the objective material realities that we are forced to operate in. We have rejected as irrelevant any analysis based on the psychology of any individual from Biden to Trump or Netanyahu. For BAP, the analysis of objective class and social forces is the only element that guides our social and political practices.
That is why we were ready when the South African state filed its case against the Israeli apartheid state at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). We understood that the Genocide Convention was going to be invoked and that it would provide another significant weapon for further exposing the true nature of the Western colonial project in general and in Palestine specifically.
When the case was filed at the ICJ, BAP was instrumental in launching a new coalition, the International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Gaza. BAP has always been clear that persuading the criminals running the various Western states to change their minds is a naive strategy. Instead, taking advantage of the inevitable mistakes of the oppressors to build alternative People(s)-Centered power must always be the real objective. Therefore, we understood that the South African legal challenge could help facilitate the development of the real material force – the organized global peoples – the only force that could compel the Israeli fascists to end the colonial oppression of the Palestinian people.
It is this understanding of the challenges that the historical moment presents that has informed our work, from our opposition to the invasion of Haiti to organizing against the intensifying efforts to militarize the domestic police forces occupying our communities in the U.S., imposing and preparing themselves for even more draconian control over the population- cop-cities! The crazed response to the declining power of the U.S. and the West is to engage in the politics of death with their commitment to violence operationalized through the U.S. and its military-first policies from Atlanta to Ukraine. We must be prepared for this intensifying war on the people.
The campaign to establish the Americas as a Zone of Peace that BAP launched last April 4th is another example of the formation recognizing the inherent vulnerabilities of the oppressor when it has to rely on the naked power of militarism and other illegal measures. The peoples of our region are prepared to eject the U.S. state from our region politically and physically in the form of closing the 76 U.S. bases in our region.
BAP is clear. From the streets of Atlanta and Baltimore to Haiti and Palestine, there can be no peace without justice and justice is an impossibility while subjected to racist colonial/capitalist domination. This is a central ethical principle of our work.
In the pages below you will see all of the creative work that our membership is involved in as we continue to build the independent structures and people(s)-centered institutions necessary for survival, but also for eventual victory over the antipeople forces represented by the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination.
With the People(s)-Centered Human Rights Framework and Black Radical Peace Tradition as our guide, we say:
“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather the achievement by popular struggle and self-defense of a world liberated from the interlocking issues of global conflict, nuclear armament and proliferation, unjust war, and subversion through the defeat of global systems of oppression that include colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy.”
This is our task and responsibility. Join us, support our work, donate your resources, your time and your physical presence.
On January 11th, Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta Citywide Alliance (BAP-Atlanta) hosted a teach-in alongside Demilitarize Atlanta 2 Palestine examining the institutions, systems, and technologies entangling Atlanta with Palestine. We explored Deadly Exchange programs like GILEE. We connected the dots between Cop City and Little Gaza, the Urban Warfare Training Center in Occupied Palestine. And we discussed the shared landscape of surveillance domination via structures like Atlanta’s Operation Shield and Connect Atlanta that share disturbing similarities to the Command and Control Center and surveillance technologies in Occupied Palestine.
On Saturday, January 20th, at the Little Five Points Community Center the BAP-Atlanta and BAP member organization Friends of the Congo were joined by more than 80 community members for “Lumumba Lives: From the Congo to Atlanta,” which included a film screening, remarks from Friends of the Congo board member, Dr. Samory Livingston, and a reading of Lumumba’s “Parting Letter to Wife Pauline.” BAP member Leila uplifted the legacy and historical connections of Patrice Lumumba’s assassination to ancestor Amilcar Cabral who was assassinated 51 years ago on January 20, 1973. Attendees were later organized into small groups to discuss external interests in Lumumba’s assassination, self-determination, our role in the U.S., the neo-colonial city of Atlanta, and more. BAP-Atlanta was joined by community organizations that tabled and shared resources including Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Access Reproductive Care-Southeast.
On January 28th, BAP-Atlanta co-hosted a Palestine Solidarity Rollout Skate Event alongside Demilitarize Atlanta 2 Palestine. Over one hundred flooded the Atlanta beltline with our chants and flags and signs, united in our calls for a ceasefire and for a free Palestine. Together we learned, we read, we joined new movement groups, and we reaffirmed our commitment to Palestinian liberation.
On February 12th, BAP-Atlanta member Yasmin Forbes spoke on a panel at Oglethorpe University titled "All Our Struggles Are Connected." Hosted by the Radical Petrels of Oglethorpe University, the panel discussed the interconnectedness between the global movement to free Palestine and the national movement to Stop Cop City.
On Saturday, February 17th, BAP-Atlanta co-hosted a teach-in in support of the International Campaign to Free Kamau Sadiki and MXGM's Black Love in Action Week of Action. Baba Kamau Sadiki is a devout Muslim, a loving father of two daughters and grandfather of five, and a veteran of the Black Panther Party. We discussed his plight and other political prisoners and incarcerated elders who suffer from medical neglect and elder abuse.
On Tuesday, February 27th, BAP-Atlanta co-sponsored a vigil in honor of Aaron Bushnell and calling for end to U.S. military support for genocide in Gaza. Aaron was a 25 year old active duty member of the US military who self-immolated outside the zionist embassy in Washington D.C. in protest of the United States' ongoing complicity in the genocide on Gaza. Palestinian Youth Movement, Demilitarize Atlanta to Palestine, Atlanta Radical Art helped organize the action.
On Friday, March 8th, BAP-Atlanta co-sponsored a discussion of Black Scare / Red Scare between the book's author, BAP member Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly, and Community Movement Builders founder Kamau Franklin.
On March 21st at 4PM at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, BAP-Atlanta will co-host a town hall with Georgia State University students to discuss the prioritization of militarism through the funding of the GILEE program and support of the genocide in Gaza over student needs. GSU Dissenters, the Sankofa Society, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and GSU Students for Justice in Palestine are collaborating with BAP-Atlanta on this event.
BAP Coordinating Committee Vice Chair Erica Caines, BAP-ATL core member Musa Springer, and BAP-Midwest member Too Black alongside King Trill participated in the “Revolutionary Pan-Africanism and the Anti-Imperialist Struggle” panel at the Indianapolis Liberation Center in Indiana on February 24.
BAP Baltimore citywide alliance coordinator, Erica Caines spoke with BAP Research and Political Education Team Member Charisse Burden-Stelly at Red Emma’s Bookstore in Baltimore about their latest book on radical explications of the ways anti-Black racial oppression has infused the U.S. government's anti-Communist repression titled "Black Scare/Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States."
BAP- Baltimore Dispelling The Myths of Baltimore Housing and Blockchain January 30, 2024
This discussion featured insights from Zoey Howell- Brown of BAP- Baltimore and Roger Evans of Ujima People’s Progress Party of Maryland. Attendees engaged in a ‘blockchain’ activity, a breakout session on the reality of housing in Baltimore City, discussed the necessity of tenants unions and more over a meal, and were gifted ‘The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power’ by Dr Jared Ball in partnership with Liberation Through Reading and NoMü NoMü.
BAP- Baltimore x Maryland Council Of Elders Townhall 2024 Session #1: Black Power and Palestine with All African People's Revolutionary Party and Palestinian Youth Movement: DMV chapter on February 17, 2024
Up to 70 attendees broke bread and engaged in a shared desire for unity, freedom, dignity, self-determination, and the importance of smashing Zionism from Baltimore to Palestine.
BAP- Baltimore x BAP Haiti/ Americas Team Hybrid movie screening of “Aristide and The Endless Revolution.” Up to 20 people attended online, while upward of 40 attended in person to watch the documentary and discuss what’s currently happening in Haiti followed by discussions with BAP Haiti/Americas co-coordinator Austin Cole and BAP member organization, MOLEGHAF.
BAP- Baltimore Citywide Alliance members have supported and spoken at actions, marches and rallies in defense of Yemen, the Rafah, Palestinian resistance, Haiti and international working women’s day. Members participated in the Artists Against Apartheid Art Show at NoMü NoMü for the month of October.
In March, BAP DC responded to the call made by the International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine, which was co-founded by the Black Alliance for Peace, to fast at the beginning of Ramadan in solidarity with the people being starved in Gaza, and donate the amount the food would have cost to the South Africa-based C150 Palestinian Relief Fund.
In February, BAP DC also supported the first day of several Days of Action for Haiti called by BAP's Haiti/Americas Team in March with a social media campaign circulating the latest information about the planned invasion of Haiti on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. On the fourth Thursday of each month through May we will schedule another action!
In February BAP Mid-Atlantic, All-African People's Revolutionary Party (AAPRP) & PAIGC 2023 demonstrated outside of the African Union Mission in Washington, DC, demanding the president of Guinea Bissau open the People's National Assembly and allow the people's elected representatives - the PAI Terra Ranka Coalition - to be able to get to work with the agenda of the people.
Comrades of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement DC also turned out and one member spoke in support of PAIGC referencing Amilcar Cabral.
On February 8th, BAP NYC/NJ members Claudia Moscoso and Imani Lawrence took part in a meeting between Carlos Ron, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and members of various movements and organizations to discuss the recent developments in Venezuela. The discussion at The People’s Forum covered the destabilization attempts by the United States such as Washington’s backing of the right-wing candidate, Maria Corina Machado, and the territorial dispute over the Essiquibo, highlighting Exxon’s role in the situation.
BAP’s Margaret Kimberley spoke at the February 20th NYC Free Assange protest at the UK Consulate in New York City, organized by NYC Free Assange, Assange Defense, Stand With Assange NY, Assange Countdown to Freedom, CODEPINK, Socialist Action, that marked the beginning of journalist Julian Assange’s two-day hearing in the UK High Court in London.
[Photo by Pamela Drew]
As part of their 6-month campaign to challenge Washington DC’s draconian police state policies, BAP member organization, Pan-African Community Action (PACA), turned out to help “pack” City Council proceedings that passed the so-called “Secure DC Omnibus Crime Bill”, bringing the radical message of self-determination and community control. They distributed palm cards that promoted their analysis, “DC’s 2024 Crime Bill Is More War on the Black Working Class”
A January 30th article of Baltimore Beat mentions BAP’s participation in its coverage of an Annapolis MD rally opposing zionist state genocide of Palestinian people and quotes BAP member, Erica Caines.
In February, BAP members engaged in actions and demonstrations in support of the resistance in Palestine and against the ongoing genocide. These actions gained the attention of outlets such as Worker’s World, BNN, NBC Philadelphia, and Patch. The statement from the U.S. Out of Africa Network, “Black Alliance for Peace’s U.S. Out of Africa Network Deplores Plans to Expand U.S. Drone Atrocities in West Africa” garnered mentions from InDepthNews and international notice in AFRICA24.IT, which discussed U.S. military expansion in Africa and the infringement on the sovereignty of African nations.
Two days in a row BAP’s Jemima Pierre, Co-Coordinator of the Haiti-Americas Team, was a guest on the March 11th and March 12th episodes of Democracy Now! Jemima was also interviewed for this episode of The Nation’s American Prestige podcast about foreign intervention in Haiti and quoted in this March 20th Common Dreams article.
On February 30th, BAP Coordinating Committee member and Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report (BAR), Margaret Kimberley discussed the worldwide protests in support of Palestine on the Presstv network and was a guest on the Al Mayadeen network on December 20, 2023 discussing how the word “anti-semitism” is used to discredit critics of Israel's actions in Gaza. As Host of BAR’s Black Agenda Radio, Margaret interviewed All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (AAPRP) central committee member, member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau (PAIGC), and fellow BAP Coordinating Committee member, Rafiki Morris about the struggle to open the Peoples National Assembly in Guinea-Bissau. Margaret was also
BAP Baltimore's Rafiki Morris (also of the AAPRP) was also a guest on the February 16 episode of “Darker Than Blue” discussing the turmoil in the West African Federation countries (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso), and Guinea Bissau.
Comrades Tunde Osazua and Musa Springer of BAP-Atlanta published “A Materialist Guide to Media Literacy” in Hood Communist which was later picked up by Monthly Review and BAP-Atlanta member Salome Ayuak was the “U.S. Out of Africa: Voices from the Struggle” interviewee in AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #50.
A Hood Communist delegation attended and presented at The Second International Meeting of Theoretical Publications of Left Parties and Movements in Havana, Cuba. Hood Communist Editors, BAP members, and delegates to the meeting in Cuba, Erica Caines and Onyesonwu Chatoyer did a report back interview on WPFW program and podcast Voices With Vision.
On International Working Women’s Day, BAP DC's Jacquie Luqman talks to BAP Baltimore comrade Erica Ryan and AAPRP comrade Onyesonwu Chatoyer about the women who influenced them in their work on the weekly show “Darker Than Blue” on WPFW 89.3 hosted by Jacqueline and Sean Blackmon. In the second hour, Jacquie has a convo with the editors of Hood Communist - Erica Ryan, Onyesonwu Chatoyer, D. Musa Springer, and Salifu Mack about their recent trip to Cuba, strategies for combating propaganda, the usefulness of Afropessimism, and more!
Jacquie was a guest on the CGTN show The Heat in January talking very disinterestedly about Trump, Biden, and Black voters before the New Hampshire primary.
BAP-Baltimore’s Jameela Alexander and Sister Sheena were guests on the March 19th episode of “Voices With Vision,” - hosted by Craig Hall and BAP Coordinating Committee member Netfa Freeman - warning about the Maryland House of Delegates’ House Bill 814, legislation that expands the carceral state to lock up more of our children and at younger ages and highlighting the BAP-Baltimore and Ujima People's Progress Party joint statement on the matter.
March 30: Join Westchester for Palestine and Black Alliance for Peace New York chapter for the hybrid teach-in “At The Root of It All: Legacies of Colonization From Mount Vernon to Palestine” that will walk attendees through the historical and modern linkages between Palestinian, Indigenous American, and African/Black peoples. Mount Vernon Public Library, 28 South 1st Ave, Mt Vernon, NY 10550 or for online, register here.
March 27: The topic of BAP member organization Pan-African Community Action (PACA)’s next Assata Shakur Study Group is “The Women of The Eritrean Women’s Liberation Front” from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. Participate in-person at Black Workers & Wellness Center, 2500 Martin Luther King, Jr., Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. or for online, register here.
May 1 - 31: Mark your calendars for “African Liberation Month,” an initiative of the BAP Africa Team and U.S. Out of Africa Network, as a contribution to strengthening African Liberation Day (ALD) and to build for a strong International Month of Action Against AFRICOM in October 2024.
No Compromise, No Retreat!
Struggle to win,
Ajamu, Austin, Erica, Jacqueline, Jaribu, Jemima, Margaret, Matt, Netfa, Nnamdi, Paul, Rafiki, and Yasmin
Coordinating Committee
P.S. Freedom isn’t free.Consider giving today.
Banner photo: Ethiopian migrants waiting to cross over to Saudi Arabia in the town of Haradh, Yemen (courtesy Khaled Abdullah/Reuters).
