It is January, and in the U.S. this means it is time for the annual ritual of revisiting the white-washed, de-radicalized, pro- “American” M.L. King fairytale as part of the official celebration of King’s birthday.
In the official story, Dr. King was not the creation of the movement that was fighting for the democratic and human rights of Black people. No, it was Dr. King who created the movement, according to the colonial white elite and the neocolonial Black misleadership. In this story, the objectives of the movement were not for radical social transformation and Black self-determination but the redemption of the U.S. settler-colonial nation/state and the quiet integration of Black people into the state. In other words, to complete the establishment of a “more perfect nation,” as Obama would put it.
But King did not just show up to save Black people. Dr. King was a product of the post-war Black movement. And as such, the King that the movement produced reflected the changing, and sometimes contradictory development of that movement. As a product of the movement, Dr. King’s experiences as the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) evolved. He began to raise criticisms of capitalism, eventually opposed imperialist war and embraced a program of class struggle represented by the Poor People's campaign.
Positions that created tensions in the civil rights wing of the black liberation movement and make King a target for assassination.
This is the King that BAP recognizes. The King that in his last few years of activism was finding his way to the Black radical tradition, a tradition that takes an uncompromising position on colonialism, structural white supremacy and war.
This commitment to the highest articulations of our people for peace, people(s)-centered human rights and the belief that the Pan European white supremacist colonial/capitalist patriarchal project can be defeated, is what animates the worldview and actions of the Black Alliance for Peace.
And it is why BAP takes an uncompromising position on standing with and defending peoples’ and nations who find themselves in the crosshairs of U.S. and European aggression, no matter the criticism we receive from the social imperialist left and morally bankrupt liberals.
Below, you will see just some of the courageous positions that our members have taken in opposition to imperialism and war. Despite questions, we proudly accepted the invitation to attend the inauguration of Daniel Ortega as the newly elected president of Nicaragua. BAP’s representative Margaret Kimberley was given a place of honor on the stage along with the heads of states from Cuba and Venezuela.
As Margaret Kimberley said in her statement following the inauguration, BAP is clear on its mission and responsibility at this critical moment in history. An unambiguous commitment to human rights and anti-colonialism guides our worldview and politics. And for that - we are unapologetic.
“As an organization committed to reviving the Black radical tradition, and committed to an anti-imperialist stance, the Black Alliance for Peace is always ready to defend human rights.
This hemisphere in particular has been viciously targeted by the U.S. government and its vassals in the European Union and United Nations. The Organization of American States should be a platform for discussion and consensus building but it is a U.S. invention and operates under its thumb. The U.S. congress overwhelmingly approved the RENACER Act which legitimizes the regime change effort and makes a mockery of claims that the U.S. acts as a democracy. From Haiti to Nicaragua to Venezuela to Cuba, millions of people in this hemisphere live under U.S. dictates masquerading as democracy in action.
Black Alliance for Peace is committed to giving voice to the peoples of targeted nations and to providing insights and analysis that people in a supposedly free country are deprived of. Our mission demands that we do no less.”
BAP Co-Coordinator Margaret Kimberley recognized in Nicaragua inauguration.
PRESS AND MEDIA
Garret Harris of the BAP member organization Pan-African Community Action (PACA) and Makeda Shefflied were interviewed on the RemiX Morning Show of Black Power Media about their experience on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua during their elections. Netfa Freeman, BAP’s co-coordinator of the Africa Team, was featured in CovertAction Magazine highlighting the true mission and purpose of AFRICOM. *Segment starts at 1:06:50 mark
Black Alliance for Peace issued a press release condemning the attempts on the part of the U.S. state to delegitimize elections in Venezuela. BAP asserted that democratic elections in Venezuela and Nicaragua represented victories for the struggle for self-determination in the Americas.
BAP Coordinating Committee member and BAR editor Margaret Kimberley discusses Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan people fight for sovereignty. Dr. Jemima Pierre, coordinator of BAP’s Haiti/Americas committee discussed reports that the assassins of Haitian president Jovenel Moise searched for a list of drug traffickers and corrupt officials that Moise was allegedly preparing to turn over to the United States when he was murdered.
Netfa joined By Any Means Necessary to discuss Western attempts to legitimize the destruction of Libya and rationalize the ongoing chaos. “US Still Strong Arming “Democracy” Onto Libya. *Segment starts at 24:06 mark
In response to the Biden administration’s efforts to further undermine Cuba, BAP issued a statement and mobilized our membership to defend Cuba. In our statement we stated clearly that we saw this effort as part of ongoing war being waged against the peoples of our region from Haiti to Bolivia to Nicaragua and beyond.
Africa Today interviewed Netfa about - West Africans rejection of French forces. Addis Media Network, interviewed Netfa Freeman to discuss the #NoMore movement and BAP's stand against Western intervention. On By Any Means Necessary, Host and BAP member Jacquie Luqman chops up the hour with BAP Coordinating Committee member Netfa Freeman.
Black Alliance For Peace took a strong stance on the escalating situation in Ukraine in our release titled, the Ukraine crisis and how it began in Washington, not in Moscow.
BAP Coordinator Jemima Pierre in BBC interview provides an in-depth analysis on the state of affairs in Haiti regarding the assassination of the President.
Ajamu Baraka, National Organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace joined Sean and Jacquie on By Any Means Necessary to discuss ongoing tension over Ukraine and its meaning for Black people in the US. Margaret Kimberley, explains how Julian Assange is one of the political prisoners that the US claims not to have.
Jacqueline Luqman, Black Alliance for Peace Outreach Committee member and co-host of the radio program By Any Means Necessary unpacks President Joe Biden's speech on the January 6th incident. And in a provocative analysis of the errors made by left forces on Ethiopia, Filmon Zerai argues how the left can get Ethiopia right.
BAP Solidarity Network member Philippe Gendrault brings much needed attention to protests in the French colonies of Guadeloupe and Martinique that are being completely ignored by corporate press in the U.S. and Europe. The West’s fiction of “human rights” has been weaponized by neoliberals to rationalize naked imperialist interventions according to Ajamu Baraka. In commemoration of International Human Rights Day, Ajamu argued that if human rights were to have any relevance for the oppressed, they had to be “decolonized.”
Black Alliance for Peace, issued a release calling attention to the repressive charges against Dedan, a member of BAP’s Coordinating Committee.
Black Alliance for Peace in the released statement stands unequivocally in support of and uplifts mutual cooperation, solidarity, and peace among all parties and people in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the broader Horn of Africa region.
“It is white supremacist, colonial hubris that on the same day that the so-called progressives in the House of Representatives indicated they might abandon their insistence on passing the minimum human rights provisions in the Build Back Better legislation, those same progressives voted to impose more economic sanctions on the second poorest country in the region that, despite its poverty, guarantees universal healthcare and free education, two human rights guarantees that workers in the U.S. are still denied,” states Ajamu Baraka, BAP’s National Organizer
Jacqueline Luqman appeared on “This is Revolution'' to discuss the issue of race in the progressive media sphere.
Upcoming Events
Mapinduzi is holding "Free Them All MLK Day Rally" on Monday, January 17th at 9:30am ET at Thomas Forman Park in Greenville, NC
Friends of the Congo is hosting an all-day social media event on Lumumba Day, January 17th, to promote the ideas and teaching of Patrice Lumumba
Community Movement Builders is hosting its next political education class on Friday, January 28, starting at 6:30pm. Join here.
BLM Boston is leading letter writing campaigns that will be happening throughout the year in sets of two with the first set being Saturdays, January 15th and 22nd. They ask those interested to register, by signing up here.
PACA presents Assata Shakur Study Groups
When: Every 2nd & 4th Wednesday of the Month
TIme: 7PM EST - 9PM EST
PACA presents The Radical MLK
When: Monday, January 17, 2022
Time: @ 7PM - 9PM EST
Join PACA for a popular and informative event to learn, share, and correct the miseducation on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The World Stands Up To Sanctions
When: January 23, 2022
Time: 1:00 PM EST / 10:00 AM PST
Sanctioned countries are fighting back and finding ways around the US imposed economic sanctions. Learn what is happening as the World Stands Up to Sanction.
BAP mobilization at the Organization of American States in Washington
TAKE ACTION
BAP member organizations PACA and Friends of the Congo are fundraising to support the recently flooded GOVA Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sign BAP petitions calling for an end to the 1033 program and peace in Afghanistan.
Dedan Waciuri, who represents Black Workers for Justice on BAP’s Coordinating Committee, is being charged for inciting a riot and damaging government property. Sign this petition to demand charges be dropped.
The Black Latina Girls and Women Fund was created by BAP member organization AfroResistance, a Black Latina women-led organization in the service of Black Latinx women in the Americas. This fund offers financial support by giving money directly to Black Latin womxn, girls and femmes who are experiencing severe financial need across the region, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether in Brazil, Colombia, United States or Panama, Black Latina girls, women, and femmes are organizing in their local communities in the fight against several forms of state violence. You can donate here and people are encouraged to use the hashtag #BlackLatinaGWFund.
Sign up to join BAP’s U.S. Out of Africa Network to receive the bi-weekly AFRICOM Watch Bulletin in your inbox.
Make sure you keep up with us throughout the week by subscribing to our YouTube channel, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Instagram and Twitter.
(Banner Photo: President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. meet in the White House Cabinet Room on March 18, 1966. (Yoichi Okamoto/White House)