The novel coronavirus pandemic both revealed and accelerated the irreversible crisis of the global capitalist system and, consequently, the domestic conditions shaping the 2020 U.S. presidential election and every level of U.S. governance.
The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) asserts the deepening structural crisis is causing unprecedented forms of capitalist structural violence that can be measured in unnecessary deaths, sickness, hospitalizations, mass hunger, homelessness and collective trauma. This crisis, along with climate change and the interlocking issues related to imperialist war, militarism and domestic repression, are the main challenges facing the public.
Yet, the diversionary psychodrama passing itself off as politics in the United States has consigned these issues outside of the pre-approved range of items for public discussion.
However, BAP took on the task to raise the issues that others have avoided during this election season to suggest the people must demand from public officials a minimum program that opposes war, repression and imperialism.
We launched the Candidate Accountability Pledge as part of our broader campaign, No Compromise, No Retreat: Defeat the War Against African/Black People in the U.S. and Abroad, to say public officials coming to our people for support must embrace an agenda that in the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., addresses the ongoing issues of “racism, materialism and militarism” that characterize the politics of the United States as the “greatest purveyor of violence on the planet.”
In these last few weeks of this effort, we highlight our demands. They go beyond the election because we know the state is increasingly relying on the use of violence domestically and abroad, and that both Democrats and Republicans are committed to this strategy to maintain the power of the capitalist dictatorship. So, we suggest the people demand their elected officials and candidates:
Oppose the militarization of U.S. police through the Department of Defense’s 1033 program
Oppose Israeli training of U.S. police forces
Call for and work for the closure of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)
Advocate for the closure of 800+ U.S. foreign military bases
Oppose Trump’s “Operation Relentless Pursuit”
Commit to opposing all military, economic (including sanctions and blockades) and political interventions
Advocate for an end to U.S. participation in NATO
Support efforts to cut the U.S. military budget by 50%
Demand the U.S. Department of Justice document and investigate the use of lethal force by domestic police officers
Commit to passing resolutions that commit the U.S. to uphold international law and the U.N. Charter
Sponsor legislation and/or resolutions to support the U.N. resolution on the complete global abolition of nuclear weapons
Over the last few weeks, we have attempted to raise the visibility of these demands.
For example, our September 24 webinar, “Full Spectrum Dominance: From AFRICOM to Indo-Pacific Command”, focused on our ongoing work to shut down AFRICOM, but we also drew attention to another U.S. command structure, the Indo-Pacific Command, which is being used to strengthen U.S. offensive capabilities against China.
Then on October 1, over 300 organizations from global civil society joined us by endorsing and taking action in support of the International Day of Action on AFRICOM. For that day, we asked organizations and individuals to call on the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to investigate the impact of AFRICOM on the African continent. The effort to sign onto that letter continues.
We are disseminating an especially important conversation BAP members hosted and presented on October 7 on Black Women and Anti-Imperialism.
On October 14, BAP co-sponsored and National Organizer Ajamu Baraka participated in a discussion on policing in Nicaragua and the Caribbean that is receiving international attention.
BAP member organization Friends of the Congo yesterday launched “Congo Week in Harlem”, an annual 7-day event that draws attention to the ongoing struggles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to its rich history and culture. Many believe the DRC would be one of the richest countries if it was allowed to exercise real national sovereignty, free from predatory U.S. and Western companies.
BAP is a member of the Black is Back Coalition (BIB), which is organizing the “Black People’s March on the White House” on November 7-8. For BIB, the election’s outcome will not change that Black and Brown colonized workers in the United States and abroad have no choice but to resist the U.S. state’s criminal activity as it desperately attempts to shore up the capitalist order.
And we are still moving toward our fundraising goal of $30,000, so we can continue to work for peace and People(s)-Centered Human Rights. Help us.
PRESS AND MEDIA
On the October 6 episode of WPFW’s “Voices With Vision”, Netfa Freeman, who represents Pan-African Community Action (PACA) on BAP’s Coordinating Committee, and co-host Craig Hall, interviewed Qiana Johnson, a core organizer with Black Lives Matter-DC and executive director of Life After Release, about a model for challenging mass incarceration called “Participatory Defense.” That model was highlighted with the song "New Tribes" by Dahk Matter (PACA's Ahmed Malik Braxton). PACA organizer Max Rameau discussed the presidential debate and the mention of Community Control of Police (CCOP). Netfa and Craig spoke to Rwandan genocide survivor and African Great Lakes Action Network (AGLAN) Executive Director Claude Gatebuke about Congo Week (October 18-24) and the case of Paul Russesabagina—hero of the film, "Hotel Rwanda"—recently kidnapped by the Rwandan government and being held as a political prisoner for criticizing the Rwandan occupation of the DRC and its culpability in atrocities there. As is customary on "Voices With Vision", political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal provides commentary. This time, on Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis.
The October 13 episode of “Voices With Vision” featured an interview with Erica Takeo, who coordinates the solidarity network for the Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo, or the Rural Workers Association, in Nicaragua. Takeo spoke about Friends of Latin America’s October 14 webinar that delved into the Nicaraguan experience with CCOP.
For The Real News Network, BAP member Jacqueline Luqman interviewed Dr. Akinyele Umoja, professor in the African-American Studies Department at Georgia State University and author of the book “We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement,” about armed self-defense for Black people.
Netfa was featured 9 minutes into KPFA’s Evening News to break down the Trump/Biden debate mentioning CCOP. Plus, Dedan Waciuri, who represents Black Workers for Justice on the BAP Coordinating Committee, spoke about the need for CCOP on Black Agenda Radio. Mapinduzi, an organization Dedan belongs to in Greenville, North Carolina, held an online panel discussion October 17 on the role of police.
KPFA's “Flashpoints” interviewed Netfa about militia groups caught plotting to kidnap Michigan’s governor and the white-supremacist roots of militias and U.S. police.
BAP member Erica Caines wrote in Hood Communist about the possibility of a Trump coup, the material purpose of the Supreme Court and the focus of Black collective organizing.
BAP Coordinating Committee member Margaret Kimberley appeared 60 minutes into Radio Sputnik’s “The Critical Hour” to analyze the Trump administration’s response to wildfires ravaging California and other western states, the Barrett nomination, and a Sentencing Project report showing nearly 5.2 million people will be disenfranchised in the 2020 U.S. elections because of felony convictions.
A CodePink video showed Netfa breaking down how U.S. elections are used to misdirect the people’s struggle.
Erica hosted a forum, “Black Women and Anti-Imperialism”, featuring speakers Nnennaya Amuchie of #8ToAbolition; Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture of BAP and the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign in Philadelphia; and Onyesonwu Chatoyer of BAP member organization All African People’s Revolutionary Party-New Mexico, Anti-War Coalition of Albuquerque and the Hood Communist blog. The conversation aimed to show Black women in the United States why they should care about the symbiotic relationship that exists between the military industrial complex and militarized policing. The history of Black women radicals in anti-imperialist movements in the United States, domestic imperialism, internationalism and AFRICOM were also discussed.
BAP’s U.S. Out of Africa Network Coordinator Tunde Osazua spoke to Anticonquista’s L@s Hij@s de Fidel podcast—hosted by BAP member Kayla Pop and professor Danny Shaw—about the imperialist roots of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and its implications for Africans around the world. WORT’s “8 O’Clock Buzz” interviewed Tunde about how AFRICOM uses U.S. military power to impose U.S. control on African land, resources, and labor to service the needs of U.S. multinational corporations and the wealthy in the United States.
Popular Resistance interviewed Ajamu, who spoke about the history of AFRICOM and its impact on the continent. He also discussed why anti-imperialist and internationalist perspectives are necessary, the changing power dynamics in the world, the upcoming elections in the United States, and where activists should focus their time and energies.
Meanwhile, Netfa was interviewed for Press TV's “Africa Today” on the cost of terrorism on 18 African countries.
EVENTS
October 18-24: Friends of the Congo is commemorating Congo Week XIII by hosting a series of virtual events this year with special presentations from the Andree Blouin Center in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
October 22: Stand with thousands across the country for National Day of Protest to express our collective outrage, creativity and resistance in response to the crimes of this system. Uphold the tens of thousands of lives stolen by U.S. law enforcement over the past quarter century. Join a National Day of Protest event in your area. Create one if you are in an area where no one is organizing. On October 22, “WEAR BLACK, FIGHT BACK!” To endorse this call, complete this form. For more information, visit october22.org. Provide details of an action by emailing oct22national@gmail.com.
October 24: A march and caravan co-initiated by BAP member organization Ujima People’s Progress Party will demand housing justice in Baltimore, Maryland.
October 27: The Claudia Jones School for Political Education, along with the New Dawn Podcast, are hosting Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly and Boots Riley to discuss anti-capitalism. Register here.
November 7-8: The Black Is Back Coalition calls on all to march, rally and convene in Washington, D.C., during the “Black People's March On White House.” Registration is requested. Read their article in Black Agenda Report.
TAKE ACTION
The Black Latina Girls and Women Fund was created by 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.
Ask your local, state and federal candidates to sign BAP’s 2020 Candidate Accountability Pledge. If you are a candidate, distinguish yourself from the other corporate warmongering candidates by signing the pledge.
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.
No Compromise, No Retreat!
Struggle to win,
Ajamu, Dedan, Jaribu, Margaret, Netfa, Nnamdi, Paul, Vanessa, YahNé
P.S. Freedom isn’t free. Consider giving today.
Photo credit: Robert W. Kelley/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images