Deepening Organization in the Face of Counterinsurgency
As named in the recent Bulletin on U.S. Domestic Militarization, National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM-7), formally titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” has fundamentally altered the relationship between dissent and the state by transforming the broader governance architecture into a synchronized counterinsurgency grid.
NSPM-7 pre-positions forces by integrating federal, state, and local law enforcement into a single operational framework, making the state's contradiction materially visible in its current iteration. Historically, this represents the latest chapter in a long lineage of domestic counterinsurgency directed against Black liberation organizations, Indigenous movements, labor militants, anti-war and anti-imperialist organizers, and other dissident political groups.
NSPM-7’s function is best understood as the latest manifestation of a long-standing authoritarian tradition in U.S. governance rather than a break from democratic norms. The historical lineage, from the Red Scare, often categorized as “McCarthyism”, utilizing the specter of communist infiltration to silence left-wing critics and labor movements, to COINTELPRO, expanding this framework to systematically surveil, infiltrate, and destabilize Black liberation groups, anti-war activists, and other domestic organizations deemed subversive, was a series of proactive campaigns designed to dismantle movements for racial and economic justice. The creation of political prisoners like Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier emerged directly from the legal and extra-legal frameworks established during this era, demonstrating a continuity of state power aimed at criminalizing resistance to structural inequality and highlighting the imperative of revitalizing the revolutionary tradition of Black August.
Placing NSPM-7 within this lineage underscores the "longue durée" of U.S. fascism, which operates not as a singular coup but as a persistent and evolving strategy to maintain elite control through the securitization of domestic politics. However, NSPM-7 is qualitatively more comprehensive because it explicitly criminalizes activities previously protected as fundamental democratic and human rights (freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and the interstate coordination of dissident organizations) while achieving an Orwellian inversion by framing organizing itself as a target for counterterrorism measures.
As we see, the state is actively working to isolate revolutionary, radical, and progressive forces. It is using financial surveillance, legal harassment, and the threat of terrorism charges to sever connections and instill fear. Our response must not be to retreat or compromise with fascism, but to deepen our own connections and coordination, our consciousness, and our level of self-determined organization.
No Compromise, No Retreat: Defeat the War Against African/Black People in the U.S. and Abroad
On July 4, 2026, BAP Atlanta participated in an event with Spirit of Mandela and other local organizations to highlight the Resistance to 250 years of Genocide and Repression, held in Atlanta, GA.
BAP South members in Miami and Diaspora Pa’lante Collective Florida) joined local organizations and Colombian community members for a Miami National Day of Action: Stop ICE Terror on July 18, demanding justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran, and Joan Sebastian Guerrero, as well as denouncing the recent TPS revocation for 350,000 people.
On July 19, 2026, members of BAP Mid-Atlantic alongside Community Movement Builders and Malcolm X Grassroots Movement canvassed and provided remarks at an Emergency Rally Against ICE and Police, led by No Borders Delaware nd family members of Kadir Skinner, who was killed by Wilmington Police earlier in the summer. Read the full statement.
On August 2, 2026, BAP Mid-Atlantic member Ky Sheppard delivered propaganda and education at an annual Community BBQ hosted by Humbly Assisting Humanity and Free Food For All at Conscious Connections Farm.
For Black August, BAP NYC/NJ and Community Movement Builders (CMB) Newark hosted a screening of “The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up,” followed by a guided discussion featuring TooBlack and representatives from BAP NYC/NJ and Build More Unity. BAP NYC/NJ guided attendees through a collective reading of an excerpt from "Notes from an African POW #2,"
BAP Baltimore & All African People’s Revolutionary Party DMV held the second session of the Organizing for Collective Power Town Hall Series. Community members and grassroots organizations came together to discuss how we fight back not just against police and prisons designed to oppress us, but against the whole system that dictates who lives, who dies, and who gets forgotten, connecting local fights in Baltimore's struggle to liberation movements across the globe.
BAP Baltimore joined the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) in a speak-out and rally following multiple people being detained by ICE, including a witness who was also detained just days prior. Members Presence Santifa read a statement written by members Presence, Milan Harris, and Petros Bien.
Boycott the World Cup. Boycott the U.S.
On the eve of Independence Day in the so-called United States, BAP NYC/NJ, along with local organizations in NYC and NJ, continued their monthly rally/vigil outside Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC Brooklyn), to continue local opposition to the imprisonment of President Nicolas Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores and a call to "Boycott the United States!"
BAP Philadelphia, along with Philly Futbol Collective and Church of the Revolution, held a Black August People's World Cup Final. Throughout the summer, in addition to social media posts noting the impact FIFA Fan Fest had on Philly, we also supported futbol games every Sunday to anchor ourselves in the people power of futbol, not what FIFA pushes. It culminated in a Black August Finals event where an elder spoke about the history of Black August, and we held various futbol matches and outdoor activities for attendees, including children.
Member Organization Activity
On Saturday, August 8th, BAP organizational member Pan-African Community Action (PACA) launched a new Transit Solitary Program at the Anacostia Metro in Southeast DC, distributing new and used fare cards to assist the community with the rising cost of living and the recent law enforcement crackdown on transit accessibility.
PACA continues to build out the People’s Pan-African Wellness Front, a community-based grassroots program to confront the health disparities impacting African/Black working-class communities in Southeast Washington, D.C., while organizing toward long-term self-determination and community control of health.
Dr. Charisse Burton-Stelly spoke with Black Agenda Report in the segment, "Dr. CBS on Trump's Black/Red Scare," to discuss the U.S. Department of State-released report, "Cuba: the Capital of 21st Century Communism," which justifies the genocidal siege against that country and attempts to criminalize leftist organizing. She also joined the Black Myths Podcast for Part 2 of the episode, “Myth: Cuba is the Capital of 21st Century Communism.” They discussed the report and the broader framework of domestic terrorism. She ties it back to historical iterations of red scares and explains its specific character today. Dr. CBS joined the show again for the episode, “Myth: Good Socialist, Bad Communist”.
Margaret Kimberley, Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report, interviewed Ajamu Baraka in the piece, “The White Supremacist Imperative on Violence: A Black Radical Perspective on the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination." Margaret also joined Inez Barron, Charles Barron, and Jalil Muntaqim on Black Power Media for a panel to commemorate Black August.
In this episode of Revolutionary African Perspectives, BAP Atlanta members Leyla, Dan, and Clare utilize the Bulletin on Domestic Repression to cover multiple news stories of domestic and international repression. From the memorial gathering of Atlanta activists outside of the ICE field office in downtown Atlanta to honor the victims of ICE terror and neglect, like Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva and Joan Sebastian Guerrero, to the 5-month anniversary of the U.S. bombing of the Minab school in Iran, which killed 155 people.
The Popular Steering Committee for a Zone of Peace in Our Americas published a Declaration of a Zone of Peace to express their ongoing support for Cuba against the U.S. genocidal assault and a call to continue to organize collectively to build a zone of peace in the Americas
September 6 | The next session in the #ShutDownAFRICOM Political Education Series presented by the BAP Africa Team and the U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN). Over six consecutive Sundays, this online course will build the political clarity and strategic organizing capacity to remove U.S. military occupation from Africa. Get more info and register here.
September 3, 2026 – September 24 | Governing From Below: Lessons from Nicaragua's Neoliberal Years. This 4-part series will delve into how the FSLN during these years worked closely with its grassroots base in unions, student groups, women, peasants, and communal movements to pressure the neoliberal governments and eventually return to power. Register
September 5 | Flock Camera Teach-In. Join BAP Chicago on Saturday for a teach-in and community discussion on Flock cameras, surveillance, domestic repression & international implications, and democratizing “public safety”. From ICE collaboration to municipal misuse, we will unpack what the data actually reveals about Flock and how to get involved in challenging surveillance technologies.
Wesley United Methodist Church, 14 N May St | 7:30 pm-8:30 pm CT
September 9 | Join Friends of Trinidad and Tobago - Brooklyn Chapter for our Independence Day Picnic to reflect on what independence means to us as a diaspora. Discussion Topic: How to support the call for justice for Kaia Sealy.
Prospect Park, Brooklyn | 2-6 PM