The Black Radical Peace Tradition: More Than Just Words - A Mandate
The emergence of a formation such as The Black Alliance For Peace (BAP), dedicated to reviving Black radical internationalism and the Black radical peace tradition, has marked a critical moment in the ongoing struggle against the Pan-European colonial/capitalist white supremacist patriarchy. For eight years, this struggle has confronted global systems of oppression, from militarized policing to imperialist wars. The historical significance of this revival lies in its reconnection to a legacy of resistance that spans from the Haitian Revolution to the Black Power and anti-colonial movements of the 20th century.
BAP’s controversial but principled positions—such as its stance on Ukraine, highlighting NATO expansion and Western war propaganda—reflect a commitment to dismantling imperialism in all forms. Equally vital has been our work exposing the domestic war on African and colonized peoples, particularly through programs like 1033, which militarizes police forces with surplus military equipment. The calls to “Shut Down AFRICOM” and involvement in #StopCopCity campaigns challenge the machinery of state violence just as our advocacy for a Zone of Peace (ZOP) throughout the Americas has reasserted the demands for self-determination free from imperial interference.
The continued fight for Haiti’s liberation from foreign-backed coups and predatory NGOs, alongside opposition to zionism and its manifestations, such as IDF training of U.S. police, underscores the link between global and local oppression. By reviving Black radical internationalism, this organization continues to advance a vision of collective liberation rooted in anti-imperialism, anti-capitalism, and anti-colonial struggle. In a world of escalating fascism and empire, BAP is not just necessary—it is a historical imperative.
We are excited to work with this leadership and know instinctively that with the revolutionary experience, values, and principles they bring to their positions, BAP is posed to not only continue the historic work it has spearheaded over the last seven years but will be positioned to rise to the challenge that bipartisan fascism presents in the U.S. and globally.
Below, you will see just some examples of the incredible work that BAP activists and organizers are engaged in. While others have fallen silent on the fascist assault on the fundamental human rights of asylum seekers and migrant workers, BAP has not hesitated in reminding the public and even members of the African/Black communities in the U.S. that “the parasitic relationship between U.S. capital and the peoples and nations of our region created the conditions that have compelled millions to desperately attempt to get to the North just to live.” Like asylum seekers, “migrants also have human rights that are codified in law.”
From the new North-South Project on People(s)-Centered Human Rights to the ongoing work on making our region a “Zone of Peace” and agitating and organizing against the repressive apparatus represented by the uninterrupted militarization of the police and training of police forces by the Israeli fascist defense forces, BAP will continue to live up to its responsibilities to our people and the people of the world.
On March 12, 2025, BAP Dallas was invited by the Young Democratic Socialists of America at UT Dallas for a conversation on the Black Radical Tradition. BAP comrades held the floor with students in a popular education session highlighting the rich history of radical Black student organizing, anti-imperialism in the Black radical tradition, and the role of mutual aid and student organizing in the fight for an end to empire. We introduced students to BAP's campaign to End the War on Africans everywhere, as well as how the 1033 program is responsible for militarizing police departments around the country, culminating in proposals for new police training facilities - one being on a nearby campus.
On March 25, 2025, BAP Atlanta was invited to table at the Atlanta University Center Black Futures Fair, their first radical student fair, happening on Thursday, March 27th, from 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM at the Spelman College Amphitheater. This event connected students with radical Black/African community organizations and collectives, fostering dialogue, education, and collective action.
BAP Baltimore hosted the event African Mothers On The Frontline: Building Community Control was a packed townhall where panelists engaged attendees on the challenges of raising children in hostile environments (internal colonies) and collectively strategized on ways to support and create (existing) alternative institutions that can uplift our children and communities.
AFRO Futurism and the Sahel States: Fighting for a United Africa, BAP-Chciago with support from School of Many Questions, has begun a campaign to educate Africans domestically on the AES and support the AES materially by fundraising for different projects like the Thomas Sankara Center.
On April 5, two national demonstrations were called, one for a very liberal "Hands Off" demo focused on Trump/Musk with slogans like "Hands Off NATO" and the Emergency Demonstration for Palestine. Though there was little overlap of these actions except for the closeness of their locations, BAP Mid-Atlantic showed up to tell everyone that we Africans are clear on our duty as human beings and anti-imperialists to stand with those struggling for the right to exist amid genocide fueled by this evil imperialist duopoly. This was also the first deployment of the Mid-Atlantic's Rapid Response Protocols.
On April 4th and 5th, BAP-DC and Pan-African Community Action (PACA) members Netfa Freeman and Oliver Robinson presented at Abolition, Everywhere? A National Convening, held at American University, following an invitation from the Antiracist Research & Policy Center. Comrades delivered critical workshop panels titled Abolition & The State and The Global Politics of Policing, as well as distributed propaganda highlighting the Community Control of Police and Zone of Peace campaigns. The gathering engaged analyses on the issues of militarism, surveillance, and repression with audiences of over 75 scholars, practitioners, and organizers, including Dylan Rodriguez, Orisanmi Burton, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, and local comrades of All-African People’s Revolutionary Party and Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.
As a part of the nationwide anti-Trump rallies sweeping cities on April 5, Kimberly Miller represented BAP’s Haiti/Americas Team in downtown Miami, Florida, to send a message of Hands off Haiti, protection of Haitian migrants from deportation, and Hands off Yemen from further U.S. bombardment against Yemeni sovereignty. She passed out the Haiti/Americas Team Zine, Crisis of Haiti: A Crisis of Imperialism, to both anti-war protesters at the march and passersby interested in supporting BAP’s anti peace mission.
On February 23, 2025, BAP Atlanta hosted “Beyond Black History: Building Pathways to Liberation in Atlanta” at the Little 5 Points Community Center. The event brought together local organizers, community members, and allied organizations for political education, cultural performances, and collective strategizing against state repression and militarized policing.
At the AWC mass meeting, members from Black Alliance for Peace Chicago came and held a political education session for AWC Chicago about AFRICOM and the US Out of Africa Campaign. They taught us about US intervention on the continent and how it connects to our struggles here through a presentation and discussion. One week later, they voted at their virtual mass meeting to endorse the US Out of Africa Campaign!
BAP- Baltimore and AAPRP All African Women’s Revolutionary Union held an engaging and critical conversation on the impacts of imperialism and its systems of oppression—patriarchy, racism, and more—on African people worldwide. They explored how imperialism has reshaped our cultures, harmed marginalized groups, and weaponized tools like Western feminism to destabilize communities.
BAP Dallas hosted a screening and discussion of "Soundtrack to a Coup D'etat" at Spacy Microcinema. This was the first of a new monthly public political education series led by BAP Dallas to build community and consciousness in Dallas and Tarrant counties. After the film, BAP members led an open discussion on cultural imperialism, BAP's campaign, and how "no compromise, no retreat" also includes Black faces in high or culturally impactful spaces.
Netfa Freeman, Co-Coordinator of the BAP Africa Team, joined the Return to Bandung Podcast to discuss the history of imperialism and anti-colonial resistance in West Africa, focusing on the developments in the Sahel region over the last few years. Erica Caines. Our National Co-Coordinator also joined the podcast a few weeks ago to discuss the history of imperialism and anti-colonial resistance in Haiti.
KPFA's Hard Knock Radio was in conversation with Netfa about the crisis in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the role of grassroots resistance, Pan-African solidarity, and what people in the U.S. can do to support Congolese self-determination.
National Co-Coordinators Austin Cole and Erica Caines joined the Black Myths Podcast for a two-part episode to discuss how negative stereotypes about Africans in the Caribbean, particularly in Haiti, create a rationalization for US imperialism throughout the region. Part 1 | Part 2. Austin joined Voices of Resistance on WBAI to talk about the CELAC Summit. He also represented BAP's Haiti/Americas Team and the Zone of Peace campaign in an interview discussing the launch of the U.S./NATO Out of Our Americas Network with Margaret Flowers of 'Clearing the Fog.'
Additionally, Austin Cole finished a four-part series on grassroots economies in Grassroots Thinking. In these final two pieces, he discussed how we wage a counter-war by deploying strategies for constructing grassroots economies and breaking neocolonial dependency, as well as the potential for the concept of 'the Black Commune' to root us in a vision of self-determination and liberation. Part 3 | Part 4.
Margaret Kimberley joined Jamarl Thomas for a discussion on DEI and the firing of Joy Reid from MSNBC. She also published a piece, Trump Exposes the Elite Classes, for her Black Agenda Report column.
Oliver Robsinson, with BAP member organization Pan-African Community Action (PACA), published “Trump Terror, Complicit Local Leadership, and the Assault Against Southeast D.C.” in the April 11 issue of Black Agenda Report and he elaborated on the issues in an interview on WPFW’s Voices With Vision.
Starting in March, members of BAP ATL began hosting a weekly community radio show on WRFG 89.3 ATL. Revolutionary African Perspectives is a public affairs program that provides analysis and commentary on the political movements of African peoples locally, nationally, and internationally. The station WRFG, or Radio Free Georgia, is a frequent partner of BAP ATL programs and activities. While not officially a BAP show, the ATL CWA hosts & producers are staying true to the name and pushing the anti-imperialist and black radical tradition politic every Monday evening from 7-8 pm EST. You can find a live stream of the radio station on WRFG's website and an archive of shows since BAP ATL took over on our show page.
April 13, 2025 | is the webinar “Migration, State Violence and Global Displacement” that will also be the main feature for several watch parties across the U.S. The webinar that aims to explore the complexities of migration, state violence, and global systems of power. Time: 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET.
April 19, 2025 | BAP Baltimore Town Hall 2025 Session 3- Liberation Theology: Religion Against Imperialism. Join this profound and timely discussion at BAP-Baltimore’s April 2025 Town Hall, bringing together religious leaders, faith-based organizers, and community members to explore how spiritual convictions can be a guide toward peace, justice, and collective healing. Time: 1pm (doors open at 12:30pm) | Location: Payne Memorial A.M.E Church, 1714 Madison Ave Baltimore, MD 21217
April 23, 2025 | Pan-African Community Action (PACA)’s next Assata Shakur Study Group session is “Global Perspective on Policing, Community Safety and Security.” Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. | Location: In-person at Black Workers & Wellness Center, 2500 Martin Luther King, Jr., Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. or for online, register here.
Banner photo: Black power advocate and SNNC organizer Stokely Carmichael (later known as Kwame Ture) speaks at Berkeley, 1966 (courtesy, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress).