Aluta Continua From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to Black Liberation

1. Aluta Continua 1
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?”
| The Struggle Continues
A Multimedia Essay by RBG Street Scholar
Icebreaker Video:

2. Aluta Continua 2
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights
The 1950s was a very politically unstable
time for Afrikans in America. Our rights
human and civil rights were constantly
under attack. All the efforts made during the
forties to integrate the Armed Forces were
abolished during the Korean War. A new
era of racist assassinations began to occur
and we as a people started to take a stand
against the system and business of white
supremacy and its blatant racism. The
NAACP argued cases in Southern states
against the discriminatory practices in public schools.
In May of 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education occurred. This case ruled racial
segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. The African American non-violent
movement began taking the form of boycotts, sit-ins, and peaceful protests. The African
American authors during this decade were writing about love, discrimination, the prison
system, protest, black sexuality, and black life in Harlem. In addition, the decade of the
1950s in the United States is known for the
dramatic rise of repressive U.S.
government politics, especially the virulent
anti-communism of the McCarthy era.
Amidst and against this backdrop emerged
the civil rights struggle, initially
spearheaded in the southern United States
where Black repression was greatest.
Witnessing the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the lynching of Emmett Till and
the resistance of Rosa Parks, the Black community was enlivened, enraged and
galvanized into collective action. The boycott that followed Rosa Parks ' courageous

3. Aluta Continua 3
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
stand in the south began as a protest against police brutality sprung in the north. Soon
events transformed into an all-out denunciation of segregation and other forms of
oppression.
The Two Tendencies of Black Struggle
The Montgomery bus boycott inspired Black
students in Greensboro, North Carolina to
organize sit-ins in segregated spaces. After
centuries of enslavement and decades of
Jim Crow inequality, the Black community
seized upon the first opportunity to fight the
system, throw off the yoke of legal
segregation and finally achieve formal
democratic rights. Consequently, great
numbers of Black people entered into the civil rights movement.
Alongside the civil rights movement, the 1950s also witnessed the rise of the Nation of
Islam, which advocated a separatist agenda. The NOI kept its distance from the non-
violent, direct action of integrationist groups. Malcolm X came to embody this second
current of the Black liberation movement, which emphasized our common heritage,
identity and destiny as a people. The Nation of Islam encouraged the Black community
to take control of its own institutions, to support Black businesses and to disengage
from the cultural and socio-political happenings of the white man. Over time, Malcolm
X’s frustration with this overall policy of disengagement of the NOI and his silencing
over the "chicken coming home to roost" comment; Minister Malcolm made his official
break with the Nation of Islam in 1964. Critical of the non-violent principles of
mainstream civil rights groups, Malcolm organized the secular Organization of Afro-
American Unity to take the political, social and economic demands of the growing Black
and liberation movement into an international arena.

4. Aluta Continua 4
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
For those forces increasingly frustrated with mainstream civil
rights leadership and the overall project of integration into a
white supremacist / racist society, Malcolm philosophy offered an
uncompromising, internationalist vision and a no-nonsense
paradigm that linked the struggle of Black people in Amerikkka
with anti-colonial struggles in Afrika. As such, Malcolm—along
with revolutionary leaders like the Honorable Robert F. Williams
—served as a bridge to a new stage in the movement from civil
rights to Black liberation. As the civil rights struggle moved into a
movement for Black national liberation and self-determination, many activists began
looking for political strategies that went beyond the humanist-integrationist inbetweenity
of mainstream civil rights groups. Influenced by the liberation movements sweeping the
oppressed countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, more and more Black militants
began to study socialist ideas. (see Lets Grow Up and Move On By Junious Ricardo
Stanton in ChickenBones Journal).
The two tendencies of civil rights verses
human rights, therefore, cannot be fully
understood in the tactical framework of self-
defense versus non-violence—what is often
referred to as the “Malcolm-versus-Martin”
debate. The revolutionary wing of the Black
liberation movement set its sights beyond
the democratic / integrationist goals of freedom, justice and equality that the mainstream
civil rights groups aimed for. More higher, it aimed for social equality, based first and
foremost on the Black community’s control of its own social, political, economic and
educational organizations and institutions. Dozens of national groups and hundreds of
local organizations took part in what became a full-scale Black liberation movement
within the United States. The Black Panther Party was perhaps the most developed and
highest expression of this movement, but there were a variety of groups with varying

5. Aluta Continua 5
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
political programs that comprised the revolutionary wing of the Black liberation
movement.
The Revolutionary Action Movement
In 1963, young activists led by Max Stanford ( Muhammad Ahmad)—a close associate
of Malcolm X and Queen Mother Audley Moore —created the Revolutionary Action
Movement . A semi-clandestine organization and paramilitary wing of the OAAU, the
RAM articulated a revolutionary program for African Americans that fused Black
nationalism with Marxism-Leninism. Its goal was to develop revolutionary cadre in the
northern cities and connect with more militant students in the south involved with the
Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee and the Congress of Racial Equality.
RAM supported the movement by SNCC and others for armed self-defense for southern
Blacks terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan—the extra-legal army enforcing the racist Jim
Crow segregation system. RAM also provided security for Malcolm X after his break
from the Nation of Islam and members of RAM actively participated in the Organization
of Afro-American Unity.
RAM had an extremely active branch in Detroit, which had become a center of
revolutionary activism. During the 1967 Detroit Rebellion, RAM formed the Black
Guards, a youth group that hoped to channel the spontaneous rebellion into coordinated

6. Aluta Continua 6
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
revolutionary action. Despite their limited success in this regard, RAM was one of the
first groups that not only recognized the legitimacy of urban rebellions, but also aimed to
formulate a concrete plan of action around those rebellions.
Consequently, RAM became one of the first casualties of the FBI’s Counter-Intelligence
Program (COINTELPRO). Max Stanford and other RAM leaders were charged with
plotting to assassinate mainstream political leaders Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young. At
this point, Stanford dissolved the formal structure of the organization. As individuals,
many RAM members gained influence in groups like the League of Revolutionary Black
Workers.
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
SNCC had pioneered the “sit-in” movement
that desegregated lunch counters all over
the country. Just a few years earlier, it was
considered a cornerstone of the
mainstream civil rights movement. SNCC
led the student section of the civil rights
struggle, helping to register African
Americans in the most racist and
dangerous areas of the south, including the
Mississippi delta and Lowndes County, Alabama.
SNCC was influential in creating the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party, perhaps the most
famous working-class organizing effort to have ever
taken place in the south. Mirrored in other places
throughout the South, the MFDP was a state-wide
political party that challenged Dixiecrat control of
the Democratic Party and the white supremacy

7. Aluta Continua 7
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
embedded in the electoral system as a whole. Concerned about preserving the “Solid
South,” liberals in the Democratic Party permitted an all-white slate from Mississippi and
denied the MFDP its place at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
The white power structure’s rejection of the MFDP led to a radicalization of many within
the civil rights movement. Activists in SNCC and elsewhere began to see the problems
of African Americans in the United States as greater than just the denial of democratic
rights. They developed an analysis heavily influenced by the African liberation
movements and sent delegations to meet with revolutionary leaders all over the world.
SNCC turned dramatically away from the pacifist mainstream civil rights movement,
cutting ties with many white liberal organizations. Influenced by Malcolm X and the
Watts rebellion of 1965, SNCC leaders like Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Toure),
H. Rap Brown , Jim Forman and others began to articulate views based on Marxism
and revolutionary Black nationalism.( please see Lets Grow Up and Move On By Junious
Ricardo Stanton in ChickenBones Journal).
SNCC became a breeding ground for young revolutionaries. One of the first civil rights
and student organizations to denounce the Vietnam War , SNCC elaborated an anti-
imperialist analysis that distinguished itself from the issue-oriented
and often near-sighted outlook of other organizations of that era.
Despite the problems of sexism that plagued all movements of the
period, some of the most dynamic women of color leaders, including
Kathleen Cleaver of the Black Panthers, came to prominence as
SNCC leaders. Kathleen Cleaver became the BPP's National
Communications Secretary and helped to organize the campaign to
get Huey Newton released from prison.

8. Aluta Continua 8
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
In 1966, SNCC activist Willie Mukasa Ricks
proclaimed the slogan of Black liberation
movements to come: “Black Power.” SNCC leaders
like Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown became
widely known premier revolutionary leaders, with
Carmichael’s book, “Black Power,” emerging as one
of the first manifestos of the rapidly expanding
revolutionary movement.
The League of Revolutionary Black Workers
By 1968, growing numbers of young Black workers
and students, including Vietnam war veterans,
came to the conclusion that only revolution and
self-determination could do away with the systemic
oppression and destitution of the Black community.
Two strong, disciplined organizations emerged, the
League of Revolutionary Black Workers and the
Black Panther Party, embodying this spirit. The
League of Revolutionary Black Workers had its
roots in the struggle of Detroit’s Black autoworkers,
who in 1968 launched a series of wildcat strikes to
protest the unfair treatment and racism of the Chrysler Corporation and the United Auto
Workers union. These actions led to the formation of an organization known as DRUM
(originally, Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement, later the Detroit Revolutionary Union
Movement).
Martin-Luther King Jr. Stokely Carmichael,
Willie Mukasa Ricks

9. Aluta Continua 9
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
The efforts of DRUM radicalized workers and led to the formation of an explicitly Marxist
organization, with the goal of galvanizing the Black working class with a revolutionary
consciousness and ultimately leading a socialist-type revolution.
The LRBW put out a regular paper, created a publishing house and was also able to tap
into a large portion of the Black community, as well as the student movement in
colleges and high schools in and around Detroit. The League was one of the only Black
groups to argue explicitly for the organization of the working class and to mobilize
thousands of Black union members into militant action. The actions of the LRBW led to
an improvement in working conditions, and a greater leadership role for Blacks in the
United Auto Workers union.
The Black Panther Party

10. Aluta Continua 10
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
Perhaps the best-known Black liberation
group in the United States is the Black
Panther Party for Self Defense. Organized
in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby
Seale, the Black Panthers began as an
organization dedicated to the protection of
Oakland’s Black community from racist
police violence. In 1967, however, when
Black Panther Party members staged a
dramatic demonstration by walking into the California State House with shotguns—it
was legal in California to carry such weapons—to bring attention to their Ten-Point
Program, they were catapulted into the national spotlight. In the next two years, the
Black Panthers developed into a major national organization with thousands of
members.
By 1970, they had 35 chapters. The Black Panthers were best known for their “Survival
Programs,” which provided much needed aid to the Black community. At its peak, their
breakfast program fed 200,000 school children a day. They initiated and operated free
health screening clinics, food drives, sickle cell disease awareness programs and, in
Oklahoma City, a free ambulance service.
But, the Black Panther Party was not simply a Black community service organization.
They considered the Survival Programs a step towards self-determination and a way to
raise the political consciousness of Black people. They spoke about the necessity for
revolutionary change inside the United States. The Party’s political education stressed
the principals of Marxism and the Party elaborated anti-imperialist politics, which
included cultivating relationships with revolutionaries from Africa to China.
The destruction of the Black Panther Party is in many ways a case study for state
repression. Threatened by the revolutionary potential of socio-politically conscious Black

11. Aluta Continua 11
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
people, the U.S. government carried out a series of subversive activities, including the
outright assassination of Panther leaders like Fred Hampton and many others. Although
the organization was destroyed, it has left a powerful legacy that still influences us
today.
Aluta Continua
The RAM the SNCC, the DRUM and the BPP are only four of
a host of socio-political organizations which in the late 1960s
and 1970s composed of an entire movement oriented towards
Black National Liberation and Self Determination. It is
important for the Hip Hop generation and their children to draw
lessons from and reaffirm these movements' place in the
history of the Black civil and human rights struggle and to
continue our struggle for National Liberation and Self
Determination as Nu Afrikan People.
In the wake and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, revealing for the whole world to see the
systematic racism / white supremacy that the Black nation in the United States still
suffer, it is clear that "the more things have changed, the more things have stayed the
same". The objective basis for the Black liberation movement remains as pressing today
as ever. Political oppression, social degradation and economic exploitation of people
Afrikan descent is as alive and well today as it was fifty years ago.
The historical passion for freedom and the socio-political vision of the revolutionary
organizations that grew up in the Black communities of the 60s continues to inspire
thousands of Black civil rights activists and revolutionaries to date looking for a way
move forward in the struggle against white supremacy/ racism.
See e-Book The RBG Quest for Black Power Reader Aluta Continua, A Frolinan
Primer, By RBG Street Scholar

12. Aluta Continua 12
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to "Black Liberation?” | The Struggle Continues
This multi-media essay has been intended to charge the Hip Hop generation to take the
torch of our ongoing struggle for National Liberation ans Self Determination as "New
Afrikan Peoples"; based on drawing lessons from those that have preceded us.
Originally RBG Street Scholar 2007/08
Updated 06-14
Access the Full EduBlog
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights to “Black Liberation?”| The Struggle Continues