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Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin was a SNCC and BPP member who hijacked a plane to Cuba to evade prosecution for allegedly trying to kill a KKK leader before being extradited from Europe.
Here is a thread of highlights from his pamphlet, “Authoritarian Leftists: Kill the Cop in Your Head.”
Here is a thread of highlights from his pamphlet, “Authoritarian Leftists: Kill the Cop in Your Head.”
“Where there is repression, there is resistance... period. Self-defense is a basic human right that we as Black people have exercised time and time again, both violent and non-violent; a dialectical and historical reality that has kept many of us alive up to this point.”
“Have any of you actually sat down and seriously thought about why there are so few of us in your organizations; and at the same time why non-white socialist/communist formations, particularly in the Black community, are so small and isolated? I have a few ideas...”
“By most accounts, groups such as the [BPP], the [SNCC], the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, [AIM], and the Puerto Rican Independence Movement ‘set the standard’ for not only communities of color but also for revolutionary elements in the white community.”
“What they failed to recognize (and what many of you generally still fail to recognize) is that ‘vanguard leadership’ is developed, it doesn’t just ‘magically’ happen through preachy, dogmatic assertions, nor does it fall from the sky.”
“Such arrogance on the part of the white Left is part and parcel to your vanguardist ideas and practice. Rather than seeking principled partnerships with non-white ... groups, you ... seek converts to your party’s ... brand of rigid political theology under the guise of ‘unity’.”
“Another argument against vanguardist tendencies in individuals or ... groups is the creation of sectarianism and organizational cultism between [and within] groups. ... Marx himself fought tirelessly against sectarianism within the working class movement of 19th century Europe.”
“... the various self-proclaimed ‘vanguards’ compete against each other as well against the people ... accusing each other of provocateurism, opportunism, and/or possessing ‘the incorrect line’ [when most] (if not all) are provocateurs, opportunists, and fundamentally incorrect.”
“... the white Left has in fact adapted these methods ... to their own brand of organizing ... re-inventing and re-enforcing the very social, political, and economic relations you claim to be against; succeeding in undermining the very basic foundations of your overall theory...”
“In volume four of the collected works of V.I. Lenin, Lenin himself states up front that ‘socialism is state-capitalism’. Are you all just blindly following a dated, foreign ‘blueprint’ that is vastly out of context to begin with; with no real understanding of its workings?”
“Because the white Left refuses to combat and reject reactionary tendencies in their (your) own heads ... you in fact re-invent racist and authoritarian social relations as the final product of your so-called ‘revolutionary theory’; what I call Left-wing white supremacy.”
“Wasn’t the Black Panther Party ‘socialist’? What about the Underground Railroad; our ancestors (and yes, even some of yours) were practicing ‘mutual aid’ back when most European revolutionary theorists were still talking about it like it was a lofty, far away ideal!”
“How can one use the organizing methods of the European bourgeoisie, ‘[hierarchal] party building’ and ‘seizing state power’ and not expect this method of organizing people to not take on the reactionary characteristics of what it supposedly seeks to eliminate?”
“What about the capitalist characteristics of know-it-all ahistorical white ‘radicals’ who can just as effectively assert capitalistic, oppressive social relations when utilizing a top-down party structure (especially when it’s utilized against minority populations)?“
“What is the qualitative difference between a party bureaucrat who uses his position to steal from the people ... and a collective member who steals from the local community?”
“... we have seen the creation of a Black elite of Liberal and Conservative (negrosie) puppets for the white power structure to speak through to the people, the few who were allowed to succeed because they took up the ideology of the oppressor.”
“Your inability or unwillingness to accept the fact that our struggle is parallel to yours ... and will be [finished when] we ... as working-class Blacks on the North American continent, [decide we] have achieved full freedom ... [is the reason] why the white Left is so weak...”
“Since when were we expected to follow the ‘leadership’ of white amerikkka; the right, left, or center without some type of brutal coercion? Where is the advantage for us in ‘following’ any of them anywhere? What have any of them done for us lately?“
“... who in their right mind actually believes that a small, ‘secret’ cult of white campus radicals can (or should) ‘lead’ the masses of non-white people to their/our freedom? Whatever those people are smoking, I don’t want any!”
“When we organize amongst our own, we consider it a ‘family matter’. When we have conflicts, that is also a ‘family matter’... How would you like it if we butted in on a heated family argument you were having with a loved one and started telling you what to think and what to do?”
“We recognize ... we will have to attack bourgeois elements amongst our people just as vigorously as we fight against white supremacists (‘left’, ‘center’, or ‘right’). The difference is ... our bourgeoisie (what I [call] the ‘negrosie’) is only powerful within the community...”
“Black autonomists ultimately reject vanguardism because as the white Left [as well as elements of the Black revolutionary movement] has demonstrated, it erodes and eventually destroys the fragile ties that hold together ... necessary principled partnerships between groups...”
“I’ve always found this particularly disturbing; you all want our help, but do not want to help us. You want to march shoulder to shoulder with us against the government and its supporters, but do not want us to have a solid political or material foundation of our own...”
“... if you’re paying these exorbitant amounts for projects and events that amount to little more than ideological masturbation and organizational cultism while we do practical work out of pocket or on a tiny budget amongst our own ... reassessment of priorities is in order...”
“... what I am offering is one suggestion to those of you who sincerely want to help; and a challenge to those who in fact seek to ‘play god’ with our lives while spouting empty, meaningless rhetoric about ‘freedom’, ‘justice’, ‘class struggle’, and ‘solidarity’.“
“Those of us who are fortunate enough to land a union job soon find out that the unions are soft on racism... This only makes sense as we learn later on that unions in the US are running dogs of capitalism and apologists for management, despite their ‘militant’ rhetoric.”
“Most unionized workers are white, reflective of the majority of unionized labor in the US; who constitute a mere 13% of the total labor force. This is why it is silly for the white Left to prattle on and on about ... how so many of our people are joining unions.”
“Come to terms with your white skin privilege (and the ideology and attitude(s) this privilege breeds) and then figure out how to combat that dynamic as part of your fight against the state and its supporters.”
“So far, all I have seen from you all is arrogance in coalitions, petty games of political one-upmanship, and ideological/tactical rigidity.”
“In [each] of your programs ... there is usually a line somewhere in there about your particular party holding the key levers of state power within a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’. Have any of you actually considered what that sounds like to a community without real power?“
“It’s clear to me why you all ramble on and on about the revolutions of China, Russia, Vietnam, Cuba, etc; they provide convenient cover for you all (read: escapism) to avoid a serious examination of the faults in your current analysis...”
“For most white Leftists, this means that we as Black people are demanding our own separate nation-state. Some of our revolutionary factions do advocate such a position. Black Autonomists, however, reject nation-statism ... We will not be cowed or dominated by anyone ever again!”
“If the end result of a working-class revolution in the United States is the continued domination of non-white people by white ‘revolutionary leaders’ and a Left-wing [white supremacist] government, then we will make another revolution...”
“We will not put up with another 400+ years of oppression...
Reject the traditions of your ancestors and learn from their mistakes; or reject your potential allies in communities of color. The choice is yours...”
Reject the traditions of your ancestors and learn from their mistakes; or reject your potential allies in communities of color. The choice is yours...”
Just so you all are aware:
• This was published in 1996 (over two decades ago).
• 110% relevant to what our organization is going through right now in its early development.
• Comrade Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin is still with us today, and educating when/where he can.
• This was published in 1996 (over two decades ago).
• 110% relevant to what our organization is going through right now in its early development.
• Comrade Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin is still with us today, and educating when/where he can.
