Why we should read Robert L. Allen’s “Black Awakening in Capitalist America” to understand the context of the #StopCopCity movement coming on the heels of the 2020 #GeorgeFloyd uprisings…
A THREAD of excerpts that speak to the current situation re: policing in the U.S. 🧵🪡
The “City” is the past/present/future battlegrounds (materially, strategically, ideologically) for Black Liberation— and therefore all our collective liberation.
“To [white liberals] the cities present not a battleground but a crisis to be managed.”
“On the one hand there was the orthodox liberal who prescribed more New Deal welfarism as an antidote to riots. More antidiscrimination legislation and expanded antipoverty programs would suffice nicely, he contended.”
Sound familiar? Reforming “the City” to maintain power.
Who are the public officials, businessmen, educators & civil rights leaders following this same formula today in Atlanta and/or your home city? You see them?
Working to *stabilize* the crisis within the system rather than overthrow the source of the crises (racial capitalism).
You could take this excerpt and replace “Vietnam War” with “War in Ukraine”… this is Joe Biden and the Democrats to a “T”.
Many thought the 2020 uprisings might lead to counterinsurgency via “concessions” (superficial reforms) but instead we got austerity & brutal crackdowns.
The DANGER of liberal cooptation of radical and revolutionary movements:
Trading “concessions”— banning discrimination in housing for an “anti riot provision which makes it a felony for anyone to cross state lines with the ‘intent’ of inciting or organizing a riot.”
Familiar?
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Excerpts from Robert L. Allen’s book, “Black Awakening in Capitalist America” in relation to the current #StopCopCity movement:
GENOCIDE and the infrastructure for mass imprisonment as a countermeasure against Black rebellion.
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The fear of open violence against Black communities dates back generations— since the end of enslavement, the white supremacist State struggled to contend with what they saw as “surplus populations” who needed to be contained, commodified and/or eliminated altogether.
Listen to the echoes of Hitler’s 1932 speech and how much it sounds like contemporary right-wing fascist officials like Kemp, Landry, DeSantis… even Biden.
In the context of geopolitical challenges to U.S. hegemonic imperialism, the “domestic front” must be controlled.
If y’all are curious about why the @CityofAtlanta & APF are so intent on building Cop City in the specific South River Forest location well I’ve got news for you…
And it cuts to the heart of what Cop City is truly designed for (hint: it’s exactly what organizers have said)
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This is a map of the South River Forest (Weelaunee) where Cop City is being planned. Look whats just down the street: Georgia State Patrol HQ in Atlanta. But that’s not all…
If you zoom in you see that this is a massive GA state “public safety” complex. Within the one little loop sits: GSP, GA Dept of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, GA Dept of Public Safety, GA Transportation Department & a GA National Guard “Central Issue Facility” 👀
#1 Jill Savitt, the National Center for Civil & Human Rights (@Ctr4CHR)
Jill Savitt seems to be a good person who genuinely cares abt working towards justice, but is caught up in a web of media, liberalism & big money that is actively attempting to neutralize her better angels.
But regardless of her intent, as the face of a national center for Civil & Human Rights— someone with deep knowledge of conditions leading up to genocide, authoritarian regimes & other human rights atrocities— Savitt’s silence around the #StopCopCity movement has been noticeable.
We can learn a lot by comparing the tactics being deployed now against Cop City to those the ruling class & the city of Atlanta used to neutralize the Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition. Namely:
Fracturing coalitions & potential coalitions with piecemeal concessions.
More liberal, middle-class, power-aligned groups will be the first to fold if offered individual concessions (as long as THEIR agenda is taken care of) which almost always align with interest convergence with the ruling elites. These groups tend to trust those in power more.
They also tend to be hesitant if not allergic to any tactics that confront or challenge power. This they are the easiest to “peel off” from coalitions when given an “out” that allows them to maintain semblance of “order” and normality— even while selling out more marginalized ppl