Hey, y'all. Othello is currently taking a break so I thought I'd jumpstart the new thread since nobody else was getting to it.
How are we all doing this week? Sound down below! That means: vent, chat, gush, etc. Whatever you want to say or talk about.
As always: no crackers allowed!
Bonus discussion question:
Who are your favorite BIPOC or ethnic minority activists, organizers, labor union reps., leaders, etc. out there?
Emphasis on activists and organizers.
Can be such figures as Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, MLK, Jr., etc.
I want y'all to think about this one (but, like, it's not a prerequisite for joining this thread or making comments within it).
Take care and have fun!
First of my favorites include:
MLK, Jr.
I feel that his movement was the more successful (but I do not mean to compare).
I used to love the Black Panthers more, but I feel that MLK, Jr. is misunderstood a lot more, and lately have been reading more about him.
I think that he can show how to broaden a working-class movement and he managed to get anti-communist labor on his side (even as he courted communist or former communist figures). He's a lot more leftist than a lot of people give him credit for, though was arguably a lot more low-key about it. Ultimately, he was killed for uniting various forces together and creating a brewing "unity of action" (an old Marxist-Leninist term that I wish more people would study). I don't believe what scandal journalists say about him and I'm reluctant to give them any credence, though I heard a lot about it growing up. Jack O'dell also deserves some praise; he was considered the fifth worst communist in the United States by JFK (or maybe that was Herbert Aptheker lol); a lot of things were said about him for being an advisor to the various campaigns by MLK, Jr.
Oh yeah, regarding the Black Panthers, my two favorites are:
Huey Newton
and
Freddie Gray
(that last one is just a basic opinion and kinda trite at this point, but I know that Huey Newton gets flack for his later years, which I don't agree with)
I think a movement combining the radicalism of the Black Panthers and the more broader and unified movement of MLK, Jr. and the various people that worked with him would be a good development and we need that more than ever, a movement that can win "concessions" while still sticking to its guns and creating dual power structures.
Some of these figures are "trite" and "basic opinions" but, eh, while I prefer a lot of obscure and underrated figures, I have to give these folks their due.
What does Huey get flack for?
Eh, his later years, some of his decisions, and the Kleaver split
Would u want to elaborate? I know some fuzzy details but it would be nice to know more if u happen to
When I first learned about Huey Newton, it was honestly from interviews and the POV of the Kleaver siblings.
They started a split in the BBP at one point and, eventually, the brother went to Africa while the sister went to some university afterward, but they kinda castigated Huey Newton in interviews (and of course, survived him by at least a decade so, of course, they could spin the narrative to their effect when all was said and done). Actually, so did Newton's friend Barry (? I forgot the first name) Seale after Huey Newton died.
It's honestly kinda sad. Newton is also seen as "capitulating" in his later years or having a "right-wing" turn compared to the initial years of the BPP.
Oh yeah, and "Revolutionary Intercommunalism," or whatever it's called, gets put up to a lot of scrutiny, even today (that's a concept that Huey Newton himself coined and came up with).
Bobby Seale?
Tbh Huey was more so advocating against alienating the masses by being overly militaristic and I think he was correct in that regard. Eldridge Cleaver was trying to lead a coup in exile and also advocating a adventurist deviation which I think time has proven incorrect.
Thank u I'll look that up
EXACTLY
I agree.