I wish I had a collection of links and whatnot to really direct people to the details of the issues, but ultimately I too feel pretty out of the loop and I am wondering how many on here have kept track of the history of these nascent left movements/orgs.
RIBPP just recently split off from NABPP over disagreements about broad strategy and personal disagreements with NABPP. This was done in part under the direction of Kevin Johnson, former NABPP member who disagreed with the chairman and another influential member, Tom Watts. Their 'policy-based' splits alleged by the RIBPP people was that the NABPP shuttered the United Panther Movement because it was existing beyond NABPP control.
However, at the same time, I see posts on the BHO website which alleges that Kevin Johnson doesn't even exist and is merely a pseudonym for Tom Watts. And BHO alleges that Tom Watts might have been a white supremacist controlling the NABPP with a puppet chairman? Though to be fair, I know little to nothing about Black Hammer beyond the fact it is a website saying it is an organization.
I will say as an indigenous person, that Tom alleges indigenous ancestry in a way that hits nearly all the red flags of someone pretending to be native, so I am distrustful of this alleged White Panther who is in the NABPP.
I can provide a bit more detail to anyone curious but largely I am just wondering... what the fuck is going on, which orgs are ops, is anyone on the internet even real and trying to build popular fronts against capitalism or to paraphrase Zhuangzi am I just a butterfly living in my own convoluted dreams of decolonial socialist actions in the imperial core?
:curious-marx:
If anyone can provide some details about these dynamics I would be greatly appreciative.
I don't have a lot insider knowledge, but from the outside this reeks of a huge mess that the repressive arm of the state surely has at least some role in starting or fanning the flames of. The ultimate aim is to confuse and scatter people. They want members of oppressed nationalities (i.e., black, First Nations, latinos, etc.) to feel confused and disillusioned and keep the movement fractured and prevent the re-emergence of multi-national, multi-racial solidarity. I wish I had more knowledge to be able to tell you which one of these is the real deal. I've heard from people who were in BHO that it can be pretty ultra-left and even reactionary at times, not sure about the Panther orgs.
Thank you once again! I was always sceptical of BHO but was mostly wondering...wtf are they even. I was getting weird vibes from the tone of their writing, it made me think of those Austin-based people that are 'maoists' who only ever (literally) punch left. Are they something big or regional?
Overall for the NABPP/RIBPP divide irrespective of BHO, it seems like the big splits were that the NABPP wanted too much control over membership, and were abusive to certain subsets of people. Next step is to verify all those legitimate claims and move forward.
Yeah, personally I think BHO is a total wrecker organisation that, sadly, has roped in a lot of well-meaning people who like it's flashy antics. I don't know about the Panther Party split in detail but I have listened to a lot of KRJ speak and read his writings and I'm inclined to believe his side of the story. Still, it's pretty sad that so many black-lead far-left orgs get hit especially hard by wreckers and people that muddy the waters.