*Original Post contributed to the JLS Blog*
BLACK AUGUST RESISTANCE AND THE A.I.M.:
For over four centuries New Afrikans in Amerikkka have struggled for Freedom, Justice, Equality and Human Rights. They have NOT found it. In spite of a culture of capitalist exploitation, institutional racism and unapologetic white supremacy- still Our People hope for change, never fully coming to grips with the reality that the only rights we have are those we can enforce.
Across the long breadth and deapth of this historical miscarriage, intellectuals, activists and would-be progressives,
( and even some self-described Revolutionaries) have sought to realize these aims primarily through either the doctrine of reform and inclusion (an approach that history has proven is unequal to the task), or through decrying the evils of the “white man” and raging against external mechanisms designed to maintain Our oppression.
But very rarely do we instead focus on HOW WE HAVE (or in many cases HAVE NOT) RESPONDED TO THAT OPPRESSION. The Community Development and empowerment initiatives we institute during Black August Memorial are central to Our culture of resistance. Black August Resistance is 365 days a year and the relative success of these initiatives will determine Our relative ability to resist capitalist excesses and encirclement campaigns. The Autonomous Infrastructure Mission (AIM) is specifically designed for this purpose- to make Our People and Our Communities AUTONOMOUS.
In perhaps some of the most pattently irrational reasoning in human history, many New Afrikans have looked upon solutions to Our collective oppression, which are primarily orientated on Our self-determination and self-developnent, solutions which seek to resolve the INTERNAL contradictions at the root of Our National oppression, as somehow “radical”, “extremist” and most disturbingly, “unrealistic” (as if Our People are incapable of genuine Freedom). Our People- New Afrikans in Amerikkka -have undergone a contrapositive authoritarian conditioning process over the course of centuries, surviving some of the most brutal and unspeakable attrocities in human history, so of course some warping of the character structure, some collective irrationality and psychosis is to be expected. However, at this juncture in history, with an over 400 year long historical record to reflect upon, how is it we are still seeking to “reform” a system of institutional racism and naked exploitation which is functioning EXACTLY AS IT WAS INTENDED TO; when EVERY so called “reform” has simply been a refinement on the same institutions and mechanisms of oppression we’ve endured since 1619? At what point do we begin to look at Ourselves- Our own actions and inactions, both irrational and self-defeating , as the true basis of Our oppression, and then move against them?
We have responded to organized policies of divide and control with disunity and self-hatred; Our response to the deliberate application of poverty is to rob, steal, pimp, and sale poison to one another; Our response to racist murder, police brutality and criminalization is to kill one another gang banging or to picket and plead this system to stop functioning as it was designed to. Instead of organizing Ourselves to be strong we continually choose weakness, constantly looking outside Ourselves for salvation from Our woes. Instead of structuring Ourselves to enforce Our rights, we beg the state -a state that has demonstrated in every way humanly possible over the course of CENTURIES that we are not included in its’ safeguards- to somehow honor Our rights.
When we look at the condition of Our Communities and Our inadequate and irrational response to fixing it, no one can convince me that we are not functioning under some degree of colonial psychosis, a general inability to act rationally in order to confront and allieviate Our suffering.
We must all recognize that genuine progressive social change is an exact science, based on a concrete analysis of Our concrete conditions. Such an analysis, both scientific and objective, bears some inescapable conclusions:
1) The development of Unity, Functional Unity, is a prerequisite for any solution with any hope of success.
2) Just as no one can be your master unless you consent to being a slave; no one can be Our oppressors if we act Collectively to oppose Our oppression.
3) No one outside of Our Communities is going to rescue Our Communities.
4) The only “rights” we have in THIS society are those we can enforce.
5) The ONLY way we are going to change Our Communities conditions for the better, is by organizing, maintaining and defending Our own Community based infrastructure.
We have developed a blueprint to feed, clothe, house, educate, employ and Defend ourselves: THE AUTONOMOUS INFRASTRUCTURE MISSION, or A.I.M.
The A.I.M. is composed of several contiguous Community development Initiatives designed to work in interconnection to form a single Autonomous Community-based Infrastructure capable of meeting the basic needs of Our People and linking to other A.I.M. organized Communities to magnify Our capacity to ensure Our general welfare and the health of Our People.
The SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNE (SAC) is designed to establish Our own food production, distribution and surplus systems in Our Communities based primarily on Our collective work and social cooperation.
The COMMUNITY SAFE-ZONES INITIATIVE (CSZI) is designed to ensure there are spaces in Our Communities where Our People, Our Children, Women and Elders, may go about social life free from the fear of violent death, abuse, abduction or injury- safeguarded by both the mutual agreement and organized defense of specific spaces in Our Communities.
The CLOSED-CIRCUIT ECONOMIC INITIATIVE (CCEI) ensures we can pool our resources to buy our own collectively owned businesses where we employ ONLY those from our Communities who don’t have a job, both circulating Our wealth in Our own Communities while eradicating unemployment as we expand the economic circuit.
The NEW AFRIKAN MATH & SCIENCE CENTERS INITIATIVE ensures we have Community based institutions where Our People are assured a functional understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in order to meet the needs of Our Communities scientific and technological challenges.
The EMERGENCY RESPONSE NETWORK (ERN)ensures Our Communities are prepared, both individually and collectively, to respond during times of natural disaster or civil unrest to ensure the health and safety of Our People.
The YOUTH COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM (Y-CAP) will empower our Youth to both value and serve their Communities through a 2-phase program which includes knowledge of self and martial arts curriculum, combined with an economic empowerment program designed to both demonstrate the power of Cooperative Economics and Collective Work, as well as putting money in their Communities.
The SECURE COMMUNITIES MANDATE (SCM) ensures Our Communities, both individually and collectively, have the means, skill, specialized knowledge and equipment to ensure Our collective self-defense against ANY threat to Our People’s lives or safety.
We can no longer engage in the same hum-drum existence of sidewalk escapism, petty hustling and reactionary protesting, believing it will produce anything other than the same cycles of self defeating reform and repression. These are irrational responses to the social conditions we face, and have proven unequal to the unique challenges of the U.S. race/class arrangement.
The A.I.M. gives us the capacity to meet Our People’s needs and defend Our rights in such a way that Our health and welfare is in Our hands.
It is my sincerest hope that you will join us in this effort, and if you have, you will reaffirm that commitment. If you are not an A.I.M. Local Coordinator, become one by contacting National Coordinator, Adam Brashere (@ [email protected]) or one of the other National Coordinating Committee Members.
We are Our own Liberators. In the spirit of Black August Resistance, let’s be about the business of building the Autonomous Community-based Infrastructure necessary to achieve genuine Freedom, Justice and Equality, and defend this new basis for social life. Until we win or don’t lose.
-Joka Heshima Jinsai