Black anarchism
It is characterized by its intersectional analysis of different forms of oppression, its skepticism of both authoritarian socialism and Eurocentric anarchism, and its advocacy of community organizing, armed self-defense and revolutionary black nationalism.
After World War II, links formed between anarcho-pacifists and Black activists of the civil rights movement, leading to the development of an anti-authoritarian tendency within the latter, with some groups such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) adopting a decentralized structure.
Anarchism also partly inspired the programs of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and fit into its intersectional analysis of the relationship between white supremacy, economic exploitation and political repression by the state.
When Black activists first joined the American anarchist movement, largely dominated by White men, they added perspectives of anti-racism to the existing focus on class struggle.
[2] She attempted to draw attention to the oppression of people of color, including widespread lynchings in the Southern United States, which had previously been neglected by White anarchists.
[4] Parsons' views on the dual racial and class oppression of African Americans led her to encourage them to join the socialist movement, as she considered that the dissolution of the state and the end of capitalism were necessary to create an anti-racist society.
[5] In the wake of World War II, Black activists of the nascent civil rights movement began to form links with White American anarchists.
This led to a notable influence of anarcho-pacifism on the movement, with Martin Luther King contributing to David Dellinger's magazine Liberation and Bayard Rustin finding employment with the War Resisters League (WRL).
[6] During the late 1960s, violent clashes between Panthers and the police became more common, as the former became increasingly frustrated with a lack of progress on racial equality and the latter intensified political repression against Black activists, who became targets of COINTELPRO.
[15] By the 1970s, declining membership numbers in the BPP and the "oligarchization" of the party leadership led to the political polarization of its remaining members and the radicalization of some towards armed struggle against the state.
[18] Kuwasi Balagoon became increasingly disillusioned with the party's leadership structure, as the central committee divorced itself from and dictated commands to other chapters around the country, without any internal democracy.
[17] Many Panthers on the East Coast, including the anti-authoritarians Ashanti Alston and Kuwasi Balagoon, joined Cleaver's BLA, which they intended to serve as the military wing of the Black power movement.
[6] Another organization that advocated for Black armed self-defence, the Philadelphia-based MOVE, even took up anarchist politics, favouring autonomous and cooperative forms of living and upholding animal rights and environmentalism.
[22] Experiences with incarceration played a large role in radicalizing Panther activists towards anarchism, as time in prison gave them space to re-assess the movement's weaknesses.
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist Federation resisted Ervin's efforts to establish autonomous working groups for people of color, with some leading members accusing him of "separatism".
Although they reject the authoritarianism of the BPP, they continue to uphold its platform of community organizing and mutual aid, which they believe can increase the influence of anarchism among marginalized people.
Ashanti Alston considers black nationalism to have been an effective way to unite African Americans and drive forward social change, despite its historical problems with sexism and hierarchy.
Despite a constitution laden with European Enlightenment values and a document of independence declaring certain inalienable rights, Black existence was legally that of private property until postbellum emancipation.
