State of the Black/New Afrikan Nation: Why we need a Malcolm X grassroots movement

African American News Service, 22 October 1995

The majority of descendants of enslaved Afrikans are faced with a declining standard of living. In fact, a full third of US live below the poverty level. By every indication, the social and physical health of the Afrikan descended population is not simply worse than the national average, it is more closely compared to that of a Third World nation. In the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, We are of the opinion that the descendants of enslaved Afrikans are a New Afrikan Nation, distinct and separate from the nation which held our ancestors in chains.

Indeed, a closer examination of our situation only confirms this: the infant mortality rate in this New Afrikan nation is twice that of the white north ameriKKKan nation; while New Afrikan life expectancy is falling, white life expectancy is on the rise. New Afrikan unemployment is at least twice that of the whites, and when New Afrikans work, they make little more than half of what their white counterparts make. These types of disparities exist between nations and not between citizens of one nation.

It is because New Afrikans are not citizens of the north ameriKKKan empire, that they are constantly referred to as the black poor, the underclass, the disadvantaged minority, etc. A brief examination of crime and imprisonment in the Amerikkkan empire exposes this reality. Though studies have shown that there are no significant race difference in violent or serious offenses between white and New Afrikan youth, New Afrikans are imprisoned at nine times the rate of whites. Though New Afrikan men are 6% of the u.s. population, they are more than 50% of the u.s. prison population. The imprisonment rate for New Afrikan youth is 810 per 100,000, while the rate for white youth is 185 per 100,000! Further, the incarceration rate for New Afrikan people in the u.s. is four times the rate of Azanians (Blacks) in the Republic of South Africa!

It is in this context that conscious New Afrikans decided to call for re-building the Movement. The Movement which fought for civil rights and voting rights against ameriKKKan apartheid and lynching; the Movement which gave us Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King; the Movement which gave us Fannie Lou Hamer, Gloria Richardson, and Ella Baker; the Movement which spawned SNCC, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika; and the Movement which faded under the weight of u.s government counterintelligence programs, assassinations and bribery. This Movement must be rebuilt with a higher purpose: Self Determination for all the descendants of enslaved Afrikans, including land and independence for New Afrikan Nation.

We need a Movement because it is the answer to so many of our problems, i.e., so-called Black on Black crime, the drug epidemic, the fight against mis-educati on, etc., etc. A people in MOTION can correct all these problems, especially when they are focused on the ultimate goal of Freedom, not for a few, but for all. We must base the unity of our people on principles which speak to our reality as an oppressed Nation: 1) WE are an Afrikan people whose rights to self-government and control of our own destiny have been stripped away; 2) Our Nation has survived despite a genocidal onslaught which continues to this day; 3) Due to genocide, slavery, jim crow, and the Stolen Legacy, the Euro- ameriKKKan settler state owes the New Afrikan Nation reparations under International Law and the law amongst civilized human beings; 4) We are one of many oppressed Nations in the u.s. empire and the empire must be broken up by returning the stolen lands to the original inhabitants and those whose labor has built this monster which is currently terrorizing the whole world; 5) We must struggle against sexist oppression as We recognize that our Nation consists of men and women. Our entire Nation must be free; and, 6) We must rebuild our Movement with a healthy understanding of the history of that Movement; including an appreciation of those who came before and those who currently languish in u.s. prisons because they dared to fight for our freedom . The principle of Freedom for all Political Prisoners (PP) and Prisoners of War (POW) must be embraced by this Movement. These men and women are not the first and will not be the last of our Freedom Fighters. We must remember that fighting for Freedom is not a crime!

Why do We assert that We need a Malcolm X Grassroots Movement? There are a lot of complaints about the lack of unity. However there has been little articulation of principles around which We can unite. We build unity on principle. We believe that fighting for Human Rights, Reparations, Self-Determination, An End to Genocide, An End to Sexist Oppression and the Freedom of all Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War can help to build the concrete unity that is essential for National Liberation. How else are We going to improve the living conditions of our people? By building more prisons? How will We improve education? By teaching that Harriet Tubman was an outlaw? Will We improve our living conditions by simply electing different people? Well, it hasn’t happened yet... We need a Movement because We need to change the direction which white supremacist society is taking our Nation in. We need to build the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement because We a re tired of answers that don’t answer and solutions that don’t solve.

HELP BUILD THE MALCOLM X GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT!

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