PSL and ANSWER are notorious for co-opting organically created mass struggles; they routinely insert themselves into events related to the fights of oppressed peoples, and make their brand excessively visible so that they can gain in fundraising and recruitment. This is an observation I’ve heard from former PSL members who’ve become disillusioned with the org’s lack of willingness to do anything more than what’s necessary for maintaining its own business model; as has become the default for mainstream leftist orgs in the USA, PSL and its leader Brian Becker seek to organize for its own sake. Which amounts to a practice of opportunism.
This model has worked well so far, but what about when this opportunism’s potential for causing harm towards the struggles of oppressed peoples becomes apparent in a more widespread way? When both the domestic and global parts of the fight against colonial subjugation have reached a critical point, and ANSWER again tries to carry out its usual routine of co-optation? What could happen now that we’ve reached this point is an irrecoverable drop in the org’s reputation.
When PSL’s leadership was asked to join Black freedom fighters in this November 4th DC march against the Uhuru indictments; then Becker responded by scheduling a Palestine demonstration at the same time and place as Uhuru’s march; these leaders didn’t just do wrong towards Uhuru. They also did wrong towards the Palestinian groups which are organizing with ANSWER. This was obvious from the start, as using the Palestinian cause in a way which harms the Pan-African cause hurts the interests of both; what’s become apparent in the last few days is that ANSWER has done so by actively misleading its Palestinian partners.
As the Black is Back Coalition has concluded in a statement from this week—which was made in response to PSL’s attempt at defending itself—PSL’s leaders were aware that the Uhuru march would take place on the 4th, but omitted this fact while communicating with the Palestinian groups. These groups were trusting ANSWER to give them the proper guidance on when and where to hold this event, then ANSWER led them into unwittingly helping damage the African liberation struggle; and, by extension, the Palestinian struggle too.
The Black is Back Coalition (whose statement is featured in Uhuru’s newsletter) has found this to be true because Becker and the others had prior knowledge that this African freedom march is an annual affair. The Coalition has invited ANSWER to assist in the march many times over the years, and ANSWER has disregarded all of these requests. So Becker was well aware that the march would happen, then scheduled his own event at the worst possible time for Uhuru.
That’s why it was so dishonest of ANSWER to have tried to defend itself by arguing that it’s only one group among a larger coalition that mainly consists of Palestinians; the context this argument leaves out is that ANSWER has deceived these Palestinians into contributing to an action which undermines African liberation. As Black is Back observes about the blame-shifting nature of ANSWER’s statement:
ANSWER, Becker and PSL are attempting to hide their treacherous, interventionist role in splitting the Palestinian and African liberation struggles by blaming the contradiction on Palestinians. We are clear that our contradiction is not with the Palestinians, with whom the African Liberation Movement has always stood shoulder-to-shoulder in deep anti-colonial unity. Our contradiction is with the opportunist white left, which continues to demonstrate their willingness to isolate the Palestinian people and struggle by separating it from other anti-colonial struggles, including Africans in the United States. On more than one occasion we have heard from Palestinian organizers who are involved in the March on Washington that the PSL and ANSWER insisted on the date of November 4, telling them that no earlier date was available because of “previously scheduled events.” This gives lie to the statement by Becker and PSL/ANSWER that it was the urgency of the war on the Palestinians that made it necessary for PSL/ANSWER to attack the struggle of Black people with this contending mobilization.
For Becker—and for the people adjacent to him who are committed to defending his project—these decisions are justified from the perspective of building what they view as the optimal type of left-wing organization. As is apparent from studying the theories of PSL’s ideological predecessor Sam Marcy; and from seeing how Marcy’s modern adherents have interpreted these theories as justification for liberal tailism; this organization they seek to build is one which holds the maximum amount of mainstream influence which self-described socialists can have within bourgeois “democracy.” The foremost priority of Becker’s clique is to get as much electoral relevance as possible; which can seem like a sound goal, unless you consider which sorts of actions you’ll be incentivized to engage in if you view electoralism as more important than anything else.
If you believe this, you can rationalize actions exactly like this one; you can justify sabotaging groups that don’t deserve it, like Uhuru, for the sake of getting more donations and exposure in anticipation of the next election. It’s a way of thinking that encourages selfishness, making you view the movement not as a joint effort among different revolutionary groups which requires mutual respect; but rather as a competition for who can get the most money and media attention.
This is the corporate type of organizing practice that’s conducive towards the survival of a socialist group which isn’t willing to take on the costs of doing what genuinely threatens the state. Uhuru, and the country’s other pro-Russian orgs, have committed to being far greater state targets than they would be if they were to compromise; if they were to join with the mainstream American left in disavowing Russia’s act of defiance against the hegemon. For orgs like these ones, the rational thing to do is to work towards maximizing their potential for winning in a direct confrontation with the state. Which requires both building a relationship with the broad masses of people who exist outside the “leftist” niche; and privately training their cadres for the moment when they’ll have to defeat the state by any means necessary, or else be crushed. Neither of which are things that PSL is doing, precisely because it’s not interested in bringing the struggle towards a stage where such victories are possible. PSL and its defenders are comfortable with keeping the American socialist movement stagnant, as it’s been for decades.
Should we sufficiently work to expose PSL’s anti-solidarity activities in regard to the African liberation movement—and to the Palestinian cause by proxy—then PSL will become ineffective at fulfilling its role as the prime controlled opposition within Marxist circles. At this stage in the class conflict, PSL is also the most important source of controlled opposition in general; because it’s the org that’s most effective at diverting the communists who could have otherwise become members of a vanguard towards ineffectual reformism.
This exceptional amount of potency that it holds in advancing this task is due to how well it’s designed to resemble a trustworthy source of communist leadership; how unlike CPUSA, DSA, or FRSO, it repudiates the idea that Washington’s challengers are imperialist powers. That’s what got me to trust PSL for years, up until PSL disavowed Russia’s anti-fascist action and then attacked the Rage Against the War Machine coalition. This latest incident has only confirmed I made the right choice by deciding to no longer work with PSL.
At this point in the decline of the U.S. empire’s narrative control; where the Zionists are unable to prevent a sufficient global backlash towards their crimes, and the White House is scrambling for a new way to sell the failed Ukraine narrative; the empire’s best hope is to portray its controlled opposition groups as the sole sources of hope. A growing amount of Americans are desperate for a way to help save the people of Gaza from extermination, and this mass radicalism can be neutralized simply by diverting them towards helping the PSL. That’s why the media is carrying out a blackout of the Uhuru case: as long as the average person remains unaware of what the state is trying to do to Uhuru, the persecution campaign and the controlled opposition “socialists” who enable it are going to keep succeeding. We can avoid this by raising awareness of the Uhuru trial, and of how Becker’s actions have made Uhuru less able to defend itself.
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