The media is carrying out a blackout of the Uhuru case, so the average person can’t be blamed for not knowing about it. That almost no Americans are at present aware of their government’s attempt to prosecute an African revolutionary organization on fabricated “Russian interference” charges is by the design of the imperialist narrative managers. And if the majority of Americans were to be given access to the information about the case, as anti-imperialists are working to do for them, almost all of them would take Uhuru’s side; we know this because even Tucker Carlson, one of the most right-wing mainstream commentators, has gotten his audience to be outraged at the DOJ’s indictments of Uhuru. Within leftist spaces, though; and even moreso within Marxist spaces; whether someone supports Uhuru should be considered a litmus test. A litmus test for whether we should take them seriously not just as allies to the domestic anti-colonial struggle, but to the Palestinian cause and the other parts of anti-imperialism.
That it’s still an open debate within these spaces as to whether the African People’s Socialist Party deserves respect shows just because the American left has been able to unify behind Palestine, doesn’t mean most of its elements have suddenly given up their unprincipled stances on anti-imperialism. When Ukraine was the main point of discourse instead of Palestine, even the parts of the left that recognized NATO provoked the conflict were arguing that Russia’s fight against Ukrainian fascism and U.S. hegemony shouldn’t be supported. APSP (also called Uhuru) is one of the few U.S. orgs that’s had the integrity to recognize the correctness of Russia’s decision; which is part of why so many leftists have been ignoring the Uhuru case, and repeating the scandal-mongering narratives about Uhuru whenever someone starts talking about it.
Despite how much the American left proclaimed solidarity with the Black liberation cause in 2020, the events of the last couple years have shown how conditional this solidarity is. Since then, the anti-imperialist struggle has escalated with the Ukraine conflict; and when an African org has acted in the best interests of the anti-colonial cause by taking the right stance on this conflict, most of the left has forsaken that org. Uhuru’s consistency in backing anti-imperialist efforts; and willingness to build the necessary anti-NATO alliances by working with Caleb Maupin’s CPI; are seen by the opportunistic left-liberal actors as reasons to scorn Uhuru.
That’s why if we manage to start making the case more widely discussed, we can expect backlash and gatekeeping attempts from the figures who most loudly claim to support racial justice. They see Uhuru and its organizing partners as threats to their project at monopolizing organizing spaces, so if Uhuru gets enough narrative power, they’ll join the media in trying to discredit it.
The bigger reason for the left’s apathy about Uhuru, though, is simply that the case isn’t trendy enough. There’s nothing to be gained in terms of fundraising or social media attention from extensively focusing on Uhuru, like there is for Palestine; therefore, the most prominent socialist groups and commentators have seen no reason to put more than a little bit of effort into supporting it. This is why we can only trust the socialist ideological leaders who are consistently promoting solidarity both with Palestine, and with Uhuru; if someone is aware of Uhuru, and still never talks about it (or even worse acts to sabotage it), then they’re not a reliable ally for Palestine either. They only “support” Palestine because they believe the Palestinian cause is able to be co-opted and exploited; we’ve seen this in how ANSWER’s leadership has used Palestine to harm Uhuru, scheduling a Palestine march at the same time and place that the Uhuru march will take place.
Whether someone sides with Uhuru or PSL in the conflict that’s appeared between the two orgs is a new boundary of demarcation in the class struggle; an issue with long-term significance. In many cases, where someone has placed themselves in this conflict is going to decide whether or not they’ll support the next events of the strategically crucial Rage Against the War Machine coalition. And, ultimately, whether or not they’ll make the right decisions when the struggle has reached its most intense stage; the stage where the prime question we’ll be facing is whether to side with a direct effort at overthrowing the state.
The consistent theme within this series of decisions is loyalty; loyalty towards what best advances the interests of the struggle. At this stage, where the fight against U.S. hegemony is the most impactful part of the struggle, the elements that show themselves to prioritize this fight are the ones the state sees as the biggest threats. (Which is why I consider RAWM, with its project to unify different kinds of anti-imperialists, to be so important.) The only reason why everyone in the RAWM coalition hasn’t so far been targeted to the extent that Uhuru has is because Uhuru most prominently represents the anti-colonial struggle, and is therefore judged to be the most urgently in need of suppression.
Uhuru’s persecution is intended to act as the prerequisite for when the state carries out its purge of all the other groups and individuals which it sees as a threat. And by “purge,” I don’t only mean more indictments; we could come to a point where the state gets rid of the courts—and the constitution by extension—so that it can wantonly take the lives of those labeled as enemy combatants. If such open barbarity from our own government sounds implausible, think of all the times our government has extrajudicially executed people with drones abroad.
When we see the opportunists disregarding the struggle of the Donbass people against U.S.-backed Ukrainian fascism, or disregarding the struggle of the African liberation movement, it’s a predictor of how they’ll lead the people during that coming moment of peril. By assisting with the media’s effort to keep the Uhuru case lacking in widespread exposure, the Menshevik wing of today’s American left is committing itself to a role as a concealer of our government’s future attacks upon the people. That these elements feel comfortable doing so indicates an intention by the ruling class to let them be safe from the coming great wave of repression, so long as they continue to act as diversions from the genuine vehicles for revolt.
This is a key part of a larger strategy of concealment, in which the corporate media has been purposefully avoiding coverage of the millions who are marching for Gaza worldwide. If our ruling institutions can minimize awareness both of how big the anti-colonial movement is, and of the principled anti-colonial orgs such as Uhuru, then this movement (and the broader class struggle) has less chance of succeeding.
If you’re a U.S. inhabitant who’s come to know about the work that Uhuru and its adjacent orgs are doing; and feels obligated to assist in this work; then my foremost advice is that you prepare for the long-term situations you’re going to encounter due to having chosen this path. The situations where you, your organizing partners, and your community are being confronted by an imperial state that will do anything to stop you. Get ready to have to start organizing underground; build the local connections needed to ensure your cadre isn’t isolated when it needs allies most; go beyond the occasional gun range training, and put together a daily fitness routine to make your preparations constant. (That’s only a tiny component of the training we’ll realistically need to do.)
The more of a serious organizational structure we’ve built by the time the big moment of escalation comes, the more of a chance we’ll have for not just living through the turmoil; but making the state into the one that has to fight for its existence. We’ve already assumed a role that entails a particular set of challenges; if we embrace these challenges, we’ll prevail.
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