{"id":337,"date":"2013-06-19T19:51:31","date_gmt":"2013-06-19T19:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rashidmod.com\/?p=337"},"modified":"2013-06-30T00:41:44","modified_gmt":"2013-06-30T00:41:44","slug":"unity-struggle-transformation-on-revolutionary-organization-leadership-and-cadre-development-revised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/?p=337","title":{"rendered":"Unity-Struggle-Transformation: On Revolutionary Organization, Leadership and Cadre Development (Revised)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/u><\/strong> <\/h3>\n

\n The object of a revolutionary organization is to unite (and unite with), mobilize, organize, and lead masses of oppressed people to achieve fundamental economic, political and social change and collective security.\u00a0 Founded in 2005, the New Afrikan Black Panther Party Prison Chapter (NABPP-PC) arose within the most oppressed strata of U.S. society, the imprisoned masses, to take up the banner of revolutionary struggle on behalf of New Afrikans and all oppressed and exploited people.\u00a0 We aspire to become, but are not yet, a functional vanguard party of the oppressed.<\/p>\n

We will be formally<\/em> constituted once we transition to the outside, build bases in the oppressed communities, hold a founding convention and elect a free world central committee and an executive committee (politburo).\u00a0 We will be functionally<\/em> constituted only when the oppressed urban masses embrace us as their revolutionary leadership.<\/p>\n

Even while we remain a primarily prison-based organization, we have an important revolutionary role to play which is to transform the slave pens of oppression<\/em> into schools of liberation<\/em>.\u00a0 This is the first phase of our Party’s strategy, along with transforming the oppressed communities into base areas of cultural, social and political revolution <\/em>in the context of building a worldwide united front against capitalist-imperialism<\/em>.\u00a0 The two aspects of our strategy are dialectically related and will advance the overall strategy of advancing the World Proletarian Socialist Revolution.<\/p>\n

At this point, comrades are learning and struggling for ideological and political clarity on how to build and consolidate the Party’s structure and a mass anti-racist, anti-imperialist and revolutionary movement around it.\u00a0 There are issues we need to work out relating to organizing on both the inside and outside.\u00a0 There are issues, some of them long-standing, that have been raised by our supporters and detractors we need to address.\u00a0 Some of these people do not understand, or refuse to accept, the need for revolutionary leadership, discipline and organization.\u00a0 There is also the question of who should be in leadership positions and how to achieve a balance between democracy and centralism.<\/p>\n

On Organization and Security<\/u><\/strong> <\/h3>\n

\n The term \u201corganizing\u201d is often used loosely on the Left, especially by those who oppose forming, joining or subordinating themselves to any sort of disciplined political organization.\u00a0 Although they may exhort the virtues of \u201csolidarity,\u201d they actually practice extreme individualism, which runs counter to building a movement for collective social change.<\/p>\n

Obviously, one cannot be a political organizer and not be part of a political organization.\u00a0 One implies the other.\u00a0 An organization is a body of people\u2014not one person acting alone\u2014who share common purpose and goals and have an organizational structure.\u00a0 The members must perform certain functions assigned to them that advance the purpose of the organization.\u00a0 This calls for leadership and a degree of discipline or everyone will be acting individually without accountability or responsibility, which is the definition of disorganization<\/em>, and this leads to the opposite of \u201csolidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining and remaining in an organization involves important considerations, such as whether one trusts, believes in, agrees with, and understands the organization’s purpose and goals.\u00a0 To the more mature and committed members, these are issues of special concern and determine whether they will whole-heartedly commit themselves on a long-term basis to the organization and its goals and purpose.\u00a0 Transparency is therefore important so people know, understand and trust the organization and what it is about.\u00a0 Without this, the organization cannot have even the foundations for ‘security.’<\/p>\n

Comrade Safiya Bukhari, a former BPP and BLA cadre explains:<\/p>\n

\n

\n \u201cBy definition, security means freedom from danger, fear and anxiety.\u00a0 Individual and organizational safety and well-being begin with the knowledge of what you’re about, what the organization is about, your limitations, your strengths and the organization’s strengths.\u00a0 Knowledge is the key to security.\u00a0 History has shown that the best security depends on the internal strength of the organization and the internal principles of the people who make up the organization.\u201d (( Safiya Bukhari, The War Before: The True Story of Becoming A Black Panther, Keeping the Faith in Prison & Fighting for Those Left Behind<\/em>, (Feminist Press, 2010), p. 37))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As an example of solid organizational and individual principles, she points to the creed of the Republic of New Afrika (RNA), which states, \u201cI will steal nothing from a brother or sister, cheat no brother or sister, misuse no brother or sister, inform on no brother or sister and spread no gossip.\u201d\u00a0 These principles, she observed, express…<\/p>\n

\n

\n \u201can extremely important component of individual and organizational security.\u00a0 The knowledge that the person next to you\u2014the person working beside you\u2014will not cheat you, lie and spread gossip about you is the basis for your feeling secure in your environment and within your organization.\u00a0 The ability to trust your comrades implicitly and to know with certainty what they will do in any circumstance is the best security.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u201cThe question then, is how do we get to this point?\u00a0 It begins with knowing what you’re about\u2014\u00a0 what you want and what you believe and how far you will go to obtain it.\u00a0 The reciprocal reality is knowing what the organization is about.\u00a0 If the purpose and mission of the organization is clear, nto subject to interpretation, then people joining will not be able to say that they thought the organization was about one thing when they joined only to find out later it was about something totally different.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u201cThis means that both the individual and the organization must be open and honest.\u201d ((Ibid., p. 37))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Our Party’s rules embrace standards akin to the RNA creed, which actual and potential members must know and obey.\u00a0 An important criteria of Party recruitment is that one’s internal principles be proven to be compatible with the Party’s.\u00a0 The comrades also must know, understand, and commit themselves to our Ten Point Program and Platform<\/em>, which clearly sets out \u201cwhat we want\u201d and \u201cwhat we believe.\u201d\u00a0 They must also understand and adhere to our ideological philosophy, which is Historical and Dialectical Materialism<\/em> (HDM) and not some form of subjective idealism, such as dogmatism, sentimentalism, pragmatism or metaphysics.<\/p>\n

HDM begins with the premise that objective reality exists independent of our understanding it, and that concrete analysis of concrete conditions\u2014tested in practice\u2014is the only true foundation for political theory.\u00a0 It teaches us that everything is in motion and that quantitative changes give rise to qualitative leaps of development.\u00a0 An historical understanding of a thing’s development and understanding the internal contradictions and the effect of things happening in connection to it enables us to see the potentiality to accelerate its development.<\/p>\n

All things develop and transform through the struggle between their contradictory aspects.\u00a0 Evolution gives rise to revolution.\u00a0 One divides into two creating a new unity of opposites.\u00a0 Revolution is the main trend in the world.<\/p>\n

Prior to recruitment in to the Party, comrades must prove themselves to be serious and dedicated to the struggle.\u00a0 They must stand tall and be willing to stand firm in the face of adversity and repression and be able to withstand isolation and even torture.\u00a0 Their commitment to advancing the struggle to victory must be that of a \u201cprofessional revolutionary,\u201d who carries on when others falter or flee to safety and comfort.\u00a0 Their credo must be \u201cfor self nothing, for the masses everything!\u201d\u00a0 Only comrades of this caliber will win the trust of the masses and make our party the true vanguard of the revolution.\u00a0 The Party has no private agenda to pursue.\u00a0 It exists solely to serve the people.\u00a0 It must never alienate itself from them nor set itself above them but rather seek their supervision and guidance.\u00a0 It is their party, not ours.\u00a0 In all things it must uphold and practice the Mass Line.<\/p>\n

This work calls for planning, discipline and accountability.\u00a0 To proceed without a plan, without discipline and order is counter-productive and irresponsible.\u00a0 Our individual moral outrage and our love for the people should be the fuel that powers our actions, but our actual course of action should be based upon a strategic plan and carried out with iron discipline and organizational coordination.\u00a0 All this requires strong organizational leadership.<\/p>\n

On Leadership<\/u><\/strong> <\/h3>\n

\n No revolutionary movement can hope to succeed without a strong revolutionary leadership, and no one can be permitted to participate in such a movement who is not willing to commit themselves to following the leadership and accepting the discipline required by the struggle.\u00a0 To think otherwise is idealism and opportunism.\u00a0 As already discussed, an organizer belongs and is loyal to an organization.\u00a0 The organization collectively devises ways to achieve certain goals.\u00a0 The organizer is in fact a leader.\u00a0 This is especially true when the work of the organizer is influencing and affecting people outside <\/em>the organization among the broad masses of the people.\u00a0 So the organizer leads others, whether for good or ill, and regardless of whether or not they admit to being a leader and accept the responsibility that goes with that.<\/p>\n

The same truth applies to individuals outside of organizations who seek to inform, motivate and guide the actions of others.\u00a0 They are in fact leaders and bear responsibilities.<\/p>\n

But in as much as a revolutionary organization that seeks to lead a mass movement must have leaders, these leaders must win the consent of those who they seek to lead.\u00a0 It must be earned by proven merit and consistent practice.\u00a0 They must listen to and learn from the masses if they seek to teach and be listened to\u2014we must be both teachers and students!\u00a0 As students, we learn from the masses about their conditions, needs and concerns, and being of<\/em> the oppressed masses ourselves, we share their conditions alongside them on a daily basis.\u00a0 We must attentively listen to their views, learn from their strengths, and remain close to them.\u00a0 If we think they are wrong, we must patiently explain why after hearing them out.\u00a0 But we don’t know everything, so we must be good at listening and learning, accept criticism and correcting our mistakes.\u00a0 As teachers, we take the masses’ raw and unorganized ideas and by applying HDM and our understanding of this oppressive system as a whole, return their ideas to them in the form of programs, examples and solutions which involve and empower them.\u00a0 This is the essence of the Mass Line!<\/p>\n

In this dialectical relationship of student and teacher, leader and masses, we don’t quibble over assuming the role of leader because it is inherently impossible to teach and influence people’s thoughts and actions without assuming a leadership role.\u00a0 Since we are constantly teaching and learning, we are always giving or accepting leadership.\u00a0 So unlike those \u201cLeftists\u201d who shun the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist revolutionary line, we don’t reject the role and responsibility of leaders and leadership.\u00a0 Indeed, we recognize that in class-divided society, the thinking of every person and group reflects the ideas of the dominant class in part or in whole, and as soon as any person or group speaks out or puts pen to paper to influence others they assume the authority of leadership.\u00a0 In as much as their ideas reflect the teaching and indoctrination of the ruling class, they’re serving that class in its dictatorship over society.<\/p>\n

Conversely, in as much as they have freed their minds of this indoctrination and revolutionized their thinking, their speaking out or putting pen to paper is an act of revolutionary leadership.\u00a0 That’s what revolutionary organizers do, they teach about and they learn from the masses how we oppressed people can become our own liberators.\u00a0 Revolutionary leadership is what Panthers are about.<\/p>\n

M-L-M illuminates the revolutionary line of our Party and the United Panther Movement (UPM).\u00a0 M-L-M scientifically sums up the lessons of the class struggle and the experience of revolutionary proletariat from the mid-19th Century to the present through the application of HDM by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao and many other revolutionary thinkers and leaders.\u00a0 Most particularly, our Party’s line is illuminated by the work of the original BPP, particularly Huey P. Newton, Fred Hampton and <\/p>\n

\n George Jackson, New Afrikan freedom fighters like WEB DuBois, Malcolm X and Walter Rodney, as well as Afrikan revolutionaries such as Amilcar Cabral, Frantz Fanon and Kwame Nkrumah.<\/p>\n

Intelligent people who desire to change the world seek to learn from the contributions of others and to illuminate their practice with the most advanced and scientific understanding of revolutionary theory.\u00a0 Who among us who oppose this oppressive system based upon human exploitation do not aspire to influence the ideas, and by extension the actions, of others in relation to this system?\u00a0 Therefore it is deception to claim that we do not aspire to be or approve of leaders.\u00a0 And who would deny that revolution is the ultimate act of authority?<\/p>\n

There is actually a class basis for this sort of thinking.\u00a0 Furthermore, consider how absurd it would be for a teacher to challenge and change your beliefs (say about capitalism for example) that affect how you perceive and relate to the world at the most fundamental levels and tell you go forth and apply these teachings to change the world and then deny they were giving you leadership?\u00a0 How much more absurd if they did not plug you into an organization and movement of like-minded people?\u00a0 Leadership and organization go hand in hand.<\/p>\n

Here is what distinguishes genuine revolutionary teachers from elitist philosophers: The revolutionary teacher not only consciously<\/em> teaches what is wrong in the world but they also lead in correcting it, building organization among the masses to create a new reality, teaching by example and participation.<\/p>\n

Mao Tse-tung summed up this Marxist line saying: \u201cMarxist philosophy holds that the most important problem does not lie in understanding the laws of the objective world and thus being able to explain it, but in applying these laws actively to change the world….only social practice can be the criterion of truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is where the traditional \u201cLeft\u201d falls short.\u00a0 In the manner of petty bourgeois intellectuals, they analyze, criticize, and interpret the world in various ways, but they fail to bring their analysis down to the level of practical application to change the oppressive conditions.\u00a0 At best, they resort to individual counter-cultural or academic rebelliousness which does nothing to organize or empower the masses.\u00a0 It is all about self-validation and feeling good about their radical self-identity.<\/p>\n

And why?<\/p>\n

Because their class stand prevents it, which is the principal reason why many of them reject the need for and function of a revolutionary leadership.\u00a0 While in fact they<\/em> act as leaders and teachers of the class stand of those who talk about but don’t dare to organize to solve the problems of the oppressed class\u2014namely the petty bourgeoisie, the so-called \u201cmiddle class.\u201d\u00a0 Deep down, many of these \u201cradicals\u201d don’t want to change things in any fundamental way because they have privileges and comforts under the status quo and dread of the exercise of power from below.<\/p>\n

So while they protest and arouse the discontent of others, they don’t want to start something that will empower the poor and go all the way to overthrowing the dictatorship of the rich.\u00a0 They only want to protest the things that oppress and disempower them.\u00a0 This leaves the people without all-the-way leadership, which leads to spontaneous rebellions subject to both co-option and violent suppression, leading to demoralization of the masses and continued business as usual for the exploiting class.<\/p>\n

We have seen this cycle repeated over and over in the oppressed communities and prisons.\u00a0 This is why we created the New Afrikan Black Panther Party\u2014Prison Chapter and the United Panther Movement, because we recognized the need for a truly revolutionary vanguard<\/em> party and movement.\u00a0 Vanguard means \u201cout in front.\u201d\u00a0 We saw things were not going to change until people got serious and took on the responsibility to lead the people’s struggle to victory.<\/p>\n

On the Practice of Cadres<\/u><\/strong> <\/h3>\n

\n A revolutionary vanguard is only as strong and solid as its members or cadre, who must be rooted among the masses in struggle.\u00a0 Thus it is vital that the cadre be good at communicating and connecting with other oppressed people.\u00a0 They must be the natural leaders of the people whom others look to and seek the opinions of.\u00a0 Her or his love for the people must run deep.\u00a0 As Ch\u00e9 Guevara once said: \u201cLet me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that a true revolutionary is motivated by great feelings of love.\u201d\u00a0 However, the work of a revolutionary is not measured by motive alone.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0 \u201cHow can we tell the good from the bad\u2014by the motive (the subjective intention) or by the effect (social practice)?\u00a0 Idealists stress motive and ignore effect, while mechanical materialists stress effect and ignore motive.\u00a0 In contradiction to both, we dialectical materialists insist on unity of motive and effect.\u00a0 The motive of serving the masses is inseparably linked with winning their approval; the two must be united.\u00a0 The motive of serving the individual or a small clique is not good, nor is it good to have the motive of serving the masses without the effect of winning their approval and benefiting them.\u00a0 In examining the subjective intention of a writer or artist, that is, whether his motive is correct or good, we do not judge by his declarations but by the effects of his actions (mainly his works) on the masses in society.\u00a0 The criteria for judging subjective intention or motive is social practice and its effect.\u201d ((Mao Tse-tung, Selected Works, Vol III p. 88-89))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Of course not everyone among the people will be receptive, interested in intellectual and political growth, or even friendly.We have found, however, that at this time, many prisoners are, but they are hampered by limited access to literature and information and rules that strictly limit what they may receive and how much property they may keep.\u00a0 So collective pooling of materials and cadre-led study circles within the prisons are very important.\u00a0 On the other hand, many do not have a high degree of literacy or think reading is not \u201ccool.\u201d\u00a0 So, it is important we do verbal agitation and organize discussions, particularly on the yard.<\/p>\n

Cadre must be patient, sensitive and tolerant, and most important, be good at listening.\u00a0 Some prisoners have been beaten down to where they have withdrawn into themselves and we must reach them before we can teach them.\u00a0 Others are so full of rage that they reject reason and are locked into individualistic and self-destructive behavior.<\/p>\n

To serve the people we must take a genuine interest in them and demonstrate Panther Love towards them.\u00a0 Don’t just talk at people or expect them to open up to you right away.\u00a0 We must strive to understand where they are at and what their concerns are to build a relationship of camaraderie with them.\u00a0 One can always find some points of common interest.\u00a0 Our politics flow from our love for the people and represent the highest interests of humanity, so they naturally uplift and inspire people once we get their attention.<\/p>\n

Most all of our cadre will be capable communicators, although one should struggle to excel in this area.\u00a0 It was actually in prison that Fidel Castro developed his exceptional abilities as a motivational speaker.\u00a0 Fred Hampton, another exceptional communicator, once said: \u201cI listen to anyone who speaks well.\u201d\u00a0 it is important that we are able to reach people’s deepest feelings and longings.<\/p>\n

Whether good speakers or not, all of our cadre will have specific skills that they can work on and develop to serve the struggle and enhance the effectiveness of our Party.\u00a0 As in any organization, everyone has contributions to make and a part to play.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0 \u201cNo one person can do everything, but every person can do something\u2014and all jobs are more or less equally important.\u00a0 That is, the ‘soldier’ is no more important (may in fact be less important) than the person putting out the newsletter, or the person organizing the students, or the person agitating on issues such as no-rent housing, or people’s control of the air waves…\u201d ((James Yaki Sayles, Meditations on Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth: New Afrikan Revolutionary Writings by James Yaki Sayles, (Montreal, Q: Kersplebedeb\/Chicago, Il. Spear & Shield, 2010), p. 184-185))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And not all cadre will be equally advanced in applying the principles of HDM to problem-solving.\u00a0 At this point, many cadre have very little or no training or understanding of this revolutionary science, due to our loose organization in the prisons and difficulty in obtaining suitable study materials, which we must resolutely struggle to overcome.\u00a0 Because to apply any method of study other than a correct application of HDM will inevitably lead to the errors of dogmatism or some other form of subjective idealism.\u00a0 Therefore, it is of primary importance that the leading cadre master this method and train others to train others.\u00a0 Like shooting at a target, proper instruction and practice makes all the difference.<\/p>\n

It is also imperative for the organizational life of our Party and creating the caliber of leadership that can lead the masses to take history into their hands that we train our cadre to excel at every aspect of party building, mass organization, and the strategy and tactics of creating a worldwide united front against capitalist-imperialism.\u00a0 The Party and mass organizations it creates and builds must be strong structures with strong internal unity and able to withstand overt repression and attempted covert disruption by the agents of repression.<\/p>\n

The mass organizations must have a strong democratic character and be rooted in the oppressed communities where our mass work is concentrated.\u00a0 We must be good at bringing people in to participate in our events and programs and at reaching out to all strata and groupings of the people in the communities; in particular the youth, women, veterans and members of lumpen street organizations, families of prisoners, as well as workers old and young.\u00a0 The New Afrikan Black Panther Party must be broadly based in the communities.<\/p>\n

All of this is important to do effective organizing, but what is key is revolutionary leadership.\u00a0 Cadre must be thoroughly knowledgeable on many subjects and able to converse intelligently one on one or in front of a group.\u00a0 To enhance our ability to serve, and learn from, the people, cadre must expand their all-around knowledge through study and following the news.\u00a0 In all things we must seek to uncover the truth, which requires investigation.<\/p>\n

Collective leadership is key to building a strong party and movement.\u00a0 Collective wisdom brought out through democratic discussion on every level of the Party helps us to uncover the truth and illuminate our practice.\u00a0 An army of \u201cprofessionals\u201d will try to misdirect and discredit us as they do every liberation movement.\u00a0 This too highlights the importance of collective leadership and inner-party democracy, where we pool our knowledge and experience to collectively arrive at truth and make sound decisions.<\/p>\n

We must follow Sun Tzu’s direction to \u201cknow your enemy and know yourself, and in a hundred battles you will never face defeat.\u201d\u00a0 This applies at all levels\u2014strategic and tactical\u2014and on all fronts\u2014cultural, educational, economic, political and military.\u00a0 It is especially important in cadre development.\u00a0 Because to have cadre assigned to roles where their particular strengths are going to apply is conducive to achieving the Party’s goals.\u00a0 We must be good as assessing comrades’ strengths and weaknesses and at using their strengths to overcome their weaknesses.<\/p>\n

By knowing the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses, we shall know where to assail and where to avoid him, and we shall not become arrogant after a few successes nor despondent after a few losses.\u00a0 When we are able to remain objective in the fact of both victories and defeats and can adjust our tactics accordingly, there is no such thing as an unbeatable foe nor an insurmountable obstacle to victory.\u00a0 The use of wrong tactics is generally caused by failure to objectively analyze conditions in the first place.<\/p>\n

We must be mindful not to hold ourselves up as authorities on matters we have not investigated thoroughly.\u00a0 \u201cNo investigation, no right to speak,\u201d is Mao’s famous dictum.\u00a0 When it becomes apparent we lack necessary information to make a good decision, we should seek it out without hesitation.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0 \u201cTo put forward a correct political line for the new Party, we must have concrete analysis of concrete conditions on the major questions: class struggle, the national question, trade union work, the woman question, the international situation, etc.\u201d ((V.I. Lenin, What is to Be Done?))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On Cadre Purpose<\/u><\/strong> <\/h3>\n

\n As already pointed out, cadre are the component parts of the vanguard party and its basic units, which are the Party collectives.\u00a0 Together they form the \u201cnervous system\u201d of the movement, linking the Party’s HQ with all its parts.<\/p>\n

The cadre must be good at building bases of support for the revolution among the people (winning the masses to the Party’s revolutionary line and organizing them into mass organizations that advance the revolutionary struggle), and be prepared to do what the Party requires of them to the best of their abilities.\u00a0 A revolutionary movement can only be as effective as its leadership prepares it to be.\u00a0 As Mao pointed out, \u201cWhen revolution fails, it is the fault of the vanguard party.\u201d\u00a0 Therefore cadre development is crucial.<\/p>\n

\n

\n \u201cWe must purposely train tens of thousands of cadres and leaders versed in Marxism-Leninism, politically far-sighted, competent in work, full of spirit of self-sacrifice, capable of taking problems on their own and devoted to serving the nation, the cadres and the party.\u00a0 It is on these cadres and leaders that the party relies on its links with the membership and the masses, and it is relying on their firm leadership of the masses that the party can succeed in defeating the enemy.\u00a0 Such cadres and leaders must be free from selfishness, from individualistic heroism, ostentation, sloth, passivity, and sectarian arrogance, and they must be selfless, national and class heroes, such are the qualities and style of work demanded by the members, cadres and leaders of our party.\u201d – Mao Tse-tung<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mao demonstrated the indispensability of good cadre in revolutionary struggle.\u00a0 So too did Amilcar Cabral, Afrika’s most outstanding revolutionary leader.\u00a0 As the founder of the revolutionary vanguard party of Guinea Bissau, the PAIGC, ((African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde Islands)) he proved that the development of revolutionary cadre is key to the success of a revolutionary movement.\u00a0 In 1959, oppressed workers Guinea Bissau plunged blindly and recklessly into armed revolt against the Portuguese colonialists.\u00a0 This disastrous failure led comrade Cabral to reassess the situation and their tactics.\u00a0 He then spent three years organizing and leading patient political education and doing preparatory work across the country, training a thousand party cadre.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n \u201cWe prepared a number of cadre from the group [of pre-classed semi-intellectual urban youth], some from people employed in commerce and other wage-earners, and even some peasants, so that they could acquire what you might call a working class mentality….When these cadre returned to the rural areas they inculcated a certain mentality into the peasants, and it is among these cadre that we have chosen the people who are now leading the struggle.\u201d ((Amilcar Cabral, The Politics of Struggle (1964)))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

These PAIGC cadre reignited the struggle in 1963, winning and mobilizing immense and immediate mass support, which quickly liberated vast sections of the country from Portuguese control.\u00a0 By 1969, two-thirds of the countryside was liberated, and only five years later, Portuguese control was completely overthrown, even though Cabral had been assassinated by the Portuguese agents a year before.\u00a0 It was the cadre, trained and prepared by Cabral, that led the people to victory.<\/p>\n

As we discussed in a previous article, the original Black Panther Party’s efforts to lead the mass struggle here in Amerika met with failure, largely because it neglected to train and root its members in revolutionary proletarian ideology. ((Kevin \u201cRashid\u201d Johnson, \u201cOn the Roles and Characteristics of the Panther Vanguard Party and Mass Organizations,\u201d right On! Vol. #8 (summer 2008), also reprinted in Defying the Tomb, Selected Prison Writings of Kevin \u201cRashid\u201d Johnson Featuring Exchanges With an Outlaw, (Montreal, QE, Kersplebadeb, 2010)))\u00a0 Instead, its cadre retained and acted upon the values and perspectives of other classes, particularly the lumpen-proletariat and urban petty bourgeoisie, and even tried to advance a lumpen (as opposed to proletarian) political theory to validate this.<\/p>\n

Failures and reversals of revolutionary mass movements, here and around the world, have resulted, in large part, because of the failure to develop a solid core of revolutionary proletarian leadership.\u00a0 In the past, revolutionary movements have relied upon the petty-bourgeoisie to supply the intellectuals for leadership positions and this has proven to be a weakness, as these tend to be vacillating elements prone to right and \u201cleft\u201d opportunism and revisionism.<\/p>\n

Because of its position in class society, the petty-bourgeoisie vacillates between the bourgeoisie and laboring masses in outlook and interests.\u00a0 They have had the advantages of better education and standard of living over the poor and working masses, and though radicalized, they tend to retain bourgeois ideology and prejudices which they bring with them into the workers’ movement.<\/p>\n

The petty-bourgeoisie have produced some fine revolutionary intellectuals and leaders for the revolutionary proletarian movement, such as Marx, Engels, Lenin, Mao, Cabral, Nkrumah and so on, but on the whole, many more have been disappointments.\u00a0 As a class, they are not so ready to commit \u201cclass suicide,\u201d as Cabral put it, and adopt the revolutionary perspective of the proletariat.\u00a0 Instead, they impose their own perspectives and prejudices on the movement and resist the development of all-the-way revolutionary class struggle and consciousness.<\/p>\n

However, the development of the decline of capitalist-imperialism has called forth a strategy of mass incarceration in Amerika, aimed primarily at the New Afrikans and other people of color in the urban communities.\u00a0 Prisons have proven to be powerful settings for the creation of revolutionary intellectuals from the oppressed class, such as: Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver, George Jackson, Hasan Shakur and James Yaki Sayles.\u00a0 Malcolm X even dubbed them the \u201cpoor man’s universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, poor proletarians have both time to do deep study and to access revolutionary books and literature.\u00a0 This is what the NABPP-PC is tapping into and is the basis for our strategy of \u201cturning the ‘slave pens of oppression’ into ‘schools of liberation’…,\u201d which is taking our movement down a different path of development.\u00a0 Our object is not to indoctrinate prisoners with a political line from outside, but to develop the intellectual basis for formulating our own line and training cadre to provide leadership to build the movement on the outside, among the people in the oppressed communities, independent of the petty-bourgeois-dominated Left.<\/p>\n

In training cadre, we need to do more than give them materials to read and expect them to spontaneously develop.\u00a0 We need to create Party-led study\/discussion circles and an interactive study program as part of our strategy of transforming the prisons into ‘schools of liberation.’\u00a0 We need to train prisoners to be critical and tactical thinkers.\u00a0 Cadre need to be flexible and apply critical analysis to developing and amending tactical plans.\u00a0 We need cadre to be creative and innovative in applying the Party’s general line.<\/p>\n

We need to encourage cadre to go beyond learning a few basic concepts and develop in-depth understanding of all aspects of the struggle, strategy and tactics, different techniques and methods, and historical applications.\u00a0 Overall intellectual development must be stressed.\u00a0 Intellectual skills, such as doing research, writing and debating must be developed.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The Party should assimilate and circulate good ideas and practices from the cadre.\u00a0 We should develop information sharing through our newsletters and implement new ideas and practices that arise in our organizational work.<\/p>\n

Cadre must be good at teaching organizational skills to others.\u00a0 They should also be conscious to set the best possible examples in character and conduct at all times.\u00a0 This is important because our role is not to exercise political power over the masses but to empower them.\u00a0 Our example must be of selfless dedication to the masses and their best interests, helping them to create and build institutions of people’s power in the communities and programs to serve their specific survival needs, enabling them to solve problems in their daily lives.<\/p>\n

It is also why we must guard against allowing just anyone into the Party or to remain there if they don’t have the proper motivation and dedication.\u00a0 Party cadre should be more disciplined and self-sacrificing than ordinary people.\u00a0 People should look to them as role models.\u00a0 People tend to characterize a whole movement by what they observe in its members they have contact with.\u00a0 This places a heavy responsibility on each and every Panther cadre to always represent the Party in the best way.<\/p>\n

If we deviate from the Party’s principles, discipline and program, people will think our Party is a joke, a sham and a hustle.\u00a0 They will not support our Party or listen to our message.\u00a0 The enemy will use our mistakes and shortcomings to vilify and discredit us in the eyes of the people.\u00a0 Instead of leading we will become another obstacle to the people’s liberation.<\/p>\n

This too is why the Party must be open to the scrutiny and criticism of the masses, transparent in its relations with them and willing to rectify its errors, humbly and honestly demonstrating that we are servants of the people.\u00a0 As Cabral said, \u201cHide nothing from the masses of our people.\u00a0 Tell no lies.\u00a0 Expose lies whenever they are told.\u00a0 Mask no difficulties, mistakes or failures.\u00a0 Claim no easy victories.\u201d ((Amilcar Cabral, Directives of PAIGC (1965) published in Basil Davidson, The Liberation of Guinea: Aspects of an African Revolution (Baltimore, penguin, 1969)))<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/u><\/strong> <\/h3>\n

\n Hopefully, this will give Party comrades and supporters a clearer picture of the importance of cadre training and development and the kind of leadership we need to develop.\u00a0 We are serious about revolution, and we see a revolutionary situation developing in the period ahead of us.\u00a0 This is a time of preparation, a time of laying a strong foundation.\u00a0 If you have what it takes, join us!<\/p>\n

Dare to Struggle!\u00a0 Dare to Win!<\/p>\n

All Power to the People!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction The object of a revolutionary organization is to unite (and unite with), mobilize, organize, and lead masses of oppressed people to achieve fundamental economic, political and social change and collective security.\u00a0 Founded in 2005, the New Afrikan Black Panther Party Prison Chapter (NABPP-PC) arose within the most oppressed strata …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-party-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=337"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":689,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions\/689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}