Politics in Command

 POLITICS IN COMMAND:

 

The New Afrikan Independence Party (NAIP) defines politics as “the struggle concerning the acquisition and distribution of power and resources”. We contend that everything is political: where we live, where we work, the schools we attend: how we vote, where and how we spend our money and how we interact with the police. The conceptualization and practice of  politics is also shaped and determined by personal experiences and collective history and culture as well.

The recent developments concerning the grand-jury decisions regarding the police-state murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner and the continued investigation into the police murder of 12 year-old Tamir Rice have resulted in a groundswell of protest and rebellion throughout the United States, with supportive protest and demonstrations from around the world.

We certainly support the demand for immediate justice for those families and communities directly impacted, as well as calls for structural reform and police accountability. We will continue to engage and participate in peaceful protest and demonstrations and respect the rights of those who engage in other forms of rebellion as well.

However, we believe that Black/New Afrikan people have a human right to engage in self-defense and  armed-resistance to police-state violence. It makes no sense for Blacks to maintain faith in a criminal justice system to protect us from racist, white-supremacist and self-hating forces when many of these individuals are embedded within the criminal justice system itself. They serve as police, grand-jurors, district attorneys,  judges and the like.

Just as we reject unconditional non-violence and pacifism, we also reject the glorification of violence and war as a substitute for political education, community-organizing and mass mobilization. We understand clearly that revolution is a process, not an event.

The NAIP supports the creation and proliferation of Black/New Afrikan gun clubs,  rifle clubs, neighborhood patrols and community-defense groups. We understand the intended and real value of such formations, particularly those that adhere to the politics of Black liberation and self/group determination.

We understand that weapons and the use of violence are conditional tools, a means toward an end. We should always be in control via our values, beliefs, movement goals and objectives. We must not let personal disappointment and bitterness or the  glorification of gun-culture define who we are.  Our conditions and circumstances demand that we organize for survival and development. Our politics must be in command at all times.

All Power to the People!

Khalid Raheem