Kwazi Nkrumah to
Occupy The Hood L.A. Action Assembly
Any new social movement needs a rallying cry. This is usually a slogan
or a demand that summarizes and connects with the collective
consciousness of the times. In the early 1960's, the slogan "Freedom
NOW!" announced that a new generation of Black people was on the scene,
and that that generation had no intention of waiting forever for white
America to recognize and stop denying the basic civil and human rights
of Black people. In 1966, the developments of the Black struggle in this
country for civil rights led to an entirely new formulation, a new
battle cry, "Black Power!" Meanwhile, on the white left, the student
movement, the peace movement and other forces were converging around the
issue of the Vietnam War. In 1967, this movement raised the demand to
"Stop the Draft". By 1968, the cry was "Stop the War" itself. By 1969,
the slogan was "GET OUT NOW!" Side by side with the anti-war and student
movements, the "counter-culture" became a mass phenomena, as more and
more people, disillusioned with the false values of white middle America
and the Cold War, rejected the pursuit of corporate upward mobility and
began to get in touch with their true feelings about what was going on
in the world around them and raising their consciousness. "Sex, drugs
and rock-and-roll" were actually significant elements in the making of
this counter-culture, and its best-known slogan was "Tune in, turn on
and drop out!" The hard-core of the counter-culture was manifested in
the "Hippy" movement, but it's impact spread into every nook and cranny
of U.S. society (including, but not limited to the activist New Left).
Last year, the Occupy Movement appeared on the scene. The basic slogan
of the Occupy Movement, as everyone knows, has been "We are the 99%!"
This formulation correctly corresponds to the reality that at least 99%
of the total population is experiencing greater and greater
dispossession and political disenfranchisement at the hands of a small
percentage of people who control more and more of the material resources
and political power of society as a whole. It was the correct
formulation at the right time, and millions of people, whether they were
directly involved with the movement or not, responded to this potent
political equation. But the Occupy movement is now facing the same
necessity that confronts every social movement that captures the public
imagination: Having put forth a broad, general assessment of "the
problem" of this period, we must now more clearly define the roots, the
nature and the fundamental solution to the problem, as we have
identified it. This is where every new movement moves into serious
discussion, debate and clarification of its methods, values and
objectives; and the clarification of these methods, values and
objectives become definitive of the movement..
The May Day
actions have established that the Occupy Movement is here to stay;
despite all the official attempts to crush and derail this movement.
What's more, the movement is beginning to deepen its connections with
working people and oppressed communities at the local level. We are
still in the early stages of this, but it is clearly beginning to
happen. Everyone and their little brother --- and sister--- is now
talking about being part of the movement of the 99%. That includes not
only millions of suffering people of every social background, but also
legions of opportunistic politicians, scam artists and "poverty pimps",
who see the motion set loose by the Occupy movement as yet another
vehicle for promoting themselves and their personal agendas at the
expense of our movement, as such. How do we determine who is genuinely
part of the movement, or at least a genuine ally, if we haven't clearly
defined our methods, values and objectives? How do we minimize the
ability of the state, the corporate sector or other hostile forces to
corrupt, disrupt or co-opt our movement, if we haven't laid a firm
foundation of principles to guide our collective work???
For
all of these reasons, I think it is very timely for the Occupy movement
to have an open discussion about our position on, and relationship to,
the capitalist system. I mean it's fine to say that "the 1%" is
dispossessing the rest of us, but WHO ARE THE 1%??? What MAKES them the
1%??? What is the BASIS of their power??? Aside from protesting, what do
we, as a movement, intend to DO about their power??? Are we a reformist
movement or a revolutionary movement??? If we are a revolutionary
movement, what actually makes us revolutionary, especially in regard to
our current economic system??? If we are, in fact, an anti-capitalist
movement, WHAT DO WE PROPOSE TO REPLACE IT WITH??? All of these are not
only REASONABLE, they are NECESSARY QUESTIONS for us to discuss and come
to some collective decisions about.
And, by the way, in
addition to reaching much greater clarity about "the 1%", we need to
continue to look at issues around the internal make-up and
contradictions within our own ranks (the 99%). There needs to be greater
attention paid to exactly how relative privilege manifests itself,
socially, politically and ideologically within our movement; and in
particular, how it impacts on those groups who are the hardest hit by
the system.(The CAPITALIST SYSTEM.) What do the race, class and gender
differences in our ranks have do do with our stance in regard to the
capitalist system and the questions of reform vs. revolution??? What is
the proper relationship between the Occupy Movement and organized (and
UN-ORGANIZED) labor??? How does this movement relate to struggles
against racism or for self-determination in specially oppressed
communities???
I very much regret that I'm unable to be there
for these important discussions this afternoon. But I look forward to
joining in on these discussions when I return to L.A. and am able to
participate. Meanwhile, according to yesterday's Huffington Post, CEO
Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan-Chase banks "only days ago called criticism of
banks a form of discrimination and suggested it was anti-American to
criticize business at all." (Certainly makes ME want to smash
capitalism!!!)
Yours in Struggle,
