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Looks cool.
Sadly, the title inherently reinforces the messiah complex and personality cult in referencing Hoover’s label for Fred.
This could set us back if there is no clear acknowledgement of this structural, organizational, or cultural conundrum baked within the narrative. https://twitter.com/wbpictures/status/1291509358241644544
Sadly, the title inherently reinforces the messiah complex and personality cult in referencing Hoover’s label for Fred.
This could set us back if there is no clear acknowledgement of this structural, organizational, or cultural conundrum baked within the narrative. https://twitter.com/wbpictures/status/1291509358241644544
Will anticapitalist rhetoric be centered?
Will his particular ideology and the ideologies of the BPP be analyzed and contextualized for that time?
Will org structures be spoken to?
Was any of this adequately understood by the writer(s) + director(s) of the film?
Probably not.
Will his particular ideology and the ideologies of the BPP be analyzed and contextualized for that time?
Will org structures be spoken to?
Was any of this adequately understood by the writer(s) + director(s) of the film?
Probably not.
When it comes to the Black Panther Party, let the thread below serve as your intro to one of the most critical looks at what actually went down to date, and from someone who was operating at the highest level within the Party:
Donald “Field Marshal” Cox. https://twitter.com/BlackSocialists/status/1280495769318014978?s=20
Donald “Field Marshal” Cox. https://twitter.com/BlackSocialists/status/1280495769318014978?s=20
We also recommend Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin’s “Anarchism and the Black Revolution” (and Chapter 3 in particular).
You can read it in its entirety here:
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/lorenzo-kom-boa-ervin-anarchism-and-the-black-revolution
You can read it in its entirety here:
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/lorenzo-kom-boa-ervin-anarchism-and-the-black-revolution
If you read works from both Ervin and Cox, here are some things you’ll notice:
• Ervin argues it is mainly feds that are to blame for the collapse of the BPP.
• Cox argues it is mainly centralized leadership and personality cult that are to blame for the collapse of the BPP.
• Ervin argues it is mainly feds that are to blame for the collapse of the BPP.
• Cox argues it is mainly centralized leadership and personality cult that are to blame for the collapse of the BPP.
Ervin:
“I do not want to imply that the internal errors were the primary contradictions that destroyed the BPP. The police attacks on it did that, but, if it were better and more democratically organized, it may have weathered the storm. So this is no mindless criticism...”
“I do not want to imply that the internal errors were the primary contradictions that destroyed the BPP. The police attacks on it did that, but, if it were better and more democratically organized, it may have weathered the storm. So this is no mindless criticism...”
Ervin (cont'd):
“I loved the Party. And, anyway, not myself or anyone else who critique the party with hindsight, will ever take away from the tremendous tack that the BPP played in the Black Liberation movement of the 1960s. But...”
“I loved the Party. And, anyway, not myself or anyone else who critique the party with hindsight, will ever take away from the tremendous tack that the BPP played in the Black Liberation movement of the 1960s. But...”
Ervin (cont'd):
“... we must look at a full picture of our organizations from that period, so that we do not repeat the same errors.”
“... we must look at a full picture of our organizations from that period, so that we do not repeat the same errors.”
Cox:
“I do not agree with the widespread idea that it was the repression by law enforcement agencies that destroyed the Black Panther Party. Of course, they did much harm. But each blatant act of repression was accompanied by growing support among the people.”
“I do not agree with the widespread idea that it was the repression by law enforcement agencies that destroyed the Black Panther Party. Of course, they did much harm. But each blatant act of repression was accompanied by growing support among the people.”
Cox (cont'd):
“The public repression the party received was clear evidence, for all to see, that the things we were saying about the repressive, exploitative nature of the American system were true.“
“The public repression the party received was clear evidence, for all to see, that the things we were saying about the repressive, exploitative nature of the American system were true.“
Cox (cont'd):
“And after the murder of Fred Hampton in his bed as he slept, even our staunchest detractors began giving consideration to what we had been saying.
We refuse our own history by blaming every negative thing that occurred on the COINTELPRO.”
“And after the murder of Fred Hampton in his bed as he slept, even our staunchest detractors began giving consideration to what we had been saying.
We refuse our own history by blaming every negative thing that occurred on the COINTELPRO.”
The point that both Cox and Ervin agree on is that centralization and top-down, authoritarian models of organization that placed emphasis on individual “leaders” played a huge role in the collapse of the BPP.
We have still not learned these lessons.
Will this film help or hurt?
We have still not learned these lessons.
Will this film help or hurt?
