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Title: Anarcho-Pantherista
Date: 1995
Source: 1995 Aug/Sep issue of L&R. Retrieved on 2020–05 28-from [[https://bibdig.biblioteca.unesp.br/handle/10/26436][bibdig.biblioteca.unesp.br]]
Authors: Ashanti Alston, Ashanti Omowali
Topics: Black anarchism, Black panther party
Published: 2020-05-28 08:02:18Z

In the Black Panther Party, when someone said, “Power to the People!” the

response would be “ALL Power to the

People!” After many years of political

imprisonment, employing the easy-to-use

Malcolm-Eldridge Educational Supercharger, that call/response would take on

more anarchistic meaning. This is about my

experience in the now as an anarchist (a

baby one) within a generally hierarchical

Panther formation.

It was just this year, Jan.~~1995, that I

decided to publicly identify myself as anarchist. In playing around I came up with a

term to identify me fully: @narcho-pantherista (thinking about the word Sandinista,

ha!). Though, just in fun, I decided to keep

it. It’s me. Silly, anarchistic, for real.

As a politically active teen in the ‘60s,

making it through that magnificent and

turbulent time, I was ready when me and

my Comrade (Jihad Abdul Mumit, now a

POW in Lewisburg Stalag, Penn.) were first

attracted to that image of Huey and Bobby.

Black-bereted, black-jacketed, black on

down to the boots. And strapped! Panthers.

Yeah, let’s check them out.

Our nationalist and rebel politics began

to evolve into something more revolutionary and focused. We learned ideology, organization, preparation, comradeship, daring.

Once I began to get the picture, I was convinced: Panther revolution, lumpen-proletariat, urban guerrilla warfare, Serve the

People survival programs, *Wretched of the Earth*, “L’il Red Book,” Panther sistas in

leading functions, Victory...

In short, the Panthers helped me into

“the process of becoming,” as to what a

revolutionary dedicated to freedom, freedom, and more freedom was all about. One

must never stop learning and growing and

working for the People.

My 12+ years on the Malcolm-Eldridge

Supercharger led me, in prison, to further

my learning and understanding of so many

things: Wilhelm Reich and the Frankfurt

School of psychology, various schools of

radical feminist thought and critique, and

Paulo Freire’s methodology of community

education and empowerment. And James

Boggs kept me grounded in the power of

the Black underclass in Babylon. In all, I

was not only learning some heavy shit, but

I was being challenged to give up certain

old ways, beliefs, and mind-sets that were

backwards and anti-revolutionary.

At some point, while in the Marion stalag,

a Panther and a stone-cold Sicilian revolutionary threw some anarchist literature on

me. Got to tell the truth though, my

Marxist-Leninist-Maoist teachings had

already biased me against the shit. So I was

quite reluctant to really check it out. But it

helped that I loved them Brothers. Funny

thing is, when you locked down in segregation for months and done read every muthafuckin’ thing else, you get bored. After a

while, you’ll pick up and read toilet paper!

What happened was that I did read the shit

and regardless of what my Marxist-Leninist-Maoist authorities had said against it, this

anarchism was raising some good points.

As I relaxed my mind-set, I learned more.

Combined with the insights of the more

progressive and radical psychologies and

feminist critiques, things that I had experienced in the past and my understanding of

movement history began to look different.

Structure, sexism, authoritarian peer pressure against individuality, spontaneity, creativity and love. Come to find out that this

guy named Bakunin had some valid criticisms of the god Marx, and Kropotkin was

deep in Lenin’s shit and Marxist revolution

wasn’t the only way to go.

Years before (before my kapture in 74),

another Panther, Frankie Ziths had given

me a mimeographed thing on the anarchist

Makhno and his forces and their foul treatment by the Bolsheviks. Couldn’t handle it

then, but now 15 years later I read it again

and again. Frankie was like that—very, very

critical thinker. No respecter of titles.

Practice counts. My Comrade passed before

I could say thanks.

Anarchism came to mean the same long-range objective held by my revolutionary

nationalist movement and the general radical movement as far as evolving or creating a communist society. The anarchist differed in terms of *how* to do it. Anarchism

said, “Let’s promote the People’s self-directing and self-governing capacities now.”

Don’t need no authoritarian political parties

acting like parental control-freaks. People

got brains. Remember, that’s where we

come from. “Have Faith in the People, Have

Faith in the Party,” say the Marxist-Leninist-Maoists. No! “Have Faith in the

People” and let it stand. If any individual

or group got something to offer from their

experiences, expertise or “higher” learnings, then let the relationship to the People

in struggle be one of facilitation, and not

this arrogant leadership.

Mind-set from the old school is a muthafucka. There are times when new knowledge can be so powerful that the learner

experiences a sense of being overwhelmed.

How do I convey all this so that it can be

of help to others individually and organizationally. My concern? We gotta win. But

only the People’s full participation can

bring true victory. And the People are real

individual human beings, like me—with

brains, desires, fears, angers, dreams, etc.

Before coming out of prison in ’85 I made a

personal vow to never ignore this. I was

coming out bringing my learnings in psychology, feminism, and anarchism. They

were now a part of me.

The Black Panther Collective was formed

about a year ago as a result of people in

the slave quarters seeing the Black Panther

newspaper. Many expressed an interest in

the activities of the Black Panther

Newspaper Committee, a formation of former members of the BPP. These mainly

young brothas and sistas expressed a desire

to wanna work Revolution in their respective slave quarters and do it in the spirit of

the Panther as they understood it. So,

BPNC/NY decided to call up them numbers

and set the process going. I am proud to

say that most of the ones who first stepped

forward are still with the process. They’re

baaad and are revolutionaries after our

own hearts, as indicated by the fact that we

fight all the time (because they got minds

of their own!). They wanted two things

from us: (1) to be involved in community

work, including political prisoner work,

and (2) P.E., political education, including

BP history and style of practice. We were

more than happy to provide both. But this

was, and still is, no easy process, because

they demanded Leadership! Anarchism has

taught me to pay particular attention to

this concept and its political dangers to

individuality, spontaneity, creativity, and

the overall health and welfare of the

Revolution for a truly free society.

Revolution is learning how to bring a

large variety of personalities together into a

powerful harmony. This harmony must lay

down some general direction and get work

done. It’s never easy. It’s struggle. It takes a

lot of skill. The BP Collective was gonna

learn this. We started off without a formal

structure. We just called it and got it

together. The Old Guard of BPNC too

already had responsibilities to put out the

newspaper and work to raise consciousness

of our comrades who are STILL political

prisoners. An informal structure, more or

less leaderless, developed around this work

with the BPNC encouraging others to join

in. And they did!

The initial crew was baaad! Yeah. Sold

the Black Panther like they owned it, and

with spirit. Wasn’t afraid to talk with peo-

ple and engage them. Or challenge them for

that matter. “Well, why don’t you wanna

buy the paper? It’s for you, Sista. Don’t be

afraid, Brotha. Don’t wait for them to kick

down your door...” Mm-m. Panther spirit.

So much work to be done. “There’s a

Political Prisoner meeting on blah-blah, at

7:00 PM. Those of you who are interested

in working...” That’s all. They were there.

You should see them now with the FREE

MUMIA work! We worked so much that we

never got around to structure or structuring

our activities and decision and direction-making processes. It was gonna cost us,

and it did. But it had to happen.

Revolution, after defeat and years gone

by, is as much psychological as it is formally political. Panthers, automatic members of

the BPNC, came together after years in the

absence of the intense, disciplined struggle

that we once knew. We been through

changes. We were still trying to gel our different personalities. But now it’s structure

time. The Collective is calling for leadership.

It is time for the essential struggle to begin:

one for clarity, uniformity of will, formal

organization of BPC with ideology, a chain

of command and rules. Oh god!

In the Collective, everyone is encouraged

to speak one’s mind. In the BPP, we practiced

Mao’s Combat Liberalism as best we could. It

is still a good thing and not a bad thing. As

an anarchist now, with other groundings in

psychology and Feminism, I offer, when

appropriate, my 2 cents on matters of structure, taking initiative to do things on one’s

own, and against sexism. A big part of the

difficulty I have working my 2 cents is that

People raised on hierarchy, authoritarian

beliefs truly see such as natural. There’s

always gotta be leadership. I say why? Who

says? What kind? Why assume that there’s

only one form of organizational structure?

And what does it mean when our structure

resembles the enemy’s? As a member of this

Collective body, I accept its general direction

even if I am the minority member in my

views. Because it is democratic enough to

allow input, I can still raise my views, as can

anyone. Oh yeah, I get frustrated and angry.

But that’s normal stuff in any grouping. I

think that the BPC who are young-in-experience understand at this point that frustration

and anger are part of the process. As we’d

say in the Party, “It’s a good thing not a bad

thing.” It’s the only way we can pull a

diverse group of people together. As one

BPNC member said in referring to the

Collective, “They are a bunch of crazy-ass

muthafuckas,” the kind of good human

beings who make Revolution.

It’s hard to feel comfortable if you truly

believe that you see internal dangers in your

group. I am one person. I guess I believe like

anybody else that my critique is on-point,

that my warning-signs should be heeded. But

this is a body of people and though it may

not be anarchist, it’s democratic enough for

me to feel that my 2 cents is valued.

My collective knows that I raise my

voice against sexism. I talk revolutionary

sexuality and lay out condoms on meeting

tables. I’m always bringing reading material because I believe we must be encouraged

to read, read, read. But I don’t want to just

get stuck off into Marxist stuff—“Lil’ Red

Book,” etc. No matter how valuable they

are. I’ve shared Lorenzo Komboa Ervin’s

(Black anarchist, former Black Panther, and

now member of the Federation of Black

Community Partisans) writings with them.

Exposure to diverse views and critiques is

what is needed. I am one of these diverse

“elders,” as they call us of BPNC. As the

@narcho-pantherista I can only be me and

give my best and hope that others see that

my main concern is Revolution, ALL Power

to the People, and victory over all our enemies, from people who oppose freedom to

mind-sets that continue to hold on to anti-freedom, anti-revolutionary ideas.

The BPC is a spirited group of hard-ass

revolutionaries. Already, on their own, tired

of waiting for us (the leadership), they put a

food program into motion on 116th St, and

Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. in Harlem, the

capital of this “captive nation” (I’m a revolutionary intercommunalist, personally, to add

fuel to the fire). I say Right On! It’s about

initiative and I like theirs. The People are

their own leaders, their own Liberators. I see

myself as participant-facilitator. @narcho-pantherista, the highest stage of pantherism.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

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Ashanti Omowali

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