SOULBOOK - Freedom Archives

168 Meman
we must realize that he has considerable influence amongst the naive nogro campfollowers
of pet :rnalistic white liber :ls . Hence for our confused .brothers' eke
we must wage a resolute campaign against his obstrusions on Black revolutionary
thought . ~;
When Isaacs looks at Fanon through his liberal-scope he sees all kinds of
take-offs in "a succession of wild and blurry yonders ." Although it is true that
much of Fanon's thoughts are incomplete (is this amazing when the man knew he
was racing against death to finish this book ?), he is quite consistent with his
two main themes
"Now, the 'felIah', the unemployed man, the starving native do not lay a claim to the
truth ; they do not say that they represent the truth for they are the truth ."(p .34)
The other focus of interest is
'The nationalist militant who had fled from the town in disgust ., . .discovers in
real action a new form of political activity which in no way resembles the old .
These politics are national, revolutionary and social
and these new facts which the
native will now come to know exist only in action . They are the essence of the fight
which explodes the old colonial
truths and reveals unexpected f?cets, which brings out
new meanings and pinpoints the contradictions :camouflaged by these facts .. . Violence
alone, violence committed . by the people, u ;o .lence organized and educated by its leaders,
and gives the. key to them . VO THOUT THAT KNOV~LEDGE OF THE PRACTICE OF ACTION, THERE'S
NOTHING BUT A FANCY-DRESS PARADE AND THE BLARE OF THE TRUMPETS ." p . 117 (emphasis added
by kmf )
So when one reads Fanon's masterpiece he should keep in mind these enlightening
passages ; . they are the containers that enclose the heteregenous insights
that are spread like wilc'ifiro-through this - incendiary book .
Isaacs says that Fanon is saying that violence is the only way to win manhood .
It is very true that Fanon is convinced that violence is the b e s t arm. of ' -.e colonized
that can be used against the colonialist barbarity; he is also convinced that
violence is of maximum sociological value because 'the colon zed"s violence unifies
the people ; and at the level of psychology: 'if frees the native from his inferiority
complex and from his despair and inaction ; it makes him fearless and restores
his self-respect.' But Fanon is quick to call a halt to generalizations
"We know for sure today that in Algeria the test of force eras inevitable ; but other countries
through the work of clarification undert?ken by a party led their people . to the ,same results ."p54
is aacs says that "it is not easy to play Fanon's game . .(???? =kmf) . . . without
a scorecard to tell you who the players are . . . ." But Isaacs' bias to bourgeosize
everything Black proscribes him from seeing that Fanon obviously does not give
4ft hot damn what the names of the players are in the (cont . p . 168)