MXGM Self-Defence Manual

;
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement March 2013
This fragmentation can and must be overcome to stop the genocide being perpetuated against
us by the forces of white supremacy and imperialism. However, we should not be under any
illusion that we will ever unite all New Afrikan people. But, we must strive to unite the overall
mass of New Afrikan people following the principle of “uniting all that can be united” to win selfdetermination.
Overcoming fragmentation as a critical element of self-defense starts with community organizing,
but community organizing with clear goals and objectives. One of the goals is overcoming the
increasingly divergent views our people have about the US government and the role of the state
in general. Prior to the 1970’s, there was a broad consensus amongst New Afrikan people that
the US government was not an entity to be trusted, particularly as it related to respecting and
protecting New Afrikan life.
As the legal structure of US apartheid was defeated in the 1960’s and neo-colonialism became
the new means of governing and controlling New Afrikan people, this perception began to
shift. Many started to see the settler-colonial government as something that could be reformed
to handle our problems, as New Afrikan congressional members, mayors, and city council
members were elected and New Afrikan police were hired and incorporated into the colonial
governance structures. With the growth of the underground economy and the predatory and
misogynist anti-social activities and behaviors associated with it, many petit bourgeois and
working class sectors of the community turned to the police to protect them. They considered
the police and other government agents as the only “legitimate” force capable of protecting
their lives and possessions. And to solve the social ills of “Black on Black” crime, intracommunal
violence, gang wars, drug abuse, and sexual exploitation many began to support
government initiatives like the “war on drugs” and “get tuff on crime” measures. Since the
1980’s, many New Afrikan politicians’ have voted to support the drug war, in addition to three
strikes legislation, mandatory minimum sentencing, and increased prison spending. They have
also supported other government strategies of containment, like the Violent Crime Control and
Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
that advanced the militarization of the police and promoted the warehousing of millions of our
people in the prison gulags of the empire 16 .
Our organizing work has to address and ultimately defeat this false notion. But, it must start by
demonstrating that we can both curb police violence directed against us and solve our own
problems relating to intra-communal conflicts and contradictions without the intervention of
the state (like calling the police to address our disputes). In order to do this, we are going to
have to organize a broad range of interlocking structures, like block committees, neighborhood
councils, elder’s councils, people’s assemblies, and people’s tribunals to jointly address our
internal and external problems. These structures are just as important, if not more so in the
present era, than the Copwatch, security teams, and militias that we need to fortify and/or
(re)build.
The poison and pollution of capitalist cities is choking us. We need the strong medicine of our foremothers to make us well
again. We need their medicines to give us strength to fight and the drive to win. Under the guidance of Harriet Tubman
and Fannie Lou Hamer and all of our foremothers, let us rebuild a sense of community. Let us rebuild the culture of
giving and carrying on the tradition of fierce determination to move on closer to freedom.
Assata Shakur
13