MXGM Self-Defence Manual

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Malcolm X Grassroots Movement March 2013
However, we have to recognize and be prepared to engage in substantial risk in this day and
age in taking on this type of internal community organizing. We should have no illusions as to
why more of it has not been done. The fact is a great deal of it hasn’t been done because it
often entails putting oneself in harm’s way as a result of disrupting the economic activities and
survival of various class and social sectors of our people. So, any serious organizing initiative
of this type must be prepared to engage and address this risk.
However, given that the very survival of the New Afrikan community is in question, the risk is
more than worth it. Community violence is a major obstacle and destabilizing factor in our
organizing work and community building. To end intra-communal violence it is imperative
that we take on this work guided by the teachings of George Jackson and his comrades in the
California prison system in the 1960’s and 70’s. They aimed to “transform the Black criminal
mentality (meaning anti-social, capitalistic, and predatory) into a Black revolutionary mentality” 26 .
We have to move the Street Sets and the predominantly lumpen and disposable (to the
capitalist system of production) class forces they represent from constituting a largely antisocial
force into a revolutionary force committed to engaging in mass struggle and
transformative social production for self-determination and liberation. This remains one of the
primary tasks of the Black liberation movement as it continues to struggle to recover from the
political defeats of the 1970’s and 80’s and the ongoing low-intensity, counterinsurgency
warfare being waged against us from the 1960’s to the present.
When we think about external violence perpetrated by the state and intra-communal violence it
is important that we don’t draw rigid dividing lines. A great deal of intra-communal violence
associated with Turf Wars and competition for market share in the underground economy is
directly tied to the United States government and its dominant role in managing the global
economy. The government and the financial system it represents and protects are directly tied
and profit from the lucrative underground economy (“illicit” and generic drugs, the sex trade,
and various forms of indentured or slave labor). The government operates through various
agencies, including the police, to ultimately control these markets. They employ means like
spreading rumors and lies, set up operations and killings, jailhouse snitches, and market deals
that favor one set over another, etc. So, in all reality, these two forms of violence are not as
separate and distinct as they are portrayed 27 .
Internal Community-Building Measures to Prevent Intra-Communal Violence
• Youth Organizing – In order to curb intra-communal violence amongst our people, we
are going to have to make some heavy investments in our youth, as the violence is
centered more and more amongst those between the ages of 12 and 25. It is imperative
that we start providing avenues of social connection and validation for our youth that
addresses questions of their identity and build sense of self, solidarity and community
worth from the cradle on. Some means to do this include creating rites of passage and
gender based groups, or sports teams and initiatives like the New Afrikan Scouts 28 .
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