During the second month of the year, in commemoration of his life, sacrifice and legacy, we honour the eminent prophet Omowale Malcolm X.  This year will be no different and it couldn’t be more timely given the current climate of global protest.

Last year scores of young Afrikans were inspired to join or even establish organisations in the wake of the global George Floyd/“Black Lives Matter” protests.   In one sense this is consistent with the legacy of Omowale Malcolm X, whom after his official departure from the Nation Of Islam in 1964 created not one but two organisations, affirming his contention that liberation comes only through organisation.  (1) However, in another sense one may query if these motivated young people didn’t join existing organisations because they didn’t exist or they did but were simply not aware of them.

Either scenario presents a challenge to existing grassroots organisations.  While it should be acknowledged that these organisations do not attract the same coverage of appointed/celebrity “leaders” (including politicians, academics, etc) who may actually work against the community (2), it is also the case there is no published comprehensive history of the grassroots/liberation community on the level of, for example, Tony Martin’s Race First, or even Theodore Vincent’s Voices Of A Black Nation. There are some invaluable memoirs and biographies such as Obi Egbuna’s Destroy This Temple: The Voice Of Black Power in Britain, Margaret Andrews’ Doing Nothing Is Not An Option: The Radical Lives of Eric & Jessica Huntley or Winston Trew’s Black For A Cause… Not Just Because.. The case of the ‘Oval4’ and the story of Black Power in 1970s Britain.  Claudius Adisa Steven’s essay The Evolution Ideas And Practices Among African-Centred Organisations In The UK 1975-2015 in Hakim Adi’s (Ed) Black British History: New Perspectives, gives a useful but brief overview of some notable grassroots organisations.  Now the concern is that the paucity of substantive accounts will give licence to the BBC, through the likes of Steve McQueen, to redefine the history of the Black Power movement in the UK, the same way some believe John Ridley did with the mini-series Guerilla. (3)

Those that have been in the community for some time will have noted the premium placed on longevity (of organisations and programmes), challenging as it is – not least because of the ostensible difficulty in inducting successive generations into the movement.  Thus, to many it appears that too few activists’ children follow their parents into the movement.  One caveat here is the work state agencies actively engage in to prevent this happening like with Malcolm Shabazz, Fred Hampton Jr and Bokar Ture. (4)  Not enough acknowledgment is given to the scope and impact similar state activities in the UK and how it has affected and even continues to affect the growth and development of the movement.

(1) Omowale Malcolm X (28/06/64) Malcolm X’s Speech At The Founding Rally Of The Organization Of Afro-American Unity https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1964-malcolm-x-s-speech-founding-rally-organization-afro-american-unity/

(2) Blacks and Jews.com (2004) Dr. Tony Martin to Speak in London! http://web.archive.org/web/20081026203944/http://www.blacksandjews.com/Martin.UK.Disinvitation2.html

(3) Lanre Bakare (29/01/21) Steve McQueen to produce BBC films on black power and UK schools scandal. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jan/29/steve-mcqueen-to-produce-bbc-films-on-black-power-and-uk-schools-scandal; Hunter Harris (11/04/17) Guerrilla’s Critics Say John Ridley’s New Show Erases Black Women Activists. https://www.vulture.com/2017/04/the-controversy-surrounding-showtimes-guerrilla.html

(4) Jared Ball (06/10/16) Fred Hampton, Jr. Discusses Malcolm Shabazz, Now-Intelpro and More. https://imixwhatilike.org/2016/10/06/fred-hampton-jr-discusses-malcolm-shabazz-now-intelpro-and-more/; Bokar Ture (09/11/18) Interview at AAPRP/PASCF Kwame Ture Tribute event. He shared that even though he is nowhere near as active as his father Kwame Ture, he revealed he is regularly under state surveillance.

We ask the question:

What is the status of Black Activism Today?

1) Why did young activists start new organisations rather than join existing ones?

2) How can these organisations work with existing ones?

3) Do too few activists’ children follow their parents into the movement?

4) Is our liberation history under threat of being re-written by outside forces?

5) How effective has the liberation movement been in documenting its history and leaving a legacy?

Our Special Guest:

Bro. Ibrahim Hashim: Community Organiser for Black Youth-led group Justice For Black Lives.