Page 58 - Fighting Against the Injustice of the State and Globalization

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The Development of African American Nationalism
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3. Revolutionary Nationalism:The Wall of Black Struggle
A third pillar of African American nationalism that emphasized political, economic, and
social transformation in Black America was revolutionary nationalism.Marable expresses
that “militant nationalists of the post-war era were both anti-racist and anti-integra-
tionist, in the sense that they opposed Jim Crow laws and simultaneously advocated all-
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black economic, political and social institutions.”
African American nationalists,
particularly revolutionary ones, did not want to be integrated into White society as sub-
ordinates.They struggled for Black human dignity and true equality. Reflecting on the
tactical differences among Black leaders on the positions of integration and separation,
Malcolm X argued “that our people want a complete freedom, justice and equality, or
recognition and respect as human beings. . . .So,integration is not the objective nor sep-
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aration the objective.The objective is complete respect as human beings.”
Among many, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael forcefully argued that Black
America must have control of its political economy, life, and culture in order to sur-
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vive and to fundamentally transform itself.
It was their position that this cannot be
done without the mobilization of all social classes and groups in the Black commu-
nity on a national level under a national leadership.As Sales notes, Black nationalism
as an ideology “became a major force at a transition stage in the development of the
Civil Rights movement: the stage requiring the accelerated institutionalization of for-
mal movement organizations, the transformation of a regional movement into a truly
national one, and the integration of previously inactive classes and social groups into
the ongoing mobilization.” 195 Discussing the importance of Blacks having control
over their lives and attaining development,Malcolm X said,“Just because you’re in this
country doesn’t make you an American. No, you’ve got to go farther than that before
you can become an American.You’ve got to enjoy the fruits of Americanism.” 196 Dur-
ing this phase, various militant and revolutionary organizations and the Black masses
began to go beyond the civil rights demands. 197 Jack M. Bloom says,“The civil rights
movement had won its victories because blacks had been able to assemble a coalition
that altered the balance of power within the nation.That coalition had brought about
structural change within the south; but that same coalition put limits on the extent of
change it was willing to support.” 198 Malcolm X recognized this reality and started to
search for an organizational solution.
Malcolm X was a revolutionary democratic leader who combined the best ele-
ments of “the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the Constitution of the U.S.A. and the Bill of Rights” in the objectives of his
new organization, the Organization of African American Unity (OAAU). 199 He
attempted to revolutionize and internationalize the African American movement by
creating the OAAU.According to Sales,“Due to U.S. fear of world opinion, interna-
tionalizing the struggle of African Americans would give Black people breathing room
against the power of racism in the United States. Such breathing room could be used
to organize for self-defense, aggressive electoral politics, and Black economic ad-
vancement.” 200 Using the OAAU, Malcolm planned to form an African American
united front based on the ideologies of Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism. He
spread revolutionary Black nationalism to the masses.
Malcolm X mobilized material, intellectual, and ideological resources to chal-
lenge the racist establishment and to provide a new direction for the African Amer-
ican movement. He made the most important contribution in the ideological arena