"Revolutionary Intercommunalism"

[ReVoLuTiOnArY-BrOtHeR]

Brothers and sisters, I would like to get your ideas concerning Huey's concept of revolutionary intercommunalism and how it is or is not relevant to our current political situation. I believe it could be applied but let me hear what comrades have to say.

[zimmerwald1915]

Brothers and sisters, I would like to get your ideas concerning Huey's concept of revolutionary intercommunalism and how it is or is not relevant to our current political situation. I believe it could be applied but let me hear what comrades have to say.
Would you mind, for the benefit of the unenlightened among us, explaining just what revolutionary intercommunalism is?

[ReVoLuTiOnArY-BrOtHeR]

Would you mind, for the benefit of the unenlightened among us, explaining just what revolutionary intercommunalism is?

Well its the concept put forth by Huey P. Newton, who was Minister of Defense of the Black Panther Party.

Revolutionary intercommunalism basically rejected inter-nationalism because they though nations didn't exist, i.e in order to be a nation you have to have self-determination and independence but no country has that except for the imperialist empires. So it would be wrong to say internationalism, communalism would be more accurate, because according to Huey we are all communities in the world. Thus, giving notion to revolutionary intercommunalism.

[ReVoLuTiOnArY-BrOtHeR]

Its an interesting concept. Here is the original document by Huey Newton: http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Huey_P_Newton/pdf/Huey.pdf

Thank you for providing me that link brother.

[Crusade]

Aside from Huey's belief that non imperialists countries aren't "nations", how does intercommunialism differ from internationalism? Is the distinction between communities and nations that important? If the people gained power over the means of production and redistributed the wealth accordingly, would it still be intercommunialism or internationalism? If the people have the control necessary to be considered a true nation, not controlled by empires, we would be considered seperate nations correct? Ok one final question(sorry, it's an intriguing concept), did Huey considered it a GOAL for us to be nations working together, but separately? Or was he just making a point that at the moment, we're communities under empire rule and not true nations?

[Kléber]

Intercommunalism came out of the particular historical situation of the Black Panther Party in which communities of African descent and others in the US were subject to national forms of oppression and the struggles and demands of workers of those communities thus took on the character of national movements. The BPP started out as fairly reactionary nationalists, then they moved to progressive nationalism, and finally developed the idea of revolutionary intercommunalism. While it is a heavily flawed theory, it was a step in the right direction and I am sure that the BPP would have gone even further and provided new theoretical contributions and struggles were it not for murderous FBI repression and assassinations, and the stabilization of US imperialism's world situation in the late 1970's that destroyed the Party.


did Huey considered it a GOAL for us to be nations working together, but separately? Or was he just making a point that at the moment, we're communities under empire rule and not true nations?Kinda both, he advocated self-determination, but argued that a new stage of imperialist development had outmoded the concept of "nation state" and therefore there were no more "nations," just empires and oppressed communities. To this "reactionary intercommunalism" of the global elite, which had supposedly broken down all forms of national self-determination (aside from imperial ones), Huey P counterposed revolutionary intercommunalism. His opposition to proletarian "internationalism" was more or less a technical distinction.

IMO his theory about "people's liberated territory" or a revolutionary non-state existing in Vietnam and Cambodia was proven wrong when those two "socialist states" went to war with one another. Nevertheless the "temporary autonomous zone" concept and "post-colonial" pseudo-anarchist thinking of today largely bites off his ideas. At any rate, Huey P Newton was a very unconventional and innovative theorist and there's no saying what he would think today.

[scarletghoul]

I think there is a lot to the theory of Intercommunalism. Certainly global capitalism has integrated the world economically, and to a lesser extent culturally and linguistically etc. So I would agree that capitalism has already ended nationhood, and we should be sure to take that into account.
The theory as it is in that article is far from complete, but I think its generally correct. afiik no one has attempted to develope it substantially which is a shame. (Huey P Newton was still only in his 20s when he made this theoretical development, and its pretty remarkable to consider how much he accomplished so early in his life, in both practical and theoretical innovation. . I hate what the government done to him :( if he had been allowed to fulfil his potential he could very well have become the new Marx or something. )

So yeah anyway I think the theory is generally correct but needs to be developed more

[Crusade]

if he had been allowed to fulfil his potential he could very well have become the new Marx or something. )

So yeah anyway I think the theory is generally correct but needs to be developed more

Well I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend. Note to self: Further develop intercommunalist theory. :thumbup1::engles::hammersickle:
We need a BPP smiley :(

[scarletghoul]

Awesome, be sure to post any new ideas.

Also I made a Huey smiley a while ago but it never got added
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee103/eddieeddieeddiepie/huey.png
Loads of great smilies were made in this thread : http://www.revleft.com/vb/can-we-have-t114645/index.html

[ReVoLuTiOnArY-BrOtHeR]

I think Huey's concept could still be applied today but of course it would have to be developed to fit the existing material conditions.