Illegitimate Capitalists

[Ericka Huggins]

Drug Dealers
Armed Robbers
Gangs

When Huey Newton needed to raise funds for the party, he used his Security and Defence Cadre the "Bhudda Samurai" headed by Masai and later by Flores or Fly as he became known.

The Bhudda Samurai took 23 percent of all organized criminals net profit, using heavy violence when payment was late aswell as raiding speakeasies and crack houses, this was known as the sterner stuff.

Huey said that he wanted the BPP to minimize organized crime to near wiping it out, but etting some run the criminal enterprises in order for the BPP to be able to tax them to create funds.

Is this a revolutionary/counter revolutionary outlook, he said that as revolutionaries they should never support the oppressors law, so they shouldnt try and shutdown all the criminals as this would be supporting the pigs.

What do you think?

[RedSonRising]

Usually methods like these end up hurting the working class more than it helps them out. Taxes from oppressive informal capitalism shouldn't be a source for a revolutionary party's revenue. I can see their logic since they were also trying to wipe crime out and give less power to the State, but in broader applications as well as principally, this harms those surrounded by coercive criminal activity and substance abuse.The practice endangers the movement into relying on such activities to sustain themselves as an organization, becoming more of an ideologically motivated gang than a proletarian movement advancing working class interests.

[chegitz guevara]

The IRA acted as the police in the areas they controlled. Communities need some kind of police force, in order to protect them from crime. There would have been nothing wrong with the BPP acting in such a capacity.

When we abolish the capitalists' police, we will still need our own police, to deal with hooligans, thieves, saboteurs, violent criminals, etc.

However, some in the BPP were running guns and drugs themselves, so they weren't all so noble minded.

[Ericka Huggins]

You are right, but remember, in oakland and LA, most of the black communities where panthers recruited were steeped in criminal and outlaw culture, most teens would probably admire local pimps and dealers for beating the eyetem etc, its only after fanon Mao and Lenin moulds ones mind that these fallacies are eradicated.

But yes there were alot of members engaged in dealing and robbery, but this was to get by not a big organised racket.

The most upsetting thing about the BPP to me was that a panther named Jimmy used to viciously beat chairman elaine Brown when they were both panthers, yet many panthers took jimmys side, also women couldnt date outside the party, which Emma Huggins went mad at during a meeting about it, huey gave her daggers and walked out.

But i still think they were a good and revolutionary organization.