Black fighting formations: Their strengths, weaknesses and potentialities

Abstract

Abstract

Clausewitz observed that “war is an extension of politics.” This paper argues that a fatal flaw among Black political organizations‐with certain exceptions‐has been their failure to adequately prepare for warfare in the service of self‐defense and revolutionary struggles. The failure of the non‐violent credo of the Southern Civil Rights Movement is examined as are exceptions to that credo, Robert F. Williams and also the Deacons of Defense. The Black Panther Party is analyzed as a political force unprepared for the violent confrontations it faced, and the Black Liberation Army is found to be militarily relatively sophisticated but lacking a necessary popular base. As a result of the above history, today no “fighting formation” remains to lead and organize the young African men and women prepared to fight for their survival.