0:00

Hello everybody and welcome back

0:02

to Red Menace.

0:15

So

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today we start our basically three

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part series on Frantz Fanon's

0:23

Wretched of the Earth. So today we're covering

0:26

the first two chapters on violence

0:28

and the grandeur and weakness of spontaneity.

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And then next month we're coming back and doing the next two

0:33

chapters. And by the end of the year we'll

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have covered this entire text and that is when

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we will move back to Marx and Engels specifically.

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We've always told our listeners we're doing this interesting

0:43

trajectory where we cover a lot of the basic

0:45

Leninist and Maoist texts and then

0:47

we come back to Marx after a year of that

0:49

with all of that stuff in mind and hopefully bring some new

0:52

light to the original Marx. So that's

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going to be coming at the very beginning of the new year. But for the

0:56

next two to three months we

0:58

will be working through this amazing

1:00

text, The Wretched of the Earth by

1:02

Frantz Fanon. And that's what we're going to start

1:04

today.

1:05

If you do like the show and you want to support us, definitely go

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check us out at revolutionaryleftradio.com.

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You can find both Rev Left and Red Menace

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on all of our Twitter pages, our Patreon,

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etc. And if you do join our Patreon

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for Red Menace you get monthly bonus content.

1:20

So yeah, this is going to be a pretty long episode so

1:22

I'm going to make the intro very short and sort

1:24

of finish it there. And let's just go ahead and start diving

1:26

into this amazing text. So Allison, if

1:28

you want to just go ahead and start us off.

1:30

Awesome, cool. So yeah, I'll go ahead and start the text

1:32

off. So I want to start by just acknowledging this text is

1:34

very hard to summarize and so we'll probably

1:37

go a little bit longer on the summary section than

1:39

we normally would. Please bear with

1:41

us. Fanon's writing style is very,

1:43

very beautiful but also very difficult to track

1:46

at times. We're trying to parse it into as

1:48

coherent of a structure as we can. And that

1:50

means kind of drawing some things out more than we normally

1:52

would in other texts. So with that

1:54

said, Fanon begins the opening chapter

1:56

of this book titled On Violence with a

1:59

very bold and broad.

1:59

just quite frankly to the point claim. He

2:02

writes that quote, national liberation, nationally

2:05

reawakening, restoration of the nation,

2:07

of the people or commonwealth, whatever the name

2:09

used, whatever the latest expression, decolonization

2:13

is always a violent event, end quote.

2:15

And these words really perfectly capture Benoist

2:18

project in this chapter. He attempts to

2:20

look at the conditions under which decolonization

2:22

can occur while paying special attention

2:24

to the psychological aspect of

2:26

violent colonial repression, as well as the psychological

2:29

aspects of a violent decolonial uprising

2:31

and what that does to the people who participate

2:33

in it. So if Benoist insists that decolonization

2:36

is a historic process, which must be understood,

2:38

quote, as the encounter between two

2:41

congenitally antagonistic forces that

2:43

in fact owe their singularity to the kind

2:45

of reification created and nurtured by

2:48

the colonial situation, end quote.

2:50

So that's a lot of words that

2:52

can be kind of hard to parse. So let's try to break down a

2:55

little bit what Fanon is talking about here, and

2:57

about the way that the colonizer and the colonized

3:00

reinforce this image of each other and shape

3:02

each other through a specific dialectic. So Fanon

3:05

points out that the colonized and the colonizer occupy

3:07

the same land, and that the leader exploits

3:09

the former through a violent

3:12

process of repression and occupation. And so

3:14

in order to justify this, the colonizers

3:16

have to create an image of the colonized,

3:18

this dehumanized, more animalistic,

3:21

sort of another species really, who can be

3:23

rightfully oppressed, exploited, and who can

3:25

have their land stolen from them. So

3:28

colonization actually is a process that

3:30

transforms the colonized in a specific

3:32

way by transforming them into what Fanon

3:34

says is another species.

3:36

In contrast to this, Fanon tells us that decolonization

3:38

also involves a transformation

3:40

of the colonized subject, but this time in

3:42

a different direction. He writes that it

3:45

provides them with quote, a new rhythm, a

3:47

new language, and a new humanity and

3:49

quote, thus Fanon claims that the process

3:51

of decolonization is a matter of quote, the

3:53

creation of new men, the colonized

3:56

subject, which was previously reduced to a non-human

3:58

thing is elevated to the status of

4:00

humans through anti-colonial and decolonial

4:03

struggle. So this transformation can

4:05

only be achieved through violent confrontation between

4:07

colonizers and colonizers, but not insist

4:10

that, quote, in its bare reality decolonization

4:13

reeks of red-hot cannonballs and bloody knives,

4:15

so the last can be the first only after

4:17

a murderous and decisive confrontation between

4:20

two protagonists, end quote, and

4:22

so through this violent confrontation that

4:24

decolonization transforms the

4:26

colonized subject, this violence

4:28

that allows that to take place. So

4:30

having outlined the violent nature of the decolonial

4:33

transformation, Bonon necessulates out the

4:35

colonial conditions in which decolonization occurs,

4:38

and this is a bit more descriptive. Bonon

4:40

argues that the colonial situation is defined

4:42

by division, by compartmentalization, and

4:45

by furtation. Some towns are for colonizers,

4:47

and some are for the natives, and this division occurs

4:50

throughout colonial society. You see divided

4:52

schools, divided streets, divided buildings, there's

4:54

a constant compartmentalization of the world

4:57

along the basis of colonization, and

4:59

this divided world is divided on the basis

5:01

of colonial violence. Bonon writes, quote,

5:04

the dividing line, the border, is represented

5:06

by the barracks and the police station, and

5:09

the colony is the official legitimate agent,

5:11

the spokesperson for the colonizers, and

5:13

the regime of oppression is the police officer

5:15

or the soldier, end quote. So

5:18

Bonon explains that in capitalist societies

5:20

exploitation is often masked through moral teaching,

5:22

so we might look at the way that religion, for

5:24

example, teaches people in capitalist society

5:27

to be humble and subservient to people with

5:29

authority, or we might look at the way that school

5:31

teaches us that it's good to sacrifice

5:34

for a good job someday, and that you should

5:36

do what your boss tells you so you can get a promotion,

5:38

or you should stick to the schedules that are dictated

5:40

for you by other people. This subservience

5:42

is bred through a sort of ideological means, but

5:45

Bonon tells us that this isn't really how things work

5:47

in colonial society. In contrast

5:49

to this, the colonial society is marked by brutal

5:52

and obvious violence. The police and soldiers

5:54

enact brutal violence that's not masked behind

5:56

some pretty ideology. For the colonized

5:59

subject, they're not given and ideology that makes

6:01

a beautiful story of why they should submit,

6:03

they are daily reminded through brute force

6:06

and repression that they have to submit

6:08

to the colonized forces. And this

6:10

violence is used to keep native people combined

6:12

to native sectors outside of the areas occupied

6:14

by the colonizers. These areas according

6:16

to Fanon are marked by poverty and desperation,

6:19

and the conditions inside them often cause

6:21

the colonized to grow resentful and to look at the European

6:23

colonizers with a strong sense of envy. Fanon

6:26

claims that, quote, there's not one colonized

6:28

subject who at least once a day does not dream

6:30

of taking the place of the colonists, end quote.

6:33

In this world of division and bifurcation, things

6:35

operate slightly differently than in capitalist society.

6:38

Fanon actually tells us that race can't be conceptualized

6:41

as a mere superstructure which results from the economic

6:43

base of colonialism. Here he somewhat challenges

6:46

the Marxist view of things that often reduces race

6:48

to an ideological product of capitalism

6:51

rather than a starting point for repression in the

6:53

first place. Fanon writes that,

6:55

quote, looking at the immediacies of the colonial

6:57

context, it is clear that what divides the world

7:00

is first and foremost what species,

7:02

what race one belongs to. In the colonies,

7:04

the economic infrastructure is also a superstructure.

7:07

The cause is a fact. You are rich because you

7:09

are white, you are white because you are rich. This

7:11

is why a Marxist analysis should always be slightly

7:14

stretched when it comes to addressing colonial issues.

7:16

It's not just the concept of pre-capitalist society

7:19

so effectively studied by Marx which needs to

7:21

be re-examined here. The surf is essentially

7:23

different from the night but a reference to divine right

7:26

is needed to justify that difference in status.

7:28

In the colonies, the foreigner imposed himself

7:31

using his cannons and machines. Despite the

7:33

success of this pacification, in spite

7:35

of his appropriation, the colonist always remains

7:37

a foreigner. It is not the factories or

7:39

the estates or the bank account which primarily

7:42

characterizes the ruling class. The ruling

7:44

species is first and foremost the outsider

7:46

from elsewhere, different from the indigenous population,

7:49

the others, end quote. And

7:51

so, Fanon pushes back against potentially

7:53

reductive Marxist readings of colonization.

7:56

That look at colonization is primarily

7:58

about capitalism. see race as a secondary

8:01

afterthought that doesn't need to be centrally focused

8:03

into our theory. But Don says we need to stretch

8:06

Marxism and realize that we can't have this

8:08

reductive approach if we really want to understand

8:10

colonization in the first place.

8:13

And so the colonial system divides the world

8:15

into two separate species, the colonizer

8:17

and the colonized, and it enacts intense

8:20

violence in the service of preserving this division.

8:22

The colonized are seen as evil and vicious

8:24

animals by the colonizer, but the colonized

8:27

knows that this is not the case. They know that

8:29

they're humans, and that they eventually will begin to

8:31

prepare for the struggle which will demonstrate their

8:33

humanity through violence. Decolonization

8:36

then is the quote unquote appropriation of violence

8:39

by the colonized. This is not an idealist

8:41

process of simply removing the compartmentalization

8:44

above the colonial world. Decolonization

8:46

is a fundamentally violent act, an act

8:49

of destruction. But Don writes that

8:51

quote, to destroy the colonial world means

8:53

nothing less than demolishing the colonist sector,

8:56

burying it deep within the earth and banishing

8:58

it from the territory, end quote. And

9:01

so Fanon shows us that the colonized will eventually

9:03

rise up and wage a struggle against the colonizers

9:05

to appropriate the violence that their enemies have

9:07

used and to assert their humanity through revolutionary

9:10

struggle. He then attempts to sketch out

9:12

how the colonizers will respond to this reality

9:15

and how they attempt to deal with this move

9:17

towards insurrection. So in

9:19

response to the stirring's decolonization, the

9:21

colonizers often make an appeal to Western

9:23

colonial values. Fanon tells us that

9:25

the colonizers ask for decency and civilized

9:28

discourse around issues like equality and

9:30

reason, but the colonized can see through

9:32

this hypocrisy. The masses really do

9:34

understand that these values are only being brought

9:37

up in a desperate attempt by the colonizers to

9:39

remain in power, not out of a genuine

9:41

hope for equality and reason to win out at the

9:43

end of the day. So as tensions heighten,

9:45

the colonizers attempt to make contact with the elites

9:47

of the colonized world according to Fanon. Despite

9:50

these efforts, the colonizers understand that there can be

9:52

no equality without an end to decolonization

9:55

itself. Some intellectuals from the colonized

9:58

class may attempt to defend these values. abstract

10:00

ideas of freedom and reason, but these efforts

10:03

will not usually succeed in convincing the masses

10:05

that it is enough to appeal to European values.

10:08

At the same time, the talk of equality and the realization

10:11

that equality can only exist through concrete decolonization

10:14

causes the colonized to see past their own dehumanization

10:17

in many ways. Fanon writes, quote,

10:19

the colonized subject thus discovers that his

10:22

life, his breathing, and his heartbeats are the same

10:24

as the colonists. He discovers that the

10:26

skin of a colonist is not worth more than the natives.

10:29

In other words, his world receives the fundamental

10:31

jolt. The colonized revolutionary's

10:33

new assurance stems from this. In fact,

10:35

my life is worth as much as the colonists. His

10:38

look can no longer strike fear into me or nail

10:40

me to the spot, and his voice can no longer petrify

10:42

me. I'm no longer uneasy in his presence.

10:45

In reality, to hell with him. Not only does

10:47

his presence no longer bother me, but I am already

10:49

preparing to waylay him in such a way that

10:52

soon he will have no other solution but to flee.

10:55

As things intensify, the colonial intellectuals

10:57

will at first see to integrate themselves into

10:59

the colonial system by filling highly technical positions

11:02

previously close to the colonized. So Fanon

11:04

tells us that basically the intellectual

11:07

class among the colonized masses might try

11:09

to integrate into the colonial system. But

11:11

despite this, the masses do not see this as sufficient

11:13

justice and will continue to push for decolonization.

11:16

The colonized intellectuals will thus learn from

11:18

the masses that the abstract Western values that they

11:21

clung to are just meaningless abstractions

11:23

in the face of decolonial struggle. The

11:26

colonized intellectual will be forced to learn

11:28

to abandon these values. Fanon argues

11:30

that individualism will be the first to go, and

11:32

that the intellectual will have to learn to subject

11:34

their personal will to the collective will of the colonized

11:36

masses. Through a process of self-criticism,

11:39

quote, the intellectual sheds all that

11:41

calculating, all those strange silences, those

11:43

ulterior motives, that devious thinking

11:46

and secrecy as he gradually plunges it deeper

11:48

among the people, end quote. So

11:50

in this context, abstract intellectual philosophizing

11:53

these intellectuals are obsessed with about

11:55

the true and the good becomes useless

11:57

in the face of struggle. The intellectual has to make a difference

11:59

in the world.

11:59

make themselves useful for the masses

12:02

and for the movement for decolonization. Fanon

12:05

writes that, quote, truth is what hastens

12:07

the dislocation of the colonial regime, what

12:09

fosters the emergence of the nation. Truth

12:11

is what protects the natives and undoes the foreigners.

12:14

In the colonial context, there's no truthful behavior,

12:17

and good is simply what hurts them the most,

12:19

end quote. So, having

12:21

outlined the immediate response to the beginnings of

12:24

the decolonial movement by the colonizing class,

12:26

Fanon next turns to analyzing the effective

12:28

and psychological states that are created

12:31

by this colonial situation and colonial context.

12:33

The decolonial movement at first

12:35

maintains the dichotomy of an us versus

12:38

them which was created by the colonial context

12:40

of Bernid Fanon. The colonized need to actually

12:42

reverse this, and they need to paint the colonizer as

12:44

an authorized enemy to be struggled against.

12:47

The dehumanization almost becomes split

12:49

in order to create a basis for political struggle. And

12:51

this is an inevitable result of the compartmentalization

12:54

of colonial culture. It's the way that society

12:56

has been structured, so it's what the masses have

12:58

to work with. This compartmentalization

13:01

makes the colonized often feel trapped

13:03

by colonial relations, which can only be escaped

13:05

through dreams, according to Fanon, because there's

13:07

no real outlet for the colonized at all. Fanon

13:10

argues that this frustrating sense of being trapped

13:12

creates violence among the colonized, as colonized

13:15

people attack each other due to the constant

13:17

tension of a colonial society. The

13:19

constant policing by the occupying European

13:21

order, the sense of being trapped, and the constant

13:24

demand to be submissive makes this sort of tension

13:26

faster even more intensely within the colonized

13:29

quarters. So Fanon explains that in

13:31

this context, common sense seems to disappear.

13:34

People turn to violence at, you know, the slightest

13:36

provocation, as the only way that the colonized

13:38

subject can exert its power at all

13:40

is through violent self-defense whenever the colonized

13:43

subject is wronged by other colonized subjects.

13:45

Fanon explains that, quote, by throwing

13:48

himself muscle and soul into bloody feuds, the

13:50

colonized subject endeavors to convince himself

13:52

that colonialism has never existed, that

13:55

everything is as it used to be, and history marches

13:57

on, end quote.

13:59

This condition causes people to turn to superstition

14:02

and to supernatural explanations for things as

14:04

well. Fanon argues that the ritual dance

14:06

and possession rituals that we see within African

14:09

spirituality can be best understood

14:11

as an expression of this exhausted and

14:13

tensioned colonial affectivity. He

14:15

also notes that as the liberation struggle picks

14:18

up, these rituals begin to fade to the background

14:20

as the colonized are forced to face immediate

14:23

needs like feeding the poor or surviving

14:25

intense, violent repression from colonial forces.

14:28

Fanon writes that, quote, after years

14:30

of unreality, after wallowing in the

14:32

most extraordinary phantasms, the colonized

14:35

subject, machine gun at the ready, finally

14:37

confronts the only force which challenges his very

14:39

being, colonialism. The colonized

14:42

subject discovers reality and so transforms

14:44

it through his practice, his deployment of

14:46

violence, and his agenda for liberation,

14:48

end quote. So Fanon next

14:51

turns to asking how we can know if the situation

14:53

is ready for national liberation and which forces

14:55

can play a decisive revolutionary role within

14:58

that struggle. Fanon argues that nationalist

15:00

political parties composed mostly of urban

15:03

voters will often try to quell revolution

15:06

instead asking for power to be handed to them by

15:08

the colonizers. So as we move into the decolonial

15:10

context, this is how things begin to shape

15:12

up. This is because the urban support

15:14

base often benefits in some ways from the economic

15:17

conditions of colonization. These parties

15:19

might secure advances for the rich and powerful

15:21

individuals, but the masses are never satisfied

15:24

with this peace, meal, or form. In fact, the

15:26

revolutionary peasantry who live outside the

15:28

cities where these parties are most active feel

15:30

left out of these nationalist parties and the

15:32

peasants latch onto the need for revolutionary violence

15:35

all the more because of the reform that the nationalist

15:37

parties often seek. And so in response

15:39

to this desire for violence, the colonial bourgeoisie

15:42

then begin to push a new ideology according

15:44

to Fanon, the ideology of nonviolence.

15:47

This is yet another attempt to stifle the masses

15:49

desire for revolutionary violence. The

15:51

nationalist parties attempt to move things in this nonviolent

15:54

direction so that the movement for decolonization

15:56

doesn't threaten capitalist relations within the colony.

15:59

And thus the-

15:59

Nationalist Party

16:00

to some extent plays a pacifying role,

16:03

attempting to keep the revolutionary struggle from

16:05

occurring by acting as a peaceful release

16:07

valve for the anger of the colonized. And

16:10

in this sense we can see the Nationalist Party playing

16:12

a counter-revolutionary function, but this is not

16:14

the end of the story, according to Fanon. Despite

16:17

their attempts to adopt the outbreak of revolutionary

16:19

violence, the Nationalist Party actually still

16:21

end up playing a partially progressive role

16:23

in the liberation struggle, though Fanon explains

16:26

when he writes, quote, In their speeches the

16:28

political leaders named the nation, the

16:30

demands of the colonizers are thus formulated,

16:32

but there is no substance, there is no political

16:34

and social agenda, there is a vague form

16:37

of national framework which might be termed a minimal

16:39

demand. The politicians who make the speeches,

16:41

who write the Nationalist presses, raise the people's

16:44

hope, they avoid subversion but in fact

16:46

stir up feelings in the unconsciousness of the

16:48

listener or readers. Often the national

16:50

or ethnic language is used. Here again

16:52

expectations are raised and the imagination is

16:54

allowed to roam outside the colonial order. Sometimes

16:57

even these politicians declare, quote, We

17:00

Blacks, we Arabs, end quote, and these

17:02

terms charged with ambivalence during the colonial

17:04

period take on a safer connotation.

17:06

These Nationalist politicians are playing with fire,

17:09

end quote. So thus these parties

17:11

can actually end up raising the revolutionary consciousness

17:14

that they seek to oppose on accident.

17:16

By formulating demands in Nationalist

17:18

terms they create more furor and fervor for

17:21

national liberation and the movement for

17:23

getting right of the colonizers through violent action.

17:26

They end up creating the very forces which

17:28

they seek to control. This leads

17:30

to the state repression as the colonizers try to crack

17:32

down on the Nationalist movement in most instances.

17:35

This doesn't stop the movement however and repression

17:37

actually usually revitalizes opposition

17:40

to the colonizers. It often radicalizes

17:42

the masses even more causing them to move away

17:44

from the faltering Nationalist parties instead

17:47

embracing revolution and in

17:49

return this usually causes the colonists to

17:51

prop up the Nationalist leaders and grant them formal

17:53

independence. Rather than face actual

17:55

physical overthrow the colonizing class often

17:57

decides to just give the Nationalist parties. control

18:00

and cut their bosses once it becomes clear that

18:02

violent revolution is on the horizon.

18:05

But this independence doesn't usually satisfy

18:06

the masses, as they still see the

18:08

way that the rest of the world has more than them, and

18:10

still feel that they have been robbed by colonialism.

18:13

In the time that Benon writes, he says that the new nation

18:16

becomes a placing for the USSR or for

18:18

the Americans to fight over, and the masses

18:20

feel themselves caught in the conflict between socialism

18:22

and capitalism. This causes the colonized

18:25

to see their position in the international system in

18:27

relation to imperialism. Benon

18:29

tells us that, quote, when Mr. Khrushchev

18:31

brandishes his shoe at the United Nations and

18:33

hammers the table with it, no colonized individual,

18:36

no representative of the underdeveloped

18:39

countries last. For what Mr. Khrushchev

18:41

is showing the colonized countries who are watching is

18:43

that he, the myth-wielding music, is

18:45

treating these wretched capitalists the way they

18:48

deserve. Likewise, Castro attends

18:50

the UN and military uniform not to scandalize

18:53

the underdeveloped countries. What Castro

18:55

is demonstrating is how aware he is of the continuing

18:57

regime of violence. What is surprising

18:59

is that he did not enter the UN with his submachine

19:02

gun, but perhaps that wouldn't have been

19:04

allowed. End quote. And

19:06

so, what he points out is now these newly independent

19:09

nations and the masses among them start to see

19:11

where they fit into the international struggle

19:13

that is occurring, and they look to socialist

19:15

leaders in many instances as an example of

19:18

resisting imperialist violence.

19:20

And so this led to an alignment

19:21

between much of the third world and

19:23

Soviet socialism, as the Soviets often

19:25

provided aid to colonize people through arms

19:28

provision, and this caused capitalism to

19:30

originally develop a sort of opposition to

19:32

national liberation struggle. The imperialists

19:34

of course paid lip service to oppressed peoples

19:37

throughout the third world, but they also promoted

19:39

psyops and soft power projects like Radio

19:41

Free Europe instead of actually assisting countries

19:44

in developing on the past independent.

19:47

So, the masses have thus attained liberation,

19:49

but they do not feel like their situation has been totally

19:51

rectified. The non says that the conditions

19:54

for the colonized to develop values and citizenry

19:56

doesn't yet exist at this stage, and

19:58

that the leaders of these new nations often turn

20:00

to international neutrality, the lining with

20:02

neither Soviet Union nor the United States as

20:04

a result of this. This neutrality is strategic,

20:07

as it allows them to gain money from both the Soviet

20:09

bloc and the Americans, but it's also

20:11

dangerous because it means that the new nation is not defended

20:14

by either one of these superpowers.

20:16

Now these newly independent countries, caught

20:18

between the various forces of the Cold War, still

20:21

suffer greatly, according to Fanon. He

20:23

writes that quote, in these regions, except for

20:25

some remarkable achievements, every country suffers

20:27

from the same lack of infrastructure. The masses

20:30

battle with the same poverty, wrestle with the same

20:32

age-old gestures, and delineate what we

20:34

call the geography of hunger with their sunken

20:36

belly, a world of underdevelopment, a

20:38

world of poverty and inhumanity, end

20:41

quote. So this condition, this

20:43

lack of development, results through the

20:45

colonizers withdrawing capital and investment

20:48

when they leave or are driven out in the independent

20:50

struggle. These colonizers often create economic

20:52

pressures to punish these new nations as well. You

20:54

can look at the way that France required

20:57

reparations from the Haitians after their revolution

20:59

as an example of ways that they punish the newly independent

21:02

nations. This forces the national

21:04

leaders to enact austerity and to demand that

21:06

the populace rebuild the infrastructure of

21:08

the country, even though the populace is usually

21:10

poor, tired, and doesn't have the resources

21:12

to do so. These countries which choose

21:14

total independence are forced to develop a sort

21:17

of cruel self-sufficiency, while others

21:19

in European nations live in luxury, and

21:21

the masses in these nations see that discrepancy

21:23

in that difference. Other countries don't

21:25

choose autarky and self-sufficiency though,

21:28

and instead become economically dependent on the

21:30

old colonizers. Fanon writes

21:32

that, quote, the former colonizer, which

21:34

is kept intact and in some cases, reinforced

21:36

the colonial marketing channel, increased to

21:39

inject small doses into independent nations

21:41

budget in order to sustain it. Now that

21:43

the colonial countries have achieved their independence, the

21:45

world is faced with the bare fact that the actual

21:47

state of liberation of countries even more

21:49

intolerable. The basic confrontation,

21:52

which seemed to be colonialism versus anti-colonialism,

21:55

indeed, capitalism versus socialism is

21:57

already losing importance. What matters

21:59

today... the issue which blocks the horizon

22:01

is the need for redistribution of wealth." End

22:04

quote. And so for Fendan, the

22:06

underdevelopment, the lack of investment in capital,

22:09

the lack of wealth that these newly independent nations

22:11

have, completely holds them back from

22:13

accessing equality to the rest of the world. These

22:16

countries, Fendan insists, must not be

22:18

forced to choose between aligning themselves with the force

22:20

of capitalism or falling apart completely.

22:23

He writes that, quote, on the contrary, the underdeveloped

22:25

countries must endeavor to focus on their own

22:28

values as well as methods and styles specific

22:30

to them. The basic issue with

22:32

which we are faced is not the unequivocal choice

22:34

between socialism and capitalism, such

22:37

as that they have been defined by men from different

22:39

continents and different periods of time. End quote.

22:42

Now, Fendan is not rejecting socialism entirely

22:44

here. We should be clear about that. He concedes

22:46

that capitalist exploitation cannot be allowed

22:48

in these new countries and that socialist development is

22:51

necessary to create a successful new nation. The

22:53

problem that Fendan points out, however, is

22:55

that there's simply not the necessary resources

22:58

within these new nations for socialist development to

23:00

occur in the first place. So a redistribution

23:02

of wealth is necessary for the newly independent

23:05

nations in the global south to build socialism

23:07

at all. Fendan insists that it's

23:09

not enough for the imperialists and the colonists to

23:12

pull out of these new independent nations, taking

23:14

their wealth with them. He demands reparations

23:16

from the imperialists instead, writing,

23:18

quote, we say among ourselves, it is a just

23:21

reparation we are getting. So we will not accept

23:23

aid for the underdeveloped countries as charity.

23:25

Such aid must be considered the final stage of

23:27

a dual consciousness, the consciousness of the

23:30

colonized, that is their due, and the consciousness

23:32

of the capitalist powers that effectively they must

23:34

pay up. If through lack of intelligence,

23:36

not to mention in gratitude, the capitalist countries

23:39

refuse to pay up, then the unrelenting

23:41

dialectic of their own system would see to it

23:43

that they are asphyxiated. End quote. This

23:46

paying up, of course, does not play out.

23:48

Capital flight is actually a constant problem that

23:50

these newly liberated nations have to deal with.

23:53

This ultimately, of course, ends up hurting the

23:55

capitalists as well as the colonized because

23:57

it forces the colonized to turn self-sufficiency

23:59

in all. hierarchy instead of integrating into the international

24:02

market. This actually causes the international capitalist

24:05

class to lose out on new markets that are opening

24:07

up. The capitalists lose out on these potential markets

24:09

and this eventually leads the capitalists to change their

24:11

minds and offer much more aid to underdeveloped

24:14

nations in many instances. Fanon

24:16

writes that quote, And

24:30

so again, Fanon insists the necessity of creating

24:32

the quality and redistribution of wealth that could allow these newly

24:34

independent states to integrate into the global order

24:36

and he says that this is an imperative that extends beyond the

24:39

Cold War and the fighting between the USSR and the United

24:41

States. And this is a very important point

24:43

in the world. The question is, how

24:45

do we deal with the global war? And

24:48

I think that's a very important point in the

24:50

world. So the third world then must ask for

24:52

reparations and true equality. Fanon further

24:54

writes that what the third world quote

24:59

expects from those who have kept it in slavery for

25:02

centuries is to help it rehabilitate man and ensure

25:04

his triumph everywhere once and for all. Fanon

25:07

is not ignorant and he's not really an idealist, however. He notes

25:09

that European benevolence can't be sufficient to ensure

25:11

that this task is undertaken

25:15

and instead he makes a final call

25:17

for internationalism, writing that quote, This

25:20

colossal task, which consists of reintroducing man into

25:22

the world, man in his totality, will be achieved with the crucial

25:24

help of the world.

25:27

And this is a very important point in the

25:29

world. This colossal task, which consists

25:31

of reintroducing man into the world, man

25:34

in his totality, will be achieved with

25:36

the crucial help of the European masses who

25:38

do well to confess that they have often rallied

25:40

behind the position of our common masters on colonial

25:43

issues. In order to do this, the European

25:45

masses must first of all decide to wake

25:47

up, put on their thinking caps and stop playing

25:49

the irresponsible game of Sleeping Beauty, end quote. And

25:53

so Fanon ends this chapter by an appeal not

25:55

to the capitalist classes that rule the capitalist

25:58

European countries, but to the masses of those who have countries

26:00

to stand in solidarity and to fight

26:03

back against the colonial masters who have

26:05

continued to oppress the formerly

26:07

colonized nations through things like austerity,

26:09

through things like demanding reparations, or

26:12

through things like not putting capital into their

26:14

market so that they remain permanently underdeveloped.

26:17

The call that Fanon makes is not on the capitalist

26:19

to suddenly have a change of heart, but for the masses

26:21

to rise up and band together in solidarity

26:23

with the third world. Beautifully

26:25

done, beautifully said. I do want

26:27

to make a structural point

26:30

before we move on. From my understanding,

26:32

this book, The Wretched of the Earth, was

26:34

originally a bunch of separate essays.

26:37

So in chapter two, it does

26:39

not follow where chapter one

26:41

left off, right? Chapter one is Fanon

26:43

talking about violence and everything

26:46

Allison just mentioned. In chapter two, he sort

26:48

of restarts the entire process again

26:50

and goes through it to show the evolution

26:53

of national liberation struggles and how

26:55

different factions operate within it. It starts

26:58

back from a position of being colonized, right?

27:00

So just for people listening and trying to follow along,

27:03

don't think of this text as a hyper

27:05

chronological argument being laid out.

27:07

It really is sort of a more collection of essays

27:09

put together. In fact, I have

27:12

this book right here called Meditations on Franz Fanon's

27:14

Wretched of the Earth by James Yaki Salis.

27:17

It's really, really good. One of the things he does in this

27:20

text is actually propose that you read

27:22

this book in a whole different order because

27:25

he is getting at that same structural problem. So

27:28

I just want to make that clear up front so nobody

27:30

expects this part to this chapter

27:32

two to just pick up where Allison left

27:34

off. So with that all firmly

27:36

in mind, let's go ahead and dive in to

27:39

chapter two here. So Fanon

27:41

opens up chapter two of his book by reflecting

27:43

on the fact that in chapter one on violence,

27:46

he laid out how there is often a discrepancy

27:49

between the masses and the nationalist parties

27:51

in a colonized country. This is important

27:53

for this entire chapter because what Fanon aims

27:55

to tackle here are the competing strategies

27:58

or more precisely the different. aspects

28:00

of a process between spontaneity

28:03

and organization in the context of

28:05

national liberation struggles. That contradiction

28:08

and tactics can often be a focal

28:10

point which reflects the tensions not

28:12

only between spontaneity and organization as

28:14

such, but also between short-term rebellion

28:17

and long-term Revolutionary War. But

28:19

what Fanon is basically doing throughout this chapter

28:22

is tracing the evolution and common pitfalls

28:25

of national liberation struggles. He

28:27

does this by demystifying general

28:29

laws, patterns, and trajectories which

28:31

are common to all anti-colonial struggles and

28:34

methodically reveals how these struggles

28:36

develop over time. And it's essential

28:38

to remember why he is doing this. He

28:40

is doing this with the express purpose of

28:42

equipping national liberation revolutionaries

28:45

and movements with a deep understanding

28:47

of these processes in order to

28:49

increase the likelihood of success for these

28:52

movements. He is not talking to some

28:54

generalized readership and he is certainly

28:56

not talking to Europeans or Americans. He

28:59

is talking directly to and for the

29:01

victims of colonialism, to the wretched

29:03

of the earth. Fanon also reminds

29:06

us here, and this will be important to keep in mind throughout this

29:08

section, that the very creation of

29:10

these reformist and often collaborationist

29:12

nationalist parties in the colonized countries

29:14

is inseparable from the rise of an

29:17

intellectual and business elite within those

29:19

countries. And it is this elite who fill

29:21

the ranks of these nationalist parties and

29:23

it's in the implicit interests of these elites

29:26

that these parties often function. So

29:29

with all of that in mind, let's jump into

29:31

chapter two entitled Grandeur and Weakness

29:33

of spontaneity. Fanon begins

29:35

by pointing out how the very notion of a

29:37

reformist political party is imported

29:39

from the Metropoles and is forged in

29:42

those contexts. And as such, it is

29:44

often out of sync with the needs and realities of

29:46

a colonial society. In the imperial

29:48

core, these organizations are used to

29:50

manage and obscure the struggle of the proletariat

29:52

within the context of a highly industrialized

29:55

capitalist society. As such,

29:57

the focus of these parties and the fatal flaw of them according

29:59

to the American Revolution, to Fanon is to address

30:01

first and foremost the native urban

30:03

proletariat in colonial society which

30:06

represent the most politically conscious as well

30:08

as the most relatively privileged as they hold

30:10

positions which Fanon refers to as indispensable

30:13

for the operation of the colonial machine. Civil

30:16

servants, interpreters, nurses,

30:18

drivers, intellectuals, etc. This

30:20

is often the base of the nationalist parties

30:22

in the colonial world. The problem with this

30:25

as Fanon points out is that this population

30:27

of a colonial society is incredibly small

30:29

seldom representing more than one or two percent of

30:32

the entire population of a given colonial

30:34

country. On the other side of this yawning

30:36

divide are the rural masses upon

30:39

whom the nationalist parties made up of

30:41

urban workers as I said, civil servants, intellectuals,

30:43

etc. look with distrust and skepticism.

30:47

One of the reasons for this, Fanon argues, is

30:49

that these peasants still live in a feudal state

30:51

with a medieval structure and this reality

30:54

is nurtured and solidified by the colonizers

30:56

who benefit from keeping these rural masses

30:59

under the authority of feudal overlords and rulers

31:02

while petrifying them in a state of non-progress,

31:04

a more or less static feudal state.

31:07

The feudal rulers who are often propped up by

31:09

the colonizers immediately come into conflict

31:12

with the urban sectors of the population, specifically

31:14

the emerging national bourgeoisie and business class.

31:17

The latter find themselves in competition with the

31:19

feudal rulers as their rural society

31:22

is not dominated by markets and free trade

31:24

but by religion, tradition, and superstition,

31:27

much of which is an open hostility to

31:29

the values and goals of the burgeoning national bourgeoisie.

31:32

From this, a cultural as well as an economic

31:34

and political divide emerges and strengthens.

31:37

These agents of feudal rule form a barrier

31:39

between the nationalist party based in urban areas

31:42

and the masses of people in rural areas.

31:45

The traditional authorities feel their power and

31:47

status in society to be threatened

31:49

by urban elite and their aspirations to

31:51

infiltrate economically and culturally the

31:53

rural areas. On the other side of the coin,

31:56

Fanon says, quote, the Western ized

31:58

elements feelings toward the pet peasant masses

32:01

recall those found among the proletariat

32:03

in the industrialized nations. In the

32:05

industrialized countries, the peasant masses

32:07

are generally the least politically conscious,

32:09

the least organized, as well as the most anarchistic.

32:12

They are characterized by a series of features,

32:15

individualism, lack of discipline,

32:17

the love of money, etc., defining

32:20

an objectively reactionary behavior."

32:23

So as colonialism continues to develop, the

32:26

landless peasants and those who cannot make a living

32:28

in the countryside are slowly driven

32:30

into the cities, crammed into shanty

32:32

towns, and become the lumpen proletariat.

32:35

We'll get back to this later. Those peasants

32:37

who stay in the countrysides often become staunch

32:39

defenders of traditions, and in a colonial

32:41

society, importantly, they actually represent

32:44

elements of discipline and communalism, while

32:46

the urban centers become increasingly

32:49

individualistic. So you see this gap

32:51

widening and different elements taking place in

32:53

different parts of the country. What if divide,

32:55

Fanon makes sure to remind us, is not the

32:58

traditional opposition between cities and rural

33:00

areas, especially not if you're an American

33:02

or North American thinking about the

33:04

differences between cities and rural areas. That's

33:07

not the divide here at play. Rather, it

33:09

represents the opposition between the colonized

33:12

people who find a way to benefit from the colonial

33:14

system and those who are excluded

33:16

from those benefits. This is all

33:18

to the colonialists' advantage, as they

33:21

often leverage these splits and antagonisms

33:23

in their struggle against the nationalist parties,

33:25

setting those in the mountains and countrysides against

33:28

those in the urban centers, and thereby dividing

33:30

the possible anti-colonial forces.

33:33

We have seen this dynamic play out countless times

33:36

in countless colonial contexts. Instead

33:38

of adapting their nationalist parties' tactics

33:40

and organizational methods to trying to

33:43

inject the rural areas with nationalist

33:45

or progressive elements, the nationalist parties

33:47

instead set themselves against the rural

33:49

masses, fighting what they see to be

33:51

backward traditions and mindsets. In

33:54

this way, the colonial structure benefits,

33:56

while the divide between the burgeoning urban elite

33:59

and the rural peasant masses. only grows.

34:01

When the urban elements do go to the rural areas,

34:04

it's always with the authority of the urban powers

34:06

at their backs, and it usually causes only

34:08

more resentment and division. They do not

34:10

go into these areas to teach, to unify,

34:12

to educate, or to cooperate. Rather, they

34:14

go there to dictate and dominate, erasing

34:17

important traditions and histories in the name of a new

34:19

national identity. The colonial powers

34:21

and the entire colonial structure continues

34:24

to benefit from this divide. Even after

34:26

a successful national liberation struggle, Fanon

34:28

goes on to say, these same mistakes are

34:30

often repeated, which fosters a trend

34:33

towards social, cultural, and political balkanization,

34:36

and the feudal tribalism of the colonial period

34:38

becomes replaced by regionalism

34:40

and factionalism in the national phase. But,

34:44

Fanon points out, quote, the

34:46

memory of the pre-colonial period is still

34:48

very much alive in the villages. Mothers

34:50

still hum to their children the songs which accompanied

34:53

the warriors as they set off to fight

34:55

the colonizers. At the age of 12 or 13,

34:58

the young villagers know by heart the names

35:00

of the elders who took part in the last revolt,

35:03

and the dreams in the villages are not those

35:05

of the children in the cities dreaming of luxury

35:07

goods or passing their exams, but

35:09

rather dreams of identification with such

35:11

and such hero whose heroic death still

35:14

brings tears to their eyes, end

35:16

quote.

35:17

This basis described above by Fanon

35:19

goes on to undergird and fuel the flames

35:22

of peasant revolt against colonialism and

35:24

for national liberation. In cases

35:26

where nationalist party leaders are repressed by

35:28

colonial forces, the peasants can actually

35:31

act as relays from the city centers to the countryside,

35:33

informing the others of often exaggerated

35:36

instances of colonial aggression, riling

35:38

them up into a fury which they then sometimes spontaneously

35:41

unleash on colonial forces and

35:43

their proxies in the areas, inviting

35:46

heavy repression from the colonial forces in

35:48

the form of bombing campaigns and troop invasions.

35:50

This often leads to the settling in of guerrilla

35:53

warfare. Back in the urban centers,

35:55

the nationalist party struggled to respond to the

35:57

blossoming of revolt by the peasant masses. Remember

36:00

from last chapter that these Nationalist parties often

36:03

do not outwardly advocate for armed rebellion,

36:05

right? Their reformists, their non-violent in nature,

36:07

etc. But they are also not necessarily

36:10

against it, specifically and especially

36:12

when it's carried out by the peasant masses, which

36:14

allows them to claim plausible deniability

36:17

while still benefiting from it. However,

36:19

instead of attempting to unite with the peasants, organize

36:22

a more sustainable rebellion, educate

36:24

and politicize the masses, and take the struggle

36:26

to a higher level, the Nationalist parties

36:29

sit back and hope that the spontaneous eruption

36:31

of the masses continues. But as Fanon

36:33

says, quote, there is no contamination

36:36

of the rural movements by the urban movements.

36:38

Each side evolves according to its own dialectic,

36:41

end quote. The resentment, distrust,

36:43

and huge divide between the Nationalist

36:46

parties and the rural peasant masses continues

36:48

after the colonial period into the national period,

36:51

often resulting in the Nationalist parties cracking

36:53

down on, repressing, or otherwise attempting

36:55

to dominate the rural areas. Not completely

36:58

unlike the way the colonists engage with

37:00

the colonized, which is noted as ironic

37:02

by Fanon. And it's also important

37:04

to remember that even after a successful

37:07

anti-colonialist fight, the colonial

37:09

power, often through clandestine

37:11

mechanisms, continues to exert

37:13

control over the country, fomenting

37:15

discontent and throwing up obstacles

37:17

in front of the new government. If anybody

37:20

has trouble understanding this, we can just think of Cuba,

37:22

which is a touch point for that a lot of us understand,

37:25

and how the US government continued to

37:27

operate or try to operate, overthrow,

37:29

sabotage, and topple the new revolutionary

37:32

Cuban government, even after the successful revolution

37:34

and the ousting of the Batista regime. So

37:36

that's just an example for people to anchor

37:38

themselves to. In fact, the colonial

37:41

powers often attempt and succeed at

37:43

creating new political parties in the rural

37:45

areas, based on tribal and regional loyalties

37:47

in opposition to the development of a national

37:50

consciousness and unity, in order to

37:52

weaken or take down a young nationalist government

37:54

or general anti-colonial movement. The

37:57

party of national unity is overwhelmed

37:59

with new political forces. factions and the tribal

38:01

parties formed with the aid of the old colonial power begin

38:04

to vocally oppose centralization

38:06

and national unity and denounce the new

38:08

government as a one-party dictatorship. So

38:11

let's pause here for a moment and summarize what we've

38:13

just been over before launching into the second

38:15

half of this chapter. In

38:17

hyper summary what Fanon is doing here is

38:19

tracing out a general pattern and trajectory

38:22

that virtually always occurs during decolonization

38:24

in the third world, whereby different factions

38:27

with specific geographic bases and with distinct

38:29

interests compete with one another in

38:31

such a way that it represents a radical and deep division

38:34

and thus a systemic weakening of the anti-colonial

38:37

forces. This is preyed upon

38:39

and aggravated and intensified by

38:41

the colonial forces who have an interest in creating

38:43

and sustaining divisions among and between

38:46

colonized subjects. But we are

38:48

now going to see what Fanon is getting at by tracing

38:50

this history and fundamentally he will be

38:52

arguing that by unleashing violence the

38:54

rural masses begin to exert their agency

38:57

and therefore begin to develop in earnest an anti-colonial

39:00

subjectivity. In opposition to

39:02

the classic Marxist orthodoxy that

39:04

a successful liberatory revolution must

39:07

be led by the advanced segments of an industrialized

39:09

proletariat, Fanon is arguing that in

39:11

the context of colonialism it's the

39:14

peasant masses, not the urban proletariat,

39:16

who become the leading fighting force. But

39:19

let's go back to the text. Fanon's next

39:21

move is to show that there are truly revolutionary

39:24

and dedicated elements within the otherwise

39:27

reformist nationalist parties which in

39:29

the face of this party's reformism, non-violence

39:32

and weakness slowly become dissatisfied

39:35

and then disenfranchised by those parties

39:37

as the parties themselves come into closer

39:39

alignment with the forces of colonialism and

39:41

disavow their radicals formally or informally.

39:44

These revolutionary forces come from a section

39:47

of the intellectuals as well as from the rank

39:49

and file cadres who have been the most brutally

39:52

repressed by colonial forces in the urban

39:54

areas. Oftentimes having gone through periods

39:56

of torture and imprisonment at the

39:58

hands of their foreign oppressors.

40:01

What this represents is a breaking point

40:03

between the official and the unofficial, or

40:05

revolutionary, party factions. The

40:08

revolutionary elements from the intellectual sector

40:10

and the rank and file sectors unite to

40:13

form an underground party initially, but as

40:15

the repression from the official parties and the

40:17

colonial forces intensify, these elements

40:19

are eventually almost always driven out of the city

40:21

and town centers and into the countryside.

40:24

Fanon says, driven from the towns,

40:27

these men first of all take refuge in

40:29

the urban periphery, but the police network

40:31

smokes them out and forces them to leave the towns

40:34

for good and abandon the arena of political struggle. They

40:37

retreat to the interior, the mountains, and

40:39

deep into the rural masses. Initially,

40:41

the masses close in around them, protecting

40:44

them from the manhunt. The nationalist militant

40:46

who decides to put his fate in the hands of the peasant

40:48

masses, instead of playing hide and seek

40:51

with the police in the urban centers, will

40:53

never regret. The peasant cloak

40:55

wraps him in a mantle of unimagined tenderness

40:58

and vitality. Veritable exiles

41:00

in their own country and severed from the urban

41:02

milieu where they drew up, the concepts

41:04

of nation and political struggle they take to

41:06

the maquis. Constantly forced to

41:09

remain on the move to elude the police, walking

41:11

by night so as not to attract attention, they

41:13

are able to travel the length and breadth of their

41:15

country and get to know it. Gone

41:17

are the cafes, the discussions about

41:19

the coming elections, or the cruelty of

41:22

such and such a police officer. Their

41:24

ears hear the true voice of the country, and

41:26

their eyes see the great and infinite

41:28

misery of the people. They realize

41:30

that precious time has been wasted on

41:33

futile discussion about the colonial regime. They

41:36

realize at last that change does not mean

41:38

reform, that change does not mean improvement.

41:41

Now possessed with a kind of vertigo, they

41:43

realize that the political unrest in the towns will

41:46

always be powerless to change and overthrow the colonial

41:48

regime. Discussions with

41:50

the peasants now become a ritual for them.

41:53

They discover that the rural masses have never

41:55

ceased to pose the problem of their liberation

41:57

in terms of violence, of taking back the land

41:59

from the former. foreigners, in terms of national

42:01

struggle and armed revolt, everything

42:03

becomes simple. These men discover

42:05

a coherent people who survive in a kind

42:08

of petrified state, but keep intact

42:10

their moral values and their attachment to the nation

42:12

and the land. They discover a generous

42:14

people, prepared to make sacrifices, willing

42:17

to give all they have, impatient with

42:19

an indestructible pride. Understandably,

42:22

the encounter between these militants hounded by the

42:24

police and these restless, instinctively

42:26

rebellious masses can produce an explosive

42:29

mixture of unexpected power.

42:31

The men from the towns let themselves

42:33

be guided by the people and at the same time

42:36

give them military and political training. The

42:38

people sharpen their weapons. In fact,

42:41

the training proves short lived, for the masses,

42:43

realizing the strength of their own muscles, force

42:46

the leaders to accelerate events. The

42:48

armed struggle is triggered. This

42:51

beautiful piece of prose could have been

42:53

written by Mao himself. In any

42:55

case, this retreat into the countryside

42:57

by the revolutionary elements casted out of the

42:59

city centers by their thoroughly compromised

43:02

reformist nationalist parties constitutes

43:04

for the first time the revolutionary

43:07

unity of the most radical elements of

43:09

the urban areas and the urban proletariat with

43:11

the peasant masses. And it's at this point

43:14

where Fanon says the armed struggle

43:16

is triggered. Let's go back to Fanon, because

43:18

he continues. The

43:20

nation disorients the political parties. Their

43:23

doctrine has always claimed the ineffectiveness

43:25

of any confrontation, and their very existence

43:27

serves to condemn any idea of revolt.

43:30

Certain political parties secretly share the optimism

43:33

of the colonialists and are glad to be

43:35

no party to this madness, which, it is

43:37

said, can only end in bloodshed. But

43:39

the flames have been lit, and like an epidemic,

43:42

spread like wildfire throughout the country. The

43:45

tanks and planes do not achieve the success

43:47

they counted on. Faced with the extent

43:49

of the damage, colonialism begins

43:51

to have second thoughts. Voices

43:53

are raised within the oppressor nation that

43:55

draw attention to the gravity of the situation.

43:58

As for the people living in their huts and their dreams.

44:00

Their hearts begin to beat to a new national rhythm

44:03

and they softly sing unending hymns to

44:05

the glory of the fighters. The insurrection

44:08

has already spread throughout the nation. It

44:10

is now the turn of the parties to be

44:12

isolated. Sooner or later, however,

44:15

the leaders of the insurrection realize the need

44:17

to extend the insurrection to the towns. It

44:19

completes the dialectic which governs

44:21

the development of an armed struggle for

44:24

national liberation. So

44:27

this leads to a unification with the lumpen proletariat

44:29

who I said earlier live in the shanty towns

44:31

around the city centers and are driven by

44:34

their desperation to earn a living through crime

44:36

initially. But when approached by the revolutionary

44:38

masses making their way towards the cities, the

44:41

lumpen proletariat jump headfirst

44:43

into the liberation struggle. The leaders

44:45

of the insurrectionist phenomenon says, observing

44:47

the zeal and restlessness by which its revolutionaries

44:50

deal decisive blows to the colonialism

44:52

machine, become increasingly distrustful

44:55

of the traditional politics that are the hallmark

44:57

of the nationalist parties at this time. In

45:00

this initial phase, Fanon says the cult

45:02

of spontaneity is dominant. The

45:04

revolutionary energy expands and bursts

45:07

of its own accord, rejecting anything

45:09

that can be seen as political in the traditional

45:12

sense. Fanon argues that this is a

45:14

strategy of immediacy and

45:16

every spontaneously formed group represents

45:18

quote unquote liberation at a local

45:21

level. Reconciliations between

45:23

tribes and rival families are made in favor

45:25

of national unity and this real national

45:28

unity forged in spontaneous uprisings

45:30

and insurrections against the common enemy

45:33

is strengthened and deepened by this elimination

45:35

of old rivalries and resentments. Fanon

45:38

says, on their continuing road

45:40

to self discovery, the people legislate and

45:42

claim their sovereignty. Every component

45:45

roused from its colonial summer lives at

45:47

boiling point. The villages witness

45:49

a permanent display of spectacular generosity

45:52

and disarming kindness and an unquestioned

45:54

determination to die for the cause. All

45:57

of this is reminiscent of a religious brotherhood, a child's family, a child's father,

45:59

a child's mother, a child's

45:59

or a mystical doctrine.

46:02

No part of the indigenous population

46:04

can remain indifferent to this new rhythm which

46:06

drives the nation. Emissaries

46:08

are dispatched to the neighboring tribes. They

46:10

represent the insurrection's first liaison system

46:13

and introduce the rhythm and movement of the revolution

46:16

to the region still mired in immobility. Tribes

46:19

well known for their stubborn rivalry disarm

46:21

amid rejoicing in tears and pledge

46:23

their help and support. In this atmosphere

46:25

of brotherly solidarity and armed struggle, men

46:28

link arms with their former enemies. The

46:30

national circle widens and every new ambush

46:33

signals the entry of new tribes. Every

46:35

village becomes a free agent and a relay

46:38

point. Solidarity among tribes,

46:40

among villages, and at the national

46:41

level is first discernible in

46:43

the growing number of blows dealt to the enemy.

46:46

Every new group, every new volley of cannon

46:48

fire signals that everybody is hunting

46:51

the enemy. Everybody is taking

46:53

a stand. But it's at this point,

46:55

the spontaneous insurrection and uprising

46:58

is developing and spreading throughout the country,

47:00

rivalries are being put down in

47:03

favor of national unity, and there's a real

47:05

offensive going on. But eventually

47:07

the counter offensive happens and it's here

47:10

where the tide begins to change for the colonial powers

47:12

will not take it to sitting down. And

47:15

it is at this phase that they begin

47:17

to rally a brutal offensive against these

47:19

uprisings. Casualties and losses

47:21

are huge as the full force of violent

47:23

colonial repression descends upon the

47:26

country. Communities endure the brutal

47:28

attacks and survivors are wracked with doubt about

47:30

how to proceed. At this point, the boiling

47:32

spontaneity which launched this conflict into

47:34

the open becomes its key weakness. And

47:37

as Fanon puts it, quote, a deeply

47:39

pragmatic realism replaces

47:41

yesterday's jubilation and the illusion of eternity.

47:44

The lesson of hard facts and the bodies

47:46

mowed down by machine guns results in

47:49

a radical rethinking end quote. Leaders

47:52

of the insurrection realize that in order to survive

47:54

and to win, organization needs

47:56

to be built in place of spontaneity. The

47:58

struggle needs coordination. It needs strategy,

48:01

it needs cooperation across space, time,

48:03

and differences. In other words, the

48:05

very politics that was seen as suspect

48:07

in the initial phases of the insurrection comes

48:09

back into sympathetic view. But politics

48:12

now no longer functions as it did before. It

48:14

is no longer a reformist, compromising

48:16

politics. It's no longer a mechanism

48:18

of mystification. Instead, it becomes

48:21

the means by which the arms struggle, born

48:23

in spontaneity but needing structure, is

48:26

thereafter conducted, controlled, and guided. This

48:28

shift towards organization and away from spontaneity

48:31

transforms the struggle from a peasant

48:33

revolt and uprising into a revolutionary

48:36

war of national liberation with

48:38

clear objectives, a well-defined methodology,

48:41

political and social education, and the

48:44

orientation of the struggle around a definable

48:46

timetable. At this point,

48:48

the colonial forces add another weapon

48:51

to their arsenal, psychological warfare.

48:53

Fanon warns of many things here. Among

48:55

them, he includes the co-option of the lumpen proletariat

48:58

by the forces of colonialism. Fanon

49:00

points out that the lumpen proletariat, while always

49:02

willing to revolt, can and will be bought

49:05

off by the colonial powers if the national

49:07

liberation movement does not pay adequate attention

49:09

to them and, importantly, their political

49:11

education. If this happens, the

49:14

unity that was present during the initial spontaneous

49:16

phase begins to erode and is eventually

49:18

undermined. Fanon, like Mao before

49:21

him and Fred Hampton after him, argues

49:23

that political education is essential in

49:25

preventing this sort of co-option, short-sighted

49:28

selfishness and general dissolution

49:30

of the revolutionary energies. Psychological

49:33

warfare on the part of the colonialists intensifies

49:35

and can take many forms. They start to

49:38

turn to experts in psychology and sociology

49:40

to guide their strategies of repression. They

49:43

hand down dictates to their proxies to engage

49:45

respectfully with the colonized subjects, extending

49:48

to them the politeness and manners they extend to one

49:50

another in the metropoles. After decades

49:52

of dehumanization, Fanon realizes that

49:55

some colonial subjects will respond well

49:57

to trivial displays of human respect and

49:59

decency. from their occupiers. Having

50:01

been able to buy off segments of the colonized population

50:04

through money, psychological warfare and other

50:07

mechanisms, the forces of national liberation

50:09

begin to shrink or waver a bit. And

50:11

since the wealth and resources of the colonial powers

50:14

are many times more abundant than

50:16

those of the liberation forces, even

50:18

more advantages begin to fall into the lap of the

50:20

occupiers, increasing the difficulty

50:22

of the war for the colonized and

50:25

also protracting the entire struggle. Non-colonial

50:28

forces even dramatically decrease their ubiquitous

50:31

military presence and offer various low-level

50:33

concessions in order to convince the people that

50:35

they are or have succeeded, and that engagement

50:38

in the war is no longer necessary. This,

50:40

as Fanon points out, is pure mystification

50:43

and cynicism on the side of the colonizers.

50:45

In fact, at times, a colonial force's

50:48

control can be strengthened through this process,

50:50

creating a more subtle and therefore more resilient

50:53

form of domination and control. The

50:56

key to all of this, Fanon makes clear,

50:58

is organization. Organization

51:01

creates assemblies and tribunals throughout the country.

51:04

It systematizes the very sort of political

51:06

education for the masses that is essential

51:08

to counteract the cynical psychological

51:10

tactics now employed by the colonial powers,

51:13

and it replaces the old black and white dichotomies

51:15

with the sort of nuanced and complex grasp

51:18

of the variables that play in their society and beyond,

51:20

which constitutes a political maturation

51:22

process that is necessary for any

51:25

future decolonized society to be born

51:27

and to eventually function. Among

51:29

these revelations include the fact that not

51:32

every person from a colonial country supports

51:34

their government's treatment of the colonized, and

51:37

some even take the side of the colonized over

51:39

their own country. On the flip side, some

51:41

members of the colonized population are

51:43

shown to be self-interested scoundrels who

51:46

will happily replace one form of repression

51:48

and occupation with another if it benefits

51:50

them. This breaking down of simple

51:52

dichotomies is a very difficult but

51:54

necessary part of this decolonizing process,

51:57

and on top of all of this, engaging in the

51:59

struggle itself is of huge educational

52:02

importance, as leaders and fighters learn

52:04

more about their enemies as well as about themselves

52:07

through the act of violently struggling

52:09

for liberation. So it's

52:11

here that Fanon ends this chapter, and

52:13

he ends it as follows. The nationalist

52:16

militant who fled the town, revolted

52:18

by the demagogic and reformist maneuvers

52:20

of the leaders of the parties and disillusioned

52:23

by politics, discovers in the field

52:25

a new political orientation which in

52:27

no way resembles the old. The new politics

52:30

is in the hands of cadres and leaders working

52:32

with the tide of history who use their muscles

52:35

and their brains to lead the struggle for liberation.

52:37

It is national, revolutionary, and collective.

52:40

This new reality, which the colonized are now

52:42

exposed to, exists by action

52:45

alone. By exploding the former

52:47

colonial reality, the struggle uncovers

52:49

unknown facets, brings to life new

52:51

meanings and underlines contradictions which

52:54

were camouflaged by this reality. The

52:56

people in arms, the people who struggle

52:58

and act this new reality, the people who live

53:00

it march on, freed from colonialism

53:03

and forewarned against any attempt at mystification

53:06

or glorification of the nation.

53:08

Violence

53:08

alone, perpetrated by the people, violence

53:11

organized and guided by the leadership, provides

53:14

the key for the masses to decipher social

53:16

reality. Without this struggle, without

53:19

this praxis, there is nothing but a carnival

53:21

parade and a lot of hot air. All

53:23

that is left is a slight re-adaptation,

53:26

a few reforms at the top, a flag,

53:28

and down at the bottom, a shapeless, rising

53:31

mass still mired

53:33

in the dark ages. And that is how Fanon

53:36

wraps up chapter two.

53:38

All right, so now we're going to go ahead and move

53:40

into our second section which is a question and answer

53:42

where we posed some questions that we had after

53:45

reading the text for each other and we tried to break down

53:47

the text a little bit more conversationally. So

53:49

I'll go ahead and start with the first question

53:51

for Brett. So how, if at all, does

53:53

Fanon's use of the term, as well as the role

53:55

played by the Lymphin proletariat, differ from

53:58

the traditional Marxist use in war?

54:00

So the first thing to do here would be to define

54:03

what we mean by the lumpenproletariat. And

54:05

this is actually more difficult than one may

54:07

expect. As with terms like petty

54:09

bourgeois, their meanings can actually shift

54:12

over time or be used with different emphasis

54:14

by different thinkers. As capitalism's

54:17

structure continues to change and evolve,

54:19

sometimes the lines between classes and

54:21

subclasses can blur or even

54:23

alter in interesting ways. So

54:25

for a general definition of the lumpenproletariat

54:28

as used by Marx originally, I turn

54:30

to Marxist.org and they define

54:32

it as follows. Quote, roughly

54:35

translated as slum workers or the mob,

54:38

this term identifies the class of outcast,

54:41

degenerated and submerged elements

54:43

that make up a section of the population

54:45

of industrial centers. It includes beggars,

54:48

prostitutes, gangsters, racketeers,

54:50

swindlers, petty criminals, tramps,

54:53

chronic unemployed or unemployables, persons

54:55

who have been cast out by industry and

54:57

all sorts of declassed, degraded

54:59

or degenerated elements. In times

55:01

of prolonged crisis like capitalist

55:04

depressions, innumerable young people

55:06

also who cannot find an opportunity to enter

55:08

into social organization as producers

55:11

are pushed into this limbo of the outcast.

55:14

The term was coined by Marx in the German ideology

55:16

in the course of a critique of Max Stirner. In

55:19

a passage of The Ego and His Own which Marx

55:21

is criticizing at the time, Stirner

55:23

frequently uses the term lumpa and

55:25

applies it as a prefix but never actually

55:28

uses the term lumpenproletariat. Lumpen

55:30

originally meant rags but began to be

55:32

used to mean a person in rags. From

55:35

having the sense of ragamuffin, it comes

55:37

to mean riffraff or knave. And

55:39

by the beginning of the 18th century, it began

55:41

to be used freely as a prefix to make

55:43

a range of pejorative terms. By the 1820s,

55:47

lumpen could be tacked on to almost any German

55:49

word. End quote. Okay,

55:51

so that helps a bit in coming to a general understanding

55:54

of the term and how it originated. I've read

55:56

elsewhere that lumpen in German means rogue. So

55:58

another way of thinking about the term. term is as rogue

56:00

elements within the proletariat, often

56:03

associated with a seedy criminal underclass

56:05

of people who are too disorganized

56:07

and uninformed to be part of a revolution.

56:10

So what Fanon does with this term is that he actually sort

56:12

of redefines it outside

56:14

of an industrialized capitalist context

56:17

and within a colonial one. By doing

56:19

this, the term shifts its meaning in interesting

56:21

ways. Fanon actually argues that being

56:24

uninformed or uneducated in certain essential

56:26

ways can actually help the lumpen

56:28

proletariat to be free of colonial

56:31

ideologies in a way that the urban

56:33

proletariat and colonial societies are not.

56:35

Fanon interestingly identifies the

56:38

rural peasantry as these so-called

56:40

rogue members of the colonial proletariat.

56:42

He argues that it is these rural peasants

56:45

who are forced into the peripheries of urban centers

56:48

and therefore into shanty towns and ghettos

56:50

through the process of colonialism which

56:52

make up the lumpen proletariat in the colonial

56:54

context. But the biggest claim that

56:56

Fanon makes here is that by virtue

56:58

of their unique situation, this lumpen

57:01

rural peasantry is actually placed in

57:03

a special position to take a meaningful

57:05

and important part in the revolution

57:08

instead of being excluded from it as more

57:10

orthodox Marxist understandings would claim. This

57:13

general idea that the lumpen proletariat, far

57:15

from being excluded from revolution, can actually

57:17

play a decisive role within it is actually

57:19

carried on to this day in hip-hop by

57:22

artists like Bamboo, Earth Gang, Dead

57:24

Prez, Killer Mike, and many more. But

57:26

what is essential to remember here is that Fanon

57:28

also highlights the dangers of this subclass.

57:31

As he argues it's essential for any revolutionary

57:34

movement to educate these elements

57:36

politically. In lieu of formal political

57:38

education, these elements can become

57:40

incredibly individualistic, short-sighted,

57:43

and even straight-up reactionary. In fact,

57:45

there is a segment of the white lumpen proletariat

57:48

in the United States specifically that

57:50

goes over to the white supremacist, Aryan

57:52

Brotherhood type of fascism fairly

57:54

easily and consistently, both within

57:56

and outside of prisons. The mafia,

57:59

though not necessarily totally lumpen in nature

58:01

but certainly with lumpen elements

58:03

especially as you go down the the hierarchy

58:05

of the mafia has long been associated

58:07

in Italy and America with far right-wing formations.

58:10

This danger with which Marx and Fanon

58:13

reflect on is actually really important to keep

58:15

in mind but fundamentally I think Fanon

58:17

has done interesting work on the concept of

58:19

the lumpen proletariat in the same way

58:21

actually or at least analogously to the way that

58:24

Silvia Federici did interesting work on primitive

58:26

accumulation in Caliban and the witch

58:28

right? One could could see

58:30

both of these contributions as deviations

58:33

from Marxism or arguments against

58:35

Marxism but I actually reject that. I

58:38

see both of them as necessary and important

58:40

updates to Marxism which actually makes

58:43

it stronger. After all Marxism is an

58:45

open-ended science of socialism. It

58:47

is meant to change and evolve over time. I

58:49

think Fanon like Federici after him did

58:52

Marxism a service by altering

58:54

past orthodoxies, improving the overall

58:56

theory and making us all continue to think

58:58

deeply about things that others simply

59:01

take on board as dogma.

59:03

Allison?

59:04

Definitely I mean I think that you're very on point

59:06

here. One of the things that's interesting about like

59:08

the concept of the lumpen proletariat is that

59:11

Marx talks about it very little. There's a few

59:13

times when it crops up but you don't get a

59:16

lot of commentary from Marx on it and

59:18

you know Marx you know he tells us a lot about

59:20

the mechanisms that create it right? The

59:22

reserve army of labor for example can

59:24

create lumpen proletarianization

59:26

because you need to have some people who are unemployed

59:29

and exist on the fringes outside of class

59:31

in many ways but he doesn't really talk about

59:33

sort of the political orientation

59:35

of them as a class and when he does it's mostly

59:38

pessimistic. The times that Marx talks about

59:40

the lumpen proletariat is in very derogatory

59:43

terms and with this fear that they are particularly

59:45

right-wing sort of social element

59:48

and I think that obviously like you bring up that is

59:50

often been the case. Fascism of course

59:52

has always had a criminal component to

59:54

it and a criminal connection that has organized

59:57

gangs for example as parts of its early

59:59

paramilitary. formation. But I think

1:00:01

that, you know, at the time when Marx was writing,

1:00:03

we hadn't yet seen the role that

1:00:05

the lumpen proletariat could play within revolutionary

1:00:08

movements. And just as Lenin could later

1:00:10

look at back at Marx in the era of imperialism

1:00:13

and see how Marx had a certain limit, Fanon

1:00:16

can do the same in the era of decolonization

1:00:18

and anti-colonial struggle, and can update

1:00:21

Marx's theory by showing us that in fact,

1:00:23

if they're integrated into real organizational

1:00:26

formation, the lumpen proletariat can absolutely

1:00:28

play a progressive role. We

1:00:29

just have to be careful about it. Yeah, exactly.

1:00:32

And you saw this with like the Black Panthers,

1:00:34

right? They did this sort of outreach

1:00:37

to street gangs. And on

1:00:39

the podcast that could happen here, they actually

1:00:41

dedicated a big chunk of one of the episodes to

1:00:43

talking about the revolutionary and anti-fascist

1:00:46

potentiality of specifically

1:00:49

black and brown street gangs, right? Imagine Nazis

1:00:51

trying to march through the south side of Chicago, they're

1:00:53

gonna get fucked up. And so, you know, I really

1:00:55

like that revolutionary potentiality.

1:01:00

But in my application later on, I'm going to

1:01:02

actually dive into the potentiality

1:01:04

versus the actuality of it and actually drill

1:01:06

down on this concept because I find it so fascinating.

1:01:09

So stay tuned for that. That'll be in part three. And

1:01:11

I'll really drill down on that even more. But

1:01:13

moving on, I want to ask Allison a question

1:01:15

now. Now in the text, Fanon

1:01:18

says that when we apply Marxism

1:01:20

to the colonial context, it is necessary

1:01:23

to stretch it somewhat. What does he

1:01:25

mean by this? Is Marxism capable of

1:01:27

explaining colonialism? And if it struggles

1:01:29

to do so, why? Yeah,

1:01:31

so this I think is one of

1:01:33

the most interesting quotes in the text that I

1:01:35

really spent some time wrestling with.

1:01:38

So Fanon basically, you know, as

1:01:40

we talked about in the first chapter, he says that Marxism

1:01:43

and its distinction between the base and superstructure

1:01:45

can obscure what's happening in the colonial

1:01:48

context. So again, he says that if

1:01:50

you look at colonialism in the colonial

1:01:52

society, it is not that you have this glass

1:01:55

strata, which then creates race as an

1:01:57

after effect. He

1:01:58

says the causes the effect

1:01:59

and the effect is the cause. To be rich is

1:02:02

to be white, and to be white is to be rich.

1:02:04

Those two things are conflated

1:02:06

in a specific way, and so Marxism has to

1:02:08

stretch to accommodate this. There's

1:02:10

a really interesting quote. Is Fanon throwing

1:02:13

away Marxism here, or is he modifying

1:02:16

Marxism in some way? And there are certainly people who

1:02:18

want to read it in both directions, but I want to argue

1:02:20

that it's a scientific advancement of

1:02:22

Marxism. So when Marx wrote, we

1:02:25

hadn't seen large-scale decolonial

1:02:27

struggles that Marx had access to studying,

1:02:29

and so Marx, of course, could not necessarily give

1:02:32

us the tools to understand what those

1:02:34

struggles would look like and what the context in

1:02:36

which they would occur would look like. When

1:02:38

Lenin later came along and theorized imperialism,

1:02:41

then we started to get some tools to understand colonialism.

1:02:44

We started to understand the movement of capital and

1:02:46

finance and the way that that creates spheres

1:02:48

of influence in which countries control other

1:02:50

countries and colonization can occur in the first

1:02:53

place. And Marxism began to give us an

1:02:55

understanding of how that could function. But

1:02:57

again, Lenin doesn't give us an incredibly in-depth

1:03:00

examination of what colonial

1:03:02

society looks like and what its internal contradictions

1:03:05

and its internal construction look like. Lenin,

1:03:07

of course, gives us incredible tools to think about

1:03:09

colonialism and decolonization. It's

1:03:11

Lenin and Stalin who begin to formulate national

1:03:14

liberation from a Marxist perspective, but

1:03:16

again, the nuances and details of the colonial

1:03:18

society itself are not necessarily there.

1:03:21

And so when Fanon says that we need to stretch

1:03:23

Marxism to account for colonialism

1:03:26

and how colonialism structures a given

1:03:28

place and a given society, we need

1:03:30

to recognize that that's not saying that Marxism needs

1:03:32

to be thrown out. That's saying that Marxism

1:03:34

needs to be expanded. A historical materialist

1:03:37

analysis of those conditions needs to

1:03:39

be undertaken. And this is where Marxism

1:03:42

remains the most useful tool that we have

1:03:44

because it has the self-critical ability

1:03:47

to fix its own problems. Marxism,

1:03:49

for example, has been Eurocentric at various

1:03:51

points and times, but it's Marxist who have criticized

1:03:54

Marxism for its Eurocentrism and sought to expand

1:03:56

it. And I would argue that whether or not we think

1:03:58

of Fanon as a Marxist or as someone who is interacting

1:04:01

with Marxism, Fanon is creating

1:04:03

an expansion of Marxism and updating

1:04:05

Marxism here, and giving us the ability to

1:04:08

understand colonialism through a dialectical

1:04:10

materialist list. It's hard to read this

1:04:12

text and not just see the dialectics throughout

1:04:14

it. It's in the very core of every

1:04:17

structure that Fanon talks about, this constant

1:04:19

focus on contradiction and moving

1:04:21

beyond that contradiction. And

1:04:23

I would argue that this text, then, by stretching

1:04:25

Marxism, doesn't break Marxism, doesn't

1:04:27

revise it in some way that negates the

1:04:29

class struggle at the core of it, but rather

1:04:32

provides a scientific update to it and

1:04:34

demonstrates what struggle in the decolonial

1:04:36

context looks like in a way that previous Marxist

1:04:38

thinkers cut it. So yes, I do think that Marxism

1:04:41

is capable of explaining colonialism, but

1:04:43

that is through augmenting it with new

1:04:45

research in the studies of the decolonial

1:04:48

struggle that have taken place, and Fanon does an incredible

1:04:50

job of doing that. Absolutely.

1:04:53

I could not agree more. I really like this zemphasist

1:04:55

you put on this text as being a very

1:04:57

dialectical text, and I totally

1:04:59

agree with that,

1:04:59

and I pulled that out as well, and it's fascinating.

1:05:02

I do want to read a quote really quick. This is

1:05:04

from James Yaki Salis, the person

1:05:06

who did the Meditations on Wretched of the Earth. I'll

1:05:09

be reading it in a second. But he had a really succinct quote that

1:05:11

connects colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism,

1:05:14

and he just puts it in a really good way. He said, colonialism

1:05:17

is a form of imperialism, and imperialism

1:05:20

is an international expression of capitalism.

1:05:23

You don't fully understand colonialism, and

1:05:25

you don't successfully attack it without understanding

1:05:28

and attacking capitalism. So just

1:05:30

for people trying to struggle these differences between

1:05:32

colonialism and imperialism and capitalism, I

1:05:35

for one found that quote to be

1:05:37

extremely helpful, so for what that's worth. But

1:05:40

I'm ready to move on to the last question if you are,

1:05:42

Allison. Awesome. Cool.

1:05:45

So the last question then is, in what ways does Fanon's

1:05:47

analysis overlap with Mao's in this text?

1:05:50

Where and about what, in other words, do Fanon

1:05:52

and Mao agree? Okay. So

1:05:55

actually, I was talking to my friend about this

1:05:57

who is a Maoist and loves Fanon,

1:05:59

and We couldn't really decide, or neither

1:06:02

of us knew, if Fanon read Mao or

1:06:04

if Mao read Fanon, right? They sort

1:06:06

of existed around the same time. Fanon died in 61. The

1:06:09

Chinese Revolution is happening in the 50s and

1:06:12

into the 60s. So there's

1:06:14

definitely overlapping lifespans here. But

1:06:17

the latter, like Mao reading Fanon, actually does

1:06:19

seem more unlikely based on translation

1:06:21

realities at the time. But the former

1:06:23

is certainly not out of the question, right? I think it's

1:06:26

fair to say that by one route or another,

1:06:28

Fanon was directly or indirectly influenced

1:06:31

by Mao. Now, if that is true,

1:06:33

it's yet another beautiful example of Mao deeply

1:06:36

influencing black liberation and anti-colonial

1:06:38

movements specifically. It's also an example

1:06:40

of proletarian internationalism more broadly.

1:06:43

But if it's untrue and Fanon never

1:06:45

came across Mao in any meaningful way, then

1:06:48

the conclusion is actually even more surprising, for

1:06:50

it means that Fanon and Mao came to very similar

1:06:52

conclusions by completely independent

1:06:54

routes. In any case, I could not help

1:06:57

but continually jot down the word Mao on

1:06:59

the margins of my copy of Wretched as I

1:07:01

read through it, for there are so many connections

1:07:03

to be made. First and probably foremost,

1:07:05

I think the big similarity is that both

1:07:08

Fanon and Mao reject and then update

1:07:10

the more orthodox Marxist conception

1:07:13

of the peasantry. Marx, as we all know,

1:07:15

was a European and many of his theories were premised

1:07:17

on the idea that a truly revolutionary

1:07:19

socialist force could only really be led

1:07:21

by an industrialized proletariat in the most

1:07:24

advanced capitalist societies. Of course,

1:07:26

this is a simplification, but not necessarily

1:07:28

a very intense one. While Marx

1:07:30

may have shifted his thoughts and made shifts

1:07:32

in his thinking over his life, it's undeniable

1:07:35

that the general orthodoxy surrounding this point

1:07:37

has continued down the line and infected many

1:07:39

people's understanding of socialism and revolution.

1:07:43

In any case, what both Mao and Fanon do is

1:07:45

reject this orthodoxy in the process

1:07:47

of trying to understand revolution in

1:07:50

a non-industrialized capitalist context.

1:07:52

For Mao, he was operating in the hyper-underdeveloped

1:07:54

China of his day. China was not developed

1:07:57

enough to have the sort of idealized

1:07:59

industrial. proletariat that more European-based

1:08:01

conceptions of Marxism demanded. Mao

1:08:04

grew up as a peasant and understood the specific

1:08:06

conditions of China at that time, which

1:08:08

led him to realize that the peasant masters were

1:08:10

in many ways the heart and soul of the Chinese

1:08:13

Revolution. Fanon is locating his

1:08:15

thought, not in Europe or even China, but specifically

1:08:17

in the colonized, quote-unquote, third world countries,

1:08:20

specifically in Africa. And by so

1:08:22

doing, Fanon finds himself coming to the same

1:08:25

conclusion as Mao came to regarding

1:08:27

the peasantry, and countless movements inspired

1:08:29

by both Mao and Fanon have proven them

1:08:31

to be correct in this regard. I mean, I think in

1:08:33

the Philippines as well as in

1:08:36

India, these sorts of things are still playing

1:08:38

out and still being taken up. But beyond the

1:08:40

question of the peasantry, there still exists

1:08:42

many similarities between Fanon and Mao.

1:08:45

Both stress the importance of self-criticism

1:08:47

and anti-individualism,

1:08:49

right, in the context of like combat liberalism

1:08:52

for Mao, and throughout this text,

1:08:54

Fanon continues to make references to communalism

1:08:57

as opposed to individualism. They

1:08:59

both stress the utter importance of political

1:09:02

education as a necessary prerequisite

1:09:04

to successful revolution. They

1:09:06

both understood that revolutions are deeply

1:09:09

violent affairs and that the process

1:09:11

of violent revolution is fundamentally

1:09:14

an educational one for those engaged in

1:09:16

it. Both advocated for

1:09:18

the necessity of cultural revolutions,

1:09:20

of revolutions in the superstructure, and

1:09:22

both have an unwavering and deep love

1:09:25

and trust in the masses of oppressed

1:09:27

people, something that leaps beautifully from

1:09:29

the pages of both of their work. In

1:09:32

these ways and in so many others, reading Fanon

1:09:34

with a good understanding of Mao or vice

1:09:36

versa is surely an incredibly valuable

1:09:38

way to come to a deeper understanding of

1:09:41

both. It is no coincidence then

1:09:43

that anyone who is really deeply into Mao

1:09:45

will almost always certainly and without a doubt

1:09:48

be really deeply into Fanon, and

1:09:50

that is how it should be.

1:09:51

Allison? Yeah, one other component

1:09:54

that I would talk about I think of similarity between

1:09:56

the two is I think that Fanon has a

1:09:58

theory of knowledge and practice actually

1:10:00

that comes up several times in this text that seems

1:10:03

very similar to Mao's. I

1:10:05

think it's really interesting, one of the quotes

1:10:07

that I talked about in Non-Violence, where

1:10:09

he says like truth in the decolonial

1:10:12

context becomes what hurts

1:10:14

the colonists the most. It

1:10:16

becomes what dislodges them. It becomes what succeeds

1:10:18

essentially. And he even goes so far as to

1:10:21

say that the colonized masses find

1:10:23

reality in their struggle and in their

1:10:25

violent practice, right? And so I think

1:10:27

that one really big point of overlap is this

1:10:30

idea that our ideas play

1:10:32

out in practice and that's how they're tested,

1:10:34

which of course, underlies so much of Mao's work

1:10:37

on practice as we talked about in one of our other

1:10:39

episodes. And I think that while sometimes it really

1:10:42

hematize it in an epistemological manner,

1:10:44

that sort of similar Maoist epistemology

1:10:47

actually underlies a lot of the claims in this

1:10:49

text about how the masses come to understand

1:10:51

things through struggle. Yeah, absolutely.

1:10:54

I love those connections. I think it's

1:10:56

beautiful and it really helps understand both sides

1:10:58

of that equation. So

1:10:59

I'm glad we were able to talk about that a bit. All

1:11:03

right, so that is the end of part

1:11:05

two, our discussion question section. And now we're

1:11:07

going to move on to part three, our application

1:11:09

points. For my

1:11:11

application point, I wanted to explore

1:11:14

a set of related ideas and concepts,

1:11:16

which Fanon makes great use of throughout this text

1:11:19

centered on the differences between rebellions

1:11:21

and revolutions, especially as they

1:11:23

apply to the lumpen proletariat. Now

1:11:26

I'm a huge fan of and have been deeply

1:11:28

influenced by hip hop, as many

1:11:30

of you know. In other episodes of both

1:11:32

Red Menace and Rev. Left, I've often gestured

1:11:35

toward the revolutionary potential

1:11:37

of the lumpen proletariat and specifically

1:11:39

the black and brown lumpen proletariat in

1:11:41

systematically impoverished US ghettos.

1:11:44

Fanon in his book links the activity

1:11:47

of the colonized lumpen proletariat, namely

1:11:49

criminal and gang activity, which he refers

1:11:51

to as internacing feuds, to the

1:11:53

psychological and material conditions

1:11:56

of colonialism. We often hear from

1:11:58

reactionaries in the United States. about black-on-black

1:12:01

crime. And this social phenomena

1:12:03

is almost always marshaled by reactionaries

1:12:05

and white supremacists of various sorts in

1:12:07

our society in the service of demeaning

1:12:10

or denigrating black liberation movements,

1:12:13

black culture, and black people broadly.

1:12:16

It's a trope that gains a lot of traction in

1:12:18

a white supremacist settler colonial society

1:12:20

like our own because it simultaneously

1:12:23

obscures the socioeconomic

1:12:25

roots of criminality and racialized poverty

1:12:27

while protecting and reifying the

1:12:30

logic of brutal law and order capitalism.

1:12:33

So what I want to do here is to read a few short

1:12:35

sections of Wretched where Fanon discusses

1:12:37

this and then I want to read an expansion

1:12:40

and reflection on those passages by James

1:12:42

Yaki Salis, a black liberationist

1:12:44

and US political prisoner born and raised

1:12:47

on the south side of Chicago who read multiple

1:12:49

times and studied deeply the Wretched

1:12:51

of the Earth and applied its lessons to

1:12:54

the context of black people in the United States. So

1:12:56

first let's briefly revisit some core

1:12:59

passages, relevant passages from

1:13:01

Fanon. He

1:13:03

says, The colonized subject will first

1:13:06

train this aggressiveness sedimented

1:13:09

in his muscles against his own people. This

1:13:11

is the period when black turns on black. The

1:13:13

police officers and magistrates don't know

1:13:16

which way to turn when faced with the surprising surge

1:13:18

of North African criminality. We shall

1:13:20

see later what should be made of this phenomena but

1:13:23

confronted with the colonial order the colonized

1:13:25

subject is in a permanent state of tension.

1:13:28

At the individual level we witness a

1:13:30

genuine negation of common sense whereas

1:13:33

the colonists or police officer can beat the

1:13:35

colonized subject day in and day out,

1:13:37

insult him

1:13:38

and shove him to his knees. It is not

1:13:40

uncommon to see the colonized subject draw

1:13:42

his knife at the slightest hostile

1:13:45

or aggressive look from another colonized subject.

1:13:47

For the colonized subject's last resort

1:13:50

is to defend his personality against

1:13:52

his fellow countrymen. Internacing

1:13:54

feuds merely perpetuate age-old

1:13:56

grudges entrenched in memory by throwing

1:13:59

himself muscling.

1:13:59

and soul into his blood feuds, the

1:14:02

common eye subject endeavors to convince himself

1:14:04

that colonialism has never existed, that

1:14:06

everything is as it used to be and history

1:14:09

marches on.

1:14:10

Here we grasp the full significance

1:14:12

of the all too familiar head in the sand behavior

1:14:14

at a collective level, as if this collective

1:14:17

immersion in a fratricidal

1:14:19

bloodbath suffices to mask the

1:14:21

obstacle and postpone the inevitable

1:14:23

alternative, the inevitable emergence of

1:14:25

the armed struggle against colonialism. So

1:14:28

one of the ways the colonized subject releases

1:14:31

his muscular tension is through

1:14:33

the very real collective self-destruction

1:14:36

of these internecine feuds. Such

1:14:38

behavior represents a death wish in

1:14:40

the face of danger, a suicidal

1:14:42

conduct which reinforces the colonists

1:14:45

existence and domination and re-insures

1:14:47

him that such men are not rational.

1:14:51

Okay so now let's move on to

1:14:54

a reading from Meditations on France Fanon's

1:14:56

Wretched of the Earth by the new African revolutionary

1:14:59

and political prisoner James Yaki

1:15:01

Salis. I think it's important to read this at

1:15:03

length because this was written by a black

1:15:05

communist who was directly and deeply

1:15:07

influenced by Malcolm X, George Jackson,

1:15:10

Ho Chi Minh, Mao and many others.

1:15:13

He spent over 33 years of his life in

1:15:15

prison in Illinois, both as a juvenile

1:15:17

and as an adult and was radicalized in

1:15:19

prison through his readings of various revolutionary

1:15:22

thinkers including and especially

1:15:24

France Fanon. He organized relentlessly

1:15:26

both inside and outside of the prison walls.

1:15:29

He was a brilliant thinker who was relatively unknown

1:15:32

and part of the reason he is so unknown is

1:15:34

because he wanted to be. He was a highly

1:15:36

disciplined and a deeply anti-individualist

1:15:38

figure. One of the most endearing and rewarding

1:15:41

aspects of reading his Meditations on Wretched of

1:15:43

the Earth is that he writes in the everyday

1:15:45

language of working in poor people. There

1:15:47

is absolutely no academic pretension

1:15:50

to the way he writes and expresses himself. He

1:15:53

is authentically of and for the black

1:15:55

radical proletarian tradition. In

1:15:57

this segment of his book which I'm about to read, he... concepts

1:16:00

related specifically to the Black Lumpen

1:16:03

proletariat in the United States found

1:16:05

in the wretched of the earth. This essay

1:16:07

is called on transforming the colonial

1:16:09

and criminal mentality and it starts

1:16:11

off with a long quote by Malcolm X which I'll

1:16:14

not read I'll just get into the content

1:16:16

itself from Yaki. So

1:16:18

he starts, during a conversation with the comrade

1:16:21

the movie Battle of Algiers was mentioned.

1:16:24

Within the context of using that film as a

1:16:26

way of making a comment on the present

1:16:28

and probable direction that many prisoners are taking

1:16:31

and that many more will take in the escalating

1:16:33

class and national liberation struggles

1:16:35

inside US borders. An apology

1:16:37

is made in advance should we make errors in

1:16:40

our recollection of events taking place in the film

1:16:42

or the order of their appearance. In

1:16:44

the opening scene or in one of the early

1:16:47

scenes the setting is a prison

1:16:49

and the principal character was we believe

1:16:51

portrayed as Ali Aponte. Ali

1:16:54

Aponte was an Algerian who had entered

1:16:56

the prison as a common criminal or a bandit

1:16:58

and was then in the process of being politicized

1:17:01

and politically educating himself. He

1:17:03

was being approached by a revolutionary, a prisoner

1:17:05

of war, who had noticed Ali's strong

1:17:07

sense of nationalism and his revolutionary

1:17:10

potential. Thus his potential

1:17:12

of becoming a revolutionary nationalist

1:17:14

rather than his remaining a bandits, a criminal,

1:17:17

or a lumpen with nationalist sentiments and

1:17:19

emotional commitment to nationalism. We

1:17:22

know this already sounds familiar to many quote

1:17:25

I've been in rebellion all my life I just didn't

1:17:27

know it comrade brother George Jackson

1:17:29

said and quote for a young new

1:17:31

African growing up in the ghetto the first

1:17:33

rebellion is always crime end quote.

1:17:36

A clear distinction must be drawn between rebellion

1:17:39

and revolution because unless this

1:17:41

is done we become confused in our thought

1:17:43

and our actions. Arriving at clarity

1:17:45

on this and other issues is a necessary aspect

1:17:48

of transforming the criminal and the colonial

1:17:50

mentality. We can

1:17:52

rebel against something without necessarily rebelling

1:17:55

or making revolution for something. A

1:17:57

rebellion is generally an attack upon those

1:17:59

who rule, but it is an attack which is

1:18:02

spontaneous, short-lived, and without the

1:18:04

purpose of replacing those who rule. Rebellions

1:18:07

bring into question the methods of those who rule, but

1:18:09

stop short of actually calling into question

1:18:11

their very right to rule, without calling

1:18:13

into question the entire authority and the

1:18:15

foundation upon which that authority or legitimacy

1:18:18

rests. We rebel as a means

1:18:20

of exposing intolerable conditions and treatment,

1:18:23

but we seek to have someone other than ourselves change

1:18:25

these conditions and to change the treatment

1:18:28

rather than to assume responsibility ourselves

1:18:30

for our whole lives. A rebellion essentially

1:18:32

wants to end bad housing, or have

1:18:34

full employment, or end police brutality

1:18:37

and change prison conditions, etc. to,

1:18:39

in other words, reform the system, and

1:18:41

leave the power to make these reforms in

1:18:44

the hands of the master. A

1:18:46

revolution, on the other hand, seeks not merely to

1:18:48

reform the system, but to completely overthrow

1:18:50

it, and to place the power for overthrowing

1:18:53

it and the power for running the new system that is established

1:18:55

in the hands of the revolutionary masses. Thus

1:18:58

the slogan, All Power to the People. The

1:19:01

failure to make a similar distinction between a rebellion

1:19:03

and a revolution is what prevents many bloods

1:19:05

from recognizing and then making the transformation

1:19:08

from capital colonials to

1:19:10

political prisoners, and prevents those outside

1:19:13

the walls from making the transformation from colonial

1:19:15

subjects to conscious citizens and active

1:19:17

cadres. It prevents us from consciously

1:19:19

and systematically bringing up a new generation

1:19:22

who know the difference between new African reform

1:19:24

and rebellion and new African revolution.

1:19:27

It prevents us from consciously and systematically

1:19:29

creating new African revolutionary leadership

1:19:32

to lead a revolutionary movement as

1:19:34

opposed to new forms of civil rights struggles

1:19:36

under bourgeois leadership for bourgeois

1:19:38

ends. It prevents us from making a class

1:19:40

analysis of the forces inside our

1:19:43

own neo-colonized nation so that we can

1:19:45

carefully ascertain exactly which forces

1:19:47

can be mobilized to realize the vision

1:19:49

of a new African revolution. More

1:19:52

of Comrade Brother George Jackson's words are familiar

1:19:55

to us. Quote, Prisons are not institutionalized

1:19:58

on such a massive scale by the people. Most

1:20:00

people realize that crime is simply the result

1:20:02

of a grossly disproportionate distribution

1:20:05

of wealth and privilege, a reflection of the

1:20:07

present state of property relations. And

1:20:09

we must educate the people on the real causes

1:20:11

of economic crimes. They must be made to

1:20:13

realize that even crimes of passion are

1:20:16

the psychosocial effects of an economic

1:20:18

order that was decadent 100 years ago. All

1:20:21

crime can be traced to objective socioeconomic

1:20:24

conditions, socially productive or

1:20:26

counterproductive activity. In all cases,

1:20:29

it is determined by the economic system, the

1:20:31

method of economic organization."

1:20:33

End quote.

1:20:34

Back to Yaki. Many prisoners and many

1:20:37

people outside the walls, many political prisoners

1:20:39

and even some POWs have, we believe,

1:20:41

not taken the interpretation of the above words

1:20:43

far enough. We feel this way because

1:20:46

many comrades have based many of their beliefs

1:20:48

and positions on the so-called inherent

1:20:51

revolutionary capacity of lumpen

1:20:53

on their understanding of the above quoted statements.

1:20:56

We tend to overlook the fact that Comrade

1:20:58

George was making a broad analysis,

1:21:01

describing objective factors and presenting

1:21:03

a general ideological perspective. The

1:21:05

grossly disproportionate distribution of wealth and privilege

1:21:08

and the crime that results from it does not

1:21:10

automatically make us revolutionaries. The

1:21:13

real causes of crimes are not necessarily,

1:21:15

not of themselves, the causes of commitments

1:21:18

to revolutionary struggle. Objective

1:21:20

economic conditions, the method of economic

1:21:22

organization are not of themselves factors

1:21:25

which inspire and or cement conscious

1:21:27

activity in revolutionary nationalist people's war. Comrade

1:21:30

George described the objective set of conditions,

1:21:33

the economic basis of crime, and

1:21:35

he recognized that he had been objectively in

1:21:37

rebellion all his life. But he also said he just didn't know it. He

1:21:41

wasn't aware of his acts as being forms of rebellion.

1:21:45

He wasn't conscious of himself as a victim of

1:21:47

social injustice, and he wasn't consciously

1:21:49

directing his actions toward the destruction

1:21:51

of the enemy. And Comrade's asked

1:21:53

in the past, what is the difference between these

1:21:55

mentalities? Primarily because it was hard to see the difference,

1:21:57

and it had been assumed that he was a victim of the death of the enemy.

1:22:00

that there was no difference between the lumpen and the outlaw

1:22:02

or the revolutionary. Some bloods

1:22:04

simply want the lumpen to be the outlaw, the

1:22:06

revolutionary, and some say this is what George

1:22:09

meant. George said that the revolutionary

1:22:11

was a lawless man because revolution is illegal

1:22:13

in America. Thus, the revolutionary,

1:22:15

the outlaw, and the lumpen would make the revolution.

1:22:19

Some bloods read revolutionary actuality

1:22:21

into the potentiality alluded to by

1:22:23

George in his analysis of the economic

1:22:25

basis of crime.

1:22:27

Quoting Marx,

1:22:28

the materialist doctrine that men are the products

1:22:30

of circumstances and education that changed

1:22:32

men are therefore the products of other circumstances

1:22:35

and of a different education forgets that circumstances

1:22:38

are in fact changed by men and that the

1:22:40

educator himself must be educated.

1:22:44

Quoting Mao, Marx's philosophy

1:22:46

holds that the most important problem does not

1:22:48

lie in understanding laws of the objective world

1:22:51

and thus being able to explain it, but

1:22:53

in applying the knowledge of these laws actively

1:22:55

to change the world. Only social

1:22:57

practice can be the criterion of truth.

1:23:01

Back to Yaki.

1:23:02

In order for us to know Ali Aponte today

1:23:05

as an Algerian revolutionary, he

1:23:07

had to become politicized, consciously

1:23:09

joining with the Algerian FLN

1:23:12

and point his guns at the enemies of the Algerian

1:23:14

people. The employment of the skills

1:23:16

he acquired and sharpened as a bandit continued

1:23:19

to violate the law of the colonial state,

1:23:22

but the difference was fundamental. Aponte's

1:23:25

previous violations of the colonialist state

1:23:27

law were violations of an individual for

1:23:29

personal gain. But more important, they

1:23:31

were seen even by him at that stage as

1:23:34

true violations of the law because the

1:23:36

law and the state that it upheld were still

1:23:38

recognized by Aponte as being legitimate.

1:23:41

He was a criminal because he still saw

1:23:43

himself as a criminal within the definition

1:23:45

of the practice of colonialist oppression.

1:23:48

This is an aspect of the criminal and the colonial

1:23:50

mentality. Continued recognition

1:23:53

and acceptance of the legitimacy of colonial

1:23:55

rule to continue to feel that the colonial

1:23:58

state has a right to rule over the colonial state.

1:24:01

As long as we continue to see the oppressive state

1:24:03

as legitimate ruler, even the circumstances

1:24:06

and personal motives which push us toward crime

1:24:08

continue to be isolated cases, presenting

1:24:11

no danger to the foundations of the oppressive state

1:24:13

and offering no benefits toward the struggle for independence

1:24:16

and socialism. This criminal colonial

1:24:18

mentality was similarly described

1:24:20

by Comrade's sister Asada Shakur.

1:24:23

Quote, I am sad when I see what happens

1:24:25

to women who lose their strength. They see themselves

1:24:28

as bad children who expect to be punished because

1:24:30

they have not in some way conformed to the

1:24:32

conduct required of good children in the

1:24:34

opinion of prison guards. Therefore, when they

1:24:36

are punished, they feel absolution has been

1:24:38

dealt and they are again in the good graces

1:24:41

of the guards. Approval has been given by

1:24:43

the enemy, but the enemy is no longer recognized

1:24:45

as an enemy. The enemy becomes the

1:24:47

maternal figure patterning their lives. It is like a plantation

1:24:49

in prison. You

1:24:52

can see the need for a revolution, clearly. End

1:24:54

quote.

1:24:55

Before Comrade George met Marx in the Black Guerrillas,

1:24:58

his mentality was best characterized as criminal. It

1:25:01

was only after he was redeemed that he was able

1:25:03

to see himself as a victim of social injustice,

1:25:05

that he was able to know that his past criminal acts

1:25:08

had been an embryonic form of rebellion, had

1:25:10

constituted a tendency and a potential for

1:25:12

undermining the oppressive state's authority. Its

1:25:15

prestige, the legitimacy of its law,

1:25:17

and to ultimately overthrow it. To

1:25:20

kill the prestige of the oppressive state is, first

1:25:22

of all, to kill the image of its legitimacy in

1:25:24

the minds of the people.

1:25:25

To transform the criminal mentality and the

1:25:27

colonial mentality into a revolutionary

1:25:30

mentality is to destroy within the minds

1:25:32

of the people the sense of awe in which they

1:25:34

hold the oppressive state. For Comrade

1:25:36

George to become first the political prisoner

1:25:39

and then the prisoner of war, he had to move beyond

1:25:41

the mere understanding of the objective economic

1:25:44

law and its relationship to crime. He had to

1:25:46

begin applying his knowledge of revolutionary

1:25:48

activity aimed toward changing the world,

1:25:51

toward changing these objective economic laws

1:25:53

and eradicating their effect upon the people.

1:25:56

We know George today as a revolutionary

1:25:58

because he educated himself, and then we can't stop him.

1:25:59

went on to change existing circumstances.

1:26:02

If we were to leave the objective analysis understanding

1:26:05

of the economic basis of crime and proceed

1:26:07

no further, we end up legitimizing

1:26:09

the dope pushers in our communities, the pimps

1:26:12

and other backward reactionary elements who

1:26:14

engage in such activity because

1:26:16

of the circumstances caused by the present economic

1:26:18

order.

1:26:19

We can't continue to say the devil made

1:26:21

me do it. If we don't move beyond an explanation

1:26:24

of objective socioeconomic conditions and

1:26:26

consequently don't move beyond the acceptance

1:26:29

of criminal activity on the part of the lumpen

1:26:31

as somehow honorable and inherently revolutionary

1:26:34

simply because they reflect the present state of property

1:26:36

relations, what we will end up doing is

1:26:38

condoning those relations in practice if not

1:26:40

in words. We will end up accepting the ideology

1:26:43

behind those relations as well.

1:26:46

There is a scene sequence in Battle

1:26:48

of Algiers where Ali Aponte, the ex-criminal,

1:26:51

the revolutionary nationalist and member of the FLN

1:26:54

confronts lumpen criminal elements who

1:26:57

are surviving the best way they know how under

1:26:59

the existing circumstances.

1:27:01

Ali makes this confrontation in accordance

1:27:03

with the FLN view that a weak and disorganized,

1:27:06

demoralized and diseased people cannot

1:27:08

successfully attack and defeat the enemy. The

1:27:11

pimps, dope pushers and otherwise

1:27:13

backward elements were asked, warned,

1:27:15

encouraged to find other means of survival,

1:27:18

means which would be more in tune with

1:27:20

the needs and direction of the people and

1:27:22

the national liberation struggle. The backward

1:27:25

elements refused, resisted the

1:27:27

transformation of their mentalities and thus

1:27:29

placed themselves squarely in the path of

1:27:31

the nation's progress.

1:27:33

Ali Aponte responded to this refusal,

1:27:35

to this blocking of progress and national salvation

1:27:38

with a short burst from his Thompson,

1:27:41

end

1:27:41

quote.

1:27:42

So I don't know, I found that to be incredibly

1:27:45

fascinating to go into the psychology

1:27:48

of criminal potentiality,

1:27:51

right? This confusion

1:27:53

that simply by being a criminal, you

1:27:55

are being revolutionary and

1:27:57

what he's saying is there's a potentiality there.

1:28:00

But if not for education, if not for giving it

1:28:02

direction, if not for embedding it inside

1:28:04

of a real revolutionary organization, that

1:28:07

criminal lumpen reactionary stuff

1:28:09

comes to the surface and actually undermines revolutionary

1:28:12

goals. So the distinctions and the nuances

1:28:14

and the complexities marked out in

1:28:16

that little passage I think is really interesting

1:28:18

and again, fully and completely

1:28:21

come out of Yaki's engagement

1:28:24

with Frantz Fanon's Wretched of the Earth.

1:28:26

So yeah, that's my point of application.

1:28:28

Allison? Totally. Yeah, no, that's

1:28:30

really useful actually. I think that distinction between

1:28:33

rebellion and revolution also is

1:28:35

so helpful for understanding how

1:28:37

to look at, you know, forms of resistance

1:28:39

that do exist and are really resisting

1:28:42

but aren't revolutionary and actually going

1:28:44

to change things systemically. And

1:28:46

that's just a really useful heuristic for distinguishing

1:28:49

those things, honestly. I found that really helpful. Now

1:28:51

I really want to read that book. Yeah, that's great.

1:28:55

Awesome. Alright, so that's about all that

1:28:57

I have. Was there anything else that you wanted to cover or?

1:29:00

No, I'm good. We mentioned that the Sartre

1:29:02

preface will be on our Patreon for this month and then

1:29:04

yeah, next month we're just going to continue on this book. Awesome.

1:29:07

So thank you all so much for tuning

1:29:10

in. We know it's a particularly long episode but

1:29:12

this is also a very dense and very,

1:29:14

you know, wonderful text that needs to be

1:29:16

wrestled with and we hope that you'll bear with us as we do

1:29:18

that with a little bit more detail. So again,

1:29:20

next month we will be covering the next

1:29:22

two chapters of this text so go ahead and

1:29:24

start reading up on those if you are interested

1:29:27

in following along. And we also need

1:29:29

to give a shout out to some of our patrons real quick who

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donate at an elevated level who we

1:29:33

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1:29:35

know, keeping this program going and making this

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something that, you know, we can just felt like devote

1:29:40

this much time to is very helpful. So

1:29:42

a quick shout out to Craig, Melody,

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possible because of your help and support. So thank you so

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much. We hope that you've enjoyed our episode

1:29:57

and that you can continue to check back in as

1:29:59

me further. Thank you

1:30:02

so much for all the

1:30:04

killers and $100.

1:30:08

Because we got no

1:30:11

feelings. I'm

1:32:00

sorry, but I'm sorry.

1:32:04

I'm sorry. I'm

1:32:08

sorry. I'm

1:32:12

sorry. I

1:32:17

have been robbed. I'm

1:32:20

sorry. I'm

1:32:25

sorry. I'm

1:32:29

sorry. I'm

1:32:33

sorry. Ok.

1:32:41

Ok. Ok,

1:32:46

ok. Ok.

1:32:52

Ok. Ok.

1:33:02

Ok. Ok.

1:33:08

Ok. Ok.

1:33:16

Ok. Ok.

1:33:25

Ok. Ok.

1:33:34

Ok. Ok.

1:33:40

Ok. Ok.

1:33:48

Ok. you

1:35:00

you

1:35:30

you