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Weekend Edition Feb 27-Mar 01, 2015<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/27/the-struggle-for-liberation-in-haiti-today/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/27/the-struggle-for-liberation-in-haiti-today/</a><br>
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<div class="subheadlinestyle"><b><big><big><big>Malcolm X’s
Internationalism </big></big></big></b></div>
<h1 class="article-title">The Struggle for Liberation in Haiti
Today</h1>
<div class="mainauthorstyle">by AJAMU NANGWAYA </div>
<div class="main-text">
<blockquote>
<p>“…when you select heroes about which black children ought
to be taught, let them be black heroes who have died
fighting for the benefit of black people. We never were
taught about Christophe or Dessalines. It was the slave
revolt in Haiti when slaves, black slaves, had the soldiers
of Napoleon tied down and forced him to sell one half of the
American continent to the Americans. They don’t teach us
that. This is the kind of history we want to learn.” –
Malcolm X[1]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>February 21, 2015 marked the 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of
the assassination of Malcolm X who is is firmly located within
the ranks of the foremost luminaries of Pan-Afrikanism.[2] As
such, he was very much concerned with the fate of Afrikans
across the globe. The broadness of Malcolm’s humanity and
sympathy informed his internationalism, which included all
oppressed peoples, especially the racialized ones who have
experienced the lashes of global white supremacy.[3]</p>
<p>This year, 2015, also marks the commencement of the 100<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of the United States’ invasion and occupation of
Haiti, the 11th anniversary of the Western-backed coup against
the democratically-elected government Jean-Bertrand Aristide
and the current MINUSTAH occupation, and the 5<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of the devastating 2010 earthquake. The outlook of
this ardent Pan-Afrikanist and internationalist, Malcolm X,
ought to have relevance to the organized solidarity that
anti-imperialists and Pan-Afrikanists should be demonstrating
toward the labouring classes in Haiti.</p>
<p>One of the most important anti-imperialist struggles in the
Americas today is the occupation of Haiti by western
imperialism by way of the <em>United Nations Stabilization
Mission in Haiti </em>(MINUSTAH).[4] As long as this
military occupation is in effect, the individuals and
organizations who claim to be champions of the
self-determination and independence of oppressed people should
be organizing to end it. The people of Haiti are actively
resisting the neocolonial regime and the occupation force that
have been imposed on them. Are we, internationalists, playing
our part as comrades-in-arms with “the wretched of the earth”
in Haiti?</p>
<p>Haiti’s legacy of materially contributing to the independence
struggles in South America and Central America, and
accelerating the end to slavery in the Americas ought to
inspire a higher level of commitment for its popular struggle
on the ground. The Haitian Revolution clearly demonstrated the
creative genius, boldness, resilience and self-reliance of a
dispossessed people when they are motivated by a compelling
idea or vision. Hence, the labouring classes in Haiti are
heirs to a revolutionary tradition that affirms the capacity
of the socially damned to assert themselves on the stage of
history as dramatic actors.</p>
<p>It was not an accident that Malcolm made connection to the
Haitian Revolution in his effort to achieve human rights for
Afrikan Americans. He expressed admiration for its example of
militancy and courage in checkmating white supremacy,
enslavement and colonialism, “[Frederick] Douglass was great.
I would rather have been taught about Toussaint L’Ouverture.
We need to be taught about who fought, who bled for freedom
and made others bleed.”[5] Malcolm told his followers that
history was a very instructive and wise teacher and worthy of
emulation. He encouraged them to “examine the historic method
used all over the world by others who have problem similar to
yours.”[6] The enslaved Afrikans in Haiti used revolutionary
violence to assert that the slogan “equality, liberty and
fraternity[solidarity]” was applicable to their struggle for
emancipation.</p>
<p>One of the most admirable and central elements of Malcolm’s
contribution to the Afrikan Revolutionary Tradition was his
internationalist and Pan-Afrikanist thoughts and politics.
Temkin states that there are much to learn from engaging the
internationalist thoughts of Malcolm in areas such as “human
rights, the politics of citizenship, the impact of
decolonization, anti-imperialism, the global and black left,
and the tension between geopolitics and individual or
collective political action.”[7]This Afrikan revolutionary was
preoccupied with strategically internationalizing the national
struggle of Afrikans inside the United States.</p>
<p>He saw the significance of connecting the global struggles
for emancipation of the peoples of Asia, Latin America, the
Caribbean and Afrika. This ideological orientation is
evidenced in this declaration:</p>
<p>1964 will see the Negro revolt evolve and merge into the
worldwide black revolution that has been taking place on this
earth since 1945. The so-called revolt will become a real
black revolution. Now the black revolution has been taking
place in Africa and Asia and Latin America; when I say black,
I mean non-white – black, brown, red or yellow.[8]</p>
<p>The common experience of colonialism and white supremacy
created the basis for unity of purpose in the eyes of Malcolm.
This political sensibility informed his framing of the
resistance of the racialized world to European colonialism and
the thrust toward independence. It is important to note that
this United States-based internationalist held the national
resistance struggle of Afrikan Americans as an integral part
of the “worldwide black revolution.”</p>
<p>This fight for liberation from white supremacy and
imperialism made solidarity and mutual aid among the
racialized world majority an objective and existential
necessity, from the vantage point of Malcolm’s
internationalist outlook. It is for the preceding reason that
Malcolm lavished unbridled, albeit unnuanced, praise on the
1955 <em>Bandung Conference</em> that pulled together
independent Afrikan and Asian states to further economic
cooperation and provide collective resistance to the
colonialism and hegemony of the white imperial or major
powers.[9]</p>
<p>The work that took place at the <em>Bandung Conference</em>
led to the emergence of the <em>Non-Aligned Movement</em> of
states that stood outside of the West and the former Soviet
Union and its state socialist Eastern European allies.
Bandung’s unity was seen by Malcolm as a “model for the same
procedure you and I [Afrikans in America] can use to get our
problem solved.”[10]</p>
<p>Malcolm’s extensive visits to Afrika and Western Asia (Middle
East)[11] broadened his internationalist perspective and
framing of issues such as black nationalism,[12] the
emancipation of women,[13] capitalism as a predator,[14]
imperialism as a global system of exploitation,[15]
cooperation with whites,[16] and the role of one’s religious
beliefs in the secular struggle for emancipation.[17]
Malcolm’s political development led him to see the “worldwide
revolution” in revolt against an “international western power
structure” or a “giant international combine” (imperialism)
that ruled the peoples and exploited the resources of the
global South.[18] From the time of Malcolm’s <em>Message to
the Grassroots</em> in late 1963 to his “worldwide
revolution” speech on February 15, 1965, one can see a drastic
shift from the overly racializing of the struggle against
imperialism to the integration of an economic analysis into
his understanding of global white supremacy and western
imperialism.</p>
<p>Malcolm’s understanding of class and race oppression and a
developing gender analysis informed his framing of Afrikan
American oppression within a radical internationalist
framework. This internationalizing of the struggle made him a
dangerous figure in the eyes of the United States[19] and to
the “international western power structure’ as evidenced by
the French state denying him entry onto its national
territory.[20] The preceding state of affairs which indicate
the willingness of the forces of oppression to collaborate or
act as one across borders in order to maintain their systems
of domination. As such, it is a moral and political
obligation, on the part of the oppressed, to strategize and
cooperate transnationally, otherwise a revolution in one
country would be quite vulnerable.</p>
<p>What lessons or insights should we draw from Malcolm’s
international solidarity and global justice orientation on the
question of MINUSTAH’s occupation of Haiti and the popular
struggle against neoliberal capitalism and the occupier?</p>
<p>A central component of Malcolm’s attempt at
internationalizing the struggle of Afrikans in the United
States was to seek intervention before international bodies
such as the United Nations (UN), the Organization of African
Unity (OAU) and the Organization of American States.[21] He
was especially fixated on the UN as the forum in which the
classification of the racist oppression of Afrikan Americans
as a struggle for human right as opposed to one for civil
rights, would have placed it “completely out of the
jurisdiction of the United States government.[22]</p>
<p>The OAU, a body of strongmen, neocolonial agents and
kleptocrats, was seen by Malcolm as a body that would
demonstrate solidarity with the human rights struggle of
Afrikan Americans. However, when this continental group had
the opportunity to openly and vigorously challenge the
trampling of the human rights of Afrikan Americans, the OAU
took the path of least resistance by passing a “moderate
resolution against ‘‘racial oppression.’’”[23]</p>
<p>Malcolm overestimated inexplicably gave too much credit to
the usefulness of the two-thirds votes of the “continent of
Africa, coupled with the Asian and Arab bloc” in the General
Assembly.[24] The Security Council is the seat of power and
action at the UN and each of the five permanent members
(Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) wields
a veto over its decisions. For example, the UN’s Security
Council intervention in the Congo in July 1960 was a classic
case of the UN being used by western powers to retain this
country within its sphere of influence<sup><sup>[25]</sup></sup>
and checkmate the feared influence of the former Soviet Union
and its military support to the Patrice Lumumba-led
government.[26]</p>
<p>Given the current occupation of Haiti by the UN on behalf of
western states such as Canada, France and the United States,
it is clear that this international institution and its
Security Council are not allies in the struggle for human
rights in the global South. The UN’s General Assembly may
serve, at best, as the conscience of the world and a place for
moral victory for causes related to the oppressed. We could
look at the case of the United States economic embargo against
Cuba or the Palestinians’ quest for self-determination enjoys
solid support in the General Assembly, but have foundered on
the shore of inaction at the Security Council.</p>
<p>The UN tends to intervene in a country when it is in the
interests of western states to do so. Its military presence in
Haiti provides legitimacy to western powers’ and the local
ruling elite’s attempt to weaken the development or
strengthening of a people’s movement that might undermine
capitalism and the geo-strategic interests of imperialism.</p>
<p>Malcolm’s appeal to states or international bodies and the
questionable efficacy of such an approach ought to lead us in
the direction of movements from below as the principal way to
challenge imperialism in Haiti, and everywhere. The operators
of the state are fearful of the autonomous organizing of the
people. As such, they will seek to undermine the existence of
independent, oppositional organizations and movements. The
state might do so through co-opting the leaders with material
incentives or use the security services to repress both
leaders and members by way of the security services.</p>
<p>It was the mobilization of the masses or the fear of them
being mobilized that pushed colonial powers such as France and
Britain in Afrika[27] and the Caribbean to embark on the path
of formal independence. Malcolm claimed that the
pre-independence nationalism and consciousness of the people
in Afrika had been “fanned from a spark into a roaring flame”
and made things too hot for colonialism.[28]</p>
<p>Malcolm’s faith in the “grass roots out there in the streets”
acting independently of the politically compromised leadership
and driving fear in the power structure[29] is a more fruitful
direction in which to oppose the occupation in Haiti. In fact,
this is the very approach that the popular movement in Haiti
has been using to challenge the western-backed president
Michel Martelly and MINUSTAH’s occupation.[30] In 1986, a
mobilized Haitian populace brought an end to the Duvalier
regime and paved the way for the emergence of Jean-Bertrand
Aristide and the organizational expression of their
self-determination in the form of <em><a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2010/11/17/why-aristide-s-party-won-t-vote/">Fanmi
Lavalas</a></em>.</p>
<p>In spite of state violence being directed at the masses in
the streets, they continue to demand a future that centres
their economic, social and political interests. Malcolm’s
evolving international solidarity politics calls for active
involvement with the masses in revolt. He would have
encouraged people outside of Haiti to stand with the people of
Haiti, given his admiration of the Haitian Revolution. He told
a group at a public lecture in France that an effective way to
help Afrikan Americans would be to intervene when the police
“grab and arrest us, let them know, well, that they shouldn’t
have done it.”[31] While Malcolm did not specify the range of
actions that should be taken by these would-be
internationalists, we have at our disposal a number of
initiatives that can be taken to express our solidarity with
the people in Haiti.[32]</p>
<p>After all, the struggle in Haiti is a part of the worldwide
“black revolution” and the fight against the “international
western power structure.” All freedom loving peoples across
the globe, and especially those living in the Americas have an
anti-imperialist obligation to support the people of Haiti as
they resist the oppressive forces that are aligned against
them.[33]</p>
<p>A number of Latin American states have contributed military
and police personnel to MINUSTAH’s occupation of Haiti. Many
organizations in that region have started to organize to force
an end to the occupation of Haiti. Internationalists in North
America, Europe, Afrika and Asia need to systematically
mobilize, educate and organize the people to drive out the
occupation and allow the people of Haiti to determine their
own path to development. The victory of Haiti in ending
slavery and asserting its political independence lit the flame
of freedom across the Americas.</p>
<p>Haiti could once again become the trailblazer of emancipation
and revolutionary fortitude. Internationalists who are in
agreement with Malcolm X’s internationalism and global justice
commitments ought to actively support the fight for
self-determination, independence and development of the
labouring classes in Haiti. It is not enough to issue
meaningless praises for Malcolm’s internationalism or be
infatuated with the Haitian Revolution. We need to demonstrate
our international solidarity with Haiti by working in
organizations in our respective countries to support and
complement the work being carried out by Haitians to secure
their liberation.</p>
<p><em><strong>Ajamu Nangwaya, </strong>Ph.D., is an educator
and organizer. He is an organizer with the Campaign to End
the Occupation in Haiti and the Toronto Haiti Action
Committee.</em></p>
<p>[1] Malcolm X, <em>By Any Means Necessary</em> (New York:
Pathfinder Press, 1970/1992), 125.</p>
<p>[2] Hakim Adi & Marika Sherwood, <em>Pan-African
History: Political Figures from Africa and the Diaspora
since 1787</em> (New York: Routledge, 2003), 123-128.</p>
<p>[3] George Breitman, ed., <em>Malcom X Speaks: Selected
Speeches and Statements</em> (New York: Pathfinder Press,
1965/1989), 217-218</p>
<p>[4] Kevin Edmonds and Ajamu Nangwaya, “The United Nations
Will Fail Haiti Once Again: Pull Out the Occupation Troops<em>,”
CounterPunch</em>, October 14, 2014. Retrieved from <a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/14/the-united-nations-will-fail-haiti-once-again/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/14/the-united-nations-will-fail-haiti-once-again/</a></p>
<p>[5] Malcolm X, <em>By Any Means Necessary</em>, 124.</p>
<p>[6] Breitman, Malcom X Speaks, 8.</p>
<p>[7] Moshik Temkin, “From Black Revolution to ‘‘Radical
Humanism’’: Malcolm X between Biography and International
History,” <em>Humanity Journal</em> 3, 2, (2012): 268.</p>
<p>[8] Breitman, <em>Malcom X Speaks,</em> 49-50.</p>
<p>[9] Ibid., 5-6.</p>
<p>[10] Breitman, <em>Malcolm X Speaks</em>, 5.</p>
<p>[11] Temkin, From Black Revolution, 277. According to Temkin,
the United States was startled by the leaders that Malcolm was
associating with, “He met with a number of heads of state,
including Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Gamal Abdel-Nasser of Egypt,
Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Ahmed Se
´kou Toure ´ of Guinea, and Ahmed Ben Bella of
Algeria—charismatic postcolonial leaders who saw themselves as
defying the Western powers and whose varying fusions of
African-style socialism and Pan-Africanism (or Pan-Arabism)
appealed to Malcolm X’s evolving conception of power politics.
What made American officials most nervous about Malcolm X’s
comings and goings was that they considered all these leaders
either potential or active allies of the Soviet Union” (p.
277).</p>
<p>[12] Malcolm X, <em>By Any Means Necessary</em>, 159-60.</p>
<p>[13] Ibid., 179.</p>
<p>[14] Breitman, <em>Malcom X Speaks</em>, 120-122.</p>
<p>[15] Malcolm X, <em>By Any Means Necessary</em>, 116-17.</p>
<p>[16] Bruce Perry, editor, <em>Malcolm X: The Last Speeches</em>,
(New York: Pathfinder Press, 1989) 147.</p>
<p>[17] Malcolm X, <em>By Any Means Necessary</em>, 180; Perry,
<em>The Last Speeches</em>, 157.</p>
<p>[18] Perry, <em>The Last Speeches, </em>127.</p>
<p>[19] Temkin, <em>From Black Revolution</em>, 277.</p>
<p>[20] Temkin, <em>From Black Revolution</em>, 282-83; Malcolm
X, <em>By Any Means Necessary, </em>167-73;</p>
<p>[21] Malcolm X, <em>By Any Means Necessary</em>, 87-88;
Breitman, <em>Malcom X Speaks</em>, 72-87.</p>
<p>[22] Steve Clark, ed., <em>Malcolm X Speaks to Young People:
Speeches in the United States, Britain, and Africa</em>,
(New York: Pathfinder Press, 1965/2002) 79.</p>
<p>[23] Temkin, <em>From Black Revolution</em>, 277; <sup><sup>[23]</sup></sup>
Breitman, <em>Malcolm X Speaks</em>, 84.</p>
<p>[24] Clark, <em>Malcolm X Speaks to Young People</em>, 80.</p>
<p>[25] Abayomi Azikiwe, “Congo still struggles for real
independence,” <em>Workers World</em>, July 15, 2010.
Retrieved from <a
href="http://www.workers.org/2010/world/congo_0722/"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.workers.org']);">http://www.workers.org/2010/world/congo_0722/</a></p>
<p>[26] Tom Eley, “Fifty years since the murder of Patrice
Lumumba,” <em>World Socialist Web Site</em>, January 22 2011,
Retrieved from <a
href="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/01/lumu-j22.html"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.wsws.org']);">http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/01/lumu-j22.html</a>;
Adam Hochschild, “An Assassination’s Long Shadow,” <em>New
York Times</em>, January 16, 2011. Retrieved from <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/opinion/17hochschild.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.nytimes.com']);">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/opinion/17hochschild.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0</a></p>
<p>[27] Firoze Manji, “What’s Left in Africa? Reflections on
the failure of left, working class movements to take root in
most of Africa,” <em>International Viewpoint</em>, February
5, 2015 5 February 2015. Retrieved from <a
href="http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article3853"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.internationalviewpoint.org']);">http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article3853</a></p>
<p>[28] Clark, <em>Malcolm X Speaks to Young People</em>, 58.</p>
<p>[29] Breitman, <em>Malcom X Speaks</em>, 14,</p>
<p>[30] Kim Ives & Isabelle Papillon, “Haiti: Two Days of
Demonstrations and General Strike: “Down with the UN
Occupation”, “Down with the President and Prime Minister,”” <em>Global
Research</em>, February 11, 2015. Retrieved from <a
href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/haiti-two-days-of-demonstrations-and-general-strike-down-with-he-un-occupation-down-with-the-president-and-prime-minister/5430662"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.globalresearch.ca']);">http://www.globalresearch.ca/haiti-two-days-of-demonstrations-and-general-strike-down-with-he-un-occupation-down-with-the-president-and-prime-minister/5430662</a></p>
<p>[31] Malcolm X, <em>By Any Means Necessary</em>, 126.</p>
<p>[32] Ajamu Nangwaya, “Transform your Global Justice
Sentiments into Action to End the Occupation of Haiti,” <em>Dissident
Voice</em>, October 23, 2014. Retrieved from <a
href="http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/10/transform-your-global-justice-sentiments-into-action-to-end-the-occupation-of-haiti/"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://dissidentvoice.org']);">http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/10/transform-your-global-justice-sentiments-into-action-to-end-the-occupation-of-haiti/</a></p>
<p>[33] Ajamu Nangwaya, “We have an anti-imperialist obligation
to the people of Haiti,” <em>Rabble.ca</em>, February 28,
2014. Retrieved from <a
href="http://rabble.ca/news/2014/02/we-have-anti-imperialist-obligation-to-people-haiti"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://rabble.ca']);">http://rabble.ca/news/2014/02/we-have-anti-imperialist-obligation-to-people-haiti</a></p>
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