Organization Is The Weapon Of The

Oppressed
Ferguson, Mobilization, and Organizing the Resistance!
| by Ajamu Nangwaya
Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imosing their decisions, do not organize the
eole!they maniulate them" #hey do not liberate, nor are they liberated$ they oress"
%aulo Freire, %edagogy o& the Oressed
' August ((, ()*+, Missouri, ,ri Lan-a .uardian/ #he rebellion in Ferguson, Missouri, against
the -illing o& unarmed A&ri-an American teenager Michael 0rown has insired me to re&lect on
the 1uestion o& the organizing model 2ersus mobilizing or mobilization model in the struggle
&or A&ri-an liberation in North America as well as the broader humanistic &ight &or liberation
&rom 2arious &orms o& oression" Organizing the oressed &or emanciation is the re&erred
aroach to engaging them in the &ight &or their liberation as oosed to merely mobilizing
them"
#he raid demise o& the Occuy Mo2ement and the scattering o& the occuiers should be an
objecti2e lesson on the need &or &reedom see-ers to become organizationally a&&iliated" 3here
are the tens o& thousands o& eole who articiated in the occuations in 4anada and the
5nited ,tates6 7& 7 had to hazard a guess, 7 would argue that most o& them are not in
organizations that are committed to li1uidating the 2arious systems o& oression" #hey ha2e
gone bac- to doing the mundane acti2ities o& li&e that are not connected to mo2ement8building"
9ssentially, they ha2e been demobilized!
3hen 7 raised the issue o& organizing the oressed, this roject is centrally &ocused on
building the caacity o& the eole to become central actors on the stage o& history or in the
drama o& emanciation" #he socially marginalized are laced in organizational situations where
they are e1uied with the -nowledge, s-ills and attitude to wor- &or their own &reedom and the
construction o& a trans&ormed social reality"
5nder the organizing model the eole are the rincial articiants and decision8ma-ers in the
organizations and mo2ements that are wor-ing &or social change" #he eole are not seen as
entities who are so ideologically underde2eloed that they need a re2olutionary 2anguard or
dictatorshi to lead them to the :New ;erusalem"< #he sureme organizer and humanist 9lla
0a-er too- the osition that the masses will &igure out the ath to &reedom in her oular
assertion, :.i2e eole light and they will &ind a way"<
#his wor- o& &inding =a way> is done in grassroots, articiatory8democratic organizations,
which are the rincial instruments o& sel&8determination &or the oressed" #he ,tudent
Non2iolent 4oordinating 4ommittee ',N44/, a student8based ci2il rights grou during the
struggle against aartheid in the America ,outh o& the *?@)s, emloyed the organizing model"
,N44 &ocused on building local organizations with indigenous leadershi that e&&ected the
struggle &or &reedom by, &or, and o& the eole a&&ected by white suremacy and caitalist
eAloitation"
#hese student organizers li2ed among the eole and, in e&&ect, committed =class suicide> by
their eAistential unity with the eole, as called &or by the re2olutionary Amilcar 4abral" #hey
weren>t li-e Martin Luther Bing and his ,outhern 4hristian Leadershi 4on&erence and other
major ci2il rights organizations and their leaders who entered a local community &or a march or
demonstration with the media in tow" At the end o& the e2ent, they lea2e town with a
demobilized oulation behind them" #his is the mobilization model that shall be mar-ed as
:9Ahibit A"<
#he mobilizing or mobilization model o& struggle see-s to bring the eole out to suort
olitical actions that are concei2ed, lanned, and eAecuted by organizational or mo2ement elite"
#he eole are, essentially, eAtras in the drama o& liberation with the leaders as the &eatured
actors" #he ran- and &ile members or articiants are without substanti2e 2oice and initiati2e"
7n the mainline trade unions o& today as well as in much o& the acti2ities o& other social
mo2ements, mobilization is the weaon o& choice"
7ncluded in the mobilization model is the sontaneous reaction o& the oressed to acts o& state
domination or 2iolence &rom dominant social actors" For eAamle, in some cases o& olice
2iolence against A&ri-ans in 4anada and the 5nited ,tates, the community is mobilized to
march or demonstrate in rotest against the incidents o& injustice" #here will e2en be the
occasional rebellions or urisings" 0ut the assion &or justice will redictably disaear in short
order" #he eole>s attention will be distracted by routine, e2eryday acti2ities until the neAt
-illing or eisode o& olice brutality"
3hen organizations and mo2ements &a2our mobilization, it is all about bringing the ran- and
&ile out to mass actions 'the sectacles o& resistance/ such as rallies, demonstrations, ic-ets,
stri-es, and 2oter registration dri2es" At the end o& the e2ent, the masses are sent bac- home to
assume their stance as assi2e sectators in this elite management aroach to liberation" #he
eole>s will is reresented by the leaders, because articiatory democratic ractices are not
on the organizational menu"
7& the eole>s bodies are needed, they will be summoned &or the neAt action" #he critical
-nowledge, s-ills and attitude that are used to e&&ect resistance reside largely within the
leadershi" 92en when the eole are members o& organizations, it is usually the elected
leadershi and a &ew eole around it, and the aid sta&&ers who do the bul- o& the strategic and
oerational acti2ities" #hey are the brain trust o& the mo2ement"
7n the *?CC summer issue o& the ublication 0rea-through$ %olitical ;ournal o& %rairie Fire
Organizing 4ommittee, the late Bwame #ure '&ormerly ,to-ely 4armichael/, who ser2ed a
term as chairerson o& ,N44 and a stint as %rime Minister o& the 0lac- %anther %arty, had this
to say about organizing and mobilization$
#here>s a di&&erence between mobilization and organization and this di&&erence must be
roerly understood" #o be an organizer, one must be a mobilizer, but being a mobilizer doesn>t
ma-e you an organizer" Martin Luther Bing was one o& the greatest mobilizers this century has
seen, but until his death he was short on organizing" De came to double u on it just be&ore his
death, but he was 2ery short on organizing" Many today who &ollow in his &ootstes still ta-e
this ath o& mobilization rather than organization" #hus one o& the errors o& the @)s was the
1uestion o& mobilization 2ersus the 1uestion o& organization"
7n2ariably the mobilizing or mobilization model comes with the reliance on a sureme leader
or a &ew indi2iduals at the to o& the organizational or mo2ement leadershi &ood chain" 9lla
0a-er cautioned us about the will toward the receding state o& a&&airs$
7 ha2e always &elt it was a handica &or oressed eoles to deend so largely uon a leader,
because un&ortunately in our culture, the charismatic leader usually becomes a leader because
he has &ound a sot in the ublic limelightE"
#he oressed and mo2ement organizations cannot -ee on eAecuting the same showorn
tactics, while eAecting di&&erent outcomes"
Many organizations or eole are using 2igils, marches, rallies and demonstrations as saces
&or emotional release" 9motional resonses to material &orces o& oression are insu&&icient &or
the job at hand" 3e must emloy reason and emotion in a methodical, discilined and lanned
manner that is bac-ed by a 2ision in an organizational or social mo2ement conteAt"
3e need to create or join organizations that are committed to &ighting the systems o& oression
that are materially imacting our li2es" 7t is imossible to &ight caitalist eAloitation, olice
2iolence, the oression o& women, white suremacy, homohobia and other &orms o&
dehumanization outside o& collecti2e action and organized structures ! organizations and
mo2ements"
#he eAloitati2e systems o& domination are structured and institutionalized" #he masters or
eAloiters are 2ery much aware o& the 2alue o& organizations in maintaining the status 1uo" #he
oressors> army, olice &orce, state bureaucracy, schools, media, comanies, ban-s and risons
are organizations that are used to -ee us in our lace as Fanon>s 3retched o& the 9arth or #he
Famned"
Bwame #ure o&ten made the &ollowing claim in his ublic education lectures, :Organization is
the weaon o& the oressed" A&ri-ans are oressed, because we are disorganized!< Our
re2olutionary ancestor>s assertion ought to be seen as a sel&8e2ident truth"
Let>s use this moment o& grie& and resistance in Ferguson to build radical or re2olutionary
organizations that will organize with the eole around all o& the issues raised below by
comrade 9l ;ones, a oet, organizer and educator, in a Faceboo- status$
3e will be gathering to show solidarity &or Mi-e 0rown>s &amily and the citizens o& Ferguson,
and to stand against state 2iolence against our communities and eole" ,tay tuned &or details,
date and time" 3e must come together to suort each other and our communities against the
dehumanization o& 0lac- eole and the de2aluing o& our li2es" 3e must stand against the
criminalization o& our youth, and &or our right to eAist, to wal- on the street, to ha2e &utures, to
li2e &reely" 3e must stand against the occuying o& our communities, the loss o& oortunity,
the marginalization and o2erty and lac- o& access that condemn so many to rison, and the
su&&ering o& &amilies and communities in a system that does not 2alue 0lac- li&e" 3e must
organize oursel2es in strength, lo2e and solidarity, &ight to build strong communities and
&utures, to suort arents, and to rotect our children"
7& we are not ready to be in organizations, we are just laying with oursel2es 'certainly a
leasurable act in the right conteAt/" Dowe2er, in the situation o& the 1uest &or &reedom and sel&8
determination, sel&8interested leasure, acts o& etty bourgeois sel&8indulgence, and slendid
isolation are liabilities"
#he message within this 9thioian ro2erb is timeless and accurate, :3hen sider webs unite,
they can tie u a lion"< Let our action sea-s louder than words in the call o& the
disen&ranchised &or unity, cooeration, and sel&8determination" Our solidarity in action will
emerge &rom us getting together in grous with a rogram o& liberation"
Goung eole tend to be at the &ore&ront o& rebellions or urisings" as we are witnessing in
Ferguson, or we ha2e obser2ed in the recent mass rotest in 9gyt that brought down the Dosni
Mubara-8led go2ernment" Dowe2er, young eole tend to be marginalized in the strategic
leadershi in organizations and social mo2ements" 7t is critically imortant to systemically
reare younger comrades &or the role o& agents o& re2olutionary trans&ormation in society"
A&ri-an young eole will need to become more than the sar- and dri2ing &orce behind
sontaneous and short8li2ed rebellions" #hey ought to become ermanent organizers among the
wor-ing8class, women and the racially oressed so as to ad2ance the social re2olution" 7& the
youth and the other alienated eole o& Ferguson and other cities and towns are committed to
changing the status 1uo, they will need to &orm or join radical organizations and &ully adot the
organizing model o& resistance"
A&ri-an youth in the 5nited ,tates can draw on the legacy o& young eole8led organizations
such as ,N44 and the 0lac- %anther %arty, i& they belie2e it is best to create their own
autonomous re2olutionary organizations" #he widesread eAistence o& sellout or comromised
leadershi among the older established leaders might ma-e indeendent youth8led
organizations a comelling otion" #he youth8led rebellion in Ferguson is not ta-ing direction
&rom the traditional ci2ic leaders who are not seen as legitimate"
7t is high time &or the resistance to build e&&ecti2e and e&&icient organizations that are rooted in
the needs and asirations o& the oressed" Organizers ought to learn &rom the organizational or
mo2ement successes and mista-es o& the ast and the resent in doing the monumental wor- o&
mo2ement8building and creating the embryonic economic, olitical and social structures o& the
&ree, good, and just society 'classless, stateless and sel&8managed/" A re&igurati2e olitics or
building the road as we tra2el needs to be at the centre o& social mo2ement organizing in the
(*st century"
Ajamu Nangwaya, %h"F", is an educator and a journalistic acti2ist" De is an organizer with the
Networ- &or the 9limination o& %olice Hiolence and the Networ- &or %an8A&ri-an ,olidarity"