​Black-Nationalism.com
For those who may be offended that New Black Nationalists have characterized last week’s events surrounding the killing of George Floyd as a battle, we sincerely apologize. Our intention is not to use his name or memory to further a cause. George Floyd didn’t want to be a martyr or the symbol of anyone’s movement: he just wanted to live. It was the police who made him larger than life by taking his. 

But now he is our hero, a symbol, and a martyr because thousands of everyday people have enshrined his memory in history by accepting rubber bullets, tear gas, and baton strikes in the streets to ensure his name won't be forgotten. 

If this past week has taught us anything, it is that Black people must call things what they are. And we are at war. We’re at war against an avowed White Nationalist president. As of May 26, 2020, we've lost 21,878 Black people to the war against COVID-19. We are at war daily with armed occupation armies that patrol our neighborhoods and execute us at a whim.  

This article was written to offer some observations on the first week of activities to secure justice for George Floyd. They are preliminary thoughts that we hope will generate additional discussion. Events have been dynamic and moving at a rapid clip. This article seeks to slow things down and allow for a few moments of reflection.       


The Resistance Movement Takes Control of America's Streets

Last week, the Black community in Minneapolis turned the tide of that war by going on the offensive. The lessons of that battle have been built upon by the countless marches and demonstrations across the country. They should be studied and learned from.  

By Sunday night, (day six of the battle) Donald Trump had surrendered control of America’s streets to the resistance supporting justice for George Floyd. The unprecedented week of protests in over 75 cities since Floyd’s execution by the Minneapolis Police Department , ended Sunday night with Donald Trump being rushed into the White House’s underground bunker by the Secret Service. Protesters laid siege to Pennsylvania Avenue, hurling rocks and bottles at D.C., and Park Police, overturning cars and setting buildings on fire. 

Across the country, at least five people were killed in violence connected to the protests, and thirteen other people were shot. In 17 states and the District of Columbia, the National Guard were mobilized to restore order. Over 2,000 people were arrested from Monday, May 25 to May 31 nationwide.  America has not witnessed protests of this intensity and scale since the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968.  

On Monday evening, the butcher Trump came out of the bunker surrounded by hundreds of National Guards trucked in to the White House just minutes earlier. Trump said professional anarchists and Antifa have been spreading chaos and violence across the country and that "law and order would be established." 

He warned governors that if they don't crack down on protesters, he will invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, federalize the military, and send them into cities to restore order. On our homepage, we have posted an article Detroit 67, "None Dare Call it Insurrection." It outlines the lessons of Detroit's 1967 uprising in which the Insurrection Act of 1807 was invoked, and how the Black community addressed it.

Outside the White House, National Guard troops outfitted in riot gear immediately unleashed tear gas and smoke bombs against peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park across the street. Police forced protesters out of the park with shields and nightsticks as mounted cops jostled protesters with their horses. Trump's attempt to reestablish control on America's streets and snap the spinal chord of the Justice for George Floyd resistance began with a cowardly attack.  


Spontaneous Leaderless Rebellion 

Over the past week, virtually every major city in America has been placed under a curfew, a state of emergency, or had the National Guard called in. The speed in which the national revolt materialized also gave rise to a spontaneous and essentially leaderless national resistance. Networks mobilized, social justice platforms and social media sites buzzed, but by and large in city after city these demonstrations were not coordinated by established organizations and leaders.  

Leaders have emerged on the spot, and it appears that a lot of decision-making has been made by a loose consensus. When certain actions didn't work, tactics and actions were quickly modified and protesters continued to move forward.    

Although Black Lives Matter signs, shirts and gear have been visible everywhere, BLM did not organize most of the activities the Black community participated in. There's no doubt however, that hundreds of people who participated in BLM events between 2014 and 2017 were on the front lines. As of June 1, BLM's website had very little content about the events in Minneapolis on their website. The determination these protesters demonstrated by sustaining their marches and rallies in many cases for five consecutive days is truly extraordinary, and still they march.     

More investigation needs to be done to the extent to which this movement was characterized by decentralized and loose leadership organizational structures.  

Unified Demands and Messaging

Almost from the beginning of this effort, the resistance in Minneapolis and nationally  maintained a unified message. Two things stand out. First, there was virtual unanimity on the demand that the four cops involved should all be arrested immediately and charged with murder. This was the Floyd families’ position, the legal position, and the communities’ position. This would prove to be a critical factor. 

When the state prosecutor held their first press conference announcing an investigation, it was roundly rejected. When Derik Chauvin, the killer cop was arrested on Thursday and charged with manslaughter and third-degree murder, that only inflamed the community and the Third District police station was burned down.  

By everyone coalescing around the same demand, the authorities, their pacification strategies, and naked intimidation of calling in the National Guard, failed to divide the resistance or siphon off support for their increasingly bold actions. As national support increased for the resistance in Minneapolis, the same demand that nothing less than the arrest of all four cops for George Floyd’s murder was acceptable.  

Singular focus on state security forces  

Second, the Black community in Minneapolis, never took its focus off the police. The relentless spotlight they on the actions of MPD is what forced the arrest of the killer cop Chauvin. You will recall that last Monday, Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman said he saw evidence that suggested no crime was committed. 

One tendency that developed in protests against state sanctioned police violence in the recent past was to shift the focus off the police and the injustice system, to targeting large businesses and corporations in business districts to make them feel economic pain. 

In our view that diluted the message. It some instances it was a tactic to relocate the protests outside Black communities to limit collateral damage if violence broke out. In Minneapolis, the protesters targeted the Third District precinct, and when they shut it down, they moved onto the Fifth District. Focusing on a direct confrontation with the police, helped focus the national protest on the security state, where it belongs. 

The Support of White Youth and Millennials of Color

Significant increases in support from white youth and millennials of color in solidarity Black people fighting state sanctioned violence animated this national revolt. In many city’s whites comprised the majority of the protesters. We believe this solidarity reflects the past work and emphasis of the Black Lives Matter movement placed on building multi-racial coalitions. It is a positive development must be built on. 

It appears that white youth and millennials overwhelmingly maintained the same disciplined message of calling for the arrests of the police and targeting them for direct confrontation. This multi-racial political and operational unity is of immense importance and cannot be underestimated. The crossover that began with Black Lives Matter, was also rekindled in protests against gun violence after the Parkland school shooting. This political cross-pollicization  is quite different than the sixties. 

Once the Black Power movement eclipsed the Civil Rights struggle, whites largely organized around the anti-Vietnam movement while Black activists focused on various strategies of Black empowerment and support for African liberation movements.  

The Right-Wing Infiltration Disinformation Campaign

The massive support from white youth and multi-racial millennials, especially in Minneapolis when the Third District police station burned down sent shock waves through the ruling class establishment. It was the Trump administration's worst nightmare. 

On Saturday morning, the Trump administration, Minnesota Governor Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Frey launched a coordinated disinformation campaign to foster distrust and friction between Black and white protestors. 

At an early morning press conference Minnesota Governor Walz launched into a tirade claiming that the protests were "a mockery of pretending this is about George Floyd’s death or inequities to communities of color.” He claimed that 80% of the people arrested were from outside the state, and included white supremists groups. 

Minneapolis Mayor Frey mouthed the same lie. In particular, it was claimed that the Boogaloo Boys supporters (white accelerationists whose strategy is to foment violent attacks to push the country to civil war) participated in Minneapolis protests and used the occasion to burn down Black businesses. 

On the same morning Attorney General William P. Barr said that the protests were “planned, organized and driven by anarchic and far-left extremist groups using antifa-like tactics.” Trump followed Barr saying his administration “will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization,” although Antifa is a movement not an organization.   

The rumors and press coverage all weekend about white left and right extremist infiltration  of the justice for George Floyd movement unsettled many in Minneapolis’s Black community. Their angry responses were understandable. 

However, when USA Today and a local television station reviewed St. Paul's police records, the logs showed two-thirds of those arrested for looting and property destruction were from Minnesota. Minneapolis police records showed 93 of the 109 people arrested in the city between Thursday night and Saturday morning resided in-state. 

Minnesota officials and the Trump administration engaged in a deliberate disinformation campaign, that attempted to divide black and white unity. They created tension that could have led to an unnecessary violent confrontation. Fortunately, movement unity was maintained. We're not saying that right-wing White Nationalists didn't attempt to subvert the demonstrations in Minneapolis. They did. But their impact was vastly conflated.  

Blacks Need an Independent Truth Squad

The disinformation campaign launched against the Black-led resistance by insinuating extensive infiltration of white nationalists and Antifa in Minneapolis, is part of an increasingly sophisticated and growing threat to the Black community.  

Black Lives Matter was the target of a massive Russian hacking and disinformation campaign in 2016. Disinformation and the lack real information at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic costs thousands of Black lives. 

Black people need a dedicated rapid response "Truth Squad" that does nothing but expose disinformation campaigns and false rumors that pose major threats to our communities.

In the digital age with multiple social media platforms, disinformation can be spread quickly and at a scale that is difficult to reverse once it seeps into the public consciousness. This is an emergency level issue. It's not a criticism of the Black press or Black reporters. This is a highly specialized need that requires a full-time commitment to be effective. 

A Final Thought 

At this time its impossible to predict how long the protests can continue at this pace and level of intensity. Clearly, a new type of movement is being developed in the din of these ongoing political and street battles. 

Tonight, sitting next to the Joint Chief of Staff and the Secretary of Defense, Trump said to take back America's streets "we must dominate the battlespace." Not this time.       
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