The recurring drama of a U.S. government shutdown is a brutal exposure of a colonial capitalist system in decay. The shutdown is further evidence of the contest between the ruling representatives of the U.S. colonial capitalist State. The Republicans claim they want to rein in federal spending, while Democrats claim they’re aiming to maintain spending that strengthens the middle class.
While Republican and Democratic politicians battle over budgets, they are merely fighting over how to manage a system that has never served African people but instead functions at our expense. For us, these shutdowns are not a political contest; they are a direct assault.
With three shutdowns in the last decade, African people cannot rely on a parasitic State that holds our survival hostage in its power games. Ultimately, what African people should understand is that it is our time to organize together in our own interest. While the bourgeoisie fight over the scraps that they will or will not give us, we must grab for the entire pie.
Why African women bear the brunt
African women are the primary target. Making up 12 percent of the federal workforce, double our representation in the overall workforce, African women are driven to these jobs for the false sense of security such as stable pay, healthcare and retirement. Yet, when the government shuts down, we are the first to be furloughed, forced to work without pay and left in financial limbo.
But the attack is even wider. The very safety net programs that poor and working class African women depend on, such as healthcare, are the first on the chopping block. A government shutdown deliberately pushes African women and our families to the brink of food, housing and healthcare insecurity, exacerbating the mental and physical stress that already shortens our lives.
We have been used as pawns in a system that exploits our labor and discards us in times of crisis. The question is no longer if the next shutdown will come, but what we will build to ensure it can never harm us again.
Building a foundation that cannot be shaken
Dependency on this oppressive State is a trap. The African National Women’s Organization (ANWO) is the vehicle for African women to break free and build our own resilient, self-determined future.
ANWO is the only anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, revolutionary organization for African women fighting to overturn the special oppression we face due to the parasitic State. As part of the Uhuru Movement, led by the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP), we are building the power to achieve African liberation and a society built by and for the African poor and working class.
We are already forging the path forward, creating the world we want to see, right now:
- The Black Power Blueprint in St. Louis is reclaiming our land and building affordable housing.
- The Gary Brooks Community Garden and One Africa! One Nation! Farmers Markets are helping to end food deserts and empowering artisans and makers to turn “side hustles” into self-determination to achieve economic empowerment.
- The ANWO Los Angeles branch has organized around fitness & wellness strategies, such as Black August Fit 2 Fight program. Various ANWO branches have hosted self-defense programs to encourage African women to learn valuable skills to defend ourselves.
- ANWO’s Liberation Center is part of the process of creating liberated territory for political action and community programs.
This is just the beginning. We are calling on all African women to join us and expand this work into every neighborhood.
The choice is ours to make
Whether you are a worker whose skills are exploited by the State or a mother relying on a safety net that is constantly under attack, your place is in ANWO. It is time to shed our roles as cogs in a colonial machine and redirect our energy and expertise toward building the African Nation.
We are not begging for a better deal from a system built on our oppression. We are building a foundation so solid that the winds of a dying colonialism cannot shake us.
You have felt the weight of this system. You have endured the harassment, the wage gaps and the constant anxiety. Now, it’s time to transform that pain into power.
Join the African National Women’s Organization (ANWO). Let’s get to work in our communities and in the revolution for African freedom.
Join ANWO!
Build African Power!
Secure Our Future!
We Are Winning!
Uhuru!
