WASHINGTON, DC–On an unusually warm November day, Africans from all over the U.S. gathered at Malcolm X Park to rally and march to the White House demanding, “Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!” for the annual Black is Back Coalition’s (BIBC) Black People’s March on the White House.
After a dynamic program and rally at the park, organizers and attendees lined up to make the 1.8-mile trek to the headquarters of imperialism.
Among event attendees were local students from Howard University, who united with the overall struggle for African liberation.
Imani Price, a junior at Howard University studying political science and “Afro-American” studies, heard about the March when she visited the Black is Back Coalition’s website for an assignment in her political theory class.
“I was just looking around [the website], seeing what you guys were about. And then I saw the poster for the march dead-smack on the front of the website. I also looked at the values and what you guys are arguing on behalf of, and I’m like this is really dope,” Imani recalled. “And that’s what pushed me to want to get more involved and I reached out with an email to see how I can volunteer.”
Imani recognized the importance of mobilizing Africans and other oppressed people, and instilling within them the revolutionary fervor to be active in political life and overturn the contradictions of our oppression.
“It’s really important to have movements like this because a lot of times… I feel like people don’t realize how many people want transformative programs rather than reformative programs,” Imani explained. “People want revolutionary action as opposed to reformative action. The more you get around people and realize that there are more people you share things in common with—like these values—I feel like that’s how we’re going to be able to bring this type of work to more people.”
Another Howard University student studying sociology and “African-American” studies, Hope Garnes, also attended the March after hearing about it at Sankofa Video Books & Café—a black-owned bookstore in Northwest D.C. which carries The Burning Spear newspaper and other Uhuru Movement publications.
When asked about what stood out to her about the March, Hope said, “It was the thing about the reparations and the ‘Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!’ I just see it so much—the colonization of Africa and other places; and it just touched me. And I want to be an activist so I need to feel and see this message.”
Mobilizations like the annual Black is Back Coalition March are critical events that not only bring revolutionary thought and action to the heart of the colonial State, but to African people throughout the world. Globally, Africans need to know that the Black Revolution, that suffered a devastating defeat in the 1960s by U.S. counterinsurgency, is alive and well today. The African Liberation Movement, that was consequently disoriented, now has the revolutionary trajectory and cohesion needed to successfully complete our struggle.
One of our objectives of marching on the White House was to show that, despite the colonial ruling class’s efforts to crush our revolution, we have done what should have been impossible: Organizing an African coalition of like-minded organizations, with 14 years of action under our belt, despite the COINTELPRO’s stated mission to prevent such a movement.
Our March following the July 29, 2022 FBI attacks against the African People’s Socialist Party and Uhuru Movement, demanding “Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!” clearly shows that the people are not afraid of COINTELPRO’s tactics anymore. African and all freedom-loving people are determined to be free of this social system. Above all else, what was clear on November 5, 2022, is that black is back and here to stay!
Complete the Black Revolution!
Join the Black is Back Coalition as an organization or individual today at:
BlackIsBackCoalition.org
