Black Radical Congress
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| Formation | 1998 |
|---|---|
Region | United States |
| This article is part of a series about |
| Black power |
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The Black Radical Congress (BRC) is an organization founded in 1998 in Chicago. It is a grassroots network of individuals and organizations of African descent focused on advocating for broad progressive social justice, racial equality and economic justice goals within the United States.
History
[edit]At the organizing congress in Chicago in June 1998, 2,000 people participated in creating the organization.[1] However, their first mission predates the organizing congress, having been publicly endorsed and published by a number of high-profile black scholars and activists on 16 March 1998.[2]
On 17 April 1999, the BRC ratified a "freedom agenda" listing 15 objectives dealing with racial and economic justice in the United States.[3] The National Council of the BRC adopted a mission statement on 26 September 1999 in East St. Louis, Illinois. The opening paragraph states:
The purpose of the Black Radical Congress (BRC) is to promote dialogue among African American activists and scholars on the left; to discuss critical issues on the national and international scene that pertain to the Black community; to explore new strategies and directions for progressive political, social and cultural movements; and to renew the Black radical movement through increased unified action.[4]
The complete mission statement [1] discusses approaches to radical democratic methods involving conferences, forums and publications. "Principles of unity" were also adopted, stating that the BRC was established as a "center without walls" focusing on "transformative politics that focuses on the conditions of Black working and poor people."[5]
A national organizing conference was convened in Detroit in 2000, and other conferences have taken place in subsequent years. [6]
Organization
[edit]The BRC has both individual and organizational memberships. It is headed by a National Congress.[7]
Each year, the BRC chooses a different "theme" to focus its work on; past themes have included anti-militarism and the prison-industrial complex.[1]
The BRC has at least two caucuses, subgroups within the organization, the labor and working-class caucus and the Pat Parker Queer Caucus.[8]
The BRC has local chapters in Washington, D.C.; the San Francisco Bay Area; Sacramento, California; Minneapolis; St. Louis; New York City; Raleigh, North Carolina; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.[9]
Principles
[edit]Race and racial justice
[edit]The BRC states: "Black is not necessarily a color or hue, but encompasses all peoples of African descent."[10] Their work is focused on racial justice as well as broader social and economic justice as it intersects with the politics of race and racial oppression.
Radical politics
[edit]"Radical means getting to the root causes of society's injustices and working for root-level, fundamental change. Radicalism is an honored tradition in Black political history."[10]
The BRC has many ties to the Communist Party, USA, although the Congress does not explicitly identify itself as communist, socialist or Marxist.
Endorsers
[edit]A number of high-profile black scholars and activists endorsed the creation of the BRC on 16 March 1998:[11]
- Marlene Archer (National Co-chair, National Conference of Black Lawyers)
- Amina Baraka (Communist Party, USA)
- Amiri Baraka (Unity & Struggle newspaper)
- Debbie Bell (Communist Party, USA)
- Angela Y. Davis (Professor, University of California at Santa Cruz)
- Johanna Fernandez (International Socialist Organization)
- Bill Fletcher, Jr. (Labor activist and writer, Washington, D.C., Democratic Socialists of America)
- Lewis Gordon (Temple University)
- Robin D. G. Kelley (University of Southern California)
- Marian Kramer (National Welfare Rights Union)
- Julianne Malveaux
- Manning Marable
- Barbara Ransby, African American Women in Defense of Ourselves (1991 New York Times Ad), writer and historian
- Sonia Sanchez (poet)
- Joe Sims (Communist Party, USA)
- Yicki Smith (Feminist Action Network)
- Jarvis Tyner (Communist Party, USA)
- Cornel West (Democratic Socialists of America)
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]Publications
[edit]- Special issue of The Black Scholar, on "The Black Radical Congress", vol 28, #3/4 (1998), contains BRC Principles of Unity, Summary of Workshop Sessions, reports and commentaries by Herb Boyd, John Woodford, Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, Jennifer Hamer and Helen Neville, Carl Dix, Clarence Lang
- "From Conference to Organization: The Challenges of Building the Black Radical Congress", by Jamala Rogers
- "Global Apartheid and America's New Racial Domain", by Manning Marable
- "Rosa Parks: A Woman of Substance", by Eric Foner, discussing the life and death of Rosa Parks
- "The Left and the Millions More Movement", by Amiri Baraka
- "We Charge Genocide", by Jamala Rogers, discussing Hurricane Katrina
- "The terrorist named Hurricane Katrina", by Bill Fletcher, Jr., discussing Hurricane Katrina
- "Whither the Struggle Against Racism", by Rose Brewer, discussing the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2005
- "Contemporary Police Brutality and Misconduct" press release, undated
- "We Must Succeed!! The Black Radical Congress Campaign" press release, undated
- "African Leaders Hide Political Woes Behind Homophobia", press release, 25 April 2001
- "Statement on the Giuliani "Decency" Panel", press release, 12 April 2001
- "Statement on the Post-Election Crisis by the National Coordinating Committee of the BRC", press release, 1 December 2000
- "The Black Radical Congress Condemns the Acquittal of Four Police Officers in the Murder of Amadou Diallo", press release, 28 February 2000
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Black Radical Congress", Columbia University social justice wiki, accessed 2 January 2007
- ^ "Black Radical Congress Mission", accessed 2 January 2007
- ^ "Freedom Agenda Archived December 6, 2006, at the Wayback Machine", accessed 2 January 2007
- ^ "Mission Statement of the Black Radical Congress (BRC) Archived February 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine", accessed 2 January 2007
- ^ "Principles of Unity Archived December 6, 2006, at the Wayback Machine", accessed 2 January 2007
- ^ Rogers, Jamala. “From Conference to Organization: The Challenges of Building the Black Radical Congress.” The Black Scholar, vol. 35, no. 1, 2005, pp. 27. www.jstor.org/stable/41069115.
- ^ Lumpkins, C.L. (2009). Finkelman, P (ed.). Black radical congress. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 242.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "Email Lists Archived December 6, 2006, at the Wayback Machine", accessed 2 January 2007; "A Statement by the Pat Parker Queer Caucus of the Black Radical Congress Archived December 6, 2006, at the Wayback Machine", dated 19 June 2005, accessed 2 January 2007
- ^ "Local Organizing Committees Archived December 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine", accessed 2 January 2007
- ^ a b "Forging a Black Liberation Agenda for the 21st Century Archived December 6, 2006, at the Wayback Machine", accessed 2 January 2007
- ^ "Black Radical Congress Mission," accessed 2 January 2007
