Black radicals turned to Marxism-Leninism and Maoism in the 1970s

Evidence

This rightward drift did not go unchallenged, however. Black Marxism appeared during a crucial period of political organizing, just a few years after the founding of the National Black United Front (NBUF) and the National Black Independent Political Party (NBIPP). Black nationalism was on the rise in this period, following a decade in which an increasing number of Black radicals turned to Marxism-Leninism and Maoism as alternatives to liberal integrationism and “race first” capitalism. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 28

This rightward drift did not go unchallenged, however. Black Marxism appeared during a crucial period of political organizing, just a few years after the founding of the National Black United Front (NBUF) and the National Black Independent Political Party (NBIPP). Black nationalism was on the rise in this period, following a decade in which an increasing number of Black radicals turned to Marxism-Leninism and Maoism as alternatives to liberal integrationism and “race first” capitalism. During the 1970s, Black radicals took factory jobs to reach the working classes, sought to free political prisoners and build prison movements, threw their energies behind building a socialist Africa, and continued the long tradition of community-based organizing. Meanwhile, Afrocentrism and cultural nationalism captured the imagination of various segments of the Black community across class lines. Independent Black schools flourished; kinte cloth and red, black, and green medallions adorned brown bodies; Afrocentric literature finally found its market. On the other hand, we had reason to be pessimistic. By the 1980s the jobs disappeared, the most progressive African nations were as unstable as ever, and the Black prison population was growing by leaps and bounds thanks to mandatory sentencing policies for possession of crack cocaine. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 28

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the broader Black Power and Third World solidarity movements, and to the reader’s interest in the height of the Black radical tradition. — connects to: Robinson’s Black radical theory grew directly from 1960s Bay Area radical movements.; 1970s Black radicals embedded in factories and prison movements; Surrealism bridged Marxism and the Black Radical Tradition. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 38 (+5 more)
• SEED: An essay tracing how 1970s Black radicals’ factory-organizing and prison movements prefigured later mass-incarceration politics could be rich.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 28

Broader Connections

• 1970s Black radicals embedded in factories and prison movements #expands (0.70)
• Marxism proved a gateway that three thinkers passed through to Black radicalism #qualifies (0.60)
• Marxism’s universalism attracted Black radicals yet proved insufficiently global #expands (0.60)
• Surrealism bridged Marxism and the Black Radical Tradition. #expands (0.50) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 38