The Armed Revolutionary Left in the u.s., 1960s-1980s : Some Significant Groups
If you live inside the united states of “amerika” & believe that you can & should help bring the empire to its end, there's much to learn from an earlier wave of aspiring revolutionary activity. Below are some of the organizations that were part of that wave, with brief descriptions intended as an introduction for those unfamiliar.
Black Liberation Army (BLA) Black nationalist & revolutionary socialist outgrowth of the much more famous Black Panther Party that was active for roughly a decade, around 1971-1981. Well-known BLA veterans who've shared some of their experiences include Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad, Russell Maroon Shoatz (RIP), Assata Shakur, Sekou Odinga (RIP), Jalil Muntaqim, Blood McCreary (RIP), Safiya Bukhari (RIP), Kuwasi Balagoon (RIP), Ashanti Alston, & Sundiata Acoli.
Ejército Popular Boricua (EPB) – Macheteros Puerto Rican independentistas, generally ignored by the u.s. mainland left despite their longevity. Founded in the 1970s & active primarily on the island, its leader Filiberto Ojeda Ríos was assassinated by the FBI in 2005.
Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN) A Puerto Rican/Boricua diaspora formation in the mainland u.s. which fought to support independence for the island. Well-known veterans include Guillermo Morales & Oscar López Rivera.
George Jackson Brigade Black & white revolutionaries who tried to challenge the reformism & anti-militant bias of the left in the pacific northwest. Their public statements, usually tied to other actions, were collected & contextualized in Creating a Movement with Teeth: A Documentary History of the George Jackson Brigade.
Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) A 1960s Black revolutionary organization, born from the student movement, that worked to radicalize the Black movement from within, influenced greatly by the contemporary examples of Mao Zedong & Robert F. Williams. One of its founders, Muhammad Ahmad, included an overview of the experience in We Will Return In The Whirlwind: Black Radical Organizations 1960-1975, while more recently a chapter in the insurrectionary anarchist book Movement for No Society analyzed their approach.
Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) Small revolutionary group based in california that famously kidnapped oligarch Patty Hearst. Highly dysfunctional & abusive internally.
United Freedom Front (UFF) An underground anti-imperialist organization which focused on solidarity efforts with international struggles, in particular against u.s.-backed dictatorships in apartheid Azania (south Africa) & central Abya Yala.
Weather Underground (WUO) A segment of the white student movement that took up militant anti-imperialism as a challenge to the rest of the white left. While they became somewhat [in]famous, most of its leaders returned to the liberal fold & are now Democrats. Some ex-members wrote a thorough critique.
The book False Nationalism, False Internationalism: Class Contradictions in the Armed Struggle provides a critical overview (from a marxist perspective) of this collective experience, written as it was coming to an end. Critical responses to this post, which necessarily leaves out much, are also encouraged. Such responses need not take the shape of written words.