mm: Speaking of future work, you've spoken on the role of guns as almost the least important piece of struggle, can you share your reflections on this?

assata: The 1960s were very important in terms of the world liberation movement; in Afrika, in Asia, and in Latin America, there were many processes and people struggling for political independence. They were struggling against colonialism and imperialism. Many of those processes had elements of armed struggle. But in many cases, people romanticized the aspect of armed struggle without understanding that at the same time Vietnam was involved in armed struggle, there was also political struggle, diplomatic struggle, a struggle of the unions...i mean, there was a whole process of struggle that was going on. Many people conceived of the Cuban revolution, for example, as Fidel, Che and Raoul going to the mountains. But they did not understand that there was a whole political struggle that had been going on, that continued to go on, all the way back from before Cuba received its "independence". The July 26 movement was a political movement that was waged on campuses, had links with the unions and other leftist movements, and was able to forge a unity -- a political unity. It wasn't just a simplistic matter of going off into the mountains.

...In relation to the united states, obviously revolutionaries in the 60s and early 70s were very much affected by what was going on in Afrika, Asia and Vietnam; those were very inspiring revolutionary struggles that We were all affected by. In some instances, We tried to apply the experiences of other people mechanically to Our struggle. In the specific case of the Black Liberation Movement in the united states, the question of armed struggle had a very specific and a very important significance. The question of armed struggle took on added significance because all during the civil rights movement -- because of direct action and "non-violence" as the only framework Afrikans in the united states could struggle in; morally, realistically, etc. Instead of being dealt with as a tactic, direct action and non-violence was dealt with as an ideology. There was a need to combat on different levels: on the level that Afrikans in the united states have the right to self-defense, and that the right was an absolute; whether We defended ourselves or not, in a given situation, depended on what We decided -- what Our tactics were; what Our strategy was. That was important for Us to deal with as a people. So, the question of armed struggle within Our movement was even more important because there was a whole national media that was saying "look, you don't have any right to (a) defend yourself and (b) you must struggle under these terms and the terms We dictate. If you go outside of these terms -- that framework -- then you're crazy, you're terrorists". So it was important, in terms of the 1960s and 70s, to say (a) We have the right to self-defense and (b) that We have the right, as Malcolm X said, to struggle "by any means necessary".

...But that was a necessary time, it was a necessary experience, and it was necessary for Afrikan people to realize that We, as a people, are going to have to free Ourselves. That's a reality. That's an objective reality.

Hopefully We will not have to do it alone. For example, the experiences of the Soviet Union clearly shows what happens when different people work together to bring a huge country to a halt, within that process there were different people with different goals; different ideas of what Self-Determination is, but only by bringing the monster down is Self-Determination possible. Now, i'm not equating bringing down the united states monster with the bringing down of the Soviet Union. One is/would be a revolutionary process, as in the context of the united states. In the context of the Soviet Union, i don't know what the hell that is. i mean, there were people who sincerely wanted to reform socialism, who wanted to make it better, more human. There were other people who wanted to destroy it. Within the whole process of Glasnost and Perestroika you have people who were interested in making socialism better, others who were purely interested in personal power. That's my analysis. And it remains to be seen whose ends those changes are going to serve. Right now, it looks like the workers are the people who are going to suffer the most. i think it's a shame that the conditions of Stalinism and the kind of model that was constructed by Stalin was so negative that many people are manipulated by it today.

But there is a lesson to be learned for anybody in what looks like a huge, great power; it's that a huge, great power can be broken down to obtain Self-Determination -- not by one people, but by many people who are struggling within that structure to gain Self-Determination. It would be very difficult for Us to determine Our destiny without bringing the united states down, without a true revolution -- and it doesn't have to be a violent revolution, it just has to be a change; a total change by a variety of people because revolutionary change now can happen in any way. There's no formula for it and the reality is Our politics have to say that We don't like violence. Anybody whose politics say "I love violence, I like to kill" -- i mean, that's a crazy person. Our politics have to be i hate violence, i don't want to deal with it. If i am forced to deal with it, if there's no other way around it, i will be violent against those who are violent against me.

**********THE SIG**********

i'm a tru pisces tryna flow in the direction of both of these okplayer quotes:

"I m raising a fuckin angelic being who is going to replenish this fuckin earths cuz in 2G all we fuckin do is talk.....im teachin my seed to turn his spirit inside out and spread beams of green light"
-nebbie

"GOd give me the strength to change the things i can, understanding for those i cannot and the muthafuckin heart to stand up for my beliefs and principles, so that when the government that is suppossed to protect me turns against me and my people we will have the means, the might and the muthafuckin gun power to blow away our oppressors
umm amen"
-earthqueen

and last but not least:

"all things considered, i'd rather be me"
-bfnh