Our people have moved leftward

As Black August Resistance Month 2026 ends, a multifront war for the political heart of Afro-America is roiling. This internecine war is about ideology. Both Black nationalist political scientist Robert C. Smith and Black social democratic historian Manning Marable contended that African Americans' enduring dilemma was ideology. On one side of the ideological battle lines sit older establishment liberal Black Democrats. On another stand insurgent young Black radicals. And on the third side of this political pyramid lie Black MAGA quislings. Heretofore the strongest political tendency, old guard liberal Black Democrats pride themselves on pursuing a moderate pragmatic agenda. Forever cautious, their political project is to 'Save the Dream' and 'Save American Democracy.' Liberal Black elected officials (BEOs), along with sincere but confused contemporary activists, think they're continuing the Civil Rights Movement (CRM). The Rev. Al Sharpton, the Congressional Black Caucus, and particularly James Clyburn stand out as preeminent representatives of this tendency. The ascending left are done with the moderate incremental politics of Black liberalism. They believe what's deemed 'radical' is now common sense. They counter the politics of defense and return by advocating transformation and transcendence. The youthful Black Men Build and the intergenerational Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) are illustrative of the new radical Blackness. Phil Agnew, formerly of the Dream Defenders, and Ajamu Baraka, national organizer of BAP, are emblematic of new radical Blackness. Florida candidate for the U.S. Senate Angie Nixon reflects this growing trend among BEOs. And then there are the White supremacists in Blackface. Black MAGA minions are different from traditional Black conservatives such as Colin Powell or even Black neoconservatives like Condoleezza Rice. Unlike previous generations of conservative Black politicians, the Black MAGA fascists aggressively support White supremacy. Though they compose the most minute sector of the Black political spectrum, about 4 percent, due to right-wing support these sycophants wield outsized influence. Tim Scott and Byron Donalds best reflect this tendency. The most important point here is that Black conservatism is a centuries old worldview and practice. Like Black liberals, they are incorporationists. They desire to be part of the empire, if not as equals, then as junior partners. They want the system's floor, so they can lick up the crumbs of capitalist imperialism. Black conservatives' greatest achievement was to convince President Nixon to convert a liberal policy, Affirmative Action, into the conservative program for Black America. In 1969, Nixon rewarded them with the Office for Minority Business Enterprise (OMBE). A decade later, President Carter renamed it the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). For nearly 60 years, MBDA was instrumental in the development of Black capitalism. Yet, on March 14, 2025, with Executive Order 14238, the neofascist dismantled it! Black MAGA responded with crickets! They have passed the point where caution becomes cowardice. Meanwhile, contemporary Black liberals view themselves as 'defenders of the Dream.' They largely embody the residues of the CRM's transition from 'protest to politics.' They have not abandoned boycotts and demonstrations altogether. However, the politics of confrontation and disruption are no longer preferred tactics in their arsenal. Now they predominantly engage in symbolic commemorative marches, such as the annual Selma Pilgrimage. Black liberals are trapped in 1963, in King's dream. A dream, startled, he awoke from, declared a nightmare and transcended. They revere the King before his social democratic conversion in Chicago. Before he opposed the War on Vietnam, organized the Poor People's Campaign, focused on the Black working class, and pushed for reparations. In other words, they don't study his last book, 'Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?' (1967). Essentially, they look backward. They want to restore civil rights, revive voting rights, bring back the Great Society and save 'American Democracy.' Black liberals are at sea with no rudder. As generally in history, the masses are moving. Our task is not to lead, but to decipher where our people are going and to clear the path. That requires, as the magnificent poet and Pan-African Marxist, Amiri Baraka often declared, ideological clarity. A few years ago, because of visibility and a brief blip in the Black vote for the neofascist, some thought young Black folk were moving rightward. In fact, the recent recipient of the National Association of Black Journalists', 'Thumbs Down Award,' Stephen A. Smith made that mistake. He erroneously claimed, 'Black folks find him relatable because of what he is going through'. Smith's assertion falsely compared the persecution of young Black people by the U.S.'s 'just-us' judicial system to its justifiable prosecution of the totalitarian. Unfortunately, it was not only reactionaries, who thought young Black people were moving toward the autocrat. Indeed, a couple of years ago, on my podcast, 'RealTalk: History as a Weapon for Black Liberation,' Ajamu Baraka stated, 'We're not as radical as we were in the '60s.' Yet, the data begs to differ. The right-wing Cato Institute reported in 2019, 'Nearly two-thirds (62%) of African Americans have a favorable view of socialism.' Two years later, in June 2021, Axios found that 60 percent of 'Black Americans view socialism positively.' And in an August 2022 survey, PEW discovered 54 percent of Black adults had a 'very/somewhat negative view of capitalism.' If these polls are accurate, then the drylongso, in Sly Stone's words, 'Everyday People' have moved. Our people have moved leftward. Time for the leaders to catch up.