Naptown People’s Radio closes out this year’s Black August with a special episode on the Black Struggle and why socialists and other progressives must have a clear understanding of the “national question.”
Is the U.S. really “one nation?” Is there really “one America?” This week, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford address the Marxist understanding of nationhood and why Black people in the U.S. constitute an oppressed nation. Specifically, they discuss the history, relevance, and significance of the Black Belt Thesis, a theory first developed by Black communists in the U.S. alongside their counterparts in the Soviet Union and elsewhere, and formally adopted at the 6th Congress of the Communist International in 1928.
Most importantly, they explain why a scientific understanding of the link between capitalism and white chauvinism (or racism) in the U.S. is crucial for anyone who wants to create a different world. Along the way, they give historical and contemporary examples of how and why our conception of the Black question can make or break the socialist movement.
Show notes
The Black Belt Thesis: A Reader
Support Naptown People’s Radio
Indy Liberation Store
Indianapolis Liberation Center
PSL Indianapolis
Party for Socialism and Liberation