Logo of the Black Liberation Army

The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was an underground, black nationalist-Marxist organization that operated in the United States from 1971 to 1981. Comprised largely of former Black Panthers (BPP), the organization's program was one of "armed struggle" and its stated goal was to "take up arms for the liberation and self-determination of black people in the United States."^[1] To this end, members carried out a series of bombings, robberies (what participants termed "expropriations") and prison breaks. Image File history File links BLA_logo. ... Image File history File links BLA_logo. ... Black nationalism is a political and social movement prominent in the 1960s and early 70s among African Americans in the United States. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the American political organization. ... Guerrilla War redirects here. ...

Formation

The conditions under which the Black Liberation Army formed are not entirely clear. It is commonly believed that the organization was founded by those who left the Black Panther Party after Eldridge Cleaver was expelled from the party's Central Committee.^[2] A fallout was made inevitable between Cleaver and other Panther leaders after he publicly criticized the BPP, among other things accusing Panther social programs of being reformist rather than revolutionary. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Reformism (also called revisionism or revisionist theory) is the belief that gradual changes in a society can ultimately change its fundamental structures. ... Revolutionary, when used as a noun, is a person who either advocates or actively engages in some kind of revolution. ...

Others, including black revolutionary Geronimo ji Jaga, assert that the BLA "as a movement concept pre-dated and was broader than the BPP," suggesting that it was a refuge for ex-Panthers rather than a new organization formed through schism.^[3]

The newly formed BLA believed that "the character of reformism is based on unprincipled class collaboration with our enemy"^[4] and asserted the following principles:

1. That we are anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-racist, and anti-sexist.

2. That we must of necessity strive for the abolishment of these systems and for the institution of Socialistic relationships in which Black people have total and absolute control over their own destiny as a people.

3. That in order to abolish our systems of oppression, we must utilize the science of class struggle, develop this science as it relates to our unique national condition.

Theory

The Black Panther Party dissolved partly because of police and FBI pressure (see COINTELPRO). Other factors included Infiltration, sectarianism and lack of solidarity from white liberals and the wider left which had many activists coping with the criminalization of the Black Power movement, including long prison sentences and the death of key Black Panthers, among them Fred Hampton, at the hands of police. This reality convinced many former party members of the inevitability of an underground existence, including the assumption that a new period of violent repression was at hand. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) was a program of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States. ... See: espionage, urban exploration, entryism, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. ... Sectarianism refers (usually pejoratively) to a rigid adherence to a particular sect or party or religious denomination. ... “Leftism” redirects here. ... Tommie Smith (gold medal) and John Carlos (bronze medal) famously performed the Black Power salute on the 200 m winners podium at the 1968 Olympics. ... Fred Hampton (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was a radical African American activist and deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP). ...

BLA activists operated under the assumption that only through covert means, including but not limited to violent acts, could the movement be continued until such a time when an above ground existence was possible. In this sense, the BLA's reasoning approached that of the Weather Underground. The term Weather Underground may refer to: Weatherman (organization), a radical leftist student activist group in the 1960s The Weather Underground, a film based on the radical left organization of the same name The term can also refer to: Weather Underground, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based weather service providing domestic...

Activities

According to a Justice Department report on BLA activity, the Black Liberation Army was suspected of involvement in over 60 incidents of violence between 1970 and 1976.^[5] The Fraternal Order of Police blames the BLA for the murders of 13 police officers.^[6] The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... The Fraternal Order of Police is a fraternal organization for sworn police officers. ...

On October 22, 1970, the BLA allegedly planted a bomb in a San Fransisco church full of mourners attending the funeral of San Fransisco police officer Harold Hamilton, who had been killed in the line of duty while responding to a bank robbery. The bomb was detonated, but no one in the church suffered serious injuries.^[7]

On August 29th, 1971, three armed men murdered 51-year old San Fransisco police officer John Victor Young while he was working at a desk in his police station (which was almost empty at the time due to a bombing attack on a bank that took place earlier. Only one other officer and a civilian clerk were there). Two days later, the San Fransisco Chronicle received a letter signed by the BLA claiming responsibility for the attack.

In January of 2007, eight men were charged by a joint state and federal task force with Young's murder.^[8] The defendants have been identified as former members of the Black Liberation Army.^[9] A similar case was dismissed in 1975 when a judge ruled that police gathered evidence through the use of torture.^[10] 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he...

On the 3 November 1971, Officer James R. Greene of the Atlanta Police Force was shot dead in his patrol van at a gas station. His wallet, badge and gun were taken, and the evidence at the scene pointed to two suspects. The first was Twymon Meyers, who was killed in a police shoot out 1973, and the second was Kamau Sidiki, who evaded capture until 2002, when he was arrested in New York on a separate charge, and was recognised as one of the men wanted in the Greene murder. Apparently the two men had attacked the officer to gain standing with their compatriots within Black Liberation Army.^[11] November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ...

In another high-profile incident, Assata Shakur, Zayd Shakur and Sundiata Acoli allegedly opened fire on state troopers in New Jersey after being pulled over for a broken taillight. Zayd Shakur and state trooper Werner Foerster were both killed during the exchange. Following her capture, Shakur was tried in six different criminal trials. According to Shakur she was beaten and tortured during her incarceration in a number of different federal and state prisons. The charges ranged from kidnapping to assault and battery to bank robbery. Shakur was found guilty of the murder of both Foerster and her companion Zayd Shakur but escaped prison in 1979 and eventually relocated to Cuba. Acoli was convicted of killing Foerster and sentenced to life in prison. Assata Shakur[1] (born July 16, 1947) under the name Joanne Deborah Byron Chesimard, is an African-American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. ... Sundiata Acoli (b. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ...

The BLA was active in the US until at least 1981 when a Brinks truck robbery, conducted with support from Weather Underground members Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, left a guard and two police officers dead. Boudin and Gilbert, along with several BLA members, were subsequently arrested.^[12] 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Brinks Company (NYSE: BCO) is a security and protection company. ... The Brinks robbery of 1981 was an armed robbery in which Kathy Boudin and several members of the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army stole over $1 million from a Brinks armored car at the Nanuet Mall, near Nyack, New York on October 20, 1981. ... The term Weather Underground may refer to: Weatherman (organization), a radical leftist student activist group in the 1960s The Weather Underground, a film based on the radical left organization of the same name The term can also refer to: Weather Underground, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based weather service providing domestic... Mugshot of Kathy Boudin Kathy Boudin (born 1943) is an American communist revolutionary. ... American radical organizer, author and prisoner David Gilbert (b. ...

Following the collapse of the BLA, some members (including Ashanti Alston and Kuwasi Balagoon) became outspoken proponents of anarchism. Balagoon died in prison of an AIDS-related disease in 1986. Ashanti Alston Omowali is an anarchist activist, speaker, and writer, and former member of the Black Panther Party. ... Kuwasi Balagoon was a Black Panther, a member of the Black Liberation Army, a New Afrikan anarchist, and a defendant in the Panther 21 case in the late sixties. ... It has been suggested that Origins of anarchism and History of anarchism be merged into this article or section. ... Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Members and associates

BLA members who remain in prison (as of January 2006), include: For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

• Sundiata Acoli, convicted (along with Assata Shakur) of the murder of a New Jersey state trooper in 1973
• Mutulu Shakur, charged in part with conspiracy in 1979 BLA prison break of his sister Assata Shakur, FBI's top ten Fugitive #380, captured in 1986
• Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim, convicted of the murder of two police officers in 1971
• Joseph Bowen
• Robert Seth Hayes, convicted of the murder of a NYC Transit Police Officer
• Sekou Kambui, convicted of two murders in Alabama
• Ojore N. Lutalo, convicted following a shootout with a drug dealer
• Abdul Majid (black-nationalist) and Bashir Hameed, convicted of the murder of a police officer in 1981
• Sekou Odinga, convicted of six counts of attempted murder in 1981
• Kojo Bomani Sababu, convicted of bank robbery
• Kamau Sadiki, convicted of the murder of an Atlanta police officer in 1971
• Russel "Maroon" Shoatz, convicted of the murder of a police officer in 1972

Other high-profile BLA members and associates: Sundiata Acoli (b. ... Assata Shakur[1] (born July 16, 1947) under the name Joanne Deborah Byron Chesimard, is an African-American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Mutulu Shakur (born August 8, 1950 in Baltimore, Maryland as Jeral Wayne Williams) was a member of the Republic of New Africa and a close friend of Geronimo Pratt . ... In the 1980s, for the fourth decade, the United States FBI continued to maintain a public list of the people it regarded as the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  Ranked 30th  - Total 52,419 sq mi (135,765 km²)  - Width 190 miles (306 km)  - Length 330 miles (531 km)  - % water 3. ... Logo of the Black Liberation Army Abdul Majid, also known as Anthony LaBorde, was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. ... Logo of the Black Liberation Army Bashir Hameed was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... Russell Maroon Shoatz (1943 - ) is a former Black Panther and Black Liberation Army member, currently serving two life sentences in Waynesburg, PA for the 1970 murder of a police officer. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

• Arthur Lee Washington, Jr., FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive #427, wanted for 1989 murder of a New Jersey state trooper, presumed deceased from AIDS as of 2000
• Assata Shakur, currently living free in Havana, Cuba.

1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Assata Shakur[1] (born July 16, 1947) under the name Joanne Deborah Byron Chesimard, is an African-American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. ...

References

1. ^ MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base. [1]
2. ^ Le Monde diplomatique, Caged panthers, 2005. [2]
3. ^ Liberation, Imagination and the Black Panther Party, 2001.
4. ^ The BLA Coordinating Committee, Message to the Black Movement: A Political Statement from the Black Underground. [3]
5. ^ Blast from the Past, 1979. [4]
6. ^ New York State FOP, New York State Fraternal Order of Police Criticizes Judge's Decision on the release of Kathy Boudin. [5]
7. ^ [6]
8. ^ Ex-militants charged in S.F. police officer's '71 slaying at station (via SFGate)
9. ^ Black Liberation Army tied to 1971 slaying (via USA Today)
10. ^ 8 arrested in 1971 cop-killing tied to Black Panthers (via Los Angeles Times)
11. ^ Fulton Co. District Attorney Report,.[7]
12. ^ CourtTV Crime Library, Ambush: The Brinks Robbery of 1981. [8]