Manifesting the vision: On Frantz Fanon’s fundamental transformation period

by Kwame Beans Shakur, Co-founder and Chairman of New Afrikan Liberation Collective (NALC) and National Director of Prison Lives Matter, Spirit of Mandela Coalition and The People’s Senate

In previous articles, We spoke about developing The New Afrikan People’s Center for Decolonization on ancestral and liberated land in my hood. This changed when NALC was able to purchase a building around the corner from said land in the summer of ’22. This building has a long history of being owned and operated by the New Afrikan Community, dating back to the ‘50s. It was the only Black-owned grocery store in the community. It would later become a New Afrikan motorcycle club in the ‘70s. In the ‘80s it became the first location for the restaurant known as The Black Skillet, and my earliest memory of it in the early 2000s was again that of a grocery/corner store. 

So, it is with great revolutionary spirit and continuing the legacy that We have been renovating the property while reintroducing it to the community as the People’s Programs for Decolonization building. The building and programs are based on the theory and practice laid forth in the FROLINAN (front for the liberation of the New Afrikan Nation) National Strategy/Handbook and Our 10 programs for Decolonization. 

As we continue raising funds to fully renovate and furnish the building to host these programs, We have been able to utilize the space for temporary mutual aid to meet the immediate needs of the people. At the same time, We were able to implement one of the first tangible FROLINAN programs in the Nation on the above-mentioned land where I grew up. 

In April of ’24, comrades traveled from New York and Philly to help Us break ground for the Booker T Washington Community Garden under the banner of the New Afrikan Food Co-Op Program. The food co-op/community garden has a space for community members and comrades to engage in political education or host community events and other formations throughout 2024. The garden includes an indoor greenhouse and a grape arbor. 

In the first year We were able to harvest potatoes, squash, collard greens, okra, corn, tomatoes, green beans, cantaloupe, eggplant, zucchini and a variety of peppers and plant over 30 fruit trees that have been named after current or former political prisoners or freedom fighters as a way to also educate the people as we feed them. In fact, the entire process of food sovereignty and agricultural independence is an educational, economic, political and social development process for the people. It is one of the most important forms of decolonization that we must all adopt next to political education and security. 

We tend to overlook this fundamental process because We are so Neo-colonized within the belly of the beast. We happen to be colonized and held captive inside one of the wealthiest empires in the world, and just like all other forms of capitalist Neo-colonialism, Our captor provides these things for Us at a cost. So, We continue to depend on massa instead of being trained on how to grow and harvest Our own nutritional resources. 

As a nation, We are equated to that of a fetus in the womb with an umbilical cord or a young dependent who doesn’t have to think about where Our food comes from. I’ve said it before: We have to start acting like a Nation of people who actually want liberation and independence and not just an organization or movement of radical amerikans. 

Any nation or group of people who cannot feed themselves naturally become dependent and at the mercy of others. Also, you cannot look back at any successful liberation struggle throughout history where all layers of revolutionary forces didn’t form a united front to carry out the aims and objectives or collective strategies for the people. 

Frantz Fanon talked about the colonized people needing to go through the “fundamental transition period” between being colonial/captive subjects and the “new” people becoming an independent nation. What does this mean? Right now, We are not in control of Our own destiny, We are not in control of Our own day to day affairs. We depend on someone else for food, security, healthcare, technology, clothing, education, political, and governmental policy that dictate Our social reality. 

Again, it’s the umbilical cord. If We just cut it and tried to separate Ourselves fully as it stands right now, We would starve off and die. We have been here before; they claim that We were “freed” from chattel slavery in 1865, but that was only the transition from colonialism into neo-colonialism. For hundreds of years, We had been dependent on Our captors, We weren’t allowed to own anything, We didn’t have any educational, economic, or agricultural autonomy. 

So, with no “fundamental transition period,” one day we’re enslaved and the next day they say We are free. We still had to depend on the colonists for food, shelter, employment and We haven’t recovered to this day from that continued codependency. 

In terms of what this means in 2024 for New Afrikans seeking national liberation and self-government, that transitional decolonization period has to mean Our political organizers, legal body, underground formations, medical cadre, student unions, farmers, and the prison movement all coming together to establish infrastructure that will sustain Us in the future. 

Let’s say the u.s. or united nations honored international law and allowed Us to separate RIGHT NOW! No depending on their food sources, no using their medical facilities, no sending Our children to their schools, etc. What would We do? Where would We be as a people? We would look like the many underdeveloped nations in the motherland who gained their independence during anti-colonial wars over half a century ago. They had the military resistance but failed to establish agriculture, medical or economic structure to sustain the new nation. 

Following the 2021 International Tribunal, the Spirit of Mandela Coalition and those of Us under that umbrella have been taking the fundamental steps towards transitioning the people into various forms of decolonization and implementing strategic measures to guide New Afrikans, Chicanos and Indigenous nations/tribes as national panel and webinars to lay the foundation for the People’s Senate. 

National Coordinating Committees and Regional Coordinating Committees

Prison Lives Matter is getting back to the core of its organizing capabilities and Our initiatives to build state chapters and regional organizing committees to strengthen the overall national structure as well as the collective aims/objectives within the movement. We called upon people to become field marshals or general members to start inside-out coordination in their state between captive individuals and outside formations, family members, lawyers, students etc. We were receiving all this national mail to one P.O. box in Chicago. 

The original mission was to distribute the mail to comrades/organizations in the state or region from which the inside person wrote and help develop the necessary correspondence to start calls and meetings in that area. Once a statewide chapter is developed, it would then become the responsibility of the outside members to start its own P.O. box or destination for mail in that state. 

We were encouraged by the overwhelming amount of people who tapped in wanting to develop structure in their state or learn more about PLM; however, the lack of organizational structure and coordination within the united front made it hard for one person to respond to all this mail from across the nation. PLM has monthly calls with the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) to discuss the progress of the movement, onboard new individuals, plan upcoming events, and report the status of Our Political prisoners and their campaigns. 

The last three meetings have been focused on rebuilding the internal structure of Our sub-committees, and making sure that We are clear on coordination, communication and capacity that will ultimately help Us properly network and reach Our goals. As I’ve always stressed, despite the name, PLM is not solely about prisoners or the conditions in these kamps. It is a vehicle for decolonization, a united front based on the blueprint of FROLINAN and the concept of We Are Our Own Liberators. 

If properly organized and utilized, it will galvanize the entire movement as We connect the dots between inside-outside struggles and unite New Afrikan, Chicano, Indigenous and poor working-class people in Our international fight against capitalist-imperialism. Along this same call to action, we are calling upon conscious citizens of the Republic of New Afrika, who are vetted in the line of the New Afrikan Independence movement to join the New Afrikan Liberation Collective (NALC) in order to help strengthen and develop FROLINAN. 

So, again We are calling on those who are serious about building infrastructure to step up, reach out and help implement a base in your area. For the role of field marshal, We need those who are experienced organizers, have an existing network in your state or region and have the ability to educate/train others. For those inside, i refer you to your April issue of the San Francisco Bay View. For those outside, search “Kwame Beans Shakur: Call to Action for National Unification.” There you will find the transcription of the Prison Lives Matter: Liberate Our Elders webinar and panel discussion that took place in August of 2023 in

Oakland, Chicago and New York in order to refresh or gain an overstanding of where We are in Our efforts and what you are stepping into. 

Remember: WE ARE OUR OWN LIBERATORS! REBUILD TO WIN!! FREE THE LAND!!!

Tap in with us below:

PLM Midwest, P.O. Box 9383, Chicago, IL 60609

Link-tree: https://linktr.ee/kwame.shakur Links to both the PLM and NALC national websites can be found here, as well as links to select articles written by Kwame, podcast episodes he is featured on, and his music.

Instagram: @free_kwameshakur

Facebook: Kwame Shakur Freedom Campaign

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Source: https://sfbayview.com/2025/01/manifesting-the-vision-on-frantz-fanons-fundamental-transformation-period/