COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States. The FBI used covert operations from its inception, however formal COINTELPRO operations took place between 1956 and 1971. The FBI’s stated motivation at the time was “protecting national security, preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order.”
According to FBI records, 85% of COINTELPRO resources were expended on infiltrating, disrupting, marginalizing, and/or subverting groups suspected of being subversive, such as communist and socialist organizations; the women’s rights movement; militant black nationalist groups, and the non-violent civil rights movement, including individuals such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and others associated with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Congress of Racial Equality, the American Indian Movement, and other civil rights groups; a broad range of organizations labeled “New Left”, including Students for a Democratic Society, the National Lawyers Guild, the Weathermen, almost all groups protesting the Vietnam War, and even individual student demonstrators with no group affiliation; and nationalist groups such as those “seeking independence for Puerto Rico.” The other 15% of COINTELPRO resources were expended to marginalize and subvert “white hate groups,” including the Ku Klux Klan and National States’ Rights Party.
The directives governing COINTELPRO were issued by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who ordered FBI agents to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” the activities of these movements and their leaders.
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE! The ones that are rightly guided to us it.
February 25, 2010
The American Conspiracy to Destroy The Black Panther Party
Posted by Thought Merchant under Black Panthers, COINTELPRO | Tags: Black Panthers, COINTELPRO |Leave a Comment
October 12, 2009
Black Revolutionary Cinema:The Spoke Who Sat by the Door
Posted by Thought Merchant under The Spook Who Sat by the door, Uncategorized | Tags: The Spook Who Sat by the door |1 Comment
The Spook Who Sat by the Door is a classic film that was thought by many to be to revolutionary for mainstream viewing audiences when it was first released in 1973. The film was quickly removed from theaters for that same reason. The fictional story is about the first Black Man recruited to become a member of the CIA. The protagonist receives combat and para-military training to be dispatched as a loyal agent. After five years of service to his country he goes into the streets of Chicago and takes the urban youth and turns them into a radical guerrilla army planning to overthrow the racist government.
The film is an interesting statement on Black Revolutionary ideology during that period. When we look at the state of today’s milquetoast weak back Black leaders, there is no question why our community has been lulled into the coma like apathy that results in our current condition.
The whole film is available on Google Video and can be seen clicking this link: The Spook Who Sat by the Door
October 8, 2009
Before There was Barack Obama, There was Shirley Chisholm
Posted by Thought Merchant under Shirley Chisholm | Tags: Shirley Chisholm |Leave a Comment
There was a time in America when Black politicians spoke truth to power and were willing to clearly identify with the racial identity of their community. This was a time when being “post-racial” was not an option. Immediately after the Civil Rights Movement, Shirley Chisholm rose to a position where she dared challenge the notion that a Black women had no place in Presidential politics. In 1968 Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress from New York’s 12th congressional district. In 1972 she became the first the African American major party candidate for the office of the President of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic nomination.
The video below illustrates the type of political courage and racial integrity Shirley Chisholm maintained. In comparison to Chisholm, its interesting to note how the effort to seem “race-neutral” and avoid the specific concerns of the Black community is such a hallmark of modern Black politicians, especially when compared to Shirley Chisholm’s clear unapologetic Black pride. Today’s Black politicians have much they could learn from this sister. Sadly, many of them run so far from identifying with the Black community it becomes difficult to recognize if they are mere tokens in Black face, or truly working for the betterment of society overall.
October 7, 2009
In Memory of Fred Hampton 1948-1969
Posted by Thought Merchant under Black Panthers, Fred Hampton | Tags: Black Panthers, Fred Hampton |Leave a Comment
Fred Hampton (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an African-American activist and deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP). He was killed in his apartment by a tactical unit of the Cook County, Illinois State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO), in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
October 7, 2009
The House Negro and The Field Negro
Posted by Thought Merchant under Field Negro, House Negro, Malcolm X, Obama | Tags: Field Negro, House Negro, Malcom X, Obama |Leave a Comment
Some realities have not changed. Where would President Obama fit in this dichotomy.
