Today in the U.S., after the latest national election, my phone has been buzzing with activity about Trump’s election.
People are reaching out, asking, “What are we going to do?” regarding MAGA Donald Trump’s second victory as president in the last eight years. The fact that people are reaching out is exciting. Unlike most of them, my political activism isn’t limited to just voting in these capitalist elections every two or four years. My activism is a daily commitment: planning and executing events, traveling, speaking, organizing, risking harm to build capacity, writing about our conditions, and mentoring countless young people to organize and build our revolutionary Pan-African movement.
The people reaching out to me know this. They know I’ve been doing this work for decades. These are working-class people with families—African, Indigenous to the Western Hemisphere, European, and more. What they have in common is that I’ve never felt they valued my politics. My engagements with them have overwhelmingly focused on their fears, concerns, and actions, with little to no engagement around the solutions we offer.
Yet, here they are this morning.
A lot of people would view this as insulting. You pour your soul into working for humanity, and most people around you couldn’t seem to care less. They never ask about your work or show any interest in it—not even the people closest to you. Despite this, any revolutionary organizer would relish these moments. The reason is that the question we always seek to answer in our work is the one I’ve been getting all day: “What do we do?”
We welcome the opportunity to offer our insights. By the end of this election, around 80 million people will have voted for the Trump ticket—roughly 22% of the 350 million people in this country. There are a few key takeaways here.
First, our revolutionary organizing and demographic work informs us that out of 350 million people, approximately 100 million are ineligible to vote (too young, convicted of felonies, immigrants, etc.). Of the 250 million eligible voters, about 150 million participate in national elections.
This tells us that among people with higher incomes, primarily European communities, and those aspiring to align with the European capitalist paradigm, the overwhelming majority have made their stance clear. They support a right-wing fascist agenda: anti-African, anti-Indigenous, anti-women, anti-LGBTQ, anti-humanity, and pro-capitalist. These people represent over 50% of voters. This sentiment isn’t confined to one man; it’s what this country fundamentally wants.
As African and other oppressed peoples, it’s our responsibility to accept this cold, hard reality. This means it’s far past time to stop pretending we have a place in this country. From our perspective, it’s incredible that anyone with dignity would even want a place here. But for those who do, you owe it to yourselves and your communities to engage with this reality from a position of dignity.
Stop begging to fit into a society that was never designed for you. Stop playing by rules that were never configured with your interests in mind. If you insist on participating in this electoral process, come into it with the intention to advance the masses, not just a few individuals. Build a mass movement that holds this corrupt system accountable to our interests, one committed to tearing this system to the ground when it violates us.
If we aren’t serious about our future, we’re only upset because what’s happening makes us personally uncomfortable. If that’s the case, we should remain uncomfortable—extremely so. Why should our enemies take us seriously if we lack the regard to fight for the legacy our ancestors sacrificed everything to provide?
The other significant factor is the 100 million people who don’t vote. They aren’t apathetic. This elitist analysis comes from the capitalist system itself. A large percentage of these people are refusing to choose between a violent r*pist and one who talks nicely while they harm you. Both are r*pists, both are terrorists—or, as Malcolm X said, “both are canines.”
For us, these 100 million are potential converts. Africans within this group could join the African revolution. Non-Africans could support revolutionary change as the only viable solution.
This country today is the same as it has been for 531 years: a terrorist settler colony protecting its interests at humanity’s expense. There are no more excuses, no more lame justifications. If you’re committed to reform, you must accept that a mass movement dedicated to disrupting this system on all levels is essential. If you’re ready for something beyond reform, there is plenty of work to build the revolutionary consciousness and capacity needed to bring the empire to its knees.
Anything less is voting for our continued demise. We are better than that. It’s time to stop moping and prove it.
Good. Fascist collaborators do not deserve peace in death, let alone peace in life.
Plus petty and self-aggrandizing. Has massive "will sack competent ministers and chancellors because they take the spotlight away from the monarch" energy.