Note from E14 Distro: Since we couldn’t find any versions online, we decided to turn these two important (but often overlooked) pieces into zines, as there is so much we can learn from both of these Black revolutionaries.

We find them particularly relevant to our current social and political landscape here in East Oakland, especially as the counterinsurgent forces of ‘order’ (the mayor, the police, real estate developers, local politicians and their allies) mobilize the language of social justice, representation, and ‘community,’ to push for ever more policing of our neighborhoods. At best, these roads lead to dead ends. At worst,

This is not to say we agree with everything in either piece (particularly in some of the assessments of ‘crime’/drug use), but hope that these zines are useful for ‘radicals’ and community members in moving through ‘contradictions’ and continuing to push for genuine autonomy and liberation.

Feel free to print and share widely!

“Think Dialectically, Not Biologically” by James Boggs

“Think Dialectically, Not Biologically” is a speech delivered in the Department of Political Science at Atlanta University on February 17, 1974. It was part of a weekly seminar for graduate students and faculty during which invited guests—activists, scholars, politicians, and others—addressed issues facing black people in the United States and globally.”

James Boggs was a lifelong revolutionary auto worker, author, and labor organizer in Detroit.

“Where do We Go From Here?” by Kuwasi Balagoon

““Where do we go from Here?” is first and foremost a strategy for building collectives from the material basis of will. It is an attempt to point out a path of thinking and action that leads from one stage to another or one position to another, by cultivating the collective process within any small determined group of three or more people and making the best use of time, space, and whatever specific available resources to influence others to join the process, contribute, and exercise a measure of control consistent with their participation immediately. The basis of this process is agreement, and since collectives are guided by popular one person, one vote, the strategy is an anarchist strategy and this work is an anarchist organizing manual.”

Kuwasi Balagoon was a queer New Afrikan anarchist revolutionary, and member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army.