War in America The Malcolm X Doctrine (text)/Intro-Revised-ed

Introduction To Revised Edition

THE most significant achievement of the Black Revolution since the publishing of War In America in January of this year was the founding, on March 31 of this year (1968), of the Republic of New Africa.

Nothing else, in a year already full of significant events in our struggle, called for a revision of any concept contained in War, All the other events — the assassination of the leading exponent of non-violence, even the significant turning brought about by the victory of guerrillas in Cleveland who in July outgunned oppressive police and slew three of them — all the other events fit easily into the broad pattern stroked out by the original version of War.

But the founding of the Republic of New Africa called for revision of a basic concept: War, written a year and a half before the founding, envisioned that the Malcolmites would work within the governmental framework and state structure of the United States, winning black people, first in Mississippi, to the cause of independent land and power, follow this with election victories (the sheriffs’ offices, particularly) within the U.S. federal system, and finally, take the black state out of the U.S. federal union at the moment when white power could no longer be successfully resisted or neutralized in its efforts to prevent the creation of a new society in the black state.

The founding of the Republic obsoleted this approach— and this revision of War makes note of that obsoleteness. By declaration the nation has become a fact — though subjugated by the United States. It is no longer possible, if we are a nation as we have declared — and we are — to proceed through the framework and state structure of the UnitedStates federal union. Our job becomes not winning sherriffs’ elections but, rather, simply demonstrating that our government, the Republic of New Africa, does in fact have the consent of the people who live in the areas we claim as subjugated territory of the Republic of New Africa. The job is that of demonstrating that we — not the government of the United States — have the consent of the people.

Why, then, since the Malcolm X Society had stated the former approach as our position, did we change direction, taking the lead in founding the Republic of New Africa?

The answer is simple, it was to remove the Malcoimites and the other black nationalist revolutionaries in America from a position where the United States might with impunity destroy them to a position where attacks upon us by the United States become international matters, threatening world peace, and thereby within reach of the United Nations, thereby within reach of our friends in Africa and Asia who would help us. We could not entertain hope of help in our struggle from international sources so long as we conducted our struggle within the United States federal union and as if we were citizens of the United States (black people are not and have never been citizens).

The Republic was brought about, when it was, to frustrate hostile action of the United States against the seekers of land and power for blacks on this continent, and to create proper safeguards for ultimate success.

BROTHER IMARI
Detroit, Michigan,
Subjugated Territory of the Republic of New Africa
20 August 1968