American leftists: "Fuck Anne Frank"

Submitted by Craftwork on May 2, 2020

Not sure if you lot have seen it, but "Fuck Anne Frank" is now a thing among some of the American twitter left (black nationalists and Stalinists):

epk

3 years 11 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by epk on May 2, 2020

If one need 3 tweets to explain why "Fuck Anne Frank" doesn't really mean what it means - then perhaps one's choice of a phrase is not entirely optimal. Also, "The American twitter left" seems like a rather dubious grouping. Not nearly as robust as the global libcom webforum anarchists :-P

Having said that - it is true that the Jewish holocaust gets more coverage and media attention in the US than other cases of genocide.

wojtek

3 years 11 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by wojtek on May 2, 2020

Why is it a competition? What about black Jews? Why didn't they choose an accurate, much less provocative and insulting slogan?

R Totale

3 years 11 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on May 2, 2020

Can anyone provide a brief summary of where this came from, or am I happier not knowing? Had sort of picked up on this second-hand through seeing some of the discussion about "are Jews white?/in what circumstances are Jews white?", some of which is undoubtedly well-meaning but all of which, from what I'd seen, seemed to miss the point that not everywhere is the US and that concepts derived from the social order there might not be that useful when applied to conflicts in Germany, Yugoslavia, Ireland, Rwanda and so on. In passing, I might as well mention that the new Angry Workers book is really really good at looking at the way that ethnic/racial divisions within the working class are created and exploited in specific situations, which seems to be pretty much the opposite of what some of this stuff does.

Rurkel

3 years 11 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Rurkel on May 2, 2020

R Totale

Can anyone provide a brief summary of where this came from, or am I happier not knowing?

https://miro.medium.com/max/1040/1*0xANYCrs2CkCBSeY9XWAvg.png

The person who posted it is, apparently, some kind of minor youtube celebrity and a thought leader of an obscure org called "Black Hammer". Wikipedia claims about him:

On December 11, 2017, Omali Yeshitela announced that controversial YouTuber Gazi Kodzo would become the Secretary General of the African People's Socialist Party. In January, it was claimed by the party that Gazi Kodzo was removed from the position and expelled from the party on November 18, 2018 for disciplinary reasons following a vote.[11] Kodzo and other former party members who also recently split from the party deny being removed. In his video records, Kodzo claims he chose to leave the party (see the external links heading for his video responses), and upon learning this the party then issued the statement that Kodzo had been disciplinarily ejected.

In any case, most twitter leftists spoke against these sentiments, although there were some semi-defenders.

radicalgraffiti

3 years 11 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by radicalgraffiti on May 3, 2020

he appears to have a history of saying controversial stuff for attention, including antisemitic stuff

if people want to point out how the holocaust get more attention than other genocides this is really the worst way to go about it, and pretty much limits the audience to antisemitis

i think this also shows the total inadequacy of the american framework skin colour based racism for understanding early 20th century fascism, or many other forms of racial discrimination and facism

also there is a big tendency for leftists to make excuses for anti semitism and other reactionary ideas when they are from someone they consider on their side

sherbu-kteer

3 years 10 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by sherbu-kteer on May 3, 2020

Their youtube channel is here, I can't watch for longer than 5 secs without switching off:

https://www.youtube.com/user/smiletone

I thought the "African People's Socialist Party" name sounded familiar. I remember now, this party is the ONLY pan-African black nationalist revolutionary socialist party with an entire section just for white supporters:

https://uhurusolidarity.org/about/

The US left is strange in many ways but it is never dull. I wish we had these kinds of sects where I am, all we have are the same old boring Trotskyists.

Generally, I think if you find yourself spending May Day on twitter making multiple chains of tweets explaining to people that "fuck Anne Frank" is not anti-Semitic, you should probably reassess what you're doing with your life.

R Totale

3 years 10 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on May 3, 2020

The fact that they have a "pay reparations" button on their website is beautiful.

Black Badger

3 years 10 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Black Badger on May 3, 2020

it's always seemed like there are many more white supporters than party members.

wojtek

3 years 10 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by wojtek on May 10, 2020

Brits 1 Yanks 0 https://mobile.twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1259442270576787456

R Totale

3 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on July 19, 2020

So, I'd missed most of this at the time, but there's a weird postscript to this story - Kevin "Rashid" Johnson of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party has a website that's kind of a mix of useful and interesting stuff about prison organising, and then boring Maoist polemics that are mostly barely even readable for trainspottery purposes (imo, maybe if you're a Maoist they're great, I dunno). Anyway, turns out that the NABPP and Black Hammer lot got into a massive feud, largely because of NABPP people rightly calling Black Hammer out for their antisemitic shit, and they then dug up a Black Hammer document called "Operation Storm of White Tears", which is... well, you can read it for yourself. (I archived it for posterity, but for some reason that made a bunch of Russian text appear, I don't know what that's about.) I initially thought that it might be fake because surely no-one would be stupid enough to write this stuff down, but Black Hammer appear to have proudly taken credit for it. A few extracts:

"The‌ ‌beginning‌ ‌of‌ ‌OSWT‌ ‌was‌ ‌long‌ ‌before‌ ‌some‌ ‌white‌ ‌women‌ ‌dug‌ ‌up‌ ‌our‌ ‌dirt.‌ ‌The‌ ‌beginning‌ ‌IS‌ ‌the‌ ‌dirt.‌ ‌We‌ ‌must‌ ‌dig‌ ‌up‌ ‌our‌ ‌own‌ ‌dirt,‌ ‌stances‌ ‌we’ve‌ ‌ALREADY‌ ‌made,‌ ‌and‌ ‌hold‌ ‌the‌ ‌anti-colonial‌ ‌political‌ ‌line.‌ ‌These‌ ‌stance‌ ‌must‌ ‌agitate‌ ‌around‌ ‌“hot‌ ‌topics”,‌ ‌and‌ ‌individual‌ ‌members‌ ‌must‌ ‌be‌ ‌drilled‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌correct‌ ‌political‌ ‌line‌ ‌to‌ ‌present‌ ‌a‌ ‌unified‌ ‌response.‌ ‌Kanye‌ ‌West‌ ‌is‌ ‌a‌ ‌beast‌ ‌at‌ ‌this‌ ‌game.‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Hammer‌ ‌should‌ ‌emulate‌ ‌the‌ ‌Kanye’s‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌24‌ ‌hour‌ ‌news‌ ‌cycle.‌ ‌

This‌ ‌phase‌ ‌unfolds‌ ‌in‌ ‌two‌ ‌alternating‌ ‌steps:‌ ‌outrage‌ ‌and‌ ‌sympathy.‌ ‌First,‌ ‌we‌ ‌start‌ ‌dropping‌ ‌controversial‌ ‌takes,‌ ‌to‌ ‌spark‌ ‌a‌ ‌conversation.‌ ‌Then‌ ‌we‌ ‌reveal‌ ‌sympathetic‌ ‌details‌ ‌around‌ ‌our‌ ‌persona‌ ‌lives‌ ‌to‌ ‌humanize‌ ‌us,‌ ‌and‌ ‌make‌ ‌us‌ ‌empathetic,‌ ‌thus‌ ‌getting‌ ‌the‌ ‌masses‌ ‌even‌ ‌more‌ ‌invested‌ ‌in‌ ‌our‌ ‌manufactured‌ ‌narratives.‌..

Once‌ ‌a‌ ‌sizable‌ ‌audience‌ ‌is‌ ‌buzzing‌ ‌around‌ ‌our‌ ‌pages,‌ ‌and‌ ‌engaging‌ ‌with‌ ‌our‌ ‌brand‌ ‌--‌ ‌whether‌ ‌positive‌ ‌or‌ ‌negative‌ ‌--‌ ‌we‌ ‌come‌ ‌out‌ ‌with‌ ‌an‌ ‌interview‌ ‌on‌ ‌a‌ ‌broad-based‌ ‌platform.‌ ‌The‌ ‌interview‌ ‌must‌ ‌be‌ ‌secured‌ ‌in‌ ‌advance‌ ‌to‌ ‌ensure‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Hammer‌ ‌enters‌ ‌into‌ ‌a‌ ‌“positive‌ ‌media‌ ‌cycle”.‌ ‌We‌ ‌become‌ ‌famous‌ ‌for‌ ‌being‌ ‌famous,‌ ‌in‌ ‌essence.‌..

We‌ ‌need‌ ‌to‌ ‌secure‌ ‌an‌ ‌interview‌ ‌which‌ ‌is‌ ‌centered‌ ‌around‌ ‌the‌ ‌controversy,‌ ‌giving‌ ‌us‌ ‌a‌ ‌
platform‌ ‌to‌ ‌double‌ ‌down‌ ‌on‌ ‌our‌ ‌anti-colonial‌ ‌line.‌ ‌He‌ ‌trashier‌ ‌the‌ ‌better.‌..

There‌ ‌are‌ ‌two‌ ‌main‌ ‌categories‌ ‌of‌ ‌competitor:‌ ‌the‌ ‌communist‌ ‌type,‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌social‌ ‌media‌ ‌brand‌ ‌type.‌ ‌The‌ ‌first‌ ‌we‌ ‌divide‌ ‌by‌ ‌attacking‌ ‌with‌ ‌an‌ ‌aggressive‌ ‌recruitment‌ ‌strategy.‌ ‌Pit‌ ‌leadership‌ ‌against‌ ‌each‌ ‌other,‌ ‌and‌ ‌absorb‌ ‌the‌ ‌people‌ ‌who‌ ‌leave.‌ ‌The‌ ‌second‌ ‌we‌ ‌destroy‌ ‌through‌ ‌protracted‌ ‌war.‌"

It's hardly news that there are people who say stupid controversial shit to get attention, but the fact that there are people who will actually write down "here is our genius plan to say controversial shit and get attention" is kind of surprising to me.

R Totale

1 year 8 months ago

Submitted by R Totale on July 21, 2022

Well, the Black Hammer saga has now (hopefully) reached its conclusion:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/infamous-cult-leader-gazi-kodzo-arrested-after-dead-body-found-in-home
(archived version in case that article's playing up for anyone: https://archive.ph/0czlP )