Avant-Garde Journal

12/05/2025

Seventy years ago on December 5, 1955, the Montgomery Bus Boycott began in a city known as the "Cradle of the Confederacy." We honor this day when the Black proletariat embarked upon a new Movement, unleashing great forces of history which became the Third American Revolution.

Below are excerpts of an essay by Jeremiah Kim from Issue 2 of our journal, published in 2024.

"To the outside observer, it seems strange that a new revolutionary movement should have begun in the U.S. in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. Conventional thought would tend to see greater revolutionary possibility in a period of intense economic crisis such as the 1930s, compared to a period of relative domestic economic prosperity like the 1950s.

"To the children and grandchildren of the former slaves, however, the outpouring of the nonviolent movement in Montgomery and soon a hundred other cities made all the sense in the world. What Black folk saw in the immediate postwar period was a world freedom movement flooding across humanity, as the system of colonial imperialism came under crisis. From Alabama to New York, from Tennessee to Florida, from Mississippi to Pennsylvania, over kitchen tables, among church pews, and in shaded street corners, news of the anti-colonial struggles of Africa and Asia spilled into the vision, hearing, speech, thoughts, and hearts of Black people.

"The remarkable victories of poorer, darker peoples over once-invincible Western empires forced Black folk in America to reflect on their own lack of freedom—in a nation that proclaimed its own 'freedom' as a model for the world, no less. It was doubly fateful that the Black proletariat saw the 100th anniversary of Emancipation approaching; for it was the defeat of Reconstruction which had, as Du Bois explained, laid the foundation for the ascendance of U.S. and European imperialism at the sunset of the 19th century.

"From the nation’s halls of power, the Black proletariat heard the constant refrain: 'Wait.' Yet from the turning of a world far vaster, the Black proletariat felt the thunderous cry: 'Move.' So they moved. And through their movement, hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands of ordinary working people commandeered the pace and direction of social-historical time in the United States."

Read the full essay: https://avantjournal.com/2024/04/08/why-we-must-inherit-the-third-american-revolution/

11/10/2025

A SHORT HISTORY OF PROPAGANDA
From the Collected Writings of Anthony Monteiro

At the end of the 20th century, Harvard's 'Dream Team' of Cornel West & Henry Louis Gates and Temple University's Molefi Kete Asante represented two opposing camps of Black Studies. What united them was their rejection of W.E.B. Du Bois, as Anthony Monteiro argued in this essay from 1998.

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"While one hundred flowers bloom and a thousand schools contend, Harvard and Temple Universities’ African American Studies Departments have become the vanguard of opposing trends; one modernist and Eurocentric, the other Afrocentric and traditional. They represent the most publicized and well known of the centers of Black Studies. Each has its renowned scholars and stands upon its own theories and philosophies. Different political camps within the Black and white communities support each. Through academic journals, scholarly conferences and public discourse, Harvard and Temple struggle to gain the upper hand in deciding the direction of Black Studies and ultimately Black intellectual and political life. Each side claims history as the test of the validity of its positions, although none of the key players could be considered an historian and neither department has produced any significant historical texts.

"While these public differences are debated in the media and academic departments, below the surface the two schools share certain common beliefs and sensibilities; commonalities which neither is completely comfortable with, yet which neither can escape. At the core of these commonalities is their rejection of W.E.B Du Bois’s legacy. Both sides, while acknowledging Du Bois’s brilliance, define him as a failure. The Harvard school rejects him because he was not Eurocentric enough; while Temple rejects him because he was not sufficiently Afrocentric. Ironically, in rejecting Du Bois as the central figure of Black Studies, Harvard and Temple have turned the debate over Black Studies into a debate about Du Bois. The project to eliminate Du Bois as the central intellectual figure in the formation of the Black intellect can only be understood as a crucial part of the history of propaganda directed against the struggle for Black freedom. It is connected to the main centers of white propaganda and is shaped in significant ways by them. And thus the history of the struggle between the two schools of Black Studies is in substance a short history of propaganda. However, the central player in all of this is neither Asante and Temple, nor Harvard and West and Gates, it is the mighty Du Bois. To understand these camps one must understand how they understand (or more appropriately, misunderstand) Du Bois."

Publication date: 1998 | First published in The Real News, later in African American Futures Note: At the time this essay was written in 1998, African American Studies was, in the words of Dr. Mont…

11/06/2025

We in the Saturday Free School for Philosophy and Black Liberation are proud to present this Collection of Anthony Monteiro’s writings on the occasion of his 80th birthday. To prepare this Collection we have pored over dozens of Dr. Monteiro’s past writings, spanning several phases of struggle across decades of history. We have chosen writings that we believe meet the demands of our time. They are concepts that have changed our lives; they have a message for all peoples and civilizations.

Read the full Collection here: https://avantjournal.com/2025/11/06/knowledge-revolution-monteiro-collection/

10/01/2025

The latest issue from our sister journal in India, Vishwabandhu Journal

This issue of Vishwabandhu looks at the struggle of the Indian people to emerge into a fuller democracy, and a new modern consciousness. The issue begins with an article that contrasts the methods and form of the Indian freedom struggle with the Russian revolution. Another article examines the recent detente between India and China from the perspective of a developing Indian democracy, while a third attempts to imagine a new modernity for colored humanity distinct from European Modernity. There is an article on the importance of S.A. Dange's life and ideas for our time. The issue has the transcribed comments of Georges Nzongola-Ntatalja and Anthony Monteiro from a recent intercivilizational dialogue to commemorate the centenary of African freedom fighter Patrice Lumumba this year. A photo spread of pictures from the Ajanta caves and from Cheena Bhavan in Shantiniketan attempts to show the civilizational roots of Indian modern art. Lastly, we include two pieces from the archives: an essay by Dadabhai Naoroji, who's 200th birth anniversary falls this year; and a collection of poems by Indian authors written for Patrice Lumumba.

You can read the issue here: https://www.vbjournal.org/current-issue.html

09/15/2025

Headlines on China center on its manufacturing and technology. China’s ripples in these areas are undeniable given that in recent years, China has dominated global manufacturing output and seen leaps in fields such as electric and solar power, information technology, and artificial intelligence. Yet what is life for millions of Chinese? Little acknowledged and less understood by the West are China’s achievements in poverty reduction, mass education, and transportation infrastructure. Within just a single lifetime, China has lifted nearly 800 million people out of extreme poverty, raised adult literacy to 97 percent (when it was 65 percent in just 1982), and built more than 40,000 km of high-speed railways since the first was opened in 2008. These astronomical figures can seem abstract until one has experienced or seen the change for themselves.

There is a path for America and China towards peace — that is, through the revolutionary vision and example of Afro-America.

09/08/2025

"The Earth that we live on revolves around the Sun. It’s making a revolution. That revolution is made possible on our planet by the power of the Sun. It’s like that it is striking the Earth, causing the Earth to spin or make a motion on its axis. So when you talk about real revolution — real revolution is not with arms. With arms or weapons. It’s the turning of the mind. And the only way the mind can be turned in a proper direction, it has to be exposed or introduced to light. And light here is synonymous with knowledge. There has to be the introduction of knowledge that allows for the human mind to evolve.

So the scripture that we mentioned earlier, if God is talking, 'Turn from your wicked ways.' The real revolution is not with the gun. The real revolution is with light. Greater truth. Greater knowledge that allows for human beings to reverse their direction. And then when you have that kind of revolution, you have change. Real change. And the result of that change, when the human being turns back to God, back to the Creator, back to the order and the laws of nature itself — now we’re in harmony with our own nature. We’re in harmony with creation and harmony with nature itself; therefore, there’s peace. [...]

How many times have we gone out, but to no avail, calling on our leadership to cease? Look at the call to end the genocide of the Palestinians. But the masses, all they have is a voice. But they don’t have the power to stop. So we plead with them, and that’s God pleading. That’s God pleading with the rulers, but they turned a deaf ear. It means nothing to them. Netanyahu doesn’t have the support of the Israeli people but he’s in power... These are topics that talk on what is happening in our world, and it doesn’t give a lot of hope to people of goodwill who want peace and are doing everything we can. And we should not be discouraged.

But we should put it like this: we should not put so much hope in the establishment. Put it in layman terms; they’re done. But where we waste our energy is concentrating our effort on a system that turns a deaf ear. If we redirect that energy to what we were saying earlier, what is it that we want to replace what is? Then our energy and our effort becomes more productive and optimistic because now we’re focusing on what kind of government or system will be a system that would be just, equitable, and fair for all people."

From our interview with Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad:

A dialogue with the Nation of Islam’s Student National Assistant Minister in search of new revolutionary knowledge for the 21st century.

09/02/2025

Du Bois argued that the most pressing demand of modern science was to know Man. Science and philosophy in order to know Man must know Black Men. And to know Men meant scientifically knowing them in their totalities and in all their complexity. Forged out his philosophical, sociological and historical investigations a new phenomenology of the Black lived world emerged.

Du Bois says that to know modern societies, social science must explain both law and chance. Law, he writes in Dusk of Dawn, is the enduring patterns of social stability, the predictable rhythms and movement of society. This is but part of explaining society and human behavior. Chance, probability, variability, uncertainty and unpredictability are as important as law. Chance assumes in this moment of social instability a larger part in explaining societies and human behavior. You cannot explain this or these phenomena by rational laws of social development alone. Moreover, much of social behavior is unpredictable and nondeterministic at times like these.

He discovered that, for sociology and social science, we must know both law and chance. Law and probability, law and variability, the non-determined and hence what he called “uncaused causes.” In terms of social thought this constituted a paradigm shift and an epistemological rupture. It was new. Understanding Chance was and remains an enormous challenge for science and sociology.

Du Bois’s vision was the beginning of a new world movement of thought. Amid the crisis of Western civilization today, Du Bois is a prequel to the future.

08/26/2025

The American people and world humanity have been changed through their love for Muhammad Ali. He is an icon of truth and world peace who lives in them. They see him as an example of what they can become with moral courage and strength.

The American people and world humanity have been changed through their love for Muhammad Ali. He is an icon of truth and world peace who lives in them.

08/05/2025

'Freedom (for Attica)' — A poem by Muhammad Ali

Better far, from all I see
To die fighting to be free.
What more fitting end could be?

Better surely than in some bed
Where in broken health, I'm led
Lingering until I'm dead.

Better than with prayers and pleas
Or in the clutch of some disease
Wasting slowly by degrees.

Better than a heart attack
Or some dose of drug I lack.
Let me die by being Black.

Better far, that I should go;
Standing here against the foe
Is the sweeter death to know.

Better than the bloody stain
On some highway where I'm lain
Torn by flying glass and pane.

Better calling death to come
Than to die another dumb,
Muted victim in the slum.

Better than of this prison rot;
If there's any choice I've got
Kill me here on the spot.

Better far, my fight to wage
Now, while my blood boils with rage
Lest it cool with ancient age.

Better violent for us to die
Than to Uncle Tom and try
Making peace just to live a lie.

Better now that I say my sooth;
I'm going to die demanding Truth
While I'm still akin to youth.

Better now than later on
Now that fear of death is gone;
Never mind another dawn.

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Featured in Issue 4 of Avant-Garde. Read online at avantjournal.com

07/31/2025

The Soul of John Brown — by Blaise Laramee

"The martyr’s spirit widens after death. Given to a great cause, offered in sacrifice for a principle, their life spins out and upward, toward the infinite and into the living history of men’s consciousness. Such a man was John Brown. And yet as the years march on, the wide lesson of his life has been flattened. Some know the song, and can sing, 'His soul goes marching on,' but of what quality was the soul, and what moved it? What was the height and depth and breadth of his life? What forged that spirit, so unyielding and yet so tender, so moved by the suffering of the enslaved that he would die to see them free? What could the soul of John Brown mean to the American people today, and especially to the masses of white poor? And could we, in our time of great confusion and moral crisis, see such a spirit live again?

John Brown is an enduring symbol of American history, and for good reason. He holds a special place of honor in the heart of Black folk. But we must be clear on the reason his life holds an eternal lesson, or risk losing a potent weapon for the people. For many today, Brown’s life is shortened to just the three days of his attack on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry in 1859, and thus a two-dimensional John Brown is produced and reproduced.

He is claimed by elements of the white left and by those whose conception of revolution begins and ends with armed struggle and guerrilla warfare, who romanticize the gun and the individual act of violence. For them, John Brown is exemplar of the anarchist propaganda of the deed, a Luigi Mangione hoping to incite wider violence and popular revolt with a brave but doomed act. Brown is sometimes claimed by Marxist theorists and his life squashed into a limiting framework of pure class consciousness.

It is John Brown’s moral choice to reject whiteness and struggle to defend the humanity of Black folk that, more than the shock of his attack on Harper’s Ferry, or even the attack itself, makes him a man for today. He saw the anti-slavery struggle as the struggle of his time which held in its great and terrible circumference all others. In the midst of a stifling white supremacist social system, and against all social laws of the day, Brown made a choice — and it is this capacity to make the moral choice which makes every ordinary human being an extraordinary force for change. The moral imperative is the revolutionary imperative, and the choice before us today, as it was for Brown then, is the moral choice."

Read the full essay: https://avantjournal.com/2025/07/03/the-soul-of-john-brown/

07/28/2025

Three Black Kings: Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Sun Ra (Part One) — by Michelle Lyu

"In 1974, Duke Ellington writes his final composition Three Black Kings (Ballet for Orchestra). This tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. grieves King’s 1968 assassination, and eulogizes him alongside Black Kings Balthazar and Solomon. Ellington described the Bible as containing 'all the other books' and in his vision, Martin King is lifted up among the guiding stars of humanity’s sky. Ellington is discovering Truth, and modernizing it.

Just as we received the gift of one King, we received a single Duke. Or as he was affectionately called, The Duke of Ellington. Such men are the royals of our civilization; those who are instruments of all that is pure and futuristic in our young yet weary nation that struggles to be reimagined. Of the disparate sounds and strivings of the enslaved African, Duke articulated a new language, orchestrated the letters of America’s musical alphabet. All modern music to emerge from this country that can move the hearts and souls of men, women and children, has been shaped by the creative, intellectual efforts of Duke Ellington and the Ellington Orchestra.

The revolutionary music created by Black folk has not just been forgotten today, it has been deliberately lost and misunderstood. The cultural landscape today is so commercial, so produced and lonely that it has shattered people’s imaginations of what is possible. That this music is not broadly known, and especially by youth, can only be explained by the decisions of an elite who have decided what parameters of culture and art are permitted. But in America, Black geniuses created great music, so that we may have, renew and create great music again."

Read the full essay: https://avantjournal.com/2025/07/03/three-black-kings-ellington-mingus-part-one/