Kuwasi Balagoon – New Afrikan Anarchist, Black Panther, Black Liberation Army Revolutionary
Kuwasi Balagoon was a bisexual New Afrikan anarchist, Black Panther Party member, and Black Liberation Army revolutionary. Born on December 22, 1946, in Prince George's County, Maryland, Balagoon's activism was inspired by Gloria Richardson and the Cambridge Movement because they advocated self-defense in the Civil Rights Movement.
He enlisted in the US military after high school and deployed to Germany. While stationed in Europe, Balagoon and other Black soldiers faced racist attacks from white officers, which prompted them to organize a clandestine group called “Da Legislators” to carry out revenge attacks.
Balagoon moved to New York City after he was honorably discharged in 1967. As a member of the Central Harlem Committee for Self-Defense and Yoruba Temple, he took the Ghanaian name “Kuwasi,” meaning born on Sunday, and the Yoruba name “Balagoon,” meaning “warlord.” In 1968, Balagoon joined the Black Panther Party and was arrested the following year as part of the NY Panther 21 conspiracy. However, he refused to stand trial and joined the BLA underground instead. Upon his capture by authorities, he spent much of the 1970s in prison, even though he managed to escape twice. In the wake of his second escape, Balagoon joined a revolutionary cell of the Black Liberation Army that collaborated with anti-imperialist white radicals to expropriate armored trucks.
In October 1981, Balagoon and several revolutionaries were arrested and sentenced to life in prison following a Brinks car robbery that killed two cops and a guard. During his incarceration, he wrote several essays that were later collected in A Soldier’s Story: Writings by a Revolutionary New Afrikan Anarchist (2001), which describe his political activities and anarchist philosophy. According to Balagoon, Black people must engage in armed struggle to free themselves from white settler colonialism and racial capitalism. As a result of complications resulting from the AIDS virus, Balagoon died on December 13, 1986; however, he continues to be an inspiration to all future generations of Black freedom seekers.
Written By Anthony Ratcliff @blkintellectual
Recent Posts
Call for Justice in the Name of #ErskinJenkins
“BLM Grassroots, Local Organizers, Justice Families, and Student Activists Warn of Alarming Trend of Black Students at Predominantly White Institutions BeingTargeted by White Supremacists and Cops.”
Hands Off Students!!! CFA and Black Lives Matter Grassroots Support Student Campus Protests
Black Lives Matter Grassroots stands unwaveringly with the Palestinian people, and students around the world who dare to put their bodies and futures on the line to demand a U.S. arms embargo against Israel and a #FreePalestine.
Family of #WakieshaWilson (Slain Woman), Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles and Elected Officials Mark Anniversary of Her Death with New Laws
Wilson’s family along with BLM Los Angeles, BLM California, and BLM Grassroots have been fighting and lobbying for policy changes and laws that would help prevent families in the future from suffering as they did when officials failed to notify them of their loved ones death for 4 days.
