Intercommunalism

Intercommunalism is an ideology which was adopted by the Oakland chapter of the Black Panther Party after its turn away from revolutionary nationalism in 1970. Intercommunalists believe that most forms of nationalism are obsolescent, because international corporations and technologically advanced imperialist states have reduced most nations down to a series of discrete communities which exist to supply an imperial center, a situation called reactionary intercommunalism. They also believe this situation can be transformed into revolutionary intercommunalism and eventually communism if communities are able to link "liberated zones" together into a united front against imperialism. According to Huey P. Newton the development of intercommunalism was necessary "because nations have been transformed into communities of the world." Intercommunalism is a lesser-known aspect of the Panthers' legacy as much of its development occurred at the height of the party's suppression and reorientation towards survival programs.

Development

At the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in 1966, the party's stated ideology was Black nationalism influenced by the work of Malcolm X. According to Newton, the Panthers saw that other peoples had seen material gains through forming nations and therefore "argued that it was rational and logical for them to believe that their sufferings as a people would end when they established a nation of their own, composed of their own people."

However, confrontations with the US state led to the belief that separatist nationalism within the United States would be impossible without an attack on multiple fronts against the US police and military. The party adopted a revolutionary nationalist ideology and sought to join "with all the other people in the world struggling for decolonization and nationhood, and called [themselves] a "dispersed colony" because [they] did not have the geographical concentration that other so-called colonies had."

According to Newton, the basic ideas on Intercommunalism came to him while working on a letter to the Communist Party of Vietnam. He felt that there was a contradiction inherent in supporting the revolutionary nationalism of the Vietnamese people, while also disclaiming the nationalism of other Black Power groups. Newton felt that to call himself an internationalist and critic of American nationalism while supporting Vietnamese nationalism was both contradictory and condescending towards the Vietnamese. While Newton ultimately sent the letter (and harmed the Party's relationship with Black nationalist groups in the process), he was unhappy with it for months, and developed the theory of intercommunalism in response to the problems the letter raised. From this point on Newton argued that both nationalism and internationalism were obsolete due to US hegemony.