Yes.
You have to aggressively vet those you are going to recruit into your Militia. In fact, I recommend that you do not directly recruit anyone into your Militia, but that you set up filtering formations and enterprises.
Filtering Formations and Enterprises will allow you to observe and develop the disciple within those you seek to build a Black Militia Movement with. If you fail to do this you will fail overall, I’m sorry, but I speak from direct and painful experience.
I realized decades ago that our people desperately needed trained, discipled, armed, and commited formations within our commumnity and I’ve been working to build them for just as long, and I’ve failed. So I’m sharing with you what I’ve learned.
Know this, if you can’t construct an ongoing project or small business with a group of people, then you can’t trust them within a militia. If a people will not pool their resouces, and take common risk with their resources, then you can’t expect them to risk their lives or livelihoods, if you cannot build a garden with a group then you cannot build a militia with them. If you can’t walk together you can’t run together.
You’ll have clowns with fantasies about being Black Panthers, or with an obsession with guns and machismo who will show up, talk all kinds of shit, but fold on you at the first sign of stress, even minor stress or disagreements will cause these type of people to take flight from the group.
When someone joined the Panthers they were given a pile of books to read, and mundane duties to test their commitment to the larger struggle. When Che recruited new guerrillas they’d go on long, long marches to nowhere to test their endurance and willingness to suffer and endure harsh conditions that the life of a guerrilla require. You must construct your own versions of this that fit the population you are working with.
When I first moved to South Chicago I started the Sling Shot Shoot Out, we’d meet in the park and have paintball fights using slingshots, not even paintball guns; I learned so much in those events, but what I learn most of all is how ill-prepared most of our people are for militaristic formations (outside of those established by and contorted by the State). I’d give people simple duties like picking up paintballs, picking up bands for the slingshot, clearing the event space, and consistently people failed; people couldn’t even show up on time. I never told people that this was a vetting or filtering event, I just organized the events and observed. I tell you, if people cannot be consistent and disciplined with slingshots and paintballs, you don’t want to be around them when the get bullets and guns. People even tried to steal the event out from under me, hold paintball events without inviting me when I was the one who started the whole thing.
I also opened two cooperative enterprises in one year only to have them also implode.
I intensely studied, mostly for where I went, or what I did wrong, and I made too many mistakes to even list here. My main mistake was haste, and not applying what I already know.
I’m not discourgaged, and I’m greatful for the lessons learned, and I don’t want to discourage you, I want you to suceed, but it’s called the Struggle for a reason. I’m still working and I’m making progress but I wish I had someone to lay shit out for me, and I wish I had the sense to listen when they did.
So put together a communal fitness group, cycle, run, spar as a community. Open some cooperative businesses where everyone puts in and contributes to the work as a community. When you share common values, and have common ownership of your community, then you have the basis for a militia, something to fight for as a group, something to defend in common.
Keep me posted on you progress, and let me know if I can be of assistance.
