Black Liberation Front

The **Black Liberation Front** is a Black nationalist, Marxist organization advocating for the independence of the Black Belt, a sovereign state for Black people in the then American South, now located in the Union of the South. Beginning as a fringe movement in the early 20s that had routes during the American Civil War and during the racial upheavals of the early 1900s, it progressed into a political movement in the mid-1920s, then transformed into a resistance operation in the early 1930s. Recently, they have been able to mount significant attacks against the newly created Southern Union, especially with the help of the Peoples' Union of America.

## History

### Civil rights movement & insurgency wars

Since the end of the Reconstruction Movement of the first civil war, civil rights for African-Americans had stalled. Many were back in indentured servitude despite it being outlawed in the constitution, and for men, while they were granted the right to vote, many groups and obstacles, like the Literacy Test or the KKK hindered the influence of Black Americans all throughout the United States, but the 1890s proved to be a turning point in Black American history with the creation of the National Dignity Party and the Insurgency Wars.

With fierce backlash against many Cuban (especially Afro-Cuban) migrants, old racial wounds that were perceived to be long dead were reopened. Many groups formed riot and lynch mobs, killing dozens of Black Americans throughout the latter-half of the 1890s. The brutality and widespread nature of these attacks in the South, coupled with the ineffective measures of the government to stop these attacks only ignited unseen levels of hatred and resentment against the government. For many, the growth of radical socialism in the North and Midwest inspired various figures to rise, forming the backbone of the Black Liberation Front.

### Founding of the movement

In August of 1903, various delegates, political and labor leaders/organizers met in Washington D.C. to discuss “matters involving African affairs in the United States”. Eventually, after about 10 days of back-and-forth negotiations, the Black Liberation a front was created. Originally, the BLF’s purpose was to provide welfare and aid to struggling Black Americans of the South, and hopefully provide enough aid to those leaving for the North or West. The BLF since its inception was affiliated with left-leaning movements, but it became ever more radical with the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World. The IWW was the first trade union to openly welcome women, Black Americans and migrants as a part of their movement, and with the help of the now influential Front the IWW expanded in the South.

Many middle-class Black Americans financially supported the BLF which started promoting nationalistic sentiment as early as 1906, enamored with ideas of proletarianism and the so-called New Afrikan State, but the former wasn’t popularized until the 20s. The BLF slowly grew its influence despite government and local protests. The 1906 Niagara Falls Movement was a turning point for the BLF, as during that year, many race riots disproportionately affected Black American neighborhoods and businesses, but for the first time, the BLF successfully fought back. While the Front was repulsed as the race riots began to die down, this event would mark the beginning of the BLF’s guerrilla movement activities, which would be sparse and small, but they slowly increased with time. For the next 12 years, the BLF would square off against government and civilian forces, organize strikes, and promote nationalist sentiment.

### New African Revolution of 1920

By the eve of the Second American Civil War, an omnipotent feeling of tension and distress was in the air, felt all over the nation. Brawls were a common sights on the streets of Seattle, Chicago, Birmingham and New York City. As socialist forces and trade unions militarized in defense of themselves, the Black Liberation Front did the same, militarizing certain individuals and neighborhoods who began fencing off attacks by White Southerners and KKK militias.

But as the Coup of Washington broke out, and the Republic of New York was declared, the idea of secession was becoming widely accepted by those in control of the organization, seeing simply no other alternative towards the question of emancipation.

Slowly but surely plans were made for a general uprising as various groups such as the KKK and many within the People’s Rights Party exacerbated racial divides. On the night of April 10th, 1921, the plan of the New Afrikan Revolution was finally put into motion, and the Republic of New Afrika was declared in the cities of Jackson and Montgomery. While there was initial euphoria and genuine belief that the Revolution could be cemented, those beliefs quickly died down, for a few reasons.

While plans were made beforehand, the BLF was notoriously divided in their quest for independence, encompassing a wide range of Black Anarchists, Communists, Liberals and Conservatives alike. This type of infighting came at an advantage towards the Southern Union, which began to fight back until the Republic finally died out. Secondly, there was hope that the South could be beaten and weakened by either the Federalists or the northern Socialists, but those hopes never materialized. Uneasy peace reigned between New York and New Orleans, while the Federalists were too weakened to put up a significant fight in a way that would aid the revolutionaries. Due to these reasons, and without sufficient support, the New Afrikan state was short-lived, and was officially put down in June.

### Decline & exile

The first few years of the Black Liberation Front following the New Afrikan Republic were rough, and many believed its demise was imminent. Many BLF leaders were assassinated with the fall of Montgomery and Jackson, and the chaos that followed were brutal for civilians. Reprisals were estimated at over 5,000 massacred civilians in the Black Belt, while hate crimes sky rocketed all over the Southern Union, and many fled to the Peoples’ Union.

While leadership of the Peoples’ Union were initially opposed to accepting the BLF’s exile, the then president at the time, Alfred Wagenknecht, openly accepted the organization in September of 1921, if only because they proved to be a major obstacle for the existence of the Southern Union, and their revival could mean weakening their country to the benefit of New York. Wagenknecht also used the BLF to spearhead his and the Socialist Party’s goal of racial integration. Due to the failed uprising, those who lead the Front after their exile was accepted, moved away from militancy towards program of pacifism and improving the lives of African-American refugees and the life of the average African-American in the Union.

With funding from the government, the BLF started to spearhead a new, ambitious agenda, such as improving illiteracy, funding Black schools and enforcing desegregation. The BLF drastically expanded itself and earned thousands of new members. New branches were created to deal with specific issues, such as refugees or the integration of then segregated White and Black spaces. Wagenknecht, for his part, fully supported the Front, but his open support was controversial, as there were frequent claims that he used the Front to keep control over the population as a way to implement his political agenda.

Public division and disagreement further deepened, when in 1924, Wagenknecht struck down a request by the Front to form autonomous militia units to enforce desegregation in various cities, as there was still powerful pushback by the general population against such measures. Wagenknecht feared that the BLF could grow too strong if these militias were created, and strictly forced the BLF towards their still existing policies of pacifism, but almost no one in the Front was happy.

Nonetheless, the Black Liberation Front saw visible progress in their efforts. Cities like New York and Chicago, with high racial diversity saw increases of literacy rates by 1925, while thanks to their funding, the Union successfully brought thousands out of refugee camps near the southern border, alleviating what seemed like a stagnant issue, much like what Canada was experiencing. While actual integration was slow, it wasn’t stalled. With their pressure, various white-dominated neighborhoods, schools, and districts saw themselves diversifying, but in the grand scheme of things, it was few and far between.

### The Late Resurgence

The 1927 March Putsch in New York City was met with mixed responses from BLF leadership. Some welcomed the change as Wagenknecht’s policies on the organization had its obvious limits which restricted the political potential of the Front, while others were skeptical of new leadership, who might not be as supportive as the Hardliners were.

In any case, the new president, Elmer Allison, sought to solidify his allies and support from the people by liberalizing the American state. In regards to addressing the de-facto segregation that still existed across the Union, Allison lifted the limits of the Front regarding that of militias. Now, the BLF was able to create its own autonomous militia units to enforce desegregation, although it had its obvious limits. These militias could not “obstruct justice by the police, create a situation where a person may be put into danger, or violate the constitution”. Despite these strict agreements, the BLF heartily agreed to these terms.

The creation of these militias, formally known as the Afrikan Units for Desegregation, went off with more problems that originally expected. Many White Americans were distrustful, fearing the use of possible authoritarian measures by these men. Nevertheless, AUD units formed in Philadelphia, New York City, Detroit and Chicago as early as February, 1928. The formation of these units, authorized to operate in designated schools, neighborhoods and churches, were met with widespread protests only a few weeks after they were officially created, and hundreds of men formed into these units.

#### White pushback

Originally, there weren’t any plans for protests or even general, physical opposition until two weeks after. In Trenton, New Jersey, brawls broke out in a mixed neighborhood over an allegation involving sexual assault between a White woman and an AUD soldier. This neighborhood in particular was home to many families who fled the South during the civil war of the 20s. While the fighting eventually dispersed after two days with the help of local policemen, the story gained national attraction, and the AUD became a hot topic debate in the Union. Protests and even occasional strikes were formed to oppose the AUD, with some even calling for the Union to throw out the BLF entirely. Elmer Allison, wary of these protests turning into another Spring Putsch, was quick to act.

Using the national guard and police units, protests were peacefully disassembled to the relief of the president, and this was partially due to new, imposed restrictions on AUD units. While they were allowed to operate, it became even more difficult for the Front to assemble new Afrikan militias on any designated location, whether it be a town, city, or even just for small-scale security. Despite this, they weren’t totally disassembled, and because of that around 10,000 men make up the AUD nationwide, in around 10 cities. While they are small, nationwide efforts to enforce desegregation have increased.

#### Opposition to the Southern Union

With the BLF far from dead, and with their own autonomous militia units operating (albeit at a small scale) all throughout the Peoples’ Union, the idea of succession in the Black Belt began to gain momentum. Arguably though, that idea was more popular within the Union government, as many began to see the potential the Liberation Front had at defeating a major enemy of the Peoples’ Union. If the BLF could succeed and revolt in the South as they did almost a decade prior, the Southern Union would predictably be too weakened to fight a major war up north. These ideas were touted by Elmer Allison’s cabinet in the Summer of 1928, gaining power among the president until he, in February of 1930, reached out to the Front for a possible agreement pertaining to the ideas of succession.

BLF officials and government representatives met together in secret that same month in Baltimore, in order to work out a formal agreement that could see the BLF restart its militancy in the Deep South. Before then, that idea was a sour subject within the organization. The Peoples’ Union, claiming to be the successor of the United States claimed all land owned by the successor states of America, including parts of the South claimed by the BLF. But this meeting would go on to change both foreign policies of the Front and of New York.

In the so-called Baltimore Agreements, the Peoples’ Union revoked their claims to the Black Belt, while promising to provide “needed assistance and aid for the emancipation of all colored people in the American South.” This, in practice, meant smuggling in weapons, materials and ammunition through resistance networks into cells located in the Belt. The first smuggling operations began in the Summer that same year, and it wasn’t until December that the Southern Union first began reporting of “insurgency” in the Black Belt, to the delight of their northern neighbor.

For the last five years, the BLF has continued these operations from abroad, helped by the Union and by Black Southerners who still feel the effects of the civil war. This guerrilla war has become so effective that martial law was imposed in late 1935 but it has yet to curb or decrease the level of resistance activity seen in parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and South Carolina. For now, the BLF continues its efforts to break away from the Southern Union, no matter how violent it may get, or who may be lost in the process.