By Musa T. Bey

The Black revolution is not merely a struggle for civil rights within the confines of an oppressive state. It is a battle for total liberation—a transformation of the material conditions that perpetuate Black suffering, state violence, and racial capitalism. At the heart of this revolutionary vision lies the concept of intercommunalism—a powerful framework that reimagines solidarity, governance, and the structure of power from the bottom up.

Coined and developed by Huey P. Newton of the Black Panther Party in the early 1970s, intercommunalism challenges both the nationalist and integrationist paradigms. Newton saw the decline of the traditional nation-state in the face of global imperialism, which he termed “reactionary intercommunalism.” In this global order, powerful nations—particularly the United States—destroyed the autonomy of other peoples, turning them into dependent, exploited communities. The Black community in America, in this analysis, was no longer a nation within a nation, but a colony within an empire. And in response, Newton proposed a revolutionary alternative: revolutionary intercommunalism.

Revolutionary intercommunalism speaks to the creation of self-governed, interconnected communities that cooperate on the basis of mutual survival, dignity, and liberation. It rejects the capitalist logic of competition and exploitation, and instead centers human needs and communal responsibility. For Black people in the U.S., this framework is crucial—especially for the Left Black working class, who have historically borne the brunt of racialized state violence, economic dislocation, and political disenfranchisement.

Why Intercommunalism Matters

1. It Centers the Local as the Site of Power

Intercommunalism insists that revolution begins at the grassroots, within the community itself. It affirms the importance of building institutions of self-determination—like people’s clinics, community defense patrols, food programs, freedom schools, and political education centers. The goal is not just to protest the state but to replace it with systems rooted in the people’s needs and control.

2. It Replaces Charity with Solidarity

Revolutionary intercommunalism rejects the idea of top-down aid and paternalism. Instead, it fosters reciprocal relationships between oppressed communities—whether Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian, or poor white—based on shared struggle and collective liberation. Solidarity becomes not a slogan but a structure.

3. It Transcends Borders Without Erasing Identity

Black liberation cannot be isolated from global struggles. Intercommunalism allows Black revolutionaries to forge links with other oppressed peoples around the world without sacrificing the specificity of Black oppression or the richness of Black identity. It builds internationalism from the ground up, not through governments but through people.

4. It Demands a Break from Capitalism

Capitalism thrives on division, hoarding, and hierarchy. Intercommunalism, by contrast, is anti-capitalist at its core. It demands the redistribution of resources, the democratization of power, and the end of exploitative labor systems. It envisions a world where communities determine their own destiny, outside the logic of profit.

5. It Lays the Groundwork for Dual Power

Revolutionary intercommunalism provides the blueprint for dual power—a strategy where oppressed communities build parallel institutions that challenge and ultimately replace the authority of the state. These institutions must not only serve immediate needs but also prepare the people for self-rule, political clarity, and collective responsibility.

Conclusion: Intercommunalism Is the Future of the Black Revolution

The challenges facing our communities today—from mass incarceration and police terror to environmental racism and displacement—cannot be addressed through reform alone. We need a new paradigm, rooted in radical love, collective struggle, and material transformation. Intercommunalism offers this path. It is both a critique of the present and a vision for the future.

The Black revolution must not only fight against the systems that oppress us—it must build the structures that will liberate us. Revolutionary intercommunalism calls on us to reimagine community, to cultivate political consciousness, and to forge solidarity across borders and barriers. It is not a utopian dream, but a revolutionary necessity.

As we organize, educate, and resist, let us do so with intercommunalism as our compass

Intercommunalism and the Black Revolution: Building a Future Rooted in Solidarity and Self-Determination

By Musa T. Bey

The Black revolution is not merely a struggle for inclusion or reform within an inherently oppressive state. It is a radical transformation of the social, political, and economic systems that uphold white supremacy, capitalism, and colonial domination. For this revolution to be meaningful, it must not only resist exploitation but also build new, liberatory forms of power. Central to that vision is intercommunalism—a framework that challenges the limits of nationalist politics while embracing the collective struggle of oppressed communities across boundaries.

Coined and developed by Huey P. Newton of the Black Panther Party in the 1970s, intercommunalism offers a strategic and ideological evolution from traditional notions of nationalism. Newton recognized that in the era of global imperialism, independent nations had been dismantled and replaced by what he termed “reactionary intercommunalism”—a world system dominated by U.S. imperialism and multinational corporations. He argued that local communities, including Black communities in the U.S., no longer existed within sovereign national entities, but as colonies under the thumb of a global empire.

In this context, revolutionary nationalism alone was not sufficient. The struggle could not simply aim for a Black nation-state or a seat at the imperial table. Instead, Newton put forth revolutionary intercommunalism—the idea that oppressed communities around the world must forge alliances and build autonomous institutions rooted in mutual aid, self-governance, and solidarity. This was not an abstract ideal; it was a practical strategy for survival and liberation in the belly of the beast.

Why Intercommunalism Matters in the Black Revolution

1. It Centers the Community as the Primary Site of Power

Intercommunalism begins with the premise that the community—not the state—is the foundation of revolutionary change. This framework prioritizes local, self-organized efforts to meet the immediate needs of the people while preparing for broader transformation. The Black Panther Party’s survival programs—free breakfast for children, community clinics, sickle cell testing, liberation schools—were not acts of charity; they were political acts of self-determination. These programs demonstrated that the people could govern themselves, care for one another, and reject the state’s neglect and repression.

In today’s context, this means investing in grassroots organizing, community control of schools and policing, neighborhood assemblies, mutual aid networks, and radical unions. It means empowering the Left Black working class—those historically excluded from wealth, power, and representation—to take leadership in shaping their own futures. Intercommunalism refuses to wait for permission from the system; it builds power from below.

2. It Replaces Charity with Solidarity

Under capitalism, the ruling class offers charity to the poor while maintaining the structures that produce poverty. Intercommunalism rejects this logic. It is based on solidarity, not saviorism. Solidarity recognizes the shared struggle of oppressed peoples and builds reciprocal relationships rooted in respect, accountability, and collective liberation. When the Black Panthers offered food, health care, or education, they did so as part of a larger political program that sought to build consciousness and resistance—not dependency.

Today, revolutionary solidarity means uniting with other oppressed communities—immigrant workers, Indigenous nations, poor white workers, queer and trans people of color—on the basis of shared struggle against racial capitalism. It means learning from one another, defending each other, and standing in principled unity without erasing our differences or subordinating our unique experiences.

3. It Challenges the Legitimacy of the Capitalist State

One of the most radical aspects of intercommunalism is its rejection of the capitalist state as a legitimate or reformable entity. The U.S. state is not a neutral body that can be turned toward justice; it is an instrument of domination, born out of settler colonialism and slavery, and sustained by imperial war, mass incarceration, and economic exploitation.

Intercommunalism calls us to create dual power: parallel institutions that serve the people’s needs while undermining the legitimacy of the ruling class. This approach echoes the insights of past revolutionary movements—from the Paris Commune to the Cuban revolution—while applying them to the specific realities of Black life under U.S. empire.

As capitalism continues to collapse under its own contradictions—climate crisis, economic inequality, militarism, and social decay—intercommunalism offers a pathway forward. It asks: What if we stopped waiting for the system to change and started building the future ourselves?

4. It Embraces Internationalism Without Imperialism

Intercommunalism also expands the revolutionary horizon beyond national borders. It connects the Black struggle in the U.S. to liberation movements around the world—Palestine, Haiti, South Africa, Chiapas, the Philippines, and beyond. Huey Newton believed that communities of resistance could unite across continents, not under the banner of one centralized power, but through horizontal, cooperative relationships grounded in mutual liberation.

This kind of internationalism is not dictated by the state or by elite NGOs. It is people-to-people, rooted in shared values of anti-colonialism, anti-racism, and anti-capitalism. It recognizes that U.S. imperialism is the common enemy of all oppressed people and that only through a united front of revolutionary communities can we hope to defeat it.

5. It Cultivates a Revolutionary Culture and Political Education

Lastly, intercommunalism values consciousness as much as structure. It insists that liberation is not only about material conditions, but also about transforming how we see ourselves and each other. Revolutionary culture, art, and political education are vital tools in the struggle. They help us unlearn the lies of the oppressor, reclaim our histories, and imagine new ways of being.

The Panthers invested deeply in political education. They understood that without a revolutionary worldview, even the most well-intentioned actions could be co-opted or derailed. Today, that lesson is just as urgent. We must teach, study, organize, and build a culture of resistance that reaches the masses and uplifts the most marginalized.

Conclusion: Toward a Revolutionary Future

Intercommunalism is not a slogan—it is a strategy. It demands that we reorient our organizing from symbolic victories and individual advancement to collective liberation and structural transformation. It reminds us that the Black revolution cannot be won in isolation, nor can it be confined to the ballot box or courtrooms of our oppressors. It must be rooted in the daily lives and struggles of the people.

To build a world beyond capitalism and white supremacy, we must strengthen our communities, deepen our solidarity, and develop institutions of power that reflect our highest aspirations. Intercommunalism gives us the blueprint. Now, it’s on us to bring it to life.

All Power to the People.

The Revolution Has Always Been in the Hands of the Young.

Let Us Build Together—Community by Community.