In a message dated 4/11/2002 6:33:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
sixties@lists.village.virginia.edu writes:
> The recent suicide bombings by young Palestinians inside Israel remind me
> of something written about by Huey Newton, founder of the Black Panther
> Party in the 1960s. Newton coined the term, "revolutionary suicide,"
> referring to the need for Black people oppressed by racism and poverty to
> risk their lives for the people, for positive change, by standing up to the
> police and repressive government. He positively contrasted this with the
> behavior of those who essentially chose what could be called "reactionary
> suicide" through drug addiction, criminal activity and the like.
>
Ted's description of Huey Newton's notion of "Revolutionary Suicide" needs a
bit of expanding. For Huey, Revolutionary Suicide was as much a spiritual
notion as a practical guides to tactics. Although evoking death it was also
about a lifestyle in which the revolutionary didn't have any ego needs
outside the needs of the people. In a sense, it was the selfish ego that
died. Of course, Huey believed that someone who lived so selflessly was a
candidate for actual death -- but his emphasis was on revolutionary life. By
way of background, Huey was very much into the study of Zen when he developed
these ideas.--Stew
Visit Stew Albert's Yippie Reading Room
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