“Truth is on the side of the oppressed.” – Malcolm X
When Material launched in the fall of 2023 our hope was to provide a space for various materials (essays, interviews, literature, art) that could contribute to a revolutionary discourse––and support revolutionary struggles––in a time of crumbling neo-liberalism and the rise of various forms of reactionary capitalism. By the time our second issue was released in 2024 we were witnessing a genocidal colonial war in Gaza, supported by the imperialist bloc, that continues to this day. Now, in 2025, the grossest forms of senile capitalism are emerging again, with the second Trump regime seeking to outdo the first in its proud embrace of imperialism, settlerism, white supremacy, and its hatred of life, science, and literacy. But in these times people are also resisting: Israel’s brutal colonial war, despite its genocidal excess, still faces a defiant Palestinian resistance; the US was forced to exit its war upon Palestine’s staunchest supporter, Yemen, due to Ansar Allah’s military acumen. Other examples abound; if human history is to continue, then its continuance will be secured by those masses struggling against capitalism’s stranglehold on reality.
Thus, it is worth noting that 2025 also marks the centenary of the birth of three great revolutionaries: Patrice Lumumba, Frantz Fanon, and el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, commonly known as Malcolm X. This third issue of Material is dedicated to their shared anniversary, inspired by their theoretical and practical work against the capitalist monstrosities of settler-colonialism and imperialism. We are still learning from their legacy, especially since colonialism and white supremacy remain rampant, structural features of global capitalism. Indeed, despite the time elapsed between their time and ours, it remains the case that the most “successful” settler state is now celebrating the open racism Malcolm X castigated, even inviting Afrikaners to resettle in the US. As Fanon once argued, despite “condemnations of race prejudice” (as the US once did in its self-proclaimed “post-racist” days), “in reality, a colonial country is a racist country.”1
This issue is thus inspired by the legacy of these revolutionaries, the resistances they inspired, and the ongoing resistances of the current conjuncture. First of all, we have Saïd Bouamama’s article Settler Colonialism and Fanon which, noting the legacy of these three revolutionaries, examines the connection between Algeria (past and present) and Kanaky (French “New Caledonia”). Next, we have Prisons, the Black Liberation Movement, and the Struggle for Palestine by Ahmad Sa’adat, writing from the perspective of the political prisoners about the continued relevance of Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party. Thirdly, we have an interview with Butch Cottman, a Maoist activist elder, about his experiences during the high tide of Black revolutionary nationalism in the US. Our archival texts this issue are Lumumba’s historic Speech at the Opening of the All-African Congress, held in 1960 in the Republic of the Congo’s capital, Kinshasa––then called Leopoldville––and Francis Jeanson’s Logic of Colonialism, the latter introduced by D. Z. Shaw. Additionally, we have included a series of 15 photos by Algerian artist Ammar Bouras, depicting the political situation in Algiers in the early ’90s, a period marked by renewed political activity in the country. Finally, we have an interview with the Proletarian Party of Purbo Bangla (PBSP), conducted just after the 2024 mass protests in Bangladesh, which not only sheds light on a lesser-known history and struggle but also demonstrates that resistance is happening, and continues to happen, in every corner of the globe.
If the possibility of human existence seems bleak now, let us not forget that it seemed no less bleak to those figures born 100 years ago, all of whom died young, murdered by the forces of reaction. Lumumba, assassinated by the CIA––with the aid and knowledge of the Belgian State and its king Baudouin––and dissolved in a vat of acid. Fanon, harassed to death by the same CIA as he was receiving treatment for leukemia in the US. Malik el-Shabazz, gunned down by Nation of Islam assassins in the pay of the FBI. And yet all three of these revolutionaries never gave up hope, never ceased struggling, because they knew a better world was possible. Their lives are a testament for us, demanding we follow their example. As Fanon wrote, at the end of his great work, “for humanity, comrades, we must turn over a new leaf, we must work out new concepts, and try to set afoot a new human.”2
D. Jin
J. Moufawad-Paul
M. Van Herzeele