A good place to start our discussion about Black Power Socialism® is with the metaphysical Principle of Both-And. It tells us that there are an infinite number of options existing between polar opposites so we are never locked into an either/or choice. Because of the nature of the four-dimensional universe we inhabit, where yin and yang always exist in dynamic motion, components of these polar opposites necessarily exist in each new creation. And what Black Power Socialism seeks to create is indeed new.

BPS’s economic model is a synthesis of of Black entrepreneurship and Black cooperative enterprises. Socialism can co-exist with Black enterprise if we choose to make it so. Black Power Socialism, therefore, can contain elements of both private business ownership and collective ownership of Black businesses to maximize our ability to lift ourselves out of poverty and isolation. 

For example:

—Black Power Socialism sees entrepreneurship as the first step towards Black Economic Autonomy and encourages the formation of Black business cooperatives in which workers own the business, surplus wealth produced by their labor is distributed back to the workers who created it, and decisions about the operation of the business are decided democratically. 

—Black Power Socialism implores us to decline to participate in the corrupt two-party electoral system in this country as it exists, and encourages running candidates for office as Black Independents at all levels of government from local school boards to Congress and the presidency. 

—Black Power Socialism recognizes both the necessity of forming economic coalitions with Africa and our Black sisters and brothers throughout the Diaspora, and recognizes that we, descendants of the enslaved in the United States, have a unique history that will inform the system of economics we create in ways that make sense for Black people in America.

The organizing principle of Black Power Socialism is our cooperative ownership and distribution of our natural, human, and capital resources among ourselves, as members of a global Black society. We aggregate our efforts and resources to create cooperative enterprises in our own communities, as well as reaching out to our kin in Africa and throughout the Diaspora to build Black wealth and security. We practice tithing a portion of our profits, wisdom and experience to social programs, mentorship, and community development. We create our own Black socio-economic environment in which democracy and justice are built-in features of the system.

Let’s always bear in mind that in practicing Black Liberation Spirituality, we are charting our own way, making our own decisions, and defining our own economic, political and social systems. Black Power Socialism, as a component of Black Liberation Spirituality, looks at socialism in its various permutations so we can decide what is most beneficial for us as we create a thriving, humane, global Black economic community. We are talking about choosing to achieve true freedom on our own terms.

I know this sounds like crazy talk to a lot of people. But that’s mainly because we’ve never seen such a thing in action on a large scale. We have never taken decision-making power onto ourselves to create an economic system that is truly free and democratic in nature. We have never experienced for ourselves what this would mean for the elimination of poverty, hunger, and racist suppression. So considering the sorry, sorry state this nation is in now, what do we have to lose?

What is the connection between the Goddess and Black spirituality? Find out in this eye-opening take on spirituality that doesn’t require us to be schizophrenic about the holiness of blackness.