Black Liberation Army
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The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was an underground Black Power organization active in the United States from 1970 - 1981. The BLA was mostly composed of former members of the Black Panther Party and Republic of New Afrika who had gone to ground after becoming disillusioned with their groups. The BLA carried out multiple bombings, killings of police officers, hijackings and bank robberies during its 11-year existence.
Ideology edit
The BLA preached a philosophy of black liberation and separatism, advocating the idea that black people should be able to culturally develop in their own society separately from white people and preaching war against the United States government. They followed an anti-capitalist, socialist ideology, believing that African-Americans are oppressed under the capitalist system and that following "the science of class struggle" is the best way to achieve total liberation.
History edit
The BLA first came to prominence in 1970, when the FBI's COINTELPRO program significantly undermined the Black Panther Party, causing many members to realize the desirability of underground existence. Due to the BLA's underground nature, the exact circumstances are unknown. It is commonly believed that the BLA was formed by former Black Panthers who left the party after Eldridge Cleaver, a prominent leader of the underground revolutionary movement, was expelled from the Central Committee for publicly criticizing the Black Panthers. However, some former BLA members have held that the BLA as a movement concept already existed before this.
Activities edit
According to the Department of Justice, the BLA was responsible for 70 violent incidents between 1970 and 1976. The Fraternal Order of Police credited the BLA with the murders of 13 police officers during this time.
On 22 October 1970, the BLA planted a bomb in St. Brendan's Church, San Francisco, where the funeral of murdered police officer Harold Hamilton (killed in the course of a bank robbery unrelated to the BLA) was being held. The bomb detonated but none of the mourners suffered serious injuries.
On 21 May 1971, police officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones were ambushed and fatally shot by BLA members in New York City in retaliation for the killing of black revolutionary George Jackson during an attempted prison escape. Officer Jones's firearm was stolen by one of the attackers. On 29 August BLA members bombed a bank in San Francisco, killing no-one, before attacking a nearby police station while most of the officers were responding to the bombing. One officer, John Victor Young, was killed in the assault. Three BLA members, Jalil Muntaqim, Albert Washington and Herman Bell, were arrested in relation to another attack on a police officer, and were found to be in possession of Officer Jones's firearm. They were convicted of the murders of Officers Piagentini and Jones and sentenced to life in prison. Muntaqim and Bell later pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Officer Young in 2009.
On 3 November 1971, Officer James R. Greene was shot and killed by two black men in his patrol van in Atlanta. Out of the two suspects, one of them, Twymon Meyers, was killed in a shootout with police in 1973 and the other, Kamau Sadiki, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder in 2003. Both were BLA members who had chosen to kill Officer Greene to gain standing within the BLA.
On 27 January 1972, police officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie were shot to death in New York City. The BLA claimed responsibility in a note sent to authorities, calling the killings retribution for the deaths of prisoners during the Attica prison riot. Nobody was ever convicted of the crime, although two of the main suspects were killed in unrelated police shootouts and a third was sentenced to 21 years in prison on unrelated drug charges in 2016.
On 31 November 1972, five BLA members carried out the Delta Airlines Flight 841 hijacking. They smuggled weapons onto the plane and took over the aircraft, holding the 86 other passengers and 7 crew hostage and demanding a $1 million ransom and several provisions. These concessions were handed over during refuelling, at which point the hijackers flew to Algeria and escaped. Four of the hijackers were arrested in France and later convicted of hijacking, but the fifth, George Wright, was never apprehended.
On 2 May 1973, BLA leader Assata Shakur and fellow BLA members Zayd Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were pulled over by state troopers James Harper and Werner Foerster in New Jersey for a broken taillight. After Trooper Harper asked for Acoli's ID and noticed a discrepancy, Assata Shakur went for a gun, leading to a shootout which ended in the deaths of Trooper Foerster and Zayd Shakur. Assata Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were convicted of the murders, but Shakur later escaped from prison and remains at large.
On 20 October 1981, six BLA members and four Weather Underground members carried out the 1981 Brink's robbery. They attacked a Brink's armoured car and stole $1.6 million, as well as killing two police officers and a guard and wounding two guards and a police detective. All 10 robbers were eventually convicted of murder and robbery.
The BLA disbanded in 1981. Many prominent members went on to become proponents of anarchism.