Coalition Building from Revolutionary Movements
From the Rainbow Coalition to today: How a revolutionary 1969 alliance between Black Panthers, Young Lords, and poor whites holds the blueprint for healing America's divides.
Since the 2024 election, we have witnessed a level of division and horizontal oppression — the act of oppressed groups applying the same tactics of the oppressor to other oppressed groups– that I have never seen in my life. It’s been disheartening to see and to experience the divide and conquer tactics that have been so effective at neutralizing opposition for decades.
Thankfully, I have models from the past to look at that give me hope.
In 1969, Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party pioneered what would become known as the Rainbow Coalition in Chicago. This groundbreaking alliance united the Panthers with The Young Lords, a Puerto Rican group, and the Patriots Party, representing poor white people. The Rainbow Coalition was later joined by the Brown Berets and other groups and focused on healthcare, housing inequality, police brutality, racism and poverty.
The Rainbow Coalition’s success stemmed from its ability to identify shared class interests while acknowledging and respecting distinct cultural identities and specific community needs. This model demonstrated that unity needn't mean uniformity – different groups could maintain their autonomy while working together toward common goals.
This is what we need now. The U.S.A. is on fire and we all need to recognize that while the fire may be burning our neighbors’ house and not ours, we are also in danger. None of us are safe until all of us are safe.
It is time to set aside our differences, to quit seeking The Perfect Activist with whom we share the exact same politics, viewpoints and lens. We have to recognize that our concerns are the same, even if the specifics are a bit different.
The foundation of successful coalition building lies in addressing immediate community needs while working toward long-term systemic change. The BPP started the free breakfast program and by 1969 were feeding more children than the CA welfare system. People who are hungry and don’t know where their next meal is coming from often don’t have the ability or energy to mobilize.
Let’s get started.
Feed your community, feed the revolution.
The Young Lords also utilized community service, launching initiatives like door-to-door tuberculosis testing and lead poisoning detection programs in East Harlem. These programs did more than provide essential services – they built trust.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” — Roosevelt
My friend Rasha said to me the other day that liberation begins with education. This is a concept the Panthers and the Young Lords knew well and exercised widely. Political education is one of the keys to collective liberation. People can’t fight against things when they don’t understand how it’s working or the mechanisms behind it. We need education–we need people who are willing to pull back the curtain and expose the fake wizard pulling the strings in the USA.
Organizational Strategies for Coalition Success
Decentralized Leadership: We coordinate together, we lead our own communities as we see fit for our own specific needs.
Resource Pooling: We share resources, whether it’s printed materials or Costco shopping together to help feed our people. We operate from an abundance lens where we do not compete for resources but rather recognize that there is more than enough to go around.
Skills Exchange: We bring our specific expertise to all communities and we work together to teach our communities what they need to know.
Mutual Defense: WE SHOW UP. I keep imagining what it would be like if all the people who show up to march against ICE actually showed up at the site of the raids and formed a human chain to protect our communities. What would it look like if white moms showed up and formed a human barrier? What if we stood and fought together?
We have to remember that division is a tactic of white supremacy and empire.
They know that if they can keep us fighting each other, they are less powerful. They know that if they can keep us distracted, they will win.
We are better together and when we can recognize that, hold space for that and work together despite our differences, WE CAN WIN.