Who Is Black Workers For Justice?

The BWFJ is an organization of Black workers formed in 1981 out of a struggle led by Black women workers at a K-mart store in Rocky Mount, North Carolina against race and gender discrimination. After organizing a boycott of the local K-mart store and reaching out to workers at other workplaces and communities, Black workers and community activists from 10 counties met at the First Missionary Baptist Church in Fremont, NC in June 1982 to form BWFJ as a statewide organization.

What Do We Believe?

BWFJ believes that racism is a fundamental part of the US system. It was established to bring about, reinforce and justify the super-exploitation and social, political, racial, gender and cultural oppression (national oppression) of Black workers and the African American people in order to create massive profits for the owners of the Southern plantations and the developing Northern industries and banks. The national oppression of African Americans sped up the development of the US capitalist economy to surpass the economies of other countries. US global economic expansion and domination of other countries and governments, including wars, is known as imperialism.

BWFJ believes that effective struggles by Black people against racism, national and gender oppression and worker exploitation must become conscious struggles for African American liberation and radical social change. They require more than a change in racist and sexist attitudes and the presence of more African Americans and women in government post (while important).

Radical structural changes are needed to empower African Americans, workers and women to restrict and eliminate institutionalized racist, patriarchal, exploitive and repressive policies and practices that strengthen the capitalist system and its various forms of oppression. This struggle takes place around political, economic, social, gender, sexuality, cultural, environmental and international issues to build working class and people's power and consciousness to transform society to improve conditions for all without privileges.

BWFJ believes that African American workers need self organization to help empower ourselves at the workplace, in communities and throughout the whole of US society to organize, educate, mobilize and struggle for power, justice, self determination and human rights for Black, oppressed nationalities, women and all working class people (employed and unemployed). The ability of workers to withhold their labor in an organized and collective way to seriously impact the daily operations of the economy and society, including the government, constitutes a major aspect of the power of Black workers to win progressive changes and to help radically transform society.

BWFJ believes that African American workers must take the lead in forming trade unions and community organizations that unite all workers around the struggles to improve and change the oppressive conditions we face in the workplace, communities and in the whole of US Society. Black workers must help to make the trade unions real rank-and-file democratic organizations with a radical vision of social justice.

BWFJ believes that Black faces in high places alone without accountability to the needs and interests of the African American and working class communities will not eliminate the racist US system. Black faces can be used to hide and do the dirty work of the employers and government. Struggles against injustice cannot make exceptions based on race or gender. We must expose, oppose and struggle to end injustice regardless of who's in charge.

The BWFJ believes that real Black power is represented by the organization and control by Black workers over the major economic, social and political institutions that impact our lives, including governmental power at all levels that establishes the conditions for African American self-determination. We believe that Black power must be aligned with the power of other oppressed people and workers in the US and globally in order to effectively challenge and defeat imperialism and systems of oppression, and to build truly democratic and humane societies.

BWFJ is opposed to the inequality and oppression of women; and is committed to the struggle for equality, power and leadership of women within the home, BWFJ, trade unions, community and political organizations and institutions, and in the government at all levels of society. The struggle against women's oppression must be present as an integral part of the struggle to transform social relations as a key aspect of transforming society's oppressive power relations.

BWFJ is opposed to the inequality and discrimination of Gay people; and is committed to the struggle against Gay oppression, and for equal rights as members within the BWFJ, social movements and the whole of US society.

BWFJ supports the right of immigrants to have full democracy and equality in society. As Latinos are becoming a major part of the working class in the US South, BWFJ is committed to the forming of an African American-Latino Alliance that unites the common struggles.

BWFJ is not anti-white people and welcomes the support of white workers and allies. However, we call on white workers and activists to struggle against racism and white supremacy, and to recognize that racism has created some level of privileges for whites, even among workers and progressives. This social privilege affects the class consciousness of white workers often causing them to view struggles against racism as being divisive for the working class and best dealt with by the courts; not by the unified struggles and power of workers.

Whites who work within the social movements struggling against various conditions and issues of national oppression and racial injustice must accept and support Black working class leadership within those social movements. Real working class unity must be based on a program that makes the struggle against racism and white supremacy a central part of the struggles of all workers.

BWFJ believes in international labor solidarity; and attempts to build ties with worker organizations around the world to support and wage a coordinated struggle against oppression and injustice. We will not side with US corporations or the government in their exploitation, oppression and unjust wars and acts of aggression against other countries.

BWFJ believes that Africans and peoples of African descent are entitled to reparations for slavery and the ongoing system of racist oppression that has stolen the wealth of Black labor, forced Black women to reproduce children to be sold and exploited, taking of Black land, terrorizing, maiming and killing Black people, assassinating Black leaders, unjust jail sentences, mis-education and Black political disenfranchisement.

BWFJ believes that African American workers must study our history and the history of struggles against oppression and injustice worldwide. BWFJ members must develop organizing and leadership skills and a political consciousness that enables us to provide effective leadership at the workplace, communities and at the international level. BWFJ builds and relates to institutions that help to develop the leadership of workers.

Active BWFJ members must pay annual dues and sell the Justice Speaks Newspaper, attend regular chapter meetings, be active in their workplace and/or community and plan and report on their work in one of the BWFJ working groups.

BWFJ must constantly recruit younger working class members to its ranks so that the Black workers movement continues and grows as a social force and leading base of the struggle for African American national liberation, women's emancipation and workers power and internationalism.