Evolving Folks Project

Black self-defense in the age of Trump 2.0 era

Yes, Donald Trump has reached the presidency, a man with thirty-four convictions. A man who tried to overturn the 2020 election result by siccing his cultists on the U.S. Capitol. The United States of America is a nation founded on African slavery and the Native American genocide. It’s once again showing the world why it influenced the Nazis and inspired apartheid in South Africa.

The ineffective Democratic Party has failed Black America yet again. In the same vein as President Bill Clinton’s passage of the Crime Bill and welfare reform. Black wealth declined by 30% during the Obama administration because of the Great Recession. Obama extended the Bush corporate bailouts. His administration failed to bailout everyday citizens who lost massive amounts of wealth thanks to the housing crash. Even with all this, there’s still a majority of black voters who have an undying loyalty to the DNC.

The Biden Justice Department could have aggressively prosecuted Trump for his crimes. Democrats didn’t do that. The 2021 Democratic-controlled Congress could have banned Trump from ever holding public office again after attempting a coup. They didn’t do that either. Officials in Brazil barred former President Bolsonaro from running for high office after a similar coup attempt in 2022.

The Democrats, propped up a candidate who failed to beat Trump. During the first Trump Administration, then Senator Kamala Harris seemed to be one of the Democrats fighting against Trump and his ilk. The former Vice President even took Biden to task about his racist Crime Bill during the 2020 primaries. But it was all a smoke screen.

Harris fumbled the 2024 election. She doubled down on Biden’s genocidal policies towards Gaza and ignored the financial struggles of ordinary American citizens thanks to inflation. The DNC rolled out war criminals like Dick Cheney and his Hellspawn Liz Cheney. Or celebrities like Beyonce and Meg the Stallion on the campaign trail. She failed quickly to clarify policies to distinguish her from Trump during the campaign.

In the first month of the Trump administration. We’ve seen liberal politicians and organizations fold faster than a piece of paper to appease the Orange One. It’s time for Black people to stop tying our political identity to a Political Party that only pays us lip service. But they ignore our demands for justice. Just remember the memo from 2016 about Black Lives Matter to Democratic Leaders. That memo stated DNC politicians only talk up racial justice issues but offer no actual policy solutions. Sounds like the DNC to me. Say something but do nothing. Unless it’s chastising their black voter base. President Obama did this during his presidency, during the 2016, 2020, and 2024 campaign trail.

All while Trump and his crew will unilaterally try to undo every piece of social justice legislation. The Trump administration has emboldened racists across the country and the globe. It’s time for black people to get collectively on code. To protect ourselves and our communities from harm from racist cops and deputized racist white citizens.

Historical Times Black Folks Got on Code

A group of black men in Jonesboro, Louisiana, founded the Deacons for Defense and Justice, a group formed to protect CORE members from the Ku Klux Klan on July 10, 1964. It was under the leadership of Earnest “Chilly Willy” Thomas and Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick. A majority of the deacons were World War II and Korean War veterans. 

In nearby Bogalusa, Louisiana, the Jonesboro chapter launched its first affiliate chapter under the direction of Charles Sims, A.Z. Young, and Robert Hicks. They also organized the third chapter in Louisiana. In Bogalusa, the Deacon’s tense clash with the Klan forced the federal government’s hand. Leading government to support the local black community and undo harmful Jim Crow laws. The national spotlight prompted state and national officials to act against the Klan in that part of the Deep South. As a symbol of the South’s growing militant working-class movement, the Deacons expressed frustration with Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent strategy.

Continued frustration with the nonviolent Civil Rights movement led to the rise of another notable group in the North, the Black Panthers. In 1966, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton formed the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. In contrast to other social and political activists of that era, their approach to the struggles of the black community was more militant. Poor and low-income Black communities continued to suffer from police brutality and mass incarceration in the 1960s. An infamous photo depicted Newton, the group’s defense minister, armed with a gun and a spear.

The group detailed its political objectives in its Ten-Point Program. The program advocated for better housing, jobs, and education for African Americans. It also demanded an end to the economic exploitation of black communities and military exemption. The organization wasn’t shy about using dramatic appearances to get its point across. The Black Panthers, for one example, protested a 1967 gun bill by marching into the California Capitol carrying weapons. On the flip side, the Black Panthers created free health clinics, political education courses, and free breakfast programs to serve black poor and working-class communities

During the antebellum period of the United States. We saw the creation of self-governed communities by formerly enslaved people. In the US, “Maroons” described self-governing communities established by escaped enslaved Africans and African Americans. They frequently stayed in isolation, in challenging terrains like swamps, forests, or mountains. In the Southern United States, particularly isolated areas such as the Great Dismal Swamp (in Virginia and North Carolina) and the Florida Everglades, contained these Maroon communities.

Enslaved people escaping plantations for freedom established maroon communities. Their survival depended on their familiarity with the local terrain. It allowed them to avoid capture and build self-sufficient communities.

Maroon survival relied on hunting, fishing, and farming, supplemented by trade with nearby indigenous groups. To stay undetected by slave catchers or militias, the Maroons hid their settlements. Maroons were true armed resistance against slavery. By escaping and achieving self-determination, they challenged the institution of slavery’s existence. Some Maroon communities actively resisted recapture through armed conflict.

These communities often preserved African cultural traditions. This included language, religion, and social structures, while incorporating indigenous and European influences. The Great Dismal Swamp Maroons is just one example of this history. This swamp, a famous Maroon refuge, acted as a natural barrier against pursuers and helped a flourishing community of escaped slaves survive.

Another example is the Maroons of Florida. Black Seminole communities developed in Spanish Florida. Alliances between Maroons and Indigenous Seminoles made this happen. The US military faced significant resistance from these groups during the Seminole Wars.

The history of Maroons in the United States powerfully shows the enslaved peoples’ tenacity and resolve in pursuing freedom and self-determination. African American history and the wider history of resisting oppression depend on their stories being shared to current and future generations.

Maroon communities were not unique to the United States. Similar groups existed throughout the Americas, particularly in the Caribbean and South America, where they were often more many and long-lasting. The harsh realities of slavery and the determined efforts of slave owners to recapture runaways in the U.S. This presented significant obstacles to the survival of the Maroon communities.

Black Folks Getting on Code in Modern Times

In August 2023, a group of white men in Montgomery, Alabama attacked a black security guard on duty. The assault escalated into a violent altercation as black men and women rallied to defend the man being attacked. People now call it the Montgomery Riverfront brawl.

In January 2025, a Neo-Nazi group tried to march through a black neighborhood in Lincoln Heights, Ohio. In a small-town, the black people there illustrated the value of organizing for all of Black America. Their actions showed courage in the face of blatant racism. There was no consultation with elected officials or public intellectuals. They knew self-preservation demanded immediate action. Lincoln Heights, Ohio, will probably see no more public displays from neo-Nazis for a long time.

Ways to Get on Code

Black individuals can join black gun clubs. Legal gun usage, storage, and safety are things we must understand. It’s something Northern black folks can learn from our gun-toting cousins in the Dirty South. We must safeguard ourselves and our community. Dogs are also a good idea to use. Humans have relied on dogs’ protective abilities for millennia. We have black dog trainers, and we need more black dog trainers. Breeds like Cane Corsos, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Pit Bulls, and other well-known guarding dogs are good to train. Potential racist attackers will reconsider engaging a group of black folks protected by well-trained riot dogs.

This isn’t a call to violence against innocent people, nor is it an incitement for unprovoked attacks by Black people against white people. This article only argues in favor of self-defense. While I support nonviolent resistance against injustice. I acknowledge everyone’s right to defend themselves, their homes, and their communities.

“I don’t even call it violence when it’s in self-defense; I call it intelligence.”

― Malcolm X