Organization and Spontaneity

Kimathi Mohammed's Organization and Spontaneity was originally published in 1974 as a response to key contradictions of the late 1960s and early 1970s Black freedom movement. Mohammed was among the most original political theorists of the Black Power era, and in contrast with many popular political figures of the time, his work emphasized the self-organization of ordinary African Americans and their liberating, self-directed activism.

Mohammed placed forward his critique of would-be Black vanguards at a time when most prominent Black Power activists - even the socialist advocates among them - were beginning to embrace electoral politics and systems of patronage which would ultimately suppress independent Black political power.

Organization & Spontaneity anticipated new obstacles in the Post-Civil Rights era, and continues to point the way forward for our own place and time. This updated edition includes Mohammed's previously unpublished essay exploring the influence of C.L.R. James on the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. A new introductory essay by Modibo Kadalie and an afterword by Matthew Quest are also included here for the first time.