Sundiata Acoli Question #4 From Majadi

Majadi: “My question is dealing with strategy! Please ask the elder, if it is better that one large organization for our movement be established or should we organize as small independent groups to pursue our liberation goals?…I think it comes down to one extremely large Grizzly Bear versus 9 small Grizzly Bears. Which organizational structure works better? I am of the mind that the smaller groups can move faster.”

Sundiata: As with most questions of choices, the answer is “It depends…on what your circumstances are.” If you are operating in an orthodox political environment and put a premium on strength, power and size then ONE-LARGE organization (1 Grizzly) is probably the best choice. It allows for the greatest unity, thus greatest strength – and the greatest power because an organization by nature makes a group greater than the sum of its individual members. For example, it’s self-evident that a United States of Afrika would be much stronger and much more effective than the present Afrika that’s divided into 51 separate independent states.

But if you’re in an unorthodox environment: outnumbered, severely repressed, constantly surveilled and/or short on basic resources like personnel, money and material etc., then these are the type of circumstances that usually call for the speed, flexibility, diversity and stealth that SMALLER-GROUPS (9 Grizzlies) provide.

The remaining choices of structuries/strategies fall somewhere between the two extremes:ONE-LARGE GROUP or a number of SMALLER-GROUPS. They are a matter of putting together the proper mix of size, speed, strength, flexibility, stealth and power (medium, small and/or midget sized Grizzlies) to establish the type of organization that’s best suited for the job at hand.

And last, being ever mindful of the dialectical relationship between the two extremes in which the SMALLEST-GROUP(S) can turn into the LARGEST-ONE or vice versa, i personally think it would be best if ONE-LARGE organization could be established for our movement provided that we always remain committed to using SMALL, LARGE or WHICHEVER-SIZED GROUPS, structures or strategies that prove most effective in dealing with the problems confronting us.

Struggle, Sundiata.