Day 27 of the 28 Days of Black Liberation 2024 series
Andrée Blouin was born on December 16th, 1921, in the French Colony of Ubangi-Shari, today known as the Central African Republic. Due to the French colonial policies concerning mixed race children—Blouin’s mother was African, and her father was French—Blouin spent much of her childhood in a Brazzaville orphanage. Subjected to immense abuse while there, Blouin showed her rebellious courage from an early age engaging in numerous acts of revolt until she fled the orphanage at age 15.
In 1946, Blouin’s son Rene, at the age of two, contracted malaria and became very ill. However, French policy forbid African people from accessing lifesaving anti-malaria medication, and, as a direct result of this horrific colonial policy, Rene died of his illness. Blouin described this preventable tragedy as the moment that “politicized” her, and she then dedicated her life to anti-colonial struggle and the liberation of African peoples.
In the 1950s, Blouin became deeply involved in the Guinean independence movement through her support of Sekou Touré’s Guinean Democratic Party. Blouin worked tirelessly, organizing support and giving speeches throughout the country. Due to her revolutionary work, the French saw Blouin as a threat and expelled her from Guinea.
Continuing the political work she began in Guinea, Blouin became a key organizer in the Parti Solidaire Africain—an anti-colonial party in the Belgian Congo. Notably, Blouin directed the organizing efforts of the women’s wing of the party, rallying 45,000 women to the party within a month. She recognized the “growing awareness among the women of the need to liberate themselves” and pushed for African women to be a powerful force in the fight for liberation. In her party work, she continually advocated for more resources and energy to be directed toward women’s political activity.
After the overthrow of colonial rule, Blouin was appointed the Chief of Protocol in Patrice Lumumba’s newly formed government. When Lumumba’s government was toppled by a Belgian and US-backed coup, Blouin was sentenced to death and went into exile where she continued to provide material support to African national movements until her death in 1986.
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In the United States, the Black liberation struggle is the vanguard of the revolutionary class struggle. Black resistance to white supremacy has been the catalyst for nearly all critical social ruptures throughout american history. White workers choosing an alliance with the bosses instead of siding with the rest of the working class is the primary roadblock to revolutionary anti-capitalism in the US.
The GDC celebrates the Black liberation struggle and draws inspiration and lessons from its proud history in our struggle for the new world we are fighting for. In February we celebrate Black revolutionary culture, political prisoners, international figures and struggles, and moments in direct action that guide us in our continued, collective fight for liberation!