Capitalism Plus Dope Equals Genocide

Michael “Cetewayo” Tabor. np.: Black Panther Party, [1970]. In black and white photo-illustrated wrappers, saddle-stapled; 11, [5] pp. 7 ¼ x 11 in.

The rare landmark text of health activism in the 1960s, a critique of heroin and other drug usage in Black communities by a Harlem-born member of the Black Panther Party and one of the New York 21.

The work was important for its role in stimulating discussion on the role of drugs in marginalized communities, and an important influence in the development of the anti-drug use stance taken by other radical groups at that time. 

Among the Party’s many national social programs included efforts to combat addiction, often led by former drug users who worked with the Party. “Dope, they argued, was part of the oppressor’s plan to ‘ensure our enslavement...’ Improving the health status of blacks thus went hand in hand with improving their political, economic, and social status. In the Party’s view, black political activism and black public health activism were interwoven” (Bloom, Joshua and Waldo E. Martin. Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, p.188-189).

Preceded by a shorter, 4-page version titled “The Plague: Capitalism + Dope = Genocide,” this is the first edition containing the full essay,

Very good. Light wear to wraps, and some foxing to rear. Otherwise tight and clean.