The Making of a Black Anarchist Revolutionary

A special event marking Black History Month looking at the life and legacy of Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, a living legend of Black Liberation.

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“It’s not an exaggeration to say that Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin has changed the world. Countless people have been affected and influenced by his work throughout the years. His story is a testament to the extraordinary possibilities that lie just beneath the surface of the many passing moments of our lives. Unforeseeable, explosive events may erupt just because of someone making the decision to take a chance. Lorenzo decided to do this many times and that’s what’s led to yet another major event in his life. The first official publication of his legendary book, Anarchism and the Black Revolution, is yet another monumental occurrence in a life that almost seems cinematic”

– From William C. Anderson’s foreword to Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin’s Anarchism and the Black Revolution, published by Pluto Press.

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Join us for this for this special event looking at Lorenzo’s extraordinary life, from being a former Black Panther, evading the authorities by hijacking a plane to Cuba to being captured by the CIA in Eastern Europe and a subsequent 15 year stretch in prison, and how these experiences inspired him to write the landmark book Anarchism and the Black Revolution, perhaps the definitive writing on Black anarchism in the USA first published in 1979 and reissued by Pluto Press in 2021.

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Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin is an American writer, activist and black anarchist. He is a former member of SNCC, the Black Panther Party and Concerned Citizens for Justice. Following an attempt to frame him on weapons charges and for threatening the life of a Ku Klux Klan leader, Ervin hijacked a plane to Cuba in February 1969. While in Cuba, and later Czechoslovakia, Ervin grew disillusioned with the authoritarianism of state socialism. Captured by the CIA in Eastern Europe, he was extradited to the US, put on trial and sentenced to life in prison in 1970. He was introduced to anarchism whilst in prison, inspiring him to write Anarchism and the Black Revolution in 1979. Released after 15 years, Ervin remains politically active.

Chair William C. Anderson is a writer and activist from Birmingham, Alabama. His work has appeared in the Guardian, MTV, Truthout, British Journal of Photography and Pitchfork, among others. He is the author of The Nation on No Map, and co-author of the book As Black as Resistance and co-founder of Offshoot Journal. He also provides creative direction as a producer of the Black Autonomy Podcast.

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Register through Eventbrite to receive a link to the stream before the event. It will start at 19:00 GMT. You can also find the event on Pluto Press’ YouTube channel. The event will be recorded and uploaded to the channel after the event too.

Anarchism and the Black Revolution is available to order from the Pluto Press website and is available at a 30% discount.

This book has a rich history of being read by prisoners across the US, creating a bedrock of radical learning and dissent within the US prison system since the 1970s. To honor this, Pluto will donate copies to incarcerated comrades. To help fund this effort, please use the coupon code ERVINSOLIDARITY at the checkout, which will add a small amount to the price of the book.