Fanon’s final abode in Algeria.
Frantz Fanon till this day remains one of the most important anti-colonialist thinkers. He was born on July 20, 1925, in the Caribbean nation of Martinique. Fanon joined FLN to fight against French in the Algerian war. Fanon, a trained psychologist, also enriched the political theory through his groundbreaking and masterpiece “The Wretched of the Earth”. He was influential in intellectual makeup of revolutionaries ranging from Malcolm X, to Steve Biko, and Che Guevara.
Fanon became an important part of the intellectual foundation of the black consciousness movement. Fanon wrote “The Wretched of the Earth” in Tunis where he worked for Algerian national liberation movement in exile. More than 50 years on, the book remains an essential text, one often understood in terms of prophecy rather than critique, for understanding both the colonial and post-colonial situation.
“Apartheid was legal. The Holocaust was legal.
Slavery was legal. Colonialism was legal. Legality
is a matter of power, not justice.”
–Chris Rock