By Kylie Marsh
Kylie.marsh@triangletribune.com
DURHAM – A grassroots organization has mobilized to provide security to small business owners following a deadly food truck shooting.
The Autonomous Brown Beret Party of North Carolina is a grassroots organization focused on uplifting the Indigenous and Latino community through political education, mutual aid and self-defense.
A man identifying himself as Cuauhtémoc (a Nahuatl word meaning “Eagle”) told The Tribune that the organization began in 2022, and the street vendor protection program launched on Indigenous People’s Day this year.
“From reading the article, to Indigenous People’s Day, I was disgusted, disappointed and disheartened to hear about it,” Cuauhtémoc said, “because our community is very vulnerable right now.”
The organization was inspired by the historical Brown Berets of the 1960s, which mobilized Chicano youth in Chicago, Texas, California and Washington state against police brutality, rights and protections for migrant workers, educational reform and self-determination.
A man shot a woman who was working at a Latino food truck parked at the 700 block of South Alston Avenue in late October. After hearing the news, the Autonomous Brown Beret Party mobilized to provide support and protection for vulnerable communities.
“Trust is really important for the street vendor,” Cuauhtémoc said. “We just make sure they feel safe and that they know we’re there.”
A few such incidents have occurred in Durham, leading to tension between the Latino and Black communities; but the Brown Berets seek to bridge that gap, using political education for healing and understanding of common causes. The organization supports movement towards a future where all oppressed people, including the disabled and queer communities for example, are free.
“The Gestapo, known as ICE,” Cuauhtémoc said, “it’s getting to a point where they are just targeting people based off of their color or the language that they speak.”
Cuauhtémoc said the Brown Berets was modeled after the Black Panther Party for Self Defense – another grassroots organization originated in California for the self-determination and self-defense of the Black community.
“The elders during that time knew that the alternative was socialism, or Marxism,” Cuauhtémoc said. “Today, there are many different Brown Berets organizations, but our focus is the brown community; we stand with all oppressed peoples of the world.”
That focus, he said, includes political education about the impact of white supremacy on contemporary society. Similar to the Black Panther Party, the organization also has a 10-point program.
“We do highlight that the white supremacist agenda is ongoing, and we do educate people and tell them that we are under class warfare.”
He clarified that, although there are plenty of Brown Berets organizations in the country, the “autonomous” emphasis in their name highlights being the first group in North Carolina.
