How we understand the past has bearing on our political present, and making Shakur, a symbol of black militancy of the 1960s and '70s, into a high-level national security threat serves to criminalize the greatest movement for democracy in the 20th century.
Presumably there was some illusion that a major concession of legitimacy would produce a quieter, gentler Taliban, full of the loving, pious grace occasionally proclaimed by political leaders and interfaith bureaucrats unwilling to face the generic militancy of an important part of the Islamic system.
Baldwin was able to maintain a skeptical view of the militancy of the Nation of Islam in his essay, and yet his admiration for strong black men is palpable.
That will prove a tough sell, however, given the militancy of South Korea's trade unionists.
Witness the upstart militancy of Hezbollah, in alliance with Iran.
Over the years the ISI has rigged elections and helped nurture militant groups used to project force (always with plausible deniability) into India and Afghanistan.These days those gun-toting jihadis are one bog within a larger swampland of militancy, much of it increasingly focussed on massacring Pakistani Shias, that is threatening its native country as much as its neighbours.
The longshoremen's actions were a rare show of union militancy, reminiscent of labor actions a century ago.
"Arna's Children" presents both the promise and the limitations of an effort to enrich lives in the Jenin refugee camp, which a decade ago was a hotbed of militancy and a prime source of suicide bombers who went to blow themselves up in Israel.
The past quarter century of militancy is a part of this broader process -- a phase of history that is definitely not over.
Even certain craft unions experienced stronger resistance from employers, who were alarmed by the injection of a greater militancy into union behaviour at a time when they faced increased foreign competition in their established markets.
