Capitalism’s Co-option
We’re living in a time marked by a new-age Islamic revival, where people are turning to Islam as a solution for the immense oppression we see globally as a consequence of Global Racial Capitalism. Thanks to our teachers like Omar Suleiman, Mustafa Briggs, Ahmad Mubarak, and Dawud Walid, we are starting to connect the dots between Blackness and Islam, creating a rift in the racial division that Global Racial Capitalism is based upon. We’ve learned this from Cedric J. Robinson in Black Marxism, particularly in his reference to Ireland, which has coincidentally been a major supporter of the current Palestinian resistance.
However, as Muslims, we have to be careful of the co-option of our resistance against injustice. Recently, thanks to Imam Omar Suleiman, the story of Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin is gaining traction, and people are noticing the pattern of civil rights leaders standing up against injustice and ultimately accepting Islam. For context, Imam Jamil, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, was a prominent figure in the American civil rights movement, serving as the former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and a key member of the Black Panther Party. In 2000, he was arrested and later convicted in a highly controversial case involving the death of a sheriff’s deputy—a case many believe was politically motivated and rooted in the government’s long-standing efforts to suppress Black leaders.
Now… why is this important? Because a Civil Rights Leader accepting the message of Islam poses a direct threat to the state and Global Racial Capitalism as we know it. How can our oppressors suppress our resistance, like they have in the past? Co-option.
In an Instagram Live with Imam Omar Suleiman and Imam Jamil’s son, they spoke about our brother’s wellbeing first and foremost, but they also mentioned turning his story into a docuseries for Amazon or Netflix. Amazon? Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Amazon? You mean one of the few billionaires at Donald Trump’s inauguration, where they made references to Hitler? That Amazon is interested in a docuseries about a Black Muslim former Civil Rights Activist? We have to ask ourselves—why?
In Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon teaches us that co-option is one of the most effective ways for power to maintain itself. Instead of outright suppression, dominant systems absorb revolutionary movements, stripping them of their radical potential and reshaping them into something non-threatening. Fanon explains that when resistance movements emerge, colonial systems redirect them into safer, more manageable forms—offering just enough reform to pacify dissent without actually dismantling the system, keeping dominant oppressive systems intact. We see this today with how revolutionary movements are repackaged to fit within neoliberal systems rather than destroy them.
Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine gives us several examples of Capitalism’s co-option:
Post-Apartheid South Africa: Neoliberal forces (IMF, World Bank) shaped economic policies, limiting the true freedom people had fought for.
Post-Soviet Russia: Western capitalists and economic advisors rushed in to privatize industries, effectively co-opting the transition to democracy in favor of oligarchs.
Post-U.S. Invasion of Iraq: The war was used as justification to transform Iraq into a profit-making opportunity for Western corporations. The goal was never to create a stable, self-sufficient Iraq, but to keep the country dependent on foreign services.
Conclusion
A perfect example of co-option is how the CIA assassinated Fred Hampton, yet years later, Hollywood produced a documentary praising him—the same system that murdered him now repackages his story for mainstream consumption. This pattern repeats itself throughout history. In today’s context, a revolutionary figure like Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin represents a real threat to the system because his acceptance of Islam connects Black radical resistance with anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, and anti-racist struggle. However, if his story were to be produced by Amazon, a corporate giant with major interests in global racial capitalism, we must ask: Will the documentary preserve his revolutionary message, or will it be reshaped into something less threatening?