Birthmarks of Revolution: Why May 19th Still Matters

Malcolm X. Ho Chi Minh. Yuri Kochiyama. The May 19th Communist Organization. May 19th is not just a date—it’s a frontline. And we are called to report for duty.

By Prince Kapone | Weaponized Information
May 19, 2025

Revolution doesn’t come on schedule. But sometimes the calendar cracks open and history spills out like prophecy. May 19th is one of those days.

Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh were both born on May 19. One Black, one Vietnamese. One from the belly of the U.S. empire, the other from the rice fields of colonial Indochina. Yet both stared down the same beast—capitalism, racism, imperialism—and dared to name it. They mapped different terrains, spoke different tongues, but they fought the same war: the liberation of the colonized against the global white supremacist order.

Then there’s Yuri Kochiyama—born May 19, 1921—who survived Japanese American internment camps and became one of the most devoted revolutionaries of the 20th century. She held Malcolm’s head as he lay dying. She lifted up political prisoners, linked the Black, Yellow, and Brown struggles, and never apologized for standing on the side of the oppressed.

And finally, the May 19th Communist Organization—an underground formation of revolutionaries who named themselves in honor of Malcolm and Ho. These were the ones who rejected reform, rejected surrender, and waged armed struggle against U.S. imperialism from within the empire’s own borders. They freed Assata. They bombed symbols of state violence. They refused to bow.

This is not coincidence. This is convergence. May 19th is not a memorial—it’s a mirror. A reminder that history is shaped by those who dare to struggle. And that the line between martyrdom and movement is one we must walk with clarity and fire.

In this *Weaponized Information* special series, we will examine:

• The global revolutionary trajectory of Malcolm X, from nationalist to anti-imperialist
• The anti-colonial genius of Ho Chi Minh, who defeated not one, but two empires
• The cross-racial solidarity and radical maternal politics of Yuri Kochiyama
• The underground resistance and political line of the May 19th Communist Organization

This isn’t nostalgia. This is strategy. The conditions they fought—racism, capitalism, colonial violence—have not disappeared. They’ve evolved. They wear new faces, speak in data, legislate through algorithms. We call it technofascism. And we are called, once again, to respond.

Let this series serve not just as tribute, but as training. Not just as memory, but as method. May 19th teaches us that revolution is not abstract. It is built. In the street. In the cell. In the mind. In the fire.

We publish this series in full knowledge of the consequences. Because the greatest danger isn’t being censored. It’s being silent. So read. Share. Organize. And remember what Malcolm said: “You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.”

This is May 19th. And we choose to fight.