The **Black Liberation Army (BLA)** was an underground, Marxist–Leninist, Black nationalist militant organization active in the United States from 1970 to 1981. It emerged mainly from former members of the Black Panther Party and the Republic of New Afrika, fueled by the repression of Black activist groups through FBI COINTELPRO and police violence[1][2][3]. Rather than functioning as a centralized organization, the BLA consisted of multiple autonomous underground cells united by the goal of **Black liberation through armed struggle and self-defense**. The BLA’s core mission was to **combat systemic racism and police brutality by any means necessary**, including armed confrontations with law enforcement, targeted assassinations of police officers, bombings, robberies (termed “expropriations”), and prison breaks[1][2][4]. They viewed the police as an occupying force in Black communities and capitalism as a mechanism of white supremacy to be dismantled[1][5]. This militant stance was inspired by urban guerrilla warfare principles, particularly those of Carlos Marighella, emphasizing physical targeting of oppressive forces and seizing resources to fund their revolution[5]. Historically, the BLA arose as the Black Panther Party weakened under government sabotage, lengthy imprisonments, and internal strife. Many Panthers transitioned to the BLA’s underground model, believing that only covert, armed resistance could sustain the Black liberation struggle during a period of violent repression[2][3]. The BLA also expressed international solidarity with other anti-colonial movements worldwide, framing their struggle as part of a global fight against imperialism[1]. Notable aspects include their refusal to engage in reformist politics and their commitment to revolutionary violence for self-determination, a stance that distinguished them sharply from above-ground civil rights organizations[6]. The BLA's activities led to many members' incarceration or death; some faced renewed legal action decades later for past crimes[2]. By the early