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𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐌 𝐗 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 (𝐎𝐀𝐔) 𝐈𝐍 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟒
In 1962 Max Stanford (now Ahmad Muhammad) engaged with Malcolm X and told him he was a revolutionary interested in following him and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X told Stanford that if he was truly revolutionary, he would be better off working outside the NOI. Stanford went forward to become a founding member of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM).
RAM was the first group in the United States to synthesize the thought of Marx, Lenin, Mao, and Malcolm X into a comprehensive theory of revolutionary black nationalism. They combined socialism, black nationalism, and Third World internationalism into a coherent and applicable theory that called for revolution “inside the citadel of world imperialism,” meaning the United States.
The Black Guard was a national armed youth self-defense group run by RAM that argued for protecting the interests of Black America by fighting directly against its enemies. The Black Guard, in Max Stanford’s words, “[was] to stop our youth from fighting amongst themselves, teach them a knowledge of [black] history … and prepare them … to protect our community from racist attacks.” In 1964, Malcolm X became a RAM officer. At that time, they published 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. It was a radical black culture magazine edited by future black power activists Bobby Seale, Huey Newton, and Ernie Allen, among others.
Whitewashed history tried to brainwash people into thinking that the RAM/Black Guard/Black Liberation Army was a bunch of lunatic, violent black people. However, The Republic of New Afrika’s First Vice-President Milton Henry (Gaidi Obadele) was a Tuskegee Airman and graduated from Yale Law School in 1950. He served as a City Commissioner of Pontiac, Michigan from 1954 to 1960. His uncompromising exploits in defense of freedom, justice, and equality for black people were frequently covered by Black newspapers throughout America as well as a few white newspapers. According to his own testimony,
“I was one of seven City Councilmen representing a District…. And I sat there and of course one out of seven [that was black and interested in assisting this community]. I could see very readily that we really didn’t have any ability to do much more than just trade on particular items. . . [The] municipal court remained almost completely white. The fire department was completely white. The police department had about four or five blacks on it and they felt they were doing their job. And the racism was rampant in the attitude of the place and . . . these are the things that you couldn’t do very much about. . . . I was just wasting time. I was a figurehead. I was there as a black man representing black people and I could see that in reality I had no power. I couldn’t make any changes in the thins that were important. They pulled me out for window-dressing. They’d have me sitting around at meetings talking, where most of the time they were trying to persuade me to vote for some nonsense that didn’t have a damn thing to do with black people. So, I ultimately decided that I was going to walk off the Commission.”
Where did he walk off to? Well, he went to Africa and traveled with Malcolm X to Cairo to meet with African leaders.
On April 12, 1964, Malcolm X returned to Detroit to support his friends, including Milton (Obadele) who had created the Freedom Now Party. That night, Malcolm X gave his famous “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒕” speech, stating,
“It is our intention to have a black nationalist convention which will consist of delegates from all over the country who are interested in the political, economic and social philosophy of black nationalism. After these delegates convene, we will hold a seminar; we will hold discussions; we will listen to everyone. We want to hear new ideas and new solutions and new answers. And at that time, if we see fit them to form a black nationalist party, we’ll form a black nationalist party. 𝐈𝐅 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐀 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐘, 𝐖𝐄’𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐀 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐘.”
The Afro-American Student Conference was held in Nashville, May 1-3, 1964. By its end, the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) convinced the conference that young revolutionary nationalists were the vanguard of a Black revolution and liberation struggle in the United States which embodied cultural revolution, promoted Pan African socialism and was ready to form an organizational apparatus to ‘translate’ Nationalist ideology into effective action and whose members were willing to make the supreme sacrifices to build and sustain a dynamic Nationalist Movement. Based on a thorough assessment of the state of the struggle for Black America’s liberation in the North and South, a national organization – RAM – was created. Max Stanford was elected National Field Chairman, Donald Freeman was elected Executive Chairman, James Boggs, Ideological Chairman, Grace Boggs, Executive Secretary, and Milton Henry/Paul Brooks, Treasurer. RAM’s international representatives were El Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X), International Spokesman, and Robert F. Williams, International Chairman. Malcolm X then traveled to Ghana and met with representatives of liberation organizations, including the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) and the South African Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC). After returning from Ghana, Malcolm X and John Henrik Clarke formed the Organization of Afro American Unity (OAAU) on June 28th, 1964 to represent the African American liberation movement. The OAAU was the above-ground national liberation front while RAM served as its underground armed component.
In the book, 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑳𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒎 𝑿 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒐-𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚, William Sales, Jr. notes,
“Paralleling these discussions, and in as much secrecy, were discussions Malcolm X had with RAM through its field secretary, Muhammed Ahmed. As Ahmed remembered it, in June 1964 he and Malcolm worked out the structure of a revolutionary nationalist alternative to be set up within the Civil Rights movement. They also outlined the role of the OAAU in this alternative.
‘The OAAU was to be the broad front organization and RAM the underground Black Liberation Front of the U.S.A. Malcolm in his second trip to Africa was to try to find places for eventual political asylum and political/military training for cadres. While Malcolm was in Africa, the field chairman [Ahmed] was to go to Cuba to report the level of progress to Robert Williams. As Malcolm prepared Africa to support our struggle, ‘Rob’ [Robert F. Williams] would prepare Latin America and Asia. During this period, Malcolm began to emphasize that Afro-Americans could not achieve freedom under the capitalist system. He also described guerrilla warfare as a possible tactic to be used in the Black liberation struggle here. His slogan ‘Freedom by an means necessary’ has remained in the movement to this day.’
These discussions, in fact, reflected the impact of Malcolm’s interaction with the representatives of national liberation movements and guerrilla armies during his trip to Africa. He was very much focused on establishing an equivalent structure within the African American freedom struggle. On June 14, 1964, the Sunday edition of the Washington Star featured an interview with Malcolm X in which he announced the formation of ‘his new political group,’ the Afro-American Freedom Fighters. In this interview Malcolm X emphasized the right of Afro-Americans to defend themselves and to engage in guerrilla warfare. A change of direction was rapidly made, however. As Ahmed reported, Malcolm’s premature public posture on armed self-defense and guerrilla warfare frightened those in the nationalist camp who feared government repression. They feared giving public exposure to organizing efforts for self-determination and guerrilla warfare. Malcolm agreed, and the name of the new organization became the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
The OAAU was to be the organizational platform for Malcolm X as the international spokesperson for RAM’s revolutionary nationalism, but the nuts and bolts of creating a guerrilla organization were not to take place inside the OAAU. The OAAU was to be an above-ground united front engaged in legitimate activities to gain international recognition for the African American freedom struggle.”
Two days after the Civil Rights Act was passed on July 2, 1964, Milton’s Group on Advanced Leadership (GOAL) took action. According to Milton’s Brother Richard (Imari Obadele),
“The rifle clubs would be ‘for going South in moments of siege’ and for getting guns ‘into the hands of willing and needy blacks in the fascist South, when the time comes.’ The GOAL leader predicted that ‘proportioned underground warfare’ by Negroes would come to the South. When that happnes, [he] said, the northern rifle clubs would ‘back Negroes in besieged towns under attack by whites seeking to retaliate for the acts of the underground.'”
Then, in July, Malcolm, as Chairman of the OAAU, joined the other African liberation movements housed on the boat named Isis docked in the Nile River for the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Summit held in Cairo. Malcolm X was given observer status and on July 17, he addressed the African Heads of State, saying,
“The Organization of Afro-American Unity has sent me to attend this historic African Summit Conference as an observer to represent the interests of 22 million African-Americans whose human rights are being violated daily by the racism of American imperialists. The Organization of Afro-American Unity has been formed by a cross section of America’s African-American community, and is patterned after the letter and spirit of the Organization of African Unity. . . .”
In an interview with Gaidi Obadele (Milton Henry) while in Cairo Malcolm X said, “It is true that at first there were stumbling blocks placed in my path in regards to being accepted into the conference, or into the meetings. But I’d rather not say what happened in specific details. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆, which was read and thoroughly analyzed by them.”
Gaidi Obadele replied, “Malcolm, I think you are to be greatly applauded because actually you were the only American recognized as a participant of the conference, and of course 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔. I had the feeling that there will be a great change in emphasis because you have been here, and because you presented our position the position of the black man in America so well, in a way that no one but an American could.”
On October 10, 1964 Malcolm X arrived in Dar Es Salaam and over the next seven days, met with the African Liberation Committee headquartered there as well as with Presidents Nyere of Tanzania, Obote of Uganda and Kenyatta of Kenya.
In 𝑹𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍, Donald Freeman writes,
“In December, 1964 Doug Andrews, Paul Brooks, Tom Higginbotham, Max Stanford, and other members met in Cleveland to refine RAM’s 1965 priorities and strategy. . . . We discussed how to galvanize the energy of young urban African Americans, thereby enhancing the applicability of Rob Williams’ explosive advocacy in the United States and 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑬𝒍 𝑯𝒂𝒋𝒋 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒌 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒛𝒛’𝒔 𝑶𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒐-𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 (𝑶𝑨𝑨𝑼).
I was pleased with our youth and young adult penetration among college students stemming from the spring, 1964 Nashville conference and gangs, which was a byproduct of my work with others in Chicago during the summer. I hoped that this progress was the prelude to a significant conversation of young Black men and women to RAM’s ranks in 1965.
As January, 1965 began, Malik Shabazz was busy seeking the backing of Ghana, Algeria and more African government to bring about the condemnation of the United States’ oppression of Black America in the UN. Such internationalization of the African American liberation struggle as a human rights issue was a principal objective of the OAAU.
By that time Max Stanford had become one of Malik Shabbazz’s constant Harlem companions. Their communication was continuous. Hence RAM’s agenda was an integral part of his activities.
Then a series of ominous events beset El Hajj Malik Shabazz. In late November 1964 he had been invited to speak in France and Great Britain. February 8, 1965 he spoke again in London, but was not allowed to return to France the next day. On February 14th, his East Elmhurst, New York home was firebombed.
A further foreboding misfortune was the February 16th, 1965 New York City arrest of Walter Bowe, Robert Collier, Khaleel Sayyed, and Michelle Duclos, a French-Canadian woman, for allegedly plotting to bomb the Statue of Liberty.
What these menacing omens portended was actualized by the assassination of El Hajj Malik Shabazz at the Audubon Ballroom, on Sunday afternoon, February 21, 1965. The bourgeois (capitalist) mass media claimed that the Nation of Islam perpetuated that heinous crime. However, RAM asserted that its perpetrators were the CIA and FBI. . . . The arrests of Walter Bowe, Robert Collier, Khaled Sayyed, and Michelle Duclos in the so-called bombing of the Statue of Liberty plot and the murder of Malik Shabbaz marked the prelude to the Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) of the FBI, which eventually engineered the liquidation of Fred Hampton, the head of the Black Panther Party (BPP) of Chicago.”
In August of 1965, Robert F Williams, living in exile in Cuba, published an analysis on the 𝑷𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑨 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑺𝑨.
On June 17, 1966, Stokely Carmichael, then Chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which was organized in April, 1960 by Balanta activist Ella Baker, formally announced Black Power as a political slogan during a speech in Greenwood, Mississippi. Afterwords, the Malcolm X Society was organized in 1967.
After the 1967 riots, the FBI and their COINTELPRO program targeted RAM for political destruction. However, RAM was just one of many civil rights or black nationalist groups targeted because of their politics.
The New Afrikan liberation struggle, however, continued. On March 31, 1968, at the National Black Government Conference sponsored by the Malcolm X Society, the New Afrikan Declaration of Independence was declared and the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika was established.
On May 31, 1968 about 30 leaders of the RNA met at 40 North Ashland Avenue in Chicago to address some of the biggest issues facing the new government. Among them was,
“the legislative act that established the Black Legion, the RNA’s military. Similar to the income tax, the creation of this body was supposed to resolve another perceived problem – this time not just for the RNA but for the larger African American community as well. Specifically, the RNA tried to address the heightened security threats to the black community by the overt behavior of racist police as well as other members of the white community. This addressed a longer historical problem as well.
The creation of the Black Legion was also tied to the greatest repressive fear of the organization: being directly hit by an over, aggressive assault like that waged [upon] nonviolent civil rights activists (from whites in general and the police in particular). The RNA vowed that it would never be hit in such a direct manner without preparation. Two reasons existed for this. On the one hand, the RNA vowed never put themselves in a position where they were vulnerable to this type of attack (i.e., being out in the open, unarmed and unprepared). Instead, the RNA would try to build themselves in the minds of black folk and then step forward to claim the nation en masse. On the other hand, the RNA would prepare to defend themselves by creating an armed wing, trained in shooting, hand-to-hand combat, and diverse survival skills. This was the essence of the organization’s reappraisal – armed self-defense from overt general assault, both immediately after the attack and a ‘second strike,’ which would be delayed after the initial attack as retribution. The plans for the former were pretty straightforward, whereas the plans for the latter were never quite clear, seemingly on purpose. For example, there was always reference to people being ‘underground’ but nothing concrete – across source material.
As conceived, the Black Legion would be composed of selected citizens between the ages of sixteen and fifty, the men and women being in separate units for reasons that were not provided in detail. All were to engage in two hours of training per week, and once a month there would be practice on a field training site. In addition to this, all male citizens between the ages of sixteen and fifty and all female citizens between the ages of sixteen and thirty (without young children) were mandated to join the Universal Military Training Force. Similar to the state of Israel, in an effort to have as many soldiers as citizens, this force involved at least two hours of military training a month, when individuals would learn how to shoot, dress wounds, and otherwise take care of themselves in a conflict situation. Finally, to prepare RNA members as soon as possible and engage the whole family, there was to be a Junior Black Legion composed of all children between the ages of nine and fifteen. In these units, youth would undergo a less rigorous but largely similar program.“
Tactics used to suppress RAM were also used to suppress and target Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Black Panther Party, the Nation of Islam, the National Welfare Rights Organization, Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM), Republic of New Afrika (RNA), Congress of Afrikan People, black student unions at universities all over the country, and black churches and community organizations. In this context of government repression, RAM transformed itself into the Black Liberation Party, and by 1969 had practically dissolved.
At the second RNA Conference, on March 29, 1969, police raided the Detroit New Bethel Baptist Church. The police attempted to assassinate Gaidi Obadele and fired on conference participants with nearly a thousand rounds of ammunition.
NonMwenSe, Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé and Adjoa Malaika Gathoni1 Comment-
81,848
Abibisika (Black Gold) Points
Very thorough writeup.
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