Malcolm X (66 page)

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Authors: Clayborne Carson

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There is no branch in Manhattan, although plans are being made to obtain a location which will be the principal meeting place of the Mosque and will be known as Mosque No. 7.

The date Mosque No. 7 originated in New York City is unknown but in this connection it should be noted that in 1953, a second source advised that there was a Temple of the NOI (known to source then as the Muslim Cult of Islam) in New York City located at 135th Street and 7th Avenue, as far back as 1947.

N. Organization of Afro-American Unity, Incorporated
(OAAU)

On June 28, 1964, MALCOLM X LITTLE, founder and leader of the Muslim Mosque, Incorporated (MMI), publicly announced the formation of a new, all Negro, militant civil rights action group to be known as the Organization of Afro-American
Unity (OAAU), with himself as chairman. This announcement was made at a public rally held by the MMI in the Audubon Ballroom, Broadway and 166th Street, New York City.

A printed and published statement of basic OAAU aims read by MALCOLM X at this meeting indicates that it shall include “all” people of African descent in the Western Hemisphere, as well as “our” brothers and sisters on the African continent. It is patterned after the “letter and spirit” of the Organization of African Unity established (by African heads of states) at Addis Ab-baba, Ethiopia, in May, 1963.

A recording of the remarks of MALCOLM X at this meeting indicates that the aim of the OAAU is to eliminate differences between Negroes so they can work together for “human rights,” while the initial objective is to “internationalize” the American civil rights movement by taking it to the United Nations. LITTLE condemned the non-violent civil rights movement and claims that Negroes should be taught to protect themselves, when and if necessary. The OAAU will sponsor a program for Negroes of education, politics, culture, economics, and social reform.

On May 17, 1965, a confidential source advised that the headquarters of the OAAU are located in MMI headquarters, Suite 128, Hotel Theresa, 2090 7th Avenue, New York City.

MALCOLM X was assassinated on February 21, 1965, while addressing an OAAU rally at the Audubon Ballroom, New York City.

On April 13, 1965, a second confidential source advised that on March 26, 1965 the OAAU filed a Certificate of Incorporation with the Department of State, State of New York, Albany, New York, and henceforth the organization's true name will be Organization of Afro-American Unity, Incorporated.

O. Progressive Labor Party, Progressive Labor
Movement, “Progressive Labor”

A source advised on July 2, 1962, that Progressive Labor groups held a conference in New York City on July 1, 1962,
where MILTON ROSEN acted as chairman. He read a statement at this conference setting forth their intention to form a new Marxist-Leninist party in the United States. ROSEN stated that a more formal organization was necessary, one which would provide a framework for all who wanted to join in a united effort to build an American vanguard. The forces of this new organization are to consolidate all existing forces around Progressive Labor and organize additional forces; expand and improve political activities; win additional forces to an outlook of Marxism-Leninism and increase the open advocacy of socialism; develop a significant Marxist-Leninist program for the new party; and organize a collective organization of leaders and members.

The Worker
, an East Coast Communist newspaper, issue of January 7, 1962, page 10, column 3, reported the expulsion of MILTON ROSEN, former Labor Secretary of the New York State Communist Party, from the Communist Party, United States of America.

A second and third source advised in February, 1963, that this new Marxist-Leninist party had not yet been organized on a formal basis, but that Progressive Labor groups had been formed in several localities in line with the proposals of MILTON ROSEN. The sources advised as of February, 1963, that the leaders of this group were referring to it as the Progressive Labor Movement.

A fourth source advised on March 15, 1964, that the Progressive Labor Movement follows, supports, and is politically oriented toward the Communist Party line of Red China rather than of the Soviet Union.

A fifth source advised on March 28, 1964, that at a Progressive Labor Movement meeting held in New York City on that date, it was announced that the Progressive Labor Movement would try to hold a national convention in New York City in September, 1964, to organize the Progressive Labor Movement on a more formal basis into a Progressive Labor Party.

The fifth source also advised that the Progressive Labor Movement published a monthly magazine called
Progressive Labor
and also a quarterly theoretical publication called the
Marxist-Leninist
Quarterly
. The source also advised that starting June I, 1964, the Progressive Labor Movement would start publishing a weekly newspaper in New York City.

The March, 1964, issue of
Progressive Labor
sets forth that it is published monthly by the Progressive Labor Company, General Post Office Box 80S, Brooklyn 1, New York.

P. Provisional Organizing Committee for a Marxist-
Leninist Communist Party (POC); also known as
Provisional Organizing Committee for the
Reconstitution of a Marxist-Leninist Party;
Provisional Committee for the Reconstruction
of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party;
Provisional Committee to Reconstitute
the Communist Party, USA

The September, 1958, issue of
The Marxist-Leninist Vanguard
, which is self-identified as being published by the “Provisional Organizing Committee for a Marxist-Leninist Communist Party,” contains an article on page 1 entitled “Communist Conference” which discloses that a conference was held in New York City, August 16 and 17, 1958, “to guarantee the survival of Marxism-Leninism in the USA.” At this conference a call was issued for the formation of a “Provisional Organizing Committee for the Reconstitution of a Marxist-Leninist Party.”

In the same issue of
The Marxist-Leninist Vanguard
there is contained “a declaration” which reads in part:

Therefore, we of the Marxist-Leninist caucus of the old Party, having met in a national conference on August 16th-17th, 1958, have constituted ourselves as a Provisional Committee for the Reconstitution of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party.

The October, 1958, issue of
The Marxist-Leninist Vanguard
on page i contains an article entitled, “5 Questions,” which stated, “our aim is to forge ahead in our movement, and later, join in a constitutional convention with any other movement which is
fighting for the creation of a genuine Communist vanguard party.”

[BUREAU DELETION] that the POC continues to function as an organization with most of the meetings being held in the residences of individual members. It has active groups in New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Northern California. The organization is also known as the Provisional Committee to Reconstitute the Communist Party, USA.

Q. Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM)

On November 3, 1964, a source made available a document entitled “The Revolutionary Action Movement Manifesto,” the document having been obtained by the source from an individual known to be a member of RAM.

This document stated, in part, that RAM was officially organized in the winter of 1963, by Afro-Americans who support the revolutionary objectives of ROBERT F. WILLIAMS, now residing in Cuba, and his concept of organized violence to achieve the liberation of the Afro-American people in the United States. This manifesto reflected that RAM had oriented its program to one of education and political revolution and the organization of a “black” political party with revolutionary objectives, having recognized the need for a “black revolution” that could and would seize power. RAM philosophy is described in this document as one of revolutionary nationalism, that is, one involving the struggles of the non-white races of the world against exploitation and enslavement by the white capitalist and imperialist nations.

Regarding WILLIAMS, above, it should be noted that on August 28, 1961, a Federal warrant was issued at Charlotte, North Carolina, charging him with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution for the Crime of Kidnapping. Subsequent to the issuance of this warrant, WILLIAMS fled the United States to Cuba, where he now publishes a monthly newsletter entitled
The Crusader
, from Havana.

On November 16, 1964, a second source advised that he
learned recently from a RAM member that the organization was begun in Detroit, Michigan, largely under the impetus of DON FREEMAN, Cleveland, Ohio, described as the “Father” of RAM and referred to as RAM's “Black Stalin.” FREEMAN now serves as RAM Chairman, with MAXWELL STANFORD, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving RAM as Field Chairman. This second source advised that there is no formal headquarters, as such, for RAM at present, but that headquarters are, in effect, with FREEMAN since he plays a dominant role in the leadership and directs the policies and activities of the organization.

This second source, in September, 1964, advised that RAM is dedicated to the overthrow of the capitalist system in the United States, by violence if necessary, and to its replacement by a socialistic system oriented toward the Chinese communist interpretation of Marxism-Leninism. RAM is entirely non-white in membership, clandestine in nature, and owes its primary allegiance to the “Bandung World,” that is, the non-white races of the world, rather than any national entity, as such.

To date, according to the second source, in November, 1964, RAM has organized units and membership in several of the larger cities in the United States east of the Mississippi River, and the organization is currently active, attempting to recruit new members and expand its sphere of influence.

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