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ov r p oto y j u l i u s s t r

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prefaceBl ack power means many t hi ngs t o many peopl e I n f c tt he r ange of t s meani ngs often appear s r e s t r i c t e d onl y byt he i nnovat i ve l i mt at i ons of t hose who c l l t hemsel ves

advocat es of bl ack power To most thoughtful obser ver s however t has becomei ncreasi ngl y c l e r t hat bl ack power s mor e t han a meresl ogan but l e s s than a consi st ent i deol ogy The f i r s t sect i onof t h i s pamphl et s an at t empt t o shape t h i s gr ow ngawar eness i nt o an n l y s i s of t he more gener al l y accept edmeani ngs of bl ack power and pl ace themw t h i n a r d i c lper spect i ve The second sect i on exam nes i n d e t i l an e f f o r t by anest abl i shment i n s t i t u t i o n t he Ford Foundat i on t o co optbl ack power and conver t t he Congr ess of Raci al Equal i t yi nt o an i nst r ument f or cont r ol of t he bl ack communi ty Taken t o g e t h e r t he t wo s e c t i ons cut away t heemot i onal i smsur r oundi ng bl ack power and i nst ead pr esenta c r i t i c l assessment of t s p o l i t i c l cont ent

part t he pol i t i cs of bl ack power

contents

f romc i v i l r i ght s t o bl ack power

page formul ati ons of bl ack power

page

part the f o r d foundati on and bl ack power

pol i t i cs of t he f o r d foundati on

page cool i ng the m l i t ant s

page

COPYRIGHT 1968 W KLYGUARDANASSOCATES

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part the

pol i t i csofbl ackpower

f romc i v i l r i ght s t o bl ackpowerThe Southern-based nonviol ent c i v i l r i ght s movement i sdead I t di ed vi cti mof the i nt r ansi gent US r ci smwhi chsparked the f i r s t f i er y urban rebel l i ons i n Northern bl ckghettos Fromthe shes of these ear l y revol t s came theangry cry of bl ack power Now th t same r ci sm s sol i dl y entrenched as everand the growng i nt ens i t y and breadth of urban convul si onsmay be soundi ng the death knel l of the bl ck powermovement as i t h s beenknownup unt i l nowRepressi onco-optati on and deepeni ng al i enat i on of the urban massesh s posed c r i s i s th t has spl i nt er ed the bl ack powermovement and presented n obst cl ewhi ch much of thepresent l e dershi p appearsunabl e to surmount Among some of these l eader s and spokesmen there i si ncre si ng f ear th t the man i s about to app y the f i nalsol uti on to the ghettos Othersmore soberl y concl ude th t2

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onl y m l i t nt bl ack l eaders and organi zati ons r e to be thet rgets They expect to be j i l ed or ss ssi n t ed and t hei rgroups di sbanded or co-opted s neocol oni al r ul er s of thetroubl esome n t i ves whopopul ate urban bl ack col oni es few genui ne r di c l s the f eel i ng i s perhaps even thefragments of an organi zati on wi l l sur vi ve to carry on thel i ber t i on st r uggl e Whi chwayany gi ven i ndi vi dual or organi zati on wi l l go i sal most anybody s guess

Bl ack power i s and al ways has been a maze ofcont r di ct i ons a j umbl e of conf l i ct i ng go l s and str t egi es Thi s stem i n part fromb si c di f ferences i n i deol ogyamongbl ack m l i t nt s and partl y fromthe contradi ctory st tus ofbl ack peopl e i n the S Further the i nterweavi ng of thesetwo f c tors generated newand to some more confusi ngpermutati ons r esul t i ng i n a l atti cework umbrel l a ambi g-uousl y l bel ed bl ack power

Th s confusi on has deep-reach ng roots n a sense bl ackpower may be vi ewed s si mpl y the l test swng i n thependul umwhi ch marks the perenni al o s c i l l t i o n between

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i ntegrati on on one si de and separati smnati onal i smon theother Thi s unresol ved conf l i ct i n goal s has pl agued thebl ack movement si nce sl aver y daysBut bl ack power represented an i nnovati on i n the ol d

debate The i nnovati onwas found i n the f act that the newsl ogan m de a nat i onal i st appeal wthout empl oyi ng therel i gi ous demagoguery, seen f or exampl e i n the B ackMusl i ms, whi ch tends to al i enat e i nt el l ect ual s and cyni calyoung ghetto dwel l ers al i ke Secondl y, the bl ack powermovement , unl i ke earl i er nat i onal i st movements, i gnoresthe quest i on of l and whether of the back-to-Afri ca orf i ve- stat es- i n- the South vari ety Thus, t avoi ded becomngi nvol ved i n endl ess anddi versi onary hassl es over howto getback to Af ri ca or whi ch states were sui t abl e I nst ead tfocused the attenti on of ml i tant s on the probl emof howto achi eve power i n t h i s l and wth the bl ack popul ati ondi spersed as t s The al most organi c attracti on whi ch bl ack power, l i k eother nati onal i sms hel d f or the bl ack masses, l ay i n t sab i l i t y to gi ve to ordi nary bl ack peopl e a sense of sel f worthand i dent i t y no matter how f l eet i ng or vague Thei ncr easi ngl y al i enat ed bl acks whocl ung toexi stence i n thesl ums recogni zed, as m ny earl y acti vi sts di d not that theci vi l r i ght s movement was i ntended to benef i t mddl e cl assbl acks and that i nt egr at i on meant assi ml at i on i nto whi tesoci ety arxi the submergence of whatever separate bl ackcul t ur e exi sted But the sl ogan of bl ack power coupl ed consci ous sense of pri de i n bl ackness wth the one termwhi ch l l Ameri cans, part i cul ar l y the oppressed, vi ewas aposi t i ve val ue power di l emmFor the frustrated and r ebel l i ous ghetto youth, bl ack

power was at once a ray of hopeand the f i nal angry cry tobe utteredwhen the torchwas set to a whi te store Stokel yCarmchael , then chai rman of the Student Nonvi ol entCoordi nati ng Commttee SNCC), wote i n the spr i ng of1967 that the bl ack power movement coul d speak to thegrowng ml i tancy of young bl ack peopl e i n the urbanghetto. The d i f f i c u l t y s that i n the ghetto hope anddespai r chase each other at breakneck speed i n a vi ci ousci rcl e creat i ng an i mpul se to acti onwhi ch qui ckl y turns t oni hi l i sm Thi s poses a grave di l emma for the radi calor gani zer a di l emmawhi ch has nowtrappedCarmchael

o a degree bl ack power was reacti on to thenonvi ol ence doctri ne and whi te paternal i smwhi ch charact er i zed the ci vi l r i ght s movement As th i s movement cameNorth t confronted bl ack peopl e l i v i ng i n ghettos wherenonvi ol ence s understandabl y equatedwth l ack of motherw t As t penetrated the South t encountered overt andcovert enforcers of the Southern Code f or whomnon-vi ol encewas not a moral f orce but si mpl y red carpeti ngonthe path to broken heads broken bodi es and dead bodi es 4

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Unabl e to com through wth the mteri al advancemnt ormoral upl i f t i t promsed, the nonvi ol ent c i v i l r i ght s move-mnt becam di scr edi t ed At about the sam tim young bl ack ac t i v i s t s attacked

the pat er nal i s t i c aspects of that movement They turnedi nwardandbegan t al ki ng of race pr i de, bl ack consci ousness,bl ack hi story and cul ture I n short, they l a i d the basi s f orthe cul t ur al nati onal i smwhi chhas becom char ac ter i s t i c ofthe bl ack power movemnt Thi s, l i k e other el emnts of the ml i tant movemnt, hasbecom di st or t ed and co-opted Natural hai r - styl es, Afri canrobes shi rt s, dr esses and sandal s have becom standardequi pmnt f or the wel l dressed bl ack ml i t ant Even md-dl e- cl ass hi pst er s have gone Afro, and a busi ness f i rmadver t i ses a hai r spray espec i al l y sui ted f or natural styl es Needl ess to say, much of thi s publ i c di spl ay siml yal i enat es ordi nary bl acks, North and South, and mkes i teasi er f or the man to i dent i f y buddi ngml i t a n t s c ul t ur a l nat i onal i sm

Thi s i s not to iml y that there i s no rol e f or cul t ur alnati onal i sm Revol uti onary nat i onal i sts woul d probabl yagree wth imri soned Bl ack Panther l eader Huey P Newton s posi t i on, expressed i n an i ntervi ewl ast MarchWe bel i eve that i t s imortant f or us to recogni ze ouror i gi ns and to i dent i f y wth the revol uti onarybl ack peopl eof Afri ca and peopl e of col or throughout theworl d But asf ar as r et ur ni ng, per s e to the anci ent custom, wedon t seeanynecessi ty i n t hi s ndal so, wesay that the onl y cul t ur ethat i s worth hol di ng on to i s revol uti onary cul t ur e, f orchange, f or the better .Bl ack power as or i gi nal l y ar t i cul at ed by SNCCi n 1966was ant i rac i s t I t attacked whi te paternal i sm but urgedwhi tes to go i nto t hei r own commni ti es to work agai nsti nst i t ut i onal i zed raci smwhi l e bl ack ac t i v i s ts organi zed i nbl ack commni ti es to assaul t the sam enemy But whi teact i vi sts , by and l ar ge, movedi nto anti war acti on i nst ead ofattacking domsti c raci sm thus i n som masure preci pi t at i ng bi t t er t i r ades by bl ack ml i t a n t s agai nst the whi tele f t On the other hand, whi l e most ser i ous bl ack ml i t a n t sremi n ant i rac i st , som have f a l l en vi cti mto the l at ent (andnot so l at ent antiwhi te and ant i semt i c sentimnts whi chexpl oi tat i on has bred i n the ghettos For others, f rus t r at i onwth the whi te l ef t and antiwhi te sentimnt have fed i ntoeach other f uel i ng the raci smwhi ch does i ndeedpermateUS soci ety

Pol i t i cal l y, the bl ack power movemnt i s at oncereformst and radi cal , nat i onal i s t and i nt er nat i onal i st ,dependi ng on the i ndi vi dual m l i t ant or organi zati on i nquesti on Even the sam i ndi v i dual , vi ewng the bl ackst r uggl e f i r s t f romone perspecti ve and then f romanothermaygi ve contradi ctory def i ni t i ons of the term

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As or i gi nal l y formul ated by SNCC b ack power i mp i edsever al t hi ngs not l l of whi chwere mutual l y congruent I nthe broadest sense t i mp i ed b ack control of b ackcommuni ti es Thi s control was t o be exerci sed througheconomc cooperati ves el ecti on of b ack pol i t i ci ans communi ty control of l ocal school boards etc There were ca l l sf or mddl e cl ass bl acks to return to the ghet t os bri ngi ngwth themt hei r s k i l l s and resources to bemadeavai l abl e t othe communi ty at l ar ge Thi s aspect s somethi ng l i k e ani deal i zed model of t r adi t i onal ethni c pol i t i cs and ethni cgroup assi m l at i on i nto the Ameri canmai nstreamsecond part of thi s or i gi nal formul ati on vi ewedUS bl acks as a col oni zed peop e and cal l ed f or revol uti onaryacti on to i mpl ement sel f determnati on or nati onal l i ber at i o n and the estab i shment of l i nks wth the t hi r d worl dThi s was r adi cal r het or i c but t stood i n conf l i ct wth thef i r s t concepti on of bl ack power whi ch SNCC al so embracedAt the root of thi s conf l i ct however s the f act t hat thesi t uat i on of b ack peop e s si mul taneousl y l i k e t hat of anethni c subcul ture wthi n US soci ety and on the other

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hand, l i k e an oppressed col ony standi ng outsi de t hat samesoci ety Thi s contradi cti on under l i es i n a real sense manyof the di vi s i ons whi ch have devel oped wthi n the bl ackpower movement The Bl ack Panther Party for Sel f Defensei s perhaps the onl y ml i t ant group to recogni ze thi scontradi cti on and to attempt to deal wth i t i n t hei rprogramFi nal l y SN threwwhi tes out of the organi zati onandrepudi ated nonvi ol ence as an absol ute pr i nci pl e i n i mpl e-menti ng i t s newbl ack power ori entati on I t was thi s whi chthe bourgeoi s press l atched onto i n a hyst er i cal way, andef f ect i vel y preventedany r at i onal di scussi on of bl ack powerf or at l east a year J i m Forman, head of SNCC s i nt er nat i onal af f ai r scommssi on and movement str at egi st and t heor et i ci anof fered an expl anati on of thi s phenomenon i n hi s pamphl et 1967 Hgh T de of Bl ack Resi stance Notsur pr i s i ngl y accusati ons of `extremsm and `raci sm i nreverse f i l l e d the ai r Those accusati ons ref l ect ed the f actthat the sl ogan `Bl ack Power was f r i ght eni ng to whi teAmeri cans i n general and theUS government i n par t i cul arbecause of i t s revol uti onary i mpl i cati ons That governmentknows that whi tes have power and bl acks do not There-fore the i dea of poor bl ack peopl e, especi al l y i n the c i t i esof the Uni ted States uni t i ng f or power on the basi s ofi ndependent pol i t i cal acti on-and agai nst the f orei gn warsof the Uni tedStates-represented a type of revol uti on5f ormul at i onsof bl ackpowery the t im of the Newark Bl ack Power Conference i nJ ul y 1967, i t was cl ear that bl ack power meant di f f er entthi ngs to di f f er ent peopl e, and the di vi si ons i n the pol i t i cal

spectrumwhi ch bl ack power represented became mni festat that hi stor i c meti ng Wthi n thi s spectrumf i v e di f f erent formul ati ons of bl ackpower can be roughl y di st i ngui shed Al l of themarepermeated by varyi ng degrees of cul t ur al nati onal i sm andthere i s a good bi t of overl appi ng between cat egor i es I naddi t i on orthodox bl ack nat i onal i sts bei ng a pol i t i calpotpourri , can be f ound i n al l f i v e cat egor i es Movi ng fromthe pol i t i cal ri ght to the pol i t i cal l e f t i n t hi s spectrum wecan di st i ngui sh 1 Bl ackpower as bl ack capi t al i sm Thi s i s espoused, f orexampl e, by the nat i onal i st Bl ack Musl i mwhourge bl acksto set up busi nesses f act or i es and i ndependent farmng

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operati ons Whi tney Young, executi ve di rector of theNati onal Urban League, essent i al l y endorsed t h i s formu-l at i on i n hi s recent cal l f or ghetto power . Anotherexponent i s Dr ThomasMatthew a bl ack neurosurgeonand presi dent of the Nati onal Economc Gowh andReconst ructi on Organi zati on NEGRO), who i n a speechFeb 1 1968, before a Young Ameri cans f or Freedomaudi ence eschewed government handouts and cal l ed i nsteadf or whi tes to provi de capi t al to bl ack busi nessmen throughl oans

The most recent supporter of bl ack capi t al i sm i spr esi dent i al aspi r ant Ri chardN xon I n a speech Apri l25 1968, Ni xon cal l ed f or a move away frommassi vegovernment- f i nanced soci al wel fare program to morebl ack ownershi p, bl ack pr i de, bl ack j obs bl ack power i nthe most constructi ve sense. Bl ack ml i tants , accordi ng t oN xon, shoul d seek to become capi t al i st s - t o have a shareof the weal th.( 2) Bl ack power as more bl ack pol i t i c i ans Sever al yearsago el ect or al po l i t i c s was endorsed by SNCCas ameans toachi evi ng power SNCCurged that bl ack peopl e organi zei ndependent par t i es, such as the Lowndes County ( Al a-bama) Freedomparty, whi ch can pl ace i n o f f i c e bl ackmenwhowi l l remai n responsi bl e to t hei r peopl e Thi s was ethni cpo l i t i c s But i t soon was di stor t ed i nto i ntegrati on po l i t i c s For exampl e, the J anuary, 1968, i ssue of Ebonymagazi ne,whi ch i s i nt egr at i on- or i ent ed and ai med at the bl ack mddl ecl ass, descri bed t he el ec t i on of Negro mayors i nGary, I nd and Cevel and, Ohi o, as Bl ack power at the pol l s . But i nthose el ect i ons and t hei r aftermaths the essent i ali ngr edi ent s of ethni c group l oyal ty were mssi ng Asml i t ant s have sai d t i me and agai n, Abl ack face i n o f f i c e i snot bl ack power .I n addi ti on to these exampl es, el ect or al po l i t i c s as ameans of real i zi ng bl ack power has taken some unexpectedturns, par t i cul ar l y i n Newark I n a c i t y wtha growngbl ackmaj ori ty popul at i on but run by an I t a l i an mnori ty government, one has a s i t uat i on comparabl e wth the c l assi ccol oni al model

bal l ot vs bul l etLeRoi J ones, wel l -known bl ack nat i onal i st andmemberof the Uni ted Brothers Newark s bl ack uni ted f ront whi ch

i s seeki ng control of the c i t y, act i vel y sought to cool outt he r i ot s whi ch devel oped after the murder of Rev Marti nLuther Ki ng J r J ones bel i eves t hat control can be wonthrough the bal l ot , not the bul l et On Apri l 12, 1968, J ones part i ci pated i n an i ntervi ewwth Newark pol i ce captai n Charl es Ki nney and AnthonyI mperi al e l eader of a l ocal ri ght-wng whi te organi zati onDuri ng the i ntervi ew J ones suggested that whi te l e f t i s t s8

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were responsi bl e f or i nst i gat i ng the r i o t s The pol i cemanthen named Students f or a Democrati c Soci ety and theNewarkCommuni tyUni onProj ect NCUP) as bei ngbehi ndthe r i o t s J ones di d not make t h i s speci f i c charge but thei nference was that he agreed Later i n t he i ntervi ewi t wassuggested that J ones and Imperi al e woul d be worki ngtogether wththe cops tomai ntai n the peaceweek l at er J ones el aborated on hi s posi t i on i n ani ntervi ewwth the Washi ngton Post Our aimi s to bri ngabout bl ack sel f -government i n Newark by 1970, J onessai d We have a membershi p that embraces every soci alarea i n Newark I t i s a wde cross- secti on of busi nessprof essi onal and pol i t i cal l i f e

I m i n favor of bl ack peopl e taki ng power by thequi ckest easi est most successf ul means they canempl oy Mal colmai d the bal l ot or the bul l et Newark i s apar t i cul ar si t uat i on where the bal l ot seem to be advan-tageous bel i eve we have to sur vi ve di dn t i nvent thewh te man What we re tryi ng to do i s deal wthhi mi n thebest way we can

Bl ackmen are not murderers What we don t wantto be are di e- er s .J ones added that he had more respect f or I mperi al e

because he doesn t l i e l i k e whi te l i beral s . I mper i al e hesai d had the mstaken understandi ng that we wanted tocome up to hi s t er r i t or y and do somethi ng That was thebasi c cl ar i f i cat i on We don t want to be bothered and I msure he doesn t want t o be bothered.

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whi te provocateurs?Fromother such f ragmentary evi dence the expl anati on

of J ones s new t act i cs appears to be compl ex buti ns tr uct i ve I t shoul d be noted par ent het i cal l y t hat a f actorwhi ch confuses the matter f urther i s found i n unconf i rmedreports ori gi nat i ng wth nei ther the pol i ce r i ght wngers ornat i onal i st s that cert ai n whi tes act ual l y were attempti ng todi s t r i but e mol otov cockt ai l s to bl acks duri ng the r i o t s I n Newark the opportuni ty exi st s f or m l i t ant bl acknat i onal i sts t o gai n control of the ci t y assumng t hat theycan avoi d bei ng wped out by the pol i ce or r i ght wngers Fromt hei r poi nt of vi ew then i t i s of cruci al importancet o buy time and maintai n the peace unt i l a nonviol entt r ansf er of power can be ef f ect ed hopeful l y i n the 1970muni ci pal el ect i ons vi ol ent confrontati on r i ght now thenat i onal i st s mght argue woul d be di sast r ous f or t hei ryoung and s t i l l rel at i vel y weakorgani zati on

I n the meantime, duri ng t hi s peri od of st al emate andwth the real power of the c i t y government and ri ght- w ngwhi tes on the wane as t hei r supporters emgrate fromtheci t y every effort woul d be mde to uni fy the bl ackcommuni ty around the aspi r i ng new l eader s and to e l imnate pot ent i al l y di srupti ve el ements Such el ementsmay der i ve f romtwo sources i ndependent pol i t i cal opera-t i ons whi ch have some bl acksupport, par t i cul ar l y one suchas N UP whi ch al so control s one of the ci t y s ei ghtanti poverty boards, and on the other hand, groups whi chadvocate armng and what may be regarded as prematurevi ol ence agai nst the establ i shment Both sources exi st i nNewarkand the essent i al questi on at i ssue i s not t hat theyar e whi te or bl ack ; ri ght le f t or apol i t i cal The poi nt i s thatthey re worki ng i n the bl ack communi ty but ar e i ndepen-dent of the group whi ch i s seeki ng control and becausethey too may grow i n st r engt h unl i ke the whi te est ab-l i shment they coul d pose l ong-term even i mmedi atet hr eat

O course as f ar as the pol i ce and Imperi al e wereconcerned, J ones s statements were very useful si nce theypubl i cl y set one group of m l i t ant s i n the bl ackcommuni tyagai nst another The cops and Imperi al e ar e al so pl aying awai ti ng game wai ti ng to expl oi t what they hope i s agrowng r i f t among Newark s m l i t ant groups But thes i t uat i on i s very much i n f l ux and i t remai ns t o be seenwhether J ones w l l maintai n the posi ti on hehas takenWhat i s strongl y suggested when t hi s dynamc i s ex-amned i s that probl em such as t hi s maybe expected toari se i n other metropol i tan ar eas as more and moreS c i t i e s f i nd themel ves wth bl ack maj ori ty popul ati ons, andthe st r uggl e f or power i s transformed fromm l i t ant rhetori ci nt o act ual practi ce

Since 1968 i s a pr esi dent i al el ect i on year i t i s natural toask what ki nd of pol i cy bl ack m l i t ant s have adopted The 0

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answer s that no uni f orm s t r a t e g y has been agreed uponSome gr oups advocat e abst ent i on, ot hers suppor t S o c i a l i s tWorker s par t y candi dat es and s t ot her s ar e a l l i e d wi t h t hevar i ous Peace and reedomparty campai gns The Bl ackPant her party i s r unni ng El dr i dge Cl eaver f or Pr esi dent Assor t ed nat i o na l i s t gr oups have c a l l e d f or a wr i t e - i n vot ef or e x i l e d ml i t ant Rober t W l l i ams , and t o t op mat t er so f f , comedi an- act i vi st Di ck Gr egor y i s r unni ng h i s owns p i r i t e d campai gn Al l of t h i s adds up t o a l ack of p o l i t i c a l d i r e c t i o n whi chmay wel l make i t eas i er f o r est abl i shment p o l i t i c i a n s t oco- opt many bl ack m l i t a n t s Sen Rober t Kennedy wassuccessf ul i n get t i ng m l i t ant s i n I ndi ana t o campai gnf o r hi m and i t i s not beyond t he r eal m of p o s s i b i l i t yt hat one of t he maj or party candi dat es may r ec ei vet he t a c i t or e x p l i c i t suppor t of one of t he m l i t a n tnat i onal organi zat i ons Ri char d Ni xon, f or exampl e, recent l y pr ocl ai med a newp o l i t i c a l al i gnment whi ch i ncl udes Republ i cans, t he newSout h, new l i b e r a l s and bl ack m l i t a n t s Accor di ng t oTheNew York Ti mes of May 17, Roy I n n i s , as s oc i at enat i onal di rect or of t he Congress of Raci al Equal i t y,descr i bed Ni xon as t he onl y presi dent i al candi dat e whounder st ood bl ack aspi rat i ons ( 3) Bl ack power as gr oup i nt egrat i on Nat han Wight ,chai rman of t he Newark Bl ack Power Conf erence, ex-pressed t h i s vi ewmost c l e a r l y i n h i s book, Bl ack Powerand Urban Unr est . Wi ght urges bl ack peopl e t o bandt oget her as gr oup t o seek ent ry i n t o t he Amer i canmai nst r eam For exampl e, he c a l l s f or or gani zed e f f o r t s bybl acks t o seek execut i ve posi t i ons i n corporat i ons, bi shop-r i c s , deanshi ps of c at hed r a l s , super i nt endenci es of s c hoo l s ,and hi gh- management posi t i ons i n banks, s t o r e s , i nvest menthouses, l egal f i r ms , c i v i c and gover nment agenci es andf a c t o r i e s . Wi ght s posi t i on d i f f e r s f rom bl ack capi t al i smor i nt egrat i on p o l i t i c s i n t hat he c a l l s f o r an or gani zedgroup e f f o r t , i nst ead of i ndi vi dual e f f o r t , t o wi n ent r y in tot he Amer i can syst em Thi s mght be regarded as si mpl yanot her versi on of et hni c p o l i t i c s ( 4) Bl ack power as bl ack cont rol of bl ack communi t i es Thi s i s t he p o l i t i c a l cent er of t he bl ack power spect r umandt he most wi del y accept ed f ormul at i on I t i s what SNCC, i np a r t , o r i g i n a l l y meant by t he te rmandhowt he Congress ofRaci al Equal i t y CORE) vi ews bl ack power t oday ti mpl i es a gr oup e f f o r t t o s ei z e t ot al cont rol of bl ackcommuni t i es f rom t he whi t e governi ng structure andbusi ness i nt er e s t s Bl ack peopl e, s a i d Fl oyd McKi ssi ck, nat i onal d i r ec t o rof CORE i n a speech J ul y 31, 1967, out l i ni ng t he group sprogram seek t o cont r ol t he educat i onal syst em t hepol i t i cal - economc syst em and t he admni st r at i on pf t h e i rown communi t i es They must cont rol t h e i r own cour t s andt h e i r own p o l i c e

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Ownershi p of busi nesses i n the ghetto must betransferred to bl ack peopl e-ei ther i ndi vi dual l y orcol l ect i vel y .The di f f i cul t y wth t hi s program i s that i t overl ooksconf l i ct i ng i nt erest s wthi n the bl ack communi ty I t doesn tspeci f y who i s to control or i n whose i nt erest Thus, i t i sopen to co-optati on by the power structure or m ydegenerate i nto bl ack capi tal i smIn the 1930s and 40s the Communi st party supportedbl ack separati smunder the sl ogan Sel f -determnati on i nthe bl ack bel t areas of Negro maj ori ty. Party t heori stsargued that bl ack peopl e f ormed a col ony and that

thefundamental task of the bl ack l i berat i on movement was t ocompl ete the bourgeoi s-demcrati c revol uti on i . e t heCi vi l War) by f ormng a separate bl ack nati on i n theSouthern states thus ending whi te domnati on and thesem-feudal status of Southernbl acks Theparty recogni zedthat theNegro petty-bourgeoi s cl ass attempti ng to pl ay ther o le of a bl ack bourgeoi sie or rul i ng cl ass has t r adi t i onal l ybeen the most aggressi ve car r i er of nati onal i sm but i tthought that the pr ol et ar i an and nat i onal i st revol uti onscoul d occur simul taneousl y, resul t i ng i n the creati on of aseparat e prol etari an bl ack state At the t ime t hi s mght havebeen termed worki ng cl ass control of the bl ack communi tyThe party l at er changed i t s l i n e and became i nt egrat i on-i s t

bl ack admni stratorsThe underl yi ng l ogi c of the Communists arguments,

however, appears to bemti vati ngwhi te rul i ng- cl ass effortsto co-opt bl ack power and f orestal l f urther urban r evol t s The power structure has apparentl y concl uded that di rectwhi te rul e of the ghettos at l east i n some i nst ances i s nol onger operati ng sat i sf actor i l y I t i s i nstead seeki ng outappropri ate bl ack groups to admni ster the col oni es Tradi -t i onal Negro l eader s are not acceptabl e havi ng beendi scr edi t ed bothwthin andwthout the bl ack communi t i esand obvi ouslyexerci si ngno real control Therefore i t i s the newbl ack el i te whi ch i r oni cal l y wascreated by both the successes and f ai l ures of the ci vi l r i ghtsmvement, to whi ch the power structure must nowturnome of the members of t hi s group are ml i tant nati on-al i sts even separat i st s They tend to be drawn f romthet r adi t i onal bl ack petty-bourgeoi s cl ass or to be upwardl ymbi l e members of the worki ng cl ass whose mbi l i ty i nsome measure was m de possi bl e by ear l y ci vi l r i ghtsvi ctor i es

But they share acommonf rust rat i on wththe f ai l ures ofthe ci vi l r i ghts movement and of tenexhi bi t a genuine desi reto improve the l ot of bl ack peopl e Because they arecommt ted ml i t ant s they al so enj oy a cert ai n credi bi l i t yand acceptance i n the ghetto 2

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I t i s these factors whi ch make t hi s group i dealadmni st rators of the ghetto They seek i mprovement , notrevol uti on Havi ng moved up on the soci al l adder they donot share the ni hi l i sm of the youthful ghetto r esi dent Because they are accepted, they al so have the pot ent i al torestore ghetto peace and t ranqui l i t y Even t he moreopportuni st i c members of t h i s group have t hei r use si ncethey wi l l work f or l aw and order i n return f or the r i ghtto control and expl oi t the ghettoI n short b ack control of the b ack communi t y i s sl owybei ng transformed i nto b ack el i t e control of the b ackcommuni t y, and the bourgeoi s-demcrati c revol uti on i sbei ngcoml eted, but i n a manner desi gned to butt ress thepower of the whi teestab i shment over theb ack ghettos.

i nt e r na l col ony 5 Bl ackpower as b ack l i berat i on wthi n the context ofa US revol uti on Thi s wng of the b ackpower mvement ,represented by the Bl ack Panthers manymembers of SN

and vari ous l ocal groups, vi ews b ack peopl e as a di spersedi nt er nal col ony of theUS . , expl oi ted both materi al l y andcul t ural l y . I t advocates an ant i col oni al st ruggl e f or sel fdetermnati on whi ch must go hand- i n-hand wth a generalrevol uti on throughout theS . t urges al l i ances wthwhi ter adi cal s and other pot ent i al l y revol uti onary segments of thewhi te popul ati on si nce accordi ng to i t s anal ysi s genui nesel f - determnati on f or b acks cannot be achi eved i n thef ramework of the present capi t al i st i meri a i smand raci smwhi ch characteri ze the US Li nks wth the revol uti onaryt h i r d worl d are al so st ressed si nce the bl ack st r uggl e w l lsupposedl y be ant i col oni al i st l i k e other nati ona l i berat i onmvement s, and di rected agai nst a common enemy US i meri a i sm

But the b ack r adi cal s wthsome excepti ons havebeenunab e to appl y t hi s anal ysi s concrete yor transf ormt i ntoa programf or st r uggl e There i s a wdespread f eel i ng amongml i t ant s that t hi s i s theway t hi ngs ought to be but fewaresure as towhy or howtomake i t real i t y

For exampl e, there has been no e aborati on of ther el at i onshi p between a general S . revol uti on and theb ack nati ona l i berat i on st ruggl e . Onl y the theori es of theorthodox whi te le f t are avai l abl e but these are expl i ci t l yrej ected by b ackml i t ant s The questi on of thi rd worl d l i nk-ups has al so presenteddi f f i cul t i es Asi de f romt r i ps to t hi rd worl d countri es ormeeti ngs wth t hi r d worl d r epr esent at i ves the onl yprogramdeve oped f or a di r ect l i nk-up i s found i n the Panthers cal lf or a UN-supervi sed b ack pl ebi sci t e and the st at i oni ng ofUNobservers i nS . ci t i es nd even t hi s i s si ml y avari at i on on Mal col mX s pl an i n 1964 to secure UNi nterventi on.

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Ani ndi r ect l i nk to the thi rd worl d exi sts i n the bl ackanti war movement Most m l i t ant bl ack anti war acti vi stsopenl y endorse revol uti onary l i ber at i on s t r uggl es aroundthe worl d whi l e opposi ng i mper i al i st wars of aggressi onThese acti vi sts al so have a potenti al base fromwhi ch tooperate For exampl e, two days before Presi dent J ohnsonannounced hi s noncandi dacy, the Phi l adel phi a Tri bune, abl ack communi ty newspaper, compl eted a seven-weekV etnamBal l ot i n whi ch 84. 5 of those pol l ed favored aget out of Vi etnam posi t i on Onl y 11avored a stopthe bombi ng-negoti ate posi t i on and fewer than supported what was thenU pol i cy Unfortunatel y, t h i s sentiment by and l ar ge has not beentransformed i nto organi zati on or acti on The bl ack anti war

movement has suffered fromopportuni smand weak ori nef f ect i ve organi zi ng ef forts Anewgroup, the Nati onalBl ack Anti war Anti draft Uni on, headed by SNCC' s J ohnWl son, hopes to sol ve some of these probl em, but i t i s s t i l ltooyoung to have hadany noti ceabl e ef f ect Asi de fromthese probl em the pressure of events i s al soovertaki ng bl ack r adi cal s On the one si de they are f aci ngthe prospect of i ncreasi ng r epr essi on on the other there i sthe escal at i ng anger and ni hi l i sm i n the ghettos Bl ackpower di d i n some sense speak t o the anger and f rustr at i onof urban msses and i ncreased t hei r ml i tance Thei r

response has been bi gger and better r ebel l i ons The out-breaks ar e pol i t i cal i n that they cl ear l y chal l enge propertyr i ght s but bl ack power m l i t ant s have not brought th i spol i t i cal undertone i nto consci ous focus except amongbl ack students nor have they been abl e to deal wth ther esul t i ng repressi on and co-optati on I nst ead those whohavenot been co-opted, j ai l ed or k i l l e d have tended to yi el dto n i h i l i s mand fatal i smThe i nabi l i t y of the whi te l ef t to ser i ousl y deal wthraci smand repressi on has accel erated t h i s process Manybl ack m l i t ant s i ncr easi ngl y bel i eve that there simpl y are noef f ect i ve revol uti onary el ements i n the whi te popul ati onWhi te students have l argel y confi ned themel ves to thecampuses, where the l ef t has grown stronger and have notorgani zed poor whi tes or whi teworkers, groups whi chhavesimpl y per si st ed i n t hei r support of US raci sm andimperi al i smThe ol der mddl e-cl ass whi te l e f t has optedoutby j oi ni ngwth i t se l f i n a mddl e-cl ass anti warmovement orthrown i n wth the l i beral s i n supporti ng McCarthy Ahandful of whi te l e f t i s t s mi ntai n the proper r het or i calposture vis -a-v is the bl acks but they aren t abl e to producethegoods

So Stokel y Carmchael , under these conf l i ct i ng pr es -sures announces that whi tes are the enemy or at besti r r el evant He organi zes bl ack uni ted fronts whose uni tyconsi st s i n shared bl ackness and concern f or sur vi val Andsur vi val qui ckl y becomes the uppermost concernSoci al i smbecomes i r r el evant f or Carmchael because hef or esees a race war bl ack agai nst whi te He does not14

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EacrNLara

ant i c i pat e any c l a s s s t r u gg l e i n t he or t hodox s e n s e hencec l a s s a na l y s i s has no use ToCarmchael a l l bl acks f o r monec l a s s t he hunt ed l l whi t es f o r m anot her c l a s s t hehunt ers and t h e i r accompl i ces Not a l l m l i t a n t l ea de r s have yi el ded t o t h e s e pressures Even wi t hi n t he same or gani zat i on t her e ar e di f f er ences HRap Br own present chai r man of SNCC and a veteran ofwhi t e Amer i ca s j a i l s cont ends that t s not pos s i bl e t oj udge a r evol ut i onar y by t he col or of hi s s k i n At l a s tOct ober s Guar di an meet i ng Brown expressed hi s posi t i on We don t need [ whi t e] l i b e r a l s we need r evol ut i on-a r i e s So t he quest i on r e a l l y bec omes whet her youchoose t o be an oppressor or a r evol ut i onar y And i f youchoose t o be an oppressor then you a r e my enemy Notbecause you ar e whi t e but because you choose t o oppressm

Br own a manwho has ampl e reason t o be b i t t e r a ga i ns twhi t es has nevert hel ess f requent l y cont ended and s tdoes t hat t he r evol ut i onar y f o r c e s and t h e i r a l l i e s must bej udged by t he same st andards commtmnt and act i on But1

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these ar e tough standards to meet and Brown too, i sknown to have growng doubts about t he exi stence ofrevol uti onary f orces both wthi n and wthout the bl ackcommuni ti es

f ear of genoci deCarmchael bel i eves the bl acks wi l l wn the proj ectedrace war, but there i s an omnousl y growng concern wthdeat h, genoci de and extermnati on mong bl ack ml i t an t s

Ki ng s assassi nat i on added newweight to th is concern Shortl y after Ki ng s death and onl y a fewhours beforehe was to be shot and j ai l ed, El dri dge Cl eaver , mni ster ofi nformti on of the Bl ack Panthers, sai d Thedeathof D .Ki ng si gnal s the end of an era and the begi nni ng of ate r r ib le and bl oody chapter that m y remi n unwi ttenbecause therem y beno scr i be l e f t to captureon paper thehol ocaust to come.Ear l i er C eaver had expressed awdespread vi ewwhenhewrote i n the y i ssue of Ramparts I f the whi temothercountry i s to have vi ctory over the bl ack col ony i t i s t heduty of bl ack r evol ut i onar i es to i nsur e that the i mper i al i stsr ecei ve nomore thana Pyrrhi c vi ct or y, wri tten i n thebl oodof what Ameri camght have become

nat i onal organi zati on needed t i s not possi bl e to say wthcertai ntywhat wi l l becomeof the bl ack l i ber at i on movement i n the comngmonths

and years I t m y devel op t hat f ear of mssi ve or sel ect i verepressi onwas overrated At th i s poi nt the si gns are uncl ear Despi te these gl oom prognosti cati ons i t shoul d not be

overl ooked as one ml i t ant commentedr ecent l y, that thebl ack power movement and the urban r evol t s have i nsuredthat there are fewbl ackmen todaywhoar e not po l i t i ca l l yconsci ous . The same comment appl i es to cul t ur al aware-ness and act i vi t i es I n bl ack communi ti es today cul t ur alact i vi t i es ri val the Harl em renai ssance of the 1920s Certai nl y cul t ur al nati onal i sm as a factor wthi n thepol i t i cal st r uggl e, has been a posi t i ve f orce A ready here and there, are si gns poi nti ng toward thepost bl ack-power era There i s i ncreased thi nki ng aboutcr eat i ng or forgi ng one of the exi st i ng bl ack groups i nto nati onal organi zati on wth consi stent r adi cal or r evol u-t i onary programand real roots i n bl ack communi ti es Forbl ack r adi cal s the str at egi c probl emto be sol ved l i e s i nf i ndi ng ther i ght r el at i onshi p between the nati onal and cl ass

aspects of the bl ack movement I n the past , r adi cal s haveswung f romone pol e to another but i t i s becomng evercl ear er that at nei ther extreme can awnni ng strategy or anef f ect i ve program for the bl ack l i ber at i on movement befound. 6

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t i s the recogni ti on of t hi s f act whi ch underl i es theth nki ng of the Bl ack Panthers e recogni ze, sai dEl dri dge Cl eaver i n an i ntervi ewwth t hi s wr i t er publ i shedi n the Guardi an Apri l 13 1968, the probl empresented tobl ack peopl e by the economc systemthe capi t al i st economc systemerepudi ate the capi t al i s t economc systemerecogni ze the cl ass nature of the capi t al i s t economcsystem and we recogni ze t h dynamcs i nvol ved i n thecapi t al i s t system At the sam t i m we recogni ze thenati onal character of our st r uggl e e recogni ze the factthat we have been oppressed becausewe ar e bl ack peopl eeven thoughweknowt h i s oppressi on was for the purposeof expl oi tati on ehave to deal wthbothexpl oi tati on andraci al oppressi on and we don t th nk you can achi eve aproper bal ance bynegl ecti ngone or the other.Because of the st r ess l ai d on the nati onal questi on thePanthers ar e pot ent i al l y abl e to mbi l i ze a very wdespectrum of the bl ack popul at i on Because they al sounderstand the nature of c l ass expl oi tat i on i nS soci et ythe Panthers have been abl e to work wth a l l i e s outsi de thebl ack communi tyand i denti fy enemes w thi n i t

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The Panther str tegy and organi zati on re f ar fromperfect The group s al so be ngsystem ti c l l y harassedanddestroyedby theOakland pol i ce ThePanthersmaywel l bewped out but the hi story of st r uggl es i n other countri essuggest s t hat af t er cer t ai n poi nt l i ber at i on st r uggl edevel ops conti nui ty wh ch s i ndependent of i ndi vi dual sor organi zati ons

Th s s what J i morman meant whenherecentl y woteThe techni c l destructi on of si ngl e organi zati on such sSN woul d be unfortunate but t can no mre stop thebl ack l i ber at i on mvement than themurder of CheGuevaracan stemthe t i de of l i ber at i on i n Lati nAmeri ca Wdo notdesp i r or f ear the future Toomanybrothers have takenup the cry Freedomor Death

May 1968

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p r t thefordfound ti onndl c

power

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thepol i t i csof thefordfoundati onone of the mst i mortant though l east publ i ci zedorgani zati ons i n the c i v i l r i ght s movement today i s themul t i m l l i on dol l ar Ford Foundati onHoused i n an ul t r a mdern headquarters bui l di ng onEast 43rd St n ework Ci t y the Foundati on pl ays

key part i n f i nanci ngand i nfl uencing almst l l mjor i v i lr i ght s groups i ncl udi ng the Congress of Raci al Equal i tySouthern Chri sti an Leadershi p Conference Nati onal UrbanLeague and Nati onal Associ ati on f or the Advancemnt ofCol ored Peopl e Worki ng di rect l y or i ndi rect l y through these organi za-

t i ons as wel l as other nati onal and l ocal groups theFoundati on hopes to channel and control the bl ackl i berat i on movement i n an ef for t to f or estal l f uture urbanr ebel l i ons The Foundati on cat al ogs i t s program and grants undersuch headi ngs as publ i c af f ai rs educati on sci ence andengi neer i ng humni ti es and the arts i nt er nat i onal t rai ni ngand research economc devel opmnt and admni strati onpopul ati on i nternati onal af f ai r s and overseas devel opmnt The l i s t reads l i k e sel ect i on f romthe courses offered by good l i ber al arts col l ege Race probl ems ar e l i s t e d as asubcl ass of publ i c a f fa i r s Under the l eadershi p of McGeorge Bundy formrSpeci al Assi stant to the Presi dent f or Nati onal Securi ty

Af f ai r s the Ford Foundati on i n 1966made an i mortantdeci si on t o expand i t s act i vi t i es i n the bl ack f reedommvemnt Pri or to that tim the Foundati on had l i m t e di t s act i vi t i es amongbl ack Amri cans to t r adi t i onal educa-t i onal e f for ts and research pr oj ect s desi gned to bri ngmrebl acks i nto the m ddl e cl ass mi nstreamThe 1966deci si onwas a di r ect response to urbanr evol t s whi chwere growngboth i n s i ze and f requency I t was a l ogi cal extensi onof anear l i er deci si on to act i vel y enter the pol i t i cal arena

Establ i shed i n 1936 by Henry and Edsel Ford theFoundati on i n i t i a l l y made grants l ar gel y to Mchi ganchar i t abl e and educati onal i nst i tut i ons Accordi ng to i t scharter the purpose of the organi zati on i s To r ecei ve andadmni ster funds f or sci ent i f i c educati onal and char i t abl epurposes l l f or the publ i c wel f ar e and f or no other22

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purposes Most of the Foundati on s i ncome was, ands t i l l i s deri ved f romi t s pr i nci pal asset , cl ass nonvoti ngstock i n the Ford Motor Co I n 1950, servi ng as atax-exempt out l et f or war prof i t s , the Foundati on expan-ded i nto a nati onal organi zati on, and i t s act i vi t i es qui ckl yspread throughout the US andsome78 f orei gn countri es I n a speci al Board of Trustees report prepared at t hatti me, the Foundati on announced i t s i ntenti on to becomeact i ve i n pub i c af f ai rs by support[i ng] act i vi t i es desi gnedt o secure gr eat er al l egi ance to the basi c pr i nci pl es off reedomand democracy i n the sol uti on of the i ns i s t entprob em of an ever changi ng soci ety. Thi svague mndate,whi ch at f i r s t meant l i t t l e el se thanunderwi ti nge f f o r t s toi mprove pub i c admni strati on, was gradual l y brought i ntosharper focus as the Foundati on experimnted wth newprogram foundati on i nt erest shi f t s

I n 1962, yke Brown, then a vi ce presi dent wthrespons i bi l i t y for pub i c af f ai rs program, coul d wri te thatthe Foundati on s i nt erest had s hi f t ed f rommanagementand pub i c admni strati on to pol i cy and the pol i t i calprocess . He added that these program tended tobecomei ncr easi ngl y acti on-rather than research-ori ented whi chmeant that the Foundati on had to be prepared to takecer t ai n pol i t i cal r i s ks .Howan of f i ci al of a supposedl y i ndependent, non-par t i san, nonpol i t i cal phi l anthropi c i ns t i t ut i on coul d j us t i f y

such a statemnt can be understood si mpl y by examni nghowthe Foundati on vi ews i t s rel at i onshi p to the mj orpol i t i cal part i es and the government Simpl y st at ed, theFoundati on sees i t s e l f as a mdi ator whi ch shows Demo-crats and Repub i cans t hei r common i nt erest s and reasonsfor cooperati ng For exampl e, the Foundati on has spon-sored many nonparti san conferences of s tate l egi s l at orsand of f i ci al s wth the purpose of s t ress i ng nonpol i ti calconsi derati on of commonprob em Such bi part i san act i vi -t i e s i nsure the smooth functi oni ng of s tate and l ocalpol i t i cal mchi nery by reduci ng tensi ons and other sourcesof conf l i ct whi chmght upset theUS corporate soci et y The rol e of the pri vat e foundati on vi s - a- vi s the govern-ment was made expl i ci t by Henry T Heal d, Bundy spredecessor as presi dent of the Ford Foundati on, i n aspeech at Col umbi a Uni versi ty on March 1965 I n t hi scountry, pr i vat el y supported i ns t i t ut i ons may serve thepubl i c need as f ul l y as publ i cl y supported ones, Heal dsai d More often than not, they work s i de by s i de i nservi ng the same need.Heal d went on to s ta te that, through t hei r act i vi t i es ,pri vat e foundati ons can serve as a ki nd of advance guard,pavi ng the way f or l at er government act i vi t y, not onl y i nthe f i el ds of educati on and sci ent i f i c research but al so i n

23

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t he area of soci al wel fare. Thus the pr i vat e foundati onc n act as an i nstrument of soci al i nnovati onand control i nareas whi ch the government may not be abl e t o penetrate

bundy kennedyThi s i s the l i n e of Foundati on thi nki ng whi ch con

fronted Bundy s he stepped f rom hi s l i t t l e StateDepartment i n the Whi te House at the begi nni ngof 1966ndBundy was i deal l y sui ted to devel opi ng f urther thi sway of thi nki ng Fromhi s ye rs of ser vi ng the US powerstructure Bundy had devel oped keen appreci ati onof thecompl exi ti es i nvol ved i n pol i t i cal mani pul ati on and theseemngl y contradi ctory pol i ci es whi ch often must bepursuedsi mul taneousl y i n order to obtai n gi ven endBundy summar i zed hi s pol i t i cal outl ook i n n ar t ic leent i t l ed The End of Ei ther/Or publ i shed i n J anuary1967 i n the magazi ne Forei gn Af f ai r s I n the ar t ic le Bundy i r s t asserts th t forei gn pol i cy deci si ons are r el at ed to US n ti on l i nt er ests al though he does not state who deter-mnes these i nt er est s or sets pr i or i t i es He then goes on t o24

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c r i t i c i z e those who vi ewforei gn pol i cy opti ons i n term ofsimpl e extremes For twenty years from1940 to 1960 thestandard pattern of di scussi onon f orei gn pol i cy was t hat ofei t her / or I sol at i on or I nterventi on Europe or Asi a Wal l aceor Byrnes, Marshal l Pl an or Bust SE TOor Neutral i sm theN or Power Pol i t i cs and always, i nsi st ent l y ant i -Communismor accommodat i onwthCommuni sts .The worl d i s not so si mpl e Bundy wrote, and wthJ ohn F Kennedy we enter a newage Over and over he[Kennedy] i nsi st ed on the doubl e asser t i on of pol i ci eswhi ch stood i n surface contradi cti on wth each other r esi st ance to tyranny and r el ent l ess pursui t of accommoda-ti on; rei nforcement of defense and new l eadershi p fordi sarmament ; counter-i nsurgency and the Peace Corps ;openi ngs to the l e f t but no cl osed doors to the reasonabl er i ght ; an Al l i ance for Progress and unremtti ng opposi ti onto Castro ; i n sum the ol i ve branch and the arrows

Bundy l earned t hat i t i s necessary toworkboth si des ofthe st r eet i n order to secure and expand the Ameri canempi re Thus he was a staunch supporter of Kennedy s andJ ohnson s war pol i ci es i n V etnamwhi l e at the same timest r essi ng the necessi ty of keepi ng channel s open to theSovi et Uni on

Such a manwas i deal l y sui ted to workwth and ai d ci vi lr i ght s groups, i ncl udi ng bl ack power advocates, whi l e at thesame time the government i s armng and prepari ng to useforce to suppress the bl ack communi t i es The seemngcontradi cti on her e t o useBundy s term i s onl y a surfacemani festati on The Ford Foundati on s i nt er est i n the ci vi l r i ght smovement was announced by Bundy at the 1966 annualbanquet of the Nati onal Urban League i n Phi l adel phi a Webel i eve he sai d that f u l l domest i c equal i ty for a l lAmeri can Negroes i s nowthe most urgent concern of thi scountry. More speci f i cal l y : the qual i t y of our c i t i e s i si nescapabl y the busi ness of al l of us . Many whi tesr ecogni ze he conti nued, that no one can run theAmeri can c i t y by Bl ack Power al one the reason bei ng hesuggested at a l at er poi nt that urban bl ackmaj or i t i es woul ds t i l l be faced wth whi te maj or i t i es i n the State Houses andthe US Congress But i f the bl acks burn the ci t i es then hestated i t woul d be the whi te man s f aul t and the whi teman s compani es wi l l have to take the l osses . Whi teAmeri ca i s not so stupi d as not to real i ze t hi s Bundyassured theUrban Leaguers

cool i ng t he ml i t ant sAnother i mportant devel opment i n thesummer of t hat

year was an unpubl i ci zed meeti ng between Foundati onof f i ci al s and r epr esent at i ves of the Nati onal Associ ati on f orthe Advancement of Col ored Peopl e (NAACP), the Urban25

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League and other c i v i l r i ght s groups The meeti ng tookpl ace at Foundati on headquarters i n NewYork, andreportedl y the di scuss i on centered on howto deal wthbl ack power and i sol ate the Student Nonvi ol ent Coordi nat-i ng Commttee (SNCC), group whi ch was becomngi nc r easi ngl y m l i t ant

I n ear l y 1967 the Foundati onmade grants of severalhundred thousand dol l ar s t o the NAACPand the UrbanLeague ewmonths l at er theFoundati ongave 1 ml l i onto the NAACP Legal Defense Fund' s newNati onal Of f i cef or the Ri ghts of I ndi gents But f or the Foundati on' spurposes, these groups were l ess than sat i s f act or y s i ncethere was ser i ous doubt as to howmuch control theyexerci sed over the young m l i t ant s and f rustrated ghettobl acks who were l i kel y to be heavi ng mol otov cockt ai l sduri ng the summer I f i t s ef fo r ts to keep the l i d on theci t i es were to succeed, the Foundati on must somehowattempt to penetrate ml i t ant organi zati ons whi ch werebel i eved to wel d some i nf l uence over the angry youngbl acks of the ghettos siml ar to rand corpThe i r s t move i n t hi s di rec t i on occurred i n May, 1967,

when theFoundati ongranted 500,000to theMetropol i tanAppl i ed Research Center (MARC), a newy created or gani -zati on i n NewYork wth a ml i tant-soundi ng programheaded by Dr Kenneth B Cl ark, psychol ogy professorwho at one t ime was associ at ed wthHarl ems anti -povertyprogramWhen i t was organi zed the previ ous March, MARCannounced that i t s purposewas to pi oneer i n research andacti on i n behal f of the powerl ess urban poor i n Northernmetropol i tan areas . I nt er est i ngl y, i n a brochure MARCcompared i t sel f wth the sem-governmental RANDCorpor-ati on whi ch does research for the ai r f orce The di f ferencebetween the two, accordi ng to thebrochure, i s thatM Ri s not associ ated wth the government, nor i s i t l i mted toresearch I t i s al so an acti on organi zati onOne of theMARCs f i r s t acti ons was tonameRoy I nni s,then chai rman of the ml i t ant Harl em chapter of theCongress of Raci al Equal i ty (CORE), as i t s i r s t c i v i l r i ght s f el l ow- i n- r es i dence . The My 11 announcement al sostated that the Rev Marti n Luther Ki ng J r presi dent ofthe Southern Chri sti an Leadershi p Conference, and RevAndrewYoung, one of Ki ng' s chi ef ai des, had agreedtotake part i n the fel l owshi pprogram

I nni s, nowassoc i at e nati onal di rector of CORE recei veda si x-month f el l owshj p~ The c i v i l r i ght s f el l owshi ps ,wrote TheNewYork Times My 12, aredesi gned to gi vet he l eader s an opportuni ty to eval uate t hei r program andt ac t i c s and undertake l ong-range pl anni ng. MARCs staf fwas to ai d the l eader s i n t hei r st udi es, and the f el l ows wereto draw sal ar i es equal to those they recei ved fromt hei rorgani zati ons or frompr i vat e empl oyment 26

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Cl ark sai d he had al so di scussed f el l owshi ps w th Fl oydMcKi ssi ck nati onal di rector of CORE Stokel y Carmchaelthen chai rman of SNCC Whi tney Young of the UrbanLeague and Roy Wl ki ns of the N CP

M RCssecret meeti ng

M RCs next move was to cal l a secret meeti ng of i v i lr i ght s l eader s f or May 27 The meeti ng was hel d at thehome of D Cl ark Subsequentl y another such meeti ng washel d J une 13 at a Suf f er n Y motel between Cl ark andl eader s of ni ne maj or c i v i l r i ght s groups At the concl usi onof that meeti ng Cl ark announced j oi nt ef for t to cal mCl evel and s rac i al tensi on He sai d the underl yi ng causes ofunrest and despai r among urban ghetto Negroes as wel l ascl ear i ndi cati ons of t hei r gri m soberi ng and cos t l y conse-quences are found i n c l assi c formi n Cl evel and.

Cl ark di d not menti on that the Ford Foundati on hadbeen tryi ng to cal m Cl evel and s i nce 1961 by f i nanci ngvari ous l ocal research and acti on pr oj ect s But Cl evel andbl ew up i n 1966 and f urther rumbl i ngs were heard i n theear l y spri ng of 196727

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Cl ear l y a newapproach was needed i n Cl evel and andthe stage was set f or theFoundati on' s f i r s t di r ect grant to aml i t ant group-the Cl evel and chapter of CORE TheFoundati onannounced J ul y 14 that i t was gi vi ng 175,000to the Speci al Purposes Fund of CORE to be used f ortrai ni ng of Cl evel and youth and adul t commni ty work-ers voter regi str at i on ef f ort s expl orati on of economc-devel opmnt program, and attemts to imrove programpl anni ngamongci vi l r i ght s groups. I n expl ai ni ng the gr antBundy sai d that Foundati on staf f and consul tants hadbeeni nvest i gat i ng Cl evel and f or sommnths . I n f act he sai di t was predi cti ons of newvi ol ence i n the ci t y t hat l ed toour f i r s t st af f vi si t s i nMarchbusinessl i ke arrangemntApparentl y real i zi ng that the grant mght gi ve the

imressi on of a cl ose r el at i onshi p devel opi ng between theFoundati on and CORE Bundy added The nati onalof f i cers of COREhave deal t wth us on thi s mtter i n abusi nessl i ke way, and nei ther M Fl oyd McKi ssi ck nor supposes that thi s grant requi res the two of us-or ourorgani zati ons-to agree on a l l publ i c questi ons I t doesr equi r e us both towork together i n support of the peacefuland constructi ve e f f o r t s of COREs Cl evel and l eader shi pand that i s what wepl an to do.

I t mst be sai d that CORE was vul nerabl e t o suchcorporate penetrati on I n the f i r s t pl ace they neededmoney Fl oyd McKi ssi ck i n 1966 had become nati onaldi r ect or of an organi zati on whi ch was several hundredthousand dol l ars i n debt and hi s espousal of bl ack powerscared awaypotenti al f i nanci al supporters

Secondl y, COREs ml i tant r het or i c but reformst def i ni -t i on of bl ack power as siml y bl ack control of bl ackcommni ti es appeal ed to foundati on of f i ci al s who wereseeki ng j ust those qual i t i es i n a bl ack organi zati on whi chhopeful l y coul d tam the ghettos Fromthe Foundati on' spoi nt of vi ew ol d- styl e mderate l eader s no l onger exer -c i sed any real control whi l e genuinebl ack r adi cal s were toodangerous CORE f i t the b i l l because i t s tal k about bl ackrevol uti on was bel i eved to appeal to di scontented bl ackswhi l e i t s programof achi evi ng bl ackpower throughmssi vei nj ect i ons of governmntal , busi ness andFoundati on ai dseemngl y opened thewayfor conti nued corporatedomna,ti on of bl ackcommni ti es bymans of a newbl ack el i t e Surpr i s i ngl y to som, COREs programas el aboratedbyFl oydMcKi ssi ck l ast J ul y i s qui te si m l ar to the approachof the Metropol i tan Appl i ed Research Center MARC)Both organi zati ons see themel ves as i ntermdi ari es whoserol e i s to negoti ate wth the power structure onbehal f ofbl acks and the poor general l y Both suggest t hat mregovernmnt and pr i vat e ai d i s necessary and bothseek togai n admssi on f or poor bl acks and whi tes i nto the present28

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economc and p o l i t i c a l structure of US soci et y McKi ss i ck,who l a s t f l l became t he second CORE o f f i c i a l t o accept aM R f el l owshi p, c r i t i c i z e d capi t al i sm but onl y becausebl ack peopl e ar e not al l owed t o par t i ci pat e f u l l y i n i t The For d Foundat i on coul d appar ent l y vi ew i t s grant t oCl evel and CORE as a success Ther e was no r e b e l l i o n i nCl evel and, and, as t he J an 6 i s s u e of Busi ness Weeksuggest ed, money gi ven t o a bl ack m l i t a n t gr oup hel pedt o e l e c t a Negr o moder at e as mayor

movi ng i n t o harl emHavi ng pr oved success f ul i n Cl evel and, t he For d Found-at i on began expl or i ng ot her ways of ensur i ng ur bant r anqui l i t y I n Mar ch, 1967, f ol l owi ng a year ofdemonst r at i ons and boycot t s cent er i ng ar ound communi tycont r ol of s c ho o l s , t he Har l emchapt er of COREpr oposedt hat an i ndependent school boar d be est abl i shed f o rHar l em Accor di ng t o t he pr oposal , i nt egr at i on had f a i l e d

and t he onl y way t o achi eve qual i t y educat i on f or Har l emsyout h was t hr ough communi ty cont r ol of i t s school s Har l emCORE s et up a Comm t t ee f o r Autonomous Har l emSchool D i s t r i c t and began or gani zi ng suppor t f or i t spr oposal The f ol l owi ng November , Bundy recommended t hafNewYor k' s school systembe decent r al i zed into 3 t o 60sem - aut onomous l o c al d i s t r i c t s Bundy had been namedhead of a s p ec i a l comm t t ee on decent r al i zat i on at t he endof Apr i l a f t e r t he s t a t e l e g i s l a t u r e d i r e c t e d Mayor J ohnLi ndsay t o submt a decent r al i zat i on pl an by Dec i f t hec i t y was t o qual i f y f or more s t a t e a i d Li ndsay i n s i s t e d t h a tdecent r al i zat i on was not mer el y an admni s t r at i ve orbudget ar y de vi c e , but a means t o advance t he q u a l i t y ofeducat i on f o r l l our chi l dr en and method of i nsur i ngcommuni ty par t i ci pat i on i n achi evi ng t h a t goal .Bundy' s pr oposal woul d al l ow f or not one but possi bl ys e v e r a l school boar ds f or Har l em Har l emCORE s schoolboar d comm t t ee therefore f ound i t s e l f i n t he cur i ousposi t i on of bei ng on t he same s i d e as TheNewYork Ti mesi n g i v i n g c r i t i c a l suppor t t o t he Bundy p l a n , whi l e bot h t heNew York C i t y Boar d of Educat i on and t he Uni t edFeder at i on of Teacher s opposed i t Al t hough t he Bundy pl an i s s t bei ng debat ed, t agai nshows t he Foundat i on' s wi l l i ngness t o make smal l a l t e r a -t i o n s i n t he l o c a l s t a t us quo i n or der t o i nsur e t r a n q u i l i t ywhi l e mai nt ai ni ng t he over a l l bal ance of power det r oi t says noThe Foundat i onat t empt ed t o pl ay a s i m l a r r o l e i n i t soffer of 100, 000 t o a Det r oi t bl ack m l i t a n t gr oup, t heFeder at i on f or Sel f - Det ermnat i on The f eder at i on was s etup f ol l owi ng t he s ummer , 1967 r e b e l l i o n and appeal ed f orf i n a n c i a l suppor t t o t he NewDet r oi t Comm t t ee ( NDC) ,

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a l s o or gani zed a f t e r t he r ev o l t w t h t he pur pose ofr ebui l di ng and pr event i ng future upr i s i ngs Foundat i onboard member enry Ford al so member of t he NDRi val r y devel oped bet ween t he f eder at i on and a moremoder at e group, both seeki ng f unds t o reconstruct t hebl ack communi ty The Foundat i on dea l t w t h t he pr obl emby of f er i ng bot h gr oups 100, 000 But t he f eder at i on vot edt o r e j e c t t he of f er because of a st i pul at i on t h a t t he spendi ngof t he money be super vi sed by an over seer appoi nt ed byt he ND Sel f - det ermnat i on means bl ack control of bl ackcommuni t i es, s a i d ev Al ber t Cl eage, head of t hef eder at i on, i n r e j e c t i n g t he money nt e r e s t i ngl y ORE SMcKi ssi ck f l e w t o Det r oi t t o endorse Cl eage' s st and The Foundat i onwas more successf ul i n i t s e f f o r t s t o a i dMar t i n Lut her Ki ng' s Sout her n Chr i st i an Leader shi p Con-f er ence (SCLC) and qui t e possi bl y p a r t i a l l y under wr i t eKi ng' s pl ans f or massi ve demonst r at i ons i n Washi ngt on i nt he spr i ng of 1968 S L had been i n f i n a n c i a l t r oubl es i n c e Ki ng stated hi s opposi t i on t o t he Vi et nam war l a s tyear l i nks w th sc l c

Fol l ow ng t he summer r ebel l i ons Ki ng announced pl ansf or a massi ve c i v i l di sobedi ence campai gn i n maj or c i t i e si n an e f f o r t t o a v e r t cont i nued urban vi ol ence At t he

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begi nni ng of J anuar y i t was di s c l os ed t hat t he c i v i ldi sobedi ence act i on w i l l cent er on Washi ngt on, and t h a tSCLC s t a f f members w i l l be assi gned t o ni ne c i t i e s and s i xr u r a l areas t o mobi l i ze peopl e f or t he demonst r at i on i n t hec ap i t a l Two days l a t e r t he ord Foundat i on announced agr ant of 230, 000 t o SCLC t o be used t o t r a i n bl ackm n i s t e r s i n urban l eader shi p and hel p them s t a r t l oc alpr ogr ams t o deal wi t h t he c r i s i s i n t he c i t i e s . Under t het erms of t he grant SCLC w i l l conduct sem nar s f or about150 m n i s t e r s The sem nar s ar e t o be hel d i n 15 c i t i e s andr un i n cooper at i on wi t h none ot her t han t he Met r opol i t anAppl i ed Research Cent er corporate ameri ca si gns on

For d' s pi oneer i ng e f f o r t s i n t he bl ack movement and t heghettos wer e qui ckl y f ol l owed by Amer i ca' s corporat i st s Some 50 whi t e- owned cor por at i ons hel ped f i nanceNewar k' s Bl ack Power Conf er ence l a s t J u l y At t he end oft h a t month an UrbanCoal i t i on- t ermed t he Ant i =Ri ot er sby Busi ness Week was organi zed i n Washi ngt on Thec o a l i t i o n ( Guar di an, J an 13, 1968) i ncl udes b i g - c i t ymayor s, l abor o f f i c i a l s , busi ness f i g u r e s and Foundat i onpersonnel ( i ncl udi ng Henr y Ford I I The c o a l i t i o n nat i on- wi de i n scope and i t s purpose i s t o ai d p r i v a t ei ndust r y' s penet r at i on and paci f i cat i on of t he ghet t os I t has become i ncr easi ngl y c l ea r t o t he corporate e l i t et hat wher e t he ant i - pover t y program had f a i l e d i n c o n t r o l -l i n g rebel l i ous bl ack communi t i es, per haps busi ness coul dsucceed Thi s i dea was st r engt hened by st at ement s f r ombl ack l eader s such as MARC s Kennet h Cl a r k , whodecl ar edt h a t Busi ness and i ndust r y ar e our l a s t hope because theyar e t he most r e a l i s t i c el ement s of our soci et y . TheNat i onal Ur ban League' s Whi t ney Youngadded, at a recentmeet i ng of t he Nat i onal I n dus t r i a l Conf erence Board, t hatThe Amer i can busi ness communi ty must work t h i ngs outwi t h t he Negr o communi ty i n much t he same way i twor ked t h i ngs out wi t h t he l abor movement

J anuar y, 1968

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theguardi an an i ndependent r adi calnewspaper di st ri but ed nat i onal l y f i r s tpubl i shed the mat eri al i n this pamph et as as er i es of weekl y a r t i c l e s Response t o t hea r t i c l e s was hi ghl y f avorabl e ref l ect i ng ademand f or t he pamph et i t s e l f I t i s t hesecond i n a pr oj ect ed s er i es of Guardi anpamph ets onw del y di f fer ing subj ect s Thet i t l e s

1 1 Pocket Manual on Draf t Resi st anceby KenCl oke

Si ngl e copi es 40d 10- 50 copi es@35d 51- 100 copi es @3 d1 2

Di al ect i cs of Bl ack Power

by Robert L Al l enSi ngl e copi es @354 3 copi es 110- 50 copi es @3 d

Order f romt he Guardi an 197E 4th St wYork N Y 1 9

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I n t e r e s t e d i n t he bl ack l i b e r a t i o n s t r uggl e?So i s t heweekl y Guar di an, Amer i ca s l eadi ng i ndependent r adi c a lnewspaper We suppor t t he s t r uggl e i n al l i t s di mensi ons, and t oemphasi ze our suppor t we o f f e r you t he Guar di an at a s pec i a li nt r oductor y r a t e -A ONE YE R SUBSCRPTION R5 as av i ng of 2 I f you r e ast udent o r GI , o f c our s e , you can have t hesubscr i pt i on f o r onl y 3 . 50

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robert l l e n a s ta f f wr i t er f or the Guardi ans i nce J anuar y 967 has l ong been act i ve i n t hemeri canr adi cal movement especi al l y i n draftr esi st ance and i n t he bl ack l i berat i on st r uggl e He st udi ed mathemati cs at Morehouse Col l egei n At l ant a and took an A i n soci ol ogy f romt he ew School f or Soci al Research i n ew