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[121] 4 The Seventies: Becoming Communists Socialism developed in the nineteenth century as a vision that would offer an alternative to capitalist exploitation. Karl Marx laid out one of its most famous versions in the Communist Manifesto, published in 1848. When V. I. Lenin led the Russian Revolution in 1917, the theory of Marxism-Leninism arose, stressing the role of a communist party as central to building socialism. Communist parties developed in many countries around the world, including the United States. Beginning in the 1930s, the Communist Party USA energized the labor movement, became the backbone of many unions, and then faced intense repression during the McCarthy era of the 1950s. In 1949, Mao Tse-tung’s Communist Party began to build a socialist society in China. Inspired by the Chinese Revolution, U.S. activists strove to build a new communist movement in the 1970s. The multiracial new communist movement included activists from the black liberation, Latino, and Asian American movements, as well as whites from the antiwar, women’s liberation, and student movements. Becoming Communists Nelson ■ My introduction to Marxism-Leninism was by way of African students who I met through African liberation support work. We had ties with the leaders of liberation movements, including Samora Machel of Mozambique and Amilcar Cabral of Guinea Bissau. African revolutionaries welcomed support from us, but they surprised many by arguing against our politics of pan-Africanism. Amilcar Cabral visited us in the early 1970s, and he told us our main fight should not be the liberation of Africa but should be against U.S. imperialism. He said we needed to unite with other peoples in the U.S—like white workers—against the U.S. government. This was a real challenge to us, because we thought white people as a whole were the enemy. Here was our hero, an African revolutionary leader, telling us to unite with whites. On the platform where Cabral was speaking were several white progressives. After he spoke, Cabral hugged one of them. We were outraged—hugging a white person! Community people in Greensboro also criticized pan-Africanists for doing nothing but talk. They told us that waiting for African revolution is no solution for everyday folks. [122] Through Survivors’ Eyes One of the early critics of pan-Africanism was Sandi Neely. She and her boyfriend , Mark Smith, organized a study group to search for alternatives. Sandi was trying to figure out how white workers could be part of a revolutionary movement. She pointed out that they worked next to blacks in the factory, also making lousy wages. Even though many white workers were racists, Sandi felt they were not the enemy. U.S. imperialism was. But I was still a dyed-in-the-wool black nationalist. I had trained myself never to smile at white folks. I thought Mark and Sandi were being taken in by whites. Our organization, Youth Organized for Black Unity, had fraternal relations with Pan African Student Organization in the Americas [PASOIA]. I particularly remember a Nigerian student named Jamie, who was a leader and was well studied in Marxism. With a certain tact and respect, he said that we in YOBU were somewhat infantile. A group of us called a special meeting with PASOIA to debate on Marxism-Leninism. We had brilliant people in YOBU, intellectuals from around the country who were well anchored in the nationalist idiom and politics. But Jamie and the good brothers from PASOIA dismantled our theories . Despite the vigor of the debate, the meeting did not get bitter. Our friendship remained warm, and we ate food together. They really were trying to point out to us something that we weren’t seeing, and we were too arrogant to acknowledge it in their presence. But when the PASOIA brothers left, we all looked at each other and said, “Damn, there is a lot of stuff here we’ve got to look at.” We decided to study Marxism-Leninism. Our African brothers made a case for having a working relationship with whites. You can’t be just working in a factory and talk only to black folks. I knew that, but the idea of working with whites was hard for me because I had trained myself to believe that ultimately whites could never understand the nature of black oppression. I saw a white individual smile here and there, but within the context of a very mean, oppressive system. I believed that when push came to shove, whites would line...

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