The United Front Against Fascism (UFAF) was an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

conference organized by the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

and held in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, from July 18 to 21, 1969.

Background

The May 31, 1969 issue of '' The Black Panther'' called for a "Revolutionary Conference for a United Front Against Fascism," to be held in Oakland in July of that year. The announcement drew links between the killing of

James Rector John "James" Alcorn Rector (June 22, 1884 – March 10, 1949) was an American athlete. He was the first Arkansas-born athlete to compete in the Olympic Games. While competing he was a University of Virginia student and went there to train with ...

and the imprisonment of

Huey Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966. Under Newton's leadership ...

, and outlined the purpose of the conference: it would develop a political programme representing the "poor, black, oppressed workers and people of America", involving strategies for community control of policing, the release of

political prisoners A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

, the expulsion of the military from college and university campuses, and community self-defense.

Event

Around 5,000 people responded to the call, including members of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

, the

Peace and Freedom Party The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a left-wing political party with affiliates and former members in more than a dozen American states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana and Utah, but none now have ballot status besides C ...

, the Progressive Labor Party, the

Red Guard Party The Red Guard Party was a Chinese-American youth organization formed in February 1969. It was named after the Red Guards of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Origins The Red Guard formation resulted from several societal and economic pressures com ...

, the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civi ...

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

(SDS), the

Third World Liberation Front In 1968, the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), a coalition of the Black Students Union, the Latin American Students Organization, the Filipino American Collegiate Endeavor (PACE) the Filipino-American Students Organization, the Asian American P ...

, the

Young Lords The Young Lords, also known as the Young Lords Organization (YLO) or Young Lords Party (YLP), was a Chicago-based street gang that became a civil and human rights organization. The group aims to fight for neighborhood empowerment and self-det ...

, the

Young Patriots Organization The Young Patriots Organization (YPO) was an American leftist organization of mostly White Southerners from Uptown, Chicago. Originating in 1968 and active until 1973, the organization was designed to support young, white migrants from the Appal ...

, the

Young Socialist Alliance The Young Socialist Alliance (YSA) was a Trotskyist youth group of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the United States of America. It was founded in 1960, although it had roots going back several years earlier. It was dissolved in 1992. The ...

and various groups associated with the

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

. Events took place in the

Oakland Auditorium Kaiser Convention Center is a historic, publicly owned multi-purpose building located in Oakland, California. The facility includes a 5,492-seat arena, a large theater, and a large ballroom.Ward, Jennifer Inez (June 28, 2011)"Historic Kaiser Conve ...

and DeFremery Park. Delegates included

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

s and other

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

, but the majority in attendance were white. Members of SDS were ejected from the auditorium for "disruptive behavior," and the following day distributed pamphlets which accused organizers of excluding them. Speeches were given on the first day of the congress. The second day was devoted to workshops on issues around

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

, gender, workers and students, political prisoners, health, religion, state repression of political dissent and policing. Speakers included

Bob Avakian Robert "Bob" Bruce Avakian (born March 7, 1943) is the founder and chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (RCP). Avakian developed the organization's official ideology, a theoretical framework rooted in Maoism, called "the New Synth ...

and Jeff Jones of SDS;

Elaine Brown Elaine Brown (born March 2, 1943) is an American prison activist, writer, singer, and former Black Panther Party chairwoman who is based in Oakland, California.Wheaton, Sarah (December 12, 2010)"Inmates in Georgia Prisons Use Contraband Phone ...

, who presented a letter from

Ericka Huggins Ericka Huggins ( Jenkins; born January 5, 1948) is an American activist, writer, and educator. She is a former leading member of the political organization, Black Panther Party (BPP). She was married to fellow BPP member John Huggins in 1968. In ...

who was at that time incarcerated; the politician

Ron Dellums Ronald Vernie Dellums (November 24, 1935 – July 30, 2018) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Oakland from 2007 to 2011. He had previously served thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Californi ...

; and the lawyers

Charles Garry Charles R. Garry (March 17, 1909 – August 16, 1991) was an Armenian-American civil rights attorney who represented a number of high-profile clients in political cases during the 1960s and 1970s, including Huey P. Newton during his 1968 capital ...

and

William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil ...

, the latter of whom discussed the 1967 Plainfield, New Jersey riots and argued for the legality and necessity of defensive violence. Following the congress the National Committees to Combat Fascism, a national network that sought community control of police forces, was established.

Significance

In 2017 the historian Robyn C. Spencer connected the UFAF to contemporary antifascism in the United States, and argued that

The history of the UFAF demonstrates that discussions about fascism in the US are nothing new. It shifts the discussion of fascism away from an American exceptionalist terrain where the US is compared with Europe and government structures or despotic leaders are analyzed and instead demonstrates the value of unearthing manifestations of fascism in the lived experiences of Black people in the US.

References

External links

* Speech by a Young Patriots Organization activist, introduced by Patrick King. {{Black Panther Party 1969 conferences 1969 in California Anti-fascism in the United States Black Panther Party History of socialism Political congresses Politics and race in the United States Politics of Oakland, California

Background

Event

Significance

See also

References

External links