First Published: Unity, Vol. 3, No. 7, March 28-April 10, 1980.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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Atlanta – There was standing room only at the Neighborhood Arts Center here on March 15, as over 250 people packed the hall for an exciting program celebrating the merger of the Revolutionary Communist League (M-L-M) (RCL) and the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L).
The occasion brought together friends and comrades of different nationalities in Atlanta. Special guests included the United League of Mississippi; Dara Abubakari, President of the Republic of New Afrika (RNA) from New Orleans; Etherero Akinshegun, Southern Vice President of the RNA; and Akbar Mohammed Ahmed, veteran fighter of the Black Liberation Movement and a member of the Afrikan People’s Party. Friends from Greensboro, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Birmingham, Alabama also attended.
The spirited tone of the evening was set by the llu African Drum Troupe and heightened by Pili and Sababa of the League who recited a poem written by Amiri Baraka on the occasion of the merger, “Countries Want Independence, Nations Want Liberation, and the People, the People want Revolution.” Later, the Harambee Singers captivated the audience with their medley of songs on Afro-American history and the freedom struggle.
The League speaker on the “Black Liberation Movement in the 1980’s” analyzed the history of the Afro-American people, reaffirming that it is still a struggle for self-determination, land and power; and that to talk about Black liberation is to talk about the destruction of imperialism. Finally, he spoke to a pressing question on many Black people’s minds, both nationwide and in Atlanta: the building of a national and local Black United Front.
The significance of the merger of RCL and the League was presented by Amiri Baraka. Baraka spoke on the history of the League and the history of the Congress of Afrikan Peoples and its development into the RCL; and how the League and the RCL were able to achieve a high level of unity and merge into one organization. He addressed the significance of the merger in to the context of the international and domestic situation, and spoke to the need to unite Marxist-Leninists and forge a single, vanguard communist party, Baraka told of the growing resistance of the masses against imperialism and his declaration that “revolution is the only solution” brought a standing ovation from the audience. He ended his presentation with a poem which was received with enthusiastic applause.
During the program Baraka was awarded an enlarged photograph, taken during the 1978 national United League of Mississippi march in Tupelo, by Jim Alexander a professional photographer, teacher and staff member of the Neighborhood Arts Center on behalf of the Center. The Neighborhood Arts Center has long been active in promoting Afro-American art and cultural work in Atlanta.
Brother Ahmed of the Afrikan People’s Party commented that the merger program, “... will have a tremendous impact on the work within the Black Liberation Movement. It gave clarity on the national question and how to proceed on building the Black United Front.”
Dovie Newell, an Atlanta tenant activist, told UNITY, “The program was really good all around – politically and culturally. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a program like this so largely attended, involving such a broad range of people in Atlanta .... I’m glad I came.”