21.01.2015 Views

revolutionary action movement (ram) - Michael Schwartz Library

revolutionary action movement (ram) - Michael Schwartz Library

revolutionary action movement (ram) - Michael Schwartz Library

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

165<br />

in the documents . This may be because they were considered a part of the<br />

sub-proletariat . In the careful analysis of black youth, there was no<br />

special mention of black women . In a 1967 document, black women were assigned<br />

a special task . In this position paper written for cadre organizers,<br />

black women were presented as almost immune from attacks from the<br />

black bourgeoise and the white power structure . Black women revolutionaries,<br />

as part of RAM's prog<strong>ram</strong>, would have to consolidate a base and destroy<br />

the black bourgeoisie . Black Women Enraged, a RAM organization<br />

would have to infiltrate and gain influence in all black civil groups . 39<br />

In 1969, black women and black workers were the key groups to organize,<br />

but it is not clear why women are perceived as central at this time . 40<br />

The later analysis of the role of women in the black liberation struggle<br />

seems to come from an assessment of the importance of women in the RAM<br />

organization in the 1967-68 period . It was not unusual for the role of<br />

women to be ignored, given the historical period . But it is somewhat surprising<br />

given that RAM included women within the Black Guards and women<br />

were key in RAM's formation and development .<br />

Reparations were introduced as a demand in RAM's prog<strong>ram</strong> in 1967 . In<br />

an article written by Max Stanford entitled, U . S .<br />

Owes Negroes 880 Million<br />

Acres of Land ,<br />

the view was presented that black Americans historically<br />

and systematically have been denied basic human rights and the rights of<br />

citizenship . RAM did not believe in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth<br />

Amendments because the evidence shows clearly that blacks were still<br />

p . 3 .<br />

39America is the Blackman's Battleground! , April, 1967, p . 8 .<br />

40 The Formation of a National Centralized Black Liberation Party , 1969,

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!