From: cberlet@igc.apc.org (NLG Civil Liberties Committee)
Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy
Subject: Re: The Newmanites, NAP and Fulani
Date: 12 Dec 92 02:31:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #R:cdp:1299600143:cdp:1299600146:000:12007
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!cberlet    Dec 11 18:31:00 1992


/* Written  9:15 pm  Dec  8, 1992 by cberlet in igc:publiceye */
/* Written  7:45 pm  Dec  8, 1992 by cberlet in igc:p.news */
/* Written  2:15 pm  Feb 14, 1992 by cberlet in igc:publiceye */

PART 3

Clouds Blur the Rainbow:
   The Other Side of the
   New Alliance Party 

Copyright 1987 PRA

===

Opportunism 

One example of what critics call the political 
opportunism of the Newmanites and the New 
Alliance Party is their continuing effort to 
imply a connection with Rev. Jesse Jackson and 
the Rainbow Coalition. For instance the 
Newmanites have established in Washington, D.C. 
the "Rainbow Lobby" billed as "The Lobbying 
Office of the Rainbow Alliance." The Rainbow 
Lobby has offices at 236 Massachusetts Avenue, 
N.E., and lists Nancy Ross as Executive Director 
and Tamara Weinstein as Assistant Director. 

The Rainbow Lobby office has been frequently 
mistaken for the Washington office of Jesse 
Jackson's Rainbow Coalition, a mistake that in 
the past, NAP leadership seems to have gone out 
of its way not to clarify. Newspaper articles 
have appeared about NAP's Rainbow Lobby in which 
throughout, the reporter assumes the Rainbow 

Lobby represents Jackson and the Rainbow 
Coalition--a circumstance NAP leadership could 
have easily avoided by explaining upfront that 
the two groups are unrelated. 

Jackson has had to publicly distance himself and 
the Rainbow Coalition from NAP and its Rainbow 
Alliance and Rainbow Lobby on several occasions. 
Most recently Jackson told <Chicago Sun-Times>
reporter Basil Talbot that "we have no 
relationship at all." 

In the June 21, 1985 issue of the <National 
Alliance>, an article on the Rainbow Alliance 
shows how artfully the question of a relationship 
has been dodged in the past: 

"Hostile critics and curious allies are forever 
saying to Nancy Ross, "Does Jesse Jackson support 
what you're doing?" "

"Ross, who heads the Washington office of the 
Rainbow Alliance Confederation's lobbying arm, 
has learned how to respond to such inquiries. "

> The point is not whether Jesse Jackson 
> supports me, but whether I support Jesse 
> Jackson," says Ross, a founder of the 
> six-year-old independent New Alliance Party, and 
> candidate for Jackson delegate in Harlem in 1984. 
> "And I support Jesse completely because of the 
> social vision he has articulated on behalf of the 
> Rainbow movement. Yes, I have real differences 
> with Jesse--he thinks independent politics is 
> `prophetic' whereas I believe its time has come 
> right now--but I won't allow anyone to sever the 
> historic ties between Jesse and myself, because I 
> am committed to see that his vision of a just 
> society be brought about today."

While admittedly clever, the above explanation is 
essentially a dishonest misrepresentation of the 
facts, designed to confuse the issue and suggest 
a connection where none exists. The confusion 
over support from Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow 
Coalition is exacerbated by how the New Alliance 
Party describes itself. The February 13, 1987 
edition of the <National Alliance> newspaper 
contained a centerfold spread with the 
multi-color slogan "The Real Rainbow" spanning 
the two pages. A letter on New Alliance Party 
stationery to gay activists on the west coast had 
the slogan "The Party of the Rainbow." A petition 
calling for an independent Black Presidential 
campaign was titled "An Open Letter To Reverend 

Jesse Jackson." 

Ironically, in a 1983 issue of the Newmanite 
theoretical journal <Practice>, Newman attacked 
Jesse Jackson and Jackson's progressive 
supporters in strong terms: 

"The U.S. ultra-Left has traditionally suffered 
very badly from a mental disorder perhaps best 
identified as premature vanguardulation. There 
has, over the past few years, been a positive 
attempt by some to rectify this problem (called 
by some friendly left critics `wrecktification') 
which, however, has dealt mainly with the 
symptoms of the disease by essentially helping 
the `client' to feel more comfortable 
masturbating. Hence, some of the rectified 
ultra-left--for example supporters of `Jesse 
Jackson, Democrat'--are smilingly convincing 
themselves these days that it is alright to unite 
with Jackson's `progressive aspects'. Many have 
raised questions as to which part of Jackson's 
political anatomy embodies his `progressive 
aspects.' "

At the end of 1987 the <National Alliance> 
newspaper column by Rainbow Lobby Executive 
Director Nancy Ross began to include a disclaimer 
which reads: 

"The Rainbow Lobby is an independent citizens' 
lobby based in Washington, D.C. which supports 
important legislation that affects civil, human, 
voting and democratic rights at home and abroad. 
For more information on the Lobby, please contact 
Nancy Ross at 236 Massachusetts Ave., N.E., Suite 
409, Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 543-8324. "

"The Rainbow Lobby, Inc. is an independent lobby, 
not affiliated with the Rainbow Coalition, Inc. "

The disclaimer began appearing during the same 
time period that NAP launched the campaign of 
Lenora Fulani for President. During 1987 the NAP 
began to publicly attack the Rainbow Coalition 
and in the <National Alliance> Lenora Fulani 
was quoted as saying "With all due respect to 
Brother Jesse Jackson, almost everyone knows he 
hasn't built a real Rainbow. He might have 
incorporated something called the National 
Rainbow Coalition, Inc., but he hasn't built a 
Rainbow. <We've built a real Rainbow.>" 

Despite the criticisms and disclaimers, there is 
still much public confusion concerning the 

relationship of NAP to the Rainbow Coalition, and 
Jackson's Presidential candidacy. This confusion 
is not alleviated by NAP public statements. For 
instance in the November 20, 1987 issue of the 
<National Alliance>, William Pleasant attacks 
the Rainbow Coalition as "the Democratic Party's 
<phony> left wing", but then writes that 
"Fulani, under her `Two Roads Are Better Than 
One' plan, backs Reverend Jesse Jackson in the 
Democratic Party primaries. But she has done 
everything possible to ensure that the 
progressive Rainbow agenda will be carried 
through to the general election in November...." 


Smearing Critics 

Among the most persistent critics of the New 
Alliance Party are freelance writer Dennis King 
of New York, the author of this study, Chip 
Berlet (and other members of the Public Eye 
Network), and two researchers who often work 
closely together, Ken Lawrence of Mississippi and 
Dan Stern of Illinois. In 1985 Ken Lawrence and 
Dan Stern provided information on NAP to Charles 
Tisdale, publisher of the <Jackson Advocate> 
newspaper in Mississippi. Tisdale ran a series of 
articles critical of Newman and NAP in the 
<Advocate>, which for many years has served as 
a voice for Black residents in the area. 

In response to the <Advocate> articles, NAP 
embarked on a smear campaign against its 
critics--a tactic it frequently employs. An 
article by William Pleasant in NAP's <National 
Alliance> newspaper attacked Tisdale, Lawrence, 
Stern and Berlet. A photograph of Tisdale (who is 
Black) is accompanied by a bold headline which 
reads: "Jackson Advocate publisher Charles 
Tisdale: The Advocate has come to play the role 
of a Black front for a national network that is a 
nesting place for agents." 

The same article claims that Dennis King and Chip 
Berlet have shown "a willingness to relent on 
their earlier false and sectarian charges of 
LaRouche affiliation or cultism." (In fact, both 
Berlet and King still stand by their earlier 
charges.) Ken Lawrence and Dan Stern are 
described as "absorbed in another agenda, beyond 
sectarianism, bordering on straight out 
provocateurism." NAP organizers also began 
circulating charges that Ken Lawrence was a 
government agent. 


When Tisdale refused to back down from his 
criticisms of NAP, and continued to detail the 
charges of other NAP critics, NAP chairwoman 
Emily Carter responded by filing a defamation 
lawsuit against Tisdale, the <Jackson Advocate> 
and Ken Lawrence. (A judge subsequently ordered 
Lawrence dropped from the lawsuit). After the 
lawsuit was filed, when well-known organizer Flo 
Kennedy accepted an invitation to speak at a 
banquet sponsored by the <Jackson Advocate>, a 
self-described NAP member disrupted a press 
conference with her by shouting "You're a very 
stupid woman." Other critics of NAP are 
frequently ridiculed or attacked in an 
unprincipled manner. 


Penetration and Disruption of Rival Groups 

Critics of the Newmanites claim one of the 
tactics used by the group is to penetrate a 
progressive organization and seek to take it over 
or recruit away its membership. One of the themes 
in the <Jackson Advocate> series on NAP was the 
frequency with which NAP engaged in what critics 
considered disruptive tactics. Lily Mae Irwin, a 
well-known welfare rights activist told the 
<Advocate> how, in 1985, NAP tried to merge 
with the group she was leading, the Mississippi 
Welfare Rights Organization. After she refused 
the merger idea, she soon discovered NAP was 
scheduling their meetings with her key organizers 
opposite the regular monthly Welfare Rights 
Organization meetings. "Yes Siree," said Irwin, 
"they were trying to hold meetings at the same 
time we were; they were trying to mess us up." 

Eddie Sandifer, a well-known Mississippi Gay 
rights activist, told the <Advocate> he 
resented the claim by NAP that it is the party of 
gays, lesbians, Blacks and dispossessed people in 
general. In particular, Sandifer was angry that 
NAP contacted several members of the Mississippi 
Gay Alliance and invited them to NAP meetings, 
but did not contact him, the group's leader. "I 
think their purpose is to divide and conquer," 
said Sandifer. "I'm very suspicious of 
them....I'm worried about what they are doing in 
Mississippi." 

A long-time gay activist in California voiced 
similar concerns to the author after NAP 
sponsored a gay rights conference in that state. 
He feared the NAP wanted to duplicate the work of 
existing gay organizations as a way to build 

credibility and recruit new members for the NAP. 

A woman activist in New York told the author of a 
call she received from a friend in England 
complaining of disruptive activities by a NAP 
organizer who attended functions of a women's 
peace group. Disruption has been a hallmark of 
NAP organizing for years, and reports of this 
nature have been consistently surfaced over the 
years from a wide variety of sources. 

One early example of a Newmanite attempt to 
penetrate and manipulate a progressive 
organization involved the now-defunct People's 
Party, a multi-racial progressive electoral party 
which once ran Dr. Benjamin Spock for President. 
In early 1978, according to a former People's 
Party organizer, the People's Party "expelled the 
Newmanites when it was uncovered that they were 
operating within the party as a secret faction 
with an undisclosed agenda as to their intentions 
and plans." 

The Newmanites had told members of the People's 
Party that Newman's International Workers Party 
had been disbanded, but the People's Party 
stumbled across a secret Newmanite newsletter 
marked "confidential internal bulletin" and 
bearing the name <Party Building>. According to 
<Party Building>, the Newmanites were 
recruiting inside the People's Party and other 
progressive groups to build a secret 
"pre-party formation." The confidential Newmanite 
newsletter explained it was being published to 
"function as intelligence and communications 
networks, reporting on the social movement of 
various strata in particular areas. 

Even though the IWP was supposed to have 
dissolved, plans were sketched out in <Party 
Building> for its "Fourth Party Plenary" held 
in Gary, Indiana in early 1977. The meeting 
brought together representatives from various 
Newmanite front groups organized under the public 
banner of the "Council of Independent 
Organizers." 
Xref: sparky alt.conspiracy:13257 ba.politics:7782 ca.politics:10408