The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-03-16
U. Nj. A. MEET
TO FACE CRISIS
IN ORGANIZATION
Rank and File Demands
Militant Program
tspeeIaI to nae Daily workerl

DETROIT, March IA - The opening
Of the Universal Negro Improvement
Association convention here tonight is
to be followed by very heated bust
ness sessions at which some issues
will be brought out which will involve
the life Of the very organization.
This convention was called against
the wishes of William Sheriff., presi-
dent-general of the association. Sher-
rill is now the head of the national
body in the place of Marcus Garvey,
who is imprisoned by the United
States government at Atlanta, Ca,
with the intent to thus destroy the
Negro organization. Many attempts
were made by government officials to
break up this Negro organization thru
wholesale arrests and the use of ter
rorism.
Scramble for Leadership.
Recently President Coolidge refused
to commute Garvey's sentence. 1t is
understood that the United States gov
eminent will insist in deporting him
at the end of his prison term. This
expectation has resulted in a general
belief that Garvey's post as the head
of the organization is now permanent
ly vacated as far as Garvey is con-
cerned. There appears now to be a
scramble for the leadership of the or
ganization.
However, there has long been a
deep-going crisis in the Universal
Negro Improvement Association as
the result of the policies of Garyey
which give every appearance of an ex-
preston of IMPROVEMENT with the
ku klux khan on the part of Carney.
Recently several incidents occurred
in which the membership of the or
ganization in a number of localities
refused to permit reactionary white
speakers, supposed ku klux khan
friends of Marcus Garvey, to speak
before the organization. There is a
rank and file revolt
against Garvey's insistence that Amer
lea is a white mans country" and
that the Negro shall not fight for his
rights in America.
Utopian Solution.
Garvey's present program has little
more to it than the utopian idea of
solving the problems of the vast
masses of Negroes in America by the
colonization of Africa. On that theory
that the Negro need not try to win his
rights in America. Garvey comedies
that the Negro must take a position of
inferiority in the United States ('the
white mans country'') until he can
win home of his own in Africa"
The revolt against the servile activity
of the leadership in surrendering to
the ku klux khan and the voluntary
giving up of the fight for the Negroes
rights of citizenship has been simmer
ing for the past year and half. How
much of this will come out at the con-
vention in Detroit is not known as
yet. Everyone seems to think that
it is purely a question of a fight of
individuals for leadership. The state
ment is made as a matter of course
that nothing will be done on the issues
that face the Negro.
Workers Seek Militant Program
However, the local divisions Of the
organization turnout the country are
feeling the effects of the opportunistic
utopian policies of the leadership and
n great deal of dissatisfaction needs
to be ironed out at the convention.
AS between the leaders-Garvey and
Sherrill-there does not seem to be
much difference as to policy. During
all OF his period of prominence in the
organization, Sheriff. did not oppose
any Of Garvey's policies such as the
surrender to the ku klux khan and the
general propaganda against social
equality.