Le Socialiste
12th November 2013, 08:42
I'm interested in learning more about this group. They originated in San Francisco and lasted three short years (1969-1971). I'm currently skimming through whatever I can find via google, but folks should feel free to leave comments, links to articles or books - if there are any - and their general impressions. I think the Red Guard Party succeeded in orienting itself around some of the more pressing issues confronting Asian Americans in SF, the Bay Area and elsewhere, and their emphasis on multiracial solidarity (as evidenced by their support for, and adoption of, the Black Panther Party's 10-point Program) was a significant step forward in building resistance amongst working-class communities of color:
. . . we were convinced that Chinatown needed an out-front political organization which could openly educate people on the problems of unemployment, bad housing, racism, etc… are a direct result of living in a capitalist society -- an organization which would try to organize people to fight the inequities of this system. This was the beginning of the Red Guard Party. We adopted the 10 point program of the Black Panther Party, with minor changes, as our program and began to form a structure and organize programs that would relate to the needs of the community.
. . .
All of these issues had the potential of developing into mass struggles that would raise the consciousness of the people of Chinatown. However, we had no idea of how to organize the people -- no mass meetings were ever held and hardly any investigation was done as to how the people felt and wanted to act on these issues. In fact, most of the political work that we did was to gain favor in the community and break us out of isolation without an understanding of how to struggle for our rights.
I'm interested in hearing more from those who happen to know about the organization, as well as taking an in-depth look into the historical and political significance of the party and the role it played throughout its brief existence. I feel like I have a shallow grasp of these subjects, but I'd like to delve a little further. Any takers?
Here's the article I quoted from:
http://apimovement.com/red-guard/history-red-guard-party
. . . we were convinced that Chinatown needed an out-front political organization which could openly educate people on the problems of unemployment, bad housing, racism, etc… are a direct result of living in a capitalist society -- an organization which would try to organize people to fight the inequities of this system. This was the beginning of the Red Guard Party. We adopted the 10 point program of the Black Panther Party, with minor changes, as our program and began to form a structure and organize programs that would relate to the needs of the community.
. . .
All of these issues had the potential of developing into mass struggles that would raise the consciousness of the people of Chinatown. However, we had no idea of how to organize the people -- no mass meetings were ever held and hardly any investigation was done as to how the people felt and wanted to act on these issues. In fact, most of the political work that we did was to gain favor in the community and break us out of isolation without an understanding of how to struggle for our rights.
I'm interested in hearing more from those who happen to know about the organization, as well as taking an in-depth look into the historical and political significance of the party and the role it played throughout its brief existence. I feel like I have a shallow grasp of these subjects, but I'd like to delve a little further. Any takers?
Here's the article I quoted from:
http://apimovement.com/red-guard/history-red-guard-party