澳门六合彩

In NKIDP e-Dossier no. 14, "'Our Common Struggle against Our Common Enemy':  North Korea and the American Radical Left," Benjamin R. Young introduces ten recently obtained documents from the personal papers of Eldridge Cleaver, a former Black Panther Party leader, which describe Cleaver's fascination with and travels to the DPRK during the "long 1960s." 

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"Our Common Struggle against Our Common Enemy": North Korea and the American Radical Left

Introduced by Benjamin R. Young

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People鈥檚 Republic of Korea (DPRK), and the Black Panther Party (BPP) came together under the rubric of 鈥渙ur common struggle against our common enemy.鈥� The Black Panther, the official organ of the BPP, produced a steady stream of commentary favorable to the DPRK, Kim Il Sung, and the Juche ideology. Eldridge Cleaver, the leader of the BPP鈥檚 international affairs sector, often lauded the DPRK as an 鈥渆arthly paradise鈥� and stressed that the North Koreans were 鈥渢he first to bring the U.S. imperialists trembling to their knees鈥� (). Though other American leftist groups were drawn to North Korea during the 鈥渓ong 1960s,鈥� the BPP established perhaps the most firm connection with the North Koreans.[i] The DPRK鈥檚 links to the American radical left have long been known, but the motivations behind this alliance鈥攂oth those of Pyongyang and the BPP鈥攈ave never been clear, and a deeper analysis of this relationship has long been absent.[ii] The documents introduced here and presented below, gathered from the personal papers of Eldridge Cleaver, demonstrate that the American radical left regarded Pyongyang as an important alternative from Moscow and Beijing. Likewise, these materials also show that North Korea regarded the American radicals as a cherished ally in its worldwide struggle to create an anti-imperialist front against the United States and to reunify the Korean peninsula.

The available documentary evidence, pieced together from the archives of the University of California, Berkeley, and Texas A&M University, revolves around Cleaver鈥檚 two trips to North Korea in 1969 and 1970 and his representation of the country 鈥渁s a beacon in the vanguard of the struggling masses of the world鈥� (). These documents also capture Cleaver鈥檚 fascination with the 鈥�Juche spirit.鈥� Cleaver defined Juche as being a 鈥渃reative stand, mean[ing] to develop and apply Marxism-Leninism to one鈥檚 own revolutionary conditions鈥� (). The BPP hoped to adopt the 鈥�Juche spirit鈥� for the eventual revolution inside of the United States and regarded Kim Il Sung鈥檚 ideology as a potent tool for the international communist movement.

In September 1969, Eldridge Cleaver travelled to Pyongyang along with the BPP鈥檚 deputy minister of defense Byron Booth for the 鈥淚nternational Conference on Tasks of Journalists of the Whole World in their Fight against U.S. Imperialist Aggression.鈥� This conference signaled the beginning of the BPP鈥檚 relationship with the DPRK. During the conference in North Korea, Cleaver kept notes on what he witnessed and heard from both North Korean spokespersons as well as other delegates from the communist world (). Cleaver, explaining why the BPP was eager to establish linkages with 鈥渞evolutionary鈥� countries such as North Korea, recorded to himself that, 鈥渢he revolutionary forces inside the United States must be supported by the revolutionary peoples of the whole world because the people outside of the United States will slice the tentacles of the hideous octopus of U.S. oppression. The revolutionaries inside the United States will cut out its imperialist heart and give the decisive death blow to U.S. fascism and imperialism鈥� (). Publicly, Cleaver and the BPP praised the DPRK as a socialist paradise and stated confidently that North Koreans 鈥渉ave no worries about food, clothing, lodging, education, medicine鈥� and that they 鈥渨ork til [sic] hearts content leading a happy life鈥� (). In his 1978 retrospective work, Soul on Fire, Eldridge Cleaver explained that 鈥渁t first鈥� he 鈥渨as amazed at the grit and zeal of the young communists of North Korea鈥� and that 鈥渟ome of the most zealous had entered into a compact or vow that they would not marry or have sexual relations until their country was united with South Korea.鈥�[iii]  North Korea, despite its 鈥渟ubtle brainwashing and unsubtle racism,鈥� had clearly impressed Eldridge Cleaver.[iv]

In addition to solidifying its own ties with the DPRK, the BPP also tried to rally other revolutionary organizations to the North Korean cause (). In a letter (written September 5, 1969) to the BPP鈥檚 Chief of Staff, David Hilliard, Eldridge Cleaver explained that the Panthers shall 鈥渃all upon all revolutionary organizations to also send telegrams to express their solidarity with the fighting Korean people in the face of new aggressions being plotted against the Korean peoples by the imperialists鈥� (). Moreover, in 1970, Cleaver invited white radical Robert Scheer to attend another anti-imperialist journalist conference in Pyongyang (). Cleaver and Scheer organized a delegation to represent the United States at the conference, bringing with them ten members of various leftist organizations, including the Movement for a Democratic Military, San Francisco鈥檚 Red Guard, and an activist film collective, NEWSREEL (). In May 1970, Eldridge even sent his wife, Kathleen Cleaver, and their son, Maceo to North Korea. In Pyongyang, Kathleen gave birth to a baby girl, Joju Younghi, on July 31, 1970.[v]

What is perhaps most interesting about the documents is that they reveal how North Korea, despite persistently targeting the United States as its main enemy and denouncing the presence of US troops in South Korea, was able to establish a clear division between the so-called U.S. imperialists and U.S. allies. Cleaver himself was emphatic that 鈥渢he BPP joins hands with the 40 million Korean people in our common struggle against our common enemy- the fascist, imperialist United States government and ruling class鈥� ().  North Korea regarded the American radical left as an important partner during this period and believed the BPP could help sway U.S. public opinion in favor of the DPRK. While the North Koreans ultimately failed to capture the hearts of the U.S. masses, these documents shed light on a forgotten chapter in the history of relations between the United States and North Korea.

Because Cleaver often repeated what he had read, heard, and seen during his travels to the DPRK, the documents provided here also offer a glimpse into North Korean state propaganda during this period. For example, Cleaver stated that, 鈥淐omrade Kim Il Sung is the most relevant strategist in the struggle against U.S. fascism and imperialism in the world today and he has put the correct tactical line for the universal destruction of fascism and imperialism in our time鈥� ().  Similar statements could be found in North Korean propaganda during this period.[vi] While these documents may seem to be a simple reproduction of North Korean rhetoric, they also depict how North Korean propagandists attempted to establish Kim Il Sung as a leading Asian communist and theoretician.[vii] From 1966 through 1976, the Cultural Revolution had engulfed Communist China and, to some degree, isolated Mao Zedong from the international communist movement. As a result, U.S. radicals accepted, to a certain extent, Kim Il Sung鈥檚 status as the new leading Asian communist and theoretician. North Korea, and in turn the BPP, elevated Kim Il Sung to the level of renowned socialist theorists such as Engels, Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. Cleaver typed in his notes that, 鈥淐omrade Kim Il Sung is one of the outstanding leaders of [the] world revolutionary movement.鈥� (). In addition to situating Kim Il Sung as a prominent socialist thinker, Cleaver also believed that the, 鈥淢otherland of Marxism is Germany; Motherland of Leninism is Russia; Motherland of Marxism-Leninism in our era is Korea鈥� (). In the face of Sino-Soviet rivalry, the Cultural Revolution in China, and Soviet revisionism (), North Korea was a figurative escape valve for the BPP and other revolutionary organizations searching for communist leadership.

While most of these documents focus on the BPP鈥檚 depiction of the DPRK, a 1970 welcome message from the 鈥淭he Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland鈥� also demonstrates how the North Koreans regarded their American friends. In a message addressed to Robert Scheer, Eldridge Cleaver, and Kathleen Cleaver, an anonymous North Korean speaker explained that 鈥渢he struggle of the Black people and progressive people in America against U.S. imperialism is an important link in the chain of the anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples across the world and a great assistance to the revolutionary cause of the Korean people鈥� (). Despite the relative dearth of scholarship on North Korea鈥檚 internationalism, Charles K. Armstrong has previously argued that 鈥渢he late 1960s and 1970s were a time of unprecedented outward expansion for the Democratic People鈥檚 Republic of Korea.鈥�[viii] Similarly, during this period, North Korean officials viewed the American radical left as an important ally in their worldwide fight against the U.S. imperialists.

The documents presented here demonstrate that the Black Panthers regarded North Korea as an 鈥渆arthly paradise鈥� and 鈥淐omrade Kim Il Sung鈥� as a 鈥済enius鈥� (). In an attempt to spread the Juche ideology and promote the North Korean cause for reunification, the BPP promoted the reading of the 鈥減olitical, theoretical, and philosophical writings of Comrade Kim Il Sung鈥� in the United States ().  Most significantly, the BPP鈥檚 fascination with North Korea reveals that Cold War international history cannot be understood merely in terms of nation-states alone. Non-state actors, such as the BPP, need to be given greater agency in the complex history of this era, and the documents presented here are among the first resources which allow us to do so.

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Benjamin R. Young is a Master鈥檚 degree student in world history at The College at Brockport, working on his thesis, 鈥淛uche in the USA: The Black Panther Party鈥檚 Experiences and Relations with North Korea, 1969-1971,鈥� and intends to continue at the doctoral level. His main interests are Cold War international history with a focus on North Korea, Maoist China, the Black Power movement, the radical 1960s, and Marxism in the Third World. He can be reached at byoun3@brockport.edu. 

[i] Despite controversy surrounding the definition of the 鈥渓ong 1960s,鈥� in this introduction I will be using Arthur Marwick鈥檚 definition of the 鈥渓ong 1960s鈥� as being from 1958-1974. See Arthur Marwick, The Sixties: Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy, and the United States, c.1958 to c.1974 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 7.

[ii] For works that have noted the American radical left鈥檚 connection to North Korea in the late 1960s and early 1970s,  see Curtis Austin, 鈥淭he Black Panthers and the Vietnam War,鈥� in America and the Vietnam War: Re-Examining the Culture and History of a Generation, ed. Andrew Wiest, Mary Kathryn Barbier, and Glenn Robins (New York: Routledge, 2010); Elaine Brown, A Taste of Power: A Black Woman鈥檚 Story (New York: Pantheon Books, 1992); Eldridge Cleaver, Target Zero: A Life in Writing, ed. Kathleen Cleaver (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006); Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Fire (Waco, TX: Word Books Publisher, 1978);  Kathleen Neal Cleaver, 鈥淏ack to Africa: The Evolution of the International Section of the Black Panther Party (1969-1972), in The Black Panther Party Reconsidered, ed. Charles E. Jones (Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1998); Committee on Internal Security, House of Representatives, Gun-Barrel Politics: The Black Panther Party, 1966-1971 (Washington, D.C.: Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971); Floyd W. Hayes, III, and Francis A. Kiene, III, 鈥溾�楢ll Power to the People鈥�: The Political Thought of Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party,鈥� in The Black Panther Party Reconsidered; G. Louis Heath, Off The Pigs: The History and Literature of the Black Panther Party, (New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, 1976); David Hilliard and Lewis Cole,  This Side of Glory: The Autobiography of David Hilliard and the Story of the Black Panther Party (Boston: Lawrence Hill Books, 1993); Timothy Leary, Flashbacks: A Personal and Cultural History of an Era: An Autobiography (New York: Putnam, 1990 [1983]); Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004); Frank J. Rafalko, MH/CHAOS: The CIA鈥檚 Campaign Against the Radical New Left and the Black Panthers (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2011);  Nikhil Pal Singh, 鈥淭he Black Panthers and the 鈥楿ndeveloped Country鈥� of the Left,鈥� in The Black Panther Party Reconsidered; Jennifer B. Smith, An International History of the Black Panther Party (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.,1999).

[iii] Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Fire (Waco, TX: Word Books Publisher, 1978), 121.

[iv] Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Fire, 122.

[v] There is some debate as to if this baby girl was the child of Eldridge Cleaver or Rahim Smith. 鈥淪everal weeks after Cleaver鈥檚 return from North Korea [in 1969], there was a rumor that he killed Rahim Smith and buried him in some unknown location. Cleaver discovered that Smith had sexual relations with his wife Kathleen while he was visiting North Korea.鈥� See Frank J. Rafalko, MH/CHAOS: The CIA鈥檚 Campaign Against the Radical New Left and the Black Panthers(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2011), 115-116.

[vi] See Robert A. Scalapino and Chong-Sik Lee, Communism in Korea (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972), 865-869. 

[vii] Since 鈥淜im Il Sung clearly lacked international credentials鈥eginning in the early 1970s, therefore, the DPRK took to placing large advertisements in leading Western newspapers such as The London Times and The Washington Post featuring extended extracts from Kim Il Sung鈥檚 major speeches (though the practice soon ceased as it became clear that it was making Kim into a figure of fun).鈥� See Adrian Buzo, The Guerilla Dynasty: Politics and Leadership in North Korea (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999), 265.

[viii] Charles K. Armstrong, 鈥�Juche and North Korea鈥檚 Global Aspirations,鈥� NKIDPWorking Paper No. 1 (Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center, April 2009).  For Armstrong鈥檚 forthcoming book on North Korea鈥檚 internationalism, see Charles Armstrong, Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the Modern World, 1950-1990 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013). 

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DOCUMENT LIST

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NKIDP would like to thank the and  for permission to publish selected documents from the papers of Eldridge Cleaver. Additionally, Soomin Oh provided crucial research assistance to help facilitate the publication of this e-Dossier.