Malcolm X and Revolutionary Black Nationalism

Muhammad Ahmad was key in fusing the ideas of Robert F. Williams, Malcolm X, and Queen Mother Moore to form the ideology of Revolutionary Black Nationalism.

Malcolm X
Malcolm X

Malcolm X and the emerging Ideology of Revolutionary Black Nationalism

“Malcolm X was a student of history, and that is what made him one of the most important political philosophers and leaders African Americans ever produced. For some 15 years or more, Malcolm X studied history, philosophy, religion, and politics.”

Quote from Malcolm X and the Black Liberation Movement by Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford), the closest of Malcolm’s associates in the final years of his life. Muhammad Ahmad became one of the most significant leaders, activists, and theoreticians in the Black liberation Movement. Muhammad Ahmad was instrumental in fusing the philosophies of Robert F. Williams, Malcolm X, and Queen Mother Moore to give birth to the ideology of Revolutionary Black Nationalism.

The name Muhammad Ahmad, or Max Stanford, is not among the many African American leaders and activists from the 1960s whose names are household words. However, it should be, for, as far as J Edgar Hoover was concerned, he was the most dangerous man in America. Use the links below and get to know him. Explore this man who is still living and who can best be considered a key architect of the Black Revolution in America. Get to know this unseen living legend.

Watch interview with 

Muhammad Ahmad from Cointelpro 101

Muhammad Ahmad from Cointelpro 101 on Vimeo

Muhammad Ahmad (formerly Max Stanford Jr.) was a pivotal figure within the Black Liberation Movement and struggle for Black Power in the 1960s and 70s; notably, he was the national field chairman of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) and a direct target of J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO.

References on Muhammad Ahmad, Malcolm X and Revolutionary Black Nationalism

The Malcolm X Project at Columbia University

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/stanford.html http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/stanford.html

Early in 1963, Malcolm took the young Philadelphia militant Max Stanford under … New Jersey, movement, his support for members of the Black Liberation Army … Islam and since the early 1970s, he has been known as Muhammad Ahmad.

The Black Power Movement
http://www.blackpolitics.org/the-1960s/black-power-movement-robert-williams-fred-hamptongeronimo-pratt-dhoruba-moore-kwame-ture-stokely-carmichael-african-liberation-support-committee-african-peoples-party/
… and Why Such Support is Support of the Black Liberation Movement … The Assassination of Malcolm X . The Black Arts Movement: … Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford), …

Black Nationalism and the Revolutionary Action Movement: The …
http://gdc.gale.com/archivesunbound/archives-unbound-black-nationalism-and-the-revolutionary-action-movement-the-papers-of-muhammad-ahmad-max-stanford/
… The Papers of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford) … The Papers of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford) Summary. In BlackMuhammad Ahmad, a protégé of Malcolm X, …

PSLweb.org: The civil rights and Black Power movements
http://www2.pslweb.org/site/News2?id=11183
The two tendencies of the civil rights movement, … young activists led by Max Stanford (later Muhammad Ahmad) … The objective basis for the Black liberation

Stanford, Maxwell Curtis, Jr. (aka Muhammad Ahmad, 1941 …

Maxwell Curtis Stanford Jr. (a.k.a. Muhammad Ahmad) (1941- )


Dr.Muhammad Ahmad (Maxwell C. StanfordMalcolm X in Harlem in November 1962, and Malcolm would join the … The Black Liberation Movement: …

The Black power movement; Part 3
http://www.bibliotheek.nl/catalogus/titel.339688904.html
Reproduces the writings and correspondence of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford); … Black Liberation Army, Black Panther … associated with RAM including Malcolm X, …

We Will Return In The Whirlwind: Black Radical Organizations …

He has worked closely with Malcolm X … of meeting Professor Ahmad (Max Stanford) … knowledge of Stanford’s activity and importance in the liberation movement.

Activism – Dr. Akinyele Umoja
http://www.akumoja.com/Activism.html
… joined the Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford) … Power movement organizer and associate of Malcolm X and … detailing the Black liberation movement’s …

Pan-African News Wire – Books That Will Advance Knowledge of Liberation Movements
http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2007/12/books-that-will-advance-knowledge-of.html
Hoover went on to call Stanford‘s organization, the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) “a highly secret, all-Negro, Marxist-Leninist, Chinese Communist oriented organization which advocates guerrilla warfare to obtain its goals.” Stanford today is Dr. Muhammad Ahmad, who teaches in the department of African American St…

ISBN: 9781556559273 – The Black Power Movement (Black Studies …
http://www.openisbn.com/isbn/9781556559273/
Book information and reviews for ISBN:9781556559273, The Black Power Movement (Black Studies … of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford); … Black Liberation …

Max Stanford

1960s Photo of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford)

Muhammad Ahmad on Malcolm’s emergence as a Revolutionary Black Nationalist and Internationalist and the emergence of the Black Power Movement

“Within all political phenomenon under capitalism is a right (conservative), center (moderate), and left (militant) sector. So was the case within the Nation of Islam in the 1950s and early 60s, especially as it began to grow. Malcolm was part of the left-wing while he was in the Nation of Islam. This is why Malcolm’s speeches sound so different from Elijah Muhammad’s. These tendencies were also present among the civil rights organizations, SCLC, NAACP, and SNCC. What made Malcolm so pivotal to the Black Liberation Movement was that he followed in the anti-imperialist tradition of Paul Robeson and WEB Dubois and was developing a mass following as a revolutionary democrat (not to be confused with the Democratic Party). 

Malcolm, before his death, made an ideological leap, a leap which took many of us years to understand. Malcolm often had ways of saying things. He said, ‘travel broadens one’s horizons. By traveling, which Malcolm did most of his life, he came in contact with progressives all over the world. But he began to see something. During our last one-on-one meetings in 22 West Restaurant in Harlem, approximately February 11, 1965, Malcolm said, ‘I can no longer call myself a black nationalist. The best thing to describe myself is to say, I am an Internationalist.’ ….

What confused so many people is that some writers have said Malcolm had become an integrationist. Black nationalists say Malcolm died a black nationalist, and Muslims say Malcolm died a Muslim. Malcolm stood for all of these, and much more, but that is not the issue. It is important to know that Malcolm was in rapid transition in search for the best solution to the plight of African Americans and persons of African descent the world over…. Malcolm had become, at the time of his death, a revolutionary international democrat, or an anti-imperialist who stood against the oppression of people by people, regardless of nationality, creed, or color…..

Even while Malcolm was in the Nation of Islam he was heavily influenced by the young students in the civil rights movement and developing progressive forces in and around the NOI. The Nation of Islam was the center of black nationalism in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During 1962-63 several independent, all-black student formations developed in the North. All these organizations had a close association with the Nation of Islam. In Detroit, there was Uhuru; in Chicago, NAO; in Oakland, California, there was the Afro-American Association; in Cleveland, the African American Institute; in New York, UMBRA; and in Philadelphia, the Revolutionary Action Movement.

Malcolm, being the traveling representative for the Nation of Islam, was in contact with these organizations and others….Malcolm’s advocating of armed self-defense was a radical departure from traditional black nationalism. His position reflected the new mood developing among black youth. The left-wing of SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee), particularly the Mississippi field staff, had become revolutionary nationalists and had armed and untied with Malcolm’s strategy. Before the end of 1964, several SNCC delegations had met with Malcolm.

Interrelated was the networking of the Revolutionary Action Movement with third world revolutionaries, civil rights organizations, and other nationalists, and the OAAU. The RAM sponsored the direct action Afro-American Student Movement conference on black nationalism on May 1, 1964, which was the pivotal point for the student movement. …The convening of the….conference on black nationalism was the ideological catalyst that eventually shifted the civil rights movement into the Black Power Movement”  Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford)

Currently, he is an Associate Professor and chair of the …
http://l.b5z.net/i/u/6075908/f/Umoja_movement_bio_2014.pdf
for UCLA’s Black student newspaper NOMMO and joined the Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford) … of Malcolm X and … published in Black Liberation movement

Black Social And Political Thought by Muhammad Ahmad
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-social-and-political-thought-muhammad-ahmad/1017470645?ean=9781934269428
Black Social and Political Thought: … liberation of the Black Nation, … Dr. Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford) …

REVOLUTIONARY ACTION MOVEMENT – The Freedom Archives
http://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/Black%20Liberation%20Disk/Black%20Power!/REVOLUTIONARY%20ACTION%20MOVEMENT%20copy.doc
REVOLUTIONARY ACTION MOVEMENT. … Black Workers “Liberation Unions. … Dr. Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford) 2008 . Title:

Letter from friends of Dr. Muhammad Ahmad – Black Bird …
http://blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com/
Dr. Muhammad Ahmad, aka, Max Stanford, Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) … Maxwell Curtis Stanford, Jr., known since 1970 as Muhammad Ahmad, is a civil rights activist and was a founder of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), a black power organization active during the 1960s. Born on July … Marshall and Stanford met Malcolm X in Harlem in November 1962, and Malcolm would join the organization before embarking on his trip to Mecca in 1964.

UMP | University of Minnesota Press Blog: Diane C. Fujino …
http://www.uminnpressblog.com/
Professor of Asian American studies and director of the Center for Black Studies Research at the University of California, Santa Barbara Appearing in Life … There I met Muhammad Ahmad (formerly Max Stanford), who was a major leader in the Revolutionary Action Movement, who had worked with Malcolm X, and whose intellectual and political prowess inspired Yuri—who in turn pushed for a wider audience for his book, Toward Black Liberation. I remember Yuri …

RAM: The World Black Revolution (1966) | Anti-Imperialism …
http://anti-imperialism.com/
… Revolutionary Action Movement. The group counted Malcolm X as a close supporter and member and was heavily influenced by Robert. … Like many individuals and organizations which fought for justice against the US, Max Stanford Jr. (now know as Muhammad Ahmad) and the Revolutionary Action Movement have been ‘erased’ from history. Until very recently, this document … On ‘the World Black Revolution’In “Black National Liberation”. RAIM Draft 12 Point …

COINTELPRO 101 & COINTELPRO Documentary …
http://earthwarriorsrising.wordpress.com/
Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford)—Founder of Revolutionary Action Movement and professor at Temple University. Bob Boyle—Attorney representing many activists and political prisoners targeted by COINTELPRO. Kathleen Cleaver—former leader of the Black Panther Party, now Professor of Law at Emory and Yale Universities and an expert on COINTELPRO. … COINTELPRO Alive: Malcolm X Grandson, Malcolm el Shabazz, Issues Statement · COINTELPRO: …

An Updated History Of The New Afrikan Prison Struggle by …
http://www.sundiataacoli.org/
Two of the returning students were Wanda Marshall and Max Stanford, now name Akbar Muhammad Ahmad, who transplanted RAM from Cleveland to the ghettos of Philadelphia, New York, and other urban areas. …. Small groups began studying on their own, or in collectives, the works of Malcolm X, Huey P. Newton, The Black Panther newspaper, The Militant newspaper, contemporary national liberation struggle leader Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Frantz …

Eldridge Cleaver, A Memoir by Marvin X – Black Bird Press …
http://blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com/
Several of us were associated with Soulbook, the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) publication headed by Robert F. Williams and Max Stanford (now Muhammad Ahmed). ….. Chicago, especially the South side, but Harlem, the capital of Black America, the ground Malcolm X walked upon, and Duke, Billie, Basie, Parker, Apollo Theatre, awesome power of my people, the East coast version of what I’d experienced in Oakland on Seventh Street, Harlem of the West.

The Black power movement: Papers of the Revolutionary Action Movement, 1962-1996
Muhammad Ahmad, Ernie Allen, John H. Bracey, Randolph Boehm, published 2002, 72 pages

We will return in the whirlwind: black radical organizations 1960-1975
Muhammad Ahmad, published 2007, 340 pages

Contemporary Black Thought: The Best from the Black Scholar
unknown, published 1973, 299 pages

The Civil Rights & Black Liberation Movements … – Freedom Archives
http://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Curr%2520C101/Black%2520liberation%2520movement.pdf
The references in the film to Dr. King and Malcolm X, to organizations such as … as Kathleen Cleaver and Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford)— to aid students … speakers to discuss the civil rights and Black liberation movement in this context.

Letter from friends of Dr. Muhammad Ahmad – Black Bird Press …
http://blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com/2014/07/letter-from-friends-of-dr-muhammad-ahmad.html
Jul 10, 2014 Dr. Muhammad Ahmad, aka, Max Stanford, Revolutionary Action Movement ( RAM) … Marshall and Stanford met Malcolm X in Harlem in November 1962, … with a dissertation titled “The Black Liberation Movement: Then and …

Black Nationalism in America

Black Nationalism in American Politics and Thought|Multimedia
http://rbgstreetscholar.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/black-nationalism-in-american-politics-and-thoughtmultimedia/
Black Nationalism in American Politics and Thought, Robinson, Dean E.,Cambridge University Press 2001
Link to our EduBlog for full e-book read/study/download
More References:

7 Mar 2013 … black nationalism, political and social movement prominent in the 1960s and early ’70s in the United States among some African Americans.

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Achieving major national influence through the Nation of Islam (NOI) and the Black Power movement of the 1960s, proponents of black nationalism advocated  …

 Black nationalism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black nationalism (BN) advocates a racial definition (or redefinition) of national identity. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles  …

In contrast to prominent Republicans’ strange receptivity to black nationalism, Democrats seemed to go out of their way to condemn it. Back in the days when he …

 

Malcolm X speaks on Black Nationalism