- unitid
-
{"value"=>"21095", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 601", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b23154324", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1958-1995", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1958/1995"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression records"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"294 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"121.79 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"19 computer files", "unit"=>"computer_files"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"128.1 kilobytes", "unit"=>"kilobytes"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), founded in 1973 and still in existence today, seeks to raise awareness of America's political prisoners and prison conditions, police brutality, repressive legislation, and unfair labor practices. While most of the materials concern Black Americans, other minority groups, such as Native American activists, Puerto Rican nationalists, Chicanos, and the LGBTQ community do have a presence in this collection, as do cases involving oppression based on leftist political beliefs. The collection includes extensive correspondence with prisoners, as well as materials specifically related to executive board member Angela Davis, and materials dedicated to the NAARPR's management, conferences, and rallies, mostly from the 1970s through the 1980s."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"Multiple languages"}
{"value"=>"English, Spanish, German, Russian, French"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"National Alliance against Racist and Political Repression (U.S.)", "type"=>"corpname", "role"=>"cre"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) was founded in 1973 in Chicago, Illinois with the stated goal of \"mount[ing] organized action against unjust treatment of individuals because of race or political beliefs.\" The primary goal of the NAARPR is to raise national awareness of America's political prisoners, conditions that inmates were subjected to during their time in the carceral system, capital punishment abolition efforts, and behavioral modification programs within the prison-industrial complex, as well as unfair and biased election and labor practices and the silencing of those with leftist beliefs. The majority of the work concerns Black Americans, and the intersectionality of race, gender, and class in oppression comes through in most of the cases undertaken.</p> <p>The NAARPR was spearheaded by civil rights activist Charlene Mitchell (1930-2022). Mitchell was previously Executive Secretary of the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners, and the NAARPR grew out of this and other similar grassroots movements that took shape in the early 1970s. Davis, a Communist Party USA (CPUSA) member and academic, had been arrested in California on politically motivated murder charges in 1970, when guns she originally purchased were later used in the murder of Superior Court Judge Harold Haley; she was acquitted by an all-white jury in 1972.</p> <p>Mitchell had, in 1968, become the first Black woman to run for President of the United States when she was nominated by the CPUSA, and her political views were deeply entwined with that of the Alliance's. She and many other Black Communists, including Davis, drifted away from the CPUSA in the 1980s as it began to focus less on the intersectionality between race and class. That said, she remained dedicated to socialist causes for the rest of her life, and her influence in current events was acknowledged at the time of her death. \"Black Lives Matter and modern Black feminism stand on the shoulders of Charlene Mitchell,\" said Erik S. McDuffie, a professor of African American studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in her <span class=\"title\">New York Times</span> obituary.</p> <p>The CPUSA overlapped with the Alliance in many ways, including executive membership. After Davis' acquittal, she served on the executive board of the Alliance, undertaking many speaking events on their behalf.</p> <p>The NAARPR continues to operate field offices throughout the United States. The NAARPR dedicates itself to various political, prisoner rights, police brutality, labor, and legislative causes. It does so by providing advocacy and publicity for cases of injustice in the United States and abroad, organizing protests and letter writing campaigns, connecting prisoners with lawyers, producing informational materials, and generally seeking to publicize and place into the public consciousness cases of injustice. NAARPR advocated prominently on behalf of the Wilmington Ten, nine Black men and one white woman who were wrongfully convicted in 1971 in Wilmington, North Carolina of arson and conspiracy and served ten years in jail. The most prominent of the Ten was civil rights activist Reverend Benjamin Chavis, who later served on the board of the NAARPR.</p> <p>Over time, other board members have included the Reverend David Garcia of St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery, attorney Lennox Hines, Judge Margaret Burnham, political prisoner David Truong, labor activist Henry Foner, attorney Adjoa Aiyetoro, and former prisoner-turned-activist Frank Chapman.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>This collection documents the systematic oppression suffered by Black Americans, as well as other minority groups, the labor movement, and leftists, with particular emphasis on events that happened in the 1970s through the 1980s. The collection highlights cases of police brutality, inhumane prison conditions, unfair labor practices, efforts to circumvent segregation and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, resistance to the Vietnam War and its draft, affirmative action, hate group activity, and repressive legislation. Of particular note is the fact that the collection contains many first-hand accounts from prisoners corresponding about their cases and the conditions they were living and working in, as well as detailed accounts of police brutality and misconduct throughout the United States.</p> <p>The collection also contains many small-press newsletters that were published by and for prisoners, including <span class=\"title\">Join Hands</span>, which was published by and for gay prisoners, as well as anarchist and pacifist publications. While the collection is mostly focused on Black Americans, other minority groups, such as Native American activists, Puerto Rican nationalists, Chicanos, and the LGBTQ community do have a presence. The collection is mostly focused on the United States, with the expectation of a few international cases, mostly concerning South African anti-apartheid efforts. International publications, in particular publications from the Soviet Union, are included, usually in reference to cases from the United States.</p> <p>After Angela Davis was acquitted, she served on the executive board of the NAARPR and a significant amount of material is dedicated to her and the work she did with the Alliance. This includes materials related to speaking engagements, teaching and writing offers, correspondence, and extensive materials from the time of her arrest and trial, which predates the Alliance's founding.</p> <p>Most of the materials were collected by the New York City office, though there are materials from various branches across the country and in Canada.</p> <p>It should be noted that this collection does contain instances of hate speech and death threats, either in the form of materials sent to the Alliance, case accounts, or far-right publications collected by the Alliance for research and monitoring.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression records are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21095#c1723866'>Series I: Administration</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1969-1995</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Administration series covers all materials related to the general operations of the Alliance, its executive board, meetings and conferences, financials, and press. This also includes material that predates the Alliance, showcasing the various grassroots movements that the Alliance was born out of, as well as material specifically related to the Alliance's extensive efforts to end repression in North Carolina. The various subseries are listed alphabetically.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21095#c1725147'>Series II: Case Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1967-1995</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Case Files series covers individual criminal justice and political cases that were advocated by the Alliance, most of which date from the 1970s. The Alliance dedicated itself to highlighting cases of victims of police brutality, political prisoners, the falsely convicted, prisoner's rights, a racist criminal justice system, efforts to silence Black elected officials, denials of tenure, and other cases of oppression. While not a legal organization, the Alliance used rallies, letter writing campaigns, petitions, protests, and other forms of social action to bring these cases to the public's attention. On occasion it was helpful in finding legal representation for incarcerated persons.</p> <p>The majority of these cases concern the systematic and widespread oppression of Black Americans. However, the Alliance sought to highlight all forms of oppression and political prisoners, and the case files reflect that. The Alliance allied itself with the American Indian Movement (AIM) and a number of cases concern members of that organization. Additional cases concern Puerto Rican nationalists, Chicanos, and labor struggles. The vast majority of cases are American, but there are a small number of international cases, most notably that of Nelson and Winnie Mandela and other members of the African National Congress (ANC) and the broader anti-apartheid movement.</p> <p>Cases in which the Alliance took a particularly active role are highlighted, with background on that case. Some individuals that were the subject of cases also served on the executive board, such as David Truong and Reverand Ben Chavis. This series consists of cases that the Alliance took active part in, as well as cases that were sent to the Alliance for consideration.</p> <p>Cases are listed alphabetically. In the case of instances where two persons are the subject of one case, the names are in the order the Alliance had them.</p> <p>The case files series contains: correspondence, including correspondence with inmates; flyers; legal documents; petitions; case histories; press, including newsletters published by prisoners; pamphlets; and research materials.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21095#c1725679'>Series III: Task Forces and Committees</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1968-1994</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Materials produced and collected by the various task forces that were part of the Alliance, as well as their legal support committee. Many of these task forces hosted workshops at the annual conventions, usually resulting in published resolutions.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21095#c1726109'>Series IV: Subject Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1958-1995</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Subject Files series is dedicated to materials mostly collected by the Alliance's New York City office on various topics that were of interest to the Alliance and its membership. Some of these folders contain correspondence directed to Alliance staff on the topics at hand. The subjects are broad, usually concerning racial discrimination and repressive legislation, as well as other topics that had nationwide interest. This includes abortion rights, the AIDS epidemic, anti-war movements, materials related to the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), repressive legislation and over-policing, inadequacies within the legal system, hate groups, institutionalized racism and sexism, and restrictions to the right to vote.</p> <p>Some folders in this series include hate group publications with racist and anti-semitic hate speech.</p> <p>Materials include: clippings; pamphlets; newsletters; proposals; flyers; reports; statistics; correspondence; and hate group publications for research purposes.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scm/21095#c1726387'>Series V: Police Crimes</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1968-1993</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Alliance collected extensive material on the subject of police brutality in the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as producing informational materials on the topic. This includes reports of the use of excessive and deadly force, discrimination, other abusive behavior, and efforts to establish citizen control boards at the local level. Some of these materials are grouped by their city of origin and most of the material concerns the over-policing of and use of violence against the Black community. The two cities most represented are New York City and Los Angeles. This does not include materials specifically related to the Task Force on Police Crimes.</p> <p>Materials include: brochures; statistics; correspondence; testimony; press; background on cases; flyers; proposals for civilian control boards; booklets published by the Alliance; legal documents; reports; and materials for roundtable discussions.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Charlene Mitchell in 1996-2000.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound (MIRS) Division: audio and moving image materials. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Stacey Ference</span> in <span class=\"date\">2022</span>-<span class=\"date\">2023</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1958
- keydate
-
1958
- date_end
-
1995
- date_inclusive_start
-
1958
- date_inclusive_end
-
1995
- extent_statement
-
121.79 linear feet (294 boxes). 128.1 kilobytes (19 computer files)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression records, Sc MG 601, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}