The May 31, 1969 issue of The Black Panther called for a "Revolutionary Conference for a United Front Against Fascism," to be held in Oakland in July of that year.[2] The announcement drew links between the killing of James Rector and the imprisonment of Huey Newton, and outlined the purpose of the conference: it would develop a political program representing the "poor, black, oppressed workers and people of America", involving strategies for community control of policing, the release of political prisoners, the expulsion of the military from college and university campuses, and community self-defense.[2]
Speeches were given on the first day of the congress. The second day was devoted to workshops on issues around fascism, gender, workers and students, political prisoners, health, religion, state repression of political dissent and policing.[3] Speakers included Bob Avakian[5] and Jeff Jones[6] of SDS; Elaine Brown, who presented a letter from Ericka Huggins who was at that time incarcerated;[6] the politician Ron Dellums;[6] and the lawyers Charles Garry[7] and William Kunstler,[6] the latter of whom discussed the 1967 Plainfield, New Jersey riots and argued for the legality and necessity of defensive violence.[8] Following the congress the National Committees to Combat Fascism, a national network that sought community control of police forces, was established.[3][9]
The history of the UFAF demonstrates that discussions about fascism in the US are nothing new. It shifts the discussion of fascism away from an American exceptionalist terrain where the US is compared with Europe and government structures or despotic leaders are analyzed and instead demonstrates the value of unearthing manifestations of fascism in the lived experiences of Black people in the US.[3]
COINTELPRO, a series of projects conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations including the Black Panther Party
