4.66.1198-01 |
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COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY
P.O. Box 2256
NEW YORK, NY 10001
FOR I MMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 16, 1980
Contact: Marion Yuen, Press Officer, New York, phone 212-233-0988 or
Signe Waller, North Carolina Press Secretary, Greensboro, 919-273-6379
GREENSBORO COMMUNITY LEADER AND ANTI -KLAN DEMONSTRATORS TO
FACE TRIAL
On May 5th, Nelson Johnson, longtime community leader in Greensboro, N.C.
and leading member of the Communist Workers Party in North Carolina, will face
trial for "inciting to riot". He was arrested at the anti-Klan rally last November 3,
immediately after the KKK/Nazis assassinated 5 members of CWP and wounded 9
other anti-Klan demonstrators.
Also facing trial are Nov. 3rd anti-Klan demonstrators, Willena Cannon and Rand
Manzella, supporters of the CWP. Willena Cannon, a well-known community organizer,
is charged with 'iinterference with police officers" as the police arrested a bleeding
Nelson Johnson. Rand Manzella is a union organizer and shop steward at Cone's
White Oak textile mill. He was fired after the November 3 rai:y. He is charged with
"being armed to the terror of the people". As the three were arrested, the Greensboro
police made no attempt to pursue 8 of the 9 cars in the KKK/Nasi caravan that entered
the Morningside community and committed murder that day.
As an attorney for the CWP, Stuart Kwoh, points out; while the three anti-Klan
demonstrators are being brought to trial,
15-20 KKK/Nazis present in the caravan which attacked the Nov. 3 rally, have
never been apprehended, even though their identities are known to the police,
.... .conspiracy to murder charges have been dropped against the KKK/Nazis indicted
District Attorney Michael Schlosser promised on March 25th to indict more CWP
-more-
Object Description
| Title | Greensboro community leader and anti-Klan demonstrators to face trial |
| Date | 1980-04-16 |
| Creator | Communist Workers Party U.S.A. |
| Contributors | Waller, Signe |
| Biographical/historical note |
The Communist Workers Party (CWP) was a Maoist group in the United States. It was founded in 1969 as the Workers' Viewpoint Organization. The party is mainly remembered for the "Greensboro Massacre", a November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan march that left five of the CWP protesters dead. The CWP emphasized unionization and self-determination for African-Americans and enjoyed some success in textile cities of North Carolina. The party established branches in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Greensboro, West Virginia, Colorado and other locations. Prior to its reorganization as a political party, the group had been known as the Workers Viewpoint Organization. Under this umbrella, it directed groups as the Revolutionary Youth League, the African Liberation Support Committee, and the Trade Union Education League. Confrontations with the Klan were particularly acute in Greensboro, where the Klan attempted to disrupt the work of the CWP and vice versa. In July, 1979, the Klan held a rally and viewing of The Birth of a Nation in China Grove, N.C., which was disrupted by CWP members who burned a Confederate flag and taunted members of the KKK. There were also challenges in the press. These provocations were a precursor to the November 3, 1979. "Death to the Klan!" rally organized by the CWP. Members of the Klan were armed, as were some members of the CWP. Two members of the CWP and three rally participants were killed in the assault by the KKK. This was the incident that became known as the "Greensboro Massacre". In response to the acquittal of the accused killers, the CWP attempted to storm the 1980 Democratic National Convention and succeeded in setting off firecrackers in Madison Square Garden. Subsequent to the Greensboro massacre, the group moved towards a social democratic formation that would work for peaceful transition to socialism; it dissolved the Communist Workers Party and formed the New Democratic Movement in 1985. The New Democratic Movement lasted but a few years. The Greensboro Justice Fund is a still extant remnant of this movement. |
| Subject headings | Greensboro Massacre, Greensboro, N.C., 1979 |
| Topics | Greensboro Massacre, 1979 |
| Place | Greensboro (N.C.) |
| Description | This April 16, 1980 press release, issued by the Communist Workers Party (CWP), criticizes the prosecution of CWP member Nelson Johnson for "inciting to riot" or "interfering with police officers" following the November 3, 1979, Death to the Klan march that resulted in the death of five CWP protestors (also known as the Greensboro Massacre). The CWP accuses prosecutors of blaming the victims of the shooting, and demands that all charges against the three be dropped. |
| Type | text |
| Original format | reports |
| Original dimensions | 8.5" x 11" |
| Original publisher | Greensboro, N.C. : Communist Workers Party U.S.A. |
| Language | en |
| Contributing institution | Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University |
| Source collection | RL.00134 Blanche M. Boyd Papers |
| Finding aid link | http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/boyd/ |
| Rights statement | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Additional rights information | IN COPYRIGHT. This item is subject to copyright. Contact the contributing institution for permission to reuse. |
| Object ID | Duke_RL.00134.1198 |
| Digital publisher | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5305 -- http://library.uncg.edu/ |
| Sponsor | LSTA grant administered by the North Carolina State Library -- http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ld/grants/lsta.html |
| OCLC number | 884367586 |
Page/Item Description
| Title | 4.66.1198-01 |
| Full text | COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY P.O. Box 2256 NEW YORK, NY 10001 FOR I MMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 16, 1980 Contact: Marion Yuen, Press Officer, New York, phone 212-233-0988 or Signe Waller, North Carolina Press Secretary, Greensboro, 919-273-6379 GREENSBORO COMMUNITY LEADER AND ANTI -KLAN DEMONSTRATORS TO FACE TRIAL On May 5th, Nelson Johnson, longtime community leader in Greensboro, N.C. and leading member of the Communist Workers Party in North Carolina, will face trial for "inciting to riot". He was arrested at the anti-Klan rally last November 3, immediately after the KKK/Nazis assassinated 5 members of CWP and wounded 9 other anti-Klan demonstrators. Also facing trial are Nov. 3rd anti-Klan demonstrators, Willena Cannon and Rand Manzella, supporters of the CWP. Willena Cannon, a well-known community organizer, is charged with 'iinterference with police officers" as the police arrested a bleeding Nelson Johnson. Rand Manzella is a union organizer and shop steward at Cone's White Oak textile mill. He was fired after the November 3 rai:y. He is charged with "being armed to the terror of the people". As the three were arrested, the Greensboro police made no attempt to pursue 8 of the 9 cars in the KKK/Nasi caravan that entered the Morningside community and committed murder that day. As an attorney for the CWP, Stuart Kwoh, points out; while the three anti-Klan demonstrators are being brought to trial, 15-20 KKK/Nazis present in the caravan which attacked the Nov. 3 rally, have never been apprehended, even though their identities are known to the police, .... .conspiracy to murder charges have been dropped against the KKK/Nazis indicted District Attorney Michael Schlosser promised on March 25th to indict more CWP -more- |
