Introduction

Abstract

The Congress of African People (CAP) was a critically important political formation in the Black Liberation Movement. It was founded in 1970 in Atlanta as a revolutionary Nationalist/ Pan-Africanist organization and continued throughout the 1970s. Beginning in 1974 it began to shift ideologically to Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse Tung Thought and in 1976 changed its name to the Revolutionary Communist League (Marxist-Leninist-Mao Tse Tung Thought). In 1980 it merged with the League of Revolutionary Struggle (LRS), a Marxist-Leninist organization made up mainly of Asian American and Latino American activists. The merger with the LRS signaled the end of the official life of CAP. However, the ideas and practice of CAP have persisted through its historical influence and the continued work of its many members and supporters who are still engaged in the struggle for self-determination, human rights, and a just democratic society. As new generations of African American activists emerge, the experiences of CAP and other black revolutionary organizations provide valuable lessons for organizing new movements.