African People's Socialist Party

African People's Socialist Party
Chairman	Omali Yeshitela
Founded	May 1972
Headquarters	St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
Newspaper	The Burning Spear
Women's wing	African National Women's Organization
Political orientation	Anti-capitalism Anti-colonialism Black nationalism Socialism

The African People's Socialist Party (APSP) is a socialist political party in the United States. It seeks to create a united socialist state for all of Africa. Unlike the Republic of New Afrika, it does not claim any land in North America for the African diaspora.

History

The African People's Socialist Party was founded in May 1972 by Omali Yeshitela. It formed from a merger of three organizations: the Junta of Militant Organizations, the Black Rights Fighters from Fort Myers, and the Black Study Group from Gainsville. In 1976, the APSP formed the African People's Solidarity Committee and allowed white proletarians to join the party. By 1979, the APSP had spread to 15 states and 26 cities.

In 1981, the APSP moved its headquarters to Oakland, California, which was also the headquarters of the Black Panthers. In 1982, the party held its first congress and a tribunal for reparations to the African diaspora. The first congress received solidarity statements from revolutionary governments around the world including Grenada and the Sandinistas.

In 1991, the APSP founded the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM). The InPDUM demanded self-determination for Africans and organized a successful campaign to free Fred Hampton's son. During the 1990s, the APSP moved its headquarters to St. Petersburg, Florida.

In 1996, Africans rebelled in St. Petersburg after police officer James Knight murdered Tyron Lewis. On November 13, over 300 police and troops surrounded the Uhuru House and fired tear gas into the building. The people rose, shooting two police and taking down a police helicopter.

In 1999, the APSP organized a conference in London, England to establish the African Socialist International. In 2002, Omali Yeshitela went to South Africa to speak at the 8th Congress of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania.

Membership

Members of the APSP must be at least 18 years old unless the age requirement is waived by the National Central Committee. Membership dues are $5 per month for students, unemployed people, and imprisoned people and $20 per month for employed people. Only Black people can join the party, but non-Africans who support the APSP can join the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement or the African People's Solidarity Committee.

Structure

National level

The APSP holds a National Party Congress every five years and the congress elects the National Central Committee (NCC). The National Central Committee meets four times a year and can call additional meetings with a one-third vote.The NCC includes a chairperson, and 13 other officers. All officers are elected except the National Director of Security, who is appointed by the Chairperson. The National Party Congress can amend the party constitution with a two-thirds vote.

The Political Bureau consists of six members who are also part of the NCC: the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Secretary General, and National Directors of Agitation and Propaganda, Organization, and Recruitment and Membership. The Political Bureau meets at least eight times a year.

Regional level

The APSP holds regional congresses once every three years. The six regions are Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, and West. The regional congress elects a regional committee of ten officers who meet four times per year.

Local level

Each local party organization has six voting members and a security organizer. Local officers serve one-year terms.

The Party Unit is the lowest level of organization and consists of at least three members, including a Unit Leader, Unit Secretary, and Unit Leader of Membership and Recruitment. Larger units may also have a Unit Leader of Agitprop, Unit Leader of Finance and Economic Development, and a Unit Burning Spear Agent.

Demands

The APSP has 14 demands in its platform:

1. Peace, dignity, and the right for Africans to build a prosperous life through their own labor and in their own interests
2. Economic development and creative and productive employment for African people
3. An end to taxation of Black people by the U.S. government
4. Free speech and free political association
5. The right to political and economic association with Africans and other peoples
6. Immediate release of all Black people from U.S. prisons
7. Amnesty for all African political prisoners and prisoners of war
8. Immediate withdrawal of U.S. police from Black communities
9. An end to the political and social oppression and economic exploitation of African women
10. Building an African People's Liberation Army
11. Reparations from the United States and European countries
12. An end to U.S. and European interference against Africa and African people
13. An end to colonial domination of African people in the United States
14. Liberation and unification of Africa under a socialist government

Repression

In January 1973, a Central Committee member was assassinated by a car crash. Chairman Yeshitela was arrested in May 1973 and imprisoned for two months.

On July 29, 2022, the FBI raided Omali Yeshitela’s house and party offices in St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri. The FBI claimed that the APSP was controlled by Russia because it opposes the CIA-installed government of Ukraine.