Eldridge Cleaver Notebooks, September 1969

Eldridge Cleaver praises North Korea's efforts toward national liberation and suggests that Kim Il Sung's speeches should be inspiring to Americans.

A speech given at the Pyongyang City Mass Rally by Eldridge Cleaver in which he suggests that U.S. imperialism first became evident with the Korean War. North Korea has developed around the leadership of Kim Il Sung and has established a strong military and industry to as countermeasures in the case of a new war. According to Cleaver, if the anti-imperialist Asian countries join against US imperialism, they will be able to knock it down and ensure the victory of their cause.

Eldridge Cleaver applauds the North Koreans for being the beacons of the anti-imperialist revolution and praises Kim Il Sung's leadership against U.S. imperialism and Japanese colonialism. According to Cleaver, the Black Panther Party supports and join hands with the North Koreans against fascism, imperialism, and the ruling class. Cleaver also criticizes South Korea for being a puppet state of U.S. imperialism.

The speaker thanks the Black Panther Party for supporting North Korea's efforts to achieve independence without the influence of US and Japanese imperialist forces and expresses North Korea's hope for solidarity against imperialism. The speaker argues that Korean unification can only be achieved by the Korean people themselves.

Eldridge Cleaver praises Kim Il Sung and the Korean people as models of the anti-imperialist struggle and suggests that US imperialism has been crumbling since its "defeat" in the Korean War. Cleaver praises North Korean economic development in heavy industry and light industry and in agriculture which serves the purpose of liberating the people. Suggesting that the Korean peninsula can only be unified by the Koreans themselves, Cleaver indicates his support for North Korea's efforts to unify Korea against US imperialism, warning that the US imperialists that they will suffer a heavier loss if they provoke another war.

Eldridge Cleaver recommends that Robert Sheer join the "U.S. People's Anti-Imperialist Delegation" to North Korea in 1970.

Eldridge Cleaver sends a message to Kim Il Sung celebrating the twenty-third anniversary of the founding of DPRK. Cleaver praises the Juche principle and the Korean revolution for national independence against the Japanese fascists and US imperialists. Koreans are described as the prime mover of the international revolutionary movement and as having built a powerful independent socialist country. Cleaver praises North Korea's efforts in reaching out to the southern hemisphere that is suffering from US neo-colonialism.

Eldridge Cleaver gives a list of specific instructions and suggestions on establishing relations with the communist parties in Asia and North Korea in particular.

Notes taken by Eldridge Cleaver during his visit to North Korea in September 1969 for the "International Conference on Tasks of Journalists of the Whole World in their Fight against U.S. Imperialist Aggression."

Eldridge Cleaver's handwritten notes from his travels to North Korea in 1970 for the "U.S. People's Anti-Imperialist Delegation."