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Memorandum for Mr, Belmont RE: ARKANSAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL COMMITTER | DETAILS: The "Washington Capital News Service" release dated 12/18/58 carried an article concerning the testimony of Manning Johnson, former Communist Party (CP) member, before the Arkansas Legislative Council Committee investigating a possible link between communism and racial unrest in Arkansas, During his testimony, Johnson advised he was a CP member from 1930-1940; he quit the Party at the time of the Nazi-Soviet Pact; and has testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee and committees of state pegisiatures in Washington and Louisiana. Johnson further testified as OLlows : (1) He joined the American Negro Labor Congress (ANLC) in 1930; described it as the first communist front organization formed among Negroes; stated the Congress was born in Chicago in 1925 and it was formed with the thought in mind of stirring up troubie in the South, (2) He was sent by the CP to a secret training school in New York; became one of the major Negro leaders in the CP in America; quoted at length a resolution passed by the Communist Internationale in 1928 which called for agitation among and recruitment of Negroes; in 1928 the whole program that is unfolding today was worked out by the Secretariat of the CP; in 1930 the Internationale issued a supplemental resolution calling for confiscation of plantations in the South and distribution among the Negro shareholders; and to accomplish this, a League of Struggle for Negro Rights (LSNR) was set up which was to operate throughout the South, including Arkansas. (3) He charged the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) misquoted his testimony before the Louisiana Legislative Committee in March, 1957. Johnson stated he told that Committee he was an associate research director and had cooperated with various agencies of the Federal Government in the investigation and prosecution of communists. He stated the NAACP put out a press release which claimed he stated he was an associate research director of the Department of Justice. Johnson stated there is no such position, yet the NAACP picked that up in a crude attempt to smear him from one end of the country to another. Regarding the above release, the Director noted "What about this?” In answer to the Director's question the following information is set forth.