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New Alliance Party — Part 1
Page 52
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City. Centers for Change (CFC) was charac-
terized by a more introspective approach to politi-
cal organizing. CFC described itself as:
...€ collective of libération centers in-
cluding; a school for children, ages 3 to
7; a community oriented therapeutic and
dental clinic located in the Bronx; and a
press (CFC Press) operating out of the
CFC offices....Also, the Community
Media Project; (an) information service
for the people of the upper west side...
While involved with CFC, Newman and others
in his circle began developing a unique perspec-
tive within the evolving theory of radical psychol-
ogy. This movement attracted attention and
debate in progressive circles; Newman, however,
soon branched off from the mainstream of the
radical psychology movement and eventually
developed a theory of “social therapy”. By 1973
CFC was offering therapy and counseling at its
drop-in center.
At the same time, another New York political
organizer, Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr., was also
espousing controversial psychological theories,
and Newman began to examine LaRouche's writ-
ingson psychology and economics which were ap-
pearing in n published collections of Marxist
Lyndon LaRouche in 1973 was the leader of the
National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC),
a Marxist political organization based in New
York City. LaRouche, using the name Lyn Mar-
cus, had led the Labor Caucus of the Students for
a Democratic Society (SDS) until SDS voted to
expel LaRouche and his followers in 1969. The
controversy inside SDS arose when.tke SDS
Labor Caucus ynder LaRouche called for support
of striking members of New York City’s teacher’s
union. A key union issue was opposition to com-
tunity control of schools in New York City~a
demand of community leaders which had the sup-
port of many Black parents. The union’s opposi-
Ln Oe en he ee ornssine culceal cocowaniny
from SDS, LaRouche created the Navional
Caucus of Labor Comittees, which in 1973 had at
least 1,000 members nationwide.
Newman says he first made contact with Lyn-
don LaRouche’s forces within the National
Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC) in October
of 1973. In January of 1974 Newman’s organiza-
tion, Centers for Change (CFC), published a
newsletter Right On Time which called for the or-
ganization of leftist political cadres and relied
heavily on psychoanalytic terminology.
LaRouche’s theories were in many ways similar fo
those espoused by Newman, and in June of 1974,
Newman led almost 40 CFC members into an of-
ficial political alliance with LaRouche and the Na-
tional Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC).
Newman’s Alliance with LaRouche
Even NAP supporters concede that Newman
and some of his followers worked for a time under
the political leadership of LaRouche. What keeps
this aspect of the controversy alive is what critics
feel are misrepresentations regarding the charac-
ter of the relationship and the nature of the La-
Rouche organization at the time of the alliance.
NAP’s position is stated in a letter circulated by
its supporters under the name “The Committee to
Set the Record Straight:”
Five years prior to NAP’s founding, a
handful of activists, five of whom now sit
on NAP's 40-member national Executive
Board, joined the National Caucus of
Labor Committees, then a left organiza-
tion founded by LaRouche. At the time,
it was attracting many organic progres-
sive leaders from the welfare, trade
union, and electoral arenas. Dr. New-
man was one of those who joined. He
and his colleagues’ membership in the
NCLC lasted approximately two months.
Following their departure in the sum-
mer of 1974, they began an extensive
political and critique of
LeRouche and the NCLC and by 1975
became among the first on the Left to ex-
ein hersin- aan ee
. “Thie characterization the
“Roe cclarenahin i at beat self-serving and a
worst largely fictional. With some ten percent of
the current NAP executive board comprised of
Clouds Blur the Rainbow - 3
Te
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