Bill Epton

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William Leo Epton Jr. (January 17, 1932, New York City–February 3, 2002), more popularly known simply as Bill Epton, was a Maoist African-American communist activist. He was Vice Chairman of Progressive Labor until approximately 1970, and chairman of its Harlem branch until that position went null upon Epton's incarceration for incitement to violence in 1964.

Epton was "the first person convicted of criminal anarchy since the Red Scare of 1919" [1] — reportedly for a crime of three words: "Burn, baby, burn."

Contents 1 Origins 2 Background to the Epton court case 2.1 We Accuse 3 Epton breaks with PL 4 Sources

[edit] Origins

According to his New York Times obituary, Epton, a Harlem native, was a firebrand even early in his youth. "Even as a high school student," the obituary reads, "he demonstrated for civil rights and helped organize unions. He was drafted into the Army and served in the Korean War." Later, he became an electrician, and gravitated towards the Progressive Labor Movement and its activities.

[edit] Background to the Epton court case

On July 16, 1964, NYPD officer Thomas Gilligan shot and killed a 15-year-old African-American high school student, James Powell, in cold blood. Over the next few days, the people of Harlem rose up in one of the first major Northern rebellions of the period, marking a new stage in such uprisings. [2]

Epton and his comrades plastered the streets of Harlem with a poster: Wanted For Murder – Gilligan the Cop. The city administration declared a state of emergency in Harlem, prohibiting all demonstrations. While most of the reformist leaders went along with this ban, Epton and the Harlem branch of PL called for a peaceful rally on 125th Street for July 25. When Epton and the others began to march, Epton was arrested, charged with "criminal anarchy," tried, found guilty and sentenced to one year in prison.

The Epton trial was postponed to August 2, 1965. New York City Mayor Wagner, speaking to a group of students while traveling in Denmark, meanwhile said the rebellion Epton participated in was "a social revolution – a demand by a minority for equal rights" (N.Y. Times, July 7, 1965).

[edit] We Accuse

Epton wrote a militant speech he made to the court at his sentencing hearing. Progressive Labor Party published it as a pamphlet on February 2, 1966. [3] In part, the text reads:

You didn't have to have a trial to "prove" these things. All you had to do was ask me and I would have told you – Yes! There's no problem – There's no secret – whatever we write and publish we sign with our name, address and phone number. We are willing and not afraid to put out ideas in the public view. ... Did you, at any time, think that we would deny what we do and have done? Did you think that we would deny what we hold to be true and what we believe in? Do you think that all people in this country have been so "brain dirtied" and have been so thoroughly corrupted that they are afraid to express an independent thought – to stand up for what they believe and fight for it? Well, there are people in this country who are governed by ideas that do not come out of the pages of the Times and the Daily News, and their numbers grow every day. And I am sure that this so-called "trial" has opened up many more eyes. Whatever we do and whatever we believe in – we do and believe that it is in the interest of the people of this country; And yes – we are proud to have done it and to be doing it and we stand behind our actions four-square!

The New York Times article notes: "A grand jury indicted Mr. Epton on charges that his speeches kept the riot [of Harlem 1964] going. In one, which was secretly recorded by an undercover officer assigned to monitor the [Progressive Labor Party], he said, "We're going to have to kill a lot of cops, a lot of the judges, and we'll have to go against their army." [http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/lists_archive/sixties-l/4014.html 5

[edit] Epton breaks with PL

Epton was eventually released on bail while he appealed his conviction. Meanwhile, Progressive Labor began to change its line on the national question, the developments of which Epton apparently found politically unacceptable. They denounced all national liberation movements that did not aim directly for socialism, such as the Vietnamese NLF, and also made some rather searing criticisms of the Black Panther Party.

After Epton left PL, he was involved in new attempts to unite revolutionary Marxists in the U.S. in the early 1970s. The appeal of his conviction was eventually rejected and he was forced to serve the remainder of that year in prison. ibid, 6 However, such activity as Epton had engaged in was changed back to constitutional a mere two years after Epton's imprisonment. The New York Times obituary article says that Leon Friedman of Hofstra Law School noted: "They changed the rules. Had the new rule been in effect, he [Epton probably would have won."

Epton played a founding role in the A. Philip Randolph Labor Council. He was also an information officer and printer at the New York City Board of Education after serving a year on Rikers Island. He died at a local hospital in his hometown of Harlem. He is survived by two children and three grandchildren.

[edit] Sources

Martin, Douglas. "William Epton, 70, Is Dead; Tested Free Speech Limits." New York Times obituary article, February 3, 2002. Accessed March 2, 2006 via this website.

Manning, Lona. "[Rubin "Hurricane"] Carter's phony radical credentials." Source for Bill Epton picture, obtained here: [4]

We Accuse: Bill Epton Speaks to the Court. Progressive Labor Party, February 2, 1966. Excerpted from MLTranslations.org.