S activist to speak on Malcolm X
By Sally Low
Malik Miah has been involved in the black movement in the US for more than 20 years. In January he will be a speaker at the Socialist Activists' Education Conference in Sydney. He will present two papers, one on Malcolm X and another on contemporary US politics.
Miah is a member of San Francisco steering committee of the Committees of Correspondence, an important left regroupment that has brought together socialists from various traditions. Its original founders, including well-known African American leader Angela Davis, are former members of the Communist Party of the USA who left or were expelled after they objected to that party's lack of internal democracy and its failure to assess honestly the reasons for the collapse of the USSR.
Miah has also had rich experiences in trade union and socialist politics, having formerly been a co-chairperson of the US Socialist Workers Party. He is employed as a mechanic for United Airlines and is a shop steward, a member of the Human Rights and Education Committees of his local branch of the International Association of Machinists, the national coordinator of Activists for Independent Socialist Politics and a member of Labor Party Advocates. He edited the 1976 Pathfinder publication The Assassination of Malcolm X.
"Socialism now more than ever" is the theme chosen by the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance for the conference, which, as well as international topics, will include many talks on current Australian society and politics. Guest speakers from the New Zealand NewLabour Party and Indonesia will also feature.
"We have already had expressions of interest from all round the country", commented DSP national secretary John Percy. "At a time when the establishment is busy trying to convince us that there is no alternative to capitalism, we need a conference such as this. Not just members of the DSP and Resistance but all green left and left green activists can benefit from the chance to relax, discuss and study questions of theory. It will help to renew our enthusiasm for, and ideas about, our activities in 1993."
For further information on the conference, which will run from January 2 to 6, contact your nearest DSP or Resistance branch or the DSP national office at PO Box 515 Broadway 2007. Ph (02) 690 1230.