Letter from Robert Cohen, former member

The following is a copy of a letter submitted to the New York Amsterdam News on September 12, 1993 in response to the newspaper’s publication of a New Alliance Party press release describing the group’s “support” for, and role in, the African American and lesbian and gay communities (see enclosed copies).

As a former member/victim of the NAP (a/k/a the International Workers Party), I have written this letter the hopes of forewarning prospective pawns about the group’s 25-year history of economic and political exploitation of gays, lesbians and people of color.

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I would like to respond to your publication of a New Alliance Party (NAP) press release describing the group’s “support” for, and role in, the African-American and gay and lesbian communities (“Dr. Fulani, Towns addresses Gay Men of African Descent,” New York Amsterdam News, September 4, 1993).

First of all, Dr. Fulani’s claim that the NAP (a/k/a the International Workers Party (IWP), the Castillo Cultural Center (Castillo), the All Stars Talent Show Network (ASTSN), the Rainbow Lobby/Ross & Green (the Lobby), and other paper organizations fronted by Dr. Fred Newman, Fulani’s “mentor”), is “pro-gay 365 days a year” is pure nonsense.

The NAP (IWP, etc.) has, in fact, never been pro-gay or pro-black any day of the year.In fact, the actual, bottom-line objective and end result of any and all of the various tactics and actions conducted by the NAP (IWP, etc.) are to “liberate” gays, blacks, and others, from their cash and personal freedom.

Furthermore, the NAP has a long (and, in their minds, proud) tradition of infiltrating and attempting to take over organizations that they claim support for, including, but not limited to: Queer Nation, ACTUP, Gay Men of the Bronx (GMOB), the Rainbow Coalition, the Unity Party,-the Peace & Freedom Party, the New Coalition Party, United We Stand, New Jewish Agenda, the National Organization for Women (NOW), and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, among others.

Contrary to Fulani’s claim, members of Queer Nation swear that they never physically attacked any member of the Castillo “collective” (IWP, etc.), although they did knock over one of their fundraising tables.

The gay and lesbian community is furious with the NAP (IWP, etc.) and its founder, Newman, a s well as with Fulani (Newman’s “greatest achievement”), for taking, advantage of the AIDS epidemic by ripping off the gay and lesbian community.

When Newman, a self-described “benevolent, despot,” sent his followers (myself included) out to the streets of Greenwich Village to raise money in support of the AIDS Bill of Rights (ABOR), it soon became apparent that the measure was a sham.

There was never any serious attempt on the part of the NAP (IWP, etc.) to gather enough legislative support with which to pass the bill (just ask any of the representatives on Capitol Hill about the ABOR).In fact, the proposal (actually a rough draft which was never assigned a bill number), was simply a tactic designed to elicit an emphatic response so as to solicit money from a desperate community which was, and remains, under siege from AIDS.

I will never forget the despair of the gay community, and the initial hope and faith that they had in us when we first began to raise money through the ABOR scam.

It was not uncommon those days to work an 8-hour fundraising shift on Bleeker Street or Sheridan Square and then walk away with one or two thousand dollars donated by people affected by, concerned about, or who had AIDS.

I remember going to the home of Noel Levert (a brethren NAPer who has since died of AIDS), to count the money, and how proud we were to finally have found a way to gather support (i.e., big bucks) from our community.

After counting the money, we would promptly hand it over to Jim Mangia (Newman’s most useful and skilled operative in the gay community).But, the money was ultimately used to pay for anything that Newman ordained (i.e., rent for NAP/IWP offices, salaries, and/or used in ways that only Newman will know), and definitely not for the ABOR as we were led to believe.

And, in line with the tendency’s demand for money, straight men assigned to raise money in the West Village or at gay events, were often counseled (i.e., pressured) by their political superiors to don earrings, skimpy tee-shirts, and spandex biker shorts (which accentuated their genitals), so that they could “pass” for gay--all the while sneering at the gay community because the party doesn’t believe you’re really “gay” unless you support the NAP.

During the 1993 Gay Pride March in New York City, the NAP (IWP, etc.), contingent included approximately two dozen homeless men and women gathered from various shelters and paid 10, and a “pride” tee-shirt and button in order to inflate the party’s presence in the march.

When asked about the moral integrity of this kind of organizing, party members often dismiss the criticism by explaining that many “normal” organizations use similar tactics to “beef up” their numbers, while still others maintain that the homeless are not really being “paid,” but rather being given money for food (all the while proudly pointing to the fact that NAP is the only progressive organization around that is willing to include the homeless).

However, no progressive and genuinely grassroots organization that I’ve ever heard of has ever had to hire people to march with them.

But, if these folks were really being fed rather than paid, I question, then why were they not given any money until the very end?

The answer, according to one organizer, is that most of these people are “hustlers,” and so, the NAP could not rely on them sticking around unless they withheld the money until the end of the march.

The NAP is, in fact, a front for the IWP, a 25-year-old “secret” organization (cult) created by Newman.

The “doctor” has surrounded himself with roughly 20 loyal followers who have been carefully conditioned throughout the years, and who have had their personal identities replaced with a belief system created by, and which glorifies, Newman.

The technique used to terrorize and virtually enslave his “comrades” is called Social Therapy, a technique similar to that of Lyndon LaRouche, Newman’s “mentor” from late 1973 to mid-1974.In fact, most of the tactics which Newman currently practices (within the realm of psychological terrorism, mind control, and political fraud), were gleaned from LaRouche.

The remaining 150 or so IWP cadre are also subjected to the same techniques employed through Social Therapy, but are more often recruited by the top tier of Newman’s circle through various scams which are marketed toward gays, lesbians, blacks, Latinos and women by various front groups.

Although most NAP (IWP, etc.) victims are “developed” (brainwashed) without Newman’s personal attention, the psycho-terrorism and isolation from friends and family and “love bombing” (cult lingo for seduction), are usually delivered by Newman’s closest and most skilled operatives who are just as effective as the “master” himself.

Social Therapy is offered (at a high monthly fee) to all IWP members without exception, and is presented to the members as a way in which he/she will “develop” emotionally.

People are told that they will, through an ongoing process, learn to think and experience life and the emotional issues that are raised by “living in the world” in a non-oppressive and “revolutionary” manner.

The basic premise asserted through Social Therapy is that the people in the world have been abused and harmed emotionally due to the continued existence of a society that is fundamentally racist, sexist, homophobic, classist (et al.) to its very core.

As well, emotional problems are identified as being caused by a sick society and patients are then encouraged to participate in the “revolutionary” activity of changing the world (through NAP, IWP, etc.).Throughout this process, people are “supported” to “step out of” their societal role and into a more “historical” role (where Newman resides) and learn to shed their bourgeois identities (i.e., their common sense and individual belief system).

Most IWP members “submit” to Social Therapy and, day by day, work to “advance” the process that undermines and robs them of their individual identities.

Many of Newman’s “comrades” are then available to “help” “conflicted” members of the tendency respond to a directive or order (usually a command issued by middle- or top-tier operatives of Newman who often function as trained Social Therapists themselves), in a fashion that supports the goals of Newman and his organization NAP (IWP, etc.).

These “assignments” can range from being ordered to clean and/or renovate Newman’s home, or to submit to a demand that requires the “conflicted” member to turn over large sums of money to any of the IWP front groups (or to Newman and/or his operatives).These monies come from trust funds or inheritances, personal savings, income tax returns, insurance claims, civil or personal injury awards, and various other sources of income.

Naturally, not every member can be manipulated and forced in line to the extent that the “doctor” would like.

Each person’s response to the Social Therapy technique (i.e., coercive manipulation) varies from one degree to another.

For instance, some “cadre” are more easily persuaded to part from their money (if they have any left) but cannot be persuaded to carry out other commands that their “leadership” would have them do (i.e., 18-hour work days, performing slave labor, or having to beg, borrow or steal money from family and friends).

On the other hand, some members will labor (“perform”) tirelessly and display a willingness to carry out any command issued by Newman or his operatives, but, perhaps, may not respond “pro-IWP” if ordered to relocate to other out-of-state cult operations, or ordered to sing for money on the New York City subways trains, as many cadre have done in the past.

This reluctance to submit 110%a is recognized by the cult as “oppositionalism,” and/or a combination of racism, sexism, classism or homophobia (depending on the “social” identity of the “resistant” member, as well as that of the superior who has issued the command).In more drastic cases, “unsupportive” members are accused of the dreaded “right-wingism” in order to whip them back in line.

“Oppositionalism” is often dealt with in a coercive and controlled environment, including Social Therapy sessions, secret “cell” meetings, or “political” meetings lead by “leadership” personnel who offer “support” to the “rebel” to help him/her reject his/her “conflict” by confessing to and denouncing the “problem,” and embracing the group’s pro-IWP ideology.

Newman and his cohorts are acutely aware that these “character defects” exist in individual cult members and they (Newman and company) will often make a calculated decision as to whether to push or not push members around issues which are perceived by Newman (and company) to be road blocks that stand between Newman and whatever resources are being withheld (money, labor, etc.) by the “oppositional” member.

For example, if it is known to Newman or one of his operatives (therapists, etc.) that a particular cultist has a large sum of money, then he/they will calculate and conspire as to the best way in which to secure the money from the “withholding” member.

But, if Newman has reason to believe that making the attempt to grab the money will “polarize” the member and cause them to defect from the cult, then Newman may make a decision (based on knowledge about the member acquired through his/her therapist, leadership, lovers or “friends”) to “settle” for what the “under-developed” IWPer is “willing” to give. Of course, Newman will hold off on his demand, if only to wait until such a time that the member has “developed” or “lives with Newman in history,” at which time the “doctor” will then make his move and go for it.

It is my experience that many of those who join the NAP (IWP, etc.), resign or detach themselves from the cult (IWP) at the point when the attacks on their identities (bourgeois ego) have been driven to a point of intensity which either draws them in further, or, thankfully, drives them out.

Fortunately, most NAP (IWP, etc.) victims eventually walk away from the cult.

Presently, Newman has intensified his fundraising and recruiting scams through other, newer phony organizations that in the public’s mind are not recognized as NAP (IWP, etc.) organizations.

Among the current front groups are Castillo International, a publishing business run out of the Castillo Cultural Center’s back rooms, Ross & Green, a lobbying firm whose partners formerly ran the cult’s Rainbow Lobby, and, last but not least (as far as I know), the All Stars Talent Show Network, which is the cult’s most appealing and palatable scam because it claims to give youth an opportunity to express themselves and “build a community” in a constructive way, while keeping them off the streets and away from drugs and crime.

Keep in mind, however, that each contestant must pay a hefty registration fee in order to be a part of this “wonderful” experience (which remains unrecognized by most legitimate entertainment companies and agents), while the proud and loving relatives ‘of these youth guarantee that the cult will sell up to a dozen talent show tickets per child.

It is my hope, therefore, that before you publish any more stories on the IWP front groups or Fulani, that you first investigate these allegations.

I am certain that, if you take the time to do so, you’ll find enough evidence to suggest that my accounting of the NAP experience is real.

I should know, I was there!

Robert  Cohen

(ex IWP member, ex NAP member/fundraiser, ex Rainbow Lobby member/fundraiser, ex Social Therapy patient, and, thank goodness, ex-victim of Dr. Newman)