I Wor Kuen () was a radical

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an e ...

that originally formed in 1969 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

. Borrowing from the ideologies of the Young Lords and the

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

, IWK organized several community programs and produced a newsletter series promoting

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

for

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans with Asian diaspora, ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are Immigration to the United States, immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). A ...

. Initially consisting of students from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, the group worked in conjunction with residents of New York City's Chinatown to address the community's needs for

healthcare reform Health care reform is for the most part governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place. Health care reform typically attempts to: * Broaden the population that receives health care coverage through either public sector insu ...

, draft counseling, and

childcare Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

. The group expanded nationally with the Red Guard Party in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 1972 to create a national organization.

History

The organization established itself in New York's Chinatown in late 1969 and is named after the peasant group that fought against foreign intrusion and influence in China in 1898 during the beginning of the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

, which officially began in 1900. Translated to "Righteous and Harmonious Fists," it was established by a group of young people and students who participated in the Triple A and Columbia's AAPA, and eventually other radical Chinese nationals (Wei 212-3). Inspired by their namesake from the Chinese Boxer Rebellion and with

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

, the members were heavy proponents for self-determination and community service on varying levels. Within New York City, it worked predominantly around issues affecting the immediate Manhattan Chinatown. They protested the tourist buses that came into the community; participated in a "housing crimes trial" forum at Columbia University with Metropolitan Council on Housing,

, Young Lords, City Wide Coordinating Committee of Welfare Rights Groups, Social Service Employees Union; hosted free movie screenings about the People's Republic of China; organized the first Chinatown Health Fair in 1971 with other organizations in the neighborhood as a reaction against the

Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) is a historical Chinese association established in various parts of the United States and Canada with large Overseas Chinese communities. The association's clientele were Chinese immigrants ...

's neglect to the community and worked on demonstrations to raise awareness on how to avoid the draft. It also organized school programs. In March 1970, I Work Kuen began a door-to-door

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

testing program in New York City's Chinatown. At the time, there were no hospital facilities in Chinatown. In addition to their public organizing, it was also known for the nationally distributed and bilingual newspaper, ''Getting Together'' (Chinese: 团結報). It focused on "national liberation struggles around the world but paid particular attention to the People's Republic of China ... ndthe oppressive conditions in Chinatown." By pushing out a publication such as ''Getting Together'', IWK believed that they would be able to share their particular observations and stories of oppression to the rest of the nation. Eventually, it spread out nationally towards the Bay Area, joining forces with the Red Guards (a similar organization based in San Francisco). The group was also generally persecuted by more conservative groups within the Chinese and Asian American community, like the CCBA, who denounced IWK's revolutionary activities as being disruptive to Chinatown (Wei 215). They were also under FBI surveillance when they began to use the Chinese Progressive Association as a means of public recruitment. In 1978, I Wor Kuen and the Chicano Marxist–Leninist organization August 29th Movement were both dissolved and the new organization the League of Revolutionary Struggle was founded.

References

External links

*http://www.asamst.ucsb.edu/news/newsletter2006.pdf *https://web.archive.org/web/20081122154742/http://www.aamovement.net/history/red_guard/redguardparty.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20080325170215/http://www.aamovement.net/history/ypm3.html *http://www.aamovement.net/history/gt/gt.html * *https://web.archive.org/web/20121212065642/http://www.blackpanther.org/legacytwo.htm
History of I Wor Kuen
at the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism Online {{American New Left 1969 establishments in New York City 1978 disestablishments in New York (state) Organizations established in 1969 Organizations disestablished in 1978 Political parties of minorities in the United States Identity politics in the United States Defunct American political movements Far-left politics in the United States Defunct Maoist organizations in the United States Chinese-American organizations Chinese-American culture in New York City Organizations based in California Organizations based in New York City History of social movements Columbia University student organizations