ThePacific Movement of the Eastern World(PMEW) was a 1930sNorth Americanbasedpro-Japanese movementofAfrican Americanswhich promoted the idea thatJapanwas the champion of allnon-whitepeoples.
The Japanese ultra-nationalistBlack Dragon Societywas an influence upon the PMEW. The Black Dragon Society was aparamilitaryorganization, with close ties to Japan, which viewed the United States as Japan's enemy in World War II. The organization was frequently taken advantage of by one of its founders, Ashima Takis, who ultimately was arrested for embezzling funds from the group.
Origins
editThe Pacific Movement of the Eastern World was founded inChicagoaround 1932 bySatokata Takahashiin.[1]Takahashiin reportedly recruited Ashima Takis and his Chinese companion, Moy Liang, into the leadership of the organization. The organization preached worldwide unity of colored races under the leadership of Japan.[1]When its presidentAshima Takismoved toSt. Louisin 1933, membership took off.
Takis soon associated himself withBurt CornishandWalter Lee Peeplesof theUnited Negro Improvement Association(UNIA) and claimed that theNew York Citybranch of the organisation was affiliated with Japan. Cornish and Peeples soon set up a (PMEW) branch in St. Louis with the help ofMoy Liang,an immaculately dressedChineseman with apatriciandemeanor.
Adopting a banner composed of black, yellow and brown, the organization began to grow in the poor African American community inMissouri.FBI reports claimed that there were four Japanese men agitating in the area at that time. The frequent open air meetings were marked by anti-white sentiments, particularly regarding the historical use of African Americans in wars by the United States, followed by refusing to let them share in the spoils of war.
The PMEW gained membership as a result of the personality of Ashima Takis, who pretended to have a thick Japanese accent, and his promises of a color-blind utopia in Japan.
Front organization for Ashima Takis
editAshima Takis, who also used the pseudonyms Policarpio Manansala and Itakake Koo, president of the PMEW and one of the founders of the organization, made numerous false statements during his tenure. In order to raise black membership he spoke in a thick Japanese accent. His partner Cornish said Takis was actually quite fluent but spoke with an accent because "Your people wouldn't believe me if I spoke too well."[1]Takis also raised membership by downplaying racism in Japan, "promising his Negro audience that if they moved to Japan they would be treated as equals, have jobs at better pay than they could get here, and could even marry Japanese women."[1]Ashima Takis lied to his audience about the size of the organization, stating that the group that formed in Saint Louis was "the one thousandth organized in this country, and that outside of this city there were 165,000 members."[1]
Membership was not free. For those wanting to go to Japan, a membership in 1933 cost $5.50 ($74 in 2005 inflation-adjusted dollars[1]). For those not wanting to go to Japan, membership was $1.00 ($13.00 in 2005 inflation-adjusted dollars[2]).[1]Cornish stated that more than 100 people joined the PMEW in hopes of moving to Japan and several thousand joined at the lower price.[1]
Ashima Takis also posed as aphysicianand afaith healer.[1]Cornish stated Takis claimed he was a doctor but he was not licensed to practice in the United States, although he apparently studied medicine at a university. Cornish also states that Ashima held himself out to be a faith healer to the Negro people and that many regarded themselves as cured of various ailments after Takis laid hands on them.[1]
When Japan invadedManchuriain China, Takis fell out with the PMEW and his Chinese compatriot Liang. He eventually moved to New York, where he helped form the Ethiopian Pacific Movement.
In December 1939, Takis returned to St Louis and the PMEW. He was welcomed back but insisted he be referred to by the pseudonymMimo de Guzman.[1]Takis joined in various attempts to prepare for a Japanese invasion by gathering a small arsenal. However, Takis fled after he was reported to the police forembezzlingmoney from the PMEW. Ashima Takis was not taken into custody until two years later. In 1942, he was sentenced to three years in prison for forgery.[1][2]
After this fiasco, General Lee Butler became the new president of the PMEW. But, after theAttack on Pearl Harbor,he soon faced possibletreasoncharges.
Political goals
editA new member was initiated into the pseudo-masonicorganization, which had ahandshakeand password. The organisation drew membership from theCommunist Party of America,and some white people avoidedCarr Park,a frequent St. Louis venue, on account of the atmosphere.
Meetings featured talks on such issues asThe Struggle of the darker races of the World,Why theFilipinosWant FreedomandChina, Old and New.At various times, they had schemes for African Americans to relocate to Japan,Brazil,andAfrica.In the early days, over 100 people paid $5.50 to be put on a list of emigrants to Japan, with several thousand paying $1 for general membership. According to the investigating Federal attorney, Harry C Blanton, members were already picking out which farms they would take over following a Japanese invasion.
The organization was heavily influenced byMarcus Garvey's UNIA, adopting the motto: "Sow no evil to reap the good-Asia for the Asiatics, Africa for the Africans". The general stated aims were:
- 1 Universal brotherhood and peace.
- 2 Promotion of understanding and friendship of all peoples of the world.
- 3 Preservation and protection of the legal rights of the oppressed races.
- 4 Self-determination of every race.
- 5 Reforms through constitutional methods.
- 6 Preservation of the territorial integrity and political independence of every country.
- 7 Cultivation of the spirit of love for the ancestral homes of dark peoples.
- 8 Encouragement for the return of those peoples who find no opportunity for development in the United States, and the establishment of a government of their own in the land of their fathers.[citation needed]
The PMEW endorsed SenatorEdward P. Costigan's anti-lynchinglegislation, but rejected theCommunist Party USA's efforts to unionize workers in the nut-processing industry.[citation needed]Supporters were also advised to place a purple cloth in their windows in the event of Japanese invasion.[citation needed]
Organizing
editTakis and Cornish soon formed a breakaway organization, theOriginal Independent Benevolent Afro-Pacific Movement of the World(OIBAPMW) after being ousted from the PMEW leadership by Peeples and Takahashi. They set up operating in theKansas Cityarea, and sometimes posed as PMEW representatives. In preparation for the future war of racial salvation, they called on African Americans to train in modern warfare, and offered a subscription to a "colored aviation school". They also offered opportunities for African-Americans tohomesteadin Japan. Takis fell out with Peeples and went to organize in theIndianapolis,Cincinnati,DaytonandPittsburghbefore moving to theNew York City-New Jerseyarea. Here, he came into contact with theBlack Hebreworganization, the House of Israel, co-founding theEthiopian Pacific MovementwithRobert O. Jordan,ofHarlem.[3][4]
Back in Missouri,sharecropperswere facing increasing numbers of evictions following theAgricultural Adjustment Actof 1933. With George Cruz, a Filipino, the rival organizations offered salvation arising from a successful Japanese invasion, and continued to organize inSteele,Caruthersville,Wardell,Hermondale,Bragg City,PascolainPemiscot County;New MadridandPortagevilleinNew Madrid County,Sikeston(Scott County);Charleston(Mississippi County) andCape Girardeau(Cape Girardeau County).John Macwhiteclaimed to have addressed a meeting of 2,500 cotton pickers during this period.[5][6]
Repression
editCruz and his wife were arrested inBlytheville,Arkansas,in August 1934, but were quickly released. Shortly after this, four PMEW members were arrested and put on trial inSteele, Missouri,following disquiet by African American preachers andwhitecottonplanters.While the defenders pleaded innocence, blaming the OIBAPM for any unrest, the prosecutor was openly racist, suggesting that the four had no business to be driving around in a high poweredChryslercar. The four were sentenced to one year in jail. Before sentencing, however, thejudgeandconstable,stepped outside to allow a mob of two hundred white spectators to invade the building and beat the defendants. Their lawyer fled toCape Girardeau,ninety miles away. TheNAACPprovided lawyers in St. Louis, who filed a case ofHabeas corpus.The case was heard before theMissouri Supreme CourtinJefferson City,which quashed the sentences saying that no legal trial had taken place.[citation needed]
More rivalry
editFollowing theItalianinvasion ofEthiopiain October 1935, theEthiopian World Federation(EWF) spread from its home inNew York Citythrough the St Louis region drawing away many PMEW members. However, many of these returned following dissension in the EWF ranks. David Erwin, the new president, clarified that "The colors of the Pacific Movement include the Black, Yellow, Red and Brown races, which would naturally accept Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Australians or any division of mankind less than White as members; while the Ethiopian Federation calls for Blacks only." Japan was declared the champion of all "dark andcoloredraces ".[7][8]
World War II
editThe movement moved from St. Louis toEast St. Louis,Illinois in 1940 and with the FBI requesting a Grand Jury investigation for espionage in 1942.[9][10]
During the war, one white member and four black members of the Ethiopian Pacific Movement, including Leonard Jordan, were prosecuted forseditionandseditious conspiracy,for conspiring create a pro-Japanese element in Harlem and create a "world empire for the dark races."[11]The white member, Joseph Hartrey, pleaded guilty, while the others, Jordan, James Henry Thornhill, Lester Eugene Holmes, and Reverend Ralph Gene Best were found guilty at trial, by a jury which included three blacks. U.S. District JudgeClarence G. Galstonsentenced Jordan to 10 years in prison plus a $10,000 fine, Thornhill to 8 years in prison, Holmes to 7 years in prison, and Reverend Best to four years in prison, and Hartrey to six years in prison. Galston noted that the collections at weekly meetings were far too small to support Jordan, indicating that he'd received funds from the Japanese government. He said that if there was proof of the conspiracy making ground, he "would have unhesitatingly imposed the maximum sentence, 40 years."[12]
People associated with the group
editReferences
edit- ^abcdefghijkErnest Allen Jr. (Fall 1995)."Waiting for Tojo: The Pro-Japan Vigil of Black Missourians, 1932-1943"(PDF).Gateway Heritage.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2006-05-13.Retrieved2006-09-23.
- ^"DR TAKIS TOLD NEGROES TO ARM 1 OF 2".St. Louis Post-Dispatch.1942-10-01. p. 1.Retrieved2023-12-16.
- ^p.102 Turner, Richard BrentIslam in the African-American ExperienceIndiana University Press, 2003
- ^p.128 Gallicchio, Marc S.The African American Encounter with Japan and China: Black Internationalism in Asia, 1895-1945UNC Press Books, 2000
- ^p.102 Turner, Richard BrentIslam in the African-American ExperienceIndiana University Press, 2003
- ^p.128 Gallicchio, Marc S.The African American Encounter with Japan and China: Black Internationalism in Asia, 1895-1945UNC Press Books, 2000
- ^p.102 Turner, Richard BrentIslam in the African-American ExperienceIndiana University Press, 2003
- ^p.128 Gallicchio, Marc S.The African American Encounter with Japan and China: Black Internationalism in Asia, 1895-1945UNC Press Books, 2000
- ^p.102 Turner, Richard BrentIslam in the African-American ExperienceIndiana University Press, 2003
- ^p.128 Gallicchio, Marc S.The African American Encounter with Japan and China: Black Internationalism in Asia, 1895-1945UNC Press Books, 2000
- ^"Indianapolis Recorder 26 September 1942 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program".newspapers.library.in.gov.Retrieved2023-12-16.
- ^"Daily News from New York, New York".Newspapers.1943-01-15.Retrieved2023-12-16.
- ^Lewin, Joshua Lee. "Yellow" and "Black": Japanese-Inspired Sedition Among African Americans Before and During World War II.http://fch.fiu.edu/FCH-1998/Lewin-Yellow%20and%20Black1-1998.htm