According to Newton, the basic ideas on Intercommunalism came to him while working on a letter to the Communist Party of Vietnam. He felt that there was a contradiction inherent in supporting the revolutionary nationalism of the Vietnamese people, while also disclaiming the nationalism of other Black Power groups. Newton felt that to call himself an internationalist and critic of American nationalism while supporting Vietnamese nationalism was both contradictory and condescending towards the Vietnamese. While Newton ultimately sent the letter (and harmed the Party's relationship with Black nationalist groups in the process), he was unhappy with it for months, and developed the theory of intercommunalism in response to the problems the letter raised. From this point on Newton argued that both nationalism and internationalism were obsolete due to US hegemony. This shift in perspective was made public in a speech at Boston College on November 18, 1970.
