Max Yergan (July 19, 1892 – April 11, 1975)[1] was an African-American activist notable for being a Baptist missionary for the YMCA, then a Communist working with Paul Robeson, and finally a staunch anti-Communist who complimented the government of apartheid-era South Africa.

[7] Yergan was recruited by a conservative activist Marvin Liebman who founded the ACAKFF and wanted a black man as its president to offset charges of racism given accusations by liberals and communists that Katanga was a "sham".

[6] Yergan claimed that the Congolese government had been taken over by Communists (Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba was openly pro-Soviet and had threatened to invite Soviet troops into the country during the Congo Crisis), and praised the Katangan men for wanting to "defend themselves, their wives, their children and places of work".

[6] Although a significant contingent of non-African mercenaries were deployed by Katanga, the vast majority of the Gendarmerie Katangaise were indigenous Katangese.

[citation needed] In 1966, he became co-chairman together with William Rusher of the conservative American-African Affairs Association, which lobbied the United States to recognize the white minority government of Rhodesia.

[10] The driving force and dominant personality behind the American Committee for Aid to Katanga Freedom Fighters and the American-African Affairs Association was Liebman, and notably both groups had virtually identical letter-heads, the same mailing lists, the same boards, and the same address in New York, 79 Madison Avenue, which was also the headquarters of Marvin Liebman Associates.

[10] The public relations firm of Liebman Associates had been hired by the Rhodesian government to improve its image in the United States.

[10] In 1966, Yergan together with George Schuyler went on a trek across Rhodesia organized by Liebman and reported he had seen no evidence of any racism by the Rhodesian government towards the black majority.