Lawson was born in Macon, Georgia, studying at high school there, then moving to New York, where he was based for the rest of his career.

In 1948 Lawson founded the United African Nationalist Movement (UANM), which lobbied for support for anti-Imperialist forces and promoted Pan-Africanism, in the tradition of Garvey.

In March 1957, the UANM held a dinner at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem for the ambassadors of Sudan, Morocco, and Tunisia, along with an envoy from Libya.

Lawson also wanted to set up a black-diaspora trading company to replace white-owned businesses that operated in South American and Caribbean countries.

According to commentators Rodolfo Torres and Christopher Kyriakides, this aspect of the program "draws public attention to the significant threat that Black Nationalism, as an enemy within, is presumed to pose to American interests in the Middle East".