Republic of New Afrika
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The Republic of New Afrika, (RNA) is a black nationalist community and political lobby group established in Detroit, Michigan, United States in March of 1968. It claims sovereignty, but does not control its claimed territory.
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[edit] History
The original RNA manifesto demanded the cession by the United States of the Southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina and the payment of $400 billion in reparations for the injustices suffered by black Americans during the slavery and segregation periods. These concessions would then form the basis of an independent black nation.
The republic and Provisional Government was founded at a conference of militant black nationalists meeting in Detroit in 1968. The conference was convened by attorney Milton Henry and his brother Richard, former acquaintances of Malcolm X who had renamed themselves Gaidi Obadele and Imari Abubakari Obadele. Imari Obadele was elected to the position of "Provisional President".
The group advocated cooperative economics and community self-sufficiency, but also supported limiting political rights and press freedoms, prohibiting trades unions, mandatory military service and the legalization of polygamy.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believed the Republic of New Africa to be a seditious group, and conducted raids on their meetings, leading to violent confrontations and the arrest and repeated imprisonment of RNA leaders. The group was a target of the COINTELPRO operation.
Following his 1980 release from prison, Imari Obadele attended Temple University and earned a PhD in political science. He has since taught at various universities and published books and articles upholding the aims of the RNA.
The RNA is today based in Washington, D.C., and claims a membership of almost 10,000.
[edit] Publications
- The Article Three Brief. 1973. (New Afrikans fought U.S. Marshals in an effort to retain control of the independent New Afrikan communities shortly after the U.S. Civil War.)
- Obadele, Imari Abubakari. Foundations of the Black Nation. 154p. Detroit. House of Songay, 1975.
- Brother Imari [Obadele, Imari]. War In America: The Malcolm X Doctrine. 45p. Chicago. Ujamaa Distributors, 1977.
- Kehinde, Muata. RNA President Imari Obadele is Free After Years of Illegal U.S. Imprisonment. In Burning Spear February 1980. Louisville. African Peoples Socialist Party. 4 p to 28 p.
- Obadele, Imari Abubakari. The Malcolm Generation & Other Stories. 56p. Philiadelphia. House of Songhay, 1982.
- Taifa, Nkechi, and Lumumba, Chokwe. Reparations Yes! 3rd ed. Baton Rouge. House of Songhay, 1983, 1987, 1993.
- Free The Land! Washington, D.C. House of Songhay, 1984.
- New Afrikan State-Building in North America. Ann Arbor. Univ. of Michigan Microfilm, 1985, pp. 345-357.
- "The First New Afrikan States". In The Black Collegian, Jan./Feb. 1986.
- A Beginner's Outline of the History of Afrikan People, 1st ed. Washington, D.C. House of Songhay, Commission for Positive Education, 1987.
- America The Nation-State. Washington, D.C. and Baton Rouge. House of Songhay, Commission for Positive Education, 1989, 1988.
- Walker, Kwaku, and Walker, Abena. Black Genius. Baton Rouge. House of Songhay, Commission for Positive Education, 1991.
- Afoh, Kwame, Lumumba, Chokwe, and Obafemi, Ahmed. A Brief History of the Black Struggle in America, With Obadele's Macro-Level Theory of Human Organization. Baton Rouge. House of Songhay, Commission for Positive Education, 1991.
- RNA. A People's Struggle. RNA, Box 90604, Washington, D.C. 20090-0604.
[edit] See also
- Black Belt (U.S. region), social and demographic crescent of southern counties that contain higher than average percentages of African American residents
- Queen Mother Moore
[edit] External links
[edit] RNA links
[edit] Archives
- RNA documents in the Freedom Now! archival project at Brown University - Tougaloo College archives.
- Out on the Inside - Dissent and Repression in The Republic of New Africa vs. the United States, 1967-1974 documents on police surveillance and repression of the RNA at the The Radical Information Project.
[edit] Articles and reports
- Firing Line: The Republic of New Africa William F. Buckley interviews Milton Henry. President of the Republic of New Africa. Program number 126. Taped on Nov 18, 1968 (New York City, NY). 50 minutes. Available from the Hoover Institution. The first 5 minutes are accessible in streaming Real Audio.
- Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the US Government Against the Republic of New Africa by Christian Davenport, Professor, University of Maryland.
- The Real Republic of New Africa By Dennis Smith, News Director. February 3, 2005. Accessed April 1, 2005
