Republic of New Africa
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The Republic of New Africa, (RNA) is a black nationalist community and political lobby group established in Mississippi, United States in the late 1960s, that claims sovereignty, but does not control its claimed territory.
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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 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.
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, DC, and claims a membership of almost 10,000.
External links
RNA links
- New Afrikan Independence Online Yahoo discussion group
- People's District Council of Los Angeles
- The Republic of New Afrika
Archives
- RNA documents in the Freedom Now! archvial project at Brown University - Tougaloo College archives.
- Contention in Space-Time - The Republic of New Africa, 1967-1974 documents on police surveillance and represson of the RNA at the Radical Information Project.
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.
- The Real Republic of New Africa By Dennis Smith, News Director. February 3, 2005. Accessed April 1, 2005
- Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the U.S. Government against the Republic of New Africa (186kb PDF file) by Christian Davenport, Associate Professor, University of Maryland.
Publications
- Obadele, Imari Abubakari. Foundations of the Black Nation. 153p. 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.