OUR STORY
A Black Nation - a New Afrikan nation - exists in the United States. It began forming during colonial days, after 1660, when the Black Codes were instituted. It was fully evolved by the time of the Civil War in 1861, two hundred years later. We have common culture, common perspective and values, and group identity, and common gene pool, derived from our distinct group history. We are "New Afrikans" because We, an Afrikan people, evolved from not one but several Afrikan nations and have some Indian (Native/indigenous) and European genes, melded during the course of 200 years, between 1660 and 1861.
Those seeking independent statehood began once more in 1968. Three years after the assassination of Brother Omowale, Malcolm X, led by his inspiration and teachings, his followers in the Malcolm X Society lead over 500 Black activists at a national convention of our people. The Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika (PG-RNA) was formed and brought into exstence on March 30-31 of that year and announced a parliamentary strategy for winning independence. They issued a Declaration of Independence of the Black nation; named it RNA; formed a Provisional Government ["Provisonal" means "temporary" or, in this case, "pre-independent], with officials elected in Convention; created basic law and adopted a constitution, "Code of Umoja" (revised); identified and designated the Five States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina as the New Afrikan nation's National Territory [subject to agreement with the Indigenous People]; under a mandate the PG-RNA set as its main purposes and goals: to free the oppressed Black nation in North America making it even more independent than Canada, for those of us who want this; to win Reparations from the United States. PG-RNA cadres aim is to educate people about our existence as an oppressed, colonized nation and our right to self-determination; our right to "Free The Land" (our battle cry); and to create by an independence plebiscite (a vote of the people) an independent Black nation-state, to be held first in the counties of western Mississippi and the parishes of eastern Louisiana [the Kush District], in accordance to U.N. General Assembly resolutions.
Notables Prior to 1968
- Gabriel Prosser
- Denmark Vesey
- Osborne Perry Anderson
- Tunis Campbell
- Edwin McCabe
- El Hajj El Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X)
- Queen Mother Moore
Different Elements and Parts of PG-RNA
The People's Center Council (PCC)-- Congress, National Legislature or Parliament is made up of District Representatives from PGRNA electoral districts across the U.S.A.
The People's Revolutionary Leadership Council (PRLC) -- A Cabinet headed by the National President, three National Vice Presidents, Ministries, Court System, and Other Govt. entities, including the Land Fund Committee, etc.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1968:
- 1st President: Robert F. Williams (1925-1996) : He was in China 1966 to May 1968; Tanzania, May 1968 to Sept. 1969.
- 1st Vice President: Gaidi Obadele (Atty. Milton R. Henry)
- 2nd Vice President: Betty Shabazz (1934-1997)
- Minister of Information: Imari A. Obadele (Richard Bullock Henry)
- Minister of Health and Welfare: Queen Mother Moore (1899-1997)
- Minister of Education: Herman Ferguson
- Minister of State and Foreign Affairs: William Grant
- Minister of Defense: H. Rap Brown (now, Jalil Al Amin): He was also Minister of Justice for BPP in May 4, 1968 issue of The Black Panther.
- Co-Ministers of Culture: Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Maulana Karenga and Nana Oserjiman Adefumi
- Minister of Justice: Joan Franklin
- Minister of Finance: Raymond Willis
- Treasurer: Obaboa Owolo (Ed Bradley)
- Minister without Portfolio or Special Ambassador: Muhammad Ahmed (Maxwell Stanford)
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1969:
- President: Robert F. Williams (1925-1997): He returned to U.S. (Detroit), Sept. 1969. (The Black Panther, Dec. 6, 1969; Jan. 3, 1970).
- 1st Vice President: Gaidi Obadele (Atty. Milton R. Henry)
- 2nd Vice President: Betty Shabazz (d. 1997)
- Minister of Education: Maulana Karenga: denounced and removed by PCC in Detroit, Apr. 5th. Herman B. Ferguson was afterwards appointed Minister of Education, East Coast Vice President, and acting director of Freedom Corps.
- Minister of State and Foreign Affairs: Wilbur Grattan Sr.
- Minister of Defense: Mwuesi Chui, commander of Black Legion
The "New Bethel Incident" took place in Detroit, Michigan, in March 31, 1969 during the First New Afrikan Nation Day Celebration at the New Bethel Baptist Church, on the West Side. One policeman killed and another wounded. Four Blacks wounded. Between 135 and 240 persons were arrested. Police later freed 125 persons. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Crockett,_Jr. Criminal Court Judge George Crockett], frees 8 other Blacks. Chaka Fuller, Rafael Viera, and Alfred 2X Hibbets were charged with killing. All 3 were subsequent tried and acquitted. Chaka Fuller was mysterious assassinated a few months afterwards.
- Southern Regional Minister of Defense: Jomo Kenyatta (Henry Hatches)
- Consul for Jackson, MS: Carolyn Williams
- April 2, 1969 - The New York BPP "21" arrested on conspiracy charges.
In 1969, a Newsweek magazine poll of Afrikans in the Northern U.S. showed that 27 percent of Afrikans under age thirty (and 18 percent of those over the age of thirty), wanted an independent Afrikan state.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1970:
- President: Imari A. Obadele
- Minister of Defense: Alajo Adegbalola (Leroy Boston)
- Dara Abubakaru (Virginia Collins)
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1971:
- President: Imari Obadele ,
- Minister of Defense: Alajo Adegbalola
- Minister of Information: Aisha Salim of Philadelphia
- Consul from Detriot: Chokwe Lumumba
Workers of the PG-RNA also announced that they would not permit those who opposed the peaceful plebiscite to shoot at them with impunity. The RNA cadres in Mississippi and elsewhere, in 1970 and 1971 were armed for self-defense.
- March 5th, BPP sponsors Day of Solidarity dedicated to "Freedom of Political Prisoners."
On March 28th-Land Celebration Day-the RNA Capitol consecrated, Hinds County, Mississippi. Between 150 and 200 persons attended the dedication.
They used, and use, political means rather than military means. The United States Justice Department, instead of helping to organize the plebiscite; on 18 August 1971 a force of 60 FBI agents and 40 local Jackson police staged an armed attack on the official Government Residence (the main residence-office of the PG) in Jackson, Mississippi, supposedly to serve fugitive warrants on three RNA members (one being a FBI informant/agent provocateur). The seven people in the house were not wounded by the 20-minute barrage of bullets--a skirmish, but one police lieutenant died and another policeman and an FBI agent were wounded. Five young men and two young women at this house were captured, along with PG-RNA President, Imari Obadele, the Minister of Information and two others in a nearby office, and sent to jail.
In the face of this unprovoked attack, three PG-RNA workers: Antar Ra, Maceo Sundiata (fsn Michael Finney) and Fela Sekou Olatunji (fsn Charles Hill) from the Bay Area, left in response to the call for Mississippi to provide support and defense for our assaulted movement. Clearly the U.S. had declared war on us! While driving east, the three were intercepted by a policeman whose aggressiveness caused his death. They then commandeered an airline and arrived in Cuba. They were granted asylum.
(On August 19th, FBI and police tried to assassinate President Imari Obadele.)
They are convicted two years later. Most served long years in jail. Their sovereign immunity demand was flatly rejected by the United States' courts and executive branch, and no one was accorded treatment as a prisoner-of-war.
The Republic of New Afrika-Eleven (RNA-11): Citizens of the RNA: Imari Obadele; Hekima Ana and his wife, Tamu Ana, and Chumaimari Askadi (fsn Charles Stallings), all of Milwaukee; Karim Njabafudi (fsn Larry Jackson) of New Orleans; Tarik/Tawwab Nkrumah (fsn George Matthews) of Birmingham; Addis Ababa (fsn Dennis Shillingford) of Detroit; Offogga Qudduss (fsn Wayne Maurice James) and Njeri Qudduss, both of Camden, New Jersey; Spade de Mau Mau (fsn S. L. Alexander) of New Orleans; and Minister of Information Aisha Salim (fsn Brenda Blount) of Philadelphia.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1972:
- President: Gaidi Obadele
- Vice Presidents: Alajo Adegbalola, Chokwe Lumumba, Herman B. Ferguson
- New Afrikan Security Forces: Black Legion commander: Gen. Mwuesi Chui
In 1972, Ahmed Obafemi of New York had been sentenced on a gun charge clearly engineered by the F.B.I.'s Cointelpro. The F.B.I. succeeded in framing this key leader and officer of the RNA-PG. He was doing political work at the Democratic National Convention in Miami, Florida. Sentenced with him was Tarik Sonnebeyatta, of Camden, New Jersey. Brother Ahmed was jailed.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1973:
- Jan. 7, 1973 - Mark Essex, 23; is killed atop New Orleans hotel after killing 6 and wounding 15.
- Jan. 19th - One policeman killed and 2 wounded as Black freedom fighters seize a Brooklyn sporting goods store.
- May 2nd - Assata Shakur (fsn JoAnne Chesimard) wounded and Sundiata Acoli (fsn Clark Squire) arrested.
- Nov. 14th - Twyman Fred Myers, 23, BLA member, ambushed by FBI and New York police; was 6th BLA member killed in this fashion.
1975
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1980:
- President: Imari Obadele
- A study conducted among Afrikan college students by Professor Luke Tripp which showed that 34 percent of the students favored an independent Afrikan state in North Amerika.
By the middle of 1980, because of public support and intense legal work, almost all of the RNA-11 (except for one) were set free and out of jail.
In the fall, some members of BLA, and some accused of being BLA personnel, had come under intense oncentration by FBI and, principally, New York, New Jersey, and California police.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1981:
- President: Imari Obadele
- PCC Chairperson: Fulani Sunni-Ali
July 1983 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, RNA National Territory.
Oct./Nov. 1984 - Third National New Afrikan Elections
Nov. 1985 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1986:
- President: Imari Obadele
- Minister of Justice: Nkechi Taifa
- Minister of Defense: Gen. Chui
July 1986 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, RNA National Territory.
July 1986 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Detroit, Michigan.
Sept. 1986 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Brooklyn, New York.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1987:
- President: Imari Obadele
- Minister of Justice: Nkechi Taifa
July 1987 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Washington, DC (Banneker City).
Oct./Nov. 1987 - Fourth National New Afrikan Elections
Oct./Nov. 1990 - Fifth National New Afrikan Elections: Kwame Afoh elected president.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1991:
- President: Kwame Afoh
- PCC Chairperson: Imari Obadele
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1992:
- President: Kwame Afoh
- PCC Chairperson: Imari Obadele
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1993:
- President: Kwame Afoh
- PCC Chairperson: Imari Obadele
Nov. 1993 - National New Afrikan Elections: President Kwame Afoh re-elected.
- In April 1994, several mainstream newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, and the Wall Street Journal) ran articles dealing with University of Chicago Professor Michael Dawson and Professor Ronald Brown of Wayne State University. The report concerned the findings of a random national survey of 1,206 Afrikans in the U.S., which in Dawson's words showed " a more radical Black America than existed even five years ago." (Wall Street Journal). It found that fifty percent of Afrikans in the U.S. believe that our people are "a nation within a nation."
Oct. 1996 - National New Afrikan Elections: President Kwame Afoh re-elected.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1997:
- President: Kwame Afoh
- PCC Chairperson: Marilyn Preston Killingham
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1998:
- President: Kwame Afoh
- PCC Chairperson: Marilyn Preston Killingham
Oct./Nov. 1999 - National New Afrikan Elections
Recent Developments
- Republic of New Afrika
- Republic of New Africa
- History and Select Documents of the Provisional Government of the REPUBLIC of NEW AFRIKA
- New Afrika (Blog)
Black Legion (New Afrikan Security Forces)
- K. X Ali Rashid
- Fulani Sunni-Ali
Reference Material -- Articles and Books
A Brief History of Black Struggle in America, by Kwame Afoh, Chokwe Lumumba, Imari A. Obadele, and Ahmed Obafemi, 1997.
A Short History of the Republic of New Afrika, 1970.
Crossroad, Vol. 8, No. 1, June 1997, p. 10.
We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement, by Akinyele Omowale Umoja, 2013.
Ebony, Feb. 1995, pp. 76-82
Forty Acres and A Mule....In Search of Sherman's Reservation, by Roger Clendening.
Nation Time, Vol. 1, Fall 1996
Nation Time, Vol. 2, Spring 1997
New Afrikan Prison Organization Calendar, 1978.
New Afrikan Prison Organization Calendar, 1979.
New York Times, March-August, 1969
New York Times, March-November, 1971
Provisional Government Legal Chronology, by Kwame Welsh. PDCLA, Sept. 1997.
Links and Related Organizations
- The Provisional Government of the Republic of New Africa - Official Home Page
- PG-RNA - PEOPLE'S DISTRICT COUNCIL OF L. A. COUNTY
- The New Afrikan Creed
- Black Law--Code of Umoja
- The New Afrikan Declaration of Independence
- National New Afrikan Elections (NNAE)
- New Afrikan Nation Day (NAND)
- War in America: the Malcolm X doctrine
- America the nation-state: the politics of the United States from a state-building perspective
- Modern Black nationalism: from Marcus Garvey to Louis Farrakhan
- The development of the United States from colonies to a world power (Google eBook)
- Republic of New Afrika: Reference - The Full Wiki
- Police violence and New Bethel Incident
- New Afrikan Independence Online
- Black Survival Network
- MXGM-Support - Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
- N'COBRA Reparations Forum
- Sons Of Afrika
- The Black Nationlist Lounge
- Walkin The Vision - Lady Gray
- Dissent and Repression in the Republic of New Africa, 1968-1973
- Deacons for Defense (TV movie)
- Deacons for Defense and Justice