Republic of New Afrika facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Republic of New Afrika
|
|
|---|---|
 Flag of the Republic of New Afrika
|
|
US States identified as subjugated national territory at the 1968 foundational conference
|
|
| Capital | Jackson, Mississippi |
| Largest city | New Orleans |
| Official languages | African-American English |
| Demonym(s) | New Afrikan |
| Government | |
|
• President
|
Sah Ankh Sa Ma’at |
|
• Vice President
|
Ayodele Kofie |
| Area | |
|
• Total
|
750,503 km2 (289,771 sq mi) |
| Population | |
|
• 2022 census
|
22,427,294 |
The Republic of New Afrika (RNA) is an organization that started in 1968. It is a black nationalist and black separatist group in the United States. This means its members believe in the unity and self-determination of Black people, and some wanted to create a separate nation for Black Americans.
The larger New Afrika movement has three main goals:
- To create an independent country for Black people in the Southeastern United States. This area has many Black residents.
- To receive reparations (payments) from the U.S. government. These payments would be for the harm caused by slavery, Jim Crow laws (unfair laws against Black people), and modern racism.
- To hold a vote for all African Americans. This vote would let them decide if they want to be U.S. citizens. Leaders of the movement say their ancestors were not given this choice after slavery ended in 1865.
The idea for this country was first shared on March 31, 1968. This happened at a Black Government Conference in Detroit, Michigan. People at the conference wrote a constitution and a declaration of independence. They also identified five Southern states—Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina—as areas they believed should be part of their new nation. This included parts of East Texas and North Florida.
Contents
History of the Republic of New Afrika
The Black Government Conference was organized by two important Black groups from Detroit. These were the Malcolm X Society and the Group on Advanced Leadership (GOAL). About 500 people attended the conference. They created a Declaration of Independence, a constitution, and a plan for a temporary government.
Robert F. Williams, who was living in China at the time, was chosen as the first president. Milton Henry, a lawyer who studied the ideas of Malcolm X, became the first vice president. Betty Shabazz, who was Malcolm X's wife, served as the second vice president.
The Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika (PG-RNA) supported a type of cooperative economics. This meant building "New Communities" based on the Ujamaa idea. This idea was promoted by Julius Nyerere, the president of Tanzania. It focused on community cooperation. The group also believed in community safety and protecting themselves. They wanted to build local groups of people for defense. They also aimed to create organizations based on race. These groups would champion the right of self-determination for people of Black African descent.
The organization was involved in some difficult situations. For example, it tried to help the Oceanhill-Brownsville area in Brooklyn become separate from the United States. This happened during a conflict over public schools in 1968. The group was also involved in confrontations at New Bethel Baptist Church in 1969. Another incident happened in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1971. The group had announced that their capital would be in Hinds County, Mississippi. During these confrontations, law enforcement officials were injured. Members of the organization were charged with crimes, but they said they were acting in self-defense.
Notable Members of the RNA
- Queen Mother Moore was a founding member. She helped start the group and supported its work.
- Robert F. Williams was a Black nationalist. He was elected as the first president of the Republic of New Afrika.
- Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X, was elected as the second vice president in 1968. She worked with Williams and Henry.
- Chokwe Lumumba, whose original name was Edwin Finley Taliaferro, was elected as second vice president in 1971. He later became a lawyer. He worked in Michigan and Mississippi. After moving to Jackson, Mississippi, he was elected to the city council. He became mayor in 2013 and passed away in 2014.
- Safiya Bukhari was a former member of the Black Panther Party. She was also part of the Black Liberation Army. She helped start the Jericho Movement for U.S. Political Prisoners. She also co-founded the Free Mumia Abdul-Jamal Coalition in NYC. She was elected as vice-president.
- Sanyika Shakur was a former gang leader and an author.
Leaders of the RNA
- Robert F. Williams, President in Exile (1968–1971)
- Imari Obadele, President (1971–1991)
See also
In Spanish: República de Nueva África para niños
- Secession in the United States
- Back-to-Africa movement
- Bantustan
- Black Power
- Deep South
- Harry Haywood
- Malcolm X
- National Movement for the Establishment of a 49th State
- Northwest Territorial Imperative, a white nationalist idea involving the creation of a white-only state in the Pacific Northwest
- Mutulu Shakur
- Liberia and Sierra Leone, countries colonized to resettle freed slaves in Africa
- Aliyah, the immigration of Jewish emigrants to Israel
- Republic of Texas, formed out of Mexican Texas by American pioneers
