On March 31, 1968, over 500 Black nationalists convened in Detroit to
begin the process of securing independence from the United States.
Many concluded that Black Americans' best remaining hope for
liberation was the creation of a sovereign nation-state, the Republic
of New Afrika (RNA). New Afrikan citizens traced boundaries that
encompassed a large portion of the South--including South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana--as part of their demand
for reparation. As champions of these goals, they framed their
struggle as one that would allow the descendants of enslaved people
to choose freely whether they should be citizens of the United
States. New Afrikans also argued for financial restitution for the
enslavement and subsequent inhumane treatment of Black Americans. The
struggle to "Free the Land" remains active to this day.
This book is the
first to tell the full history of the RNA and the New Afrikan
Independence Movement. Edward Onaci shows how New Afrikans remade
their lifestyles and daily activities to create a self-consciously
revolutionary culture, and argues that the RNA's tactics and ideology
were essential to the evolution of Black political struggles. Onaci
expands the story of Black Power politics, shedding new light on the
long-term legacies of mid-century Black Nationalism.