Englewood Pastor Remembers & Notes DC and LA African American Cultural Centers' Remembering Newark's 1967 Rebellion and Its Aftermath at 50/Part 3
Rev. Joel Washington (Khunanpu Sangoma)
Published: August 30, 2017
1. Certainly, one striking immediate aftermath of the 1967 Newark Rebellion was the assembling of the first National Conference on Black Power (NCBP) in that same city, on July 20-to-23, just 3 days after the revolt.
2. The first NCBP was conceived, planned, and organized by the 1966 Black Power Planning Conference (BPPC) & its Continuations Committee (BPPCCC). The BPPC was convened by Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. on September 3, 1966 at the Rayburn Office Building in Washington, DC. Its Continuations Committee (BPPCCC) was selected and charged by Congressman Powell "to formulate plans for the first National Conference on Black Power in 1967" according to Mr. Chuck Stone, African American journalist, author, and BPPCCC member.
3. The BPPCCC, consisted of Rev. Dr. Nathan Wright, Chair, Episcopal Church of Newark Diocese; Maulana Karenga, Vice Chair & Committee Black Power Theoretician, Mr. Omar Ahmad, New York City; Mr. Isaiah Robinson, New York City and Mr. Stone of Washington, DC.
4. Mr. Stone provides context with "On May 29, 1966 Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, then Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, declared in his baccalaureate address to Howard University:
"Human rights are God-given. Civil rights are man-made....Our life must be purposed to implement human rights....To demand these God-given rights is to seek Black Power--the power to build Black institutions of splendid achievement."
5. Mr. Stone deepens our contextual understanding with "A week later SNICK's chairman, Stokely Carmichael, marched through Greenville, Mississippi, leading the marchers in a new, militant chant, 'We want Black Power, we want Black Power' ....(they) ushered in the new era of Black Power."
6. Mr. Stone further adds "Thirteen months later, on July 20, 1967, the Black Power movement was formally legitimatized by the National Conference on Black Power in Newark, New Jersey."
7. Mr. Stone adds "from 26 states, 126 cities, 286 different Black or predominently Black organizations and institutions and two foreign countries (Nigeria and Bermuda), over 1000 Black people converged to write a glorious new chaptr in Black history."
To be continued.
For more information on the African American Cultural Center at Reformation Church Chicago ("Young Barack Obama's community organizing sanctuary") and its Lift Every Voice blog please go to https://afroculturalcenter.wordpress.com and https://lifteveryvoicesite.wordpress.com