Black nationalist organizations hold historic summit in Atlanta

From Arm the Spirit <ats@etext.org>, 16 September 1995

In a meeting of Black organizations which received far less attention than similar meetings of groups such as Rev. Ben Chavis' National African American Leadership Summit or national meetings of the NAACP, representatives of nine Black nationalist organizations met in Atlanta, Georgia over the weekend of August 18 and 19, 1995 for a summit meeting of a coalition which they named the New Afrikan Liberation Front.

Comprised of defense committees of several well known political prisoners from the Black Panther Party, labor organizations, women's rights groups, community activist organizations and internationally focussed human rights groups, the New Afrikan Liberation Front effort was initiated almost two years ago say organizers, with the first meeting being held in Atlanta and subsequent meetings being held in Kansas City, New York, and Oakland leading up to the founding summit. The call to found a Liberation Front was first made by several well known political prisoners who are former leaders of the Black Panther Party, Republic of New Afrika and other groups, such as, Geronimo Pratt, Jalil Muntaquin, Sekou Odinga and Dr. Mutulu Shakur.

Representatives say that the purpose of the New Afrikan Liberation Front is to organize the many Black nationalist organizations in the United States in order to create an effective alternative to both Black liberal and Black conservative political leadership. Orgaizers say that the basic agenda of the Front can be summed up in the Front's call for Black Power, Land and Independence! They say that the political objectives of all of the Organizations of the Front is directed toward gaining self determination for the descendents of enslaved Africans in America who they call New Afrikans, and international recognition of the New Afrikan nations right to sovereignty and political independence.

The immediate plans of the New Afrikan Liberation Front are to initiate a pressure campaign to influence the Congressional Black Caucus to begin a Congressional investigation into the dirty tricks campaign which the FBI waged against the Black Power Movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Front organizers say that as a result of that campaign codenamed COINTELPRO for Counter Intelligence Program, many young political activist were killed by FBI and local police agencies and many remain in prison and political prisoners. It is these political prisoners which the Front is interested in gaining recognition for and amnesty. Spokespersons say that with recent focus on the case of the FBI murder of the family of white supremacists [referring to Randy Weaver, a neo-nazi with ties to the Aryan Nations - ed.], that Black public officials would be remiss in remaining silent about similar and more numerous government attacks on New Afrikan freedom fighters.

The New Afrikan Liberation Front will also be involved in an ongoing campaign to internationalize the political situation and violations against the human rights of New Afrikans. Representatives of the New Afrikan Liberation Front have taken charges of human rights violations to international conferences in Africa, Europe and most recently to the International Womens Conference in Bejing China sponsored by the United Nations. Representatives of the New Afrikan Liberation Front say that they are highly optimistic about the eventual positive outcome of their political agenda. They point out that many people felt that eastern Europe would remain under the domination of the Soviet Union, but today, within a period of a few short years, few people even think about the Soviet Union. That tells us that even though the United States has dominated the lives of Africans, Mexicans, Hawaiians, Puerto Ricans and Indians for centuries, it doesn't have to always be this way. They say, if we work and take care of the day-to-day needs of New Afrikans, and fight for a Revolutionary Nationalist political agenda, we can win real freedom for the New Afrikan Nation.