The
National Black United Front (NBUF) is preparing for its Thirtieth Annual National Convention
that will be held in Chicago, Illinois from July 16-19, 2009. Our convention theme this year is: Turning Point 2009: Connecting
the Black Power Generation to the Hip Hop Generation.
Time has a way of moving forward and it’s hard to
believe that NBUF has been in existence
for twenty-eight years. It is a remarkable achievement that a Black
Movement organization made up of committed volunteers,
with limited resources, has survived and
continues to grow and develop.
NBUF grew out of the spirit of the
1960s and 70s when African people in this country were aggressively
organizing around numerous issues. The activism of the Civil Rights
Movement and its challenges against legal segregation was a spark
that set off the mass motion of African people in America.
The mobilization and organizing of the Civil Rights Movement transitioned
into the Black Power Phase of our movement in the late 1960s sparking
the renewed call for Pan Africanism and Black Nationalism.
Through the disruptive tactics of the United States
Government and its counterintelligence programs (COINTEL PRO), the Black Liberation Movement in America suffered serious setbacks. Many leading
activists and organizers were arrested and convicted on false charges,
and continue to remain locked up, as political
prisoners. Others were assassinated, such
as Malcolm X, Dr. King, Fred Hampton, and Mark Clark.
By the late 1970s, the Black
Liberation Movement was in serious disarray. This stimulated numerous
leading Black activists, organizers, and leaders to convene a series of meetings. Twice during the latter
years of the 1970s (1976-1977), in Brooklyn,
New York, several organizations attempted to bridge the gap of ideological disunity
among the various forces in the Black Movement and formulate a United
Front.
 Many
of the members of NBUF can remember the
all-day meetings held in the East in an attempt at national unity.
But the commitment, positions, and images of most forces were fixed. The mistrust and apprehensions
of the past years lingered in the memories of most participants.
However, a core group of participants,
in these meetings from around the country,
agreed it was urgent that a call be made to convene the founding
convention of the National Black United Front / NBUF.
The founding convention was held in Brooklyn, New York at the Old Armory in June of 1980. More than 1,000 activists
from thirty-four states and five foreign countries participated
in this four day convention. Rev. Herbert Daughtry was elected interim
National Chairman and we approved a draft of the Constitution and
By Laws. In 1985, I was elected as the
National Chairman and continue to serves in that capacity.
 At
the second national convention, once again, held in Brooklyn
in July of 1981, NBUF ratified a permanent Constitution,
By Laws, and leadership structure. NBUF Chapters emerged across the country in Philadelphia,
Atlanta, Washington D. C., Raleigh, Greensboro, Mississippi, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, St. Louis,
Portland, Seattle, the Bay Area,
Muskegon, Lansing, Detroit, New York, New Jersey,
Milwaukee, Memphis, and Chicago. Most of these chapters
continue to function today - thirty years later.
Over this thirty year period,
NBUF has organized around the following
principles:
- To struggle for self determination, liberation, and power for Black People in
the United
States.
- To work in common struggle with African Liberation
Movements and African people throughout the world.
- To build a politically conscious, unified, committed, and effective Black mass movement.
- To struggle to eliminate racism (including Zionism
and Apartheid), sexism (the oppression,
exploitation, and inequality of women), monopoly capitalism,
colonialism, and neo-colonialism, imperialism, and national oppression.
- To maintain strict political and financial independence
of the National Black United Front.
- To build unity and common struggle with oppressed
peoples in the United
States and throughout the world, as long as the best interest of people of African descent are not
contradicted or compromised.
- To continue to struggle to maximize the unity of the
Black Liberation Movement and of people of African descent; to
eliminate internal violence, character
assassination, and self destruction;
to establish a viable process to arbitrate all major conflicts
within the Black Liberation Movement and the African community.
- To continue the political/cultural revolution to create
a new vision and value system and a new man,
woman, and child based on the common struggle around the needs of the African
majority.
NBUF
believes that in order for Black people in America
to become free, liberated, and independent, we must be organized. Therefore,
we believe all Black people should join an organization that is
working in the interest of our people. We believe that the National
Black United Front is such an organization and we urge you to join
us and participate in our Thirtieth Annual National NBUF
Convention.
This
year’s theme is Turning Point 2009: Connecting the Black Power
Generation to the Hip Hop Generation. NBUF
takes the position that only through our own economic self-sufficiency
and self-help will we truly liberate ourselves from the continued
devastation of racism and white supremacy in this country.  By
grooming the next generation, encouraging them, listening to them,
and transitioning them into leadership roles we can be assured that
our liberation movement is in capable hands.
I
will write more on the convention theme in future columns. Please
save this date and prepare to participate in this historic 30th
Annual National Convention of the National Black United Front (NBUF).
The convention will be held at the renowned Jacob
H. Carruthers
Center for Inner City Studies at 700
East Oakwood Boulevard in Chicago, Illinois.
BlackCommentator.com Columnist, Conrad W. Worrill, PhD, is the National
Chairman of the National Black United Front (NBUF). Click here
to contact Dr. Worrill. |
