Preparing for NBUF’s 31st National Convention

Preparing for NBUF’s 31st National Convention
Worrill’s World
By Dr. Conrad W. Worrill, PhD
BlackCommentator.com Columnist

The National Black United Front (NBUF) is preparing for the Thirty-first Annual National Convention to be held in Kansas City, Missouri from July 22-24, 2010 at the African Centered Education Collegium Campus, 6410 Swope Parkway. The theme of this year’s convention is “Unity & Peace vs. Conflict & Violence.”

Dr. Lance Williams Khepra, Assistant Director and Professor of the Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies of Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois will give the opening presentation on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at the National Town Hall Meeting. Dr. Williams Khepra is a nationally recognized expert on youth violence and its relationship to the Hip Hop Generation. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and the Town Hall Meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Under the dynamic leadership of the new NBUF Chairperson, Brother Kofi Taharka of Houston, Texas and the new Vice Chairperson of Organizing and Training, Brother Salim Adofo, NBUF continues to be a major participant in the Black Liberation Movement.

It is a remarkable achievement that NBUF has been in existence for thirty-one years through the work of committed volunteers and limited resources. NBUF survived and continues to grow under its new leadership.

NBUF grew out of the spirit of the 1960’s and 70’s 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 1960’s, sparking the renewed call for Pan Africanism and Black Nationalism.

Through the disruptive tactics of the United States Government and its counterintelligence programs (COINTELPRO), 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 1970’s, 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 1970’s (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 to formulate a United Front formation.

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 that 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-five 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 National Chairman and served in that capacity until last year’s convention at which new leadership was elected.

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:

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 part icipate in our Thirty-first National Convention.

I will write more on the convention in future columns. Please save this date and prepare to participate in this historic 31st Annual National Convention of the National Black United Front (NBUF) in Kansas City, Missouri, July 22-24, 2010.