Preparing for NBUF’s 34th Annual National Convention

The National Black United Front (NBUF) is preparing for its Thirty-fourth Annual National NBUF Convention that will be held in Dallas, Texas at the Dallas Convention Center Theater Complex, 650 South Griffin Street from July 11-14, 2013.

Time has a way of moving forward and it is hard to believe that NBUF has been in existence for thirty-four-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 the 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, igniting 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 incarcerated 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 by attempting to 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 various parts of 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 1980. More than 1,000 activists from thirty-four states and five foreign countries participated in this four day convention. Reverend Herbert Daughtry was elected interim National Chairman and we approved a draft of the Constitution and By Laws.

At the second national convention, once again, held in Brooklyn in July 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, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, St. Louis, Portland, Seattle, the Bay Area, Muskegon, Lansing, Detroit, New York, New Jersey, Milwaukee, Memphis, and Chicago.

In 1985, I was elected as the National Chairman and served in that position until 2009 when the mantle was passed to the younger generation (current National Chairman Kofi Taharka and National Vice Chairman Salim Adolfo). Most of the chapters in the aforementioned cities continue to function today – thirty-four years later.

Over this thirty-four-year period, NBUF has organized around the following principles: