BALANTA SOCIETY PRESIDENT ADVOCATES FOR AFRICAN DIASPORA RIGHT OF RETURN AT 81ST SESSION OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION FOR HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS

October 21 - On Africa Human Rights Day, the President of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA), Mr. Siphiwe Baleka, who also serves as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika (PGRNA) submitted a statement to the 81st Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The statement was submitted to and received by Hon. Commissioner Selma Saddi-Safer, Vice Chairperson of the Working Group on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Africa.

During the session on Monday, Mr. Baleka and Commissioner Saddi-Safer had an informal discussion on the issue of violating AfroDescendamts’ human and peoples’ rights under the African Charter.

“International Law and the Durban Declaration both require African Union member states to pass legislation providing for the immediate and unqualified right of return for members of the African Union 6th Region to effect their ‘full participation’ in developing the continent under the AU Article 3(q) amendment,” said Mr. Baleka. “Any government that is denying or blocking such legislation is guilty of human rights violations of AfroDescendant people.”

Mr. Baleka’s statement highlighted the case of Guinea Bissau and President Umaro Sissoco Embaló recent “superior orders” to block his Council of Ministers from approving the applications of several BBHAGSIA members who applied for citizenship more than two years ago.

The Balanta Society’s statement generated considerable interest from members of the South African delegation and in particular, Lloyd Kuveya, Assistant Director of the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria and Member of the Executive Committee, as well as Dr. Dorcas Basimanyane, Program Coordinator, International Development Law Unit (IDLU) at the same Center for Human Rights. After a vibrant discussion of the issues over dinner, Mr. Baleka shared with them the CONCEPT NOTE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN PERMANENT MISSION IN GENEVA submitted by Mr. Baleka following consultation with H.E. Thembela Ngculu and Portia Mngomezulu during the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, April 17, 2024

Mr. Baleka’s intervention at the 81st Session of the ACHPR was a follow-up to the work of the Mrs. Dr. Barryl A. Biekman, Coordinator of the African Union African Diaspora 6th Region Facilitators Working Group Europe & Co-Facilitator of the Monitoring & Policy Working Group towards the implementation of the Agreements and the aforementioned Addis Ababa Declaration 2022 & Resolution. Dr. Biekman submitted the following letter to Hon. Remy Ngoy Lumbu - Chairperson, ACHPR you n August 14, 2022:

“It is my hope that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and all the lawyers, jurists and activists gathered here will give their opinion on the legal questions raised in the Request for an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the status of AfroDescendants under the Geneva Convention and their right to conduct plebiscites for self determination,” Mr. Baleka said.

To give your input click here.

Input from lawyer and Professor Dr. Eduardo Lourenço Viana. Unified Black Movement- Movimento Negro Unificado- MNU- Brazil

Haitian Leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier speaks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika

On Friday, October 4, the New Afrikan Network hosted Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier, Haitian leader of “Viva Asanm”, which means “Live Together” in Creole. Commander Chérizier was asked the following question by Siphiwe Baleka, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika.

(beginning at 19:30)

New Afrikan Network host: Thank you brother. Okay, so first up, you know, this is questions and answer day and we're going to get started with the first question coming from Brother Siphiwe out of Guinea Bissau from the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Africa. Brother Siphiwe can you hear us?

Minister Baleka: Yes, thank you. Revolutionary Greetings. Free the land! And greetings to you Commander Chérizier. I am Minister of ForeignAffairs of the Republic of New AfriKa. 

Translator: I'm sorry what country? 

[ …] Republic of New Afrika 

Minister Baleka: First I want to say congratulations to you Commander Chérizier. Anyone that is willing to take up arms to defend their sovereignty and self-determination against the imperialist has courage . . . . In March 1968 we were prepared to defend our right to self-determination and free our land with arms. We have a deep understanding and can empathize with your freedom fighting. I have four questions for you today, Commander. The first question revolves around, the first question has to deal with the issue of gang criminality. In our case, our young people were growing in their revolutionary National Consciousness. At that moment the United States government had to rebrand its campaign war strategy against our forces. They declared a war on drugs and they sent drugs and guns into our New Afrikan communities. The United States government declared a war on drugs and criminalized our young people, brought the drugs and the guns into our communities. We attempted to politicize our young people in the gangs and send them for military training in East Africa. As you know Malcolm X was once called a criminal and he became a freedom fighter. Nelson Mandela was an attorney who received military training in Ethiopia and returned to South Africa as a freedom fighter. So my first question is, do you see this as very similar, that those they are calling gangs were given drugs and guns by the Core Group and you are now trying to politicize them, to get them to fight for self-determination?

Translator: Can you repeat the question again?

Minister Baleka:  The question is do you see this as a similar situation? That you are now trying to politicize young people to fight for self-determination?

Commander Chérizier: I greet you and I thank you for the question. What you have just explained is not different from the one that is happening in Haiti. 95% of the weapons are brought from the Dominican Republic and the US. They use the rich people and the corrupted politicians to bring drugs and weapons to the gangs. They use the gangs to destabilize the country. Each time they do that effectively. That's what they are doing today and we are promoting Consciousness, awareness . . .  As a result of our speech to them they reduce the bad act, the bad habit. What they used to do, they stop it.  The politicians used to make them do a lot of kidnapping in order to destabilize . . .  president . . . They used to help them kidnap a lot of trucks with goods belonging to other people. They used to rape women. They used to rape girls. Today most of those bad activities are mostly finished and if someone in the group commits those crimes the leaders take some measures to punish . . .  In order to bring the foreign troops to keep under occupation they sent those weapons in the neighborhoods. Today we are trying to bring a new ideology to them, to bring Consciousness to them against what the oligarchs are forcing them to do. But this fight is not easy. Those people whom we are fighting against have a lot of money. They use local and international media to destroy us. As of today we have already done a lot of work. There were G9 and G people. G9 is a group which I . . .  G is another group which was created by the politicians because the group, namely G9, refused to work for them. Today we G9 happen to unite with G people and this resulted into a new group. Namely this creates a lot of problem for the politicians. Now, they merge all the crimes which was, which were committed by the other groups, they bring it to us as the one who did it. This is a way in order to destroy us. To help people not to believe in us without letting anyone to know that they are the one who used to give those people. . .  who used to ask them to commit those crimes. Today we are trying to put them on a positive way, educate them not to fight against those who look like us. This history which you have told of which I have been telling them - the history like about Nelson Mandela and others - someone who has a weapon and that person does not have education regarding this weapon, that may be a threat against him or her and against the society. That's what we teach and the politicians in Haiti know. That's why they do not educate, build schools to help those living in the popular neighborhood. This is a way so that they can use them whenever they want. Today we are trying to bring a change but it's not easy because most of those people who are weapons holders are not educated men. But because of the leadership we have a better relationship. We have them talk to their soldiers in order to protect the Civil population but sometimes things happen but we think we are on a good way because most of them start having a conscience. The kidnapping decreased considerably. It is not the Kenyan troops nor the government who do it. It’s the result of our work, dialogue with those guys who started this process in our history. We do know that they used to call again, they used to call him a black person, criminal assassinator. This is how the . . . they call you . . .  this is how they call you. Today this is not a problem to give us those nicknames. What is important for us is to fight for the Haitian people to have a better condition and in the name of our ancestors we will reach where we are heading to. I hope that I answer your question but if you are not satisfied you could still ask other questions.

Minister Baleka: thank you Commander I appreciate your answer. My second question - we are aware that you have repeatedly called for dialogue. Would it be fair to say that although your primary objective is defending the sovereignty and dignity of the Haitian people, that it is your position to call for peace and reconciliation in order to spare the bloodshed?

Translator: can you repeat the one please? 

Minister Baleka: Yes, the question is: is it fair to say that your objective is to call for peace and reconciliation in order to save lives and spare bloodshed?

Commander Chérizier: Thank you for the question. Today in the country we are trying to avoid a civil war. We understand that the west - USA, France and Canada - are seeking a civil war in the country. You get they are seeking this civil war as a pretext for them to directly intervene in Haiti? They are using the international force, the Kenyan troops, but deeply this is not their objective. They are kind of ashamed because the international community has an eye open on them. They don't want to do that openly but they are using the local media, the international media, to make people believe that the problem in Haiti is a gang problem and they're trying to turn some of the population against those weapon  holders. They use a movement, namely, they call those people [in audible] defense but deeply there isn't any defensive self-defensive group. Anyone who came from the popular neighborhood they kill you. This will cause those living in the hood - will reach a time where they will become patientless and they will take up weapons and what we are saying is happening now in the department under the pretext of a group, namely self defense. They keep people in another area. Wednesday night the other area attack them. More than 20 people die and more than 100 get injured. We as people of awareness as people who love this country, we use examples from several African countries where people have the same kind of problem as us. We can name Liberia today. They take the way of reconciliation and for that their countries are in peace. What can save . . .  what it is to prevent a lot of people getting killed is reconciliation before the arrival of the international forces. I have never stopped telling people this problem which we have can be stopped, can be solved but as you know our politicians and the oligarchs, they are working for the US and they never listen to us in order to take the way of . . .  And I can understand that they will never listen to us. The reason why is the American claims that it is being executed, their plan is to let Haiti go deep into a chaos of insecurity so that the whole world will see the necessity to approve for foreign troops to enter here. I have said that and I will continue saying that no foreign troops can solve the Haitian problem. The Haitian problem is not only with those groups. The gang, it is a social problem, economic . . .  It is an economic problem. It is a political problem. We have to have leaders with character to solve this problem. How can you understand that only 5% of people control the wealth of 95% of people in the country? Those people do not create not even one hospital as a reference for the country when they get sick. They board a helicopter to go lately in an operation with the police, national and the foreign troops. A Kenyan troop received a bullet and a Haitian police officer received a bullet. They quickly took [the Kenyan officer out]  and they sent the Haitian police officer in the countryside, but now he is dead. All of this is discrimination. This is why we are fighting to enter dialogue to solve the problem. 

Minister Baleka: Let me interrupt because I have one final important question for you. It has two parts. The first part is, has any African security forces offered to provide training for your militia and the second part of the question, would you say that now is a good moment for a Pan African Ubuntu peace delegation, a delegation led by Julius Malema, PLO Lumumba, Her Excellency Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao, The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso Apollinaire Joachimson Kyelem de Tembela, and Dr. Umar Ifatunde? Do you think such a delegation coming as conciliators could help bring about the reconciliation you speak of?

Commander Chérizier: For the first question regarding if the African forces could train us, we do not have any contact with them.  When they come they always attach to the work [of the imperialists]. We we always attach to our work defending our territory. And for the second question, anyone who can contribute to have a peaceful resolution to prevent people from getting killed, we are ready to work and collaborate with them but in the honor and dignity in the interests of the Haitian people. Any dialogue which we enter, if our dignity is not respected since the interest of Haiti is not respected, we will not engage. Today our objective is clear: the wealth of the country must be shared with the children of the country. That's what the father of the nation said, Haiti’s wealth belongs to the children of Haiti. For example in our constitution of 1805, it is prevented for a foreigner to be a property owner in Haiti. So the Clinton family happened to buy land and this present Prime Minister is working with Clinton. This is why we need to be careful if we have to engage in a dialog, a negotiation. We have to ensure that our interest and the interest of Haiti . . . . Only more they are using force to be . . .  to use violence against us, the more we will be more violent. We want to take it from where it is now. I hope that I answer your question.

Minister Baleka: Yes you did and on behalf of the Republic of New Africa we respect the sovereignty and dignity of the Haitian people and we will use our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic office to pass your message to other Pan African forces.

Commander Chérizier: Thank you. Merci thank you.

The Chairman of the Republic of New Afrika Grassroots Mobilization Campaign has submitted to Commandier Chérizier the following

The Ubuntu Compassionate Relief Plan to Restore & Safeguard Haiti

NCOBRA Internation Affairs Commission Quarterly Zoom: PGRNA Minister of Foreign Affairs and BBHAGSIA President Discusses The Role of the African Union and Reparations

September 28, 2024 - The NCOBRA International Affairs Commission hosted its Quarterly Zoom from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM EST.

Balanta Basketball Star From America Plays First Game in Guinea Bissau

Titna (#5) playing in his first game in his ancestral homeland. He recently repatriated and received his residency.

September 20, Bissau - Titna (also known as Joshua Roberts) made his debut tonight playing for the Niki Basket team in his ancestral homeland of Guinea Bissau during the U21 AMILCAR CABRAL CENTENARY TOURNAMENT sponsored by the government of Guinea-Bissau through the Ministry of Youth Culture and Sport. The tournament features 4 teams - Niki Basketball (Guinea-Bissau), Essamaye Basketball Bingnona (Senegal) Hosson LTD (Guinea-Bissau) and the Gambia national team (Gambia). The final will take place on 23 September at ENEFD multipurpose field at 16:00.

Titna, who has also played professionally in Portugal and Armenia has built a reputation as an elite shooter and versatile scorer. Earning Eurobasket.com All-Armenia Team during the 2021-22 season after averaging 19.1ppg and 6rpg .In his debut at the Amilcar Cabral University arena, Titna scored 18 points, had 4 assists and 4 rebounds in a 64-40 loss to the Gambia National Team. Titna, who is of Guinean descent through his mother, represents a historic diaspora that shares a distinct ancestry with Guinea-Bissau. He recently received his permanent residence card, making him one step closer to getting his full citizenship, which is before the Guinea Bissau Council of Ministers. He has been living at the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America/Decade of Return Headquarters in Bissau during the past month while studying Balanta history with its founder, Siphiwe Baleka.

Asked about the experience of playing in his first game in Guinea Bissau, Titna said,

“It meant everything to come back from the diaspora and represent the country. We have a long way to go but it was a monumental step playing Gambia tonight. But not only playing but showing the true potential of our program when we commit to progress of our nation.”

BBHAGSIA Member Joshua Roberts gets five year residency in Guinea Bissau

Roberts obtains Residency in Guiné-Bissau and aids Guinean Basketball Federation 

Aug 31st, 2024

The Basketball Federation of Guiné-Bissau announced in June of 2023 that American Guard Joshua Roberts would be helping the development of basketball in the country and to add strength to their national team roster.  Roberts obtained residency in Guiné-Bissau through the auspices of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) during a return trip from Cabo Verde after competing in the National League for B.C Predio.

Roberts, who has also played professionally in Portugal and Armenia has built a reputation as an elite shooter and versatile scorer. Earning Eurobasket.com All-Armenia Team during the 2021-22 season after averaging 19.1ppg and 6rpg.

Roberts, who is of Guinean descent through his mother, represents a historic diaspora that shares a distinct ancestry with Guinea-Bissau. Their family name, Titna, has Balanta origins in the Cacheu region and have given back to the country historically. 

While this is rare amongst the general public of African-Americans communities this is more commonplace in the basketball community in Africa. Most counties naturalize Americans to represent their national team such as Rwanda and Cameroon. It just so happens that these Americans are of African descent. Most notably former NBA player Carlik Jones who recently represented South Sudan in this year's Olympics. While it is unknown if some of these athletes have any ancestry to these nations, Roberts is a direct descendant of Guiné-Bissau which makes this more intimate.

Guiné-Bissau hasn’t competed at the senior level since 2014 in the Lusophony Games and 2011 AfroBasket Qualifiers in Madagascar, Antananarivo. The Federation is looking to revitalize the basketball program and reenter international basketball competitions with a new revitalized roster from local talent and diaspora talent like Roberts.

In February of 2024 Roberts attended the NBA Africa Luncheon in Indianapolis, Indiana during the NBA All-Star Weekend in the USA as an ambassador for the program. This luncheon brought together leaders from the business, entertainment, philanthropy, technology, and youth development to discuss processes and areas of opportunity in Africa. 

At this meeting Guine-Bissau had the opportunity to interact with a number of prominent personalities such as; Miranda Maenzanise, management of NBA Africa and Amadou Gallo Fall (BAL President). This meeting provided an opportunity to improve the overall basketball landscape in Guinea Bissau. 

Balanta B'urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) Members Joshua Roberts and Walid Artest with Adam Silver, Commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA)

ABOUT BHAGGSIA

The Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSA) was founded by Siphiwe Baleka in 2019 to promote Balanta culture, history, education, language training, genealogy research and other services to descendants of Balanta people who were trafficked from their ancestral homelands in Guinea Bissau and enslaved in the Americas. BBHAGSIA also established the Decade of Return Initiative that provides ancestral return tours and citizenship opportunities under the Right of Return. BBHGASIA provides a wide variety of services, including Consular and visa services, to help Balanta people in America reconnect with their ancestral homeland. On June 20, 2023, BBHAGSIA and the Decade of Return organized Joshua Roberts’ first press conference upon arrival at Osvaldo Airport.

FIDDLER AND CHICKEN GEORGE THEN AND NOW: CAN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CELEBRITY CHANGE THE GAME?

“But for all their money, fame, and achievement, says former New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, Black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built. . . . Rhoden makes the cogent argument that Black athletes' "evolution" has merely been a journey from literal plantations to today's figurative ones, in the form of collegiate and professional sports programs. Drawing from his decades as a sportswriter, Rhoden contends that Black athletes' exercise of true power is as limited today as when masters forced their slaves to race and fight. “ - William C. Rhoden, Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete

“I don’t want to be a modern-day Chicken George, competing for the entertainment and profit of white “owners” of sports leagues in exchange for greater creature comforts and a social acceptance denied the vast majority of the 47.5 million black people in America. I want to use my experience in the sport of swimming to benefit the people of my ancestral homeland, Guinea Bissau. Michael Phelps said that he wanted to change the sport of swimming. What greater impact, what greater change, then to go where there are few or no swimming programs and make in those places the best swimmers in the world….” - Siphiwe Baleka

When I was a boy growing up in the far west suburbs of Chicago, sports consumed a lot of my time. I was a good athlete and every day my friends (all white) and I organized various games and contests. We played everything - football, baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, wrestling, track and field. We spent hours at the swimming pool, we played table tennis, pool, all kinds of board games, and of course, the first generation of video games. I wanted to be a professional athlete, and by the time I was ten years old, I was an Illinois state champion swimmer. There was no professional swimming back then, but there was the Olympics.

During this same time, however, I, like 130 million other people in America, was impacted by the 1977 ground-breaking television miniseries ROOTS that was based on the book by Alex Haley. For the first time, I came to understand, as well as a six-year old could, the history and brutality that was the basis of my existnce in America and why, as a black boy, no one in my all-white community looked like me. The scene that had the greatest impact on me, that haunted me throughout my childhood and caused me to have an identity crisis that forced me to leave Yale University in 1993, was the scene when Kunte Kinte was whipped nearly to death, breaking his spirit and forcing him to accept the slave name “Toby”.

From that point on I became very sensitive to the idea that I wasn’t going to be a slave, that nobody was going to be my “master” and force me to do what I didn’t want to do. I wasn’t going to accept the conditions of servitude. But that’s exactly the first thing I learned at Yale when the administration prevented me from enrolling in the major of my choice: Ethics, Politics and Economics (EPE) even though I had earned top grades in all the pre-requisite courses. Here, for the first time, the “masters” decided that I couldn’t do something I wanted to do and forced me to do something I didn’t want to do, which was choose another major. How was it that I couldn’t study what I wanted????

Another scene that had a great impact on me was the scene where Fiddler, born in slavery in America, explains to Kunte Kinte, born in freedom in Africa, the slave mentality:

I would eventually come to understand, especially after reading books like the Autobiography of Malcolm X, that to accept special treatment, to gain material benefits to have a more comfortable life while working for white people was what we called “selling out”. The goal of black people was to break free of such a system, to work for yourself and the benefit of your own people. I became sensative to the slave mentality, often referred to as being an “Uncle Tom” or an “oreo cookie” - someone who accepted and was subservient to the terms of white people, defended them, and was concerned, like Fiddler, about having a ‘good negro life” - eating in the white man’s house, having stuff that the other slaves didn’t. Fiddler, because he could play the fiddle and entertain his master, thought that his subservient life was a good life. He never thought of freedom or life without the master because, in his own words, “Massa OWNS you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Even before arriving in the United States, the people taken from various territories on the African continent were forced to exercise and entertain their white, Euro-American enslavers.

This system of exploitation that began on the slave ship continued on the plantation.

“For many of the sports that American slaves played on plantations, the rewards made available at the culmination of these events brought an increased element of competition and athleticism into recreation. This rang true whether slaves participated for their own enjoyment or that of their master. The time off on the plantation and a vast majority of the prizes eligible for receipt for slaves would come from the slave masters. There is no doubt that thousands of slaves had been treated poorly and, seen as nothing more than property to their slave owner, rarely had access to certain daily commodities. This included, but was not limited to, substantial food, proper seasonal clothing, shoes or covering, or even bedding. The slave owner's intense determination to disallow the personal development of the American slave was evident in this treatment of African Americans. This included such cruelties as lack of education for slaves, minimal individual freedom for love, companionship, or culture, and physical brutality. To maintain individualistic amenities despite this treatment, slave sports and competitions would often times conclude with prizes. These prizes were a small attempt to fill the void left by the inhuman treatment of slave masters. These tokens included trophies such as jugs of whiskey, money, small game, food, and at times a woman for a bride. These all became symbols of many of the amenities that slaves were unable to enjoy within their enslavement.” - Sports in Shackles: The Athletic and Recreational Habits of Slaves on Southern Plantations Jon Griffith Chapman University, 2018

The consequences on the mentality of the slave of this system of exploitative entertainment was depicted in ROOTS by the character Chicken George, who mistakenly thought that winning competitions made him the equal of his slave master and having better clothes and food, and presents for his family elevated him above the “slave status”, because, “i’se a sportin’ man, mamma!”.

As an athlete, I came to see that the vast majority of head coaches are white, as are most general managers and other league executives. I realized that the athletes I idolized - Walter Payton, Michael Jordan, Carl Lewis, etc. were nothing more than modern day Chicken Georges, owned by white folks, dressed and given travel passes to go and compete in other cities (plantations) just like Chicken George. They were being used to entertain and profit white team (plantation) owners. Chattel slavey may have been abolished, but the system of economic exploitation remained.

PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE DEMOGRAPHICS AND STATISTICS IN THE US

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 16,700 professional athletes in the United States with a median pay of $77,300 in May, 2021. With a population of 329.5 million in 2020, that means professional athletes were just 0.00506829% of the United States Population!

A professional athlete in the United States makes an average of $30.14 an hour? That's $62,691 a year! According to Zippia, the most common ethnicity among Professional Athletes is White, which makes up 78.0% of all Professional Athletes. Comparatively, there are 7.2% of the Hispanic or Latino ethnicity and 6.8% of the Black or African American ethnicity - about 1,135 professional athletes.

Share of African American players in selected professional sports leagues in North America in 2021/22, by sport

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1168461/african-american-sport-leagues/

While only 13 percent of the US's population is black, black athletes constitute 73 percent of the players in the NBA, 58 percent of the NFL.

Notice that most of the African American professional athletes do not live in the “Black belt” area of the greatest concentration of black people.

According to a 2015 poll conducted jointly by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Harvard School of Public Health, about a quarter of U.S. parents with high-school children who play a sport hope they'll make it to the pros. But among families with incomes under $50,000, the percentage is nearly 40 percent.

Just 1 in 250 college athletes go on to play professionally. Arkansas Democratic Gazette journalist Jon Entine calculates the odds of a black American teenager becoming a professional athlete at 1-to-4,000 -- a long shot to be sure, but still 20 times greater than his white counterpart, who has a 1-in-80,000 chance of going pro.

Black Athletes’ Lost Wages

“The NCAA has been accused of violating labor rights because it refuses to pay players. But a new study suggests this decision goes further — it’s also perpetuating racial inequality.

The revenue generated by Black Power 5 football and basketball players is funneled to predominantly white coaches, sports, and even researchers, the study found. As a result, these athletes lose out on potentially billions in salaries.

“The economy of college sports reflects the inequity that pervades society, where examples of structural racism are legion,” study authors Ted Tatos and Hal Singer wrote in an op-ed in Global Sports Matters.

• Accounting for scholarships NCAA schools provide, Black Power 5 football and basketball players lost out on a minimum of $17.3 billion in earnings between 2005-19, the study found.

• Not accounting for scholarships, those players lost $21.5 billion.

• That’s about $1.2 billion or $1.4 billion in lost wages per year, or about $250,000 per player per year.

• The study based potential athlete wages on the percentage of total revenue that NBA players make.

Study authors used publicly available demographic and athletic department finance data to confirm that that money is instead being directed away from these players.  

“College sports amateurism is yet another chapter in the voluminous historical record of systemic racial injustice,” they wrote.”

Now, let’s consider this. Only 3% of the African American population makes more than $200,000 and is considered “upper class”. That’s 1,425,000 people. Another 12% makes between $100,000 and $200,000 and is consider “upper middle class”. That’s 5,700,000 people. Another 40% make between $35,000 and $100,000 and are considered “middle class”. That’s 19,000, 000 people. That’s a total of 26,125,000 million people considered to be middle class or above. The remaining 21,275,000 African Americans - almost half the population - are consider working class poor and below poverty.

Further statistics show that the top 10% of African Americans own 75% of black wealth while the bottom 50% of black house holds have a negative net wealth and are worth less than $1.

Gerald Scully writes,

“It is clear that blacks incur great risks in looking to sports as a vehicle for upward social mobility.

At the most, sports has led a few thousand Negroes into a better life while substituting a meaningless dream for hundreds of thousands of other Negroes ... For every Willie Mays or Bob Hayes there are countless Negroes who obviously had abundant will and determination to succeed, but who dedicated their childhoods and their energies to baseball gloves and shoulder pads. If there were other ways out and up, they were blinded to them by the success of a few sports celebrities.... This has been the major effect of sports on the Negro, and it overrides all others. - Olsen, The Cruel Deception, SPOR.Ts ILLusRATED, July 1, 1968, at 12, 15.

Here are the 20 richest African Americans in the world:

20. Beyoncé Knowles

Beyonce is the twentieth richest African American in the world. Her net worth is estimated to be at $300 million. The thirty five year old was born in Houston, Texas and is ranked as number two on the list of The Best Current Female Singers. She earned her fortune through various means. In addition to being a world famous singer, she is also a songwriter, musician, television producer, record producer and business person. She has a few movie credits to her appearance as well including, “Epic,” “Dreamgirls,” “The Great Gatsby” and “Austin Powers in Goldmember.” The multi-talented lady has added the hyphen of Carter to her name after her marriage. She began her career as a child, competing in a variety of dancing and singing competitions. She knew from an early age that she would pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She became famous as a member of the R&B musical group Destiny’s Child in the late 1990s. She continues to release albums on her own currently. She is currently married to the famous rapper Jay-Z.

19. Quintin Primo III

Quintin E. Primo III has a net worth of approximately $300 million which ties his fortune with Beyonce Knowles. Quintin is the co-founder of Capri Capital Partners, LLC. The corporation is on of the largest businesses that is minority owned. It is a real estate investment management firm, located in the United States of America. In addition to being one of the initial founders of the company, Primo is also the CEO in charge of overseeing the affairs of the company. He has enjoyed a long and prosperous career and is currently adding to his already massive fortune. The group offers management services world-wide to pension fund as well as other types of institutional investor. Primo stands as a role model for young African American males because he built a fortune that shows them it is possible to follow your dreams and become a success in America.

18. Russell Simmons

Russell Simmons has a net worth that is valued at $340 million. The multi-talented Simmons is a professional in multiple areas of business and entertainment. He is best known for his role as an entrepreneur. He just seems to understand how to invest in the right ventures and when to pull out. Simmons is also a well known fashion designer, television and film producer and business person with multiple streams of income. With an already developed portfolio, he is still adding to the large fortune that he has amassed. He was born in New York City as Russell Wendell Simmons. Simmons is an American business magnate that was instrumental in founding the Def Jam music label that deals with hip hop music artists. His wife is Samantha Simmons, who is from the East Providence, Rhode Island area. Russell is the creator of the high end clothing label Phat Farm as well as Argyle Culture and American Classics. It would appear that there is no end to his talents.

17. Berry Gordy, Jr.

Berry Gordy is the seventeenth richest African American in the world. His net worth is $345 million. He is best known for his tremendous contribution to the Motown music movement. He founded the Motown record label and also established several subsidiary companies under this umbrella. Gordy has a certain type of brilliance and foresight that has allowed him to build his empire from the ground. He understands that it takes hard work and dedication to achieve any measure of success. He didn’t mind putting in the hard work when he was younger, and his efforts have paid off well for him. He is a songwriter as well as record producer who has earned his fortune through the music business. Gordy was born in Detroit, Michigan and as of 2017, he is 87 years of age. In addition to producing records, he has also served as a television producer and entrepreneur. He has had a long and successful career in entertainment, but his contributions have been behind the scenes, rather than on the stage.

16. R. Donahue Peebles

R. Donahue Peebles, also known as Roy Donahue Peebles has a net worth of $350 million making him the sixteenth richest African American in the world. He is actually tied with Master P, who has an identical net worth. The 56 year old was born in Washington D.C., He is an entrepreneur in the real estate industry as well as an author and a political activist. He founded the Peebles Corporation which is a real estate development and ownership company that happens to be the largest African American owned company of it’s kind. Peebles’ company is also involved in a multi billion dollar development subsidiary that deals with high rise residential, luxury hotel and commercial property interests in the areas of Las Vegas, New York City, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

15. Master P

Master P is also known as Percy Robert Miller. He has a net worth of $350 million. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and is best known for being a multi-talented entertainer and business person. Miller is involved in multiple ventures that have contributed to his immense wealth. His professional ventures include stints as a rapper, actor, author, investor, businessman, philanthropist, record producer and former basketball player. He is currently the fifteenth richest African American in the world. Master P has a good understanding of what it takes to make a fortune and to keep it. He is an excellent investor who chooses the ventures he decides to enter very carefully.

14. Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal has a net worth of $350 million. He is one of the most celebrated and famous basketball players of the NBA. O’Neal was born Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey. He goes by the nickname Shaq. In addition to playing for the NBA, Shaq has also done well for himself as a rapper, real estate entrepreneur, television producer and film producer. He’s tried a little bit of everything. He is currently a sports analyst on the “Inside the NBA” television program. As for O’Neal’s music career, he has been successful with the release of four rap albums. The first one that was released had such great appeal to his fans that it went platinum. Shaq has made appearances in a variety of films and television shows. He even had a few reality television shows of his own. In addition to serving as a sports analyst, Shaq is the host of “The Big Podcast with Shaq.” When we say big, it is no exaggeration because the former NBA star is a staggering seven feet one inch in height. He weights around 325 pounds, but none of it is flab. He keeps himself in excellent physical condition.

13. Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby has a current net worth of $400 million. He gained fame through his television acting, appearing in “The Cosby Show” and several others. He is also known as the voice of Fat Albert in “The Cosby Kids” cartoon. Cosby was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his money as an actor, musician, television director, television producer, activist and film score composer. There are many people who do not realize that in addition to his acting talents, he is also a gifted musician and composer. He also had a very good run as a stand up comedian. Crowds would form outside of the venues for the chance to get in to see on of his stand up shows.

He truly was a funny guy, but one of the reasons why he became so popular with fans is because he was easy to relate to. Cosby had a way of portraying the typical family man that made us all look up to him for the common sense and wisdom that he shared in his time on “The Cosby Show.” He was a man who exuded family values, but he knew how to put a comedic spin on the various life situations that came up in the series. Cosby was ranked and number twenty four on the Funniest People of All Time List and as number seventeen on the Funniest Stand Up Comedians of All Time list. This was prior to the recent allegations of sexual misconduct and rape. There are fans who remain loyal to Cosby, and several co-stars who have stood by him during the trials.

12. Robert L. Johnson

Robert L. Johnson has a net worth of $550 million. He earned his fortune as an Entrepreneur and a businessperson. Johnson was born in Hickory, Mississippi. In addition to being an entrepreneur he is also a media magnate, executive, philanthropist and investor. He is the co-founder of BET, which was sold to Viacom in 2001. He also founded RLJ Companies, a holding company that invests in various business sectors. 

11. Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey currently has a net worth of $550 million. She earned her fortune by amassing fame as one of the greatest musical artists from the 1990s. Her heyday was in the 90s, and although she is still held in high regard, her popularity has fallen because she isn’t churning out the number one hits anymore. Mariah was born in Huntington, New York. She is ranked as number six on the Best Female Vocalists Ever list and as number nineteen on the Best Singers of All Time chart. Her professional endeavors include musician, songwriter, record producer, film producer and model.

10. Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry has a net worth of $600 million. He made his money as a songwriter, television producer, film producer, theater director and television director. You may remember his most famous film “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” Perry was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been ranked as number twenty four on the Very Best black Directors list. He was born on September 13, 1969 as Emmitt Perry Jr. He was the most active in writing and directing stage plays in the 1990s and 2000s. His songwriting was mainly in the gospel genre.

9. Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson’s net worth for 2017 is $600 million. He was born in Lansing, Michigan and gained fame in the NBA as a phenomenal basketball player. He is currently ranked and number three on the Top NBA Players Of All Time list and as number nine on the Greatest Offensive Players in NBS History list. He earned his fortune as a basketball player, basketball coach, talk show host, television producer and entrepreneur.

8. Tiger Woods

Tiger woods currently has a net worth of $740 million. He earned his fortune as a pro golfer, turning with industry upside down by coming on strong and taking a high number of wins in a short period of time. Tiger has had his ups and downs as a golfer as well as in his personal life. His string of illicit affairs led to the end of his marriage. He was born in Cypress, California and is also a writer and hosted the “Monday Night Golf” show. He is ranked as number seven on the Athletes Who Spark the Most Fan Arguments list and as number sixteen on Celebrities You Would Not Want as a Stepdad.

7. Sheila Johnson

Sheila Johnson’s current net worth is estimated at $750 million. She earned her money as a business person along with being a TV program creator and film producer. She was born Sheila Crump on January 25, 1949. During her career, she co-founded BET, and served as the CEO of Salamander Hotels and resorts. During her lifetime, she reached a pinnacle of reaching the only African American woman to have a net worth that was more than a billion dollars. She’s not worth that much today, but she still holds a sizable fortune.

6. Jay-Z

Jay-Z is the sixth richest African American in the world today. He has a net worth of $810 million. He earned his money as a rapper, songwriter, record producer, film producer and entrepreneur. Jay Z is ranked as the sixth on the Greatest Rappers of All Time list. His birth name is Shawn Corey Carter and he is currently married to Beyonce Knowles. Between the two of these fabulously rich celebrities, their total net worth is over a billion dollars.

5. Sean Combs

Sean Combs has a net woth of $820 million. He made his fortune in a variety of professions including fashion designer, musician, songwriter, record producer and television producer. He was born in Harlem, New York City, New York. He earned the distinction of being number sixteen on Rappers with the Coolest Post-Rap Careers and as number fourteen on the list of Who Should Buy the Los Angeles Clippers.

4. Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre has an estimated net worth of $830 million. He was born in Compton, California. His professional endeavors that helped him to earn his fortune include musician, rapper, songwriter, record producer, musician and entrepreneur. He was born Andre Romelle Yound on February 18, 1965. He founded Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics and currently serves as CEO for each. He used to be a co owner of Death Row Records but has seen his way out of the arrangement.

3. Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is the third richest African American in the world today. His net worth is $1.31 billion. Jordan was born in New York, New York. He made the rank of number one for both the Top NBA Players Of All Time and The greatest Shooting Guards in NBA History. In addition to this, he made number four for the Athletes Who Spark the Most Fan Arguments and Athletes Who Should Get a Reality Show. Michael was a star player for the NBA and it was through his career in basketball that launched his run of tremendous success and his climb to fame. The Nike corporation was just one of the sponsors who lined Jordan’s pockets with untold millions for endorsing their products. His professional ventures include actor, athlete, basketball player, spokesperson and entrepreneur. He has made some wise financial decisions and investments in his lifetime.

2. Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is the second riches African American in the world. She has a net worth of $3.1 billion. The 63 year old was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi. In her lifetime, she has achieved a high level of professional success. She is a well known and extremely popular actor, film producer, television producer, journalist and business person. She is best known for her own long running television talk series, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Oprah is active in supporting charities and worthy causes. She has been ranked among the most trustworthy celebrities in the world as well as making it to number 8 on the Celebrities Who Should Run for President list.

1. Robert F. Smith

Robert F. Smith is the richest African American in the world today. His net worth is estimated at $3.3 billion. He is a philanthropist, businessman and investor. Previously, he was an investment banker and chemical engineer. Smith founded Vista Equity Partners which is a private equity firm. He is currently the CEO of the company. He was born in 1962 in Colorado to Sylvia Myrna Smith and William Robert Smith. He married Hope Dworaczyk in 2015 and has one child, Hendrix Robert Smith.

BALANTA LEADERS SPEAK ON THE HISTORY AND IMPORTANCE OF NEW AFRIKAN FOREIGN RELATIONS

July 19, 2024 - Krystal Muhammad, a Balanta descendant, is the National Chair of the New Black Panther Party and the current President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika (PGRNA). Siphiwe Baleka, the founder of the Balanta B’rassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) serves as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PGNRAN. These Balanta leaders recently discussed the History and Importance of New Afrikan Foreign Relations.

WATCH THE DISCUSSION

The Republic of New Afrika Returns to the African Union for Diaspora Day

July 12, 2024 - The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika (PGRNA), Siphiwe Baleka, continues to engage the African Union on the question of self determination of New Afrikan and Afrodescendant people in the United States. In a letter dated July 11, 2024 - exactly 21 years to the day that the African Union meeting in Maputo, Mozambique formally adopted Article 3(q) to include the “full participation” of the African Diaspora in developing the continent - Minister Baleka stated,

“On February 3, 58 ADM (2024), the AU Commission received my letter (PGRNA#2/2/3/58)  requesting renewal of the accreditation/observer status for the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Africa (PG-RNA) under the provisions of AU Doc. EX.CL/195(VII). On February 21, the AU Commission For International Law also received a BRIEF FOR THE AU LEGAL REFERENCE GROUP ON REPARATIONS (PGRNA#10/2/19/58) outlining the issues raised in our request - submitted to the UN Permanent Forum of People of African Descent (PFPAD) - for an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice on our status under international law. Until now, after 151 days, we have received no response from either the AU Commission or the AU Commission for International Law. . . . The PG-RNA, whose national territory is still subjugated to alien domination, contends that the “full participation of the African Diaspora” in Article 3(q) would include the recognition of New Afrikan governments through Observer Status at the African Union. Towards this end, we await a speedy response from Your Excellencies concerning the way forward.”

Feb 3, 2024 - The Interim Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika Applies to Renew Observer Status at the African Union

Feb 26, 2024 - Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika Advises African Union Legal Reference Group

Apr 26, 2024 - Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika Statement to the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

Apr 26, 2024 - THE POLITICAL-LEGAL HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF NEW AFRIKA AND THE WAR WAGED AGAINST IT BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Apr 27, 2024 - Analysis by the Republic of New Afrika of Legal Issues Requiring an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice

May 9, 2024 Republic of New Afrika Minister of Foreign Affairs Siphiwe Baleka Concludes Successful Diplomacy Tour in Ougadougu, Burkina Faso

May 19, 2024 - The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika addressed the Afrodescendant Nation National Reparations Convention in Washington, D.C.

May 27, 2024 - PGRNA Minister of Foreign Affairs Siphiwe Baleka discussed the UN Permanent Forum and the Request for an Advisory Opinion from the ICJ on the 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒘 podcast

June 14, 2024 - Republic of New Afrika Minister of Foreign Affairs on RealTalk: History as a Weapon for Black Liberation, Black Power Media Network podcast

June 19, 2024 - Minister of Foreign Affairs Presents at Juneteenth Commemoration Highlighting the Need for Reparatory Justice

OVERVIEW OF CURRENT PGRNA FOREIGN POLICY AGENDA

In January, 58 ADM (2024), the People’s Revolutionary Leadership Council approved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Immediate Program of Action submitted by Interim Minister of Foreign Affairs Siphiwe Baleka, with the following Primary Objectives:

1. Win support in the African Union and the United Nations for the New Afrikan and Afro Descendant plebiscite for self determination in the United States;

2. Secure “right to return” citizenship legislation in African Union member states;

3. Request an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice on our status as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention and other fundamental questions pertaining to our reparations claims;

4. Secure diplomatic recognition from AU member states and other liberation movements

The basis of PGRNA foreign policy is the words of Imari Obadele delivered in a speech on Revolution and Nation Building, April 1969:

"The fifth strategic element is international support, which we absolutely must have in order to win our freedom and recognition. recognition of yourself as a nation flows first, of course, from yourself, your own recognition, your own understanding that you are a nation. But then it flows from others. When other nations begin to recognize you, you may then enter into the international arena and demand things that we can not now demand as a people - even as a people who have at this point declared ourselves a separate nation."

Imari Obadele in 1970:

“Indeed, along with the petition drive a specific campaign must be conducted among New York legislators and U.S. Congressmen (particularly black ones) to make them - and, concurrently, the world - see that our cause is just under moral law and correct under international law and that the law of the United States is deficient in failing to provide a peaceful formula for the separation of communities seeking their independence. . . . Let us return a moment to the  first question: how sovereignty is to be achieved in the first place. From what has already been indicated, it is clear that the overall strategy is to present the United States, the United Nations, and the world with an implacable accomplished fact: the free vote of a community for independence. It is, then, to seek a favorable deployment of world-wide diplomatic pressures and internal (U.S.) political pressures. It is, finally, to follow up the independence vote with creation of a local government and a pattern of action by the local government and the Republic that constitutes the exercise of Sovereignty. In other words, the Government, after the vote, must act like a government. . . . Next we shall demonstrate to the world, by means of a plebiscite, a vote, that it is New Afrika, not the United States, which has the consent of the people who dominate those areas” 

The words of Imari Obadele in 1972:

“The problem with international law is that there is nobody there to enforce it - except the powerful. Powerful nations enforce international law only when it suits them - or when they are forced to. . . . The development of foreign support, inside and outside the United Nations, is another of the vital supporting strategies. . . ”;

The words of Imari Obadele also in 1972:

“The essential strategy of our struggle for land is to array enough power (as in jiu-jitsu, with a concentration of karate strength at key moments) to force the greatest power, the United States, to abide by international law, to recognize and accept our claims to independence and land. The purpose of this strategy can be further simplified: it is to create a situation for the United States where it becomes cheaper to relinquish control of the Five States than to continue a war against us to take back or hold the area”; and 

The 1933 Convention on the Rights and Duties of States as quoted by  Imari Obadele in 1987:

“Article one of the convention states: ‘The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) the capacity to enter into relations with the other states.’”

UN Resolution 1514 (XV):

“The process of liberation is irresistible and irreversible, and its impediment by foreign domination constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights.” [emphasis added]

************************

𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐌 𝐗 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 (𝐎𝐀𝐔) 𝐈𝐍 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟒

In 1962 Max Stanford (now Ahmad Muhammad) engaged with Malcolm X and told him he was a revolutionary interested in following him and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X told Stanford that if he was truly revolutionary, he would be better off working outside the NOI. Stanford went forward to become a founding member of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM).

SEE: How I Met Malcolm X

RAM was the first group in the United States to synthesize the thought of Marx, Lenin, Mao, and Malcolm X into a comprehensive theory of revolutionary black nationalism. They combined socialism, black nationalism, and Third World internationalism into a coherent and applicable theory that called for revolution "inside the citadel of world imperialism," meaning the United States.

The Black Guard was a national armed youth self-defense group run by RAM that argued for protecting the interests of Black America by fighting directly against its enemies. The Black Guard, in Max Stanford's words, "[was] to stop our youth from fighting amongst themselves, teach them a knowledge of [black] history ... and prepare them ... to protect our community from racist attacks." In 1964, Malcolm X became a RAM officer. At that time, they published 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. It was a radical black culture magazine edited by future black power activists Bobby Seale, Huey Newton, and Ernie Allen, among others.

Whitewashed history tried to brainwash people into thinking that the RAM/Black Guard/Black Liberation Army was a bunch of lunatic, violent black people. However, The Republic of New Afrika's First Vice-President Milton Henry (Gaidi Obadele) was a Tuskegee Airman and graduated from Yale Law School in 1950. He served as a City Commissioner of Pontiac, Michigan from 1954 to 1960. His uncompromising exploits in defense of freedom, justice, and equality for black people were frequently covered by Black newspapers throughout America as well as a few white newspapers. According to his own testimony,

"I was one of seven City Councilmen representing a District.... And I sat there and of course one out of seven [that was black and interested in assisting this community]. I could see very readily that we really didn't have any ability to do much more than just trade on particular items. . . [The] municipal court remained almost completely white. The fire department was completely white. The police department had about four or five blacks on it and they felt they were doing their job. And the racism was rampant in the attitude of the place and . . . these are the things that you couldn't do very much about. . . . I was just wasting time. I was a figurehead. I was there as a black man representing black people and I could see that in reality I had no power. I couldn't make any changes in the thins that were important. They pulled me out for window-dressing. They'd have me sitting around at meetings talking, where most of the time they were trying to persuade me to vote for some nonsense that didn't have a damn thing to do with black people. So, I ultimately decided that I was going to walk off the Commission."

Where did he walk off to? Well, he went to Africa and traveled with Malcolm X to Cairo to meet with African leaders.

On April 12, 1964, Malcolm X returned to Detroit to support his friends, including Milton (Obadele) who had created the Freedom Now Party. That night, Malcolm X gave his famous "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒕" speech, stating,

"It is our intention to have a black nationalist convention which will consist of delegates from all over the country who are interested in the political, economic and social philosophy of black nationalism. After these delegates convene, we will hold a seminar; we will hold discussions; we will listen to everyone. We want to hear new ideas and new solutions and new answers. And at that time, if we see fit them to form a black nationalist party, we'll form a black nationalist party. 𝐈𝐅 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐀 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐘, 𝐖𝐄'𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐀 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐘."

The Afro-American Student Conference was held in Nashville, May 1-3, 1964. By its end, the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) convinced the conference that young revolutionary nationalists were the vanguard of a Black revolution and liberation struggle in the United States which embodied cultural revolution, promoted Pan African socialism and was ready to form an organizational apparatus to 'translate' Nationalist ideology into effective action and whose members were willing to make the supreme sacrifices to build and sustain a dynamic Nationalist Movement. Based on a thorough assessment of the state of the struggle for Black America’s liberation in the North and South, a national organization - RAM - was created. Max Stanford was elected National Field Chairman, Donald Freeman was elected Executive Chairman, James Boggs, Ideological Chairman, Grace Boggs, Executive Secretary, and Milton Henry/Paul Brooks, Treasurer. RAM’s international representatives were El Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X), International Spokesman, and Robert F. Williams, International Chairman. Malcolm X then traveled to Ghana and met with representatives of liberation organizations, including the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) and the South African Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC). After returning from Ghana, Malcolm X and John Henrik Clarke formed the Organization of Afro American Unity (OAAU) on June 28th, 1964 to represent the African American liberation movement. The OAAU was the above-ground national liberation front while RAM served as its underground armed component.

In the book, 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑳𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒎 𝑿 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒐-𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚, William Sales, Jr. notes,

“Paralleling these discussions, and in as much secrecy, were discussions Malcolm X had with RAM through its field secretary, Muhammed Ahmed. As Ahmed remembered it, in June 1964 he and Malcolm worked out the structure of a revolutionary nationalist alternative to be set up within the Civil Rights movement. They also outlined the role of the OAAU in this alternative.

‘The OAAU was to be the broad front organization and RAM the underground Black Liberation Front of the U.S.A. Malcolm in his second trip to Africa was to try to find places for eventual political asylum and political/military training for cadres. While Malcolm was in Africa, the field chairman [Ahmed] was to go to Cuba to report the level of progress to Robert Williams. As Malcolm prepared Africa to support our struggle, ‘Rob’ [Robert F. Williams] would prepare Latin America and Asia. During this period, Malcolm began to emphasize that Afro-Americans could not achieve freedom under the capitalist system. He also described guerrilla warfare as a possible tactic to be used in the Black liberation struggle here. His slogan ‘Freedom by an means necessary’ has remained in the movement to this day.’

These discussions, in fact, reflected the impact of Malcolm’s interaction with the representatives of national liberation movements and guerrilla armies during his trip to Africa. He was very much focused on establishing an equivalent structure within the African American freedom struggle. On June 14, 1964, the Sunday edition of the Washington Star featured an interview with Malcolm X in which he announced the formation of ‘his new political group,’ the Afro-American Freedom Fighters. In this interview Malcolm X emphasized the right of Afro-Americans to defend themselves and to engage in guerrilla warfare. A change of direction was rapidly made, however. As Ahmed reported, Malcolm’s premature public posture on armed self-defense and guerrilla warfare frightened those in the nationalist camp who feared government repression. They feared giving public exposure to organizing efforts for self-determination and guerrilla warfare. Malcolm agreed, and the name of the new organization became the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

The OAAU was to be the organizational platform for Malcolm X as the international spokesperson for RAM’s revolutionary nationalism, but the nuts and bolts of creating a guerrilla organization were not to take place inside the OAAU. The OAAU was to be an above-ground united front engaged in legitimate activities to gain international recognition for the African American freedom struggle.”

Two days after the Civil Rights Act was passed on July 2, 1964, Milton's Group on Advanced Leadership (GOAL) took action. According to Milton's Brother Richard (Imari Obadele),

"The rifle clubs would be 'for going South in moments of siege' and for getting guns 'into the hands of willing and needy blacks in the fascist South, when the time comes.' The GOAL leader predicted that 'proportioned underground warfare' by Negroes would come to the South. When that happnes, [he] said, the northern rifle clubs would 'back Negroes in besieged towns under attack by whites seeking to retaliate for the acts of the underground.'"

Then, in July, Malcolm, as Chairman of the OAAU, joined the other African liberation movements housed on the boat named Isis docked in the Nile River for the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Summit held in Cairo. Malcolm X was given observer status and on July 17, he addressed the African Heads of State, saying,

“The Organization of Afro-American Unity has sent me to attend this historic African Summit Conference as an observer to represent the interests of 22 million African-Americans whose human rights are being violated daily by the racism of American imperialists. The Organization of Afro-American Unity has been formed by a cross section of America's African-American community, and is patterned after the letter and spirit of the Organization of African Unity. . . .”

In an interview with Gaidi Obadele (Milton Henry) while in Cairo Malcolm X said, "It is true that at first there were stumbling blocks placed in my path in regards to being accepted into the conference, or into the meetings. But I'd rather not say what happened in specific details. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆, which was read and thoroughly analyzed by them."

Gaidi Obadele replied, "Malcolm, I think you are to be greatly applauded because actually you were the only American recognized as a participant of the conference, and of course 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔. I had the feeling that there will be a great change in emphasis because you have been here, and because you presented our position the position of the black man in America so well, in a way that no one but an American could.”

On October 10, 1964 Malcolm X arrived in Dar Es Salaam and over the next seven days, met with the African Liberation Committee headquartered there as well as with Presidents Nyere of Tanzania, Obote of Uganda and Kenyatta of Kenya.

In 𝑹𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍, Donald Freeman writes,

"In December, 1964 Doug Andrews, Paul Brooks, Tom Higginbotham, Max Stanford, and other members met in Cleveland to refine RAM’s 1965 priorities and strategy. . . . We discussed how to galvanize the energy of young urban African Americans, thereby enhancing the applicability of Rob Williams’ explosive advocacy in the United States and 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑬𝒍 𝑯𝒂𝒋𝒋 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒌 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒛𝒛’𝒔 𝑶𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒐-𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 (𝑶𝑨𝑨𝑼).

I was pleased with our youth and young adult penetration among college students stemming from the spring, 1964 Nashville conference and gangs, which was a byproduct of my work with others in Chicago during the summer. I hoped that this progress was the prelude to a significant conversation of young Black men and women to RAM’s ranks in 1965.

As January, 1965 began, Malik Shabazz was busy seeking the backing of Ghana, Algeria and more African government to bring about the condemnation of the United States’ oppression of Black America in the UN. Such internationalization of the African American liberation struggle as a human rights issue was a principal objective of the OAAU.

By that time Max Stanford had become one of Malik Shabbazz’s constant Harlem companions. Their communication was continuous. Hence RAM’s agenda was an integral part of his activities.

Then a series of ominous events beset El Hajj Malik Shabazz. In late November 1964 he had been invited to speak in France and Great Britain. February 8, 1965 he spoke again in London, but was not allowed to return to France the next day. On February 14th, his East Elmhurst, New York home was firebombed.

A further foreboding misfortune was the February 16th, 1965 New York City arrest of Walter Bowe, Robert Collier, Khaleel Sayyed, and Michelle Duclos, a French-Canadian woman, for allegedly plotting to bomb the Statue of Liberty.

What these menacing omens portended was actualized by the assassination of El Hajj Malik Shabazz at the Audubon Ballroom, on Sunday afternoon, February 21, 1965. The bourgeois (capitalist) mass media claimed that the Nation of Islam perpetuated that heinous crime. However, RAM asserted that its perpetrators were the CIA and FBI. . . . The arrests of Walter Bowe, Robert Collier, Khaled Sayyed, and Michelle Duclos in the so-called bombing of the Statue of Liberty plot and the murder of Malik Shabbaz marked the prelude to the Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) of the FBI, which eventually engineered the liquidation of Fred Hampton, the head of the Black Panther Party (BPP) of Chicago."

In August of 1965, Robert F Williams, living in exile in Cuba, published an analysis on the 𝑷𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑨 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑺𝑨.

On June 17, 1966, Stokely Carmichael, then Chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which was organized in April, 1960 by Balanta activist Ella Baker, formally announced Black Power as a political slogan during a speech in Greenwood, Mississippi. Afterwords, the Malcolm X Society was organized in 1967.

After the 1967 riots, the FBI and their COINTELPRO program targeted RAM for political destruction. However, RAM was just one of many civil rights or black nationalist groups targeted because of their politics.

The New Afrikan liberation struggle, however, continued. On March 31, 1968, at the National Black Government Conference sponsored by the Malcolm X Society, the New Afrikan Declaration of Independence was declared and the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika was established.

On May 31, 1968 about 30 leaders of the RNA met at 40 North Ashland Avenue in Chicago to address some of the biggest issues facing the new government. Among them was,

“the legislative act that established the Black Legion, the RNA’s military. Similar to the income tax, the creation of this body was supposed to resolve another perceived problem - this time not just for the RNA but for the larger African American community as well. Specifically, the RNA tried to address the heightened security threats to the black community by the overt behavior of racist police as well as other members of the white community. This addressed a longer historical problem as well.

The creation of the Black Legion was also tied to the greatest repressive fear of the organization: being directly hit by an over, aggressive assault like that waged [upon] nonviolent civil rights activists (from whites in general and the police in particular). The RNA vowed that it would never be hit in such a direct manner without preparation. Two reasons existed for this. On the one hand, the RNA vowed never put themselves in a position where they were vulnerable to this type of attack (i.e., being out in the open, unarmed and unprepared). Instead, the RNA would try to build themselves in the minds of black folk and then step forward to claim the nation en masse. On the other hand, the RNA would prepare to defend themselves by creating an armed wing, trained in shooting, hand-to-hand combat, and diverse survival skills. This was the essence of the organization’s reappraisal - armed self-defense from overt general assault, both immediately after the attack and a ‘second strike,’ which would be delayed after the initial attack as retribution. The plans for the former were pretty straightforward, whereas the plans for the latter were never quite clear, seemingly on purpose. For example, there was always reference to people being ‘underground’ but nothing concrete - across source material.

As conceived, the Black Legion would be composed of selected citizens between the ages of sixteen and fifty, the men and women being in separate units for reasons that were not provided in detail. All were to engage in two hours of training per week, and once a month there would be practice on a field training site. In addition to this, all male citizens between the ages of sixteen and fifty and all female citizens between the ages of sixteen and thirty (without young children) were mandated to join the Universal Military Training Force. Similar to the state of Israel, in an effort to have as many soldiers as citizens, this force involved at least two hours of military training a month, when individuals would learn how to shoot, dress wounds, and otherwise take care of themselves in a conflict situation. Finally, to prepare RNA members as soon as possible and engage the whole family, there was to be a Junior Black Legion composed of all children between the ages of nine and fifteen. In these units, youth would undergo a less rigorous but largely similar program.“

Tactics used to suppress RAM were also used to suppress and target Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Black Panther Party, the Nation of Islam, the National Welfare Rights Organization, Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM), Republic of New Afrika (RNA), Congress of Afrikan People, black student unions at universities all over the country, and black churches and community organizations. In this context of government repression, RAM transformed itself into the Black Liberation Party, and by 1969 had practically dissolved.

At the second RNA Conference, on March 29, 1969, police raided the Detroit New Bethel Baptist Church. The police attempted to assassinate Gaidi Obadele and fired on conference participants with nearly a thousand rounds of ammunition.

The African Charter on Human and People's Rights, Article 20 Section 3 states, "𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍, 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍."

Balanta Leaders Present at Juneteenth Commemoration Highlighting the Need for Reparatory Justice

June 19 - The President of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA), Siphiwe Baleka, who also serves as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika, made a stunning presentation at the Commemorating Juneteenth: Highlighting the Need for Reparatory Justice event hosted by Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

“Let’s go to the moment, June 19, 1865, “ said BBHAGSIA President & PGRNA Minister Baleka.

“At that time, those 260,000 people in Texas went from being chattel slaves, to something else. There was a status change. What was that status change? . . . At that moment, were they citizens of America? No. The 14th Amendment had yet to be ratified. . . . They were African people living in alien territory. . . . that new class of people had to decide what was going to be its future destiny. . . . We had the right to self determination. . . . In that moment, what was supposed to happen . . . . was a plebiscite. That is what should have happened January 1, 1863. That is what should have happened June 19, 1865. And that is STILL what needs to happen today.”

BBHAGSIA Member Kamm Howard, who is also the Director of Reparations United, stated,

“When we have these discussion around Juneteenth, we also want to have a discussion around the black Family. . . . We can’t talk about reparatory justice and not talk about the black family. . . . We are talking about wiping out every aspect of the crimes that were committed in the chattelization wars, the war crimes Siphiwe spoke about . . . . We don’t want reform. That’s not the purpose . . . . to maintain a subjugated, minority position in a particular nation . . . . Our purpose . . . is to have a sovereign consciousness, a self-determining consciousness and a self-determining reality. And as Marcus Garvey said, we need to be talking about building a super power somewhere on this planet for African people.”

LIsten to Balanta brothers Baleka (47:55 mark) and Howard (1:15:30 mark)

Republic of New Afrika Minister of Foreign Affairs on RealTalk: History as a Weapon for Black Liberation, Black Power Media Network podcast

June 14 - The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika, Siphiwe Baleka, joined Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua from the Departments of African American Studies, History, & Global Studies, University of Illinois on the RealTalk: History as a Weapon for Black Liberation, Black Power Media Network podcast.

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