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[Christian Davenport]

Black to the Future, Part 12: 1969 @ 2019, a 50 year Retrospective of the Republic of New Africa

3/31/2019

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Series Intro

Almost four years ago, my book about the Republic of New Africa (RNA) came out entitled "How Social Movements Die: Repression and Demobilization of the Republic of New Africa. In the book, I attempted to strike a balance between theory and social science versus simply telling the story of the RNA.  Unfortunately, I had to leave a lot of information out of the book and some of the details that were otherwise fascinating were eliminated.  In this series, I revisit the archive and present the material 50 years later.  Apologies for not being able to continue this piece for a while but life interfered.  Enjoy.  I will try to work my way backwards from this event as well as forwards.  

After the Shooting Stops

The shooting at New Bethel Baptist church only lasts for about 20 minutes or so.  At the end, one officer is dead, one officer is injured, four RNA members are injured and the church itself has several hundred bullet holes in it - an investigation later reveals that most of them are coming in (i.e., from the police) with a few going out (i.e., from the RNA).  Upon gaining entry Detroit Police Department essentially arrests all individuals in the church.  The time is around 1-2am. 

All told, 155 individuals were arrested at one time.  It is commonly reported that about 140-145 were arrested but I have the police summaries of those in their custody on that evening. The arrested were later brought to a nearby police station, imprisoned and repeatedly interrogated through the next day before most were released.  

Part of the reason why New Bethel stands out is the fact that up until that time the RNA had largely been left alone (at least overtly). This event was far from normal for the organization. Indeed, it represents the largest single mass arrest that the group experienced in its history and it followed a shootout that left individuals dead as well as injured. In short, the event was highly traumatizing and clearly signaled the high-risk nature of the claims making effort the RNA was engaged in. Still, while the raid, interrogation, and arrests were more severe than any repression the movement had previously experienced, this coercion did not kill any of the RNA participants. In this sense, it differs greatly from other forms of repression directed at eliminating organizational leaders and activists, such as targeted assassinations or disappearances.

While interrogating members, diverse forms of information were taken (which would prove to be useful for the state): 
  • Last name, first, middle (Christian name)
  • aliases (free name or nicknames)
  • address
  • telephone
  • automobile
  • family (members along with name, role/position in family, birthday, address, employment)
  • associates (e.g., officers, delegates and members of the RNA)
  • mo specialty (e.g., Minister of Interior, member of Black Legion [Army])
  • criminal history (i.e., what they were arrested for according to the state, where and when)
  • business or occupation
  • birth date
  • color
  • height
  • weight
  • hair
  • eyes
  • information submitted by
  • date
  • dpd number
  • cib number (criminal investigation bureau)
  • fbi number
  • other numbers (specify agency)
  • fpc (got any clue?)
  • localities frequented
  • remarks (basically notations from surveillance records about where the individual had been seen, what roles they played, etc.)

The police also attached a photo.  In addition to the daily surveillance records, this allowed the government to have a rather extensive understanding of the RNA.  For example, one could easily figure out which members of the group under arrest were on the radar of different policing organizations (displayed below).  Now, I am not saying that this was done but that it could be.  
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One also could tell from these records how many members were in attendance (155 people were arrested that evening) as well as which members were in attendance and from what locales.  Records indicate members from Tuskeege, Alabama; Crintinden, Arkansas; Hughes, Arkansas; Compton, California; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Lexington, Kentucky; Louisville, Kentucky; Metairie, Louisiana; New Orleans, Louisiana; Boston, Massachusetts; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Brooklyn, New York; Bronx, New York; New York, New York; Jamaica, New York; Columbus, Mississippi; Detroit, Michigan; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Akron, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Springfield, Ohio; Wilberforce, Ohio; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Washington, DC.  Now, not all members in Detroit at the time were arrested.  Several members of the New York chapter escaped once they heard about what happened at New Bethel.  We know this because an informant was in their midst who later provided information about what those with them had been doing.  
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Black to the Future, Part 11: 1969 @ 2019, a 50 year Retrospective of the Republic of New Africa

3/29/2019

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RNA press conference following New Bethel Incident
Series Intro

Almost four years ago, my book about the Republic of New Africa (RNA) came out entitled "How Social Movements Die: Repression and Demobilization of the Republic of New Africa. In the book, I attempted to strike a balance between theory and social science versus simply telling the story of the RNA.  Unfortunately, I had to leave a lot of information out of the book and some of the details that were otherwise fascinating were eliminated.  In this series, I revisit the archive and present the material 50 years later.  Apologies for not being able to continue this piece for a while but life interfered.  Enjoy.  I will try to work my way backwards from this event as well as forwards.  

The Second National Legislative Convention and the New Bethel Incident

50 years ago a group of several hundred black nationalists from around the United States came together in order to assess what they had done when they created the Republic of New Africa (the RNA). Confronted with an America that seemed to not only hinder black success and integration but which seemed to be actively engaged in a campaign to systematically constrain or potentially destroy them, the RNA had decided to conduct a census of the black population in order to ask what they wanted to do regarding their citizenship, politically secede from the United States, acquire 5 states in the deep south (in the "Black Belt") to develop a new nation, acquire reparations for the move as well as development, and obtain recognition for the new government.  This was to be the Second National Legislative convention and two different types of people could attend: 1) Duly elected representatives (i.e., persons that attended the founding convention, elected representatives from consulates which did not have ten signers of the Declaration and individuals in cities/areas/college campuses where there were ten or fewer citizens) and 2) observers (i.e., regular folk who were interested).  At this event, the RNA was expecting to deliberate and pass laws as well as construct hearings on diverse topics.  

While this sounds kind of out there, it really wasn't and this was acknowledged by the RNA.  Indeed, there had been numerous efforts in this direction: e.g., Edward P. McCabe in the latter part of the 1800s as well as Oscar Brown and Bindley Cyrus in the early 1900s with their National Movement for the Establishment of a Forty-Ninth State and Nation of Islam. 

The convention began (at about 8;30pm on March 28th at the C.B. Club) with an overview of the Ocean Hill Brownsville project where the RNA had been quite active in trying to get this community to secede.  Almost a dozen RNA citizens from Brooklyn were in attendance and they each spoke about what was going on there - i.e., prep for plebiscite, discussion about morale in the community, etc.  Ocean Hill had been controversial because it represented something of an opportunistic pivot for the RNA: it was not in the deep south (their primary target) and there was no consulate or concentrated RNA presence (the nearest consulate was in Manhattan and they did not appear to solidly support the effort - feeling rolled by the central leadership in general and Minister Imari Obadele in particular). I'll discuss this more in another blogpost.

Following this discussion, the meeting was broken down into different ministries for more specific discussions and the meeting ended at around 2am.  While the official meeting ended, smaller groups would continue into the next morning discussing talking points and plans of action for the next day.  

Continuing on Saturday (March 29th), the meeting picked up where it left off.   Feeling the tension around the effort, Obadele put forward the reasons for the RNA continuing in Brooklyn.  He stated that Ocean Hill Brownsville was precisely what the RNA was talking about.  The community there (engaged in a heated discussion of local/community control regarding education as well as other socio-political services) was ripe for secession and the global media was present for the discussion.  This was the group's Selma.  Herman Ferguson continued this discussion noting that the Freedom Corps had been tasked with assisting the effort and that everyone from receptionists to nurses to writers were needed to create a new political entity. Virginia Collins then asked a host of questions regarding the effort - what it meant, how it could be helped and so forth.  This convention closed at around 8pm so that members could attend a rally held at New Bethel Baptist church
(Aretha Franklin's father's church) at 10pm.  

​Following the rally (around 11:30pm), there was an altercation between Detroit police department and RNA security forces generally referred to as "the New Bethel Incident". At its conclusion, one police officer was left dead, another officer as well as 4 RNA members were injured, New Bethel Baptist church was shot up as well as raided by at least 50 police officers from diverse precincts, and approximately 150 people were arrested/interrogated (several of the events are depicted in the illustration below).
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Next: the aftermath of the New Bethel Incident
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    Analog - The Anti-Blog

    By "Analog" I am referring to the adjective (i.e., relating to or using signals or information represented by a continuously variable physical quantity such as spatial position or voltage) and not the noun (i.e., a person or thing seen as comparable to another) for I wished to give voice to my thoughts which have come to me in a more or less continuous manner but which do so in a way that is not consistent in content or form. Thus you will see short stories, brief thoughts, haikus, low-kus and even a political cartoon or two. 

    Winner of Best Blog Post for 2014 by International Studies Association

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