The First National Conference on Black Power (also called the First Black Power Conference) was held July 20–23, 1967, in Newark, New Jersey.
It took place days after the Newark Rebellion (July 12–17, 1967), which left 26 people dead and over 1,000 injured. The event was hosted at an Episcopal Church property (Cathedral House / Diocese of Newark) in downtown Newark. Its theme was “The Unity of Black People for the greater good of all.”
More than 1,000 delegates (contemporary reports range from roughly 900–1,100) attended, representing about 286 organizations and institutions from 126 cities across 26 states, plus Bermuda and Nigeria. Dr. Nathaniel (Nathan) Wright Jr., an Episcopal priest and activist, chaired the conference. It built on earlier planning that included a 1966 Black Power Planning Conference linked to Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Notable participants included Amiri Baraka (then LeRoi Jones), H. Rap Brown (SNCC), Maulana Karenga (US Organization), Floyd McKissick (CORE), Gloria Richardson, Jesse Jackson, Charles 27X Kenyatta, Ossie Davis, and James Farmer, along with representatives from more traditional civil rights groups and nationalist organizations. Workshops addressed political power, economics, culture, education, welfare, community control, international solidarity (including opposition to the Vietnam War, support for Muhammad Ali’s draft refusal, and ties to Africa), and related topics.
The conference produced more than 80 resolutions emphasizing Black Power in political, economic, and cultural affairs. The central outcome was the Black Power Manifesto, which condemned “neo-colonialist control” of Black populations worldwide, called for a unifying “philosophy of Blackness,” urged community control of institutions such as education and welfare, affirmed self-defense, and called for a national dialogue on the idea of a separate homeland or greater political autonomy for Black people in the U.S. Other proposals (many adopted “in spirit”) included sports and consumer boycotts, increased Black political representation, rejection of certain birth-control programs, and support for Black-controlled institutions. A press conference was disrupted by participants seeking to exclude white media.
The Newark gathering marked a major organizational expression of the Black Power movement (popularized by Stokely Carmichael/Kwame Ture in 1966). It continued traditions of 19th-century Black conventions and early Pan-African congresses while shifting emphasis from integrationist civil-rights strategies toward self-determination, nationalism, and institution-building. Later Black Power conferences followed in 1968 and 1969; the Newark meeting is widely regarded as the most significant of the era.
This event is frequently referenced in discussions of Amiri Baraka’s work in Newark, the broader Black Power era, and efforts at community control and political organization in the late 1960s.
You must be logged in to post a comment.