The US organization

Historical Context Essay

Rafael Torrubia (University of St Andrews)

Ed. by A Yemisi Jimoh, University of Massachusetts Amherst
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Domains

Organisations and institutions (political)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1965-1971

Places

United States (Location)

Cultural Identities

African American

Resources

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During the late sixties, militant protestors expressed the burgeoning black power ethos in a multitude of forms. In Autumn 1965, seven young African-Americans — Samuel Carr-Damu (Ngao Damu), Tommy Jacquette-Mfikiri (Halifu), Hakim Jamal, Brenda Haiba Karenga, Maulana Karenga, Karl Key-Hekima, Ken Seaton-Msemaji and Sanamu Nyeusi — founded a new organisation on the basis on nationalist cultural principles. Using the mass media access increasingly available to radical dissidents, the small West Coast group known as ‘US’ became a central force in an expanding, autonomous national movement, occupying a unique place amongst the umbrella organisations of black power politics.

According to Maulana Karenga, who rapidly became the organisation’s foremost ideologue, the group’s title was

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1504 words

Citation: Torrubia, Rafael. "The US organization". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 February 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19316, accessed 27 November 2024.]