Conference Card
On this date, we mark the assembly of the first American Black Power Conference. This was held in the tradition of the Antebellum Black Convention movement and early Pan-African congresses. The National Conference on Black Power gathered over 1,000 delegates representing 286 organizations and institutions from 126 cities in 26 states, Bermuda, and Nigeria.
They met in Newark, NJ, from July 20 to July 23, 1967, to discuss the most pressing African American issues of the day. The conference held workshops, presented papers for specific programs, and developed more than 80 resolutions to emphasize Black Power in political, economic, and cultural affairs.
Only one resolution, a Black Power Manifesto, won official approval, but others were adopted in “in spirit.” The Manifesto condemned “Neo-colonialist control” of Black populations worldwide and called for the circulation of a “Philosophy of Blackness” to unite and direct the oppressed in a common cause.
Nathan Wright, Jr., was the conference chairman, and workshop coordinators included Ossie Davis, James Farmer Jr., Hoyt Fuller, Nathan Hare, Maulana Ron Karenga, Cleveland Sellers, and Chuck Stone.
