People, Locations, Episodes

The First National Black Political Convention is Held

*On this date in 1972 the first National Black Political Assembly was held.

Some eight thousand Blacks (three thousand of whom were official delegates) arrived in Gary, Indiana, to attend their first convention, more commonly known as the "Gary Convention.” A sea of Black faces chanted, "It’s Nation Time! It’s Nation Time!" No one in the room had ever seen anything like this before. The radical Black nationalists won the day; moderates who supported integration and backed the Democratic Party were in the minority.

Most delegates, at least the most vocal ones, agreed that African American communities faced a social and economic crisis and that nothing short of fundamental changes in the political and economic system could end this crisis.  As the famous Gary Declaration put it: "A Black political convention, indeed all truly Black politics, must begin from this truth: The American system does not work for the masses of our people, and it cannot be made to work without radical, fundamental changes. The challenge is thrown to us here in Gary.  It is challenging to consolidate and organize our Black role as the vanguard in the struggle for a new society.

To accept the challenge is to move to independent Black politics. There can be no equivocation on that issue. History leaves us no other choice. White politics has not and cannot bring the changes we need." This was a break from the integrationist sensibility. The idea that Blacks and white activists might fight together was in the past.  This convention's theme was now Blacks must go for themselves.

Click Here to Send in Your HD Challenge Answer!