Kwame Welsh Ministries: Justice: Nkechi Taifa Defense: Gen. Chui Education: Imari Obadele Foreign Affairs: Ahmed Obafemi Finance: Kwame Welsh Health: Dr. Abdul Alkalimat History of the PG-RNA 10 | P a g e Culture: Baba Adefunmi Information: Kwame Afoh Courts: Supreme Court Chief Justice: Judge Marilyn Preston Killingham Other Govt. entities: Land Fund Committee The Code of Umoja (Constitution) outlines the structure and functions of the government, citizenship,

1. History of the PG-RNA
The Provisional Government of the
Republic of New Afrika
History of the PG-RNA 1|Page

2. History of the PG-RNA 2|Page

3. A Black Nation - a New Afrikan nation - exists in the United States. It began forming during
colonial days, after 1660, when the Black Codes were instituted. It was fully evolved by the time
of the Civil War in 1861, two hundred years later. We have common culture, common
perspective and values, and group identity, and common gene pool, derived from our distinct
group history. We are "New Afrikans" because We, an Afrikan people, evolved from not one but
several Afrikan nations and have some Indian (Native/indigenous) and European genes, melded
during the course of 200 years, between 1660 and 1861.
Those seeking independent statehood began once more in 1968. Three years after the
assassination of Brother Omowale, Malcolm X, led by his inspiration and teachings, his
followers in the Malcolm X Society lead over 500 Black activists at a national convention of our
people. The Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika (PG-RNA) was formed and
brought into exstence on March 30-31 of that year and announced a parliamentary strategy for
winning independence. They issued a Declaration of Independence of the Black nation; named it
RNA; formed a Provisional Government ["Provisonal" means "temporary" or, in this case, "pre-
independent], with officials elected in Convention; created basic law and adopted a constitution,
"Code of Umoja" (revised); identified and designated the Five States of Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina as the New Afrikan nation's National Territory [subject to
agreement with the Indigenous People]; under a mandate the PG-RNA set as its main purposes
and goals: to free the oppressed Black nation in North America making it even more independent
than Canada, for those of us who want this; to win Reparations from the United States. PG-RNA
cadres aim is to educate people about our existence as an oppressed, colonized nation and our
right to self-determination; our right to "Free The Land" (our battle cry); and to create by an
independence plebiscite (a vote of the people) an independent Black nation-state, to be held first
in the counties of western Mississippi and the parishes of eastern Louisiana [the Kush District],
in accordance to U.N. General Assembly resolutions.
History of the PG-RNA 3|Page

4. VIDEO IEBREAKER
Notables Prior to 1968
 Gabriel Prosser
 Denmark Vesey
 Osborne Perry Anderson
 Tunis Campbell
 Edwin McCabe
 El Hajj El Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X)
 Queen Mother Moore
Different Elements and Parts of PG-RNA
The People's Center Council (PCC)-- Congress, National Legislature or Parliament is made up of
District Representatives from PGRNA electoral districts across the U.S.A.
The People's Revolutionary Leadership Council (PRLC) -- A Cabinet headed by the National
President, three National Vice Presidents, Ministries, Court System, and Other Govt. entities,
including the Land Fund Committee, etc.
History of the PG-RNA 4|Page

5. PG-RNA Cabinet in 1968:
 1st President: Robert F. Williams (1925-1996) : He was in China 1966 to May 1968;
Tanzania, May 1968 to Sept. 1969)
 1st Vice President: Gaidi Obadele (Atty. Milton R. Henry)
 2nd Vice President: Betty Shabazz (1934-1997)
 Minister of Information: Imari A. Obadele (Richard Bullock Henry)
 Minister of Health and Welfare: Queen Mother Moore (1899-1997)
 Minister of Education: Herman Ferguson
 Minister of State and Foreign Affairs: William Grant
 Minister of Defense: H. Rap Brown (now, Jalil Al Amin): He was also Minister of Justice
for BPP in May 4, 1968 issue of The Black Panther.
 Co-Ministers of Culture: Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Maulana Karenga and
Baba Adefunmi
 Minister of Justice: Joan Franklin
 Minister of Finance: Raymond Willis
 Special Ambassador: Muhammad Ahmed (Maxwell Stanford)
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1969:
President: Robert F. Williams (1925-1997): He returned to U.S. (Detroit), Sept. 1969. (The
Black Panther, Dec. 6, 1969; Jan. 3, 1970). 1st Vice President: Gaidi Obadele (Atty. Milton R.
Henry) 2nd Vice President: Betty Shabazz (d. 1997)
Minister of Education: Maulana Karenga: denounced and removed by PCC in Detroit, Apr. 5th.
A May 11, 1969 letter in The Black Panther officially denounced Karenga. Wilbur Grattan Sr.,
the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of the "Republic of New Africa," wrote to Bobby
Seale: "Speaking in the position of Minister of State and Foreign Affairs for RNA, I have always
felt that Ron Karenga represented a great deal less than the best interests of the Black Liberation
struggle against domestic colonialism, white racism, and world-wide imperialism." Herman B.
Ferguson was afterwards appointed Minister of Education, East Coast Vice President, and acting
director of Freedom Corps.
Minister of State and Foreign Affairs: Wilbur Grattan Sr. Minister of Defense: Mwuesi Chui,
commander of Black Legion
The "New Bethel Incident" took place in Detroit, Michigan, in March 31, 1969 during the First
New Afrikan Nation Day Celebration at the New Bethel Baptist Church, on the West Side. One
policeman killed and another wounded. Four Blacks wounded. Between 135 and 240 persons
were arrested. Police later freed 125 persons. Criminal Court Judge George Crockett, frees 8
other Blacks. Chaka Fuller, Rafael Viera, and Alfred 2X Hibbets were charged with killing. All 3
were subsequent tried and acquitted. Chaka Fuller was mysterious assassinated a few months
afterwards.
History of the PG-RNA 5|Page

6.  April 2, 1969 - The New York BPP "21" arrested on conspiracy charges.
In 1969, a Newsweek magazine poll of Afrikans in the Northern U.S. showed that 27 percent of
Afrikans under age thirty (and 18 percent of those over the age of thirty), wanted an independent
Afrikan state.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1970:
President: Robert F. Williams (1925-1997) Minister of Defense: Alajo Adegbalola (?)
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1971:
President: Imari Obadele , 1st Vice President: Alajo Adegbalola (?) 2nd Vice President: Chokwe
Lumumba (?)
Workers of the PG-RNA also announced that they would not permit those who opposed the
peaceful plebiscite to shoot at them with impunity. The RNA cadres in Mississippi and
elsewhere, in 1970 and 1971 were armed for self-defense.
 March 5th, BPP sponsors Day of Solidarity dedicated to "Freedom of Political Prisoners."
On March 28th, the RNA Capitol consecrated, Hinds County, Mississippi. Over 200 persons
attended the dedication.
They used, and use, political means rather than military means. The United States Justice
Department, instead of helping to organize the plebiscite; on 18 August 1971 a force of FBI
agents and local Jackson police staged an armed attack on the official Government Residence
(the main residence-office of the PG) in Jackson, Mississippi, supposedly to serve fugitive
warrants on three RNA members (one being a FBI informant/agent provocateur). The five people
in the house were not wounded by the 20-minute barrage of bullets--a skirmish, but one police
lieutenant died and another policeman and an FBI agent were wounded. Five young men and two
young women at this house were captured, along with PG-RNA President, Imari Obadele, and
three others in a nearby office, and sent to jail.
In the face of this unprovoked attack, three PG-RNA workers: Antar Ra, Maceo Sundiata (fsn
Michael Finney) and Fela Sekou Olatunji (fsn Charles Hill) from the Bay Area, left in response
to the call for Mississippi to provide support and defense for our assaulted movement. Clearly
the U.S. had declared war on us! While driving east, the three were intercepted by a policeman
whose aggressiveness caused his death. They then commandeered an airline and arrived in Cuba.
They were granted asylum.
(On August 19th, FBI and police tried to assassinate President Imari Obadele.)
They are convicted two years later. Most served long years in jail. Their sovereign immunity
demand was flatly rejected by the United States' courts and executive branch, and no one was
accorded treatment as a prisoner-of-war.
History of the PG-RNA 6|Page

7. The Republic of New Afrika-Eleven (RNA-11): Citizens of the RNA: Imari Obadele; Hekima
Ana and his wife, Tamu Sana, and Chumaimari Askadi (fsn Charles Stallings), all of Milwaukee;
Karim Njabafudi (fsn Larry Jackson) of New Orleans; Tarik Nkrumah (fsn George Matthews) of
Boston; Addis Abba (fsn Dennis Shillingford) of Detroit; Offogga Qudduss (fsn Wayne M.
James) and Njeri Qudduss, both of Camden, New Jersey; Spade de Mau Mau (fsn S. Walker) of
Jackson, Mississippi; and Aisha Salim (fsn Brenda Blount) of Philadelphia.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1972:
President: Gaidi Obadele Vice Presidents: Alajo Adegbalola, Chokwe Lumumba, Herman B.
Ferguson (?) Army: Black Legion commander: Gen. Mwuesi Chui
In 1972, Ahmed Obafemi had been sentenced on a gun charge clearly engineered by the F.B.I.'s
Cointelpro. The F.B.I. succeeded in framing this key leader and officer of the RNA-PG. He was
doing political work at the Democratic National Convention in Miami, Florida. Sentenced with
him was Tarik Sonnebeyatta, of Camden, New Jersey. Brother Ahmed was jailed.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1973:
 Jan. 7, 1973 - Mark Essex, 23; is killed atop New Orleans hotel after killing 6 and
wounding 15.
 Jan. 19th - One policeman killed and 2 wounded as Black freedom fighters seize a
Brooklyn sporting goods store.
 May 2nd - Assata Shakur (fsn JoAnne Chesimard) wounded and Sundiata Acoli (fsn
Clark Squire) arrested.
 Nov. 14th - Twyman Fred Myers, 23, BLA member, ambushed by FBI and New York
police; was 6th BLA member killed in this fashion.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1980:
President: Imari Obadele
 A study conducted among Afrikan college students by Professor Luke Tripp which
showed that 34 percent of the students favored an independent Afrikan state in North
Amerika.
By the middle of 1980, because of public support and intense legal work, almost all of the RNA-
11 (except for one) were set free and out of jail.
In the fall, some members of BLA, and some accused of being BLA personnel, had come under
intense oncentration by FBI and, principally, New York, New Jersey, and California police.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1981:
President: Imari Obadele PCC Chairperson: Fulani Sunni-Ali
History of the PG-RNA 7|Page

8. July 1983 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, RNA National
Territory.
Oct./Nov. 1984 - Third National New Afrikan Elections
Nov. 1985 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1986:
President: Imari Obadele Minister of Justice: Nkechi Taifa Minister of Defense: Gen. Chui
July 1986 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, RNA National
Territory.
July 1986 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Detroit, Michigan.
Sept. 1986 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Brooklyn, New York.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1987:
President: Imari Obadele Minister of Justice: Nkechi Taifa
July 1987 - People's Center Council (PCC) Meeting in Washington, DC (Banneker City).
Oct./Nov. 1987 - Fourth National New Afrikan Elections
Oct./Nov. 1990 - Fifth National New Afrikan Elections: Kwame Afoh elected president.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1991:
President: Kwame Afoh PCC Chairperson: Imari Obadele
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1992:
President: Kwame Afoh PCC Chairperson: Imari Obadele
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1993:
President: Kwame Afoh PCC Chairperson: Imari Obadele
Nov. 1993 - National New Afrikan Elections: President Kwame Afoh re-elected.
 In April 1994, several mainstream newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post,
Chicago Sun-Times, and the Wall Street Journal) ran articles dealing with University of
Chicago Professor Michael Dawson and Professor Ronald Brown of Wayne State
University. The report concerned the findings of a random national survey of 1,206
History of the PG-RNA 8|Page

9. Afrikans in the U.S., which in Dawson's words showed " a more radical Black America
than existed even five years ago." (Wall Street Journal). It found that fifty percent of
Afrikans in the U.S. believe that our people are "a nation within a nation."
Oct. 1996 - National New Afrikan Elections: President Kwame Afoh re-elected.
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1997:
President: Kwame Afoh PCC Chairperson: Marilyn Preston Killingham
PG-RNA Cabinet in 1998:
President: Kwame Afoh PCC Chairperson: Marilyn Preston Killingham
Oct./Nov. 1999 - National New Afrikan Elections
Recent Developments
 Republic of New Afrika
 Republic of New Africa
 History and Select Documents of the Provisional Government of the REPUBLIC of
NEW AFRIKA
 New Afrika (Blog)
Black Legion (Armed Forces)
Reference Material -- Articles and Books
A Brief History of Black Struggle in America, by Kwame Afoh, Chokwe Lumumba, Imari A.
Obadele, and Ahmed Obafemi, 1997.
A Short History of the Republic of New Afrika, 1970.
Crossroad, Vol. 8, No. 1, June 1997, p. 10.
Ebony, Feb. 1995, pp. 76-82
Forty Acres and A Mule....In Search of Sherman's Reservation, by Roger Clendening.
Nation Time, Vol. 1, Fall 1996
Nation Time, Vol. 2, Spring 1997
History of the PG-RNA 9|Page

10. New Afrikan Prison Organization Calendar, 1978.
New Afrikan Prison Organization Calendar, 1979.
New York Times, March-August, 1969
New York Times, March-November, 1971
Provisional Government Legal Chronology, by Kwame Welsh. PDCLA, Sept. 1997.
Black Law--Code of Umoja
Weekly excerpts from the Code of Umoja: the Constitution of the PGRNA
Government Structure:
People's Center Council (PCC)-- Congress, National Legislature or Parliament:
PCC Chairperson: Rep./Judge Marilyn Preston Killingham (DC)
PCC Vice Chairperson: Rep. Sekou Owusu (NY)
Secretary: Jason Mitchell (NY)
District Representatives from PGRNA electoral districts across the U.S.A. (not more than 5 per
district)
States with Confirmed and Non-certified Elected Officials:
Florida
New York
Illinois
Louisiana
Tennessee
Washington, DC
People's Revolutionary Leadership Council (PRLC) -- Headed by the National President:
Kwame K. Afoh (FL)
Three National Vice Presidents:
First Vice President: Min. Safiya A. Bukhari (NY)
Second Vice President: Kalonji Olusegun (DC)
Ministries:
History of the PG-RNA 10 |
Page

11. Treasurer: V.P. Kalonji Olusegun (DC)
Min. of Finance: Dr. Demetri Marshall (MS)
Dep. Min. of Finance (Western Region): Sis. Nobantu Ankoanda
Dep. Min. of Finaces (Eastern Region): Sis.
Min. of Economic Development
Sub-ministry of Agriculture
Min. of Foreign Affairs: Dr. Imari A. Obadele
Deputy Min. of United Nation's Affairs: Viola Plummer
Min. of Defense (Security): First V.P. Safiya Bukhari
Deputy Min. of Defense
Min. of Information: Owusu Yaki Yakubu -- publishes New Afrikan newspaper and documents
Dep. Min. of Information (Western Region): K. Kwame Welsh
Min. of Education: Judge Hannibal Afrik
Min. of Interior -- organizes units, R/R/R
Min. of Health
Min. of New Afrikan Family
Sub-ministry of Youth: Harold Hunter, Nzinga Regtuiniah Chavis
Min. of Spirituality and Culture: Co-Minister Rep. Nia Kuumba and Co-Minister Fulani Sunni-
Ali -- integrates in New Afrikan Independence Movement (NAIM)
Court System:
District Court Judges from PGRNA electoral districts across the U.S.A. (not more than 2 per
district)
States with judges:
District of Columbia
Illinois
New York
Tennessee
Other Govt. entities:
Land Fund Committee -- acquires land in National Territory (Based in Detroit, MI, scheduled to
relocate to National Territory).
History of the PG-RNA 11 |
Page

12. Other Govt. activities:
New Afrikan Nation Day (NAND), March 2000, in Jackson, Mississippi, National Territory.
PGRNA National New Afrikan Elections (NNAE)
October-November 1999
REVISED: April 24, 1999
The New Afrikan Creed
1969
WITH CHANGES APPROVED 5 MAY 1993
1. I believe in the spirituality, humanity and genius of Black People, and in our new pursuit of
these values.
2. I believe in the family and the community and the community as a family, and i will work to
make this concept live.
3. I believe in the community as more important than the individual.
4. I believe in constant struggle for freedom, to end oppression and build a better world. I believe
in collective struggle, in fashioning victory in concert with my brothers and sisters.
5. I believe that the fundamental reason our oppression continues is that We, as a people, lack the
power to control our lives.
6. I believe that the fundamental way to gain that power, and end oppression, is to build a
sovereign Black nation.
7. I believe that all the land in America, upon which We have lived for a long time, which We
have worked and built upon, and which We have fought to stay on, is land for Us to use as a
people.
8. I believe in the Malcolm X Doctrine: that We must organize upon this land and hold a
History of the PG-RNA 12 |
Page

13. plebiscite, to tell the world by a vote that We are free and the land independent, and that, after
the vote, We must stand ready to defend ourselves, establishing the nation beyond contradiction.
9. Therefore, i pledge to struggle without cease, until We have won sovereignty. I pledge to
struggle without fail until We have built a Better condition than the world has yet known.
10. I will give my life if that is necessary. I will give my time, my mind, my strength and my
wealth because this IS necessary.
11. I will follow my chosen leaders and help them.
12. I will love my brothers and sisters as myself.
13. I will steal nothing from a brother or sister, cheat no brother or sister, misuse no brother or
sister, inform on no brother or sister, and spread no gossip.
14. I will keep myself clean in body, dress and speech, knowing that i am a light set on a hill, a
true representative of what We are building.
15. I will be patient and uplifting with the deaf, dumb and blind, and i will seek by word and
deed to heal the Black family, to bring into the Movement and into the Community mothers and
fathers, brothers and sisters, left by the wayside.
Now, freely and of my own will, i pledge this Creed, for the sake of freedom for my people and a
better world, on the pain of disgrace and banishment if i prove false. For, i am no longer deaf,
dumb or blind. I am, by the inspiration of our Ancestors and the grace of our Creator a New
Afrikan!
The New Afrikan Declaration of Independence
This is one of the main political and philosophical documents of the New Afrikan Independence
Movement, which guide the Work of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New
Afrika.
The Declaration of Independence
31 March 1968 - Detroit, Michigan
[EXCERPTS]
History of the PG-RNA 13 |
Page

14. We, the Black People in America, in consequence of arriving at a knowledge of ourselves as a
people with dignity, long deprived of that knowledge....
We claim no rights from the United States of America other than those rights belonging to
human beings anywhere in the world, and these include the right to damages, reparations, due us
for the grievous injuries sustained by our ancestors and by ourselves by reason of United States
lawlessness....
- To free Black people in America from oppression;....
- To build a new Society that is better than What We now know and as perfect as man can make;
- To assure all people in the New Society maximum opportunity and equal access to that
maximum;
- To promote industriousness, responsibility, scholarship and service;
- To create conditions in which freedom of religion abounds and man's pursuit of God and the
destiny, place, and purpose of man in the Universe will be without hindrance;
- To build a Black independent nation where no sect or religious creed subverts or impedes the
building of a New Society, the new State government, or the achievement of the Aims of the
Revolution as set forth in this Declaration;....
Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika:
President Kwame Afoh
Chairperson Marilyn Preston Killingham, People's Center Council
Also please contact:
The Malcolm Generation, Inc.
P.O. Box 74084
Baton Rouge, LA 70874
504-357-0851
REVISED: April 24, 1999
History of the PG-RNA 14 |
Page

15. Police violence and New Bethel Incident
"The "New Bethel Incident" took place in Detroit, Michigan, in March 31, 1969 during the First
New Afrikan Nation Day Celebration at the New Bethel Baptist Church, on the West Side. One
policeman killed and another wounded. Four Blacks wounded. Between 135 and 240 persons
were arrested. Police later freed 125 persons. Criminal Court Judge G. Crockett [1909-1997],
frees 8 other Blacks. Chaka Fuller, Rafael Viera, and Alfred 2X Hibbets were charged with
killing. All 3 were subsequent tried and acquitted. Chaka Fuller was mysterious assassinated a
few months afterwards.
"The seeds of Malcolm took further root on March 29,1968. On that date the Provisional
Government of the Republic of New Afrika (RNA) was founded at a convention held at the
Black - owned Twenty Grand Motel in Detroit. Over 500 grassroot activists came together to
issue a Declaration of Independence on behalf of the oppressed Black Nation Inside North
America, and the New Afrikan Independence Movement (NAIM) was born.[19] Since then
Blacks desiring an independent Black Nation have referred to themselves and other Blacks in the
U.S. as New Afrikans."
COINTELPRO Attacks
"In 1969 COINTELPRO launched its main attack on the Black Liberation Movement in earnest.
It began with the mass arrest of Lumumba Shakur and the New York Panther 21. It followed
with a series of military raids on Black Panther Party offices in Philadelphia, Baltimore, New
Haven, Jersey City, Detroit, Chicago, Denver, Omaha, Sacramento. and San Diego, and was
capped off with a four-hour siege that poured thousands of rounds into the Los Angeles BPP
office. Fortunately Geronimo ji Jaga, decorated Vietnam vet had earlier fortified the office to
withstand an assault, and no Panthers were seriously injured. However, repercussions from the
outcome eventually drove him underground. The widespread attacks left Panthers dead all across
the country - Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, Bunchy Carter, John Huggins, John Savage, Walter
Toure Pope, Bobby Hutton, Sylvester Bell, Frank "Capt. Franco" Diggs, Fred Bennett, James
History of the PG-RNA 15 |
Page

16. Carr, Larry Robeson, Spurgeon "Jake" Winters, Alex Rackley, Arthur Morris, Steve
Bartholomew, Robert Lawrence, Tommy Lewis, Nathaniel Clark, Welton Armstead, Sidney
Miller, Sterling Jones, Babatunde Omawali, Samuel Napier, Harold Russle, and Robert Webb
among others.[21] In the three years after J. Edgar Hoover's infamous COINTELPRO
memorandum, dated August 25, 1967, 31 members of the BPP were killed,[22] nearly a
thousand were arrested, and key leaders were sent to jail. Others were driven underground. Still
others, like BPP field marshal Donald "D.C." Cox, were driven into exile overseas.
Also in '69, Clarence 13X, founder of the Five Percenters, was mysteriously murdered in the
elevator of a Harlem project building. His killer was never discovered and his adherents suspect
government complicity in his death.
The RNA was similarly attacked that year. During their second annual convention in March '69,
held at reverend C.L. Franklin's New Bethel Church in Detroit, a police provocation sparked a
siege that poured 800 rounds into the church. Several convention members were wounded; one
policeman was killed, another wounded, and the entire convention, 140 people, was arrested en
masse. When Reverend Franklin (father of "The Queen of Soul," singer Aretha Franklin) and
Black State Representative James Del Rio were informed of the incident they called Black judge
George Crockett, who proceeded to the police station where he found total legal chaos.
Almost 150 people were being held incommunicado. They were being questioned, fingerprinted,
and given nitrate tests to determine if they had fired guns, in total disregard of fundamental
constitutional procedures. Hours after the roundup, there wasn't so much as a list of persons
being held and no one had been formally arrested. An indignant Judge Crockett set up court right
in the station house and demanded that the police either press charges or release their captives.
He had handled about fifty cases when the Wane County prosecutor, called in by the police,
intervened. The prosecutor promised that the use of all irregular methods would be halted.
Crockett adjourned the impromptu court, and by noon the following day the police had released
all but a few individuals who were held on specific charges.[23] Chaka Fuller, Rafael Viera, and
Alfred 2X Hibbits were charged with the killing. All three were subsequently tried and acquitted.
Chaka Fuller was mysteriously assassinated a few months afterwards.[24]"
There are two reasons for the historical significance of this west side church: the accomplishments of its
founder, the Reverend Clarence LeVaughn Franklin and the violent New Bethel incident of March 29,
1969.
History of the PG-RNA 16 |
Page

17. Reverend Franklin was born in Mississippi in 1915, trained for the ministry in Memphis and became
pastor of a large Baptist church there in the late 1930s, then moved to a church in Buffalo and, in 1950,
moved to very prosperous Detroit where he founded New Bethel. He developed a distinctive style of
preaching that became a model for African American Baptist ministers. Indeed, CDs of his sermons are
still widely available for use in training preachers. In the mid-1950s, Reverend Franklin preached at
churches throughout the nation accompanied by a group of Gospel singers that included his daughter
Aretha, the soon to be famous star of Barry Gorky's Motown empire. The financial success of his tours
placed Reverend Franklin securely into Detroit's emerging black middle class.
In the early 1960s, blacks were well represented in the governmental structure of Detroit. The UAW and
the Michigan Democratic Party were committed to equal racial opportunities and the city's chapter of the
NAACP was the nation's largest and most economically secure, always ready to litigate racial issues. But
progress was slow and a new generation of younger blacks demanded a much more rapid dismantling of
the traditional racial hierarchy. Several more militant groups developed in Detroit in the early 1960s
challenging the dominant position of the NAACP including GOAL (Group for the Advancement of
Leadership), UHURU (founded by Wayne State students who used this Swahili word for their
organization); the Detroit chapter of SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) and RAM
(Revolutionary Action Movement). They demanded black control of the institutions that determined the
fate of Detroit's African Americans. Several of their leaders, especially Robert F. Williams of RAM and
the SNCC leaders advocated using violence, if necessary, to secure black control of Detroit.
Reverend Franklin, with the cooperation of Reverend Clague of the Shrine of the Black Madonna, also
located on Linwood, held an organizational meeting of these black power groups at New Bethel in May,
1963. Their first action reflected the controversy between blacks that wished to use traditional means to
effect racial change and those who demanded immediate changes. Reverend Franklin invited Dr. Martin
Luther King to Detroit for a "Walk to Freedom." This idea was quickly endorsed and supported by the
UAW. On June 23, 1964, a massive march involving thousands took place on Woodward. Most pictures
show Revered Franklin, Reverend King and Walter Reuther leading the countless marchers. Reverend
King gave an impressive speech that, with only minor changes, became the "I Have a Dream Speech"
delivered two months later at the Lincoln Memorial—undoubtedly the most remember and cited speech
delivered by an American in the last half of the last century. The success of the Detroit march led the
UAW to provide much of the financial support and organizational skills need for the August 28 march in
Washington. 1963 was the final year in which traditional civil rights organizations, the rather moderate
supporters of Dr. King, and the increasingly militant black groups effectively cooperated.
History of the PG-RNA 17 |
Page

18. Militant blacks in Detroit founded the Republic of New Africa (RNA) in 1968 - eight months after the
devastating 1967 riot. RNA leaders demanded that the federal government give blacks five
states—Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina—and pay billions in reparations
to compensate for slavery. They were frequently seen as advocating that blacks use violence to get these
demands if the government resisted.
On March 29, 1969, 200 to 300 members of the RNA met at New Bethel Church to celebrate the first
anniversary of their organization. The meeting was adjourning about midnight when Detroit police
officers Michael Czapski and Richard Worobec saw a dozen or so apparently armed men in camaflogue
along Linwood. They stopped to investigate but Officer Czapski was instantly shot to death and Officer
Worobec wounded but managed to call for back up. Twenty minutes later, 50 Detroit police officers
attempted to enter New Bethel. The commanding officer claimed the police were fired upon as their tried
to enter the church. Once they broke down to the door, the police claim they came under rifle fire from
the altar and sniper fire from the loft. These claims were disputed.
The police arrested 142 inside the church, found 9 rifles, three pistols and ammunition. Reverend Franklin
instantly altered African American who had risen to positions of power: State Senator James Del Rio and
Recorders Court Judge George Crockett. Judge Crockett was not certain that the Detroit police would
treat these prisoners well so he was to the lock up and, by 6 AM, established a temporary court room
where he began releasing those who were arrested either on small bonds or on personal recognizance. By
noon, Judge Crockett had released many—but not all—of those arrested including some that had tested
positive for nitrate burns. Judge Crockett also criticized police procedures and thus invalidated their right
to hold those arrested at New Bethel.
The incident symbolzed Detroit's racial polarization just a year and a half after the riots. The arrest of
many armed RNA members and the shooting of police officers confirmed the fear of many that militant
young black men in Detroit were well armed and ready to use violence to advance their own racial causes.
And Judge Crockett's immediate release of those arrested confirmed the belief of some whites that if
blacks controlled the justice system they would use it to exonerate blacks accused of crimes. Judge
Crockett himself became a symbol of racial conflict as many whites signed petitions demanding his ouster
while many blacks defended his unusual role in this controversy. Some years later, Judge Crockett was
elected to Congress where he served several terms. Two defendants were tried in the shootings of Officers
Czapski and Worobec but there were no convictions.
History of the PG-RNA 18 |
Page

19. Reverend Franklin never apologized for the New Bethel incident. Indeed, he said that RNA would be
welcome to meet at his church again but he would prohibit guns. Given his political actions, it is not
surprising to find that he was the target of investigations. In 1967, he was charged with a failure to pay
federal income tax. He pled guilty. In 1969,when returning from Mexico, Reverend Franklin was arrested
for possession of marijuana but these charges were dropped. Befitting his prosperity, Reverend Franklin
lived in a large and historically interesting home near his church in the 7400 block of LaSalle. In 1979, he
apparently surprised robbers who were attempting to steal valuable windows. He was shot, went into a
coma and died five years later.
ADDENDUM I
HISTORICAL MOVEMENT PHOTOS, FLYERS AND DOCUMENTS
History of the PG-RNA 19 |
Page

20. History of the PG-RNA 20 |
Page

21. History of the PG-RNA 21 |
Page

22. History of the PG-RNA 22 |
Page

23. History of the PG-RNA 23 |
Page

24. RELATED:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/129668970/PEOPLE-WITH-STRENGTH-in-Monroe-North-
Carolina-by-Truman-Nelson
History of the PG-RNA 24 |
Page