GOALS
1. To unite nationally within the Ujamaa Dynasty as many like-minded New Afrikans, people of Afrikan descent, and others, regardless of color, who embrace the identity, history, culture and struggle of Our people, as can be united.
2. To inspire one another to collectively improve Ourselves, Our families and Our communities socially, culturally and financially by promoting unity and cooperation among Us.
3. To encourage the positive and constructive interaction between Ourselves and the larger New Afrikan community, the Afrikan Diaspora and other struggling people.
4. To struggle with other people suffering from discrimination, abuse, mistreatment, hardship and oppression to build a better world.BRIEF HISTORY AND ORIGIN The New Afrikan Ujamaa Dynasty is the main body of the New Afrikan Liberation Movement and was founded on August 17, 2007. The Ujamaa Dynasty is a socio-cultural mass organization whose core aims are the economic empowerment, social upliftment and cultural development of Our nduguship. The Ujamaa Dynasty upholds the Three People’s Principles of Democracy, Nationalism and Cooperative Economics, and the Three People’s Goals of Combating Imperialism, Racism and Sexism, all of which form the political ba3sis of the New Afrikan Liberation Movement. Particularly, the purpose of the Ujamaa Dynasty is to foster national consciousness and national unity among New Afrikan people. So, it was founded upon the principle of sharing and fighting in a common struggle to secure Our collective future.
The New Afrikan Liberation Movement is a nationalist movement which emerged on February 1, 2004. At that time the New Afrikan Collective was the only organization within the New Afrikan Liberation Movement. But on August 21, 2005, the Collective became the New Afrikan Collectivist Association. Then on May 14, 2006, the Collectivist Association was split into three organizations: the New Afrikan Maoist Party, the New Afrikan Brigade and another New Afrikan Collective (which became the New Afrikan Ujamaa when We were founded). The Party is a communist organization and the political vanguard of Our movement; and the Brigade is a Party-led revolutionary nationalist cadre organization.
The New Afrikan Liberation Movement is an offshoot of the New Afrikan Independence Movement, which began on March 31, 1968, in Detroit, Michigan, when 500 black nationalists and social activists convened the first ever Black Government Conference. This conference was organized and led by the Malcolm X Society. At the conclusion, the participants declared that black people in North America were New Afrikans and were a nation entitled to its own land and entitled to reparations and self-government. They called this nation the Republic of New Afrika and claimed as its national territory the Black Belt states of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Louisiana. (These states had the largest concentration of Afrikan slaves, and the majority of Our people live in them today.) The conference participants formed the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika with the dual mission to educate the New Afrikan masses about Our right to nationhood and self-government and to struggle for the liberation of Our nation and land.PHILOSOPHYOur enslaved ancestors were captured in Afrika. They were of different tribes and had their own unique identities, customs, languages and governments. But they were stripped of this. They 4 were forced to learn a foreign language, to adopt alien names, to subscribe to strange beliefs, and to accept hostile domination. They were made to interbreed to have babies as a continuous source of slave labor. (Some had children resulting from them being sexually exploited by whites. Others had children freely with whites and Native Americans.) Due to this, We began to form into a ‘new’ people around the early to mid 1600s, during colonial days. We were fully evolved by the time of the Civil War in 1861, two hundred years later. Today Our people share common values, perspectives, attitudes and culture. We share a common condition being black in this country, having to confront subtle and blatant racism on different fronts. And We have a common gene pool that ties Us to Afrika. Despite Our class, philosophical or religious differences, We are Our own nation.
Before Our ancestors were enslaved they were a sovereign people who governed themselves. Slavery did not change this but merely suppressed it. After the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 18, 1865, officially ending slavery, Our people technically became sovereign again. Since We were so far removed from Our historical and cultural origins in Afrika, going back there was not a real option. We were therefore entitled at that time to establish Ourselves as a fully self-governed people on Our own land right here in North America. This was Our best option. On July 9, 1868, however, the 14th Amendment was ratified. It made Us ‘paper-citizens’ without Our consent and thus denied Us Our right to self-determination, to choose Our own political destiny. This served the interests of white America. They could not afford to ship Us all back to Afrika. Nor could they afford to have Us here as a sovereign people. We would have then been justified in demanding the relinquishment of land and the payment of reparations to Us by the U.S. government. We would have had the right to set up an independent government and organize Our own military forces. By making Us citizens, white America circumvented this and has been able to filibuster granting Us full human and civil rights (even til this day).
This country was founded upon white supremacy. Despite Our ‘citizenship,’ We have suffered racism, Black Codes, Jim Crow, COINTELPRO, lynchings, church bombings, employment discrimination, substandard education, hate crimes, police brutality and disproportionate imprisonment. Admittedly, Our condition has im5 proved in comparison to the past. Many falsely attribute this, however, to civil rights and an improvement in race relations. The truth of the matter is that wealth transferred into this country from the super-exploitation of Third World labor and resources has mitigated racial antagonisms. Yet, it has not eliminated them. So, every now and then, racism flares up today. When the economy collapses in this country due to increased imperialist competition and the success of Third World liberation struggles, white supremacy and white fascism will explode. And because Our people have bought into the Great American Idea of Individualism instead of banding together as a nation, We will be severely unprepared when this time comes.
Immigrant Afrikans and their descendants here in North America are a part of Our New Afrikan nation. We embrace Pan Afrikanism, in that all Afrikan people should adopt the national identity and share in the struggle of those Afrikan people they settle among. We are one race of people and have historically suffered the most degrading forms of oppression and exploitation. So, Our separate national struggles are expressions of Our international struggle against imperialism. We recognize there is no global Pan Afrikan nation, as some romanticize. Each national struggle of each Afrikan nation is endemic to their country or region of origin. The national struggles of Afrikans in Liberia, Trinidad or Brazil will not be the same as the national struggles of Afrikans in the Congo, South Africa, Jamaica, Haiti or North America. Hence, each national struggle must be waged differently in each country or region, and all the conscious, practical Pan Afrikanists there, no matter their country of origin, should participate in those struggles in accordance with the concrete conditions in that country.
The New Afrikan Liberation Movement is a New Afrikan based, pro-black movement. But We recognize that ‘New Afrikan’ is a nationality, which is not exclusively based on color or race. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “1. Everyone has a right to a nationality; 2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” We accept this position in recognition that there are those who develop an affinity for, or grow up identifying with, people of a different ethnicity. Those non-black people who sincerely choose ‘New Afrikan’ as their nationality and embrace the history, culture and struggle of Our people, We accept them as one of Us. We will not deny people 6 on the basis of color or race, for this would be racist.
Our people are entitled to land and reparations. We accept the Black Belt states as the national territory of Our nation, but also claim those areas outside of the Back Belt to which Our people have extensive ties and where We live in large concentrated numbers. And We acknowledge the just claims of Native Americans to part of the land in this country (and We support them in their struggle for self-determination). But it must be noted that, though We stand for the national independence and self-government of Our people on land in North America, We are not necessarily opposed to being Americans. We just believe that for Our people to truly be citizens of America, Our right to self-determination must be fully realized. We need to have the power to be sovereign so that Our collective choice to be Americans is not one based upon someone else’s choice nor upon Our ignorance of Our own history. Also, We believe reparations today should be paid first to the victims of U.S. imperialism who are more oppressed than We. So, We reject the notion that Afrika owes Us reparations, as advocated by some. Such a demand is obscene in face of the overwhelming disparity and abject poverty that exists in Afrika. Victims of U.S. imperialism throughout the world, including in Afrika, are often children dying from starvation and disease. It shames Us that there are New Afrikans in this country who would demand reparations for Our people before demanding an end to imperialism, which is responsible for the death of countless children.
Individually, We can become financially successful in capitalist America, chasing the so called Almighty Dollar to buy things that give Us only the illusion of happiness. But this often comes at the expense of hurting and corrupting Our relationships with others. Though We of the Ujamaa Dynasty promote and encourage the financial prosperity of Our ndugu, We do so while focusing on Our collective struggle. This allows Us to build more meaningful, fulfilling and lasting relationships with others. In truth, people, not money, make the world go round. This is why We seek to grow and develop people within the Ujamaa Dynasty, and to share mutual love and aid with them. Together We can secure Our collective future from the advent of white supremacy and white fascism.
Afrikan women have been instrumental in the historical struggle 7 of Our people from the beginning. Many have served as strong leaders, sacrificing their lives and fighting on the front lines of many of Our struggles; thus proving they have just as much to offer as men in resisting oppression. The legacy of patriarchy in this country has spawned a culture of misogyny and sexual exploitation of Our women in many of Our dysfunctional communities. The net result of this among Our women in urban areas is the high rates of HIV infections and prostitution (which includes women using sex to keep a man who takes care of them rather than them focusing on bettering themselves). We support every effort to end sexism and to empower Our women and girls, for they are a cornerstone of Our nation. Without them We cannot succeed as a nation.
Societal influences, like how We grow up, where We live, who We associate with and be around, and what We experience through the media, have a powerful affect on the attitudes and behaviors of Our children. So, We seek to foster positive and constructive societal influences that reinforce those values We instill in Our children, values like honesty, responsibility, discipline, hard work, education, family and community. We struggle to promote those societal influences that keep Our children from growing up to forget about their families and their communities; from growing up to become gangbangers, criminals or drug addicts; from growing up lazy, spoiled, unproductive, hardheaded, arrogant, under-educated and reckless; or from growing up being sexually irresponsible, spreading diseases or having babies in unhealthy environments or without the means to raise and educate them properly. This is why We recognize that raising Our children properly requires Us to be involved in the mentoring and nurturing of the children they will interact with, because they will be influenced by those children. As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” And the Ujamaa Dynasty is Our village.
Gang and street life leads many of Our youths and young adults to prison and to an early grave. It turns many of Our neighborhoods into virtual war zones unsafe to raise Our children in. It depletes Our communities of able-bodied youths and young adults who are needed to contribute to the growth, development and prosperity of Our communities. And it dampens the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood within Our communities. Many of Our youths and young adults are attracted to gang and street life because they grow up in 8 dysfunctional families and communities that limit their horizons and subject them to a culture of destruction, stagnation and corruption. Gang and street life seemingly offers them purpose and meaning, a sense of belonging, and an opportunity to make money, all within a social context they are familiar with. Through Our field dynasty, We aim to reverse the tragedy of gang and street life in the lives of as many of Our youths and young adults as We can. Our field dynasty gives those who decide to leave gang and street life a positive and constructive means to do so. It does so by connecting them in a fraternal relationship with those headed in the same direction and coming from similar backgrounds. “Association breeds assimilation.” And so positive and constructive association gives those coming out of gang and street life the moral support to make a successful transition to becoming a conscious and prosperous New Afrikan.
Our people have disproportionately come under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system. We are more likely than whites to be sentenced to long prison terms or to the death penalty. We are more likely than whites to be railroaded. We are less likely to receive adequate legal representation. And once imprisoned, opportunities are few to better one’s self. So, We support prison and criminal justice reform. Prisoners should be given greater incentives to rehabilitate themselves. College programs and merit time are proven methods for improving the attitudes and behavior of prisoners. More public funding should be spent on crime prevention, like improved education and vocation programs in inner-cities, intensive youth mentoring programs, comprehensive job training and job placement programs, and community-based drug treatment programs. And more care should be given to help ex-prisoners successfully reintegrate back into society.
Many of Our elder freedom fighters, who were members of organizations like the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Army, MOVE, the Republic of New Afrika and other black radical organizations, are being held as political prisoners in this country. Many of them have been incarcerated for decades. Despite not being major disciplinary problems, they are held in maximum security prisons, transferred around frequently or kept in solitary confinement. And they are continuously denied parole. These are men and women who have sacrificed a lot to push back the walls of oppression that threaten to engulf Our people. We owe them the effort to get them 9 released from prison. We also seek the release of prisoners politicized while incarcerated, those who have rehabilitated themselves, have renounced crime and work to elevate those around them.
Reactionary American history and culture stand in the way of the full realization of the social, political and economic potential of Our people. So We reject them in favor of embracing Our own Afrikan history and resurrecting Our own Afrikan culture. We seek to reclaim Our Afrikan identity as a basis of unity and not necessarily to live in the past. Due to this, We call Ourselves New Afrikans, adopt Afrikan names and choose Swahili as Our official language. We also embrace Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles). But We recognize Our struggle as a people is much more than cultural nationalism and reject the proposition that if it is not ‘black’ or ‘Afrikan’ in origin then it is no good to Us.
Our people spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year in this country. Yet We spend very little of these dollars with Ourselves. As a result Our people are weakened. Not enough wealth is retained within Our communities to provide quality social and financial opportunities. We are therefore too dependent upon white capital to finance much of Our business development and too dependent upon public funding (which is always lacking) for Our community needs. This locks Us into a neocolonial relationship with white America to Our future detriment. We are in such a state because We have failed as a people to pool Our resources on a national scale to invest in Our own economic institutions capable of making Us more economically self-sufficient.
And the economic self-sufficiency of Our people is essential to Our success. We therefore adopt the Cooperative Economic Development Plan proposed by the Party. The CED Plan is based upon a strategy of collective capitalism in which We of the Ujamaa Dynasty endeavor to build a business and financial network among Our ndugu. Through the CED Plan We will invest, as a limited partner, in the small and midsize businesses started by Our ndugu; and We will set up major business ventures, relying upon Our ndugu and people as investors. The goal of the CED Plan is to capture a majority share of the New Afrikan consumer market, redirecting Our spending toward New Afrikan businesses committed to the national unity and liberation of Our people. The CED Plan is for Our individual and collec10 tive financial prosperity, as well as the economic empowerment of Our people. And it will enable Us to keep Our wealth within Our control so that We can use it to fight imperialism.GENERAL OBLIGATIONS1. Familiarize yourself fully with Our Program and strive to live by it; memorize the Dynasty Pledge.
2. Always greet your ndugu and show them your love, loyalty and respect and guide, assist and protect them. Never hold to the attitude that every ndugu is not your ndugu.
3. Treat all people with respect and courtesy; combat racism, sexism, oppression and injustice.
4. Socialize regularly with your ndugu, strengthening your bond with them; organize or participate in community events, dinner parties, and discussion/study groups at which you can get to know your ndugu and people in your community better.
5. Attend communal meetings regularly and offer your thoughts on how to resolve local problems and to improve your communal family.
6. Work to introduce others into the Ujamaa Dynasty, especially family and friends who can reinforce your own commitment. If the Ujamaa Dynasty is good for you, then it should be good for the people you know and love.
7. Heed the wisdom of elder ndugu, and respect the leadership of the Ujamaa Dynasty.
8. Be tolerant of ndugu who have religious beliefs different from your own.
9. Avoid quarreling with your ndugu and others.
10. Assist in raising, educating, mentoring and instructing Our children. 11 11. Strive to revitalize disadvantaged New Afrikan neighborhoods; get involved in Ujamaa Dynasty sponsored community service programs.
12. Live a healthy lifestyle; cut back on or quit smoking and drinking; refrain from using hard drugs and work out regularly.
13. Set up your own businesses and help your ndugu do the same or invest in the CED Plan; patronize the businesses of your ndugu.
14. Pay your local and national nduguship dues.DYNASTY PLEDGEI pledge to be a dedicated ndugu of the New Afrikan Ujamaa Dynasty; i pledge to do all i can to enlighten Our people about Our Program and introduce them into Our familihood; i pledge to show love, loyalty and respect to my ndugu and to guide, assist and protect them; and i pledge to uphold Our Program and Constitution to the best of my ability.
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