Free the Land: The Republic of New Afrika and the Pursuit of a Black Nation-State

Justice, Power, and Politics

by Edward Onaci

On March 31, 1968, over 500 Black nationalists convened in Detroit to begin the process of securing independence from the United States. Many concluded that Black Americans' best remaining hope for liberation was the creation of a sovereign nation-state, the Republic of New Afrika (RNA). New Afrikan citizens traced boundaries that encompassed a large portion of the South--including South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana--as part of their demand for reparation. As champions of these goals, they framed their struggle as one that would allow the descendants of enslaved people to choose freely whether they should be citizens of the United States. New Afrikans also argued for financial restitution for the enslavement and subsequent inhumane treatment of Black Americans. The struggle to "Free the Land" remains active to this day.

This book is the first to tell the full history of the RNA and the New Afrikan Independence Movement. Edward Onaci shows how New Afrikans remade their lifestyles and daily activities to create a self-consciously revolutionary culture, and argues that the RNA's tactics and ideology were essential to the evolution of Black political struggles. Onaci expands the story of Black Power politics, shedding new light on the long-term legacies of mid-century Black Nationalism.

Genres: History, Race, Nonfiction, American History, Politics, African American, The United States Of America

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2020

Reviews

[JRT · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book details the history of one of the most impactful yet not widely discussed movements of the Black Power era (and beyond): the New Afrikan Independence Movement. More specifically, author Edward Onaci depicts the rise, ideology, trials, and overall evolution of the Republic of New Afrika. Adherents to the movement for New Afrikan independence--following the blueprint set by Malcolm X and Queen Mother Moore (and others)--identified national independence and land ownership as the central sociopolitical goals of the "captive Black Nation" in America. As Onaci stated, the goal to "free the land" and ultimately develop a Black nation-state and new national identity ("New Afrikan") was founded in the belief that the USA is irredeemable for the descendants of enslaved Africans in America.

Onaci does a great job detailing the ideological underpinnings of the New Afrikan Independence Movement, while also weaving in personal stories of the "citizens" of the RNA and how they admirably attempted to incorporate their political beliefs in their everyday lives. He also discusses the group's many blind-spots (such as the duality of citizenship and the sometimes poorly conceived plans to effectuate independence), as well as the lines along which citizens split from one another. Further, he details the scope and intensity of government repression and how the movement sought to overcome it.

This book is a great addition to the literature on Black resistance movements of the mid-20th Century, and offers many insights to organizers in 2020 and beyond. If nothing else, the history of the New Afrikan Independence Movement should cause us all to deeply question notions of liberal citizenship and the efficacy of "integration." Further, it sheds light on the often misunderstood and deliberately mischaracterized project of "Black Nationalism." Highly recommended.

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read in awhile. A dense, historical, pedagogical read that, even as Edward Onaci admits, barely scratches the surface of the New Afrikan Independence Movement, New Afrikan Political Science, the Republic of New Afrika itself, and the various struggles, theories, and epistemologies from which it came and which it bore.

Although I am a Leninist and an internationalist, this book is critical to understanding Black nationalism, which has for too long, been the target of a u.s.-backed, right-wing smear campaign comparing it to white nationalism and supremacy. It isn't, and I'd urge any leftist who believes that, to read this book, to understand what "Land Back" and reparations really means. It is a crude attempt at discrediting the rich history of Black resistance against white supremacy within this country; the demand for acquisition of land isn't really that farfetched when you study sociology and Black history [particularly Reconstruction, 1865 - 1877] and realize that very few Black people who suffered under slavery were given their '40 acres and a mule', and this is very much necessitated payback. Continuing on with Jim Crow and the rise of sharecropping [a new form of slavery], and the prison-industrial complex [current slavery], the demand for a Black nation-state in which Black self-determination is centered, the demand of land and reparations is vital.

One fascinating factor this book opened my eyes to, was the framing of the 14th Amendment as erroneous; the RNA believed that the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed citizenship to all born within the illegal borders of the U.S., non-consensually forced Africans born into slavery, and all their descendants, to become U.S. citizens, putting up more obstacles in the struggle for liberation from white supremacy. Self-determination would guarantee Black people the right to decide if they want to be citizens or not. This was an angle I had not fully considered before, but was excited to read about.

This book is only 340 pages [excluding footnotes, bibliography, etc.], so again, it doesn't cover all the history, but as Onaci surmises, all of the history, brutally repressed by the white supremacist U.S. system and its long arms [FBI, COINTELPRO, etc.] Has yet to be uncovered. But this is a must-read for a good jumping off place.

[Zach Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had put this off for a long time, but after reading Safiya Bukhari's The War Before, I figured now was a good time! Have to admit, what I thought was a blind spot of mine as it relates to the struggles for Black liberation in the 20th century ended up being somewhat unfounded. Onaci is really great at laying out the evolution of the movement over time, but what struck me was how undisciplined, disorganized, and top-down the whole RNA was. To his credit, he lays out in plain sight what these contradictions were. There were some sections I found interesting, like the naming chapter, and what I found most compelling was the tension over land claims with respect to indigenous rights groups who rightly claim initial ownership of the land. Had the RNA been a more disciplined and organized formation, perhaps these issues would have developed and shaped the struggle, but as it is, this is largely an academic exercise.

[Raffael Hirt · Rating 1 out of 5]

The topic is interesting and the writing is good in places. However, the reliance on primary sources such as documents and interviews presents two major flaws that the author wasn't able to overcome. One, the book is rather drawn out. Some facts are repeatedly restated, and there are uncountable unnecessary summaries of quotations, which all reminded me of a student essay struggling to reach a word count. Two, the book is neither here nor there with regards to its genre. As a history book, it relies too much on anecdotal evidence and includes way too much opinion of both the sources as well as the author. As a biography of both the movement and the people involved, it's too convoluted and piecemealed.

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

a superbly written history of one of the most important, but rarely studied/talked about organizations from the Black Power era. one of the best books i’ve read in 2023! if we are to achieve liberation this history must be studied — this should be required reading material for communists, especially white communists, in America.

free the land! Black liberation now!

[Nathanael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free the Land! Liberate the black belt! A great book on founding of the Provisional Government for the Republic of New Afrika(PG-RNA), it can be dense…

[MacKenzie Galloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cried when I found out my ancestor, Grandfather, is in this book.