Black nationalism is a nationalist movement which seeks representation for Black people as a distinct national identity, especially in racialized, colonial and postcolonial societies. Its earliest proponents saw it as a way to advocate for democratic representation in culturally plural societies or to establish self-governing independent nation-states for Black people. Modern Black nationalism often aims for the social, political, and economic empowerment of Black communities within white majority societies, either as an alternative to assimilation or as a way to ensure greater representation and equality within predominantly Eurocentric cultures.
As an ideology, Black nationalism encompasses a diverse range of beliefs which have variously included forms of economic, political and cultural nationalism, or pan-nationalism. It often overlaps with, but is distinguished from, similar concepts and movements such as Pan-Africanism, Ethiopianism, the back-to-Africa movement (also known as Black Zionism), Afrocentrism, and Garveyism. Critics of Black nationalism compare it to white nationalism and white supremacy, and say it promotes racial nationalism, separatism and Black supremacy. Most experts distinguish between these movements, saying that while white nationalism ultimately seeks to maintain or deepen inequality between racial and ethnic groups, most forms of Black nationalism instead aim to increase equality in response to pre-existing forms of white dominance.
Concepts Black nationalism reflects the idea that, in racialized societies, people of diverse African descent are often treated as a single racial, ethnic and cultural group (such as African Americans in the US or Black Britons in the UK). Because of a shared history of oppression and a distinct culture shaped by that history, Black nationalism argues that Black people in the African diaspora therefore form a distinct nation (or multiple distinct nations) and so have a right to representation or self-governance. Black nationalists therefore seek to acquire political and economic power to improve the quality of life and freedoms of Black people collectively.
Black nationalists tend to believe in self-reliance and self-sufficiency for Black people, solidarity among Black people as a nation, and pride in Black achievement and culture, in order to overcome the effects of institutionalized inequality, self-hate and internalized racism.
The roots of Black nationalism extend back to the time of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, when some enslaved Africans revolted or formed independent Black settlements (such as the Maroons), free of European control. By the 19th century, African Americans such as Paul Cuffe and Martin Delany called for free and fugitive Black people to emigrate to Africa to help establish independent nations. In the early 20th century, Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey moved to the US and, inspired by Zionism and Irish independence, promoted Black nationalist and Pan-African ideas, which collectively became known as Garveyism.
Modern Black nationalist ideas coalesced as a distinct movement during the era of racial segregation in America, as a response to centuries of institutionalized white supremacy, the discrimination African Americans experienced as a result, and the perceived failures of the nonviolent civil rights movement of the time. After the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, the Black nationalism movement gained increased traction in various African American communities. A focus on returning to Africa became less popular, giving way to the idea that Black people constituted a "nation within a nation," and therefore should seek better rights and political power within a multicultural US.
Black nationalists often fought racism, colonialism, and imperialism, and influenced the Organization of Afro-American Unity, Black Panther Party, Black Islam, and the Black Power movement.
Black nationalism, Black separatism and Black supremacy There are similarities between Black separatism and Black nationalism, since they both advocate for the civil rights of Black people. While Black separatists believe that Black people should be physically separated from other races, primarily whites, Black nationalism focuses primarily on civil rights, self-determination, and democratic representation.
These two ideologies can also overlap as "separatist nationalism", which typically manifests in the belief in a literal or metaphorical secession from white American society, and is especially popular among those who have become disillusioned with "deferred American racial equality". Separatist nationalism often rejects integration into white society—which may extend into rejection of existing political systems—preferring to organise alternative structures. In this schema, Black nationalism without Black separatism is called "cultural nationalism". Black cultural nationalism often focuses on engagement with societal and political structures to enact change, such as by attempting to elect Black representatives at the local and national level. Black cultural nationalism has broader support among African-Americans than separatist nationalism; the latter is more popular among young men and people of lower economic status. Examples of Black separatist organizations include the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party.
Black nationalists often reject conflation with Black supremacy, as well as comparisons with white supremacists, characterizing their movement as an anti-racist reaction to white supremacy and color-blind white liberalism as racist. Additionally, while white nationalism often seeks to maintain or re-establish systems of white majority dominance, Black nationalism instead aims to challenge white supremacy through increased civil rights and representation (or independence) for black people as an oppressed minority. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Black nationalist groups have "little or no impact on mainstream politics and no defenders in high office", unlike white supremacists.
Revolutionary Black nationalism Black nationalism may also be divided into revolutionary or reactionary Black nationalism. Revolutionary Black nationalism combines cultural nationalism with scientific socialism in order to achieve Black self-determination. Proponents of revolutionary Black nationalism say it rejects all forms of oppression, including class-based exploitation under capitalism. Revolutionary Black nationalist organizations such as the Black Panther Party and the Revolutionary Action Movement also adopted a set of anti-colonialist politics inspired by the writings of notable revolutionary theorists including Frantz Fanon, Mao Zedong, and Kwame Nkrumah. In the words of Ahmad Muhammad (formerly known as Max Stanford) the national field chairman of the Revolutionary Action Movement:
Professor and author Harold Cruse said revolutionary Black nationalism was a necessary and logical progression from other leftist ideologies, as non-Black leftists could not properly assess the particular material conditions of the Black community and other colonized people:
History
Overview Historian Wilson Jeremiah Moses suggests the development of Black nationalism can be examined over three different periods, giving rise to the various ideological perspectives within today's Black nationalism. The first period of pre-classical Black nationalism began when the first Africans were brought to the Americas as slaves through the American Revolutionary period. Many of these slaves rebelled against their captors or formed independent Black societies, beyond the reach of Europeans. The second period of Black nationalism began after the Revolutionary War, when educated Africans within the colonies became disgusted with the social conditions of Black people, and sought to create organizations that would unite Black people and improve their situation. The third period of Black nationalism arose during the post-Reconstruction era, as community leaders began to articulate the need to separate Blacks from non-Blacks for safety and to collectivize resources. The new ideology of this third period informed the philosophy of groups like the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam.
First period In the New World, as early as 1512, African slaves escaped from Spanish captors and either joined indigenous peoples or eked out a living on their own. The first recorded slave rebellion in the region occurred in what is today the Dominican Republic, on the sugar plantations owned by Admiral Diego Columbus, on 26 December 1522. Especially in the Caribbean, escaped slaves began to form independent Black communities either in exile or with Indigenous American groups, becoming known as maroons. Maroons armed themselves to survive attacks by hostile colonists while also obtaining food for subsistence living and setting up their own communities. Other enslaved Africans were freed or bought their freedom, and began to seek their own independence, away from white society. This often included calls to emigrate to Africa and help build independent Black nations there.
Maroon communities On some of the larger Caribbean islands, maroon communities were able to grow crops and hunt for food. As more slaves escaped from plantations, their numbers could grow. Seeking to separate themselves from colonisers, the maroons gained in power amid increasing hostility. They raided and pillaged plantations until the planters began to fear a massive slave revolt.
As early as 1655, escaped Africans had formed communities in inland Jamaica, and by the 18th century, Nanny Town and other Jamaican maroon villages began to fight for independent recognition. Jamaican Maroons consistently fought British colonists, leading to the First Maroon War (1728–1740). By 1740, the British governor of the Colony of Jamaica, Edward Trelawny had signed two treaties promising them 2,500 acres (1,012 ha) in Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) and Crawford's Town, bringing an end to the warfare between the communities and effectively freeing the Maroons a century before the Slavery Abolition Act came into effect in 1838.
In Cuba, maroon communities formed in the mountains when escaped African slaves joined the indigenous Taínos. Before roads were built into the mountains of Puerto Rico, heavy brush kept many escaped maroons hidden in the southwestern hills where many also intermarried with the natives. Escaped slaves sought refuge away from the coastal plantations of Ponce. In the plantation colony of Suriname, escaped slaves revolted and started to build their own villages. On October 10, 1760, the Ndyuka signed a treaty with the Dutch recognising their territorial autonomy; it was drafted by Adyáko Benti Basiton of Boston, a formerly enslaved African from Jamaica.
Second period In the mid-to-late 18th century, Methodist and Baptist evangelists during the period of the First Great Awakening (c. 1730–1755) encouraged slave owners to free their slaves, in their belief that all men were equal before God. They converted many slaves to Christianity and approved Black leaders as preachers; Blacks developed their own churches.
After the Revolutionary War, educated Africans within the colonies (specifically within New England and Pennsylvania) had become disgusted with the social conditions of Black people. Individuals such as Prince Hall, Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, James Forten, Cyrus Bustill and William Gray sought to create organizations that would unite Black people, who had been excluded from white society, and improve their situation collectively. Institutions such as Black Masonic lodges, the Free African Society, and the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas lay the groundwork for the independent Black organizations and communities that would follow.