For those of us versed in Nationalist ideology, we consistently hear the term "
nation within a nation" being used to describe the African descended population that exists here in the United States. From our combined economic wealth, to our numerical population size, all the way to our cultural practices, we can be considered a captive nation that exists within the 'greater' national borders that surrounds us.
Many that are uninitiated, or are completely antithetical to our ideological beliefs, tend to disagree with this assertion whole heartily. They consider this assertion to be utter drivel, and cling to their assimilationist/intergrationist beliefs about the
supposed benevolence of this country. Yet, there are others in our revolutionary past that have attempted to prove this theory true, trying to create our own African-centered nation here on this very soil. The Republic for New Afrika comes to mind when thinking of this concept.
My question is...is there any way that we can do this on a smaller, experimental scale? Maybe an Afrikan-centered
city-within-a-city?
Hear me out, now. A project like this
might actually be feasible.
Many of us have these Afrocentric names for our cities to represent our Nationalist beliefs; Banneker City (DC), Tubman City (Baltimore), Prosser City (Richmond, VA), and so on. Why not actually
create a city based on these concepts that we say we should practice? In places like Detroit, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and a few other large cities, there are large swaths of the city that are completely abandoned. Why not go into these places, block by block, and take them over? Everything that we need to make this work, we can create:
1) a governmental center (city hall),
2) a banking system and our own currency,
3) our own police force and defense force,
4) our own educational system,
5) requirements for citizenship and residency,
6) diplomatic relationships for trade with the 'greater' city, and international governmental bodies, or similar settlements,
7) sovereign borders,
8) an Ujamaa Collective (business community)
9) our own local media (print, digital tv, web presence, etc.)
This was at once influence by a fictional work that I had written some time ago (but never completed). The more research that I do, the more that I believe that it is feasible to do. We just need to strategize this out, and be totally dedicated to seeing this come to fruition. Some of the literature that has influenced this is:
"The Rebirth of an African Civilization"- Chancellor Williams
"Black Africa: The Economic and Cultural Basis for a Federated State" Cheik Anta Diop
Race First: The Ideological and Organizational Struggles of Marcus Garvey...."- Tony Martin
Ethiopian Sovereignty: African Nationhood"- Ras ESP McPherson
"Pawned Sovereignty" & "Sovereign Evolution"- Ezrah Aharone
"Afrocentricity"- Dr. Molefi Kete Asante
Constitution for the
Universal Negro Improvement Association & African Communities League
"10-Point Program" for the
Black Panther Party for Self Defense
The blueprints and guidelines have been left to us by our elders and ancestors. It is time that we started to follow those examples left to us, and finally start to act on them. Freedom ain't free. Whatever doesn't work, we can discard, and create something else that can remedy that particular issue. Whatever kinks that we can work out on a small, experimental scale...we can vastly improve upon when we finally decide to do this on a larger, more massive scale.
So what say you? Can we do this...?
