Gary Convention, Research Paper Example

Gary is a city in Indiana, United States. The city’s location is in the southeastern part of the metropolitan area of Chicago and is approximately 25 miles from Chicago downtown. In the 2000 census, the population was over 102,746 with majority being black Americans. This city housed the Gary convention in 1972.

It all started with the Black Agenda movement. This agenda was to address the issues black Americans faced in their country including discrimination and segregation from the other people. The agenda rose naturally since the bloody decades during which blacks struggled. It also flowed from the recent surging emanating from cultural and political practices that discriminated the black Americans. The Black Agenda had an assumption that no basic change was taking place in America to handle the issues that Blacks faced. It was proposing that blacks join up and come up with measures to perpetuate the change. Its assumption was that the union of the blacks was relevant in developing agreements and overall goals of redeeming the black American. This was the initial statement that fueled the black American actions developing many unions to fight for their position in the country. It was the start of serious liberation of all the Black people and led to a strong implementation of the so-called Black Agenda (Jesse, 2005).

Gary convention was held at the time of tension and crisis promising Black Americans some redemption. The hope on politicians to bring change was no more and people felt a need to act on their own. Gates (1999) wrote that the cultural, economic and spiritual depression on Black Americans as well as the high cost of survival was humiliating and African Americans could not afford to stick around and anguish without taking proper measures. He added that all institutions responsible for handling the black American issues had slowed down their operations and were unable to cope with these crises exposing the black American to more dangers and struggles in a daily life. Jesse (2005) contributions on the Gary convention convergence argued that it was a time of survival. He talked of Africa and the entire part of the undeveloped countries as being prey to the same exploitative powers and deceit. His emphases were that the people could no longer hide from the truth. Americans could go to China and or to the moon but the reality was still in their conscious and they had to live real life facing what was before them.

After the initiation of the black agenda, African Americans started showing signs of rejection of the white superiority. They started to reject the standards and authority of the white championing their own cultures. It was in this decade that Afro hairstyle became a part of the fashion from black Americans with many black movements developing across the globe.

On March 10, 1972, the first Assembly of National Black Political union was held. Over eight thousand African Americans attended it. Three thousand of the attendants were official delegates. The convention was named “Gary Convention.” It was a sea of Black faces chanting slogans of black power “It’s Nation Time!” this was a surprise to the entire world because there had not been any other significant meeting like this one before. In their agreements, the radical Black nationalists, was the key agenda that carried the day. They agreed that black communities faced crisis in their social and economic status and it was urgent to develop changes applicable in the political and economic system providing a solution to these crisis. Gary declaration was straight that American system did not take into concern the black masses. Therefore, it could not continue working the same way without fundamental and radical changes to make it stable and fair in ruling over the great masses. It resolved the crisis by declaring black power, saying that it was time for the Blacks to do it themselves (Gates, 1999).

Gary convention had a great impact in the national politics. It was a milestone leading the country into a Black Power era. With many black activists in the convention, change was inevitable after the convention ruled the black’s way. Criticism developed regarding the convention aftermath. Roy Wilkins criticized the convention as practicing racial exclusivity because the whites were not involved. The results of the convention were tremendous with the delegates creating a National Black Political Agenda stating goals that included the election of a balanced number of black representatives into the American Congress, national health insurance and community control of schools among others.

Even though Gary convention did not bring in any direct policy, it buoyed participants deriving a spirit of possibility in them and developing themes of self-determination and unity among black Americans. The convention also provided political models that later formed movements advancing a pro-black political agenda. It was the start of prioritizing the handling of sensitive issues for the redemption of black Americans. The convention practiced an oppositional approach. This facilitated a strong debate in the respective black communities over issues related to citizenship, racial progress, and democracy. The debates fueled more action from the black Americans and enhanced the formation of more black movements that led to the success of blacks in contention of a place in the country’s politics (Gates, 1999).

References

Gates, H. (1999). “Black Power” In Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. New York: Basic Books.

Jesse, J. (2005). ‘Gary’s assets will open next chapter in civil rights.’ The Times (Munster, IN), December 30, 2005