Imari Obadele (born Richard Bullock Henry) (May 2, 1930 – January 18, 2010) was a

Black nationalist 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 ...

, advocate for

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Reparation (theology), the theological concept of corrective response to God and the associated prayers for repairing the damages of sin * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for re ...

, and president of the

Republic of New Afrika The Republic of New Afrika (RNA), founded in 1968 as the Republic of New Africa, is a black nationalist organization and black separatist movement in the United States popularized by black militant groups. The larger New Afrika movement in pa ...

Early life

Richard Henry was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and as a young man founded a civil rights organization there with his brother Milton. The two later moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. After the murder of

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

, they helped form the Malcolm X Society and, dissatisfied by the progress achieved by nonviolent approaches to civil rights movement, came to embrace

Black separatism Black separatism is a race-based separatist political movement that seeks separate economic and cultural development for people of sub-Saharan African descent in societies, particularly in the United States. Black separatism stems from the idea ...

. Imari Obadele acknowledged he was a graduate of Yale University during the tv program, Firing Line, hosted by William F. Buckley, in episode 126, dated, November 18, 1968.

Republic of New Afrika

Richard and Milton adopted the African names Imari and Gaidi Obadele in 1968. With others, founded the

. At the meeting founding the group, they formed a "government in exile". Obadele was designated the information minister, and soon published a pamphlet "War in America". The RNA's declared territory was

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. The Republic of New Afrika also formed a

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

unit: the Black Legion. In 1969, the unit was involved in a gun battle in Detroit that killed a police officer. Imari split from his brother, who came to reject militancy, in 1970, and was also elected president of the Republic of New Afrika. Obadele and the group moved its headquarters to a house in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, despite failing to purchase an plot.

Arrest and prison

Obadele and ten others (the "RNA 11") were arrested and charged in the wake of a joint police /

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

raid on the house in 1971. The raid culminated in a gunfight that killed an officer. It was later determined that Obadele was not at the scene, and murder charges against him were dropped. In 1973, he was convicted of conspiracy to assault a federal agent and sentenced to twelve years in prison (of which he served five).

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

described him as a political prisoner, and the group claimed that it had been targeted by the FBI because of its political views. FBI documentation that was later released confirmed that the agency was following the group. Internal FBI memos suggested that Obadele "be kept off the streets" and that he was one of the country's "most violence-prone Black extremists".

Later life

After prison, Obadele went on to earn a PhD in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

. He became a professor at

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

. In 1987, Obadele and

Chokwe Lumumba Chokwe Lumumba Sr. (; August 2, 1947 – February 25, 2014) was an American attorney, activist, and politician, who was affiliated with the black separatist organization Republic of New Afrika and served as its second vice president. He served ...

formed the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA), an organization dedicated to seeking financial compensation for the descendants of former slaves in the United States.

Personal life

His stepson is academic and author

Ivory A. Toldson Ivory Achebe Toldson (born 1973) is an American academic and author. He is a professor of Counseling Psychology at Howard University, national director of Education Innovation and Research for the NAACP, the editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of N ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obadele, Imari 1930 births 2010 deaths Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by the United States American Black separatist activists Temple University alumni Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government