The National Black Political Convention, or the Gary Convention, was held on March 10–12, 1972 in Gary, Indiana.^[1][2] The convention gathered around ten thousand African-Americans to discuss and advocate for black communities that undergo significant economic and social crisis.^[3] Part of their goal was to raise the number of black politicians elected to office, increase representation, and create an agenda for fundamental change.^[4] The convention also issued the Gary Declaration, which stated that the American political system was failing black Americans and that the only way to address this problem was to transition to independent black politics.^[5][6] Notable participants in the convention included Gary mayor Richard Hatcher, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, and House Representative Charles C. Diggs Jr.^[7] Diggs Jr., alongside Richard Hatcher, were the two keynote speakers at the National Black Political Convention.

Filmmaker William Greaves' 1972 documentary Nationtime, narrated by Sidney Poitier, covers the National Black Political Convention. An 80-minute restored version was released in 2020 with funding from Jane Fonda and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.^[8]

References

Further reading

• Daniels, Ron (July–August 1984). "The National Black Political Assembly: Building Independent Black Politics In the 1980s". The Black Scholar. 15 (4): 34–44. doi:10.1080/00064246.1984.11658573.
• Moore, Leonard N. (2018). The Defeat of Black Power: Civil Rights and the National Black Political Convention of 1972. Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-6904-9.
• Smith, Robert Charles (1996). "The National Black Political Convention, 1972–84". We Have No Leaders: African Americans in the Post-Civil Rights Era. SUNY Press. pp. 29–85. ISBN 978-0-7914-3135-1.

External links

• "Tired of Going to Funerals:" The 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary – The Indiana History Blog, Indiana Historical Bureau
• Gary Declaration – BlackPast.org

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