The US organization

Historical Context Essay

Rafael Torrubia (University of St Andrews)

Ed. by A Yemisi Jimoh, University of Massachusetts Amherst
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Sean Seeger (University of Essex)

Domains

Organisations and institutions (political)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1965-1971

Places

United States (Location)

Cultural Identities

African American

Resources

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During the late sixties, militant protestors expressed the burgeoning black power ethos in a multitude of forms. In Autumn 1965, seven young African-Americans — Samuel Carr-Damu (Ngao Damu), Tommy Jacquette-Mfikiri (Halifu), Hakim Jamal, Brenda Haiba Karenga, Maulana Karenga, Karl Key-Hekima, Ken Seaton-Msemaji and Sanamu Nyeusi — founded a new organisation on the basis on nationalist cultural principles. Using the mass media access increasingly available to radical dissidents, the small West Coast group known as ‘US’ became a central force in an expanding, autonomous national movement, occupying a unique place amongst the umbrella organisations of black power politics.

According to Maulana Karenga, who rapidly became the organisation’s foremost ideologue, the group’s title was designed to separate blacks (US) from whites (them). Karenga’s definition shaped the organisation’s course, which remained closely tied to its leader’s perspective. Nonetheless,...

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1504 words

Citation: Torrubia, Rafael. "The US organization". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 February 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19316, accessed 18 December 2025.]