The Republic of New Afrika (RNA) was a proposed independent nation with a Black-majority population. It was intended to include the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, as well as Black-majority counties in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Florida. The proposal also called for $400 billion in reparations for the historical injustices suffered by African Americans. The plan was to hold a referendum among African Americans to determine their future.
The RNA’s provisional government was set up in 1968 at a conference in Detroit. The conference was organized by attorney Milton Henry and his brother Richard, who had changed their names to Gaidi Obadele and Imari Abubakari Obadele. Imari Obadele was elected as the ‘Provisional President.’
The RNA promoted cooperative economics and community self-sufficiency. However, it also advocated for restrictions on political rights and press freedoms, a ban on trade unions, compulsory military service, and the legalization of polygamy. These policies resulted in the FBI categorizing the RNA as a seditious group.