Afro-American Association

The Afro-American Association (AAA) was an influential organization founded in 1962 that started as a study group teaching African and African American history, later hosting speakers, meetings, forums, and other activities. Historian Donna Murch has described it as “the most foundational institution in the Black Power movement.”[1]

Organization

In 1962, a group of graduate and law students at UC Berkeley started a reading group with the goal of educating themselves and their community about African and African American history.[2] The founding members were Donald Warden, Donald Hopkins, Otho Green, and Henry Ramsey.[2]

Susan D. Anderson, a curator at the California African American Museum, said "They read the black writers that the university was ignoring…(and) devoured Ralph Ellison, discussed Carter G. Woodson, debated W.E.B. DuBois. They talked about apartheid, about African decolonization, about liberation movements in the developing world, and about the history of racism in America."[3]

There were also chapters in other cities and universities. The Los Angeles chapter was chaired by Maulana Karenga.[4] Donald Warden visited Portland in 1963[5] and returned in February 1964, proposing to form a chapter of the Afro-American Association in that city.[6] In the mid-1960s, students formed a chapter of the Afro-American Association at Duke University in North Carolina.[7] At Northeastern University in Massachusetts in 1966, students dissatisfied with Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee formed an AAA chapter to advocate for African American students and political awareness on campus.[8] Students at the University of Alabama established an Afro-American Association in 1968, which later became their Black Student Union.[9]

Impact

Donald Warden mentored Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who were Afro-American Association members and co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966.[10] Another AAA member, Kenny Freeman, contributed to the party's Ten-Point Program.[2]

The parents of Kamala Harris, Donald J. Harris and Shyamala Gopalan, were part of the study group that became the Afro-American Association.[10]

Several members became prominent cultural and political leaders.[11] These included Ron Dellums (congressman and Oakland mayor), Judge Thelton Henderson, and Cedric Robinson (professor and scholar of Black Studies).[11] Henry Ramsey became an Alameda County Superior Court judge, member of the Berkeley City Council, and dean of the Howard University School of Law.[12]

References
  1. Barry, Ellen (2020-09-13). "How Kamala Harris's Immigrant Parents Found a Home, and Each Other, in a Black Study Group". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  2. Lazard, Dorothy (November 5, 2020). "The Afro-American Association: Forerunner to the Panthers". Oakland Public Library. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  3. Anderson, Susan D. (January 20, 2021). "The long fight leading to Kamala Harris". California African American Museum. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  4. Karenga, Tiamoyo (2007-02-12). "Maulana Karenga (1941- )". Black Past. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  5. Freedom Unit to Hold Rally. The Oregon Journal, December 21, 1963
  6. Visiting Chairman Plans to Form Afro-American Association Here. Oregon Journal, February 7, 1964.
  7. "This Week in North Carolina History Newspaper". Perquimans Weekly. February 11, 2021.
  8. "Afro-American Association – African American Activism & Experience at Northeastern University". Northeastern University Library. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  9. "Student Resources: Black Student Union". University of Alabama Division of Student Life, Student Government Association. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  10. Romano, Andrew (August 16, 2019). "How Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's new running mate, was shaped by 'the People's Republic of Berkeley'". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  11. O'Donoghue, Liam (April 7, 2021). ""We're no longer afraid to be Black"". East Bay Yesterday. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  12. Lee, Henry K. (2014-03-15). "Henry Ramsey Jr., 'warrior for justice,' dies at 80". SFGate. Retrieved 2021-05-27.

Further reading
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