Amiri Baraka and The Committee for a Unified Newark
Author and activist Amiri Baraka speaks at Kent States’ "Think Week" April 1969. Courtesy of Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.
In the summer of 1967, protests occurred in Newark, New Jersey, Detroit, Michigan, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and other cities. Activist made “black power the phrase of the hour,” said Dick Gregory. He had recently attended an historic black power conference in Newark New Jersey. Born in 1934 in Newark New Jersey, writer and activist Amiri Baraka had been a leading figure in organizing the conference. He went on to organize the Committee for a Unified Newark (CFUN). In terms of food, Baraka advocated cooperative buying as a strategy for obtaining economic empowerment and solidarity. CFUN focused on black liberation more than the food its members ate.
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