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slavery and pre-colonial religions and spiritual systems to free themselves from racial
oppression.
BLACK NATIONALISM
Historical and philosophical Black Nationalism also drives the online rebels’ crusade.
Black Nationalism is the idea that Black people should create their own distinct
educational, religious, economic, cultural, political, social, and even defense institutions.
Black Nationalism is a concept that African Americans have adopted since their
enslavement. Martin Delany, an African American doctor, soldier, and abolitionist, is
often considered the father of Black Nationalism. In 1850, after Delany and two fellow
African Americans were dismissed from Harvard Medical School because of their race,
Delany concluded that Black people needed to create their own establishments to
survive in America. As slavery and racism continued to torment African Americans in the
United States, Delany’s promotion of Black Nationalism intensified. In 1852, he
published The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of
the United States. In the book, he expressed his disillusionment with African Americans’
ability to ever overcome racial repression in the United States. Instead, he insisted that
Blacks in America should emigrate to Africa, the Caribbean, or Latin America and create
their own new nation. Though Delany failed to realize his goal of a mass exodus of
African Americans nationalizing in another geographic region, his Black Nationalist calls
guided the philosophies of many successive African American organizations and
leaders. 27 The Nation of Islam, Black Panthers, New Black Panther Party, and the
modern-day social media Black Conscious Community are parts of Delany’s legacy. A
major tenet of Black Nationalism is non-conformism, non-assimilation, and nonintegration
into mainstream or White-dominated society. Black Nationalists believe that
27
Robert S. Levine, ed., Martin R. Delany: A Documentary Reader (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2003).