An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States

“It was not until Malcolm X came to repeat what Messenger Muhammad
had taught him and to enlarge upon those ideas—namely, that we are an
African people, in the wilderness of North America.” 23 It was these
experiences that undergirded the idea of a separate Black nation.
On March 4, 1970, Gaidi Abiodun Obadele (formerly Milton Henry,
brother of Imari), a Yale-trained lawyer from Detroit and also a leader and
founder of the RNA, gave a speech at a Black Power conference in Guelph,
Ontario, Canada. It is here he outlines the necessity and historical logic of
Blacks deserving land in the Black Belt South, using the Cherokee example
of removal. 24 He begins his speech with stereotypes about Native people
and their connection to the land: “The Indian saw the earth, the land, as a
sustainer and reviver of the internal spirit of man.” He continues, “The
Indian would see in today’s concrete buildings and paving the glaring
evidence of a people who, having no life spirit whatever or love of nature
. . . were doing everything . . . to . . . insulate themselves from life and life’s
dynamic spiritual processes.” 25 He paints a picture in which Native people
and cities are in fact, not incompatible, and in which Native people cannot
operate in modern times by enjoying city life. He also explains that in the
postwar era, Native Americans began coming in droves to cities, both at
their own choosing and because of federal termination and relocation
policies. 26 While this is a problematic statement, because it perpetuates the
idea that Native people cannot adapt to modern life, including living in
cities, what is worse is how Obadele uses Native histories as a proxy to
construct an ideal living situation for Black Americans.
First, he outlines his definition of sovereignty, observing that animals of
all kinds “know that sovereignty and power over land are essential for any
kind of life.” He defines sovereignty as “simply the right to exercise
dominion over a place of land, coupled with the power to preserve that right
against all outside intrusion and assault.” 27 Contrary to how Indigenous
people understand land, his conception is that it is there to be occupied and
exploited. As I mention in the previous chapter, land is not just a physical
space to be occupied but represents the culture and identity of a people.
Obadele further uses a negative tone to describe Native people.
Referring, in stereotypical fashion, to how the European came to this land,
he states that “when he came ashore, he came with his smile and a
willingness to smoke the Indian’s peace pipe.” He places Native people as
stoic, unknowing, innocent people who knew very little about European