Edited by Azizi Powell
This is a compilation of the comments that I have published online about my involvement from 1967-1969 in the Black cultural nationalist organization entitled "Committee For Unified Newark" (CFUN) [Newark, New Jersey]
Most of these comments were published on this pancocojams blog. One comment was published on Mudcat folk music forum and one comment was published in a YouTube discussion thread.
The Addendum to this post consists of two comments that I wrote on June 10,2024 that I refer to as "Long Story Short".
Thanks to all those who are mentioned in this post.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
These comments aren't meant to convey my full experiences with that organization.
These comments also aren't meant to imply that everyone (and particularly every woman) experienced Committee For Unified Newark the same way that I did. However, I believe that even the small amount of information that I chose to share may be helpful to people who are interested in that organization during that brief time period.
Furthermore, this post isn't meant to be a portion of an autobiographical book, a confessional, or a treatise about why I no longer considered myself or was considered a member of that organization. Suffice it to say that I stopped attending CFUN meetings some months before I left Newark, New Jersey to move back to my hometown of Atlantic City, New Jersey after graduating from Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey (located very near Newark).
Shortly after I moved back home, I received a telephone call from Aminah Baraka, the wife of Amiri Baraka (the head of CFUN). Aminah shared with me that her friend, poetess Sonia Sanchez was moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to join the teaching staff of the newly constructed University of Pittsburgh Black Studies department. Aminah said Sonia wanted someone to be a live in nanny for her toddler twin sons. To make a long story short, I jumped at the opportunity and Aminah helped me hook up with Sonia. Within three days we were in Pittsburgh.
When Sonia Sanchez left the University of Pittsburgh, I remained in that city. For a while, I still considered myself as a member of CFUN, almost like I was in some foreign missionary outpost. I traveled back to Newark (with some sisters from Pittsburgh) to work on the Gipson mayoral contest (which he won) and I attended an Imani feast at CFUN in 1970 on the last night of Kwanzaa. But after that, I didn't go back to Newark. I recall seeing Aminah one time at a speaking engagement that she had a Pitt. We barely spoke but time had separated us, just like time had separated me from any ongoing relationship with Sonia Sanchez.
Eventually, I made peace with the fact that my path was no longer the same as the path of members of Committee for Unified Newark. Although I've lost touch with everyone I knew during those two years, and have also lost touch with people who were/are? in the cultural nationalist movement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I wish everyone peace and love. Also, I very much appreciate the positive influence that a number of people in CFUN and in the cultural nationalist movement in Pittsburgh had on my continued interest and continued involvement with African and African Diaspora culture as demonstrated in my years of telling adapted West African stories, in my formation of African American children's game songs performing arts groups, and in my editing of this pancocojams blog & my other online blogs.
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COMMENTS ON THIS SUBJECT
These comments are given in chronological order based on their publishing date, with the earliest dates given first. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
1.
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=104999
Subject: RE: African American Protest Slogans & Songs
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Sep 07
"I just thought of another Black cultural nationalist chant
that I remember saying when I was a member of Committee For Unified Newark
{CFUN}. This organization was largely under the leadership of Amiri Baraka
[also known as poet, playwright, author LeRoi Jones}
This chant is from the late 1960s:
Caller- "What time is it?"
Group response- ["It's] "Nation Time"
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2.
HOW I GOT MY AFRICAN NAME
Written by Azizi Powell,
Note: I wrote this post on January 22, 2005 as part of this thread on the Folk & Blues discussion forum Mudcat.org: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=55491#1385101 "How Did You Choose Your Mudcat Name?"
This post is presented without any corrections, additions, or updating.
"In the late 1960s I was a member of a organization that focused on African culture. Like other members of that group, I wanted an African personal name. My male friend at that time, Zayd, said he would give me an African name. And because I just loved loved loved him, I said I would accept the name that he selected. So out of the kindness of his soon to be cheatin heart, Zayd gave me a choice of two names-either "Aziza": Arabic for "one who is rare & precious" or "Azizi": Kiswahili with the same meaning.
Back in those days {and now} a lot of female names given to African Americans from the Arabic language and other language sources {as well as names which are creatively 'made up'} end with the 'ah" sound, names like "Keisha", "Maisha", "Malika", "Fatimah", "Kadisha", "Aaliyah". I liked the idea of "Azizi" because it sounded more unique.
But in those days {and still today} there was also a brand of makeup called "Aziza". The REAL reason why I choose 'Azizi' instead of 'Aziza' is that I didn't want to give somebody the opportunity to look at me and say "Aziza, you forgot your make-up, girl."
So I've been 'Azizi' now for 37 years-and I try to live up to that name with or without wearing makeup."
-Azizi Powell
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3.
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/05/comments-about-distinctive-african.html "Comments About Distinctive African American Names (Which I Don't Call "Ghetto Names")
Edited by Azizi Powell, May 5, 2015
EDITOR'S COMMENTS ABOUT THIS SERIES
This pancocojams series provides examples and comments about
African American naming traditions, including my speculations about why many
African Americans have preferred and, in some cases, still prefer certain
prefixes and certain suffixes. For example, it's my premise that the large
subset of 19th century and, in particular, 20th & 21st century distinctive
Black (African American) names that begin with "sh" or "ch"
can be at least partially explained by 1. the existence of a large number of
Arabic names and traditional African language names that begin with one of
those sounds, and 2. the existence of pre-1960s mainstream American names and
distinctive Black American names that begin with one of those sounds and 3. the
mass media attention given to some people or products with those names from the
1970s on.
I was one of the African Americans in the late 1960s who were interested in finding lists of African names so that we could change our "slave names" (birth names from European languages or from Hebrew) to "free names" (names from Arabic or traditional African languages.) In those early days of the Black power movement with its interest in African cultures there was no internet and lists of African names were hard to come by. I recall people in the Committee For Unified Newark, (the cultural nationalist group that I belonged to which eventually was headed by poet, playwright, activist Amiri Baraka, formerly Le Roi Jones), sharing mimeographed (reprinted) copies of African names that we happened to come by. Many of those names were from the Arabic language and others were from KiSwahili, which is largly based on Arabic. I'm not aware of any book of African names that was published before The Book of African Names (As Told by Chief Osuntoki) was published in 1970. In 1972 another book of African names was published - Names from Africa: Their Origin, Meaning, and Pronunciation by Ogonna Chuks-orji helped introduce African Americans to names from traditional African languages. I owned both of those books, but unfortunately, The Book of African Names (As Told by Chief Osuntoki) has gone missing. Some names from that second book is included in the pancocojams post on traditional African names that begin or end with "sh" or "ch".
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/05/arabic-names-that-begin-with-sh-or-ch.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Arabic Male Names And Arabic Female Names That Begin With "Sh" or "Ch" "
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/04/jamaican-names-that-begin-with-ch-or-sh.htmlfor the pancocojams post entitled "Swahili & Igbo Names That Begin With "Sh" or "Ch".
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4.
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-afrocentric-meanings-of-terms-slave.html
Azizi Powell, October 26, 2017
"It occurs to me that maybe the reason why I haven't found
any information online about the afrocentric use of the terms "slave
names" and "African free names" (or "free names") is
because those terms may not of been used by any other people but the members of
the Black power organization called "CFUN" (the Committee for Unified
Newark).
I was a member of that organization from around the end of 1966 until the summer of 1969. Imamu Amiri Baraka (formerly known as Le Roi Jones) was the leader of CFUN for much of that time.
Another term that probably was unique to members of that organization was "house" meaning the person who a woman is romantically attached to (i.e. a woman's man or husband).
For example, a woman might be asked "Who is your House?" If she was attached to a man, she would say "My House is Jamal." And if the woman wasn't attached, she would say "I don't have any House".
I think that this use of the word "house" came from the view that the man was the head of the household (i.e. "the Lord of the manor").
I don't recall men referring to women as anyone "house", which demonstrates the way that males had a higher status in that organization - although the view was that the roles of males and females were "different" and not either higher or lower.
By the way, in contrast to the Black Power organization, the Oakland California organization "US" that I believe served as a model for that Newark, New Jersey organization, males who were members of CFUN were supposed to have only one House (i.e. weren't supposed to be involved with more than one woman at a time), while males who were members of US were "allowed" to be polygamous.
I lost touch with members of CFUN when I left Newark in 1969 and eventually moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I often wondered what happened to certain members of that organization, particularly certain sisters (women members) of that organization. I hope that life has been as good to them (or better) as it has been to me."
5.
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/11/comments-on-youtube-discussion-thread.html
Azizi Powell, November 27, 2017
"I posted a comment to the discussion thread of this showcase
video to thank the publisher for sharing that video and to inform her and
others who might read that discussion thread about this post.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3hb8buLU0w "Niyah African Sweet 16 Dance"
Coley* , Published on Apr 21, 2017
I also added this comment:
..."While I take no position in that blog post, I agree that we African Americans must do much more to learn about history and cultures of the African continent. That said, I stand by the saying that I learned and chanted way back in the late 1960s when I was a member of the afrocentric group "The Committee For Unified Newark"- "We are an African people!"
One love!
-snip-
*The publisher's name when I first published that video in this pancocojams post was ”Nicole Campbell”.
On June 10, 2024 the comment feature was closed (which means all of the comments have been discarded - except for the selected comments that I quoted in that pancocojams post.
“We are an African people” was a exclamation/slogan that was used by members of
CFUN when I was a member in Newark in 1967-1969.
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6.
Pancocojams Editor's Note:
This is the comment that I was searching for when I was thinking of compiling the online comments that I had written here and elsewhere (on Mudcat Discussion Forum) about my being a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
"Anonymous, thank you for adding to the historical record
about historically Black Greek letter organization.
I appreciate it. For the historical record, I love it if you had shared which organization created its call in the 1940s and where and what its call was.
As I mentioned in this post, I'm an inactive member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc (Gamma Zeta chapter, New Jersey). I became inactive shortly after I went over in 1967 as I decided to devote my attention to college and to the afrocentric organization The Committee For Unified Newark). The only direct information that I have about historically Black Greek letter organizaions since that time is my attendance at step shows, and knowing friends and other people who have joined these organizations.
For the historical and cultural record, I would appreciate other corrections you or others make to my posts about historically Black Greek letter organizations.
And I agree with you that these organizations benefit their communities.
Best wishes,
Azizi Powell"
-snip-
For the record, I pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. starting in 1966, and crossed over in 1967. I voluntarily became inactive from that sorority in 1967 and was an active member of the Committee For Unified Newark (CFUN) from 1967 to around the spring of 1969.
ADDENDUM - LONG STORY SHORT
Azizi Powell, June 10, 2024
"In the spring of 1969, after graduating from Upsala College near Newark, New Jersey, I lived with a Committee For Unified Newark sister and worked at a summer program that Imamu Baraka was associated with that introduced young Black adults to concepts about writing television scripts. (Little did I know that about four years later I would have a local television series in which I told adapted West African stories to a revolving group of young children.
I had sorta met Sonia Sanchez one time when she read some of her poems at a Committee For Unified Newark (CFUN) program, but I didn't really know her . But I was at a crossroads in my life. My once upon a timeI h and didn't really want to stay in Atlantic City because my family was sorta dysfunctional. Besides, I was then and still am a believer in "signs" and I had two signs that I interpreted as pointing me to the city of Pittsburgh before I got that call from Aminah Baraka suggesting that I move to that city with Sonia Sanchez as her nanny.
The way that I remember it, soon after I returned home from visiting Francine, I got the phone call from Aminah suggesting that I move to Pittsburgh with Sonia Sanchez. My recollection is that Aminah sweetened the pot a little by saying that Sonia could probably help me attend some classes at Pitt. Plus she may not have known that the fact that Sonia had twins helped me decide to make that move. (I'm a twin and I always considered-and still consider seeing twins to be good luck.) So, I decided basically on the spot to make that move, and somehow I gathered up my courage and got out of Dodge (with "Dodge" being "Atlantic City.". Within two days, I took a bus to New York City and met Amiri Baraka's sister (who I barely knew) at the huge New York bus station. I spent the night with her and she went with me the next day to the airport where I met Sonia (without her children who were with family and would be arriving in Pittsburgh later that week). That was my first time in an airplane.
Fast forward to 1971. i was in Pittsburgh at another cross
roads in my life. I was a Black cultural naturalist who wore no make up and
wore my hair in an afro. I always wore African style clothing (mostly tee
shirts or sweaters with a long wraparound piece of material, even over pants in
the winter time. I was living in an apartment with Wade (also known as Mukuta),
my soon to be husband who I had met shortly after I first came to
Pittsburgh. Wade was a Jazz trumpet
player and a student at Pitt's undergraduate school from which he soon
graduated. Our apartment (on the street that just so happens to be around the
block from the home that we were to buy some years later and where I still
live) had just been broken into. We had decided to move, but didn't have a
place in mind. I got on the neighborhood bus that day and looked up and saw my
Atlantic City girlfriend Francine. In contrast to my appearance, Francine was
what I called "an Avon lady" (meaning she wore make up, her hair was
straightened, she had on "regular" middle class/work in the office
type American clothing. )
The remarkable thing is that Francine and I hadn't seen or talked to each other in the two years since that momentous (for me) visit with her in Atlantic City which helped propel me to move to Pittsburgh. During that bus ride Francine and I got to talking and she shared that she had graduated from Pitt, and was moving back to Atlantic City (I think). She also shared with me that her apartment would be available in a couple of days. Long story short- Francine gave me her landlord's name and number and soon got off at her stop. (That was the last time I ever saw Francine or talked with her).
Long story short, Wade and I moved into Francine's old apartment and I thanked God for watching over me and reaffirming to me that I was at the right place at the right time for whatever reasons.
Thanks for reading."
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