ABSTRACT
When discussing nationalism within the Black community,1 one also has to understand the various forms, strands, and ideologies associated with this multi-layered concept. Due to the peculiar situation of Africans in America, the political standpoint of the community cannot be easily categorized, and/or understood as homogenous. For example, modes of what is termed “Black” Nationalism include (but are not limited
to) Separatist, Integrationist, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-African, Christian, Modern, Third World, Traditional, Radical, Post-colonial, Territorial, Cultural, Revolutionary, Afrocentric, and Post-nationalist.2 Each mode represents the needs and/or demands of the community at various historical junctures. This variety does not make one “type” of nationalism more effective than another, but provides space for understanding the continuum of which the Black experience in America is a part. The first section of this chapter explores the contemporary history of revolutionary and cultural nationalism as understood in the context of fourth wave Black political revolution (1966-1976).3
