BLACK UNITY Winter 2013
H OW TO J OIN ...
Application
Online
Visit www.blackunity.org and complete your membership form
online.
By Post
Complete your membership form
and post to:
182 Soho Hill
Handsworth
Birmingham
B19 1AG
By Email
Complete your membership form
and email it to:
[email protected]
Membership fees
Standard
£5 monthly
£15 Quarterly
£30 half Yearly
£55 Annually (Discounted)
Students, unwaged and over 65s
£4 monthly
£12 Quarterly
£24 Half Yearly
£44 Annually
Methods of Payment
Direct Debit (Monthly only)
Cheque
Cash
PayPal
Once your application is processed you
will received your photo ID in the post.
See the BU Directory pages for a list of
businesses offering member discounts..
All proceeds raised continue to fund the
work of OBU. Thank You for joining us!
2
It was only John Lewis of the Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee who
captured this new sentiment saying the “Black
masses are on the march for jobs and for
freedom”.
Malcolm X best explained this move from
Negro to Black, arguing that ‘there is new
type of Negro - he calls himself a Black man….
He doesn’t make any apology for his Black
skin.’ This embrace of our Blackness was
meant as a political statement to tie us into a
resistance that did not slow down and wait
for White society to be on board, but said and
did what was necessary for our community.
Move to African?
From engaging with the community about
OBU, it is clear that there are those who argue
that the using Black to describe ourselves is
wrong because we are using the language of
the oppressor. In this argument we need to
evolve beyond the use of Black and embrace
our African self. In this view we need to
culturally return to Africa in order to liberate
our minds and spirit. Language is key here,
and the argument is that to use Black is to
limit ourselves to Western framework.
The problem with this argument is that is
misses that Black is not the oppressor’s term.
We embraced Blackness in order to commit
to each other. This politics also connects us
into the African Diaspora as it is based on
Garvey’s proclamation that ‘the Black skin is
not a symbol of shame, but rather a glorious
symbol of greatness’. Article continued at
www.blackunity.org.uk
What we do
The Organisation of Black Unity aims to bring together Black people and Black organisations to
build strategies and programmes for the Black community. The central work of the organisation
is to build Departments in areas such as education, health and business to support the existing
work that goes on in the community and to create new initiatives.
In order to build an organisation accountable to the grassroots of the community the OBU is
created based around local areas. The first chapter has been established in Birmingham and we
are working on building a base of membership until we establish the departments at our annual
general meeting in February 2014. At this meeting we will hold elections for the key positions
Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary.
Once the departments are established they will be responsible for coordinating the work in
specific areas and be accountable to the
Central Committee of OBU, who will set the
budgets and the overall coordination of the
organisation.
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