At the organizing congress in Chicago in June 1998, 2,000 people participated in creating the organization.[1] However, their first mission predates the organizing congress, having been publicly endorsed and published by a number of high-profile black scholars and activists on 16 March 1998.[2]
On 17 April 1999, the BRC ratified a "freedom agenda" listing 15 objectives dealing with racial and economic justice in the United States.[3] The National Council of the BRC adopted a mission statement on 26 September 1999 in East St. Louis, Illinois. The opening paragraph states:
The purpose of the Black Radical Congress (BRC) is to promote dialogue among African American activists and scholars on the left; to discuss critical issues on the national and international scene that pertain to the Black community; to explore new strategies and directions for progressive political, social and cultural movements; and to renew the Black radical movement through increased unified action.[4]
The complete mission statement [1] discusses approaches to radical democratic methods involving conferences, forums and publications. "Principles of unity" were also adopted, stating that the BRC was established as a "center without walls" focusing on "transformative politics that focuses on the conditions of Black working and poor people."[5]
A national organizing conference was convened in Detroit in 2000, and other conferences have taken place in subsequent years. [6]
Organization
The BRC has both individual and organizational memberships. It is headed by a National Congress.[7]
The BRC states: "Black is not necessarily a color or hue, but encompasses all peoples of African descent."[10] Their work is focused on racial justice as well as broader social and economic justice as it intersects with the politics of race and racial oppression.
Radical politics
"Radical means getting to the root causes of society's injustices and working for root-level, fundamental change. Radicalism is an honored tradition in Black political history."[10]
Special issue of The Black Scholar, on "The Black Radical Congress", vol 28, #3/4 (1998), contains BRC Principles of Unity, Summary of Workshop Sessions, reports and commentaries by Herb Boyd, John Woodford, Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, Jennifer Hamer and Helen Neville, Carl Dix, Clarence Lang
^ Rogers, Jamala. “From Conference to Organization: The Challenges of Building the Black Radical Congress.” The Black Scholar, vol. 35, no. 1, 2005, pp. 27. www.jstor.org/stable/41069115.
^Lumpkins, C.L. (2009). Finkelman, P (ed.). Black radical congress. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 242. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
