Imari Obadele was a black nationalist, advocate for reparations, and president of the Republic of New Afrika. Richard Henry was born in Philadelphia, and as a young man founded a civil rights organization there with his brother Milton. The two later moved to Detroit. After the murder of Malcolm X, they helped form the Malcolm X Society and, dissatisfied by the progress achieved by nonviolent approaches to civil rights movement, came to embrace black separatism. Richard and Milton adopted the African names Imari and Gaidi Obadele in 1968, and with others, founded the Republic of New Afrika. At the meeting founding the group, they formed a "government in exile". Obadele was designated the information minister, and soon published a pamphlet "War in America". The organization's stated aim was to carve Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina out of the United States and establish an independent black nation from these five states. The Republic of New Afrika also formed a paramilitary unit, the Black Legion. In 1969, the unit was involved in a gun battle in Detroit that killed a police officer. Imari split from his brother, who came to reject militancy, in 1970, and was also elected president of the Republic of New Afrika. Obadele and the group moved its headquarters to a house in Jackson, Mississippi, despite failing to purchase an plot. Obadele and ten others were arrested and charged in the wake of a joint police / FBI raid on the house in 1971. The raid culminated in a gunfight that killed an officer. It was later determined that Obadele was not at the scene, and murder charges against him were dropped. However, he was convicted of conspiracy to assault a federal agent and was sentenced to twelve years in prison. Amnesty International described him as a political prisoner, and the group claimed that it had been targeted by the FBI because of its political views. FBI documentation that was later released confirmed that the agency was following the group. Internal FBI memos suggested that Obadele "be kept off the streets" and that he was one of the country's "most violence-prone black extremists". After prison, Obadele went on to earn a PhD in political science from Temple University. He became a professor at Prairie View A&M University. His stepson is Ivory A. Toldson.
