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The Institute of the Black World

The institute of the Black World was an organization created for the black community that coincided with the Martin Luther King Jr. Center by historian, Vincent Harding, and scholar, Stephen Henderson. The institution was constructed in Atlanta during the late 1960’s, but officially announced in the early 1970’s.The organization effort was originally named the “W.E.B. Du Bois Institute.”

Before the Institute of the Black World came to be, it was first named the Du Bois Institute. Derrick White stated the institution began when students at Atlanta University Center protested for the removal of a teacher in who called a black student a, “Jackass.” The Du Bois Institute specifically wanted Black Studies, for colored students, at the Atlanta University Center to evolve and progress which would create, “significant pathways to the redefinition of American education and of the Black Experience. Atlanta University Center (AUC) was an early focus for the Institute of the Black World organization to increase black studies classes and content since there was only one class that was related to black studies. It is stated the Du Bois Institute wanted to arrange, “additional courses to [produce] a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Black Studies” at the University, wanted to hold seminars and conferences in the community of AUC, “aligning the Du Bois Institute with the Martin Luther King Jr., and many more things to help the Du Bois Institute and members prosper. By the fall of 1969, AUC had several black studies courses that involved: “Lerone Bennett Jr.’s “Black Reconstruction in America; educational specialist Chester Davis’s “Building Black Curriculum in Public Schools,” and more. The effect from the Du Bois Institute on the Atlanta University Center prompted Henderson and Harding to further broaden their goals, which led to the change of name to the Institute of the Black World.

The Institute of the Black World was created after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Martin Luther King Jr. died on April 4, 1968. Much of the black population was left grieving and hopeless for the ongoing fight for black freedom after King's death. The IBW’s (Institute of the Black World) motive was to, “promote “black liberation,” “emphasizing social, political,” issues, “black studies, a black political agenda,” and much more. The institute consisted of, “...black-scholar activists and intellectuals,” that communicated their feelings and beliefs on the struggles of the black community. Derrick E. White stated that the IBW followed a close ideology to, “pragmatic nationalism,” because the group centralized its ideas from African Diaspora. Their pragmatic nationalism was defined as the inbetween of a liberal stance of the black movement and the political ideology stance of it. In a way, the IBW was portrayed as a “critical oppositional voice to the rise of the neoconservative,” following. The organization was come to be known as a thinking tank for all who were a part of it that believed in a progression.

The Institute of Black Power held its first couple of activities for members and communities during the summer of 1969. During the summer it held a research seminar on to evaluate the “situation in Black Studie programs across the country,” members analyzed credible information about hundreds of black studies programs and related them back to their own communities. By doing this they could examine what was working on improving or not progressing the black community with their education. Their second activity, a workshop, was created by a staff member, Lerone Bennett Jr., who asked members to write about the “Challenge of Blackness.” Bennett wanted all who were a part of the workshop and him to “define” what being black at the time meant and to conversate about the same issues and routine the community goes through. Stephen Ward’s article goes on to state that the IBW wanted to be a “reference” of concepts about issues going on in the black world that would, “transcend the limits of white concepts.”

Soon after these activities, the Institute of the Black World was officially announced to the public on January 17, 1970. The announcement came with a celebration called the “Celebration of Blackness,” where the organization's culture and ideology beliefs were shown. After a short period of time, Vincent Harding and the Institute of Black believed it was in the best interest of the organization to separate from the Martin Luther King Jr. Center. At the time, Coretta Scott King was in charge of the King Center. This decision was the result of both organizations heading in different directions, the IBW, wanted to, “address salient black issues by surveying a broad spectrum of black intellectuals to provide the best and [most efficient] pragmatic solutions to the community,” without any restraints. The King Center, on the other hand, was very cautious and worried about how open the IBW was with liberal ideologies, and how they would express themselves. It is stated that the King Center and IBW had very different views and cost restrainments (although they were fighting for the same movement) that cost the end of their relationship and the rapid separation. This separation caused a decrease in financial stability for the Institute of Black Power since it was dependent on the King Center, but the Harding and the IBW still managed to prosper.

The Institute of the Black World rapidly started and created many, “programs of work,” of opportunities for followers and members. Programs such as: “semester long research-oriented seminars,”“lectures and seminars by scholars, artists, and organizers from throughout the black community,” and as well created great relationships with universities. Along the way, IBW worked with many other organizations that expressed the same ideology, organizations such as: “Congress of African People (CAP), the Black Academy of Arts and Letters, and the newly formed African Heritage Studies Association (AHSA).” The relationship between the AHSA and the IBW strong because they were similar with when, why, and who they started their organization. The IBW even joined in at ASHA's, “second annual conference”, where 2,000 various members and people from all over the world came. By the end popular figures such as C.L.R. James, Robert Hill, and Walter Rodney became part of the IBW movement. The BLW kept growing with research, programs, and opportunities.

The fall of the Institute of the Black World came several years later. The IBW had many solutions to problems within the black studies world, but the, “lack of a unified social and political ideology amongst black organizations,” would destroy Harding’s, Henderson’s and the IBW’s mission.