The Institute of the Black World (IBW) was a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

based in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, which was founded and directed by

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

s from 1969 to 1983. Led primarily by

Vincent Harding Vincent Gordon Harding (July 25, 1931 – May 19, 2014) was an African-American pastor, historian, and scholar of various topics with a focus on American religion and society. A social activist, he was perhaps best known for his work with and wr ...

, it was originally a project of the

Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, commonly known as The King Center, is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization in Atlanta, United States. History The center was founded in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, who sta ...

and is described by the historian Derrick E. White as "a collection of activist-intellectuals who analyzed the educational, political, and activist landscape to further the Black Freedom Struggle in the wake of King's assassination." In addition to Harding, Stephen Henderson and William Strickland (of the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

) formed the core leadership in the early years of the IBW. The IBW sought to build connections across a range of diverse Black approaches, including

Black nationalism Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves ar ...

, integrationism, and

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

, and in particular sought to reach three specific audiences: first, Black scholars developing Black Studies programs; secondly, Black elected officials; and thirdly, grassroots organizations. Its participants included nationalists John Henrik Clark and

Julius Lester Julius Bernard Lester (January 27, 1939 – January 18, 2018) was an American writer of books for children and adults and an academic who taught for 32 years (1971–2003) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lester was also a civil right ...

, integrationists such as

C. T. Vivian Cordy Tindell Vivian (July 30, 1924July 17, 2020) was an American minister, author, and close friend and lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. Vivian resided in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded the C. T. Vivian Lead ...

, and a significant number of intellectuals from outside of the United States, particularly the Caribbean, including Marxist theorist

C. L. R. James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989),Fraser, C. Gerald, '' The New York Times'', 2 June 1989. who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson, was a Trinidadian historian, journalist and Marxist. His works are i ...

, cultural theorist

Sylvia Wynter ''The Honourable'' Sylvia Wynter, O.J. ( Holguín, Cuba, 11 May 1928) is a Jamaican novelist, /sup> dramatist, /sup> critic, philosopher, and essayist. /sup> Her work combines insights from the natural sciences, the humanities, art, and anti-c ...

, historians Robert A. Hill and

Walter Rodney Walter Anthony Rodney (23 March 1942 – 13 June 1980) was a Guyanese historian, political activist and academic. His notable works include ''How Europe Underdeveloped Africa'', first published in 1972. Rodney was assassinated in Georgetow ...

, and economists George Beckford and Norman Girvan. The IBW's own orientation has been described as "pragmatic Black nationalism... rooted in specific issues such as Black Studies or the creation of a black political agenda for the seventies; thus, its pragmatism critically engaged and employed the best practices from a variety of ideological perspectives, including cultural and political nationalism, as well as integration." The institute 2encouraged black artists and developed teaching materials for black children", and among its projects was the Black Policy Studies Center. The organization was based on Chestnut Street in Atlanta, in the house where W. E. B. Du Bois once lived. The IBW closed in 1983. In 2001, an organization of a similar name was formed, called Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW21), founded by Ron Daniels and based in Elmhurst, New York, and in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

References

External links

* Derrick E. White
"The Institute of the Black World and Atlanta as Black Intellectual Mecca in the 1970s"
''Atlanta Stdies'', October 3, 2017. 1969 establishments in the United States African-American history in Atlanta Organizations based in Atlanta Organizations established in 1969 {{Africandiaspora-stub