The Defeat of Black Power: Civil Rights and the National Black Political Convention of 1972

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Leonard N. Moore's The Defeat of Black Power unpacks the events leading up to and following the first National Black Political Convention (popularly called the Gary Convention), a significant moment in the annals of African American and U.S. political history. An attempt to build black political unity, the 1972 meeting in Gary was spearheaded by the Congressional Black Caucus (Cbc) cofounder Charles Diggs; Gary, Indiana, mayor Richard Hatcher; and black nationalist Amiri Baraka. This unlikely triumvirate wanted to capitalize on momentum generated by the civil rights and black power movements and recent congressional redistricting, which had helped usher into office numerous black politicians. The Gary Convention, they hoped, would continue this energy into the 1972 presidential election. After a series of strategy sessions that pitted the organizers against Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the only declared black presidential candidate, an intense six weeks of planning began. The conveners and state delegates moved quickly and without uniformity toward Gary with a partial agenda and hopes that unity would prevail. Once there, integrationist and nationalist, politician and lay people grappled with several political issues, including a proposed endorsement of Chisholm (they declined), busing, and a call for the destruction of Israel as a state. Despite these hiccups, delegates ratified their larger agenda, though hastily.