Between March 10th and 12th of 1972, the West Side High School auditorium was buzzing with excitement and hope. The room was filled with a tour de force of black political activists, politicians, and cultural figures. Comedian Dick Gregory delivered his usual mix of jokes and political commentary, while Muhammad Ali served as sergeant at arms. Newly elected black politicians like Richard Hatcher, Charles Diggs, and Kenneth Gibson mixed with black nationalists like Amiri Baraka and Queen Mother Moore. Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, sat together in a dramatic display of unity.
The event was the Gary National Black Political Convention, convened fifty-two years ago today. Under the banner of “Unity without Uniformity,” the thousands in attendance sought to synthesize the various strains of black politics into a coherent strategy for the 1972 presidential election and beyond, while considering the options for political action outside the two major parties.
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