Organization of Afro-American Unity
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Following article is from Columbia University's Malcolm X Project "On June 28, 1964, Malcolm X called a press conference at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem to announce his new project which he had been helped to set up by Elijah Muhammad's two sons, the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Modeled after the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the all-African federation, the OAAU was an international secular political organization promoting the interests of black people and working to fight white oppression, Discussions with the exiled author Julian Mayfield, one of Malcolm X's hosts during his 1964 trip to Africa, convinced Malcolm X of the need for a social, political and economic organization that would link Blacks in the U.S. with Africa.
The OAAU pushed for Black control of every aspect of the Black community. At the founding rally, Malcolm X stated that the organization's principal concern was the human rights of Blacks, but that it would also focus on voter registration, school boycotts, rent strikes, housing rehabilitation, and social programs for addicts, unwed mothers, and troubled children. Malcolm X saw the OAAU as a way of "un-brainwashing" Black people, ridding them of the lies they had been told about themselves and their culture. Malcolm X was determined not to let the OAAU come under white influence, and he insisted that no donations from whites be accepted and that whites not be allowed to join the organization. Small initiation fees and weekly dies were collected in order to keep the OAAU from resorting to accepting charity from whites. Malcolm X did not have sufficient time to invest in the OAAU to help it flourish. After his death, Malcolm X's half sister, Ella Collins, took over the leadership of the OAAU, but dwindling membership and Malcolm X's absence eventually led to the collapse of the organization."
