Organization of Afro-American Unity Inc. Aims and Objectives, 1965

Since its inception, in the spirit of Carter G. Woodson, Sapelo Square has commemorated Black History Month with daily Black Muslim History facts. This year, Sapelo Square is exploring the Muslim collection at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). During Black History Month, we will display a different object each day from the collection, showing how the objects help tell the rich histories of Muslims of African descent in the United States. View the entire series at our dedicated Black History Month 2021 page.

This double-sided folded leaflet outlines the aims and objectives of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, Inc. (OAAU), founded by Malcolm X in 1964. In March of that year, Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and established the Muslim Mosque, Inc. to focus on spiritual matters and the OAAU to focus on liberation for all Black people. Inspired by the Organization of African Unity, the OAAU’s Pan-Africanist orientation was influenced by historian John Henrike Clarke who co-wrote its charter, along with activists the Reverend Albert Cleage and Gloria Richardson. The central role of women organizers was a key feature of the OAAU, and after Malcolm X’s death in 1965, his sister Ella Collins assumed leadership of the organization.