Black Association for Nationalism Through Unity

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African Americans in Omaha

The Black Association for Nationalism Through Unity, or BANTU, was a youth activism group focused on black power and nationalism in Omaha, Nebraska in the 1960s. Its name is a reference to the Bantu peoples of Southern Africa.

It was reportedly an arm of the Black Panthers Party. Efforts by some to start a chapter at Tech High School were unsuccessful.[1] According to extensive U.S. government surveillance records, Robert Griffo, a member of the Black Panthers, was appointed minister of student affairs at Tech.[2][3] BANTU was credited with leading the protests that led to three days of rioting in June 1969, after an Omaha police officer fatally shot teenager Vivian Strong in the Logan Fontenelle Public Housing Projects.[4]

BANTU was also the target of a COINTELPRO investigation by the FBI.[5]

  1. ^ United States Government Printing Office. (1971) United States Congressional Serial Set. p. 84.
  2. ^ United States Congress. (1970) Black Panther Party: Hearings, Ninety-first Congress, Second Session. House Committee on Internal Security. p. 4887.
  3. ^ United States Congress. (1970) Black Panther Party, Hearings. p. 4448.
  4. ^ (n.d.) Distilled in Black and White Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine Omaha Reader.
  5. ^ A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of Federal Bureau of Investigation Surveillance Files - FBI Files on Black Extremist Organizations. Retrieved 12/20/07.