Institute of the Black World

The Institute of the Black World (IBW) was a think tank based in Atlanta, Georgia, which was founded and directed by African diaspora intellectuals from 1969 to 1983. Led primarily by Vincent Harding, it was originally a project of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and is described by the historian Derrick E. White as "a collection of activist-intellectuals who analyzed the educational, political, and activist landscape to further the Black Freedom Struggle in the wake of King’s assassination." In addition to Harding, Stephen Henderson and William Strickland (of the University of Massachusetts) formed the core leadership in the early years of the IBW.

The IBW sought to build connections across a range of diverse Black approaches, including Black nationalism, integrationism, and Marxism, and in particular sought to reach three specific audiences: First, Black scholars developing Black Studies programs; second, Black elected officials; and third, grassroots organizations. Its participants included nationalists John Henrik Clark and Julius Lester, integrationists such as C. T. Vivian, and a significant number of intellectuals from outside of the United States, particularly the Caribbean, including Marxist theorist C. L. R. James, cultural theorist Sylvia Wynter, historians Robert A. Hill and Walter Rodney, and economists George Beckford and Norman Girvan.

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