Historical Documents

The Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World was drafted and adopted at the International Convention of the Universal Negro Improvement Association by our chosen representatives in Liberty Hall in New York City in 1920. There was arguably no greater trumpet announcing the arrival of the Harlem Renaissance and the Roaring 20s at the turn of the decade than the UNIA’s Declaration, which boldly asserted our humanity, political agency, commercial ambition, and cultural gravitas and solidarity.

Nearly two decades ahead of the rest of the world, the Declaration was one of the key inspirations and blueprints for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948.

True to its founding organization, the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World established some of the most iconic and recognizable symbols of our fight for liberation that we see today. For example, when most people think of Black Liberation, the colors that come to mind are Red, Black, and Green. However, most people do not know that these colors were officially selected and declared “the colors of the Negro Race” in Article 39 of the Declaration.

For more examples of how this founding document has inspired the world, click the image to the right to read the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World.