Imari Obadele | Separatist, scholar, 79

Imari Obadele, 79, the former leader of the Republic of New Africa separatist group, died of a stroke Monday in Atlanta.

Known as the "Father of Reparations," Dr. Obadele was a staunch supporter of Malcolm X and eventually became president of the Republic of New Africa, which sought to establish its own nation in the South.

He was president when, in 1971, city police and FBI agents battled RNA members who were inside a fortified home in Jackson, Miss. One police officer was killed and two others were wounded in the shoot-out.

Dr. Obadele spent more than five years in prison for conspiracy but was not charged with murder.

A native of South Philadelphia, Dr. Obadele grew up with 10 siblings as Richard Henry. He was an honors graduate of Central High School.

The government began monitoring Dr. Obadele in 1948, when he urged black Americans to resist the draft as a protest against the segregated military. In July of that year, President Harry S. Truman ordered the desegregation of the armed forces.

In 1968, Dr. Obadele was labeled a "key black extremist" by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover because of his civil rights activism.

In 1985, at 55, he received a doctorate in political science from Temple University.

An author and scholar, Dr. Obadele taught at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, William Paterson University in New Jersey, and the College of Wooster in Ohio.

His subject areas included U.S. government, constitutional law, international relations, and African American politics.

- AP