The Na­tion­al Joint Ac­tion Com­mit­tee (NJAC) is mark­ing the 56th an­niver­sary of April 21, 1970, when the Gov­ern­ment de­clared a state of emer­gency dur­ing the Black Pow­er Rev­o­lu­tion and de­tained the group’s lead­ers.

In a me­dia re­lease to­day, NJAC said the 1970 move­ment was “an ef­fort to cre­ate a new spir­it and a new so­ci­ety so that peo­ple could live in true hap­pi­ness, love and uni­ty, to­wards build­ing a great na­tion.”

The group said the rev­o­lu­tion brought “new hope” to the coun­try and fos­tered a sense of uni­ty among cit­i­zens, with peo­ple re­fer­ring to each oth­er as broth­er and sis­ter. It al­so claimed that the pe­ri­od saw a 56 per cent re­duc­tion in crime.