The Mothership: From UGMA/UGMAA to the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and UGMAA

The commitment to the community and to the preservation and fostering of black art had been at the organization's core, but when first organized this placed the Association in an underground, marginal position. By the late-1960s this was no longer the case. Much of what it represented was now becoming visible on the social landscape as the search for an improved community life was embraced by many, even as the wave of revolutionary activity was subsiding. Spurred by these developments and an influx of younger recruits espousing many of these ideas, the organization expanded its involvements throughout the community and started planning for a more defined structure to create, support, and house their growing arts movement.