[1] During the 1960s and until 1971, ASCRIA was an influential force in Guyana's post-independence politics, as both a competitor and an ally of Forbes Burnham's governing People's National Congress (PNC).
The organization's predecessor, Black separatist ASRE had previously sought for partitioning Guyana into three sectors: one for Africans, one for East Indians, and one for a voluntarily mixed population, an approach that however failed to sufficiently gain traction.
Requiring members to attend a six-month course in African studies based in the capital Georgetown, to attain the proper black awareness, active membership was estimated to exceed 2,000 in 1970.
In this period, Kwayana served as a close advisor to Prime Minister Forbes Burnham, to the point that ASCRIA was considered the cultural and economic arm of the People's National Congress government.
ASCRIA itself initiated joint activities with Moses Bhagwan's pan-Indian Indian People's Revolutionary Associates (IPRA).