Stokely Carmichael Coined the Phrase
He later changed his name to Kwame Ture and is credited with introducing the “Black Power” slogan to the 1960s movement when he raised it as a chant at a 1966 march in Mississippi. The phrase electrified the crowd. It seemed to answer the frustration with the slow pace of change — when there was any change at all — and speak to the need to go beyond protests tailored toward appealing to the conscience of “white America
Embracing Africa
Probably the most noteworthy impact of the Black Power Movement was its influence on Black culture. For the first time since Marcus Garvey in the 1930s and ’40s, Black people in the United States were encouraged to acknowledge their African heritage. Garvey was an adamant proponent of Black people embracing their heritage. The Civil Rights Movement largely spoke to America’s troubles and how to overcome them. The Black Power Movement took the lead from Garvey. Colleges established Black studies programs and Black studies departments that centered their curriculums on The Motherland. Blacks who had grown up believing that they were descended from a backward people now found out that African culture was as rich and diverse as any other, and they were encouraged to take pride in that heritage.
The movement’s leaders said Black people had been trying to aspire to white ideals of what they should be. The Black Power Movement was the time for Blacks to set their own agenda, putting their needs and aspirations first. An early step, in fact, was the replacement of the word “Negro”— a word associated with the years of slavery and oppression — with “Black.”
Different From Civil Rights Movement
Carmichael emphasized that the Black Power Movement was similar to the Civil Rights Movement, but different. “For too many years, Black Americans marched and had their heads broken and got shot. … After years of this, we are at almost the same point — because we demonstrated from a position of weakness. We cannot be expected any longer to march and have our heads broken in order to say to whites: come on, you’re nice guys. For you are not nice guys. We have found you out … This is what [Blacks] seek: control … [Black Power] means the creation of power bases from which Black people can work to change statewide or nationwide patterns of oppression through pressure from strength — instead of weakness.”
Women Played Prominent RolesWomen, dedicated to the goals, often looked beyond obstacles and performed many of the basic tasks necessary for the operation of the movement. They wrote articles for the Black Panther newspaper, tutored children in the liberation schools, offered legal advice to prisoners, organized rallies, distributed fliers and pamphlets and spoke to their local communities about solutions to economic and social problems. And, of course, women like Angela Davis (above) and Elaine Brown took leadership roles and plotted strategy.
The Fear Factor
Many whites, and a number of Blacks, saw the movement as a Black separatist organization bent on segregating Blacks and whites and undoing the important work of the Civil Rights Movement. The solutions that some Black Power leaders advocated seemed only to create new problems. For example, they suggested that Blacks receive paramilitary training and carry guns to protect themselves. Though these individuals insisted this device was solely a means of self-defense and not a call to violence, it was still unnerving for many to think of armed civilians walking the streets.
Richard Nixon Claimed to Be a SympathizerPresident Richard Nixon (above with iconic singer James Brown) used words to indicate he sympathized with the Black Power Movement. He said in a 1968 speech that “what most of the militants are asking is not separation, but to be included in — not as supplicants, but as owners, as entrepreneurs — to have a share of the wealth and a piece of the action.” Federal government programs, Nixon said, should “be oriented toward more Black ownership, for from this can flow the rest — Black pride, Black jobs, Black opportunity and, yes, Black Power.” Of course, Nixon’s actions never matched his words.
Black Art Became in Vogue
The Black Arts Movement, seen by some as connected to the Black Power Movement, flourished in the 1960s and 1970s. Young Black poets, authors and visual artists found their voices and shared those voices with others. Unlike earlier Black arts movements, such as the Harlem Renaissance, the new movement primarily sought out a Black audience, buoyed by the aggressive nature of the times.
The Movement Was Felt InternationallyOlympic medalists John Carlos and Tommie Smith (above) helped push the movement across the globe with their display on the medal stand in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
The most important influence of all was that appealing to the current system to act according to its stated principles of justice and equality wasn’t enough — that a more militant form of struggle was needed to fundamentally transform society.
Impact on Elected OfficialsAccording to the late historian Manning Marable, there were just 100 Black elected officials around the U.S. in 1964. By 1969, that number was 1,000, and by 1975, it was 3,000.
Almost all of these African-American officeholders were liberal Democrats, including former grassroots activists.
FBI’s Deadly End of the Movement
In August 1967, the FBI initiated a covert action program called COINTELPRO to disrupt and “neutralize” organizations the bureau characterized as “Black Nationalist Hate Groups.” Among the FBI’s goals, outlined in a memo, was to “prevent the rise of a messiah who could unify and electrify the militant nationalist movement … Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael and Elijah Muhammad all aspire to this position”; prevent militant Black nationalist groups and leaders from gaining respectability by discrediting them; prevent the long-range growth of militant Black nationalist organizations, especially among youths. Ultimately, the FBI, with help from other law enforcement, killed movement leaders and members in ambushes and shootouts. Most infamously, Fred Hampton (above) was shot to death while he slept during a 1969 raid in Chicago
