Category: Black Power Movement

1. Rocky

The prophet Elijah Muhammad and his methods of Islam were racially based in many ways. A primary example being his belief that the first humans Allah formed were black. Muhammad did not believe in the orthodox explanations of Islamic afterlife either. Much like the Christians and how John discussed God coming down to the Earth in order to save his people and defeat the devil in Revelation, the prophet Elijah Muhammad believed a racially based version of this event. The prophet Elijah believed Allah would come down after thousands of years of the white race reigning supreme in order to end this supremacy. This religion was meant to be an alternative to the white man’s Christianity. It was meant to invoke religious ways among black people, increase black self-esteem, and to divide whites from blacks.

2. Ions

Within the ghettos the Nation of Islam (NOI) was extremely popular, expanding from 100,000 in 1960 to almost a quarter million in 1969. During the 1930s and 1950s, the NOI set up temples in northern black ghettos such as Detroit, New York, and Chicago. Malcolm X the best NOI preacher also attracted attention and devotion towards the group from blacks within the ghetto as well.

Along with raising the esteem of blacks and inspiring them within the ghettos, the NOI provided real economic support as well. Elijah Muhammad and his son created businesses in the ghettos such as restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores. These opportunities were very positive, along with the NOI emphasizing a religious, sober way of life.

3. Want an X beside my name like Malcolm

Throughout his entire life, Malcolm X worked to improve the lives of African Americans. During the end of his life, Malcolm suggested he broadcasted his radicalism in order to make Martin Luther King Jr more appealable to the white population. Yet through his radicalism his legacy still had lasting effects.

X correctly drew attention to the lives of black people within the ghettos, along with the oppressed lives of blacks throughout the world. He became a black icon and role model for black youth. Most importantly in regard to the Civil Rights Movement, X inspired the new generation of black leaders in the movement. Unlike King who wished for integration, X was the first advocate for separatism and what later became black power during the civil rights era.

4. Level 1 zone

As efforts were made to increase the economic stability in ghettos by the The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), some situations were successful. Yet the ghettos remained poor, unemployed, uneducated, and violent. One of the reasons the efforts made by organizations were unsuccessful was because whites were unwilling to help the ghettos.

The most important aspect of the failed attempts to reform the ghettos by the NAACP and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was the fact that the civil rights movement itself was rejected within the ghettos. People believed that activists knew little about ghetto life and could do little to improve it. The positive and loving words of Dr. King were rejected as well; the only activism fueled within the ghettos could be sourced from the separatist words of Malcolm X.

5. NITRO

In 1966, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) members were frustrated and impatient with what they regarded as the slow progress of blacks towards equality. In addition to political disputes like the refusal of the Democratic Party to seat Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) delegates in Atlantic City, the SNCC turned to a militant leader in Stokely Carmichael. Another position change took place in The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), when the radical Floyd McKissick took James Farmer’s leadership role.

By the mid to late 60’s the CORE and SNCC were distancing themselves from the whites and NAACP and growing more and more radical. In 1966 the CORE convention endorsed “black power” and spoke out against non-violent protest, declaring it inappropriate if black people chose to defend themselves. The SNCC voted to expel whites in the same year. Through all the leadership changes from 1966-1968 the most radical black power organization emerged named the Black Panthers.

6. Black Panthers

Much like how the Black Panthers were influenced by Malcolm X and the NOI, they were similar. Their demands shared characteristics with Elijah Muhammad’s. Fundamentally the two organizations agreed upon cultural revival, nationalism, and self-help. For example not being bound to just the United States both organizations acknowledged black oppression over the world. Also both organizations worked within the ghettos in order to improve conditions.

As opposed to the NOI the Black Panthers were very radical, in fact the most radical. Routinely engaging in crime and even killing police, the organization was quickly targeted and destroyed by government forces. Unlike the NOI, the Black Panther had a very small member count, only 5000 compared to the NOI’s hundreds of thousands.

7. Saved

To say that the Black Power Movement was less successful than successful is an agreeable statement. The most prominent achievements that came from the Black Power Movement is the increased pride and morale of blacks across the nation and the increased attention the ghettos within political policy. Yet there were more controversies and negative connotations surrounding the Black Power Movement. The strength of the Civil Rights Movement was the nonviolent, law abiding act of protest that many activists and leaders promoted and engaged in; appearing morally superior as victims to an oppressive system. As soon as violent tendencies started to become apparent the Civil Rights Movement soon came to an end. These violent tendencies can be somewhat attributed to Black Power, and organizations like the Black Panthers. Because actions grew more violent this also increased division among whites and blacks, the one gap previous activists like Dr. King sought to close.

Yes, civil disobedience is an important role for making democracies work effectively because it is one of the diving factors that allows individual to exercise the right to free speech and speaks against unjust government and its laws. Throughout the history of the US civil disobedience has played a significant role in many of the social reforms that we all take for granted today. The civil right movement achieved many great things, their powerful protest created Immense amount of awareness for the oppression of black people in America. Protest like the Montgomery bus boycott, Selma Montgomery marchers, this outlawed discrimination based on racial, ethnic national religious and gender identity.

In the article “Civil Disobedience; what happens when the government is wrong”, the author describes how it was part of the government made with their citizens leading through civil disobedience, which was formed where a citizen intentionally refuses to participate in action in order to bring attention to unjust the laws. Civil disobedience is often an effectiveness means of changing laws and protecting liberties. It embodies an important moral concept that there are times when law and justice do not coincide and that to obey the law at such times can be ethical responsibility. During the American civil right, the act of violence in civil disobedience has been for years. Philosopher Henry David, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King were thrown in jail for engaging civil disobedience. In this emphasis those peaceful nonviolent were quite effective in America history. One of the most impactful examples of civil disobedience was during the civil right movement was one of the marchers for black southerners, voting right for Selma southerners, Alabama to Montgomery which resulted the Alabama police officers towards marchers they tried to cross Edmund bridge, protesters were attacked by the police dogs, sprayed with fire horses and beaten who were allowed to do by state and local government.

The African American had no solutions to this problem as they were taught by previous leader Martin Luther King that passive resistance and civil disobedience were commendable way of disapproving authorities so they turned to more forces of resistance. Considering the article in 1963 “The beginning of the feminist movement“ Kira Cochrane explains that the icon of feminist effected changed in western society, including women’s suffrage; more equitable pay with men. The right of women to make individual decision regarding pregnancy, the author mentions racism where black women were sniggerly referred to as chocolates bunnies and were treated as bunnies. Feminist movement emerged for instance suffrage movement leaders knew that this was a significant impediment to achieving goal. It suggested that the failure of the civil right movement subsequently lead to the rise of black, therefore it appeared that was a need for alternative method to exchange equality.

The Article “From Selma to Black Power” by Benjamin Hadin demonstrates that the version of history, emphasis on isolated event, that civil activist describe as issue of racial equity and voting rate. The author talks about the intention and attitude that signed an important direction for SNCC to the whole civil right movement which spread the idea of an independent black political parties for Lowndes county. The Black Power movement set does of fundamental platforms for the advancement of African American, Black Power was not only contenting factor but civil right movement also played a big role in achieved the equality for African American. It suggests that Black Power made positive lasting contribution to African American lifestyles. Selma demonstrate how the Black power movement differences from the conscientiously Gandhi influence nonviolent civil disobedience strategy. Ultimately, both Black Power and King’s movement led to a transformation of how would that affect all strata of society and not just African Americans. One thing that Selma also shows is the way blacks re-branded themselves as possessing the potential for moral spiritual and political leadership of America society, because the movement represent the highest and nonviolent aspirations of white America.

In the 1970s, Marvel comics and DC comics released stories that had black leading superhero roles with supporting black characters. These stories were released under a film genre called “Blaxploitation” which featured hyper-masculine black leading roles (Lendrum, 2005) with stereotypical “difficult” black female as their supporting characters. In the Blaxploitation genre, black leading roles were written and directed by white males, thus creating stereotypical and one-dimensional characters that supported the hegemonic patriarchal views about gender and race. With ethnographic knowledge about the “other”, white executives created black characters that went on to be the primary image representing the African- American race and the African-American experience within the American society in the 1970s. The lens in which these black leading roles were created were inspired by real perspectives that were inspired by the Black Power Movement which an executive presence that influenced African Americans to think differently about race and gender.

These black leading roles were created to be hyper-masculine as they were ideals upheld by the Black Power movement and how it emphasized that African-American men need to “perform a Black Mocho attitude” (Lendrum, 2005: 360). As stated above, promotional material such as Marvel Comics or DC comics introduced African American characters to be leading roles; therefore the African American experience within the comic books shed light on the economic and social difference that African Americans went through within the white American society. Such information was shown to be quiet accurate about the economic disadvantages that African Americans go through because of their skin color. The African American man at that time could not get a good job that could pay for all the bills and provide food on the table. According to Lendrum, since the sixties, black women have been the providers of their household, but this was raised as an issue when the Black Power movement rose to uphold hyper-masculine ideals such as the man needing to be the sole provider for the family and black women needing to be more submissive and quiet. This kind of representation impacted the black community today because popular platforms of entertainment such as Marvel and DC have immense power and influence over the behavior of young people and influence pop culture. Therefore such representation of the African American family and experience should be ethnographically correct and accurate.

With the black leading roles that Marvel comics and DC comics released the 1970s, this is not the case. Hyper masculine black leading roles are problematic as it upholds hegemonic ideals of patriarchy. Black female characters were demonized and portrayed to be women that are difficult, loud and villainous or vixens because they did not live up to the hegemonic idea of what a woman should be. Lendrum goes to explain that even though black women were more independent and most likely, the providers for the household, black women expected black men to perform the same hegemonic and patriarchal roles of being a man. This lead to conflict where both parties were expected to act on hegemonic roles however, the accurate portrayal of the historical relationship between the two was being compromised. The gender roles the characters played out were and still are problematic as it upholds the hegemonic view that black women should be more submissive, quiet and only identify with their motherly duties, while black men should be hyper-masculine by being the sole provider and dominate the black woman. These roles represented in marketing and pop culture are problematic as it expects people of color to perform and think one-dimensionally.

Representation of “otherness” in marketing or promotional materials are used to support and entrench the hegemony. Even today, ethnically diverse representations in marketing, entertainment and media still have one dimensional and stereotypical views. It seems like whenever an original entertainment production or promotional material creates characters about people of color, it is one that grapples with choosing white hegemonic perspective and experience in society vs the historical-cultural black experience. However, when looking at the details of the promotional material or original entertainment production, the black male is somehow subverted to play out sexist hyper-masculine tropes while their black female counterparts are demonized for being too dominant and sassy.

The Civil Rights Movement (CRM) and the Black Power Movement (BPM) were key movements in American history. In order to understand the relationship between the two and to most precisely investigate the effect of the BPM on the CRM one first has to be able to define the two movements and their different characteristics. This is a more challenging task than one may think, as both movements were largely divided, with different groups having prominence in different periods; however, there are certain general characteristics and points of rhetoric that stay fairly consistent throughout each movement. Firstly, the Anti-Defamation League defines the CRM as a “huge surge of activism […] to reverse discrimination and injustice [against African Americans, using] nonviolent protests and specific acts of targeted civil disobedience”. Secondly, the BPM is described by the National Archives as “a revolutionary movement [that] emphasized racial pride, economic empowerment, and the creation of political and cultural institutions”. A key difference between the two movements is usually cited as the CRM being focused on nonviolent protest and gaining the support of whites, while the BPM emphasized the importance of black involvement and fighting for their rights by any means necessary. As well as this, they had slightly different periods, with the CRM most prominent in the 1950s and 60s, while the BPM was stronger in the 60s and 70s. Therefore, this essay will be focused on the 1960s, since that era is the primary overlapping period of the two movements.

This essay will focus specifically on the relationship between the CRM and the BPM in terms of the overlap where the CRM fell as the BPM rose in prominence. This overlap has led some historians to pose the question of whether the rise of the BPM could be seen as an influencing factor in undermining the CRM, leading it to its end. On the one hand, one may argue that the splintering of the CRM’s leadership, as some became disillusioned and joined the BPM, caused the aforementioned movement to lose its momentum and popularity with the people. As well as this, it could be argued that the BPM’s radical nature made the white leadership and population in the USA feel less inclined to support any pro-African American movements, even the comparatively peaceful CRM. However, on the other hand, one could argue that the CRM had already come to its natural end after key legislation was passed in the mid-to-late 60s, fulfilling the movement’s original goals. From there, its downfall was only natural, with the rise of the BPM happening due to this end, rather than causing the end.

In this essay, I will argue for the secondary thesis presented. After key legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the CRM had fulfilled its original goals as a movement– that being for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. After that had been achieved, the CRM was effectively complete, and those who wished for further societal change proceeded to join the BPM instead, which had a more social rather than legal focus.

One key line of argument regarding the relationship between these two movements is the idea that the BPM significantly undermined the CRM, leading to the CRM’s effective end in the late 1960s, around the same time that the BPM’s influence grew more and more prominent. The first piece of evidence supporting this hypothesis is the change in allegiance of Stokely Carmichael, leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). SNCC was the most prominent youth civil rights organization, but by 1966 it had been greatly radicalized to the point of attempting a merger with the Black Panther Party in 1968 (the Black Panthers being a radical Black Power political organization). Secondly, black urban youth at the time was becoming increasingly radicalized and militarised, drawn to extremist BPM groups rather than the comparatively peaceful CRM. This led to certain cities becoming more and more hostile to CRM groups, as seen for example with King’s failed efforts in Chicago in 1966. Arguably, this serves as evidence that the BPM hindered the CRM’s progress and made it steadily more unlikeable to blacks and whites alike. Hamilton presents this point of view in his 1992 afterword, reflecting on how Black Power was “perceived by many as […] eschewing coalitions with whites” and being “more of an aggravation of the problems than […] a solution”. Thirdly, Malcolm X’s speeches similarly reflect the idea that the BPM’s rise influenced the CRM’s downfall, as he describes how widespread BPM rhetoric was starting to become in the mid-to-late 1960s. In his 1964 speech ‘The Ballot or the Bullet’, he claims that “the political philosophy of black nationalism is being taught in the Chris­tian church, […] in the NAACP, […] in CORE meetings, […] in SNCC meetings”. Here he expresses the radicalization of CRM supporters, drawing them more towards the BPM until the CRM eventually collapsed.

However, there is also a strong argument that the BPM wasn’t a key influence in the downfall of the CRM and that it was rather a natural turn of events for the CRM to decline in this period. The goal of the CRM was for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States – arguably, by the mid-to-late 1960s this had been achieved. At this point, key legislation such as the Civil Rights Acts (CRA) of 1957 and 1964, as well as the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act (FHA) of 1968, had been effectively implemented and was changing the lives of African Americans across the country. For example, as a direct effect of the VRA, voter turnout among Black people increased from 6 percent in 1964 to 59 percent in 1969 in Mississippi alone. As well as this, a study of six Floridian cities by James Button shows black municipal employment between 1960 and 2000 quadrupled, which can be directly traced back as an effect of the CRA 1964. Keeping this in mind, one can infer that the goal of the CRM had been fulfilled, which would naturally lead to its decline in favor of a new movement with new goals. Hamilton’s 1992 afterword clearly outlines this exact point, arguing that “the traditional civil rights movement was […] calling for more effective national governmental action” and that “such action had reached its limits” when “the national government removed the legal barriers to advancement”.

In conclusion, I find the argument that the CRM was not directly undermined by the BPM to be more convincing. Though it can be argued that the BPM hurt the CRM’s reputation to some extent, there doesn’t seem to be enough conclusive evidence to suggest that the former caused the latter’s downfall. Rather, it seems more logical to infer from statistics that the CRM had simply enacted enough effective policies that its original goal had been met, and it declined naturally from there. The remaining problems facing African Americans were primarily social and economic, which were outside of the CRM’s legal scope – and still remain problems to this day.

In the years 1865 to 1968, Malcolm X was the most significant campaigner for black civil rights in America to a fair extent. By the early 1960s, he had grown frustrated with the passive, nonviolent struggle for civil rights and feared that Blacks would eventually lose control of the civil rights movement. X was arguably most famous for his ‘Ballot or the Bullet’ speech in 1964 which best sums up his attitude towards black rights. In it, he argued that African Americans needed to stand up for themselves and either get involved in politics or arm themselves. This rather aggressive approach was very different to King’s and so the two divided the Civil Rights movement with X focussing upon de facto discrimination in the north, whilst King was more focused upon ending de jure discrimination and the Jim Crow laws. However, they eventually made up by the time the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed in Congress but who achieved the most is therefore a matter of huge debate, We also need to consider who influenced them as without these earlier black leaders, such as Garvey, King and X may not have been able to have the same impact.

Firstly, X was arguably the most important black leader in dealing with de facto discrimination. He came up with ideas for enabling African Americans to cope with the non-legal issues that stopped them from leading happy lives. For example, he encouraged them to feel proud of their color. He spoke about black people not needing to dress and talk like whites in order to be successful and even accused King of being an ‘Uncle Tom’. X’s extremist approach could have been derived from his dreadful, objectified childhood, in primary source one of his autobiography recalls the ‘nightmare night of 1929, my earliest vivid memory. I remember being suddenly snatched awake into a frightening confusion of pistol shots and shouting and smoke and flames. My father had shouted and shot at the two white men who had set the fire and were running away. Our home was burning down around us. This source is valuable for evaluating the significance of Malcolm X in relation to non-legal issues that black people faced at the time such as police brutality, racial slurs, separate schools, and separate facilities; all of which X and his family dealt with in their everyday lives. X wanted to create a cultural shift in attitudes which he did, being a prominent figure in the lead up to the Civil Rights Act of July 1964. This landmark civil rights law prohibited discrimination of race, color, gender, national origin, and religion. X’s Autobiography, published in October 1965 after his death in February, greatly influenced and set up the black power movement of the late 1960s and 1970s. The book reached black youths in particular through propagating his ideas of encouragement to them living in an extremely segregated area.

However, X was influenced by his dad, who himself was influenced by Garvey. Here, at the start of his autobiography, he is explaining how after his family now moved to Lansing, Michigan, Earl Little, Malcom’s father, continued to make speeches in favor of UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Programme), and in 1929 the family house was attacked by members of the Black Legion, a militant group that had broken away from the Ku Klux Klan. The reason why they moved from Omaha, Nebraska initially was due to the Ku Klux Klan.

Secondly, X was possibly the most important black leader as he encouraged more black people to protect themselves physically. For example, his ideas led to the creation of the 10-point program of the Black Panthers in 1966 after his death. The aims of the Black Panthers’ 10-point program were to demand decent healthcare, housing, and employment, and to end economic exploitation, they were also concerned about the safety and defense of black people, for example, point 3 states; ‘we want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people, other people of color, all oppressed people in the United States’. The Black Panther’s 10-point programme was published on 15th October 1966. The Black Panther Party (BPP) was also founded on 15th October 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Consisting of all black members, the party was one of the most radical organizations formed during the civil rights struggle for black rights in the 60’s. They were prepared to action violence to obtain a radical transformation of America. Founders of the BPP, Newton, and Seale both looked up to Malcolm X, seeing him as a role model, mainly due to X’s ability to communicate with the black working class who lived in the ghettos in the North. In response to X’s assassination in February 1995, Newton publicly stated that The Black Panther Party exists in the spirit of Malcolm’. Not only was X the reason for the Black Panthers Party existing, but his ideology, views, and methods ran throughout the party, both Malcolm and the BPP were black nationalists; believing that black people should govern themselves, black nationalism advocates the belief that black people are a nation and seeks to develop and maintain a black identity. This, amongst using self-defense mechanisms and seeking economic improvements, through the use of its own militia patrolling the black neighborhoods in uniform, directly opposing the American police whom they referred to as ‘pigs’ is how the BPP followed through with Malcolm X’s anti-American values. Overall, this makes X potentially the most important black campaigner for civil rights in America as the Black Panthers Party had a lasting effect on many black people in America from 1966. Even though the BPP never succeeded in eliminating police racism, they religiously followed the teachings of Malcolm X and fully shared his longing desire to stand up to racism, even if they were in a position of great authority, the BPP implemented his techniques and improved the lives of residents within the black working class communities before subsiding as victims to the attacks of the FBI.

Finally, X can be seen as incredibly important for making black people do things without having to rely upon the white community. For example, he encouraged more to become politicians and to stand up for themselves. This led to people such as Nelson Mandela claiming Malcolm was an inspiration. X and Mandela were very similar in their approach to the black civil rights movement, Nelson Mandela, much like Malcolm X had a hard-line, violent attitude in his younger days. Similar to X, after a long period in prison Mandela turned to peaceful approaches and forgiveness. Mandela was previously a part of the group ANC (African National Congress); a group of Black people in South Africa who wanted to unite the African people against white minority ruling. He also encouraged them to have their own religion. He saw Islam as the black religion and Christianity as the white man’s, forced upon African Americans during slavery. For example, in prison, he converted to Islam and joined the Nation of Islam which led to him becoming a spokesman for it after his release. He believed that if blacks avoided drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, and pork were faithful to their wives, and lived hard-working, religious lives then the African American Community would solve many of its problems, such as drinking, drug, and abuse issues. By doing so, black Americans did not have to

However, X was not the only black leader who achieved great things for the African-American community. King arguably achieved more in terms of legal change or getting rid of de Jure discrimination. He helped to force Congress to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act after his March on Washington.

Marcus Garvey can also be seen as hugely influential as he arguably inspired X. His Universal Negro League had been set up to encourage blacks to go back to Africa and he spoke of ‘the blacker, the better’.

However, earlier black leaders also influenced X and so deserve credit for his achievements. Frederick Douglass, for example, was one of President Lincoln’s friends who helped persuade him to end slavery in 1865. He was a black slave who had won his freedom and so showed the African-American Community that they could win their own struggle. However, his working with a white man would not have been approved of by X in his earlier years, although he arguably saw the truth in his last years.

Furthermore, without the efforts of Booker T. Washington in helping to establish schools for blacks, X may never have received the education he got which enabled him to argue his views so eloquently.

Evidence- say when Malcolm X went to school, where, what he learned

Explain- say, however, he dropped out of school at 15. Due to a teacher telling him he should be a carpenter instead of carrying on to do law. Malcolm X told his junior high school English teacher that he wanted to be a lawyer. His teacher responded by telling Malcolm that this was an unrealistic goal. He tells Malcolm that he should think about becoming a carpenter instead. In his autobiography, Malcolm X describes this encounter as a turning point in his childhood. He dropped out of school the next year at the age of fifteen, having received the message that there was no point in a black man pursuing his education. – https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-malcolm-x-tell-his-teacher-he-wants-when-he-642430

Finally, Philip Randolph was key for showing X how black unity could achieve change. He encouraged African Americans to form trade unions in the inter-war period to get better working rights.

Historian John White argued that X was not such a great civil rights leader, for example white commented that ‘A frequent guest on TV and radio shows, Malcolm, by 1964, was also the second most requested speaker on college campuses- the first being the ultra-conservative Republican Barry Goldwater. In his numerous public addresses and in the Nation’s newspaper (which he founded), Muhammad Speaks, Malcolm, gaining confidence and awareness, pointed out the major issues confronting blacks: inadequate housing and high rents, inferior welfare and educational facilities, and political powerlessness. ’ Therefore this suggests that X was a significant leader of the civil rights movement because he had the ability to influence many black people as he could targeting issues that black people experienced first-hand and that would motivate them to take action as they now had a public figure that was more personable to these groups. White also suggests that X has wide access to the media platforms this would increase his impact as a civil rights leader by making it more common to civil rights leaders on television fighting for civil rights.

In addition to White’s views, historian Jules Archer expressed his, and many blacks’ opinion of X, he wrote, ‘Malcolm was accused of dividing the black community, pitting those working for the betterment of blacks within white society against those seeking a separate black state. Malcolm also leveled criticism at Martin Luther King. As early as 1958, he called Martin “a professional Negro. . . His profession is being a Negro for the white man.” Later, considering the violence blacks endured peacefully in the South during King’s demonstrations, Malcolm argued, “No man can speak for Negroes love your enemy. . . There’s no Negro in his right mind today who’s going to tell Negroes to turn the other cheek.” He angered many blacks by deriding Martin as a “chump”, ridiculing the notion that the American government would ever agree.

To conclude, it is not entirely clear who contributed the most to the improved treatment of African Americans – it is a close call between X and King. King certainly did more to end the Jim Crow Laws. However, people can still experience discrimination by circumstance even if there are anti-racist laws. X certainly gave the black community a greater sense of pride and belief in itself – he gave them the encouragement to fight for their rights – without having to always have whites do it for them.

Since the beginning of slavery in America, the African-American community has faced oppression and racism by white supremacists. Throughout the history of the nation, African-American men and women have used guns to help defend themselves and protect their communities against White Terror. The tradition of armed self-defense in the African-American community originally began in the Colonial Era and continued into the 1960s. The nonviolent Freedom Movement and The Civil Rights movement during the 1960s allowed for progression in society for the African-American community. While inequality and segregation still had a large influence on society during these years, many prominent African-American leaders organized large movements that advocated for social justice reform. The dedication and resilience of African-American leaders led to the government granting long-awaited rights to the African-American community. Former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) member, Charles E. Cobb Jr, is the author of the novel, This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible. In the novel, Cobb explains the role of guns and other forms of armed self-defense in the Civil Rights Movement. Cobb believes that armed self-defense used during the movement did not directly conflict with the practices used in the nonviolence part of the Civil Rights Movement, but instead, both strategies played significant roles in the overall success of the movement and the incorporation of firearms made the Civil Rights Movement possible.

Today, the Civil Rights Movement is portrayed as a mostly nonviolent movement. Although nonviolent practices occurred such as marches, boycotts, and sit-ins, leaders such as Malcolm X. and W. E. B. Dubois were notorious for using violent practices that implemented the use of guns. However, a majority of violent oppression in modern-day history books is ignored. National organizations such as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) were remembered for their nonviolent activism. Surprisingly, many members of these organizations did use varying levels of self-defense including the use of guns when necessary while engaging in the Freedom Movement. Civil rights activists, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, were remembered for advocating for social reform in their communities through nonviolent protests and marches. However, Martin Luther King Jr. carried a gun around during protests for self-protection and had an arsenal of weapons in his home. Cobb explains, “Although nonviolence was crucial to the gains made by the freedom struggle…those gains could not have been achieved without the complementary and still underappreciated practice of armed self-defense” (Cobb 1).

Cobb is a former member of the SNCC and incorporated personal anecdotes of his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. His extensive knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement obtained through his experiences explains the life of African Americans in greater depth during the 1960s. Cobb explains, “As the 1960s opened, White-Supremacist terrorists… increased their attacks on civil rights workers and leaders…local and state governments supported this violence and it was largely ignored by the federal government” (Cobb 114). Civil rights leaders were under constant threat of White Terror such as the Ku Klux Klan and night riders. A branch of the NAACP was established in McComb in 1964 and that summer “more then a dozen bombings occurred in McComb” (Cobb 143). Cobb explained how the leaders of national organizations began to realize that their practices put members in danger of getting hurt or even killed.

The African-American community has been treated unfairly since the beginning of slavery in America. According to Cobb, the use of armed self-defense originated during the colonial period. During this time, one of the first laws enacted against African Americans made it illegal for any black person, free or enslaved, to own a gun. The Civil War was seen as a turning point because, during the war, African-American soldiers were allowed to use guns to kill white oppressors. In 1863 after the battle of Nashville, “Union General George Thomas, seeing many black bodies pressed right up against the confederate fortifications, declared ‘Gentlemen, the question is settled; Negroes will fight” (Cobb 40). For the first time in American history, African Americans were able to become soldiers and fight bravely in the war. However, this demonstrates the irony of how African-Americans were given guns to fight in the war that protects all citizens of America but there was a law against them owning guns for their protection in everyday life that violates their Second Amendment right.

During World War I and World War II, many African-American males were drafted into the military due to the requirements of the Selective Service Act. As a result, many African Americans gained respect from white Americans by courageously serving the country as members of the Tuskegee Airmen or combat troops. As tensions arose, the image of the African-American community shifted during World War II as black wartime veterans created a strong masculine image for their community. Cobb states that these wartime veterans vowed to “no longer be intimidated or pushed around and not to submit to old, familiar restrictions and oppressions ordained by white supremacy,” (Cobb 85). This led to tensions between radical violent activists and the national campaign as a result of contradicting ideologies of violence. Many African American veterans became more proactive in applying pressure to the government at both the federal and state levels. They wanted lawmakers to end racial oppression in society. The younger generation of the African-American community changed the approach used to spark progression in the Freedom Movement. Their ideas were distinctly different than their parents’ practices because they utilized more radical practices such as marches, violence, and even imprisonment to bring attention to the racial inequalities within the United States. The African-American leaders of this generation believed in resisting white supremacy through the use of armed self-defense. The progress that black veterans and young African Americans made during the first half of the 1900s established the roots of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

As the Freedom Movement grew in size, the amount of armed self-defense utilized increased drastically. The first civil rights organization was The Deacons for Defense which committed their campaign to armed resistance. The group was created under the supervision of the CORE organization in the 1960s. Even though CORE’s ideology was a commitment to nonviolence, leaders of CORE’s practices used the Deacons to act as an armed security force for the members in attendance at their events. The protection that the Deacons were able to provide limited racial violence against the non-violent members participating. This gave CORE the ability to continue their work without large interruption problems. The dynamic between CORE and the Deacons is a perfect example of how the movement strategically used both nonviolent and armed self-defense practices in the overall success of the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1966, the Civil Rights Movement transitioned into the Black Power stage of the Movement. The Black Power movement was a belligerent approach to combat racial discrimination. Many nonviolent organizations didn’t have protection from federal and local governments therefore, many African Americans tolerated the use of Black Power to fight oppression. This trend also went along with an increased approval of armed self-defense to end racial oppression. This stage of the Civil Rights Movement generated fear among whites due to the violent encounters with police. This led to armed self-defense being portrayed as violent aggression rather than self-protection. Cobb describes this trend as the “unfortunate side effect of letting white hysteria distort what guns had meant in the earlier phases of blacks’ struggle for freedom and of twisting into unrecognizably the vital and laudable legacy of armed self-defense in black history” (Cobb 226). Cobb is saying that the fear generated by Black Power was mistaken as violent aggression when the use of guns during this time was for self-protection.

The tradition of armed self-defense in the African-American community was used throughout the Civil Rights Movement. The combination of nonviolent and violent practices by different African-American groups led to the overall success of the Freedom Movement. Without the use of guns for self-defense the Civil Rights movement wouldn’t have made as much progress as it did. Nonviolent protests wouldn’t have any form of protection and white supremacy would have led to even more African-Americans being harmed. Cobb explains, “Protect and secure black life in America… has never centered on the question of non-violence versus violence,” but rather on the simple question of what would they do to survive (Cobb 145). The Civil Rights Movement gave African Americans a brighter outlook for the future in America and it wouldn’t have been possible without the use of guns.

The boom period of exploitation in the USA brought forward probably the most criticised yet progressive wing of the exploitation genre, Blaxploitation, it was an ethnic subgenre born out of the black power movement, with 1971s Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song being one of the first films which portrayed a strong ideology of black power allowing African American actors to forefront their own stories and narratives as opposed to the usual comic relief or stereotypical roles.

Films like Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and more famously Shaft (1971) have been named as the first Blaxploitation movies by Varity Magazine after the NAACP (The Los Angeles National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) coined the phrase upon their releases, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and Shaft both containing themes of solidarity, and social awareness alongside the typical exploitation content of violence and sex.

With the knowledge that film had the ability to create change both culturally and socially, the Black Power civil rights movement took the genre and ran with it to help spotlight the struggles of black people in America throughout the 1970s, many of these films starred black protagonists who managed to overcome the regular oppression of the history and culture of African Americans however films such as 1972s Superfly toned down the themes of black power, instead spurring resistance against the idea of the capitalist system instead if the radical metamorphosis of modern American society, and they were also easier for the general movie going public, to digest.

However, Superfly did end up garnering support for the black nationalist party by the imagery and theme that a black and white authority cannot exist side by side without problems and conflict.

Motion pictures like Shaft ended up receiving intense criticism for the stereotype of the films main character John Shaft (based on the generalization that all pimps are African-American males), but also garnered criticism for portrayal that all black communities are run down and hotspots for crime and drug running. However many motion pictures from the blaxploitation genre did open the door for many African American people to work in what was majorly a white ran industry, with people like Fred Williamson writing on films like The Black Bounty Killer (1975) and all black casts and crews on films like Blacula (1972) which was directed by William Craine, one of the first black film school graduates to achieve major success.

Although this genre ended up dying towards the start of the 80s, it left its mark on modern cinema, with exploitation film fan Quentin Tarantino paying homage to the genre repeatedly in his films, a prime example is Jackie Brown(1997), which starred blaxploitation legend Pam Grier who made her name in blaxploitation classics Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974). Tarantinos Django Unchained is also steeped in homage to Blaxploitation,

In The Black Bounty Killer (usually known as Boss N*gger), Fred Williamson wrote and starred as a black bounty hunter who takes on a small oppressive mid-western town with his firearms. Which of course played well with the black moviegoers during the height of the black power era.

Even though Tarantino’s movie is appealing to a much wider interracial audience, however its plot, the story of a black man who faces and defeats the slave drivers who tortured and oppressed him and his wife is taken clean from the blaxploitation playbook.

A Shaft reboot was released in 2000 starring Samuel L Jackson, and was a modern take on the genre of blaxploitation, and films such as Hoodlum (1997) and American Gangster (2007) contain a plethora of elements which are of a similar style to blaxploitation cinema, with Hoodlum being a blaxploitation homage set in the 30s and American Gangster which is set in 1970s Harlem, contains the song Across 110th Street, which was used in the 1972 film of the same name, this is reference to the movie which took massive inspiration from the blaxploitation movement as it was happening.

What is Pan Africanism and how does Marcus Garvey and his contribution to Pan Africanism

Pan Africanism is the principle or advocacy of the political union of all the indigenous inhabitants of Africa. Pan-Africanism served as both a cultural and political ideology for the solidarity of peoples of African descent. Most notably championed and pioneered by Marcus Garvey, Jomo Kenyatta, and Kwame Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism aims to connect and understand the universal injustices within the Diaspora. Marcus Garvey was one of Jamaica’s first National Hero. He was born in St. Ann’s Bay, on August 17, 1887. Garvey was conferred with the Order of the National Hero in 1969 as per the second schedule of the National Honors’ and Awards Act. In his youth Garvey migrated to Kingston, where he worked as a printer and later published a small paper “The Watchman”. During his career Garvey travelled extensively throughout many countries, observing the poor working and living conditions of black people.

In 1914 he started the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), in Jamaica. The UNIA, which grew into an international organization, encouraged self-government for black people worldwide; self-help economic projects and protest against racial discrimination. In 1916, Garvey went to the USA where he preached his doctrine of freedom to the oppressed blacks throughout the country. However, USA officials disapproved of his activities and he was imprisoned, and then deported .Back in Jamaica in 1927, he continued his political activity, forming the People’s Political Party in 1929.

He was unsuccessful in national elections but won a seat on the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC).But the world of the 1930s was not ready for Garvey’s progressive ideas. He left Jamaica again, this time for England where he died in 1940. His body was brought back to Jamaica in 1964 and buried in the National Heroes Park in Kingston. Garvey’s legacy can be summed up in the philosophy he taught – race pride, the need for African unity; self-reliance; the need for black people to be organized and for rulers to govern on behalf of the working classes, retrieved from https://jis.gov.jm/information/heroes/marcus-mosiah-garvey/

What is La-Negritude and How does W.E.B Du Bois contributes to the La-Negritude Movement

Négritude is a cultural movement launched in 1930s Paris by French-speaking black graduate students from France’s colonies in Africa and the Caribbean territories. These black intellectuals converged around issues of race identity and black internationalist initiatives to combat French imperialism. W.E.B. Du Bois was born in Massachusetts in 1868. He attended racially integrated elementary and high schools and went off to Fiske College in Tennessee at age 16 on a scholarship. Du Bois completed his formal education at Harvard with a Ph.D. in history.

Du Bois briefly taught at a college in Ohio before he became the director of a major study on the social conditions of blacks in Philadelphia. He concluded from his research that white discrimination was the main reason that kept African Americans from good-paying jobs.

In 1895, black educator Booker T. Washington delivered his famous “Atlanta Address” in which he accepted segregation but wanted African Americans to be part of the South’s economy. Two years later, Du Bois wrote, “We want to be Americans, full-fledged Americans, with all the rights of American citizens.” He envisioned the creation of an elite group of educated black leaders, “The Talented Tenth,” who would lead African Americans in securing equal rights and higher economic standards.

Du Bois attacked Washington’s acceptance of racial segregation, arguing that this only encouraged whites to deny African Americans the right to vote and to undermine black pride and progress. Du Bois also criticized Washington’s approach at the Tuskegee Institute, a school for blacks that Washington founded, as an attempt “to educate black boys and girls simply as servants and underlings.”

Lynchings and riots against blacks led to the formation in 1909 of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an organization with a mainly black membership. Except for Du Bois who became the editor of the organization’s journal, The Crisis, the founding board of directors consisted of white civil rights leaders.

The NAACP used publicity, protests, lawsuits, and the editorial pages of The Crisis to attack racial segregation, discrimination, and the lynching of blacks. Booker T. Washington rejected this confrontational approach, but by the time of his death in 1915 his Tuskegee vision had lost influence among many African Americans.

By World War I, Du Bois had become the leading black figure in the United States. But he became disillusioned after the war when white Americans continued to deny black Americans equal political and civil rights. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Du Bois increasingly advocated socialist solutions to the nation’s economic problems. He also questioned the NAACP’s goal of a racially integrated society. This led to his resignation as editor of The Crisis in 1934.

Du Bois grew increasingly critical of U. S. capitalism and foreign policy. He praised the accomplishments of communism in the Soviet Union. In 1961, he joined the U.S. Communist Party. Shortly afterward, he left the county, renounced his American citizenship, and became a citizen of Ghana in Africa. He died there at age 95 in 1963.

Du Bois never took part in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, which secured many of the rights that he had fought for during his lifetime.

What is Black Power and How does Malcolm X contributes to the Black Power Movement

Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies aimed at achieving self-determination for people of African descent. It is used primarily, but not exclusively, by African Americans in the United States. Malcolm X, the activist and outspoken public voice of the Black Muslim faith, challenged the mainstream civil-rights movement and the nonviolent pursuit of integration championed by Martin Luther King, Jr. He urged followers to defend themselves against white aggression “by any means necessary.” Born Malcolm Little, he changed his last name to X to signify his rejection of his “slave” name. Charismatic and eloquent, Malcolm became an influential leader of the Nation of Islam, which combined Islam with black nationalism and sought to encourage and enfranchise disadvantaged young blacks searching for confidence in segregated America. After Malcolm X’s death in 1965, his bestselling book The Autobiography of Malcolm X popularized his ideas, particularly among black youth, and laid the foundation for the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.

Born Malcolm Little in 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm was the son of a Baptist preacher who was a follower of Marcus Garvey. After the Ku Klux Klan made threats against his father, the family moved to Lansing, Michigan. There, in the face of similar threats, he continued to urge blacks to take control of their lives.

Malcolm’s father was slain by the Klan-like Black Legionaries. Although he was found with his head crushed on one side and almost severed from his body, it was claimed he had committed suicide, and the family was denied his death benefit. Its disintegration quickly followed: Welfare caseworkers sought to turn the children against each other and against their mother, from whom Malcolm, then six, was taken and placed in a foster home. Mrs. Little underwent a nervous breakdown from which she never recovered.

After the eighth grade, Malcolm dropped out of school, headed for a life of crime. He wore zoot suits, straightened his hair to affect a white look, and became known as “Detroit Red.” When twenty-one, he was sentenced to prison for burglary and there encountered the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, popularly known as the Black Muslims. Muhammad’s thesis that the white man is the devil with whom blacks cannot live had a strong impact on Malcolm. Turning to an ascetic way of life and reading widely, he began to overcome the degradation he had known. The argument that only blacks can cure the ills that afflict them confirmed for Malcolm the power of Muhammad’s faith. He became a loyal disciple and adopted X–symbolic of a stolen identity–as his last name.

After six years Malcolm was released from prison. Later, he became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem, his indictments of racism and his advocacy of self-defense eliciting admiration, as well as fear, far beyond the New York black community. Whites were especially fearful, recoiling from his sustained pronouncements of crimes against his people. While most contrasted him with Martin Luther King, Jr., with whose philosophy they were much more at ease, white college students found ugly truths in his searing rhetoric of condemnation. Malcolm, however, grew increasingly restive as the Nation of Islam failed to join in the mounting civil rights struggle and became convinced that Elijah Muhammad was lacking in sincerity, a view painfully validated by corruption at the highest level of the organization. For his part, Muhammad seemed threatened by the popularity of Malcolm, whose influence reached even into the respected Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Malcolm’s assertion that President John F. Kennedy’s assassination amounted to “the chickens coming home to roost” led to his suspension from the Black Muslims in December 1963. A few months later, he left the organization, traveled to Mecca, and discovered that orthodox Muslims preach equality of the races, which led him to abandon the argument that whites are devils. Having returned to America as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, he remained convinced that racism had corroded the spirit of America and that only blacks could free themselves.

In June 1964, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity and moved increasingly in the direction of socialism. More sophisticated than in his Black Muslim days and of growing moral stature, he was assassinated by a Black Muslim at a rally of his organization in New York on February 21, 1965. Malcolm X had predicted that, though he had but little time to live, he would be more important in death than in life. Foreshadowings of his martyrdom are found in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. The almost painful honesty that enabled him to find his way from degradation to devotion to his people, the modest lifestyle that kept him on the edge of poverty, and the distance he somehow managed to put between himself and racial hatred serve, in that volume, as poignant reminders of human possibility and achievement.

Influenced largely by Malcolm, in the summer of 1966 members of SNCC called for black power for black people. Their lack of power was the foundation of Malcolm’s charge that they were denied human rights in America. His clarity on this matter, as America continues its retreat from its commitment to full freedom for his people, has guaranteed for him pride of place among black leaders.

In the year 1887, the year of Marcus Mosiah Garvey’s birth, many living knew enslavement. Emancipation occurred in 1834, and even though the more severe features for the formerly enslaved were no longer present many persisted. There was rampant poverty. Many formerly enslaved and their descents worked on plantations. Immigrants came, mostly from India, but also other contents as new, controllable and cheap labor for the planter. Most could not vote. Education was limited. High school education was accessible to a handful of black students. Illiteracy was high. There was no university education in the British West Indies. The wealthy, the few exceptionally brilliant attended university abroad. The highly ambitious worked their way through school, usually in North Afro-American colleges (Martin, 1983, pp. 1-8). They would not be likely to be ‘hired in commercial establishments except as cleaners, laborers and suchlike’’ (Martin, 1983, p. 5). There were ‘three major racial groups’ (Martin, 1983, p. 4) which had “rigid walls of prejudice” (Martin, 1983, p. 4). White people did not allow coloreds and Blacks into their social and sports clubs. Similarly, colored persons did the same to Black persons (Martin, 1983, p. 4). Marcus Garvey would be shaped by the conditions of the formerly enslaved in Jamaica. He undoubtedly would become one of the most important figures in West Indian history. The ideologies and movements influenced by him remained relevant close to the end of the twentieth century in the British West Indies.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born in St. Ann Bay, Jamaica. He was the last of eleven children all who died during childhood, with the exception of one sister (Martin, 1983, p. 8). He lived with both parents and the family was “reasonably comfortable” (Martin, 1983, p. 8). His father was a stonemason by profession. He was “well-informed” (Martin, 1983, p. 8) and “a respected figure in the community” (Martin, 1983, p. 8). Marcus Garvey, “proudly claimed to be a descendant of the Maroons” (Martin, 1983, p. 8). This was on his father’s side. He was well liked as a child and did various hobbies with his friends. One of the two white families in the neighborhood owned the adjoining property, so his childhood friends included some white children. However, they would shun and pretend not to know him as he grew older, his first introduction with racial divisions (Martin, 1983, p. 9). Garvey reflected in an autobiographical essay: “Her parents thought the time had come to separate us and draw the color line. They sent her and her sister to Edinburgh Scotland, and told her that she was never to write or try to get in touch with me again, for I was a ‘nigger” (Lewis, 1987, p. 21). He was fortunate to attend primary school and received private lessons in secondary school. Also, he was able to read widely from his father’s library (Martin, 1983, p. 10).

“Garvey moved to Kingston, found work in a print shop, and became acquainted with the abysmal living conditions of the laboring class. He quickly involved himself in social reform, participating in the first Printers’ Union strike in Jamaica in 1907 and in setting up the newspaper The Watchman. Leaving the island to earn money to finance his projects, he visited Central and South America, amassing evidence that black people everywhere were victims of discrimination” (Bracks, 2012).

He wanted to liberate “his people” from ignorance and poverty. “His Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), founded in Jamaica in 1914 and re-established in the United States around 1917, in the process became the largest Pan-African movement in history. By the mid-1920-s it boasted approximately 1,120 branches in over 40 countries” (Martin, 1996, p. 359). One of his more successful ventures was the Black Star Shipping Line. At that time was a symbol of hope for Black people to own a steamship corporation. This would be his beginning and rise (Bracks, 2012).

In the years to come, the organization would begin to decline in its popularity. The Star Black liner would run into financial trouble. There would be “financial betrayal by trusted aides and a host of legal entanglements based on charges that he had used the U.S. mail system to defraud prospective investors” (Bracks, 2012). “Garvey would be imprisoned for a five-year term”(Bracks, 2012). He served half his sentence, “he was then deported to Jamaica by order of President Calvin Coolidge” (Bracks, 2012).He would focus on Jamaican politics but would lose in the polls. However, this is due to many of the Black population not having the qualifications to vote (Bracks, 2012).

Garvey had people and focuses that inspired. He had an interest in African civilizations and politics opposing colonialism, including the works of Edward Wilmot Blyden and Booker T. Washington. This helped Garvey with his own ideologies. They would be referred to as Garveyism, “a Black nationalist social and political movement and Pan-African philosophy that emerged through Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) between the world wars, is often viewed as part of the “New Negro” manhood politics that transfused Black radical culture and intellectual life in that period” (Blair, 1998). Black Nationalism, “advocacy of or support for unity and political self-determination for black people, especially in the form of a separate black nation” (Lexico).

Pan-Africanism is “the idea that peoples of African descent have common interests and should be unified. Historically, Pan-Africanism has often taken the shape of a political or cultural movement… Envision a unified African nation where all people of the African diaspora… People of African descent who have been scattered from their ancestral homelands to other parts of the world… The sentiment that people of African descent have a great deal in common, a fact that deserves notice and even celebration” (Britannica Academic). “Garvey championed the cause of African independence, emphasizing the positive attributes of black people’s collective past. His organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), boasted millions of members, envisioning and then making plans for a return ‘Back to Africa’ (Britannica Academic).

Garvey was influential in many movements. This includes the Black Power Movement, Nation of Islam and Rastafarianism. Black power is an “umbrella term used to describe the more militant aspects of the late 1960s civil rights movement. The term gained popularity in 1966 when Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, used it in a series of speeches” (Brown-Rose, 2008). Many young urban black males felt alienated from the ideology of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. His non-violent approach, many found was too dependent on the generosity of the white establishment. The focus on eliminating segregation and gaining the right to vote in Southern America ignored the economic problems of blacks in the Northern urban ghettos (Brown-Rose, 2008).

As a political idea, Black Power derived from a long tradition of Black Nationalism started with figures such as Marcus Garvey in the 19th Century. There was a “critical change that the Black Power Movement brought about was the use of the word “Black” instead of “Negro” to identify African Americans” (Brown-Rose, 2008).

Malcolm X, who was a “prominent leader of the Nation of Islam” and presented a foundation for the Black Power Movement. His mother, of Caribbean heritage. “Malcolm X’s insistence on self-defense, and on the maintenance of black cultural values, traditions, and history were a point of reference for the younger generation of African Americans in the 1960-s” (Brown-Rose, 2008). This culture was relatable among the Black people in the British West Indies, having a shared history.

“The leaders of the Black Power Movement asserted the need for equal rights today, not tomorrow, and they were willing to pursue that goal” (Brown-Rose, 2008). Malcolm X declared “by any means necessary” (Brown-Rose, 2008). In the perception of white society black power represented a “call to violence”, but “Black Power mostly referred to black self-reliance, racial pride, and economic and political empowerment” (Foner & Garraty, 2014). Both Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X are highly influenced by Garvey. These movements, even though occurring in the United States would create drastic changes for the African Caribbean person. The “New World” identity, culture and society would be forever altered, especially due to media which allowed this to be viewed by those of African origin as well as white society.

The Nation of Islam is a ‘movement and organization, founded in 1930 and known for its teachings combining elements of traditional Islam with Black Nationalist ideas. The Nation also promotes racial unity and self-help and maintains a strict code of discipline among members’ (Britannica Academic). Rastafarianism saw as a religious movement but also it developed into a ”social, cultural and political movement that became more inclusive, attracting adherents from different ethnic groups and economic strata” (Chawane, 2014).

A major “similarity between the movements is that both are liberation theological movements that seek to empower Blacks by providing them with a positive self-identity” (Barnett, 2006). These religions challenge the notions of White superiority and Black inferiority, addressing “the vicious cycle of false identity and self-hatred” (Barnett, 2006). Both religions are highly patriarchal and believed in a messiah. A major difference is the “greater degree of individualism that is expressed and exhibited by members of the Rastafari movement specifically in terms of their ideological orientation, style of dress, and theological perspectives, in contrast to the members of the Nation of Islam where there is greater consistency” (Barnett, 2006).

The immediate reason for its emergence was in the 1930s when Haile Selassie who was to become their god was crowned king of Ethiopia. This coronation coincided with Marcus Garvey’s prophesy when he told people to look to Africa when a black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is near, an extract taken from the Bible that confirms its religious origin.” It was a movement that spread all over the world, where people felt “oppressed and exploited.” This was particularly so in countries with persons of African origin (Chawane, 2014).

Garvey had some views which were quite unpopular at the time. Within Black Nationalism, he believed in radical separation. He wanted complete separation between the two races, appearing to not view behavior in a spectrum. His belief, that all white persons had no difference to the degree of bigotry. The UNIA worked with the Ku Klux Klan stating “the Klan has helped us a great deal by driving the Negro to thoughts of Africa as their only hope” and Southern whites should be thanked for having “lynched race pride into the Negro’ (Vincent, 1971).

Integrationist wanted to gain acceptance by the white population and enter mainstream society. They worked alongside interracial organizations. The most powerful was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The major spokesperson for the NAACP was Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, who was free colored (Martin, 1983, pp. 106-109). Garvey disapproved of the miscegenation of races. Marcus Garvey believed colored person derived from the rape of enslaved women. “Du Bois and Garvey were two of the most significant Pan-Africanist of that century and their antipathy Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois felt for one another has been well documented’ (Thompson, 2010). Du Bois, in his 1923 Century article “Back to Africa,” calling Garvey a “little fat black man, ugly but with intelligent eyes and a big head”. The “misleader” of the NAACP was described in 1923 The Negro World rejoinder as “a little Dutch, a little French, and a dozen other things. Why, in fact, the man is a monstrosity” (Thompson, 2010).

They had very different approaches towards the advancement of the Black Diaspora. Garvey’s anti-socialism was also unpopular at the time. His claim was that economic power would be the only thing to bring power and “an independent black economy within the framework of white capitalism” (Britannica Academic). “Garveyism was equally a new womanhood movement. Structures of leadership and membership activity in the UNIA mirrored those of the Black church: women formed the backbone of the population (Blair, 1998).

It stated in the literature that Garvey never went to Africa. It can appear that had no interest or that he idealized the content. Rather ‘Colonial governments ensured that Garvey never set foot in Africa, and Grant does not extend his gaze far beyond the UNIA’s halting steps in Liberia. But Garveyism left a deep imprint on the continent, and charting its lines of influence again shifts the discussion away from the spectacle of the movement and towards the “silence and proper organization” that emerged as its legacy” (Ewing, 2011).

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was undisputedly an influential figure in the British West Indies. However, his impact was felt throughout the world, forever enhancing Black identity within the African diaspora. He influenced a movement that would be known as Garveryism and encouraged the ideologies of Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism. The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) would become the largest Pan-African Movement in the world. Garvey advocated for unity and political self-determination. He influenced civil rights movements known as the Black Power Movement which took place in the 1960s. Many based in the United States but heavily impacted global culture regarding accepted race relations. Two religious movements came about through Garvey which was the Nation of Islam and Rastafarianism. These are two religions often embraced by the Black community. The Nation of Islam includes many influential figures including Malcolm X. Rastafarians in the British West Indies is a lifestyle and identity, symbolic of Black resistance and self-love. It is acknowledged of an influential part of modern Caribbean culture, inspiring art, food and music.

He had some views which were more unpopular which were criticized mainly radical separatism and disapproving of colored people. He was often in contrast to and disagreement with other famous Pan-Africanist W.E.B Dubois, who was an integrationist and who was free colored. The UNIA sometimes worked with the Ku Klux Klan as he saw them as straightforward white racists. These views may appear radical from a modern-day context and may be disregarded among his wider contributions. He was anti-socialist and vouched for capitalism. He saw this as the way for the Black community to gain economic empowerment, which may now be viewed as sensible. Also, opportunities were given to Black women within the organization. Marcus Mosiah Garvey can sometimes be viewed as controversial. However, his ideas were still relevant close to the end of the twentieth century in the British West Indies. The global impact his ideas had on black empowerment and identity, it is reasonable to say, it influenced the lives of persons with African heritage in different parts of the world today.

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Primary Sources are sources that come straight from the person who has had direct contact with a person or a thing. When gathering facts about history and many other topics, primary sources are vital. Black Power was a movement in the nineteen-sixties and seventies that were supporting rights and political power for African American people but was presumed as violent. What if that was not the case? What if Black Power was not violent at all? Black Power: Expression and Repression is about the true Black Power and all the many things Black Power had to put up with. This analysis is primarily about Black Power being framed while trying to help African Americans.

Black Panthers wanted equal rights for African Americans. African Americans wanted the same things that whites had. They did not want their loves ones and friends to have to serve time in jail without being given a fair trial. They wanted jobs, better housing, land and education and to have a choice of rather they wanted to fight for a country that would not even protect them. Most of all, they wanted peace and justice for ALL.

The Black Art Movement developed from the Black Power Movement. Ubi Girl from Tai Region by Loïs Mailou Jones is a painting depicting and accepting African America and its cultural vestige with precision and pride when revealing African Americans was extreme. The political concept that is made clear in this picture is the beauty of African Americans. Political concepts displayed are based on equity, constitutional rights, abuse of power, superiority, addition of the African American community, authority, and most of all freedom. Faith Ringgold’s painting, The Flag Is Bleeding, depicts an African American man standing beside a white couple, hand and hand while also covering his womb with his hand. The flag is not bleeding; instead, it is the blood of African Americans that has been shed at the hands of whites. The blood is that of the African American man and blacks as a whole. The political concept which is made clear in this painting is all the blood African Americans have shed because of their oppressors; white people.

Black Power was not a threat to national security. Black Power was being framed by the Intelligence Program. Taking into consideration of the FBI activity, Black Power being violent should be reconsidered because it was not what it seemed. The FBI was involved in anti-black repression. The FBI planted numerous amounts of evidence inside the houses of Black Power members. The FBI also used tactics such as forged letters to create tension and thwart coalitions and printed and passed out booklets to a group or person. They also provoked blacks to be against Jews. The FBI even initiated a program to discredit black organizations.

According to COINTELPRO Targets Black Organizations, FBI Uses Fake Letters to Divide the Chicago Black Panthers and the Blackstone Rangers, and “Special Payment” Request and Floor Plan of Fred Hampton’s Apartment, the FBI’s counterintelligence and surveillance of black power activist resembles the attack on the World Trade Center New York on September 11, 2001. The American public should be concerned with the abuse of power and the discrimination against American citizens viewed as un-American. If the public new of such unlawful acts going on, they should hold them liable for their actions taken. These acts should not be cruel and unjust to any group in no kind of way.

This document was written to bring attention to how black power was oppressed with counterintelligence agencies. The intended audience would be the people but primarily the government as an appeal to Congress aiming in generating improvement and surveillance on counterintelligence operations approved by special government agencies. The purpose of the counterintelligence programs was to target black organization, Black Power. This document is written in ordinary prose with evidence from excerpts from other documents detailing examples to highlight the neglect and abuse Black Power underwent in order to push for new improvements for counterintelligence. The author’s purpose was to provoke change and give responsibility to agencies which conduct unlawful acts of crime.

In conclusion, Black Power: Expression and Repression shows that Black Power was not a threat to national security and the governments counterintelligence programs abused their power. Their duties were to help, and they failed to do so. The documents mentioned above showed the desperation blacks went through in order to get their natural born rights. As individuals today, we must do your best to always hold the government and state authorities responsible for any actions being taken in order to prevent something like this from happening again.