Black Power - an Origin Story
Black Power: An Origin Story
Black power can be derived from two events. The Civil rights movement being the first, and the overflow of the rage pent up by militant black youths and other members of black society. Now, many people debate about the true meaning of “Black Power” and in the beginning there were multiple answers to meet those questions. Each group had their own idea, from integration to a government and country controlled by black people. The feelings and emotion behind this movement stemmed from about as many places as there were definitions of black power. Some came from children or grandchildren of slaves, or black union soldiers from the Civil War. Some came from average people, who were simply tired of being treated like they were garbage. There are several figures that anyone who knows even a small amount about the Civil rights movement knows, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
The original definition to be widely adopted came from neither of these men, it came from Stokely Carmichael. He defined it as “ The ability of black people to politically get together and organize themselves so that they can speak from a position of strength, rather than one of weakness.”Willie Ricks was the first to use this slogan before Carmichael even defined it, specifically in the “March Against Fear”. The phrase “Black Power” received a larger response than either man expected. From the very beginning of the terms use there was confusion and miscommunication about what the true definition was, with each group putting their own spin on “Black Power” or giving it an entirely new definition to suit their actions. As some saw it as a cry against the whites who held all the resources in a white dominated society: At that time almost all forms of power, but especially political power lay with white people.
A differing opinion was using this as a way of elevating the social status of African Americans, but then dropping such an inflammatory or aggressive call once the movement had started, as it would only instigate a negative response toward the cause after such an advance. There was a third separate opinion that “Black Power” was exactly that. Holders of this belief wanted a society and government where all political, social, economic, etc. power was held by black people. Essentially flipping the current situation without any real change or progress being made. A strong, well known believer of this view on “Black Power” was Stokely Carmichael. The people who stood behind this belief and the belief that “Black Power” was to keep white people away out of distrust for them, Also thought that black people could control the entirety of their economic destiny if white people were kept at a distance or away completely. These beliefs were all separate, however connected because of The Civil rights movement spurring these beliefs into the forefront of people’s minds.”Black Power” evolved and changed as The Civil rights movement progressed through the 1950’s and 1960’s.
However, by the late 60’s organizations such as the NAACP, and CORE faced new militant groups as the belief behind “Black Power” shifted from the political gathering of strength to gain equal rights and treatment to black national self-determination. One of the major speakers on black power and the turn from non-violence was Malcolm X, who led the Black Panthers. This group believed that integration meant surrender, and followed the third belief that was stated earlier on. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, which coupled with the urban uprisings in 1964 and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, ignited the Black Panthers organization and the black populus to turn from non-violence. A specific instance of this is when in 1965, the Watts district in California erupted into violent protests after prolonged mistreatment and harassment of a black motorist.
The Watts district eruption was not an isolated event, after the mid 1960’s the majority of protests were violent, this was due to the belief that in order to advance civil rights there needed to be a black show of power became more widespread. The northern/north-eastern section of the United States experienced a large amount of violent protests. After years of non-violence being the norm in protests for civil rights in over two hundred cities there was mass rioting in the streets, all to varying degrees of either effect. These riots were interpreted as simply acts of desperate violence at the time. Now, when people look back at the riots it is interpreted, that most would believe to be as the truth, as urban black people expressing their rage over racist police