Carmichael, Stokely (1941–1998)

One of the most passionate and radical leaders of the civil rights era, Stokely Carmichael endorsed militant direct action protest and the formation of independent black political parties. He entered the national spotlight in 1966 when he publicly challenged Martin Luther King, Jr. and the philosophy of nonviolence, openly opposed white participation in the movement, and popularized the controversial “Black Power” slogan. In his 1967 Black Power, coauthored by Charles V. Hamilton, he explained his philosophy of political self-determination and black pride. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1966–1967, Carmichael pushed the organization toward an increasingly radical and nationalist perspective. After moving to Guinea in the early 1970s, he devoted his life to promoting Pan-Africanism.

Born June 29, 1941, in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, Carmichael immigrated to the United States at the age of 11. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and Howard University, where he joined the Nonviolent Action Group and participated in demonstrations in the Washington, D.C., area. In 1961, he joined the Freedom Rides, was arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, and served 49 days in Mississippi's Parchman Prison. After his release, he joined SNCC and participated in both direct action and voter registration campaigns. During the 1964 Freedom Summer, [Page 292]he effectively organized voters in Mississippi's 2nd Congressional district. The following March, he moved into Lowndes County, Alabama, and launched SNCC's voter registration project. By 1966, Carmichael had registered hundreds of voters and aided local activists in the creation of an independent black political party, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale adopted their symbol—a black panther—when they formed the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California, in October 1966.

In May 1966, Carmichael narrowly defeated John Lewis and became the national chairman of SNCC. He encouraged the group to abandon their earlier commitment to nonviolent, inter-racial activism. In June 1966, Carmichael helped lead James Meredith's March Against Fear, alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Congress of Racial Equality's Floyd McKissick, after Meredith was shot on the second day of the march. Carmichael used the march as an opportunity to introduce the slogan “Black Power” and publicly challenge King's nonviolent philosophy.

After H. Rap Brown replaced Carmichael as SNCC's national chairman in 1967, Carmichael traveled abroad to Cuba, China, North Vietnam, and finally Guinea, where he met with Pan-Africanist leader Kwame Nkrumah. Carmichael returned to the United States, and in February 1968, he became the Black Panther Party's prime minister. In 1971, Carmichael moved with his wife, South African singer Miriam Makeba, to Guinea, West Africa, and wrote Stokely Speaks: Black Power Back to Pan-Africanism. The following year, he helped form the All-African People's Revolutionary Party and worked as an aid for Guinea's prime minister, Sékou Touré. In 1978, he changed his name to Kwame Ture to honor the two African socialist leaders who had befriended him. He died in Guinea on November 15, 1998, at the age of 57.